bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Organically grown cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) plants contain a diverse range of culturable epiphytic and endophytic fungi in inflorescences and stem tissues
Authors: Punja Zamir K. , Scott Cameron
Published: February 2023

We investigated the diversity of fungal species present on inflorescences as epiphytes and in stem tissues as endophytes in flowering plants of cannabis grown organically in British Columbia during 2019–2021. Fresh and dried inflorescence samples were obtained at various times during production while stems were obtained at harvest. Fungal species in the air were assessed by exposing Petri dishes containing potato dextrose agar + streptomycin sulfate for 1 h in the growing environment while soil samples were dilution-plated to assess soil fungal diversity. Colonies were identified from PCR-derived sequences of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region of ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid. Twenty-nine species in 26 genera were recovered from inflorescences and 17 species in 11 genera originated from stem tissues. Approximately 96% of species found on inflorescences were present in air and 45% were present in organic soil. The fungi comprised plant pathogens, saprophytes, and opportunistic human pathogens. A large proportion of the species found in air and soil in organic facilities are present on cannabis inflorescences, where they may increase total colony forming units and negatively affect product quality. Some species could contribute to allergies or secondary infections in humans. The potential benefits of endophytes within organically grown cannabis plants remain unexplored.
First-order framework for vortices in generalized Maxwell–Chern–Simons models without a neutral field
Authors: Andrade I. , Bazeia D. , Liao M. A. , Marques M. A. , Menezes R.
Published: February 2023

This work introduces a procedure to obtain vortex configurations described by first-order equations in generalized Maxwell–Chern–Simons models without the inclusion of a neutral field. The results show that the novel methodology is capable of inducing important modification in the vortex core, leading to vortex configurations with unconventional features.
Low-Quality Face Recognition Using an Index-Based Super Resolution Technique
Authors: Tahmasebi Maryam , Mohammadi Shahram , Hassanpoor Hossein
Published: February 2023

Low-quality face recognition (LQFR), unlike high-quality face recognition is very challenging. This is due to the standoff between the subject and the camera and small face size. The most common way to overcome the mentioned problems is using super-resolution (SR) techniques. In this paper, we show that the efficiency of a FR system degrades significantly in low-resolution images. We propose a novel FR approach using an index-based super-resolution method to improve performance and computational load of a FR system. To achieve this goal, first we apply face quality assessment (FQA) to select appropriate face images with high quality from sequence of images. Then, we introduce Blind/Reference-less Image Spatial Quality Evaluator (BRISQUE) as an index based on which we decided whether or not to use super-resolution in a LQFR system. We also conduct experiments to explore factors which affect FR performance including super-resolution methods, face image size (pixels), face quality and change of the sequence of the conventional LQFR stages. To demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach, we compare face identification rate on various deep CNN face recognition. Experimental results show that the proposed method increases the average identification rate to 71.20% on SCFace dataset.
mT scaling approach to study the identical spectral shape and similar suppression patterns of π0 and η mesons at RHIC and LHC energies
Authors: Khandai P. K. , Singh M. K.
Published: February 2023

We present a systematic study of the transverse mass ([Formula: see text]) spectra of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] mesons in [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]GeV, [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]GeV, [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]TeV and [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]TeV. The published data of invariant yields of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] mesons as a function of [Formula: see text] are taken from PHENIX and from ALICE collaborations in the mid-rapidity region for different centrality cases. The primary object is to check the similar suppression patterns and identical spectral shapes of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] mesons at different center-of-mass energies in different collision systems. We employ [Formula: see text] scaling approach to study the spectral shapes of [Formula: see text] meson from the given pion ([Formula: see text]) spectra. For this purpose, we use the modified Hagedorn function as a fit function. We obtain [Formula: see text] scaled [Formula: see text] ratio to study the spectral shape and suppression pattern of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] mesons. This ratio is useful to obtain the decay contribution of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] mesons in photonic and leptonic channels but also points to the quantitative changes in the dynamics of the heavy ion collisions.
Why can cobalt(III) corrole form more stable metal/ organic interfaces than cobalt(II) porphyrin?
Authors: Herritsch Jan , Zugermeier Malte , Schmid Martin , Chen Min , Luy Jan-Niclas , Schweyen Peter , Bröring Martin , Tonner-Zech Ralf , Gottfried J. Michael
Published: February 2023

The ring size of tetrapyrrole ligands can dramatically influence the interfacial interactions of their metal complexes, as was found in a comparison of alkyl-substituted cobalt(II) porphyrins and cobalt(III) corroles adsorbed on a Ag(111) surface. The electronic properties of interfaces of both metal complexes were studied using photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, UPS) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in the monolayer and multilayer regimes. In the respective multilayers, the surface-decoupled complexes comprise paramagnetic cobalt centers, as indicated by the Co 2p core-level spectra. In the monolayers, both complexes are chemisorbed and engage in charge transfer at the interface. Consequently, the former singly occupied orbitals at the cobalt centers accept electron density from the Ag(111) surface. As a result, the cobalt centers of both complexes are reduced. Despite these similarities, there are substantial differences in the overall interaction strength: a much stronger interaction was observed in the case of the corrole complex, for which the interfacial charge transfer is not limited to the cobalt states, but also involves the ligand’s [Formula: see text]-electron system. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the corresponding parent macrocycles reveal that, in comparison with the porphyrin, the corrole exhibits increased adsorption energy, a reduced adsorption height, and undergoes a stronger interfacial charge transfer. The increased stability of the corrole/ metal interface is attributed to the corrole ligand’s open-shell character with delocalized [Formula: see text]-electron spin density and the resulting stabilization by rearomatization-driven electron transfer.
MOTIVES TO PATENT: EVIDENCE FROM ARGENTINE MANUFACTURING FIRMS
Authors: MILESI DARÍO , PETELSKI NATALIA , VERRE VLADIMIRO
Published: February 2023

