bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characterization of the Light Field and Apparent Optical Properties in the Ocean Euphotic Layer Based on Hyperspectral Measurements of Irradiance Quartet
Authors: Li Linhai , Stramski Dariusz , Darecki Mirosław
Published: December 2018

Although the light fields and apparent optical properties (AOPs) within the ocean euphotic layer have been studied for many decades through extensive measurements and theoretical modeling, there is virtually a lack of simultaneous high spectral resolution measurements of plane and scalar downwelling and upwelling irradiances (the so-called irradiance quartet). We describe a unique dataset of hyperspectral irradiance quartet, which was acquired under a broad range of environmental conditions within the water column from the near-surface depths to about 80 m in the Gulf of California. This dataset enabled the characterization of a comprehensive suite of AOPs for realistic non-uniform vertical distributions of seawater inherent optical properties (IOPs) and chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl) in the common presence of inelastic radiative processes within the water column, in particular Raman scattering by water molecules and chlorophyll-a fluorescence. In the blue and green spectral regions, the vertical patterns of AOPs are driven primarily by IOPs of seawater with weak or no discernible effects of inelastic processes. In the red, the light field and AOPs are strongly affected or totally dominated by inelastic processes of Raman scattering by water molecules, and additionally by chlorophyll-a fluorescence within the fluorescence emission band. The strongest effects occur in the chlorophyll-a fluorescence band within the chlorophyll-a maximum layer, where the average cosines of the light field approach the values of uniform light field, irradiance reflectance is exceptionally high approaching 1, and the diffuse attenuation coefficients for various irradiances are exceptionally low, including the negative values for the attenuation of upwelling plane and scalar irradiances. We established the empirical relationships describing the vertical patterns of some AOPs in the red spectral region as well as the relationships between some AOPs which can be useful in common experimental situations when only the downwelling plane irradiance measurements are available. We also demonstrated the applicability of irradiance quartet data in conjunction with Gershun’s equation for estimating the absorption coefficient of seawater in the blue-green spectral region, in which the effects of inelastic processes are weak or negligible.
Assessing Fluorescent Organic Matter in Natural Waters: Towards In Situ Excitation–Emission Matrix Spectroscopy
Authors: Zielinski Oliver , Rüssmeier Nick , Ferdinand Oliver , Miranda Mario , Wollschläger Jochen
Published: December 2018

Natural organic matter (NOM) is a key parameter in aquatic biogeochemical processes. Part of the NOM pool exhibits optical properties, namely absorption and fluorescence. The latter is frequently utilized in laboratory measurements of its dissolved fraction (fluorescent dissolved organic matter, FDOM) through excitation–emission matrix spectroscopy (EEMS). We present the design and field application of a novel EEMS sensor system applicable in situ, the ‘Kallemeter’. Observations are based on a field campaign, starting in Norwegian coastal waters entering the Trondheimsfjord. Comparison against the bulk fluorescence of two commercial FDOM sensors exhibited a good correspondence of the different methods and the ability to resolve gradients and dynamics along the transect. Complementary laboratory EEM spectra measurements of surface water samples and their subsequent PARAFAC analysis revealed three dominant components while the ‘Kallemeter’ EEMS sensor system was able to produce reasonable EEM spectra in high DOM concentrated water bodies, yet high noise levels must be addressed in order to provide comparable PARAFAC components. Achievements and limitations of this proof-of-concept are discussed providing guidance towards full in situ EEMS measurements to resolve rapid changes and processes in natural waters based on the assessment of spectral properties. Their combination with multiwavelength FDOM sensors onboard autonomous platforms will enhance our capacities in observing biogeochemical processes in the marine environment in spatiotemporal and spectral dimensions.
Measurements of the Volume Scattering Function and the Degree of Linear Polarization of Light Scattered by Contrasting Natural Assemblages of Marine Particles
Authors: Koestner Daniel , Stramski Dariusz , Reynolds Rick A.
Published: December 2018

The light scattering properties of seawater play important roles in radiative transfer in the ocean and optically-based methods for characterizing marine suspended particles from in situ and remote sensing measurements. The recently commercialized LISST-VSF instrument is capable of providing in situ or laboratory measurements of the volume scattering function, β p ( ψ ) , and the degree of linear polarization, DoLP p ( ψ ) , associated with particle scattering. These optical quantities of natural particle assemblages have not been measured routinely in past studies. To fully realize the potential of LISST-VSF measurements, we evaluated instrument performance, and developed calibration correction functions from laboratory measurements and Mie scattering calculations for standard polystyrene beads suspended in water. The correction functions were validated with independent measurements. The improved LISST-VSF protocol was applied to measurements of β p ( ψ ) and DoLP p ( ψ ) taken on 17 natural seawater samples from coastal and offshore marine environments characterized by contrasting assemblages of suspended particles. Both β p ( ψ ) and DoLP p ( ψ ) exhibited significant variations related to a broad range of composition and size distribution of particulate assemblages. For example, negative relational trends were observed between the particulate backscattering ratio derived from β p ( ψ ) and increasing proportions of organic particles or phytoplankton in the particulate assemblage. Our results also suggest a potential trend between the maximum values of DoLP p ( ψ ) and particle size metrics, such that a decrease in the maximum DoLP p ( ψ ) tends to be associated with particulate assemblages exhibiting a higher proportion of large-sized particles. Such results have the potential to advance optically-based applications that rely on an understanding of relationships between light scattering and particle properties of natural particulate assemblages.
Sensory Profile, Consumer Preference and Chemical Composition of Craft Beers from Brazil
Authors: Da Costa Jardim Carmelita , De Souza Daiana , Cristina Kasper Machado Isabel , Massochin Nunes Pinto Laura , De Souza Ramos Renata Cristina , Garavaglia Juliano
Published: December 2018

