bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Efficient Agrobacterium-Mediated Genetic Transformation Method for Solanum betaceum Cav. Embryogenic Callus
Authors: Cordeiro Daniela , Alves Ana , Ferraz Ricardo , Casimiro Bruno , Canhoto Jorge , Correia Sandra
Published: March 2023

Somatic embryogenesis in Solanum betaceum (tamarillo) has proven to be an effective model system for studying morphogenesis, since optimized plant regeneration protocols are available, and embryogenic competent cell lines can be induced from different explants. Nevertheless, an efficient genetic transformation system for embryogenic callus (EC) has not yet been implemented for this species. Here, an optimized faster protocol of genetic transformation using Agrobacterium tumefaciens is described for EC. The sensitivity of EC to three antibiotics was determined, and kanamycin proved to be the best selective agent for tamarillo callus. Two Agrobacterium strains, EHA105 and LBA4404, both harboring the p35SGUSINT plasmid, carrying the reporter gene for β-glucuronidase (gus) and the marker gene neomycin phosphotransferase (nptII), were used to test the efficiency of the process. To increase the success of the genetic transformation, a cold-shock treatment, coconut water, polyvinylpyrrolidone and an appropriate selection schedule based on antibiotic resistance were employed. The genetic transformation was evaluated by GUS assay and PCR-based techniques, and a 100% efficiency rate was confirmed in the kanamycin-resistant EC clumps. Genetic transformation with the EHA105 strain resulted in higher values for gus insertion in the genome. The protocol presented provides a useful tool for functional gene analysis and biotechnology approaches.
Poly(octamethylene citrate) Modified with Glutathione as a Promising Material for Vascular Tissue Engineering
Authors: Flis Agata , Trávníčková Martina , Koper Filip , Knap Karolina , Kasprzyk Wiktor , Bačáková Lucie , Pamuła Elżbieta
Published: March 2023

One of the major goals of vascular tissue engineering is to develop much-needed materials that are suitable for use in small-diameter vascular grafts. Poly(1,8-octamethylene citrate) can be considered for manufacturing small blood vessel substitutes, as recent studies have demonstrated that this material is cytocompatible with adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) and favors their adhesion and viability. The work presented here is focused on modifying this polymer with glutathione (GSH) in order to provide it with antioxidant properties, which are believed to reduce oxidative stress in blood vessels. Cross-linked poly(1,8-octamethylene citrate) (cPOC) was therefore prepared by polycondensation of citric acid and 1,8-octanediol at a 2:3 molar ratio of the reagents, followed by in-bulk modification with 0.4, 0.8, 4 or 8 wt.% of GSH and curing at 80 °C for 10 days. The chemical structure of the obtained samples was examined by FTIR-ATR spectroscopy, which confirmed the presence of GSH in the modified cPOC. The addition of GSH increased the water drop contact angle of the material surface and lowered the surface free energy values. The cytocompatibility of the modified cPOC was evaluated in direct contact with vascular smooth-muscle cells (VSMCs) and ASCs. The cell number, the cell spreading area and the cell aspect ratio were measured. The antioxidant potential of GSH-modified cPOC was measured by a free radical scavenging assay. The results of our investigation indicate the potential of cPOC modified with 0.4 and 0.8 wt.% of GSH to produce small-diameter blood vessels, as the material was found to: (i) have antioxidant properties, (ii) support VSMC and ASC viability and growth and (iii) provide an environment suitable for the initiation of cell differentiation.
Off-Stoichiometry Thiol–Ene Polymers: Inclusion of Anchor Groups Using Allylsilanes
Authors: Puchnin Kirill , Ryazantsev Dmitriy , Latipov Egor , Grudtsov Vitaliy , Kuznetsov Alexander
Published: March 2023

The use of polymers in silicon chips is of great importance for the development of microelectronic and biomedical industries. In this study, new silane-containing polymers, called OSTE-AS polymers, were developed based on off-stoichiometry thiol–ene polymers. These polymers can bond to silicon wafers without pretreatment of the surface by an adhesive. Silane groups were included in the polymer using allylsilanes, with the thiol monomer as the target of modification. The polymer composition was optimized to provide the maximum hardness, the maximum tensile strength, and good bonding with the silicon wafers. The Young’s modulus, wettability, dielectric constant, optical transparency, TGA and DSC curves, and the chemical resistance of the optimized OSTE-AS polymer were studied. Thin OSTE-AS polymer layers were obtained on silicon wafers via centrifugation. The possibility of creating microfluidic systems based on OSTE-AS polymers and silicon wafers was demonstrated.
Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing with Polyethylene Vitrimers
Authors: Montoya-Ospina Maria Camila , Zeng Jiachen , Tan Xiao , Osswald Tim A.
Published: March 2023

