bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Different models of anthropomorphism across cultures and ontological limits in current frameworks the integrative framework of anthropomorphism
Authors: Spatola Nicolas , Marchesi Serena , Wykowska Agnieszka
Published: August 2022

Anthropomorphism describes the tendency to ascribe human characteristics to nonhuman agents. Due to the increased interest in social robotics, anthropomorphism has become a core concept of human-robot interaction (HRI) studies. However, the wide use of this concept resulted in an interchangeability of its definition. In the present study, we propose an integrative framework of anthropomorphism (IFA) encompassing three levels: cultural, individual general tendencies, and direct attributions of human-like characteristics to robots. We also acknowledge the Western bias of the state-of-the-art view of anthropomorphism and develop a cross-cultural approach. In two studies, participants from various cultures completed tasks and questionnaires assessing their animism beliefs, individual tendencies to endow robots with mental properties, spirit, and consider them as more or less human. We also evaluated their attributions of mental anthropomorphic characteristics towards robots (i.e., cognition, emotion, intention). Our results demonstrate, in both experiments, that a three-level model (as hypothesized in the IFA) reliably explains the collected data. We found an overall influence of animism (cultural level) on the two lower levels, and an influence of the individual tendencies to mentalize, spiritualize and humanize (individual level) on the attribution of cognition, emotion and intention. In addition, in Experiment 2, the analyses show a more anthropocentric view of the mind for Western than East-Asian participants. As such, Western perception of robots depends more on humanization while East-Asian on mentalization. We further discuss these results in relation to the anthropomorphism literature and argue for the use of integrative cross-cultural model in HRI research.
Canadian dentists' views on the first dental visit for children
Authors: Alai-Towfigh Hamideh , Schroth Robert J. , Hu Ralph , Lee Victor H. K. , Olatosi Olubukola
Published: August 2022

Introduction

Early dental visits set children on an upward trajectory, toward a lifetime of optimal oral health. The purpose of this study was to analyze data from a survey of Canadian dentists to determine their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding first dental visits.

Methods

The Canadian Dental Association (CDA) surveyed general and pediatric dentists regarding the timing of the first dental visit. Demographic and practice information was collected. Analyses included descriptive analyses, bivariate analyses, and multiple logistic regression with forward stepwise selection. Significance was set at p ≤ 0.05.

Results

Overall, 3,232 dentists participated. The majority were male (58.5%), general dentists (96.6%), in non-metropolitan areas (50.5%), and practiced for 20.6 ± 12.8 years. The mean age recommended for first visits was 20.4 ± 10.8 months. Only 45.4% of dentists recommended a first visit ≤ 12 months. A majority (59.5%) knew that the correct age recommended for first visits was no later than 12 months. Most dentists who had seen a patient ≤ 12 months before did not typically do so (82.3%). General dentists were 61% less likely to recommend first visits by 12 months (OR = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.16, 0.91). Dentists in Central Canada (OR = 1.83; 95% CI: 1.44, 2.32); dentists who typically saw patients ≤ 12 months (OR = 3.41; 95% CI: 2.41, 4.83); those who echoed the importance of visits by 12 months (OR = 19.3; 95% CI: 8.2, 45.71); dentists with staff that encouraged infant/toddler care (OR = 1.76; 95% CI: 1.34, 2.31); and those who knew official North American recommendations for first visits (OR = 5.28; 95% CI: 4.13, 6.76) were all more likely to recommend first visits by 12 months.

Conclusions

A majority of Canadian dentists did not recommend first visits by 12 months of age, despite it being the CDA's official position. Provider characteristics can influence the age that is recommended for first visits. Findings from this study may inform educational campaigns on early childhood oral health targeted toward dentists.
Bisdithiocarbamate and Diamine Interlinked Gold Nanoparticle Networks: Characterization of Chemical Composition and Chemiresistive Properties
Authors: Tauchnitz Tina , Daskal Yelyena , Dittrich Rosemarie , Günthel Michael , Mertens Florian , Joseph Yvonne
Published: August 2022

Chemiresistive composites of gold (Au) nanoparticles interlinked with different types of organic molecules were prepared automatically by layer-by-layer self-assembly using a microfluidic cell. For the assembly process, dodecylamine-stabilized Au nanoparticles with an average size of 3.7 nm as well as alkyl dithiols, alkyl diamines, and alkyl bisdithiocarbamates with different alkyl chain length (C6 and C8) were used. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was applied on prepared nanoparticle composites to study the film composition and the degree of interlinkage. For the measurement of electrical and vapor-sensing properties, silicon dies equipped with gold interdigitated electrodes were used. All films show linear current-voltage characteristics and conductivities in the range of 10–2 and 10–4 Ω−1 cm−1 at room temperature. The sensitivity of the film is investigated by dosing them with vapors of toluene, 1-propanol, 4-methyl-2-pentanone, and water in the concentration range from 100 to 5,000 ppm at 0% relative humidity. All composite films respond with an increase in their electrical resistance to the analytes. The sensors show a high signal-to-noise ratio which indicates a detection limit below 100 ppm for all test vapors. The response dynamics demonstrate a high reversibility and a fast sensing mechanism especially for dithiols and diamines with response and recovery times from 2 to 10 s. The dithiol sensors exhibit a high selectivity to toluene and 4-methyl-2-pentanone whereas the bisdithiocarbamate composites are suitable for the detection of water and 1-propanol. All materials are stable for (at least) several months.
Leveraging meatpacking ownership concentration and community centrality to improve disease resiliency
Authors: Saitone Tina L. , Schaefer K. Aleks , Scheitrum Daniel P.
Published: August 2022

