bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nailfold capillary scleroderma pattern may be associated with disease damage in childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus: important lessons from longitudinal follow-up
Authors: Schonenberg-Meinema Dieneke , Bergkamp Sandy C , Nassar-Sheikh Rashid Amara , Gruppen Mariken P , Middelkamp-Hup Maritza A , Armbrust Wineke , Dolman Koert , Hak A Elisabeth , Hissink Muller Petra C E , van Onna Marieke , Swart Joost F , Kuijpers Taco W , Kamphuis Sylvia S M , Smith Vanessa , van den Berg J Merlijn
Published: February 2022

Objectives

To observe if capillary patterns in childhood-onset SLE (cSLE) change over time and find associations between a capillary scleroderma pattern with disease activity, damage or scleroderma-like features.

Methods

Clinical and (yearly) capillaroscopy data from a longitudinal cohort of patients with cSLE (minimum of four Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) criteria, onset <18 years) were analysed. Disease activity was measured by Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Activity Index (SLEDAI) and disease damage by SLICC Damage Index. A scleroderma pattern was defined according to the ‘fast track algorithm’ from the European League Against Rheumatism Study Group on Microcirculation in Rheumatic Diseases. An abnormal capillary pattern, not matching a scleroderma pattern, was defined as ‘microangiopathy’.

Results

Our cohort consisted of 53 patients with cSLE with a median disease onset of 14 years (IQR 12.5–15.5 years), median SLEDAI score at diagnosis was 11 (IQR 8–16), median SLEDAI at follow-up was 2 (IQR 1–6). A scleroderma pattern (ever) was seen in 18.9%, while only 13.2% of patients had a normal capillary pattern. Thirty-three patients had follow-up capillaroscopy of which 21.2% showed changes in type of capillary pattern over time. Type of capillary pattern was not associated with disease activity. Raynaud’s phenomenon (ever) was equally distributed among patients with different capillaroscopy patterns (p=0.26). Anti-ribonucleoprotein antibodies (ever) were significantly more detected (Χ2, p=0.016) in the scleroderma pattern subgroup (n=7 of 10, 70%). Already 5 years after disease onset, more than 50% of patients with a scleroderma pattern had SLE-related disease damage (HR 4.5, 95% CI 1.1 to 18.8, p=0.034), but they did not develop clinical features of systemic sclerosis at follow-up. Number of detected fingers with a scleroderma pattern was similar between cSLE, juvenile systemic sclerosis and juvenile undifferentiated connective tissue disease.

Conclusion

This longitudinal study shows that the majority of capillary patterns in cSLE are abnormal and they can change over time. Irrespective of disease activity, a capillary scleroderma pattern in cSLE may be associated with higher risk of SLE-related disease damage.
Republished:Aspiration catheter failure leading to carotid-cavernous fistula during stroke thrombectomy
Authors: Agrait Mario , Kee-Sampson Joanna , Brzezicki Grzegorz , Bashir Saeed , Matteo Jerry , Meyer Travis , Siragusa Daniel
Published: February 2022

Endovascular thrombectomy in acute ischaemic stroke commonly uses aspiration catheters, either alone or in combination with stent retrievers. The Penumbra Aspiration System (Penumbra, Alameda, California, USA) was first approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2007, with low reported device-related complications. We present a case of a previously unreported complication related to malfunction of a Penumbra aspiration catheter during stroke thrombectomy resulting in a carotid-cavernous fistula.
SUNBURN: a protocol for delivering bad news in trauma and acute care surgery
Authors: Velez David , Gerberding Andrea , Ahmeti Mentor
Published: February 2022

Introduction

The delivery of bad news can be one of the most challenging tasks in surgery. There are numerous barriers specific to trauma and acute care surgery (TRACS) that make these conversations more difficult. Prior protocols have all been designed for oncology and primary care with poorer application to TRACS. The lack of guidance for leading these conversations in TRACS led us to develop the SUNBURN protocol. It draws elements from prior protocols and discards the irrelevant aspects and pays particular attention to the TRACS-specific concerns.

SUNBURN protocol

Step 1: S–Set Up; Step 2: U–Understand Perceptions; Step 3: N–Notify (‘Warning Shot’); Step 4: B–Brief Narrative and Break Bad News; Step 5: U–Understand Emotions; Step 6: R–Respond; Step 7: N–Next Steps.

Conclusion

This protocol can provide a framework to help guide and ease the delivery of bad news in TRACS.
Consistent explanation for the cosmic-ray positron excess in p-wave Breit–Wigner enhanced dark matter annihilation
Authors: Ding Yu-Chen , Ku Yu-Lin , Wei Chun-Cheng , Zhou Yu-Feng
Published: February 2022

