Large Volume Research Articles

Relationship Between Epicardial Adipose Tissue Volume and Recurrence After Ablation in Premature Ventricular Complexes.

Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is recognized as a clinical diagnostic marker for cardiometabolic disease. Thicker EAT may be associated with recurrence of ventricular tachycardia after ablation. The association between EAT volume and recurrence of premature ventricular complexes (PVC) following ablation has not been clarified. We investigated the association between EAT volume and PVC recurrence following radiofrequency catheter ablation.Methods and Results: This retrospective study included 401 patients with PVC undergoing catheter ablation with preprocedural non-contrast computed tomography between 2017 and 2022. The impact of EAT volume in predicting PVC recurrence after ablation was analyzed. The mean (±SD) age of patients was 50.2±13.3 years. Multivariable Cox analysis revealed that a large EAT volume was an independent predictor of PVC recurrence after ablation during a median follow-up of 16.3 months. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a difference in postablation PVC recurrence between the 2 groups dichotomized around the EAT volume cut-off. The risk of recurrence increased with increasing EAT volume according to restricted cubic spline regression. Furthermore, PVC originating from epicardial locations had larger EAT volumes than those originating from the right ventricular outflow tract. A large EAT volume was independently associated with PVC recurrence following ablation. Patients with PVC originating from epicardial sites had large EAT volumes. EAT volume may help stratify patients according to their risk of PVC recurrence after ablation.

Imparting Ultra‐High Strength to Polymers via a New Concept Strategy of Construction of up to Duodecuple Hydrogen Bonding among Macromolecular Chains

Imparting Ultra‐High Strength to Polymers via a New Concept Strategy of Construction of up to Duodecuple Hydrogen Bonding among Macromolecular Chains

Authenticated Range Querying of Historical Blockchain Healthcare Data Using Authenticated Multi-Version Index

With growing adoption of blockchain in established and emerging applications, there is an increasing need to support efficient ad hoc querying of authenticated historical data. This is especially true in fields such as healthcare to meet the rigorous security and regulatory requirements of ever-expanding digital health platforms. Existing blockchain systems, however, offer little or no support for querying capabilities over historical data. Although a full blockchain archive node can be used to maintain historical records of all executed transactions on the chain, it is not scalable when dealing with large volumes of data. Moreover, such ‘offline’ historical data lack tamper evidence support. To address these issues, we introduce an authenticated index structure called Authenticated Multi-Version Skip List (AMVSL), designed to support a rich set of query features over historical blockchain data. We further present three range queries: SVRK, MVRK, and MVAK, which offer querying over a range of keys and a range of versions. Our experimental evaluation of two healthcare-inspired examples demonstrates that AMVSL efficiently supports these queries and can achieve performance that is several orders of magnitude faster than existing authenticated data structures.

Identifying Viral Vector Characteristics by Nanopore Sensing.

Using viral vectors as gene delivery vehicles for gene therapy necessitates their quality control. Here, we report on nanopore sensing for nondestructively inspecting genomes inside the nanoscale cargoes at the single-molecule level. Using ionic current measurements, we motion-tracked the adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors as they translocated through a solid-state nanopore. Considering the varying contributions of the electrophoretic forces from the negatively charged internal polynucleotides of different lengths, the nanocargoes carrying longer DNA moved more slowly in the nanochannel. Moreover, ion blockage characteristics revealed their larger volume by up to approximately 3600 nm3 in proportion to the length of single-stranded DNA packaged inside, thereby allowing electrical discriminations of AAV vectors by the gene-derived physical features. The present findings can be a promising tool for the enhanced quality control of AAV products by enabling the screening of empty and intermediate vectors at the single-particle level.

