bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Edwardsiella piscicida YefM-YoeB: A Type II Toxin-Antitoxin System That Is Related to Antibiotic Resistance, Biofilm Formation, Serum Survival, and Host Infection
Authors: Ma Dongmei , Gu Hanjie , Shi Yanjie , Huang Huiqin , Sun Dongmei , Hu Yonghua
Published: March 2021

The emergence of drug resistant bacteria is a tricky and confronted problem in modern medicine, and one of important reasons is the widespread of toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems in pathogenic bacteria. Edwardsiella piscicida (also known as E. tarda) is the leading pathogen threatening worldwide fresh and seawater aquaculture industries and has been considered as a model organism for studying intracellular and systemic infections. However, the role of type II TA systems are completely unknown in aquatic pathogenic bacteria. In this study, we identified and characterized a type II TA system, YefM-YoeB, of E. piscicida, where YefM is the antitoxin and YoeB is the toxin. yefM and yoeB are co-expressed in a bicistronic operon. When expressed in E. coli, YoeB cause bacterial growth arrest, which was restored by the addition of YefM. To investigate the biological role of the TA system, two markerless yoeB and yefM-yoeB in-frame mutant strains, TX01ΔyoeB and TX01ΔyefM-yoeB, were constructed, respectively. Compared to the wild strain TX01, TX01ΔyefM-yoeB exhibited markedly reduced resistance against oxidative stress and antibiotic, and markedly reduced ability to form persistent bacteria. The deletion of yefM-yoeB enhanced the bacterial ability of high temperature tolerance, biofilm formation, and host serum resistance, which is the first study about the relationship between type II TA system and serum resistance. In vitro infection experiment showed that the inactivation of yefM-yoeB greatly enhanced bacterial capability of adhesion in host cells. Consistently, in vivo experiment suggested that the yefM-yoeB mutation had an obvious positive effect on bacteria dissemination of fish tissues and general virulence. Introduction of a trans-expressed yefM-yoeB restored the virulence of TX01ΔyefM-yoeB. These findings suggest that YefM-YoeB is involved in responding adverse circumstance and pathogenicity of E. piscicida. In addition, we found that YefM-YoeB negatively autoregulated the expression of yefM-yoeB and YefM could directly bind with own promoter. This study provides first insights into the biological activity of type II TA system YefM-YoeB in aquatic pathogenic bacteria and contributes to understand the pathogenesis of E. piscicida.
Risk of Liver Injury Associated with Intravenous Lipid Emulsions: A Prescription Sequence Symmetry Analysis
Authors: Li Xiao-xiao , Cheng Yin-chu , Zhai Suo-di , Yao Peng , Zhan Si-yan , Shi Lu-wen
Published: March 2021

Aims: To determine the risk of liver injury associated with the use of different intravenous lipid emulsions (LEs) in large populations in a real-world setting in China.

Methods: A prescription sequence symmetry analysis was performed using data from 2015 Chinese Basic Health Insurance for Urban Employees. Patients newly prescribed both intravenous LEs and hepatic protectors within time windows of 7, 14, 28, 42, and 60 days of each other were included. The washout period was set to one month according to the waiting-time distribution. After adjusting prescribing time trends, we quantify the deviation from symmetry of patients initiating LEs first and those initiating hepatic protectors first, by calculating adjusted sequence ratios (ASRs) and relevant 95% confidence intervals. Analyses were further stratified by age, gender, and different generations of LEs developed.

Results: In total, 416, 997, 1,697, 2,072, and 2,342 patients filled their first prescriptions with both drugs within 7, 14, 28, 42, and 60 days, respectively. Significantly increased risks of liver injury were found across all time windows, and the strongest effect was observed in the first 2 weeks [ASR 6.97 (5.77–8.42) ∼ 7.87 (6.04–10.61)] in overall patients. In subgroup analyses, female gender, age more than 60 years, and soybean oil-based and alternative-LEs showed higher ASRs in almost all time windows. Specially, a lower risk for liver injury was observed in the first 14 days following FO-LEs administration (ASR, 3.42; 95% CI, 0.81–14.47), but the risk started to rise in longer time windows.

Conclusion: A strong association was found between LEs use and liver injury through prescription sequence symmetry analysis in a real-world setting, which aligns with trial evidence and clinical experience. Differences revealed in the risks of liver injury among various LEs need further evaluation.
Effects of Small-Sided Games vs. Running-Based High-Intensity Interval Training on Physical Performance in Soccer Players: A Meta-Analytical Comparison
Authors: Clemente Filipe Manuel , Ramirez-Campillo Rodrigo , Afonso José , Sarmento Hugo
Published: March 2021

Objectives: This systematic review with meta-analysis (SRMA) was conducted to compare the effects of SSG-based interventions vs. running-based HIIT interventions on soccer players' sprinting time (ST), vertical height jump (VJH), and change of direction time (CODt).

Data Sources: The data sources utilized were Web of Science, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and PubMed.

