bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sustainability Nexus AID: soil health
Authors: Shokri Nima , Aminzadeh Milad , Flury Markus , Jin Yan , Matin Mir A. , Panagos Panos , Razavi Bahar S. , Robinson David A. , Smith Pete , Todd-Brown Katherine , Toth Gergely , Zarei Azin , Madani Kaveh
Published: February 2025

The Sustainability Nexus Analytics, Informatics, and Data (AID) Programme of the United Nations University (UNU), aims to provide information, data, computational, and analytical tools to support the sustainable management and long-term security of natural resources using a nexus approach. This paper introduces the Soil Health Module of the Sustainability Nexus AID Programme. Healthy soil is crucial for life on Earth, and it is essential for ecosystem services and functioning, access to clean water, socioeconomic structure, biodiversity, and food security for the growing population of the world. Healthy soils contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change and reduce the consequences of extreme events such as flooding and drought. Healthy soils influence the hydrologic cycle by regulating transpiration, water infiltration, and soil water evaporation affecting land–atmosphere interactions. The Soil Health Module of the UNU Sustainability Nexus AID Programme aims to evolve into the ultimate focal point, supporting a diverse array of stakeholders with state-of-the-art data and tools that are essential for soil health monitoring and projection. This paper discusses the importance of adopting a nexus approach for ensuring soil health, explores the AID tools currently at our disposal for quantifying and predicting soil health, and concludes with recommendations for future effort and direction within the Sustainability Nexus AID Programme concerning soil health.
Impact of Water Saturation on the Anisotropic Elastic Moduli of a Gas Shale
Authors: Kim Jinwoo , Ferrari Alessio , Ewy Russell , Duranti Luca , Laloui Lyesse
Published: February 2025

How water saturation affects elastic properties is particularly important for analyses of gas shales in unconventional reservoirs, but experimental data in defined partially saturated conditions are rare. We show that the elastic moduli of a gas shale vary significantly with water saturation whereas the static anisotropy does not. A series of repeated hydrostatic compression were carried out on a gas shale specimen at various water saturation states to determine the elastic moduli (

$${E}_{\text{v}}$$

E
v

and

$${E}_{\text{h}}$$

E
h

) as a function of degree of saturation (

$${S}_{\text{r}}$$

S
r

). The elastic moduli were calculated from the reversible stress–strain curves after repeating confining pressure cycles. We found that, while water saturation increases, the elastic moduli peak at intermediate degree of saturation and then decreases to the minimum value at quasi-saturation. This evolution of the elastic moduli with degree of saturation may be explained by unifying two water retention mechanisms, adsorption and capillarity, that have overall competing effects on the stiffness. It is believed that adsorption softens the gas shale by reducing the friction of the load-bearing clay matrix, while capillary menisci stiffen the gas shale by providing stabilizing forces. The Young’s modulus anisotropy (

$${E}_{\text{h}}/{E}_{\text{v}}$$

E
h

/

E
v

) did not show appreciable change with degree of saturation. Confining pressure seems to be a more important control on changes in the static anisotropy. Analyzing the volumetric behavior of gas shales in unconventional reservoirs should take into account the degree of saturation dependency. Extrapolating the experimental results to in-situ conditions must be done with great care.
Transient flow-induced deformation of cancer cells in microchannels: a general computational model and experiments
Authors: Lu R. , Li J. , Guo Z. , Wang Z. , Feng J. J. , Sui Y.
Published: February 2025

Recently, the present authors proposed a three-dimensional computational model for the transit of suspended cancer cells through a microchannel (Wang et al. in Biomech Model Mechanobiol 22: 1129-1143, 2023). The cell model takes into account the three major subcellular components: A viscoelastic membrane that represents the lipid bilayer supported by the underlying cell cortex, a viscous cytoplasm, and a nucleus modelled as a smaller microcapsule. The cell deformation and its interaction with the surrounding fluid were solved by an immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method. The computational model accurately recovered the transient flow-induced deformation of the human leukaemia HL-60 cells in a constricted channel. However, as a general modelling framework, its applicability to other cell types in different flow geometries remains unknown, due to the lack of quantitative experimental data. In this study, we conduct experiments of the transit of human prostate cancer (PC-3) and leukaemia (K-562) cells, which represent solid and liquid tumour cell lines, respectively, through two distinct microchannel geometries, each dominated by shear and extension flow. We find that the two cell lines have qualitatively similar flow-induced dynamics. Comparisons between experiments and numerical simulations suggest that our model can accurately predict the transient cell deformation in both geometries, and that it can serve as a general modelling framework for the dynamics of suspended cancer cells in microchannels.
Geometry from geodesics: fine-tuning Ehlers, Pirani, and Schild
Authors: Wheeler James T.
Published: February 2025

