bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Automated rock mass condition assessment during TBM tunnel excavation using deep learning
Authors: Chen Liang , Liu Zhitao , Su Hongye , Lin Fulong , Mao Weijie 
Published: February 2022

AbstractRock mass condition assessment during tunnel excavation is a critical step for the intelligent control of tunnel boring machine (TBM). To address this and achieve automatic detection, a visual assessment system is installed to the TBM and a lager in-situ rock mass image dataset is collected from the water conveyance channel project. The rock mass condition assessment task is transformed into a fine-grain classification task. To fulfill the task, a self-convolution based attention fusion network (SAFN) is designed in this paper. The core of our method is the discovery and fusion of the object attention map within a deep neural network. The network consists of two novel modules, the self-convolution based attention extractor (SAE) module and the self-convolution based attention pooling algorithm (SAP) module. The former is designed to detect the intact rock regions generating the attention map, and the latter is designed to improve the performance of classifier by fusing the attention map that focuses on the intact rock regions. The results of SAFN are evaluated from aspects of interpretability, ablation, accuracy and cross-validation, and it outperforms state-of-the-art models in the rock mass assessment dataset. Furthermore, the dynamic filed test show that our assessment system based on the SAFN model is accurate and efficient for automated classification of rock mass.
Artificial intelligence development races in heterogeneous settings
Authors: Cimpeanu Theodor , Santos Francisco C. , Pereira Luís Moniz , Lenaerts Tom , Han The Anh 
Published: February 2022

AbstractRegulation of advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become increasingly important, given the associated risks and apparent ethical issues. With the great benefits promised from being able to first supply such technologies, safety precautions and societal consequences might be ignored or shortchanged in exchange for speeding up the development, therefore engendering a racing narrative among the developers. Starting from a game-theoretical model describing an idealised technology race in a fully connected world of players, here we investigate how different interaction structures among race participants can alter collective choices and requirements for regulatory actions. Our findings indicate that, when participants portray a strong diversity in terms of connections and peer-influence (e.g., when scale-free networks shape interactions among parties), the conflicts that exist in homogeneous settings are significantly reduced, thereby lessening the need for regulatory actions. Furthermore, our results suggest that technology governance and regulation may profit from the world’s patent heterogeneity and inequality among firms and nations, so as to enable the design and implementation of meticulous interventions on a minority of participants, which is capable of influencing an entire population towards an ethical and sustainable use of advanced technologies.
Expression ratio of circular to linear ANRIL in hypertensive patients with coronary artery disease
Authors: Razeghian-Jahromi Iman , Zibaeenezhad Mohammad Javad , Karimi Akhormeh Ali , Dara Mahintaj 
Published: February 2022

AbstractAtherosclerotic lesions of the coronary arteries are still in charge of significant annual morbidity and mortality despite intense therapeutic advancements. Genome-born elements contribute substantially to the atherosclerosis process. ANRIL is one of the long non-coding RNAs with outstanding functions particularly regulation of genes involved in atherosclerosis development. In this study, we measured ANRIL expression (circular-, linear-, and circular/linear ratio) in hypertensive patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) compared with peers without CAD. Among hypertensive patients who were candidates of angiography, 25 subjects with CAD and the equal number without CAD were considered as the case and control groups, respectively. Different categories of data were recorded through a predefined questionnaire. Before angiography, blood samples were obtained. After RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, quantitative PCR was performed using specific primers for circular and linear ANRIL. Age and gender were not different between the groups. Most of the parameters of the lipid profile besides creatinine and blood urea nitrogen were remarkably worse in the case group. Circular ANRIL was significantly lower in the case group while linear counterparts were significantly higher in this group. Circular/linear ratio was also significantly lower in the case group. To overcome growing devastating trend of CAD, scrutinizing different factors involved in the initiation and development of atherosclerosis is a must. Atheroprotective role of circular ANRIL and atheroprogressive role of linear ANRIL were shown in our patients with hypertension.
Combined effects of body posture and three-dimensional wing shape enable efficient gliding in flying lizards
Authors: Khandelwal Pranav C. , Hedrick Tyson L. 
Published: February 2022

