bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Combination of Tree Configuration with Street Configuration for Thermal Comfort Optimization under Extreme Summer Conditions in the Urban Center of Shantou City, China
Authors: Zheng Bohong , Bernard BEDRA Komi , Zheng Jian , Wang Guoguang
Published: November 2018

Along with global climate change and the worldwide heat island phenomenon, developing climatic methods and planning practices for the benefit of thermal comfort is of increasing interest. Studies have focused on urban streets, studying the aspect ratio, the orientation, street vegetation patterns, etc. and how they affect thermal comfort. While the role of vegetation is undeniable, this paper asks the question whether the effects of a tree configuration does not vary under different street configurations, and if yes, how to select tree species and determine their appropriate layout. Here, an analytical framework is proposed to test the different tree configurations (changing one variable at a time) with the least favorable street configuration. It is confirmed that the east–west oriented streets are the least favorable cases and denser tree canopies are better for cooling. The interval between the trees are observed to have an optimal effect when it is equal to the crown width at maturity. Furthermore, the results show that the heat mitigation rate of a tree configuration is not linearly improved by the Aspect Ratio (AR). In the case of Shantou city, the improvement of thermal comfort slows down when the AR reaches 1.5 while Mangifera indica planted with 10 m intervals is recommended among the common street-tree species. Other species could be used also, but should meet the requirements of the canopy density and the interval of layout. The paper does not consider other configuration options such as asymmetrical cases of street geometry and one-side or axial tree planting, etc., but the framework allows for adding such options and simulating thermal comfort for a greater number of scenarios.
The Consequences of Electronic Waste Post-Disaster: A Case Study of Flooding in Bonn, Germany
Authors: Leader Alexandra , Gaustad Gabrielle , Tomaszewski Brian , Babbitt Callie W.
Published: November 2018

Within the response and recovery phases of the disaster management cycle, debris clean-up is a well-researched topic, around which numerous policies have been developed. However, the subcategory of electronic waste is an issue that is overlooked by existing studies. A theoretical case study of a flood of the Rhine river in Bonn, Germany is used to demonstrate that while electronic waste may be a small portion of the debris generated during a disaster (by volume), it can have disproportionately large health, economic, and environmental consequences if not effectively planned for and handled. A spatial analysis of a flooding disaster scenario in Bonn was conducted to estimate the quantity of electronic waste that could be generated from residential buildings. Further modeling was done to calculate the greenhouse gas savings, energy savings, and economic impacts that can be realized through proper recovery and recycling of the electronic waste created by the flood. One key finding is that while implementation may be difficult, ensuring that effective policy is in place prior to a disaster can enable this waste stream to be managed in a manner that mitigates negative impacts on the environment and human health and keeps valuable materials in circulation.
Defeating Fluorosis in the East African Rift Valley: Transforming the Kilimanjaro into a Rainwater Harvesting Park
Authors: Marwa Janeth , Lufingo Mesia , Noubactep Chicgoua , Machunda Revocatus
Published: November 2018

The high availability of fluoride in surface and groundwater in the East African Rift Valley was documented during the colonial period. Since the early 1960s, many studies have been conducted to solve the fluorosis crisis in this region. At present, no cost-effective solution to mitigate fluoride contamination is available for the large majority of the population. This situation prompted a process analysis of commonly used technologies. Results revealed that the geochemistry of fluoride is the main problem. Fluoride is very difficult to remove from the aqueous phase. Thus, eliminating the need for technical water defluoridation is an excellent way out of the fluorosis crisis. This goal can be achieved by harvesting fluoride-free rainwater. Harvested rainwater can be mixed with naturally polluted waters in calculated proportions to obtain safe drinking water (blending). This paper presents a concept to transform the Kilimanjaro Mountains into a huge rainwater harvesting park for drinking water supply for the whole East African Rift Valley. However, blended water may contain other pollutants including pathogens that are easy to treat using low-cost methods such as metallic iron based-filters (Fe0 filters). The proposed concept is transferable to other parts of the world still enduring fluoride pollution.
Barriers to Implementing Pro-Cycling Policies: A Case Study of Hamburg
Authors: Wang Luqi
Published: November 2018

Cycling is gaining increasing attention as a convenient, environmentally friendly, and fitness-improving mode of transport. While many policy interventions have been made to promote cycling, not enough research has focused on the barriers to implementing pro-cycling policies. For effective policy implementation, identifying major barriers and removing them is critical. This study took an in-depth look at Hamburg which started a major cycling promotion in 2008. According to expert interviews and literature surveys, the author found that the major barriers are physical, political and institutional, and social and cultural. Specifically, the city lacks enough physical space, political support, and the evaluation of travel behavior and demand. Also, some private stakeholders are reluctant to give up on-street car parking space for cycling lanes, and the negotiation process is difficult and time-consuming. To overcome these barriers, Hamburg requires cycling-oriented urban design, a strategic and integrated cycling action plan, strong political support, and target group-oriented communication.
Knowledge Management in Healthcare Sustainability: A Smart Healthy Diet Assistant in Traditional Chinese Medicine Culture
Authors: Chi Yang , Yu Congcong , Qi Xiaohui , Xu Hao
Published: November 2018

