bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Developmental Changes in Patterns of Distribution of Fibronectin and Tenascin-C in the Chicken Cornea: Evidence for Distinct and Independent Functions during Corneal Development and Morphogenesis
Authors: Koudouna Elena , Young Robert D. , Quantock Andrew J. , Ralphs James R.
Published: February 2023

The cornea forms the tough and transparent anterior part of the eye and by accurate shaping forms the major refractive element for vision. Its largest component is the stroma, a dense collagenous connective tissue positioned between the epithelium and the endothelium. In chicken embryos, the stroma initially develops as the primary stroma secreted by the epithelium, which is then invaded by migratory neural crest cells. These cells secrete an organised multi-lamellar collagenous extracellular matrix (ECM), becoming keratocytes. Within individual lamellae, collagen fibrils are parallel and orientated approximately orthogonally in adjacent lamellae. In addition to collagens and associated small proteoglycans, the ECM contains the multifunctional adhesive glycoproteins fibronectin and tenascin-C. We show in embryonic chicken corneas that fibronectin is present but is essentially unstructured in the primary stroma before cell migration and develops as strands linking migrating cells as they enter, maintaining their relative positions as they populate the stroma. Fibronectin also becomes prominent in the epithelial basement membrane, from which fibronectin strings penetrate into the stromal lamellar ECM at right angles. These are present throughout embryonic development but are absent in adults. Stromal cells associate with the strings. Since the epithelial basement membrane is the anterior stromal boundary, strings may be used by stromal cells to determine their relative anterior–posterior positions. Tenascin-C is organised differently, initially as an amorphous layer above the endothelium and subsequently extending anteriorly and organising into a 3D mesh when the stromal cells arrive, enclosing them. It continues to shift anteriorly in development, disappearing posteriorly, and finally becoming prominent in Bowman’s layer beneath the epithelium. The similarity of tenascin-C and collagen organisation suggests that it may link cells to collagen, allowing cells to control and organise the developing ECM architecture. Fibronectin and tenascin-C have complementary roles in cell migration, with the former being adhesive and the latter being antiadhesive and able to displace cells from their adhesion to fibronectin. Thus, in addition to the potential for associations between cells and the ECM, the two could be involved in controlling migration and adhesion and subsequent keratocyte differentiation. Despite the similarities in structure and binding capabilities of the two glycoproteins and the fact that they occupy similar regions of the developing stroma, there is little colocalisation, demonstrating their distinctive roles.
Molecular Mechanisms of Oxidative Stress Relief by CAPE in ARPE−19 Cells
Authors: Ren Changjie , Zhou Peiran , Zhang Mingliang , Yu Zihao , Zhang Xiaomin , Tombran-Tink Joyce , Barnstable Colin J. , Li Xiaorong
Published: February 2023

Caffeic acid phenylethyl ester (CAPE) is an antioxidative agent originally derived from propolis. Oxidative stress is a significant pathogenic factor in most retinal diseases. Our previous study revealed that CAPE suppresses mitochondrial ROS production in ARPE−19 cells by regulating UCP2. The present study explores the ability of CAPE to provide longer-term protection to RPE cells and the underlying signal pathways involved. ARPE−19 cells were given CAPE pretreatment followed by t-BHP stimulation. We used in situ live cell staining with CellROX and MitoSOX to measure ROS accumulation; Annexin V-FITC/PI assay to evaluate cell apoptosis; ZO−1 immunostaining to observe tight junction integrity in the cells; RNA-seq to analyze changes in gene expression; q-PCR to validate the RNA-seq data; and Western Blot to examine MAPK signal pathway activation. CAPE significantly reduced both cellular and mitochondria ROS overproduction, restored the loss of ZO−1 expression, and inhibited apoptosis induced by t-BHP stimulation. We also demonstrated that CAPE reverses the overexpression of immediate early genes (IEGs) and activation of the p38-MAPK/CREB signal pathway. Either genetic or chemical deletion of UCP2 largely abolished the protective effects of CAPE. CAPE restrained ROS generation and preserved the tight junction structure of ARPE−19 cells against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis. These effects were mediated via UCP2 regulation of p38/MAPK-CREB-IEGs pathway.
Landscape of Well-Coordinated Fracture Healing in a Mouse Model Using Molecular and Cellular Analysis
Authors: Malhan Deeksha , Schmidt-Bleek Katharina , Duda Georg N. , El Khassawna Thaqif
Published: February 2023

