bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Introducing Care 4.0: An Integrated Care Paradigm Built on Industry 4.0 Capabilities
Authors: Chute Chaloner , French Tara
Published: June 2019

Western developed health and care policy is shifting from a patriarchal medical model to a co-managed and integrated approach. Meanwhile, the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) is transforming manufacturing in line with the digital consumer revolution. Digital health and care initiatives are beginning to use some of the same capabilities to optimize healthcare provision. However, this is usually limited to self-management as part of an organization-centric delivery model. True co-management and integration with other organizations and people is difficult because it requires formal care organizations to share control and extend trust. Through a co-design lens, this paper discusses a more person-centered application of Industry 4.0 capabilities for care. It introduces ‘Care 4.0’, a new paradigm that could change the way people develop digital health and care services, focusing on trusted, integrated networks of organizations, people and technologies. These networks and tools would help people co-manage and use their own assets, in the context of their own care circle and community. It would enable personalized services that are more responsive to care needs and aspirations, offering preventative approaches that ultimately create a more flexible and sustainable set of integrated health and social care services that support meaningful engagement and interactions.
Prevalence of Burnout among Primary Health Care Staff and Its Predictors: A Study in Iran
Authors: Zarei Ehsan , Ahmadi Fariba , Sial Muhammad Safdar , Hwang Jinsoo , Thu Phung Anh , Usman Sardar Muhammad
Published: June 2019

Burnout, which is an emerging challenge in health systems, is very common among primary health care (PHC) workers. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of burnout among PHC workers, and its predictive factors, in a region in the west of Iran. In this cross-sectional study, all the health network staff (n = 539) were enrolled. The data collection instrument was the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), which consists of 22 items and the three subscales of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal achievement (PA). High scores in EE and DP and low scores in PA are indicative of high burnout. Logistic regression was used to determine the predictors of high burnout. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 16. The findings showed that 90.5% of the staff had high DP, 55.3% had high EE, and 98.9% had low PA scores. Also, 52.9% (277 people) of the staff suffered from high burnout. Single people (OR = 3.33), less experienced employees (OR = 9.09), people aged over 35 years (OR = 2.35), physicians (OR = 1.72), and staff with permanent employment (OR = 5.0) were more likely to suffer high levels of burnout. We conclude that burnout is a common problem in PHC workers. Less experienced, younger, single employees and physicians were more at risk of suffering from high burnout. Preventive measures, such as strengthening social skills, communication competencies, and coping strategies, and reduction of risk factors such as job stress, are suggested for reducing employees’ risk of burnout.
Law and Business Students’ Attitudes towards Learning English for Specific Purposes within CLIL and Non-CLIL Contexts
Authors: Contero Urgal Candela
Published: June 2019

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses are present within most non-linguistic undergraduate studies offered in Spain. In particular, the University of Cádiz has a wide range of ESP teaching being delivered in the four campuses of the institution. Whereas this ESP instruction is thought as a way to help students develop language skills to be applied to their career paths, this very practical and useful goal may not be easily recognized by certain students. While previous research has revealed students’ attitudes towards learning ESP were generally positive, little has been said on their progression throughout the whole course. The aim of the present paper is to identify Law students’ approaches to a Legal English course taught through a specific methodology. Certain teaching strategies, which are also characteristic of the Content and Language Integrated Learning approach, were applied. For that purpose, the opinions of 88 respondents were collected and analysed during the second phase of their ESP course. Results revealed that although students showed a certain level of rejection before the course started, once they became well aware of the teaching methodology, their opinion changed positively. This would definitely be influenced by promoting students’ motivation, as well as the teaching methodology applied.
Understanding Dielectrics: Impact of External Salt Water Bath
Authors: Phillips Jonathan , Roman Alexander
Published: June 2019

As predicted by the theory of super dielectric materials, simple tests demonstrate that dielectric material on the outside of a parallel plate capacitor dramatically increases capacitance, energy density, and power density. Simple parallel plate capacitors with only ambient air between the plates behaved as per standard theory. Once the same capacitor was partially submerged in deionized water (DI), or DI with low dissolved NaCl concentrations, still with only ambient air between the electrodes, the capacitance, energy density, and power density, at low frequency, increased by more than seven orders of magnitude. Notably, conventional theory precludes the possibility that material outside the volume between the plates will in any fashion impact capacitive behavior.
Identifying Metabolomic Profiles of Insulinemic Dietary Patterns
Authors: Tabung Fred K. , Balasubramanian Raji , Liang Liming , Clinton Steven K. , Cespedes Feliciano Elizabeth M. , Manson JoAnn E. , Van Horn Linda , Wactawski-Wende Jean , Clish Clary B. , Giovannucci Edward L. , Rexrode Kathryn M.
Published: June 2019

