bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Consumption of Dietary Fiber in Relation to Psychological Disorders in Adults
Authors: Saghafian Faezeh , Sharif Nafiseh , Saneei Parvane , Keshteli Ammar Hassanzadeh , Hosseinzadeh-Attar Mohammad Javad , Afshar Hamid , Esmaillzadeh Ahmad , Adibi Peyman
Published: June 2021

Background: Previous observational studies suggested a relationship between dietary fiber consumption and mental health, but the findings were conflicting. We evaluated the link between dietary fiber intake and prevalence of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress among a large population of Iranian adults.

Methods: A cross-sectional study among 3,362 Iranian adults working in 50 health centers was done. Data of dietary intakes were collected through a validated semiquantitative dish-based 106-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Anxiety, depression, and psychological distress were defined based on the Iranian validated version of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ).

Results: After adjustment for potential confounders, participants in the top quartile of total dietary fiber intake had a 33% and 29% lower risk of anxiety and high psychological distress [odds ratio (OR): 0.67; 95% CI: 0.48, 0.95 and OR: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.53, 0.94, respectively] compared to the bottom quartile of intake. The highest total dietary fiber intake was also inversely related to a lower risk of depression in women (OR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.45, 0.88) but not in men. Among overweight or obese participants, higher intake of dietary fiber was related to a decreased risk of high psychological distress (OR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.79). A high level of dietary fiber intake was related to a lower risk of anxiety in normal-weight individuals (OR: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.31, 0.80).

Conclusion: Significant inverse associations between total dietary fiber intake with anxiety and high psychological distress were found in Iranian adults. More consumption of dietary fiber was also related to reduced odds of depression in women. More investigations with prospective nature are needed to affirm these findings.
Impact of SARS-CoV-2-Pandemic on Mental Disorders and Quality of Life in Patients With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Authors: Park Da Hee , Fuge Jan , Meltendorf Tanja , Kahl Kai G. , Richter Manuel J. , Gall Henning , Ghofrani Hossein A. , Kamp Jan C. , Hoeper Marius M. , Olsson Karen M.
Published: June 2021

Background/Objective: Covid-19 pandemic may affect mental health and quality of life (QoL) in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We assessed changes in anxiety and depression, quality of life (QoL) and self-described impact of Covid-19 in patients with PAH during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Methods: This study included 152 patients with PAH from two German referral centers. Anxiety and depression were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A and HADS-D) at two different timepoints before and during the Covid-19 pandemic with a median of 232 days between baseline and follow-up. QoL was assessed using EQ-5D and emPHasis-10. Perceived impact of Covid-19 and related regulations and measures were assessed using a set of specific questions and statements.

Results: More than two thirds of patients had an unsuspicious HADS-A and HADS-D. Median scores did not differ from baseline for both HADS-A and HADS-D (p = 0.202; p = 0.621). Overall, no significant changes in HADS-A or HADS-D categories from baseline to follow up were observed (p = 0.07; p = 0.13). QoL did not change between baseline and follow-up. The Covid-19 pandemic had little impact on access to medical care and established PAH therapy. Patients were in agreement with governmental measures and regulations and felt sufficiently safe.

Conclusion: First waves of Covid-19 pandemic had little impact on anxiety, depression and QoL in patient with PAH. Established PAH therapy and access to medical care were not affected. Further studies on the impact of prolonged duration of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic are needed.
Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Abilities, Emotion Processing and the Role of Early Life Stress in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Authors: Atanasova Konstantina , Lotter Tobias , Reindl Wolfgang , Lis Stefanie
Published: June 2021

