bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Relationship Between Children and Their Maternal Uncles: A Unique Parenting Mode in Mosuo Culture
Authors: Xiao Erping , Jin Jing , Hong Ze , Zhang Jijia
Published: May 2022

The relationship between children and their maternal uncles in contemporary Mosuo culture reveals a unique parenting mode in a matrilineal society. This study compared the responses of Mosuo and Han participants from questionnaires on the parent–child and maternal uncle–child relationship. More specifically, Study 1 used Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) to assess the reactions of the two groups to the relationship between children and their mothers, fathers, and maternal uncles. The results show that while Han people display a higher level of attachment toward their fathers than their maternal uncles, Mosuo people do not exhibit a significant difference in this aspect. Study 2 used a scenario-based method to compare how adults and teenagers perceive the rights and responsibilities of fathers/maternal uncles toward their children/nephews or nieces. The results show that Han adults attribute more rights and responsibilities to their own children than nephews/nieces, while their Mosuo counterparts have the reverse pattern and assign stronger responsibilities to their nephews/nieces than their own children. Both groups perceive the fathers to be the bearer of rights and responsibilities, although this perception was weaker among Mosuo. This paper concludes that in the Mosuo society, fathers have a relatively weak social role as a result of their unique matrilineal social structure.
Linguistic Skill and Stimulus-Driven Attention: A Case for Linguistic Relativity
Authors: Ansorge Ulrich , Baier Diane , Choi Soonja
Published: May 2022

How does the language we speak affect our perception? Here, we argue for linguistic relativity and present an explanation through “language-induced automatized stimulus-driven attention” (LASA): Our respective mother tongueautomaticallyinfluences our attention and, hence, perception, and in this sense determines what we see. As LASA is highly practiced throughout life, it is difficult to suppress, and even shows in language-independent non-linguistic tasks. We argue that attention is involved in language-dependent processing and point out that automatic or stimulus-driven forms of attention, albeit initially learned as serving a linguistic skill, account for linguistic relativity as they are automatized and generalize to non-linguistic tasks. In support of this possibility, we review evidence for such automatized stimulus-driven attention in language-independent non-linguistic tasks. We conclude that linguistic relativity is possible and in fact a reality, although it might not be as powerful as assumed by some of its strongest proponents.
Understanding the Impact of Competitive Advantage and Core Competency on Regional Tourism Revitalization: Empirical Evidence in Taiwan
Authors: Lee Chaohsien , Wu Chihkang , Jong Din
Published: May 2022

Competitive advantage and core competency are the unique capabilities and assets of an organization to provide valuable products or services to customers, thus giving the organization a better competitive position in the market than its competitors. In addition, how to create a competitive advantage is also one of the main objectives of business strategy. Therefore, this study focuses on understanding the decisive factors in regional revitalization and the relationship between business strategy, strategic alliance, and alliance performance through small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan. This study selected a sample of 220 SMEs in Taiwan that had participated in the SME regional revitalization counseling program. The results showed that competitive advantage, core competency and strategic alliance partner selection had significant effects on alliance performance. In addition, core competency had an indirect effect on alliance performance through strategic alliance partner selection. However, competitive advantage did not have a significant effect on strategic alliance partner selection. Finally, this study proposes management implications and practical suggestions for SMEs’ competitive advantage, core competency, and alliance performance.
Left Frontotemporal Region Plays a Key Role in Letter Fluency Task-Evoked Activation and Functional Connectivity in Normal Subjects: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study
Authors: Tung Hsin , Lin Wei-Hao , Hsieh Peiyuan F. , Lan Tsuo-Hung , Chiang Ming-Chang , Lin Yung-Yang , Peng Syu-Jyun
Published: May 2022

Letter fluency task (LFT) is a tool that measures memory, executive function, and language function but lacks a definite cutoff value to define abnormalities. We used the optical signals of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to study the differences in power and connectivity between the high-functioning and low-functioning participants while performing three successive LFTs, as well as the relationships between the brain network/power and LFT performance. We found that the most differentiating factor between these two groups was network topology rather than activation power. The high-functional group (7 men and 10 women) displayed higher left intra-hemispheric global efficiency, nodal strength, and shorter characteristic path length in the first section. They then demonstrated a higher power over the left Broca's area than the right corresponding area in the latter two sections. The low-LFT group (9 men and 11 women) displayed less left-lateralized connectivity and activation power. LFT performance was only related to the network topology rather than the power values, which was only presented in the low-functioning group in the second section. The direct correlation between power and connectivity primarily existed in the inter-hemispheric network, with the timing relationship also seeming to be present. In conclusion, the high-functioning group presented more prominent left-lateralized intra-hemispheric network connectivity and power activation, particularly in the Broca's area. The low-functioning group seemed to prefer using other networks, like the inter-hemispheric, rather than having a single focus on left intra-hemispheric connectivity. The network topology seemed to better reflect the LFT performance than did the power values.
Urinary Metabolomic Study in a Healthy Children Population and Metabolic Biomarker Discovery of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Authors: Tian Xiaoyi , Liu Xiaoyan , Wang Yan , Liu Ying , Ma Jie , Sun Haidan , Li Jing , Tang Xiaoyue , Guo Zhengguang , Sun Wei , Zhang Jishui , Song Wenqi
Published: May 2022