The U.S. meat processing sector has been subject to amplified scrutiny after workers exhibited disproportionately high rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths. In response, Tyson Foods—one of the largest meat packers in the country—mandated that its employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 by November 1, 2021. In this paper, we investigate the impact that the Tyson vaccine mandate had on vaccine uptake, infection rates, and deaths in counties where Tyson processing facilities are located. We find that the mandate resulted in approximately 35,000 additional vaccinations. The resultant vaccine uptake avoided 98 COVID-19 infections per day and nearly 75 COVID-19-related deaths; the associated public health savings total $45.4 million. Employee health-related interventions at the corporate level can leverage industry ownership concentration and the centrality of packing operations in host communities to improve health outcomes and disease resiliency well beyond the packing operations.
Concentration-response gene expression analysis in zebrafish reveals phenotypically-anchored transcriptional responses to retene
Authors: Wilson Lindsay B. , McClure Ryan S. , Waters Katrina M. , Simonich Michael T. , Tanguay Robyn L.
Published: August 2022

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants and are associated with human disease. Canonically, many PAHs induce toxicity via activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) pathway. While the interaction between PAHs and the AHR is well-established, understanding which AHR-regulated transcriptional effects directly result in observable phenotypes and which are adaptive or benign is important to better understand PAH toxicity. Retene is a frequently detected PAH in environmental sampling and has been associated with AHR2-dependent developmental toxicity in zebrafish, though its mechanism of toxicity has not been fully elucidated. To interrogate transcriptional changes causally associated with retene toxicity, we conducted whole-animal RNA sequencing at 48 h post-fertilization after exposure to eight retene concentrations. We aimed to identify the most sensitive transcriptomic responses and to determine whether this approach could uncover gene sets uniquely differentially expressed at concentrations which induce a phenotype. We identified a concentration-response relationship for differential gene expression in both number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and magnitude of expression change. Elevated expression of cyp1a at retene concentrations below the threshold for teratogenicity suggested that while cyp1a expression is a sensitive biomarker of AHR activation, it may be too sensitive to serve as a biomarker of teratogenicity. Genes differentially expressed at only non-teratogenic concentrations were enriched for transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathway disruption while DEGs identified at only teratogenic concentrations were significantly enriched for response to xenobiotic stimulus and reduction-oxidation reaction activity. DEGs which spanned both non-teratogenic and teratogenic concentrations showed similar disrupted biological processes to those unique to teratogenic concentrations, indicating these processes were disrupted at low exposure concentrations. Gene co-expression network analysis identified several gene modules, including those associated with PAHs and AHR2 activation. One, Module 7, was strongly enriched for AHR2-associated genes and contained the strongest responses to retene. Benchmark concentration (BMC) of Module seven genes identified a median BMC of 7.5 µM, nearly the highest retene concentration with no associated teratogenicity, supporting the hypothesis that Module seven genes are largely responsible for retene toxicity.
In vitro investigation of the antiviral activity of propolis and chitosan nanoparticles against the genotype VII Newcastle disease virus
Authors: Alkhalefa Noura , Khaliel Samy , Tahoon Abdelnaby , Shaban Hanan , Magouz Asmaa , Ghabban Hanaa , Lokman Maha S. , Elmahallawy Ehab Kotb
Published: August 2022

The Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is considered a serious threat to global poultry production. Despite the availability of vaccines, it remains a major devastating epidemic responsible for great economic losses. The development of novel virus-controlling strategies is therefore an urgent need. The present study investigated for the first time the antiviral efficacy of propolis and chitosan nanoparticles against two NDV isolates, MW881875 and MW881876, recovered from vaccinated commercial broiler farms in KafrEl Sheikh Governorate, Egypt. The polygenetic analysis focused on the F and M genes, with one isolate having a 97% identity with the genotype VII NDV Israeli strain. On the other hand, the identified isolates showed high genetic variation and only 76% identity with the LaSota vaccine (genotype II). More interestingly, the cell cytotoxic concentrations of chitosan, propolis, and a propolis–chitosan mixture against Vero cells were 327.41 ± 12.63, 109.48 ± 8.36, and 231.78 ± 11.46 μg/ml, respectively. The median tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50) assay demonstrated that the nanoparticles have antiviral effects after NDV exposure resulting in significant decrease in viral titer (TCID50) by 2, 2.66, and 2.5 log10 at 62 μg/ml of chitosan, 13 μg/ml of propolis, and 30 μg/ml of the propolis–chitosan mixture, respectively, compared with the control TCID50 value of 4 log10. Taken together, the results provide novel insights into the potentially promising roles of propolis and chitosan as novel, safe, and effective antiviral agents against NDV.
Identification of potential miRNA-mRNA regulatory network and the key miRNAs in intramuscular and subcutaneous adipose
Authors: Feng Hui , Liu Tianyi , Yousuf Salsabeel , Zhang Xiuxiu , Huang Wanlong , Li Ai , Xie Lingli , Miao Xiangyang
Published: August 2022

