bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Antisense lncRNA NNT-AS1 promoted esophageal squamous cell carcinoma progression by regulating its sense gene NNT expression
Authors: Pan Xianglong , Wang Qi , Yu Yue , Wu Weibing , Chen Liang , Wang Wei , Li Zhihua
Published: October 2022

Antisense lncRNAs were endogenous productions from the antisense strand of coding genes and were transcribed in the reverse direction of the sense gene. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the roles and functions of antisense lncRNAs in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Differentially expressed antisense lncRNAs were initially screened based on transcriptome data of 119 paired ESCC samples in GSE53624 and were further validated in 6 paired ESCC samples from our institution. Log-rank test was adopted to identify ESCC prognosis-associated lncRNAs. Finally, functional assays were performed to reveal the functions of our identified antisense lncRNAs. In total, 174 antisense lncRNAs were differentially expressed in both GSE53624 and JSPH databases. Five of them were significantly associated with ESCC prognosis (NNT-AS1, NKILA, CCDC18-AS1, SLCO4A1-AS1, and AC110619.1). Of note, NNT-AS1 showed the most significant association with ESCC prognosis. The upregulation of NNT-AS1 was further confirmed in ESCC cells. Knockdown of NNT-AS1 inhibited ESCC cell proliferation, migration, promoted ESCC cells apoptosis, and induced cell cycle arrest in the G2/M stage. NNT-AS1 expression significantly correlated with its sense gene NNT. As expected, NNT-AS1 knockdown suppressed NNT expression. Inhibition of NNT repressed ESCC cell proliferation and migration, and accelerated ESCC cell apoptosis. Overexpression of NNT could rescue the suppressed proliferation and migration of ESCC cells induced by the silencing of NNT-AS1. In terms of mechanism, NNT-AS1 served as a competing endogenous RNA to sponge the miR-382-5p, which could inhibit NNT expression. Pathway enrichment analysis and western blot assay indicated that NNT-AS1 and NNT could regulate the cell cycle pathway. In conclusion, antisense lncRNA NNT-AS1 facilitated ECSS progression by targeting its sense gene NNT through sponging miR-382-5p. This study provided us with a deeper insight into the roles of antisense lncRNAs in ESCC and identified novel potential therapeutic targets.
Defining the specificity and function of a human neutralizing antibody for Hepatitis B virus
Authors: Jhajharia Saket , Lai Fritz , Low Heng Boon , Purushotorman Kiren , Shunmuganathan Bhuvaneshwari D/O , Chan Conrad En Zuo , Hammond Rachel , Netter Hans-Jürgen , Chen Qingfeng , Lim Seng Gee , MacAry Paul A.
Published: October 2022

Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) is a hepadnavirus that is the principal pathogen underlying viral liver disease in human populations. In this study, we describe the isolation and characterization of a fully human monoclonal antibody for HBV. This HuMab was isolated by a combinatorial screen of the memory B-cell repertoire from an acute/recovered HBV-infected patient. Lead candidate selection was based upon strong binding and neutralizing activity for live HBV. We provide a detailed biochemical/biophysical, and subclass characterization of its specificity and affinity against all of the principal HBV genotypes combined with a functional analysis of its in vitro activity. We also demonstrate its potential as a prophylaxis/therapy in vivo using human liver chimeric mouse models for HBV infection. These data have important implications for our understanding of natural human immunity to HBV and suggest that this potentially represents a new antibody-based anti-viral candidate for prophylaxis and/or therapy for HBV infection.
Short-term effect of orthokeratology lens wear on choroidal blood flow in children with low and moderate myopia
Authors: Zhu Qing , Zhao Qi
Published: October 2022

We investigated changes in choroidal vascularity and choriocapillaris blood perfusion during orthokeratology (Ortho-K) lens wear. Sixty-two children with low to moderate myopia were enrolled. The Ortho-K group (n = 42) continuously wore Ortho-K lenses for 3 months, and the controls (n = 20) wore single-vision distance spectacles. All of the patients were instructed to return for follow-up visits after 1 day, 1 week and 1 month and 3 months of treatment. The subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFChT), choroidal vascularity [including the total choroidal area, luminal area, stromal area, and choroidal vascularity index (CVI)] and percentage of choriocapillaris flow voids (FV%) were determined with a Cirrus HD-OCT instrument. Additionally, ocular parameters were measured. In the Ortho-K group, the SFChT significantly increased by 12.61 ± 5.90 μm, the CVI was significantly increased by 2.99 ± 2.07% and 3.01 ± 2.32% on the horizontal and vertical scans respectively, and the FV% was significantly decreased by 0.89 ± 0.34% from baseline at the 1-week visit (all p < 0.001). The choroidal parameters remained unchanged at the 1-month and 3-month follow-ups with respect to the 1-week follow-up. In the control group, the choroidal parameters did not change significantly at 1 month (all p > 0.05). At the 3-month visit, the changes in the axial length (AL) and vitreous chamber depth (VCD) were significantly greater in the control group than in the Ortho-K group (0.14 ± 0.23 and 0.03 ± 0.05 mm in AL, 0.15 ± 0.23 and 0.06 ± 0.03 mm in VCD respectively). Our longitudinal study showed several choroidal parameter changes in the early stage in Ortho-K lens wearers with low to moderate myopia, and these changes persisted over 3 months. We speculate that Ortho-K lenses regulate choroidal thickness and blood perfusion, affecting myopia development.
Analyzing the GHSI puzzle of whether highly developed countries fared worse in COVID-19
Authors: Markovic Sofija , Salom Igor , Rodic Andjela , Djordjevic Marko
Published: October 2022

