bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Efficient reduction of vanadium (V) with biochar and experimental parameters optimized by response surface methodology
Authors: Peng Hao , Wang Laixin , Guo Jing , Wu Yuting , Li Bing , Lin Yinhe 
Published: April 2024

AbstractWater pollution deteriorates ecosystems and has a great threaten to the environment. The environmental benefits of wastewater treatment are extremely important to minimize pollutants. Here, the biochar purchased from the related industry was used to treat the wastewater which contained high concentration of vanadium (V). The concentration of vanadium was measured by the IC-OES and the results showed that 96.1% vanadium (V) was reduced at selected reaction conditions: the mass ratio of biochar to vanadium of 5.4, reaction temperature of 90 °C, reaction time at 60 min and concentration of H2SO4 of 10 g/L, respectively. Response surface methodology confirmed that all the experimental parameters had positive effect on the reduction of vanadium (V), which could improve the reduction efficiency of vanadium (V) as increased. The influence of each parameter on the reduction process followed the order: A (Concentration of H2SO4) > C (mass ratio of biochar to vanadium) > B (mass ratio of biochar to vanadium). Especially, the mass ratio of biochar to vanadium and concentration of H2SO4 had the greatest influence on the reduction process. This paper provides a versatile strategy for the treatment of wastewater containing vanadium (V) and shows a bright tomorrow for wastewater treatment.
Impairment of lung volume perception and breathing control in hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
Authors: Hakimi Adrien , Bergoin Cyrille , De Jesus Anna , Hermand Eric , Fabre Claudine , Mucci Patrick 
Published: April 2024

AbstractBreathing difficulties and exertional dyspnea are frequently reported in hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS); however, they are not clearly explained. An impaired proprioception or the addition of a cognitive task could influence ventilatory control. How can the perception of lung volume be measured? Is lung volume perception impaired in hEDS patients? Is the breathing control impaired during a cognitive task in hEDS patients? A device was developed to assess the accuracy of lung volume perception in patients with hEDS and matched control subjects. In the second step, ventilation was recorded in both groups with and without a cognitive task. Two groups of 19 subjects were included. The accuracy of lung volume perception was significantly (P < 0.01) lower at 30% of inspired vital capacity in patients with hEDS in comparison to the control group, and they showed erratic ventilation (based on spatial and temporal criteria) when performing a cognitive task. These data support the influence of the proprioceptive deficit on ventilatory control in hEDS patients. These elements may help to understand the respiratory manifestations found in hEDS. Future research should focus on this relationship between lung volume perception and ventilation, and could contribute to our understanding of other pathologies or exercise physiology.Trial registration number: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05000151.
Single-cell RNA sequencing explores the evolution of the ecosystem from leukoplakia to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Wang Haibin , Guan Zhenjie , Zheng Lian 
Published: April 2024

AbstractIt has been found that progression from leukoplakia to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a long-term process that may involve changes in the multicellular ecosystem. We acquired scRNA-seq samples information from gene expression omnibus and UCSC Xena database. The BEAM function was used to construct the pseudotime trajectory and analyze the differentially expressed genes in different branches. We used the ssGSEA method to explore the correlation between each cell subgroup and survival time, and obtained the cell subgroup related to prognosis. During the progression from leukoplakia to HNSCC, we found several prognostic cell subgroups, such as AURKB + epithelial cells, SFRP1 + fibroblasts, SLC7A8 + macrophages, FCER1A + CD1C + dendritic cells, and TRGC2 + NK/T cells. All cell subgroups had two different fates, one tending to cell proliferation, migration, and enhancement of angiogenesis capacity, and the other tending to inflammatory immune response, leukocyte chemotaxis, and T cell activation. Tumor-promoting genes such as CD163 and CD209 were highly expressed in the myeloid cells, and depletion marker genes such as TIGIT, LAG3 were highly expressed in NK/T cells. Our study may provide a reference for the molecular mechanism of HNSCC and theoretical basis for the development of new therapeutic strategies.
Predicting attitudes toward ambiguity using natural language processing on free descriptions for open-ended question measurements
Authors: Hitsuwari Jimpei , Okano Hirohito , Nomura Michio 
Published: April 2024