The food-based empirical dietary index for hyperinsulinemia (EDIH) score assesses the insulinemic potential of diet. This cross-sectional study evaluated associations between EDIH scores from food frequency questionnaires with c-peptide concentrations and with 448 metabolites, from fasting plasma samples, in multivariable linear regression analyses. Metabolites were measured with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy. Using a robust two-stage study design, discovery of metabolite associations was conducted among 1109 Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Hormone Therapy (HT) trial participants and results replicated in an independent dataset of 810 WHI Observational Study (OS) participants. In both discovery and replication datasets, statistical significance was based on the false-discovery rate adjusted P < 0.05. In the multivariable-adjusted analyses, EDIH was significantly associated with c-peptide concentrations among 919 women (HT & OS) with c-peptide data. On average, c-peptide concentrations were 18% higher (95% CI, 6%, 32%; P-trend < 0.0001) in EDIH quintile 5 compared to quintile 1. Twenty-six metabolites were significantly associated with EDIH in the discovery dataset, and 19 of these were replicated in the validation dataset. Nine metabolites were found to decrease in abundance with increasing EDIH scores and included: C14:0 CE, C16:1 CE, C18:1 CE, C18:3 CE, C20:3 CE, C20:5 CE, C36:1 PS plasmalogen, trigonelline, and eicosapentanoate, whereas the 10 metabolites observed to increase with increasing EDIH scores were: C18:2 SM, C36:3 DAG, C36:4 DAG-A, C51:3 TAG, C52:3 TAG, C52:4, TAG, C54:3 TAG, C54:4 TAG, C54:6 TAG, and C10:2 carnitine. Cholesteryl esters, phospholipids, acylglycerols, and acylcarnitines may constitute circulating metabolites that are associated with insulinemic dietary patterns.
Purification, Characterization, Prebiotic Preparations and Antioxidant Activity of Oligosaccharides from Mulberries
Authors: Li Erna , Yang Shiyuan , Zou Yuxiao , Cheng Weiwei , Li Bing , Hu Tenggen , Li Qian , Wang Weifei , Liao Sentai , Pang Daorui
Published: June 2019

A water-soluble oligosaccharide termed EMOS-1a was prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis of polysaccharides purified from mulberries by column chromatography. The chemical structure of the purified fraction was investigated by ultraviolet spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, which indicated that galactose was the main constituent of EMOS-1a. Chemical analyses showed that the uronic acid and sulfate content of EMOS-1a were 5.6% and 8.35%, respectively, while gel permeation chromatography showed that EMOS-1a had an average molecular weight of 987 Da. The antioxidant activities of EMOS-1a were next investigated, and EMOS-1a exhibited concentration-dependent 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity, Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, and ferric reducing antioxidant power. The level of proliferation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus reached 1420 ± 16% when 4% (w/v) EMOS-1a was added, where the number of colonies in MRS (de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe) medium with no added oligosaccharide was defined as 100% proliferation. These results indicate that the oligosaccharide EMOS-1a could be used as a natural antioxidant in prebiotic preparations.
Metabolic Profiling of Water-Soluble Compounds from the Extracts of Dark Septate Endophytic Fungi (DSE) Isolated from Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) Seedlings Using UPLC–Orbitrap–MS
Authors: Tienaho Jenni , Karonen Maarit , Muilu–Mäkelä Riina , Wähälä Kristiina , Leon Denegri Eduardo , Franzén Robert , Karp Matti , Santala Ville , Sarjala Tytti
Published: June 2019

Endophytes are microorganisms living inside plant hosts and are known to be beneficial for the host plant vitality. In this study, we isolated three endophytic fungus species from the roots of Scots pine seedlings growing on Finnish drained peatland setting. The isolated fungi belonged to dark septate endophytes (DSE). The metabolic profiles of the hot water extracts of the fungi were investigated using Ultrahigh Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode Array Detection and Electron Spray Ionization source Mass Spectrometry with Orbitrap analyzer (UPLC–DAD–ESI–MS–Orbitrap). Out of 318 metabolites, we were able to identify 220, of which a majority was amino acids and peptides. Additionally, opine amino acids, amino acid quinones, Amadori compounds, cholines, nucleobases, nucleosides, nucleotides, siderophores, sugars, sugar alcohols and disaccharides were found, as well as other previously reported metabolites from plants or endophytes. Some differences of the metabolic profiles, regarding the amount and identity of the found metabolites, were observed even though the fungi were isolated from the same host. Many of the discovered metabolites have been described possessing biological activities and properties, which may make a favorable contribution to the host plant nutrient availability or abiotic and biotic stress tolerance.
Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of 7-Chloro-9H-pyrimido[4,5-b]indole-based Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3β Inhibitors
Authors: Andreev Stanislav , Pantsar Tatu , Ansideri Francesco , Kudolo Mark , Forster Michael , Schollmeyer Dieter , Laufer Stefan A. , Koch Pierre
Published: June 2019

Glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) represents a relevant drug target for the treatment of neurodegenerative pathologies including Alzheimer’s disease. We herein report on the optimization of a novel class of GSK-3β inhibitors based on the tofacitinib-derived screen hit 3-((3R,4R)-3-((7-chloro-9H-pyrimido[4,5-b]indol-4-yl)(methyl)amino)-4-methylpiperidin-1-yl)-3-oxopropanenitrile (1). We synthesized a series of 19 novel 7-chloro-9H-pyrimido[4,5-b]indole-based derivatives and studied their structure–activity relationships with focus on the cyanoacetyl piperidine moiety. We unveiled the crucial role of the nitrile group and its importance for the activity of this compound series. A successful rigidization approach afforded 3-(3aRS,7aSR)-(1-(7-chloro-9H-pyrimido[4,5-b]indol-4-yl)octahydro-6H-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridin-6-yl)-propanenitrile (24), which displayed an IC50 value of 130 nM on GSK-3β and was further characterized by its metabolic stability. Finally, we disclosed the putative binding modes of the most potent inhibitors within the ATP binding site of GSK-3β by 1 µs molecular dynamics simulations.
Development of a Method for the Quantification of Clotrimazole and Itraconazole and Study of Their Stability in a New Microemulsion for the Treatment of Sporotrichosis
Authors: Garcia Ferreira Patricia , Guimarães de Souza Lima Carolina , Noronha Letícia Lorena , de Moraes Marcela Cristina , Silva Fernando de Carvalho da , Lifsitch Viçosa Alessandra , Omena Futuro Débora , Francisco Ferreira Vitor
Published: June 2019

Sporotrichosis occurs worldwide and is caused by the fungus Sporothrix brasiliensis. This agent has a high zoonotic potential and is transmitted mainly by bites and scratches from infected felines. A new association between the drugs clotrimazole and itraconazole is shown to be effective against S. brasiliensis yeasts. This association was formulated as a microemulsion containing benzyl alcohol as oil, Tween® 60 and propylene glycol as surfactant and cosurfactant, respectively, and water. Initially, the compatibility between clotrimazole and itraconazole was studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TG), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray powder diffraction (PXRD). Additionally, a simple and efficient analytical HPLC method was developed to simultaneously determine the concentration of clotrimazole and itraconazole in the novel microemulsion. The developed method proved to be efficient, robust, and reproducible for both components of the microemulsion. We also performed an accelerated stability study of this formulation, and the developed analytical method was applied to monitor the content of active ingredients. Interestingly, these investigations led to the detection of a known clotrimazole degradation product whose structure was confirmed using NMR and HRMS, as well as a possible interaction between itraconazole and benzyl alcohol.
An Isoxazole Derivative SHU00238 Suppresses Colorectal Cancer Growth through miRNAs Regulation
Authors: Wang Haoyu , Ma Yurui , Lin Yifan , Liu Jiajie , Chen Rui , Xu Bin , Liang Yajun
Published: June 2019

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Isoxazoline and isoxazole derivatives represent an important class of five-membered heterocycles, which play a pivotal role in drug discovery. In our previous study, we developed a series of isoxazole derivatives with an efficient method. In this study, we evaluated their effects on tumor cell growth. HCT116 cells were treated with isoxazole derivatives; an cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8) assay was used to calculate the IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) of each derivative. Compound SHU00238, which was obtained by the copper nitrate-mediated [2+2+1] cycloaddition reaction of olefinic azlactone with naphthalene-1,4-dione, has a lower IC50; we analyzed its inhibitory activity in further assays. Cell apoptosis was estimated by flow cytometry analysis in vitro. SHU00238 injection was used to treat tumor-bearing mice. We found that SHU00238 suppressed cell viability and promoted cell apoptosis in vitro. SHU00238 treatment significantly inhibited colonic tumor growth in vivo. Furthermore, we compared the miRNAs expression changes in HCT116 cells before and after SHU00238 treatment. MiRNA profiling revealed that SHU00238 treatment affected cell fate by regulating a set of miRNAs. In conclusion, SHU00238 impedes CRC tumor cell proliferation and promotes cell apoptosis by miRNAs regulation.
Piperlongumine Induces Apoptosis and Synergizes with Doxorubicin by Inhibiting the JAK2-STAT3 Pathway in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Authors: Chen Di , Ma Yangmin , Li Peiqi , Liu Meng , Fang Yuan , Zhang Jiejie , Zhang Bilin , Hui Yuyu , Yin Yue
Published: June 2019

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) lacks major effective target molecules and chemotherapy remains the current main treatment. However, traditional chemotherapy drugs, such as doxorubicin (DOX), cause serious side effects and have a poor prognosis. Piperlongumine (PL), a natural alkaloid, has showed selective anticancer effects and is expected to become a new strategy against TNBC. In our research, cell viability, colony formation, flow cytometry, Western blot, and tumor xenograft model assays were established to evaluate the suppression effect of PL and DOX alone and in combination. Data showed that PL could effectively inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis in two TNBC cell lines. We also demonstrated for the first time that the combination treatment of PL and DOX synergistically inhibited cell growth and induced apoptosis in TNBC cells. The suppression of STAT3 activation was indicated to be a mechanism of the anticancer effect. Moreover, the effectiveness of this combination was confirmed in a tumor xenograft model. These results revealed that inhibition of the JAK2-STAT3 pathway was a key anticancer mechanism when treated with PL alone or combined with DOX, suggesting that the combination of PL and chemotherapy drugs may be a potential strategy for the clinical treatment of TNBC.
Methods to Discover and Evaluate Proteasome Small Molecule Stimulators
Authors: Coleman Rachel A. , Trader Darci J.
Published: June 2019

