bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Immediate effect of clear aligners and fixed appliances on perioral soft tissues and speech
Authors: Wang Darren , Firth Fiona , Bennani Florence , Farella Mauro , Mei Li
Published: December 2022

Objectives

To compare the immediate three‐dimensional (3D) perioral soft‐tissue changes and impact on speech induced by clear aligners and fixed appliances.

Materials and Methods

In this repeated‐measure experimental study, stereophotogrammetric 3D photographs of 40 participants were recorded before and immediately after the introduction of clear aligners and fixed appliances. The 3D surface meshes were registered to quantify changes in the direction and magnitude of nine soft tissue landmarks located on the upper and lower lips. Self‐reported speech disturbance was evaluated using a questionnaire. Data were analysed using repeated‐measures analysis of variance.

Results

In the vertical plane, the clear aligners induced inferior displacement (range 0.4‐1.5 mm) for all nine landmarks (P < .01), whereas fixed appliances induced inferior displacement only of A‐point (0.4 ± 0.9 mm), right crista philtri (0.5 ± 1.1 mm) and left crista philtri (0.7 ± 1.1 mm). The clear aligners induced greater vertical changes than fixed appliances for all landmarks (P < .05). In the sagittal plane, both clear aligners and fixed appliances slightly advanced all perioral landmarks, except subnasale. Fixed appliances caused greater changes than clear aligners for right cheilion (+0.8 mm), left cheilion (+0.8 mm) and labrale inferius (+0.9 mm) (P < .01). Both orthodontic appliances had a significant self‐perceived effect on speech, with clear aligners affecting speech to a greater degree.

Conclusion

Clear aligners and fixed appliances produced immediate effects on perioral soft tissues, which are most evident in the vertical plane for clear aligners, and in the sagittal plane for fixed appliances. Speech was affected by both appliances.
Hyperbaric oxygen enhances X‐ray induced ferroptosis in oral squamous cell carcinoma cells
Authors: liu Jia , An Wei , Zhao Qian , Liu Zhen , Jiang Ying , Li Huiqing , Wang Di
Published: December 2022

Objective

The objective of this study was to investigate the combined effect of X‐ray radiation (IR) and hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) on oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells and to explore the possible molecular mechanism.

Methods

The OSCC cells were treated with or without IR, together with or without HBO co‐exposure. Cells were transfected with specific plasmids using Lipofectamine 2000. The cell varieties, apoptosis markers, and ferroptosis markers were determined by using appropriate method. OSCC xenograft mice model was categorized into several subgroups according to the specific treatement. GPX4 expressions were determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in OSCC tissues and were tested by ELISA in serums from OSCC patients.

Results

The co‐exposure of IR and HBO significantly strengthened the cytotoxicity of IR on SCC15‐S cells in ferroptosis‐dependent manner. The regulated GPX4/ferroptosis mediated the HBO function on re‐sensitizing the radio‐resistant OSCC cells to IR. In xenograft mice, co‐exposure of IR and HBO can significantly reduce the tumor under IR activation compared with IR alone. Clinical data indicated that high GPX4 levels were associated with poor chemo‐radiotherapy outcome.

Conclusions

HBO could re‐sensitize radio‐resistant OSCC cells through GPX4/ferroptosis regulation. These results provide a potential therapeutic strategy for clinical radio‐resistance.
Principal component analysis of the biopsychosocial features relevant to temporomandibular disorders
Authors: Kim Hye‐Kyoung , Kim Mee‐Eun
Published: December 2022

Objectives

This study aimed to explore the dimensionality of three biopsychosocial constructs with multiple subdimensions, including the Symptom Checklist‐90‐Revised (SCL‐90R), pain catastrophizing scale (PCS) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and to identify the latent dimensions of five biopsychosocial constructs (SCL‐90R, PCS, PSQI, pain severity, and pain interference) using the principal component analysis (PCA) in patients with temporomandibular disorder (TMD).

Subjects and Methods

A secondary analysis of a previous cross‐sectional study comprising 1488 patients with painful TMD was conducted using multiple questionnaires.

Results

PCA of the SCL‐90R and PCS identified one factor, which explained 60.8% and 80.2% of the total variance, respectively. For the PSQI, three factors explained 61.3% of the variance. PCA resulted in two main orthogonal components: factor 1, which comprised a combination of scores for pain severity, pain interference and global scores of PCS, and PSQI; and factor 2, which comprised one measure of the SCL‐90R. Factors 1 (46.5%) and 2 (20.0%) explained 66.5% of the total variance.

Conclusion

The findings of this study revealed that five measures can be primarily categorised into two latent constructs of the psychological (affective) and pain‐related (sensory‐cognitive) dimensions. These core components could be applied in clinical settings and for research purposes.
Transient immune deficiency accompanied with homozygous CBL rare variant
Authors: Morishita Aoi , Yeh Tzu‐Wen , Tomari Kouki , Furuichi Mihoko , Kashimada Kenichi , Morio Tomohiro , Takagi Masatoshi , Imai Kohsuke
Published: December 2022

Background

A critical role in cellular proliferation is played by Casitas B‐lineage Lymphoma proto‐oncogene (CBL). Germline heterozygous CBL variants give rise to CBL syndrome, which is phenotypically similar to RASopathy. Somatic mutations in CBL have been reported in patients with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML).

