bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessing reliability and validity of different stiffness measurement tools on a multi-layered phantom tissue model
Authors: Bartsch Katja , Brandl Andreas , Weber Patrick , Wilke Jan , Bensamoun Sabine F. , Bauermeister Wolfgang , Klingler Werner , Schleip Robert 
Published: January 2023

AbstractChanges in the mechanical properties (i.e., stiffness) of soft tissues have been linked to musculoskeletal disorders, pain conditions, and cancer biology, leading to a rising demand for diagnostic methods. Despite the general availability of different stiffness measurement tools, it is unclear as to which are best suited for different tissue types and the related measurement depths. The study aimed to compare different stiffness measurement tools’ (SMT) reliability on a multi-layered phantom tissue model (MPTM). A polyurethane MPTM simulated the four layers of the thoracolumbar region: cutis (CUT), subcutaneous connective tissue (SCT), fascia profunda (FPR), and erector spinae (ERS), with varying stiffness parameters. Evaluated stiffness measurement tools included Shore Durometer, Semi-Electronic Tissue Compliance Meter (STCM), IndentoPRO, MyotonPRO, and ultrasound imaging. Measurements were made by two independent, blinded examiners. Shore Durometer, STCM, IndentoPRO, and MyotonPRO reliably detected stiffness changes in three of the four MPTM layers, but not in the thin (1 mm thick) layer simulating FPR. With ultrasound imaging, only stiffness changes in layers thicker than 3 mm could be measured reliably. Significant correlations ranging from 0.70 to 0.98 (allp < 0.01) were found. The interrater reliability ranged from good to excellent (ICC(2,2) = 0.75–0.98). The results are encouraging for researchers and clinical practitioners as the investigated stiffness measurement tools are easy-to-use and comparatively affordable.
Predictors of underage pregnancy among women aged 15–19 in highly prevalent regions of Ethiopia: a multilevel analysis based on EDHS, 2016
Authors: Bitew Desalegn Anmut , Akalu Yonas , Belsti Yitayeh , Diress Mengistie , Gela Yibeltal Yismaw , Belay Daniel Gashaneh , Getahun Amare Belete , Terefe Bewuketu , Getnet Mihret 
Published: January 2023

AbstractUnder age (teenage) pregnancy is a pregnancy that occurs under the age of 20 years old. Its magnitude is increasing globally. It is much higher in low-income countries compared to high-income countries. Teenage pregnancy exposed teenagers to various obstetric and perinatal complications. However, its predictors are not well investigated in highly prevalent regions of Ethiopia. Therefore, this study assessed individual and community-level predictors of teenage pregnancy using a multi-level logistic regression model. An in-depth secondary data analysis was performed using the fourth Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) 2016 data set. A weighted sample of 2397 teenagers was included in the final analysis. Multi co linearity and chi-square tests were checked and variables which did not fulfill the assumptions were excluded from the analysis. Four models were fitted. Variables with p value ≤ 0.2 in the bi-variable multilevel logistic regression were included in the multivariable multilevel logistic regression. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was computed. Variables with a p value of less than 0.05 in the multi-variable multilevel logistic regression were declared as statistically significant predictors. A total of 2397 weighted participants aged from 15 to 19 were involved. About 15% of teenagers were pregnant. Age [17 (AOR = 9.41: 95% CI 4.62, 19.13), 18 (AOR = 11.7: 95% CI 5.96, 23.16), 19 (AOR = 24.75: 95% CI 11.82, 51.82)], primary education (AOR = 2.09: 95% CI 1.16, 3.76), being illiterate (AOR = 1.80: 95% CI 1.19, 2.73), religion [being Muslims (AOR: 2.98:95% CI 1.80, 4.94), being Protestants (AOR = 2.02: 95% CI 1.20, 3.41)], contraceptive non use (AOR = 0.18: 95% CI 0.11, 0.31), a high proportion of family planning demand (AOR = 3.52: 95% CI 1.91, 6.49), and a high proportion of marriage (AOR = 4.30: 95% CI 2.25, 8.21) were predictors of teenage pregnancy. Age, educational status, religion, contraceptive non-use, literacy proportion of marriage and proportion of demand for family planning were the most significant predictors of teenage pregnancy. The ministry of education shall focus on universal access to education to improve female education. The government should work in collaboration with religious fathers to address reproductive and sexual issues to decrease early marriage and sexual initiation. Especial attention should be given to teenagers living in a community with a high proportion of marriage.
Generation of myocyte agonal Ca2+ waves and contraction bands in perfused rat hearts following irreversible membrane permeabilisation
Authors: Morishita Yuma , Tamura Shoko , Mochizuki Kentaro , Harada Yoshinori , Takamatsu Tetsuro , Hosoi Hajime , Tanaka Hideo 
Published: January 2023

