bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The School Garden: A Social and Emotional Place
Authors: Pollin Susan , Retzlaff-Fürst Carolin
Published: April 2021

School gardens are part of many schools. Especially in primary schools, but also in secondary schools, they are used as a learning space and experience space for the pupils. Their importance for the development of cognitive and emotional-affective abilities of pupils is empirically well proven. It is also empirically well proven that exposure to nature has an influence on the prosocial behavior of children and adults. However, there is a lack of studies investigating the effect of the stay in the school garden on the social behavior of pupils in secondary class. To investigate whether a school garden is a good environment for social learning, a self-report study and standardized observations with sixth-grade pupils were carried out. Thus, the socially competent behavior of the pupils (communication and cooperation) and their emotions could be analyzed. In order to provide emotional access to the scientific content of biology lessons and to strengthen social learning, each pupil was responsible for their own plant and the group bed over a period of 10 weeks. The design of the lessons followed the principles of basic needs—competence, autonomy, and relatedness—of the Self Determination Theory. The observations were made during a 90-min class, in the school garden as well in the classroom. The 31 girls and 22 boys, aged 11–12 years, changed weekly between the garden and the classroom. Over 150 observations were made in the school garden (82) and in the classroom (68). In summary, pupils showed more socially competent behavior in school garden lessons than in classroom lessons. The school garden lessons, designed according to the basic needs, seem to create favorable incentives for social learning. Due to frequent social interactions, it can be assumed that learning activities in school gardens can promote emotional and social competence.
Organizing Psycho-Oncological Care for Cancer Patients: The Patient’s Perspective
Authors: Schuit Anouk S. , Holtmaat Karen , van Zwieten Valesca , Aukema Eline J. , Gransier Lotte , Cuijpers Pim , Verdonck-de Leeuw Irma M.
Published: April 2021

Background

Cancer patients often suffer from psychological distress during or after cancer treatment, but the use of psycho-oncological care among cancer patients is limited. One of the reasons might be that the way psycho-oncological care is organized, does not fit patients’ preferences. This study aimed to obtain detailed insight into cancer patients’ preferences regarding the organization of psycho-oncological care.

Methods

18 semi-structured interviews were conducted among cancer patients. Patients completed psycho-oncological treatment between 2015 and 2020 at the psychology department in a general hospital or a center specialized in psychological cancer care in the Netherlands. The interview comprised questions related to preferences regarding the institute where to receive treatment, the psychologist who provides treatment, and the type of treatment, as well as questions related to experienced barriers and facilitators to receive psycho-oncological care. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed individually by two coders into key issues and themes.

Results

Regarding the institute, easy accessibility and prompt availability of psychol-oncological care were considered important. Regarding the psychologist, most participants had a strong preference to be treated by a psychologist specialized in cancer or other somatic diseases. Individual face-to-face therapy was preferred above other types of treatment. Several barriers were mentioned to receive psycho-oncological treatment, among which poor accessibility to psycho-oncological care, lack of knowledge on the possibilities for psycho-oncological treatment, and stigma. Most frequently mentioned facilitators were being assertive to ask for help, having a good relationship with the healthcare professional, and the integration of psycho-oncological support within medical cancer care.

Conclusion

From the patient’s perspective, the organization of psycho-oncological care for cancer patients should focus on easy accessibility and availability, delivered by specialized psychologists, and integration in medical cancer care. Online and group therapy are acceptable, but individual face-to-face therapy is preferred. It is warranted to increase awareness on psycho-oncological care targeting both patients and healthcare providers.
Report Quality of Generalized Linear Mixed Models in Psychology: A Systematic Review
Authors: Bono Roser , Alarcón Rafael , Blanca María J.
Published: April 2021

Generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) estimate fixed and random effects and are especially useful when the dependent variable is binary, ordinal, count or quantitative but not normally distributed. They are also useful when the dependent variable involves repeated measures, since GLMMs can model autocorrelation. This study aimed to determine how and how often GLMMs are used in psychology and to summarize how the information about them is presented in published articles. Our focus in this respect was mainly on frequentist models. In order to review studies applying GLMMs in psychology we searched the Web of Science for articles published over the period 2014–2018. A total of 316 empirical articles were selected for trend study from 2014 to 2018. We then conducted a systematic review of 118 GLMM analyses from 80 empirical articles indexed in Journal Citation Reports during 2018 in order to evaluate report quality. Results showed that the use of GLMMs increased over time and that 86.4% of articles were published in first- or second-quartile journals. Although GLMMs have, in recent years, been increasingly used in psychology, most of the important information about them was not stated in the majority of articles. Report quality needs to be improved in line with current recommendations for the use of GLMMs.
Surfactant Protein A and Microbiome Composition in Patients With Atraumatic Intraoral Lesions
Authors: Adibi Shawn , Seferovic Davor , Tribble Gena D. , Alcorn Joseph L. , Fakhouri Walid D.
Published: April 2021