Craft beers are known for their distinct flavor, brew, and regional distribution. They are made using top-fermenting (ale) yeast, bottom-fermenting (lager) yeast, or through spontaneous fermentation. Craft beers are consumed and produced in Brazil in large quantities. However, they present a high level of polyphenols, which affects consumer preference as they may yield a taste of bitterness to beers. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between polyphenols and bitterness as well as the composition of the main styles of craft beers and consumer preference for them. Six different styles were analyzed according to their polyphenol content, bitterness, chemical composition, sensory profile, and preference. For preference, a panel of 62 untrained assessors was used. For sensory profile, quantitative descriptive analysis was performed using expert assessors (n = 8). The most preferred style was classic American pilsner, and the least preferred was standard American lager. The most preferred style showed less bitterness (9.52) and lower polyphenol content (0.61 mg EAG/mL), total solids (6.75 °Brix), and turbidity (7.27 NTU). This beer also exhibited reduced sensory notes of malty, fruity, smoked, hoppy, and phenolic but a higher perception of floral, sweet, and yeast notes; the bitterness attribute had a reduced perception. This study advances the understanding and complexity of the sensory profile of different styles of craft beers from Southern Brazil.
Structure of Carbon Materials Explored by Local Transmission Electron Microscopy and Global Powder Diffraction Probes
Authors: Jurkiewicz Karolina , Pawlyta Mirosława , Burian Andrzej
Published: December 2018

Transmission electron microscopy and neutron or X-ray diffraction are powerful techniques available today for characterization of the structure of various carbon materials at nano and atomic levels. They provide complementary information but each one has advantages and limitations. Powder X-ray or neutron diffraction measurements provide structural information representative for the whole volume of a material under probe but features of singular nano-objects cannot be identified. Transmission electron microscopy, in turn, is able to probe single nanoscale objects. In this review, it is demonstrated how transmission electron microscopy and powder X-ray and neutron diffraction methods complement each other by providing consistent structural models for different types of carbons such as carbon blacks, glass-like carbons, graphene, nanotubes, nanodiamonds, and nanoonions.
Frequency of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTC) in Patients with Brain Metastases: Implications as a Risk Assessment Marker in Oligo-Metastatic Disease
Authors: Hanssen Annkathrin , Riebensahm Carlotta , Mohme Malte , Joosse Simon A. , Velthaus Janna-Lisa , Berger Lars Arne , Bernreuther Christian , Glatzel Markus , Loges Sonja , Lamszus Katrin , Westphal Manfred , Riethdorf Sabine , Pantel Klaus , Wikman Harriet
Published: December 2018

Forty percent of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients develop brain metastases, resulting in a dismal prognosis. However, patients in an oligo-metastatic brain disease setting seem to have better outcomes. Here, we investigate the possibility of using circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as biomarkers to differentiate oligo-metastatic patients for better risk assessment. Using the CellSearch® system, few CTCs were detected among NSCLC patients with brain metastases (n = 52, 12.5% ≥ two and 8.9% ≥ five CTC/7.5 mL blood) and especially oligo-metastatic brain patients (n = 34, 5.9%, and 2.9%). Still, thresholds of both ≥ two and ≥ five CTCs were independent prognostic indicators for shorter overall survival time among all of the NSCLC patients (n = 90, two CTC ≥ HR: 1.629, p = 0.024, 95% CI: 1.137–6.465 and five CTC ≥ HR: 2.846, p = 0.0304, CI: 1.104–7.339), as well as among patients with brain metastases (two CTC ≥ HR: 4.694, p = 0.004, CI: 1.650–13.354, and five CTC ≥ HR: 4.963, p = 0.003, CI: 1.752–14.061). Also, oligo-brain NSCLC metastatic patients with CTCs had a very poor prognosis (p = 0.019). Similarly, in other tumor entities, only 9.6% of patients with brain metastases (n = 52) had detectable CTCs. Our data indicate that although patients with brain metastases more seldom harbor CTCs, they are still predictive for overall survival, and CTCs might be a useful biomarker to identify oligo-metastatic NSCLC patients who might benefit from a more intense therapy.
A Dynamic Culture Method to Produce Ovarian Cancer Spheroids under Physiologically-Relevant Shear Stress
Authors: Masiello Timothy , Dhall Atul , Hemachandra L. P. Madhubhani , Tokranova Natalya , Melendez J. Andres , Castracane James
Published: December 2018

