bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Use of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)–Incompatible Platelet Units in HLA Platelet-Refractory Patients With Limited Number of or Low-Level HLA Donor-Specific Antibodies Results in Permissive Transfusions
Authors: Sullivan Jensyn Cone , Peña Jeremy Ryan
Published: February 2022

Context.—

In human leukocyte antigen (HLA)–mediated alloimmune platelet refractoriness, HLA-incompatible platelets may produce adequate posttransfusion corrected count increment (“permissive transfusion”) and increase the donor pool.

Objective.—

To determine if a lower number of or low-level anti-HLA donor-specific antibodies (DSAs) predict permissive transfusion and could be used to prioritize platelet selection.

Design.—

We categorized platelets administered from 2016 to 2018 as HLA-compatible or HLA-incompatible based on presence of DSAs against the donor unit. We further divided HLA-incompatible units based on the number of DSAs and the level of DSAs (measured by mean fluorescence intensity [MFI]), where cumulative MFI ≥6000 defines high-level DSA. We compared posttransfusion corrected count increments (CCIs) and transfusion reactions among these transfusions.

Results.—

Of 279 HLA-selected units transfused into 26 platelet-refractory patients, we resorted to using 39 HLA-incompatible units (14%). Posttransfusion CCI and transfusion reaction frequency were similar among units targeted by 1 or low-level DSAs and HLA-compatible units. Units targeted by ≥2 distinct or high-level DSAs produced lower CCIs. Regardless of ABO compatibility, similarly HLA-categorized units yielded comparable CCIs and comparable frequency of transfusion reactions.

Conclusions.—

HLA-incompatible platelets transfused across 1 or low-level DSAs were commonly permissive, whereas those transfused across ≥2 DSAs or high levels of DSA (MFI ≥6000) were nonpermissive. The use of such donor units offers transfusion services alternative platelet units for support of platelet-refractory patients.
Simulation of residential CO exposures from portable generators with and without CO hazard mitigation systems meeting requirements of voluntary standards
Authors: Emmerich Steven J , Polidoro Brian , Hnatov Matthew , Buyer Janet , Brookman Matthew J
Published: February 2022

This report documents work performed by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) under an interagency agreement in support of the Commission's effort to address the carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning hazard associated with consumer use of portable generators. This report documents the plan, developed by NIST and CPSC staff, for a computer simulation study performed by NIST and provides examples of the study results. CPSC staff will use the study's results to evaluate the effectiveness of CO hazard mitigation requirements that were adopted in two voluntary standards in 2018. These two ANSI-approved standards are ANSI/PGMA G300-2018, Safety and Performance of Portable Generators (referred to as PGMA G300) and UL 2201, Standard for Carbon Monoxide (CO) Emission Rate of Portable Generators, Second Edition (referred to as UL 2201). Both voluntary standards have requirements for a system that will shut the generator off when specific CO concentrations are present near the generator. PGMA G300 also has other requirements, including a notification to alert the user of the presence of CO after the generator has shut off, while UL 2201 has a reduced CO emission rate requirement. The methodology of the simulation study was largely similar to that used by CPSC staff to evaluate the benefits of the proposed rule issued by the Commission in 2016 to address the hazard of CO poisoning from portable generators. This simulation study used the same forty buildings, weather conditions, and generator characteristics to study the rate at which the CO emitted from the generator accumulates in, transports within, and leaves the homes and detached garages for generators with and without the CO mitigation requirements prescribed in the voluntary standards. The plan involved performing approximately 140,000 simulations using NIST's indoor air quality modeling program CONTAM. This report presents the simulation plan and detailed CO and COHb simulation results for sample scenarios from two of the houses and one of the detached garages.
2D facial landmark localization method for multi-view face synthesis image using a two-pathway generative adversarial network approach
Authors: Alhlffee Mahmood H.B. , Huang Yea-Shuan , Chen Yi-An
Published: February 2022

One of the key challenges in facial recognition is multi-view face synthesis from a single face image. The existing generative adversarial network (GAN) deep learning methods have been proven to be effective in performing facial recognition with a set of pre-processing, post-processing and feature representation techniques to bring a frontal view into the same position in-order to achieve high accuracy face identification. However, these methods still perform relatively weak in generating high quality frontal-face image samples under extreme face pose scenarios. The novel framework architecture of the two-pathway generative adversarial network (TP-GAN), has made commendable progress in the face synthesis model, making it possible to perceive global structure and local details in an unsupervised manner. More importantly, the TP-GAN solves the problems of photorealistic frontal view synthesis by relying on texture details of the landmark detection and synthesis functions, which limits its ability to achieve the desired performance in generating high-quality frontal face image samples under extreme pose. We propose, in this paper, a landmark feature-based method (LFM) for robust pose-invariant facial recognition, which aims to improve image resolution quality of the generated frontal faces under a variety of facial poses. We therefore augment the existing TP-GAN generative global pathway with a well-constructed 2D face landmark localization to cooperate with the local pathway structure in a landmark sharing manner to incorporate empirical face pose into the learning process, and improve the encoder-decoder global pathway structure for better representation of facial image features by establishing robust feature extractors that select meaningful features that ease the operational workflow toward achieving a balanced learning strategy, thus significantly improving the photorealistic face image resolution. We verify the effectiveness of our proposed method on both Multi-PIE and FEI datasets. The quantitative and qualitative experimental results show that our proposed method not only generates high quality perceptual images under extreme poses but also significantly improves upon the TP-GAN results.
New genus of Ironidae (Nematoda, Enoplida) from Piip volcano (the Bering Sea)
Authors: Zograf Julia , Mordukhovich Vladimir
Published: February 2022

