bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Climate and disease: tackling coffee brown‐eye spot with advanced forecasting models
Authors: de Oliveira Aparecido Lucas Eduardo , de Lima Rafael Fausto , Torsoni Guilherme Botega , Lorençone João Antonio , Lorençone Pedro Antonio , de Souza Rolim Glauco 
Published: February 2024

AbstractBackgroundClimate influences the interaction between pathogens and their hosts significantly. This is particularly evident in the coffee industry, where fungal diseases like Cercospora coffeicola, causing brown‐eye spot, can reduce yields drastically. This study focuses on forecasting coffee brown‐eye spot using various models that incorporate agrometeorological data, allowing for predictions at least 1 week prior to the occurrence of disease. Data were gathered from eight locations across São Paulo and Minas Gerais, encompassing the South and Cerrado regions of Minas Gerais state. In the initial phase, various machine learning (ML) models and topologies were calibrated to forecast brown‐eye spot, identifying one with potential for advanced decision‐making. The top‐performing models were then employed in the next stage to forecast and spatially project the severity of brown‐eye spot across 2681 key Brazilian coffee‐producing municipalities. Meteorological data were sourced from NASA's Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources platform, and the Penman–Monteith method was used to estimate reference evapotranspiration, leading to a Thornthwaite and Mather water‐balance calculation. Six ML models – K‐nearest neighbors (KNN), artificial neural network multilayer perceptron (MLP), support vector machine (SVM), random forests (RF), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), and gradient boosting regression (GradBOOSTING) – were employed, considering disease latency to time define input variables.ResultsThese models utilized climatic elements such as average air temperature, relative humidity, leaf wetness duration, rainfall, evapotranspiration, water deficit, and surplus. The XGBoost model proved most effective in high‐yielding conditions, demonstrating high precision and accuracy. Conversely, the SVM model excelled in low‐yielding scenarios. The incidence of brown‐eye spot varied noticeably between high‐ and low‐yield conditions, with significant regional differences observed. The accuracy of predicting brown‐eye spot severity in coffee plantations depended on the biennial production cycle. High‐yielding trees showed superior results with the XGBoost model (R2 = 0.77, root mean squared error, RMSE = 10.53), whereas the SVM model performed better under low‐yielding conditions (precision 0.76, RMSE = 12.82).ConclusionThe study's application of agrometeorological variables and ML models successfully predicted the incidence of brown‐eye spot in coffee plantations with a 7 day lead time, illustrating that they were valuable tools for managing this significant agricultural challenge. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.
Complex insoluble dietary fiber alleviates obesity and liver steatosis, and modulates the gut microbiota in C57BL/6J mice fed a high‐fat diet
Authors: Liu Zurui , Dai Juan , Liu Ruijia , Shen Ziyi , Huang Ai , Huang YuKun , Wang Lijun , Chen Pengfei , Zhou Zheng , Xiao Hang , Chen Xianggui , Yang Xiao 
Published: February 2024