The transcoelomic metastasis pathway is an alternative to traditional lymphatic/hematogenic metastasis. It is most frequently observed in ovarian cancer, though it has been documented in colon and gastric cancers as well. In transcoelomic metastasis, primary tumor cells are released into the abdominal cavity and form cell aggregates known as spheroids. These spheroids travel through the peritoneal fluid and implant at secondary sites, leading to the formation of new tumor lesions in the peritoneal lining and the organs in the cavity. Models of this process that incorporate the fluid shear stress (FSS) experienced by these spheroids are few, and most have not been fully characterized. Proposed herein is the adaption of a known dynamic cell culture system, the orbital shaker, to create an environment with physiologically-relevant FSS for spheroid formation. Experimental conditions (rotation speed, well size and cell density) were optimized to achieve physiologically-relevant FSS while facilitating the formation of spheroids that are also of a physiologically-relevant size. The FSS improves the roundness and size consistency of spheroids versus equivalent static methods and are even comparable to established high-throughput arrays, while maintaining nearly equivalent viability. This effect was seen in both highly metastatic and modestly metastatic cell lines. The spheroids generated using this technique were fully amenable to functional assays and will allow for better characterization of FSS’s effects on metastatic behavior and serve as a drug screening platform. This model can also be built upon in the future by adding more aspects of the peritoneal microenvironment, further enhancing its in vivo relevance.
Autophagy: An Essential Degradation Program for Cellular Homeostasis and Life
Authors: Chun Yoomi , Kim Joungmok
Published: December 2018

Autophagy is a lysosome-dependent cellular degradation program that responds to a variety of environmental and cellular stresses. It is an evolutionarily well-conserved and essential pathway to maintain cellular homeostasis, therefore, dysfunction of autophagy is closely associated with a wide spectrum of human pathophysiological conditions including cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. The discovery and characterization of the kingdom of autophagy proteins have uncovered the molecular basis of the autophagy process. In addition, recent advances on the various post-translational modifications of autophagy proteins have shed light on the multiple layers of autophagy regulatory mechanisms, and provide novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of the diseases.
Role of Autophagy in Proteostasis: Friend and Foe in Cardiac Diseases
Authors: Li Jin , Zhang Deli , Wiersma Marit , Brundel Bianca J. J. M.
Published: December 2018

Due to ageing of the population, the incidence of cardiovascular diseases will increase in the coming years, constituting a substantial burden on health care systems. In particular, atrial fibrillation (AF) is approaching epidemic proportions. It has been identified that the derailment of proteostasis, which is characterized by the loss of homeostasis in protein biosynthesis, folding, trafficking, and clearance by protein degradation systems such as autophagy, underlies the development of common cardiac diseases. Among various safeguards within the proteostasis system, autophagy is a vital cellular process that modulates clearance of misfolded and proteotoxic proteins from cardiomyocytes. On the other hand, excessive autophagy may result in derailment of proteostasis and therefore cardiac dysfunction. Here, we review the interplay between autophagy and proteostasis in the healthy heart, discuss the imbalance between autophagy and proteostasis during cardiac diseases, including AF, and finally explore new druggable targets which may limit cardiac disease initiation and progression.
Multi-Model Forecasts of Very-Large Fire Occurences during the End of the 21st Century
Authors: Podschwit Harry R. , Larkin Narasimhan K. , Steel E. Ashley , Cullen Alison , Alvarado Ernesto
Published: December 2018

Climate change is anticipated to influence future wildfire activity in complicated, and potentially unexpected ways. Specifically, the probability distribution of wildfire size may change so that incidents that were historically rare become more frequent. Given that fires in the upper tails of the size distribution are associated with serious economic, public health, and environmental impacts, it is important for decision-makers to plan for these anticipated changes. However, at least two kinds of structural uncertainties hinder reliable estimation of these quantities—those associated with the future climate and those associated with the impacts. In this paper, we incorporate these structural uncertainties into projections of very-large fire (VLF)—those in the upper 95th percentile of the regional size distribution—frequencies in the Continental United States during the last half of the 21st century by using Bayesian model averaging. Under both moderate and high carbon emission scenarios, large increases in VLF frequency are predicted, with larger increases typically observed under the highest carbon emission scenarios. We also report other changes to future wildfire characteristics such as large fire frequency, seasonality, and the conditional likelihood of very-large fire events.
KStable: A Computational Method for Predicting Protein Thermal Stability Changes by K-Star with Regular-mRMR Feature Selection
Authors: Chen Chi-Wei , Chang Kai-Po , Ho Cheng-Wei , Chang Hsung-Pin , Chu Yen-Wei
Published: December 2018

