bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Defining the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic
Authors: Goff Krista A.
Published: May 2021

This chapter provides an exploration of the afterlife of early Soviet nationality policies and wartime territorial disputes. It reviews historiographical debates about Soviet citizenship, the depth and social meaning of Khrushchev's Thaw, and post-Stalin Soviet society and governance. It also recounts the new leadership cohort led by Mirza Ibragimov, Imam Mustafayev, and Sadykh Ragimov that took charge of Azerbaijan after Joseph Stalin's death in 1953. The chapter describes how Ibragimov, Mustafayev, and Ragimov pursued a nationalizing course that contributed to their respective dismissals at the close of the decade. It incorporates nontitularminorities into the history of Azeri nation-building in the 1950s.
Living by the Sword
Authors: Neuschel Kristen B.
Published: May 2021

This book sharpens the readers' knowledge of swords as it traverses through a captivating 1,000 years of French and English history. The book reveals that warrior culture, with the sword as its ultimate symbol, was deeply rooted in ritual long before the introduction of gunpowder weapons transformed the battlefield. The book argues that objects have agency and that decoding their meaning involves seeing them in motion: bought, sold, exchanged, refurbished, written about, displayed, and used in ceremony. Drawing on evidence about swords in the possession of nobles and royalty, the book explores the meanings people attached to them from the contexts in which they appeared. These environments included other prestige goods such as tapestries, jewels, and tableware — all used to construct and display status. The book draws on an exciting diversity of sources from archaeology, military and social history, literature, and material culture studies to inspire students and educated lay readers to stretch the boundaries of what they know as the “war and culture” genre.
Swords and Chivalric Culture in the High Middle Ages
Authors: Neuschel Kristen B.
Published: May 2021

This chapter examines the relationship between swords and chivalric culture in the high Middle Ages. It brings together the implications of literacy with the symbolic meaning of material objects to build an understanding of the cultural shaping of warrior identity. At the same time, as the economy expanded, new material means were available to represent a man and advertise his status in public ways. In other words, more swords came into a world where signs of identity were needed that could represent a man in his absence, and where documents but also other objects — seals, coats of arms — proliferated. The question is: what role did swords have; how were swords unique among such signs? Now required for knighthood, swords were both more and less than a weapon, but in ways rather different from swords in earlier centuries. It is the political valence of swords that dominated their use in ceremony and image in the eleventh through thirteenth centuries. Thus, knights' swords existed on a continuum with swords imagined as symbols of rule.
The Role and Melodic Patterns of the Nohkan in Relation to Structural Principles
Authors: Anno Mariko
Published: May 2021

This chapter provides a preliminary explanation of the shōdan, which gives an accessible description of the mugen Noh structure and the three categories of shōdan. It surveys past research on nohkan entrances and melodic patterns through the shōdan structure and. It also highlights five selected traditional Noh plays from Zeami's mugen Noh repertoire: Takasago, Atsumori, Izutsu, Kinuta, and Tōru. The chapter analyzes the nohkan senritsu-kei and their use in these Noh plays, as well as the role of the performer in adding embellishments and other performing techniques to support the chant while enhancing the mood of the play. It explores the role of the performer in adding embellishments and other performing techniques to support the chant while enhancing the mood of the play.
Scholarly Communication Outside the R1: Measuring Faculty and Graduate Student Knowledge and Interest at a Doctoral/Professional University
Authors: Owens Erin Elizabeth , Manolovitz Tyler
Published: May 2021

INTRODUCTION This study explores the baseline knowledge and interest of faculty and graduate students at a Carnegie-classified Doctoral/Professional University regarding different components of scholarly communication. METHODS A survey was developed to inquire about such topics as scholarly research, scholarly publishing, access to research, copyright, measuring impact, promoting research, and open-educational resources. Responses more significantly represented the humanities and social sciences versus the natural and applied sciences. RESULTS & DISCUSSION Results showed some hesitancy in embracing the open access (OA) publishing model, especially the use of article processing charges (APCs). Faculty largely collect original data and believe public access to original data is important, but this varies by college and includes almost one-fourth of faculty who do not feel that sharing data is important. The areas in which respondents expressed the highest level of knowledge correlate directly with the areas in which respondents expressed the most interest in professional development. Preferences in professional development modality were split between virtual and in-person sessions. With virtual sessions specifically, graduate students prefer synchronous sessions while faculty prefer pre-recorded sessions. CONCLUSION Respondents were generally aware of the library’s current scholarly communications services, but additional promotion and marketing is still needed, especially for colleges with the lowest areas of engagement.
Awareness and Lifestyle Practices among Type-II Diabetics Pertaining to the Disease Attended at Outpatient Clinics of Nawabshah, Shaheed Benazirabad
Authors: Sultana Razia , Mughal Ubed-Ur-Rehman , Ghoto Muhammad Ali , Muhammad Shaib , Abbas Jabbar , Laghari Sadaf Hayat , Mughal Zaheer , Qureshi Yasmeen , Jamali Jameela , Khan Tooba
Published: May 2021

