bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Engineering Properties of PVA Fibre-Reinforced Geopolymer Mortar Containing Waste Oyster Shells
Authors: Deng Ziming , Yang Zhangfeng , Bian Jin , Pan Xinxiang , Wu Guanglin , Guo Fei , Fu Ruizhi , Yan Hongjin , Deng Zijun , Chen Siqi
Published: October 2022

Recycling crushed waste oyster shells (WOS) as a fine aggregate is an attractive method of disposal. However, its use in geopolymer mortar has not been reported. The influence of PVA fibres on the engineering properties of the new geopolymer mortar is still unclear. To bridge the gap, this study investigated the influence of various PVA fibre contents (0–1.05 vol%) on the flowability, compressive, flexural strengths, drying shrinkage, sorptivity, chloride resistance, porosity, fibre dispersion, embodied CO2 emissions (ECO2e), and embodied energy (EE) of the geopolymer mortar. The results indicated that the inclusion of 0.15–1.05 vol% of PVA fibres improved the flexural strength by 10.10–42.31% and reduced the drying shrinkage by 13.37–65.79%. The flowability and compressive strength decreased by 10.78–34.28% and 7.50–27.65%, respectively, but they were sufficient for construction. The sorptivity increased by 1.45–15.16%, and the chloride resistance decreased by 15.09–56.35%, but the geopolymer mortar was still classified as low chloride penetrability. In summary, the optimal content of PVA fibres is 0.45 vol%, and the geopolymer mortar has good engineering properties and eco-efficiency. The cost analysis and high-temperature resistance of the geopolymer mortar are neglected in this study, which should be evaluated in future work.
Effect of Single Loading Time to the Cyclic Ablation of C/C-SiC-ZrC Composite
Authors: Feng Wei , Wang Xinyu , Tian Yunlong , Liu Lei , Li Boyan
Published: October 2022

To understand the influence of single loading time on the cyclic ablation of carbide modified C/C composites, a C/C-SiC-ZrC composite was impacted by plasma at 2600 K for 50 s under reciprocating 0.5 (C0.5) and 5 s (C5), respectively. The composites displayed similar negative mass and rising positive linear ablation rates from C0.5 to C5. Phases, micro-morphologies, and surface temperature analysis suggested that the partially oxidized SiC-ZrC covering on the ablated sample cracked and was persistently peeled off. The mass gain resulted from the ceramic’s protection of the nearby carbon from complete oxidation. The longer single loading of 5 s caused strengthened thermal chemical reaction and mechanical erosion, which resulted in the bigger linear loss.
Generation of 99.8 fs, 25 kW Peak-Power, Dispersion-Managed Pulses Directly from an Yb-Doped Figure-of-9 Fiber Laser
Authors: Yuan Shuai , Si Lu , Chen Jianing , Chen Junyu , Yu Han
Published: October 2022

We reported on the generation of 99.8 fs, 25 kW peak-power, dispersion-managed pulses directly from a passively mode-locked Yb-fiber laser oscillator with a figure-of-9 configuration. The introduction of strongly injected pump power and optical components with a high damage threshold enables high-power operation, while the polarization-maintaining (PM) fiber supports environmentally stable self-started mode-locking. Mode-locking in the soliton-like and negative-dispersion regime is characterized by the dispersion management via tuning the separation distances between a pair of gratings inside the cavity. The oscillator generates stable pulses with up to 40.10 mW average power at a 16.03 MHz repetition rate, corresponding to a pulse energy of 2.5 nJ. To the best of our knowledge, it is the highest peak-power directly obtained by a laser oscillator with a figure-of-9 configuration.
Study of Material Color Influences on Mechanical Characteristics of Fused Deposition Modeling Parts
Authors: Gao Ge , Xu Fan , Xu Jiangmin , Liu Zhenyu
Published: October 2022

The objective of the present work is to evaluate the influence of material color on mechanical properties of fused deposition modeling (FDM) parts. The performance of the products is evaluated by testing eight different colors of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polylactic acid (PLA) material in terms of tensile strength, compressive strength, and flexural strength. The analysis of data shows a significant difference in mechanical characteristics of prints depending on filament color. For different colors, these three strengths almost follow the same rising and falling tendency. In order to explore the relationship between mechanical strengths and filament colors, the color-mixing theory and the least-squares method are adopted to fit the best ratio coefficients of different color combinations. Results are presented showing that the strength value (e.g., tensile) of the mixed color can be evaluated through that of primary colors by fitting the other strength (e.g., compressive or flexural). It is shown that the predicted value is always no more than 7% error compared with the actual strength, in spite of two-color or three-color mixtures. An additional confirmation test with seven colored PLA filaments from different suppliers was conducted to focus on the extensibility. The outcomes show the maximum fitting errors of strengths for mixed colors in all cases are within 5%, proving the effectiveness and applicability of this predicted approach. This study can bring a detailed analysis that enables better estimation of the function of material color and contributes to improving the property of FDM printed products for consumers by choosing the suitable filament color.
Study on the Application of the GTAW Process in Strengthening the Welding Quality of Short Duplex Stainless Pipe
Authors: Lin Ming-Che , Cheng Chia-Chieh , Huang Ching-Chien
Published: October 2022