In the past 40 years, with the changes to dietary structure and the dramatic increase in the consumption of meat products in developing countries, especially in China, encouraging populations to maintain their previous healthy eating patterns will have health, environmental, and economic co-benefits. Healthy diet education plays an important role in the promotion of people’s healthy behavior. However, in the modern age, the data regarding healthy diets available on the internet is increasing rapidly and is distributed on multiple sources. It is time-consuming for users to learn about healthy diets on the internet: they need to search data on multiple platforms, choose and integrate information, and then understand what they have learned. To help people retrieve and learn healthy diet knowledge more efficiently and comprehensively, this paper designs a knowledge graph to integrate healthy diet information on the internet and provides a semantic retrieval system. In the knowledge graph, five main concepts are defined, including food material, dish, nutritional element, symptom, and crowd, as well as the relationships among them. In addition, Chinese dietary culture elements and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory are also contained in the knowledge graph. The preliminary results show that by using the system, users learn healthy diet knowledge more quickly and comprehensively and they are more inclined to have balanced diets. This work could be regarded as a retrieval and education tool, which can assist healthcare and national sustainable development.
Promoting Green and Sustainability: A Multi-Objective Optimization Method for the Job-Shop Scheduling Problem
Authors: Liao Wenzhu , Wang Tong
Published: November 2018

As a result of increasingly serious environmental pollution, it is vital to reduce carbon emissions to achieve green and sustainable development for manufacturing processes. Customer satisfaction, as an important factor affecting enterprise profits, is of great importance in the promotion of sustainable development. Because an accurate delivery time and high delivery rate improve customer satisfaction and enhance an enterprise’s competitive advantage in the market, this paper proposes a new optimization method for achieving low carbon emissions, a high delivery rate, and a low cost for a job-shop scheduling problem. The computational results show the negative correlation between assembly cost and carbon emissions, and the positive correlation between assembly cost and delivery time by Pareto optimization. The proposed method, which takes into consideration carbon emissions, greatly supports the objective of achieving a green and sustainable development.
Different Ways to Access Knowledge for Sustainability-Oriented Innovation. The Effect of Foreign Direct Investment
Authors: Melane-Lavado Alberto , Álvarez-Herranz Agustín
Published: November 2018

Sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI), which displays an intention to develop a product or service that contributes to economic, environmental, and social sustainability, has drawn growing institutional and academic attention, due to the general consideration that innovation is an essential part of achieving sustainability. For developments of this nature, it is considered that foreign direct investment (FDI) helps companies to meet the requirements demanded by SOI, however, they show different cooperation patterns, and so it is not known what path they must take to achieve it. In this context, this paper uses comparative analysis to try to shed light on the possible differences in the paths taken to achieve SOI by companies with and without FDI, taking into account their different form of knowledge management. To achieve this objective, it has been necessary to build new sustainability indicators (economic, environmental, and social) that allow the evaluation of the sustainability of these processes, considering the sustainability objectives that guided companies towards innovation. Using a logit model for 5897 Spanish companies during the period 2009–2014, this paper contributes both theoretically and empirically to emerging research into the opening of sustainable innovation. It provides a better understanding of the different channels for accessing knowledge for SOI, and examining these channels through absorptive capacity and cooperation, according to its age and size.
An Integrated Environment–Cost–Time Optimisation Method for Construction Contractors Considering Global Warming
Authors: Feng Kailun , Lu Weizhuo , Chen Shiwei , Wang Yaowu
Published: November 2018

Construction contractors play a vital role in reducing the environmental impacts during the construction phase. To mitigate these impacts, contractors need to develop environmentally friendly plans that have optimal equipment, materials and labour configurations. However, construction plans with optimal environment may negatively affect the project cost and duration, resulting in dilemma for contractors on adopting low impacts plans. Moreover, the enumeration method that is usually used needs to assess and compare the performances of a great deal of scenarios, which seems to be time consuming for complicated projects with numerous scenarios. This study therefore developed an integrated method to efficiently provide contractors with plans having optimal environment–cost–time performances. Discrete-event simulation (DES) and particle swarm optimisation algorithms (PSO) are integrated through an iterative loop, which remarkably reduces the efforts on optimal scenarios searching. In the integrated method, the simulation module can model the construction equipment and materials consumption; the assessment module can evaluate multi-objective performances; and the optimisation module fast converges on optimal solutions. A prototype is developed and implemented in a hotel building construction. Results show that the proposed method greatly reduced the times of simulation compared with enumeration method. It provides the contractor with a trade-off solution that can average reduce 26.9% of environmental impact, 19.7% of construction cost, and 10.2% of project duration. The method provides contractors with an efficient and practical decision support tool for environmentally friendly planning.
Disjoining Pressure Derived from the Lennard–Jones Potential, Diffusion Equation, and Diffusion Coefficient for Submonolayer Liquid Film
Authors: Ono Kyosuke
Published: November 2018

