bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Study on Crack Identification with Responses Modulated by Nonlinear Energy Sink
Authors: Sun Min , Zhang Kai , Chen Jianen
Published: November 2022

Owing to its vibration reduction and indirect signal amplification characteristics, a nonlinear energy sink (NES) is used for crack identification of structures. The equation of a cracked simply supported beam with an NES is derived and the influences of the crack properties on the dynamics of the system are investigated. A pixel method is applied to estimate phase diagram areas and crack parameters are identified based on the geometric features of the phase diagram. It is shown that the phase diagram of the NES varies significantly with crack parameters. This is because of the higher amplitudes generated by the absorbing NES with respect to the primary structure. In addition, the NES can reduce the amplitude of the cracked beam without hindering crack identification. Moreover, through introducing the NES, the system can produce a strongly modulated response, which can be utilized for convenient crack detection. Two sets of crack identification indices are defined for the system, generating a single-period response and a strongly modulated response. Contour maps of identification indices based on the area of phase diagrams are obtained by varying crack location and depth. The crack parameters are identified through the intersection of contour lines.
A Perspective on Emerging Inter-Disciplinary Solutions for the Sustainable Management of Food Waste
Authors: Chidi Boredi Silas , Okudoh Vincent Ifeanyi , Hutchinson Ucrecia Faith , Ngongang Maxwell Mewa , Maphanga Thabang , Madonsela Benett Siyabonga , Shale Karabo , Lim Jun Wei , Ntwampe Seteno Karabo Obed
Published: November 2022

Since food waste is a contemporary and complicated issue that is widely debated across many societal areas, the world community has designated the reduction of food waste as a crucial aspect of establishing a sustainable economy. However, waste management has numerous challenges, such as inadequate funding, poor waste treatment infrastructure, technological limitations, limited public awareness of proper sanitary practices, and inadequate legal and regulatory frameworks. A variety of microorganisms participate in the process of anaerobic digestion, which can be used to convert organic waste into biogas (e.g., methane) and nutrient-rich digestate. In this study, we propose a synergy among multiple disciplines such as nanotechnology, omics, artificial intelligence, and bioengineering that leverage anaerobic digestion processes to optimize the use of current scientific and technological knowledge in addressing global food waste challenges. The integration of these fields carries with it a vast amount of potential for improved waste management. In addition, we highlighted the relevance, importance, and applicability of numerous biogas-generating technologies accessible in each discipline, as well as assessing the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on waste production and management systems. We identify diverse solutions that acknowledge the necessity for integration aimed at drawing expertise from broad interdisciplinary research to address food waste management challenges.
1D Modeling Considering Noise and Vibration of Vehicle Window Brushed DC Motor
Authors: Kim Hyunsu , Kim Jiman , Han Kwangkyu , Won Dongkyu
Published: November 2022

This study proposes 1D modeling that considers the noise and vibration of a vehicle window-brushed DC motor. The electrical and mechanical components of the brush DC motor are included, creating a model that considers noise and vibration. The model has a back electromagnetic force (EMF) including vibration components and is constructed based on an electric circuit and transfer functions. To ensure the reliability of the model, the back EMF, noise, and vibration experiment environment of the brushed DC motor were configured. The measured back EMF was applied to the model, and it was confirmed that the simulation results of the model were consistent with the measured noise and vibrations.
Multi-View Information Fusion Fault Diagnosis Method Based on Attention Mechanism and Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Li Hongmei , Huang Jinying , Gao Minjuan , Yang Luxia , Bao Yichen
Published: November 2022

Multi-view information fusion can provide more accurate, complete and reliable data descriptions for monitoring objects, effectively improve the limitations and unreliability of single-view data. Existing multi-view information fusion based on deep learning mostly focuses on the feature level and decision level, with large information loss, and does not distinguish the view weight in the fusion process. To this end, a multi-view data level information fusion model CAM_MCFCNN with view weight was proposed based on a channel attention mechanism and convolutional neural network. The model used the channel characteristics to implement multi-view information fusion at the data level stage, which made the fusion position and mode more natural and reduced the loss of information. A multi-channel fusion convolutional neural network was used for feature learning. In addition, the channel attention mechanism was used to learn the view weight, so that the algorithm could pay more attention to the views that contribute more to the fault identification task during the training process, and more reasonably integrate the information of different views. The proposed method was verified by the data of the planetary gearbox experimental platform. The multi-view data and single-view data were used as the input of the CAM_MCFCNN model and single-channel CNN model respectively for comparison. The average accuracy of CAM_MCFCNN on three constant-speed datasets reached 99.95%, 99.87% and 99.92%, which was an improvement of 0.95%, 2.25%, and 0.04%, compared with the single view with the highest diagnostic accuracy, respectively. When facing limited samples, CAM_MCFCNN had similar performance. Finally, compared with different multi-view information fusion algorithms, CAM_MCFCNN showed better stability and higher accuracy. The experimental results showed that the proposed method had better performance, higher diagnostic accuracy and was more reliable, compared with other methods.
Novel Genetic Associations for Skin Aging Phenotypes and Validation of Previously Reported Skin GWAS Results
Authors: Cha Mi-Yeon , Choi Ja-Eun , Lee Da-Som , Lee So-Ra , Lee Sang-In , Park Jong-Ho , Shin Jin-Hee , Suh In Soo , Kim Byung Ho , Hong Kyung-Won
Published: November 2022

