bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Leveraging genomics and phenomics to accelerate improvement in mungbean: A case study in how to go from GWAS to selection
Authors: Fumia Nathan , Nair Ramakrishnan , Lin Ya‐Ping , Lee Cheng‐Ruei , Chen Hung‐Wei , von Wettberg Eric Bishop , Kantar Michael , Schafleitner Roland
Published: December 2023

Grown on 7 million ha, mungbean is a warm‐season grain legume with regional importance in parts of Asia and Africa. Under forecasted climate change, due to its tolerance to drought and heat, the short crop duration, and its nutritional properties, mungbean could serve to fill an important need for human diets. However, selection of accessions becomes difficult where plant and consumer market variation is large. We performed selection on genebank accessions, specifically the mini‐core collection at the World Vegetable Center, for yield and yield component traits. Our selection index uses refined accuracy by leveraging genomics, phenomics, and genotype‐by‐environment interactions. Best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) is used to predict the genotypic effects of the 292 mini‐core accessions toward seed yield based on genomic relationships formed from ∼200,000 SNPs. We expanded BLUP analysis to predict phenotypic effects based on the phenomic relationships formed from ∼75,000 measurements from three‐dimensional multispectral data. While this method is restricted to a single environment, our multi‐environment trials across eight countries and 4 years serve to quantify the genotype‐by‐environment effect. K‐fold cross‐validation finds predictive ability to vary by methods but to be related to the narrow‐sense heritability of the yield component trait. Our weighted rank sum index (WRSI) linearly combines yield component traits to proxy yield within our single environment phenomics trial by first ranking genomic and/or phenomic BLUPs, then weighting by predictive accuracy from the cross‐validated model, and then summing the component weighted ranks for each accession. Selections were made from the predicted random effects in each location, identifying three accessions overlapping across both methodologies: PI 369787 (VI001339A‐G) and EG‐MD‐6D (VI000380A‐G) from the Philippines, and PI 363534 (VI003220A‐G) from India.
FRAGSITE2: A structure and fragment‐based approach for virtual ligand screening
Authors: Zhou Hongyi , Skolnick Jeffrey
Published: December 2023

Protein function annotation and drug discovery often involve finding small molecule binders. In the early stages of drug discovery, virtual ligand screening (VLS) is frequently applied to identify possible hits before experimental testing. While our recent ligand homology modeling (LHM)‐machine learning VLS method FRAGSITE outperformed approaches that combined traditional docking to generate protein–ligand poses and deep learning scoring functions to rank ligands, a more robust approach that could identify a more diverse set of binding ligands is needed. Here, we describe FRAGSITE2 that shows significant improvement on protein targets lacking known small molecule binders and no confident LHM identified template ligands when benchmarked on two commonly used VLS datasets: For both the DUD‐E set and DEKOIS2.0 set and ligands having a Tanimoto coefficient (TC) < 0.7 to the template ligands, the 1% enrichment factor (EF1%) of FRAGSITE2 is significantly better than those for FINDSITEcomb2.0, an earlier LHM algorithm. For the DUD‐E set, FRAGSITE2 also shows better ROC enrichment factor and AUPR (area under the precision‐recall curve) than the deep learning DenseFS scoring function. Comparison with the RF‐score‐VS on the 76 target subset of DEKOIS2.0 and a TC < 0.99 to training DUD‐E ligands, FRAGSITE2 has double the EF1%. Its boosted tree regression method provides for more robust performance than a deep learning multiple layer perceptron method. When compared with the pretrained language model for protein target features, FRAGSITE2 also shows much better performance. Thus, FRAGSITE2 is a promising approach that can discover novel hits for protein targets. FRAGSITE2's web service is freely available to academic users at http://sites.gatech.edu/cssb/FRAGSITE2.
Coercivity, Activation Volumes, and Interactions in BaFe12O19
Authors: Faloh‐Gandarilla Jael Cristina , Díaz‐Castañón Sergio
Published: December 2023

Coercivity and magnetic viscosity studies are presented in coprecipitated and ceramic BaFe12O19 hexaferrites. According to magnetic viscosity formalism, the activation volumes are obtained and for ceramic sample the temperature dependence of the activation volume is reported. Using remanence curves, interactions are evaluated by means of the ΔM technique. In both samples, interactions are evidenced, particularly demagnetizing‐like interactions. The activation volume values seem to indicate that coherent rotation is not the mechanism of magnetization reversal even in the sample with particle size below the critical single‐domain size. It is confirmed that the activation volume increases with temperature in 75–300 K temperature range, for both coprecipitated and ceramic samples.
On physical analysis of entropy measures for sodium oxide via statistical models
Authors: Zhen Wang , Hussain Mazhar , Kamran Siddiqui Muhammad , Javed Sana , Khalid Sadia , Amin Naima
Published: December 2023

