bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Uncovering cryptochrome/photolyase gene diversity in aquatic microbiomes exposed to diverse UV-B regimes
Authors: Alonso-Reyes DG , Farias ME , Albarracín VH
Published: August 2020

During evolution, microorganisms exposed to high amounts of UV-B irradiation developed fine-tuned photo-enzymes called ‘photolyases’ to cope with DNA damage caused by UV-B. These photoreceptors, belonging to the cryptochrome/photolyase family (CPF), have been well characterized at the genomic and proteomic level in bacteria isolated from a wide range of environments. In this work, we go further towards studying the abundance of CPF in aquatic microbial communities from different geographic regions across the globe. Metagenomics data combined with geo-referenced solar irradiation measurements indicated that the higher the UV-B level in the microbiome’s environment, the higher the abundance of CPF genes and lower the microbial diversity. A connection between CPF abundance and radiation intensity/photoperiod was found. Likewise, cryptochrome-like genes were found to be abundant in most exposed microbiomes, indicating a complementary role to standard photolyases. We observed that CPFs are more likely to be present in dominant taxa of the highly irradiated microbiomes, suggesting an evolutionary force for survival and dominance under extreme solar exposure. This work reports 3 novel CPF clades, proving the potential of global metagenomic analyses in detecting novel proteins.
Potent inhibition of biphasic tubular reabsorption of lithium by acetazolamide and foscarnet in rats
Authors: Uwai Y , Kondo R , Suzuki T , Kawasaki T , Nabekura T
Published: August 2020

Lithium is mainly excreted into urine, and a large fraction of lithium filtered through glomeruli is reabsorbed in the proximal tubule. However, the mechanisms responsible for lithium reabsorption remain unclear. We previously reported that the reabsorption of lithium was biphasic in rats, and that foscarnet inhibited lithium reabsorption with a high affinity type. We herein evaluated the effects of acetazolamide and foscarnet on the renal excretion of lithium in rats treated with lithium chloride at 2 doses. In rats intravenously injected with a bolus of 25 mg/kg lithium chloride, acetazolamide facilitated the urinary excretion of lithium, and increased the fractional excretion of lithium from 0.446 to 0.953, near the theoretically maximum value. At a dose of 2.5 mg/kg lithium chloride, the fractional excretion of lithium was 0.241 in control rats, 0.420 in rats administered acetazolamide, and 0.976 in rats administered acetazolamide and foscarnet. These results showed the potent inhibition of lithium reabsorption by acetazolamide and foscarnet in rats. And, it was exhibited that the effects of acetazolamide on lithium reabsorption differed with the dosages of lithium administered.
What is the optimal light source for optical mapping using voltage- and calcium-sensitive dyes?
Authors: Olejnickova V , Sedmera D
Published: August 2020

Optical mapping is a fluorescence-based physiological method to image spreading of action potential in excitable tissues, such as the heart and central nervous system. Because of the requirements for high speed imaging in low light conditions, highly sensitive high-speed cameras together with an optical system with maximum photon efficiency are required. While the optimization of these two components is relatively straightforward, the choice of the perfect light source is less simple; depending on the other (usually fixed) components, various parameters may acquire different weight in decision-making process. Here we describe the rationale for building an optical mapping setup and consider the relative advantages and disadvantages of three different commonly available light sources: mercury vapor lamp (HBO), xenon lamp (XBO), and light emitting diode (LED). Using the same optical system (fluorescence macroscope) and high-speed camera (Ultima L), we have tested each of the sources for its ability to provide bright and even illumination of the field of view and measured its temporal fluctuations in intensity. Then we used each in the actual optical mapping experiment using isolated, perfused adult mouse heart or chick embryonic heart to determine the actual signal to noise ratio at various acquisition rates. While the LED sources have undergone significant improvements in the recent past, the other alternatives may still surpass them in some parameters, so they may not be the automatic number one choice for every application.
Inhibition of NADPH oxidase within midbrain periaqueductal gray decreases pain sensitivity in Parkinson's disease via GABAergic signaling pathway
Authors: Zhang W , Sun L , Yang X , Wang R , Wang H
Published: August 2020