AbstractGliding animals change their body shape and posture while producing and modulating aerodynamic forces during flight. However, the combined effect of these different factors on aerodynamic force production, and ultimately the animal’s gliding ability, remains uncertain. Here, we quantified the time-varying morphology and aerodynamics of complete, voluntary glides performed by a population of wild gliding lizards (Draco dussumieri) in a seven-camera motion capture arena constructed in their natural environment. Our findings, in conjunction with previous airfoil models, highlight how three-dimensional (3D) wing shape including camber, planform, and aspect ratio enables gliding flight and effective aerodynamic performance by the lizard up to and over an angle of attack (AoA) of 55° without catastrophic loss of lift. Furthermore, the lizards maintained a near maximal lift-to-drag ratio throughout their mid-glide by changing body pitch to control AoA, while simultaneously modulating airfoil camber to alter the magnitude of aerodynamic forces. This strategy allows an optimal aerodynamic configuration for horizontal transport while ensuring adaptability to real-world flight conditions and behavioral requirements. Overall, we empirically show that the aerodynamics of biological airfoils coupled with the animal’s ability to control posture and their 3D wing shape enable efficient gliding and adaptive flight control in the natural habitat.
Parallel evolution of urban–rural clines in melanism in a widespread mammal
Authors: Cosentino Bradley J. , Gibbs James P. 
Published: February 2022

AbstractUrbanization is the dominant trend of global land use change. The replicated nature of environmental change associated with urbanization should drive parallel evolution, yet insight into the repeatability of evolutionary processes in urban areas has been limited by a lack of multi-city studies. Here we leverage community science data on coat color in > 60,000 eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) across 43 North American cities to test for parallel clines in melanism, a genetically based trait associated with thermoregulation and crypsis. We show the prevalence of melanism was positively associated with urbanization as measured by impervious cover. Urban–rural clines in melanism were strongest in the largest cities with extensive forest cover and weakest or absent in cities with warmer winter temperatures, where thermal selection likely limits the prevalence of melanism. Our results suggest that novel traits can evolve in a highly repeatable manner among urban areas, modified by factors intrinsic to individual cities, including their size, land cover, and climate.
Synthesis and characterization of dendritic compounds containing nitrogen: monomer precursors in the construction of biomimetic membranes
Authors: Guardià Jordi , Zare Alireza , Eleeza John , Giamberini Marta , Reina José Antonio , Montané Xavier 
Published: February 2022

AbstractIn this article, we synthesized a novel dendritic 2-oxazoline, 2-(3,4,5-tris(4-dodecyloxybenzyloxy)phenyl)-4,5-dihydro-1,3-oxazole), and its amide precursor N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-3,4,5-tris(4-dodecyloxybenzyloxy)benzamide. Of the distinct synthetic routes explored, it was established that the direct amidation of esters with sodium methoxide followed by the dehydrative cyclisation with 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone as oxidizing agent and triphenylphosphine was the most efficient route to synthesize the dendritic 2-oxazoline. Besides, N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-3,4,5-tris(4-dodecyloxybenzyloxy)benzamide exhibited a monotropic columnar mesophase, whilst the dendritic 2-oxazoline does not exhibited a liquid crystalline mesophase. At the end, the first attempts to polymerize the 2-oxazoline monomer via cationic ring opening polymerization showed promising results. Therefore, the dendritic 2-oxazoline could be used as a mesogenic monomer in the synthesis of side-chain liquid-crystalline polyoxazolines that might self-assembly into columnar structures.
The association between elevated lipid profile and liver enzymes: a study on Bangladeshi adults
Authors: Kathak Rahanuma Raihanu , Sumon Abu Hasan , Molla Noyan Hossain , Hasan Mahmudul , Miah Rakib , Tuba Humaira Rashid , Habib Ahsan , Ali Nurshad 
Published: February 2022

