bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A produção de materiais didáticos no ensino de língua portuguesa e a perspectiva dialógica do discurso: possíveis entrelaçamentos para a formação de leitores críticos
Authors: Barbosa Vanessa Fonseca , Ferreira Ana Paula Charão Schardosim
Published: May 2020

A preparação de materiais didáticos para o ensino de português como língua materna, sobretudo na educação básica, costuma ser um desafio ao professor. Diante dessa problemática, a fim de auxiliar os docentes de Língua Portuguesa (LPO) no que diz respeito à elaboração de materiais didáticos, este artigo tem como objetivo principal refletir sobre o potencial da análise dialógica do discurso (ADD) como ancoragem teóricometodológica para a elaboração materiais didáticos voltados sobretudo ao desenvolvimento de atividades capazes de estimular a formação de leitores críticos. Para tanto, neste texto, apresentaremos alguns dos princípios epistemológicos fundantes da ADD e o compartilhamento de uma experiência de trabalho realizada com alunos do oitavo ano do ensino fundamental, a partir da leitura feita pelos estudantes da obra O médico e o monstro, de Robert Louis Stevenson. As atividades apresentadas foram desenvolvidas e trabalhadas com base no conhecimento que temos da ADD e proporcionaram aos alunos o estabelecimento de relações e leituras críticas da narrativa lida, o que confirma a importância dos trabalhos do Círculo como subsídio na elaboração de materiais didáticos que auxiliem os docentes de LPO, tal como buscam demonstrar os materiais que estão apresentados nesta escrita.
Lawrence Kohlberg y la psicología moral: trayectoria y variaciones conceptuales
Authors: Yáñez Canal Jaime
Published: May 2020

Lawrence Kohlberg fue un pionero en el estudio del desarrollo del juicio moral, de las acciones de responsabilidad, de las apreciaciones de justicia, de la solidaridad y del compromiso con los otros. Su trayectoria, sin embargo, estuvo marcada por múltiples giros y reconceptualizaciones. En este artículo presentamos algunas de estas variaciones asociadas a la descripción y caracterización de los estadios y comprensiones de lo moral en los sujetos en desarrollo. Se abordará el cambio en la caracterización de los estadios del desarrollo desde sus formulaciones iniciales propuestas en su tesis doctoral y su trabajo de la década de los 60s (época marcada por una clara influencia de la perspectiva piagetiana), hasta su última conceptualización expuesta en la posteridad de su obra y donde se retoman planteamientos de las teorías del ciclo vital y teorías del desarrollo no piagetianas. Se concluye que, a pesar de las múltiples críticas y conflictos que se señalaron a su teoría, es importante resaltar como su formulación lucha por dar cuenta de una tensión permanente en los abordajes psicológicos que tienen que ver con el desarrollo moral, por abordar algunas de las tensiones entre los abordajes estructuralistas y los abordajes hermenéuticos y por ofrecer una formulación novedosa frente a la tradicional discusión entre formas y contenidos. Se cierra el texto afirmando que la obra de este autor determinó los diferentes caminos que siguieron los posteriores desarrollos de la psicología moral y fue generadora de ideas y de vías variadas que sus continuadores han recorrido en las décadas más recientes.
The Photosynthetic Performance of Red Leaf Lettuce under UV-A Irradiation
Authors: Samuoliene Giedre , Virsile Akvile , Miliauskienė Jurga , Haimi Perttu , Laužikė Kristina , Jankauskienė Julė , Novičkovas Algirdas , Kupčinskienė Asta , Brazaitytė Aušra
Published: May 2020

The objective of this study was to evaluate how different UV-A wavelengths influence the morphology and photosynthetic behavior of red-leaf lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. cv. Maiko). In the experiments, the main photosynthetic photon flux consisted of red (R) and blue (B) light, supplemented with equal doses of different UV-A wavelengths (402, 387 and 367 nm). Treating the crops with low dosages of specific narrow-band UV-A radiation at key points in the life cycle initiated a cascade of responses in the above-ground biomass. According to the results, red-leaf lettuces acclimated to longer UV-A wavelengths by increasing biomass production, whereas different UV-A wavelengths had no significant effect on plant senescence reflectance, nor on the normalized difference vegetation index. A significant decrease in the maximum quantum yield of the PSII photochemistry of dark (Fv/Fm) and light (ΦPSII) adapted plants was observed. A lack of significant changes in non-photochemical fluorescence quenching indicates that photo-inhibition occurred under RBUV367, whereas the photosynthetic response under RB, RBUV402, and RBUV387 suggests that there was no damage to PSII. The correlation of the photosynthetic rate (Pr) with the stomatal conductance (gs) indicated that the increase in the Pr of lettuce under supplemental UV-A radiation was due to the increase of gs, instead of the ratio of the intracellular to ambient CO2 content (Ci/Ca) or stomatal limitations.
Assessing the Systematic Effects of the Concentration of Nitrogen Supplied to Dual-Root Systems of Soybean Plants on Nodulation and Nitrogen Fixation
Authors: Lyu Xiaochen , Li Ming , Li Xin , Li Sha , Yan Chao , Ma Chunmei , Gong Zhenping
Published: May 2020

