bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the Effect of Local Water Chemistry on Trace Metal Accumulation in Puget Sound Shellfish Shows That Concentration Varies With Species, Size, and Location
Authors: Bates Eileen H. , Alma Lindsay , Ugrai Tamas , Gagnon Alexander , Maher Michael , McElhany Paul , Padilla-Gamiño Jacqueline L.
Published: March 2021

Global climate change is causing ocean acidification (OA), warming, and decreased dissolved oxygen (DO) in coastal areas, which can cause physiological stress and compromise the health of marine organisms. While there is increased focus on how these stressors will affect marine species, there is little known regarding how changes in water chemistry will impact the bioaccumulation of trace metals. This study compared trace metal concentrations in tissue of Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and Olympia oysters (Ostrea lurida) in Puget Sound, Washington, a region that experiences naturally low pH, seasonal hypoxia, and is surrounded by urbanized and industrialized areas. Shellfish were held at three sites (Carr Inlet, Point Wells, and Dabob Bay) where oceanographic data was continuously collected using mooring buoys. Using inductively coupled plasma mass-spectrometry (ICP-MS) to measure trace metals in the tissue, we found differences in accumulation of trace metals based on species, location, and shellfish size. Our study found differences between sites in both the mean metal concentrations and variability around the mean of those concentrations in bivalves. However, high metal concentrations in bivalves were not associated with high concentrations of metals in seawater. Metal concentrations in shellfish were associated with size: smaller shellfish had higher concentrations of metals. Carr Inlet at 20 m depth had the smallest shellfish and the highest metal concentrations. While we could not eliminate possible confounding factors, we also found higher metal concentrations in shellfish associated with lower pH, lower temperature, and lower dissolved oxygen (conditions seen at Carr Inlet at 20 m and to a lesser extent at Point Wells at 5 m depth). There were also significant differences in accumulation of metals between oysters and mussels, most notably copper and zinc, which were found in higher concentrations in oysters. These findings increase our understanding of spatial differences in trace metal bioaccumulation in shellfish from Puget Sound. Our results can help inform the Puget Sound aquaculture industry how shellfish may be impacted at different sites as climate change progresses and coastal pollution increases.
A Novel Nine Apoptosis-Related Genes Signature Predicting Overall Survival for Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma and its Associations with Immune Infiltration
Authors: Wang Yi , Chen Yinhao , Zhu Bingye , Ma Limin , Xing Qianwei
Published: March 2021

Background: This study was designed to establish a sensitive prognostic model based on apoptosis-related genes to predict overall survival (OS) in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).

Methods: Obtaining the expression of apoptosis-related genes and associated clinical parameters from online datasets (The Cancer Genome Atlas, TCGA), their biological function analyses were performed through differently expressed genes. By means of LASSO, unadjusted and adjusted Cox regression analyses, this predictive signature was constructed and validated by internal and external databases (both TCGA and ArrayExpress).

Results: A total of nine apoptosis-related genes (SLC27A2, TNFAIP2, IFI44, CSF2, IL4, MDK, DOCK8, WNT5A, APP) were ultimately screened as associated hub genes and utilized to construct a prognosis model. Then our constructed riskScore model significantly passed the validation in both the internal and external datasets of OS (all p < 0.05) and verified their expressions by qRT-PCR. Moreover, we conducted the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC), finding the area under the ROC curves (AUCs) were all above 0.70 which indicated that riskScore was a stable independent prognostic factor (p < 0.05). Furthermore, prognostic nomograms were established to figure out the relationship between 1-, 3- and 5-year OS and individual parameters for ccRCC patients. Additionally, survival analyses indicated that our riskScore worked well in predicting OS in subgroups of age, gender, grade, stage, T, M, N0, White (all p < 0.05), except for African, Asian and N1 (p > 0.05). We also explored its association with immune infiltration and applied cMap database to seek out highly correlated small molecule drugs.

Conclusion: Our study successfully constructed a prognostic model containing nine hub apoptosis-related genes for ccRCC, helping clinicians predict patients’ OS and making the prognostic assessment more standardized. Future prospective studies are required to validate our findings.
The Morphology of Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles Regulates Cargo Recognition in Clathrin-Mediated Endocytosis
Authors: Zhu Cheng , Zhou Xuejie , Liu Ziteng , Chen Hongwei , Wu Hongfeng , Yang Xiao , Zhu Xiangdong , Ma Jing , Dong Hao
Published: March 2021

The clathrin-associated protein adaptin-2 (AP2) is a distinctive member of the hetero-tetrameric clathrin adaptor complex family. It plays a crucial role in many intracellular vesicle transport pathways. The hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanoparticles can enter cells through clathrin-dependent endocytosis, induce apoptosis, and ultimately inhibit tumor metastasis. Exploring the micro process of the binding of AP2 and HAp is of great significance for understanding the molecular mechanism of HAp’s anti-cancer ability. In this work, we used molecular modeling to study the binding of spherical, rod-shaped, and needle-shaped HAps toward AP2 protein at the atomic level and found that different nanoparticles’ morphology can determine their binding specificity through electrostatic interactions. Our results show that globular HAp significantly changes AP2 protein conformation, while needle-shaped HAP has more substantial binding energy with AP2. Therefore, this work offers a microscopic picture for cargo recognition in clathrin-mediated endocytosis, clarifies the design principles and possible mechanisms of high-efficiency nano-biomaterials, and provides a basis for their potential anti-tumor therapeutic effects.
The Lighting Environment, Its Metrology, and Non-visual Responses
Authors: Schlangen Luc J. M. , Price Luke L. A.
Published: March 2021

