bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the Air Pollution Tolerance Index of 12 Plant Species Growing in Environments with Different Air Pollution Levels
Authors: Bui Huong-Thi , Odsuren Uuriintuya , Jeong Moonsun , Seo Jeong-Wook , Kim Sang-Yong , Park Bong-Ju
Published: March 2022

Background and objective Particulate matter (PM) is the most dangerous form of air pollution, and causes many diseases. Plants act as bio-filters to help reduce PM in the atmosphere. PM also influences the growth of plants, so selecting suitable plant species for specific environmental conditions is very important. The air pollution tolerance index (APTI) was used to determine the tolerance level of each plant species to air pollution. The purpose of this study was to determine the tolerance to air pollution of various plant species in order to identify plant species that can be grown in polluted environments; this was achieved by evaluating the APTI of plants. This study analyzed the biochemical parameters of 12 plant species at two sites with different air pollution levels (urban forest and roadside) to assess and compare the APTI of plant species. Methods The healthy leaves of 12 plant species (6 broad leaves and 6 needle leaves) that are commonly used in landscapes in Korea were chosen for this study. The same plant species were collected from two sites with different pollution levels and were analyzed immediately; one site was an urban forest (Chungcheongbuk-do Forest Environment Research Institute) with an area of 25 ha and featuring high vegetation coverage, while the other was at a high-traffic roadside next to a crossroads near the Cheongju Express Bus Terminal. We used the leaf samples to analyze four biochemical parameters of each plant: leaf extract pH (pH), relative leaf water content (RWC), total chlorophyll (TChl), and ascorbic acid. Finally, based on these values, APTI values were calculated. Results The APTI values were different between all 12 plant species at both sites with different levels of pollution. APTI had a significant correlation with the biochemical parameters of plants. Plants in the urban forest and at the roadside showed APTI values ranging from 6.89–9.37 and 7.57–9.94, respectively. The APTI of the roadside plant species tended to be higher than that of the plants from the urban forest. Among 12 plant species, Acer palmatum, Acer buergerianum, and Pinus densiflora had high APTI values. These plant species can serve as biofilters in environments with high air pollution. Conclusion The APTI of the 12 plant species in this study can aid in the selection of suitable plant species from environments with different levels of air pollution. The high APTI of some roadside plant species may show their tolerance under environmental pollution-related stress, or demonstrate their adaptability to the polluted environment. In the future, we need to examine more plant species under various environmental conditions to understand their tolerance levels to air pollution and to correlate plants with air pollution. Further, more studies on other air pollutants that can influence plant growth, such as SO2 and NOx, should be conducted.
An Analysis of Differences in Perceived Social Value of Community Gardens as Urban Green Spaces between Participating and Non-participating Residents
Authors: Hoh Yun Kyeong , Chae Jinhae , Lee Hyunjung
Published: March 2022

Background and objective The purpose of this study is to determine the difference in the perceived social values of community gardens as urban green space between participating and non-participating residents. Methods From December to March 2021, a survey was conducted on community gardens that targeted both participating and non-participating residents. For data analysis, frequency analysis, independent samples T-test and regression analysis were performed using SPSS 21.0. Results First, there were differences between residents participating in GCG activities and non-participating residents in their perception of community gardens, as well as their perception of expected conflicts. To resolve expected conflicts, both groups responded that efforts through communication were necessary, but participating residents highlighted the need for trust with the administration; while non-participating residents suggested improving the physical environment. Second, both groups recognized the social values of the community garden as important, and generally evaluated the value of leisure and recreation to be high. However, there was a difference between the groups when it came to the importance of each category of social values; participating residents ranked the categories in the order of symbolic value, value of the commons, and ecological value, while for non-participating residents, the priority of social values was ranked in the order of ecological value> symbolic value = the value of the commons. From this difference, it can be noted that the focus on the perception of spatial values could change from the physical aspect to the cognitive aspect depending on whether residents participated or not. Third, both groups answered that it was necessary to expand opportunities for participation to promote social values. However, participating residents prioritized institutional support over expanding opportunities for participation, while non-participating residents recognized the diversification of programs as an equally important means of social value enhancement as the expansion of opportunities for participation, placing more importance on the physical conditions for their participation activities. The value of the commons was found to be a factor influencing the satisfaction with relevant projects. Conclusion In conclusion, both participating and non-participating residents recognized the community garden as important as a space for realizing social values. Therefore, to realize social values in community gardens and successfully promote relevant projects, specific practical measures and strategies are needed to expand the physical value of community gardens, reduce differences between groups in their perception of social values through transparent and open communication and active participation, and enhance cognitive value through institutional support.
The Evolution of Chieftainship in Buganda c. 1400-19001
Authors: Kiwanuka M.S.M.
Published: March 2022