The specific mechanisms by which nitrogen affects the nodulation and nitrogen fixation of soybean plants are unclear. Investigating the relationship between nitrogen, nodulation and nitrogen fixation can provide new insights for the rational and proper use of nitrogen fertilizer in soybean plants. In this study, we grafted soybean roots to construct a dual-root system with a single nodulated side. Experiment I was performed at the third trifoliate leaf to initial seed filling (V3-R3) growth stages (for 30 days) for long-term nitrogen supply, and Experiment II was performed at the third trifoliate leaf to fourth trifoliate leaf (V3-V4) growth stages (for 5 days) for short-term nitrogen supply. For the two experiments, a nutrient solution providing 15NH415NO3 or NH4NO3 as the nitrogen source was added to the non-nodulated side, while a nitrogen-free nutrient solution was added to the nodulated side. The concentrations of nitrogen supplied were 0 mg/L, 25 mg/L, 50 mg/L, 75 mg/L, and 100 mg/L. The results showed the following: (1) Short-term nitrogen supply systematically regulated the specific nitrogenase activity (SNA), thereby inhibiting the acetylene reduction activity (ARA). Under long-term nitrogen supply, the recovery of SNA was generally consistent across treatments, and the concentration of nitrogen supplied systematically regulated the growth of root nodules, thereby inhibiting the ARA. (2) Using the 15N tracer method, the concentration of fertilizer nitrogen was positively correlated with the amount of nitrogen redistributed to other organs. Although the percentage of nitrogen derived from the atmosphere (Ndfa%) decreased significantly with increasing concentrations of nitrogen supplied, the effect on the accumulation of nitrogen fixed by nodules (Naccumulation of nodules) was not significant. By establishing the relationships between the ARA (measured by the acetylene reduction method), Ndfa% (based on 15N calculations), and Naccumulation nodules (based on 15N calculations), it was found that the ARA reliably reflected the Ndfa% but not the Naccumulation of nodules.
Discovery of Four Novel ORFs Responsible for Cytoplasmic Male Sterility (CMS) in Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) through Comparative Analysis of the Mitochondrial Genomes of Four Isoplasmic Lines
Authors: Li Min , Chen Li , Tang Danfeng , Liao Xiaofang , Kong Xiangjun , Li Bin , You Jingyi , Zhou Ruiyang
Published: May 2020

Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is an important feature for achieving heterosis in the development of hybrid crops. Mitochondria contribute to CMS, especially via mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) rearrangements and chimeric genes. However, the mechanisms of CMS have not been fully elucidated, and the isonuclear alloplasmic lines used in previous studies have limited utility in cotton CMS research. In this study, three CMS lines (J4A-1, J4A-2 and J4A-3) and their isoplasmic maintainer line (J4B) were analyzed for mtDNA structural differences via high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that mtDNA was conserved (with similarities higher than 99%) among the three CMS lines and their isoplasmic maintainer line. All lines harbored 36 known protein-coding genes, 3 rRNAs, and 15 tRNAs. The protein-coding genes with non-synonymous mutations mainly encoded two types of proteins: ATPase and ribosomal proteins. Four new open reading frames (ORFs) (orf116b, orf186a-1, orf186a-2 and orf305a) were identified as candidate ORFs responsible for CMS. Two of the ORFs (orf186a-1 and orf186a-2) were identified as orf4 and orf4-2 of the upland cotton CMS line 2074A (a line with Gossypium harknessii Brandegee CMS-D2-2 cytoplasm), respectively. These findings provide a reference for CMS research in cotton or other crops.
Welfare Assessment and Activities of Captive Elephants in Thailand
Authors: Bansiddhi Pakkanut , Brown Janine L. , Thitaram Chatchote
Published: May 2020

Thailand is the epicenter of elephant tourism and visiting an elephant camp is a popular activity according to the Tourist Authority of Thailand. However, the welfare of these elephants has been questioned by animal activist groups, international tour operators, and the public. Conclusions that the vast majority of captive elephants are abused often are based on anecdotal evidence and not solid science. So, it is difficult to tease apart emotion, opinion, and fact with regard to what practices are good or bad for elephant welfare. The aim of this paper was to: (1) describe the unique status of captive elephants in Thailand and associated regulations, (2) summarize current issues and challenges facing elephant tourism, (3) review studies conducted on welfare of tourist elephants in Thailand, and (4) offer recommendations for how elephants can be properly cared for under captive conditions in tourist camps. We conclude there are many ways to manage these elephants, and that not all tourist activities are bad for welfare. However, it is essential they be managed in a way that meets physical, physiological and psychological needs, and that management decisions are based on objective data.
Impact of Maternal High Stocking Density during the Dry Period on Dairy Calf Health, Behaviour, and Welfare
Authors: Fujiwara Mayumi , Haskell Marie J. , Macrae Alastair I. , Rutherford Kenneth M. D.
Published: May 2020

