bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Illusory Health Beliefs Scale: preliminary validation using exploratory factor and Rasch analysis
Authors: Denovan Andrew , Dagnall Neil , Drinkwater Kenneth Graham , Escolà-Gascón Álex
Published: September 2024

Illusory health beliefs are ill-founded, erroneous notions about well-being. They are important as they can influence allied attitudes, actions, and behaviors to the detriment of personal and societal welfare. Noting this, and the prevalence of paranormal beliefs in contemporary Western society, researchers developed the Paranormal Health Beliefs Scale (PHBS). Modification of the PHBS for use with a United Kingdom-based sample resulted in the instrument broadening to incorporate illusory rather than merely paranormal health beliefs. The present study psychometrically assessed the emergent Illusory Health Beliefs Scale (IHBS). The principal objective was to validate the IHBS using a large, representative sample. Eight hundred and fifty participants (360 males, 482 females, eight non-binary) completed the IHBS alongside instruments assessing theoretically associated constructs (i.e., magical thinking, faith in scientifically unsubstantiated notions, and forms of self-referential, intuitive causation). Exploratory factor analysis revealed the existence of six meaningful IHBS dimensions: Religious/Spiritual, Superstition, Precognitive, Health Myths, Skepticism, and Health Pseudoscience. The IHBS demonstrated satisfactory reliability and convergent validity with theoretically aligned constructs. Rasch analysis at the subscale level revealed good item/person fit and item/person reliability, unidimensionality, and equivalency of items across subgroups (gender and religious affiliation). Analysis confirmed the IHBS was an effective measure of illusory health beliefs. However, researchers should undertake further work to refine the scale and evaluate its performance across different samples and time points.
Eating disorders and health literacy in Germany: results from two representative samples of adolescents and adults
Authors: König Lars , Schröder Rebekka , Hamer Tim , Suhr Ralf
Published: September 2024

Introduction

Eating disorders are associated with substantial burden for the affected individuals including negative health outcomes and increased mortality. So far, prevention programs for eating disorders have yielded mixed results concerning their efficacy. Therefore, more targeted prevention programs need to be developed. Health literacy has been identified as a potential influencing factor of eating disorders. This study aimed at exploring the relationship between likely cases of eating disorders and health literacy, alongside additional sociodemographic factors.

Materials and methods

Two large samples of adults (N = 3,011) and adolescents (N = 1,021) representative of the German-speaking population in Germany were recruited. Likely cases of eating disorders were identified using the SCOFF questionnaire. Health literacy was assessed with the HLS-EU-Q16 questionnaire. Sociodemographic information, including age, gender, social status and level of education, and subjective body image were obtained. χ2-tests of independence were calculated to determine the association between the investigated constructs.

Results

Suspected eating disorders were more likely in female than male adolescents but were not related to gender in adults. Rates of suspected eating disorders increased with increasing age in adolescents and decreased with increasing age in adults. While levels of education were unrelated to suspected eating disorders, low social status was associated with higher rates of suspected eating disorders in adults but not adolescents. Inadequate or problematic health literacy and negative body image were associated with higher rates of suspected eating disorders compared to adequate health literacy and more positive body image.

Discussion

Likely cases of eating disorders are related to health literacy and body image as well as sociodemographic factors. These constructs should therefore be addressed in future research to improve prevention programs.
Sexual and reproductive health service utilization and associated factors among youth workers at Kombolcha Industry Park, Kombolcha town, Northeast Ethiopia, 2023
Authors: Endalew Addisu , Kefale Bereket , Atnafu Gebeyehu Natnael , Birhan Belete
Published: September 2024

Background

Youth is a decisive age that shapes the direction of their life and that of their family. However, due to the host of biological, social, and economic factors, youth Industry Park workers can be at high risk of adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Therefore, assessing youth sexual and reproductive health service utilization and associated factors among youth workers is very crucial for timely intervention to their gaps.

Objective

This study aimed to assess sexual and reproductive health service utilization and associated factors among youth workers working at Kombolcha Industry Park Kombolcha, Northeast Ethiopia, 2023.

Methods

An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Kombolcha Industry Park, Kombolcha, among a total of 422 youth workers from 1 January to 30 January 2023. A simple random sampling technique was used to access a total of 422 youth workers in Kombolcha Industry Park. The data were collected using pre-test, structured, and interviewer-administered questionnaires. Data were entered into Epi Data version 3.1 and were exported to SPSS version 26 for analysis. Bi-variable and multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were performed. Adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was estimated to measure the strength of the association. The level of statistical significance was declared at a p value of less than 0.05.

Results

Overall utilization of reproductive health services was 45.50%. Being married [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 5.76, 95% CI (2.94, 11.25)], near distance of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) facility to home [AOR = 2.57, 95% CI (1.60, 4.14)], having good knowledge [AOR = 9.23 95%CI (4.88, 17.44)], and good attitude about SRH [AOR = 2.06 95% CI (1.29, 3.28)] were significantly associated with youth SRHs utilization.