AbstractIndividual traits and reactions to ambiguity differ and are conceptualized in terms of an individual’s attitudes toward ambiguity or ambiguity tolerance. The development of natural language processing technology has made it possible to measure mental states and reactions through open-ended questions, rather than predefined numerical rating scales, which have traditionally been the dominant method in psychological research. This study presented three ambiguity-related situations and responses collected online from 591 participants in an open-ended format. After the analysis with bidirectional encoder representations from transformers, correlations were calculated using scores from the numerical evaluation by conventional questionnaire, and a significant moderate positive correlation was found. Therefore, this study found that attitudes toward ambiguity can be measured using an open-ended response method of reporting everyday life states. It is a novel methodology that can be expanded to other scales in psychology and can potentially be used in educational and clinical situations where participants can be asked to respond with minimal burden.
A multi-ancestry GWAS of Fuchs corneal dystrophy highlights the contributions of laminins, collagen, and endothelial cell regulation
Authors: Gorman Bryan R. , Francis Michael , Nealon Cari L. , Halladay Christopher W. , Duro Nalvi , Markianos Kyriacos , Genovese Giulio , Hysi Pirro G. , Choquet Hélène , Afshari Natalie A. , Li Yi-Ju ,   VA Million Veteran Program, Tsao Philip S. , Gaziano J. Michael , Hung Adriana M. , Wu Wen-Chih , Greenberg Paul B. , Pyarajan Saiju , Lass Jonathan H. , Peachey Neal S. , Iyengar Sudha K. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractFuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) is a leading indication for corneal transplantation, but its molecular etiology remains poorly understood. We performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of FECD in the Million Veteran Program followed by multi-ancestry meta-analysis with the previous largest FECD GWAS, for a total of 3970 cases and 333,794 controls. We confirm the previous four loci, and identify eight novel loci: SSBP3, THSD7A, LAMB1, PIDD1, RORA, HS3ST3B1, LAMA5, and COL18A1. We further confirm the TCF4 locus in GWAS for admixed African and Hispanic/Latino ancestries and show an enrichment of European-ancestry haplotypes at TCF4 in FECD cases. Among the novel associations are low frequency missense variants in laminin genes LAMA5 and LAMB1 which, together with previously reported LAMC1, form laminin-511 (LM511). AlphaFold 2 protein modeling, validated through homology, suggests that mutations at LAMA5 and LAMB1 may destabilize LM511 by altering inter-domain interactions or extracellular matrix binding. Finally, phenome-wide association scans and colocalization analyses suggest that the TCF4 CTG18.1 trinucleotide repeat expansion leads to dysregulation of ion transport in the corneal endothelium and has pleiotropic effects on renal function.
Molecular motion of a nanoscopic moonlander via translations and rotations of triphenylphosphine on graphite
Authors: Tamtögl Anton , Sacchi Marco , Schwab Victoria , Koza Michael M. , Fouquet Peter 
Published: April 2024

AbstractMass transport at surfaces determines the kinetics of processes such as heterogeneous catalysis and thin-film growth, with the diffusivity being controlled by excitation across a translational barrier. Here, we use neutron spectroscopy to follow the nanoscopic motion of triphenylphosphine (P(C6H5)3 or PPh3) adsorbed on exfoliated graphite. Together with force-field molecular dynamics simulations, we show that the motion is similar to that of a molecular motor, i.e. PPh3 rolls over the surface with an almost negligible activation energy for rotations and motion of the phenyl groups and a comparably small activation energy for translation. While rotations and intramolecular motion dominate up to about 300 K, the molecules follow an additional translational jump-motion across the surface from 350-500 K. The unique behaviour of PPh3 is due to its three-point binding with the surface: Along with van der Waals corrected density functional theory calculations, we illustrate that the adsorption energy of PPh3 increases considerably compared to molecules with flat adsorption geometry, yet the effective diffusion barrier for translational motion increases only slightly. We rationalise these results in terms of molecular symmetry, structure and contact angle, illustrating that the molecular degrees of freedom in larger molecules are intimately connected with the diffusivity.
Spectroscopic analysis of the bacterially expressed head domain of rotavirus VP6
Authors: Strachan Milaan Simone , Mashapa Tshepo , Gildenhuys Samantha 
Published: April 2024

