bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Implementing Driver Training Technology to Simulate Dangerous Conditions and Real World Hazards on the Road in a Safe Environment
Authors: North Adam , Ordonez Alejo
Published: September 2024

Drivers need to be prepared for the demands of rapidly changing and extreme driving environmental and road conditions. This requires drivers to have exceptional levels of situational awareness, proactive evaluations, accurate responsiveness, and coordination. This paper describes how a company implemented technology to provide real-world driving training in a safe environment enabling drivers to practice advanced driving skills.

The company implemented an instructor-controlled hydraulic system which can be attached to a variety of vehicles, with electronic stability control, to simulate situations where the driver has to regain control of the vehicle. This advanced simulation system is designed to meet the rigorous training needs of professional drivers by increasing competency, situational awareness, and muscle memory. The technology uses a portable platform to simulate a wide spectrum of real-world conditions from changing weather conditions to blind spots to sensory distractions.

The technology provides the situational realism of oncoming cars or stopped traffic for practicing operating vehicles in emergency situations. This system is completely automatic and can be used to develop skills for accident avoidance, intersection clearing, or critical braking scenarios. The technology uses a real car on a paved road at the company's driving training facility. The instructor has the ability to make precise adjustments using an electronic controller to adjust the degree of the vehicle grip experienced by the driver.

Variation of vehicle grip can be enabled for many different training environments and scenarios by the adjustment of front and rear grip settings individually. The technology is consistent, realistic and has helped optimized training costs by reducing in-vehicle training time and lowering associated risk.

Competence is improved by allowing drivers to experience real vehicle dynamics, real emotion, and real-world physical responses. Using this technology allows the drivers to experience more than just sideways vehicle drift as the settings can be adjusted in real-time by the instructor when the vehicle is either stationary or moving, providing the drivers with a dynamic skill building experience.

Driving is the greatest risk personnel face on a day-to-day basis. This driver training technology allows drivers to develop their emergency response reactions in a realistic manner while in a safe environment. Being under the supervision of a qualified trainer providing coaching and feedback helps the drivers develop their skills and reinforces safe habits behind the wheel.
Operationalizing Risk Management
Authors: Bulgachev R. , Kelso G.
Published: September 2024

Effective and fit for purpose risk management process is essential for safe and reliable operations. It is also one of the key elements of the Operating Management System (OMS) which is used by bp to manage its operating activities. To deliver OMS performance, bp wells organization has successfully developed and implemented a complete set of requirements, accountabilities, and guidance for each phase of the risk management process (identify, assess, respond, monitor and review). The risk management process utilizes a bowtie barrier model for identified major accident risks. The barriers are subdivided into critical tasks and critical equipment, which allows the health of the barriers to be monitored at operational level and any vulnerabilities to be identified and addressed early on. The wells risk management process is supported by the suite of custom designed digital tools.

To make risk management work, the steps of the process had to be operationalized – i.e. integrated into the ways of working and made understood by the front-line personnel. To achieve this, the best practices in risk management in use across wells were collated, codified as requirements in the process, and integrated with the well delivery workflow for systematic application across wells. Operationalized steps of the risk process took full advantage of the established cadence of meetings and technical documentation in use without creating additional workload for engineering or operational personnel. Digital risk tools were developed to fully support the risk management process. Mandatory risk management training was created and rolled out to cover all personnel in wells.

This paper will describe the phases of bp wells risk management process and demonstrate how operationalisation has been approached via integration of some of its steps and requirements with engineering and operational processes. Case studies will include examples of operationalization such as risk identification and assessment, and early risk barrier gaps identification and closure via rig intake process; risk response through building effective risk barriers by engineering personnel during design of the wells; communication of risk to frontline personnel and contractors; and management of cumulative risk and risk-based decision making.

Integrated operationalization of the wells risk management process supports better engagement of personnel and contractors in risk management, removal of duplicative activities, efficiencies through the use of digital tools, and ultimately safer operations.
Process Safety & Asset Integrity Key Performance Indicators (PS&AI KPIs): An Operative Model for Strengthening the Asset Safety Barriers
Authors: Nicotra G. , Decarli L. , La Rosa L. , Tortora A. , Nocerino A. , Taddei S. , Ponteggia L. , Mangione A. , Bosco M. , Padovani R.
Published: September 2024

Oil & Gas facilities pose the potential for process safety events with substantial consequences for people, environment, and assets. An Eni’s jointly team comprising HSE professionals, along with experts in production, maintenance, and well operations developed, based on IOGP report 456, a set of lagging and leading Process Safety & Asset Integrity (PS&AI) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) able to assess the performance against benchmarks aiming at preventing process safety events. This facilitates the identification of strengths and weaknesses, contributing to continuous improvement.