Facial skin characteristics are complex traits determined by genetic and environmental factors. Because genetic factors continuously influenced facial skin characteristics, identifying associations between genetic variants [single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)] and facial skin characteristics may clarify genetic contributions. We previously reported a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for five skin phenotypes (wrinkles, pigmentation, moisture content, oil content, and sensitivity) conducted in 1079 subjects. In this study, face measurements and genomic data were generated for 261 samples, and significant SNPs described in previous papers were verified. We conducted a GWAS to identify additional genetic markers using the combined population of the previous study and current study samples. We identified 6 novel significant loci and 21 suggestive loci in the combined study with p-values < 5.0 × 10−8 (wrinkles: 4 SNPs; moisture content: 148 SNPs; pigmentation: 6 SNPs; sensitivity: 18 SNPs). Identifying SNPs using molecular genetic functional analysis is considered necessary for studying the mechanisms through which these genes affect the skin. We confirmed that of 23 previously identified SNPs, none were replicated. SNPs that could not be verified in a combined study may have been accidentally identified in an existing GWAS, or the samples added to this study may not have been a sufficient sample number to confirm those SNPs. The results of this study require validation in other independent population groups or larger samples. Although this study requires further research, it has the potential to contribute to the development of cosmetic-related genetic research in the future.
Application of Remote Sensing Methodology for Vehicle Emission Inspection
Authors: Ren Xianfeng , Jiang Nan , Li Yunxia , Lu Wenhui , Zhao Zhouhui , Hao Lijun
Published: November 2022

Remote sensing detection of vehicle emissions is an effective supplement to the statutory periodic inspection of in-use vehicle emissions and it is a convenient technical method for real-time screening of high-emission vehicles. The principle of remote sensing detection is to inversely calculate the absolute concentrations of gaseous pollutants in vehicle exhaust according to the relative volume concentration ratio of each exhaust component to carbon dioxide (CO2) in the vehicle exhaust plume. Because the combustion mechanisms of gasoline engines and diesel engines are different, different inversion calculation methods of remote sensing data must be applied. The absolute concentrations of gasoline vehicle gaseous emissions measured by remote sensing can be calculated by the inversion calculation method based on the theoretical air–fuel ratio combustion mechanism. However, the absolute concentrations of diesel vehicle nitrogen oxide (NOx) measured by remote sensing must be calculated by the inversion calculation method based on the correction of the excess air coefficient. For the integrated remote sensing test system of gasoline and diesel vehicles, it is necessary to determine the vehicle category according to the vehicle type and license plate and adopt different inversion calculation methods to obtain the correct remote sensing results of vehicle emissions. The big data statistical analysis method for vehicle emission remote sensing results can quickly screen high-emission vehicles and dynamically determine the remote sensing emission screening threshold of high-emission vehicles as the composition of in-use vehicles changes and the overall emission of vehicles declines, so as to achieve dynamic and accurate screening of high-emission vehicles.
The Prevalence of Weather Sensitivity in Germany Derived from Population Surveys
Authors: Graw Kathrin , Sommer Michael , Matzarakis Andreas
Published: November 2022

Scientifically based data on the prevalence of weather-associated complaints and symptoms as well as impairment of well-being have been obtained from population surveys on weather sensitivity in Germany since the 1950s. This analysis focuses on the findings from the representative population survey of 2021 and relates the results to the surveys of 2013 and 2001. The “Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach”, on behalf of the German Meteorological Service, interviewed a representative sample of 1080 German citizens. Based on respondents’ self-assessment, the proportion of individuals who said the weather had an impact on their health was 46% in 2021, compared to 50% in 2013 and 54% in 2001. Elderly and chronically ill individuals are more likely to suffer from weather sensitivity than the average population. Women are more affected than men. The most common complaints of weather sensitivity are headaches/migraines, exhaustion/general fatigue, limited activities, and abnormal fatigue. The decrease in the proportion of weather-sensitive humans may be related to greater health awareness and improved health care. Preventive measures, such as going outdoors and dosed exposure of the body to different weather, as well as avoiding other stresses, can train the body’s ability to regulate itself and help to make it less susceptible to weather sensitivity.
Historical and Projected Variations of Precipitation and Temperature and Their Extremes in Relation to Climatic Indices over the Gandaki River Basin, Central Himalaya
Authors: Sigdel Krishna Prasad , Ghimire Narayan Prasad , Pandeya Bhopal , Dawadi Binod
Published: November 2022