Methods

Exome analysis was performed in a patient with immunodeficiency who developed Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia.

Results

Exome analysis identified a homozygous CBL missense variant. Cell biological analysis of this CBL variant confirmed attenuated function.

Conclusion

Spontaneous regression of hematological proliferation has been observed in patients with CBL‐mutated JMML and in patients with CBL syndrome. Intriguingly, immunological impairment was spontaneously ameliorated by aging in this patient.
Measurement of Unmet Need for Contraception: A Counterfactual Approach
Authors: Karra Mahesh
Published: December 2022

Unmet need plays a critical role in reproductive health research, evaluation, and advocacy. Although conceptually straightforward, its estimation suffers from a number of methodological limitations, most notably its reliance on biased measures of women's stated fertility preferences. We propose a counterfactual‐based approach to measuring unmet need at the population level. Using data from 56 countries, we calculate unmet need in a population as the difference between: (1) the observed contraceptive prevalence in the population; and (2) the calculated contraceptive prevalence in a subsample of women who are identified to be from “ideal” family planning environments. Women from “ideal” environments are selected on characteristics that signal their contraceptive autonomy and decision‐making over family planning. We find significant differences between our approach and existing methods to calculating unmet need, and we observe variation across countries when comparing indicators. We argue that our indicator of unmet need is preferable to existing population‐level indicators due to its independence from biases that are generated from the use of reported preference measures, the simplicity with which it can be derived, and its relevance for cross‐country comparisons as well as context‐specific analyses.
Redefining antiracism: Learning from activists to sharpen academic language
Authors: Ferguson Annie
Published: December 2022

People have fought against racism for as long as it has existed and yet it persists in diverse and materially impactful ways. The primary challenge to eradicating racism is likely the power of white privilege. This paper argues that another important obstacle to progress has been the lack of a clear definition of antiracism that movement activists and scholars can collaboratively use to ensure that antiracist scholarship and efforts meet the full measure of the term's intention. While academia has struggled to converge on a definition, “lay race theorists” and movement activists—Black women in particular, have been participating in discourse online and through other venues where consensus appears to be developing around a definition. This article attempts to summarize activist discourse in defining antiracism as “the commitment to eradicate racism in all its forms” and individual antiracism as “the commitment to eradicate racism in all its forms, by (1) building an understanding of racism and (2) taking action to eliminate racism “within oneself, in other people, in institutions, and through actions outside of institutions,” noting that “antiracism is an ongoing practice and commitment that must be accountable to antiracist Black people, Indigenous people, and other People of Color and consider intersectional systems of oppression.” While research on the public conversation benefits from its easy access and limited additional burdens on movement activists, future research should test these definitions with movement activists to ensure that definitions and metrics are as relevant to the antiracist movement as possible.
Racial equity in social psychological science: A guide for scholars, institutions, and the field
Authors: Torrez Brittany , Hudson Sa‐kiera Tiarra Jolynn , Dupree Cydney H.
Published: December 2022

How can social psychologists ensure their scholarship does not maintain racial inequality—or better, is anti‐racist? This article serves as a reference for scholars by briefly reviewing the state of racial inequality in psychological science before providing concise yet comprehensive recommendations. Challenges include (a) the field's historic role in inequality‐maintenance (especially by reinforcing harmful stereotypes), (b) pervasive objectivity norms that reify Whiteness as the status quo, and (c) the inequitable allocation of resources to White scholars and White‐centered scholarship. Recommendations center on (a) methodological practices during the research process (from idea generation to manuscript preparation), (b) empirical transparency from scholars during the publication process, and (c) institutional, resource‐focused support from gatekeepers (e.g., editors, senior faculty) to incentivize the diversification of our science.
The novel HLA‐A*11 allele, HLA‐A*11:01:109:02, identified by next generation sequencing
Authors: Ananeva Anastasiia , Gulnaz Akhmetshina , Ryzhkova Tatiana , Gaifullina Raushania , Shagimardanova Elena
Published: December 2022

The novel HLA‐A*11:01:109:02 allele was characterized using next generation sequencing technology.
Anomalous weathering records in the Cleveland Basin (Yorkshire, UK) during the T‐OAE global warming
Authors: Wang Yunfeng
Published: December 2022

Early Toarcian (~183 Ma) was marked by a global warming event which accelerated continental chemical weathering. To constrain the early Toarcian weathering intensity of a Cleveland Basin (Yorkshire, UK) region, this study employed its sediment chemical weathering proxies (potassium/aluminium (K/Al) and K/rubidium (K/Rb)). The K/Al and K/Rb exhibit an anomalous chemical weathering intensity signal from the contemporaneous warm, moist world. Variations in weathering intensity for the Yorkshire section inversely comply with detrital grain size changes (indicated by Al/silicon (Al/Si)). This finding implies that continental chemical weathering did not play a major role in changing detrital grain sizes in the Yorkshire sediments. Instead, short‐term sea‐level changes in the Cleveland Basin can explain the stratigraphic variations in detrital grain sizes. Anomalies of geochemical proxies for chemical weathering and eustatic sea‐level changes do exist at local scales possibly driven by Milankovitch cycle, which reminds us to be more careful when reconstructing palaeoclimate states.
Altered expression levels of long non‐coding natural antisense transcripts overlapping the UGT73C6 gene affect rosette size in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Meena Shiv Kumar , Heidecker Michel , Engelmann Susanne , Jaber Ammar , de Vries Tebbe , Triller Saskia , Baumann‐Kaschig Katja , Abel Steffen , Behrens Sven‐Erik , Gago‐Zachert Selma
Published: December 2022

