bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessing Creativity in Secondary Schools: A Focus on the Impact of an Arts‐based Intervention
Authors: Briguglio Marie , Baldacchino Leonie , Mangion Margaret 
Published: April 2022

AbstractAs programs aimed at fostering creativity in educational settings become more widespread, assessing their impact becomes increasingly important. This article responds to calls for evidence‐based policy in this field by assessing the impact on creativity of a government‐funded arts‐based educational program in Malta (European Union). A quasi‐experimental design was adopted and data was collected pre‐ and post‐intervention from a test group and a control group of students across nine secondary schools (n = 400 pre‐intervention and n = 259 post‐intervention). Students undertook a total of four Divergent Thinking tests, which culminated in indices comprising ideational fluency, flexibility, originality, novelty, relevance, and elaboration. Ordinary Least Squares models of creativity were estimated revealing a strong positive association between creativity scores and participation in the program. Difference‐in‐Differences analyzes with matched pre‐ and post‐intervention responses (n = 380), further confirmed that participation in the program positively impacts creativity scores, particularly among students who did not self‐select into the project and who had low prior exposure to creative experiences. We also observe an overall decline in creativity between the start and end of the scholastic year. These results suggest that arts‐based programs can be effective in enhancing (at worst, preserving) students’ creativity.
Does the accretion of carbon fractions and their stratification vary widely with soil orders? A case‐study of an Alfisol and an Entisol of sub‐tropical eastern India
Authors: Rakesh S. , Sinha Abhas Kumar , Juttu Ravinder , Sarkar Deepranjan , Jogula Kamalakar , Reddy Sharan Bhoopal , Raju Bairi , Danish Subhan , Datta Rahul 
Published: April 2022

AbstractComparison of the carbon (C) stocks among different soil orders allows us to explore the role of various soil characteristics in long‐term C storage and their vulnerabilities. This study quantified and compared the accumulation rates of soil organic carbon (SOC) fractions (in 0–60 cm soil profile) in an Alfisol of Malda (25°27′33.9″N, 88°19′10.2″E) and an Entisol of Cooch Behar (26°09′62.7″N, 89°53′51.7″E) districts of West Bengal, India. We noticed a greater level of SOC (0–60 cm depth) in the Alfisol than the Entisol as the former soils were clayey in nature (fine textured) which provided the maximum stabilization of SOC compared to the Entisol (sandy textured). However, the storage of C fractions showed some peculiar results. The concentration of mineral‐associated carbon (Min‐C) was more or less similar in both the soil orders, but its stock was maximum in the Alfisol. While in the Entisol, permanganate oxidizable carbon (POX‐C) and particulate organic matter carbon (POM‐C) stocks recorded maximum among all the studied depths. A positive relation of SOC fractions and stocks with clay (r2 = >0.500 in the Alfisol; r2 = >0.700 in the Entisol) indicated the importance of finer fractions in profile storage of C. Min‐C contributed to SOC of about 75%–85% followed by POM‐C (3.27%–17.87%) and POX‐C (2.57%–4.22%). Higher stratification of SOC and POX‐C and POM‐C fractions was observed in Entisol; while in Alfisol, stratification of Min‐C was greater. Overall, this research demonstrated that the Alfisol has a greater potential in stabilizing Min‐C than the Entisol with POM‐C and POX‐C and the distribution of these fractions varied as per its stabilization.
A Bio‐synthetic Hybrid Hydrogel Formed under Physiological Conditions Consisting of Mucin and a Synthetic Polymer Carrying Boronic Acid
Authors: Nakahata Masaki , Tominaga Naoki , Saito Keishi , Nishiyama Keita , Tanino Yuya , Saiki Kiyoshiro , Kojima Masaru , Sakai Shinji 
Published: April 2022

AbstractMucin‐containing bio‐synthetic hybrid hydrogel is successfully formed under physiological conditions upon mixing aqueous solutions of native mucin and synthetic polymers carrying boronic acids. The mechanical properties and stability of the hydrogel in physiological solutions, e.g., cell culture media, are tunable depending on the boronic acid content of polymers. The hydrogel dissolved in the physiological solutions releases native mucin and boronic acid‐containing polymer, which can control the adhesion of mammalian cells to the surface.
Progress in Degradation Behavior of Most Common Types of Functionalized Polymers: A Review
Authors: Carboué Quentin , Fadlallah Sami , Lopez Michel , Allais Florent 
Published: April 2022