Hypersensitive pain response is observed in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the signal pathways leading to hyperalgesia still need to be clarified. Chronic oxidative stress is one of the hallmarks of PD pathophysiology. Since the midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG) is an important component of the descending inhibitory pathway controlling on central pain transmission, we examined the role NADPH oxidase (NOX) of the PAG in regulating exaggerated pain evoked by PD. PD was induced by central microinjection of 6-hydroxydopamine to lesion the left medial forebrain bundle of rats. Then, Western Blot analysis and ELISA were used to determine NOXs and products of oxidative stress (i.e., 8-isoprostaglandin F2α and 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine). Pain responses to mechanical and thermal stimulation were further examined in control rats and PD rats. In results, among the NOXs, protein expression of NOX4 in the PAG of PD rats was significantly upregulated, thereby the products of oxidative stress were increased. Blocking NOX4 pathway in the PAG attenuated mechanical and thermal pain responses in PD rats and this was accompanied with decreasing production of oxidative stress. In addition, inhibition of NOX4 largely restored the impaired GABA within the PAG. Stimulation of GABA receptors in the PAG of PD rats also blunted pain responses. In conclusions, NOX4 activation of oxidative stress in the PAG of PD rats is likely to impair the descending inhibitory GABAergic pathways in regulating pain transmission and thereby plays a role in the development of pain hypersensitivity in PD. Inhibition of NOX4 has beneficial effects on the exaggerated pain evoked by PD.
Crowdsourcing formulaic phrases: towards a new type of spoken corpus
Authors: Adolphs Svenja , Knight Dawn , Smith Catherine , Price Dominic
Published: August 2020

Spoken corpora have traditionally been assembled through careful recording and transcription of discourse events, a process which is both labour intensive and often restrictive in terms of breadth of recording contexts available. To overcome these potential challenges in spoken corpus compilation, we explore the use of crowdsourcing of language samples that are reported by participants. We investigate the level of precision and recall of the ‘crowd’ when it comes to reporting language they have heard in certain contexts, alongside the use of a crowdsourcing toolkit to facilitate this task. As a focussing device for the selection of reported language samples, we draw on the use of formulaic phrases as an area that has received considerable attention by corpus linguists and applied linguists over the years. We argue that while studying reported language usage instead of actual language-in-use is problematic for several reasons, many of which have been highlighted in the literature on Discourse Completion Tasks ( Schauer and Adolphs, 2006 ), our suggested approach presents several advantages and opportunities for spoken corpus linguistics.
Mandative subjunctive versus should in world Englishes: a new take on an old alternation
Authors: Deshors Sandra C. , Gries Stefan Th.
Published: August 2020

This study explores the alternation between the mandative subjunctive and its modal alternative with should across native and non-native Englishes. Methodologically, we try to improve on existing standards by investigating over 3,300 occurrences of the alternation from the Corpus of Web-based Global English and annotated for a range of linguistic factors analysed with a forest of conditional inference trees; also, we are exemplifying a new strategy for the use of random or conditional inference forests in corpus-based alternation studies. We obtain a forest with significant prediction accuracies and a good C-score and discuss the strongest predictors of the subjunctive versus should alternation across Englishes. Contrasting with existing research, our multi-factorial results: ( i) suggest that in British English the mandative subjunctive may not be dying out as much as we thought; and ( ii) individual suasive verbs influence speakers' use of the two variants more than their variety of English.
Anti-establishment coalition governments in Southern Europe: Greece and Italy
Authors: Georgiadou Vasiliki , Mavropoulou Jenny
Published: August 2020

Anti-establishment parties have been entering contemporary European Democracies with sizeable vote shares. During the Great Recession, the Greek and the Italian party system could be perceived as convergent case-studies for the formation and breakthrough of anti-establishment parties. Given the fact that ideologically diverging anti-establishment parties – the Coalition of the Radical Left - Social Unionist Front (SYRIZA) and the Independent Greeks (ANEL) in the Greek case, as well as the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the League in the Italian one – came to power and formed coalition governments, the primary goal of this article is to enquire into supply-side parameters, exploring potential associations along a range of programmatic stances and policy dimensions that effectuated these governing alliances. Using the Comparative Manifesto Project dataset, our findings confirm the existence of expected programmatic differences as well as a converging policymaking basis between the anti-establishment coalition partners of both governing alliances.
Why Are Wealthier Countries More Vaccine Skeptical?: How Internet Access Drives Global Vaccine Skepticism
Authors: Lunz Trujillo Kristin , Motta Matt
Published: August 2020

Vaccine skepticism interferes with governments’ abilities to maintain public safety. However, vaccine skepticism positively predicts country wealth rather than negatively. One explanation is that higher internet access could help spread anti-vaccine misinformation throughout society, particularly for those lower in scientific and medical expert trust (Online Accessibility hypothesis). An alternative explanation is that citizens in richer countries are less aware of vaccine-preventable disease risks because they are rarely experienced directly (Out of Sight hypothesis). To test these hypotheses, we merge country-level data with nationally-representative survey data (N = 149,014) from 144 countries. We find evidence for the Online Accessibility hypothesis; people in countries with greater internet access are significantly more likely to be vaccine skeptical. Further, we examine Americans’ vaccine attitudes during the COVID-19 outbreak - where a communicable disease is very ‘in-sight. ’We find anti-vaccine attitudes are similar to higher than pre-outbreak levels, which counters the Out of Sight Hypothesis.
Evaluation of Cultivar Identification Performance Using Feature Expressions and Classification Algorithms on Optical Images of Sweet Corn Seeds
Authors: Tang Yu , Cheng Zhishang , Miao Aimin , Zhuang Jiajun , Hou Chaojun , He Yong , Chu Xuan , Luo Shaoming
Published: August 2020