According to the literature on appropriation, firms patent mainly to prevent copy. However, given that innovation and patents form part of firms’ broader competitive strategies, patenting can include many other objectives such as blocking, increasing prestige and improving bargaining power, among others. The evidence about this kind of strategic and competitive use of patents is extensive for developed countries but almost null for developing countries. This paper aims to contribute to filling this gap in two ways: firstly, by analysing Argentine firms’ motivations for patenting and, secondly, by exploring the determinants of such motivations. The data used comes from the most recent Argentine innovation survey (ENDEI II), which provides information on around 300 manufacturing firms that applied for patents between 2014 and 2016. The findings show that Argentine firms follow one of two composite patenting strategies, the most common one being guided by objectives related to protection, including different types of blocking, and the other being guided by the less technological goals identified by the literature on strategic patenting, such as prestige, bargaining and licences.
FROM ENTREPRENEURSHIP TO OPEN INNOVATION, A COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW
Authors: ROMERA FRANCISCO , ALEGRE JOAQUIN , LE BIGOT EUGÉNIE
Published: February 2023

The aim of this paper is to review and analyse the connection of entrepreneurship with open innovation (OI) through a systematic literature review (SLR) over the 2003–2022 period. To this end, a sample of 152 articles obtained through a systematic process was used. This SLR provides analytical data on the studies that were processed and identifies different areas and levels of study such as the spatial, institutional, firm, individual, and organisational levels relating to the relationship between entrepreneurship and OI. The review concludes with a discussion of the results and with the presentation of the main conclusions along with contributions aimed at scholars and practitioners and provides insights for future research.
Breast cancer detection from histopathological image dataset using hybrid convolution neural network
Authors: Sampath Nalini , Srinath N. K.
Published: February 2023

Cancer of the breast is a deadly disease that can take a person’s life in many different ways. Predicting breast cancer at an early stage is crucial in the fight to end the disease. The usage of deep learning and blockchain technology has been implemented with the intention of integrating optimal prediction with clinical diagnostics and protecting private health information. Patients’ medical records are encrypted and stored in the blockchain for maximum safety. As a result, a large portion of time and energy is spent on feature engineering, a tedious process that requires prior expert domain knowledge of the data to develop effective features, and is crucial to the success of most conventional classification systems. Deep learning, on the other hand, can arrange the discriminative information in the data without the need for a domain expert to develop feature extractors. The research community and industry have paid attention to deep, feedforward networks like convolutional neural networks (CNNs) because of their empirical results in areas including speech recognition, signal processing, object recognition, natural language processing, and transfer learning. For the best breast cancer prediction, a new method called a “Hybrid CNN” combining the Sine Cosine Algorithm (SCA) with a transfer learning algorithm has been presented. Mini-batch size and drop-out rate are just two of the factors that the SCA algorithm may fine-tune. To stop the model from overfitting, we employ a transfer learning strategy. The hyperparameters found using sine cosine algorithm is used in Visual geometry Group (VGG 16) architecture. ImageNet is used to pretrain the network and last three convolutional layers are trained using transfer learning. The integration of sine cosine algorithm and transfer learning together increases the accuracy thereby preventing the model from overfitting. The experimentation is performed in Google Colab and the proposed Hybrid CNN is compared with existing methodologies such as K-NN, SVM. Also, the proposed Hybrid CNN is compared with CNN without transfer learning and CNN without SCA. The metrics taken into account for comparison are accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, F-score. The proposed Hybrid CNN achieves 96.9% accuracy that shows the effectiveness of the integration of SCA and transfer learning.
First Study of Optical Turbulence Over an Astronomical Site in the Central Himalayas Using ST Radar Observations
Authors: Jaiswal Aditya , Naja Manish , Bhattacharjee Samaresh , Kumar Brijesh , Ananthakrishnan S.
Published: February 2023

