bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intracranial Atherosclerosis Coexisting With White Matter Hyperintensities May Predict Unfavorable Functional Outcome in Patients With Acute Cerebral Ischemia
Authors: Liu Haiyan , Pu Yuehua , Wang Yilong , Zou Xinying , Pan Yuesong , Zhang Changqing , Soo Yannie O. Y. , Leung Thomas W. H. , Zhao Xingquan , Wong Ka Sing Lawrence , Wang Yongjun , Liu Liping
Published: December 2020

Background and Purpose: This study aimed to assess the effect of baseline white matter hyperintensities (WMH) on 1-year stroke recurrence and the functional outcome for patients with intracranial atherosclerosis (ICAS).

Methods: We analyzed 2,076 patients who were enrolled in the Chinese IntraCranial AtheroSclerosis (CICAS) study. ICAS and WMH were diagnosed by baseline magnetic resonance angiography. The primary outcomes were stroke recurrence and unfavorable functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale score 3–6) at 1 year.

Results: Of the 2,076 patients included in this study, 1,370 (65.99%) were men, and the mean age was 61.70 years. In total, 224 (10.79%) patients had no WMH and no ICAS, 922 (44.41%) patients had WMH and no ICAS, 157 (7.56%) patients had ICAS and no WMH, and 773 (37.24%) had both WMH and ICAS. During the follow-up period, 87 patients had a recurrent stroke and 333 had unfavorable outcomes at 1 year. Compared to WMH (–) ICAS (–) group, the adjusted odd ratios and 95% confidence interval for unfavorable functional outcome were 0.791 (0.470–1.332; p = 0.3779) in the WMH (+) ICAS (–) group, 1.920 (1.024–3.600; p = 0.0421) in the WMH (–) ICAS (+) group, and 2.046 (1.230–3.403; p = 0.0058) in the WMH (+) ICAS (+) group. There was no significant difference in stroke recurrence risk among the four groups.

Conclusion: ICAS coexisting with WMH may predict an unfavorable functional outcome at 1 year, but not stroke recurrence.
Expression and Prognostic Significance of Metastasis-Associated Protein 1 in Gastrointestinal Cancer
Authors: Li Pengping , Cao Wei , Ding Rui , Cheng Mengqiu , Xu Xin , Chen Sihan , Chen Bo , Cao Guodong , Xiong Maoming
Published: December 2020

Background

Metastasis-associated protein 1 (MTA1) has been considered as a transcriptional regulator, which is significantly related to the prognosis in various types of tumors. However, whether MTA1 is a potential prognostic index of gastrointestinal cancer (GIC) remains controversial. The current meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the role of MTA1 expression in the prediction of the clinicopathological features and survival in GIC cases. And the results of gastric cancer were verified by immunohistochemistry (IHC).

Methods

Eligible studies assessing the relationship between MTA1 and GIC by IHC were searched in the PubMed, Cochrane, Ovid, Web of Science and CNKI databases by various search strategies. The STATA 16.0 software was applied to gather data and to analyze the potential relationship between MTA1 and GIC. The expression level of MTA1 was examined in 80 GC samples by IHC assay. SPSS 20.0 was applied for statistical analysis, and the survival curves were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The data of 95% CI was displayed as “[a-b]”.

Results

According to the meta-analysis, the expression level of MTA1 was tightly associated with the tumor size (OR=1.82 [1.16–2.84],P=0.009), tumor tissue differentiation (OR=1.71 [1.24–2.37],P=0.001), depth of invasion (OR=3.12 [2.55–3.83],P<0.001), lymphatic metastasis (OR=2.99 [2.02–4.43],P<0.001), distant metastasis (OR=4.66 [1.13–19.24],P=0.034), TNM stage (OR=4.28 [2.76–6.63],P<0.001). In addition, MTA1 played the negative effects in 1- (RR=2.48 [1.45–4.25],P=0.001), 3- (RR=1.66 [1.30–2.11],P<0.001) and 5-year (RR=1.73 [1.37–2.20],P<0.001). Study in subgroup, grouped by language and tumor type, we reached similar conclusions. Further validation by IHC yielded similar conclusions. Tumor size (P=0.008), lymph node metastasis (P=0.007) and distant metastasis (P=0.023) significantly accompanied with higher expression of MAT1 in GC cases. Besides, the expression level of MTA1 was statistically significantly correlated with OS in GC cases (HR=2.061 [1.066–3.986],P=0.032), which suggested that MTA1 might be an independent prognostic marker for GC. Finally, we verified the correlation between the expression level of MTA1 and prognosis of GC in 80 GC samples.

