bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Noble metal nanoparticles dispersed on nanocellulose: a green platform for catalytic organic transformations
Authors: Thach-Nguyen Roya , Dang-Bao Trung
Published: October 2022

In recent years, plant-derived biomaterials, typically cellulose, acting as catalytic supports have a great impact on heterogeneous catalysis thanks to their biodegradability, non-toxicity, low-cost, availability and easy-implementation. As the most abundant biopolymer found in nature, cellulose consists of repeating cellobiose units which are built up from two anhydroglucose rings and linked by a β-1,4 glycosidic bond. The term of “nanocellulose” has been widely used to describe cellulose nano-objects, involving cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) and bacterial cellulose (BC). Nanocellulose features high specific surface area and controllable surface chemistry, high crystalline structure, superior mechanical strength and thermal stability, resulting in its applications in food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, biomedical and paper industries. Concerning to catalytic support application, the nanocellulose surface possesses the hydroxyl (in nature) or the sulfate ester groups (modified via acid hydrolysis), facilitating metal ions reduction towards the corresponding metal nanoparticles. In addition, the supramolecular structure of cellulose permits to disperse metal nanoparticles and prevent their agglomerations. In this context, nanocellulose is introduced as matrices for immobilizing noble metal nanoparticles and then applied to catalytic organic transformations.
Synthesis characterization and Luminescence Properties of B2BiMg2V3O12 based phosphors with rare earth activated Dy3+ phosphor for solid state lighting
Authors: Tatte S P , Dhoble N S , Mishra G C , Dhoble S J
Published: October 2022

Highly new efficient vanadate based phosphor B2BiMg2V3O12 (B= K & Na) material incapacitated through rare-earth Dysprosium (Dy) and it was characterized by high temperature solid-state synthesis. Equipped phosphor was established by X-ray diffraction method. In Photo-luminescence measurements shows that the prepared phosphors doped by Dy is excited by near UV ultraviolet light reaching after 300 nm to 380 nm efficiently acceptable to recognize the emission in visible spectrum (in the range 400 nm –570 nm. The highly efficient prepared phosphor doped with lanthanide doped with Dy phosphor likewise showed the exact emission point at 487 nm and 571 nm at the excitation point at 325 nm. Hence, these prepared phosphors can find numerous applications as green emitting phosphor in the field of solid-state lighting area.
Effect of Zn, Mg and heat treatment on Al base alloy on hardness using Taguchi Technique
Authors: Pruthvi H. M. , Shenoy H. Ghanashyam
Published: October 2022

In the current investigation, effort has been made to develop the Al-Zinc-Mg alloy by changing weight percentage of Zn (5.1, 5.6 and 6.1) and weight percentage of Mg (2.1, 2.5 and 2.9) through liquid metallurgy process. Developed Al-Zn-Mg alloy is exposed to solutionzing treatment at 450°C for holding period of 3 hrs. followed by ageing at 180C for 3 hrs and then Retrogression Reageing (RRA) at 150C for a holding period of 3, 5 and 7 hrs. Then the modified Al-Zn-Mg cast alloys were cut and machined as per ASTM standard test size specimen. The microstructure shows the irregular grains with different shape and size resulting new grain boundaries. Formation of precipitation in the formed alloy was observed restricting dislocation of grains. The hardness of developed Al-Zn-Mg alloy increased with increase in weight percentage of Mg and Zn for all reageing duration. Further, design of experiments L27 orthogonal array was used to determine the signal to noise ratio, optimization and percentage contribution of each factor. Regression equation show that the experimental values are well within the acceptable range.
Effect of outrigger-belt truss system on the storey drift and maximum displacement of high-rise building
Authors: Venkatraman G , Vanathi V , Veeraraghavan S , Sornamugi K
Published: October 2022

High-rise structures are becoming more common around the world, posing new challenges that necessitate ongoing technological foresight. When a structure’s height rises, it’s anticipated to have a lateral load-resisting system other than shear walls in place to negate the effect of lateral loads. However, advances in structural design and engineering have enabled building systems to withstand lateral forces such as wind and seismic stresses. There are numerous structural solutions tailored to resist lateral forces in the structure without adding to the plan area of the building to stabilize it against lateral load. The Outrigger-belt truss system is a common structural solution for successfully managing excessive drift caused by the lateral load. Hence, in this project, an attempt is made to investigate the characteristics of an Outrigger-Belt truss system. The seismic analysis is limited to the linear static method. A comparative analysis is done using STAAD Pro V8i SS6. Finally, the storey drift and maximum displacements obtained are calculated and the results are compared with the moment-resisting frame and the values are tabulated.
Investigations on the fluorescence and radiative parameters of Sm3+ activated BaO-ZnF2-K2O-SiO2-B2O3 glass for laser applications
Authors: Jose Adon , Krishnapriya T , Raju Ani Archa , Shah Febina , Biju P R
Published: October 2022

