bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Preparation of Magnetic Graphene Photocatalytic Nano-adsorbent for the Sustainable Removal of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from Aqueous Solution
Authors: Ying Qi , Li Taiguang , Hao Yongmei
Published: April 2023

Magnetic graphene oxide-SiO2-TiO2 (MGST) composite was prepared for the absorption and further photodegradation of PAHs to reduce the risk of PAHs in the water environment. Magnetic graphene oxide (MGO) was obtained by introducing Fe3O4 to graphite oxide (GO). Furthermore, the suitable SiO2 layer was wrapped on the MGO for further modification with TiO2. Finally, the functional MGST composite with uniform morphology was obtained. Naphthalene, phenanthrene and pyrene were selected as models. It was found that the adsorption capacity of MGST showed the order of naphthalene (NAP) < phenanthrene (PHE) < pyrene (PYR).
Gallium Nitride Power Devices in Magnetically Coupled Resonant Wireless Power Transfer Systems
Authors: Di Kuo , Lu Bingcheng
Published: April 2023

The main function of power devices is to convert electrical energy through high-speed switching, such as AC/DC, high and low voltage conversion, etc. Therefore, the performance of the device directly affects the performance of the power electronic device, thereby further affecting the conversion efficiency of electrical energy. The arrival of the 5G era has greatly increased the demand for gallium nitride (GaN). The development of the wireless communication market has made GaN play a key role in many aspects of human activities. The main aim of this article is to research the application of GaN power devices in magnetically coupled resonant wireless power transfer (WPT) systems. This paper first introduces the related concepts of GaN power devices, magnetic coupling resonance and WPT, and analyzes the construction of magnetic coupling resonance WPT system in detail. Secondly, the energy transmission structure is analyzed, the system is designed and the system loss is calculated and analyzed. The system loss experiment shows that by using the output capacitor of the GaN device, the dead time is optimized, the conduction loss of the switch tube is reduced, the efficiency of the converter device is improved, and the practical application of the GaN device is provided.
Experimental Study on Axial Compression Performance of New-Type BFRP-Confined Square Concrete Columns
Authors: Shen Huijun , Chen Linsong , Zheng Hehui , Zhang Feng
Published: April 2023

For a new type of BFRP composite based on epoxy silicate resin, the confined influence on the concrete structure was studied by model experiment and theoretical analysis. The effects of wrapping form and layers on the behavior of the square concrete column was understood. The results showed the development trend of the loading curve of specimens confined by BFRP and CFRP is basically consistent, but the confined effect of BFRP is relatively poor. Under the two layers of full coverage, the axial compressive strength of the BFRP-confined groups and the CFRP-confined groups was increased by 28.45% and 64.73%, respectively. The existing codes have good applicability to CFRP specimens, but poor applicability to BFRP specimens. The calculation model proposed here can accurately describe the axial compression bearing capacity of new BFRP reinforced square concrete columns.
Experimental Evaluation of Thermoelectric Generator Performance under Different Heat Conduction Boundary Conditions
Authors: Wang Haitao , Fu Qiang
Published: April 2023

Heat conduction boundary conditions play a crucial role in the performance of thermoelectric generators (TEG). The TEG output voltage and power were measured under constant temperature boundary and heat flux conditions to evaluate the TEG performance under different heat conduction boundary conditions. External loading pressure and thermal interface material (TIM) were applied to reduce the interfacial thermal contact resistance. In our measurement setup, a fast-response electronic load was used for the rapid current-voltage scan, which can eliminate the thermal drift caused by the Peltier effect. A guard heater arrangement is used to minimize heat loss. In constant temperature boundary conditions, reducing the thermal contact resistance can increase the effective temperature drop across the TEG module and significantly improve the output voltage and power. But in the constant heat flux conditions, since the heat flux flow through the TEG is unchanged, the temperature drop across the TEG was unaffected by the thermal contact resistance. As a result, the TEG performance was lightly influenced by the thermal contact resistance.
Micro-fabrication Based Epidermal E-tattoo with Conformability and Sensitivity as Human-Machine Interface
Authors: Xie Ying , Liu Geng , Ren Jie , Liu Ying , Yao Liang , Xu Baochun , Chen Da , Liu Yijian
Published: April 2023

To fulfill intelligent human-machine interface, the crucial information about the human health condition tends to be acquired with great sensitivity, stability and durability. Despite some remarkable progress for the bioelectric signal perception in recent years, the epidermal electrode still suffers from the motion artifacts, inability and sweat permeability. So the evolution of high-performance epidermal electrode has been the research focus and receives much attention in recent years. To satisfy the growing pursuit for smarter sensing, this article proposes a cost-effective strategy to fabricate e-tattoo epidermal electrode for acquisition of the epidermal bioelectric signal and provides demonstrations of electrocardiograph and electromyography applications. The maximum current change is only 1.6% in the 3-dimensional strain electrical test, and the maximum strain range could reach 40% for a normal usage. The mechanism relies upon conformal contact between the electrode and skin texture with ultra-thin process scale, which makes the device achieves high sensitivity and durability in a human-machine interface. The gesture recognition and wearable device demonstration further concludes by discussing the outlook and current challenges of these technologies as a human-machine interface and bring up the potential of clinical application.
Research on Vibration of Escalator Handrail
Authors: Shen Wenhao
Published: April 2023

