bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Unlocking the Green Solution: Progesterone and Brassinosteroids Synergistically Enhance Progesterone Phytoremediation and Antioxidant Capacity of Solanum nigrum L.
Authors: Pinto Ana , Silva Daniela Correia da , Cardoso Ana , Fernandes Fátima , Soares Cristiano , Valentão Patrícia , Fidalgo Fernanda , Teixeira Jorge
Published: October 2023

Aims: Progesterone (PROG) has been detected in various concentrations in the environment, with adverse effects on humans and wildlife. So, tactics to reduce the accumulation of this steroid in the environment must be studied. This work aimed the evaluation of the phytoremediation potential of PROG by Solanum nigrum L. plants and the understanding of how 2,4-epibrassinolide (24-EBL) would enhance this species’ remediation capacities.
Methods: Three treatments were assembled: 1) control; 2) plants irrigated with 0.8 µM PROG; and 3) plants treated with 0.8 µM PROG but pre‑treated with a foliar application of 1 µM 2,4-EBL (PROG/24 EBL). PROG levels, and several antioxidant-related biochemical and molecular endpoints in roots and shoots were evaluated after 20 days of treatment.
Results: No PROG was detected in the nutrient solution and plant tissues at the end of the treatment, indicating that plants were able to remove PROG from the irrigating solution. Lipid peroxidation significantly decreased in response to PROG in shoots and roots and the pretreatment with 24-EBL was even more effective in both organs. Also, a decrease in H2O2 levels was observed in both treatments in both organs. Plus, the exogenous application of both steroid hormones increased the plants’ antioxidant system both at the biochemical and gene expression levels.
Conclusions: S. nigrum can swiftly phytoremediate PROG per se with no negative effects to its growth and the use of 24-EBL synergistically decreases oxidative damage by increasing the AOX system and enhances the PROG removal ability of the plants.
Nitrogen deposition and climate drive plant nitrogen uptake in terrestrial ecosystems
Authors: Vallicrosa Helena , Fleischer Katrin , Baquerizo Manuel Delgado , Fernandez-Martinez Marcos , Černý Jakub , Tian Di , Kourmouli Angeliki , Mayoral Carolina , Grados Diego , Lu Minghzen , Terrer César
Published: October 2023

The role of plants in sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide is a critical component in mitigating the adverse effects of climate change. A key aspect of this role involves plant nitrogen (N) uptake (Nup) and N use efficiency (NUE), as these factors directly influence the capacity of plants to capture and store carbon. However, the contribution of climatic changes and N inputs remains inadequately understood, introducing significant uncertainties into climate change projections. Here, we used on-the-ground observations across 159 locations to calculate Nup and NUE and identify the main drivers of these processes in natural ecosystems. We found that Nup is primarily driven by abiotic factors, showing an increase with N deposition from anthropogenic activities such as agriculture and combustion, as well as increases in temperature and precipitation. NUE is primarily influenced by biotic factors, showing an increase with the presence of symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungi and a decrease with microbial nitrogen stocks, likely due to microbial competition for N, and soil pH. In opposition to the classic paradigm in ecology, total soil N stocks were not found to be an important driver of Nup or NUE. A comparison with TRENDY land surface models revealed a potential Nup overestimation by land system models of around 100 Tg N yr-1 in the tropics and tripling the standard deviation on boreal latitudes. Our results underscore the importance of anthropogenic impacts, climate, and microbes as the main drivers of Nup and NUE.
Racial disparities in U.S. climate migration
Authors: Alverio Gabriela Nagle , Leblang David
Published: October 2023

Floods are increasingly frequent and severe due to climate change, thereby impacting migration within the United States. Considering that Black and Brown populations are disproportionately exposed to floods, less likely to receive disaster-related government funds, and vulnerable during subsequent displacement, an examination of differences in migration patterns across racial/ethnic groups is critical. The prevailing conjecture is that after floods, Black and Brown populations will migrate while White ones remain in place. We test this hypothesis by examining the effect of floods on migration across all U.S. county-pairs between 2006-2016 and find that this hypothesis is incorrect: generally, after floods Black populations remain in place and White populations migrate. However, this pattern reverses when the Federal Emergency Management Agency provides financial support. Notably, migration by Hispanic and Asian populations is not significantly affected by floods. These results provide the first evidence of racial disparities in climate migration.
The digital signature of emergent tremor in Parkinson's disease
Authors: Bronte-Stewart Helen , Gala Aryaman , Wilkins Kevin , Pettruci Matthew , Kehnemouyi Yasmine , Velisar Anca , Trager Megan
Published: October 2023