Present work mainly illustrates the absorbance and fluorescence characteristics of 1 mol% trivalent Samarium ions integrated BaO-ZnF2-K2O-SiO2-B2O3 glass to identify its applicability in photonic materials. With the aid of well renowned Judd Ofelt (J-O) analysis, its corresponding parameters were evaluated by using the absorbance spectrum of the prepared host matrix. Fluorescence spectrum recorded under 400 nm excitation epitomizes 4 luminescent transitions and among these the 4G5/2→6H7/2 transition (598 nm) is observed to be the intense one. Diverse radiative parameters were estimated for that intense emission transition in the Samarium ions integrated BaO+ZnF2+K2O+SiO2+B2O3 glassy system. Comparatively superior fluorescent and radiative features recommend the prepared glassy system for orange lasing applications.
Numerical Study on the Effect of ZrS2 on CZTSSe Photovoltaic Device Using SCAPS 1-D
Authors: Thomas Titu
Published: October 2022

CZTSSe based photovoltaic devices are gaining attention recently. They have many favorable properties like less costly and simple manufacturing processes, comparably nontoxic and easily available constituent components, and most importantly, excellent optoelectronic properties. Herein, we propose a CZTSSe based solar cell and aim to report for the first time a new material for the buffer layer: Zirconium Sulphide (ZrS2). The suggested device here is Al-doped ZnO(AZO)/ZrS2/CZTSSe/Mo. Here we use a numerical simulation package called Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator or SCAPS 1-D to analyze the output of the device with varying input parameters. To explore the impact of the ZrS2 layer on the functioning of the suggested device,its donor density was changed from 1012 cm−3 to 1016 cm−3. The simulations indicate that the donor density doesn’t particularly affect the output parameters of the device within the tested range. Besides the influence of the ZrS2 layer, a study was also carried out to find the role of operating temperature and the intrinsic layer on the proposed device. Most of the parameters declined rapidly with the increase in temperature while they remain constant with the change in ZnO thickness. Efficiency dropped to 9% at 500K from 23 % at 300K and the efficiency of the device remained 23% with the variation of intrinsic layer thickness. As per the simulation results, we can conclude that ZrS2 is an appropriate material as buffer layer for photovoltaic devices with a CZTSSe absorber layer.
Synthesis of Co2+ doped Cadmium borate nanopowder for luminescent applications
Authors: Maddi Lakshmiprasad , Gurugubelli Thirumala Rao
Published: October 2022

Nanoparticles embedded in host materials exhibit a wide variation in properties, viz., photocatalytic activity, luminescence to name a few. In the present study, Cadmium borate was taken as a host in which addition of Cobalt (Co2+) was done through precipitation method. X ray diffraction (XRD) studies revealed only Cadmium borate peaks (indicating the replacement of Co2+ ions at Cd2+ sites, forming a substitutional solid solution), while morphology was found to be agglomerated irregular particles. Photoluminescent studies indicated their possible application for yellowish green coloured emission.
Temperature stimulated bandgap tailoring in the smart chromogenic WO30.33H2O
Authors: Manuja M , Thomas Tintu , Jose Gijo
Published: October 2022

The orthorhombic form of WO30.33H2O is prepared hydrothermally and the thermochromic property of the material is identified using spectroradiometer with in a wavelength range of 325 nm to 1075 nm. The variation of reflectance with temperature is observed and it is accompanied with a change in bandgap. The absorbance relation with temperature is analyzed and the presence of Inter Valence Charge Transfer (IVCT) band is detected in the absorbance spectra. The IVCT bands illustrate the homovalent charge transfer mechanism behind the thermochromism taking place in the compound. The change in bandgap with temperature provides further supportive evidence to the thermochromic phenomenon observed in the compound.
Supercapacitive performance of exfoliated graphitic carbon nitride nanoflakes
Authors: Ragupathi Veena , devaraj Abisha , Panigrahi Puspamitra , Subramaniam N. Ganapathi
Published: October 2022

Recently, Exfoliated graphitic carbon nitride (E-gCN) has drawn significant interest in the field of energy generation and storage. In this study, exfoliated graphitic carbon nitride nanoflakes are synthesized by condensation followed by ultrasonic exfoliation. The supercapative behavior of exfoliated graphitic carbon nitride is analyzed. Structural analyses confirm the formation of thiazine and heptazine heterocycles. Scanning electron microscopy image shows flake-like morphology. The E-gCN exhibit the specific capacitance of 160 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 and retains 96.2% capacity at 3000 cycles. The presence of nitrogen in the two-dimensional layered structure significantly increases the conductivity and alters the electronic structure. The nano-flake morphology increases the charge diffusion kinetics, which improve the charge storage mechanism.
Experimental and First-Principles Thermoelectric studies of Bulk ZnO
Authors: Hashir P , Pradyumnan P.P , Wani Aadil Fayaz , Kaur Kulwinder
Published: October 2022

The Thermoelectric perspective to produce electricity from waste heat has obtained great attention over the last few years. However, the fulfillment of energy requirement of the contemporary world by the thermoelectric method can be achieved by developing good thermoelectric materials of high conversion efficiency. Density functional theory (DFT) is widely used simulation technique in the materials science field for computing electronic properties of the materials. In our DFT calculation Quantum Espresso (QE) package were used to investigate the electronic band structure as well as electronic density of states of bulk ZnO sample. To express core electrons, projector-augmented wave (PAW) pseudopotentials were chosen and to optimize band structure LDA+U method of DFT approximation was opted. Our DFT calculations give direct band gap 3.2004 eV and the experimental value is 3.24 eV. Our works are found to be good acceptance with previously reported values and the DFT study via QE and BoltzTraP codes are suitable for predicting the thermoelectric properties of semiconductor materials.
Structural analysis of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 manganite synthesized by sol-gel and solid-state route
Authors: Uthaman Bhagya , Prasad Akhila , Hariram M
Published: October 2022

