bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Tuning biodegradability, bone-bonding capacity, and wear resistance of zinc-30% magnesium intermetallic alloy for use in load-bearing bone applications
Authors: Youness Rasha A. , Taha Mohammed A. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThis work aimed to improve the rapid biodegradation, poor wear resistance properties, and lack of bioactivity of metallic biomaterials to be used in orthopedic applications. In this context, zinc–magnesium (Zn–Mg) alloy with successive contents of calcium silicate (CaSiO3) and silicon nitride (Si3N4) was prepared using powder metallurgy technique. After sintering, their phase composition and microstructure were investigated using the X-ray diffraction technique and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. Furthermore, their degradation behavior and ability to form hydroxyapatite (HA) layer on the sample surface after immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF) were monitored using weight loss measurements, inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy, and SEM. Moreover, their tribo-mechanical properties were measured. The results obtained showed that the successive contents of CaSiO3 were responsible for improving the bioactivity behavior as indicated by a good formation of the HA layer on the samples’ surface. Additionally, ceramic materials were responsible for a continuous decrease in the released ions in the SBF solution as indicated by the ICP results. The tribology properties were significantly improved even after exposure to different loads. Based on the above results, the prepared nanocomposites are promising for use in orthopedic applications.
Comprehensive analysis of miRNA profiling in Schistosoma mekongi across life cycle stages
Authors: Sivapornnukul Pavaret , Khamwut Ariya , Chanchaem Prangwalai , Chusongsang Phiraphol , Chusongsang Yupa , Poodeepiyasawat Paporn , Limpanont Yanin , Reamtong Onrapak , Payungporn Sunchai 
Published: January 2024

AbstractSchistosoma mekongi, a significant schistosome parasite, has various life stages, including egg, cercaria, female, and male, that play crucial roles in the complex life cycle. This study aimed to explore the microRNA (miRNA) profiles across these developmental stages to understand their potential functions and evolutionary significance, which have not been studied. Pre-processed sequencing reads of small RNA (sRNA) were obtained, and annotations were performed against the S. japonicum reference miRNA database. Results indicated marked variations in miRNA profiles across different life stages, with notable similarities observed between female and male S. mekongi. Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) and unsupervised clustering revealed distinct miRNA signatures for each stage. Gene ontology (GO) analysis unveiled the potential roles of these miRNAs in various biological processes. The differential expression of specific miRNAs was prominent across stages, suggesting their involvement in crucial developmental processes. Furthermore, orthologous miRNA analysis against various worm species revealed distinct presence–absence patterns, providing insights into the evolutionary relationships of these miRNAs. In conclusion, this comprehensive investigation into the miRNA profiles of S. mekongi offers valuable insights into the functional and evolutionary aspects of miRNAs in schistosome biology.
Transfer learning of pre-treatment quantitative ultrasound multi-parametric images for the prediction of breast cancer response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy
Authors: Falou Omar , Sannachi Lakshmanan , Haque Maeashah , Czarnota Gregory J. , Kolios Michael C. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractLocally advanced breast cancer (LABC) is a severe type of cancer with a poor prognosis, despite advancements in therapy. As the disease is often inoperable, current guidelines suggest upfront aggressive neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Complete pathological response to chemotherapy is linked to improved survival, but conventional clinical assessments like physical exams, mammography, and imaging are limited in detecting early response. Early detection of tissue response can improve complete pathological response and patient survival while reducing exposure to ineffective and potentially harmful treatments. A rapid, cost-effective modality without the need for exogenous contrast agents would be valuable for evaluating neoadjuvant therapy response. Conventional ultrasound provides information about tissue echogenicity, but image comparisons are difficult due to instrument-dependent settings and imaging parameters. Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) overcomes this by using normalized power spectra to calculate quantitative metrics. This study used a novel transfer learning-based approach to predict LABC response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy using QUS imaging at pre-treatment. Using data from 174 patients, QUS parametric images of breast tumors with margins were generated. The ground truth response to therapy for each patient was based on standard clinical and pathological criteria. The Residual Network (ResNet) deep learning architecture was used to extract features from the parametric QUS maps. This was followed by SelectKBest and Synthetic Minority Oversampling (SMOTE) techniques for feature selection and data balancing, respectively. The Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm was employed to classify patients into two distinct categories: nonresponders (NR) and responders (RR). Evaluation results on an unseen test set demonstrate that the transfer learning-based approach using spectral slope parametric maps had the best performance in the identification of nonresponders with precision, recall, F1-score, and balanced accuracy of 100, 71, 83, and 86%, respectively. The transfer learning-based approach has many advantages over conventional deep learning methods since it reduces the need for large image datasets for training and shortens the training time. The results of this study demonstrate the potential of transfer learning in predicting LABC response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy before the start of treatment using quantitative ultrasound imaging. Prediction of NAC response before treatment can aid clinicians in customizing ineffectual treatment regimens for individual patients.
