bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Correlation between dietary information sources and knowledge of adequate diets in Eastern China
Authors: Cui Bin , Wang Linda Dong-Ling , Wang Fu Rong , Peng Jing , Ma Jian Ying , Chen Xiang , Xu Mei Yin , Ke Jun , Tian Yi
Published: September 2022

Knowledge of adequate diets can improve an individual's health status. Although previous studies have identified the main resources from which Chinese people acquire dietary knowledge, it is still unclear whether information sources regarding diets (ISRDs) can increase individuals' knowledge of adequate diets (KAD) and which ISRDs are most effective in conveying KAD to the Chinese population. In this study, we interviewed 4,710 residents in Eastern China regarding their ISRDs and KAD. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and multivariate linear regression were used to analyze the effectiveness of different ISRDs in transmitting KAD to Chinese individuals and to determine the relationship between ISRDs and KAD. Results showed that the KAD scores of the respondents were low overall in Eastern China. Providing dietary information through expert lectures, books, newspapers, magazines, and social media could significantly improve the average KAD score of Chinese individuals. Respondents with a greater number of ISRDs were more likely to have higher KAD scores. These findings suggest that the number of ISRDs should be increased. In particular, emphasis should be placed on the role of expert lectures, books, newspapers, magazines, and social media.
Land cover classification of the Alps from InSAR temporal coherence matrices
Authors: Giffard-Roisin Sophie , Boudaour SalahEddine , Doin Marie-Pierre , Yan Yajing , Atto Abdourrahmane
Published: September 2022

Land cover mapping is of great interest in the Alps region for monitoring the surface occupation changes (e.g. forestation, urbanization, etc). In this pilot study, we investigate how time series of radar satellite imaging (C-band single-polarized SENTINEL-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar, SAR), also acquired through clouds, could be an alternative to optical imaging for land cover segmentation. Concretely, we compute for every location (using SAR pixels over 45 × 45 m) the temporal coherence matrix of the Interferometric SAR (InSAR) phase over 1 year. This normalized matrix of size 60, ×, 60 (60 acquisition dates over 1 year) summarizes the reflectivity changes of the land. Two machine learning models, a Support Vector Machine (SVM) and a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) have been developed to estimate land cover classification performances of 6 main land cover classes (such as forests, urban areas, water bodies, or pastures). The training database was created by projecting to the radar geometry the reference labeled CORINE Land Cover (CLC) map on the mountainous area of Grenoble, France. Upon evaluation, both models demonstrated good performances with an overall accuracy of 78% (SVM) and of 81% (CNN) over Chambéry area (France). We show how, even with a spatially coarse training database, our model is able to generalize well, as a large part of the misclassifications are due to a low precision of the ground truth map. Although some less computationally expensive approaches (using optical data) could be available, this land cover mapping based on very different information, i.e., patterns of land changes over a year, could be complementary and thus beneficial; especially in mountainous regions where optical imaging is not always available due to clouds. Moreover, we demonstrated that the InSAR temporal coherence matrix is very informative, which could lead in the future to other applications such as automatic detection of abrupt changes as snow fall or landslides.
Explicit simulation of environmental gas tracers with integrated surface and subsurface hydrological models
Authors: Delottier Hugo , Peel Morgan , Musy Stéphanie , Schilling Oliver S. , Purtschert Roland , Brunner Philip
Published: September 2022

Environmental gas tracers allow inferring groundwater travel times and mixing ratios. Their concentrations are commonly interpreted with simplified and indirect approaches that are conceptually at odds with the high degree of complexity found in natural systems. However, the information content of the tracers can potentially be fully explored through the explicit simulation of an advection-dispersion transport equation, for example using integrated surface-subsurface hydrological models (ISSHMs). These integrated models can be used to explicitly simulate environmental tracers in complex environments. ISSHMs are usually variably saturated flow models. However, these models do not explicitly simulate gas partitioning with the aqueous phase, restricting explicit simulation of gas tracers to fully saturated conditions or to tracers with very low solubilities. We propose a mathematical formulation for the production of environmental gas tracers that are emanated in the subsurface. The production is scaled according to gas/water partitioning and water saturation, which is already computed by the model. Therefore, ISSHMs can now be used to their full potential to explicitly simulate tracer concentrations under variably saturated and dynamic conditions. The new formulation has been successfully verified against reference simulations provided with a multi-phase flow and transport model. In addition, explicit simulation of 222Rn and 37Ar groundwater concentrations in a synthetic alluvial river-groundwater system was demonstrated, for the first time, with an ISSHM.
Calculating the Moore–Penrose Generalized Inverse on Massively Parallel Systems
Authors: Stanojević Vukašin , Kazakovtsev Lev , Stanimirović Predrag S. , Rezova Natalya , Shkaberina Guzel
Published: September 2022

In this work, we consider the problem of calculating the generalized Moore–Penrose inverse, which is essential in many applications of graph theory. We propose an algorithm for the massively parallel systems based on the recursive algorithm for the generalized Moore–Penrose inverse, the generalized Cholesky factorization, and Strassen’s matrix inversion algorithm. Computational experiments with our new algorithm based on a parallel computing architecture known as the Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) on a graphic processing unit (GPU) show the significant advantages of using GPU for large matrices (with millions of elements) in comparison with the CPU implementation from the OpenCV library (Intel, Santa Clara, CA, USA).
A Pilot Study on the Use of Generative Adversarial Networks for Data Augmentation of Time Series
Authors: Morizet Nicolas , Rizzato Matteo , Grimbert David , Luta George
Published: September 2022