In this study, the structural properties of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) manganite synthesized in bulk and nano form have been analyzed in detail. The bulk LSMO was synthesized by the solid-state method whereas the LSMO nanoparticles was prepared using the sol-gel route. The structural properties of the prepared samples were examined using X-Ray diffraction (XRD). Rietveld refinement confirmed that all the samples crystallize in R-3c space group with a rhombohedral structure. Williamson-Hall (WH) Analysis using Uniform deformation model and Size strain plots (SSP) were employed to determine the average crystallite size and microstrain in the synthesized samples. SEM and TEM measurements have also been taken to analyse their size distribution.
The Clémentel moment: the reform of 1918 and the beginnings of regional economic planning in France
Authors: Cudbird Terence
Published: October 2022

In 1918 Clémentel, the ministre du Commerce organized the 149 chambers of commerce in France into regional groupings. He hoped they would be effective partners with the government in the economic development of their regions. Clémentel’s reform should be seen not just as a manifestation of economic regionalism but also as part of a new approach to managing the French economy which made widespread use of corporate bodies as intermediaries between the government and private interests. The article shows how the reform emerged from pre-war debates on economic regionalism and also from wartime planning for the post-First World War economy. It describes how Clémentel encouraged a number of intermediary corporate bodies, including chambers of commerce, to play a significant role in economic affairs. Based on original research it analyses the initiatives these bodies took in transport, power generation and technical education after the war in many regions of France. This economic regionalism was part of a major institutional change in economic policy making. It was also the precursor of the regionalization of economic planning after the Second World War.
Plant N-acylethanolamines play a crucial role in defense and its variation in response to elevated CO2 and temperature in tomato
Authors: Hu Zhangjian , Shi Junying , Feng Shuxian , Wu Xiaodan , Shao Shujun , Shi Kai
Published: October 2022

The ubiquitous lipid-derived molecules N-acylethanolamines (NAEs) have multiple immune functions in mammals, but their roles and mechanisms in plant defense response during changing environment remain largely unclear. Here, we found that exogenous NAE18:0 and NAE18:2 promoted defense against the necrotrophic pathogen Botrytis cinerea but suppressed defense to the hemi-biotrophic pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst) DC3000 in tomato. The knocking-down and overexpression function analysis of the pathogen-responsive NAE synthetic gene PHOSPHOLIPASE Dγ (PLDγ) and hydrolytic gene FATTY ACID AMID HYDROLASE 1 (FAAH1) revealed that the NAE pathway is crucial for plant defense response. Using exogenous applications and SA-abolished NahG plants, we unveiled the antagonistic relationship between NAE and SA in plant defense response. Elevated CO2 and temperature significantly changed the NAE pathway in response to pathogens, while inhibition of the NAE pathway led to the alternation of environment-mediated defense variations against Pst DC3000 in tomato, indicating that NAE pathway is associated with plant defense variations in response to elevated CO2 and temperature. The results herein reveal a new function of NAE in plant defense, and its involvement in environment-mediated defense variation in tomato. These findings shed light on the NAE-based plant defense, which may have relevance to crop disease management in future changing climate.
Europe’s “independence wars”: A constitutional perspective—A reply to Antoine Vauchez
Authors: Vibert Frank
Published: October 2022

This reply to Antoine Vauchez deploys a constitutional perspective to analyze three critical moments identified by Vauchez in the institutional evolution of the European Union. It argues that a constitutional lens offers a more robust perspective for considering the key issues underlying each of the “critical junctures.” It enables a clearer identification of the costs to the EU of prioritizing functional objectives over democratization. It places debate about the independence of the European Central Bank within the broader context of how to situate expert bodies within governance structures. The debates around the judiciary in Hungary and Poland can be seen as part of the inevitable tension between viewing Europe’s construction as a work in progress towards “ever closer union” and the idea that the basic rules of democratic political association should be settled and stable. Far from being a benign “proxy” for Europe’s constitutional evolution, “independence” obscures the real issues and the costs of evasion.
Treatment responses in patients with chromoblastomycosis to itraconazole in Madagascar
Authors: Sendrasoa Fandresena Arilala , Ratovonjanahary Volatantely Tobiniaina , Rasamoelina Tahinamandranto , Ramarozatovo Lala Soavina , Rapelanoro Rabenja Fahafahantsoa
Published: October 2022

Introduction

Chromoblastomycosis (CBM) is a chronic fungal infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissue caused by several pigmented fungi. It is frequently found in tropical and subtropical areas like Madagascar. This study primarily discusses the effects of antifungal therapy while also describing the epidemiological, clinical, and pathological features of CBM in our patients.

Methods

From March 2013 to January 2019, a descriptive prospective study on CBM patients was undertaken. The study included patients with CBM who had received antifungal treatment for at least 3 months. Itraconazole 200 mg was given to patients every day for ˃3 months. Results were assessed at the 6th and 12th months and classified as major responses, minor responses to treatment, or failure.

