bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Antioxidant Active Phytochemicals in Ternstroemia lineata Explained by Aquaporin Mechanisms
Authors: Salgado-Medrano Nahim , Millán-Pacheco César , Rodríguez-López Verónica , Corona-Sánchez Lucía , Mesnard François , Molinié Roland , León-Álvarez Eleazar , Villarreal María Luisa , Cardoso-Taketa Alexandre Toshirrico
Published: August 2024

The antioxidant action of terngymnoside C (1) and hydroxytyrosol-1-glucoside (2), isolated for the first time from the flower buds of Ternstroemia lineata, as well as katsumadin (3), obtained from the seedless fruits, was evaluated using ABTS•+ and H2O2–Saccharomyces cerevisiae models. In silico docking analysis of 1, 2, and 3 determined their affinity forces to the aquaporin monomers of the modeled S. cerevisiae protein 3 (AQP3) and human protein 7 (AQP7) channels that regulate the H2O2 cell transport. The ABTS•+ antiradical capacity of these compounds showed IC50 values of 22.00 μM (1), 47.64 μM (2), and 73.93 μM (3). The S. cerevisiae antioxidant assay showed that at 25 µM (1) and 50 µM (2 and 3), the cells were protected from H2O2-oxidative stress. These compounds, together with quercetin and vitamin C, were explored through the modeled S. cerevisiae AQP3 and human AQP7 by molecular docking analysis. To explain these results, an antioxidant mechanism for the isolated compounds was proposed through blocking H2O2 passage mediated by aquaporin transport. On the other hand, 1, 2, and 3 were not cytotoxic in a panel of three cancer cell lines.
A Comparative Study on the Antidiabetic Activity, Cytotoxicity and Lipid Profile of Trichilia emetica Oils
Authors: Aldholmi Mohammed , Althomali Ebtihal , Aljishi Fatema , Ahmad Rizwan , Alqathama Aljawharah , Alaswad Deema
Published: August 2024

The Trichilia emetica plant is traditionally used for medicinal and food purposes. However, there are limited studies on the bioactivity and cytotoxicity of its seed butter and aril oil. This study aimed to assess the antidiabetic activity and cytotoxicity of seed butter and aril oil, obtained via two different extraction methods, and compare their lipid profiles. The plant samples were collected from the Faifa mountains and extracted using a Soxhlet apparatus for hot extraction and a magnetic stirrer for cold maceration. The antidiabetic activity and cytotoxicity were evaluated using the α-amylase and MTT assays, respectively. The fatty acids were quantified utilizing gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This study proves the impact of the extraction method on the yield, cytotoxicity, antidiabetic activity and lipid profile. The highest cytotoxicity was observed with the seed butter obtained via Soxhlet extraction. The α-amylase inhibition was observed at the highest levels with the seed butter and aril oil obtained via cold maceration. The palmitic acid (PA) and oleic acid (OA) were detected at their maximal concentrations in the seed butter obtained via Soxhlet extraction and aril oil obtained via cold maceration, respectively. This study represents an essential basis for understanding the importance of T. emetica as a valuable tree for food, cosmetic and medicinal purposes. Further experiments can lead to the development of green extraction techniques and isolation of the cytotoxic and antidiabetic molecules that can be developed into new pharmaceutical products or serve as lead molecules for new drugs.
Identification of Pathogen Causing Bulb Rot in Fritillaria taipaiensis P. Y. Li and Establishment of Detection Methods
Authors: Wang Shijie , Chen Keke , Guo Jiaqi , Zhang Panwang , Li Yuchen , Xu Zhenghao , Cui Langjun , Qiang Yi
Published: August 2024

Fritillaria taipaiensis P. Y. Li (F. taipaiensis) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine that has been used for over two millennia to treat cough and expectoration. However, the increasing cultivation of F. taipaiensis has led to the spread of bulb rot diseases. In this study, pathogens were isolated from rotten F. taipaiensis bulbs. Through molecular identification, pathogenicity testing, morphological assessment, and microscopy, Fusarium solani was identified as the pathogen causing bulb rot in F. taipaiensis. The colonization of F. solani in the bulbs was investigated through microscopic observation. The rapid and accurate detection of this pathogen will contribute to better disease monitoring and control. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and qPCR methods were established to quickly and specifically identify this pathogen. These results provide valuable insights for further research on the prediction, rapid detection, and effective prevention and control of bulb rot in F. taipaiensis.
Long-Term Bonding Performance of One-Bottle vs. Two-Bottle Bonding Agents to Lithium Disilicate Ceramics
Authors: Irie Masao , Okada Masahiro , Maruo Yukinori , Nishigawa Goro , Matsumoto Takuya
Published: August 2024

