bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
State and prospects of development of cotton growing in Uzbekistan
Authors: Nazarov Renat
Published: September 2020

The potential of water resources throughout Central Asia consists of water resources of two rivers-the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, the Aral sea basin, and is 117…123 km3 per year. Approximately half of these water resources, according to intergovernmental agreements with other Central Asian States, are used by the most populous Republic of Uzbekistan in the region, where the area of irrigated arable land today is 3296 thousand hectares. Of these, up to 1137 thousand hectares are allocated annually for grain crops, and about 1033 thousand hectares of irrigated arable land are allocated for cotton.
Research characteristics of deflector attacks of circle type
Authors: Slabunov Vladimir , Slabunova Aleksandra , Kupriyanov Andrey
Published: September 2020

The aim of the research is to analyze the characteristics of experimental circular-type deflector nozzles installed as rain-forming devices on a new wide-grip circular sprinkler machine developed at the Federal State Budget Scientific Institution «RosNIIPM» obtained during laboratory field trials. In this case, circular-type baffle nozzles with nozzle diameters, mm, were used: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14. The maximum irrigation radius of a circulartype baffle nozzle (for various nozzle diameters) at a maximum pressure equal to 0.3 MPa lies in the range of 2.6–11.5 m. Processing of the experimental data made it possible to obtain the dependences of the irrigation radius of circular-type deflector nozzles on the head and nozzle diameter and average droplet diameter on nozzle and head flow rate, which will allow the selection of the necessary circular-type deflector nozzles at the installation height of 2.7 m Thus, the developed nozzles provide a uniform distribution of irrigation water over the irrigation area, and the average diameter of rain drops can be attributed to the fine-structured one, which ensures the fulfillment of agrotechnical requirements.
The STMIK Palangkaraya Student Satisfaction Index Application Based on National Standards of Higher Education in the Framework of Educational Quality Assurance
Authors: Ichsan Mochammad
Published: September 2020

Since 2003 the Directorate General of Higher Education has published the Higher Education Quality Assurance Manual. The book was then supplemented with Best Practices books which included Learning, Curriculum of Study Program, Human Resources, Student Affairs, Infrastructure and Facilities, Academic Atmosphere, Financial Management, Research and Publication, Community Service, and Governance. STMIK Palangkaraya continues to do this in improving higher education quality assurance by improving campus services and facilities and improving the quality of graduates.

According to the national standards of higher education based on the regulation of the Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education (Permenristekdikti) Number 44 of 2015, regarding the national standards of higher education.

In this regulation the national standards of higher education cover national education standards, national research standards and national standards of community service. To facilitate STMIK in developing national education standards, the authors took the initiative to help STMIK to improve the standard by making a study entitled "STMIK Palangkaraya Student Satisfaction Index Application Based on National Standards of Higher Education in the Framework of Educational Quality Assurance". This application will make it easier to analyze and describe in detail and in depth about the level of student satisfaction with the STMIK Palangkaraya campus service so that it can meet the national education standards that have been set. Applications made using 8 (eight) database tables with the name imk_stmik.sql with software development methods namely the waterfall model.
Sto lat katalogowania średniowiecznych rękopisów iluminowanych w Wiedniu
Authors: Roland Martin
Published: September 2020

Autor przedstawia dzieje Austriackiej Biblioteki Narodowej (ABN; Österreichische Nationalbibliothek), której zasoby sięgają XIV w. Następnie omawia genezę, metodologię i zawartość serii założonej przez Franza Wickhoffa, wydawanej od 1905 r. pt. Beschreibendes Verzeichnis der illuminierten Handschriften in Österreich, stanowiącej opisowy wykaz rękopisów iluminowanych w Austrii. W przypadku katalogowania rękopisów dawnej biblioteki dworskiej (Hofbibliothek), a od 1920 r. ABN, przełomem stało się zainicjowanie przez Juliusa Schlossera i Hermanna Juliusa Hermanna podserii: Die Illuminierten Handschriften und Inkunabeln der Nationalbibliothek in Wien. W latach 1923-1938 wydano 15 tomów tej podserii z opisami ponad 1500 manuskryptów. Po II wojnie światowej prace te kontynuował Franz Unterkircher publikując w 1957 i 1959 r. dwa tomy inwentarza obejmującego wszystkie (ponad 5000 jednostek) rękopisy iluminowane ABN oraz Otton Pächt, który zainicjował nową serię wydawniczą pt. Die Illuminierten Handschriften und Inkunabeln der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, wydawaną od 1974 r. Jego następca Gerhard Schmidt zainicjował projekt pt. „Szkoły środkowoeuropejskie” – Mitteleuropäische Schulen (MeSch). Jego celem jest skatalogowanie środkowoeuropejskich rękopisów iluminowanych.
Z dziejów biblioteki kanoników regularnych laterańskich w Mstowie: druki XVI wieku w BUW
Authors: Bylinowa Elżbieta
Published: September 2020