Thermostability is a protein property that impacts many types of studies, including protein activity enhancement, protein structure determination, and drug development. However, most computational tools designed to predict protein thermostability require tertiary structure data as input. The few tools that are dependent only on the primary structure of a protein to predict its thermostability have one or more of the following problems: a slow execution speed, an inability to make large-scale mutation predictions, and the absence of temperature and pH as input parameters. Therefore, we developed a computational tool, named KStable, that is sequence-based, computationally rapid, and includes temperature and pH values to predict changes in the thermostability of a protein upon the introduction of a mutation at a single site. KStable was trained using basis features and minimal redundancy–maximal relevance (mRMR) features, and 58 classifiers were subsequently tested. To find the representative features, a regular-mRMR method was developed. When KStable was evaluated with an independent test set, it achieved an accuracy of 0.708.
Complex Behavior of Nano-Scale Tribo-Ceramic Films in Adaptive PVD Coatings under Extreme Tribological Conditions
Authors: Fox-Rabinovich German , Kovalev Anatoly , Gershman Iosif , Wainstein Dmitry , Aguirre Myriam H. , Covelli Danielle , Paiva Jose , Yamamoto Kenji , Veldhuis Stephen
Published: December 2018

Experimental investigations of nano-scale spatio-temporal effects that occur on the friction surface under extreme tribological stimuli, in combination with thermodynamic modeling of the self-organization process, are presented in this paper. The study was performed on adaptive PVD (physical vapor deposited) coatings represented by the TiAlCrSiYN/TiAlCrN nano-multilayer PVD coating. A detailed analysis of the worn surface was conducted using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) methods. It was demonstrated that the coating studied exhibits a very fast adaptive response to the extreme external stimuli through the formation of an increased amount of protective surface tribo-films at the very beginning of the running-in stage of wear. Analysis performed on the friction surface indicates that all of the tribo-film formation processes occur in the nanoscopic scale. The tribo-films form as thermal barrier tribo-ceramics with a complex composition and very low thermal conductivity under high operating temperatures, thus demonstrating reduced friction which results in low cutting forces and wear values. This process presents an opportunity for the surface layer to attain a strong non-equilibrium state. This leads to the stabilization of the exchanging interactions between the tool and environment at a low wear level. This effect is the consequence of the synergistic behavior of complex matter represented by the dynamically formed nano-scale tribo-film layer.
Auditory Inspired Convolutional Neural Networks for Ship Type Classification with Raw Hydrophone Data
Authors: Shen Sheng , Yang Honghui , Li Junhao , Xu Guanghui , Sheng Meiping
Published: December 2018

Detecting and classifying ships based on radiated noise provide practical guidelines for the reduction of underwater noise footprint of shipping. In this paper, the detection and classification are implemented by auditory inspired convolutional neural networks trained from raw underwater acoustic signal. The proposed model includes three parts. The first part is performed by a multi-scale 1D time convolutional layer initialized by auditory filter banks. Signals are decomposed into frequency components by convolution operation. In the second part, the decomposed signals are converted into frequency domain by permute layer and energy pooling layer to form frequency distribution in auditory cortex. Then, 2D frequency convolutional layers are applied to discover spectro-temporal patterns, as well as preserve locality and reduce spectral variations in ship noise. In the third part, the whole model is optimized with an objective function of classification to obtain appropriate auditory filters and feature representations that are correlative with ship categories. The optimization reflects the plasticity of auditory system. Experiments on five ship types and background noise show that the proposed approach achieved an overall classification accuracy of 79.2%, which improved by 6% compared to conventional approaches. Auditory filter banks were adaptive in shape to improve accuracy of classification.
Spatial Measures of Urban Systems: from Entropy to Fractal Dimension
Authors: Chen Yanguang , Huang Linshan
Published: December 2018

One type of fractal dimension definition is based on the generalized entropy function. Both entropy and fractal dimensions can be employed to characterize complex spatial systems such as cities and regions. Despite the inherent connection between entropy and fractal dimensions, they have different application scopes and directions in urban studies. This paper focuses on exploring how to convert entropy measurements into fractal dimensions for the spatial analysis of scale-free urban phenomena using the ideas from scaling. Urban systems proved to be random prefractal and multifractal systems. The spatial entropy of fractal cities bears two properties. One is the scale dependence: the entropy values of urban systems always depend on the linear scales of spatial measurement. The other is entropy conservation: different fractal parts bear the same entropy value. Thus, entropy cannot reflect the simple rules of urban processes and the spatial heterogeneity of urban patterns. If we convert the generalized entropies into multifractal spectrums, the problems of scale dependence and entropy homogeneity can be solved to a degree for urban spatial analysis. Especially, the geographical analyses of urban evolution can be simplified. This study may be helpful for students in describing and explaining the spatial complexity of urban evolution.
Stochastic Thermodynamics of Oscillators’ Networks
Authors: Borlenghi Simone , Delin Anna
Published: December 2018

We apply the stochastic thermodynamics formalism to describe the dynamics of systems of complex Langevin and Fokker-Planck equations. We provide in particular a simple and general recipe to calculate thermodynamical currents, dissipated and propagating heat for networks of nonlinear oscillators. By using the Hodge decomposition of thermodynamical forces and fluxes, we derive a formula for entropy production that generalises the notion of non-potential forces and makes transparent the breaking of detailed balance and of time reversal symmetry for states arbitrarily far from equilibrium. Our formalism is then applied to describe the off-equilibrium thermodynamics of a few examples, notably a continuum ferromagnet, a network of classical spin-oscillators and the Frenkel-Kontorova model of nano friction.
Farmers Perceptions of Climate Change Related Events in Shendam and Riyom, Nigeria
Authors: Goyol Simi , Pathirage Chaminda
Published: December 2018

