bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Microbial pathogenesis and the evasion strategies from the legume plant protective immunity
Authors: Noor Rashed 
Published: October 2022

AbstractPlants are stringent sources for the global food supply, and among them, legumes are considered to be the special ones since they have the specific capability to develop a symbiotic relationship with certain soil microorganisms (i.e., the rhizobial community) which deliberately fix the atmospheric nitrogen that is required for the further cellular synthesis. Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) by the legume plants is essential for viable agricultural production and to decrease the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer in the agricultural fields. However, being the indigenous soil habitants, almost all plants are constantly encountering soil bacteria, viruses, fungi, nematodes, and so on, which may instigate an array of plant diseases conferring the global food security risk. Assimilation of plant nutrients is largely driven by the specific symbiotic interaction between rhizobial species and the leguminous plant roots through the formation of root nodules. Hence, in order to improve the crop yield and to ensure a sustainable supply of plant proteins and other nutrients, the protective immunity of the legume plants against the plant pathogens needs to be understood well because legumes comprise the maximum portion of all plants for serving as the human food and livestock feed. Present review emphasized on the bacterial pathogens and the virulent genes that are detrimental to plants including legumes. The evasion strategy of these harmful microorganisms from the plants' protective immunity is also discussed.
Primary Palliative Care in Huntington's Disease
Authors: Harrison Madaline B. , Morrissey Dana L. , Dalrymple W. Alex , D'Abreu Anelyssa , Daly Farrah N. 
Published: October 2022

ABSTRACTBackgroundPalliative care practices, including communication about patient‐centered goals of care and advance care planning (ACP), have the potential to enhance care throughout the course of Huntington's disease (HD) and related disorders. The goal of our project was to develop a pilot program that integrates primary palliative care practices with interdisciplinary care for HD.Objectives(1) To train HD team members to facilitate goals of care and ACP conversations at all stages of HD; (2) To create materials for care planning in HD focused on patient‐centered goals of care and health‐related quality of life; and (3) To modify clinic workflow to include goals of care and ACP discussions.MethodsWe defined planning domains to expand care planning beyond end‐of‐life concerns. We created a patient and family guide to advance care planning in HD. We conducted VitalTalk communications training with the HD team. We modified the interdisciplinary clinic workflow to include ACP and developed an EMR template for documentation.ResultsAfter communication training, more team members felt well prepared to discuss serious news (12.5% to 50%) and manage difficult conversations (25% to 62.5%). The proportion of clinic visits including advance care planning discussions increased from 12.5% to 30.6% during the pilot phase.ConclusionsProvision of primary palliative care for HD in an interdisciplinary clinic is feasible. Integration of palliative care practices into HD specialty care requires additional training and modification of clinic operations.
A dedicated breast‐PET/CT scanner: Numerical observer study of lesion detection
Authors: Raylman Raymond R. , Stolin Alexander , Hays Savannah , Johnson Evan , Lankas Sarah , Mekonnen Mahder , Roemer Kathryn 
Published: October 2022

