bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Efficacy and safety of mirabegron for the treatment of neurogenic detrusor overactivity resulting from traumatic spinal cord injury: A prospective study
Authors: Vasudeva Pawan , Prasad Vishnu , Yadav Siddharth , Kumar Niraj , Saurav Kumar , Prashanth Y. M. , Tyagi Vijay
Published: January 2021

Objective

To assess the clinical, urodynamic efficacy, and safety of mirabegron in patients with neurogenic detrusor overactivity (NDO) consequent to traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI).

Methods

This prospective cohort study was performed between January 2018 and July 2019 and included adult patients with stable traumatic suprasacral SCI, performing clean intermittent catheterization (CIC), and demonstrating NDO on urodynamic study (UDS). A 3‐day bladder diary was made at the baseline after which all patients were started on Mirabegron 50 mg. They were followed up at 6 weeks with a repeat bladder diary and UDS which were compared with those at the baseline.

Results

A total of 30 patients (4 females, 26 males, mean age: 30.07 years) were included. After 6 weeks of treatment, 5 out of the 29 incontinent patients became completely dry. The mean frequency of CIC decreased from 6.63 at the baseline to 5.37 at 6 weeks (p = .002), the mean CIC volume increased from 275 ml to 341 ml (p = .0002), the mean number of incontinence episodes in between CIC reduced from 3.97 to 2.27 (p < .0001) and time from CIC to leakage increased from 1.73 h to 2.75 h (p < .0001). The mean cystometric capacity increased from 348 ml to 406 ml (p = .008) and the maximum amplitude of NDO decreased from 54 cm H2O to 41 cm H2O (p = .005) at 6 weeks. Only two patients reported new onset dry mouth. No major adverse events were noted and none discontinued treatment.

Conclusion

Mirabegron is efficacious and safe in patients with NDO consequent to traumatic SCI.
Factors associated with aggressive behaviour in persons with cognitive impairments using home care services: A retrospective cross‐sectional study
Authors: Schnelli Angela , Ott Stefan , Mayer Hanna , Zeller Adelheid
Published: January 2021

Aim

This study aimed to investigate the frequency of documented aggression, on the part of cognitively impaired individuals, against health professionals in home care services and to highlight related factors.

Design

A retrospective cross‐sectional study was conducted using data obtained from the nursing documentation of six home care service organizations in Switzerland.

Methods

We analysed the nursing documentation of 1,186 clients in six home care services, between July 2019–September 2019, using the Cohen‐Mansfield Agitation Inventory. We conducted a factor analysis as well as a descriptive data analysis and logistic regression using IBM SPSS Statistics.

Results

A factor analysis revealed in five factors, of which three represented aggressive behaviour in the sample. These factors were physically aggressive behaviour, verbally aggressive behaviour and importunate behaviour. Aggressive incidents, documented in the nursing records of 14.7% of clients in our sample, tended to be associated with cognitive, communication and mobility difficulties.

Impact statement

This retrospective cross‐sectional survey gives an overview of the frequency and forms of documented aggressive behaviour on the part of persons with cognitive impairments towards health professionals in home care services.

One of the motivating factors for this study was the awareness that aggressive behaviour on the part of clients may stress health professionals in various ways which in turn may have an impact on the quality of care provided.

The study revealed that healthcare specialists, rather than more qualified general or psychiatric nurses, were routinely assigned to assisting such clients and therefore specific educational and training interventions for these specific group of staff are indicated.
Assessment of boundary layer for flow of non‐Newtonian material induced by a moving belt with power law viscosity and thermal conductivity models
Authors: Hassan Mohsan , Al‐Khaled Kamel , Khan Sami Ullah , Tlili Iskander , Chammam Wathek
Published: January 2021

The non‐Newtonian fluids have become quite prevalent in industry and engineering for different applications. When these fluids flow over industrial equipment, a boundary layer phenomenon is developed due surface friction of equipment. In this work, a boundary layer phenomenon for two famous non‐Newtonian fluids namely pseudoplastic and dilatant over moving belt is discussed. The physical problem is modeled through continuity, momentum and energy equations under boundary layer assumptions. In these equations, power law models for viscosity and thermal conductivity properties are used due to the non‐linear nature of fluids. The governing equations are reduced to ordinary differential equations via similarity variables and get the analytical solution by using Mathematica package BVPh 2. The assessment of boundary layer against dimensionless velocity and temperature distribution are calculated and displaced by graphically when the belt is moving in the same and opposite direction to flow and displayed graphically. In addition, momentum and thermal boundary layers thicknesses, the thickness momentum distribution and moving fluid surface are calculated numerically to understand the boundary layer structure and the deflation in mass flow rate and in the momentum flux. A progress trend for thermal as well as momentum boundary layers has been noticed and found the maximum discrepancy in mass flow rate in case of dilatant fluid. The thickness of boundary layer region is thicker for dilatants material due to higher viscosity.
Preparation and Applications of Carbon‐Based Fluorescent Nanothermometers
Authors: Sun Tianxia , Zhang Yang , Yan Ruyue , Jiang Yingnan , Zhao Yu
Published: January 2021

