Single Ones Research Articles

BHLH121 and clade IVc bHLH transcription factors synergistically function to regulate iron homeostasis in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Iron is an essential micronutrient for plant growth and development. In Arabidopsis thaliana, an intricate regulatory network involving several basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors controls the homeostasis of iron. Among these transcription factors, bHLH121 plays a crucial role. bHLH121 interacts in vivo with clade IVc bHLH transcription factors and activates the expression of FIT and clade Ib bHLH transcription factors to stimulate the uptake of iron. How bHLH121 and clade IVc bHLH transcription factors function collectively and efficiently to maintain iron homeostasis is still unclear. Herein, we found that double loss-of-function mutants involving bhlh121 and one of the clade IVc bHLH transcription factors displayed more severe iron deficiency-associated growth defects than each of the single mutants. We also found that among the four clade IVc bHLH transcription factors, only bHLH34 and bHLH105 could partially complement the iron-associated growth defects of bhlh121 when overexpressed. These data, together with protein localization analysis, support that bHLH121 and clade IVc bHLH transcription factors act synergistically to regulate iron homeostasis and that different bHLH121/clade IVc and clade IVc/clade IVc protein complexes are involved in this process.

Inter-trial variability is higher in 3D markerless compared to marker-based motion capture: Implications for data post-processing and analysis

Markerless motion capture has recently attracted significant interest in clinical gait analysis and human movement science. Its ease of use and potential to streamline motion capture recordings bear great potential for out-of-the-laboratory measurements in large cohorts. While previous studies have shown that markerless systems can achieve acceptable accuracy and reliability for kinematic parameters of gait, they also noted higher inter-trial variability of markerless data. Since increased inter-trial variability can have important implications for data post-processing and analysis, this study compared the inter-trial variability of simultaneously recorded markerless and marker-based data. For this purpose, the data of 18 healthy volunteers were used who were instructed to simulate four different gait patterns: physiological, crouch, circumduction, and equinus gait. Gait analysis was performed using the smartphone-based markerless system OpenCap and a marker-based motion capture system. We compared the inter-trial variability of both systems and also evaluated if changes in inter-trial variability may depend on the analyzed gait pattern. Compared to the marker-based data, we observed an increase of inter-trial variability for the markerless system ranging from 6.6% to 22.0% for the different gait patterns. Our findings demonstrate that the markerless pose estimation pipelines can introduce additionally variability in the kinematic data across different gait patterns and levels of natural variability. We recommend using averaged waveforms rather than single ones to mitigate this problem. Further, caution is advised when using variability-based metrics in gait and human movement analysis based on markerless data as increased inter-trial variability can lead to misleading results.

Incorporating mesoporous SiO2-HA particles into chitosan/hydroxyapatite scaffolds: A comprehensive evaluation of bioactivity and biocompatibility

In this work, composite scaffolds with various composition ratios of chitosan (CS), hydroxyapatite (HA), and mesoporous SiO2 particles co-synthesized with hydroxyapatite (SiO2-HA) were fabricated via the freeze-drying method for bone tissue engineering applications. Morphological studies showed that adding mesoporous particles resulted in a structure with a more uniformly porous geometry, subsequently leading to reduced biodegradation rates and water absorption in the scaffolds. The bioactivity results showed the introduction of mesoporous particles notably enhanced the coverage of the scaffold surface with apatite films. Moreover, biocompatibility assessments using sarcoma osteogenic cell line (SAOS-2) highlighted mesoporous particles' positive impact on cell adhesion and growth. The fluorescence images showed spindle-shaped cells with a greater number and normal cell nuclei for the scaffolds containing mesoporous SiO2-HA particles. The MTT cytotoxicity results indicated that the scaffolds containing mesoporous particles showed approximately 25 % higher cell survival more than single chitosan-based ones. What is more, the mesoporous-containing scaffolds occurred to have the best alkaline phosphatase test (ALP) activity among all scaffolds. It is important to add that CS/HA/mesoporous SiO2-HA scaffolds including SAOS-2 cells showed no sign of either early or late apoptosis. These findings affirm the potential of CS/HA/mesoporous SiO2-HA scaffolds as promising implants for bone tissue engineering.