Objectives

Knowledge of the urinary metabolomic profiles of healthy children and adolescents plays a promising role in the field of pediatrics. Metabolomics has also been used to diagnose disease, discover novel biomarkers, and elucidate pathophysiological pathways. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in childhood. However, large-sample urinary metabolomic studies in children with ADHD are relatively rare. In this study, we aimed to identify specific biomarkers for ADHD diagnosis in children and adolescents by urinary metabolomic profiling.

Methods

We explored the urine metabolome in 363 healthy children aged 1–18 years and 76 patients with ADHD using high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Results

Metabolic pathways, such as arachidonic acid metabolism, steroid hormone biosynthesis, and catecholamine biosynthesis, were found to be related to sex and age in healthy children. The urinary metabolites displaying the largest differences between patients with ADHD and healthy controls belonged to the tyrosine, leucine, and fatty acid metabolic pathways. A metabolite panel consisting of FAPy-adenine, 3-methylazelaic acid, and phenylacetylglutamine was discovered to have good predictive ability for ADHD, with a receiver operating characteristic area under the curve (ROC–AUC) of 0.918. A panel of FAPy-adenine, N-acetylaspartylglutamic acid, dopamine 4-sulfate, aminocaproic acid, and asparaginyl-leucine was used to establish a robust model for ADHD comorbid tic disorders and controls with an AUC of 0.918.
A Scoping Review of Gender Differences in Suicide in India
Authors: Ramesh Parvathy , Taylor Peter J. , McPhillips Rebecca , Raman Rajesh , Robinson Catherine
Published: May 2022

Introduction

Much of the published literature on suicide comes from high income countries. In countries such as India, female suicide rates exceed the global suicide rate and suicide rates found in their male counterparts. Results from previous studies indicate that factors related to suicide among men and women in India are different from those seen in high-income countries. To date, no reviews have considered the relationship between gender and suicide in India. Therefore, the aim of this scoping review is to provide a comprehensive understanding of existing literature reporting gender differences in suicide rates, methods, risk factors and antecedent factors in India by reviewing published studies.

Method

A scoping review was conducted to map the existing literature on gender differences in suicide in India. To identify peer-reviewed publications, online databases PsycINFO and Embase were searched. The search terms were [suicid*AND India*]. The searches took place in November 2020 and May 2021, with no language restrictions. Articles published from 2014 onwards from India were included. Reference lists of selected studies were searched for studies that could meet the inclusion criteria.

Results

This review identified 17 studies that met the inclusion criteria. The ratio between women and men who die by suicide in India is much lower than in high-income countries. Hanging was found to be a more commonly used method of suicide among both men and women, in comparison to high-income countries where hanging is more common among men. This review also identified several gaps in the literature. There were few studies that examined suicide among transgender Indians. There was limited literature on gender differences in risk and protective factors for suicide. Limitations such as the omission of a lack of gender-based analyses in several studies and under-reporting of suicide rates were identified.

Conclusion

Understanding suicide within the context of individual countries is essential in designing culture-appropriate suicide prevention strategies. This review identified an urgent need to establish and evaluate suicide surveillance systems in India. Furthermore, additional research is warranted to understand suicide among individuals who identify outside the gender binary, and gender-specific risk and protective factors.
Development and Feasibility Testing of the Clinical-Community Linkage Self-Assessment Survey for Community Organizations
Authors: Fishleder Sarah , Harris Jeffrey R. , Petrescu-Prahova Miruna , Kohn Marlana , Helfrich Christian D.
Published: May 2022

Introduction

Clinical-community linkages (CCLs) can improve health, but few instruments exist to evaluate these partnerships. To address this gap, we develop and test the Clinical-Community Linkage Self-Assessment Survey (CCL Self-Assessment).

Materials and Methods

We built on an existing framework and conducted a literature review to guide the design of our survey, and obtained feedback from academic, clinical, and community-based experts. To pretest the instrument, we conducted 10 think-aloud interviews with community-based health-promotion organizations. We performed feasibility testing with 38 staff from 20 community organizations, followed by criterion-validity testing.

Results

The 15-item final instrument includes five domains: Nature of the Relationship, Communication, Referral Process, Feedback Loop, and Timeliness. Expert feedback included keeping the CCL Self-Assessment brief and actionable. Think-aloud interviews produced a range of revisions related to item wording, instructions, brevity, and formatting. Feasibility testing showed high response rate and ease of administration. Sites scoring high on the CCL Self-Assessment also scored high on the criterion measure.