In recent years, carbon‐based fluorescent nanomaterials have been developed rapidly in biology and biomedicine due to their high optical absorptivity, adjustable fluorescent emission, chemical stability, well biocompatibility, and low toxicity. Their applications in temperature sensing have become one of the research hotspots. In this review, the authors summarize and sort out the carbon‐based fluorescent nanothermometers in the following work: 1) the types and temperature‐response mechanism of carbon‐based fluorescent nanomaterials are discussed; 2) the preparation methods of colorimetric fluorescent carbon‐based thermometers are introduced; 3) the applications of single/double emission carbon‐based fluorescent nanothermometers have been focused on. Finally, the authors give their own views on the future development direction of carbon‐based fluorescent nanothermometers. This review can provide guidance for the design and application of novel carbon‐based fluorescent nanothermometers.
Interplay of protein primary sequence, lipid membrane, and chaperone in β‐barrel assembly
Authors: Tiwari Pankaj B. , Mahalakshmi Radhakrishnan
Published: January 2021

The outer membrane of a Gram‐negative bacterium is a crucial barrier between the external environment and its internal physiology. This barrier is bridged selectively by β‐barrel outer membrane proteins (OMPs). The in vivo folding and biogenesis of OMPs necessitates the assistance of the outer membrane chaperone BamA. Nevertheless, OMPs retain the ability of independent self‐assembly in vitro. Hence, it is unclear whether substrate–chaperone dynamics is influenced by the intrinsic ability of OMPs to fold, the magnitude of BamA–OMP interdependence, and the contribution of BamA to the kinetics of OMP assembly. We addressed this by monitoring the assembly kinetics of multiple 8‐stranded β‐barrel OMP substrates with(out) BamA. We also examined whether BamA is species‐specific, or nonspecifically accelerates folding kinetics of substrates from independent species. Our findings reveal BamA as a substrate‐independent promiscuous molecular chaperone, which assists the unfolded OMP to overcome the kinetic barrier imposed by the bilayer membrane. We additionally show that while BamA kinetically accelerates OMP folding, the OMP primary sequence remains a vital deciding element in its assembly rate. Our study provides unexpected insights on OMP assembly and the functional relevance of BamA in vivo.
Giant Switching Effect and Spintronic Transport Properties in Cyclo[18]carbon‐Based Molecular Devices
Authors: Hou Lu , Hu Huamin , Yang Guowei , Ouyang Gang
Published: January 2021

The isolated cyclo[18]carbon (C18), as a newly synthesized carbon allotrope, has potential to become the core unit of high‐end electronic devices due to its excellent physical properties. However, the research on C18 in molecular devices is still in the rudimentary stage. Herein, a novel molecular spin‐filtering device, formed by covalently sandwiching a C18 ring between two zigzag‐edged graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs), is investigated based on the nonequilibrium Green's function method and density functional theory. It is found that the spin‐polarized current can be implemented and controlled through adjusting the magnetic configuration of left (right) electrode. Remarkably, a strong bimolecular configuration switching effect can be achieved by inserting a metal carbon chain between nonmagnetic ZGNRs and C18 (on/off ratio of ≈2737). The results suggest theoretical guidance for the design of next‐generation carbon‐based molecular spintronic devices.
Safety analysis of safety‐critical systems for their applicability on NPP systems: A state‐of‐the‐art review
Authors: Kumar Vinay , Maurya Ashish Kumar , Singh Karam Veer , Singh Lalit Kumar , Singh Pooja , Hati Aditya Narayan , Singh Vibhav Prakash
Published: January 2021

Since any risk in the safety‐critical systems (SCSs) might lead to a terrible disaster, the utmost quality attribute of these systems is safety. Researchers are putting their efforts to ensure the safety of such systems. This paper summarizes the state‐of‐the‐art in the area of the safety attribute of such critical systems. The in depth literature survey is performed to explore the several methods/models used for safety analysis of the SCS. The limitations of such methods are also shown regarding their applicability in SCS of the nuclear power plant (NPP). We also propose a framework to perform safety analysis, which can deal with these limitations and demonstrated the approach on a case study of NPP. Further, the direction for future work is advised to extend the further scope of research based on the case study.
Aliased informed model selection strategies for six‐factor no‐confounding designs
Authors: Metcalfe Carly E. , Jones Bradley , Montgomery Douglas C.
Published: January 2021

Nonregular designs are a preferable alternative to regular resolution IV designs because they avoid confounding two‐factor interactions. As a result nonregular designs can estimate and identify a few active two‐factor interactions. However, due to the sometimes complex alias structure of nonregular designs, standard screening strategies can fail to identify all active effects. In this paper, we explore a specific no‐confounding six‐factor 16‐run nonregular design with orthogonal main effects. By utilizing our knowledge of the alias structure, we can inform the model selection process. Our aliased informed model selection (AIMS) strategy is a design‐specific approach that we compare to three generic model selection methods; stepwise regression, Lasso, and the Dantzig selector. The AIMS approach substantially increases the power to detect active main effects and two‐factor interactions versus the aforementioned generic methodologies.
Boundary vibration suppression for a flexible three‐dimensional marine riser against unknown sensor and actuator faults
Authors: Ji Ning , Liu Jinkun , Yang Hongjun
Published: January 2021

