Small Body Research Articles

Practising anti-Islamophobic geographies

ABSTRACT Islamophobia is anti-Muslim racism and a small body of work has developed in geography focusing on spaces of Islamophobia with reference to religion, gender, and politics. I build upon this literature to consider my own attempts at practising anti-Islamophobia through diverse forms of public geographies. including the work of the Cross Party Group on Tackling Islamophobia in the Scottish Parliament and the findings of an inquiry into Islamophobia in Scotland that was facilitated through this group. I conclude by critically reflecting upon anti-racist scholar activism and consider some of the ways in which we should practise anti-Islamophobic geographies.

Well-being of first-year students: The role of study characteristics, strengths and deficits

Orientation: Higher education institutions (HEIs) are crucial in preparing students for the workforce. Practitioners, such as industrial psychologists, can aid HEIs to enhance student development and improve university efficiency.Research purpose: This study aims to investigate the relationship between student demands and resources, proactive behaviour towards strengths use (PBSU) and proactive behaviour towards deficit improvement (PBDI), and students’ well-being (emotional, social and psychological).Motivation for the study: Two specific types of proactive behaviour, namely PBSU and PBDI, have been identified that may contribute to student success. Investigating the impact of these behaviours on student antecedents and outcomes could offer valuable insights for designing student development initiatives.Research approach/design and method: This study included 773 South African first-year university students studying at different campuses of a South African university. Structural equation modelling was used to test the structural model and investigate the regression weights.Main findings: Students’ personal problems were found to predict both PBSU and PBDI negatively. Autonomy positively predicted both types of proactive behaviour. Proactive behaviour towards strengths use was strongly related to emotional and psychological well-being, while PBDI was strongly related to social well-being.Practical/managerial implications: This study highlights the direct impact of PBSU and PBDI on students’ well-being. Practitioners in university settings can benefit from the recommendations provided in this article to inform and implement initiatives related to student development and assist students in developing the necessary skills to enhance their work readiness.Contribution/value-add:This study’s findings contribute to the relatively small body of research on implementing strengths-based and deficit improvement initiatives in South African universities.

Mechanical circulatory support devices for patients with small anthropometric indicators

Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices, designed specifically for patients with small anthropometric parameters, are now emerging. A detailed systematic literature review of existing systems for long-term circulatory support in this patient cohort was conducted. Circulatory support devices and their main technical and biological characteristics were studied in detail. Despite significant scientific and technological progress, there is still no technology for creating an assist pump to support patients with small body surface area (BSA), given the wide range of patient sizes, increased cardiovascular demand due to growth, as well as anatomical and physiological heterogeneity of congenital heart disease.

Psychological Distress Mediates the Relationship Between Bisexual Discrimination and Disordered Eating Behaviors in Bi + Women

This study sought to expand the scope of research on bi+ (bisexual and other plurisexual orientations such as pansexual) women and their experiences with disordered eating. A small body of research suggests that bi + women are at elevated risk of disordered eating compared with many other demographics, and this may be attributable to minority stress experiences (i.e., discrimination). The mechanism by which discrimination affects disordered eating in bi + women, however, remains unexamined. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the mediating role of psychological distress in the relationships between bisexual discrimination and disordered eating behaviors in bi + women. N = 250 bi + women completed an online survey including the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire, the Brief Version of the Anti-Bisexual Experiences Scale, and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. A series of mediation analyses showed that bisexual discrimination was indirectly associated with binge eating, compensatory behaviors, and restraint through psychological distress, with the relationship between bisexual discrimination and binge eating becoming non-significant when considering psychological distress. This study illustrates the importance of understanding bisexual discrimination and psychological distress when examining disordered eating in bi + women. Implications may inform research and clinical practice focused on promoting bi + women’s overall health. Future work should seek to examine these relationships longitudinally to investigate their temporal nature.