Background
Emergent tremor in Parkinson’s disease (PD) can occur during sustained postures or movement that is different from action tremor. Tremor can contaminate the clinical rating of bradykinesia during finger tapping. Currently, there is no reliable way of isolating emergent tremor and measuring the cardinal motor symptoms based on voluntary movements only.
Objective
Investigate whether emergent tremor during repetitive alternating finger tapping (RAFT) on a quantitative digitography (QDG) device can be reliably identified and distinguished from voluntary tapping.
Methods
Ninety-six individuals with PD and forty-two healthy controls performed a thirty-second QDG-RAFT task and the Movement Disorders Society – Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale Part III (MDS-UPDRS III). Visual identification of tremor during QDG-RAFT was labelled by an experienced movement disorders specialist. Two methods of identifying tremor were investigated: 1) physiologically-informed temporal thresholds 2) XGBoost model using temporal and amplitude features of tapping.
Results
The XGBoost model showed high accuracy for identifying tremor (area under the precision-recall curve of 0.981) and outperformed temporal-based thresholds. Percent time duration of classifier-identified tremor showed significant correlations with MDS-UPDRS III tremor subscores (r = 0.50, P < 0.0001). There was a significant change in QDG metrics for bradykinesia, rigidity and arrhythmicity after tremor strikes were excluded (p < 0.01).
Conclusions
Emergent tremor during QDG-RAFT has a unique digital signature and the duration of tremor correlated with the MDS-UPDRS III tremor items. When involuntary tremor strikes were excluded, the QDG metrics of bradykinesia and rigidity were significantly worse, demonstrating the importance of distinguishing tremor from voluntary movement when rating bradykinesia.
Bio-synthesis of gold nanoparticles from Codariocalyx motorius leaf extract: Physiochemical evaluation, antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer activity against Hep G2 cell lines
Authors: Deivanathan Saravana Kumar , Dayana B. Mary , Prakash J. Thomas Joseph
Published: October 2023

This research delved into the synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) utilizing leaf extract derived from Codariocalyx motorius (C.motorius). The confirmation of C.motorius gold nanoparticles (CM-AuNPs) formation was established through the visual observation of color changes in the colloidal solution. A comprehensive characterization of CM-AuNPs employed UV-vis spectroscopy, FT-IR, FE-SEM, EDAX, XRD, HR-TEM, DLZ and Zeta potential. The UV- vis spectrum exhibited a distinctive peak at 534 nm, indicative of CM-AuNPs. The FT-IR spectrum identified the presence of -OH and -NH functional groups intricately associated with the AuNPs. HR-SEM analysis revealed average size of approximately 44 nm for the CM-AuNPs. XRD confirmed the face-centered cubic crystallinity of CM-AuNPs. In the DPPH assay, the bio-synthesized CM-AuNPs demonstrated robust antioxidant activity, displaying an IC50 of 61.27%. Moreover, the bio-synthesized CM-AuNPs exhibited significant antibacterial efficacy against both gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria. Inhibition values for these bacteria were recorded at 6 ± 2.94392 mm and 5 ± 2.58199 mm respectively. Further, the bio-synthesized AuNPs showcased antiproliferative activity against Hep G2 cells, with an IC50 value 6.89 µg/mL. These compelling findings underscore the potential applications of CM-AuNPs, synthesized from C.motorius leaf extract in the realm of medication delivery.
Scientific design: evaluating the contribution of design in the interpretation of scientific images
Authors: Birbeire Wagner N. De S. , Silveira Guilherme
Published: October 2023

This study seeks to quantify the impact of applying design concepts on the transmission of the information contained in scientific images. Members of the academic public were shown sets of six images, one of which had been developed by the researchers and another that was redone by a designer. Participants, who were selected based on their academic background and training area, answered a quantitative questionnaire on the information presented in the images. The original researcher-developed images received a significantly lower score of 3.335 (95% CI: 3.269–3.401) than those reworked by the designer, which received a score of 4.147 (95% CI: 4.095–4.199). Additionally, fewer participants stated that the designer's images needed additional description, and more participants reported that they experimented with a new data source. Area of training and academic background played a role in these differences. This study helps to quantify the capacity for improvement in publicizing scientific findings and the potential applicability of design concepts.
Telemedicine in Neurology: Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: Al-Faraj Abrar , Ukonu Nene , Mohtar Omar , Jha Vibhav , Chen Dickson T. , lau K. H. Vincent
Published: October 2023

Objective: Our objective is to explore challenges encountered by neurologists with the use of telemedicine in neurology.
Methods: A cross- sectional study via an anonymous survey to explore neurologists’ experiences with telemedicine. They survey was sent to randomly selected 200 participants from Academic Institutions in the United States. Descriptive statistics were reported as percentages for each survey question.
Results: 110 neurologists completed the survey. Fifty-one percent of neurologists stated that they experienced technological issues in (1%-20%) of telemedicine visits and 57% of neurologists needed technological assistance from informational technology support. With regards to the impact of limited neurological examination via telemedicine, 34% of neurologists agreed that the limited examination makes them worried that they are providing a suboptimal care to patients and 55% recommended a subsequent in-person visit (in 1%-20% of telemedicine visits) for further evaluation. Among the challenges that hindered patients’ ability to participate in telemedicine visits, 95% of neurologists rated patients’ technological challenges with setting up telemedicine to be the most common issue encountered, 37% of neurologists rated patient’s cognitive/mental disability to be the second most common challenge to complete telemedicine visits as well as availability of interpreter services for non-English speaking patients. Neurologists rated improving administrative support (39%), integration of EMR for video and telephone calls (37%), and sufficient time allotment to complete telemedicine visits (27%) to be the most important issues to address to optimize the use of telemedicine in neurology.
Significance: Potential opportunities to improve neurologists’ experiences in telemedicine include improving technological support, integration of virtual platforms within the EMR, and adequate administrative support. Patients with cognitive/physical disabilities may need additional support to engage in the health system via telemedicine.
The role of genetic polymorphisms in the sulfation of pregnenolone by human cytosolic sulfotransferase SULT2B1a
Authors: Alatwi Eid , Bairam Ahsan
Published: October 2023

