bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dissolved sulfate δ
34
S and the origin of sulfate in coal mine waters; NE England
Authors: Banks David , Boyce Adrian J.
Published: February 2023

Coal mine waters have been sampled during a reconnaissance study in the East Midlands, South Yorkshire and Tyneside areas of England. Almost all the mine waters had similar

δ

18
O and

δ

2
H concentrations, indicating a derivation from Holocene recharge (average of −7.9 and −54‰, respectively, excluding two outliers). Most mine waters emerging by shallow gravity drainage have dissolved sulfate

δ

34
S levels of <+10‰, suggesting a derivation of sulfate from the oxidation of pyrite. Deeper mine waters, pumped from boreholes or shafts, tended to be more saline with dissolved sulfate

δ

34
S levels of >+14‰ and, in two cases, >+30‰. The sulfate in these latter waters cannot be readily explained as deriving from pyrite oxidation. Alternative hypotheses (evaporitic or marine brines, evaporite dissolution or partially-closed-system microbial sulfate reduction) can be invoked as explanations. A more general hypothesis proposes that deep groundwaters/mine waters can be regarded as saline ‘sinks’, whose sulfate

δ

34
S concentration is controlled by a dynamic equilibrium between rates of sulfate mobilization from various sources and sulfate removal by precipitation or microbial reduction.

Supplementary material
: Supplementary Material A (a detailed description of sample sites and results) and Supplementary Material B (locations of sample sites) are available at
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6418981
A journey through the Ordovician System around the world
Authors: Servais Thomas , Harper David A. T. , Lefebvre Bertrand , Percival Ian G.
Published: February 2023

The Ordovician was a key period in the biological and geological history of the Earth. ‘A Global Synthesis of the Ordovician System’ is presented in two volumes of
The Geological Society, Special Publications
series. The first volume (SP532) covers general aspects of the Ordovician and also includes the syntheses of the Ordovician successions of Europe. To provide a comprehensive global overview, this second volume (SP533) represents a journey through the Ordovician System around the world. Reviews of the Ordovician of North America include syntheses of Alaska, Greenland, Canada, the USA and Mexico, whereas the South American Ordovician is summarized in a specific chapter related to Argentina and neighbouring countries. The Ordovician System of Africa is presented in chapters covering the north and the south of the continent where significant Ordovician successions occur. Australia and New Zealand, as well as Antarctica, are visited in separate chapters. Asia provides the most complex Ordovician successions that are reviewed in chapters covering Turkey and the Levant region, the Middle East, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, India, SE Asia, China, Korea, and Japan. Our journey covers a great number of locations but, with many successions still to be fully described, our knowledge of the Ordovician of the world remains incomplete.
The Economics of Ransomware Attacks on Integrated Supply Chain Networks
Authors: Cartwright Anna , Cartwright Edward
Published: February 2023

We explore the economics of ransomware on production supply chains. Integrated supply chains result in a mutual-dependence between firms that can be exploited by cyber-criminals. For instance, we show that by targeting one firm in the network the criminals can potentially hold multiple firms to ransom. Overlapping security systems may also allow the criminals to strike at weak points in the network. For instance, it may be optimal for the attacker to target a supplier in order to ransom a large producer at the heart of the production network. We introduce a game theoretic model of an attack on a supply chain and solve for two types of Nash equilibria. We then study a hub and spoke example before providing simulation results for a general case. We find that the total ransom the criminals can demand is increasing in the average path length of the network. Thus, the ransom is lowest for a hub and spoke network and highest for a line network. Mitigation strategies are discussed.
Exploring the Relationship Between Offline Cultural Environments and Toxic Behavior Tendencies in Multiplayer Online Games
Authors: Kordyaka Bastian , Park Solip , Krath Jeanine , Laato Samuli
Published: February 2023

In multiplayer online games, players from different cultural backgrounds come together to cooperate and compete in real time. Although these games are enjoyed by billions of players globally, behavioral issues such astoxic behavior (TB)have become rampant in some games, perhaps most infamously inmultiplayer online battle arena (MOBA)games, such as League of Legends and Dota 2. A crucial step in curbing TB lies in understanding its drivers and antecedents. In the present work, we contribute to this field of research by considering the regional offline cultural environment in which players live. We draw both on Hofstede's Cultural Dimension Framework and on Kordyaka et al.’sUnified Theory of Toxic Behavior (UTTB)to compare two cross-sectional samples of MOBA players: one from North America (n = 155) and one from India (n = 119). Our analysis reveals significant differences between the samples for all UTTB variables. Additional analyses also indicate the relevance of national culture in relation to other dispositions (i.e., age) and characteristics (i.e., game-related culture). Our findings underscore the role that the offline cultural environments play in TB in MOBAs and additionally open avenues for further research that takes dimensions of national culture in the study of online behavior into account.
From Reactive to Active Sensing: A Survey on Information Gathering in Decision-theoretic Planning
Authors: Veiga Tiago , Renoux Jennifer
Published: February 2023