Data augmentation is needed to use Deep Learning methods for the typically small time series datasets. There is limited literature on the evaluation of the performance of the use of Generative Adversarial Networks for time series data augmentation. We describe and discuss the results of a pilot study that extends a recent evaluation study of two families of data augmentation methods for time series (i.e., transformation-based methods and pattern-mixing methods), and provide recommendations for future work in this important area of research.
State of Charge Estimation of Lithium-Ion Battery for Electric Vehicles under Extreme Operating Temperatures Based on an Adaptive Temporal Convolutional Network
Authors: Miao Jiazhi , Tong Zheming , Tong Shuiguang , Zhang Jun , Mao Jiale
Published: September 2022

The accurate estimation of state of charge (SOC) under various conditions is critical to the research and application of batteries, especially at extreme temperatures. However, few studies have examined the SOC estimation performance of estimation algorithms for several types of batteries under such conditions. In this study, a new method was derived for SOC estimation and a series of experiments were conducted covering five types of lithium-ion batteries with three kinds of cathode materials (i.e., LiFePO4, Li(Ni0.5Co0.2Mn0.3)O2, and LiCoO2), three test temperatures, and four real driving cycles to verify the proposed method. The test temperatures for battery operation ranges from −20 to 60 °C. Then, an adaptive machine learning (ML) framework based on the deep temporal convolutional network (TCN) and Coulomb counting method was proposed, and the structure of the estimation model was designed through the Taguchi method. The accuracy and generalizability of the proposed method were evaluated by calculating the estimation errors and their standard deviations (SDs), its average errors showed a decline of at least 49.66%, and its SDs showed a decline of at least 45.88% when compared to four popular ML methods. These traditional ML methods performed poor accuracy and stability at extreme temperatures (−20 and 60 °C) when compared to 25 °C, while the proposed adaptive method exhibited stable and high performances at different temperatures.
ECQV-Based Lightweight Revocable Authentication Protocol for Electric Vehicle Charging
Authors: Almuhaideb Abdullah M. , Algothami Sammar S.
Published: September 2022

In the near future, using electric vehicles will almost certainly be required for the sustainability of nature and our planet. The most significant challenge that users are concerned about is the availability of electric vehicle charging stations. Therefore, to maximize the availability of electric vehicle charging stations, we suggest taking benefit from individual sellers who produce renewable energy from their homes or electric vehicle owners who have charging piles installed in their homes. However, energy services that are rapidly being offered by these businesses do not have a trust connection developed with the consumers and stakeholders in these new systems. Exchange of data related to electric vehicles and energy aggregators can be used to identify users’ behavior and compromise their privacy. Consequently, it is necessary to set up a charging system that will guarantee privacy and security. Several electric vehicle charging systems have been proposed to provide security and privacy preservation. However, ensuring anonymity alone is not enough to guarantee protection from reconstructing the victim vehicle’s route by the tracking adversary, even if the exchanged messages are completely anonymous. Furthermore, anonymity should not be absolute in order to protect the system and function as necessary by all entities. In this research, we propose an effective, secure, and privacy-preserving authentication method based on the Elliptic Curve Qu–Vanstone for an electric vehicle charging system. The proposed scheme provides all the necessary requirements and a reauthentication protocol to minimize the overhead of subsequent authentication processes. To create credentials and validate electric vehicles and energy aggregators, the scheme makes use of the Elliptic Curve Qu–Vanstone implicit certificate mechanism. The new protocols give EVs security and privacy while cutting computational time by 95% thanks to reauthentication, as demonstrated by the performance comparison with earlier works.
Non-Contacting Plant Health Monitoring via Ultrasound in Ambient Air
Authors: Yang Teng , Jin Yuqi , Dahotre Narendra B. , Neogi Arup
Published: September 2022

In this work, we report a non-destructive and non-contacting ultrasound system with a novel air-coupled transducer to continuously monitor the drying process of prickly pear (nopal) pads in a lab environment. Compared with conventional imaging and spectroscopic methods or electrical-based approaches, ultrasound-based methods are non-invasive, cost-effective, and suitable for large volume evaluation. The time-dependent elastic modulus of the cactus can be obtained and monitored by using our proposed ultrasonic method. The evaluated elastic modulus behavior shows a good agreement with the destructive testing results in the existing literature. With further development, the proposed method can be used for in vivo plant health monitoring.
Optimized Adaptive Radiotherapy with Individualized Plan Library for Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer Using Internal Target Volume Generation
Authors: Jo Yoon Young , Yea Ji Woon , Park Jaehyeon , Oh Se An , Park Jae Won
Published: September 2022

