bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Occult Central Lymph Node Metastasis by Tumor Size in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Tang Liyang , Qu Roy W. , Park Jaimie , Simental Alfred A. , Inman Jared C.
Published: August 2023

Background: While papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is associated with high occult central neck metastasis (CNM) rates, prophylactic central neck dissection (pCND) is controversial. This meta-analysis aims to look at the occult CNM rate according to tumor size. Methods: A literature search was conducted in PubMed from inception to April 2023. Inclusion criteria were primary studies that determined occult CNM rates in cN0 PTC by tumor size. Heterogeneity, influential case diagnostics, and proportion data were evaluated with Cochran’s Q-test, Baujat plots and Forest plots, respectively. Results: Fifty-two studies were included in this meta-analysis. The findings demonstrated an occult CNM rate of 30.3% for tumors ≤ 5 mm, 32.7% for tumors ≤ 1 cm, 46.0% for tumors between 1 and 2 cm, 43.1% for tumors between 2 and 4 cm, and 61.2% for tumors > 4 cm. The heterogeneity of each study group was high, though no publication bias was noted. While there was a trend towards increased occult CNM rates with larger tumors, comparisons between different size cutoffs varied in significance. Conclusion: This comprehensive review affirms that occult CNM is high and that an ipsilateral pCND can be justified in all PTC patients for accurate differentiation between Stage I and Stage II disease and its clinical implications.
Changes in the Heart Rate of Sniffer Dogs Trained for Detection of Lung Cancer
Authors: Riedlova Petra , Tavandzis Spiros , Kana Josef , Ostrizkova Silvie , Kramna Dagmar , Krajcir Libor , Kanova Tereza , Lastikova Simona , Tomaskova Hana , Roubec Jaromir
Published: August 2023

Background: Lung carcinoma is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. At present, unfortunately, there are no markers that would allow early identification of this tumor in the preclinical or early clinical stage. The use of sniffer dogs has been reported to show some promise in early diagnosis of this type of cancer Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the possibility of utilizing changes in the heart rate of sniffer dogs (which increases when finding a positive sample) in tumor detection. Methods: This double-blinded pilot study included two sniffer dogs. A chest strap was fastened on the dog’s chests for heart rate monitoring while they were examining samples and heart rate was recorded. Test parameters (sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values) were then calculated, evaluating performances based on (i) the dog’s indications according to their training and (ii) the changes in their heart rates. Results: Calculation according to the dog’s indications revealed an overall sensitivity of 95.2% accompanied by a specificity of 81.8%, a PPV of 93.7%, and an NPV of 85.7%, respectively. These results were not significantly different from those evaluated by heart rate; heart rate monitoring was, however, burdened with a relatively high proportion of invalid experiments in which heart rate measurement failed. When the method of calculation was changed from rounds to individual samples, the test parameters further increased. Conclusions: This pilot study confirmed the hypothesis that heart rate increases in trained sniffer dogs when encountering samples from tumor-positive patients but remains unchanged when only negative samples are present. The reliability of results based on heart rate increase is similar to that obtained by a dog’s indications and, if the limitation represented by technical issues is overcome, it could serve as a valuable verification method.
Exploratory Analysis of Objective Outcome Measures for the Clinical Assessment of Erosive Tooth Wear
Authors: Romero Maria Jacinta Rosario H. , Ungar Peter S. , Fried Daniel , Lippert Frank , Zero Domenick T. , Zunt Susan , Eckert George J. , Gossweiler Ana Gutierrez , Elkington-Stauss Dylan Jacob , Tamayo-Cabeza Guillermo , Kelly Adam B. , Bartels Troy , Kita Camille , Wewers Elizabeth , Hara Anderson T.
Published: August 2023

This study proposed using enamel surface texture and thickness for the objective detection and monitoring of erosive tooth wear (ETW), comparing them to the standard subjective Basic Erosive Wear Evaluation (BEWE). Thirty-two subjects (n = 597 teeth) were enrolled in this longitudinal observational clinical study. Enamel thickness (by cross-polarization optical coherence tomography, CP-OCT) and 3D dental microwear parameters, i.e., area-scale fractal complexity (Asfc), anisotropy (Str), and roughness (Sa) (by white-light scanning confocal profilometry), were obtained from buccal surfaces. Buccal, occlusal, and lingual surfaces were scored for BEWE and the maximum score per tooth (BEWEMax) was determined at baseline and 12 months (M12). Data outcome relationships were evaluated (alpha = 0.05). Enamel thickness decreased (p < 0.001), BEWE scores, Sa, and Str increased (p < 0.001), while Asfc did not change at M12. Baseline BEWEBuccal correlated strongly with BEWEMax (r = 0.86, p < 0.001) and moderately with BEWELingual (r = 0.42, p < 0.001), but not with enamel thickness (r = 0.03, p = 0.43). Change (Δ) in surface texture outcomes correlated poorly but significantly with ΔBEWEBuccal (r = −0.15–0.16, p < 0.001) and did not correlate with Δenamel thickness (r = 0.02–0.09, p > 0.06). Teeth with BEWE progression revealed a greater increase in ΔSa and ΔStr. These findings suggest that enamel surface roughness can potentially determine ETW severity, and CP-OCT may be relevant for clinically monitoring enamel thickness.
Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT): Reliability, Challenges, and Future Directions
Authors: Jayashankar Siva Shantini , Nasaruddin Muhammad Luqman , Hassan Muhammad Faiz , Dasrilsyah Rima Anggrena , Shafiee Mohamad Nasir , Ismail Noor Akmal Shareela , Alias Ekram
Published: August 2023