Understanding Insect-microbe Interactions for Sustainable Pest Management

Due to their enormous diversity, small body weight, flight and shorter lifecycles, insects thrive in almost all macro- and microhabitats. A plethora of microorganisms interact with insects as symbionts. Insect-microbial symbiont interaction can be either mutualistic, commensalism or pathogenic. The entry of a microbe mounts immune defenses in the insect at the local or systemic level in order to mitigate the damage inflicted. Microbes, on the other hand, synthesize various molecules/ toxins or develop various strategies to evade or counter insect defenses, allowing them to utilize the host resources for reproduction, coexistence or transmission. This review provides a comprehensive understanding of these insect-microbe interactions including bacteria, fungi and virus. Attempt has also been made to highlight the tripartite interactions between insects, microbes and plants in view of the need for sustainable pest management

Hemigrammopetersius barnardi (Teleostei: Characiformes: Alestidae): a study of skeletal ontogeny and identification of homology for phylogenetic analysis

Members of Alestidae, a family of characiforms found in sub–Saharan Africa, have a wide range ofadult body sizes. Because of this range of adult size, phylogenetic characters for the group may be difficult to distinguish from ontogenetic features, resulting in groups being united based on body size rather than evolutionary relatedness. Although previous studies have presented the morphology and osteology of some small and miniature taxa, these were pre–cladistic and did not attempt to distinguish between phylogenetic and ontogenetic features. Here we provide a study on the external morphology and osteology of a small alestid, Hemigrammopetersius barnardi which has reductions and losses of osteological features. We compared this species to juveniles of Alestes dentex, an alestid that attains much larger adult size, to identify characters in H. barnardi that potentially result from a decrease in body size rather than shared ancestry. We found that the loss of particular bones of the circumorbital series and postcranium, as well as a reduction of the sensory canal system, are likely the result of small body size, and therefore are not useful in establishing phylogenetic relationships among alestids.

Ecological determinants of Cope’s rule and its inverse

Cope’s rule posits that evolution gradually increases the body size in lineages. Over the last decades, two schools of thought have fueled a debate on the applicability of Cope’s rule by reporting empirical evidence, respectively, for and against Cope’s rule. The apparent contradictions thus documented highlight the need for a comprehensive process-based synthesis through which both positions of this debate can be understood and reconciled. Here, we use a process-based community-evolution model to investigate the eco-evolutionary emergence of Cope’s rule. We report three characteristic macroevolutionary patterns, of which only two are consistent with Cope’s rule. First, we find that Cope’s rule applies when species interactions solely depend on relative differences in body size and the risk of lineage extinction is low. Second, in environments with higher risk of lineage extinction, the recurrent evolutionary elimination of top predators induces cyclic evolution toward larger body sizes, according to a macroevolutionary pattern we call the recurrent Cope’s rule. Third, when interactions between species are determined not only by their body sizes but also by their ecological niches, the recurrent Cope’s rule may get inverted, leading to cyclic evolution toward smaller body sizes. This recurrent inverse Cope’s rule is characterized by highly dynamic community evolution, involving the diversification of species with large body sizes and the extinction of species with small body sizes. To our knowledge, these results provide the first theoretical foundation for reconciling the contrasting empirical evidence reported on body-size evolution.

Urban Parks Are Related to Functional and Phylogenetic Filtering of Raptor Assemblages in the Austral Pampas, Argentina

Urban parks are hot spots of bird diversity in cities. However, their role as urban filters for raptor species has not been assessed yet. This study aimed to compare the functional and phylogenetic traits of raptor assemblages in urban parks with the regional species pool of raptors in east–central Argentina. Diurnal raptors were surveyed in 51 urban parks in six cities during breeding and nonbreeding seasons. The regional species pool was assessed through raptor surveys and published maps surrounding the cities. The observed functional and phylogenetic relatedness of urban raptors was compared with 999 simulated raptor assemblages from the regional species pool. A total of five species were recorded in urban parks. The Chimango Caracara (Milvago chimango) was the numerically dominant species, comprising 95% of the 172 individuals recorded. The regional species pool was composed of 20 diurnal species. The functional and phylogenetic relatedness of urban raptors was higher than expected by chance, suggesting filtering induced by urban parks. Urban raptors were, in general, generalist species with small body sizes. Moreover, species tended to be part of the Falconidae family. Based on the results obtained here and in other published work, a model of raptor assembling in urban parks is proposed. The design of urban parks needs to be more heterogeneous, promoting the occurrence of specialist raptors.