Piipironus grandis gen. et sp. nov. is described from Piip submarine volcano, the Bering Sea. Piipironus gen. nov. shows all main characters of Thalassironinae but differs from all known ironids in the form of the amphid (spiral vs pocket-like) and the simultaneous presence of precloacal papilliform supplements and tubular postcloacal organs. Pared tubular postcloacal organs have never been described before for the family Ironidae. The combination of papilliform precloacal supplements and the pair of tubular postcloacal organs described for Piipironus grandis gen. et sp. nov. is unique among nematodes. The study of the nematofauna of the Piip submarine volcano began quite recently, and Piipironus is the second new genus of nematodes described from here from one sample of bottom sediments. This can be taken as one of the examples of the hyper-high diversity of marine nematodes.
A Rare Case of an Osteoid Osteoma in the Medial Cuneiform
Authors: Kak Abdelsalam , Cotchett Matthew , Lafferty Damien
Published: February 2022

Osteoid osteoma is a benign osteoblastic tumour constituting 10-20% of all benign tumours. It is rarely seen in the foot and accounts for approximately 4% of all cases. The present case was of a 23-years old male with an osteoid osteoma in the lateral cortex of his medial cuneiform at the articulating surface. He was misdiagnosed for nine-months with initial radiographs and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) failing to diagnosis the tumour. Extensive conservative treatment failed to resolve his symptoms, although Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID) provided relief. Treatment involved excising the osteoid osteoma and filling the void left from the tumour with a synthetic bone graft
A Study of Morphometric and Topographic Anatomy of Nutrient Foramen in Fibula
Authors: Alban Shoma , Linda JB , Hemalatha GA Jos
Published: February 2022

Introduction: Long bones receive its primary blood supply from the nutrient arteries. They are transmitted through oblique canals, called nutrient foramina, into its diaphysis. Knowledge of foraminal topography helps to preserve bone vascularity during surgeries. Aim: To estimate the morphometric and topographic characteristics of diaphyseal nutrient foramina of fibula. Materials and Methods: A descriptive osteometric and morphological assessment of 50 dry fibulae of unknown age and sex were done. The samples were obtained from the Department of Anatomy, Kanyakumari Government Medical College, Asaripallam, Tamil Nadu, India. The length of each bone was measured directly using a measuring tape. Number, location and the direction of nutrient foramina were observed and the data were presented in a tabulated format. Results: The mean height of the fibula on the right side was 35.86±2.441 cm, whereas on the left was 36.64±2.537 cm. It was observed that 92% of the right and 96% of the left bones presented a single foramen. The nutrient foramina were predominately present on the posterior surface of the middle third of the shaft and were directed away from the growing end of the bone. Conclusion: As vascularised osteocutaneous fibular graft is recommended as a useful treatment option for bone transplant surgeries, the data gathered in this study could be useful for the orthopaedic surgeons.
Case Report on Penetrating Right Renal Trauma caused by a Wooden Stick
Authors: Patel Akash Rajendrakumar , Dave Jignesh , Bhatt Jatin , Goel Divyam
Published: February 2022

Blunt trauma by motor vehicle accidents and falls, followed by penetrating injuries comprise the common mechanisms of renal injury. Unilateral Penetrating Renal Trauma (UPRT) is extremely rare. Here, we reported a unique case of Right Penetrating Renal Trauma (RPRT). A nine-year-old male child, with a 124 cm height and 30 kg weight without any medical history, had a history of falling down from tree with right side penetrating abdominal injury. On admission, patient was vitally stable. Patient had macroscopic haematuria with haemoglobin count of 10 gm/dL, creatinine 1.2 mg/dL. The Computed Tomography (CT) demonstrated right-sided penetrating renal injuries by some foreign material perinephric haematoma with surrounding air foci with renal vascular pedicle injury. An emergency exploratory laparotomy was executed immediately. According to the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) organ injury scale grading system, it was considered grade IV renal injury. Nephrectomy was done. Piperacillin and tazobactam was injected to prevent bacterial infection. The postoperative course was uneventful. Patient was discharged after seven days without any complications.
Surgical Outcomes of Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome among the Indian Rural Population Scheduled for Small Incision Cataract Surgery: A Prospective Interventional Study
Authors: Sadatia Rutviben Ravjibhai , Ahuja Nisha , Bhavisha Vegada , Iodine Raghunathan , Abraham Kurian
Published: February 2022

