bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prevention Adaptation of an Evidence-Based Treatment for Parents Involved With Child Welfare Who Use Substances
Authors: Cruden Gracelyn , Crawford Shelley , Saldana Lisa
Published: November 2021

Background:Parental substance use, especially opioid misuse and/or methamphetamine use, is a key driver for recent increases in family involvement with child welfare and foster care placements in the United States. There is an urgent need for programs that prevent parental substance use disorders, yet few prevention programs exist that target parents’ unique needs and strengths. Adapting evidence-based treatment approaches for prevention might be an efficient, effective way to address this gap. The current study informed the rigorous adaptation of an evidence-based treatment that supports families involved with child welfare due to substance use, Families Actively Improving Relationships (FAIR), to a prevention-oriented intervention: “PRE-FAIR.” FAIR entails four treatment domains: substance use, parenting, mental health, and ancillary services (e.g., housing, medical care, and food). FAIR significantly improved parenting and reduced parental substance use in three rigorous treatment trials, but FAIR’s effectiveness in preventing the initiation or escalation of opioid misuse and/or methamphetamine use is untested. To inform adaptation, particular attention was paid to operationalizing strategies underlying a key hypothesized mediator of successful parent outcomes—engagement.

Methods:Graduated FAIR parents (n= 9) and FAIR administrators, clinical supervisors, and clinicians (n= 11) participated in semi-structured interviews. Content analysis was used to identify key variables driving FAIR engagement and parent outcomes. Causal loop diagramming, a qualitative systems science method, was employed to operationalize emergent themes, and describe how causal links between key variables interrelated dynamically over time.

Results:Themes reinforced the value of FAIR’s treatment domains for supporting parent’s sobriety and parenting skills within a prevention orientation. Ancillary supports and strong relationships were particularly crucial for helping parents cope with stressors leading to substance use. Five engagement strategies were identified as essential to parent success: 24/7 clinician availability, in-person clinician advocacy, in-home delivery, strengths-based interactions, and urinalysis. Implications for PRE-FAIR engagement strategies and dosage were identified.

Discussion:Traditional qualitative analyses and qualitative analyses based in systems science can inform rigorous adaptations of evidence-based treatment programs for prevention. Future research will explore additional required, fidelity-consistent prevention adaptations to FAIR, and the impact of PRE-FAIR on parental substance use and child welfare case outcomes.
Impact of Role Conflict on Intention to Leave Job With the Moderating Role of Job Embeddedness in Banking Sector Employees
Authors: Awan Fazal Hussain , Dunnan Liu , Jamil Khalid , Gul Rana Faizan , Anwar Aliya , Idrees Muhammad , Guangyu Qin
Published: November 2021

This study investigates why some employees intend to leave their jobs when facing conflict between family responsibilities and job routines. The present study also reveals the moderating role of on-the-job embeddedness between role conflict and intention to leave the job. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, the paper investigates the buffering effect of the three on-the-job embeddedness components (fit, links, and sacrifice). Data were collected from banking officers because most of the employees have to face role conflict between family and job responsibilities, as banking is considered among the most stressful jobs. Collected data were analyzed by applying structural equation modeling. Results indicate that the role conflict significantly influences intention to leave the job. Furthermore, the study shows that on-the-job embeddedness moderates the relationship between role conflict and intention to leave. The results suggest that organizations can reduce turnover intention during times of work and life conflict by developing employee on-the-job embeddedness. This study provides some insights to managers on why many employees leave their jobs and how to overcome this problem. Management should also offer extra and available resources in periods of greater tension to minimize early thinking regarding quitting.
Sleep Power Spectral Density and Spindles in PTSD and Their Relationship to Symptom Severity
Authors: Denis Dan , Bottary Ryan , Cunningham Tony J. , Zeng Shengzi , Daffre Carolina , Oliver Kaitlyn L. , Moore Kylie , Gazecki Samuel , Kram Mendelsohn Augustus , Martinez Uriel , Gannon Karen , Lasko Natasha B. , Pace-Schott Edward F.
Published: November 2021

Sleep disturbances are common in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), although which sleep microarchitectural characteristics reliably classify those with and without PTSD remains equivocal. Here, we investigated sleep microarchitectural differences (i.e., spectral power, spindle activity) in trauma-exposed individuals that met (n = 45) or did not meet (n = 52) criteria for PTSD and how these differences relate to post-traumatic and related psychopathological symptoms. Using ecologically-relevant home sleep polysomnography recordings, we show that individuals with PTSD exhibit decreased beta spectral power during NREM sleep and increased fast sleep spindle peak frequencies. Contrary to prior reports, spectral power in the beta frequency range (20.31–29.88 Hz) was associated with reduced PTSD symptoms, reduced depression, anxiety and stress and greater subjective ability to regulate emotions. Increased fast frequency spindle activity was not associated with individual differences in psychopathology. Our findings may suggest an adaptive role for beta power during sleep in individuals exposed to a trauma, potentially conferring resilience. Further, we add to a growing body of evidence that spindle activity may be an important biomarker for studying PTSD pathophysiology.
Association Between Antenatal Antimicrobial Therapy and Autism Spectrum Disorder—A Nested Case-Control Study
Authors: Abelson Nitzan , Meiri Gal , Solomon Shirley , Flusser Hagit , Michaelovski Analya , Dinstein Ilan , Menashe Idan
Published: November 2021

Background: Multiple prenatal factors have been associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk. However, current data about the association between antimicrobial use during pregnancy and ASD is limited.