The bladder is subject to filling variation, which poses a challenge to radiotherapy (RT) delivery. We aimed to assess feasibility and clinical outcomes in patients with bladder cancer treated with adaptive RT (ART) using individualized plan libraries. We retrospectively analyzed 19 patients who underwent RT for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) in 2015–2021. Four planning computed tomography (CT) scans were acquired at 15-min intervals, and a library of three intensity-modulated RT plans were generated using internal target volumes (ITVs). A post-treatment cone-beam CT (CBCT) scan was acquired daily to assess intra-fraction filling and coverage. All patients completed the treatment, with 408 post-treatment CBCT scans. The bladder was out of the planning target volume (PTV) range in 12 scans. The volumes of the evaluated PTV plans were significantly smaller than those of conventional PTV. The 1-year and 2-year overall survival rates were 88.2% and 63.7%, respectively. Of eight cases that experienced recurrence, only two developed MIBC. There were no grade 3 or higher RT-related adverse events. ART using plan libraries and ITVs demonstrated good survival outcomes with a high local control rate. Irradiated normal tissue volume and treatment margins may be reduced through this approach, potentially resulting in lower toxicity rates.
The Spliceosome: A New Therapeutic Target in Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia
Authors: Lebecque Benjamin , Bourgne Celine , Munje Chinmay , Berger Juliette , Tassin Thomas , Cony-Makhoul Pascale , Guerci-Bresler Agnès , Johnson-Ansah Hyacinthe , Liu Wei , Saugues Sandrine , Tchirkov Andrei , Vetrie David , Copland Mhairi , Berger Marc G.
Published: September 2022

RNA splicing factors are frequently altered in cancer and can act as both oncoproteins and tumour suppressors. They have been found mutated or deregulated, justifying the growing interest in the targeting of splicing catalysis, splicing regulatory proteins, and/or specific, key altered splicing events. We recently showed that the DNA methylation alterations of CD34+CD15− chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) cells affect, among others, alternative splicing genes, suggesting that spliceosome actors might be altered in chronic-phase (CP)-CML. We investigated the expression of 12 spliceosome genes known to be oncogenes or tumour suppressor genes in primary CP-CML CD34+ cells at diagnosis (n = 15). We found that CP-CML CD34+ cells had a distinct splicing signature profile as compared with healthy donor CD34+ cells or whole CP-CML cells, suggesting: (i) a spliceosome deregulation from the diagnosis time and (ii) an intraclonal heterogeneity. We could identify three profile types, but there was no relationship with a patient’s characteristics. By incubating cells with TKI and/or a spliceosome-targeted drug (TG003), we showed that CP-CML CD34+ cells are both BCR::ABL and spliceosome dependent, with the combination of the two drugs showing an additive effect while sparing healthy donors cells. Our results suggest that the spliceosome may be a new potential target for the treatment of CML.
Functional Downregulation of PD-L1 and PD-L2 by CpG and non-CpG Oligonucleotides in Melanoma Cells
Authors: Kleemann Johannes , Steinhorst Katja , König Veronika , Zöller Nadja , Cinatl Jindrich , Özistanbullu Deniz , Kaufmann Roland , Meissner Markus , Kippenberger Stefan
Published: September 2022

The clinical application of immune checkpoint inhibitors represents a breakthrough progress in the treatment of metastasized melanoma and other tumor entities. In the present study, it was hypothesized that oligonucleotides (ODNs), known as modulators of the immune response, have an impact on the endogenous expression of checkpoint molecules, namely PD-L1 and PD-L2 (PD-L1/2). IFNγ-stimulated melanoma cells (A375, SK-Mel-28) were treated with different synthetically manufactured oligonucleotides which differed in sequence, length and backbone composition. It was found that a variety of different ODN sequences significantly suppressed PD-L1/2 expression. This effect was dependent on length and phosphorothioate (PTO) backbone. In particular, a sequence containing solely guanines (nCpG-6-PTO) was highly effective in downregulating PD-L1/2 at the protein, mRNA and promoter levels. Mechanistically, we gave evidence that ODNs with G-quartet-forming motifs suppress the interferon signaling axis (JAK/STAT/IRF1). Our findings identify a subset of ODNs as interesting pharmacological compounds that could expand the arsenal of targeted therapies to combat the immunological escape of tumor cells.
Fermented Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.) Supplementation in the Prevention of HPV-Induced Cervical Cancer: From Mechanisms to Clinical Outcomes
Authors: Kharaeva Zaira , Trakhtman Pavel , Trakhtman Ilya , De Luca Chiara , Mayer Wolfgang , Chung Jessie , Ibragimova Galina , Korkina Liudmila
Published: September 2022