Acacetin inhibited non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell growth via upregulating miR-34a in vitro and in vivo
Authors: Li Jing , Zhong Xianmei , Zhao Yueshui , Shen Jing , Xiao Zhangang , Pilapong Chalermchai 
Published: January 2024

AbstractAcacetin, one of the flavonoid compounds, is a natural product found in various plants, including Silver birch, and Damiana. Previous studies showed that acacetin has anti-cancer effects on many kinds of cancer cells, however, the role of and the mechanisms of actions of acacetin on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells is still not fully understood. Herein, we found that, in vitro, acacetin inhibited the proliferation, invasion, and migration of NSCLC cells, A549 and H460, in a dose-dependent manner. Meanwhile, flow cytometry assay results showed that acacetin induced G2/M phase cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis of NSCLC cells. In vivo, acacetin suppressed tumor formation of A549-xenografted nude mice model with no obvious toxicities. Western blotting results showed that the protein levels of cell cycle-related proteins cyclin B1, cyclin D, and anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 had decreased, while the apoptosis-related protein Bak had increased both in NSCLC cells and in A549-xenografted tumor tissues. For investigating the molecular mechanism behind the biological effects of acacetin on NSCLC, we found that acacetin induced the expression levels of tumor suppressor p53 both in vitro and in vivo. MicroRNA, miR-34a, the direct target of p53, has been shown anti-NSCLC proliferation effects by suppressing the expression of its target gene programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1). We found that acacetin upregulated the expression levels of miR-34a, and downregulated the expression levels of PD-L1 of NSCLC cells in vitro and of tumors in vivo. In vitro, knockdown p53 expression by siRNAs reversed the induction effects of acacetin on miR34a expression and abolished the inhibitory activity of acacetin on NSCLC cell proliferation. Furthermore, using agomir and antagomir to overexpress and suppress the expression miR-34a in NSCLC cells was also examined. We found that miR-34a agomir showed similar effects as acacetin on A549 cells, while miR-34a antagomir could partially or completely reverse acacetin’s effects on A549 cells. In vivo, intratumor injection of miR-34a antagomir could drastically suppress the anti-tumor formation effects of acacetin in A549-xenografted nude mice. Overall, our results showed that acacetin inhibits cell proliferation and induces cell apoptosis of NSCLC cells by regulating miR-34a.
Microwave-assisted hydrogen peroxide digestion followed by ICP-OES for determination of metals in selected fuel oils
Authors: Mdluli Njabulo S. , Knottenbelt Cyril D. , Nomngongo Philiswa N. , Mketo Nomvano 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThis work describes a greener and cost-effective microwave-assisted hydrogen peroxide digestion (MA-HPD) with the addition of 1 mL of HNO3 (70% v/v) to enhance extraction of selected metals (Al, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mg, Na, Ni, Pb, Sb, Ti and V) in crude-oil, diesel, gasoline and kerosene samples prior to inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopic (ICP-OES) analysis. The most influential parameters of the MA-HPD method were investigated by using multivariate optimization tools (two-level full factorial and central composite designs) and fuel oil certified reference material (NIST1634c). The optimum conditions were observed to be 245 ℃ microwave temperature, 25 min digestion time, 0.1 g sample mass and 5 M H2O2 were the optimum digestion conditions with accepted accuracy (104.8–117.7%) and precision (≤ 4.1%). In overall, the metals that reported high concentrations in the crude oil, diesel, gasoline, and kerosene samples were Na (51.94–58.86 mg/kg) and Mg (36.08–47.4 mg/kg), while Cu was the lowest (0.55–2.89 mg/kg). When comparing the obtained concentration levels with other literature reports, a conclusion can be drawn that South Africa is importing oils of reasonable quality.
