bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Resistance to Critical Important Antibacterials in Staphylococcus pseudintermedius Strains of Veterinary Origin
Authors: Bellato Alessandro , Robino Patrizia , Stella Maria Cristina , Scarrone Laura , Scalas Daniela , Nebbia Patrizia
Published: December 2022

Staphylococcal infections represent a challenge in companion animals and hospitalized patients. This study aimed to assess the resistance of Staphylococcus pseudintermedius isolates, against a broad panel of antibacterials, including exclusive to human medicine. A total of 40 S. pseudintermedius were collected from clinical specimens of dogs (n = 31) and cats (n = 5). All strains were tested for 20 antibacterials, namely 14 Critical Important and eight Highly Important Antibacterials (CIA and HIA, respectively), indicative for 18 antimicrobial classes. All strains were susceptible to seven antibiotics (daptomycin, fosfomycin, fusidic acid, linezolid, quinupristin-dalfopristin, teicoplanin/vancomycin, tigecycline). The highest resistance was against penicillin (97.5% Confidence Interval [CI]: 83.8–100.0), whereas the lowest against telavancin (2.5%, CI: 0.0–16.2). Resistance versus Highest Priority CIA was observed, namely against macrolides (70.0, CI: 52.1–84.3), quinolones (62.5, CI: 44.5–78.3), 5th generation cephalosporins (7.5, CI: 1.3–21.6), and glycopeptides (2.5%, CI: 0.0–14.2). Among High Priority CIA, strains were resistant only to aminoglycosides (65.0, CI: 47.0–80.4) and ansamycins (12.5, CI: 3.8–28.1). We observed the highest resistance against veterinary medicine antibacterials, but there was also resistance against antibacterials exclusive to human medicine, namely ceftaroline (7.5, CI: 1.0–23.8) and telavancin. S. pseudintermedius zoonotic potential and its rate of acquisition of new resistance should encourage surveillance on a broad spectrum of antibacterials.
Dexmedetomidine Attenuates Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Sympathetic Activation and Sepsis via Suppressing Superoxide Signaling in Paraventricular Nucleus
Authors: Bo Jin-Hua , Wang Jing-Xiao , Wang Xiao-Li , Jiao Yang , Jiang Ming , Chen Jun-Liu , Hao Wen-Yuan , Chen Qi , Li Yue-Hua , Ma Zheng-Liang , Zhu Guo-Qing
Published: December 2022

Sympathetic overactivity contributes to the pathogenesis of sepsis. The selective α2-adrenergic receptor agonist dexmedetomidine (DEX) is widely used for perioperative sedation and analgesia. We aimed to determine the central roles and mechanisms of DEX in attenuating sympathetic activity and inflammation in sepsis. Sepsis was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in rats. Effects of DEX were investigated 24 h after injection of LPS. Bilateral microinjection of DEX in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) attenuated LPS-induced sympathetic overactivity, which was attenuated by the superoxide dismutase inhibitor DETC, cAMP analog db-cAMP or GABAA receptor antagonist gabazine. Superoxide scavenger tempol, NADPH oxidase inhibitor apocynin, adenylate cyclase inhibitor SQ22536 or PKA inhibitor Rp-cAMP caused similar effects to DEX in attenuating LPS-induced sympathetic activation. DEX inhibited LPS-induced superoxide and cAMP production, as well as NADPH oxidase, adenylate cyclase and PKA activation. The roles of DEX in reducing superoxide production and NADPH oxidase activation were attenuated by db-cAMP or gabazine. Intravenous infusion of DEX inhibited LPS-induced sympathetic overactivity, NOX activation, superoxide production, TNF-α and IL-1β upregulation in the PVN and plasma, as well as lung and renal injury, which were attenuated by the PVN microinjection of yohimbine and DETC. We conclude that activation of α2-adrenergic receptors with DEX in the PVN attenuated LPS-induced sympathetic overactivity by reducing NADPH oxidase-dependent superoxide production via both inhibiting adenylate cyclase-cAMP-PKA signaling and activating GABAA receptors. The inhibition of NADPH oxidase-dependent superoxide production in the PVN partially contributes to the roles of intravenous infusion of DEX in attenuating LPS-induced sympathetic activation, oxidative stress and inflammation.
Bacterial Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases as Possible Targets for Antimicrobial Therapies in Response to Antibiotic Resistance
Authors: Kuban-Jankowska Alicja , Kostrzewa Tomasz , Gorska-Ponikowska Magdalena
Published: December 2022

The review is focused on the bacterial protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) utilized by bacteria as virulence factors necessary for pathogenicity. The inhibition of bacterial PTPs could contribute to the arrest of the bacterial infection process. This mechanism could be utilized in the design of antimicrobial therapy as adjuvants to antibiotics. The review summaries knowledge on pathogenic bacterial protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) involved in infection process, such as: PTPA and PTPB from Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis; SptP from Salmonella typhimurium; YopH from Yersinia sp. and TbpA from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The review focuses also on the potential inhibitory compounds of bacterial virulence factors and inhibitory mechanisms such as the reversible oxidation of tyrosine phosphatases.
Upregulation of Antioxidative Gene Expression by Lasia spinosa Organic Extract Improves the Predisposing Biomarkers and Tissue Architectures in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Models of Long Evans Rats
Authors: Sharmen Farjana , Rahman Md. Atiar , Ahmed A. M. Abu , Siddique Tanvir Ahmed , Rafi Md. Khalid Juhani , Tangpong Jitbanjong
Published: December 2022