The aim of this study was to compare the long-term bonding performance to lithium disilicate (LDS) ceramic between one-bottle and two-bottle bonding agents. Bonding performance was investigated under these LDS pretreatment conditions: with hydrofluoric acid (HF) only, without HF, with a two-bottle bonding agent (Tokuyama Universal Bond II) only. Shear bond strengths between LDS and nine resin cements (both self-adhesive and conventional adhesive types) were measured at three time periods: after one-day water storage (Base), and after 5000 and 20,000 thermocycles (TC 5k and TC 20k respectively). Difference in degradation between one- and two-bottle bonding agents containing the silane coupling agent was compared by high-performance liquid chromatography. With HF pretreatment, bond strengths were not significantly different among the three time periods for each resin cement. Without HF, ESTECEM II and Super-Bond Universal showed significantly higher values than others at TC 5k and TC 20k when treated with the recommended bonding agents, especially at TC 20k. Difference in degradation between one- and two-bottle bonding agents containing the silane coupling agent was compared by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). For both cements, these values at TC 20k were also not significantly different from pretreatment with only Tokuyama Universal Bond II. For LDS, long-term bond durability could be maintained by pretreatment with Tokuyama Universal Bond II instead of the hazardous HF.
Generation of Microplastics from Biodegradable Packaging Films Based on PLA, PBS and Their Blend in Freshwater and Seawater
Authors: Apicella Annalisa , Malafeev Konstantin V. , Scarfato Paola , Incarnato Loredana
Published: August 2024

Biodegradable polymers and their blends have been advised as an eco-sustainable solution; however, the generation of microplastics (MPs) from their degradation in aquatic environments is still not fully grasped. In this study, we investigated the formation of bio-microplastics (BMPs) and the changes in the physicochemical properties of blown packaging films based on polylactic acid (PLA), polybutylene succinate (PBS) and a PBS/PLA 70/30 wt% blend after degradation in different aquatic media. The tests were carried out in two temperature/light conditions to simulate degradation in either warm water, under sunlight exposure (named Warm and Light—W&L), and cold deep water (named Cold and Dark—C&D). The pH changes in the aqueous environments were evaluated, while the formed BMPs were analyzed for their size and shape alongside with variations in polymer crystallinity, surface and mechanical properties. In W&L conditions, for all the films, the hydrolytic degradation led to the reorganization of the polymer crystalline phases, strong embrittlement and an increase in hydrophilicity. The PBS/PLA 70/30 blend exhibited increased resistance to degradation with respect to the neat PLA and PBS films. In C&D conditions, no microparticles were observed up to 12 weeks of degradation.
Novel Biobased Copolymers Based on Poly(butylene succinate) and Cutin: In Situ Synthesis and Structure Properties Investigations
Authors: Balla Evangelia D. , Klonos Panagiotis A. , Kyritsis Apostolos , Bertoldo Monica , Guigo Nathanael , Bikiaris Dimitrios N.
Published: August 2024

The present work describes the synthesis of poly(butylene succinate) (PBSu)-cutin copolymers by the two-stage melt polycondensation method, esterification and polycondensation. Cutin was added in four different concentrations, 2.5, 5, 10, and 20 wt%, in respect to succinic acid. The obtained copolymers were studied using a variety of techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), polarized light microscopy (PLM), as well as diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). A series of results, in agreement between different techniques, revealed the formation of PBSu-cutin interactions, confirming indirectly the successful in situ synthetic route of copolymers. DSC and XRD combined with PLM results provided indications that the crystallization temperature increases with the addition of small amounts of cutin and gradually decreases with increasing concentration. The crystallization process was easier and faster at 2.5%, 5%, and 10% concentrations, whereas at 20%, it was comparable to neat PBSu. The presence of cutin, in general, leads to the facilitated crystallizability of PBSu (direct effect), whereas a moderate drop in the glass transition temperature is recorded, the latter being an indirect effect of cutin via crystallization. The thermal stability improved in the copolymers compared to neat PBSu. Water contact angle measurements confirmed that the addition of cutin decreased the hydrophilicity. The local and segmental relaxation mapping is demonstrated for PBSu/cutin here for the first time. Enzymatic hydrolysis and soil degradation tests showed that, overall, cutin accelerated the decomposition of the polymers. The copolymers may be proven useful in several applications.
An Analysis of the Biocompatibility, Cytotoxicity, and Bone Conductivity of Polycaprolactone: An In Vivo Study
Authors: Hirsch Wâneza Dias Borges , Weber Alexandre , Ferri Janaine , Etges Adriana , Neto Paulo Inforçatti , Pereira Frederico David Alencar de Sena , Heitz Cláiton
Published: August 2024

