bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Truncated tau modulates neuron-glia signaling through CX3CL1-CX3CR1 and CD47-SIRP-α pathways.
Authors: Majerova Petra , Zilkova Monika , Bhide Katarina , Kovac Andrej 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Tauopathies encompass a group of disorders characterized by abnormal accumulation of tau protein into neurofibbrilary pathology and neuroinflammation. Understanding how glial cells interact with neurons is important to unraveling the complex mechanisms driving the progression of tauopathies. In this study, we established a multi-component cellular model for tauopathies comprising neuronal cells inducible expressing pathological truncated tau, primary microglia, and astrocytes. We successfully identified optimal culture conditions, with 1% serum supplemented with B27 proving to be most effective in enhancing neuronal protein expression, tau levels, and cell viability. This condition supported improved neuronal differentiation and synaptic marker expression, reflecting a more robust neuronal phenotype compared to monocultures. The increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines production underscores the model's capability to replicate the inflammatory environment characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases. Importantly, we observed that truncated tau significantly modulates key signalling pathways, notably the CX3CL1-CX3CR1 and CD47-SIRP-α pathways. We found that pathological changes in tauopathies altered neuron-glia interactions, leading them towards a more quiescent glial state.The alterations in signaling were accompanied by changes in tau phosphorylation, with neuroinflammation exacerbating hyperphosphorylation of truncated tau, while minimally affecting endogenous tau. In conclusion, our study highlights that pathological truncated tau significantly affects the expression of membrane-anchored fractalkine. This differential modulation, coupled with changes in inflammatory conditions, suggests that early-stage tau pathology can influence neuroinflammatory responses and may still allow neuronal cells to engage in protective mechanisms.
Outpatient visits for women with postmenopausal bleeding; What do we tell our patients? A Qualitative study
Authors: Vroom Albertine J , Hanegem Nehalennia van , Werner Henrica MJ , Bongers Marlies Y , Geomini Peggy MAJ 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Background
Postmenopausal vaginal bleeding is a common complaint and requires diagnostic work-up to rule out endometrial cancer. Blind endometrial aspiration sampling is commonly used as a diagnostic procedure in the outpatient setting, but can cause severe discomfort and pain. Previous studies show that women highly value clear explanations and appropriate management of expectations during gynecological outpatient procedures. We believe that patients’ satisfaction is significantly influenced by these expectations, and thus, we consider counseling by gynecologists to play a crucial role in a patient’s comfort experience. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore counseling practices with a special focus on managing expectations regarding outpatient endometrial aspiration.
Methods
We conducted a qualitative study to explore communication by gynecologists (in training) with patients during an initial visit for postmenopausal bleeding. We interviewed experienced gynecologists (in training) from multiple medical centers. Grounded theory was used for methodological orientation.
Results
This qualitative study showed that, during the visit, gynecologists do inform patients about the procedure and its anticipated experience, but often reassure patients as a method to alleviate anxiety. Most respondents used alternative terminology to describe the procedure instead of directly mentioning ‘pain’. We also observed that the amount of information women receive prior to their visit (e.g. by the general practitioner or using a leaflet) is limited. Most respondents state that every aspect of the consultation should be detailed in an information leaflet, including information about potentially painful procedures, although some respondents believe this information could provoke anxiety.
Conclusion
Gynecologists do inform patients during their visit about the procedure. It is debatable whether gynecologist should specify the degree and nature of pain patients may potentially experience during a procedure or if we should use alternative terminology to describe the procedure while acknowledging the discomfort without explicitly detailing the extent and nature of pain. At this moment little information is provided prior to the visit. Most respondents supported the idea of a standard information leaflet, sent prior to the procedure, as it may potentially be a helpful tool to reduce anxiety and therefore dissatisfaction.
Research on rigid-flexible coupling dynamics modeling for rack vehicle
Authors: Dong Chenglong , Deng Xingqiao , Liu Jialin , Zhang Zhendong , Gao Chang , Liu Weiping , Wang Shisong 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

In order to address the challenge of quantifying the impact of changes in slope and driving speed on individual components of rack vehicle, which is not feasible through experimental methods in practical engineering. Thus, based on the vehicle-track dynamics theory, this paper establishes a rigid-flexible coupling dynamics model of rack vehicle, which consists of vehicle submodel, track submodel, and gear-rack transmission model. In the model, the bogie frames are linked with the wheelsets through the primary suspensions and linked with the vehicle through the secondary suspensions, respectively, while three-dimensional spring-damper elements are used to represent the stiffness and damping characteristics of the primary and secondary suspension in three directions. Furthermore, regard the connection relationship between rack and sleeper as elastic damping, and the wheel-rail contact relationship is established on the nonlinear Hertz contact theory. Based on this model, the dynamic characteristics of rack vehicle are analyzed under various slopes and driving speeds. Results show that the slope has a substantial effect on the dynamic characteristics of each component of rack vehicle, whereas the driving speed primarily affects the root bending stress of rack and the vibration acceleration of gear. The research results is of great significance to the safety and stability of rack vehicle.
