bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Rigidifying Flexible Sites: A Promising Strategy to Improve Thermostability of Lysophospholipase From Pyrococcus abyssi
Authors: Nazir Arshia , Ijaz Maham , Rehman Hafiz Muzzammel , Sajjad Muhammad 
Published: September 2024

ABSTRACTHigh thermostability of the enzymes is one of the distinguishing characteristics that increase their industrial utility. In the current research work, rigidifying the flexible amino acid residues of a lysophospholipase (Pa‐LPL) from Pyrococcus abyssi was used as a protein engineering approach to improve its thermostability. A truncated variant of Pa‐LPL (t‐LPL∆12) was constructed by trimming its 12 amino acid residues (50–61) through overlap extension PCR. The truncated enzyme worked optimally at 65°C and pH 6.5 with remarkable thermostability at 65°C–85°C. In comparison to wild‐type Pa‐LPL, 5.8 and 1.2‐fold increase in half‐life (t1/2) of t‐LPL∆12 was observed at 65 (optimum temperature) and 95°C, respectively. The activity of t‐LPL∆12 was stimulated by 1 mM Cu2+ followed by Ca2+, Ni2+, Co2+, and Mg2+. Both substrate docking and experimental results indicated that the truncated enzyme could hydrolyze a variety of p‐nitrophenyl esters. K
m, V
max, and K
cat for enzymatic hydrolysis of p‐nitrophenyl butyrate were calculated to be 1 ± 0.087 mM, 1456 ± 36.474 U/mg, and 1.397 × 1011 min−1, respectively. In short, broad substrate specificity and thermostability of t‐LPL∆12 are some of the distinctive features that make it an ideal candidate for degumming of vegetable oils.
Nonlinear sliding mode predictive trajectory tracking control of underactuated marine vehicles: Theory and experiment
Authors: Wang Run‐Zhi , Hao Li‐Ying , Wu Zhi‐Jie 
Published: September 2024

AbstractThis article introduces a control method for trajectory tracking of underactuated unmanned marine vehicles (UMVs), employing the sliding mode predictive control (SMPC) scheme. To address the challenges of demonstrating system stability with a local feedback controller for underactuated UMVs in model predictive control (MPC), this article proposes an auxiliary controller design method based on sliding mode control. A sliding mode dynamic is derived through an error system and sliding surface equations. Compared to existing literature, which predominantly emphasizes demonstrating input‐state stability, this strategy ensures the asymptotic stability of the closed‐loop system by introducing a novel method for selecting weight matrices. Furthermore, extended terminal sets and feasible sets constructed via sliding variables are provided, thereby reducing conservatism. Ultimately, the SMPC scheme is validated through simulation and hardware experiments providing quantitative evidence of its effectiveness in real‐world applications.
Path tracking control of high‐speed intelligent vehicles considering model mismatch
Authors: He Zhicheng , Zhang Kailin , Wei Baolv , Huang Jin , Wang Yufan , Li Eric 
Published: September 2024

AbstractThe precision of path tracking in high‐speed intelligent vehicles is significantly influenced by model mismatch arising from factors like parameter uncertainty, model simplification, external disturbances, and other sources. In this paper, we propose a novel robust control strategy that integrates the compensation function observer (CFO) with the model predictive control (MPC) method, utilizing an optimized vehicle dynamics model (opt‐model) to address this challenge, called OCMPC. Initially, we establish the opt‐model to design predictive model by leveraging suspension kinematics and compliance (K&C) data collected from a miniature pure electric vehicle. Remarkably, the opt‐model exhibits improved accuracy compared to the conventional vehicle dynamics model (con‐model) while preserving the same degrees of freedom (DOF). Next, we incorporate CFO into the path tracking process of high‐speed intelligent vehicles, enabling dynamic real‐time observation of the model mismatch between the prediction model and the actual vehicle. CFO can capture the dynamics of the vehicle, including nonlinearities and uncertainties, without placing a heavy computing burden on the controller. This observed mismatch is subsequently employed for feed‐forward compensation, facilitating the attainment of optimal control values. Ultimately, we validate the effectiveness of our proposed method in enhancing path tracking accuracy for high‐speed intelligent vehicles through co‐simulation using Simulink and Carsim.
Sustainable development goals implementation in a post‐colonial African State: Any future for the African Continental Free Trade Area?
Authors: Chidozie Felix , Osimen Goddy Uwa , Bhadmus Joy , Newo Oluwamurewa 
Published: September 2024