W Bibliotece Uniwersyteckiej w Warszawie (BUW) zachował się fragment księgozbioru po kanonikach regularnych laterańskich z Mstowa. Klasztor ten funkcjonował od XII w. aż do kasaty w 1819 r. W skutek kasaty do ówczesnej Biblioteki Publicznej przy Uniwersytecie Warszawskim trafiło ponad 1400 tomów z ich biblioteki oraz rękopiśmienny Cathalogus librorum Con[ven]tus n[ost]ri Mstoviensis O[rdinis] C[anonicorum] R[egularium] L[ateranensium] spisany w 1704 r., zawierający 831 pozycji w ok. 900 tomach. W skutek nieszczęśliwych okoliczności – m.in. podziały kolekcji, wywózki książek, także do Rosji, spalenia części woluminów przez Niemców w 1944 r. po upadku powstania warszawskiego – do naszych czasów zachowało się 178 dzieł w 211 tomach, z czego 187 woluminów w zbiorach BUW. Autorka skupia się w artykule na proweniencji zachowanych książek z XVI w. stwierdzając, że większość z nich pochodziła z darów: zakonników, autorów, kolekcjonerów – najwięcej tomów (83 dzieła w 126 woluminach) pochodziło z daru Jana Strzembosza (ok. 1545-1606). Autorka zapowiada kontynuacje badań nad biblioteką kanoników z Mstowa, przy wykorzystaniu kolejnych źródeł w Polsce i za granicą (w Rosji), efektem których ma być jej monografia.
Wydania antwerpskiej Officina Plantiniana z kolekcji warszawskich Rosyjskiej Biblioteki Narodowej
Authors: Nikolajev Nikolaj V.
Published: September 2020

Druki antwerpskiej firmy założonej przez Krzysztofa Plantina w 1555 r., tzw. plantiniana, należą do szczytowych osiągnięć drukarstwa książkowego XVI i XVII wieku. Część plantinianów będących w posiadaniu Rosyjskiej Biblioteki Narodowej (RBN) pochodzi z Biblioteki Załuskich w Warszawie i Biblioteki Towarzystwa Warszawskiego Przyjaciół Nauk, których zbiory zostały włączone w różnych czasach w skład Cesarskiej Biblioteki Publicznej w Sankt Petersburgu. Niniejszy artykuł poświęcony jest najcenniejszym dziełom sztuki typograficznej Officina Plantiniana, które trafiły do RBN z Warszawy. Ich omówienie uzupełnia czytelny materiał ilustracyjny. Artykuł stanowi pokłosie wstępnych prac na wydzieleniem plantinianów – do momentu powstania artykułu zidentyfikowano ponad 500 woluminów – w osobną kolekcję w RBN. Jak podkreśla Autor, jest to trudne, ponieważ duży zbiór druków z XVI w. jest w petersburskiej książnicy rozproszony po różnych działach (tylko w Dziale Rzadkiej Książki ok. 14 000 tomów), najmniej zbadany, opisany i skatalogowany. Pełne opracowanie tego zasobu i wydzielenie z niego plantinianów pozwoli według Autora na zwiększenie liczby zidentyfikowanych druków antwerpskich i poszerzenie warsztatu badawczego księgoznawców i historyków renesansu.
Common Fixed Point Theorems of Compatible Maps in Complex Valued b-Metric Spaces
Authors: Yadav G. , Sharma R. K. , Prajapati G. L.
Published: September 2020

In a paper Mukheimer established some results regarding common fixed point of two self mappings in a complex valued b-metric space satisfying a rational type contractive condition. In this paper we have established a common fixed point theorem by making use of compatibility and weak compatibility of self mappings satisfying generalized rational inequality of four mappings as opposed to two self mappings in a complex valued b – metric space. Some concrete examples have also been presented to verify the effectiveness and applicability of established results. Towards the end, an application to solution of Urysohn’s integral equations has also been presented to substantiate the usability of the obtained results. Results of this paper generalize the results of Mukheimer and some other earlier results. Theorems approved in this article will be supportable for researchers to work on rational contractions with more than two pair of self mappings.
Analysis of Proximate Composition and Functional Properties of Selected Edible Leaves: Nutritional and Therapeutic Implication
Authors: Pal A. D. , Zakir T. M.
Published: September 2020

The present study was designed to document the nutritional and functional properties of Ceylon Spinach, Mustard as well as Pumpkin leaves. These samples were selected owing to their economic affordability and utilization within the local population. Proximate analysis revealed a significant percentage of minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and vitamin C in all the leaf extracts. Phytochemical screening displayed Ceylon Spinach, Pumpkin and Mustard leaves to be rich sources of polyphenols (106.6, 76.24 and 89.86 mg/100 g) and alkaloids (12.8 %, 13.2 % and 16.8 %) respectively. Furthermore, these edible leaves could effectively scavenge 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) free radicals with Mustard leaves showing the greatest efficiency, hence portraying antioxidant properties. Ceylon Spinach leaves depicted the highest reducing power compared to the other samples. Additionally, the edible leaf extracts were shown to possess anti-bacterial abilities with Mustard leaves displaying the strongest inhibition against growth of both Gram positive (ZOI 18.5mm) and negative bacteria (ZOI 25.5mm). Interestingly, the selected samples could also elevate the growth of probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus in vitro thereby confirming their prebiotic potential. Therefore, inclusion of these edible leaves in the diet may promote good health owing to their nutritional and therapeutic benefits.
Influence of Meteorological Variables on Atmospheric Electric Conductivity over an Urban Location
Authors: Kumar K. C. , Nagaraja K.
Published: September 2020