Perception of internal bodily sensations includes three dissociable processes: interoceptive accuracy, interoceptive sensibility, and interoceptive awareness. Interoceptive abilities play a crucial role in emotion processing and impairments of these processes have been reported in several psychiatric disorders. Studies investigating interoceptive abilities and their role in emotional experience in individuals with somatic disorders such as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are sparse. Recent findings suggested an association between adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and the development of gastrointestinal disorders. The aim of the current study was to investigate the associations between the different dimensions of interoception and emotional processing in IBD while taking ACE into account. We recruited IBD patients in clinical remission (n = 35) and 35 healthy control participants (HC) matched for age, education and IQ. Interoception was measured as a three-dimensional construct. Interoceptive accuracy was assessed with the heartbeat tracking task and interoceptive sensibility with a self-report measure (Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness questionnaire). Emotional processing was measured using an experimental task, where participants were asked to rate the subjectively perceived valence and arousal when presented with positive, neutral and negative visual stimuli. IBD patients significantly differed in two interoceptive sensibility domains, Emotional awareness and Not-distracting. Patients reported greater awareness of the connection between bodily sensations and emotional states, while showing a stronger tendency to use distraction from unpleasant sensations compared with HC. Higher emotional awareness was linked to higher perceived intensity and arousal of negative stimuli. The strength of this relation was dependent on the severity of ACE, with severer traumatization being associated with a stronger association between emotional awareness and perceived valence and arousal. Our findings suggest that it is the subjective component of interoception, especially the one assessing interoceptive abilities within the scope of emotional experience, which affects emotional processing in IBD. This is the first study providing evidence that IBD patients did not differ in their perception of visceral signals per se but only in the subjective ability to attribute certain physical sensations to physiological manifestations of emotions. Our findings support the hypothesis that ACE affect the association between interoception and emotional processing.
Latent Profiles and Influencing Factors of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Among Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Duan Wenjie , Guan Qiujie , Jin Qiuping
Published: June 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected public health and the prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptoms among adults in Hubei Province, China. In this study, a total of 2,930 (662 males and 2,268 females) adults answered a questionnaire obtaining information on their demographics, posttraumatic stress symptoms (i.e., intrusion and avoidance), social media exposure, social media involvement, and self-efficacy. Results of the latent profile analysis identified four latent profiles of posttraumatic stress symptoms, which are, no symptoms, high intrusion–low avoidance, moderate symptoms, and high symptoms. The multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed the contributors to the posttraumatic stress symptoms subgroups. Adults with high social media involvement were classified into the high intrusion–low avoidance group, whereas adults with low self-efficacy were included in the moderate symptoms group. Meanwhile, adults with high social media involvement and low self-efficacy were included in the high symptoms group. Interventions may focus on decreasing social media involvement for the adults in the high Intrusion–low avoidance group, improving self-efficacy for the adults in the moderate symptoms group, and reducing social media involvement and improving self-efficacy for the adults in the high symptoms group.
Environmental Risk Factors Implicated in Liver Disease: A Mini-Review
Authors: Melaram Rajesh
Published: June 2021

Liver disease is a global health issue, resulting in about two million deaths per year. It encompasses a wide spectrum of varied or unknown etiologies, ranging from lifestyle choices to pre-existing comorbidities. In recent decades, exposure to environmental toxins and subsequent liver health outcomes have captured public interest, due to the extensive application of pesticides, consumption of aflatoxin contaminated foodstuff, and cyanobacterial harmful algae blooms in endemic regions of liver disease. Hepatocellular carcinoma is a serious and debilitating condition of the liver, characterized by abdominal pain and unexplained weight loss. Established risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma include alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and viral infections of hepatitis B and C. However, mounting evidence suggests that environmental toxins may represent an important contributing factor in hepatocellular carcinoma development. This mini-review synthesizes epidemiological investigations, providing evidence for environmental toxins as one potential risk factor for liver disease.
Identification of Suicidal Ideation in the Canadian Community Health Survey—Mental Health Component Using Deep Learning
Authors: Desai Sneha , Tanguay-Sela Myriam , Benrimoh David , Fratila Robert , Brown Eleanor , Perlman Kelly , John Ann , DelPozo-Banos Marcos , Low Nancy , Israel Sonia , Palladini Lisa , Turecki Gustavo
Published: June 2021

Introduction: Suicidal ideation (SI) is prevalent in the general population, and is a risk factor for suicide. Predicting which patients are likely to have SI remains challenging. Deep Learning (DL) may be a useful tool in this context, as it can be used to find patterns in complex, heterogeneous, and incomplete datasets. An automated screening system for SI could help prompt clinicians to be more attentive to patients at risk for suicide.

Methods: Using the Canadian Community Health Survey—Mental Health Component, we trained a DL model based on 23,859 survey responses to classify patients with and without SI. Models were created to classify both lifetime SI and SI over the last 12 months. From 582 possible parameters we produced 96- and 21-feature versions of the models. Models were trained using an undersampling procedure that balanced the training set between SI and non-SI; validation was done on held-out data.

Results: For lifetime SI, the 96 feature model had an Area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) of 0.79 and the 21 feature model had an AUC of 0.77. For SI in the last 12 months the 96 feature model had an AUC of 0.71 and the 21 feature model had an AUC of 0.68. In addition, sensitivity analyses demonstrated feature relationships in line with existing literature.

Discussion: Although further study is required to ensure clinical relevance and sample generalizability, this study is an initial proof of concept for the use of DL to improve identification of SI. Sensitivity analyses can help improve the interpretability of DL models. This kind of model would help start conversations with patients which could lead to improved care and a reduction in suicidal behavior.
Smarter Grid in the 5G Era: A Framework Integrating Power Internet of Things With a Cyber Physical System
Authors: Liu Yuanjie , Yang Xiongping , Wen Wenkun , Xia Minghua
Published: June 2021