Conclusion

Youth sexual and reproductive health service utilization among youth workers of Kombolcha Industry Park was low. Ensuring SRHs availability and accessibility, empowering youth with knowledge of SRHs, and advocating sexual and reproductive health services to develop a good attitude might be important in improving reproductive health service utilization. Future researchers should address segments of the population other than Kombolcha Industry Park.
Measuring physical disorder of architectural façades for informing better urban renewal using deep learning and space syntax
Authors: Xing Huiyue , Shi Haojun , Sun Yufan
Published: September 2024

With the emergence of human-centered urban development goals and the increasing pursuit of a better quality of life, the architectural façades of cities are receiving growing attention. However, during the process of urban development, architectural façades often experience physical disorder. This phenomenon tends to be overlooked in targeted urban management practices or lacks cohesive urban renewal planning at a macro scale. This oversight can negatively impact the livability and attractiveness of a region. This study aims to quantify the architectural façades encountered daily by urban residents by measuring the physical disorder of architectural façades to inform better urban renewal using deep learning and space syntax. First, streetscape images of architectural façades were collected using the Baidu Maps Street View service. Subsequently, an evaluation system for architectural façades was developed, and machine learning was employed to conduct high-resolution measurements and assessments of these façades. Simultaneously, street network data is extracted and analyzed using space syntax to quantify the accessibility of architecture on each street. Finally, by integrating the analysis of architectural façades and accessibility, the study identifies priority areas for building renewal, thus providing a decision-support tool for sustainable urban renewal planning. Overall, the paper presents an innovative method that combines image data, deep learning, and space syntax-derived architectural accessibility for a quadrant analysis. It offers designers and decision makers new perspectives and enhances the livability of residents by focusing on the physical condition of architectural façades, thereby making urban renewal practices more human-centered and better aligned with the actual needs of city dwellers.
EngageHealth: a mobile device application designed to deliver stroke rehabilitation exercises using asynchronous video recordings
Authors: Song Andrew J. , Lugo Leonel , Muccini Julie , Mlynash Michael , Lansberg Maarten G.
Published: September 2024

Background

Stroke survivors who receive more rehabilitation therapy achieve better functional outcomes. The amount of rehabilitation that patients receive is, however, limited due to constraints of the healthcare system.

Objective

To assess whether EngageHealth, a mobile device application designed to deliver stroke rehabilitation exercises using asynchronous video recordings, increases the amount of outpatient rehabilitation in stroke patients and improves their upper extremity function and quality of life.

Design

Prospective single-arm study consisting of a 2-week pre-intervention phase without EngageHealth followed by a 4-week intervention period with EngageHealth.

Setting

Ambulatory care.

Participants

Twenty-four stroke patients with upper extremity impairment were recruited at the Stanford Stroke Center outpatient clinic.

Interventions

Participants were instructed to use the EngageHealth application daily.

Main outcome measures

Adherence, user experience, and change in the upper extremity Fugl-Meyer (UE-FM), Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders (Neuro-QoL), and Stroke Impact Scale (SIS).

Results

Of 23 participants, five (22%) used the application for 17 days, six (26%) used the application for 9–16 days, and 12 (52%) used it < 9 days. Sixty-three percent of participants would recommend the application to other stroke survivors, with fifty percent indicating they would continue using the application, if available. During the pre-intervention phase, there were no changes in hand function. During the intervention period, participants improved by 4 points on the UE-FM (P < 0.01), and 15 points in the hand-function domain of SIS (P = 0.03). Videos of participants' exercises were successfully recorded, allowing the clinician to review videos of the participants' completed tasks asynchronously. In-depth interviews revealed that participants viewed the EngageHealth application favorably, and that their perceived usefulness of the exercises affected their motivation.

Conclusions

Use of the EngageHealth application in the home environment may improve upper extremity function in subacute/chronic stroke patients. Additional support strategies should be implemented in future studies to improve adherence. These findings from a prospective single-arm study, support the design of a randomized controlled trial to determine the efficacy of long-term use of the EngageHealth application.
Soft Robotic Honeycomb-Velcro Jamming Gripper Design
Authors: Chung Yu Cheng , Chow Wai Tuck , Nguyen Van Pho
Published: September 2024

In this paper, using a honeycomb-velcro structure to generate a novel jamming gripper is explored. Each finger of the gripper consists of multi-layers with a honeycomb sandwich structure acting as a core wrapped by a fabric sheet and sealed by a latex membrane. This structure can transit between unjammed (flexible) and jammed (rigid) states thanks to the vacuum pressure. Various materials of honeycomb structure, fabric, and reinforcements are investigated to seek optimal combinations for making the jamming fingers. Then, such fingers are deployed in experiments to evaluate the stiffness and the surface friction with different loads in terms of with or without vacuum. Vacuum pressure boosts the stiffness and friction of all the jamming fingers compared with the without-vacuum case. Attached to a gripper, the jamming finger shows good performance in diverse manipulation with food, a metal component, a toy, a can, and a bottle. Furthermore, the variable-stiffness finger under vacuum pressure can be utilized to perform assembly and installation operations such as pushing a bolt into an aligned hole.
Research on Landing Dynamics of Foot-High Projectile Body for High-Precision Microgravity Simulation System
Authors: Jia Zhenhe , Li Yuehua , Hou Weijie , Zang Libin , Han Qiang , Zhao Baoshan , Gao Bin , Liu Haiteng , Chen Yuhan , An Yumin , Zhang Huibo
Published: September 2024