Pregnenolone is a key intermediate in the biosynthesis of many steroid hormones and neuroprotective steroids. Sulfotransferase family cytosolic 2B member 1 (SULT2B1a) has been reported to be highly selective to sulfate pregnenolone. This study aimed to clarify the effect of missense single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the human SULT2B1 gene on the sulfating activity of coded SULT2B1a allozymes toward Pregnenolone. To investigate the effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms of the SULT2B1 gene on the sulfation of pregnenolone by SULT2B1a allozymes, 13 recombinant SULT2B1a allozymes were generated, expressed, and purified using established procedures. Human SULT2B1a SNPs were identified by a comprehensive database search. 13 SULT2B1a nonsynonymous missense coding SNPs (cSNPs) were selected, and site-directed mutagenesis was used to generate the corresponding cDNAs, packaged in pGEX-2TK expression vector, encoding these 13 SULT2B1a allozymes, which were bacterially expressed in BL21 E. coli cells and purified by glutathione-Sepharose affinity chromatography. Purified SULT2B1a allozymes were analyzed for sulfating activities towards pregnenolone. In comparison with the wild-type SULT2B1a, of the 13 allozymes, 11 showed reduced activity toward pregnenolone at 0.1 µM. Specifically, P134L and R259Q allozymes, reported to be involved in autosomal-recessive congenital ichthyosis, displayed low activity (1–10%) toward pregnenolone. The findings of this study may demonstrate the impact of genetic polymorphism on the sulfation of pregnenolone in individuals with different SULT2B1 genotypes.
The Effect of Seed Rate on the Growth and Yield of Rice in Wet Direct Seeding System in Northern Iran
Authors: Pouramir Farzin , Yaghoubi Bijan
Published: October 2023

Direct seeding has become a suitable alternative to rice transplanting worldwide due to less water and labor needed. This is while, due to the lack of suitable cultivars and agronomic practices, rice wet direct seeding has not been very well received in Iran. Therefore, in this research, we tried to evaluate the growth and yield response of different rice cultivars (Anam, Hashemi, and Kian) to different seed densities (65, 80, 95, 110, and 125 kg seed/ha) in this cultivation method. The experiment was performed in two years at the Rice Research Institute of Iran (RRII). The results showed that paddy yield in 2019 was higher than in 2020. The highest yield of the Hashemi cultivar (5412 kg/ha) was obtained at a seed rate of 110 kg/ha, although, there was no significant difference in this regard with 80 and 95 kg seed/ha. The highest paddy yields of Kian and Anam cultivars (6257 and 5997 kg/ha, respectively) were obtained at 95 kg seed/ha. Biomass, the number of tillers, and panicles had the highest correlation with paddy yield. Increasing the seed rate up to 95 kg/ha led to an increase in the panicle number per meter square, while the number of filled grains in the panicle and the grain weight decreased. In conclusion, the best performance of the Anam and Kian genotypes was obtained at a density of 95 kg seed/ha and the Hashemi genotype with a density of 110 kg seed/ha.
Involving patients and clinicians in the development of a randomised clinical trial protocol to assess spinal manual therapy versus nerve root injection for patients with lumbar radiculopathy: a patient and public involvement project to inform the SALuBRITY trial design
Authors: Ryf Corina , Hofstetter Léonie , Clack Lauren , Hincapié Cesar A
Published: October 2023

Background:
Spinal manual therapy and corticosteroid nerve root injection are commonly used to treat patients with lumbar radiculopathy. The SALuBRITY trial—a two parallel group, double sham controlled, randomised clinical trial—is being developed to compare their effectiveness. By gathering patients’ and clinicians’ perspectives and involving them in discussions related to the trial research question and objectives, proposed trial recruitment processes, methods, and outcome measures, we aimed to improve the relevance and quality of the SALuBRITY trial.
Methods:
We involved patients with lived experience of lumbar radiculopathy (n=5) and primary care clinicians (n=4) with experience in the treatment of these patients. Involvement activities included an initial kick-off event to introduce the project, establishing a shared purpose statement, and empowering patient and clinician advisors for their involvement, followed by semi-structured group and individual interviews, and questionnaires to evaluate the experience throughout the project.
Results:
Both patient and clinician advisors endorsed the significance and relevance of the trial’s objectives. Patients assessed the proposed trial methods as acceptable within the context of a trusting patient-clinician relationship. A trial recruitment and enrolment target time of up to five days was regarded as acceptable, although patients with chronic radiculopathy may need more time to consider their trial participation decision. All advisors reached consensus on the acceptability of a medication washout phase of 12- to 24-hours before pain outcome measurement, with the inclusion of a rescue medication protocol. Both advisory groups preferred leg pain over back pain as the primary clinical outcome, with patient advisors advocating for personalized primary pain localization. Furthermore, patients requested expanding the pain, enjoyment, and general activity scale with peak pain intensity, rather than average pain alone. Patient and clinician advisors evaluated their engagement in clinical research as meaningful and impactful.
Conclusion:
Patient and public involvement resulted in important and relevant considerations for the SALuBRITY trial, spanning all research phases. These findings hold promise for enhancing the trial’s quality and relevance and improving its translation into clinical practice.
“Fontan Conduit Stent-Angioplasty and Progression of Fontan-Associated Liver Disease”
Authors: Kavin Umakanthan , Shahrier Aniqa , Bandisode Varsha M. , Chowdhury Shahryar M. , Rhodes John F. , Gaydos Stephanie S.
Published: October 2023