Discussion

We demonstrate feasibility, as well as face, content, construct, and criterion validity. Initial results suggest the CCL Self-Assessment survey may be used by community organizations to identify strengths and weaknesses of their linkages. Next steps include additional statistical validation and testing to determine how the CCL Self-Assessment survey works in the field as well as providing specific tools to improve linkages.
Emotional Intelligence and Burnout Among Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Residents
Authors: Sharaf Abdulelah M. , Abdulla Isra H. , Alnatheer Abdullah M. , Alahmari Aghadir N. , Alwhibi Omar A. , Alabduljabbar Ziyad , Alhamzah Hamzah , Alkholaiwi Feras M.
Published: May 2022

Background

Burnout syndrome is common among surgical residents, negatively affecting their mental health, physical wellbeing, and work performance. We investigated the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and burnout among Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck surgery residents.

Methods

This cross-sectional study examined 51 residents across different Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck surgery programs at various hospitals in Saudi Arabia using a survey conducted between January 2021 and March 2021. The questionnaire had different validated measurements of burnout and included the Trait EI Questionnaire–Short Form, Maslach Burnout Inventory–Human Services survey, and questions regarding demographics and job satisfaction.

Results

Of all the residents, 17.6% had a high risk of burnout, 39.2% had emotional exhaustion (EE), 29.4% had depersonalization (DP), and 43.1% had a low sense of personal accomplishment (PA). A statistically significant negative association was observed between the total EI score and EE (r = −0.577, p < 0.001) and DP (r = −0.765, p < 0.001), indicating that higher total EI scores were associated with lower EE levels.

Conclusions

Positive associations existed between high levels of EI, PA, and satisfaction with both surgical skills and specialty choice. Therefore, residency programs should use EI modifiers as tools to reduce the risk of burnout.
Social Intervention and Governance of Youth School Bullying—Based on Computer Medical Data Analysis
Authors: Zhao Jiahui
Published: May 2022

The rise of computational social science provides a new method for campus bullying research based on large-scale data collection, calculation and analysis. Governing the bullying behavior of a middle school through social intervention, and closely observe the service needs and existing problems of the school youth group. This paper analyzes the characteristics, inducements and negative effects of school bullying. Combine drama courses and working group education methods to intervene in school bullying. Intervention work includes making teenagers aware of bullying behavior and identifying bullying types. To achieve the purpose of empathy through role play, bullies can effectively control irrational thoughts, understand their own cognitive biases, and reconcile their own emotions and behaviors. So that the victims can identify the bullying behavior around them in time, and cultivate their resistance and self-protection awareness in the event of bullying. Based on the empirical analysis of social work to intervene in the practical dilemma, and put forward the corresponding countermeasures to reduce the negative impact of school bullying on all aspects of youth, so as to reduce the various social risks brought by school bullying.
Living Alone Is Not Associated With Cardiovascular Events and Hypoglycemia in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Zhu Zhaowei , Peng Zhenyu , Xing Zhenhua
Published: May 2022

Objective:

Living alone is often associated with reduced social support. However, there are limited data on the relationship between living alone and cardiovascular events or hypoglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study reports a post-hoc analysis of the “Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD)” study.

Research Design and Methods

The Cox proportional hazard models were used to compare the hazard ratios (HRs) for the adverse health events selected as primary endpoints in the study participants; these were compared between those living alone and those living with others. The primary outcomes were hypoglycemia requiring any assistance (HAA), hypoglycemia requiring medical assistance (HMA), and major cardiovascular events (MACEs, including cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), and non-fatal stroke). Our study included 10,249 participants (2,078 living alone) with a follow-up period of 4.91 ± 1.22 years.

Results

After a multivariable adjustment, the risk of HAA, HMA, and MACEs did not differ significantly between participants living alone and those living with others (HAA, HR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.75–1.04, P = 0.13; HMA, HR: 1.11, 95% CI: 0.92–1.34, P = 0.26; MACEs, HR: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.80–1.19, P = 0.82). Participants living alone had higher levels of glycated hemoglobin in the middle follow-up period than those living with others.

Conclusions

In patients with T2DM, living alone did not increase the risk of cardiovascular events (cardiac death, non-fatal MI, or non-fatal stroke) and hypoglycemia. Patients living alone had higher Hb1AC levels than those living with others. Clinicians should consider an effective blood glucose control regardless of their living arrangement.
A Perspective on Implementation Outcomes and Strategies to Promote the Uptake of COVID-19 Vaccines
Authors: Pilar Meagan , Elwy A. Rani , Lushniak Larissa , Huang Grace , McLoughlin Gabriella M. , Hooley Cole , Nadesan-Reddy Nisha , Sandler Brittney , Moshabela Mosa , Alonge Olakunle , Geng Elvin , Proctor Enola
Published: May 2022