As the energy infrastructure of smart cities, smart grid upgrades traditional power grid systems with state-of-the-art information and communication technologies. In particular, as the full deployment of the Internet of Things in the power grid (a.k.a. power Internet of Things or PIoT), the newly introduced information flow together with inherent energy flow makes it more efficient for power generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption. To further exploit the precious energy and the latest 5G technologies, this article boosts to add a value flow in the smart grid, mainly including the value created by innovative services and market mechanisms and the value added by the information flow. Specifically, by integrating PIoT with cyber-physical systems, this article sketches a conceptual framework of the cyber-physical power system (CPPS). The CPPS carries out holistic perception and ubiquitous connection of distributed energy sources and electrical facilities and builds up a smarter power grid with global information interaction, intelligent decision-making, and real-time agile control. Finally, for illustration purposes, we conduct a case study regarding an intelligent home management system.
Behavioral Framework of Immersive Technologies (BehaveFIT): How and Why Virtual Reality can Support Behavioral Change Processes
Authors: Wienrich Carolin , Döllinger Nina , Hein Rebecca
Published: June 2021

The design and evaluation of assisting technologies to support behavior change processes have become an essential topic within the field of human-computer interaction research in general and the field of immersive intervention technologies in particular. The mechanisms and success of behavior change techniques and interventions are broadly investigated in the field of psychology. However, it is not always easy to adapt these psychological findings to the context of immersive technologies. The lack of theoretical foundation also leads to a lack of explanation as to why and how immersive interventions support behavior change processes. The Behavioral Framework for immersive Technologies (BehaveFIT) addresses this lack by 1) presenting an intelligible categorization and condensation of psychological barriers and immersive features, by 2) suggesting a mapping that shows why and how immersive technologies can help to overcome barriers and finally by 3) proposing a generic prediction path that enables a structured, theory-based approach to the development and evaluation of immersive interventions. These three steps explain how BehaveFIT can be used, and include guiding questions for each step. Further, two use cases illustrate the usage of BehaveFIT. Thus, the present paper contributes to guidance for immersive intervention design and evaluation, showing that immersive interventions support behavior change processes and explain and predict 'why' and 'how' immersive interventions can bridge the intention-behavior-gap.
Phenomenological Implications of Modified Loop Cosmologies: An Overview
Authors: Li Bao-Fei , Singh Parampreet , Wang Anzhong
Published: June 2021

In this paper, we first provide a brief review of the effective dynamics of two recently well-studied models of modified loop quantum cosmologies (mLQCs), which arise from different regularizations of the Hamiltonian constraint and show the robustness of a generic resolution of the big bang singularity, replaced by a quantum bounce due to non-perturbative Planck scale effects. As in loop quantum cosmology (LQC), in these modified models the slow-roll inflation happens generically. We consider the cosmological perturbations following the dressed and hybrid approaches and clarify some subtle issues regarding the ambiguity of the extension of the effective potential of the scalar perturbations across the quantum bounce, and the choice of initial conditions. Both of the modified regularizations yield primordial power spectra that are consistent with current observations for the Starobinsky potential within the framework of either the dressed or the hybrid approach. But differences in primordial power spectra are identified among the mLQCs and LQC. In addition, for mLQC-I, striking differences arise between the dressed and hybrid approaches in the infrared and oscillatory regimes. While the differences between the two modified models can be attributed to differences in the Planck scale physics, the permissible choices of the initial conditions and the differences between the two perturbation approaches have been reported for the first time. All these differences, due to either the different regularizations or the different perturbation approaches in principle can be observed in terms of non-Gaussianities.
Don't Have a Cow, Man: Consumer Acceptance of Animal-Free Dairy Products in Five Countries
Authors: Zollman Thomas Oscar , Bryant Christopher
Published: June 2021

Concern with the ethical, environmental and health consequences of the livestock industry is pushing the growth of a sector of animal-free alternatives. Advancing research is allowing these products to increasingly deliver experiences on a par with and beyond the products they originally sought to emulate, but widespread consumer adoption has not yet been realised. This research surveyed 5,054 individuals from Brazil, Germany, India, the UK and the USA, examining the nature and extent of acceptance of dairy products derived from precision fermentation, one of the three main pillars of alternative proteins. We find substantial consumer acceptance across countries for these products, animal-free dairy cheese, seeing 78.8% of consumers as probably or definitely likely to try such a product, with 70.5% probably or definitely likely to buy, substantially higher than previous research has found for cultivated meat products. Consumers anticipated animal-free dairy cheese to be significantly more tasty than current vegan cheese products, and just as tasty and safe as basic animal-derived cheese while rating it as significantly more ethical and environmentally friendly. Multiple linear regression revealed that within dietary identifiers, vegetarianism and veganism were strong predictors of willingness to buy but flexitarianism showed the strongest predictive power for willingness to buy. Of all variables, the strongest predictor of willingness to buy was current level of cheese consumption. Further regressions revealed that taste perception was key to driving purchase intent across all countries. The implications of these results for the development of the animal-free dairy sector are discussed.
Standardization of Procedures to Contain Cost and Reduce Variability of Care After the Pandemic
Authors: Raveglia Federico , Orlandi Riccardo , Rimessi Arianna , Minervini Fabrizio , Cioffi Ugo , De Simone Matilde , Guttadauro Angelo , Scarci Marco
Published: June 2021