Introduction: Pseudoexfoliation (PXF) syndrome is an age related systemic disorder with primary ocular manifestations characterised by PXF deposits and changes in tissues of anterior segment which make cataract operations potentially challenging. Aim: To analyse surgical outcomes of Small Incision Cataract Surgery (SICS) on eyes with PXF, compared with eyes without PXF. Materials and Methods: This prospective interventional study was conducted between August 2015 to June 2016 on each eye of 100 patients who attended free eye camps in rural areas of Western India and underwent cataract surgery-SICS. Two groups were formed: (a) Both males and females of age 50 years or more who had cataract with non glaucomatous PXF (n=50); (b) Both males and females with age 50 years or more who had cataract without PXF (n=50). Detailed history and slit lamp examinations were done. All the patients were operated upon by the same surgeon. Surgical outcomes assessed were incidence of intraoperative complications, postoperative complications and visual outcomes. Intraoperative difficulties experienced by surgeon, like inadequate pupillary dilatation, phacodonesis, zonular dialysis, posterior capsular rupture, vitreous loss etc., were reported. Postoperative findings of visual acuity, Intraocular Pressure (IOP) and slit lamp evaluation {corneal oedema, anterior chamber inflammation, retained lens matter, hyphema, Intraocular Lens (IOL) centration} on day one and one month were analysed. Comparative analysis of surgical outcomes was done between the two groups by using the Mann Whiteney U test and Fischer’s exact test. Results: Most frequent encountered complication was inadequate pupillary dilatation in PXF group. There was no statistically significant difference in intraoperative complications (zonular dialysis) between the two groups (p=0.4949). Postoperatively, corneal oedema and raised IOP were more in PXF group on postoperative day one compared to group without PXF (p=0.0167, p=0.0226). In both groups, there were no corneal oedema and raised IOP postoperatively at one month follow-up. Both groups had improved visual acuity with no statistical difference at one month follow-up (p=0.5892). Conclusion: Eyes with PXF undergoing SICS are not associated with a higher rate of surgical complications in our study, however, it requires proper preoperative assessment and intraoperative care to ensure optimal surgical outcomes. In PXF syndrome, more time is required to attain maximal visual acuity in comparison with non PXF patients
Role of In-situ Moisture Conservation and Cropping Systems on Maize Intercropping with Pigeonpea under Rainfed Conditions at Telangana State
Authors: Sravanthi D. , Lakshmi Y. Siva , Susheela R. , Ramanjaneyulu A. V. , Sainath N. , Rami Reddy P. Raghu , Mohan Rao P. Jagan
Published: February 2022

The study was conducted with an objective of assessing best practice of moisture conservation and profitability of the cropping system. The experiment was executed at Agricultural Research Station, Tornala, Siddipet (Dt), Telangana State for three years (kharif, 2016 - kharif, 2018). The trial was laid out in split plot design with three cropping systems as main plots Viz., sole maize (SM), maize + pigeon pea in 4: 1 ratio (MP) and sole pigeon pea (SP) and three sub plots were allotted with moisture conservation practices viz., ridge and furrow (RF), flatbed followed by making ridge at 25DAS (FBR) and flatbed followed by making conservation furrow at 25 DAS (FBCF) along with regular farmers practice, flatbed method (FB).The results revealed that, among different cropping systems sole pigeon pea (SP) recorded significantly higher maize equivalent yields and net returns (4340 kg ha-1and Rs.33926 ha-1) compared to sole maize (SM) (3268 kg ha-1 and Rs.15366 ha-1) and maize+ pigeon pea intercropping in1:4 ratio (MP) (4080 kg ha-1and Rs.25786 ha-1), whereas in case of moisture conservation methods ridge and furrow method (RF) recorded significantly higher maize equivalent yields in kg ha-1 (4253 kg ha-1and1Rs.26752 ha-1) followed by flatbed fb making conservation furrow at 25 DAS (FBCF) (4247 kg ha-1and Rs.30,042 ha-1) compared flatbed fb making ridges at 25 DAS (FBR) and flat bed. Ridge and furrow method could save more (26%) soil moisture among all the methods followed in the study.
A Study on Constraints and Suggestions in Agriwaste Management by Farmers of Medak District in Telangana
Authors: Ravi G. , Savitha B. , Sreenivasulu M. , Vidyasagar G. E. Ch.
Published: February 2022

Agriculture is the largest contributor of any resource sector, to the economy. Agriculture is also a larger generator of waste material. This paper focused to study the constraits and suggestions in agri waste managemet The Ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study with a sample of 120, covering Medak district of Telangana state. This study focus on analysis of profile characterstics respondents, constraints and suggestions of of respondents in agri waste management. Major constraints expressed by the farmers in adoption of agri waste management practices were, agri waste management practices requires additional work and cost, non availability of labour for the agri  waste management practices, difficult to manage huge volume of agri waste, decomposition of agri waste takes time and low preference of farmers for doing waste management practices. Suggestions expressed by respondents for increased adoption of agri waste management were extension agents should educate and demonstrate about latest technologies in agri waste management, promotion of group approach to manage agri waste, promotion of more number of custom hiring centers for easy access by small and marginal farmers at village level (Happy seeder, Turbo seeder), village level industries should be developed (vermi-compost).
Genetic Parameters Studies for Yield, Yield Contributing and Morphological Traits in Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill)
Authors: Baig K. S. , Chinchane V. N. , Gaikwad A. R. , Munde S. M.
Published: February 2022