Ehlers, Pirani, and Schild argued that measurements of null and timelike geodesics yield Weyl and projective connections, respectively, with compatibility in the lightlike limit giving an integrable Weyl connection. Their conclusions hold only for a 4-dim representation of the conformal connection on the null cone, and by restricting reparameterizations of timelike geodesics to yield a torsion-free, affine connection. An arbitrary connection gives greater freedom. A linear connection for the conformal symmetry of null geodesics requires the SO(4,2) representation. The enlarged class of projective transformations of timelike geodesics changes Weyl’s projective curvature, and we find invariant forms of the torsion and nonmetricity, along with a new, invariant, second rank tensor field generalizing the dilatational curvature without requiring a metric. We show that either projective or conformal connections require a monotonic, twice differentiable function on a spacetime region foliated by order isomorphic, totally ordered, twice differentiable timelike curves in a necessarily Lorentzian geometry. We prove that the conditions for projective and conformal Ricci flatness imply each other and gauge choices within either can reduce the geometry to the original Riemannian form. Thus, measurements of null and timelike geodesics lead to an SO(4,2) connection, with no requirement for a lightlike limit. Reduction to integrable Weyl symmetry can only follow from the field equations of a gravity theory. We show that the simplest quadratic spacetime action leads to this reduction.
Evaluation of HPV and Related Cancer Awareness and Vaccination Attitudes Among Patients with Anogenital Warts: a Survey-Based Study
Authors: Solak Berna , Arslan Mustafa
Published: February 2025

We aimed to evaluate awareness of HPV and its associated cancers, attitudes toward HPV vaccination, and vaccination rates in individuals with anogenital warts. This cross-sectional study was conducted at Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital using a questionnaire completed by individuals diagnosed with anogenital warts. A total of 105 respondents were included in the study, comprising 80 males (76.2%) and 25 females (23.8%). The mean age of participants was 34.7 ± 11.2 years. HPV awareness was 70.5%, while cervical cancer awareness was 38.1%. Women demonstrated significantly higher levels of HPV and cervical cancer awareness, as well as knowledge of Pap smear testing, compared to men. Women were also significantly more likely than men to express willingness to vaccinate their children against HPV (84.0% vs. 58.8%, p = 0.039). Higher education levels were associated with increased awareness of HPV, HPV vaccination, and willingness to vaccinate children. Physicians were the primary source of HPV-related information across the cohort. HPV vaccine awareness was 73.3%, but the overall vaccination rate was only 10.5%, with women showing significantly higher vaccination rates than men (24% vs. 6.2%, p = 0.021). The most commonly reported barriers to vaccination were cost (60%) and lack of information (45.7%). None of the participants had vaccinated their children. This study highlights that awareness of HPV and its vaccination is associated with gender and education level but does not translate into higher vaccination rates. Efforts should focus on targeting men and individuals with lower educational attainment by strengthening physicians’ roles in public education. Incorporating HPV vaccination into national programs and implementing culturally tailored campaigns may effectively improve vaccination rates.
The impact of breast surgery and systemic therapy on the survival of patients with de novo stage IV breast cancer
Authors: Tokunaga Eriko , Koi Yumiko , Tajiri Wakako , Koga Chinami , Ijichi Hideki , Akiyoshi Sayuri , Kawasaki Junji , Nakamura Yoshiaki , Taguchi Kenichi , Okamoto Masahiro
Published: February 2025

Background

Systemic therapy (ST) is essential for de novo stage IV breast cancer (BC). Stage IV BCs are highly heterogeneous, and it seems inappropriate to treat all de novo stage IV BCs equally. The survival benefit of surgery for primary sites in patients with de novo stage IV BC remains inconclusive.

Patients and methods

We investigated 220 patients with clinical de novo stage IV BC. The relationship between primary site surgery and overall survival (OS) was analyzed. Factors such as tumor subtype, timing of surgery, and efficacy of ST were also evaluated.

Results

The median follow-up time was 37.9 (0.5–201.7) months. In the total cohort, the median OS of the patients with and without primary site surgery was 70.5 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 58.4–107.3) and 42.7 months (95% CI 35.7–48.8), respectively. The OS was significantly longer in patients who underwent primary site surgery, especially in the hormone receptor (HR) + /HER2- and HER2 + subtypes, but not in the triple-negative subtype. OS prolongation was significant in patients who underwent surgery ≥ 24 months after the first diagnosis and in whom the first-line ST was effective for ≥ 24 months. Primary site surgery was a good prognostic factor in both univariate and multivariate analyses.

Conclusions

The OS was significantly longer in patients with de novo stage IV BC who underwent primary site surgery than in those who did not undergo surgery. Our results suggest that the tumor subtypes, efficacy of ST, and timing of surgery influenced the benefits of surgery.
Analysis and computations of a stochastic Cahn–Hilliard model for tumor growth with chemotaxis and variable mobility
Authors: Fritz Marvin , Scarpa Luca
Published: February 2025