Conclusions

MTA1 is tightly associated with metastasis-related factors and may constitute a promising prognostic factor of GIC.
Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging and Its Application in Sonography for the Management of Liver Tumor
Authors: Nishida Naoshi , Kudo Masatoshi
Published: December 2020

Recent advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) facilitate the development of AI-powered medical imaging including ultrasonography (US). However, overlooking or misdiagnosis of malignant lesions may result in serious consequences; the introduction of AI to the imaging modalities may be an ideal solution to prevent human error. For the development of AI for medical imaging, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of modalities on the context of task setting, required data sets, suitable AI algorism, and expected performance with clinical impact. Regarding the AI-aided US diagnosis, several attempts have been made to construct an image database and develop an AI-aided diagnosis system in the field of oncology. Regarding the diagnosis of liver tumors using US images, 4- or 5-class classifications, including the discrimination of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), metastatic tumors, hemangiomas, liver cysts, and focal nodular hyperplasia, have been reported using AI. Combination of radiomic approach with AI is also becoming a powerful tool for predicting the outcome in patients with HCC after treatment, indicating the potential of AI for applying personalized medical care. However, US images show high heterogeneity because of differences in conditions during the examination, and a variety of imaging parameters may affect the quality of images; such conditions may hamper the development of US-based AI. In this review, we summarized the development of AI in medical images with challenges to task setting, data curation, and focus on the application of AI for the managements of liver tumor, especially for US diagnosis.
Integrating Optical Imaging Tools for Rapid and Non-invasive Characterization of Seed Quality: Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and Carrot (Daucus carota L.) as Study Cases
Authors: Galletti Patrícia A. , Carvalho Marcia E. A. , Hirai Welinton Y. , Brancaglioni Vivian A. , Arthur Valter , Barboza da Silva Clíssia
Published: December 2020

Light-based methods are being further developed to meet the growing demands for food in the agricultural industry. Optical imaging is a rapid, non-destructive, and accurate technology that can produce consistent measurements of product quality compared to conventional techniques. In this research, a novel approach for seed quality prediction is presented. In the proposed approach two advanced optical imaging techniques based on chlorophyll fluorescence and chemometric-based multispectral imaging were employed. The chemometrics encompassed principal component analysis (PCA) and quadratic discrimination analysis (QDA). Among plants that are relevant as both crops and scientific models, tomato, and carrot were selected for the experiment. We compared the optical imaging techniques to the traditional analytical methods used for quality characterization of commercial seedlots. Results showed that chlorophyll fluorescence-based technology is feasible to discriminate cultivars and to identify seedlots with lower physiological potential. The exploratory analysis of multispectral imaging data using a non-supervised approach (two-component PCA) allowed the characterization of differences between carrot cultivars, but not for tomato cultivars. A Random Forest (RF) classifier based on Gini importance was applied to multispectral data and it revealed the most meaningful bandwidths from 19 wavelengths for seed quality characterization. In order to validate the RF model, we selected the five most important wavelengths to be applied in a QDA-based model, and the model reached high accuracy to classify lots with high-and low-vigor seeds, with a correct classification from 86 to 95% in tomato and from 88 to 97% in carrot for validation set. Further analysis showed that low quality seeds resulted in seedlings with altered photosynthetic capacity and chlorophyll content. In conclusion, both chlorophyll fluorescence and chemometrics-based multispectral imaging can be applied as reliable proxies of the physiological potential in tomato and carrot seeds. From the practical point of view, such techniques/methodologies can be potentially used for screening low quality seeds in food and agricultural industries.
Imaging of Chlorophyll a Fluorescence in Natural Compound-Induced Stress Detection
Authors: Sánchez-Moreiras Adela M. , Graña Elisa , Reigosa Manuel J. , Araniti Fabrizio
Published: December 2020

Imaging of chlorophyll a fluorescence (CFI) represents an easy, precise, fast and non-invasive technique that can be successfully used for discriminating plant response to phytotoxic stress with reproducible results and without damaging the plants. The spatio-temporal analyses of the fluorescence images can give information about damage evolution, secondary effects and plant defense response. In the last years, some studies about plant natural compounds-induced phytotoxicity have introduced imaging techniques to measure fluorescence, although the analysis of the image as a whole is often missed. In this paper we, therefore, evaluated the advantages of monitoring fluorescence images, presenting the physiological interpretation of different possible combinations of the most relevant parameters linked to fluorescence emission and the images obtained.
French Vividness of Olfactory Imagery Questionnaire: A Potential Tool for Diagnosing Olfactory Loss by Assessing Olfactory Imagery?
Authors: Fantin Luca , Ceyte Hadrien , Ramdane-Cherif Zhor , Jacquot Muriel , Hossu Gabriela
Published: December 2020

Several studies have shown a significant relationship between smelling and olfactory imagery abilities. The primary aim of the present study was to validate a French version of the Vividness of Olfactory Imagery Questionnaire (VOIQ). The secondary aim was to investigate its capability to differentiate individuals with smell loss from healthy individuals. After having elaborated a French translation of the VOIQ (fVOIQ), we evaluated olfactory imagery abilities of 387 French participants who anonymously self-completed the fVOIQ: 121 pathologic individuals (hyposmic and anosmic), 244 normosmic individuals (healthy non-expert), and 22 fragrance experts. Significant split-half reliability as expressed by Spearman correlation coefficients for the global sample, as well as for each group separately, indicated the excellent internal consistency of the fVOIQ. Moreover, results revealed a significant effect of the smelling ability group on fVOIQ score, suggesting that daily olfactory stimulation is fundamental to maintaining the ability to create a vivid image and that severe loss of smell may result in progressive impairment of olfactory imagery. Our fVOIQ and the original English version seemingly have similarly high benefit in differentiating experts and normosmic individuals based on their olfactory imagery ability. Moreover, the fVOIQ seems capable of differentiating individuals with loss of smell from healthy individuals. These findings demonstrate the reliability and validity of the fVOIQ, and its capability to differentiate individuals’ smelling ability according to their olfactory imagery ability.
Stay Mindful and Carry on: Mindfulness Neutralizes COVID-19 Stressors on Work Engagement via Sleep Duration
Authors: Zheng Michelle Xue , Masters-Waage Theodore Charles , Yao Jingxian , Lu Yizhen , Tan Noriko , Narayanan Jayanth
Published: December 2020

