bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Numerical assessment of gun mufflers using finite element method, neural networks, and a genetic algorithm
Authors: Chiu Min-Chie , Chang Ying-Chun 
Published: March 2023

In order to enhance the acoustical performance of gun mufflers, a multi-chamber muffler internally inserting with expansion cones and perforated tubes ducts is presented. Because of the complicated geometry of gun muffler, traditional analytic method used in predicting a muffler’s acoustical performance is difficult; therefore, a finite element method using the COMSOL software is adopted to predict the gun muffler’s sound transmission loss. Moreover, because an objective function (or fitness function) is needed during the optimization process, a simplified mathematical model using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is used. Here, a polynomial objective function is established by inputting the muffler’s geometric design parameters and the related simulated Sound Transmission Loss (STL) (run on the COMSOL) via the Artificial Neural Network. Furthermore, Genetic Algorithm (GA), an optimizer, is linked to the simplified mathematical model to maximize the gun muffler’s acoustical performance. To pursue a maximal STL at the targeted tones, the geometric parameters of cone’s horizontal length (L1) and first cone’s span (L2) is optimally adjusted. Results demonstrates the STL of gun muffler at the specified frequencies of 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz can be improved from 15.8 dB, 72.6 dB, 184.8 dB to 18.2 dB, 112.6 dB, and 416.3 dB, respectively. The paper aims to provide an optimal design method of gun muffler using Finite Element Method (FEM), Artificial Neural Network, and Genetic Algorithm. Consequently, the simulated results reveal that the optimally shaped gun muffler can efficiently depress the gun’s shooting noise.
Outcomes of Salvage Procedures for Failed Total Ankle Arthroplasty
Authors: Pfahl Kathrin , Röser Anke , Eder Julia , Gottschalk Oliver , Hörterer Hubert , Mehlhorn Alexander , Walther Markus 
Published: March 2023

Background: The number of total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) procedures increased rapidly in the last years and so have its complications. The main pillars in treating failed TAA are revision total ankle arthroplasty (RTAA), revision total ankle arthrodesis (RAA), or revision tibiotalocalcaneal fusion (RTTC). To evaluate these options, we compared clinical, radiologic, and patient-reported outcomes. Methods: A single-center, retrospective review of 111 cases of revision procedures of failed TAA from 2006 to 2020 was performed. Patients undergoing polyethylene exchange and revision of one metallic component were excluded. Demographic data, failure, and survival rates were analyzed. The European Foot and Ankle Society (EFAS) score and radiographic changes in the subtalar joint were evaluated. The average follow-up was 67.89 ± 40.51 months. Results: One hundred eleven patients underwent removal of TAA. The procedures included 40 revisions of both metallic components, 46 revision total ankle arthrodesis and 25 revision tibiotalocalcaneal fusion. The overall failure rate in the cohort was 5.41% (6/111). The failure rate after RAA was 4.35 times higher than that of RTAA, whereas RTTC did not show failures. RTAA and RTTC lead to a 1-year and 5-year survival rate of 100%. RAA resulted in a 1-year survival rate of 90% and a 5-year survival rate of 85%. The mean EFAS score in the cohort was 12.02 ± 5.83. Analysis of the EFAS score showed that RTTC provided the most reliable pain reduction, and RTAA achieved the best gait pattern. RAA resulted in poorer clinical results. Subtalar joint degeneration occurred significantly less in the RTAA group ( P = .01). Conclusion: This retrospective study suggests lower failure rates, increased short-term survival and a better clinical outcomes of revision arthroplasty and tibiotalocalcaneal fusion than ankle arthrodesis. Revision arthroplasty is a promising solution in treating failed total ankle arthroplasty considering lower rate of subsequent adjacent joint degeneration. Level of Evidence: Level III, non-randomized observational study.
Influence of face sheet thickness on flexural strength characteristics of carbon/epoxy/Nomex honeycomb sandwich panels
Authors: Naresh Kakur , Alia Ruzanna Aziz , Cantwell Wesley J. , Umer Rehan , Khan Kamran Ahmed 
Published: March 2023

