bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Small beginnings: Interactions between fire timing and the giant sequoia seedling generation niche
Authors: Lauder Jeffrey , Stephens Molly , Reynoso Citlally , Cisneros-Carey Alex , Lommel Yazmín , Moraes Oli , Sanchez Tomas , Heckel Aubrie , Campos-Melendez Abel , Tse Amanda , Dickman Garrett , Reyes Thomas , Sexton Jason P. 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

Background:
As fire regimes change under a warming climate, ideal tree seedling recruitment locations and conditions are important to understand for forest management and restoration. In forests adapted to frequent, low-intensity fire, reintroduction of fire is often the preferred or recommended management approach. Little work, however, has explored the interacting roles of local-scale microhabitat and fire severity in determining post-fire recruitment. Here we use a back burn applied to a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum [Lindl.] Buchholz) grove in Yosemite National Park, California, to ask how sub-meter microhabitat variation influences seedling establishment and growth following fire.
Results
Post-fire S. giganteum seedling establishment was greatest in microhabitats with lower burn severity, higher post-fire sequoia litter, higher moss cover, and higher presence of sequoia cones.
Conclusion
These results indicate the importance of burn severity coupled with propagule pressure and post-fire surface organic matter in defining the seedling regeneration niche. These attributes should be incorporated in future fire management and seedling recruitment plans.
Comparative Evaluation of Visual and Tactile Spatial Guidance Systems in Virtual Reality
Authors: Liu Zhi , Li Jingjing , Fushimi Tatsuki , Ochiai Yoichi 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Despite the common use of visual aids for spatial guidance, the extensive use of visual elements can lead to interface overcrowding and visual overload. In contrast, tactile navigation presents a vision-free alternative in assisting way-finding tasks. However, previous studies kept directional cues constantly active in experiments, overlooking potential differences in user interaction behavior caused by variations in interpretation speed and localization accuracy between visual, tactile, and combined spatial guidance. Additionally, these studies typically simplified navigation tasks, focusing on following cues without the multitasking demands of large-scale virtual environments. This paper aims to fill the gap by investigating the effects of visual, vibrotactile (equidistant and localized magnification), and combined (visual + equidistant and visual + localized magnification) spatial guidance modalities on task performance, user behavior and tendency in large-scale virtual environments.By building an immersive virtual scene that enables continuous tracking of participants' performance and interaction behaviors, results indicated no significant disparities in task completion times and way-finding strategies across modalities. However, tactile modalities were activated more frequently but for a shorter duration compared to visual and combined modalities. Moreover, when both visual and tactile directional cues were presented, users tended to rely on visual cues.
Elevation of ST After Successful Primary PCI with Acute Myocardial Infarction Patient: Hyperkalemia Induced Brugada Phenocopy
Authors: Li Jiazheng , Zou Qi , Sun Shougang 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

The common reason of ST re-elevation after successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention within 24 hours is thrombosis in stent. However, not all ST re-elevations are caused by thrombosis, several clinical conditions other than Brugada syndrome can mimic acute ST segment elevation myocardial infarction. Brugada phenocopies are a part of those conditions that can mimic either true Brugada syndrome or acute myocardial infarction. It is important for physicans to identify these electrocardiogram changes and avoid inappropriate therapy.
Comparison of hand-sewn anastomosis and FETE anastomosis in totally laparoscopic total gastrectomy among elderly patients
Authors: Chen Junyu , Qiu Kaijie , Wang Haibiao , Wang Jie , Zhu Jie , Li Hong 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

Background: Esophagojejunostomy poses a significant challenge in the context of totally laparoscopic total gastrectomy (TLTG). The objective of this study was to compare the feasibility and safety of two distinct anastomotic techniques, namely hand-sewn anastomosis and functional end-to-end (FETE) anastomosis, in elderly patients undergoing TLTG.
Methods: The clinical data of 28 elderly patients aged ≥ 60 years who underwent TLTG at Ningbo Medical Center Lihuili Hospital (Xingning hospital district) between January 2020 and December 2023 were retrospectively analyzed, and the clinical experiences were comprehensively examined and summarized
Results: There were 15 cases in hand-sewn anastomosis group and 13 cases in FETE anastomosis group. The two groups exhibited disparities in terms of the distance from the tumor's upper margin to the esophageal resection margin, duration of surgery, and utilization of intraoperative gastroscopy. In the hand-sewn anastomosis group, the mean distance from the tumor's upper margin to the esophageal resection margin was 1.8 cm. Intraoperative gastroscopy was employed in 13 cases, with an average operative duration of 404 minutes. In the FETE anastomosis group, the the mean distance from the tumor's upper margin to the esophageal resection margin, no patients used intraoperative gastroscopy, and the average operation time was 265 minutes
Conclusion: The hand-sewn anastomosis is deemed suitable for patients with a high anastomosis position, however, its execution poses challenges and consumes considerable time. The fete anastomosis technique is characterized by its efficiency and simplicity; however, it poses a significant risk for patients with a high anastomotic site.
Root phenotypic plasticity: agronomic, breeding and modelling implications
Authors: Zhao Dongxue , de Voil Peter , Sadras Victor , Palta Jairo , Rodriguez Daniel 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

