bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
How do Graphene Composite Surfaces Affect the Development and Structure of Marine Cyanobacterial Biofilms?
Authors: Romeu Maria J. , Gomes Luciana C. , Sousa-Cardoso Francisca , Morais João , Vasconcelos Vítor , Whitehead Kathryn A. , Pereira Manuel F. R. , Soares Olívia S. G. P. , Mergulhão Filipe J.
Published: November 2022

The progress of nanotechnology has prompted the development of novel marine antifouling coatings. In this study, the influence of a pristine graphene nanoplatelet (GNP)-modified surface in cyanobacterial biofilm formation was evaluated over a long-term assay using an in vitro platform which mimics the hydrodynamic conditions that prevail in real marine environments. Surface characterization by Optical Profilometry and Scanning Electron Microscopy has shown that the main difference between GNP incorporated into a commercially used epoxy resin (GNP composite) and both control surfaces (glass and epoxy resin) was related to roughness and topography, where the GNP composite had a roughness value about 1000 times higher than control surfaces. The results showed that, after 7 weeks, the GNP composite reduced the biofilm wet weight (by 44%), biofilm thickness (by 54%), biovolume (by 82%), and surface coverage (by 64%) of cyanobacterial biofilms compared to the epoxy resin. Likewise, the GNP-modified surface delayed cyanobacterial biofilm development, modulated biofilm structure to a less porous arrangement over time, and showed a higher antifouling effect at the biofilm maturation stage. Overall, this nanocomposite seems to have the potential to be used as a long-term antifouling material in marine applications. Moreover, this multifactorial study was crucial to understanding the interactions between surface properties and cyanobacterial biofilm development and architecture over time.
Arbitrarily Parallelizable Code: A Model of Computation Evaluated on a Message-Passing Many-Core System
Authors: Cook Sebastien , Garcia Paulo
Published: November 2022

The number of processing elements per solution is growing. From embedded devices now employing (often heterogeneous) multi-core processors, across many-core scientific computing platforms, to distributed systems comprising thousands of interconnected processors, parallel programming of one form or another is now the norm. Understanding how to efficiently parallelize code, however, is still an open problem, and the difficulties are exacerbated across heterogeneous processing, and especially at run time, when it is sometimes desirable to change the parallelization strategy to meet non-functional requirements (e.g., load balancing and power consumption). In this article, we investigate the use of a programming model based on series-parallel partial orders: computations are expressed as directed graphs that expose parallelization opportunities and necessary sequencing by construction. This programming model is suitable as an intermediate representation for higher-level languages. We then describe a model of computation for such a programming model that maps such graphs into a stack-based structure more amenable to hardware processing. We describe the formal small-step semantics for this model of computation and use this formal description to show that the model can be arbitrarily parallelized, at compile and runtime, with correct execution guaranteed by design. We empirically support this claim and evaluate parallelization benefits using a prototype open-source compiler, targeting a message-passing many-core simulation. We empirically verify the correctness of arbitrary parallelization, supporting the validity of our formal semantics, analyze the distribution of operations within cores to understand the implementation impact of the paradigm, and assess execution time improvements when five micro-benchmarks are automatically and randomly parallelized across 2 × 2 and 4 × 4 multi-core configurations, resulting in execution time decrease by up to 95% in the best case.
Implementation of a C Library of Kalman Filters for Application on Embedded Systems
Authors: Schreppel Christina , Pfeiffer Andreas , Ruggaber Julian , Brembeck Jonathan
Published: November 2022

Having knowledge about the states of a system is an important component in most control systems. However, an exact measurement of the states cannot always be provided because it is either not technically possible or only possible with a significant effort. Therefore, state estimation plays an important role in control applications. The well-known and widely used Kalman filter is often employed for this purpose. This paper describes the implementation of nonlinear Kalman filter algorithms, the extended and the unscented Kalman filter with square-rooting, in the programming language C, that are suitable for the use on embedded systems. The implementations deal with single or double precision data types depending on the application. The newly implemented filters are demonstrated in the context of semi-active vehicle damper control and the estimation of the tire–road friction coefficient as application examples, providing real-time capability. Their per-formances were evaluated in tests on an electronic control unit and a rapid-prototyping platform.
Digital Twin in the Provision of Power Wheelchairs Context: Support for Technical Phases and Conceptual Model
Authors: Lagartinho-Oliveira Carolina , Moutinho Filipe , Gomes Luís
Published: November 2022