Background: Patients with Fontan circulation insidiously develop congestive hepatopathy related to chronically reduced cardiac output and central venous hypertension, also known as Fontan-associated liver disease (FALD). Fontan pathway obstruction is increasingly detected and may accelerate FALD. The impact of conduit stent-angioplasty on FALD is unknown.
Methods: Retrospective, single-center review of patients with Fontan circulation who underwent conduit stent-angioplasty at cardiac catheterization over 5-year period. Demographics and cardiac histories were reviewed. Labs, liver ultrasound elastography, echocardiogram, hemodynamic and angiographic data at catheterization were recorded pre- and post-stent-angioplasty. Primary outcome was change in hepatic function via MELD-XI scores and liver stiffness (kPa), with secondary outcomes of ventricular function, BNP, and repeat catheterization hemodynamics.
Results: 33 patients underwent Fontan conduit stent angioplasty, 19.3 ±7.0 years from Fontan operation. Original conduit diameter was 19.1 ±1.9 mm. Prior to angioplasty, conduit size was reduced to a cross-sectional area 132 (91, 173) mm2 and increased to 314 (255, 363) mm2 post-stent. Subjects' baseline median MELD-XI of 11 (9, 12) increased to 12 (9, 13) at 19 ± 15.5 months post-angioplasty (n=22, p= 0.053). There was no significant change in liver stiffness at 12.1 ±8.9 months post-angioplasty (n=15, p= 0.13). Median total bilirubin significantly increased (1.4 [0.9, 1.8]), from baseline 1.1 [0.7, 1.5], p= 0.04), as did median BNP (41 [0, 148] from baseline 34 [15, 79]; p= 0.02). There were no significant changes in ventricular function or repeat invasive hemodynamics (n=8 subjects).
Conclusions: Mid-term follow-up of Fontan subjects post-conduit stent angioplasty did not show improvements in non-invasive markers of FALD.
Experience with aortic arch inclusion technique using artificial blood vessel for type A aortic dissection: an application study
Authors: Li Qingfeng , Li Bin , Xi Shuqiang , Li Zhaobin , Zhu Zhe , Jin Zeyue , Yang Fan , Liu Lei
Published: October 2023

Background: This study aimed to elucidate the methodology and assess the efficacy of the aortic arch inclusion technique using an artificial blood vessel in managing acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD).
Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of 18 patients (11 males and 7 females, average age: 56.2±8.6 years) diagnosed with ATAAD who underwent tatal aortic arch replacement (TAAR) using an artificial vascular “inclusion” between June 2020 and October 2022. During the operation, deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) and selective antegrade cerebral perfusion (ACP) of the right axillary artery were employed for brain protection. The ‘inclusion’ tatal aortic arch replacement and stented elephant trunk (SET) surgery were performed.
Results: Fourpatients underwent the Bentall procedure during the study, withone additional patient requiring coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) due to significant involvement of the right coronary orifice. Three patients died during postoperative hospitalization. Other notable complications included two cases of postoperative renal failure necessitating continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), one case of postoperative double lower limb paraplegia, and one case of cerebral infarction resulting inunilateral impairment of the left upper limb. Eleven patients underwent computed tomography angiography (CTA) examinations of the aorta three months to one year post-operation. The CTA results revealed thrombosis in the false lumen surrounding the aortic arch stent in seven patients and complete thrombosis of the false lumen around the descending aortic stent in eight patients. One patient had partial thrombosis of the false lumen around the descending aortic stent, and another patient’s false lumen in the thoracic and abdominal aorta completely resolved after one year of follow-up.
Conclusions: The incorporation of artificial blood vessels in aortic arch replacement not only simplifies the procedure but also yieldspromising short-term outcomes. It achieves the objective of total arch replacement using a four-branch prosthetic graft. However, extensive sampling and thorough, prolonged follow-up observations are essential to fully evaluate the long-term results.
Enhancing Clinical Data Retrieval with Smart Watchers: A NiFi-based ETL Pipeline for Elasticsearch Queries
Authors: Al-Agil Mohammad , Obee Stephen J , Dinu Vlad , Teo James , Brawand David , Patten Piers , Alhaq Anwar
Published: October 2023

