bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pre‐resection Intraoperative Core Biopsies in Oral Tongue Cancer—A Pilot Study
Authors: Warshavsky Anton , Dorman Alexandra , Carmel‐Neiderman Narin Nard , Leider‐Trejo Leonora , Muhanna Nidal , Kampel Liyona , Ianculovici Clariel , Horowitz Gilad
Published: December 2022

Objective

To assess a novel intraoperative core biopsy technique to provide enhanced guidance in partial glossectomies.

Methods

All patients diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue were eligible for study participation. Following anesthesia, the planned resection and three points midway between the gross tumor and the intended ablation were marked. A core biopsy was performed with a needle spring on each point and sent for frozen sections. The initially planned resection was executed if the cores returned free of tumor. In case of a positive core biopsy, a new 1–1.5 cm margin was marked around that point. The main outcome measure was the closest final margin diameter, especially the deep ones. Other outcome measures were the core biopsies' sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value. Complications were recorded.

Results

The final margins of 10 patients undergoing intraoperative core biopsies and 20 matched controls were analyzed. One patient had two positive cores and final negative margins after modifying the resection accordingly. Another patient had a positive biopsy diagnosed only on final pathology, and one close final margin. Patients that were operated with the new technique had larger margins compared to the controls: median (interquartile range) closest margin 5.95 (3.97; 9.63) mm versus 4 (2.25; 5) mm (p = 0.074) and median deep margin 8.6 (6.16; 10) mm versus 5 (3;10) mm (p = 0.411), respectively. There were no complications.

Conclusion

A novel pre‐resection intraoperative biopsy technique is presented. Core biopsies taken during glossectomies have the potential to prevent inadequate margins.

Level of Evidence

3 Laryngoscope, 133:2232–2236, 2023
Deep soil water depletion and soil organic carbon and total nitrogen accumulation in a long‐term alfalfa pasture
Authors: Wang Li , Ali Gulnazar , Wang Zikui
Published: December 2022

Deep soil resources are essential for improving the production and ecological functions of dryland ecosystems. Relationships between deep soil water depletion and carbon and nitrogen accumulation in long‐term dryland pastures were not well quantified and understood. This study aimed to quantify the changes in deep soil water, soil organic carbon (SOC), and total nitrogen (TN) in alfalfa pasture and identify their relationships with root density. We conducted a field experiment in the south Loess Plateau in 2020 and 2021. Soil water, SOC, and TN contents and alfalfa root length density to 1000‐cm‐depth were measured in alfalfa pastures and annual crop reference fields. Soil water depletion by alfalfa mainly occurred in the first 6 years with a depletion rate of 41.6, 49.1, and 62.1 mm yr−1 in the shallow (0–200 cm), middle (200–500 cm) and deep (500–1000 cm) soil layers, respectively. Total depletion after 6 and 19 years were 916.8 and 1049.4 mm, respectively. SOC and TN storages in the shallow and middle layers continuously increased and peaked at 19 years after planting, and those in the deep soil increased quickly in the early ages but showed few changes in the following years. Final SOC and TN storages in the 0–1000 cm profile in alfalfa pasture reached 61.1 and 5.4 kg m−2, respectively, 13.7% and 20.4% higher than the reference field. Soil in 200–1000 cm contributed to 60.7% and 47.8% of the total SOC and TN storage increments, respectively. The deep rooting system of alfalfa derived soil water depletion and SOC and TN increments, as indicated by the significant relationships between fine root length density and the changes in soil water, SOC and TN storages. Therefore, the deep soil contributed substantially to the carbon and nitrogen sequestration in alfalfa early ages but the contribution was limited by water shortage in the middle and late ages. We suggest stopping alfalfa early (≤6 years) to increase water sustainability and maintain carbon and nitrogen sequestration efficiencies in the alfalfa pasture and crop rotation system on Loess Plateau.
Enhanced ester (MIL‐PRF‐23699G) gas turbine engine lubricant degradation withVIM VAR M50bearings
Authors: Trivedi Hitesh K. , Gerardi David T. , Toth Douglas K. , Girouard Ruth F. , Hellman Patrick T. , Givan Garry D.
Published: December 2022

Polyol‐ester lubricants have been used and developed for aviation gas turbine engines for many decades. The newest MIL‐PRF‐23699 lubricant class, called enhanced ester (EE), provides the best combination of thermal stability, load carrying capability, boundary lubrication and compatibility with fluoroelastomer O‐rings. Two candidate EE Class formulations and one high thermal stability class formulation conforming to MIL‐PRF‐23699G were evaluated for oil degradation with up to 3000 h of bearing operation. Lubricant degradation was studied using VIM VAR M50 bearings with M50 and silicon nitride balls under two operating conditions using two bearing test rigs. Oil degradation in terms of oxidation time, total acid number and viscosity was studied as a function of time with varying results for the three lubricants.
Mapping brand community research from 2001 to 2021: Assessing the field's stage of development and a research agenda
Authors: Veloutsou Cleopatra , Liao Junyun
Published: December 2022

