bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
RNA oxidation in chromatin modification and DNA-damage response following exposure to formaldehyde
Authors: Gonzalez-Rivera Juan C. , Sherman Mark W. , Wang Dongyu S. , Chuvalo-Abraham Jamie C. L. , Hildebrandt Ruiz Lea , Contreras Lydia M.
Published: October 2020

Formaldehyde is an environmental and occupational chemical carcinogen implicated in the damage of proteins and nucleic acids. However, whether formaldehyde provokes modifications of RNAs such as 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoG) and the role that these modifications play on conferring long-term adverse health effects remains unexplored. Here, we profile 8-oxoG modifications using RNA-immunoprecipitation and RNA sequencing (8-oxoG RIP-seq) to identify 343 RNA transcripts heavily enriched in oxidations in human bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cell cultures exposed to 1 ppm formaldehyde for 2 h. RNA oxidation altered expression of many transcripts involved in chromatin modification and p53-mediated DNA-damage responses, two pathways that play key roles in sustaining genome integrity and typically deregulated in tumorigenesis. Given that these observations were identified in normal cells exhibiting minimal cell stress and death phenotypes (for example, lack of nuclear shrinkage, F-actin alterations or increased LDH activity); we hypothesize that oxidative modification of specific RNA transcripts following formaldehyde exposure denotes an early process occurring in carcinogenesis analogous to the oxidative events surfacing at early stages of neurodegenerative diseases. As such, we provide initial investigations of RNA oxidation as a potentially novel mechanism underlying formaldehyde-induced tumorigenesis.
Stable isotope evidence for dietary diversification in the pre-Columbian Amazon
Authors: Colonese Andre Carlo , Winter Rachel , Brandi Rafael , Fossile Thiago , Fernandes Ricardo , Soncin Silvia , McGrath Krista , Von Tersch Matthew , Bandeira Arkley Marques
Published: October 2020

Archaeological research is radically transforming the view that the Amazon basin and surrounding areas witnessed limited societal development before European contact. Nevertheless, uncertainty remains on the nature of the subsistence systems and the role that aquatic resources, terrestrial mammalian game, and plants had in supporting population growth, geographic dispersal, cultural adaptations and political complexity during the later stages of the pre-Columbian era. This is exacerbated by the general paucity of archaeological human remains enabling individual dietary reconstructions. Here we use stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of bone collagen to reconstruct the diets of human individuals from São Luís Island (Brazilian Amazon coast) dated betweenca. 1800 and 1000 cal BP and associated with distinct ceramic traditions. We expanded our analysis to include previously published data from Maracá and Marajó Island, in the eastern Amazon. Quantitative estimates of the caloric contributions from food groups and their relative nutrients using a Bayesian Mixing Model revealed distinct subsistence strategies, consisting predominantly of plants and terrestrial mammals and variably complemented with aquatic resources. This study offers novel quantitative information on the extent distinct food categories of polyculture agroforestry systems fulfilled the caloric and protein requirements of Late Holocene pre-Columbian populations in the Amazon basin.
Addressing challenges in routine health data reporting in Burkina Faso through Bayesian spatiotemporal prediction of weekly clinical malaria incidence
Authors: Rouamba Toussaint , Samadoulougou Sekou , Kirakoya-Samadoulougou Fati
Published: October 2020

Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries’ health systems are often vulnerable to unplanned situations that can hinder their effectiveness in terms of data completeness and disease control. For instance, in Burkina Faso following a workers' strike, comprehensive data on several diseases were unavailable for a long period in 2019. Weather, seasonal-malaria-chemoprevention (SMC), free healthcare, and other contextual data, which are purported to influence malarial disease, provide opportunities to fit models to describe the clinical malaria data and predict the disease spread. Bayesian spatiotemporal modeling was applied to weekly malaria surveillance data from Burkina Faso (2011–2018) while considering the effects of weather, health programs and contextual factors. Then, a prediction was used to deal with weekly missing data for the entire year of 2019, and SMC and free healthcare effects were quantified. Our proposed model accurately predicted weekly clinical malaria incidence (correlation coefficient, r = 0.90). The distribution of clinical malaria incidence was heterogeneous across the country. Overall, national predicted clinical malaria incidence in 2019 (605 per 1000 [95% CrI: 360–990]) increased by 24.7% compared with the year 2015. SMC and the interaction between free healthcare and health facility attendance were associated with a reduction in clinical malaria incidence. Our modeling approach could be a useful tool for strengthening health systems’ resilience by addressing data completeness and could support SSA countries in developing appropriate targets and indicators to facilitate the subnational control effort.
Identifying patterns in the multitrophic community and food-web structure of a low-turbidity temperate estuarine bay
Authors: Kang Hee Yoon , Kim Changseong , Kim Dongyoung , Lee Young-Jae , Park Hyun Je , Kundu Goutam K. , Kim Young Kyun , Bibi Riaz , Jang Jaebin , Lee Kwang-Hun , Kim Hyun-Woo , Yun Sung-Gyu , Kim Heeyong , Kang Chang-Keun
Published: October 2020