This study aimed to investigate the effect of maternal stocking density during late pregnancy (approximately 60 ± 4 days before calving) on offspring performance during the pre-weaning period. Forty-five dairy calves were born to cows that went through either industry minimum standards (H: n = 24, high stocking density) or more extensive space allowances (L: n = 21, low stocking density) during the dry period. Body weight and average daily gain during the pre-weaning period (day 1–49) were measured. Observations were made of: (i) activity levels (day 2–6); ii) the level of training required to use an automatic feeder, and behavioural reactions to the group environment (d7); (iii) feeding and social behaviour in the group pen (day 7–21); and (iv) responses to weaning (day 40–49) and disbudding (day 28+). Compared to L calves, H calves made more frequent social contacts with pen mates in the group pen (p = 0.003) and decreased their lying time around weaning (p = 0.045). Among the healthy calves, L calves displayed more severe behavioural reactions to the disbudding procedure (p < 0.001), a significant increase in salivary cortisol concentrations (p = 0.013), and more frequent pain-related behaviour (p = 0.036). This study indicated associations between maternal stocking density during late pregnancy and some welfare-relevant offspring outcomes during the pre-weaning period; these effects were found to be modulated by offspring health status.
Pregnancy Loss (28–110 Days of Pregnancy) in Holstein Cows: A Retrospective Study
Authors: Fernandez-Novo Aitor , Fargas Octavi , Loste Juan Manuel , Sebastian Francisco , Perez-Villalobos Natividad , Pesantez-Pacheco Jose Luis , Patron-Collantes Raquel , Astiz Susana
Published: May 2020

The objective of this retrospective study was to investigate the prevalence of pregnancy loss (PL; between 28–110 pregnancy days) and its relationship with factors: farm, year (2015–2018), season, artificial insemination (AI)-rank, parity, AI-type (fixed-time vs. oestrus-AI), previous PL, days in milk (DIM), fixed-time-AI protocol, AI-technician, bull, and semen-type (sexed vs. conventional). Data of 19,437 Holstein cattle AIs from eight Spanish farms were studied. Overall conception rate was 34.3% (6696/19,437) and PL 12.3% (822/6696). The PL was more likely to occur in primiparous (10.8%, odds ratio (OR) = 1.35; p = 0.04) and multiparous (15.3%; OR = 2.02, p < 0.01) than in heifers (PL = 6.9%, reference). Pregnancies achieved with AI after observed oestrus and natural breedings were associated with less PL than pregnancies after fixed-time-AI (12.7 vs. 11.9%; OR = 0.12, p = 0.01). First AIs related to higher PL than ≥2nd AIs (PL = 13.8% vs. 11.2; OR = 0.73, p < 0.01). The factors season, fixed-time-AI protocol, DIM, bull, AI-technician, or type of semen were not significantly associated with PL. Therefore, farmers and consultants should adapt their preventive strategies relating to PL, particularly, to the parity of the cattle.
A Newly Identified LncRNA LncIMF4 Controls Adipogenesis of Porcine Intramuscular Preadipocyte through Attenuating Autophagy to Inhibit Lipolysis
Authors: Sun Yunmei , Cai Rui , Wang Yingqian , Zhao Rui , Qin Jin , Pang Weijun
Published: May 2020

Intramuscular fat (IMF) is implicated in juiciness, tenderness, and flavor of pork. Meat quality of Chinese fat-type pig is much better than that of lean-type pig because of its higher IMF content. LncRNA is a vital regulator that contributes to adipogenesis. However, it is unknown about the regulation of lncRNA on IMF content. Here, by RNA sequence analysis of intramuscular adipocyte from Bamei pig (fat-type) and Yorkshire pig (lean-type), we found that a novel lncRNA, lncIMF4, was associated with adipogenesis. LncIMF4, abundant in adipose, differently expressed along with intramuscular preadipocyte proliferation and differentiation. Meanwhile, it is located both in cytoplasm and nucleus. Besides, lncIMF4 knockdown promoted proliferation and differentiation of porcine intramuscular preadipocytes, whereas inhibited autophagy. Moreover, lncIMF4 knockdown facilitated intramuscular adipogenesis through attenuating autophagy to repress the lipolysis. Our findings will contribute to understand better the mechanism of lncRNA controlling intramuscular adipogenesis for promoting pork quality.
Reliability of Family Dogs’ Sleep Structure Scoring Based on Manual and Automated Sleep Stage Identification
Authors: Gergely Anna , Kiss Orsolya , Reicher Vivien , Iotchev Ivaylo , Kovács Enikő , Gombos Ferenc , Benczúr András , Galambos Ágoston , Topál József , Kis Anna
Published: May 2020

Non-invasive polysomnography recording on dogs has been claimed to produce data comparable to those for humans regarding sleep macrostructure, EEG spectra and sleep spindles. While functional parallels have been described relating to both affective (e.g., emotion processing) and cognitive (e.g., memory consolidation) domains, methodologically relevant questions about the reliability of sleep stage scoring still need to be addressed. In Study 1, we analyzed the effects of different coders and different numbers of visible EEG channels on the visual scoring of the same polysomnography recordings. The lowest agreement was found between independent coders with different scoring experience using full (3 h-long) recordings of the whole dataset, and the highest agreement within-coder, using only a fraction of the original dataset (randomly selected 100 epochs (i.e., 100 × 20 s long segments)). The identification of drowsiness was found to be the least reliable, while that of non-REM (rapid eye movement, NREM) was the most reliable. Disagreements resulted in no or only moderate differences in macrostructural and spectral variables. Study 2 targeted the task of automated sleep EEG time series classification. Supervised machine learning (ML) models were used to help the manual annotation process by reliably predicting if the dog was sleeping or awake. Logistic regression models (LogREG), gradient boosted trees (GBT) and convolutional neural networks (CNN) were set up and trained for sleep state prediction from already collected and manually annotated EEG data. The evaluation of the individual models suggests that their combination results in the best performance: ~0.9 AUC test scores.
Epidermal Growth Factor Stimulates Fatty Acid Synthesis Mainly via PLC-γ1/Akt Signaling Pathway in Dairy Goat Mammary Epithelial Cells
Authors: Huang Jiangtao , Dai Bangguo , Qu Hexuan , Zhong Yuling , Ma Yue , Luo Jun , Hadsell Darryl , Shi Huaiping
Published: May 2020