Plants are an entity essential to the function of the biosphere as well as human health. In the context of human health, this research investigated the effect of Lasia spinosa (Lour) leaf methanolic extracts (LSML) on antioxidative enzymes and gene expression as well as biochemical and histological markers in a streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes model. Fructose-fed streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic animals were subjected to a four-week intervention followed by the assessment of the animal’s blood and tissues for enzymatic, biochemical, histological, and genetic changes. LSML-treated groups were shown to decrease plasma glucose levels and improve body and organ weights compared to the untreated group in a dose-dependent manner. At the doses of 125 and 250 mg/kg b.w., LSML were able to normalize serum, hepatic, and renal biochemical parameters and restore the pancreas, kidney, liver, and spleen tissue architectures to their native state. A considerable increase (p < 0.01) of liver antioxidant enzymes CAT, SOD, GSH, and a decrease of MDA level in LSML-treated groups were found at higher doses. The improved mRNA expression level of antioxidant genes CAT, SOD2, PON1, and PFK1 was also found at the doses of 125 mg/kg and 250 mg/kg BW when compared to untreated control groups. The results demonstrate that LSML impacts the upregulation of antioxidative gene expressions, thus improving the diabetic complications in animal models which need to be affirmed by compound-based antioxidative actions for therapeutic development.
β-Cell Autophagy Pathway and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Regulating-Role of Liposomal Curcumin in Experimental Diabetes Mellitus: A Molecular and Morphometric Study
Authors: Khater Safaa I. , Dowidar Mohamed F. , Abdel-Aziz Aya E. , Khamis Tarek , Dahran Naief , Alqahtani Leena S. , Metwally Mohamed M. M. , Al-Hady Abd-Elrahamn Al-Sayed , Alsieni Mohammed , Alosaimi Manal E. , Abduljabbar Maram H. , Mohamed Amany Abdel-Rahman
Published: December 2022

Background: Autophagy can confer protection to pancreatic β-cells from the harmful effects of metabolic stress by delaying apoptosis. Curcumin (CUR) alleviates oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, activates autophagy, reduces inflammation, and decreases β-cell damage in type I diabetes. Liposomal CUR (LPs-CUR) has a higher therapeutic value and better pharmacokinetics than CUR. Objectives: We determined LPs-CUR’s ability to alleviate stress, reduce β-cell damage and unraveled the mechanism underlying its protective effect using a streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type I diabetic rat model. Methods: Sprague–Dawley rats were grouped into vehicle control, STZ-diabetic (STZ 65 mg/kg), STZ-diabetic-3-MA (3-methyladenine [3-MA] 10 mg/kg b.wt), STZ. diabetic-LPs-CUR (LPs-CUR 10 mg/kg b.wt), and STZ diabetic-LPs-CUR-3-MA (LPs-CUR 10 mg/kg b.wt; 3-MA 10 mg/kg b.wt). Results: LPs-CUR significantly reduced blood glucose, oxidative stress, and cellular inflammation in the pancreatic tissue (p < 0.001). ER stress-dependent genes included ATF-6, eIF-2, CHOP, JNK, BiP, and XBP LPs-CUR significantly suppressed fold changes, while it upregulated the autophagic markers Beclin-1 and LC3-II. Conclusions: LP-CUR ameliorates β-cell damage by targeting the autophagy pathway with the regulatory miRNAs miR-137 and miR-29b, which functionally abrogates ER stress in β-cells. This study presents a new therapeutic target for managing type I diabetes using miR-137 and miR-29b.
Quantitative Determination of 2-Oxo-Imidazole-Containing Dipeptides by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography/Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Authors: Komae Somei , Kasamatsu Shingo , Uchida Koji , Ihara Hideshi
Published: December 2022

2-Oxo-imidazole-containing dipeptides (2-oxo-IDPs), novel imidazole-containing dipeptide (IDP) derivatives, exhibit a much higher antioxidant capacity than that of IDPs. However, quantitative methods have only been developed for IDPs, and methods for the quantitative analysis of 2-oxo-IDPs are needed. In this study, we developed methods for the quantitative analysis of 2-oxo-IDPs by high-performance liquid chromatography with online electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) coupled with a stable isotope dilution method. First, we prepared stable isotope-labeled IDP and 2-oxo-IDP standards for MS analyses. Next, using these standards, we established highly sensitive, selective, and absolute quantitative analysis methods for five IDPs and five 2-oxo-IDPs by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS, achieving a limit of detection in the fmol range. Finally, we applied the method to various types of meat, such as beef, pork, chicken, and whale meat, demonstrating the detection of both IDPs and 2-oxo-IDPs. Furthermore, we provide the first evidence for the endogenous production of 2-oxo-balenine in meats. The methods developed in this study enable the detection of trace levels of 2-oxo-IDPs in biological samples and could be helpful for understanding the biological relevance of 2-oxo-IDPs.
More than Just Antioxidants: Redox-Active Components and Mechanisms Shaping Redox Signalling Network
Authors: Kuczyńska Monika , Jakubek Patrycja , Bartoszek Agnieszka
Published: December 2022