Results: An electronic search yielded 650 articles, six of which were included in the present study. Between-group analysis found a significant favoring effect of HIIT-based over SSG-based training interventions for the improvement of linear sprinting time (ES = 0.42; p = 0.012). A within-group analysis revealed a significant favoring effect of HIIT-based training interventions for improving linear sprinting time (ES = 0.42; p = 0.008) and CODt (ES = 1.04; p = 0.005) despite a non-significant effect on VJH (ES = 0.47; p = 0.22).

Conclusions: The meta-analytical comparison revealed favoring the effect of running-based HIIT over SSG-based interventions in sprinting performance, although no significant differences were observed for jumping and CODt performance. The findings suggest that SSG-based programs should be supplemented by other training methods that benefit determinant capacities in soccer players.
Analysis of Communication, Team Situational Awareness, and Feedback in a Three-Person Intelligent Team Tutoring System
Authors: Ouverson Kaitlyn M. , Ostrander Alec G. , Walton Jamiahus , Kohl Adam , Gilbert Stephen B. , Dorneich Michael C. , Winer Eliot , Sinatra Anne M.
Published: March 2021

This research assessed how the performance and team skills of three-person teams working with an Intelligent Team Tutoring System (ITTS) on a virtual military surveillance task were affected by feedback privacy, participant role, task experience, prior team experience, and teammate familiarity. Previous work in Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) has focused on outcomes for task skill training for individual learners. As research extends into intelligent tutoring for teams, both task skills and team skills are necessary for good team performance. This work includes a brief review of previous research on ITTSs, feedback, teams, and teamwork, including the recounting of two categories of a framework of teamwork performance, Communication and Cognition, which are relevant to the present study. This research examines the effects of an intelligent agent, as well as features of the team, its members, and the task being undertaken, on team communication (measured by relevant key-presses) and team situation awareness (as measured by scores on a quiz). Thirty-seven teams of three participants, each at their own computer running a multiplayer surveillance simulation, were given just-in-time private (individually delivered) or public (team-delivered) performance feedback during four 5-min trials. In the fourth trial, two of the three participants switched roles. Feedback type, teamwork experience, and teammate familiarity had no statistically significant effect on communication or team situation awareness. However, higher levels of role experience and task experience showed significant and medium-sized effects on communication performance. Results, based on performance data and structured interview responses, also revealed areas of improvement in future feedback design and a potential benchmark for feedback frequency in an action-oriented serious game-based ITTS. Among the conclusions are six design objectives for future ITTSs, establishing a foundation for future research on designing effective ITTSs that train interpersonal skills to nascent teams.
The Role of Entrepreneurship Policy in College Students’ Entrepreneurial Intention: The Intermediary Role of Entrepreneurial Practice and Entrepreneurial Spirit
Authors: Huang Yangjie , An Lanyijie , Wang Jing , Chen Yingying , Wang Shuzhang , Wang Peng
Published: March 2021

Entrepreneurship is a sustainable development tool that supports the alleviation of poverty and unemployment. Focusing on the promotion of entrepreneurial intention (EI) under the background of entrepreneurship education (EE), this study used a structural equation model to examine the role of entrepreneurship policy (EPo), entrepreneurial practice (EPr), and entrepreneurial spirit (ES) on the EI of 384 college students from 22 universities in Guangdong Province. The test results show that there are significant positive correlations between EPo and EI; EPo and EPr; EPo and ES; and EPr and EI. They also support the hypothesis that EPr enhances the positive effect that EPo has on EI. This study puts forth measures to improve EI and makes contributions to future research on EE.
Application of Human Factors in the Development Process of Immersive Visual Technologies: Challenges and Future Improvements
Authors: Saghafian Mina , Sitompul Taufik Akbar , Laumann Karin , Sundnes Kristina , Lindell Rikard
Published: March 2021

This study investigates how Human Factors (HF) is applied when designing and developing Immersive Visual Technologies (IVT), including Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, and Virtual Reality. We interviewed fourteen people working at different organizations, that develop IVT applications in the Nordic region. We used thematic analysis to derive themes from the interviews. The results showed an insufficient knowledge and application of HF in IVT development, due to the lack of awareness of both scope and significance of HF, resource allocation strategy, market inertia, stakeholder's involvement, standardization of HF application and IVT uses, and technology maturity. This situation could be improved by allocating experts, adjusting organizational strategy to balance resource allocation, training developers and user organizations to raise awareness and to encourage co-creative design and knowledge sharing, create a sense of ownership amongst stakeholders, and ensure the usefulness of the technology to the user's work.
Attitude Toward Protective Behavior Engagement During COVID-19 Pandemic in Malaysia: The Role of E-government and Social Media
Authors: Mat Dawi Norazryana , Namazi Hamidreza , Hwang Ha Jin , Ismail Suriani , Maresova Petra , Krejcar Ondrej
Published: March 2021