Natural antisense long non‐coding RNAs (lncNATs) are involved in the regulation of gene expression in plants, modulating different relevant developmental processes and responses to various stimuli. We have identified and characterized two lncNATs (NAT1UGT73C6 and NAT2UGT73C6, collectively NATsUGT73C6) from Arabidopsis thaliana that are transcribed from a gene fully overlapping UGT73C6, a member of the UGT73C subfamily of genes encoding UDP‐glycosyltransferases (UGTs). Expression of both NATsUGT73C6 is developmentally controlled and occurs independently of the transcription of UGT73C6 in cis. Downregulation of NATsUGT73C6 levels through artificial microRNAs results in a reduction of the rosette area, while constitutive overexpression of NAT1UGT73C6 or NAT2UGT73C6 leads to the opposite phenotype, an increase in rosette size. This activity of NATsUGT73C6 relies on its RNA sequence and, although modulation of UGT73C6 in cis cannot be excluded, the observed phenotypes are not a consequence of the regulation of UGT73C6 in trans. The NATsUGT73C6 levels were shown to affect cell proliferation and thus individual leaf size. Consistent with this concept, our data suggest that the NATsUGT73C6 influence the expression levels of key transcription factors involved in regulating leaf growth by modulating cell proliferation. These findings thus reveal an additional regulatory layer on the process of leaf growth. In this work, we characterized at the molecular level two long non‐coding RNAs (NATsUGT73C6) that are transcribed in the opposite direction to UGT73C6, a gene encoding a glucosyltransferase involved in brassinosteroid homeostasis in A. thaliana. Our results indicate that NATsUGT73C6 expression influences leaf growth by acting in trans and by modulating the levels of transcription factors that are involved in the regulation of cell proliferation.
Optimizing interpretation of survival studies of fresh and aged transfused biotin‐labeled RBCs
Authors: Donnenberg Albert D. , Kim‐Shapiro Daniel B. , Kanias Tamir , Moore Linda R. , Kiss Joseph E. , Lee Janet S. , Xiong Zeyu , Wang Ling , Triulzi Darrell J. , Gladwin Mark T.
Published: December 2022

Background

Ex vivo labeling with 51chromium represents the standard method to determine red blood cell (RBC) survival after transfusion. Limitations and safety concerns spurred the development of alternative methods, including biotinylated red blood cells (BioRBC).

Study Design and Methods

Autologous units of whole blood were divided equally into two bags and stored under standard blood bank conditions at 2 to 6°C (N = 4 healthy adult volunteers). One bag was biotinylated (15 μg/ml) on storage days 5 to 7 (fresh) and the other was biotinylated (3 μg/ml) on days 35 to 42 (aged). The proportion of circulating BioRBC was measured serially, and cell‐surface biotin was quantified with reference to molecules of equivalent soluble fluorochrome. Clearance kinetics were modeled by RBC age distribution at infusion (Gaussian vs. uniform) and decay over time (constant vs. exponential).

Results

Data were consistent with biphasic exponential clearance of cells of uniform age. Our best estimate of BioRBC clearance (half‐life [T1/2]) was 49.7 ± 1.2 days initially, followed by more rapid clearance 82 days after transfusion (T1/2 = 15.6 ± 0.6 days). As BioRBC aged in vivo, molecules of equivalent soluble fluorochrome declined with a T1/2 of 122 ± 9 days, suggesting gradual biotin cleavage. There were no significant differences between the clearance of fresh and aged BioRBC.

Conclusion

Similar clearance kinetics of fresh and aged BioRBC may be due to the extensive washing required during biotinylation. Survival kinetics consistent with cells with uniform rather than Gaussian or other non‐uniform age distributions suggest that washing, and potentially RBC culling, may extend the storage life of RBC products.
Alternative splicing in CEP290 mutant cats results in a milder phenotype than LCACEP290 patients
Authors: Minella Andrea L. , Narfström Wiechel Kristina , Petersen‐Jones Simon M.
Published: December 2022

Purpose

The rdAc cat has an intronic mutation in the centrosomal 290 kDa (CEP290) gene resulting in a frameshift and a premature stop codon (c.6960 + 9 T > G, p.Ile2321AlafsTer3) predicted to truncate the protein by 157 amino acids. CEP290 mutations in human patients cause a range or phenotypes including syndromic conditions and severe childhood loss of vision while the rdAc cat has a milder phenotype. We sought to further characterize the effect of rdAc mutation on CEP290 expression.

Methods

TaqMan quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction assays were used to compare wildtype and truncated transcript levels. Relative protein abundance was analyzed by Western blot. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to detect CEP290 protein.

Results

CEP290 mutant cats show low‐level (17.4% of wildtype cats) use of the wildtype splice site and usage of the mutant splice site. Western analysis shows retina from cats homozygous for the mutation has CEP290 protein that likely comprises a combination of both wildtype and truncated protein. IHC detects CEP290 in affected and control retina labeling the region of the interconnecting cilium.

