bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Trust in Collective Entrepreneurship in the Context of the Development of Rural Areas in Poland
Authors: Sieczko Leszek , Parzonko Anna Justyna , Sieczko Anna
Published: November 2021

The aim of this research was to examine whether trust influences the functioning of various forms of collective entrepreneurship in rural areas. The study focused on organizations which are most common in rural Poland: agricultural producer organizations, rural women’s circles, and local action groups. Hence, the survey sample included people engaged in these types of collective entrepreneurship. Data collection was based on a standardized questionnaire distributed online utilizing the computer-assisted web interviewing method. The statistical analysis of the empirical material obtained from 132 respondents involved Pearson and Spearman correlation and principal component analysis. The conducted research shows (1) the superior role of personal trust over institutional trust in the emergence and functioning of the studied forms of collective entrepreneurship in rural areas, (2) the greater importance of social than economic factors determining the functioning of rural collective entrepreneurship, (3) the positive impact of generalized trust on trust placed in the forms of entrepreneurship covered by the analysis, (4) the increase in trust over time of cooperation, and (5) the impact of trust on the functioning of collective entrepreneurship, in both the economic and the social dimensions, with a slight advantage of the latter. By focusing on trust, this article contributes to the literature on the role of trust in developing collective entrepreneurship in rural areas. The authors point out that this article only opens the space for a discussion on trust in the concept of the economics of trust.
New Advances on Nutrients Recovery from Agro-Industrial and Livestock Wastes for Sustainable Farming
Authors: Cucina Mirko , Regni Luca
Published: November 2021

The world’s population continues to rise, with a medium-variant forecast predicting that by 2050, the global population will have surpassed 10 billion people [1] [...]
Effect of Nitrogen Supply on Growth and Nitrogen Utilization in Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.)
Authors: Yang Yang , Zha Wenxin , Tang Kailei , Deng Gang , Du Guanghui , Liu Feihu
Published: November 2021

Hemp is a multipurpose crop that is cultivated worldwide for fiber, oil, and cannabinoids. Nitrogen (N) is a key factor for getting a higher production of hemp, but its application is often excessive and results in considerable losses in the soil–plant–water continuum. Therefore, a rational N supply is important for increasing N efficiency and crop productivity. The main objective of this paper was to determine the responses of four hemp cultivars to different levels of exogenous-N supply as nutrient solution during the vegetative growing period. The experiment was conducted at Yunnan University in Kunming, China. Yunma 1, Yunma 7, Bamahuoma, and Wanma 1 were used as the experimental materials, and five N supplying levels (1.5, 3.0, 6.0, 12.0, and 24.0 mmol/L NO3-N in the nutrient solution) were set by using pot culture and adding nutrient solution. The root, stem, and leaf of the plant were sampled for the determination of growth indexes, dry matter and N accumulation and distribution, and physiological indicators. The plant height, stem diameter, plant dry weight, and plant N accumulation of four hemp cultivars were significantly increased with the increase in exogenous-N supply. Root/shoot dry weight ratios, stem mass density, and N use efficiency decreased significantly with the increase in exogenous-N supply. Nitrogen accumulation, chlorophyll content, soluble protein content, and nitrate reductase activity in leaves were increased with the increase in exogenous-N supply. Among the four indexes, the increase in N accumulation was more than the increase in NR activity. The activities of superoxide dismutase and peroxidase in leaves were increased first and then decreased with the increase in exogenous-N supply, with the maximum value at N 6.0 mmol/L, while the content of malondialdehyde in leaves increased significantly when the level of exogenous-N supply exceeded 6.0 mmol/L. These results revealed that increasing the exogenous-N supply could improve the plant growth, dry matter accumulation, and N accumulation in hemp during the vegetative growth period, but N supply should not exceed 6.0 mmol/L. Among four hemp cultivars, Wanma 1 performed well at 6.0 mmol/L N application.
Methodological Advances in the Design of Photovoltaic Irrigation
Authors: Calero-Lara Martín , López-Luque Rafael , Casares Francisco José
Published: November 2021

In this study, an algorithm has been developed that manages photovoltaic solar energy in such a manner that all generated power is delivered to the system formed by a pump and irrigation network with compensated emitters. The algorithm is based on the daily work matrix that is updated daily by considering water and energy balances. The algorithm determines an irrigation priority for the sectors of irrigation of the farm based on programmed irrigation time and water deficits in the soil and synchronises the energy produced with the energy requirement of the hydraulic system according to the priority set for each day, obtaining the combinations of irrigation sectors appropriate to the photovoltaic power available. It takes into account the increment/decrease in the pressure of the water distribution network in response to increases/decreases in photovoltaic energy by increasing/decreasing the rotational speed of the pump, thus increasing/decreasing the power transferred to the system. The application to a real case of a 10-hectare farm divided into four sectors implies an efficient use of the energy of 26.15% per year and savings in CO2 emissions of 6.29 tonnes per year.
Modeling of Flowering Time in Vigna radiata with Approximate Bayesian Computation
Authors: Ageev Andrey , Lee Cheng-Ruei , Ting Chau-Ti , Schafleitner Roland , Bishop-von Wettberg Eric , Nuzhdin Sergey V. , Samsonova Maria , Kozlov Konstantin
Published: November 2021

