bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Isolation of Novel ACE-Inhibitory and Antioxidant Peptides from Quinoa Bran Albumin Assisted with an In Silico Approach: Characterization, In Vivo Antihypertension, and Molecular Docking
Authors: Zheng Yajun , Wang Xian , Zhuang Yongliang , Li Yan , Tian Hailong , Shi Panqi , Li Guifeng
Published: December 2019

Albumin is the major fraction of quinoa protein that is characterized as having high nutritional value. However, until now, scant information is available on the bioactivity of quinoa albumin or its hydrolysates. To promote its usage, we extracted albumin in this study from quinoa bran assisted with cellulase and hemicellulose, and hydrolyzed it by alcalase and trypsin to produce bioactive peptides. The hydrolysates (QBAH) were purified by gel filtration and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), followed by identification using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Furthermore, based on in silico analysis, one angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory and antioxidant peptide, RGQVIYVL (946.6 Da), and two antioxidant peptides, ASPKPSSA (743.8 Da), and QFLLAGR (803.5 Da), from QBAH were synthesized. RGQVIYVL showed a high ACE-inhibitory activity (IC50 = 38.16 μM) with competitive mode of inhibition, and showed significant antihypertensive effect in spontaneously hypertensive rats at a concentration of 100–150 mg/kg body weight (bw). Molecular docking simulation showed that it could interact with the active ACE site via hydrogen bonds with high binding power. Moreover, RGQVIYVL, ASPKPSSA, and QFLLAGR all demonstrated high ·OH scavenging activity (IC50 = 61.69–117.46 μM), ABTS+ scavenging activity (58.29–74.28%) and Fe2+ chelating ability (32.54–82.48% at 0.5 mg/mL). They could also retain activity after gastrointestinal enzyme digestion. These results indicate that quinoa albumin is a potential source of bioactive peptides possessing antioxidant and ACE-inhibitory activities.
Thermodynamic Characterization of the Interaction between the Antimicrobial Drug Sulfamethazine and Two Selected Cyclodextrins
Authors: Mohamed Ameen Hiba , Kunsági-Máté Sándor , Bognár Balázs , Szente Lajos , Poór Miklós , Lemli Beáta
Published: December 2019

Sulfamethazine is a representative member of the sulfonamide antibiotic drugs; it is still used in human and veterinary therapy. The protonation state of this drug affects its aqueous solubility, which can be controlled by its inclusion complexes with native or chemically-modified cyclodextrins. In this work, the temperature-dependent (298–313 K) interaction of sulfamethazine with native and randomly methylated β-cyclodextrins have been investigated at acidic and neutral pH. Surprisingly, the interaction between the neutral and anionic forms of the guest molecule and cyclodextrins with electron rich cavity are thermodynamically more favorable compared to the cationic guest. This property probably due to the enhanced formation of zwitterionic form of sulfamethazine in the hydrophobic cavities of cyclodextrins. Spectroscopic measurements and molecular modeling studies indicated the possible driving forces (hydrophobic interaction, hydrogen bonding, and electrostatic interaction) of the complex formation, and highlighted the importance of the reorganization of the solvent molecules during the entering of the guest molecule into the host’s cavity.
Identification of Rice Varieties and Transgenic Characteristics Based on Near-Infrared Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy and Chemometrics
Authors: Hao Yong , Geng Pei , Wu Wenhui , Wen Qinhua , Rao Min
Published: December 2019