Although agriculture in Nigeria is the major source of income for about 70% of the active population, the impact of agrarian infrastructure on boosting productivity and supporting livelihoods has increased. Climate change and the increasing trend of climate-related events in Nigeria challenge both the stability of agrarian infrastructure and livelihood systems. Based on case studies of two local communities in Plateau state in Nigeria, this paper utilizes a range of perceptions to examine the impacts of climate-related events on agrarian infrastructures and how agrarian livelihood systems are, in turn, affected. Data are obtained from a questionnaire survey (n = 175 farmers) and semi-structured interviews (n = 14 key informants). The study identifies local indicators of climate change, high risks climate events and the components of agrarian infrastructures that are at risk from climate events. Findings reveal that, changes in rainfall and temperature patterns increase the probability of floods and droughts. They also reveal that, although locational differences account for the high impact of floods on road transport systems and droughts on irrigation infrastructures, both have a chain of negative effects on agricultural activities, economic activities and livelihood systems. A binomial logistic regression model is used to predict the perceived impact levels of floods and droughts, while an in-depth analysis is utilized to corroborate the quantitative results. The paper further stresses the need to strengthen the institutional capacity for risk reduction through the provision of resilient infrastructures, as the poor conditions of agrarian infrastructure were identified as dominant factors on the high impact levels.
Experimental Comparison of Three Real-Time Optimization Strategies Applied to Renewable/FC-Based Hybrid Power Systems Based on Load-Following Control
Authors: Bizon Nicu , Oproescu Mihai
Published: December 2018

Besides three different real-time optimization strategies analyzed for the Renewable/Fuel Cell Hybrid Power Systems (REW/FC-HPS) based on load-following (LFW) control, a short but critical assessment of the Real-Time Optimization (RTO) strategies is presented in this paper. The advantage of power flow balance on the DC bus through the FC net power generated using the LFW control instead of using the batteries’ stack is highlighted in this study. As LFW control consequence, the battery operates in charge-sustained mode and many advantages can be exploited in practice such as: reducing the size of the battery and maintenance cost, canceling the monitoring condition of the battery state-of-charge etc. The optimization of three FC-HPSs topologies based on appropriate RTO strategy is performed here using indicators such as fuel economy, fuel consumption efficiency, and FC electrical efficiency. The challenging task to optimize operation of the FC-HPS under unknown profile of the load demand is approached using an optimization function based on linear mix of the FC net power and the fuel consumption through the weighting coefficients knet and kfuel. If optimum values are chosen, then a RTO switching strategy can improve even further the fuel economy over the entire range of load.
Development and Test of Solutions to Enlarge the Power of PV Irrigation and Application to a 140 kW PV-Diesel Representative Case
Authors: Almeida Rita H. , Carrêlo Isaac B. , Lorenzo Eduardo , Narvarte Luis , Fernández-Ramos José , Martínez-Moreno Francisco , Carrasco Luis M.
Published: December 2018

The current state of the art of photovoltaic (PV) irrigation systems is limited to PV peak powers below 40 kWp, which does not cover the irrigation needs of farmers, co-operatives, irrigator communities, and agro-industries. This limitation of power is due to two main technical barriers: The quick intermittence of PV power due to the passing of clouds, and the maladjustment between PV production and water needs. This paper presents new solutions that have been developed to overcome these barriers and their application to the design and performance of a 140 kWp hybrid PV-diesel system for the drip irrigation of 195 ha of olive trees in Alter do Chão, Portugal. The performance of the solutions was analysed during two years of real operation. As the performance of the PV system is not only affected by intrinsic-to-design characteristics, but also by circumstances external to the system, new performance indices were developed. As an example, the percentage of use of PV electricity, PVSH, was 78% and 82% in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and the performance ratio of the PV part, PRPV, was 0.79 and 0.80. The economic feasibility was also analysed based on experimental data, resulting in savings in the levelized cost of electricity of 61%.
Morphological Characteristics and Allometric Relationships of Shoot in Two Undergrowth Plants: Polygonatum odoratum and Polygonatum multiflorum
Authors: Tulik Mirela , Karczewski Jerzy , Szeliga Natalia , Jura-Morawiec Joanna , Jarzyna Ingeborga
Published: December 2018

The main purpose of this investigation was to describe the spatial arrangement of shoot tissues, as seen in transverse section, and allometric relationships in two contrasting species of Polygonatum i.e., Polygonatum odoratum which commonly grows in mixed pine-oak forest with shoots rectangular in shape, and Polygonatum multiflorum found in oak-hornbeam forest with cylindrical shoots. The mass and length of the aerial shoots of each individual plant were measured. The shoot regions of each plant were then categorized as basal (b), central (c) or apical (a). Transverse sections of these shoot regions were subsequently cut, and the following parameters were measured: (1) Diameter of shoots, (2) thickness of the outer and inner zones of parenchyma and (3) thickness of the sclerenchyma zone. Additional allometric relationships between the various measurements were computed and determined as Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r). Both species of Polygonatum differed significantly with respect to the length, diameter and thickness of the outer zone of parenchyma. Shoots of P. multiflorum were taller but narrower than those of P. odoratum, which had a significantly wider zone of outer parenchyma. Allometric relationships were stronger for P. multiflorum, and for both species, they were generally stronger in the basal part of the shoot. We conclude that in P. multiflorum, the strong correlation between the diameter and length of the shoot seems to be important to the growth in shaded environments.
Fitness Costs of the Glutathione S-Transferase Epsilon 2 (L119F-GSTe2) Mediated Metabolic Resistance to Insecticides in the Major African Malaria Vector Anopheles Funestus
Authors: Tchouakui Magellan , Riveron Jacob M. , Djonabaye Doumani , Tchapga Williams , Irving Helen , Soh Takam Patrice , Njiokou Flobert , Wondji Charles S.
Published: December 2018