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill)  is the only oilseed crop having richest source of quality protein (~ 40%) apart from 20% edible and having share of 22 % edible oil requirement of the country. The present study was carried out to estimate the important genetic parameters such as genotypic coefficient of variance (GCV), phenotypic coefficient of variance (PCV), heritability (h2) and expected genetic advance (EGA).Thirty-five soybean genotypes collected from different centers of the country were studied for nine yield, yield contributing and morphological characters at All India Coordinated Research Project on Soybean during kharif ,2013. The analysis of variance revealed that the sufficient variability was present in the material for all the characters. The value of phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) is greater than genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV). The high GCV and PCV were observed for number of pods per plant, number of branches per plant, seed yield per plant and plant height. High heritability estimates coupled with high expected genetic advance were observed for the characters seed yield per plant, number of pods per plant, number of branches per plant and plant height indicating the presence of additive gene action. Therefore, more emphasis should be focused on these traits during selection for genetic improvement of soybean.
Phytochemical Screening, Total Phenolics Content and Antioxydants Potential of Different parts of Grangea maderaspatana from Burkina Faso
Authors: Abdoulaye Yougoubo , Constantin M Dabire , K. Rémy Bationo , Adama Hema , Eloi Pale , H. Roger Nebie C. , Danhabal S. P.
Published: February 2022

This work is a contribution to a better use of Grangea maderaspatana belonging to family Asteracea as a medicinal plant for its phytochemicals.  Extracts of different parts of Grangea maderaspatana were thus screened for their phytochemicals, including phenolics, tannins and flavonoids contents and total antioxidant contents.

The extracts were obtained from the roots, flowers, leafy branches and the whole plant using hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanol. The phytochemical screening was carried out by means of thin layer chromatography, colorimetric and precipitation reactions. Total phenolics contents, total flavonids et totat antioxidants contents were evaluated by spectrophotometric methods.

The phytochemical screening revealed that G. maderaspatana different parts contained phenolics, tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, sterols and terpenes at different content. Total phenolics contents ranged from 0.051 to 93.455 mg GAE/g of extract in dichloromethane extract of leafy branches and in the ethyl acetate extract of flowers, respectively. Those of total flavonoids ranged from 82.984 in the roots methanolic extract to 753.337 mg QE/g in the ethyl acetate extract of flowers. Total antioxidant contents, assessed by ,  and  methods are highest in ethyl acetate extracts compared to others extraction solvents.

maderaspatana contains a variety of secondary metabolites whose levels vary according to the plant part used.
Transdermal Drug Delivery System: A Novel Alternative for Drug Delivery
Authors: Lal Bharat , Gadewar Manoj
Published: February 2022

Orally administered pharmaceuticals now account for 74% of all prescriptions, however studies have shown that oral medications are often less  effective due to first pass metabolism and not stable drug blood level etc. Transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) was developed to enhance such qualities. Every 2.2 years, the FDA grants approval for a new transdermal medication delivery system, fueling a multibillion dollar industry. An extensive evaluation of the technology, business, and products has been warranted since the FDA initially authorized the first transdermal medicine patch around 40 years ago. Transdermal medication delivery systems on demand are made possible by patches, a special kind of patch. The transdermal medication delivery system's adhesive plays a key role in the product's safety, effectiveness, and quality. Compared to more traditional delivery modalities, such as oral or invasive injection, topical therapy provides several benefits. Limiting hepatic first-pass metabolism, improving therapeutic efficacy, and maintaining a constant plasma level are all benefits of transdermal drug administration. Types of transdermal patches, production techniques, mechanism of action, kinetics, clinical concerns, and their physicochemical methods of assessment are all covered in this article.
Camas Daraich
Authors: Wickham-Jones Caroline , Hardy Karen , Clarke Ann , Cressey Michael , Edwards Kevin , Newton Anthony
Published: February 2022

The archaeological site of Camas Daraich on the peninsula of the Point of Sleat, in south-west Skye (NGR: NG 567 000) was revealed in November 1999 when stone tools were discovered in the upcast from a newly bulldozed track. Excavation took place in May 2000, directed by the authors and under the auspices of Historic Scotland, the Centre for Field Archaeology and the Department of Archaeology, University of Edinburgh. The excavations were small-scale and brief, but they demonstrated the survival of stratified features, including scoops and a possible hearth, as well as an assemblage of nearly 5000 flaked lithics, comprising both tools and debris. There was no organic preservation, with the exception of burnt hazelnut shell. The composition of the lithic assemblage suggested that the excavated site was Mesolithic and this was confirmed by the radiocarbon determinations, which place it securely in the mid-7th millennium BC. Surface material suggested that there was evidence for more recent prehistoric stone-tool-using activity in the vicinity.
The NAC transcription factor ATAF2 promotes ethylene biosynthesis and response in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings
Authors: Peng Hao , Phung Jessica , Stowe Evan C. , Dhingra Amit , Neff Michael M.
Published: February 2022

