bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Development of red mud based sintered artificial aggregates with various industrial wastes
Authors: Narendra Somepalli , Vasugi V 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Red mud (RM) has drawn a lot of attention in the search for potential uses in the production of sintered artificial aggregate from industrial waste products. The main objective of the study is to produce an RM-based sintered artificial aggregate (SAA), with several blends (binary, ternary, and quaternary) using various industrial wastes. This study includes assessing the mechanical and physical properties of SAA as well as the sintering parameters in order to determine the appropriate material mix ratio. To achieve these objectives, a comprehensive experimental approach was adopted. A total of 35 different mixtures were formulated by incorporating various industrial wastes as binders and sintering additives. The green pellets were preheated at 105 °C for 24 h, and consecutively sintered at different temperatures, namely 700 °C, 900 °C, 1100 °C, and 1150 °C with a duration of 30 min. A compressive strength test was performed in order to find the mechanical property of SAA similarly water absorption and bulk density tests were conducted to find the physical properties of SAA. To characterize the SAA, scanning electron microscope analysis (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive x-ray analysis were conducted, and also data analysis was performed using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) tools, yielding accurate predictions. Successfully best compressive strength low water absorption SAA was produced. The best material weight mix ratio for the production of SAA was identified as (A18) RM: Fly Ash: Waste Glass Powder; 78:10:12. Out of all blends the ternary blend (A18) SAA exhibited impressive properties after 30 min of sintering at 1150 °C: high compressive strength of 22.92 MPa, water absorption of 4.26%, and bulk density of 1296.12 kg m−13. This was made possible by the high amount of Al2O3, SiO2, in the combination of fly ash, and waste glass powder with RM. SEM and XRD analysis also confirmed that the (A18) SAA achieved the best compressive strength, and low water absorption due to turning the surface and core area into a solid, reduced internal pores and formed quartz, and hematite phases. The findings of this study serve as a foundation for future work and pave the way for the development of sustainable construction materials.
Sputter deposition of ZnO–AlN pseudo-binary amorphous alloys with tunable band gaps in the deep ultraviolet region
Authors: Urakawa Seiichi , Magdy Wafaa , Wada Yoshiharu , Narishige Ryota , Kaneshima Kentaro , Yamashita Naoto , Okumura Takamasa , Kamataki Kunihiro , Koga Kazunori , Shiratani Masaharu , Itagaki Naho 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
ZnO–AlN pseudo-binary amorphous alloys (a-ZAON hereinafter) with tunable band gaps in the deep ultraviolet (DUV) region have been synthesized using magnetron sputtering. The miscibility gap between ZnO and AlN has been overcome using room-temperature sputtering deposition, leveraging the rapid quenching abilities of sputtered particles to fabricate metastable but single-phase alloys. X-ray diffraction patterns and optical transmittance spectra revealed that the synthesized films with chemical composition ratios of [Zn]/([Zn] + [Al]) = 0.24–0.79 likely manifested as single-phase of a-ZAON films. Despite their amorphous structures, these films presented direct band gaps of 3.4–5.8 eV and thus high optical absorption coefficients (105 cm−1). Notably, the observed values adhered to Vegard’s law for crystalline ZnO–AlN systems, implying that the a-ZAON films were solid solution alloys with atomic-level mixing. Furthermore, atomic force microscopy analyses revealed smooth film surfaces with root-mean-square roughness of 0.8–0.9 nm. Overall, the wide-ranging band gap tunability, high absorption coefficients, amorphous structures, surface smoothness, and low synthesis temperatures of a-ZAON films position them as promising materials for use in DUV optoelectronic devices and power devices fabricated using large-scale glass and flexible substrates.
Mechanical properties and damping characteristics of Egyptian granite-epoxy composite material
Authors: Abdelrhman Yasser , Omar Mohamed , Hassab-Allah Ibrahim M , Shewakh W M , Khierldeen Wael M , Hedaya Mohammed , Omar Refaie , Younes Mohamed F 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Vibrations generated during the operations of machine tools, especially at high-speed operation impact several issues in machined parts such as imprecision dimensions and a poor surface finish. This prompts research and studies into alternative materials for machine tool structures to provide considerable damping performance and acceptable stiffness compared to traditional materials. This paper deals with the experimental study of a developed granite-epoxy composite, made from waste granite and local epoxy as an alternative material for machine tool structures. A waste of Egyptian Red Aswan granite was used as filler after being crushed and sifted into three sizes: fine (less than 1 mm), medium (1 to 5 