Background: Tissue engineering represents a promising field in regenerative medicine, with bioresorbable polymers such as polycaprolactone (PCL) playing a crucial role as scaffolds. These scaffolds support the growth and repair of tissues by mimicking the extracellular matrix. Objective: This study aimed to assess the in vivo performance of three-dimensional PCL scaffolds by evaluating their effects on bone repair in rat calvaria and the tissue reaction in subcutaneous implant sites, as well as their impact on major organs such as the kidneys, lungs, and liver. Methods: Three-dimensional scaffolds made of PCL were implanted in the subcutaneous tissue of rats’ backs and calvaria. Histological analyses were conducted to observe the bone repair process in calvaria and the tissue response in subcutaneous implant sites. Additionally, the kidneys, lungs, and livers of the animals were examined for any adverse tissue alterations. Results: The histological analysis of the bone repair in calvaria revealed newly formed bone growing towards the center of the defects. In subcutaneous tissues, a thin fibrous capsule with collagenous fibers enveloping the implant was observed in all animals, indicating a positive tissue response. Importantly, no harmful alterations or signs of inflammation, hyperplasia, metaplasia, dysplasia, or hemorrhage were detected in the kidneys, lungs, and liver. Conclusions: The findings demonstrate that PCL scaffolds produced through additive manufacturing are biocompatible, non-cytotoxic, and bioresorbable, promoting osteoconduction without adverse effects on major organs. Hence, PCL is confirmed as a suitable biomaterial for further studies in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Tribological Characteristics of Fibrous Polyphthalamide-Based Composites
Authors: Shen Yuanyi , Buslovich Dmitry G. , Panin Sergey V. , Kornienko Lyudmila A. , Dobretsov Pavel V. , Kolobov Yury M.
Published: August 2024

The aim of this study was to investigate the tribological characteristics of commercially available high-strength polyphthalamide-based composites with great contents (30–50 wt.%) of both carbon and glass fibers in point and linear contacts against metal and ceramic counterfaces under dry friction and oil-lubricated conditions at various loads and sliding speeds. The lengths of both types of fibers were varied simultaneously with their contents while samples were fabricated from granules by injection molding. When loading PPA with 30 wt.% SCFs at an aspect ratio (AR) of 200, the ultimate tensile strength and the elastic modulus increased up to 142.7 ± 12.5 MPa and 12.9 ± 0.6 GPa, respectively. In the composites with the higher contents of reinforcing fibers PPA/40CCF and AR~1000, the ultimate tensile strength and the elastic modulus were 240 ± 3 MPa and 33.7 ± 1.9 GPa, respectively. Under the applied test conditions, a composite reinforced with 40 wt.% carbon fibers up to 100 μm long at an aspect ratio of ~1000 possessed the best both mechanical properties and tribological characteristics. One of the reasons that should be considered for improving the tribological characteristics of the composite is the fatigue wear mechanism, which is facilitated by the high filling degree, the strong interfacial adhesion, and the great aspect ratio for fibers. Under the oil-lubricated conditions, both friction coefficients and wear rates decreased, so such friction units could be implemented whenever possible. The reported data can be used as practical recommendations for applying fibrous polyphthalamide-based composites as friction unit components.
Large Enhancement of Photoluminescence Obtained in Thin Polyfluorene Films of Optimized Microstructure
Authors: Todor-Boer Otto , Farcău Cosmin , Botiz Ioan
Published: August 2024

There is a clearly demonstrated relationship between the microstructure, processing and resulting optoelectronic properties of conjugated polymers. Here, we exploited this relationship by exposing polyfluorene thin films to various solvent vapors via confined-solvent vapor annealing to optimize their microstructure, with the final goal being to enhance their emission properties. Our results have demonstrated enlargements in photoluminescence intensity of up to 270%, 258% and 240% when thin films of polyfluorenes of average molecular weights of 105,491 g/mol, 63,114 g/mol and 14,000 g/mol, respectively, experienced increases in their β-phase fractions upon processing.
Degradation of Biodegradable Nonwoven Mulches in the Winter Period
Authors: Kopitar Dragana , Marasovic Paula
Published: August 2024

An open field experiment from November 2022 to May 2023 in Croatia, which is characterized by a continental humid climate, evaluated nonwoven mulches made from viscose, jute, and hemp fibres blended with PLA fibres. The blends of viscose and jute fibres (90:10, 80:20, and 70:30 ratios) were produced using mechanical web formation on cards with needle punching for bonding webs. Additionally, hemp fibres were blended with PLA fibres in a ratio of 80:20. Winter conditions caused significant structural changes in the mulches, including shrinkage, increased mass per unit area, thickness, and reduced air permeability. The amount of PLA fibre in the nonwoven mulch blends significantly affected nonwoven fabric structure change during exposure to winter conditions. After 180 days, the breaking force of all mulches increased by 30% to 277%. The soil beneath jute and hemp mulches maintained higher temperatures and moisture levels compared to viscose mulches. Soil organic carbon content varied with fibre type and was higher under jute and hemp mulches. K2O content was significantly higher in soils covered by mulches. All mulches effectively suppressed weeds. The experiment results showed that the newly produced nonwoven mulches could replace the conventional agro foil. Results also suggest that choosing biodegradable nonwoven mulches produced from fibres obtained from natural and renewable sources can influence soil fertility and the availability of nutrients, ultimately affecting plant growth and agricultural productivity.
Simulation of Sodium Bicarbonate Purification via the Sodium Sulfate Carbonation Route
Authors: Petrauskas João Vitor , Faria Sergio Henrique Bernardo , Moreira Wardleison Martins , Bonfim-Rocha Lucas
Published: August 2024