In traditional decision-theoretic planning, information gathering is a means to a goal. The agent receives information about its environment (state or observation) and uses it as a way to optimize a state-based reward function. Recent works, however, have focused on application domains in which information gathering is not only the mean but the goal itself. The agent must optimize its knowledge of the environment. However, traditional Markov-based decision-theoretic models cannot account for rewarding the agent based on its knowledge, which leads to the development of many approaches to overcome this limitation. We survey recent approaches for using decision-theoretic models in information-gathering scenarios, highlighting common practices and existing generic models, and show that existing methods can be categorized into three classes:
reactive sensing
,
single-agent active sensing
, and
multi-agent active sensing
. Finally, we highlight potential research gaps and suggest directions for future research.
Logic Shrinkage: Learned Connectivity Sparsification for LUT-Based Neural Networks
Authors: Wang Erwei , Auffret Marie , Stavrou Georgios-Ilias , Cheung Peter Y. K. , Constantinides George A. , Abdelfattah Mohamed S. , Davis James J.
Published: February 2023

Field-programmable gate array (FPGA)–specific deep neural network (DNN) architectures using native lookup tables (LUTs) as independently trainable inference operators have been shown to achieve favorable area-accuracy and energy-accuracy trade-offs. The first work in this area, LUTNet, exhibited state-of-the-art performance for standard DNN benchmarks. In this article, we propose the learned optimization of such LUT-based topologies, resulting in higher-efficiency designs than via the direct use of off-the-shelf, hand-designed networks. Existing implementations of this class of architecture require the manual specification of the number of inputs per LUT,
K
. Choosing appropriate
K
a priori
is challenging. Doing so at even high granularity, for example, per layer, is a time-consuming and error-prone process that leaves FPGAs’ spatial flexibility underexploited. Furthermore, prior works see LUT inputs connected randomly, which does not guarantee a good choice of network topology. To address these issues, we propose
logic shrinkage
, a fine-grained netlist pruning methodology enabling
K
to be automatically learned for every LUT in a neural network targeted for FPGA inference. By removing LUT inputs determined to be of low importance, our method increases the efficiency of the resultant accelerators. Our GPU-friendly solution to LUT input removal is capable of processing large topologies during their training with negligible slowdown. With logic shrinkage, we improve the area and energy efficiency of the best-performing LUTNet implementation of the CNV network classifying CIFAR-10 by 1.54× and 1.31×, respectively, while matching its accuracy. This implementation also reaches 2.71× the area efficiency of an equally accurate, heavily pruned binary neural network (BNN). On ImageNet, with the Bi-Real Net architecture, employment of logic shrinkage results in a post-synthesis area reduction of 2.67×
vs.
LUTNet, allowing for implementation that was previously impossible on today’s largest FPGAs. We validate the benefits of logic shrinkage in the context of real application deployment by implementing a face mask detection DNN using a BNN, LUTNet, and logic-shrunk layers. Our results show that logic shrinkage results in area gains versus LUTNet (up to 1.20×) and equally pruned BNNs (up to 1.08×), along with accuracy improvements.
Hitting Topological Minor Models in Planar Graphs is Fixed Parameter Tractable
Authors: Golovach Petr A. , Stamoulis Giannos , Thilikos Dimitrios M.
Published: February 2023

For a finite collection of graphs ℱ, the ℱ-
TM-Deletion
problem has as input an
n
-vertex graph
G
and an integer
k
and asks whether there exists a set
S ⊆ V(G)
with
|S| ≤ k
such that
G \ S
does not contain any of the graphs in ℱ as a topological minor. We prove that for every such ℱ, ℱ -
TM-Deletion
is fixed parameter tractable on planar graphs. Our algorithm runs in a 2

𝒪(
k
2)

⋅
n
2
time, or, alternatively, in 2

𝒪(
k
)

⋅
n
4
time. Our techniques can easily be extended to graphs that are embeddable on any fixed surface.
Optimal Scale-Free Small-World Graphs with Minimum Scaling of Cover Time
Authors: Xu Wanyue , Zhang Zhongzhi
Published: February 2023

The cover time of random walks on a graph has found wide practical applications in different fields of computer science, such as crawling and searching on the World Wide Web and query processing in sensor networks, with the application effects dependent on the behavior of the cover time: the smaller the cover time, the better the application performance. It was proved that over all graphs withNnodes, complete graphs have the minimum cover timeNlogN. However, complete graphs cannot mimic real-world networks with small average degree and scale-free small-world properties, for which the cover time has not been examined carefully, and its behavior is still not well understood. In this article, we first experimentally evaluate the cover time for various real-world networks with scale-free small-world properties, which scales asNlogN. To better understand the behavior of the cover time for real-world networks, we then study the cover time of three scale-free small-world model networks by using the connection between cover time and resistance diameter. For all the three networks, their cover time also behaves asNlogN. This work indicates that sparse networks with scale-free and small-world topology are favorable architectures with optimal scaling of cover time. Our results deepen understanding the behavior of cover time in real-world networks with scale-free small-world structure, and have potential implications in the design of efficient algorithms related to cover time.
Mechanisms of Protein Trafficking and Quality Control in the Kidney and Beyond
Authors: Shaw Jillian L. , Pablo Juan Lorenzo , Greka Anna
Published: February 2023