Food web dynamics outline the ecosystem processes that regulate community structure. Challenges in the approaches used to capture topological descriptions of food webs arise due to the difficulties in collecting extensive empirical data with temporal and spatial variations in community structure and predator–prey interactions. Here, we use a Kohonen self-organizing map algorithm (as a measure of community pattern) and stable isotope-mixing models (as a measure of trophic interaction) to identify food web patterns across a low-turbidity water channel of a temperate estuarine-coastal continuum. We find a spatial difference in the patterns of community compositions between the estuarine and deep-bay channels and a seasonal difference in the plankton pattern but less in the macrobenthos and nekton communities. Dietary mixing models of co-occurring dominant taxa reveal site-specific but unchanging food web topologies and the prominent role of phytoplankton in the trophic base of pelagic and prevalent-detrital benthic pathways. Our approach provides realistic frameworks for linking key nodes from producers to predators in trophic networks.
Nanostructured pencil graphite electrodes for application as high power biocathodes in miniaturized biofuel cells and bio-batteries
Authors: Torrinha Álvaro , Jiyane Nomnotho , Sabela Myalowenkosi , Bisetty Krishna , Montenegro Maria C. B. S. M. , Araújo Alberto N.
Published: October 2020

This work describes a simple method for the fabrication of an enzymatic electrode with high sensitivity to oxygen and good performance when applied as biocathode. Pencil graphite electrodes (PGE) were chosen as disposable transducers given their availability and good electrochemical response. After electrochemical characterization regarding hardness and surface pre-treatment suited modification with carbon-based nanostructures, namely with reduced graphene, MWCNT and carbon black for optimal performance was proceeded. The bioelectrode was finally assembled through immobilization of bilirubin oxidase (BOx) lashed on the modified surface of MWCNT via π–π stacking and amide bond functionalization. The high sensitivity towards dissolved oxygen of 648 ± 51 µA mM−1 cm−2, and a LOD of 1.7 µM, was achieved for the PGE with surface previously modified with reduced graphene (rGO), almost the double registered for direct anchorage on the bare PGE surface. Polarization curves resulted in an open circuit potential (OCP) of 1.68 V (vs Zn electrode) and generated a maximum current density of about 650 μA cm−2in O2saturated solution.
Cognitive differences associated with HIV serostatus and antiretroviral therapy use in a population-based sample of older adults in South Africa
Authors: Asiimwe Stephen B. , Farrell Meagan , Kobayashi Lindsay C. , Manne-Goehler Jen , Kahn Kathleen , Tollman Stephen M. , Kabudula Chodziwadziwa Whiteson , Gómez-Olivé F. Xavier , Wagner Ryan G. , Montana Livia , Berkman Lisa F. , Glymour M. Maria , Bärnighausen Till
Published: October 2020

Previous clinical studies have reported adverse cognitive outcomes for people living with HIV (PLWH), but there are no population-based studies comparing cognitive function between older PLWH and comparators without HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. We analyzed baseline data of 40 + years-old participants in “Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa” (HAALSI) cohort. We measured cognition using a battery of conventional instruments assessing orientation, immediate- and delayed-recall, and numeracy (N = 4560), and the Oxford Cognitive Screen [OCS]-Plus, a novel instrument for low-literacy populations, assessing memory, language, visual-spatial ability, and executive functioning (N = 1997). Linear regression models comparing cognitive scores between participants with and without HIV were adjusted for sex, education, age, country of birth, father’s occupation, ever-consumed alcohol, and asset index. PLWH scored on average 0.06 (95% CI 0.01–0.12) standard deviation (SD) units higher on the conventional cognitive function measure and 0.02 (95% CI − 0.07 to 0.04) SD units lower on the OCS-Plus measure than HIV-negative participants. We found higher cognitive function scores for PLWH compared to people without HIV when using a conventional measure of cognitive function but not when using a novel instrument for low-literacy settings.
Correlation dynamics of nitrogen vacancy centers located in crystal cavities
Authors: Abdel-Aty Abdel-Haleem , Kadry Heba , Mohamed A. -B. A. , Eleuch Hichem
Published: October 2020

In this contribution, we investigate the bipartite non-classical correlations (NCCs) of a system formed by two nitrogen-vacancy (N-V) centers placed in two spatially separated single-mode nanocavities inside a planar photonic crystal (PC). The physical system is mathematically modeled by time-dependent Schrödinger equation and analytically solved. The bipartite correlations of the two N-V centers and the two-mode cavity have been analyzed by skew information, log-negativity, and Bell function quantifiers. We explore the effects of the coupling strength between the N-V-centers and the cavity fields as well as the cavity-cavity hopping constant and the decay rate on the generated correlation dynamics. Under some specific parameter values, a large amount of quantum correlations is obtained. This shows the possibility to control the dynamics of the correlations for the NV-centers and the cavity fields.
Molecular characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus associated prosthetic joint infections after hip fractures treated with hemiarthroplasty: a retrospective genome-wide association study
Authors: Noone J. Christopher , Stegger Marc , Lilje Berit , Stavem Knut , Helmersen Karin , Skråmm Inge , Aamot Hege Vangstein
Published: October 2020