Dark matter (DM) annihilation in the galactic halo can be enhanced relative to that in the early Universe due to the Breit–Wigner enhancement, if the DM particles annihilate through a narrow resonance. Although the s-wave Breit–Wigner enhancement can provide a consistent explanation for both the observed cosmic-ray (CR) positron excess and the DM thermal relic density, it is severely constrained by the observations of gamma rays from dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies (dSphs) and the cosmic microwave background (CMB), which have relatively lower allowed DM annihilation cross section and typical DM velocities than that in the galactic halo. Furthermore, in the s-wave Breit–Wigner enhancement, the case where the resonance mass is below a threshold (twice the DM mass) is ruled out due to the monotonically increasing annihilation cross section with decreasing DM velocity. In this work, we consider Breit–Wigner enhanced p-wave DM annihilation. We explore the parameter regions which can simultaneously account for the CR positron excess and DM thermal relic density without violating the constraints from dSphs gamma rays and CMB. We show that the velocity-dependent cross section in this scenario can peak around the typical DM velocity in the galactic halo for the resonance mass both above and below the threshold. Moreover, the highly suppressed annihilation cross section at extremely low DM velocity can evade the constraints from dSphs gamma rays and CMB easily, which results in larger allowed parameter regions than that in the s-wave case.
Anisotropic hyperbolic inflation for a model of two scalar and two vector fields
Authors: Do Tuan Q. , Kao W. F.
Published: February 2022

In this paper, we extend a recent proposed model of two scalar and two vector fields to a hyperbolic inflation scenario, in which the field space of two scalar fields is a hyperbolic space instead of a flat space. In this model, one of the scalar fields is assumed to be a radial field, while the other is set as an angular field. Furthermore, both scalar fields will be coupled to two different vector fields, respectively. As a result, we are able to obtain a set of exact Bianchi type I solutions to this model. Stability analysis is also performed to show that this set of anisotropic solutions is indeed stable and attractive during the inflationary phase. This result indicates that the cosmic no-hair conjecture is extensively violated in this anisotropic hyperbolic inflation model.
Cross sections and transport coefficients for electrons in C2H6O and its mixtures with Ar and Ne
Authors: Petrović Zoran Lj , Šašić Olivera , Dupljanin Snježana , Maguire Paul
Published: February 2022

In this paper, we show and discuss a set of cross sections for electron collisions with dimethyl ether (DME, C2H6O) obtained by the standard swarm analysis of experimental data for drift velocities and ionization coefficients measured in pure DME and its mixtures with Ar and Ne by E. Oettinger and coworkers. While the existing cross section set gave relatively good predictions for drift velocities, it proved necessary to modify the inelastic cross sections in order to achieve a better agreement with drift velocities in gas mixtures and a good agreement for the ionization coefficient. Furthermore, the derived set of cross sections was used to calculate the electron transport and rate coefficients under the influence of a constant electric field and crossed electric and magnetic DC and RF orthogonal configuration fields. The effect of the magnitude and frequency of the fields on electron transport was studied separately. Our work has resulted in a database of collision and transport data which can be used in modeling of both DC and RF discharges and plasma applications containing pure DME and its mixtures.

Graphical abstract
Investigations on 48Ca and 58Fe-induced heavy ion fusion reactions
Authors: Manjunatha H. C. , Damodara Gupta P. S. , Sowmya N. , Sridhar K. N.
Published: February 2022

In this paper, we have studied all possible [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]-induced fusion reactions for the synthesis of superheavy nuclei [Formula: see text]. The semi-empirical formula for fusion barriers of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] is constructed. Fusion and evaporation residue cross-sections are studied using advance statistical model (ASM). The fusion and evaporation residue cross-sections of this work are compared with that of experiments. We have also predicted suitable targets and production cross-sections for the synthesis of superheavy elements using the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]-induced fusion reactions. The [Formula: see text]-induced fusion reactions can be used to synthesize superheavy elements [Formula: see text] and 124 using the targets [Formula: see text]Cm, [Formula: see text]Bk and [Formula: see text]Cf have half-lives greater than one year and produce the cross-sections in terms of pb.
Nonlinear Free Vibration Analysis of In-plane Bi-directional Functionally Graded Plate with Porosities Resting on Elastic Foundations
Authors: Hashemi Soheil , Shahri Pouria Karimi , Beigzadeh Sahar , Zamani Farshad , Eratbeni Mehdi Gholizadeh , Mahdavi Mahan , Heidari Ali , Khaledi Himan , Abadi Mohamadreza Rajabi Reza
Published: February 2022

This paper deals with the nonlinear free vibration analysis of in-plane bi-directional functionally graded (IBFG) rectangular plate with porosities which are resting on Winkler–Pasternak elastic foundations. The material properties of the IBFG plate are assumed to be graded along the length and width of the plate according to the power-law distribution, as well as, even and uneven types are taken into account for porosity distributions. Equations of motion are developed by means of Hamilton’s principle and von Karman nonlinearity strain–displacement relations based on classical plate theory (CPT). Afterward, the time-dependent nonlinear equations are derived by applying the Galerkin procedure. The nonlinear frequency is determined by using modified Poincare–Lindstedt method (MPLM). Numerical results are obtained in tabular and graphical form to examine the effects of some system key parameters such as porosity coefficients, distribution patterns, gradient indices, elastic foundation coefficients, aspect ratio and vibration amplitude on the nonlinear frequency of the porous IBFG plate. To validate the analysis, the results of this paper have been compared to the published data and good agreements have been found.
Application of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy in hematologic malignancies
Authors: Yu Yalan , Yu Jianing , Huang Zhen-Li , Zhou Fuling
Published: February 2022