Escalator is an indispensable means of transportation in daily life. In the past, people often focused on the safety of escalators. However, with the continuous improvement of living standards, people have begun to pay attention to the ride quality of escalators. At present, the detection of passenger ride quality has become a very important topic. The ride quality of elevator can reflect the level of elevator design, installation and service quality. At present, the measurement methods and requirements for the ride quality of traction and forced drive elevators have been very clear. However, the research on escalator ride quality is less. It is urgent to propose a unified inspection method, judgment method and evaluation method, so as to make a scientific, standardized and objective evaluation of the ride quality of the escalator. This article researches upward and downward vibration of escalator handrail through experiment and data analysis. In the experiment, the vibration data of the handrail are collected and processed by the measuring instrument. It is concluded that the x-axis vibration of escalator handrail is the most likely to cause the passenger ride quality problem. if mass or standardized measurement of the ride quality of escalator handrail is required, the inspection method can be simplified, focusing on measuring the x-axis vibration of the handrail.
Study on Preparation and Performance of a Novel Indoor Purification Material
Authors: Xin Zinan , Shen Li , Wang Xingquan , Yang Lianwei
Published: April 2023

As known to all, the quality of indoor air directly affects people’s health. Although the existence of indoor air purification products has some purification functions, there are also a variety of shortcomings. For example, activated carbon can only physically adsorb formaldehyde and cannot decompose formaldehyde, which is easy to saturate and causes secondary pollution. Based on a Japanese patent, an air purification product reacts with formaldehyde to produce N-substituted imines. Meanwhile, the products are not small molecules such as water and carbon dioxide, thus the reaction is slow and cannot meet all of the people’s needs. In this paper, a novel kind of indoor purification material is studied, which is a kind of Nanoparticle with strong oxidizing properties, showing a good function in removing formaldehyde, toluene, and other harmful gases as well as sterilization. In addition, the purification performance has been verified and compared with that of activated carbon commonly used in the market and an air purification product based on a Japanese patent, in which the main components are organic amine and amide complex. A series of experimental results show that the adsorption efficiency and capacity of the new adsorption purification material developed in this paper are much higher than those in the market. The adsorption capacity is 1.80 times that of activated carbon, and 1.13 times that of a Japanese famous brand formaldehyde removal product; The adsorption rate of the new adsorption and purification material is two times that of activated carbon, and 1.56 times that of a Japanese famous brand formaldehyde removal product. Furthermore, the new adsorption purification material has a strong inhibitory effect on common bacteria. The active substances contained in the material oxidize common bacteria in the air. The antibacterial rate of representative Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella pneumonia is greater than 99%, and the antibacterial rate of Candida albicans is 96.3%. In addition, it is non-toxic, low cost, and can well meet people’s purification needs.
Fracture Properties of Plastic-Steel Fiber High-Performance Concrete after High-Temperature Exposure
Authors: Zhao Teng , Du Hongxiu , Ding Mingdong , Wang Congcong
Published: April 2023

To study the fracture properties of plastic-steel fiber high-performance concrete at high temperatures, the load-mid-span displacement curve and load-opening displacement curve of plastic-steel fiber concrete were obtained through fracture test conducted before and after exposure to high temperature. By calculating the fracture parameters, fracture energy, and characteristic length of concrete, the relationship of fracture parameters, fracture energy, and characteristic length of concrete with temperature was comparatively analyzed against the experimental results obtained for plain concrete. According to the analytical results, the crack initiation load value, maximum load and crack initiation toughness of SFRC are significantly improved after high-temperature exposure, and the plastic-steel fiber reinforced concrete is effective in reducing the critical value of crack opening displacement for concrete. When the test temperature ranges from 200°C to 600°C, the anti-cracking effect of plastic-steel fiber on concrete is more significant relative to plain concrete. Given temperature rise, the plastic-steel fiber reinforced concrete shows decrease in brittleness but increase in toughness, with the level of fracture energy first increasing and then decreasing. Besides, there is only slight difference observed in characteristic length between plastic-steel fiber reinforced concrete and steel fiber reinforced concrete.
Influences of Different Isothermal Temperatures on Microstructural Evolution of Mg2Si/AZ91D Composite Fabricated by Semi-solid Treatment Process
Authors: Ma Guorui , Tang Chunchong , Wang Chunxia , Yang Yunqiu , Li Xuan
Published: April 2023