Oral ulcers are lesions that occur due to disruption of epithelial integrity of the mucosa of the oral cavity. Intraoral ulcers are often associated with pain, redness, symptoms of discomfort, and blood hemorrhage. The etiology for many oral ulcers is local trauma, systemic health conditions, or medication; for other ulcers the cause is less clear. This pilot study aims to evaluate the salivary components and microbiome in patients with atraumatic pre-ulcerous and ulcerous oral lesions compared to control individuals, while considering three common risk factors for atraumatic ulcers, smoking, stress, and gender. This study uses matched age, sex, and ethnicity samples from healthy otherwise and oral lesion patients to investigate the changes in salivary surfactant protein A (SP-A) and examines the prevalence and diversity of the salivary oral microflora. The goal is to determine if there are factors in saliva that have the potential to be used as biomarkers for risk of developing atraumatic oral ulcers. Our data show that the average level of SP-A is significantly reduced in female smokers compared to non-smoker healthy females. The average level of SP-A in female oral lesion patients is reduced compared to controls. The microbiome composition is significantly affected by smoking and the level of SP-A. Comparing the control participants and oral lesion patients, there are 16 species of bacteria that are significantly different, and all of these bacteria are significantly affected by smoking and SP-A. LEfSe analysis identified five bacteria that may represent potential biomarkers. This preliminary study demonstrates the potential of the oral microbiome to act as a biomarker for oral ulcer risk and infers potential mechanistic links between risk factors and alterations in innate immune mechanisms such as SP-A levels.
Revival of Traditional Cascade Tanks for Achieving Climate Resilience in Drylands of South India
Authors: Chinnasamy Pennan , Srivastava Aman
Published: April 2021

Traditional tanks in arid regions of India have been working to address water demands of the public for more than 2000 years. However, recent decade is witnessing growing domestic and agricultural water demand coupled with rising encroachment and ignorance toward tanks; consequently, intensifying water shortage issues. While climate change is impacting at alarming rates, local agencies have forgotten these tanks that have aided in sustainable water supply solutions for decades apart from municipal water supply. This research, for the first time, estimates water supply-demand for an arid region in South India (Madurai) and lists out the benefits if tanks were managed and desilted. Exploratory investigations for documenting seasonal domestic and agricultural unmet water demand were conducted followed by their validation through ground-truthing across the study period 2002–2019. Results indicated high unmet domestic water demand, estimating ~73% [maximum 365 thousand cubic meters (TCM)] for summer (March to May) and ~33% (maximum 149 TCM) for winter (January and February), and high unmet agricultural water demand estimating ~90% (maximum 5,424 TCM) during North-East monsoon (October to December), and ~95% (maximum 5,161 TCM) during South-West monsoon (June to September). Erratic rainfall pattern was identified as a major cause for higher fluctuations in water availability inside tanks ranging 0–50%, while lack of ownership resulted in increased siltation load ranging 30–70% of the tank's volume. The study found that the major portion of the unmet water demand can be accounted for through rehabilitation of the tanks, as under the rehabilitated tank irrigation scenario the tank storage could attain 200–400% more water than the estimated agricultural water demand. It was concluded that if the cascade tanks were managed appropriately, they could have positive impacts by reducing floods and providing water for drought seasons.
Effect of Advanced Shoe Technology on the Evolution of Road Race Times in Male and Female Elite Runners
Authors: Bermon Stéphane , Garrandes Frédéric , Szabo Andras , Berkovics Imre , Adami Paolo Emilio
Published: April 2021

The influence of advanced footwear technology (thickness of light midsole foam and rigid plate) on distance running performances was analyzed during an 8-year period. Analysis of variance was used to measure effects of time, gender, shoe technology, and East African origin on male and female top 20 or top 100 seasonal best times in 10-kilometer races, half-marathons, and marathons. In both genders and three distance-running events, seasonal best times significantly decreased from 2017, which coincided with the introduction of the advanced footwear technology in distance running. This performance improvement was of similar magnitude in both East African and non-East African elite runners. In female elite athletes, the magnitudes (from 1.7 to 2.3%) of the decrease in seasonal best times between 2016 and 2019 were significantly higher than in their male counterparts (from 0.6 to 1.5%). Analyses of variance confirmed that the adoption of the advanced footwear technology significantly improved the top 20 seasonal best times in female half marathons and marathons and male marathons, with the improvements being more pronounced in females and in long-distance running events. The adoption of this new shoe technology improved female marathon time by ~2 min and 10 s, which represents a significant increase in performance (1.7%).
Assessment of Livestock Water Productivity in Seno and Yatenga Provinces of Burkina Faso
Authors: Amole Tunde Adegoke , Adekeye Adetayo , Ayantunde Augustine Abioye
Published: April 2021