Cultivar identification of seeds is important for crop yield and quality. To study the impact of different features expressions and classification methods on cultivar identification, the performance of the feature expressions and classification algorithms affecting the accuracy of cultivar identification was evaluated by image processing techniques. A total of 448 samples of seeds from seven cultivars of sweet corn, namely, Orlando, Beiyasi, Jingketian 183, Jingtian 218, Suitian 1, CT76 and Lilixiangtian, were evaluated. The color, shape and texture features of the seeds were extracted from the images, and the class separability criterion was adopted to evaluate the separability of the features of the embryo side, nonembryo side and both of them combined. The results indicate that the class separability based on the features of the embryo side was higher than that based on the nonembryo side and both of them combined. Based on the embryo-side optical feature data, dimensionality reduction was conducted by two feature selection methods (stepwise discriminant analysis (SDA) and genetic algorithm (GA)) and two feature extraction methods (principal component analysis (PCA) and kernel principal component analysis (KPCA)). Performance evaluation of the feature reductions was conducted by constructing k-nearest neighbor (K-NN), naïve Bayes (NB), linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and support vector machine (SVM) classifiers. Compared to the PCA and KPCA algorithms, the SDA and GA algorithms were more conducive to the cultivar classification of sweet corn seeds; the critical features selected specifically by the SDA, K-NN, NB, LDA and SVM classifiers achieved the best classification accuracies (81.43%, 82.86%, 90%, and 87.14%, respectively). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the approach for optical feature selection had a more significant effect on the identification of sweet corn seed cultivars than did the classifiers. Therefore, based on the optical images of the embryo side and the key features obtained by the feature selection method, a classification model was constructed for the accurate and nondestructive classification of different sweet corn seed cultivars.
Genetic Identification and Drug-Resistance Characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Using a Portable Sequencing Device. A Pilot Study
Authors: Cervantes Jorge , Yokobori Noemí , Hong Bo-Young
Published: August 2020

Clinical management of tuberculosis (TB) in endemic areas is often challenged by a lack of resources including laboratories for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) culture. Traditional phenotypic drug susceptibility testing for Mtb is costly and time consuming, while PCR-based methods are limited to selected target loci. We herein utilized a portable, USB-powered, long-read sequencing instrument (MinION), to investigate Mtb genomic DNA from clinical isolates to determine the presence of anti-TB drug-resistance conferring mutations. Data analysis platform EPI2ME and antibiotic-resistance analysis using the real time ARMA workflow, identified Mtb species as well as extensive resistance gene profiles. The approach was highly sensitive, being able to detect almost all described drug resistance conferring mutations based on previous whole genome sequencing analysis. Our findings are supportive of the practical use of this system as a suitable method for the detection of antimicrobial resistance genes, and effective in providing Mtb genomic information. Future improvements in the error rate through statistical analysis, drug resistance prediction algorithms and reference databases would make this a platform suited for the clinical setting. The small size, relatively inexpensive cost of the device, as well as its rapid and simple library preparation protocol and analysis, make it an attractive option for settings with limited laboratory infrastructure.
Cyst Nematode Infection Elicits Alteration in the Level of Reactive Nitrogen Species, Protein S-Nitrosylation and Nitration, and Nitrosoglutathione Reductase in Arabidopsis thaliana Roots
Authors: Labudda Mateusz , Różańska Elżbieta , Gietler Marta , Fidler Justyna , Muszyńska Ewa , Prabucka Beata , Morkunas Iwona
Published: August 2020

Reactive nitrogen species (RNS) are redox molecules important for plant defense against pathogens. The aim of the study was to determine whether the infection by the beet cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii disrupts RNS balance in Arabidopsis thaliana roots. For this purpose, measurements of nitric oxide (NO), peroxynitrite (ONOO−), protein S-nitrosylation and nitration, and nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR) in A. thaliana roots from 1 day to 15 days post-inoculation (dpi) were performed. The cyst nematode infection caused generation of NO and ONOO− in the infected roots. These changes were accompanied by an expansion of S-nitrosylated and nitrated proteins. The enzyme activity of GSNOR was decreased at 3 and 15 dpi and increased at 7 dpi in infected roots, whereas the GSNOR1 transcript level was enhanced over the entire examination period. The protein content of GSNOR was increased in infected roots at 3 dpi and 7 dpi, but at 15 dpi, did not differ between uninfected and infected roots. The protein of GSNOR was detected in plastids, mitochondria, cytoplasm, as well as endoplasmic reticulum and cytoplasmic membranes. We postulate that RNS metabolism plays an important role in plant defense against the beet cyst nematode and helps the fine-tuning of the infected plants to stress sparked by phytoparasitic nematodes.
Detecting Cyber Threat Event from Twitter Using IDCNN and BiLSTM
Authors: Fang Yong , Gao Jian , Liu Zhonglin , Huang Cheng
Published: August 2020