Intramuscular fat (IMF) is an important indicator for evaluating meat quality. Breeds with high IMF content are often accompanied by high subcutaneous fat (SCF), severely affecting the meat rate of pigs. Studying the mechanisms of miRNAs related to lipogenesis and lipid metabolism has important implications for pig breeding. We constructed two small RNA libraries from intramuscular and subcutaneous fat to evaluate the patterns of lipogenesis in Laiwu pig, a Chinese breed. A total of 286 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs), including 193 known miRNA and 93 novel miRNAs, were identified from two types of adipose. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis for DEmiRNAs showed that their target genes involved in many adipogenesis and lipid metabolism biological processes and signaling pathways, such as Wnt signaling pathway,MAPK signaling pathway, Hippo signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, Melanogenesis, Signaling pathways regulating pluripotency of stem cells and so on. Then, we constructed a miRNA-mRNA interaction network to find out which miRNAs were the key miRNAs of regulation in Wnt signaling pathway. In this pathway, miR-331-3p, miR-339-5p, miR-874 and novel346_mature target PPARD, WNT10B, RSPO3, WNT2B. This study provides a theoretical basis for further understanding the post-transcriptional regulation mechanism of meat quality formation and predicting and treating diseases caused by ectopic fat.
Interaction Between Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Gene Polymorphism and Smoking on Gastric Cancer Risk in Chinese Han Population
Authors: Wang Longyue , Xiao Shuaishuai , Zheng Yiming , Gao Zefeng
Published: August 2022

Aim: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the associations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and its interaction with current smoking with gastric cancer (GC) risk in the Chinese Han population.

Methods: We used logistic regression model to test the association between VEGF gene polymorphism and the risk of GC. The association strength was evaluated by odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) calculated using logistic regression. Generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR) was used to analyze the effect of the interaction between VEGF gene and current smoking on GC risk.

Results: Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of GC was significantly higher in rs10434 -G allele carriers than that in AA genotype carriers (AG + GG and AA), and the adjusted OR (95% CI) = 1.64 (1.24–2.08). In addition, we found a significantly higher GC risk in subjects with rs833061-T allele than those with CC allele (CT + TT and CC), adjusted or (95% CI) = 1.43 (1.10–1.87). We also found a statistically significant two- locus model (p = 0.018), including rs10434 and current smoking, indicating a significant interaction between rs10434 and current smoking on the risk of GC. Hierarchical analysis found that current smokers with AG or GG genotype have the highest GC risk, compared to never- smokers with AA genotype, OR (95% CI) = 2.43 (1.64–3.28).

Conclusion: We found that rs10434 -G and rs833061-T alleles, gene- environment interaction between rs10434, and current smoking were all related to increased GC risk.
Effect of the Climatic Conditions in Central Europe on the Growth and Yield of Cornelian Cherry Cultivars
Authors: Szot Iwona , Łysiak Grzegorz P.
Published: August 2022

Fruit of Cornelian cherry can be used fresh or processed, and cultivation practices are developing in this direction. Due to the rarity of its cultivation, Cornelian cherry is harvested from natural sites of occurrence. However, the fruit from natural sites is of lower quality than the cultivars, as their seedlings differ in terms of fruit ripening. The objective of this experiment was the evaluation of approximately a dozen cultivars in terms of growth and fruit yield under the conditions of Central Europe. The effect of climatic conditions on the onset date of particular phenological stages was also assessed. All the analysed cultivars are suitable commodity crops, but they should be accurately selected depending on the direction of production. The first phenological stage of Cornelian cherry is the appearance of inflorescences before the development of leaves. The start of particular phenophases depends on the temperature and precipitation. Cornelian cherries cultivated under ecological conditions show satisfactory fruit size and generally a small percentage of stone. Most cultivars have an elongated fruit shape, and the shape factor decreases with their growth and ripening. The fruit grows along a double sigmoid, and its first intensive growth occurs following the extinction of intensive shoot growth.
Expression Pattern, Molecular Docking and Dynamics Simulation Analysis of CSP4 from Sirex nitobei Provides Molecular Basis of CSP Bound to Scent Molecules
Authors: Guo Pingping , Hao Enhua , Li Han , Yang Xi , Lu Pengfei , Qiao Haili
Published: August 2022

Insects stimulate specific behaviors by correctly recognizing scent molecules in the external environment. Sirex nitobei, a wood-boring wasp species native to Asia with a distribution area that includes the Palaearctic and Oriental regions, is a significant pest of conifers. Focusing on the molecular mechanism of protein-ligand binding, this study resolved the tissue expression profile of CSP4 from S. nitobei (SnitCSP4) and probed its binding properties with target ligands using molecular docking and dynamics simulations to verify the odor recognition function of this protein. The open reading frame (ORF) of SnitCSP4 was 396 bp, encoding 131 amino acids. Tissue expression analysis revealed that SnitCSP4 was significantly expressed in female antennae and docking showed that all ligands were bound in hydrophobic cavities and close to many hydrophobic amino acid residues. GLN68 and LEU49 were important amino acid residues for SnitCSP4 to bind various odors, and THR9 was the key ligand-binding site in identifying (-)-globulol in the SnitCSP4. Molecular dynamics verified the docking results, confirming that SnitCSP4 bound well to two sex pheromone molecules, three host plant volatiles, and three symbiotic fungal volatiles, with (Z)-7-heptacosene, (Z)-9-nonacosene, and (-)-globulol binding being the most highly stable. These results mean that SnitCSP4 is critical for insects recognizing scent molecules, providing a favorable molecular basis for regulating the behavioral interactions between S. nitobei and the environment, and offering the possibility of developing new strategies for more environmentally friendly and effective control.
Biochar and Compost Application either Alone or in Combination Affects Vegetable Yield in a Volcanic Mediterranean Soil
Authors: Iacomino Giuseppina , Sarker Tushar C. , Ippolito Francesca , Bonanomi Giuliano , Vinale Francesco , Staropoli Alessia , Idbella Mohamed
Published: August 2022