Changes in precipitation and temperature, especially in the Himalayan region, will have repercussions for socio-economic conditions in the future. Thus, this study aimed to understand the climatic trend and changes in one of the Himalayan River basins, i.e., Gandaki River Basin (GRB), Nepal. In particular, we analysed the historical (1985–2014) and projected (2015–2100) precipitation and temperature trend and their extremes using observation and 13 bias-corrected Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) datasets. Additionally, the relationship between extreme precipitation/temperature indices and ocean-atmospheric circulation patterns were also analysed. The results showed an increasing trend of precipitation amount and temperature at annual and seasonal scales with the highest upward trend for precipitation in monsoon season and temperature in winter season. Among nine precipitation indices analysed, the wet extremes are projected to increase in all Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) scenarios; with the highest increment of high-intensity related extremes (R10 mm and R20 mm). In contrast, dry spells will decline in the distant-future (2075–2100) as compared to near (2015–2044) and mid-future (2045–2074). Further, increment in temperature trend resulted in a decrease in cold related temperature extremes and an increase in warm related extremes. Furthermore, it was observed that the changes in precipitation and temperature extremes over GRB were influenced by large-scale ocean-atmospheric circulation patterns. The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) were found to have a major role in driving precipitation extremes while AMO, SST and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) have strong influence on temperature extremes. The results of this study will be useful for better understanding the implications of historical and future changes in precipitation and temperature and their extremes over the GRB.
Fully-Stripped Beryllium-Ion Collisions with 2ℓm States of Atomic Hydrogen: Target Excitation and Ionisation cross Sections
Authors: Antonio Nicholas W. , Plowman Corey T. , Abdurakhmanov Ilkhom B. , Bray Igor , Kadyrov Alisher S.
Published: November 2022

The wave-packet convergent close-coupling approach is used to calculate integrated target excitation and ionisation cross sections in bare beryllium-ion collisions with the 2ℓm states of atomic hydrogen (where n, ℓ and m are the principal, orbital angular momentum and magnetic quantum numbers, respectively). The calculations are performed at representative projectile energies between 10 keV/u to 1 MeV/u. The calculated cross sections for collisions with H(2s) are compared with recent theoretical results. Generally, good agreement is observed for the n-partial excitation and total ionisation cross sections. However, a significant discrepancy is found for excitation into the dominant n=3 states at 100 keV/u, where the target excitation cross-section peaks. We also present the first calculations of the excitation and ionisation cross sections for Be4+ collisions with H(2p0) and H(2p±1).
Some Inequalities for Certain p-Valent Functions Connected with the Combination Binomial Series and Confluent Hypergeometric Function
Authors: El-Deeb Sheza M. , Cătaş Adriana
Published: November 2022

The present paper deals with a new differential operator denoted by Fp,tδ,n,b,c,m,β, whose certain properties are deduced by using well-known earlier studies regarding differential inequalities and the Caratheodory function. The new introduced operator is defined by making use of a linear combination of the binomial series and confluent hypergeometric function. In addition, by using special values of the parameters, we establish certain results concretized in specific corollaries, which provide useful inequalities. Studying these properties by using various types of operators is a technique that is widely used.
Functional Expression of the Recombinant Spike Receptor Binding Domain of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron in the Periplasm of Escherichia coli
Authors: Kim Woo Sung , Kim Ji Hyun , Lee Jisun , Ka Su Yeon , Chae Hee Do , Jung Inji , Jung Sang Taek , Na Jung-Hyun
Published: November 2022

A new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant known as Omicron has caused a rapid increase in recent global patients with coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19). To overcome the COVID-19 Omicron variant, production of a recombinant spike receptor binding domain (RBD) is vital for developing a subunit vaccine or a neutralizing antibody. Although bacterial expression has many advantages in the production of recombinant proteins, the spike RBD expressed in a bacterial system experiences a folding problem related to disulfide bond formation. In this study, the soluble Omicron RBD was obtained by a disulfide isomerase-assisted periplasmic expression system in Escherichia coli. The Omicron RBD purified from E. coli was very well recognized by anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, sotrovimab (S309), and CR3022, which were previously reported to bind to various SARS-CoV-2 variants. In addition, the kinetic parameters of the purified Omicron RBD upon binding to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) were similar to those of the Omicron RBD produced in the mammalian expression system. These results suggest that an E. coli expression system would be suitable to produce functional and correctly folded spike RBDs of the next emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants quickly and inexpensively.
Knockdown of Ecdysone-Induced Protein 93F Causes Abnormal Pupae and Adults in the Eggplant Lady Beetle
Authors: Wu Jian-Jian , Chen Feng , Yang Rui , Shen Chen-Hui , Ze Long-Ji , Jin Lin , Li Guo-Qing
Published: November 2022