In this paper we have traced the likely origins and developments of the chiefly institution through a period of nearly five centuries. We have examined the kiganda methods of administration and assimilation of conquered populations. We have also investigated the origins and role of Ebitongole and other chiefly categories such as the Abataka, Abakungu and Abatongole. The evidence has shown that there was a great deal of imprecision between the various grades and that their functions overlapped. To categorize them too rigidly therefore would lead to misleading conclusions as it has already done. The Bitongole were not military organisations and there never was a standing army in Euganda. Every able bodied male was liable to military service whether he was a Mutongole or not. Our investigation has shown that chieftainship evolved out of the royal household and the court hierarchy, but it expanded as Buganda extended her frontiers. From about the 18th century the kings gathered the threads of power in their hands and made the monarchy the most important instrument of government. By the mid 19th century, the king of Buganda was one of, if not the greatest despot in the whole of subSaharan Africa. But the situation changed suddenly during the last two decades of the 19th century. A combination of factors such as the onset of European imperialism, foreign religions and the personal tragedy of Mwanga II completely eroded away royal authority. By 1900 the political balance of power was decisively in the hands of the chiefs.
Bureaucracy and Development In Saudi Arabia: The Case of Local Administration
Authors: Al-Awaji Ibrahim
Published: March 2022

This paper examines the role of the Saudi bureaucracy in development by focussing on local administration. It points to several shortcomings of the Saudi local administrative system, including diverse organizational structures, low educations qualifications of local public officials, imbalance between the executive authority and the assigned responsibilities of local agencies, a high degree of duplication, and lack of co-ordination of services. All of these constitute serious obstacles to the Saudi local administration playing an effective role in promoting socio-economic and political development. Despite these shortcomings, however, the Saudi local administrative system has been active in the dynamic development of the Saudi Kingdom. This active role has been strengthened by national development plans which emphasize the development of the Kingdom's geographic regions through the establishment of regional development centres.
Political Culture and Development In a Rentier State: The Case of Kuwait
Authors: Farah Tawfic E.
Published: March 2022

This article uses political culture to explain Kuwait's socio-economic and political development. It attributes Kuwait's political stability, its smooth transition from a subsistance economy to petroleum-induced prosperity and its ability to handle high rates of socio-economic changes to the management skills of the Kuwaiti ruling family and the commitment of the bureaucracy to the state. These two elements of political culture explain how the Kuwaiti regime has been able successfully to meet the challenges of development which would otherwise have made it a prime candidate for instability. The article concludes that Kuwait's political culture creates a bond between Kuwaiti citizens and their ruler, with the bureaucracy promoting and strengthening allegiance to the state and its development policies.
Pricing and Selling Decisions in a Labor Surplus Economy
Authors: Jolly Curtis M.
Published: March 2022

The forces influencing pricing and selling decisions in African markets were analyzcd. The Kendall Coefficient of Concordance was used to determine the unanimity in ranking in pricing and selling objectives among vegetable vendors in markets in the Casamance region of Senegal. Price spreads and net revenues were examined to determine the level of competitiveness in the market. The study concluded that not all vendors were in agreement with rankings in pricing and selling objectives and that the ordering of selling and pricing objectives varied according to marketing agents. The level of returns received by vendors was an indication that there was an absence of market exploitation and the frec entrance and exit of marketing agents resulted in volatility in market structure.
The Triumph of Marxist Approaches in South African Sodal and Labour History: A Comment
Authors: Dollery Brian E.
Published: March 2022

Martin Murray provides an excellent synoptic survey of recent trends in South African historiography in which he claims that the twin perspective Marxist approach has replaced the liberal orthodoxy as the dominant paradigm. It is argued that Murray’s survey is deficient in at least three ways. Firstly, the implicatiom; of the divisions between “social historians” and “structuralists” are not sufficiently explored. Secondly, the contentious periodisation issue is ignored. And thirdly, the impact of Merle Lipton's monumental study and the consequent possibility of a synthesis emerging are neglected.
Political Instability and Displacement in Nigeria
Authors: Dare Leo
Published: March 2022

Political instability has been a consistent feature in Nigeria long before the current wave of military rule. Thus, the average Nigerian has not known peace and has been in consistent search of stability and predictability in the political sphere for a long time. Political instability has now attained alarming proportions, with spill over effects that have turned Nigeria into a refugee-producing country. Three contributing factors of the Nigerian government in generating refugees have been the continual rewriting of the Nigerian Constitution, the seemingly-endless creation of states, and warped government policies and programs.
The Gift of Food to a Wandering Cow: Lay-Mendicant Interaction Among the Jains
Authors: Cort John E.
Published: March 2022