The success of fracture healing relies on overlapping but coordinated cellular and molecular events. Characterizing an outline of differential gene regulation throughout successful healing is essential for identifying crucial phase-specific markers and may serve as the basis for engineering these in challenging healing situations. This study analyzed the healing progression of a standard closed femoral fracture model in C57BL/6N (age = 8 weeks) wild-type male mice. The fracture callus was assessed across various days post fracture (D = days 0, 3, 7, 10, 14, 21, and 28) by microarray, with D0 serving as a control. Histological analyses were carried out on samples from D7 until D28 to support the molecular findings. Microarray analysis revealed a differential regulation of immune response, angiogenesis, ossification, extracellular matrix regulation, mitochondrial and ribosomal genes during healing. In-depth analysis showed differential regulation of mitochondrial and ribosomal genes during the initial phase of healing. Furthermore, the differential gene expression showed an essential role of Serpin Family F Member 1 over the well-known Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in angiogenesis, especially during the inflammatory phase. The significant upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase 13 and bone sialoprotein from D3 until D21 asserts their importance in bone mineralization. The study also shows type I collagen around osteocytes located in the ossified region at the periosteal surface during the first week of healing. Histological analysis of matrix extracellular phosphoglycoprotein and extracellular signal-regulated kinase stressed their roles in bone homeostasis and the physiological bone-healing process. This study reveals previously unknown and novel candidates, that could serve as a target for specific time points in healing and to remedy cases of impaired healing.
Co-Occurrence of Filifactor alocis with Red Complex Bacteria in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Subjects with and without Chronic Periodontitis: A Pilot Study
Authors: Shaikh Hawaabi F. M. , Oswal Pratima U. , Kugaji Manohar S. , Katti Sandeep S. , Bhat Kishore G. , Joshi Vinayak M.
Published: February 2023

The periodontal disease etiology has been a demesne of scrupulous research, with a myriad of bacterial phylotypes inhabiting the periodontal pockets. The aim of our study was to assess the frequency of Filifactor alocis in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) subjects having a healthy periodontium (DH) or chronic periodontitis (DCP) and its correlation with clinical parameters and red complex bacteria. Polymerase chain reaction was carried out for the detection of F. alocis and red complex bacteria from subgingival plaque samples. The data were analyzed using Fisher’s Exact Test and Pearson’s chi-square test. A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. F. alocis was detected at considerably higher levels in DCP (p < 0.05). F. alocis presence was also positively correlated with T. forsythia detection and the clinical parameters PD and CAL (p < 0.05). Subjects with good glycemic control showed a considerably lower detection of F. alocis as compared to fair- and poor-glycemic-control subjects. This is the first paper reporting the co-occurrence of F. alocis and T. forsythia in diabetic subjects with chronic periodontitis. These findings show that F. alocis can play an important role in establishing synergistic collaborations with other pathogenic oral microorganisms and speeding up the course of periodontal disease in diabetics.
Research on Traffic Congestion Forecast Based on Deep Learning
Authors: Qi Yangyang , Cheng Zesheng
Published: February 2023

In recent years, the rapid economic development of China, the increase of the urban population, the continuous growth of private car ownership, the uneven distribution of traffic flow, and the local congestion of the road network have caused traffic congestion. Traffic congestion has become an inevitable problem in the process of urban development, bringing hazards and hidden dangers to citizens’ travel and urban development. The management of traffic congestion first lies in the accurate completion of the identification of road traffic status and the need to predict road congestion in the city, so as to improve the use rate of urban infrastructure road facilities and better alleviate road congestion. In this study, a deep spatial and temporal network model (DSGCN) for predicting traffic congestion status is proposed. First, our study divides the traffic network into grids, where each grid represents a different independent region. In this paper, the centroids of the grid regions are abstracted as nodes, and the dynamic correlations between the nodes are expressed in the form of adjacency matrix. Then, Graph Convolutional Neural Network is used to capture the spatial correlation between regions and a two-layer long and short-term feature model (DSTM) is used to capture the temporal correlation between regions. Finally, the DSGCN outperforms other baseline models and has higher accuracy for traffic congestion prediction as demonstrated by experiments on real PeMS datasets.
Blind Estimation of Spreading Code Sequence of QPSK-DSSS Signal Based on Fast-ICA
Authors: Xu Lu , Liu Xiaxia , Zhang Yijia
Published: February 2023

Most of the existing estimation methods of spreading code sequence are not suitable for the QPSK-DSSS. We propose a spreading code sequence estimation method based on fast independent component analysis (Fast-ICA). It mainly includes signal preprocessing, calculations of separation matrix, and spreading code sequence. Firstly, the received signal is segmented according to the period of the spreading code sequence, and the covariance matrix can be calculated. Then, the signal subspace and corresponding eigenvalues are obtained by eigenvalue decomposition of the covariance matrix. Subsequently, the received signal matrix needs to be whitened. Finally, the Fast-ICA algorithm is used to find the separation matrix to estimate the in-phase and orthogonal spreading code sequence. The experiment result shows that the estimation of the spreading code sequence can be carried out based on Fast-ICA under a low SNR of −12 dB. Compared with the constant modulus algorithm (CMA) and the decomposition method for the real part of the self-covariance matrix (EVD-R), this method has a better performance.
An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses on the Effect of Medication Interventions Targeting Polypharmacy for Frail Older Adults
Authors: Verma Aparna , Saha Sanjib , Jarl Johan , Conlon Ellen , McGuinness Bernadette , Trépel Dominic
Published: February 2023