Recent articles have highlighted the importance of incorporating implementation science concepts into pandemic-related research. However, limited research has been documented to date regarding implementation outcomes that may be unique to COVID-19 vaccinations and how to utilize implementation strategies to address vaccine program-related implementation challenges. To address these gaps, we formed a global COVID-19 implementation workgroup of implementation scientists who met weekly for over a year to review the available literature and learn about ongoing research during the pandemic. We developed a hierarchy to prioritize the applicability of “lessons learned” from the vaccination-related implementation literature. We identified applications of existing implementation outcomes as well as identified additional implementation outcomes. We also mapped implementation strategies to those outcomes. Our efforts provide rationale for the utility of using implementation outcomes in pandemic-related research. Furthermore, we identified three additional implementation outcomes: availability, health equity, and scale-up. Results include a list of COVID-19 relevant implementation strategies mapped to the implementation outcomes.
Fish Ear Stones Offer Climate Change Clues In Alaska’s Lakes
Authors: Bartz Krista K. , von Biela Vanessa R. , Black Bryan A. , Young Daniel B. , van der Sleen Peter , Zimmerman Christian E.
Published: May 2022

Otoliths, also known as ear stones, are small body parts that help fish with hearing and balance. Like tree rings, otoliths form one light and one dark band per year, creating rings. These rings can be measured to understand fish growth. The wider the ring, the greater the growth. In our study, we used otoliths to understand how one fish species—lake trout—responds to rising temperature in the state of Alaska. We found that warmer spring air temperature and earlier lake ice melt were related to faster lake trout growth. This finding is consistent with other studies that link warmer water temperature and earlier lake ice melt to increased plankton in Alaska’s lakes. Together, these findings suggest that climate-driven increases at the bottom of the food web might benefit top predators like lake trout. However, the relationship between warmer temperature and faster growth may not last.
How Does The Brain Connect The World Around Us To The World Inside Us?
Authors: Livneh Yoav
Published: May 2022

When we are hungry and smell delicious food, things start to happen in our bodies—our mouths water, our stomachs release digestive juices, hormones, and more… all before we even taste the food. How does this happen? Our brains can predict the future. Not through magic, but by learning from past experiences. Our brains are constantly making predictions about the world around us—that is what allows us to catch a ball, ride a bike, and estimate how fast a car is coming so we can safely cross the road. Our brains also make predictions about things inside our bodies. In this article, I will describe how the brain uses information from past experiences to predict what the body will need in the future. These predictions are closely related to the way we experience emotions and feelings, so understanding them may help us better understand and treat various mental health conditions.
Social and Cultural Constraints on Football Player Development in Stockholm: Influencing Skill, Learning, and Wellbeing
Authors: Vaughan James , Mallett Clifford J. , Potrac Paul , Woods Carl , O'Sullivan Mark , Davids Keith
Published: May 2022

In this paper, we consider how youth sport and (talent) development environments have adapted to, and are constrained by, social and cultural forces. Empirical evidence from an 18-month ethnographic case study highlights how social and cultural constraints influence the skill development and psychological wellbeing of young football players. We utilized novel ways of knowing (i.e., epistemologies) coupled to ecological frameworks (e.g., the theory of ecological dynamics and the skilled intentionality framework). A transdisciplinary inquiry was used to demonstrate that the values which athletes embody in sports are constrained by the character of the social institutions (sport club, governing body) and the social order (culture) in which they live. The constraining character of an athlete (talent) development environment is captured using ethnographic methods that illuminate a sociocultural value-directedness toward individual competition. The discussion highlights how an emphasis on individual competition overshadows opportunities (e.g., shared, and nested affordances) for collective collaboration in football. Conceptually, we argue that these findings characterize how a dominating sociocultural constraint may negatively influence the skill development, in game performance, and psychological wellbeing (via performance anxiety) of young football players in Stockholm. Viewing cultures and performance environments as embedded complex adaptive systems, with human development as ecological, it becomes clear that microenvironments and embedded relations underpinning athlete development in high performance sports organizations are deeply susceptible to broad cultural trends toward neoliberalism and competitive individualism. Weaving transdisciplinary lines of inquiry, it is clarified how a value directedness toward individual competition may overshadow collective collaboration, not only amplifying socio-cognitive related issues (anxiety, depression, emotional disturbances) but simultaneously limiting perceptual learning, skill development, team coordination and performance at all levels in a sport organization.
Alloimmune Risk Stratification for Kidney Transplant Rejection
Authors: Bestard Oriol , Thaunat Olivier , Bellini Maria Irene , Böhmig Georg A. , Budde Klemens , Claas Frans , Couzi Lionel , Furian Lucrezia , Heemann Uwe , Mamode Nizam , Oberbauer Rainer , Pengel Liset , Schneeberger Stefan , Naesens Maarten
Published: May 2022

