bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
RETRACTED ARTICLE: Mechanical performance of sustainable high strength ductile fiber reinforced concrete (HSDFRC) with wooden ash
Authors: Ahmad Jawad , Martínez-García Rebeca , de-Prado-Gil Jesús , Pasha Amjad Ali , Irshad Kashif , Bourchak Mostefa 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe knowledge of sustainable development believes that natural resources should be treated limited, and waste must be managed rationally. This idea and the constant striving to reduce production costs make the use of waste materials potential substitutes for traditionally used raw materials. In cement concrete technology, there are many possibilities to use waste materials either as cement replacement or aggregate in concrete production. The basic aim of this research work is to study the impact of wooden ash (WA) as binding material in proportions 10%, 20%, and 30% by weight of cement on high strength ductile cementitious composite concrete. The fresh property was evaluated through the slump cone test, while the mechanical property was evaluated through compressive and split tensile strength test. Load deflection curve, ductility index, and maximum and minimum crack were also studied to find flexure cracking behaviors of reinforced cement concrete (RCC) beam. The durability of high-strength ductile concrete was studied through water absorption and acid attacks test. Pozzolanic activity of wooden ash was studied through XRD analysis.
Assessment of image reconstruction algorithm coupled with fine-resolution array of Cherenkov detectors
Authors: Maloney Luke , Duce Mackenzie , Erickson Anna 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe ability to reconstruct fine-resolution images in a high-count-rate environment is an ongoing challenge to the fields of nuclear security, medicine, and high energy physics. This study presents the characterization and performance of an image reconstruction algorithm and detector array in such an environment. The detector array is composed of quartz Cherenkov radiators and lutetium–yttrium oxyorthosilicate inorganic scintillators detector elements with light collection via silicon photomultipliers (SiPM). The reconstruction algorithm was evaluated using ANSI testing standard N42.46-2008 for imaging performance of active interrogation systems for national security applications; this included spatial resolution, wire detection, and penetration studies. The array was tested using a 6-MVp pulsed photon beam where test objects were translated through the detector field of view demonstrating a capability to resolve a 2.05-mm wire at a source standoff of 2.2 m, a horizontal spatial resolution of 3 mm, and a contrast sensitivity of 1.5%.
Low-dose multi-detector computed tomography for periradicular infiltrations at the cervical and lumbar spine
Authors: Paprottka Karolin J. , Kupfer Karina , Schultz Vivian , Beer Meinrad , Zimmer Claus , Baum Thomas , Kirschke Jan S. , Sollmann Nico 
Published: March 2022