Feature selection and its combination with data over-sampling for multi-class imbalanced datasets

Feature selection aims at filtering out some unrepresentative features from a given dataset in order to construct more effective learning models. Furthermore, ensemble feature selection by combining multiple feature selection methods has shown its outperformance over single feature selection. However, the performances of different (ensemble) feature selection methods have not been fully examined over multi-class imbalanced datasets. On the other hand, for class imbalanced datasets, one widely considered solution is to re-balance the datasets by data over-sampling, which generates some synthetic examples for the minority classes. However, the effect of performing (ensemble) feature selection on over-sampling multi-class imbalanced datasets has not been investigated. Therefore, the first research objective is to examine the performances of single and ensemble feature selection methods by fifteen well-known filter, wrapper, and embedded algorithms in terms of classification accuracy. For the second research objective, two orders of combining the feature selection and over-sampling steps are compared in order to find out the best combination procedure as well as the best combined algorithms. The experimental results based on ten different domain datasets containing low to very high feature dimensions show that ensemble feature selection methods slightly perform better than single ones. However, their performance differences are not big. To combine with the Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) over-sampling algorithm, performing feature selection first and over-sampling second outperforms the other procedure. Although the best combined algorithms are based on ensemble feature selection, eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), as the single best feature selection algorithm, combined with SMOTE provides very similar classification performance to the best combined algorithms. To consider the issues of classification performance and compactional cost, the optimal solution is based on the combined XGBoost and SMOTE.

A biomarker panel of C-reactive protein, procalcitonin and serum amyloid A is a predictor of sepsis in severe trauma patients

Severe trauma could induce sepsis due to the loss of control of the infection, which may eventually lead to death. Accurate and timely diagnosis of sepsis with severe trauma remains challenging both for clinician and laboratory. Combinations of markers, as opposed to single ones, may improve diagnosis. We compared the diagnostic characteristics of routinely used biomarkers of sepsis alone and in combination, trying to define a biomarker panel to predict sepsis in severe patients. This prospective observational study included patients with severe trauma (Injury severity score, ISS = 16 or more) in the emergency intensive care unit (EICU) at a university hospital. Blood samples were collected and plasma levels of procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and serum amyloid A (SAA) were measured using commercial enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. A total of 100 patients were eligible for analysis. Of these, 52 were diagnosed with sepsis. CRP yielded the highest discriminative value followed by PCT. In multiple logistic regression, SAA, CRP, and PCT were found to be independent predictors of sepsis. Bioscore which was composed of SAA, CRP, and PCT was shown to be far superior to that of each individual biomarker taken individually. Therefore, compared with single markers, the biomarker panel of PCT, CRP, and SAA was more predictive of sepsis in severe polytrauma patients.

Fabrication of composite hydrogels by sonication-assisted assembly of okara cellulose nanofibers and chitosan: structure and properties.

Okara cellulose is a highly abundant, green, sustainable, and biodegradable polymer with many potential industrial applications. In this study, we fabricated composite hydrogels with okara cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) and chitosan (CH) by hydrating, sonicating, and heating them at 100 °C for 30 min, and then induced their assembly by cooling. The effects of okara CNF (with and without 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyloxy (TEMPO) oxidation) and CH concentration on the structure and properties of the hydrogels was examined, including their microstructure, surface properties, rheological properties, and thermal stability. Our results indicate that there was an electrostatic attraction between the anionic okara CNF and cationic CH, which facilitated hydrogel formation. The surface, textural, rheological, and thermal stability properties were better for the composite hydrogels than for the single CH ones, as well as for the CNF that had undergone TEMPO oxidation. For the TC-CH hydrogels, the contact angle was 39.5°, the interfacial tension was 69.1 mN m-1 , and the surface tension was 1.44 mN m-1 . In this study, the novel hydrogels developed may be useful as a soft material in a range of applications in foods, supplements, health care products, cosmetics, and drugs. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