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is still evolving and affecting millions of lives. E-government and social media have been used widely during this unprecedented time to spread awareness and educate the public on preventive measures. However, the extent to which the 2 digital platforms bring to improve public health awareness and prevention during a health crisis is unknown. In this study, we examined the influence of e-government and social media on the public's attitude to adopt protective behavior. For this purpose, a Web survey was conducted among 404 Malaysian residents during the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) period in the country. Descriptive and multiple regression analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS software. Social media was chosen by most of the respondents (n= 331 or 81.9%) as the source to get information related to COVID-19. Multiple regression analysis suggests the roles of e-government and social media to be significantly related to people's attitudes to engage in protective behavior. In conclusion, during the COVID-19 outbreak, public health decision makers may use e-government and social media platforms as effective tools to improve public engagement on protective behavior. This, in turn, will help the country to contain the transmission of the virus.
The Clinicopathological Significance of YAP/TAZ Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Relation to Hypoxia and Stemness
Authors: Park Hyunjin , Lee Yangkyu , Lee Kiryang , Lee Hyejung , Yoo Jeong Eun , Ahn Soomin , Park Young Nyun , Kim Haeryoung
Published: March 2021

Background/Aims: Yes-associated protein (YAP) and transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) activation has been implicated in hepatocarcinogenesis and hepatic progenitor cell differentiation, and hypoxia has been shown to induce nuclear translocation of YAP in cancer cells. Here, we aimed to investigate the relationship between hypoxia, YAP and TAZ expression and stemness-related marker expression in human hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) and its clinical implications.

Methods: Immunohistochemical stains were performed on tissue microarrays from 305 surgically resected HCCs, and the expression status of YAP and TAZ were correlated with CAIX, stemness markers (K19, EpCAM) and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related markers (uPAR, ezrin). The clinicopathological significance of YAP/TAZ expression was analyzed with relation to CAIX expression status.

Results: YAP and TAZ expression were seen in 13.4 and 4.3% of HCCs, respectively. YAP/TAZ-positive HCCs frequently demonstrated higher serum AFP levels, microvascular invasion, advanced tumor stage, increased proliferative activity and expression of stemness- and EMT-related markers, CAIX, p53 and Smad2/3 (p < 0.05, all). Interestingly, YAP/TAZ-positivity was associated with microvascular invasion, higher serum AFP levels, stemness and EMT-related marker expression only in tumors expressing CAIX (p < 0.05, all), while these associations were not seen in CAIX-negative HCCs.

Conclusions: YAP/TAZ expression is associated with vascular invasion, stemness and EMT in HCCs with hypoxia marker expression. The effect of Hippo signaling pathway deregulation in HCC may depend on the presence or absence of a hypoxic microenvironment, and hypoxia marker expression status should be taken into account when considering the use of YAP/TAZ as markers of aggressive biologic behavior in HCC.
The Novel Singular-Perturbation-Based Adaptive Control with σ-Modification for Cable Driven System
Authors: Li Bin , Yan Liang , Gerada Chris
Published: March 2021

Due to their large working space and fast response, cable driven systems have been widely applied in manufacturing, robotics and motion simulators, etc. However, the cable is flexible and tends to resonate at high frequencies, which raises challenges for the motion control of the cable driven system. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a singular-perturbation-based adaptive control method with σ-modification. Taking advantage of the multi-time scale characteristics, the flexible system is approximately decomposed into two subsystems, and then the damping compensation is designed in the boundary layer subsystem to enhance the tension stability. In addition, estimated parameters drift may occur for the reduced-order system. Thus, the σ-modification is proposed to ensure that the tracking and estimation errors converge to a bounded residual set. The Lyapunov stability theorem proves that the closed-loop system is stable and errors are ultimately uniformly bounded. A research prototype of a twin-motor cable driven system is developed, and experimental investigation is conducted on it. The experimental results show that the proposed control method can effectively suppress cable resonance at high frequencies. Compared with the conventional adaptive control method, it can significantly increase the system bandwidth.
NGO–Public Administration Relationships in Tackling the Homelessness Problem in the Czech Republic and Poland
Authors: Sidor Monika , Abdelhafez Dina
Published: March 2021

Recently, the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Poland and the Czech Republic has increased, which has translated into a growing tendency to change the procedures for social assistance provision. However, the relationships between public administration and non-governmental organisations differ in both countries. The Najam Four-C’s Model is used in this paper to describe how NGOs and public administration approach the problem of homelessness in the Czech Republic and Poland. To explore this issue, the authors conducted interviews with public servants and NGOs’ mangers in both countries. The findings show that, as far as homelessness is concerned, NGOs and state authorities function on the basis of complementarity in Poland as well as in the Czech Republic.
Agribusiness as an Attractive Place to Work––A Gender Perspective
Authors: Kozera-Kowalska Magdalena , Uglis Jarosław
Published: March 2021

Agribusiness is both a complex social process and a market structure, consisting of many independent economic entities that generate demand for labour in the sector. The role of people whose activity is directly or indirectly related to the production of food products, the acquisition of resources, and the processing and production of ready food was considered. The way gender affects people’s decision to work in this sector and university graduates’ perception of agribusiness being an ideal job were also analysed. A total of 485 students, from four fields of study, from the Poznań University of Life Sciences were surveyed between 2016 and 2019. In the case of undergraduate students, it was determined that while they perceive that working in agribusiness is an interesting career stage, they are also convinced that they could easily find a job outside of this sector. Additionally, from a gender perspective, men and women view working in agribusiness differently. Women see it as an opportunity for self-development and building good social relations as well as acting for the benefit of the environment. For men, job-related prestige and economic benefits are much more important. Men were found to have higher aspirations for pursuing their own businesses, whereas women were more likely to pursue further education. The attitudes towards working in agribusiness represented by the respondents are a good predictor of meeting its knowledge needs.
Zeolites Enhance Soil Health, Crop Productivity and Environmental Safety
Authors: Mondal Mousumi , Biswas Benukar , Garai Sourav , Sarkar Sukamal , Banerjee Hirak , Brahmachari Koushik , Bandyopadhyay Prasanta Kumar , Maitra Sagar , Brestic Marian , Skalicky Milan , Ondrisik Peter , Hossain Akbar
Published: March 2021