Conclusions

The comparably milder phenotype of CEP290 mutant cats is likely due to the retained production of some full‐length CEP290 protein with possible functional contributions from presence of truncated protein.
Conjugator length in Thompson's groups
Authors: Belk James , Matucci Francesco
Published: December 2022

We prove that Thompson's group  has quadratic conjugator length function. That is, for any two conjugate elements of  of length  or less, there exists an element of of length that conjugates one to the other. Moreover, there exist conjugate pairs of elements of of length at most such that the shortest conjugator between them has length . This latter statement holds for and as well.
Geometric generalizations of the square sieve, with an application to cyclic covers
Authors: Bucur Alina , Cojocaru Alina Carmen , Lalín Matilde N. , Pierce Lillian B.
Published: December 2022

We formulate a general problem: Given projective schemes and over a global field K and a K‐morphism η from to of finite degree, how many points in of height at most B have a pre‐image under η in ? This problem is inspired by a well‐known conjecture of Serre on quantitative upper bounds for the number of points of bounded height on an irreducible projective variety defined over a number field. We give a nontrivial answer to the general problem when and is a prime degree cyclic cover of . Our tool is a new geometric sieve, which generalizes the polynomial sieve to a geometric setting over global function fields.
Correlations of multiplicative functions in function fields
Authors: Klurman Oleksiy , Mangerel Alexander P. , Teräväinen Joni
Published: December 2022

We develop an approach to study character sums, weighted by a multiplicative function , of the formwhere χ is a Dirichlet character and ξ is a short interval character over . We then deduce versions of the Matomäki–Radziwiłł theorem and Tao's two‐point logarithmic Elliott conjecture over function fields , whereqis fixed. The former of these improves on work of Gorodetsky, and the latter extends the work of Sawin–Shusterman on correlations of the Möbius function for various values ofq. Compared with the integer setting, we encounter a different phenomenon, specifically a low characteristic issue in the case thatqis a power of 2. As an application of our results, we give a short proof of the function field version of a conjecture of Kátai on classifying multiplicative functions with small increments, with the classification obtained and the proof being different from the existing one in the integer case. In a companion paper, we use these results to characterize the limiting behavior of partial sums of multiplicative functions in function fields and in particular to solve a “corrected” form of the Erdős discrepancy problem over .
One-Dimensional World as a Tool to Study Chiral Effects
Authors: Khaidukov Z. V.
Published: December 2022

An analog of the chiral separation effect and the chiral magnetic effect has been studied for fermions in one spatial dimension. The relation of these effects to axial anomaly in the epsilon substitution method has been demonstrated. The grand canonical potential has been calculated for chiral fermions in one spatial dimension in the presence of the chiral chemical potential.
Examination of the horizontal gene transfer dynamics of an integrative and conjugative element encoding multidrug resistance in Histophilus somni
Authors: Farghaly Mai , Hynes Michael F. , Nazari Mohammad , Checkley Sylvia , Liljebjelke Karen
Published: December 2022

Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) are self-transferable mobile genetic elements that play a significant role in disseminating antimicrobial resistance between bacteria via horizontal gene transfer. A recently identified ICE in a clinical isolate of Histophilus somni ( ICEHs02) is 72 914 base pairs in length and harbours seven predicted antimicrobial resistance genes conferring resistance to tetracycline ( tetR-tet(H)), florfenicol ( floR), sulfonamide ( Sul2), aminoglycosides ( APH(3″)-Ib, APH(6)-Id, APH(3′)-Ia), and copper ( mco). This study investigated  ICEHs02 host range, assessed effects of antimicrobial stressors on transfer frequency, and examined effects of ICEHs02 acquisition on hosts. Conjugation assays examined transfer frequency of  ICEHs02 to H. somni and  Pasteurella multocida strains. Polymerase chain reaction assays confirmed the presence of a circular intermediate, ICE-associated core genes, and cargo genes in recipient strains. Susceptibility testing examined  ICEHs02-associated resistance phenotypes in recipient strains. Tetracycline and ciprofloxacin induction significantly increased the transfer rates of  ICEHs02 in vitro. The copy numbers of the circular intermediate of ICEHs02 per chromosome exhibited significant increases of ∼37-fold after tetracycline exposure and ∼4-fold after ciprofloxacin treatment. The acquisition of ICEHs02 reduced the relative fitness of H. somni transconjugants (TG) by 28% ( w = 0.72 ± 0.04) and the relative fitness of P. multocida TG was decreased by 15% ( w = 0.85 ± 0.01).
Fundamental-mode eigenfrequencies of neutral and charged twin neutron stars
Authors: Gonçalves Victor P. , Jiménez José C. , Lazzari Lucas
Published: December 2022