This study presents the findings of an investigation into the effect of varying the thickness of a carbon/epoxy face sheet of a Nomex honeycomb sandwich panel on its the flexural properties. The thickness (hs) of the face sheet was varied by increasing the number of plies from one 0.25 mm thick layer to eight such layers, giving a total nominal thickness of 2.0 mm, whilst maintaining a constant thickness of the core. The flexural properties of the sandwich panels were investigated through a series of three- and four-point bending tests. A particular focus was on identifying changes in the failure mode with increasing face sheet thickness. The flexural properties of the sandwich panels were predicted using sandwich beam theory, where the deviation from the experimental values was shown to be less than 13%. A two parameter Weibull distribution model was used to predict the maximum flexural load using an analysis of variance (ANOVA) tool and an excellent level of correlation was observed with the experimental values. The difference between the predicted maximum load values and the experimental results was below 5% in all cases. A brittle mode of failure was observed in the thickest panel. The sandwich panel based on 1.5 mm thick face sheet was identified as being the most appropriate design, both in terms of strength and stiffness.
Depression Predicts Cardiac Cachexia in Heart Failure Patients
Authors: Moughrabi Samira M. , Habib Samer I , Evangelista Lorraine 
Published: March 2023

Background Cardiac cachexia (CC) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in persons with heart failure (HF). Compared to the biological underpinning of CC, little is known about the psychological factors. Thus, the overarching objective of this study was to determine whether depression predicts the onset of cachexia at 6 months in patients with chronic HF. Methods 114 participants with a mean age of 56.7 ± 13.0 years, LVEF of 33.13 ± 12.30% and NYHA class III (48.0%) were assessed for depression using the PHQ-9. Body weight was measured at baseline and at 6 months. Patients who had ≥6% non-edematous unintentional weight loss were classified as cachectic. Univariate and logistic multivariate regression were used to examine the relationship between CC and depression, controlling for clinical and demographic variables. Results Cachectic patients (11.4%) had significantly higher baseline BMI levels (31.35 ± 5.70 vs. 28.31 ± 4.73; p = .038), lower LVEF (mean = 24.50 ± 9.48 vs. 34.22 ± 12.18, p = .009), and depression scores (mean = 7.17 ± 6.44 vs. 4.27 ± 3.98, p = .049) when compared to their non-cachectic counterparts. In multivariate regression analysis, depression scores ( β = 1.193, p = .035) and LVEF ( β = .835, p = .031) predicted cachexia after controlling for age, gender, body mass index, VO2 max, and New York Heart Association class and accounted for 49% of the variance in Cardiac cachexia. When depression was dichotomized, depression and LVEF predicted 52.6% of the variance in CC. Conclusion Depression predicts CC in patients with HF. Additional studies are needed to expand the knowledge of the role of the psychological determinants of this devastating syndrome.
How to TEVAR swine for scientific research: Technical, anatomic, and device considerations to translate human TEVAR techniques into the large animal laboratory
Authors: Stonko David P , Treffalls Rebecca N , Edwards Joseph , Abdou Hossam , Lang Eric , Stonko Daniel C , Cullen Pierce , Hicks Caitlin W , Morrison Jonathan J 
Published: March 2023