The concept of oxidative stress as a condition underlying a multitude of human diseases has led to immense interest in the search for antioxidant-based remedies. The simple and intuitive story of “the bad” reactive oxygen species (ROS) and “the good” antioxidants quickly (and unsurprisingly) lead to the commercial success of products tagged “beneficial to health” based solely on the presence of antioxidants. The commercial success of antioxidants by far preceded the research aimed at understanding the exact redox-related mechanisms that are in control of shaping the states of health and disease. This review describes the redox network formed by the interplay of ROS with cellular molecules and the resulting regulation of processes at the genomic and proteomic levels. Key players of this network are presented, both involved in redox signalling and control of cellular metabolism linked to most, if not all, physiological processes. In particular, this review focuses on the concept of reductive stress, which still remains less well-established compared to oxidative stress.
The Alleviation of Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS)-Induced Colitis Correlate with the logP Values of Food-Derived Electrophilic Compounds
Authors: Cheng Xiang-Rong , Yu Bu-Tao , Song Jie , Ma Jia-Hui , Chen Yu-Yao , Zhang Chen-Xi , Tu Piao-Han , Muskat Mitchell N. , Zhu Ze-Gang
Published: December 2022

Food-derived electrophilic compounds (FECs) are small molecules with electrophilic groups with potential cytoprotective effects. This study investigated the differential effects of six prevalent FECs on colitis in dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced mice and the underlying relationship with molecular characteristics. Fumaric acid (FMA), isoliquiritigenin (ISO), cinnamaldehyde (CA), ferulic acid (FA), sulforaphane (SFN), and chlorogenic acid (CGA) exhibited varying improvements in colitis on clinical signs, colonic histopathology, inflammatory and oxidative indicators, and Nrf2 pathway in a sequence of SFN, ISO > FA, CA > FMA, CGA. Representative molecular characteristics of the “penetration-affinity–covalent binding” procedure, logP value, Keap1 affinity energy, and electrophilic index of FECs were theoretically calculated, among which logP value revealed a strong correlation with colitis improvements, which was related to the expression of Nrf2 and its downstream proteins. Above all, SFN and ISO possessed high logP values and effectively improving DSS-induced colitis by activating the Keap1–Nrf2 pathway to alleviate oxidative stress and inflammatory responses.
Vanadium Stress Alters Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) Growth, ROS Accumulation, Antioxidant Defense System, Stomatal Traits, and Vanadium Uptake
Authors: Kumar Sunjeet , Wang Mengzhao , Liu Yonghua , Zhu Zhixin , Fahad Shah , Qayyum Abdul , Zhu Guopeng
Published: December 2022

Vanadium (V) is a heavy metal found in trace amounts in many plants and widely distributed in the soil. This study investigated the effects of vanadium concentrations on sweet potato growth, biomass, root morphology, photosynthesis, photosynthetic assimilation, antioxidant defense system, stomatal traits, and V accumulation. Sweet potato plants were grown hydroponically and treated with five levels of V (0, 10, 25, 50, and 75 mg L−1). After 7 days of treatment, V content at low concentration (10 mg L−1) enhanced the plant growth and biomass; in contrast, drastic effects were observed at 25, 50, and 75 mg L−1. Higher V concentrations negatively affect the relative water content, photosynthetic assimilation, photosynthesis, and root growth and reduce tolerance indices. The stomatal traits of sweet potato, such as stomatal length, width, pore length, and pore width, were also decreased under higher V application. Furthermore, V concentration and uptake in the roots were higher than in the shoots. In the same way, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production (hydrogen peroxide), lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde), osmolytes, glutathione, and enzymes (catalase and superoxide dismutase) activities were increased significantly under V stress. In conclusion, V at a low level (10 mg L−1) enhanced sweet potato growth, and a higher level of V treatment (25, 50, and 75 mg L−1) had a deleterious impact on the growth, physiology, and biochemical mechanisms, as well as stomatal traits of sweet potato.
An Intrusion Detection and Classification System for IoT Traffic with Improved Data Engineering
Authors: Alsulami Abdulaziz A. , Abu Al-Haija Qasem , Tayeb Ahmad , Alqahtani Ali
Published: December 2022

Nowadays, the Internet of Things (IoT) devices and applications have rapidly expanded worldwide due to their benefits in improving the business environment, industrial environment, and people’s daily lives. However, IoT devices are not immune to malicious network traffic, which causes potential negative consequences and sabotages IoT operating devices. Therefore, developing a method for screening network traffic is necessary to detect and classify malicious activity to mitigate its negative impacts. This research proposes a predictive machine learning model to detect and classify network activity in an IoT system. Specifically, our model distinguishes between normal and anomaly network activity. Furthermore, it classifies network traffic into five categories: normal, Mirai attack, denial of service (DoS) attack, Scan attack, and man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack. Five supervised learning models were implemented to characterize their performance in detecting and classifying network activities for IoT systems. This includes the following models: shallow neural networks (SNN), decision trees (DT), bagging trees (BT), k-nearest neighbor (kNN), and support vector machine (SVM). The learning models were evaluated on a new and broad dataset for IoT attacks, the IoTID20 dataset. Besides, a deep feature engineering process was used to improve the learning models’ accuracy. Our experimental evaluation exhibited an accuracy of 100% recorded for the detection using all implemented models and an accuracy of 99.4–99.9% recorded for the classification process.
The Molecular Docking and Inhibition Kinetics of Angiotensin I-Converting Enzyme Inhibitory Peptides Derived from Soft-Shelled Turtle Yolk
Authors: Nong Nhung Thi Phuong , Sutopo Christoper Caesar Yudho , Hung Wei-Ting , Wu Ping-Hsun , Hsu Jue-Liang
Published: December 2022