We investigate the effects of rapid and slow conversions on the fundamental-mode eigenfrequencies of hybrid neutron stars having highly discontinuous transitions between hadronic and quark matter, the so-called twin stars. We analyze some characteristic cases in the available parameter space of the equations of state for the hadronic and quark phases. Furthermore, we also consider the possibility that these stellar configurations are electrically charged. Our results indicate that for neutral configurations under rapid conversions the stability window coincides with the usual stability criterion, i.e.$$\partial M/\partial p_c > 0$$∂M/∂pc>0and that the two branches are disconnected. This discontinuity remains when electric charge is considered, but the usual criterion is not sufficient to determine the star’s stability. On the other hand, slow conversions connect initially disconnected branches and increase the stability window of the hybrid configurations. For both conversion speeds, the presence of electric charge diminishes the magnitude of the eigenfrequencies and its stability window.
Nanoarchitectonics of La-Doped Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles for Optical and Antibacterial Properties
Authors: Rajput Piyush , Deshpande M. P. , Bhoi Hiteshkumar R. , Chaki S. H. , Pandya Swati J. , Mishra Manish , Sathe Vasant , Das Suman , Tiwari Dhermendra K. , Bhatt Sandip V.
Published: December 2022

Pure and La-doped titania nanoparticles are prepared by the chemical precipitation method. The stoichiometry of prepared samples is confirmed by EDAX whereas XRD analysis showed rutile tetragonal phase of synthesized pure TiO2 and La (2%, 4%, 6% and 8%)-doped titanium dioxide nanoparticles. The crystallite size of all samples lies below 50[Formula: see text]nm as calculated from XRD. All the samples show cuboid/ellipsoidal polyhedral kind of morphologies of nanoparticles except La 2% TiO2 which exhibits nanoflex morphology as seen in TEM images. Raman spectra recorded from low temperature to room temperature have shown [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] fundamental modes supporting the rutile tetragonal structure as reported in XRD. The absorption edge in the UV-Visible spectra of doped samples is shifted towards higher values of wavelength with increase of La in TiO2. Photoluminescence spectra at various excitation energies showed the changes in PL intensity as La content is increased. Photocatalytic activity for the constant time interval for pure TiO2 shows better photodegradation efficiency in comparison to the La-doped TiO2. Antibacterial activity of pure TiO2 is seen to be improved with La doping of 8%-doped TiO2 nanoparticles.
Analyzing Malicious Activities and Detecting Adversarial Behavior in Cryptocurrency based Permissionless Blockchains: An Ethereum Usecase
Authors: Agarwal Rachit , Thapliyal Tanmay , Shukla Sandeep
Published: December 2022

Different malicious activities occur in cryptocurrency-based permissionless blockchains such as Ethereum and Bitcoin. Some activities are due to the exploitation of vulnerabilities which are present in the blockchain infrastructure, some activities target its users through social engineering techniques, while some activities use it to facilitate different malicious activities. Since cryptocurrency-based permissionless blockchains provide pseudonymity to its users, bad actors prefer to carry out transactions related to malicious activities on them. Towards this, we aim at automatically flagging blockchain accounts as suspects that indulge in malicious activities, thus reducing the unintended support that cryptocurrency-based permissionless blockchains provide to malicious actors. We first use the cosine similarity (CS) metrics to study the similarities between the feature vector of accounts associated with different malicious activities and find that most of the malicious activities associated with the Ethereum blockchain behave similarly. We then use the K-Means clustering algorithm to check if accounts associated with similar malicious activities cluster together. We also study the effect of bias on the performance of a machine learning (ML) algorithm, due to the number of accounts associated with malicious activity. We then compare the different state-of-the-art models and identify that Neural Networks (NNs) are resistant to bias associated with a malicious activity and are also robust against adversarial attacks. The previously used ML algorithms for identifying malicious accounts also show bias towards an over-represented malicious activity.
Chain-Net: An Internet-inspired Framework for Interoperable Blockchains
Authors: Abdullah Sidrah , Arshad Junaid , Alsadi Muhammad
Published: December 2022

Blockchain has introduced new opportunities with the potential to enhance systems and services across diverse application domains. Fundamental characteristics of blockchains such as immutability, decentralisation, transparency and traceability have a profound role in this. However, integration with contemporary systems and among disparate blockchain-based applications is a non-trivial challenge primarily due to differences with respect to platforms, consensus mechanism, and governance. Although this challenge has received some attention from the research community, it requires careful analysis to analyse existing work and ascertain gaps to achieve effective and efficient solution to this challenge. This article presents a thorough systematic review of existing research within blockchain interoperability highlighting significant contributions. Leveraging this analysis, the article presents an internet-inspired framework (Chain-Net) to facilitate interoperability within blockchain-based systems whereby two systems within independent Blockchain networks can securely exchange data with each other. This is achieved by using gateway module at each network. This module is a lightweight node registered by the Blockchain network, equipped with discovery service to lookup a target blockchain, and is responsible for forwarding cross-chain transactions to gateway module at the target blockchain. Gateway module plays a vital role in the Chain-Net model, as it holds a cross-chain transaction in a pending state until a confirmation is received from the target blockchain, thus maintaining the record integrity between the two chains. The article presents our efforts to evaluate the proposed blockchain interoperability framework against success criteria based on our analysis of the blockchain interoperability challenge.
Healthor: Heterogeneity-aware Flow Control in DLTs to Increase Performance and Decentralization
Authors: Theis Jonas , Vigneri Luigi , Wang Lin , Trivedi Animesh
Published: December 2022

Permissionless reputation-based distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) have been proposed to overcome blockchains’ shortcomings in terms of performance and scalability, and to enable feeless messages to power the machine-to-machine economy. These DLTs allow machines with widely heterogeneous capabilities to actively participate in message generation and consensus. However, the open nature of such DLTs can lead to the centralization of decision-making power, thus defeating the purpose of building a decentralized network.