The PS&AI KPIs model is based on a tiered pyramid system. Lagging KPIs at the pyramid’s top monitor categorized Process Safety Events (PSEs) based on consequences. Leading KPIs at the base oversee early signal management to identify areas for PSE reduction. The data collected are periodically analyzed with the support of an in-house developed set of algorithms, which comparing individual KPIs to benchmarks, facilitates KPI macro-category analysis and trends. This model analysis is based on a scoring methodology that enables immediate visualization of process safety and asset integrity performance, promoting the dissemination of results at all organizational level.

The Eni PS&AI KPI model serves as a powerful tool for operational analysis, offering insights for process enhancements and risk mitigation. With limited industry benchmarks for leading KPIs, the model’s adoption presents an opportunity to establish internal benchmarks. This strategy aligns technical and economic efforts, targeting areas of vulnerability to drive continuous improvement, safeguard the health of the workers, prevent Process Safety Events, minimize production loss, and mitigate reputational impact.
New Methods for Learning from Incidents Involving Human and Organizational Performance
Authors: Ritchie N. W. , Simmons A. S.
Published: September 2024

Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) issues may be complex and can cover a broad range of disciplines. Investigating and learning from incidents from a Human Performance perspective requires a different approach than conventional incident analysis methodologies allow. This presentation offers a pragmatic set of concepts that can be applied through the entire process of responding to the learning opportunities presented by incidents, including data acquisition, analysis, and developing appropriate and optimized corrective actions for Human Performance causal factors.

The paper is based upon examination of incident investigations carried out for and by a variety of organizations including oil and gas operators and service companies. Study of these events from the Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) perspective reveals shortcomings both in causal analysis and the resulting activities presented as corrective actions.

The paper presents new methods of incident / unplanned event analysis directly applicable to Human and Organizational Performance issues, specifically "2Box Analysis" and "HPA - Human Performance Analysis".

This paper is based upon and additive to the Author's 2023 / 2024 SPE Distinguished Lecturer presentation.
Reshaping Stop Work Engagement: A Scenario-Specific Approach with Stop Work Drills
Authors: Yasseen Abdelsalam , Nonno Lamberto , Andrade Diana Lopez
Published: September 2024

Stop Work Authority (SWA) is a safety program that encourages frontline employees to stop unsafe work. This paper describes a unique approach to enhancing SWA engagement using Stop Work Drills (SWD).

SWD is a tool for leaders to actively discuss SWA using real scenarios within the organization. Leaders select scenarios relevant to their operation and engage their teams in discussions about visible triggers for stop work, potential escalations, and approaches to handling stop work.

SWD offers several benefits. It connects SWA with daily operations, making it more relatable to employees. It fosters dialogue between leaders and frontline workers about factors that influence SWA. The use of real-world scenarios encourages diverse interpretations by the workforce, revealing their risk perspectives and approaches to similar situations. Additionally, SWD enhances communication of lessons learned. Finally, it is user-friendly, requiring minimal time or training to implement.

SWD offers a valuable tool for leaders to communicate, engage, and evaluate workforce understanding of SWA through scenario-specific examples and discussions.

In conclusion, Stop Work Drills represent an innovative approach to elevate stop work engagement in the oil and gas industry. By integrating real-life scenarios, this tool improves communication, empowers leaders to drive safety discussions, and assesses teams' readiness to respond to operation-specific stop work situations. Its ease of implementation and integration into existing processes make it a valuable addition to organizations seeking to enhance safety and risk management practices.
Corporate Sustainability Culture in Oil and Gas Industry – Enablers and Challenges
Authors: Fryc A. E. , Brown C. Marshall
Published: September 2024

The paper shares learnings from building a corporate sustainability culture as an infrastructure for environmental and sustainability programs by identifying enablers and challenges common to the oil and gas organisations, which are relatively advanced in their sustainability journey. The study presents conclusions from a survey carried out within oil and gas industry and presents learnings in the context of the theoretical exploration of the subject of organisational sustainability culture in recent literature.

A closer look at the successes and challenges in developing sustainability and environmental culture within the petroleum industry so far, leads to identification of three main success factors: (1) Strong corporate commitment, visible in practice and genuinely committed leadership; (2) Translating corporate sustainability approach into economic value (such as business development advantage, technological innovation agility, energy savings, cost reduction); (3) Communication of targets and progress towards them and cascading sustainability objectives down to organisational units. The study identifies several prevailing challenges, including: (1) Lack of resources; (2) Lack of leadership or visibility of it and (3) skepticism around either the positive role of oil and gas in climate action or the authenticity of corporate sustainability efforts.