Association between paraspinal muscle fat infiltration and regional kyphosis angle in thoracolumbar fracture patients: a retrospective study
Authors: Liao Yitao , Liu Xiaofeng , Xu Taichuan , Li Chao , Xiao Qingming , Zhang Xian 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThis study aims to evaluate the impact of percutaneous pedicle screw fixation (PPSF) and open pedicle screw fixation (OPSF) on the postoperative paraspinal muscle fat infiltration (FI) rate in patients with thoracolumbar fractures through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and explore the association between paraspinal muscle FI rate and regional kyphosis angle. We retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 35 patients who underwent either PPSF or OPSF for thoracolumbar fractures, examining data at preoperative, 1-month postoperative, and 9-months postoperative time points, which included Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and regional kyphosis angle. We obtained preoperative and 9-month postoperative paraspinal muscle FI rates using T2-weighted MRI images and ImageJ software. We analyzed the correlation of FI rates with VAS, ODI, as well as the correction loss percentage of regional kyphosis angle. The analysis revealed a positive correlation between postoperative FI rate increase and correction loss percentage of regional kyphosis angle (r = 0.696, p < 0.001). The increase in paraspinal muscle FI rate was positively correlated with 9-month postoperative ODI (r = 0.763, p < 0.001). These findings indicate that an increase in postoperative paraspinal muscle FI rate may result in more significant correction loss of regional kyphosis angle and can lead to increased functional impairment in patients.
Elucidating the significant roles of root exudates in organic pollutant biotransformation within the rhizosphere
Authors: Eze Michael O. , Amuji Chinedu F. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractBiotransformation of organic pollutants is crucial for the dissipation of environmental pollutants. While the roles of microorganisms have been extensively studied, the significant contribution of various root exudates are still not very well understood. Through plant growth experiment, coupled with gas and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry methods, this study examined the effect of the presence of M. sativa on microbial-associated biochemical transformation of petroleum hydrocarbons. The results of this study revealed that the concentration of exudates within the soil matrix is a function of proximity to root surfaces. Similarly, biodegradation was found to correlate with distance from roots, ranging from ≥ 90% within the rhizosphere to < 50% in bulk soil and unplanted control soil. Most importantly, for the first time in a study of an entire petroleum distillate, this study revealed a statistically significant negative correlation between root exudate concentration and residual total petroleum hydrocarbons. While not all the compounds that may influence biodegradation are derived from roots, the results of this study show that the presence of plant can significantly influence biodegradation of hydrocarbon pollutants through such root exudation as organic acids, amino acids, soluble sugars and terpenoids. Therefore, root exudates, including secondary metabolites, offer great prospects for biotechnological applications in the remediation of organic pollutants, including recalcitrant ones.