Metabolic resistance to insecticides threatens malaria control. However, little is known about its fitness cost in field populations of malaria vectors, thus limiting the design of suitable resistance management strategies. Here, we assessed the association between the glutathione S-transferase GSTe2-mediated metabolic resistance and life-traits of natural populations of Anopheles funestus. A total of 1200 indoor resting blood-fed female An. funestus (F0) were collected in Mibellon, Cameroon (2016/2017), and allowed to lay eggs individually. Genotyping of F1 mosquitoes for the L119F-GSTE2 mutation revealed that L/L119-homozygote susceptible (SS) mosquitoes significantly laid more eggs than heterozygotes L119F-RS (odds ratio (OR) = 2.06; p < 0.0001) and homozygote resistant 119F/F-RR (OR = 2.93; p < 0.0001). L/L119-SS susceptible mosquitoes also showed the higher ability for oviposition than 119F/F-RR resistant (OR = 2.68; p = 0.0002) indicating a reduced fecundity in resistant mosquitoes. Furthermore, L119F-RS larvae developed faster (nine days) than L119F-RR and L119F-SS (11 days) (X2 = 11.052; degree of freedom (df) = 4; p = 0.02) suggesting a heterozygote advantage effect for larval development. Interestingly, L/L119-SS developed faster than 119F/F-RR (OR = 5.3; p < 0.0001) revealing an increased developmental time in resistant mosquitoes. However, genotyping and sequencing revealed that L119F-RR mosquitoes exhibited a higher adult longevity compared to RS (OR > 2.2; p < 0.05) and SS (OR > 2.1; p < 0.05) with an increased frequency of GSTe2-resistant haplotypes in mosquitoes of D30 after adult emergence. Additionally, comparison of the expression of GSTe2 revealed a significantly increased expression from D1-D30 after emergence of adults (Anova test (F) = 8; df= 3; p = 0.008). The negative association between GSTe2 and some life traits of An. funestus could facilitate new resistance management strategies. However, the increased longevity of GSTe2-resistant mosquitoes suggests that an increase in resistance could exacerbate malaria transmission.
Postural Strategy in Elderly, Middle-Aged, and Young People during Local Vibratory Stimulation for Proprioceptive Inputs
Authors: Ito Tadashi , Sakai Yoshihito , Yamazaki Kazunori , Nishio Reiya , Ito Yohei , Morita Yoshifumi
Published: December 2018

Proprioceptive input may greatly affect postural stability. However, the proprioceptive postural strategy in elderly, middle-aged, and young people has not been investigated sufficiently. Hence, in this study, we aimed to investigate differences in proprioceptive postural strategies of elderly, middle-aged, and young people. The center of pressure displacement was determined in 23 elderly, 23 middle-aged, and 23 young people during upright stance on a balance board with their eyes closed. Vibratory stimulations at 30, 60, and 240 Hz were applied to the lumbar multifidus (LM) and gastrocnemius (GS) muscles to evaluate the contributions of different proprioceptive signals used in balance control. Compared with middle-aged and young people, elderly people showed a high dependence on postural control of the GS at 30 Hz (p-values: Young and elderly: 0.033; middle-aged and elderly: 0.001). Moreover, compared with young people, elderly people were more dependent on postural control of the LM at 240 Hz (p = 0.016). There were no significant differences with respect to the GS at 60 and 240 Hz, and with respect to the LM at 30 and 60 Hz between the elderly, young, and middle-aged people. Thus, the postural control strategy of elderly people depends on the GS at 30 Hz.
Correlation Analysis to Identify the Effective Data in Machine Learning: Prediction of Depressive Disorder and Emotion States
Authors: Kumar Sunil , Chong Ilyoung
Published: December 2018

Correlation analysis is an extensively used technique that identifies interesting relationships in data. These relationships help us realize the relevance of attributes with respect to the target class to be predicted. This study has exploited correlation analysis and machine learning-based approaches to identify relevant attributes in the dataset which have a significant impact on classifying a patient’s mental health status. For mental health situations, correlation analysis has been performed in Weka, which involves a dataset of depressive disorder symptoms and situations based on weather conditions, as well as emotion classification based on physiological sensor readings. Pearson’s product moment correlation and other different classification algorithms have been utilized for this analysis. The results show interesting correlations in weather attributes for bipolar patients, as well as in features extracted from physiological data for emotional states.
Healthy Nutrition and Physical Activity in Childcare: Views from Childcare Managers, Childcare Workers and Parents on Influential Factors
Authors: Van de Kolk Ilona , Goossens Anne J. M. , Gerards Sanne M. P. L. , Kremers Stef P. J. , Manders Roos M. P. , Gubbels Jessica S.
Published: December 2018