Urban 3D building morphology and energy consumption: empirical evidence from 53 cities in China

The impact of building morphology on building energy consumption has been extensively studied. However, research on how 3D building morphology affects energy consumption at a macroscopic scale is lacking. In this study, we measured the mean building height (BH), mean building volume (BV), and mean European nearest neighbor distance (MENN) of the city to quantify the 3D building morphology. We then used a spatial regression model to analyze the quantitative impact of urban 3D building morphology on per capita electricity consumption (PCEC). Results indicate that at the macroscopic scale of the city, the BH and the MENN have a significant positive impact on the PCEC, while the BV has a significant negative impact on the PCEC. Moreover, the inclusion of the 3D building morphology greatly improves the model’s ability to explain building energy efficiency, surpassing the impact of traditional economic factors. Considering the 3D building morphology indicators together, buildings with a lower height, a larger volume, and a more compact 3D morphology have greater potential for energy savings and are more conducive to electricity conservation. This study offers valuable insights for the energy-efficient arrangement of buildings.

Numerical simulation of the influence of nasal cycle on nasal airflow

To study the characteristics of nasal airflow in the presence of nasal cycle by computational fluid dynamics. CT scan data of a healthy Chinese individual was used to construct a three-dimensional model of the nasal cavity to be used as simulation domain. A sinusoidal airflow velocity is set at the nasal cavity entrance to reproduce the breathing pattern of a healthy human. There was a significant difference in the cross-sectional area between the two sides of the nasal cavity. Particularly, the decongested side is characterized by a larger cross-section area, and consequently, by a larger volume with respect to the congested side. The airflow velocity, pressure, and nasal resistance were higher on the congested narrow side. The temperature regulation ability on the congested narrow side was stronger than that on the decongested wider side. During the nasal cycle, there are differences in the nasal cavity function between the congested and decongested sides. Therefore, when evaluating the impact of various factors on nasal cavity function, the nasal cycle should be considered.

Accelerating Single-Cell Sequencing Data Analysis with SciDAP: A User-Friendly Approach.

Single-cell (sc) RNA, ATAC and Multiome sequencing became powerful tools for uncovering biological and disease mechanisms. Unfortunately, manual analysis of sc data presents multiple challenges due to large data volumes and complexity of configuration parameters. This complexity, as well as not being able to reproduce a computational environment, affects the reproducibility of analysis results. The Scientific Data Analysis Platform (https://SciDAP.com) allows biologists without computational expertise to analyze sequencing-based data using portable and reproducible pipelines written in Common Workflow Language (CWL). Our suite of computational pipelines addresses the most common needs in scRNA-Seq, scATAC-Seq and scMultiome data analysis. When executed on SciDAP, it offers a user-friendly alternative to manual data processing, eliminating the need for coding expertise. In this protocol, we describe the use of SciDAP to analyze scMultiome data. Similar approaches can be used for analysis of scRNA-Seq, scATAC-Seq and scVDJ-Seq datasets.

Few sex differences in regional gray matter volume growth trajectories across early childhood

Abstract Sex-specific developmental differences in brain structure have been documented in older children and adolescents, with females generally showing smaller overall brain volumes and earlier peak ages than males. However, sex differences in gray matter structural development in early childhood are less studied. We characterized sex-specific trajectories of gray matter volume development in children aged 2–8 years. We acquired anatomical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain at the Alberta Children's Hospital in 123 typically developing children. Most children were scanned multiple times, for a total of 393 scans (mean = 3.2 scans/subject). We segmented T1-weighted structural MRI with MaCRUISE to define 116 regions and measured both absolute volumes (mm3) and proportional volumes (percent of intracranial volume). We characterized growth trajectories of gray matter volume for these brain regions between 2 and 8 years using mixed-effects models, showing volume increases, with most posterior and temporo-parietal regions peaking before 8 years. We found widespread main effects of sex, with males having larger volumes in 86% of brain regions. However, there were no significant sex differences in trajectories (age or age2 terms) for absolute volume. Proportional volumes of the right occipital fusiform gyrus and left medial postcentral gyrus showed significant age-by-sex interactions where females had steeper volume decreases than males. This study also confirms regional patterns observed in previous studies of older children, such as posterior-to-anterior timing of brain maturation. These results provide a comprehensive picture of gray matter volume development across early childhood, and suggest that sex differences do not emerge until later in development.