Methods: A nested matched case-control study of children with ASD (cases), and children without ASD or other psychiatric or genetic disorders (controls). We compared the use of antimicrobial therapy during the 3 months before conception or during pregnancy between mothers of cases and controls and used multivariate conditional logistic regression models to assess the independent association between maternal use of antimicrobials during pregnancy and the risk of ASD in their offspring.

Results: More than half of the mothers in the study (54.1%) used antimicrobial drugs during the 3 months before conception or during pregnancy. Rates of antimicrobial use were lower for mothers of children with ASD compared to mothers of controls (49.0 vs. 55.1%, respectively; p = 0.02), especially during the third trimester of pregnancy (18.8 vs. 22.9%, respectively; p = 0.03), and for the use of penicillins (15.7 vs. 19.7%, respectively; p = 0.06). These case–control differences suggest that antimicrobial administration during pregnancy was associated with a reduced risk of ASD in the offspring (aOR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.61–0.92). Interestingly, this association was seen only among Jewish but not for the Bedouin mothers (aOR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.48–0.79 and aOR = 1.21, 95% CI = 0.82–1.79).

Conclusions: The reduced risk of ASD associated with prenatal antimicrobials use only in the Jewish population suggest the involvement of other ethnic differences in healthcare services utilization in this association.
JTrack: A Digital Biomarker Platform for Remote Monitoring of Daily-Life Behaviour in Health and Disease
Authors: Sahandi Far Mehran , Stolz Michael , Fischer Jona M. , Eickhoff Simon B. , Dukart Juergen
Published: November 2021

Health-related data being collected by smartphones offer a promising complementary approach to in-clinic assessments. Despite recent contributions, the trade-off between privacy, optimization, stability and research-grade data quality is not well met by existing platforms. Here we introduce the JTrack platform as a secure, reliable and extendable open-source solution for remote monitoring in daily-life and digital-phenotyping. JTrack is an open-source (released under open-source Apache 2.0 licenses) platform for remote assessment of digital biomarkers (DB) in neurological, psychiatric and other indications. JTrack is developed and maintained to comply with security, privacy and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements. A wide range of anonymized measurements from motion-sensors, social and physical activities and geolocation information can be collected in either active or passive modes by using JTrack Android-based smartphone application. JTrack also provides an online study management dashboard to monitor data collection across studies. To facilitate scaling, reproducibility, data management and sharing we integrated DataLad as a data management infrastructure. Smartphone-based Digital Biomarker data may provide valuable insight into daily-life behaviour in health and disease. As illustrated using sample data, JTrack provides as an easy and reliable open-source solution for collection of such information.
The Willingness of Community Psychiatric Management Physicians to Preferentially Recommend Long-Acting Injections in Beijing
Authors: Jin Lefan , Chen Yun , Zhu Junli , Huang Qingzhi , Li Bin , Xu Ying , Xi Rui , Lu Wei
Published: November 2021

Background: Severe mental disorders (SMD) impose a heavy burden on individuals, society, and the country. Under the background of deinstitutionalization, more and more patients return to the community, and the community psychiatric management physicians (CPMP) play an essential role in this process. Long-acting injection (LAI) is an important way to improve compliance and reduce re-hospitalization. Some districts in Beijing have implemented the policy of free LAI. This article aims to find out the willingness of CPMP to preferentially recommend LAI and provide suggestions for follow-up promotion.

Methods: All CPMP in 16 districts of Beijing were surveyed. A self-made electronic questionnaire was used to investigate the willingness to recommend LAI in priority. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and logistic regression were used to analyze the data.

Results: The willingness of CPMP to preferentially recommend LAI is up to 80%. Participants aged 40–49, female, with higher self-evaluation of psychiatric management knowledge, managing patients who have used LAI in the past, and working in communities with the free LAI policy have higher willingness to recommend LAI in priority.

Conclusion: CPMP in Beijing have a positive attitude toward LAI, and most of them have the willingness to recommend LAI to the patients in priority. The recommendation willingness is the basis of prescription decision-making. Therefore, the coverage of free LAI policy should be further expanded in the future to improve the recommendation willingness and thus improve the injection rate of LAI.
Ensemble of Deep Masked Language Models for Effective Named Entity Recognition in Health and Life Science Corpora
Authors: Naderi Nona , Knafou Julien , Copara Jenny , Ruch Patrick , Teodoro Douglas
Published: November 2021

The health and life science domains are well known for their wealth of named entities found in large free text corpora, such as scientific literature and electronic health records. To unlock the value of such corpora, named entity recognition (NER) methods are proposed. Inspired by the success of transformer-based pretrained models for NER, we assess how individual and ensemble of deep masked language models perform across corpora of different health and life science domains—biology, chemistry, and medicine—available in different languages—English and French. Individual deep masked language models, pretrained on external corpora, are fined-tuned on task-specific domain and language corpora and ensembled using classical majority voting strategies. Experiments show statistically significant improvement of the ensemble models over an individual BERT-based baseline model, with an overall best performance of 77% macro F1-score. We further perform a detailed analysis of the ensemble results and show how their effectiveness changes according to entity properties, such as length, corpus frequency, and annotation consistency. The results suggest that the ensembles of deep masked language models are an effective strategy for tackling NER across corpora from the health and life science domains.
No Transits of Proxima Centauri Planets in High-Cadence TESS Data
Authors: Gilbert Emily A. , Barclay Thomas , Kruse Ethan , Quintana Elisa V. , Walkowicz Lucianne M.
Published: November 2021