Different types of kidney transplantations are performed worldwide, including biologically diverse donor/recipient combinations, which entail distinct patient/graft outcomes. Thus, proper immunological and non-immunological risk stratification should be considered, especially for patients included in interventional randomized clinical trials. This paper was prepared by a working group within the European Society for Organ Transplantation, which submitted a Broad Scientific Advice request to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) relating to clinical trial endpoints in kidney transplantation. After collaborative interactions, the EMA sent its final response in December 2020, highlighting the following: 1) transplantations performed between human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-identical donors and recipients carry significantly lower immunological risk than those from HLA-mismatched donors; 2) for the same allogeneic molecular HLA mismatch load, kidney grafts from living donors carry significantly lower immunological risk because they are better preserved and therefore less immunogenic than grafts from deceased donors; 3) single-antigen bead testing is the gold standard to establish the repertoire of serological sensitization and is used to define the presence of a recipient’s circulating donor-specific antibodies (HLA-DSA); 4) molecular HLA mismatch analysis should help to further improve organ allocation compatibility and stratify immunological risk for primary alloimmune activation, but without consensus regarding which algorithm and cut-off to use it is difficult to integrate information into clinical practice/study design; 5) further clinical validation of other immune assays, such as those measuring anti-donor cellular memory (T/B cell ELISpot assays) and non–HLA-DSA, is needed; 6) routine clinical tests that reliably measure innate immune alloreactivity are lacking.
Real-Time Fuel Optimization and Guidance for Spacecraft Rendezvous and Docking
Authors: Oumer Ahmed Mehamed , Kim Dae-Kwan
Published: May 2022

Autonomous rendezvous and docking (RVD) fuel optimization with field-of-view and obstacle avoidance constraints is a nonlinear and nonconvex optimization problem, making it computationally intensive for onboard computation on CubeSats. This paper proposes an RVD fuel optimization and guidance technique suitable for onboard computation on CubeSats, considering the shape, size and computational limitations of CubeSats. The computation time is reduced by dividing the guidance problem into separate orbit and attitude guidance problems, formulating the orbit guidance problem as a convex optimization problem by considering the CubeSat shape, and then solving the orbit guidance problem with a convex optimization solver and the attitude guidance problem analytically by exploiting the attitude geometry. The performance of the proposed guidance method is demonstrated through simulations, and the results are compared with those of conventional methods that perform orbit guidance optimization with attitude quaternion feedback control. The proposed method shows better performance, in terms of fuel efficiency, than conventional methods.
Integrated Organic-Inorganic Nitrogen Fertilization Mitigates Nitrous Oxide Emissions by Regulating Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria in Purple Caitai Fields
Authors: Fan Daijia , Cao Cougui , Li Chengfang
Published: May 2022

Purpose Nitrogen (N) fertilizer application in agricultural soil is a primary anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) source. Currently, the effect of the N fertilizer type on N2O emissions from upland soil has been rarely reported. To this end, impacts of various types of N fertilizer on N2O emissions in purple caitai (Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis var. purpurea) fields are investigated in this work. The field experiment was carried out with four treatments, including inorganic N fertilization (I), organic N fertilization (O), integrated organic-inorganic N fertilization (I+O) and no fertilization (CK). The nitrifier/denitrifier abundance was determined using absolute real-time quantitative PCR. Compared with I and O, I+O significantly increased dissolved organic C content, microbial biomass C and microbial biomass N by 24–63%, 12–38% and 13–36% on average, respectively. Moreover, the seasonal cumulative N2O-N emissions and fertilizer-induced N2O emission factor under I+O were significantly lower than those under I and O by 17–29% and 23–39%, respectively. The results indicate that N fertilizer type significantly affects the N2O emissions, and the integrated organic-inorganic N fertilization can mitigate the N2O emissions primarily by inhibiting the nitrification mediated by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in purple caitai fields. Integrated organic-inorganic N fertilization is an ideal N fertilization regime to enhance soil fertility and yield and reduce N2O emissions in the upland fields.
Influence of a Polyherbal Choline Source in Dogs: Body Weight Changes, Blood Metabolites, and Gene Expression
Authors: Mendoza-Martínez Germán David , Hernández-García Pedro Abel , Plata-Pérez Fernando Xicoténcatl , Martínez-García José Antonio , Lizarazo-Chaparro Augusto Cesar , Martínez-Cortes Ismael , Campillo-Navarro Marcia , Lee-Rangel Héctor Aarón , De la Torre-Hernández María Eugenia , Gloria-Trujillo Adrian
Published: May 2022