In this article, boundary control strategy is adopted to suppress the vibration of a flexible three‐dimensional (3D) marine riser simultaneously against both sensor and actuator faults. The flexible 3D marine riser is a distributed parameter system modeled as partial differential equations. During normal operation of the system, all the system components will behave optimally. However, if the sensor and actuator appear fault, the system will work abnormally. While the sensor is faulty, the output signal of the sensor will have errors, and this error signal will be the input signal of the actuator. In terms of actuator fault, once the actuator appears fault problem, the actuator should make up for the fault and continue working for the sake of safety. In this work, the fault degree of sensors and actuators are unknown and the boundary control schemes using Nassbaum function are developed for fault compensation. The system stability is proven by introducing an appropriate Lyapunov function. Finally, the simulation results verify the accuracy of the proposed control laws.
Changing the hierarchical placement of soil moisture regimes in Soil Taxonomy
Authors: Stolt Mark H. , O'Geen Anthony T. , Beaudette Dylan E. , Drohan Patrick J. , Galbraith John M. , Lindbo David L. , Monger H. Curtis , Needelman Brian A. , Ransom Michel D. , Rabenhorst Martin C. , Shaw Joey N.
Published: January 2021

Soil moisture and temperature are incorporated into Soil Taxonomy through the broad classes of moisture and temperature regimes. Although both are important variables in soil formation and land use, soil temperature regime (STR) is typically applied at the family level, whereas soil moisture regime (SMR) is applied at the suborder level. In this paper, we are questioning whether moving SMR to the family level will create a classification system that is more efficient and provide more information to the user at higher categories. The pros and cons of moving ustic, xeric, and udic SMRs from suborder to family category are discussed. To explore this potential change, we used Shannon diversity (ΔH) as an index of the information gain moving from order to suborder when classifying a soil. The analysis indicated a relatively small ΔH for most of the country considering current suborder classes. The proposed group of suborders, characterized by diagnostic horizons instead of SMR, conveyed a considerably larger ΔH supporting a substantial gain in information if the change was incorporated into Soil Taxonomy. The proposed change also has the potential to reduce the number of subgroup taxa by nearly 50%, without losing any of the current information within each taxa. Counterarguments for the change are that SMRs have soil genesis connotations and provide a way to group similar soils on broad‐scale maps. A change in the hierarchy of SMRs within Soil Taxonomy could deemphasize the relevance of soil moisture to soil genesis, morphology, and ecology.
Cause‐specific quantile regression on inactivity time
Authors: Jia Yichen , Jeong Jong‐Hyeon
Published: January 2021

In time‐to‐event analysis, the traditional summary measures have been based on the hazard function, survival function, quantile event time, restricted mean event time, and residual lifetime. Under competing risks, furthermore, typical summary measures have been the cause‐specific hazard function and cumulative incidence function. Recently inactivity time has recaptured attention in the literature, being interpreted as life lost. In this paper, we further interpret it as quality of life reduced and time period after transition to a drug, and propose a quantile regression model to associate the inactivity time with potential predictors under competing risks. We define the proper cumulative distribution function of the inactivity time distribution for each specific event type among those subjects who experience the same type of events during a follow‐up period. A score function‐type estimating equation is developed and asymptotic properties of the regression coefficient estimators are derived by assuming that competing events are censored at their occurrence times as in the cause‐specific hazard analysis. The proposed approach reduces to a regular quantile regression on the inactivity time without competing risks when all types of competing events are collapsed into the same type. Due to difficulty in estimating the improper probability density function of the cause‐specific inactivity distribution to evaluate the variance of the quantiles, a computationally efficient perturbation method is adopted to infer the regression coefficients. Simulation results show that our proposed method works well under the assumed finite sample settings. The proposed method is illustrated with a real dataset from a breast cancer study.
Hole Transport Materials by Direct C‐H Arylation for Organic Solar Cells: Effect of Structure and Conjugation on Electrical, Optical and Computational Properties
Authors: Naqvi Sheerin , Chaudhary Neeraj , Singhal Sanchita , Yadav Preeti , Patra Asit
Published: January 2021

Significant efforts have been devoted to the synthesis of conjugated molecules due to their interesting properties for organic electronic applications, it is surprising that very few studies have been reported on the development of small molecules for hole transport material (HTM) in organic solar cells through direct C−H arylation. In this work, we have studied the reaction conditions used for the facile synthesis of a series of π conjugated small molecules through direct C−H arylation. The reaction condition was optimized by using different solvents, bases and ligands to achieve the maximum possible yield. Ten phenyl(s)‐flanked conjugated small molecules were prepared using the optimized reaction condition and were characterized. Density functional theory was studied on these molecules to understand the structure‐property relationship and predicting the reliable geometry, electronic structure and properties of conjugated systems. Electrical and optical properties were measured by cyclic voltammetry and UV‐vis absorption spectroscopy. Finally, the organic solar cells were fabricated by solution‐processable deposition of these HTM with device geometry of ITO/HTM/PCDTBT:PC70BM/Al and achieved a power conversion efficiency of 2.40 % under ambient conditions. This method has the advantages of using different aromaticity of heterocyclic rings combined with conjugation length and electronegativity of heteroatom(s) to allow fine‐tuning of HOMO level and band gap engineering.
Catalytic Transformations of Sulfonium Salts via C‐S Bond Activation
Authors: Yorimitsu Hideki
Published: January 2021