Hematologic malignancies are one of the most common malignant tumors caused by the clonal proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic and lymphoid stem cells. The examination of bone marrow cells combined with immunodeficiency typing is of great significance to the diagnostic type, treatment and prognosis of hematologic malignancies. Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (SRM) is a special kind of optical microscopy technology, which breaks the resolution limit and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014. With the development of SRM, many related technologies have been applied to the diagnosis and treatment of clinical diseases. It was reported that a major type of SRM technique, single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM), is more sensitive than flow cytometry (FC) in detecting cell membrane antigens’ expression, thus enabling better chances in detecting antigens on hematopoietic cells than traditional analytic tools. Furthermore, SRM may be applied to clinical pathology and may guide precision medicine and personalized medicine for clone hematopoietic cell diseases. In this paper, we mainly discuss the application of SRM in clone hematological malignancies.
A Randomised Control Trial Comparing Opioid and Paracetamol for Pain Control after Carpal Tunnel Release
Authors: LEE Chang-Hun , JEONG Gu Min
Published: February 2022

Background: Opioids are frequently used for pain control after carpal tunnel release (CTR). However, few studies have examined whether the use of opioids is necessary for pain control after CTR. The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of codeine versus paracetamol for pain control after CTR.

Methods: This is a prospective comparison of consecutive patients’ subjective perception of pain after outpatient CTR. Patients were randomised to receive either codeine or paracetamol for pain control after CTR. Visual analogue scale for pain of both groups was compared on the day of surgery and the first three post-operative days (POD) using non-inferiority test.

Results: In the codeine group, the mean pain score was 5.2, 4.0, 2.6 and 1.6 on the day of surgery and the first, second and third days after surgery, respectively. In the paracetamol group, the mean VAS score in the same period was 4.3, 3.5, 2.8 and 2.3. There was no significant difference in the mean visual analogue pain scores between the two groups from the day of surgery to the third POD.

Conclusions: Paracetamol was as effective as codeine for relieving the pain after outpatient CTR. Our results suggest that the clinicians might avoid unnecessary prescription of the opioid after outpatient CTR.

Level of Evidence: Level III (Therapeutic)
Colville Foreland Basin and Arctic Alaska Prograded Margin Tectono-Sedimentary Elements, northern Alaska and southwestern Canada Basin
Authors: Houseknecht David W.
Published: February 2022

Cretaceous (post-Neocomian)–Quaternary Brookian strata of Arctic Alaska include the Colville Foreland Basin (CFB) and Arctic Alaska Prograded Margin (AAPM) Tectono-Sedimentary Elements (TSEs). The CFB TSE lies beneath the Alaska North Slope and Chukchi Sea shelf, and the AAPM TSE lies beneath the Arctic Alaska continental terrace of the Beaufort Sea shelf and slope. The CFB TSE rests on rocks ranging from pre-Mississippian sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks (Franklinian sequence) to Lower Cretaceous strata, and is present at the land surface onshore and the seafloor offshore. The AAPM TSE generally rests on Lower Cretaceous (Neocomian) sedimentary strata and is present at the seafloor.

The CFB and AAPM TSEs contain oil-prone source rocks in Cretaceous and Paleogene strata, and have been charged locally by hydrocarbon migration from pre-Brookian strata. Both TSEs contain proven reservoir rocks throughout the succession. The CFB TSE ranges from oil-window to gas-window maturity. The AAPM TSE is mainly in the gas window. Known hydrocarbon accumulations in the two TSEs total more than 3.4 Bbbl of oil equivalent and yet-to-find estimates suggest an even larger volume remains undiscovered. Current exploration is focused on shallow stratigraphic traps, in which giant oil accumulations have been discovered in recent years.
Surveillance too cheap to meter
Authors: Kamp Poul-Henning
Published: February 2022

Stopping Big Brother would require an expensive overhaul of the entire system.
SyncNN: Evaluating and Accelerating Spiking Neural Networks on FPGAs
Authors: Panchapakesan Sathish , Fang Zhenman , Li Jian
Published: February 2022

Compared to conventional artificial neural networks, spiking neural networks (SNNs) are more biologically plausible and require less computation due to their
event-driven
nature of spiking neurons. However, the default asynchronous execution of SNNs also poses great challenges to accelerate their performance on FPGAs.

In this work, we present a novel synchronous approach for rate-encoding-based SNNs, which is more hardware friendly than conventional asynchronous approaches. We first quantitatively evaluate and mathematically prove that the proposed synchronous approach and asynchronous implementation alternatives of rate-encoding-based SNNs are similar in terms of inference accuracy, and we highlight the computational performance advantage of using SyncNN over an asynchronous approach. We also design and implement the SyncNN framework to accelerate SNNs on Xilinx ARM-FPGA SoCs in a synchronous fashion. To improve the computation and memory access efficiency, we first quantize the network weights to 16-bit, 8-bit, and 4-bit fixed-point values with the SNN-friendly quantization techniques. Moreover, we encode only the activated neurons by recording their positions and corresponding number of spikes to fully utilize the event-driven characteristics of SNNs, instead of using the common binary encoding (i.e., 1 for a spike and 0 for no spike).