In the observational clinical study, we identified the oxidative markers of HPV-associated cervical carcinogenesis and the local/circulating ligands of TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis. Cervical biopsies of 196 females infected with low-cancer-risk HPV10/13 or high-cancer-risk HPV16/18 (healthy, pre-cancerous CIN I and CIN II, and CIN III carcinoma) were analysed for OH radical scavenging, catalase, GSH-peroxidase, myeloperoxidase (MPO), nitrate/nitrite, nitrotyrosine, and isoprostane. Ligands of TNF-alpha-dependent apoptosis (TNF-alpha, TRAIL, IL-2, and sFAS) were determined in cervical fluid, biopsies, and serum. Cervical MPO was highly enhanced, while nitrotyrosine decreased in CIN III. Local/circulating TRAIL was remarkably decreased, and higher-than-control serum TNF-alpha and IL-2 levels were found in the CIN I and CIN III groups. Then, 250 females infected with HPV16/18 (healthy and with CIN I and CIN II) were recruited into a placebo-controlled clinical study of supplementation with fermented mangosteen (FM, 28g/day, daily) for three months. Post-trial colposcopy revealed normal patterns in 100% of the FM group versus 62% of the placebo group. Inflammatory cells in cervical fluid were found in 21% of the FM group versus 40% of the placebo group. Locally, FM drastically diminished MPO and NO2/NO3, while it remarkably increased TRAIL. Additionally, FM supplementation normalised serum TRAIL, TNF-alpha, and IL-2.
Plasma Copy Number Alteration-Based Prognostic and Predictive Multi-Gene Risk Score in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
Authors: Huang Jinyong , Du Meijun , Soupir Alex , Wang Liewei , Tan Winston , Kalari Krishna R. , Kilari Deepak , Park Jong , Huang Chiang-Ching , Kohli Manish , Wang Liang
Published: September 2022

Prostate cancer (PCa) accounted for more than 34,000 deaths in US males [...]
Proposed Mechanism for Emodin as Agent for Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus: In Vitro Testing and In Silico Study
Authors: Ghoneim Mohammed M. , Al-Serwi Rasha Hamed , El-Sherbiny Mohamed , El-ghaly El-sayed M. , Hamad Amal E. , Abdelgawad Mohamed A. , Ragab Ehab A. , Bukhari Sarah I. , Bukhari Khulud , Elokely Khaled , Nael Manal A.
Published: September 2022

In the search for a new anti-MRSA lead compound, emodin was identified as a good lead against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Emodin serves as a new scaffold to design novel and effective anti-MRSA agents. Because rational drug discovery is limited by the knowledge of the drug target, α-hemolysin of Staphylococcus aureus was used in this study because it has an essential role in Staphylococcus infections and because emodin shares structural features with compounds that target this enzyme. In order to explore emodin’s interactions with α-hemolysin, all possible ligand binding pockets were identified and investigated. Two ligand pockets were detected based on bound ligands and other reports. The third pocket was identified as a cryptic site after molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. MD simulations were conducted for emodin in each pocket to identify the most plausible ligand site and to aid in the design of potent anti-MRSA agents. Binding of emodin to site 1 was most stable (RMSD changes within 1 Å), while in site 2, the binding pose of emodin fluctuated, and it left after 20 ns. In site 3, it was stable during the first 50 ns, and then it started to move out of the binding site. Site 1 is a possible ligand binding pocket, and this study sheds more light on interaction types, binding mode, and key amino acids involved in ligand binding essential for better lead design. Emodin showed an IC50 value of 6.3 μg/mL, while 1, 6, and 8 triacetyl emodin showed no activity against MRSA. A molecular modeling study was pursued to better understand effective binding requirements for a lead.
Investigation of Electrical and Thermal Performance of a Commercial PEM Electrolyzer under Dynamic Solicitations
Authors: Mustapha Feriel , Guilbert Damien , El-Ganaoui Mohammed
Published: September 2022

Hydrogen generation through electrolyzers has gained a growing interest from researchers and industries to decarbonize transportation and electricity production. The performance of electrolyzers is strongly dependent on their operating conditions, such as the supply current, temperature, and pressure. To meet near-zero emissions, the electrolyzer must be supplied by low-carbon energy sources. Therefore, renewable energy sources must be considered. However, these sources are strongly linked with the weather conditions, so they have a high dynamic behavior. Therefore, this article is focused on the investigation of the effects of these dynamic solicitations on the electrical and thermal performance of electrolyzers. In this study, a proton exchange membrane (PEM) has been chosen to carry out this investigation. Experimental tests have been performed, emphasizing the relationship between the electrical and thermal performance of the PEM electrolyzer. The purpose of this work is to provide an optimal scenario of the operation of the electrolyzer under dynamic solicitations and consequently, to decrease the degradation of the electrolyzer.
New Unexpected Species of Acheta (Orthoptera, Gryllidae) from the Italian Volcanic Island of Pantelleria
Authors: Massa Bruno , Cusimano Camillo Antonino , Fontana Paolo , Brizio Cesare
Published: September 2022

In late April 2022, while listening to audio files from an unsupervised bioacoustic assessment of the shearwater populations (Aves, Procellariiformes) on the coast of Pantelleria island (Sicily, Italy), a cricket song of unknown attribution was heard. The first bioacoustic analyses, including FFT-based spectrograms and sound pressure envelopes, confirmed that it could not be attributed to the known sound of any Italian nor Mediterranean species of cricket. In the ensuing weeks, field research at the original station and further localities on the southern coast of Pantelleria provided photographs, living specimens, and further audio records. As soon as the photos were shared among the authors, it became clear the species belonged to the genus Acheta. Further bioacoustic analyses and morphological comparison with type specimens of Mediterranean and North-African congenerics in relevant collections and the scientific literature were conducted: they confirmed that the findings could only be attributed to a still undescribed species that escaped detection due to its impervious and unfrequented habitat. Acheta pantescus n. sp. is apparently restricted to the effusive coastal cliffs of the island of Pantelleria, a habitat whose scant extension and vulnerability require environmental protection actions such as the inclusion in a special Red List by the IUCN Italian Committee.
The Mitogenome Structure of Righteye Flounders (Pleuronectidae): Molecular Phylogeny and Systematics of the Family in East Asia
Authors: Redin Alexander D. , Kartavtsev Yuri Ph.
Published: September 2022