Diabetes is a disorder that affects metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. It has appeared as one of the deadliest pandemics causing 3.2 million deaths per year. The objective of current study was to assess the level of awareness and practice of diabetic patients who were diagnosed with Type-II diabetes mellitus (DM). A prospective, observational study was designed, and subjects of the study were the patients visiting the clinics of Nawabshah Shaheed Benazirabad. The study was conducted from September 2019 to February 2020 among 300 Type-II DM patients with minimum of 34 years of age, who had been diagnosed according to the set criteria of World Health Organization (WHO). The criteria for the sampling were set to be done by non-probability convenient sampling technique. For the collection of the data, diabetes knowledge questionnaire was used, and SPSS 25 software was used for the analysis of the collected data. The statistical analysis generated was descriptive in nature. Majority of participants were male patients (n=158, 52.7%) and major age group was >65 (n=136, 45.33%). The patients with family history of the disease were 253 (84.3%) of the total cases. The patients having poor knowledge of the disease and those with satisfactory practice and routine follow up were 207 (69.0%) and 160 (53.3%) respectively. The results show that the patients had poor knowledge of the diabetes. The practice regarding diabetes falls under the category of average routine practice. It can be concluded from the results that for the awareness of the diabetes there should be arrangements of the campaigns for the general population and with the involvement of the clinical pharmacist and endocrinologist, and by that diabetes could be managed effectively.
Mathematical modeling of gravity and buoyancy effect on low interfacial tension spontaneous imbibition in tight oil reservoirs
Authors: Wang Fuyong , Zhao Jiuyu
Published: May 2021

Considering capillary force, viscous force, and gravity and buoyancy effects due to the oil–water density difference during the imbibition process, a new mathematical model for core‐scale spontaneous imbibition considering gravity and buoyancy is established. The imbibition rates with and without gravity and buoyancy in high‐, low‐, and ultralow‐interfacial tension (IFT) solutions are compared. The study shows that oil buoyancy can accelerate the imbibition rate, and with increasing core permeability and decreasing IFT, the differences in imbibition rate with and without gravity and buoyancy become more significant. At a high IFT of dozens of mN/m, the gravity and buoyancy effects are nonsignificant and can be ignored, but at a low IFT such as at 0.355 mN/m and a core permeability above 1 mD, gravity and buoyancy must be considered in spontaneous imbibition simulations. In low‐IFT solutions, the critical inverse Bond number when gravity and buoyancy must be considered is approximately 1 × 10−2.
Toward general regime maps for cohesive‐particle flows: Force versus energy‐based descriptions and relevant dimensionless groups
Authors: LaMarche W. Casey Q. , Liu Peiyuan , Kellogg Kevin M. , Lattanzi Aaron M. , Hrenya Christine M.
Published: May 2021

Much confusion exists on whether force‐ or energy‐based descriptions of cohesive‐particle interactions are more appropriate. We hypothesize a force‐based description is appropriate when enduring‐contacts dominate and an energy‐based description when contacts are brief in nature. Specifically, momentum is transferred through force‐chains when enduring‐contacts dominate and particles need to overcome a cohesive force to induce relative motion, whereas particles experiencing brief contacts transfer momentum through collisions and must overcome cohesion‐enhanced energy losses to avoid agglomeration. This hypothesis is tested via an attempt to collapse the dimensionless, dependent variable characterizing a given system against two dimensionless numbers: A generalized bond number, BoG–ratio of maximum cohesive force to the force driving flow, and a new Agglomerate number, Ag–ratio of critical cohesive energy to the granular energy. A gamut of experimental and simulation systems (fluidized bed, hopper, etc.), and cohesion sources (van der Waals, humidity, etc.), are considered. For enduring‐contact systems, collapse occurs with BoG but not Ag, and vice versa for brief‐contact systems, thereby providing support for the hypothesis. An apparent discrepancy with past work is resolved, and new insight into Geldart's classification is gleaned.
The contributions of careful clinical observations: A legacy
Authors: Hall Judith G.
Published: May 2021

Clinical Medicine is an Art which is learned, together with hard work, as an apprentice—observing how a master works, and improving with experience and exposure. Clinicians are performing multiple things at the same time—trying to make a diagnosis, providing best therapies and preventative strategies, and looking for the underlying mechanism(s). Families want to know what to expect over time—the natural history of their disorder. Rare disease networks and parent support groups are helping in this effort. Information technologies and international collaborative efforts are changing the way clinical genetics is provided.
Exploring “wear and tear” of joints and “muscle function” assumptions in skeletons with known occupation at death
Authors: Alves‐Cardoso Francisca , Assis Sandra
Published: May 2021

Objectives

Changes in the joints are believed to result from “wear and tear,” a consequence of activity, as entheseal changes (EC) result from muscle use. However, clinical data showed that activity does not necessarily increase the likelihood of degenerative joint changes (DJC) and that exercise results in healthier joints. We tested whether individuals with continuous repetitive biomechanical efforts (Group 1) were more likely to exhibit EC and if occupations known to exert strenuous but discontinued efforts (Group 2) would more likely cause DJC.

Materials and Methods

Eighty‐nine males with known occupations from Portuguese identified collections were used: shoemakers and carpenters (Group 1), workers (Group 2), and civil servants, and shop assistants as a control group. Major upper and lower limb joints and entheses sites were used. DJC and EC were tested between occupations – while controlling for age (overall approach) – and within occupation (occupation‐specific approach).

Results

The overall approach showed that age – as a covariant – had a significant impact on DJC and EC development (p < 0.05), with occupation being non‐significant (p > 0.05) despite the variability in the mean‐values of lesions. The occupation‐specific approach showed a significant variability of DJC and EC correlations, within and between occupations, with no clear trend of DJC and EC development according to occupation.