Optical turbulence in the atmosphere is a key factor which governs the sharpness of images produced from ground-based optical telescopes. The intensity of optical turbulence can be conveniently assessed by the estimation of the refractive index structure constant ([Formula: see text]). Here, observations from a stratosphere troposphere radar (206.5[Formula: see text]MHz) that is co-located with the optical telescope facilities in the central Himalayas, are used for the estimation of [Formula: see text]. The integrated profile of [Formula: see text] and winds over about 2–20[Formula: see text]km have been used to estimate seasonal and diurnal variation of “seeing”, wavefront coherence time, isoplanatic angle and scintillation rate. The mean [Formula: see text] over the site varies from 10[Formula: see text] to 10[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m[Formula: see text] with the largest values in the monsoon and post-monsoon season. The best “seeing” conditions are observed in the winter and post-monsoon season with median “seeing” varying from 0.39[Formula: see text] to 0.81[Formula: see text]. The largest contribution to the diurnal variation of “seeing” comes from turbulences at 2–5[Formula: see text]km height region. A weak correlation of diurnal variation of “seeing” has been observed with surface temperature and relative humidity (RH). Among astroclimatic parameters, the largest isoplanatic angle is associated with winter season with median value of 2.57[Formula: see text] and wavefront coherence time of ∼4.2[Formula: see text]ms. The least scintillation in intensity is observed in the winter season with a rate of ∼10% and most in monsoon season with ∼45% rate. This study is expected to have a positive impact on the optimization of the operation of adaptive optical techniques, observing time and scheduling of scientific programmes for optical telescope facilities in this region of the central Himalayas.
Risk of Exacerbation of Rheumatic Disease after COVID-19 Vaccination
Authors: Ting Amy Cheung Chung , Chung Ho Yin , Chan Shirley Chiu Wai , Lam Vanessa Ip Yan
Published: February 2023

Objectives: To investigate the risk of flare-ups after COVID-19 vaccination in patients with rheumatic disease. Methods: A total of 1,617 patients with rheumatic diseases were identified from three rheumatology clinics. Patients were interviewed for demographic data, disease activity, and vaccination status. Disease flare-up was determined clinically by independent rheumatologists. Change of serum markers and medications were retrieved from medical records. The risk of exacerbation of rheumatic disease, change in serum markers, and escalation of rheumatic medications between vaccinated and nonvaccinated patients were determined using Cox, linear, and logistic regression models, respectively. Possible confounding factors were also taken into consideration. Results: Among 562 (34.76%) patients who received COVID-19 vaccination, rheumatic disease (HR = 2.10, [Formula: see text] 0.001), inflammatory arthritis (HR = 2.71, [Formula: see text] 0.001), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (HR = 2.03, [Formula: see text] = 0.002), spondyloarthritis (SpA) (HR = 4.78, [Formula: see text] 0.001), autoimmune disease (HR = 1.77, [Formula: see text] = 0.01), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (HR = 1.99, [Formula: see text] = 0.02) were associated with postvaccination clinical flare-up. Adult Still’s disease (B = 12.76, [Formula: see text] = 0.03) was associated with increased serum C-reactive protein (CRP). No association was found between vaccination and escalation of rheumatic medication. Subgroup analyses showed that only the mRNA vaccine was associated with flare-ups. Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccination was associated with minor disease flare-up but not escalation of rheumatic medications. In the absence of absolute contraindications, COVID-19 vaccination is recommended in patients with rheumatic disease.

KEY MESSAGES

1. Vaccination is effective in the prevention of morbidity due to COVID-19 in patients with autoimmune diseases.

2. The mRNA vaccine was associated with mild rheumatic disease flare-up.

3. Inactivated virus vaccine is preferable to mRNA vaccine in patients with active autoimmune disease.
Algorithm 1029: Encapsulated Error, a Direct Approach to Evaluate Floating-Point Accuracy
Authors: Demeure Nestor , Chevalier Cédric , Denis Christophe , Dossantos-Uzarralde Pierre
Published: February 2023

Floating-point numbers represent only a subset of real numbers. As such, floating-point arithmetic introduces approximations that can compound and have a significant impact on numerical simulations. We introduce encapsulated error, a new way to estimate the numerical error of an application and provide a reference implementation, the Shaman library. Our method uses dedicated arithmetic over a type that encapsulates both the result the user would have had with the original computation and an approximation of its numerical error. We thus can measure the number of significant digits of any result or intermediate result in a simulation. We show that this approach, although simple, gives results competitive with state-of-the-art methods. It has a smaller overhead, and it is compatible with parallelism, making it suitable for the study of large-scale applications.
Teaching Tracheostomy Management Using VoiceThread: Reflection on the evolution of our blended coaching approach
Authors: Benjamin Jennifer C. , Chen Weichao , Thammasitboon Satid
Published: February 2023

Developing pediatric resident trainees' proficiency in managing and troubleshooting tracheostomy issues is critical for the intensive care of children with medical complexity. Tracheostomy management, involving a set of complex technical and non-technical skills, are traditionally taught in simulation centers. The COVID pandemic, however, has posed a challenge to our in-person coaching, prompting us to explore the innovative use of VoiceThread to teach these skills using a blended approach. In this paper, we report the evolution from VoiceThread-based completely asynchronous coaching towards blended coaching, and we discuss the optimization of blended coaching into Just-in-Time Coaching. We demonstrate that the development of instructional approach was based on our critical analysis of different modes of teaching, reflection on lessons learned and best practices from implementation, and review of relevant literature. Our story can inform educators interested in leveraging the strengths of VoiceThread and different modes of coaching to enhance instruction with procedural skills training.
A Hybrid Optical-Electrical Analog Deep Learning Accelerator Using Incoherent Optical Signals
Authors: Yang Mingdai , Lou Qiuwen , Rajaei Ramin , Jokar Mohammad Reza , Qiu Junyi , Liu Yuming , Udupa Aditi , Chong Frederic T. , Dallesasse John M. , Feng Milton , Goddard Lynford L. , Hu X. Sharon , Li Yanjing
Published: February 2023