When comparing survey respondents’ experience of the organisational sustainability culture to its theoretical models, it can be concluded that (a) sampled organizations’ programs are most developed in the areas suggesting external drivers, such as legislative and customer requirements or public opinion pressure, (b) sustainability vision, corporate values and their communication are seen as the most culture enabling elements of the theoretical model in practice, and (c) challenges in building a sustainability culture are present in all main elements of the theoretical model, likely indicating that the industry is still gaining the experience and developing its approach and solutions for sustainability.

Conclusions and implications can be utilized by organisations in early stages of designing sustainability and environmental stewardship programs to consider maximizing the identified success factors while mitigating the challenges to build a sustainability culture that enables organisations to respond to environmental and social demands and build organisational resilience.
Reducing Carbon Footprint: A Field Study of Low Carbon, Cement-Free Well Construction
Authors: Meade M. , McDonald V. R. , Fischer N. , Kapoor S. , Smith W. , Nenjerama Y. , Bejarano R. , Angel R. , Parton C. , Landry G.
Published: September 2024

Well construction includes hard-to-abate emissions, notably from its well cementing operations. Reducing carbon emissions associated with cement is a priority because cement is used in nearly every well drilled today, with an impact of approximately one ton of carbon emissions per ton of cement used. This paper presents an innovative technology: making well cementing without Portland cement at scale a reality.

Geopolymers made from aluminosilicates comprising industrial waste materials are considered a sustainable alternative to Portland cement. Existing geopolymer formulations found in academia are not scalable for land-based well construction cementing operations, as they are unmixable using standard equipment and have increased health, safety, and environmental risks (HSE). Thus, a novel geopolymer blend was engineered for well construction applications that is mixable with existing equipment and reduces HSE risk through eliminating the onsite handling of corrosive liquids. Additionally, a Sustainability Assessment Tool was created to quantify and compare carbon emissions at different steps such as manufacturing materials, transportation, and onsite operations.

Field trials of the novel geopolymer blend in the fast-paced Permian Basin confirmed this technology could be implemented within the oilfield cementing process with the same efficiency and efficacy as the conventional cement-based operation. During the field trials, the geopolymer system was deployed without any changes to the field mixing equipment and without any HSE incidents. Sonic logs of a subset of wells confirmed conventional logging equipment can detect set geopolymer within the wellbore and validates industry-standard simulators to predict placement. Using the Sustainability Assessment Tool confirmed that the emissions from the slurry components are more significant than the emissions related to logistics and operations. The quality and availability of the emission factors of slurry components are key, with multiple data sources considered for reliable quantification. The proposed low-carbon geopolymer cement-free system in current field application eliminates up to 85% of Scope 3 CO2 emissions compared with conventional Portland cement systems. The industry can capitalize on these benefits with no change in operations or increased HSE risks.

Decarbonizing the well construction process while maintaining safety and performance standards is critical to the oil and gas industry's pathway to meeting emissions reduction targets. This geopolymer cement-free system is a breakthrough that delivers industry-standard zonal isolation capabilities while significantly minimizing environmental impact from upstream oil and gas production.
Decarbonization Technologies Screening for Enabling Net Zero in Onshore Oil and Gas Operations
Authors: Ravishankar Krish Ravi
Published: September 2024

This paper presents a screening methodology to evaluate and prioritize decarbonization technologies to reduce Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with upstream oil and gas operations. Based on typical significant GHG emission source categories, the paper illustrates application of the decarbonization technology screening methodology for oil and gas central processing and field operations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

The paper presents a unique methodological approach that combines nine different screening criteria such as scalability, GHG abatement potential, technology maturity and accessibility, execution complexity, technology limitations, synergistic potential, capital expenditure, operating expenditure, and cost per tonne of GHG removal/abatement to form the GHG Reduction Opportunities Register ("the Register"). The Register incorporates the application of marginal abatement cost curve (MACC) technique to analyze and prioritize technologies currently available to decarbonize upstream oil and gas operations. The process enables identification and development of decarbonization pathways that are aligned with the operational strategies and provides technology levers/options for meeting GHG emission reduction commitments and targets to achieve net-zero goals.
Natech (Natural Hazard Triggering Technological Disasters) Events Risk Management: An Operational Approach
Authors: Nicotra G. , Rossi E. , Decarli L. , Di Talia V. , Tugnoli A. , Cozzani V.
Published: September 2024

The intersection of intense natural events with industrial operations can lead to catastrophic consequences such as the so-called Natech, which are, by definition, natural hazards triggering technological disasters.

The present contribution outlines an operational approach for the assessment of Natech risks in onshore Oil &Gas facilities. The novel procedure consists of two phases. In Phase 1, a preliminary screening is carried out to identify the natural hazards of concern and the vulnerable equipment items within the premises of the facility. This screening is based on awareness questionnaires and reference hazard databases to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the level of hazard related to different natural events. A preliminary ranking of the vulnerability level of the plant units based on the potential damage and severity of consequences from the natural event scenarios of concern is then carried out. This allows the identification of the equipment items that are more vulnerable to natural events. In Phase 2, a detailed quantification of Natech risk is carried out, limited to the vulnerable units identified in the preliminary screening. The assessment involves the calculation of the damage probabilities for equipment items, the identification of credible scenarios based on substance involvement and storage conditions, and the characterization of the credible scenarios in terms of expected frequencies and consequences. Lastly, the overall Natech risk at the site is quantified through specific risk indexes.