This essay approaches world renunciation among the Jains not as an ideological construct in which the social world is transcended, but rather as a socially interactive practice. The ongoing transactional relationship between renouncers and laity is investigated in terms of the gifting of food to the renouncers among the Svetambar Murtipujak Jains. A comparison is made of this exchange with Digambar gifting of food to renouncers, and a range of Hindu prestations involving the transfer of demerit (pdp) in order to maximize the donor's ontological status. Through this comparison we are able to see certain structural similarities within the two Jain examples, despite seemingly crucial differences in performance. Further, we can see how these Jain exchanges fit into broader South Asian paradigms, and at the same time exhibit specifically Jain understandings of karma, merit, and demerit.
Leadership , Evil and Future-Generations Orientation
Authors: Inayatullah Sohail
Published: March 2022

In the context of civilizational approaches to economy and polity, this essay explores models of leadership. These models include: the taoist-sage; the tantric-sadvipra; the islamic-caliph and the western-liberal. The potential of these ideal-types to decline to evil is discussed, particularly when they evolve outside of democracy and inclusiveness. Leadership is considered the link in creating institutions that are committed to all future generations.
Experimental Philosophy of Mind: Free Will and a Scientific Conception of the World
Authors: Izadifar Morteza
Published: March 2022

Experimental philosophy has been engaged in many fields of philosophy and has tried to challenge philosophy from a new horizon. In this article, I have tried to examine what the role of sciences are (especially neuroscience) in altering people’s intuition about free will. Could science educate people’s philosophical intuitions? If yes, should we still rely on their intuition as a rational instrument for our philosophical questions? Do science plus cultural and social differences effect on folks’ view? In this cross-cultural research, the emphasis is mostly on recent breakthroughs on neuroscience and its impact on people’s perspective to free will. I have asked some questions about free will and determinism from two groups of Iranian and European participants. The results of this study revealed an interesting amount of cross-cultural similarities. The findings showed that people have a relatively independent view to free will and determinism. It seems that manipulating laymen’s opinion by either the idea of scientific determinism or living under pressure and challenging social conditions cannot touch their perspective. I tried to indicate that the techniques of experimental philosophy and the data offered might help us to learn more and more about the psychological processes, in the mind of the folks, that engender philosophical problems.
Cultural Metaphors in Hungarian Folk Songs as Repositories of Folk Cultural Cognition
Authors: Kóczy Judit Baranyiné
Published: March 2022

The paper explores the status of NATURE metaphors in Hungarian folk songs with respect to their representation and transmission of folk culture and worldview. Employing a Cultural Linguistic analysis, metaphors are observed from three perspectives: in relation to cultural schemas, generic-level conceptual metaphors, and experiential motivation. NATURE metaphors are to a large extent framed by cultural experience regarding their experiential basis, conceptual structure and relation with other cultural conceptualizations.
Transmission and Transit in Contemporary Arabic Literature: Naql and Its Limits
Authors: Paul Drew
Published: March 2022

In this essay, I use the concept of naql to connect textual transmission and physical movement in two contemporary Arabic fictional works that are structured around questions of the circulation of narratives and bodies: Khālid al-Khamīsī’s Tāksī, a fictional collection of tales about Cairo taxi drivers, and Aḥmad Saʿdāwī’s Frānkishtāyn fī Baghdād, which depicts a monster roaming the streets of Baghdad. I begin with a discussion of naql as both transmission and movement, reading a tension between fixity and change that complicates notions of authenticity and authority in realms such as language, time, and mobility. I then argue that Tāksī uses the mobility of the taxi and the types of transmissions that it receives and produces to reposition cultural and political knowledge gleaned from cabdrivers who move through the gridlocked streets of Cairo. In Saʿdāwī’s novel, the monster’s movements and actions begin as a response to violence but fail to cohere as an alternative to structural corruption, revealing the limits of naql as political critique. I conclude by considering how this reading of naql is reflected in the global circulation of these texts.
Applying History in Real Time
Authors: Ferguson Niall
Published: March 2022

Policymakers generally have at least some historical assumptions, even if they have not been trained as historians. Often, these assumptions play a critical part in decision-making, especially in times of crisis. This article compares the reactions of George W. Bush’s administration to two epoch-making events: the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001 and the “9/15” bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in 2008. I argue that historical analogies played a key role in the debates between officials about how to respond to the two crises. However, the two sets of decision-makers inhabited different conceptual worlds. Those concerned with national security in 2001 thought differently about risk from those concerned with financial stability in 2008. This meant that they applied history to the crises they confronted with differing degrees of success.
Theory of In-Cloud Activation of Aerosols and Microphysical Quasi-Equilibrium in a Deep Updraft
Authors: Phillips Vaughan T. J.
Published: March 2022