The Relationship of Happiness and Psychological Well-Being with Perfectionism

The article is devoted to the study of the connection between happiness and psychological well­being with perfectionism. Theoretical aspects of the relationship between these psychological phenomena are considered. The results of the empirical study (n = 120) are presented. The following resource were used in the study: the Oxford Happiness Inventory; the scale of psychological well-being by K. Rieff (adapted by L. V. Zhukovskaya, E. G. Troshikhina); the technique of perfectionism detection by P. A. Schuler; the multidimensional scale of perfectionism by P. Hewitt and G. Flett (adapted by I. I. Gracheva). The differences in the level of happiness, psychological well­being and perfectionism between representatives of different socio-demographic groups were established. The correlation analysis revealed significant relationships between the indicators of happiness, psychological well-being and perfectionism. The differences were registered in the structure of correlations between female and male respondents, as well as adult and adolescent respondents, married and single ones, those with and without children.

Reduced genetic diversity and the success of the invasive peacock bass (Cichliformes: Cichlidae).

Several species of Cichla successfully colonized lakes and reservoirs of Brazil, since the 1960's, causing serious damage to local wildlife. In this study, 135 peacock bass were collected in a reservoir complex in order to identify if they represented a single dominant species or multiple ones, as several Cichla species have been reported in the basin. Specimens were identified by color pattern, morphometric and meristic data, and using mitochondrial markers COI, 16S rDNA and Control Region (CR). Overlapping morphological data and similar coloration patterns prevented their identification using the taxonomic keys to species identification available in the literature. However, Bayesian and maximum likelihood from sequencing data demonstrated the occurrence of a single species, Cichla kelberi. A single haplotype was observed for the 16S and CR, while three were detected for COI, with a dominant haplotype present in 98.5% of the samples. The extreme low diversity of the transplanted C. kelberi evidenced a limited number of founding maternal lineages. The success of this colonization seems to rely mainly on abiotic factors, such as increased water transparency of lentic environments that favor visual predators that along with the absence of predators, have made C. kelberi a successful invader of these reservoirs.

Dual-polarimetric method to detect burned area after the 2022 Stromboli Island wildfire

In this study, dual-polarimetric (DP) feature derived from Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data is used to detect burned area (BA) related to the wildfire that hit Stromboli Island on May 2022. First, a DP change detection feature based on the difference of covariance matrices obtained from images collected before and after is exploited to detect the BA. Finally, the BA is extracted using a clustering algorithm based on k-means. To assess the performance of the proposed approach, the DP detector is contrasted with single polarimetric ones, and optical imagery from Sentinel-2 used as reference data for evaluating the accuracy of the DP method. Experimental results, obtained by processing a pair of C-band Sentinel-1 imagery collected before and after the 2022 Stromboli Island, wildfire shows that the proposed feature is able to detect the BA from the surroundings. In addition, the DP feature outperforms the SP ones.

Studies on High-Resolution Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar Image Formation with Pseudo-Random Agility of Interpulse Waveform Parameters

By means of alteration of the transmitted linear frequency modulation (LFM) signal waveform parameters, such as pulse width or chirp rate, initial phase, pulse repetition interval (PRI), and chirp rate polarity at every position of synthetic apertures, the pseudo-random agility technology of interpulse waveform parameters in airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) actively increases the complexity and uncertainty of radar waveforms. This technology confuses jamming interception receivers, thus improving its anti-interference ability for active coherent jamming, which is one of the main research interests of airborne SAR technology. But the pseudo-random agility technology for interpulse waveform parameters faces certain challenges of large computation and complex system design, which need to be further studied and solved. To address these issues, a processing scheme of high-resolution SAR image formation which is appropriate for agile interpulse waveform parameters is proposed in this paper. This method can deal with multiple agile parameters, not only single ones as in most existing literature. Its computation load is nearly comparable to that of traditional SAR image formation with constant waveform parameters. The high-resolution SAR imaging results obtained by processing SAR raw data with agile interpulse waveform parameters demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. In addition, real SAR images with resolutions of 0.5 m and 0.15 m, which are rarely found in the public literature, are shown under the circumstance of randomly changing the transmitted wideband LFM signal pulse parameters one by one.