Optimizing NFDRS by Developing Custom Fuel Models for Wildfire Risk Assessment in Golestan Province, NE Iran
Authors: Khalaf Mhd.Wathek Alhaj , Jouibary Shaban Shataee , Jahdi Roghayeh , Jolly William Matthew 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Wildfire risk assessment is essential for managing and mitigating the effects of wildfires, especially in regions frequently affected by severe fires This study focuses on optimizing the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) by creating 11 custom fuel models tailored to the climatic and vegetation conditions of Golestan province, NE Iran. These models were developed by sampling 125 homogeneous zones. The number of custom fuel models was determined by K-means analysis with relative squared Euclidean distances and the silhouette method using data collected from the homogeneous zones. The NFDRS outputs include the Spread Component (SC), Energy Release Component (ERC), and Burning Index (BI), with fire danger classes identified using the Static Fire Danger Index (SFDI). The models were evaluated using Overall Accuracy, Kappa, Sorensen, True Positive Rate (TPR), False Positive Rate (FPR), and Area under the Curve (AUC). The results revealed significant variability in fuel properties between vegetation types, affecting SC and ERC values. The custom fuel models outperformed the standard NFDRS models in accuracy, with Overall Accuracy (0.85), Kappa (0.78), and AUC (0.92) compared to the NFDRS's 0.70, 0.65, and 0.80, respectively. This study provides a clear illustration of the improved predictive performance of the custom models in the study area, which can help fire managers make more informed decisions, leading to better preparation and more efficient allocation of resources. these models can help mitigate wildfires' economic and environmental impacts. In addition, this research highlights the need for region-specific, customized fuel models to improve the accuracy of fire risk
Translation stalling induced mitochondrial entrapment of ribosomal quality control related proteins offers cancer cell vulnerability
Authors: ojha Rani , Tantray Ishaq , Banerjee Shouryarudra , Rimal Suman , Thirunavukkarasu Sandiya , Srikris Saripella , Chiu Wah , Mete Uttam , Sharma Aditya , Kakkar Nandita , Lu Bingwei 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Ribosome-associated quality control (RQC) monitors ribosomes for aberrant translation. While the role of RQC in neurodegenerative disease is beginning to be appreciated, its involvement in cancer is understudied. Here, we show a positive correlation between RQC proteins ABCE1 and ZNF598 and high-grade muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Translational stalling by the inhibitor emetine (EME) leads to increased mitochondrial localization of RQC factors including ABCE1, ZNF598, and NEMF, which are continuously imported into mitochondria facilitated by increased mitochondrial membrane potential caused by EME. This reduces the availability of these factors in the cytosol, compromising the effectiveness of RQC in handling stalled ribosomes in the cytosol and those associated with the mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM). Imported RQC factors form aggregates inside the mitochondria in a process we term stalling-induced mitochondrial stress (SIMS). ABCE1 plays a crucial role in maintaining mitochondrial health during SIMS. Notably, cancer stem cells (CSCs) exhibit increased expression of ABCE1 and consequently are more resistant to EME-induced mitochondrial dysfunction. This points to a potential mechanism of drug resistance by CSCs. Our study highlights the significance of mitochondrial entrapment of RQC factors such as ABCE1 in determining the fate of cancer cells versus CSCs. Targeting ABCE1 or other RQC factors in translational inhibition cancer therapy may help overcome drug resistance.
Chronic Diseases and Catastrophic Health Expenditures in Elderly Chinese Households: A Cohort Study
Authors: Yao Xueying , Wang Dandan , Wang Qian , Zhang Tiantian 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Background
In light of China's demographic transition towards an increasingly aged population coupled with a high prevalence of chronic conditions, there has been a pronounced augmentation of economic pressures on elderly households as well as on the national healthcare system. This research explores the determinants of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) among Chinese households that include elderly individuals diagnosed with chronic diseases.
Methods
Utilizing data from the 2011 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), conducted by the National School of Development at Peking University, this research focuses on households with at least one member aged 60 or older diagnosed with a chronic disease. CHE is measured by the proportion of out-of-pocket health payments in relation to total household expenditures, excluding food. The study constructed panel data from the follow-up surveys in 2015, 2018, and 2020, and used logistic regression to analyze the impact of various factors on CHE, including the presence of chronic diseases, age, education level, marital status, household registration (hukou), place of residence, and basic medical insurance coverage.