The method was applied to an Oil & Gas upstream installation, demonstrating the effectiveness of the innovative approach proposed in identifying and quantifying vulnerability and risk generated by Natech scenarios. Measures for mitigating the consequences of potential Natech accidents were also identified.
Hydrogen: Journey to Net Zero Occupational Illnesses
Authors: Thomson E. J.
Published: September 2024

As governments across the world seek to decarbonize in an effort to keep the rise in global surface temperatures below 2°C in line with the Paris Agreement, clean burning hydrogen is set to become widespread fuel for use in transport, domestic heating, industrial power and feedstock industries replacing or supplementing the burning of fossil fuels.

In 2021 the UK Government announced their vision to create a World Leading hydrogen economy in the next decade, with £240 million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF) to support Hydrogen Projects (Department for Buisness, MP and MP 2021). At the time they estimated that the new hydrogen economy would support tens of thousands of jobs.

Perception of Hydrogen is as a clean energy and therefore there will be less health risk than in traditional hydrocarbon energy sources such as coal, oil and natural gas. Focus has, rightly, been on the increased safety risk posed by the explosive range of the Hydrogen product and its propensity to leak but we risk forgetting that health risk will be present.
Eni's Fugitive Emissions Reduction Target Achieved while Improvement Efforts Continue with OGMP Gold Standard
Authors: Hamdy E. , Colella L. , Zonta P. , Cislaghi R. , Macci I.
Published: September 2024

This paper shows the integration of Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) programs and Level 4 OGMP onsite measurement campaigns approach and methodology with the common goal of increasing accuracy and granularity of methane emissions quantifications. In 2023 Level 4 OGMP onsite measurement campaigns for fugitive emissions took place at multiple facilities located in 9 different countries along with LDAR campaign. The measurements were performed for a sample of potential emission sources, and the number of sampling points at each facility were identified following the requirements of OGMP Technical Guidelines. For each sampling point where a leak has been detected with OGI Camera, the hydrocarbon flow rate was measured using a High Flow Sampler. Considering the flow rate together with the methane content in the measured gas, the methane flow rate has been obtained. Eni implemented extensive efforts over the years to reduce to the maximum all its upstream methane fugitive emissions with the implementation of Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) programs at most of its facilities worldwide. Further efforts to improve continues with the achievement of OGMP 2.0 Gold Standard that further enhanced the management of methane fugitive emissions and achieved more accurate reporting. Thanks to the Level 4 OGMP campaigns, Eni had the opportunity to identify new emission sources that were not accounted in previous LDAR campaigns. At the same time the campaign confirmed the soundness and accuracy of already established methodology applied within Eni for fugitive emissions accounting. The comparison between the different methodology for fugitive emissions accounting can be considered as validation of LDAR programs accuracy with respect to OGMP level 4 reporting methodologies.
An Application of Regression Analysis to Identify the Relationship between Production and Cost of Yogurt
Authors: Blbas Hazhar
Published: September 2024

The main objective in any factory is to maximize profit but the main constraints facing them are the rise in cost of operation. The study aims to critically examine and evaluate the application of cost control and cost reduction in a factory by adding the production in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city of Erbil's Dairy Factory gathered 115 cases during 24 months. To test the study's objectives, SPSS Version 28 was utilized together with One Way ANOVA and Linear Regression Analysis. Based on the findings, Activia FF 180 ml has the highest mean of production. Regression Coefficient of all production together shows that increasing one ton will reduce the cost by 9.467. Activia LF 180 ml has the greatest model among all types of yogurt production followed by Shanina 200 ml and FF 850 ml.
Early Cognitive and Language Development Characteristics of Children with Williams Syndrome in China
Authors: Yao Dan , Zeng Yan , Li Fang-fang , Shen Ji-yang , Ji Chai
Published: September 2024