In magnetic hard disk drives, it is important to evaluate the replenishment effect of a submonolayer lubricant film under a more severe condition that the head–disk spacing has to be reduced from the current 0.7 nm to ~0.5 nm. In contrast to the prevailing conventional diffusion equation validated for multilayer liquid film, the author has already proposed a new diffusion equation more suitable for submonolayer film by intuitively incorporating the density reduction effect in the submonolayer liquid film. This paper presents a rigorous derivation of the disjoining pressure (DP) from Lennard–Jones potential (LJP) and formulated the diffusion equation incorporating the DP. The difference in the rigorous DP and diffusion equation from the previous versions is negligibly small except in a small film thickness less than the van der Waals (vdW) distance. The theoretical relationship between the vdW distance in the DP and the molecular force equilibrium distance in the LJP is elucidated. Rigorous derivations of the DP and diffusion equation for multilayer liquid film from the LJP are also presented. The superiority of the submonolayer diffusion equation over the conventional equation in the submonolayer film regime is demonstrated by comparing their theoretical diffusion coefficients with Waltman’s experimental data.
Theoretical Analysis of Empirical Mode Decomposition
Authors: Ge Hengqing , Chen Guibin , Yu Haichun , Chen Huabao , An Fengping
Published: November 2018

This work suggests a theoretical principle about the oscillation signal decomposition, which is based on the requirement of a pure oscillation component, in which the mean zero is extracted from the signal. Using this principle, the validity and robustness of the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method are first proved mathematically. This work also presents a modified version of EMD by the interpolation solution, which is able to improve the frequency decomposition of the signal. The result shows that it can provide a primary theoretical basis for the development of EMD. The simulation signal verifies the effectiveness of the EMD algorithm. At the same time, compared with the existing denoising algorithm, it has achieved good results in the denoising of rolling bearing fault signals. It contributes to the development and improvement of adaptive signal processing theory in the field of fault diagnosis. It provides practical value research results for the rapid development of adaptive technology in the field of fault diagnosis.
The Method of Automatic Knuckle Image Acquisition for Continuous Verification Systems
Authors: Doroz Rafal
Published: November 2018

The paper proposes a method of automatic knuckle image acquisition for continuous verification systems. The developed acquisition method is dedicated for verification systems in which the person being verified uses a computer keyboard. This manner of acquisition enables registration of the knuckle image without interrupting the user’s work for the time of acquisition. This is an important advantage, unprecedented in the currently known methods. The process of the automatic location of the finger knuckle can be considered as a pattern recognition approach and is based on the analysis of symmetry and similarity between the reference knuckle patterns and live camera image. The effectiveness of the aforesaid approach has been tested experimentally. The test results confirmed its high effectiveness. The effectiveness of the proposed method was also determined in a case where it is a part of a multi-biometric method.
Sequential Dual Attention: Coarse-to-Fine-Grained Hierarchical Generation for Image Captioning
Authors: Guan Zhibin , Liu Kang , Ma Yan , Qian Xu , Ji Tongkai
Published: November 2018

Image caption generation is a fundamental task to build a bridge between image and its description in text, which is drawing increasing interest in artificial intelligence. Images and textual sentences are viewed as two different carriers of information, which are symmetric and unified in the same content of visual scene. The existing image captioning methods rarely consider generating a final description sentence in a coarse-grained to fine-grained way, which is how humans understand the surrounding scenes; and the generated sentence sometimes only describes coarse-grained image content. Therefore, we propose a coarse-to-fine-grained hierarchical generation method for image captioning, named SDA-CFGHG, to address the two problems above. The core of our SDA-CFGHG method is a sequential dual attention that is used to fuse different grained visual information with sequential means. The advantage of our SDA-CFGHG method is that it can achieve image captioning in a coarse-to-fine-grained way and the generated textual sentence can capture details of the raw image to some degree. Moreover, we validate the impressive performance of our method on benchmark datasets—MS COCO, Flickr—with several popular evaluation metrics—CIDEr, SPICE, METEOR, ROUGE-L, and BLEU.
Hesitant Picture 2-Tuple Linguistic Aggregation Operators Based on Archimedean T-Norm and T-Conorm and Their Use in Decision-Making
Authors: Wang Yanjun , Wang Lidong , Wang Huijuan , Feng Xinghua
Published: November 2018

An aggregation operator performs the task of fusing multiple sources of information, which plays a pivotal part in realizing a collective opinion in most decision-making activities. Considering the increasing complexity of decision-making situations, it is imperative to extend aggregation operators for fusing uncertain information with the different forms of attribute values. This study focuses on the development of picture fuzzy sets and aims to design a managerial decision-making solving method. Some operational principles of hesitant picture 2-tuple linguistic variables on account of the Archimedean t-norm and t-conorm are initiated, on which two hesitant picture 2-tuple linguistic weighted operators are established by taking various weight forms. Moreover, we explore the aggregation operators’ idempotency, boundedness, and monotonicity, as well as analyze some particular forms of these operators. Furthermore, these aggregation operators are employed to design a method of deriving an overall performance from evaluation of experts with hesitant picture 2-tuple linguistic terms. An example of selecting service outsourcing supplier is carried out to show the procedures of decision-making with a detailed comparative analysis.
Energy-Efficient Swarm Behavior for Indoor UAV Ad-Hoc Network Deployment
Authors: Aznar Fidel , Pujol Mar , Rizo Ramon , Pujol Francisco A. , Rizo Carlos
Published: November 2018