The soft-shelled turtle yolk (SSTY) protein hydrolysate contains a potential source of bioactive peptides. Our previous study found that five SSTY peptides (WLQL, LPSW, LPLF, VPGLAL and LVGLPL) showed moderate to high dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) inhibitory activities. This study further investigated their angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity. Consequently, WLQL was identified as the most potent ACE inhibitory peptide with a remarkably low IC50 value (16.87 ± 0.54 µM). The Lineweaver–Burk plot analysis was performed for the characterization of the peptide’s inhibition mode and the inhibition kinetics was rationalized using the molecular docking simulation. The result revealed that WLQL would dock into the S1 pockets of ACE, while LPSW interacted with ACE’s secondary binding site. Further evaluation of the peptides’ stability against ACE involved a pre-incubation experiment. After 3 h of pre-incubation with ACE, the four peptides were hydrolyzed into smaller fragments with varying degrees, suggesting that they are substrate-type inhibitors. In contrast, LVGLPL can tolerate hydrolysis by ACE and act as a true inhibitor.
Analysis of Motion Characteristics and Stability of Mobile Robot Based on a Transformable Wheel Mechanism
Authors: Tao Yuan , Gao Chunyan , Shi Yusheng , Li Manhong , Zhang Minglu , Liu Dongle
Published: December 2022

In this research, we propose a novel wheel-legged mobile robot to address the problems of insufficient obstacle-crossing performance and poor motion flexibility of mobile robots in non-structural environments. Firstly, we designed the transformable wheel mechanism and tail adaptive mechanism. Secondly, the kinematic model of the robot is established and solved by analyzing the whole motion and wheel-legged switching motion for the operation requirements under different road conditions. By synthesizing the constraint relationships among the modules and analyzing the robot’s obstacle-crossing abilities, we systematically established the mechanical model of the robot when it encounters obstacles. Thirdly, we studied the stability of the robot based on the stable cone method in the case of slope and unilateral transformation wheel deployment and achieved the tipping condition in the critical state. Finally, we used ADAMS software to simulate and analyze the driving process of the robot in various types of terrain and obstacles in order to verify that it has superior performance through obstacles and motion flexibility. The analysis shows that the robot can passively adapt to various complex and variable obstacle-filled terrains with obstacle heights which are much higher than its center of gravity range. The results of the study can provide a reference for the structural optimization and the obstacle-crossing performance improvement of mobile robots.
Sensitivity Analysis of Influencing Factors of Underground Civil Air Defense Construction Vibration under Vehicle Load
Authors: Wu Yangyong , Mu Chaomin , Zhang Hui , Zhou Hui
Published: December 2022

Grey correlation theory is an uncertainty analysis method, which can find the relevance of various factors studied through certain data processing in incomplete information and find the main influencing factors. In order to study the influence of vehicle load on the vibration of underground civil air defense construction, taking the civil air defense construction at the intersection of Zhongzhou Middle Road and Shachang South Road in Luoyang as the study subject, based on the field measured data, and using ANSYS to expand the working conditions, this paper studies the influence of such factors as elastic modulus of concrete, thickness of overburden layer, density of soil layer, elastic modulus of soil layer, vehicle speed, and vehicle mass on the vibration of the civil air defense construction through the grey correlation sensitivity analysis method. The field measurement and numerical simulation results show that the displacement, velocity, and acceleration values decrease gradually from the mid−span position of the roof to the wall. Displacement, velocity, and acceleration are important indexes for evaluating vibration. The grey correlation degree of the influencing factors of displacement and velocity from large to small is density of soil layer, vehicle mass, vehicle speed, elastic modulus of concrete, elastic modulus of soil layer, and thickness of overburden layer. The grey correlation degree of the influencing factors of acceleration from large to small is vehicle mass, layer of density of soil layer, vehicle speed, elastic modulus of concrete, elastic modulus of soil layer, and thickness of overburden layer. The grey correlation degree of soil layer density, vehicle mass and vehicle speed to displacement, velocity, and acceleration is 0.7951–0.9993, which indicates that their influence is significant. This study can provide reference for the design and construction of similar civil air defense constructions.
Natural Radioactivity in Soil and Radiological Risk Assessment in Lișava Uranium Mining Sector, Banat Mountains, Romania
Authors: Ion Adriana , Cosac Ana , Ene Vlad Victor
Published: December 2022