Optical deep learning (DL) accelerators have attracted significant interests due to their latency and power advantages. In this article, we focus on incoherent optical designs. A significant challenge is that there is no known solution to perform single-wavelength accumulation (a key operation required for DL workloads) using incoherent optical signals efficiently. Therefore, we devise a hybrid approach, where accumulation is done in the electrical domain, and multiplication is performed in the optical domain. The key technology enabler of our design is the transistor laser, which performs electrical-to-optical and optical-to-electrical conversions efficiently. Through detailed design and evaluation of our design, along with a comprehensive benchmarking study against state-of-the-art RRAM-based designs, we derive the following key results:

(1) For a four-layer multilayer perceptron network, our design achieves 115× and 17.11× improvements in latency and energy, respectively, compared to the RRAM-based design. We can take full advantage of the speed and energy benefits of the optical technology because the inference task can be entirely mapped onto our design.

(2) For a complex workload (Resnet50), weight reprogramming is needed, and intermediate results need to be stored/re-fetched to/from memories. In this case, for the same area, our design still outperforms the RRAM-based design by 15.92× in inference latency, and 8.99× in energy.
E-detector: Asynchronous Spatio-temporal for Event-based Object Detection in Intelligent Transportation System
Authors: Zhang Shixiong , Wang Wenmin , Li Honglei , Zhang Shenyong
Published: February 2023

In intelligent transportation systems, various sensors, including radar and conventional frame cameras, are used to improve system robustness in various challenging scenarios. An event camera is a novel bio-inspired sensor that has attracted the interest of several researchers. It provides a form of neuromorphic vision to capture motion information asynchronously at high speeds. Thus, it possesses advantages for intelligent transportation systems that conventional frame cameras cannot match, such as high temporal resolution, high dynamic range, as well as sparse and minimal motion blur. Therefore, this study proposes an E-detector based on event cameras that asynchronously detect moving objects. The main innovation of our framework is that the spatiotemporal domain of the event camera can be adjusted according to different velocities and scenarios. It overcomes the inherent challenges that traditional cameras face when detecting moving objects in complex environments, such as high speed, complex lighting, and motion blur. Moreover, our approach adopts filter models and transfer learning to improve the performance of event-based object detection. Experiments have shown that our method can detect high-speed moving objects better than conventional cameras using state-of-the-art detection algorithms. Thus, our proposed approach is extremely competitive and extensible, as it can be extended to other scenarios concerning high-speed moving objects. The study findings are expected to unlock the potential of event cameras in intelligent transportation system applications.
Study of the Instantaneous Water Level Measurement Method on Unsteady Flow Based on Single Camera and Fixed Scale Compensation in the Tunnel Model
Authors: Ding Weihua , Li Hu , Yang Fan , Hou Bin , Xue Haibin , Wang Feihu , Zhang Zongxiao , Wang Xinhong
Published: February 2023

The shape of instantaneous water surface profiles for the unsteady flow in the tunnel model can be determined by measuring the instantaneous water levels at multiple points synchronously. However, the measurement accuracy of the ultrasonic method is affected greatly because of the complex state of the water surface when water level changes rapidly. Using an optical method, multicamera synchronous measurement is difficult to control, and the cost is high. For single camera measurement, the reading of the steel ruler in the image cannot be clearly seen when the distance between the measuring point and single camera is far. When the distance is short, all steel rulers cannot be captured at the same time. Hence, in this paper, a single camera and fixed scale compensation method for instantaneous water level observation in unsteady flow is proposed. A series of fixed scales is placed with the same height and width near the water surface to be measured. In order to capture dynamic images of all fixed scales with a clear water surface, a single camera is set at a far position to continuously record the water level change process within the model range. According to the height of the fixed scale, the image accuracy is compensated and the effect of the wide-angle image distortion is automatically avoided. The water level elevation is obtained according to the relationship between the fixed scale and the water surface. In this paper, the unsteady flow model measuring test is applied to the Southern Main Tunnel and the Water Distribution Pool of the Huangchigou Water Diversion Project. The accuracy of this method in measuring the dynamic water level is 1–2 mm, which meets the accuracy requirement and greatly reduces the observation cost of the model test. The proposed method may also be suitable for measuring the instantaneous water level of the unsteady flow in other similar hydraulic model tests.
Passive Flow Control around Two Side‐by‐Side Square Cylinders Using a Control Plate
Authors: Abbasi Waqas Sarwar , Nadeem Sumaira , Rahman Hamid
Published: February 2023