Due to the eutectic reaction, the Mg2Si phase is inclined to creating an unfavorable fishbone shape at low solidification rates. This can significantly degrade the mechanical characteristics and become the main barrier to the practical application of Mg2Si/AZ91D composites. It is regarded that semi-solid treatment process is an efficient technique to modulate the fishbone-shaped Mg2Si phases in Mg2Si/AZ91D composite. In this work, a new type of Mg2Si/AZ91D composite is successfully fabricated by semi-solid treatment process, and the influences of different isothermal temperatures on microstructural evolution of Mg2Si/AZ91D composite are studied. The findings illustrate that the mean size of the α-Mg grains increases and their trendency of spherification becomes more evidently after held for 30 min at different isothermal temperatures from 550° C to 580°C. Additionally, through semi-solid treatment process, the Mg2Si phases in Mg2Si/AZ91D composite are totally changed from their original fishbone shape into polygon or granule shapes. With increasing of the isothermal temperatures, the mean size and morphologies of Mg2Si phases have no significantly changes. The morphological change theory of Mg2Si phases in Mg2Si/AZ91D composite by semi-solid treatment process is also studied.
Study on the Kinetics of Shell Powder Intensified Drying Process of Sludge
Authors: Xu Chunming , Zhou Xiantao , Yang Tong , Liu Yizhi , Chen Yun
Published: April 2023

Based on the problems of large yield of sludge, low degree of shell resource utilization and large mass transfer resistance of sludge drying process in China, the drying characteristics and water migration rules of shell powder quenched sludge are studied in this paper. Single-factor and orthogonal experiments of drying temperature, thin layer thickness and mixing ratio are performed, and the results are fitted to the drying kinetics model. The results show that the drying process is best when the mixing ratio is 10:1; The degree of influence of each factor is: thin layer thickness > mixing ratio > drying temperature, the optimal process is: mixing ratio of 10:1, drying temperature of 160°C and thin layer thickness of 6 mm; The Midilli and Kucuk model in the kinetic analysis can better describe the water migration in the sludge. According to Fick’s second law and Arrhenius equation, the fitting equations of pure sludge and mixed sludge at 100° C -160°C and 6 mm are obtained, shell powder quenched sludge has greater effective diffusion coefficient and smaller activation energy than pure sludge, which shows that the addition of shell powder can optimize the drying process of sludge.
Preparation of Nano Ag Loaded Wood Filter Material and Its Catalytic Degradation of Dyes
Authors: Zhan Yuting , Liu Tong , Wang Te
Published: April 2023

Using porous light wood as raw material, Ag/wood composite filter material was prepared by loading metal Ag nano catalyst in wood matrix by in-situ reduction of silver ammonia solution. The catalytic degradation of organic pollutants in dye wastewater was realized by using the characteristics of high fluid transmission efficiency of wood and catalytic activity of silver nanoparticles. The morphology and structure of the material were characterized by scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope and X-ray diffraction, and the catalytic degradation of organic dye methylene blue by nano Ag loaded wood filter material was investigated. The results show that the prepared Ag/wood composite filter material retains the pore structure of wood, Ag nanoparticles are successfully loaded on the inner wall of the catheter and evenly distributed, and the particle size range is 5 nm-20 nm; The silver nanoparticles on the inner wall of the wood duct have good catalytic activity, and the wood filter material can effectively catalyze the degradation of methylene blue in water. Its degradation efficiency and water flux are closely related to the thickness of the filter material; The catalytic degradation efficiency of methylene blue by 6 mm thick filter material driven by gravity is 94.03%, and the water flux is up to 2600 L/(M2•h), which realizes the optimization of dye degradation efficiency and water flux. Nano Ag loaded wood filter material has the advantages of simple preparation process, low cost and large-scale. It has a good application prospect in the field of dye wastewater treatment.
Tentative Prediction of Harmful Algal Blooms in Yangtze Estuary
Authors: Zhang Xinfeng , Zhang Jian , Yuan Ying , Shangguan Wangzuo , Huang Ziqian , Zhang Shuo
Published: April 2023

By using spatial autoregressive models, this paper mainly studied the limited factors and spatio-temporal prediction of harmful algal blooms (HAB). The environmental factors of sea surface temperature (SST), dissolved organic matter (DOM) and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) were used to model the chlorophyll a (Cha) distribution and the occurrence of HAB. The results indicated that SST had no significant influence on the growth of phytoplankton in May and June, but higher SST in July and August decreased the frequency of occurrence of HAB. SSC was the main limited factor of HAB, and considerably and positively influenced the algal growth and HAB. HAB in Yangtze estuary was mainly caused by nutrients not DOM. The predicted spatial pattern in July 2010 was more dispersed than the actual clustered pattern. This clustered pattern should be driven by the combined impacts of coastal current, Taiwan Worm current and the northward seasonal.
Transfer of Polystyrene Microplastics with Different Functional Groups in the Aquatic Food Chain
Authors: Li Xuan , Sun Cuizhu , Li Fengmin
Published: April 2023