Background: In recent years, genetically modified technology has developed rapidly, and the potential impact of genetically modified foods on human health and the ecological environment has received increasing attention. The currently used methods for testing genetically modified foods are cumbersome, time-consuming, and expensive. This paper proposed a more efficient and convenient detection method. Methods: Near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (NIRDRS) combined with multivariate calibration methods, including principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and support vector machines (SVM), were used for identification of different rice varieties and transgenic (Bt63)/non-transgenic rice. Spectral pretreatment methods, including Norris–Williams smooth (NWS), standard normal variate (SNV), multiplicative scatter correction (MSC), and Savitzky–Golay 1st derivative (SG 1st-Der), were used for spectral noise reduction and effective information enhancement. Accuracy was used to evaluate the qualitative discriminant models. Results: The results showed that the SG 1st-Der pretreatment method, combined with the SVM, provided the optimal model to distinguish different rice varieties. The accuracy of the optimal model was 98.33%. For the discrimination model of transgenic/non-transgenic rice, the SNV-SVM model, MSC-SVM model, and SG 1st-Der-PLS-DA model all achieved good analysis results with the accuracy of 100%. Conclusion: The results showed that portable NIR spectroscopy combined with chemometrics methods could be used to identify rice varieties and transgenic characteristics (Bt63) due to its fast, non-destructive, and accurate advantages.
The Biochemical and Functional Characterization of M28 Aminopeptidase Protein Secreted by Acanthamoeba spp. on Host Cell Interaction
Authors: Huang Jian-Ming , Chang Yao-Tsung , Lin Wei-Chen
Published: December 2019

Acanthamoeba are a free-living protozoan whose pathogenic strain can cause severe human diseases, such as granulomatous encephalitis and keratitis. As such, the pathogenic mechanism between humans and Acanthamoeba is still unknown. In our previous study, we identified the secreted Acanthamoeba M28 aminopeptidase (M28AP) and then suggested that M28AP can degrade human C3b and iC3b for inhibiting the destruction of Acanthamoeba spp. with the human immune response. We constructed the produced the recombinant M28AP from a CHO cell, which is a mammalian expression system, to characterize the biochemical properties of Acanthamoeba M28AP. The recombinant M28AP more rapidly hydrolyzed Leu-AMC than Arg-AMC and could be inhibited by EDTA treatment. We show that recombinant M28AP can be delivered into the individual cell line and cause cell line apoptosis in a co-culture model. In conclusion, we successfully investigated the potential molecular characteristics of M28AP.
Bioactivity-Guided Isolation and Identification of New and Immunosuppressive Monoterpenoid Indole Alkaloids from Rauvolfia yunnanensis Tsiang
Authors: Li Li-Mei , Shi Shun-Dong , Liu Yang , Zou Qiang
Published: December 2019

Three new 11-hydroxyburnamine (1) and rauvoyunnanines A–B (2–3), and fourteen known (4–17) monoterpenoid indole alkaloids were isolated from the total alkaloids extract of Rauvolfia yunnanensis, which exhibited promising immunosuppressive activity on T cell proliferation in preliminary screening. Their structures were determined by analysis of high-resolution electrospray ionization mass (HRESIMS), ultraviolet (UV) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data, and by comparison with the literature. All the alkaloids were evaluated for inhibitory activity on T cell proliferation. Among them, one new compound (1) and reserpine (6) exhibited moderate immunosuppressive activity, with IC50 values of 5.9 μM and 5.0 μM, respectively.
Potato Protein Fining of Phenolic Compounds in Red Wine: A Study of the Kinetics and the Impact of Wine Matrix Components and Physical Factors
Authors: Kang Wenyu , Muhlack Richard A. , Bindon Keren A. , Smith Paul A. , Niimi Jun , Bastian Susan E.P.
Published: December 2019

Producing wines within an acceptable range of astringency is important for quality and consumer acceptance. Astringency can be modified by fining during the winemaking process and the use of vegetable proteins (especially potato proteins) as fining agents has gained increasing interest due to consumers’ requirements. The research presented was the first to investigate the effect of a potato protein dose on the kinetics of tannin and phenolic removal compared to gelatin for two unfined Cabernet Sauvignon wines. To further understand the results, the influence of the wine matrix and fining parameters (including pH, ethanol concentration, sugar concentration, temperature, and agitation) were tested according to a fractional 25-1 factorial design on one of the Cabernet Sauvignon wines using potato proteins. The results from the factorial design indicate that potato protein fining was significantly influenced by wine pH, ethanol concentration, fining temperature as well as an interaction (pH × ethanol) but not by sugar content or agitation. Insights into the steps required for the optimisation of fining were gained from the study, revealing that potato protein fining efficiency could be increased by treating wines at higher temperatures (20 °C, rather than the conventional 10–15 °C), and at both a lower pH and/or alcohol concentration.
Starch Components, Starch Properties and Appearance Quality of Opaque Kernels from Rice Mutants
Authors: Zhang Shun , Li Zheng , Lin Lingshang , Zhang Long , Wei Cunxu
Published: December 2019