Frailty refers to the lack of resilience and a reduction in a person’s ability to recover following a health problem, and it is increasingly becoming a challenging aspect of ageing populations. Many older adults are exposed to polypharmacy; i.e., they continue to be on medications without timely re-evaluation. Medication reviews have proven successful in managing polypharmacy in the general population, but there is uncertainty regarding their effect among frail older adults. This overview of published systematic reviews assesses the impact of medication reviews on polypharmacy in frail older adults. Embase was searched from its inception to January 2021 and 28 systematic reviews were identified, out of which 10 were included in the overview. Medication reviews were the most common intervention in 8 out of 10 systematic reviews. The frailty score was reported as an outcome in one systematic review that found no evidence for fundamental pharmacological effects on frailty. Six systematic reviews reported a statistically significant reduction in the number of inappropriately prescribed medications. Four systematic reviews reported on hospital admissions, with two of them reporting a decrease in hospitalisations. The quality assessment was moderate in six and critically low in four of the systematic reviews. We conclude that medication reviews help in reducing the use of inappropriate medications in frail older adults, but that there is insufficient evidence in terms of frailty score and hospital admissions.
Current and Emerging Therapies for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction in Hypertriglyceridemia
Authors: Mszar Reed , Bart Sarah , Sakers Alexander , Soffer Daniel , Karalis Dean G.
Published: February 2023

Hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) is a prevalent medical condition in patients with cardiometabolic risk factors and is associated with an increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), if left undiagnosed and undertreated. Current guidelines identify HTG as a risk-enhancing factor and, as a result, recommend clinical evaluation and lifestyle-based interventions to address potential secondary causes of elevated triglyceride (TG) levels. For individuals with mild to moderate HTG at risk of ASCVD, statin therapy alone or in combination with other lipid-lowering medications known to decrease ASCVD risk are guideline-endorsed. In addition to lifestyle modifications, patients with severe HTG at risk of acute pancreatitis may benefit from fibrates, mixed formulation omega-3 fatty acids, and niacin; however, evidence does not support their use for ASCVD risk reduction in the contemporary statin era. Novel therapeutics including those that target apoC-III and ANGPTL3 have shown to be safe, well-tolerated, and effective for lowering TG levels. Given the growing burden of cardiometabolic disease and risk factors, public health and health policy strategies are urgently needed to enhance access to effective pharmacotherapies, affordable and nutritious food options, and timely health care services.
Forefoot Function after Hallux Valgus Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Plantar Load Measurement
Authors: Wong Duo Wai-Chi , Cheung James Chung-Wai , Zhao Jia-Guo , Ni Ming , Yang Zu-Yao
Published: February 2023

While hallux valgus (HV) surgeries are useful for correcting skeletal alignment problems, their effects on plantar load, which reflects forefoot functions, are less understood. The objective of this study is to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the plantar load change after HV surgeries. A systematic search of Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, CENTRAL, EMBASE, and CINAHL was performed. Studies that assessed the pre- and post-operative plantar pressure of HV patients undergoing surgeries and reported load-related parameters over the hallux, medial metatarsal, and/or central metatarsal regions were included. Studies were appraised by using the modified NIH quality assessment tool for before-after study. Studies suitable for meta-analysis were pooled with the random-effects model, using the standardized mean difference of the before-after parameters as an effect measure. Twenty-six studies containing 857 HV patients and 973 feet were included for the systematic review. Meta-analysis was conducted on 20 of them, and most studies did not favor HV surgeries. Overall, HV surgeries reduced the plantar load over the hallux region (SMD −0.71, 95% CI, −1.15 to −0.26), indicating that forefoot function worsened after surgeries. For the other five outcomes, the overall estimates were not statistically significant, indicating that surgeries did not improve them either. There was substantial heterogeneity among the studies, which in most cases could not be resolved by pre-planned subgroup analyses by surgical classification, year of publication, median age of patients, and length of follow-up. Sensitivity analysis removing lower-quality studies showed that the load integrals (impulse) over the central metatarsal region significantly increased (SMD 0.27, 95% CI, 0 to 0.53), indicating that surgeries increased the risk of transfer metatarsalgia. There is no solid evidence that HV surgeries could improve forefoot functions from a biomechanical point perspective. Currently available evidence even suggests that surgeries might reduce the plantar load over the hallux and adversely affect push-off function. The reasons behind and the effectiveness of alternative surgical methods warrant further investigation.
Artificial Intelligence Software for Diabetic Eye Screening: Diagnostic Performance and Impact of Stratification
Authors: Peeters Freya , Rommes Stef , Elen Bart , Gerrits Nele , Stalmans Ingeborg , Jacob Julie , De Boever Patrick
Published: February 2023

Aim: To evaluate the MONA.health artificial intelligence screening software for detecting referable diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic macular edema (DME), including subgroup analysis. Methods: The algorithm’s threshold value was fixed at the 90% sensitivity operating point on the receiver operating curve to perform the disease classification. Diagnostic performance was appraised on a private test set and publicly available datasets. Stratification analysis was executed on the private test set considering age, ethnicity, sex, insulin dependency, year of examination, camera type, image quality, and dilatation status. Results: The software displayed an area under the curve (AUC) of 97.28% for DR and 98.08% for DME on the private test set. The specificity and sensitivity for combined DR and DME predictions were 94.24 and 90.91%, respectively. The AUC ranged from 96.91 to 97.99% on the publicly available datasets for DR. AUC values were above 95% in all subgroups, with lower predictive values found for individuals above the age of 65 (82.51% sensitivity) and Caucasians (84.03% sensitivity). Conclusion: We report good overall performance of the MONA.health screening software for DR and DME. The software performance remains stable with no significant deterioration of the deep learning models in any studied strata.
Retrospective National “Real Life” Experience of the SFCE with the Metronomic MEMMAT and MEMMAT-like Protocol
Authors: Winnicki Camille , Leblond Pierre , Bourdeaut Franck , Pagnier Anne , Paluenzela Gilles , Chastagner Pascal , Duhil-De Benaze Gwenaelle , Min Victoria , Sudour-Bonnange Hélène , Piette Catherine , Entz-Werle Natacha , Chabaud Sylvie , André Nicolas
Published: February 2023