Global Health Security Index (GHSI) categories are formulated to assess the capacity of world countries to deal with infectious disease risks. Thus, higher values of these indices were expected to translate to lower COVID-19 severity. However, it turned out to be the opposite, surprisingly suggesting that higher estimated country preparedness to epidemics may lead to higher disease mortality. To address this puzzle, we: (i) use a model-derived measure of COVID-19 severity; (ii) employ a range of statistical learning approaches, including non-parametric machine learning methods; (iii) consider the overall excess mortality, in addition to official COVID-19 fatality counts. Our results suggest that the puzzle is, to a large extent, an artifact of oversimplified data analysis and a consequence of misclassified COVID-19 deaths, combined with the higher median age of the population and earlier epidemics onset in countries with high GHSI scores.
Role of calcium carbonate in the process of heavy metal biosorption from solutions: synergy of metal removal mechanisms
Authors: Wierzba Sławomir , Makuchowska-Fryc Joanna , Kłos Andrzej , Ziembik Zbigniew , Ochędzan-Siodłak Wioletta
Published: October 2022

The effect of calcium carbonate on the removal efficiency of cations of the selected heavy metals Cu, Zn and Pb from aqueous solutions using various biosorbents (BS) was investigated under laboratory static conditions. The main mechanism of biosorption of heavy metal cations is ion exchange, whereas the reaction with calcium carbonate results in precipitation of poorly soluble carbonates and hydroxides of the examined heavy metals. Studies conducted under static conditions have shown that the effect of Cu and Zn cations removal from solutions is better when using a mixture of BS and CaCO3 as compared to the effect of process, in which these two components were used separately. Removal efficiency for Cu and Zn has been shown to increase from 20 to 50% depending on the BS used. For the removal of lead cations, a measurable effect is found only for biosorbents whose active centers are saturated with protons (improvement in removal efficiency by about 20%). A synergy effect in the flow system was also investigated. It was found that under the conditions of the experiment, the addition of powdered CaCO3, in a weight ratio of 1 g CaCO3: 15 g BS, increases the removal efficiency of all the metals studied by 20–30%. It has been shown that an important role in the process of heterophasic ion exchange is played by neutralization of protons—desorbed from the biosorbents—with hydroxide ions released into the solution by partial dissolution of CaCO3 and subsequent hydrolysis reaction.
A digital physician peer to automatically detect erroneous prescriptions in radiotherapy
Authors: Li Qiongge , Wright Jean , Hales Russell , Voong Ranh , McNutt Todd
Published: October 2022

Appropriate dosing of radiation is crucial to patient safety in radiotherapy. Current quality assurance depends heavily on a physician peer-review process, which includes a review of the treatment plan’s dose and fractionation. Potentially, physicians may not identify errors during this manual peer review due to time constraints and caseload. A novel prescription anomaly detection algorithm is designed that utilizes historical data from the past to predict anomalous cases. Such a tool can serve as an electronic peer who will assist the peer-review process providing extra safety to the patients. In our primary model, we create two dissimilarity metrics, R and F. R defining how far a new patient’s prescription is from historical prescriptions. F represents how far away a patient’s feature set is from that of the group with an identical or similar prescription. We flag prescription if either metric is greater than specific optimized cut-off values. We use thoracic cancer patients (n = 2504) as an example and extracted seven features. Our testing set f1 score is between 73%-94% for different treatment technique groups. We also independently validate our results by conducting a mock peer review with three thoracic specialists. Our model has a lower type II error rate compared to the manual peer-review by physicians.
Diffusive regimes in a two-dimensional chiral fluid
Authors: Vega Reyes Francisco , López-Castaño Miguel A. , Rodríguez-Rivas Álvaro
Published: October 2022

Diffusion is a fundamental aspect of transport processes in biological systems, and thus, in the development of life itself. And yet, the diffusive dynamics of active fluids with directed rotation, known as chiral fluids, has not been analyzed in detail so far. Here, we describe the diffusive regimes of a two-dimensional chiral fluid, composed in this case of a set of identical disk-shaped rotors. We found strong experimental evidence of odd diffusion. This odd diffusion emerges in the form of a two-dimensional tensor with an antisymmetric part. In particular, we show that chiral diffusion is complex, featuring transitions between super, quasi-normal, and sub diffusion, and very slowly aging. Moreover, we show that the diffusion tensor elements, including off-diagonal elements; i.e., odd diffusion coefficient, change sign according to flow vorticity. Therefore, the chiral fluid has a self regulated diffusion, controlled by its vorticity.
Unraveling the effect of collagen damage on bone fracture using in situ synchrotron microtomography with deep learning
Authors: Sieverts Michael , Obata Yoshihiro , Rosenberg James L. , Woolley William , Parkinson Dilworth Y. , Barnard Harold S. , Pelt Daniël M. , Acevedo Claire
Published: October 2022