Building an ad-hoc network in emergency situations can be crucial as a primary tool or even when used prior to subsequent operations. The use of mini and micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is increasing because of the wide range of possibilities they offer. Moreover, they have been proven to bring sustainability to many applications, such as agriculture, deforestation and wildlife conservation, among others. Therefore, creating a UAV network for an unknown environment is an important task and an active research field. In this article, a mobility model for the creation of ad-hoc networks using UAVs will be presented. This model will be based on pheromones for robust navigation. We will focus mainly on developing energy-efficient behavior, which is essential for this type of vehicle. Although there are in the literature several models of mobility for ad-hoc network creation, we find that either they are not adapted to the specific energy requirements of UAVs or the proposed motion models are unrealistic or not sufficiently robust for final implantation. We will present and analyze the operation of a distributed swarm behavior able to create an ad-hoc network. Then, an analytical model of the swarm energy consumption will be proposed. This model will provide a mechanism to effectively predict the energy consumption needed for the deployment of the network prior to its implementation. Determining the use of the mobility behavior is a requirement to establish and maintain a communication channel for the required time. Finally, this analytical model will be experimentally validated and compared to the Random Waypoint (RWP) mobility strategy.
An Iterated Hybrid Local Search Algorithm for Pick-and-Place Sequence Optimization
Authors: Gao Jinsheng , Zhu Xiaomin , Liu Anbang , Meng Qingyang , Zhang Runtong
Published: November 2018

This paper shows the results of our study on the pick-and-place optimization problem. To solve this problem efficiently, an iterated hybrid local search algorithm (IHLS) which combines local search with integer programming is proposed. In the section of local search, the greedy algorithm with distance weight strategy and the convex-hull strategy is developed to determine the pick-and-place sequence; in the section of integer programming, an integer programming model is built to complete the feeder assignment problem. The experimental results show that the IHLS algorithm we proposed has high computational efficiency. Furthermore, compared with the genetic algorithm and the memetic algorithm, the IHLS is less time-consuming and more suitable in solving a large-scale problem.
Symmetric Properties of Carlitz’s Type q-Changhee Polynomials
Authors: Kim Yunjae , Kim Byung Moon , Park Jin-Woo
Published: November 2018

Changhee polynomials were introduced by Kim, and the generalizations of these polynomials have been characterized. In our paper, we investigate various interesting symmetric identities for Carlitz’s type q-Changhee polynomials under the symmetry group of order n arising from the fermionic p-adic q-integral on Z p .
Generation of Highly Efficient Equine-Derived Antibodies for Post-Exposure Treatment of Ricin Intoxications by Vaccination with Monomerized Ricin
Authors: Falach Reut , Sapoznikov Anita , Alcalay Ron , Aftalion Moshe , Ehrlich Sharon , Makovitzki Arik , Agami Avi , Mimran Avishai , Rosner Amir , Sabo Tamar , Kronman Chanoch , Gal Yoav
Published: November 2018

Ricin, a highly lethal toxin derived from the seeds of Ricinus communis (castor beans) is considered a potential biological threat agent due to its high availability, ease of production, and to the lack of any approved medical countermeasure against ricin exposures. To date, the use of neutralizing antibodies is the most promising post-exposure treatment for ricin intoxication. The aim of this work was to generate anti-ricin antitoxin that confers high level post-exposure protection against ricin challenge. Due to safety issues regarding the usage of ricin holotoxin as an antigen, we generated an inactivated toxin that would reduce health risks for both the immunizer and the immunized animal. To this end, a monomerized ricin antigen was constructed by reducing highly purified ricin to its monomeric constituents. Preliminary immunizing experiments in rabbits indicated that this monomerized antigen is as effective as the native toxin in terms of neutralizing antibody elicitation and protection of mice against lethal ricin challenges. Characterization of the monomerized antigen demonstrated that the irreversibly detached A and B subunits retain catalytic and lectin activity, respectively, implying that the monomerization process did not significantly affect their overall structure. Toxicity studies revealed that the monomerized ricin displayed a 250-fold decreased activity in a cell culture-based functionality test, while clinical signs were undetectable in mice injected with this antigen. Immunization of a horse with the monomerized toxin was highly effective in elicitation of high titers of neutralizing antibodies. Due to the increased potential of IgG-derived adverse events, anti-ricin F(ab’)2 antitoxin was produced. The F(ab’)2-based antitoxin conferred high protection to intranasally ricin-intoxicated mice; ~60% and ~34% survival, when administered 24 and 48 h post exposure to a lethal dose, respectively. In line with the enhanced protection, anti-inflammatory and anti-edematous effects were measured in the antitoxin treated mice, in comparison to mice that were intoxicated but not treated. Accordingly, this anti-ricin preparation is an excellent candidate for post exposure treatment of ricin intoxications.
Natural Products to Fight Cancer: A Focus on Juglans regia
Authors: Catanzaro Elena , Greco Giulia , Potenza Lucia , Calcabrini Cinzia , Fimognari Carmela
Published: November 2018