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has changed many aspects of our private and professional routine. In particular, the lockdowns have severely affected the entire healthcare system and hospital activities, forcing it to rethink the protocols in force. We suggest that this scenario, in spite of the new challenges involving so far complex healthcare providers, may lead to the unique opportunity to rethink pathways and management of patients. Indeed, having to resume institutional activity after a long interruption that has completely canceled the previously existing schemes, healthcare providers have the unique opportunity to overcome obsolete and “we have always done in this way” model on the wave of the general desire to resume a normal life. Furthermore, the pandemic has highlighted some flaws in our health system, highlighting those critical issues that most need to be addressed. This article is a review of pre-pandemic literature addressing the use of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and standardization processes in thoracic surgery to improve efficiency. Our goal is to identify the main issues that could be successfully improved along the entire pathway of a patient from the first referral to diagnosis, hospitalization, and surgical operation up to convalescence. Furthermore, we aim to identify the standardization processes that have been implemented to achieve significant improvements in patient outcomes while reducing costs. The methods and goals that could be used in the near future to modernize our healthcare systems are drawn up from a careful reading and interpretation in light of the pandemic of the most significant review articles in the literature.
Numerical and Experimental Study of a Flexible Trailing Edge Driving by Pneumatic Muscle Actuators
Authors: Zhao Shiwei , Li Daochun , Zhou Jin , Sha Enlai
Published: June 2021

A static aeroelastic analysis of the flexible trailing edge is conducted to calculate the deformed shape, aerodynamic coefficients and corresponding driving pressure. A physical flexible trailing edge model is manufactured using a honeycomb structure, which is measured based on binocular vision. The quadratic response surface method is adopted to establish the pneumatic artificial muscle actuator model. The wire-pulley transmission model is built to identify the existence of equivalent forces and produce the equivalent forces as the substitute of actuation force. A finite element model of the flexible trailing edge is established, which is validated by the test data. A nonlinear relationship is found between the driving pressure and deflection angle. The pressure needed to bear the structural stiffness is found to be much larger than that of the aerodynamic load. With the increase in pressure, the magnitude of the lift coefficient increases less. However, the magnitude of the drag coefficient increases more with the increase in pressure under 0.2 MPa. When the driving pressure exceeds 0.2 MPa, the relationship between them is nearly linear.
The Technology of Precise Application of Herbicides in Onion Field Cultivation
Authors: Rybacki Piotr , Przygodziński Przemysław , Osuch Andrzej , Blecharczyk Andrzej , Walkowiak Ryszard , Osuch Ewa , Kowalik Ireneusz
Published: June 2021

The purpose of the field experiments was to show possible differences in the quality and size of onion yield and the amount of working liquid used in the technology of the precise application of herbicides. The research material was an onion plantation during three growing seasons in 2015/2016, 2016/2017, and 2017/2018. Cultivation conditions were the same for all plots covered by the experiment. Onions were grown in the row-strip method with a spacing of 150 cm. The experimental factor was the method of weed control on the plots: A—without weeding (control); B—manual weeding; C—conventional herbicide application; D—precise herbicide application. Herbicides were used: Agil 100EC, Pendigan 330EC, Roundup 360SL, Galigan 240EC, Goal 480SC, Lontrel 300SL, Emblem 20WP, Fusilade Forte 150EC, Szogun 10EC, and Lentagran 45WP. The total onion yield did not differ statistically within the accepted confidence interval, regardless of the weeding method in the growing seasons studied. The developed technology allows a reduction in herbicide consumption in onion cultivation by 26% compared to conventional technology, which is of great importance in the aspect of introducing chemical substances into the environment and their accumulation in crops.
A Case Study on Surplus Mushrooms Production: Extraction and Recovery of Vitamin D2
Authors: Cardoso Rossana V. C. , Fernandes Ângela , Barreira João C. M. , Abreu Rui M. V. , Mandim Filipa , Gonzaléz-Paramás Ana M. , Ferreira Isabel C. F. R. , Barros Lillian
Published: June 2021

The presented case study illustrates the possibility of adding value to the biological surplus remaining from the mushroom cultivation industry. In essence, the unused mushroom parts were submitted to UV-C irradiation, with the purpose of increasing the vitamin D2 content and validating its extraction. Vitamin D2 concentration in three different mushroom species (Agaricus bisporus, A. bisporus Portobello, and Pleurotus ostreatus) was obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), by means of an ultraviolet (UV) detector. The method was validated using an A. bisporus Portobello sample, and its reproducibility and accuracy were confirmed. Independently of the UV-C irradiation dose, the effect on vitamin D2 concentration was significant, allowing it to increase from less than 4 µg/g dry weight (dw) to more than 100 µg/g dw in all mushroom species. These results are good indicators of the feasibility of industrial surplus mushrooms as sustainable vitamin D2 food sources, besides contributing to strengthen the circularity principals associated to the mushroom production chain.
A Review of Potassium-Rich Crop Residues Used as Organic Matter Amendments in Tree Crop Agroecosystems
Authors: Andrews Ellie M. , Kassama Sire , Smith Evie E. , Brown Patrick H. , Khalsa Sat Darshan S.
Published: June 2021