Flowering time is an important target for breeders in developing new varieties adapted to changing conditions. A new approach is proposed that uses Approximate Bayesian Computation with Differential Evolution to construct a pool of models for flowering time. The functions for daily progression of the plant from planting to flowering are obtained in analytic form and depend on daily values of climatic factors and genetic information. The resulting pool of models demonstrated high accuracy on the dataset. Day length, solar radiation and temperature had a large impact on the model accuracy, while the impact of precipitation was comparatively small and the impact of maximal temperature has the maximal variation. The model pool was used to investigate the behavior of accessions from the dataset in case of temperature increase by 0.05–6.00°. The time to flowering changed differently for different accessions. The Pearson correlation coefficient between the SNP value and the change in time to flowering revealed weak but significant association of SNP7 with behavior of the accessions in warming climate conditions. The same SNP was found to have a considerable influence on model prediction with a permutation test. Our approach can help breeding programs harness genotypic and phenotypic diversity to more effectively produce varieties with a desired flowering time.
Frame Score, Grazing and Delayed Feedlot Entry Effect on Performance and Economics of Beef Steers from Small- and Large-Framed Cows in an Integrated Crop-Livestock System
Authors: Şentürklü Songul , Landblom Douglas , Paisley Steven , Wachenheim Cheryl , Maddock Robert
Published: November 2021

When selling small-framed steers at weaning, profitability is diminished. The hypothesis is that by using a vertically integrated business model that includes retained ownership, extended grazing, abbreviated feedlot finishing, and selling at slaughter, profitability would increase. Crossbred yearling steers (n = 288) from small size Aberdeen Angus (Lowline) × Red Angus × Angus × Angus cows and moderate to large size Red Angus × Angus × Simmental × Gelbvieh cows calved May−June were randomly assigned (complete randomized design), in a 3 y study, to feedlot control (FLT) and extended grazing (GRZ) frame score treatment groups. Mean frame score for FLT were small frame (SF) 3.82 and large frame (LF) 5.63, and for GRZ, SF: 3.77 and LF: 5.53. Least-square means were utilized to identify levels of effects and to control family-wise error adjusted with Tukey test. The FLT control steers were housed in the feedlot and fed growing diets and subsequently high energy corn-based diets for 218 days. The GRZ steers grazed a sequence of forages (native range, field pea-barley mix, and unharvested corn) for 212 days and then were transferred to the feedlot and fed high energy corn-based finishing diets for 82 days. The SF GRZ steers grew more slowly grazing native range and annual forages compared to GRZ LF steers, but SF steer grazing cost per kg of gain was reduced 7.80%. Grazing steers did not grow to their full genetic potential. Slower growth during grazing allowed LF and SF steers to grow structurally before feedlot entry creating a compensatory feedlot finishing growth response. Overall, grazing steer performance exceeded steer performance of the FLT control treatment and LF grazing steers had the highest rate of gain, and lowest feed cost per kg of gain. The GRZ steer feedlot days on feed were reduced 136 days and total feed intake was reduced resulting in LF and SF grazing steer feed cost reductions of 175.9 and 165.3%, respectively. Extended grazing also resulted in LF and SF grazing steer hot carcass weights to be greater than control LF and SF steers and SF grazing steers had greater dressing percent, and marbling score. Carcass quality grade, meat tenderness, and cooking losses were similar. System net returns were highest for LF (USD 911.58), and SF (USD 866.61) grazing steers. Managerial modification combining retained ownership, extended grazing, and delayed feedlot entry increased profitability and eliminated market bias.
Results of Behavioral Evaluations Predict Length of Stay for Shelter Dogs
Authors: McGuire Betty , Chan Jordan , Jean-Baptiste Kennedy , Kok Philippa , Rosenbaum Emma
Published: November 2021

Most animal shelters conduct behavioral evaluations before making dogs available for adoption. However, little information exists on whether behaviors displayed during these assessments predict a dog’s length of stay at the shelter. We reviewed nearly 5 years of records from 975 dogs released for adoption at a New York shelter to see whether behaviors shown during their evaluation predicted length of stay. For most tests and subtests, the prevalence of concerning and especially dangerous behaviors was low. Nevertheless, dogs’ scores on some tests or subtests—food guarding and meeting another dog—predicted length of stay at the shelter. Dogs evaluated as showing dangerous behavior had longer lengths of stay than dogs evaluated as showing either concerning behavior or no concerning behavior; the latter two groups did not differ from one another in length of stay. The most likely explanation for the relationships found between behavior during the evaluation and length of stay at the shelter is that dogs with challenging behaviors had smaller pools of potential adopters. Understanding the relationships between performance on behavioral evaluations and length of stay may inform shelter management of canine populations and also help identify dogs requiring special adoption efforts to avoid long shelter stays.
Lung Ultrasound for Imaging of B-Lines in Dogs and Cats—A Prospective Study Investigating Agreement between Three Types of Transducers and the Accuracy in Diagnosing Cardiogenic Pulmonary Edema, Pneumonia and Lung Neoplasia
Authors: Łobaczewski Andrzej , Czopowicz Michał , Moroz Agata , Mickiewicz Marcin , Stabińska Marta , Petelicka Hanna , Frymus Tadeusz , Szaluś-Jordanow Olga
Published: November 2021