AbstractBACKGROUNDObesity has been demonstrated as a risk factor that seriously affects health. Insoluble dietary fiber (IDF), as a major component of dietary fiber, has positive effects on obesity, inflammation and diabetes.RESULTSIn this study, complex IDF was prepared using 50% enoki mushroom IDF, 40% carrot IDF, and 10% oat IDF. The effects and potential mechanism of complex IDF on obesity were investigated in C57BL/6 mice fed a high‐fat diet. The results showed that feeding diets containing 5% complex IDF for 8 weeks significantly reduced mouse body weight, epididymal lipid index, and ectopic fat deposition, and improved mouse liver lipotoxicity (reduced serum levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase), fatty liver, and short‐chain fatty acid composition. High‐throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA and analysis of fecal metabolomics showed that the intervention with complex IDF reversed the high‐fat‐diet‐induced dysbiosis of gut microbiota, which is associated with obesity and intestinal inflammation, and affected metabolic pathways, such as primary bile acid biosynthesis, related to fat digestion and absorption.CONCLUSIONComposite IDF intervention can effectively inhibit high‐fat‐diet‐induced obesity and related symptoms and affect the gut microbiota and related metabolic pathways in obesity. Complex IDF has potential value in the prevention of obesity and metabolic syndrome. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.
A pilot randomized controlled trial of online written exposure therapy delivered by peer coaches to veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder
Authors: McLean Carmen P. , Malek Nadia , Straud Casey L. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThis pilot randomized clinical trial (RCT) sought to examine the preliminary efficacy of an internet‐based version of written exposure therapy delivered to veterans through an online program supported by peer coaches. Veterans (N = 124) with clinically significant posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were randomly assigned to imaginal exposure either via writing (written exposure) or verbal recounting (verbal exposure). The online treatment involved four to eight sessions of imaginal exposure preceded and followed by an online chat with a peer coach. Participants completed assessments at baseline, posttreatment, and 3‐month follow‐up. Half of the participants never started treatment; among those who started treatment, the mean number of sessions completed was 4.92. At posttreatment, participants in both conditions reported clinically meaningful improvements in PTSD symptoms, d = 1.35; depressive symptoms, d = 1.10; and functioning, d = 0.39. Although participants in both treatment conditions demonstrated significant improvements in PTSD symptom severity, equivalence results were inconclusive, as the 95% confidence interval of the change score difference exceeded the specified margin and overlapped with 0. Estimated mean change scores demonstrated that both conditions showed significant reductions at posttreatment and follow‐up. Although engagement with the online program was a significant challenge, the findings suggest that written exposure therapy is effective for improving PTSD symptoms, depressive symptoms, and functioning when adapted for internet‐based delivery and facilitated by peer coaches. Using technology to deliver exposure therapy and task‐shifting the role of the therapist to peer coaches are promising strategies to increase access to effective PTSD care.
LEADING THROUGH DISASTERS AND DEPARTURES: HOW TO PREPARE FOR & SUCCEED WITH UNCERTAINTY AND CHANGE
Authors: Esposito Patrick 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe author, who is both a Chief Executive Officer/CEO and an attorney, writes about disaster planning and succession planning to “achieve the goals and aspirations for your organization without stumbling along the way or falling victim to a complete collapse when disasters and difficulties strike and impact your operations or personnel.” This means dealing effectively with uncertainty and change, critical/strategic decision categories, and “Committing to a regularized process for examining how to manage uncertainty and potential changes.” He presents results from surveys he has conducted with a variety of leaders, each with the results to questions about the following, in his words 1. Do You Have Processes in Place for Assessing, Deciding on, Planning, and Implementing Change? 2. What Has Been Your Most Difficult Organizational Phase? 3. What will be your most challenging future issues? 4. How do you plan for managing disasters? He discusses his process/framework of assessing, deciding, planning, and implementing. Each of these has its own figure, visualizing the steps involved. As he notes in the conclusion, “The COVID‐19 pandemic probably taught you that you cannot predict everything you and your organization will face.”
1,3,4,5‐Tetrasubstituted Poly(1,2,3‐triazolium) Obtained through Metal‐Free AA+BB Polyaddition of a Diazide and an Activated Internal Dialkyne
Authors: Akacha Rania , Abdelhedi‐Miladi Imen , Serghei Anatoli , Ben Romdhane Hatem , Drockenmuller Eric 
Published: February 2024

AbstractA tetra(ethylene glycol)‐based 1,3,4,5‐tetrasubstituted poly(1,2,3‐triazolium) is synthesized in two steps including: i) the catalyst‐free polyaddition of a diazide and an activated internal dialkyne and ii) the N‐alkylation of the resulting 1,2,3‐triazole groups. In order to provide detailed structure/properties correlations different analogs are also synthesized. First, parent poly(1,2,3‐triazole)s are obtained via AA+BB polyaddition using copper(I)‐catalyzed alkyne‐azide cycloaddition or metal‐free thermal alkyne‐azide cycloaddition (TAAC). Poly(1,2,3‐triazole)s with higher molar masses are obtained in higher yields by TAAC polyaddition. A 1,3,4‐trisubstituted poly(1,2,3‐triazolium) structural analog obtained by TAAC polyaddition using a terminal activated dialkyne and subsequent N‐alkylation of the 1,2,3‐triazole groups enables discussing the influence of the methyl group in the C‐4 or C‐5 position on thermal and ion conducting properties. Obtained polymers are characterized by 1H, 13C, and 19F NMR spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, size exclusion chromatography, and broadband dielectric spectroscopy. The targeted 1,3,4,5‐tetrasubstituted poly(1,2,3‐triazolium) exhibits a glass transition temperature of −23 °C and a direct current ionic conductivity of 2.0 × 10−6 S cm−1 at 30 °C under anhydrous conditions. The developed strategy offers opportunities to further tune the electron delocalization of the 1,2,3‐triazolium cation and the properties of poly(1,2,3‐triazolium)s using this additional substituent as structural handle.
3D Printing of Capacitive Pressure Sensors with Tuned Wide Detection Range and High Sensitivity Inspired by Bio‐Inspired Kapok Structures
Authors: Jin Qingxin , Wang Chengyun , Wu Han , Luo Xin , Li Jiaqi , Ma Guangmeng , Li Yu , Luo Chunyi , Guo Fawei , Long Yu 
Published: February 2024