AbstractAlthough irreversible cardiomyocyte injury provokes intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) overload, the underlying dynamics of this response and its effects on cellular morphology remain unknown. We therefore visualised rapid-scanning confocal fluo4-[Ca2+]i dynamics and morphology of cardiomyocytes in Langendorff-perfused rat hearts following saponin-membrane permeabilisation. Our data demonstrate that 0.4% saponin-treated myocytes immediately exhibited high-frequency Ca2+ waves (131.3 waves/min/cell) with asynchronous, oscillatory contractions having a mean propagation velocity of 117.8 μm/s. These waves slowly decreased in frequency, developed a prolonged decay phase, and disappeared in 10 min resulting in high-static, fluo4-fluorescence intensity. The myocytes showing these waves displayed contraction bands, i.e., band-like actin-fibre aggregates with disruption of sarcomeric α-actinin. The contraction bands were not attenuated by the abolition of Ca2+ waves under pretreatment with ryanodine plus thapsigargin, but were partially attenuated by the calpain inhibitor MDL28170, while mechanical arrest of the myocytes by 2,3-butanedione monoxime completely attenuated contraction-band formation. The depletion of adenosine 5′-triphosphate by the mitochondrial electron uncoupler carbonyl cyanide 4-trifluoromethoxy phenylhydrazone also attenuated Ca2+ waves and contraction bands. Overall, saponin-induced myocyte [Ca2+]i overload provokes agonal Ca2+ waves and contraction bands. Contraction bands are not the direct consequence of the waves but are caused by cross-bridge interactions of the myocytes under calpain-mediated proteolysis.
Prognostic costimulatory molecule-related signature risk model correlates with immunotherapy response in colon cancer
Authors: Huang Wanze , Su Duntao , Liao Xin , Yang Tongtong , Lu Yan , Zhang Zhejia 
Published: January 2023

AbstractCostimulatory molecules can promote the activation and proliferation of T cells and play an essential role in immunotherapy. However, their role in the prognosis of colon adenocarcinoma remains elusive. In this study, the expression data of costimulatory molecules and clinicopathological information of 429 patients with colon adenocarcinoma were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. The patients were divided into training and verification cohorts. Correlation, Cox regression, and Lasso regression analyses were performed to identify costimulatory molecules related to prognosis. After mentioning the construction of the risk mode, a nomogram integrating the clinical characteristics and risk scores of patients was constructed to predict prognosis. Eventually, three prognostic costimulatory molecules were identified and used for constructing a risk model. High expression of these three molecules indicated a poor prognosis. The predictive accuracy of the risk model was verified in the GSE17536 dataset. Subsequently, multivariate regression analysis showed that the signature based on the three costimulatory molecules was an independent risk factor in the training cohort (HR = 2.12; 95% CI = 1.26, 3.56). Based on the risk model and clinicopathological data, the AUC values for predicting the 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival probability of patients with colon adenocarcinoma were 0.77, 0.77, and 0.71, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to report a risk signature constructed based on the costimulatory molecules TNFRSF10c, TNFRSF13c, and TNFRSF11a. This risk signature can serve as a prognostic biomarker for colon adenocarcinoma and is related to the immunotherapeutic response of patients.
Spatio-temporal expression pattern of Raffinose Synthase genes determine the levels of Raffinose Family Oligosaccharides in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) seed
Authors: Sanyal Rajarshi , Pradhan Bhubaneswar , Jawed Danish Md. , Tribhuvan Kishor U. , Dahuja Anil , Kumar Madan , Kumar Narendra , Mishra Gyan P. , Ram Chet , Mahatma Mahesh Kumar , Singh Binay K. , Mangrauthia Satendra K. , Singh Anil K. , Sharma T. R. , Pattanayak Arunava , Bishi Sujit K. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractRaffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs) are known to have important physiological functions in plants. However, the presence of RFOs in legumes causes flatulence, hence are considered antinutrients. To reduce the RFOs content to a desirable limit without compromising normal plant development and functioning, the identification of important regulatory genes associated with the biosynthetic pathway is a prerequisite. In the present study, through comparative RNA sequencing in contrasting genotypes for seed RFOs content at different seed maturity stages, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with the pathway were identified. The DEGs exhibited spatio-temporal expression patterns with high RFOs variety showing early induction of RFOs biosynthetic genes and low RFOs variety showing a late expression at seed maturity. Selective and seed-specific differential expression of raffinose synthase genes (AhRS14 and AhRS6) suggested their regulatory role in RFOs accumulation in peanut seeds, thereby serving as promising targets in low RFOs peanut breeding programs. Despite stachyose being the major seed RFOs fraction, differential expression of raffinose synthase genes indicated the complex metabolic regulation of this pathway. The transcriptomic resource and the genes identified in this study could be studied further to develop low RFOs varieties, thus improving the overall nutritional quality of peanuts.
Plastic plumage colouration in response to experimental humidity supports Gloger’s rule
Authors: López-Rull Isabel , Salaberría Concepción , Fargallo Juan Antonio 
Published: January 2023