AbstractNowadays, degradation of polymeric material is a hot topic, it is either related to environmental considerations to avoid pollution accumulation, or to biomedical applications to reduce the toxicity or to facilitate the excretion of foreign agents in the body. Functionalization is a promising and interesting method to tune polymers degradation kinetics and profiles in a robust and controllable way depending on the targeted application. The incorporation of a functionality to a macromolecule occurs through mainly two strategies: direct functionalization of the corresponding monomers before their polymerization, and postpolymerization modifications that can occur on the side, main or/and end chains of the polymers. Ideally, the lifespan of a material is restricted to the duration of the application, its mechanical and chemical properties do not deteriorate and does not produce toxic byproducts over the degradation process. This review presents the latest advances in polymer functionalization strategies in terms of their impact on the degradation process. Special considerations are given to the main classes of polymers including polyesters, polyurethanes, polyacetals, as well as vinyl‐based and phosphorous‐derived polymers.
Butyrate Drives Metabolic Rewiring and Epigenetic Reprogramming in Human Colon Cancer Cells
Authors: Wang Lujing , Shannar Ahmad Abdel Fat , Wu Renyi , Chou Pochung , Sarwar Md Shahid , Kuo Hsiao‐chen , Peter Rebecca Mary , Wang Yujue , Su Xiaoyang , Kong Ah‐Ng 
Published: April 2022

ScopeButyrate (B) is a short‐chain fatty acid produced by dietary fiber, known to inhibit histone deacetylases (HDACs) and possess cancer‐preventive/anticancer effects. However, the role of B in metabolic rewiring, epigenomic reprogramming, transcriptomic network, NRF2 signaling, and eliciting cancer‐preventive effects in colorectal cancer (CRC) HCT116 cell remains unclear.Methods and resultsSodium butyrate (NaB) dose‐dependently inhibits the growth of CRC HCT116 cells. NaB inhibits NRF2/NRF2‐target genes and blocks NRF2‐ARE signaling. NaB increases NRF2 negative regulator KEAP1 expression through inhibiting its promoter methylation. Associative analysis of DEGs (differentially expressed genes) from RNA‐seq and DMRs (differentially methylated regions) from CpG methyl‐seq identified the tumor suppressor gene ABCA1 and tumor promote gene EGR3 are correlated with their promoters’ CpG methylation indicating NaB regulates cancer markers through modulating their promoter methylation. NaB activated the mitochondrial tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle while inhibited the methionine metabolism which are both tightly coupled to the epigenetic machinery. NaB regulates the epigenetic enzymes/genes including DNMT1, HAT1, KDM1A, KDM1B, and TET1. Altogether, B's regulation of metabolites coupled to the epigenetic enzymes illustrates the potential underlying biological connectivity between metabolomics and epigenomics.ConclusionB regulates KEAP1/NRF2 signaling, drives metabolic rewiring, CpG methylomic, and transcriptomic reprogramming contributing to the overall cancer‐prevention/anticancer effect in the CRC cell model.
Design of paper‐based bandpass frequency selective surface using slotlines
Authors: Han Ye , Feng Songyu , Chen Jiayue , Chang Yumei , Liao Shaowei , Che Wenquan 
Published: April 2022