Worldwide, many wheelchair users find it difficult to use or acquire a wheelchair that is appropriate for them, either because they do not have the necessary financial support or because they do not have access to trained healthcare professionals (HCPs), but they are essential for the correct provision of assistive products and user training. Consequently, although wheelchairs are designed to promote the well-being of many users, in many cases, they end up being abandoned or do not provide any benefit, with the chance of causing harm and potentially putting people in danger. This article proposes the creation and use of a Digital Twin (DT) of a Power Wheelchair (PWC) to promote the health of wheelchair users, by facilitating and improving the delivery of remote services by HCPs, as well as to include monitoring services to support timely maintenance. Specifically, a DT is a virtual counterpart that is seamlessly linked to a physical asset, both relying on data and information exchange for mirroring each other. Currently, DT is emerging and being applied to different areas as a promising approach to gather insightful data, which are shared between the physical and virtual worlds and facilitate the means to design, monitor, analyze, optimize, predict, and control physical entities. This article gives an overview of the Digital Twin concept, namely its definition, types, and properties, and seeks to synthesize the technologies and tools frequently used to enable Digital Twins; we also explain how a DT can be used in the technical phases of the PWC provision process and propose a conceptual model highlighting the use of an MDD approach benefiting from a Petri net formalism, which is presented to systematize the development of a PWC DT.
Summary of the Basic Free Electron Transport Characteristics in Donor Doped Silicon
Authors: Palenskis Vilius
Published: November 2022

A present summary is assigned to present the transport characteristics of the free randomly moving (RM) electrons in silicon at any doping level by phosphorous donors. The application of the Fermi-Dirac statistics and stochastic description of the free RM electrons lead to obtaining the general expressions of conductivity, the effective density of the free RM electrons, their diffusion coefficient and the drift mobility, which are valid for silicon with any doping level. It is shown that drift mobility of the free RM electrons considerably exceeds the Hall mobility at heavy doping, and that the Einstein relation is fundamental and is conserved at any level of degeneracy. It is estimated what part of electrons in the conduction band of heavily doped silicon is not free and is coupled with phosphorous ions. The main conclusions and formulations can be applicable for holes in acceptor-doped silicon, and other homogeneous materials with one type of the free RM charge carriers as well.
Synthesis, Evolution of Morphology, Transport Properties for Bi2Te3 Nanoplates
Authors: Zhao Yu-Jing , Zhou Fang
Published: November 2022

Bi2Te3 has an extensive application as thermoelectric materials. Here, large scale Bi2Te3 single-crystal hexagonal nanoplates(NPs) with size of 0.4–0.8 μm were synthesized successfully by hydro-thermal method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM) were used to characterize the Bi2Te3 nanoplates, which confirm the single crystal quality and smooth surface morphology with large size. We discussed the morphology-evolution in detail the influence of various reaction factors which including: the reaction temperature, the reaction time, the surfactants of the polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and pH value. The synthesis method is not only green, but also shortens the reaction time and improves the reaction efficiency. The Bi2Te3 nanopowders were hot-pressed into solid state pellets through spark plasma sintering (SPS). The values of the electrical conductivity σ were about 0.16 × 10−5 Sm−1 and 0.22 × 10−5 Sm−1 at room temperature and 530 K, respectively. The values of the Seebeck coefficient S were around −81 μVK−1 and −118 μVK−1 at room temperature and 530 K, respectively.
Tunable, High-Power, Narrow-Linewidth Diode Laser for Potassium Alkali Metal Vapor Laser Pumping
Authors: Han Jinliang , Zhang Jun , Shan Xiaonan , Zhang Yawei , Peng Hangyu , Qin Li , Wang Lijun
Published: November 2022

This work proposes a method of compressing spectral linewidth and tuning the central wavelength of multiple high-power diode laser arrays in an external cavity feedback structure based on one volume Bragg grating (VBG). Through the combination of beam collimation and spatial beam technologies, a diode laser source producing 102.1 W at an operating current of 40 A is achieved. This laser source has a central wavelength of 766 nm and a narrow spectral linewidth of 0.164 nm. Moreover, a tuning central wavelength ranging from 776–766.231 nm is realized by precisely controlling the temperature of the VBG, and the locked central wavelength as a function of temperature shifts at the rate of approximately 0.0076 nm/°C. The results further prove that the smile under 1 μm can restrain the self-excitation effect of the emitting laser, which can influence the efficiency of the potassium alkali metal vapor laser pumping.
Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) Reinforced CoCrMoNbTi0.4 Refractory High Entropy Alloy Fabricated via Laser Additive Manufacturing: Processing Optimization, Microstructure Transformation and Mechanical Properties
Authors: Ye Xuyang , Zhang Mina , Wang Dafeng , He Longjun , Xu Zifa , Zhou Yuhang , Ruan Dianbo , Zhang Wenwu
Published: November 2022

Refractory high-entropy alloys (RHEAs) exhibit outstanding softening resistance and thermal stability at elevated temperatures. Unfortunately, poor ductility at room temperature has remained the critical issue for their processability and practical application. In this study, an original-type fabrication method of RHEA was proposed, using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to enhance the alloy prepared via laser melting deposition (LMD) technology. The processing optimization, microstructure evolution and mechanical properties were systematically investigated for LMD processing of CNTs/CoCrMoNbTi0.4 RHEA. The results have shown that CNTs/CoCrMoNbTi0.4 RHEA have a polycrystalline structure (BCC, HCP, and TiC). As the optimal LMD-processing parameters of laser linear energy density of 3.6 J/mm were applied, owing to the formation of high densification and an ultrafine microstructure, the fully dense LMD-processed alloy exhibited high microhardness of 1015 HV0.5, fracture strength of 2110.5 MPa, and fracture strain of 2.39%. The solid solution strengthening and load transfer are considered as the main strengthening mechanisms occurring simultaneously during compressive tests at room temperature, leading to excellent mechanical properties of LMD-processed CNTs/CoCrMoNbTi0.4 RHEA, which explores the potential application of RHEAs.
Structure and Bonding in CsNa2Hg18, a New Ternary Amalgam with Strong Coulombic Bonding Contributions
Authors: Hohl Timotheus , Tambornino Frank , Hoch Constantin
Published: November 2022