This article is concerned with the numerical analysis of reduction of fluid forces (drag and lift) and suppression of vortex shedding around two side‐by‐side square cylinders using the lattice Boltzmann method. For this purpose, a passive flow control methodology is adopted in which a flat plate (termed as the control plate) is placed at the upstream position of cylinders. The gap ratio (g) between the cylinders and the plate is varied from 0 to 4 while the height of the control plate is varied from 0.2 to 0.8 at fixed Reynolds number of 150. Different flow patterns are found in this study depending on the gap ratios and different heights of the control plate. These flow patterns are single bluff body flow, flip‐flopping flow, and antiphase vortex shedding flow patterns. The narrow gap ratio (g = 0.5) is found to have more impact in terms of force reduction and flow control as compared to larger gap ratios. This article also shows that the fluid flow parameters such as the mean drag coefficient, the Strouhal number, and rms values of drag and lift coefficients of both cylinders reduce considerably due to the control plate as compared to without the control plate. In this regard, it is found that the mean drag coefficient of upper cylinder reduces upto 45.94%, the Strouhal number of both cylinders reduces upto 18.66%, while a maximum reduction of 83.47% and 95.39% is observed in root‐mean‐square values of drag and lift coefficients of upper cylinder, respectively. Another important finding of this article is that the control plate does not suppress forces and control flow at all gap ratios and heights of control plate considered in this article. In some cases, the flow‐induced forces were found to be increasing as compared to without the control plate, and this generally happened at higher gap ratios.
A Soft Label Method for Medical Image Segmentation with Multirater Annotations
Authors: Zhang Jichang , Zheng Yuanjie , Shi Yunfeng
Published: February 2023

In medical image analysis, collecting multiple annotations from different clinical raters is a typical practice to mitigate possible diagnostic errors. For such multirater labels’ learning problems, in addition to majority voting, it is a common practice to use soft labels in the form of full‐probability distributions obtained by averaging raters as ground truth to train the model, which benefits from uncertainty contained in soft labels. However, the potential information contained in soft labels is rarely studied, which may be the key to improving the performance of medical image segmentation with multirater annotations. In this work, we aim to improve soft label methods by leveraging interpretable information from multiraters. Considering that mis‐segmentation occurs in areas with weak supervision of annotations and high difficulty of images, we propose to reduce the reliance on local uncertain soft labels and increase the focus on image features. Therefore, we introduce local self‐ensembling learning with consistency regularization, forcing the model to concentrate more on features rather than annotations, especially in regions with high uncertainty measured by the pixelwise interclass variance. Furthermore, we utilize a label smoothing technique to flatten each rater’s annotation, alleviating overconfidence of structural edges in annotations. Without introducing additional parameters, our method improves the accuracy of the soft label baseline by 4.2% and 2.7% on a synthetic dataset and a fundus dataset, respectively. In addition, quantitative comparisons show that our method consistently outperforms existing multirater strategies as well as state‐of‐the‐art methods. This work provides a simple yet effective solution for the widespread multirater label segmentation problems in clinical diagnosis.
Germplasm Rescue of Postmortem Critically Endangered Yangtze Sturgeon (Acipenser dabryanus) by Cell Preservation
Authors: Liu Juanjuan , Wang Binzhong , Hu Yacheng , Huang Hongtao , Zhao Xun , Du Hejun
Published: February 2023

With the growing sophistication of cloning technology, rescuing cell resources is of great significance for the protection of endangered animals. The Yangtze sturgeon (Acipenser dabryanus), one of the three Acipenseriformes species in the Yangtze River, is critically endangered. Natural reproduction of the Yangtze sturgeon has not been detected since 2000. Less than 20 wild individuals are kept in husbandry, and all are too old to breed. Therefore, it is urgent to rescue the genetic resources of every wild Yangtze sturgeon. Here, we isolated and preserved viable cells from critically endangered postmortem Yangtze sturgeon for the first time. Attempts to rescue and preserve cell resources were carried out from 8 tissues, brain, kidney, gonad, fin, liver, skin, spleen, and muscle of an over 35-year-old female wild Yangtze sturgeon between 11 and 14 hours after death at 19.8°C in an outdoor concrete pond, and only muscle tissue cells could be successfully subcultured and preserved. Furthermore, the cultured cells showed high post-thaw cell viability and normal growth with a population doubling time of 52.98 h. Moreover, they were fibronectin- and desmin-positive, characterizing them as fibroblastic confirmed muscle cells with fibroblastic properties and myogenic origin. Tests for microbial contamination of the cell lines were negative. Chromosome analysis demonstrated that muscle cells possess a modal polyploid chromosome number of 264. The mitochondrial sequence data of COI genes and 12S rRNA confirmed that the developed cell line originated from A. dabryanus. Furthermore, transfection results indicate that muscle cells could be used for gene manipulation and functional studies. These results suggest that viable muscle cells could also be successfully isolated and cryopreserved from the wild Yangtze sturgeon in a short time after death. This report is not only of great significance for the germplasm rescue of critically endangered Yangtze sturgeon but also provides some scientific reference for the germplasm preservation of other endangered fish.
Exogenous Hydrogen Sulfide Mitigates Oxidative Stress and Mitochondrial Damages Induced by Polystyrene Microplastics in Osteoblastic Cells of Mice
Authors: Shi Qingping , Chen Feihong , Feng Yuanyi , Zheng Yangxi , Zhi Ximei , Wu Wen
Published: February 2023