CONTEXT. Phenotypic plasticity is one of four strategies for coping with environmental heterogeneity, and can be valuable for crop adaptation.
OBJECTIVE. With a perspective of phenotypic plasticity, we focus on root traits associated to water uptake and yield formation in field-grown sorghum aiming to study: (1) How do genetic (G), environmental (E) and management (M) factors and their interactions, affect functional root traits? (2) How does plasticity in root traits affect crop yield and yield stability?; and (3) How can plasticity in root traits be introduced in functional crop models?
METHODS. A new high-throughput functional root phenotyping approach, that uses time-lapsed electromagnetic induction (EMI) surveys, was used in field G´E´M trials to quantify maximum rooting depth – RD, and a root activity index– RA. Phenotypic plasticity was determined using a reaction norm method.
RESULTS. The root phenotyping approach captured G´E´M effects on RA and RD. There was a hierarchy of plasticities for above and below ground traits, i.e., grain number traits > root traits > grain weight traits. The plasticity of root traits was associated to the stability in grain yield traits. Hybrids with high plasticity in root traits tended to stabilise grain numbers and grain weights. Useful diversity in the mean value and plasticity of root traits amongst commercial sorghum hybrids was found here, that could be used to match root phenotypes to target production environments.
CONCLUSIONS. The developed high-throughput root phenotyping approach can be a useful tool in breeding and agronomy to increase crop adaptation to drought stress.
MicroRNA Expression Analysis of the Rat Brain During Neuropathic Pain Development
Authors: Pando Miryam , Misganaw Burook , Dimitrov George , Yang Ruoting , Chavez Roger , Garza Thomas , Trevino Alex V , Priess Michaela , Gautam Aarti , Hammamieh Rasha , Clifford John L , Stark Thomas R , Hinojosa-Laborde Carmen , Davidson Nathan , Sosanya Natasha M 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

Background Approximately 40% of Service Members deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and an astounding 80% of Veterans overall report experiencing pain. Currently, drugs that adequately treat pain may result in addiction and substance abuse or negative side effects such as nausea, vomiting, renal and cardiovascular issues, among other physiological and cognitive problems. Inadequate acute pain management can lead to the development of chronic pain. Combat and non-combat injuries, acute and chronic pain all have the potential to impact return-to-duty rates/decisions, thereby negatively affecting the Fighting Force. To develop more effective pain therapeutics, the molecular mechanisms contributing to the development of neuropathic pain are under intense investigation and further research is needed to fully understand neuropathic pain induction and maintenance. The overarching objective of this study is to identify microRNA (miRNA) changes in key brain regions during the onset and progression of neuropathic pain in a rodent model. Results Changes in miRNA expression were observed at day 15 post-SNL in the amygdala and thalamus. The majority of changes were observed in the left side of the brain, contralateral to the right-sided SNL injury. The DE miRNAs identified mainly in the amygdala and thalamus did not overlap between brain regions. The altered miRNAs regulate key signaling pathways and genes important in pain development. Discussion The majority of epigenetic studies investigating altered miRNA expression in the pain field have explored the peripheral nervous system. Very few studies have evaluated miRNA dynamics in the brain following neuropathic pain development. This study provides key insights into changes occurring in the brain following peripheral nerve injury. Our lab has previously identified circulating extracellular vesicle (EV) miRNAs that are altered in the blood post-SNL. There is some overlap between the blood and brain miRNAs that may serve as key biomarkers in prognosis and/or diagnosis of a peripheral nerve injury and the development of chronic pain.
PackDock: a Diffusion Based Side Chain Packing Model for Flexible Protein-Ligand Docking
Authors: Zheng Mingyue , Zhang Runze , Jiang Xinyu , Cao Duanhua , Yu Jie , Chen Mingan , Fan Zhehuan , Kong Xiangtai , Xiong Jiacheng , Zhang Zimei , Zhang Wei , Ni Shengkun , Wang Yitian , Gao Shenghua 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

