Current Benchmark Research Articles

Compositional Generalization in Multilingual Semantic Parsing over Wikidata

AbstractSemantic parsing (SP) allows humans to leverage vast knowledge resources through natural interaction. However, parsers are mostly designed for and evaluated on English resources, such as CFQ (Keysers et al., 2020), the current standard benchmark based on English data generated from grammar rules and oriented towards Freebase, an outdated knowledge base. We propose a method for creating a multilingual, parallel dataset of question-query pairs, grounded in Wikidata. We introduce such a dataset, which we call Multilingual Compositional Wikidata Questions (MCWQ), and use it to analyze the compositional generalization of semantic parsers in Hebrew, Kannada, Chinese, and English. While within- language generalization is comparable across languages, experiments on zero-shot cross- lingual transfer demonstrate that cross-lingual compositional generalization fails, even with state-of-the-art pretrained multilingual encoders. Furthermore, our methodology, dataset, and results will facilitate future research on SP in more realistic and diverse settings than has been possible with existing resources.

Logistic Regression With Tangent Space-Based Cross-Subject Learning for Enhancing Motor Imagery Classification

Brain-computer interface (BCI) performance is often impacted due to the inherent nonstationarity in the recorded EEG signals coupled with a high variability across subjects. This study proposes a novel method using logistic regression with tangent space-based transfer learning (LR-TSTL) for motor imagery (MI)-based BCI classification problems. The single-trial covariance matrix (CM) features computed from the EEG signals are transformed into a Riemannian geometry frame and tangent space features are computed by considering the lower triangular matrix. These are then further classified using the logistic regression model to improve classification accuracy. The performance of LR-TSTL is tested on healthy subjects’ data set as well as on stroke patients’ data set. As compared to existing within-subject learning approaches the proposed method gave an equivalent or better performance in terms of average classification accuracy (78.95 ± 11.68%), while applied as leave-one-out cross-subject learning for healthy subjects. Interestingly, for the patient data set LR-TSTL significantly ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$p&lt; 0.05$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ) outperformed the current benchmark performance by achieving an average classification accuracy of 81.75 ± 6.88%. The results show that the proposed method for cross-subject learning has the potential to realize the next generation of calibration-free BCI technologies with enhanced practical usability especially in the case of neurorehabilitative BCI designs for stroke patients.

Shear Band Control for Improved Strength-Ductility Synergy in Metallic Glasses

Abstract Aside from ultrahigh strength and elasticity, metallic glasses (MGs) possess a number of favorable properties. However, their lack of dislocation based plastic deformation mechanisms in crystalline metals and the resulting loss of ductility have restricted the engineering applications of MGs over the last 60 years. This review aims to provide an overview of deformation and failure mechanisms of MGs via formation and propagation of shear bands (SBs), with an emphasis on the control of SBs to promote strength-ductility synergy. With this goal in mind, we highlight some of the emerging strategies to improve the ductility of MGs. Topics covered include postprocessing techniques such as precompression, heterogeneity tuning, and rejuvenation, with a primary focus on recent progresses in structural design based methods including nanoglasses, notched MGs, and MG nanolattices, as future innovations toward strength-ductility synergy beyond the current benchmark ranges.

Rethinking residential energy storage: GHG minimization potential of a Carbon Reinforced Concrete facade with function integrated supercapacitors

With the rise of sustainable energy generation, the need for integrated building energy storage solutions increases. Supercapacitors have not yet been considered a viable alternative to Li-ion batteries, often because of their space requirements. We present the function integration of supercapacitors into a facade, where space is abundant when using novel lightweight Carbon Reinforced Concrete (CRC) construction designs. We develop real prototypes. While materials and processes for the approach have been characterized for manufacturability in earlier studies, the resulting sustainability potential remains an open question. This study therefore assesses and supports the design process of that multifunctional facade with the help of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA results shall guide design choices on materials and constructional alternatives. We further elaborate on the potential of the multifunctional facade to compete with a Li-ion battery system as the current benchmark for residential energy storage. While the proposed design is still a prototype, the cradle-to-site LCA models a full-scale production to allow for that comparability. We calculate the greenhouse gas (GHG) minimization potential for the multifunctional facade with integrated supercapacitors. It is significantly lower by a factor of around 20 in comparison to Li-ion battery energy storage. We further use different functional units to interpret the LCA results, considering both the function of the facade and energy storage. Overall, results show that the choice of the functional unit affects the material and constructional recommendations.