Numerous trafficking and quality control pathways evolved to handle the diversity of proteins made by eukaryotic cells. However, at every step along the biosynthetic pathway, there is the potential for quality control system failure. This review focuses on the mechanisms of disrupted proteostasis. Inspired by diseases caused by misfolded proteins in the kidney (mucin 1 and uromodulin), we outline the general principles of protein biosynthesis, delineate the recognition and degradation pathways targeting misfolded proteins, and discuss the role of cargo receptors in protein trafficking and lipid homeostasis. We also discuss technical approaches including live-cell fluorescent microscopy, chemical screens to elucidate trafficking mechanisms, multiplexed single-cell CRISPR screening platforms to systematically delineate mechanisms of proteostasis, and the advancement of novel tools to degrade secretory and membrane-associated proteins. By focusing on components of trafficking that go awry, we highlight ongoing efforts to understand fundamental mechanisms of disrupted proteostasis and implications for the treatment of human proteinopathies.
Application of Hierarchical Clustering Approach for Prediction of Grain Size in Heat-Treated EN9 Steel
Authors: Sahoo Tapasmini , Panda Susmita , Biswal Sweta Rani
Published: February 2023

One of the simplest, most popular, and productive ways to conduct research and testing in the field of materials science is through the use of metallographic study. Technological boon in the field of metallographic study, opens new gateway for materials characterization through image processing technologies. Image segmentation, edge detection, and roughly estimating grain size are the three main goals of metallographic image processing. The objective of this paper was to determine the grain size of EN9 steel by applying different clustering techniques to the image textured data, collected from EN9 steel metallographic specimens in normalized and annealed condition. In order to determine the average grain size in EN9 steel specimens when seen with a metallurgical microscope, this article blends the ideas of image processing with various hierarchical clustering methodologies to study material characteristics.
Exercise tolerance, fatigue, mental health, and employment status at 5 and 12 months following COVID-19 illness in a physically trained population
Authors: Ladlow Peter , Holdsworth David A. , O’Sullivan Oliver , Barker-Davies Robert M. , Houston Andrew , Chamley Rebecca , Rogers-Smith Kasha , Kinkaid Victoria , Kedzierski Adam , Naylor Jon , Mulae Joseph , Cranley Mark , Nicol Edward D. , Bennett Alexander N.
Published: February 2023

Subjective exercise limiting symptoms such as fatigue and shortness of breath reduce but remain prevalent in symptomatic groups. At 12 mo, COVID-19-exposed individuals still have a reduced capacity for work at the anaerobic threshold (which best predicts sustainable intensity), despite oxygen uptake comparable to controls. The prevalence of COVID-19-exposed individuals considered “medically non-deployable” remains high at 47%.
Pulmonary artery banding in sheep: a novel large animal model for congestive hepatopathy
Authors: Ukita Rei , Wu Wei Kelly , Liang Jiancong , Talackine Jennifer R. , Patel Yatrik J. , Francois Sean A. , Cardwell Nancy L. , Flynn Charles R. , Shingina Alexandra , Washington Mary Kay , Trinh Vincent Quoc-Huy , Bacchetta Matthew , Alexopoulos Sophoclis P.
Published: February 2023

We present here a large animal platform for congestive hepatopathy, a disease growing in clinical prevalence due to the increasing number of Fontan-palliated patients. Further data are needed to develop a better clinical management strategy for this poorly characterized patient population. Previous reports of animal models to study this disease have mostly been in small animals with limited fidelity. We show that congestive hepatopathy can be replicated in a chronic, progressive pulmonary artery banding model in sheep. We also show that the banding strategy can be controlled to titrate the level of liver injury. To date, we do not know of any other large animal model that can achieve this level of control over disease phenotype and clinical relevance.
Downregulation of miR-137 Facilitates CD4+ T Cell Pyroptosis in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus via Stimulating AMPK Pathway
Authors: Gong Aimin , Mi Long , Wei Fangzhi , Zhuang Yanping , Song Yitian , Pan Chengdan , Zhang Xuan , Lin Guiling , Wu Zhiquan , Liu Ying
Published: February 2023