The aim of this work was to compare the application of biochar, compost, and their mixtures on soil fertility and crop yields using a volcanic Mediterranean soil. For this reason, three types of organic amendments (OAs) were selected: compost1, made from olive mill waste and orchard pruning residues; compost2, made from olive mill waste, animal manure and wool residues; and biochar made from beech wood pyrolyzed at 550 °C. When selected, the OAs were characterized chemically for organic carbon (OC), total N, pH, electric conductivity (EC) and the bulk fraction of organic matter using 13C CPMAS NMR spectroscopy. In addition, soil chemistry was analysed at the end of each year for the following parameters: pH, OC, total N, CaCO3, P2O5, NH4, FDA and EC. Results showed that biochar had the highest OC and the lowest N and EC compared to both composts. Moreover, 13C CPMAS NMR showed that biochar had the lowest content of O-alkyl, methoxyl- and alkyl-C and the highest content of aromatic-C. On the other hand, compost2 and compost2+biochar mixture reduced Aubergine yield by −60% and −40%, respectively, and tomato yield by −50% and −100%, respectively. Nevertheless, a significant increase in onion and rape yields were observed when compost1, compost1+biochar and compost2 were applied, while biochar and compost2+biochar significantly decreased the yield of these crops. Overall, our results highlight that the effect of OAs on crops yield is largely variable and influenced by the interaction with soil chemistry.
Identification and Characterization of the Tomato UGT Gene Family and Effects of GAME 17 Overexpression on Plants and Growth and Development under High-CO2 Conditions
Authors: Zheng Shao-Wen , Chen Zhi-Feng , Liu Ting-Ting , Zhao Zi-Yao , Li Tian-Meng , Xing Guo-Ming
Published: August 2022

Steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs), the nitrogen-containing compounds produced primarily by Liliaceae and Solanaceae species, are toxic to animals and humans and have putative roles in defense against pests. UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) catalyze the final glycosylation steps of SGA biosynthesis. Although previously published studies focused on the effect of UGT proteins on SGA biosynthesis, research to understand the effects of constitutive overexpression of UGTs on plant phenotype and fruit development is limited. The constitutive overexpression of a UGT encoding gene, GAME 17, may provide an alternative method to study the role of UGTs on the fruit development. In this study, we have identified 162 SlUGT proteins in tomato that are classified into t 23 groups. Gene structure and motif analyses have demonstrated that all SlUGTs have similar intron/exon distribution and motif compositions. RNA-seq data analysis has shown that SlUGTs exhibit differential expression patterns in different organs or different stages of fruit development. When the constitutive promoter 35S is used to control the expression of GAME 17, we have observed significant differences in growth parameters (i.e., plant height, leaf length, leaf width, internode length, and stem diameter) between WT and transgenic plants under high-CO2 conditions, and slight differences in growth parameters between WT and transgenic plants have beendetected. In addition, the contents of glucose, fructose, and soluble sugar of transgenic plants are significantly higher than those of WT plants. The increases in glucose, fructose, and soluble sugar in transgenic tomato fruits at three developmental stages under high-CO2 conditions are significantly higher than under natural conditions. This study provides additional evidence that the GAME 17 gene plays an important role in controlling plant phenotype and sugar homeostasis, especially in environments with high concentration of CO2.
The Detection of Potential Native Probiotics Lactobacillus spp. against Salmonella Enteritidis, Salmonella Infantis and Salmonella Kentucky ST198 of Lebanese Chicken Origin
Authors: El Hage Rima , El Hage Jeanne , Snini Selma P. , Ammoun Imad , Touma Joseph , Rachid Rami , Mathieu Florence , Sabatier Jean-Marc , Abi Khattar Ziad , El Rayess Youssef
Published: August 2022