In the context of increasing cyber threats and attacks, monitoring and analyzing network security incidents in a timely and effective way is the key to ensuring network infrastructure security. As one of the world’s most popular social media sites, users post all kinds of messages on Twitter, from daily life to global news and political strategy. It can aggregate a large number of network security-related events promptly and provide a source of information flow about cyber threats. In this paper, for detecting cyber threat events on Twitter, we present a multi-task learning approach based on the natural language processing technology and machine learning algorithm of the Iterated Dilated Convolutional Neural Network (IDCNN) and Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) to establish a highly accurate network model. Furthermore, we collect a network threat-related Twitter database from the public datasets to verify our model’s performance. The results show that the proposed model works well to detect cyber threat events from tweets and significantly outperform several baselines.
Rocking Blocks Stability under Critical Pulses from Near-Fault Earthquakes Using a Novel Energy Based Approach
Authors: Karam Gebran , Tabbara Mazen
Published: August 2020

Following the seminal work of Housner, a novel energy based critical pulse theoretical model is derived to assess the seismic stability of rocking rigid blocks under single pulses from near-fault earthquakes. It is shown that overturning is conditional on the availability of sufficient kinetic energy in the exciting pulse and on the inception of rocking. The theoretical model is shown to be in good agreement with discrete element method numerical simulations for similar blocks of sizes 0.5, 1, and 20 m. Similitude rules are established to scale between block sizes and pulse types and tested successfully. The results agree with available experimental data. The proposed stability chart approach provides a practical and simple alternative to the presentation and study of the stability and overturning of blocks published by others in the frequency spectrum domain. For any given rigid block or inverted pendulum structure the model or normalized stability charts provide a method to determine the characteristic period and peak acceleration required for overturning and by extension to identify the critical content of the dominant pulse of a given earthquake signal. Alternatively, the approach could be used in archaeoseismology to identify the characteristics of the dominant pulse content of past earthquakes based on their impacts on various historical and heritage structures.
Vibration Parameters Estimation by Blade Tip-Timing in Mistuned Bladed Disks in Presence of Close Resonances
Authors: Bornassi Saeed , Firrone Christian Maria , Berruti Teresa Maria
Published: August 2020

The present paper is focused on the post processing of the data coming from the Blade Tip-Timing (BTT) sensors in the case where two very close peaks are present in the frequency response of the vibrating system. This type of dynamic response with two very close peaks can occur quite often in bladed disks. It is related to the fact that the bladed disk is not perfectly cyclic symmetric and the so called “mistuning” is present. A method based on the fitting of the BTT sensors data by means of a 2 degrees of freedom (2DOF) dynamic model is proposed. Nonlinear least square optimization technique is employed for identification of the vibration characteristics. A numerical test case based on a lump parameter model of a bladed disk assembly is used to simulate different response curves and the corresponding sensors signals. The Frequency Response Function (FRF) constructed at the resonance region is compared with the traditional Sine fitting results, the resonance frequencies and damping values estimated by the fitting procedure are also reported. Accurate predictions are achieved and the results demonstrate the considerable capacity of the 2DOF method to be used as a standalone or as a complement to the standard Sine fitting method.
Machine Learning in Electrofacies Classification and Subsurface Lithology Interpretation: A Rough Set Theory Approach
Authors: Hossain Touhid Mohammad , Watada Junzo , Aziz Izzatdin A. , Hermana Maman
Published: August 2020

Initially, electrofacies were introduced to define a set of recorded well log responses in order to characterize and distinguish a bed from the other rock units, as an advancement to the conventional application of well logs. Well logs are continuous records of several physical properties of drilled rocks that can be related to different lithologies by experienced log analysts. This work is time consuming and likely to be imperfect because human analysis is subjective. Thus, any automated classification approach with high promptness and accuracy is very welcome by log analysts. One of the crucial requirements in petroleum engineering is to interpret a bed’s lithology, which can be done by grouping a formation into electrofacies. In the past, geophysical modelling, petro-physical analysis, artificial intelligence and several statistical method approaches have been implemented to interpret lithology. In this research, important well log features are selected by using the Extra Tree Classifier (ETC), and then five individual electrofacies are constructed by using the selected well log features. Finally, a rough set theory (RST)-based whitebox classification approach is proposed to classify the electrofacies by generating decision rules. These rules are later on used to determine the lithology classes and we found that RST is beneficial for performing data mining tasks such as data classification and rule extraction from uncertain and vague well log datasets. A comparison study is also provided, where we use support vector machine (SVM), deep learning based on feedforward multilayer perceptron (MLP) and random forest classifier (RFC) to compare the electrofacies classification accuracy.
A Quality Study of a Self-Piercing Riveted Joint between Vibration-Damping Aluminum Alloy and Dissimilar Materials
Authors: Kam Dong Hyuck , Jeong Taek Eon , Kim Jedo
Published: August 2020