The specific activity and spatial distribution of 238U, 232Th and 40K were determined in the surface soil from the Lișava uranium mining sector. This sector belongs to the Banat district, an historically important uranium mining area in Romania (an area with closed uranium mines and a radioactive waste dump). Gamma-ray spectrometry using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector was used to measure the activity of naturally occurring radionuclides in the soil. The average specific activities of 238U, 232Th and 40K in the soil were 197.21 Bq/kg for 238U, 16.21 Bq/kg for 232Th and 543.21 Bq/kg for 40K. The mineral contents of selected waste rock samples (sandstones) were examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), which revealed that brannerite, pitchblende and coffinite were the most important uranium-bearing minerals. The means of the radiological hazard parameters were calculated to be 262.22 Bq/kg radium equivalent activity (Raeq), 123.72 nGy/h absorbed gamma dose rates (DR), 0.7 external hazard index (Hex) and 1.8 representative level index (RLI). The spatial distribution of the risk assessment indices associated with the investigated soils exceeded the median values provided by UNSCEAR and reflected the geological settings and influences of anthropic activities such as uranium mining practices and the tipping of radioactive mining waste.
One-Sided Unsupervised Image Dehazing Network Based on Feature Fusion and Multi-Scale Skip Connection
Authors: Yang Yuanbo , Lv Qunbo , Zhu Baoyu , Sui Xuefu , Zhang Yu , Tan Zheng
Published: December 2022

Haze and mist caused by air quality, weather, and other factors can reduce the clarity and contrast of images captured by cameras, which limits the applications of automatic driving, satellite remote sensing, traffic monitoring, etc. Therefore, the study of image dehazing is of great significance. Most existing unsupervised image-dehazing algorithms rely on a priori knowledge and simplified atmospheric scattering models, but the physical causes of haze in the real world are complex, resulting in inaccurate atmospheric scattering models that affect the dehazing effect. Unsupervised generative adversarial networks can be used for image-dehazing algorithm research; however, due to the information inequality between haze and haze-free images, the existing bi-directional mapping domain translation model often used in unsupervised generative adversarial networks is not suitable for image-dehazing tasks, and it also does not make good use of extracted features, which results in distortion, loss of image details, and poor retention of image features in the haze-free images. To address these problems, this paper proposes an end-to-end one-sided unsupervised image-dehazing network based on a generative adversarial network that directly learns the mapping between haze and haze-free images. The proposed feature-fusion module and multi-scale skip connection based on residual network consider the loss of feature information caused by convolution operation and the fusion of different scale features, and achieve adaptive fusion between low-level features and high-level features, to better preserve the features of the original image. Meanwhile, multiple loss functions are used to train the network, where the adversarial loss ensures that the network generates more realistic images and the contrastive loss ensures a meaningful one-sided mapping from the haze image to the haze-free image, resulting in haze-free images with good quantitative metrics and visual effects. The experiments demonstrate that, compared with existing dehazing algorithms, our method achieved better quantitative metrics and better visual effects on both synthetic haze image datasets and real-world haze image datasets.
A Multi-Scale Approach for Modelling Airborne Transport of Mucosalivary Fluid
Authors: D’Alessandro Valerio , Falone Matteo , Giammichele Luca , Ricci Renato
Published: December 2022

COVID-19 pandemic promoted a lot of research activities in relation to mucosalivary fluid airborne transport. Indeed, infection mechanisms are the result of mucosalivary fluid droplets exchange and the knowledge in this area is still largely inadequate. One of the main challenges concerns the modelling of mucosalivary fluid complex nature. Specifically, this is a key element to predict small diameters dry nuclei formation which are highly relevant from the transmission risk point of view. For this reason, in this paper we present and discuss the development of a new multi-scale modelling technique which incorporates the Population Balance Equation into a standard particle-source-in-cell method. Thus, the effectiveness of the aforementioned technique in droplet nuclei generation modelling is showed and discussed. Also the impact of velocity boundary conditions at the mouth print is assessed as well as the effect of the correlations for mass transfer showing that their neglect causes an underestimation in distance reached by the droplets.
Characterization of Ductile Crack Propagation by Fractal Energy Dissipation Rate
Authors: Zhao Yunfeng , Zhao Yangyang , Lacidogna Giuseppe , Gong Baoming , Wang Sheng
Published: December 2022

Because of its geometry dependence and loss of physical meaning, the incremental crack resistance curve cannot characterize ductile fractures with large crack extensions and plastic deformations. Therefore, the energy dissipation rate R is employed to overcome these deficiencies, even though specimen size effects still exist. In the study, considering the fractal crack path and concomitant plastic dissipation in the fractal domain, a scale-invariant energy dissipation rate, γp*, is proposed in the context of renormalization group theory. Some experiments in the literature have validated this approach. The fitted fractal energy dissipation rate is independent of the specimen size and initial crack length; moreover, as the specimen size increases, progressive fractality vanishing is found consistently with geometrical multifractality.
Experimental Investigation of the Influence of Freeze–Thaw Mode on Damage Characteristics of Sandstone
Authors: Peng Ningbo , Hong Jie , Zhu Ye , Dong Yun , Sun Bo , Huang Jizhong
Published: December 2022