The present work sought to study the mother water of the process and point out alternatives so that the water present in this solution can be recovered and the possibility of recycling it can be analyzed. The following alternatives were adopted: the evaporation of water without reaching the saturation point of the mother water and evaporation beyond the saturation point. For the first case, flash distillation was used to remove unwanted components, followed by an evaporation process. The second case was studied employing salt crystallization, for which crystallizers were used. This study was conducted with Aspen Plus® v12 software, which can represent the desired route, in addition to having data and tools that are suitable for the process modeling and simulation. For the evaporation without crystallization, it was noticed that it was possible to remove 23.89% of the water from the mother water. For the crystallization case, it was found that the mother water solution had dissolved ammonium sulfate for crystallization; however, it was necessary to first precipitate sodium sulfate. In the crystallization of sodium sulfate, it was possible to remove 85.62% of vapor from the mother water solution, containing water, ammonia, and carbon dioxide, thus inferring the possibility of recycling this current to the process. This study shows that it is not appropriate to insert evaporation equipment without thinking about the precipitation of by-products since there would be an increase in the price of the route, with little raw material for reuse.
Estimating Forest Inventory Information for the Talladega National Forest Using Airborne Laser Scanning Systems
Authors: Lee Taeyoon , Vatandaslar Can , Merry Krista , Bettinger Pete , Peduzzi Alicia , Stober Jonathan
Published: August 2024

Accurately assessing forest structure and maintaining up-to-date information about forest structure is crucial for various forest planning efforts, including the development of reliable forest plans and assessments of the sustainable management of natural resources. Field measurements traditionally applied to acquire forest inventory information (e.g., basal area, tree volume, and aboveground biomass) are labor intensive and time consuming. To address this limitation, remote sensing technology has been widely applied in modeling efforts to help estimate forest inventory information. Among various remotely sensed data, LiDAR can potentially help describe forest structure. This study was conducted to estimate and map forest inventory information across the Shoal Creek and Talladega Ranger Districts of the Talladega National Forest by employing ALS-derived data and aerial photography. The quality of the predictive models was evaluated to determine whether additional remotely sensed data can help improve forest structure estimates. Additionally, the quality of general predictive models was compared to that of species group models. This study confirms that quality level 2 LiDAR data were sufficient for developing adequate predictive models (R2adj. ranging between 0.71 and 0.82), when compared to the predictive models based on LiDAR and aerial imagery. Additionally, this study suggests that species group predictive models were of higher quality than general predictive models. Lastly, landscape level maps were created from the predictive models and these may be helpful to planners, forest managers, and landowners in their management efforts.
Improved Coherent Processing of Synthetic Aperture Radar Data through Speckle Whitening of Single-Look Complex Images
Authors: Alparone Luciano , Arienzo Alberto , Lombardini Fabrizio
Published: August 2024

In this study, we investigate the usefulness of the spectral whitening procedure, devised by one of the authors as a preprocessing stage of envelope-detected single-look synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, in application contexts where phase information is relevant. In the first experiment, each of the raw datasets of an interferometric pair of COSMO-SkyMed images, representing industrial buildings amidst vegetated areas, was individually (1) synthesized by the SAR processor without Fourier-domain Hamming windowing; (2) synthesized with Hamming windowing, used to improve the focalization of targets, with the drawback of spatially correlating speckle; and (3) processed for the whitening of complex speckle, using the data obtained in (2). The interferograms were produced in the three cases, and interferometric coherence and phase maps were calculated through 3 × 3 boxcar filtering. In (1), coherence is low on vegetation; the presence of high sidelobes in the system’s point-spread function (PSF) causes the spread of areas featuring high backscattering. In (2), point targets and buildings are better defined, thanks to the sidelobe suppression achieved by the frequency windowing, but the background coherence is abnormally increased because of the spatial correlation introduced by the Hamming window. Case (3) is the most favorable because the whitening operation results in low coherence in vegetation and high coherence in buildings, where the effects of windowing are preserved. An analysis of the phase map reveals that (3) is likely to be facilitated also in terms of unwrapping. Results are presented on a TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X (TSX-TDX) image pair by processing the interferograms of original and whitened data using a non-local filter. The main results are as follows: (1) with autocorrelated speckle, the estimation error of coherence may attain 16% and inversely depends on the heterogeneity of the scene; and (2) the cleanness and accuracy of the phase are increased by the preliminary whitening stage, as witnessed by the number of residues, reduced by 24%. Benefits are also expected not only for differential InSAR (DInSAR) but also for any coherent analysis and processing carried out performed on SLC data.
Utilizing the Google Earth Engine for Agricultural Drought Conditions and Hazard Assessment Using Drought Indices in the Najd Region, Sultanate of Oman
Authors: Al Nadabi Mohammed S. , D’Antonio Paola , Fiorentino Costanza , Scopa Antonio , Shams Eltaher M. , Fadl Mohamed E.
Published: August 2024