In this article, we introduce Healthor, a novel heterogeneity-aware flow-control mechanism for permissionless reputation-based DLTs. Healthor formalizes node heterogeneity by defining a health value as a function of its incoming message queue occupancy. We show that health signals can be used effectively by neighboring nodes to dynamically flow control messages while maintaining high decentralization. We perform extensive simulations, and show a 23% increase in throughput, a 76% decrease in latency and four times increased node participation in consensus compared to state-of-the-art. To the best of our knowledge, Healthor is the first system to systematically explore the ramifications of heterogeneity on DLTs and proposes a dynamic, heterogeneity-aware flow control. Healthor’s source code (
https://github.com/jonastheis/healthor
) and simulation result data set (
https://zenodo.org/record/4573698
) are both publicly available.
Surgical Steps of Gasless Transaxillary Endoscopic Thyroidectomy: From A to Z
Authors: Xu Shujian , Yang Zhenlin , Guo Qingqun , Zou Weiwei , Liu Song , Gao Qiang , Wu Mengmeng , An Xingguo , Han Yong
Published: December 2022

In the past 30 years, the incidence of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) has been increasing rapidly and has become one of the most common malignant tumors in females. Currently, the main surgical treatment for DTC is standard open thyroidectomy (SOT) via a traditional Kocher mid-cervical incision, but postoperative neck scarring was associated with significantly worse health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores. To offer better cosmesis, robotic/endoscopic thyroidectomy via cervical, axillary, anterior chest, breast, postauricular, or transoral approaches have been developed over the past 20 years. In general, gasless transaxillary endoscopic thyroidectomy (GTET) has advantages in terms of convenience, clarity of vision, and aesthetic incision. The current work aims to provide a step-by-step description of GTET, supported by a high-quality, pictorial guide.
A Novel Cuproptosis-Related Prognostic Model and the Hub Gene FDX1 Predict the Prognosis and Correlate with Immune Infiltration in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Zhang Kenan , Yang Wuping , Zhang Zedan , Ma Kaifang , Li Lei , Xu Yawei , Qiu Jianhui , Yu Chaojian , Zhou Jingcheng , Cai Lin , Gong Yanqing , Gong Kan
Published: December 2022

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a common malignancy of the urological system with poor prognosis. Cuproptosis is a recently discovered novel manner of cell death, and the hub gene FDX1 could promote cuproptosis. However, the potential roles of cuproptosis-related genes (CRGs) and FDX1 for predicting prognosis, the immune microenvironment, and therapeutic response have been poorly studied in ccRCC. In the present study, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data were downloaded. CRGs were subjected to prognosis analysis, and three of them were used to construct the prognostic model by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression. The CRGs prognostic model showed excellent performance. Moreover, based on the risk score of the model, the nomogram was developed to predict 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year survival. Furthermore, the hub gene of cuproptosis, FDX1, was an independent prognostic biomarker in multivariate Cox regression analysis. The pan-cancer analysis showed that FDX1 was significantly downregulated and closely related to prognosis in ccRCC among 33 cancer types. Lower FDX1 was also correlated with worse clinicopathologic features. The lower expression of FDX1 in ccRCC was verified in the external database and our own database, which may be caused by DNA methylation. We further demonstrated that the tumor mutational burden (TMB) and immune cell infiltration were related to the expression of FDX1. Immune response and drug sensitivity analysis revealed that immunotherapy or elesclomol may have a favorable treatment effect in the high FDX1 expression group and sunitinib or axitinib may work better in the low FDX1 expression group. In conclusion, we constructed a CRGs prognostic model and revealed that FDX1 could serve as a prognostic biomarker and predict therapeutic response in ccRCC. The study will provide a novel, precise, and individual treatment strategy for ccRCC patients.
Persian Named Entity Recognition by Gray Wolf Optimization Algorithm
Authors: Forouzandeh Aynaz , Feizi-Derakhshi Mohammad-Reza , Gholami-Dastgerdi Pejman
Published: December 2022

Named entity recognition (NER) is a subfield of natural language processing (NLP). It is able to identify proper nouns, such as person names, locations, and organizations, and has been widely used in various tasks. NER can be practical in extracting information from social media data. However, the unstructured and noisy nature of social media (such as grammatical errors and typos) causes new challenges for NER, especially for low-resource languages such as Persian, and existing NER methods mainly focus on formal texts and English social media. To overcome this challenge, we consider Persian NER as an optimization problem and use the binary Gray Wolf Optimization (GWO) algorithm to segment posts into small possible phrases of named entities. Later, named entities are recognized based on their score. Also, we prove that even human opinion can differ in the NER task and compare our method with other systems with the

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dataset and the results show that our proposed system obtains a higher F1 score in comparison with other methods.
Dynamic Response of Crossanisotropic Layered Media with Imperfect Interface under Axisymmetric Loads
Authors: Han Zejun , Guo Chengchao , Yang Linqing , Zhang Jin , Sun Kai
Published: December 2022