Knowledge-based Data Processing for Multilingual Natural Language Analysis

Natural Language Processing (NLP) aids the empowerment of intelligent machines by enhancing human language understanding for linguistic-based human-computer communication. Recent developments in processing power, as well as the availability of large volumes of linguistic data, have enhanced the demand for data-driven methods for automatic semantic analysis. This paper proposes multilingual data processing using feature extraction with classification using deep learning architectures. Here, the input text data has been collected based on various languages and processed to remove missing values and null values. The processed data has been extracted using Histogram Equalization based Global Local Entropy (HEGLE) and classified using Kernel-based Radial basis Function (Ker_Rad_BF). These architectures could be utilized to process natural language. We present solutions to the multilingual sentiment analysis issue in this research article by implementing algorithms, and we compare precision factors to discover the optimum option for multilingual sentiment analysis. For the HASOC dataset, the proposed HEGLE_ Ker_Rad_BF achieved an accuracy of 98%, a precision of 97%, a recall of 90.5%, an f-1 score of 85%, RMSE of 55.6%, and a loss curve analysis attained 44%. For the TRAC dataset, the accuracy of 98%, the precision attained is 97%, the Recall is 91%, the F-1 score is 87%, and the RMSE of the proposed neural network is 55%.

The comparative egg physical characteristics from four poultry species

In this study, we examined the physical characteristics of two local breeds (Cemani chicken and Mojosari putih duck) and two imported breeds (White Leghorn chicken and Peking duck). A total of 280 eggs were tested. Egg physical characteristics and hatchability were analyzed using ANOVA with consideration for breed effects using GLM (SPSS version 25). Peking ducks have a heavier, larger mean of geometric diameter, larger volumes, and larger surface area of eggs (p<0.05). Among them, the Cemani chicken is the smallest in the world (p<0.05). Cemani chicken and Mojosari putih ducks had the highest sphericity and shape index scores, and were significantly different from White Leghorn chickens and Peking ducks (p<0.05). Density parameters were highest in Cemani chickens as well as in White Leghorn chickens, but were significantly different from Peking ducks and Mojosari putih ducks (p<0.05). Hatchability was related to the shape index value. Mojosari putih ducks and Cemani chickens have a higher shape index than White Leghorn chickens and Peking ducks. In summary, the Peking duck was better, but the hatchability was higher for the Mojosari putih duck and Cemani chicken.

Phosphate Recovery Mechanism from Low P-Containing Wastewaters via CaP Crystallization Using Apatite as Seed: Seed Adsorption, Surface-Induced Crystallization, or Ion Clusters Aggregation?

Low P-containing wastewaters (LPWs) exhibit huge P recovery potential, considering their larger volume. P recovery via CaP crystallization using apatite as seed is documented as being potentially well suited for LPWs. However, its responsible mechanisms remain a subject for debate. Taking hydroxyapatite (HAP) as the seed of LPWs, this paper conducted HAP adsorption/dissolution experiments, titration experiments, and P recovery experiments to distinguish the primary responsible mechanism. Results showed that it was HAP dissolution, not P adsorption, that occurred when the initial P concentration was no higher than 5 mg/L, ruling out adsorption mechanism of P recovery from LPWs using HAP as the seed. Significant OH− consumption and rapid P recovery occurred simultaneously within the first 60 s in titration experiments, suggesting CaP crystallization should be responsible for P recovery. Moreover, the continuous increase in P recovery efficiency with seed dosages observed in P recovery experiments seemed to follow well the mechanism of pre-nucleation ion clusters (PNCs) aggregation. During PNCs aggregation, P aggregates with Ca2+ quickly, generating CaP PNCs; then, CaP PNCs aggregate with seed particles, followed by CaP PNCs fusion, and ultimately transform into fines attached to the seed surface. PNCs’ aggregation mechanism was further supported by a comparison of seed SEM images before and after P recovery, since denser and smaller rod-shaped fines were observed on the seed surface after P recovery. This study suggests that PNCs’ aggregation is the dominant mechanism responsible for the recovery of P from LPWs via CaP crystallization using HAP as the seed.