The expected increase in livestock production to meet its increasing demand could lead to increased water depletion through feeds production. This study aimed at estimating the amount of water depletion through feeds and its corresponding productivity in livestock within the three dominant livestock management systems namely sedentary-intensive, sedentary-extensive, and transhumance in Yatenga and Seno provinces in the Sahelian zone of Burkina Faso. Using a participatory rapid appraisal and individual interview, beneficial animal products, and services were estimated, and consequently, livestock water productivity (LWP) as the ratio of livestock products and services to the amount of water depleted. Our results showed feed resources are mainly natural pasture and crop residues are common in all the management systems though the proportion of each feed type in the feed basket and seasonal preferences varied. Consequently, water depleted for feed production was similar across the systems in both provinces and ranged from 2,500 to 3,200 m−3 ha−1 yr−1. Values for milk (40 US$US$/household) and flock offtake (313 US$/household) derived from the transhumant system were higher (P < 0.05) than those from other systems in the Seno province. With higher returns from the beneficial outputs, LWP was higher (0.11 US$ m−3) in the transhumant system than other systems in Yatenga, but similar with sedentary-intensive in Seno Province Multiple regression analysis results showed that LWP had a significant positive relationship with flock offtake in Yatenga but milk and flock offtake in Seno. The study concluded that sedentary-intensive and transhumant system with more market-oriented beneficial outputs and much dependence on less-water-depleted feed resources will improve livestock water productivity in dry areas. Besides, interventions to improve livestock water productivity through beneficial outputs must recognize the unique socio-cultural context of the livestock farmers.
Agreement of Magnetic Resonance Imaging With Computed Tomography in the Assessment for Acute Skull Fractures in a Canine and Feline Cadaver Model
Authors: Hecht Silke , Anderson Kimberly M. , Castel Aude , Griffin John F. , Hespel Adrien-Maxence , Nelson Nathan , Sun Xiaocun
Published: April 2021

Computed tomography (CT) is the imaging modality of choice to evaluate patients with acute head trauma. However, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be chosen in select cases. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the agreement of MRI with CT in the assessment for presence or absence of acute skull fractures in a canine and feline cadaver model, compare seven different MRI sequences (T1-W, T2-W, T2-FLAIR, PD-W, T2*-W, “SPACE” and “VIBE”), and determine agreement of four different MRI readers with CT data. Pre- and post-trauma CT and MRI studies were performed on 10 canine and 10 feline cadaver heads. Agreement of MRI with CT as to presence or absence of a fracture was determined for 26 individual osseous structures and four anatomic regions (cranium, face, skull base, temporomandibular joint). Overall, there was 93.5% agreement in assessing a fracture as present or absent between MRI and CT, with a significant difference between the pre and post trauma studies (99.4 vs. 87.6%;p< 0.0001; OR 0.042; 95% CI 0.034–0.052). There was no significant difference between dogs and cats. The agreement for the different MRI sequences with CT ranged from 92.6% (T2*-W) to 94.4% (PD-W). There was higher agreement of MRI with CT in the evaluation for fractures of the face than other anatomic regions. Agreement with CT for individual MRI readers ranged from 92.6 to 94.7%. A PD-W sequence should be added to the MR protocol when evaluating the small animal head trauma patient.
Clinical Findings in Healthy Dogs Fed With Diets Characterized by Different Carbohydrates Sources
Authors: Gizzarelli Manuela , Calabrò Serena , Vastolo Alessandro , Molinaro Giuseppe , Balestrino Ines , Cutrignelli Monica Isabella
Published: April 2021

In recent years, pet owners have become more interested in the ingredients, and quality of pet-food, and several studies have demonstrated that feed management could affect healthy status. Recently, some authors indicated that commercial diets formulated without cereals, or using unconventional protein, and starch sources, can cause a reduction in taurine levels in both whole blood, and plasma. Nevertheless, the specific mechanism by means of which nutritional factors determine this reduction is not completely clear. Thirty neutered half-breed dogs were recruited at a kennel in the province of Naples (Italy) to investigate the influence of carbohydrates sources, and dietary density of nutrients on healthy status of dogs in terms of blood count, and biochemical parameters. The dogs were housed in the kennel and divided into three distinct groups. Three iso-energy, and iso-nitrogen commercial kibble diets (named GF1, GF2, and CB) with different protein, and carbohydrates contents, and carbohydrates sources were chosen for the trial. The chemical composition and amino acid profile of each of the three tested diets were analyzed. Moreover, blood samples of each dog were collected to evaluate the hematological and biochemical profiles. The taurine level was determined both on plasma and whole blood. The effect of the diets was analyzed statistically, and all tested diets were compared to the control one. There were significant differences between the three tested diets as regards their chemical composition. The concentrations of all amino acids seem to reflect protein content diets. The hematological profile resulted within the ranges considered physiological for the canine species for all subjects. Compared to the control diet, the three tested diets showed significant differences in blood count for MCHC and platelets. The biochemical profile showed significant differences between the diets, particularly their AST, fructosamine, lipase, and triglycerides values. The diets did not affect the blood and plasma taurine levels. They resulted in higher than optimal reserve levels. Preliminary results showed that the sources of carbohydrates and use of balanced diets affected only some biochemical parameters and did not alter the levels of taurine in healthy adult dogs.
Self-Configuring (1 + 1)-Evolutionary Algorithm for the Continuous p-Median Problem with Agglomerative Mutation
Authors: Kazakovtsev Lev , Rozhnov Ivan , Shkaberina Guzel
Published: April 2021

