bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Demulsification of asphaltene stabilized crude oil emulsions by biodegradable ethylcellulose polymers with varying viscosities
Authors: Husain Arafat , Adewunmi Ahmad A. , Gbadamosi Afeez , Al-Harthi Mamdouh A. , Patil Shirish , Kamal Muhammad Shahzad 
Published: January 2023

AbstractEfficient demulsifiers for fast demulsification of asphaltene stabilized crude oil emulsions are currently in high demand. In this work, we evaluated the demulsification potential of ethyl cellulose (EC) demulsifiers with varying viscosities—4 cp, 22 cp, and 100 cp, designated as EC-4, EC-22, and EC-100. Demulsifcation efficiency (DE) of these demulsifiers to remove water from emulsions produced from distilled water, seawater, and different salts (NaCl, MgCl2, and CaCl2) solution were assessed using the bottle test technique at ambient and elevated temperatures (25 °C and 90 °C). The bottle test outcomes showed that EC-4 and EC-22 had better performance at the ambient conditions to demulsify the emulsions formed from distilled water with %DE of 85.71% and 28.57%, respectively, while EC-100 achieved 3.9% water removal owing to its high viscosity which inhibited its adsorption at the oil–water interface. At demulsification temperature (90 °C) under the emulsions from distilled water, the %DE of EC-4, EC-22, and EC-100 was 99.23%, 58.57%, and 42.85%, respectively. Seawater hastened the demulsification activities of these demulsifiers. Also, these demulsifiers demonstrated excellent demulsification in emulsions from various salts. The demulsification performance of the EC-4 demulsifier in the presence of any of these salts was approximately 98% while MgCl2 and CaCl2 accelerated the water/oil separation performance of EC-22 and EC-100 by promoting their diffusion and adsorption at the interface. Viscosity and shear stress measurements corroborated the results obtained from the bottle tests. Injection of EC demulsifiers led to a reduction in the viscosity and shear stress of the formed emulsion. Reduction in the shear stress and viscosity were highest in EC-4 and lowest in EC-100. Optical microscopic images of emulsion injected with EC-4 demulsifier were analyzed at various periods during viscosity measurements. Based on the optical images obtained at different durations, a demulsification mechanism describing the activity of the EC demulsifier was proposed.
Numerical modelling of soldered superconducting REBCO stacks of tapes suggests strong reduction in cross-field demagnetization
Authors: Li Shuo , Pardo Enric 
Published: January 2023

AbstractStacks of superconducting REBCO tapes (or “stacks”) can trap high magnetic fields, above 17 T. However, relatively low oscillating transverse magnetic fields can fully demagnetize the stacks. This is an issue if the stacks act as poles in the rotor of a superconducting motor, for instance. Here, we study the drastic suppression of cross-field demagnetization in stacks by soldering the tapes at the ends using a normal conductor. In particular, we analyzed by numerical modeling a stack of five REBCO thin films connected at the ends by resistances. The computed trapped field of a stack with zero solder resistance decays very fast at the beginning but then tends to stabilize to relatively high values, while the trapped field of an isolated stack (infinite resistance at the ends) decays further (it decays to zero if the transverse field is above the parallel penetration field). For intermediate solder resistances, the stable value of the trapped magnetic field is in between those of the isolated and zero-resistance configurations. Since the stable trapped field in soldered stacks increases with the number of tapes, stacks of sufficiently high number of soldered tapes could be immune to cross-field demagnetization. This opens the gate for a new kind of superconductors that mostly behave as bulks, especially if the stacks are made of delaminated tapes or it is possible to solder the tapes by very low resistance.
Design of highly nonlinear confusion component based on entangled points of quantum spin states
Authors: Muhammad Waseem Hafiz , Hwang Seong Oun 
Published: January 2023