After the 20‐year dormant period since Liebeskind's seminal report, triorganosulfonium salts have now proved to be reliably useful surrogates of or complement to organic halides in a variety of transition‐metal‐catalyzed transformations. By necessity, my group developed Suzuki‐Miyaura ring‐opening arylation of sulfonium salts of dibenzothiophenes with tetraarylborates and Pd‐catalyzed intramolecular C−H/C−S coupling. Following this starting point and experiencing the decent reactivity of sulfonium salts, in order to maximize the synthetic utility of organosulfur compounds, we successfully applied readily available sulfonium salts to Ni‐catalyzed coupling with arylzinc reagents, Pd‐ or photoredox‐catalyzed Mizoroki‐Heck reaction, Pd‐catalyzed alkoxycarbonylation, Pd‐catalyzed Miyaura borylation, Ni‐catalyzed reductive carboxylation, and Ni‐catalyzed zincation. I sincerely hope this Personal Account will facilitate further development of reactions of triorganosulfonium salts which are difficult to achieve using conventional organic (pseudo)halides.
Dialogicality and Racialized Discourse in TESOL Recruitment
Authors: Savski Kristof
Published: January 2021

The investigation and unmasking of racial inequality have been one of the cornerstones of the critical turn in TESOL, so much so that a significant body of literature on the topic now exists. Yet, there is often a lack of reflection on the fact that discourse surrounding contentious social issues like race is inherently dialogical in that it consists of constant interaction between different voices (heteroglossia) and ideologies (polyphony). This paper presents the findings of a study focussing on the dialogicality of discourse surrounding the recruitment of non‐local teachers of English in Thailand. This research, framed by the existence of significant inequalities between teachers of different nationalities and ethnic backgrounds in the Thai educational system, examined the role race played in interactions in a Facebook group for non‐local teachers of English seeking employment in Thailand. The analysis focussed on identifying points of struggle, salient topics around which particularly intensive concentrations of dialogicality could be found. Two are presented in this paper, the struggle for discursive space to debate racial inequality and the struggle over the assignment of victimhood and perpetratorhood. I conclude by arguing for more attention to be paid to how global inequalities in TESOL are debated and challenged locally.
Identification of kite aerodynamic characteristics using the estimation before modeling technique
Authors: Borobia‐Moreno R. , Ramiro‐Rebollo D. , Schmehl R. , Sánchez‐Arriaga G.
Published: January 2021

The aerodynamic characteristics of a leading edge inflatable (LEI) kite and a rigid‐framed delta (RFD) kite were investigated. Flight data were recorded by using an experimental setup that includes an inertial measurement unit, a GPS, a magnetometer, and a multi‐hole Pitot tube onboard the kites, load cells at every tether, and a wind station that measures the velocity and heading angle of the wind. These data were used to feed a flight path reconstruction algorithm that estimated the full state vector of the kite. Since the latter includes the aerodynamic force and moment about the center of mass of the kite, quantitative information about the aerodynamic characteristics of the kites was obtained. Due to limitation of the experimental setup, the LEI kite flew most of the time in post‐stall conditions, which resulted in a poor maneuverability and data acquisition. This assumption was corroborated by a particular maneuver where the lift coefficient decreased from 1 to 0.4, while its angle of attack increased from 35° to 50°. On the contrary, abundant flight data were obtained for the RFD kite during more than 10 figure‐eight maneuvers. Although the angle of attack was high, between 20° and 40°, the kite did not reach its maximum lift coefficient. High tether tensions and a good maneuverability were achieved. Statistical analysis of the behavior of the lift, drag, and pitch moment coefficients as a function of the angle of attack and the sideslip angle allowed to identify some basic aerodynamic parameters of the kite.
Surface tension and reaction stresses of a linear incompressible second gradient fluid
Authors: Krawietz Arnold
Published: January 2021

The paper starts with a detailed investigation of the boundary conditions at free and fixed boundaries of any second gradient material and clarifies whether a surface tension is to be expected. The classical approach to the reaction stresses of higher gradient materials leaves a vast indeterminacy in most boundary value problems. An advanced approach is presented that yields much more definite distributions of the reaction stresses and consequently also of the surface tension. It starts from a compressible fluid the stiffness and bulk viscosity of which tend to infinity. Furthermore, the complete set of restrictions on the material parameters of linear incompressible second gradient fluids is derived from the postulate of nonnegative dissipation. Finally, a stirring process with a free surface is studied as an example. The results are based on the numerical solution of the boundary value problems of three partial differential equations of second, fourth and sixth order, respectively.
Impact of ocean heat transport on the Arctic sea-ice decline: a model study with EC-Earth3
Authors: Docquier David , Koenigk Torben , Fuentes-Franco Ramon , Karami Mehdi Pasha , Ruprich-Robert Yohan
Published: January 2021