Considering the incomplete contact between the adjacent layers of crossanisotropic multilayered half‐space media, an algorithm was derived based on the spectral element method (SEM) to determine the dynamic response at any point of the medium when an axisymmetric harmonic load is applied. The algorithm used two equivalent contact parameters to simulate the relationship between the discontinuity of the displacement and stress. The SEM was employed for the summation in the integral calculation to avoid the infinite integral in the integral transformation and greatly improve the efficiency of the solution to the dynamic response of the crossanisotropic layered half‐space medium. The accuracy of the developed method is verified by the numerical examples as well as the efficiency of the developed method. Finally, an extensive parametric analysis of the contact parameters of the interface between the layers of the layered medium, namely, the point of the application of the external load, the excitation frequency, and the heterogeneous properties of the layered medium was conducted, providing a reliable numerical basis for engineering practice.
Genetic Diversity and Structure in a Spanish Grape Germplasm Collection Assessed by SSR Markers
Authors: Ghrissi Hiba , De Andrés María Teresa , Andreu Luis Javier , Gogorcena Yolanda
Published: December 2022

Background and Aims. Vitis vinifera L. is a major global horticulture crop which holds historical connections contributing to the development of human culture. The main objective of the study was to explore the genetic diversity and structure of grapes curated at the germplasm bank of Aragón and link them to cultivar utilization, putative geographic origin, and historical events. Methods and Results. The genetic diversity of the 411 accessions of the Grapevine Germplasm Bank was assessed using 26 SSR markers. SSR markers VVIP31, VMC4F3-1, VVIV67, and VVS2 distinguished the 156 nonredundant genotypes found in the collection. The profiles were compared to the El Encin database, and 105 were identified as known cultivars, of which 93 were Spanish, 12 were from other European origins, and 51 others were not known. The 51 profiles, as they were all collected in Spain, were designated as Spanish unknown for further analysis. To establish a comparative study for principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and structure, we kept 113 identified genotypes from this collection but added 61 representative genotypes with diverse European and oriental origins. Bayesian analysis and PCoA showed four distinct groups of grape cultivars: (1) traditional Spanish wine grape from Aragón or cultivated along the Ebro River, (2) Spanish wine grape, (3) Spanish and oriental table grape, and (4) Italian, Portuguese, French, and German-Slovenian wine grape varieties. Conclusions. The 51 unknown Spanish genotypes were not registered yet in any European commercial list and are of special interest. These genotypes could be ancient cultivars adapted to local climatic and environmental conditions and probably resilient to face the new conditions derived from climate change.
Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter: Detection of ESBL, MBL, blaNDM-1 Genotype, and Biofilm Formation at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Eastern Nepal
Authors: Kumari Manisha , Bhattarai Narayan Raj , Rai Keshav , Pandit Tejendra Kumar , Khanal Basudha
Published: December 2022

Background. The Acinetobacter species is an important hospital-acquired pathogen. The rapid development of resistance to multiple drugs and the ability to form biofilm make these bacteria more adaptable to survive in healthcare facilities, thus posing a challenge to their effective management. Objective. This study aimed to characterize clinical isolates of Acinetobacter spp and to study their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and ability to form biofilm. Resistant Acinetobacter was further analyzed for the detection of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), metallo β-lactamases (MBLs), carbapenemase production, and presence of blaNDM-1 gene. Materials and Methods. A total of 324 Acinetobacter species were isolated from various clinical specimens which were submitted to the Department of Microbiology, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal, and were studied for antibiotic susceptibility testing, detection of ESBL and MBL production, and formerly biofilm formation was performed by standard microbiological methods. PCR was carried out to determine the presence of the blaNDM-1 gene. Results. The predominant Acinetobacter species isolated was A calcoaceticus-baumannii Complex (Acb complex) 167 (51.5%). Among those, all A. species 128 (40%) were multidrug resistant (MDR). In which 13 (4.0%) were ESBL producers, 70 (61.9%) were MBL, and 12 (10.6%) were carbapenemases producers. The blaNDM1 gene was present in 33 isolates. Thirty-seven percent (121/324) of isolates formed biofilm. The majority of A. species were resistant to cefotaxime 73.8% (239) and cefepime 74.4% (241). A significant proportion of biofilm producers were MDR (p < 0.001). Conclusion. Drug-resistant Acinetobacter formed a substantial proportion of this hospital’s samples with a large presence of the blaNDM-1 gene. A matter of great concern is the association of multidrug-resistant phenotype with biofilm formation. This situation warranted stringent surveillance and adherence to infection prevention and control practices.
Low Lymphocyte-to-Monocyte Ratio as a Possible Predictor of an Unfavourable Clinical Outcome in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke after Mechanical Thrombectomy
Authors: Pinčáková Katarína , Krastev Georgi , Haring Jozef , Mako Miroslav , Mikulášková Viktória , Bošák Vladimír
Published: December 2022