When studying bone fragility diseases, it is difficult to identify which factors reduce bone’s resistance to fracture because these diseases alter bone at many length scales. Here, we investigate the contribution of nanoscale collagen behavior on macroscale toughness and microscale toughening mechanisms using a bovine heat-treatment fragility model. This model is assessed by developing an in situ toughness testing technique for synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography to study the evolution of microscale crack growth in 3D. Low-dose imaging is employed with deep learning to denoise images while maintaining bone’s innate mechanical properties. We show that collagen damage significantly reduces macroscale toughness and post-yield properties. We also find that bone samples with a compromised collagen network have reduced amounts of crack deflection, the main microscale mechanism of fracture resistance. This research demonstrates that collagen damage at the nanoscale adversely affects bone’s toughening mechanisms at the microscale and reduces the overall toughness of bone.
Ultra-small RuO2/NHC nanocrystal electrocatalysts with efficient water oxidation activities in acidic media
Authors: Du Yujie , Zhang Kaiyang , Yao Rui , Wu Yun , Zhao Qiang , Li Jinping , Liu Guang
Published: October 2022

RuO2/NHC3 with ultra-small and abundant electrochemically active sites requires a low overpotential of 186 mV at 10 mA cm−2 for acidic OER and maintains wonderful long-term stability within 27 h in 0.5 M H2SO4.
Surfactant assisted reactive crystallization of cobalt oxide nanoparticles in a tubular microreactor: effects of precursor concentrations and type of surfactants
Authors: Bari Mahendra L. , Sonawane Shirish H. , Mishra Satyendra , Deshpande Tushar D.
Published: October 2022

The particle size distributions in CTAB and Tween-80 assisted reactive crystallization of CoO nanoparticles using CoCl2·6H2O and NaBH4 at two molar ratios in a tubular microreactor were investigated for establishing suitability of surfactants.
Complementary metal–semiconductor interactions on Ag-TiO2NT heterojunction for the efficient electrochemical reduction of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural
Authors: Zhao Zhefei , Luo Xingyu , Peng Jiaxi , Wang Siqi , Guo Tianyang , Zheng Huajun
Published: October 2022

The electrocatalytic performance of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) reduction is improved by the Ag-TiO2NT heterojunction through complementary metal–semiconductor interactions.
Subnanometric CoSn clusters embedded in N-doped carbon nanoboxes (SN-CoSn@C NBs) realize high efficiency adsorption–conversion of polysulfides
Authors: Gao Ruili , Zhang Qian , Wang Hui , Wang Xuyun , Ren Jianwei , Wang Rongfang
Published: October 2022

SN-CoSn@C NBs as sulfur cathodes for lithium–sulfur batteries. The subnanometric CoSn clusters with single atom and atomic cluster sites were able to boost the chemisorption and electrocatalytic conversion dynamics of polysulfides.
Obstacle‐transformer: A trajectory prediction network based on surrounding trajectories
Authors: Zhang Wendong , Chai Qingjie , Zhang Quanqi , Wu Chengwei
Published: October 2022

Recurrent Neural Network, Long Short‐Term Memory, and Transformer have made great progress in predicting the trajectories of moving objects. Although the trajectory element with the surrounding scene features has been merged to improve performance, there still exist some problems to be solved. One is that the time series processing models will increase the inference time with the increase of the number of prediction sequences. Another problem is that the features cannot be extracted from the scene's image and point cloud in some situations. Therefore, an Obstacle‐Transformer is proposed to predict trajectory in a constant inference time. An ‘obstacle’ is designed by the surrounding trajectory rather than images or point clouds, making Obstacle‐Transformer more applicable in a wider range of scenarios. Experiments are conducted on ETH and UCY datasets to verify the performance of our model.
Successful Management of Congenital Radial Head Subluxation in a Juvenile Dog Using Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Suture Toggle
Authors: Chong Wye Li , Davey Jack , Jermyn Kieri , Sul Rui , Michelsen Jacob
Published: October 2022

Congenital humeroradial subluxation was diagnosed by clinical examination and radiography in a 16-week-old female dog that presented for left forelimb lameness. This was treated surgically by open reduction followed by placement of an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene suture from the craniolateral aspect of the proximal radius to the caudomedial aspect of the ulna, secured with a toggle and suture button. Postoperative findings were consistent with clinical improvement and radiographs were compatible with resolution of elbow subluxation. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of congenital humeroradial subluxation to be managed with an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene suture toggle.
Effect of
Authors: Al-Yahyaey F. , Shaat I. , Hall E. , Bush R. D.
Published: October 2022