Choline chloride is used to provide choline in dog foods; however, in other domestic species, it has been replaced with a polyherbal containing phosphatidylcholine. A polyherbal containing Achyrantes aspera, Trachyspermum ammi, Citrullus colocynthis, Andrographis paniculata, and Azadirachta indica was evaluated in adult dogs through body weight changes, subcutaneous fat thickness, blood metabolites, and gene expression. Forty dogs (4.6 ± 1.6 years old) who were individually housed in concrete kennels were randomly assigned to the following treatments: unsupplemented diet (377 mg choline/kg), choline chloride (3850 mg/kg equivalent to 2000 mg choline/kg diet), and polyherbal (200, 400, and 800 mg/kg) for 60 days. Blood samples were collected on day 59 for biochemistry, biometry, and gene expression analysis through microarray assays. Intake, final body weight, and weight changes were similar for the two choline sources. Feed intake variation among dogs (p = 0.01) and dorsal fat (p = 0.03) showed a quadratic response to herbal choline. Dogs that received the polyherbal diet had reduced blood cholesterol levels (Quadratic, p = 0.02). The gene ontology analysis indicated that 15 biological processes were modified (p ≤ 0.05) with implications for preventing cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, cancer prevention, inflammatory and immune response, and behavior and cognitive process. According to these results that were observed in a 60 day trial, the polyherbal form could replace choline chloride in dog diets at a concentration of 400 mg/kg.
Live Yeast Supplementation in Gestating and Lactating Primiparous Sows Improves Immune Response in Dams and Their Progeny
Authors: Xia Tian , Yin Chenggang , Comi Marcello , Agazzi Alessandro , Perricone Vera , Li Xilong , Jiang Xianren
Published: May 2022

The present study determined the effects of live yeast (LY) supplementation during middle–late gestation and the lactation period in primiparous sows on reproductive parameters, lactation performance, and immunity, and also explores the carryover effects in their offspring. On day (d) 60 of gestation, 16 crossbred primiparous sows were randomly assigned to two dietary treatments (with or without supplementation of 425 mg/kg of live yeast; LYT and CT, respectively) homogeneous for body weight (BW) and backfat thickness. Experimental diets were applied from day 60 of gestation to the end of lactation. At weaning, 60 piglets with an average BW of each treatment were selected based on their source litter and assigned to two groups corresponding to the original treatments received by their mothers. Each group had five replicates of six piglets each and was fed a basal diet for 42 days. The results showed that LY supplementation significantly increased the serum IgA and IgG concentrations of sows at farrowing and weaning stages, and of piglets on day 14 and 28 post weaning. No significant differences were found in reproductive and lactation performance, while minor effects were observed on antioxidant capacity. In conclusion, live yeast addition during middle–late gestation and the whole lactation period resulted in enhanced immunity of primiparous sows and their offspring, therefore, improving maternal and progeny health.
Hydropersulfides (RSSH) Outperform Post-Conditioning and Other Reactive Sulfur Species in Limiting Ischemia–Reperfusion Injury in the Isolated Mouse Heart
Authors: Pharoah Blaze M. , Khodade Vinayak S. , Eremiev Alexander , Bao Eric , Liu Ting , O’Rourke Brian , Paolocci Nazareno , Toscano John P.
Published: May 2022

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) exhibits protective effects in cardiovascular disease such as myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, cardiac hypertrophy, and atherosclerosis. Despite these findings, its mechanism of action remains elusive. Recent studies suggest that H2S can modulate protein activity through redox-based post-translational modifications of protein cysteine residues forming hydropersulfides (RSSH). Furthermore, emerging evidence indicates that reactive sulfur species, including RSSH and polysulfides, exhibit cardioprotective action. However, it is not clear yet whether there are any pharmacological differences in the use of H2S vs. RSSH and/or polysulfides. This study aims to examine the differing cardioprotective effects of distinct reactive sulfur species (RSS) such as H2S, RSSH, and dialkyl trisulfides (RSSSR) compared with canonical ischemic post-conditioning in the context of a Langendorff ex-vivo myocardial I/R injury model. For the first time, a side-by-side study has revealed that exogenous RSSH donation is a superior approach to maintain post-ischemic function and limit infarct size when compared with other RSS and mechanical post-conditioning. Our results also suggest that RSSH preserves mitochondrial respiration in H9c2 cardiomyocytes exposed to hypoxia-reoxygenation via inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation while preserving cell viability.
Antioxidant Defences and Redox Homeostasis in Animals
Authors: Surai Peter F. , Earle-Payne Katie
Published: May 2022

For many years reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in biological systems has been considered to be detrimental [...]
Hot Water Extract of Sasa borealis (Hack.) Makino & Shibata Abate Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis in Kidney Epithelial Cells
Authors: Fernando Ilekuttige Priyan Shanura , Kirindage Kirinde Gedara Isuru Sandanuwan , Jayasinghe Arachchige Maheshika Kumari , Han Eui Jeong , Dias Mawalle Kankanamge Hasitha Madhawa , Kang Kyung Pil , Moon Sung Ig , Shin Tai Sun , Ma Ayeong , Jung Kyungsook , Ahn Ginnae
Published: May 2022