Non-invasive prenatal testing was first discovered in 1988; it was primarily thought to be able to detect common aneuploidies, such as Patau syndrome (T13), Edward Syndrome (T18), and Down syndrome (T21). It comprises a simple technique involving the analysis of cell-free foetal DNA (cffDNA) obtained through maternal serum, using advances in next-generation sequencing. NIPT has shown promise as a simple and low-risk screening test, leading various governments and private organizations worldwide to dedicate significant resources towards its integration into national healthcare initiatives as well as the formation of consortia and research studies aimed at standardizing its implementation. This article aims to review the reliability of NIPT while discussing the current challenges prevalent among different communities worldwide.
Breast Self-Examination Practice and Its Determinants among Women in Indonesia: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Meta-Regression
Authors: Azhar Yohana , Hanafi Ricarhdo Valentino , Lestari Bony Wiem , Halim Freda Susana
Published: August 2023

Breast cancer (BC) is a heavy burden for Indonesian healthcare, but there is still no thorough evaluation for Breast self-examination (BSE) practice as routine BC screening. In this study, we aimed to synthesize the pooled prevalence data of BSE practice, compare BSE practice prevalence between Java Island and non-Java Islands in Indonesia, and identify the determinants that we thought could affect the BSE practice in the Indonesian population. Intensive searches were conducted in Cochrane Library, PubMed, Google Scholar, and SINTA (Indonesian Web of Science and Technology Index) from September 2017–2022. We utilized Review Manager 5.4 for conducting the meta-analysis. We found the overall national prevalence of BSE practice was 43.14% (95% CI: 36.08, 50.20, p < 0.00001). BSE practice in Java Island was higher compared to non-Java Island (44.58% vs. 41.62%). The highest prevalence of BSE practice was found among university students, with a 49.90% prevalence. Good knowledge, good attitude toward BSE, family history of BC, family support, and BC information exposure were all statistically associated with a higher determinant of BSE practice. We concluded that BSE practice in Indonesia is still low, especially in non-Java Islands. Integrative and collaborative programs should be established to promote BSE as routine screening for BC.
Research on Quantum-Attack-Resistant Strong Forward-Secure Signature Schemes
Authors: Li Fengyin , Wang Junhui , Shang Mengxue , Zhang Dandan , Li Tao
Published: August 2023

The security of digital signatures depends significantly on the signature key. Therefore, to reduce the impact of leaked keys upon existing signatures and subsequent ones, a digital signature scheme with strong forward security could be an effective solution. Most existing strong forward-secure digital signature schemes rely on traditional cryptosystems, which cannot effectively resist quantum attacks. By introducing lattice-based delegation technology into the key-iteration process, a two-direction and lattice-based key-iteration algorithm with strong forward security is proposed. In the proposed algorithm, a unique key pair is assigned to the signer in every period. Based on the proposed algorithm, a strong forward-secure signature scheme is further put forward, which achieves resistance to quantum attacks. Performance analysis shows that under the security assumption of the SIS problem on the lattice, the proposed strong forward-secure signature scheme is existentially unforgeable under the random oracle model. Ultimately, based on the proposed strong forward-secure signature scheme, a remote identity-authentication scheme that is resistant to quantum attacks is proposed, ensuring post-quantum security in the user-authentication process.
Conceptualizing Successful School Leadership in Norway: Political and Cultural Practices
Authors: Gunnulfsen Ann Elisabeth
Published: August 2023

Throughout the last two decades, successful school leadership has been subject to extensive research in Norway and comparisons across countries as part of the International Successful School Principals Project (ISSPP). This paper identifies and discusses how and why Norwegian research on the relationship between school leadership positions and governance regimes comes into play when defining terms such as “success” and “effectiveness”. A critical literature review establishes analysis and discussion as the basis for an improved understanding of the notion of success in ISSPP research in the Norwegian education policy context. The findings show that success is consistently attached to a collaborative, political, and democratic perspective, as well as trust, power, and the definition of quality in education. Furthermore, ISSPP studies of cases in the Norwegian context have contributed to the educational leadership field by positioning school leadership within a combination of local, national, and global political and cultural environments. The differences and similarities between countries that do not share a common cultural heritage or language must be considered. In particular, there is a need to discuss the relationship between national history and policy and the conceptualization of successful school leadership.
Causes of the Shortage of Physics Teachers in Croatia
Authors: Erceg Nataša , Jelovica Lejla , Mešić Vanes , Nešić Ljubiša , Poljančić Beljan Ivana , Nikolaus Patricija
Published: August 2023