Childhood obesity is an important public health issue influenced by both personal and environmental factors. The childcare setting plays an important role in children’s energy balance-related behaviours (EBRB), such as physical activity, sedentary behaviour and healthy nutrition. This study aimed to explore facilitators and barriers of healthy EBRB in childcare in a comprehensive way, from the perspective of three crucial stakeholders: childcare managers, childcare workers and parents. A qualitative study was performed using semi-structured interviews. Content analysis was performed using the ‘Environmental Research framework for weight Gain prevention’ (EnRG framework) to guide the analysis. Forty-eight interviews were held with a total of 65 participants (9 childcare managers, 23 childcare workers and 33 parents). Influential factors in all types of environment (physical, sociocultural, economic and political) were mentioned. Although a need for change was not always expressed, the interviews revealed opportunities for improvement of healthy EBRB in childcare. These opportunities were related to the sociocultural, physical and political environment. Childcare workers and managers expressed an influence of the home setting on the childcare setting, resulting in a need for more congruence between these settings. There are opportunities for improvement in the childcare setting to promote healthy EBRB in young children in the Netherlands. It appears important to align intervention components between the childcare and home setting.
Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Ecological Conditions and Its Response to Natural Conditions and Human Activities during 1990–2010 in the Yangtze River Delta, China
Authors: Meng Ziqi , Liu Min , She Qiannan , Yang Fang , Long Lingbo , Peng Xia , Han Ji , Xiang Weining
Published: December 2018

The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region, including Shanghai City and the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces, is the largest metropolitan region in China. In the past three decades, the region has experienced an unprecedented process of rapid and massive urbanization, which has dramatically altered the landscape and detrimentally affected the ecological environments in the region. In this paper, we analyzed the spatiotemporal variations of ecological conditions (Eco_C) via a synthetic index with analytic hierarchy processes in the YRD during 1990–2010. The relative contributions of influencing factors, including two natural conditions (i.e., elevation (Elev) and land-sea gradient (Dis_coa)), three indicators of human activities (i.e., urbanization rate (Urb_rate), per capita GDP (Per_gdp), the percentage of secondary and tertiary industry employment (Per_ind)), to the total variance of regional Eco_C were also investigated. The results showed that: (1) The Eco_C over YRD region was “Moderately High”, which was better than the national average and demonstrated obvious spatial variations between south and north. There existed fluctuations and an overall increasing trend for Eco_C during the study period, with 20% of the area being deteriorated and 40% being improved. (2) The areas with elevation below 10 m was relatively poor in Eco_C, while the regions above 1000 m showed the best Eco_C and had the most obvious changes (9.33%) during the study period. (3) The selected five influencing factors could explain 91.0–94.4% of the Eco_C spatial variability. Elevation was the dominant factor for about 42.4–52.9%, while urbanization rate and per capita GDP were about 32.5% and 9.3%.
Patient Satisfaction with Community Pharmacies Services: A Cross-Sectional Survey from Punjab; Pakistan
Authors: Aziz Muhammad Majid , Ji Wenjing , Masood Imran , Farooq Muhammad , Malik Muhammad Zubair , Chang Jie , Jiang Minghuan , Atif Naveel , Fang Yu
Published: December 2018

Purpose: Patient satisfaction can identify specific areas of improvement in community pharmacy services. Currently in Pakistan, no evidence exists in this regard. This study was conducted to determine the needs of patients and the current standards of pharmacies. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2016 and June 2017. A pilot tested questionnaire was used to collected the data from 1088 patients of 544 community pharmacies. Likert scale and one way ANOVA was used to analyze the data. Results: The response rate of community pharmacies was 80% and that of purchasers was 68.1%. The mean age of participants was 35.2 years. The mean overall satisfaction score of participants was 2.78/5.00. Many patients were dissatisfied (1.65/5.00) with parking facilities provided by pharmacies. Pharmacy service time fulfilled the requirements of most patients (4.16/5.00). The counseling person’s good attitude (3.99/5.00) was credited by purchasers. Level of patient satisfaction with the availability of medicines (3.19/5.00), safe storage of medicines in pharmacy stores (3.66/5.00), and quality of medicines (3.41/5.00) were almost moderate. Many patients were very satisfied (4.35/5.00) with readable instructions for their medications. Approximately half of the patients were dissatisfied with the waiting time. Many patients were also dissatisfied (2.28/5.00) with the knowledge of the counseling person. Patients perceived that staff interest in patient recovery (2.24/5.00) was low. No significant difference in level of satisfaction with regard to participant’s characteristics was found. Conclusions: The current study demonstrated a low level of patient satisfaction with regard to community pharmacy services in Pakistan. These services need improvement.
Developing a Dynamic Web-GIS Based Landslide Early Warning System for the Chittagong Metropolitan Area, Bangladesh
Authors: Ahmed Bayes , Rahman Md. Shahinoor , Islam Rahenul , Sammonds Peter , Zhou Chao , Uddin Kabir , Al-Hussaini Tahmeed M.
Published: December 2018