Objective. From the pathogenic mechanism point of view, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) features prominently in T lymphocyte apoptosis. Yet the regulatory mechanism underlying SLE cell apoptosis remains to be explored. This research intends to clarify the role played by miR-137 in SLE and the underlying mechanisms. Methods. Twenty SLE patients (SLE group) and twenty healthy controls (control group) were selected, from whom peripheral blood CD4+ T cells were isolated via magnetic-activated cell sorting. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) quantified miR-137 and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in CD4+ T cells. Further, transfection of miR-137 mimics and inhibitors into CD4+ T cells was carried out to alter miR levels. Levels of pyroptosis, apoptosis, and inflammatory- and pyroptosis-related proteins were determined through PI staining, flow cytometry, and Western blotting, respectively. A luciferase reporter gene assay identified the targeting relation between miR-137 and AMPK. Results. SLE patients showed downregulated miR-137 and upregulated AMPK in CD4+ T cells than controls. miR-137 upregulation by miR-137 mimic transfection inhibited Jurkat cell pyroptosis and apoptosis at both mRNA and protein levels and suppressed NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain-associated protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activity and pyroptosis-related protein gasdermin D (GSDMD), while miR-137 inhibitor transfection contributed to completely opposite effects. miR-137 directly targeted AMPK, as indicated by the luciferase reporter gene assay. Furthermore, miR-137 inhibitor intervention induced healthy CD4+ T cell pyroptosis and apoptosis via mediating AMPK, whereas miR-137 mimic transfection into CD4+ T cells of SLE patients leads to opposite results. Conclusion. Upregulating miR-137 inhibits CD4+ T cell pyroptosis in SLE patients by modulating the AMPK pathway, suggesting the potential diagnostic and therapeutic role of miR-137 in SLE.
Current Therapeutic Modalities for the Management of Chronic Diabetic Wounds of the Foot
Authors: Oyebode Olajumoke Arinola , Jere Sandy Winfield , Houreld Nicolette Nadene
Published: February 2023

Impaired wound healing is common in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Different therapeutic modalities including wound debridement and dressing, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), nanomedicine, shockwave therapy, hyperbaric (HBOT) and topical (TOT) oxygen therapy, and photobiomodulation (PBM) have been used in the management of chronic diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). The selection of a suitable treatment method for DFUs depends on the hosts’ physiological status including the intricacy and wound type. Effective wound care is considered a critical component of chronic diabetic wound management. This review discusses the causes of diabetic wounds and current therapeutic modalities for the management of DFUs, specifically wound debridement and dressing, TENS, nanomedicine, shockwave therapy, HBOT, TOT, and PBM.
Modification of Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lenses with Vitamin E for the Delivery of Ofloxacin
Authors: Zhang Xiaojuan , Zhao Yuan , Jing Yuyang , Wang Zhao , Song Wenli , Liang Dong , Lin Qing
Published: February 2023

This study synthesized silicone hydrogel (SHL) contact lenses modified by vitamin E (VE). First, the prepolymer GKF8010, methacryloxymethyltris (trimethylsiloxy) silane, and N,N-dimethylaniline were used to synthesize SHL contact lenses through ultraviolet irradiation by using ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as crosslinker. Then, VE was combined with SHL contact lenses (VE/SHL) in ethanol solution. The obtained SHL and VE/SHL contact lenses were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmittance analysis, contact angle test, mechanical property analysis, and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. Compared with SHL contact lenses, VE/SHL contact lenses had a porous structure, good transmittance, hydrophobic properties, and mechanical properties. Ofloxacin (OFL) was loaded into SHL and VE/SHL contact lenses by the soaking method. The drug release, antibacterial, and biocompatibility properties were further characterized. VE/SHL-OFL contact lenses could deliver OFL at therapeutic doses for 5 days. The antibacterial test indicated that VE/SHL-OFL contact lenses displayed inhibition ring sizes of 8.14 and 16.66 mm for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. Besides, cell viability assays showed that the obtained VE/SHL contact lenses were cytocompatible and might be potential drug carriers for oculopathy treatment.
An Automatic Image Processing Method Based on Artificial Intelligence for Locating the Key Boundary Points in the Central Serous Chorioretinopathy Lesion Area
Authors: Xu Jianguo , Shen Jianxin , Wan Cheng , Yan Zhipeng , Zhou Fen , Zhang Shaochong , Yang Weihua
Published: February 2023

Accurately and rapidly measuring the diameter of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) lesion area is the key to judge the severity of CSCR and evaluate the efficacy of the corresponding treatments. Currently, the manual measurement scheme based on a single or a small number of optical coherence tomography (OCT) B‐scan images encounters the dilemma of incredibility. Although manually measuring the diameters of all OCT B‐scan images of a single patient can alleviate the previous issue, the situation of inefficiency will thus arise. Additionally, manual operation is subject to subjective factors of ophthalmologists, resulting in unrepeatable measurement results. Therefore, an automatic image processing method (i.e., a joint framework) based on artificial intelligence (AI) is innovatively proposed for locating the key boundary points of CSCR lesion area to assist the diameter measurement. Firstly, the initial location module (ILM) benefiting from multitask learning is properly adjusted and tentatively achieves the preliminary location of key boundary points. Secondly, the location task is formulated as a Markov decision process, aiming at further improving the location accuracy by utilizing the single agent reinforcement learning module (SARLM). Finally, the joint framework based on the ILM and SARLM is skillfully established, in which ILM provides an initial starting point for SARLM to narrow the active region of agent, and SARLM makes up for the defect of low generalization of ILM by virtue of the independent exploration ability of agent. Experiments reveal the AI‐based method which joins the multitask learning, and single agent reinforcement learning paradigms enable agents to work in local region, alleviating the time‐consuming problem of SARLM, performing location task in a global scope, and improving the location accuracy of ILM, thus reflecting its effectiveness and clinical application value in the task of rapidly and accurately measuring the diameter of CSCR lesions.
[Retracted] Wireless Sensor Network and AI Application for Educational Technology Course
Authors: Luo Xiaoyue
Published: February 2023