This paper reports the first complete sequence of the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the yellow-striped flounder Pseudopleuronectes herzensteini (Pleuronectoidei: Pleuronectidae). Mitogenome evolution, and molecular phylogenetic reconstruction based on four to six techniques, including coalescent analysis, were performed for flatfish. The genome size of the specimen sampled was 16,845 bp, including 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 12S, and 16S rRNA genes, and the control region, CR. The composition and arrangement of the genes are similar to those in other teleost fish, including the second mitogenome reported in this paper. The frequency of A, C, G, and T nucleotides in the P. herzensteini mitogenome is 27%, 29.2%, 17.6%, and 26.2%, respectively. The ratio of complementary nucleotides in the mitogenome of this and other species of the family was A+T:G+C (53.2: 46.8%) and do not deviate significantly from the expected equilibrium proportion. The submission to the global database (GenBank) of two new mitogenomes along with 106 analyzed GenBank sequences will contribute to phylogenetic studies of flounders at the family and suborder levels. Based on 26 and 108 nucleotide sequences of protein-coding genes (PCGs), we investigated the molecular phylogeny of flounders and performed analysis for two sets of sequences, including those of members of the family Pleuronectidae and the suborder Pleuronectoidei and estimated their importance in establishing the taxonomy at these two levels. Data obtained by up to six techniques of multigene phylogenetic reconstructions support monophyly within the family Pleuronectidae with high statistical confidence; however, conclusions regarding the phylogenetics at the suborder level require further investigation. Our results also revealed paraphyletic and weakly supported branches that are especially numerous at the suborder level; thus, there is a clear need for taxonomic revisions at the suborder, and possibly family levels. Genetic distance analysis reveals the suitability for DNA barcoding of species specimens at single genes as well as at whole mitogenome data.
Sandaracinobacteroides saxicola sp. nov., a Zeaxanthin-Producing and Halo-Sensitive Bacterium Isolated from Fully Weathered Granitic Soil, and the Diversity of Its ARHDs
Authors: Tang Ying , Zhang Cuiyang , Long Qingshan , Lei Ping , Guo Zhaohui , Liu Qingshu
Published: September 2022

A yellow, Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-spore-forming, motile, and rod-shaped bacterial strain designated M6T was isolated from fully weathered granitic soil. The strain showing the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to M6T was Sandaracinobacteroides hominis SZY PN-1T (96.3%), the only species in the genus Sandaracinobacteroides. The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization value between these two strains were 72.6% and 18.0% respectively. Growth was inhibited by NaCl (≥0.1% (w/v)). Strain M6T contained C18:1ω7c (33.8%), C14:0 2-OH (16.6%), summed feature 3 (15.8%), and C16:0 (12.6%) as the major fatty acids. The polar lipids profile consisted of phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, an unidentified glycolipid, four unidentified phospholipids, and four unidentified lipids. The genome of strain M6T was 3.4 Mb with 67.7% GC content. Further genomic analysis revealed a biosynthetic gene cluster for zeaxanthin, the production of which was verified by a high-resolution mass spectrum. The existence of multiple genes for aromatic ring-hydroxylating dioxygenases implies the potential ability for organic pollution controlling. The morphological, physiological, chemotaxonomic, and phylogenetic analysis clearly distinguished this strain from its phylogenetic neighbors, thus strain M6T represents a novel species of the genus Sandaracinobacteroides, for which the name Sandaracinobacteroides saxicola sp. nov. is proposed. The type of strain is M6T (=CGMCC 1.19164T=NBRC 115420T).
Minimizing Misalignment Effects in Finite Length Journal Bearings
Authors: Jamali Hazim , Sultan Hakim , Senatore Adolfo , Al-Dujaili Zahraa , Jweeg Muhsin , Abed Azher , Abdullah Oday
Published: September 2022

This paper focuses on a method to reduce the detrimental effects that occur due to the misalignment in journal bearings by approaching it with the more complete model of a finite length bearing. Such a drawback is quite common in industrial applications, and it is generally accepted that misalignment causes a significant thinning in the film thickness in the area that is close to the bearing edges. Therefore, removing a certain volume of material from the inner surface of the bearing (bushing) over a distance that is at the bearing edges provides an additional clearance to compensate for the clearance reduction that is due to misalignment. A numerical solution that is used in this work is based on the finite difference method where the Reynolds boundary conditions are considered in the solution scheme, thereby, using an iterative procedure to identify the cavitation zone. A three-dimensional misalignment model is incorporated in the solution in order to provide a more realistic presentation of the deviations and errors that there are in comparison with the ideal aligned case. It has been found in the present work that the edge modification increases the thickness of the lubricant layer considerably and reduces the pressure spikes that are associated with the presence of misalignment. The suggested design also reduces the coefficient of friction in comparison with that of the misaligned case. Furthermore, this method helps in reducing the asymmetry of the hydrodynamic pressure field that results from the misalignment. This method enables the operation of journal bearings over a wider range of misalignment levels without sacrificing the load-carrying capacity of the bearing by maintaining a relatively thicker layer of lubricant at the critical positions that are not so due to the effects of misalignment.
A Pilot Study of the Effect of Evening Almond Butter Consumption on Overnight and Fasting Interstitial Glucose
Authors: Johnston Emily A. , Roque Nelson A. , Cole Barbara H. , Flanagan Michael P. , Kris-Etherton Penny M. , Petersen Kristina S.
Published: September 2022