AbstractThis paper examined the prospect of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement in the context of the SDGs. It took its bearing from the contemporary structure of most African states, arguing that the reality of the continent's postcolonial condition could impede the implementation of the AfCFTA. Its refrain is that studies on how Nigeria and South Africa, as regional powers, have used their economic and political influence to advance the SDGs' implementation throughout Africa, using different South–South development frameworks are few. In other words, the institutionalization of a strategic collaboration agenda through a Nigeria‐South Africa‐coordinated African response to the new powers, in the area of timely implementation of the SDGs is lacking. This study affirms that for the AfCFTA to be successful, it is incumbent on the regional hegemons to build a suitable institutional framework and governance structure that upholds the rule of law and encourages harmonization, consistency, and predictability.
Characterization of Bacterial Nanocellulose Produced by Tropical Fruit‐Derived Bacteria in Coconut Water Medium Supplemented with Pineapple Peel Extract
Authors: Gadizza Perdani Claudia , Nurika Irnia , Gunawan Setiyo 
Published: September 2024

AbstractAgro‐industrial residues, such as surplus fruits and vegetables are increasingly recognized as valuable sources for isolating bacterial strains capable of efficiently producing bacterial nanocellulose (BNC). This study presents a novel approach to BNC production using Komagataeibacter intermedius SB 110 isolated from rotten pineapple, cultivated in a sustainable medium of coconut water enriched with 5% sucrose and 0.5% pineapple peel extract. By leveraging agricultural waste, this method accelerates BNC biosynthesis to less than 7 days and achieves a yield of 5.563 g/L over 14 days, a 1.58‐fold increase compared with traditional media. The BNCs were primarily composed of cellulose type I, with minor cellulose type II, ultrafine fiber sizes (58.3 to 84.98 nm) and a high crystallinity index (60.81% to 78.34%), indicating superior structural quality. This innovative process not only demonstrates the potential of using low‐cost, sustainable substrates for high‐yield BNC production but also significantly enhances both the efficiency and scalability of the production process, setting a new standard over existing methods.
Site‐Selective Biofunctionalization of 3D Microstructures Via Direct Ink Writing
Authors: Mathew George , Lemma Enrico Domenico , Fontana Dalila , Zhong Chunting , Rainer Alberto , Sekula‐Neuner Sylwia , Aghassi‐Hagmann Jasmin , Hirtz Michael , Berganza Eider 
Published: September 2024

AbstractTwo‐photon lithography has revolutionized multi‐photon 3D laser printing, enabling precise fabrication of micro‐ and nanoscale structures. Despite many advancements, challenges still persist, particularly in biofunctionalization of 3D microstructures. This study introduces a novel approach combining two‐photon lithography with scanning probe lithography for post‐functionalization of 3D microstructures overcoming limitations in achieving spatially controlled biomolecule distribution. The method utilizes a diverse range of biomolecule inks, including phospholipids, and two different proteins, introducing high spatial resolution and distinct functionalization on separate areas of the same microstructure. The surfaces of 3D microstructures are treated using bovine serum albumin and/or 3‐(Glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (GPTMS) to enhance ink retention. The study further demonstrates different strategies to create binding sites for cells by integrating different biomolecules, showcasing the potential for customized 3D cell microenvironments. Specific cell adhesion onto functionalized 3D microscaffolds is demonstrated, which paves the way for diverse applications in tissue engineering, biointerfacing with electronic devices and biomimetic modeling.
A hybrid‐ensemble model for software defect prediction for balanced and imbalanced datasets using AI‐based techniques with feature preservation: SMERKP‐XGB
Authors: Mustaqeem Mohd , Siddiqui Tamanna , Mustajab Suhel 
Published: September 2024