AbstractFlexible pressure sensors have drawn considerable attention for their potential applications as electronic skins with both sensitivity and pressure response range. Although the introduction of surface microstructures effectively enhances sensitivity, the confined volume of their compressible structures results in a limited pressure response range. To address this issue, a biomimetic kapok structure is proposed and implemented for constructing the dielectric layer of flexible capacitive pressure sensors employing 3D printing technology. The structure is designed with easily deformable concave and rotational structures, enabling continuous deformation under pressure. This design results in a significant expansion of the pressure response range and improvement in sensitivity. Further, the study purposively analyses crucial parameters of the devised structure that affect its compressibility and stability. These include the concave angle θ, height ratio d1/d2, rotation angle α, and width k. As a result, the ultimate pressure sensors demonstrate remarkable features such as high sensitivity (≈2.38 kPa−1 in the range of 0–10 kPa), broad detection range (734 kPa), fast response time (23 ms), and outstanding pressure resolution (0.4% at 500 kPa). This study confirms the viability of bionic structures for flexible sensors, and their potential to expand the scope of wearable electronic devices.
Further delineation of Wiedemann‐Rautenstrauch syndrome linked with POLR3A
Authors: Khan Amjad , Al Shamsi Bushra , Al Shehhi Maryam , Kashgari Amna A. , Al Balushi Aaisha , Al Dihan Fahad A. , Alghamdi Mohannad A. , Manal Abothnain , González‐Álvarez Ana C. , Arold Stefan T. , Eyaid Wafaa 
Published: February 2024

AbstractWiedemann‐Rautenstrauch Syndrome (WRS; MIM 264090) is an extremely rare and highly heterogeneous syndrome that is inherited in a recessive fashion. The patients have hallmark features such as prenatal and postnatal growth retardation, short stature, a progeroid appearance, hypotonia, facial dysmorphology, hypomyelination leukodystrophy, and mental impairment. Biallelic disease‐causing variants in the RNA polymerase III subunit A (POLR3A) have been associated with WRS. Here, we report the first identified cases of WRS syndrome with novel phenotypes in three consanguineous families (two Omani and one Saudi) characterized by biallelic variants in POLR3A. Using whole‐exome sequencing, we identified one novel homozygous missense variant (NM_007055: c.2456C>T; p. Pro819Leu) in two Omani families and one novel homozygous variant (c.1895G>T; p Cys632Phe) in Saudi family that segregates with the disease in the POLR3A gene. In silico homology modeling of wild‐type and mutated proteins revealed a substantial change in the structure and stability of both proteins, demonstrating a possible effect on function. By identifying the homozygous variants in the exon 14 and 18 of the POLR3A gene, our findings will contribute to a better understanding of the phenotype‐genotype relationship and molecular etiology of WRS syndrome.
On the design of ideal pattern diversity antennas with low mutual coupling using the golden angle concept
Authors: Gudibandi Bharath Reddy , Nuthakki Venkata Rajashekar , Murugan Harish Adhithya , Damodaran Sriram Kumar 
Published: February 2024