Protein accumulation has been identified as a characteristic of many degenerative conditions, such as neurodegenerative diseases and aging. In most cases, these conditions also present with diminished protein degradation. The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is responsible for the degradation of the majority of proteins in cells; however, the activity of the proteasome is reduced in these disease states, contributing to the accumulation of toxic protein. It has been hypothesized that proteasome activity, both ubiquitin-dependent and -independent, can be chemically stimulated to reduce the load of protein in diseased cells. Several methods exist to identify and characterize stimulators of proteasome activity. In this review, we detail the ways in which protease activity can be enhanced and analyze the biochemical and cellular methods of identifying stimulators of both the ubiquitin-dependent and -independent proteasome activities.
Essential Oil of Mentha aquatica var. Kenting Water Mint Suppresses Two-Stage Skin Carcinogenesis Accelerated by BRAF Inhibitor Vemurafenib
Authors: Chang Chih-Ting , Soo Wen-Ni , Chen Yu-Hsin , Shyur Lie-Fen
Published: June 2019

The v-raf murine sarcoma viral homolog B1 (BRAF) inhibitor drug vemurafenib (PLX4032) is used to treat melanoma; however, epidemiological evidence reveals that it could cause cutaneous keratoacanthomas and squamous cell carcinoma in cancer patients with the most prevalent HRASQ61L mutation. In a two-stage skin carcinogenesis mouse model, the skin papillomas induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)/12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) (DT) resemble the lesions in BRAF inhibitor-treated patients. In this study, we investigated the bioactivity of Mentha aquatica var. Kenting Water Mint essential oil (KWM-EO) against PDV cells, mouse keratinocytes bearing HRASQ61L mutation, and its effect on inhibiting papilloma formation in a two-stage skin carcinogenesis mouse model with or without PLX4032 co-treatment. Our results revealed that KWM-EO effectively attenuated cell viability, colony formation, and the invasive and migratory abilities of PDV cells. Induction of G2/M cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis in PDV cells was also observed. KWM-EO treatment significantly decreased the formation of cutaneous papilloma further induced by PLX4032 in DT mice (DTP). Immunohistochemistry analyses showed overexpression of keratin14 and COX-2 in DT and DTP skin were profoundly suppressed by KWM-EO treatment. This study demonstrates that KWM-EO has chemopreventive effects against PLX4032-induced cutaneous side-effects in a DMBA/TPA-induced two-stage carcinogenesis model and will be worth further exploration for possible application in melanoma patients.
High Concentrations of Polyelectrolyte Complex Nanoparticles Decrease Activity of Osteoclasts
Authors: Kauschke Vivien , Hessland Felix Maximilian , Vehlow David , Müller Martin , Heiss Christian , Lips Katrin Susanne
Published: June 2019

Fracture treatment in osteoporotic patients is still challenging. Osteoporosis emerges when there is an imbalance between bone formation and resorption in favor of resorption by osteoclasts. Thus, new implant materials for osteoporotic fracture treatment should promote bone formation and reduce bone resorption. Nanoparticles can serve as drug delivery systems for growth factors like Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), which stimulated osteoblast differentiation. Therefore, polyelectrolyte complex nanoparticles (PEC-NPs) consisting of poly(l-lysine) (PLL) and cellulose sulfate (CS), with or without addition of BDNF, were used to analyze their effect on osteoclasts in vitro. Live cell images showed that osteoclast numbers decreased after application of high PLL/CS PEC-NPs concentrations independent of whether BDNF was added or not. Real-time RT-PCR revealed that relative mRNA expression of cathepsin K and calcitonin receptor significantly declined after incubation of osteoclasts with high concentrations of PLL/CS PEC-NPs. Furthermore, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay indicated that tartrate-resistant acidic phosphatase 5b activity was significantly reduced in the presence of high PLL/CS PEC-NPs concentrations. Consistent with these results, the pit formation analysis showed that less hydroxyapatite was resorbed by osteoclasts after incubation with high concentrations of PLL/CS PEC-NPs. BDNF had no influence on osteoclasts. We conclude that highly concentrated PLL/CS PEC-NPs dosages decreased osteoclastogenesis and osteoclasts activity. Moreover, BDNF might be a promising growth factor for osteoporotic fracture treatment since it did not increase osteoclast activity.
Fruit and Vegetable Prescriptions for Pediatric Patients Living in Flint, Michigan: A Cross-Sectional Study of Food Security and Dietary Patterns at Baseline
Authors: Saxe-Custack Amy , LaChance Jenny , Hanna-Attisha Mona , Ceja Tiffany
Published: June 2019