AbstractMaintaining software quality is a significant challenge as the complexity of software is increasing with the rise of the software industry. Software defects are a primary concern in complex modules, and predicting them in the early stages of the software development life cycle (SDLC) is difficult. Previous techniques to address this issue have not been very promising. We have proposed “A hybrid ensemble model for software defect prediction using AI‐based techniques with feature preservation” to overcome this problem. We have used the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) dataset from the PROMISE repository for testing and validation. By applying exploratory data analysis (EDA), feature engineering, scaling, and standardization, we found that the dataset is imbalanced, which can negatively affect the model's performance. To address this, we have used the Synthetic Minority Oversampling (SMOTE) technique and the edited nearest neighbor (ENN) (SMOTE‐ENN). We have also used recursive feature elimination cross‐validation (RFE‐CV) with a pipeline to prevent data leaking in CV and kernel‐based principal component analysis (K‐PCA) to minimize dimensionality and selectively relevant features. The reduced dimensional data is then given to the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) for classification, resulting in the hybrid‐ensemble (SMERKP‐XGB) model. The proposed SMERKP‐XGB model is better than previously developed models in terms of accuracy (CM1: 97.53%, PC1: 92.05%, and PC2: 97.45%, KC1:95.65%), and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values (CM1:96.30%, PC1:98.30%, and PC2:99.30%: KC1: 93.54) and other evaluation criteria mentioned in the literature.
An Opportunity for Synergizing Desalination by Membrane Distillation Assisted Reverse‐Electrodialysis for Water/Energy Recovery
Authors: Mujahid Muhammad , Umar Farooq Muhammad , Wang Chao , Arkook Bassim , Harb Moussab , Ren Long‐Fei , Shao Jiahui 
Published: September 2024

AbstractIndustry, agriculture, and a growing population all have a major impact on the scarcity of clean‐water. Desalinating or purifying contaminated water for human use is crucial. The combination of thermal membrane systems can outperform conventional desalination with the help of synergistic management of the water‐energy nexus. High energy requirement for desalination is a key challenge for desalination cost and its commercial feasibility. The solution to these problems requires the intermarriage of multidisciplinary approaches such as electrochemistry, chemical, environmental, polymer, and materials science and engineering. The most feasible method for producing high‐quality freshwater with a reduced carbon footprint is demanding incorporation of industrial low‐grade heat with membrane distillation (MD). More precisely, by using a reverse electrodialysis (RED) setup that is integrated with MD, salinity gradient energy (SGE) may be extracted from highly salinized MD retentate. Integrating MD‐RED can significantly increase energy productivity without raising costs. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the prospects, unresolved issues, and developments in this cutting‐edge field. In addition, we summarize the distinct physicochemical characteristics of the membranes employed in MD and RED, together with the approaches for integrating them to facilitate effective water recovery and energy conversion from salt gradients and freshwater.
Modern chemical graph theory
Authors: Leite Leonardo S. G. , Banerjee Swarup , Wei Yihui , Elowitt Jackson , Clark Aurora E. 
Published: September 2024

AbstractGraph theory has a long history in chemistry. Yet as the breadth and variety of chemical data is rapidly changing, so too do graph encoding methods and analyses that yield qualitative and quantitative insights. Using illustrative cases within a basic mathematical framework, we showcase modern chemical graph theory's utility in Chemists' analysis and model development toolkit. The encoding of both experimental and simulation data is discussed at various levels of granularity of information. This is followed by a discussion of the two major classes of graph theoretical analyses: identifying connectivity patterns and partitioning methods. Measures, metrics, descriptors, and topological indices are then introduced with an emphasis upon enhancing interpretability and incorporation into physical models. Challenging data cases are described that include strategies for studying time dependence. Throughout, we incorporate recent advancements in computer science and applied mathematics that are propelling chemical graph theory into new domains of chemical study.This article is categorized under:
Molecular and Statistical Mechanics > Molecular Dynamics and Monte‐Carlo Methods
Structure and Mechanism > Computational Materials Science
Structure and Mechanism > Molecular Structures
The Role of Alpha-Synuclein Pathology
Authors: Fu YuHong , Tanglay Onur , Li Hongyun , Halliday Glenda M. 
Published: September 2024