AbstractPeriradicular infiltrations are frequently performed in daily neuroradiological routine and are often guided by multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT), thus leading to radiation exposure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate MDCT with low dose (LD) and model-based iterative reconstruction for image-guided periradicular infiltrations at the cervical and lumbosacral spine. We retrospectively analyzed 204 MDCT scans acquired for the purpose of cervical or lumbosacral periradicular interventions, which were either derived from scanning with standard dose (SD; 40 mA and 120 kVp) or LD (20–30 mA and 120 kVp) using a 128-slice MDCT scanner. The SD cases were matched to the LD cases considering sex, age, level of infiltration, presence of spinal instrumentation, and body diameter. All images were reconstructed using model-based iterative image reconstruction and were evaluated by two readers (R1 and R2) using 5- or 3-point Likert scales (score of 1 reflects the best value per category). Furthermore, noise in imaging data was quantitatively measured by the standard deviation (StDev) of muscle tissue. The dose length product (DLP) was statistically significantly lower for LD scans (6.75 ± 6.43 mGy*cm vs. 10.16 ± 7.70 mGy*cm; p < 0.01; reduction of 33.5%). Image noise was comparable between LD and SD scans (13.13 ± 3.66 HU vs. 13.37 ± 4.08 HU; p = 0.85). Overall image quality was scored as good to very good with only minimal artifacts according to both readers, and determination of the nerve root was possible in almost all patients (LD vs. SD: p > 0.05 for all items). This resulted in high confidence for intervention planning as well as periprocedural intervention guidance for both SD and LD scans. The inter-reader agreement was at least substantial (weighted Cohen’s κ ≥ 0.62), except for confidence in intervention planning for LD scans (κ = 0.49). In conclusion, considerable dose reduction for planning and performing periradicular infiltrations with MDCT using model-based iterative image reconstruction is feasible and can be performed without clinically relevant drawbacks regarding image quality or confidence for planning.
Putative native South Amerindian origin of head lice clade F: evidence from head lice nits infesting human shrunken heads
Authors: Amanzougaghene Nadia , Charlier Philippe , Fenollar Florence , Raoult Didier , Mediannikov Oleg 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis, is a strictly obligate human ectoparasite with a long history of association with humans. Here, 17 ancient head lice nits were recovered from six shrunken human heads (known as tsantsas) of individuals from the Shuar/Jivaro tribe, a native Amazonian population from Ecuador, South America. Cytochrome b DNA analysis revealed the presence of three known mitochondrial clades. Clade A was the most frequent (52.94%), followed by F (35.29%), and B (11.76%). Eleven haplotypes were found in 17 samples, and nine of the haplotypes were novel, indicating an unusually high genetic diversity. In conclusion, we confirmed the presence of clades A, B and F in South Amerindian population. Moreover, the description of clade F, together with its previous reports in another Amerindian population from French Guiana, strongly support the hypothesis of a native South American origin for this clade, and probably derived from clade B which was carried to America by an ancestral Eurasian Beringian population. Further support to our conclusion and new insights might come from the analysis of a larger collection of modern and ancient native American lice.
Monitoring IgG against Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins in an Asian elephant cured of tuberculosis that developed from long-term latency
Authors: Ishikawa Satoshi , Ozeki Yuriko , Suga Satomi , Mukai Yasuhiko , Kobayashi Haruka , Inouchi Erina , Kaboso Shaban A. , Gebretsadik Gebremichal , Dewi Desak Nyoman Surya Suameitria , Nishiyama Akihito , Tateishi Yoshitaka , Takihara Hayato , Okuda Shujiro , Yoshida Shiomi , Misawa Naoaki , Matsumoto Sohkichi 
Published: March 2022

AbstractTuberculosis (TB) is fatal in elephants, hence protecting elephants from TB is key not only in the conservation of this endangered animal, but also to prevent TB transmission from elephants to humans. Most human TB cases arise from long-term asymptomatic infections. Significant diagnostic challenges remain in the detection of both infection and disease development from latency in elephants due to their huge bodies. In this study, we assessed cryopreserved sera collected for over 16 years, from the first Japanese treatment case of elephant TB. Semi-quantification of IgG levels to 11 proteins showed high detection levels of 3 proteins, namely ESAT6/CFP10, MPB83 and Ag85B. The level of IgG specific to these 3 antigens was measured longitudinally, revealing high and stable ESAT6/CFP10 IgG levels regardless of onset or treatment. Ag85B-specifc IgG levels were largely responsive to onset or treatment, while those of MPB83 showed intermediate responses. These results suggest that ESAT6/CFP10 is immunodominant in both asymptomatic and symptomatic phases, making it useful in the detection of infection. On the other hand, Ag85B has the potential to be a marker for the prediction of disease onset and in the evaluation of treatment effectiveness in elephants.
The source of the fat significantly affects the results of high-fat diet intervention
Authors: An Jiaxing , Wang Qian , Yi Suqin , Liu Xuemei , Jin Hai , Xu Jingyu , Wen Guorong , Zhu Jiaxing , Tuo Biguang 
Published: March 2022