For the encoded neurons that have dynamic and irregular access patterns, we design parameterized compute engines to accelerate their performance on the FPGA, where we explore various parallelization strategies and memory access optimizations. Our experimental results on multiple Xilinx ARM-FPGA SoC boards demonstrate that our SyncNN is scalable to run multiple networks, such as LeNet, Network in Network, and VGG, on various datasets such as MNIST, SVHN, and CIFAR-10. SyncNN not only achieves competitive accuracy (99.6%) but also achieves state-of-the-art performance (13,086 frames per second) for the MNIST dataset. Finally, we compare the performance of SyncNN with conventional CNNs using the Vitis AI and find that SyncNN can achieve similar accuracy and better performance compared to Vitis AI for image classification using small networks.
VIGS Goes Viral: How VIGS Transforms Our Understanding of Plant Science
Authors: Rössner Clemens , Lotz Dominik , Becker Annette
Published: February 2022

Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) has developed into an indispensable approach to gene function analysis in a wide array of species, many of which are not amenable to stable genetic transformation. VIGS utilizes the posttranscriptional gene silencing (PTGS) machinery of plants to restrain viral infections systemically and is used to downregulate the plant's endogenous genes. Here, we review the molecular mechanisms of DNA- and RNA-virus-based VIGS, its inherent connection to PTGS, and what is known about the systemic spread of silencing. Recently, VIGS-based technologies have been expanded to enable not only gene silencing but also overexpression [virus-induced overexpression (VOX)], genome editing [virus-induced genome editing (VIGE)], and host-induced gene silencing (HIGS). These techniques expand the genetic toolbox for nonmodel organisms even more. Further, we illustrate the versatility of VIGS and the methods derived from it in elucidating molecular mechanisms, using tomato fruit ripening and programmed cell death as examples. Finally, we discuss challenges of and future perspectives on the use of VIGS to advance gene function analysis in nonmodel plants in the postgenomic era.
Parental and Environmental Control of Seed Dormancy in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Iwasaki Mayumi , Penfield Steven , Lopez-Molina Luis
Published: February 2022

Seed dormancy—the absence of seed germination under favorable germination conditions—is a plant trait that evolved to enhance seedling survival by avoiding germination under unsuitable environmental conditions. In Arabidopsis, dormancy levels are influenced by the seed coat composition, while the endosperm is essential to repress seed germination of dormant seeds upon their imbibition. Recent research has shown that the mother plant modulates its progeny seed dormancy in response to seasonal temperature changes by changing specific aspects of seed coat and endosperm development. This process involves genomic imprinting by means of epigenetic marks deposited in the seed progeny and regulators previously known to regulate flowering time. This review discusses and summarizes these discoveries and provides an update on our present understanding of the role of DOG1 and abscisic acid, two key contributors to dormancy.
Economics of Marine Protected Areas: Assessing the Literature for Marine Protected Area Network Expansions
Authors: Albers Heidi J. , Ashworth Madison F.
Published: February 2022

Marine protected areas (MPAs) provide both conservation and economic benefits. Recent international conservation actors have called for a dramatic increase in the area of MPAs from almost 8% to 30% of marine area by 2030 in a policy called 30X30. Both the economics and conservation science literatures consider MPA decisions and MPA impact, although the economics literature focuses on fishery economic outcomes. This review uses an optimization framework for MPA decisions as a lens through which to evaluate the economics literature on MPAs in the context of the 30X30 expansion decisions. We argue for more economic analysis of MPA policy questions, including those around siting, design, restrictions, and management choices; impact evaluation; responses of people; low-income country settings and incomplete enforcement; spatial settings without metapopulations; and conservation rather than harvest objectives.
Structural and Electrochemical Analysis of Copper-Creatinine Complexes: Application in Creatinine Detection
Authors: Ngamchuea Kamonwad , Wannapaiboon Suttipong , Nongkhunsan Papawit , Hirunsit Pussana , Fongkaew Ittipon
Published: February 2022

The formation of complexes between copper ions and biomolecules plays important roles in biological systems. In this work, the structures and electrochemical properties of copper-creatinine complexes were investigated by both experimental and computational approaches. DFT calculation revealed the possible structures of copper-creatinine complexes and provided the data of formation energies, bond lengths, and charge distribution. The properties of the complexes were further investigated by cyclic voltammetry, UV-visible spectrophotometry, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The combination of experimental and computational findings revealed that CuII binds with creatinine via the endocyclic nitrogen. In aqueous environment, the [Cu(creatinine)2(H2O)2]2+ complex is formed. The reduction of [Cu(creatinine)2(H2O)2]2+ formed a stable 1:4 complex between CuI and creatinine. Importantly, the understanding of the electrochemical behaviors of copper-creatinine complexes leads to the development of a novel sensor for the detection of creatinine, a biomarker for kidney diseases. Although creatinine itself is not electroactive, the complex formation with copper allows the species to be detected electrochemically with the sensitivity of 6.09 ± 0.13 μA mM−1 and the limit of detection (3sB/m) of 35 μM.
Oxidized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes as Components and Oxidant Agents in the Formation of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube/Polyazulene Composites
Authors: Grądzka Emilia , Breczko Joanna , Bonarowska Magdalena , Wysocka-Żołopa Monika , Basa Anna , Winkler Krzysztof
Published: February 2022