Rice mutants with altered starch components and properties are important genetic resources in rice breeding programmes. In this study, 44 mutants with altered starch components were screened from 135 rice mutants with opaque kernels using a starch–iodine absorption spectrum method, and nine mutants from them were further selected for investigating their starch properties and kernel appearance quality. The results showed that the iodine absorption spectrum parameters, OD620, OD620/550, and λmax, could reflect the changes of starch components in rice mutants, and had significantly positive relationships with amylose content and negative relationships with the proportion of short branch-chains of amylopectin. The endosperm starches from nine mutants all showed A-type crystalline structure and similar short-range ordered structure, but had different relative crystallinities. The changes of starch components in mutants not only resulted in the different gelatinization properties of starch but also changed the appearance quality of brown rice kernels. This study provided abundant genetic plants for studying the molecular mechanism of starch synthesis and the quality regulation of rice kernels.
Serological and Molecular Investigation of Brucella Species in Dogs in Pakistan
Authors: Jamil Tariq , Melzer Falk , Khan Iahtasham , Iqbal Mudassar , Saqib Muhammad , Hammad Hussain Muhammad , Schwarz Stefan , Neubauer Heinrich
Published: December 2019

Brucellosis is an important bacterial zoonosis caused by B. abortus and B. melitensis in Pakistan. The status of canine brucellosis caused by B. canis remains obscure. In total, 181 serum samples were collected from stray and working dogs in two different prefectures viz. Faisalabad (n = 87) and Bahawalpur (n = 94). Presence of antibodies against B. canis and B. abortus/B. melitensis was determined using the slow agglutination test (SAT) and ELISA, respectively. Real-time PCR was performed to detect and differentiate Brucella DNA at the species level. In Faisalabad, the serological prevalence was found to be 9.2% (8/87) and 10.3% (9/87) by SAT and ELISA, respectively. Only one of the ELISA positive samples (1.15%) yielded amplification for B. abortus DNA. In Bahawalpur, 63.8% (60/94) samples were found positive by SAT; however, none of the samples was positive by ELISA or by real-time PCR. Location, age (≥1 year) and body condition (weak) were found to be associated with B. canis infection, whereas presence of wounds was found to be associated with B. abortus infection only. These findings point towards a risk of transmission from dog to livestock and humans and vice versa. The study expects to draw the attention of concerned authorities towards infection prevention and animal welfare. This study warrants further epidemiological investigation on brucellosis in pet dogs and their owners. To the best of our knowledge, this is first ever report on B. canis and B. abortus in dogs in Pakistan.
Mixed-Method Study of Utilizing Portfolios to Document and Assess Co-Curricular Activities: Student and Advisor Perceptions
Authors: Belousova Victoria , Hassan Amany K , Lampkin Stacie
Published: December 2019