EGF acts as a ligand of the EGF receptor (EGFR) to activate the EGFR-mediated signaling pathways and is involved in the regulation of cell physiology. However, the roles of EGFR mediated signaling pathways in the regulation of lipid metabolism in goat mammary epithelial cells (GMECs) are poorly understood. To evaluate the impact of EGF on GMECs, the triglyceride (TG) content and lipid droplet were detected, using TG assay and immunofluorescence. Further, expression of lipogenic genes, the protein kinase B (Akt), phospholipase C-γ1 (PLC-γ1) and extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK)1/2 signaling pathways were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot, respectively. The results showed that the mRNA expression of EGFR gene was significantly upregulated in lactating goat mammary gland tissues compared to non-lactation period (p < 0.05). TG contents in EGF-treated GMECs were significantly increased (p < 0.05), and an increase of lipid droplets was also detected. In vitro studies demonstrated that the mRNA levels of lipogenesis-related FASN, ACC, SCD1, LXRa, LXRb and SP1 genes were positively correlated to the mRNA level of EGFR gene shown by gene overexpression and silencing (p < 0.05). The phosphorylations of Akt, ERK1/2 and PLC-γ1 in GMECs were greatly upregulated in the presence of EGF, and specific inhibitors were capable of blocking the phosphorylation of Akt, ERK1/2 and PLC-γ1. Compared with EGF-treated GMECs, the mRNA levels of FASN, ACC and SCD1 were significantly decreased in GMECs co-treated with PLC-γ1 and Akt inhibitor and EGF (p < 0.05), and TG content was also dropped significantly. These observations implied that EGFR plays an important role in regulating de novo fatty acid synthesis in GMECs, mainly mediated by Akt and PLC-γ1 signaling pathways.
Effect of MSTN Mutation on Growth and Carcass Performance in Duroc × Meishan Hybrid Population
Authors: Li Weijian , Li Rongyang , Wei Yinghui , Meng Xueqing , Wang Binbin , Zhang Zengkai , Wu Wangjun , Liu Honglin
Published: May 2020

The Meishan pig is a traditional Chinese native breed, known for its excellent reproduction performance that is widely used in commercial pig production through two-way or three-way crossbreeding systems. However, the lean meat yield of Meishan crossbred pigs is still very low and cannot meet the market demand. To evaluate the lean meat yield of Meishan crossbred pigs, six wild-type Meishan sows were artificially inseminated by using the MSTN+/− Duroc boar semen in this experiment. Some reproductive performance-related traits of Meishan sows were recorded to ensure that semen from MSTN knockout Duroc boar did not affect offspring production, including total births, live births, sex, and litter weight. In total, 73 piglets were obtained and 63 were alive. Male to female ratio was close to 1: 1. because of factors such as disease, only 43 pigs were utilized, including 28 MSTN mutant pigs (MSTN+/−) and 15 MSTN homozygous pigs (MSTN+/+). We compared the growth performance and carcass performance of these full or half-sib populations and found that there were no differences between MSTN+/− and MSTN+/+ genotypes for live animal measures including average daily gain (ADG), body dimensions, or ultrasonic measurement of fat thickness when pigs were harvested after 120 days of feeding. Conversely, the MSTN+/− pigs had higher dressing percentage and lean meat percentage, lower level of carcass fat, larger longissimus muscle area, less percentage of skin and skeleton, thinner average backfat thickness, and lower intramuscular fat (IMF) content than MSTN+/+ pigs. In conclusion, the production of MSTN+/− mutant progeny from Meishan females resulted in improved carcass composition, providing a feasible solution to improve the lean meat yield of Chinese local fat-type pig breeds.
Ruminal Methanogenic Responses to the Thiamine Supplementation in High-Concentrate Diets
Authors: Xue Fuguang , Wang Yue , Zhao Yiguang , Nan Xuemei , Hua Dengke , Sun Fuyu , Yang Liang , Jiang Linshu , Xiong Benhai
Published: May 2020