Results

A total of 29 cases of CBM were included. The mean age of patients was 42.02 years. They primarily worked in rural areas. Infected men were more prevalent. At the end of the 12th month of itraconazole therapy, 3 patients presented major responses, 14 patients had minor responses to treatment, and 12 had been lost to follow-up. The clinical response of CBM to treatment was correlated to the severity and the long course of CBM. When compared with CBM caused by Cladophialophora, CBM caused by Fonsecaea showed a greater clinical response.

Conclusion

These findings demonstrated that CBM lesions are recalcitrant and difficult to treat.
The specific angular momentum of disc galaxies and its connection with galaxy morphology, bar structure, and disc gravitational instability
Authors: Romeo Alessandro B , Agertz Oscar , Renaud Florent
Published: October 2022

The specific angular momenta (j ≡ J/M) of stars (j⋆), gas (jgas), baryons as a whole (jb) and dark matter haloes (jh) contain clues of vital importance about how galaxies form and evolve. Using one of the largest samples of disc galaxies (S0–BCD) with high-quality rotation curves and near-infrared surface photometry, we perform a detailed comparative analysis of j that stretches across a variety of galaxy properties. Our analysis imposes tight constraints on the ‘retained’ fractions of specific angular momentum (j⋆/jh, jH i/jh, and jb/jh), as well as on their systematic trends with mass fraction and galaxy morphology, thus on how well specific angular momentum is conserved in the process of disc galaxy formation and evolution. In particular, one of the most innovative results of our analysis is the finding that galaxies with larger baryon fractions have also retained larger fractions of their specific angular momentum. Furthermore, our analysis demonstrates how challenging it is to characterize barred galaxies from a gravitational instability point of view. This is true not only for the popular Efstathiou, Lake & Negroponte bar instability criterion, which fails to separate barred from non-barred galaxies in about 55 per cent of the cases, but also for the mass-weighted Toomre parameter of atomic gas, 〈QH i〉, which succeeds in separating barred from non-barred galaxies, but only in a statistical sense.
Age-morphology dependence of the Milky Way boxy/peanut bulge seen in Mira variables
Authors: Semczuk Marcin , Dehnen Walter , Schönrich Ralph , Athanassoula E
Published: October 2022

We analyse the distribution of Mira variable stars in the central region of the Milky Way. We find that with increasing period, i.e. decreasing age, the Miras shift towards negative Galactic longitudes ℓ. Comparing to a cosmological zoom simulation of a barred galaxy, we find that this shift with age can be explained by an age-morphology dependence of the boxy peanut/bulge. Owing to a combination of projection effects and the limitation of the range of Galactic longitudes, the near hump at ℓ > 0 is more truncated for younger populations, and the far hump at ℓ < 0 dominates the observed distributions.
A mechanism of bar formation in disc galaxies: Synchronization of apsidal precession
Authors: Bekki Kenji
Published: October 2022

We discuss the mechanism(s) of bar formation in isolated and tidally interacting disc galaxies using the results of idealized collision-less N-body simulations of the galaxies. In order to better understand the mechanism, we investigate orbital eccentricities (e), epochs of apocentre passages (ta), azimuthal angles at ta (φa), precession rates (Ωpre), for individual stars, as well as bar strengths represented by relative m = 2 Fourier amplitude (A2) and bar pattern speeds (Ωbar). The main results are as follows. A significant fraction of stars with initially different φa and Ωpre in an isolated disc galaxy can have similar values within several dynamical time-scales. This synchronization of φa and Ωpre, which is referred to as apsidal precession synchronization (‘APS’) in this study, is caused by the enhanced strength of the tangential component of gravitational force. A weak seed bar (A2 < 0.1) is first formed through APS in local regions of a disc, then the bar grows due to APS. In the bar growth phase (0.1 < A2 < 0.4), APS can proceed more efficiently due to stronger tangential force from the bar so that it can enhance the bar strength further. This positive feedback loop in APS is the key physical mechanism of bar growth in isolated stellar discs. Bar formation can be severely suppressed in discs with lower disc mass fractions and/or higher Q parameters due to much less efficient APS. APS proceeds more rapidly and more efficiently due to strong tidal perturbation in the formation of tidal bars compared to spontaneous bar formation.
Apparent counter-rotation in the torus of NGC 1068: influence of an asymmetric wind
Authors: Bannikova Elena Yu , Akerman Nina O , Capaccioli Massimo , Berczik Peter P , Akhmetov Vladimir S , Ishchenko Marina V
Published: October 2022