AbstractHigh-fat diet (HFD) is widely used in animal models of many diseases, it helps to understand the pathogenic mechanism of related diseases. Several dietary fats were commonly used in HFD, such as corn oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, and lard. However, it was reported that different dietary fat could have completely different effects on physiological indicators and the gut microbiome, and the sources of dietary fat used in high-fat diet research have not been comprehensively compared. In this research, we conduct comparative experiments on various sources of dietary fats to test their different effects during the high-fat diet intervention. We investigated the effects of twelve common dietary fats in high-fat diet intervention of mice, body/liver weight changes, four blood lipid indices, and gut microbiome were analyzed. Our results showed that the source of dietary fat used in high-fat diet significantly affects the changes of body/liver weight and triglyceride (TRIG) in the blood. Furthermore, the intervention of canola oil increased the alpha diversity of gut microbiota, and lard has decreased diversity compared with the control group. The composition of saturated fatty acid (SFA) in fat has the most significant effects on the gut microbiome. All dietary fats treatments have an increasing Firmicutes abundance and a reduced Bacteroidetes abundance in gut microbiome, while the canola oil has a slight variation compared to other intervention groups, and the lard group has the largest changes. This study showed that different types of dietary fat have different effects on the body indicators and intestinal microbiota of mice, and canola oil produced less disturbance than other types of dietary fats in high-fat diet.
Structure and activity of the DHNA Coenzyme-A Thioesterase from Staphylococcus aureus providing insights for innovative drug development
Authors: Murad Aline Melro , Brognaro Hévila , Falke Sven , Lindner Jasmin , Perbandt Markus , Mudogo Celestin , Schubert Robin , Wrenger Carsten , Betzel Christian 
Published: March 2022

AbstractHumanity is facing an increasing health threat caused by a variety of multidrug resistant bacteria. Within this scenario, Staphylococcus aureus, in particular methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA), is responsible for a number of hospital-acquired bacterial infections. The emergence of microbial antibiotic resistance urgently requires the identification of new and innovative strategies to treat antibiotic resistant microorganisms. In this context, structure and function analysis of potential drug targets in metabolic pathways vital for bacteria endurance, such as the vitamin K2 synthesis pathway, becomes interesting. We have solved and refined the crystal structure of the S. aureus DHNA thioesterase (SaDHNA), a key enzyme in the vitamin K2 pathway. The crystallographic structure in combination with small angle X-ray solution scattering data revealed a functional tetramer of SaDHNA. Complementary activity assays of SaDHNA indicated a preference for hydrolysing long acyl chains. Site-directed mutagenesis of SaDHNA confirmed the functional importance of Asp16 and Glu31 for thioesterase activity and substrate binding at the putative active site, respectively. Docking studies were performed and rational designed peptides were synthesized and tested for SaDHNA inhibition activity. The high-resolution structure of SaDHNA and complementary information about substrate binding will support future drug discovery and design investigations to inhibit the vitamin K2 synthesis pathway.
Transcriptome and metabolome analyses revealed that narrowband 280 and 310 nm UV-B induce distinctive responses in Arabidopsis
Authors: Tsurumoto Tomohiro , Fujikawa Yasuo , Onoda Yushi , Ochi Yukari , Ohta Daisaku , Okazawa Atsushi 
Published: March 2022

AbstractIn plants, the UV-B photoreceptor UV RESISTANCE LOCUS8 (UVR8) perceives UV-B and induces UV-B responses. UVR8 absorbs a range of UV-B (260–335 nm). However, the responsiveness of plants to each UV-B wavelength has not been intensively studied so far. Here, we performed transcriptome and metabolome analyses of Arabidopsis using UV light emitting diodes (LEDs) with peak wavelengths of 280 and 310 nm to investigate the differences in the wavelength-specific UV-B responses. Irradiation with both UV-LEDs induced gene expression of the transcription factor ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5), which has a central role in the UVR8 signaling pathway. However, the overall transcriptomic and metabolic responses to 280 and 310 nm UV-LED irradiation were different. Most of the known UV-B-responsive genes, such as defense-related genes, responded only to 280 nm UV-LED irradiation. Lipids, polyamines and organic acids were the metabolites most affected by 280 nm UV-LED irradiation, whereas the effect of 310 nm UV-LED irradiation on the metabolome was considerably less. Enzymatic genes involved in the phenylpropanoid pathway upstream in anthocyanin biosynthesis were up-regulated only by 280 nm UV-LED irradiation. These results revealed that the responsivenesses of Arabidopsis to 280 and 310 nm UV-B were significantly different, suggesting that UV-B signaling is mediated by more complex pathways than the current model.
Molecular docking assisted biological functions and phytochemical screening of Amaranthus lividus L. extract
Authors: Durhan Burhan , Yalçın Emine , Çavuşoğlu Kültiğin , Acar Ali 
Published: March 2022