Result
The analysis indicates that chronic diseases significantly increase the likelihood of incurring CHE in elderly households, even if there is only one chronic illness. Key factors affecting CHE include age, education level, marital status, hukou, and residence. Notably, basic medical insurance did not significantly reduce the risk of CHE. Statistical data show that households with chronic diseases have a higher tendency toward CHE (P < 0.001, 95% CI: 1.36–1.64).
Conclusion
Chronic diseases have emerged as a dominant risk factor for catastrophic health expenditures (CHE) among elderly households in China, yet basic medical insurance has not adequately mitigated these expenditures.The findings highlight the urgent need for policy interventions to strengthen financial protections and enhance social health insurance schemes, thereby reducing the financial vulnerability of elderly households facing health shocks.
Conservation of vulnerable Cerrado birds in an imminently threatened single large reserve
Authors: Ferreira Everton Sousa , Schiavetti Alexandre , Santos Marcos Pérsio Dantas 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

The establishment of protected areas (PAs) is critical for mitigating anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity and maintaining ecosystem functionality. This scenario is more critical in extensively fragmented hotspots such as the Brazilian Cerrado. Therefore, addressing gaps in species composition, vulnerability, and abundance across different zoning interfaces, as well as potential threats to large reserves, are key steps in designing conservation actions. Here we evaluate abundance patterns and use of 17 vulnerable Cerrado birds across ecological zones, particularly Cerrado Stricto sensu and Riparian Forests in Chapada das Mesas National Park (NP). We demonstrate a positive scenario in terms of zoning effectiveness and bird conservation. Notably, the most vulnerable species in the NP are concentrated in areas of higher human occupation and tourist visitation, as well as along restricted-use territories. We also note that Cerrado stricto sensu subtypes constitute a single functional mosaic for endemic birds. Finally, we show that the NP may be imminently threatened by historical fires and potential future destruction of its adjacent ecosystems. Policies and actions focused on reducing deforestation and restoring habitats may represent the only way to prevent this single large reserve from becoming a major extinction site in the future.
Improving smartphone positioning accuracy by adapting measurement covariance with t-test on innovations
Authors: Raghuvanshi Anurag , Bisnath Sunil 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Smartphone-based location-based services (LBS) require enhanced horizontal position accuracy with integrity. Due to the mass-market nature and compact design of smartphones, they utilize low-cost antennas and receivers, making them susceptible to multipath effects and other errors, which complicates the differentiation between reliable and unreliable measurements. To address these challenges, this paper explores the application of an adaptive Kalman filter technique to improve smartphone positioning accuracy. Adaptive Kalman filters adjust parameters such as process noise covariance or measurement noise covariance to modify the filter gain. When augmented with outlier detection mechanisms, the filter becomes more robust. This paper introduces a robust adaptive Kalman filter to enhance smartphone position accuracy. Outliers are detected using standardized innovations as a learning statistic, and a t-test is applied to these statistics to identify and mitigate outliers and adapt the measurement noise covariance accordingly. While previous research used empirical values for thresholds to adapt measurement noise covariance matrix, this study derives thresholds from t-tests, contingent on the normal distribution of learning statistics. By eliminating clock reset effects, innovations are transformed from bimodal to a normal distribution. Testing across multiple datasets demonstrates reductions of up to 42% in horizontal positioning root mean square error, with 50th, 68th, and 95th percentile statistics showing improvements of up to 53%, 41%, and 61%, respectively.
Tooth movement with clear aligners with different elastic modulus: a three-dimensional finite element analysis
Authors: Niu Qin , Lu Wenhsuan , Bai Rushui , Tong Xin , Yao Yang , Tian Lei , Tian Zhanfeng , Yu Tingting , Chen Si , Han Bing 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Background
Compared with traditional fixed appliances, clear aligners (CAs) still lack the ability to accurately control the three-dimensional tooth movement. The present study was devoted to the comparison of treatment outcomes of CAs diaphragms with different elastic modulus and to explore the improvement of the tooth movement efficiency for CAs.
Methods
In present study, the three-dimensional finite element analysis was used to explore the tooth movement effect resulted from CAs with different elastic modulus in five orthodontic treatment conditions (translation, rotation, torque control, root control and extrusion) on a single tooth model.
Results
For translation, the diaphragm M04 with an elastic modulus of 2086.47 MPa performed relatively well. For rotation, torque control and extrusion, the tooth movement efficiency increased with the elevation of the elastic modulus. However, none of the diaphragms showed ideal results for root control. Additionally, under the same working condition, the greater the elastic modulus of the CA diaphragm, the greater the initial force on the tooth and the periodontal supporting tissue stress.
Conclusions
Diaphragms with different elastic modulus should be used to fabricate CAs to achieve better tooth movement in various tooth movement conditions. In the initial stages of tooth movement, CAs with smaller elastic modulus can be used to reduce the initial force on the teeth, and then CAs with larger elastic modulus can be applied to avoid adverse tooth movement, such as the “roller coaster” effect.