AbstractKnowing how animals adapt their phenotype to local temperature and humidity is key to understanding not only ecogeographical rules, but also how species will manage climate change, as current models predict changes in global patterns of temperature and precipitation. In endotherms, colour adaptations in response to climate have been under investigated, and their acclimatization-the individual capacity to reversibly adjust phenotype in response to different environments-is unknown. Geographic trends can provide clues about abiotic variables involved in colouration, as postulated by Gloger’s rule, which predicts darker individuals in warm and humid regions. We tested whether house sparrows (Passer domesticus) can adjust colouration when faced with varying humidity conditions. We exposed birds to either a dry (humidity 45%) or a wet environment (70%) six months before their moult, and measured colouration in newly developed feathers in five parts of the body (bib, crown, crown stripe, belly and rump). As predicted by Gloger’s rule, birds in wet conditions developed darker (bib and belly) and larger (bib) melanised plumage patches, than birds in dry conditions. Our result provides the first unequivocal evidence that the ability of individual birds to adjust their colouration may be a potential adaptation to climatic changes in endotherms.
Correlative light and electron microscopic observation of calcium phosphate particles in a mouse kidney formed under a high-phosphate diet
Authors: Battulga Batpurev , Shiizaki Kazuhiro , Miura Yutaka , Osanai Yasuyuki , Yamazaki Reiji , Shinohara Yoshiaki , Kubota Yoshiyuki , Hara Toru , Kuro-o Makoto , Ohno Nobuhiko 
Published: January 2023

AbstractCalcium phosphate forms particles under excessive urinary excretion of phosphate in the kidney. While the formation of calcium phosphate particles (CaPs) has been implicated in the damage to renal tubular cells and renal dysfunction, clarifying the ultrastructural information and the elemental composition of the small CaPs in the wide areas of kidney tissue has been technically difficult. This study introduces correlative and sequential light as well as electron microscopic CaP observation in the kidney tissue by combining fluorescent staining for CaPs and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) on resin sections prepared using high-pressure freezing and freeze substitution. CaPs formed in mouse kidneys under long-term feeding of a high-phosphate diet were clearly visualized on resin sections by fluorescence-conjugated alendronate derivatives and toluidine blue metachromasia. These CaPs were verified by correlative observation with EDS. Furthermore, small CaPs formed in the kidney under short-term feeding were detected using fluorescent probes. The elemental composition of the particles, including calcium and magnesium, was identified following EDS analyses. These results suggest that the correlative microscopy approach is helpful for observing in situ distribution and elemental composition of CaPs in the kidney and contributing to studies regarding CaP formation-associated pathophysiology.
Simultaneous magnetic field and field gradient mapping of hexagonal MnNiGa by quantitative magnetic force microscopy
Authors: Freitag Norbert H. , Reiche Christopher F. , Neu Volker , Devi Parul , Burkhardt Ulrich , Felser Claudia , Wolf Daniel , Lubk Axel , Büchner Bernd , Mühl Thomas 
Published: January 2023