AbstractIn this paper, we come up with a unique technique to generate the ideal pattern diversity with the help of 24 Vivaldi antennas. With the help of a mathematical concept called golden angle, the 24 antenna elements are arranged in such a way that the radiation patterns will never overlap and the mutual coupling will be very low. It is also verified from the simulations and the measured results that the envelope correlation coefficient is less than 0.01 in the 3–4.2 GHz which is a sub‐6 GHz band for 5G. This same concept can be extended to a greater number of antennas also.
Design of dispersion‐reconfigurable phaser using stepped‐impedance line
Authors: Lei Haoling , Huang Yi , Duan Chaijie , Zhang Qingfeng 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThis paper proposes a dispersion‐reconfigurable reflection‐type phaser based on the stepped‐impedance microstrip line structure. By configuring “ON” and “OFF” states of switches, the proposed phaser exhibits positive‐slope, negative‐slope, and zero‐slope linearly dispersive group delay responses. For proof‐of‐concept demonstration, we use line connection/disconnection to mimic the ON/OFF states of real switches. Three prototypes are hence fabricated to represent the three different states. The experimental results agree well with the expected responses, which finally validate the proposed concept.
High pain reported at 3 months post‐total knee arthroplasty often persists for the next 3 years and is associated with reduced function and quality of life
Authors: Johns Nathan , Naylor Justine , McKenzie Dean , Brady Bernadette , Olver John 
Published: February 2024

AbstractBackground and AimsFive to ten percent of people having a knee arthroplasty for osteoarthritis continue to experience high pain levels more than 3 months after surgery. The primary aim of this study was to determine the relative risk (RR) of having high pain at 12 and 36 months based on the presence of high pain at 3 and 12 months, respectively.MethodsA retrospective analysis of data from a prospective study of participants who had a total knee arthroplasty for osteoarthritis. A score of ≤14 on the Oxford Knee Pain Subscale was defined as ‘High Pain’, and RRs were calculated comparing those with high or low pain.ResultsThere were 718 participants and 13.8% reported high pain at any time point, 2.5% reported high pain at all time points and 10.3% and 4.7% and 6.6% reported high pain at 3‐, 12‐ and 36‐months, respectively, post‐surgery. For participants with high pain at 3 months, 33.8% had high pain at 12 months with a RR of 24.2 (95% CI 11.7–49.8, p < 0.001) and 35.1% had high pain at 36 months with a RR of 10.8 (95% CI 6.4–18.2, p < 0.001). For participants with high pain at 12 months, 67.6% had high pain at 36 months, with a RR of 19.3 (95% CI 12.2–30.4, p < 0.01).ConclusionsAlthough high pain rates are low overall following knee arthroplasty, once high pain is established there is an elevated RR of it persisting at 12‐ and 36 months post‐surgery.Trial registrationThe data were collected in the Evidence‐based Processes and Outcomes of Care (EPOC) study, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01899443.
The impact of myasthenia gravis severity on work and daily activities
Authors: Pesa Jacqueline , Choudhry Zia , de Courcy Jonathan , Barlow Sophie , Chatterton Emma , Thomas Owen , Gibson Gregor , Hahn Bethan , Govindarajan Raghav 
Published: February 2024