Context Spirulina platensis (SP) has been found to be an important dietary supplement for boosting animal growth performance, having a high protein content (60–70% on a dry-matter basis) with minimal toxicity. Aims The effect of Spirulina platensis (SP) supplementation on the growth and performance of two Omani goat breeds (Jabbali and Sahrawi) was investigated. Methods Thirty-six 11-month-old bucks from two Omani goat breeds were studied for 70 days at the Livestock Research Centre, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, Oman. Each breed was divided into three groups (n = 6) and fed one of the following three rations: (1) control (CON): concentrate with 14% crude protein and 11.9% energy (MJ/kg DM); (2) Treatment 1 (T1): the same concentrate with 2 g/head.day SP; and (3) Treatment 2 (T2): the same concentrate with 4 g/head.day SP. Weekly growth, performance and body conformation data collected included live bodyweight (BWT), body condition score (BCS), average daily gain (ADG), chest girth (CG), wither height (WH) and body length (BL). Key results The Jabbali breed had a higher feed conversion ratio for T1 and T2 than did the Sahrawi breed. During the trial, no differences in total DM intake were found between treatments for either breed. T1 and T2 SP supplementation levels significantly (P < 0.05) improved the BWT and ADG of the Sahrawi breed compared with the CON group. Analysis of all traits indicated a significant (P < 0.05) effect of feeding spirulina on all the studied traits except WH and BL. ANOVAs for fixed effects in this study (dam age and kid birth type, i.e. single, twin or triple) were not significant (P > 0.05) for any of the studied traits. However, the breed effect was highly significant (P < 0.001) on BWT, ADG, BCS and treatment effect was significant (P < 0.05) on CG traits. Conclusions Spirulina platensis could be used as a supplement feed to improve growth, performance and morphological traits in Omani goat production. Feeding spirulina to kids led to increased growth, herd performance and buck selection facilitation at an earlier age. Implications These findings will benefit Omani goat producers in managing productivity and product quality.
Numerical simulations of stochastic inflation using importance sampling
Authors: Jackson Joseph H.P. , Assadullahi Hooshyar , Koyama Kazuya , Vennin Vincent , Wands David
Published: October 2022

We show how importance sampling can be used to reconstruct the statistics of rare cosmological fluctuations in stochastic inflation. We have developed a publicly available package, PyFPT,[https://github.com/Jacks0nJ/PyFPT.] that solves the first-passage time problem of generic one-dimensional Langevin processes. In the stochastic-δ N formalism, these are related to the curvature perturbation at the end of inflation. We apply this method to quadratic inflation, where the existence of semi-analytical results allows us to benchmark our approach. We find excellent agreement within the estimated statistical error, both in the drift- and diffusion-dominated regimes. The computation takes at most a few hours on a single CPU, and can reach probability values corresponding to less than one Hubble patch per observable universe at the end of inflation. With direct sampling, this would take more than the age of the universe to simulate even with the best current supercomputers. As an application, we study how the presence of large-field boundaries might affect the tail of the probability distribution. We also find that non-perturbative deviations from Gaussianity are not always of the simple exponential type.
Correcting for small-displacement interlopers in BAO analyses
Authors: Foroozan Setareh , Massara Elena , Percival Will J.
Published: October 2022

Due to the low resolution of slitless spectroscopy, future surveys including those made possible by the Roman and Euclid space telescopes will be prone to line mis-identification, leading to interloper galaxies at the wrong redshifts in the large-scale structure catalogues. The most pernicious of these have a small displacement between true and false redshift such that the interloper positions are correlated with the target galaxies. We consider how to correct for such contaminants, focusing on Hβ interlopers in [Oiii] catalogues as will be observed by Roman, which are misplaced by Δd = 97 h
-1 Mpc at redshift z = 1. Because this displacement is close to the BAO scale, the peak in the interloper-target galaxy cross-correlation function at the displacement scale can change the shape of the BAO peak in the auto-correlation of the contaminated catalogue, and lead to incorrect cosmological measurements if not accounted for properly. We consider how to build a model for the monopole and quadrupole moments of the contaminated correlation function, including an additional free parameter for the fraction of interlopers. The key input to this model is the cross-correlation between the population of galaxies forming the interlopers and the main target sample. It will be important to either estimate this using calibration data or to use the contaminated small-scale auto-correlation function to model it, which may be possible if a number of requirements about the galaxy populations are met. We find that this method is successful in measuring the BAO dilation parameters without significant degradation in accuracy, provided the cross-correlation function is accurately known.
High on-state current p-type tunnel effect transistor based on doping modulation
Authors: Sun Jiale , Zhang Yuming , Lu Hongliang , Lyu Zhijun , Zhu Yi , Pan Yuche , Lu Bin
Published: October 2022

To solve the problem of the low on-state current in p-type tunnel field-effect transistors (p-TFETs), this paper analyzes the mechanism of adjusting the tunneling current of a TFET device determined by studying the influence of the peak position of ion implantation on the potential of the p-TFET device surface and the width of the tunneling barrier. Doping-regulated silicon-based high on-state p-TFET devices are designed and fabricated, and the test results show that the on-state current of the fabricated devices can be increased by about two orders of magnitude compared with the current of other devices with the same structure. This method provides a new idea for the realization of high on-state current TFET devices.
From meniscus formation to accelerated H− beam: coupling of 3D-PIC and ion-optics simulations
Authors: Lindqvist Max , den Harder Niek , Revel Adrien , Mochalskyy Serhiy , Mimo Alessandro , Nocentini Riccardo , Minea Tiberiu , Fantz Ursel
Published: October 2022