This study focuses on the results of the welding process when the Taguchi method is added to the design of experimental welding parameters when creating the welding procedure for gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) by ASME Code for duplex stainless steel (UNS31803). A Vickers hardness tester is employed to collect and convert the tensile strength data for each test piece (weld bead, base material, and heat-affected area). A ferritic rate meter can quickly determine the ferric contents, which affect corrosion resistance and susceptibility to cracking. The test data are entered into the Taguchi technique to analyze the influence of each component on the welding quality. The L9 (34) orthogonal table is used to design the parameters for the experiment. We fixed the same shielding gas and flow rate. Backing gas at root, workpiece clamping angle, heat input, and interlayer temperature are employed as control factors for the four essential variables of the GTAW process. The ideal set of quality analysis and optimization parameters can be found. The welding parameters could be used to improve the welding quality of thin and short duplex stainless steel pipe fittings during argon welding.
Specific Surface Area Evolution and Shrinkage Control of Pre-Sintered Nickel Clusters
Authors: Zheng Fengshi , Wang Linshan , Zhang Shaoming , Zhang Lin , Hu Qiang , Wang Limin
Published: October 2022

This study prepared pre-sintered clusters with fine nickel powders and proposed an effective method to predict and control the sintering shrinkage based on cluster size. Experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of the pre-sintering temperature and cluster size on the specific surface area and morphology of pre-sintered clusters as well as to validate the availability of the proposed shrinkage prediction method. The results show that the specific surface area decreases with an increasing pre-sintering temperature and slightly oscillates with an increasing cluster size. The linear shrinkage ratio is inversely proportional to the cluster size and decreases with an increasing pre-sintering temperature, which begins to drop rapidly at 500 °C and decreases from 19.05% to 3.18% at 800 °C. The experimental results are quite approximate to the predicted values, which strongly prove the availability of the proposed shrinkage prediction method.
Numerical Simulation of Transport Phenomena in Directional Solidification Castings with Changeable Cross-Section and Solidification Interface Control
Authors: Zhang Yanbin , Zhu Bin , Jiang Haijun , Tan Li , Weng Yu , Yang Yi , Qin Ling
Published: October 2022

The roles of traveling magnetic fields (TMFs) within the transport phenomena during the directional solidification of nickel-based superalloys were simulated. The evolution of thermal field, flow field and solid-liquid interface morphology during the solidification process under both natural and forced convection conditions were also simulated and compared. The strength of TMFs window that suppresses the flow of the interfacial front in the melt was quantified. The association between flow velocity at the interface front and defect formation was discussed.
A Privacy-Preserved Internet-of-Medical-Things Scheme for Eradication and Control of Dengue Using UAV
Authors: Ali Amir , Nisar Shibli , Khan Muhammad Asghar , Mohsan Syed Agha Hassnain , Noor Fazal , Mostafa Hala , Marey Mohamed
Published: October 2022

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection, found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas. Countries like Pakistan receive heavy rains annually resulting in floods in urban cities due to poor drainage systems. Currently, different cities of Pakistan are at high risk of dengue outbreaks, as multiple dengue cases have been reported due to poor flood control and drainage systems. After heavy rain in urban areas, mosquitoes are provided with a favorable environment for their breeding and transmission through stagnant water due to poor maintenance of the drainage system. The history of the dengue virus in Pakistan shows that there is a closed relationship between dengue outbreaks and a rainfall. There is no specific treatment for dengue; however, the outbreak can be controlled through internet of medical things (IoMT). In this paper, we propose a novel privacy-preserved IoMT model to control dengue virus outbreaks by tracking dengue virus-infected patients based on bedding location extracted using call data record analysis (CDRA). Once the bedding location of the patient is identified, then the actual infected spot can be easily located by using geographic information system mapping. Once the targeted spots are identified, then it is very easy to eliminate the dengue by spraying the affected areas with the help of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The proposed model identifies the targeted spots up to 100%, based on the bedding location of the patient using CDRA.
Comparative Analysis of Modulation Techniques on the Losses and Thermal Limits of Uninterruptible Power Supply Systems
Authors: Prado Edemar O. , Bolsi Pedro C. , Sartori Hamiltom C. , Pinheiro José R.
Published: October 2022

This paper presents a comparative analysis of electrical losses and subsequent thermal limits of the inverter of UPSs for small office and home office (SOHO) applications. For this, three PWM modulation techniques applied to the full-bridge converter are considered, with power levels of 100–1000 W and switching frequencies of 30–120 kHz. To validate the electrical and thermal models, a dSapce MicroLabBox equipment was used to implement modulation techniques on a commercial 1000 W UPS, and a Keysight DAQ970A data logger was used for temperature measurements. As a result, the MOSFET temperatures and losses are obtained for the three modulation techniques evaluated, indicating the best scenario for use and its influence on the UPS autonomy time.
Shear Horizontal Surface Waves in a Layered Piezoelectric Nanostructure with Surface Effects
Authors: Zhang Lele , Zhao Jing , Nie Guoquan
Published: October 2022