Discussion

The results showed that exploring overall patterns might conceal occupation‐specific joint and muscle use, emphasizing age as a major contributor of changes; and that the occupation‐specific approach highlighted particular aspects associated with occupations, allowing for a more informative assessment of strenuous repetitive or discontinuous activity‐related technical gestures and their impact on skeletal biology.
Emergent cardiopulmonary bypass during cesarean delivery. A case report
Authors: Vale Henrique , Rabalais James G. , Lane Jenna K. , Mason Chawla L. , Calimaran Arthur L. , Castillo Daniel
Published: May 2021

Successful management of Cesarean Delivery complicated by emergent CPB and AVR requires meticulous multidisciplinary planning. This case also represents the volatility that can arise from severe aortic regurgitation during pregnancy.
Modeling of the Isomerization and Separation Process of para‐Xylene in a Moving Bed Reactor
Authors: Hatami Mohsen , Fattahi Moslem , Fahim Farshad
Published: May 2021

Simulated moving bed reactors (SMBRs) are hybrid reactors that perform reaction and separation processes simultaneously in a single unit. Their high separation performance and ability to overcome equilibrium constraints on the reaction make them effective in a wide range of equilibrium reactions. This study investigated an SMBR for xylene isomerization and separation of p‐xylene from other xylene isomers (free of ethylbenzene) in the liquid phase. The effects of operating variables including temperature, switching time, and columns arrangement on the performance parameters and optimal conditions were determined. Due to the removal of products from the reaction site, the SMBR drives the chemical equilibrium toward producing more product than a conventional reactor under the same conditions.
Production of Vanillin‐Loaded Zein Sub‐micron Electrospun Fibers for Food Packaging Applications
Authors: Campardelli Roberta , Pettinato Margherita , Drago Emanuela , Perego Patrizia
Published: May 2021

Vanillin‐loaded zein electrospun sub‐micron fibers were produced by electrospinning and intended for food packaging applications. The effect of the addition of different vanillin concentrations on the properties of zein nanostructured membranes and the relationship with fiber morphology was studied. Results indicated that vanillin was loaded in sub‐micrometric ribbon‐like fibers with random and isotropic orientation, whose size depended on the zein concentration. Vanillin migration tests were performed in different food simulants. This material shows potential application as active antimicrobial food packaging, e.g., in the form of patches inserted inside the primary packaging in direct contact with food like dried fruit and baked goods.
Transcription start site‐level expression of thyroid transcription factor 1 isoforms in lung adenocarcinoma and its clinicopathological significance
Authors: Sano Kei , Hayashi Takuo , Suehara Yoshiyuki , Hosoya Masaki , Takamochi Kazuya , Kohsaka Shinji , Kishikawa Satsuki , Kishi Monami , Saito Satomi , Takahashi Fumiyuki , Kaneko Kazuo , Suzuki Kenji , Yao Takashi , Ishijima Muneaki , Saito Tsuyoshi
Published: May 2021

There are multiple transcription start sites (TSSs) in agreement with multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms of NKX2‐1/TTF‐1 (thyroid transcription factor 1); however, the clinicopathological significance of each transcript isoform of NKX2‐1/TTF‐1 in lung adenocarcinoma (LAD) is unknown. Herein, TSS‐level expression of NKX2‐1/TTF‐1 isoforms was evaluated in 71 LADs using bioinformatic analysis of cap analysis of gene expression (CAGE)‐sequencing data, which provides genome‐wide expression levels of the 5′‐untranslated regions and the TSSs of different isoforms. Results of CAGE were further validated in 664 LADs using in situ hybridisation. Fourteen of 17 TSSs in NKX2‐1/TTF‐1 (80% of known TSSs in FANTOM5, an atlas of mammalian promoters) were identified in LADs, including TSSs 1–13 and 15; four isoforms of NKX2‐1/TTF‐1 transcripts (NKX2‐1_001, NKX2‐1_002, NKX2‐1_004, and NKX2‐1_005) were expressed in LADs, although NKX2‐1_005 did not contain a homeodomain. Among those, six TSSs regulated NKX2‐1_004 and NKX2‐1_005, both of which contain exon 1. LADs with low expression of isoforms from TSS region 11 regulating exon 1 were significantly associated with poor prognosis in the CAGE data set. In the validation set, 62 tumours (9.3%) showed no expression of NKX2‐1/TTF‐1 exon 1; such tumours were significantly associated with older age, EGFR wild‐type tumours, and poor prognosis. In contrast, 94 tumours, including 22 of 30 pulmonary invasive mucinous adenocarcinomas (IMAs) exhibited exon 1 expression without immunohistochemical TTF‐1 protein expression. Furthermore, IMAs commonly exhibited higher exon 1 expression relative to that of exon 4/5, which contained a homeodomain in comparison with EGFR‐mutated LADs. These transcriptome and clinicopathological results reveal that LAD use at least 80% of NKX2‐1 TSSs and expression of the NKX2‐1/TTF‐1 transcript isoform without exon 1 (NKX2‐1_004 and NKX2‐1_005) defines a distinct subset of LAD characterised by aggressive behaviour in elder patients. Moreover, usage of alternative TSSs regions regulating NKX2‐1_005 may occur in subsets of LADs.
SemRec – An efficient ensemble recommender with sentiment based clustering for social media text corpus
Authors: Renjith Shini , Sreekumar A. , Jathavedan M.
Published: May 2021