The continuous p-median problem (CPMP) is one of the most popular and widely used models in location theory that minimizes the sum of distances from known demand points to the sought points called centers or medians. This NP-hard location problem is also useful for clustering (automatic grouping). In this case, sought points are considered as cluster centers. Unlike similar k-means model, p-median clustering is less sensitive to noisy data and appearance of the outliers (separately located demand points that do not belong to any cluster). Local search algorithms including Variable Neighborhood Search as well as evolutionary algorithms demonstrate rather precise results. Various algorithms based on the use of greedy agglomerative procedures are capable of obtaining very accurate results that are difficult to improve on with other methods. The computational complexity of such procedures limits their use for large problems, although computations on massively parallel systems significantly expand their capabilities. In addition, the efficiency of agglomerative procedures is highly dependent on the setting of their parameters. For the majority of practically important p-median problems, one can choose a very efficient algorithm based on the agglomerative procedures. However, the parameters of such algorithms, which ensure their high efficiency, are difficult to predict. We introduce the concept of the AGGLr neighborhood based on the application of the agglomerative procedure, and investigate the search efficiency in such a neighborhood depending on its parameter r. Using the similarities between local search algorithms and (1 + 1)-evolutionary algorithms, as well as the ability of the latter to adapt their search parameters, we propose a new algorithm based on a greedy agglomerative procedure with the automatically tuned parameter r. Our new algorithm does not require preliminary tuning of the parameter r of the agglomerative procedure, adjusting this parameter online, thus representing a more versatile computational tool. The advantages of the new algorithm are shown experimentally on problems with a data volume of up to 2,000,000 demand points.
Classification of Precursor MicroRNAs from Different Species Based on K-mer Distance Features
Authors: Yousef Malik , Allmer Jens
Published: April 2021

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short RNA sequences that are actively involved in gene regulation. These regulators on the post-transcriptional level have been discovered in virtually all eukaryotic organisms. Additionally, miRNAs seem to exist in viruses and might also be produced in microbial pathogens. Initially, transcribed RNA is cleaved by Drosha, producing precursor miRNAs. We have previously shown that it is possible to distinguish between microRNA precursors of different clades by representing the sequences in a k-mer feature space. The k-mer representation considers the frequency of a k-mer in the given sequence. We further hypothesized that the relationship between k-mers (e.g., distance between k-mers) could be useful for classification. Three different distance-based features were created, tested, and compared. The three feature sets were entitled inter k-mer distance, k-mer location distance, and k-mer first–last distance. Here, we show that classification performance above 80% (depending on the evolutionary distance) is possible with a combination of distance-based and regular k-mer features. With these novel features, classification at closer evolutionary distances is better than using k-mers alone. Combining the features leads to accurate classification for larger evolutionary distances. For example, categorizing Homo sapiens versus Brassicaceae leads to an accuracy of 93%. When considering average accuracy, the novel distance-based features lead to an overall increase in effectiveness. On the contrary, secondary-structure-based features did not lead to any effective separation among clades in this study. With this line of research, we support the differentiation between true and false miRNAs detected from next-generation sequencing data, provide an additional viewpoint for confirming miRNAs when the species of origin is known, and open up a new strategy for analyzing miRNA evolution.
Influence of Supplementation of Lactoferrin, Melittin and Cecropin A to Rat Diet on Changes in Faecal Ammonia Concentrations, Short-Chain Fatty Acid Concentrations and Activities of Bacterial Enzymes
Authors: Juśkiewicz Jerzy , Rawicka Aleksandra , Fotschki Bartosz , Majewski Michał , Zduńczyk Zenon
Published: April 2021

We hypothesised that the dietary addition of the bioactive antimicrobial protein lactoferrin (LF) and peptides melittin (MT) or cecropin A (CR) at a dosage of 100 mg/kg to the diet of Wistar rats would result in strong modulatory effects on faecal microbial enzymatic activity, short-chain fatty acid and ammonia concentrations. To date, the changes in bacterial extracellular and intracellular enzymatic activities upon addition of dietary AMPs have not yet been studied. This experiment lasted 15 days; during the first 5 day period, the rats were fed the control diet (S) and diets supplemented with LF, MT or CR. On days 6–15, all rats were fed the control S diet. The faecal fermentation processes were substantially stopped after two days of treatment, on average, in all rats receiving LF and two AMPs. The deepest suppression effect was observed on the last day of treatment (day 5) and persisted through days 5–8. The highest decreases in faecal bacterial β-glucosidase and β-glucuronidase activities as well as in SCFA and ammonia concentrations were observed in the rats fed the CR diet. Only in the CR animals did the mechanism of suppressed microbial fermentation involve diminished enzyme release from bacterial cells to the digesta.
Modelling the Spatial Distribution of ASF-Positive Wild Boar Carcasses in South Korea Using 2019–2020 National Surveillance Data
Authors: Lim Jun-Sik , Vergne Timothée , Pak Son-Il , Kim Eutteum
Published: April 2021