AbstractDyslipidemia, a major contributor to cardiovascular diseases, is rapidly increasing in Asian countries including Bangladesh. In addition to the cardiovascular system, abnormal lipid levels are also known to cause complications in renal and hepatic systems. The data regarding dyslipidemia and its relationship with liver enzymes are scarce for the Bangladeshi population. Therefore, this study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of dyslipidemia and determine the relationship between lipid profile and liver enzymes in Bangladeshi adults. A total of 405 participants (318 males and 87 females) were enrolled in the study. Serum levels of TG, TC, LDL, HDL and liver enzymes including ALT, AST, GGT and ALP were analyzed using standard methods. Dyslipidemia and liver function tests abnormalities were defined according to the international standard guidelines. The association between elevated lipid profile markers and liver enzyme abnormalities was assessed by logistic regression analysis. Overall, the prevalence of elevated TG, TC, LDL and low HDL were 30.9%, 23.7%, 26.2% and 78.8%, respectively. On the other hand, the prevalence of elevated liver enzymes ALT, AST, GGT and ALP were 18.8%, 21.6%, 12.9% and 21.9%, respectively. Dyslipidemia and liver enzyme abnormalities were higher in diabetic and hypertensive participants than in the healthy participants. About 61% of participants with dyslipidemia had at least one or more elevated liver enzymes. In regression analysis, an independent association was observed between serum GGT and all lipid components. In conclusion, a high prevalence of dyslipidemia and liver enzyme abnormalities were observed among the study participants. Of the four liver enzymes, the serum levels of GGT showed an independent association with all lipid components. Moreover, this study indicates that subjects with dyslipidemia often have a higher chance of having liver diseases than subjects with no dyslipidemia. However, large-scale prospective studies are needed to understand the underlying mechanisms of lipid-induced hepatic dysfunction in the Bangladeshi population.
Total and free vitamin D status among apparently healthy adults living in Duhok Governorate
Authors: Abdulrahman Masood Abdulkareem , Alkass Suad Yousif , Mohammed Noor Isam 
Published: February 2022

AbstractSerum total 25‐OHD is a main marker of vitamin D which represents the intake and sunlight exposure. Free form of 25‐OHD, the small fraction not bound to a transporter protein has been incorporated as a new marker. This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the impact of several factors on total and free vitamin D levels in healthy subjects and to find out if the free form of vitamin D could be a better representative of the body’s vitamin D status. Total and free 25‐OHD were analyzed by ELISA method in a blood sample collected from 391 apparently healthy volunteers (219 female and 172 Male) from Duhok Governorate/Iraq population. Total and free 25‐OHD levels were increased proportionally to BMI with lower values seen in the underweight group, also a significant gender differences in total D3 level with higher values in males (23.90 ± 16.41) ng/ml than females (21.24 ± 15.65) ng/ml was observed. Total and Free 25‐OHD levels were significantly associated with ages, their deficiency most frequent occurs in the younger ages between (16–25) years old. Smokers had higher level of Total 25‐OHD (26.95 ± 19.01) ng/ml and Free 25‐OHD (9.47 ± 4.94) pg/ml than nonsmokers (22.14 ± 14.59) ng/ml and (7.87 ± 4.32) pg/ml respectively. A significant increase in Free 25‐OHD level in the veiled women (9.12 ± 4.64) ng/ml than unveiled (6.16 ± 3.73) ng/ml with a significant positive correlation between Free 25‐OHD level and dress style was also seen. 30% and 33% of the participants whom their daily exposure to sunlight for 30 min and > 1 h respectively were severe deficient in total 25‐OHD. 95% of the participants who had Abnormally low level of free D were exposed for ≥ 30 min to sunlight. Daily exposure to sunlight was negatively associated with Free 25‐OHD level.
Immune responses following the first dose of the Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac)
Authors: Jeewandara Chandima , Fernando Suranga , Pushpakumara Pradeep Darshana , Ramu Shyrar Tanussiya , Kamaladasa Achala , Gunasekara Banuri , Aberathna Inoka Sepali , Kuruppu Heshan , Ranasinghe Thushali , Dayarathne Shashika , Dissanayake Osanda , Gamalath Nayanathara , Ekanayake Dinithi , Jayamali Jewantha , Wijesinghe Ayesha , Dissanayake Madushika , Somathilake Gayasha , Harvie Michael , Danasekara Saubhagya , Jayathilaka Deshni , Wijayatilake Helanka Dinesh Kumara , Weerasooriya Nihal , Kekulandara Chinthaka , Schimanski Lisa , Rijal Pramila , Tan Tiong K. , Dong Tao , Townsend Alain , Ogg Graham S. , Malavige Gathsaurie Neelika 
Published: February 2022