The frequent user interactions happening in the form of textual contents like reviews, ratings, tags, blogs, testimonials, and so forth transformed the social media platform into a contextualized and personalized data warehouse focusing its users' unique likes and dislikes. The huge volume of social media content makes it difficult for the end users to consume relevant information by themselves. The need of a tool to deal with such scenario leads to the development of recommendation systems. This work proposes an ensemble multi‐stage recommender system with sentiment based clustering to deal with social media text corpus where each stage performing unique functionalities of information retrieval, natural language processing, user segmentation, prediction, and recommendation generation. The proposed system leverages a hybrid approach of content‐based, collaborative, and demographic filtering techniques to predict and recommend contents, products, or services according to user interests. The experimental results gathered using standard datasets are promising and found more efficient than the traditional approaches.
Resource aware scheduler for distributed stream processing in cloud native environments
Authors: Sarathchandra Madushi , Karandana Chulani , Heenatigala Winma , Dayarathna Miyuru , Jayasena Sanath
Published: May 2021

Recently distributed stream processors are increasingly being deployed in cloud computing infrastructures. In this article, we study performance characteristics of distributed stream processing applications in Google Compute Engine which is based on Kubernetes. We identify performance gaps in terms of throughput which appear in such environments when using a round robin (RR) scheduling algorithm. As a solution, we propose resource aware stream processing scheduler called resource aware scheduler for stream processing applications in cloud native environments (RaspaCN). We implement RaspaCN's job scheduler using two‐step process. First, we use machine learning to identify the optimal number of worker nodes. Second, we use RR and multiple Knapsack algorithms to produce performance optimal stream processing job schedules. With three application benchmarks called HTTP Log Processor, Nexmark, and Email Processor representing real world stream processing scenarios we evaluate the performance benefits obtained via RaspaCN's scheduling algorithm. RaspaCN could produce percentage increase of average throughput values by at least 37%, 38%, and 10%, respectively, for HTTP Log Processor, Nexmark, and Email Processor benchmarks for fixed input data rates. Furthermore, we conduct experiments with varying input data rates as well and show 7% improved average throughput for HTTP Log Processor. These experiments show the effectiveness of our proposed stream processor job scheduler for producing improved performance.
In Situ Growth of Ultrathin Ni(OH)2 Nanosheets as Catalyst for Electrocatalytic Oxidation Reactions
Authors: Zhang Jifang , Gong Wanbing , Yin Huajie , Wang Dongdong , Zhang Yunxia , Zhang Haimin , Wang Guozhong , Zhao Huijun
Published: May 2021

Development of electrocatalysts that are capable of efficiently oxidizing biomass‐derived 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) into 2,5‐furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is critically important for production of degradable plastics via non‐fossil routes. In this study, a facile and scalable immersion synthetic approach has been developed to grow ultrathin nickel hydroxide nanosheets in situ on commercial nickel foam (Ni(OH)2/NF) as an anode for the electrocatalytic oxidation of HMF to FDCA with complete HMF conversion, 100 % FDCA yield, and >99 % faradaic efficiency at 1.39 V (vs. RHE) within 90 min. Mechanistic studies reveal that the initial oxidation of HMF takes place at the carbonyl group and FDCA is generated through two further oxidation steps. Impressively, the synthesized Ni(OH)2/NF can also be used to electrocatalytically oxidize other alcohol/aldehyde‐containing compounds to the targeted products in alkaline medium with 100 % yield and >94 % faradaic efficiency under a low oxidation potential of 1.39 V (vs. RHE) within short reaction times.
Miniaturized dual band consumer transceiver antenna for 5G‐enabled IoT‐based home applications
Authors: De Arnab , Roy Bappadittya , Bhattacharjee Anup Kumar
Published: May 2021

A thriving number of physical objects are being connected to the Internet wirelessly in an unparalleled manner registering the goal for Internet of Things. This paper proposed a cost effective low profile compact dual band resonant consumer monopole antenna of dimensions of 13 mm × 12 mm × 1.6 mm that is less than an area of a thumbnail or more or less similar to a micro‐SD card. The designed transceiver antenna is easy to fabricate and capable of operating at sub C‐band (3.4–3.6 GHz) for possible future fifth generation (5G) applications and 5.8G Wi‐Fi (5.725–5.825 GHz) band enabling home automation facilities. The proposed design accomplishes almost omni‐directional radiation pattern at the duplex bands, and the measured results are being validated with the simulated ones, which shows good agreement.
Investigation of selected parameters of capillary zone electrophoresis method for analysis of isolates of outer membrane vesicles
Authors: Dziomba Szymon , Wysocka Magdalena , Jońca Joanna , Sola Laura , Steć Aleksandra , Waleron Krzysztof , Wielgomas Bartosz
Published: May 2021

The capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) has recently been proposed by our group as a novel technique for outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) characterization (J. Chromatography 1621 (2020) 461047). In present work the impact of selected parameters of CZE method on OMVs isolates analysis was assessed. It was shown that the extension of sample injection plug length significantly improves the detectability of macromolecular aggregates in CZE. Moreover, a negligible adsorption of OMVs to both uncoated and polymer‐modified (poly(DMA‐GMA‐MAPS)) capillary walls was proven. Finally, the relaxation effect as well as deformation/polarization of vesicles were demonstrated to affect OMVs electrophoretic mobility. The significance of these findings was discussed.
Factors predictive of 90‐day mortality after surgical resection for oral cavity cancer: Development of a recursive partitioning analysis for risk stratification
Authors: Shinde Ashwin , Jones Bernard , Luu Michael , Li Richard , Glaser Scott , Massarelli Erminia , Freeman Morganna , Gernon Thomas , Maghami Ellie , Kang Robert , Zumsteg Zachary , Karam Sana D. , Amini Arya
Published: May 2021

Background

Factors that influence postoperative mortality (POM) have been identified, but a predictive model to guide clinicians treating oral cavity cancer (OCC) has not been well established.

Methods

Patients with OCC undergoing upfront surgical resection were included. Primary outcome was 90‐day POM (90dPOM).

Results

33 845 were identified using the National Cancer Database. Rate of 90dPOM was 3.2%. Predictors of higher 90dPOM include older age, higher comorbidity scores, nonprivate insurance, lower income, treatment in an academic facility, higher T‐ and N‐classification, radical excision, and presence of positive margins. On RPA, two high‐risk (90dPOM > 10%) patient subsets were identified: patients ≥80 years of age with T3‐4 disease and patients <80 years, with any comorbidity and T3‐4, N2‐3 disease.

Conclusions

We identified a subset of patients in this cohort who are at high risk for 90dPOM. These patients may warrant additional perioperative and postoperative monitoring in addition to better preoperative assessment and screening.
The complex role of AIM2 in autoimmune diseases and cancers
Authors: Zhu Huan , Zhao Ming , Chang Christopher , Chan Vera , Lu Qianjin , Wu Haijing
Published: May 2021

Absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) is a novel member of interferon (IFN)‐inducible PYHIN proteins. In innate immune cells, AIM2 servers as a cytoplasmic double‐stranded DNA sensor, playing a crucial role in the initiation of the innate immune response as a component of the inflammasome. AIM2 expression is increased in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), psoriasis, and primary Sjogren's syndrome, indicating that AIM2 might be involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. Meanwhile, AIM2 also plays an antitumorigenesis role in an inflammasome independent‐manner. In melanoma, AIM2 is initially identified as a tumor suppressor factor. However, AIM2 is also found to contribute to lung tumorigenesis via the inflammasome‐dependent release of interleukin 1β and regulation of mitochondrial dynamics. Additionally, AIM2 reciprocally dampening the cGAS‐STING pathway causes immunosuppression of macrophages and evasion of antitumor immunity during antibody treatment. To summarize the complicated effect and role of AIM2 in autoimmune diseases and cancers, herein, we provide an overview of the emerging research progress on the function and regulatory pathway of AIM2 in innate and adaptive immune cells, as well as tumor cells, and discuss its pathogenic role in autoimmune diseases, such as SLE, psoriasis, primary Sjogren's syndrome, and cancers, such as melanomas, non‐small‐cell lung cancer, colon cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, renal carcinoma, and so on, hopefully providing potential therapeutic and diagnostic strategies for clinical use.
RUNX inhibitor suppresses graft‐versus‐host disease through targeting RUNX‐NFATC2 axis
Authors: Kubota Hirohito , Masuda Tatsuya , Noura Mina , Furuichi Kana , Matsuo Hidemasa , Hirata Masahiro , Kataoka Tatsuki R. , Hiramatsu Hidefumi , Yasumi Takahiro , Nakahata Tatsutoshi , Imai Yoichi , Takita Junko , Adachi Souichi , Sugiyama Hiroshi , Kamikubo Yasuhiko
Published: May 2021

Patients with refractory graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD) have a dismal prognosis. Therefore, novel therapeutic targets are still needed to be identified. Runt‐related transcriptional factor (RUNX) family transcription factors are essential transcription factors that mediate the essential roles in effector T cells. However, whether RUNX targeting can suppress, and GVHD is yet unknown. Here, we showed that RUNX family members have a redundant role in directly transactivating NFATC2 expression in T cells. We also found that our novel RUNX inhibitor, Chb‐M’, which is the inhibitor that switches off the entire RUNX family by alkylating agent–conjugated pyrrole‐imidazole (PI) polyamides, inhibited T‐cell receptor mediated T cell proliferation and allogenic T cell response. These were designed to specifically bind to consensus RUNX‐binding sequences (TGTGGT). Chb‐M’ also suppressed the expression of NFATC2 and pro‐inflammatory cytokine genes in vitro. Using xenogeneic GVHD model, mice injected by Chb‐M’ showed almost no sign of GVHD. Especially, the CD4 T cell was decreased and GVHD‐associated cytokines including tissue necrosis factor‐α and granulocyte‐macrophage colony‐stimulating factor were reduced in the peripheral blood of Chb‐M’ injected mice. Taken together, our data demonstrates that RUNX family transcriptionally upregulates NFATC2 in T cells, and RUNX‐NFATC2 axis can be a novel therapeutic target against GVHD.
Universal and simple MoO3 substrate for identification of SERS enhancement mechanism
Authors: Yang Yanqiu , Li Jia , Zhang Meixia , Song Peng , Lu Xuemei , Ding Yong
Published: May 2021