Transthoracic heart and lung ultrasound (LUS) was performed in 200 dogs and cats with dyspnea to evaluate the agreement between the results obtained using three types of transducers (microconvex, linear, and phased array) and to determine the accuracy of LUS in discriminating between three conditions commonly causing dyspnea in companion animals: cardiogenic pulmonary edema (CPE), pneumonia, and lung neoplasm. The agreement beyond chance was assessed using the weighted Cohen’s kappa coefficient (κw). The highest values of κw (>0.9) were observed for the pair of microconvex and linear transducers. To quantify B-lines the lung ultrasound score (LUSscore) was developed as a sum of points describing the occurrence of B-lines for each of 8 standardized thoracic locations. The accuracy of LUSscore was determined using the area under ROC curve (AUROC). In dogs AUROC of LUSscore was 75.9% (CI 95%: 65.0% to 86.8%) for distinguishing between lung neoplasms and the two other causes of dyspnea. In cats AUROC of LUSscore was 83.6% (CI 95%: 75.2% to 92.0%) for distinguishing between CPE and the two other causes of dyspnea. The study shows that results obtained with microconvex and linear transducers are highly consistent and these two transducers can be used interchangeably. Moreover, the LUSscore may help identify dogs with lung neoplasms and cats with CPE, however its diagnostic accuracy is only fair to moderate.
Impact of Antibiotic Therapies on Resistance Genes Dynamic and Composition of the Animal Gut Microbiota
Authors: Rochegüe Tony , Haenni Marisa , Mondot Stanislas , Astruc Chloé , Cazeau Géraldine , Ferry Tristan , Madec Jean-Yves , Lupo Agnese
Published: November 2021

Antibiotics are major disruptors of the gastrointestinal microbiota, depleting bacterial species beneficial for the host health and favoring the emergence of potential pathogens. Furthermore, the intestine is a reactor of antibiotic resistance emergence, and the presence of antibiotics exacerbates the selection of resistant bacteria that can disseminate in the environment and propagate to further hosts. We reviewed studies analyzing the effect of antibiotics on the intestinal microbiota and antibiotic resistance conducted on animals, focusing on the main food-producing and companion animals. Irrespective of antibiotic classes and animal hosts, therapeutic dosage decreased species diversity and richness favoring the bloom of potential enteropathogens and the selection of antibiotic resistance. These negative effects of antibiotic therapies seem ineluctable but often were mitigated when an antibiotic was administered by parenteral route. Sub-therapeutic dosages caused the augmentation of taxa involved in sugar metabolism, suggesting a link with weight gain. This result should not be interpreted positively, considering that parallel information on antibiotic resistance selection was rarely reported and selection of antibiotic resistance is known to occur also at low antibiotic concentration. However, studies on the effect of antibiotics as growth promoters put the basis for understanding the gut microbiota composition and function in this situation. This knowledge could inspire alternative strategies to antibiotics, such as probiotics, for improving animal performance. This review encompasses the analysis of the main animal hosts and all antibiotic classes, and highlights the future challenges and gaps of knowledge that should be filled. Further studies are necessary for elucidating pharmacodynamics in animals in order to improve therapy duration, antibiotic dosages, and administration routes for mitigating negative effects of antibiotic therapies. Furthermore, this review highlights that studies on aminoglycosides are almost inexistent, and they should be increased, considering that aminoglycosides are the first most commonly used antibiotic family in companion animals. Harmonization of experimental procedures is necessary in this research field. In fact, current studies are based on different experimental set-up varying for antibiotic dosage, regimen, administration, and downstream microbiota analysis. In the future, shotgun metagenomics coupled with long-reads sequencing should become a standard experimental approach enabling to gather comprehensive knowledge on GIM in terms of composition and taxonomic functions, and of ARGs. Decorticating GIM in animals will unveil revolutionary strategies for medication and improvement of animals’ health status, with positive consequences on global health.
When Human–Wildlife Conflict Turns Deadly: Comparing the Situational Factors That Drive Retaliatory Leopard Killings in South Africa
Authors: Viollaz Julie S. , Thompson Sara T. , Petrossian Gohar A.
Published: November 2021