The new ternary amalgam CsNa2Hg18 was synthesised from the elements in an unconventional low-temperature procedure. It crystallises in a tetragonal structure type (space group I4/mmm, a = 7.3054(7) and c = 20.046 Å) and combines ionic and metallic bonding contributions. In the crystal structure, Cs and Na atoms are embedded in a Hg scaffold with highly covalent Hg–Hg bonding. The alkali metal atoms are coordinated exclusively by Hg atoms in unusual environments with coordination numbers CN = 24 for Cs and CN = 16 for Na. Polar amalgams are suitable model systems for studying the parameters influencing the ’bad metal behaviour’ in polar intermetallic phases. We present structural studies on the basis of powder and single crystal diffraction data together with measurements of the specific resistivity and DFT calculations of the electronic structure. For CsNa2Hg18, a high specific resistivity can be observed, but the Ioffe–Regel saturation of the resistivity is expressed much less than in other polar amalgams.
Hall Current Effect of Magnetic-Optical-Elastic-Thermal-Diffusive Non-Local Semiconductor Model during Electrons-Holes Excitation Processes
Authors: Chteoui Riadh , Lotfy Khaled , El-Bary Alaa A. , Allan Mohamed M.
Published: November 2022

This paper investigates a theoretical model for the interaction between electrons and holes (E/H) in elastic non-local semiconductors. When the medium is activated by photo-energy because of high temperatures, an optical-elastic-thermal-diffusion (OETD) process occurs and is described by this mathematical-physical model. A study is conducted on the impact of the Hall current brought on by the collapse of a strong magnetic field on the exterior of the non-local semiconductor medium. A Hall effect is brought on by the magnetic field’s effect on the density of magnetic flux. The Laplace transform with initial conditions of the dimensionless main physical fields in one dimension (1D) is used to demonstrate this. Mathematically, in the Laplace domain, the generic linear solutions for the strain and temperature distributions, as well as charge carrier holes and electrons, are derived. The key physical fields’ complete solutions in the time domain are obtained by numerically simulating a few thermal, mechanical, and optical conditions at the free surface of the semiconductor using the Laplace inverse approximation technique. For silicon material, the photo-thermoelasticity theory’s Hall current effect, non-local parameter, and effects of thermal relaxation durations are graphically displayed and analyzed.
A New Zero-Dimensional (CsK2)BiCl6 Metal Halide: Boosting Emission via B-Site Mn-Doping
Authors: Wu Jie , Zhang Shuai , Yan Jun , Zou Bingsuo , Zeng Ruosheng
Published: November 2022

The A site of zero-dimensional (0D) metal halides A3BiCl6 can be replaced by Cs and/or K, thus, four possible 0D A3BiCl6 forms exist, such as (Cs2K)BiCl6, (CsK2)BiCl6, K3BiCl6 and Cs3BiCl6. It is well known that Cs3BiCl6 has been reported. We predict that both (Cs2K)BiCl6 and K3BiCl6 do not have enough structural and thermodynamic stability, but (CsK2)BiCl6 should be a 0D stable A3BiCl6 candidate based on density functional theory (DFT). Furthermore, 0D (CsK2)BiCl6 metal halide was experimentally prepared by the solvothermal method. Though (CsK2)BiCl6 metal halide exhibits an indirect bandgap and poor luminescence properties, the emission can be boosted by B-site Mn-doping due to the efficient energy transfer from self-trapped excitons (STE) to the d-state of Mn ions. Our results enrich the family of 0D bi-based metal halides and provide guidance for the regulation of the structural and optical properties of metal halides.
Caregiver Burden in Distance Caregivers of Patients with Cancer
Authors: Park Sumin , Mazanec Susan R. , Burant Christopher J. , Bajor David , Douglas Sara L.
Published: November 2022

Distance caregivers (DCGs), those who live more than an hour away from the care recipient, often play a significant role in patients’ care. While much is known about the experience and outcomes of local family caregivers of cancer patients, little is known about the experience and outcomes of distance caregiving upon DCGs. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationships among stressors (patient cancer stage, anxiety, and depression), mediators (DCG emotional support and self-efficacy), and burden in DCGs’ of patients with cancer. This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study and involved a secondary data analysis from a randomized clinical trial. The study sample consisted of 314 cancer patient–DCG dyads. The results of this study were: (1) 26.1% of DCGs reported elevated levels of burden; (2) significant negative relationships were found between mediators (DCG emotional support and self-efficacy) and DCG burden; and (3) significant positive relationships were found between patient anxiety, depression, and DCG burden. The prevalence of burden in DCGs, and its related factors, were similar to those of local caregivers of cancer patients, which suggests that interventions to reduce burden in local caregivers could be effective for DCGs as well.
Relationship between Biomass and Biodiversity of Degraded Grassland in the Sanjiangyuan Region of Qinghai–Tibet Plateau
Authors: Shu Kai , Gao Xue , Qian Dawen , Zhao Lei , Li Qian , Dai Licong
Published: November 2022