This work aims to provide a fundamental understanding on the dispersive behaviors of shear horizontal (SH) surface waves propagating in a layered piezoelectric nanostructure consisting of an elastic substrate and a piezoelectric nanofilm by considering the surface effects. Theoretical derivation based on the surface piezoelectricity model was conducted for this purpose, and analytic expressions of the dispersion equation under the nonclassical mechanical and electrical boundary conditions were obtained. Numerical solutions were given to investigate the influencing mechanism of surface elasticity, surface piezoelectricity, surface dielectricity, as well as the surface density upon the propagation characteristics of SH surface waves, respectively. The results also reveal the size-dependence of dispersive behaviors, which indicates that the surface effects make a difference only when the thickness of the piezoelectric nanofilm stays in a certain range.
Simultaneous Quantification of Opioids in Blood and Urine by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer with Modified Dispersive Solid-Phase Extraction Technique
Authors: Yasien Sara , Ali Ejaz , Javed Mohsin , Iqbal Muhammad Muntazir , Iqbal Shahid , Alrbyawi Hamad , Aljazzar Samar O. , Elkaeed Eslam B. , Dera Ayed A. , Pashameah Rami Adel , Alzahrani Eman , Farouk Abd-ElAziem
Published: October 2022

Common methodologies such as liquid-liquid extraction and solid-phase extraction are applied for the extraction of opioids from biological specimens i.e., blood and urine. Techniques including LC-MS/LC-MSMS, GC-MS, etc. are used for qualitative or quantitative determination of opioids. The goal of the present work is to design a green, economic, rugged, and simple extraction technique for famous opioids in human blood and urine and their simultaneous quantification by GC-MS equipped with an inert plus electron impact (EI) ionization source at SIM mode to produce reproducible and efficient results. Morphine, codeine, 6-acetylmorphine, nalbuphine, tramadol and dextromethorphan were selected as target opioids. Anhydrous Epsom salt was applied for dSPE of opioids from blood and urine into acetonitrile extraction solvent with the addition of sodium phosphate buffer (pH 6) and n-hexane was added to remove non-polar interfering species from samples. BSTFA was used as a derivatizing agent for GC-MS. Following method validation, the LOD/LLOQ and ULOQ were determined for morphine, codeine, nal-buphine, tramadol, and dextromethorphan at 10 ng/mL and 1500 ng/mL, respectively, while the LOD/LLOQ and ULOQ were determined for 6-acetylmorphine at 5 ng/mL and 150 ng/mL, respectively. This method was applied to real blood and urine samples of opioid abusers and the results were found to be reproducible with true quantification.
MoS2 and MoS2 Nanocomposites for Adsorption and Photodegradation of Water Pollutants: A Review
Authors: Amaral Leonardo O. , Daniel-da-Silva Ana L.
Published: October 2022

The need for fresh and conveniently treated water has become a major concern in recent years. Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanomaterials are attracting attention in various fields, such as energy, hydrogen production, and water decontamination. This review provides an overview of the recent developments in MoS2-based nanomaterials for water treatment via adsorption and photodegradation. Primary attention is given to the structure, properties, and major methods for the synthesis and modification of MoS2, aiming for efficient water-contaminant removal. The combination of MoS2 with other components results in nanocomposites that can be separated easily or that present enhanced adsorptive and photocatalytic properties. The performance of these materials in the adsorption of heavy metal ions and organic contaminants, such as dyes and drugs, is reviewed. The review also summarizes current progress in the photocatalytic degradation of various water pollutants, using MoS2-based nanomaterials under UV-VIS light irradiation. MoS2-based materials showed good activity after several reuse cycles and in real water scenarios. Regarding the ecotoxicity of the MoS2, the number of studies is still limited, and more work is needed to effectively evaluate the risks of using this nanomaterial in water treatment.
Development and Evaluation of Copper Based Transparent Heat Reflectors Obtained by Magnetron Sputtering
Authors: Pana Iulian , Parau Anca C. , Dinu Mihaela , Kiss Adrian E. , Constantin Lidia R. , Vitelaru Catalin
Published: October 2022

Within the next few years climate change is likely to become a major concern for mankind. In addition, the current electronic components shortage crisis has led to an urgent need for alternative solutions in the main industry sectors (the raw materials, manufacturing, and construction industries). The current trends of research are focused on developing smart materials with functional properties, using abundant raw materials. The energy saving efforts are sustained in the glazing industries by several approaches based on dielectric-metal-dielectric multilayer structures. The use of silver to achieve a high reflectivity in near-infrared spectral range has been proposed and is already adopted as a commercially available solution. This work is focused on developing a transparent heat reflector (THR) with prefigured optical properties, using copper as a reflective layer, a material that is more abundant and cheaper than silver. The conductive copper layers obtained by the High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) method were interposed between two silicon nitride layers deposited by the Radio-Frequency Magnetron Sputtering (RFMS) technique. The structural, optical, and elemental composition of monolayers was investigated, qualifying each individual material for use in the multilayer structure. The time stability of films deposited on microscope glass substrates was also investigated, as an important criterion for the selection of monolayers. The obtained results revealed that the SiNx/Cu/SiNx with the Cu layer deposited by using a negative substrate bias of −100 V showed the most stable behavior over time. Optical modeling was performed to design a THR multilayer structure, which was successfully obtained experimentally. A maximum optical transparency as high as 75% in the visible range and a reflectivity of ~ 85% in near infrared spectral interval was confirmed for the experimentally obtained multilayer structures.
The Association between Serum Vitamin D Concentration and New Inflammatory Biomarkers—Systemic Inflammatory Index (SII) and Systemic Inflammatory Response (SIRI)—In Patients with Ischemic Heart Disease
Authors: Dziedzic Ewelina A. , Gąsior Jakub S. , Tuzimek Agnieszka , Dąbrowski Marek , Jankowski Piotr
Published: October 2022