The microphysical quasi-equilibrium in an ascending adiabatic parcel is elucidated by an analytical theory in 0D with drastic simplifications. The theory predicts how in-cloud activation is most likely to be triggered by the onset of precipitation during sufficient ascent, with the ascent only needing to approach almost twice the cloud-base updraft speed aloft. The precipitation and cloud condensate mass fields are coupled in a closed system in a simplified version of the model. The initial state of no precipitation is unstable with respect to a perturbation. In the 2D phase space of both mass fields, there is a neutral line. Unstable growth of precipitation mass drives the system to cross the line into a regime of stability. An attractor is then approached consisting of precipitation mass balanced by accretion of cloud mass and fallout. The cloud-particle number concentration also approaches a stable equilibrium governed by the balance between in-cloud activation aloft from the inexorably increasing supersaturation during vertical acceleration and accretion of cloud droplets by precipitation. Dimensionless numbers characterizing the microphysical equilibria and their stability are derived mathematically, including a condensation–precipitation efficiency and an in-cloud activation efficiency. The theory explains common observations of the orders of magnitude of liquid water content in convective and stratiform clouds. Finally, sensitivity tests of the numerically integrated theoretical equations are documented with respect to variations in cloud condensation nucleus (CCN) aerosols and updraft speed. It is shown that this theory of in-cloud activation, with an increasing supersaturation during ascent, applies to both ice-only and liquid-only cloud.

Significance Statement

The purpose of the study is to create a theory for how equilibria among cloud-microphysical properties are attained during ascent. Continual initiation of fresh cloud droplets far above cloud base in the free troposphere is explained. The theory proposes a balance between creation and depletion of such droplets, in relation to a balance between creation and fallout of precipitation. The transition from positive feedbacks of instability toward negative feedbacks of stability when the equilibria are approached is elucidated. The theory explains why the mass content of cloud liquid in regions of ascent is typically about an order of magnitude lower in layer clouds with weak ascent than in convective clouds with faster ascent. Any future work could extend the theory to treat dilute parcels or coexistence of supercooled liquid and ice.
Contribution of Thunderstorms to Changes in Hourly Extreme Precipitation over China from 1980 to 2011
Authors: Ng Chan-Pang , Zhang Qinghong , Li Wenhong , Zhou Ziwei
Published: March 2022

In many countries, thunderstorms are the main contributor to hourly extreme precipitation (HEP). Prior studies have shown that the number of thunderstorms decreased steadily in whole country of China; however, HEP has increased significantly in several areas over the past half-century. The role of thunderstorms in changes in HEP occurrence remains largely unknown in China. In this study, for the first time, we used continuous 32-yr records of hourly precipitation and thunder, and the fifth-generation European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts atmospheric reanalysis (ERA5), to analyze changes in thunderstorms under various vertical wind shear (VWS) environments, and their contribution to HEP occurrence. The number of HEP events associated with thunderstorms (TD-HEP) increased significantly in southern China (SC) but decreased significantly in northeastern China (NEC) and east of the Tibetan Plateau (ETP). Weak VWS thunderstorms accounted for 69.1% of TD-HEP in SC. Changes in the most unstable convective available potential energy and precipitable water (PW) in SC favored an increase in weak-VWS thunderstorms, which resulted in an increase of 2.35 h per warm season in overall “station-mean” TD-HEP events from 1980 to 2011. As the major contributor to HEP in NEC, moderate VWS thunderstorms decreased by 0.37 h per warm season, due mainly to a reduction in PW, leading to a negative trend in TD-HEP events. Similarly, the decreasing TD-HEP occurrence on the ETP was due to a decrease of 1.12 h per warm season of moderate VWS thunderstorms. Studying the VWS environments of thunderstorms, and changes therein under a warming climate, can improve understanding of the changes in HEP in China.
High Drag States in Tidally Modulated Stratified Wakes
Authors: Puthan Pranav , Pawlak Geno , Sarkar Sutanu
Published: March 2022

Large-eddy simulations (LES) are employed to investigate the role of time-varying currents on the form drag and vortex dynamics of submerged 3D topography in a stratified rotating environment. The current is of the form Uc + Utsin(2πftt), where Uc is the mean, Ut is the tidal component, and ft is its frequency. A conical obstacle is considered in the regime of low Froude number. When tides are absent, eddies are shed at the natural shedding frequency fs,c. The relative frequency
is varied in a parametric study, which reveals states of high time-averaged form drag coefficient. There is a twofold amplification of the form drag coefficient relative to the no-tide (Ut = 0) case when
lies between 0.5 and 1. The spatial organization of the near-wake vortices in the high drag states is different from a Kármán vortex street. For instance, the vortex shedding from the obstacle is symmetric when
and strongly asymmetric when
. The increase in form drag with increasing
stems from bottom intensification of the pressure in the obstacle lee which we link to changes in flow separation and near-wake vortices.
Comparison of Visual Features for Image-Based Visibility Detection
Authors: Tang Rong , Li Qian , Tang Shaoen
Published: March 2022