Ecosystem-based approaches to nutrient management are needed to satisfy crop nutrient requirements while minimizing environmental impacts of fertilizer use. Applying crop residues as soil amendments can provide essential crop nutrient inputs from organic sources while improving nutrient retention, soil health, water conservation, and crop performance. Tree crop hulls, husks, and shells have been found to contain high concentrations of potassium across species including almond, cacao, coffee, pecan, and hazelnut. The objective of this review is to characterize organic sources of potassium focusing on lignocellulosic pericarps and discuss reported effects of surface application on potassium cycling, water dynamics, soil functionality, and crop yield. Research indicates potassium ions solubilize readily from plant material into soil solution due to potassium’s high mobility as a predominately unbound monatomic cation in plant tissues. Studies evaluating tree crop nutshells, field crop residues, and forest ecosystem litter layers indicate this process of potassium release is driven primarily by water and is not strongly limited by decomposition. Research suggests orchard floor management practices can be tailored to maximize the soil and plant benefits provided by this practice. Contextual factors influencing practice adoption and areas for future study are discussed.
Genetic and Morphological Approach for Western Corn Rootworm Resistance Management
Authors: Kadoić Balaško Martina , Mikac Katarina M. , Benítez Hugo A. , Bažok Renata , Lemic Darija
Published: June 2021

The western corn rootworm (WCR), is one of the most serious pests of maize in the United States. In this study, we aimed to find a reliable pattern of difference related to resistance type using population genetic and geometric morphometric approaches. To perform a detailed population genetic analysis of the whole genome, we used single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) markers. For the morphometric analyses, hindwings of the resistant and non-resistant WCR populations from the US were used. Genetic results showed that there were some differences among the resistant US populations. The low value of pairwise FST = 0.0181 estimated suggests a lack of genetic differentiation and structuring among the putative populations genotyped. However, STRUCTURE analysis revealed three genetic clusters. Heterozygosity estimates (HO and HE) over all loci and populations were very similar. There was no exact pattern, and resistance could be found throughout the whole genome. The geometric morphometric results confirmed the genetic results, with the different genetic populations showing similar wing shape. Our results also confirmed that the hindwings of WCR carry valuable genetic information. This study highlights the ability of geometric morphometrics to capture genetic patterns and provides a reliable and low-cost alternative for preliminary estimation of population structure. The combined use of SNPs and geometric morphometrics to detect resistant variants is a novel approach where morphological traits can provide additional information about underlying population genetics, and morphology can retain useful information about genetic structure. Additionally, it offers new insights into an important and ongoing area of pest management on how to prevent or delay pest evolution towards resistant populations, minimizing the negative impacts of resistance.
The Effect of Mycorrhizal Fungi and Organic Fertilizers on Quantitative and Qualitative Traits of Two Important Satureja Species
Authors: Bastami Asma , Amirnia Reza , Sayyed R. Z. , Enshasy Hesham A. El
Published: June 2021

The quantitative yield and essential oil percentage and composition of two important savory species in response to various fertilizers were explored in a field experiment as a factorial study based on a randomized complete block design with three replications in north Lorestan, Iran, in 2017–2019. The first factor was assigned to three mycorrhizal fungi (Funneliformis mosseae, Rhizophagus irregularis, and Glomus fasciculatum), phosphate biofertilizer (Baravar-2), fish manure (800 kg/ha), cattle manure (20 t/ha), vermicompost (5 t/ha), and a control (no fertilization); the second factor was assigned to two savory species, including Satureja khuzestanica and S. rechingeri. The results of the combined analysis of variance for the second and third years showed that the simple effects of fertilizers and species were significant on all recorded traits, except for some constituents of the essential oil. Among the mycorrhizal fungi, R. irregularis and S. khuzestanica outperformed S. rechingeri in all traits, except for essential oil content and yield. The interaction between year and species was significant for all traits. The essential oil content of S. rechingeri in the third year (5.1%) was 18% higher than that of S. rechingeri in the second year (4.3%) and 41% higher than that of S. khuzestanica in the third year (3.6%). According to the results, the foliar application of vermin compost at a rate of 5 t/ha can contribute to the sustainable production of both savory species, improving their growth and essential oil yield.
Clinical Evaluation of Creatine Kinase and Aspartate Aminotransferase for Monitoring Muscle Effort in Working Dogs in Different Simulated Fieldworks
Authors: Spinella Giuseppe , Valentini Simona , Musella Vincenzo , Bortolotti Enrico , Lopedote Mirella
Published: June 2021