In this work, we present and analyze a system of PDEs, which models tumor growth by taking into account chemotaxis, active transport, and random effects. Tumor growth may undergo erratic behaviors such as metastases that cannot be predicted simply using deterministic models. Moreover, random perturbations are evident in models accounting for therapeutic treatment in terms of therapy uncertainty or parameter identification problems. The stochasticity of the system is modeled by Wiener noises that appear in the tumor and nutrient equations. The volume fraction of the tumor is governed by a stochastic phase-field equation of Cahn–Hilliard type, and the mass density of the nutrients is modeled by a stochastic reaction-diffusion equation. We allow a variable mobility function and nonincreasing growth functions, such as logistic and Gompertzian growth. Via approximation and stochastic compactness arguments, we prove the existence of a probabilistic weak solution and, in the case of constant mobilities, the well-posedness of the model in the strong probabilistic sense. Lastly, we propose a numerical approximation based on the Galerkin finite element method in space and the semi-implicit Euler–Maruyama scheme in time. We illustrate the effects of stochastic forcings in tumor growth in several numerical simulations.
Using Free-Living Heart Rate Data as an Objective Method to Assess Physical Activity: A Scoping Review and Recommendations by the INTERLIVE-Network Targeting Consumer Wearables
Authors: Schumann Moritz , Feuerbacher Joshua F. , Heinrich Lars , Olvera-Rojas Marcos , Sclafani Alessandro , Brønd Jan Christian , Grøntved Anders , Caulfield Brian , Ekelund Ulf , Bloch Wilhelm , Cheng Sulin , Sardinha Luis B. , Ortega Francisco B.
Published: February 2025

Wearable technologies open up new avenues for the assessment of individual physical activity behaviour. Particularly, free-living heart rate (HR) data assessed by optical sensors are becoming widely available. However, while an abundancy of scientific information and guidance exists for the processing of raw acceleration data, no universal recommendations for the utilization of continuous HR recordings during free-living conditions are available. Towards Intelligent Health and Well-Being: Network of Physical Activity Assessment (INTERLIVE®) is a joint European initiative of six universities and one industrial partner. The consortium was founded in 2019 and strives towards developing best-practice recommendations in the context of consumer wearables and smartphones. The aim of this scoping review (following PRISMA-ScR procedures) and recommendations was to provide best-practice protocols for deriving individual physical activity profiles from continuous HR recordings by wearables. The recommendations were developed through an initial scoping review, grey literature searches of promotional material and user manuals of leading wearable manufacturers as well as evidence-informed discussions among the members of the INTERLIVE®-network. The scoping review was performed on the generic domains required for physical activity assessment, namely: (1) ‘assessment of maximal heart rate’, (2) ‘determination of basal and/or resting heart rate’ and (3) ‘heart rate-derived intensity zones’, for which we finally included a total of 72, 2 and 11 eligible papers, respectively. Gathering recent knowledge, we provide a decision tree and detailed recommendations for the analysis of free-living HR data to derive individual physical activity profiles. Moreover, we also provide examples of HR-metric calculations that help to illustrate data processing and reporting.
Multiple synergistic effects of structural coupling and dielectric-magnetic loss in promoting microwave absorption of bark-derived absorbers
Authors: Lei Dongyi , Liu Chengkan , Wang Sijia , Zhang Peng , Li Ying , Yang Donglei , Jin Yihan , Liu Zhenxin , Dong Chunlei
Published: February 2025

The explode development of global automation and digitization brings increasing electromagnetic radiation, threatening information security and health. Biomass wave-absorbing materials stand out among massive absorbers due to their green and environmentally friendly features, yet remains severe challenge in equilibration between impedance matching and efficient loss ability. Herein, this work innovatively used waste bark which amounts up to 400 million cubic meters generated from forest as carbon precursor. The FeCo@C nanocomposites derived from FeCo-MOF precursor are introduced on the surface of bark-derived carbon pore using vacuum impregnation and carbonization methods, and tree bark-derived porous carbon (TPC)/FeCo@C composites are successfully fabricated. The unique hierarchical structure composed of three-dimensional (3D) parallel pore structure of bark-derived carbon and yolk-shell structure of FeCo@C favors to optimizing impedance matching and prolonging attenuation paths of microwaves. Additionally, the introduction of FeCo@C can promote interface polarization loss, as well as enhance synergistic effects of dielectric-magnetic losses. Multiple synergistic effects of structural coupling and dielectric-magnetic loss endow TPC/FeCo@C composite attractive absorbing ability. The optimized TPC/FeCo@C-5 exhibits a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of − 61.04 dB and the effective bandwidth (EAB) of 7.25 GHz at a matching thickness of 2.64 mm, which is superior to most biomass-based absorbers. Apparently, this work presents a valuable concept for the secondary utilization of discarded bark in the domain of microwave absorption, which is significant for achieving energy saving and environmental protection and addressing electromagnetic pollution.
The need for ethical guidelines in mathematical research in the time of generative AI
Authors: Pantsar Markus
Published: February 2025

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications based on large language models have not enjoyed much success in symbolic processing and reasoning tasks, thus making them of little use in mathematical research. However, recently DeepMind’s AlphaProof and AlphaGeometry 2 applications have been reported to perform well in mathematical problem solving. These applications are hybrid systems combining large language models with rule-based systems, an approach sometimes called neuro-symbolic AI. In this paper, I present a scenario in which such systems are used in research mathematics, more precisely in theorem proving. In the most extreme case, such a system could be an autonomous automated theorem prover (AATP), with the potential of proving new humanly interesting theorems and even presenting them in research papers. The use of such AI applications would be transformative to mathematical practice and demand clear ethical guidelines. In addition to that scenario, I identify other, less radical, uses of generative AI in mathematical research. I analyse how guidelines set for ethical AI use in scientific research can be applied in the case of mathematics, arguing that while there are many similarities, there is also a need for mathematics-specific guidelines.
Apert syndrome: a rare congenital anomaly and experience from a low-resource country: a case report and review of the literature
Authors: Abdatam Maimuna , Nhungo Charles John , Muhamba Frank , Mwanga Ally Hamis , Akoko Larry , Mkony Charles A.
Published: February 2025

Background

Apert syndrome is a congenital condition characterized by coronal craniosynostosis, ex-orbitism, midface hypoplasia as well as symmetric syndactyly of both feet and hands. Apert syndrome is linked by autosomal dominant inheritance to fibroblast growth factors receptor gene alteration.