A high-precision ground microgravity simulation environment serves as the prerequisite and key to studying landing dynamics in microgravity environments. However, the microgravity level accuracy in traditional ground simulation tests is difficult to guarantee and fails to precisely depict the collision behavior of massive spacecraft. To solve such problems, this paper takes the microgravity simulation system based on quasi-zero stiffness (QZS) mechanism as the research object, and simulates a high-precision and high-level microgravity environment. Then, the collision contact force model of the planar foot and high elastic body rubber is established, the landing dynamics research under different microgravity environments is carried out, the influence of different microgravity environments on the landing behavior of large mass spacecraft is analyzed in depth, and ground microgravity simulation experiments are carried out. The results show that the microgravity simulation level reaches 10−4 g, the error of gravity compensation for each working condition is not more than 4.22%, and the error of sinking amount is not more than 4.61%, which verifies the superior compensation performance of the QZS mechanism and the accuracy of the dynamic model.
The Role of the Agglomeration Economy and Innovation Ecosystem in the Process of Competency Development and Growth of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Authors: Peirone Dario , Pereira Dina Batista , Leitão João , Nezghoda Olha
Published: September 2024

In our paper, we examine the simultaneous impact of the agglomeration economy (AE) and the innovation ecosystem (IE) on the competency development of SMEs in the Piemonte region in three high-tech sectors: aerospace, mechatronics, and automotive. This study focuses on the critical challenge for SMEs: survival and market position expansion amidst rapidly changing external environments. We used the capability approach, which includes identifying and assessing a company’s competencies through the capability matrix, as a tool to analyse a company’s competitiveness in the industry based on structural changes; we determined the key insights from managerial practices of SMEs that help to comprehend the behaviour of high-performing, sustainable-performing, and low-performing companies in the development of competencies. The key finding is that SMEs’ sustainability in the context of structural changes in the external environment is primarily influenced by factors such as investment in the development of company competencies, industrial cooperation, strategic planning, cross-fertilisation, and the impact of company age and size on the availability of resources, along with the level of internationalisation. This study also identifies the main challenges these SMEs face, particularly the lack of highly skilled human resources to meet the sector’s specific needs, as well as the difficulties companies face in adapting to changes in consumer behaviour and forecasting future business strategies. In addition, this study introduces the AE and IE variables as strategic tools to enable company representatives to improve their development strategies.
Fatigue Analysis of Shovel Body Based on Tractor Subsoiling Operation Measured Data
Authors: Zhang Bing , Bai Tiecheng , Wu Gang , Wang Hongwei , Zhu Qingzhen , Zhang Guangqiang , Meng Zhijun , Wen Changkai
Published: September 2024

This paper aims to investigate the effects of soil penetration resistance, tillage depth, and operating speeds on the deformation and fatigue of the subsoiling shovel based on the real-time measurement of tractor-operating conditions data. Various types of sensors, such as force, displacement, and angle, were integrated. The software and hardware architectures of the monitoring system were designed to develop a field operation condition parameter monitoring system, which can measure the tractor’s traction force of the lower tie-bar, the real-time speed, the latitude and longitude, tillage depth, and the strain of the subsoiling shovel and other condition parameters in real-time. The time domain extrapolation method was used to process the measured data to obtain the load spectrum. The linear damage accumulation theory was used to calculate the load damage of the subsoiling shovel. The magnitude of the damage value was used to characterize the severity of the operation. The signal acquisition test and typical parameter test were conducted for the monitoring system, and the test results showed that the reliability and accuracy of the monitoring system met the requirements. The subsoiling operation test of the system was carried out, which mainly included two kinds of soil penetration resistances (1750 kPa and 2750 kPa), three kinds of tillage depth (250 mm, 300 mm, and 350 mm), and three kinds of operation speed (4 km/h low speed, 6 km/h medium speed, and 8 km/h high speed), totaling 18 kinds of test conditions. Eventually, the effects of changes in working condition parameters of the subsoiling operation on the overall damage of subsoiling shovels and the differences in damage occurring between the front and rear rows of subsoiling shovels under the same test conditions were analyzed. The test results show that under the same soil penetration resistance, the overall damage sustained by the subsoiling shovels increases regardless of the increase in the tillage depth or operating speed. In particular, the increase in the tillage depth increased the severity of subsoiling shovel damage by 19.73%, which was higher than the 17.48% increase due to soil penetration resistance and the 13.07% increase due to the operating speed. It should be noted that the front subsoiling shovels consistently sustained more damage than the rear, and the difference was able to reach 16.86%. This paper may provide useful information for subsoiling operations, i.e., the operational efficiency and the damage level of subsoiling shovels should be considered.
Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Saccharina latissima and Ulva lactuca on Growth Performance and Gut Health in Growing Rabbits
Authors: Al-Soufi Sabela , Losada Ana Paula , López-Alonso Marta , Cardelle-Cobas Alejandra , Mora Azucena , Lamas Alexandre , Panadero Rosario , Miranda Marta , Muíños Antonio , Cegarra Eugenio , García Javier
Published: September 2024