Approximately 40% of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) experience an early-morning rise in fasting glucose that is not effectively treated by available oral hypoglycemic agents. This study aimed to determine the acute effect of consuming almond butter as an evening snack on fasting and overnight interstitial glucose, compared to a no-snack control, in people with T2D. Adults with T2D, not taking insulin, were recruited to participate in this two-week randomized, controlled, crossover pilot study. Participants received 2 tbsp of natural almond butter as an evening snack, or a no-snack control, for one week each. Glucose was measured by continuous glucose monitor (CGM). Analyses were performed using linear mixed effect modeling in R. Ten adults (60% female; age: 57 ± 5.6 years) completed the study. The intervention did not significantly influence fasting glucose [4–6 a.m.; β = 5.5, 95% CI = [−0.9, 12.0], p = 0.091; Marginal R2 = 0.001, Conditional R2 = 0.954] or overnight glucose (12–3 a.m.; β = 5.5, 95% CI = [−0.8, 11.8], p = 0.089; Marginal R2 = 0.001, Conditional R2 = 0.958). Significant variability in continuously measured glucose was observed. These findings will inform the design of a larger investigation.
Role of Mixing Dynamics on Mass Convection-Diffusion in Sparkling Wines: A Laboratory Study
Authors: Beaumont Fabien , Bogard Fabien , Murer Sebastien , Polidori Guillaume
Published: September 2022

This study is based on the hypothesis that the bubbles-induced vortex flows could enhance the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) from a glass of effervescent wine. To provide tangible evidence, we conducted a series of experiments, the first of which aimed to correlate the filling height and the bubble-induced flow dynamics with the CO2 volume flux released from the vessel during a tasting. The results obtained through micro-weighing and PIV experiments showed a correlation between the filling height, the mixing flow dynamics, and the amount of CO2 released at the air/wine interface by several mechanisms (bubble burst, diffusion). In order to hide the role of bubbles, we proposed a simple experimental device that consisted in stirring the wine (supersaturated in dissolved gas) mechanically, while avoiding the phenomenon of nucleation. This mechanical stirring system allowed for controlling the intensity of convective movements of the liquid phase by varying the rotation frequency of a glass rod. The results of this experiment have provided irrefutable evidence of a close link between the stirring dynamics of a wine supersaturated in dissolved gases and the release of CO2 by a mass convection-diffusion phenomenon.
Characterization of Organic Conductive Materials as an Ecological Solution for RF Applications
Authors: Cruz Bruna , Eschlwech Philipp , Hani Michael , Biebl Erwin
Published: September 2022

The use of nonmetallic conductor materials in RF applications has recently become a highlighted issue when it comes to sustainability in the electronics industry, mainly because of the waste problems associated with heavy metals and the necessity of reducing and managing them. The replacement of metal in functional applications such as in electronics is therefore very important. Among these new materials, organic conductors are of great interest since they are, in general, biocompatible and biodegradable, allowing for the disposal of electronic devices, which reduces the negative environment impact caused by electronics waste. In this work, PEDOT:PSS and Carbon are investigated. Since these materials are available as conducting pastes or inks, the production of conducting patterns by printing techniques such as screen printing is possible, which can make the process less harmful to the environment, since it permits the use of organic substrates such as paper. In order to investigate the feasibility of these materials for RF signal transmission, screen printed PEDOT:PSS and Carbon transmission lines have been designed, fabricated and characterized. Results regarding conductivity, thickness, electric permittivity and S21 parameter are presented and will serve as a foundation for the development of further reaching applications utilizing organic materials.
Actions for the Conservation and Restoration of the Dunes and Wetlands in the Salinas of San Pedro del Pinatar: LIFE-Salinas Project (Murcia, Southeast of Spain)
Authors: Ballesteros-Pelegrín Gustavo A. , García-Marín Ramón , Ibarra-Marinas Daniel , Sánchez-Balibrea Jorge , Belmonte-Serrato Francisco , Zamora-López Antonio , Fernández-Ramos Julio Francisco , Martínez-Arnal Nerea
Published: September 2022

The LIFE SALINAS project, co-financed by the European Union, aims for the conservation and improvement of the protected area named the Regional Park of Las Salinas and Arenales de San Pedro del Pinatar (Region of Murcia, Spain). The main objectives are, among others, to stop the erosion of the dunes in front of a 500 m long beach and to expand the breeding habitat of aquatic birds. Between the dune and the beach, a barrier was placed to protect the dune from the effects of storms. The dunes were fenced, placed with sand traps and revegetation was carried out with native species in the most degraded areas. Within the salt pans, 1800 m of new sandy dikes were built to separate the salt ponds. The results have been the recovery of the dune ecosystem and the increase in the population of nesting aquatic birds and other species, as well as an increase in the quality and production of salt.
Semi-Supervised Learning for Forest Fire Segmentation Using UAV Imagery
Authors: Wang Junling , Fan Xijian , Yang Xubing , Tjahjadi Tardi , Wang Yupeng
Published: September 2022