In modern days, rapid urbanisation, climatic abnormalities, water scarcity and quality degradation vis-à-vis the increasing demand for food to feed the growing population necessitate a more efficient agriculture production system. In this context, farming with zeolites, hydrated naturally occurring aluminosilicates found in sedimentary rocks, which are ubiquitous and environment friendly, has attracted attention in the recent past owing to multidisciplinary benefits accrued from them in agricultural activities. The use of these minerals as soil ameliorants facilitates the improvement of soil’s physical and chemical properties as well as alleviates heavy metal toxicity. Additionally, natural and surface-modified zeolites have selectivity for major essential nutrients, including ammonium (NH4+), phosphate (PO42−), nitrate (NO3−), potassium (K+) and sulphate (SO42−), in their unique porous structure that reduces nutrient leaching. The slow-release nature of zeolites is also beneficial to avail nutrients optimally throughout crop growth. These unique characteristics of zeolites improve the fertilizer and water use efficiency and, subsequently, diminish environmental pollution by reducing nitrate leaching and the emissions of nitrous oxides and ammonia. The aforesaid characteristics significantly improve the growth, productivity and quality of versatile crops, along with maximising resource use efficiency. This literature review highlights the findings of previous studies as well as the prospects of zeolite application for achieving sustenance in agriculture without negotiating the output.
Differences in a Cage Escape Behaviour between Two Migrating Warblers of Different Stop-Over Strategy
Authors: Jakubas Dariusz , Wojczulanis-Jakubas Katarzyna , Powers Alexis , Frazier Troy , Bottomley Michael , Kraszpulski Michał
Published: March 2021

Cognitive abilities play an important role for migratory birds that are briefly visiting a variety of unfamiliar stop-over habitats. Here, we compared cognitive abilities-linked behaviour (escape from an experimental cage) between two long-distant migrants differing in stop-over ecology, Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus; not territorial, searching for locally superabundant food) and Reed Warbler (A. scirpaceus; territorial, foraging on a common prey) during the autumn migration. After two minutes of acclimatization in the cage, we remotely opened the cage door and recorded the bird’s reaction. We measured latency that individuals needed to escape from a cage. Sedge warblers were 1.61 times more likely to escape from the cage than Reed Warblers. Sedge warblers generally escaped earlier after the door was opened and were 1.79 times more likely to escape at any given time than Reed Warblers. We interpret the prevalence of non-escaped individuals as a general feature of migratory birds. In contrast to resident species, they are more likely to enter an unfamiliar environment, but they are less explorative. We attributed inter-species differences in escape latency to species-specific autumn stop-over refuelling strategies in the context of specialist-generalist foraging. Our study provides ecological insight into the cognitive abilities-linked behaviour of wild animals.
Analysis of Intestinal Mucosa Integrity and GLP-2 Gene Functions upon Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus Infection in Pigs
Authors: Zhou Yajing , Ren Zhanshi , Zhang Shuai , Wang Haifei , Wu Shenglong , Bao Wenbin
Published: March 2021

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) infects intestinal epithelial cells, destroys the intestinal mucosal barrier and then causes diarrhea in piglets. Glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) is a specific intestinal growth hormone that promotes the repair of damaged intestinal mucosa and improves the intestinal barrier. In this study, we investigated the functions of porcine GLP-2 gene in regulating PEDV infection. The intestinal tissues with damaged intestinal structures caused by PEDV infection were first confirmed and collected. Expression analysis indicated that the GLP-2 gene was expressed in the duodenum, jejunum and ileum tissues, and the mRNA level was significantly down-regulated in jejunum and ileum of piglets with damaged intestinal mucosa. Infection of PEDV to porcine small intestinal epithelial cells in vitro showed that GLP-2 gene was significantly decreased, which was consistent with the expression pattern in intestinal tissues. In addition, we silenced the GLP-2 gene by shRNA interfering and found that the copy numbers of PEDV were remarkably increased in the GLP-2 gene silencing cells. Our findings suggest that the GLP-2 gene was potentially involved in regulating PEDV infection and in maintaining the integrity of the intestinal mucosal barrier structure, which could contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms of PEDV pathogenesis and provide a theoretical basis for the identification and application of resistant genes in pig selective breeding for porcine epidemic diarrhea.
Zinc Source and Concentration Altered Physiological Responses of Beef Heifers during a Combined Viral-Bacterial Respiratory Challenge
Authors: Broadway Paul Rand , Carroll Jeffery , Burdick Sanchez Nicole , Word Alyssa , Roberts Shelby , Kaufman Emily , Richeson John , Brown Mike , Ridenour Ken
Published: March 2021