Retaliatory killings caused by human-wildlife conflict have a significant impact on the survival of leopards. This study explores the reasons for retaliatory killings of leopards by interviewing community members in a small village in South Africa that experienced high incidences of human–leopard conflict. The semi-structured interviews focused on the reasons why retaliatory leopard killings occurred and how to best mitigate the situational factors that triggered these killings. Respondents cited four main problems that fueled these killings: the government’s response to human–leopard conflict was slow and unwilling; this response involved inefficient methods; there were inadequate resources to respond to these killings; and there was a clear lack of laws or their application. Local stakeholders provided a range of innovative strategies to reduce human-leopard conflict and retaliatory killings. While all parties expressed different reasons why these solutions were or were not effective, their conclusions were often similar. The distrust that existed between the parties prevented them from recognizing or accepting their common ground. Based on existing human–wildlife conflict mitigation techniques and solutions identified by local stakeholders, this article explores how criminological techniques, including situational crime prevention, can help identify and frame effective interventions to reduce the number of illegal leopard killings driven by human-wildlife conflict.
Memory Model for Morphological Semantics of Visual Stimuli Using Sparse Distributed Representation
Authors: Kang Kyuchang , Bae Changseok
Published: November 2021

Recent achievements on CNN (convolutional neural networks) and DNN (deep neural networks) researches provide a lot of practical applications on computer vision area. However, these approaches require construction of huge size of training data for learning process. This paper tries to find a way for continual learning which does not require prior high-cost training data construction by imitating a biological memory model. We employ SDR (sparse distributed representation) for information processing and semantic memory model, which is known as a representation model of firing patterns on neurons in neocortex area. This paper proposes a novel memory model to reflect remembrance of morphological semantics of visual input stimuli. The proposed memory model considers both memory process and recall process separately. First, memory process converts input visual stimuli to sparse distributed representation, and in this process, morphological semantic of input visual stimuli can be preserved. Next, recall process can be considered by comparing sparse distributed representation of new input visual stimulus and remembered sparse distributed representations. Superposition of sparse distributed representation is used to measure similarities. Experimental results using 10,000 images in MNIST (Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology) and Fashion-MNIST data sets show that the sparse distributed representation of the proposed model efficiently keeps morphological semantic of the input visual stimuli.
GNSS-Free Outdoor Localization Techniques for Resource-Constrained IoT Architectures: A Literature Review
Authors: Moradbeikie Azin , Keshavarz Ahmad , Rostami Habib , Paiva Sara , Lopes Sérgio Ivan
Published: November 2021

Large-scale deployments of the Internet of Things (IoT) are adopted for performance improvement and cost reduction in several application domains. The four main IoT application domains covered throughout this article are smart cities, smart transportation, smart healthcare, and smart manufacturing. To increase IoT applicability, data generated by the IoT devices need to be time-stamped and spatially contextualized. LPWANs have become an attractive solution for outdoor localization and received significant attention from the research community due to low-power, low-cost, and long-range communication. In addition, its signals can be used for communication and localization simultaneously. There are different proposed localization methods to obtain the IoT relative location. Each category of these proposed methods has pros and cons that make them useful for specific IoT systems. Nevertheless, there are some limitations in proposed localization methods that need to be eliminated to meet the IoT ecosystem needs completely. This has motivated this work and provided the following contributions: (1) definition of the main requirements and limitations of outdoor localization techniques for the IoT ecosystem, (2) description of the most relevant GNSS-free outdoor localization methods with a focus on LPWAN technologies, (3) survey the most relevant methods used within the IoT ecosystem for improving GNSS-free localization accuracy, and (4) discussion covering the open challenges and future directions within the field. Some of the important open issues that have different requirements in different IoT systems include energy consumption, security and privacy, accuracy, and scalability. This paper provides an overview of research works that have been published between 2018 to July 2021 and made available through the Google Scholar database.
In Situ Generation of Hydrogen Peroxide Using Polymetallic-Doped g-C3N4 for Pollutant Removal
Authors: Wang Liyan , Ma Jianqing , Guo Qianhui , Liu Liang , Shou Jiangnan , Sun Aojie , Zhao Liaoyuan
Published: November 2021

Fenton reaction is a powerful technology for pollutants’ removal from water. However, the cost of H2O2 becomes one of the major stumbling blocks in its application. H2O2 has a relatively high price and is easily decomposed during transportation and use; therefore, in situ synthesis of H2O2 could improve economic benefits effectively. In this study, a Fe/Ni/Pd ternary metal-doped graphitic carbon nitride (FeNi-Pd@CN) is prepared, and in situ H2O2 generation using formic acid as hydrogen sources for organics removal was proved. The catalyst is advantageous, as H2O2 could accumulate to 1.69 mmol/L in 150 min when pumping air rather than oxygen gases in other studies. Furthermore, 92.0% of Acid Red 73 (200 mg/L) and 93.2% of tetracycline hydrochloride (10 mg/L) could be removed in 150 min without any pH adjustment. Characterization results show that the catalyst has good stability in metal leaching and reuse tests. It is proved that •OH and •O2− are the main reactive oxygen species, and a synergistic effect between Fe and Ni exists that enhances ROS generation for organics degradation. This work offers a promising method to remove refectory organic contaminants from industrial wastewater.
Cancer Chemopreventive Role of Dietary Terpenoids by Modulating Keap1-Nrf2-ARE Signaling System—A Comprehensive Update
Authors: Siraj Md Afjalus , Islam Md. Arman , Al Fahad Md. Abdullah , Kheya Habiba Rahman , Xiao Jianbo , Simal-Gandara Jesus
Published: November 2021