The recent increase in Atlantic and Pacific ocean heat transports has led to a decrease in Arctic sea-ice area and volume. As the respective contributions from both oceans in driving sea-ice loss is still uncertain, our study explores this. We use the EC-Earth3 coupled global climate model and perform different sensitivity experiments to gain insights into the relationships between ocean heat transport and Arctic sea ice. In these model experiments, the sea-surface temperature is artificially increased in different regions of the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans and with different levels of warming. All the experiments lead to enhanced ocean heat transport, and consequently to a decrease in Arctic sea-ice area and volume. We show that the wider the domain in which the sea-surface temperature is increased and the larger the level of warming, the larger the increase in ocean heat transport and the stronger the decrease in Arctic sea-ice area and volume. We also find that for a same amount of ocean heat transport increase, the reductions in Arctic sea-ice area and volume are stronger when the sea-surface temperature increase is imposed in the North Pacific, compared to the North Atlantic. This is explained by the lower-salinity water at the Bering Strait and atmospheric warming of the North Atlantic Ocean in the Pacific experiments. Finally, we find that the sea-ice loss is mainly driven by reduced basal growth along the sea-ice edge and enhanced basal melt in the Central Arctic. This confirms that the ocean heat transport is the primary driver of Arctic sea-ice loss in our experiments.
Zircon petrochronology in large igneous provinces reveals upper crustal contamination processes: new U–Pb ages, Hf and O isotopes, and trace elements from the Central Atlantic magmatic province (CAMP)
Authors: Davies J. H. F. L. , Marzoli A. , Bertrand H. , Youbi N. , Ernesto M. , Greber N. D. , Ackerson M. , Simpson G. , Bouvier A.-S. , Baumgartner L. , Pettke T. , Farina F. , Ahrenstedt H. V. , Schaltegger U.
Published: January 2021

Zircon occasionally crystallizes in evolved melt pockets in mafic large igneous province (LIP) magmas, and in these cases, it is used to provide high-precision age constraints on LIP events. The precision and accuracy of high-precision ages from LIPs are crucially important, because they may be implicated in mass extinctions. However, why zircon crystallizes in these magmas is not clearly understood, since their mafic compositions should limit zircon saturation. Here, we investigate the occurrence of zircon (and baddeleyite) in intrusive and extrusive mafic rocks from Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) using petrography, trace-element analysis, Ti temperatures, Hf and oxygen isotopes, and high-precision U–Pb geochronology, along with petrological and thermal modeling. We provide new ages for CAMP sills that intruded into Paleozoic sediments in Brazil, indicating that the high and low Ti magmatism in this area occurred synchronously over 264 ± 57 ka. We show that upper crustal assimilation, especially of shales, during the emplacement of the CAMP likely led to zircon saturation. Assimilation of upper crustal sediments is also supported by high δ18O values and some rare negative εHf values in the zircon crystals. The only extrusive sample analyzed was the North Mountain basalt in Nova Scotia, Canada. This sample contains a large age variation in its zircon crystals (up to 4 Ma), and the older crystals have slightly more negative εHf values suggesting the presence of small (micron scale) xenocrystic cores associated with very late-stage sediment assimilation. However, the CAMP dataset as a whole suggests that the presence of xenocrystic cores is rare. Assuming no xenocrystic cores, and considering the zircon undersaturated nature of LIP mafic melts, the oldest zircon age clusters in a population should record the magma emplacement (or time when assimilation occurred), and the younger ages in a population are more likely to reflect Pb loss, especially given the high U concentrations of LIP zircon. Our identification of heterogeneous isotopic and elemental compositions in LIP zircon indicates that zircon in these magmas saturate in isolated minute melt pockets just before the system cools below its solidus.
Skin sensitivity to capsaicin, perceived stress and burn out among patients with building-related symptoms
Authors: Glas Bo , Claeson Anna-Sara
Published: January 2021

Objective

The mechanisms behind building-related symptoms have remained unknown despite many years of research. It is known that environmental and psychosocial factors are of importance. Some receptors in the Transient Receptor Potential family elicit the same symptoms when stimulated, as reported by those suffering from building-related symptoms. The aim of this study was to compare capsaicin sensitivity between people with and without skin symptoms. A second aim was to investigate perceived stress among individuals with different levels of capsaicin sensitivity.

Methods

People referred to an occupational health care unit and judged to have building-related symptoms by a physician answered a questionnaire regarding their symptoms. Solutions with different capsaicin concentrations were applied to participants’ nasolabial folds. Self-reported stress and burnout were assessed using two questionnaires: the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ).

Results

We found that people who reported facial erythema or itching, stinging, tight or burning facial skin were more sensitive than those without symptoms and similarities with Sensitive Skin are discussed. We also found that participants who reacted to the lowest capsaicin concentrations scored significantly higher on scales for stress and burnout.