Accurately evaluating drought and its effects on the natural environment is difficult in regions with limited climate monitoring stations, particularly in the hyper-arid region of the Sultanate of Oman. Rising global temperatures and increasing incidences of insufficient precipitation have turned drought into a major natural disaster worldwide. In Oman, drought constitutes a major threat to food security. In this study, drought indices (DIs), such as temperature condition index (TCI), vegetation condition index (VCI), and vegetation health index (VHI), which integrate data on drought streamflow, were applied using moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data and the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform to monitor agricultural drought and assess the drought risks using the drought hazard index (DHI) during the period of 2001–2023. This approach allowed us to explore the spatial and temporal complexities of drought patterns in the Najd region. As a result, the detailed analysis of the TCI values exhibited temporal variations over the study period, with notable minimum values observed in specific years (2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2021), and there was a discernible trend of increasing temperatures from 2014 to 2023 compared to earlier years. According to the VCI index, several years, including 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, were characterized by mild drought conditions. Except for 2005 and 2007, all studied years were classified as moderate drought years based on the VHI index. The Pearson correlation coefficient analysis (PCA) was utilized to observe the correlation between DIs, and a high positive correlation between VHI and VCI (0.829, p < 0.01) was found. Based on DHI index spatial analysis, the northern regions of the study area faced the most severe drought hazards, with severity gradually diminishing towards the south and east, and approximately 44% of the total area fell under moderate drought risk, while the remaining 56% was classified as facing very severe drought risk. This study emphasizes the importance of continued monitoring, proactive measures, and effective adaptation strategies to address the heightened risk of drought and its impacts on local ecosystems and communities.
VCC-DiffNet: Visual Conditional Control Diffusion Network for Remote Sensing Image Captioning
Authors: Cheng Qimin , Xu Yuqi , Huang Ziyang
Published: August 2024

Pioneering remote sensing image captioning (RSIC) works use autoregressive decoding for fluent and coherent sentences but suffer from high latency and high computation costs. In contrast, non-autoregressive approaches improve inference speed by predicting multiple tokens simultaneously, though at the cost of performance due to a lack of sequential dependencies. Recently, diffusion model-based non-autoregressive decoding has shown promise in natural image captioning with iterative refinement, but its effectiveness is limited by the intrinsic characteristics of remote sensing images, which complicate robust input construction and affect the description accuracy. To overcome these challenges, we propose an innovative diffusion model for RSIC, named the Visual Conditional Control Diffusion Network (VCC-DiffNet). Specifically, we propose a Refined Multi-scale Feature Extraction (RMFE) module to extract the discernible visual context features of RSIs as input of the diffusion model-based non-autoregressive decoder to conditionally control a multi-step denoising process. Furthermore, we propose an Interactive Enhanced Decoder (IE-Decoder) utilizing dual image–description interactions to generate descriptions finely aligned with the image content. Experiments conducted on four representative RSIC datasets demonstrate that our non-autoregressive VCC-DiffNet performs comparably to, or even better than, popular autoregressive baselines in classic metrics, achieving around an 8.22× speedup in Sydney-Captions, an 11.61× speedup in UCM-Captions, a 15.20× speedup in RSICD, and an 8.13× speedup in NWPU-Captions.
Pseudo-Spectral Spatial Feature Extraction and Enhanced Fusion Image for Efficient Meter-Sized Lunar Impact Crater Automatic Detection in Digital Orthophoto Map
Authors: Liu Huiwen , Lu Ying-Bo , Zhang Li , Liu Fangchao , Tian You , Du Hailong , Yao Junsheng , Yu Zi , Li Duyi , Lin Xuemai
Published: August 2024

Impact craters are crucial for our understanding of planetary resources, geological ages, and the history of evolution. We designed a novel pseudo-spectral spatial feature extraction and enhanced fusion (PSEF) method with the YOLO network to address the problems encountered during the detection of the numerous and densely distributed meter-sized impact craters on the lunar surface. The illumination incidence edge features, isotropic edge features, and eigen frequency features are extracted by Sobel filtering, LoG filtering, and frequency domain bandpass filtering, respectively. Then, the PSEF images are created by pseudo-spectral spatial techniques to preserve additional details from the original DOM data. Moreover, we conducted experiments using the DES method to optimize the post-processing parameters of the models, thereby determining the parameter ranges for practical deployment. Compared with the Basal model, the PSEF model exhibited superior performance, as indicated by multiple measurement metrics, including the precision, recall, F1-score, mAP, and robustness, etc. Additionally, a statistical analysis of the error metrics of the predicted bounding boxes shows that the PSEF model performance is excellent in predicting the size, shape, and location of impact craters. These advancements offer a more accurate and consistent method to detect the meter-sized craters on planetary surfaces, providing crucial support for the exploration and study of celestial bodies in our solar system.
Recent Developments of Pineapple Leaf Fiber (PALF) Utilization in the Polymer Composites—A Review
Authors: Sethupathi Murugan , Khumalo Mandla Vincent , Skosana Sifiso John , Muniyasamy Sudhakar
Published: August 2024