Background: Thiamine supplementation in high-concentrate diets (HC) was confirmed to attenuate ruminal subacute acidosis through promoting carbohydrate metabolism, however, whether thiamine supplementation in HC impacts methane metabolism is still unclear. Therefore, in the present study, thiamine was supplemented in the high-concentrate diets to investigate its effects on ruminal methanogens and methanogenesis process. Methods: an in vitro fermentation experiment which included three treatments: control diet (CON, concentrate/forage = 4:6; DM basis), high-concentrate diet (HC, concentrate/forage = 6:4; DM basis) and high-concentrate diet supplemented with thiamine (HCT, concentrate/forage = 6:4, DM basis; thiamine supplementation content = 180 mg/kg DM) was conducted. Each treatment concluded with four repeats, with three bottles in each repeat. The in vitro fermentation was sustained for 48h each time and repeated three times. At the end of fermentation, fermentable parameters, ruminal bacteria and methanogens community were measured. Results: HC significantly decreased ruminal pH, thiamine and acetate content, while significantly increasing propionate content compared with CON (p < 0.05). Conversely, thiamine supplementation significantly increased ruminal pH, acetate while significantly decreasing propionate content compared with HC treatment (p < 0.05). No significant difference of ruminal methanogens abundances among three treatments was observed. Thiamine supplementation significantly decreased methane production compared with CON, while no significant change was found in HCT compared with HC. Conclusion: thiamine supplementation in the high-concentrate diet (HC) could efficiently reduce CH4 emissions compared with high-forage diets while without causing ruminal metabolic disorders compared with HC treatment. This study demonstrated that supplementation of proper thiamine in concentrate diets could be an effective nutritional strategy to decrease CH4 production in dairy cows.
Metataxonomic and Histopathological Study of Rabbit Epizootic Enteropathy in Mexico
Authors: Puón-Peláez Xiao-Haitzi Daniel , McEwan Neil Ross , Gómez-Soto José Guadalupe , Álvarez-Martínez Roberto Carlos , Olvera-Ramírez Andrea Margarita
Published: May 2020

Epizootic rabbit enteropathy (ERE) affects young rabbits and represents 32% of the enteropathies in rabbit production farms in Mexico. The etiology of this syndrome has not been clarified yet. A metataxonomic and histopathology study of ERE was carried out to compare the gastrointestinal microbiota and histopathological lesions of healthy and positive-ERE rabbits. The metataxonomic study was done using an Illumina MiSeq (MiSeq® system, Illumina, San Diego California, USA) massive segmentation platform, and a Divisive Amplicon Denoising Algorithm 2 (DADA2 algorithm) was used to obtain Shannon and Simpson diversity indices as well as the relative abundance of the identified communities. For the histopathological study, paraffin sections of the cecum, ileo-cecal valve, and colon were stained with eosin and hematoxylin. AxioVision 4.9 software (Carl Zeiss MicroImaging GmbH, Jena, Germany) was used to measure the crypt depths. Statistical analysis was done using PERMANOVA analysis for the metataxonomic study and ANOVA for the histopathology study. Histopathologic analysis showed smaller sizes of crypts in the colon of ERE rabbits. Differences were observed in the diversity and abundance of the gastrointestinal microbiota between the analyzed groups. The genus Clostridium and the species Cloacibacillus porcorum and Akkermansia muciniphila were associated with ERE. The results obtained from this study can provide information for future clarification of the etiology and proposals of effective treatments.
Anti-Idiotypic Agonistic Antibodies: Candidates for the Role of Universal Remedy
Authors: Stanova Aliya K. , Ryabkova Varvara A. , Tillib Sergei V. , Utekhin Vladimir J. , Churilov Leonid P. , Shoenfeld Yehuda
Published: May 2020

Anti-idiotypic antibodies (anti-IDs) were discovered at the very beginning of the 20th century and have attracted attention of researchers for many years. Nowadays, there are five known types of anti-IDs: α, β, γ, ε, and δ. Due to the ability of internal-image anti-IDs to compete with an antigen for binding to antibody and to alter the biologic activity of an antigen, anti-IDs have become a target in the search for new treatments of autoimmune illnesses, cancer, and some other diseases. In this review, we summarize the data about anti-IDs that mimic the structural and functional properties of some bioregulators (autacoids, neurotransmitters, hormones, xenobiotics, and drugs) and evaluate their possible medical applications. The immune system is potentially able to reproduce or at least alter the effects of any biologically active endogenous or exogenous immunogenic agent via the anti-idiotypic principle, and probably regulates a broad spectrum of cell functions in the body, being a kind of universal remedy or immunacea, by analogy to the legendary ancient goddess of universal healing Panacea (Πανάκεια, Panakeia in Greek) in the treatment and prevention of diseases, possibly including non-infectious somatic and even hereditary ones.
Flavones’ and Flavonols’ Antiradical Structure–Activity Relationship—A Quantum Chemical Study
Authors: Spiegel Maciej , Andruniów Tadeusz , Sroka Zbigniew
Published: May 2020

Flavonoids are known for their antiradical capacity, and this ability is strongly structure-dependent. In this research, the activity of flavones and flavonols in a water solvent was studied with the density functional theory methods. These included examination of flavonoids’ molecular and radical structures with natural bonding orbitals analysis, spin density analysis and frontier molecular orbitals theory. Calculations of determinants were performed: specific, for the three possible mechanisms of action—hydrogen atom transfer (HAT), electron transfer–proton transfer (ETPT) and sequential proton loss electron transfer (SPLET); and the unspecific—reorganization enthalpy (RE) and hydrogen abstraction enthalpy (HAE). Intramolecular hydrogen bonding, catechol moiety activity and the probability of electron density swap between rings were all established. Hydrogen bonding seems to be much more important than the conjugation effect, because some structures tends to form more intramolecular hydrogen bonds instead of being completely planar. The very first hydrogen abstraction mechanism in a water solvent is SPLET, and the most privileged abstraction site, indicated by HAE, can be associated with the C3 hydroxyl group of flavonols and C4’ hydroxyl group of flavones. For the catechol moiety, an intramolecular reorganization to an o-benzoquinone-like structure occurs, and the ETPT is favored as the second abstraction mechanism.
Novel Ensemble Landslide Predictive Models Based on the Hyperpipes Algorithm: A Case Study in the Nam Dam Commune, Vietnam
Authors: Tran Quoc Cuong , Minh Duc Do , Jaafari Abolfazl , Al-Ansari Nadhir , Minh Duc Dao , Van Duc Tung , Nguyen Duc Anh , Tran Trung Hieu , Ho Lanh Si , Nguyen Duy Huu , Prakash Indra , Le Hiep Van , Pham Binh Thai
Published: May 2020