The image-based visibility detection methods have been one of the active research issues in surface meteorological observation. The visual feature extraction is the basis of these methods, and its effectiveness has become a key factor in accurately estimating visibility. In this study, we compare and analyze the effectiveness of various visual features in visibility detection from three aspects, namely, visibility sensitivity, environmental variables robustness, and object depth sensitivity in multiscene, including three traditional visual features such as local binary patterns (LBP), histograms of oriented gradients (HOG), and contrast as well as three deep learned features extracted from the Neural Image Assessment (NIMA) and VGG-16 networks. Then the support vector regression (SVR) models, which are used to map visual features to visibility, are also trained, respectively based on the region of interest (ROI) and the whole image of each scene. The experiment results show that compared to traditional visual features, deep learned features exhibit better performance in both feature analysis and model training. In particular, NIMA, with lower dimensionality, achieves the best fitting effect and therefore is found to show good application prospects in visibility detection.

Significance Statement

The visual feature extraction is a basic step for image-based visibility detection and significantly affects the detection performance. In this paper, we compare six candidate visual features, including traditional and deep learned features, from visibility sensitivity, environmental variables robustness, and object depth sensitivity in multiscene. Then the SVR models are also trained to construct the mapping relations between different kinds of features and the visibility of each scene. The experiment results show that the deep learned features exhibit better performance in both feature analysis and model training, especially NIMA achieves the best fitting performance with fewer feature dimensions.
Diagnosing Supercell Environments: A Machine Learning Approach
Authors: Shield Stephen A. , Houston Adam L.
Published: March 2022

The importance of discriminating between environments supportive of supercell thunderstorms and those that are not supportive is widely recognized due to significant hazards associated with supercell storms. Previous research has led to forecast indices such as the energy helicity index and the supercell composite parameter to aid supercell forecasts. In this study three machine learning models are developed to identify environments supportive of supercells: a support vector machine, an artificial neural network, and an ensemble of gradient boosted trees. These models are trained and tested using a sample of over 1000 Rapid Update Cycle version 2 (RUC-2) model soundings from near-storm environments of both supercell and nonsupercell storms. Results show that all three machine learning models outperform classifications using either the energy helicity index or supercell composite parameter by a statistically significant margin. Using several model interpretability methods, it is concluded that generally speaking the relationships learned by the machine learning models are physically reasonable. These findings further illustrate the potential utility of machine learning–based forecast tools for severe storm forecasting.

Significance Statement

Supercell thunderstorms are a type of thunderstorm that are important to forecast because they produce more tornadoes, hail, and wind gusts compared to other types of thunderstorms. This study uses machine learning to create models that predict if a supercell thunderstorm or nonsupercell thunderstorm is favored for a given environment. These models outperform current methods of assessing if a storm that forms will be a supercell. Using these models as guidance forecasters can better understand and predict if atmospheric conditions are favorable for the development of supercell thunderstorms. Improving forecasts of supercell thunderstorms using machine learning methods like those used in this study has the potential to limit the economic and societal impacts of these storms.
Quantitative assessment of the intraorbital segment of the optic nerve in patients with thyroid orbitopathy using diffusion tensor imaging
Authors: Li Rui , Li Jing , Wang Zhenchang
Published: March 2022

Background

It is difficult to detect optic nerve changes in patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) before the development of optic neuropathy.

Purpose

To detect changes in the intraorbital segment of the optic nerve in patients with TAO using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and determine any correlations with disease severity.

Material and Methods

A total of 74 participants (17 normal, 22 mild, and 35 moderate-severe TAO) were organized to be given 3-T DTI to measure fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) for the orbital segments of their optic nerves. All underwent ophthalmological examinations for visual acuity, intraocular pressure, exophthalmos, and fundoscopy, and were assessed based on the Clinical Activity Score (CAS). Univariate analysis of variance and Pearson's correlation coefficients were carried out.

Results

Patients with moderate-to-severe TAO had significantly lower FA values and higher MD values ( P < 0.05). FA values were negatively correlated with CAS but had no obvious correlations with the degree of exophthalmos. MD values had no obvious correlations with CAS or the degree of exophthalmos.

Conclusion

DTI parameters of the intraorbital optic nerves were significantly altered in moderate-to-severe patients before onset of clinical optic nerve dysfunction and may, therefore, be used as an imaging biomarker for assessing the disease.
Sustainable portfolio re-equilibrium on wind-solar-hydro system: An integrated optimization with combined meta-heuristic
Authors: Gan Lu , Xu Dirong , Chen Xiuyun , Jiang Pengyan , Lev Benjamin , Li Zongmin
Published: March 2022