Profiling of bacterial transcriptome from ultra-low input with MiniBac-seq.

There is a lack of appropriate methods for preparing bacterial RNA-seq library with ultra-low amount of RNA. To address this issue, we developed miniBac-seq, a strand-specific method for high-quality library construction from sub-nanogram of total RNA, which is 100-fold lower than the current benchmark kit and dramatically reduces preparation cost ($28 + $15 × samples). We further demonstrated the high sensitivity of miniBac-seq via detecting more than 500 genes from amount of total RNA equivalent to that of a single bacterial cell. Finally, we profiled the transcriptome of growth-arrested bacteria in isogenic culture of Escherichia coli. This subpopulation of bacteria is generally low in abundance but is a potent reservoir of antibiotic persistence, and their gene expression has been largely unknown due to technical limitations. Using miniBac-seq, we identified potential molecular driver towards arrested growth as well as antibiotic tolerance. Our method thus expands the capacity to quantify bacterial transcriptome in situ, which is useful to the understanding of bacterial physiology and regulation in their native contexts.

The battle of river basin models: the Narmada River Basin challenge

ABSTRACT This paper presents a numerical test problem that was used as the basis for ranking the river basin management models that participated in a tender for a World Bank-funded project in India. The problem is deterministic, and it involves a set of constraints and management objectives that were of interest to the Narmada Control Authority. The test problem had five reservoirs, seven off-stream and four on-stream water demands, steady-state inflows based on a 10-daily time step over a period of nine years, and relatively simple reservoir operating rules. The paper describes the problem and discusses the solutions that were obtained from various vendors. The principal finding is that simulation models should not be used to solve optimization problems. The paper also highlights the importance of establishing benchmarks as an important tool for model evaluation. Input data and the current benchmark solution are available for download.

Direct, efficient and selective capture of low concentration of CO2 from natural gas flue gas using a high temperature tubular carbon capture membrane

Natural gas (NG) fired power plants emit low concentration (4–5%) of CO2, which presents additional technical and economic challenges to the current benchmark amine absorption technology. The newly emerged high-temperature multiphase membranes operated on molten carbonate (MC) chemistry for CO2 capture/separation/conversion have been demonstrated with great potential to meet this challenge. In this study, we report on the CO2 capture performance of such a membrane in tubular geometry from a mockup NG flue gas. The membrane is comprised of a mixture of Gd0.20Ce0.80O1.95 (GDC) and MC, in which GDC forms a porous skeleton to contain MC. We show that the membrane with a dimension of 6.1 mm in outer diameter, 5.1 mm in inner diameter and 5 cm in effective length (resulting in 4 cm2 effective surface area) can achieve a CO2 flux density of 0.46–0.55 mL/min·cm2 at 650 °C, capturing 97% pure CO2 at a rate of 37–42% from 5%CO2–N2 using moistened Ar as the sweep gas. The level of performance demonstrated by this study suites the membrane well for stationary CO2 capture from NG power plants.

Object Tracking Based on Satellite Videos: A Literature Review

Video satellites have recently become an attractive method of Earth observation, providing consecutive images of the Earth’s surface for continuous monitoring of specific events. The development of on-board optical and communication systems has enabled the various applications of satellite image sequences. However, satellite video-based target tracking is a challenging research topic in remote sensing due to its relatively low spatial and temporal resolution. Thus, this survey systematically investigates current satellite video-based tracking approaches and benchmark datasets, focusing on five typical tracking applications: traffic target tracking, ship tracking, typhoon tracking, fire tracking, and ice motion tracking. The essential aspects of each tracking target are summarized, such as the tracking architecture, the fundamental characteristics, primary motivations, and contributions. Furthermore, popular visual tracking benchmarks and their respective properties are discussed. Finally, a revised multi-level dataset based on WPAFB videos is generated and quantitatively evaluated for future development in the satellite video-based tracking area. In addition, 54.3% of the tracklets with lower Difficulty Score (DS) are selected and renamed as the Easy group, while 27.2% and 18.5% of the tracklets are grouped into the Medium-DS group and the Hard-DS group, respectively.

