bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Collection mode choice of spent electric vehicle batteries: considering collection competition and third-party economies of scale
Authors: Li Xin 
Published: April 2022

AbstractWith the rapid development of the electric vehicle (EV) industry, the recycling of spent EV batteries has attracted considerable attention. The establishment and optimization of the collection mode is a key link in regulating the recycling of spent EV batteries. This paper investigates an EV battery supply chain including an EV manufacturer, an EV retailer, and a third-party collector and analyzes three dual-channel collection modes. The optimal pricing and collection decisions of the three dual-channel collection modes are obtained and compared. The collection mode choice strategy and the effects of third-party economies of scale are explored. Three interesting insights are derived: (i) Third-party economies of scale can improve the collection rate of spent EV batteries and the profit of the supply chain. (ii) The optimal collection mode choice depends on the intensity of collection competition and the third-party economies of scale. (iii) When the intensity of collection competition and the third-party economies of scale are high enough, the EV retailer and the third-party dual-channel collection mode is the optimal mode; otherwise, the EV manufacturer and the EV retailer dual-channel collection mode is optimal.
Atomistic and machine learning studies of solute segregation in metastable grain boundaries
Authors: Mahmood Yasir , Alghalayini Maher , Martinez Enrique , Paredis Christiaan J. J. , Abdeljawad Fadi 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThe interaction of alloying elements with grain boundaries (GBs) influences many phenomena, such as microstructural evolution and transport. While GB solute segregation has been the subject of active research in recent years, most studies focus on ground-state GB structures, i.e., lowest energy GBs. The impact of GB metastability on solute segregation remains poorly understood. Herein, we leverage atomistic simulations to generate metastable structures for a series of [001] and [110] symmetric tilt GBs in a model Al–Mg system and quantify Mg segregation to individual sites within these boundaries. Our results show large variations in the atomic Voronoi volume due to GB metastability, which are found to influence the segregation energy. The atomistic data are then used to train a Gaussian Process machine learning model, which provides a probabilistic description of the GB segregation energy in terms of the local atomic environment. In broad terms, our approach extends existing GB segregation models by accounting for variability due to GB metastability, where the segregation energy is treated as a distribution rather than a single-valued quantity.
Effects of ALT-801, a GLP-1 and glucagon receptor dual agonist, in a translational mouse model of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis
Authors: Nestor John J. , Parkes David , Feigh Michael , Suschak John J. , Harris M. Scott 
Published: April 2022

AbstractBody weight loss of ≥ 10% improves the metabolic derangements and liver disease in the majority of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) patients, suggesting metabolic modulators may be effective in controlling disease. The pharmacodynamics of ALT-801, a GLP-1/glucagon receptor dual agonist optimized for NASH and weight loss, were compared to semaglutide (GLP-1 receptor agonist) and elafibranor (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor, PPAR-α/δ, agonist) in a biopsy-confirmed, diet-induced obese (DIO) mouse model of NASH (DIO-NASH). Male C57BL/6J mice were fed Amylin Liver NASH (AMLN) diet for 32 weeks. Animals with biopsy-confirmed steatosis and fibrosis received ALT-801, semaglutide, elafibranor, or vehicle daily for 12 weeks while maintained on the AMLN diet. Study endpoints included body and liver weight, liver and plasma total cholesterol and triglycerides, plasma aminotransferases, histological analysis of liver steatosis, inflammation (galectin-3) and fibrosis (collagen type 1 alpha 1), and evaluation of individual animal changes in composite Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Activity Score (NAS), and fibrosis stage. ALT-801 demonstrated significant reductions in body weight (approx. 25%), plasma aminotransferases, plasma total cholesterol and liver triglycerides/total cholesterol in conjunction with improved liver steatosis, with greater reductions (p < 0.05) compared to semaglutide and elafibranor. ALT-801 significantly reduced the inflammation marker galectin-3 and the fibrosis marker collagen type 1 alpha 1 vs. vehicle (p < 0.05), with ALT-801 producing greater reductions in galectin-3 vs. elafibranor (p < 0.05). Importantly, all animals treated with ALT-801 significantly improved composite NAS compared to the active controls. This study provides evidence for a potential role for ALT-801 in the therapeutic treatment of NASH.