Polyethylene (PE) is one of the most widely used polymers in conventional polymer manufacturing processes. However, it remains a challenge to use PE in extrusion-based additive manufacturing (AM). Some of the challenges that this material presents include low self-adhesion and shrinkage during the printing process. These two issues lead to higher mechanical anisotropy when compared to other materials, along with poor dimensional accuracy and warpage. Vitrimers are a new class of polymers that have a dynamic crosslinked network, allowing the material to be healed and reprocessed. Prior studies on polyolefin vitrimers suggest that the crosslinks reduce the degree of crystallinity and increase the dimensional stability at elevated temperatures. In this study, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and HDPE vitrimers (HDPE-V) were successfully processed using a screw-assisted 3D printer. It was demonstrated that HDPE-V were able to reduce shrinkage during the printing process. This shows that 3D printing with HDPE-V will provide better dimensional stability when compared to regular HDPE. Furthermore, after an annealing process, 3D-printed HDPE-V samples showed a decrease in mechanical anisotropy. This annealing process was only possible in HDPE-V due to their superior dimensional stability at elevated temperatures, with minimal deformation above melting temperature.
Religious Participation: Does It Shape Food Consumption?
Authors: He Yugang , Tian Wanting
Published: March 2023

As an informal system, religion has a profound effect on all facets of our society. In reality, previous studies have investigated the consequences of religion on education, health, and others. Consequently, the purpose of this article is to examine the impact of religious participation on food consumption in China. Using data from the 2018 Chinese General Social Survey for an empirical study, the findings suggest that religious participation reduces food consumption. In the meantime, replacement food consumption (food2) is used for the robustness test. The findings confirm the argument that religious participation reduces food consumption. Moreover, this article investigates the geographically heterogeneous impact of religious participation on food consumption. The findings suggest the geographically heterogeneous effect’s existence. Specifically, religious participation has the greatest negative impact on food consumption in the western region. In contrast, religious participation has the least negative impact on food consumption in the eastern region.
Concordism and the Importance of Hybrid Models
Authors: Cabal Theodore James
Published: March 2023

Concordism functioned as the consensus view in Protestant circles until the rise of Darwinism. Darwinism upended evangelical beliefs about the relationship between the Bible and science, and concordism began to fall out of favor. Subsequently, theologians began formulating statements which collated doctrines and definitions in attempts to delineate boundaries for orthodox belief. Yet while definitions and doctrines are necessary for belief, they are not sufficient for fruitful discussion and discovery of how the early chapters of Genesis could accurately depict the Earth’s early history. With this realization, scholars began developing “hybrid models” which proposed intertwined theological-scientific theories in hopes of explaining both the known scientific evidence as well as the import of Scripture. Thus, even as concordism was disdained by theologically liberal academics, hybrid models multiplied, responded to new evidence, and achieved varying levels of adoption. Analysis of older hybrid models (as well as the recent hybrid model proposed by William Lane Craig) results in insights applicable to models more broadly as well as concordism in particular.
Home Chimney Pinwheels (HCP) as Steh and Remote Monitoring for Smart Building IoT and WSN Applications
Authors: Akin-Ponnle Ajibike Eunice , Capitão Paulo , Torres Ricardo , Carvalho Nuno Borges
Published: March 2023

Smart, and ultra-low energy consuming Internet of Things (IoTs), wireless sensor networks (WSN), and autonomous devices are being deployed to smart buildings and cities, which require continuous power supply, whereas battery usage has accompanying environmental problems, coupled with additional maintenance cost. We present Home Chimney Pinwheels (HCP) as the Smart Turbine Energy Harvester (STEH) for wind; and Cloud-based remote monitoring of its output data. The HCP commonly serves as an external cap to home chimney exhaust outlets; they have very low inertia to wind; and are available on the rooftops of some buildings. Here, an electromagnetic converter adapted from a brushless DC motor was mechanically fastened to the circular base of an 18-blade HCP. In simulated wind, and rooftop experiments, an output voltage of 0.3 V to 16 V was realised for a wind speed between 0.6 to 16 km/h. This is sufficient to operate low-power IoT devices deployed around a smart city. The harvester was connected to a power management unit and its output data was remotely monitored via the IoT analytic Cloud platform “ThingSpeak” by means of LoRa transceivers, serving as sensors; while also obtaining supply from the harvester. The HCP can be a battery-less “stand-alone” low-cost STEH, with no grid connection, and can be installed as attachments to IoT or wireless sensors nodes in smart buildings and cities.
Abnormal Brain Circuits Characterize Borderline Personality and Mediate the Relationship between Childhood Traumas and Symptoms: A mCCA+jICA and Random Forest Approach
Authors: Grecucci Alessandro , Dadomo Harold , Salvato Gerardo , Lapomarda Gaia , Sorella Sara , Messina Irene
Published: March 2023

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe personality disorder whose neural bases are still unclear. Indeed, previous studies reported inconsistent findings concerning alterations in cortical and subcortical areas. In the present study, we applied for the first time a combination of an unsupervised machine learning approach known as multimodal canonical correlation analysis plus joint independent component analysis (mCCA+jICA), in combination with a supervised machine learning approach known as random forest, to possibly find covarying gray matter and white matter (GM-WM) circuits that separate BPD from controls and that are also predictive of this diagnosis. The first analysis was used to decompose the brain into independent circuits of covarying grey and white matter concentrations. The second method was used to develop a predictive model able to correctly classify new unobserved BPD cases based on one or more circuits derived from the first analysis. To this aim, we analyzed the structural images of patients with BPD and matched healthy controls (HCs). The results showed that two GM-WM covarying circuits, including basal ganglia, amygdala, and portions of the temporal lobes and of the orbitofrontal cortex, correctly classified BPD against HC. Notably, these circuits are affected by specific child traumatic experiences (emotional and physical neglect, and physical abuse) and predict symptoms severity in the interpersonal and impulsivity domains. These results support that BPD is characterized by anomalies in both GM and WM circuits related to early traumatic experiences and specific symptoms.
A Multi-Channel Ensemble Method for Error-Related Potential Classification Using 2D EEG Images
Authors: Tao Tangfei , Gao Yuxiang , Jia Yaguang , Chen Ruiquan , Li Ping , Xu Guanghua
Published: March 2023