Though fruit and vegetable consumption is essential for disease prevention and health maintenance, intake among children fails to meet dietary recommendations. Limited access to and the affordability of fresh produce, particularly among low-income youth, are barriers to adequate intake. To address these challenges, researchers and pediatricians in Flint, Michigan, expanded a successful fruit and vegetable prescription program that provides one $15 prescription for fresh fruits and vegetables to every child at every office visit. Vendors include the downtown farmers’ market and a local mobile market. This study describes baseline characteristics, dietary patterns, food access, and food security among 261 caregiver–child dyads enrolled August 2018–March 2019. The child-reported mean daily intake of vegetables (0.72 cups ± 0.77), dairy products (1.33 cups ± 1.22), and whole grains (0.51 ounces ± 0.49) were well below recommendations. Furthermore, 53% of children and 49% of caregivers who completed the food security module indicated low or very low food security. However, there were no statistically significant differences in the child consumption of fruits and vegetables between households that reported high versus low food security (p > 0.05). Results validate and raise deep concerns about poor dietary patterns and food insecurity issues facing Flint children, many of whom continue to battle with an ongoing drinking water crisis. Additional poverty-mitigating efforts, such as fruit and vegetable prescription programs, are necessary to address these gaps.
In Search of Panacea—Review of Recent Studies Concerning Nature-Derived Anticancer Agents
Authors: Przystupski Dawid , Niemczura Magdalena J. , Górska Agata , Supplitt Stanisław , Kotowski Krzysztof , Wawryka Piotr , Rozborska Paulina , Woźniak Kinga , Michel Olga , Kiełbik Aleksander , Bartosik Weronika , Saczko Jolanta , Kulbacka Julita
Published: June 2019

Cancers are one of the leading causes of deaths affecting millions of people around the world, therefore they are currently a major public health problem. The treatment of cancer is based on surgical resection, radiotherapy, chemotherapy or immunotherapy, much of which is often insufficient and cause serious, burdensome and undesirable side effects. For many years, assorted secondary metabolites derived from plants have been used as antitumor agents. Recently, researchers have discovered a large number of new natural substances which can effectively interfere with cancer cells’ metabolism. The most famous groups of these compounds are topoisomerase and mitotic inhibitors. The aim of the latest research is to characterize natural compounds found in many common foods, especially by means of their abilities to regulate cell cycle, growth and differentiation, as well as epigenetic modulation. In this paper, we focus on a review of recent discoveries regarding nature-derived anticancer agents.
Submicron-Sized Nanocomposite Magnetic-Sensitive Carriers: Controllable Organ Distribution and Biological Effects
Authors: Novoselova Marina V. , German Sergey V. , Sindeeva Olga A. , Kulikov Oleg A. , Minaeva Olga V. , Brodovskaya Ekaterina P. , Ageev Valentin P. , Zharkov Mikhail N. , Pyataev Nikolay A. , Sukhorukov Gleb B. , Gorin Dmitry A.
Published: June 2019

Although new drug delivery systems have been intensely developed in the past decade, no significant increase in the efficiency of drug delivery by nanostructure carriers has been achieved. The reasons are the lack of information about acute toxicity, the influence of the submicron size of the carrier and difficulties with the study of biodistribution in vivo. Here we propose, for the first time in vivo, new nanocomposite submicron carriers made of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and tannic acid (TA) and containing magnetite nanoparticles with sufficient content for navigation in a magnetic field gradient on mice. We examined the efficacy of these submicron carriers as a delivery vehicle in combination with magnetite nanoparticles which were systemically administered intravenously. In addition, the systemic toxicity of this carrier for intravenous administration was explicitly studied. The results showed that (BSA/TA) carriers in the given doses were hemocompatible and didn’t cause any adverse effect on the respiratory system, kidney or liver functions. A combination of gradient-magnetic-field controllable biodistribution of submicron carriers with fluorescence tomography/MRI imaging in vivo provides a new opportunity to improve drug delivery efficiency.
Effect of Chitin Whiskers on the Molecular Dynamics of Carrageenan-Based Nanocomposites
Authors: Carsi Marta , Sanchis Maria J. , Gómez Clara M. , Rodriguez Sol , G. Torres Fernando
Published: June 2019

Films of carrageenan (KC) and glycerol (g) with different contents of chitin nanowhiskers (CHW) were prepared by a solution casting process. The molecular dynamics of pure carrageenan (KC), carrageenan/glycerol (KCg) and KCg with different quantities of CHWs as a filler was studied using dielectric relaxation spectroscopy. The analysis of the CHW effect on the molecular mobility at the glass transition, Tg, indicates that non-attractive intermolecular interactions between KCg and CHW occur. The fragility index increased upon CHW incorporation, due to a reduction in the polymer chains mobility produced by the CHW confinement of the KCg network. The apparent activation energy associated with the relaxation dynamics of the chains at Tg slightly increased with the CHW content. The filler nature effect, CHW or montmorillonite (MMT), on the dynamic mobility of the composites was analyzed by comparing the dynamic behavior of both carrageenan-based composites (KCg/xCHW, KCg/xMMT).
Large-Scale Crop Mapping Based on Machine Learning and Parallel Computation with Grids
Authors: Yang Ning , Liu Diyou , Feng Quanlong , Xiong Quan , Zhang Lin , Ren Tianwei , Zhao Yuanyuan , Zhu Dehai , Huang Jianxi
Published: June 2019