Background: Relapses in pediatric high-risk brain tumors remain unmet medical needs. Over the last 15 years, metronomic chemotherapy has gradually emerged as an alternative therapeutic approach. Patients and Methods: This is a national retrospective study of patients with relapsing pediatric brain tumors treated according to the MEMMAT or MEMMAT-like regimen from 2010 to 2022. Treatment consisted of daily oral thalidomide, fenofibrate, and celecoxib, and alternating 21-day cycles of metronomic etoposide and cyclophosphamide associated with bevacizumab and intraventricular chemotherapy. Results: Forty-one patients were included. The most frequent malignancies were medulloblastoma (22) and ATRT (8). Overall, the best responses were CR in eight patients (20%), PR in three patients (7%), and SD in three patients (7%), for a clinical benefit rate of 34%. The median overall survival was 26 months (IC95% = 12.4–42.7), and median EFS was 9.7 months (IC95% = 6.0–18.6). The most frequent grade ¾ toxicities were hematological. Dose had to be adjusted in 27% of the cases. There was no statistical difference in outcome between full or modified MEMMAT. The best setting seems to be when MEMMAT is used as a maintenance and at first relapse. Conclusions: The metronomic MEMMAT combination can lead to sustained control of relapsed high-risk pediatric brain tumors.
Inductive Thermal Effect on Thermoplastic Nanocomposites with Magnetic Nanoparticles for Induced-Healing, Bonding and Debonding On-Demand Applications
Authors: Kanidi Maria , Loura Niki , Frengkou Anna , Milickovic Tatjana Kosanovic , Trompeta Aikaterini-Flora , Charitidis Costas
Published: February 2023

In this study, the heating capacity of nanocomposite materials enhanced with magnetic nanoparticles was investigated through induction heating. Thermoplastic (TP) matrices of polypropylene (PP), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), polyamide (PA12), and polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) were compounded with 2.5–10 wt.% iron oxide-based magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) using a twin-screw extrusion system. Disk-shape specimens were prepared by 3D printing and injection molding. The heating capacity was examined as a function of exposure time, frequency, and power using a radio frequency (RF) generator with a solenoid inductor coil. All nanocomposite materials presented a temperature increase proportional to the MNPs’ concentration as a function of the exposure time in the magnetic field. The nanocomposites with a higher concentration of MNPs presented a rapid increase in temperature, resulting in polymer matrix melting in most of the trials. The operational parameters of the RF generator, such as the input power and the frequency, significantly affect the heating capacity of the specimens, higher input power, and higher frequencies and promote the rapid increase in temperature for all assessed nanocomposites, enabling induced-healing and bonding/debonding on-demand applications.
Using 3D Density-Gradient Vectors in Evolutionary Topology Optimization to Find the Build Direction for Additive Manufacturing
Authors: Bender Dylan , Barari Ahmad
Published: February 2023

Given its layer-based nature, additive manufacturing is known as a family of highly capable processes for fabricating complex 3D geometries designed by means of evolutionary topology optimization. However, the required support structures for the overhanging features of these complex geometries can be concerningly wasteful. This article presents an approach for studying the manufacturability of the topology-optimized complex 3D parts required for additive manufacturing and finding the optimum corresponding build direction for the fabrication process. The developed methodology uses the density gradient of the design matrix created during the evolutionary topology optimization of the 3D domains to determine the optimal build orientation for additive manufacturing with the objective of minimizing the need for support structures. Highly satisfactory results are obtained by implementing the developed methodology in analytical and experimental studies, which demonstrate potential additive manufacturing mass savings of 170% of the structure’s weight. The developed methodology can be readily used in a variety of evolutionary topology optimization algorithms to design complex 3D geometries for additive manufacturing technologies with a minimized level of waste due to reducing the need for support structures.
Research on Green Closed-Loop Supply Chain Considering Manufacturer’s Fairness Concerns and Sales Effort
Authors: Zhang Nian , Wu Jinyu , Li Bin , Fu Deqiang
Published: February 2023