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are an efficient tool for monitoring forest fire due to its advantages, e.g., cost-saving, lightweight, flexible, etc. Semantic segmentation can provide a model aircraft to rapidly and accurately determine the location of a forest fire. However, training a semantic segmentation model requires a large number of labeled images, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming to generate. To address the lack of labeled images, we propose, in this paper, a semi-supervised learning-based segmentation network, SemiFSNet. By taking into account the unique characteristics of UAV-acquired imagery of forest fire, the proposed method first uses occlusion-aware data augmentation for labeled data to increase the robustness of the trained model. In SemiFSNet, a dynamic encoder network replaces the ordinary convolution with dynamic convolution, thus enabling the learned feature to better represent the fire feature with varying size and shape. To mitigate the impact of complex scene background, we also propose a feature refinement module by integrating an attention mechanism to highlight the salient feature information, thus improving the performance of the segmentation network. Additionally, consistency regularization is introduced to exploit the rich information that unlabeled data contain, thus aiding the semi-supervised learning. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, extensive experiments were conducted on the Flame dataset and Corsican dataset. The experimental results show that the proposed model outperforms state-of-the-art methods and is competitive to its fully supervised learning counterpart.
Contrasting Effect of Thinning and Understory Removal on Soil Microbial Communities in a Subtropical Moso Bamboo Plantation
Authors: Xiao Yi , Xu Jianhong , Zhou Bo , Li Kai , Liu Juan , Zhang Linping , Wan Songze
Published: September 2022

Thinning and understory clearance are among the two most popular forest management practices carried out to improve stand productivity in subtropical plantations. Unfortunately, studies have not fully explored the single and combination effect of thinning and understory clearance on soil microbial properties. By conducting a field manipulation experiment in a subtropical moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) plantation in Southern China, we assessed the effects of thinning, understory clearance, and their combination on soil microbial phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) three years after treatments were first applied. We also examined the changes in soil properties after thinning and/or understory clearance. Thinning decreased soil fungal and bacterial PLFAs, and consequently soil total microbial PLFAs due to the increased soil NH4+-N, and NO3−N concentrations. Understory clearance decreased soil pH and soil water content resulting in increased soil fungal PLFAs and the ratio of soil fungal to bacterial (F:B). In addition, thinning and understory clearance caused apparent interactive effects on soil total microbial PLFAs and bacterial PLFAs, and the negative influence of thinning on soil total microbial and bacterial PLFAs were partly compensated by understory clearance. These results suggest the contrasting and interactive effect of thinning and understory clearance should be considered to assess the changes of soil microbial community and ecological processes in subtropical moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) plantations in southern China.
Forest Cover Change and Climate Variation in Subtropical Chir Pine Forests of Murree through GIS
Authors: Ansari Lubna , Ahmad Waqar , Saleem Aamir , Imran Muhammad , Malik Khafsa , Hussain Iftikhar , Tariq Hina , Munir Mubashrah
Published: September 2022

Forests are valuable natural resources, beneficial for the storage of carbon, production of oxygen, protection of soil and controlling the water cycle. Despite forests providing different services to the environment, they are being destroyed at an alarming pace. Forest cover change in Murree, Pakistan over the past few years has created different climatic issues. There was a research gap on the detection of forest cover change along with climate variation in the past few years in Murree, so there is a dire need to highlight the above problem in the respective site. Further, it was equally important to keep an eye on the drivers of deforestation to give or suggest solutions accordingly to curb deforestation. The main objectives of this study are to assess forest cover change in subtropical Chir pine forests in Murree, Pakistan over the last 20 years (2001–2021) and to correlate forest cover change with the climatic variables (minimum and maximum temperature and precipitation) of the study area during this time span (2001–2021). This research also intends to identify the main drivers of deforestation in the study area. Five land-use land-cover (LULC) categories are demarcated and classified by applying a supervised classification technique (MLC) through GIS. The accuracy of classified images is assessed and analyzed using KAPPA analysis for the agreement of the image classification. Climatic data are interpolated by empirical Bayesian kriging (EBK) interpolation and it was correlated with forest cover change graphically. Drivers of deforestation are identified through a questionnaire and analyzed in SPSS. The results showed that forest area has decreased 8.26% in Murree from 2001 to 2021. Fuelwood (54%), agriculture expansion (22%), timber production (16%), and urbanization (8%) are recorded as drivers of deforestation in the study area. Climatic variables (maximum and minimum temperature and precipitation) had also shown variation in Murree, as the average maximum temperature has risen 0.26 °C, the average minimum temperature has risen 1.71 °C and annual rainfall has decreased 139.8 mm in the past 20 years (2001–2021), showing that forest decline has caused an increase in temperature and a decrease in rainfall in Murree.
The Impacts of Post-Fire Straw Mulching and Salvage Logging on Soil Properties and Plant Diversity in a Mediterranean Burned Pine Forest
Authors: Ortega Raúl , Zema Demetrio Antonio , Valiente Nicolas , Soria Rocio , Miralles Isabel , Lucas-Borja Manuel Esteban
Published: September 2022