AbstractCryptosystems are commonly deployed to secure data transmission over an insecure line of communication. To provide confusion in the data over insecure networks, substitution boxes are the solitary components for delivering a nonlinear mapping between inputs and outputs. A confusion component of a block cipher with high nonlinearity and low differential and linear approximation probabilities is considered secure against cryptanalysis. This study aims to design a highly nonlinear substitution-permutation network using the blotch symmetry of quantum spin states on the Galois field GF (28). To observe the efficiency of the proposed methodology, some common and advanced measures were evaluated for performance, randomness, and cryptanalytics. The outcomes of these analyses validate that the generated nonlinear confusion components are effective for block ciphers and attain better cryptographic strength with a high signal-to-noise ratio in comparison to state-of-the-art techniques.
3D metamaterial ultra-wideband absorber for curved surface
Authors: Norouzi Mahdi , Jarchi Saughar , Ghaffari-Miab Mohsen , Esfandiari Meisam , Lalbakhsh Ali , Koziel Slawomir , Reisenfeld Sam , Moloudian Gholamhosein 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThis paper proposes a three-dimensional metamaterial absorber based on a resistive film patch array to develop a low-cost, lightweight absorber for curved surfaces. An excellent absorption over a large frequency band is achieved through two different yet controllable mechanisms; in the first mechanism, a considerable attenuation in the wave power is achieved via graphite resistive films. The absorption is then intensified through magnetic dipoles created by the surface currents, leading to absorption peaks. The simulation results of the absorber show that a broadband absorption greater than 85% is achieved over 35–400 GHz for both TE and TM polarization waves at normal incidence. The structure has more than 167% and 80% absorption bandwidth above 85% and 90%, respectively. It is shown that the proposed metamaterial absorber is independent of incident wave polarization. In addition, the structure is insensitive to incident angles up to 60° for TE mode and full range angle 90° for TM mode. To describe the physical mechanism of the absorber, E-field, power loss density and surface current distributions on the structure are calculated and shown. Moreover, the oblique incidence absorption efficiency is also explained. This absorber paves the way for practical applications, such as sensing, imaging and stealth technology. In addition, the proposed structure can be extended to terahertz, infrared and optical regions.
Utilization of optimal antenatal care, institutional delivery, and associated factors in Northwest Ethiopia
Authors: Hailemariam Tesfahun , Atnafu Asmamaw , Gezie Lemma Derseh , Tilahun Binyam 
Published: January 2023

AbstractOptimal antenatal care visits (ANC4+) and institutional delivery are essentials to save lives of the women and the baby during pregnancy and delivery. Though focused antenatal care visits and institutional delivery is recommended by World Health Organization, Ethiopia has sub-optimal antenatal care and lagged facility delivery. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 811 lactating women in Northwest Ethiopia. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed using 95% confidence level and p < 0.05. The prevalence of optimal antenatal care visits and institutional delivery were 39.6% (95%CI: 36.2–43) and 62.6% (95%CI: 59.2–66), respectively. Maternal education (AOR = 2.05; 95%CI: 1.14, 3.69), home visiting by health extension workers (AOR = 1.57; 95%CI: 1.01, 2.29), and early antenatal care booking (AOR = 11.92; 95%CI: 8.22, 17.31) were significant predictors of optimal antenatal care. Exposure to mass media (AOR = 1.65; 95% CI: 1.02, 2.65); intended pregnancy(AOR = 1.68; 95%CI:1.12, 3.63); parity of one (AO = 3.46; 95% CI: 1.73, 6.89); 1–3 antenatal care visits (AOR = 2.17; 95% CI: 1.29, 3.63); and ANC4 + (AOR = 3.57; 95% CI: 2.07, 6.14); history of pregnancy-related complications(AOR = 1.63; 95%CI: 1.04, 2.57), and access to transportation to reach a health facility(AOR = 1.58; 95%CI: 1.00, 2.45) were significant predictors of institutional delivery. Addressing the modifiable factors identified in this study could improve optimal antenatal care visit and institutional delivery.
Conditioning of microvascular venous flaps in rats
Authors: Heiliger Christian , Ritschl Lucas M. , Fichter Andreas M. , Postl Lukas K. , Kanatas Anastasios , Wolff Klaus Dietrich , Mücke Thomas 
Published: January 2023