Abstract
The rotavirus capsid protein VP6 forms the middle of three protein layers and is responsible for many critical steps in the viral life cycle. VP6 as a structural protein can be used in various applications including as a subunit vaccine component. The head domain of VP6 (VP6H) contains key sequences that allow the protein to trimerize and that represent epitopes that are recognized by human antibodies in the viral particle. The domain is rich in β-sheet secondary structures. Here, VP6H was solubilised from bacterial inclusion bodies and purified using a single affinity chromatography step. Spectral (far-UV circular dichroism and intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence) analysis revealed that the purified domain had native-like secondary and tertiary structures. The domain could maintain structure up to 44°C during thermal denaturation following which structural changes result in an intermediate forming and finally irreversible aggregation and denaturation. The chemical denaturation with urea and guanidinium hydrochloride produces intermediates that represent a loss in the cooperativity. The VP6H domain is stable and can fold to produce its native structure in the absence of the VP6 base domain but cannot be defined as an independent folding unit.
Robust T‐S fuzzy‐model‐based nonfragile sampled‐data control for cyber‐physical systems with stochastic delay and cyber‐attacks
Authors: Arunagirinathan Srinivasan , Lee Tae H. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractThis work addresses the nonfragile sampled‐data control (SDC) of the Takagi‐Sugeno (T‐S) fuzzy model for cyber‐physical systems (CPSs) subject to cyber‐attacks (CAs). The sets of random variables satisfying the Bernoulli distribution are utilized to depict the probability of the data transmitted by the network being subjected to stochastic delay and CAs. Then, the information for the entire sampling interval to with a relation of the augmented state vectors is considered for designing the SDC of the T‐S fuzzy systems (TSFSs). In this regard, the fractional delayed state looped functional (LF) approach is presented to handle the formulated Lyapunov‐Krasovskii functional. Based on the LF method, new criteria are acquired to design SDC such that the proposed CPS is asymptotically stable in terms of linear matrix inequalities. It is worth noting that the proposed control strategy for the TSFSs guarantees stable performance while dealing with the attacks in the numerical section. Also, for the various attacking strengths of periodic and non‐periodic nature, the TSFSs have been simulated to show the efficiency of the proposed control method. Additionally, three numerical models have been performed to validate the less conservatism and superiority of the derived results over the existing ones.
Vibration characteristics of a single‐phase four‐column auto‐transformer core excited by geomagnetically induced currents
Authors: Xin Wenkai , Liu Chunming , Wang Guyue , Zhan Ruopu , Li Bing , Wang Zezhong 
Published: April 2024

AbstractDuring geomagnetic storms, geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) occur in the power grid. GIC is a quasi‐direct current, which is represented by using a fixed DC current, the authors propose an approach that combines field‐circuit‐coupled and weakly coupled magneto‐mechanical models to investigate the magnetostriction characteristics of single‐phase, four‐column autotransformer cores excited by GICs. A non‐linear magnetostrictive constitutive model that considers the impact of stress and magnetisation intensity on ferromagnetic materials is introduced. The model reveals that the strain in the core initially increases as the magnetisation intensity increases; however, when the core begins to saturate, the magnetostrictive strain weakens as the magnetisation intensity increases. Moreover, the results of multiphysics finite‐element modelling are experimentally verified using a direct current bias platform. The results show that when excited by GICs, there is an enhancement in the vibration of the iron core, and the harmonic content of the vibration acceleration increases considerably, with the odd harmonics most significantly increasing in amplitude. The conclusion drawn is that GICs can exacerbate transformer vibration and significantly increase the content of harmonics, especially odd harmonics.
A wideband end‐fire stepped slot antenna with gain enhancement and filtering capability
Authors: Wang Shiyan , Li Hao‐Chen , Li Yin , Guo Zai‐Cheng , Zhang Gang , Yang Li , Gómez‐García Roberto 
Published: April 2024