An error-related potential (ErrP) occurs when people’s expectations are not consistent with the actual outcome. Accurately detecting ErrP when a human interacts with a BCI is the key to improving these BCI systems. In this paper, we propose a multi-channel method for error-related potential detection using a 2D convolutional neural network. Multiple channel classifiers are integrated to make final decisions. Specifically, every 1D EEG signal from the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is transformed into a 2D waveform image; then, a model named attention-based convolutional neural network (AT-CNN) is proposed to classify it. In addition, we propose a multi-channel ensemble approach to effectively integrate the decisions of each channel classifier. Our proposed ensemble approach can learn the nonlinear relationship between each channel and the label, which obtains 5.27% higher accuracy than the majority voting ensemble approach. We conduct a new experiment and validate our proposed method on a Monitoring Error-Related Potential dataset and our dataset. With the method proposed in this paper, the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were 86.46%, 72.46% and 90.17%, respectively. The result shows that the AT-CNNs-2D proposed in this paper can effectively improve the accuracy of ErrP classification, and provides new ideas for the study of classification of ErrP brain–computer interfaces.
Bioluminescent-Triple-Enzyme-Based Biosensor with Lactate Dehydrogenase for Non-Invasive Training Load Monitoring
Authors: Zhukova Galina V. , Sutormin Oleg S. , Sukovataya Irina E. , Maznyak Natalya V. , Kratasyuk Valentina A.
Published: March 2023

Saliva is one of the most significant biological liquids for the development of a simple, rapid, and non-invasive biosensor for training load diagnostics. There is an opinion that enzymatic bioassays are more relevant in terms of biology. The present paper is aimed at investigating the effects of saliva samples, upon altering the lactate content, on the activity of a multi-enzyme, namely lactate dehydrogenase + NAD(P)H:FMN-oxidoreductase + luciferase (LDH + Red + Luc). Optimal enzymes and their substrate composition of the proposed multi-enzyme system were chosen. During the tests of the lactate dependence, the enzymatic bioassay showed good linearity to lactate in the range from 0.05 mM to 0.25 mM. The activity of the LDH + Red + Luc enzyme system was tested in the presence of 20 saliva samples taken from students whose lactate levels were compared by the Barker and Summerson colorimetric method. The results showed a good correlation. The proposed LDH + Red + Luc enzyme system could be a useful, competitive, and non-invasive tool for correct and rapid monitoring of lactate in saliva. This enzyme-based bioassay is easy to use, rapid, and has the potential to deliver point-of-care diagnostics in a cost-effective manner.
A Novel Catheter Distal Contact Force Sensing for Cardiac Ablation Based on Fiber Bragg Grating with Temperature Compensation
Authors: Lou Yuyang , Yang Tianyu , Luo Dong , Wu Jianwei , Dong Yuming
Published: March 2023

Objective: To accurately achieve distal contact force, a novel temperature-compensated sensor is developed and integrated into an atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation catheter. Methods: A dual elastomer-based dual FBGs structure is used to differentiate the strain on the two FBGs to achieve temperature compensation, and the design is optimized and validated by finite element simulation. Results: The designed sensor has a sensitivity of 90.5 pm/N, resolution of 0.01 N, and root–mean–square error (RMSE) of 0.02 N and 0.04 N for dynamic force loading and temperature compensation, respectively, and can stably measure distal contact forces with temperature disturbances. Conclusion: Due to the advantages, i.e., simple structure, easy assembly, low cost, and good robustness, the proposed sensor is suitable for industrial mass production.
iTex Gloves: Design and In-Home Evaluation of an E-Textile Glove System for Tele-Assessment of Parkinson’s Disease
Authors: Ravichandran Vignesh , Sadhu Shehjar , Convey Daniel , Guerrier Sebastien , Chomal Shubham , Dupre Anne-Marie , Akbar Umer , Solanki Dhaval , Mankodiya Kunal
Published: March 2023