Causal associations of circulating adiponectin with cardiometabolic diseases and osteoporotic fracture
Authors: Zhang Muzi , Chen Xiaojun , Zhu Yong , Yin Lifeng , Quan Zhengxue , Ou Yunsheng , He Bin 
Published: April 2022

AbstractCirculating adiponectin shows some relationships with the occurrence of cardiometabolic diseases and osteoporotic fracture, but little is known about their causal associations. This two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study aims to explore the causal roles of circulating adiponectin in cardiometabolic diseases and osteoporotic fracture. We used 15 single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with circulating adiponectin as the instrumental variables. Inverse variance weighted, weighted median and MR-Egger regression methods were applied to study the causal associations. The results found that high circulating adiponectin was causally associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes (beta-estimate: −0.030, 95% CI: −0.048 to −0.011, SE: 0.009, P-value = 0.002) and may be the risk factor of coronary artery disease (beta-estimate: 0.012, 95% CI: 0.001 to 0.023, SE: 0.006, P-value = 0.030). No causal associations were seen between circulating adiponectin and other outcomes including heart failure, atrial fibrillation, cerebral ischemia, intracerebral hemorrhage or osteoporotic fracture. This study found the potential causal roles of high circulating adiponectin in reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and increased risk of coronary artery disease, which may help prevent and treat these two diseases.
(Co/Zn) Al2O4 nano catalyst for waste cooking oil catalytic cracking
Authors: El-Araby R. , Ibrahim M. A. , Abdelkader Elham , Ismail E. H. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThe current work investigated the preparation of Nano-particles of Co/Zn Al2O4 as a catalyst via co-precipitation method. Several analyses, including BET, XRD, HRTEM, EDX, SEM, and FTIR, were used to characterize it. The analysis revealed that the prepared catalyst had an average surface area of 69.20 m2/g, a cross-sectional area of 16.2 m2/molecule, an average particle size of approximately 28 nm, and a pore size of 0.22 cm3/g. The prepared catalyst was used in a bio fuel synthesis process via thermo-catalytic cracking of waste cooking oil (WCO) in a single step batch reactor. Catalyst loading was tested with different weight percentage of 1.5%, 2%, and 2.5%. The pilot study revealed that the best conditions for optimizing bio jet fuel yield were 400 °C, a catalyst loading of 2%, and a reaction time of 30 min.The optimal cut-off from the distillation process of crude liquid bio fuel product which represents a fraction of bio-jet fuel was in the range from 150 to 240 °C.
Combining plasma extracellular vesicle Let-7b-5p, miR-184 and circulating miR-22-3p levels for NSCLC diagnosis and drug resistance prediction
Authors: Vadla G. P. , Daghat B. , Patterson N. , Ahmad V. , Perez G. , Garcia A. , Manjunath Y. , Kaifi J. T. , Li G. , Chabu C. Y. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractLow-dose computed tomography (LDCT) Non-Small Cell Lung (NSCLC) screening is associated with high false-positive rates, leading to unnecessary expensive and invasive follow ups. There is a need for minimally invasive approaches to improve the accuracy of NSCLC diagnosis. In addition, NSCLC patients harboring sensitizing mutations in epidermal growth factor receptor EGFR (T790M, L578R) are treated with Osimertinib, a potent tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). However, nearly all patients develop TKI resistance. The underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Plasma extracellular vesicle (EV) and circulating microRNA (miRNA) have been proposed as biomarkers for cancer screening and to inform treatment decisions. However, the identification of highly sensitive and broadly predictive core miRNA signatures remains a challenge. Also, how these systemic and diverse miRNAs impact cancer drug response is not well understood. Using an integrative approach, we examined plasma EV and circulating miRNA isolated from NSCLC patients versus screening controls with a similar risk profile. We found that combining EV (Hsa-miR-184, Let-7b-5p) and circulating (Hsa-miR-22-3p) miRNAs abundance robustly discriminates between NSCLC patients and high-risk cancer-free controls. Further, we found that Hsa-miR-22-3p, Hsa-miR-184, and Let-7b-5p functionally converge on WNT/βcatenin and mTOR/AKT signaling axes, known cancer therapy resistance signals. Targeting Hsa-miR-22-3p and Hsa-miR-184 desensitized EGFR-mutated (T790M, L578R) NSCLC cells to Osimertinib. These findings suggest that the expression levels of circulating hsa-miR-22-3p combined with EV hsa-miR-184 and Let-7b-5p levels potentially define a core biomarker signature for improving the accuracy of NSCLC diagnosis. Importantly, these biomarkers have the potential to enable prospective identification of patients who are at risk of responding poorly to Osimertinib alone but likely to benefit from Osimertinib/AKT blockade combination treatments.