Background
The aim is to develop and deploy an automated clinical alert system to enhance patient care and streamline healthcare operations. Structured and unstructured data from multiple sources are used to generate near real-time alerts for specific clinical scenarios, with an additional goal to improve clinical decision-making through accuracy and reliability.
Results
The automated clinical alert system was developed employing Apache NiFi and Python scripts to simplify data processing pipelines and flexibility in data manipulation and customization of clinical alerts. A comparative analysis between the new automated system and the legacy watchers was performed to evaluate performance metrics such as accuracy, reliability, and scalability. Deployment of the automated clinical alert system showcased a marked improvement in patient care and healthcare operations when compared with legacy watchers. The results indicate its superiority in aspects of accuracy, reliability, and scalability, ensuring efficient data integration and timely alert generation for various clinical scenarios, when compared to manual data extraction and analysis.
Conclusions
The research underscores the utility of employing an automated clinical alert system and its portability facilitated its use across multiple clinical settings, magnifying its impact across varied healthcare scenarios. The study accentuates the vital role that Smart Watchers play in the development of automated clinical alerting systems, highlighting a transformative potential to optimize patient care and healthcare delivery across various clinical settings. The successful implementation and positive impact of the system lay a foundation for future technological innovations in this rapidly evolving field.
The importance of native shrubs on the distribution and diversity of reptiles and amphibians in the central deserts of California
Authors: Owen Ethan , Zuliani Mario , Goldgisser Marina , Lortie CJ
Published: October 2023

Conservation and management of drylands is a global challenge. Key attributes of these ecosystems, such as dominant vegetation including shrubs, can provide a crucial mechanism to inform conservation strategies. The shrub species Ephedra californica and Larrea tridentata are common native shrub species within the deserts of California and frequently benefit other plant and animal species. Here, we tested the hypothesis that shrubs support reptile and amphibian communities through relative increases in available habitat, estimated through increasing shrub densities at the site level. Reported occurrence data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and high-resolution satellite images were used to test for local-to-regional patterns in reptile and amphibian distribution and diversity by shrub densities at sites. A total of 71 reptile and amphibian species were present regionally. Increases in shrub density across sites positively influenced the relative abundance and richness of reptiles and amphibians observed. Moreover, increasing shrub density also had a positive influence on species evenness. Aridity did not significantly influence the relationship between shrub density and herptiles suggesting the relationship is robust. This study highlights the importance of foundational shrub species in supporting reptile and amphibian communities in arid and semi-arid regions supporting better understanding of large-scale patterns of biodiversity supported by positive ecological interactions in the context of global change.
LncRNAs Gas5, MALAT1 and SNHG8 as Predictive Diagnostic Biomarkers for Epithelioid Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma in the Egyptian Patients
Authors: Kiriacos Caroline Joseph , Elkahwagy Dina Mohamed , Sobeih Mohamed Emam , Khorshid Ola M Reda , Mansour Manar
Published: October 2023

Background
Long non coding RNAs have proved their involvement in myriad of pathways whether physiological or pathological. To date, malignant pleural mesothelioma, MPM, is considered extremely aggressive cancer. One reason for this is the late diagnosis of the disease which could range from 30–40 years from asbestos exposure. There is an immense need for the development of new, sensitive, cheap and easy way for the early detection of the disease other than invasive ways as biopsies. The aim of this study is determination of expression of circulating lncRNAs in mesothelioma patients’ plasma searching for potential biomarkers.
Methodology:
Ten of previously identified lncRNA that were shown to have aberrant expression in mesothelioma tissues were selected as candidates for subsequent validation. The ten selected candidate LncRNA were verified using quantitative PCR (qPCR) in human plasma samples from mesothelioma patients versus healthy controls.
Results
Expression of circulating GAS5, SNHG8 and MALAT1 were significantly increased in plasma samples of patients when compared to controls. The ROC analysis of both MALAT1 and SNHG8 was; 88.89% sensitivity and 66.67% specificity. Their sensitivity was higher than that of GAS5 (sensitivity 72.22% and specificity 66.67%). The prediction model of GAS5 was statistically significant while that of SNHG8 and MALAT1 was not-probably due to small sample size. The AUC of the three ROC curves were acceptable and significant; 0.7519 for GAS5, 0.7352 for SNHG8 and 0.7185 for MALAT1. Which confirms their discrimination ability as markers. The three lncRNAs were not affected by age, gender or smoking status.
Conclusion
The three lncRNAs showed great potential as predictive diagnostic biomarkers independently. Although the prediction model for MALAT1 did not show significance, it was significantly expressed in patients more than controls p = 0.0266 and recorded sensitivity and specificity levels higher than those of GAS5.
Modern planktonic Foraminifera: migrating is not enough
Authors: Chaabane Sonia , de Garidel Thibault , Meilland Julie , Sulpis Olivier , Chalk Thomas , Brummer Geert-Jan , Mortyn P. Graham , Giraud Xavier , Howa Hélène , Casajus Nicolas , Kuroyanagi Azumi , Beaugrand Grégory , Schiebel Ralf
Published: October 2023