Ecdysone-induced protein 93F (E93) plays triple roles during post-embryonic development in insects whose juvenile instars are more than four. However, it only acts as a specifier of adult structures in Drosophila flies whose larval instars are fixed at three. In this study, we determined the functions of E93 in the eggplant lady beetle (Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata), which has four larval instars. We uncovered that E93 was abundantly expressed at the prepupal and pupal stages. A precocious inhibition of the juvenile hormone signal by RNA interference (RNAi) of HvKr-h1 or HvHairy, two vital downstream developmental effectors, at the penultimate instar larval stage increased the expression of E93, Conversely, ingestion of JH by the third-instar larvae stimulated the expression of HvKr-h1 but repressed the transcription of either HvE93X1 or HvE93X2. However, disturbance of the JH signal neither drove premature metamorphosis nor caused supernumerary instars. In contrast, depletion of E93 at the third- and fourth-instar larval and prepupal stages severely impaired pupation and caused a larval-pupal mixed phenotype: pupal spines and larval scoli were simultaneously presented on the cuticle. RNAi of E93 at the pupal stage affected adult eclosion. When the beetles had suffered from a dsE93 injection at the fourth-instar larval and pupal stages, a few resultant adults emerged, with separated elytra, abnormally folded hindwings, a small body size and short appendages. Taken together, our results suggest the larval instars are fixed in H. vigintioctopunctata; E93 serves as a repressor of larval characters and a specifier of adult structures during the larval–pupal–adult transition.
Similar Slow Component of Oxygen Uptake and Ventilatory Efficiency between an Aerobic Dance Session on an Air Dissipation Platform and a Constant-Load Treadmill Test in Healthy Women
Authors: Moreira-Reis Alessandra , Maté-Muñoz José Luis , Hernández-Lougedo Juan , García-Fernández Pablo , Heredia-Elvar Juan Ramón , Pleguezuelos Eulogio , Carbonell Teresa , Alva Norma , Garnacho-Castaño Manuel Vicente
Published: November 2022

There is a lack of evidence about the slow component of oxygen consumption (V.O2sc) and ventilatory efficiency (slope VE·VCO2−1) during an aerobic dance (AD) session on an air dissipation platform (ADP) despite the key role played in endurance exercises. This research was designed to assess V.O2sc, ventilatory efficiency, and blood lactate concentration by comparing two exercise modes: AD session on an ADP versus treadmill test at a constant-load intensity of the first ventilatory threshold (VT1). In the first session, an incremental treadmill test was completed. In sessions 2 and 3, the participants were randomly assigned to the AD session on an ADP or to a treadmill constant-load test at VT1 intensity to determine their cardioventilatory responses. In addition, their blood lactate levels and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE, CR-10) were evaluated. No significant differences were found between the constant-load treadmill test and AD session on an ADP with respect to V.O2sc, VE VCO2−1 slope, and RPE (p > 0.05). Higher blood lactate concentrations were observed in an AD session on an ADP than in a constant-load treadmill test at 10 min (p = 0.003) and 20 min (p < 0.001). The two different exercise modalities showed similar V.O2sc and VE·VCO2−1 slope, even though the blood lactate concentrations were different.
Drug Repositioning Based on the Enhanced Message Passing and Hypergraph Convolutional Networks
Authors: Huang Weihong , Li Zhong , Kang Yanlei , Ye Xinghuo , Feng Wenming
Published: November 2022

Drug repositioning, an important method of drug development, is utilized to discover investigational drugs beyond the originally approved indications, expand the application scope of drugs, and reduce the cost of drug development. With the emergence of increasingly drug-disease-related biological networks, the challenge still remains to effectively fuse biological entity data and accurately achieve drug-disease repositioning. This paper proposes a new drug repositioning method named EMPHCN based on enhanced message passing and hypergraph convolutional networks (HGCN). It firstly constructs the homogeneous multi-view information with multiple drug similarity features and then extracts the intra-domain embedding of drugs through the combination of HGCN and channel attention mechanism. Secondly, inter-domain information of known drug-disease associations is extracted by graph convolutional networks combining node and edge embedding (NEEGCN), and a heterogeneous network composed of drugs, proteins and diseases is built as an important auxiliary to enhance the inter-domain message passing of drugs and diseases. Besides, the intra-domain embedding of diseases is also extracted through HGCN. Ultimately, intra-domain and inter-domain embeddings of drugs and diseases are integrated as the final embedding for calculating the drug-disease correlation matrix. Through 10-fold cross-validation on some benchmark datasets, we find that the AUPR of EMPHCN reaches 0.593 (T1) and 0.526 (T2), respectively, and the AUC achieves 0.887 (T1) and 0.961 (T2) respectively, which shows that EMPHCN has an advantage over other state-of-the-art prediction methods. Concerning the new disease association prediction, the AUC of EMPHCN through the five-fold cross-validation reaches 0.806 (T1) and 0.845 (T2), which are 4.3% (T1) and 4.0% (T2) higher than the second best existing methods, respectively. In the case study, EMPHCN also achieves satisfactory results in real drug repositioning for breast carcinoma and Parkinson’s disease.
Immunosenescence in Neurological Diseases—Is There Enough Evidence?
Authors: Rommer Paulus S , Bsteh Gabriel , Zrzavy Tobias , Hoeftberger Romana , Berger Thomas
Published: November 2022