AbstractA wideband end‐fire stepped slot antenna with gain enhancement and filtering capability is proposed. On one hand, a parasitic dipole serving as a director is introduced in the stepped slot to improve the radiation gain of the slot antenna without increasing its physical size. It is found that a gain enhancement of about 2 dB can be achieved after adopting such approach. On the other hand, an absorptive branch possessing a nearly complementary frequency response with regard to the one of the slot antenna is in‐parallel loaded at the microstrip feedline. It allows the partial dissipation of the out‐of‐band/non‐radiated RF‐signal power of the antenna to attain both an RF‐quasi‐absorptive behaviour and filtering capability. It is found that after loading the dissipative branch, the out‐of‐band radiation efficiency of the slot antenna is reduced to less than 20%. The measured results of a fabricated proof‐of‐concept antenna prototype show a reasonable agreement with the simulated ones and verify the RF performance merits of the proposed stepped slot antenna, such as wide RF operating band covering the 3.39−4.73‐GHz range, end‐fire radiation with a front‐to‐back ratio (FBR) above 10 dB, flat radiation gain, and co‐integrated filtering functionality with RF‐quasi‐absorptive capability.
FDG-PET/CT is a powerful tool to predict and evaluate response to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in Non-Hodgkin-Lymphoma (NHL)
Authors: Wielenberg Christoph-Ferdinand , Fostitsch Johannes Christian , Volz Christian , Marks Reinhard , Michalski Kerstin , Wäsch Ralph , Zeiser Robert , Ruf Juri , Meyer Philipp T , Klein Claudius 
Published: April 2024

AbstractChimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has dramatically shifted the landscape of treatment especially for Non-Hodgkin-Lymphoma (NHL). This study evaluates the role of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in NHL treated with CAR T-cell therapy concerning response assessment and prognosis.We evaluated 34 patients with NHL who received a CAR T-cell therapy between August 2019 and July 2022. All patients underwent a pre-therapeutic FDG-PET/CT (PET-0) 6 days prior and a post-therapeutic FDG-PET/CT (PET-1) 34 days after CAR T-cell therapy. Deauville score (DS) was used for evaluation of response to therapy and compared to a minimum follow-up of 5 months.19/34 (55.9%) patients achieved DS ≤ 3 on PET-1, the remaining 15 (44.1%) patients had DS > 3 on PET-1. 14/19 patients with DS ≤ 3 on PET-1 had no relapsed or refractory (r/r)-disease and were still alive at last follow-up. The other 5 patients had r/r-disease and 4 of these died. Except for two patients who had no r/r-disease, all other patients (13/15) with DS > 3 on PET-1 had r/r-disease and 12 of these subsequently died. Patients with DS ≤ 3 on PET-1 had significantly better progression free survival (PFS; HR: 5.7; p < 0.01) and overall survival (OS; HR: 5.0; p < 0.01) compared to patients with DS > 3 on PET-1. In addition, we demonstrated that patients with DS ≤ 4 on PET-0 tended to have longer PFS (HR: 3.6; p = 0.05).Early FDG-PET/CT using the established DS after CAR T-cell therapy is a powerful tool to evaluate response to therapy.
Butadienyl Ketene: An Unexplored Intermediate in Organic Synthesis
Authors: Mann Maninderjeet K. , Wahan Simranpreet K. , Bhargava Gaurav , Tandon Nitin 
Published: April 2024

AbstractButadienyl ketene is a useful intermediate because of its role as a 2p-component in cycloaddition reactions with a variety of substrates such as simple or conjugated imines and dienes. This review article summarizes recent reports on the generation of butadienyl ketene in situ and their cycloaddition reactions to afford heterocyclic systems. The chemistry of butadienyl ketene is explored with a focus on its [2+2] and [4+2] cycloaddition reactions with a variety of imines and azadiene derivatives such as 1,3-diazabuta-1,3-dienes, for the synthesis of four- and six-membered heterocycles, respectively.
The soundscape and tourism experience in rural destinations: an empirical investigation from Shawan Ancient Town
Authors: Bai Wenxi , Wang Jiaojiao , Wong Jose Weng Chou , Han Xingyu , Guo Yiqing 
Published: April 2024