Anthropogenic activities, in particular rising CO2 emissions, provoke ocean warming and acidification1,2, altering plankton habitats and threatening calcifying species3,4 such as planktonic Foraminifera (PF). Whether they can cope with these unprecedented rates of environmental change, through lateral migrations and vertical displacements, is unresolved. Here we show, using over a century of data from the FORCIS5 global census counts, that PF display evident poleward migratory behaviours, increasing their diversity at mid to high latitudes, and for some symbiont-barren species descending in the water column. Global PF abundance decreased by 24.24±0.11% over the last decades. Beyond lateral migrations6, our study uncovers intricate vertical migration patterns among PF species, presenting a nuanced understanding of their adaptive strategies. In projected temperature and carbonate saturation states for 2050 and 2100, low-latitude PF species will face physico-chemical environments that surpass their current tolerance. While these species might replace high-latitude ones through poleward shifts, this would radically alter low-latitude ecosystems. Our insights of PF adaptation during the Anthropocene reveals that 'migration is not enough', and has broader implications for the evolution of marine biodiversity under multiple stressors.
Automated Visual Quality Assessment for Virtual and Augmented Reality based Digital Twins
Authors: Roullier Ben , McQuade Frank , Bower Craig , Anjum Ashiq , Liu Lu
Published: October 2023

Virtual and augmented reality digital twins are becoming increasingly prevalent in a number of industries, though the production of digital-twin systems applications is still prohibitively expensive for many smaller organisations. A key step towards reducing the cost of digital twins lies in automating the production of 3D assets, however efforts are complicated by the lack of suitable automated methods for determining the visual quality of these assets. While visual quality assessment has been an active area of research for a number of years, few publications consider this process in the context of asset creation in digital twins. In this work, we introduce a novel set of decimation algorithms to assess the visual impact of decimation, a process commonly used in the production of 3D assets which has thus far been underrepresented in the visual assessment literature. Our model combines 108 geometric and perceptual metrics to determine if a 3D object has been unacceptably distorted during decimation. Our model is trained on almost 4,000 distorted meshes, giving a significantly wider range of applicability than many models in the literature. Our results show a precision of over 97% against a set of test models, and performance tests show our model is capable of performing assessments within 2 minutes on models of up to 25,000 polygons. Based on these results we believe our model presents both a significant advance in the field of visual quality assessment and an important step towards reducing the cost of virtual and augmented reality-based digital-twins.
A novel mathematical model for computing irradiance on spherically symmetric close-in exoplanets
Authors: Sadh Mradumay
Published: October 2023

The inverse-square law for calculating the irradiation arises as a direct consequence of the conservation of the energy, when spherical symmetry is imposed. The law implies that any spherically-symmetric source can be replaced, without changing the energy flux, by a point-sized source located in the center of symmetry. On the other hand, anybody who has seen a sunset knows that, when the center of the Sun moves slightly below the horizon, still a considerable portion of the stellar surface can be visible, irradiating much more than the corresponding point-sized source, which would be hidden under the horizon. This apparent contradiction is immediately solved when one realises that the presence of the planet, whose surface is absorbing part of the photon flux coming from the star, breaks the spherical symmetry, producing violations of the inverse-square in the sunset (or, equivalently, sunrise) region. On exoplanets that are extremely close to their star, this breakdown of the inverse-square law can become very important. In the present paper I calculate the total irradiance from the star by explicitly integrating the irradiance from each surface element of the stellar surface visible from a given latitude on the planet. I assume that the stellar limb darkening can be approximated using a linear law in these calculations. It has been found that the difference in the irradiation calculated by this model and the inverse-square law is significant at the polar regions of the exoplanets. It has also been found that, as a consequence of the geometry of the star, the day-night terminator shifts from poles towards the night side of the exoplanet.
Zigzag Blue Phosphorene Nanoribbons doped with Si atom for Perfect Spin Filtering, Rectification Behavior and NDR Based Devices
Authors: Lei Yi , Wei Xiangfu , Lin Tugan , Liu Xuejun , Cai Wei , Wang Rigao , Fang Zheng , Xia Ming , Wang Jieshen , Wang Tiansheng , Chen Dedeng
Published: October 2023

In this study, we applied Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Nonequilibrium Green’s Function (NEGF) framework to investigate the quantum transport characteristics of Zigzag Blue Phosphorene (ZblueP) nanoribbons doped with Silicon (Si). We aimed to delve into the structural stability, as well as the electronic and transport properties of the device in question. Intriguingly, we discovered that doping strategies can effectively morph a monolayer (ML) of Si-doped ZblueP into a spintronic nanodevice boasting several distinctive transport attributes. Firstly, under certain bias, our model displayed an impressively high dual spin filtering effect (SFE). Secondly, we observed a spin rectifier with a considerable rectifica-tion ratio (RR) of 8.50 x 102. Lastly, we noticed negative differential resistance featuring a peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR) of 9.65 x 102. Our findings suggest a promising path towards the advancement of high-performing ML ZblueP spintronics technology through Si doping. The results underscore that our model holds substantial potential for utilization in nanoscale spintronic devices.
Gene expression analyses reveal differences in children’s response to malaria according to their age
Authors: Tebben Kieran , Yirampo Salif , Coulibaly Drissa , Koné Abdoulaye , Laurens Matthew , Stucke Emily , Dembélé Ahmadou , Tolo Youssouf , Traoré Karim , Niangaly Ahmadou , Berry Andrea , Kouriba Bourema , Plowe Christopher , Doumbo Ogobara , Lyke Kirsten , Takala-Harrison Shannon , Thera Mahamadou , Travassos Mark , Serre David
Published: October 2023