In September 2019, African swine fever (ASF) was reported in South Korea for the first time. Since then, more than 651 ASF cases in wild boars and 14 farm outbreaks have been notified in the country. Despite the efforts to eradicate ASF among wild boar populations, the number of reported ASF-positive wild boar carcasses have increased recently. The purpose of this study was to characterize the spatial distribution of ASF-positive wild boar carcasses to identify the risk factors associated with the presence and number of ASF-positive wild boar carcasses in the affected areas. Because surveillance efforts have substantially increased in early 2020, we divided the study into two periods (2 October 2019 to 19 January 2020, and 19 January to 28 April 2020) based on the number of reported cases and aggregated the number of reported ASF-positive carcasses into a regular grid of hexagons of 3-km diameter. To account for imperfect detection of positive carcasses, we adjusted spatial zero-inflated Poisson regression models to the number of ASF-positive wild boar carcasses per hexagon. During the first study period, proximity to North Korea was identified as the major risk factor for the presence of African swine fever virus. In addition, there were more positive carcasses reported in affected hexagons with high habitat suitability for wild boars, low heat load index (HLI), and high human density. During the second study period, proximity to an ASF-positive carcass reported during the first period was the only significant risk factor for the presence of ASF-positive carcasses. Additionally, low HLI and elevation were associated with an increased number of ASF-positive carcasses reported in the affected hexagons. Although the proportion of ASF-affected hexagons increased from 0.06 (95% credible interval (CrI): 0.05–0.07) to 0.09 (95% CrI: 0.08–0.10), the probability of reporting at least one positive carcass in ASF-affected hexagons increased from 0.49 (95% CrI: 0.41–0.57) to 0.73 (95% CrI: 0.66–0.81) between the two study periods. These results can be used to further advance risk-based surveillance strategies in the Republic of Korea.
Glyphosate Herbicide Induces Changes in the Growth Pattern and Somatic Indices of Crossbred Red Tilapia (O. niloticus × O. mossambicus)
Authors: Muhammad Umar Abubakar , Yasid Nur Adeela , Daud Hassan Mohd , Shukor Mohd Yunus
Published: April 2021

The development of glyphosate-resistant genetically modified organisms (GMO) has increased the use of herbicide glyphosate by several magnitudes in recent years. It is now the most commonly used pesticide globally that affects aquatic habitats, especially fish. This study aims to add new knowledge on the effect of technical grade glyphosate on several toxicity parameters and to identify the most effective parameter in predicting technical grade glyphosate chronic toxicity (seven weeks) to fish, especially Malaysia’s heavily farmed red tilapia. The results show that a relatively high concentration of technical grade glyphosate is needed to induce significant changes in all tested parameters. However, the results also indicate that the bodyweight index is the most sensitive toxicity parameter in that a reduction in body weight was observed at 25 mg/L of glyphosate. Negative correlations between the glyphosate concentration and toxicity parameters such as specific growth rate (SGR), hepato-somatic index (HIS), and gonado-somatic index (GSI) were observed. The fish condition factor and feed conversion ratio were found not to be affected at the highest glyphosate concentration tested (150 mg/L). To conclude, crossbred red tilapia (O. niloticus × O. mossambicus) is one potential species for evaluating the toxic effects of technical grade glyphosate on fish.
Short-Course Versus Long-Course Colistin for Treatment of Carbapenem-Resistant A.baumannii in Cancer Patient
Authors: Katip Wasan , Uitrakul Suriyon , Oberdorfer Peninnah
Published: April 2021

Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) is one of the most commonly reported nosocomial infections in cancer patients and could be fatal because of suboptimal immune defenses in these patients. We aimed to compare clinical response, microbiological response, nephrotoxicity, and 30-day mortality between cancer patients who received short (<14 days) and long (≥14 days) courses of colistin for treatment of CRAB infection. A retrospective cohort study was conducted in cancer patients with CRAB infection who received short or long courses of colistin between 2015 to 2017 at Chiang Mai University Hospital (CMUH). A total of 128 patients met the inclusion criteria. The results of this study show that patients who received long course of colistin therapy had a higher rate of clinical response; adjusted odds ratio (OR) was 3.16 times in patients receiving long-course colistin therapy (95%CI, 1.37–7.28; p value = 0.007). Microbiological response in patients with long course was 4.65 times (adjusted OR) higher than short course therapy (95%CI, 1.72–12.54; p value = 0.002). Moreover, there was no significant difference in nephrotoxicity (adjusted OR, 0.91, 95%CI, 0.39–2.11; p value = 0.826) between the two durations of therapy. Thirty-day mortality in the long-course therapy group was 0.11 times (adjusted OR) compared to the short-course therapy group (95%CI, 0.03–0.38; p value = 0.001). Propensity score analyses also demonstrated similar results. In conclusion, cancer patients who received a long course of colistin therapy presented greater clinical and microbiological responses and lower 30-day mortality but similar nephrotoxicity as compared with those who a received short course. Therefore, a long course of colistin therapy should be considered for management of CRAB infection in cancer patients.
Redox Regulation of Metabolic Syndrome: From Biochemical Mechanisms to Nutritional Interventions
Authors: Allegra Mario
Published: April 2021