Microplastic pollution has become an increasingly concerning environmental problem because of its adverse impact on aquatic ecosystem security. Microplastics in the aquatic environment are poisonous to aquatic life, and they can not only be consumed by aquatic life but also pass down the food chain, endangering human health in the process. To investigate the accumulation and transfer of three different functional microplastics, including polystyrene (PS), carboxylate-modified polystyrene (PS-COOH), and amine-modified polystyrene (PS-NH2), in the aquatic food chain between Chlorella pyrenoidosa,Daphnia magna, and zebrafish, this study focused on three different functional microplastics. The maximum concentration of the three microplastics in Daphnia magna occurred at 8h, while that in zebrafish appeared at 24h. Three microplastics accumulated in the following order: PS-COOH > PS-NH2 > PS. The BMF of zebrafish intestine/Daphnia magna > 1, suggesting that biomagnification occurred along the food chain transfer and mainly accumulated in the intestine of zebrafish. This study confirmed the biomagnification of three polystyrene microplastics during food chain transfer, providing a theoretical basis for the transfer of microplastics in aquatic food chains.
Preparation and Cr (VI) Removal Performance of a New Positively Charged PVC Microfiltration Membrane
Authors: Hou Aixin , Han Jiao
Published: April 2023

Poly (vinyl chloride co dimethyl aminoethyl methacrylate) (PVD) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were blended, and then the tertiary amine groups of PVD in the casting solution were quaternized in situ with methyl iodide (CH3I) at 60. A new strongly charged positive PVC/PVD (M1) microfiltration membrane was prepared by non solvent induced phase transformation (NIPS), and PVC (M0) microfiltration membrane was prepared and compared with it. The membrane performance parameters such as morphology, pore size, charge, hydrophilicity and pure water flux of M0 and M1 were characterized. The cationic surfactant Octadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (STAC) micelle enhanced filtration was used to remove trace Cr6+(Cr2O7
2-) from the solution. The effects of Cr6+ concentration, pH value and sodium chloride (NaCl) concentration on the interception performance were investigated. The results show that the rejection rate of Cr6+ removal by M1 membrane micelle enhancement is close to 100%. When the mass ratio of Cr6+/STAC is greater than 0.478, the rejection rate of Cr6+ removal by M1 decreases with the increase of Cr6+ concentration; PH value has little effect on the retention of Cr6+ by M1; High concentration of NaCl reduced the rejection rate of Cr6+ by M1. M1 microfiltration membrane has potential development prospects in the treatment of wastewater containing Cr6+.
Research on Intelligent Analysis Method of Minimum
Authors: Fu Xiaodan , He Liming , Yao Yi , Mao Yachun , Mao Xinqi
Published: April 2023

At present, the traditional method of obtaining the minimum resistance line in mines is still to use the latitude and longitude instrument to draw the corresponding section map where the borehole is located and then use the circle solution method to find out the shortest distance from the borehole axis to the trapezoidal slope. This method is difficult to map in the open pit mine, with low accuracy and low automation level. An intelligent analysis method of minimum resistance line distance based on a 3D point cloud model is proposed. According to the structural characteristics of the open pit mine, the raster data is established by the point cloud data, and the free surface and non-free surface are automatically separated by the standard deviation of the height difference, and then the minimum resistance line is extracted. The engineering application shows that the method provides efficient data support for the 3D mining software to carry out mining design, block delineation, planning and blasting design of open pit mines, and significantly improves the efficiency and management level of mine blasting.
An Improved Method for FRAM Functional Variation Identification and Analysis
Authors: Cong Kun , Jiao Jian , Zhao Tingdi
Published: April 2023

With the increasing importance of socio-technical systems, the analysis method of FRAM has attracted more and more attention due to the nonlinear accident causality and system adaptive characteristics. Aiming at the problem that the identification of functional variations in FRAM analysis method is not systematic enough, this paper proposes a method to systematically and comprehensively identify functional variations from three dimensions of human, machine and environment, and then gives the improved FRAM analysis process. Finally, a case study of the “Herald of Free Enterprise” accident is conducted to verify the applicability, correctness and effectiveness of the proposed method.
Time-space Spectral Method for the 1-D nonlinear Maxwell Equations
Authors: Fu Ying
Published: April 2023

A time-space spectral method is given for the 1-D nonlinear Maxwell equations. And the spectral method of time multi interval is considered, that is, the interval decomposition is used in time spectral approximation. By computing some numerical examples for 1-D nonlinear Maxwell’s equations, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified.
Effect of QCD Phase Transition on Axion Properties for Two Flavors of NJL Model
Authors: Li Yuan
Published: April 2023

The effect of chiral phase transition on the properties of the axion in the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio two-flavor model was studied at finite temperature. We tend to study and analyze the changes of thermodynamic potential, and note that the changes of temperature, coupling parameters and quark chemical potential have great influence on thermodynamic potential. Then the variations of axion mass, self-coupling and quark condensation are given by numerical calculation.
Research on Defect Detection Method of Substation Equipment Based on Cascade Network
Authors: Li Xuesong , Fan Xinjian , Zhang Dongsheng , Wei Songlei , Wang Xiaoyu , He Wei , Ma Yiji
Published: April 2023