Understanding the mechanisms of diversity–productivity relationships is a central question in community ecology. Grazing is the main driving force affecting biodiversity, function, and stability of grassland ecosystems, and thus should play an important role in mediating diversity-productivity relationships. In this study, we examined the effect of grazing intensity on both aboveground biomass and biodiversity and explored the relationship between them in alpine meadow ecosystems in Sanjiangyuan, which is the source of the Yangtze, Yellow, and Lancang rivers. The results showed that the aboveground biomass and species richness decreased significantly due to multi-state succession in alpine meadows caused by long-term grazing, while the Shannon–Wiener index and Pielou evenness index decreased and then increased with increasing grazing intensity. The relationship between the aboveground biomass and biodiversity was U-shaped. Our results highlighted the opposite pattern of the diversity–productivity relationship under low and medium grazing intensity versus an extremely high grazing intensity; evenness contributed largely to this pattern. This study provided a new perspective on grassland management and the relationship between productivity and biodiversity. Attention should be paid to rational grazing to restore biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services in alpine meadows.
Spatial Variation in the Frequency of Left-Sided Morph in European Flounder Platichthys flesus (Linnaeus, 1758) from the Marginal Arctic (the White Sea)
Authors: Yershov Peter N. , Fuks Gennadiy V. , Khaitov Vadim M.
Published: November 2022

The European flounder, Platichthys flesus, is a polymorphic flatfish, which has a large population variation in the proportion of left-sided and right-sided morphs across its geographic range. We compared the frequencies of these morphs in the White Sea (Kandalaksha, Onega, Dvina, and Mezen bays), the region in the northeastern part of species’ range adjacent to the Arctic. The proportion of the two morphs in the populations of White Sea flounders showed high variability and specific regional characteristics. The highest frequency of left-sided individuals was observed in the northwestern (Kandalaksha Bay) and southwestern (Onega Bay) parts of the White Sea. Flounders living in the eastern part of the White Sea (Dvina and Mezen bays) showed a much lower frequency of this trait. No consistent pattern of geographic variation in the proportion of the morphs was found in the geographic range of P. flesus. The lowest frequencies of left-sided individuals were recorded in the flounder populations living at the eastern and western margins of the geographic range. Geographic variation in the proportion of left-sided individuals in flounder populations is likely to be determined by a set of biotic and abiotic factors. Selective influence of the latter, acting through the trophic relationships of this species with other marine organisms, can differ in different parts of flounder’s geographic range.
A New Genus and Two New Species of Fireflies from South America (Lampyridae: Lampyrinae: Photinini)
Authors: Roza André Silva , Mermudes José Ricardo Miras , Silveira Luiz Felipe Lima da
Published: November 2022

Lampyridae taxonomy has traditionally relied on a few characters now deemed to be highly homoplastic, and their classification—especially at the genus level—is yet to be consolidated based on rigorous phylogenetic analyses. Recent studies highlighted the value of genitalic trait variation in the evolution in Lampyridae, particularly for the rich and poorly known South American Photinini fauna. Here, we describe a new genus, with a new species from the Cerrado and another one from the Atlantic Forest. Phylogenetic analyses based on Bayesian and Maximum Parsimony approaches recovered these two species as sister to each other, which we place here in Zoiudo gen. nov. Males of this new lineage of fireflies are overall strikingly similar to Photinus Laporte 1833, but can be readily distinguished by traits heretofore neglected, including the structure of tibial spurs and many genitalic traits. Instead, Zoiudo gen. nov. is strongly supported as sister to Ybytyramoan Silveira and Mermudes, 2014, supported by eight synapomorphies, the most conspicuous being the sternum VIII with lateral margins divergent up to basal 1/5, then convergent posteriorly, and the rudimentary ventral plate of phallus. Our study confirms the value of extensive character and taxon sampling towards a revised classification of Photinini taxa and highlights the need for a continued sampling and protection of South American biomes.
Phase Change Materials—Applications and Systems Designs: A Literature Review
Authors: Diaconu Bogdan , Cruceru Mihai , Anghelescu Lucica
Published: November 2022

The development of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) applications and products is closely related to the market penetration of the renewable energy technologies. With the initial aim of matching the phase shift between resource availability and demand in solar energy systems, the range of PCM applications expanded rapidly during the last decades, entering economic sectors where some form of passive thermal regulation was required. This review focuses on examining both conventional applications and recent advances and niche areas—such as space applications—where PCM-based systems demonstrated a potential to improve the operation at process level. The literature survey conducted here gave special attention to recent application of PCM-based systems such as data centres cooling and electric vehicles battery thermal management. Recent advances in PCM-based systems designs were surveyed in the second part of the article. The main PCM containment and system integration directions were discussed and recent representative studies were discussed. Some topics considered marginal but nevertheless essential to large scale implementation of PCM-based systems were mentioned and their coverage in the literature was assessed: health risks, environmental and lifecycle issues.
Molecular Characterization of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in a Patient with Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus
Authors: Villano Umbertina , Mataj Elida , Dorrucci Maria , Farchi Francesca , Pirone Carmelo , Valdarchi Catia , Equestre Michele , Madonna Elisabetta , Bruni Roberto , Pisani Giulio , Martina Antonio , Simeoni Matteo , Iaiani Giancarlo , Ciccozzi Massimo , Ciccaglione Anna Rita , Conti Fabrizio , Ceccarelli Fulvia , Lo Presti Alessandra
Published: November 2022