According to its “harmonized” definition, metabolic syndrome (MetS) is described as a cluster of metabolic factors that increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes (DM) and associated morbidities such as dementia [...]
Antiulcer Potential of Olea europea L. cv. Arbequina Leaf Extract Supported by Metabolic Profiling and Molecular Docking
Authors: Musa Arafa , Shady Nourhan Hisham , Ahmed Shaimaa R. , Alnusaire Taghreed S. , Sayed Ahmed M. , Alowaiesh Bassam F. , Sabouni Ibrahim , Al-Sanea Mohammad M. , Mostafa Ehab M. , Youssif Khayrya A. , Abu-Baih Dalia H. , Elrehany Mahmoud A. , Abdelmohsen Usama Ramadan
Published: April 2021

Gastric ulceration is among the most serious humanpublic health problems. Olea europea L. cv. Arbequina is one of the numerous olive varieties which have scarcely been studied. The reported antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential of the olive plant make it a potential prophylactic natural product against gastric ulcers. Consequently, the main goal of this study is to investigate the gastroprotective effect of Olea europea L. cv. Arbequina leaf extract. LC-HRMS-based metabolic profiling of the alcoholic extract of Olea europea L. cv. Arbequina led to the dereplication of 18 putative compounds (1–18). In vivo indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer in a rat model was established and the Olea europea extract was tested at a dose of 300 mg kg−1 compared to cimetidine (100 mg kg−1). The assessment of gastric mucosal lesions and histopathology of gastric tissue was done. It has been proved that Olea europea significantly decreased the ulcer index and protected the mucosa from lesions. The antioxidant potential of the extract was evaluated using three in vitro assays, H2O2 scavenging, xanthine oxidase inhibitory, and superoxide radical scavenging activities and showed promising activities. Moreover, an in silico based study was performed on the putatively dereplicated compounds, which highlighted that 3-hydroxy tyrosol (4) and oleacein (18) can target the 5-lipoxygenase enzyme (5-LOX) as a protective mechanism against the pathogenesis of ulceration. Upon experimental validation, both compounds 3-hydroxy tyrosol (HT) and oleacein (OC) (4 and 18, respectively) exhibited a significant in vitro 5-LOX inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 8.6 and 5.8 µg/mL, respectively. The present study suggested a possible implication of O. europea leaves as a potential candidate having gastroprotective, antioxidant, and 5-LOX inhibitory activity for the management of gastric ulcers.
In Vitro Enzymatic and Kinetic Studies, and In Silico Drug-Receptor Interactions, and Drug-Like Profiling of the 5-Styrylbenzamide Derivatives as Potential Cholinesterase and β-Secretase Inhibitors with Antioxidant Properties
Authors: Mphahlele Malose J. , Agbo Emmanuel N. , More Garland K. , Gildenhuys Samantha
Published: April 2021

The 5-(styryl)anthranilamides were transformed into the corresponding 5-styryl-2-(p-tolylsulfonamido)benzamide derivatives. These 5-styrylbenzamide derivatives were evaluated through enzymatic assays in vitro for their capability to inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), and β-secretase (BACE-1) activities as well as for antioxidant potential. An in vitro cell-based antioxidant activity assay involving lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production revealed that compounds 2a and 3b have the capability of scavenging free radicals. The potential of the most active compound, 5-styrylbenzamide (2a), to bind copper (II) or zinc (II) ions has also been evaluated spectrophotometrically. Kinetic studies of the most active derivatives from each series against the AChE, BChE, and β-secretase activities have been performed. The experimental results are complemented with molecular docking studies into the active sites of these enzymes to predict the hypothetical protein–ligand binding modes. Their drug likeness properties have also been predicted.
Correlation between Heavy Metal-Induced Histopathological Changes and Trophic Interactions between Different Fish Species
Authors: Onita (Mladin) Bianca , Albu Paul , Herman Hildegard , Balta Cornel , Lazar Vasile , Fulop Andras , Baranyai Edina , Harangi Sándor , Keki Sandor , Nagy Lajos , Nagy Tibor , Józsa Vilmos , Gál Dénes , Györe Károly , Stan Miruna , Hermenean Anca , Dinischiotu Anca
Published: April 2021