The aging of the immune system has recently attracted a lot of attention. Immune senescence describes changes that the immune system undergoes over time. The importance of immune senescence in neurological diseases is increasingly discussed. For this review, we considered studies that investigated cellular changes in the aging immune system and in neurological disease. Twenty-six studies were included in our analysis (for the following diseases: multiple sclerosis, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia). The studies differed considerably in terms of the patient groups included and the cell types studied. Evidence for immunosenescence in neurological diseases is currently very limited. Prospective studies in well-defined patient groups with appropriate control groups, as well as comprehensive methodology and reporting, are essential prerequisites to generate clear insights into immunosenescence in neurological diseases.
Estimating the Prevalence of De Novo Monogenic Neurodevelopmental Disorders from Large Cohort Studies
Authors: Gillentine Madelyn A. , Wang Tianyun , Eichler Evan E.
Published: November 2022

Rare diseases impact up to 400 million individuals globally. Of the thousands of known rare diseases, many are rare neurodevelopmental disorders (RNDDs) impacting children. RNDDs have proven to be difficult to assess epidemiologically for several reasons. The rarity of them makes it difficult to observe them in the population, there is clinical overlap among many disorders, making it difficult to assess the prevalence without genetic testing, and data have yet to be available to have accurate counts of cases. Here, we utilized large sequencing cohorts of individuals with rare, de novo monogenic disorders to estimate the prevalence of variation in over 11,000 genes among cohorts with developmental delay, autism spectrum disorder, and/or epilepsy. We found that the prevalence of many RNDDs is positively correlated to the previously estimated incidence. We identified the most often mutated genes among neurodevelopmental disorders broadly, as well as developmental delay and autism spectrum disorder independently. Finally, we assessed if social media group member numbers may be a valuable way to estimate prevalence. These data are critical for individuals and families impacted by these RNDDs, clinicians and geneticists in their understanding of how common diseases are, and for researchers to potentially prioritize research into particular genes or gene sets.
Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Oxidative Stress in Aging and Disease
Authors: Tsang Yi-Ling , Kao Chiu-Li , Lin Shu-Chuan Amy , Li Chia-Jung
Published: November 2022

Mitochondria are considered to have a significant influence on aging due to their critical role in the regulation of bioenergetics, oxidative stress, and cell death [...]
Risk Factors for Severe Erectile Dysfunction after Focal Therapy with High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound for Prostate Cancer
Authors: Shoji Sunao , Kuroda Satoshi , Uemura Kohei , Oda Kazuya , Kano Tatsuo , Ogawa Takahiro , Umemoto Tatsuya , Nakano Mayura , Kawakami Masayoshi , Nitta Masahiro , Hasegawa Masanori , Miyajima Akira
Published: November 2022

The present study aimed to analyze the effect of predisposing clinical factors for severe erectile dysfunction (ED) in patients treated with focal therapy using high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for localized prostate cancer (PC). Patients without severe ED (International Index of Erectile Function-5 [IIEF-5] score ≥ 8) before focal HIFU therapy were included. A total of 92 of the 240 patients met the inclusion criteria and were included. The rate of severe ED (IIEF-5 ≤ 7) was 36% 12 months after treatment. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that the pre-procedural lower IIEF-5 score (odds ratio [OR] 0.812, p = 0.005), the pre-procedural lower score of the sexual domain of the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (OR 0.960, p = 0.038), and the treatment of the edge of the peripheral zone (PZ) in proximity to the neurovascular bundle (NVB) [treated vs. untreated, OR 8.048, p = 0.028] were significant risk factors for severe ED at 12 months after treatment. In conclusion, pre-procedural lower erectile function and treatment of the part in proximity to the NVB were significant risk factors for severe ED after focal therapy.
Simultaneous Amperometric Aptasensor Based on Diazonium Grafted Screen-Printed Carbon Electrode for Detection of CFP10 and MPT64 Biomarkers for Early Tuberculosis Diagnosis
Authors: Yunus Muhammad Hafiznur , Yusof Nor Azah , Abdullah Jaafar , Sulaiman Yusran , Ahmad Raston Nurul Hanun , Md Noor Siti Suraiya
Published: November 2022