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a serious global health problem. Patients with autoimmune diseases, such as Lupus Erythematosus, are exposed to a higher risk of acquiring infections. In this study, a molecular characterization, genomic investigation of the Hepatitis B virus, polymerase (P) and surface (S) genes, from a patient affected by Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus (CLE), was presented. Viral DNA was extracted from 200 μL of serum, and the HBV-DNA was amplified by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with the Platinum Taq DNA Polymerase. The PCR products were purified and sequencing reactions were performed. A phylogenetic analysis was performed through maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches. The HBV CLE isolate was classified as sub-genotype D3 and related to other Italian HBV D3 genomes, and some from foreign countries. No drug resistant mutations were identified. One mutation (a.a. 168 M) was located in the last part of the major hydrophilic region (MHR) of the surface antigen (HBsAg). Moreover, three sites (351G, 526Y, 578C) in the polymerase were exclusively present in the CLE patient. The mutations identified exclusively in the HBsAg of our CLE patient may have been selected because of the Lupus autoantibodies, which are characteristic in the Lupus autoimmune disease, using a possible molecular mimicry mechanism.
Behçet’s Disease: A Radiological Review of Vascular and Parenchymal Pulmonary Involvement
Authors: Giannessi Caterina , Smorchkova Olga , Cozzi Diletta , Zantonelli Giulia , Bertelli Elena , Moroni Chiara , Cavigli Edoardo , Miele Vittorio
Published: November 2022

Behcet’s disease (BD) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disorder characterized by underlying chronic vasculitis of both large- and small-caliber vessels. Thoracic involvement in BD can occur with various types of manifestations, which can be detected with contrast-enhanced MSCT scanning. In addition, MR can be useful in diagnosis. Characteristic features are aneurysms of the pulmonary arteries that can cause severe hemoptysis and SVC thrombosis that manifests as SVC syndrome. Other manifestations are aortic and bronchial artery aneurysms, alveolar hemorrhage, pulmonary infarction, and rarely pleural effusion. Achieving the right diagnosis of these manifestations is important for setting the correct therapy and improving the patient’s outcome.
Optimized Intelligent Classifier for Early Breast Cancer Detection Using Ultra-Wide Band Transceiver
Authors: Halim Ahmad Ashraf Abdul , Andrew Allan Melvin , Mustafa Wan Azani , Mohd Yasin Mohd Najib , Jusoh Muzammil , Veeraperumal Vijayasarveswari , Abd Rahman Mohd Amiruddin , Zamin Norshuhani , Mary Mervin Retnadhas , Khatun Sabira
Published: November 2022

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. The death rate is high because of the lack of early signs. Due to the absence of a cure, immediate treatment is necessary to remove the cancerous cells and prolong life. For early breast cancer detection, it is crucial to propose a robust intelligent classifier with statistical feature analysis that considers parameter existence, size, and location. This paper proposes a novel Multi-Stage Feature Selection with Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (MSFS–BPSO) using Ultra-Wideband (UWB). A collection of 39,000 data samples from non-tumor and with tumor sizes ranging from 2 to 7 mm was created using realistic tissue-like dielectric materials. Subsequently, the tumor models were inserted into the heterogeneous breast phantom. The breast phantom with tumors was imaged and represented in both time and frequency domains using the UWB signal. Consequently, the dataset was fed into the MSFS–BPSO framework and started with feature normalization before it was reduced using feature dimension reduction. Then, the feature selection (based on time/frequency domain) using seven different classifiers selected the frequency domain compared to the time domain and continued to perform feature extraction. Feature selection using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is able to distinguish between class-correlated data. Finally, the optimum feature subset was selected using a Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) classifier with the Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO) method. The research findings found that the MSFS–BPSO method has increased classification accuracy up to 96.3% and given good dependability even when employing an enormous data sample.
Extremely Precise Blood–Plasma Separation from Whole Blood on a Centrifugal Microfluidic Disk (Lab-on-a-Disk) Using Separator Gel
Authors: Hatami Ali , Saadatmand Maryam
Published: November 2022