Due to the intermittency of renewable energies, their acceptances in electricity market are lower than fossil energies. Therefore, it is necessary to overcome the development resistance through portfolio re-equilibrium. Balance supply and demand in markets involving different stakeholders to optimize return on investment. Compared with the past, this paper proposes an integrated optimization with combined meta-heuristic for wind-solar-hydro system. It investigates to coordinate the interactions of power stations and power grid with their internal conflicts respectively. Specifically, the investment profit, the investment volume and the investment risk are considered as the optimized objectives for wind-solar-hydro system. However, power grid takes operation efficiency, surplus electricity and carbon emissions into account to be the optimal objectives. They are composed to establish a bi-level programming model. Moreover, an improved particle swarm optimization is utilized to deal with the problem-orientated model with NP-hard complexity. Finally, to verify the feasibility of the proposed model, a case of wind-solar-hydro system from Panzhihua located in southwest China is conducted. The results showed that portfolio re-equilibrium strategies had the potential to push forward sustainable development. Secondly, generating capacity was positively affected by the initial investment volume. However, the investment profit did not absolutely rise with the grow of investment risk. Thirdly, profit-oriented strategies were conducive to carbon emissions reduction. But risk-oriented strategies can reduce surplus electricity and increase the stability of electricity purchase schemes.
Factors Affecting Primiparous Pregnant Women’s Prenatal Attachment Levels, Childbirth Self-Efficacy Beliefs, and Labor Worry Levels
Authors: Bay Habibe , Erkal Aksoy Yasemin , Dereli Yılmaz Sema
Published: March 2022

This study aimed to identify the factors affecting primiparous pregnant women’s prenatal attachment levels, childbirth self-efficacy beliefs, and labor worry levels. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 351 pregnant women. The data were collected by using a Personal Information Form, the Prenatal Attachment Inventory, the Oxford Worries about Labour Scale, and the Childbirth Self-Efficacy Inventory. The mean Prenatal Attachment Inventory, Oxford Worries About Labour Scale and Childbirth Self-Efficacy Inventory scores of the participants were 40.53 ± 10.32, 21.82 ± 6.8, and 201.35 ± 23.21, respectively. The data obtained in the study showed that the care offered in the preconception period affected the participating pregnant women’s prenatal attachment, labor worry, and childbirth self-efficacy levels. With individualized preconception care provided by health personnel, not only will awareness be increased but also women will be able to have a more positive pregnancy and labor experience.
Handwashing Practices and Its Predictors Among Primary School Children in Damote Woide District, South Ethiopia: An Institution Based Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Admasie Amha , Guluma Alemu , Feleke Fentaw Wassie
Published: March 2022

Background:

Handwashing in schools with soap could substantially reduce diarrhea and respiratory infections among school-age children; however, in low-and-middle-income countries, handwashing is still being practiced to a very low extent in particular critical moments such as before eating and after using the toilet. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to assess the level of handwashing practice and its predictors among primary school children in South Ethiopia.

Methods:

A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted using a multistage cluster sampling technique from 6 primary schools with 580 students in total. Schools were purposively selected and the students were random. Data were collected using pre-tested questionnaires administered by interviewers and trained data collectors. Data were entered using Epi Data and exported to SPSS software for analysis. Both bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyzes were used.

Result:

Proper handwashing practice was reported in 28.10% (95% CI, 24.5, 31.7%) of students. Being eighth grade (AOR = 3.44, 95% CI 1.52, 8.23), urban residence (AOR = 18.84, 95% CI 14.02, 23.29], having parents (AOR = 10.74; 95% CI 8.80-12.36), role model teachers (AOR = 6.45; 95% CI 5.52-8.99), role model health professionals (AOR = 9.62; 95% CI 2.70-14.19), and school handwashing facility (AOR = 3.84, 95% CI 3.60, 4.07) were predictors of proper handwashing practice.

Conclusions:

Proper handwashing practice among schoolchildren was found below. Therefore, promoting and improving handwashing practices and preparing handwashing facilities in schools is mandatory to address the handwashing practice gap among primary school students in the study area.
Outlier detection algorithm based on k-nearest neighbors-local outlier factor
Authors: Xu He , Zhang Lin , Li Peng , Zhu Feng
Published: March 2022

The main task of outlier detection is to detect data objects which have a different mechanism from the conventional data set. The existing outlier detection methods are mainly divided into two directions: local outliers and global outliers. Aiming at the limitations of the existing outlier detection methods, we propose a novel outlier detection algorithm which is named as kNN-LOF. First, the k-nearest neighbors algorithm is applied to divide different areas for outlier attributes, which is more suitable for outlier detection in different density distributions. Secondly, a hierarchical adjacency order is proposed to hierarchize the neighborhood range according to the link distance. The average sequence distance is calculated from the data objects in the hierarchy, and the reachable distance of an object is redefined to introduce a new local outlier factor. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has good performance in improving the accuracy of outlier detection.
Life-threatening complications for diabetic patients taking SGLT2 inhibitors when undergoing surgery: A poorly recognised problem?
Authors: Sohatee Mark , Holland James
Published: March 2022