AbstractMagnetic force microscopy (MFM) is a scanning microscopy technique that is commonly employed to probe the sample’s magnetostatic stray fields via their interaction with a magnetic probe tip. In this work, a quantitative, single-pass MFM technique is presented that maps one magnetic stray-field component and its spatial derivative at the same time. This technique uses a special cantilever design and a special high-aspect-ratio magnetic interaction tip that approximates a monopole-like moment. Experimental details, such as the control scheme, the sensor design, which enables simultaneous force and force gradient measurements, as well as the potential and limits of the monopole description of the tip moment are thoroughly discussed. To demonstrate the merit of this technique for studying complex magnetic samples it is applied to the examination of polycrystalline MnNiGa bulk samples. In these experiments, the focus lies on mapping and analyzing the stray-field distribution of individual bubble-like magnetization patterns in a centrosymmetric [001] MnNiGa phase. The experimental data is compared to calculated and simulated stray-field distributions of 3D magnetization textures, and, furthermore, bubble dimensions including diameters are evaluated. The results indicate that the magnetic bubbles have a significant spatial extent in depth and a buried bubble top base.
Inner skin effects on non-Hermitian topological fractals
Authors: Manna Sourav , Roy Bitan 
Published: January 2023

AbstractNon-Hermitian (NH) crystals, quasicrystals, and amorphous network display an accumulation of a macroscopic number of states near one of its specific interfaces with vacuum, such as edge, surface, hinge, or corner. This phenomenon is known as the NH skin effect, which can only be observed with open boundary condition. In this regard self-similar fractals, manifesting inner boundaries in the interior of the system, harbor a novel phenomenon, the inner skin effect (ISE). Then the NH skin effect appears at the inner boundaries of the fractal lattice with periodic boundary condition. We showcase this observation by implementing prominent models for NH insulators and superconductors on representative planar Sierpinski carpet fractal lattices. They accommodate both first-order and second-order ISEs at inner edges and corners, respectively, for charged as well as neutral Majorana fermions. Furthermore, over extended parameter regimes ISEs are tied with nontrivial bulk topological invariants, yielding intrinsic ISEs. With the recent success in engineering NH topological phases on highly tunable metamaterial platforms, such as photonic and phononic lattices, as well as topolectric circuits, the proposed ISEs can be observed experimentally at least on fractal metamaterials with periodic boundary condition.
Forest disturbance decreased in China from 1986 to 2020 despite regional variations
Authors: Liu Zhihua , Wang Wen J. , Ballantyne Ashley , He Hong S. , Wang Xugao , Liu Shuguang , Ciais Philippe , Wimberly Michael C. , Piao Shilong , Yu Kailiang , Yao Qichao , Liang Yu , Wu Zhiwei , Fang Yunting , Chen Anping , Xu Wenru , Zhu Jiaojun 
Published: January 2023