In order to accurately identify and locate the typical visual defects of substation equipment, a defect detection model of power equipment based on cascaded network structure is proposed. Firstly, aiming at the weak representation ability of small target defects in the original image, a super-resolution representation method based on generative confrontation network and double attention mechanism is proposed. Secondly, the content loss function and anti-loss function are used to optimize the generated network, and the discriminant network is used to guide the calculation of the representation process. Finally, the optimal super-resolution representation generation network and YOLOv5s network are cascaded to form a substation equipment defect detection model. The method is tested on the sample set taken in practical engineering application, and the mAP index is over 92%. The experimental results show that this method can be well ap-plied to the substation equipment defect detection task.
Quantum covariance via quantum information
Authors: Gui Xia-Yun , Huang Yi C
Published: April 2023

For a quantum state and a set of observables, S. Luo found a matrix inequality linking the quantum covariance and the quantum Fisher information defined via the symmetric logarithmic derivatives. In this paper, we provide the corresponding matrix inequality based on the Wigner–Yanase skew information.
A review on chloride transport model and research method in concrete
Authors: Rong Guocheng , He Tao , Zhang Gaozhan , Li Yang , Wang Yuxuan , Xie Wenjie
Published: April 2023

Chloride ion corrosion of steel bars is one of the important reasons for the decline of durability and service life of concrete structures. Due to the complexity of concrete structure, the migration process of chloride ions in concrete is diversified. Therefore, it is difficult to show the transport mechanism of chloride ions in concrete by a single experimental study. It is necessary to explore the transmission process and mechanism of chloride ions in concrete through theoretical simulation on the basis of experimental research. This paper summarizes the relevant models and methods of chloride transport, points out the advantages and disadvantages of existing models, and prospects the research direction of chloride transport models.
Stretchable silver electrodes adopting double stress release design directly deposited on an eco-flex substrate
Authors: Jeong Jonghyun , Kim Gihak , Jeong Jaewook
Published: April 2023

In this paper, stretchable electrodes adopting a double stress release structure were fabricated and characterized on eco-flex substrates. First, the correlation between mechanical properties applying surface plasma treatment and stretching capability of stretchable silver electrodes directly deposited on eco-flex substrate was studied. The Young’s modulus values of the substrate and metal were extracted using the force-distance relation via atomic force microscopy employing Johnson–Kendall–Roberts model. It was found that, as the Young’s modulus increased with the increase of plasma treatment time, the stretching capability first improved; then, samples showed no improvement over long plasma treatment time. This indicates that there is an optimum plasma treatment time to simultaneously achieve high stretching capability and low initial resistance. Using the optimum time, stretchable silver electrodes adopting double stress release structure along lateral and vertical directions were fabricated and the high stretching capability of the silver electrodes was achieved up to tensile strain of about 160%, as was high stability of up to 1000 times the multi-cycling strain.
Characterization of fused deposition modeling components fabricated at different print orientations
Authors: Sekaran J Joshua Gnana , Pragadish N , Valsakumari M K , Ravikumar S
Published: April 2023

The quality of the components fabricated using fusion deposition modelling (FDM) can be tailored by the proper selection of process parameters values. Print orientation is a key process parameter in FDM which has a strong influence on defect formation and thereby mechanical properties of the components. To address the influence of print orientation, FDM of Polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) samples were fabricated and tested. The samples were fabricated using different print orientations namely 0°, 45°, 90° and combination of 45° and 135° alternatively. From the investigation, it was inferred that the print orientation is crucial in deciding the part properties attributing towards the load bearing capacity of print seams. The print orientation of 90° exhibit higher strength by exhibiting peak load values of 942 N and higher elongation of 128 mm. The elongation capability is more than 40 times higher than the 0°, 45°, and 45°/135° orientations which is attributed to the availability of continuous and longer print seam that supports load bearing and elongation.
The different structure of economic ecosystems at the scales of companies and countries
Authors: Laudati Dario , Mariani Manuel S , Pietronero Luciano , Zaccaria Andrea
Published: April 2023

A key element to understand complex systems is the relationship between the spatial scale of investigation and the structure of the interrelation among its elements. When it comes to economic systems, it is now well-known that the country-product bipartite network exhibits a nested structure, which is the foundation of different algorithms that have been used to scientifically investigate countries’ development and forecast national economic growth. Changing the subject from countries to companies, a significantly different scenario emerges. Through the analysis of a unique dataset of Italian firms’ exports and a worldwide dataset comprising countries’ exports, here we find that, while a globally nested structure is observed at the country level, a local, in-block nested structure emerges at the level of firms. This in-block nestedness is statistically significant with respect to suitable null models and the algorithmic partitions of products into blocks correspond well with the UN-COMTRADE product classification. These findings lay a solid foundation for developing a scientific approach based on the physics of complex systems to the analysis of companies, which has been lacking until now.
Reporting evidence on the environmental and health impacts of climate change on Indigenous Peoples of Atlantic Canada: a systematic review
Authors: Kınay Pelin , Wang Xander , Augustine Patrick Joseph , Augustine Margaret
Published: April 2023