AbstractVenous-only perfusion flaps have not been used widely because of the associated high failure rate. Tissue conditioning offers a broad scope of techniques that can be applied pre-, peri-, or postoperatively to promote the adaptation of the affected tissue to any subsequent stress. This study aimed to assess the survival rates associated with a pure venous perfusion flap and investigate whether the timing of the vascular conditioning can affect free flap survival. Forty-four rats were included in the experiment. Group I underwent veno-arterial anastomoses with epigastric graft with pure venous perfusion without tissue conditioning. Groups II and III were pretreated for 7 or 14 days with ischemic conditioning. These groups were compared with a control group (group IV) of conventionally perfused flaps. After the initial surgery, all flaps were assessed clinically, photometrically, and by indocyanine green videoangiography. The flap success rates were 0% in group I, 49.97% ± 24.34% in group II, and 64.95% ± 20.36% in group III. The control group showed an overall survival of 89.3% ± 6.51%. With suitable conditioning, pure venous blood supply can provide adequate perfusion in the rat epigastric flap model. The timing of vascular conditioning appears to be critical for flap survival.
Sex-specific differences in the associations of metabolic syndrome or components with gallstone disease in Chinese euthyroid population
Authors: Jiang Li , Du Jinman , Wang Jufang , Ding Jinhua 
Published: January 2023

AbstractIn euthyroid population, it is uncertain whether there is sex-specific difference in the associations of metabolic syndrome (MetS) or its components with gallstone disease (GSD); in general population, MetS increases the risk of GSD. This was a cross-sectional study to investigate the sex-specific difference in the prevalence of MetS according to GSD status and the associations of MetS or its components with GSD in Chinese euthyroid population. The total prevalence of GSD was 8.1% (6.5% in men and 11.0% in women, with a significant difference (p < 0.001)). The total presence of MetS was 10.7% (12.1% in men and 8.2% in women,with a significant difference (p = 0.001)). The age-adjusted odds ratio of MetS for GSD was 2.775 in men (p < 0.001), 2.543 in women (p = 0.007) and 2.503 in the oveall samples (p < 0.001). Univariate analysis revealed that fasting plasma glucose (FPG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were associated with the prevalence of GSD. After adjustment for age, multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that above three parameters were still significantly associated with the risk of GSD in general population; FPG and HDL-C but not TSH levels were significantly associated with the risk of GSD in men; and FPG and TSH levels but not HDL-C in women. Our study demonstrated that in euthyroid population, MetS appeared to be strongly associated with GSD regardless of sex, and FPG and TSH were two independent risk factors for GSD in men, while FPG and HDL-C in women.
A generative adversarial network with “zero-shot” learning for positron image denoising
Authors: Zhu Mingwei , Zhao Min , Yao Min , Guo Ruipeng 
Published: January 2023

AbstractPositron imaging technology has shown good practical value in industrial non-destructive testing, but the noise and artifacts generated during the imaging process of flow field images will directly affect the accuracy of industrial fault diagnosis. Therefore, how to obtain high-quality reconstructed images of the positron flow field is a challenging problem. In the existing image denoising methods, the denoising performance of positron images of industrial flow fields in special fields still needs to be strengthened. Considering the characteristics of few sample data and strong regularity of positron flow field image,in this work, we propose a new method for image denoising of positron flow field, which is based on a generative adversarial network with zero-shot learning. This method realizes image denoising under the condition of small sample data, and constrains image generation by constructing the extraction model of image internal features. The experimental results show that the proposed method can reduce the noise while retaining the key information of the image. It has also achieved good performance in the practical application of industrial flow field positron imaging.
Artificial intelligence-based radiomics for the prediction of nodal metastasis in early-stage lung cancer
Authors: Shimada Yoshihisa , Kudo Yujin , Maehara Sachio , Fukuta Kentaro , Masuno Ryuhei , Park Jinho , Ikeda Norihiko 
Published: January 2023