Case presentation

We present the case of a 20-month-old African boy who exhibited the characteristic facial features of Apert syndrome. Additionally, the child presented with syndactyly of both the fingers and toes. He was born to non-consanguineous parents, with the father being 33 years old at the time of the child's birth. A skull X-ray revealed an increased anteroposterior diameter of the skull, consistent with the cranial abnormalities associated with Apert syndrome. Further imaging of the hands and feet confirmed the pathognomonic syndactyly characteristic of the condition. The patient successfully underwent a series of surgeries to release the syndactyly in both his right and left hands. These surgical interventions have significantly improved the functionality of his hands.

Conclusions

There is a paucity of information about Apert syndrome in Africa. Therefore, in order to enhance strong advocacy of this condition in Africa, more cases should be reported.
Application of different edge detection methods for faults identification in Anza Basin, Kenya
Authors: Li Gege , Chen Qing , Yuan Bingqiang , Tan Xianfeng , Chen Hao , Huang Xiaoyu , Pan Lang
Published: February 2025

The shape of gravity anomalies changes due to the disruption of geological bodies’ continuity by fault structures, and their planar contour line characteristics are an important basis for dividing fault structures. However, the traditional potential field boundary identification method has limited ability to detect the boundaries of buried deep geological bodies. Therefore, geophysicists at home and abroad have proposed various new techniques for potential field boundary identification. These techniques aim to effectively and rapidly extract or enhance weak anomaly information about geological bodies’ boundaries. They also aim to delineate the distribution range of field sources. This paper systematically analyzes the principles of various gravity potential field boundary identification methods. It also uses various methods to process and interpret the Bouguer gravity anomalies in the Anza Basin of Kenya. Additionally, it determines the fault system in the basin and carries out structural zoning. The results of the processing of various gravity boundary identification methods with the gravity data in the study area show that a gravity gradient zone is developed in the Anza Basin, where the Bouguer gravity anomalies are all negative and exhibit a large variation range, overall showing a high-southwest and low-northeast trend. The analysis of residual gravity anomaly yields results indicating that the local structure of the study area has obvious structural pattern of the “east-west zone and north-south block”. The study area exhibits developed faults, which can be mainly categorized into two sets with northwest direction and northeast direction orientations. Small-scale northeast-direction faults cut off larger-scale northwest-direction faults. Six tectonic zones were recognized in combination with the gravity anomalies and seismic data in the study area, which include eastern depression, southern uplift, central bulge, western depression, northern slope and western uplift.
Liquid metal ion source based on magnetic suspensions for field emission electric propulsion (FEEP)
Authors: Peiffer L. , Neunzig O. , Tajmar M.
Published: February 2025

This work presents a process for the creation of emitter structures for liquid metal ion sources based on suspensions of iron and nickel in gallium-based room temperature liquid metal alloys. The process does not require needle etching or vacuum wetting of the emitter. Tip radii of less than 3 μm have been achieved. In addition, first measurements and observations from single emitter emission experiments are presented, including current-voltage characteristics, vacuum stability, degradation mechanisms and first thruster characteristics for the use in field emission electric propulsion. The impedance of the magnetic liquid metal emitters was found to correlate with the mass fraction of particles suspended in the liquid metal. Total impedances up to 30 MΩ have been achieved, indicating the feasibility of emitter clustering. Thrust measurements were performed with a commercial of the shelf load cell and verified in a dedicated setup for field emission electric propulsion testing, featuring a sub micro newton counterbalanced double pendulum thrust balance.
The use of veno-arterial extra corporeal membrane oxygenation for hemodynamics support during high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention
Authors: Samy Wael , Elghawaby Helmy , Abdelbary Akram , Mohamed Hany Zakaria , Fattah Alia Hassan Abdel
Published: February 2025

Background

Complex coronary artery disease still a major health problem, whether high-risk PCI on V-A ECMO or not is a better choice.

Aim and objectives

The study is designed to assess the outcomes of using V-A ECMO on high-risk PCI procedures.

Patients and methods

A prospective interventional study performed on patients with viable ischemic myocardium who refused CABG, syntax score>22, excluding scarred myocardium. V-A ECMO (Fem-Fem configuration) will be initiated during elective high-risk PCI procedure, compared to patients who underwent high-risk PCI refusing ECMO, also excluding patients suffering from acute decompensated heart failure.

Results

This is a case-control study where total of 20 patients were identified, 10 patients underwent high-risk PCI on V-A ECMO support, (Control group) 10 patients underwent high-risk PCI without V-A ECMO; our study showed a statistically significant higher SYNTAX score in group 1 than that in group 2, p value 0.025, no statistically significance difference between the number of cases with left main lesions, unprotected LM and MVD between group 1 and group 2, average ECMO duration of 2.5 h, 6 patients on awake ECMO, and statistically non-significant difference between NYHA class between group 1 and group 2. Also our study showed no statistically difference between LV EF before and after PCI in both groups; in group 1, eight patients had complete revascularization in one session while in group 2 only seven patients had complete revascularization; one patient in group 1 had VT while in group 2, one patient had VF and another one suffered of asystole; group 1 patients all discharged home within 1 week while group 2 had two mortalities during PCI.