The measurements of atmospheric electric conductivity along with selected meteorological parameters was carried out at Bengaluru, an urban site in southern India (12.96° N, 77.56° E) during January-December 2015 to understand the electric nature of urban air.  During the study period, well defined diurnal variation of conductivity was observed with higher values before sun rise and lower values during afternoon hours.  For most of the fair weather days, variations in conductivity show a strong correlation with relative humidity and anti-correlation with ambient temperature. The monthly mean values of conductivity show highest values in winter and lowest in monsoon and interestingly a positive Pearson’s correlation coefficient of +0.5 was found between measured alpha ionization energy and atmospheric conductivity during the study period.
Topological Indices of Dendrimers used in Drug Delivery
Authors: Jude T. P. , Panchadcharam E. , Masilamani K.
Published: September 2020

The topological index is a numerical representation of a molecular structure. In chemical graphs, the atoms and the chemical bonds between them are represented by vertices and edges respectively. Vertex degree based topological indices are the most studied and mostly used type of topological indices. The mostly used vertex degree based topological indices in the field of drug design and developments are the Zagreb index and the Randić index. The structural chemistry of dendrimers could be manipulated by their topological indices to get the specific structure with required properties to deliver the drugs to target carrier vehicle. In this work, topological indices of three types of dendrimers which are used as the drug delivery system were studied and their Zagreb index and the Randić index were calculated using molecular graph theory. Moreover, the other versions of these two indices were also calculated to these dendrimers.
Microwave Assisted Efficient Synthesis of Some Flavones for Antimicrobial and ADMET Studies
Authors: Rahim M. A. , Bhuiayan M. M. H. , Matin M. M.
Published: September 2020

Microwave (MW) assisted synthetic technique was applied for the preparation of chalcone derivatives 5-7 employing Claisen-Schmidt condensation between 2-hydroxyacetophenone and aromatic aldehydes. These chalcones were further subjected to oxidative cyclization via MW irradiation and furnished the related flavones 8-10 which were characterized by FT-IR, 1H and 13CNMR spectra. The use of these MW assisted reactions provided higher productivity (92-98%) in shorter reaction time (2-6 min) with eco-friendly mild reaction conditions and hence found to be a convenient method as compared to conventional synthesis. These chalcones 5-7, and flavones 8-10 were screened for in vitro antimicrobial activities against five bacterial and three fungal pathogens. The study indicated that they were more active against fungal pathogens than that of bacterial organisms and comparable to the standard antifungal antibiotic nystatin. Interestingly, the prediction of activity spectra for substances (PASS) was also found in agreement with the in vitro results. Some of the compounds were found to have good ADMET properties.
pH and Temperature Dependent Gut Enzyme Niche in a Stomachless Herbivorous Freshwater Fish Amblypharyngodon mola (Hamilton, 1822)
Authors: Debnath S. , Maiti S. I. , Saikia S. K.
Published: September 2020

The activities of digestive α-amylase (E. C. 3.2.1.1), total proteases, and bile salt-activated lipase (E. C. 3.1.1.-) along the digestive tract (lengthwise divided into five equal parts) of a stomachless freshwater fish (n = 10, weight = 4.354±0.316 g, standard length = 21.641±2.271 cm) were measured at different pH and temperature levels. Different optimum pH and temperature for the activity of α-amylase (8-9, 35°C), proteases (7-8, 45°C), and lipase (8, 45°C) were observed. The first two regions of the digestive tract showed comparatively higher activity of all enzymes. The hierarchical clustering technique revealed three different enzymatically active regions, more inclined to pH in the digestive tract of the studied fish. The present study also supports that the stomachless gut of A. mola has substantial resemblances to the intestinal part of the digestive tract of fish.
Australian Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AGAR) Australian Staphylococcus aureus Sepsis Outcome Programme (ASSOP) Annual Report 2019
Authors: Coombs Geoffrey W , Daley Denise A , Mowlaboccus Shakeel , Pang Stanley
Published: September 2020

From 1 January to 31 December 2019, 39 institutions around Australia participated in the Australian Staphylococcus aureus Sepsis Outcome Programme (ASSOP). The aim of ASSOP 2019 was to determine the proportion of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) isolates in Australia that are antimicrobial resistant, with particular emphasis on susceptibility to methicillin and on characterising the molecular epidemiology of the methicillin-resistant isolates. A total of 3,157 S. aureus bacteraemia episodes were reported, of which 79.8% were community-onset. 18.5% of S. aureus were methicillin resistant. The 30-day all-cause mortality associated with methicillin-resistant SAB was 14.0%, which was not significantly different from the 14.3% mortality associated with methicillin-susceptible SAB (p = 0.9). With the exception of the β-lactams and erythromycin, antimicrobial resistance in methicillin-susceptible S. aureus was rare. However, in addition to the β-lactams, approximately 36% of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) were resistant to ciprofloxacin, 34% to erythromycin, 13% to tetracycline, 9% to gentamicin and 4% to co-trimoxazole. When applying the EUCAST breakpoints, teicoplanin resistance was detected in two S. aureus isolates. Resistance was not detected for vancomycin and linezolid. Resistance to non-beta-lactam antimicrobials was largely attributable to two healthcare-associated MRSA clones: ST22-IV [2B] (EMRSA-15) and ST239-III [3A] (Aus-2/3 EMRSA). ST22-IV [2B] (EMRSA-15) is the predominant healthcare-associated clone in Australia. Eighty percent of methicillin-resistant SAB, however, were due to community-associated clones. Although polyclonal, approximately 71.4% of community-associated clones were variously characterised as ST93-IV [2B] (Queensland CA-MRSA), ST5-IV [2B], ST45-VT [5C2&5], ST1-IV [2B], ST30-IV [2B], ST78-IV [2B] and ST8-IV [2B]. Community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA), in particular the ST45-VT [5C2&5] clone, have acquired multiple antimicrobial resistance determinants including ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, clindamycin, gentamicin and tetracycline. The multiresistant ST45-VT [5C2&5] clone accounted for 12.7% of CA-MRSA. As CA-MRSA is well established in the Australian community, it is important that antimicrobial resistance patterns in community- and healthcare-associated SAB are monitored, as this information will guide therapeutic practices in treating S. aureus sepsis.
Effects of Sprint And Plyometric Training on Speed, Jumping And Anaerobic Strenght of Hearing Impaired Male Sportsmen
Authors: Kurt İbrahim , Akdenk Mürsel , Akbulut Mehmet , Kurt Mustafa Kemal
Published: September 2020