To determine the effects of zinc supplementation on the immune response to a combined viral-bacterial respiratory disease challenge, thirty-two beef heifers (255 ± 15 kg) were subjected to a 30-d period of Zn depletion, then randomly assigned to one of three treatment diets fed for 30 d before the challenge: (1) supplementation with 100 mg of Zn from Zn sulfate/kg of DM (Zn100), (2) supplementation with 200 mg of Zn from Zn sulfate/kg of DM (Zn200), and (3) supplementation with 80 mg of Zn/kg of DM from zinc methionine and 20 mg of Zn from Zn sulfate/kg of DM (ZinMet). After the 30-d supplementation period, all heifers were fitted with indwelling vaginal temperature (VT) devices and intra-nasally challenged with 1 × 108 PFU bovine herpesvirus-1 on d -3, and then allowed to rest in outdoor pens for 3 d. On d 0, each heifer was challenged intra-tracheally with an average dose of 2.38 × 107 CFU Mannheimia haemolytica (MH), fitted with an indwelling jugular catheter, and then moved into individual stalls in an environmentally-controlled enclosed barn. Whole blood samples were collected at 1-h (serum) and 2-h (complete blood counts) intervals from 0 to 8 h, and at 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 168, and 360 h relative to MH challenge. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS specific for repeated measures with fixed effects of treatment, time, and their interaction. There was a treatment effect (p < 0.01) for VT such that Zn200 heifers had greater VT than Zn100 and ZinMet heifers. There was a trend (p = 0.10) for a serum cortisol treatment effect with Zn100 heifers having greater cortisol than ZinMet heifers. Total leukocytes and lymphocytes were greater (p ≤ 0.01) in Zn100 heifers than Zn200 and ZinMet heifers, whereas monocytes were less (p = 0.05) in ZinMet heifers than Zn100 and Zn200 heifers. Concentrations of IL-6 were greater (p = 0.02) in ZinMet heifers than Zn100 and Zn200 heifers. Concentrations of IFN-γ were greater in Zn200 heifers than ZinMet heifers at 0 h, and Zn100 heifers from 0 to 12 h post-MH challenge (treatment x time p = 0.02). Serum haptoglobin was not affected by treatment or treatment x time (p ≥ 0.36) but increased over time (p < 0.01) in all groups. There was a trend (p = 0.11) for ZinMet heifers to have less severe nasal lesion scores than Zn100 heifers. The observed differential physiological responses in this study indicate that zinc source and concentration may alter the response to a bovine respiratory challenge in heifers.
Cold Forging Effect on the Microstructure of Motorbike Shock Absorbers Fabricated by Tube Forming in a Closed Die
Authors: Le Trung-Kien , Bui Tuan-Anh
Published: March 2021

Motorbike shock absorbers made with a closed die employ a tube-forming process that is more sensitive than that of a solid billet, because the tube is usually too thin-walled to conserve material. During tube forming, defects such as folding and cracking occur due to unstable tube forming and abnormal material flow. It is therefore essential to understand the relationship between the appearance of defects and the number of forming steps to optimize technological parameters. Based on both finite element method (FEM) simulations and microstructural observations, we demonstrate the important role of the number and methodology of the forming steps on the material flow, defects, and metal fiber anisotropy of motorbike shock absorbers formed from a thin-walled tube. We find limits of the thickness and height ratios of the tube that must be held in order to avoid defects. Our study provides an important guide to workpiece and processing design that can improve the forming quality of products using tube forming.
Similarity Calculation Method for Infield and Outfield Low-Temperature Environmental Tests of Aircraft Sealing Rubber Material
Authors: Zhang Yongjie , Guo Renzhong , Zhang Yunhui , Liang Ke
Published: March 2021

This study aims to accurately simulate the outfield low-temperature environment for the key components of aircraft in the parking state, using the infield low-temperature environmental test chamber, when there is a difference between the infield and outfield environments; and, moreover, reveal the similarity between the influences of the infield and outfield low-temperature environments on the elastic properties of the rubber sealing materials for aircraft. Two kinds of rubber materials were examined in the infield and outfield—the tensile springback test and the isobaric elongation test—and the measured data of low-temperature steady-state response (elastic property) were obtained under the typical temperature of −40 to 10 °C, finding that there is difference of elastic property between the infield and outfield environment. Three fitting methods were then used to describe the relationship between elasticity and temperature. In view of the difference of the elastic response of the typical rubber sealing materials to the low-temperature infield and outfield, a similarity calculation method of infield and outfield low-temperature tests was proposed, based on the translation and scaling transformation of the similarity curve. The outfield test data verify that the method proposed has high goodness of fit, and it is feasible and generalizable in the low-temperature performance testing and research of rubber materials and components.
The Importance of Environmental Factors in the Planning of Container Terminals: The Case Study of the Port of Augusta
Authors: Giuffrida Nadia , Stojaković Maja , Twrdy Elen , Ignaccolo Matteo
Published: March 2021