Early diagnosis is highly crucial for life-saving and transmission management of tuberculosis (TB). Despite the low sensitivity and time-consuming issues, TB antigen detection still relies on conventional smear microscopy and culture techniques. To address this limitation, we report the development of the first amperometric dual aptasensor for the simultaneous detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis secreted antigens CFP10 and MPT64 for better diagnosis and control of TB. The developed sensor was based on the aptamers–antibodies sandwich assay and detected by chronoamperometry through the electrocatalytic reaction between peroxidase-conjugated antibodies, H2O2, and hydroquinone. The CFP10 and MPT64 aptamers were immobilized via carbodiimide covalent chemistry over the disposable dual screen-printed carbon electrodes modified with a 4-carboxyphenyl diazonium salt. Under optimized conditions, the aptasensor achieved a detection limit of 1.68 ng mL−1 and 1.82 ng mL−1 for CFP10 and MPT64 antigens, respectively. The developed assay requires a small sample amount (5 µL) and can be easily performed within 2.5 h. Finally, the dual aptasensor was successfully applied to clinical sputum samples with the obtained diagnostic sensitivity (n = 24) and specificity (n = 13) of 100%, respectively, suggesting the readiness of the developed assay to be used for TB clinical application.
Characteristics of Families with Members Going Out for Work and Associated Factors among Persons with Schizophrenia in Rural China
Authors: Cai Jia , Liu Yu-Jun , Meng Xian-Dong , Huang Yi , Liu Bo , Ran Mao-Sheng
Published: November 2022

Background: The characteristics associated with having family members going out for work among persons with schizophrenia in rural China are unknown. This study aimed to explore the characteristics of families with members going out for work and the risk factors among persons with schizophrenia in a rural area of China. Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional dataset from a mental health survey, using the International Classification of Disease, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), conducted among 152,776 people aged 15 years and older in Xinjin District, Chengdu, China, in 2015. Results: A total of 598 persons with schizophrenia were included in this study, and 20.4% (n = 122) of them had at least one family member who went out for work. Compared with those without family going out for work, participants with family going out for work had significantly larger numbers of family members, higher monthly incomes and lower percentages of social low-income insurance. Participants with family going out for work were more likely to be females, married and with higher levels of subjective and instrumental support. The statuses of families with members going out for work were significantly associated with larger numbers of family members and higher levels of instrumental support. Conclusions: Our findings indicate specific characteristics of families with members going out for work and factors associated with having family going out for work among persons with schizophrenia (number of family members and instrumental support). Culture-specific mental health policies and community-based services should be developed for persons with schizophrenia who have family going out for work in rural China.
Childhood Maltreatment and Life Satisfaction in Chinese Student Preschool Teachers: The Roles of Resilience and Social Support
Authors: Liu Xiaojing , Ji Shengkai , Jiang Juan , Chen Chen
Published: November 2022

Although some studies have explored the relationships between childhood maltreatment and life satisfaction, few studies have explored the pathways between those two variables in a sample of student preschool teachers. The current study, thus, attempts to explore the relationships between childhood maltreatment and life satisfaction in Chinese student preschool teachers and to examine the roles of resilience and social support in those relationships. A total of 1218 students majoring in early childhood education were recruited from three Chinese universities to attend this study. Self-reported questionnaires were used to collect data, and structural equation modeling was used to perform data analysis. Results showed that childhood maltreatment was negatively associated with life satisfaction in Chinese student preschool teachers; resilience and social support mediated those relationships. The findings suggest that childhood maltreatment not only has a direct relationship with life satisfaction, but also has an indirect relationship with life satisfaction via resilience and social support. Childhood maltreatment should be considered when enrolling student preschool teachers, and increasing levels of resilience and social support should be meaningful approaches when cultivating student preschool teachers who have experienced childhood maltreatment.
Improve Urban Form to Achieve High Social Sustainability in a Residential Neighborhood Salam New City as a Case Study
Authors: Mohamed Amr N. , Elmokadem Ashraf Abd Elfattah , Ali Shimaa M. , Badawey Nancy
Published: November 2022

The urban built environment has a significant role in leading individuals to outdoor spaces, socializing, and being together. Despite the Egyptian Government’s efforts to provide more housing for people in different forms, they ignore the social life in the new residential neighborhood when designing the neighborhood’s urban form. This paper examines the quantitative connection between the Urban Form Aspects and Social Sustainability in residential communities. The research selects Salam New City in Port Said Governorate as a case study and applies different scenarios for the most important urban aspects. The research uses the simulation method to investigate the effects of the different urban form scenarios on the social aspects by using Urban Modeling Interference (Umi) and DepthmapX simulation software. Finally, the paper concludes that social interaction and activities improve by 48% and social integration will improve by 74% from the base case for Salam New City case study when using the Urban Form Aspects (Green percentage 35%, Mixed land use 40%, Street network 7% with D/H Ratio 4/1), which leads to improving the social life in the selected area.
How the Energy Price Variability in Italy Affects the Cost of Building Heating: A Trnsys-Guided Comparison between Air-Source Heat Pumps and Gas Boilers
Authors: Ballerini Vincenzo , Rossi di Schio Eugenia , Valdiserri Paolo
Published: November 2022