This study investigates the quality of self-piercing riveted joints between vibration-damping aluminum (Al) and other dissimilar materials, namely aluminum alloy (AL5052-H32), steel alloy (GA590DP), and carbon-reinforced plastic (CFRP). The effects of die types (flat, cone, and nipple) on the geometrical characteristics and mechanical performance of the joints are studied using a cross-section examination and tensile shear load testing. The failure modes of each joint are also presented, showing the nature of the forces leading to the joint failures. The results indicate that, for all configurations, adequate joining between vibration-damping Al with AL5052-H32 is expected with a maximum shear load up to 3.28 kN. A shear load up to 3.6 kN was measured for the joints with GA590DP panels with acceptable top and bottom seal characteristics. A vibration-damping Al panel can only be positioned at the bottom when riveting with CFRP due to the brittle nature of CFRP. A tensile shear load up to 2.26 kN was found, which is the lowest amongst the materials tested in this study.
Robust Detection, Classification and Localization of Defects in Large Photovoltaic Plants Based on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Infrared Thermography
Authors: Fernández Alberto , Usamentiaga Rubén , de Arquer Pedro , Fernández Miguel Ángel , Fernández D. , Carús Juan Luis , Fernández Manés
Published: August 2020

The efficiency and profitability of photovoltaic (PV) plants are highly controlled by their operation and maintenance (O&M) procedures. Today, the effective diagnosis of any possible fault of PV plants remains a technical and economic challenge, especially when dealing with large-scale PV plants. Currently, PV plant monitoring is carried out by either electrical performance measurements or image processing. The first approach presents limited fault detection ability, it is costly and time-consuming, and it is incapable of fast identification of the physical location of the fault. In the second approach, Infrared Thermography (IRT) imaging has been used for the characterization of PV module failures, but their setup and processing are rather complex and an experienced technician is required. The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for IRT imaging of PV plants for health status monitoring of PV modules has been identified as a cost-effective approach that offers 10–-15 fold lower inspection times than conventional techniques. However, previous works have not performed a comprehensive approach in the context of automated UAV inspection using IRT. This work provides a fully automated approach for the: (a) detection, (b) classification, and (c) geopositioning of the thermal defects in the PV modules. The system has been tested on a real PV plant in Spain. The obtained results indicate that an autonomous solution can be implemented for a full characterization of the thermal defects.
Partial Photoionization Cross Sections of Chromium from the Ground and Excited States
Authors: Zatsarinny Oleg , Tayal Swaraj
Published: August 2020

Partial and total photoionization cross sections of iron-peak elements are important for the determination of abundances in late-type stars and nebular objects. We have investigated photoionization of neutral chromium from the ground and excited states in the low energy region from the first ionization threshold at 6.77 eV to 30 eV. Accurate descriptions of the initial bound states of Cr I and the final residual Cr II ionic states have been obtained in the multiconfiguration Hartree-Fock method together with adjustable configuration expansions and term-dependent non-orthogonal orbitals. The B-spline R-matrix method has been used for the calculation of photoionization cross sections. The 194 LS final ionic states of Cr II 3d44s, 3d34s2, 3d5, 3d44p, and 3d34s4p principal configurations have been included in the close-coupling expansion. The inclusion of all terms of these configurations has significant impact on the near-threshold resonance structures as well as on the nonresonant background cross sections. Total photoionization cross sections from the ground 3d54sa7S and excited 3d54sa5S, 3d44s2a5D, 3d54pz5P, and 3d44s4py5P states of Cr I have been compared with other available R-matrix calculation to estimate the likely uncertainties in photoionization cross sections. We analyzed the partial photoionization cross sections for leaving the residual ion in various states to identify the important scattering channels, and noted that 3d electron ionization channel becomes dominant at higher energies.
An Evaluation of Different Parameters to Screen Ornamental Shrubs for Salt Spray Tolerance
Authors: Toscano Stefania , Branca Ferdinando , Romano Daniela , Ferrante Antonio
Published: August 2020

In the context of seaside landscaping, one of the greatest challenges for practitioners and scientists is to select suitable species that are able to tolerate salt spray. This is the key aspect for a wide number of potentially suitable species. The objectives of this study were (1) to identify plant traits associated with species tolerance to salt stress and (2) to evaluate the responses of different shrub species to salt spray. For this purpose, a study was conducted to determine the effects of salt spray on twenty-four ornamental shrubs using rapid and easy-to-use methodology. The species were subjected twice a week to nebulization treatment with simulated seawater solution for 60 days. Every 20 days, net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, and chlorophyll a fluorescence were determined. Furthermore, dry biomass of the different organographic portions, leaf number, leaf area, Specific Leaf Area, chlorophyll content, and leaf damage were determined at the end of the experiment. The species exposed to seawater solution showed different physiological and morphological responses. Based on the above indices, these ornamental shrubs were screened and categorized as tolerant, moderately tolerant, or susceptible. The results suggest that Convolvulus, Ceratonia, and Ligustrum are more tolerant to salt spray than numerous other genotypes; L. langmaniae, Cascabela, and L. frutescens, conversely, are more sensitive. Among the plant traits, the morphological parameters thoroughly characterized the effects of the salt spray, but they were destructive, with the only exception being the leaf damage percentage. This last non-destructive parameter is interesting considering the aesthetic value that ornamental plants must have. The physiological parameters, and in particular photosynthesis activity, can instead be used as a non-destructive screening method to select species suitable for ornamental green spaces near the sea.
Role of Melatonin in the Synchronization of Asexual Forms in the Parasite Plasmodium falciparum
Authors: Singh Maneesh Kumar , Dias Bárbara Karina de Menezes , Garcia Célia R. S.
Published: August 2020