Proxima Centauri is our nearest stellar neighbor and one of the most well-studied stars in the sky. In 2016, a planetary companion was detected through radial velocity measurements. Proxima Centauri b has a minimum mass of 1.3 Earth masses and orbits with a period of 11.2 days at 0.05 AU from its stellar host, and resides within the star’s Habitable Zone. While recent work has shown that Proxima Centauri b likely does not transit, given the value of potential atmospheric observations via transmission spectroscopy of the closest possible Habitable Zone planet, we reevaluate the possibility that Proxima Centauri b is a transiting exoplanet using data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). We use three sectors (Sectors 11, 12, and 38 at 2-min cadence) of observations from TESS to search for planets. Proxima Centauri is an extremely active M5.5 star, emitting frequent white-light flares; we employ a novel method that includes modeling the stellar activity in our planet search algorithm. We do not detect any planet signals. We injected synthetic transiting planets into the TESS and use this analysis to show that Proxima Centauri b cannot be a transiting exoplanet with a radius larger than 0.4 R⊕. Moreover, we show that it is unlikely that any Habitable Zone planets larger than Mars transit Proxima Centauri.
Prediction of Graft Survival Post-liver Transplantation by L-GrAFT Risk Score Model, EASE Score, MEAF Scoring, and EAD
Authors: Chen Shirui , Wang Tielong , Luo Tao , He Shujiao , Huang Changjun , Jia Zehua , Zhan Liqiang , Wang Dongping , Zhu Xiaofeng , Guo Zhiyong , He Xiaoshun
Published: November 2021

Background: Early allograft dysfunction (EAD) is correlated with poor patient or graft survival in liver transplantation. However, the power of distinct definitions of EAD in prediction of graft survival is unclear.

Methods: This retrospective, single-center study reviewed data of 677 recipients undergoing orthotopic liver transplant between July 2015 and June 2020. The following EAD definitions were compared: liver graft assessment following transplantation (L-GrAFT) risk score model, early allograft failure simplified estimation score (EASE), model for early allograft function (MEAF) scoring, and Olthoff criteria. Risk factors for L-GrAFT7 high risk group were evaluated with univariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis.

Results: L-GrAFT7 had a satisfied C-statistic of 0.87 in predicting a 3-month graft survival which significantly outperformed MEAF (C-statistic = 0.78, P = 0.01) and EAD (C-statistic = 0.75, P < 0.001), respectively. L-GrAFT10, EASE was similar to L-GrAFT7, and they had no statistical significance in predicting survival. Laboratory model for end-stage liver disease score and cold ischemia time are risk factors of L-GrAFT7 high-risk group.

Conclusion: L-GrAFT7 risk score is capable for better predicting the 3-month graft survival than the MEAF and EAD in a Chinese cohort, which might standardize assessment of early graft function and serve as a surrogate endpoint in clinical trial.
Fetal Central Nervous System Derived Extracellular Vesicles: Potential for Non-invasive Tracking of Viral Mediated Fetal Brain Injury
Authors: Goetzl Laura , Stephens Angela J. , Schlesinger Yechiel , Darbinian Nune , Merabova Nana , Hillel Miriam , Hirsch Alec J. , Streblow Daniel N. , Frias Antonio E. , Roberts Victoria H. J. , Haese Nicole N. , Mani Arunmani , Eldar-Yedidia Yifat
Published: November 2021

Introduction: Extracellular vesicles derived from the fetal central nervous system (FCNSEs) can be purified from maternal serum or plasma using the protein Contactin-2/TAG1that is expressed almost exclusively by developing neurons in the hippocampus, cerebral cortex and cerebellum. We hypothesized that fetal CNSEs could be used to non-invasively detect and quantify viral mediated in-utero brain injury in the first trimester.

Materials and Methods: First trimester maternal samples were collected from a human clinical population infected with primary cytomegalovirus (CMV) and a non-human primate model of Zika (ZIKV) infection. In the CMV cohort, a nested case control study was performed comparing pregnancies with and without fetal infection. Cases of fetal infection were further subdivided into those with and without adverse neurologic outcome. ZIKV samples were collected serially following maternal inoculation or saline. All ZIKV cases had histopathologic findings on necropsy. Serum was precipitated with ExoQuick solution and FCEs were isolated with biotinylated anti-Contactin-2/TAG1 antibody-streptavidin matrix immunoabsorption. FCE Synaptopodin (SYNPO) and Neurogranin (NG) protein levels were measured using standard ELISA kits and normalized to the exosome marker CD81.

Results: Fetal CNSE SYNPO and NG were significantly reduced in cases of first trimester fetal CMV infection compared to those with infection limited to the mother but could not discriminate between fetal infection with and without adverse neurologic outcome. Following ZIKV inoculation, fetal CNSE SYNPO was reduced by 48 h and significantly reduced by day 4.