Cross-Layer Attentive Feature Upsampling for Low-latency Semantic Segmentation
Authors: Cheng Tianheng , Wang Xinggang , Liao Junchao , Liu Wenyu 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Semantic segmentation is a fundamental problem in computer vision and it requires high-resolution feature maps for dense prediction. Current coordinate-guided low-resolution feature interpolation methods, e.g., bilinear interpolation, produce coarse high-resolution features which suffer from feature misalignment and insufficient context information. Moreover, enriching semantics to high-resolution features requires a high computation burden, so that it is challenging to meet the requirement of lowlatency inference. We propose a novel Guided Attentive Interpolation (GAI) method to adaptively interpolate fine-grained high-resolution features with semantic features to tackle these issues. Guided Attentive Interpolation determines both spatial and semantic relations of pixels from features of different resolutions and then leverages these relations to interpolate high-resolution features with rich semantics. GAI can be integrated with any deep convolutional network for efficient semantic segmentation. In experiments, the GAI-based semantic segmentation networks, i.e., GAIN, can achieve 78.8 mIoU with 22.3 FPS on Cityscapes and 80.6 mIoU with 64.5 on CamVid using an NVIDIA 1080Ti GPU, which are the new state-of-the-art results of low-latency semantic segmentation. Code and models will be available.
A Decentralized Authentication Scheme for Smart Factory based on Blockchain
Authors: Cao Zhong , Wen Xudong , Ai Shan , Shang Wenli , Huan Sha 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is recognized as one of the revolutionary technologies driving smart manufacturing and improving productivity. As manufacturing processes grow increasingly intricate, the entire manufacturing ecosystem encompasses multiple managed IoT domains. Within this highly interconnected environment, devices from diverse domains must collaborate, leading to considerable apprehensions about the security and privacy of device-to-device communications. Current authentication methods encounter several challenges. Traditional authentication schemes overly rely on trusted third parties, rendering them susceptible to external attacks or internal spoofing. This susceptibility gives rise to a range of security and privacy concerns. In response to these challenges, this paper aims to contribute to a more secure and efficient service scheme for smart factories by devising a blockchain-based distributed IoT architecture. The proposed scheme introduces a federated blockchain to establish trust among different domains, thereby enabling secure connections between devices in distinct domains. Through security analysis, it is proved that the proposed authentication scheme has integrity, mutual authentication, scalability, and resistance to four attacks. Furthermore, efficiency analysis experiments show that our scheme is feasible for smart factories, and as the number of peer nodes increases, the performance and efficiency of the blockchain network become better.
Health inequalities tackled through intersectoral collaboration: process issues and insights
Authors: Woodall James , Davies Paige , Parker Fallon 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Collaborations, comprising organisations from a diverse range of sectors, are often perceived as being well-placed to tackle persistent health inequalities, but often fail due to a myriad of reasons including political, organizational and cultural barriers. This paper explores issues in relation to the formation of a multi-sector collaboration in one geographic area in the UK, working under the banner of the Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) – a programme which seeks to further understand health determinants and to improve health outcomes in communities. Through qualitative interviews with eleven of the constituents of the collaboration, the data demonstrated a clear and shared vision for the collaboration and a neat ‘dovetailing’ of skill-sets related to community brokerage; academic rigour; and statutory legitimacy. While the collaboration under focus here was in its infancy, cultural and practical tensions in ways of working; pace of working; and philosophy were predicted to emerge and required careful monitoring to ensure intended outcomes were not derailed.
Energy Landscape of Conformational Changes for a Single Unmodified Protein
Authors: Peters Matthew , Zhao Tianyu , George Sherin , Truong Viet Giang , Chormaic Síle Nic , Ying Cuifeng , Nome René A. , Gordon Reuven 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Free-energy landscapes govern protein biophysics and natural conformational changes linked to function can be described by trajectories on these landscapes. Resolving the free energy landscape is obscured by ensemble averaging. A direct measurement of conformational energy changes in a single unmodified protein has been a challenge, although folding dynamics have been observed with techniques that modify the proteins with fluorescent labels and/or tethers. Here we use nanoaperture optical tweezers to resolve the energy landscape of a single unmodified protein. We quantify changes in the three-state conformation dynamics and the underlying free energy landscape of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA). The impact of temperature on the energy barrier height and energy minima is quantified, allowing for the extraction of the entropy change between states of 0.4 kcal/(mol K). A Markov model with Kramers' theory transition rates is used to model the dynamics, showing good agreement with the observed state transitions. In addition to single BSA molecules, we also observe the formation of a BSA dimer in real time and uncover the energy landscape associated with hinge motion of this oligomer. This first look at the intrinsic energy landscape of proteins provides a transformative tool for protein biophysics and may be applied broadly, including to map out the energy landscape of particularly challenging intrinsically disordered proteins.