Objective Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair (TEVAR) is well established in humans. Despite widespread use, additional research questions related to thoracic aortic stenting and endovascular innovation require large animal models. Translating human TEVAR devices and techniques into animal models, however, is a challenge even for experienced endovascular surgeons looking to develop a large animal TEVAR model. This article describes swine-specific strategies to deploy human TEVAR stent grafts, delineate how to select, size, prepare, and re-use human stents and deployment systems in swine, and how to translate human imaging modalities to large animal TEVAR. Methods We describe a selection of related TEVAR models and techniques in Yorkshire swine to support scientific inquiry. This includes an animal husbandry and pre-operative preparation and planning program. All imaged specimens in this paper are castrated male Yorkshire swine in the 60–80 kg range and underwent TEVAR with the Medtronic Navion stent and deployment system. Results To study human aortic stent grafts in swine, the animals generally must be at least 50 kgs to guarantee a 2 cm internal aortic diameter at the left subclavian, and for the iliac arteries to accommodate the human deployment system. Swine will have longer torsos and shorter iliofemoral segments than a human of the same weight which can make human deployment systems too short to reach the left subclavian from the femoral arteries in larger animals. We provide techniques to overcome this, including open iliac access or upside-down carotid TEVAR, which may be particularly useful if the scientific data would be confounded by iliofemoral access. Unlike humans that present clinically with axial imaging, swine will generally not have preoperative imaging, and many translational research laboratories do not have access to inexpensive preoperative CT, or any intraoperative CT scanning, which we are fortunate to have. We describe, therefore, several strategies for imaging in this setting including TEVAR via C-arm fluoroscopy and with or without in-laboratory CT scanning. Due to the low-resource setting of most large animal laboratories, as compared to a human hybrid room, we also describe several techniques to reduce cost and reuse materials, including the stent grafts, which at the end of non-survival experiments can be recovered during necropsy, cleaned, reinserted into the deployment device and reused on additional animals. Conclusions This article describes a collection of related techniques and tips to translate human TEVAR imaging, sizing/selection, deployment, and anatomy to swine research. Using this framework alone, an experienced human vascular or endovascular surgeon may develop a complete aortic stenting animal model with strategies for scientific data acquisition.
Pediatric Insurance Coverage Variation of Orthognathic Surgery and Orthodontic Treatment for Congenital Craniofacial Abnormalities
Authors: Bhagwat Atharva M. , Yusuf Cynthia T. , Njoroge Moreen W. , Lopez Christopher D. , Redett Richard J. , Yang Robin 
Published: March 2023

Introduction: Orthognathic surgery and associated orthodontic treatment are necessary parts of care for children who have congenital craniofacial deformities. Inconsistencies in insurance coverage across the U.S. have led to serious barriers to care for many families. In an effort to describe common patterns of coverage, we report craniofacial coverage criteria for both medical and dental insurances. Methods: In this study, we analyzed medical policies of the top 50 market share insurance providers, as well as all dental policies available in the U.S., for a total of 776 policies. Included in this analysis are Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Results: A total of 94.1% of both private medical and dental policies provide up-front limited coverage of congenital-related treatments, along with 98.0% of Medicaid plans covering oral surgery for cleft palate. Almost all states (n = 47) offered at least one private medical plan that covered orthognathic surgery for congenital and craniofacial anomalies, while n = 3 states (Colorado, Ohio, West Virginia) did not offer any. Coverage for oral surgery and orthodontic treatment by private dental and standalone dental plans were consistent, with 80.9% (n = 518) plans offering (52 ± 14)% in-network coverage of costs for oral surgery and 55.6% (n = 356) offering a similar (49 ± 12)% out-of-network coverage. Forty-six Medicaid and 44 CHIP programs offered coverage of “oral surgery for cleft palate.” Of these plans, 8.8% (n = 9) covered oral surgery as a medical benefit and 2.9% (n = 3) required that the surgery be “medically necessary.” Fifty Medicaid and 48 CHIP plans offered coverage for orthodontia. Conclusion: Many systemic barriers remain in the way of consistent access to affordable care in the United States. Coverage for patients with congenital anomalies remains highly variable and greater efforts are needed to ensure consistent, comprehensive coverage.
Acute stress reduces population-level metabolic and proteomic variation
Authors: Steward Katherine F. , Refai Mohammed , Dyer William E. , Copié Valérie , Lachowiec Jennifer , Bothner Brian 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Background
Variation in omics data due to intrinsic biological stochasticity is often viewed as a challenging and undesirable feature of complex systems analyses. In fact, numerous statistical methods are utilized to minimize the variation among biological replicates.

Results
We demonstrate that the common statistics relative standard deviation (RSD) and coefficient of variation (CV), which are often used for quality control or part of a larger pipeline in omics analyses, can also be used as a metric of a physiological stress response. Using an approach we term Replicate Variation Analysis (RVA), we demonstrate that acute physiological stress leads to feature-wide canalization of CV profiles of metabolomes and proteomes across biological replicates. Canalization is the repression of variation between replicates, which increases phenotypic similarity. Multiple in-house mass spectrometry omics datasets in addition to publicly available data were analyzed to assess changes in CV profiles in plants, animals, and microorganisms. In addition, proteomics data sets were evaluated utilizing RVA to identify functionality of reduced CV proteins.