Development of landslide predictive models with strong prediction power has become a major focus of many researchers. This study describes the first application of the Hyperpipes (HP) algorithm for the development of the five novel ensemble models that combine the HP algorithm and the AdaBoost (AB), Bagging (B), Dagging, Decorate, and Real AdaBoost (RAB) ensemble techniques for mapping the spatial variability of landslide susceptibility in the Nam Dan commune, Ha Giang province, Vietnam. Information on 76 historical landslides and ten geo-environmental factors (slope degree, slope aspect, elevation, topographic wetness index, curvature, weathering crust, geology, river density, fault density, and distance from roads) were used for the construction of the training and validation datasets that are the prerequisites for building and testing the proposed models. Using different performance metrics (i.e., the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), negative predictive value, positive predictive value, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, root mean square error, and Kappa), we verified the proficiency of all five ensemble learning techniques in increasing the fitness and predictive powers of the base HP model. Based on the AUC values derived from the models, the ensemble ABHP model that yielded an AUC value of 0.922 was identified as the most efficient model for mapping the landslide susceptibility in the Nam Dan commune, followed by RABHP (AUC = 0.919), BHP (AUC = 0.909), Dagging-HP (AUC = 0.897), Decorate-HP (AUC = 0.865), and the single HP model (AUC = 0.856), respectively. The novel ensemble models proposed for the Nam Dan commune and the resultant susceptibility maps can aid land-use planners in the development of efficient mitigation strategies in response to destructive landslides.
Neural Architecture Search for a Highly Efficient Network with Random Skip Connections
Authors: Shan Dongjing , Zhang Xiongwei , Shi Wenhua , Li Li
Published: May 2020

Regarding the sequence learning of neural networks, there exists a problem of how to capture long-term dependencies and alleviate the gradient vanishing phenomenon. To manage this problem, we proposed a neural network with random connections via a scheme of a neural architecture search. First, a dense network was designed and trained to construct a search space, and then another network was generated by random sampling in the space, whose skip connections could transmit information directly over multiple periods and capture long-term dependencies more efficiently. Moreover, we devised a novel cell structure that required less memory and computational power than the structures of long short-term memories (LSTMs), and finally, we performed a special initialization scheme on the cell parameters, which could permit unhindered gradient propagation on the time axis at the beginning of training. In the experiments, we evaluated four sequential tasks: adding, copying, frequency discrimination, and image classification; we also adopted several state-of-the-art methods for comparison. The experimental results demonstrated that our proposed model achieved the best performance.
Scouring Depth Assessment Downstream of Weirs Using Hybrid Intelligence Models
Authors: Sharafati Ahmad , Haghbin Masoud , Haji Seyed Asadollah Seyed Babak , Tiwari Nand Kumar , Al-Ansari Nadhir , Yaseen Zaher Mundher
Published: May 2020

Considering the scouring depth downstream of weirs is a challenging issue due to its effect on weir stability. The adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS) model integrated with optimization methods namely cultural algorithm, biogeography based optimization (BBO), invasive weed optimization (IWO) and teaching learning based optimization (TLBO) are proposed to predict the maximum depth of scouring based on the different input combinations. Several performance indices and graphical evaluators are employed to estimate the prediction accuracy in the training and testing phase. Results show that the ANFIS-IWO offers the highest prediction performance (RMSE = 0.148) compared to other models in the testing phase, while the ANFIS-BBO (RMSE = 0.411) provides the lowest accuracy. The findings obtained from the uncertainty analysis of prediction modeling indicate that the input variables variability has a higher impact on the predicted results than the structure of models. In general, the ANFIS-IWO can be used as a reliable and cost-effective method for predicting the scouring depth downstream of weirs.
An Offline Signature Verification and Forgery Detection Method Based on a Single Known Sample and an Explainable Deep Learning Approach
Authors: Kao Hsin-Hsiung , Wen Che-Yen
Published: May 2020

Signature verification is one of the biometric techniques frequently used for personal identification. In many commercial scenarios, such as bank check payment, the signature verification process is based on human examination of a single known sample. Although there is extensive research on automatic signature verification, yet few attempts have been made to perform the verification based on a single reference sample. In this paper, we propose an off-line handwritten signature verification method based on an explainable deep learning method (deep convolutional neural network, DCNN) and unique local feature extraction approach. We use the open-source dataset, Document Analysis and Recognition (ICDAR) 2011 SigComp, to train our system and verify a questioned signature as genuine or a forgery. All samples used in our testing process are collected from a new author whose signatures are not present in the training or other stages. From the experimental results, we get the accuracy between 94.37% and 99.96%, false rejection rate (FRR) between 5.88% and 0%, false acceptance rate (FAR) between 0.22% and 5.34% in our testing dataset.
Soil Is Still an Unknown Biological System
Authors: Nannipieri Paolo
Published: May 2020