We examine whether mindfulness can neutralize the negative impact of COVID-19 stressors on employees’ sleep duration and work engagement. In Study 1, we conducted a field experiment in Wuhan, China during the lockdown between February 20, 2020, and March 2, 2020, in which we induced state mindfulness by randomly assigning participants to either a daily mindfulness practice or a daily mind-wandering practice. Results showed that the sleep duration of participants in the mindfulness condition, compared with the control condition, was less impacted by COVID-19 stressors (i.e., the increase of infections in the community). In Study 2, in a 10-day daily diary study in the United Kingdom between June 8, 2020, and June 19, 2020, we replicate our results from Study 1 using a subjective measure of COVID-19 stressors and a daily measure of state mindfulness. In addition, we find that mindfulness buffers the negative effect of COVID-19 stressors on work engagement mediated by sleep duration. As the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing and the number of reported cases continues to rise globally, our findings suggest that mindfulness is an evidence-based practice that can effectively neutralize the negative effect of COVID-19 stressors on sleep and work outcomes. The findings of the present study contribute to the employee stress and well-being literature as well as the emerging organizational research on mindfulness.
Long-Term Suicide Risk of Children and Adolescents With Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder—A Systematic Review
Authors: Garas Peter , Balazs Judit
Published: December 2020

Background: Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental disorders in childhood. Recently, several studies showed the high suicide risk of patients with ADHD; however, most of these studies had a cross-sectional design.

Aims: The aim of the current research is to complete a systematic review of published studies which investigate the suicide risk of ADHD patients with longitudinal design.

Methods: The systematic search was made on OVID Medline, PsychInfo, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The search terms were (ADHD OR attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) AND (suicide OR suicidal OR suicidality) AND (follow-up OR longitudinal study OR prospective study). The inclusion criteria were as follows: written in English; the participants were under 18 years at baseline; longitudinal, prospective studies; ADHD population at baseline and at follow-up; and suicide behavior as a primary outcome. The exclusion criteria were as follows: the study did not contain empirical data and reviews/meta-analyses and studies which aimed to investigate the drug treatment efficacy of ADHD.

Results: After the screening process, 18 papers were included in the systematic review. Ten articles were altogether published in the last 5 years. The range of follow-up periods varied between 2 and 17 years. Several different assessment tools were used to investigate the symptoms and/or the diagnosis of ADHD and the suicidal risk. Nine studies enrolled children aged under 12 at baseline, and three studies used birth cohort data, where there was no strict age-based inclusion criteria. A total of 17 studies found a positive association between ADHD diagnosis at baseline and the presence of suicidal behavior and/or attempts at the follow-up visits.

Limitations: The main limitation of this review is the methodological heterogeneity of the selected studies. A further limitation is the relatively low number of studies that examined a population with balanced gender ratios. Additionally, only one study published data about the treatment of ADHD. Finally, though we carefully chose the keywords, we still may be missing some relevant papers on this topic.

Conclusions: In spite of the methodological diversity of the included studies, the results of the current systematic review highlight the importance of screening suicidality in the long term in patients with ADHD. Therefore, further studies that compare the suicidal risk of treated and untreated groups of ADHD patients in the long term are needed.
Adaptation, Biometric Traits and Performances of Guayule Lines Grown in Two Mediterranean Environments
Authors: Sulas Leonardo , Campesi Giuseppe , Canu Simone , Carroni Antonio M. , Dore Antonio , Piluzza Giovanna , Sassu Maria M. , Re Giovanni A.
Published: December 2020

The perennial shrub guayule (Parthenium argentatum A. Gray) has gained interest as a potential source of natural and hypoallergenic rubber in Southern Europe. Although, native to northern Mexico, it is suited to semi-arid and Mediterranean environments. A research study was conducted in Sardinia (Italy) to evaluate adaptation and biometric traits of introduced guayule lines and to determine the contents and yields of rubber and resin obtainable from its aboveground biomass. Seedlings of the accessions AZ-1, AZ-2, P803, and 11591 were field transplanted in 2015 at two locations of southern, and northern Sardinia, respectively, differing for annual precipitation. Plant survival rate, height and width, trunk diameter, leaf chlorophyll concentration and photosystem photochemical efficiency were monitored. Shoots were harvested at 30 months after transplanting and were partitioned into twigs and remaining stems and its rubber and resin contents were determined. Location markedly affected plant survival rates and biometric traits. Dry matter yield of aboveground components as well as contents of rubber and resin and plant rubber and resin yields differed significantly among accessions under comparison. We found that AZ1 and 11591 were the most successful accessions at southern Sardinia site, whereas 11591 was the only accession exhibiting a satisfactory plant survival rate in the northern location.
Phenolics and Antioxidant Activity of Green and Red Sweet Peppers from Organic and Conventional Agriculture: A Comparative Study
Authors: Guilherme Rosa , Aires Alfredo , Rodrigues Nuno , Peres António M. , Pereira José Alberto
Published: December 2020