To reduce resource loss and environmental pollution, green CLSC has become a hot issue that manufacturing enterprises pay attention to. In green CLSC, manufacturers would pay attention to the fairness of profit distribution when making sales efforts. Therefore, this paper studies a green closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) considering manufacturer sales efforts and fairness concerns. Then, the centralized model and decentralized model are built and analyzed. Afterward, a profit-sharing contract between members is designed to coordinate the supply chain. We made the following observations: (1) The manufacturers’ fairness concerns would reduce product green degree, sales effort and recycling rate of used products, which is not conducive to the sustainable development of the green closed-loop supply chain. (2) When the manufacturers’ fairness concerns are gradually strengthened, the optimal decisions would deviate even more from the optimal equilibrium results. (3) When the coefficient of fairness concerns and the ratio of profit-sharing satisfy a certain range, Pareto improvement can be effectively realized.
Quantifying and Comparing the Cooling Effects of Three Different Morphologies of Urban Parks in Chengdu
Authors: Feng Xiaojing , Yu Jiahao , Xin Chuliang , Ye Tianhao , Wang Tian’ao , Chen Honglin , Zhang Xuemei , Zhang Lili
Published: February 2023

Urban parks have significant cooling effects, which can both mitigate the urban heat is-land effect and are crucial to the sustainable development of the human habitat. Although studies have been conducted to explore the influence of urban park morphology on the cooling effect of parks, they are not sufficiently in depth. Therefore, this paper took 117 urban parks in the central city of Chengdu as the research objects based on the perspective of the quantitative classification of urban park morphology. Then, remote sensing interpretation, spatial statistics, and regression analysis were used, and the four indicators of cooling intensity, cooling distance, cooling area, and cooling efficiency of urban parks were integrated to explore the cooling effect of the different morphological types of urban parks. The results show that (1) urban parks in Chengdu could be divided into five categories, among which the cooling effect of round parks was the best, and the cooling efficiency was 0.7. (2) In terms of park cooling area, urban parks’ area and perimeter thresholds were 30 ha and 4000 m, respectively. (3) When the area and perimeter of urban parks reached 70 ha and 3000 m, respectively, the increase in the cooling distance slowed down. (4) The cooling efficiency of the park was best when the shape index (indicating the complexity of the park boundaries) of the urban park was 2.8. The results of the study provide theoretical support for the intensive use of urban park green space and help the construction and promotion of a beautiful and livable park city in Chengdu.
Crime and Punishment—Crime Rates and Prison Population in Europe
Authors: Gruszczyńska Beata , Gruszczyński Marek
Published: February 2023

This paper presents an attempt at establishing an association between crime levels and prison populations across European countries. We observe that the situation in Central and Eastern European countries differs distinctly from the rest of Europe. Building on this, we offer justification that is methodologically based on correlations and regressions of country incarceration rates on crime rates, with reference to governance indicators. Our cross-sectional analysis uses data on crime and prisoner rates by offence from Eurostat and SPACE for the year 2018. The paper’s empirical analysis is preceded by a discussion of the challenges faced when attempting to compare crime between countries in Europe. A review of research focused on relationships between incarceration and crime follows, with the emphasis on the deterrence effect and the prison paradox. Typically, this stream of research uses microdata covering a single country or limited to a smaller geographic area. International comparisons are rare, and are usually based on time series and trend analyses. The quantitative approach applied here is based on recognizing two clusters of countries: the Central and Eastern European (CEE) cluster and the Western European (WE) cluster. We show that the observation of higher prisoner rates and lower crime rates for CEE countries is confirmed with regression analysis. Our study encompasses four types of offences: assault, rape, robbery, and theft. The final section of the paper presents an attempt to incorporate Worldwide Governance Indicators into the analysis of the association between incarceration and crime rates. The results confirm that crime rates in WE countries are distinctly higher than in CEE countries, while incarceration rates in WE are significantly lower than in CEE countries. We think this is due to a higher percentage of crimes being reported and the greater accuracy of police statistics in WE countries. The prison population in each country is largely determined by its criminal and penal policies, which differ substantially between CEE and WE countries (e.g., in terms of frequency of imposing prison sentences and the length of imprisonment). These tendencies result in higher incarceration rates in CEE countries, despite lower crime rates when compared to WE countries.
Peripheral Macrovascular Involvement in Systemic Sclerosis: A Cohort Study by Color and Spectral Doppler Ultrasonography
Authors: D’Alessandro Roberto , Garcia Gonzalez Estrella , Falsetti Paolo , Conticini Edoardo , d’Alessandro Miriana , Selvi Enrico , Bellisai Francesca , Berlengiero Virginia , Vallifuoco Giulia , Pata Anna Paola , Bardelli Marco , Baldi Caterina , Cantarini Luca , Bargagli Elena , Frediani Bruno
Published: February 2023