AbstractWe aimed to investigate the value of computed tomography (CT)-based radiomics with artificial intelligence (AI) in predicting pathological lymph node metastasis (pN) in patients with clinical stage 0–IA non-small cell lung cancer (c-stage 0–IA NSCLC). This study enrolled 720 patients who underwent complete surgical resection for c-stage 0–IA NSCLC, and were assigned to the derivation and validation cohorts. Using the AI software Beta Version (Fujifilm Corporation, Japan), 39 AI imaging factors, including 17 factors from the AI ground-glass nodule analysis and 22 radiomics features from nodule characterization analysis, were extracted to identify factors associated with pN. Multivariate analysis showed that clinical stage IA3 (p = 0.028), solid-part size (p < 0.001), and average solid CT value (p = 0.033) were independently associated with pN. The receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that the area under the curve and optimal cut-off values of the average solid CT value relevant to pN were 0.761 and -103 Hounsfield units, and the threshold provided sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive values of 69%, 65%, and 94% in the entire cohort, respectively. Measuring the average solid-CT value of tumors for pN may have broad applications such as guiding individualized surgical approaches and postoperative treatment.
Urine cell-free DNA multi-omics to detect MRD and predict survival in bladder cancer patients
Authors: Chauhan Pradeep S. , Shiang Alexander , Alahi Irfan , Sundby R. Taylor , Feng Wenjia , Gungoren Bilge , Nawaf Cayce , Chen Kevin , Babbra Ramandeep K. , Harris Peter K. , Qaium Faridi , Hatscher Casey , Antiporda Anna , Brunt Lindsey , Mayer Lindsey R. , Shern Jack F. , Baumann Brian C. , Kim Eric H. , Reimers Melissa A. , Smith Zachary L. , Chaudhuri Aadel A. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractCirculating tumor DNA (ctDNA) sensitivity remains subpar for molecular residual disease (MRD) detection in bladder cancer patients. To remedy this problem, we focused on the biofluid most proximal to the disease, urine, and analyzed urine tumor DNA in 74 localized bladder cancer patients. We integrated ultra-low-pass whole genome sequencing (ULP-WGS) with urine cancer personalized profiling by deep sequencing (uCAPP-Seq) to achieve sensitive MRD detection and predict overall survival. Variant allele frequency, inferred tumor mutational burden, and copy number-derived tumor fraction levels in urine cell-free DNA (cfDNA) significantly predicted pathologic complete response status, far better than plasma ctDNA was able to. A random forest model incorporating these urine cfDNA-derived factors with leave-one-out cross-validation was 87% sensitive for predicting residual disease in reference to gold-standard surgical pathology. Both progression-free survival (HR = 3.00, p = 0.01) and overall survival (HR = 4.81, p = 0.009) were dramatically worse by Kaplan–Meier analysis for patients predicted by the model to have MRD, which was corroborated by Cox regression analysis. Additional survival analyses performed on muscle-invasive, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and held-out validation subgroups corroborated these findings. In summary, we profiled urine samples from 74 patients with localized bladder cancer and used urine cfDNA multi-omics to detect MRD sensitively and predict survival accurately.
Racial and ethnic disparities in a real-world precision oncology data registry
Authors: Cheung Alexander T. M. , Palapattu Elina L. , Pompa Isabella R. , Aldrighetti Christopher M. , Niemierko Andrzej , Willers Henning , Huang Franklin , Vapiwala Neha , Van Allen Eliezer , Kamran Sophia C. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractBiorepositories enable precision oncology research by sharing clinically annotated genomic data, but it remains unknown whether these data registries reflect the true distribution of cancers in racial and ethnic minorities. Our analysis of Project Genomics Evidence Neoplasia Information Exchange (GENIE), a real-world cancer data registry designed to accelerate precision oncology discovery, indicates that minorities do not have sufficient representation, which may impact the validity of studies directly comparing mutational profiles between racial/ethnic groups and limit generalizability of biomarker discoveries to all populations.
Biomechanical, biophysical and biochemical modulators of cytoskeletal remodelling and emergent stem cell lineage commitment
Authors: Putra Vina D. L. , Kilian Kristopher A. , Knothe Tate Melissa L. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractAcross complex, multi-time and -length scale biological systems, redundancy confers robustness and resilience, enabling adaptation and increasing survival under dynamic environmental conditions; this review addresses ubiquitous effects of cytoskeletal remodelling, triggered by biomechanical, biophysical and biochemical cues, on stem cell mechanoadaptation and emergent lineage commitment. The cytoskeleton provides an adaptive structural scaffold to the cell, regulating the emergence of stem cell structure-function relationships during tissue neogenesis, both in prenatal development as well as postnatal healing. Identification and mapping of the mechanical cues conducive to cytoskeletal remodelling and cell adaptation may help to establish environmental contexts that can be used prospectively as translational design specifications to target tissue neogenesis for regenerative medicine. In this review, we summarize findings on cytoskeletal remodelling in the context of tissue neogenesis during early development and postnatal healing, and its relevance in guiding lineage commitment for targeted tissue regeneration. We highlight how cytoskeleton-targeting chemical agents modulate stem cell differentiation and govern responses to mechanical cues in stem cells’ emerging form and function. We further review methods for spatiotemporal visualization and measurement of cytoskeletal remodelling, as well as its effects on the mechanical properties of cells, as a function of adaptation. Research in these areas may facilitate translation of stem cells’ own healing potential and improve the design of materials, therapies, and devices for regenerative medicine.
Plagued by a cryptic clock: insight and issues from the global phylogeny of Yersinia pestis
Authors: Eaton Katherine , Featherstone Leo , Duchene Sebastian , Carmichael Ann G. , Varlık Nükhet , Golding G. Brian , Holmes Edward C. , Poinar Hendrik N. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractPlague has an enigmatic history as a zoonotic pathogen. This infectious disease will unexpectedly appear in human populations and disappear just as suddenly. As a result, a long-standing line of inquiry has been to estimate when and where plague appeared in the past. However, there have been significant disparities between phylogenetic studies of the causative bacterium, Yersinia pestis, regarding the timing and geographic origins of its reemergence. Here, we curate and contextualize an updated phylogeny of Y. pestis using 601 genome sequences sampled globally. Through a detailed Bayesian evaluation of temporal signal in subsets of these data we demonstrate that a Y. pestis-wide molecular clock is unstable. To resolve this, we developed a new approach in which each Y. pestis population was assessed independently, enabling us to recover substantial temporal signal in five populations, including the ancient pandemic lineages which we now estimate may have emerged decades, or even centuries, before a pandemic was historically documented from European sources. Despite this methodological advancement, we only obtain robust divergence dates from populations sampled over a period of at least 90 years, indicating that genetic evidence alone is insufficient for accurately reconstructing the timing and spread of short-term plague epidemics.
Optogenetic and pharmacological interventions link hypocretin neurons to impulsivity in mice
Authors: Tyree Susan M. , Jennings Kimberly J. , Gonzalez Oscar C. , Li Shi-bin , Nicholson Janet R. , von Heimendahl Moritz , de Lecea Luis 
Published: January 2023