Conclusion

ECMO can be successfully used to facilitate elective high-risk PCI minimizing risk of cardiovascular complications.
On Thermospheric Molecular Oxygen and Its Relationship to Solar Activity
Authors: Greer K. R. , Jones M. , Lumpe J. , Eastes R. , Laskar F. , Smith E. , Snow M. , McClintock W. E.
Published: February 2025

Observations from the Global‐scale Observations of Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission have provided a new remote‐sensing data source of molecular oxygen profiles in Earth's lower‐to‐middle thermosphere (120–200 km). GOLD O2 observations indicate increasing densities of molecular oxygen at 170 km with rising solar activity between solar radio flux F10.7 values of 60 and ∼120 solar flux units (sfu). This is also seen in comparisons with solar extreme ultraviolet irradiance QEUV between 1 and ∼2.25 erg cm−2 s−1. However, the empirical Mass Spectrometer Incoherent Scatter radar 2.0 (MSIS 2.0) model overestimates O2 densities at 170 km at these low levels of solar activity and predicts a decreasing density with increasing solar flux below ∼120 sfu. Additional data sets validate GOLD observations of O2 and their relationship with solar activity. Accurately determining and forecasting O2 is critical for accurately modeling plasma densities in the ionosphere and thermospheric density in the lower‐to‐middle thermosphere.
Study of Variation Mechanisms of the Martian Diffuse Aurora Based on Monte Carlo Simulations and MAVEN Observations
Authors: Okiyama Taishin , Seki Kanako , Nakamura Yuki , Lillis Robert J. , Rahmati Ali , Larson Davin E. , DiBraccio Gina A. , Schneider Nicholas M. , Jain Sonal K. , Sakata Ryoya , Curry Shannon
Published: February 2025

Martian diffuse auroras are ultraviolet emissions spread across the nightside of Mars caused by solar energetic particles (SEP), both electrons and protons. The nightside structures of induced and crustal magnetic fields are expected to affect the diffuse auroral emission profiles caused by electrons, which is far from understood. Here we estimate magnetic field effects on emission based on a newly developed Monte Carlo model simulating collisions and electron cyclotron motions. Parameter surveys of the magnetic field intensity and dip angle (angle of magnetic field line from horizontal direction) under uniform magnetic field structure show that the effects of magnetic field dip angle on auroral altitude profiles are greater than those of magnetic field intensity. We then applied our model to the September 2017 diffuse aurora event using MAVEN SEP electron flux observations and neutral atmospheric profile from the Mars Climate Database as inputs. Comparison between horizontal and vertical magnetic field dip angle cases indicates that the horizontal dip angle case results in broader limb‐integrated auroral altitude profiles than the vertical case and enhances the auroral intensity at high altitudes (>75 km). The magnetic field structure can be one of the important factors in understanding the Martian diffuse auroras.
LEMDA: A Lagrangian‐Eulerian Multiscale Data Assimilation Framework
Authors: Deng Quanling , Chen Nan , Stechmann Samuel N. , Hu Jiuhua
Published: February 2025

Lagrangian trajectories are widely used as observations for recovering the underlying flow field via Lagrangian data assimilation (DA). However, the strong nonlinearity in the observational process and the high dimensionality of the problems often cause challenges in applying standard Lagrangian DA. In this paper, a Lagrangian‐Eulerian multiscale DA (LEMDA) framework is developed. It starts with exploiting the Boltzmann kinetic description of the particle dynamics to derive a set of continuum equations, which characterize the statistical quantities of particle motions at fixed grids and serve as Eulerian observations. Despite the nonlinearity in the continuum equations and the processes of Lagrangian observations, the time evolution of the posterior distribution from LEMDA can be written down using closed analytic formulas after applying the stochastic surrogate model to describe the flow field. This offers an exact and efficient way of carrying out DA, which avoids using ensemble approximations and the associated tunings. The analytically solvable properties also facilitate the derivation of an effective reduced‐order Lagrangian DA scheme that further enhances computational efficiency. The Lagrangian DA part within the framework has advantages when a moderate number of particles is used, while the Eulerian DA part can effectively save computational costs when the number of particle observations becomes large. The Eulerian DA part is also valuable when particles collide, such as using sea ice floe trajectories as observations. LEMDA naturally applies to multiscale turbulent flow fields, where the Eulerian DA part recovers the large‐scale structures, and the Lagrangian DA part efficiently resolves the small‐scale features in each grid cell via parallel computing. Numerical experiments demonstrate the skillful results of LEMDA and its two components.
Homeostasis and metabolism of iron and other metal ions in neurodegenerative diseases
Authors: Chen Leilei , Shen Qingqing , Liu Yingjuan , Zhang Yunqi , Sun Liping , Ma Xizhen , Song Ning , Xie Junxia
Published: February 2025