Proposals for the reform of EU fiscal rules

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the ongoing debate regarding the reform of the EU fiscal framework, with a special focus on fiscal sustainability for Greece. Our key policy proposals for the EU fiscal rules draw on lessons from past experience, the conclusions of relevant studies and the fiscal sustainability risks faced by Greece and other high-debt countries in the euro area. To this end, we use the European Fiscal Board’s Compliance Tracker Dataset to assess compliance with the existing SGP framework. Moreover, we employ the Bank of Greece’s Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) model to identify possible fiscal sustainability risks for Greece over the medium- to long-term horizon, taking into account alternative economic policy scenarios (including a debt rule scenario). Our main findings indicate that the revised fiscal framework should focus on the need to enhance sustainability of public debt as a key priority, by setting a debt anchor as a medium-term fiscal objective, with a single operational expenditure rule that promotes countercyclicality of fiscal policy. The current benchmark levels could be maintained and complemented with the appropriate flexibility in the rate of debt reduction to address cross-country heterogeneity and avoid self-defeating effects of fiscal policy. In the case of Greece, despite the favourable characteristics of public debt, fiscal policy in the short and medium term should focus on accelerating debt reduction. The exposure of Greece’s public debt dynamics to market and interest rate risks will gradually increase, as official sector debt is replaced by market financing, thereby changing the structure of public debt and highlighting the need to create fiscal buffers in order to increase its resilience to future adverse macroeconomic shocks.

Correlative Electrochemical-TEM Study: Probing the Pt Stability of Mesoporous N-Doped Carbon Supported Pt Nanoparticle ORR Electrocatalyst

In recent years, hydrogen proton exchange membrane fuel cells have gained growing attention in the heavy duty vehicle (HDV) sector due to lower cost with increased driving range and lower refueling time compared to Li ion battery systems.[1] However, special requirements apply to HDV fuel cells such as long lifetime (25000 – 30000 h) at low Platinum loadings. Additionally, future Pt cathode loadings should be reduced from ≥ 0.4 mgPt/cm² (i.e. the current benchmark) to 0.25 mgPt/cm² by 2050, while a constant power density of 840 mW/cm² at 0.769 V should be achieved as defined by the US Department of Energy.[2]Despite Pt nanoparticles finely dispersed on carbon supports are considered the benchmark catalysts, the cathode is yet suffering from several degradation processes such as carbon corrosion, Pt nanoparticle detachment, agglomeration, dissolution and Pt redeposition, hindering the achievement of the aforementioned goals.[3, 4] Therefore, in-depth understanding of the electrocatalyst degradation mechanisms by which Pt losses its catalytic activity is required to develop optimized synthesis methods for stable materials. Recently, we developed novel mesoporous N-doped carbon (MPNC) supports with improved stability against carbon corrosion in comparison to a commercial reference carbon support.[5] Utilizing the advantage of such enhanced stability, we designed Pt/MPNC catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with an extended stability reaching over 10000 cycles in comparison to the commercial Pt/C catalyst, as revealed by the accelerated stress tests (AST) in acidic media and within the carbon corrosion potential range between 1 V and 1.5 V vs RHE.In the present study, we synthesized Pt/MPNC-T catalysts under different reduction temperatures to control the Pt nanoparticle size distribution. We then investigated the impact of the various sizes of the Pt nanoparticles on the stability of Pt/MPNC-T after AST cycles. Therefore, Rotating disc electrode measurements with an established Pt AST protocol using a square wave potential between 0.6 V and 0.95 V vs. RHE over 30000 cycles was applied.[1] The ORR activity, the electrochemical active surface area by HUPD and CO stripping experiments were measured at the beginning of the cycle life test, then after 10000 AST cycles and finally after 30000 AST cycles. The electrochemical measurements before and after AST of the Pt/MPNC-T catalysts were correlated with ex-situ TEM and aberration corrected (AC) STEM data. Experimentally, lower reduction temperature synthesis leads to broader Pt size distributions. Thereby, we noticed the presence of Pt nanoparticles with a diameter between 1 and 3 nm, and smaller Pt entities such as Pt atom clusters and single sites of Pt (i.e. Pt single atoms) at the beginning of cycling. By imaging the surface after 30000 AST cycles, the Pt nanoparticle size substantially increased and the amount of smaller Pt entities was drastically reduced. Such findings indicate that the major degradation process follows the Ostwald ripening mechanism.In conclusion such results reveal the importance of determining the structure-function correlations, which contributes to the general understanding of catalyst degradation processes and allows a knowledge-based optimization of these Pt/MPNC materials in future works.