Rabbit meat production faces challenges due to the prevalence of gastrointestinal diseases in rabbits, exacerbated by restrictions on antibiotic use in European animal production. Marine macroalgae, rich in bioactive compounds such as soluble polysaccharides, represent promising solutions to this problem. However, research on the effects of macroalgae and the underlying mechanisms in rabbits is limited, especially in commercial settings. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of Saccharina latissima (dehydrated) and Ulva lactuca (dehydrated and hydrolyzed extract) on rabbit on growth performance and gut health in a commercial farm context. A total of 96 litters (8 rabbits/litter) of crossbred rabbits weaned at 33 days of age were randomly assigned to 4 experimental groups (control, Saccharina latissima dehydrated, Ulva lactuca dehydrated and Ulva lactuca hydrolyzed extract; 24 replicates/treatment) and monitored from weaning to slaughter at 61 days of age. The key indicators of gut health were assessed 14 days post-weaning by counting coccidia, isolating specific microflora and examining histological samples. Additionally, the relevant intestinal markers (microbiome composition, mucin content and gene expression related to immune response and tight junction proteins) were determined in order to elucidate the potential mechanisms involved. The inclusion of macroalgae in the diet did not influence growth performance of the animals. S. latissima had a positive effect in reducing coccidia counts (p = 0.10) and improving mucosal morphology (p < 0.001), which can possibly be attributed to modulation of the microbiota and improved mucosal functionality. Ulva lactuca had a favorable effect on gut tight junction proteins (p < 0.001), enhancing intestinal barrier function. These findings suggest the potential of macroalgae to modify the intestinal microbiome by reducing the presence of inflammatory bacteria. Further research is warranted to elucidate the mechanisms involved and optimize macroalgae supplementation in rabbit nutrition for enhanced gut health.
Beyond Profit: Exploring the Motivators of Local Producers in Multiple Sub-Regions in Western Hungary
Authors: Schlett András , Balázsné Marietta Lendvai , Beke Judit
Published: September 2024

Most research on sustainable small-scale local producer lifestyles emphasises healthy food production but lacks the integration of mental and spiritual well-being into a holistic concept of a healthy lifestyle. This study explores the motives behind the production activity of producers engaged in sustainable food production in several western Hungarian sub-regions, aiming to identify their attitudes and motivations. The small-scale entrepreneurial mindset encompasses needs beyond physical and ethical aspects, such as involvement, socio-cultural attachment to the past, tradition, nature, place, and local culture. An online questionnaire was conducted with 73 local producers in the second quarter of 2024. The results of the factor and cluster analyses were used to classify the producers into two clusters: the “Value-Creator” and the “Proud” clusters. The main features of these two clusters were illustrated in persona profiles. The “Value-Creator” cluster, mainly women, feels a strong connection to the local community and views sustainable production as a lifestyle choice. The “Proud” cluster, consisting of young men, focuses on the quality and uniqueness of their products. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of sustainable production by exploring producers’ intrinsic motivations and lifestyle choices. The findings could also inform other entrepreneurial projects, such as urban initiatives.
YOLO-SegNet: A Method for Individual Street Tree Segmentation Based on the Improved YOLOv8 and the SegFormer Network
Authors: Yang Tingting , Zhou Suyin , Xu Aijun , Ye Junhua , Yin Jianxin
Published: September 2024

In urban forest management, individual street tree segmentation is a fundamental method to obtain tree phenotypes, which is especially critical. Most existing tree image segmentation models have been evaluated on smaller datasets and lack experimental verification on larger, publicly available datasets. Therefore, this paper, based on a large, publicly available urban street tree dataset, proposes YOLO-SegNet for individual street tree segmentation. In the first stage of the street tree object detection task, the BiFormer attention mechanism was introduced into the YOLOv8 network to increase the contextual information extraction and improve the ability of the network to detect multiscale and multishaped targets. In the second-stage street tree segmentation task, the SegFormer network was proposed to obtain street tree edge information more efficiently. The experimental results indicate that our proposed YOLO-SegNet method, which combines YOLOv8+BiFormer and SegFormer, achieved a 92.0% mean intersection over union (mIoU), 95.9% mean pixel accuracy (mPA), and 97.4% accuracy on a large, publicly available urban street tree dataset. Compared with those of the fully convolutional neural network (FCN), lite-reduced atrous spatial pyramid pooling (LR-ASPP), pyramid scene parsing network (PSPNet), UNet, DeepLabv3+, and HRNet, the mIoUs of our YOLO-SegNet increased by 10.5, 9.7, 5.0, 6.8, 4.5, and 2.7 percentage points, respectively. The proposed method can effectively support smart agroforestry development.
Assessing the Effectiveness of Rotation Growing of Industrial Hemp and Alfalfa in Post-Mining Agricultural Reclamation: Using Soil Fauna as an Indicator
Authors: Ilieva-Makulec Krassimira , Augustyniuk-Kram Anna , Karaban Kamil , Kołodziej Jacek , Mańkowski Jerzy
Published: September 2024