AbstractRural tourism is becoming more valued by different tourist destinations along with the expansion of its market, especially, ancient town tourism, as one of the special rural tourism destinations, has become popular in recent years. This study aims to take Shawan ancient town as a case to comprehend the role of soundscape perceptions in affecting both flow experience and memorable tourism experience and further influence future behavioral intentions. The method of systematic sampling was performed, and finally, 394 samples were retained for further PLS-SEM analysis. The results show that both natural soundscape perceptions and human-made soundscape perceptions have significant effects on flow experience and memorable tourism experience, and natural soundscape perceptions have a stronger effect on tourism experience. In addition, both flow experience and memorable tourism experience were found to influence behavioral intention positively, and flow experience shows the stronger impact. Findings provide managerial implications suggesting that destination managers should cleverly integrate natural soundscape elements into the design of ancient towns and reduce interference from human-made soundscapes. Additionally, practical implications are provided for destination managers in designing soundscapes in the ancient town.
Temporal repertoires in contemporary activism: The cases of Fridays for Future, 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence and ‘It’s Thursday Again!’
Authors: Siročić Zorica 
Published: April 2024

ABSTRACT
This paper proposes the novel concept of ‘temporal activist repertoires’ (TAR) defined as the intentional and meaningful selection and use of temporal elements, such as time frame, timing, tempo, duration, and temporality in collective action’s tactics and frames. Collectives thereby draw on culturally resonant temporal references to interweave the symbolic and strategic choices in making their demands, organising political action and/or sustaining commitment to the political cause. To answer the question of how social movements use TAR and how these are positioned alongside other repertoires of contention, the paper analyses: the global Fridays for the Future and 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, and the Austrian ‘It’s Thursday Again!’. The paper shows that the innovative potential of TAR is linked to the use of technologically advanced media tools for the purposes of coordination, pressure, recruitment, mobilisation and visibility, as well as for the adaptations that these movements require, which include strategies to build on past traditions and/or to connect with currently existing allied movements.
Inverse design from the catenary problem
Authors: de Lima P D S , de Araújo J M , Ferreira M S 
Published: April 2024

Abstract
Inverse problems in science normally involve the challenge of obtaining from a set of observations the causal factors that generated them in the first place. However, physics students are seldom exposed to such problems as part of their training. Here we revisit the mechanics problem of finding the shape of a hanging cable, but this time in reverse, i.e. by asking what mass density a cable must have to follow a specific shape. This concept is then generalised into the possibility of identifying a cable whose hanging shape follows any form we wish to design. This inverted design strategy is experimentally verified with an inexpensive setup that is suitable for classroom activities.
Rare and exclusive few-body decays of the Higgs, Z, W bosons, and the top quark
Authors: d'Enterria David , Le Dung Van 
Published: April 2024

Abstract
We perform an extensive survey of rare and exclusive few-body decays ---defined as those with branching fractions $\mathcal{B} \lesssim 10^{-5}$ and two or three final particles--- of the Higgs, Z, W bosons, and the top quark. Such rare decays can probe physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM), constitute a background for exotic decays into new BSM particles, and provide precise information on quantum chromodynamics factorization with small nonperturbative corrections. We tabulate the theoretical $\mathcal{B}$ values for almost 200 rare decay channels of the four heaviest elementary particles, indicating the current experimental limits in their observation. Among those, we have computed for the first time ultrarare Higgs boson decays into photons and/or neutrinos, H and Z radiative decays into leptonium states, radiative H and Z quark-flavour-changing decays, and semiexclusive top-quark decays into a quark plus a meson, while updating predictions for a few other rare H, Z, and top quark partial widths. The feasibility of measuring each of these unobserved decays is estimated for p-p collisions at the high-luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), and for $e^+e^-$ and p-p collisions at the future circular collider (FCC).