Evaluation of Hospital-onset Bloodstream Infections in Comparison to Central Line-associated Bloodstream Infections at an Acute, Tertiary Care Hospital

Background Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) is the current benchmark used in hospital-associated infection (HAI) surveillance, and effective interventions have greatly reduced the incidence in recent years. However, bloodstream infections (BSI) continue to be a major source of morbidity and mortality in hospitals. Therefore, using hospital-onset bloodstream infections (HOBSI) as a benchmark may be a more sensitive indicator of preventable BSI. Our objective is to calculate the rate of HOBSI from all intravenous and intra-arterial catheters, not just those that end in the great vessels near the heart. We will then compare CLABSI and HOBSI rates to evaluate whether HOBSI will better represent the number of preventable BSIs and thus improve HAI surveillance. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of all positive blood cultures (n=763) among patients admitted to an acute, tertiary hospital from July 2018 to June 2019. We collected information from electronic medical charts to determine if each blood culture met the HOBSI criteria according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare and Safety Network (NHSN) LabID and BSI definitions. Finally, we calculated the incidence rates per 10,000 patient-days for both definitions and compared them to the CLABSI rate for the same period. Results The incidence rate (IR) of HOBSI using the NHSN LabID definition was 10.25 per 10,000 patient-days. After excluding all HOBSIs that were secondary to other infections using the NHSN BSI definition, we found an IR of 3.77 per 10,000 patient-days. The IR of CLABSI for the same period was 1.84 per 10,000 patient-days. Conclusions After excluding secondary BSIs, the HOBSI rate is still double that of the CLABSI rate. HOBSI surveillance is a more sensitive indicator of BSI than CLABSI, and thus a better target for monitoring effectiveness of interventions. Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) is the current benchmark used in hospital-associated infection (HAI) surveillance, and effective interventions have greatly reduced the incidence in recent years. However, bloodstream infections (BSI) continue to be a major source of morbidity and mortality in hospitals. Therefore, using hospital-onset bloodstream infections (HOBSI) as a benchmark may be a more sensitive indicator of preventable BSI. Our objective is to calculate the rate of HOBSI from all intravenous and intra-arterial catheters, not just those that end in the great vessels near the heart. We will then compare CLABSI and HOBSI rates to evaluate whether HOBSI will better represent the number of preventable BSIs and thus improve HAI surveillance. We conducted a retrospective analysis of all positive blood cultures (n=763) among patients admitted to an acute, tertiary hospital from July 2018 to June 2019. We collected information from electronic medical charts to determine if each blood culture met the HOBSI criteria according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare and Safety Network (NHSN) LabID and BSI definitions. Finally, we calculated the incidence rates per 10,000 patient-days for both definitions and compared them to the CLABSI rate for the same period. The incidence rate (IR) of HOBSI using the NHSN LabID definition was 10.25 per 10,000 patient-days. After excluding all HOBSIs that were secondary to other infections using the NHSN BSI definition, we found an IR of 3.77 per 10,000 patient-days. The IR of CLABSI for the same period was 1.84 per 10,000 patient-days. After excluding secondary BSIs, the HOBSI rate is still double that of the CLABSI rate. HOBSI surveillance is a more sensitive indicator of BSI than CLABSI, and thus a better target for monitoring effectiveness of interventions.

B.1 Can quantitative susceptibility mapping help diagnose and predict recovery of concussion in children?