Spatial links between subchondral bone architectural features and cartilage degeneration in osteoarthritic joints
Authors: Ajami Sara , Javaheri Behzad , Chang Y.-M. , Maruthainar Nimalan , Khan Tahir , Donaldson James , Pitsillides Andrew A. , Liu Chaozong 
Published: April 2022

AbstractEarly diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA), before the onset of irreversible changes is crucial for understanding the disease process and identifying potential disease-modifying treatments from the earliest stage. OA is a whole joint disease and affects both cartilage and the underlying subchondral bone. However, spatial relationships between cartilage lesion severity (CLS) and microstructural changes in subchondral plate and trabecular bone remain elusive. Herein, we collected femoral heads from hip arthroplasty for primary osteoarthritis (n = 7) and femoral neck fracture (n = 6; non-OA controls) cases. Samples were regionally assessed for cartilage lesions by visual inspection using Outerbridge classification and entire femoral heads were micro-CT scanned. Scans of each femoral head were divided into 4 quadrants followed by morphometric analysis of subchondral plate and trabecular bone in each quadrant. Principal component analysis (PCA), a data reduction method, was employed to assess differences between OA and non-OA samples, and spatial relationship between CLS and subchondral bone changes. Mapping of the trabecular bone microstructure in OA patients with low CLS revealed trabecular organisation resembling non-OA patients, whereas clear differences were identifiable in subchondral plate architecture. The OA-related changes in subchondral plate architecture were summarised in the first principle component (PC1) which correlated with CLS in all quadrants, whilst by comparison such associations in trabecular bone were most prominent in the higher weight-bearing regions of the femoral head. Greater articular cartilage deterioration in OA was regionally-linked with lower BV/TV, TMD and thickness, and greater BS/BV and porosity in the subchondral plate; and with thinner, less separated trabeculae with greater TMD and BS/BV in the trabecular bone. Our findings suggest that impairment of subchondral bone microstructure in early stage of OA is more readily discernible in the cortical plate and that morphological characterisation of the femoral head bone microstructure may allow for earlier OA diagnosis and monitoring of progression.
Development and validation of an immune-related gene signature for predicting the radiosensitivity of lower-grade gliomas
Authors: Yan Derui , Zhao Qi , Du Zixuan , Li Huijun , Geng Ruirui , Yang Wei , Zhang Xinyan , Cao Jianping , Yi Nengjun , Zhou Juying , Tang Zaixiang 
Published: April 2022

AbstractRadiotherapy is an important treatment modality for lower-grade gliomas (LGGs) patients. This analysis was conducted to develop an immune-related radiosensitivity gene signature to predict the survival of LGGs patients who received radiotherapy. The clinical and RNA sequencing data of LGGs were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA). Lasso regression analyses were used to construct a 21-gene signature to identify the LGGs patients who could benefit from radiotherapy. Based on this radiosensitivity signature, patients were classified into a radiosensitive (RS) group and a radioresistant (RR) group. According to the Kaplan–Meier analysis results of the TCGA dataset and the two CGGA validation datasets, the RS group had a higher overall survival rate than that of the RR group. This gene signature was RT-specific and an independent prognostic indicator. The nomogram model performed well in predicting 3-, and 5-year survival of LGGs patients after radiotherapy by this gene signature and other clinical factors (age, sex, grade, IDH mutations, 1p/19q codeletion). In summary, this signature is a powerful supplement to the prognostic factors of LGGs patients with radiotherapy and may provide an opportunity to incorporate individual tumor biology into clinical decision making in radiation oncology.