Discussion: These data are the first to suggest that first trimester non-invasive diagnosis of fetal viral infection is possible. Fetal CNSEs have the potential to augment clinical and pre-clinical studies of perinatal viral infection. Serial sampling may be needed to discriminate between fetuses that are responding to treatment and/or recovering due to innate defenses and those that have ongoing neuronal injury. If confirmed, this technology may advance the paradigm of first trimester prenatal diagnosis and change the calculus for the cost benefit of CMV surveillance programs in pregnancy.
Research on Low-Speed Driving Model of Ultrasonic Motor Based on Beat Traveling Wave Theory
Authors: Zeng Weijun , Pan Song , Chen Lei , Ren Weihao , Hu Xiaobin
Published: November 2021

This paper proposes a driving method, the superimposed pulse driving method, that can make an ultrasonic motor run at a low speed. Although this method solves the periodic oscillation of speed in a traditional low-speed driving motor, it still has a small periodic fluctuation, which affects the stability of the speed. To reduce the fluctuation rate of the motor speed, the structure model and driving model of the motor are established, based on the theory of a beat traveling wave, and the motion characteristics of the particle point are analyzed in this paper. The simulation curve of the motor speed is obtained according to the stator and rotor contact model and the transfer model. The research shows that the driving method introduced in this paper causes the stator surface to generate a traveling beat wave, and the driving end of the stator generates an intermittent reciprocating vibration and drives the rotor rotation, which is the mechanism of low-speed operation when the driving method is used to drive the motor, as well as the reason for the periodic fluctuation of the motor speed. To improve the speed stability, this paper controlled the output performance of the motor by changing the two control variables—prepressure and frequency difference—and concluded that the variation trend of the average speed and speed volatility were consistent with the variation trend of the motor’s average speed determinant and the speed volatility determinant, respectively, which is verified by the velocity measurement experiment and the vibration measurement experiment. These insights lay the theoretical foundation for the velocity adjustment and stability optimization and, finally, the application of the new driving method is prospected.
CSR Education in Economia Aziendale Curricula: An Overview
Authors: Venturelli Andrea , Fasiello Roberta , Pizzi Simone
Published: November 2021

In the last few years, policymakers have underlined the need for new soft and hard skills about corporate social responsibility (CSR). The main debate about CSR education has been driven by the 2030 Agenda, which explicitly recognized Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) as having a pivotal role. In particular, many academics started to develop qualitative and quantitative studies to evaluate the integration of CSR contents in business schools’ curricula. The paper aims to contribute to the existing debate through the analysis of the contribution provided by Italian HEIs to CSR Education. In particular, we adopted qualitative methods to evaluate the specific contribution provided by Economia Aziendale scholars.
Evapotranspiration Partition and Dual Crop Coefficients in Apple Orchard with Dwarf Stocks and Dense Planting in Arid Region, Aksu Oasis, Southern Xinjiang
Authors: Cao Hui , Wang Hongbo , Li Yong , Hamani Abdoul Kader Mounkaila , Zhang Nan , Wang Xingpeng , Gao Yang
Published: November 2021

Crop coefficients are critical to developing irrigation scheduling and improving agricultural water management in farmland ecosystems. Interest in dwarf cultivation with high density (DCHD) for apple production increases in Aksu oasis, southern Xinjiang. The lack of micro-irrigation scheduling limits apple yield and water productivity of the DCHD-cultivated orchard. A two-year experiment with the DCHD-cultivated apple (Malus × domestica ‘Royal Gala’) orchard was conducted to determine crop coefficients and evapotranspiration (ETa) with the SIMDualKc model, and to investigate apple yield and water productivity (WP) in response to different irrigation scheduling. The five levels of irrigation rate were designed as W1 of 13.5 mm, W2 of 18.0 mm, W3 of 22.5 mm, W4 of 27.0 mm, and W5 of 31.5 mm. The mean value of basal crop coefficient (Kcb) at the initial-, mid-, and late-season was 1.00, 1.30, and 0.89, respectively. The Kc-local (ETa/ET0) range for apple orchard with DCHD was 1.11–1.20, 1.33–1.43, and 1.09–1.22 at the initial, middle, and late season, respectively. ETa of apple orchard in this study ranged between 415.55–989.71 mm, and soil evaporation accounted for 13.85–29.97% of ETa. Relationships between total irrigation amount and apple yield and WP were developed, and W3 was suggested as an optimum irrigation schedule with an average apple yield of 30,540.8 kg/ha and WP of 4.45 kg/m3 in 2019–2020. The results have implications in developing irrigation schedules and improving water management for apple production in arid regions.
Reduction of Nitrogen Losses in Winter Wheat Grown on Light Soils
Authors: Faber Antoni , Jarosz Zuzanna , Rutkowska Agnieszka , Jadczyszyn Tamara
Published: November 2021