Weighing in on miniaturization: New body mass estimates for Triassic eucynodonts and analyses of body size evolution during the cynodont-mammal transition.

Body size influences most aspects of an animal's biology, consequently, evolutionary diversification is often accompanied by differentiation of body sizes within a lineage. It is accepted that miniaturization, or the evolution of extremely small body sizes, played a key role in the origin and early evolution of different mammalian characters in non-mammaliaform cynodonts. However, while there are multiple studies on the biomechanical, behavioral, and physiological consequences of smaller sizes, few explore the evolutionary processes that lead to them. Here, we use body mass as a universal size measurement in phylogenetic comparative analyses to explore aspects of body size evolution in Cynodontia, focusing on the cynodont-mammal transition, and test the miniaturization hypothesis for the origin of Mammaliaformes. We estimated the body masses of 29 species, ranging from Theriocephalia to Mammaliaformes, providing the largest collection of Triassic cynodont body mass estimates that we know of, and used these estimates in analyses of disparity through time and RRphylo . Unexpectedly, our results did not support the miniaturization hypothesis. Even though cynodont body size disparity fell during the Late Triassic, and remained lower than expected under a purely Brownian motion model of evolution up until the Early Jurassic, we found that rates of body size evolution were significantly lower in prozostrodontians leading to the first Mammaliaformes than in other lineages. Evolution rates were higher in medium and large-sized taxa, indicating that size was changing more rapidly in those lineages and that small sizes were probably a persistent plesiomorphic character-state in Cynodontia.

The 8 billion milestone: Risk perceptions of global population growth among UK and US residents.

In November 2022, the global human population reached 8 billion and is projected to reach 10 billion by 2060. Theories, models, and evidence indicate that global population growth (GPG) increases the likelihood of many adverse outcomes, such as biodiversity loss, climate change, mass migrations, wars, and resource shortages. A small body of research indicates that many individuals are concerned about the effects of GPG, and these concerns are strongly related to the willingness to engage in mitigative and preventative actions. However, scientific understanding of the factors that influence GPG risk perceptions remains limited. To help address this research gap, we conducted a study of the perceived risk of GPG among UK and US residents (N=1029) shortly after the "8 billion milestone." Our results confirmed that GPG is perceived as a moderate-to-high risk and these perceptions have a strong positive relationship with the willingness to engage in and support risk management actions. Our participants believed that the worst effects of GPG were yet to come but would largely be geographically and socially remote. Despite their willingness to engage in risk management actions, our participants reported low self-efficacy and that governments (cf. individuals and communities) have the greatest capacity to influence GPG. Risk perceptions were strongly predicted by worldviews and were higher among our UK (cf. US) participants. We also found that the perceived benefits of GPG were low and found no evidence to suggest that risk perceptions were affected by exposure to media coverage of the 8 billion milestone.

Biogeography of Greater Antillean freshwater fishes, with a review of competing hypotheses.