Background: Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) is an MR sequence that has potential as a biomarker in concussion. We compared QSM in pediatric concussion patients versus a comparison group of children with orthopedic injuries (OI) and assessed QSM’s performance relative to the current clinical benchmark (5P risk score) for predicting persistent postconcussion symptoms (PPCS). Methods: Children (N=967) aged 8-16.99 years with either concussion or OI were prospectively recruited from 5 Canadian centers. Participants completed QSM at a post-acute assessment 2-33 days post-injury. QSM z-score metrics for 9 regions of interest (ROI) were derived from 371 children (concussion=255, OI=116). PPCS at 1-month post-injury was defined using reliable change methods. Results: The concussion and OI groups did not differ significantly in QSM across ROI. Increased frontal white matter (WM) susceptibility predicted reliable increases in parent-rated cognitive symptoms (p=0.001). Together, frontal WM susceptibility and the 5P risk score were better at predicting persistent cognitive symptoms than the 5P risk score alone (p=0.0021). AUC were 0.71 (95%CI: 0.62-0.80) for frontal WM susceptibility, 0.67 (95%CI: 0.56-0.78) for the 5P risk score, and 0.73 (95%CI: 0.64-0.82) for both. Conclusions: This is the first study to demonstrate a potential imaging biomarker that predicts persistent symptoms in children with concussion compared to the current clinical benchmark.

Molecular-Level Control over Ionic Conduction and Ionic Current Direction by Designing Macrocycle-Based Ionomers.

Poor ionic conductivity of the catalyst-binding, sub-micrometer-thick ionomer layers in energy conversion and storage devices is a huge challenge. However, ionomers are rarely designed keeping in mind the specific issues associated with nanoconfinement. Here, we designed nature-inspired ionomers (calix-2) having hollow, macrocyclic, calix[4]arene-based repeat units with precise, sub-nanometer diameter. In ≤100 nm-thick films, the in-plane proton conductivity of calix-2 was up to 8 times higher than the current benchmark ionomer Nafion at 85% relative humidity (RH), while it was 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than Nafion at 20–25% RH. Confocal laser scanning microscopy and other synthetic techniques allowed us to demonstrate the role of macrocyclic cavities in boosting the proton conductivity. The systematic self-assembly of calix-2 chains into ellipsoids in thin films was evidenced from atomic force microscopy and grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering measurements. Moreover, the likelihood of alignment and stacking of macrocyclic units, the presence of one-dimensional water wires across this macrocycle stacks, and thus the formation of long-range proton conduction pathways were suggested by atomistic simulations. We not only did see an unprecedented improvement in thin-film proton conductivity but also saw an improvement in proton conductivity of bulk membranes when calix-2 was added to the Nafion matrices. Nafion–calix-2 composite membranes also took advantage of the asymmetric charge distribution across calix[4]arene repeat units collectively and exhibited voltage-gating behavior. The inclusion of molecular macrocyclic cavities into the ionomer chemical structure can thus emerge as a promising design concept for highly efficient ion-conducting and ion-permselective materials for sustainable energy applications.

Visual and Phonological Feature Enhanced Siamese BERT for Chinese Spelling Error Correction

Chinese Spelling Check (CSC) aims to detect and correct spelling errors in Chinese. Most CSC models rely on human-defined confusion sets to narrow the search space, failing to resolve errors outside the confusion set. However, most spelling errors in current benchmark datasets are character pairs in similar pronunciations. Errors in similar shapes and errors which are visually and phonologically irrelevant are not considered. Furthermore, widely-used automatically generated training data in CSC tasks leads to label leakage and unfair comparison between different methods. In this work, we propose a feature (visual and phonological) enhanced siamese BERT to (1) correct spelling errors without using confusion sets; (2) integrate phonological and visual features for CSC by a glyph graph; (3) improve performance for unseen spelling errors. To evaluate CSC methods fairly and comprehensively, we build a large-scale CSC dataset in which the number of samples in different error types is the same. The experimental results show that the proposed approach achieves better performance compared with previous state-of-the-art methods on three benchmark datasets and the new error-type balanced dataset.