The reclamation of post-mining land for agricultural purposes has continued to be a big challenge. Our study concerns the use of soil microfauna (nematodes) and mesofauna (mites and springtails) as indicators of soil quality after 6 years of agricultural reclamation of a post-mining area in west–central Poland. A new method, which involves rotation growing of industrial hemp (H) and alfalfa (A) and incorporating the resulting biomass into the soil, was used to reclaim two sites (5 and 15 years after mining) representing different types of post-mining deposits (clayey and sandy). On each site, two plots were established, where each crop was grown for three years, but in a different order during the rotation cycle (3H3A and 3A3H). The results showed significant differences in the abundance and structure of the fauna communities between 3H3A and 3A3H reclamation practices, as well as between the reclaimed plots and non-reclaimed (NR) plots, where spontaneous succession proceeded. The three animal groups were more abundant in the reclaimed soil compared to the NR soil. The highest densities for nematodes were observed in the 3H3A plots and for the mesofauna in the 3A3H plots. The reclamation practices had a positive effect on groups involved in the regulation of C and N mineralisation, particularly bacterial- and hyphal-feeding nematodes and oribatid mites, and a negative effect on plant-feeding nematodes and euedaphic collembolans. The finding that most of the parameters of the studied biota had values resembling those of agricultural soils after 6 years of reclamation clearly indicates the effectiveness of the applied practices for transforming degraded land into soils that mirror soils under agricultural use.
Construction of Microbial Consortium to Enhance Cellulose Degradation in Corn Straw during Composting
Authors: Li Jie , Li Juan , Yang Ruopeng , Yang Ping , Fu Hongbo , Yang Yongchao , Liu Chaowei
Published: September 2024

The improper treatment of crop straw not only leads to resource wastage but also adversely impacts the ecological environment. However, the application of microorganisms can accelerate the decomposition of crop straw and improve its utilization. In this study, cellulose-degrading microbial strains were isolated from naturally decayed corn straw and screened using Congo red staining, along with assessing variations in carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase) activity, filter paper enzyme (FPase) activity and β-glucosidase (β-Gase) activity, as well as the degradation rate. The eight strains, namely Neurospora intermedia isolate 29 (A1), Streptomyces isolate FFJC33 (A2), Gibberella moniliformis isolate FKCB-009 (A3), Fusarium fujikuroi isolate EFS3(2) (A4), Fusarium Fujikuroi isolate FZ04 (A5), Lysine bacillus macroides strain LNHL43 (B1), Bacillus subtilis strain MPF30 (B2) and Paenibacilli lautus strain ALEB-P1 (C), were identified and selected for microbial strain consortium design based on their high activities of CMCase, FPase and β-Gase. The fungi, bacteria and actinomycete strains were combined without antagonistic effects on corn straw decomposition. The results showed the A2B2 combination had a significantly higher FPase at 55.44 U/mL and β-Gase at 25.73 U/mL than the other two strain combinations (p < 0.05). Additionally, the degradation rate of this combination was 40.33%, which was considerably higher than that of the other strains/consortia. The strain combination A4B2C also had superior enzyme activity, including CMCase with a value of 35.03 U/mL, FPase with a value of 63.59 U/mL and β-Gase with a value of 26.15 U/mL, which were significantly different to those of the other three strain combinations (p < 0.05). Furthermore, seven single microbial strains with high cellulase activities were selected to construct various microbial consortiums for in situ composting in order to evaluate their potential. Taken as a whole, the results of composting, including temperature, moisture content, pH, E4/E6 value and seed germination index, indicated that the microbial strain consortium consisting of Neurospora intermediate isolate 29, Fusarium fujikuroi isolate EFS3(2), Fusarium fujikuroi isolate FZ04, Lysinibacillus macrolides, Lysinibacillus sphaericus, Bacillus subtilis and Paenibacillus lautus was advantageous for corn straw decomposition and yielded high-quality compost. The screened flora was able to effectively degrade corn straw. This study provides a novel solution for the construction of a microbial consortium for the composting of corn straw.
Effects of Wildfire and Logging on Soil CO2 Efflux in Scots Pine Forests of Siberia
Authors: Kukavskaya Elena A. , Bogorodskaya Anna V. , Buryak Ludmila V. , Kalenskaya Olga P. , Conard Susan G.
Published: September 2024