Today, consumers are very concerned regarding food quality, nutritional composition and positive health effects of consumed foods. In this context, the preference and consumption of organic products has been increasing worldwide. In the present work, sweet peppers in two maturation stages (i.e., green and red peppers) from organic and conventional production systems were evaluated in regards to phenolic composition and antioxidant activity. Nine phenolic compounds were identified and quantified by a high-performance liquid chromatography-diode-array detector (HPLC-DAD), namely resveratrol, meta-coumaric acid, ortho-coumaric acid, clorogenic acid, caffeic acid, myricetin, rutin, luteolin-7-O-glucoside and quercitin-3-O-rhamnoside. In contrast to the production system, the maturation stage showed a pronounced significant effect on the phenolic composition of the studied sweet peppers; in general, green peppers possessed higher contents than red ones. Meta-coumaric acid, ortho-coumaric acid and quercitin-3-O-rhamnoside were more abundant in green conventional peppers and chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid and rutin were found in higher levels in red organic peppers. Regarding the antioxidant activity, green conventional peppers showed the highest DPPH, ABTS•+ and total reducing capacities, while red conventional peppers had higher TEAC values. Finally, principal component analysis showed that the phenolic composition together with the antioxidant capacities could be used to differentiate the production system and the maturation stage of sweet peppers. This finding confirmed that both factors influenced the peppers’ phenolic composition and antioxidant capacity, allowing their possible use as maturation–production biomarkers.
Water Saving and Yield of Potatoes under Partial Root-Zone Drying Drip Irrigation Technique: Field and Modelling Study Using SALTMED Model in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Al-Omran Abdulrasoul , Louki Ibrahim , Alkhasha Arafat , Abd El-Wahed Mohamed Hassan , Obadi Abdullah
Published: December 2020

This study aims to evaluate the Partial Root Zone Drying Irrigation System (PRD) as one of the modern technologies that provide irrigation water and increase the efficiency of its use on potato crop. The effect of applying the PRD conventional deficit irrigation (CDI) on the efficiency and water saving in potato crops using the drip surface (S) and subsurface (SS) irrigation methods were investigated. SALTMED model used to predict soil moisture and salinity distribution, soil nitrogen dynamics, and yield of potato crop using the different irrigation levels (150%, 100%, and 50% of Crop evapotranspiration (ETc)). The study showed that the water use efficiency (WUE) decreases with increasing levels of irrigation water, as it ranged between 2.96 and 8.38 kgm−3, 2.77 and 7.01 kgm−3 for surface irrigation PRD and CDI, respectively, when the amounts of irrigation water varied from 308 mm to 1174 mm, respectively. The study showed that the irrigation efficiencies were the highest when using PRD system in all treatments when irrigating the potato crop during the spring season, and it was more efficient in the case of using subsurface irrigation method. The results show that the soil moisture (SM) was high in 25–45 cm at 150% of ETc was 0.166 and 0.263 m3m−3 for the first and last stages of growth, respectively. 100% of ETc, (SM) was 0.296 m3m−3 at 0–25 cm, 0.195 m3m−3 at 25–45 cm, 0.179 m3m−3 at 45–62 cm, depths, respectively. whereas 50% of ETc, (SM) was 0.162 m3m−3 at 0–25 cm, 0.195 m3m−3 at 25–85 cm, depths. At 100% of ETc, soil salinity was 5.15, 4.37, 3.3, and 4.5 dSm−1, whereas at 50%, ETc, these values were 5.64, 9.6, 3.3, and 4.2 dSm−1. Statistical indicators showed that the model underestimated yield, for 150%, 100%, and 50% of ETc. Therefore, it can be concluded that yield and WUE using PRD systems were the highest in the potato crop compare to CDI surface and sub-surface, and SALTMED model can predict the moisture distribution, salinity, and yield of potatoes after accurate adjustment.
Soil Monitoring Methods to Assess Immediately Available Soil N for Fertigated Sweet Pepper
Authors: Rodríguez Alejandra , Peña-Fleitas M. Teresa , Padilla Francisco M. , Gallardo Marisa , Thompson Rodney B.
Published: December 2020

Excessive N application occurs in greenhouse vegetable production. Monitoring methods of immediately available soil N are required. [NO3−] in soil solution, sampled with ceramic cup samplers, and [NO3−] in the 1:2 soil to water (v/v) extract were evaluated. Five increasing [N], from very N deficient (N1) to very N excessive (N5) were applied throughout three fertigated pepper crops by combined fertigation/drip irrigation. The crops were grown in soil in a greenhouse. Soil solution [NO3−] was measured every 1–2 weeks, and extract [NO3−] every 4 weeks. Generally, for treatments N1 and N2, both soil solution and extract [NO3−] were continually close to zero, and increased with applied [N] for treatments N3–5. The relationships of both methods to the nitrogen nutrition index (NNI), an indicator of crop N status, were assessed. Segmented linear analysis gave R2 values of 0.68–0.70 for combined data from entire crops, for both methods. NNI was strongly related to increasing [NO3−] up to 3.1 and 0.9 mmol L−1 in soil solution and extracts, respectively. Thereafter, NNI was constant at 1.04–1.05, with increasing [NO3−]. Suggested sufficiency ranges were derived. Soil solution [NO3−] is effective to monitor immediately available soil N for sweet pepper crops in SE Spain. The extract method is promising.
Estimating Soybean Radiation Use Efficiency Using a UAV in Iowa
Authors: Phillips Xavier A. , Kandel Yuba R. , Licht Mark A. , Mueller Daren S.
Published: December 2020