Painting robot with three axis motion

Paint was applied directly to the painted surface while painting with a brush. There are occasionally unsatisfactory outcomes, such as paint stacking or streaks remaining. Spray guns yield better paint results, therefore a robot was developed that can regulate the spray gun's movement in order to apply paint. A painting robot that resembles an arm is one that has three axes of movement. The robot can move left-right on the x axis, up-down on the y axis, and back-front on the z axis. Its end effector is a spray cannon. An ultrasonic sensor is used to measure the distance between components and the spray gun; when the sensor measures near distances, such as between 4 and 8 cm, the test sensor distance measurements have a larger average error. When the test reading distance is increased from 10 cm to 14 cm, the average error reduces. Superior painting outcomes can be achieved with a paint distance of 10 cm, an air pressure of 80 psi, and a spray gun arm movement speed of 25 rpm. With average x-axis movement of 74.6 cm, y-axis movement of 14.8 cm, and z-axis movement of 88.2 cm, the largest volume that can be painted is 97,517.5 cm3. The rotation of the arm is used to determine the angular rotation needed to paint components. Painting the left side of the component at an angle of 10°, the back side at an angle of 100°, the right side at an angle of 190°, and only painting the front side of the component at the required angle of 90° require the rotational movement of the arm to the left.

Synthesis of Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) Cr-PTC-HIna for Heavy Metal Ion Adsorption

As an adsorbent material, Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) provides several advantages, such as large surface area and pore volume, as well as stability in aqueous systems both in acidic, basic, and neutral conditions. The research successfully made a metal organic framework (MOF) from chromium and perylene that was modulated by isonicotinic acid. This was done using three different methods: hydrothermal (Cr-PTC-HIna-HT), solvothermal (Cr-PTC-HIna-ST), and sonochemical (Cr-PTC-HIna-SC). The Cr-PTC-HIna-SC showed the greatest Pb2+ ion adsorption capacity. The optimum adsorption of Pb2+ ions occurred at 150 ppm Pb2+ ion concentration, pH 5, 90 minutes of contact time, and an adsorption capacity of 149.95 mg/g at 35 °C. The dominant adsorption isotherm model is the Langmuir isotherm model with R2 = 0.9867 and follows the pseudo-second-order. The selectivity test showed that Cr-PTC-HIna-SC MOF could adsorb more Cd2+ ions than Pb2+ ions, with 250 mg/g being the best amount.

Air entrapment modelling in water supply networks during pipe filling events

ABSTRACT Intermittent water supply systems are prone to air entrapments during the pipe filling phase. This work aims to analyse and discuss the numerical results obtained by applying the recently developed AirSWMM model, an extension of SWMM incorporating air phase, to a laboratory network. Experimental data consisting of pressure-head at multiple locations and video recordings of air entrapments are collected in a single loop network with a high point, for different pipe-filling conditions, system layouts and node elevations. Experimental tests have shown that the air entrapment occurred not only at the high point but also throughout the pipe network, creating air pockets with elongated shapes and larger volumes than for single pipes. AirSWWM model with air-entrapment formation, growth and transport is tested in the pipe network, and results are compared with measurements. AirSWWM model can correctly locate large air pockets but underestimates their volume.