The incidence of ischemic heart disease (IHD) increases every year. This cardiovascular disease has an inflammatory factor in its etiology due to different immune cells that influence atherogenesis. New inflammatory biomarkers—the Systemic Inflammatory Index (SII) and the Systemic Inflammatory Response (SIRI)—attempt to describe the pro- and anti-inflammatory balance and quantify the complex impact of the immune system on atherosclerosis, while vitamin D has a multidirectional impact on the human body, including the cardiovascular and immune systems. Hence, the objective of this research was to analyze the association between SII and SIRI and serum vitamin D concentrations in patients with IHD. A significant correlation was observed between SIRI and 25(OH)D in the whole group and between both biomarkers (SII and SIRI) and 25(OH)D in the group of patients with ACS but not in the group of patients with stable IHD. The role of vitamin D in IHD complications and its association with new inflammatory biomarkers requires further well-designed, large-scale research.
Vitamin K Contribution to DNA Damage—Advantage or Disadvantage? A Human Health Response
Authors: Kaźmierczak-Barańska Julia , Karwowski Bolesław T.
Published: October 2022

Vitamin K is the common name for a group of compounds recognized as essential for blood clotting. The group comprises phylloquinone (K1)—a 2-methyl-3-phytyl-1,4-naphthoquinone; menaquinone (K2, MK)—a group of compounds with an unsaturated side chain in position 3 of a different number of isoprene units and a 1,4-naphthoquinone group and menadione (K3, MD)—a group of synthetic, water-soluble compounds 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone. However, recent epidemiological studies suggest that vitamin K has various benefits that go beyond blood coagulation processes. A dietary intake of K1 is inversely associated with the risk of pancreatic cancer, K2 has the potential to induce a differentiation in leukemia cells or apoptosis of various types of cancer cells, and K3 has a documented anti-cancer effect. A healthy diet rich in fruit and vegetables ensures an optimal supply of K1 and K2, though consumers often prefer supplements. Interestingly, the synthetic form of vitamin K—menadione—appears in the cell during the metabolism of phylloquinone and is a precursor of MK-4, a form of vitamin K2 inaccessible in food. With this in mind, the purpose of this review is to emphasize the importance of vitamin K as a micronutrient, which not only has a beneficial effect on blood clotting and the skeleton, but also reduces the risk of cancer and other pro-inflammatory diseases. A proper diet should be a basic and common preventive procedure, resulting in a healthier society and reduced burden on healthcare systems.
Efficient Delivery of P3H4 siRNA and Chlorin e6 by cRGDfK-Installed Polyarginine Nanoparticles for Tumor-Targeting Therapy of Bladder Cancer
Authors: Hao Lin , Shi Zhenduo , Dong Yang , Chen Jiangang , Pang Kun , He Houguang , Zhang Shaoqi , Wu Wei , Zhang Qianjin , Han Conghui
Published: October 2022

Purpose: Prolyl 3-hydroxylase family member 4 (P3H4) is a potent prognostic oncogene in bladder cancer (BC), and the inhibition of P3H4 suppresses BC tumor growth. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of P3H4 inhibition for BC tumor therapy via tumor-targeting nanoparticles. Methods and results: A linear polyarginine peptide (R9) was synthesized, azide-modified, and then assembled with cyclic pentapeptide cRGDfK. Chlorin e6 (ce6)-conjugated CH3-R9-RGD nanoparticles were prepared for the delivery of siP3H4 into T24 cells in vitro and BC tumors in vivo. Dynamic light scattering analysis identified that the optimum CH3-R9-RGD@siP3H4 molar ratio was 30/1. CH3-R9-RGD@ce6/siP3H4 nanocomposites decreased P3H4 expression and cell proliferation and promoted reactive oxygen species production, apoptosis, and calreticulin exposure in T24 cells in vitro. In vivo experiments showed that CH3-R9-RGD@ce6/siP3H4 nanocomposites caused pathological changes, suppressed BC tumor growth, promoted caspase 3 expression, and enhanced calreticulin exposure in tumor cells. Conclusions: The tumor-targeting CH3-R9-RGD nanocomposites encapsulating siP3H4 and ce6 might be an alternative therapeutic strategy or intravesical instillation chemotherapy for BC.
Development of Multilayer Nanoparticles for the Delivery of Peptide-Based Subunit Vaccine against Group A Streptococcus
Authors: Kiong Jolynn , Nahar Ummey Jannatun , Jin Shengbin , Shalash Ahmed O. , Zhang Jiahui , Koirala Prashamsa , Khalil Zeinab G. , Capon Robert J. , Skwarczynski Mariusz , Toth Istvan , Hussein Waleed M.
Published: October 2022