Arabidopsis thaliana activating factor 2 (ATAF2) plays extensive regulatory roles in pathogenesis, seedling development, and stress responses. Here, we performed transcriptome analysis on ATAF2 loss‐ and gain‐of‐function mutants to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Gene ontology analyses on DEGs reveal that ATAF2 enhances seedling responses to multiple hormone and stress signals. In particular, our transcriptome analysis suggests that ATAF2 promotes ethylene biosynthesis and responses via activating relevant genes. This novel role of ATAF2 was further demonstrated by using multiple ATAF2‐null and overexpression lines for reverse transcription quantitative PCR verification, ethylene production measurements, and assays of seedlings growth responses to the ethylene immediate biosynthetic precursor 1‐aminocyclopropane‐1‐carboxylic acid (ACC). ACC suppresses ATAF2 expression to form a negative feedback regulation loop.
Harnessing DNA for Immunotherapy: Cancer, Infectious Diseases, and Beyond
Authors: Wang Yixin , Chen‐Mayfield Ting‐Jing , Li Zhaoting , Younis Muhsin H. , Cai Weibo , Hu Quanyin
Published: February 2022

Despite the rapid development of immunotherapy, low response rates, poor therapeutic outcomes, and severe side effects still limit its implementation, making the augmentation of immunotherapy an important goal for current research. DNA, which is principally recognized for its functions of encoding genetic information, has recently attracted research interest due to its emerging role in immune modulation. Inspired by the intrinsic DNA‐sensing signaling that triggers the host defense in response to foreign DNA, DNA or nucleic acid‐based immune stimulators have been used in the prevention and treatment of various diseases. Besides that, DNA vaccines allow the synthesis of target proteins in host cells, subsequently inducing recognition of these antigens to provoke immune responses. On this basis, researchers have designed numerous vehicles for DNA and nucleic acid delivery to regulate immune systems. Additionally, DNA nanostructures are also implemented as vaccine delivery systems to elicit strong immune responses against pathogens and diseased cells. This review will introduce the mechanism of harnessing DNA‐mediated immunity for the prevention and treatment of diseases, summarize recent progress, and envisage their future applications and challenges.
Gold Nanomaterials‐Implemented Wearable Sensors for Healthcare Applications
Authors: Yi Jiuhong , Xianyu Yunlei
Published: February 2022

Wearable sensors have drawn considerable interest for healthcare applications due to their low cost, flexibility, lightweight, and biocompatibility. Gold nanomaterials possess excellent properties such as high conductivity/flexibility, facile surface functionalization, biocompatibility, wide electrochemical sensing window, and extraordinary optical response, making them excellent candidates for wearable sensors. By implementing gold nanomaterials such as gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and gold nanowires (AuNWs), great efforts are devoted to fabricate wearable sensors with rational designs for healthcare applications. This review focuses on recent advances in gold nanomaterials‐implemented wearable sensors, particularly the fabrication method, the working mechanism, and the performance of these wearable sensors in healthcare‐related applications. Wearable sensors including strain/pressure sensors, humidity/gas sensors, electrochemical sensors, and colorimetric sensors are discussed and highlighted. Meanwhile, future prospects and challenges are also discussed on the development of gold nanomaterials‐implemented wearable sensors.
Dendrite‐Free Lithium Deposition and Stripping Regulated by Aligned Microchannels for Stable Lithium Metal Batteries
Authors: Ni Shuyan , Sheng Jinzhi , Zhang Chang , Wu Xin , Yang Chuang , Pei Songfeng , Gao Runhua , Liu Wei , Qiu Ling , Zhou Guangmin
Published: February 2022

Li metal is the ultimate choice for the anode in next‐generation high energy density rechargeable batteries. However, undesired dendrite growth, dead Li formation, and a large volume change of the lithium metal anode lead to severe safety hazards such as short‐circuiting, fire, or even explosion. Graphene oxide (GO) in large areas has been prepared as the Li metal host via a continuous centrifugal casting method. Aligned microchannels are then fabricated in it by a simple punching method using 3D printed templates. The GO matrix effectively regulates the lithium plating/stripping behavior while the aligned channels uniformly distributes the Li‐ion flux and provides short Li‐ion diffusion paths. The Li/ holey GO composite is flexible with a controllable thickness from 50 to 150 µm, which corresponds to capacities from 9.881 to 27.601 mAh cm−2. As a result, the anode has a low overpotential of 30 mV after 100 h, a high capacity of ≈3538 mAh g−1 (91.4% of the theoretical capacity), and a superior rate ability of up to 50 C with a LiFePO4 cathode. The holey GO/Li electrode is also paired with other cathodes and used in pouch cells, indicating its suitability for various high‐energy battery systems.
Gradient Doping in Sn–Pb Perovskites by Barium Ions for Efficient Single‐Junction and Tandem Solar Cells
Authors: Yu Zhenhua , Chen Xihan , Harvey Steven P. , Ni Zhenyi , Chen Bo , Chen Shangshang , Yao Canglang , Xiao Xun , Xu Shuang , Yang Guang , Yan Yanfa , Berry Joseph J. , Beard Matthew C. , Huang Jinsong
Published: February 2022