The clinical profiles of muscle biomarkers (Creatine Kinase–CK-and Aspartate Aminotransferase–AST) performed during training may help in determining the fitness level of dogs and their potentiality to perform specific activities. This study investigated the potential variations of physiological parameters and muscular biomarkers in trained search and rescue dogs during search activity in two different areas. The aim was to verify the absence of any muscular enzymes after 20 min of search activity. The variations of physiological parameters (pulse rate; respiratory rate; rectal body temperature) and skeletal muscular biomarkers (CK and AST) were evaluated before and after search activity. Twenty-three trained dogs met the inclusion criteria and were divided into two groups. One group experienced search activity in a well-known area, while the second one in a similar, but unknown, area. The results for physiological parameters and skeletal muscular biomarkers values showed no significant differences between the two groups (p > 0.05), confirming that an effective conditioning protects against enzymatic alteration during a 20 min duration of submaximal activity.
Silver and Copper Nanoparticles Inhibit Biofilm Formation by Mastitis Pathogens
Authors: Lange Agata , Grzenia Agnieszka , Wierzbicki Mateusz , Strojny-Cieslak Barbara , Kalińska Aleksandra , Gołębiewski Marcin , Radzikowski Daniel , Sawosz Ewa , Jaworski Sławomir
Published: June 2021

Bovine mastitis is a common bovine disease, frequently affecting whole herds of cattle. It is often caused by resistant microbes that can create a biofilm structure. The rapidly developing scientific discipline known as nanobiotechnology may help treat this illness, thanks to the extraordinary properties of nanoparticles. The aim of the study was to investigate the inhibition of biofilms created by mastitis pathogens after treatment with silver and copper nanoparticles, both individually and in combination. We defined the physicochemical properties and minimal inhibitory concentration of the nanoparticles and observed their interaction with the cell membrane, as well as the extent of biofilm reduction. The results show that the silver–copper complex was the most active of all nanomaterials tested (biofilm was reduced by nearly 100% at a concentration of 200 ppm for each microorganism species tested). However, silver nanoparticles were also effective individually (biofilm was also reduced by nearly 100% at a concentration of 200 ppm, but at concentrations of 50 and 100 ppm, the extent of reduction was lower than for the complex). Nanoparticles can be used in new alternative therapies to treat bovine mastitis.
Salmonella Characterization in Poultry Eggs Sold in Farms and Markets in Relation to Handling and Biosecurity Practices in Ogun State, Nigeria
Authors: Agbaje Michael , Ayo-Ajayi Patience , Kehinde Olugbenga , Omoshaba Ezekiel , Dipeolu Morenike , Fasina Folorunso O.
Published: June 2021

Salmonella remains one of the notable food-borne bacterial pathogens. It is associated with poultry and poultry products including eggs. This study investigated Salmonella distribution in eggshell and content, their antimicrobial resistance pattern, and the possible risk factors driving contamination in Ogun State, Nigeria. A total of 500 eggs (5 eggs pooled into one sample) were collected and culturally examined for the presence of Salmonella serovars. Isolates were further characterized biochemically using Microbact 20E (Oxoid) and Antimicrobial susceptibility determined by the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. A total of 14 Salmonella isolates spread across 10 serovars were recovered from the 100 pooled egg samples; 10 (10%) from the market and 4 (4%) farms, 13(13%) eggshell, and 1(1%) egg content. All tested serovars were susceptible to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, florfenicol, and kanamycin. Resistance was mostly observed in sulfamethoxazole 8 (80%), followed by ciprofloxacin 5 (50%) and tetracycline 3 (30%). Sales of eggs in the market appear to be a strong factor encouraging contamination in addition to poor biosecurity and unhygienic handling of eggs on the farm.
Moderate Caloric Restriction Partially Improved Oxidative Stress Markers in Obese Humans
Authors: Kanikowska Dominika , Kanikowska Alina , Swora-Cwynar Ewelina , Grzymisławski Marian , Sato Maki , Bręborowicz Andrzej , Witowski Janusz , Korybalska Katarzyna
Published: June 2021

Oxidative stress and inflammation are implicated in obesity. Therefore, we investigated whether moderate and short-term calorie restriction (CR) reflects a real-life situation, mediates weight loss, and improves oxidative stress markers. We analyzed oxidative stress markers in patients with obesity undergoing moderate CR. Serum oxidative stress markers (myeloperoxidase (MPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, total antioxidant status (TAS), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) (generation by endothelial cells in vitro)) were measured in 53 subjects (mean BMI 37.8 ± 5.9 kg/m2) who underwent 8 weeks of CR, which included a reduction of 300–500 kcal/day. MPO was the most CR-sensitive parameter. The mean level of serum MPO in patients with obesity was 20% higher than that in post CR intervention (p < 0.001). SOD increased by 12% after CR (p < 0.05), which was largely due to the improvement in glucose tolerance and the reduction in insulin resistance after CR. Other tested parameters were not modified during the treatment. CR resulted in an expected decrease in body weight (by 5.9 ± 4.6 kg, p < 0.0001) and other anthropometric parameters. Additionally, it was accompanied by a significant change in hsCRP, hsTNF alpha, hsIL-6, leptin (all p < 0.0001), and HOMA-IR (p < 0.05). Cardiovascular and metabolic parameters were also partially improved. Short-term, moderate CR partially improves antioxidant capacity but is enough to substantially change anthropometric parameters in obese patients. Our observations indicate that mimicking real-life situations and low-cost dietary intervention can be successfully implemented in obesity treatment with a simultaneous moderate effect on antioxidant status.
The Role of Melatonin on NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation in Diseases
Authors: Arioz Burak Ibrahim , Tarakcioglu Emre , Olcum Melis , Genc Sermin
Published: June 2021