Plant fibers’ wide availability and accessibility are the main causes of the growing interest in sustainable technologies. The two primary factors to consider while concentrating on composite materials are their low weight and highly specific features, as well as their environmental friendliness. Pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) stands out among natural fibers due to its rich cellulose content, cost-effectiveness, eco-friendliness, and good fiber strength. This review provides an intensive assessment of the surface treatment, extraction, characterization, modifications and progress, mechanical properties, and potential applications of PALF-based polymer composites. Classification of natural fibers, synthetic fibers, chemical composition, micro cellulose, nanocellulose, and cellulose-based polymer composite applications have been extensively reviewed and reported. Besides, the reviewed PALF can be extracted into natural fiber cellulose and lignin can be used as reinforcement for the development of polymer biocomposites with desirable properties. Furthermore, this review article is keen to study the biodegradation of natural fibers, lignocellulosic biopolymers, and biocomposites in soil and ocean environments. Through an evaluation of the existing literature, this review provides a detailed summary of PALF-based polymer composite material as suitable for various industrial applications, including energy generation, storage, conversion, and mulching films.
Aftermaths of COVID-19 Lockdown on Socioeconomic and Psychological Nexus of Urban Population: A Case in Hyderabad, Pakistan
Authors: Talpur Mir Aftab Hussain , Khahro Shabir Hussain , Khan Muhammad Saad , Shaikh Fahad Ahmed , Javed Yasir
Published: August 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic started in the last week of December, 2019. An emergency was declared throughout the globe as the virus spread over 208 counties within a short amount of time. This pandemic had significant negative impacts on common men living in densely populated countries, including Pakistan. Hence, this research aimed to record people’s perception of the 7th largest settlement in Pakistan, namely Hyderabad. This study mainly focused on socioeconomic and psychological parameters. The close-ended questionnaire was designed concerning the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). The DASS-21 is an optimal tool for recording the emotional values of depression, anxiety, and stress. A total of 400 questionnaires were filled out; they used a 5-point Likert scale. Significant socioeconomic issues were noted, such as lower household income, economic recession, job cuts, inaccessible Internet services during online teaching or working from home, etc. The primary challenges in the lockdown situation were Internet access (4.06) and anxiety (4.86) in the female population. There were higher levels of depression (N = 200), anxiety (N = 341), and stress (N = 125) in the local inhabitants. Other notable problems were illuminated, such as restrictions on social gatherings, electricity load shedding, and lower incomes. This study concludes that the degree of psychological problems varied according to the typology of gender. Based on study findings, this study recommends the prompt execution of policies considering possible future pandemics to restrain anxiety and depression in the female population. The local government is also advised to revitalize infrastructure to provide uninterrupted power supplies and Internet facilities. The income-generating channels should be open for lower-income households concerning future lockdowns.
Factors Influencing Women’s Entrepreneurial Success in a Patriarchal Society: Empirical Evidence from Morocco
Authors: Rharzouz Jaouad , Bouarir Houda , El Moutaqi Badreddine , Rizqi Nabil , Boubker Omar
Published: August 2024

The purpose of the current study is to identify factors associated with women’s entrepreneurial success. By embracing social feminism theory, this study provides a well-rounded analysis of the individual, social, institutional, and economic factors that shape successful women’s business development in a patriarchal society within a Muslim and Arab country. Following the conceptual model development, data were obtained from 212 Moroccan women business owners using a web-based questionnaire. The results, based on structural equation modeling, revealed the positive and direct influence of individual factors on women entrepreneurs’ success, including the need for achievement, and risk-taking. Additionally, external factors, particularly government support, social support, and access to finance, were found to be an important determinant of the entrepreneurial success of Moroccan women. This study enriches the existing knowledge on the determinants of the entrepreneurial success of women in developing countries. It offers offer useful managerial implications for policymakers who should implement appropriate actions to promote gender equality, as well as foster an environment conducive to enabling Moroccan women to launch and develop their own businesses.
Game Dynamics in Professional Padel: Shots Per Point, Point Pace and Technical Actions
Authors: Martín-Miguel Iván , Almonacid Bernardo , Muñoz Diego , Sánchez-Alcaraz Bernardino Javier , Courel-Ibáñez Javier
Published: August 2024