While evidence of Indigenous Peoples’ climate knowledge and adaptation practices is readily available in Canada, regional variations are poorly understood, and proper representation and recognition in academic and planning contexts is scarce. Much less still is known about the health and environmental impacts of climate change on these communities. This review sought to report and assess the evidence of such impacts on Indigenous Peoples in Atlantic Canada over the past two decades. Current published studies focused on Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge and perceptions and highlight government policy for adaptation measurements. We systematically searched publications between January 2002 and March 2022 from the Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct databases, screening for (1) environmental and (2) health impacts of climate change on Indigenous Peoples. Fifty-six articles were selected and thoroughly reviewed using the GRADE approach to assess the quality of the evidence. The quality of evidence ranged from low to moderate, and the evidentiary foundation for links between climate change and health effects was weak. We thus find an opportunity for future research to focus on climate-related effects on the health and lands of Indigenous Peoples within Atlantic Canada, especially concerning impacts on mental health.
US farmers’ adaptations to climate change: a systematic review of adaptation-focused studies in the US agriculture context
Authors: Ishtiaque Asif
Published: April 2023

Farmers in the US are adopting a range of strategies to deal with climate change impacts, from changing planting dates to using advanced technologies. Studies on farmers’ adaptation in US agriculture focus on a variety of topics and provide an understanding of how farmers adapt to climate change impacts, which adaptation strategies offer better outcomes, and what challenges need to be addressed for effective adaptations. Nevertheless, we lack a comprehensive view of adaptation studies focusing on US farmers’ adaptations. A review of adaptation studies in US agriculture context will help us to understand current adaptation research trends and realize future research potential. To fulfill this gap, this study systematically reviewed peer-reviewed studies on adaptation to climate change in US agriculture. A systematic search on the Web of Science and Google Scholar platforms generated 95 articles for final review. These studies were categorized under five themes based on their topical relevance: (i) reporting on-farm adaptations, (ii) exploring potential adaptations, (iii) evaluating specific adaptations, (iv) challenges of adaptations, and (v) perceptions toward adaptations. A skewed distribution of studies under these themes has been observed; a majority of the studies focused on evaluating specific adaptations (47%) followed by exploring potential adaptations (22%), while reporting on-farm adaptations (17%), challenges of adaptations (6%), and perception towards adaptations (8%) received less attention. In this article, key findings under each theme are presented and some areas for future research focus are discussed. These findings indicate the need for more attention to documenting on-farm adaptation strategies and the associated challenges while emphasizing other themes.
Metal Exposure and Risk of Parkinson Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Zhao Yujia , Ray Anushree , Portengen Lützen , Vermeulen Roel , Peters Susan
Published: April 2023

Metal exposure has been suggested as a possible environmental risk factor for Parkinson disease (PD). We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases to systematically review the literature on the relationship between metal exposure and PD risk and to examine the overall quality of each study and the exposure assessment method. A total of 83 case-control studies and 5 cohort studies published during the period 1963–July 2021 were included, of which 73 were graded as being of low or moderate overall quality. Investigators in 69 studies adopted self-reported exposure and biomonitoring after disease diagnosis for exposure assessment approaches. The meta-analyses showed that concentrations of copper and iron in serum and concentrations of zinc in either serum or plasma were lower, while concentrations of magnesium in CSF and zinc in hair were higher, among PD cases as compared with controls. Cumulative lead levels in bone were found to be associated with increased risk of PD. We did not find associations between other metals and PD. The current level of evidence for associations between metals and PD risk is limited, as biases from methodological limitations cannot be ruled out. High-quality studies assessing metal levels before disease onset are needed to improve our understanding of the role of metals in the etiology of PD.
Mitochondrial peroxiredoxin 5 overexpression suppresses insulin-induced adipogenesis by downregulating the phosphorylation of p38
Authors: Shin Hye Jin , Lee Sung Woo , Kim Mi Hye , Park Young-Ho , Lee Hong Jun , Lee Dong-Seok
Published: April 2023