Salmonella continues to be a major threat to public health, especially with respect to strains from a poultry origin. In recent years, an increasing trend of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Salmonella spp. was observed due to the misuse of antibiotics. Among the approaches advised for overcoming AMR, probiotics from the Lactobacillus genus have increasingly been considered for use as effective prophylactic and therapeutic agents belonging to the indigenous microbiota. In this study, we isolated lactobacilli from the ilea and ceca of hens and broilers in order to evaluate their potential probiotic properties. Four species were identified as Limosilactobacillusreuteri (n = 22, 45.8%), Ligilactobacillussalivarius (n = 20, 41.6%), Limosilactobacillus fermentum (n = 2, 4.2%) and Lactobacillus crispatus (n = 1, 2%), while three other isolates (n = 3, 6.25%) were non-typable. Eight isolates, including Ligilactobacillussalivarius (n = 4), Limosilactobacillusreuteri (n = 2), L. crispatus (n = 1) and Lactobacillus spp. (n = 1) were chosen on the basis of their cell surface hydrophobicity and auto/co-aggregation ability for further adhesion assays using the adenocarcinoma cell line Caco-2. The adhesion rate of these strains varied from 0.53 to 10.78%. Ligilactobacillussalivarius A30/i26 and 16/c6 and Limosilactobacillus reuteri 1/c24 showed the highest adhesion capacity, and were assessed for their ability to compete in and exclude the adhesion of Salmonella to the Caco-2 cells. Interestingly, Ligilactobacillussalivarius 16/c6 was shown to significantly exclude the adhesion of the three Salmonella serotypes, S. Enteritidis, S. Infantis and S. Kentucky ST 198, to Caco-2 cells. The results of the liquid co-culture assays revealed a complete inhibition of the growth of Salmonella after 24 h. Consequently, the indigenous Ligilactobacillussalivarius 16/c6 strain shows promising potential for use as a preventive probiotic added directly to the diet for the control of the colonization of Salmonella spp. in poultry.
Ramelteon Reduces Oxidative Stress by Maintenance of Lipid Homeostasis in Porcine Oocytes
Authors: Sun Jing-Tao , Yuan Jin-Dong , Zhang Qi , Luo Xin , Qi Xin-Yue , Liu Jia-Hui , Jiang Xi-Qing , Lee Sanghoon , Taweechaipaisankul Anukul , Liu Zhong-Hua , Jin Jun-Xue
Published: August 2022

This study aimed to determine the underlying mechanism of ramelteon on the competence of oocyte and subsequent embryo development in pigs during in vitro maturation (IVM). Our results showed that the cumulus expansion index was significantly lower in the control group compared to the ramelteon groups (p < 0.05). Moreover, supplementation of 10−11 and 10−9 M ramelteon significantly increased the cumulus expansion and development-related genes expression, and reduced apoptosis in cumulus cells (p < 0.05). In oocytes, the nuclear maturation rate was significantly improved in 10−11, 10−9, and 10−7 M ramelteon groups compared to the control (p < 0.05). Additionally, the level of intracellular GSH was significantly increased and ROS was significantly decreased in ramelteon-supplemented groups, and the gene expression of oocyte development and apoptosis were significantly up- and down-regulated by 10−11 and 10−9 M ramelteon (p < 0.05), respectively. The immunofluorescence results showed that the protein levels of GDF9, BMP15, SOD1, CDK1, and PGC1α were significantly increased by 10−11 M ramelteon compared to the control (p < 0.05). Although there was no significant difference in cleavage rate, the blastocyst formation rate, total cell numbers, and hatching/-ed rate were significantly improved in 10−11 M ramelteon group compared to the control (p < 0.05). Furthermore, embryo development, hatching, and mitochondrial biogenesis-related genes were dramatically up-regulated by 10−11 M ramelteon (p < 0.05). In addition, the activities of lipogenesis and lipolysis in oocytes were dramatically increased by 10−11 M ramelteon compared to the control (p < 0.05). In conclusion, supplementation of 10−11 M ramelteon during IVM improved the oocyte maturation and subsequent embryo development by reducing oxidative stress and maintenance of lipid homeostasis.
Mitochondrial Glrx2 Knockout Augments Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Mice
Authors: Li Jing , Tang Xuewen , Wen Xing , Ren Xiaoyuan , Zhang Huihui , Du Yatao , Lu Jun
Published: August 2022

Acetaminophen (APAP) is one of the most widely used drugs with antipyretic and analgesic effects, and thus hepatotoxicity from the overdose of APAP becomes one of the most common forms of drug-induced liver injury. The reaction towards thiol molecules, such as GSH by APAP metabolite, N-acetyl-p-benzo-quinonimine (NAPQI), is the main cause of APAP-induced hepatotoxicity. However, the role of many other thiol-related regulators in toxicity caused by APAP is still unclear. Here we have found that knockout of the Glrx2 gene, which encodes mitochondrial glutaredoxin2 (Grx2), sensitized mice to APAP-caused hepatotoxicity. Glrx2 deletion hindered Nrf2-mediated compensatory recovery of thiol-dependent redox systems after acetaminophen challenge, resulting in a more oxidized cellular state with a further decrease in GSH level, thioredoxin reductase activity, and GSH/GSSG ratio. The weakened feedback regulation capacity of the liver led to higher levels of protein glutathionylation and thioredoxin (both Trx1 and Trx2) oxidation in Glrx2−/− mice. Following the cellular environment oxidation, nuclear translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) was elevated in the liver of Glrx2−/− mice. Taken together, these results demonstrated that mitochondrial Grx2 deficiency deteriorated APAP-induced hepatotoxicity by interrupting thiol-redox compensatory response, enhancing the AIF pathway-mediated oxidative damage.
The Importance of Antioxidant Biomaterials in Human Health and Technological Innovation: A Review
Authors: Pedro Alessandra Cristina , Paniz Oscar Giordani , Fernandes Isabela de Andrade Arruda , Bortolini Débora Gonçalves , Rubio Fernanda Thaís Vieira , Haminiuk Charles Windson Isidoro , Maciel Giselle Maria , Magalhães Washington Luiz Esteves
Published: August 2022