Background: Williams syndrome (WS) is an inherited multisystem disorder characterized by cognitive and linguistic dissonance with distinct strengths and weaknesses. The aim of this studywas to investigate the characteristics of early cognitive and language development in WS children of different ages.
Methofs:106 children, aged 1-5 years, diagnosed with WS in the outpatient department of child healthcare in our hospital from September 2018 to June 2023 were included in this study. All children underwent cognitive development assessment to observe and analyze the developmental characteristics of WS children at different ages.
Results: The developmental levels of gross motor and fine motor functional areas of WS children were significantly lower than those of Global developmental delay (GDD) children, while the developmental level of language functional area of WS children was significantly higher than that of GDD children. While the language ability of WS children showed significant advantages from the age of two and remained so until the age of five. At the same time, WS children in the group basically maintained a relatively stable level in each functional area with age, and there was no difference between verbal and nonverbal intelligence quotient (IQ) in all ages.
Conclusions: The results of the present study identify a new feature that the relative prominence of language ability in early childhood of WS children is not a matter of their superiority over nonverbal ability, but rather a relative manifestation of language superiority as the language ability of WS children has remained stable relative to the developmental characteristics of other children with developmental delays whose language ability declines slowly with age. This finding can help us explore interventions that may help WS children reach their full potential, while emphasizing the need for individualized assessment and management of WS children to guide educational and rehabilitative strategies for WS children.
Developed Impact Load test to Measuring the Cohesion Energy of the Asphalt Binder
Authors: Abdali Abdulhaq Hadi
Published: September 2024

The cohesion of the asphalt binder plays a pivotal and effective role in evaluating the performance efficiency of the asphalt mixture under different loading and environmental conditions. This cohesion can be represented by the forces that bind the asphalt particles to each other (the structural form of asphalt particle bonding). The amount of force that causes the displacement of these particles to the point of fracture is equal to the ability of the cohesive asphalt binder to prevent this fracture, and it is usually an instantaneous force. An asphalt binder sandwich model is prepared by cutting the rocks into slices of regular thickness and then cutting them into prisms of regular shape and dimensions to suit the dimensions of the manufactured device. The asphalt bond that connects these prisms is of a known thickness. To calculate the strength of the thin asphalt binder confined between the rock prisms, a simple device was manufactured to calculate the amount of energy resulting from the collision of a specific block with the asphalt binder region, which reflects the amount of cohesion or bonding between the asphalt particles. The proposed device consists of an iron base to stabilize the asphalt bond sandwich model with a circular column to raise the hammer holder with a known and variable weight. The resistance of the asphalt binder, which depends on the cohesive forces of the particles of the material itself, increases with the increase in the thickness of the binder and also with an increase in the percentage of added additive up to 5% for both types SBS and crumb rubber.
Exploring the Self-Perceived Causes of Eating Disorders among Chinese Social Media Users with Self-Reported Eating Disorders
Authors: He Jinbo , Zhang Yucheng , Liu Zhiyuan , Barnhart Wesley , Cui Shuqi , Chen Shiting , Fu Yuru , Ji Feng , Nagata Jason , Sun Shaojing
Published: September 2024

Background
Even though robust evidence suggests the high prevalence of Eating disorders (EDs) in China, EDs in China are characterized by low diagnosis rates, delayed treatment-seeking, and ineffective treatments. Given that listening to patients’ perspectives and lived experiences is crucial to improving our understanding of EDs in the Chinese context, an investigation of the perceived causes of EDs in Chinese individuals with EDs represents a key step in improving the prevention and treatment of EDs in China.
Aims
To explore the perceived causes of eating disorders (EDs) based on the data from the users of a popular Chinese social media platform, Zhihu.
Methods
We extracted and analyzed the data using a content analysis. Eight specific causes that could be classified into two groups were coded, including individual factors (e.g., “body image and eating”) and sociocultural factors (e.g., “media and cultural ideals”).
Results
A total of 2079 entries regarding self-reported EDs were retained for content analysis (14.7% were anorexia nervosa, 37.6% were bulimia nervosa, and 47.7% were binge-eating disorder). More than 90% of users with self-reported EDs claimed causes belonging to individual factors, while 35–51% of users claimed sociocultural factors. “Body image and eating” (68–87%) and “psychological and emotional problems” (65–67%) were the most commonly claimed specific causes, while “traumatic life events” (13–14%), “genetics and biology” (7–13%), and “sports and health” (9–12%) were the least claimed. Chi-square independent tests showed that users with different self-reported EDs disproportionately claimed certain causes.
Conclusions
Using large-scale social media data, findings enhanced our understanding of the perceived etiology of EDs in the Chinese context from individuals with lived experiences of EDs and highlighted the variations in perceived causes across different self-reported ED types.
Clinicians’ experience of barriers and facilitators to care delivery in an ECPR service for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a qualitative study
Authors: Eddison Jasper , Millerchip Oscar , Rosenberg Alex , Lewinsohn Asher , Raitt James
Published: September 2024