Background: Development of professional behaviors must occur in tandem with clinical skills to ensure graduates provide quality care. Portfolios have been widely utilized as a medium to document and reflect on experiences related to professional skills. Methods: Students were required to complete a series of co-curricular activities and document them via paper or electronic portfolios, which were shared with their advisors for feedback and review. To gather perception data, student surveys were administered twice: once for the electronic cohort and once for the paper cohort after their first-year experience with the platform, and focus groups were conducted a year later. Faculty advisors were also asked to complete surveys. Results: Both students and advisors felt that electronic portfolios resulted in a greater understanding of the educational outcomes and was the preferred method for recording co-curricular requirements. Several technical challenges arose with the use of the electronic portfolio and many students and advisors felt they needed more education regarding mapping of activities. Conclusions: The electronic portfolio was found to be more sustainable as compared with paper portfolios, as it helped students adhere to the criteria and self-assessment process. Further research is needed to evaluate long-term benefit of documenting and assessing co-curricular experiences within an electronic platform.
Development of Improved Fruit, Vegetable, and Ornamental Crops Using the CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Technique
Authors: Erpen-Dalla Corte Lígia , M. Mahmoud Lamiaa , S. Moraes Tatiana , Mou Zhonglin , W. Grosser Jude , Dutt Manjul
Published: December 2019

Horticultural crops, including fruit, vegetable, and ornamental plants are an important component of the agriculture production systems and play an important role in sustaining human life. With a steady growth in the world’s population and the consequent need for more food, sustainable and increased fruit and vegetable crop production is a major challenge to guarantee future food security. Although conventional breeding techniques have significantly contributed to the development of important varieties, new approaches are required to further improve horticultural crop production. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) has emerged as a valuable genome-editing tool able to change DNA sequences at precisely chosen loci. The CRISPR/Cas9 system was developed based on the bacterial adaptive immune system and comprises of an endonuclease guided by one or more single-guide RNAs to generate double-strand breaks. These breaks can then be repaired by the natural cellular repair mechanisms, during which genetic mutations are introduced. In a short time, the CRISPR/Cas9 system has become a popular genome-editing technique, with numerous examples of gene mutation and transcriptional regulation control in both model and crop plants. In this review, various aspects of the CRISPR/Cas9 system are explored, including a general presentation of the function of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in bacteria and its practical application as a biotechnological tool for editing plant genomes, particularly in horticultural crops.
Study on Some Thermal and Electrical Properties of Basalt Fabric Modified with Metal and Ceramics as a Result of Magnetron Sputtering
Authors: Miśkiewicz Pamela , Frydrych Iwona , Tokarska Magdalena , Pawlak Wojciech
Published: December 2019

The main aim of the research was to compare the values of some thermal and electrical parameters obtained for a basalt fabric modified with the metal and ceramics coatings. The surface modification of basalt fabric was made by using a magnetron sputtering technique. Chrome and zirconium(IV) oxide coatings were deposited on the fabric surface. The thermal and electrical properties of selected fabrics were determined. In order to assess the comfort properties of fabrics, the thermal resistance of materials was analyzed. Instrumental color measurement was used for an assessment of the surface of modified and unmodified basalt fabric. Using a non-contact digital color imaging system, DigiEye, an original method of samples surface analysis was presented. As a result of research, the modification of basalt fabric surface for applications in a hot work environment enabled the improvement of thermal properties in relation to the references samples. The first level of protection against contact heat for a contact temperature of 100 °C was obtained for the zirconium(IV) oxide-modified basalt fabric. The first level of protection against radiant heat was obtained for all samples. The highest value for the heat radiant resistance was obtained for the chrome-modified basalt fabric.
Exploitation of Wheat Straw Biorefinery Side Streams as Sustainable Substrates for Microorganisms: A Feasibility Study
Authors: Beisl Stefan , Quehenberger Julian , Kamravamanesh Donya , Spadiut Oliver , Friedl Anton
Published: December 2019