Peptide-based subunit vaccines include only minimal antigenic determinants, and, therefore, are less likely to induce allergic immune responses and adverse effects compared to traditional vaccines. However, peptides are weakly immunogenic and susceptible to enzymatic degradation when administered on their own. Hence, we designed polyelectrolyte complex (PEC)-based delivery systems to protect peptide antigens from degradation and improve immunogenicity. Lipopeptide (LCP-1) bearing J8 B-cell epitope derived from Group A Streptococcus (GAS) M-protein was selected as the model peptide antigen. In the pilot study, LCP-1 incorporated in alginate/cross-linked polyarginine-J8-based PEC induced high J8-specific IgG antibody titres. The PEC system was then further modified to improve its immune stimulating capability. Of the formulations tested, PEC-4, bearing LCP-1, alginate and cross-linked polylysine, induced the highest antibody titres in BALB/c mice following subcutaneous immunisation. The antibodies produced were more opsonic than those induced by mice immunised with other PECs, and as opsonic as those induced by antigen adjuvanted with powerful complete Freund’s adjuvant.
Topical Tirbanibulin, a Dual Src Kinase and Tubulin Polymerization Inhibitor, for the Treatment of Plaque-Type Psoriasis: Phase I Results
Authors: Hong Jin-Bon , Wu Po-Yuan , Qin Albert , Huang Yi-Wen , Tseng Kuan-Chiao , Lai Ching-Yu , Chan Wing-Kai , Fang Jane , Cutler David L. , Tsai Tsen-Fang
Published: October 2022

Plaque-type psoriasis is a common skin disorder. Tirbanibulin (KX01) is a new Src kinase inhibitor with potent antiproliferative activity against keratinocytes and has been approved for treatment of actinic keratosis. This Phase I study investigates the safety and activity of KX01 ointment in patients with plaque-type psoriasis. We recruited 28 patients from two medical centers in Taiwan. This study was performed in four stages. Double-blind treatments were randomized in stages I (KX01 0.01% + placebo, two rounds of two-week treatment) and II (KX01 0.1% + placebo, four weeks) and open-labelled in stages III (KX01 1%, five days) and IV (KX01 1%, five days weekly for four weeks). The safety, tolerability, KX01 concentration, target area score, physician global assessment, and disease relapse were determined. Most treatment-emergent adverse events were mild-to-moderate application site reactions. Three (50.0%) subjects from the stage IV group showed ≥50% reduction in the target area score (TAS50), while two subjects (33.3%) showed a clinically meaningful improvement in the physician global assessment score. KX01 0.01%, 0.1%, and 1% were safe and well-tolerated. KX01 1% at four weeks showed a promising activity for the treatment of plaque-type psoriasis.
Genome-Wide Identification of the NAC Transcription Factors in Gossypium hirsutum and Analysis of Their Responses to Verticillium wilt
Authors: Bai Shimei , Niu Qingqing , Wu Yuqing , Xu Kunling , Miao Meng , Mei Jun
Published: October 2022

The NAC transcription factors (NACs) are among the largest plant-specific gene regulators and play essential roles in the transcriptional regulation of both biotic and abiotic stress responses. Verticillium wilt of cotton caused by Verticillium dahliae (V. dahliae) is a destructive soil-borne disease that severely decreases cotton yield and quality. Although NACs constitute a large family in upland cotton (G. hirsutum L.), there is little systematic investigation of the NACs’ responsive to V. dahliae that has been reported. To further explore the key NACs in response to V. dahliae resistance and obtain a better comprehension of the molecular basis of the V. dahliae stress response in cotton, a genome-wide survey was performed in this study. To investigate the roles of GhNACs under V. dahliae induction in upland cotton, mRNA libraries were constructed from mocked and infected roots of upland cotton cultivars with the V. dahliae-sensitive cultivar “Jimian 11” (J11) and V. dahliae-tolerant cultivar “Zhongzhimian 2” (Z2). A total of 271 GhNACs were identified. Genome analysis showed GhNACs phylogenetically classified into 12 subfamilies and distributed across 26 chromosomes and 20 scaffolds. A comparative transcriptome analysis revealed 54 GhNACs were differentially expressed under V. dahliae stress, suggesting a potential role of these GhNACs in disease response. Additionally, one NAC090 homolog, GhNAC204, could be a positive regulator of cotton resistance to V. dahliae infection. These results give insight into the GhNAC gene family, identify GhNACs’ responsiveness to V. dahliae infection, and provide potential molecular targets for future studies for improving V. dahliae resistance in cotton.
Striving for Stability in the Dough Mixing Quality of Spring Wheat under the Influence of Prolonged Heat and Drought
Authors: Lama Sbatie , Kuzmenkova Marina , Vallenback Pernilla , Kuktaite Ramune
Published: October 2022