Simulating AMOC tipping driven by internal climate variability with a rare event algorithm
Authors: Cini Matteo , Zappa Giuseppe , Ragone Francesco , Corti Susanna 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThis study investigates the possibility of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) noise-induced tipping solely driven by internal climate variability without applying external forcing that alter the radiative forcing or the North Atlantic freshwater budget. We address this hypothesis by applying a rare event algorithm to ensemble simulations of present-day climate with an intermediate complexity climate model. The algorithm successfully identifies trajectories leading to abrupt AMOC slowdowns, which are unprecedented in a 2000-year control run. Part of these AMOC weakened states lead to collapsed state without evidence of AMOC recovery on multi-centennial time scales. The temperature and Northern Hemisphere jet stream responses to these internally-induced AMOC slowdowns show strong similarities with those found in externally forced AMOC slowdowns in state-of-the-art climate models. The AMOC slowdown seems to be initially driven by Ekman transport due to westerly wind stress anomalies in the North Atlantic and subsequently sustained by a complete collapse of the oceanic convection in the Labrador Sea. These results demonstrate that transitions to a collapsed AMOC state purely due to internal variability in a model simulation of present-day climate are rare but theoretically possible. Additionally, these results show that rare event algorithms are a tool of valuable and general interest to study tipping points since they introduce the possibility of collecting a large number of tipping events that cannot be sampled using traditional approaches. This opens the possibility of identifying the mechanisms driving tipping events in complex systems in which little a-priori knowledge is available.
Charge-neutral, GeV-scale electron-positron pair beams produced using bremsstrahlung gamma rays
Authors: Noh Youhwan , Song Jaehyun , Mirzaie Mohammad , Hojbota Calin Ioan , Kim Hyeong-il , Lee Seongmin , Won Junho , Song Hoon , Song Chiwan , Ryu Chang-Mo , Nam Chang Hee , Bang Woosuk 
Published: January 2024

AbstractMatter-antimatter plasmas, such as electron-positron pair plasmas, are frequently observed in various astrophysical phenomena. In laboratory settings, electron-positron pairs have often been generated using high-Z converters irradiated by either direct laser pulses or laser-driven electron beams. Here we generate charge-neutral electron-positron beams with energies in the GeV range, utilizing bremsstrahlung gamma rays. Specifically, intense high-energy gamma rays produced electron-positron pair particles in a lead converter via the Bethe-Heitler process. The produced pair beams exhibited neutrality across all converter thicknesses throughout the energy spectrum spanning from 10 MeV to 1.8 GeV. Pairs with energies surpassing 1 GeV constituted up to 26% of the total kinetic energy within the spectrum. The experimental results were in good agreement with our Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations. These GeV-scale neutral pair particle beams have potential applications for understanding energetic astrophysical phenomena and high-energy particle physics.
Curvature tuning through defect-based 4D printing
Authors: Moosabeiki Vahid , Yarali Ebrahim , Ghalayaniesfahani Ava , Callens Sebastien J. P. , van Manen Teunis , Accardo Angelo , Ghodrat Sepideh , Bico José , Habibi Mehdi , Mirzaali Mohammad J. , Zadpoor Amir A. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractEmerging 4D printing techniques have enabled the realization of smart materials whose shape or properties can change with time. Two important phenomena play important roles in the 4D printing of shape memory polymeric materials. First, the anisotropic deformation of the printed filaments due to residual stresses can be harnessed to create out-of-plane shape transformations. Second, the unavoidable formation of micro-defects during the printing processes often affects the programmability of the printed object. Here, we propose a design approach that harnesses these two effects occurring during fused deposition modeling to create tailor-made curved geometries from initially 2D flat disks. We first determined the size and distribution of the imperfections formed within printed structures by varying two printing parameters namely the printing speed and the number of printed materials. Spatially varying the printing speed and combining polylactic acid filaments with a softer material without shape memory properties allowed us to cover a variety of shapes from negative to positive values of the mean and Gaussian curvature. We propose an analytical model to calculate the magnitude of the maximum out-of-plane deformation from the anisotropic expansion factor of the constituting microstructures. Furthermore, we develop computational models to predict the complex shape-changing of thermally actuated 4D printed structures given the distribution of rationally introduced imperfections and we demonstrate the potential applications of such defect-based metamaterials in drug delivery systems.