Hygiene in the United States Brow Shaping Industry: A Benchmarking Report

Purpose: To provide a current benchmark of hand hygiene and brow cleansing in the brow shaping industry across the United States of America. Background: Brow abscesses have been linked to the microtrauma associated with brow shaping. This paper provides an understanding of normative standards of hand hygiene and brow cleansing in the brow shaping industry at both the regional and national levels. Methods: This project involved a phone survey of 255 brow salons across the United States – 5 from the most populous city in every state and Washington, D.C. Uni- and multivariate associations between regional and national brow hygiene practices were explored using chi-square testing and multinomial logistic regression modeling. Results: Of 255 brow salons included in this study, 137 performed waxing (54%), 72 performed threading (28%) and 46 performed both (18%). Hand hygiene was required at 97% of brow salons, most commonly using alcohol-based sanitizer (59%), hand washing (22%), or some combination of the two (16%). Brow cleansing was required at 80% of salons, with the vast majority using an alcohol-based cleanser (75%). Multinomial logistic regression analysis of hand and brow hygiene methods, including hand hygiene frequency and service type, failed to show regionally predictive differences. Hand hygiene was performed more routinely than brow hygiene nationwide (p&lt;0.01). Conclusions: The brow shaping industry is performing hand hygiene nearly across the board, but would benefit from increased rates of brow cleansing. Keywords: Waxing, hand hygiene, salon, eyebrow

Phenological optimization of late reproductive phase for raising wheat yield potential in irrigated mega-environments.

Increasing grain number through fine-tuning duration of the late reproductive phase (LRP; terminal spikelet to anthesis) without altering anthesis time has been proposed as a genetic strategy to increase yield potential (YP) of wheat. Here we conducted a modelling analysis to evaluate the potential of fine-tuning LRP in raising YP in irrigated mega-environments. Using the known optimal anthesis and sowing date of current elite benchmark genotypes, we applied a gene-based phenology model for long-term simulations of phenological stages and yield-related variables of all potential germplasm with the same duration to anthesis as the benchmark genotypes. These diverse genotypes had the same duration to anthesis but varying LRP duration. Lengthening LRP increased YP and harvest index by increasing grain number to some extent and an excessively long LRP reduced YP due to reduced time for canopy construction for high biomass production of pre-anthesis phase. The current elite genotypes could have their LRP extended for higher YP in most sites. Genotypes with a ratio of the duration of LRP to pre-anthesis phase of about 0.42 ensured high yields (≥95% of YP) with their optimal sowing and anthesis dates. Optimization of intermediate growth stages could be further evaluated in breeding programmes to improve YP.

Palladium-intercalated MXene membrane for efficient separation of H2/CO2: Combined experimental and modeling work

Research on gas separation membrane has targeted upon maximizing the selectivity and permeance. The development of 2D materials (e.g., MXene) gives a novel avenue to surpass the “trade-off” among the membrane selectivity and permeability. However, randomly stacked nanosheets and the regulation of interlayer spacing for MXene nanosheets hinder the development of MXene membrane. To this end, we designed a Pd-intercalated lamellar MXene membrane to modify the surface chemical properties (H-spillover effect) of MXene (Ti3C2Tx) and to expand the interlayer spacing (from 2.29 to 3.26 Å) due to the strong interaction between Pd2+ and MXene nanosheets with negative charge. Here, we performed a single-step etching approach to prepare 2D Pd-MXene membrane and demonstrated its excellent H2 permeability of 2.66 × 10−7 mol m−2 s−1·Pa−1 and H2/CO2 selectivity of 242 at 25 °C, which greatly exceeds the current benchmark membranes. We also developed single gas transport mathematical mechanism models to interpret and support the experimental results. The combined experimental and modeling results show that interlayer spacing and H-spillover effect of Pd-MXene membrane benefit H2/CO2 separation.

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Use in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients: A Systematic Review.