Unemployed individuals contact GPs more frequently but report lower satisfaction: results of the population-based DEGS1 and the GPCare-1 patient survey
Authors: Ikar N. , Sommer S. , Schmidt M. , Löwe C. , Kasten S. , Gavrilov B. , Hunzelar C. , Bockheim F. , Paños-Willuhn J. , Offenberg L. , Oberholz M. , Weltermann B. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractUnemployment is associated with a variety of adverse health-related outcomes, yet little data on primary care services for this risk group exist. Using data from two surveys, we analyzed the frequency of GP contacts and patients’ experiences with GPs comparing unemployed with employed individuals. Data of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS1), a nationwide cross-sectional study (n = 8151), were analyzed regarding associations between employment status and the number of GP visits. The General Practice Care-1 study (GPCare-1), a cross-sectional questionnaire survey (n = 813), evaluated patients’ communication with their GP. Data were collected from June to August 2020 in 12 teaching practices affiliated with our university. The statistical analysis included individuals of working age (18–64 years old) (DEGS1 n = 5659, GPCare-1 n = 587). In both studies, working age subpopulations were analyzed (DEGS1: n = 5659 of 8151, GPCare-1: n = 587 of 813). In DEGS1, the prevalence of unemployment was 6.5% (n = 372). Unemployed individuals had more GP contacts in the last 12 months (4.50 vs. 2.86, p < 0.001). In the GPCare-1 study, unemployed individuals (6.6%, n = 39) were significantly less satisfied with GP communication: enough space in consultations (42.9% vs. 60.3%, p = 0.043), feeling comfortable to address sensitive topics (44.1% vs. 65.9%, p = 0.010), problems taken very seriously by GP (48.6% vs. 70.6%, p = 0.007). Yet, they were more willing to accept GPs’ help for psychosocial burdens (67.6% vs. 47.6%, p = 0.024). GPs should be aware that patients with unemployment wish more support to cope with their burdening situation.
Impaired grouping of ambient facial images in autism
Authors: Gehdu Bayparvah Kaur , Gray Katie L. H. , Cook Richard 
Published: April 2022

AbstractAmbient facial images depict individuals from a variety of viewing angles, with a range of poses and expressions, under different lighting conditions. Exposure to ambient images is thought to help observers form robust representations of the individuals depicted. Previous results suggest that autistic people may derive less benefit from exposure to this exemplar variation than non-autistic people. To date, however, it remains unclearwhy. One possibility is that autistic individuals possess atypical perceptual learning mechanisms. Alternatively, however, the learning mechanisms may be intact, but receive low-quality perceptual input from face encoding processes. To examine this second possibility, we investigated whether autistic people are less able to group ambient images of unfamiliar individuals based on their identity. Participants were asked to identify which of four ambient images depicted an oddball identity. Each trial assessed the grouping of different facial identities, thereby preventing face learning across trials. As such, the task assessed participants’ ability to group ambient images of unfamiliar people. In two experiments we found that matched non-autistic controls correctly identified the oddball identities more often than our autistic participants. These results imply that poor face learning from variation by autistic individuals may well be attributable to low-quality perceptual input, not aberrant learning mechanisms.
Human amniotic fluid stem cells can alleviate detrusor dysfunction caused by bladder outlet obstruction in rats
Authors: Liang Ching-Chung , Huang Wen-Chu , Shaw Steven W. , Huang Yung-Hsin , Lee Tsong-Hai 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThe present study examined whether bladder detrusor dysfunction due to partial bladder outlet obstruction (pBOO) could be improved after the treatment of human amniotic fluid stem cells (hAFSCs). 72 female rats were grouped into sham operation, pBOO, and pBOO with hAFSCs treatment (pBOO + hAFSCs) for in vitro and in vivo studies. Bladder weight, bladder wall thickness, the ratio of collagen to smooth muscle and the levels of positive CD11b/c and HIS48 cells was significantly increased after pBOO but improved after hAFSCs treatment. Cystometries showed impaired bladder function after pBOO. Protein and mRNA levels of hypoxia inducible factor-1α, CCL2, interleukin-1β, transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), α-smooth muscle actin, collagen I and collagen III were increased at 2 and/or 6 weeks, but proteins and mRNA expressions of protein gene product 9.5 were decreased at 2 and 6 weeks after pBOO. These abnormalities were improved after hAFSCs treatment. The expressions of TGF-β1 and CTGF in cultured detrusor cells of pBOO rats were increased but were improved after hAFSCs treatment. The present results showed hAFSCs treatment could improve bladder detrusor dysfunction in pBOO rats, which may be related to the reduction of inflammatory and pro-fibrotic markers in detrusor muscle cells.