Even if cancer represents a burden for human society, an exhaustive cure has not been discovered yet. Low therapeutic index and resistance to pharmacotherapy are two of the major limits of antitumour treatments. Natural products represent an excellent library of bioactive molecules. Thus, tapping into the natural world may prove useful in identifying new therapeutic options with favourable pharmaco-toxicological profiles. Juglans regia, or common walnut, is a very resilient tree that has inhabited our planet for thousands of years. Many studies correlate walnut consumption to beneficial effects towards several chronic diseases, such as cancer, mainly due to the bioactive molecules stored in different parts of the plant. Among others, polyphenols, quinones, proteins, and essential fatty acids contribute to its pharmacologic activity. The present review aims to offer a comprehensive perspective about the antitumour potential of the most promising compounds stored in this plant, such as juglanin, juglone, and the ellagitannin-metabolites urolithins or deriving from walnut dietary intake. All molecules and a chronic intake of the fruit provide tangible anticancer effects. However, the scarcity of studies on humans does not allow results to be conclusive.
Snake Venom Peptides: Tools of Biodiscovery
Authors: Munawar Aisha , Ali Syed Abid , Akrem Ahmed , Betzel Christian
Published: November 2018

Nature endowed snakes with a lethal secretion known as venom, which has been fine-tuned over millions of years of evolution. Snakes utilize venom to subdue their prey and to survive in their natural habitat. Venom is known to be a very poisonous mixture, consisting of a variety of molecules, such as carbohydrates, nucleosides, amino acids, lipids, proteins and peptides. Proteins and peptides are the major constituents of the dry weight of snake venoms and are of main interest for scientific investigations as well as for various pharmacological applications. Snake venoms contain enzymatic and non-enzymatic proteins and peptides, which are grouped into different families based on their structure and function. Members of a single family display significant similarities in their primary, secondary and tertiary structures, but in many cases have distinct pharmacological functions and different bioactivities. The functional specificity of peptides belonging to the same family can be attributed to subtle variations in their amino acid sequences. Currently, complementary tools and techniques are utilized to isolate and characterize the peptides, and study their potential applications as molecular probes, and possible templates for drug discovery and design investigations.
Using Google Trends to Examine the Spatio-Temporal Incidence and Behavioral Patterns of Dengue Disease: A Case Study in Metropolitan Manila, Philippines
Authors: Ho Howell T. , Carvajal Thaddeus M. , Bautista John Robert , Capistrano Jayson Dale R. , Viacrusis Katherine M. , Hernandez Lara Fides T. , Watanabe Kozo
Published: November 2018

Dengue is a major public health concern and an economic burden in the Philippines. Despite the country’s improved dengue surveillance, it still suffers from various setbacks and needs to be complemented with alternative approaches. Previous studies have demonstrated the potential of Internet-based surveillance such as Google Dengue Trends (GDT) in supplementing current epidemiological methods for predicting future dengue outbreaks and patterns. With this, our study has two objectives: (1) assess the temporal relationship of weekly GDT and dengue incidence in Metropolitan Manila from 2009–2014; and (2) examine the health-seeking behavior based on dengue-related search queries of the population. The study collated the population statistics and reported dengue cases in Metropolitan Manila from respective government agencies to calculate the dengue incidence (DI) on a weekly basis for the entire region and annually per city. Data processing of GDT and dengue incidence was performed by conducting an ‘adjustment’ and scaling procedures, respectively, and further analyzed for correlation and cross-correlation analyses using Pearson’s correlation. The relative search volume of the term ‘dengue’ and top dengue-related search queries in Metropolitan Manila were obtained and organized from the Google Trends platform. Afterwards, a thematic analysis was employed, and word clouds were generated to examine the health behavior of the population. Results showed that weekly temporal GDT pattern are closely similar to the weekly DI pattern in Metropolitan Manila. Further analysis showed that GDT has a moderate and positive association with DI when adjusted or scaled, respectively. Cross-correlation analysis revealed a delayed effect where GDT leads DI by 1–2 weeks. Thematic analysis of dengue-related search queries indicated 5 categories namely; (a) dengue, (b) sign and symptoms of dengue, (c) treatment and prevention, (d) mosquito, and (e) other diseases. The majority of the search queries were classified in ‘signs and symptoms’ which indicate the health-seeking behavior of the population towards the disease. Therefore, GDT can be utilized to complement traditional disease surveillance methods combined with other factors that could potentially identify dengue hotspots and help in public health decisions.
Detailed Characterization of Early HIV-1 Replication Dynamics in Primary Human Macrophages
Authors: Bejarano David Alejandro , Puertas Maria C. , Börner Kathleen , Martinez-Picado Javier , Müller Barbara , Kräusslich Hans-Georg
Published: November 2018