A retrospective study of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from orthopaedic patients treated between 2000 and 2017 at Akershus University Hospital, Norway was performed using a genome-wide association approach. The aim was to characterize and investigate molecular characteristics unique to S. aureus isolates from HHA associated prosthetic joint infections and potentially explain the HHA patients’ elevated 1-year mortality compared to a non-HHA group. The comparison group consisted of patients with non-HHA lower-extremity implant-related S. aureus infections. S. aureus isolates from diagnostic patient samples were whole-genome sequenced. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to detect group-associated genetic signatures. A total of 62 HHA patients and 73 non-HHA patients were included. Median age (81 years vs. 74 years; p < 0.001) and 1-year mortality (44% vs. 15%, p < 0.001) were higher in the HHA group. A total of 20 clonal clusters (CCs) were identified; 75% of the isolates consisted of CC45, CC30, CC5, CC15, and CC1. Analyses of core and accessory genome content, including virulence, resistance genes, and k-mer analysis revealed few group-associated variants, none of which could explain the elevated 1-year mortality in HHA patients. Our findings support the premise that all S. aureus can cause invasive infections given the opportunity.
Slow-binding reversible inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase with long-lasting action for prophylaxis of organophosphate poisoning
Authors: Lenina Oksana A. , Zueva Irina V. , Zobov Vladimir V. , Semenov Vyacheslav E. , Masson Patrick , Petrov Konstantin A.
Published: October 2020

Organophosphorus (OP) compounds represent a serious health hazard worldwide. The dominant mechanism of their action results from covalent inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Standard therapy of acute OP poisoning is partially effective. However, prophylactic administration of reversible or pseudo-irreversible AChE inhibitors before OP exposure increases the efficiency of standard therapy. The purpose of the study was to test the duration of the protective effect of a slow-binding reversible AChE inhibitor (C547) in a mouse model against acute exposure to paraoxon (POX). It was shown that the rate of inhibition of AChE by POX in vitro after pre-inhibition with C547 was several times lower than without C547. Ex vivo pre-incubation of mouse diaphragm with C547 significantly prevented the POX-induced muscle weakness. Then it was shown that pre-treatment of mice with C547 at the dose of 0.01 mg/kg significantly increased survival after poisoning by 2xLD50POX. The duration of the pre-treatment was effective up to 96 h, whereas currently used drug for pre-exposure treatment, pyridostigmine at a dose of 0.15 mg/kg was effective less than 24 h. Thus, long-lasting slow-binding reversible AChE inhibitors can be considered as new potential drugs to increase the duration of pre-exposure treatment of OP poisoning.
Author Correction: Ultrasensitive amplicon barcoding for next-generation sequencing facilitating sequence error and amplification-bias correction
Authors: Ahmed Ibrahim , Tucci Felicia A. , Aflalo Aure , Smith Kenneth G. C. , Bashford-Rogers Rachael J. M.
Published: October 2020

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
Risk estimation of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from bluetooth low energy measurements
Authors: Sattler Felix , Ma Jackie , Wagner Patrick , Neumann David , Wenzel Markus , Schäfer Ralf , Samek Wojciech , Müller Klaus-Robert , Wiegand Thomas
Published: October 2020

Digital contact tracing approaches based on Bluetooth low energy (BLE) have the potential to efficiently contain and delay outbreaks of infectious diseases such as the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. In this work we propose a machine learning based approach to reliably detect subjects that have spent enough time in close proximity to be at risk of being infected. Our study is an important proof of concept that will aid the battery of epidemiological policies aiming to slow down the rapid spread of COVID-19.
Optical frequency metrology in the bending modes region
Authors: Lamperti M. , Gotti R. , Gatti D. , Shakfa M. K. , Cané E. , Tamassia F. , Schunemann P. , Laporta P. , Farooq A. , Marangoni M.
Published: October 2020

Optical metrology and high-resolution spectroscopy, despite impressive progress across diverse regions of the electromagnetic spectrum from ultraviolet to terahertz frequencies, are still severely limited in the region of vibrational bending modes from 13 to 20 µm. This long-wavelength part of the mid-infrared range remains largely unexplored due to the lack of tunable single-mode lasers. Here, we demonstrate bending modes frequency metrology in this region by employing a continuous-wave nonlinear laser source with tunability from 12.1 to 14.8 µm, optical power up to 110 µW, MHz-level linewidth and comb calibration. We assess several CO2-based frequency benchmarks with uncertainties down to 30 kHz and we provide an extensive study of the v11 band of benzene, a significant testbed for the resolution of the spectrometer. These achievements pave the way for long-wavelength infrared metrology, rotationally-resolved studies and astronomic observations of large molecules such as aromatic hydrocarbons.
Paper-based pump-free magnetophoresis
Authors: Call Zachary D. , Carrell Cody S. , Jang Ilhoon , Geiss Brian J. , Dandy David S. , Henry Charles S.
Published: October 2020

Microfluidic magnetophoresis is a powerful technique that is used to separate and/or isolate cells of interest from complex matrices for analysis.
Broadband near-infrared Cr3+:β-Ga2O3 fluorescent single crystal grown by the EFG method
Authors: Zhang Jin , Mu Wenxiang , Zhang Kaihui , Sun Jie , Zhang Jian , Lin Na , Zhao Xian , Jia Zhitai , Tao Xutang
Published: October 2020

Broadband NIR fluorescence spectra of the Cr3+:β-Ga2O3 crystal and high-brightness broadband NIR LED. Real-time monitoring of human health and food safety through broadband NIR LED based on Cr3+:β-Ga2O3 crystal.
A lanthanide(iii) dodecanuclear structure with a acylhydrazone Schiff-base ligand: slow magnetic relaxation and magnetocaloric effects
Authors: Wang Wei , Zhang Jing , Zhao Ji-Hai , He Yuan-Chun , Li Meng-Ting , Yu Yang
Published: October 2020

In the complex synthesis process, the design of new type structures of lanthanide clusters with high nuclearity provides an opportunity to understand the nature of magnetic dynamics.
Structural and dynamical features of the 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol⋯ammonia complex
Authors: Thomas Javix , Peña Isabel , Carlson Colton D. , Yang Yisi , Jäger Wolfgang , Xu Yunjie
Published: October 2020