The effects of prolonged heat and drought stress and cool growing conditions on dough mixing quality traits of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were studied in fifty-six genotypes grown in 2017 and 2018 in southern Sweden. The mixing parameters evaluated by mixograph and the gluten protein characteristics studied by size exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography (SE-HPLC) in dough were compared between the two growing seasons which were very different in length, temperature and precipitation. The genotypes varying in gluten strength between the growing seasons (≤5%, ≤12%, and ≤17%) from three groups (stable (S), moderately stable (MS), and of varying stability (VS)) were studied. The results indicate that most of the mixing parameters were more strongly impacted by the interaction between the group, genotype, and year than by their individual contribution. The excessive prolonged heat and drought did not impact the buildup and mixing time expressed as peak time and time 1–2. The gluten polymeric proteins (unextractable, %UPP; total unextractable, TOTU) and large unextractable monomeric proteins (%LUMP) were closely associated with buildup and water absorption in dough. Major significant differences were found in the dough mixing parameters between the years within each group. In Groups S and MS, the majority of genotypes showed the smallest variation in the dough mixing parameters responsible for the gluten strength and dough development between the years. The mixing parameters such as time 1–2, buildup, and peak time (which were not affected by prolonged heat and drought stress) together with the selected gluten protein parameters (%UPP, TOTU, and %LUMP) are essential components to be used in future screening of dough mixing quality in wheat in severe growing environments.
Leaf Count Aided Novel Framework for Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Genotypes Discrimination in Phenomics: Leveraging Computer Vision and Deep Learning Applications
Authors: Vishal Mukesh Kumar , Saluja Rohit , Aggrawal Devarshi , Banerjee Biplab , Raju Dhandapani , Kumar Sudhir , Chinnusamy Viswanathan , Sahoo Rabi Narayan , Adinarayana Jagarlapudi
Published: October 2022

Drought is a detrimental factor to gaining higher yields in rice (Oryza sativa L.), especially amid the rising occurrence of drought across the globe. To combat this situation, it is essential to develop novel drought-resilient varieties. Therefore, screening of drought-adaptive genotypes is required with high precision and high throughput. In contemporary emerging science, high throughput plant phenotyping (HTPP) is a crucial technology that attempts to break the bottleneck of traditional phenotyping. In traditional phenotyping, screening significant genotypes is a tedious task and prone to human error while measuring various plant traits. In contrast, owing to the potential advantage of HTPP over traditional phenotyping, image-based traits, also known as i-traits, were used in our study to discriminate 110 genotypes grown for genome-wide association study experiments under controlled (well-watered), and drought-stress (limited water) conditions, under a phenomics experiment in a controlled environment with RGB images. Our proposed framework non-destructively estimated drought-adaptive plant traits from the images, such as the number of leaves, convex hull, plant–aspect ratio (plant spread), and similarly associated geometrical and morphological traits for analyzing and discriminating genotypes. The results showed that a single trait, the number of leaves, can also be used for discriminating genotypes. This critical drought-adaptive trait was associated with plant size, architecture, and biomass. In this work, the number of leaves and other characteristics were estimated non-destructively from top view images of the rice plant for each genotype. The estimation of the number of leaves for each rice plant was conducted with the deep learning model, YOLO (You Only Look Once). The leaves were counted by detecting corresponding visible leaf tips in the rice plant. The detection accuracy was 86–92% for dense to moderate spread large plants, and 98% for sparse spread small plants. With this framework, the susceptible genotypes (MTU1010, PUSA-1121 and similar genotypes) and drought-resistant genotypes (Heera, Anjali, Dular and similar genotypes) were grouped in the core set with a respective group of drought-susceptible and drought-tolerant genotypes based on the number of leaves, and the leaves’ emergence during the peak drought-stress period. Moreover, it was found that the number of leaves was significantly associated with other pertinent morphological, physiological and geometrical traits. Other geometrical traits were measured from the RGB images with the help of computer vision.
Quo Vadis, Orthotrichum pulchellum? A Journey of Epiphytic Moss across the European Continent
Authors: Plášek Vítězslav , Číhal Lukáš , Müller Frank , Smoczyk Michał , Marková Ivana , Fialová Lucie
Published: October 2022

Orthotrichum pulchellum is a species of epiphytic moss in which a significant expansion from the oceanic part of Europe to the east of the continent has been observed in the recent two decades. The improvement in air quality in Central and Eastern Europe, but also climate change, probably plays a role in this. This study shows what direction of its spreading we can expect in the future. Ecological niche modeling (ENM) is a widespread method to find out species niches in environmental and geographical space, which allows us to highlight areas that have a higher probability of occurrences of the studied species, based on identifying similar environmental conditions to those already known. We also made predictions for different future scenarios (CMIP5 climatology datasets for the years 2041–2060). Because we were not able to distinguish between historical and newly settled areas, and so, had to use some of the traditional approaches when modeling invasive species, we proposed to use niche clusters based on environmental layers to split the data of all known occurrences and make models separately for each cluster. This approach seems reasonable from the ecological species point of view because using all the morphologically same samples could be misleading. Altogether, 2712 samples were used from three separate niche clusters. For building the models, the Maxent algorithm was used as a well-tested, well-accepted, and commonly used method.
Role of Exopolysaccharides of Pseudomonas in Heavy Metal Removal and Other Remediation Strategies
Authors: Balíková Katarína , Vojtková Hana , Duborská Eva , Kim Hyunjung , Matúš Peter , Urík Martin
Published: October 2022