This study delves into a comprehensive physical analysis of entropy measures applied to sodium oxide . A key idea in information theory and thermodynamics, entropy is essential to comprehending the stability of a system. The study clarifies the intricate relationships and physical properties of by combining theoretical analysis with statistical methods, providing important knowledge for material design and industrial operations. In a chemical graph, atoms are shown by vertices while their bonding are illustrated by edges. Sodium oxide is a major contributor to manufacture glass, it also has potential applications in sequestration, transparent materials, biomedical devices and nano grating glass. A topological index is a relationship between the molecular graph and its topology. We have computed various graph entropies based on different topological indices of chemical graph of sodium oxide. Further we have integrated these graph entropies with distinct thermodynamical measures of sodium oxide by developing mathematical models between both quantities. We have developed these mathematical frameworks in MATLAB. All the models are selected relying on the least mean squared error or sum of squared error.
Approximating the properties of some chemical solvents by two‐dimensional molecular descriptors
Authors: Mahboob Abid , Waheed Rasheed Muhammad , Hanif Iqra , Siddique Imran
Published: December 2023

The selection and design of suitable chemical solvents are essential in numerous industrial and laboratory processes. To facilitate this task, the use of molecular descriptors has gained significant attention in recent years. Chemical solvents constitute around 80 percent of all chemicals used in major chemical processes, particularly fine chemical manufacture. Solvents are the most vital materials used in every industry. Two‐dimensional (2D) molecular descriptors, which are derived from the structural representation of chemical compounds, offer a computationally efficient way to approximate various properties of solvents. The graph descriptors are already used to examine many chemical structures; however, they are not used to analyze the structures of various solvents. Water is the most important solvent required for the maintenance of life, and life on Earth would be unimaginable without it. We try to examine various solvents using degree‐based additive topological indices because solvents are extensively used. In this article, we investigated the important physical and chemical characteristics of 68 solvents using zagreb indices: the inverse sum index, the hyper zagreb index, the forgotten index, and the sum connectivity index. We calculate the correlation between experimental and estimated values of chemical solvents to demonstrate the significance of this research.
Why do companies participate in climate change‐related initiatives? Theoretical and empirical analyses of motivations for Japanese companies
Authors: Shimizu Satoshi , Goto Mika
Published: December 2023

The 2015 Paris Agreement accelerated the trend toward international decarbonization. Climate change initiatives, such as Science Based Targets, Renewable Energy 100%, and Task Force on Climate‐related Financial Disclosure are rapidly gaining attention as mechanisms that encourage voluntary efforts by companies to limit emissions. However, participation in these initiatives creates a conflict with the pursuit of short‐term profits. Understanding the firms' motivation for initiative participation contributes to the realization of sustainable development. This study empirically examines the motivations for large‐scale Japanese firms to participate in climate change initiatives. For this purpose, first, we update the conventional model of corporate motivations for taking environmental actions to fit the contemporary context. We then quantify individual firms' motivations based on various data and conduct regression analyses to identify the factors contributing to the firms' participation in the initiatives. The results indicate that firms have competitive and legitimate motives to participate in these initiatives.
Human capital, institutions, and ambitious entrepreneurship during good times and two crises
Authors: Epure Mircea , Martin‐Sanchez Victor , Aparicio Sebastian , Urbano David
Published: December 2023

Research Summary

We argue that the positive relationship between pro‐market institutions and entrepreneurial growth aspirations is dampened for individuals with general human capital (higher education), but augmented for those with specific human capital (experience in the marketplace). However, during a crisis, the differential effect of pro‐market institutions on growth aspirations manifests only for entrepreneurs with specific human capital, with stronger effects than in good economic times. We run our empirical analysis on a dataset of individual‐ and country‐level characteristics during 2005–2020, thus exploiting variation from the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID‐19 pandemic. We confirm our predictions and show stronger results for early stage (compared to nascent) entrepreneurs, and potential complementarities between human capital types. Altogether, our work paves the way to institutional adaptive policymaking.

Managerial Summary

Pro‐market institutions facilitate business activity. We analyze a continuum of institutional arrangements and show asymmetric joint effects of the business context and human capital on entrepreneurial growth aspirations. General, education‐based human capital can collide with pro‐market contexts, weakening their positive effect on growth aspirations. In contrast, the interaction between pro‐market contexts and specific, market‐based human capital acts as a catalyst of growth aspirations. The (mis)alignment between pro‐market institutions and specific human capital from start‐up or investment experience gains an increased importance during the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID‐19 pandemic. Our findings are stronger for early stage business owners beyond the nascent phase, and complementarities can appear between education and market experience. We discuss policy implications for entrepreneurship education and regional development.
Recent Advances on g‐C3N4 Based Photocatalysts for Typical Antibiotics Photodegradation: Preparation, Mechanism and Influencing Factors
Authors: Wang Xuerong , Niu Jinfen , Yang Lan , Guo Xingru , Yu Xiaojiao , Yao Binghua
Published: December 2023

Antibiotics cause negative impacts on the ecosystem and people‘s health, and it is imperative to reduce antibiotic residuum in a green and sustainable way. There has been a broad application of photocatalytic technology in the sewage treatment field. Compared with metal oxides, graphite carbon nitride, as an n‐type non‐metallic semiconducting polymer, has an applicable energy gap, simple preparation and easily accessible. Yet the g‐C3N4 of simple preparation tends to have some crucial weaknesses like rapid charge carrier recombination, underutilization of the visible spectrum and incomplete mineralization, which severely confine its farther application. Element doping modification enormously improves the separation of g‐C3N4 photogenic hole‐charge, which is applied to the removal of antibiotics in wastewater. The doping modification of g‐C3N4‐based semiconductor photocatalysts and research progress in the photocatalytic degradation of various antibiotics (sulfonamides, β‐lactam, quinolones, tetracycline) in water are reviewed in this paper, and the preparation of g‐C3N4, the sorts and principles of elemental doping are investigated, with emphasis on the application of g‐C3N4 towards the photocatalytic degradation of antibiotics, and the existing problems and challenges in this field are put forward.
Microwave‐Assisted Synthesis and Characterization of Some Aldehyde Derivatives of Imidazo[2,1‐b][1,3,4]thiadiazole: Crystal Structure Insights, In‐Silico and Biological Studies
Authors: Sagar Kunigal S. , Kumara Karthik , SH Banu , Lokanath Neratur K. , Kumara Manikyanahalli N. , Mantelingu Kempegowda
Published: December 2023