AbstractBackgroundDedicated, breast‐specific positron emission tomography (BPET)–cone‐beam computed tomography (BPET/CT) systems have been developed to improve detection and diagnosis of cancer in women with indeterminate mammograms caused by radiodense breasts. The absorption of X‐rays that often vexes mammography in this subset of women does not affect the detection of the high energy annihilation photons used in PET. PET imaging of the breast, however, is subject to limitations caused by their comparatively low spatial resolution (∼2 mm) and often moderate radiotracer uptake in lesions.PurposeThe purpose of this investigation is to explore the PET‐based lesion detection capabilities of a BPET/CT scanner developed by the Department of Radiology Instrumentation group at West Virginia University.MethodsThe PET component of the system consists of a rotating pair of 96 × 72 arrays of 2 × 2 × 15 mm3 LYSO scintillator elements. The cone‐beam‐CT component utilized a pulsed X‐ray source and flat panel detector operated in portrait orientation. The density maps created by the CT scanner were used to correct the BPET data for photon attenuation and Compton scattering. The nonuniform uptake of 18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in normal breast tissue was emulated in a specially designed phantom consisting of an acrylic cylinder filled with a mixture of acrylic beads and liquid containing FDG. FDG‐avid lesions were simulated with agar spheres (3, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mm diameters) containing vary amounts of FDG to produce target‐to‐background ratios (TBR) of 6:1, 8:1, and 10:1. The spheres also contained X‐ray contrast agent to make even the smallest ones readily visible in CT images. Positions of all the lesions were identified in the CT images. These positions were used to extract signal present and signal absent sub‐images from the PET images. The sub‐images were then input to software that calculated areas‐under‐the‐curve for two numerical model observers (Laguerre–Gauss channelized Hotelling observer and non‐prewhitening matched filter).ResultsThe results showed that the smallest detectable lesion with this system is no smaller than ∼3 mm in diameter with a TBR of 6:1. Simulated lesions with diameters of 4 mm and greater were calculated to have good to excellent likelihood of detection for all TBRs tested.ConclusionThe results from this investigation identified the detectability capabilities and limitations for a dedicated breast‐PET/CT scanner. Its ability to detect relatively small simulated FDG‐avid breast lesions for a range of TBRs indicates its potential for clinical application. Finally, the study used methodologies that could be applied to a detectability assessment of other PET/CT scanners.
Traffic rate network tomography with higher‐order cumulants
Authors: Lev‐Ari Hanoch , Ephraim Yariv , Mark Brian L. 
Published: October 2022

AbstractNetwork tomography aims at estimating source–destination traffic rates from link traffic measurements. This inverse problem was formulated by Vardi in 1996 for Poisson traffic over networks operating under deterministic as well as random routing regimes. In this article, we expand Vardi's second‐order moment matching rate estimation approach to higher‐order cumulant matching with the goal of increasing the column rank of the mapping and consequently improving the rate estimation accuracy. We develop a systematic set of linear cumulant matching equations and express them compactly in terms of the Khatri–Rao product. Both least squares estimation and iterative minimum I‐divergence estimation are considered. We develop an upper bound on the mean squared error (MSE) in least squares rate estimation from empirical cumulants. We demonstrate that supplementing Vardi's approach with the third‐order empirical cumulant reduces its minimum averaged normalized MSE in rate estimation by almost 20% when iterative minimum I‐divergence estimation was used.
Circular representative volume elements for strain localization problems
Authors: Hofman Pieter , Ke Lu , van der Meer Frans P. 
Published: October 2022

AbstractA common choice for multiscale modeling of the mechanical response of composites is to use periodic boundary conditions (PBCs) on square and cubical representative volume elements (RVEs). However, when strain localization occurs in the micromodel, these PBCs are unable to reproduce the transverse isotropy of composite materials with a random microstructure. Existing remedies to alleviate this issue have been proposed in literature by either rotating or shifting the periodicity constraints. However, this results in a mismatch of the microstructure on opposing edges which may prevent cracks to cross the boundary and consequently limit the supported localization angles. Furthermore, in absence of a strategy that ensures a single localization band to arise in a fracturing RVE, it is difficult to formulate a generic expression for the length scale parameter that is used to regulate the energy dissipation, which plays an important role in obtaining RVE‐size objective results. As an alternative to square (or cubical) RVEs, circular (or spherical) RVEs have been proposed in literature since they provide a response which is independent of the orientation due to shape of the RVE. However, it is shown in this work that the existing formulation with straightforward application of PBCs on a circular RVE fails to predict the correct softening behavior, due to over‐constraining when cracks reach the boundary. Therefore, a new formulation of PBCs on a circular RVE is proposed, which allows for a single fully developed localization band under arbitrary angle. The performance of the new formulation is tested with a series of simulations where macroscopic strains are imposed under varying orientations. It is demonstrated that the circular RVE with the new formulation of PBCs successfully predicts a transversely isotropic response with full softening without the issue of mismatching microstructure as with previously developed remedies for the square RVE. In addition, it is shown that the length scale parameter is well‐defined and independent of the orientation of the circular RVE.
NT‐proBNP and Zlog‐transformed NT‐proBNP values predict extubation failure in critically ill neonates with pulmonary hypertension and ventricular dysfunction
Authors: Schroeder Lukas , Kuelshammer Manuel , Dolscheid‐Pommerich Ramona , Holdenrieder Stefan , Mueller Andreas , Kipfmueller Florian 
Published: October 2022