The influence of rock weathering caused by freezing–thawing on stone cultural relics cannot be ignored. For immovable stone cultural relics, different parts under different environmental conditions will be under different freeze–thaw actions and suffer different degrees of damage. In this paper, three typical freeze–thaw cycle tests of sandstone are designed, namely immersion test, capillary action test, and periodic saturation test. The macroscopic and microscopic morphologies of rock samples under different freeze–thaw cycles were analyzed. Weathering indicators such as porosity, water content, wave velocity, and surface hardness were tested, as well as uniaxial compressive strength. The variation law of weathering index and uniaxial compressive strength under different freezing–thawing cycles was obtained, and the quantitative relationship between each index parameter was further analyzed. The results show that under different freezing–thawing conditions, the apparent morphology of rock samples is different, and the trend of weathering indexes is similar, but the rate of change is different. The water content of rock has a great influence on the test results of wave velocity but has little influence on the surface hardness. The function relationship between weathering index and compressive strength under different freezing–thawing modes is similar, but the fitting parameters are different. Finally, the strength and wave velocity damage factors were used to quantitatively evaluate the degree of rock weathering. The results show that the immersion freeze–thaw damage is the highest, the periodic saturated freeze–thaw damage is the second highest, and the capillary freeze–thaw damage is the least highest. This is consistent with the field observation results. The conclusion of this paper can provide reference for the detection of stone cultural relics and provides a scientific basis for the anti-weathering protection of stone cultural relics.
A Novel Method of Local Anode Effect Prediction for Large Aluminum Reduction Cell
Authors: Cui Jiarui , Li Zhijing , Li Xiangquan , Liu Bo , Li Qing , Yan Qun , Huang Ruoyu , Lu Hui , Cao Bin
Published: December 2022

A method of local anode effect prediction is proposed for the problem that it is difficult to detect the local anode effect in large aluminum reduction cell in real time. Firstly, a fuzzy classification of local anode effect prediction in terms of fuzziness level is proposed considering various working conditions of anode current in the region. Secondly, a current volatility detection method based on time-sliding window density is designed from the problem of uneven current distribution in the region, and the anode currents in the region are classified and tracked for prediction according to the different current volatility. Thirdly, an improved Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) neural network structure is proposed to improve the prediction accuracy of fluctuating currents. Finally, simulation experiments are conducted based on actual data, and compared with Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Convolutional Neural Network-Long Short-Term Memory (CNN-LSTM), the proposed method has certain advantages in both prediction time, training time, and the mean absolute error (MAE) and mean square error (MSE), which verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Application of Botulinum Toxin in Temporomandibular Disorders: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)
Authors: Di Francesco Fabrizio , Lanza Alessandro , Di Blasio Marco , Vaienti Benedetta , Cafferata Emilio A. , Cervino Gabriele , Cicciù Marco , Minervini Giuseppe
Published: December 2022

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are multi-factorial and polysymptomatic pathologies and their management must be customized for every patient. Numerous therapy techniques are available to treat temporomandibular disorders-related muscular discomfort and persistent orofacial pain. Botulinum toxin (BoNT) has emerged as a popular option for patients with myofascial TMD who do not completely recover from their condition after receiving conservative care and medication. A systematic search of the literature, from January 2000 until 1 April 2022, was performed in the MEDLINE (PubMed), Web of Science, and Lilacs databases. The following search terms combination: (temporomandibular disorders) OR (botulinum) OR (toxin) was employed. A total of 357 articles were initially found in the electronic search. After screening, 11 full-text articles satisfied the inclusion criteria. The Cochrane risk of bias tool (RoB 2) tool, which uses seven domains of bias to assess random sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding of participants and personnel, blinding of outcome assessment of self-reported outcomes, blinding of outcome assessment of objective measures, incomplete outcome data, selective reporting, and other biases, was employed to analyze randomized controlled trials. The aim of this systematic review of randomized controlled trials is to provide an overview of the use of BoNT for TMDs by comparing the application of BoNT with other therapeutic approaches. BoNT-A could help patients that do not respond to conservative treatments. Low doses are recommended when BoNT-A is considered for persistent orofacial pain related to TMD. Future research should, however, conduct clinical trials with a stricter design. The results of BoNT-A could be confirmed by more randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes, less bias, and longer follow-up times.
Damage Location Diagnosis of Frame Structure Based on a Novel Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Xu Hui , Cai Chaozhi , Chi Yaolei
Published: December 2022

In the case of strong noise, when the damage occurs at different locations of the frame structure, the fault vibration signals generated are relatively close. It is difficult to accurately diagnose the specific location of the damage by using the traditional convolution neural network method. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a novel convolutional neural network. The method first uses wavelet decomposition and reconstruction to filter out the noise signal in the original vibration signal, then uses CEEMDAN (Complete Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition with Adaptive Noise Analysis) to decompose the filtered signal to highlight the feature information in the filtered signal. Finally, a convolution neural network combined with WDCNN (First Layer Wide Convolution Kernel Deep Convolution Neural Network) and LSTM (Long Short-Term Memory Network) is used to achieve the accurate classification of the signal, so as to achieve the accurate diagnosis of the damage location of the frame structure. Taking the four-story steel structure frame of Columbia University as the research object, the fault diagnosis method proposed in this paper is used to carry out experimental research under strong noise conditions. The experimental results show that the accuracy of the fault diagnosis method proposed in this paper can reach 99.97% when the signal-to-noise ratio is −4 dB and the objective function value is reduced to 10−4. Therefore, the fault diagnosis method proposed in this paper has a high accuracy in the strong noise interference environment; it can realize a high precision diagnosis of the damage location of the frame structure under a strong noise environment. The contribution and innovation of this paper is to propose a novel fault diagnosis method based on the convolutional neural network, which solves the problem of accurate damage location diagnosis of frame structures under strong noise environment.
Special Issue “Advanced Digital Technologies for the Integration of Production and Maintenance”
Authors: Arena Simone , Fumagalli Luca , Peron Mirco
Published: December 2022