A knowledge of perioperative problems and complications is an important requirement for surgeons. Diabetic patients are a particular group of patients that are specifically at risk of problems. These risks are not only related to the underlying pathophysiological process associated with the disease, but can also occur secondarily to medications used to manage the condition and require careful monitoring, and is of increased importance in the perioperative period. Although a number of medications have historically been used to manage diabetes, a relatively novel group of diabetic medications ‘SGLT2 inhibitors’ are now being used and have been shown to have many positive attributes, when considering the sequalae of diabetes. However, they have also been associated with significant perioperative problems, which are a consequence of euglycaemic ketoacidosis, a potentially life-threatening condition. Given the significant complications associated with these medications, it is important that practitioners should have an awareness of the problems related to their use. In addition, messages contained in safety releases pertaining to SGLT2 inhibitor use and their risks in patients undergoing surgery, may have been weakened due the timing of their publication in March 2020, during the first UK national lockdown amidst the Coronavirus pandemic.
Poly (Thioether-Polyesters) Micelles Encapsulation Induces ROS-Triggered Targeted Release of Tangeretin
Authors: Tan Bozhan , Qi Zhiwen , Yang Guliang , Zhong Haiyan
Published: March 2022

Tangeretin (Tan) possesses great anti-oxidation and anti-inflammation bioactivities; however, it is accompanied by poor water solubility, which leads to inefficient cellular internalization. To address this issue, a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-triggered poly (thioether-polyesters) micelle (PDHP, PEG-DTT) was designed and prepared via self-assembly, which consisted of poly (thioether-polyesters) as the hydrophilic shell, and the drug Tan as the hydrophobic inner core. The micelles (Tan@ PDHP), with a 63.15% loading efficiency of Tan, showed negligible cytotoxicity, high stability in phosphate-buffered saline buffer (pH  =  7.4), and continuous release of Tan with the stimulation of H2O2. In addition, this Tan loading micelle was more efficient in responding to the formation of ROS in the lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 cells compared to that of the free Tan. In short, the strategy of encapsulating the low solubility Tan in ROS-triggered poly (thioether-polyesters) micelles provides an effective assay of enhancing Tan's antioxidative activity.
Screening for phenotypic outliers identifies an unusually low concentration of a β-lactoglobulin B protein isoform in bovine milk caused by a synonymous SNP
Authors: Davis Stephen R. , Ward Hamish E. , Kelly Van , Palmer David , Ankersmit-Udy Alexandra E. , Lopdell Thomas J. , Berry Sarah D. , Littlejohn Mathew D. , Tiplady Kathryn , Adams Linda F. , Carnie Katie , Burrett Alayna , Thomas Natalie , Snell Russell G. , Spelman Richard J. , Lehnert Klaus
Published: March 2022

Background

Milk samples from 10,641 dairy cattle were screened by a mass spectrometry method for extreme concentrations of the A or B isoforms of the whey protein, β-lactoglobulin (BLG), to identify causative genetic variation driving changes in BLG concentration.

Results

A cohort of cows, from a single sire family, was identified that produced milk containing a low concentration of the BLG B protein isoform. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) of BLG B protein isoform concentration in milk from AB heterozygous cows, detected a group of highly significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within or close to the BLG gene. Among these was a synonymous G/A variation at position + 78 bp in exon 1 of the BLG gene (chr11:103256256G > A). The effect of the A allele of this SNP (which we named B’) on BLG expression was evaluated in a luciferase reporter assay in transfected CHO-K1 and MCF-7 cells. In both cell types, the presence of the B’ allele in a plasmid containing the bovine BLG gene from -922 to + 898 bp (relative to the transcription initiation site) resulted in a 60% relative reduction in mRNA expression, compared to the plasmid containing the wild-type B sequence allele. Examination of a mammary RNAseq dataset (n = 391) identified 14 heterozygous carriers of the B’ allele which were homozygous for the BLG B protein isoform (BB’). The level of expression of the BLG B’ allele was 41.9 ± 1.0% of that of the wild-type BLG B allele. Milk samples from three cows, homozygous for the A allele at chr11:103,256,256 (B’B’), were analysed (HPLC) and showed BLG concentrations of 1.04, 1.26 and 1.83 g/L relative to a mean of 4.84 g/L in milk from 16 herd contemporaries of mixed (A and B) BLG genotypes. The mechanism by which B’ downregulates milk BLG concentration remains to be determined.