Obesity is caused by the accumulation of excess lipids due to an energy imbalance. Differentiation of pre-adipocytes induces abnormal lipid accumulation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated in this process promote the differentiation of pre-adipocytes through mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. Peroxiredoxin (Prx) is a potent antioxidant enzyme, and peroxiredoxin 5 (Prx5), which is mainly expressed in cytosol and mitochondria, inhibits adipogenesis by regulating ROS levels. Based on previous findings, the present study was performed to investigate whether cytosolic Prx5 (CytPrx5) or mitochondrial Prx5 (MtPrx5) has a greater effect on the inhibition of adipogenesis. In this study, MtPrx5 decreased insulin-mediated ROS levels to reduce adipogenic gene expression and lipid accumulation more effectively than CytPrx5. In addition, we found that p38 MAPK mainly participates in adipogenesis. Furthermore, we verified that MtPrx5 overexpression suppressed the phosphorylation of p38 during adipogenesis. Thus, we suggest that MtPrx5 inhibits insulin-induced adipogenesis more effectively than CytPrx5.
8-Prenyl daidzein and 8-prenyl genistein from germinated soybean modulate inflammatory response in activated macrophages
Authors: Jheng Huei-Fen , Takase Miho , Kawarasaki Satoko , Ni Zheng , Mohri Shinsuke , Hayashi Kanako , Izumi Atsushi , Sasaki Kuni , Shinyama Yu , Kwon Jungin , Ng Su-Ping , Takahashi Haruya , Nomura Wataru , Yu Rina , Ochiai Koji , Inoue Kazuo , Kawada Teruo , Goto Tsuyoshi
Published: April 2023

Soy isoflavones have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties; however, the anti-inflammatory effects of isoflavone metabolites produced during soybean germination remain unclear. We found that the daidzein and genistein derivatives, 8-prenyl daidzein (8-PD) and 8-prenyl genistein (8-PG), demonstrated a more potent effect than daidzein and genistein on repressing inflammatory responses in macrophages. Although IkB protein levels were unaltered, 8-PD and 8-PG repressed nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activation, which was associated with reduced ERK1/2, JNK, and p38 MAPK activation and suppressed mitogen- and stress-activated kinase 1 phosphorylation. Inflammatory responses induced by the medium containing hypertrophic adipocyte secretions were successfully suppressed by 8-PD and 8-PG treatment. In the ex vivo study, 8-PD and 8-PG significantly inhibited proinflammatory C–C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) secretion from the adipose tissues of mice fed a long-term high-fat diet. The data suggest that 8-PD and 8-PG could regulate macrophage activation under obesity conditions.
streammd: fast low-memory duplicate marking using a Bloom filter
Authors: Leonard Conrad
Published: April 2023

Identification of duplicate templates is a common preprocessing step in bulk sequence analysis; for large libraries, this can be resource intensive. Here, we present streammd: a fast, memory-efficient, single-pass duplicate marker operating on the principle of a Bloom filter. streammd closely reproduces outputs from Picard MarkDuplicates while being substantially faster, and requires much less memory than SAMBLASTER.

Availability and implementation

streammd is a C++ program available from GitHub https://github.com/delocalizer/streammd under the MIT license.
Functional neural network connectivity at 3 months predicts infant-mother dyadic flexibility during play at 6 months
Authors: Li Xiaomei , Chen Haitao , Hu Yannan , Larsen Ryan J , Sutton Bradley P , McElwain Nancy L , Gao Wei
Published: April 2023

Early functioning of neural networks likely underlies the flexible switching between internal and external orientation and may be key to the infant’s ability to effectively engage in social interactions. To test this hypothesis, we examined the association between infants’ neural networks at 3 months and infant-mother dyadic flexibility (denoting the structural variability of their interaction dynamics) at 3, 6, and 9 months. Participants included thirty-five infants (37% girls) and their mothers (87% White). At 3 months, infants participated in a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging session, and functional connectivity (FC) within the default mode (DMN) and salience (SN) networks, as well as DMN-SN internetwork FC, were derived using a seed-based approach. When infants were 3, 6, and 9 months, infant-mother dyads completed the Still-Face Paradigm where their individual engagement behaviors were observed and used to quantify dyadic flexibility using state space analysis. Results revealed that greater within-DMN FC, within-SN FC, and DMN-SN anticorrelation at 3 months predicted greater dyadic flexibility at 6 months, but not at 3 and 9 months. Findings suggest that early synchronization and interaction between neural networks underlying introspection and salience detection may support infants’ flexible social interactions as they become increasingly active and engaged social partners.
Correlation of Ultrasound Scores with Endoscopic Activity in Crohn’s Disease: A Prospective Exploratory Study
Authors: Dragoni Gabriele , Gottin Matteo , Innocenti Tommaso , Lynch Erica Nicola , Bagnoli Siro , Macrì Giuseppe , Bonanomi Andrea Giovanni , Orlandini Beatrice , Rogai Francesca , Milani Stefano , Galli Andrea , Milla Monica , Biagini Maria Rosa
Published: April 2023

Background and Aims

Intestinal ultrasound [IUS] is widely accepted as a reliable tool to monitor Crohn’s disease [CD]. Several IUS scores have been proposed, but none has been formally accepted by international organizations. Our aim here was to compare the available scores regarding their correlation with endoscopic activity.

Methods

Consenting CD patients undergoing ileocolonoscopy at our Unit between September 2021 and February 2023 were included. Endoscopic activity was defined as SES-CD ≥ 3 or Rutgeerts score ≥ i2b for operated patients. IUS was performed within 6 weeks of endoscopy and scored with IBUS-SAS, BUSS, Simple-US and SUS-CD scores. All correlations were performed using Spearman’s rank coefficient [rho = ρ]. Receiver operating characteristic [ROC] curves were compared with the Hanley and McNeil method.