Biomaterials come from natural sources such as animals, plants, fungi, algae, and bacteria, composed mainly of protein, lipid, and carbohydrate molecules. The great diversity of biomaterials makes these compounds promising for developing new products for technological applications. In this sense, antioxidant biomaterials have been developed to exert biological and active functions in the human body and industrial formulations. Furthermore, antioxidant biomaterials come from natural sources, whose components can inhibit reactive oxygen species (ROS). Thus, these materials incorporated with antioxidants, mainly from plant sources, have important effects, such as anti-inflammatory, wound healing, antitumor, and anti-aging, in addition to increasing the shelf-life of products. Aiming at the importance of antioxidant biomaterials in different technological segments as biodegradable, economic, and promising sources, this review presents the main available biomaterials, antioxidant sources, and assigned biological activities. In addition, potential applications in the biomedical and industrial fields are described with a focus on innovative publications found in the literature in the last five years.
Anaerobic Digestion in the Presence of Antimicrobials—Characteristics of Its Parameters and the Structure of Methanogens
Authors: Czatzkowska Małgorzata , Wolak Izabela , Korzeniewska Ewa , Harnisz Monika
Published: August 2022

Antibiotics are widely used in human and veterinary medicine, and they are accumulated in various types of waste, including sewage sludge (SS) and cattle slurry (CS), processed by anaerobic digestion (AD). Anaerobic treatment is a method enabling the stabilization of these substrates before transferring to the environment. The presence of contaminants, such as antimicrobials, in organic substrates processed by AD is not regulated by law. The accumulation of antimicrobials in SS and CS is a crucial issue because it may reduce the effectiveness of their stabilization. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term impact of growing concentrations of a mixture of antibiotics on the AD of SS and CS. Methane (CH4) yield, which is the main indicator of the efficiency of AD, was determined. Antibiotic exposure significantly decreased CH4 production only in SS (by 5–8% relative to control; p < 0.05). The copy numbers of the mcrA gene, a functional marker of methanogenesis, were not reliable indicators of CH4 yields in either substrate. During long-term AD, the average concentrations of the mcrA gene were determined at 108 in 1 g of SS digestate and from 108 to 109 in 1 g of CS digestate samples. At the end of long-term AD, methanogens belonging to the family Methanosarcinaceae were more prevalent than methanogens of the family Methanosaetaceae both in SS and CS samples (107 and 108–109 gene copies in 1 g of digestate, respectively).
Accelerated Inference of Face Detection under Edge-Cloud Collaboration
Authors: Zhang Weiwei , Zhou Hongbo , Mo Jian , Zhen Chenghui , Ji Ming
Published: August 2022

Model compression makes it possible to deploy face detection models on devices with limited computing resources. Edge–cloud collaborative inference, as a new paradigm of neural network inference, can significantly reduce neural network inference latency. Inspired by these two techniques, this paper adopts a two-step acceleration strategy for the CenterNet model. Firstly, the model pruning method is used to prune the convolutional layer and the deconvolutional layer to obtain a preliminary acceleration effect. Secondly, the neural network is segmented by the optimizer to make full use of the computing resources on the edge and the cloud to further accelerate the inference of the neural network. In the first strategy, we achieve a 62.12% reduction in inference latency compared to the state-of-the-art object detection model Blazeface. Additionally, with a two-step speedup strategy, our method is only 26.5% of the baseline when the bandwidth is 500 kbps.
Calculation for Permanent Displacement of Single Slip Surface of Multi-Stage Loess Slope Based on Energy Method
Authors: Zhang Xiaobing , Zhang Xin , Ye Shuaihua
Published: August 2022

At present, there are still some gaps in the theoretical calculation of the permanent displacement of the multi-stage loess slope under the action of earthquake. Therefore, this paper firstly uses the GEO-Studio finite element software to explore the influence of the comprehensive slope rate on the permanent displacement when the slope rate of each grade of multi-stage loess slope changes and the stage of multi-stage slope changes. The results show that it is feasible to use the comprehensive slope rate to calculate the permanent displacement of the sliding body of the multi-stage loess slope under the action of earthquake. On the basis of this conclusion, in order to simplify the calculation of permanent displacement of potential sliding soil, the other geometric parameters of the multi-stage loess slope are replaced by the comprehensive slope rate, combined with the Newmark slider displacement analysis method and energy conservation principle, and then the calculation method of permanent displacement of potential sliding soil of multi-stage loess slope under the action of earthquake is deduced. Through an example, the permanent displacement calculated by the proposed algorithm are compared with those calculated by the PLAXIS 3D software and GEO-Studio software. The results show that the permanent displacement calculated by this method is close to that calculated by the GEO-Studio software, and the difference is only 2%, and thus, the rationality of the proposed method for calculating the permanent displacement of the multi-stage loess slope under the action of earthquake is verified. The algorithm proposed in this paper provides a theoretical reference for the calculation of the permanent displacement of multi-stage loess slope under the action of earthquake.
Special Issue on the Development of Microfluidic Devices for Medical Applications
Authors: Chappel Eric
Published: August 2022