ROS, RNS, and carcinogenic metabolites generate excessive oxidative stress, which changes the basal cellular status and leads to epigenetic modification, genomic instability, and initiation of cancer. Epigenetic modification may inhibit tumor-suppressor genes and activate oncogenes, enabling cells to have cancer promoting properties. The nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a transcription factor that in humans is encoded by the NFE2L2 gene, and is activated in response to cellular stress. It can regulate redox homoeostasis by expressing several cytoprotective enzymes, including NADPH quinine oxidoreductase, heme oxygenase-1, UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione-S-transferase, etc. There is accumulating evidence supporting the idea that dietary nutraceuticals derived from commonly used fruits, vegetables, and spices have the ability to produce cancer chemopreventive activity by inducing Nrf2-mediated detoxifying enzymes. In this review, we discuss the importance of these nutraceuticals in cancer chemoprevention and summarize the role of dietary terpenoids in this respect. This approach was taken to accumulate the mechanistic function of these terpenoids to develop a comprehensive understanding of their direct and indirect roles in modulating the Keap1-Nrf2-ARE signaling system.
Re-Identification in Urban Scenarios: A Review of Tools and Methods
Authors: Oliveira Hugo S. , Machado José J. M. , Tavares João Manuel R. S.
Published: November 2021

With the widespread use of surveillance image cameras and enhanced awareness of public security, objects, and persons Re-Identification (ReID), the task of recognizing objects in non-overlapping camera networks has attracted particular attention in computer vision and pattern recognition communities. Given an image or video of an object-of-interest (query), object identification aims to identify the object from images or video feed taken from different cameras. After many years of great effort, object ReID remains a notably challenging task. The main reason is that an object’s appearance may dramatically change across camera views due to significant variations in illumination, poses or viewpoints, or even cluttered backgrounds. With the advent of Deep Neural Networks (DNN), there have been many proposals for different network architectures achieving high-performance levels. With the aim of identifying the most promising methods for ReID for future robust implementations, a review study is presented, mainly focusing on the person and multi-object ReID and auxiliary methods for image enhancement. Such methods are crucial for robust object ReID, while highlighting limitations of the identified methods. This is a very active field, evidenced by the dates of the publications found. However, most works use data from very different datasets and genres, which presents an obstacle to wide generalized DNN model training and usage. Although the model’s performance has achieved satisfactory results on particular datasets, a particular trend was observed in the use of 3D Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), attention mechanisms to capture object-relevant features, and generative adversarial training to overcome data limitations. However, there is still room for improvement, namely in using images from urban scenarios among anonymized images to comply with public privacy legislation. The main challenges that remain in the ReID field, and prospects for future research directions towards ReID in dense urban scenarios, are also discussed.
Criticality Analysis Based on Reliability and Failure Propagation Effect for a Complex Wastewater Treatment Plant
Authors: Kristjanpoller Fredy , Cárdenas-Pantoja Nicolás , Viveros Pablo , Mena Rodrigo
Published: November 2021

Wastewater treatment is a critical and necessary task every human settlement is obligated to address. If not, the consequences might be catastrophic, not just for humans but for the ecosystems as well, pushing research into finding new ways to improve wastewater treatment processes to make them safer and more efficient. Hence, there is a need to address matters, such as reliability and maintainability of Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP), when analyzing the availability and operational conditions. These should be addressed by analyzing the plant operational effectiveness impact (P-OEI), and in this article specifically, a WWTP study case to identify design flaws or improvement opportunities. A vital aspect of a complex system is to determine the contribution to resilience, reliability, and availability of every element embedded in the system. This is performed by adapting and applying the P-OEI methodology and real data of a WWTP located in Chile. This methodology breaks down the system into several levels of disaggregation similar to RBD methodology, analyzing the upstream for availability and the downstream for the P-OEI analysis from the system itself to the individual elements within subsystems. The potential impact on the overall system’s lack of efficiency is also quantified by an Expected Operational Impact (EOI) index, which is also calculated by the methodology. The P-OEI and EOI analyses performed in this study are powerful tools to assess the design and performance of complex systems and WWTP in particular.
Setting Emission Reduction Trajectories in Mediterranean Cities with the Use of Science-Based Targets: The Pathway towards Climate Neutrality and the Ambitious European Goals by 2050
Authors: Feleki Eleni , Moussiopoulos Nicolas
Published: November 2021