International standard CIE S 026:2018 provides lighting professionals and field researchers in chronobiology with a method to characterize light exposures with respect to non-visual photoreception and responses. This standard defines five spectral sensitivity functions that describe optical radiation for its ability to stimulate each of the five α-opic retinal photoreceptor classes that contribute to the non-visual effects of light in humans via intrinsically-photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs). The CIE also recently published an open-access α-opic toolbox that calculates all the quantities and ratios of the α-opic metrology in the photometric, radiometric and photon systems, based on either a measured (user-defined) spectrum or selected illuminants (A, D65, E, FL11, LED-B3) built into the toolbox. For a wide variety of ecologically-valid conditions, the melanopsin-based photoreception of ipRGCs has been shown to account for the spectral sensitivity of non-visual responses, from shifting the timing of nocturnal sleep and melatonin secretion to regulating steady-state pupil diameter. Recent findings continue to confirm that the photopigment melanopsin also plays a role in visual responses, and that melanopsin-based photoreception may have a significant influence on brightness perception and aspects of spatial vision. Although knowledge concerning the extent to which rods and cones interact with ipRGCs in driving non-visual effects is still growing, a CIE position statement recently used melanopic equivalent daylight (D65) illuminance in preliminary guidance on applying “proper light at the proper time” to manipulate non-visual responses. Further guidance on this approach is awaited from the participants of the 2nd International Workshop on Circadian and Neurophysiological Photometry (in Manchester, August 2019). The new α-opic metrology of CIE S 026 enables traceable measurements and a formal, quantitative specification of personal light exposures, photic interventions and lighting designs. Here, we apply this metrology to everyday light sources including a natural daylight time series, a range of LED lighting products and, using the toobox, to a smartphone display screen. This collection of examples suggests ways in which variations in the melanopic content of light over the day can be adopted in strategies that use light to support human health and well-being.
Accuracy of Actigraphy Compared to Concomitant Ambulatory Polysomnography in Narcolepsy and Other Sleep Disorders
Authors: Alakuijala Anniina , Sarkanen Tomi , Jokela Tomi , Partinen Markku
Published: March 2021

Actigraphy provides longitudinal sleep data over multiple nights. It is a less expensive and less cumbersome method for measuring sleep than polysomnography. Studies assessing accuracy of actigraphy compared to ambulatory polysomnography in different sleep-disordered patients are rare. We aimed to compare the concordance between these methods in clinical setting. We included 290 clinical measurements of 281 sleep laboratory patients (mean age 37.9 years, 182 female). Concomitant ambulatory polysomnography and actigraphy were analyzed to determine the agreement in patients with obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy, periodic leg movement disorder, hypersomnia, other rarer sleep disorders, or no organic sleep disorder. Bland-Altman plots showed excellent accuracy, but poor precision in single night results between the two methods in the measurement of sleep time, sleep efficiency, and sleep latency. On average, actigraphy tended to overestimate sleep time by a negligible amount, −0.13 min, 95% confidence interval [−5.9, 5.6] min in the whole sample. Overestimation was largest, −12.8 [−25.1, −0.9] min, in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. By contrast, in patients with narcolepsy, actigraphy tended to underestimate sleep time by 24.3 [12.4, 36.1] min. As for sleep efficiency, actigraphy underestimated it by 0.18 [−0.99, 1.35] % and sleep latency by 11.0 [8.5, 13.6] min compared to polysomnography. We conclude that, in measuring sleep time, actigraphy is reasonably reliable and helpful to be used for a week or two to exclude insufficient sleep in patients with the suspicion of narcolepsy. However, the effectiveness of actigraphy in determining sleep seems to decrease in subjects with low sleep efficiencies.
Robotic Versus Conventional Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy With Immediate Breast Reconstruction
Authors: Houvenaeghel Gilles , Barrou Julien , Jauffret Camille , Rua Sandrine , Sabiani Laura , Van Troy Aurore , Buttarelli Max , Blache Guillaume , Lambaudie Eric , Cohen Monique , Bannier Marie
Published: March 2021

Background

Several studies reported the feasibility and safety of robotic-NSM (R-NSM). The aim of our prospective study was to compare R-NSM and conventional-NSM (C-NSM).

Methods

We analyzed patients who were operated on with and without robotic assistance (R-NSM or C-NSM) and who received immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) with implant or latissimus dorsi-flap (LDF). The main objective was complication rate and secondary aims were post-operative length of hospitalization (POLH), duration of surgery, and cost.