The study aims to determine the effect of a 8 week sprint and pliometric training out regularly on speed, jump and anaerobic power parameters among hearing impaired male athletes at the age of 18-21. The measurement and tests of the study was carried out in 2018 and the article was written in 2019 in Samsun. 45 male volunteers with hearing impairment participated in this study. 15 of whom are sprint training (experimental) group aged 19.6±1,18; 15 of whom are pliometrik training (experimental) group aged 19.33±1,12 and 15 of whom are control group aged 19.87±1,19. The experiment groups was made to take sprint and pliometric training practices for 8 weeks, the content of which had been determined before hand while the participants attended their trainings in their local teams. Two assessments were carried out in specified parameters for three groups at the beginning and end of the study. In statistical analysis, the significance level was taken as α=0,05. One way analysis of variance was used to determine the differences between the groups. When the differences were found, Tukey test was used. Paired sample t-test for within group analysis. There are not any statistically difference in parameters of age, weight and training age of the participants (p>0.05). There is statistically significant difference in height parameter (p<0.05). 8 weeks of training, at the end of the results of participants data, there are significant differences among body weight, verticalle and horizontal jumping, 20 meters and 30 meters sprint (p<0,01); anaerobic power, sprint group (p<0.05), pliometric group (p<0,01) positive increase. There is significant difference found in anaerobic strenght in control group (p<0,05). In conclusion, the results of the present study showed that both sprint and plyometric training for 8 weeks improve the sprint, jump and anaerobic power performance.
Monoclonal Antibodies Generated against Glycoconjugates Recognize Chemical Linkers
Authors: Ramadhin Jessica , Silva-Moraes Vanessa , Norberg Thomas , Harn Donald
Published: September 2020

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that recognize glycans are useful tools to assess carbohydrates’ structure and function. We sought to produce IgG mAbs to the human milk oligosaccharide (HMO), lacto-N-fucopentaose III (LNFPIII). LNFPIII contains the Lewisx antigen, which is found on the surface of schistosome parasites. mAbs binding the Lewisx antigen are well-reported in the literature, but mAbs recognizing HMO structures are rare. To generate mAbs, mice were immunized with LNFPIII-DEX (P3DEX) plus CpGs in VacSIM®, a novel vaccine/drug delivery platform. Mice were boosted with LNFPIII-HSA (P3HSA) plus CpGs in Incomplete Freund’s Adjuvant (IFA). Splenocytes from immunized mice were used to generate hybridomas and were screened against LNFPIII conjugates via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Three positive hybridomas were expanded, and one hybridoma, producing IgG and IgM antibodies, was cloned via flow cytometry. Clone F1P2H4D8D5 was selected because it produced IgG1 mAbs, but rescreening unexpectedly showed binding to both LNFPIII and lacto-N-neotetraose (LNnT) conjugates. To further assess the specificity of the mAb, we screened it on two glycan microarrays and found no significant binding. This finding suggests that the mAb binds to the acetylphenylenediamine (APD) linker-spacer structure of the conjugate. We present the results herein, suggesting that our new mAb could be a useful probe for conjugates using similar linker spacer structures.
Phage Therapy, Lysin Therapy, and Antibiotics: A Trio Due to Come
Authors: G. Villa Tomás , Sieiro Carmen
Published: September 2020

Since their introduction, at the beginning of the 20th century, antibiotics were regarded as “magic-bullets”, a term coined by Paul Ehrlich, and, for several decades, considered as the universal panacea to combat pathogenic and/or undesirable bacteria [...]
Preparation and Performance of a Waterborne UV/Al Low Infrared Emissivity Coating
Authors: Yan Xiaoxing , Wang Lin
Published: September 2020