AbstractHuman activities have altered disturbance patterns in many parts of world, but there is no quantitative information on patterns and trends of forest disturbance regimes in China. We applied a spectral-temporal segmentation approach over all available Landsat data to map individual disturbance patches and characterize the patterns and trends in disturbance rate, size, frequency, and severity across China’s forests. From 1986 to 2020, about 39.7% of China’s forests were disturbed with an annual rate of 1.16 ± 0.41% yr−1. The disturbance decreased at a rate of −390 ± 142 km2 yr−1, primarily driven by the effective implementation of forest protection policy since 2000s. The rate, frequency, and size of disturbance generally intensified in Southeast, but weakened in Northeast China. Our high-quality, spatially explicit disturbance map provides an essential data layer to understand the landscape-scale drivers of forest dynamics and functions for important but less understood pan-temperate forest regions.
Kernel extreme learning machine‐based general solution to forward kinematics of parallel robots
Authors: Ma Jun , Duan Xuechao , Zhang Dan 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThe forward kinematics of parallel robots is a challenging issue due to its highly coupled non‐linear relation among branch chains. This paper presents a novel approach to forward kinematics of parallel robots based on kernel extreme learning machine (KELM). To tackle with the forward kinematics solution of fully parallel robots, the forward kinematics solution of parallel robots is equivalently transformed into a machine learning model first. On this basis, a computational model combining sparrow search algorithm and KELM is then established, which can serve as both regression and classification. Based on SSA‐optimised KELM (SSA‐KELM) established in this study, a binary discriminator for judging the existence of the forward kinematics solution and a multi‐label regression model for predicting the forward kinematics solution are built to obtain the forward kinematics general solution of parallel robots with different structural configurations and parameters. To evaluate the proposed model, a numerical case on this dataset collected by the inverse kinematics model of a typical 6‐DOF parallel robot is conducted, followed by the results manifesting that the binary discriminator with the discriminant accuracy of 88.50% is superior over ELM, KELM, support vector machine and logistic regression. The multi‐label regression model, with the root mean squared error of 0.06 mm for the position and 0.15° for the orientation, outperforms the double‐hidden‐layer back propagation (2‐BP), ELM, KELM and genetic algorithm‐optimised KELM. Furthermore, numerical cases of parallel robots with different structural configurations and parameters are compared with state‐of‐the‐art models. Moreover, these results of numerical simulation and experiment on the host computer demonstrate that the proposed model displays its high precision, high robustness and rapid convergence, which provides a candidate for the forward kinematics of parallel robots.
A turbo‐based encryption and coding scheme for multiple‐input multiple‐output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing wireless communication systems affected by Doppler frequency offset
Authors: Linh Dinh Van , Yem Vu Van 
Published: January 2023

AbstractMultiple‐Input Multiple‐Output Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (MIMO‐OFDM) is an essential technology in the wireless communication system. However, its performance is significantly affected by Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO), which leads to inter‐carrier interference (ICI). The CFO estimation and compensation techniques are used to mitigate the Doppler effect. In addition, the confidentiality of data is a key factor of the system. This paper proposes a Turbo‐based encryption and coding scheme to improve reliability and security for the MIMO‐OFDM wireless communication systems affected by the Doppler frequency offset. In our proposed scheme, the secret key is produced from channel parameters between legitimate users and it is used as a seed for generating a pseudo‐random bit sequence using an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) generator with variable key lengths. The Turbo code's puncturing mechanism is controlled by this pseudo‐random bit sequence. The proposed method is applied to the system with different modulation schemes through the Rayleigh channel. The simulation results show that the system affected by the Doppler effect would obtain the best performance when using the highest key length of the AES generator, the BPSK, and a great number of receive antennas. Furthermore, the proposed solution outperforms several previous approaches for the MIMO‐OFDM systems.
Dynamic attention network for flame detection
Authors: Fang Long , Zhang Yunfeng , Li Hao , Chen Bo , Sui Yaguang 
Published: January 2023

AbstractRecently, flame detection has attracted great attention. However, existing methods have the issues of low detection rates, high false alarm rates, and lack of smoke anti‐interference ability. In this letter, a novel dynamic attention‐based network (DANet) is proposed for autonomous flame detection in various scenarios. To mitigate the disturbance of smoke in images, a dynamic attention strategy is proposed to discover the potential features among scale‐awareness and spatial‐awareness. Then, based on dynamic attention module, a decoupled detection head is presented, which can predict category, regression, and object score independently to boost the performance. A self‐contained challenging flame dataset, which is multi‐scene, multiscale, and multi‐interference informative is constructed to evaluate the proposed model and organize the experiments. Extensive ablation and comparison studies on self‐labelled dataset reveal the effectiveness of the proposed dynamic attention‐based network.
A new design of channel denoiser using residual autoencoder
Authors: Han Soyoung , Kim Junghyun , Song Hong‐Yeop 
Published: January 2023

AbstractA joint neural network decoder and denoiser scheme demonstrated superior performance compared to individual modules. However, there is still a limitation that the existing denoisers cannot effectively learn patterns of encoded signals. To overcome the limitation, a novel denoiser based on a residual autoencoder structure is proposed. The proposed denoiser speeds up the training process and boosts the performance due to its structure effectively extracting compressed features. For the evaluation, a joint system model with a hyper‐graph‐network decoder that is known for outstanding decoding performance is considered. Simulation results show that this denoiser outperforms the existing denoisers. Furthermore, the proposed joint model shows significant performance improvement compared to the individual hyper‐graph‐network decoder with only 1% of the number of epochs for the training.