Results

We analyzed 87 R-NSM and 142 C-NSM with implant-IBR in 50 and 135 patients, with LDF-IBR in 37 and 7 patients, respectively. Higher durations of surgery and costs were observed for R-NSM, without a difference in POLH and interval time to adjuvant therapy between R-NSM and C-NSM. In the multivariate analysis, R-NSM was not associated with a higher breast complication rate (OR=0.608) and significant factors were breast cup-size, LDF combined with implant-IBR, tobacco and inversed-T incision. Grade 2-3 breast complications rate were 13% for R-NSM and 17.3% for C-NSM, significantly higher for LDF combined with implant-IBR, areolar/radial incisions and BMI>=30. A predictive score was calculated (AUC=0.754). In logistic regression, patient’s satisfaction between C-NSM and R-NSM were not significantly different, with unfavorable results for BMI >=25 (OR=2.139), NSM for recurrence (OR=5.371) and primary breast cancer with radiotherapy (OR=4.533). A predictive score was calculated. In conclusion, our study confirms the comparable clinical outcome between C- NSM and R-NSM, in the price of longer surgery and higher cost for R-NSM. Predictive scores of breast complications and satisfaction were significantly associated with factors known in the pre-operative period.
Nano-Medicine in the Cardiovascular System
Authors: Pretorius Danielle , Serpooshan Vahid , Zhang Jianyi
Published: March 2021

Nano-medicines that include nanoparticles, nanocomposites, small molecules, and exosomes represent new viable sources for future therapies for the dysfunction of cardiovascular system, as well as the other important organ systems. Nanomaterials possess special properties ranging from their intrinsic physicochemical properties, surface energy and surface topographies which can illicit advantageous cellular responses within the cardiovascular system, making them exceptionally valuable in future clinical translation applications. The success of nano-medicines as future cardiovascular theranostic agents requires a comprehensive understanding of the intersection between nanomaterial and the biomedical fields. In this review, we highlight some of the major types of nano-medicine systems that are currently being explored in the cardiac field. This review focusses on the major differences between the systems, and how these differences affect the specific therapeutic or diagnostic applications. The important concerns relevant to cardiac nano-medicines, including cellular responses, toxicity of the different nanomaterials, as well as cardio-protective and regenerative capabilities are discussed. In this review an overview of the current development of nano-medicines specific to the cardiac field is provided, discussing the diverse nature and applications of nanomaterials as therapeutic and diagnostic agents.
Cell Wall Polysaccharide Composition of Grafted ‘Liberty’ Watermelon With Reduced Incidence of Hollow Heart Defect
Authors: Trandel Marlee A. , Johanningsmeier Suzanne , Schultheis Jonathan , Gunter Chris , Perkins-Veazie Penelope
Published: March 2021

Grafting watermelon scions to interspecific squash hybrids has been found to increase fruit firmness. Triploid (seedless) watermelon are prone to hollow heart (HH), an internal fruit disorder characterized by a crack in the placental tissue expanding to a cavity. Although watermelon with lower tissue firmness tend to have a higher HH incidence, associated differences in cell wall polysaccharide composition are unknown. Grafting “Liberty” watermelon to “Carnivor” (interspecific hybrid rootstock, C. moschata × C. maxima) reduced HH 39% and increased tissue firmness by 3 N. Fruit with and without severe HH from both grafted and non-grafted plants were analyzed to determine differences in cell wall polysaccharides associated with grafting and HH. Alcohol insoluble residues (AIR) were sequentially extracted from placental tissue to yield water soluble (WSF), carbonate soluble (CSF), alkali soluble (ASF), or unextractable (UNX) pectic fractions. The CSF was lower in fruit with HH (24.5%) compared to those without HH (27.1%). AIRs were also reduced, hydrolyzed, and acetylated for GC-MS analysis of monosaccharide composition, and a portion of each AIR was methylated prior to hydrolysis and acetylation to produce partially methylated alditol acetates for polysaccharide linkage assembly. No differences in degree of methylation or galacturonic and glucuronic acid concentrations were found. Glucose and galactose were in highest abundance at 75.9 and 82.4 μg⋅mg–1 AIR, respectively, followed by xylose and arabinose (29.3 and 22.0 μg⋅mg–1). Mannose was higher in fruit with HH (p < 0.05) and xylose was highest in fruit from grafted plants (p < 0.05). Mannose is primarily found in heteromannan and rhamnogalacturonan I side chains, while xylose is found in xylogalacturonan or heteroxylan. In watermelon, 34 carbohydrate linkages were identified with galactose, glucose, and arabinose linkages in highest abundance. This represents the most comprehensive polysaccharide linkage analysis to date for watermelon, including the identification of several new linkages. However, total pectin and cell wall composition data could not explain the increased tissue firmness observed in fruit from grafted plants. Nonetheless, grafting onto the interspecific hybrid rootstock decreased the incidence of HH and can be a useful method for growers using HH susceptible cultivars.
ESRα Promoter Methylation May Modify the Association Between Lipid Metabolism and Type 2 Diabetes in Chinese Farmers
Authors: Zhou Guoyu , Liu Lihua , Li Xing , Hou Xiangbo , Wang Ling , Sun Renjie , Huang Hui , Li Zhiyuan , Li Wenjie , Wang Chongjian , Ba Yue
Published: March 2021

Objective: This study is aimed to explore the potential association among the estrogen receptor alpha (ESRα) promoter methylation, lipid metabolism and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods: A total of 1143 rural residents were recruited randomly from Henan Province, China. The circulating methylation levels in ESRα promoter region were determined by quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction. Serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and fasting plasma-glucose (FPG) were measured.