Background:Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survival in the UK remains overall poor with fewer than 10% of patients surviving to hospital discharge. Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) is a developing therapy option that can improve the outcomes in select patients if treatment begins within an hour. Clinicians' perspectives are a pivotal consideration to development of effective systems for OHCA ECPR, but they have been infrequently explored. This study investigates clinicians' views on the barriers and facilitators to establishing effective systems to facilitate transport of OHCA patients for in-hospital ECPR.
Methods:In January 2023, Thames Valley Air Ambulance (TVAA) and Harefield Hospital (HH) developed an ECPR partnership pathway for conveyance of OHCA patients for in-hospital ECPR. The authors of this study conducted a survey of clinicians across both services looking to identify clear barriers and positive contributors to the effective implementation of the programme. The survey included questions about technical and non-technical barriers and facilitators, with free-text responses analysed thematically.
Results:Responses were received from 14 pre-hospital and 9 in-hospital clinicians’ representative of various roles and experiences. Data analysis revealed 10 key themes and 19 subthemes. The interconnected themes, identified by pre-hospital clinicians as important barriers or facilitators in this ECPR system included educational programmes; collectiveness in effort and culture; teamwork; inter-service communication; concurrent activity; and clarity of procedures. Themes from in-hospital clinicians’ responses were distilled into key considerations focusing on learning and marginal gains, standardising and simplifying protocols, training and simulation; and nurturing effective teams.
Conclusion:This study identified several clear themes and subthemes from lived clinical experience that should be considered when developing and modelling an ECPR system for OHCA. These insights may inform future development of ECPR programmes for OHCA in other centres. Key recommendations identified include prioritising education and training (including regular simulations), standardising a ‘pitstop style’ handover process, establishing clear roles during the cannulation process to including and developing standardised protocols and selection criteria. This study also provides insight into the feasibility of using pre-hospital critical care teams for intra-arrest patient retrieval in the pre-hospital arena.
Kinetic modeling and multi-objective optimization of ibuprofen synthesis using the SAO-CatBoost framework
Authors: Xiang Lang , Qu Pengfei
Published: September 2024

This study proposes the SAO-CatBoost framework, utilizing the Snow Ablation Optimizer (SAO) to enhance a CatBoost-based meta-model for modeling and optimizing the ibuprofen synthesis process. Initially, a database of 39,460 input combinations is created using chemical reaction theory. The enhanced meta-model, built with CatBoost, outperforms traditional optimization algorithms (Random Search, Bayesian Optimization, and Particle Swarm Optimization) in pre- dicting reaction time (RT) and conversion rate (CR). Importance analyses through SHAP values identify critical input variables impacting RT and CR, notably the concentration of the catalyst precursor (L2PdCl2), hydrogen ions (H+ ), and water (H2O). Partial dependence and interaction effects are explored to understand the interactions between input variables and their effects on reaction time and conversion rate. To optimize reaction efficiency and product selectivity, ini- tial concentrations and reaction rate constants are treated as decision variables, and NSGA-II is employed for multi-objective optimization, aiming to simultaneously minimize RT and maximize CR. Within this framework, uncertainty analysis of the meta-model is conducted under various levels using Monte Carlo simulation and Prediction Interval analysis, demonstrating a significant increase in prediction uncertainty with greater input perturbations. This study demonstrates the SAO-CatBoost framework’s effectiveness in optimizing ibuprofen synthesis, highlighting its reli- ability in achieving optimal reaction conditions in chemical engineering.
Clinical significance of a new early diagnostic model for bladder cancer based on genome-wide microarray profiling of serum exosomal lncRNAs
Authors: Zhao Liming , Tian Guang , Wang Xiaohua , Li Luning , Gao Yongli , Gao Yisheng , Wang Jinfeng
Published: September 2024

Purpose
The aim of our report was to recognize bladder cancer (BC)-specific serum exosome-derived long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) profile for early diagnosis of BC.
Methods
Potential BC-specific exosomal lncRNA indicators were discerned by genome-wide microarray profiling analysis of serum exosomes from 10 healthy participants and 10 early-stage BC patients (Ta and T1), followed by multi-stage validation through quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in BC cells, culture solution as well as 200 serum specimens and 50 tissue specimens from non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients. The diagnostic panel was established using logistic regression and evaluated by receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve.
Results
In the training stage, a diagnostic panel was constructed based on three up-regulated exosomal lncRNAs (G023016, RP11-553N19.1 and LINC0087) in NMIBC patients compared with healthy controls, yielding an area under ROC curve (AUC) of 0.827. We verified tumor-derived origin of these three lncRNAs which existed steadily in serum because of being enclosed in exosomes. The three-lncRNA panel was demonstrated to perform well in terms of NMIBC diagnosis, revealing AUC values of 0.809 and 0.812 respectively in the following expanded validation stage and double-blind stage which was demonstrated to be significantly superior to that of urine cytology in double-blind stage (AUC = 0.630) (P < 0.0001). Moreover, serum exosome-derived G023016 significantly associated with tumor grade and TNM stage (P = 0.006 and P < 0.001, respectively), and LINC0087 significantly associated with TNM stage (P = 0.023).
Conclusion
The three-exosomal lncRNA signature could function as qualified blood-based non-invasive indicator for early diagnosis of BC.
Prostate cancer-derived exosomal PSM-E inhibits macrophage M2 polarization to suppress tumor invasion and metastasis through the RACK1/FAK/ERK pathway
Authors: Qin Xingliang , Niu Rouxi , Tan Yongyao , Huang Yuxin , Ren Weishu , Zhou Weiwei , Wu Huiquan , Zhang Junlong , Xu Mingze , Zhou Xiang , Guan Hongyu , Zhu Xun , Chen Yu , Cao Kaiyuan
Published: September 2024