The microwave‐assisted synthesis, crystallographic studies, in‐silico docking and the evaluation of in‐vitro biological activities of 2‐(3,4‐dimethoxy)‐6‐(substituted phenyl)‐ imidazo[2,1‐b][1,3,4]thiadiazole‐5‐carbaldehydes is represented here. Single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction experiments were used to identify the crystal structure of the 6‐(4‐chlorophenyl)‐2‐(3,4‐dimethoxybenzyl)imidazo[2,1‐b][1,3,4]thiadiazole‐5‐carbaldehyde. Using fingerprint plots, Hirshfeld surface analysis was used to confirm the contributions of distinct intermolecular interactions in the development of the crystal packing. Further, density functional theory calculations were employed to calculate the molecule's electronic properties. The chemically active regions on the molecule are identified by analysing the molecular electrostatic potential map. in‐silico studies revealed that the molecules can be effectively used as antibacterial agents by taking the 3q82 receptor with chloramphenicol as a standard. As compared to the chloramphenicol standard, in‐vitro tests showed that molecules 4 a, 4 b, 4 c, and 4 f had a zone of inhibition that ranged from 9 to 11 mm against both Gram‐positive (Bacillus subtilis) and Gram‐negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentration was between 40 to 70 μg/ml. These compounds′ Hydroxyl free radical scavenging activity was between 40 to 85 %. Whereas, DPPH radical scavenging activity was between 40 and 70 %. Percentage hemolysis or cell protective activity of the compounds was ineffective at 20–40 %.
Tailoring Morphology and Size of Silver Nanoparticles Prepared by Polyol Method by Changing the Structure of Silver Carboxylate Precursor
Authors: Titkov Alexander I. , Borisenko Tatyana A. , Logutenko Olga A. , Vorobyev Alexander M. , Gerasimov Evgeniy Yu. , Shashkov Mikhail V.
Published: December 2023

Silver nanoparticles are synthesized by reducing silver alkyl carboxylates at their high concentrations with ethylene and propylene glycol without a common use of polymeric dispersants and stabilizers. The effects of alkyl chain structure on the morphology and size of silver particles have been studied by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, powder X‐ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analyses. The carboxylates that have been investigated are silver caprylate, laurate, 2‐butyloctanoate, and 2‐ethylhexanoate. It was found that the reduction temperature of straight‐chain alkyl carboxylates is in the 110–120 °C range. The particles prepared under these conditions are perfectly spherical in shape and their average size varies from 20 to 40 nm. In the case of the branched structure, the reduction process starts at around 80 °C and produces irregularly shaped silver particles with a size of 150 to 450 nm. Possible ways of controlling the parameters of the synthesized nanoparticles are proposed. This study proposes a simple and easily scalable method to prepare silver nanoparticles stabilized by a non‐polymeric stabilizer. The as‐synthesized silver particles may have applications as metallic fillers in ink and paste formulations for 2D and 3D printing to fabricate functional components and devices.
Application of Deep Eutectic Solvents in Formation of Carbon‐Carbon and Carbon‐Heteroatom Bond by Cross‐Coupling Reactions
Authors: Jiang Qi , Wu Cong , Zhong Hui , Pan Tong , Peng Caiyun , Wang Wenmao , Wang Wei , Sheng Wenbing
Published: December 2023

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs), known as the emerging organic reaction medium in the 21st century, have many advantages such as cheap, readily available, non‐pollution, and biodegradable. Its good properties make it an alternative to volatile organic solvents. The insights in to carbon‐carbon and carbon‐heteroatom bond formations and their applications since 2017 are encapsulated, which not only highlighting the significant achievements pertaining to the important role of DESs as solvents but also including popular named organic reactions for cross‐coupling reactions relating to the nature of DESs and the core optimum conditions. The review also encompasses a brief overview of the current situation and future development of DESs.
Hydrothermal assembly strategy for the construction of oxygen‐bridging lanthanide‐substituted bilacunary Keggin‐type germanotungstate tetramers encapsulating [W3O12]6− connector
Authors: He Ying , Cao Yue‐Mei , Pei Xin‐Yue , Wang Jia‐Yin , Wang Hong‐Yan , Bo Qi‐Bing
Published: December 2023