Conclusions

We found associations between sensitivity to capsaicin and skin symptoms among people with building-related symptoms, as well as associations between capsaicin sensitivity and perceived stress/burnout.
When your brain looks older than expected: combined lifestyle risk and BrainAGE
Authors: Bittner Nora , Jockwitz Christiane , Franke Katja , Gaser Christian , Moebus Susanne , Bayen Ute J. , Amunts Katrin , Caspers Svenja
Published: January 2021

Lifestyle may be one source of unexplained variance in the great interindividual variability of the brain in age-related structural differences. While physical and social activity may protect against structural decline, other lifestyle behaviors may be accelerating factors. We examined whether riskier lifestyle correlates with accelerated brain aging using the BrainAGE score in 622 older adults from the 1000BRAINS cohort. Lifestyle was measured using a combined lifestyle risk score, composed of risk (smoking, alcohol intake) and protective variables (social integration and physical activity). We estimated individual BrainAGE from T1-weighted MRI data indicating accelerated brain atrophy by higher values. Then, the effect of combined lifestyle risk and individual lifestyle variables was regressed against BrainAGE. One unit increase in combined lifestyle risk predicted 5.04 months of additional BrainAGE. This prediction was driven by smoking (0.6 additional months of BrainAGE per pack-year) and physical activity (0.55 less months in BrainAGE per metabolic equivalent). Stratification by sex revealed a stronger association between physical activity and BrainAGE in males than females. Overall, our observations may be helpful with regard to lifestyle-related tailored prevention measures that slow changes in brain structure in older adults.
Effect of meteorological factors on Culex mosquitoes in Singapore: a time series analysis
Authors: Seah Annabel , Aik Joel , Ng Lee-Ching
Published: January 2021

Culex mosquitoes transmit West Nile virus (WNV). We examined the weather dependence of adult Culex activity. Maximum temperature and absolute humidity were positively associated with adult Culex activity. Our findings support the use of weather data in timing WNV vector control measures.
Classification of dementia type using the brain-computer interface
Authors: Fukushima Akihiro , Morooka Ryo , Tanaka Hisaya , Kentaro Hirao , Tugawa Akito , Hanyu Haruo
Published: January 2021

This paper addresses the development of a dementia screening tool using a character-input-type brain–computer Interface (BCI). A blinking letter board is presented to the subject for each matrix by the character-input-type BCI, and by keeping an eye on one character, the character-gazing is estimated based on the event-related potential P300 of the subject. In this experiment, the subject is instructed to specify and subsequently watch a task character. Four sets are made, each consisting of five or six task letters per subject. The subjects include 53 elderly people in their 60 s and 90 s who were diagnosed with specific symptoms of dementia. The dementia types of the subjects include the Alzheimer’s type of dementia (AD), the Lewy body type of dementia, as well as the mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The relationship between the types of dementia and the four BCI features is explained by the Kruskal–Wallis test and multiple comparisons. Also, dementia types are classified using the BCI features that are closely related to each specific type. The results were obtained using four BCI features as inputs to the classifier and three dementia types as outputs. The classification rate for the three groups was about 60%. Since the classification rate of dementia with the Lewy body (DLB) is low, the classification was performed in two groups, MCI and AD. Furthermore, the classification rate of about 80% was confirmed.
Free-ranging livestock and a diverse landscape structure increase bat foraging in mountainous landscapes
Authors: Ancillotto L. , Festa F. , De Benedetta F. , Cosentino F. , Pejic B. , Russo D.
Published: January 2021

Traditional farming, where livestock is seasonally managed as free ranging and the use of drugs is reduced or absent, may prove beneficial to biodiversity by fostering the occurrence of spatial heterogeneity, and increasing the availability of trophic resources to wildlife. Previous work indicates that the presence of cattle in lowlands leads to an increase in bat foraging activity, yet no study has addressed this topic in mountainous regions, where free-ranging livestock is still common. Here we explore the relationships between landscape structure, farming and bat activity in a mountainous agricultural area, hypothesizing that bat activity will increase in response to the presence of livestock and landscape structure and heterogeneity. We found that traditional cattle farming may have a role in influencing bat activity in mountainous agroecosystems, yet its effects are evident for a limited number of species. Three pipistrelle species favoured foraging in areas subjected to cattle farming by hunting more often over cattle or fresh dung than at control sites. Free-ranging cattle thus provide profitable foraging opportunities for bats in mountainous landscapes, which remarks the importance of traditional farming activities in sustaining biodiversity. Cattle might also benefit from bat foraging activity if this leads to suppression of blood-sucking pests.
Microstructure and Mechanical Property Evaluation of Aluminum F357 Powder for Cold Spray Applications
Authors: Tsaknopoulos Kyle , Grubbs Jack , Siopis Matthew , Nardi Aaron , Cote Danielle
Published: January 2021