In biogeography, vicariance and long-distance dispersal are often characterised as competing scenarios. However, they are related concepts, both relying on collective geological, ecological, and phylogenetic evidence. This is illustrated by freshwater fishes, which may immigrate to islands either when freshwater connections are temporarily present and later severed (vicariance), or by unusual means when ocean gaps are crossed (long-distance dispersal). Marine barriers have a strong filtering effect on freshwater fishes, limiting immigrants to those most capable of oceanic dispersal. The roles of vicariance and dispersal are debated for freshwater fishes of the Greater Antilles. We review three active hypotheses [Cretaceous vicariance, Greater Antilles-Aves Ridge (GAARlandia), long-distance dispersal] and propose long-distance dispersal to be an appropriate model due to limited support for freshwater fish use of landspans. Greater Antillean freshwater fishes have six potential source bioregions (defined from faunal similarity): Northern Gulf of México, Western Gulf of México, Maya Terrane, Chortís Block, Eastern Panamá, and Northern South America. Faunas of the Greater Antilles are composed of taxa immigrating from many of these bioregions, but there is strong compositional disharmony between island and mainland fish faunas (>90% of Antillean species are cyprinodontiforms, compared to <10% in Northern Gulf of México and Northern South America, and ≤50% elsewhere), consistent with a hypothesis of long-distance dispersal. Ancestral-area reconstruction analysis indicates there were 16 or 17 immigration events over the last 51 million years, 14 or 15 of these by cyprinodontiforms. Published divergence estimates and evidence available for each immigration event suggests they occurred at different times and by different pathways, possibly with rafts of vegetation discharged from rivers or washed to sea during storms. If so, ocean currents likely provide critical pathways for immigration when flowing from one landmass to another. On the other hand, currents create dispersal barriers when flowing perpendicularly between landmasses. In addition to high salinity tolerance, cyprinodontiforms collectively display a variety of adaptations that could enhance their ability to live with rafts (small body size, viviparity, low metabolism, amphibiousness, diapause, self-fertilisation). These adaptations likely also helped immigrants establish island populations after arrival and to persist long term thereafter. Cichlids may have used a pseudo bridge (Nicaragua Rise) to reach the Greater Antilles. Gars (Lepisosteidae) may have crossed the Straits of Florida to Cuba, a relatively short crossing that is not a barrier to gene flow for several cyprinodontiform immigrants. Indeed, widespread distributions of Quaternary migrants (Cyprinodon, Gambusia, Kryptolebias), within the Greater Antilles and among neighbouring bioregions, imply that long-distance dispersal is not necessarily inhibitory for well-adapted species, even though it appears to be virtually impossible for all other freshwater fishes.

Water Quality Prediction of Small-Micro Water Body Based on the Intelligent-Algorithm-Optimized Support Vector Machine Regression Method and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Multispectral Data

Accurate prediction of spatial variation in water quality in small microwaters remains a challenging task due to the complexity and inherent limitations of the optical properties of small microwaters. In this paper, based on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) multispectral images and a small amount of measured water quality data, the performance of seven intelligent algorithm-optimized SVR models in predicting the concentration of chlorophyll (Chla), total phosphorus (TP), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), and turbidity (TUB) in small and micro water bodies were compared and analyzed. The results show that the Gray Wolf optimized SVR model (GWO-SVR) has the highest comprehensive performance, with R2 of 0.915, 0.827, 0.838, and 0.800, respectively. In addition, even when dealing with limited training samples and different data in different periods, the GWO-SVR model also shows remarkable stability and portability. Finally, according to the forecast results, the influencing factors of water pollution were discussed. This method has practical significance in improving the intelligence level of small and micro water body monitoring.

Introduction of a Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing workforce: A qualitative study of student and registered nurses.