AbstractIn this study, the phytochemical content of Amaranthus lividus extract and its multi-biological activities were investigated. Total protein, phenol, flavonoid, saponin and condensed tannin contents were determined for phytochemical analysis. In addition, GC–MS and HPLC analyzes were carried out for the determination of the active components of the extract. In determining the multi-biological activities, radical scavenging, anti-mutagenic, anti-proliferative and anti-microbial activities of the extract were investigated. GC–MS analysis revealed that the leaf extract of A. lividus contains phytol and β-sitosterol as major compounds and the presence of gallic acid, caffeic acid, quercetin, vanillin and kaemferol compounds were determined with HPLC analysis. The radical scavenging effect of A. lividus extract was determined as 75.6% against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 85.2% against superoxide. In anti-bacterial studies, it was determined that A.lividus extract formed different inhibition zones against all tested bacteria. The highest inhibition zone was 14.3 ± 0.7 mm against Bacillus subtilis. In addition, the anti-microbial activity of the extract was demonstrated by molecular docking studies of the binding of gallic acid and phytol to aquaporin and arginase enzyme of bacteria, and the mechanism of anti-microbial activity was explained. A. lividus extract, which provided a 68.59–33.13% reduction in the formation of chromosomal aberrations such as unequal distribution of chromatin, micronucleus formation, fragment, sticky chromosome, bridge and vagrant chromosome, exhibited a strong anti-mutagenic effect. A. lividus extract has a reducing effect on the number of dividing cells and exhibits an anti-proliferative effect of 25.7% compared to the control group. The antiproliferative mechanism of action was investigated by molecular docking and it was determined that the gallic acid and phytol in the extract decreased proliferation by interacting with telomerase. As a result, A.lividus extract consumed as food is a potential natural anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-mutagenic and anti-proliferative source with its rich phytochemical content.
Reflection sensitivity of InAs/GaAs epitaxial quantum dot lasers under direct modulation
Authors: Ding Shihao , Dong Bozhang , Huang Heming , Bowers John E. , Grillot Frédéric 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThis paper reports on the reflection sensitivity under direct modulation operation of a 1.3 μm InAs/GaAs quantum dot laser that is epitaxially grown on silicon. The quantum dot laser exhibits a high tolerance to back reflections with low error transmission at 6 Gbps. This study paves the way for developing directly modulated isolator‐free photonic integrated circuits based on quantum dot lasers.
METrans: Multi‐encoder transformer for ischemic stroke segmentation
Authors: Wang Jing , Wang Shuyu , Liang Wei 
Published: March 2022

AbstractIschemic stroke is the most common brain disease. Segmentation of the stroke lesion from a medical scan is vital to plan the surgical procedure. The purpose of this work is to develop an efficient network based on self‐attention and spatial‐channel attention mechanisms. In this letter, a novel multi‐encoder transformer (METrans) is proposed, which overcomes the inability of U‐Nets to model long‐range contextual interactions. Different from traditional segmentation methods, four encoders with different scales are explored to extract the multi‐scale features. Then, the feature maps are fed into a transformer for global feature modelling. The proposed methodology is tested on ATLAS, ISLES 2015, and ISLES 2018 datasets. The extensive experimental results suggest that METrans achieves consistent improvements over the state‐of‐the‐art for segmentation tasks.
Improved longitudinal control strategy for connected and automated truck platoon against cyberattacks
Authors: Lyu Hao , Wang Ting , Cheng Rongjun , Ge Hongxia 
Published: March 2022