mm), and coarse (5 to 8 mm). A local commercial epoxy resin kemapoxy 150 was added to a granite aggregate mixture having grain proportions 50:25:25 for fine, medium, and large, respectively. The influence of the variation of the epoxy weight ratio on the static and damping characteristics of a proposed granite–epoxy composite material was experimentally investigated. To ensure a coherent granite-epoxy composite, the required minimum resin content of 13.88 wt% was determined, and the granite/epoxy ratios were selected as 85:15 wt%, 80:20 wt%, and 75:25 wt%. The findings exhibit that the largest compressive strength of 76.8 MPa and the greatest flexural strength of 35.4 MPa is achieved at the highest epoxy weight ratio of 25%. The largest damping ratio of 0.0202 is observed at the epoxy ratio of 20% and it decreases to 0.015 when the epoxy ratio is increased to 25%. An Egyptian granite-epoxy composite, made from waste granite and local epoxy, is a promising alternative material for machine tool structures. It offers both economic and environmental benefits, along with high mechanical and damping properties compared to traditional machine tool materials.
The impact of COVID-19 on heat-related ambulance calls and the challenges for emergency medical transport in the Kansai region, Japan: a mixed methods approach
Authors: Ke Deng , Ialnazov Dimiter S , Takara Kaoru 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with more frequent and stronger heatwaves, has introduced a novel confluence of challenges. In Japan, emergency medical transport staffs are facing increasing difficulty in distinguishing between COVID-19 and heat stroke at the scene because they share some similar symptoms. This study explored the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on heat-related ambulance calls and identifies the challenges faced by local fire departments in the Kansai region of Japan over 2020–2022. Both historical data analysis and an online questionnaire survey were used in this study. We utilized a heat-related ambulance calls prediction model developed in our previous research based on the historical data (2008–2019) to project the expected number of heat-related ambulance calls from 2020 to 2022. Subsequently, we compared expected number and the actual number of daily heat-related ambulance calls to examine the variations of heat-related ambulance calls across six prefectures in the Kansai region. Our findings reveal a significant decrease in the number of heat-related ambulance calls during the COVID-19 pandemic across all Kansai prefectures, ranging from 3.2% to 22.9%. The decline in heat-related ambulance calls can be attributed to shifts in daily routines, such as the increase of remote work and decrease of outdoor exercise. However, it may also be influenced by the strain on the emergency medical resource. Furthermore, this study has also highlighted substantial pressures on local fire departments and emergency medical transport systems during the pandemic. A primary challenge for local fire departments was securing available medical facilities for patients. Improving the efficiency of the emergency medical transport system and enhancing the coordination between emergency medical services and healthcare facilities may offer a more resilient response in future crises.
The Qua Problem in the Value Interaction Debate
Authors: Song Moonyoung 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
This essay aims to elucidate the so-called 'qua problem' often invoked in the debate on the interaction between moral and artistic values. The qua problem is currently understood as the failure to establish a direct value interaction. I argue that this way of understanding the qua problem is flawed because it does not make the qua problem a real problem, that is, a problem that makes an interactionist argument unsuccessful in virtue of having the problem. Instead, I propose that the qua problem should be understood as the failure to show that the fact that an artwork is (im)moral (as opposed to other related facts, such as those that ground this fact) explains, whether directly or indirectly, the work’s artistic value (as opposed to being connected to the artistic value in some other way).
Human Epidemiology and Response to SARS-CoV-2 (HEROS): objectives, design, and enrollment results of a 12-city remote observational surveillance study of households with children, using direct-to-participant methods
Authors: Fulkerson Patricia C , Lussier Stephanie J , Bendixsen Casper G , Castina Sharon M , Gebretsadik Tebeb , Marlin Jessica S , Russell Patty B , Seibold Max A , Everman Jamie L , Moore Camille M , Snyder Brittney M , Thompson Kathy , Tregoning George S , Wellford Stephanie , Arbes Samuel J , Bacharier Leonard B , Calatroni Agustin , Camargo Jr Carlos A , Dupont William D , Furuta Glenn T , Gruchalla Rebecca S , Gupta Ruchi S , Hershey Gurjit Khurana , Jackson Daniel J , Johnson Christine C , Kattan Meyer , Liu Andrew H , Murrison Liza , O’Connor George T , Phipatanakul Wanda , Rivera-Spoljaric Katherine , Rothenberg Marc E , Seroogy Christine M , Teach Stephen J , Zoratti Edward M , Togias Alkis , Hartert Tina V , HEROS Study Team on behalf of the 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