Since the first paper on brand communities published in 2001, academic research on the area has accumulated substantially. To gain insight into the status and dynamics of this field, this study draws data from the Scopus database and uses bibliometrics and systematic review to analyse this body of knowledge and assess its stage of development. The results show that brand community research is rapidly growing and dynamic, attracting attention from an increasing number of scholars and journals. Most output originates from the United States and China, and adopts a survey approach. Prominent field topics include social media‐based brand community, the impact of brand community on brand relationship, consumer behavior and brand management, and brand engagement. This research concludes that brand community research is in the late growth or early maturity stage in most aspects, and discusses the future research directions that can benefit the area.
An adaptive optimized Nyström method for second‐order IVPs
Authors: Ajani Rufai Mufutau , Mazzia Francesca , Ramos Higinio
Published: December 2022

This research work deals with the development, analysis, and implementation of an adaptive optimized one‐step Nyström method for solving second‐order initial value problems of ODEs and time‐dependent partial differential equations. The new method is developed through a collocation technique with a new approach for selecting the collocation points. An embedding‐like procedure is used to estimate the error of the proposed optimized method. The current approach has been used to compute efficiently approximate solutions to general second‐order IVPs. The numerical experiments demonstrate that the introduced error estimation and step‐size control strategy presented in this manuscript have produced a good performance compared to some of the other existing numerical methods.
The soliton solutions for the (4 + 1)‐dimensional stochastic Fokas equation
Authors: Mohammed Wael W. , Cesarano Clemente
Published: December 2022

In this paper, we look at the (4 + 1)‐dimensional stochastic Fokas equation (SFE) perturbed in the Itô sense by white noise. The tanh‐coth method and mapping method are used to acquire new trigonometric, hyperbolic, elliptic, and rational stochastic solutions. Also, we extend  some earlier studies. Because the SFE equation is essential for describing different phenomena in ocean engineering, fluid mechanics and optics, the solutions obtained are useful in interpreting certain fascinating physical phenomena. To demonstrate how the multiplicative white noise affects the exact solutions of the SFE, we plot our figures in MATLAB and show several 3D graphical representations. We demonstrate how the solutions of SFE are stabilized by multiplicative white noise.
Functional equations with applications in image security system
Authors: Pachaiyappan Divyakumari , Ramdoss Murali , Park Choonkil
Published: December 2022

This paper deals with the investigation of general solution and stabilities of the generalized
‐cubic,
‐quartic functional equations in modular spaces using fixed point method. The main purpose of this research is not limited to introducing generalized functional equations and investigating its stability but to propose a new method in image security system for our main focusing on the new results encryption and decryption using our introduced functional equation.
PUNDIT: Pulmonary nodule detection with image category transformation
Authors: Zhao Wangyuan , Ma Jingchen , Zhao Lu , Hou Runping , Qiu Lu , Fu Xiaolong , Zhao Jun
Published: December 2022

Background

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have achieved great success in pulmonary nodules detection, which plays an important role in lung cancer screening.

Purpose

In this paper, we proposed a novel strategy for pulmonary nodule detection by learning it from a harder task, which was to transform nodule images into normal images. We named this strategy as pulmonary nodule detection with image category transformation (PUNDIT).

Methods

There were two steps for nodules detection, nodule candidate detection and false positive (FP) reduction. In nodule candidate detection step, a segmentation‐based framework was built for detection. We designed an image category transformation (ICT) task to translate nodule images into pixel‐to‐pixel normal images and share the information of detection and transformation tasks by multitask learning. As for references of transformation tasks, we proposed background consistency losses into standard cycle‐consistent adversarial networks, which can solve the problem of background uncontrolled changing. A three‐dimensional network was used in FP reduction step.

Results

PUNDIT was evaluated in two datasets, cancer screening dataset (CSD) with 1186 nodules for cross‐validation and (CTD) with 3668 nodules for external test. Results were mainly evaluated by competition performance metric (CPM), the average sensitivity at seven predefined FP rates. The CPM was improved from 0.906 to 0.931 in CSD, and from 0.835 to 0.848 in CTD.

Conclusions

Experimental results showed that PUNDIT can improve the performance of pulmonary nodules detection effectively.
Previous infection with SARS‐CoV‐2 impacts embryo morphokinetics but not clinical outcomes in a time‐lapse imaging system
Authors: Braga Daniela P. A. F. , Setti Amanda S. , Iaconelli Assumpto , Borges Edson
Published: December 2022

The goal for the present study was to investigate whether previous infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) may compromise embryo morphokinetics and implantation. For that, a historical cohort study was performed in a private university‐affiliated in vitro fertilization center. The study included 1628 embryos from 88 patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles. Patients were age‐matched in a 1:3 ratio to either a coronavirus disease (COVID) group, including patients with a positive SARS‐CoV‐2 immunoglobulin test (n = 22 patients, 386 embryos), or a control group, including patients with a negative SARS‐CoV‐2 immunoglobulin test (n = 66, 1242 embryos). The effect of previous infection with SARS‐CoV‐2 on morphokinetic events and ICSI outcomes was evaluated. Embryos derived from patients in the COVID group presented longer time to pronuclei appearance and fading, time to form two, three, four and five cells, and time to blastulation. The durations of the third cell cycle and to time to complete synchronous divisions were also significantly increased in the COVID group compared with the control group, whereas known implantation diagnosis score Day 5 ranked significantly lower in the COVID group. No differences were observed between the COVID and control groups on clinical outcomes. In conclusion, patients planning parenthood, who have recovered from COVID‐19 infection, must be aware of a possible effect of the infection on embryo development potential.
Inter‐ and intravisit repeatability of free‐breathing MRI in pediatric cystic fibrosis lung disease
Authors: Munidasa Samal , Zanette Brandon , Couch Marcus , Grimm Robert , Seethamraju Ravi , Dumas Marie‐Pier , Wee Wallace , Au Jacky , Braganza Sharon , Li Daniel , Woods Jason , Ratjen Felix , Santyr Giles
Published: December 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to assess the intra‐ and interscan repeatability of free‐breathing phase‐resolved functional lung (PREFUL) MRI in stable pediatric cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease in comparison to static breath‐hold hyperpolarized 129‐xenon MRI (Xe‐MRI) and pulmonary function tests.