AbstractAs the first dose of Gam-COVID-Vac, is currently used as a single dose vaccine in some countries, we investigated the immunogenicity of this at 4 weeks (327 naïve individuals). 88.7% seroconverted, with significantly lower seroconversion rates in those over 60 years (p = 0.004) and significantly lower than previously seen with AZD1222 (p = 0.018). 82.6% developed ACE2 receptor blocking antibodies, although levels were significantly lower than following natural infection (p = 0.0009) and a single dose of AZD1222 (p < 0.0001). Similar titres of antibodies were observed to the receptor binding domain of WT, B.1.1.7 and B.1.617.2 compared to AZD1222, while the levels for B.1.351 were significantly higher (p = 0.006) for Gam-COVID-Vac. 30% developed ex vivo IFNγ ELISpot responses (significantly lower than AZD1222), and high frequency of CD107a expressing T cells along with memory B cell responses. Although single dose of Gam-COVID-Vac was highly immunogenic, administration of a second dose is likely to be beneficial.
Reconstructing the historical expansion of industrial swine production from Landsat imagery
Authors: Montefiore Lise R. , Nelson Natalie G. , Dean Amanda , Sharara Mahmoud 
Published: February 2022

AbstractIn the USA, historical data on the period over which industrial swine farms have operated are usually only available at the county scale and released every 5 years via the USDA Census of Agriculture, leaving the history of the swine industry and its potential legacy effects on the environment poorly understood. We developed a changepoint-based workflow that recreates the construction timelines of swine farms, specifically by identifying the construction years of swine manure lagoons from historical Landsat 5 imagery for the period of 1984 to 2012. The study focused on the Coastal Plain of North Carolina, a major pork-producing state in the USA. The algorithm successfully predicted the year of swine waste lagoon construction (+ /− 1 year) with an accuracy of approximately 94% when applied to the study area. By estimating the year of construction of 3405 swine waste lagoons in NC, we increased the resolution of available information on the expansion of swine production from the county scale to spatially-explicit locations. We further analyzed how the locations of swine waste lagoons changed in proximity to water resources over time, and found a significant increase in swine waste lagoon distances to the nearest water feature across the period of record.
Arterial enhancing local tumor progression detection on CT images using convolutional neural network after hepatocellular carcinoma ablation: a preliminary study
Authors: Lim Sanghyeok , Shin YiRang , Lee Young Han 
Published: February 2022

AbstractTo evaluate the performance of a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) in detecting local tumor progression (LTP) after tumor ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) on follow-up arterial phase CT images. The DCNN model utilizes three-dimensional (3D) patches extracted from three-channel CT imaging to detect LTP. We built a pipeline to automatically produce a bounding box localization of pathological regions using a 3D-CNN trained for classification. The performance metrics of the 3D-CNN prediction were analyzed in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), and average precision. We included 34 patients with 49 LTP lesions and randomly selected 40 patients without LTP. A total of 74 patients were randomly divided into three sets: training (n = 48; LTP: no LTP = 21:27), validation (n = 10; 5:5), and test (n = 16; 8:8). When used with the test set (160 LTP positive patches, 640 LTP negative patches), our proposed 3D-CNN classifier demonstrated an accuracy of 97.59%, sensitivity of 96.88%, specificity of 97.65%, and PPV of 91.18%. The AUC and precision–recall curves showed high average precision values of 0.992 and 0.96, respectively. LTP detection on follow-up CT images after tumor ablation for HCC using a DCNN demonstrated high accuracy and incorporated multichannel registration.
Fetal heart rate variability is a biomarker of rapid but not progressive exacerbation of inflammation in preterm fetal sheep
Authors: Magawa Shoichi , Lear Christopher A. , Beacom Michael J. , King Victoria J. , Kasai Michi , Galinsky Robert , Ikeda Tomoaki , Gunn Alistair J. , Bennet Laura 
Published: February 2022