Pseudomonas biofilms have been studied intensively for several decades and research outcomes have been successfully implemented in various medical and agricultural applications. Research on biofilm synthesis and composition has also overlapped with the objectives of environmental sciences, since biofilm components show exceptional physicochemical properties applicable to remediation techniques. Especially, exopolysaccharides (ExPs) have been at the center of scientific interest, indicating their potential in solving the environmental issues of heavy metal land and water contamination via sorptive interactions and flocculation. Since exposure to heavy metal via contaminated water or soil poses an imminent risk to the environment and human health, ExPs provide an interesting and viable solution to this issue, alongside other effective and green remedial techniques (e.g., phytostabilization, implementation of biosolids, and biosorption using agricultural wastes) aiming to restore contaminated sites to their natural, pollution-free state, or to ameliorate the negative impact of heavy metals on the environment. Thus, we discuss the plausible role and performance of Pseudomonas ExPs in remediation techniques, aiming to provide the relevant available and comprehensive information on ExPs’ biosynthesis and their usage in heavy metal remediation or other environmental applications, such as wastewater treatment via bioflocculation and soil remediation.
The LATAM’s Laozi: The Reception and Interpretations of the Laozi in Latin America
Authors: Costantini Filippo
Published: October 2022

The Laozi has a long and variegated exegetical history inside and outside of China. This history shows the flexibility of a text that is always able to transform and adapt to the specific cultural context and historical period in which it emerges. Due to the expansion of Orientalism among Latin American intellectuals at the beginning of the 20th century, the Laozi, among other texts, began to propagate, producing a series of translations and original interpretations of the text. These works are the products of several Latin American writers who engaged with the Laozi mainly through the mediation of European and North American interpretations. From these cross-cultural interactions emerged some original interpretations and translations that created different ways of reading the Laozi. In this paper, I outline the major characteristics of the Laozi’s translations and interpretations in Latin America’s sub-regions. I draw a tentative sketch of what could be defined as the Latin American Laozi’s experience, better called the LATAM’s Laozi.
Prayer for a Partner and Relationship Outcomes: The Moderating Role of Relationship Form (Marital vs. Nonmarital Relationship)
Authors: Adamczyk Katarzyna , Pietrzak Sebastian
Published: October 2022

The current study was designed to investigate the concurrent and temporal associations between petitionary-focused prayer for a partner and relationship outcomes such as relationship satisfaction, commitment and quality, romantic loneliness, and relationship disillusionment from the perspective of the moderating role of relationship form (marital vs. nonmarital relationship). This study utilized a cross-sectional and longitudinal design and examined 412 Polish adults aged 18–75 (M = 35.10, SD = 9.50) at Time 1 and 190 participants after a four-month interval. The results revealed a moderation function of relationship form at T1 for relationship satisfaction at T1 and that more praying for a partner at T1 was associated with higher relationship satisfaction at T1 in marital relationships but not in nonmarital relationships. There was, however, a trend suggesting that more praying for a partner at T1 might be related to lower levels of romantic loneliness at T2 in marital relationships but not in nonmarital relationships. No interaction effects were observed for other relationship outcomes. These results suggest that the effects of praying for a partner may differ depending on relationship outcomes and that prayer may play a positive function with respect to relationship satisfaction in marital relationships in comparison to nonmarital relationships.
UAV Remote Sensing Prediction Method of Winter Wheat Yield Based on the Fused Features of Crop and Soil
Authors: Tian Zezhong , Zhang Yao , Liu Kaidi , Li Zhenhai , Li Minzan , Zhang Haiyang , Wu Jiangmei
Published: October 2022

The early and accurate acquisition of crop yields is of great significance for maintaining food market stability and ensuring global food security. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing offers the possibility of predicting crop yields with its advantages of flexibility and high resolution. However, most of the existing remote sensing yield estimation studies focused solely on crops but did not fully consider the influence of soil on yield formation. As an integrated system, the status of crop and soil together determines the final yield. Compared to crop-only yield prediction, the approach that additionally considers soil background information will effectively improve the accuracy and reduce bias in the results. In this study, a novel method for segmenting crop and soil spectral images based on different vegetation coverage is first proposed, in which pixels of crop and soil can be accurately identified by determining the discriminant value Q. On the basis of extracting crop and soil waveband’s information by individual pixel, an innovative approach, projected non-negative matrix factorization based on good point set and matrix cross fusion (PNMF-MCF), was developed to effectively extract and fuse the yield-related features of crop and soil. The experimental results on winter wheat show that the proposed segmentation method can accurately distinguish crop and soil pixels under complex soil background of four different growth periods. Compared with the single reflectance of crop or soil and the simple combination of crop and soil reflectance, the fused yield features spectral matrix FP obtained with PNMF−MCF achieved the best performance in yield prediction at the flowering, flag leaf and pustulation stages, with R2 higher than 0.7 in these three stages. Especially at the flowering stage, the yield prediction model based on PNMF-MCF had the highest R2 with 0.8516 and the lowest RMSE with 0.0744 kg/m2. Correlation analysis with key biochemical parameters (nitrogen and carbon, pigments and biomass) of yield formation showed that the flowering stage was the most vigorous season for photosynthesis and the most critical stage for yield prediction. This study provides a new perspective and complete framework for high-precision crop yield forecasting using UAV remote sensing technology.
Noise Parameter Estimation Two-Stage Network for Single Infrared Dim Small Target Image Destriping
Authors: Wang Teliang , Yin Qian , Cao Fanzhi , Li Miao , Lin Zaiping , An Wei
Published: October 2022