Methods

Free‐breathing 1‐hydrogen MRI and Xe‐MRI were acquired from 15 stable pediatric CF patients and seven healthy age‐matched participants on two visits, 1 month apart. Same‐visit MRI scans were also performed on a subgroup of the CF patients. Following the PREFUL algorithm, regional ventilation (RVent) and regional flow volume loop cross‐correlation maps were determined from the free‐breathing data. Ventilation defect percentage (VDP) was determined from RVent maps (VDPRVent), regional flow volume loop cross‐correlation maps (VDPCC), VDPRVent ∪ VDPCC, and multi‐slice Xe‐MRI. Repeatability was evaluated using Bland–Altman analysis, coefficient of repeatability (CR), and intraclass correlation.

Results

Minimal bias and no significant differences were reported for all PREFUL MRI and Xe‐MRI VDP parameters between intra‐ and intervisits (all P > 0.05). Repeatability of VDPRVent, VDPCC, VDPRVent ∪ VDPCC, and multi‐slice Xe‐MRI were lower between the two‐visit scans (CR = 14.81%, 15.36%, 16.19%, and 9.32%, respectively) in comparison to the same‐day scans (CR = 3.38%, 2.90%, 1.90%, and 3.92%, respectively). pulmonary function tests showed high interscan repeatability relative to PREFUL MRI and Xe‐MRI.

Conclusion

PREFUL MRI, similar to Xe‐MRI, showed high intravisit repeatability but moderate intervisit repeatability in CF, which may be due to inherent disease instability, even in stable patients. Thus, PREFUL MRI may be considered a suitable outcome measure for future treatment response studies.
Social group membership, burnout, and subjective well‐being in new nurses in the life transition period: A cross‐sectional study
Authors: Kim Gaeyoung , Yu Hannah , Ryu Eunjung
Published: December 2022

Aim

To assess differences in social group memberships and burnout levels by work tenure among new nurses and identify factors associated with their subjective well‐being.

Design

A cross‐sectional study.

Methods

Participants were 356 registered nurses who had fewer than 3 years of work tenure. Data were collected from February–March 2021. Participants' social identity, burnout, and subjective well‐being were assessed using validated questionnaires. STROBE checklist was applied.

Results

Multiple group membership was positively associated with life satisfaction and positive affect and negatively with burnout. Burnout influenced new nurses' negative effect in their life transition period. To improve new nurses' subjective well‐being, it is essential to focus on their social group membership, encourage participation in group activities, and improve access to sociopsychological resources that can help them take their first steps as professional staff and develop as healthy members of society, which will foster sustainable healthcare systems.
Dental disease reflects differential diets and changes in consumption over time at Knossos
Authors: Moles Anna C.
Published: December 2022

Knossos was an important city on Crete and within Mediterranean networks during the Hellenistic, Roman, and Late Antique periods. However, there were significant social, cultural, and economic shifts that appear to have caused changes to daily lifeways, including diet. This paper sets out to explore dietary changes across these time periods by looking at dental caries, with reference also to antemortem tooth loss, calculus, and stable isotope data. This study also looks to contextualize these results using archaeological and textual information relating to diet. It presents a thorough methodological approach to the investigation and interpretation of caries and discusses some of the shortcomings of using a fragmentary and commingled skeletal assemblage. The Roman diet was more cariogenic than in the Hellenistic or Late Antique periods. The caries‐zone analysis of the teeth suggests that there may have been a greater addition of sugars to the diet in the Roman period, though the increased caries could also be due to improved preparation techniques and technologies producing a more refined and sticky carbohydrate diet. Such changes could be due to either increased connectivity making certain foods more readily available, the cultural changes in food consumption or dental hygiene due to the influx of merchants, colonists, migrants, and other newcomers to the Colonia Iulia Nobilis Cnosus that was Roman Knossos, or increased prosperity at the site in this period. There was a significant difference detected between females and males for caries indicating differential dietary practices between the sexes, which was most notable for the Roman period.
Transient effects of junk food on NAc core MSN excitability and glutamatergic transmission in obesity‐prone female rats
Authors: Nieto Allison M. , Catalfio Amanda M. , Papacostas Quintanilla Helena , Alonso‐Caraballo Yanaira , Ferrario Carrie R.
Published: December 2022

Objective

The nucleus accumbens (NAc) plays critical roles in eating and food seeking in rodents and humans. Diets high in fats and sugars (“junk food”) produce persistent increases in NAc function in male obesity‐prone rats. This study examines effects of junk food and junk food deprivation on NAc core medium spiny neuron (MSN) excitability and glutamate transmission in females.