Chronic immunosuppression in solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs) leads to an increased risk of a wide variety of cancers. Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy is indicated for many of these; however, the risks and benefits of ICI use in the SOTR population have not been well characterized. We performed a systematic literature review identifying 119 reported cases of ICI use among SOTRs. Treatments used included PD-1 inhibition (75.6%), CTLA-4 inhibition (12.6%), PD-L1 inhibition (1.7%), and combination and/or sequential ICI therapy (10.1%). The most common cancers included cutaneous melanoma (35.3%), hepatocellular carcinoma (22.7%), and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (18.5%). The overall objective response rate (ORR) was 34.5%, with a median duration of response of 8.0 months. Ongoing response was seen in 21.0%. Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma had significantly better ORR compared with other cancer types (68.2% vs 26.8%; odds ratio [OR], 5.85; P =.0006). Factors associated with improved ORR included increasing time from transplant to ICI (OR, 1.09; P =.008) and preemptive reduction in intensity of the graft maintenance immunosuppressive regimen (50.0% vs 18.5%; OR, 4.40; P =.0088). Rejection occurred in 41.2%, graft failure in 23.5%, and immune-related adverse events in 18.5%. Factors significantly associated with allograft rejection included allograft PD-L1 positivity (100% vs 0%; P<.0001) and absence of tacrolimus in the immunosuppressive regimen (48.7% vs 25.6%; OR, 0.36; P =.019). The most common cause of death was progressive malignancy (64.0%), followed by graft failure (24.0%). Our analysis provides current benchmark data to help inform management of SOTRs with advanced cancers that are reflected by our patient cohort. Biomarker development, more robust datasets, and prospective study of concomitant immunosuppression management may help refine decision-making in this complex scenario in the future. Close coordination of care between the medical oncologist and transplant specialist is encouraged to help optimize treatment outcomes.

Intratumoral Anti-PD-1 Nanoformulation Improves Its Biodistribution.

Intratumoral administration of immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as programmed cell death-1 antibodies (aPD-1), is a promising approach toward addressing both the low patients' responses and high off-target toxicity, but good preclinical results have not translated in phase I clinical studies as significant off-target toxicities were observed. We hypothesized that the nanoformulation of aPD-1 could alter both their loco-regional and systemic distribution following intratumoral administration. To test this hypothesis, we developed an aPD-1 nanoformulation (aPD-1 NPs) and investigated its biodistribution following intratumoral injection in an orthotopic mice model of head and neck cancer. Biodistribution analysis demonstrated a significantly lower distribution in off-target organs of the nanoformulated aPD-1 compared to free antibodies. On the other hand, both aPD-1 NPs and free aPD-1 yielded a significantly higher tumor and tumor draining lymph node accumulation than the systemically administrated free aPD-1 used as the current clinical benchmark. In a set of comprehensive in vitro biological studies, aPD-1 NPs effectively inhibited PD-1 expression on T-cells to a similar extent to free aPD-1 and efficiently potentiated the cytotoxicity of T-cells against head and neck cancer cells in vitro. Further studies are warranted to assess the potential of this intratumoral administration of aPD-1 nanoformulation in alleviating the toxicity and enhancing the tumor efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors.

A review on Chemical Looping Water Splitting (CLWS) as a potential alternative to Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) for hydrogen production

Hydrogen is the fuel of the future as it is a clean fuel and its utilization doesn’t emit greenhouse gases. It is used in various industries from petroleum, fertilizers to pharmaceuticals and even electronics. There are numerous established processes for hydrogen production each having its advantages and disadvantages. The current benchmark is Steam Methane Reforming (SMR). Despite giving a stable output, it releases harmful gases in the environment and has other challenges. Therefore, there was a need to find an inexpensive, efficient and environmentally friendly process with possible CO2 sequestration. CLWS, an alternative to SMR is a three step process where a transition metal oxide, preferably an iron-based oxide undergoes reduction, steam iron process and oxidation to produce hydrogen. This process has many advantages like the production of separate H2 and CO2 streams, no need to have additional units like acid gas removal and pressure swing adsorption. The only challenge is to perform process simulations such that we obtain maximum H2 yield with minimum carbon deposits which reduce the efficiency and purity of the hydrogen produced. CLWS has been studied in detail and optimum parameters for each of the underlying processes have been compiled along with suitable reactor design schemes, thermodynamics etc.