Container terminals are the main hubs of the global supply chain but, conversely, they play an important role in energy consumption, environmental pollution and even climate change due to carbon emissions. Assessing the environmental impact of this type of port terminal and choosing appropriate mitigation measures is essential to pursue the goals related to a clean environment and ensuring a good quality of life of the inhabitants of port cities. In this paper the authors present a Terminal Decision Support Tool (TDST) for the development of a container terminal that considers both operation efficiency and environmental impacts. The TDST provides environmental impact mitigation measures based on different levels of evolution of the port’s container traffic. An application of the TDST is conducted on the Port of Augusta (Italy), a port that is planning infrastructural interventions in coming years in order to gain a new role as a reference point for container traffic in the Mediterranean.
Machine Learning-Based Malicious X.509 Certificates’ Detection
Authors: Li Jiaxin , Zhang Zhaoxin , Guo Changyong
Published: March 2021

X.509 certificates play an important role in encrypting the transmission of data on both sides under HTTPS. With the popularization of X.509 certificates, more and more criminals leverage certificates to prevent their communications from being exposed by malicious traffic analysis tools. Phishing sites and malware are good examples. Those X.509 certificates found in phishing sites or malware are called malicious X.509 certificates. This paper applies different machine learning models, including classical machine learning models, ensemble learning models, and deep learning models, to distinguish between malicious certificates and benign certificates with Verification for Extraction (VFE). The VFE is a system we design and implement for obtaining plentiful characteristics of certificates. The result shows that ensemble learning models are the most stable and efficient models with an average accuracy of 95.9%, which outperforms many previous works. In addition, we obtain an SVM-based detection model with an accuracy of 98.2%, which is the highest accuracy. The outcome indicates the VFE is capable of capturing essential and crucial characteristics of malicious X.509 certificates.
Data Augmentation Using Generative Adversarial Network for Automatic Machine Fault Detection Based on Vibration Signals
Authors: Bui Van , Pham Tung Lam , Nguyen Huy , Jang Yeong Min
Published: March 2021

In the last decade, predictive maintenance has attracted a lot of attention in industrial factories because of its wide use of the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence algorithms for data management. However, in the early phases where the abnormal and faulty machines rarely appeared in factories, there were limited sets of machine fault samples. With limited fault samples, it is difficult to perform a training process for fault classification due to the imbalance of input data. Therefore, data augmentation was required to increase the accuracy of the learning model. However, there were limited methods to generate and evaluate the data applied for data analysis. In this paper, we introduce a method of using the generative adversarial network as the fault signal augmentation method to enrich the dataset. The enhanced data set could increase the accuracy of the machine fault detection model in the training process. We also performed fault detection using a variety of preprocessing approaches and classified the models to evaluate the similarities between the generated data and authentic data. The generated fault data has high similarity with the original data and it significantly improves the accuracy of the model. The accuracy of fault machine detection reaches 99.41% with 20% original fault machine data set and 93.1% with 0% original fault machine data set (only use generate data only). Based on this, we concluded that the generated data could be used to mix with original data and improve the model performance.
Multi-Radar Analysis of the 20 May 2013 Moore, Oklahoma Supercell through Tornadogenesis and Intensification
Authors: Satrio Clarice N. , Bodine David J. , Palmer Robert D. , Kuster Charles M.
Published: March 2021

A multi-radar analysis of the 20 May 2013 Moore, Oklahoma, U.S. supercell is presented using three Weather Surveillance Radars 1988 Doppler (WSR-88Ds) and PX-1000, a rapid-scan, polarimetric, X-band radar, with a focus on the period between 1930 and 2008 UTC, encompassing supercell maturation through rapid tornado intensification. Owing to the 20-s temporal resolution of PX-1000, a detailed radar analysis of the hook echo is performed on (1) the microphysical characteristics through a hydrometeor classification algorithm (HCA)—inter-compared between X- and S-band for performance evaluation—including a hail and debris class and (2) kinematic properties of the low-level mesocyclone (LLM) assessed through ΔVr analyses. Four transient intensifications in ΔVr prior to tornadogenesis are documented and found to be associated with two prevalent internal rear-flank downdraft (RFD) momentum surges, the latter surge coincident with tornadogenesis. The momentum surges are marked by a rapidly advancing reflectivity (ZH) gradient traversing around the LLM, descending reflectivity cores (DRCs), a drop in differential reflectivity (ZDR) due to the advection of smaller drops into the hook echo, a decrease in correlation coefficient (ρhv), and the detection of debris from the HCA. Additionally, volumetric analyses of ZDR and specific differential phase (KDP) signatures show general diffusivity of the ZDR arc even after tornadogenesis in contrast with explosive deepening of the KDP foot downshear of the updraft. Similarly, while the vertical extent of the ZDR and KDP columns decrease leading up to tornadogenesis, the phasing of these signatures are offset after tornadogenesis, with the ZDR column deepening the lagging of KDP.
Elevation-Dependent Trend in Diurnal Temperature Range in the Northeast China during 1961–2015
Authors: Zhang Yanyu , Shen Xiangjin , Fan Gaohua
Published: March 2021