The recent ALMA maps together with observations of H2O maser emission seem to suggest the presence of a counter-rotation in the obscuring torus of NGC 1068. We propose to explain this phenomenon as due to the influence of a wind, considered as radiation pressure, and the effects of torus orientation. In order to test this idea: 1. we make N-body simulation of a clumpy torus taking into account mutual forces between particles (clouds); 2. we apply ray-tracing algorithm with the beams from the central engine to choose the clouds in the torus throat that can be under direct influence of the accretion disk emission; 3. we use semi-analytical model to simulate the influence of the asymmetrical radiation pressure (wind) forced on the clouds in the torus throat. An axis of such a wind is tilted with respect to the torus symmetry axis; 4. we orient the torus relative to an observer and again apply ray-tracing algorithm. In this step the beams go from an observer to the optically thick clouds that allows us to take into account the mutual obscuration of clouds; 5. after projecting on the picture plane, we impose a grid on the resulting cloud distribution and find the mean velocity of clouds in each cells to mimic the ALMA observational maps. By choosing the parameters corresponding to NGC 1068 we obtain the model velocity maps that emulate the effect of an apparent counter-rotation and can explain the discovery made by ALMA.
3D modelling of the impact of stellar activity on tidally locked terrestrial exoplanets: atmospheric composition and habitability
Authors: Ridgway R J , Zamyatina M , Mayne N J , Manners J , Lambert F H , Braam M , Drummond B , Hébrard E , Palmer P I , Kohary K
Published: October 2022

Stellar flares present challenges to the potential habitability of terrestrial planets orbiting M dwarf stars through inducing changes in the atmospheric composition and irradiating the planet’s surface in large amounts of ultraviolet light. To examine their impact, we have coupled a general circulation model with a photochemical kinetics scheme to examine the response and changes of an Earth-like atmosphere to stellar flares and coronal mass ejections. We find that stellar flares increase the amount of ozone in the atmosphere by a factor of 20 compared to a quiescent star. We find that coronal mass ejections abiotically generate significant levels of potential bio-signatures such as N2O. The changes in atmospheric composition cause a moderate decrease in the amount of ultraviolet light that reaches the planets surface, suggesting that while flares are potentially harmful to life, the changes in the atmosphere due to a stellar flare act to reduce the impact of the next stellar flare.
Aromatic chloroosmacyclopentatrienes
Authors: Chu Zhenwei , He Guomei , Shi Chuan , Hua Yuhui , Huang Yaxi , Chen Jiangxi , Xie Hujun , Jia Guochen
Published: October 2022

Aromatic metallacycles are of considerable current interest. Reported aromatic metallacycles are mainly those with carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur. In this work, we report the synthesis and characterization of aromatic chloroosmacyclopentatrienes, which represent the first structurally confirmed metallaaromatic with a chlorine atom in its framework. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies show that these planar chloroosmacyclopentatrienes possess a very short Os–ClC distance suggesting M=ClC bond character.
Multiple waves of viral invasions in Symbiodiniaceae algal genomes
Authors: Benites L Felipe , Stephens Timothy G , Bhattacharya Debashish
Published: October 2022

Dinoflagellates from the family Symbiodiniaceae are phototrophic marine protists that engage in symbiosis with diverse hosts. Their large and distinct genomes are characterized by pervasive gene duplication and large-scale retroposition events. However, little is known about the role and scale of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in the evolution of this algal family. In other dinoflagellates, high levels of HGTs have been observed, linked to major genomic transitions, such as the appearance of a viral-acquired nucleoprotein that originated via HGT from a large DNA algal virus. Previous work showed that Symbiodiniaceae from different hosts are actively infected by viral groups, such as giant DNA viruses and ssRNA viruses, that may play an important role in coral health. Latent viral infections may also occur, whereby viruses could persist in the cytoplasm or integrate into the host genome as a provirus. This hypothesis received experimental support; however, the cellular localization of putative latent viruses and their taxonomic affiliation are still unknown. In addition, despite the finding of viral sequences in some genomes of Symbiodiniaceae, viral origin, taxonomic breadth, and metabolic potential have not been explored. To address these questions, we searched for putative viral-derived proteins in thirteen Symbiodiniaceae genomes. We found fifty-nine candidate viral-derived HGTs that gave rise to twelve phylogenies across ten genomes. We also describe the taxonomic affiliation of these virus-related sequences, their structure, and their genomic context. These results lead us to propose a model to explain the origin and fate of Symbiodiniaceae viral acquisitions.
Antenatal Milk Expression as a Lactation Support Intervention for Parents of Infants With Severe Birth Defects
Authors: Davis Jessica A. , Glasser Melissa , Clemens Michele , Eichhorn Barbara , Vats Kalyani , Demirci Jill R.
Published: October 2022

Background:

A diet high in parent's own milk (parental milk) is a lifesaving intervention for critically ill infants. Lactating parents whose infants are born with birth defects that require surgical repair (surgical infants) shortly after birth often struggle to initiate and maintain a milk supply that meets their infant's nutritional needs. Antenatal milk expression has been identified as a safe, feasible, and potentially effective strategy that promotes parents' direct chest/breastfeeding or milk expression (lactation) confidence and helps parents attain their lactation goals. Two cases are presented to illustrate the potential for using antenatal milk expression as a lactation support intervention for parents of surgical infants.

Case Presentation:

Cases were drawn from a pilot study exploring the feasibility of implementing antenatal milk expression among pregnant parents of surgical infants. Participants were healthy women recruited after 30 weeks of gestation who received a fetal diagnosis of a complex congenital heart defect. Despite variability in clinical course and length of stay, parental milk was provided for the duration of each infant's hospitalization. Participant perceptions of antenatal milk expression varied.