The Human Epidemiology and Response to SARS-CoV-2 (HEROS) Study is a prospective, multicity, 6-month incidence study conducted from May 2020 to February 2021. The objectives were to identify risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection and household transmission among children and people with asthma and allergic diseases, and to use the host nasal transcriptome sampled longitudinally to understand infection risk and sequelae at the molecular level. To overcome challenges of clinical study implementation due to the coronavirus pandemic, this surveillance study used direct-to-participant methods to remotely enroll and prospectively follow eligible children who are participants in other National Institutes of Health–funded pediatric research studies and their household members. Households participated in weekly surveys and biweekly nasal sampling regardless of symptoms. The aim of this report is to widely share the methods and study instruments and to describe the rationale, design, execution, logistics, and characteristics of a large, observational, household-based, remote cohort study of SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission in households with children. The study enrolled a total of 5598 individuals, including 1913 principal participants (children), 1913 primary caregivers, 729 secondary caregivers, and 1043 other household children. This study was successfully implemented without necessitating any in-person research visits and provides an approach for rapid execution of clinical research.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov. Identifier: NCT04375761
On adjustment for temperature in heat-wave epidemiology: a new method for estimating the health effects of heat waves
Authors: Kim Honghyok , Bell Michelle L 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Defining the effect of an exposure of interest and selecting an appropriate estimation method are prerequisites for causal inference. Current understanding of the ways in which an association between heat waves (ie, consecutive days of extremely high temperature) and an outcome depends on whether adjustment was made for temperature and how such adjustment was conducted is limited. In this paper we aim to investigate this dependency, demonstrate that temperature is a confounder in heat-wave–outcome associations, and introduce a new modeling approach with which to estimate a new heat-wave–outcome relationship: E[R(Y)|HW = 1, Z]/E[R(Y)|T = OT, Z], where HW is a daily binary variable used to indicate the presence of a heat wave; R(Y) is the risk of an outcome, Y; T is a temperature variable; OT is optimal temperature; and Z is a set of confounders including typical confounders but also some types of T as a confounder. We recommend characterization of heat-wave–outcome relationships and careful selection of modeling approaches to understand the impacts of heat waves under climate change. We demonstrate our approach using real-world data for Seoul, South Korea. Our demonstration suggests that the total effect of heat waves may be larger than what may be inferred from the extant literature. An R package, HEAT, has been developed and made publicly available.
This article is part of a Special Collection on Environmental Epidemiology.
Automated segmentation and recognition of C. elegans whole-body cells
Authors: Li Yuanyuan , Lai Chuxiao , Wang Meng , Wu Jun , Li Yongbin , Peng Hanchuan , Qu Lei 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Motivation
Accurate segmentation and recognition of C.elegans cells are critical for various biological studies, including gene expression, cell lineages, and cell fates analysis at single-cell level. However, the highly dense distribution, similar shapes, and inhomogeneous intensity profiles of whole-body cells in 3D fluorescence microscopy images make automatic cell segmentation and recognition a challenging task. Existing methods either rely on additional fiducial markers or only handle a subset of cells. Given the difficulty or expense associated with generating fiducial features in many experimental settings, a marker-free approach capable of reliably segmenting and recognizing C.elegans whole-body cells is highly desirable.