In Bandiagara, Mali, children experience on average two clinical malaria episodes per season. However, even in the same transmission area, the number of uncomplicated symptomatic infections, and their parasitemia, vary dramatically among children. To examine the factors contributing to these variations, we simultaneously characterized the host and parasite gene expression profiles from 136 children with symptomatic falciparum malaria and analyzed the expression of 9,205 human and 2,484 Plasmodium genes. We used gene expression deconvolution to estimate the relative proportion of immune cells and parasite stages in each sample and to adjust the differential gene expression analyses. Parasitemia explained much of the variation in both host and parasite gene expression and revealed that infections with higher parasitemia had more neutrophils and fewer T cells, suggesting parasitemia-dependent neutrophil recruitment and/or T cell extravasation to secondary lymphoid organs. The child’s age was also strongly correlated with gene expression variations. Plasmodium falciparum genes associated with age suggested that older children carried more male gametocytes, while host genes associated with age indicated a stronger innate response (through TLR and NLR signaling) in younger children and stronger adaptive immunity (through TCR and BCR signaling) in older children. These analyses highlight the variability in host responses and parasite regulation during P. falciparum symptomatic infections and emphasize the importance of considering the children’s age when studying and treating malaria infections.
Resting state electroencephalographic brain activity in neonates can predict age and is indicative of neurodevelopmental outcome
Authors: Ansari Amir , Pillay Kirubin , Arasteh Emad , Dereymaeker Anneleen , Mellado Gabriela Schmidt , Jansen Katrien , Winkler Anderson M. , Naulaers Gunnar , Bhatt Aomesh , Huffel Sabine Van , Hartley Caroline , De Vos Maarten , Slater Rebeccah , Baxter Luke
Published: October 2023

Objective
Electroencephalography (EEG) can be used to estimate neonates’ biological brain age. Discrepancies between postmenstrual age and brain age, termed the brain age gap, can potentially quantify maturational deviation. Existing brain age EEG models are not well suited to clinical cot-side use for estimating neonates’ brain age gap due to their dependency on relatively large data and pre-processing requirements.
Methods
We trained a deep learning model on resting state EEG data from preterm neonates with normal neurodevelopmental Bayley Scale of Infant and Toddler Development (BSID) outcomes, using substantially reduced data requirements. We subsequently tested this model in two independent datasets from two clinical sites.
Results
In both test datasets, using only 20 min of resting-state EEG activity from a single channel, the model generated accurate age predictions: mean absolute error = 1.03 weeks (p-value = 0.0001) and 0.98 weeks (p-value = 0.0001). In one test dataset, where 9-month follow-up BSID outcomes were available, the average neonatal brain age gap in the severe abnormal outcome group was significantly larger than that of the normal outcome group: difference in mean brain age gap = 0.50 weeks (p-value = 0.04).
Conclusions
These findings demonstrate that the deep learning model generalises to independent datasets from two clinical sites, and that the model’s brain age gap magnitudes differ between neonates with normal and severe abnormal follow-up neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Significance
The magnitude of neonates’ brain age gap, estimated using only 20 min of resting state EEG data from a single channel, can encode information of clinical neurodevelopmental value.
Development Of Kinetic Inductance Detector On ZrO2 Substrate For Double-Beta Decay Search
Authors: Kamei Yuto , Ishidoshiro Koji , Ito Ryota , Kobayashi Tatsuya , Mima Satoru , Nakajo Yuto , Otani Chiko , Taino Tohru
Published: October 2023

Lumped element kinetic inductance detector (LEKID) is a promising superconducting energy detector that will advance the search for rare physics events, for instance, double-beta decay. We focus on the application of LEKIDs in the search for double-beta decay with particular attention to 94Zr. This proceeding reports the implementation of LEKID on unique material substrate, ZrO2 substrate. It was confirmed that it actually worked. This achievement marks a significant milestone towards realizing the search of rare physics events utilizing LEKIDs.
Effect of the arching action on the behavior of the RC precast concrete deep beams: comparison between several hybrid models.
Authors: Shakir Qasim M. , Alghazali Asmaa F.
Published: October 2023