AbstractAlpha-synuclein (αSyn) is a conformationally flexible protein that is known to be involved in key neuronal biological processes and the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The aggregation of αSyn in the brain is not only the neuropathological hallmark of PD but also characterizes other primary synucleinopathies, including dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and multiple system atrophy (MSA). These disorders share common clinical motor symptoms, namely, parkinsonism, which is associated with the loss of nigral dopaminergic neurons. Pathologically the selective neurodegeneration in synucleinopathies is linked to αSyn dysfunction and its abnormal interactions with other proteins. It should be noted that the aggregation of αSyn is not an absolute pathogenic cause for clinically or genetically diagnosed PD, as a minority of patients have substantial loss of nigral dopaminergic neurons in the absence of αSyn pathology. In addition, αSyn pathology is a commonly observed autopsy finding in asymptomatic senescent brains, confirming that αSyn pathology can occur independently of parkinsonism. Presently, there is no causative treatment for synucleinopathies; therefore, targeting αSyn remains the key research focus. Despite the importance of αSyn in the pathology of synucleinopathies, there is no consensus on reliable markers for defining toxic pathogenic αSyn aggregates in postmortem human brain tissue or on any critical αSyn-inducing pathological events. As such, there is an urgent need to establish a panel of antibodies and animal models for studying synucleinopathies. This chapter summarizes the traditional and recently developed methodologies in the field with suggestions on toolkits to assess the role of αSyn pathology.
T-DVAE: A Transformer-Based Dynamical Variational Autoencoder for Speech
Authors: Perschewski Jan-Ole , Stober Sebastian 
Published: September 2024

AbstractIn contrast to Variational Autoencoders, Dynamical Variational Autoencoders (DVAEs) learn a sequence of latent states for a time series. Initially, they were implemented using recurrent neural networks (RNNs) known for challenging training dynamics and problems with long-term dependencies. This led to the recent adoption of Transformers close to the RNN-based implementation. These implementations still use RNNs as part of the architecture even though the Transformer can solve the task as the sole building block. Hence, we improve the LigHT-DVAE architecture by removing the dependence on RNNs and Cross-Attention. Furthermore, we show that a trained LigHT-DVAE ignores output-to-hidden connections, which allows us to simplify the overall architecture by removing output-to-hidden connections. We demonstrate the capability of the resulting T-DVAE on librispeech and voice bank with an improvement in training time, memory consumption, and generative performance.
Introduction
Authors: Al-Shamsi Humaid O. 
Published: September 2024

AbstractWith cancer being the third leading cause of mortality, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has been investing heavily to advance cancer care. There has been a significant investment from both the government and private healthcare institutions to improve and enhance the quality and accessibility of cancer care in the UAE. While data regarding the incidence is becoming more accessible and centralized through the national cancer registry, survival and outcome data for cancer in the UAE are still lacking. Creating a reference book about cancer care in the UAE will not be complete without the historical background. In this introduction, we will summarize the history of cancer care in the UAE over the last 50 years since the UAE was established. This chapter is very important for anyone who is interested in learning about oncology care in the UAE. This book will map the way forward for healthcare providers, regulators, decision-makers, patients, and other stakeholders to advance cancer care in the UAE.
Basic Cancer Research in the UAE
Authors: Hachim Ibrahim Yaseen , Al Heialy Saba , Hachim Mahmood Yaseen 
Published: September 2024