NLRP3 inflammasome is a part of the innate immune system and responsible for the rapid identification and eradication of pathogenic microbes, metabolic stress products, reactive oxygen species, and other exogenous agents. NLRP3 inflammasome is overactivated in several neurodegenerative, cardiac, pulmonary, and metabolic diseases. Therefore, suppression of inflammasome activation is of utmost clinical importance. Melatonin is a ubiquitous hormone mainly produced in the pineal gland with circadian rhythm regulatory, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory functions. Melatonin is a natural product and safer than most chemicals to use for medicinal purposes. Many in vitro and in vivo studies have proved that melatonin alleviates NLRP3 inflammasome activity via various intracellular signaling pathways. In this review, the effect of melatonin on the NLRP3 inflammasome in the context of diseases will be discussed.
Travelling Waves Approach in a Parabolic Coupled System for Modelling the Behaviour of Substances in a Fuel Tank
Authors: Palencia José Luis Díaz
Published: June 2021

The aim of this work was to provide a formulation of a non-linear diffusion model with forced convection in the form of a reaction–absorption system. The model was studied with analytical and numerical approaches in the frame of the parabolic operators theory. In addition, the solutions are applied to a gas interaction phenomenon with the intention of producing an inerted ullage in an Airbus A320 aircraft centre fuel tank. We made use of the travelling wave (TW) solutions approach to study the existence of solutions, stability and the precise evolution of profiles. The application exercise sought to answer a key question for aerospace sciences which can be formulated as the time required to ensure an aircraft fuel tank is safe (inerted) to prevent explosion due to the presence of oxygen in the tank ullage.
Visual Analysis of Spatiotemporal Data Predictions with Deep Learning Models
Authors: Son Hyesook , Kim Seokyeon , Yeon Hanbyul , Kim Yejin , Jang Yun , Kim Seung-Eock
Published: June 2021

The output of a deep-learning model delivers different predictions depending on the input of the deep learning model. In particular, the input characteristics might affect the output of a deep learning model. When predicting data that are measured with sensors in multiple locations, it is necessary to train a deep learning model with spatiotemporal characteristics of the data. Additionally, since not all of the data measured together result in increasing the accuracy of the deep learning model, we need to utilize the correlation characteristics between the data features. However, it is difficult to interpret the deep learning output, depending on the input characteristics. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze how the input characteristics affect prediction results to interpret deep learning models. In this paper, we propose a visualization system to analyze deep learning models with air pollution data. The proposed system visualizes the predictions according to the input characteristics. The input characteristics include space-time and data features, and we apply temporal prediction networks, including gated recurrent units (GRU), long short term memory (LSTM), and spatiotemporal prediction networks (convolutional LSTM) as deep learning models. We interpret the output according to the characteristics of input to show the effectiveness of the system.
Characterization of the Volatile Profile of Cultivated and Wild-Type Italian Celery (Apium graveolens L.) Varieties by HS-SPME/GC-MS
Authors: Reale Samantha , Di Cecco Valter , Di Donato Francesca , Di Martino Luciano , Manzi Aurelio , Di Santo Marco , D’Archivio Angelo Antonio
Published: June 2021

Celery (Apium graveolens L.) is a vegetable belonging to the Apiaceae family that is widely used for its distinct flavor and contains a variety of bioactive metabolites with healthy properties. Some celery ecotypes cultivated in specific territories of Italy have recently attracted the attention of consumers and scientists because of their peculiar sensorial and nutritional properties. In this work, the volatile profiles of white celery “Sedano Bianco di Sperlonga” Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) ecotype, black celery “Sedano Nero di Torricella Peligna” and wild-type celery were investigated using head-space solid-phase microextraction combined with gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS) and compared to that of the common ribbed celery. Exploratory multivariate statistical analyses were conducted using principal component analysis (PCA) on HS-SPME/GC-MS patterns, separately collected from celery leaves and petioles, to assess similarity/dissimilarity in the flavor composition of the investigated varieties. PCA revealed a clear differentiation of wild-type celery from the cultivated varieties. Among the cultivated varieties, black celery “Sedano Nero di Torricella Peligna” exhibited a significantly different composition in volatile profile in both leaves and petioles compared to the white celery and the prevalent commercial variety. The chemical components of aroma, potentially useful for the classification of celery according to the variety/origin, were identified.
The Effect of Wind Energy on Microclimate: Lessons Learnt from a CFD Modelling Approach in the Case Study of Chios Island
Authors: Stergiannis Nikolaos , Caralis George , van Beeck Jeroen , Runacres Mark C.
Published: June 2021