Structure-based drug design (SBDD) relies on accurate knowledge of protein structure and ligand-binding conformations. However, most of the static conformations obtained by advanced methods such as structural biology and de novo protein folding algorithms often don’t meet the needs for drug design. We introduce PackDock, a flexible docking method that combines “conformation selection” and “induced fit” mechanisms in a two-stage docking pipeline. The core module of this method is PackPocket, which uses a diffusion model to sample diverse conformations within the equilibrium distribution of the ligand binding pocket or to converge towards the side-chain conformations induced by the ligand. We evaluate our method using several tests that reflect real-world application scenarios. (1) Side-chain packing and Re-docking experiments validate the ability of PackDock to predict accurate side-chain conformations and ligand conformations. (2) Cross-docking experiments with apo and non-homologous ligand-induced holo structures align with real docking scenarios, demonstrating PackDock’s practical value. (3) Docking experiments with hypothetical models show that PackPocket can potentially conduct SBDD starting from protein sequence information only. Additionally, we found that PackDock can identify key amino acid conformation changes, which may provide insights for lead compound optimization. We demonstrate PackDock can accurately predict the complex conformations in various application scenarios, by combining the conformation selection mechanism and the induced fit mechanism, and by using the ability of PackPocket to accurately predict the side chain conformations in the pocket region. We believe this method can improve the usability of existing structures, providing a new perspective for the SBDD community.
Optimizations of Cutting Coefficients in Milling with Population Based Meta-Heuristic Algorithms and Modelling of Cutting Forces
Authors: Bayram Bayram Sercan , Atila Ümit , Korkut İhsan 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

The milling process needs to be optimized to improve production outputs. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the cutting forces that have significant effects on the performance of the milling process. In the literature, researchers have developed many models based on predicting the forces generated during milling. However, the developed models require many experimental data. In this study, a hybrid method, including metaheuristic algorithms and semi-analytical methods, is developed to predict milling cutting forces. The presented method uses a semi-analytical mechanistic prediction model and optimizes the cutting constants (Ktc, Kte, Krc, and Kre) with population-based swarm intelligence algorithms. Genetic Algorithm (GA), Differential Development Algorithm (DE), and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) Algorithms are chosen to solve the problem. The analytical prediction model based on truncation coefficients is set as the objective function. Each algorithm was run thirty times for the solution, and their performances were compared. DE was the best-performing algorithm in terms of stability and speed. Experimental measurements were performed to verify the results. The actual cutting force components and the predicted force components Fx and Fy were evaluated by the coefficient of determination (R2). The results for the force components Fx and Fy were observed to be similar to the actual measurement results, with an accuracy of 88.8% and 92.7%, respectively. The method presented in the study proved that the cutting coefficients can be calculated much faster with only one experiment. The findings are promising for future studies on cutting conditions and autonomous execution of the process.
Groundwater Potential Assessment Using Integrated 2D and 3D Electrical Tomography and 2D Gravity Modeling: A Case Study of the Burka Uke Catchment, West Ethiopia.
Authors: Fufa Imiru Adugna , Lamessa Geremew 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
The expanding infrastructure and growing population of Uke town necessitate a greater water supply for agricultural and drinking uses. As a result, the goal of this research is to map the aquifer in the Burka Uke catchment in West Ethiopia by determining the depth of the basement rocks, the resistivity and density of subsurface layers, their thickness, and the structural components. To identify the potential for groundwater and the structural components that regulate the geometry of groundwater aquifers in the region, this study combines integrated electrical resistivity tomography with gravity modeling. Low resistivity variations in the subsurface are revealed by resistivity profile studies (1, 4, and 6), suggesting the existence of possible groundwater aquifers. The stark difference in resistivity values between 498 and 1612 ohm.m. is thought to indicate a high fracture density, which could indicate the presence of geological structures that could support the buildup of groundwater. Additionally, the entire Bouguer gravity anomaly image, which is separated into regional and residual components, displays values ranging from 51.79 to 41.59 mGal. Fault elements have been identified using the residual gravity anomaly map; fault elements that strike from south to north have been mapped in this study. Furthermore, the results of 2D and 3D electrical tomography as well as 2D gravity modeling along B-B' show that the aquifer extends far across the research area in a north‒south direction.
Computational analysis of congenital heart disease associated SNPs: Unveiling their impact on the gene regulatory system
Authors: Vashisht Shikha , Parisi Costantino , Winata Cecilia 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