Efficient data management in Internet of Things: A survey of data aggregation techniques

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a vast network of interconnected devices, objects, and systems powered by sensors, software, and connectivity capabilities. The interconnectivity of IoT devices has led to a substantial increase in data production. Efficiently managing and analyzing large data volumes is a significant challenge for IoT systems. To address this challenge, data aggregation is the primary process. IoT data aggregation aims to provide high-quality service by ensuring fast data transmission, high reliability, minimal energy consumption, and data priority consideration. Data aggregation involves collecting data from multiple sensors and devices and then integrating it using a function to minimize system traffic. This paper thoroughly examines data aggregation techniques in the IoT context. Techniques are grouped according to underlying principles, and their potential applications, advantages, and limitations are discussed.

How far has diabetes-related foot disease research progressed in Australia? A bibliometric review (1970-2023).

Diabetes-related foot disease (DFD) is a leading cause of the Australian and global disease burdens and requires proportionate volumes of research to address. Bibliometric analyses are rigorous methods for exploring total research publications in a field to help identify volume trends, gaps and emerging areas of need. This bibliometric review aimed to explore the volume, authors, institutions, journals, collaborating countries, research types and funding sources of Australian publications investigating DFD over 50years. A systematic search of the Scopus® database was conducted by two independent authors to identify all Australian DFD literature published between 1970 and 2023. Bibliometric meta-data were extracted from Scopus®, analyzed in Biblioshiny, an R Statistical Software interface, and publication volumes, authors, institutions, journals and collaborative countries were described. Publications were also categorised for research type and funding source. Overall, 332 eligible publications were included. Publication volume increased steadily over time, with largest volumes (78%) and a 7-fold increase over the last decade. Mean co-authors per publication was 5.6, mean journal impact factor was 2.9 and median citation was 9 (IQR2-24). Most frequent authors were Peter Lazzarini (14%), Vivienne Chuter (8%) and Jonathon Golledge (7%). Most frequent institutions affiliated were Queensland University Technology (33%), University Sydney (30%) and James Cook University (25%). Most frequent journals published in were Journal Foot and Ankle Research (17%), Diabetic Medicine (7%), Journal Diabetes and its Complications (4%) and International Wound Journal (4%). Most frequent collaborating countries were the United Kingdom (9%), the Netherlands (6%) and the United States (5%). Leading research types were etiology (38%), treatment evaluation (25%) and health services research (13%). Leading funding sources were no funding (60%), internal institution (16%) and industry/philanthropic/international (10%). Australian DFD research increased steadily until more dramatic increases were seen over the past decade. Most research received no funding and mainly investigated etiology, existing treatments or health services. Australian DFD researchers appear to be very productive, particularly in recent times, despite minimal funding indicating their resilience. However, if the field is to continue to rapidly grow and address the very large national DFD burden, much more research funding is needed in Australia, especially targeting prevention and clinical trials of new treatments in DFD.

Visibility, accessibility and quality of Italian public health institutional websites

Background: Since the large volume of health information available on the Web has the potential to improve health, Public Health institutions must represent a strong Internet presence with accessible and scientific information. The aims of the study were to verify the presence and visibility of Italian Institutions on the Web and to evaluate the accessibility and quality of the information provided. Methods: In a focus group setting, 21 keywords were generated, and launched in search-engines Google and MSN. Researchers noted the first 30 results found and determined the position of institutional websites. The accessibility of 303 Public Health websites was assessed in relation to the logo presence and web validation of XHTML, CSS and WAI indicators. Regarding the quality of information, the presence of the HONcode logo in the websites’ homepage was checked. Results: A high percentage of the keywords selected did not lead to any institutional website in the first three pages of Google (19.0%) and MSN (42.8%). Few institutional websites presented the logo indicator and a full web validation. Considering the XHTML indicator, only for 34.0% of the websites there was concordance between the logo presence/absence and results of direct validation, 50.2% for CSS. The quality level seemed to be extremely low. Conclusions:In order to achieve a larger visibility and guarantee accessibility, Public Health websites have to be correctly designed, edited and maintained. Common and strict European laws about health information on the Web have to be arranged, deeply monitored and carefully adjourned in order to guarantee and support the positive role of institutional websites.