AbstractIn this study, a three‐dimensional bandpass frequency selective surface (FSS) with a new fabrication technology is proposed and designed based on slotlines. The proposed FSS consists of silver paste circuits printed on aramid paper, and is vertically and horizontally arranged to form a periodic array in honeycomb structure. To better understand the design principle of the proposed FSS, the equivalent circuit model (ECM), single‐polarized structure, and dual‐polarized structure are presented and analyzed, respectively. The proposed FSS exhibits a passband at 4.1 GHz with a fractional bandwidth of 71.5% at x‐polarization and 66.2% at y‐polarization with reflectivity less than −10 dB. Moreover, the reflection and transmission coefficients have relative stable properties up to 30° for the oblique incidence. Then, the proposed structure is fabricated and measured to verify the design strategies. The measured and simulated results have reasonable agreement under a large variation of incident angles.
Phase recognition in contrast‐enhanced CT scans based on deep learning and random sampling
Authors: Dao Binh T. , Nguyen Thang V. , Pham Hieu H. , Nguyen Ha Q. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractPurposeA fully automated system for interpreting abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans with multiple phases of contrast enhancement requires an accurate classification of the phases. Current approaches to classify the CT phases are commonly based on three‐dimensional (3D) convolutional neural network (CNN) approaches with high computational complexity and high latency. This work aims at developing and validating a precise, fast multiphase classifier to recognize three main types of contrast phases in abdominal CT scans.MethodsWe propose in this study a novel method that uses a random sampling mechanism on top of deep CNNs for the phase recognition of abdominal CT scans of four different phases: noncontrast, arterial, venous, and others. The CNNs work as a slicewise phase prediction, while random sampling selects input slices for the CNN models. Afterward, majority voting synthesizes the slicewise results of the CNNs to provide the final prediction at the scan level.ResultsOur classifier was trained on 271 426 slices from 830 phase‐annotated CT scans, and when combined with majority voting on 30% of slices randomly chosen from each scan, achieved a mean F1 score of 92.09% on our internal test set of 358 scans. The proposed method was also evaluated on two external test sets: CTPAC‐CCRCC (N = 242) and LiTS (N = 131), which were annotated by our experts. Although a drop in performance was observed, the model performance remained at a high level of accuracy with a mean F1 scores of 76.79% and 86.94% on CTPAC‐CCRCC and LiTS datasets, respectively. Our experimental results also showed that the proposed method significantly outperformed the state‐of‐the‐art 3D approaches while requiring less computation time for inference.ConclusionsIn comparison to state‐of‐the‐art classification methods, the proposed approach shows better accuracy with significantly reduced latency. Our study demonstrates the potential of a precise, fast multiphase classifier based on a two‐dimensional deep learning approach combined with a random sampling method for contrast phase recognition, providing a valuable tool for extracting multiphase abdomen studies from low veracity, real‐world data.
An adaptive reduced order model for the angular discretization of the Boltzmann transport equation using independent basis sets over a partitioning of the space‐angle domain
Authors: Hughes Alexander C. , Buchan Andrew G. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThis article presents a new reduced order model (ROM) for the angular discretization of the Boltzmann transport equation. The angular ROM is built over a partitioning of the space‐angle phase‐space, by generating independent, optimized angular basis function sets for each partition. The advantage is that each basis function set is optimized to represent the neutron flux distribution in a particular partition of space and angle, rather than being optimized for the entire domain. This serves to reduce the total number of basis functions required, and therefore the solve time. Two numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the methods—a dog‐leg duct problem, involving particle streaming, and the Watanabe–Maynard problem, which includes significant particle scattering. In both cases, it is shown that the method reduces the angular flux error, for a given basis size or solve time, by around an order of magnitude in comparison to other, similar ROM methods. An adaptive version of the method is also presented, whereby the number of basis functions within each space‐angle partition can vary independently. It is shown to potentially provide further significant reductions in error.
c‐perpendicular orientation in thin nanoporous‐crystalline poly(2,6‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene)oxide films
Authors: Nagendra Baku , Daniel Christophe , Rizzo Paola , Guerra Gaetano 
Published: April 2022

AbstractNanoporous‐crystalline films of poly(2,6‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene)oxide (PPO), exhibiting c‐perpendicular orientation (c⊥) orientation (i.e., the orientation of the crystalline chain axes being preferentially perpendicular to the film plane), show the advantage of faster guest diffusivity and higher transparency. However, by using the methods described in the literature, this perpendicular orientation cannot be achieved for low thickness films (≤20 μm). In this paper, we describe four different preparation methods, which are suitable to get high degree of crystallinity (Xc >40%) as well as high degree of c⊥ orientation (−0.5< fc <− 0.3) of CC and NC α forms, for film thickness even as low as 5 μm. All the described methods are based on reduction of guest sorption kinetics. The reported results also confirm our previous hypothesis that c⊥ orientation is due to formation of flat‐on crystalline lamellae, which in turn are due to nanoconfined co‐crystallization of PPO. An anomalous temperature dependence of c⊥ orientation for limonene‐induced co‐crystallization with PPO is described and rationalized.
Heterogeneous coagulant potential of emicizumab in neonatal factor VIII–deficient plasma
Authors: Takeyama Masahiro , Furukawa Shoko , Onishi Tomoko , Noguchi‐Sasaki Mariko , Shima Midori , Nogami Keiji 
Published: April 2022