Conclusion:

More research is needed to evaluate the feasibility, efficacy, and parent or provider perceptions of antenatal milk expression as a lactation support intervention for parents of surgical infants.
Practical Strategies in Reconstruction of Soft-Tissue Sarcoma
Authors: Aten David M. , Chang Edward I.
Published: October 2022

Learning Objectives:

After studying this article, the participant should be able to: 1. Discuss the natural history and pathophysiology of sarcoma. 2. Summarize the most up-to-date multidisciplinary management of soft-tissue sarcoma. 3. Provide a synopsis of reconstructive modalities based on anatomical location. 4. Highlight some novel strategies for treatment of lymphedema and phantom limb pain that are common sequelae following treatment and resection of soft-tissue sarcomas.

The management of soft-tissue sarcoma presents unique challenges to the reconstructive surgeon. The optimal management mandates a multidisciplinary approach; however, reconstruction must take into account the extent of the resection and exposed vital structures, but often occurs in the setting of adjuvant treatments including chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Reconstruction is based on the extent of the defect and the location of the primary tumor. As such, an evidence-based, algorithmic approach following the reconstructive ladder is warranted to minimize the risks of complications and maximize success, which varies from head and neck to torso to breast to extremity sarcomas. Aside from reconstruction of the defect, advances in the surgical treatment of lymphedema and neuropathic pain resulting from treatment and extirpation of soft-tissue sarcoma are critical to maintain function and patients’ quality of life.
Unusual Causes of Nasal Septal Abscess Including a COVID-19 Swab Test After Nasal Surgery
Authors: Im Yeon Hee , Kim Dong-Hyun , Lee Il Hwan
Published: October 2022

A nasal septal abscess is a rare lesion that usually results from a nasal septal hematoma after nasal trauma or surgery, although it can occur unexpectedly. Nasal septal abscesses should be prevented and treated immediately. The authors describe 2 unusual cases: 1 caused by sudden loosening of the quilting suture of the nasal septum and the other by a nasopharyngeal swab test for coronavirus disease-2019. The authors also provide an intraoperative video and a literature review.
Dominant carnivore loss benefits native avian and invasive mammalian scavengers
Authors: Fielding Matthew W. , Cunningham Calum X. , Buettel Jessie C. , Stojanovic Dejan , Yates Luke A. , Jones Menna E. , Brook Barry W.
Published: October 2022

Scavenging by large carnivores is integral for ecosystem functioning by limiting the build-up of carrion and facilitating widespread energy flows. However, top carnivores have declined across the world, triggering trophic shifts within ecosystems. Here, we compare findings from previous work on predator decline against areas with recent native mammalian carnivore loss. Specifically, we investigate top-down control on utilization of experimentally placed carcasses by two mesoscavengers—the invasive feral cat and native forest raven. Ravens profited most from carnivore loss, scavenging for five times longer in the absence of native mammalian carnivores. Cats scavenged on half of all carcasses in the region without dominant native carnivores. This was eight times more than in areas where other carnivores were at high densities. All carcasses persisted longer than the three-week monitoring period in the absence of native mammalian carnivores, while in areas with high carnivore abundance, all carcasses were fully consumed. Our results reveal that top-carnivore loss amplifies impacts associated with carnivore decline—increased carcass persistence and carrion access for smaller scavengers. This suggests that even at low densities, native mammalian carnivores can fulfil their ecological functions, demonstrating the significance of global carnivore conservation and supporting management approaches, such as trophic rewilding.
The identification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa persisters using flow cytometry
Authors: Grandy Shannen , Raudonis Renee , Cheng Zhenyu
Published: October 2022

Pseudomonas aeruginosa

persisters are a rare and poorly characterized subpopulation of cells that are responsible for many recurrent infections. The lack of knowledge on the mechanisms that lead to persister cell development is mainly a result of the difficulty in isolating and characterizing this rare population. Flow cytometry is an ideal method for identifying such subpopulations because it allows for high-content single-cell analysis. However, there are fewer established protocols for bacterial flow cytometry compared to mammalian cell work. Herein, we describe and propose a flow cytometry protocol to identify and isolate

P. aeruginosa

persister cells. Additionally, we show that the percentage of potential persister cells increases with increasing antibiotic concentrations above the MIC.
The hippocampus contributes to retroactive stimulus associations during trace fear conditioning
Authors: Puhger Kyle , Crestani Ana P. , Diniz Cassiano R. A. F. , Wiltgen Brian J.
Published: October 2022

Binding events that occur at different times is essential for memory formation. In trace fear conditioning, animals associate a tone and footshock despite no temporal overlap. The hippocampus is thought to mediate this learning by maintaining a memory of the tone until shock occurrence, however evidence for sustained hippocampal tone representations is lacking. Here we demonstrate a retrospective role for the hippocampus in trace fear conditioning. Bulk calcium imaging revealed sustained increases in CA1 activity after footshock that were not observed after tone termination. Optogenetic silencing of CA1 immediately after footshock impaired subsequent memory. Additionally, footshock increased the number of sharp wave-ripples compared to baseline during conditioning. Therefore, post-shock hippocampal activity likely supports learning by reactivating and linking latent tone and shock representations. These findings highlight an underappreciated function of post-trial hippocampal activity in enabling retroactive temporal associations during new learning, as opposed to persistent maintenance of stimulus representations.
Graph Regularized Probabilistic Matrix Factorization for Drug-Drug Interactions Prediction
Authors: Jain Stuti , Chouzenoux Emilie , Kumar Kriti , Majumdar Angshul
Published: October 2022