Two 16-year-old series of experiments with winter wheat grown in rotation after winter oilseed rape were used in the study. The experiments were located in the cold temperate dry and moist climate zones on light soils. Wheat was fertilized with nitrogen in the doses of 40, 80, 120, 160, and 200 kg N·ha−1 per year. Through the several years of the experiment, critical N rates for maximum yield and gross margin from the linear-plus plateau regressions were 149 ± 23.9 and 112 ± 23.6 kg N·ha−1, respectively. The estimated nitrogen indicators for these doses were as follows: nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) 93 and 108%, N surplus (Ns) 6.8 and −10.1 kg·N·ha−1, yield-scaled Ns, N2O, and NH3 3.5 and −0.2; 0.35 and 0.30; 0.31 and 0.25 kg N·Mg−1, respectively. Experiments have shown that two strategies for reducing nitrogen losses on light soils under wheat cultivation are possible: by limiting the N dose to the critical values due to the yield requirements, or due to the gross margin. The analysis of the 11-year data for 2300 farm fields with winter wheat grown on light soils showed that only 10% of them were implementing the first strategy, and as much as 90% chose the second strategy.
Rendering Multivariate Statistical Models for Genetic Diversity Assessment in A-Genome Diploid Wheat Population
Authors: Sarfraz Zareen , Shah Mohammad Maroof , Iqbal Muhammad Sajid , Nazir Mian Faisal , Al-Ashkar Ibrahim , Rehmani Muhammad Ishaq Asif , Shahid Iqbal Muhammad , Ullah Najeeb , El Sabagh Ayman
Published: November 2021

Diversifying available natural resources to cope with abrupt climatic changes and the necessity to equalize rising agricultural production with improved ability to endure environmental influence is the dire need of the day. Inherent allelic variability regarding significant economic traits featuring both enhanced productivity and environmental adaptability is one such prominent need. To address this requirement, a series of analyses were conducted in this study for exploring natural diploid wheat germplasm resources. The current study involved 98 Recombinant Inbred Lines (RILs) populations developed by crossing two diploid ‘A’ sub-genome wheat species, Triticummonococcum and Triticum boeoticum, enriched with valuable alleles controlling, in particular, biotic and abiotic stresses tolerance. Their 12 phenotypic traits were explored to reveal germplasm value. All traits exhibited vast diversity among parents and RILs via multivariate analysis. Most of the investigated traits depicted significant (p < 0.05) positive correlations enlightening spikelet per spike, total biomass, seed weight per spike, number of seeds per spike, plant height, and days to heading as considerably focused traits for improving hexaploid wheat. Principal component analysis (PCA) exhibited 61.513% of total variation with three PCs for 12 traits. Clustering of genotypes happened in three clades, and the two parents were separated into two extreme clusters, validating their enrichment of diversity. This study provided beneficial aspects of parental resources rich in diverse alleles. They can be efficiently exploited in wheat improvement programs focusing on introgression breeding and the recovery of eroded genetic factors in currently available commercial wheat cultivars to sustain calamities of environmental fluctuations.
Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) Mitigates the Decline in Grain Filling of Basmati 370 Due to Low Temperature in Tropical Highlands
Authors: Kakehashi Takahiro , Kikuta Mayumi , Menge Daniel Makori , Gichuhi Emily Waringa , Samejima Hiroaki , Makihara Daigo
Published: November 2021

In the rice growing area of Kenya’s highlands, the development of a water-saving rice cultivation system is a key strategy because the shortage of irrigation water is a frequently occurring problem. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) on the growth and yield of rice under the unique cultivation environment of tropical highlands. Field experiments were performed over a period of four years (2014–2017) in a paddy field. Dry matter production of a lowland variety, Basmati 370, was greater under continuous flooding (CF) than under AWD. In years with low minimum temperature (less than 15 °C) during the reproductive and ripening stages, filled grain ratios were significantly higher under AWD than under CF. Accordingly, higher dry matter production under CF did not contribute to grain yield. In the years when rice was not exposed to low minimum temperature during the reproductive and ripening stages, filled grain ratio did not decrease even under CF. Therefore, there was no difference between filled grain ratio under AWD and CF. Our results indicated that AWD could mitigate the decline in grain filling, induced by low minimum temperature during the reproductive and ripening stages in Basmati 370, under the cultivation conditions in tropical highlands. Although AWD may reduce the above-ground biomass, its mitigation effect on grain filling could outweigh this drawback and can still be beneficial to rice farmers in the tropical highlands.
The Effect of Microbial Inoculation under Various Nitrogen Regimes on the Uptake of Nutrients by Apple Trees
Authors: Bokszczanin Kamila Łucja , Wrona Dariusz , Przybyłko Sebastian
Published: November 2021

The European Green Deal strategy currently implemented in the EU aims to, among others, reduce the negative impact of fertilization on the environment. One of the solutions influencing the nutritional status of plants and the improvement of soil quality is the use of plant symbiosis with microorganisms. Thus, in this study we investigated the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMFs) and plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) colonization on the nutritional status of apple leaves and fruit, depending on the nitrogen treatment. In a fully factorial experiment, trees were grown for nine years with or without AMFs and PGPR. We compared several ammonium nitrate treatments as well as growth without fertilization as a control. The interactions between inoculation and doses of nitrogen fertilization were observed. AMF + PGPR significantly increased the concentration of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) in leaves up to 5%, 23%, and 19%, respectively, depending on the N dosage. Conversely, in uninoculated trees, the nitrogen treatment had a negative impact on the leaf P mineral status. On the other hand, under microbial inoculation conditions, the dose of 100 kg N∙ha−1 diminished the leaf phosphorus content in comparison to other N doses, by a maximum of 9.6%. AMF + PGPR, depending on the N treatment, either did not influence or it decreased the Mg and Ca concentrations in the leaves by maximums of 8% and 15%, respectively. Microbial inoculation had no effect on the acquisition of Ca and Mg by fruits, except for the coupled negative influence of the 100 kg N∙ha−1 treatment. Symbiosis positively conditioned the K in fruits under a specific N regime—100 kg N∙ha−1 divided into two applications during the season and 50 kg N∙ha−1 applied to the herbicide strip, increasing the concentration by approximately 4% and 8%, respectively. This study greatly contributes to our understanding of the benefits of AMF and PGPR on perennials and encourages the future exploration of their effects on apple yield and fruit quality.
Do AMF and Irrigation Regimes Affect Sweet Pepper Fruit Quality under Open Field Conditions?
Authors: Nurzyńska-Wierdak Renata , Buczkowska Halina , Sałata Andrzej
Published: November 2021