The electromagnetic mechanism (EM) induced by localised surface plasma resonance (LSPR) and the charge transfer mechanism (CT) between adsorbed molecules and the substrate is generally believed to explain the overall effect of surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). In some cases, the high complexity of the SERS system makes it difficult to identify the enhancement mechanism. In this paper, the synthesised MoO3 with excellent stability, uniformity and versatility is used to study the SERS of several dye molecules and fully clarify the mechanism. The SERS enhancement mechanism is explained mainly by the SERS behaviour of molecules at different wavelengths. This discovery is very helpful for future SERS substrate and mechanism research.
Diaspora tourists' emotional experience
Authors: Otoo Felix Elvis , Kim Seongseop Sam , Stylidis Dimitrios
Published: May 2021

This article attempts to empirically test a model to explain the hypothesized relationships between important constructs such as emotional experience, personal involvement, destination image, destination satisfaction, and place attachment as antecedents of the future intentions of mature/senior diaspora tourists. The hypothesized relationships were explored using a sample of 419 mature/senior diaspora tourists visiting Ghana. A three‐step process was used to explore, confirm and test the interrelationships between the constructs. The results showed that emotional experiences related to joy and love influenced personal involvement. While other hypothesized relationships were supported, unpleasantness and positive surprise did not have a direct effect on personal involvement. Future studies can apply this model to understand other types of tourism.
Preoperative Differences in Intracranial Facial Versus Vestibular Schwannomas: A Four Nerve Assessment
Authors: Erbele Isaac D. , Klumpp Micah L. , Arriaga Moisés A.
Published: May 2021

Objectives

Assesses whether preoperative functional testing can distinguish vestibular schwannomas from facial nerve schwannomas medial to the labyrinthine segment.

Study Design

Retrospective cohort.

Methods

Retrospectively review surgically managed intracranial facial and vestibular schwannomas between January 2015 and December 2019 at two tertiary care centers. Patients with neurofibromatosis 2 and surgery for recurrence were excluded. Preoperative functional testing to include House‐Brackmann scores, electroneuronography (ENoG), cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMP), caloric testing, acoustic brainstem responses (ABRs), acoustic reflexes, and audiograms was compared between the two groups of schwannomas.

Results

Twelve facial and 128 vestibular schwannomas met inclusion criteria. In only one case was a facial schwannoma diagnosed preoperatively from imaging. No statistically significant difference was found in preoperative House‐Brackmann scores, ENoG, cVEMP, caloric testing, ABRs, or acoustic reflexes. Pure tone average was worse in the vestibular schwannoma group (63 dB [95% CI: 58–68 dB] vs. 46 dB [95% CI: 34–58 dB],P = .01), and the difference was more apparent in the lower frequencies. Word recognition score was better in the facial schwannoma group (66% [95% CI: 45–86%] vs. 41% [95% CI: 34–47%],P = .02).

Conclusion

Specialized preoperative functional evaluation of the nerves of the internal auditory canal cannot reliably predict the presence of an intracranial facial schwannoma. Hearing is better in facial schwannomas, particularly in the lower frequencies. This should raise the index of suspicion for an intracranial facial schwannoma, especially in candidates for hearing preservation vestibular schwannoma surgery.

Level of Evidence

3Laryngoscope, 131:2098–2105, 2021
Uncertainty range of projected soil carbon responses to climate warming in China
Authors: Sun Guodong , Mu Mu
Published: May 2021

Soil carbon is becoming increasingly difficult to predict due to uncertainties in climate warming. The main objective of this research is to estimate the scope of uncertainties in soil carbon, which is the difference between maximal and minimal estimations of soil carbon, caused by uncertainties in climate change in China, by applying the Lund–Potsdam–Jena (LPJ) model and an improved optimization method. Based on an original optimization method (conditional nonlinear optimal parameter perturbation, CNOP‐P), a cost function is revised to evaluate the scope of uncertainties in predicting soil carbon sequestration, avoiding the overestimation of uncertainties. Two types of climate change projections are obtained from 10 global circulation models (GCMs) under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 scenario using two methods. For the first type of climate change projection, the upper and lower limits of estimated future soil carbon sequestration are 102.7 and 65.5 Gt, respectively, whereas the reference soil carbon sequestration driven by an ensemble of 10 GCMs is 79.6 Gt. The estimated future soil carbon sequestration ranges from 79.4 to 91.6 Gt for the second type of climate change. The numerical results imply that these two types of climate change, constrained by the projection of 10 GCMs, are the main factors affecting the uncertainty range of estimated soil carbon.
Applications of constructed new families of generating‐type functions interpolating new and known classes of polynomials and numbers
Authors: Simsek Yilmaz
Published: May 2021

The aim of this article is to construct some new families of generating‐type functions interpolating a certain class of higher order Bernoulli‐type, Euler‐type, Apostol‐type numbers, and polynomials. Applying the umbral calculus convention method and the shift operator to these functions, these generating functions are investigated in many different aspects such as applications related to the finite calculus, combinatorial analysis, the chordal graph, number theory, and complex analysis especially partial fraction decomposition of rational functions associated with Laurent expansion. By using the falling factorial function and the Stirling numbers of the first kind, we also construct new families of generating functions for certain classes of higher order Apostol‐type numbers and polynomials, the Bernoulli numbers and polynomials, the Fubini numbers, and others. Many different relations among these generating functions, difference equation including the Eulerian numbers, the shift operator, minimal polynomial, polynomial of the chordal graph, and other applications are given. Moreover, further remarks and comments on the results of this paper are presented.
Adult stem cells in endometrial regeneration: Molecular insights and clinical applications
Authors: Lv Qiaoying , Wang Lulu , Luo Xuezhen , Chen Xiaojun
Published: May 2021