Cold spray (CS) is a solid-state additive manufacturing process that can create high-density, high-performance deposits for many applications. Aluminum alloys have been the target of recent CS research due to their excellent mechanical behavior when cold-sprayed. The introduction of new Al alloys to CS is of interest as unique properties may be achieved, especially when powder is heat-treated prior to deposition. In this study, three batches of Al F357 powder—a control as-atomized, heat-treated at 230 °C for 75 min and heat-treated at 385 °C for 6 h—were studied. Scanning electron microscopy revealed microstructural modifications after heat treatment in the powder and sprayed deposits. X-ray diffraction highlighted the presence of eutectic Si, Mg2Si and SiO2 in all specimens. Energy-dispersive spectroscopy showed the spheroidization of Si during the 385 °C heat treatment, with an increase in the fraction of Mg2Si during both treatments. Nanohardness and microhardness testing showed a decrease in hardness with thermal processing in both the powder and sprayed deposits. Tensile testing demonstrated ductile behavior from both heat-treated powders, but significantly higher strengths from the 230 °C treatment. These results suggest Al F357 may be used in CS when appropriate powder heat treatments are applied.
Downregulated exosomal microRNA-148b-3p in cancer associated fibroblasts enhance chemosensitivity of bladder cancer cells by downregulating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and upregulating PTEN
Authors: Shan Guang , Zhou Xike , Gu Juan , Zhou Daoping , Cheng Wei , Wu Huaiguo , Wang Yueping , Tang Tian , Wang Xuedong
Published: January 2021

Objective

Exosomes derived from cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are known as important drivers of tumor progression. Previously, microRNA (miR)-148b-3p has been found to be upregulated in bladder cancers as well as in body fluids (blood, urine) of bladder cancer patients. Here, we aimed to explore the role of CAF-derived exosome miR-148b-3p in bladder cancer progression and chemosensitivity.

Methods

Transwell, MTT, flow cytometry and colony formation assays were applied to assess the effects of CAF-derived exosomes on bladder cancer cell metastasis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and chemosensitivity. A dual luciferase reporter assay was employed to evaluate the targeting relationship between miR-148b-3p and PTEN. Gain- and loss- of function assays were conducted to explore the roles of miR-148b-3p and PTEN in the behavior of bladder cancer cells. The role of PTEN in the metastasis, EMT and chemosensitivity of bladder cancer cells was assessed both in vivo and in vitro.

Results

We found that CAF-derived exosomes promoted the metastasis, EMT and drug resistance of bladder cancer cells. We also found that CAF-derived exosomes could directly transport miR-148b-3p into bladder cancer cells. In a xenograft mouse model we found that CAF-derived exosomes increased miR-148b-3p expression levels and promoted tumor proliferation, metastasis and drug resistance. PTEN was validated as a target of miR-148b-3p. Concordantly, we found that PTEN overexpression inhibited EMT, metastasis and chemoresistance in bladder cancer cells, reversing the tumor promoting effects of miR-148b-3p via the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that miR-148b-3p downregulation in CAF-derived exosomes, thereby inhibiting the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and promoting PTEN expression, may offer potential opportunities for bladder cancer treatment.
Knowledge from the original network: restore a better pruned network with knowledge distillation
Authors: Chen Liyang , Chen Yongquan , Xi Juntong , Le Xinyi
Published: January 2021

To deploy deep neural networks to edge devices with limited computation and storage costs, model compression is necessary for the application of deep learning. Pruning, as a traditional way of model compression, seeks to reduce the parameters of model weights. However, when a deep neural network is pruned, the accuracy of the network will significantly decrease. The traditional way to decrease the accuracy loss is fine-tuning. When over many parameters are pruned, the pruned network’s capacity is reduced heavily and cannot recover to high accuracy. In this paper, we apply the knowledge distillation strategy to abate the accuracy loss of pruned models. The original network of the pruned network was used as the teacher network, aiming to transfer the dark knowledge from the original network to the pruned sub-network. We have applied three mainstream knowledge distillation methods: response-based knowledge, feature-based knowledge, and relation-based knowledge (Gou et al. in Knowledge distillation: a survey. arXiv:200605525, 2020), and compare the result to the traditional fine-tuning method with grand-truth labels. Experiments have been done on the CIFAR100 dataset with several deep convolution neural network. Results show that the pruned network recovered by knowledge distillation with its original network performs better accuracy than it recovered by fine-tuning with sample labels. It has also been validated in this paper that the original network as the teacher performs better than differently structured networks with same accuracy as the teacher.
Age of smile: a cross-cultural replication report of Ganel and Goodale (2018)
Authors: Yoshimura Naoto , Morimoto Koichi , Murai Mariko , Kihara Yusaku , Marmolejo-Ramos Fernando , Kubik Veit , Yamada Yuki
Published: January 2021

Smiling is believed to make people look younger. Ganel and Goodale (Psychon Bull Rev 25(6):612–616, 10.3758/s13423-017-1306-8, 2018) proposed that this belief is a misconception rooted in popular media, based on their findings that people actually perceive smiling faces as older. However, they did not clarify whether this misconception can be generalized across cultures. We tested the cross-cultural validity of Ganel and Goodale’s findings by collecting data from Japanese and Swedish participants. Specifically, we aimed to replicate Ganel and Goodale’s study using segregated sets of Japanese and Swedish facial stimuli, and including Japanese and Swedish participants in groups asked to estimate the age of either Japanese or Swedish faces (two groups of participants × two groups of stimuli; four groups total). Our multiverse analytical approach consistently showed that the participants evaluated smiling faces as older in direct evaluations, regardless of the facial stimuli culture or their nationality, although they believed that smiling makes people look younger. Further, we hypothesized that the effect of wrinkles around the eyes on the estimation of age would vary with the stimulus culture, based on previous studies. However, we found no differences in age estimates by stimulus culture in the present study. Our results showed that we successfully replicated Ganel and Goodale (2018) in a cross-cultural context. Our study thus clarified that the belief that smiling makes people look younger is a common cultural misconception.
Evaluation of water quantity–quality, floodplain landuse, and land surface temperature (LST) of Turag River in Bangladesh: an integrated approach of geospatial, field, and laboratory analyses
Authors: Tania Afsana Hossen , Gazi Md. Yousuf , Mia Md. Bodruddoza
Published: January 2021