This article aims to develop a Web-GIS based landslide early warning system (EWS) for the Chittagong Metropolitan Area (CMA), Bangladesh, where, in recent years, rainfall-induced landslides have caused great losses of lives and property. A method for combining static landslide susceptibility maps and rainfall thresholds is proposed by introducing a purposely-build hazard matrix. To begin with, eleven factor maps: soil permeability; surface geology; landcover; altitude; slope; aspect; distance to stream; fault line; hill cut; road cut; and drainage network along with a detailed landslide inventory map were produced. These maps were used, and four methods were applied: artificial neural network (ANN); multiple regressions; principal component analysis; and support vector machine to produce landslide susceptibility maps. After model validation, the ANN map was found best fitting and was classified into never warning, low, medium, and high susceptibility zones. Rainfall threshold analysis (1960–2017) revealed consecutive 5-day periods of rainfall of 71–282 mm could initiate landslides in CMA. Later, the threshold was classified into three rainfall rates: low rainfall (70–160 mm), medium rainfall (161–250 mm), and high rainfall (>250 mm). Each landslide was associated with a hazard class (no warning vs. warning state) based on the assumption that the higher the susceptibility, the lower the rainfall. Finally, the EWS was developed using various libraries and frameworks that is connected with a reliable online-based weather application programming interface. The system is publicly available, dynamic, and replicable to similar contexts and is able to disseminate alerts five days in advance via email notifications. The proposed EWS is novel and the first of its kind in Bangladesh, and can be applied to mitigate landslide disaster risks.
Geospatial Monitoring of Land Surface Temperature Effects on Vegetation Dynamics in the Southeastern Region of Bangladesh from 2001 to 2016
Authors: Islam Shahidul , Ma Mingguo
Published: December 2018

Land surface temperature (LST) can significantly alter seasonal vegetation phenology which in turn affects the global and regional energy balance. These are the most important parameters of surface–atmosphere interactions and climate change. Methods for retrieving LSTs from satellite remote-sensing data are beneficial for modeling hydrological, ecological, agricultural and meteorological processes on the Earth’s surface. This paper assesses the geospatial patterns of LST using correlations of the seasonally integrated normalized difference vegetation index (SINDVI) in the southeastern region of Bangladesh from 2001 to 2016. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) time series datasets for LST and SINDVI were used for estimations in the study. From 2001 to 2016, the MODIS-based land surface temperature in the southeastern region of Bangladesh was found to have gently increased by 0.2 °C (R2 = 0.030), while the seasonally integrated normalized difference vegetation index also increased by 0.43 (R2 = 0.268). The interannual average LSTs mostly increased across the study areas, except in some coastal plain and tidal floodplain areas of the study. However, the SINDVI increased in the floodplain and coastal plain regions, except for in hilly areas. Physiographically, the study area is a combination of low lying alluvial floodplains, river basin wetlands, tidal floodplains, tertiary hills, terraced lands and coastal plains in nature. The hilly areas are mostly covered by dense forests, with the exception of agricultural areas. The impacts of increased LSTs were inversely correlated for the hilly areas and areas with forest coverage; LSTs were conversely correlated for the floodplain region, and tree cover outside of the forest and agricultural crops. This study will be very helpful for the protection and restoration of the natural environment.
Oligoclonal T Cells Transiently Expand and Express Tim-3 and PD-1 Following Anti-CD19 CAR T Cell Therapy: A Case Report
Authors: Funk Christopher Ronald , Petersen Christopher T. , Jagirdar Neera , Ravindranathan Sruthi , Jaye David L. , Flowers Christopher R. , Langston Amelia , Waller Edmund K.
Published: December 2018

Clinical trials of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells in hematologic malignancy associate remissions with two profiles of CAR T cell proliferation kinetics, which differ based upon costimulatory domain. Additional T cell intrinsic factors that influence or predict clinical response remain unclear. To address this gap, we report the case of a 68-year-old woman with refractory/relapsed diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), treated with tisagenlecleucel (anti-CD19), with a CD137 costimulatory domain (4-1BB) on an investigational new drug application (#16944). For two months post-infusion, the patient experienced dramatic regression of subcutaneous nodules of DLBCL. Unfortunately, her CAR T exhibited kinetics unassociated with remission, and she died of DLBCL-related sequelae. Serial phenotypic analysis of peripheral blood alongside sequencing of the β-peptide variable region of the T cell receptor (TCRβ) revealed distinct waves of oligoclonal T cell expansion with dynamic expression of immune checkpoint molecules. One week prior to CAR T cell contraction, T cell immunoglobulin mucin domain 3 (Tim-3) and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) exhibited peak expressions on both the CD8 T cell (Tim-3 ≈ 50%; PD-1 ≈ 17%) and CAR T cell subsets (Tim-3 ≈ 78%; PD-1 ≈ 40%). These correlative observations draw attention to Tim-3 and PD-1 signaling pathways in context of CAR T cell exhaustion.