Results: The ESRα promoter methylation levels were negatively associated with HDL-C levels whether gender stratification was performed (P < 0.05) and positively correlated with LDL-C in men (P < 0.05). Each unit standard deviation (SD) increment in TG was associated with a 43% increase (95% CI: 1.25, 1.64) in the risks of T2DM in all participants, a 36% increase (95% CI: 1.13, 1.64) in the risks of T2DM in men and a 49% increase (95% CI: 1.21, 1.83) in the risks of T2DM in women. Furthermore, each SD increment in HDL-C was associated with a reduction of 25% (OR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.58, 0.97) in the risks of T2DM in men, and the risk of T2DM in men may be more susceptible to HDL-C than that in women (P for interaction < 0.05). Additionally, we found that the risk of T2DM in participants with lower methylation levels (≤4.07%) were more susceptible to HDL-C (P for interaction < 0.05).

Conclusions: These findings suggested that lipid metabolism was associated with ESRα promoter methylation levels and the risk of T2DM. Besides, the levels of ESRα promoter methylation and gender can modify the association of HDL-C and T2DM.
Cultivating Health in Martial Arts and Combat Sports Pedagogies: A Theoretical Framework on the Care of the Self
Authors: Pedrini Lorenzo , Jennings George
Published: March 2021

“Martial arts and combat sports” (MACS) are a myriad of systems of embodied movements and underlying philosophy and pedagogies. Due to the intrinsic complexity of MACS, they have the potential to both reshape practitioners’ selves and improve their wellbeing, as well as to hamper the pursuit of sustainable, healthy lifestyles. This article provides an interdisciplinary theoretical framework to critically approach both the “light” and the “dark” sides of martial pedagogies. The model we propose develops the Foucauldian notion of “the care of the self,” which has been considerably overlooked in martial arts scholarship. Furthermore, by viewing health as a goal forcultivation, this proposal places the situated practices linked to materiality and discourses at the centre of the theoretical and empirical analyses. The article thus takes into account the internal diversity and cross-institutional variance of martial pedagogies by allowing scholars to explore four forms of cultivation (self, shared, social, ecological) prompted on a day-to-day basis. To conclude, we discuss the main methodological implications for multimodal research arising from the framework in order to foster future inquiries.
Comparison of the Impact of Different Types of nZVI on Lolium westerwoldicum
Authors: Mielcarz-Skalska Lidia , Smolińska Beata , Szynkowska-Jóźwik Małgorzata
Published: March 2021

Increasing environmental pollution causes the search for new methods of purification. Currently, the remediation potential of nanoparticles is increasingly being studied. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of data on the impact of these compounds on living organisms, including plants. This study was designed to test the effects of nanoFER 25 and nanoFER 25S iron on Lolium westerwoldicum Breakw. After cultivation of plants in a soil contaminated with nanoparticles, the biometric parameters, content of polyphenols, flavonoids, chlorophyll changes, carotenoids, anthocyanins, superoxide dismutase, catalase and pyrogallol peroxidase were studied. The conducted experiment showed that nano zero-valent iron (nZVI) is slightly taken from the soil to the plants. The iron passes to the root but there is no further transport up the plant. The content of polyphenols and flavonoids in aboveground parts of plants decreases with a simultaneous increase in roots compared to the control sample. The chlorophyll content in the leaves is strongly related to the concentration of the contaminant. Similarly, the enzyme activity of the antioxidant system in the whole plant is strongly related to the concentration of the pollutant. The amount of vegetable pigments in the leaves increases for low concentrations of contamination and then decreases at higher levels of contamination. The study has shown that both types of nanoFER are not indifferent to the plants’ growth.
The Identification of Mutation in BMP15 Gene Associated with Litter Size in Xinjiang Cele Black Sheep
Authors: Niu Zhi-gang , Qin Jin , Jiang Yao , Ding Xiang-Dong , Ding Yu-gong , Tang Sen , Shi Hong-cai
Published: March 2021

The Bone Morphogenetic Protein 15 (BMP15) gene is known to have multiple single-nucleotide polymorphism sites associated with sheep fecundity. This study used gene sequence analysis and mutation detection assays for BMP15 by using 205 blood samples of ewes with known lambing records. Sequence analysis showed that mutation B1 missed the CTT base in exon 1 at positions 28–30, leading to a leucine deletion in the BMP15 protein. Litter size of ewes differed significantly between BB and B+ genotypes of B1 (p < 0.05); however, the differences between wild genotype (++) and homozygous (BB) or wild genotype (++) and heterozygous (B+) were not significant (p > 0.05). Another mutation, T755C, is a T-to-C base change at position 755 of exon 2, resulting in leucine replacement by proline at this position of the BMP15 protein (p.L252P). Two genotypes were identified in the flock: heterozygous (E+) and wild-type genotype (++). Ewes with heterozygous (E+) p.L252P had significantly larger litter sizes than those with the wild-type genotype (p < 0.05). Comprehensive analysis suggests that p.L252P is a mutation that affects fecundity in Cele black sheep.
Adjuvant Transgingival Therapy with Visible Light Plus Water-Filtered Infrared-A (VIS + wIRA) in Periodontal Therapy—A Randomized, Controlled, Stratified, Double-Blinded Clinical Trial
Authors: Peikert Stefanie Anna , Fischer Anil , Kruse Anne Brigitte , Al-Ahmad Ali , Woelber Johan Peter , Vach Kirstin , Braun Andreas , Ratka-Krüger Petra
Published: March 2021