Microfluidics refers to the science of handling fluids in microstructures and has been widely used in the medical field to miniaturize conventional drug delivery systems, bioassays, and diagnostics [...]
Study on Dynamic Splitting Properties of S-PP Hybrid Fiber Concrete after High Temperatures
Authors: Xu Zehui , He Tong , Liu Yongwang , Chen Xinzuo , Liu Lei
Published: August 2022

To study the dynamic tensile mechanical properties of steel polypropylene hybrid fiber reinforced concrete (SP-HFRC) after high temperature, split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) dynamic splitting tests were carried out, and the optimal fiber content combination was obtained. With the plain concrete (PC) as the control, the effects of fiber addition on energy dissipation and failure forms of concrete specimens after high temperatures were analyzed. LS-DYNA software was used to simulate the dynamic splitting test. The results show that the splitting strength of specimens increases first and then deteriorates with the increase of temperature. After high temperatures, HFRC has a positive and negative fiber hybrid effect. Among the studied fiber mixture combinations, S1PP0.2 (1 vol% steel fiber + 0.2 vol% polypropylene fiber) concrete has the best splitting resistance. Compared with PC, the splitting strength increases by 106.8% at 25 °C and 128.2% at 800 °C. From the perspective of energy, we can conclude that adding hybrid fiber can significantly improve the dynamic splitting and tensile toughness of concrete after high temperatures, and defining damage variables can better characterize the damage degree of concrete. PC cracks seriously after high temperatures, while S1PP0.2 concrete cracks but does not disperse at 800 °C, showing ductile failure characteristics. By modifying some parameters of the HJC model, the state of high-temperature concrete mechanical properties can be better characterized after deterioration. The simulated failure process shows an excellent agreement with the experimental results.
Characterisation of Refined Marc Distillates with Alternative Oak Products Using Different Analytical Approaches
Authors: Petrozziello Maurizio , Rosso Laura , Portesi Chiara , Asproudi Andriani , Bonello Federica , Nardi Tiziana , Rossi Andrea Mario , Schiavone Consolato , Scuppa Stefano , Cantamessa Simone , Pollon Matteo , Chiarabaglio Pier Mario
Published: August 2022

The use of oak barrel alternatives, including oak chips, oak staves and oak powder, is quite common in the production of spirits obtained from the distillation of vegetal fermented products such as grape pomace. This work explored the use of unconventional wood formats such as peeled and sliced wood. The use of poplar wood was also evaluated to verify its technological uses to produce aged spirits. To this aim, GC-MS analyses were carried out to obtain an aromatic characterisation of experimental distillates treated with these products. Moreover, the same spirits were studied for classification purposes using NMR, NIR and e-nose. A significant change in the original composition of grape pomace distillate due to sorption phenomena was observed; the intensity of this effect was greater for poplar wood. The release of aroma compounds from wood depended both on the toasting level and wood assortment. Higher levels of xylovolatiles, namely, whisky lactone, were measured in samples aged using sliced woods. Both the NIR and NMR analyses highlighted similarities among samples refined with oak tablets, differentiating them from the other wood types. Finally, E-nose seemed to be a promising alternative to spectroscopic methods both for the simplicity of sample preparation and method portability.
An Efficient Deep Learning Approach for Colon Cancer Detection
Authors: Sakr Ahmed S. , Soliman Naglaa F. , Al-Gaashani Mehdhar S. , Pławiak Paweł , Ateya Abdelhamied A. , Hammad Mohamed
Published: August 2022

Colon cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in women and the third most common cause of cancer death in men. Therefore, early detection of this cancer can lead to lower infection and death rates. In this research, we propose a new lightweight deep learning approach based on a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) for efficient colon cancer detection. In our method, the input histopathological images are normalized before feeding them into our CNN model, and then colon cancer detection is performed. The efficiency of the proposed system is analyzed with publicly available histopathological images database and compared with the state-of-the-art existing methods for colon cancer detection. The result analysis demonstrates that the proposed deep model for colon cancer detection provides a higher accuracy of 99.50%, which is considered the best accuracy compared with the majority of other deep learning approaches. Because of this high result, the proposed approach is computationally efficient.
Measurement of Quasiparticle Diffusion in a Superconducting Transmon Qubit
Authors: Dong Yuqian , Li Yong , Zheng Wen , Zhang Yu , Ma Zhuang , Tan Xinsheng , Yu Yang
Published: August 2022

Quasiparticles, especially the ones near the Josephson junctions in the superconducting qubits, are known as an important source of decoherence. By injecting quasiparticles into a quantum chip, we characterized the diffusion feature by measuring the energy relaxation time and the residual excited-state population of a transmon qubit. From the extracted transition rates, we phenomenologically modeled the quasiparticle diffusion in a superconducting circuit that contained “hot” nonequilibrium quasiparticles in addition to low-energy ones.
Femtosecond Laser-Induced Evolution of Surface Micro-Structure in Depth Direction of Nickel-Based Alloy
Authors: Liu Shangyu , Zhang Zhen , Yang Zenan , Wang Chenchong
Published: August 2022