Endometrial damage is an important cause of female reproductive problems, manifested as menstrual abnormalities, infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, and other complications. These conditions are collectively termed “Asherman syndrome” (AS) and are typically associated with recurrent induced pregnancy terminations, repeated diagnostic curettage and intrauterine infections. Cancer treatment also has unexpected detrimental side effects on endometrial function in survivors independently of ovarian effects. Endometrial stem cells act in the regeneration of the endometrium and in repair through direct differentiation or paracrine effects. Nonendometrial adult stem cells, such as bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cells and umbilical cord‐derived mesenchymal stem cells, with autologous and allogenic applications, can also repair injured endometrial tissue in animal models of AS and in human studies. However, there remains a lack of research on the repair of the damaged endometrium after the reversal of tumors, especially endometrial cancers. Here, we review the biological mechanisms of endometrial regeneration, and research progress and challenges for adult stem cell therapy for damaged endometrium, and discuss the potential applications of their use for endometrial repair after cancer remission, especially in endometrial cancers. Successful application of such cells will improve reproductive parameters in patients with AS or cancer. Significance: The endometrium is the fertile ground for embryos, but damage to the endometrium will greatly impair female fertility. Adult stem cells combined with tissue engineering scaffold materials or not have made great progress in repairing the injured endometrium due to benign lesions. However, due to the lack of research on the repair of the damaged endometrium caused by malignant tumors or tumor therapies, the safety and effectiveness of such stem cell‐based therapies need to be further explored. This review focuses on the molecular insights and clinical application potential of adult stem cells in endometrial regeneration and discusses the possible challenges or difficulties that need to be overcome in stem cell‐based therapies for tumor survivors. The development of adult stem cell‐related new programs will help repair damaged endometrium safely and effectively and meet fertility needs in tumor survivors.
Ultrahigh concentration and stable dispersion of graphite nanosheet paste as composite nanofillers for thermal management and electromagnetic shielding
Authors: Su Liying , Wang Jie , Zhou Jiale , Wang Jianfeng , Teng Chao
Published: May 2021

Graphene provides thermal and electrical conductivity to polymer composites, which significantly improves the properties of heat dissipation and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. However, due to the low concentration and stability of graphene dispersion, its industrial application is greatly hindered. In this work, graphite nanosheet (GNS) paste was successfully fabricated from the expanded graphite through wet ball‐milling technology in a one pot process. The ultrahigh GNS concentration is up to 59.4 mg mL−1, and exhibits high stability for 6 months. Furthermore, the average thickness of GNS is less than 10 layers. The GNS paste could mix uniformly with polymer dispersion to obtain large‐area and flexible films by the doctor‐blading process. The composites containing 80 wt% GNS exhibit layered structure, leading to high thermal conductivities with an in‐plane value of 71.18 W m−1 K, far surpassing the pristine polymer material (0.19 W m−1 K), and reveal an efficient total electromagnetic shielding (SEtot≈ 45 dB in the range of 8.2 to 12.4 GHz). This work provides a direct route to prepare composites with high thermal conductivity and EMI shielding from ultrahigh concentration GNS paste.
Enhanced fuzzy state estimation of discrete‐time nonlinear systems via a multi‐instant united switch‐type observer
Authors: Lu Hongyu , Xie Xiangpeng , Liu Wei
Published: May 2021

The performance of state estimation of discrete‐time Takagi–Sugeno systems is enhanced by proposing a featured multiinstant united switch‐type observer. The novelty of the proposed observer lies in both the definition and application of a set of switching modes. Since different time‐variant free matrices can be for the first time introduced in accordance with each switching mode, both the current time and the past time normalized fuzzy weighting functions are together considered for designing the corresponding observer gain matrices with much less conservatism than those recent methods reported in the literature. Furthermore, there are only two tuning parameters which are both located in a limited candidate set and thus this fact does benefit for giving the optimal solution of our developed multiinstant united switch‐type candidates. Finally, numerical comparisons are provided in order to verify the technical superiority of the results developed in this article.
Radiation Defects and Carrier Lifetime in 4H‐SiC Bipolar Devices
Authors: Hazdra Pavel , Smrkovský Petr , Popelka Stanislav
Published: May 2021

The effect of radiation damage on the minority carrier lifetime in the 4 H‐SiC epilayers forming the n‐base of the power p–i–n diodes is presented. Irradiation with fast neutrons and MeV protons is used for uniform and local lifetime reduction. Deep‐level transient spectroscopy in combination with open‐circuit voltage decay measurement shows that the carrier lifetime is reduced by increased carrier recombination on Z1/Z2, EH3, and possibly RD4 levels. The lifetime degrades swiftly and the ON‐state carrier modulation capability of high‐voltage devices can be easily lost already at very low fluences. The results further show that the proton irradiation provides an excellent tool for local lifetime tailoring. The carrier lifetime can be easily set by proton fluence and localized by proton energy. The proper local lifetime reduction speeds up diode recovery without an undesirable increase in the forward voltage drop. However, attention must be taken to properly locate the damage maximum so as not to increase device leakage.
A new double EWMA‐t chart with auxiliary information for the process mean
Authors: Haq Abdul , Ejaz Sana , Lee Ming Ha , Khan Manzoor
Published: May 2021