Multiparametric Analysis Combining DSC-MR Perfusion and [18F]FET-PET is Superior to aSingle Parameter Approach for Differentiation of Progressive Glioma from Radiation Necrosis.

Perfusion-weighted (PWI) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and O‑(2-[18F]fluoroethyl-)-l-tyrosine ([18F]FET) positron emission tomography (PET) are both useful for discrimination of progressive disease (PD) from radiation necrosis (RN) in patients with gliomas. Previous literature showed that the combined use of FET-PET and MRI-PWI is advantageous; hhowever the increased diagnostic performances were only modest compared to the use of asingle modality. Hence, the goal of this study was to further explore the benefit of combining MRI-PWI and [18F]FET-PET for differentiation of PD from RN. Secondarily, we evaluated the usefulness of cerebral blood flow (CBF), mean transit time (MTT) and time to peak (TTP) as previous studies mainly examined cerebral blood volume (CBV). In this single center study, we retrospectively identified patients with WHO gradesII-IV gliomas with suspected tumor recurrence, presenting with ambiguous findings on structural MRI. For differentiation of PD from RN we used both MRI-PWI and [18F]FET-PET. Dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI-PWI provided normalized parameters derived from perfusion maps (r(relative)CBV, rCBF, rMTT, rTTP). Static [18F]FET-PET parameters including mean and maximum tumor to brain ratios (TBRmean, TBRmax) were calculated. Based on histopathology and radioclinical follow-up we diagnosed PD in 27and RN in 10cases. Using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, area under the curve (AUC) values were calculated for single and multiparametric models. The performances of single and multiparametric approaches were assessed with analysis of variance and cross-validation. After application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, we included 37patients in this study. Regarding the in-sample based approach, in single parameter analysis rTBRmean (AUC = 0.91, p < 0.001), rTBRmax (AUC = 0.89, p < 0.001), rTTP (AUC = 0.87, p < 0.001) and rCBVmean (AUC = 0.84, p < 0.001) were efficacious for discrimination of PD from RN. The rCBFmean and rMTT did not reach statistical significance. Aclassification model consisting of TBRmean, rCBVmean and rTTP achieved an AUC of 0.98 (p < 0.001), outperforming the use of rTBRmean alone, which was the single parametric approach with the highest AUC. Analysis of variance confirmed the superiority of the multiparametric approach over the single parameter one (p = 0.002). While cross-validation attributed the highest AUC value to the model consisting of TBRmean and rCBVmean, it also suggested that the addition of rTTP resulted in the highest accuracy. Overall, multiparametric models performed better than single parameter ones. Amultiparametric MRI-PWI and [18F]FET-PET model consisting of TBRmean, rCBVmean and PWI rTTP significantly outperformed the use of rTBRmean alone, which was the best single parameter approach. Secondarily, we firstly report the potential usefulness of PWI rTTP for discrimination of PD from RN in patients with glioma; however, for validation of our findings the prospective studies with larger patient samples are necessary.

Morphological Features of Wound Canals and Intracranial Pathology in Non-Penetrating Gunshot Craniocerebral Injuries