The aim of this randomized, controlled, double-blinded clinical trial was to examine the additional healing effect of transgingival visible light and water-filtered infrared-A (VIS + wIRA) in the treatment of periodontitis patients compared with the standard therapy by subgingival instrumentation (SI). Therefore, forty patients with untreated periodontitis received a non-surgical periodontal treatment. Using a split-mouth study design, one quadrant of the upper jaw was randomly either exposed to VIS + wIRA four times for 20 min within two weeks in addition to SI or received only SI. Three and 6 months after intervention, clinical parameters (probing depths (PDs), clinical attachment level, bleeding on probing (BOP), furcation, tooth mobility, plaque control record, and papilla bleeding index) were re-evaluated. In the presence of PD of 4 mm and positive BOP or PD > 4 mm, SI was performed again. Moreover, the patients were asked about their discomfort using a visual analog scale from 1 to 10 for each side of the maxilla. Statistical analysis demonstrated no differences between quadrants at re-evaluation for clinical parameters (p > 0.05) after 3 and 6 months. Concerning pain perception, patients described less pain on the irradiated side (p = 0.016). In the treatment of patients with periodontitis, VIS + wIRA did not show an additional effect on the clinical outcome after 3 and 6 months. Patients described less pain on the irradiated quadrant after treatment.
Astrocytes in Alzheimer’s Disease: Pathological Significance and Molecular Pathways
Authors: Preman Pranav , Alfonso-Triguero Maria , Alberdi Elena , Verkhratsky Alexei , Arranz Amaia M.
Published: March 2021

Astrocytes perform a wide variety of essential functions defining normal operation of the nervous system and are active contributors to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s among others. Recent data provide compelling evidence that distinct astrocyte states are associated with specific stages of Alzheimer´s disease. The advent of transcriptomics technologies enables rapid progress in the characterisation of such pathological astrocyte states. In this review, we provide an overview of the origin, main functions, molecular and morphological features of astrocytes in physiological as well as pathological conditions related to Alzheimer´s disease. We will also explore the main roles of astrocytes in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer´s disease and summarize main transcriptional changes and altered molecular pathways observed in astrocytes during the course of the disease.
Development of Heavy Metal-Free Photocatalytic RhB Decomposition System Using a Biodegradable Plastic Substrate
Authors: Tateishi Ikki , Furukawa Mai , Katsumata Hideyuki , Kaneco Satoshi
Published: March 2021

The heavy-metal-free photocatalytic system, in which carbon nitride is coated on polylactic acid (PLA) as biodegradable plastic through a simple dip coating method, was used for dye decomposition under visible light irradiation. Solvent selection, solvent concentration, and the number of coatings for dip coating were investigated to optimize the conditions for loading carbon nitride on PLA. Carbon nitride cannot be coated on PLA in water, but it can be strongly coated by decomposing the surface of PLA with ethanol or chlorobenzene to promote physical adsorption and activate surface. The number of dip coatings also affected the photocatalytic decomposition ability. The photocatalytic system was able to decompose the dye continuously in the flow method, and dye (rhodamine B) was decomposed by about 50% at a residence time of 12 min (flow rate 0.350 mL/min) for 30 h.
Pediatric Septic Arthritis of the Knee Due to a Multi-Sensitive Streptococcus pyogenes Strain Responsive to Clindamycin—A Case Report
Authors: Di Pietro Giada Maria , Borzani Irene Maria , Aleo Sebastiano , Bosis Samantha , Marchisio Paola , Tagliabue Claudia
Published: March 2021

Septic arthritis is an inflammatory process usually generated by a bacterial infection. The knee is one of the most frequently involved joints. The etiology varies depending on age, and hematogenous spread remains the primary cause in children. Herein, we report a case of a previously healthy three-year-old female who was referred to our institution for acute swelling of her right knee. After a clinical and radiological diagnosis of septic arthritis, an empirical treatment with a combination of cefotaxime and clindamycin was initiated. The isolation of a multi-sensitive Streptococcus pyogenes strain from the joint’s effusion prompted the discontinuation of clindamycin and the usage of cefotaxime alone. One week later, an ultrasound was executed due to worsening in the patient’s clinical conditions, and an organized corpuscular intra-articular effusion with diffuse synovial thickening was revealed. Cefotaxime was therefore replaced with clindamycin, which improved the symptoms. Despite the antibiotic sensitivity test having revealed a microorganism with sensitivity to both cephalosporin and clindamycin, clinical resistance to cefotaxime was encountered and a shift in the antimicrobial treatment was necessary to ensure a full recovery. This case study confirms that an antibiotic regimen based solely on a susceptibility test may be ineffective for such cases.
Reduced Model for Properties of Multiscale Porous Media with Changing Geometry
Authors: Peszynska Malgorzata , Umhoefer Joseph , Shin Choah
Published: March 2021