Millennium-scale changes in the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation influenced groundwater recharge rates in Italy
Authors: Diodato Nazzareno , Bellocchi Gianni 
Published: January 2024

AbstractGroundwater, essential for water availability, sanitation and achieving Sustainable Development Goals, is shaped by climate dynamics and complex hydrogeological structures. Here, we provide a time-series of groundwater recharge from 801 CE to the present day in the Tiber River Basin, Italy, using historical records and hydrological modelling. Groundwater drought occurred in 36% of Medieval Climatic Anomaly (801-1249) years, 12% of Little Ice Age (1250-1849) years and 26% of Modern Warming Period (1850-2020) years. Importantly, a predominant warm phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, aligned with solar maxima, coincided with prolonged dry spells during both the medieval and modern periods, inducing a reduction in recharge rates due to hydrological memory effects. This study enhances understanding of climate-water interactions, offering a comprehensive view of groundwater dynamics in central Mediterranean and highlighting the importance of the past for sustainable future strategies. Leveraging this understanding can address water scarcity and enhance basin resilience.
Active disturbance rejection distributed secondary control for DC microgrids
Authors: Li Jianlin , You Honghao , Liu Shuo , Li Xingchen , Ding Ziyang , Zou Fei 
Published: January 2024

AbstractA novel control scheme is presented to eliminate the negative effects of communication disturbances, which introduces active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) in the control strategy design to achieve the objectives of the restoration of the bus voltage and the sharing of the power even in the presence of disturbances and delays in communication. Simultaneously, its dynamic disturbance decoupling feature is used to realise the decoupling between power and voltage, so that the proposed controller only exchanges power information with its neighbours, reducing the communication burden and simplifying control structure. The control performance of the strategy is verified by employing steady‐state analysis. The impact of controller parameters is studied by establishing a small signal model. Finally, both simulation cases and experimental tests prove the feasibility of this scheme.
Study on the dynamic mechanical properties of winding‐block axial structure considering short circuit strain rate effect
Authors: Wang Xinyu , Wang Ping , Geng Jianghai , Zhang Zikang , Lü Fangcheng , Gao Shuguo 
Published: January 2024

AbstractTransformers may suffer multiple short‐circuit impacts during long‐term operation, and axial instability is one of the typical types of serious accidents caused by short‐circuit faults. The axial instability form of the winding‐block structure is analysed, and the dynamic solution of the winding short‐circuit electromagnetic force is obtained by establishing the three‐dimensional magnetic‐circuit‐force multi‐physical field coupling simulation model. The influence of strain rate on the cushion block constitutive equation is corrected, and the modified model is verified by short‐circuit impact test and quasi‐static test. The research results show that for 110 kV 31.5 MVA transformers, the maximum electromagnetic axial resultant force of winding is 363.16 kN, and the ultimate tilt force is 1214.2 kN. The pre‐tightening force configuration is accordingly recommended to range from 363.16 to 608.28 kN, which is narrowed by 18.49% compared with the static calculation method; Meanwhile, adding a logarithmic strain rate correction term to the classical constitutive equation of the cushion block can achieve a good correction of the stress‐strain relationship with the coefficient of determination above 0.99, and the cushion block has a larger elastic modulus under high strain rate load. The research results provide an important theoretical reference for the axial stability structure of transformers.
Effect of outer spherical shell opening structure on the sensitivity of double spherical shell electric field sensor
Authors: Zhao Zhengang , Yang Xuanyi , Li Yitan , Luo Chuan 
Published: January 2024

A double spherical shell (DSS) electric field sensor based on charge sensing has characteristics of small size and simple fabrication, which are appropriate for measuring complex electric field environments, but the sensitivity is low. To improve the sensitivity of the DSS electric field sensor, we theoretically analyze the effect of the diameter of the outer spherical shell opening on the sensitivity of the sensor. The sensors with outer spherical shell apertures of 2, 4, and 6 mm are designed and manufactured, and the sensor’s sensitivity, linearity, hysteresis, and repeatability are tested. The relative error of the sensor is evaluated by measuring the rotational characteristics of the sensor. The experimental results show that the sensor sensitivity increases with the increase in hole diameter, while the sensor has good linearity, hysteresis, and repeatability after opening the hole. The rotational characteristics experiments’ results show that the sensors’ relative errors with different apertures are 18, 23, and 31%, respectively. The DSS open-hole structure is more suitable for electric field measurements than the conventional flat plate structure.