As essential micronutrients, metal ions such as iron, manganese, copper, and zinc, are required for a wide range of physiological processes in the brain. However, an imbalance in metal ions, whether excessive or insufficient, is detrimental and can contribute to neuronal death through oxidative stress, ferroptosis, cuproptosis, cell senescence, or neuroinflammation. These processes have been found to be involved in the pathological mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases. In this review, the research history and milestone events of studying metal ions, including iron, manganese, copper, and zinc in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Huntington’s disease (HD), will be introduced. Then, the upstream regulators, downstream effector, and crosstalk of mental ions under both physiologic and pathologic conditions will be summarized. Finally, the therapeutic effects of metal ion chelators, such as clioquinol, quercetin, curcumin, coumarin, and their derivatives for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases will be discussed. Additionally, the promising results and limitations observed in clinical trials of these metal ion chelators will also be addressed. This review will not only provide a comprehensive understanding of the role of metal ions in disease development but also offer perspectives on their modulation for the prevention or treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibition re-sensitizes multidrug-resistant DLBCL tumors driven by BCL10 gain-of-function mutants to venetoclax
Authors: Coughlin Caroline A. , Chahar Dhanvantri , Lekakis Marianna , Youssfi Abdessamad A. , Li Lingxiao , Roberts Evan , Gallego Natalia Campos , Volmar Claude-Henry , Landgren Ola , Brothers Shaun , Griswold Anthony J. , Amador Catalina , Bilbao Daniel , Maura Francesco , Schatz Jonathan H.
Published: February 2025

Disparate pathogenic mechanisms complicate precision-medicine efforts to treat diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common lymphoma diagnosis. Though potentially curable with frontline combination chemoimmunotherapy, DLBCL carries persistently poor prognosis for those with relapsed or refractory (rel/ref) disease, despite recent advances in immunotherapy. Here, we build on recent findings implicating gain-of-function mutations in the BCL10 signaling protein as drivers of resistance to Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors. We show mutant BCL10-driven DLBCL is resistant to multiple additional drug classes, demonstrating urgency to derive mechanistically rooted strategies to overcome undruggable BCL10 mutants that stabilize BTK-independent signaling filaments upstream of NF-kB activation. BCL10 mutants promote a cytokine-reinforced positive feedback loop of lymphomagenesis driving not just NF-kB but multiple additional pathways converging on diffuse activation of oncogenic transcription factors. Up-regulation of anti-apoptotic genes increases mitochondrial membrane potential, underlying multidrug resistance. Increased expression of BCL2, BCL2L1 (BCL-XL), and BCL2A1 (BFL1) drives resistance to venetoclax, but expression can be overcome by the potent non-covalent BTK inhibitor pirtobrutinib. Venetoclax plus pirtobrutinib synergized in overcoming resistance and potently killed BCL10-mutant lymphomas in vitro and in vivo. BTK therefore retains key roles protecting DLBCL from apoptosis even when downstream activation of the BCL10 signaling complex activates NF-kB independently.
Deep learning to decode sites of RNA translation in normal and cancerous tissues
Authors: Clauwaert Jim , McVey Zahra , Gupta Ramneek , Yannuzzi Ian , Basrur Venkatesha , Nesvizhskii Alexey I. , Menschaert Gerben , Prensner John R.
Published: February 2025

The biological process of RNA translation is fundamental to cellular life and has wide-ranging implications for human disease. Accurate delineation of RNA translation variation represents a significant challenge due to the complexity of the process and technical limitations. Here, we introduce RiboTIE, a transformer model-based approach designed to enhance the analysis of ribosome profiling data. Unlike existing methods, RiboTIE leverages raw ribosome profiling counts directly to robustly detect translated open reading frames (ORFs) with high precision and sensitivity, evaluated on a diverse set of datasets. We demonstrate that RiboTIE successfully recapitulates known findings and provides novel insights into the regulation of RNA translation in both normal brain and medulloblastoma cancer samples. Our results suggest that RiboTIE is a versatile tool that can significantly improve the accuracy and depth of Ribo-Seq data analysis, thereby advancing our understanding of protein synthesis and its implications in disease.
Leveraging the water-environment-health nexus to characterize sustainable water purification solutions
Authors: Luo Yu-Li , Pan Yi-Rong , Wang Xu , Wang Zhao-Yue , Daigger Glen , Ma Jia-Xin , Tang Lin-Hui , Liu Junxin , Ren Nan-Qi , Butler David
Published: February 2025

Chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) pose critical threats to both public health and the environment, emphasizing the urgent need for effective water treatment measures. Yet, the implementation of such intervention technologies often results in increased energy consumption and adverse environmental consequences. Here, we employ a comprehensive methodology that integrates multiple datasets, assumptions, and calculations to assess the human health and environmental implications of removing various CECs from source water. Our analysis of two treatment alternatives reveals that the integration of riverbank filtration with reverse osmosis offers a promising solution, yielding healthier and more environmentally favorable outcomes than conventional sequential technologies. By incorporating context-specific practices, such as utilizing renewable energy sources and clean energy technologies, we can mitigate the adverse impacts associated with energy-intensive water treatment services. This research advances our understanding of the water-health-environment nexus and proposes strategies to align drinking water provision with public health and environmental sustainability objectives.
Improving photovoltaic water pumping system performance with ANN-based direct torque control using real-time simulation
Authors: Saady Ikram , Majout Btissam , El Kafazi Ismail , Karim Mohammed , Bossoufi Badre , El Ouanjli Najib , Mahfoud Said , Althobaiti Ahmed , Alghamdi Thamer A. H. , Alenezi Mohammed
Published: February 2025