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurological progressive movement disorder, affecting more than 10 million people globally. PD demands a longitudinal assessment of symptoms to monitor the disease progression and manage the treatments. Existing assessment methods require patients with PD (PwPD) to visit a clinic every 3–6 months to perform movement assessments conducted by trained clinicians. However, periodic visits pose barriers as PwPDs have limited mobility, and healthcare cost increases. Hence, there is a strong demand for using telemedicine technologies for assessing PwPDs in remote settings. In this work, we present an in-home telemedicine kit, named iTex (intelligent Textile), which is a patient-centered design to carry out accessible tele-assessments of movement symptoms in people with PD. iTex is composed of a pair of smart textile gloves connected to a customized embedded tablet. iTex gloves are integrated with flex sensors on the fingers and inertial measurement unit (IMU) and have an onboard microcontroller unit with IoT (Internet of Things) capabilities including data storage and wireless communication. The gloves acquire the sensor data wirelessly to monitor various hand movements such as finger tapping, hand opening and closing, and other movement tasks. The gloves are connected to a customized tablet computer acting as an IoT device, configured to host a wireless access point, and host an MQTT broker and a time-series database server. The tablet also employs a patient-centered interface to guide PwPDs through the movement exam protocol. The system was deployed in four PwPDs who used iTex at home independently for a week. They performed the test independently before and after medication intake. Later, we performed data analysis of the in-home study and created a feature set. The study findings reported that the iTex gloves were capable to collect movement-related data and distinguish between pre-medication and post-medication cases in a majority of the participants. The IoT infrastructure demonstrated robust performance in home settings and offered minimum barriers for the assessment exams and the data communication with a remote server. In the post-study survey, all four participants expressed that the system was easy to use and poses a minimum barrier to performing the test independently. The present findings indicate that the iTex glove system has the potential for periodic and objective assessment of PD motor symptoms in remote settings.
Antiviral Molecular Targets of Essential Oils against SARS-CoV-2: A Systematic Review
Authors: Iqhrammullah Muhammad , Rizki Diva Rayyan , Purnama Agnia , Duta Teuku Fais , Harapan Harapan , Idroes Rinaldi , Ginting Binawati
Published: March 2023

Essential oils are potential therapeutics for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in which some of the volatile compounds of essential oils have been well known for their broad antiviral activities. These therapeutic candidates have been shown to regulate the excessive secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which underlies the pathogenesis of severe COVID-19. We aimed to identify molecular targets of essential oils in disrupting the cell entry and replication of SARS-CoV-2, hence being active as antivirals. Literature searches were performed on PubMed, Scopus, Scillit, and CaPlus/SciFinder (7 December 2022) with a truncated title implying the anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity of essential oil. Data were collected from the eligible studies and described narratively. Quality appraisal was performed on the included studies. A total of eight studies were included in this review; four of which used enzyme inhibition assay, one—pseudo-SARS-CoV-2 culture; two—whole SARS-CoV-2 culture; and one—ACE2-expressing cancer cells. Essential oils may prevent the SARS-CoV-2 infection by targeting its receptors on the cells (ACE2 and TMPRSS2). Menthol, 1,8-cineole, and camphor are among the volatile compounds which serve as potential ACE2 blockers. β-caryophyllene may selectively target the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and inhibit viral entry. Other interactions with SARS-CoV-2 proteases and RdRp are observed based on molecular docking. In conclusion, essential oils could target proteins related to the SARS-CoV-2 entry and replication. Further studies with improved and uniform study designs should be carried out to optimize essential oils as COVID-19 therapies.
The Effect of Industrial Structure Upgrading and Human Capital Structure Upgrading on Green Development Efficiency—Based on China’s Resource-Based Cities
Authors: Shen Wanfang , Liu Yufei , Liu Xiaowen , Shi Jianing , Liu Wenbin , Liu Chengye
Published: March 2023

Green development is crucial to global natural resource conservation, environmental improvement and sustainable development. Furthermore, resource-based cities’ green development is more challenging compared with that of other types of cities. On such basis, it is a necessity to understand the green development level of such cities. Therefore, we introduce green development efficiency (GDE), which is a key indicator for measuring green development. This paper takes China’s 112 resource-based cities during 2010–2019 as its research object, and examines their GDE using the Super-SBM-Undesirable model. Moreover, industrial structure upgrading (ISU) and human capital structure upgrading (HCSU) have important implications for green development. To further explore the influence of ISU and HCSU on GDE, this paper employs a fixed effect model, an interaction effect model and a threshold model. Finally, considering the differences between different resource-based cities, the heterogeneity of ISU and HSCU on GDE in four types of China’s resource-based cities is also explored. It is found that (1) although GDE is on the track of steady improvement, the overall GDE was still relatively low during 2010–2019, with an average GDE of about 0.8; (2) ISU, HCSU and their interaction can promote GDE in resource-based cities and with the intensity of industrial structure increasing, the interaction effect of ISU and HSCU on GDE in resource-based cities shifts from positive to negative; (3) there exists heterogeneity in the direct effect and interaction effect of ISU and HCSU among four types of resource-based cities (i.e., mature cities, growing cities, declining cities and regenerating cities). Our findings offer a data reference for the green and sustainable development of China’s resource-based cities, and also a method reference for other countries’ resource-based cities.
Low-Carbon Lifestyles beyond Decarbonisation: Toward a More Creative Use of the Carbon Footprinting Method
Authors: Watabe Atsushi , Yamabe-Ledoux Alice Marie
Published: March 2023