Objectives: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a disease characterized by diffuse sclerosis of skin and organs and small vessel vasculopathy. Despite it, large vessels can also be involved with ulnar artery vasculopathy, revealing as a more frequent feature of SSc. The aim of this paper is to assess the macrovascular involvement of SSc patients through an ultrasound (US) evaluation of radial and ulnar arteries. Methods: Radial and ulnar resistance indices (RIs) and peak systolic velocity (PV) (cm/s) together with clinical features of SSc patients were evaluated. Raynaud phenomenon (RP) and healthy control (HC) groups were used for comparison. Results: Forty-three SSc patients were evaluated. Twelve patients (28%) had ulnar artery occlusions (UAOs). In nine cases (75%), UAOs were bilateral. A high UAO prevalence (42%) was found in SSc patients with late nailfold-video-capillaroscopy (NVC) pattern (p = 0.0264). Patients with UAOs had digital ulcers (DUs) in 10 cases (83.3%). Radial and ulnar PVs were lower in SSc and RP patients than the HC group. Radial and ulnar RIs were higher in SSc and RP patients than the HC group. A decision tree analysis led to the classification of 70% of SSc patients with an ulnar RI > 0.82 and ulnar PV > 2.8 cm/s. The most influential variables on UAO development were interstitial lung disease (ILD) (p = 0.002) and NVC pattern (p = 0.002). A positive correlation was shown between modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) and ILD (p = 0.283; r = 0.033), mRSS and DU (r = 0.344; p = 0.012) and DU and ILD (r = 0.303; p = 0.024). Male sex was associated with increased UAO frequency (p = 0.042). Conclusions: UAO is a peculiar feature of severe SSc present in 28% of the cases, particularly associated with the presence of ILD and late NVC pattern. In 75% of the cases, UAOs are bilateral. DUs are very frequent in patients with UAOs (83%). The RI evaluated by US could be useful to distinguish SSc from HC patients. US could be a useful tool for assessing high-risk DU development in patients.
Exogenous Melatonin Spray Enhances Salinity Tolerance in Zizyphus Germplasm: A Brief Theory
Authors: Ahmad Riaz , Manzoor Meryam , Muhammad Hafiza Muniba Din , Altaf Muhammad Ahsan , Shakoor Awais
Published: February 2023

Fruit orchards are frequently irrigated with brackish water. Irrigation with poor quality water is also a major cause of salt accumulation in soil. An excess of salts results in stunted growth, poor yield, inferior quality and low nutritional properties. Melatonin is a low molecular weight protein that shows multifunctional, regulatory and pleiotropic behavior in the plant kingdom. Recently, its discovery brought a great revolution in sustainable fruit production under salinity-induced environments. Melatonin contributed to enhanced tolerance in Zizyphus fruit species by improving the plant defense system’s potential to cope with the adverse effects of salinity. The supplemental application of melatonin has improved the generation of antioxidant assays and osmolytes involved in the scavenging of toxic ROS. The tolerance level of the germplasm is chiefly based on the activation of the defense system against the adverse effects of salinity. The current study explored the contribution of melatonin against salinity stress and provides information regarding which biochemical mechanism can be effective and utilized for the development of salt-tolerant germplasm in Zizyphus.
Rapid Onsite Visual Detection of Orf Virus Using a Recombinase-Aided Amplification Assay
Authors: Cui Huan , Guan Jiyu , Lu Huijun , Liu Jun , Tu Fei , Zhang Cheng , Su Kai , Guo Zhendong , Zhao Kui
Published: February 2023

Orf is an important zoonotic disease caused by the Orf virus (ORFV) which can cause contagious pustular dermatitis in goats and sheep. Orf is widespread in most sheep-raising countries in the world, causing huge economic losses. Although diagnostic methods for ORFV infection already exist, it is still necessary to develop a time-saving, labor-saving, specific, low-cost and visual diagnostic method for rapid detection of ORFV in the field and application in grassroots laboratories. This study establishes a DNA extraction–free, real-time, visual recombinase–aided amplification (RAA) method for the rapid detection of ORFV. This method is specific to ORFV and does not cross-react with other common DNA viruses. The detection limits of the real-time RAA and visual judgment of the RAA assay at 95% probability were 13 and 21 copies per reaction for ORFV, respectively. Compared with qPCR, the sensitivity and specificity of the real-time RAA assay were 100%, and those of the visual RAA assay were 92.31% and 100.0%, respectively. The DNA extraction–free visual detection method of RAA established in this study can meet the needs of rapid onsite detection and grassroots laboratories and has important reference value and significance for the early diagnosis of diseased animals.
Bio-Artificial Liver Support System: A Prospective Future Therapy
Authors: Jasirwan Chyntia Olivia Maurine , Muradi Akhmadu , Antarianto Radiana Dhewayani
Published: February 2023

Whether acute or chronic, liver failure is a state of liver dysfunction that can progress to multiorgan failure. Mortality in liver failure patients is approximately 80–90% and is caused by detoxification failure, which triggers other immediate complications, such as encephalopathy, coagulopathy, jaundice, cholestasis, and acute kidney failure. The ideal treatment for liver failure is liver transplantation, but the long waiting period for the right donor match causes unavoidable deaths in most patients. Therefore, new therapies, such as tissue engineering, hepatocyte transplantation, and stem cells, are now being studied to anticipate the patient’s condition while waiting for liver transplantation. This literature review investigated the effectiveness of some bio-artificial liver support systems using review methods systematically from international publication sites, including PubMed, using keywords, such as bio-artificial liver, acute and chronic liver failure, extracorporeal liver support system (ECLS), MARS, single-pass albumin dialysis (SPAD). Artificial and bioartificial liver systems can show specific detoxification abilities and pathophysiological improvements in liver failure patients but cannot reach the ideal criteria for actual liver function. The liver support system must provide the metabolic and synthetic function as in the actual liver while reducing the pathophysiological changes in liver failure. Aspects of safety, cost efficiency, and practicality are also considered. Identifying the technology to produce high-quality hepatocytes on a big scale is essential as a medium to replace failing liver cells. An increase in detoxification capacity and therapeutic effectiveness must also focus on patient survival and the ability to perform liver transplantation.
Research on Shaft Current Damage Identification of Variable Condition Motor Bearings Based on Multiscale Feature Label Propagation and Manifold Metric Transfer
Authors: Wang Guangbin , Zhao Shubiao , Zhong Zhixian , Zeng Dong
Published: February 2023