Production scheduling and maintenance management are responsibilities of different functions often corresponding to different departments of a manufacturing company [...]
Effect of a Taekwondo Academy’s Technology-Based Self-Service on Perceived Value and Intention to Use Continuously in the Interaction between Humans and Technology
Authors: Kim Dong-Kyu , Kim Na-Hye , Oh Chae-Yun , Jang Jusun , Nho Hosung , Park Sung-Un
Published: December 2022

As the competition among businesses intensifies and customer needs become increasingly diverse and complex, the need for personalized service has emerged. This study examines the effect of technology-based self-service (TBSS) characteristics of a Taekwondo academy on perceived value and intention to use continuously. The study sample consisted of masters managing a Taekwondo academy who had prior experience with TBSS. A total of 188 responses were collected using an online questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 23.0. The results demonstrated the following: first, among the sub-factors of TBSS characteristics, reliability, usefulness, and enjoyment were found to affect the perceived value positively; second, among the sub-factors of TBSS characteristics, usefulness and ease of use positively affected the intention to use continuously; and finally, the perceived value was found to affect the intention to use continuously positively. This study provides practical implications for more efficient use of the TBSS provided by a Taekwondo academy by discovering the relationship between the TBSS configuration of the Taekwondo academy, perceived value, and intention to use continuously.
An Extreme Learning Machine for the Simulation of Different Hysteretic Behaviors
Authors: Farrokh Mojtaba , Ghasemi Farzaneh , Noori Mohammad , Wang Tianyu , Sarhosis Vasilis
Published: December 2022

Hysteresis is a non−unique phenomenon known as a multi−valued mapping in different fields of science and engineering. Accurate identification of the hysteretic systems is a crucial step in hysteresis compensation and control. This study proposes a novel approach for simulating hysteresis with various features that combines the extreme learning machine (ELM) and least−squares support vector machine (LS−SVM). First, the hysteresis is converted into a single−valued mapping by deteriorating stop operators, a combination of stop and play hysteresis operators. Then, the converted mapping is learned by a LS−SVM model. This approach facilitates the training steps and provides more accurate results in contrast to the previous experimental studies. The proposed model is evaluated for several hystereses with various properties. These properties include rate−independent or rate−dependent, congruent or non-congruent, and symmetric or asymmetric problems. The results indicate the efficiency of the newly developed technique in terms of accuracy, computational cost, and convergence rate.
Creep Characteristics of Soil in the Sliding Zone of Huangtupo Landslide
Authors: Liao Mingke , Cui Deshan , Bao Xun , Qiao Zhuo , Zhao Chenxi
Published: December 2022

The reservoir water level in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) of the Yangtze River is adjusted between 145 m and 175 m throughout the year. The landslide below the reservoir water level bears periodic dynamic seepage pressure on the basis of the original steady-state water pressure. In the process of rising reservoir water levels in particular, the effective stress on the sliding zone soil below the reservoir water level line is reduced, and the sliding zone soil shows an unloading state. In order to study the creep characteristics of landslides in a reservoir area, direct shear creep tests of the sliding zone soil in the Huangtupo landslide in an unloading state were carried out in this study. The test results show that the creep characteristics of the sliding zone soil are obvious. The creep curve of the sliding zone soil presents an attenuation creep stage with low shear stress, which is mainly manifested as an elastic creep. However, with the increase in the shear stress, the creep curve of the sliding zone soil presents a steady creep stage, which is mainly manifested as viscoelastic creep. The nonlinear creep characteristics of the sliding zone soil are related to the creep time, stress level, and soil porosity. The longer the creep time, the greater the stress level and the denser the soil, the more obvious the nonlinear creep characteristics of the sliding zone soil. In this study, the Burgers model was used to fit the creep curve of the sliding zone soil, and the fitting effect was good, which indicates that the Burgers model can sufficiently describe the unloading state creep characteristics of the sliding zone soil in the Huangtupo landslide.
Distributed Denial of Service Attacks against Cloud Computing Environment: Survey, Issues, Challenges and Coherent Taxonomy
Authors: Alashhab Ziyad R. , Anbar Mohammed , Singh Manmeet Mahinderjit , Hasbullah Iznan H. , Jain Prateek , Al-Amiedy Taief Alaa
Published: December 2022

Cloud computing (CC) plays a significant role in revolutionizing the information and communication technology (ICT) industry, allowing flexible delivery of new services and computing resources at a fraction of the costs for end-users than traditional computing. Unfortunately, many potential cyber threats impact CC-deployed services due to the exploitation of CC’s characteristics, such as resource sharing, elasticity, and multi-tenancy. This survey provides a comprehensive discussion on security issues and challenges facing CC for cloud service providers and their users. Furthermore, this survey proposes a new taxonomy for classifying CC attacks, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, and DDoS attack detection approaches on CC. It also provides a qualitative comparison with the existing surveys. Finally, this survey aims to serve as a guide and reference for other researchers working on new DDoS attack detection approaches within the CC environment.
Landslides Triggered by Medicane Ianos in Greece, September 2020: Rapid Satellite Mapping and Field Survey
Authors: Valkaniotis Sotiris , Papathanassiou George , Marinos Vassilis , Saroglou Charalampos , Zekkos Dimitrios , Kallimogiannis Vasileios , Karantanellis Efstratios , Farmakis Ioannis , Zalachoris Georgios , Manousakis John , Ktenidou Olga-Joan
Published: December 2022