Over the course of its long development, the modern educational technology curriculum has undergone several changes and amassed a lot of information. Theoretically speaking, the state places a strong priority on the use of IT in schools. Students majoring in education should take educational technology courses so that they can learn the characteristics and application techniques of core current information‐based teaching media and incorporate them into their own lesson plans and classroom activities. This will help them meet the information needs of today’s classrooms as they evolve with the advent of educational modernization and availability of educational information. Thus, this research employs a wireless sensor network (WSN) to gather and send data on ed tech classes and then employs AI to assess those classes’ quality and guide real‐time changes to how they are taught and complete the following tasks: (1) The development status of educational technology courses and WSN at home and abroad is introduced. (2) The application of WSN in teaching is introduced, the basic principle of GRU neural network and related optimization algorithms is expounded, and the quality evaluation system of educational technology courses is constructed. (3) The IPSO‐Adam‐GRU evaluation model improves the GRU neural network’s hyperparameters with the help of the improved PSO approach and Adam gradient descent. The model is fed test data for evaluation, and the findings are compared to those from an expert’s evaluation to determine how well the model performs. The results demonstrate that the model established for this article is superior to others since it provides a more accurate assessment.
Exploring the Stability and Capacity Characteristics of Mixed Traffic Flow with Autonomous and Human-Driven Vehicles considering Aggressive Driving
Authors: Li Yun , Zhang Shengrui , Pan Yingjiu , Zhou Bei , Peng Yanan
Published: February 2023

With the popularization of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, mixed traffic flows that consist of AVs and human-driven vehicles (HDVs) will appear in the real world. Although many studies of the features of mixed traffic flow have been carefully evaluated, few studies have focused on the effect of aggressive driving performance on mixed traffic flow. This study aims to develop an approach to evaluate the effects of aggressive driving on the stability and capacity performance under the conditions of AV and HDV mixed traffic flow. First, since a car-following model can describe the relationship between vehicles, we calibrate a car-following model for aggressive driving and nonaggressive driving behaviors based on real traffic data and previous research results. Then, in a mixed traffic flow environment, a basic linear stability formula and capacity calculation expression are developed that consider the effects of vehicle order on the capacity. Finally, because the proportion of aggressive driving and aggressive driving parameters may change, nine combinations of three aggressive driving proportions and three driving parameter cases are used for the sensitivity analysis. The results indicate that the effect of aggressive driving on mixed traffic flow is complex. When the proportion of aggressive driving is less than 35%, the increase in the proportion of aggressive driving increases the traffic capacity and reduces the unstable part. However, when the proportion of aggressive driving is greater than 35%, the increase in the proportion of aggressive driving increases the unstable part. When the penetration rate of AVs exceeds 0.490, mixed traffic flow remains stable at all aggressive driving proportions. In addition, the capacity of a mixed traffic flow may be improved as the penetration rate of AVs increases. To a certain extent, these conclusions provide a theoretical basis for formulating different management modes of AVs and HDVs.
Seasonal Variations in Ocular Axial Length Increase among Children in the Czech Republic
Authors: Hecova Lenka , Rusnak Stepan , Salcman Vaclav , Cendelin Jiri
Published: February 2023

In recent decades, the prevalence of myopia has increased worldwide as well as in European countries, and it has become an important medical and socioeconomic problem. Our prospective single‐center study analysed the changes in ocular axial length (AXL) in a population of Central European schoolchildren from 2016 to 2019. The study included 528 eyes of 264 children with a mean age of 12.2 years at the beginning of the study. Visual acuity, ocular AXL, anterior chamber depth, and the questionnaire were examined at 6‐month intervals (in spring and autumn, following the winter and summer periods, respectively). The average ocular AXL was 23.329 mm (median: 23.315 mm) at the beginning of the study and 23.525 mm (median: 23.505 mm) at the end of the study. The change in ocular AXL per month was significantly higher (p < 0.0001) during the winter period (average: 0.013 mm, median: 0.011 mm) than during the summer period (average: −0.001 mm, median: 0.000 mm). We observed a significantly higher increase in ocular AXL in a Caucasian population during the winter period (with lower daylight exposure) than the summer period.
Simulation of Mass and Heat Transfer of Droplets Collision in a Flash Evaporation Pattern
Authors: Qiu Facheng , Zhang Xianming , Chai Xinjie , Dong Yingying , Xie Xingjuan , Liu Zuohua , Liu Renlong , Li Wensheng
Published: February 2023