The current damage is the most stubborn and difficult fault of high-power motor bearings because its vibration characteristics are easily confused with those of ordinary bearing mechanical faults. If it is discriminated as an ordinary mechanical fault without electrical insulation protection, the current damage of bearing shafts will still repeatedly appear. Aiming at the problem that it is difficult to identify the bearing current damage fault under variable working conditions, a bearing shaft current damage identification method based on multiscale feature label propagation and manifold metric transfer (MFLP-MMT) is proposed. Firstly, the multiscale sub-band signal is obtained by wavelet packet decomposition, and the multiscale sub-band fuzzy entropy is obtained by calculating its fuzzy entropy. Then, according to the extracted features, a neighbor graph is constructed on the source domain of the known fault label to obtain the pseudo label of the target domain sample, and the source domain label information is gradually diffused by way of the graph label propagation. The multiscale sub-band fuzzy entropy of the sample is mapped to the low-dimensional manifold space by locality preserving projections (LPP), and the source domain samples close to the target domain are given higher weights by cross-domain density ratio estimation to solve the problem of domain offset. Combined with the label samples of the target domain in label propagation, the manifold distance metric is learned to minimize the intra-class distance and maximize the inter-class distance in the domain and eliminate the overlapping phenomenon in the domain. By increasing the range of label propagation after each iteration, the label propagation error of the leading graph is gradually reduced, and unsupervised metric transfer learning is realized. The experimental results show that the new method is superior to the semi-supervised transfer learning method in fault identification ability; the highest fault identification accuracy can reach 100% and it has a good robustness.
Effect of Sliding on the Relation of Tribofilm Thickness and Wear
Authors: Jech Martin , Miranda-Medina Maria L. , Wopelka Thomas , Tomastik Christian , Gachot Carsten
Published: February 2023

The formation of tribofilms depends on temperature, shear stress, availability of the related chemical components, and characteristics of the near surface region, e.g., roughness and surface chemistry. The purpose of a tribofilm is to separate two sliding surfaces, thus preventing or limiting wear. This research article aims for the first time at a systematic approach to elucidate on a fundamental level the interplay between tribofilm formation in particular thickness and wear behavior in the boundary and mixed lubrication regime. For this, load, temperature and sliding frequency as most relevant parameters are taken into consideration. For that purpose, a piston ring and cylinder liner configuration in an oscillating tribometer was chosen as a model system, with the top dead centre conditions in internal combustion engines of passenger cars as the testing regime. The amount of wear produced during the tribotests is continuously monitored by means of the Radio-Isotope Concentration (RIC) method. The tribofilm is investigated via Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The results clearly indicate that the impact of load on the wear rate can be seen in an Archard-like dependency, but changes of temperature and sliding velocity in the boundary to mixed lubrication regime imply a non-linear ratio between wear and tribofilm formation.
Imparting Waterproofing Properties to Leather by Polymer Nanoemulsion Based on Long-Chain Alkyl Acrylate
Authors: Jin Liqiang , Xu Wenbin , Wen Hongmei , Wang Yulu , Zhang Feifei
Published: February 2023

The demand for waterproof leather has been increasing, and environmentally friendly waterproof fatliquors have recently received increasing attention. In this work, two polymer nanoemulsions containing carboxyl groups were synthesized and used as waterproof fatliquors for chrome-tanned leather. First, a reactive emulsifier (C12-Na) was prepared using itaconic anhydride and lauryl alcohol. Subsequently, two polymer nanoemulsions were prepared through mini-emulsion polymerization with C12-Na as the emulsifier, 4,4′-azobis (4-cyanovaleric acid) as the initiator, and lauryl acrylate (LA)/stearyl acrylate (SA) as monomers; these were named PLA and PSA. PLA and PSA were characterized using FT-IR, a Zetasizer, and GPC. It was found that the critical micellar concentration (CMC) of C12-Na was 2.34 mmol/L, which could reduce the surface tension of water to 26.61 mN/m. The average particle sizes of PLA and PSA were 53.39 and 67.90 nm, respectively. The maeser flexes of leather treated with PLA and PSA were 13928 and 19492 at a 5% dosage, respectively, and the contact angles reached 148.4° and 150.3°, respectively; these values were both higher than for a conventional fatliquor. Compared with PLA, the leather treated with PSA exhibited better fullness, and tensile and tearing strength. The prepared nanoemulsions have prospective applications in leather manufacturing as waterproof fatliquors.
Flexible Substrate of Cellulose Fiber/Structured Plasmonic Silver Nanoparticles Applied for Label-Free SERS Detection of Malathion
Authors: Serebrennikova Kseniya V. , Komova Nadezhda S. , Aybush Arseniy V. , Zherdev Anatoly V. , Dzantiev Boris B.
Published: February 2023