An Al powder filler, nano silica slurry and KH560 were mixed with a prepared waterborne UV-curable coating, and the coating was optimized by an orthogonal experiment. Influences of the Al powder concentration on the gloss, infrared emissivity, brightness, mechanical properties, corrosion resistance and other related properties of the coating were further discussed. The results show that the influence of the Al powder concentration on the gloss was more significant, followed by the UV curing time and nano silica slurry concentration. After studying the key role of the concentration of the Al powder, we found that as the concentration of the Al powder is augmented from 10.0% to 25.0%, the gloss lessened from 19.1% to 8.5%. As the concentration of the Al powder was augmented from 10.0% to 40.0%, the infrared emissivity lessened from 0.649 to 0.083 and the brightness L’ value of the coating was step-by-step augmented and inclined to be stable; in addition, the coating’s mechanical properties reached an excellent level. The coating containing 25.0% Al powder had the best corrosion resistance, surface morphology and comprehensive properties, which can potentially be used for infrared stealth technology.
Video Game-Based Therapy on Balance and Gait of Patients with Stroke: A Systematic Review
Authors: Pintado-Izquierdo Silvia , Cano-de-la-Cuerda Roberto , Ortiz-Gutiérrez Rosa María
Published: September 2020

Background: Stroke patients with motor, sensory and cognitive diseases can take profits from information and communication technologies—in particular, from the latest commercial video consoles, which are based on motion capture. These technologies are positioning themselves as complementary therapeutic tools for treating gait and balance disorders. In this paper, a systematic review of the effect of video game-based therapy on balance and gait in stroke patients is shown and compared with other types of treatments. Methods: A systematic review of prospective controlled clinical trials published in the main biomedical databases in English and Spanish between 2005 and 2020 was performed. The systematic review presented in this paper has been done following the Cochrane Manual recommendations and the PRISMA Declaration by two independent reviewers. Data about participants, intervention, outcome measurements and outcome measurement results were extracted. The quality of evidence of each study was assessed using Cochrane’s standard quality assessment format, which includes a description of the risk of bias. Additionally, the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale was used to assess the methodological quality of each paper. Results: A total of 18 papers, including 479 patients, were included in this systematic review, in which the use of video consoles (in combination with conventional rehabilitation or exclusively) was compared with conventional rehabilitation to treat balance or gait in post-stroke patients. In all studies, a tendency to improve balance was found in both intervention groups, finding, in 10 of 17 studies that analysed it, a better capacity in the experimental group that included video consoles compared to the conventional rehabilitation control group. Regarding gait, in six of seven studies that analysed it, improvements were found in both intervention groups, and these improvements were greater in the experimental group than compared to the control group in three of them. Conclusions: Commercial video game systems, in combination with conventional rehabilitation, have shown positive results on balance and gait in post-stroke patients. There were variations between the trials in terms of the video consoles used and the duration, frequency and number of sessions with commercial video games. Future studies should compare the effects of commercial video game treatments on balance and gait in stroke patients with a nonintervention group to know their real efficacy.
ICP-Mass-Spectrometry Ionic Profile of Whole Saliva in Patients with Untreated and Treated Periodontitis
Authors: Romano Federica , Castiblanco Alexandra , Spadotto Francesca , Di Scipio Federica , Malandrino Mery , Berta Giovanni Nicolao , Aimetti Mario
Published: September 2020

Over the past decade, there has been growing interest in the association between macro and trace minerals in body fluids and systemic diseases related to chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. Due to the paucity of data in the literature on periodontitis, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the relationship between mineral elements in saliva and periodontal status in patients with untreated and treated periodontitis compared to periodontally healthy controls. Salivary samples from 66 nonsmoker healthy patients (20 periodontally healthy, 24 untreated severe periodontitis and 22 treated severe periodontitis) were analyzed by using inductively coupled plasma mass-spectrometry (ICP-MS). Significant increases in copper (Cu), sodium (Na), iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) concentrations occurred in saliva of severe periodontitis subjects compared to periodontally healthy controls. No differences were detected between healthy controls and treated periodontitis patients apart from levels of zinc (Zn) and lithium (Li) that were found to be increased and reduced, respectively, in periodontitis group. Most subjects were correctly separated by cluster analysis into active periodontitis and periodontally healthy individuals. Treated periodontitis individuals were classified as healthy subjects. Based on these preliminary results, the assessment of salivary concentration of mineral elements might be useful in discriminating periodontal health and disease.
Resting EEG, Hair Cortisol and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older People with Different Perceived Socioeconomic Status
Authors: Villada Carolina , González-López Mauricio , Aguilar-Zavala Herlinda , Fernández Thalía
Published: September 2020

Successful aging depends upon several internal and external factors that influence the overall aging process. Objective and subjective socioeconomic status emerge as potential psychosocial factors in the ethiopathophysiology of aging-related disorders. Presumably, low socioeconomic status can act as a psychosocial stressor that can affect humans’ physiology via psychoneuroendocrine mechanisms, that may, in turn, affect the brain physiology. In resting-state electroencephalography (EEG), excess theta and delta activity has been related to cognitive decline and dementia. The main aim of this study was to analyze the effect of objective and subjective socioeconomic status (SES) on cognition and brain electrical activity through EEG measures. The present research constitutes a cross-sectional study with thirty healthy older adults (61–82 years old) separated into two clusters: high socioeconomic (HS) and low socioeconomic (LS) status; they were evaluated and compared in cognitive terms using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV). An EEG at rest was recorded to measure brain activity and, as an indicator of long-term stress exposure, hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) were measured. Our results show that lower SES is related to a worse performance in working memory tasks (p = 0.009), higher delta (p = 0.002) and theta power (p = 0.039), and lower alpha activity (p = 0.028). However, it seems that SES does not significantly affect HCC in this population of healthy older adults. The effects of SES on long-term cortisol exposure, brain electrical activity, and cognitive functions in healthy older people emphasize the role of psychosocial factors in aging from an integrative perspective that will allow us to implement better prevention programs to target cognitive decline in adults.
Targeting Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells in Cancer Immunotherapy
Authors: Wang Yufei , Jia Anna , Bi Yujing , Wang Yuexin , Yang Qiuli , Cao Yejin , Li Yan , Liu Guangwei
Published: September 2020