This study assessed the distribution of heavy metals in the gills, kidney, and liver, correlated with the severity of histopathological changes, of three fish species with different feeding habitats (Barbus barbus, Squalius cephalus, and Chondrostoma nasus) from the Crișul Negru river, Romania. The levels of copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) in fish tissues were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Histopathology and the expressions of TNF-α and proliferation cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were investigated by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. Our data suggest a significant correlation between the bioconcentration level of metals and structural changes. The carnivorous species was the most affected compared to the omnivorous and herbivorous ones, and the most affected organ was the kidney. Moreover, the correlation of tissue damage with the PCNA and TNF-α expression levels revealed that the herbivorous species presented less extended lesions, likely due to higher activated repair mechanisms and lower levels of inflammation. In conclusion, our data and the subsequent statistical analysis suggest that feeding behavior could be correlated with the histopathological alterations and might be used for a more profound evaluation of aquatic environment safety and analysis of aquatic ecosystems.
Instrumental Uncertainty of Conductance Transducers for Maritime Reduced-Scale Models
Authors: Martins Luís Filipe Lages , Ribeiro Álvaro Silva , Pinheiro Alexandre , Mendes Ricardo , Simões Catarina
Published: April 2021

This paper aims to determine the instrumental measurement uncertainty of conductance transducers for maritime reduced-scale models developed in hydraulic experimental facilities. These transducers are used for the measurements of wave levels and their variations under a dynamic regime (being the measurement principle and method briefly described in the paper). Several metrological characterization methods are also presented, aiming to identify and quantify measurement uncertainty components, namely electrical stability, linearity, reversibility, repeatability, and thermal influence. The obtained results were applied in the evaluation of the transducer instrumental measurement uncertainty.
Are Nano TiO2 Inclusions Improving Biocompatibility of Photocurable Polydimethylsiloxane for Maxillofacial Prosthesis Manufacturing?
Authors: Totu Eugenia Eftimie , Cristache Corina Marilena , Perieanu Viorel Stefan , Burlibasa Mihai , Petre Daniel Costinel , Burlibasa Liliana
Published: April 2021

(1) Background: The development of a biocompatible material for direct additive manufacturing of maxillofacial extraoral prosthesis is still a challenging task. The aim of the present study was to obtain a photocurable PDMS, with nano TiO2 inclusions, for directly 3D printing of extraoral, maxillofacial prosthesis. The biocompatibility of the newly obtained nanocomposite was also investigated; (2) Methods: 2.5% (m/m) titania nanoparticles (TiO2) oxide anatase and a photoinitiator, benzophenone (BF) 4.5% were added to commercially available PDMS for maxillofacial soft prostheses manufacturing. The three different samples (PDMS, PDMS-BF and PDMS-BF-TiO2) were assessed by dielectric curing analysis (DEA) based on their viscosities and curing times. In vitro micronucleus test (MNvit) was performed for genotoxicity assessment and three concentrations of each compounds (2 mg/L, 4 mg/L and 8 mg/L) were tested in duplicate and compared to a control; (3) Results: The nanocomposite PDMS-BP-TiO2 was fully reticulated within a few minutes under UV radiation, according to the dielectric analysis. PDMS-BF-TiO2 nanocomposite showed the lowest degree of cyto- and genotoxicity; (4) Conclusions: In the limits of the present study, the proposed ex situ preparation of a PDMS-BP-TiO2 offers an easy, simple, and promising technique that could be successfully used for 3D printing medical applications.
Transient Structural Analysis of a Skid Mounted on a Hydrogen Tube Trailer under Shock and Vibration Induced by Road Irregularities
Authors: Kang Sungwook , Kim Hwanjin , Kim Jaewoong , Kim Hyoungchan , Jang Jinseok , Kwak Byungmoon , Choi Kiseok , Jang Hong-Lae
Published: April 2021

Due to environmental pollution and depletion of fossil fuels, hydrogen is becoming an increasingly practical, clean and environmentally friendly option for transportation and energy storage among all green alternative energy sources introduced. Hydrogen storage and delivery is expensive because of the lower energy density per unit volume as compared with conventional fossil fuels. Hence, hydrogen is usually stored in a gaseous state and delivered via tube trailers or pipelines. In this study, a transient structural analysis of a skid structure mounted on a hydrogen tube trailer was performed under shock load induced by road irregularities. The dynamics of the driving trailer according to the unevenness of the road surface were obtained through multibody dynamic simulations considering the full car model equipped with 64 hydrogen tubes. The transient structural analysis of the tube skid was performed by considering the resulting acceleration values as constraints. Through the sequential simulations, we evaluated the structural safety of the designed tube skid mounted on a trailer during hydrogen transport.
A Two-Phase Fashion Apparel Detection Method Based on YOLOv4
Authors: Lee Chu-Hui , Lin Chen-Wei
Published: April 2021

Object detection is one of the important technologies in the field of computer vision. In the area of fashion apparel, object detection technology has various applications, such as apparel recognition, apparel detection, fashion recommendation, and online search. The recognition task is difficult for a computer because fashion apparel images have different characteristics of clothing appearance and material. Currently, fast and accurate object detection is the most important goal in this field. In this study, we proposed a two-phase fashion apparel detection method named YOLOv4-TPD (YOLOv4 Two-Phase Detection), based on the YOLOv4 algorithm, to address this challenge. The target categories for model detection were divided into the jacket, top, pants, skirt, and bag. According to the definition of inductive transfer learning, the purpose was to transfer the knowledge from the source domain to the target domain that could improve the effect of tasks in the target domain. Therefore, we used the two-phase training method to implement the transfer learning. Finally, the experimental results showed that the mAP of our model was better than the original YOLOv4 model through the two-phase transfer learning. The proposed model has multiple potential applications, such as an automatic labeling system, style retrieval, and similarity detection.
Broadcast Event-Triggered Control Scheme for Multi-Agent Rendezvous Problem in a Mixed Communication Environment
Authors: Sariff Nohaidda , Ismail Zool Hilmi
Published: April 2021