Polystyrene microplastics (mic-PS) have become harmful pollutants that attracted substantial attention about their potential toxicity. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is the third reported endogenous gas transmitter with protective functions on numerous physiologic responses. Nevertheless, the roles for mic-PS on skeletal systems in mammals and the protective effects of exogenous H2S are still indistinct. Here, the proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cell was analyzed by CCK8. Gene changes between the control and mic-PS treatment groups were analyzed by RNA-seq. The mRNA expression of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (Bmp4), alpha cardiac muscle 1 (Actc1), and myosin heavy polypeptide 6 (Myh6) was analyzed by QPCR. ROS level was analyzed by 2

′

,7

′

-dichlorofluorescein (DCFH-DA). The mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was analyzed by Rh123. Our results indicated after exposure for 24 h, 100 mg/L mic-PS induced considerable cytotoxicity in the osteoblastic cells of mice. There were 147 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) including 103 downregulated genes and 44 upregulated genes in the mic-PS-treated group versus the control. The related signaling pathways were oxidative stress, energy metabolism, bone formation, and osteoblast differentiation. The results indicate that exogenous H2S may relieve mic-PS toxicity by altering Bmp4, Actc1, and Myh6 mRNA expressions associated with mitochondrial oxidative stress. Taken together, this study demonstrated that the bone toxicity effects of mic-PS along with exogenous H2S have protective function in mic-PS-mediated oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction in osteoblastic cells of mice.
The Effect of Threshold Loading Training and an Innovative Respiratory Training Devices with Lower Torso Sports Training in Asthma Patients: A Randomized Trial
Authors: Hamad Shimal H. , Hadi Ammar Hamza , Mohr Magni , Mahadevan Suman Pandey , Kzar Mazin Hadi
Published: February 2023

This study investigated the influence of two different devices with lower torso sports training in patients with asthma. Patients with asthma (n = 300) aged 55‐60 years with FEV1/FVC ratio < 65%, who were repeatedly admitted to a pulmonary rehabilitation centre, participated. Patients were evaluated and randomized into two groups (experimental group 1; EXP‐1, n = 150, who applied a conventional threshold loading device, and experimental group 2; EXP‐2, n = 150, who used an innovative respiratory training device). Patients were included only if they met the global criteria for asthma. The experimental intervention period lasted 10 weeks with 3 weekly training sessions lasting 30‐40 min. The maximal inspiratory pressure (PI, max), pulmonary function test, baseline dyspnoea index (BDI), oxygen saturation, and 6 min walking test (6MWT) performance were all measured at baseline and postintervention. Also, an assessment of the 1 min repeated exercise performance (leg extension and leg press) was performed. Moreover, St. George Respiratory Questionnaire was used to quantify the quality of life (SGRQ). Statistical analysis displayed significant favourable effects on 6MWT, leg press, and FRV1, for patients using both devices (EXP‐1 and EXP‐2, respectively) with lower torso athletic training. The other variables, weight SPO2 and SGRO, also showed no significant change in neither EXP‐1 nor EXP‐2. Thus, the new respiratory training device (EXP‐2) appeared to be as effective as the conventional threshold loading device (EXP‐1). In conclusion, our findings demonstrated beneficial effects of combining respiratory training with athletic training in asthma patients. Additionally, the validity of a unique respiratory training device for asthma patients was confirmed.
TREM2 as a Prognostic Biomarker for Osteosarcoma Microenvironment Remodeling
Authors: Shen Zhi-Long , Chen Zhao-Yu , Ji Yong , Jiang Hao , Zhu Zhi-Peng , Yuan Hao , Li Bo , Xu Wei , Xiao Jianru
Published: February 2023

The tumor microenvironment (TME) acts as a crucial role in the occurrence and development of osteosarcoma (OS). Despite this, the mechanism controlling the components of immunity and stroma in the tumor microenvironment remains a mystery. To conduct this study, we download and collate transcriptome data from the TARGET database, whose full name is Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments, as well as available clinical information of OS. The CIBERSORT and ESTIMATE methodology are used to acquire the proportions of components of immunity and stroma and tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TICs). Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks and Cox regression analysis are used to select differentially expressed genes (DEGs). A prognostic biomarker is determined by intersecting univariate COX and PPI results, which lead to the finding of Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 (TREM2). Based on the next analysis, TREM2 expression is positively correlated with OS survival time. Immune function-related genes have enrichment in the group with high expression of TREM2, according to gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). The percentage of TICs by CIBERSORT methodology revealed that the expression of TREM2 is positively associated with follicular helper T cells, CD8-positive T cells, and M2 macrophages and negatively correlated with plasma cells, M0 macrophages, and naive CD4-positive T cells. All results suggest a possible integral role of TREM2 in the immune-related events of TME. Therefore, TREM2 may be a potential indicator of remodeling of TME in osteosarcoma, which is useful and helpful in predicting the clinical prognostic outcome of OS patients and provide a unique perspective for immunotherapy for OS.
Induced Inflammatory and Oxidative Markers in Cerebral Microvasculature by Mentally Depressive Stress
Authors: Zhu Yuequan , Haddad Yazeed , Yun Ho Jun , Geng Xiaokun , Ding Yuchuan
Published: February 2023