The application of precast industry in production various structural elements increased dramatically. deep beams is an important kind of such elements that is used to support heavy loads. In the present work, two proposals of concrete-hybrid deep beams have been studied and compared with the non-hybrid and conventionally hybrid deep beams. Five specimens of deep beams have been tested under gradually increased mid-span static load up to failure. The response has been discussed in terms of cracking pattern, mode of failure, load-deflection curves and history of crack width. The proposed models aimed study the effect of configuration of distribution of concrete types within the cross-section of the deep beam. In such proposals, the costly concrete used within the regions that may contribute effectively on resisting the external loading and may be considered as the path of stress transfer from points of load application to supports. The proposed models (curved) and (arched) aimed to control the most possible causes of failure in deep beams. This may give ability to improve the capacity of the deep beams with keeping cost as low as possible by making the volume of SFC as small as possible. Results revealed that using the curved models improved capacity by 21% relative to the non-hybrid model. While using the arched model improved capacity by 15% and 23% with using vertical and inclined stirrups respectively. Moreover, maximum enhancement in the flexural toughness of 62% was obtained.
Flexible QoS scheme with optimized slice assignment to manage traffic dynamism over elastic optical networks
Authors: Khlifi Yassine
Published: October 2023

Elastic optical networks (EON) provide an adequate solution for flexible connections using a flexible grid (flex-grid) to manage resource availability and support high-bandwidth applications. However, EON resource utilization and QoS provisions are affected by dynamic traffic with variable parameters and needs created by new applications and services. This paper presents a flexible QoS scheme using optimized slice assignment to resolve traffic dynamism challenges. That scheme balances wavelength slice allocation and irregular traffic rates, integrating real-time and required parameters employing the designed slots' cost optimization. It enables an innovative cost formulation, developed in the mathematical model, to ensure EON constancy in supervising bandwidth essential granularity and variable traffic demands and improve loss, blocking probability, slice utilization, and extra mean processing time. Extensive simulation shows that the suggested scheme performs a novel algorithm, optimizing slice usage and guaranteeing traffic requirements better than the recent approaches, including arrival time and priority level of incoming variable traffic constraints.
4-Nitro-propranolol selectively inhibits the positive chronotropic effect induced by 6-nitrodopamine in the rat isolated right atrium
Authors: Oliveira Denis Lima , Cardoso Vinicius Francisco , Britto-Júnior Jose , Fuguhara Vivian , Frecentese Francesco , Sparaco Rosa , Santagada Vincenzo , Caliendo Giuseppe , Antunes Edson , Nucci Gilberto
Published: October 2023

6-Nitrodopamine (6-ND) is released from isolated atria of rabbit, rat and mice and has significant positive chronotropic action. The positive chronotropic effect induced by 6-ND is selectively blocked by β1-adrenoceptor antagonists at concentrations that do not affect the positive chronotropic effect induced by dopamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline. Here the effects of propranolol, 4-NO2-propranolol and 7-NO2-propranolol were investigated in the rat isolated right atrium. The right atrium was mounted between two metal hooks in 10-mL custom designed glass chambers containing Krebs-Henseleit’s solution, continuously gassed (95%O2:5%CO2) and heated (37°C). Tissues were allowed to equilibrate under a resting tension of 10 mN for one hour, and the isometric tension was registered using a PowerLab system. 4-NO2-propranol was more potent than propranolol as a negative chronotropic agent. At 30 nM, 4-NO2-propranolol did not affect the chronotropic effect of dopamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline. The S-isomer of 4- NO2-propranolol, but not the R-isomer, was active. Propranolol induced fall in atrial rate at concentrations higher than those required to block the chronotropic effects of dopamine, noradrenaline and adrenaline, but enough to block the 6-ND effect. 7-NO2-propranolol was only active at very high concentration, and the effect was not stereoselective. The negative chronotropic effects induced by 4-NO2-propranolol (100 nM) and propranolol (300 nM) were not observed in L-NAME treated atria, whereas that induced by 7-NO2-propranolol (10 mM) was unaffected. The potent and selective inhibition observed with (±)-4-NO2-propranolol reinforces the concept that 6-ND is a major mediator of heart chronotropism and the main target of the so-called b-blockers.
Information Security Awareness Raising Strategy Using Fuzzy AHP Method with HAIS-Q and ISO/IEC 27001:2013: A Case Study of XYZ Financial Institution
Authors: Styoutomo Yohan Adhi , Ruldeviyani Yova
Published: October 2023

XYZ financial institution is a government institution that receives and processes transaction reports from banks and remittances, so its data classification is very confidential. However, during the Work from Home (WFH) policy in the Covid-19 pandemic, XYZ financial institution has received many spam/phishing attacks. Hence, this incident shows that some employees need an awareness of information security. The research offers a different Information Security Awareness (ISA) questionnaire using the Human Aspects of the Information Security Questionnaire (HAIS-Q) and ISO/IEC 27001:2013 as focus areas. The research uses the theory of Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior (KAB) to determine the dimensions that need improvement and priority ranking using Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP). Furthermore, the research conducts a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) to explore the root causes of employee behavior. The FGD results show that there are still employees who do not know about information security, such as password combinations and length, so limited knowledge affects employees’ attitudes and behaviors. The research results from 34 respondents show that the employees’ information security awareness level is in the moderate category (78.8%). They still need to increase their awareness of information security, especially in managing passwords, using email and the Internet, and reporting incidents. Recommendations have been prepared to improve the dimensions and areas that have yet to be categorized as good. In the future, the ISA questionnaire is expected to be used in other organizations.