Due to the expansion of point-of-care devices, proposing a convenient and efficient method for blood–plasma separation would help with the use of point-of-care devices. Commercial microfluidic chips are only able to separate a limited amount of plasma, and the majority of these chips need an active valve system, which leads to increase manufacturing cost and complexity. In this research study, we designed a centrifugal microfluidic disk with a passive valve for ultra-accurate and efficient blood–plasma separation on a large scale (2–3 mL). The disk contained a separator gel, which, after applying the centrifugal force, separated the plasma and red blood cells. The passive valve worked based on the inertial force and was able to transfer more than 90% of the separated plasma to the next chamber. The results demonstrated that the separated plasma was 99.992% pure. This study compared the efficiency of the disk containing separating gel with the common lab-on-a-disk design for plasma separation. A comparison of the results showed that although the common lab-on-a-disk design could separate almost pure plasma as the disk contained separator gel, it could only transfer 60% of plasma to the next chamber.
A Novel Deletion Mutation of the F8 Gene for Hemophilia A
Authors: Wang Jingwei , Gu Jian , Chen Hongbing , Wu Qian , Xiong Liang , Qiao Bin , Zhang Yan , Xiao Hongjun , Tong Yongqing
Published: November 2022

Background: Hemophilia A (HA) is an X-linked recessive blood coagulation disorder caused by a variety of abnormalities in F8 gene, resulting in the absence of impaired molecule production of factor VIII (FVIII) in the plasma. The genetic testing of the F8 gene encoding FVIII is used for confirmation of HA diagnosis, which significantly reduced serious complications of this disease and, ultimately, increased life expectancy. Methods: Sanger sequencing was performed in F8 gene exons of the suspected patients with blood coagulation-related indicators. Results: A novel F8 indel variant c.6343delC, p.Leu2115SerfsTer28 in exon 22 of the F8 gene was identified in the suspected families. The infant with this novel variant appeared the symptom of minor bleeding and oral cavity bleeding, and decreased activity of FVIII, which is consistent with that of F8 deleterious variants. The 3’D protein structural analysis of the novel variant shows a change in FVIII protein stability, which may be responsible for the pathogenesis of HA. Conclusions: A novel deleterious variant was identified in our case, which expands the F8 variants spectrum. Our result is helpful for HA diagnosis and benefits carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis. Our study also reveals that mutation screening of the F8 gene should be necessary for HA suspected patients.
Hyaline Vascular Type of Unicentric Castleman Disease in a Kidney with End-Stage Renal Disease: A Case Report of a Rare Entity at an Unusual Location and a Special Clinical Setting
Authors: Chen Chuan-Han , Li Hsin-Ni
Published: November 2022

Castleman disease (CD) is an unusual heterogeneous lymphoproliferative disorder that has been classified based on either clinical presentation and disease course or histologic features. Clinically, CD is divided into a unicentric CD (UCD) type and multicentric CD (MCD) type according to the extent of lymph node region involvement and the absence or presence of systemic symptoms. Histologically, it can be categorized into hyaline vascular (HV) type, plasma cell (PC) type and mixed type. The majority of HV-type CD involves a solitary lymph node, and excision surgery is often curative. On the contrary, MCD is a progressive and often fatal disease with lymphadenopathy in multiple nodes, and systemic therapy is needed. Herein we report a unique case of HV-type CD presenting as a single renal mass in a patient with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Despite the rarity, CD should be included in the differential diagnosis of solitary renal mass lesions. An accurate diagnosis is important to avoid unnecessarily risky or extensive operations.
The Role of Cytokinome in the HNSCC Tumor Microenvironment: A Narrative Review and Our Experience
Authors: Denaro Nerina , Solinas Cinzia , Garrone Ornella , Cauchi Carolina , Ruatta Fiorella , Wekking Demi , Abbona Andrea , Paccagnella Matteo , Merlano Marco Carlo , Lo Nigro Cristiana
Published: November 2022

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer. In locally advanced (LA) HNSCC, a multidisciplinary approach consisting of surgery followed by chemoradiation (CRT) or definitive CRT is the mainstay of treatment. In recurrent metastatic (R/M), HNSCC immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) with or without chemotherapy represent the new first-line option. However, cancer will recur in about two out of five patients with LA HNSCC. If progression occurs within six months from platin-radiotherapy treatment, anti-programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) may be prescribed. Otherwise, immunotherapy with or without chemotherapy might be considered if PD-L1 is expressed. Despite several improvements in the outcome of patients with R/M HNSCC, overall survival (OS) remains dismal, equaling a median of 14 months. In-depth knowledge of the tumor microenvironment (TME) would be required to change the course of this complex disease. In recent years, many predictive and prognostic biomarkers have been studied in the HNSCC TME, but none of them alone can select the best candidates for response to ICIs or targeted therapy (e.g., Cetuximab). The presence of cytokines indicates an immune response that might occur, among other things, after tumor antigen recognition, viral and bacterial infection, and physic damage. An immune response against HNSCC results in the production of some cytokines that induce a pro-inflammatory response and attract cells, such as neutrophils, macrophages, and T cell effectors, to enhance the innate and adaptive anti-tumor response. We revised the role of a group of cytokines as biomarkers for treatment response in HNSCC.
Exploring Potential Determinants of Mosquito Net Ownership and Use in Somalia: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Hirai Mitsuaki , Umar Usman , Darikwa Patricia , Osman Ali Abdirahman , Mohamed Abdirahman , Jama Ahmed Mohamed , Masheti Carolyn , Kader Millhia
Published: November 2022