The indoleamine compound melatonin has been extensively studied in the regulation of the circadian rhythm in nearly all vertebrates. The effects of melatonin have also been studied in Protozoan parasites, especially in the synchronization of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum via a complex downstream signalling pathway. Melatonin activates protein kinase A (PfPKA) and requires the activation of protein kinase 7 (PfPK7), PLC-IP3, and a subset of genes from the ubiquitin-proteasome system. In other parasites, such as Trypanosoma cruzi and Toxoplasma gondii, melatonin increases inflammatory components, thus amplifying the protective response of the host’s immune system and affecting parasite load. The development of melatonin-related indole compounds exhibiting antiparasitic properties clearly suggests this new and effective approach as an alternative treatment. Therefore, it is critical to understand how melatonin confers stimulatory functions in host–parasite biology.
Sex Differences in the Neuropeptide Y System and Implications for Stress Related Disorders
Authors: Nahvi Roxanna J. , Sabban Esther L.
Published: August 2020

The neuropeptide Y (NPY) system is emerging as a promising therapeutic target for neuropsychiatric disorders by intranasal delivery to the brain. However, the vast majority of underlying research has been performed with males despite females being twice as susceptible to many stress-triggered disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anorexia nervosa, and anxiety disorders. Here, we review sex differences in the NPY system in basal and stressed conditions and how it relates to varied susceptibility to stress-related disorders. The majority of studies demonstrate that NPY expression in many brain areas under basal, unstressed conditions is lower in females than in males. This could put them at a disadvantage in dealing with stress. Knock out animals and Flinders genetic models show that NPY is important for attenuating depression in both sexes, while its effects on anxiety appear more pronounced in males. In females, NPY expression after exposure to stress may depend on age, timing, and nature and duration of the stressors and may be especially pronounced in the catecholaminergic systems. Furthermore, alterations in NPY receptor expression and affinity may contribute to the sex differences in the NPY system. Overall, the review highlights the important role of NPY and sex differences in manifestation of neuropsychiatric disorders.
Evaluating Human Movement Coordination During Immersive Walking in a Virtual Crowd
Authors: Koilias Alexandros , Nelson Michael , Gubbi Sahana , Mousas Christos , Anagnostopoulos Christos-Nikolaos
Published: August 2020

This paper describes our investigation on how participants coordinate movement behavior in relation to a virtual crowd that surrounds them while immersed in a virtual environment. The participants were immersed in a virtual metropolitan city and were instructed to cross the road and reach the opposite sidewalk. The participants performed the task ten times. The virtual crowd that surrounded them was scripted to move in the same direction. During the experiment, several measurements were obtained to evaluate human movement coordination. Moreover, the time and direction in which the participants started moving toward the opposite sidewalk were also captured. These data were later used to initialize the parameters of simulated characters that were scripted to become part of the virtual crowd. Measurements were extracted from the simulated characters and used as a baseline to evaluate the movement coordination of the participants. By analyzing the data, significant differences between the movement behaviors of the participants and the simulated characters were found. However, simple linear regression analyses indicated that the movement behavior of participants was moderately associated with the simulated characters’ movements when performing a locomotive task within a virtual crowd population. This study can be considered as a baseline for further research that evaluates the movement coordination of participants during human–virtual-crowd interactions using measurements obtained by the simulated characters.
An Efficient Secure Electronic Payment System for E-Commerce
Authors: Hassan Md Arif , Shukur Zarina , Hasan Mohammad Kamrul
Published: August 2020

E-commerce implies an electronic purchasing and marketing process online by using typical Web browsers. As e-commerce is quickly developing on the planet, particularly in recent years, many areas of life are affected, particularly the improvement in how individuals regulate themselves non-financially and financially in different transactions. In electronic payment or e-commerce payment, the gateway is a major component of the structure to assure that such exchanges occur without disputes, while maintaining the common security over such systems. Most Internet payment gateways in e-commerce provide monetary information to customers using trusted third parties directly to a payment gateway. Nonetheless, it is recognized that the cloud Web server is not considered a protected entity. This article aims to develop an efficient and secure electronic payment protocol for e-commerce where consumers can immediately connect with the merchant properly. Interestingly, the proposed system does not require the customer to input his/her identity in the merchant’s website even though the customer can hide his/her identity and make a temporary identity to perform the service. It has been found that our protocol has much improved security effectiveness in terms of confidentiality, integrity, non-repudiation, anonymity availability, authentication, and authorization.
Advanced LED Solid-State Lighting Optics
Authors: Sun Ching-Cherng , Ma Shih-Hsin , Nguyen Quang-Khoi
Published: August 2020