Under the hydrothermal condition and presence of organic amines, incorporating lanthanide (Ln) ions into monolacunary Keggin‐type germanotungstate precursor resulted in the formation of two new complex clusters formulated as H17(H2en)5[K3(H2O)(GeW10O37TbOTb)4(μ6‐W3O12)] ⋅ 45H2O (GeW‐Tb) and H22(H2en)3[K2(GeW10O37EuOEu)4(H2O)(μ6‐W3O12)] ⋅ 44H2O (GeW‐Eu) (en=ethylenediamine), which have been structurally characterized by elemental analyses, ICP analysis, IR spectra, thermogravimetric analysis, bond valence sum calculations and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. The most prominent structural feature of GeW‐Eu and GeW‐Tb revealed an unprecedented oxygen‐bridging Ln‐substituted bilacunary Keggin‐type germanotungstate tetramers encapsulating [W3O12]6− connector. What's more interesting is that a versatile library of linkable units including bilacunary germanotungstate [α‐GeW10O37]10−, internal oxo group between two Ln ions, as well as central tritungstate intermediate [W3O12]6− are all generated in situ thanks to the potential promotion of hydrothermal reaction system. In particular, the possible assembly mechanism for the complex clusters is proposed, and their solid‐state photoluminescence properties are also discussed in detail. To our knowledge, both [α‐GeW10O37]10− and [W3O12]6− intermediates are the highly robust POM building blocks that were first discovered. The studies highlight the structural diversity of Ln‐substituted germanotungstates and provide a new direction in the design of other functional germanotungstate based POMs in the future.
Synthesis of an Open‐Cage C60 Derivative with a Double Stopper
Authors: Huang Guanglin , Hashikawa Yoshifumi , Murata Yasujiro
Published: December 2023

The construction of a suitable stopper on a C60 orifice is of importance to prevent the release of once‐encapsulated chemical species. However, a single stopper on a large orifice is in usual not sufficient to retain a small molecule within the C60 cavity. In this work, we introduced a double stopper, constituted of two hydroxy groups, on a huge orifice with a ring‐atom count of 18 by a reduction using BH3⋅THF. The resulting double stopper was demonstrated to effectively isolate an argon atom inside the cavity so that the argon was retained even under mass spectrometric conditions at 200 °C. The structure of the open‐cage C60 derivative with the double stopper was confirmed by X‐ray diffraction analysis, showing a dimeric configuration via intermolecular hydrogen‐bondings. The dimerization behavior was also studied in solution.
Endowing the Operability of Supercapacitors at High Temperatures by Regulating the Solvation Structure in Dilute Hybrid Electrolyte with Trimethyl Phosphate Cosolvent
Authors: Wu Di , Wang Yi Ze , Zhang Gen Lei , Chen Xiang Ying , Cui Peng , Feng Hua Jie
Published: December 2023

The redox stabilities of different oxygen donor solvents (C═O, P═O and S═O) and lithium salt anions for supercapacitors (SCs) electrolytes have been compared by calculating the frontier molecular orbital energy. Among six lithium difluoro(oxalate)borate (LiDFOB)‐based mono‐solvent electrolytes, the dilute LiDFOB‐1,4‐butyrolactone (GBL) electrolyte exhibits the highest operating voltage but suffers from electrolyte breakdown at elevated temperatures. Trimethyl phosphate (TMP) exhibits the highest redox stability and a strongly negative electrostatic potential (ESP), making it suitable for promoting the dissolution of LiDFOB as expected. Therefore, TMP is selected as a co‐solvent into LiDFOB‐GBL electrolyte to regulate Li+ solvation structure and improve the operability of electrolytes at high temperatures. The electrochemical stable potential window (ESPW) of 0.5 m LiDFOB‐G/T(5/5) hybrid electrolyte can reach 5.230 V. The activated carbon (AC)‐based symmetric SC using 0.5 m LiDFOB‐G/T(5/5) hybrid electrolyte achieves a high energy density of 54.2 Wh kg−1 at 1.35 kW kg−1 and the capacitance retention reaches 89.2% after 10 000 cycles. The operating voltage of SC can be maintained above 2 V when the temperature rises to 60 °C.
In Situ TEM/STEM Investigation of Crystallization in Y3Al5O12:Ce at High Temperatures Inside a Transmission Electron Microscope
Authors: Liu Zheng , Nakamura Hitomi , Akai Tomoko
Published: December 2023

Y3Al5O12:Ce (YAG:Ce) phosphors are extensively used in the field of white light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) due to their efficient luminescent properties. To optimize the performance of YAG:Ce phosphors, a comprehensive understanding of their synthesis and structural evolution is essential. This paper presents a direct in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) /scanning TEM (STEM) investigation on the transformation process of a precursor comprising nanocrystalline CeO2 dispersed in an amorphous Y–Al oxide matrix into crystalline YAG:Ce particles. The study reveals that nanocrystalline CeO2 particles dissolve completely in the Y–Al oxide matrix at a temperature above 900 °C, while YAlO3 (YAP)‐type crystalline particles with Al2O3 phase in grain boundaries are observed above 1000 °C. Finally, YAG:Ce‐type crystalline particles are formed above 1180 °C. Atomic‐resolution energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS) elemental mapping demonstrates that the doped cerium (Ce) atoms occupy the same atomic sites as yttrium (Y). Photoluminescence measurements validate the efficient luminescent properties of the obtained YAG:Ce phosphor.
Near‐Infrared Light‐Driven Nanoparticles for Cancer Photoimmunotherapy by Synergizing Immune Cell Death and Epigenetic Regulation
Authors: Wang Huizhe , Xiong Xiaohui , Zhang Jiaqi , Wu Meicen , Gu Yinhui , Chen Yanli , Gu YueQing , Wang Peng
Published: December 2023