In Somalia, malaria remains a major public health threat. Understanding what influences the ownership and use of mosquito nets is of vital importance to accelerate malaria prevention efforts in the country. To explore the potential determinants of mosquito net ownership and use, this study conducted a secondary data analysis of the Somalia Micronutrient Survey 2019. Survey participants were identified through the multi-stage stratified cluster sampling, and logistic regression was performed for bivariate and multivariate analysis. The results suggested that household head’s age, educational attainment, household size, employment status of household members, socioeconomic status, geographic regions and type of residence are significantly associated with mosquito net ownership (p < 0.05). The analysis also highlighted household head’s age as an influential factor to mosquito net use. By further exploring and understanding the psychosocial determinants of mosquito net ownership and use, malaria prevention interventions can be made more effective in Somalia.
Tooth Wear Epidemiology and Its Associated Periodontal Health and Sociodemographic Factors in a Cluster of Senior Citizens in Northern Greece
Authors: Theodoridis Charis , Menexes George , Topitsoglou Vasiliki , Kalfas Sotirios
Published: November 2022

Tooth wear (TW) is an irreversible and cumulative phenomenon causing aesthetic and functional compromise. Increasing wear has been associated with age, and various other factors have been reported to influence its type and/or severity both in individuals and groups. Increased TW may constitute a major future problem for the elderly. The present cross-sectional study aims at determining the prevalence of TW in senior citizens from Northern Greece and evaluating the patient-level associations between TW, periodontal condition, and sociodemographic factors. A sample of 363 dentate individuals, aged between 65 and 74 years, was considered according to the WHO guidelines for national pathfinder surveys and three different dentists examined the representative population groups from different urban and rural areas in Northern Greece. The examiners were calibrated prior to the survey, with an interexaminer agreement of over 85%. The simplified TWI, community periodontal index (CPI), attachment loss (AL), plaque index (DI), calculus index (CI), and sociodemographic factors were detected and measured. TW is very prevalent among senior citizens in Northern Greece, with males having been found to experience more wear. Age and oral health status, when measured by the periodontal indices AL, DI, and CI, are significantly combined with TW in both urban and rural areas.
A Novel UAV Visual Positioning Algorithm Based on A-YOLOX
Authors: Xu Ying , Zhong Dongsheng , Zhou Jianhong , Jiang Ziyi , Zhai Yikui , Ying Zilu
Published: November 2022

The application of UAVs is becoming increasingly extensive. However, high-precision autonomous landing is still a major industry difficulty. The current algorithm is not well-adapted to light changes, scale transformations, complex backgrounds, etc. To address the above difficulties, a deep learning method was here introduced into target detection and an attention mechanism was incorporated into YOLOX; thus, a UAV positioning algorithm called attention-based YOLOX (A-YOLOX) is proposed. Firstly, a novel visual positioning pattern was designed to facilitate the algorithm’s use for detection and localization; then, a UAV visual positioning database (UAV-VPD) was built through actual data collection and data augmentation and the A-YOLOX model detector developed; finally, corresponding high- and low-altitude visual positioning algorithms were designed for high- and low-altitude positioning logics. The experimental results in the actual environment showed that the AP50 of the proposed algorithm could reach 95.5%, the detection speed was 53.7 frames per second, and the actual landing error was within 5 cm, which meets the practical application requirements for automatic UAV landing.
Lack of Habituation in Migraine Patients Based on High-Density EEG Analysis Using the Steady State of Visual Evoked Potential
Authors: Abbas Abdulhussein Msallam , Alyasseri Zaid Abdi Alkareem , Mohammed Husam Jasim , An Xingwei
Published: November 2022

Migraine is a periodic disorder in which a patient experiences changes in the morphological and functional brain, leading to the abnormal processing of repeated external stimuli in the inter-ictal phase, known as the habituation deficit. This is a significant feature clinically of migraine in both two types with aura or without aura and plays an essential role in studying pathophysiological differences between these two groups. Several studies indicated that the reason for migraine aura is cortical spreading depression (CSD) but did not clarify its impact on migraine without aura and lack of habituation. In this study, 22 migraine patients (MWA, N = 13), (MWoA, N = 9), and healthy controls (HC, N = 19) were the participants. Participants were exposed to the steady state of visual evoked potentials also known as (SSVEP), which are the signals for a natural response to the visual motivation at four Hz or six Hz for 2 s followed by the inter-stimulus interval that varies between 1 and 1.5 s. The order of the temporal frequencies was randomized, and each temporal frequency was shown 100 times. We recorded from 128 customized electrode locations using high-density electroencephalography (HD-EEG) and measured amplitude and habituation for the N1–P1 and P1–N2 from the first to the sixth blocks of 100 sweep features in patients and healthy controls. Using the entropy, a decrease in amplitude and SSVEP N1-P1 habituation between the first and the sixth block appeared in both MWA and MWoA (p = 0.0001, Slope = −0.4643), (p = 0.065, Slope = 0.1483), respectively, compared to HC. For SSVEP P1–N2 between the first and sixth block, it is varied in both MWA (p = 0.0029, Slope = −0.3597) and MWoA (p = 0.027, Slope = 0.2010) compared to HC. Therefore, migraine patients appear amplitude decrease and habituation deficit but with different rates between MWA, and MWoA compared to HCs. Our findings suggest this disparity between MWoA and MWA in the lack of habituation and amplitude decrease in the inter-ictal phase has a close relationship with CSD. In light of the fact that CSD manifests during the inter-ictal phase of migraine with aura, which is when migraine seizures are most likely to occur, multiple researchers have lately reached this conclusion. This investigation led us to the conclusion that CSD during the inter-ictal phase and migraine without aura are associated. In other words, even if previous research has not demonstrated it, CSD is the main contributor to both types of migraine (those with and without aura).
Spike Spectra for Recurrences
Authors: Kraemer K. Hauke , Hellmann Frank , Anvari Mehrnaz , Kurths Jürgen , Marwan Norbert
Published: November 2022