Conclusions
RVA provides a foundation for understanding omics level shifts that occur in response to cellular stress. This approach to data analysis helps characterize stress response and recovery, and could be deployed to detect populations under stress, monitor health status, and conduct environmental monitoring.
EG-TransUNet: a transformer-based U-Net with enhanced and guided models for biomedical image segmentation
Authors: Pan Shaoming , Liu Xin , Xie Ningdi , Chong Yanwen 
Published: March 2023

AbstractAlthough various methods based on convolutional neural networks have improved the performance of biomedical image segmentation to meet the precision requirements of medical imaging segmentation task, medical image segmentation methods based on deep learning still need to solve the following problems: (1) Difficulty in extracting the discriminative feature of the lesion region in medical images during the encoding process due to variable sizes and shapes; (2) difficulty in fusing spatial and semantic information of the lesion region effectively during the decoding process due to redundant information and the semantic gap. In this paper, we used the attention-based Transformer during the encoder and decoder stages to improve feature discrimination at the level of spatial detail and semantic location by its multihead-based self-attention. In conclusion, we propose an architecture called EG-TransUNet, including three modules improved by a transformer: progressive enhancement module, channel spatial attention, and semantic guidance attention. The proposed EG-TransUNet architecture allowed us to capture object variabilities with improved results on different biomedical datasets. EG-TransUNet outperformed other methods on two popular colonoscopy datasets (Kvasir-SEG and CVC-ClinicDB) by achieving 93.44% and 95.26% on mDice. Extensive experiments and visualization results demonstrate that our method advances the performance on five medical segmentation datasets with better generalization ability.
Core and conditionally rare taxa as indicators of agricultural drainage ditch and stream health and function
Authors: Shi Yichao , Khan Izhar U. H. , Radford Devon , Guo Galen , Sunohara Mark , Craiovan Emilia , Lapen David R. , Pham Phillip , Chen Wen 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Background
The freshwater microbiome regulates aquatic ecological functionality, nutrient cycling, pathogenicity, and has the capacity to dissipate and regulate pollutants. Agricultural drainage ditches are ubiquitous in regions where field drainage is necessary for crop productivity, and as such, are first-line receptors of agricultural drainage and runoff. How bacterial communities in these systems respond to environmental and anthropogenic stressors are not well understood. In this study, we carried out a three year study in an agriculturally dominated river basin in eastern Ontario, Canada to explore the spatial and temporal dynamics of the core and conditionally rare taxa (CRT) of the instream bacterial communities using a 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing approach. Water samples were collected from nine stream and drainage ditch sites that represented the influence of a range of upstream land uses.

Results
The cross-site core and CRT accounted for 5.6% of the total number of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs), yet represented, on average, over 60% of the heterogeneity of the overall bacterial community; hence, well reflected the spatial and temporal microbial dynamics in the water courses. The contribution of core microbiome to the overall community heterogeneity represented the community stability across all sampling sites. CRT was primarily composed of functional taxa involved in nitrogen (N) cycling and was linked to nutrient loading, water levels, and flow, particularly in the smaller agricultural drainage ditches. Both the core and the CRT were sensitive responders to changes in hydrological conditions.

Conclusions
We demonstrate that core and CRT can be considered as holistic tools to explore the temporal and spatial variations of the aquatic microbial community and can be used as sensitive indicators of the health and function of agriculturally dominated water courses. This approach also reduces computational complexity in relation to analyzing the entire microbial community for such purposes.
Rapid, sensitive, and specific detection of SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal swab samples of suspected patients using a novel one-step loop-mediated isothermal amplification (one-step LAMP) technique
Authors: Khanizadeh Sayyad , Malekshahi Asra , Hanifehpour Hooman , Birjandi Mehdi , Fallahi Shirzad 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Background
In the absence of effective antiviral drugs or vaccines, early and accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection is essential to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study developed and evaluated a novel rapid One-Step LAMP assay to directly detect the SARS-CoV-2 RNA from nasopharyngeal (NP) swab samples of patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection living in deprived areas in comparison to One-Step Real-time PCR.