Lignocellulosic agricultural side products, like wheat straw, are widely seen as an important contribution to a future sustainable economy. However, optimization of biorefinery processes and exploitation of all side streams are crucial for an economically viable biorefinery. Pretreatment of lignocellulosic raw material, which is necessary for further processing steps, can generate low-value side streams. In this feasibility study, side streams from a liquid hot water (LHW) pretreatment of wheat straw were utilized for the production of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and highly valuable tetraether lipids (TELs). Additional value created by these products can benefit the biorefinery’s economic operation. The utilized wheat straw was pretreated at 120 °C and 170 °C for up to two hours in laboratory and lab scale. The resulting side stream consists mainly of carbohydrates from hemicelluloses and fermentation inhibitors such as acetic acid. In order to achieve a successful production of both products, an acetic acid separation via distillation was necessary. Subsequently, the acetic acid fraction was utilized for the PHB production using cyanobacteria. The carbohydrate-rich fraction was applied in the cultivation of Sulfolobus acidocaldarius and resulted in the successful production of TELs. Both fractions achieved better fermentation yields compared to their corresponding reference media.
Dominion, Stewardship and Reconciliation in the Accounts of Ordinary People Eating Animals
Authors: Salonen Anna Sofia
Published: December 2019

Despite the growing popularity of vegetarian foods and diets, the vast majority of people in North America and other parts of the affluent world still eat meat. This article explores what ordinary people think about eating animals and how they navigate the ethical questions inherent in that praxis. Drawing from interviews with 24 people living in Ottawa, Canada, the study shows how the concepts of dominion, stewardship and reconciliation manifest in the everyday lives of ordinary people as models for human relations with nonhuman others and the environment. These ideas resonate in the lives of ordinary people, both religious and nonreligious, and entwine as people try to make sense of how to live with the fact that their everyday food consumption causes suffering and harm. This study shows that in the context of everyday life, dominion, stewardship and reconciliation are not alternative views, but connected to each other, and serve different purposes. The study highlights a need for analyses that constitute practical ways to renew the broken relationships within creation and which incorporate nonreligious people into the scope of analyses that focus on the relationships between humans and nonhuman creation.
Social Security Benefit Valuation, Risk, and Optimal Retirement
Authors: Ali Yassmin , Fang Ming , Sota Pablo A. Arrutia , Taylor Stephen , Wang Xun
Published: December 2019

We develop valuation and risk techniques for the future benefits of a retiree who participates in the American Social Security program based on their chosen date of retirement, the term structure of interest rates, and forecasted life expectancy. These valuation methods are then used to determine the optimal retirement time of a beneficiary given a specific wage history and health profile in the sense of maximizing the present value of cash flows received during retirement years. We then examine how a number of risk factors including interest rates, disease diagnosis, and mortality risks impact benefit value. Specifically, we utilize principal component analysis in order to assess both interest rate and mortality risk. We then conduct numerical studies to examine how such risks range over distinct income and demographic groups and finally summarize future research directions.
Spatial Modeling of Snow Avalanche Using Machine Learning Models and Geo-Environmental Factors: Comparison of Effectiveness in Two Mountain Regions
Authors: Rahmati Omid , Ghorbanzadeh Omid , Teimurian Teimur , Mohammadi Farnoush , Tiefenbacher John P. , Falah Fatemeh , Pirasteh Saied , Ngo Phuong-Thao Thi , Bui Dieu Tien
Published: December 2019

Although snow avalanches are among the most destructive natural disasters, and result in losses of life and economic damages in mountainous regions, far too little attention has been paid to the prediction of the snow avalanche hazard using advanced machine learning (ML) models. In this study, the applicability and efficiency of four ML models: support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), naïve Bayes (NB) and generalized additive model (GAM), for snow avalanche hazard mapping, were evaluated. Fourteen geomorphometric, topographic and hydrologic factors were selected as predictor variables in the modeling. This study was conducted in the Darvan and Zarrinehroud watersheds of Iran. The goodness-of-fit and predictive performance of the models was evaluated using two statistical measures: the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and the true skill statistic (TSS). Finally, an ensemble model was developed based upon the results of the individual models. Results show that, among individual models, RF was best, performing well in both the Darvan (AUROC = 0.964, TSS = 0.862) and Zarrinehroud (AUROC = 0.956, TSS = 0.881) watersheds. The accuracy of the ensemble model was slightly better than all individual models for generating the snow avalanche hazard map, as validation analyses showed an AUROC = 0.966 and a TSS = 0.865 in the Darvan watershed, and an AUROC value of 0.958 and a TSS value of 0.877 for the Zarrinehroud watershed. The results indicate that slope length, lithology and relative slope position (RSP) are the most important factors controlling snow avalanche distribution. The methodology developed in this study can improve risk-based decision making, increases the credibility and reliability of snow avalanche hazard predictions and can provide critical information for hazard managers.
Retrieval of NO2 Column Amounts from Ground-Based Hyperspectral Imaging Sensor Measurements
Authors: Park Hyeon-Ju , Park Jin-Soo , Kim Sang-Woo , Chong Heesung , Lee Hana , Kim Hyunjae , Ahn Joon-Young , Kim Dai-Gon , Kim Jhoon , Park Sang Seo
Published: December 2019