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), which are activated under pathological conditions, are a group of heterogeneous immature myeloid cells. MDSCs have potent capacities to support tumor growth via inhibition of the antitumoral immune response and/or the induction of immunosuppressive cells. In addition, multiple studies have demonstrated that MDSCs provide potential therapeutic targets for the elimination of immunosuppressive functions and the inhibition of tumor growth. The combination of targeting MDSCs and other therapeutic approaches has also demonstrated powerful antitumor effects. In this review, we summarize the characteristics of MDSCs in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and current strategies of cancer treatment by targeting MDSCs.
Mitochondrial Respiratory Defect Enhances Hepatoma Cell Invasiveness via STAT3/NFE2L1/STX12 Axis
Authors: Lee Young-Kyoung , Kwon So Mee , Lee Eun-beom , Kim Gyeong-Hyeon , Min Seongki , Hong Sun-Mi , Wang Hee-Jung , Lee Dong Min , Choi Kyeong Sook , Park Tae Jun , Yoon Gyesoon
Published: September 2020

Mitochondrial respiratory defects have been implicated in cancer progression and metastasis, but how they control tumor cell aggressiveness remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that a mitochondrial respiratory defect induces nuclear factor-erythroid 2 like 1 (NFE2L1) expression at the transcriptional level via reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated STAT3 activation. We identified syntaxin 12 (STX12) as an effective downstream target of NFE2L1 by performing cDNA microarray analysis after the overexpression and depletion of NFE2L1 in hepatoma cells. Bioinformatics analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas Liver Hepatocellular carcinoma (TCGA-LIHC) open database (n = 371) also revealed a significant positive association (r = 0.3, p = 2.49 × 10−9) between NFE2L1 and STX12 expression. We further demonstrated that STX12 is upregulated through the ROS/STAT3/NFE2L1 axis and is a key downstream effector of NFE2L1 in modulating hepatoma cell invasiveness. In addition, gene enrichment analysis of TCGA-LIHC also showed that epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related core genes are significantly upregulated in tumors co-expressing NFE2L1 and STX12. The positive association between NFE2L1 and STX12 expression was validated by immunohistochemistry of the hepatocellular carcinoma tissue array. Finally, higher EMT gene enrichment and worse overall survival (p = 0.043) were observed in the NFE2L1 and STX12 co-expression group with mitochondrial defect, as indicated by low NDUFA9 expression. Collectively, our results indicate that NFE2L1 is a key mitochondrial retrograde signaling-mediated primary gene product enhancing hepatoma cell invasiveness via STX12 expression and promoting liver cancer progression.
Thickness Effect on Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2 Thin Films Fabricated by Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis
Authors: Dundar Ibrahim , Mere Arvo , Mikli Valdek , Krunks Malle , Oja Acik Ilona
Published: September 2020

In this study, TiO2 thin films were deposited by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis from solutions with concentrations of 0.1 and 0.2 M. The deposition temperature was adjusted at 350 °C and all samples were annealed at 500 °C for 1 h in air. The thickness of TiO2 films was changed in the range of 50 to ca. 800 nm by varying the number of spray cycles from 1 to 21 and the solution concentration. The results showed that the mean crystallite size of the anatase structure, the surface roughness, and light absorption increased with the film thickness. The effect of film thickness on the photocatalytic activity was investigated with the photodegradation of stearic acid under UV-A irradiation. The optimal thickness of TiO2 films fabricated by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis for photocatalytic self-cleaning applications was in the range of 170–230 nm, indicating a ca. 2.6 times-higher photocatalytic self-cleaning activity compared to the reference sample, Pilkington ActivTM. The photocatalytic results showed that the 190 nm-thick TiO2 film deposited from the 0.1 M solution applying seven spray cycles exhibited the finest grain structure and maximum photocatalytic activity, leading to 94% of stearic acid degradation in 180 min under UV-A light with the reaction rate constant k = 0.01648 min−1.
HVOF Cermet Coatings to Improve Sliding Wear Resistance in Engineering Systems
Authors: Straffelini Giovanni , Federici Matteo
Published: September 2020

High-Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF) cermet coatings are widely employed in sliding conditions, due to their optimized microstructure, composed of a carbide phase embedded into a ductile metal matrix. In the present short review, the characteristics and mechanical properties of HVOF cermet coatings are considered, and the dry sliding behaviour of the main types of coatings is analysed at room and high temperature. The role of microstructural parameters, including defects, surface roughness and the nature of the counterface is discussed. The review also considers a specific application, namely HVOF coatings for discs in brake applications. This application is gaining in importance, since it reduces the wear of the braking components and thus the emission of airborne particulate matter.
Individual Variation in Predatory Behavior, Scavenging and Seasonal Prey Availability as Potential Drivers of Coexistence between Wolves and Bears
Authors: Ordiz Andrés , Milleret Cyril , Uzal Antonio , Zimmermann Barbara , Wabakken Petter , Wikenros Camilla , Sand Håkan , Swenson Jon E , Kindberg Jonas
Published: September 2020