This work describes the practical and facile synthesis of oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotube/polyazulene (ox-MWCNT/PAZ) composites. In the proposed procedure, oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes were used both as components and oxidant agents in the formed composite material, which eliminated the use of conventional oxidizing agents such as ferric chloride. The properties and morphology of composite materials depend on the synthesis conditions, such as monomer concentration, synthesis time and synthesis temperature. The composite material is much more stable at high temperatures than pristine polyazulene. Additionally, the electrochemical performance of composite materials is better than that of pure polymeric materials. The highest specific capacitance of the ox-MWCNT/PAZ composite equals 381 F gPAZ
−1. This value is approximately 5 times higher than the specific capacitance of pristine polyazulene. This high value results from the larger surface area of the composite material and its easier penetration by counterions of the supporting electrolyte during the oxidation process. Apart from the traditional doping process by counterions, the composite material is additionally codoped by hexafluorophosphate anions of the supporting electrolyte, which form hydrogen bonds with surface hydroxyl groups of ox-MWCNTs.
Review—Nanostructural ZnO-Based Electrochemical Sensor for Environmental Application
Authors: Ahmed Md. Maruf , Zhao Ruihua , Du Jianping , Li Jinping
Published: February 2022

Recently, a variety of sensors based on zinc oxide nanostructures have been used for the detection of various environmental contaminants. The morphological versatility of zinc oxide crucially improves its sensing properties. In this review, we have mostly focused on the preparation methods of zinc oxide with different structures and morphologies and the electrochemical behaviors for the detection of environmental contaminants including heavy metal ions, volatile organic compounds, pesticides, bacteria and viruses. Numerous electrodes are available for the detection of contaminants in electrochemical systems, but a reliable, portable and inexpensive electrode is urgently needed. Thus, we have summarized several nanostructured zinc oxide -based materials and their actual applications. Controllable structures and morphologies of zinc oxide nanomaterials can make them have an adjustable performance for electrochemical sensors. The investigation of different structure and morphology-dependent sensing properties of zinc oxide nanostructures can offer an insight into the sensing mechanism and enhancement of property for many electrochemical sensors. Zinc oxide -based nanomaterials will serve as a quick and simple platform to identify a wide range of mentioned contaminants with very low detection limits by electrochemical method.
Co-overexpression of CD36 and FABPpm increases fatty acid transport additively, not synergistically, within muscle
Authors: Holloway Graham P. , Nickerson James G. , Lally James S.V. , Petrick Heather L. , Dennis Kaitlyn M.J.H. , Jain Swati S. , Alkhateeb Hakam , Bonen Arend
Published: February 2022

We aimed to determine the combined effects of overexpressing plasma membrane fatty acid binding protein (FABPpm) and fatty acid translocase (CD36) on skeletal muscle fatty acid transport to establish if these transport proteins function collaboratively. Electrotransfection with either FABPpm or CD36 increased their protein content at the plasma membrane (+75% and +64%), increased fatty acid transport rates by +24% for FABPpm and +62% for CD36, resulting in a calculated transport efficiency of ∼0.019 and ∼0.053 per unit protein change for FABPpm and CD36, respectively. We subsequently used these data to determine if increasing both proteins additively or synergistically increased fatty acid transport. Cotransfection of FABPpm and CD36 simultaneously increased protein content in whole muscle (FABPpm, +46%; CD36, +45%) and at the sarcolemma (FABPpm, +41%; CD36, +42%), as well as fatty acid transport rates (+50%). Since the relative effects of changing FABPpm and CD36 content had been independently determined, we were able to a predict a change in fatty acid transport based on the overexpression of plasmalemmal transporters in the cotransfection experiments. This prediction yielded an increase in fatty acid transport of +0.984 and +1.722 pmol/mg prot/15 s for FABPpm and CD36, respectively, for a total increase of +2.96 pmol/mg prot/15 s. This calculated determination was remarkably consistent with the measured change in transport, namely +2.89 pmol/mg prot/15 s. Altogether, these data indicate that increasing CD36 and FABPpm alters fatty acid transport rates additively, but not synergistically, suggesting an independent mechanism of action within muscle for each transporter. This conclusion was further supported by the observation that plasmalemmal CD36 and FABPpm did not coimmunoprecipitate.
The CD38 glycohydrolase and the NAD sink: implications for pathological conditions
Authors: Zeidler Julianna D. , Hogan Kelly A. , Agorrody Guillermo , Peclat Thais R. , Kashyap Sonu , Kanamori Karina S. , Gomez Lilian Sales , Mazdeh Delaram Z. , Warner Gina M. , Thompson Katie L. , Chini Claudia C. S. , Chini Eduardo Nunes
Published: February 2022