Background
It is well-established that understanding the mechanism of prostate cancer (PCa)-associated metastasis is paramount for improving its prognosis. Metastasis is known to involve the communication between tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and tumor cells. Exosomes are crucial in mediating this intercellular communication within the tumor microenvironment. Nonetheless, the role of exosomal proteins in PCa metastasis is not yet fully understood. Here, we investigated the mechanisms of prostate cancer-derived exosomal PSM-E on regulating macrophage M2 polarization to suppress tumor invasion and metastasis.
Methods
PSM-E levels in exosomes were detected by transmission electron microscopy and Western blotting analysis. The diagnostic value of urine-derived exosomal PSM-E in PCa were evaluated by LC-MS/MS, correlation analysis, and ROC curves analysis. The mechanisms underlying the inhibitory effect of exosomal PSM-E on the M2 polarization of macrophages was investigated by co-IP, IHC staining, and PCa tumorigenesis model.
Results
We revealed that exosomal PSM-E is upregulated in exosomes derived from the serum and urine of PCa patients. Clinically, an elevated exosomal PSME expression in urine is significantly correlated with an advanced pathological tumor stage and a high Gleason score. Our research also revealed that exosomal PSM-E inhibits prostate cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis by suppressing macrophage polarization in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we provided compelling evidence that exosomal PSM-E inhibits M2 polarization of macrophages by recruiting RACK1 and suppressing the ERK and FAK signaling pathways, consequently suppressing PCa invasion and metastasis. Furthermore, we found that the protease-associated domain of PSM-E and the fourth tryptophan-aspartate repeat of RACK1 are crucial for the interaction between PSM-E and RACK1.
Conclusions
Notably, exosomes carrying PSM-E from PCa urine could potentially serve as a biomarker for PCa, and targeting exosomal PSM-E may represent a strategy for preventing tumor progression in this patient population.
Edge-Guided Multi-Scale Adaptive Feature Fusion Network for Liver Tumor Segmentation
Authors: Zhang Tiange , Liu Yuefeng , Zhao Qiyan , Xue Guoyue , Shen Hongyu
Published: September 2024

Automated segmentation of liver tumors on CT scans is essential for aiding diagnosis and assessing treatment. Computer-aided diagnosis can reduce the costs and errors associated with manual processes and ensure the provision of accurate and reliable clinical assessments. However, liver tumors in CT images vary significantly in size and have fuzzy boundaries, making it difficult for existing methods to achieve accurate segmentation. Therefore, this paper proposes MAEG-Net, a multi-scale adaptive feature fusion liver tumor segmentation network based on edge guidance. Specifically, we design a multi-scale adaptive feature fusion module incorporating multi-scale information better to guide the segmentation of tumors of different sizes. Additionally, to address the problem of blurred tumor boundaries in images, we introduce an edge-aware guidance module to improve the model's feature learning ability under these conditions. Evaluation results on the liver tumor dataset (LiTS2017) show that our method achieves a Dice coefficient of 71.84% and a VOE of 38.64%, demonstrating the best performance for liver tumor segmentation in CT images.
Cognivue Clarity ® Characterizes Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease in Biomarker Confirmed Cohorts in the Bio-Hermes Study
Authors: Galvin James , Kleiman Michael J. , Estes Paul W. , Harris Heather M. , Fung Ernest
Published: September 2024