The ITER NBI is based on negative hydrogen ions extracted from caesiated ion sources. The 3D particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision code Orsay negative ion extraction (ONIX) models the beamlet formation of negative ions in such sources where surface production plays an important role. A coupling scheme between ONIX and the ion-optics code ion beam simulator (IBSimu) has been developed and compared to other particle simulation approaches. This extends the computational domain such that the complete grid system can be included while only marginally increasing the computational cost. The properties of the accelerated ONIX beamlet are studied and compared to standalone IBSimu calculations, which are based on a simplified plasma model. The comparison provides insight about the effect of approximations made in ion-optics codes, which were also used to design the ITER NBI grid systems. ONIX volume and surface produced negative ions have a different angular distribution in the accelerated beamlet. The ONIX volume produced particles have a similar core divergence compared to standalone IBSimu calculations, but there is more halo in the IBSimu angular distribution. In the ONIX simulations, a Debye sheath is formed between the plasma and the grid, which repels negatively charged particles. The sheath decreases the extracted current density at the edge of the aperture for volume produced ions. Contrarily, surface produced particles are directly extracted near the edge of the aperture. Particles extracted near the edge of the aperture are highly divergent at the end of the grid system, independent of their initial angle. To summarize, the presence of the plasma sheath around the apertures in the plasma grid as calculated by ONIX decreases the halo from volume produced particles compared to standalone IBSimu.
Evaluation of the reduction of seismic loads effect in tall buildings through their geometric configuration in plan
Authors: Aguilar Leonardo Ronald Alexander
Published: October 2022

The research aimed to evaluate the effect of seismic loads on tall buildings through four geometric shapes: square, circle, equilateral triangle, and regular hexagon, around X and Y axis, in three evaluation stages of structural regularity condition and system adopted and three verification phases regarding the story drift limit according to E.030 Peruvian standard. Modelling was conducted in ETABS® v.16.2.1, with reinforced concrete of f’c = 280 kg/cm2 and fy = 4200 kg/cm2, in a minimum area of 400 m2 for ten levels plus a roof terrace with 3.20 m typical story height and with a box for two elevators and integrated stairs located in the centroid of each figure. The spectral modal dynamic seismic analysis was applied with parameters of zone 3, intermediate soil, common use, C value according to pseudo accelerations spectrum and rigid frames/structural walls. Among the figures studied, square one allowed the greatest reduction of seismic loads effect (Wseismic = 4296.8270 ton, Tfundamental = 1.077 s, most decoupled main modal matrix, Ia = Ip = 1 in X and Y, DIX ≈ DIY and SFX ≈ SFY), equilateral triangular one originated the most critical structural irregularity (Ip = 0.75), circular one provided the greatest lateral stiffness (DIX = 0.00512 - DIY = 0.00508) and regular hexagonal one presented the highest and most effective structural stability (SFX = 5.318 - SFY = 4.749) when using structural walls (Ro = 6).
Development and evaluation of haltere-mimicking gyroscope for three-axis angular velocity sensing using a haltere-mimicking structure pair
Authors: Kim Chulhong , Park Junghyun , Kim Taeyup , Kim Jee-Seong , Seong Jeongmo , Shim Hyungbo , Ko Hyoungho , Cho Dong-Il (Dan)
Published: October 2022

This paper presents a three-axis biomimetic gyroscope, mimicking the haltere of Diptera. Diptera use a club-shaped mechanosensory organ called the haltere to get the three-axis angular velocity information, namely roll, pitch and yaw axes, for flight control. One pair of halteres is physically connected to the wings of Diptera that vibrate in antiphase to the flapping wings in ambient air. They sense the Coriolis force and relay angular velocity information to the Diptera. As an alternative to the conventional micro-electro-mechanical system gyroscopes which are widely used in robotics, many research groups have attempted to mimic the haltere. However, no previous study succeeded in measuring all three-axis components of angular velocity, due to various shortcomings. In this paper, we developed the first three-axis haltere-mimicking gyroscope. Two perpendicularly positioned haltere-mimicking structures that can vibrate at a 180° amplitude were mechanically integrated into a robot actuator. Two accelerometers, placed at the tip of each structure, were employed to measure the Coriolis force. The performance of the novel biomimetic gyroscope was measured in all rotational directions, using a motion capture system as the ground truth. One-axis input experiments were performed 240 times at different input magnitudes and directions, and the measured orientation error was less than ±2.0% in all experiments. In 80 three-axis input experiments, the orientation error was less than ±3.5%.
Projected changes in mild weather frequency over China under a warmer climate
Authors: Zhang Jintao , You Qinglong , Ren Guoyu , Ullah Safi
Published: October 2022

Previous studies have largely focussed on changes in mean climate state and climate extremes under a warmer climate, and little is known about changes in mild weather, which is a positive and pleasant condition and is highly related to human outdoor activities. Although changes in observed mild weather frequency over China, and their drivers, have been revealed, the understanding of how mild weather evolves with projected warming is still limited. Here, we examine future changes in mild weather frequency over China based on comprehensive thermal comfort indices, and dynamically downscaled climate projections produced by the Regional Climate Model version 4 within the framework of the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment—Coordinated Output for Regional Evaluations. We demonstrate that changes in mild weather frequency in a warmer future exhibit remarkable regional discrepancy. In particular, densely populated southeastern China will experience a robust decrease in mild weather relative to the current level, although a general increasing trend is observed in this area over recent decades. On a seasonal scale, the decrease in mild weather in summer overwhelms the increase in spring and autumn, and this is more prominent in warmer regions. Regarding the drivers, it is suggested that changes in mild weather frequency are dominated by elevated temperatures, with little contribution from relative humidity, wind speed, and sunshine duration.
Growing hydropower potential in China under 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C global warming and beyond
Authors: Qi Wei , Feng Lian , Liu Junguo , Yang Hong
Published: October 2022