To explore the benefits and challenges of a recently introduced Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing workforce from the perspective of Nurses and Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing, in a major metropolitan hospital in Australia in 2020. A qualitative descriptive study was undertaken using individual interviews and focus groups. Purposively selected employed Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing and nurses who worked with them were interviewed, using a semi-structured format. Recordings were transcribed and coded using NVivo software. Reflexive thematic analysis using an inductive approach was undertaken. Four major themes were revealed: (i) Navigating the programme, (ii) Belonging and integration; (iii) Patient care; and (iv) Continuing Development. Initial challenges were common, often related to clarifying the scope of practice for the new role. Ongoing issues were associated with gaps in understanding the role and lack of integration into the team. Mostly, nurses and Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing built positive, professional relationships. Nurses valued the Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing knowledge and skill level, reporting improved workload and work experiences when the Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing was on shift. Nurses believed that the Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing enhanced patient care. Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing described positive, therapeutic relationships with patients. Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing employment provided opportunities for new learning, leading to increased efficiency and confidence on clinical placement. This employment model benefited the Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing and nurses who worked with them. In the absence of adequate training and support, challenges remained unresolved and negatively impacted the experience for nurses. In addition to university-level education and clinical placement, the employment model can create a third space for student learning via on-the-job training. The study supports the ongoing employment of student nurses through the Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing model. Impact This study contributes to the very small body of literature investigating Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing workforces in Australian hospitals. It is the first to explore the experiences of both nurses and students working together in a major metropolitan setting and also the first in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reflected a mostly positive experience for Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing and the nurses who worked with them and highlighted the importance of adequate oversight and support in the implementation and maintenance of a Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing workforce. Employed Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing reported improved confidence, skills, and felt like they started clinical placement at an advantage, ready to step up and learn the Registered Nurse scope of practice. In addition to university-level education and clinical placement, this employment model creates a third space for learning via on-the-job training. COREQ guidelines were followed in the reporting of this study. No patient or public contribution.

Body size shift in sympatric insects in response to distinct selective forces in fragmented urban environments

AbstractPhenotypic plasticity, which encompasses the diversification of both irreversible and reversible traits, has long been considered an adaptive response by animals to varying environmental conditions. However, the process by which irreversible and reversible traits are coordinated to form an adaptive response to the changing environment has yet to be clarified. Here, we investigated the variation in body size of two urban insect species in the context of habitat fragmentation. These species were the Chinese cricket Gryllus chinensis and the stove grasshopper Diestrammena japonica, which are sympatric in urban housing estates. Results indicated that both species changed in body size in patches of urban environment. However, their body size shifts showed opposite tendencies and were influenced by distinct selective forces: Chinese crickets increased their body size with the patch history and predation risk, whereas stove grasshoppers decreased their body size with the degree of fragmentation of the patches. Territorial and competitive Chinese crickets rarely experience resource scarcity during urban environment fragmentation. Thus, a larger body size was preferred in response to intraspecific competition among Chinese crickets. By contrast, stove grasshoppers are group‐living and scramble for resources as competitors, requiring a large territory to secure adequate food for supporting a group of individuals. Consequently, stove grasshoppers frequently experienced resource scarcity in the patchy habitat, favoring small body size to reduce individual requirements throughout the life cycle. Our findings indicate that the body size shift of sympatric insects may be subjected to distinct selective forces in fragmented habitats, depending primarily on their reversible traits.

An Updated Shape Model of Dimorphos from DART Data

Dimorphos was the target of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. This paper summarizes the properties of an updated shape model of Dimorphos, describes the differences between the updated shape model and an earlier version published by Daly, Ernst, Barnouin et al. (doi:10.1038/s41586-023-05810-5), summarizes the data products associated with this model, and explains where the products can be accessed. The updated shape model benefited from improved methods of incorporating limb information, which will accelerate future shape modeling efforts for other objects with limited imaging data. The updated shape model is similar to the earlier model but slightly smaller (−2.8% change in volume) than the previous Dimorphos global shape model, and the updated shape is slightly more elongated. The additional analysis reported here supports an oblate preimpact shape for Dimorphos. This result indicates that the postimpact elongation of Dimorphos derived from ground-based observations is evidence for a large crater or global reshaping of the asteroid due to the DART impact. The updated global shape model of Dimorphos, as well as the earlier version, will be available in the Planetary Data System Small Bodies Node and through the public Small Body Mapping Tool.

Hemodynamics in pig-to-baboon heterotopic thoracic cardiac xenotransplantation: Recovery from perioperative cardiac xenograft dysfunction and impairment by cardiac overgrowth.