Periodic attention operates faster during more complex visual search
Authors: Merholz Garance , Grabot Laetitia , VanRullen Rufin , Dugué Laura 
Published: April 2022

AbstractAttention has been found to sample visual information periodically, in a wide range of frequencies below 20 Hz. This periodicity may be supported by brain oscillations at corresponding frequencies. We propose that part of the discrepancy in periodic frequencies observed in the literature is due to differences in attentional demands, resulting from heterogeneity in tasks performed. To test this hypothesis, we used visual search and manipulated task complexity, i.e., target discriminability (high, medium, low) and number of distractors (set size), while electro-encephalography was simultaneously recorded. We replicated previous results showing that the phase of pre-stimulus low-frequency oscillations predicts search performance. Crucially, such effects were observed at increasing frequencies within the theta-alpha range (6–18 Hz) for decreasing target discriminability. In medium and low discriminability conditions, correct responses were further associated with higher post-stimulus phase-locking than incorrect ones, in increasing frequency and latency. Finally, the larger the set size, the later the post-stimulus effect peaked. Together, these results suggest that increased complexity (lower discriminability or larger set size) requires more attentional cycles to perform the task, partially explaining discrepancies between reports of attentional sampling. Low-frequency oscillations structure the temporal dynamics of neural activity and aid top-down, attentional control for efficient visual processing.
A superior loading control for the cellular thermal shift assay
Authors: Delport Alexandré , Hewer Raymond 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThe cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA), as a method to determine protein–ligand interaction and cellular protein modification, has rapidly become routine laboratory practice. However, current options to determine that (1) sample was loaded in each lane of the analysed western blot and (2) the amount loaded was equal, are suboptimal. Here, we report that the αC-terminal fragment of the amyloid precursor protein (APP-αCTF), detected in several wild-type mammalian cell lines, is a highly stable, soluble protein equally present from 4 to 95 °C. We demonstrate that the level of traditional loading controls (vinculin, GAPDH, β-actin, heat-shock chaperone 70 and superoxide dismutase-1) are all temperature sensitive. Additionally, both APP-CTFs (α and β) behaved similarly upon temperature exposure while APP-βCTF levels were not influenced by the presence of a binding ligand either. This emphasises that these proteins can be used as a loading control in the unlikely event of off-target binding during ligand screening. A working example is also presented for mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase in the presence of two inhibitors, PD184352 and U0126, where APP-αCTF was used to normalise the data across experimental replicates. A reduction in data variance and standard deviations was observed after normalisation. Conclusively, APP-αCTF is a superior CETSA loading control that can be used as a standard for this technique.
Selection of oxygen reduction catalysts for secondary tri-electrode zinc–air batteries
Authors: Loh Adeline , Trudgeon David P. , Li Xiaohong , Liu Mao-Cheng , Kong Ling-Bin , Walsh Frank C. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractOxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts, which are highly efficient, low-cost, yet durable, are important for secondary Zn–air cell applications. ORR activities of single and mixed metal oxide and carbon electrocatalysts were studied using rotating disc electrode (RDE) measurements, Tafel slope and Koutecky–Levich plots. It was found that MnOxcombined with XC-72R demonstrated high ORR activity and good stability—up to 100 mA cm−2. The performance of the selected ORR electrode and a previously optimised oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrode was thereafter tested in a custom-built secondary Zn–air cell in a tri-electrode configuration, and the effects of current density, electrolyte molarity, temperature, and oxygen purity on the performance of the ORR and OER electrode were investigated. Finally, the durability of the secondary Zn–air system was assessed, demonstrating energy efficiencies of 58–61% at 20 mA cm−2over 40 h in 4 M NaOH + 0.3 M ZnO at 333 K.