Radiation use efficiency (RUE) is difficult to estimate and unreasonable to perform on a small plot scale using traditional techniques. However, the increased availability of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) provides the ability to collect spatial and temporal data at high resolution and frequency, which has made a potential workaround. An experiment was completed in Iowa to (i) demonstrate RUE estimation of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] from reflectance data derived from consumer-grade UAV imagery and (ii) investigate the impact of foliar fungicides on RUE in Iowa. Some fungicides are promoted to have plant health benefits beyond disease protection, and changes in RUE may capture their effect. Frogeye leaf spot severity did not exceed 2%. RUE values ranged from 0.98 to 1.07 and 0.96 to 1.12 across the entire season and the period post-fungicide application, respectively, and fell within the range of previously published soybean RUE values. Plots treated with fluxapyroxad + pyraclostrobin had more canopy cover (p = 0.078) compared to the non-treated control 133 days after planting (DAP), but yields did not differ. A “greening effect” was detected at the end of the sample collection. RUE estimation using UAV imagery can be considered a viable option for the evaluation of management techniques on a small plot scale. Since it is directly related to yield, RUE could be an appropriate parameter to elucidate the impact of plant diseases and other stresses on yield.
Parameters of Drainage Waters Collected during Soilless Tomato Cultivation in Mineral and Organic Substrates
Authors: Dyśko Jacek , Szczech Magdalena , Kaniszewski Stanisław , Kowalczyk Waldemar
Published: December 2020

The aim was to determine the suitability of various substrates for application in a closed system of soilless tomato cultivation, based on the potential fitness of drainage waters from these substrates for recirculation. Four substrates were used: rockwool, coir substrate, lignite substrate (Carbomat) and biodegradable organic substrate (Biopot). Tomato plants grown in these substrates were fertilized with the same amount of nutrient solution, containing the same concentration of nutrients. The characteristics of drainage water from these substrates were analyzed during cultivation. The highest amount of drainage water was collected from the lignite substrate Carbomat. However, these leachates showed good properties for further recirculation: low electro conductivity and turbidity, high nutrient content, moderate microbial load with high population of Trichoderma fungi, and being beneficial for plant growth. Moreover, Carbomat produced the highest tomato yield compared to other substrates. This indicates that this organic substrate is an efficient alternative to rockwool and its drainage water may be reused in a recirculation system. On the contrary, the drainage water from the Biopot substrate showed the worst qualities: high pH and low EC, low concentration of nitrate nitrogen and phosphorus, very high turbidity and a high number of microorganisms. These parameters do not qualify Biopot drainage waters for reuse.
Structure Stability of Cultivated Soils from Semi-Arid Region: Comparing the Effects of Land Use and Anionic Polyacrylamide Application
Authors: Mamedov Amrakh I. , Tsunekawa Atsushi , Tsubo Mitsuru , Fujimaki Haruyuki , Ekberli Imanverdi , Şeker Cevdet , Öztürk Hasan S. , Cerdà Artemi , Levy Guy J.
Published: December 2020

The Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations call for applying soil management practices that contribute land degradation neutrality. Our objectives were to investigate the effect of (i) soil management—conventional tillage (CT under crop) and no-tillage (NT under grass)—and (ii) an amendment (polyacrylamide (PAM)) application on the structure stability indices of soils from a semi-arid region. Two sets of experiments were conducted using the high-energy moisture characteristic (HEMC) method for the assessment of (i) land-use type (CT vs. NT) in soils (30 samples) varying in texture, and (ii) the effect of six PAM concentrations (0, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg L−1) on three typical soils (sandy clay loam, clay loam, and clay) under CT management; then, the contributions of PAM concentration (CT) and NT were compared. Water retention curves of samples were obtained at a matric potential from 0 to −5.0 J kg−1 and characterized by a modified van Genuchten model that yields (i) model parameters α and n, and (ii) a soil structure stability index (SI). The treatments affected the shape of the water retention curves. Change of land use from CT to NT and PAM application to CT soil increased the SI and ɑ, and decreased n compared to CT-managed soils. The magnitude of the NT and PAM effect was inversely related to soil clay content. CT-managed soils treated with a low PAM rate (10–25 mg L−1) gave SI comparable to that obtained for the NT-managed soils, while CT-managed soils treated with a high PAM rate (50–200 mg L−1) yielded 1.3–2.0 and 2–4 times higher SI than that for NT and CT-managed soils, respectively. Our findings suggest that both the change of land use to NT or the addition of small amounts of PAM are viable alternatives for stabilizing CT-managed weakly alkaline semi-arid soils, whose soil structure stability is a priori limited.
Blackcurrant Variety Specific Growth and Yield Formation as a Response to Foliar Fertilizers
Authors: Vâtcă Sorin , Vidican Roxana , Gâdea Ștefania , Horvat Melinda , Vâtcă Anamaria , Stoian Valentina Ancuța , Stoian Vlad
Published: December 2020