AbstractLike many other fields in the UAE, cancer research showed a significant achievement. Measuring research outcomes is considered a crucial and critical step in evaluating the research impact. In this chapter, we analyzed various indicators that measure the number and impact of cancer research performed within the UAE in the last decades using the PubMed search engine and the Scopus database. Our results showed an exponential increment in cancer-related publications, from only 66 in 2011 to 865 in 2021. The increment in the number of publications was also associated with an improvement in the quality of cancer-related manuscripts, and this is presented as publication in more diverse and high-ranking journals, including PLOS One, Scientific Reports, Molecules, Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, and Lancet. While United Arab Emirates University, the University of Sharjah, and Tawam Hospital were shown to be the top UAE-affiliated institutions, the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the Medical Research Council (MRC), and the US Department of Health and Human Services represent the top international funding bodies and collaborators. In conclusion, our analysis revealed an exponential increase in cancer research productivity, which is also coupled with improvements in the quality and impact of those research activities. This was achieved through investment in research infrastructure, recruitment of experienced researchers, and the establishment of various training programs.
Oncology and Hematology Fellowship Training in the UAE
Authors: Al-Shamsi Humaid O. 
Published: September 2024

AbstractAdvanced oncology and hematology fellowship training in the UAE is still evolving. In Al Ain, there is one oncology fellowship and one hematology fellowship program in Dubai. The medical oncology fellowship training program at Tawam Hospital, which was launched in August 2019, is the UAE’s sole approved program by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-International (ACGME-I) and has graduated only one fellow as of December 2022. In May 2022, the NIHS established an oncology and hematology fellowship committee for the Emirati Board of Medical Oncology and Hematology, and Prof. Humaid Al-Shamsi was named the chairman of this committee. The hematology fellowship and medical oncology fellowship were both approved by the NIHS in November 2022 and December 2022, respectively, and as of December 2022, no program has been accredited by the NIHS in these two programs, yet it is expected that multiple hospitals will apply for accreditation in 2023.The interest in medical oncology and hematology as subspecialties is not common, and only a limited number of UAE trainees are joining these subspecialties. There is a need to increase awareness and attraction to this subspecialty.
Fertility Preservation and Oncofertility in the UAE
Authors: Kazim Nahla 
Published: September 2024

AbstractFertility preservation (FP) has always been an integral part of assisted reproductive technology (ART) for the treatment of couples with infertility. Simultaneously, the practice of female and male fertility cryopreservation has expanded in the UAE over the last few decades through major leaps in its healthcare system, improvements in ART with vitrification techniques, and advances in cancer screening and anticancer treatments, resulting in higher survivorship with a focus on reproductive health. Various gynecological, oncological, and benign medical diseases, as well as their treatments, can adversely hamper an individual’s fertility, and considering FP options as early as possible during the treatment planning phase allows the best chances for restoring the full range of reproductive potential. Among these options, embryo and oocyte cryopreservation are the most reliable modalities for women with partners and post-pubertal girls, respectively. While for males, ejaculated or testicular sperm cryopreservation remains the principle established modality for fertility preservation used for men and adolescents.This chapter discusses current available methods of female and male fertility preservation options in the UAE with their historical milestones, while highlighting opportunities and challenges for implementing other available novel strategies and improving multidisciplinary collaboration, which are fundamental to comprehensive fertility preservation care.
Surgical Oncology in the UAE
Authors: El Jamali Faek R. , Sidani Chafik , Grobmyer Stephen R. 
Published: September 2024

AbstractThe healthcare sector in the UAE is undergoing a major evolution that is mirroring the country’s overall transformation into a first-world country. Cancer care plays an essential role in this evolution. The specialty of surgical oncology has now become largely recognized as a result of the efforts of major societies in the world, led by the Society of Surgical Oncology.In parallel with the overall development of the UAE and the development of the healthcare services infrastructure, surgical oncology in the UAE is migrating from individual practices within private institutions to multidisciplinary care in specialized cancer centers offering the complete gamut of state-of-the-art oncology centers. With this evolution, the UAE is poised to become a destination for health tourism, catering to the requirements of nearly a billion people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).