AbstractPerinatal infection/inflammation can trigger preterm birth and contribute to neurodevelopmental disability. There are currently no sensitive, specific methods to identify perinatal infection. We investigated the utility of time, frequency and non-linear measures of fetal heart rate (FHR) variability (FHRV) to identify either progressive or more rapid inflammation. Chronically instrumented preterm fetal sheep were randomly assigned to one of three different 5d continuous i.v. infusions: 1) control (saline infusions; n = 10), 2) progressive lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 200 ng/kg over 24 h, doubled every 24 h for 5d, n = 8), or 3) acute-on-chronic LPS (100 ng/kg over 24 h then 250 ng/kg/24 h for 4d plus 1 μg boluses at 48, 72, and 96 h, n = 9). Both LPS protocols triggered transient increases in multiple measures of FHRV at the onset of infusions. No FHRV or physiological changes occurred from 12 h after starting progressive LPS infusions. LPS boluses during the acute-on-chronic protocol triggered transient hypotension, tachycardia and an initial increase in multiple time and frequency domain measures of FHRV, with an asymmetric FHR pattern of predominant decelerations. Following resolution of hypotension after the second and third LPS boluses, all frequencies of FHRV became suppressed. These data suggest that FHRV may be a useful biomarker of rapid but not progressive preterm infection/inflammation.
Acute effects of low-volume intermittent versus higher-volume continuous exercise on arterial stiffness in healthy young men
Authors: Zhou Zhixiong , Hou Lindong , Cui Mengnan , Mourot Laurent , Zhu Weili 
Published: February 2022

AbstractTo compare the acute effects of low-volume intermittent and higher-volume continuous exercise on arterial stiffness, 20 healthy men (22.4 ± 0.4 years) were randomized to non-exercise control (CON), high-volume Continuous Exercise (CE), lower-volume Intermittent exercise of Long bouts with Long interval (ILL), of Long bouts with Short interval (ILS), and of Short bouts with Short interval trial (ISS). Exercise intensity was 35% heart rate reserve. Arterial stiffness in Cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) was measured at baseline (BL), immediately (0 min) and 40 min after exercise. CAVI changes from BL in the same trial (⊿CAVI) were used for analysis. There was no significant ⊿CAVI change in CON. ⊿CAVI decreased significantly at 0 min in all exercise trials, and reverted to baseline at 40 min only in CE and ILL. At 40 min, ⊿CAVI in ILS and ISS remained significantly lower than that of CON and CE. When ILS and ISS were compared with CON at 40 min, only ⊿CAVI in ISS remained significantly lower than that of CON. Despite low volume, the effect of intermittent exercise on arterial stiffness could be either equal or superior to that of higher-volume continuous exercise.
Automated characterisation of microglia in ageing mice using image processing and supervised machine learning algorithms
Authors: Choi Soyoung , Hill Daniel , Guo Li , Nicholas Richard , Papadopoulos Dimitrios , Cordeiro Maria Francesca 
Published: February 2022

AbstractThe resident macrophages of the central nervous system, microglia, are becoming increasingly implicated as active participants in neuropathology and ageing. Their diverse and changeable morphology is tightly linked with functions they perform, enabling assessment of their activity through image analysis. To better understand the contributions of microglia in health, senescence, and disease, it is necessary to measure morphology with both speed and reliability. A machine learning approach was developed to facilitate automatic classification of images of retinal microglial cells as one of five morphotypes, using a support vector machine (SVM). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for this SVM was between 0.99 and 1, indicating strong performance. The densities of the different microglial morphologies were automatically assessed (using the SVM) within wholemount retinal images. Retinas used in the study were sourced from 28 healthy C57/BL6 mice split over three age points (2, 6, and 28-months). The prevalence of ‘activated’ microglial morphology was significantly higher at 6- and 28-months compared to 2-months (p < .05 and p < .01 respectively), and ‘rod’ significantly higher at 6-months than 28-months (p < 0.01). The results of the present study propose a robust cell classification SVM, and further evidence of the dynamic role microglia play in ageing.