Conclusions

High-throughput screening and identification of outliers, enabled the discovery of a synonymous G > A mutation in exon 1 of the B allele of the BLG gene (B’), which reduced the milk concentration of β-lactoglobulin B protein isoform, by more than 50%. Milk from cows carrying the B’ allele is expected to have improved processing characteristics, particularly for cheese-making.
A-Prot: protein structure modeling using MSA transformer
Authors: Hong Yiyu , Lee Juyong , Ko Junsu
Published: March 2022

Background

The accuracy of protein 3D structure prediction has been dramatically improved with the help of advances in deep learning. In the recent CASP14, Deepmind demonstrated that their new version of AlphaFold (AF) produces highly accurate 3D models almost close to experimental structures. The success of AF shows that the multiple sequence alignment of a sequence contains rich evolutionary information, leading to accurate 3D models. Despite the success of AF, only the prediction code is open, and training a similar model requires a vast amount of computational resources. Thus, developing a lighter prediction model is still necessary.

Results

In this study, we propose a new protein 3D structure modeling method, A-Prot, using MSA Transformer, one of the state-of-the-art protein language models. An MSA feature tensor and row attention maps are extracted and converted into 2D residue-residue distance and dihedral angle predictions for a given MSA. We demonstrated that A-Prot predicts long-range contacts better than the existing methods. Additionally, we modeled the 3D structures of the free modeling and hard template-based modeling targets of CASP14. The assessment shows that the A-Prot models are more accurate than most top server groups of CASP14.

Conclusion

These results imply that A-Prot accurately captures the evolutionary and structural information of proteins with relatively low computational cost. Thus, A-Prot can provide a clue for the development of other protein property prediction methods.
GBDR: a Bayesian model for precise prediction of pathogenic microorganisms using 16S rRNA gene sequences
Authors: Huang Yu-An , Huang Zhi-An , Li Jian-Qiang , You Zhu-Hong , Wang Lei , Yi Hai-Cheng , Yu Chang-Qing
Published: March 2022

Background

Recent evidences have suggested that human microorganisms participate in important biological activities in the human body. The dysfunction of host-microbiota interactions could lead to complex human disorders. The knowledge on host-microbiota interactions can provide valuable insights into understanding the pathological mechanism of diseases. However, it is time-consuming and costly to identify the disorder-specific microbes from the biological “haystack” merely by routine wet-lab experiments. With the developments in next-generation sequencing and omics-based trials, it is imperative to develop computational prediction models for predicting microbe-disease associations on a large scale.

Results

Based on the known microbe-disease associations derived from theHuman Microbe-Disease Association Database (HMDAD), the proposed model shows reliable performance with high values of the area under ROC curve (AUC) of 0.9456 and 0.8866 in leave-one-out cross validations and five-fold cross validations, respectively. In case studies of colorectal carcinoma, 80% out of the top-20 predicted microbes have been experimentally confirmed via published literatures.

Conclusion

Based on the assumption that functionally similar microbes tend to share the similar interaction patterns with human diseases, we here propose a group based computational model of Bayesian disease-oriented ranking to prioritize the most potential microbes associating with various human diseases. Based on the sequence information of genes, two computational approaches (BLAST+ and MEGA 7) are leveraged to measure the microbe-microbe similarity from different perspectives. The disease-disease similarity is calculated by capturing the hierarchy information from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) data. The experimental results illustrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed model. This work is expected to facilitate the characterization and identification of promising microbial biomarkers.
Identification and characterization of heat-responsive lncRNAs in maize inbred line CM1
Authors: Hu Xiaolin , Wei Qiye , Wu Hongying , Huang Yuanxiang , Peng Xiaojian , Han Guomin , Ma Qing , Zhao Yang
Published: March 2022

Background

Frequent occurrence of extreme high temperature is a major threat to crop production. Increasing evidence demonstrates that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have important biological functions in the regulation of the response to heat stress. However, the regulatory mechanism of lncRNAs involved in heat response requires further exploration and the regulatory network remains poorly understood in maize.

Results

In this research, high-throughput sequencing was adopted to systematically identify lncRNAs in maize inbred line CM1. In total, 53,249 lncRNAs (259 known lncRNAs and 52,990 novel lncRNAs) were detected, of which 993 lncRNAs showed significantly differential expression (DElncRNAs) under heat stress. By predicting the target genes, 953 common targets shared bycis- andtrans-regulation of the DElncRNAs were identified, which exhibited differential expression between the control and the heat stress treatments. Functional annotation indicated that a number of important biological processes and pathways, including photosynthesis, metabolism, translation, stress response, hormone signal transduction, and spliceosome, were enriched for the common targets, suggesting that they play important roles in heat response. A lncRNA-mediated regulatory network was constructed to visualize the molecular response mechanism in response to heat stress, which represented the direct regulatory relationships of DElncRNAs, differentially expressed miRNAs, target genes, and functional annotations.

Conclusions

This study lays a foundation for further elucidation of the regulatory mechanism for the response to heat stress in the maize inbred line CM1. The findings provide important information for identification of heat-responsive genes, which will be beneficial for the molecular breeding in the cultivation of heat-tolerant maize germplasm.