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) acts as a cofactor in several oxidation-reduction (redox) reactions and is a substrate for a number of nonredox enzymes. NAD is fundamental to a variety of cellular processes including energy metabolism, cell signaling, and epigenetics. NAD homeostasis appears to be of paramount importance to health span and longevity, and its dysregulation is associated with multiple diseases. NAD metabolism is dynamic and maintained by synthesis and degradation. The enzyme CD38, one of the main NAD-consuming enzymes, is a key component of NAD homeostasis. The majority of CD38 is localized in the plasma membrane with its catalytic domain facing the extracellular environment, likely for the purpose of controlling systemic levels of NAD. Several cell types express CD38, but its expression predominates on endothelial cells and immune cells capable of infiltrating organs and tissues. Here we review potential roles of CD38 in health and disease and postulate ways in which CD38 dysregulation causes changes in NAD homeostasis and contributes to the pathophysiology of multiple conditions. Indeed, in animal models the development of infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders, fibrosis, metabolic diseases, and age-associated diseases including cancer, heart disease, and neurodegeneration are associated with altered CD38 enzymatic activity. Many of these conditions are modified in CD38-deficient mice or by blocking CD38 NADase activity. In diseases in which CD38 appears to play a role, CD38-dependent NAD decline is often a common denominator of pathophysiology. Thus, understanding dysregulation of NAD homeostasis by CD38 may open new avenues for the treatment of human diseases.
Targeted ablation of gastric pacemaker sites to modulate patterns of bioelectrical slow wave activation and propagation in an anesthetized pig model
Authors: Aghababaie Zahra , Cheng Leo K. , Paskaranandavadivel Niranchan , Avci Recep , Chan Chih-Hsiang Alexander , Matthee Ashton , Amirapu Satya , Asirvatham Samuel J. , Farrugia Gianrico , Beyder Arthur , O’Grady Gregory , Angeli-Gordon Timothy R.
Published: February 2022

This study presents gastric ablation as a novel tool for modulating gastric bioelectrical activation, including eliminating the normal gastric pacemaker site as well as abnormal ectopic pacemaker sites underlying gastric dysrhythmias. Targeted application of radiofrequency ablation was able to eliminate these pacemaker sites without disrupting surrounding conduction capability or tissue structure. Gastric ablation presents a powerful new research tool for modulating gastric electrical activation and may likely hold therapeutic potential for disorders of gastric function.
Evidence for a cost of time in the invigoration of isometric reaching movements
Authors: Berret Bastien , Baud-Bovy Gabriel
Published: February 2022

Movement vigor is generally thought to result from a trade-off between time and motor costs. However, it remains unclear whether the time cost only modulates vigor around some nominal value explained by a minimal motor cost or whether it determines movement invigoration more broadly. Here, we present an original paradigm allowing us to neutralize the cost of movement and provide new evidence that a cost of time must underlie the invigoration of isometric reaching movements.
Cardiac Rehabilitation Improves Long-Term Prognosis for People with Chronic Kidney Disease Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Propensity Matching Analysis
Authors: Qin Hong Mei , Zheng Dan , Wu Jie
Published: February 2022

Objectives. According to researches, many people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) had the higher incidence rate and mortality rate of coronary artery disease (CAD) after percutaneous coronary intervention than those who did not receive percutaneous coronary intervention, while coronary rehabilitation was beneficial for patients who received percutaneous coronary intervention I. This study aims to analyze whether coronary rehabilitation was beneficial to patients with CKD after percutaneous coronary intervention. Patients and Methods. A retrospective survey was used to collect clinical data of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention due to CAD, and CKD patients were screened for further analysis. According to whether patients had received coronary rehabilitation treatment, research subjects were divided into two groups, the coronary rehabilitation group and the noncoronary rehabilitation group. The baseline characteristics of the propensity score matching between the two groups were compared. Survival analysis used the Cox hazard ratio (HR) model as regression method to compare the relative risk of the endpoints in the coronary rehabilitation group and the noncoronary rehabilitation group. Results. From January 2007 to January 2012, a total of 246 CKD patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention were included in this study, and 106 of them obtained coronary rehabilitation after surgery. After propensity score matching, there were 89 pairs of patients in the two groups who had no significant difference in demographic and clinical characteristics (allP>0.05). CKD patients receiving coronary rehabilitation had a significant reduction in all-cause mortality (HR 0.465, 95% CI 0.233–0.926,P=0.029) and cardiac complications (HR 0.532, 95% CI 0.287–0.984,P=0.044). Survival analysis showed that the survival rate of the coronary rehabilitation group was significantly higher than that of the noncoronary rehabilitation groupP=0.024. Conclusions. For CKD patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, receiving cardiac rehabilitation can significantly improve long-term survival and reduce cardiac events.
A New Multifunctional Protection System for Reducing Fault Current, Ferroresonance Overvoltage, and Voltage Fluctuations in Power Networks
Authors: Tanha Bashoo Peyman , Jazaeri Mostafa
Published: February 2022