Macrophages are natural target cells of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Viral replication appears to be delayed in these cells compared to lymphocytes; however, little is known about the kinetics of early post-entry events. Time-of-addition experiments using several HIV-1 inhibitors and the detection of reverse transcriptase (RT) products with droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) revealed that early replication was delayed in primary human monocyte-derived macrophages of several donors and peaked late after infection. Direct imaging of reverse-transcription and pre-integration complexes (RTC/PIC) by click-labeling of newly synthesized DNA further confirmed our findings and showed a concomitant shift to the nuclear stage over time. Altering the entry pathway enhanced infectivity but did not affect kinetics of viral replication. The addition of viral protein X (Vpx) enhanced productive infection and accelerated completion of reverse transcription and nuclear entry. We propose that sterile alpha motif (SAM) and histidine/aspartate (HD) domain-containing protein 1 (SAMHD1) activity lowering deoxyribonucleotide triphosphate (dNTP) pools is the principal factor delaying early HIV-1 replication in macrophages.
Following in the Footsteps of the Chikungunya Virus in Brazil: The First Autochthonous Cases in Amapá in 2014 and Its Emergence in Rio de Janeiro during 2016
Authors: De Souza Thiara Manuele Alves , Ribeiro Edcelha D’Athaide , Corrêa Valmir Corrêa e , Damasco Paulo Vieira , Santos Carla Cunha , De Bruycker-Nogueira Fernanda , Chouin-Carneiro Thaís , Faria Nieli Rodrigues da Costa , Nunes Priscila Conrado Guerra , Heringer Manoela , Lima Monique da Rocha Queiroz , Badolato-Corrêa Jéssica , Cipitelli Márcio da Costa , Azeredo Elzinandes Leal de , Nogueira Rita Maria Ribeiro , Dos Santos Flavia Barreto
Published: November 2018

Currently, Brazil lives a triple arboviruses epidemic (DENV, ZIKV and CHIKV) making the differential diagnosis difficult for health professionals. Here, we aimed to investigate chikungunya cases and the possible occurrence of co-infections during the epidemic in Amapá (AP) that started in 2014 when the first autochthonous cases were reported and in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) in 2016. We further performed molecular characterization and genotyping of representative strains. In AP, 51.4% of the suspected cases were confirmed for CHIKV, 71.0% (76/107). Of those, 24 co-infections by CHIKV/DENV, two by CHIKV/DENV-1, and two by CHIKV/DENV-4 were observed. In RJ, 76.9% of the suspected cases were confirmed for CHIKV and co-infections by CHIKV/DENV (n = 8) and by CHIKV/ZIKV (n = 17) were observed. Overall, fever, arthralgia, myalgia, prostration, edema, exanthema, conjunctival hyperemia, lower back pain, dizziness, nausea, retroorbital pain, and anorexia were the predominating chikungunya clinical symptoms described. All strains analyzed from AP belonged to the Asian genotype and no amino acid changes were observed. In RJ, the East-Central-South-African genotype (ECSA) circulation was demonstrated and no E1-A226V mutation was observed. Despite this, an E1-V156A substitution was characterized in two samples and for the first time, the E1-K211T mutation was reported in all samples analyzed.
Genomic Analysis of the Recent Viral Isolate vB_BthP-Goe4 Reveals Increased Diversity of φ29-Like Phages
Authors: Schilling Tobias , Hoppert Michael , Hertel Robert
Published: November 2018

We present the recently isolated virus vB_BthP-Goe4 infecting Bacillus thuringiensis HD1. Morphological investigation via transmission electron microscopy revealed key characteristics of the genus Phi29virus, but with an elongated head resulting in larger virion particles of approximately 50 nm width and 120 nm height. Genome sequencing and analysis resulted in a linear phage chromosome of approximately 26 kb, harbouring 40 protein-encoding genes and a packaging RNA. Sequence comparison confirmed the relation to the Phi29virus genus and genomes of other related strains. A global average nucleotide identity analysis of all identified φ29-like viruses revealed the formation of several new groups previously not observed. The largest group includes Goe4 and may significantly expand the genus Phi29virus (Salasvirus) or the Picovirinae subfamily.
Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Activity of an Ankyrin Repeat Protein on Viral Assembly against Chimeric NL4-3 Viruses Carrying Gag/PR Derived from Circulating Strains among Northern Thai Patients
Authors: Sakkhachornphop Supachai , Hadpech Sudarat , Wisitponchai Tanchanok , Panto Chansunee , Kantamala Doungnapa , Utaipat Utaiwan , Praparattanapan Jutarat , Kotarathitithum Wilai , Taejaroenkul Sineenart , Yasamut Umpa , Chupradit Koollawat , Moonmuang Sutpirat , Sanghiran Lee Vannajan , Suparatpinyo Khuanchai , Tayapiwatana Chatchai
Published: November 2018