Methods

Obesity‐prone female rats were given access to ad libitum junk food for 10 days, and recordings were made from MSNs in the NAc core immediately or after a short (27‐72 hours) or long (14‐16 days) junk food deprivation period in which rats were returned to ad libitum standard chow. Controls remained on chow throughout. Whole‐cell slice electrophysiology was used to examine MSN intrinsic membrane and firing properties and glutamatergic transmission.

Results

The study found that intrinsic excitability was reduced, whereas glutamatergic transmission was enhanced, after the short, but not long, junk food deprivation period. A brief junk food deprivation period was necessary for increases in NAc calcium‐permeable‐AMPA receptor transmission and spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic current (sEPSC) frequency, but not for increases in sEPSC amplitude.

Conclusions

This study reveals that females are protected from long‐lasting effects of sugary fatty foods on MSN neuronal function and provides evidence for sex‐specific effects on plasticity in brain centers that influence food‐seeking and feeding behavior.
Intermittent fasting and protein pacing are superior to caloric restriction for weight and visceral fat loss
Authors: Arciero Paul J. , Poe Michelle , Mohr Alex E. , Ives Stephen J. , Arciero Autumn , Sweazea Karen L. , Gumpricht Eric , Arciero Karen M.
Published: December 2022

Objective

This study compared intermittent fasting and protein pacing (IF‐P) versus a heart‐healthy caloric restriction (CR) diet, matched for energy intake and physical activity energy expenditure, on body weight, total and visceral fat mass, and cardiometabolic health outcomes in adults with obesity.

Methods

IF‐P (n = 21) and CR (n = 20) were assessed pre‐ (week 0), mid‐ (week 5), and post‐ (week 9) intervention.

Results

Both groups reduced (p < 0.05) weight, total and visceral fat mass, blood pressure and lipids, and desire to eat food and increased proportion of fat‐free mass. IF‐P resulted in greater (p < 0.05) reductions in weight (−9% vs. −5%), total (−16% vs. −9%) and visceral (−33% vs. −14%) fat mass, and desire to eat (−17% vs. 1%) and increased fat‐free mass percent (6% vs. 3%) compared with CR. These improvements were despite similar weekly total energy intake (IF‐P, 9470 ± 550 vs. CR, 9095 ± 608 kcal/wk; p = 0.90) and physical activity energy expenditure (IF‐P, 300 ± 150 vs. CR, 350 ± 200 kcal/d; p = 0.79).

Conclusions

IF‐P and CR optimize weight loss, body composition, cardiometabolic health, and hunger management, with IF‐P providing greater benefits.
Phytoplankton species richness as an ecological indicator in a subtropical, human‐regulated, fragmented river
Authors: Wei Jingxin , Li Weiwei , Yang Wanling , Zeng Yanyi , Liu Qianfu , Gao Yuan , Li Haiyan , Wang Chao
Published: December 2022

Since the serial discontinuity concept (SDC) of rivers is proposed, few studies have tested it in a highly fragmented river ecosystem. In this study, environmental factors, phytoplankton species richness, and SDC predictions were demonstrated along the 13 cascade dams in a subtropical river (China). Our results indicated that among environmental factors, water temperature and transparency have seasonal differences, and river width has spatial differences; total species richness (TSR) increases from upstream to downstream, and distance is the reason for its variation. In addition, TSR also has spatial variations in each cascade dam, with the maximum or minimum value of each cascade section often occurring near the dam. A predictive model was constructed and revealed that seasonal differences in species richness were more significant than spatial differences, which were mainly observed during wet periods. Taken together, these results suggest that the construction of cascading dams enhances spatial differences in phytoplankton species richness, especially during periods of abundant water. In addition, environmental parameters such as water temperature, pH, and DO and TSR all support SDC predictions. In the future, we will continue to investigate this aquatic ecosystem to study more phytoplankton‐related indices affected by the cascade damming, and hope to fully validate the SDC predictions.
Environmental good exports and green total factor productivity: Lessons from China
Authors: Liu Huiling , Zhang Jianhua , Huang Hongyun , Wu Haitao , Hao Yu
Published: December 2022

Trade liberalization for environmental goods (EG) could pave the way for a “win‐win” scenario for both the economy and the environment. This study examines the impact of environmental good exports on the comprehensive economic development and environmental protection index, green total factor productivity (GTFP), using a Chinese city‐level panel dataset from 2003 to 2015. Overall, our findings indicate that EG exports are detrimental to China's green development. Particularly, traditional EGs intended to address environmental concerns significantly impede GTFP, whereas environmentally preferable products with cleaner product life cycles have no such effect. Furthermore, EG exports do not significantly reduce conventional TFP without accounting for energy and pollution, implying that the loss of GTFP is primarily due to environmental factors. When GTFP is disaggregated into green efficiency change (GEC) and green technology change (GTC), EG exports can increase GEC while reducing GTC. However, once the value of EG exports surpasses a certain threshold, EG exports raise GTC and GTFP. Furthermore, regional resource misallocation, environmental regulation, and absorptive capacity can all help to mitigate the negative EG‐GTFP relationship. This study could be useful for stakeholders interested in leveraging synergies between the economy and the environment by participating in global EG supply chains.
Sustainable development of art industry and a statistical analysis of the factors that influence the gallery prices of contemporary artworks
Authors: Turan Fikret Korhan , Tosun Zeynep
Published: December 2022