The behavior of droplets collision in a flash evaporation ambient widely exists in various fields. In this work, the deformation analysis and thermal analysis models were established under the condition of flash via a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. First, the effects of initial temperature and collision velocity on heat and mass transfer during evaporation were considered. Then, the morphology change of the liquid phase, the mass change, and their influencing factors during the droplet evaporation process were analyzed. A very good agreement is observed between the results of this paper and the published literature. The results show that the interaction between the initial collision velocity and the initial temperature affects the heat and mass transfer performance. The initial collision velocity influences the heat and mass transfer process of the evaporating droplet by affecting the deformation characteristics of the droplet. The collision velocity and the liquid temperature have a competitive relationship with the evaporation process. Under a low-initial temperature, the collision velocity played a leading role in the evaporation of the liquid phase and the mass transfer of steam.
Government-Enterprise Collusion and the Effectiveness of Environmental Regulations: Implications for Public Health
Authors: Zhao Shuang , Peng Lin , Zhou Haiyan , Hu Feng
Published: February 2023

Effective environmental management will create a win-win situation for building an ecological civilization with the potential to control the COVID-19 pandemic. From the perspective of government-enterprise collusion (GEC), this study analyzes the moderating effects of the officials’ promotion incentives and turnover on the effectiveness of environmental regulations utilizing a panel dataset on 276 cities in China from 2003 to 2019. The study reveals the following empirical results: First, promotion incentives positively moderate the relationship between environmental regulations and environmental pollution, mainly air pollution; results for water pollution are not significant. Compared with general cities, the positive moderating effect of promotion incentives in high-level cities is weaker and the negative moderating effect is more potent. Additionally, the moderating effect of promotion incentives is predominantly positive in the new developmental stage from 2013 to 2019. Second, the negative moderating effect of officials’ turnover on the effectiveness of environmental regulations is mainly observed for water pollution but not evident for air pollution. Compared with high-level cities, officials’ turnover in general cities is more conducive to the effectiveness of environmental regulations. These findings provide beneficial insights for promoting green growth by improving official governance and destroying GEC.
Advances in the Histone Acetylation Modification in the Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Lu Ying , Yang Jinjin , Zhu Junwen , Shu Yao , Zou Xuan , Ruan Qiao , Luo Shuyuan , Wang Yong , Wen Jun
Published: February 2023

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the common malignant tumors in the head and neck, characterized by high malignancy, rapid growth and metastasis, high invasive ability, and high mortality. In recent years, surgery combined with chemotherapy or radiotherapy remains the preferred clinical treatment for OSCC, despite considerable advances in diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. Hence, new targeted therapy is urgently needed. Histone modification affects the function of massive cells through histone acetyltransferase and histone deacetylase. Accompanied by the progress of some diseases, especially tumors, these proteins often show abnormal functions, and by reversing these abnormalities with drugs or gene therapy, the cancer phenotype can even be restored to normal. As a result, they are potential drug targets. This article reviewed the role of the histone dynamic process of acetylation modifications and their associated active modifying enzymes in the pathogenesis and progress of OSCC. Moreover, we explored the value of histone acetylation modification as a potential therapeutic target and the new progress of related drugs in clinical treatment.
Hydroxymethylation and Epigenetic Drugs: New Insights into the Diagnosis and Treatment in Epigenetics of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Authors: Ouyang Wei , Wang Ming-Da , Wang Wan-Yin , Li Chao , Yao Lan-Qing , Zhu Hong , Yang Tian
Published: February 2023

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly lethal and heterogeneous malignancy with multiple genetic alternations and complex signaling pathways. The complexity and multifactorial nature of HCC pose a tremendous challenge regarding its diagnosis and treatment. Emerging evidence has indicated an important regulatory role of epigenetic modifications in HCC initiation and progression. Epigenetic modifications are stably heritable gene expression traits caused by changing the accessibility of chromatin structure and genetic activity without alteration in the DNA sequence and have been gradually recognized as a hallmark of cancer. In addition, accumulating data suggest a potential value of altered hydroxymethylation in epigenetic modifications and therapeutics targeting the epigenetically mediated regulation. As such, probing the epigenetic field in the era of precision oncology is a valid avenue for promoting the accuracy of early diagnosis and improving the oncological prognosis of HCC patients. This review focuses on the diagnostic performance and clinical utility of 5-hydroxymethylated cytosine, the primary intermediate product of the demethylation process, for early HCC diagnosis and discusses the promising applications of epigenetic-based therapeutic regimens for HCC.
Rice Yield Improvement by Sugarcane Filter Cake Fertilizer Application in the Protected Dyke
Authors: Minh Vo Quang , Khoa Le Van , Dai Nguyen Thi Phuong
Published: February 2023