Co-administration of two or more drugs simultaneously can result in adverse drug reactions. Identifying drug-drug interactions (DDIs) is necessary, especially for drug development and for repurposing old drugs. DDI prediction can be viewed as a matrix completion task, for which matrix factorization (MF) appears as a suitable solution. This paper presents a novel Graph Regularized Probabilistic Matrix Factorization (GRPMF) method, which incorporates expert knowledge through a novel graph-based regularization strategy within an MF framework. An efficient and sounded optimization algorithm is proposed to solve the resulting non-convex problem in an alternating fashion. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated through the DrugBank dataset, and comparisons are provided against state-of-the-art techniques. The results demonstrate the superior performance of GRPMF when compared to its counterparts.
Segment Based Pattern Analysis Reveals a Persistent Regular Rhythm in the Motion Artifact Record of the MIT-BIH Noise Stress Test Database
Authors: Hopenfeld Bruce
Published: October 2022

Background

The MIT-BIH Noise Stress Test Database (NSTDB) is a publicly available resource for testing QRS detection algorithms. Serial QRS detection algorithms applied to the NSTDB have apparently failed to detect the presence of a possible heartbeat like rhythm associated with peaks that the NSTDB classifies as noise. The failure to detect this rhythm may arise from the difficulty associated with interpreting noisy RR interval time series produced by serial QRS detection schemes.

Algorithm Summary and Experiment

To extract rhythm information from noisy peak time/RR interval time series, a peak space signal is created with triangular pulses centered on peaks located by a serial QRS detection algorithm such as Pan-Tompkins. The peak space signal is autocorrelated over 20 s segments and the primary (non-origin) peak in the autocorrelation signal is located. In the presence of reasonably regular sinus rhythm, this peak corresponds to a fundamental RR interval present throughout the 20 s segment. This peak time processing method was applied to the Pan-Tompkins QRS detections in the motion artifact record of the NSTDB. To compare the results to a different algorithm capable of detecting patterns at the segment level, a previously described pattern-based heartbeat detection scheme (Temporal Pattern Search, or “TEPS”) was applied in both single and multiple channel modes to the NSTDB motion artifact record.

Results

Both the Pan-Tompkins/autocorrelation method and TEPS detected a persistent rhythm around 1000-1050 ms in both channels throughout the entirety of the motion artifact record. The RR interval correlation between Pan-Tompkins/autocorrelation and single channel TEPS was 0.8 and 0.7 in channels 1 and 2 respectively with p values of 0.
Category trumps shape as an organizational principle of object space in the human occipitotemporal cortex
Authors: Yargholi Elahe’ , de Beeck Hans Op
Published: October 2022

The organizational principles of the object space represented in human ventral visual cortex are debated. Here we contrast two prominent proposals that, in addition to an organization in terms of animacy, propose either a representation related to aspect ratio or to the distinction between faces and bodies. We designed a critical test that dissociates the latter two categories from aspect ratio and investigated responses from human fMRI and deep neural networks (BigBiGAN). Representational similarity and decoding analyses showed that the object space in occipitotemporal cortex (OTC) and BigBiGAN was partially explained by animacy but not by aspect ratio. Data-driven approaches showed clusters for face and body stimuli and animate-inanimate separation in the representational space of OTC and BigBiGAN, but no arrangement related to aspect ratio. In sum, the findings go in favor of a model in terms of an animacy representation combined with strong selectivity for faces and bodies.
DeepChIA-PET: Accurately predicting ChIA-PET from Hi-C and ChIP-seq with deep dilated networks
Authors: Liu Tong , Wang Zheng
Published: October 2022

Chromatin interaction analysis by paired-end tag sequencing (ChIA-PET) can capture genome-wide chromatin interactions mediated by a specific DNA-associated protein. The ChIA-PET experiments have been applied to explore the key roles of different protein factors in chromatin folding and transcription regulation. However, compared with widely available Hi-C and ChIP-seq data, there are not many ChIA-PET datasets available in the literature. A computational method for accurately predicting ChIA-PET interactions from Hi-C and ChIP-seq data is needed that can save the efforts of performing wet-lab experiments. Here we present DeepChIA-PET, a supervised deep learning approach that can accurately predict ChIA-PET interactions by learning the latent relationships between ChIA-PET and two widely used data types: Hi-C and ChIP-seq. We trained our deep models with CTCF-mediated ChIA-PET of GM12878 as ground truth, and the deep network contains 40 dilated residual convolutional blocks. We first showed that DeepChIA-PET with only Hi-C as input significantly outperforms Peakachu, another computational method for predicting ChIA-PET from Hi-C but using random forests. We next proved that adding ChIP-seq as one extra input does improve the classification performance of DeepChIA-PET, but Hi-C plays a more prominent role in DeepChIA-PET than ChIP-seq. Our evaluation results indicate that our learned models can accurately predict not only CTCF-mediated ChIA-ET in GM12878 and HeLa but also non-CTCF ChIA-PET interactions, including RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) ChIA-PET of GM12878, RAD21 ChIA-PET of GM12878, and RAD21 ChIA-PET of K562. In total, DeepChIA-PET is an accurate tool for predicting the ChIA-PET interactions mediated by various chromatin-associated proteins from different cell types. DeepChIA-PET is publicly available athttp://dna.cs.miami.edu/DeepChIA-PET/.
Mode of inhibition of RNase P by gambogic acid and juglone
Authors: Meyers Nancy Wu , Karasik Agnes , Kaitany Kipchumba , Fierke Carol A. , Koutmos Markos
Published: October 2022