Renewable energy is the key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and is one of the most concerning issues worldwide. China has the largest hydropower potential in the world. Yet, how China’s hydropower potential will change under 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C global warming and beyond remains unknown. Here, we find that China’s hydropower will increase greatly because of global warming. Gross hydropower potential (GHP) will increase by about one-half compared to the baseline period (1986–2015) under 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C warming, and about two-thirds under 4.5 °C warming. The spatial and temporal changes in GHP will vary largely. GHP will increase relatively more in summer than in winter, and more in Southwest China than in other regions. Compared to GHP, increases in per-capita GHP will be relatively less under 1.5 °C (5%) and 2.0 °C (7%) warming, but of a similar magnitude under 4.5 °C warming (71%). This study provides important information on China’s hydropower potential changes under global warming.
Slowest ever neutron star is found in cosmic ‘graveyard’
Authors: Lea Robert
Published: October 2022

An unusual pulsating radio signal from a 53 million-year-old neutron star rotating once every 76 s – three times slower than the previous record – could be evidence for a new class of neutron star.
Physicists detect a new kind of molecular bond
Authors: Popa Stefan
Published: October 2022

A novel type of molecule that is longer than some kinds of bacteria has been detected by physicists at the University of Stuttgart in Germany.
US scientific philanthropy reaches $30bn
Authors: Allen Michael
Published: October 2022

At $30bn or more, philanthropic funding of science in the US is now on a par with federal research funding, according to an analysis of tax returns from non-profit organizations.
AugLiChem: data augmentation library of chemical structures for machine learning
Authors: Magar Rishikesh , Wang Yuyang , Lorsung Cooper , Liang Chen , Ramasubramanian Hariharan , Li Peiyuan , Barati Farimani Amir
Published: October 2022

Machine learning (ML) has demonstrated the promise for accurate and efficient property prediction of molecules and crystalline materials. To develop highly accurate ML models for chemical structure property prediction, datasets with sufficient samples are required. However, obtaining clean and sufficient data of chemical properties can be expensive and time-consuming, which greatly limits the performance of ML models. Inspired by the success of data augmentations in computer vision and natural language processing, we developed AugLiChem: the data augmentation library for chemical structures. Augmentation methods for both crystalline systems and molecules are introduced, which can be utilized for fingerprint-based ML models and graph neural networks (GNNs). We show that using our augmentation strategies significantly improves the performance of ML models, especially when using GNNs. In addition, the augmentations that we developed can be used as a direct plug-in module during training and have demonstrated the effectiveness when implemented with different GNN models through the AugliChem library. The Python-based package for our implementation of Auglichem: Data augmentation library for chemical structures, is publicly available at: https://github.com/BaratiLab/AugLiChem.
Development and implementation of a standardized process for identifying ambulatory pharmacy clinical outcomes measures
Authors: Summerlin Charles M , Vest Mary-Haston , Valgus John M , Deyo Zachariah M , Alexander Maurice D , Waldron Kayla M
Published: October 2022

Purpose

There is minimal available guidance on the process for selection of clinical outcomes measures to demonstrate the impact of clinic-based pharmacists (CBPs) despite an increased need and desire for outcomes data. The overall aims of this project were to (1) develop a standardized process for identifying clinical outcomes measures impacted by CBPs and (2) identify and prioritize potential clinical outcomes measures to track for CBPs within 4 specialty clinic pilot sites.

Methods

To develop a standardized process for identification and prioritization of measures, 4 consecutive Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles were performed with 4 different specialty clinics serving as pilot sites. Following each pilot cycle, rapid cycle improvements were implemented. A modified Delphi methodology served as the framework for measure selection and included gathering expert stakeholder insights regarding importance, feasibility, and validity of potential measures. Measures were identified via environmental scan of existing validated quality metrics, clinical guidelines, and other relevant literature.

Results

The primary outcome for this project was the development and refinement of a standardized process for measure identification and prioritization. The secondary outcome was narrowed and ranked lists of stakeholder-prioritized measures for 4 CBP-embedded pilot specialty clinics. These lists included 12 cardiothoracic transplant, 6 breast oncology, 9 neurology, and 7 gynecologic oncology measures.

Conclusion

The measure identification and prioritization process developed was successfully utilized to identify and prioritize outcomes measures to track for 4 CBP-embedded specialty clinics. Due to the successful use of the process in a variety of specialty clinics, the standardized process has significant potential for expansion.
Benzene Exposure From Selected Work Tasks on Offshore Petroleum Installations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, 2002–2018
Authors: Ridderseth Hilde , Daltveit Dagrun Slettebø , Hollund Bjørg Eli , Kirkeleit Jorunn , Kromhout Hans , Krüger Kirsti , Aasbø Kari , Bråtveit Magne
Published: October 2022

Objectives

Work on offshore petroleum installations may cause exposure to benzene. Benzene is a carcinogenic agent, and exposure among workers should be as low as reasonably practicable. We aimed to assess short-term (less than 60 min) benzene exposure from the most frequent work tasks on offshore installations on the Norwegian continental shelf and identify determinants of exposure. In addition, we aimed to assess the time trend in task-based benzene measurements from 2002 to 2018.

Methods

The study included 763 task-based measurements with a sampling duration of less than 60 min, collected on 28 offshore installations from 2002 to 2018. The measurements were categorized into 10 different tasks. Multilevel mixed-effect Tobit regression models were developed for two tasks: sampling and disassembling/assembling equipment. Benzene source, season, indoors or outdoors, design of process area, year of production start, sampling method, and work operation were considered as potential determinants for benzene exposure in the models.