The preferred conformation of trifluoroethanol⋯ammonia is established experimentally and the effects of large vibrational motions on its properties evaluated.
Effects of structural variations on π-dimer formation: long-distance multicenter bonding of cation-radicals of tetrathiafulvalene analogues
Authors: Brown John T. , Zeller Matthias , Rosokha Sergiy V.
Published: October 2020

Replacement of sulfur with selenium or insertion of ethylenedithio-substituents into tetrathiafulvalene cation-radicals increases the stability of the π-bonded dimers.
A slow, efficient and safe nanoplatform of tailored ZnS QD-mycophenolic acid conjugates for in vitro drug delivery against dengue virus 2 genome replication
Authors: Dungdung Ranjeet , Bayal Manikanta , Valliyott Lathika , Unniyampurath Unnikrishnan , Nair Swapna S. , Pilankatta Rajendra
Published: October 2020

The graphical abstract represents the synthesis of size engineered ZnS QDs for conjugating anti-viral drug (MPA) and its safe and effective delivery against cytoplasmically replicating dengue virus 2.
Guided by evolution: from biology oriented synthesis to pseudo natural products
Authors: Cremosnik Gregor S. , Liu Jie , Waldmann Herbert
Published: October 2020

This review provides an overview and historical context to two concepts for the design of natural product-inspired compound libraries and highlights the used synthetic methodologies.
Norbornadiene homopolymerization and norbornene/norbornadiene/1-octene terpolymerization by ansa-fluorenylamidotitanium-based catalysts
Authors: Suo Hongyi , Yuan Haobo , Tanaka Ryo , Nakayama Yuushou , Sun Wen-Hua , Shiono Takeshi
Published: October 2020

Soluble polyNBD and terpoly(NBD/NB/OC) were obtained in high conversions with ansa-fluorenylamidotitanium-based catalysts.
Preparation of Ni/C porous fibers derived from jute fibers for high-performance microwave absorption
Authors: Li Wanxi , Guo Fang , Wei Xiaoqin , Du Yien , Chen Yongqiang
Published: October 2020

Ni/C porous fibers derived from jute fibers exhibited excellent microwave absorption performance.
Interaction of synthetic and lignin-based sulfonated polymers with hydrophilic, hydrophobic, and charged self-assembled monolayers
Authors: Eraghi Kazzaz Armin , Fatehi Pedram
Published: October 2020

The interaction mechanism of synthetic and lignin based sulfonated materials with well-designed functional surfaces was investigated systematically.
Indirect-to-direct band gap transition and optical properties of metal alloys of Cs2Te1−xTixI6: a theoretical study
Authors: Liu Diwen , Zha Wenying , Yuan Rusheng , Lou Benyong , Sa Rongjian
Published: October 2020

In recent years, double perovskites have attracted considerable attention as potential candidates for photovoltaic applications.
Long periodic ripple in a 2D hybrid halide perovskite structure using branched organic spacers
Authors: Hoffman Justin M. , Malliakas Christos D. , Sidhik Siraj , Hadar Ido , McClain Rebecca , Mohite Aditya D. , Kanatzidis Mercouri G.
Published: October 2020

Using branched spacer cations results in a modulated rippled 2D perovskite structure and materials for solar cells.
Coligand role in the NHC nickel catalyzed C–F bond activation: investigations on the insertion of bis(NHC) nickel into the C–F bond of hexafluorobenzene
Authors: Kuntze-Fechner Maximilian W. , Verplancke Hendrik , Tendera Lukas , Diefenbach Martin , Krummenacher Ivo , Braunschweig Holger , Marder Todd B. , Holthausen Max C. , Radius Udo
Published: October 2020

A combined experimental and theoretical study on the mechanism of the C–F bond activation of C6F6 with [Ni(NHC)2] is provided.
Correction: Enabling nanopore technology for sensing individual amino acids by a derivatization strategy
Authors: Wei Xiaojun , Ma Dumei , Jing Lihong , Wang Leon Y. , Wang Xiaoqin , Zhang Zehui , Lenhart Brian J. , Yin Yingwu , Wang Qian , Liu Chang
Published: October 2020

Correction for ‘Enabling nanopore technology for sensing individual amino acids by a derivatization strategy’ by Xiaojun Wei et al., J. Mater. Chem. B, 2020, 8, 6792–6797, DOI: 10.1039/D0TB00895H.
Glass-limited Yb/Er:NaLuF4 nanocrystals: reversible hexagonal-to-cubic phase transition and anti-counterfeiting
Authors: Wang Shaoxiong , Lin Jidong , Li Xiaoyan , Chen Jiangkun , Yang Changbin , Huang Ping , Cheng Yao , Chen Daqin
Published: October 2020

Yb/Er:NaLuF4@glass with in situ reversible cubic-to-hexagonal phase transition on cyclic heat-treatment shows practical application in high-level anticounterfeiting.
Surface functional carbon dots: chemical engineering applications beyond optical properties
Authors: Xu Xiaokai , Li Yadong , Hu Guangqi , Mo Luoqi , Zheng Mingtao , Lei Bingfu , Zhang Xuejie , Hu Chaofan , Zhuang Jianle , Liu Yingliang
Published: October 2020