Results
We report a new pipeline, called automated segmentation and recognition (ASR) of cells, and applied it to 3D fluorescent microscopy images of L1-stage C.elegans with 558 whole-body cells. A novel displacement vector field based deep learning model is proposed to address the problem of reliable segmentation of highly crowded cells with blurred boundary. We then realize the cell recognition by encoding and exploiting statistical priors on cell positions and structural similarities of neighboring cells. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first method successfully applied to the segmentation and recognition of C.elegans whole-body cells. The ASR-segmentation module achieves an F1-score of 0.8956 on a dataset of 116 C.elegans image stacks with 64 728 cells (accuracy 0.9880, AJI 0.7813). Based on the segmentation results, the ASR recognition module achieved an average accuracy of 0.8879. We also show ASR’s applicability to other cell types, e.g. platynereis and rat kidney cells.

Availability and implementation
The code is available at https://github.com/reaneyli/ASR.
SAFPred: synteny-aware gene function prediction for bacteria using protein embeddings
Authors: Urhan Aysun , Cosma Bianca-Maria , Earl Ashlee M , Manson Abigail L , Abeel Thomas 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Motivation
Today, we know the function of only a small fraction of the protein sequences predicted from genomic data. This problem is even more salient for bacteria, which represent some of the most phylogenetically and metabolically diverse taxa on Earth. This low rate of bacterial gene annotation is compounded by the fact that most function prediction algorithms have focused on eukaryotes, and conventional annotation approaches rely on the presence of similar sequences in existing databases. However, often there are no such sequences for novel bacterial proteins. Thus, we need improved gene function prediction methods tailored for bacteria. Recently, transformer-based language models—adopted from the natural language processing field—have been used to obtain new representations of proteins, to replace amino acid sequences. These representations, referred to as protein embeddings, have shown promise for improving annotation of eukaryotes, but there have been only limited applications on bacterial genomes.

Results
To predict gene functions in bacteria, we developed SAFPred, a novel synteny-aware gene function prediction tool based on protein embeddings from state-of-the-art protein language models. SAFpred also leverages the unique operon structure of bacteria through conserved synteny. SAFPred outperformed both conventional sequence-based annotation methods and state-of-the-art methods on multiple bacterial species, including for distant homolog detection, where the sequence similarity to the proteins in the training set was as low as 40%. Using SAFPred to identify gene functions across diverse enterococci, of which some species are major clinical threats, we identified 11 previously unrecognized putative novel toxins, with potential significance to human and animal health.

Availability and implementation
https://github.com/AbeelLab/safpred.
133 PANCREATIC AND DUODENAL NEUROENDOCRINE TUMORS PRODUCING SOMATOSTATIN
Authors: Milanetto A C , Veronese E , Fassan M , Pasquali C 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Background
Somatostatin-producing NETs (SOM-NETs) of the duodenum (d) and pancreas (p) are rare. In pathological series, SOM-positive dNETs may be 26% and pNETs 4%; some of them associated to inherited genetic syndromes.

Methods
We retrieved the clinical and pathological records of 432 cases of d- and p-NETs operated on in our Centre from 1988 to 2022. Eleven patients (5 F/6 M) had predominant or exclusive staining of somatostatin and were defined SOM-NETs. Last follow up was in November 2023.

Results
There were 8/45 d-NETs (18%) and 3/393 p-NETs (0.8%). Two cases of d-NET occurred in NF-1 patients and one p-NET had a MEN-1. Regarding dNETs: mean size was 1.8 cm (range 0.75-4.5), six were located at the papilla, grade was available in 7 cases (five G1, two G2), 4 had lymph-node metastases and one liver metastases. Two patients had a surgical ampullectomy, 5 pancreatoduodenectomy (PD), one gastric/biliary bypass (liver metastases). Regarding pNETs: tumor size from 3.0 to 4.5 cm, two located in the head (enucleation, and PD), one in the body-tail (distal pancreatectomy), one had lymph-node metastasis, one had a pancreatic recurrence (MEN-1) after 10 years. Three late unrelated deaths occurred in patients 79 to 120 months after PD. The other patients are alive from one to 16 years after surgery.