This study was carried out to evaluate the fertility of rice soil and the effect of inorganic fertilizers combined with sugarcane filter cakes on rice yield in a protected dike area in Cho Moi district, An Giang province. The experiment consists of 4 treatments, and the dose of fertilizer in each treatment is (1) controlled according to the farmers’ dosage (224 kg N + 148 kg P2O5 ha−1), (2) fertilize according to farmers + 6 tons/ha of cow manure composted with straw, (3) fertilizer according to farmers + 6 tons/ha of cow manure composted 15 cm deep, and (4) fertilize according to farmers + 2 tons/ha of organic fertilizer with sugarcane filter cakes. By analyzing the nutrient content of soil samples, it was found that inorganic fertilizers in combination with sugarcane residues improved soil fertility as reduced soil acidity and electrical conductivity, and increased organic matter, total nitrogen content, and exchangeable K. In addition, exchange and enriched exchangeable Mg achieved the highest rice yield, a statistically significant difference compared with organic fertilizer treatment with straw compost and inorganic fertilizer. However, the content of total P, available P, exchangeable Na, and Ca have not improved significantly. Therefore, applying inorganic fertilizers combined with sugarcane filter cakes is an excellent measure to help improve the supply of nutrients from the soil and increase rice yield in the dike land.
Effect of Fas and Bcl-2 DNA Damages Response Expression in Stem Cells on Apoptosis of Nucleus Pulposus of Intervertebral Disc
Authors: Zhang Hui , Song Yuxin , Yang Yang , Gao Zhao , Song Zhengdong , Wang Wenji
Published: February 2023

The nucleus pulposus is an elastic jelly composed of crisscross fibrous reticular structures, namely, chondrocytes and proteoglycan mucoid matrix. Embryo and adult SC can resist the accumulation of genetic damage and repair them through various DNA repair mechanisms, thus preventing them from spreading to daughter cells. Fresh medullary tissue was fixed with 10% formaldehyde solution, embedded in paraffin, and sectioned at 4 m. The nucleus pulposus was stained with HE, and its degeneration was observed under light microscope. The average apoptotic index (AI) of 20 denatured nuclei was 50.230, the percentage of Fas-positive cells was 74.255%, and the percentage of Bcl-2-positive cells was 55.370%. The average apoptotic index (AI) was 28.317. The percentage of Fas-positive cells, Fas protein-positive cells, and Bcl-2 protein-positive cells in six normal nuclei was 41.717%, 41.717%, and 27.167%, respectively. The average AI value, Fas protein expression, and Bcl-2 protein expression in the two groups were significantly different (

P
<
0.05

).
Exploration of Lipid Metabolism Alterations in Children with Active Tuberculosis Using UHPLC-MS/MS
Authors: Sun Baixu , Liu Fang , Yin Qingqin , Jiang Tingting , Fang Min , Duan Li , Quan Shuting , Tian Xue , Shen Adong , Mi Kaixia , Sun Lin
Published: February 2023

Metabolic profiling using nonsputum samples has demonstrated excellent performance in diagnosing infectious diseases. But little is known about the lipid metabolism alternation in children with tuberculosis (TB). Therefore, the study was performed to explore lipid metabolic changes caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and identify specific lipids as diagnostic biomarkers in children with TB using UHPLC-MS/MS. Plasma samples obtained from 70 active TB children, 21 non-TB infectious disease children, and 21 healthy controls were analyzed by a partial least-squares discriminant analysis model in the training set, and 12 metabolites were identified that can separate children with TB from non-TB controls. In the independent testing cohort with 49 subjects, three of the markers, PC (15:0/17:1), PC (17:1/18:2), and PE (18:1/20:3), presented with high diagnostic values. The areas under the curve of the three metabolites were 0.904, 0.833, and 0.895, respectively. The levels of the altered lipid metabolites were found to be associated with the severity of the TB disease. Taken together, plasma lipid metabolites are potentially useful for diagnosis of active TB in children and would provide insights into the pathogenesis of the disease.
Construction of Digital Art Education Platform under the “Internet+” Environment
Authors: Zhang Chen , Li Xiaoxia
Published: February 2023

With the development of society and the rapid development of the Internet, there are currently about 100 million web pages and 100 million hyperlinks, and in the future, the number of web pages and hyperlinks will also intensify. How to make this huge Internet better used by people has become a common concern of the international community. In recent years, with the acceleration of the reform of China’s basic education curriculum, people have become more and more aware of the special status and superiority of art education in overall education, and the general consensus that “lack of art education is an incomplete education.” Therefore, this paper proposes the construction of a platform for digital art education under the “Internet+” environment. This paper first introduces how to perform data mining in the Internet era, and proposes an interactive data fusion algorithm and model for Internet and crowdsourcing. Then, a statistical analysis was made on the preschool art education syllabus of 20 colleges and universities in different provinces and cities. The experimental results have shown that there are eight undergraduate colleges and universities that have not written syllabuses for College Aesthetic Education majors in art courses, and they still account for 40% of the total sample size. This shows that some Chinese colleges and universities have not paid enough attention to the art courses of College Aesthetic Education majors, have loopholes in curriculum management, and neglected teaching staff.
Sestrin2 Signaling Pathway Regulates Podocyte Biology and Protects against Diabetic Nephropathy
Authors: Ala Moein
Published: February 2023