AbstractObjectivesCritically ill neonates with a history of pulmonary hypertension (PH) or ventricular dysfunction are at risk to experience an extubation failure (EF) after liberation from mechanical ventilation (MV). Due to insufficient data from neonatal cohorts, it remains unclear whether NT‐proBNP is an appropriate biomarker to predict EF in this cohort. The Zlog‐transformation of NT‐proBNP (further named NT‐proBNPZlog) is an additional tool to optimize the interpretation of NT‐proBNP since absolute NT‐proBNP values are varying with the age of these infants.Patients and MethodsThis was a retrospective single‐center analysis at the University Children's Hospital, Bonn, Germany, during the study period from January 2020 until December 2021. Forty‐three neonates met the inclusion criteria and were screened for study participation. Inclusion criteria: prolonged (>24 h) MV with at least one extubation attempt, with a history of PH and/or ventricular dysfunction in the echocardiographic assessment at admission to the neonatal intensive care unit or during the period of MV, NT‐proBNP measurements before (max. 24 h, baseline) and after (max. 24 h, follow‐up) the first extubation attempt. The primary clinical endpoint was defined as EF with need for reintubation (0–72 h). Neonates with an EF were allocated to group A and neonates with successful liberation from MV to group B.Main ResultsThe primary clinical endpoint (EF) was reached in 21% (nine infants). Absolute mean NT‐proBNP values (NT‐proBNPabs) at baseline did not differ significantly in infants of group A and B (6931 vs. 7136 pg/ml, p = 0.227). NT‐proBNPZlog values at baseline (2.35 vs. 1.57, p = 0.073) tended to higher values in group A. NT‐proBNPabs values measured at follow‐up were significantly higher in infants allocated to group A (11120 vs. 7570 pg/ml, p = 0.027). Likewise, NT‐proBNPZlog values at follow‐up were significantly higher in infants allocated to group A (3.05 vs. 1.93, p = 0.009). NT‐proBNPabs values at follow‐up and NT‐proBNPZlog values at baseline correlated significantly with the severity of PH. Regarding the receiver operating characteristic‐analysis, a NT‐proBNPabs value at follow‐up of ≥4622 pg/ml was calculated as optimal cut‐off value for the prediction of EF (area under the curve [AUC] 0.742, p = 0.001). A NT‐proBNPZlog value at baseline of ≥1.63 and at follow‐up of ≥2.14 was calculated as optimal cut‐off for the prediction of EF (AUC: 0.690/p = 0.027, and 0.781/p = 0.000, respectively).ConclusionNT‐proBNPabs and NT‐proBNPZlog might be valuable biomarkers for the prediction of EF in critically ill neonates. The Zlog‐transformation of NT‐proBNP allows an age‐independent interpretation of NT‐proBNP and should be considered for clinical routine.
BayeStab: Predicting effects of mutations on protein stability with uncertainty quantification
Authors: Wang Shuyu , Tang Hongzhou , Zhao Yuliang , Zuo Lei 
Published: October 2022

AbstractPredicting protein thermostability change upon mutation is crucial for understanding diseases and designing therapeutics. However, accurately estimating Gibbs free energy change of the protein remained a challenge. Some methods struggle to generalize on examples with no homology and produce uncalibrated predictions. Here we leverage advances in graph neural networks for protein feature extraction to tackle this structure–property prediction task. Our method, BayeStab, is then tested on four test datasets, including S669, S611, S350, and Myoglobin, showing high generalization and symmetry performance. Meanwhile, we apply concrete dropout enabled Bayesian neural networks to infer plausible models and estimate uncertainty. By decomposing the uncertainty into parts induced by data noise and model, we demonstrate that the probabilistic method allows insights into the inherent noise of the training datasets, which is closely relevant to the upper bound of the task. Finally, the BayeStab web server is created and can be found at: http://www.bayestab.com. The code for this work is available at: https://github.com/HongzhouTang/BayeStab.
Are Virtual Consultations Suitable for Patients with Vulval Disease? A Multicentre Audit of Outcomes in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Lewis Fiona M. , McSweeney Sheila M. , Wendling Jeanne , Moyal-Barracco Micheline 
Published: October 2022

Abstract

Background
During the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual consultation (VC) was used to replace in-person consultations. This raises specific questions when dealing with vulval conditions.