AbstractBackgroundEmicizumab prophylaxis reduces bleeding in hemophilia A (HA) patients. However, there are few data on emicizumab treatment in neonates with HA (neonate‐HA), and the procoagulant effects of emicizumab in these patients are unknown.AimTo investigate the coagulation activity of emicizumab in vitro in a plasma model of neonate‐HA.MethodsPlasmas from 84 neonates with non‐HA were enrolled. However, due to the limited plasma volumes in some cases, 50 plasmas were assigned to two different assay groups. To prepare the neonate‐HA model, plasma was first preincubated with an antifactor (F) VIII A2 monoclonal antibody (mAb). After further incubation with emicizumab, global coagulation activity was measured: adjusted maximum coagulation velocity (Ad|min1|) in clot waveform analysis (CWA) and peak thrombin in thrombin generation assay (TGA).ResultsBecause the addition of anti‐FVIII mAb to 22 of 43 samples showed little decrease in Ad|min1|, the remaining 21 samples were analyzed by CWA. The addition of emicizumab increased Ad|min1| in 18 of the 19 cases (effective group) but not in the remaining 3 cases (noneffective group). Similarly, TGA found that emicizumab (effective group) improved peak thrombin in seven of the nine samples tested, but two cases did not respond (noneffective group). Although the effective group had lower levels of FX, there was no significant difference between the effective and noneffective groups in terms of FIX, protein S, protein C, antithrombin, and fibrinogen.ConclusionsThe in vitro coagulant potentials of emicizumab in the neonate‐HA model were more heterogeneous than those recorded in the adult‐HA model.
Performance evaluation of glass ionomer and alumina‐silica nanoparticle reinforced dental composite using preference selection index
Authors: Verma Rahul , Azam Mohammad Sikandar , Kumar Shiv Ranjan 
Published: April 2022

AbstractIn this present study, the preference selection index method (PSI) was applied to identify the best formulation among ceramic fillers such as glass ionomer cement (GIC), nanosilica and nanoalumina nanofiller in the dental composites. The comparative assessment of the effect of nanofillers (nanoalumina and nanosilica fillers) and glass ionomer cement has been evaluated. Dental composites with 0, 10, and 20 wt% of nanoalumina, nanosilica and glass ionomer cement were fabricated. These composites were analyzed for physico‐mechanical and wear properties. The PSI multi‐criteria decision making technique was used to rank the composites with various filler content. The performance defining attributes for the comparative assessment were set as void content, hardness, compressive strength, flexural strength, diametral tensile strength, and wear properties against load and speed. The PSI of dental composite reinforced with 20 wt% nanosilica (DCSi‐20) was maximum (0.896) followed by dental composite reinforced with 20 wt% glass ionomer (DCGi‐20) (0.889) and hence DCSi‐20 demonstrated as most preferred dental composite material followed by DCGi‐20. DC‐0 showed the least preference dental composite materials on the basis of desirable physical, mechanical, and wear properties. Finally, it can be concluded that despite of more void content and low flexural strength, overall performance of glass ionomer is comparable with nanosilica and more significant with respect to nanoalumina.
Mechanical, acoustic and vibration performance of intra‐ply Kevlar/PALF epoxy hybrid composites: Effects of different weaving patterns
Authors: Jeyaguru Sangilimuthukumar , Thiagamani Senthil Muthu Kumar , Pulikkalparambil Harikrishnan , Siengchin Suchart , Subramaniam Jeyanthi , Rangappa Sanjay Mavinkere , Muthukumar Chandrasekar , Krishnasamy Senthilkumar 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThe influence of different weaving patterns on tensile, acoustic, and vibration behavior of intra‐ply Kevlar and pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) hybrid woven fabric reinforced epoxy matrix composites was investigated. Intra‐ply hybrid Kevlar/PALF woven fabrics were analyzed by three weaves: plain, twill, and basket. Also, epoxy matrix, pure Kevlar, and PALF woven fabric composites were analyzed for comparison purposes. Results revealed that the basket‐type hybrid composites exhibited a higher tensile strength of 77 MPa compared to plain (63 MPa) and twill‐type (73 MPa) hybrid composites. Plain and twill weave hybrid composites presented higher sound transmission loss levels of 28.9 and 30.5 dB, respectively, at higher frequency levels. Free vibration analysis showed that the PALF composites had higher damping and a lower natural frequency whereas the pure Kevlar and hybrid composites (KP1, KP2, and KP3) exhibited lower damping and higher natural frequencies.
Composites based on PVA and Al–Zn structures with excellent mechanical properties
Authors: Khlyustova Anna , Sirotkin Nikolay , Kraev Anton , Agafonov Alexandr , Titov Valery 
Published: April 2022