The paper investigates the variation in building thermal energy demand for different indoor air set-point temperature and presents an economic analysis comparing the cost of a heating generation system based on an air-to-water heat pump and a gas boiler. Dynamic simulations were performed considering three different residential building characteristics of the Italian building stock placed in different Italian municipalities: Milan, Rome and Naples. An economic analysis was carried out considering the gas and electricity prices related to the years 2019–2022 provided by Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment (ARERA). The analysis showed the competitiveness of the heat pump compared with the gas boiler as a heating generation system in terms of annual costs for heating in almost all the scenarios considered and also showed an important reduction in building thermal energy demand if the set-point temperature was reduced, even by 1 °C.
Probabilistic Assessment of Buildings Subjected to Multi-Level Earthquake Loading Based on the PBSD Concept
Authors: Monjardin-Quevedo J. Guadalupe , Valenzuela-Beltran Federico , Reyes-Salazar Alfredo , Leal-Graciano J. Martin , Torres-Carrillo Xochitl G. , Gaxiola-Camacho J. Ramon
Published: November 2022

An alternative probabilistic assessment of buildings excited by multi-level seismic loading is presented in this paper. This evaluation is developed for both steel and reinforced concrete buildings using the Performance-Based Seismic Design (PBSD) concept. The methodology implements Probability Density Functions (PDFs) of inter-story drifts to extract structural risk in terms of the reliability index. Ten buildings of steel and reinforced concrete, respectively, are designed considering different locations in Mexico. Then, each structure is excited by ground motions representing different earthquake intensity levels for three performance levels: immediate occupancy, life safety, and collapse prevention. The deterministic seismic response of buildings is extracted using the finite element software OpenSees. Based on the results, it can be stated that the probabilistic assessment technique represents an efficient approach for extracting the seismic risk of structures using PDFs of inter-story drifts. Lastly, it is demonstrated that the evaluation of buildings following PBSD is a step in the right direction, moving from traditional deterministic design concepts to probabilistic philosophies.
Investigation of the Appropriate Reverberation Time in Learning Spaces for Elderly People Using Speech Intelligibility Tests
Authors: Lee Seung-Min , Park Chan-Jae , Haan Chan-Hoon
Published: November 2022

The Republic of Korea is currently an aging society, and it will enter an ultra-aging society in 2025. This study aimed to investigate the undesignated appropriate reverberation time of learning spaces for elderly people in Korea. For this purpose, a virtual sound field was created, and the anechoic sounds were convoluted with the virtual sound field to control the reverberation time via absorption rate adjustments. Using a virtual sound field, auralized materials were made which have five different conditions with a reverberation time ranging from 0.4 s to 1.2 s. Speech intelligibility tests were conducted in both elderly and young people using headphones. Consonant–Vowel–Consonant (CVC) tests were undertaken. Preliminary experiments were performed to adjust the difficulty levels of speech intelligibility via normal young adults. The test order was nonsequential, and the sound output level was 60 dB(A). As a result, the test scores were found to decrease with an increase in the reverberation time. In addition, it was revealed that the test scores fell by 32.4% compared with the scores of normal adults under the same reverberation conditions. When the reverberation time was longer than 0.8 s, the test score was reduced by up to 13.3%; therefore, learning spaces for elderly people may require reverberation times shorter than 0.8 s. If the proposed reverberation time were applied to learning spaces for the elderly, it is believed that it could provide an appropriate sound environment for the elderly.
Sporadic and von Hippel–Lindau Related Hemangioblastomas of Brain and Spinal Cord: Multimodal Imaging for Intraoperative Strategy
Authors: Mazzapicchi Elio , Restelli Francesco , Falco Jacopo , Broggi Morgan , Gatti Laura , Alongi Pierpaolo , Valentini Laura , Ferroli Paolo , Vetrano Ignazio G. , DiMeco Francesco , Acerbi Francesco
Published: November 2022

Hemangioblastomas (HBs) are rare, benign tumors often related to von Hippel–Lindau disease. They represent the most frequent primary cerebellar tumors in adults. Neurosurgical procedures aim to obtain a gross-total resection of tumor nodules, avoiding intra-postoperative hemorrhage. The introduction of new intraoperative imaging techniques has considerably changed surgical strategies in neuro-oncology. We present an overview of clinical and radiological data of a mono-institutional retrospective cohort, focusing on the role of intraoperative multimodal imaging in surgical strategy. From 2015 to 2021, we identified 64 (81%) cranial (42 cerebellar, 8 supratentorial, and 14 of the brainstem) HBs and 15 (19%) spinal (4 cervical and 11 dorsal) HBs in 79 patients. Intraoperatively, indocyanine green videoangiography with FLOW800 was used in 62 cases (52 cranial and 10 spinal), intraoperative ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasounds in 22 cases (18 cranial and 4 spinal HBs), and fluorescein in 10 cases (in 6 cranial and 2 spinal cases used as SF-VA). Gross total resection was achieved in 100% of the cases (53 mural nodule removal and 26 complete resections of the solid tumor). No side effects were reported following the combination of these tools. Multimodal intraoperative techniques provide valuable and reliable information to identify the tumor and its vasculature, guiding a more precise and safer resection and reducing the risk of recurrence.
Modeling Therapy-Driven Evolution of Glioblastoma with Patient-Derived Xenografts
Authors: McCord Matthew , Bartom Elizabeth , Burdett Kirsten , Baran Aneta , Eckerdt Frank D. , Balyasnikova Irina V. , McCortney Kathleen , Sears Thomas , Cheng Shi-Yuan , Sarkaria Jann N. , Stupp Roger , Heimberger Amy B. , Ahmed Atique , James Charles David , Horbinski Craig
Published: November 2022