Recently, there has been a growing interest in supplementing plant nutrition with foliar fertilizers. Foliar application of nutrients is considered a promising environmentally friendly strategy for improving the yield and nutrient efficiency of crops. Little work with foliar appliances on perennial fruits bushes, blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.), respectively, has been reported. This study was conducted to evaluate the growth and yield response of three blackcurrant varieties to macro and micronutrients’ foliar fertilizer solutions. Principal component analysis and factors environmental fitting were performed for the global assessment of growth and increases in branches length responsible for yield production throughout the entire vegetation period and reported to the final development. The results endorsed the benefits of foliar fertilization. Each variety has a preference for a specific foliar treatment. The highest increases in branches length for Ruben variety was with Ascovigor foliar fertilizer; for Tiben with Kombimax; for Tines with Mikromix. The varieties growth dynamics due to fertilizers was best fitted to foliar Kombimax. Stable models were found to all blackcurrant varieties depending on developmental stage and foliar fertilization application. Application of foliar fertilizer is very profitable in terms of pairing each variety with optimum product, which will increase its specific yield potential.
The Antimicrobial Peptide, Bactenecin 5, Supports Cell-Mediated but Not Humoral Immunity in the Context of a Mycobacterial Antigen Vaccine Model
Authors: Munshi Tulika , Sparrow Adam , Wren Brendan W. , Reljic Rajko , Willcocks Samuel J.
Published: December 2020

Bactenecin (Bac) 5 is a bovine antimicrobial peptide (AMP) capable of killing some species of bacteria through the inhibition of protein synthesis. Bac5 and other AMPs have also been shown to have chemotactic properties and can induce inflammatory cytokine expression by innate immune cells. Recently, AMPs have begun to be investigated for their potential use as novel vaccine adjuvants. In the current work, we characterise the functionality of Bac5 in vitro using murine macrophage-like cells, ex vivo using human tonsil tissue and in vivo using a murine model of vaccination. We report the effects of the peptide in isolation and in the context of co-presentation with mycobacterial antigen and whole, inert Bacillus subtilis spore antigens. We find that Bac5 can trigger the release of nitric oxide from murine macrophages and upregulate surface marker expression including CD86, MHC-I and MHC-II, in the absence of additional agonists. When coupled with mycobacterial Ag85 and B. subtilis spores, Bac5 also enhanced IFNγ secretion. We provide evidence that B. subtilis spores, but not the Bac5 peptide, act as strong adjuvants in promoting antigen-specific immunoglobulin production in Ag85B-vaccinated mice. Our findings suggest that Bac5 is an important regulator of the early cell-mediated host immune response.
Inhibition of Pneumolysin Cytotoxicity by Hydrolysable Tannins
Authors: Maatsola Santeri , Kurkinen Sami , Engström Marica T. , Nyholm Thomas K. M. , Pentikäinen Olli , Salminen Juha-Pekka , Haataja Sauli
Published: December 2020

Streptococcus pneumoniae causes invasive infections such as otitis media, pneumonia and meningitis. It produces the pneumolysin (Ply) toxin, which forms a pore onto the host cell membrane and has multiple functions in the pathogenesis of S. pneumoniae. The Ply C-terminal domain 4 mediates binding to membrane cholesterol and induces the formation of pores composed of up to 40 Ply monomers. Ply has a key role in the establishment of nasal colonization, pneumococcal transmission from host to host and pathogenicity. Altogether, 27 hydrolysable tannins were tested for Ply inhibition in a hemolysis assay and a tannin-protein precipitation assay. Pentagalloylglucose (PGG) and gemin A showed nanomolar inhibitory activity. Ply oligomerization on the erythrocyte surface was inhibited with PGG. PGG also inhibited Ply cytotoxicity to A549 human lung epithelial cells. Molecular modelling of Ply interaction with PGG suggests that it binds to the pocket formed by domains 2, 3 and 4. In this study, we reveal the structural features of hydrolysable tannins that are required for interaction with Ply. Monomeric hydrolysable tannins containing three to four flexible galloyl groups have the highest inhibitory power to Ply cytotoxicity and are followed by oligomers. Of the oligomers, macrocyclic and C-glycosidic structures were weaker in their inhibition than the glucopyranose-based oligomers. Accordingly, PGG-type monomers and oligomers might have therapeutic value in the targeting of S. pneumoniae infections.
Tailoring Asymmetric Lossy Channels to Test the Robustness of Mesoscopic Quantum States of Light
Authors: Allevi Alessia , Bondani Maria
Published: December 2020