Knowing the causes of the shortage of physics teachers in primary and secondary schools is necessary for the development of effective educational policies because the shortage of physics teachers is a global and persistent problem with negative consequences for the quality of education, but also for the survival of the physics profession as a whole. The aim of this study was to investigate, for the first time, the opinions of Croatian physics teachers on the causes of the deficit in their profession. For this purpose, we conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study using an online survey with Likert-type items and a constructed response item. A total of 390 respondents from all over Croatia participated in the survey, which is 29% of the total population of Croatian physics teachers in the 2022/2023 school year. According to their opinion, the causes of the shortage of Croatian physics teachers are related to the following: lack of incentives and support from the relevant institutions and bodies, the inadequacy of physics content in the curricula, the lack of motivation and negative attitude of students towards physics, impeded professional development, unequal opportunities, and challenges such as excessive workload. The results obtained provide a concrete basis for the development of an effective policy to solve the problem of the physics teacher shortage in Croatia and beyond by governments, universities, and schools.
Quick Search Algorithm-Based Direct Model Predictive Control of Grid-Connected 289-Level Multilevel Inverter
Authors: Baig Muhammad Anas , Kashif Syed Abdul Rahman , Khan Irfan Ahmad , Abbas Ghulam
Published: August 2023

Multilevel inverters, known for their low switching loss and suitability for medium- to high-power applications, often create a heavy computational overhead for the controller. This paper addresses the aforementioned limitation by presenting a novel approach to Direct Model Predictive Control (DMPC) for a grid-tied 289-level ladder multilevel inverter (LMLI). The primary objective is to achieve perfect inverter current control without enumeration. The proposed control method provides a single best solution without complete exploration of the search space. This generalized method can be applied to any multilevel inverter (MLI), enabling them to be used in the grid-tied mode without the computational burden due to a large number of switching states. The DMPC of LMLI with 289-level output and corresponding 289 control inputs, utilizes a discrete model to predict the future state of the state variable. In order to alleviate the enumeration burden, virtual sectors on a linear scale are introduced, and a general formula is provided to identify the single best state among the 289 states, reducing the time required to find the best optimal state per sampling period. Moreover, the proposed control scheme is independent of objective evaluation.
Investigating the Effect of Cross-Conjugation Patterns on the Optoelectronic Properties of 7,7′Isoindigo-Based Materials
Authors: Ren Shiwei , Habibi Amirhossein , Wang Yujie , Yassar Abderrahim
Published: August 2023

Isoindigo (IID) is widely used as a building block for the fabrication of organic semiconductor devices. Understanding the impact of cross-conjugation and linear conjugation on the optoelectronic properties of disubstituted IID is of great importance for the design of improved materials. In this study, phenyl and thienyl groups were substituted at the cross-conjugated 7,7′ position of IID to generate three novel organic semiconductor structures with a donor–acceptor architecture. The optoelectronic properties of this IID derivative were investigated and compared with those of the 6,6′ linearly conjugated IID analogs using UV–Vis spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The experimental results were compared using density functional theory calculations to provide structure–property relationships based on substitution types and attachment sites for IID. The frontier orbital energy levels of the material did not vary dramatically with the position of the substituent, while the type of substituent showed a more significant influence on the HOMO’s energy level and oscillator strength. Phenyl-disubstituted 7,7′ IID (7Ph7′Ph) and thienyl-disubstituted 7,7′ IID (7Th7′Th) materials were used as electron transport layers in perovskite solar cells with a power conversion efficiency of 5.70% and 6.07%, respectively. These observations enhance our understanding of the electronic structure and optoelectronic properties of IID, guiding the design of the next generation of IID-based semiconductors.
Enhancing the Accuracy of an Image Classification Model Using Cross-Modality Transfer Learning
Authors: Liu Jiaqi , Chui Kwok Tai , Lee Lap-Kei
Published: August 2023

Applying deep learning (DL) algorithms for image classification tasks becomes more challenging with insufficient training data. Transfer learning (TL) has been proposed to address these problems. In theory, TL requires only a small amount of knowledge to be transferred to the target task, but traditional transfer learning often requires the presence of the same or similar features in the source and target domains. Cross-modality transfer learning (CMTL) solves this problem by learning knowledge in a source domain completely different from the target domain, often using a source domain with a large amount of data, which helps the model learn more features. Most existing research on CMTL has focused on image-to-image transfer. In this paper, the CMTL problem is formulated from the text domain to the image domain. Our study started by training two separately pre-trained models in the text and image domains to obtain the network structure. The knowledge of the two pre-trained models was transferred via CMTL to obtain a new hybrid model (combining the BERT and BEiT models). Next, GridSearchCV and 5-fold cross-validation were used to identify the most suitable combination of hyperparameters (batch size and learning rate) and optimizers (SGDM and ADAM) for our model. To evaluate their impact, 48 two-tuple hyperparameters and two well-known optimizers were used. The performance evaluation metrics were validation accuracy, F1-score, precision, and recall. The ablation study confirms that the hybrid model enhanced accuracy by 12.8% compared with the original BEiT model. In addition, the results show that these two hyperparameters can significantly impact model performance.
PKGS: A Privacy-Preserving Hitchhiking Task Assignment Scheme for Spatial Crowdsourcing
Authors: He Peicong , Xin Yang , Hou Bochuan , Yang Yixian
Published: August 2023