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are a class of epigenetic enzymes that are closely related to tumorigenesis and suppress the expression of tumor suppressor genes. Whereas the HDACs inhibitors can release DNA into the cytoplasm and trigger innate immunity. However, the high density of chromatin limits DNA damage and release. In this study, suitable nanosized CycNHOH NPs (150 nm) and CypNHOH NPs (85 nm) efficiently accumulate at the tumor site due to the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. In addition, robust single‐linear oxygen generation and good photothermal conversion efficiency under NIR laser irradiation accelerated the DNA damage process. By effectively initiating immune cell death, CypNHOH NPs activated both innate and adaptive immunity by maturing dendritic cells, infiltrating tumors with natural killer cells, and activating cytotoxic T lymphocytes, which offer a fresh perspective for the development of photo‐immunotherapy.
Photothermal‐Controllable Microneedles with Antitumor, Antioxidant, Angiogenic, and Chondrogenic Activities to Sequential Eliminate Tracheal Neoplasm and Reconstruct Tracheal Cartilage
Authors: Wang B. , Fei X. , Yin H. F. , Xu X. N. , Zhu J. J. , Guo Z. Y. , Wu J. W. , Zhu X. S. , Zhang Y. , Xu Y. , Yang Y. , Chen L. S.
Published: December 2023

The optimal treatment for tracheal tumors necessitates sequential tumor elimination and tracheal cartilage reconstruction. This study introduces an innovative inorganic nanosheet, MnO2/PDA@Cu, comprising manganese dioxide (MnO2) loaded with copper ions (Cu) through in situ polymerization using polydopamine (PDA) as an intermediary. Additionally, a specialized methacrylic anhydride modified decellularized cartilage matrix (MDC) hydrogel with chondrogenic effects is developed by modifying a decellularized cartilage matrix with methacrylic anhydride. The MnO2/PDA@Cu nanosheet is encapsulated within MDC‐derived microneedles, creating a photothermal‐controllable MnO2/PDA@Cu‐MDC microneedle. Effectiveness evaluation involved deep insertion of the MnO2/PDA@Cu‐MDC microneedle into tracheal orthotopic tumor in a murine model. Under 808 nm near‐infrared irradiation, facilitated by PDA, the microneedle exhibited rapid overheating, efficiently eliminating tumors. PDA's photothermal effects triggered controlled MnO2 and Cu release. The MnO2 nanosheet acted as a potent inorganic nanoenzyme, scavenging reactive oxygen species for an antioxidant effect, while Cu facilitated angiogenesis. This intervention enhanced blood supply at the tumor excision site, promoting stem cell enrichment and nutrient provision. The MDC hydrogel played a pivotal role in creating a chondrogenic niche, fostering stem cells to secrete cartilaginous matrix. In conclusion, the MnO2/PDA@Cu‐MDC microneedle is a versatile platform with photothermal control, sequentially combining antitumor, antioxidant, pro‐angiogenic, and chondrogenic activities to orchestrate precise tracheal tumor eradication and cartilage regeneration.
Influence of Electromagnetic Field on Stirring Energy in Selected Metallurgical Equipment
Authors: Zielińska Monika , Yang Hongliang , Madej Łukasz , Malinowski Łukasz
Published: December 2023

This article analyzes the turbulence dissipation rate in liquid steel in selected metallurgical equipment (i.e., electric arc furnace, ladle furnace, and tundish) based on advanced computational fluid dynamics simulations. The approach enables evaluation of the efficiency of electromagnetic stirrer (EMS) devices based on the molten steel flow behavior in comparison with the standard mixing process. Particular attention is put on the determination of the effectiveness of novel EMS with the horizontal stirring device, which supports the mixing process of molten steel. For that, the concept of the new formula to evaluate the stirring energy is presented and compared with the literature results to prove the correctness of the developed method.
Tear clearance rate in dogs: Measurement using anterior segment optical coherence tomography
Authors: Yoon Hyun‐Jeong , Park Sangshin , Kim Joon‐Young
Published: December 2023

Objective

The tear clearance rate (TCR), determined using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS‐OCT) images, and its correlation with ocular surface parameters, including blink rate, Schirmer tear test‐1 (STT‐1) and tear film breakup time (TFBUT), were evaluated.

Animals studied

Left eyes of 20 client‐owned dogs with no ocular disease symptoms.

Procedures

The tear meniscus height (TMH) was evaluated using AS‐OCT images before the instillation of 5 μL saline (TMHbase), immediately post‐instillation (TMH0), 30‐s post‐instillation (TMH0.5) and at 1 min intervals for 5 min post‐instillation (TMH1, TMH2, TMH3, TMH4 and TMH5). The TCR was calculated using the formula [(TMH0 − TMH0.5)/TMH0]×100 (%). The eyes were classified into two groups with the median: ‘High TMHbase’ (n = 10) and ‘Low TMHbase’ (n = 10). Eyes with STT‐1 values ≥15 mm/min and TFBUT ≥ 12 s were assigned to the ‘Satisfied’ subgroup, whereas eyes not satisfying these criteria were assigned to the ‘Not satisfied’ subgroup.