Wildfires and logging play an important role in regulating soil carbon fluxes in forest ecosystems. In Siberia, large areas are disturbed by fires and logging annually. Climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressure have resulted in the expansion of disturbed areas in recent decades. However, few studies have focused on the effects of these disturbances on soil CO2 efflux in the vast Siberian areas. The objective of our research was to evaluate differences in CO2 efflux from soils to the atmosphere between undisturbed sites and sites affected by wildfire and logging in Scots pine forests of southern Siberia. We examined 35 plots (undisturbed forest, burned forest, logged plots, and logged and burned plots) on six study sites in the Angara region and four sites in the Zabaikal region. Soil CO2 efflux was measured using an LI-800 infrared gas analyzer. We found that both fire and logging significantly reduced soil efflux in the first years after a disturbance due to a reduction in vegetation biomass and consumption of the forest floor. We found a substantially lower CO2 efflux in forests burned by high-severity fires (74% less compared to undisturbed forests) than in forests burned by moderate-severity (60% less) and low-severity (37% less) fires. Clearcut logging resulted in 6–60% lower soil CO2 efflux at most study sites, while multiple disturbances (logging and fire) had 48–94% lower efflux. The soil efflux rate increased exponentially with increasing soil temperature in undisturbed Scots pine forests (p < 0.001) and on logged plots (p < 0.03), while an inverse relationship to soil temperature was observed in burned forests (p < 0.03). We also found a positive relationship (R = 0.60–0.83, p < 0.001) between ground cover depth and soil CO2 efflux across all the plots studied. Our results demonstrate the importance of disturbance factors in the assessment of regional and global carbon fluxes. The drastic changes in CO2 flux rates following fire and logging should be incorporated into carbon balance models to improve their reliability in a changing environment.
Evaluation of the Urban Canopy Scheme TERRA-URB in the ICON Model at Hectometric Scale over the Naples Metropolitan Area
Authors: Cinquegrana Davide , Montesarchio Myriam , Zollo Alessandra Lucia , Bucchignani Edoardo
Published: September 2024

The present work is focused on the validation of the urban canopy scheme TERRA-URB, implemented in ICON weather forecast model. TERRA-URB is used to capture the behavior of urbanized areas as sources of heat fluxes, mainly due to anthropogenic activities that can influence temperature, humidity, and other atmospheric variables of the surrounding areas. Heat fluxes occur especially during the nighttime in large urbanized areas, characterized by poor vegetation, and are responsible for the formation of Urban Heat and Dry Island, i.e., higher temperatures and lower humidity compared to rural areas. They can be exacerbated under severe conditions, with dangerous consequences for people living in these urban areas. For these reasons, the need of accurately forecasting these phenomena is particularly felt. The present work represents one of the first attempts of using a very high resolution (about 600 m) in a Numerical Weather Prediction model. Performances of this advanced version of ICON have been investigated over a domain located in southern Italy, including the urban metropolitan area of Naples, considering a week characterized by extremely high temperatures. Results highlight that the activation of TERRA-URB scheme entails a better representation of temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed in urban areas, especially during nighttime, also allowing a proper reproduction of Urban Heat and Dry Island effects. Over rural areas, instead, no significant differences are found in model results when the urban canopy scheme is used.
Distribution and Characteristics of Ammonia Concentration by Region in Korea
Authors: Song In-Ho , Kim Hyun-Woong , Park Jong-Sung , Park Seung-Myung , Lee Jae-Yun , Nam Eun-Jung , Lim Yong-Jae , Park Jung-Min , Yoo Myung-Soo , Cho Seog-Yeon , Shin Hye-Jung
Published: September 2024

In this study, the characteristics of ammonia and their effects on secondary particulate matter (PM) formation were analyzed by region in Korea in 2020. The NH3 concentration was high in GJ (11.4 ppb), a neighboring agricultural area, followed by DJ (9.0 ppb) and SE (8.6 ppb), which are located in urban areas. On the other hand, BI (2.6 ppb) and JI (4.5 ppb), which are background regions, demonstrated a lower concentration than other areas. Seasonally, ammonia was high in spring and summer, and it generally increased when human activities are active. Therefore, it is believed that the ammonia in the atmosphere not only changes depending on local emissions, but also based on temperature-dependent phase distribution characteristics. For SE and GJ, regions with relatively high ammonia concentrations, investigations into the effect of ammonia on secondary PM formation were conducted. In both regions, the ammonium-to-sulfate mole ratio tended to increase with increasing ammonia or PM2.5 concentration. It can be assumed that the PM2.5 concentration increases as nitrates are formed under the ammonia-sufficient condition. The adjusted gas ratio is generally greater than 4, indicating that there is a lot of free ammonia. Thus, it is estimated that a reduction in ammonia would not be effective to restrain nitrate formation.
Elephant Random Walk with a Random Step Size and Gradually Increasing Memory and Delays
Authors: Aguech Rafik
Published: September 2024