This study aimed to determine the distributions of number of shots per point, point duration, point pace and technical actions during the match in professional men and women padel players. A total of 35,145 hits (3239 points; men = 1602 and women = 1637) were analyzed in 20 matches corresponding to quarterfinal, semifinal and final matches of the World Padel Tour 2020 season. The observations were conducted through systematic observation and involved a total of 32 players (16 men and 16 women). Men’s points lasted 13.5–14.8 s, comprising 10–11 hits, resulting in a ratio of 0.80 shots per second, with no differences between sets. Women’s points lasted longer than men’s (14.4 to 16.2 s, p = 0.011) but included a similar number of shots per point, resulting in a lower rhythm of play (0.73–0.75 shots per second, p < 0.001), particularly in the third set (p = 0.004). Volleys, lobs and directs were used in >60% of the points, with a frequency of one to three times per point. Bandejas were used in 50–60% of the points, with a frequency of one to two times per point. Backwalls and flat smashes were used at least once in 30–48% of the points. Selective actions had a greater frequency of use in the third set (i.e., flat smash and smash x3 in women; forehand/backhand volleys and side-wall forehand in men), suggesting occasional changes in the style of play, but likely explained by the onset of fatigue. In conclusion, game volumes, intensity and actions remained broadly similar throughout professional padel matches.
Tracking the Dynamics and Uncertainties of Soil Organic Carbon in Agricultural Soils Based on a Novel Robust Meta-Model Framework Using Multisource Data
Authors: Ermolieva Tatiana , Havlik Petr , Lessa-Derci-Augustynczik Andrey , Frank Stefan , Balkovic Juraj , Skalsky Rastislav , Deppermann Andre , Nakhavali Mahdi (Andrè) , Komendantova Nadejda , Kahil Taher , Wang Gang , Folberth Christian , Knopov Pavel S.
Published: August 2024

Monitoring and estimating spatially resolved changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks are necessary for supporting national and international policies aimed at assisting land degradation neutrality and climate change mitigation, improving soil fertility and food production, maintaining water quality, and enhancing renewable energy and ecosystem services. In this work, we report on the development and application of a data-driven, quantile regression machine learning model to estimate and predict annual SOC stocks at plow depth under the variability of climate. The model enables the analysis of SOC content levels and respective probabilities of their occurrence as a function of exogenous parameters such as monthly temperature and precipitation and endogenous, decision-dependent parameters, which can be altered by land use practices. The estimated quantiles and their trends indicate the uncertainty ranges and the respective likelihoods of plausible SOC content. The model can be used as a reduced-form scenario generator of stochastic SOC scenarios. It can be integrated as a submodel in Integrated Assessment models with detailed land use sectors such as GLOBIOM to analyze costs and find optimal land management practices to sequester SOC and fulfill food–water–energy–-environmental NEXUS security goals.
Results of a Survey of UK Farmers on Food System Vulnerability over the Short and Long Term
Authors: Jones Aled , Bridle Sarah , Falloon Pete , Fredenburgh Jez , Reynolds Christian
Published: August 2024

We report the results of a survey of farmers and landowners to identify the most likely potential food system disruption scenarios for the UK and compare these with a previous expert elicitation with a much wider set of food system stakeholders. We found that 60% of farmers think a Societal Event in which 1 in 2000 people are injured in the UK is at least 20% likely to occur over the coming decade. Over a timeframe of 50 years, this increased to almost 90% of farmers. These results show that farmers and landowners are considerably more concerned about the vulnerability of the food system in the UK than the wider group of food system experts are. Farmers agreed with experts on the majority of potential causes of such vulnerability, which are climate change, trade policies (import and export), competition for land and ecological collapse (over 50 years). However, they also highlighted the importance of the power structure within the food system, with large corporations supplying to, or buying from, farmers creating lower revenue, making farming an unsustainable business. We conclude that an urgent systematic review of potential interventions that would improve resilience be conducted by the UK Government, in partnership with farmers.
Research on the Spatial Structure of Xinjiang Port Cities Based on Multi-Source Geographic Big Data—A Case of Central Kashi City
Authors: Wang Guiqin , Hu Jiangling , Wang Mengjie , Zhang Saisai
Published: August 2024

Exploring urban spatial structure plays an important role in promoting urban development, but there is a lack of research on the urban spatial structure of Xinjiang ports. This paper takes the central urban area of Kashi City as the study area and integrates points of interest (POI) data with nighttime light (NTL) data using the Open Street Map (OSM) road network to perform kernel density analysis, two-factor combination mapping, and partition identification. It identifies the spatial structural characteristics of the central urban area and divides it into different functional subdivisions. This research shows that ① the overall distributions of nighttime luminance values and POI kernel density are similar, and the overall distribution pattern gradually weakens from the city centre to the surrounding area. High-value areas are distributed in groups, presenting the spatial structure characteristics of one main area and two subareas. ② The fusion of POI data with OSM road network data identifies urban single functional zones and mixed functional zones and divides different functional zones in a more detailed way, with higher accuracy in identifying functional zones. ③ The coupling of POI and nighttime light remote sensing can better characterise the spatial features of the urban structure, such as large-scale homogeneous areas, urban fringe areas, suburbs and township centres, etc. The fusion of POI and the OSM road network can better characterise single and mixed land use types of urban land use and improve the part of the city that cannot be characterised by POI and night light. The results of this study are conducive to the realisation of rational and functional zoning in Kashi City and provide a reference for promoting urban human–land coordination and sustainable development.
Enumeration of n-Dimensional Hypercubes, Icosahedra, Rubik’s Cube Dice, Colorings, Chirality, and Encryptions Based on Their Symmetries
Authors: Balasubramanian Krishnan
Published: August 2024