Results

The overall geometric mean (GM) benzene exposure was 0.02 ppm (95% confidence intervals 95%(CI: 0.01–0.04). The pipeline inspection gauge (PIG) operation task was associated with the highest exposure, with a GM of 0.33 ppm, followed by work on flotation cells, disassembling/assembling, and sampling, with GMs of 0.16, 0.04, and 0.01 ppm, respectively. Significant determinants for the disassembling/assembling task were work operation (changing or recertifying valves, changing or cleaning filters, and breaking pipes) and benzene source. For sampling, the benzene source was a significant determinant. Overall, the task-based benzene exposure declined annually by 10.2% (CI 95%: −17.4 to −2.4%) from 2002 to 2018.

Conclusions

The PIG operation task was associated with the highest exposure out of the ten tasks, followed by work on flotation cells and when performing disassembling/assembling of equipment. The exposure was associated with the type of benzene source that was worked on. Despite the decline in task-based exposure in 2002–2018, technical measures should still be considered in order to reduce the exposure.
Identification of potential driver mutations in glioblastoma using machine learning
Authors: Pandey Medha , Anoosha P , Yesudhas Dhanusha , Gromiha M Michael
Published: October 2022

Glioblastoma is a fast and aggressively growing tumor in the brain and spinal cord. Mutation of amino acid residues in targets proteins, which are involved in glioblastoma, alters the structure and function and may lead to disease. In this study, we collected a set of 9386 disease-causing (drivers) mutations based on the recurrence in patient samples and experimentally annotated as pathogenic and 8728 as neutral (passenger) mutations. We observed that Arg is highly preferred at the mutant sites of drivers, whereas Met and Ile showed preferences in passengers. Inspecting neighboring residues at the mutant sites revealed that the motifs YP, CP and GRH, are preferred in drivers, whereas SI, IQ and TVI are dominant in neutral. In addition, we have computed other sequence-based features such as conservation scores, Position Specific Scoring Matrices (PSSM) and physicochemical properties, and developed a machine learning-based method, GBMDriver (GlioBlastoma Multiforme Drivers), for distinguishing between driver and passenger mutations. Our method showed an accuracy and AUC of 73.59% and 0.82, respectively, on 10-fold cross-validation and 81.99% and 0.87 in a blind set of 1809 mutants. The tool is available at https://web.iitm.ac.in/bioinfo2/GBMDriver/index.html. We envisage that the present method is helpful to prioritize driver mutations in glioblastoma and assist in identifying therapeutic targets.
Seeding, maturation and propagation of amyloid β-peptide aggregates in Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Li Xiaohang , Ospitalieri Simona , Robberechts Tessa , Hofmann Linda , Schmid Christina , Rijal Upadhaya Ajeet , Koper Marta J , von Arnim Christine A F , Kumar Sathish , Willem Michael , Gnoth Kathrin , Ramakers Meine , Schymkowitz Joost , Rousseau Frederic , Walter Jochen , Ronisz Alicja , Balakrishnan Karthikeyan , Thal Dietmar Rudolf
Published: October 2022

Alzheimer’s disease is neuropathologically characterized by the deposition of the amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) as amyloid plaques. Aβ plaque pathology starts in the neocortex before it propagates into further brain regions. Moreover, Aβ aggregates undergo maturation indicated by the occurrence of post-translational modifications. Here, we show that propagation of Aβ plaques is led by presumably non-modified Aβ followed by Aβ aggregate maturation. This sequence was seen neuropathologically in human brains and in amyloid precursor protein transgenic mice receiving intracerebral injections of human brain homogenates from cases varying in Aβ phase, Aβ load and Aβ maturation stage. The speed of propagation after seeding in mice was best related to the Aβ phase of the donor, the progression speed of maturation to the stage of Aβ aggregate maturation. Thus, different forms of Aβ can trigger propagation/maturation of Aβ aggregates, which may explain the lack of success when therapeutically targeting only specific forms of Aβ.
Oral Presentation No. 46 The effect of covid-19 vaccine on the endothelial function
Authors: Makni Ahmed , Ghrab Aiman , Gargouri Rania , Charfeddine Salma , Bahloul Amine , Ellouze Tarek , Hammami Rania , Triki Faten , Jabeur Mariem , Mallek Souad , Abid Leila
Published: October 2022

Background

Covid-19 vaccine was associated with several complications such as thromboembolic complications. The exact mechanism is not well established. Since covid 19 virus caused severe endothelial dysfunction, we suspect that the vaccine with a similar immunological response may cause this dysfunction.

Aim

To study the effect of covid-19 vaccine on endothelial function.

Methods

We conducted a prospective study. The endothelial function was clinically assessed using a post-occlusive reactive hyperemia protocol with finger thermal monitoring device. Endothelial quality index (EQI) was assessed at inclusion before the first dose of coronavirus vaccine and 30 days later.

Results

20 patients were included in our study. Their mean age was 41 years old [23–65]. The sex ratio was 3/2. They were all healthy individuals. The Majority, 75% of our patients, have impaired their endothelial function 30 days after the first dose of covid-19 vaccine.

Conclusion

The Covid-19 vaccine effect on endothelial function may be responsible for its complications.