The surface function of carbon dots mainly includes three aspects: CDs used as structural regulators, chemical additives, reinforcing reagents to improve water dispersibility and enhance mechanical properties of materials.
Supporting Children With Speech Sound Disorders During COVID-19 Restrictions: Technological Solutions
Authors: McLeod Sharynne , Ballard Kirrie J. , Ahmed Beena , McGill Nicole , Brown Michelle I.
Published: October 2020

Purpose

“Children are the hidden victims of the COVID-19 pandemic” (United Nations Children's Fund, 2020). Timely and effective speech intervention is important to reduce the impact on children's school achievement, ability to make friends, mental health, future life opportunities, and government resources. Prior to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, many Australian children did not receive sufficient speech-language pathology (SLP) services due to long waiting lists in the public health system. COVID-19 restrictions exacerbated this issue, as even children who were at the top of lengthy SLP waiting lists often received limited services, particularly in rural areas. To facilitate children receiving speech intervention remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence from randomized controlled trials regarding three technological solutions are examined: (a) Phoneme Factory Sound Sorter (Sound Start Study), (b) Waiting for Speech Pathology website, and (c) Apraxia World.

Conclusions

For the first two technological solutions, there were similar gains in speech production between the intervention and control groups, whereas, for the third solution, the average magnitude of treatment effect was comparable to face-to-face SLP therapy. Automated therapy management systems may be able to accelerate speech development and support communication resilience to counteract the effects of the COVID-19 restrictions on children with speech sound disorders. Technology-based strategies may also provide a potential solution to the chronic shortage of SLP services in rural areas into the future.
Effects of low‐temperature thermal annealing on interface characteristics in IZO/IGZO dual‐channel thin‐film transistors
Authors: Choi H.‐S.
Published: October 2020

Dual‐channel thin‐film transistors (TFTs) show excellent effective mobility (μ eff ) and reliability, including negative‐bias‐illumination stability. To enhance the performance of these devices, post‐thermal annealing in air is performed for 2 h at the low temperature of 250°C. To investigate the effects of low‐temperature thermal annealing, indium–zinc‐oxide/gallium–indium–zinc‐oxide (IZO/IGZO) dual‐channel TFTs with various IZO thicknesses are fabricated and examined. The observed parameters are μ eff, saturation mobility (μ sat ), subthreshold slope (SS), and threshold voltage (V TH ). The interface quality may be improved by low‐temperature thermal annealing, which was confirmed by the improvement in μ eff and SS. However, these performance enhancements are intensively observed only in the channels with an IZO thickness below 10 nm. When the IZO thickness becomes 10 nm or more, the improvement in μ eff due to low‐temperature thermal annealing hardly occurs. This is because μ eff is greatly influenced by the interface quality due to Coulomb scattering when the IZO thickness is <10 nm. However, for an IZO thickness above 10 nm, as phonon scattering also has a significant effect on μ eff, the improvement in interface quality by thermal annealing is small. This is also supported by low‐frequency noise measurements, which are sensitive to interface quality.
F2PNet: font‐to‐painting translation by adversarial learning
Authors: Li Guanzhao , Zhang Jianwei , Chen Danni
Published: October 2020

For Chinese font images, when all their strokes are replaced by pattern elements such as flowers and birds, they become flower–bird character paintings, which are traditional Chinese art treasures. The generation of flower–bird painting requires professional painters’ great efforts. How to automatically generate these paintings from font images? There is a huge gap between the font domain and the painting domain. Although many image‐to‐image translation frameworks have been proposed, they are unable to handle this situation effectively. In this study, a novel method called font‐to‐painting network (F2PNet) is proposed for font‐to‐painting translation. Specifically, an encoder equipped with dilated convolutions extracts features of the font image, and then the features are fed into the domain translation module for mapping the font feature space to the painting feature space. The acquired features are further adjusted by the refinement module and utilised by the decoder to obtain the target painting. The authors apply adversarial loss and cycle‐consistency loss to F2PNet and further propose a loss term, which is called recognisability loss and makes the generated painting have font‐level recognisability. It is proved by experiments that F2PNet is effective and can be used as an unsupervised image‐to‐image translation framework to solve more image translation tasks.
Robust segmentation of the colour image by fusing the SDD clustering results from different colour spaces
Authors: Wang Zhenzhou
Published: October 2020

Segmentation of the colour image is challenging because the colour information is lost after being projected into three channels of the colour space. Many state‐of‐the‐art colour image segmentation methods are based on monochrome segmentation in one channel of the colour space. However, the optimal performance of a segmentation method usually could not be achieved in a single colour space due to the complexity and diversity of the colour images. In this study, the authors propose to segment the colour image by fusing the slope difference distribution (SDD) clustering results in different colour spaces. For simplicity, the segmentation approach is designed as two‐label segmentation and it could be easily generalised to be multiple‐label segmentation. The proposed approach is compared with the state‐of‐the‐art colour image segmentation methods both quantitatively and qualitatively. Experimental results verified the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Human activity recognition using improved dynamic image
Authors: Riahi Mohammadreza , Eslami Mohammad , Safavi Seyed Hamid , Torkamani Azar Farah
Published: October 2020