The surface coating properties of turbine blades are highly dependent on the material’s surface roughness, and the femtosecond laser-induced micro-structure can provide a wide range of roughness with periodicity. However, precise control of femtosecond laser-induced micro-structure is difficult. In this paper, we extend the application of the two-temperature model and combine it with experiments to accurately reveal the evolution law of micro-structure depth at different single pulse energies, as well as the influence of two processing parameters on micro-structure, namely, defocusing amount and scanning speed. The findings of this study provide reliable theoretical guidance for fast and accurate control of material surface roughness and open new possibilities for coating properties.
Towards Ab-Initio Simulations of Crystalline Defects at the Exascale Using Spectral Quadrature Density Functional Theory
Authors: Ghosh Swarnava
Published: August 2022

Defects in crystalline solids play a crucial role in determining properties of materials at the nano, meso- and macroscales, such as the coalescence of vacancies at the nanoscale to form voids and prismatic dislocation loops or diffusion and segregation of solutes to nucleate precipitates, phase transitions in magnetic materials via disorder and doping. First principles Density Functional Theory (DFT) simulations can provide a detailed understanding of these phenomena. However, the number of atoms needed to correctly simulate these systems is often beyond the reach of many widely used DFT codes. The aim of this article is to discuss recent advances in first principles modeling of crystal defects using the spectral quadrature method. The spectral quadrature method is linear scaling with respect to the number of atoms, permits spatial coarse-graining, and is capable of simulating non-periodic systems embedded in a bulk environment, which allows the application of appropriate boundary conditions for simulations of crystalline defects. In this article, we discuss the state-of-the-art in ab-initio modeling of large metallic systems of the order of several thousand atoms that are suitable for utilizing exascale computing resourses.
Scattering of e± from CF3I Molecule
Authors: Khandker Mahmudul H. , Khatun M. Mousumi , Billah M. Masum , Haque M. M. , Watabe Hiroshi , Haque A. K. Fazlul , Uddin M. Alfaz
Published: August 2022

Theoretical investigation of the scattering of electrons and positrons from the plasma etching gas trifluoroiodomethane (CF3I) is presented in the present work. The investigation is carried out by taking into account the screening correction arising from a semiclassical analysis of atomic geometrical overlapping of the scattering cross-sections calculated in the independent atom approximation. The scattering system e±-CF3I is studied through the calculations of the observable quantities, namely, absolute differential, Sherman function, total elastic and inelastic, momentum transfer, viscosity, ionization and total cross sections over the energy range 1 eV–1 MeV. Energy dependency of the differential cross section and Sherman function are also picturized in this work. A comparative study is carried out between scattering observables for electron impact with those for positron impact to get a better understanding of the interaction and dynamics of the collision process. The corresponding scattering quantities of the constituent atoms are calculated employing a complex optical model potential by solving the Dirac relativistic wave equations in the framework of partial wave analysis. The comparison of our results with the available experimental and theoretical data shows a reasonable agreement.
Absolute Double-Differential Cross Sections of Ultrasoft Isochromatic X-ray Radiation in Electron Scattering on Atoms
Authors: Kornev Aleksei S. , Zon Boris A. , Chernov Vladislav E. , Amusia Miron Ya. , Kubelík Petr , Ferus Martin
Published: August 2022

We calculate double-differential cross sections of ultrasoft X-ray bremsstrahlung in electron scattering by Ar, Kr, and Xe atoms in the soft-photon approximation. The calculations are done for the isochromatic spectra (i.e., dependence on the electron energy at a fixed photon energy of 165 and 177 eV). The results are consistent with the absolute values of the differential cross sections measured by Gnatchenko et al. (Phys. Rev. A 80, 022707 (2009)) for the above-mentioned photon energies. For low electron energies, our theoretical isochromatic spectra are in quantitative agreement with the experimental data for Ar. For Kr, the agreement is qualitative while agreement with the Xe data is poor.
A Systematic Evaluation of Ensemble Learning Methods for Fine-Grained Semantic Segmentation of Tuberculosis-Consistent Lesions in Chest Radiographs
Authors: Rajaraman Sivaramakrishnan , Yang Feng , Zamzmi Ghada , Xue Zhiyun , Antani Sameer K.
Published: August 2022

Automated segmentation of tuberculosis (TB)-consistent lesions in chest X-rays (CXRs) using deep learning (DL) methods can help reduce radiologist effort, supplement clinical decision-making, and potentially result in improved patient treatment. The majority of works in the literature discuss training automatic segmentation models using coarse bounding box annotations. However, the granularity of the bounding box annotation could result in the inclusion of a considerable fraction of false positives and negatives at the pixel level that may adversely impact overall semantic segmentation performance. This study evaluates the benefits of using fine-grained annotations of TB-consistent lesions toward training the variants of U-Net models and constructing their ensembles for semantically segmenting TB-consistent lesions in both original and bone-suppressed frontal CXRs. The segmentation performance is evaluated using several ensemble methods such as bitwise- AND, bitwise-OR, bitwise-MAX, and stacking. Extensive empirical evaluations showcased that the stacking ensemble demonstrated superior segmentation performance (Dice score: 0.5743, 95% confidence interval: (0.4055, 0.7431)) compared to the individual constituent models and other ensemble methods. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to apply ensemble learning to improve fine-grained TB-consistent lesion segmentation performance.