Although art industry has developed significantly, the factors influencing artwork prices and their specific effects are not fully known. With this research, to guide curators, gallery owners, collectors and art investors, as well as artists, first the factors that may influence artwork prices are determined. Then, using a data set from a contemporary art gallery in Istanbul, which of these factors are significant and in which ways they alter the prices are investigated. While previous studies are typically based on auction prices, promoting the economic sustainability of artists, this study employs gallery prices, and different from the existing efforts, it examines the joint impact of the artwork specific factors such as production technique and the number of editions, together with the artist specific factors including gender, education level and the field of study. Statistical findings suggest that there is no significant difference between the prices of artworks created by the artists who have a formal education in fine arts and those who do not. However, it is found that artists, particularly the female ones, can increase the prices of their artworks by having a graduate level education. Also, it is observed that increasing the number of editions negatively affects artwork prices, and the artworks created in print techniques have significantly lower prices than the artworks produced in other techniques. Though, it is detected that print artworks are less affected from the price reductions induced by the increase in the number of editions, compared to the artworks produced in other techniques.
Construction of underwater‐superaerophilic Pd‐CNTs/fluorosilane composite for enhancing heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenation reactions
Authors: Qu Mengnan , Zhang Bin , Wang Yandong , Lv Yanqing , Ge Jianwei , Wu Yaxin , Yan Min , Shen Lei , He Jinmei
Published: December 2022

Wettability is an important property of solid surfaces, superwetting materials can be prepared by controlling the surface morphology and surface energy. In recent years, superwetting materials have been researched and used widely in the fields of self‐cleaning, anti‐fogging, microfluidics, and oil–water separation, but few studies about superwetting materials in chemical reactions have been conducted. In the multiphase reaction, the low solubility and diffusion rate of gas lead to inferior mass transfer, which restricts the reaction kinetics and reduces the reaction rate. Therefore, it may be a breakthrough to make the solid surface obtain underwater superaerophilicity. In this paper, 1H,1H,2H,2H‐perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane (POTS) with low surface energy was constructed on the palladium‐carbon nanotubes (Pd‐CNTs), as‐prepared Pd‐CNTs/POTS composite has excellent hydrophobicity and underwater superaerophilicity. When Pd‐CNTs/POTS composite was utilized in the catalytic hydrogenation, Pd‐CNTs/POTS composite shows higher catalytic activity than Pd‐CNTs; the higher catalytic performance is attributed to the underwater superaerophilicity, which enables gaseous hydrogen to rapidly accumulate on the surface of material, increasing the gas–liquid–solid reaction interface formed. The strategy looks forward to providing a new way for developing novel and efficient heterogeneous catalysts and reaction systems.
Bioceramic materials with ion‐mediated multifunctionality for wound healing
Authors: Wang Xiaocheng , Tang Min
Published: December 2022

Regeneration of both anatomic and functional integrity of the skin tissues after injury represents a huge challenge considering the sophisticated healing process and variability of specific wounds. In the past decades, numerous efforts have been made to construct bioceramic‐based wound dressing materials with ion‐mediated multifunctionality for facilitating the healing process. In this review, the state‐of‐the‐art progress on bioceramic materials with ion‐mediated bioactivity for wound healing is summarized. Followed by a brief discussion on the bioceramic materials with ion‐mediated biological activities, the emerging bioceramic‐based materials are highlighted for wound healing applications owing to their ion‐mediated bioactivities, including anti‐infection function, angiogenic activity, improved skin appendage regeneration, antitumor effect, and so on. Finally, concluding remarks and future perspectives of bioceramic‐based wound dressing materials for clinical practice are briefly discussed.
Co‐delivery CPT and PTX prodrug with a photo/thermo‐responsive nanoplatform for triple‐negative breast cancer therapy
Authors: Zhou Wenhui , Ma Xiaodong , Wang Jie , Xu Xiaoyu , Koivisto Oliver , Feng Jing , Viitala Tapani , Zhang Hongbo
Published: December 2022

Triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) is still the most aggressive cancer in women. Combination chemotherapy holds great potential for cancer therapy; however, the off‐target and side effects of free chemotherapy administration remain a major challenge. In this study, we developed a photo/thermo‐responsive nanoplatform that can be used for TNBC treatment via photothermic therapy in combination with multidrug therapy. By conjugating the chemotherapy drug PTX prodrug on the surface of mesoporous silica‐coated gold nanorod nanoparticles and then loading another chemotherapy drug, CPT, the Au@MSN‐PTX@CPT nanoparticles exhibited great photothermal response, redox response drug release and cancer cell inhibition abilities. Otherwise, we further coated the Au@MSN‐PTX@CPT nanoparticle with a temperature‐sensitive polymer poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide‐co‐methacrylic acid) (p(NIPAM‐co‐MAAc)), and the polymer‐coated Au@MSN‐PTX@TPT@polymer nanoparticles showed perfect near‐infrared (NIR) light controlled drug release. Finally, the Au@MSN‐PTX@CPT@polymer nanoparticles were injected into the 4T1 breast cancer mouse model. The Au@MSN‐PTX@CPT@polymer nanoparticles preferably accumulated at the tumor site and had reduced chemotherapy injuries and great antitumor activity when combined with 650 nm laser treatment. In summary, our developed Au@MSN‐PTX@CPT@polymer nanoparticles served as a good method for controlled chemodrug delivery and provided a good choice for TNBC combination therapy.
Sphere Gap Breakdown Voltage Prediction Based on ISSA Optimized BP Neural Network and Effective Electric Field Feature Set
Authors: Qiu Zhibin , Wu Zijian , Song Yu
Published: December 2022