AbstractFilms of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with Al–Zn fillers were prepared using underwater pulsed plasma. Electrodes made of these materials were used as a source of Al and Zn structures. During the action of the plasma, the electrodes were sprayed. α‐Al2O3, ZnO, and Zn–Al layered double hydroxides were formed. X‐ray and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyzes of the composites obtained showed a strong interaction between the polymer and fillers. The mechanical properties of the films showed that the incorporation of aluminum and zinc structures into the polymer matrix under the action of plasma leads to a giant increase in the mechanical strength of PVA at a filler concentration of 0.5%–3%. The electrical characteristics of polymer composites showed the non‐linear behavior of J–Vcurves. The results obtained show one of the new range of applications of pulsed underwater plasma in the production of reinforced polymer composites.
Simulated confined placental mosaicism proportion (SCPMP) based on cell‐free fetal DNA fraction enrichment can reduce false‐positive results in non‐invasive prenatal testing
Authors: Zhou Junhua , Ouyang Guojun , Wu Long , Zhang Min , Weng Rongtao , Lin Shuman , Wang Yuanli , Li Kun , Yang Xu , Wu Yingsong , Liang Zhikun , Li Fenxia , Qu Shoufang , Yang Xuexi 
Published: April 2022

AbstractObjectiveTo decrease the false‐positive rate of NIPT using cell‐free fetal DNA (cffDNA) fraction enrichment and the simulated confined placental mosaicism proportion (SCPMP) threshold application via cffDNA quantification.MethodUsing a cffDNA enrichment method, 303 plasma samples with positive NIPT results (Z‐score > 3.0; 200 true‐positive and 103 false‐positive cases) were re‐sequenced. A method to calculate the SCPMP based on the quantified cffDNA fraction was developed; the SCPMP threshold between true‐ and false‐positive NIPT results was determined and used for re‐analyses.ResultsWith enrichment, the fetal fraction of the 303 samples was 26.9 ± 8.4%, compared to 11.0 ± 3.2% without enrichment. The optimized threshold method with double determination using the Z‐value‐defined SCPMP can reduce the false‐positive rates for trisomies 21, 18, and 13 by 87%, 80%, and 88.9%, respectively.ConclusionOur optimized method can decrease the false‐positive rate of NIPT results.
A pilot study of ADRA2A genotype association with doses of dexmedetomidine for sedation in pediatric patients
Authors: Gallaway Katherine A. , Skaar Todd C. , Biju Ashwin , Slaven James , Tillman Emma M. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractStudy ObjectiveDexmedetomidine is titrated to achieve sedation in the pediatric and cardiovascular intensive care units (PICU and CVICU). In adults, dexmedetomidine response has been associated with an ADRA2A polymorphism (rs1800544); CC genotype is associated with an increased sedative response compared with GC and GG. To date, this has not been studied in children.DesignWe conducted a pilot study to determine whether ADRA2A genotype is associated with dexmedetomidine dose in children.Measurements and Main ResultsForty intubated PICU or CVICU patients who received dexmedetomidine as a continuous infusion for at least 2 days were genotyped for ADRA2A with a custom‐designed TaqMan® Assay. Ten (25%) subjects were wildtype (GG), 15 (37.5%) were heterozygous (GC), and 15 (37.5%) were homozygous (CC) variant. The maximum dexmedetomidine doses (mCg/kg/h) were not different between genotype groups CC (1, 0.3–1.2), GC (1, 0.3–1.3), and GG (0.8, 0.3–1.2), (p = 0.37); neither were mean dexmedetomidine doses for these respective genotype groups 0.68 (0.24–1.07), 0.72 (0.22–0.98), 0.58 (0.3–0.94), (p = 0.67).ConclusionsThese findings did not confirm the results from adult studies where ADRA2A polymorphisms correlate with dexmedetomidine response, therefore highlighting the need for pediatric studies to validate PGx findings in adults prior to implementation in pediatrics.