The ERW model was introduced twenty years ago to study memory effects in a one-dimensional discrete-time random walk with a complete memory of its past throughout a parameter p between zero and one. Several variations of the ERW model have recently been introduced. In this work, we investigate the asymptotic normality of the ERW model with a random step size and gradually increasing memory and delays. In particular, we extend some recent results in this subject.
Parseval–Goldstein-Type Theorems for Lebedev–Skalskaya Transforms
Authors: Negrín Emilio Ramón , González Benito Juan , Maan Jeetendrasingh
Published: September 2024

This paper investigates Parseval–Goldstein-type relationships in the framework of Lebedev–Skalskaya transforms. The research also examines the continuity properties of these transforms, along with their adjoint counterparts over weighted Lebesgue spaces. Furthermore, the behavior of Lebedev–Skalskaya transforms and their adjoint transforms in the context of weighted Lebesgue spaces is analyzed. This study aims to provide deeper insights into the functional properties and applications of these transforms in mathematical analysis.
On Closed Forms of Some Trigonometric Series
Authors: Tričković Slobodan B. , Stanković Miomir S.
Published: September 2024

We have derived alternative closed-form formulas for the trigonometric series over sine or cosine functions when the immediate replacement of the parameter appearing in the denominator with a positive integer gives rise to a singularity. By applying the Choi–Srivastava theorem, we reduce these trigonometric series to expressions over Hurwitz’s zeta function derivative.
Extremal Trees for Logarithmic VDB Topological Indices
Authors: Su Zhenhua , Deng Hanyuan
Published: September 2024

Vertex-degree-based (VDB) topological indices have been applied in the study of molecular structures and chemical properties. At present, the exponential VDB index has been studied extensively. Naturally, we began to consider the logarithmic VDB index lnTf. In this paper, we first discuss the necessity of a logarithmic VDB index, and then present sufficient conditions so that Pn and Sn are the only trees with the smallest and greatest values of lnTf(T). As applications, the minimal and maximal trees of some logarithmic VDB indices are determined. Through our work, we found that the logarithmic VDB index lnTf has excellent discriminability, but the relevant results are not completely opposite to the exponential VDB index. The study of logarithmic VDB indices is an interesting but difficult task that requires further resolution.
Co-Occurrence of Fusarium and Alternaria Metabolites in Brewing Barley Monitored during Two Consecutive Years (2019–2020)
Authors: Habschied Kristina , Mastanjević Krešimir , Babić Jurislav , Krska Rudolf , Sulyok Michael , Lalić Alojzije , Šimić Gordana , Kovač Tihomir
Published: September 2024

Known mycotoxins have been investigated for years. They have been included in legislation and are meticulously controlled in most cereals, cereal-related products, and raw materials of animal origin. However, there are still mycotoxins that need to be addressed by regulations and subsequently are not monitored but can still occur in relatively high concentrations. This research aimed to assess the occurrence of common Fusarium mycotoxins in hulled barley. Samples of hulled barley were treated in the field with two protective treatments, alongside a control sample sans treatment. Furthermore, we aimed to assess the occurrence of Alternaria mycotoxins in the chosen samples. The results have shown that Fusarium mycotoxins were mostly determined by climatic conditions (no mycotoxins in 2020, except siccanol). Most interesting was the appearance of infectopyron, an Alternaria toxin that was detected in all samples in 2019 and in the majority of samples in 2020. The highest concentration was detected in 2019 in hulled barley with 536 µg/kg, while in 2020, the highest concentration of this mycotoxin reached 350 µg/kg. These findings depict the need for further research on food safety regarding mycotoxins, and the need for additional changes in legislation. This investigation shows that fungicide application in rainy years cannot efficiently suppress mycotoxin production. Additionally, even in dry years, some of the mycotoxins not involved in legislation, such as infectopyron and siccanol, do not respond to the application of fungicides.
Insights into Transient Dimerization of Carnitine/Acylcarnitine Carrier (SLC25A20) from Sarkosyl/PAGE, Cross-Linking Reagents, and Comparative Modelling Analysis
Authors: Giangregorio Nicola , Tonazzi Annamaria , Pierri Ciro , Indiveri Cesare
Published: September 2024

The carnitine/acylcarnitine carrier (CAC) is a crucial protein for cellular energy metabolism, facilitating the exchange of acylcarnitines and free carnitine across the mitochondrial membrane, thereby enabling fatty acid β-oxidation and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Although CAC has not been crystallised, structural insights are derived from the mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier (AAC) structures in both cytosolic and matrix conformations. These structures underpin a single binding centre-gated pore mechanism, a common feature among mitochondrial carrier (MC) family members. The functional implications of this mechanism are well-supported, yet the structural organization of the CAC, particularly the formation of dimeric or oligomeric assemblies, remains contentious. Recent investigations employing biochemical techniques on purified and reconstituted CAC, alongside molecular modelling based on crystallographic AAC dimeric structures, suggest that CAC can indeed form dimers. Importantly, this dimerization does not alter the transport mechanism, a phenomenon observed in various other membrane transporters across different protein families. This observation aligns with the ping–pong kinetic model, where the dimeric form potentially facilitates efficient substrate translocation without necessitating mechanistic alterations. The presented findings thus contribute to a deeper understanding of CAC’s functional dynamics and its structural parallels with other MC family members.
Evaluating the Clinical Utility of Left Ventricular Strains in Severe AS: A Pilot Study with Feature-Tracking Cardiac Magnetic Resonance
Authors: Cionca Carmen , Zlibut Alexandru , Agoston Renata , Agoston-Coldea Lucia , Orzan Rares Ilie , Mocan Teodora
Published: September 2024