Electric field distribution is a determinant factor of air gap breakdown voltage. This paper defined an effective electric field zone between the sphere gaps for feature extraction, and 29 parameters were extracted from this zone to reflect the electric field distribution. A data mining model was established by back propagation neural network (BPNN) for sphere gap breakdown voltage prediction, taking the electric field features as inputs. The maximum information coefficient (MIC) method was used to select features strongly correlated to the breakdown voltage, and a multi‐strategy improved salp swarm algorithm (ISSA) was applied to optimize the BPNN parameters to enhance the prediction performance. The standard sphere gaps provided in IEC 60052 were taken as training set and test set, which were divided according to the electric field nonuniform coefficients. The breakdown voltage prediction results of test sample sphere gaps demonstrate good agreements with the experimental values. With input features selected by the MIC method, the ISSA optimized BPNN model has a mean absolute percentage error of only 0.83% and a maximum relative error of 5.86%. By constructing the nonlinear mapping relationship between the effective electric field features and the insulation strength, this study provides a new approach to predict air gap breakdown voltage. © 2022 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
Study on XY Model and Its Equivalent Circuit of Oil‐Paper Insulation
Authors: Tu Yalong , Wang Shengkang , Xu Qingchuan , Lin Fuchang , Li Hua
Published: December 2022

The XY model of oil‐paper insulation connects the dielectric properties of oil, paper and oil‐paper system. Its equivalent circuit is the basis of the application of dielectric response technology in the state diagnosis of transformer oil‐paper insulation. To better apply the XY model to the study of the dielectric properties of oil‐paper insulation, the dielectric properties of the coaxial oil‐paper insulation system built in the laboratory, XY model and its equivalent circuits are compared. Then an improved circuit of XY model which can reflect the properties of the oil‐paper insulation more truly is proposed. The results show that there is no difference between the XY model and the coaxial model, and both can well characterize the oil‐paper insulation system. The two equivalent circuits of XY model, “Series to Parallel” circuit and “Parallel to Series” circuit, ignore the current tangential component and the electric field distortion in oil‐paper insulation, respectively, resulting in deviations from the XY model. By introducing a new branch C*XY, the improved circuit can reflect the tangential current and electric field distortion in oil‐paper insulation, which can be completely equivalent to XY model. In addition, there is a characteristic frequency point in the oil‐paper insulation system, where the dielectric loss factor tan δ of oil, paper and oil‐paper system are the same. There is no difference between the XY model and its two equivalent circuits at this point. The characteristic frequency is determined by the dielectric properties of oil and paper, and not affected by the insulation structure. © 2022 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
Genomic prediction of tocochromanols in exotic‐derived maize
Authors: Tibbs‐Cortes Laura E. , Guo Tingting , Li Xianran , Tanaka Ryokei , Vanous Adam E. , Peters David , Gardner Candice , Magallanes‐Lundback Maria , Deason Nicholas T. , DellaPenna Dean , Gore Michael A. , Yu Jianming
Published: December 2022

Tocochromanols (vitamin E) are an essential part of the human diet. Plant products, including maize (Zea mays L.) grain, are the major dietary source of tocochromanols; therefore, breeding maize with higher vitamin content (biofortification) could improve human nutrition. Incorporating exotic germplasm in maize breeding for trait improvement including biofortification is a promising approach and an important research topic. However, information about genomic prediction of exotic‐derived lines using available training data from adapted germplasm is limited. In this study, genomic prediction was systematically investigated for nine tocochromanol traits within both an adapted (Ames Diversity Panel [AP]) and an exotic‐derived (Backcrossed Germplasm Enhancement of Maize [BGEM]) maize population. Although prediction accuracies up to 0.79 were achieved using genomic best linear unbiased prediction (gBLUP) when predicting within each population, genomic prediction of BGEM based on an AP training set resulted in low prediction accuracies. Optimal training population (OTP) design methods fast and unique representative subset selection (FURS), maximization of connectedness and diversity (MaxCD), and partitioning around medoids (PAM) were adapted for inbreds and, along with the methods mean coefficient of determination (CDmean) and mean prediction error variance (PEVmean), often improved prediction accuracies compared with random training sets of the same size. When applied to the combined population, OTP designs enabled successful prediction of the rest of the exotic‐derived population. Our findings highlight the importance of leveraging genotype data in training set design to efficiently incorporate new exotic germplasm into a plant breeding program.
Phenol removal from aqueous environments by natural & chemically modified kaolin clay
Authors: Abdel‐Aleem Adel Ahmed Mohamed , Abdel‐Tawab Marzooka Shaban , Hassouna Mohamed El‐Kassem M.
Published: December 2022