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been intensively studied for white-light lighting since their luminous efficacy exceeds 50 lm/W. Currently, the luminous efficacy of an LED light tube/bulb is almost above 100 lm/W. LED solid-state lighting (SSL) has unequivocally become the major light source in general lighting. The fact of high efficiency and other advantages of LED SSL is enough to penetrate all lighting scenarios. However, what people demand from new-generation lighting is not only in energy efficiency but also in lighting quality. Thus, how to make the lighting more user friendly is one of the important issues, and, here, optics is the key point. For making a collection with the discussions of the novel optical design in enhancing lighting efficiency in a more uniform illumination pattern, in higher sharpness for special lighting, in a higher signal-to-noise ratio for communication, in more functions for new applications, etc., this Special Issue of “Advanced LED Solid-State Lighting Optics” focuses on advanced applications in all aspects.
Added Value of Subtraction SPECT/CT in Dual-Isotope Parathyroid Scintigraphy
Authors: Christensen Julie Wulf , Krakauer Martin
Published: August 2020

Background: Adding subtraction single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) to dual isotope (I-123 and Tc-99m-sestamibi) subtraction parathyroid scintigraphy is not widely implemented. We aimed to assess the added value of dual isotope subtraction SPECT/CT over single isotope SPECT/CT as an adjunct to dual isotope planar pinhole subtraction scintigraphy. Methods: Parathyroid scintigraphies from 106 patients with an estimated total of 415 parathyroid glands who (1) were diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism, (2) underwent dual isotope subtraction scintigraphy in the Department of Nuclear Medicine, Gentofte Hospital, Denmark throughout 2017 and (3) underwent subsequent parathyroidectomy, were included. The original dual isotope planar pinhole subtraction plus dual isotope subtraction SPECT/CT (dual/dual method) exams were retrospectively re-evaluated using only Tc-99m-sestamibi SPECT/CT (dual/single method). Statistics were calculated per parathyroid. Surgical results confirmed by pathology served as reference standard. Results: The dual/dual method had higher sensitivity than the dual/single method (82% (95%CI 74%–88%) vs. 69% (95%CI 60%–77%)) while specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV) were similar (specificity 96% vs. 93%, PPV’s 87% vs. 82% and NPV’s 89% vs. 93%). Reader confidence was higher when employing the dual/dual method (p = 0.001). Conclusions: The dual/dual method can be considered superior to the dual/single method in the preoperative imaging in primary hyperparathyroidism.
The Importance of Higher Education in the EU Countries in Achieving the Objectives of the Circular Economy in the Energy Sector
Authors: Rokicki Tomasz , Perkowska Aleksandra , Klepacki Bogdan , Szczepaniuk Hubert , Szczepaniuk Edyta Karolina , Bereziński Stanisław , Ziółkowska Paulina
Published: August 2020

The main purpose of the article was to identify and present the current situation and changes in higher education in the field of electricity and energy studies in the European Union countries. The specific objectives include determining the degree of concentration of education in the fields of electricity and energy in the EU countries, showing the directions of their changes, types of dominant education in this field, establishing the correlation between education in the fields of electricity and energy and the parameters assessing the achievement of circular economy assumptions in the energy sector. All Member States of the European Union were deliberately selected for research. The research period covered the years 2013–2018. The source of the materials is a literature review on the subject and Eurostat data. For the analysis and presentation of materials, methods such as descriptive, tabular, graphical, dynamics indicators with a constant basis, Gini concentration coefficient, concentration analysis using the Lorenz curve, coefficient of variation, Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient were used. A high concentration of education in the fields of electricity and energy was found in several EU countries, the largest in countries with the highest energy consumption, i.e., in France and Poland. Changes in the level of concentration practically did not take place, only in the case of master’s studies, there was an increase in concentration. However, the EU countries did not differ significantly in terms of the structure of the number of students studying electricity and energy.
Improved Application of Third-Order LADRC in Wind Power Inverter
Authors: Yuan Changsheng , Zhou Xuesong , Ma Youjie , Gao Zhiqiang , Zhou Yongliang , Wang Chenglong
Published: August 2020