During the last three decades, rapid growth of wind energy has led to questions regarding the possible impacts of wind farms on local weather and microclimates. Physically, the increased turbulence due to the wind turbine operation affects the mixing processes, may slightly disturb the pressure and temperature distributions downstream of wind farms and may have an impact on natural ecosystems such as the famous mastic tree population located on the island of Chios in the North Aegean Sea. This study explores the wind farms and their wake effects downstream with a particular focus on the effect on the southern part of the island where the mastic trees cultivation is located. The analysis is carried out with the use of the commercial CFD code ANSYS Fluent. Steady state computations of full 3D Navier–Stokes equations, using the k-ε turbulence closure scheme are carried out. The development of the multiple wake effects of the wind farms and their propagation downstream is examined under low and high turbulence intensities. Results clearly indicate that for both test cases there is no impact to the local microclimate and to the mastic Tree population.
LRP-DS: Lightweight RepPoints with Decoupled Sampling Point Set
Authors: Wang Jinchao , Weng Libo , Gao Fei
Published: June 2021

Most object detection methods use rectangular bounding boxes to represent the object, while the representative points network (RepPoints) employs a point set to describe the object. The RepPoints can provide more fine-grained localization and facilitates classification. However, it ignores the difference between localization and classification tasks. Therefore, a lightweight RepPoints with decoupling of the sampling point set (LRP-DS) is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the lightweight MobileNet-V2 and Feature Pyramid Networks (FPN) is employed as the backbone network to realize the lightweight network, rather than the Resnet. Secondly, considering the difference between classification and localization tasks, the sampling points of classification and localization are decoupled, by introducing classification free sampling method. Finally, due to the introduction of the classification free sampling method, the problem of the mismatch between the localization accuracy and the classification confidence is highlighted, so the localization score is employed to describe the localization accuracy independently. The final network structure of this paper achieves 73.3% mean average precision (mAP) on the VOC07 test dataset, which is 1.9% higher than original RepPoints with the same backbone network MobileNetV2 and FPN. Our LRP-DS has a detection speed of 20FPS for the input image of (1000, 600), on RTX2060 GPU, which is nearly twice as fast as the backbone network of ResNet50 and FPN. Experimental results show the effectiveness of our method.
Validation of Fucoxanthin from Microalgae Phaeodactylum tricornutum for the Detection of Amyloid Burden in Transgenic Mouse Models of Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Lee A-Hyeon , Hong Sung-Chul , Park Inwook , Yoon Soljee , Kim YoungSoo , Kim Jinsik , Yang Seung-Hoon
Published: June 2021

The visualization of misfolded Aβ peptides by using fluorescence chemical dyes is very important in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) diagnosis. Here, we describe the fluorescent substance, fucoxanthin, which detects Aβ aggregates in the brain of AD transgenic mouse models. We found that fucoxanthin from the microalgae Phaeodactylum tricornutum has fluorescent excitation and emission wavelengths without any interference for Aβ interaction. Thus, we applied it to monitor Aβ aggregation in AD transgenic mouse models. Aβ plaques were visualized using fucoxanthin in the brain tissue of APP/PS1 and 5×FAD mice by histological staining with different staining methods. By comparing fucoxanthin-positive and thioflavin S-positive stained regions in the brains, we found that they are colocalized and that fucoxanthin can detect Aβ aggregates. Our finding suggests that fucoxanthin from P. tricornutum can be a new Aβ fluorescent imaging reagent in AD diagnosis.
Charge State Effect of High Energy Ions on Material Modification in the Electronic Stopping Region
Authors: Matsunami Noriaki , Sataka Masao , Okayasu Satoru , Tsuchiya Bun
Published: June 2021

It has been observed that modifications of non-metallic solids such as sputtering and surface morphology are induced by electronic excitation under high-energy ion impact and that these modifications depend on the charge of incident ions (charge-state effect or incident-charge effect). A simple model is described, consisting of an approximation to the mean-charge-evolution by saturation curves and the charge-dependent electronic stopping power, for the evaluation of the relative yield (e.g., electronic sputtering yield) of the non-equilibrium charge incidence over that of the equilibrium-charge incidence. It is found that the present model reasonably explains the charge state effect on the film thickness dependence of lattice disordering of WO3. On the other hand, the model appears to be inadequate to explain the charge-state effect on the electronic sputtering of WO3 and LiF. Brief descriptions are given for the charge-state effect on the electronic sputtering of SiO2, UO2 and UF4, and surface morphology modification of poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA), mica and tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C).