In this paper, we consider an important problem for modeling complex coupled phenomena in porous media at multiple scales. In particular, we consider flow and transport in the void space between the pores when the pore space is altered by new solid obstructions formed by microbial growth or reactive transport, and we are mostly interested in pore-coating and pore-filling type obstructions, observed in applications to biofilm in porous media and hydrate crystal formation, respectively. We consider the impact of these obstructions on the macroscopic properties of the porous medium, such as porosity, permeability and tortuosity, for which we build an experimental probability distribution with reduced models, which involves three steps: (1) generation of independent realizations of obstructions, followed by, (2) flow and transport simulations at pore-scale, and (3) upscaling. For the first step, we consider three approaches: (1A) direct numerical simulations (DNS) of the PDE model of the actual physical process called BN which forms the obstructions, and two non-DNS methods, which we call (1B) CLPS and (1C) LP. LP is a lattice Ising-type model, and CLPS is a constrained version of an Allen–Cahn model for phase separation with a localization term. Both LP and CLPS are model approximations of BN, and they seek local minima of some nonconvex energy functional, which provide plausible realizations of the obstructed geometry and are tuned heuristically to deliver either pore-coating or pore-filling obstructions. Our methods work with rock-void geometries obtained by imaging, but bypass the need for imaging in real-time, are fairly inexpensive, and can be tailored to other applications. The reduced models LP and CLPS are less computationally expensive than DNS, and can be tuned to the desired fidelity of the probability distributions of upscaled quantities.
Temperature Anomalies, Long Memory, and Aggregation
Authors: Vera-Valdés J. Eduardo
Published: March 2021

Econometric studies for global heating have typically used regional or global temperature averages to study its long memory properties. One typical explanation behind the long memory properties of temperature averages is cross-sectional aggregation. Nonetheless, formal analysis regarding the effect that aggregation has on the long memory dynamics of temperature data has been missing. Thus, this paper studies the long memory properties of individual grid temperatures and compares them against the long memory dynamics of global and regional averages. Our results show that the long memory parameters in individual grid observations are smaller than those from regional averages. Global and regional long memory estimates are greatly affected by temperature measurements at the Tropics, where the data is less reliable. Thus, this paper supports the notion that aggregation may be exacerbating the long memory estimated in regional and global temperature data. The results are robust to the bandwidth parameter, limit for station radius of influence, and sampling frequency.
The Tailored CFD Package ‘containmentFOAM’ for Analysis of Containment Atmosphere Mixing, H2/CO Mitigation and Aerosol Transport
Authors: Kelm Stephan , Kampili Manohar , Liu Xiongguo , George Allen , Schumacher Daniel , Druska Claudia , Struth Stephan , Kuhr Astrid , Ramacher Lucian , Allelein Hans-Josef , Prakash K. Arul , Kumar G. Vijaya , Cammiade Liam M. F. , Ji Ruiyun
Published: March 2021

The severe reactor accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (2011) has confirmed the need to understand the flow and transport processes of steam and combustible gases inside the containment and connected buildings. Over several years, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models, mostly based on proprietary solvers, have been developed to provide highly resolved insights; supporting the assessment of effectiveness of safety measures and possible combustion loads challenging the containment integrity. This paper summarizes the design and implementation of containmentFOAM, a tailored solver and model library based on OpenFOAM®. It is developed in support of Research & Development related to containment flows, mixing processes, pressurization, and assessment of passive safety systems. Based on preliminary separate-effect verification and validation results, an application oriented integral validation case is presented on the basis of an experiment on gas mixing and H2 mitigation by means of passive auto-catalytic recombiners in the THAI facility (Becker Technologies, Eschborn, Germany). The simulation results compare well with the experimental data and demonstrate the general applicability of containmentFOAM for technical scale analysis. Concluding the paper, the strategy for dissemination of the code and measures implemented to minimize potential user errors are outlined.
Time-Dependent Wave-Structure Interaction Revisited: Thermo-Piezoelectric Scatterers
Authors: Hsiao George C. , Sánchez-Vizuet Tonatiuh
Published: March 2021

In this paper, we are concerned with a time-dependent transmission problem for a thermo-piezoelectric elastic body that is immersed in a compressible fluid. It is shown that the problem can be treated by the boundary-field equation method, provided that an appropriate scaling factor is employed. As usual, based on estimates for solutions in the Laplace-transformed domain, we may obtain properties of corresponding solutions in the time-domain without having to perform the inversion of the Laplace-domain solutions.
Rapid Approach to Determine Propionic and Sorbic Acid Contents in Bread and Bakery Products Using 1H NMR Spectroscopy
Authors: Scharinger Marwa , Kuntz Marcel , Scharinger Andreas , Teipel Jan , Kuballa Thomas , Walch Stephan G. , Lachenmeier Dirk W.
Published: March 2021