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a mycorrhizal inoculation (AMF) and irrigation regime on certain yield morphological parameters and the biological value of fruits of open field-grown sweet pepper under temperate climate conditions. A study on the Polish hybrid cultivar ‘Roberta F1’ was conducted over the period 2016–2018 in a private certified organic farm. Sweet pepper was harvested at physiological maturity from the second 10 days of August to the first 10 days of October. AMF and irrigation were shown to significantly modify the selected morphological parameters of the peppers. Fruits with the highest weight, length, and width were harvested from AMF-inoculated plants, both irrigated and non-irrigated ones. The chemical composition and antioxidant activity (AA) of pepper fruit extracts were significantly affected by AMF and irrigation. AMF application contributed to a decrease in the percentage of dry matter, vitamin C, reducing sugars, extract, carotenoids, and AA. Irrigation, on the other hand, had a beneficial effect on enhancing the biological value of pepper fruits (except for vitamin C), also increasing their AA. The highest levels of carotenoids (4.64 mg 100 g−1 of fresh matter (FM) were found in the fruits of irrigated plants without AMF, whereas the highest levels of vitamin C (134.10 mg 100 g−1 FM) were accumulated by the fruits of plants grown without AMF and without irrigation.
MSG-GAN-SD: A Multi-Scale Gradients GAN for Statistical Downscaling of 2-Meter Temperature over the EURO-CORDEX Domain
Authors: Accarino Gabriele , Chiarelli Marco , Immorlano Francesco , Aloisi Valeria , Gatto Andrea , Aloisio Giovanni
Published: November 2021

One of the most important open challenges in climate science is downscaling. It is a procedure that allows making predictions at local scales, starting from climatic field information available at large scale. Recent advances in deep learning provide new insights and modeling solutions to tackle downscaling-related tasks by automatically learning the coarse-to-fine grained resolution mapping. In particular, deep learning models designed for super-resolution problems in computer vision can be exploited because of the similarity between images and climatic fields maps. For this reason, a new architecture tailored for statistical downscaling (SD), named MSG-GAN-SD, has been developed, allowing interpretability and good stability during training, due to multi-scale gradient information. The proposed architecture, based on a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN), was applied to downscale ERA-Interim 2-m temperature fields, from 83.25 to 13.87 km resolution, covering the EURO-CORDEX domain within the 1979–2018 period. The training process involves seasonal and monthly dataset arrangements, in addition to different training strategies, leading to several models. Furthermore, a model selection framework is introduced in order to mathematically select the best models during the training. The selected models were then tested on the 2015–2018 period using several metrics to identify the best training strategy and dataset arrangement, which finally produced several evaluation maps. This work is the first attempt to use the MSG-GAN architecture for statistical downscaling. The achieved results demonstrate that the models trained on seasonal datasets performed better than those trained on monthly datasets. This study presents an accurate and cost-effective solution that is able to perform downscaling of 2 m temperature climatic maps.
Influence of the Use of Milk Replacers on Carcass Characteristics of Suckling Kids from Eight Spanish Goat Breeds
Authors: Ripoll Guillermo , Alcalde María Jesús , Argüello Anastasio , Córdoba María Guía , Panea Begoña
Published: November 2021

Since goat milk has a higher value than kid meat in Europe, some farmers rear kids with milk replacers, although some studies have stated that kids raised on natural milk yield higher-quality carcasses. Our previous studies showed some interactions between breed and rearing system on carcass and meat quality. This study evaluated the influence of the use of milk replacers on several carcass characteristics of suckling kids from eight Spanish goat breeds (Florida, Cabra del Guadarrama, Majorera, Palmera, Payoya, Retinta, Tinerfeña, and Verata). A total of 246 kids fed milk replacer (MR) or natural milk (NM) were evaluated. Carcass, head, viscera, and kidney fat weights, as well as several carcass measurements (round perimeter, forelimb width, carcass length, forelimb length, and carcass compactness index), were registered. Forelimbs were dissected to study tissue composition. For all studied variables, interactions were found between rearing system and breed. In general, the MR rearing system increased the head and visceral weights, as well as the length measurements and muscle percentages. Conversely, the NM rearing system increased carcass compactness and resulted in higher fat contents, independent of the deposit. The choice of one or another rearing system should be made according to the needs of the target market.
Effects of Ambient Temperature on the Performance and Thermoregulatory Responses of Commercial and Crossbred (Brazilian Piau Purebred Sires × Commercial Dams) Growing-Finishing Pigs
Authors: Moreira Vinícius Eduardo , Veroneze Renata , Teixeira Alípio dos Reis , Campos Lorena Duarte , Lino Lais Fernanda Lopes , Santos Gabryele Almeida , Silva Bruno Alexander Nunes , Campos Paulo Henrique Reis Furtado
Published: November 2021