There is a growing recognition of the urgent need to change citizens’ lifestyles to realise decarbonised societies. Consumption-based accounting (carbon footprinting) is a helpful indicator for measuring the impacts of peoples’ consumption on climate change by capturing both direct and embedded carbon emissions. However, while carbon footprinting can propose impactful behaviour changes to reduce carbon footprints immediately, it may deflect people’s attention from the much needed but time-consuming efforts to reshape the “systems of provisions” to enable decarbonised living. To propose a more constructive application of carbon footprinting, the paper examines the three cases of using carbon footprinting derived from the 1.5-degree lifestyles project, including citizens’ discussions and experiments in six cities in 2020 and 2021, citizens’ workshops contributing to the local policy development in 2022, and lectures and mini-workshops since 2020. Based on the examination of the cases, the article argues the broader purposes of using scientific data in citizens’ engagement in climate actions, namely to help deepen understanding of the systemic causes of the incumbent carbon-intensive society, to guide discussions on the desired conditional changes to support lifestyles shifts, and to help identify possible risks or negative consequences of changes to specific groups in society. These benefits contribute to developing relevant stakeholders’ essential capacities to promote changes at the individual, collective and public levels toward decarbonised societies.
Work Stress as a Consequence of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review
Authors: Dávila Morán Roberto Carlos , Sánchez Soto Juan Manuel , López Gómez Henri Emmanuel , Espinoza Camus Flor Carolina , Palomino Quispe Justiniano Felix , Castro Llaja Lindomira , Díaz Tavera Zoila Rosa , Ramirez Wong Fernando Martin
Published: March 2023

The purpose of the study was to explore the works and existing scientific information in the databases on work stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. The specific objectives were: to determine the approaches addressed by research on work stress and to analyze the main results achieved. The study was of a documentary type, with a bibliographic design, framed in a systematic review. The articles indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus databases were reviewed, considering the keywords and search limits: work stress, pandemic and COVID-19, published between 2020 and 2022; obtaining 161 articles. The inclusion criteria were applied: original articles, dealing with the subject, in English and with open access; leaving a sample of 22 publications, presented according to a PRISMA diagram. The main approaches addressed were: work stress, working life and remote work; work stress in health workers; work stress in agricultural workers; job stress in restaurant workers; work stress in teaching workers; work stress in prison workers and work stress, depression and anxiety. The results reveal that the workers who experienced the greatest work stress were those in the health sector, considering the latent risk of contagion for being the front-line personnel in care. Consequently, it was determined that the impact of resilience and social support can help minimize this condition.
Development Law of Overlying Strata’s Broken Fissure Based on Bored Imaging by Big Data Analysis
Authors: Zhang Xianmeng , Wang Jingchun , Feng Dan , Wang Minghao
Published: March 2023

This paper aims to provide the basis of the parameters and data interpretation for some important problems, such as the identification of the type of overlying strata and the analytical calculation, where the coal mine is employed as the object of the study. Particularly, the rock structure and fracture development characteristics of the overlying strata were observed, and the development conditions of the fracture zone were counted. By utilizing the on-site stress data, the inclination of the broken zone based on the rock fracture theory was calculated. The study shows that the distribution of the mining fissure is related to the rock and integrity degree of the strata, and that the native maximum expansion angle of fissure is 70.54°. With mining influence, small angle native shallow fissures will be bound to expansion, and the deep-mined fissure extension will be developed in the same direction. Moreover, it is easy to form the abscission layer, and then eventually form the fracture zone. The research results of this paper will not only provide an important foundation for the engineering practice, but also benefit the study of the simultaneous extraction of coal and gas.
Thermo-Hydraulic Performance Analysis of Fe3O4-Water Nanofluid-Based Flat-Plate Solar Collectors
Authors: Shafiq Mehak , Farooq Muhammad , Javed Waqas , Loumakis George , McGlinchey Don
Published: March 2023

A cost-effective alternative for lowering carbon emissions from building heating is the use of flat-plate solar collectors (FPSCs). However, low thermal efficiency is a significant barrier to their effective implementation. Favorable nanofluids’ thermophysical properties have the potential to increase FPSCs’ effectiveness. Accordingly, this study evaluates the performance of an FPSC operating with Fe3O4-water nanofluid in terms of its thermo-hydraulic characteristics with operating parameters ranging from 303 to 333 K for the collector inlet temperature, 0.0167 to 0.05 kg/s for the mass flow rate, and 0.1 to 2% for nanoparticles’ volume fraction, respectively. The numerical findings demonstrated that under identical operating conditions, increasing the volume fraction up to 2% resulted in an improvement of 4.28% and 8.90% in energy and energy efficiency, respectively. However, a 13.51% and 7.93% rise in the friction factor and pressure drop, respectively, have also been observed. As a result, the performance index (PI) criteria were used to determine the optimal volume fraction (0.5%) of Fe3O4 nanoparticles, which enhanced the convective heat transfer, exergy efficiency, and energy efficiency by 12.90%, 4.33%, and 2.64%, respectively.
Pumping-Induced Feed Water Quality Variation and Its Impacts on the Sustainable Operation of a Brackish Water Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant, City of Hialeah, Florida, USA
Authors: Kassis Zoie R. , Guo Weixing , Maliva Robert G. , Manahan W. Scott , Rotz Rachel , Missimer Thomas M.
Published: March 2023

Brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) desalination of groundwater is believed to be a sustainable method of providing municipal utilities with a high-quality supply in regions where freshwater sources are stressed and not sustainable. A key aspect of water management is the ability to evaluate an aquifer containing brackish water to ascertain future pumping-induced water quality changes and their impacts on the facility operation and economics. The city of Hialeah, Florida, has operated a BWRO facility for the last 9 years. The facility has a maximum design capacity of about 88,000 m3/d but is currently operating at about 33,000 m3/d. The facility was designed to treat water with a TDS of up to 10,000 mg/L. A detailed hydrogeologic investigation, including groundwater solute-transport modeling, suggested that the salinity of the source water would remain under 10,000 mg/L of TDS during the 30-year life expectancy of the facility. However, after 9 years of operation, it was found that the rate of salinity increase was much higher than predicted (27.5%), at the low rate of 33,000 m3/d. If the faculty was operated at the maximum capacity, the ability of the plant to treat the source water might be between 5 and 10 years. The conceptual model used to guide the solute transport modeling was not accurate for this site because it did not incorporate the apparent enhanced leakance through the basal confining unit below the aquifer. The greater leakance was likely caused by undetected, irregularly distributed fracturing of the underlying confining dolostones. The facility will require a major redesign to upgrade the process to be able to treat seawater at a TDS significantly above 10,000 mg/L in the future, should that occur. While the change will be costly, with a high capital cost to change the process, increased energy consumption, and overall higher water treatment cost, it is still more sustainable and has less environmental impact compared to other alternatives (e.g., treating tidal sources of seawater). The use of electricity from nuclear or solar generation could mitigate the environmental impacts of higher power consumption.
Anomaly Detection in Chest X-rays Based on Dual-Attention Mechanism and Multi-Scale Feature Fusion
Authors: Liu Dong , Lu Shuzhen , Zhang Lingrong , Liu Yaohui
Published: March 2023

The efficient and automatic detection of chest abnormalities is vital for the auxiliary diagnosis of medical images. Many studies utilize computer vision and deep learning approaches involving symmetry and asymmetry concepts to detect chest abnormalities, and achieve promising findings. However, an accurate instance-level and multi-label detection of abnormalities in chest X-rays remains a significant challenge. Here, a novel anomaly detection method for symmetric chest X-rays using dual-attention and multi-scale feature fusion is proposed. Three aspects of our method should be noted in comparison with the previous approaches. We improved the deep neural network with channel-dimensional and spatial-dimensional attention to capture the abundant contextual features. We then used an optimized multi-scale learning framework for feature fusion to adapt to the scale variation in the abnormalities. Considering the influence of the data imbalance and other factors, we introduced a seesaw loss function to flexibly adjust the sample weights and enhance the model learning efficiency. The rigorous experimental evaluation of a public chest X-ray dataset with fourteen different types of abnormalities demonstrates that our model has a mean average precision of 0.362 and outperforms existing methods.
Systematic Guidelines for Effective Utilization of COVID-19 Databases in Genomic, Epidemiologic, and Clinical Research
Authors: Seong Do Young , Park Jongkeun , Yi Kijong , Hong Dongwan
Published: March 2023

The pandemic has led to the production and accumulation of various types of data related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To understand the features and characteristics of COVID-19 data, we summarized representative databases and determined the data types, purpose, and utilization details of each database. In addition, we categorized COVID-19 associated databases into epidemiological data, genome and protein data, and drug and target data. We found that the data present in each of these databases have nine separate purposes (clade/variant/lineage, genome browser, protein structure, epidemiological data, visualization, data analysis tool, treatment, literature, and immunity) according to the types of data. Utilizing the databases we investigated, we created four queries as integrative analysis methods that aimed to answer important scientific questions related to COVID-19. Our queries can make effective use of multiple databases to produce valuable results that can reveal novel findings through comprehensive analysis. This allows clinical researchers, epidemiologists, and clinicians to have easy access to COVID-19 data without requiring expert knowledge in computing or data science. We expect that users will be able to reference our examples to construct their own integrative analysis methods, which will act as a basis for further scientific inquiry and data searching.
Physical Literacy in Female Youth: A Pilot Study Examining Its Association with Physical Activity, Sports Participation, and Physical Fitness
Authors: Parpa Koulla , Paludo Ana , Christodoulides Efstathios , Kobus Magdalena , Michaelides Marcos
Published: March 2023

This pilot study aimed primarily to investigate the association between perceived physical literacy (PL) and participation in organised sports and self-organised physical activity (PA) in female youth athletes and non-athletes. A secondary purpose was to investigate the association between perceived PL and physical fitness among female youth athletes. A convenient sample of 18 female youth soccer athletes (age: 14.56 ± 1.42 years) and 18 female youth non-athletes (age: 14.22 ± 1.22) underwent anthropometric measurements and responded to PL and PA questionnaires. The athletes completed physical fitness tests (e.g., cardiopulmonary, isokinetic, handgrip, and jump tests). The results indicated that the female athletes presented significantly higher scores for perceived PL and self-organised PA compared to the non-athletes. The PL components ‘sense of self and self-confidence’ and ‘knowledge and understanding’ were significantly associated with self-organised PA in both the athletes and the non-athletes, as well as with organised sports. An association was found between the total PL score for the athletes and the squat jump (r = 0.50), flexibility (r = 0.59), and left hamstring (r = 0.51) physical tests. The positive association between the self-perceived PL of female youth and their involvement in both organised sports and self-organised PA may help them fulfil their potential and also value and take responsibility for getting involved in PA for life.
En torno a Borges (El informe de Brodie)
Authors: Jarkowski Aníbal
Published: March 2023