Photovoltaic Water Pumping Systems (PVWPS) have become increasingly important as a renewable energy solution in rural areas, providing energy independence, cost savings, and environmental friendliness. This system has two main controllers. The first controller is employed to maximize power extraction from the PV array by controlling the duty ratio of the DC-DC boost converter. The second controller is responsible for regulating the operation of the induction motor through the switching pulses of the Voltage Source Inverter (VSI). These two controllers play an essential role in the system, which increases efficiency and performance. Therefore, the innovative aspect of this work consists of introducing Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) based on each PVWPS controller. On the one hand, ANN-based MPPT is implemented to ensure optimal performance of the PV array under varying irradiation levels. On the other hand, to overcome the defects and problems caused by Direct Torque Control (DTC), such as flux and torque ripples, high switching frequency, and challenges at low speeds, an ANN-based DTC is proposed in which each of the hysteresis comparators, switching table, and speed controller in the DTC are replaced by ANN controllers. The PVWPS based on the proposed controls is thoroughly modeled and simulated using MATLAB/Simulink software and validated using dSPACE DS1104 Board. The results demonstrate significant improvements, including a 75.51% reduction in flux ripples, a 77.5% reduction in torque ripples, a 44.79% improvement in response time, and an increase in the water quantity. Furthermore, the Real-Time simulation and visualization obtained are consistent with the simulation outcomes.
Electrochemiluminescence of [Ru(bpy)3]2+/tri-n-propylamine to visualize different lipid compositions in supported lipid membranes
Authors: Hiramoto Kaoru , Hirano-Iwata Ayumi , Ino Kosuke , Shiku Hitoshi
Published: February 2025

Electrochemiluminescence of [Ru(bpy)3]2+/tri-n-propylamine has been shown to be capable of visualizing supported lipid membranes with different lipid compositions.
Folicular dynamics, endocrine profiles and endometrial gene expression in fertile and subfertile cows
Authors: Viñoles C. , Álvez A. , González X. , Meikle A.
Published: February 2025

Context Subfertility has a negative impact on the productivity of beef cow herds; thus, it is relevant to unravel the mechanisms. Aims To study follicular development, body composition, concentrations of progesterone and metabolic hormones and their gene expression in the endometrium during the oestrus cycle. Methods Fertile and subfertile Hereford cows were classified at 25 (n = 84) and 60 (n = 25) months old, as (1) fertile, pregnant at first insemination at 25 months, that became pregnant more than three of five times at 60 months (n = 5), or (2) subfertile, i.e. failed to became pregnant during three inseminations at 25 months, that became pregnant at fewer than two of the five opportunities at 60 months (n = 6). Key results Fertile cows had greater concentrations of insuling-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), leptin and adiponectin (P < 0.05), associated with differences in body composition. Insulin and progesterone concentrations were lower during the mid–late luteal phase (P < 0.05) in fertile than subfertile cows, with no impact on follicle dynamics. At dissection, healthy follicles from fertile cows tended (P < 0.1) to have more granulosa cells and higher concentrations of IGF-1 in the follicular fluid. Fertile cows had a lower (P < 0.05) endometrial IGF-1 mRNA expression, but tended to have increased (P < 0.1) progesterone and adiponectin 2 receptor expression on Day 7 of the oestrus cycle. Conclusions Differences in progesterone and metabolic hormones in plasma and follicular fluid and their endometrial expression are associated with the success of pregnancy in beef cows. Implications Strategies to improve the follicle and endometrial microenvironments are needed to improve the productivity of beef herds.
The Diagnostic Accuracy of Using Borderline High Office Blood Pressure Thresholds to Diagnose Masked Hypertension According to the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Blood Pressure Guideline
Authors: Walsh Sophie , Choi Eunhee , Fang Chloe , Narita Keisuke , Cepeda Maria , Frangaj Brulinda , Kim Sofia , Mercado Yaniris , Nesheim-Case Riley , Ramirez Uriel Alvira , Barrett Matthew , Schwartz Joseph E , Shimbo Daichi
Published: February 2025

BACKGROUND

The 2017 American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) BP guideline recommends ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) for diagnosing masked hypertension among adults not taking antihypertensive medication with borderline office BP (i.e., office systolic BP [SBP] 120 to < 130 mm Hg or diastolic BP [DBP] 75 to < 80 mm Hg).

METHODS

Using data from the Improving the Detection of Hypertension Study, sensitivity (SN), specificity (SP), positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and likelihood ratios for a positive and negative test of having borderline office BP (i.e., office SBP 120 to < 130 mm Hg or DBP 75 to < 80 mm Hg) for diagnosing masked hypertension (i.e., mean awake SBP ≥ 130 mm Hg or mean awake DBP ≥ 80 mm Hg) were determined among 263 participants who had a mean office SBP < 130 mm Hg and mean DBP < 80 mm Hg. Likelihood ratios for a positive test > 10, 5–10, and < 5 were considered strong, moderate, and weak, respectively. Likelihood ratios for a negative test < 0.1, 0.1–0.2, and > 0.2 were considered strong, moderate, and weak, respectively.