The diurnal temperature range (DTR) is considered a signature of observed climate change, which is defined as the difference between the maximum (Tmax) and minimum temperatures (Tmin). It is well known that the warming rate of mean temperature is larger at high elevations than at low elevations in northeast China. However, it is still uncertain whether DTR trend is greater at high elevations. This study examined the spatiotemporal variation in DTR and its relationship with elevation in northeast China based on data from 68 meteorological stations from 1961 to 2015. The results show that there was a significant declining trend (0.252 °C/decade) in DTR from 1961 to 2015 due to the fact that Tmin increased at a faster rate than Tmax. Seasonally, DTR in northeast China showed a decreasing trend with the largest decrease rate in spring (−0.3167 °C/decade) and the smallest decrease rate in summer (−0.1725 °C/decade). The results of correlation analysis show that there was a significant positive correlation between the annual DTR trend and elevation in northeast China. This is due to the fact that increasing elevation has a significant warming effect on Tmax. Seasonally, there were significant positive correlations between the DTR trend and elevation in all seasons. The elevation gradient of DTR trend was the greatest in winter (0.392 °C/decade/km) and the lowest in autumn (0.209 °C/decade/km). In spring, summer, and autumn, increasing elevation has a significant warming effect on Tmax, leading to a significant increase of the DTR trend with increasing elevation. However, in winter, increasing elevation has a significant cooling effect on Tmin, resulting in a significant increase of the DTR trend with increasing elevation.
Carbonaceous Aerosol in Polar Areas: First Results and Improvements of the Sampling Strategies
Authors: Caiazzo Laura , Calzolai Giulia , Becagli Silvia , Severi Mirko , Amore Alessandra , Nardin Raffaello , Chiari Massimo , Giardi Fabio , Nava Silvia , Lucarelli Franco , Pazzi Giulia , Cristofanelli Paolo , Virkkula Aki , Gambaro Andrea , Barbaro Elena , Traversi Rita
Published: March 2021

While more and more studies are being conducted on carbonaceous fractions—organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC)—in urban areas, there are still too few studies about these species and their effects in polar areas due to their very low concentrations; further, studies in the literature report only data from intensive campaigns, limited in time. We present here for the first time EC–OC concentration long-time data records from the sea-level sampling site of Ny-Ålesund, in the High Arctic (5 years), and from Dome C, in the East Antarctic Plateau (1 year). Regarding the Arctic, the median (and the interquartile range (IQR)) mass concentrations for the years 2011–2015 are 352 (IQR: 283–475) ng/m3 for OC and 4.8 (IQR: 4.6–17.4) ng/m3 for EC, which is responsible for only 3% of total carbon (TC). From both the concentration data sets and the variation of the average monthly concentrations, the influence of the Arctic haze on EC and OC concentrations is evident. Summer may be interested by high concentration episodes mainly due to long-range transport (e.g., from wide wildfires in the Northern Hemisphere, as happened in 2015). The average ratio of EC/OC for the summer period is 0.05, ranging from 0.02 to 0.10, and indicates a clean environment with prevailing biogenic (or biomass burning) sources, as well as aged, highly oxidized aerosol from long-range transport. Contribution from ship emission is not evident, but this result may be due to the sampling time resolution. In Antarctica, a 1 year-around data set from December 2016 to February 2018 is shown, which does not present a clear seasonal trend. The OC median (and IQR) value is 78 (64–106) ng/m3; for EC, it is 0.9 (0.6–2.4) ng/m3, weighing for 3% on TC values. The EC/OC ratio mean value is 0.20, with a range of 0.06–0.35. Due to the low EC and OC concentrations in polar areas, correction for the blank is far more important than in campaigns carried out in other regions, largely affecting uncertainties in measured concentrations. Through the years, we have thus developed a new sampling strategy that is presented here for the first time: samplers were modified in order to collect a larger amount of particulates on a small surface, enhancing the capability of the analytical method since the thermo-optical analyzer is sensitive to carbonaceous aerosol areal density. Further, we have recently coupled such modified samplers with a sampling strategy that makes a more reliable blank correction of every single sample possible.
Estimation of the Latent Heat Flux over Irrigated Short Fescue Grass for Different Fetches
Authors: Castellví Francesc , Gavilán Pedro
Published: March 2021

Often in agrometeorology the instrumentation required to estimate turbulent surface fluxes must be installed at sites where fetch is not sufficient for a sector of wind directions. For different integrated flux-footprints (IFFP) thresholds and taking as a reference the half-hourly latent heat fluxes (LE) measured with a large weighing lysimeter (LELys), the eddy covariance (EC) method and two methods based on surface renewal (SR) analysis to estimate LE were tested over short fescue grass. One method combined SR with the flux-gradient (profile) relationship, SR-P method, and the other with the dissipation method, SR-D method. When LE was estimated using traces of air moisture, good performances were obtained using the EC and the SR-P methods for samples with IFFP higher than 85%. However, the closest LE estimates were obtained using the residual method. For IFFP higher than 50%, the residual method combined with the sensible heat flux estimates determined using the SR-P method performed close to LELys and using the SR-D method good estimates were obtained for accumulated LELys. To estimate the sensible heat flux, the SR-D method can be recommended for day-to-day use by farmers because it is friendly and affordable.
Thermophysical Characterization of a Layered P2 Type Structure Na0.53MnO2 Cathode Material for Sodium Ion Batteries
Authors: Mohsin Ijaz Ul , Ziebert Carlos , Rohde Magnus , Seifert Hans Jürgen
Published: March 2021