Privacy-preserving task assignment is vital to assign a task to appropriate workers and protect workers’ privacy or task privacy for spatial crowdsourcing (SC). Existing solutions usually require each worker to travel to the task location on purpose to perform this task, which fails to consider that workers have specific trajectories and carry out the task on their way in a hitchhiking manner. To this end, this paper proposes a privacy-preserving hitchhiking task assignment scheme for SC, named PKGS. Specifically, we formulate the privacy-preserving hitchhiking task assignment as a decision problem of the relationship between dot and line under privacy protection. In particular, we present a privacy-preserving travel distance calculation protocol and a privacy-preserving comparison protocol through the Paillier cryptosystem and the SC framework. Results of theoretical analysis and experimental evaluation show that PKGS can not only protect the location privacy of both each worker and the task simultaneously but also assign the task to the worker holding a minimum travel distance. In contrast to prior solutions, PKGS outperforms in the computation of travel distance and task assignment.
Asymmetric Effects of Prices and Storage on Rig Counts: Evidence from the US Natural Gas and Crude Oil Markets
Authors: Chiou-Wei Song-Zan , Chen Sheng-Hung , Chen Wei-Hung
Published: August 2023

This study empirically investigates the asymmetric effects of spot (future) prices and storage on rig counts in the US natural gas and crude oil markets from January 1986 to May 2020. It adopts the Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) model and establishes a flexible and efficient framework that measures the effects of positive and negative shocks in each of these variables on rig counts while modeling possible asymmetries in both the short and long term. For the natural gas market, the results reveal significant long-term asymmetric effects of spot (future) gas prices and storage on gas rigs. The positive and statistically significant cumulative effect of changes in natural gas storage suggests that larger natural gas storage has caused changes in the use of natural gas drilling rigs. For the crude oil market, we find significant short-term asymmetric effects of spot (future) gas prices and oil stocks on oil rigs. Furthermore, in addition to the optimal price and level of storage, the cost, as proxied by the interest rate, is a crucial determinant in rig drilling decision-making in the energy sector.
Electric Energy Management in Buildings Based on the Internet of Things: A Systematic Review
Authors: de Oliveira Cavalcanti Gleydson , Pimenta Handson Claudio Dias
Published: August 2023

The purpose of this paper is to uncover how the process of managing electricity in buildings based on the Internet of Things occurs. In particular, the work seeks to depict the factors affecting electricity consumption and management, as well as the application of the Internet of Things in energy management. A systematic literature review is used to examine the breadth of the electric energy management literature, encompassing bibliometric and thematic analysis based on an established procedure. The findings show the evolution of this field within key research networks with a few papers covering important elements of energy management, such as energy use, consumption and monitoring, assessment, and planning, in an integrative manner. Within this field, lacking in theory and practice, the originality of the work is the assembly of electric energy management into a conceptual framework based on real-time consumption and the Internet of Things (IoT). Indeed, the framework brings together the breadth of factors affecting consumption, energy use, and improvements that have been dispersed across the literature into one place. This framework, therefore, represents a stage towards an integrative view of IoT electric energy management and subsequent enhancement of theory and energy efficiency adoption.
Concurrent Design of Alloy Compositions of CZTSSe and CdZnS Using SCAPS Simulation: Potential Routes to Overcoming VOC Deficit
Authors: Zein Walid , Alanazi Tarek I. , Salah Mostafa M. , Saeed Ahmed
Published: August 2023

Solar energy is the most used renewable energy source. CZTSSe uses earth-abundant elements and has promising optoelectronic properties, resulting in becoming a viable alternative to thin film PV. This work provides design guidelines for CZTSSe-based solar cells, where CZTSSe has a tunable affinity and energy gap. The analysis is based on incorporating a ternary compound material to serve as an electron transport material (ETM). In this regard, CdZnS is a potential candidate that can be utilized as an electron transport layer whose affinity and energy gap can be tuned to adjust the band alignment at the ETL/CZTSSe interface. In order to design a high-efficiency solar cell, one has to tune both the ETL and absorber layers to have a suitable conduction band offset (CBO), thereby minimizing the non-radiative recombination which, in turn, boosts the power conversion efficiency (PCE). Thus, in our presented simulation study, we provide a codesign of alloy compositions of both the CZTSSe photoactive layer and the CdZnS ETL using SCAPS-1D simulation. It is found that using the codesign of alloy compositions of the ternary compound ETL and the absorber enhances the PCE by about 2% and, more importantly, overcomes the main issue in CZTSSe which is its open-circuit voltage (VOC) deficit. Furthermore, upon optimizing the thickness and doping of both the ETL and absorber layer, as well as the bulk defect of the absorber layer, a PCE of 17.16% is attained in this study, while the calibrated PCE based on a previously published experimental work was 12.30%.
Experimental Study on the Influence of Wettability Alteration on Gas–Water Two-Phase Flow and Coalbed Methane Production
Authors: Zhang Aoxiang , Shu Longyong , Huo Zhonggang
Published: August 2023