Sasa borealis (Hack.) Makino & Shibata or broad-leaf bamboo is famous for its richness of bioactive natural products and its uses in traditional medicine for its anti-inflammatory, diuretic, and antipyretic properties and preventive effects against hypertension, arteriosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. The present study investigated the antioxidant activity of S. borealis hot water extract (SBH) and its effects in ameliorating hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress, using an African green monkey kidney epithelial cell line (Vero). Known polyphenols in SBH were quantified by HPLC analysis. SBH indicated a dose-dependent increase for reducing power, ABTS+ (IC50 = 96.44 ± 0.61 µg/mL) and DPPH (IC50 = 125.78 ± 4.41 µg/mL) radical scavenging activities. SBH markedly reduced intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in the Vero cells and increased the protective effects against H2O2-induced oxidative stress by reducing apoptosis. Other than the direct involvement in neutralizing ROS, metabolites in SBH were also found to induce NRF2-mediated production of antioxidant enzymes, HO-1, and NQO1. These findings imply that S. borealis hot water extract can be utilized to create nutraceutical and functional foods that can help to relieve the effects of oxidative stress in both acute and chronic kidney injury.
4-Hydroxynonenal in Redox Homeostasis of Gastrointestinal Mucosa: Implications for the Stomach in Health and Diseases
Authors: Cherkas Andriy , Zarkovic Neven
Published: May 2022

Maintenance of integrity and function of the gastric mucosa (GM) requires a high regeneration rate of epithelial cells during the whole life span. The health of the gastric epithelium highly depends on redox homeostasis, antioxidant defense, and activity of detoxifying systems within the cells, as well as robustness of blood supply. Bioactive products of lipid peroxidation, in particular, second messengers of free radicals, the bellwether of which is 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE), are important mediators in physiological adaptive reactions and signaling, but they are also thought to be implicated in the pathogenesis of numerous gastric diseases. Molecular mechanisms and consequences of increased production of HNE, and its protein adducts, in response to stressors during acute and chronic gastric injury, are well studied. However, several important issues related to the role of HNE in gastric carcinogenesis, tumor growth and progression, the condition of GM after eradication of Helicobacter pylori, or the relevance of antioxidants for HNE-related redox homeostasis in GM, still need more studies and new comprehensive approaches. In this regard, preclinical studies and clinical intervention trials are required, which should also include the use of state-of-the-art analytical techniques, such as HNE determination by immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), as well as modern mass-spectroscopy methods.
Influence of Light Reflection from the Wall and Ceiling Due to Color Changes in the Indoor Environment of the Selected Hall
Authors: Katunský Dušan , Dolníková Erika , Dolník Bystrík , Krajníková Katarína
Published: May 2022

The main goal of this paper is to evaluate the effect of color changes on the interior surfaces of a selected hall on the level of daylight, represented by the DF factor. A single-story hall was chosen as the reference building, in which daylight falls through the side windows and a skylight at roof level. Measurement of the level of daylight in the real state of the building (in situ) was carried out. The measurement took place when the external boundary conditions of the measurement were met (external state of the sky). A survey was conducted among users, in which they considered the visual perception of the environment and what colors would be suitable for the walls, ceiling, and floor in the working environment of the hall. The evaluation of the respondents who considered the color of the floor was interesting, and several agreed that the floor should be brown. After debugging the model for the simulation based on the actual state of the measurement, simulation calculations were performed with selected surface colors in the interior of the hall. Computational simulations were performed for changing calculation boundary conditions. Daylight Factors (DF) (%) were evaluated, namely minimum, maximum, and average DF values for 15 selected simulations. The calculations were performed in the RADIANCE simulation program. Simulations included the change in the surface color of the simulated wall and the current ceiling surface color, the color of the simulated ceiling surface and the current wall surface color, and the color of the simulated wall and ceiling at the same time. The floor color did not change during the evaluation; it was considered brown. Based on the evaluation of AHP, evaluations of the significance and comparability of colored areas were performed. The value of the average DF was chosen as the most important, the less significant minimum DF value was chosen, and the maximum DF value was considered in the last place. The results show that white, gray, green, or yellow walls, white ceiling, and brown floor were rated as the most suitable for the interior surfaces in the considered hall.
MSGATN: A Superpixel-Based Multi-Scale Siamese Graph Attention Network for Change Detection in Remote Sensing Images
Authors: Shuai Wenjing , Jiang Fenlong , Zheng Hanhong , Li Jianzhao
Published: May 2022