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Time-Varying Functional Connectivity of Rat Brain during Bipedal Walking on Unexpected Terrain
Authors: Liu Honghao , Li Bo , Xi Pengcheng , Liu Yafei , Li Fenggang , Lang Yiran , Tang Rongyu , Ma Nan , He Jiping
Published: March 2023

The cerebral cortex plays an important role in human and other animal adaptation to unpredictable terrain changes, but little was known about the functional network among the cortical areas during this process. To address the question, we trained 6 rats with blocked vision to walk bipedally on a treadmill with a random uneven area. Whole-brain electroencephalography signals were recorded by 32-channel implanted electrodes. Afterward, we scan the signals from all rats using time windows and quantify the functional connectivity within each window using the phase-lag index. Finally, machine learning algorithms were used to verify the possibility of dynamic network analysis in detecting the locomotion state of rats. We found that the functional connectivity level was higher in the preparation phase compared to the walking phase. In addition, the cortex pays more attention to the control of hind limbs with higher requirements for muscle activity. The level of functional connectivity was lower where the terrain ahead can be predicted. Functional connectivity bursts after the rat accidentally made contact with uneven terrain, while in subsequent movement, it was significantly lower than normal walking. In addition, the classification results show that using the phase-lag index of multiple gait phases as a feature can effectively detect the locomotion states of rat during walking. These results highlight the role of the cortex in the adaptation of animals to unexpected terrain and may help advance motor control studies and the design of neuroprostheses.
Engineering In vitro Models: Bioprinting of Organoids with Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Lee Hyungseok
Published: March 2023

In the last decade, organoids have gained popularity for developing mini-organs to support advancements in the study of organogenesis, disease modeling, and drug screening and, subsequently, in the development of new therapies. To date, such cultures have been used to replicate the composition and functionality of organs such as the kidney, liver, brain, and pancreas. However, depending on the experimenter, the culture environment and cell conditions may slightly vary, resulting in different organoids; this factor significantly affects their application in new drug development, especially during quantification. Standardization in this context can be achieved using bioprinting technology—an advanced technology that can print various cells and biomaterials at desired locations. This technology offers numerous advantages, including the manufacturing of complex three-dimensional biological structures. Therefore, in addition to the standardization of organoids, bioprinting technology in organoid engineering can facilitate automation in the fabrication process as well as a closer mimicry of native organs. Further, artificial intelligence (AI) has currently emerged as an effective tool to monitor and control the quality of final developed objects. Thus, organoids, bioprinting technology, and AI can be combined to obtain high-quality in vitro models for multiple applications.
Studi Komparatif terhadap Implikasi Kenosis dalam Filipi 2:7 dan Jalan Menuju Pengosongan Diri dalam Buddhisme
Authors: Mordekai Mordekai
Published: March 2023

Abstrak : Kenosis merupakan suatu konsep yang lahir dengan berdasar pada narasi Paulus dalam Filipi 2:7 tentang “mengosongkan diri”. Dalam teorinya ditekankan, bahwa Yesus relah mengenakan bagi diri-Nya natur kemanusiaan. Tetapi Ia dalam inkarnasi-Nya sama sekali tidak melepaskan natur keilahian-Nya. Sekalipun dalam konteks itu, Ia sendiri telah menjadi manusia sejati. Adapun tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menguraikan kenosis Yesus Kristus dalam Filipi 2:7 dan pengosongan diri dalam spritual Buddhisme, sebagai usaha menemukan perbedaan ataupun persamaannya. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah komparatif, yaitu dengan membandingkan konsep kenosis dalam Filipi 2:7 dan pengosongan diri dalam Buddhisme. Kenosis adalah tindakan Allah mengosongkan diri dengan  menjadi manusia. Jalan seperti itu ditempuh oleh Allah, sebagai alternatif dalam mewujudkan misi penyelamatan-Nya bagi dunia. sedangkan pegosongan diri dalam Buddhisme adalah tindakan melepaskan diri dari kemelekatan terhadap materi dan semua yang bersifat sementara. Pengosongan diri dalam Buddhisme dikenal dengan istilah sunyata. Pengosongan diri adalah jalan membebaskan diri dari penderitaan dengan memfokuskan diri pada ilahi. Kenosis Yesus Kristus dan pengosongan diri dalam Buddhisme berjumpa pada usaha mencapai kebenaran. Kenosis adalah usaha Allah mendamaikan diri-Nya dengan dunia termasuk membenarkan manusa, sedangkan pengosongan diri dalam Buddhisme pembenaran yang dikerjakan oleh manusia sendiri. Para Buddhis mengosongkan diri agar dapat mencapai kesucian dengan berpijak pada ilahi.
Methane yield of paper industry waste in the presence of two compounds from alcohol and aldehyde groups during thermophilic anaerobic digestion
Authors: Yarsur Eda , Horvath İlona , Yangin-gomec Cigdem
Published: March 2023