Narrow‐bandgap (NBG) tin (Sn)–lead (Pb) perovskites generally have a high density of unintentional p‐type self‐doping, which reduces the charge‐carrier lifetimes, diffusion lengths, and device efficiencies. Here, a p–n homojunction across the Sn–Pb perovskite is demonstrated, which results from a gradient doping by barium ions (Ba2+). It is reported that 0.1 mol% Ba2+ can effectively compensate the p‐doping of Sn–Pb perovskites or even turns it to n‐type without changing its bandgap. Ba2+ cations are found to stay at the interstitial sites and work as shallow electron donor. In addition, Ba2+ cations show a unique heterogeneous distribution in perovskite film. Most of the barium ions stay in the top 600 nm region of the perovskite films and turn it into weakly n‐type, while the bottom portion of the film remains as p‐type. The gradient doping forms a homojunction from top to bottom of the perovskite films with a built‐in field that facilitates extraction of photogenerated carriers, resulting in an increased carrier extraction length. This strategy enhances the efficiency of Sn–Pb perovskite single‐junction solar cells to over 21.0% and boosts the efficiencies of monolithic perovskite–perovskite tandem solar cells to 25.3% and 24.1%, for active areas of 5.9 mm2 and 0.94 cm2, respectively.
Enhanced Thermal Conductivity via In Situ Constructed CNT Aerogel Structure in Composites
Authors: Qian Gang , Wu Bin , Qin Zhen , Li Xu , Zheng Zhengzhi , Xia Ru , Qian Jiasheng
Published: February 2022

Polymer‐based thermal conductivity composite plays an important role in the thermal management of electronic devices to ensure normal operation. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are effective thermally conductive fillers to improve the heat transfer efficiency of composites. However, the controlled arrangement of CNT in composites is still a huge challenge for improving their thermal conductivity. To address this issue, CNT aerogel with a regular structure is in situ constructed as a heat transfer pathway based on the catalytic conversion of zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF‐67) aerogel. Benefiting from the network structure of aerogel, the in‐plane thermal conductivity of composites not only reach 1.1 W m–1 K–1 at 7.35 vol% filler, but also exhibit a small fluctuation with the increase of temperature. The composites open previously unexplored preparation avenues toward electronic packing thermal management materials.
Bed structure and its impact on liquid distribution in a trickle bed reactor
Authors: Srivastava Akarsha , Nigam Krishna D. P. , Roy Shantanu
Published: February 2022

Trickle bed reactors, which has been a workhorse for the process and refining industry for many decades, are progressively being challenged to provide solutions to deep processing of feedstocks. It is known that the structure of the packed bed which is formed with a certain arrangement of catalyst particles in the three‐dimensional space within the reactor modulates in an unknown fashion the flow of fluids in the trickle bed, and in turn affects the conversion and selectivity in the trickle bed. Under deep processing conditions, the impact of the bed structure in modulating the overall reactor performance in a trickle bed is not as yet established. The question begets three sequential studies: estimating and quantifying the bed structure, measuring the liquid distribution, and estimating transport parameters (that are dependent on the bed structure and liquid distribution) so that the overall performance metrics as a reactor may be quantified. This contribution relates to the second of these questions, the first being already addressed to some extent by our earlier work. The current investigation aims at quantifying the effect of structure of the packed bed on hydrodynamics of the reactor. The impact of various packing techniques is discussed along with the development of correlations for two‐phase pressure drop and dynamic liquid holdup. Liquid distribution is studied in depth for various operating parameters such as gas and liquid superficial velocities and column aspect ratio for uniform and non‐uniform packing methods. The packing devices consist of various inserts attached to a hopper which can generate packing structures having void fraction in the range of 37.2%–46.4%. The maldistribution factor and flow maps for various aspect ratio of column suggest that maldistribution rises along with the increased channeling effect along the height of the column. Uniformly packed bed were measurably less prone to maldistribution along the length than the non‐uniformly packed beds.
Phylogenomic discordance suggests polytomies along the backbone of the large genus Solanum
Authors: Gagnon Edeline , Hilgenhof Rebecca , Orejuela Andrés , McDonnell Angela , Sablok Gaurav , Aubriot Xavier , Giacomin Leandro , Gouvêa Yuri , Bragionis Thamyris , Stehmann João Renato , Bohs Lynn , Dodsworth Steven , Martine Christopher , Poczai Péter , Knapp Sandra , Särkinen Tiina
Published: February 2022

Premise

Evolutionary studies require solid phylogenetic frameworks, but increased volumes of phylogenomic data have revealed incongruent topologies among gene trees in many organisms both between and within genomes. Some of these incongruences indicate polytomies that may remain impossible to resolve. Here we investigate the degree of gene‐tree discordance in Solanum, one of the largest flowering plant genera that includes the cultivated potato, tomato, and eggplant, as well as 24 minor crop plants.

Methods

A densely sampled species‐level phylogeny of Solanum is built using unpublished and publicly available Sanger sequences comprising 60% of all accepted species (742 spp.) and nine regions (ITS, waxy, and seven plastid markers). The robustness of this topology is tested by examining a full plastome dataset with 140 species and a nuclear target‐capture dataset with 39 species of Solanum (Angiosperms353 probe set).