The existing nonuniformity correction methods generally have the defects of image blur, artifacts, image over-smoothing, and nonuniform residuals. It is difficult for these methods to meet the requirements of image enhancement in various complex application scenarios. In particular, when these methods are applied to dim small target images, they may remove dim small targets as noise points due to the image over-smoothing. This paper draws on the idea of a residual network and proposes a two-stage learning network based on the imaging mechanism of an infrared line-scan system. We adopt a multi-scale feature extraction unit and design a gain correction sub-network and an offset correction sub-network, respectively. Then, we pre-train the two sub-networks independently. Finally, we cascade the two sub-networks into a two-stage network and train it. The experimental results show that the PSNR gain of our method can reach more than 15 dB, and it can achieve excellent performance in different backgrounds and different intensities of nonuniform noise. Moreover, our method can avoid losing texture details or dim small targets after effectively removing nonuniform noise.
Non-Specialized Nurses Roles in Diabetes Inpatient Care in Cyprus: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis
Authors: Nikitara Monica , Constantinou Costas S. , Andreou Eleni , Latzourakis Evangelos , Diomidous Marianna
Published: October 2022

Aim: The aim of the study was to understand how non-specialized nurses and people with diabetes understand nurses’ roles in diabetes inpatient care. Background: Diabetes mellitus is a major public health issue that places a significant burden on patients and healthcare systems and world leaders have targeted it for priority action. Design: An interpretative phenomenology approach (IPA). Methods: A total of 24 non-specialized nurses working in medical, surgical and nephrology wards and 24 people with type 1 diabetes who use the services of the state hospitals in Cyprus. The data were collected in two phases: firstly, focus groups with nurses (n = 1) and people with diabetes (n = 2) were conducted and analysed and then individual semi-structured interviews with nurses (n = 18) and with people with diabetes (n = 12) were conducted. Findings: It is evident from the study findings that nurses experience several roles in diabetes inpatient care. Most of these roles have been identified by people with diabetes as well. These roles are summarized as follows: medication administration, patient education, screening of complications, diet and psychological support. However, most of the participants raised concerns about nurses’ ability to conduct such roles. Conclusion: Participants suggest that nurses experience several roles in caring for diabetes inpatients and this view was also shared by people with diabetes. However, it was obvious that these roles differ between specialities. The findings showed that even though participants recognized a number of roles in diabetes inpatient care, their description of how they perform these roles was vague, and they raised concerns about their readiness to take on some of these roles.
Red to Blue Light Ratio and Iron Nutrition Influence Growth, Metabolic Response, and Mineral Nutrients of Spinach Grown Indoors
Authors: Vaštakaitė-Kairienė Viktorija , Brazaitytė Aušra , Miliauskienė Jurga , Runkle Erik S.
Published: October 2022

Leafy greens are increasingly being produced indoors with electric lighting from light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Red (R) and blue (B) LEDs are commonly used to ensure healthy plant growth, but biofortification techniques can potentially maximise nutritional quality. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of B (peak = 450 nm) and R (peak = 665 nm) light ratios (R:B) of 9:1, 3:1, and 1:3 on growth, metabolic response, and the accumulation of mineral nutrients in spinach ‘Corvair F1’ and ‘Space F1’ grown in hydroponic solutions with different iron (Fe) concentrations (2, 5, and 15 mg L−1). Plant biomass and leaf length, width, and number generally decreased as the R:B decreased, leading to a high concentration of Fe in the solution. A higher Fe dose increased the contents of some other minerals but depended on the R:B and cultivar. For example, Zn generally increased with increasing Fe but Cu content decreased, especially in ‘Space F1’. There were less-profound effects of the R:B and Fe dose on metabolites or antioxidant capacity. The research findings suggest that the overall nutritional quality of spinach could improve with lighting and Fe biofortification strategies and thus increase the sustainability of indoor crop production.
Low-Carbon Product Family Planning for Manufacturing as a Service (MaaS): Bilevel Optimization with Linear Physical Programming
Authors: Liu Xiaojie , Gong Xuejian , Jiao Roger J.
Published: October 2022

The conversion of manufacturing functional areas towards services implies a paradigm of Manufacturing as a Service (MaaS). It transforms the product fulfillment process to a distributed one via a service-oriented manufacturing platform. Successful MaaS operational planning must be coordinated with low-carbon product family planning (PFP) at the front end of product design and development. These changes challenge the traditional PFP design, considering its manufacturer loading balancing (MLB) problem, which is limited to integrated product fulfillment. This paper proposes a leader–follower interactive decision-making mechanism for distributed collaborative product fulfillment of low-carbon PFP and MLB based on a Stackelberg game. A bilevel optimization model with linear physical programming was developed and solved, comprising an upper-level PFP optimization problem and a lower-level MLB optimization problem. The upper-level PFP aims to determine the optimal configuration of each product variant with the objective of maximizing the market share and the total profit in the product family. The lower-level MLB seeks for the optimal partition of manufacturing processes among manufacturers in order to minimize the low-carbon operation cost of product variants and balance the loads among manufacturers. A case study of WS custom kitchen product family design for MaaS is reported to demonstrate the feasibility and potential of the proposed bilevel interactive optimization approach.