Large-scale crop mapping provides important information in agricultural applications. However, it is a challenging task due to the inconsistent availability of remote sensing data caused by the irregular time series and limited coverage of the images, together with the low spatial resolution of the classification results. In this study, we proposed a new efficient method based on grids to address the inconsistent availability of the high-medium resolution images for large-scale crop classification. First, we proposed a method to block the remote sensing data into grids to solve the problem of temporal inconsistency. Then, a parallel computing technique was introduced to improve the calculation efficiency on the grid scale. Experiments were designed to evaluate the applicability of this method for different high-medium spatial resolution remote sensing images and different machine learning algorithms and to compare the results with the widely used nonparallel method. The computational experiments showed that the proposed method was successful at identifying large-scale crop distribution using common high-medium resolution remote sensing images (GF-1 WFV images and Sentinel-2) and common machine learning classifiers (the random forest algorithm and support vector machine). Finally, we mapped the croplands in Heilongjiang Province in 2015, 2016, 2017, which used a random forest classifier with the time series GF-1 WFV images spectral features, the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and normalized difference water index (NDWI). Ultimately, the accuracy was assessed using a confusion matrix. The results showed that the classification accuracy reached 88%, 82%, and 85% in 2015, 2016, and 2017, respectively. In addition, with the help of parallel computing, the calculation speed was significantly improved by at least seven-fold. This indicates that using the grid framework to block the data for classification is feasible for crop mapping in large areas and has great application potential in the future.
Climate and Land-Use Change Effects on Soil Carbon Stocks over 150 Years in Wisconsin, USA
Authors: Huang Jingyi , Hartemink Alfred E. , Zhang Yakun
Published: June 2019

Soil organic carbon is a sink for mitigating increased atmospheric carbon. The international initiative “4 per 1000” aims at implementing practical actions on increasing soil carbon storage in soils under agriculture. This requires a fundamental understanding of the soil carbon changes across the globe. Several studies have suggested that the global soil organic carbon stocks (SOCS) have decreased due to global warming and land cover change, while others reported SOCS may increase under climate change and improved soil management. To better understand how a changing climate, land cover, and agricultural activities influence SOCS across large extents and long periods, the spatial and temporal variations of SOCS were estimated using a modified space-for-time substitution method over a 150-year period in the state of Wisconsin, USA. We used legacy soil datasets and environmental factors collected and estimated at different times across the state (169,639 km2) coupled with a machine-learning algorithm. The legacy soil datasets were collected from 1980 to 2002 from 550 soil profiles and harmonized to 0.30 m depth. The environmental factors consisted of 100-m soil property maps, 1-km annual temperature and precipitation maps, 250-m remote-sensing (i.e., Landsat)-derived yearly land cover maps and a 30-m digital elevation model. The model performance was moderate but can provide insights on understanding the impacts of different factors on SOCS changes across a large spatial and temporal extent. SOCS at the 0–0.30 m decreased at a rate of 0.1 ton ha−1 year−1 between 1850 and 1938 and increased at 0.2 ton ha−1 year−1 between 1980 and 2002. The spatial variation in SOCS at 0–0.30 m was mainly affected by land cover and soil types with the largest SOCS found in forest and wetland and Spodosols. The loss between 1850 and 1980 was most likely due to land cover change while the increase between 1980 and 2002 was due to best soil management practices (e.g., decreased erosion, reduced tillage, crop rotation and use of legume and cover crops).
High-Resolution Vegetation Mapping Using eXtreme Gradient Boosting Based on Extensive Features
Authors: Zhang Heng , Eziz Anwar , Xiao Jian , Tao Shengli , Wang Shaopeng , Tang Zhiyao , Zhu Jiangling , Fang Jingyun
Published: June 2019

Accurate mapping of vegetation is a premise for conserving, managing, and sustainably using vegetation resources, especially in conditions of intensive human activities and accelerating global changes. However, it is still challenging to produce high-resolution multiclass vegetation map in high accuracy, due to the incapacity of traditional mapping techniques in distinguishing mosaic vegetation classes with subtle differences and the paucity of fieldwork data. This study created a workflow by adopting a promising classifier, extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), to produce accurate vegetation maps of two strikingly different cases (the Dzungarian Basin in China and New Zealand) based on extensive features and abundant vegetation data. For the Dzungarian Basin, a vegetation map with seven vegetation types, 17 subtypes, and 43 associations was produced with an overall accuracy of 0.907, 0.801, and 0.748, respectively. For New Zealand, a map of 10 habitats and a map of 41 vegetation classes were produced with 0.946, and 0.703 overall accuracy, respectively. The workflow incorporating simplified field survey procedures outperformed conventional field survey and remote sensing based methods in terms of accuracy and efficiency. In addition, it opens a possibility of building large-scale, high-resolution, and timely vegetation monitoring platforms for most terrestrial ecosystems worldwide with the aid of Google Earth Engine and citizen science programs.
Measurement of Road Surface Deformation Using Images Captured from UAVs
Authors: Cardenal Javier , Fernández Tomás , Pérez-García José , Gómez-López José
Published: June 2019