Rapid urbanization, industrialization, and development activities are posing numerous threats to the rivers of Bangladesh. In the recent decade, Turag River has been exposed to severe threats due to anthropogenic activities. The present research deals with the evaluation of water quantity–quality, landuse and landcover (LULC), and land surface temperature (LST) of Turag River and its floodplain by using an integrated approach of field study, laboratory analysis, and geospatial techniques. LULC mapping of the study area has been done using multi-temporal Landsat satellite images by unsupervised method, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Difference Water Index indices (NDWI) approach. From LULC classification, the study shows that the average reduction of water bodies from 1989 to 2019 is about 60–66%, and the rate of reduction is about 14.25 ha per year. Due to anthropogenic activities and rapid urbanization, a large number of water bodies have been depleting. The average temperature of the river water from filed observed data is 30.23 °C and from image processed data is about 28.32 °C. The minimum and maximum values of pH, EC, TDS, and Eh are 6.87–8.44, 808–1192 μs/cm, 406–739 ppm, − 31 to – 150 mV, respectively. The concentration ranges of cations (Na, Ca, Mg, K, Fe, and Mn) are 85.43–247.60, 28.59–39.47, 11.1–13.58, 5.21–13.26l, .07–1.14, .006–.47 mg/l consecutively. The ranges of anions concentration (HCO3−, Cl−, SO42−, NO3−) are 165.45–388.87, 54.81–194.07, 52.49–289.63, l9.63–126.93 mg/l, respectively. It is evident that HCO3−, NO3−, and Mn exceed the standard limit of Bangladesh Water Quality Standard (BWQS) and World Health Organization (WHO), indicating that the water of the Turag River is deteriorating that is not safe for human consumption and aquaculture purposes. The study will assist to take some effective measures to control the pollution and uphold the water quality and natural riparian processes. So, the outputs of the study will contribute to the future urban landuse planning in the river floodplain area to mitigate ongoing alarming pollution and unplanned industrialization.
Efficacy evaluation of neurofeedback applied for treatment of central neuropathic pain using machine learning
Authors: Saif Mohammed Gamil Mohammed , Hasan Muhammad Abul , Vuckovic Aleksandra , Fraser Matthew , Qazi Saad Ahmed
Published: January 2021

Brain-computer interface (BCI) is believed to be the translator of brain signals into actions based on the model, built on the machine learning (ML) algorithms, incorporated in it. This study reports on the performance of various ML algorithms in evaluating efficacy of neurofeedback applied for treatment of central neuropathic pain (CNP). In the first phase of this study, we applied different ML algorithms for classification of electroencephalography (EEG) patterns, associated with CNP, obtained from three groups of participants, during imagined movement of their limbs, named as able-bodied (AB), paraplegic patients with (PWP) and without (PNP) neuropathic pain. In the second phase, we tested the accuracy of BCI-classifier by applying new EEG data obtained from PWP participants who have completed neurofeedback training provided for the management of pain. Support vector Machine (SVM) algorithm gained higher accuracy, with all groups, than the other classifiers. However, the highest classification accuracy of 99 ± 0.49% was obtained with the right hand motor imagery of (AB vs PWP) group and 61 electrodes. In Conclusion, SVM based BCI-classifier achieved high accuracy in evaluating efficacy of neurofeedback applied for treatment of CNP. Results of this study show that the accuracy of BCI changes with ML algorithm, electrodes combinations, and training data set.
Influence of debinding and sintering conditions on the composition and thermal conductivity of copper parts printed from highly loaded photocurable formulations
Authors: Roumanie Marilyne , Flassayer Cécile , Resch Adrien , Cortella Laurent , Laucournet Richard
Published: January 2021

Metal 3D printing based on the photopolymerization reaction (Digital Light Processing—DLP) of an organic matrix in which metal particles are embedded is a developing technology. This technology requires a step of resin removal and densification by sintering to obtain a metal part. This process has been applied to copper. Photocurable formulations with a high loading rate of copper powder of 60 vol.% were developed and suitable for DLP printing with thicknesses > 25 µm. Debinding and sintering cycles were investigated on specimens fast cured by gamma irradiation to save materials and time. A debinding in air at 400 °C and sintering in hydrogen lead to a C content of 0.018 wt.%, similar to the raw copper powder and slightly higher oxygen content. The low thermal conductivity of 250 W·m−1·K−1 highlighted the harmful effect of phosphorus from the powder and photoinitiators such as BAPO. The C and O contents and the thermal conductivity measured on copper parts printed by DLP confirm the results obtained on specimens cured by gamma irradiation.