Sestrin2 regulates cell homeostasis and is an upstream signaling molecule for several signaling pathways. Sestrin2 leads to AMP-activated protein kinase- (AMPK-) and GTPase-activating protein activity toward Rags (GATOR) 1-mediated inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), thereby enhancing autophagy. Sestrin2 also improves mitochondrial biogenesis via AMPK/Sirt1/peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α) signaling pathway. Blockade of ribosomal protein synthesis and augmentation of autophagy by Sestrin2 can prevent misfolded protein accumulation and attenuate endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. In addition, Sestrin2 enhances P62-mediated autophagic degradation of Keap1 to release nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2). Nrf2 release by Sestrin2 vigorously potentiates antioxidant defense in diabetic nephropathy. Impaired autophagy and mitochondrial biogenesis, severe oxidative stress, and ER stress are all deeply involved in the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy. It has been shown that Sestrin2 expression is lower in the kidney of animals and patients with diabetic nephropathy. Sestrin2 knockdown aggravated diabetic nephropathy in animal models. In contrast, upregulation of Sestrin2 enhanced autophagy, mitophagy, and mitochondrial biogenesis and suppressed oxidative stress, ER stress, and apoptosis in diabetic nephropathy. Consistently, overexpression of Sestrin2 ameliorated podocyte injury, mesangial proliferation, proteinuria, and renal fibrosis in animal models of diabetic nephropathy. By suppressing transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β)/Smad and Yes-associated protein (YAP)/transcription enhancer factor 1 (TEF1) signaling pathways in experimental models, Sestrin2 hindered epithelial-mesenchymal transition and extracellular matrix accumulation in diabetic kidneys. Moreover, modulation of the downstream molecules of Sestrin2, for instance, augmentation of AMPK or Nrf2 signaling and inhibition of mTORC1, has been protective in diabetic nephropathy. Regarding the beneficial effects of Sestrin2 on diabetic nephropathy and its interaction with several signaling molecules, it is worth targeting Sestrin2 in diabetic nephropathy.
Retrospective Cohort Analysis of Outpatient Antibiotic Use for Clostridioides difficile-Indicated Agents in British Columbia, from 2000 to 2018
Authors: Saatchi Ariana , Kim Sungeun , Marra Fawziah
Published: February 2023

Background. Clostridioides difficile (CDI) is the most common cause of nosocomial diarrheal infections. Historically, metronidazole was the first-line treatment, but guidelines now indicate oral vancomycin and fidaxomicin as primary antibiotics for initial episodes. A provincial stewardship program has operated in British Columbia (BC), since 2005. Since the program's inception, surveillance of antibiotic use has been ongoing. However, this is the first study to review community-acquired CDI-indicated antibiotic use. Moreover, this study offers the first interpretation of fidaxomicin use in BC since its addition to the provincial formulary. Methods. A retrospective cohort analysis included all outpatient dispensations for CDI-related antibiotics from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2018. Antibiotic dispensations were extracted for metronidazole, vancomycin, and fidaxomicin. Consumption rates were calculated as prescriptions per 1000 population. Rates were examined overall and then stratified by medication, age, and sex. Secondary outcomes of interest included an examination of adherence to provincial special authority criteria; and proportions of outpatient antibiotic use attributable to administrative health records for CDI. Results. The average annual rate of prescribing was 18.5 per 1000 population for all CDI-indicated antibiotics. The rate of prescribing increased (15%) over the 19-year study period, from 17.2 to 19.8 dispensations per 1000 population. Metronidazole accounted for the most antibiotics dispensed in every study year; however, by 2018 it demonstrated the most modest increase in use (15%). In comparison, fidaxomicin increased by 226% by 2018. Vancomycin had the highest percentage increase (621%), with the greatest change occurring from 2014 to 2015, correlating to the dissemination of new clinical practice guidelines. Conclusion. This is the first study to evaluate outpatient prescribing for CDI-indicated antibiotics, and one of the few studies to examine fidaxomicin since its introduction to Canadian formularies. Although causation cannot be inferred from study results, oral vancomycin, and fidaxomicin use has increased in line with, or in advance-of guidelines.
Medical Big Data Risk Management: A Systematic Management Approach Based on Bayesian Belief Networks
Authors: Zhang Xiaoyi , Liu Xinru , Zhou Shengzhu , Ma Ning
Published: February 2023

The purpose of this paper is to identify the medical risk of applying big data technology and to build a medical big data risk (MBDR) control process and manage medical big data risk (MBDR) from a systematic perspective. In this process, we firstly used systematic literature reviews (SLRs) method to systematically search 322 papers in web of science with the topics of “medical risk” and “big data risk” to build a dimensional system of medical big data risk (MBDR) from the theoretical level. Based on a case study of a hospital in Shanghai, we explored the formation mechanism and interaction effect of medical big data risk (MBDR) by using Bayesian belief networks (BBNs) method, and built a systematic risk control process. This paper finally finds that: the dimensional system of medical big data risk (MBDR) includes 24 subdimensions and 5 major categories of dimensions, which helps to explore the medical application of big data technology from a risk perspective. In addition, the medical big data risk (MBDR) control process constructed in this paper includes: risk prediction, reverse reasoning, risk control, and risk prevention in 4 aspects, which is important for hospitals to actually carry out medical big data risk (MBDR) control.