Several large carnivore populations are recovering former ranges, and it is important to understand interspecific interactions between overlapping species. In Scandinavia, recent research has reported that brown bear presence influences gray wolf habitat selection and kill rates. Here, we characterized the temporal use of a common prey resource by sympatric wolves and bears and described individual and seasonal variation in their direct and/or indirect interactions. Most bear–wolf interactions were indirect, via bear scavenging of wolf kills. Bears used >50% of wolf kills, whereas we did not record any wolf visit at bear kills. Adult and subadult bears visited wolf kills, but female bears with cubs of the year, the most vulnerable age class to conspecifics and other predators, did not. Wolf and bear kill rates peaked in early summer, when both targeted neonate moose calves, which coincided with a reduction in bear scavenging rate. Some bears were highly predatory and some did not kill any calf. Individual and age-class variation (in bear predation and scavenging patterns) and seasonality (in bear scavenging patterns and main prey availability of both wolves and bears) could mediate coexistence of these apex predators. Similar processes likely occur in other ecosystems with varying carnivore assemblages.
Correlation between Blood Flow and Temperature of the Ocular Anterior Segment in Normal Subjects
Authors: Itokawa Takashi , Suzuki Takashi , Okajima Yukinobu , Kobayashi Tatsuhiko , Iwashita Hiroko , Gotoda Satoshi , Kakisu Koji , Tei Yuto , Hori Yuichi
Published: September 2020

Purpose: To determine a correlation between temperature and blood flow in the ocular anterior segment, and their effects on corneal temperature. Methods: In experiment 1, we recruited 40 eyes and measured the temperature and blood flow in the ocular anterior-segment (upper/lower eyelid skin, palpebral and bulbar conjunctiva, and cornea) before and after application of warm compresses. In experiment 2, we recruited 20 eyes and measured the same tissues before and during stimulation using water and capsaicin solution in the oral cavity. Results: In experiment 1, the temperatures of the upper/lower eyelid skin and cornea increased significantly until 15 min after the application of the warm compress; the temperatures of the palpebral and bulbar conjunctiva increased significantly until 10 min. The blood flow in the upper/lower eyelid skin and bulbar conjunctiva increased significantly until 10 min, and that of the palpebral conjunctiva increased significantly until 15 min. In experiment 2, the temperatures were correlated significantly with the blood flow in the upper and lower eyelid skin and palpebral and bulbar conjunctiva. The temperature of all locations and palpebral conjunctival blood flow contributed independently to the corneal temperature. Conclusions: In the ocular anterior segment, the temperature and blood flow were correlated significantly, and contributed to the corneal temperature.
Butterfly Effect in Chaotic Image Segmentation
Authors: Mărginean Radu , Andreica Anca , Dioşan Laura , Bálint Zoltán
Published: September 2020

The exploitation of the important features exhibited by the complex systems found in the surrounding natural and artificial space will improve computational model performance. Therefore, the purpose of the current paper is to use cellular automata as a tool simulating complexity, able to bring forth an interesting global behaviour based only on simple, local interactions. We show that, in the context of image segmentation, a butterfly effect arises when we perturb the neighbourhood system of a cellular automaton. Specifically, we enhance a classical GrowCut cellular automaton with chaotic features, which are also able to improve its performance (e.g., a Dice coefficient of 71% in case of 2D images). This enhanced GrowCut flavor (referred to as Band-Based GrowCut) uses an extended, stochastic neighbourhood, in which randomly-selected remote neighbours reinforce the standard local ones. We demonstrate the presence of the butterfly effect and an increase in segmentation performance by numerical experiments performed on synthetic and natural images. Thus, our results suggest that, by having small changes in the initial conditions of the performed task, we can induce major changes in the final outcome of the segmentation.
TMEA: A Thermodynamically Motivated Framework for Functional Characterization of Biological Responses to System Acclimation
Authors: Schneider Kevin , Venn Benedikt , Mühlhaus Timo
Published: September 2020

The objective of gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) in modern biological studies is to identify functional profiles in huge sets of biomolecules generated by high-throughput measurements of genes, transcripts, metabolites, and proteins. GSEA is based on a two-stage process using classical statistical analysis to score the input data and subsequent testing for overrepresentation of the enrichment score within a given functional coherent set. However, enrichment scores computed by different methods are merely statistically motivated and often elusive to direct biological interpretation. Here, we propose a novel approach, called Thermodynamically Motivated Enrichment Analysis (TMEA), to account for the energy investment in biological relevant processes. Therefore, TMEA is based on surprisal analysis, which offers a thermodynamic-free energy-based representation of the biological steady state and of the biological change. The contribution of each biomolecule underlying the changes in free energy is used in a Monte Carlo resampling procedure resulting in a functional characterization directly coupled to the thermodynamic characterization of biological responses to system perturbations. To illustrate the utility of our method on real experimental data, we benchmark our approach on plant acclimation to high light and compare the performance of TMEA with the most frequently used method for GSEA.
Inference for Convolutionally Observed Diffusion Processes
Authors: Nakakita Shogo H , Uchida Masayuki
Published: September 2020