The study aimed at evaluating the effects of high ambient temperature (HT: 30 °C) on the thermoregulatory responses and performance of commercial and Piau crossbred (Brazilian Piau breed sires × commercial genotype dams) growing pigs. Commercial and Piau crossbred pigs were reared under thermoneutral (TN: 22 °C) or HT conditions during a 14-day experimental period. Feeding (daily) and animals (beginning and end) were weighted to obtain performance parameters. Skin and rectal temperatures, respiratory rate, and blood parameters were also measured. At the end of the trial (day 15), the animal’s backfat thickness (BF) and loin eye area (LEA) were measured. No interaction (p > 0.05) between the genetic group and ambient temperature was observed for any performance trait. Irrespective of ambient temperature, Piau crossbred pigs had a similar feed intake (ADFI, 2615 g/day, on average; p > 0.05), lower daily weight gain (ADG, −234 g/day; p < 0.01), and a higher feed conversion ratio (FCR, +0.675 g/g; p < 0.01). There was interaction (p = 0.01) between genotype and ambient temperature for the LEA that decreased significantly in response to HT in commercial pigs (−6.88 cm2) and did not differ in response to ambient temperature in Piau crossbred pigs (29.14 cm2, on average; p > 0.05). Piau crossbred pigs had greater BF (+7.2 mm; p < 0.01) than commercial pigs. Regardless of the genetic group, exposure of pigs to HT resulted in decreased ADFI (−372 g/day; p < 0.01), ADG (−185 g/day; p < 0.01), and a higher FCR (+0.48 g/g; p = 0.01). Ambient temperature did not affect lipid deposition. Pigs at HT had an increased respiratory rate (+38 bpm; p < 0.01) and a long-lasting increase in skin and rectal temperatures compared to TN pigs. Total concentrations of triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) were not affected by ambient temperature in commercial pigs, whereas Piau crossbred pigs kept at 30 °C had a transient decrease in both hormones at day 2 (p < 0.01). Serum cortisol concentrations were not affected (p > 0.05) by genotype nor ambient temperature. In summary, Piau crossbred pigs had lower efficiency using nutrients for growth in association with increased lipid deposition when compared to commercial pigs. In response to HT, commercial pigs had a decreased LEA, whereas no effect was observed for Piau crossbred pigs. Apart from that, commercial and Piau crossbred pigs had a similar magnitude of thermoregulatory responses activation in response to HT, evidencing their innate survival-oriented function.
Toxic Effects on Bioaccumulation, Hematological Parameters, Oxidative Stress, Immune Responses and Tissue Structure in Fish Exposed to Ammonia Nitrogen: A Review
Authors: Xu Zhenkun , Cao Jie , Qin Xiaoming , Qiu Weiqiang , Mei Jun , Xie Jing
Published: November 2021

Ammonia nitrogen is the major oxygen-consuming pollutant in aquatic environments. Exposure to ammonia nitrogen in the aquatic environment can lead to bioaccumulation in fish, and the ammonia nitrogen concentration is the main determinant of accumulation. In most aquatic environments, fish are at the top of the food chain and are most vulnerable to the toxic effects of high levels of ammonia nitrogen exposure. In fish exposed to toxicants, ammonia-induced toxicity is mainly caused by bioaccumulation in certain tissues. Ammonia nitrogen absorbed in the fish enters the circulatory system and affects hematological properties. Ammonia nitrogen also breaks balance in antioxidant capacity and causes oxidative damage. In addition, ammonia nitrogen affects the immune response and causes neurotoxicity because of the physical and chemical toxicity. Thence, the purpose of this review was to investigate various toxic effects of ammonia nitrogen, including oxidative stress, neurotoxicity and immune response.
Differential Metabolic and Transcriptional Responses of Gilthead Seabream (Sparus aurata) Administered with Cortisol or Cortisol-BSA
Authors: Aedo Jorge , Aravena-Canales Daniela , Ruiz-Jarabo Ignacio , Oyarzún Ricardo , Molina Alfredo , Martínez-Rodríguez Gonzalo , Valdés Juan Antonio , Mancera Juan Miguel
Published: November 2021

Cortisol is the main glucocorticoid hormone promoting compensatory metabolic responses of stress in teleosts. This hormone acts through genomic and membrane-initiated actions to exert its functions inside the cell. Experimental approaches, using exogenous cortisol administration, confirm the role of this hormone during short (minutes to hours)- and long-term (days to weeks) responses to stress. The role of membrane-initiated cortisol signaling during long-term responses has been recently explored. In this study, Sparus aurata were intraperitoneally injected with coconut oil alone or coconut oil containing cortisol, cortisol-BSA, or BSA. After 3 days of treatment, plasma, liver, and skeletal muscle were extracted. Plasma cortisol, as well as metabolic indicators in the plasma and tissues collected, and metabolism-related gene expression, were measured. Our results showed that artificially increased plasma cortisol levels in S. aurata enhanced plasma glucose and triacylglycerols values as well as hepatic substrate energy mobilization. Additionally, cortisol stimulated hepatic carbohydrates metabolism, as seen by the increased expression of metabolism-related genes. All of these responses, observed in cortisol-administered fish, were not detected by replicating the same protocol and instead using cortisol-BSA, which exclusively induces membrane-initiated effects. Therefore, we suggest that after three days of cortisol administration, only genomic actions are involved in the metabolic responses in S. aurata.
Effects of Dietary Supplementation with 2-Hydroxy-4-(methylthio)-butanoic Acid Isopropyl Ester as a Methionine Supplement on Nitrogen Utilization in Steers
Authors: Zhao Yuchao , Rahman Md Sazzadur , Li Mengmeng , Zhao Guangyong
Published: November 2021