AbstractIntroduction/AimsPeople with myasthenia gravis (MG) experience impaired quality of life. However, the impact of MG symptoms on work productivity has not been well‐studied. We aimed to evaluate this impact and to examine associations between disease severity and the degree of impairment.MethodsData were drawn from the Adelphi MG Disease‐Specific Programme™, a multinational (USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK) survey completed by physicians and their patients with MG in 2020. Patient‐reported measures included the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI): Specific Health Problem questionnaire.ResultsThe WPAI questionnaire was completed by 330 patients. Among those currently employed, the mean percentage of work time missed (absenteeism) was 13.3% (N = 116), percentage impairment of productivity at work (presenteeism) was 26.7% (N = 121), and overall work impairment was 30.0% (N = 110). Across all patients, impairment of non‐work‐related activities due to health problems (ADL impairment) was 39.2% (N = 330). Regression analysis indicated that impairment differed according to MG Foundation of America (MGFA) class (p = .0147, p < .0001, p < .0001 and p < .0001 for absenteeism, presenteeism, overall work impairment and ADL impairment, respectively). Being MGFA class III/IV was a predictor of presenteeism, overall work impairment and ADL impairment in a predictor model.DiscussionPatients with MG experience substantial work impairment particularly those with more severe symptoms, highlighting an important way in which patient quality of life is negatively affected. More effective treatment strategies would enable patients to lead more productive lives and could impact decisions relating to work and career.
Enhanced methods for the weight constrained shortest path problem
Authors: Ahmadi Saman , Tack Guido , Harabor Daniel , Kilby Philip , Jalili Mahdi 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe classic problem of constrained pathfinding is a well‐studied, yet challenging, network optimization problem with a broad range of applications in various areas such as communication and transportation. The weight constrained shortest path problem (WCSPP), the base form of constrained pathfinding with only one side constraint, aims to plan a cost‐optimum path with limited weight/resource usage. Given the bi‐criteria nature of the problem (i.e., dealing with the cost and weight of paths), methods addressing the WCSPP have some common properties with bi‐objective search. This article leverages the recent state‐of‐the‐art techniques in both constrained pathfinding and bi‐objective search and presents two new solution approaches to the WCSPP on the basis of A* search, both capable of solving hard WCSPP instances on very large graphs. We empirically evaluate the performance of our algorithms on a set of large and realistic problem instances and show their advantages over the state‐of‐the‐art algorithms in both time and space metrics. This article also investigates the importance of priority queues in constrained search with A*. We show with extensive experiments on both realistic and randomized graphs how bucket‐based queues without tie‐breaking can effectively improve the algorithmic performance of exhaustive A*‐based bi‐criteria searches.
Solving the probabilistic drone routing problem: Searching for victims in the aftermath of disasters
Authors: Almeida Coco Amadeu , Duhamel Christophe , Santos Andréa Cynthia , Haddad Matheus Nohra 
Published: February 2024

AbstractSeveral major industrial disasters happen each year around the world. They usually involve limited accessibility, poor ground conditions, and toxic wastes. As a consequence, this reduces the efficiency of humanitarian operations. In such a context, flying drones may be a viable alternative: faster, no dependency on ground conditions, and larger areas scanned. They are also better suited for following the population and the crisis dynamic. For such a purpose, various issues have to be addressed such as defining and optimizing the drone's routes, their energy consumption, choosing the relay points for recharging equipment, among others. In this study, several additional features from existing works are considered: first, a probability of identifying individuals is defined. Thus, each node can be scanned several times in order to improve the observation. In addition, the nodes are prioritized according to a given heatmap. The probabilistic drone routing problem (PDRP) consists of finding a route, that is, a sequence of trips, for each drone such that the sum of the expected number of identified individuals on all routes is maximized. Constraints on energy consumption, collision avoidance and drone‐base assignment are considered. We propose a heuristic and metaheuristics based on the adaptive large neighborhood search for the PDRP. The methods are tested on theoretical instances, as well as on a case study of the Beirut Port explosion on August 4, 2020, in order to analyze the performance of the proposed methods.
Accelerating structural dynamics simulations with localised phenomena through matrix compression and projection‐based model order reduction
Authors: Agathos Konstantinos , Vlachas Konstantinos , Garland Anthony , Chatzi Eleni 
Published: February 2024

AbstractIn this work, a novel approach is introduced for accelerating the solution of structural dynamics problems in the presence of localised phenomena, such as cracks. For this category of problems, conventional projection‐based Model Order Reduction (MOR) methods are either limited with respect to the range of system configurations that can be represented or require frequent solutions of the Full Order Model (FOM) to update the low‐dimensional spaces, in which solutions are represented. In the proposed approach, low‐dimensional spaces, constructed for the healthy structure, are enriched with appropriately selected columns of the flexibility matrix of the system. It can be shown that these spaces contain the solution to the original problem for the static case, while their dimension is much smaller. In order to allow their online construction for arbitrary localised features, the full flexibility matrix of the system should be available. To this end, a hierarchical representation is used for the matrices involved, allowing to compute the flexibility matrix efficiently and with reduced memory requirements. The resulting method offers significant speedups, without sacrificing the flexibility and accuracy of the full order model. The performance and limitations of the approach are studied through a series of examples in structural dynamics.