The first step in transfer RNA (tRNA) maturation is the cleavage of the 5’ end of precursor transfer RNA (pre-tRNA) catalyzed by ribonuclease P (RNase P). RNase P is either a ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex with a catalytic RNA subunit or aprotein-onlyRNaseP(PRORP). In most land plants, algae, and Euglenozoa, PRORP is a single-subunit enzyme. There are currently no inhibitors of protein-only RNase P that can be used as tools for studying the biological function of this enzyme. Therefore, we screened for compounds that inhibit the activity of a model PRORP fromA. thalianaorganelles (PRORP1) using a high throughput fluorescence polarization (FP) cleavage assay. Two compounds, gambogic acid and juglone (5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthalenedione) that inhibit PRORP1 in the 1 μM range were identified and analyzed. These compounds similarly inhibit human mtRNase P, a multi-subunit protein enzyme, and are 50-fold less potent against bacterial RNA-dependent RNase P. Biochemical measurements indicate that gambogic acid is a rapid-binding, uncompetitive inhibitor that targets the PRORP1-substrate complex while juglone acts as time-dependent inhibitor of PRORP1. X-ray crystal structures of PRORP1 in complex with juglone demonstrate the formation of a covalent complex with cysteine side chains on the surface of the protein. A model consistent with the kinetic data is that juglone binds to PRORP1 rapidly to form an inactive enzyme-inhibitor (EI) complex, and then undergoes a slow step to form an inactive covalent adduct with PRORP1. These inhibitors have the potential to be developed into tools to probe PRORP structure and function relationships.
The GEN-ERA toolbox: unified and reproducible workflows for research in microbial genomics
Authors: Cornet Luc , Durieu Benoit , Baert Frederik , D’hooge Elizabet , Colignon David , Meunier Loic , Lupo Valérian , Cleenwerck Ilse , Daniel Heide-Marie , Rigouts Leen , Sirjacobs Damien , Declerck Stéphane , Vandamme Peter , Wilmotte Annick , Baurain Denis , Becker Pierre
Published: October 2022

Background

Microbial culture collections play a key role in taxonomy by studying the diversity of their accessions and providing well characterized strains to the scientific community for fundamental and applied research. These microbial resource centers thus need to implement new standards in species delineation, including whole-genome sequencing and phylogenomics. In this context, the genomic needs of the Belgian Coordinated Collections of Microorganisms (BCCM) were studied, resulting in the GEN-ERA toolbox. The latter is a unified cluster of bioinformatic workflows dedicated to both bacteria and small eukaryotes (i.e. yeasts).

Findings

This public toolbox allows researchers without a specific training in bioinformatics to perform robust phylogenetic analyses. Hence, it facilitates all steps from genome downloading and quality assessment, including genomic contamination estimation, to tree reconstruction. It also offers workflows for average nucleotide identity comparisons and metabolic modeling.

Technical details

Nextflow workflows are launched by a single command and are available on the GEN-ERA GitHub repository (https://github.com/Lcornet/GENERA). All the workflows are based on Singularity containers to increase reproducibility.

Testing

The toolbox was developed for a diversity of microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi. It was further tested on an empirical dataset of 18 (meta)genomes of early-branching Cyanobacteria, providing the most up-to-date phylogenomic analysis of theGloeobacteralesorder, the first group to diverge in the evolutionary tree of Cyanobacteria.

Conclusion

The GEN-ERA toolbox can be used to infer completely reproducible comparative genomic and metabolic analyses on prokaryotes and small eukaryotes. Although designed for routine bioinformatics of culture collections, it can also be useful for other applications, as shown by our case study onGloeobacterales.
Integrated assessment of structure and dynamics of solid proteins
Authors: Söldner Benedikt , Grohe Kristof , Neidig Peter , Auch Jelena , Blach Sebastian , Klein Alexander , Vasa Suresh K. , Schäfer Lars V. , Linser Rasmus
Published: October 2022

Understanding macromolecular function, interactions and stability hinges on detailed assessment of conformational ensembles. For solid proteins, accurate elucidation of the spatial aspects of dynamics at physiological temperatures are limited by the qualitative character or low abundance of solid-state NMR internuclear distance information. Here, we demonstrate access to abundant proton-proton internuclear distances for integrated structural biology and chemistry with unprecedented accuracy. Apart from highest-resolution single-state structures, the exact distances enable molecular dynamics (MD) ensemble simulations orchestrated by a dense network of experimental inter-proton distance boundaries gathered in the context of their physical lattices. This direct embedding of experimental ensemble distances into MD will provide access to representative, atomic-level spatial details of conformational dynamics in supramolecular assemblies, crystalline and lipid-embedded proteins, and beyond.