Results

TMH0 was higher than TMH0.5 (p = 0.02), wherein TMH0.5 to TMH5 did not differ significantly. The TCR and blink rate were negatively correlated (p = 0.02). The ‘Not satisfied’ subgroup in the low TMHbase group had a lower TCR (p = 0.02) and higher blink rate (p = 0.04) than the ‘Satisfied’ subgroup.

Conclusions

TCR can be evaluated using AS‐OCT in dogs. Eyes with a lower TCR blink more frequently. TMH merits studying to understand ocular surface health.
Derivative of Certain Stochastic Integrals with Anticipating Integrands
Authors: Jornet Marc
Published: December 2023

We investigate whether an analogue of the fundamental theorem of calculus holds for the Ayed–Kuo stochastic integral. This integral was defined for anticipating processes $$\phi =\{\phi _t:t\in [a,b]\}$$

ϕ
=
{

ϕ
t

:
t
∈

[
a
,
b
]

}

of the form $$\phi _t=h_t\psi _t$$

ϕ
t

=

h
t

ψ
t

, where h is adapted and $$\psi $$
ψ
is instantly independent with respect to the forward filtration of Brownian motion B. If $$Y_t=\int _a^t \phi _s\text {d}B_s$$

Y
t

=

∫
a
t

ϕ
s

d

B
s

, we aim at proving that $$\begin{aligned} \underset{\Delta t\rightarrow 0}{\text {plim}}\left( \frac{\Delta Y_t}{\Delta B_t}-h_t\psi _{t+\Delta t}\right) =0 \end{aligned}$$

plim

Δ
t
→
0

Δ

Y
t

Δ

B
t

-

h
t

ψ

t
+
Δ
t

=
0

under different scenarios, where the limit is taken to be in probability.
A comprehensive review of studying the influence of laser cutting parameters on surface and kerf quality of metals
Authors: Alsaadawy Muhammad , Dewidar Montasser , Said Ahmed , Maher Ibrahem , Shehabeldeen Taher A.
Published: December 2023

Sheet metals such as titanium alloys, steel alloys, and aluminum alloys are significant materials due to their importance among everyday life products as well as high-strength applications in aircraft, ships, automobiles, construction, military, and marine purposes. Recently, laser cutting is one of the best and fastest non-conventional methods to cut sheet metals, so it is necessary to understand how laser cutting parameters affect cutting quality. A comprehensive review was presented to investigate how laser cutting parameters affect the cut surface and kerf quality and which parameters affect cutting quality the most. An overview of the advantages of laser cutting when compared to other methods of machining was presented. In addition, a description of the laser cutting method and the different sources of laser were presented with clearing the range of thicknesses of the cut material for each source and their advantages. Also, a description of the properties and the applications of the studied materials were discussed. The performance parameters ofcutting were illustrated in detail by graphs and equations. The research analysis and discussion were discussed in such organized details by tables and graphs which show the full classification of the studied papers. It was found that the best conditions to obtain low surface roughness, small HAZ width, small kerf width, and small kerf angle are using low laser power, high cutting speed, medium gas pressure, high standoff distance, medium pulse frequency, medium pulse width, small nozzle diameter, small thickness, and nitrogen as an assist gas.
Rapid characterization of adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid proteins using microchip ZipChip CE-MS
Authors: Smith Josh , Carillo Sara , Kulkarni Aditya , Redman Erin , Yu Kate , Bones Jonathan
Published: December 2023

Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are viral vectors used as delivery systems for gene therapies. Intact protein characterization of AAV viral capsid proteins (VPs) and their post-translational modifications is critical to ensuring product quality. In this study, microchip-based ZipChip capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) was applied for the rapid characterization of AAV intact VPs, specifically full and empty viral capsids of serotypes AAV6, AAV8 and AAV9, which was accomplished using 5 min of analysis time. Low levels of dimethyl sulfoxide (4%) in the background electrolyte (BGE) improved MS signal quality and component detection. A sensitivity evaluation revealed consistent detection of VP proteoforms when as little as 2.64 × 106 viral particles (≈26.4 picograms) were injected. Besides the traditional VP proteoforms used for serotype identification, multiple VP3 variants were detected, including truncated VP3 variants most likely generated by leaky scanning as well as unacetylated and un-cleaved VP3 proteoforms. Phosphorylation, known to impact AAV transduction efficiency, was also seen in all serotypes analysed. Additionally, low abundant fragments originating from either N- or C-terminus truncation were detected. As the aforementioned VP components can impact product quality and efficacy, the ZipChip’s ability to rapidly characterize them illustrates its strength in monitoring product quality during AAV production.

Graphical Abstract
User versus institutional perspectives of metadata and searching: an investigation of online access to cultural heritage content during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Gibson Ryan Colin , Chowdhury Sudatta , Chowdhury Gobinda
Published: December 2023