Key words: Covid-19 vaccine, endothelial dysfunction
Oral Presentation No. 69 Chronotropic incompetence: still a suitable indicator?
Authors: Cruz Isabel , Oliveira Inês , Bragança Bruno , Lopes Rafaela , Santos Rui , Queirós Conceição , Andrade Aurora
Published: October 2022

Background

Chronotropic incompetence (CI) is defined as the inability to increase heart rate (HR) in response to increased activity. It is common in patients (pts) with cardiovascular (CV) disease, being a predictor of major adverse CV events; however, its importance is often underestimated in clinical practice.

Purpose

Evaluate the prognostic value of CI in pts with known coronary artery disease (CAD) who performed Bruce protocol treadmill testing.

Methods

Unicentric, retrospective analysis of consecutive pts with known CAD who underwent Bruce protocol treadmill testing between 2009 and 2010. Chronotropic index (ChI) was calculated as:(peak HR–resting HR)/(220–age–resting HR). CI was defined as ChI < 80% (< 62% in pts prescribed with beta-blockers). Pts were divided in two groups-G1: CI and G2: normal chronotropic response. Events were defined as: de novo heart failure (HF), CAD progression, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, all-cause mortality and CV mortality.

Results

A total of 471 pts were included (87.3% male, mean age 69 ± 9.8 years). Mean follow-up was 9.7 years. The groups were similar regarding sex, age, body mass index, diabetes, arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, MI and left ventricle ejection fraction (P > 0.050). CI was identified in 27.4% pts. Comparing G1 vs. G2, no differences were found related to all-cause mortality, de novo HF, CAD progression, MI and stroke (P > 0.050). However, statistically significant differences were found regarding CV mortality (P = 0.028).

Conclusion

CI is a simple an easily available parameter that shows a clear association with CV mortality in a long-term follow-up of pts with CAD.
Oral Presentation No. 75 Impact of thoracic aortic calcification measured by computed tomography in clinical outcomes in patients undergoing cardiac surgery
Authors: Cabral Margarida , Carvalho Diana , Veiga Rita , Carvalho Mónica , Ferreira Wilson , Faria Rita , Ladeiras-Lopes Ricardo , Ferreira Nuno
Published: October 2022

The presence of thoracic aortic calcification (TAC) has been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. Few studies have evaluated the relationship between CT measured by computed tomography (CT) before cardiac surgery and clinical outcomes, and the relationship is still unclear.

This study aimed to analyse the impact on clinical outcomes of the presence of TAC in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. A retrospective unicentre analysis of patients undergoing a noncontrast CT prior to cardiac surgery was performed. TAC was quantified using a volume-rendering method. The percentiles of TAC volume (TACV) were used to determine the relative standing. Demographic data, risk factors and clinical outcomes were comparable between groups. A P-value < 0.05 is statistically significant.

The mean TACV was 2.45 ± 2.79 cm3, and the median and 75th percentiles were 1.45 and 4.06 cm3, respectively. Of the total of 121 patients, 26 (21.5%) had high TACV. Table 1 shows the baseline demographic and risk factors. There was no significant difference in risk factors and personal history between groups except for age (P-value = 0.02), hypertension (P-value = 0.04) and coronary artery disease (P-value < 0.01). Regarding clinical outcomes, there was no significant difference in clinical outcomes except for acute kidney failure (P-value = 0.04), which was not significant in multivariate analysis.

In conclusion, aortic calcification is a recurrent finding, to which there seems to be a contribution from hypertension-related vascular damage, especially in older ones. In patients undergoing cardiac surgery, TACV appears not to be related to clinical outcomes in multivariate analysis. However, large-scale studies are needed to confirm these results.
Oral Presentation No. 81 A STEMI case with sub-occlusive lesion and high thrombotic burden – discussing a tailored approach
Authors: Lima Maria Rita , Raposo Luís , Albuquerque Francisco , Oliveira Afonso Félix , Almeida Manuel , Abecasis João , Mendes Miguel
Published: October 2022

A 57-year-old man was admitted with an anterior wall STEMI. The patient had a past medical history of pulmonary thromboembolism after an abdominal surgery and peripheral artery disease. After receiving loading doses of aspirin and unfractionated heparin, the patient underwent emergent coronary angiography (CA), that revealed a high thrombotic sub-occlusive lesion in the middle left anterior descending artery (mLAD), with TIMI 3 flow. At the time of CA, the ST elevation had disappeared, and the patient was asymptomatic. PCI had the risk of distal embolization and wiring of the false lumen if a dissection was present. Given the patient stability and absence of pain, the team decided to optimize anti-thrombotic therapy - aspirin + ticagrelor + enoxaparin - and repeat the CA within 72–96 h. The patient remained asymptomatic without angina or heart failure. Repeated CA showed a significant reduction of thrombus in the mLAD, maintaining TIMI 3 flow. A non-obstructive lesion was noted, being unclear if there was plaque rupture or localized dissection. Coronary CT angiography (CCTA) showed a coronary calcium score of 0 and an endoluminal flap in the mLAD, with a partial non-obstructive thrombosis. Echocardiography showed preserved LVEF without segmental abnormalities. Given the good results of anti-thrombotic therapy, the patient was discharged with aspirin, clopidogrel and rivaroxaban 2.5 mg 2id for 2 months and PCI was not performed. A follow-up CCTA within 2 months was scheduled. This case illustrates a complex STEMI case with a high thrombotic burden. The best strategy in such cases is open to debate.