Objectives
To assess the feasibility and the efficiency of VC with and without supplementary imaging, in patients with vulval conditions, and to evaluate the images provided as an aid to diagnosis.

Methods
This prospective multicentre audit took place in three specialized vulval clinics in London and Paris. Anonymized data on patients' clinical characteristics, consultation characteristics (including the number and quality of any supplementary images provided) and consultation outcomes (diagnostic certainty and physician satisfaction) were collected. Characteristics and outcomes in those with or without supplementary imaging were compared amongst both new and follow-up consultations.

Results
A total of 316 VCs were included. In total, 18.7% (n = 59) were new patient consultations and 81.3% (n = 257) were follow-up. Supplementary imaging (photographs and/or video recordings) were provided by 28.5% (n = 90) of the total cohort. Median photographic quality was significantly higher on a five-point Likert-type scale when photographs were taken by a third party as opposed to the patient themselves (4 vs. 3, Mann-Whitney U-test, p &lt; 0.0001). There was no association between the provision of supplementary imaging and diagnostic certainty amongst new patient consultations. However, a higher proportion of follow-up patients who provided supplementary imaging received definitive management decisions (χ2 test, p &lt; 0.001) and physician satisfaction with these consultations, as measured on a five-point Likert-type scale, was significantly higher (Mann-Whitney U-test, p &lt; 0.0001). Furthermore, median physician satisfaction scores ≥4 were observed in follow-up consultations for candidiasis, lichen simplex/eczema and vulvodynia.

Conclusions
Although in-person consultation remains the gold standard of care, VC may have a role in the management of selected patients with vulval disease. It is possible to provide good-quality photographs for clinical assessment, particularly with the help of a third party and follow-up patients with an established, cancer-unrelated diagnosis may be best suited for this consultation modality.
Effect of water to cement (W/C) ratio and age on mechanical behavior of tire‐recycled steel fiber reinforced concrete
Authors: Karimi Hamid Reza , Ebneabbasi Pouyan , Shahni Karamzadeh Nima , Khedri Ehsan 
Published: October 2022

AbstractThe annual entrance of billions of used tires into landfills has caused tremendous environmental concerns, while the recycled steel fibers from these tires can improve the mechanical characteristics of construction materials, including cement concrete. In this paper effect of the addition of recycled steel fibers on mechanical characteristics of ordinary cement concrete with different water to cement ratios are studied; to achieve that, compressive and flexural specimens are exanimated using standard test methods with four general mix designs. The range of recycled steel fibers is chosen as 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4% (per unit weight), and optimal fiber percentages based on water to cement ratios are also calculated. Results show that using recycled steel fibers positively affects all the mix designs, especially ductility, and postfracture energy absorption increases with the increase of fiber content. Fiber addition increases the compressive and flexural strength by about 25% and 58%, respectively. Depending on the water to cement ratio, the optimum percentage of recycled steel fiber for concretes with 0.6, 0.5, and 0.4 water to cement ratios are 3.0%, 2.3%, and 1.8% of unit weight, respectively.
Order‐structured solid‐state electrolytes
Authors: Wu Jingyi , Rao Zhixiang , Wang Huanlei , Huang Yunhui 
Published: October 2022