The surface wettability is important in the change in the relative permeability of gas and water. Due to the heterogeneous property of coal, it has a mixed wetting state, which makes it difficult to predict the change in permeability. To investigate the influence of different wettabilities on two-phase flow, a total of three different rank coal samples were collected and were treated with different chemicals. The alteration of the coal’s wettability, characteristics of gas–water flow, and relative permeability of the coal after the chemical treatments were analyzed. The research conclusions suggest that (1) the coal samples treated with SiO2 and H2O2 increased the hydrophilicity of the coal surface, while the coal samples treated with DTAB increased the hydrophobicity of the coal surface. Compared to SiO2, both H2O2 and DTAB can form a uniform wetting surface. (2) The wettability alteration mechanism among the three different chemical reagents is different. (3) All the chemicals can change the gas–water interface. The water migrates more easily through the cleats after H2O2 treatment, while it is more difficult for the water to migrate through cleats after the DTAB treatment. (4) There are two types of flow states of gas and water on different wetting surfaces. A slug flow is formed on a hydrophilic surface, while an annular flow is formed on a hydrophobic surface. (5) The crossover point and the residual water saturation of the relative permeability curves were influenced by the surface wettability.
A Facile Ultrapure Water Production Method for Electrolysis via Multilayered Photovoltaic/Membrane Distillation
Authors: Amiruddin Damian , Mahajan Devinder , Fang Dufei , Wang Wenbin , Wang Peng , Hsiao Benjamin S.
Published: August 2023

Ultrapure water production is vital for sustainable green hydrogen production by electrolysis. The current industrial process to generate ultrapure water involves energy-intensive processes, such as reverse osmosis. This study demonstrates a facile method to produce ultrapure water from simulated seawater using a low capital cost and low-energy-consuming membrane distillation (MD) approach that is driven by the waste heat from photovoltaic (PV) panels. To optimize the PV-MD operation, modeling efforts to design a multilayered MD system were carried out. The results were used to guide the construction of several prototype devices using different materials. The best performing PV-MD device, containing evaporation and condensation regions made from steel sheets and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes, can produce high-purity water with conductivity less than 40 mS and flux higher than 100 g/m2 h, which is suitable for typical electrolyzer use.
Integrating Demand Response for Enhanced Load Frequency Control in Micro-Grids with Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning Systems
Authors: Bal Tanima , Ray Saheli , Sinha Nidul , Devarapalli Ramesh , Knypiński Łukasz
Published: August 2023

Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems constitute the majority of the demands in modern power systems for aggregated buildings. However, HVAC integrated with renewable energy sources (RES) face notable issues, such as uneven demand–supply balance, frequency oscillation and significant drop in system inertia owing to sudden disturbances in nearby generation for a longer period. To overcome these challenges, load frequency control (LFC) is implemented to regulate the frequency, maintain zero steady-state error between the generation and demand, reduce frequency deviations and balance the active power flow with neighboring control areas at a specified value. In view of this, the present paper investigates LFC with a proposed centralized single control strategy for a micro-grid (µG) system consisting of RESs and critical load of a HVAC system. The proposed control strategy includes a newly developed cascaded two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) proportional integral (PI) and proportional derivative filter (PDF) controller optimized with a very recent meta-heuristic algorithm—a modified crow search algorithm (mCSA)—after experimenting with the number of performance indices (PICs). The superiority of both the proposed optimization algorithm and the proposed controller is arrived at after comparison with similar other algorithms and similar controllers, respectively. Compared to conventional control schemes, the proposed scheme significantly reduces the frequency deviations, improving by 27.22% from the initial value and reducing the performance index criteria (ƞISE) control error to 0.000057. Furthermore, the demand response (DR) is implemented by an energy storage device (ESD), which validates the suitability of the proposed control strategy for the µG system and helps overcome the challenges associated with variable RESs inputs and load demand. Additionally, the improved robustness of the proposed controller for this application is demonstrated through sensitivity analysis with ±20% μG coefficient variation.
Predictive Control of Modular Multilevel Converters: Adaptive Hybrid Framework for Circulating Current and Capacitor Voltage Fluctuation Suppression
Authors: Li Junda , Zhang Zhenbin , Li Zhen , Babayomi Oluleke
Published: August 2023