Medicanes, a type of strong hurricanes/cyclones occurring in the Mediterranean, can be the source of major geohazard events in Mediterranean coastal and inland areas. Medicane Ianos that hit Greece during 17–19 September 2020 caused widespread damage, with numerous landsides and floods being the most prominent. Following the landfall of Medicane Ianos, a series of field surveys were launched together with rapid response through satellite imagery. We focused on two of the areas most affected by Medicane Ianos, Cephalonia island and Karditsa, Thessaly, both in Greece. A rapid landslide inventory for the Karditsa region was prepared using Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, the first of its kind for a severe weather event in Greece. The mountainous area of Karditsa region in western Thessaly experienced the unprecedented number of 1696 landslides, mapped through satellite imagery and examined in the field. Cephalonia Island experienced a smaller number of landsides but damaging debris flows and severe structural damages. The rapid landside inventory was then compared to new methods of automated landslide mapping through change detection of satellite imagery.
Transfer and Distribution of Metals and Metalloids in Carassius auratus Organs from Tailings Pond and Their Influence on Morphological Characteristics
Authors: Yadrenkina Elena , Bortnikova Svetlana , Yurkevich Nataliya , Korneeva Tatyana , Shevko Artem , Olenchenko Vladimir , Khvachevskaya Albina
Published: December 2022

This article provides the results of the elemental composition study of Carassius auratus organs living in the Komsomolsk mine tailings pond, in which the water contains elevated concentrations of metals and metalloids. It was determined with an electrotomography survey that the pond is bordered vertically and laterally with highly conductive zones, in which pore waters are high-mineralized solutions. Due to the constant infiltration of solutions into the pond water, a stable composition is formed with elevated concentrations of a number of elements (sulfate-ion, As, Sb, Zn, Cd, Se, and others) exceeding background values. In the organs of Carassius auratus living in the pond, the accumulation of many elements occurs, the largest Sb, As, Cd, Hg, and Pb and to a lesser extent Al, Cu, Zn, and Se. Moreover, the concentration of elements is selective. In total, the greatest excess of element concentrations over background values was determined in the heart (15,000 times) and gills (4100 times) of fish, the smallest in muscles (1900 times) and liver (2000 times). The impact of the accumulation of metals and metalloids in fish organs influenced the metabolic rate, a decrease in the growth rate of Carassius auratus, and the appearance of dwarf forms.
Flow Boiling of R450A, R515B, and R1234ze(E) Inside a 7.0 mm OD Microfin Tube: Experimental Comparison and Analysis of Boiling Mechanisms
Authors: Liu Yuce , Rossetto Luisa , Diani Andrea
Published: December 2022

A comparative analysis of the flow boiling characteristics of R450A, R515B, and R1234ze(E) inside a 7.0 mm OD microfin tube was performed. The mass velocity was explored from low values, starting from 50 kg m−2 s−1, up to 400 kg m−2 s−1, and the heat flux was tested in the range of 10–50 kW m−2, keeping a constant saturation temperature of 30 °C at the inlet of the test section. R515B and R1234ze(E) showed similar values of the heat transfer coefficient and frictional pressure gradient under all the investigated working conditions. R450A showed lower values of the heat transfer coefficient, especially at low heat flux and high mass velocity, compared to R515B and R1234ze(E), but the gap of the heat transfer performance between the three fluids reduced at high heat flux. The frictional pressure drops of R450A were generally lower than those of R515B and R1234ze(E). In the end, some correlations for the evaluation of both the heat transfer coefficient and the pressure drop were selected, and the estimated values were compared against the experimental counterpart. Furthermore, the effects of nucleate boiling and of convective boiling, as well as of the temperature glide for R450A, were analyzed and estimated.
On the Countering of Free Vibrations by Forcing: Part I—Non-Resonant and Resonant Forcing with Phase Shifts
Authors: Campos Luiz M. B. C. , Silva Manuel J. S.
Published: December 2022

The question addressed is whether the free oscillations of a continuous system can be suppressed, or at least the total energy reduced, by applying external forces, using as example the linear undamped transverse oscillations of a uniform elastic string. The non-resonant forcing at an applied frequency, distinct from all natural frequencies, does not interact with the normal modes, whose energy is unchanged, and adds the energy of the forced oscillation, thus increasing the total energy, that is the opposite of the result being sought. The resonant forcing at an applied frequency, equal to one of the natural frequencies, leads to an amplitude growing linearly with time, and hence the energy is growing quadratically with time, implying an increase in total energy after a sufficiently long time. A reduction in total energy is possible over a short time, say over the first period of oscillation, by optimizing the forcing. In the case of a concentrated force, by optimizing its magnitude and location, the total energy with forcing in one period is reduced by a modest maximum of 2% relative to the free oscillation alone. The conclusion is similar for several concentrated forces. In the case of a continuously distributed force, by optimizing the spatial distribution, it is possible to reduce the energy of the total oscillation to one-fourth of that of the free oscillation over the first period of vibration. This shows that continuously distributed forces are more effective at vibration suppression than point forces.