In action recognition, the dynamic image (DI) approach is recently proposed to code a video signal to a still image. Since DI descriptor is strongly dependent on first frames, it cannot extract dynamics that do not occur in the first frames or even long dynamics. On the other hand, most of the video frames are not informative for the task of action recognition. Therefore, the authors' intuition is that the process of representing a video using all frames is inefficient. Thus, in this study, they proposed to remove the existing redundancy inside the frames and extract some processed informative images based on the information theory which are called key frames. The proposed method is capable enough to extract sufficient frames regardless of the duration and the position of frames in the entire video. Motivated by this method and DI, they proposed a novel key frames dynamic image (KFDI) approach. Experimental results on popular UCF11, Olympic Sports, and J‐HMDB datasets show the superiority of the proposed KFDI approach compared to the DI in capturing long dynamics of videos for action recognition. Their experiments show KFDI improves the accuracy 2–6%compared to DI.
Receding horizon optimal control of HEVs with on‐board prediction of driver's power demand
Authors: Zhang Bo , Xu Fuguo , Shen Tielong
Published: October 2020

To improve a parallel hybrid electric vehicle's (HEV's) fuel economy, this study develops a real‐time optimisation strategy with a learning‐based method that predicts the driver's power demand under the connected environment. This demand is strongly constrained by the total power generated by the energy sources. Therefore, a key issue of solving the energy management problem in real time by model‐based predictive optimisation is to predict the power demand of each receding horizon. The proposed optimisation strategy consists of two layers. The upper layer provides the prediction of the driver's torque demand. Gaussian process regression (GPR) is used to predict the driver's demand with the uncertain and stochastic estimation between the traffic environment and torque demand. Vehicle‐to‐vehicle and vehicle‐to‐infrastructure data are used as the inputs of the GPR model. The lower layer performs finite‐horizon optimisation based on the cost function of energy consumption. A receding horizon control (RHC) problem is formulated, and optimisation is achieved by a sequential quadratic programming algorithm. To validate the proposed optimisation strategy, a powertrain control co‐simulation platform with a traffic‐in‐the‐loop environment is constructed, and results validation with the platform is demonstrated. The comparisons with the dynamic programming and no‐prediction RHC results show that the proposed strategy can improve fuel economy.
Ammonia observations towards the Aquila Rift cloud complex
Authors: Tursun Kadirya , Esimbek Jarken , Henkel Christian , Tang Xindi , Wu Gang , Li Dalei , Zhou Jianjun , He Yuxin , Komesh Toktarkhan , Sailanbek Serikbek
Published: October 2020

We surveyed the Aquila Rift complex including the Serpens South and W 40 regions in the NH3 (1,1) and (2,2) transitions making use of the Nanshan 26-m telescope. Our observations cover an area of ~ 1.5° × 2.2° (11.4 pc × 16.7 pc). The kinetic temperatures of the dense gas in the Aquila Rift complex obtained from NH3 (2,2)/(1,1) ratios range from 8.9 to 35.0 K with an average of 15.3 ± 6.1 K (errors are standard deviations of the mean). Low gas temperatures are associated with Serpens South ranging from 8.9 to 16.8 K with an average of 12.3 ± 1.7 K, while dense gas in the W 40 region shows higher temperatures ranging from 17.7 to 35.0 K with an average of 25.1 ± 4.9 K. A comparison of kinetic temperatures derived from para-NH3 (2,2)/(1,1) against HiGal dust temperatures indicates that the gas and dust temperatures are in agreement in the low-mass-star formation region of Serpens South. In the high-mass-star formation region W 40, the measured gas kinetic temperatures are higher than those of the dust. The turbulent component of the velocity dispersion of NH3 (1,1) is found to be positively correlated with the gas kinetic temperature, which indicates that the dense gas may be heated by dissipation of turbulent energy. For the fractional total-NH3 (para+ortho) abundance obtained by a comparison with Herschel infrared continuum data representing dust emission, we find values from 0.1 ×10−8 to 2.1 ×10−7 with an average of 6.9 (±4.5) × 10−8. Serpens South also shows a fractional total-NH3 (para+ortho) abundance ranging from 0.2 ×10−8 to 2.1 ×10−7 with an average of 8.6 (±3.8) × 10−8. In W 40, values are lower, between 0.1 and 4.3 ×10−8 with an average of 1.6 (±1.4) × 10−8. Weak velocity gradients demonstrate that the rotational energy is a negligible fraction of the gravitational energy. In W 40, gas and dust temperatures are not strongly dependent on the projected distance to the recently formed massive stars. Overall, the morphology of the mapped region is ring-like, with strong emission at lower and weak emission at higher Galactic longitudes. However, the presence of a physical connection between the two parts remains questionable.
Scaling relations and baryonic cycling in local star-forming galaxies
Authors: Hunt L. K. , Tortora C. , Ginolfi M. , Schneider R.
Published: October 2020