Background. Non-penetrating craniocerebral trauma in modern warfare, according to our data, accounts for up to a fifth of all gunshot wounds of the skull and brain in armed conflicts at the end of the last century and the beginning of the current century. It is a complex problem of military field surgery, first of all from the point of view of solving an important task of the medical services of the warring parties – restoring the maximum number of wounded. The study of pathomorphological wound channels in various types of gunshot non-penetrating craniocerebral injuries gives opportunities for the development of adequate options for access during surgical treatment. &#x0D; Object: to reveal the morphological features of wound canals and internal cranial injuries in gunshot non-penetrating craniocerebral injuries for optimal planning the primary surgical treatment of the wound.&#x0D; Material and Methods. Study and analysis of morphological features of wound canals and intracranial pathology in 155 non-penetrating gunshot craniocerebral injuries of the military who underwent surgical treatment in the 2nd and 3rd level healthcare institutions during the war in 2014-2020. The morphology of wound canals and intracranial injuries were studied based on the laws of wound ballistics, clinical data, and computed tomography data.&#x0D; Results. The largest proportion of non-penetrating gunshot wounds is perforated and depressed fractures (39.9%); perforated fractures with penetration of a fragment to the inner plate of the bone account for 20% and incomplete (to the bone) make up 5.8%. Among blind non-penetrating wounds, single ones prevail (65.2%). More often, they have a cylindrical blind canal. Subarachnoid hemorrhage, brain congestion, and very rarely epidural hematoma (one case) are found in almost all perforated bone fractures. A more complex pathomorphological structure is present in multiple non-penetrating gunshot wounds. At the same time, only one fragment causes a depressed skull fracture. Large and small wound canals can be distinguished by width. The latter do not damage the bones and do not require surgical treatment. This type of injury is accompanied by a subarachnoid hemorrhage in 78% of cases and by brain congestion near the fracture in 43% of cases. Tangential injuries occur in 21.9% of injuries; they have a grooved elongated shape. The bottom of these wounds are linear and compressed fractures. Rarely, subdural and intracerebral hematomas are formed in the projection of the fracture. All non-penetrating injuries are accompanied by small brain congestion of the I-II degrees and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Epidural and intracerebral hematomas can rarely occur with blind non-penetrating cranial injuries.&#x0D; Conclusions. Non-penetrating multiple fragmental injuries are accompanied by the greatest soft tissue damage. In case of blind wound canals, there are incomplete perforated and perforated-depressed skull fractures; linear and depressed fractures occur in tangential canals. Regardless of the type of wound canals in the brain, there are small congestions (hemorrhages) and subarachnoid hemorrhage. In rare cases, epidural and intracerebral hematomas are formed. Subdural hematomas, sometimes combined with intracerebral hematomas, are found in tangential non-penetrating wounds. Projectiles in tangential wounds do not cause molecular shock and do not lead to secondary necrosis, therefore, it is not necessary to cut the edges of the wound during the primary surgical treatment.

The influence of social support on sleep and fatigue level among patients receiving hemodialysis in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional correlational design.

Patients on hemodialysis (HD) are more likely to experience sleep problems and fatigue that may affect their health outcomes. Management of these patients with social support may improve their sleep quality and fatigue as well as their health. This study aimed to assess the influence of social support on sleep quality and fatigue levels among HD patients. A cross-correlational study was conducted among 260 conveniently sampled HD patients from four dialysis centers in Hail and Al-Qassim cities of Saudi Arabia from Jun 2022 to January 2023. Besides sociodemographic data, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue (MAF) and the Oslo Social Support Scale (OSSS-3) were used to assess sleep quality, fatigue levels and social support, respectively. Chi-square test was used to determine the association between categorical variables, while Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to test the correlation between sleep quality, fatigue, and social support. Poor sleep and high fatigue were significantly higher in older patients compared to younger patients (p <0.001), while strong social support was significantly lower in older patients than younger and middle-aged ones (p = 0.001). On the other hand, poor sleep and high fatigue were significantly higher in males than females (p = 0.022 and p <0.001, respectively), while strong social support was significantly higher in females than males (p <0.001). Married patients showed significantly poorer sleep than single ones (p = 0.019), but single patients received significantly stronger social support. Retired patients showed significantly poorer sleep, higher fatigue and weaker social support than other groups (p <0.001). There was a significant negative correlation between fatigue and sleep quality among HD patients, where patients with more fatigue had poorer sleep (r = -0.510, p <0.001). A significant positive correlation was found between social support and sleep quality, where patients with stronger social support had more normal sleep (r = 0.415, p <0.001). However, a significant negative correlation was found between social support and fatigue, where patients with stronger social support had lower levels of fatigue (r = -0.479, p <0.001). Saudi patients on HD who have stronger social support have better sleep quality and reduced fatigue levels than those with less social support. There is a need to design and implement intervention studies with structured social support programs, and to evaluate their effectiveness on improving sleep and reducing fatigue among HD patients.