This paper introduces a multifunctional protective system to mitigate more likely threats in power networks. The proposed device can cope with short circuit current, voltage sag, or swell and dangerous overvoltages due to ferroresonance by elaborate switching in its unified structure. The switching is in fact the main key for playing among the functions and altering the structure. Since the switches receive the control system’s commands based on what happens in the network, an intelligent controller has to be designed to interpret four operating modes and activate the correct function. Following the activation command, the structure is customized through switching action and the network is equipped with the corresponding protection function. The proposed scheme by employing minimum components and therefore achieving significant saving in costs can meet all expectations satisfactorily. Moreover, the control system’s performance is examined by a set of numerical simulations in a Matlab/Simulink environment. The obtained results show that the proposed device is feasible and successfully performs all three functions independently.
ADA-COVID: Adversarial Deep Domain Adaptation-Based Diagnosis of COVID-19 from Lung CT Scans Using Triplet Embeddings
Authors: Aria Mehrad , Nourani Esmaeil , Golzari Oskouei Amin
Published: February 2022

Rapid diagnosis of COVID-19 with high reliability is essential in the early stages. To this end, recent research often uses medical imaging combined with machine vision methods to diagnose COVID-19. However, the scarcity of medical images and the inherent differences in existing datasets that arise from different medical imaging tools, methods, and specialists may affect the generalization of machine learning-based methods. Also, most of these methods are trained and tested on the same dataset, reducing the generalizability and causing low reliability of the obtained model in real-world applications. This paper introduces an adversarial deep domain adaptation-based approach for diagnosing COVID-19 from lung CT scan images, termed ADA-COVID. Domain adaptation-based training process receives multiple datasets with different input domains to generate domain-invariant representations for medical images. Also, due to the excessive structural similarity of medical images compared to other image data in machine vision tasks, we use the triplet loss function to generate similar representations for samples of the same class (infected cases). The performance of ADA-COVID is evaluated and compared with other state-of-the-art COVID-19 diagnosis algorithms. The obtained results indicate that ADA-COVID achieves classification improvements of at least 3%, 20%, 20%, and 11% in accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score, respectively, compared to the best results of competitors, even without directly training on the same data. The implementation source code of the ADA-COVID is publicly available at https://github.com/MehradAria/ADA-COVID.
Three-Partition Multistrategy Adaptive Fruit Fly Optimization Algorithm for Microgrid Droop Control
Authors: Tao Xinkun , Zhang Li , Wang Fuzhong , Tian Guangqiang , Zhang Hongwei
Published: February 2022

Summary. When the microgrid topology changes, the power output of the inverter cannot be adaptively adjusted by traditional droop control, and the dynamic performance and steady-state accuracy of the inverter are affected. To solve this problem, a three-partition multistrategy adaptive fruit fly optimization algorithm (MSAD-FOA) is proposed, which performs a real-time optimization of the PI parameters to realize microgrid droop control. The fruit fly population is divided into three regions according to the ranking of the fitness values of the algorithm. Next, the multistrategy model is automatically updated according to the difference in the fruit fly performance in each region. The local fine search in zone I ensures that the population does not degenerate. Zone II pertains to the adaptive adjustment to ensure the diversity and convergence of the algorithm. Zone III guides the fruit flies to accelerate convergence. The effectiveness of the algorithm and feasibility of the proposed control strategy are verified through a theoretical simulation and microgrid droop control simulation. The comparison with other algorithms demonstrates the superiority of the development and exploration ability of the proposed algorithm. The response speed of the inverter is 40 times higher when the proposed control strategy is used, and the steady-state error is reduced by 4.3%.
Concomitant Gastric Acid Suppressants on the Survival of Patients with Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Treated with Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Xia Jun , Zhu Jiping , Li Lei , Xu Shiqin
Published: February 2022

Background. The influence of concomitant use of gastric acid suppressants (AS) on survival of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) is inconsistent according to previous studies. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of additional AS in patients with NSCLC taking TKIs. Methods. Relevant observational studies were identified by a search of Medline, Embase, and Web of Science databases. Only studies with multivariate analyses were included. A random-effect model was used to combine the results. Results. Thirteen retrospective studies with 12259 patients were included. Pooled results showed that concomitant use of AS was associated with worse progression-free survival (PFS, adjusted hazard ratio (HR): 1.57, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.31 to 1.89,

P
<
0.001

; I2 = 65%) and overall survival (OS, adjusted HR: 1.38, 95% CI: 1.19 to 1.61,

P
<
0.001

; I2 = 70%) in NSCLC patients taking TKIs. Sensitivity analysis limited to studies including NSCLC with EGFR mutation showed consistent results (HR for PFS: 1.53,

P
=
0.003

; HR for OS: 1.43,

P
=
0.001

). Subgroup analyses indicated that the association between concomitant use of AS and poor survival was not significantly affected by the category of AS used (proton pump inhibitors or histamine type-2 receptor antagonists) or the country of the study (Asian or non-Asian,

P

for subgroup analysis all >0.05). Conclusions. Concomitant use of AS in patients with NSCLC taking TKIs may be associated with poor survival outcomes.
Optimal Precursors Identification for North Atlantic Oscillation Using the Parallel Intelligence Algorithm
Authors: Mu Bin , Li Jing , Yuan Shijin , Luo Xiaodan , Dai Guokun
Published: February 2022