Natural, acid and base modified kaolin clays were studied for the sake of phenol and 4‐chlorophenol removal from aqueous environments and their application to real ground and industrial wastewater samples. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), infrared spectroscopy (IR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA), and Surface area analysis were employed for characterization of the adsorbents microstructure. Operating factors such as adsorbent dose, solution pH, initial phenol concentration, and contact time were studied. The experimental data displayed that the increase of the adsorbent dose, contact time, and pH value from 2 to 7 increases the efficiency of the removal process. Optimal conditions for phenolic removal were; contact time of 300 min, primary phenol solution of 25 mg/L, pH 7 and 2.5 g/L as an appropriate adsorbent dose using crude (natural), acid modified and base modified kaolin clays. The higher phenolic removal efficiencies were obtained at 5 mg/L as 90, 97, 96.2%, respectively, for the adsorbents in the previously mentioned order. The adsorption capacity in the removal of phenol and 4‐chlorophenol were 7.481 and 4.195, 8.2942 and 3.211, and 8.05185 and 18.565 mg/g, respectively, for the adsorbents in the same mentioned order. The adsorption equilibrium data were fitted and analyzed with four isotherm models, namely, Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm equations. The adsorption process of phenol on studied adsorbents was exothermic, spontaneous and thermodynamically favorable proved by the negative values of their thermodynamic parameters ΔH° and ΔG°. The correlation coefficient (R2) for all concentrations was higher than 0.94, which indicates that in the studied system, the data suitably fit the first‐order kinetics. The % desorption capacity was amounted to 96%, 91.11%, and 87.06% of adsorbed phenol, respectively, for the adsorbents in the previous order using 0.1N NaOH and 10% V/V ethanol solutions as eluents at 25°C, indicating the reusability of the adsorbents. Kaolin and its modified forms can be introduced as eco‐friendly and low‐cost adsorbents in water remediation implementation.
Transmural remission improves clinical outcomes up to 5 years in Crohn's disease
Authors: Fernandes Samuel Raimundo , Serrazina Juliana , Botto Inês Ayala , Leal Tiago , Guimarães Andreia , Garcia Joana Lemos , Rosa Isadora , Prata Rita , Carvalho Diana , Neves João , Campelo Pedro , Ventura Sofia , Silva Andrea , Coelho Mariana , Sequeira Cristiana , Oliveira Ana Paula , Portela Francisco , Ministro Paula , Tavares de Sousa Helena , Ramos Jaime , Claro Isabel , Gonçalves Raquel , Correia Luís Araújo , Marinho Rui Tato , Cortez‐Pinto Helena , Magro Fernando
Published: December 2022

Introduction

Evidence supporting transmural remission (TR) as a long‐term treatment target in Crohn's disease (CD) is still unavailable. Less stringent but more reachable targets such as isolated endoscopic (IER) or radiologic remission (IRR) may also be acceptable options in the long‐term.

Methods

Multicenter retrospective study including 404 CD patients evaluated by magnetic resonance enterography and colonoscopy. Five‐year rates of hospitalization, surgery, use of steroids, and treatment escalation were compared between patients with TR, IER, IRR, and no remission (NR).

Results

20.8% of CD patients presented TR, 23.3% IER, 13.6% IRR and 42.3% NR. TR was associated with lower risk of hospitalization (odds‐ratio [OR] 0.244 [0.111–0.538], p < 0.001), surgery (OR 0.132 [0.030–0.585], p = 0.008), steroid use (OR 0.283 [0.159–0.505], p < 0.001), and treatment escalation (OR 0.088 [0.044–0.176], p < 0.001) compared to no NR. IRR resulted in lower risk of hospitalization (OR 0.333 [0.143–0.777], p = 0.011) and treatment escalation (OR 0.260 [0.125–0.540], p < 0.001), while IER reduced the risk of steroid use (OR 0.442 [0.262–0.745], p = 0.002) and treatment escalation (OR 0.490 [0.259–0.925], p = 0.028) compared to NR.

Conclusions

TR improved clinical outcomes over 5 years of follow‐up in CD patients. Distinct but significant benefits were seen with IER and IRR. This suggests that both endoscopic and radiologic remission should be part of the treatment targets of CD.
In vitro diagnostic technologies for the detection of extracellular vesicles: current status and future directions
Authors: Song Shuya , Zhu Ling , Wang Chen , Yang Yanlian
Published: December 2022

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are natural vehicles carrying and transferring bioactive molecules for intercellular communication and play key roles in physiological and pathological processes. EVs are promising biomarkers for disease diagnosis due to their rich biological information and minimally invasive sampling. In this review, we summarize the current methods for isolating EVs from the body fluids and the techniques for analyzing EVs’ biomolecules including the proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids. The advantages, feasibility, and challenges of EV‐based in vitro diagnosis toward clinical application are discussed. Finally, an outlook on the marketing and routine clinical application of EV‐based in vitro diagnosis is provided.
Microfluidic devices for protein analysis using intact and top‐down mass spectrometry
Authors: Shao Xinyang , Huang Yanyi , Wang Guanbo
Published: December 2022