In wind power systems, LCL inverters have technical problems. First of all, they are non-linear systems and are no longer adapted to the superposition principle; secondly, the coupling is great; finally, it is easy to be interfered by the outside world, and the interference mainly comes from voltage fluctuations and nonlinear loads on the grid. Therefore, it is difficult to control the output result, and then the improved linear active disturbance rejection control (LADRC) is applied. The main improvement of the improved LADRC lies in the linear extended state observer (LESO). Introducing the total disturbance differential signal in LESO, and in order to improve the ability to suppress high-frequency noise, a series of first-order inertia link was applied. The analysis method in this article is mainly frequency domain analysis, under the condition of obtaining LADRC closed-loop transfer function and frequency band characteristics, theoretical analysis of LADRC tracking estimation ability, disturbance suppression ability, and stability. A large number of experimental simulation results verified the superiority of improving LADRC. The main manifestation is that the improved LADRC not only has a fast response speed but also has a strong ability to suppress disturbances and has a good noise suppression effect in high frequency bands.
Comparative Study of Integer and Non-Integer Order Models of Synchronous Generator
Authors: Racewicz Szymon , Kutt Filip , Michna Michał , Sienkiewicz Łukasz
Published: August 2020

This article presents a comparison between integer and non-integer order modelling of a synchronous generator, in the frequency domain as well as in the time domain. The classical integer order model was compared to one containing half-order systems. The half-order systems are represented in a Park d-q axis equivalent circuit as impedances modelled by half-order transmittances. Using a direct method based on the approximation of the half-order derivatives by the Grünwald–Letnikov definition, a state-space equation system was solved. For both models, a computational program written in Matlab® software was used. For the purpose of time domain simulation, the machine models were connected to an electric load composed of an RL circuit. To validate and compare both models, simulation results of a three-phase short-circuit and a no-load voltage recovery were compared with corresponding measurements performed on a solid salient-pole synchronous generator of 125 kVA.
Electric Vehicles and Biofuels Synergies in the Brazilian Energy System
Authors: Dranka Géremi Gilson , Ferreira Paula
Published: August 2020

Shaping a secure and sustainable energy future may require a set of transformations in the global energy sector. Although several studies have recognized the importance of Electric Vehicles (EVs) for power systems, no large-scale studies have been performed to assess the impact of this technology in energy systems combining a diverse set of renewable energies for electricity production and biofuels in the transportation sector such as the case of Brazil. This research makes several noteworthy contributions to the current literature, including not only the evaluation of the main impacts of EVs’ penetration in a renewable electricity system but also a Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) that estimates the overall level of CO2 emissions resulted from the EVs integration. Findings of this study indicated a clear positive effect of increasing the share of EVs on reducing the overall level of CO2 emissions. This is, however, highly dependent on the share of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in the power system and the use of biofuels in the transport sector but also on the credits resulting from the battery recycling materials credit and battery reuse credit. Our conclusions underline the importance of such studies in providing support for the governmental discussions regarding potential synergies in the use of bioresources between transport and electricity sectors.
Utilization of Agricultural and Livestock Waste in Anaerobic Digestion (A.D): Applying the Biorefinery Concept in a Circular Economy
Authors: Rekleitis Grigorios , Haralambous Katherine-Joanne , Loizidou Maria , Aravossis Konstantinos
Published: August 2020

There has been intense debate over the depletion of fossil fuel reserves in recent decades as well as the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change. At the same time, new legislation in Greece, national policies, European policies, and realistic needs, need effective waste management and the protection of national resources. As a result, it seems a necessity to exploit waste treatments, while expanding the use of renewable energy sources. In this study, an attempt is made to focus our interest and research on a specific biomass waste stream, namely the waste biomass from the agricultural-livestock sector. The possibility of processing these wastes through the technology of biomass biorefinery with anaerobic digestion as its central process will be studied. The technology of anaerobic digestion is a process widely used for the treatment of agricultural residues and livestock waste as well as for the exploitation of energy crops (energy development, soil enhancement) mainly in countries in Europe and globally. This study reviews the biorefinery biomass technology, the energy production technology, production of biofuels, and new materials from waste biomass at the behest of the circular economy and bioeconomy. Additionally, this research will be an introduction in maximizing the potential of the full utilization of agricultural and livestock waste, and the by-products that can be produced from these processes.
Effect of Moisture on the Thermal Conductivity of Cellulose and Aramid Paper Impregnated with Various Dielectric Liquids
Authors: Dombek Grzegorz , Nadolny Zbigniew , Przybylek Piotr , Lopatkiewicz Radoslaw , Marcinkowska Agnieszka , Druzynski Lukasz , Boczar Tomasz , Tomczewski Andrzej
Published: August 2020

This paper presents the effect of the impact of moisture in paper insulation used as insulation of transformer windings on its thermal conductivity. Various types of paper (cellulose and aramid) and impregnated (mineral oil, synthetic ester, and natural ester) were tested. The impact of paper and impregnated types on the changes in thermal conductivity of paper insulation caused by an increase in moisture were analyzed. A linear equation, describing the changes in thermal conductivity due to moisture, for various types of paper and impregnated, was developed. The results of measuring the thermal conductivity of paper insulation depending on the temperature are presented. The aim of the study is to develop an experimental database to better understand the heat transport inside transformers to assess aging and optimize their performance.