The food additive sorbic acid is considered as an effective preservative for certain cereal products, and propionic acid is commonly added in bakery wares, e.g., bread and fine bakery wares. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a new nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR) method for the routine screening and quantification of sorbic and propionic acids in bread and several bakery products for quality control purposes. Results showed that none of the screened samples contained higher concentrations than regulatory maximum limits. However, for some samples, labelling of preservatives was lacking or they were used in food categories, for which the use is not approved. It can be concluded that the developed NMR method can be used for the routine screening of bakery products.
Design of Occupational Therapy Interventions for Middle-Aged and Elderly Family Caregivers
Authors: Chou Wen-Huei , Ko Ya-Ling , Huang Xiang-Yu
Published: March 2021

This study aimed to develop an interactive app for occupational therapy interventions for middle-aged and elderly family caregivers by integrating life review and narrative therapy. The results indicated that the interventions improved the mood of individuals, but the improvement in the quality of life was less significant due to the multiple facets of life. The interface design of the interactive app had good operating characteristics and was above average in terms of learnability and usability. Overall, the intervention program positively improved participants’ psychological aspect, which was in line with the purpose of the life review. Thus, a focus group put forward specific suggestions on the contextual construction of life review, the intelligent development of guiding questions, scenario simulation, and the introduction of creative collaboration functions, which could be used as a reference for subsequent content adjustment and interface design.
Effectiveness of Rehabilitative Intervention on Pain, Postural Balance, and Quality of Life in Women with Multiple Vertebral Fragility Fractures: A Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Scaturro Dalila , Rizzo Serena , Sanfilippo Valeria , Giustino Valerio , Messina Giuseppe , Martines Francesco , Falco Vincenzo , Cuntrera Daniele , Moretti Antimo , Iolascon Giovanni , Letizia Mauro Giulia
Published: March 2021

Patients with vertebral fragility fractures often experience chronic pain, postural and balance disorders, and poor quality of life (QoL). Although several studies have investigated the role of rehabilitation in severe osteoporosis, the effectiveness of this intervention in patients with multiple vertebral fractures is poorly known. The aim of our longitudinal cohort study is to evaluate the effectiveness of rehabilitation, including postural training, resistance exercises, and visual stabilization exercises, for a 7-week period, on the pain, postural balance, and QoL of subjects with at least two vertebral fragility fractures receiving denosumab and vitamin D. We investigated, before (T0) and after (T1, at 7 weeks) rehabilitation, the following outcome measures on 28 patients: pain (Numerical Rating Scale (NRS)), self-perceived QoL (36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) and Mini-Osteoporosis Quality of Life Questionnaire (Mini-OQOL)), dizziness (Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI-I)), mobility (Timed-Up and Go (TUG) test), and instrumental posturographic assessment (FreeMed posturography system). At the end of the treatment, improvements of pain and QoL were recorded. Pain relief was highly obtained in patients with more than two vertebral fractures. Moreover, a significant functional improvement (TUG test) was found in those with two vertebral fractures, without any statistically significant change reported for other outcomes. Our findings suggest that combined intervention, including anti-osteoporotic drugs and postural rehabilitation, should be proposed to osteoporotic patients with multiple vertebral fractures.
A Novel Continuous Nonsingular Finite–Time Control for Underwater Robot Manipulators
Authors: Zhou Zengcheng , Tang Guoyuan , Xu Ruikun , Han Lijun , Cheng Maolin
Published: March 2021

In this paper, the tracking control problem of underwater robot manipulators is investigated under the influence of the lumped disturbances, including unknown ocean current disturbances and parameter uncertainties. The proposed novel continuous nonsingular finite–time (CNFT) control method is twofold. Firstly, the modified adaptive super–twisting algorithm (ASTA) is proposed with a nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode (NFTSM) manifold to guarantee the finite–time convergence both in the sliding mode phase and the reaching phase. Secondly, a higher–order super–twisting disturbance observer (HOSTDO) is exploited to attenuate the effects of the lumped disturbances. Considering the time–varying gain matrix of the closed–loop control system, the bounded stability is strictly proved via the Lyapunov theory. Hence, the superiority of the proposed controller is singularity–free, fast convergence, chattering–free, high steady–state tracking performance, and good robustness by resorting to the methods of CNFT control and ASTA in combination with a disturbance observer. Finally, numerical simulations are conducted on a two degree–of–freedom (DOF) underwater robot manipulator to demonstrate the effectiveness and high tracking performance of the designed controller.
Modeling of Ship Fuel Consumption Based on Multisource and Heterogeneous Data: Case Study of Passenger Ship
Authors: Zhu Yongjie , Zuo Yi , Li Tieshan
Published: March 2021

In the current shipping industry, quantitative measures of ship fuel consumption (SFC) have become one of the most important research topics in environmental protection and energy management related to shipping operations. In particular, the rapid development of sensor technologies enables multisource data collection to improve the modeling of the SFC problem. To address the features of such heterogeneous data, this paper proposes an integrated model for the estimation of SFC that includes three modules: a multisource data collection module, a heterogeneous data feature fusion module and a fuel consumption estimation module. First, in the data collection module, data related to SFC are collected by multiple sensors installed aboard the ship. Second, the feature fusion module employs a series of moving overlapped frames to merge different frequency data into small frames so that fusion features can be extracted from the heterogeneous data of multiple sources. Finally, in the fuel estimation module, the fusion features provide a novel way to consider the modeling and estimation of SFC as a classical time-series analysis using various machine learning techniques. Experimentally, linear regression (LR), support vector regression (SVR), and artificial neural network (ANN) were employed as the machine learning methods to train SFC models. Compared with the traditional feature extraction method, the accuracy of LR, SVR, and ANN were improved by 8.5, 0.35 and 51.5%, respectively, using the proposed method. The main contribution of this work is to consider the multisource and heterogeneous problem of sensor-based SFC data and propose an integrated model to extract the information of SFC data. Moreover, the experimental results showed that the estimation accuracy can be greatly improved.
Study on Vibration Characteristics of Marine Centrifugal Pump Unit Excited by Different Excitation Sources
Authors: Dai Cui , Zhang Yuhang , Pan Qi , Dong Liang , Liu Houlin
Published: March 2021