More than a thousand million cells encompassing bacteria, fungi, archaea, and protists inhabit a handful of soil. The bacterial and fungal biomass can account for 1–2 and 2–5 tha−1 in temperate grassland soils, respectively. Despite this huge microbial biomass, the volume occupied by microorganisms is less than 1% of the available soil volume because most micro-niches are hostile environments. Soil microorganisms and fauna play a crucial role in soil ecosystem services, and functional redundancy is a peculiar characteristic of soil as a biological system. Complex interactions are often mediated by molecular signals that occur between microbes, microbes and plants, and microbes and animals. Several microbial species have been detected in soil using molecular techniques, particularly amplicon sequencing and metagenomics. However, their activities in situ are still poorly known because the use of soil metatranscriptomics and, in particular, soil proteomics is still a technical challenge. A holistic approach with the use of labelled compounds can give quantitative information on nutrient dynamics in the soil-plant system. Despite the remarkable technical progresses and the use of imaginative approaches, there are many knowledge gaps about soil as a biological system. These gaps are discussed from a historic perspective, starting from the seven grand questions proposed by Selman A. Waksman in 1927.
Anti-Disturbance Control for Quadrotor UAV Manipulator Attitude System Based on Fuzzy Adaptive Saturation Super-Twisting Sliding Mode Observer
Authors: Jiao Ran , Chou Wusheng , Rong Yongfeng , Dong Mingjie
Published: May 2020

Aerial operation with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manipulator is a promising field for future applications. However, the quadrotor UAV manipulator usually suffers from several disturbances, such as external wind and model uncertainties, when conducting aerial tasks, which will seriously influence the stability of the whole system. In this paper, we address the problem of high-precision attitude control for quadrotor manipulator which is equipped with a 2-degree-of-freedom (DOF) robotic arm under disturbances. We propose a new sliding-mode extended state observer (SMESO) to estimate the lumped disturbance and build a backstepping attitude controller to attenuate its influence. First, we use the saturation function to replace discontinuous sign function of traditional SMESO to alleviate the estimation chattering problem. Second, by innovatively introducing super-twisting algorithm and fuzzy logic rules used for adaptively updating the observer switching gains, the fuzzy adaptive saturation super-twisting extended state observer (FASTESO) is constructed. Finally, in order to further reduce the impact of sensor noise, we invite a tracking differentiator (TD) incorporated into FASTESO. The proposed control approach is validated with effectiveness in several simulations and experiments in which we try to fly UAV under varied external disturbances.
A Method to Accurately Estimate Fish Abundance in Offshore Cages
Authors: Sthapit Pranesh , Kim MinSeok , Kim Kiseon
Published: May 2020

Due to the lack of reliable methods, manual fish counting is popular on farms. However, this approach is time and labor intensive. Using an echosounder and the echo-integration technique could be a better alternative. The echo-integration method has been widely used in fish abundance estimation in waterbodies because of its simplicity. However, most of the research is concentrated on the open ocean, whereas fish count estimation in farming cages has not been explored much. Using the echo-integration method in a cage offers its own unique sets of problems. Firstly, the echo signal reflected from the cage boundaries should also be taken into account. Secondly, the fish inside a cage behave differently with time, as their mobility pattern is highly dependent on sunlight and water current. In this paper, fish behavior inside an offshore cage over time was extensively studied, and based on that a real-time fish counter system using a commercial echosounder was developed. The experiments demonstrate that our method is simple, user-friendly, and has an estimation error of less than 10%. Since our method accurately estimated fish abundance, the method should be reliable when making fish management decisions.
Cathodic Protection Using Aluminum Metal in Chloride Molten Salts as Thermal Energy Storage Material in Concentrating Solar Power Plants
Authors: Fernández Angel G. , Cabeza Luisa F.
Published: May 2020

The new generation of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants to be developed presents a great challenge related to the increase in maximum operating temperature since molten salt CSP technologies require alternative salt chemistries such as chloride. The cathodic protection strategy involves the addition of a sacrificial metal to prevent corrosion of the alloy tested as container material in a CSP plant. In this paper, aluminum (Al) metal was analyzed as a corrosion inhibitor in OCT and HR224 alloys, obtaining corrosion rates of 4.37 and 0.27 mm/y, respectively. It has been confirmed that the use of Al metal can reduce the anodic current which is directly related to the corrosion rate. The formation of protective alumina scales (Al2O3) was assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), confirming the corrosion model results from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy monitoring tests.
Rapid Reconstruction of Simulated and Experimental Temperature Fields Based on Proper Orthogonal Decomposition
Authors: Chen Minxin , Liu Shi , Sun Shanxun , Liu Zhaoyu , Zhao Yu
Published: May 2020

Temperature information has a certain significance in thermal energy systems, especially in gas combustion systems. Generally, measurements and numerical calculations are used to acquire temperature information, but both of these approaches have their limitations. Constrained by cost and conditions, measurement methods are difficult to use to reconstruct the temperature field. Numerical methods are able to estimate the temperature field; however, the calculation process in numerical methods is very complex, so these methods cannot be used in real time. For the purpose of solving these problems, a two-dimensional temperature field reconstruction method based on the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) algorithm is proposed in this study. In the proposed method, the temperature field reconstruction task is transformed into an optimization problem. Theoretical analysis and simulations show that the proposed method is feasible. Gas combustion experiments were also performed to validate this method. Results indicate that the proposed method can yield a reliable reconstruction solution and can be applied to real-time applications.
Multiple Criteria Evaluation of the EU Country Sustainable Construction Industry Lifecycles
Authors: Kaklauskas Arturas , Zavadskas Edmundas Kazimieras , Binkyte-Veliene Arune , Kuzminske Agne , Cerkauskas Justas , Cerkauskiene Alma , Valaitiene Rita
Published: May 2020