In this study, effect of two chemical compounds (i.e., 1-octanol and hexanal) respectively from the alcohol and aldehyde groups on thermophilic (55±2 °C) anaerobic process digesting the waste produced at a paper industry was investigated. In this scope, possible inhibition was monitored by the cumulative methane (CH4) yields in the batch reactors digesting the paper waste as the feedstock at concentrations of 0.005%, 0.05%, and 0.5% for each compound. Comparing the effects of the two different groups with the control reactor having only the paper waste as the substrate, the results revealed that adding 1-octanol and hexanal up to 0.05% concentrations had some synergistic effect on biogas yield (i.e., from 3% to 12% enhancement). Accordingly, the highest methane yields were 550 and 567 mL/g-VSfed, respectively on average in the presence of 1-octanol and hexanal at a concentration of 0.05% while the cumulative methane yield was observed as 490 mL/g-VSfed for the control reactor. With the exception of 1-octanol at 0.5%, adding both compounds at each investigated concentration was beneficial for the digestion in the batch process. Therefore, the selected alcohol and aldehyde sources did not cause the expected detrimental effect on the methanogens even at the maximum amounts added in this study. Nevertheless, since the effect of the chemical compounds on methane generation has been generally concentration-dependent, the toxic effects of 1-octanol and hexanal would be better observed at higher concentrations (>0.5%), especially when their threshold levels are exceeded in anaerobic reactors digesting paper wastes.
ANALISIS KEBUTUHAN SISTEM INFORMASI INVENTARIS ASET PADA YAYASAN ASSANUSIYAH KABUPATEN GARUT
Authors: Tania Femilia Gina , Raharso M. , Sastrawan Jaka
Published: March 2023

Aset sangat penting bagi suatu organisasi karena dapat menunjang kegiatan yang dilakukan seperti pada Yayasan Assanusiyah. Banyaknya lembaga pendidikan dan perusahaan yang dikelola, aset yang dimiliki Yayasan pun cukup banyak. Supaya aset dapat bernilai tinggi, perlu adanya pengelolaan aset. Kegiatan inventarisasi merupakan salah satu pengelolaan aset yang telah dilaksanakan oleh Yayasan Assanusiyah. Namun kegiatan inventarisasi masih dilakukan secara manual dan tidak terintegrasi. Sehingga data aset Yayasan tidak realtime dan sering terjadi kehilangan maupun penumpukan aset pada satu lokasi. Tujuan dari penelitian ini yaitu untuk menganalisis kebutuhan sistem informasi yang tepat untuk membantu kegiatan inventarisasi aset Yayasan dengan menggunakan teori The Unified of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) yang terdiri dari empat dimensi, diantaranya performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, dan facilitating conditions. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini yaitu metode penelitian deskriptif dengan menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dan kuantitatif. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan yaitu wawancara, observasi, dan studi dokumentasi. Penelitian ini menghasilkan data mengenai kebutuhan sistem informasi yang sesuai untuk digunakan dalam pelaksanaan inventarisasi aset di Yayasan Assanusiyah.
ANALISIS KEBUTUHAN SISTEM INFORMASI MANAJEMEN ASET BERDASARKAN MODEL UNIFIED THEORY OF ACCEPTANCE AND USE TECHNOLOGY
Authors: Basya'ir Adnan Tajuddin , Priyatiningsih Katharina , Sastrawan Jaka
Published: March 2023

Badan Pelaksana Pengelola (BPP) Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) mengelola aset yang terdiri dari real property maupun personal property. Namun, saat ini pengelolaan inventarisasi aset pada personal property memerlukan upaya lebih dalam mengelola basis datanya dan dilakukan secara individual, sehingga terdapat ketidaksesuaian antara fisik aset dengan data yang dimiliki sebelumnya dan output yang dihasilkan tidak bisa didapatkan secara cepat dan akurat. Penelitian ini ditujukan untuk menganalisis kebutuhan sistem informasi manajemen aset yang sesuai untuk pelaksanaan inventarisasi personal property menggunakan model Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use (UTAUT) dengan empat dimensi pengukuran yakni harapan kinerja, harapan usaha, pengaruh sosial dan kondisi fasilitas. Metode Penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode deskriptif dengan pendekatan mix-method. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan adalah observasi, wawancara dan kuesioner yang ditujukan pada kelima orang di Bagian Laporan, Inventaris/Aset dan Rumah Dinas. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan pelaksanaan inventarisasi aset personal property tidak efisien, belum dapat meningkatkan efektivitas kinerja dan kualitas hasil dan terdapat kesulitan dalam melakukan pengonsepan awal lembar kerja pencatatan dan pelaporan. Selain itu, BPP TMII mendukung adanya sistem informasi untuk pengelolaan aset dan spesifikasi fasilitas yang cukup untuk menjalankan sistem informasi. Maka dari itu, BPP TMII dapat menerapkan RFID berbasis web pada aset tetap yang dimiliki