Modular multilevel converters (MMCs) are widely used in voltage-sourced, converter-based high-voltage DC systems due to their modular design, scalability, and fault tolerance capabilities. In MMCs, multi-variable control objectives can be employed by using model predictive control (MPC) due to its fast dynamic response and ease of implementation. Nonetheless, conventional MPC techniques for MMCs have shortcomings, including high computational requirements, poor circulating current, and capacitor voltage fluctuation suppression. First, this study proposes an adaptive MPC technique that adapts the number of candidate combinations to the steady and transient states, significantly reducing the computational burden. Second, an improved hybrid combination of an MPC with a proportional-resonance (PR) controller enhances the circulating current and capacitor voltage fluctuation suppression performance. According to the phase difference between the circulating current and the capacitor voltage, the circulating current and capacitor voltage can be suppressed at different times by changing the circulating current reference of the PR controller. The switching frequency can be reduced by using the PR controller’s output to adjust the input submodule number instead of changing the duty cycle. The proposed techniques were validated by simulations and experimental case studies with a three-phase grid-connected MMC.
Parameter Optimization of Magnetic Components for Phase-Shifted Full-Bridge Converters Using a Digital Twin
Authors: Teng Jen-Hao , Chao Chia-Wei , Song Hong-Wen , Huang Shi-Wei
Published: August 2023

Due to their significant performance, Phase-Shifted Full-Bridge Converters (PSFBCs) have gained widespread adoption in medium- and high-power applications. The performance of a PSFBC is greatly influenced by its magnetic components, namely the transformer and resonance inductor. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a parameter optimization of magnetic components for PSFBCs, specifically the transformer turns ratio and resonance inductor value, to enhance conversion efficiency and minimize operational loss. A digital twin of PSFBCs enabling a more accurate loss estimation is proposed to achieve this objective. The proposed loss estimation method precisely calculates the effective and circulation intervals and the corresponding current points of the primary-side transformer current, resulting in improved accuracy. By leveraging the digital twin, the effects of transformer turns ratio and resonant inductor value on the conversion efficiency of a PSFBC can be efficiently simulated. This facilitates the parameter optimization of magnetic components, thereby minimizing operational losses across different application scenarios. This paper also designs and implements a PSFBC prototype with a rated input voltage of 380 V, output voltage of 24 V, and output current of 20 A. The experimental results show the influences of transformer turns ratio and resonant inductor value on the PSFBC and validate the proposed digital twin. The proposed parameter optimization of magnetic components is further evaluated across two application scenarios with varying utilization rates. The simulation results indicate a reduction of approximately 14% in operational loss per hour after applying the parameter optimization of magnetic components for the PSFBC used as a battery charger. The results demonstrate the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed digital twin in designing PSFBCs.
A Technique to Optimally Prevent the Voltage and Frequency Violation in Renewable Energy Integrated Microgrids
Authors: Shoeb Md Asaduzzaman , Shahnia Farhad , Shafiullah GM , Wen Fushuan
Published: August 2023

A microgrid (MG) is always prone to the uncertainties of its demand variation and the generation of its non-dispatchable renewable sources when operating in islanded mode. Such variation events can lead to the voltage or frequency (VF) violation in the MG. However, there are some techniques available in the literature that can predict these events a few minutes ahead. Using such techniques, the VF violation can also be predicted and prevented with the introduction of a suitable preventive controller. Hence, this paper proposes a look-ahead controller that uses the short-horizon prediction data of demand and renewable generation to determine any prospective VF violation. If a violation is predicted, the proposed technique will aim to define the most optimal generation level of dispatchable sources, the MG’s best network configuration and the engagement level of the supportive actions, such as exchanging power with neighboring microgrids, utilizing energy storages, a demand response and renewable energy curtailment (if and when available). The technical, reliability and environmental aspects of the MG are considered within the proposed technique along with the operational cost. The determined optimal control variables are then sent to the local controllers to apply the proper arrangements in the system to retain the VF within the desired range. The performance of the developed technique is validated through extensive numerical analyses in MATLAB.
The Circular Economy Potential of Spent Hens’ Co-Products and By-Products in Italy by Material Flow Analysis
Authors: Amicarelli Vera , Geatti Paola , Bux Christian
Published: August 2023

Eggs represent one of the most consumed animal products worldwide. In Europe, over 366 million laying hens and 6.1 Mt of derived eggs have been estimated in 2020, and Italy represents the fourth largest producer (41 million hens and 0.79 Mt of eggs). Egg production has been identified as relatively environmental-friendly, but several environmental concerns have been recently raised considering the inefficient spent hens’ management. Spent hens are generally euthanized and composted or incinerated, producing greenhouse gases while at the same time significant nutrients are lost. First, the research reviews the egg supply chain characteristics and the alternative spent hens’ valorization pathways. Then, using the material flow analysis, the research quantifies and qualifies the consistencies of laying hens and protein content included in spent hens across Italy, providing a comprehensive assessment of the national scenario under an environmental and circular perspective. Furthermore, the research develops an inventory of the spent hens’ co-products and by-products in Italy, focusing on the flows of proteins for further environmental studies. The research has highlighted that over 13,948 t of proteins could be extracted, distinguishing between those embedded within offal, feathers and blood. In addition, spent hens can be used for human consumption, as well as for material or energy recovery through anaerobic digestion or microbial fermentation. Results are addressed to farmers, who are required to boost their environmental performances, and public authorities, who must implement sustainable strategies to collect spent hens.
Genetic Characterisation and Core Collection Construction of European Larch (Larix decidua Mill.) from Seed Orchards in Romania
Authors: Teodosiu Maria , Mihai Georgeta , Ciocîrlan Elena , Curtu Alexandru Lucian
Published: August 2023