In the past twenty years many experiments have demonstrated that quantum states of light can be used for secure data transfer, despite the presence of many noise sources. In this paper we investigate, both theoretically and experimentally, the role played by a statistically-distributed asymmetric amount of loss in the degradation of nonclassical photon-number correlations between the two parties of multimode twin-beam states in the mesoscopic intensity regime. To be as close as possible to realistic scenarios, we consider two different statistical distributions of such a loss, a Gaussian distribution and a log-normal one. The results achieved in the two cases show to what extent the involved parameters, both those connected to loss and those describing the employed states of light, preserve nonclassicality.
Study of Colliding Particle-Pair Velocity Correlation in Homogeneous Isotropic Turbulence
Authors: Lain Santiago , Ernst Martin , Sommerfeld Martin
Published: December 2020

This paper deals with the numerical analysis of the particle inertia and volume fraction effects on colliding particle-pair velocity correlation immersed in an unsteady isotropic homogeneous turbulent flow. Such correlation function is required to build reliable statistical models for inter-particle collisions, in the frame of the Euler–Lagrange approach, to be used in a broad range of two-phase flow applications. Computations of the turbulent flow have been carried out by means of Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) by the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM). Moreover, the dependence of statistical properties of collisions on particle inertia and volumetric fraction is evaluated and quantified. It has been found that collision locations of particles of intermediate inertia, StK~1, occurs in regions where the fluid strain rate and dissipation are higher than the corresponding averaged values at particle positions. Connected with this fact, the average kinetic energy of colliding particles of intermediate inertia (i.e., Stokes number around 1) is lower than the value averaged over all particles. From the study of the particle-pair velocity correlation, it has been demonstrated that the colliding particle-pair velocity correlation function cannot be approximated by the Eulerian particle-pair correlation, obtained by theoretical approaches, as particle separation tends to zero, a fact related with the larger values of the relative radial velocity between colliding particles.
Selection of the Optimum Carrier for Manufacturing Water-Repellent Concrete and Durability Evaluation of Cement Mortar Using It
Authors: Yoon Chang Bok , Lee Han Seung
Published: December 2020

The purpose of this experiment was to complement the shortcomings of existing surface treatment methods and to implement water repellency inside concrete to prevent water penetration and improve the durability of concrete. Carriers to provide water repellency were fabricated using fly ash (FA), silica fume (SF), and natural zeolite which are used as admixtures for concrete. They were mixed with cement mortar, tested, and evaluated. The compressive strength of the water-repellent impregnated natural zeolite (ZWR) specimen was 83% of that of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), and its contact angle was found to be 124°. The water penetration test and chloride ion penetration test confirmed that the water absorption and total passing charge were reduced, while the porosity and pore size were improved. For the other specimens, except ZWR, water repellency was judged to be insufficient due to the low fixing ability for the water-repellent’s active ingredient. The results of evaluating the physical performance and durability of cement mortar for the selection of the optimum carrier revealed that powders other than ZWR are not suitable as a material for providing water repellency to concrete.
Preparation and Impact Resistance Properties of Hybrid Silicone-Ceramics Composites
Authors: Kośla Katarzyna , Kubiak Paweł , Fejdyś Marzena , Olszewska Karolina , Łandwijt Marcin , Chmal-Fudali Edyta
Published: December 2020

This article presents the method of preparation a new type of ballistic armor based on hybrid silicone-ceramic (HSC) composites with considerable flexibility. An experimental study on the ballistic behavior of HSC composites connected with soft body armor is presented against FSP.22 fragments. The effect of Al2O3 ceramics on the ballistic performance of HSC composite was investigated, and the fragmentation resistance process of the composite armor combining the HSC composite and soft aramid insert is clarified. Furthermore, impact resistance tests made with a drop tower which allows for a gravity drop of a mass along vertical guides onto a sample placed with an energy of 5 J were performed. The results presented in this paper show that the HSC composites can be successfully used as a hard body armor. However, they do not exhibit the properties of absorbing the impact energy generated during the drop tower tests. The test results show that the ballistic performance of composite armors is influenced by the hardness and Young modulus of ceramics and soft body armor panel. Additionally, in the article, the results of mechanical properties of silicones used for preparation of composites were presented and compiled to determine their role in the performance of impact protection.
Performance of Pistia stratiotes, Salvinia molesta, and Eichhornia crassipes Aquatic Plants in the Tertiary Treatment of Domestic Wastewater with Varying Retention Times
Authors: Mustafa Hauwa Mohammed , Hayder Gasim
Published: December 2020

Organic matter, nutrients, and chemicals are some of the waste materials found in most domestic wastewaters. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the potentials of Pistia stratiotes, Salvinia molesta, and Eichhornia crassipes aquatic weed plants in the tertiary treatment of secondary domestic wastewater using hydroponic systems. Physicochemical analysis that considered turbidity, phosphate, ammoniacal nitrogen, and nitrate was conducted on the wastewater samples at different retention times of 6, 12, and 24 h for 14 days. The best performance was observed for a 24 h retention treatment system, with up to 91% (P. stratiotes), 94% (S. molesta), and 89.3% (E. crassipes) reduction for turbidity; 81.2% (P. stratiotes), 82.7% (S. molesta), and 88.5% (E. crassipes) for phosphate reduction; 88.66% (P. stratiotes), 90.47% (S. molesta), and 89.11% (E. crassipes) for ammoniacal nitrogen reduction; 83.6% (P. stratiotes), 92.1% (S. molesta) and 93% (E. crassipes) for nitrate reduction. Hence, the application of hydroponic systems in cultivation of the macrophytes proved to be effective in the phytoremediation process by removing the residual nutrients present in the treated secondary domestic wastewater. Additionally, this method can be used for the cultivation of plant-based biomass and other non-edible useful crops using the free nutrients content of the wastewater before its discharge into the natural environment.
Identification of Tire Model Parameters with Artificial Neural Networks
Authors: Olazagoitia José Luis , Perez Jesus Angel , Badea Francisco
Published: December 2020