The objective of the experiment was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with 2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio)-butanoic acid isopropyl ester (HMBi) on the nitrogen (N) metabolism in beef steers. The plasma metabolites analyzed by metabolome profiling were used to clarify the impact mechanism. Three Simmental steers (body weight, 593 ± 23 kg) were used as experimental animals. Three levels of HMBi (i.e., 0, 12, and 24 g d−1) were added in a basal ration as experimental treatments. The steers and the dietary treatments were randomly allocated in a 3 × 3 Latin square design. The results showed that supplementing HMBi up to 24 g d−1 did not affect the N retention and N retention rate (NRR), and the fecal N/urinary N ratio even though it tended to linearly increase the uric acid N/urinary N ratio in steers. The results of plasma metabolome profiling showed that supplementing HMBi at 24 g d−1 upregulated the plasma concentrations of L-methionine (Met); Met-related metabolites including betaine, Met sulfoxide, and taurine; and L-isoleucine and tyrosine, whereas it downregulated L-serine, glycine, diaminopimelic acid, and other metabolites. The reason for the nonsignificant effect of HMBi on improving the N utilization in steers could be that the steers used in the experiment were in the fattening period. It is suggested to evaluate the effects of the dietary addition of HMBi using growing cattle in further research.
Predictor of Early Administration of Antibiotics and a Volume Resuscitation for Young Infants with Septic Shock
Authors: Nomura Osamu , Ihara Takateru , Morikawa Yoshihiko , Sakakibara Hiroshi , Horikoshi Yuho , Inoue Nobuaki
Published: November 2021

(1) Background: It is critical to administer antibiotics and fluid bolus within 1 h of recognizing sepsis in pediatric patients. This study aimed to identify the predictor of the successful completion of a 1-h sepsis bundle for infants with suspected sepsis. (2) Methods: This is an observational study using a prospective registry including febrile young infants (aged < 90 days) who visited a pediatric emergency department with a core body temperature of 38.0 °C or higher and 36.0 °C or lower. Univariate and logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the predictor (s) of successful sepsis bundle completion. (3) Results: Of the 323 registered patients, 118 patients with suspected sepsis were analyzed, and 38 patients (32.2%) received a bundle-compliant treatment. Among potential variables, such as age, sex, and vital sign parameters, the logistic regression analysis showed that heart rate (odds ratio: OR 1.02; 95% confidence interval: 1.00–1.04) is a significant predictor of the completion of a 1-h sepsis bundle. (4) Conclusions: We found that tachycardia facilitated the sepsis recognition and promoted the successful completion of a 1-h sepsis bundle for young infants with suspected septic shock and a possible indicator for improving the quality of the team-based sepsis management.
Thermal Simulation Studies for the Characterization of a Cyclotron Liquid Target with Thick Niobium Target Windows
Authors: do Carmo Sergio J. C. , de Oliveira Pedro M. , Alves Francisco
Published: November 2021

This work presents a simulation model developed with the aim to represent and study the thermal behavior of cyclotron liquid targets. Understanding and improving the thermal behavior of the target system is fundamental to improving the target overall performance, especially when using thick target windows, for which a larger amount of heat generated can be limiting. ANSYS CFX and SRIM software were used to develop a simulation model representing the IBA Nirta® Ga-68 liquid target system, to study the use of thick niobium target windows. The model was validated by comparing the results with experimental data obtained for the same liquid target system. In the present study, simulation results and temperature distributions of the main target components were obtained by studying the main parameters of interests, such as the initial temperature and mass flow rate of the coolants, and also distinct target windows with different thicknesses.
On the Spectral Efficiency for Distributed Massive MIMO Systems
Authors: Ramírez-Arroyo Alejandro , González-Macías Juan Carlos , Rico-Palomo Jose J. , Carmona-Murillo Javier , Martínez-González Antonio
Published: November 2021

Distributed MIMO (D-MIMO) systems are expected to play a key role in deployments for future mobile communications. Together with massive MIMO technology, D-MIMO aims to maximize the spectral efficiency and data rate in mobile networks. This paper proposes a deep study on the spectral efficiency of D-MIMO systems for essential channel parameters, such as the channel power balance or the correlation between propagation channels. For that purpose, several propagation channels were acquired in both anechoic and reverberation chambers and were emulated using channel simulators. In addition, several frequency bands were studied, both the sub–6 GHz band and mmWave band. The results of this study revealed the high influence of channel correlation and power balance on the physical channel performance. Low-correlated and high-power balance propagation channels show better performances than high correlated and power unbalance channels in terms of spectral efficiency. Given these results, it will be fundamental to take into account the spectral efficiency of D-MIMO systems when designing criteria to establish multi-connectivity in future mobile network deployments.
Data Hiding and Its Applications: Digital Watermarking and Steganography
Authors: Megías David , Mazurczyk Wojciech , Kuribayashi Minoru
Published: November 2021

Data hiding techniques [...]