Findings from log analyses of user interactions with the digital content of two large national cultural heritage institutions (National Museums of Scotland and National Galleries of Scotland) during the COVID-19 lockdown highlighted limited engagement compared to pre-pandemic levels. Just 8% of users returned to these sites, whilst the average time spent, and number of pages accessed, were generally low. This prompted a user study to investigate the potential mismatch between the way content was indexed by the curators and searched for by users. A controlled experiment with ten participants, involving two tasks and a selected set of digital cultural heritage content, explored: (a) how does the metadata assigned by cultural heritage organisations meet or differ from the search needs of users? and (b) how can the search strategies of users inform the search pathways employed by cultural heritage organisations? Findings reveal that collection management standards like Spectrum encourage a variety of different characteristics to be considered when developing metadata, yet much of the content is left to the interpretations of curators. Rather, user- and context-specific guidelines could be beneficial in ensuring the aspects considered most important by consumers are indexed, thereby producing more relevant search results. A user-centred approach to designing cultural heritage websites would help to improve an individual’s experience when searching for information. However, a process is needed for institutions to form a concrete understanding of who their target users are before developing features and designs to suit their specific needs and interests.
Predicting merge conflicts considering social and technical assets
Authors: Vale Gustavo , Costa Heitor , Apel Sven
Published: December 2023

Concurrent contributions to a code base may introduce merge conflicts. Whereas merge conflicts are easy and common to introduce, resolving them is a difficult, time-consuming, and often error-prone task. Previous research concentrated on the emergence of merge conflicts considering technical assets in their analyses and often ignored the social perspective (e.g., developer roles). Our goal is to understand and predict merge conflicts considering social and technical assets. We devise three models for predicting merge conflicts based on common measures used by developers. The first model focuses on the social assets, the second on technical assets, and the third on technical and social assets. To evaluate our predictors, we report on a large-scale empirical study analyzing the histories of 66 real-world software systems. Specifically, we categorize developers into top or occasional contributors at project and merge-scenario level. We found that top contributors at project level and occasional contributors at merge-scenario level cause more merge conflicts than the other roles. Hence, the coordination of top contributors at project level and occasional contributors at merge-scenario level is a good starting point to minimize the occurrence of merge conflicts (especially because when these two developers work on the source branch, the chances of merge conflicts are 32.31%). Overall, we show that predicting merge conflicts incorporating developer roles is possible in practice with high accuracy (0.92) and recall (1.00) when combining technical and social assets, which is vital information to guide improvements on speculative merging techniques.
Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) signalling in seed dormancy release, perception of environmental cues, and heat stress response
Authors: Puglia Giuseppe Diego
Published: December 2023

Seed germination is a crucial plant-life process whose success depends largely on the seed's ability to germinate under favourable environmental conditions. Through molecular signalling, a seed is able to perceive environmental information, assimilate it, and transmit signals that determine its destiny. Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species (RONS) function as signalling molecules that influence multiple phases of plant development. In the process of seed germination, their presence generally promotes germination completion, though not to the same extent in all species and environments. As signalling molecules, they participate in the sensing of light and temperature fluctuations as favourable germination cues, but they also play a role in inhibiting germination when temperatures exceed the optimal range, preventing seedling exposure to heat. Depending on environmental conditions, RONS set up crosstalk with the major phytohormones involved in germination, ABA, GA, and even auxin, regulating their biosynthesis and signalling. Here, we show relevant studies on how RONS exert seed germination control on multiple levels, such as through protein oxidation, epigenetic control, promotion of phytohormone key-metabolism genes expression, post-translational protein modifications, and redox interactions with DOG1. This review summarises the current understanding of the role of RONS in the seed, from its maturation to the transduction of environmental conditions. Special consideration is given to the RONS-mediated germination response to favourable stimuli, such as light or temperature fluctuations, and to conditions that inhibit germination, such as high temperatures.
Obesity Management Solutions in Rural Communities
Authors: Beverly Elizabeth A.
Published: December 2023

Purpose of Review

Obesity is more common in rural than in urban areas. The disparities in body mass index (BMI) may be due to growing socioeconomic disparities in rural communities, including limited healthcare infrastructure, lack of access to healthy and affordable food, transportation barriers, financial insecurity, lower educational attainment, and barriers to physical activity. To address these issues, obesity management models are needed in rural areas to promote and sustain weight loss. Obesity interventions for rural populations published in the last 5 years are included in this review.

Recent Findings

Recent clinical trials report improvements in nutrition knowledge, physical activity, reduced energy consumption, and weight loss in rural populations. Three elementary school-based interventions implemented nutrition, physical activity, or a nutrition plus physical activity interventions ranging in duration from 2 months to 3 years. These interventions observed improvements in nutrition knowledge, daily energy intake, and body mass index (BMI), such that the trial resulted in weight loss or prevented weight gain. Two school-based lunch interventions observed increases in fruit and vegetable intake, reductions in energy consumption, and decreases sugar and sodium intake. Two large cluster randomized controlled trials in the USA showed clinically significant weight loss could be achieved via different lifestyle intervention approaches. Similarly, a 1-year intensive lifestyle intervention in Germany documented reductions in body weight and BMI. Additionally, recent telehealth interventions compared the use of teleconferencing, telephone counseling, and short message service (SMS) interventions to promote weight loss. Overall, findings showed that telehealth interventions can recruit and retain rural adults, and improvements in weight loss were greater than or equal to in-person interventions.