This paper presents a methodology for measuring road surface deformation due to terrain instability processes. The methodology is based on ultra-high resolution images acquired from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Flights are georeferenced by means of Structure from Motion (SfM) techniques. Dense point clouds, obtained using the multiple-view stereo (MVS) approach, are used to generate digital surface models (DSM) and high resolution orthophotographs (0.02 m GSD). The methodology has been applied to an unstable area located in La Guardia (Jaen, Southern Spain), where an active landslide was identified. This landslide affected some roads and accesses to a highway at the landslide foot. The detailed road deformation was monitored between 2012 and 2015 by means of eleven UAV flights of ultrahigh resolution covering an area of about 260 m × 90 m. The accuracy of the analysis has been established in 0.02 ± 0.01 m in XY and 0.04 ± 0.02 m in Z. Large deformations in the order of two meters were registered in the total period analyzed that resulted in maximum average rates of 0.62 m/month in the unstable area. Some boundary conditions were considered because of the low required flying height (<50 m above ground level) in order to achieve a suitable image GSD, the fast landslide dynamic, continuous maintenance works on the affected roads and dramatic seasonal vegetation changes throughout the monitoring period. Finally, we have analyzed the relation of displacements to rainfalls in the area, finding a significant correlation between the two variables, as well as two different reactivation episodes.
3D Pose Detection of Closely Interactive Humans Using Multi-View Cameras
Authors: Li Xiu , Fan Zhen , Liu Yebin , Li Yipeng , Dai Qionghai
Published: June 2019

We propose a method to automatically detect 3D poses of closely interactive humans from sparse multi-view images at one time instance. It is a challenging problem due to the strong partial occlusion and truncation between humans and no tracking process to provide priori poses information. To solve this problem, we first obtain 2D joints in every image using OpenPose and human semantic segmentation results from Mask R-CNN. With the 3D joints triangulated from multi-view 2D joints, a two-stage assembling method is proposed to select the correct 3D pose from thousands of pose seeds combined by joint semantic meanings. We further present a novel approach to minimize the interpenetration between human shapes with close interactions. Finally, we test our method on multi-view human-human interaction (MHHI) datasets. Experimental results demonstrate that our method achieves high visualized correct rate and outperforms the existing method in accuracy and real-time capability.
Examination of Chinese Tourists’ Unsustainable Food Consumption: Causes and Solutions
Authors: Qian Jianwei , Shen Huawen , Law Rob , Chau Ka Yin , Wang Xin
Published: June 2019

Gastronomic tours have become a prevalent form of travel in many destinations and have boosted the development of destinations’ tourism economy. However, unsustainable food consumption, especially the wastage of food by tourists, is severe and has yet to receive sufficient academic attention. Thus, this study aimed to examine this kind of unsustainable behavior from tourists’ perspective to help the academia and practitioners to better understand the causes and solutions pertaining to the issue. Participants’ demographic information and content data were collected and analyzed. Content analysis was adopted to summarize the major themes emerging from the data. Results indicated that tourists, the industry, and government should be responsible for the issue. The reasons related to each stakeholder are shown together with the countermeasures. This study is among the first to examine the issue, which can lay the foundation for further studies in the same research area and help to address unsustainable food consumption.
Innovative Recycling of Lime Slaker Grits from Paper-Pulp Industry Reused as Aggregate in Ambient Cured Biomass Fly Ash-Based Geopolymers for Sustainable Construction Material
Authors: Saeli Manfredi , Senff Luciano , Tobaldi David Maria , La Scalia Giada , Seabra Maria Paula , Labrincha João Antonio
Published: June 2019

Lime slaker grits and biomass fly ash are solid wastes produced by the Kraft paper-pulp industry that are commonly disposed of in landfill. However, recent studies and European regulations discourage such disposal practices. This work investigates an alternative and innovative way to recycle and reuse these wastes in the production of green geopolymeric mortars intended for application in the construction industry. Here, biomass fly ash was used as the main source of alumino-silicate in the binder precursor (70 wt.% substitution to metakaolin), and grits (ranging from 1–12.5 mm, as provided by the industry) were reused as aggregate. Aggregate granulometry was also completed by using a commercial natural siliceous sand (<1 mm). Mortars using sand only were prepared for comparative reasons. The implemented mix was designed to investigate the influence of the grits on the mortar’s properties such as its binder/aggregate ratio, workability, bulk density, water sorptivity, and compressive strength. At the same time, waste reuse was analysed in light of its limitations and potentialities. Moreover, in the pursuit of sustainability, the manufacturing process that was followed was highly cost-effective in ambient curing conditions (20 °C, 65% RH), which avoided the use of any external source of energy as commonly used in geopolymers processing. The achieved results proved that the combined use of these wastes, which to date has hardly been explored, along with ambient manufacturing conditions increases the material sustainability. The produced mortars are suitable for innovative applications in various fields, with a particular focus on construction and contribute to the circular economy.
Fatigue Properties of Cold-Recycled Emulsified Asphalt Mixtures Fabricated by Different Compaction Methods
Authors: Jiang Yingjun , Lin Hongwei , Han Zhanchuang , Deng Changqing
Published: June 2019