Results

Of 73 CD patients, 45 [61.6%] presented endoscopic activity, of whom 22 were severe [30.1%]. All IUS scores showed a significant positive correlation with endoscopy [p < 0.0001], with IBUS-SAS ranking the highest [ρ = 0.87]. Similarly, IBUS-SAS was the most highly correlated with clinical activity [ρ = 0.58]. ROC analysis of IBUS-SAS for any endoscopic activity showed the highest area under the curve (0.95 [95% confidence interval 0.87–0.99]), with sensitivity of 82.2% and specificity of 100% for a cut-off value of 25.2. IBUS-SAS was statistically superior to all the other scores in detecting severe endoscopic activity [SES-CD ≥ 9 or Rutgeerts i4].

Conclusions

All IUS scores provided solid correlation with endoscopy and clinical symptoms. IBUS-SAS outperformed the others due to a more granular description that might help in stratifying different levels of disease activity. Therefore, the use of IBUS-SAS in centres with well-founded expertise in IUS can be suggested.
Microbial communities in the water surface microlayer and associations with microbes in aerosols, beach sand, and bulk water
Authors: Abdool-Ghany Afeefa A , Klaus James S , Sosa Villegas Luis E , D'Alessio Trent , Gidley Maribeth L , Sinigalliano Christopher D , Gaston Cassandra , Solo-Gabriele Helena M
Published: April 2023

The water surface microlayer (SML) serves as a boundary through which microbes can be exchanged. To evaluate exchanges of microbes, this study compared microbial communities within different reservoirs, with an emphasis on the water SML and aerosols. Additionally, the microbial communities during a sewage spill and perigean tides were evaluated and the results were compared to times without these events. Results show that during perigean tides and during the sewage spill, levels of culturable bacteria were highest and showed an increase via sequencing in potential pathogenic bacteria (Corynebacterium and Vibrio, which increased from 3.5%-1800% depending on sample type). In the aerosol samples, Corynebacterium (average of 2.0%), Vibrio (1.6%), and Staphylococcus (10%), were the most abundant genera. Aerosolization factors, which were used to examine the transfer of the microbes, were high for these three genera. Measurements of general marine bacteria (GMB) by culture showed a weak but significant correlation between culturable GMB in aerosol samples versus in water and in the SML. More research is needed to evaluate the exchange of pathogens between the SML and air, given the increase in potentially pathogenic microbes within the SML during rare events and evidence that suggests that microbes maintain viability during transfers across reservoirs.
Finding a correct species assignment for aMetschnikowiastrain: insights from the genome sequencing of strain DBT012
Authors: Troiano Eleonora , Larini Ilaria , Binati Renato L , Gatto Veronica , Torriani Sandra , Buzzini Pietro , Turchetti Benedetta , Salvetti Elisa , Felis Giovanna E
Published: April 2023

Metschnikowia pulcherrima is an important yeast species that is attracting increased interest thanks to its biotechnological potential, especially in agri-food applications. Phylogenetically related species of the so-called ‘pulcherrima clade’ were first described and then reclassified in one single species, which makes the identification an intriguing issue. Starting from the whole-genome sequencing of the protechnological strain Metschnikowia sp. DBT012, this study applied comparative genomics to calculate similarity with the M. pulcherrima clade publicly available genomes with the aim to verify if novel single-copy putative phylogenetic markers could be selected, in comparison with the commonly used primary and secondary barcodes. The genome-based bioinformatic analysis allowed the identification of 85 consensus single-copy orthologs, which were reduced to three after split decomposition analysis. However, wet-lab amplification of these three genes in nonsequenced type strains revealed the presence of multiple copies, which made them unsuitable as phylogenetic markers. Finally, average nucleotide identity (ANI) was calculated between strain DBT012 and available genome sequences of the M. pulcherrima clade, although the genome dataset is still rather limited. Presence of multiple copies of phylogenetic markers as well as ANI values were compatible with the recent reclassification of the clade, allowing the identification of strain DBT012 as M. pulcherrima.
Backing Out but Backing In Audience Costs? A Replication of Levy et al. (2015)
Authors: Takei Makito , Paolino Philip
Published: April 2023

Levy et al. (2015) propose that inconsistency audience costs are caused in two ways: backing out of military commitment or backing into foreign conflicts. We replicate their experiment in July–August, 2021. Like many other studies, we find evidence for audience costs caused by backing out. However, our findings indicate that, unlike Levy et al., citizens are no less supportive of a leader who backs into a military conflict despite an initial commitment to stay out than one who behaves consistently. This study has significant theoretical and methodological implications. Theoretically, the importance of inconsistency in audience cost literature may be overstated or inconsistency audience costs may be bounded by temporal domains or contexts. Methodologically, our study emphasizes the necessity of replications because major findings can become conventional wisdom without such additional analysis.