Current Sharing Analysis and Evaluation of Parallel DC-Link Capacitors in Vehicle Motor Drive

In electric vehicle inverter systems, the DC-link capacitor bank becomes a critical obstacle to high power density due to its large volume. DC-link capacitor bank commonly adopts a multi-core parallel structure. The challenges exist in the current sharing of parallel capacitor cores because of the imbalance of stray parameters in the busbars. A current sharing analysis method aiming at thermal stress for capacitor banks in high-power-density inverters based on the characteristic matrix is proposed in this paper. First, the design basis of DC-link capacitors is given theoretically. Then, the complex coupling impedance model between multiple ports on capacitor busbars is mathematically derived by the matrix method, revealing the current resonance phenomenon of parallel capacitor cores affected by stray parameters. Next, three capacitor banks are evaluated by the proposed current sharing model. The influence of capacitor core arrangement and terminal position on current sharing is explored, which can guide capacitor banks’ high-power-density structure and heat dissipation design. Finally, an experimental platform is built with customized capacitor samples. The experimental results are consistent with the analysis results of the model, verifying the proposed method.

Particle-level insights into the powder flow behavior of the Fette 1200i tablet press feed frame using the discrete element method (DEM)

This study employs the DEM to simulate powder flow in the Fette-1200i tablet press three-chambered feed-frame system under varying operating conditions. It examines the influence of operational speeds on parameters like residence time, particle travel distance, shear work, paddle torque, tablet weight, and API concentration. Utilizing continuous spatial surface maps, the research comprehensively analyzes powder flow behavior. Results indicate that particle residence time increases with paddle speed but decreases with turret speed. Similar trends are observed for particle travel distance and shear work. Larger particle residence time can lead to overlubrication. The torque of the paddles is related to the volume of material in each chamber, with the distributing chamber having the largest volume. Tablet weight rises with paddle speed but drops with turret speed. The smallest particle (API) tends to collect near the paddle hub due to limited centrifugal force and on the chamber floor due to percolation. However, the tablet's API content eventually stabilizes at the target concentration.

The first degree-scale starlight-polarization-based tomography map of the magnetized interstellar medium

We present the first degree-scale tomography map of the dusty magnetized interstellar medium (ISM) from stellar polarimetry and distance measurements. We used the RoboPol polarimeter at Skinakas Observatory to conduct a survey of the polarization of starlight in a region of the sky of about four square degrees. We propose a Bayesian method to decompose the stellar-polarization source field along the distance to invert the three-dimensional (3D) volume occupied by the observed stars. We used this method to obtain the first 3D map of the dusty magnetized ISM. Specifically, we produced a tomography map of the orientation of the plane-of-sky component of the magnetic field threading the diffuse, dusty regions responsible for the stellar polarization. For the targeted region centered on Galactic coordinates (l, b) ≈ (103.3°, 22.3°), we identified several ISM clouds. Most of the lines of sight intersect more than one cloud. A very nearby component was detected in the foreground of a dominant component from which most of the polarization signal comes and which we identified as being an intersection of the wall of the Local Bubble and the Cepheus Flare. Farther clouds, with a distance of up to 2 kpc, were similarly detected. Some of them likely correspond to intermediate-velocity clouds seen in H I spectra in this region of the sky. We found that the orientation of the plane-of-sky component of the magnetic field changes along distance for most of the lines of sight. Our study demonstrates that starlight polarization data coupled to distance measures have the power to reveal the great complexity of the dusty magnetized ISM in 3D and, in particular, to provide local measurements of the plane-of-sky component of the magnetic field in dusty regions. This demonstrates that the inversion of large data volumes, as expected from the PASIPHAE survey, will provide the necessary means to move forward in the modeling of the Galactic magnetic field and of the dusty magnetized ISM as a contaminant in observations of the cosmic microwave background polarization.