This paper focuses on investigating the fatigue properties of cold-recycled emulsified asphalt mixtures (CEAMs) designed via two different compaction methods. First, two different CEAM compaction procedures were investigated and evaluated, including the modified Marshall compaction method (MMCM) and the vertical vibration testing method (VVTM). Indirect tensile fatigue tests were then performed to research the fatigue lives of CEAMs fabricated via the two methods. Finally, a Weibull distribution was applied to analyze the fatigue test results, and the fatigue equation was constructed. The results indicated that the average mechanical strength ratio between the CEAM samples produced by VVTM and the field core samples was >92%, whereas the average ratio of the specimens shaped by the MMCM was <65%. Compared with MMCM-molded CEAMs, VVTM-fabricated CEAMs showed decreased optimal moisture and emulsified asphalt contents by 11% and 9%, respectively, but exhibited improved moisture stability, anti-cracking performance, and anti-rutting performance by 4%, 12%, and 35%, respectively. The fatigue equations established on the basis of the Weibull distribution could effectively assess the fatigue life of CEAMs. The VVTM-manufactured CEAMs showed good resistance of stress change sensitivity and fatigue failure under different stress ratios. The VVTM-compacted CEAMs demonstrated increased fatigue life by 36% at a stress ratio of 0.45 and by 325% at a repeated load of 0.27 MPa compared with the MMCM-fabricated CEAMs.
Loss-Driven Adversarial Ensemble Deep Learning for On-Line Time Series Analysis
Authors: Ko Hyungjin , Lee Jaewook , Byun Junyoung , Son Bumho , Park Saerom
Published: June 2019

Developing a robust and sustainable system is an important problem in which deep learning models are used in real-world applications. Ensemble methods combine diverse models to improve performance and achieve robustness. The analysis of time series data requires dealing with continuously incoming instances; however, most ensemble models suffer when adapting to a change in data distribution. Therefore, we propose an on-line ensemble deep learning algorithm that aggregates deep learning models and adjusts the ensemble weight based on loss value in this study. We theoretically demonstrate that the ensemble weight converges to the limiting distribution, and, thus, minimizes the average total loss from a new regret measure based on adversarial assumption. We also present an overall framework that can be applied to analyze time series. In the experiments, we focused on the on-line phase, in which the ensemble models predict the binary class for the simulated data and the financial and non-financial real data. The proposed method outperformed other ensemble approaches. Moreover, our method was not only robust to the intentional attacks but also sustainable in data distribution changes. In the future, our algorithm can be extended to regression and multiclass classification problems.
Modified MHD Radiative Mixed Convective Nanofluid Flow Model with Consideration of the Impact of Freezing Temperature and Molecular Diameter
Authors: Khan Umar , Abbasi Adnan , Ahmed Naveed , Alharbi Sayer Obaid , Noor Saima , Khan Ilyas , Mohyud-Din Syed Tauseef , Khan Waqar A.
Published: June 2019

Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) deals with the analysis of electrically conducting fluids. The study of nanofluids by considering the influence of MHD phenomena is a topic of great interest from an industrial and technological point of view. Thus, the modified MHD mixed convective, nonlinear, radiative and dissipative problem was modelled over an arc-shaped geometry for Al2O3 + H2O nanofluid at 310 K and the freezing temperature of 273.15 K. Firstly, the model was reduced into a coupled set of ordinary differential equations using similarity transformations. The impact of the freezing temperature and the molecular diameter were incorporated in the energy equation. Then, the Runge–Kutta scheme, along with the shooting technique, was adopted for the mathematical computations and code was written in Mathematica 10.0. Further, a comprehensive discussion of the flow characteristics is provided. The results for the dynamic viscosity, heat capacity and effective density of the nanoparticles were examined for various nanoparticle diameters and volume fractions.
Pore-Forming Proteins from Cnidarians and Arachnids as Potential Biotechnological Tools
Authors: Rivera-de-Torre Esperanza , Palacios-Ortega Juan , Gavilanes José , Martínez-del-Pozo Álvaro , García-Linares Sara
Published: June 2019

Animal venoms are complex mixtures of highly specialized toxic molecules. Cnidarians and arachnids produce pore-forming proteins (PFPs) directed against the plasma membrane of their target cells. Among PFPs from cnidarians, actinoporins stand out for their small size and molecular simplicity. While native actinoporins require only sphingomyelin for membrane binding, engineered chimeras containing a recognition antibody-derived domain fused to an actinoporin isoform can nonetheless serve as highly specific immunotoxins. Examples of such constructs targeted against malignant cells have been already reported. However, PFPs from arachnid venoms are less well-studied from a structural and functional point of view. Spiders from the Latrodectus genus are professional insect hunters that, as part of their toxic arsenal, produce large PFPs known as latrotoxins. Interestingly, some latrotoxins have been identified as potent and highly-specific insecticides. Given the proteinaceous nature of these toxins, their promising future use as efficient bioinsecticides is discussed throughout this Perspective. Protein engineering and large-scale recombinant production are critical steps for the use of these PFPs as tools to control agriculturally important insect pests. In summary, both families of PFPs, from Cnidaria and Arachnida, appear to be molecules with promising biotechnological applications.