Certain proteins have demonstrated proficient human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) life cycle disturbance. Recently, the ankyrin repeat protein targeting the HIV-1 capsid, AnkGAG1D4, showed a negative effect on the viral assembly of the HIV-1NL4-3 laboratory strain. To extend its potential for future clinical application, the activity of AnkGAG1D4 in the inhibition of other HIV-1 circulating strains was evaluated. Chimeric NL4-3 viruses carrying patient-derived Gag/PR-coding regions were generated from 131 antiretroviral drug-naïve HIV-1 infected individuals in northern Thailand during 2001–2012. SupT1, a stable T-cell line expressing AnkGAG1D4 and ankyrin non-binding control (AnkA32D3), were challenged with these chimeric viruses. The p24CA sequences were analysed and classified using the K-means clustering method. Among all the classes of virus classified using the p24CA sequences, SupT1/AnkGAG1D4 demonstrated significantly lower levels of p24CA than SupT1/AnkA32D3, which was found to correlate with the syncytia formation. This result suggests that AnkGAG1D4 can significantly interfere with the chimeric viruses derived from patients with different sequences of the p24CA domain. It supports the possibility of ankyrin-based therapy as a broad alternative therapeutic molecule for HIV-1 gene therapy in the future.
ISG15, a Small Molecule with Huge Implications: Regulation of Mitochondrial Homeostasis
Authors: Albert Manuel , Bécares Martina , Falqui Michela , Fernández-Lozano Carlos , Guerra Susana
Published: November 2018

Viruses are responsible for the majority of infectious diseases, from the common cold to HIV/AIDS or hemorrhagic fevers, the latter with devastating effects on the human population. Accordingly, the development of efficient antiviral therapies is a major goal and a challenge for the scientific community, as we are still far from understanding the molecular mechanisms that operate after virus infection. Interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15) plays an important antiviral role during viral infection. ISG15 catalyzes a ubiquitin-like post-translational modification termed ISGylation, involving the conjugation of ISG15 molecules to de novo synthesized viral or cellular proteins, which regulates their stability and function. Numerous biomedically relevant viruses are targets of ISG15, as well as proteins involved in antiviral immunity. Beyond their role as cellular powerhouses, mitochondria are multifunctional organelles that act as signaling hubs in antiviral responses. In this review, we give an overview of the biological consequences of ISGylation for virus infection and host defense. We also compare several published proteomic studies to identify and classify potential mitochondrial ISGylation targets. Finally, based on our recent observations, we discuss the essential functions of mitochondria in the antiviral response and examine the role of ISG15 in the regulation of mitochondrial processes, specifically OXPHOS and mitophagy.
TIM-1 Promotes Japanese Encephalitis Virus Entry and Infection
Authors: Niu Jichen , Jiang Ya , Xu Hao , Zhao Changjing , Zhou Guodong , Chen Puyan , Cao Ruibing
Published: November 2018

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a mosquito-borne Flavivirus, the leading cause of viral-induced encephalitis. Several host molecules have been identified as the JEV attachment factor; however, the molecules involved in JEV entry remain poorly understood. In the present study, we demonstrate that TIM-1 is important for efficient infection by JEV. Firstly, three TIM-1 variants (V1, V2, and V3) were cloned from A549 cells, and we revealed that only ectopically TIM-1 V2 expression in 293T cells significantly promotes JEV attachment, entry and infection. Point mutation of phosphatidylserine (Ptdser) binding pocket in the TIM-1 IgV domain dampened JEV entry, indicating that TIM-1-mediated JEV infection is Ptdser-dependent. Furthermore, we found the cytoplasmic domain of TIM-1 is also required for enhancing JEV entry. Additionally, knock down of TIM-1 expression in A549 cells impaired JEV entry and infection, but not attachment, suggesting that additional factors exist in A549 cells that allow the virus to bind. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that TIM-1 promotes JEV infection as an entry cofactor, and the polymorphism of TIM-1 is associated with JEV susceptibility to host cells.
Motion-Based Design of Passive Damping Devices to Mitigate Wind-Induced Vibrations in Stay Cables
Authors: Naranjo-Pérez Javier , Jiménez-Manfredi Javier , Jiménez-Alonso Javier F. , Sáez Andrés
Published: November 2018

Wind action can induce large amplitude vibrations in the stay cables of bridges. To reduce the vibration level of these structural elements, different types of passive damping devices are usually installed. In this paper, a motion-based design method is proposed and implemented in order to achieve the optimum design of different passive damping devices for stay cables under wind action. According to this method, the design problem is transformed into an optimization problem. Thus, its main aim is to minimize the different terms of a multi-objective function, considering as design variables the characteristic parameters of each considered passive damping device. The multi-objective function is defined in terms of the scaled characteristic parameters, one single-function for each parameter, and an additional function that checks the compliance of the considered design criterion. Genetic algorithms are considered as a global optimization method. Three passive damping devices have been studied herein: viscous, elastomeric and friction dampers. As a benchmark structure, the Alamillo bridge (Seville, Spain), is considered in order to validate the performance of the proposed method. Finally, the parameters of the damping devices designed according to this proposal are successfully compared with the results provided by a conventional design method.
Application of Artificial Neural Networks for Accuracy Enhancements of Real-Time Flood Forecasting in the Imjin Basin
Authors: Jabbari Aida , Bae Deg-Hyo
Published: November 2018