With the rapid development of Earth observation technology, how to effectively and efficiently detect changes in multi-temporal images has become an important but challenging problem. Relying on the advantages of high performance and robustness, object-based change detection (CD) has become increasingly popular. By analyzing the similarity of local pixels, object-based CD aggregates similar pixels into one object and takes it as the basic processing unit. However, object-based approaches often have difficulty capturing discriminative features, as irregular objects make processing difficult. To address this problem, in this paper, we propose a novel superpixel-based multi-scale Siamese graph attention network (MSGATN) which can process unstructured data natively and extract valuable features. First, a difference image (DI) is generated by Euclidean distance between bitemporal images. Second, superpixel segmentation is employed based on DI to divide each image into many homogeneous regions. Then, these superpixels are used to model the problem by graph theory to construct a series of nodes with the adjacency between them. Subsequently, the multi-scale neighborhood features of the nodes are extracted through applying a graph convolutional network and concatenated by an attention mechanism. Finally, the binary change map can be obtained by classifying each node by some fully connected layers. The novel features of MSGATN can be summarized as follows: (1) Training in multi-scale constructed graphs improves the recognition over changed land cover of varied sizes and shapes. (2) Spectral and spatial self-attention mechanisms are exploited for a better change detection performance. The experimental results on several real datasets show the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method. In addition, compared to other recent methods, the proposed can demonstrate very high processing efficiency and greatly reduce the dependence on labeled training samples in a semisupervised training fashion.
Deep-Learning-Incorporated Augmented Reality Application for Engineering Lab Training
Authors: Estrada John , Paheding Sidike , Yang Xiaoli , Niyaz Quamar
Published: May 2022

Deep learning (DL) algorithms have achieved significantly high performance in object detection tasks. At the same time, augmented reality (AR) techniques are transforming the ways that we work and connect with people. With the increasing popularity of online and hybrid learning, we propose a new framework for improving students’ learning experiences with electrical engineering lab equipment by incorporating the abovementioned technologies. The DL powered automatic object detection component integrated into the AR application is designed to recognize equipment such as multimeter, oscilloscope, wave generator, and power supply. A deep neural network model, namely MobileNet-SSD v2, is implemented for equipment detection using TensorFlow’s object detection API. When a piece of equipment is detected, the corresponding AR-based tutorial will be displayed on the screen. The mean average precision (mAP) of the developed equipment detection model is 81.4%, while the average recall of the model is 85.3%. Furthermore, to demonstrate practical application of the proposed framework, we develop a multimeter tutorial where virtual models are superimposed on real multimeters. The tutorial includes images and web links as well to help users learn more effectively. The Unity3D game engine is used as the primary development tool for this tutorial to integrate DL and AR frameworks and create immersive scenarios. The proposed framework can be a useful foundation for AR and machine-learning-based frameworks for industrial and educational training.
Driving Torque Distribution Strategy of Skid-Steering Vehicles with Knowledge-Assisted Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Dai Huatong , Chen Pengzhan , Yang Hui
Published: May 2022

Due to the advantages of their drive configuration form, skid-steering vehicles with independent wheel drive systems are widely used in various special applications. However, obtaining a reasonable distribution of the driving torques for the coordinated control of independent driving wheels is a challenging problem. In this paper, we propose a torque distribution strategy based on the Knowledge-Assisted Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (KA-DDPG) algorithm, in order to minimize the desired value tracking error as well as achieve the longitudinal speed and yaw rate tracking control of skid-steering vehicles. The KA-DDPG algorithm combines knowledge-assisted learning methods with the DDPG algorithm, within the framework of knowledge-assisted reinforcement learning. To accelerate the learning process of KA-DDPG, two assisted learning methods are proposed: a criteria action method and a guiding reward method. The simulation results obtained, considering different scenarios, demonstrate that the KA-DDPG-based torque distribution strategy allows a skid-steering vehicle to achieve high performance, in tracking the desired value. In addition, further simulation results, also, demonstrate the contributions of knowledge-assisted learning methods to the training process of KA-DDPG: the criteria action method speeds up the learning speed by reducing the agent’s random action selection, while the guiding reward method achieves the same result by sharpening the reward function.
Allowable Pitch Angle of Aerodynamic Imbalance Due to Individual Pitch Movement for Ultimate Loads on Offshore Wind Turbine Using Artificial Neural Network
Authors: Kim Bae-Sung , Jung Dae-Yi , Jang Yun-Jung , Kang Ki-Weon
Published: May 2022

This study aims to calculate the ultimate loads through integrated load analysis under aerodynamic imbalance by individual pitch movement of offshore wind turbines, and based on this, to identify the allowable region of the individual pitch angle of the blade. For this, 5 MW offshore wind turbines were modeled using GH-BladedTM based on jacket type substructure data of the NREL-5 MW generic model and Upwind reports. For integrated load analysis, wind speeds were selected: 11 m/s, 14 m/s, 17 m/s, 20 m/s, 22 m/s, and 24 m/s. Ultimate load analysis was performed through the fixed pitch control mode with the individual pitch angles at an interval of 2°, ranging from 0° to 30°. Analysis was performed for the collective pitch control under the same environmental conditions as IPC. Through the comparison of loads at hub for CPC and the individual pitch movement states calculated through integrated load analysis, we identified the allowable pitch angle region where the ultimate loads of the individual pitch movement conditions were less than those of the CPC conditions. Furthermore, pattern analysis was performed using the artificial neural network for numerical modeling of the allowable pitch angle region. The results confirmed a high success rate of over 99%. Based on these results, this study suggested a new model according to the wind speed for the allowable pitch angle region.