Methods
Two hundred fifty-four NP swab samples from patients suspected of COVID-19 infection living in deprived western areas of Iran were tested by TaqMan One-Step RT-qPCR and fast One-Step LAMP assays. Tenfold serial dilutions of SARS-CoV-2 RNA standard strain where the viral copy number in each dilution was previously determined using the qPCR and various templates were used to investigate the analytical sensitivity and specificity of the One-Step LAMP assay in triplicate. Also, the efficacy and reliability of the method compared to TaqMan One-Step RT-qPCR were evaluated using SARS-CoV-2 positive and negative clinical samples.

Results
The results of the One-Step RT-qPCR and One-Step LAMP tests were positive in 131 (51.6%) and 127 (50%) participants, respectively. Based on Cohen’s kappa coefficient (κ), the agreement between the two tests was 97%, which was statistically significant (P < 0.001). The detection limit for the One-Step LAMP assay was 1 × 101 copies of standard SARS-CoV-2 RNA per reaction in less than an hour in triplicates. Negative results in all samples with non-SARS-CoV-2 templates represent 100% specificity.

Conclusions
The results showed that the One-Step LAMP assay is an efficient consistent technique for detecting SARS-CoV-2 among suspected individuals due to its simplicity, speed, low cost, sensitivity, and specificity. Therefore, it has great potential as a useful diagnostic tool for disease epidemic control, timely treatment, and public health protection, especially in poor and underdeveloped countries.
Lateral metabolome study reveals the molecular mechanism of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) in Chinese cabbage
Authors: Yang Huiju , Chen Mingwei , Hu Jingfeng , Lan Mei , He Jiangming 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Background
Chinese cabbage is one of the most widely grown leafy vegetables in China. Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is a maternally inherited trait that produces abnormal pollen during anther development, which is commonly seen in cruciferous vegetables. However, the molecular mechanism of Chinese cabbage CMS is not clear. In this study, the metabolome and hormone profiles of Chinese cabbage male sterile line (CCR20000) and sterile maintainer line (CCR20001) were analyzed in flower buds during normal stamen development and abnormal stamen development, respectively.

Results
A total of 556 metabolites were detected based on UPLC-MS/MS detection platform and database search, and the changes of hormones such as auxin, cytokinins, abscisic acid, jasmonates, salicylic acid, gibberellin acid and ethylene were analyzed. The results showed that compared with the male fertile line (MF), the male sterile line (MS) significantly decreased the content of flavonoids and phenolamides metabolites in the stamen dysplasia stage, accompanied by a large accumulation of glucosinolate metabolites. Meanwhile, the contents of GA9, GA20, IBA, tZ and other hormones in MS were significantly lower than those in MF strains. Further, by comparing the metabolome changes of MF and MS during stamen dysplasia, it was found that flavonoid metabolites and amino acid metabolites were distinctly different.

Conclusions
These results suggest that flavonoids, phenolamides and glucosinolate metabolites may be closely related to the sterility of MS strains. This study provides an effective basis for further research on the molecular mechanism of CMS in Chinese cabbage.
The burden of CDI in the United States: a multifactorial challenge
Authors: Feuerstadt Paul , Theriault Nicolette , Tillotson Glenn 
Published: March 2023

AbstractClostridioides difficile infection (CDI) affects approximately 500,000 patients annually in the United States, of these around 30,000 will die. CDI carries significant burdens including clinical, social and economic. While healthcare-associated CDI has declined in recent years, community-associated CDI is on the rise. Many patients are also impacted by recurrent C. difficile infections (rCDI); up to 35% of index CDI will recur and of these up to 60% will further recur with multiple recurrences observed. The range of outcomes adversely affected by rCDI is significant and current standard of care does not alter these recurrence rates due to the damaged gut microbiome and subsequent dysbiosis. The clinical landscape of CDI is changing, we discuss the impact of CDI, rCDI, and the wide range of financial, social, and clinical outcomes by which treatments should be evaluated.