The whimsical Las Vegas/Monte Carlo cubic dice are generalized to construct the combinatorial problem of enumerating all n-dimensional hypercube dice and dice of other shapes that exhibit cubic, icosahedral, and higher symmetries. By utilizing powerful generating function techniques for various irreducible representations, we derive the combinatorial enumerations of all possible dice in n-dimensional space with hyperoctahedral symmetries. Likewise, a number of shapes that exhibit icosahedral symmetries such as a truncated dodecahedron and a truncated icosahedron are considered for the combinatorial problem of dice enumerations with the corresponding shapes. We consider several dice with cubic symmetries such as the truncated octahedron, dodecahedron, and Rubik’s cube shapes. It is shown that all enumerated dice are chiral, and we provide the counts of chiral pairs of dice in the n-dimensional space. During the combinatorial enumeration, it was discovered that two different shapes of dice exist with the same chiral pair count culminating to the novel concept of isochiral polyhedra. The combinatorial problem of dice enumeration is generalized to multi-coloring partitions. Applications to chirality in n-dimension, molecular clusters, zeolites, mesoporous materials, cryptography, and biology are also pointed out. Applications to the nonlinear n-dimensional hypercube and other dicey encryptions are exemplified with romantic, clandestine messages: “I love U” and “V Elope at 2”.
Degree of Lp Approximation Using Activated Singular Integrals
Authors: Anastassiou George A.
Published: August 2024

In this article we present the Lp, p≥1, approximation properties of activated singular integral operators over the real line. We establish their approximation to the unit operator with rates. The kernels here come from neural network activation functions and we employ the related density functions. The derived inequalities use the high order Lp modulus of smoothness.
Symmetries and Invariant Solutions of Higher-Order Evolution Systems
Authors: Tracinà Rita
Published: August 2024

In this paper, we investigate evolution systems in two components, characterized by higher-order spatial derivatives and the presence of two arbitrary functions. Our study begins with an analysis of a fourth-order system. We perform a detailed group classification and identify specific forms of the constitutive functions that allow the system to exhibit additional symmetries in addition to spatial and temporal translations. We extend these results to nth-order systems. Moreover, we derive invariant solutions for these systems. Finally, for each order n, we are able to find non-negative solutions.
Soft Systems Methodology in Standardizing the Method for Applying Dolphin-Assisted Therapies in Neurodivergent Patients: Case Study of Delfiniti Mexico
Authors: Coria Páez Ana Lilia , Flores Hidalgo Brenda Lorena , Morales Matamoros Oswaldo , Moreno Escobar Jesús Jaime , Quintana Espinosa Hugo
Published: August 2024

Dolphin-assisted therapy (DAT) currently lacks a standard for their application, making it difficult to collect the consistent data necessary for comparative studies and the development of new evidence-based therapeutic strategies. Due to their high social component, DAT requires a standardized method that identifies the elements that affect them, understands their complex situations, and proposes solutions to the challenges. This study aims to establish the first steps towards standardizing DAT, using the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) as the central approach. SSM is suitable for addressing complex and ambiguous problems that involve multiple actors and perspectives. Through SSM, the study seeks to visualize problems, clarify conflict relationships that hinder standardization, and propose effective solutions. To establish an initial standard method, a time and motion study is performed to identify activities that disrupt the sequence of operations and the capture of EEG signals collected before, during, and after DAT. SSM allows for summarizing the current system situation, identifying and analyzing problems, clarifying challenges, and proposing pertinent solutions to achieve the standardization of this therapy. This methodology facilitates the identification of critical points and the development of intervention strategies that could improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the therapeutic process, establishing a more coherent framework for the implementation of DAT. Thus, the contribution of this work is based on systems thinking to strategic management, as it demonstrates the potential role of systems thinking, specifically SSM, in analyzing complex problems, improving strategy mapping, fostering strategic decision making, and planning for the future in the context of strategic management.
A Bi-Objective Model for the Multi-Period Inventory-Based Reverse Logistics Network: A Case Study from an Automobile Component Distribution Network
Authors: Khalilzadeh Mohammad , Antucheviciene Jurgita , Božanić Darko
Published: August 2024

Supply chain management and distribution network design has attracted the attention of many researchers in recent years. The timely satisfaction of customer demands leads to reducing costs, improving service levels, and increasing customer satisfaction. For this purpose, in this research, the mathematical programming models for a two-level distribution network including central warehouses, regional warehouses, and customers are designed so that several products with definite demands in multiple periods are distributed from central warehouses to customers. In this problem, two objective functions are considered. The first objective function seeks to minimize the costs of establishment, transportation, inventory, and shortage, and the second objective function attempts to maximize the satisfaction level corresponding with the supply rate of different goods for numerous customers. The presented models include the basic model, inventory-based model, multi-period inventory-based model, and multi-period inventory-based reverse logistics model. The validation and applicability of the proposed models were demonstrated by implementation in a real case study of the automobile industry. The LINGO software 20.0 was used to solve the models. The results show that incorporating the inventory management policies into the basic model and converting from a single-period to a multi-period reverse logistics model will significantly increase company profitability and customer satisfaction.