This article looks at the trends and success of the sustainable construction industries in the EU member states, the UK and Norway. The research, covering the past three decades, revealed that different quality of life, macroeconomic, human development, construction and well-being factors define the sustainable construction industries in the EU member states, the UK and Norway. A multiple criteria decision matrix was created and analysed to look at the EU member countries, the UK and Norway from the perspective of their macro level environment and construction industries. Assessments of the sustainable construction industries were completed by using the COmplex PRoportional Assessment (COPRAS) and Degree of Project Utility and Investment Value Assessments (INVAR), two analysis methods. A look was taken at the dependencies linking the indicators related to the construction industries and macro level in the EU member countries, the UK and Norway. Then, the multiple criteria analysis of the construction industry’s utility degree and performances were completed, and recommendations were generated. A country’s perceived image and success can influence the economic behaviour of consumers. By and large, advanced and successful countries rarely become associated with a negative national image and their products and services rarely suffer negative consequences due to such association. This research, then, offers findings that can assist potential buyers in more rational decision-making when choosing of products and services based on a country of origin.
THz-TDS for Detecting Glycol Contamination in Engine Oil
Authors: Abdulmunem Oday M. , Abdul-Munaim Ali Mazin , Aller Mario Mendez , Preu Sascha , Watson Dennis G.
Published: May 2020

There continues to be a need for an in-situ sensor system to monitor the engine oil of internal combustion engines. Engine oil needs to be monitored for contaminants and depletion of additives. While various sensor systems have been designed and evaluated, there is still a need to develop and evaluate new sensing technologies. This study evaluated Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) for the identification and estimation of the glycol contamination of automotive engine oil. Glycol contamination is a result of a gasket or seal leak allowing coolant to enter an engine and mix with the engine oil. An engine oil intended for use in both diesel and gasoline engines was obtained. Fresh engine oil samples were contaminated with four levels of glycol (0 ppm, 150 ppm, 300 ppm, and 500 ppm). The samples were analyzed with THz-TDS and converted to frequency domain parameters of refractive index and absorption coefficient. While both parameters showed potential, the absorption coefficient had the best potential and was able to statistically discriminate among the four contamination levels.
Research on Fatigue Properties of Typical Welded Joints of DH36 Steel at −60 °C
Authors: Zhao Weidong , Feng Guoqing , Liu Wenchao , Ren Huilong
Published: May 2020

As the development of the polar region continues to increase, the fatigue properties of structures at low temperature are increasingly receiving researcher attention. This study aimed to investigate the fatigue properties of T-welded and cruciform welded joints at −60 °C. Logarithmic S–N curves based on the hot-spot stress of the T-welded and cruciform welded joints at 50% and 95% confidence levels were obtained at −60 °C. The test results showed that the fatigue properties of T-welded joints were almost 2–7% better than those of the cruciform welded joints at −60 °C. Factors that affected the fatigue properties of welded joints, such as the stress concentration factor, microstructure, Vickers hardness profiles, and fractography, were also studied and the test results showed that the fatigue properties of cruciform welded joints at −60 °C were 57.215% better than at room temperature.
Assessment of Performance Enhancement Potential of a High-Temperature Parabolic Trough Collector System Combining the Optimized IR-Reflectors
Authors: Wang Qiliang , Yang Hongxing , Pei Gang , Yang Honglun , Cao Jingyu , Hu Mingke
Published: May 2020

Heat collecting elements (HCEs) are the core components in the parabolic trough collector (PTC) system because photothermal conversion of the whole system occurs in the HCEs. However, considerable heat loss from the HCEs at high operating temperature exerts seriously negative impact on the photothermal conversion efficiency of the PTC system and subsequent application systems. To effectively reduce the heat loss and thus enhance the overall performance of the PTC system, in our previous work, we proposed three kinds of novel HCEs by partially depositing different IR-reflector coatings on the inner and outer surfaces of the glass envelope. The infrared (IR)-reflector of actual transparent conductive oxide (TCO) film, IR-reflector with a fixed cutoff wavelength of 2.5 μm, and the IR-reflector with optimal cutoff wavelength showed extremely effective roles in the reduction of heat loss in HCEs. In this paper, the comprehensive energy and exergy performances of these three novel HCEs in a real 72 m small-scale PTC system are further investigated by the mathematical models established. Additionally, the comparisons among overall performances of the proposed HCEs under different direct solar irradiances are also carried out. The results show that the simulated data yields good consistence with the experimental results, and that all three of the novel HCEs achieve superior overall performance compared with the conventional HCEs. The PTC system installing the novel HCEs with the IR-reflector coating which possesses the optimal cutoff wavelength has the best energetic and exergetic efficiencies, which are significantly improved by 25.2% and 28.1% compared with the conventional HCEs at the solar irradiance of 800 W/m2 and inlet temperature of 580 °C. Moreover, the proposed novel HCEs have a much superior performance at lower solar irradiance. The performance-enhanced PTC system will play a significantly positive role in the performance improvement of the heating and cooling of buildings in the future.