Background. Cerebrovascular disease (CVD) is recognized as the leading cause of permanent disability worldwide. Depressive disorders are associated with increased incidence of CVD. The goal of this study was to establish a chronic restraint stress (CRS) model for mice and examine the effect of stress on cerebrovascular inflammation and oxidative stress responses. Methods. A total of forty 6-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into the CRS and control groups. In the CRS group (

n
=
20

), mice were placed in a well-ventilated Plexiglas tube for 6 hours per day for 28 consecutive days. On day 29, open field tests (OFT) and sucrose preference tests (SPT) were performed to assess depressive-like behaviors for the two groups (

n
=
10

/group). Macrophage infiltration into the brain tissue upon stress was analyzed by measuring expression of macrophage marker (CD68) with immunofluorescence in both the CRS and control groups (

n
=
10

/group). Cerebral microvasculature was isolated from the CRS and controls (

n
=
10

/group). mRNA and protein expressions of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), and macrophage chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in the brain vessels were measured by real-time PCR and Western blot (

n
=
10

/group). Reactive oxygen species (ROS), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase (NOX) activities were quantified by ELISA to study the oxidative profile of the brain vessels (

n
=
10

/group). Additionally, mRNA and protein expressions of NOX subunits (gp91phox, p47phox, p67phox, and p22phox) in the cerebrovascular endothelium were analyzed by real-time PCR and Western blot (

n
=
10

/group). Results. CRS decreased the total distances (

p
<
0.05

) and the time spent in the center zone in OFT (

p
<
0.001

) and sucrose preference test ratio in SPT (

p
<
0.01

). Positive ratio of CD68+ was increased with CRS in the entire region of the brain (

p
<
0.001

), reflecting increased macrophage infiltration. CRS increased the expression of inflammatory factors and oxidative stress in the cerebral microvasculature, including TNF-α (

p
<
0.001

), IL-1β (

p
<
0.05

), IL-6 (

p
<
0.05

), VCAM-1 (

p
<
0.01

), MCP-1 (

p
<
0.01

), ROS (

p
<
0.001

), and H2O2 (

p
<
0.001

). NADPH oxidase (NOX) was activated by CRS (

p
<
0.01

), and mRNA and protein expressions of NOX subunits (gp91phox, p47phox, p67phox, and p22phox) in brain microvasculature were found to be increased. Conclusions. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that CRS induces depressive stress and causes inflammatory and oxidative stress responses in the brain microvasculature.
Use of Wavelet and Bootstrap Methods in Streamflow Prediction
Authors: Bashir Adnan , Shehzad Muhammad Ahmed , Khan Aamna , Niaz Ayesha , Asghar Muhammad Nabeel , Aldallal Ramy , Kilai Mutua
Published: February 2023

Streamflow prediction is vital to control the effects of floods and mitigation. Physical prediction model often provides satisfactory results, but these models require massive computational work and hydrogeomorphological variables to develop a prediction system. At the same time, data-driven prediction models are quick to apply, easy to handle, and reliable. This study investigates a new hybrid model, the wavelet bootstrap quadratic response surface, for accurate streamflow prediction. Wavelet analysis is a well-known time-frequency joint analysis technique applied in various fields like biological signals, vibration signals, and hydrological signals. The wavelet analysis is used to denoise the time series data. Bootstrap is a nonparametric method for removing uncertainty that uses an intensive resampling methodology with replacement. The authors analyzed the results of the studied models with different statistical metrics, and it has been observed that the wavelet bootstrap quadratic response surface model provides the most efficient results.
Prognostic 7-SLC-Gene Signature Identified via Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis for Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Authors: Xiong Lingfeng , Luo Yongping , Yuan Tianbai , Lin Weipeng , Lin Bohui , Wu Chen , Duan Yuyou , Ou Yimeng
Published: February 2023

Background. Solute carrier (SLC) proteins play an important role in tumor metabolism. But SLC-associated genes’ prognostic significance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remained elusive. We identified SLC-related factors and developed an SLC-related classifier to predict and improve HCC prognosis and treatment. Methods. From the TCGA database, corresponding clinical data and mRNA expression profiles of 371 HCC patients were acquired, and those of 231 tumor samples were derived from the ICGC database. Genes associated with clinical features were filtered using weighted gene correlation network analysis (WGCNA). Next, univariate LASSO Cox regression studies developed SLC risk profiles, with the ICGC cohort data being used in validation. Result. Univariate Cox regression analysis revealed that 31 SLC genes

P
<
0.05

were related to HCC prognosis. 7 (SLC22A25, SLC2A2, SLC41A3, SLC44A1, SLC48A1, SLC4A2, and SLC9A3R1) of these genes were applied in developing a SLC gene prognosis model. Samples were classified into the low-andhigh-risk groups by the prognostic signature, with those in the high-risk group showing a significantly worse prognosis (