Top‐down mass spectrometry (TD‐MS) provides unique information on compositions, structures, and functions of proteins or protein complexes and has been recognized as a powerful approach to complement conventional tools in protein analysis. Employing microfluidic chips in TD‐MS workflows offers unique advantages including flexible integration and automation of multiple sample treatment functions, lowered sample consumption, compatibility with high‐sensitive ionization and higher throughput. Here we reviewed the reported microchips developed for TD‐MS in aspects of design of ionization, separation and mixing modules, and fabrication approaches; we also attempted to summarize the design considerations that may inspire development of microchips with better performance and wider applications.
Anatomically resolved transcriptome and proteome landscapes reveal disease‐relevant molecular signatures and systematic changes in heart function of end‐stage dilated cardiomyopathy
Authors: Lin Ling , Liu Shanshan , Chen Zhangwei , Xia Yan , Xie Juanjuan , Fu Mingqiang , Lu Danbo , Wu Yuan , Shen Huali , Yang Pengyuan , Qian Juying
Published: December 2022

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), as characterized by the left ventricular dilatation and contractile dysfunction, is one of the molecular mechanisms of which are largely unexplored. Here, we profiled the region‐resolved transcriptome and proteome of healthy and DCM human myocardial tissue and obtained the deep‐coverage dataset consisting 7,605 proteins and 19,880 transcripts in four chambers of the human heart. On the basis of the core proteome and transcriptome characters of the healthy hearts, chamber‐specific proteome alterations were further revealed in end‐stage DCM, among which extracellular matrix (ECM), mitochondrial function, and muscle contraction were the most dysregulated biological processes. Protein–protein interaction network demonstrated divergent functional networks of DCM atrium and ventricle. Additionally, a 4‐biomarker panel (CTSB, vWF, C9, and MFGE8) was established with promising diagnostic potential for the DCM. Collectively, our data provide a global proteomic basis of the chamber‐specific cardiac tissue, and establish a protein catalog that holds promise for better definition and diagnosis of DCM.
Higher-derivative couplings and torsional Riemann curvature
Authors: Garousi Mohammad R.
Published: December 2022

Abstract

Using the most general higher-derivative field redefinitions for the closed spacetime manifolds, we show that the tree-level couplings of the metric, B-field and dilaton at orders α′2 and α′3 that have been recently found by the T-duality, can be written in a particular scheme in terms of the torsional Riemann curvature $$ \mathcal{R} $$
R
and the torsion tensor H. The couplings at order α′2 have structures $$ \mathcal{R} $$
R
3, H2$$ \mathcal{R} $$
R
2, H6, and the couplings at order α′3 have only structures $$ \mathcal{R} $$
R
4, H2$$ \mathcal{R} $$
R
3. Replacing $$ \mathcal{R} $$
R
with the ordinary Riemann curvature, the couplings in the structure H2$$ \mathcal{R} $$
R
3 reproduce the couplings found in the literature by the S-matrix method.
Far-from-equilibrium attractors for massive kinetic theory in the relaxation time approximation
Authors: Alalawi H. , Strickland M.
Published: December 2022

Abstract

We investigate whether early and late time attractors for non-conformal kinetic theories exist by computing the time-evolution of a large set of moments of the one-particle distribution function. For this purpose we make use of a previously obtained exact solution of the 0+1D boost-invariant massive Boltzmann equation in relaxation time approximation. We extend prior attractor studies of non-conformal systems by using a realistic mass- and temperature-dependent relaxation time and explicitly computing the effect of varying both the initial momentum-space anisotropy and initialization time on the time evolution of a large set of integral moments. Our findings are consistent with prior studies, which found that there is an attractor for the scaled longitudinal pressure, but not for the shear and bulk viscous corrections separately. We further present evidence that both late- and early-time attractors exist for all moments of the one-particle distribution function that contain greater than one power of the longitudinal momentum squared.
The ZZ annulus one-point function in non-critical string theory: A string field theory analysis
Authors: Eniceicu Dan Stefan , Mahajan Raghu , Maity Pronobesh , Murdia Chitraang , Sen Ashoke
Published: December 2022

Abstract

We compute the ZZ annulus one-point function of the cosmological constant operator in non-critical string theory, regulating divergences from the boundaries of moduli space using string field theory. We identify a subtle issue in a previous analysis of these divergences, which was done in the context of the c = 1 string theory, and where it had led to a mismatch with the prediction from the dual matrix quantum mechanics. After fixing this issue, we find a precise match to the expected answer in both the c < 1 and c = 1 cases. We also compute the disk two-point function, which is a quantity of the same order, and show that it too matches with the general prediction.
Geometric action for extended Bondi-Metzner-Sachs group in four dimensions
Authors: Barnich Glenn , Nguyen Kevin , Ruzziconi Romain
Published: December 2022

Abstract

The constrained Hamiltonian analysis of geometric actions is worked out before applying the construction to the extended Bondi-Metzner-Sachs group in four dimensions. For any Hamiltonian associated with an extended BMS4generator, this action provides a field theory in two plus one spacetime dimensions whose Poisson bracket algebra of Noether charges realizes the extended BMS4Lie algebra. The Poisson structure of the model includes the classical version of the operator product expansions that have appeared in the context of celestial holography. Furthermore, the model reproduces the evolution equations of non-radiative asymptotically flat spacetimes at null infinity.