Conclusions
SOM-NETs (2.5% in our series) are rare in the duodenum and even more in the pancreas. Nodal metastases are frequent, but liver secondaries occasionally occur. Long term-survival without recurrence after resection is the common behavior.
84 ASSESSMENT OF THE SCANDINAVIAN GUIDELINES ON PAPILLARY THYROID CANCER USING THE AGREE II INSTRUMENT
Authors: O´Neill M Sonesson , Areklätt T , Rygård S L , Londero S , Shakir B , Brauckhoff K , Tjellaug E V , Almquist M 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Background
Clinical practice guidelines aim to help with decision making. However, their quality differs. Guidelines of low quality are a waste of resources and can cause patient harm. We compared the quality of the Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish guidelines on papillary thyroid cancer with those of the American Thyroid Association (ATA).

Methods
Three pairs of appraisers independently rated the guidelines using the AGREE II-instrument, a validated tool for assessing guideline quality. Further, recommendations on extent of surgery in low-risk PTC; prophylactic lymph node dissection; thyroxin suppression; radioiodine treatment; watchful waiting and length of follow-up after treatment, and the evidence cited to support the recommendations, were compared across the four guidelines.

Results
Overall, the ATA had the highest quality, with a score of over 70 % in four domains, and the highest score in five of six domains. The Danish and Swedish guidelines reached a score of over 70 % in only one domain each, and the Norwegian in no domain. The overall score was 83 % for the ATA, 50 % for the Danish, 44 % for the Swedish and 28 % for the Norwegian guidelines. Recommendations varied widely. The ATA had the highest number of references supporting the recommendations.

Conclusions
The quality of clinical practice guidelines and recommendations on treatment for PTC differed between the Scandinavian countries and the ATA, with the ATA having the highest quality. International co-operation in producing guidelines seems warranted.
230 CAN EARLY POST-OPERATIVE ULTRASOUND REPLACE ROUTINARY FLEXIBLE LARYNGOSCOPY AFTER NEUROMONITORING-ASSISTED THYROID SURGERY?
Authors: Attard A , Sessa L , Cupido F , Marchisotta S , Maniglia A , Pennestrì F , De Crea C , Raffaelli M 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Background
Ultrasound (US) has been proposed to assess vocal cord motility after thyroid surgery, since early post-operative flexible laryngoscopy (FL) is not readily available in all centers. We aimed to verify if FL can be avoided in intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM)-assisted thyroid surgery followed by early US vocal cord motility evaluation.

Methods
Two hundred and thirty-four patients who underwent IONM-assisted thyroidectomy were included. When total thyroidectomy (TT) was planned, the surgical procedure was stopped after the dissection of the first lobe in case of loss of signal (LOS) or significant signal reduction (SSR). US vocal cord motility evaluation and FL were performed in all patients on post-operative day one.

Results
Among 377 nerves at risk (91 thyroid lobectomies and 143 TT), post-operative FL showed 9 unilateral vocal cord palsies and 4 unilateral hypomotilities. IONM results showed 15 LOS and 10 SSR. US vocal cord motility evaluation confirmed unilateral vocal cord palsy in 8 cases and correctly identify normal post-operative vocal cord motility in 13 patients with altered IONM results. FL was able to diagnose 4 unilateral vocal cord hypomotilities in patients with normal IONM results and US evaluation. Overall accuracy was 91.4% for IONM and 96.5% for US, respectively.

Conclusions
Early postoperative US evaluation after IONM-assisted thyroid surgery improves the overall accuracy of IONM alone in the assessment of laryngeal function after thyroid surgery. Nonetheless IONM results and post-operative US do not replace FL, which remains the gold standard for early detection of laryngeal motility changes also in asymptomatic patients.