AbstractNeurons in the lateral hypothalamus expressing the neuropeptide Hypocretin, also known as orexin, are known critical modulators of arousal stability. However, their role in the different components of the arousal construct such as attention and decision making is poorly understood. Here we study Hypocretin neuronal circuit dynamics during stop action impulsivity in a Go/NoGo task in mice. We show that Hypocretin neuronal activity correlates with anticipation of reward. We then assessed the causal role of Hypocretin neuronal activity using optogenetics in a Go/NoGo task. We show that stimulation of Hypocretin neurons during the cue period dramatically increases the number of premature responses. These effects are mimicked by amphetamine, reduced by atomoxetine, a norepinephrine uptake inhibitor, and blocked by a Hypocretin receptor 1 selective antagonist. We conclude that Hypocretin neurons have a key role in the integration of salient stimuli during wakefulness to produce appropriate and timely responses to rewarding and aversive cues.
Formation mechanism of thermally controlled pH gradients
Authors: Matreux Thomas , Altaner Bernhard , Raith Johannes , Braun Dieter , Mast Christof B. , Gerland Ulrich 
Published: January 2023

AbstractSpatial proton gradients create energy in biological systems and are likely a driving force for prebiotic systems. Due to the fast diffusion of protons, they are however difficult to create as steady state, unless driven by other non-equilibria such as thermal gradients. Here, we quantitatively predict the heat-flux driven formation of pH gradients for the case of a simple acid-base reaction system. To this end, we (i) establish a theoretical framework that describes the spatial interplay of chemical reactions with thermal convection, thermophoresis, and electrostatic forces by a separation of timescales, and (ii) report quantitative measurements in a purpose-built microfluidic device. We show experimentally that the slope of such pH gradients undergoes pronounced amplitude changes in a concentration-dependent manner and can even be inverted. The predictions of the theoretical framework fully reflect these features and establish an understanding of how naturally occurring non-equilibrium environmental conditions can drive pH gradients.