Background
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a prevalent condition characterized by defective heart development, causing premature death and stillbirths among infants. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have provided insights into the role of genetic variants in CHD pathogenesis through the identification of a comprehensive set of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Notably, 90–95% of these variants reside in the noncoding genome, complicating the understanding of their underlying mechanisms.
Results
In this study, we developed a systematic computational pipeline for the identification and analysis of CHD-associated SNPs spanning both coding and noncoding regions of the genome. Initially, we curated a thorough dataset of SNPs from GWAS-catalog and ClinVar database and filtered them based on CHD-related traits. Subsequently, these CHD-SNPs were annotated and categorized into noncoding and coding regions based on their location. To study the functional implications of noncoding CHD-SNPs, we cross-validated them with enhancer-specific histone modification marks from developing human heart across 9 Carnegie stages and identified potential cardiac enhancers. This approach led to the identification of 2,056 CHD-associated putative enhancers (CHD-enhancers), 38.9% of them overlapping with known enhancers catalogued in human enhancer disease database. We identified heart-related transcription factor binding sites within these CHD-enhancers, offering insights into the impact of SNPs on TF binding. Conservation analysis further revealed that many of these CHD-enhancers were highly conserved across vertebrates, suggesting their evolutionary significance. Utilizing heart-specific expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) data, we further identified a subset of 63 CHD-SNPs with regulatory potential distributed across various cardiac tissues. Concurrently, coding CHD-SNPs were represented as a protein interaction network and its subsequent binding energy analysis focused on a pair of proteins within this network, pinpointed a deleterious coding CHD-SNP, rs770030288, located in C2 domain of MYBPC3 protein.
Conclusions
Overall, our findings demonstrate that SNPs have the potential to disrupt gene regulatory systems, either by affecting enhancer sequences or modulating protein-protein interactions, which can lead to abnormal developmental processes contributing to CHD pathogenesis.
Enhancing Healthcare Security Using IoT and Blockchain through the Perspective of Novel Solidity Smart Contracts
Authors: Nath Kedar Nath Singh Kedar , Kumar Arvind Kumar Upadhyay Arvind 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

This study employs new Solidity smart contracts to construct a novel healthcare safety system that combines blockchain and IoT. The recommended approach has been extensively tested and proven to efficiently encrypt data, manage access correctly, and monitor accurately in real time. The study's complete ablation analysis breaks into wearables for continual tracking, smart contracts for authorization and access management, and blockchain for data security. The results demonstrate how crucial these pieces are and how they depend on each other for system strength and efficacy. By addressing data breaches, illegal access, and incorrect real-time tracking, this study illuminates hospital IT security. Safety and scalability make the recommended approach an excellent choice for protecting private health information. This improves patient care and security. New technology makes the supplied healthcare security system fit to lead. Future development will focus on adapting to new technology, introducing powerful machine learning algorithms for predictive analytics, and making it more user-friendly. This study's findings are crucial to healthcare data management's future since they indicate progress.
Beamforming and lightweight GRU neural networkcombination model for multi-channel speech enhancement
Authors: Cao Zhengdong , Li Dongmei 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
In this paper, a multi-channel speech enhancement structure combining beamformers and lightweightneural networks is proposed. By using a first-order differential beamformer to improve the signalto-noise ratio of the target speech, the burden on the subsequent neural network is reduced, thuslowering the complexity of the required neural network. A two-stage gated recurrent neural networkis employed, where the first stage recurrent neural network processes the channel characteristics ofthe speech and the second handles the frequency domain features of the speech. The frequency banddivision combined with convolution is used to further compress the network scale. With suitable lossfunction, the speech enhancement performance of the model is further improved.The proposed modelstructure is trained, evaluated, and validated using simulated multi-channel microphone array datasetsgenerated from the public TIMIT dataset. The results demonstrate that our model achieves goodmulti-channel speech enhancement performance with relatively small parameter and computationalrequirements when compared to popular existing approaches.
Trend and factor modeling for early treatment for fever in children under 5 years of age in Guinea
Authors: Diallo Mamadou Dian Dilé , Kaba Sidiki , Winner Michelle 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

Malaria remains the leading cause of morbidity in Guinea. To contain it, the national program to combat malaria, following the directives of the World Health Organization, prioritizes: the mass distribution of mosquito nets impregnated with insecticides, seasonal chemo-prevention, intermittent preventive treatment of in pregnant women, and the correct management of all confirmed cases. The latest survey on malaria and anemia indicators carried out in 2021 indicates a malaria prevalence of 17% among children under 5 years old. Among these children who contracted fever during the last two weeks preceding the survey, seeking care within 48 hours was only made for 32% of cases in 2021 while it was 37% in 2018 Or a drop in healthcare use while malaria prevalence remains high. Faced with this observation, it is important to identify the factors which explain this low recourse to care and/or treatment in cases of fever in children under five years of age in Guinea? In this perspective, we used data from the 2018 demographic and health survey and those from the 2021 malaria and anemia indicators survey. Descriptive and predictive analyzes were used to identify the factors common and specific conditions associated with early recourse to care for fever in children in Guinea. The results show that early care-seeking is low and is decreasing while the prevalence of malaria has remained constant at 17% since 2018. In addition, care-seeking is lower in rural areas and among poor households. and in the regions of Boké, Kindia, Labé and Nzérékoré. Studies on the use of care in cases of fever in children including endemic areas would make it possible to identify new strategies towards the eradication of malaria in Guinea.