Mediterranean cities, having already suffered from climate change and at risk of being further affected if actions are not taken, need to reduce their emissions and set themselves on a path towards achieving the Paris Agreement ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C. There are several methodologies that have been developed recently for cities in order to set a science-based target in line with a 1.5 °C scenario, that can be adopted by Mediterranean cities. In this short communication, we have selected to refer to two of them with the aim of inspiring experts from Mediterranean cities and providing relevant tools and further learning resources in order to make this task achievable. The new framework is guiding cities towards a greener and more sustainable transition. With a concrete framework to limit greenhouse gas emissions, the Mediterranean Basin can follow the global push to net-zero emissions by mid-century.
Grey Correlation Analysis of Haze Impact Factor PM2.5
Authors: Xu Jiayi , Liu Zhixin , Yin Lirong , Liu Yan , Tian Jiawei , Gu Yang , Zheng Wenfeng , Yang Bo , Liu Shan
Published: November 2021

In recent years, frequent severe haze weather has formed in China, including some of the most populated areas. We found that these smog-prone areas are often relatively a “local climate” and aim to explore this series of scientific problems. This paper uses remote sensing and data mining methods to study the correlation between haze weather and local climate. First, we select Beijing, China and its surrounding areas (East longitude 115°20′11″–117°40′35″, North latitude 39°21′11″–41°7′51″) as the study area. We collected data from meteorological stations in Beijing and Xianghe from March 2014 to February 2015, and analyzed the meteorological parameters through correlation analysis and a grey correlation model. We study the correlation between the six influencing factors of temperature, dew point, humidity, wind speed, air pressure and visibility and PM2.5, so as to analyze the correlation between haze weather and local climate more comprehensively. The results show that the influence of each index on PM2.5 in descending order is air pressure, wind speed, humidity, dew point, temperature and visibility. The qualitative analysis results confirm each other. Among them, air pressure (correlation 0.771) has the greatest impact on haze weather, and visibility (correlation 0.511) is the weakest.
Knockout of mafba Causes Inner-Ear Developmental Defects in Zebrafish via the Impairment of Proliferation and Differentiation of Ionocyte Progenitor Cells
Authors: Chen Xiang , Huang Yuwen , Gao Pan , Lv Yuexia , Jia Danna , Sun Kui , Han Yunqiao , Hu Hualei , Tang Zhaohui , Ren Xiang , Liu Mugen
Published: November 2021

Zebrafish is an excellent model for exploring the development of the inner ear. Its inner ear has similar functions to that of humans, specifically in the maintenance of hearing and balance. Mafba is a component of the Maf transcription factor family. It participates in multiple biological processes, but its role in inner-ear development remains poorly understood. In this study, we constructed a mafba knockout (mafba−/−) zebrafish model using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. The mafba−/− mutant inner ear displayed severe impairments, such as enlarged otocysts, smaller or absent otoliths, and insensitivity to sound stimulation. The proliferation of p63+ epidermal stem cells and dlc+ ionocyte progenitors was inhibited in mafba−/− mutants. Moreover, the results showed that mafba deletion induces the apoptosis of differentiated K+-ATPase-rich (NR) cells and H+-ATPase-rich (HR) cells. The activation of p53 apoptosis and G0/G1 cell cycle arrest resulted from DNA damage in the inner-ear region, providing a mechanism to account for the inner ear deficiencies. The loss of homeostasis resulting from disorders of ionocyte progenitors resulted in structural defects in the inner ear and, consequently, loss of hearing. In conclusion, the present study elucidated the function of ionic channel homeostasis and inner-ear development using a zebrafish Mafba model and clarified the possible physiological roles.
Numerical Study of Graphene/Au/SiC Waveguide-Based Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor
Authors: Du Wei , Miller Lucas , Zhao Feng
Published: November 2021

A new waveguide-based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor was proposed and investigated by numerical simulation. The sensor consists of a graphene cover layer, a gold (Au) thin film, and a silicon carbide (SiC) waveguide layer on a silicon dioxide/silicon (SiO2/Si) substrate. The large bandgap energy of SiC allows the sensor to operate in the visible and near-infrared wavelength ranges, which effectively reduces the light absorption in water to improve the sensitivity. The sensor was characterized by comparing the shift of the resonance wavelength peak with change of the refractive index (RI), which mimics the change of analyte concentration in the sensing medium. The study showed that in the RI range of 1.33~1.36, the sensitivity was improved when the graphene layers were increased. With 10 graphene layers, a sensitivity of 2810 nm/RIU (refractive index unit) was achieved, corresponding to a 39.1% improvement in sensitivity compared to the Au/SiC sensor without graphene. These results demonstrate that the graphene/Au/SiC waveguide SPR sensor has a promising use in portable biosensors for chemical and biological sensing applications, such as detection of water contaminations (RI = 1.33~1.34), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and glucose (RI = 1.34~1.35), and plasma and white blood cells (RI = 1.35~1.36) for human health and disease diagnosis.
The Role of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Depression-like Behaviors in Mice
Authors: Kong Yue , He Guiqin , Zhang Xiaolin , Li Jin
Published: November 2021