AbstractWith the conception of internet of vehicle, the longitudinal control strategy of connected and automated truck platoon (CATP) to effectively deal with threat of cyberattacks has become an urgent challenge. Based on this, by flexibly changing the communication topology of truck platoon, this paper designs a communication topology safety response system (CTSRS), and further combined with the distributed model predictive control (DMPC) method, an improved longitudinal control strategy of CATP is tentatively proposed. The sufficient conditions for the asymptotic stability of truck platoon are derived by taking the cost function of CATP as the Lyapunov candidate function. Besides, the Next Generation Simulation (NGSIM) data is used to simulate the motion trajectory of the leading truck, which verifies the superior performance of DMPC in controlling the truck platoon to adjust the following behavior according to the different driving behavior of the leading truck. Finally, the cyberattacks scenario is set to conduct the comparative numerical simulation of platoon evolution. Numerical results show that DMPC can still ensure the stability and security of the truck platoon even if the trucks are suffered cyberattacks while CTSRS is enabled, which proves the feasibility of the improved longitudinal control strategy in resisting the threat of cyberattacks.
Fabrication and actuation characterisation of a new UV curing acrylic dielectric elastomer
Authors: Dong Wen‐Zhuo , Zhao Yu , Yin Li‐Juan , Dang Zhi‐Min 
Published: March 2022

AbstractMost commonly used dielectric elastomers (DEs) such as acrylic dielectric elastomers VHBTM 4910 need a high actuation voltage and pre‐stretching to obtain a large actuation strain, and present high mechanical loss caused by viscoelasticity. In this work, we fabricated a new acrylic elastomer by UV curing based on CN9021 and lauryl acrylate. By manipulating crosslinker content, crosslink density changed and physical entanglements of the new material can be affected. Therefore, mechanical properties such as Young's Modulus and mechanical loss of the new material can be controlled, and little change of its glass transition temperature was induced. Results of the actuation test show that the new DE is capable of 9.0% actuation area strain under 11 kV/mm and a good performance under oscillating voltage with different waveforms and frequencies.
Low‐carbon coordinated scheduling of integrated electricity‐gas distribution system with hybrid AC/DC network
Authors: Qing Yuliang , Liu Tianqi , He Chuan , Nan Lu , Dong Guicen , Gao Weikai , Yu Yinqian 
Published: March 2022

AbstractUnder the promotion of low‐carbon policies, the coordinated operation of integrated electricity‐gas distribution system (IEGDS) considering CO2 emission is of great significance to accelerate the process of energy conservation and could improve the economy of IEGDS. The paper proposes a low‐carbon coordinated operation of the IEGDS considering hybrid AC/DC distribution network, carbon capture and carbon storage. Firstly, the coordinated scheduling model of the IEGDS is discussed, with coupling constraints of gas turbines and power‐to‐gas. Secondly, the paper presents the model of hybrid AC/DC power distribution system, where non‐linear network constraints are relaxed into second‐order‐cone programming forms. Regarding carbon emission, the CO2 produced by fossil fuel burning can be partly captured by carbon capture plant, stored in carbon storage tank, and transported by trucks to carbon storage warehouse that trades with the carbon market. With the cooperation of various components, a comprehensive model considering carbon flow and trading in the distribution system is innovatively presented here. Numerical experiments validate the effectiveness of proposed low‐carbon coordinated scheduling model for the integrated electricity and natural gas distribution system.
Pharmacist engagement in a community pharmacy hypertension management program in collaboration with an academic medical center
Authors: Vordenberg Sarah E , Kim Jae , Serlin David C , Fan Audrey L , Choe Hae Mi 
Published: March 2022

Abstract

Purpose
To explore the perceptions of pharmacists and administrators who had an integral role in designing and operationalizing an integrated community pharmacist hypertension management program with collaboration between an academic medical center and a regional chain community pharmacy.

Summary
Community pharmacists (n = 3), ambulatory care pharmacists (n = 2), medical directors (n = 2), and health-system (n = 1) and pharmacy (n = 1) administrators reported positive experiences engaging with the hypertension management program. Strengths of the program included comprehensive training by the ambulatory care pharmacists, community pharmacist access to the electronic health record (EHR), and primary care providers who were receptive to referring patients and accepting recommendations from the community pharmacists. All participants felt that the program had a positive outlook and saw opportunity for expansion, such as extended hours of operation, new locations, and additional pharmacists.

Conclusion
Pharmacists are well positioned to extend hypertension management programs from primary care clinics into local pharmacies if they have appropriate training, access to the EHR, and ongoing support from collaborating primary care offices. Additional research using implementation science methods is needed to further test the scalability and replicability of the program among different patient populations, community pharmacies, and health systems.