The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) with abnormal sea level pressure (SLP) differences influence the westerly wind strength and storm tracks in the North Atlantic, which further affects the winter climate in the northern hemisphere. The predictability of NAO has become an important area of climate research in recent years. The identification of optimal precursors (OPRs) would help to investigate the dynamics of atmospheric and oceanic motions, as well as the nonlinear characteristic. The conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP) method has been widely used in research on the OPR of the climatic event to explore which kind of initial perturbation is most likely to trigger climate events. However, the previous works on NAO’s OPR are based on a simple ideal model, which cannot describe the evolution process of NAO. Moreover, the commonly used algorithms that rely on the adjoint model are not suitable for the large complicated numerical models that do not have corresponding adjoint models, like Community Earth System Model (CESM). To break through the limitation, this paper proposes the parallel principal component analysis (PCA)-based particle swarm optimization (PSO) and genetic algorithm (GA) hybrid algorithm (PGAPSO) algorithm to identify the OPR of NAO using CESM. For different initial conditions, OPRs identified by the proposed method can always make the basic state develop into NAO events with corresponding phases. Compared with other adjoint-free approaches, the proposed method has relatively better fitness values and more mature patterns. The results also reveal that the proposed method can avoid falling into a local optimum and has strong robustness. In terms of performance, the proposed method searches in feature space with a much lower number of dimensions, thus improving efficiency. In addition, the proposed method is accelerated with multiple parallel frameworks to enhance performance, and it achieves the speedup ratio of 40.2.
A Mathematical Analysis of a Model Involving an Integrable Equation for Wave Packet Envelope
Authors: Kaplan Melike , Akbulut Arzu
Published: February 2022

This study investigates new optical solutions to a model with an integrable equation for wave packet envelopes. For this purpose, we have employed two reliable techniques involving the modified extended tanh function and the exponential rational function procedures. We have also given the 3D graphics of the obtained solutions.
Prognostic and Clinical Significance of Aspartate Aminotransferase-to-Lymphocyte Ratio Index in Individuals with Liver Cancer: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Peng Xiulan , Huang Yali , Zhang Min , Chen Yan , Zhang Lihua , He Anbing , Luo Renfeng
Published: February 2022

Objective. This study was aimed at exploring the prognostic and clinicopathological roles of aspartate aminotransferase-to-lymphocyte ratio index (ALRI) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma via a meta-analysis. Methods. The PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, and VIP databases were comprehensively searched from inception to November 20, 2021. Pooled hazard ratio (HR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to evaluate the relationship between ALRI and overall survival (OS) as well as progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Odds ratio (OR) and the corresponding 95% CI were also used to investigate correlations between clinical factors and ALRI in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Results. A total of 3914 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma from eleven retrospective cohorts were included in this meta-analysis. The combined results revealed that patients with hepatocellular carcinoma with elevated ALRI tended to have unfavorable OS (HR 1.53 [95% CI 1.25–1.82];

P
<
0.001

). Pooled HRs revealed that high ALRI was an independent risk factor for inferior PFS in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HR 1.36 [95% CI 1.10–1.63];

P
<
0.001

). In addition, high ALRI was strongly associated with male sex (OR 1.32 [95% CI 1.02–1.70];

P
=
0.035

), presence of cirrhosis (OR 1.68 [95% CI 1.01–2.81];

P
=
0.046

), larger tumor size (OR 2.25 [95% CI 1.31–3.88];

P
<
0.001

), presence of portal vein tumor thrombus (OR 2.50 [95% CI 1.52–4.11];

P
<
0.001

), and distant metastasis (OR 1.72 [95% CI 1.05-2.82];

P
=
0.031

). Conclusion. Elevated ALRI in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma predicted inferior survival outcomes and was strongly associated with some important features of hepatocellular carcinoma.
Resiliency-Driven Approach of DC Microgrid Voltage Regulation Based on Droop Index Control for High Step-Up DC-DC Converter
Authors: Thogaru Ram Babu , Naware Dipanshu , Mitra Arghya , Chaudhary Jeetendra
Published: February 2022

Regulation of DC microgrid voltage in presence of variable sources and loads is quite challenging. The ability of a microgrid to pay off the critical loads when subjected to disturbances, such as utility grid outage/poor climatic conditions, has gained importance recently. To address the above issues, we propose a resiliency analysis of a DC microgrid interconnected with 400 V and 200 V buses. The interconnected microgrid system is fed with solar PV along with the energy storage system and is integrated with a utility grid. Boost and high step-up DC-DC converters are employed for DC bus voltage regulation with droop index control. Here, the droop coefficient is optimized using particle swarm optimization (PSO) while maintaining uninterrupted service to critical loads and for satisfactory voltage regulation. The effectiveness of the droop index control method is tested in comparison to other optimization techniques and also with the conventional method. The resiliency analysis of the overall system, aiming for continuous power supply to the critical loads while maintaining the grid voltage unaffected, is carried out in grid outage, low solar insolation, and grid restoration conditions. The reliability of the interconnected DC microgrid test system is evaluated using the loss of power supply probability index for normal, grid outage, and grid restoration conditions. The system is implemented using PSCAD/EMTDC platform. Finally, the experimental prototype of a high step-up DC-DC converter is developed and tested to validate the effectiveness of the droop index controller with an optimized droop coefficient.