This paper addresses the communication issue encountered by a hybrid controller when finding consensus in terms of the rendezvous target point in a broadcast and communication environment. This issue may result in a high level of computation and the utilization of agent resources when a continuous communication is required by agents to meet convergence requirements. Thus, an event-triggered system was integrated into the design of a broadcast and distributed consensus linear controller using the simultaneous perturbation stochastic algorithm (SPSA). The agent’s movement towards the rendezvous point is based on the broadcast value, whereas the next agent’s state position depends on the distributed local controller output. The communication error obtained during communication between the agent and neighbors is only added to the gradient approximation error of the SPSA if the event-triggered function is violated. As a result, in our model, the number of channel utilizations was lower and the agents’ performances were preserved. The efficiencies and effectiveness of the proposed controller have been compared with the traditional sampling broadcast time-triggered (BTT) approach. The time and iterations required by the broadcast event-triggered (BET) system were less than 40.42% and 21% on average as compared to BTT. The trajectory was not the same—the BET showed scattered movements at the initial stage, whereas BTT showed a linear movement. In terms of the number of channels, 28.91% of channels were preserved during the few hundred iterations. Consequently, a variety of hybrid controllers with event-triggered mechanisms can be proposed for other multi-agent motion coordination tasks.
Artichoke By-Products as Natural Source of Phenolic Food Ingredient
Authors: López-Salas Lucía , Borrás-Linares Isabel , Quintin David , García-Gomez Presentación , Giménez-Martínez Rafael , Segura-Carretero Antonio , Lozano-Sánchez Jesús
Published: April 2021

Nowadays, the transformation activity of the food industry results in the generation of a huge amount of daily discarded vegetables wastes. One of those undervalued by-products are produced during the post-harvesting and processing process of artichokes. In the present research, the potential of artichokes’ bracts and stalks have been evaluated as a natural source of phenolic compounds which could be used as bioactive food ingredients, among others. In this study, the bioactive composition of those wastes has been evaluated using recent advances in extraction and analytical technologies, concretely, pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) followed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to electrospray time-of flight mass spectrometry (ESI-TOF/MS) analysis. To achieve this goal, first, the extraction process was evaluated by a comparative study using GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) solvents (mixtures of ethanol and water) at different temperatures (40–200 °C). The second step was to deeply characterize the composition of individual polyphenols by HPLC-ESI-TOF/MS in order to establish a comparison among the different PLE conditions applied to extract the phenolic fraction. The analysis revealed a wide variety of phenolic-composition, mainly phenolic acids and flavonoids. The results also highlighted that high percentages of ethanol and medium-high temperatures pointed out to be useful PLE conditions for recovering this kind of phytochemicals, which could be used in different applications, such as functional food ingredients, cosmetics, or nutraceuticals.
Special Issue Texture and Color in Image Analysis
Authors: Bianconi Francesco , Fernández Antonio , Sánchez-Yáñez Raúl E.
Published: April 2021

Texture and color are two types of visual stimuli that determine, to a great extent, the appearance of objects, materials, and scenes [...]
A Time-Based Assessment of Particulate Matter (PM2.5) Levels at a Highly Trafficked Intersection: Case Study of Sango-Ota, Nigeria
Authors: Olukanni David , Enetomhe David , Bamigboye Gideon , Bassey Daniel
Published: April 2021

Vehicle emissions have become one of the most prevailing air contamination sources, including nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and particulate matter (PM). Among other air pollutants, PM limits visible sight distance and poses health risks upon inhalation into the human body. This study focused on assessing PM2.5 concentrations in air at different periods of the day at the highly trafficked grade-separated intersection of Sango-Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. PM2.5 readings were taken at three at-grade points around the intersection’s roundabout between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. for four (4) days using the BR-SMART-126 Portable 4-in-1 air quality monitor. The highest level of PM2.5 obtained on Day 1 (Monday) and Day 4 (Thursday) was about 45.1% and 38.6%, respectively, lower than that of Day 3 (Wednesday). The highest concentrations of PM2.5 were recorded between 11:00 and 13:00 and between 16:00 and 18:00 (up to 217 µg/m3) whereas the lowest levels were recorded between 14:00 and 15:00 (as low as 86 µg/m3). The concentration of PM2.5 at the Sango-Ota intersection is adjudged “very poor” with average hourly concentrations between 97 and 370 µg/m3. Outcomes obtained indicate the need for improved measures to control air quality along major road corridors and at intersections in Ogun State and Nigeria at large.