Results

While the taxonomic framework of Solanum remained stable, gene tree conflicts and discordance between phylogenetic trees generated from the target‐capture and plastome datasets were observed. The latter correspond to regions with short internodal branches, and network analysis and polytomy tests suggest the backbone is composed of three polytomies found at different evolutionary depths. The strongest area of discordance, near the crown node of Solanum, could potentially represent a hard polytomy.

Conclusions

We argue that incomplete lineage sorting due to rapid diversification is the most likely cause for these polytomies, and that embracing the uncertainty that underlies them is crucial to understand the evolution of large and rapidly radiating lineages.
DREAMTIME NMR Spectroscopy: Targeted Multi‐Compound Selection with Improved Detection Limits
Authors: Jenne Amy , Bermel Wolfgang , Michal Carl A. , Gruschke Oliver , Soong Ronald , Ghosh Biswas Rajshree , Bastawrous Monica , Simpson Andre J.
Published: February 2022

NMR/MRI are critical tools for studying molecular structure and interactions but suffer from relatively low sensitivity and spectral overlap. Here, a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) approach, termed DREAMTIME, is introduced that provides “a molecular window” inside complex systems, capable of showing only what the user desires, with complete molecular specificity. The user chooses a list of molecules of interest, and the approach detects only those targets while all other molecules are invisible. The approach is demonstrated in whole human blood and urine, small living aquatic organisms in 1D/2D NMR, and MRI. Finally, as proof‐of‐concept, once overlap is removed via DREAMTIME, a novel “multi‐focusing” approach can be used to increase sensitivity. In human blood and urine, sensitivity increases of 7–12 fold over standard 1H NMR are observed. Applicable even to unknowns, DREAMTIME has widespread application, from monitoring product formation in organic chemistry to monitoring/identifying suites of molecular targets in complex media or in vivo.
Distal Ruthenaelectro‐Catalyzed meta‐C−H Bromination with Aqueous HBr
Authors: Wang Yulei , Simon Hendrik , Chen Xinran , Lin Zhipeng , Chen Shan , Ackermann Lutz
Published: February 2022

While electrochemical ortho‐selective C−H activations are well established, distal C−H activations continue to be underdeveloped. In contrast, we herein describe the electrochemical meta‐C−H functionalization. The remote C−H bromination was accomplished in an undivided cell by RuCl3⋅3 H2O with aqueous HBr. The electrohalogenation proceeded under exogenous ligand‐ and electrolyte‐free conditions. Notably, pyrazolylarenes were meta‐selectively brominated at the benzenoid moiety, rather than on the electron‐rich pyrazole ring for the first time. Mechanistic studies were suggestive of an initial ruthenacycle formation, and a subsequent ligand‐to‐ligand hydrogen transfer (LLHT) process to liberate the brominated product.
Synthesis, characterization, and biological activities of folic acid conjugates with polyvinyl alcohol, chitosan, and cellulose
Authors: El‐Naggar Sabry A. , El‐Barbary Ahmed A. , Salama Wesam M. , Elkholy Hazem M.
Published: February 2022

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), chitosan (CS), and cellulose (CL) are promising polymers for chemical functionalization and biomedical applications. This study aimed to synthesize folic acid (FA) conjugates with PVA, CS, and CL via chloroacetyl chloride, 2‐bromopropionyl bromide, and epichlorohydrin to enhance it biomedical applications. The functionalized polymer conjugates were characterized by FT‐IR,1H‐NMR, GPC, and TGA techniques. FT‐IR and1H‐NMR revealed the main functional groups (OH, NH, C═O, C═N), the aromatic CH and NH protons of FA moieties. TGA illustrated two stages of decompositions of all‐polymer conjugates. FA showed no antifungal activity, while two of the newly grafted polymer conjugates (chitosan bromopropionate‐grafted FA and cellulose chloroacetate‐grafted FA) illustrated antifungal activity against bothAspergillus fumigatusandCandida albicans. Polymer conjugates; poly(vinyl chloroacetate)‐grafted FA and chitosan‐EPCH‐grafted FA revealed good antifungal effect onC. albicansandA. fumigatus, respectively. Most FA polymer conjugates showed significant antitumor activity against EAC‐bearing mice. Among these conjugates, chitosan chloroacetate‐grafted FA (P‐2A) showed the highest antitumor effect against EAC‐bearing mice via reduction in total tumor volume. Thus, these conjugates provided enhanced antifungal and antitumor activities as compared with FA itself. These conjugates may act as promising biologically active carrier systems for other applications such as drug delivery.
Did doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI) of mtDNA originate as a cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) system?
Authors: Breton Sophie , Stewart Donald T. , Brémaud Julie , Havird Justin C. , Smith Chase H. , Hoeh Walter R.
Published: February 2022