The Bio-Hermes Study was a cross-sectional observational study designed to develop a database of blood-based and digital biomarkers to improve detection of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We examined the ability of Cognivue Clarity® to (a) detect MCI and AD in clinical diagnostics groups, (b) determine the presence of amyloid, and (c) distinguish between biomarker-confirmed groups. Bio-Hermes enrolled 887 participants who completed both Cognivue Clarity and amyloid PET scans (388 Cognitively Normal, 282 MCI, 217 Probable AD). Cognivue Clarity differentiated between Cognitively Normal, MCI, and probable AD in clinical cohorts, amyloid positive from amyloid negative individuals, and True Controls from MCI due to AD and AD in biomarker-confirmed cohorts (all p<.001) with large effect sizes. Cognivue Clarity correlated with amyloid PET and plasma amyloid and pTau (all p<.001). In biomarker confirmed groups, Cognivue Clarity had a positive likelihood ratio of 2.17, a negative likelihood ratio of 0.29, and a diagnostic odds ratio of 7.48. Cognivue Clarity detected cognitive impairment and differentiated between both clinically and biomarker defined MCI and AD groups. The use of Cognivue Clarity could assist with identification of MCI-AD or AD for inclusion into current treatment protocols or for enriching recruitment into clinical trials.
Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04733989).
Electrostatic Assembly of Graphene@SiO2 Composite for Enhanced Dispersive Solid-Phase Extraction: Targeting Eight Pesticide Residues
Authors: Liu Sheng , Li Bo , Xu Jian , Yu Yang , Zhu He , Li Zhen , Zhang Zhaoxue , Lv Mei , Wang Litao
Published: September 2024

As a new carbon nanomaterial, Graphene (Gr) has attracted wide attention in the field of separation and analysis because of its large specific surface area and strong hydrophobicity. A highly efficient and selective graphene/SiO2 (Gr/SiO2) dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE) material was prepared through electrostatic assembly. This process involved the combination of negatively-charged poly (sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) mediated GS (denoted as PSS-GS) and positively-charged SiO2, modified with triethoxy silane amino. The precursor material was characterized using FESEM. We evaluated the extraction performance of this new sorbent with eight pesticide residues, using the HPLC-MS method. The sorbent demonstrated excellent recovery rates for the pesticide residues under various frequency of use conditions and pH levels. It showed that the SiO2 and Gr have synergistic extraction effect, and the composite material has good stability and reusable, Ultimately, this newly developed d-SPE material was successfully applied in the analysis of fruit juice samples, yielding good recovery rates in the range of 82.18 to 117.49%.
Combining Medical Images and Biomechanical Data in Sports Injury Prediction Models
Authors: Cai Weixia , Zhu Jintao , Zhuang Xueqin
Published: September 2024

This article combined medical images and biomechanical data to construct a sports injury prediction model, solving the issues of incomplete data acquisition and analysis, lack of comprehensive prediction models, insufficient consideration of individual differences, lack of real-time monitoring and preventive measures, and limited technical means in traditional aerobics sports injury research. It studied the collection of a large number of MRI and CT images, using median filtering and Gaussian filtering for denoising processing, and image enhancement through histogram equalization. Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) can be used to extract and fuse features from preprocessed images and biomechanical data. The motion capture system and force platform collect joint angles, muscle strength, motion trajectory and other data, and integrate medical images and biomechanical data through multimodal fusion methods. The constructed prediction model is based on the extraction and integration of key features, combined with individual differences to provide personalized injury prevention recommendations. The system has developed a real-time monitoring function, which collects data in real time through sensors and wearable devices, conducts response time testing using the performance testing tool Apache JMeter, and evaluates the accuracy of warnings through a confusion matrix. The experimental results show that the constructed model achieves an accuracy of 85%, a precision of 82%, a recall rate of 90%, and an F1 value of 86%, all of which are superior to traditional methods in various indicators. The system designed in this article improves the accuracy and real-time performance of predicting injuries in aerobics, providing reliable prevention and monitoring methods for athletes.
Emotional overload in bulimia nervosa: an ERP study of emotion processing and regulation
Authors: Vuillier Laura , Wang Ziyi , Hassan Sanjidha , Harrison Amy , Somerville Matthew P. , He Xun
Published: September 2024

Objective
People with bulimia nervosa (BN) self-report difficulties processing and regulating emotions. However, self-reports have been shown to be biased, particularly with people with BN who have difficulties describing their emotions. Self-reports also cannot easily disentangle between early processing and later regulatory stages, so it is not clear whether people with BN really do process their emotions more intensely or whether this is due to the aftermath of regulatory difficulties. This study aimed to use an objective way to measure (1) whether people with BN process their emotions with higher intensity compared to healthy controls (HC) and (2) whether they can successfully implement an emotion regulation strategy called cognitive reappraisal.
Methods
We developed a neuroimaging task using electroencephalography to answer these questions, using the Late Positive Potential (LPP) as an objective measure of emotional arousal at the processing and regulatory stages. We tested the task in females with BN (N = 32) and matched HC (N = 35).
Results
We found that our BN group showed higher LPP compared to our HC group when viewing emotional pictures, demonstrating increased emotional intensity at the processing stage. We also found that our BN group had difficulties successfully implementing cognitive reappraisal to reduce emotional arousal.
Discussion
This suggests that people with BN process their emotions with higher intensity and struggle to implement subsequent cognitive reappraisal strategies. This has direct implications for clinicians who should be aware that when evoking affect in treatment, people with BN may need greater support in understanding and managing their emotions.