In order to study the vibration mechanism of a marine centrifugal pump unit and explore the contribution of vibration caused by different vibration excitation sources, a marine centrifugal pump with a specific speed of 66.7 was used for research. A numerical calculation model of the flow field and electromagnetic field of the pump unit was established to analyze the frequency spectrum characteristics and contribution of pump unit vibration caused by different excitation sources. Using the modal superposition method, the vibration characteristics of the pump unit caused by fluid excitation and electromagnetic excitation were analyzed. The results show that the main frequency of pump unit vibration caused by fluid excitation was at the 1× blade passing frequency. The main frequency of pump unit vibration caused by electromagnetic excitation was at the 2× utility frequency. The contribution of different excitation sources to the vibration of marine centrifugal pump unit was in the following order: fluid excitation on the inner surface of the pump > electromagnetic excitation > fluid excitation in the impeller.
Insight into the Systematics of Microfungi Colonizing Dead Woody Twigs of Dodonaea viscosa in Honghe (China)
Authors: Wanasinghe Dhanushka N. , Mortimer Peter E. , Xu Jianchu
Published: March 2021

Members of Dodonaea are broadly distributed across subtropical and tropical areas of southwest and southern China. This host provides multiple substrates that can be richly colonized by numerous undescribed fungal species. There is a severe lack of microfungal studies on Dodonaea in China, and consequently, the diversity, phylogeny and taxonomy of these microorganisms are all largely unknown. This paper presents two new genera and four new species in three orders of Dothideomycetes gathered from dead twigs of Dodonaea viscosa in Honghe, China. All new collections were made within a selected area in Honghe from a single Dodonaea sp. This suggests high fungal diversity in the region and the existence of numerous species awaiting discovery. Multiple gene sequences (non-translated loci and protein-coding regions) were analysed with maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses. Results from the phylogenetic analyses supported placing Haniomyces dodonaeae gen. et sp. in the Teratosphaeriaceae family. Analysis of Rhytidhysteron sequences resulted in Rhytidhysteron hongheense sp. nov., while analysed Lophiostomataceae sequences revealed Lophiomurispora hongheensis gen. et sp. nov. Finally, phylogeny based on a combined dataset of pyrenochaeta-like sequences demonstrates strong statistical support for placing Quixadomyceshongheensis sp. nov. in Parapyrenochaetaceae. Morphological and updated phylogenetic circumscriptions of the new discoveries are also discussed.
An Improvement of the Lower Bound on the Minimum Number of ≤k-Edges
Authors: Rodrigo Javier , Merchán Susana , Magistrali Danilo , López Mariló
Published: March 2021

In this paper, we improve the lower bound on the minimum number of  ≤k-edges in sets of n points in general position in the plane when k is close to n2. As a consequence, we improve the current best lower bound of the rectilinear crossing number of the complete graph Kn for some values of n.
On Four Classical Measure Theorems
Authors: López-Alfonso Salvador , López-Pellicer Manuel , Moll-López Santiago
Published: March 2021

A subset B of an algebra A of subsets of a set Ω has property (N) if each B-pointwise bounded sequence of the Banach space ba(A) is bounded in ba(A), where ba(A) is the Banach space of real or complex bounded finitely additive measures defined on A endowed with the variation norm. B has property (G) [(VHS)] if for each bounded sequence [if for each sequence] in ba(A) the B-pointwise convergence implies its weak convergence. B has property (sN) [(sG) or (sVHS)] if every increasing covering {Bn:n∈N} of B contains a set Bp with property (N) [(G) or (VHS)], and B has property (wN) [(wG) or (wVHS)] if every increasing web {Bn1n2⋯nm:ni∈N,1≤i≤m,m∈N} of B contains a strand {Bp1p2⋯pm:m∈N} formed by elements Bp1p2⋯pm with property (N) [(G) or (VHS)] for every m∈N. The classical theorems of Nikodým–Grothendieck, Valdivia, Grothendieck and Vitali–Hahn–Saks say, respectively, that every σ-algebra has properties (N), (sN), (G) and (VHS). Valdivia’s theorem was obtained through theorems of barrelled spaces. Recently, it has been proved that every σ-algebra has property (wN) and several applications of this strong Nikodým type property have been provided. In this survey paper we obtain a proof of the property (wN) of a σ-algebra independent of the theory of locally convex barrelled spaces which depends on elementary basic results of Measure theory and Banach space theory. Moreover we prove that a subset B of an algebra A has property (wWHS) if and only if B has property (wN) and A has property (G).