In the Mediterranean forests, wildfires and post-fire management actions may degrade soil properties and negatively impact vegetation characteristics. These effects may reduce soil functionality and result in loss of plant diversity. Although straw mulching and salvage logging are commonly carried out in burned forests, their impacts on respiration of forest soils as well as on species richness and evenness of forest plants have been little explored. To fill these gaps, this study has evaluated the soil respiration, different soil physico-chemical properties, as well as plant diversity in a forest of Castilla La Mancha (Central Eastern Spain), burned by a wildfire and then subjected alternatively to salvage logging or straw mulching or to both techniques. Compared to the unburned soils, immediately after the fire mulching and salvage logging alone increased (+146%) and reduced the soil respiration (−9%), respectively, the latter especially in combination with mulching. However, these differences decreased over time, and the mulched and non-logged areas always showed the maximum soil respiration. The post-fire treatments also significantly influenced the main physico-chemical properties of the experimental soils. No evident changes were found for the pH of the logged and mulched soils compared to the control. Mulching coupled with logging did not modify the OM increase due to fire, while the lowest increase was measured in the logged but non-mulched areas. Mulched and non-logged soils maintained high OM and TN one year after fire, but also in areas that were treated with logging (with or without mulching) these parameters were significantly higher compared to the unburned areas. Mulching increased the species richness and evenness, especially when itis carried out without logging, in comparison to the unburned areas. Logging without mulching did not exert negative impacts on plant biodiversity, whose species richness increased and evenness was unvaried compared to the burned and unburned areas. The results of this study can provide land managers easy to measure tools such as soil respiration and plant diversity, which can serve to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of management measures that are taken post-forest fire in order to conserve the delicate ecosystems of the Mediterranean forests.
Bioethanol Production Potential and Other Biomass Energy Properties of Invasive Reynoutria, Solidago, and Spiraea Plants
Authors: Wiatrowska Blanka Maria , Wawro Aleksandra , Gieparda Weronika , Waliszewska Bogusława
Published: September 2022

Due to the threat posed by the spread of invasive plant species, there is an urgent need to develop effective methods of eradicating and managing their biomass. The aim of the study was to examine selected invasive plants in terms of their use for energy purposes and to find out whether they can be a raw material for the production of second-generation biofuels. First, their chemical compositions were determined. The higher heating value (HHV) and lower heating value (LHV) were also calculated. High values of the higher heating value, ranging from 18.490 MJ∙kg−1 to 19.900 MJ∙kg−1, indicate the possibility of using the biomass of invasive plants for energy purposes (combustion). All investigated invasive plant species were also subjected to the process of obtaining ethanol. This included an alkaline pretreatment with 1% sodium hydroxide, followed by a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process. The highest ethanol yield per ha of plants was obtained at 2.6 m3∙ha−1 for the Reynoutria × bohemica biomass. The remaining species showed an ethanol yield below 2 m3∙ha−1. The conducted research allows for the conclusion that the studied invasive plants can be a promising raw material for the production of bioethanol.
Cloud-Native Observability: The Many-Faceted Benefits of Structured and Unified Logging—A Multi-Case Study
Authors: Kratzke Nane
Published: September 2022

Background: Cloud-native software systems often have a much more decentralized structure and many independently deployable and (horizontally) scalable components, making it more complicated to create a shared and consolidated picture of the overall decentralized system state. Today, observability is often understood as a triad of collecting and processing metrics, distributed tracing data, and logging. The result is often a complex observability system composed of three stovepipes whose data are difficult to correlate. Objective: This study analyzes whether these three historically emerged observability stovepipes of logs, metrics and distributed traces could be handled in a more integrated way and with a more straightforward instrumentation approach. Method: This study applied an action research methodology used mainly in industry–academia collaboration and common in software engineering. The research design utilized iterative action research cycles, including one long-term use case. Results: This study presents a unified logging library for Python and a unified logging architecture that uses the structured logging approach. The evaluation shows that several thousand events per minute are easily processable. Conclusions: The results indicate that a unification of the current observability triad is possible without the necessity to develop utterly new toolchains.
Deep Learning Based Semantic Image Segmentation Methods for Classification of Web Page Imagery
Authors: Manugunta Ramya Krishna , Maskeliūnas Rytis , Damaševičius Robertas
Published: September 2022

Semantic segmentation is the task of clustering together parts of an image that belong to the same object class. Semantic segmentation of webpages is important for inferring contextual information from the webpage. This study examines and compares deep learning methods for classifying webpages based on imagery that is obscured by semantic segmentation. Fully convolutional neural network architectures (UNet and FCN-8) with defined hyperparameters and loss functions are used to demonstrate how they can support an efficient method of this type of classification scenario in custom-prepared webpage imagery data that are labeled multi-class and semantically segmented masks using HTML elements such as paragraph text, images, logos, and menus. Using the proposed Seg-UNet model achieved the best accuracy of 95%. A comparison with various optimizer functions demonstrates the overall efficacy of the proposed semantic segmentation approach.