Hydrometeorological forecasts provide future flooding estimates to reduce damages. Despite the advances and progresses in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models, they are still subject to many uncertainties, which cause significant errors forecasting precipitation. Statistical postprocessing techniques can improve forecast skills by reducing the systematic biases in NWP models. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) can model complex relationships between input and output data. The application of ANN in water-related research is widely studied; however, there is a lack of studies quantifying the improvement of coupled hydrometeorological model accuracy that use ANN for bias correction of real-time rainfall forecasts. The aim of this study is to evaluate the real-time bias correction of precipitation data, and from a hydrometeorological point of view, an assessment of hydrological model improvements in real-time flood forecasting for the Imjin River (South and North Korea) is performed. The comparison of the forecasted rainfall before and after the bias correction indicated a significant improvement in the statistical error measurement and a decrease in the underestimation of WRF model. The error was reduced remarkably over the Imjin catchment for the accumulated Mean Areal Precipitation (MAP). The performance of the real-time flood forecast improved using the ANN bias correction method.
Influence of Flushing Velocity and Flushing Frequency on the Service Life of Labyrinth-Channel Emitters
Authors: Li Zhangyan , Yu Liming , Li Na , Chang Liuhong , Cui Ningbo
Published: November 2018

Dripline flushing is an effective way to relieve emitter clogging and extend the longevity of drip irrigation systems. This laboratory study was conducted at Kunming University of Science and Technology to evaluate the effect of three targeted flushing velocities (0.3, 0.6, and 0.9 m/s) and four flushing frequencies (no flushing, flushing daily, and flushing every three or five days) on the emitter’s service life and the particle size distribution of the sediment discharged from emitters and trapped in an emitter channel. The gradation of particle size was analyzed by a laser particle size analyzer. The experiment results suggested that flushing velocity and flushing frequency had a significant effect on the service life of emitters, and the emitter’s service life was extended by 30.40% on average under nine different flushing treatments. Flushing can effectively reduce the accumulation of sediments in the dripline and decrease the probability of coarse particles flowing into emitters and fine particles aggregating and cementing in the labyrinth channel, thus relieving the emitter clogging. Therefore, dripline flushing can effectively slow down clogging in muddy water drip irrigation system. The recommended flushing velocity should be set at 0.6 m/s, and the flushing intervals should be shortened.
Riverbed Migrations in Western Taiwan under Climate Change
Authors: Chao Yi-Chiung , Chen Chi-Wen , Li Hsin-Chi , Chen Yung-Ming
Published: November 2018

In recent years, extreme weather phenomena have occurred worldwide, resulting in many catastrophic disasters. Under the impact of climate change, the frequency of extreme rainfall events in Taiwan will increase, according to a report on climate change in Taiwan. This study analyzed riverbed migrations, such as degradation and aggradation, caused by extreme rainfall events under climate change for the Choshui River, Taiwan. We used the CCHE1D model to simulate changes in flow discharge and riverbed caused by typhoon events for the base period (1979–2003) and the end of the 21st century (2075–2099) according to the climate change scenario of representative concentration pathways 8.5 (RCP8.5) and dynamical downscaling of rainfall data in Taiwan. According to the results on flow discharge, at the end of the 21st century, the average peak flow during extreme rainfall events will increase by 20% relative to the base period, but the time required to reach the peak will be 8 h shorter than that in the base period. In terms of the results of degradation and aggradation of the riverbed, at the end of the 21st century, the amount of aggradation will increase by 33% over that of the base period. In the future, upstream sediment will be blocked by the Chichi weir, increasing the severity of scouring downstream. In addition, due to the increased peak flow discharge in the future, the scouring of the pier may be more serious than it is currently. More detailed 2D or 3D hydrological models are necessary in future works, which could adequately address the erosive phenomena created by bridge piers. Our results indicate that not only will flood disasters occur within a shorter time duration, but the catchment will also face more severe degradation and aggradation in the future.
Affordability of Decentralized Wastewater Systems: A Case Study in Integrated Planning from INDIA
Authors: Brunner Norbert , Starkl Markus , Kazmi Absar A. , Real Alvaro , Jain Nitin , Mishra Vijay
Published: November 2018

Based on experiences about the planning of decentralized wastewater treatment systems for slums of two rural towns in India, the paper asks to what extent affordability for the future users may impede the realization of other sustainability goals. The planning aimed at ensuring economic, social, and environmental sustainability. To this end the planning process promoted the participation of stakeholders and it was supplemented by an in-depth analysis (using novel methods) of the socio-economic situation of the future users. In particular, an approach towards estimating willingness to pay from small samples was developed. Taking all this information into account, planning identified a well-established technology that it is inexpensive, robust, and easy to maintain. The experiences of this planning process may generalize to other developing countries seeking socially acceptable low cost solutions with reasonable pollution reduction for resolving the sanitation crisis.