RESULTS

Among the 263 participants, mean ± SD age was 39.2 ± 12.8 years, 62.4% were female, 38.4% had borderline office BP, and 26.2% had masked hypertension. SN, SP, PPV, and NPV were 0.754, 0.747, 0.515, and 0.895, respectively. The likelihood ratios for a positive and negative test were 2.984 (weak) and 0.330 (weak), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of borderline office BP thresholds recommended in the 2017 ACC/AHA BP guideline did not sufficiently rule in or rule out masked hypertension.
DeepES: Deep learning-based enzyme screening to identify orphan enzyme genes
Authors: Hirota Keisuke , Salim Felix , Yamada Takuji
Published: February 2025

Motivation

Progress in sequencing technology has led to determination of large numbers of protein sequences, and large enzyme databases are now available. Although many computational tools for enzyme annotation were developed, sequence information is unavailable for many enzymes, known as orphan enzymes. These orphan enzymes hinder sequence similarity-based functional annotation, leading gaps in understanding the association between sequences and enzymatic reactions.

Results

Therefore, we developed DeepES, a deep learning-based tool for enzyme screening to identify orphan enzyme genes, focusing on biosynthetic gene clusters and reaction class. DeepES uses protein sequences as inputs and evaluates whether the input genes contain biosynthetic gene clusters of interest by integrating the outputs of the binary classifier for each reaction class. The validation results suggested that DeepES can capture functional similarity between protein sequences, and it can be implemented to explore orphan enzyme genes. By applying DeepES to 4744 metagenome-assembled genomes, we identified candidate genes for 236 orphan enzymes, including those involved in short-chain fatty acid production as a characteristic pathway in human gut bacteria.

Availability

DeepES is available at https://github.com/yamada-lab/DeepES. Model weights and the candidate genes are available at Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11123900).

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Successful treatment of generalized inflammatory linear verrucous epidermal nevus with a somatic mutation in KRT10 with crisaborole 2% ointment
Authors: Li Zhongtao , Liu Qingfeng , Zhang Fang , Wang Sheng
Published: February 2025

Inflammatory linear verrucous epidermal nevus (ILVEN) is a rare skin disorder characterized by pruritic, erythematous, hyperkeratotic papules and plaques following the lines of Blaschko. Pathogenesis of ILVEN is not yet clear and treatment remains challenging. We analyzed the molecular basis of generalized ILVEN in a Chinese girl and evaluated the therapeutic effect of topical crisaborole 2% ointment. The patient was found to carry a somatic heterozygous c.467G > A (p.Arg156His) mutation in the KRT10 gene. Expressions of IFN-γ, IL-12, IL-23 and IL-17A at mRNA level in her lesions were elevated. An excellent response was achieved after application of crisaborole 2% ointment. Our data reveal the crucial role of activation of immune response in the development of ILVEN with somatic KRT10 mutations, and suggest crisaborole 2% ointment should be considered for the treatment of ILVEN.
Relation as text: a semantic-preserving method for relational triple extraction
Authors: Chen Xinyi , Liu Bo , Hong Xueshu , Chen Wangqun , Qiu Houjie , Ma Xingkong
Published: February 2025

The typical aim of relational triple extraction is to identify entities along with their relations from unstructured text, which is a crucial task in information extraction. Recent methods achieve considerable performance by mining semantic associations within the input sentence but they hardly exploit the equally important semantic meaning of relations. Most methods simply represent relations as numeric labels and the rich semantic information is not fully utilized to enhance performance. To address the issue, we decompose the task into two sequential subtasks, entity pairing and relation matching, from a novel perspective and then propose a semantic-preserving model SPRel. Specifically, SPRel first extracts entity pairs associated with at least one relation, and then matches them with certain relations according to the descriptive text of relations. Comprehensive experiments on two widely used datasets demonstrate that SPRel outperforms previous methods, particularly in handling complex scenarios.
NIA and the White House Conference on Aging: Decades of Collaboration
Authors: Super Nora
Published: February 2025

Background and Objectives

On the National Institute on Aging’s (NIA’s) timeline of major milestones, the 1961 White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA) and the 1971 WHCOA are credited with recommending the creation of a separate National Institute on Aging. This article explores the relationship between NIA and the WHCOA, and how the two entities have worked together to increase research in the mechanisms of aging, diseases of older people, and long-term care..

Research Design and Methods

Historical analyses of past WHCOA Final Reports, supplemental documents, websites, and interviews with key participants, including Dr. Richard Hodes, director of the NIA, from 1993 until the present.

Results

The results affirmed that NIA has been an active and collaborative partner of past WHCOAs, especially regarding the shared objective of increased funding for Alzheimer’s disease

Discussion and Implications

While not always a primary partner, NIA has played a key role in advising and assisting organizers of past WHCOAs, assuring that research remains an underlying theme and content generator of each conference. The Older Americans Act Reauthorization of 2024 (S. 4776) calls for a 2025 Conference to be planned and directed under the Secretary of HHS in cooperation with the Assistant Secretary for Aging and the Director of the NIA, among others.