Peripheral inflammation plays a key role in the development of depression-like behaviors. However, the mechanisms underlying these effects remain largely unknown. Here, we found that the level of citrullinated histone H3 (cit-H3) significantly increased in the plasma of wildtype mice treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which indicated that neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) were formed. Moreover, the LPS-induced depression-like and asocial behaviors were significantly alleviated in the mice deficient of NETs. Mechanistically, NETs formation aggravated peripheral inflammation by increasing the concentrations of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 in plasma, which are major proinflammatory cytokines that can enter the brain, resulting in microglia activation and reduced astrocytes. Following this, increased TNF-α and IL-1β were released into brain, inducing neuroinflammation and finally depression-like behaviors. Prohibiting NETs by PAD4 ablation significantly prevented LPS-induced microglia activation and the loss of astrocytes. Our results propose the role for peripheral NETs in LPS-induced depression-like behavior, and that NETs might be a potential target to prevent inflammation-induced major depressive disorder.
Attachment Representations in Children with and without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Authors: Dekkers Tycho J. , Hornstra Rianne , van den Hoofdakker Barbara J. , de Jong Suzanne R. C. , Schaaf Jessica V. , Bosmans Guy , van der Oord Saskia
Published: November 2021

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children is associated with several adverse family characteristics, such as higher parenting stress, more conflicted parent–child relationships, lower parental competence, and higher levels of parental psychopathology. Hence, children with ADHD more often grow up under suboptimal circumstances, which may impact the development of their attachment representations. Here, we investigated whether children with ADHD have more insecure and disorganized attachment representations than their typically developing peers, and which factors could explain this association. We included 104 children between 4 and 11 years old, 74 with ADHD (without Conduct Disorder) and 30 typically developing control children. Children completed a state-of-the-art story stem task to assess their attachment representation, and we measured parents’ expressed emotion (as an index of parent–child relationship quality), parents’ perceived sense of competence, parental education levels, and parent-rated ODD symptoms of the child. We found that, after controlling for multiple comparisons, children with ADHD had less secure and more ambivalent and disorganized attachment representations relative to their typically developing peers. These group differences were independent of comorbid ODD and parental education levels. There were no group differences on avoidant attachment representations. Explorative analyses within the ADHD group showed that attachment representations were not related to parent–child relationship quality, perceived parenting competence, parental education levels, and comorbid ODD symptoms. We conclude that children with ADHD disproportionately often have attachment problems. Although this conclusion is important, treatment implications of this co-occurrence are yet unclear as research on ADHD and attachment is still in its infancy.
Digital Biomarkers in Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Dillenseger Anja , Weidemann Marie Luise , Trentzsch Katrin , Inojosa Hernan , Haase Rocco , Schriefer Dirk , Voigt Isabel , Scholz Maria , Akgün Katja , Ziemssen Tjalf
Published: November 2021

For incurable diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), the prevention of progression and the preservation of quality of life play a crucial role over the entire therapy period. In MS, patients tend to become ill at a younger age and are so variable in terms of their disease course that there is no standard therapy. Therefore, it is necessary to enable a therapy that is as personalized as possible and to respond promptly to any changes, whether with noticeable symptoms or symptomless. Here, measurable parameters of biological processes can be used, which provide good information with regard to prognostic and diagnostic aspects, disease activity and response to therapy, so-called biomarkers Increasing digitalization and the availability of easy-to-use devices and technology also enable healthcare professionals to use a new class of digital biomarkers—digital health technologies—to explain, influence and/or predict health-related outcomes. The technology and devices from which these digital biomarkers stem are quite broad, and range from wearables that collect patients’ activity during digitalized functional tests (e.g., the Multiple Sclerosis Performance Test, dual-tasking performance and speech) to digitalized diagnostic procedures (e.g., optical coherence tomography) and software-supported magnetic resonance imaging evaluation. These technologies offer a timesaving way to collect valuable data on a regular basis over a long period of time, not only once or twice a year during patients’ routine visit at the clinic. Therefore, they lead to real-life data acquisition, closer patient monitoring and thus a patient dataset useful for precision medicine. Despite the great benefit of such increasing digitalization, for now, the path to implementing digital biomarkers is widely unknown or inconsistent. Challenges around validation, infrastructure, evidence generation, consistent data collection and analysis still persist. In this narrative review, we explore existing and future opportunities to capture clinical digital biomarkers in the care of people with MS, which may lead to a digital twin of the patient. To do this, we searched published papers for existing opportunities to capture clinical digital biomarkers for different functional systems in the context of MS, and also gathered perspectives on digital biomarkers under development or already existing as a research approach.
Evaluating Experiential Qualities of Historical Streets in Nanxun Canal Town through a Space Syntax Approach
Authors: Xu Yabing , Rollo John , Esteban Yolanda
Published: November 2021