In this paper, we propose an auxiliary‐information‐based (AIB) double EWMA‐ (AIB‐DEWMA‐) chart for monitoring the process mean. The DEWMA‐ chart encompasses the EWMA‐ and AIB‐EWMA‐ charts. The Monte Carlo simulations are used to compute the run length characteristics of the AIB‐DEWMA‐ chart. Based on detailed run length comparisons, it is found that the AIB‐DEWMA‐ chart may uniformly and substantially outperform the AIB‐EWMA‐ chart when detecting different shifts in the process mean. In addition, the AIB‐DEWMA‐ chart is uniformly more sensitive than the DEWMA‐ chart. Similar trends are observed when comparing these control charts with the variable sampling interval feature. A real dataset is also considered to demonstrate the implementation of the proposed chart.
An extended nonparametric homogeneously weighted moving average sign control chart
Authors: Alevizakos Vasileios , Chatterjee Kashinath , Koukouvinos Christos
Published: May 2021

Parametric (or traditional) control charts are based on the assumption that the quality characteristic of interest follows a specific distribution. However, in many applications, there is a lack of knowledge about the underlying distribution. To this end, nonparametric (or distribution‐free) control charts have been developed in recent years. In this article, a nonparametric double homogeneously weighted moving average (DHWMA) control chart based on the sign statistic is proposed for monitoring the location parameter of an unknown and continuous distribution. The performance of the proposed chart is measured through the run‐length distribution and its associated characteristics by performing Monte Carlo simulations. The DHWMA sign chart is compared with other nonparametric sign charts, such as the homogeneously weighted moving average, generally weighted moving average (GWMA), double GWMA, and triple exponentially weighted moving average sign charts, as well as the traditional DHWMA chart. The results indicate that the proposed chart performs just as well as and in some cases better than its competitors, especially for small shifts. Finally, two examples are provided to show the application and implementation of the proposed chart.
INFERYS rescoring: Boosting peptide identifications and scoring confidence of database search results
Authors: Zolg Daniel P. , Gessulat Siegfried , Paschke Carmen , Graber Michael , Rathke‐Kuhnert Magnus , Seefried Florian , Fitzemeier Kai , Berg Frank , Lopez‐Ferrer Daniel , Horn David , Henrich Christoph , Huhmer Andreas , Delanghe Bernard , Frejno Martin
Published: May 2021

Database search engines for bottom‐up proteomics largely ignore peptide fragment ion intensities during the automated scoring of tandem mass spectra against protein databases. Recent advances in deep learning allow the accurate prediction of peptide fragment ion intensities. Using these predictions to calculate additional intensity‐based scores helps to overcome this drawback.

Here, we describe a processing workflow termed INFERYS™ rescoring for the intensity‐based rescoring of Sequest HT search engine results in Thermo Scientific™ Proteome Discoverer™ 2.5 software. The workflow is based on the deep learning platform INFERYS capable of predicting fragment ion intensities, which runs on personal computers without the need for graphics processing units. This workflow calculates intensity‐based scores comparing peptide spectrum matches from Sequest HT and predicted spectra. Resulting scores are combined with classical search engine scores for input to the false discovery rate estimation tool Percolator.

We demonstrate the merits of this approach by analyzing a classical HeLa standard sample and exemplify how this workflow leads to a better separation of target and decoy identifications, in turn resulting in increased peptide spectrum match, peptide and protein identification numbers. On an immunopeptidome dataset, this workflow leads to a 50% increase in identified peptides, emphasizing the advantage of intensity‐based scores when analyzing low‐intensity spectra or analytes with very similar physicochemical properties that require vast search spaces.

Overall, the end‐to‐end integration of INFERYS rescoring enables simple and easy access to a powerful enhancement to classical database search engines, promising a deeper, more confident and more comprehensive analysis of proteomic data from any organism by unlocking the intensity dimension of tandem mass spectra for identification and more confident scoring.
Cas9‐Cleavage Sequences in Size‐Reduced Plasmids Enhance Nonviral Genome Targeting of CARs in Primary Human T Cells
Authors: Jing Ruirui , Jiao Peng , Chen Jiangqing , Meng Xianhui , Wu Xiaoyan , Duan Yanting , Shang Kai , Qian Liling , Huang Yanjie , Liu Junwei , Huang Tao , Jin Jin , Chen Wei , Zeng Xun , Yin Weiwei , Gao Xiaofei , Zhou Chun , Sadelain Michel , Sun Jie
Published: May 2021

T cell genome editing holds great promise to advance a range of immunotherapies but is encumbered by the dependence on difficult‐to‐produce and expensive viral vectors. Here, small double‐stranded plasmid DNA modified to mediate high‐efficiency homologous recombination is designed. The resulting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)‐T cells display a similar phenotype, transcriptional profile, and in vivo potency to CAR‐T cells generated using adeno‐associated viral vector. This method should simplify and accelerate the use of precision engineering to produce edited T cells for research and clinical purposes.