Assessments of the cold-gas reservoir in galaxies are a cornerstone for understanding star-formation processes and the role of feedback and baryonic cycling in galaxy evolution. Here we exploit a sample of 392 galaxies (dubbed MAGMA, Metallicity and Gas for Mass Assembly), presented in a recent paper, to quantify molecular and atomic gas properties across a broad range in stellar mass, Mstar, from ∼107 − 1011 M⊙. First, we find the metallicity (Z) dependence of the conversion factor for CO luminosity to molecular H2 mass αCO to be shallower than previous estimates, with αCO  ∝  (Z/Z⊙)−1.55. Second, molecular gas mass MH2 is found to be strongly correlated with Mstar and star-formation rate (SFR), enabling predictions of MH2 good to within ∼0.2 dex; analogous relations for atomic gas mass MHI and total gas mass Mgas are less accurate, ∼0.4 dex and ∼0.3 dex, respectively. Indeed, the behavior of atomic gas mass MHI in MAGMA scaling relations suggests that it may be a third, independent variable that encapsulates information about the circumgalactic environment and gas accretion. If Mgas is considered to depend on MHI, together with Mstar and SFR, we obtain a relation that predicts Mgas to within ∼0.05 dex. Finally, the analysis of depletion times and the scaling of MHI/Mstar and MH2/Mstar over three different mass bins suggests that the partition of gas and the regulation of star formation through gas content depends on the mass regime. Dwarf galaxies (Mstar  ≲  3 × 109 M⊙) tend to be overwhelmed by (H I) accretion, and despite short τH2 (and thus presumably high star-formation efficiency), star formation is unable to keep up with the gas supply. For galaxies in the intermediate Mstar “gas-equilibrium” bin (3 × 109 M⊙ ≲ Mstar ≲3 × 1010 M⊙), star formation proceeds apace with gas availability, and H I and H2 are both proportional to SFR. In the most massive “gas-poor, bimodality” regime (Mstar ≳ 3 × 1010 M⊙), H I does not apparently participate in star formation, although it generally dominates in mass over H2. Our results confirm that atomic gas plays a key role in baryonic cycling, and is a fundamental ingredient for current and future star formation, especially in dwarf galaxies.
Research for Space Interception Simulation under Nonlinear Time-Varied Similarity
Authors: Lu Xiaodong , Cui Tao , Gu Jiayao
Published: October 2020

A nonlinear time-varied similarity(NTVS) simulation algorithm is proposed to solve the problem that the process of space interception is intractable to simulate with high precision in limited platform under the linear constant similarity(LCS). Firstly, the similarity criterions based on the dimensional analysis are given in the simulation of the interception motion at high-speed, and the disadvantage of LCS is analyzed. Then, the reference motion is introduced to establish a time-varied spatio-temporal transform system which scale factors are self-adaptive with time, and the method is proved to satisfy the similarity consistency. Finally the way that linear separation and independent mapping solve the problem that the large magnitude uniform motion in approaching directions and small magnitude overload motion in lateral directions are simulated in a limited ground platform. The results show that the NTVS can simulate the whole process of interception and perform better in accuracy comparing with that via LCS.
Generalized Multi-Symplectic Numerical Implementation of Dynamic Responses for Saturated Poroelastic Timoshenko Beam
Authors: Liu Xuemei , Deng Zichen
Published: October 2020

Based on the porous media theory and Timoshenko beam theory, properties of dynamic responses in fluid-solid coupled incompressible saturated poroelastic Timoshenko beam are investigated by generalized multi-symplectic method. Dynamic response equation set of incompressible saturated poroelastic Timoshenko beam is presented at first. Then a first order generalized multi-symplectic form of this dynamic response equation set is constructed, and errors of generalized multi-symplectic conservation law, generalized multi-symplectic local momentum and generalized multi-symplectic local energy are also derived. A Preissmann Box generalized multi-symplectic scheme of the dynamic response equation set is presented, the discrete errors of generalized multi-symplectic conservation law, generalized multi-symplectic local momentum conservation law and generalized multi-symplectic local energy conservation law are also obtained. In view of the dynamic responses of incompressible saturated poroelastic Timoshenko cantilever beam with two ends permeable and free end subjected to the step load, the transverse dynamic response process of the solid skeleton is simulated numerically, the evolution processes of solid effective stress and the equivalent moment of the pore fluid pressure over time are also presented numerically. The effects of fluid-solid coupled interaction parameter and slenderness ratio of the beam on the solid dynamic response process are revealed, as well as the effects on all generalized multi-symplectic numerical errors are checked simultaneously. From results obtained, the processes for solid deflection, solid effective stress and the equivalent moment of the pore fluid pressure approaching to their steady response values are all shortened with increasing of fluid-solid coupled interaction parameter, while the response process of solid deflection and the pore fluid equivalent moment are lengthened with increasing of slenderness ratio of the beam. Moreover, the steady value of solid deflection is much closer to the static deflection value of classic single phase elastic Euler-Bernoulli beam with increasing of the slenderness ratio. As time goes on, the solid skeleton of the beam will support all outside load, so equivalent moment of the pore fluid pressure becomes zero at last. In addition, it is presented all generalized multi-symplectic numerical errors decrease with the decreasing of parameters representing the dissipation effect for the dynamic system.
Aircraft Inertial Measurement Unit Fault Diagnosis Based on Adaptive Two-Stage UKF
Authors: He Qizhi , Zhang Weiguo , Liu Xiaoxiong , Li Weinan
Published: October 2020

In the case of nonlinear systems with random bias, the Optimal Two-Stage Unscented Kalman Filter (OTSUKF) can obtain the optimal estimation of system state and bias. But it requires random bias to be accurately modeled, while it is always very difficult in actual situation because the aircraft is a typical nonlinear system. In this paper, the faults of the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) are treated as a random bias, and the random walk model is used to describe the fault. The accuracy of the random walk model depends on the degree of matching between the covariance of the random walk model and the actual situation. For the IMU fault diagnosis method based on OTSUKF, the covariance of the random walk model is assigned with a constant matrix, and the value of the matrix is initialized empirically. It is very difficult to select a matching matrix in practical applications. For this problem, in this paper, the covariance matrix of the random walk model is adaptively adjusted online based on the innovation covariance matching technique, and an adaptive Two-Stage Unscented Kalman Filter (ATSUKF) is proposed to solve the fault diagnosis problem of the IMU. The simulation experiment compares the IMU fault diagnosis performance of OTSUKF and ATSUKF, and verifies the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive method.
Experimental Research on Noise Reduction for Continuous Transonic Wind Tunnel Loop
Authors: Chen Jiming , Wu Shenghao , Chen Zhenhua , Lyu Jinlei , Pei Haitao
Published: October 2020