Adult-type diffusely infiltrating gliomas, of which glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive, almost always recur after treatment and are fatal. Improved understanding of therapy-driven tumor evolution and acquired therapy resistance in gliomas is essential for improving patient outcomes, yet the majority of the models currently used in preclinical research are of therapy-naïve tumors. Here, we describe the development of therapy-resistant IDH-wildtype glioblastoma patient-derived xenografts (PDX) through orthotopic engraftment of therapy naïve PDX in athymic nude mice, and repeated in vivo exposure to the therapeutic modalities most often used in treating glioblastoma patients: radiotherapy and temozolomide chemotherapy. Post-temozolomide PDX became enriched for C>T transition mutations, acquired inactivating mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes (especially MSH6), and developed hypermutation. Such post-temozolomide PDX were resistant to additional temozolomide (median survival decrease from 80 days in parental PDX to 42 days in a temozolomide-resistant derivative). However, temozolomide-resistant PDX were sensitive to lomustine (also known as CCNU), a nitrosourea which induces tumor cell apoptosis by a different mechanism than temozolomide. These PDX models mimic changes observed in recurrent GBM in patients, including critical features of therapy-driven tumor evolution. These models can therefore serve as valuable tools for improving our understanding and treatment of recurrent glioma.
Plasma Sequencing for Patients with GIST—Limitations and Opportunities in an Academic Setting
Authors: Falkenhorst Johanna , Grunewald Susanne , Krzeciesa Dawid , Herold Thomas , Ketzer Julia , Christoff Miriam , Hamacher Rainer , Kostbade Karina , Treckmann Jürgen , Köster Johannes , Farzaliyev Farhad , Fletcher Benjamin Samulon , Dieckmann Nils , Kaths Moritz , Mühlenberg Thomas , Schildhaus Hans-Ulrich , Bauer Sebastian
Published: November 2022

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) from circulating free DNA (cfDNA) in GIST is of interest for the detection of heterogeneous resistance mutations and treatment monitoring. However, methodologies for use in a local setting are not standardized and are error-prone and difficult to interpret. We established a workflow to evaluate routine tumor tissue NGS (Illumina-based next generation sequencing) panels and pipelines for ctDNA sequencing in an academic setting. Regular blood collection (Sarstedt) EDTA tubes were sufficient for direct processing whereas specialized tubes (STRECK) were better for transportation. Mutation detection rate was higher in automatically extracted (AE) than manually extracted (ME) samples. Sensitivity and specificity for specific mutation detection was higher using digital droplet (dd)PCR compared to NGS. In a retrospective analysis of NGS and clinical data (133 samples from 38 patients), cfDNA concentration correlated with tumor load and mutation detection. A clinical routine pipeline and a novel research pipeline yielded different results, but known and resistance-mediating mutations were detected by both and correlated with the resistance spectrum of TKIs used. In conclusion, NGS routine panel analysis was not sensitive and specific enough to replace solid biopsies in GIST. However, more precise methods (hybridization capture NGS, ddPCR) may comprise important research tools to investigate resistance. Future clinical trials need to compare methodology and protocols.
Feasibility Study on the Radiation Dose by Radioactive Magnetic Core-Shell Nanoparticles for Open-Source Brachytherapy
Authors: van Oossanen Rogier , Godart Jeremy , Brown Jeremy M. C. , Maier Alexandra , Pignol Jean-Philippe , Denkova Antonia G. , Djanashvili Kristina , van Rhoon Gerard C.
Published: November 2022

Background: Treatment of early-stage breast cancer currently includes surgical removal of the tumor and (partial) breast irradiation of the tumor site performed at fractionated dose. Although highly effective, this treatment is exhaustive for both patient and clinic. In this study, the theoretical potential of an alternative treatment combining thermal ablation with low dose rate (LDR) brachytherapy using radioactive magnetic nanoparticles (RMNPs) containing 103-palladium was researched. Methods: The radiation dose characteristics and emission spectra of a single RMNP were calculated, and dose distributions of a commercial brachytherapy seed and an RMNP brachytherapy seed were simulated using Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit. Results: It was found that the RMNP seeds deliver a therapeutic dose similar to currently used commercial seed, while the dose distribution shows a spherical fall off compared to the more inhomogeneous dose distribution of the commercial seed. Changes in shell thickness only changed the dose profile between 2 × 10−4 mm and 3 × 10−4 mm radial distance to the RMNP, not effecting long-range dose. Conclusion: The dose distribution of the RMNP seed is comparable with current commercial brachytherapy seeds, while anisotropy of the dose distribution is reduced. Because this reduces the dependency of the dose distribution on the orientation of the seed, their surgical placement is easier. This supports the feasibility of the clinical application of the proposed novel treatment modality.