In recurrence analysis, the τ-recurrence rate encodes the periods of the cycles of the underlying high-dimensional time series. It, thus, plays a similar role to the autocorrelation for scalar time-series in encoding temporal correlations. However, its Fourier decomposition does not have a clean interpretation. Thus, there is no satisfactory analogue to the power spectrum in recurrence analysis. We introduce a novel method to decompose the τ-recurrence rate using an over-complete basis of Dirac combs together with sparsity regularization. We show that this decomposition, the inter-spike spectrum, naturally provides an analogue to the power spectrum for recurrence analysis in the sense that it reveals the dominant periodicities of the underlying time series. We show that the inter-spike spectrum correctly identifies patterns and transitions in the underlying system in a wide variety of examples and is robust to measurement noise.
BHGAttN: A Feature-Enhanced Hierarchical Graph Attention Network for Sentiment Analysis
Authors: Zhang Junjun , Cui Zhengyan , Park Hyun Jun , Noh Giseop
Published: November 2022

Recently, with the rise of deep learning, text classification techniques have developed rapidly. However, the existing work usually takes the entire text as the modeling object and pays less attention to the hierarchical structure within the text, ignoring the internal connection between the upper and lower sentences. To address these issues, this paper proposes a Bert-based hierarchical graph attention network model (BHGAttN) based on a large-scale pretrained model and graph attention network to model the hierarchical relationship of texts. During modeling, the semantic features are enhanced by the output of the intermediate layer of BERT, and the multilevel hierarchical graph network corresponding to each layer of BERT is constructed by using the dependencies between the whole sentence and the subsentence. This model pays attention to the layer-by-layer semantic information and the hierarchical relationship within the text. The experimental results show that the BHGAttN model exhibits significant competitive advantages compared with the current state-of-the-art baseline models.
A Hybrid Opinion Formation and Polarization Model
Authors: Yang Baizhong , Yu Quan , Fan Yi
Published: November 2022

The last decade has witnessed a great number of opinion formation models that depict the evolution of opinions within a social group and make predictions about the evolution process. In the traditional formulation of opinion evolution such as the DeGroot model, an agent’s opinion is represented as a real number and updated by taking a weighted average of its neighbour’s opinions. In this paper, we adopt a hybrid representation of opinions that integrate both the discrete and continuous nature of an opinion. Basically, an agent has a ‘Yes’, ‘Neutral’ or ‘No’ opinion on some issues of interest and associates with its Yes opinion a support degree which captures how strongly it supports the opinion. With such a rich representation, not only can we study the evolution of opinion but also that of support degree. After all, an agent’s opinion can stay the same but become more or less supportive of it. Changes in the support degree are progressive in nature and only a sufficient accumulation of such a progressive change will result in a change of opinion say from Yes to No. Hence, in our formulation, after an agent interacts with another, its support degree is either strengthened or weakened by a predefined amount and a change of opinion may occur as a consequence of such progressive changes. We carry out simulations to evaluate the impacts of key model parameters including (1) the number of agents, (2) the distribution of initial support degrees and (3) the amount of change of support degree changes in a single interaction. Last but not least, we present several extensions to the hybrid and progressive model which lead to opinion polarization.
Are Guessing, Source Coding and Tasks Partitioning Birds of A Feather?
Authors: Ashok Kumar M. , Sunny Albert , Thakre Ashish , Kumar Ashisha , Dinesh Manohar G.
Published: November 2022

This paper establishes a close relationship among the four information theoretic problems, namely Campbell source coding, Arikan guessing, Huleihel et al. memoryless guessing and Bunte and Lapidoth tasks’ partitioning problems in the IID-lossless case. We first show that the aforementioned problems are mathematically related via a general moment minimization problem whose optimum solution is given in terms of Renyi entropy. We then propose a general framework for the mismatched version of these problems and establish all the asymptotic results using this framework. The unified framework further enables us to study a variant of Bunte–Lapidoth’s tasks partitioning problem which is practically more appealing. In addition, this variant turns out to be a generalization of Arıkan’s guessing problem. Finally, with the help of this general framework, we establish an equivalence among all these problems, in the sense that, knowing an asymptotically optimal solution in one problem helps us find the same in all other problems.