Many studies have been conducted to measure the experiential qualities of historical streets using the standards and principles released by many global organizations. However, little attention has been paid to the effect of spatial characteristics of historical heritage. This study proposes a space syntax-based methodology, first developed by Bill Hillier and Julienne Hanson with colleagues from the Bartlett School of Architecture, while introducing factors such as complexity, coherence, ‘mystery’, and legibility from the work of environmental psychologist Stephen Kaplan and the urban designer Gordon Cullen. Our intention is to help inform urban designers in understanding people’s spatial cognition of historical streets, and thereby assist designers and managers in identifying where cognitive experiences can be improved. The proposed method is applied to Nanxun, which is a developed canal town currently in decline in Zhejiang Province, China. This will be treated as the case study in order to explore the implication of the space syntax analysis. The impact from spatial characteristics on the evaluation is indirect and largely determined by the road-network of the canal town. As for Nanxun, the findings of this research suggest that the government’s priority is to solve current negative tourist perception based on a conservation restoration plan. The findings of this research provide a reference for policymakers to better understand the experiential qualities of historical streets in townscapes.
Diabetes and Cancer: Risk, Challenges, Management and Outcomes
Authors: Shahid Rabia K. , Ahmed Shahid , Le Duc , Yadav Sunil
Published: November 2021

Background: Diabetes mellitus and cancer are commonly coexisting illnesses, and the global incidence and prevalence of both are rising. Cancer patients with diabetes face unique challenges. This review highlights the relationship between diabetes and cancer and various aspects of the management of diabetes in cancer patients. Methods: A literature search using keywords in PubMed was performed. Studies that were published in English prior to July 2021 were assessed and an overview of epidemiology, cancer risk, outcomes, treatment-related hyperglycemia and management of diabetes in cancer patients is provided. Results: Overall, 8–18% of cancer patients have diabetes as a comorbid medical condition. Diabetes is a risk factor for certain solid malignancies, such as pancreatic, liver, colon, breast, and endometrial cancer. Several novel targeted compounds and immunotherapies can cause hyperglycemia. Nevertheless, most patients undergoing cancer therapy can be managed with an appropriate glucose lowering agent without the need for discontinuation of cancer treatment. Evidence suggests that cancer patients with diabetes have higher cancer-related mortality; therefore, a multidisciplinary approach is important in the management of patients with diabetes and cancer for a better outcome. Conclusions: Future studies are required to better understand the underlying mechanism between the risk of cancer and diabetes. Furthermore, high-quality prospective studies evaluating management of diabetes in cancer patients using innovative tools are needed. A patient-centered approach is important in cancer patients with diabetes to avoid adverse outcomes.
Risk of Malignant Transformation in 3173 Subjects with Histopathologically Confirmed Oral Lichen Planus: A 33-Year Cohort Study in Northern Italy
Authors: Arduino Paolo G. , Magliano Alessandro , Gambino Alessio , Macciotta Alessandra , Carbone Mario , Conrotto Davide , Karimi Dora , Carrozzo Marco , Broccoletti Roberto
Published: November 2021

Background: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is considered an oral potentially malignant disorder. The aim of our study was to estimate the risk for oral cancer in patients diagnosed with OLP. Methods: A population-based cohort study between January 1988 and December 2020 at one hospital in Northern Italy was performed. The primary endpoint of the study was that of the histopathological diagnosis of oral cancer during the follow-up period. Results: The study population comprised 3173 patients. During the follow-up period, 32 men and 50 women developed an oral squamous cell carcinoma (2.58%), with a mean time of 103.61 months after the initial diagnosis of OLP, and 21 patients died because of oral cancer. Almost half of the deceased patients had the last follow-up visit before cancer diagnosis in a period of more than 12 months. Older age, having a red form of OLP and fewer sites of involvement, increased the risk of having cancer, while age and no treatment increased the risk of death. Conclusion: This is the largest group of OLP patients with such a long follow up ever reported. Due to the increased risk of having a malignant transformation, especially in elderly subjects, OLP patients should be regularly followed up, particularly in the Northern Italian population.
The Mitigation of CO Present in the Water–Gas Shift Reformate Gas over IR-TiO2 and IR-ZrO2 Catalysts
Authors: Mohamed Ziyaad , Dasireddy Venkata D. B. C. , Singh Sooboo , Friedrich Holger B.
Published: November 2021

CO hydrogenation and oxidation were conducted over Ir supported on TiO2 and ZrO2 catalysts using a feed mimicking the water–gas shift reformate stream. The influence of the support interaction with Ir and the catalysts’ redox and CO chemisorption properties on activity and selectivity were evaluated. Both catalysts oxidised CO to CO2 in the absence of H2, and a conversion of 70% was obtained at 200 °C. For the CO oxidation in the presence of H2 over these catalysts, the oxidation of H2 was favoured over CO due to H2 spillover occurring at the active metal and support interface, resulting in the formation of interstitials catalysed by Ir. However, both catalysts showed promising activity for CO hydrogenation. Ir-ZrO2 was more active, giving 99.9% CO conversions from 350 to 370 °C, with high selectivity towards CH4 using minimal H2 from the feed. Furthermore, results for the Ir-ZrO2 catalyst showed that the superior activity compared to the Ir-TiO2 catalyst was mainly due to the reducibility of the support and its interaction with the active metal. Controlling the isoelectric point during the synthesis allowed for a stronger interaction between Ir and the ZrO2 support, which resulted in higher catalytic activity due to better metal dispersions, and higher CO chemisorption capacities than obtained for the Ir-TiO2 catalyst.