Labor exploitation, discrimination and coping tactics of male forced migrants in Türkiye

This paper examines the forms of discrimination against male forced migrants and their coping tactics in Duzce City, Türkiye. Located between the large metropolitan cities of Ankara and Istanbul, Duzce offers informal jobs to migrants in economic sectors where labor shortage exists, such as agriculture, construction and services. Based on in-depth interviews with 39 Iraqi, Afghan and Syrian migrant men in Duzce conducted between 2021 and 2022, this paper focuses on male forced migrants’ experiences. The research found that male forced migrants, especially the single ones, are often stigmatized; they are subjected to exploitation as unskilled workers in labor-intensive, low-paid jobs and marginalized in various aspects of daily life. To cope with difficulties and discrimination, they adopt different tactics, such as keeping silent, speaking Turkish in public spaces, concealing their identity, avoiding encountering locals and showing a humble attitude towards local people. Findings from the study can contribute to the development of programs that enhance cohesion between asylum seekers and local people. In addition, policies should aim to prevent asylum seekers from being marginalized and discriminated against in different areas of life.

The Growth-Inhibitory Effect of Increased Planting Density Can Be Reduced by Abscisic Acid-Degrading Bacteria.

High-density planting can increase crop productivity per unit area of cultivated land. However, the application of this technology is limited by the inhibition of plant growth in the presence of neighbors, which is not only due to their competition for resources but is also caused by growth regulators. Specifically, the abscisic acid (ABA) accumulated in plants under increased density of planting has been shown to inhibit their growth. The goal of the present study was to test the hypothesis that bacteria capable of degrading ABA can reduce the growth inhibitory effect of competition among plants by reducing concentration of this hormone in plants and their environment. Lettuce plants were grown both individually and three per pot; the rhizosphere was inoculated with a strain of Pseudomonas plecoglossicida 2.4-D capable of degrading ABA. Plant growth was recorded in parallel with immunoassaying ABA concentration in the pots and plants. The presence of neighbors indeed inhibited the growth of non-inoculated lettuce plants. Bacterial inoculation positively affected the growth of grouped plants, reducing the negative effects of competition. The bacteria-induced increase in the mass of competing plants was greater than that in the single ones. ABA concentration was increased by the presence of neighbors both in soil and plant shoots associated with the inhibition of plant growth, but accumulation of this hormone as well as inhibition of the growth of grouped plants was prevented by bacteria. The results confirm the role of ABA in the response of plants to the presence of competitors as well as the possibility of reducing the negative effect of competition on plant productivity with the help of bacteria capable of degrading this hormone.

Rigorous engineering of collective adaptive systems – 2nd special section

An adaptive system is able to adapt at runtime to dynamically changing environments and to new requirements. Adaptive systems can be single adaptive entities or collective ones that consist of several collaborating entities. Rigorous engineering requires appropriate methods and tools that help guaranteeing that an adaptive system lives up to its intended purpose. This paper introduces the special section on “Rigorous Engineering of Collective Adaptive Systems.” It presents the 11 contributions of the section categorizing them into five distinct research lines: correctness by design and synthesis, computing with bio-inspired communication, new system models, machine learning, and programming and analyzing ensembles.

Mathematical analysis of global dynamics and optimal control of treatment for an age-structured HBV infection model

Evidences show that cell-to-cell infection occurs in HBV infection and is a very efficient way which may lead to more than half of the viral infection. Hence we formulate an HBV infection model with cell-to-cell infection, meanwhile, we incorporate the infection age of infected cells. For dynamic behaviors, we firstly establish the well-posedness and asymptotic smoothness of the model; then show the global threshold dynamical behaviors, which are determined by the reproduction number; and finally perform numerical simulations not only to verify the theoretical results but also to explore effects of cell-to-cell infection on viral load and infection concentration. Our finding is that ignoring the cell-to-cell infection will underestimate the actual HBV infection status. For optimal control of treatment for HBV, we introduce two time-varying control measures and investigate the corresponding optimal control problem. We derive the characteristic expression of the optimal control and discuss effects of control costs and integrated control. The results show that high control cost will not result in better control effectiveness, while integrated optimal control can reach the best control objectives compared with the two single ones. Moreover, infection age can greatly influence HBV infection at the initial stage.