Orthotopic cardiac xenotransplantation has seen notable improvement, leading to the first compassionate use in 2022. However, it remains challenging to define the clinical application of cardiac xenotransplantation, including the back-up strategy in case of xenograft failure. In this regard, the heterotopic thoracic technique could be an alternative to the orthotopic procedure. We present hemodynamic data of heterotopic thoracic pig-to-baboon transplantation experiments, focusing on perioperative xenograft dysfunction and xenograft overgrowth. We used 17 genetically modified piglets as donors for heterotopic thoracic xenogeneic cardiac transplantation into captive-bred baboons. In all animals, pressure probes were implanted in the graft's left ventricle and the recipient's ascending aorta and hemodynamic data (graft pressure, aortic pressure and recipient's heart rate) were recorded continuously. Aortic pressures and heart rates of the recipients' hearts were postoperatively stable in all experiments. After reperfusion, three grafts presented with low left ventricular pressure indicating perioperative cardiac dysfunction (PCXD). These animals recovered from PCXD within 48h under support of the recipient's heart and there was no difference in survival compared to the other 14 ones. After 48h, graft pressure increased up to 200mmHg in all 17 animals with two different time-patterns. This led to a progressive gradient between graft and aortic pressure. With increasing gradient, the grafts stopped contributing to cardiac output. Grafts showed a marked weight increase from implantation to explantation. The heterotopic thoracic cardiac xenotransplantation technique is a possible method to overcome PCXD in early clinical trials and an experimental tool to get a better understanding of PCXD. The peculiar hemodynamic situation of increasing graft pressure but missing graft's output indicates outflow tract obstruction due to cardiac overgrowth. The heterotopic thoracic technique should be successful when using current strategies of immunosuppression, organ preservation and donor pigs with smaller body and organ size.

Pollination biology of Impatiens capensis Meerb. in non-native range.

Pollination biology in the widespread species Impatiens capensis Meerb. has only been studied in America, specifically in zones of the U.S.A. and Canada. In this study, we investigated the pollination biology of I. capensis using an integrative identification approach using morphological and molecular tools in four populations of Northwest Poland. We also determined and compared the functional characteristics of the pollinators of the introduced species from the study sites and the native ones reported, for the latter collecting information from bibliographic sources. Visitors were identified using standard morphological keys, including identifying and classifying insect mouthparts. Molecular identification was carried out using mitochondrial DNA's cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI). We morphologically identified 20 species of visitors constituted by 17 pollinators and three nectar robbers. DNA barcoding of 59 individuals proved the identification of 18 species (also 18 BINs). The frequency of pollinator species was primarily made up of representatives of both Hymenoptera (75%) and Diptera (21%). The morphological traits, such as the chewing and sucking mouthparts, small and big body height, and robber and pollinator behavior explained mainly the native and introduced visitors' arrangements that allow pollination success. However, to understand the process comprehensively, further investigation of other causalities in pollination success and understanding the diversity of pollinators in outer native ranges are necessary.

Гуківська митниця: боротьба з контрабандною діяльністю на польсько-радянському кордоні у 1923–1924 роках