Background: Aortic valve stenosis (AS) is the most common degenerative valvular heart disease, significantly impacting the outcome. Current guidelines recommend valve replacement only for symptomatic patients, but advanced cardiovascular imaging, particularly cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), may refine these recommendations. Feature-tracking CMR (FT-CMR) effectively assesses left ventricular (LV) strain and shows promise in predicting major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs), though data on AS are limited. This study explored the role of CMR-derived LV strain in predicting MACEs occurrence in patients with severe AS. Method: We prospectively assessed 84 patients with severe AS and 84 matched controls. Global longitudinal (GLS), circumferential (GCS), and radial strain (GRS) were evaluated using FT-CMR. A composite endpoint—cardiac death, ventricular tachyarrhythmias, and heart failure hospitalization—was analyzed over a median follow-up of 31 months. Results: GLS was considerably reduced in AS patients (−15.8% vs. −19.7%, p < 0.001) and significantly predicted MACEs (HR = 1.24, p = 0.002) after adjusting for LVEF, 6 min walk distance, native T1, and late gadolinium enhancement. This underscores GLS’s unique and robust predictive capability for MACEs in severe AS patients. Kaplan–Meier curves and ROC analysis both showed that GLS had the highest predictive performance for MACEs, with an AUC of 0.857. Conclusions: GLS provided independent incremental predictive value for outcome.
Magnetically Driven Quadruped Soft Robot with Multimodal Motion for Targeted Drug Delivery
Authors: Liu Huibin , Teng Xiangyu , Qiao Zezheng , Yang Wenguang , Zou Bentao
Published: September 2024

Untethered magnetic soft robots show great potential for biomedical and small-scale micromanipulation applications due to their high flexibility and ability to cause minimal damage. However, most current research on these robots focuses on marine and reptilian biomimicry, which limits their ability to move in unstructured environments. In this work, we design a quadruped soft robot with a magnetic top cover and a specific magnetization angle, drawing inspiration from the common locomotion patterns of quadrupeds in nature and integrating our unique actuation principle. It can crawl and tumble and, by adjusting the magnetic field parameters, it adapts its locomotion to environmental conditions, enabling it to cross obstacles and perform remote transportation and release of cargo.
A Fast Multi-Scale of Distributed Batch-Learning Growing Neural Gas for Multi-Camera 3D Environmental Map Building
Authors: Siow Chyan Zheng , Saputra Azhar Aulia , Obo Takenori , Kubota Naoyuki
Published: September 2024

Biologically inspired intelligent methods have been applied to various sensing systems in order to extract features from a huge size of raw sensing data. For example, point cloud data can be applied to human activity recognition, multi-person tracking, and suspicious person detection, but a single RGB-D camera is not enough to perform the above tasks. Therefore, this study propose a 3D environmental map-building method integrating point cloud data measured via multiple RGB-D cameras. First, a fast multi-scale of distributed batch-learning growing neural gas (Fast MS-DBL-GNG) is proposed as a topological feature extraction method in order to reduce computational costs because a single RGB-D camera may output 1 million data. Next, random sample consensus (RANSAC) is applied to integrate two sets of point cloud data using topological features. In order to show the effectiveness of the proposed method, Fast MS-DBL-GNG is applied to perform topological mapping from several point cloud data sets measured in different directions with some overlapping areas included in two images. The experimental results show that the proposed method can extract topological features enough to integrate point cloud data sets, and it runs 14 times faster than the previous GNG method with a 23% reduction in the quantization error. Finally, this paper discuss the advantage and disadvantage of the proposed method through numerical comparison with other methods, and explain future works to improve the proposed method.
Building Digital Twin Data Model Based on Public Data
Authors: Jeong Dawoon , Lee Changyun , Choi Youngmin , Jeong Taeyun
Published: September 2024

This study aims to propose a method for constructing basic digital twin data in South Korea by adhering to international standards and by utilizing publicly available data. Specifically, the study focuses on designing and proposing a digital twin data model for buildings, as building-related digital twin data are the most applicable among the basic digital twin data. To achieve this, the first section provides essential background information, introduces concepts and requirements related to basic digital twin data, and offers a brief overview of City Geography Markup Language (CityGML). The second section explains the methodology and the data used in this study. The third section presents the main findings: the selection of public data (building data) for constructing basic digital twin data, the mapping process using CityGML, and the creation of Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams. The fourth section discusses these findings. Finally, the conclusion and recommendations for future research are provided. This approach enhances the accuracy of building-related digital twin data and supports the use of digital twin services in both public and private sectors by enabling various spatial analyses.