Over the last decade, the demand for safer batteries with excellent performance and lower costs has been intensively increasing. The abundantly available precursors and environmental friendliness are generating more and more interest in sodium ion batteries (SIBs), especially because of the lower material costs compared to Li-ion batteries. Therefore, significant efforts are being dedicated to investigating new cathode materials for SIBs. Since the thermal characterization of cathode materials is one of the key factors for designing safe batteries, the thermophysical properties of a commercial layered P2 type structure Na0.53MnO2 cathode material in powder form were measured in the temperature range between −20 and 1200 °C by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), laser flash analysis (LFA), and thermogravimetry (TG). The thermogravimetry (TG) was combined with mass spectrometry (MS) to study the thermal decomposition of the cathode material with respect to the evolved gas analysis (EGA) and was performed from room temperature up to 1200 °C. The specific heat (Cp) and the thermal diffusivity (α) were measured up to 400 °C because beyond this temperature, the cathode material starts to decompose. The thermal conductivity (λ) as a function of temperature was calculated from the thermal diffusivity, the specific heat capacity, and the density. Such thermophysical data are highly relevant and important for thermal simulation studies, thermal management, and the mitigation of thermal runaway.
Phylogenetic and Haplotype Network Analyses of Diaporthe eres Species in China Based on Sequences of Multiple Loci
Authors: Chaisiri Chingchai , Liu Xiangyu , Lin Yang , Fu Yanping , Zhu Fuxing , Luo Chaoxi
Published: March 2021

Diaporthe eres is considered one of the most important causal agents of many plant diseases, with a broad host range worldwide. In this study, multiple sequences of ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), translation elongation factor 1-α gene (EF1-α), beta-tubulin gene (TUB2), calmodulin gene (CAL), and histone-3 gene (HIS) were used for multi-locus phylogenetic analysis. For phylogenetic analysis, maximum likelihood (ML), maximum parsimony (MP), and Bayesian inferred (BI) approaches were performed to investigate relationships of D. eres with closely related species. The results strongly support that the D. eres species falls into a monophyletic lineage, with the characteristics of a species complex. Phylogenetic informativeness (PI) analysis showed that clear boundaries could be proposed by using EF1-α, whereas ITS showed an ineffective reconstruction and, thus, was unsuitable for speciating boundaries for Diaporthe species. A combined dataset of EF1-α, CAL, TUB2, and HIS showed strong resolution for Diaporthe species, providing insights for the D. eres complex. Accordingly, besides D. biguttusis, D. camptothecicola, D. castaneae-mollissimae, D. cotoneastri, D. ellipicola, D. longicicola, D. mahothocarpus, D. momicola, D. nobilis, and Phomopsis fukushii, which have already been previously considered the synonymous species of D. eres, another three species, D. henanensis, D. lonicerae and D. rosicola, were further revealed to be synonyms of D. eres in this study. In order to demonstrate the genetic diversity of D. eres species in China, 138 D. eres isolates were randomly selected from previous studies in 16 provinces. These isolates were obtained from different major plant species from 2006 to 2020. The genetic distance was estimated with phylogenetic analysis and haplotype networks, and it was revealed that two major haplotypes existed in the Chinese populations of D. eres. The haplotype networks were widely dispersed and not uniquely correlated to specific populations. Overall, our analyses evaluated the phylogenetic identification for D. eres species and demonstrated the population diversity of D. eres in China.
A Review on SERS-Based Detection of Human Virus Infections: Influenza and Coronavirus
Authors: Saviñon-Flores Fernanda , Méndez Erika , López-Castaños Mónica , Carabarin-Lima Alejandro , López-Castaños Karen A. , González-Fuentes Miguel A. , Méndez-Albores Alia
Published: March 2021

The diagnosis of respiratory viruses of zoonotic origin (RVsZO) such as influenza and coronaviruses in humans is crucial, because their spread and pandemic threat are the highest. Surface–enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is an analytical technique with promising impact for the point–of–care diagnosis of viruses. It has been applied to a variety of influenza A virus subtypes, such as the H1N1 and the novel coronavirus SARS−CoV−2. In this work, a review of the strategies used for the detection of RVsZO by SERS is presented. In addition, relevant information about the SERS technique, anthropozoonosis, and RVsZO is provided for a better understanding of the theme. The direct identification is based on trapping the viruses within the interstices of plasmonic nanoparticles and recording the SERS signal from gene fragments or membrane proteins. Quantitative mono- and multiplexed assays have been achieved following an indirect format through a SERS-based sandwich immunoassay. Based on this review, the development of multiplex assays that incorporate the detection of RVsZO together with their specific biomarkers and/or secondary disease biomarkers resulting from the infection progress would be desirable. These configurations could be used as a double confirmation or to evaluate the health condition of the patient.