Background. The article, based on archival sources, analyses the anti-smuggling activities of a small customs body in a fairly limited period of time – Hukiv Customs in 1923–1924. The relevance of the proposed microhistorical research is added to the insufficient scientific development of the activities of Hukiv Customs on the Polish-Soviet border, which was caused by the short functioning of this customs body (which, during the research period, existed in various forms from 1918 to 1925) and the need to study methods of combating smuggling by Soviet customs bodies. Methods. The research is based on the principles of historicism and objectivity. A complex of general scientific and special historical methods was applied: methods of synthesis, induction and analysis, as well as historical and typological methods. Results. Analysing the reporting documentation of the Hukiv Customs in 1923–1924 (it controlled the Soviet section of the border on the Zbruch River between the villages of Zbryсh or, for a certain period, Zhabyntsi and Zaluchchia, now the Kamianets-Podilsky district of the Khmelnytskyi region), it was possible to establish the peculiarities of the functioning and anti-smuggling of this customs division in the considered period. It seems important to investigate the Hukiv Customs during the period of functioning of transitional, unstable customs control rules and the Customs Statute of 1924, which established the state monopoly on foreign trade. The dynamics of changes in contraband flows (in the initial period of existence of the "Zbruch border", immediately after the famine of 1921–1923), their composition and the export-import ratio were traced. On the basis of the study of the documentary base, localities with the highest percentage of smuggling risks have been localized. Particular attention is paid to the complicity of representatives of customs protection or Soviet special services in smuggling processes. Also, on the basis of information from the Soviet side, a historical and statistical study of illegal trade in the area of the Skala customs office (Skala, Tarnopol Voivodeship) of the Republic of Poland, which operated in the territories adjacent to the Hukiv Customs House, was conducted. Conclusions. The proposed article examines and analyses transformational phenomena (organized and personal smuggling, the ratio of export-import volumes of "packing", currency relations associated with illegal trade, development of trade cooperation) taking into account the historical context of the development of the fight against contraband flows in the area of the Soviet Hukiv Customs in 1923–1924

Investigation of the microstructural, mechanical and electrochemical properties of AlCuFeNiTi high entropy alloys produced via arc melting for energy storage applications

The industrial need for stronger, lighter materials has led to a rise in research interest in high entropy alloys, or HEAs, over the past twelve years. Researchers are manipulating the composition of these alloys to enhance the mechanical properties of HEAs. From an industrial perspective, the presence of precipitates negatively influences the mechanical properties, due to the limited solid solubility of high entropy alloys, along with the alloying process. Therefore, to improve the properties of AlCuFeNi high entropy alloy, this study aims to investigates the influence of Titanium Ti on the microstructure, hardness and corrosion, properties of AlCuFeNi high entropy alloy produced via arc melting for energy storage devices. The results showed that the alloys had solid solutions with small face-centered cubic structure and Body centered cubic structure phases. All the samples had the same distribution of dendritic structures. sample AlCuFeNiTi0.3 (L3) had the highest nanohardness of 75 GPa and elastic modulus of 450 GPa because of its BCC structure. L3 exhibited the highest corrosion resistance with the lowest corrosion rate 1.457E-6 mm/yr. During hardening, passivation layers were formed, which increased corrosion resistance. The L3 sample mechanical qualities and stability make it a potential supporting component for electric vehicles and hybrids. In addition, it might find applications in medical devices, low-power applications, energy storage systems, industrial batteries, and backup power supplies. It is a good option for a range of energy-related applications, because of its electrochemical stability and long-term stability.

CylinGCN: Cylindrical structures segmentation in 3D biomedical optical imaging by a contour-based graph convolutional network

Cylindrical organs, e.g., blood vessels, airways, and intestines, are ubiquitous structures in biomedical optical imaging analysis. Image segmentation of these structures serves as a vital step in tissue physiology analysis. Traditional model-driven segmentation methods seek to fit the structure by constructing a corresponding topological geometry based on domain knowledge. Classification-based deep learning methods neglect the geometric features of the cylindrical structure and therefore cannot ensure the continuity of the segmentation surface. In this paper, by treating the cylindrical structures as a 3D graph, we introduce a novel contour-based graph neural network for 3D cylindrical structure segmentation in biomedical optical imaging. Our proposed method, which we named CylinGCN, adopts a novel learnable framework that extracts semantic features and complex topological relationships in the 3D volumetric data to achieve continuous and effective 3D segmentation. Our CylinGCN consists of a multiscale 3D semantic feature extractor for extracting inter-frame multiscale semantic features, and a residual graph convolutional network (GCN) contour generator that combines the semantic features and cylindrical topological priors to generate segmentation contours. We tested the CylinGCN framework on two types of optical tomographic imaging data, small animal whole body photoacoustic tomography (PAT) and endoscopic airway optical coherence tomography (OCT), and the results show that CylinGCN achieves state-of-the-art performance. Code will be released at https://github.com/lzc-smu/CylinGCN.git.