Obesity is a serious public health problem associated with cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and certain cancers. Well-designed, geographically tailored interventions with proper control conditions are needed for rural populations. Including data from neighborhood built environment with comprehensive interventions that address barriers to healthy eating, physical activity, and behavior change hold the most promise for the future.
Cellulose-based sustainable packaging of leafy vegetables: an experimental study on the shelf life of baby spinach
Authors: Agustin-Salazar Sarai , Torrieri Elena , Immirzi Barbara , Di Lorenzo Maria Laura
Published: December 2023

A novel bio-based and compostable cellulose film (NF) was studied for the packaging of fresh baby spinach, with results compared to a petroleum-derived non-biodegradable polypropylene (PP) film, currently used to market the same product. Baby spinach is a leafy vegetable with high metabolic activity. A preliminary analysis of the product respiration rate was conducted to select the cellulose film grade. The chosen NF film ensures the optimal O2 and CO2 concentration in the headspace, performing even better than the conventional PP film. In fact, when the leafy vegetable is packed within PP, after 15 days of storage, no equilibrium value of gas concentration was reached, which, upon longer storage, might cause anaerobic conditions and off-odor development. Baby spinach leaves packed with NF film showed a slower decrement in texture properties and total antioxidant capacity during storage with respect to control samples, but also a larger weight loss, mostly due to the high-water permeability of the cellulose. However, water condensation upon storage was noted for both packaging materials. Analysis of mechanical, thermal, and barrier properties of the NF film before, during, and after use probed no deterioration of material properties, confirming the potentiality of this polymer for sustainable packaging of fresh leafy vegetables.
A comprehensive survey to study the utilities of image segmentation methods in clinical routine
Authors: Mohapatra Rashmita Kumari , Jolly Lochan , Lyngdoh Dalamchwami Chen , Mourya Gajendra Kumar , Changaai Mangalote Iffa Afsa , Alam Syed Intekhab , Dakua Sarada Prasad
Published: December 2023

The clinicians usually desire to know the shape of the liver during treatment planning to minimize the damage to the surrounding healthy tissues and hepatic vessels, thus, building the geometric model of the liver becomes paramount. There have been several liver image segmentation methods to build the model over the years. Considering the advantages of conventional image segmentation methods, this paper reviews them that spans over last 2 decades. The review examines about twenty-five automated and eleven semi-automatic approaches that include Probabilistic atlas, K-means, Model and knowledge-based (such as active appearance model, live wire), Graph cut, Region growing, Active contour-based, Expectation Maximization-based, Level sets, Laplacian network optimization, etc. The main contribution of this paper is to highlight their clinical suitability by providing their advantages and possible limitations. It is nearly impossible to assess the methodologies on a single scale because a common patient database is usually not used, rather, diverse datasets such as MICCAI 2007 Grand Challenge (Sliver), 3DIRCADb, Zhu Jiang Hospital of Southern Medical University (China) and others have been used. As a result, this study depends on the popular metrics such as FPR, FNR, AER, JCS, ASSD, DSC, VOE, and RMSD. offering a sense of efficacy of each approach. It is found that while automatic segmentation methods perform better technically, they are usually less preferred by the clinicians. Since the objective of this paper is to provide a holistic view of all the conventional methods from clinicians’ stand point, we have suggested a conventional framework based on the findings in this paper. We have also included a few research challenges that the readers could find them interesting.
Tribological behavior of lubricant-impregnated porous polyimide
Authors: Li Jinbang , Zhou Ningning , Wong Janet S. S.
Published: December 2023

Porous materials impregnated with lubricants can be used in conditions where limited lubricant is desirable. In this work, three porous polyimides (PPI) with different densities were prepared. Polyalphaolefin (PAO) impregnated PPI (iPPI) discs were rubbed against steel and sapphire balls. In operando observations of the iPPI–sapphire contacts show that oil is released under an applied load, forming a meniscus around contacts. Cavitation at the outlet is created at high sliding speeds. The amount of released oil increases with increasing PPI porosity. Contact moduli, E*, estimated based on the actual contact size show that trapped oil in iPPIs contributes to load support. At higher speeds, tribological rehydration of the contact occurs in low density iPPI, with that E* rises with speed. For high density PPIs, high speeds give a constantly high E* which is limited by the viscoelastic properties of the PPI network and possibly the rate of oil exudation. Friction of iPPI–steel contacts is governed by the mechanical properties of the PPI, the flow of the lubricant, and the roughness of the PPI surfaces. For low- and medium- density (highly porous, high roughness) PPIs, large amount of oil is released, and lubrication is mainly via lubricant restricted in the contact in the pores and possibly tribological rehydration. For high density (low porosity) PPI, with lower roughness, hydrodynamic lubrication is achieved which gives the lowest friction. Our results show that polymeric porous materials for effective lubrication require the optimization of its surface roughness, stiffness, oil flow, and oil retentions.
Large-Scale Data Analytics with Python and Spark
Authors: Triguero Isaac , Galar Mikel
Published: December 2023

Based on the authors' extensive teaching experience, this hands-on graduate-level textbook teaches how to carry out large-scale data analytics and design machine learning solutions for big data. With a focus on fundamentals, this extensively class-tested textbook walks students through key principles and paradigms for working with large-scale data, frameworks for large-scale data analytics (Hadoop, Spark), and explains how to implement machine learning to exploit big data. It is unique in covering the principles that aspiring data scientists need to know, without detail that can overwhelm. Real-world examples, hands-on coding exercises and labs combine with exceptionally clear explanations to maximize student engagement. Well-defined learning objectives, exercises with online solutions for instructors, lecture slides, and an accompanying suite of lab exercises of increasing difficulty in Jupyter Notebooks offer a coherent and convenient teaching package. An ideal teaching resource for courses on large-scale data analytics with machine learning in computer/data science departments.