We propose a new statistical observation scheme of diffusion processes named convolutional observation, where it is possible to deal with smoother observation than ordinary diffusion processes by considering convolution of diffusion processes and some kernel functions with respect to time parameter. We discuss the estimation and test theories for the parameter determining the smoothness of the observation, as well as the least-square-type estimation for the parameters in the diffusion coefficient and the drift one of the latent diffusion process. In addition to the theoretical discussion, we also examine the performance of the estimation and the test with computational simulation, and show an example of real data analysis for one EEG data whose observation can be regarded as smoother one than ordinary diffusion processes with statistical significance.
Bayesian Inference for the Kumaraswamy Distribution under Generalized Progressive Hybrid Censoring
Authors: Tu Jiayi , Gui Wenhao
Published: September 2020

Incomplete data are unavoidable for survival analysis as well as life testing, so more and more researchers are beginning to study censoring data. This paper discusses and considers the estimation of unknown parameters featured by the Kumaraswamy distribution on the condition of generalized progressive hybrid censoring scheme. Estimation of reliability is also considered in this paper. To begin with, the maximum likelihood estimators are derived. In addition, Bayesian estimators under not only symmetric but also asymmetric loss functions, like general entropy, squared error as well as linex loss function, are also offered. Since the Bayesian estimates fail to be of explicit computation, Lindley approximation, as well as the Tierney and Kadane method, is employed to obtain the Bayesian estimates. A simulation research is conducted for the comparison of the effectiveness of the proposed estimators. A real-life example is employed for illustration.
MRI Brain Classification Using the Quantum Entropy LBP and Deep-Learning-Based Features
Authors: Hasan Ali M. , Jalab Hamid A. , Ibrahim Rabha W. , Meziane Farid , AL-Shamasneh Ala’a R. , Obaiys Suzan J.
Published: September 2020

Brain tumor detection at early stages can increase the chances of the patient’s recovery after treatment. In the last decade, we have noticed a substantial development in the medical imaging technologies, and they are now becoming an integral part in the diagnosis and treatment processes. In this study, we generalize the concept of entropy difference defined in terms of Marsaglia formula (usually used to describe two different figures, statues, etc.) by using the quantum calculus. Then we employ the result to extend the local binary patterns (LBP) to get the quantum entropy LBP (QELBP). The proposed study consists of two approaches of features extractions of MRI brain scans, namely, the QELBP and the deep learning DL features. The classification of MRI brain scan is improved by exploiting the excellent performance of the QELBP–DL feature extraction of the brain in MRI brain scans. The combining all of the extracted features increase the classification accuracy of long short-term memory network when using it as the brain tumor classifier. The maximum accuracy achieved for classifying a dataset comprising 154 MRI brain scan is 98.80%. The experimental results demonstrate that combining the extracted features improves the performance of MRI brain tumor classification.
Fever Time Series Analysis Using Slope Entropy. Application to Early Unobtrusive Differential Diagnosis
Authors: Cuesta-Frau David , Dakappa Pradeepa H. , Mahabala Chakrapani , Gupta Arjun R.
Published: September 2020

Fever is a readily measurable physiological response that has been used in medicine for centuries. However, the information provided has been greatly limited by a plain thresholding approach, overlooking the additional information provided by temporal variations and temperature values below such threshold that are also representative of the subject status. In this paper, we propose to utilize continuous body temperature time series of patients that developed a fever, in order to apply a method capable of diagnosing the specific underlying fever cause only by means of a pattern relative frequency analysis. This analysis was based on a recently proposed measure, Slope Entropy, applied to a variety of records coming from dengue and malaria patients, among other fever diseases. After an input parameter customization, a classification analysis of malaria and dengue records took place, quantified by the Matthews Correlation Coefficient. This classification yielded a high accuracy, with more than 90% of the records correctly labelled in some cases, demonstrating the feasibility of the approach proposed. This approach, after further studies, or combined with more measures such as Sample Entropy, is certainly very promising in becoming an early diagnosis tool based solely on body temperature temporal patterns, which is of great interest in the current Covid-19 pandemic scenario.
Online Mathematics Teacherpreneurs Developers on Teachers Pay Teachers: Who Are They and Why Are They Popular?
Authors: Sawyer Amanda G. , Dick Lara K. , Sutherland Pierre
Published: September 2020

Online teacherpreneurs are teachers who use social media platforms to create, sell, and distribute educational resources to others. For many teachers, they have become the new curriculum developers in our virtually intensive world. Curriculum development in mathematics education has a large impact on how students understand concepts, but little is known about these online mathematics teacherpreneurs influences on the curriculum. Therefore, as part of a larger study investigating the top 500 free elementary mathematics educational resource developers on TeachersPayTeachers.com (TpT), we surveyed the teacherpreneurs who created these top resources. Using the constant comparative method, we analyzed 58 responses to learn more about the online mathematics TpT teacherpreneurs: who they are, how they believe they became popular, and what they believe their teacher customers want when searching for resources. We found these teacherpreneurs identified themselves as teachers with typically over 10 years of experience creating classroom resources. Many attributed their popularity to advertising their resources via social media and having a large number of products available for teachers. They identified beliefs that teachers want easy to use, free, quality materials that are visually appealing. Implications, including findings that indicate a misalignment between what teachers say they want and what the teacherpreneurs believe teachers want, are discussed.