Background. Although considerable progress has been made in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke (AIS), the clinical outcome of patients is still significantly influenced by the inflammatory response that follows stroke-induced brain injury. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential use of complete blood count parameters, including indices and ratios, for predicting the clinical outcome in AIS patients undergoing mechanical thrombectomy (MT). Methods. This single-centre retrospective study is consisted of 179 patients. Patient data including demographic characteristics, risk factors, clinical data, laboratory parameters on admission, and clinical outcome were collected. Based on the clinical outcome assessed at 3 months after MT by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), patients were divided into two groups: the favourable group (mRS 0–2) and unfavourable group (mRS 3–6). Stepwise multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to detect an independent predictor of the unfavourable clinical outcome. Results. An unfavourable clinical outcome was detected after 3 months in 101 patients (54.4%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis confirmed that the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) was an independent predictor of unfavourable clinical outcome at 3 months (

odds
 
ratio
=
0.761

, 95% confidence interval 0.625–0.928, and

P
=
0.007

). The value of 3.27 was chosen to be the optimal cut-off value of LMR. This value could predict the unfavourable clinical outcome with a 74.0% sensitivity and a 54.4% specificity. Conclusion. The LMR at the time of hospital admission is a predictor of an unfavourable clinical outcome at 3 months in AIS patients after MT.
Value of Central Venous Pressure Monitoring in the Patients with Sepsis-Associated Acute Kidney Injury
Authors: Xu Yaya , Kong Xiangmei , Zhu Xiaodong , Zhang Jianhua , Zhu Yueniu
Published: December 2022

Background. Although the measurement of central venous pressure (CVP) is a common clinical tool, the role of CVP monitoring in the outcome of sepsis is controversial because threshold values of CVP are uncertain, and there are only limited data on short-term survival of patients with septic acute kidney injury (AKI). Methods. This retrospective cohort study was based on the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database (source of the training dataset). Multivariate regression analysis was performed to clarify the relation between CVP measurement and clinical outcomes, and a univariate regression model after propensity score matching was utilized to validate our findings. A mortality prediction model for septic AKI and a risk stratification scoring approach were developed, and the emergency intensive care unit (eICU) database was used for external validation. Results. Of the 9170 patients in the training set, 2446 (26.7%) underwent CVP measurement. No significant association was found between CVP monitoring and 28-day mortality among patients with septic AKI (odds

ratio
=
0.479

; 95% confidence interval 0.213-1.076,

P
=
0.075

), even after adjustments (propensity score matching;

P
=
0.178

). Length of ICU stay and hospital stay was markedly reduced in patients undergoing CVP measurement within 3 hours (median 6.2 and 10.9 days, respectively,

P
<
0.001

). The addition of the mean perfusion pressure initial, CVP, and the magnitude of the CVP change within 48 hours to the model significantly increased model discrimination (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve: 0.867 and 0.780, respectively,

P
<
0.001

). Conclusions. These findings suggest that CVP measurement alone has little effect on the outcome of septic AKI. Nonetheless, initial CVP levels and the dynamic changes in CVP within the first 48 hours after ICU admission and the mean perfusion pressure initial can improve the accuracy of outcome prediction models.
Intelligent Maintenance Decision Model of Distribution Transformer Based on Multivariate Data Fusion
Authors: Ma Rui , Zhu Dongge , Yan Zhenhua , Sha Jiangbo , Zhang Qingping , Liu Jia
Published: December 2022

In order to effectively reduce the failure rate of distribution transformer and save maintenance cost, an intelligent maintenance decision-making model of distribution transformer based on multivariate data fusion is proposed. By effectively integrating deep belief network and D-S evidence theory, a multi-level decisionmaking model for intelligent maintenance of distribution transformer is constructed. The fault location and specific causes of the fault are analyzed layer by layer. The multi-dimensional data of distribution transformer fault are extracted and classified by deep belief network. The uncertainty problem in fault maintenance is solved by combining D-S evidence theory, The intelligent maintenance decision of transformer is realized. The experimental results show that: after the application of the model, the total positive judgment rate of distribution transformer maintenance is high, up to 96.60%; the maintenance cost is low; and the failure rate of transformer can be significantly reduced, the maintenance times are reduced, and the overhaul of equipment is avoided, and the service life of distribution transformer is extended. It can be proved that the model has good maintenance decision-making effect.
Effects of Symmetric and Asymmetric Double-Layer Spacers on a Negative-Capacitance Nanosheet Field-Effect Transistor
Authors: Guo Mengxue , Lü Weifeng , Xie Ziqiang , Zhao Mengjie , Wei Weijie , Han Ying
Published: December 2022

The effect of three double-layer spacers (corner/selective/dual) on the performance of a negative-capacitance nanosheet field-effect transistor (NC-NSFET) was investigated for the first time. Sentaurus technology computer-aided design simulations revealed that the NC-NSFET with corner
spacer will be significantly improved in transfer and high frequency characteristics due to the increase of ferroelectric layer thickness, and the NC-NSFET with a selective spacer structure exhibits better gate controllability. Compared with the ordinary dual-k spacer structure, the
switching current ratio is doubled, and its subthreshold swing and drain-induced barrier lowering are reduced by 3.0% and 48%, respectively. In addition, by introducing a selective spacer at the source side and a corner spacer at the drain side, the NC-NSFET has a smaller intrinsic delay and
exhibits better capacitance matching and stronger gate controllability than that with a symmetric spacer. For the double-layer spacer, the extension of the high-k spacer in the horizontal direction is more beneficial to the improvement of the device performance than that in the vertical
direction, which provides a more comprehensive reference for the spacer application in NC-NSFET.