Animal and plant species exhibit an astonishing diversity of sexual systems, including environmental and genetic determinants of sex, with the latter including genetic material in the mitochondrial genome. In several hermaphroditic plants for example, sex is determined by an interaction between mitochondrial cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) genes and nuclear restorer genes. Specifically, CMS involves aberrant mitochondrial genes that prevent pollen development and specific nuclear genes that restore it, leading to a mixture of female (male‐sterile) and hermaphroditic individuals in the population (gynodioecy). Such a mitochondrial‐nuclear sex determination system is thought to be rare outside plants. Here, we present one possible case of CMS in animals. We hypothesize that the only exception to the strict maternal mtDNA inheritance in animals, the doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI) system in bivalves, might have originated as a mitochondrial‐nuclear sex‐determination system. We document and explore similarities that exist between DUI and CMS, and we propose various ways to test our hypothesis.
The emerging driving force of inclusive green growth: Does digital economy agglomeration work?
Authors: Ren Shuming , Li Lianqing , Han Yueqi , Hao Yu , Wu Haitao
Published: February 2022

Inclusive green growth, which considers green growth, inclusive growth and growth, is a sustainable development model that aims to pursue the comprehensive and harmonious growth of humans, the economy, society, and the environment. Against the backdrop of the pandemic as well as sluggish economic development, the global economy is endowed with a driving mission that may affect inclusive green growth. This research primarily discusses the influence of digital economy agglomeration on inclusive green growth and its transmission mechanism in China. Specifically, the slacks‐based measure of directional distance functions (SBM‐DDF) model was integrated with the global Malmquist–Luenberger index (GML) to calculate inclusive green growth at the city level for 282 cities in China during 2004–2019. A measurement system for the digital economy level was constructed, and the degree of digital economy agglomeration in each region was further measured through geographic concentration. Based on these analyses, this research points out that digital economy agglomeration exerts a positive influence on inclusive green growth. The transmission mechanism analysis indicates that inclusive green growth is influenced by digital economy agglomeration through energy consumption, environmental pollution, economic growth, human capital, industrial structure, and technological progress. Moreover, taking the “Broadband China” pilot policy as the starting point, a spatial difference‐in‐differences (SDID) model was used to analyze the policy effect. The results suggest that the “Broadband China” policy is conducive to enhancing local inclusive green growth, while it inhibits inclusive green growth in neighboring cities.
Isolation and Identification of Acylphloroglucinols in the Medicinal Plant,Melaleuca alternifolia(Australian Tea Tree)
Authors: Schafer Janelle J. , Southwell Ian A. , Liu Lei
Published: February 2022

Melaleuca alternifolia(tea tree), family Myrtaceae, is endemic to the northern rivers of NSW, Australia. Since 1925, the volatile components of the hydro‐ and steam‐distilled oils of the leaves have been studied in detail. However, the less‐volatile compounds have not been investigated. Using an ethanolic extract of the seedling leaves, the non‐volatile components were studied using gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and liquid chromatography‐ mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Four of these less‐volatile components were isolated by preparative‐HPLC from young seedling leaves and identified as the acylphloroglucinols 1‐(2,6‐dihydroxy‐4‐methoxy‐3‐methylphenyl)‐2‐methylpropan‐1‐one, callisalignone A, 1‐(2,6‐dihydroxy‐4‐methoxyphenyl)‐3‐methylbutan‐1‐one and pulverulentone B described here for the first time fromM. alternifolia. These compounds change in concentration in the leaf sets as later seedling leaves mature on the seedling.
Covalent Allosteric Inhibitors of Akt Generated Using a Click Fragment Approach
Authors: van der Westhuizen Leandi , Weisner Jörn , Taher Abu , Landel Ina , Quambusch Lena , Lindemann Marius , Uhlenbrock Niklas , Müller Matthias P. , Green Ivan R. , Pelly Stephen C. , Rauh Daniel , van Otterlo Willem A. L.
Published: February 2022

Akt is a protein kinase that has been implicated in the progression of cancerous tumours. A number of covalent allosteric Akt inhibitors are known, and based on these scaffolds, a small library of novel potential covalent allosteric imidazopyridine‐based inhibitors was designed. The envisaged compounds were synthesised, with click chemistry enabling a modular approach to a number of the target compounds. The binding modes, potencies and antiproliferative activities of these synthesised compounds were explored, thereby furthering the structure activity relationship knowledge of this class of Akt inhibitors. Three novel covalent inhibitors were identified, exhibiting moderate activity against Akt1 and various cancer cell lines, potentially paving the way for future covalent allosteric inhibitors with improved properties.
Improving the accessibility of NUMA‐aware C++ application development based on the PGASUS framework
Authors: Plauth Max , Eberhardt Felix , Grapentin Andreas , Polze Andreas
Published: February 2022

Certain workloads such asin‐memory databasesare inherently hard to scale‐out and rely on cache‐coherent scale‐up non‐uniform memory access (NUMA) systems to keep up with the ever‐increasing demand for compute resources. However, many parallel programming frameworks such as OpenMP do not make efficient use of large scale‐up NUMA systems as they do not consider data locality sufficiently. In this work, we presentPGASUS, a C++ framework for NUMA‐aware application development that provides integrated facilities for NUMA‐aware task parallelism and data placement. The framework is based on an extensive review of parallel programming languages and frameworks to incorporate the best practices of the field. In a comprehensive evaluation, we demonstrate thatPGASUSprovides average performance improvements of and peak performance improvements of up to across a wide range of workloads.