Accurate modeling of tire characteristics is one of the most challenging tasks. Many mathematical models can be used to fit measured data. Identification of the parameters of these models usually relies on least squares optimization techniques. Different researchers have shown that the proper selection of an initial set of parameters is key to obtain a successful fitting. Besides, the mathematical process to identify the right parameters is, in some cases, quite time-consuming and not adequate for fast computing. This paper investigates the possibility of using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to reliably identify tire model parameters. In this case, the Pacejka’s “Magic Formula” has been chosen for the identification due to its complex mathematical form which, in principle, could result in a more difficult learning than other formulations. The proposed methodology is based on the creation of a sufficiently large training dataset, without errors, by randomly choosing the MF parameters within a range compatible with reality. The results obtained in this paper suggest that the use of ANN to directly identify parameters in tire models for real test data is possible without the need of complicated cost functions, iterative fitting or initial iteration point definition. The errors in the identification are normally very low for every parameter and the fitting problem time is reduced to a few milliseconds for any new given data set, which makes this methodology very appropriate to be used in applications where the computing time needs to be reduced to a minimum.
User-Engagement Score and SLIs/SLOs/SLAs Measurements Correlation of E-Business Projects Through Big Data Analysis
Authors: Fedushko Solomiia , Ustyianovych Taras , Syerov Yuriy , Peracek Tomas
Published: December 2020

The Covid-19 crisis lockdown caused rapid transformation to remote working/learning modes and the need for e-commerce-, web-education-related projects development, and maintenance. However, an increase in internet traffic has a direct impact on infrastructure and software performance. We study the problem of accurate and quick web-project infrastructure issues/bottleneck/overload identification. The research aims to achieve and ensure the reliability and availability of a commerce/educational web project by providing system observability and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) methods. In this research, we propose methods for technical condition assessment by applying the correlation of user-engagement score and Service Level Indicators (SLIs)/Service Level Objectives (SLOs)/Service Level Agreements (SLAs) measurements to identify user satisfaction types along with the infrastructure state. Our solution helps to improve content quality and, mainly, detect abnormal system behavior and poor infrastructure conditions. A straightforward interpretation of potential performance bottlenecks and vulnerabilities is achieved with the developed contingency table and correlation matrix for that purpose. We identify big data and system logs and metrics as the central sources that have performance issues during web-project usage. Throughout the analysis of an educational platform dataset, we found the main features of web-project content that have high user-engagement and provide value to services’ customers. According to our study, the usage and correlation of SLOs/SLAs with other critical metrics, such as user satisfaction or engagement improves early indication of potential system issues and avoids having users face them. These findings correspond to the concepts of SRE that focus on maintaining high service availability.
Performance Analysis of Thread Block Schedulers in GPGPU and Its Implications
Authors: Cho KyungWoon , Bahn Hyokyung
Published: December 2020

GPGPU (General-Purpose Graphics Processing Unit) consists of hardware resources that can execute tens of thousands of threads simultaneously. However, in reality, the parallelism is limited as resource allocation is performed by the base unit called thread block, which is not managed judiciously in the current GPGPU systems. To schedule threads in GPGPU, a specialized hardware scheduler allocates thread blocks to the computing unit called SM (Stream Multiprocessors) in a Round-Robin manner. Although scheduling in hardware is simple and fast, we observe that the Round-Robin scheduling is not efficient in GPGPU, as it does not consider the workload characteristics of threads and the resource balance among SMs. In this article, we present a new thread block scheduling model that has the ability of analyzing and quantifying the performances of thread block scheduling. We implement our model as a GPGPU scheduling simulator and show that the conventional thread block scheduling provided in GPGPU hardware does not perform well as the workload becomes heavy. Specifically, we observe that the performance degradation of Round-Robin can be eliminated by adopting DFA (Depth First Allocation), which is simple but scalable. Moreover, as our simulator consists of modular forms based on the framework and we publicly open it for other researchers to use, various scheduling policies can be incorporated into our simulator for evaluating the performance of GPGPU schedulers.
Model of User Data Analysis Complex for the Management of Diverse Web Projects during Crises
Authors: Fedushko Solomiia , Mastykash Oleg , Syerov Yuriy , Peracek Tomas
Published: December 2020

This article discusses the relevant task of analyzing user data in the process of managing various web projects. The results of this analysis will help to improve the management of diverse web projects during crises. The authors explore the concept of data heterogeneity in web projects, classify web projects by function and purpose, and analyze the search models and data display in web projects. The proposed algorithms for analyzing user data in the process of managing diverse web projects will improve the structuring and presentation of data on the web project platform. The model user data analysis complex developed by the authors will simplify the process of managing various web projects during crises.