European larch (Larix decidua L.) is an important forest tree species, with a large range and genetic variability; however, little is known about the characterisation of its genetic structure and diversity based on molecular markers in seed orchards, and no core collection—an improved tool for managing germplasm—has been developed for this species to date. In the present study, we employed nSSR molecular markers to characterise the genetic diversity and structure of five seed orchards and to construct a core collection for further use in breeding programmes. The results indicate that the values of heterozygosity in the seed orchards were slightly higher than the averages obtained in natural populations. The seed orchards displayed heterozygote deficiency, similar to other studies in Larix decidua or other Larix spp., which can be associated with a strong selective pressure on populations in a highly fragmented area. The presence of clones of autochthonous origin increased the allelic richness in the seed orchards where they were found. The degree of differentiation between individuals within the seed orchards was similar to that of populations originating from the Tyrolean Alps and Southern Carpathians (11.03% vs. 13% in the present study). The assignment, which was based on clustering, did not always match with the passport data (i.e., provenance), and we found that clones originating from stands from the northern Romanian Carpathians are distinct from the stands of the southern region, and most probably originated from a centre other than the Tyrolean Alps. The final extracted core collection (50 entries, 28% sampling effort) increases the rate of allele preservation, incorporates every allele from the entire collection, and provides candidate resources for the enhanced breeding of larch. The genetic characterisation of these germplasms will be essential for future breeding tasks, as well as for the preservation of valuable genotypes or populations.
Reconnecting Fire Culture of Aboriginal Communities with Contemporary Wildfire Risk Management
Authors: Atkinson Amos , Montiel-Molina Cristina
Published: August 2023

This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the transition towards a new paradigm of wildfire risk management in Victoria that incorporates Aboriginal fire knowledge. We show the suitability of cultural burning in the transformed landscapes, and the challenges associated with its reintroduction for land management and bushfire risk reduction after the traumatic disruption of invasion and colonization. Methods of Environmental History and Regional Geography were combined with Traditional Ecological Knowledge to unravel the connections between past, present and future fire and land management practices. Our study area consists of Dja Dja Wurrung and Bangarang/Yorta Yorta Country in north-central Victoria. The results show (i) the ongoing socio-political process for building a renewed integrated fire and land management approach including cultural burning, and (ii) the opportunities of Aboriginal fire culture for restoring landscape resilience to wildfires. We conclude that both wildfire risk management and cultural burning need to change together to adapt to the new environmental context and collaborate for mutual and common benefit.
Gene–Diet Interactions: Viability of Lactoferrin-Fortified Yoghurt as an Element of Diet Therapy in Patients Predisposed to Overweight and Obesity
Authors: Jańczuk-Grabowska Anna , Czernecki Tomasz , Brodziak Aneta
Published: August 2023

Given the availability of molecular tools, population studies increasingly include the gen-diet interactions in their considerations. The use of these interactions allows for the obtaining of more uniform research groups. In practice, this translates into the possibility of reducing the size of the research group while maintaining the precision of the research. The research results obtained in this way can be used to select certain ingredients and foods in a dietary intervention with a higher degree of personalisation. In both prophylaxis and dietary therapy of overweight and obesity, the proper selection of bioactive ingredients best suited to the given group of consumers is of key importance. Hence, the aim of the presented study was to assess the effectiveness of a dietary intervention with the use of lactoferrin (LF)-fortified yoghurt, in terms of the ability to regulate body weight and carbohydrate metabolism in individuals whose genomes contained single nucleotide polymorphisms that predisposed them to increased accumulation of fatty tissue and consequently overweight or obesity. A group of 137 participants (98 women and 37 men) of Polish origin were screened for the presence of four single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs993960—FTO gene, rs7903146—TCF7L2 gene, rs10830963—MTNR1B gene, and rs1121980—FTO gene). Subsequently, a group of 19 participants diagnosed with the presence of risk factors within said SNPs underwent a 21-day dietary intervention (crossover study) with the use of yoghurt fortified with lactoferrin (200 mg/day). The results of the study revealed a genetic difference between the Polish population and the European average, in terms of the SNPs analysed. The dietary intervention showed a statistically significantly higher efficiency in terms of body mass reduction (p = 0.000) and lowering the glycated haemoglobin ratio (HbA1c) (p = 0.000) when consuming specially prepared yoghurt containing lactoferrin, as compared to results registered for unfortified yoghurt. Given the above, yoghurt fortified with LF should be considered as a viable element of diet therapy in overweight and obese patients diagnosed with risk factors within the analysed polymorphisms.
Microbial Communities and Correlation between Microbiota and Volatile Compounds in Fermentation Starters of Chinese Sweet Rice Wine from Different Regions
Authors: Zou Jing , Chen Xiaohui , Wang Chenyu , Liu Yang , Li Miao , Pan Xinyuan , Chang Xuedong
Published: August 2023