AbstractSolid‐state electrolytes (SSEs) are recognized as attractive candidates to realize safe and high‐energy‐density lithium metal batteries (LMBs). However, the practical application of SSEs still faces challenges such as insufficient room‐temperature ionic conductivity, unsatisfactory mechanical properties, and large internal resistance. Extensive research efforts have been made to explore new electrochemistry and technologies to address those challenges. Among them, the construction of order‐structured SSEs has emerged as a promising strategy. The anisotropic behavior induced by the orientation offers SSEs with desired properties targeting specific functions, and therefore the rational design of the order‐structured SSE provides an alternative solution to achieve an ideal SSE. This review discusses the structure‐property correlation of SSEs, and then summarizes the design strategies to construct order‐structured SSEs. Finally, the current challenges and possible future research directions for order‐structured SSEs for scalable high‐energy‐density LMBs are presented.
Responsive instructional design for students' epistemic agency: Documenting episodes of principled improvisation in storyline enactment
Authors: Cherbow Kevin 
Published: October 2022

AbstractRecent reforms in K‐12 science education call for curricular materials that are designed to be “coherent for students.” This form of coherence arises when the classroom community sees their science work as addressing their questions and problems. In enactment, the teacher sometimes has to improvise from the planned trajectory of the storyline to follow students' emergent science work. In this single instrumental case study, I used interaction analysis to identify and describe episodes of whole group storyline discussion where one expert middle school science teacher worked with his students as their science work diverged from the storyline. The descriptive account for each episode documents how the teacher attended to the conceptual, epistemic, and/or interactive facets in the substance of students’ talk. It also traces how collective knowledge objects (i.e., consensus model, driving questions board, and experimental graph) were developed through this attentional work in each episode. The results suggest that the teacher facilitated episodes of principled improvisation (PI) related to the students’ interactive role in the discussion, the science ideas they raised for a consensus model, and the measurement errors they experienced in an investigation. These episodes were principled because the teacher foregrounded particular trajectories in the storyline to mediate and add rigor to the students’ divergent lines of science work. They were improvisational because the teacher backgrounded other storyline trajectories to more effectively address and work with students’ emergent ideas. In each PI, the teacher shared epistemic agency with students to co‐develop each collective knowledge object. These findings show the analytical and practical value in conceptualizing epistemic agency and teachers’ instructional design work in relation to students’ convergent and divergent science work in the curriculum.
An assessment of the UV/nFe0/H2O2 system for the removal of refractory organics in the effluent produced by the biological treatment of landfill leachate
Authors: Feng Ke , Mu Shiqi , Fang Feiyan , Xie Mingde 
Published: October 2022

AbstractThe removal efficiency and mechanism of the ultraviolet/nanoscale Fe0/H2O2 (UV/nFe0/H2O2) system for refractory organics in membrane bioreactor effluent were investigated. The most effective removal of organics was achieved at initial pH = 3.0, H2O2 dosage = 50 mM, nFe0 dosage = 1.0 g/L, and UV power = 15 W, with a reaction time of 60 min. Under these conditions, the absorbance at 254 nm, chromaticity, and total organic carbon removal efficiencies were 65.13%, 79.67%, and 61.51%, respectively, and the aromaticity, humification, molecular weight, and polymerization of organics were all significantly reduced. The surface morphology and elemental valence analysis of nano zero‐valent iron (nFe0) before and after the reaction revealed the formation of iron‐based (hydrated) oxides, such as Fe2O3, Fe3O4, FeOOH, and Fe (OH)3, on the surface of the nFe0. Refractory organics were removed by Fenton‐like reactions in the homogeneous and heterogeneous adsorption–precipitation of iron‐based colloids. At the same time, UV radiation accelerated the formation of Fe2+ on the nFe0 surface and promoted the Fe3+/Fe2+ redox cycle to a certain extent, enhancing the removal of refractory organics. The results provide a theoretical basis for the application of the UV/nFe0/H2O2 system to remove refractory organics in the effluent produced by the biological treatment of landfill leachate.Practitioner points

The UV/nFe0/H2O2 process is effective in refractory organics removal in leachate treatment.
Humus in leachate was largely destroyed and mineralized by the UV/nFe0/H2O2 process.
Active nFe0 material participated in the Fenton‐like process and was promoted by UV.
The effects of nFe0 material and UV introduction were investigated.