The noise level of wind tunnel test section is respected as one of the most important performance specifications to represent the flow field quality, especially for large scale wind tunnel. According to the acoustic experimental research conducted in the 0.6 m continuous transonic wind tunnel of CARDC, main noise sources in the tunnel loop included the compressor, the high-speed diffuser and the test section. To reduce the noise in the test section, it is necessary to prevent the test section from the compressor noise propagated both forward and backward. In 0.6 m wind tunnel loop, acoustic treatments were installed on both the compressor rear cone and the fourth corner to prevent the noise emitted from the compressor from propagating forward. The vanes in the forth corner were filled with glass fibers and covered with perforated panels. And the compressor rear cone was covered with three layers of micro-perforated panels. With acoustic treatment in the tunnel loop and the second throat throttling, the fluctuation pressure coefficient (ΔCp) is lower than 0.8%, which is close to the international advanced level.
Neues zu Impfungen bei Erwachsenen
Authors: Seybold Ulrich
Published: October 2020

Was ist neu?

Masern-Mumps-Röteln- (MMR) und Varizellen-Impfung (VZV) Das 2020-Update der beruflichen MMR-Impfempfehlungen gilt in betroffenen Einrichtungen für alle Beschäftigten und vereinfacht die Vorgaben: Für die meisten Erwachsenen ab Jahrgang 1971 sind 2 dokumentierte Gaben notwendig. Das Masernschutzgesetz beinhaltet eine Impflicht für verschiedene Einrichtungen und Schulen.

Pneumokokken-Impfung Aufgrund der Veränderung der zirkulierenden Serotypen seit Anwendung der Konjugatimpfstoffe bei Kindern empfiehlt die amerikanische ACIP diese nicht mehr für die Routine-Erwachsenenimpfung.

Humane-Papillomaviren-Impfung (HPV) Beobachtungsstudien legen eine ausreichende Wirksamkeit von reduzierten Impfschemata mit 2 Dosen oder nur 1 Dosis nahe, Daten aus randomisierten Studien liegen aber noch nicht vor.

Influenza-Impfung Eine Abschwächung der Vakzineffektivität durch jährliche wiederholte saisonale Impfungen und auch im Verlauf einer Saison wird immer wieder festgestellt. Eine Veränderung der bestehenden Impfempfehlung ergibt sich daraus nicht.

Ebola-Impfung Nach jahrelanger Entwicklung und Testung erfolgte die Zulassung der ersten Impfstoffe durch die EMA im November 2019 und Juli 2020.

SARS-Coronavirus-2-Impfung (SARS-CoV-2) Aktuell werden mit massivem finanziellem Aufwand > 150 Vakzinkandidaten entwickelt, erste Phase-I/II-Studien sind auch mit deutscher Beteiligung angelaufen. Damit könnte 2021 ein zugelassener Impfstoff zur Verfügung stehen.
Hot Topics – Plattform OT Potential
Authors: Janssen Christina
Published: October 2020

Die US-amerikanische Ergotherapeutin Sarah Lyon betreibt die Online-Plattform OT Potential. Hier findet man unter anderem einen Blog, in dem Lyon über die „Hot Topics“ schreibt, die die Profession derzeit umtreiben – zum Beispiel, wie Ergotherapie im Alltag der Klienten nachhaltige Veränderungen erzielt.
In Vitro Anticancer Effects of All-trans Retinoic Acid in Combination with Dacarbazine against CD117+ Melanoma Cells
Authors: Jobani Bahareh Mohammadi , Mohebi Elham , Najafzadeh Nowruz
Published: October 2020

Background Malignant melanoma is a common form of skin cancer that contains different cell types recognized by various cell surface markers. Dacarbazine-based combination chemotherapy is frequently used for the treatment of melanoma. Despite its potent anticancer properties, resistance to dacarbazine develops in malignant melanoma. Here, we aim to improve response to dacarbazine therapy by pretreatment with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) in CD117+ melanoma cells.

Methods The CD117+ melanoma cells were sorted from A375 malignant melanoma cell line using magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS). The cell viability was examined by cell proliferation assay (MTT). Apoptosis was determined by acridine orange/ ethidium bromide staining. Indeed, we performed flow cytometry to evaluate the cell cycle arrest.

Results Here, the CD117+ melanoma cells were incubated with various concentrations of ATRA, dacarbazine, and their combination to determine IC50 values. We found that 20 µM ATRA treatment followed by dacarbazine was found to be more effective than dacarbazine alone. There was an indication that the combination of ATRA with dacarbazine (ATRA/dacarbazine) caused more apoptosis and necrosis in the melanoma cells (P<0.05). Furthermore, ATRA/dacarbazine treatment inhibited the cell at the G0/G1 phase, while dacarbazine alone inhibited the cells at S phase.

Conclusion Collectively, combined treatment with ATRA and dacarbazine induced more apoptosis and enhanced the cell cycle arrest of CD117+ melanoma cells. These results suggested that ATRA increased the sensitivity of melanoma cells to the effect of dacarbazine.