Chinese sweet rice wines (CSRW) are traditional, regionally distinct alcoholic beverages that are generally brewed with glutinous rice and fermentation starters. This study aimed to characterize microbial communities and volatile compounds of CSRW starters and explore correlations between them. The major volatiles in starters include 1-heptanol, 1-octanol, 2-nonanol, phenylethyl alcohol, 2-nonanone, acetophenone, and benzaldehyde. Microbiological analysis based on high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technology demonstrated that starter bacterial communities are dominated by Weissella, Pediococcus, and Lactobacillus, while Saccharomycopsis and Rhizopus predominate in fungal communities. Carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism are the most active metabolic pathways in starters. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that 15 important volatile compounds including alcohols, acids, aldehydes and esters were significantly positively correlated with nine microbial genera (|r| > 0.7, p < 0.05), including five bacterial genera (i.e., Weissella, Pediococcus, Lactobacillus, Bacillus, and Nocardiopsis) and four fungal genera (i.e., Saccharomycopsis, Rhizopus, Wickerhamomyces, and Cyberlindnera), spanning 19 distinct relationships and these microorganisms were considered the core functional microorganisms in CSRW starters. The most important positive correlations detected between phenylethyl alcohol and Weissella or Saccharomycopsis and between 2-nonanol and Pediococcus. This study can serve as a reference to guide the development of defined starter cultures for improving the aromatic quality of CSRW.
Consumption of Genetically Modified Food Products and Its Determinants (Case Study: Edible Oil in Mashhad)
Authors: Zhaleh Reihaneh , Mohammadi Hosein , Boccia Flavio , Firoozzare Ali , Covino Daniela
Published: August 2023

In recent decades, the global increase in the demand for food and the increasing growth of the world population has caused an inevitable transition from traditional to advanced agriculture and the use of new technologies in the production of food and agricultural products. One of the new achievements of biotechnology is the production and use of genetically modified plants. The benefits of genetically modified crops can be seen well beyond the farm as well, from helping to conserve natural resources to fighting climate change. Identifying the factors that influence people’s acceptance of genetically modified (GM) foods can inform industries and policymakers regarding their innovation trajectories, as well as policy development and implementation. Therefore, the current research evaluates the effect of the marketing mix and other effective factors on the consumption of genetically modified (GM) edible oil in Mashhad, Iran. The required information was collected by completing 390 questionnaires and using the available sampling method in 2022. Factors affecting the probability of consumers making a decision to consume GM edible oil and the consumption amounts of this oil were analyzed through Heckman’s two-stage Tobit model using the STATA 16 software package. The results showed that factors affecting the intention of consuming GM edible oils are different from factors affecting the amount of consumption of GM edible oils. Moreover, selected marketing mixes have a significant effect on the amount of consumption of GM edible oils, and therefore, policy-makers can influence the consumption of GM edible oils by using marketing tools. The effect of household monthly income on the consumption of GM edible oil is also negative and significant, which shows that households with higher incomes have less consumption of GM edible oils. Based on the results, trust in the government has a positive and significant effect on the consumption of GM edible oil, so when consumers have trust in their government about GM food products, the consumption of GM edible oil will increase. Therefore, it is suggested that the country’s food security authorities gain the trust of consumers by clarifying the production process of GM products and holding scientific debates between the proponents and opponents of the production and consumption of GM food products in order to express the advantages and disadvantages of these products to inform consumers and help them choose between products.
Bioactive Peptides from Edible Mushrooms—The Preparation, Mechanisms, Structure—Activity Relationships and Prospects
Authors: Li Haiyan , Gao Ji’an , Zhao Fen , Liu Xinqi , Ma Biao
Published: August 2023

Mushroom bioactive peptides (MBPs) are bioactive peptides extracted directly or indirectly from edible mushrooms. MBPs are known to have antioxidant, anti-aging, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-hypertensive properties, and facilitate memory and cognitive improvement, antitumour and anti-diabetes activities, and cholesterol reduction. MBPs exert antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects by regulating the MAPK, Keap1-Nrf2-ARE, NF-κB and TNF pathways. In addition, MBPs exert antibacterial, anti-tumour and anti-inflammatory effects by stimulating the proliferation of macrophages. The bioactivities of MBPs are closely related to their molecular weights, charge, amino acid compositions and amino acid sequences. Compared with animal-derived peptides, MBPs are ideal raw materials for healthy and functional products with the advantages of their abundance of resources, safety, low price, and easy-to-achieve large-scale production of valuable nutrients for health maintenance and disease prevention. In this review, the preparation, bioactivities, mechanisms and structure–activity relationships of MBPs were described. The main challenges and prospects of their application in functional products were also discussed. This review aimed to provide a comprehensive perspective of MBPs.