Alleviating lignin repolymerization facilitated the combined acid and deep eutectic solvent pretreatment of Populus

To elucidate the effects of lignin repolymerization on the combined pretreatment, the sequential acid and deep eutectic solvent (DES) pretreatment was implemented on Populus (poplar) in this study. Effects of acid pretreatment with or without phenolic additives (2-naphthol (2 N) and resorcinol (RS)) on the DES post-treatment efficiency were examined. The results showed that 2 N inhibited the lignin repolymerization in the first-step pretreatment, and slightly enhanced the lignin removal during DES post-treatment. However, RS intensified the lignin repolymerization, significantly decreasing the delignification of DES post-treatment from 73.6%∼79.4% to 39.0∼43.0%. Moreover, the poorer enzymatic hydrolysis was observed in the combined pretreated substrates as compared to the single DES pretreated ones, due to the higher surface lignin coverage. The addition of 2 N counteracted the adverse effects of acid pretreatment on the hydrolysis yields of combined pretreated substrates, and facilitated the yields from 25.8%∼36.0% to 26.2∼67.3%, while the RS addition further decreased the hydrolysis yields to 8.6∼9.6%. The mechanism for the changes on enzymatic digestibilities of the combined pretreated substrates was elucidated.

Internet use, cardiometabolic multimorbidity, and death in older adults: a multi-cohort study spanning developing and developed countries

BackgroundInternet use is a double-edged sword for older adults’ health. Whether internet use can prevent cardiometabolic diseases and death in older adults remains controversial.MethodsFour cohorts across China, Mexico, the United States, and Europe were utilized. Internet use was defined using similar questions. Cardiometabolic diseases included diabetes, heart diseases, and stroke, with 2 or more denoting cardiometabolic multimorbidity. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale and Europe-depression scale. The competing risk analysis based on subdistribution hazard regression, random-effects meta-analysis, and mediation analysis were utilized.ResultsA total of 104,422 older adults aged 50 or older were included. Internet users (vs. digital exclusion) were at lower risks of diabetes, stroke, and death, with pooled sHRs (95% CIs) of 0.83 (0.74–0.93), 0.81 (0.71–0.92), and 0.67 (0.52–0.86), respectively, which remained significant in sensitivity analyses. The inverse associations of internet use with new-onset cardiometabolic diseases and death were progressively significant in Mexico, China, the United States, and Europe. For instance, older internet users in Europe were at 14-30% lower cardiometabolic risks and 40% lower risk of death. These associations were partially mediated by reduced depressive symptoms and were more pronounced in those with high socioeconomic status and women. Furthermore, patients with prior cardiometabolic conditions were at about 30% lower risk of death if they used the internet, which was also mediated by reduced depressive symptoms. However, certain cardiometabolic hazards of internet use in those aged < 65 years, with low socioeconomic status, men, and single ones were also observed.ConclusionEnhancing internet usage in older adults can reduce depressive symptoms and thus reduce the risks of cardiometabolic diseases and death. The balance of internet use, socioeconomic status, and health literacy should be considered when popularizing the internet in older adults.

High speed laser cutting of ultrathin metal foils for battery cell production

Laser-based manufacturing has become a key enabling technology in the production of batteries and battery cells for the e-mobility field. Several applications, in fact, have already been industrialized, such as laser-based welding, cutting, stripping, and cleaning. Among all those technologies, laser cutting, in particular, has to deal with several very stringent constraints: the presence of highly reflective materials (aluminum and copper), very low thicknesses (6–12 μm), on-the-fly processing, and high quality of the cutting surface. According to those considerations, the present paper deals with the application of remote cutting of 12 μm thick aluminum and 6 μm thick copper foils by means of a galvo scanner and two different fiber laser sources: single mode constant wave and nanosecond pulsed wave ones. The experimental activity is devoted to understanding the feasibility of the process and to point out the pros and cons of the two different lasers involved. The cutting edges are analyzed by means of optical and SEM microscopy, in order to characterize cutting quality. The process is also characterized in terms of maximum achievable speed in order to understand the limits of both lasers and galvo scanning systems.