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is considered an efficient technique providing high sensitivity and fingerprint specificity for the detection of pesticide residues. Recent developments in SERS-based detection aim to create flexible plasmonic substrates that meet the requirements for non-destructive analysis of contaminants on curved surfaces by simply wrapping or wiping. Herein, we reported a flexible SERS substrate based on cellulose fiber (CF) modified with silver nanostructures (AgNS). A silver film was fabricated on the membrane surface with an in situ silver mirror reaction leading to the formation of a AgNS–CF substrate. Then, the substrate was decorated through in situ synthesis of raspberry-like silver nanostructures (rAgNS). The SERS performance of the prepared substrate was tested using 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA) as a Raman probe and compared with that of the CF-based plasmonic substrates. The sensitivity of the rAgNS/AgNS–CF substrate was evaluated by determining the detection limit of 4-MBA and an analytical enhancement factor, which were 10 nM and ~107, respectively. Further, the proposed flexible rAgNS/AgNS–CF substrate was applied for SERS detection of malathion. The detection limit for malathion reached 0.15 mg/L, which meets the requirements about its maximum residue level in food. Thus, the characteristics of the rAgNS/AgNS–CF substrate demonstrate the potential of its application as a label-free and ready-to-use sensing platform for the SERS detection of trace hazardous substances.
Mathematical Model for Oil Recovery Prediction of Polymer Microsphere Conformance Control Based on the Stream Tube Method
Authors: Zhao Wenyue , Tang Huo , Lu Fan , Hu Shuai , Liu Tongjing , Li Nannan , Song Renzhi
Published: February 2023

Oil recovery is an essential parameter for reservoir development performance evaluation, but there is no specific research on the theoretical oil recovery prediction model of polymer microspheres (PMs)’ conformance control. This research aims to establish an oil recovery prediction model that depends on the definition of oil recovery based on stream tube theory. PMs’ enhanced oil recovery mechanism is to plug the pore throat to expand the swept area. The assumption that the stream tube between injection and production wells is trapezoidal is proposed. Based on this premise, the area sweep efficiency equation suitable for the rhombus inverse nine-spot well pattern is established based on the stream tube theory. The vertical sweep efficiency equation is optimized by introducing the equivalent mobility ratio. Additionally, the model’s adaptability and validity are studied. The analysis results show that oil recovery decreases with increasing injection rate, injection concentration, and PMs size but increases with the increasing injection period. The theoretical oil recovery is 1.37%, and the actual oil recovery of the field application is 1.22%, with an error of 0.15%. This model has good consistency with the actual physical process of the field application. The oil recovery prediction model can provide oil recovery and optimize PMs’ conformance control injection scheme. This study fills the gap in the mathematical model for oil recovery prediction of PMs’ conformance control.
Mechanical Characterization and Constitutive Modeling of Nano-Stabilized Soil under Uniaxial Compression
Authors: Zhang Xingchen , Gao Jianen , Qiang Minmin , Zhang Haochen , Li Xinghua , Long Shaobo , Gao Zhe , Fan Henghui
Published: February 2023

The stress–strain constitutive model under uniaxial compression is a basic element and important characterization method for determining physical and mechanical properties in cement-based materials research. In this study, a stress–strain constitutive model under uniaxial compression was established, which was based on a new nano-stabilized soil (NSS) through typical mechanical tests and constitutive relationship research. The results indicate that the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of the nano-stabilized soil was enhanced with the increase in curing period and nano-stabilizer dosage, and that the strength growth rate reaches the maximum at a 12% dosage in the tested samples. The UCS of NSS under a 12% dosage is about 10~15% higher than that of ordinary stabilized soil (SS) without nano doping, and 25~40% higher compared with grade 42.5 cement-soil. The established constitutive model could accurately describe the linear-elastic and elastic-plastic deformation characteristics of NSS under uniaxial compression, which will be conducive to revealing the curve variation law of the stress–strain process. The research results could provide scientific support for the theoretical innovation and engineering application of green environmental protection materials.
Fabrication of Temperature Sensors with High-Performance Uniformity through Thermal Annealing
Authors: Liu Hongrui , Li Yongchun , Xie Weiji , Zhou Xinyi , Hong Jishuang , Liang Junfeng , Liu Yanghui , Li Wei , Wang Hong
Published: February 2023

It is considered to be of great significance to monitor human health and track the effect of drugs by measuring human temperature mapping through flexible temperature sensors. In this work, we found that the thermal annealing of flexible temperature sensors based on graphite–acrylate copolymer composites can not only improve the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) values of the devices, but also greatly improve the uniformity of the performance of the devices prepared in parallel. The best results were obtained when the devices were annealed at 100 °C, which is believed to be due to the rearrangement of graphite particles to generate more uniform and numerous conductive channels within the conductive composite. We believe this finding might promote the practical development of flexible temperature sensors in body temperature sensing for health maintenance and medical applications.