P
<
0.001

in the TCGA cohort and

P
=
0.0068

in the ICGC cohort). ROC analysis validated the signature’s prediction power. In addition, functional analyses showed enrichment of immune-related pathways and different immune status between the two risk groups. Conclusion. The 7-SLC-gene prognostic signature established in this study helped predict the prognosis, and was also correlated with the tumor immune status and infiltration of different immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. The current findings may provide important clinical indications for proposing a novel combination therapy consists of targeted anti-SLC therapy and immunotherapy for HCC patients.
[Retracted] Sex Differences in the Relationship between Abdominal Obesity and Cardiovascular Death in Elderly Patients with Permanent Pacemakers Implantation: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Xue Xiaodi , Li Xiaoyao , Zhao Shuang , Chen Keping , Hua Wei , Su Yan-Gang , Liang Zhaoguang , Xu Wei , Zhang Shu
Published: February 2023

Objectives. This study aims to investigate the association between waist circumference (WC) and cardiovascular death in patients with permanent pacemakers (PPMs). Methods. This is a retrospective cohort study that enrolled patients who underwent PPM implantation in Fuwai Hospital from May 2010 to April 2014, according to the BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring database. The WC was treated as sex‐specific quartiles, and patients were divided into three groups according to body mass index (BMI): normal (≤22.9 kg/m2), overweight (23–24.9 kg/m2), and obese (≥25 kg/m2). Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for cardiovascular death according to WC and BMI in patients. Results. 492 patients with PPMs implantation were analyzed (mean age: 71.9 ± 10.8 years; 55.1% men (n = 271)). Data showed that after a mean follow‐up 67.2 ± 17.5 months, 24 (4.9%) patients had experienced cardiovascular death and 71 (14.4%) were cases of all‐cause mortality. Men in the third quartile of WC had an HR of 10.67 (Model 4, 95% CI: 1.00–115.21, p trend = 0.04) for cardiovascular death. However, the association disappeared in female patients (Model 4, HR = 3.99, 95% CI: 0.37–42.87, p trend = 0.25). There was no association between BMI and cardiovascular death or all‐cause mortality in both male and female patients. Conclusions. Abdominal obesity was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular death in patients with PPMs, and this relationship was only in male patients.
Analysis of Wellbore Stability considering the Interaction between Fluid and Shale
Authors: Chang Long , Wang Haige , Zhuo Lubin , Huang Hongchun , Zou Lingzhan , Wang Qing , Li Hong , Yu Jing
Published: February 2023

Reservoir shale has the characteristics of bedding planes, strong anisotropy, and strong imbibition ability under ultralow water saturation, which has an important impact on wellbore stability of horizontal wells. Therefore, the physical and chemical properties of reservoir shale were analyzed, and a mechanics model of wellbore stability was established considering the elasticity and strength anisotropy. The wellbore stability was analyzed considering the anisotropy parameters of formation elasticity and strength and imbibition conditions. The results show that the anisotropy of elasticity and strength under the condition of imbibition are important parameters for evaluating the stability of reservoir shale borehole. Considering the interaction between fluid and reservoir shale, the weakening of the strength of the bedding structure is the reason for wellbore instability of reservoir shale. Bedding planes and microfractures provide rapid imbibition channel, and the imbibition volume increases, which further causes fracture expansion and strength weakening, and then leads to wellbore instability. Multistage effective plugging of bedding, microcracks and macroholes during drilling is the key to maintain the stability of shale wellbore.
Aboveground Biomass Models for Indigenous Tree Species in the Dry Afromontane Forest, Central Ethiopia
Authors: Lemi Tamiru , Eshete Abeje , Seid Getinet , Mulugeta Sinke , Egeta Dereje , Teshome Mindaye
Published: February 2023

The application of biomass models for quantifying forests’ above-ground biomass is essential for sustainable forest management. However, lack of knowledge in modelig biomass of individual tree growth hinders the sustainable management of Dry Afromontane forests. In this study, models to estimate above-ground biomass were developed for Rhus ruspolii, Ekebergia capensis, and Nuxia congesta. To develop the models, a total of 45 trees from different diameter classes were selected, felled, and divided into different biomass compartments. For the model’s development, diameter at breast height (DBH), total height (TH), diameter at stump height (DSH), and wood density (WD) were used as independent variables. Models’ performances were evaluated using RSE, adjusted coefficient of determination, and AIC. Also, model validations were done by using rRMSE, mean absolute deviation, bias, and coefficient of variation. Models 5 (Adj-R2 = 0.92), 6 (Adj-R2 = 0.97), and 8 (Adj-R22 = 0.82) were the best fitted models for Nuxia congesta, Ekebergia capensis, and Rhus ruspolii, respectively. The average wood densities of Ekebergia capensis, Nuxia congesta, and Rhus ruspolii were 0.59, 0.50, and 0.69, respectively. The variation between observed biomass and estimated biomass using new models was statistically not significant (p>0.05). Thus, the biomass models developed here can be important tools to accurately estimate above-ground biomass in the Menagesha Suba forest and can be integrated into decision support tools.