Total column amounts of NO2 (TCN) were estimated from ground-based hyperspectral imaging sensor (HIS) measurements in a polluted urban area (Seoul, Korea) by applying the radiance ratio fitting method with five wavelength pairs from 400 to 460 nm. We quantified the uncertainty of the retrieved TCN based on several factors. The estimated TCN uncertainty was up to 0.09 Dobson unit (DU), equivalent to 2.687 × 1020 molecules m−2) given a 1° error for the observation geometries, including the solar zenith angle, viewing zenith angle, and relative azimuth angle. About 0.1 DU (6.8%) was estimated for an aerosol optical depth (AOD) uncertainty of 0.01. In addition, the uncertainty due to the NO2 vertical profile was 14% to 22%. Compared with the co-located Pandora spectrophotometer measurements, the HIS captured the temporal variation of the TCN during the intensive observation period. The correlation between the TCN from the HIS and Pandora also showed good agreement, with a slight positive bias (bias: 0.6 DU, root mean square error: 0.7 DU).
Single Remote Sensing Image Dehazing Using a Prior-Based Dense Attentive Network
Authors: Gu Ziqi , Zhan Zongqian , Yuan Qiangqiang , Yan Li
Published: December 2019

Remote sensing image dehazing is an extremely complex issue due to the irregular and non-uniform distribution of haze. In this paper, a prior-based dense attentive dehazing network (DADN) is proposed for single remote sensing image haze removal. The proposed network, which is constructed based on dense blocks and attention blocks, contains an encoder-decoder architecture, which enables it to directly learn the mapping between the input images and the corresponding haze-free image, without being dependent on the traditional atmospheric scattering model (ASM). To better handle non-uniform hazy remote sensing images, we propose to combine a haze density prior with deep learning, where an initial haze density map (HDM) is firstly extracted from the original hazy image, and is subsequently utilized as the input of the network, together with the original hazy image. Meanwhile, a large-scale hazy remote sensing dataset is created for training and testing of the proposed method, which contains both uniform and non-uniform, synthetic and real hazy remote sensing images. Experimental results on the created dataset illustrate that the developed dehazing method obtains significant progresses over the state-of-the-art methods.
Validating a Landsat Time-Series of Fractional Component Cover Across Western U.S. Rangelands
Authors: Rigge Matthew , Homer Collin , Shi Hua , K. Meyer Debra
Published: December 2019

Western U.S. rangelands have been quantified as six fractional cover (0%–100%) components over the Landsat archive (1985–2018) at a 30 m resolution, termed the “Back-in-Time” (BIT) dataset. Robust validation through space and time is needed to quantify product accuracy. Here, we used field data collected concurrently with high-resolution satellite (HRS) images over multiple locations (n = 42) and years. Field observations were used to train regression tree models, predicting the component cover across each HRS image. Our objectives were to evaluate the spatial and temporal relationships between HRS and BIT component cover and compare spatio-temporal climate responses. First, for each HRS site-year (n = 77) we averaged both the HRS and BIT predictions within each site separately and regressed the averages to quantify the temporal accuracy. Next, we regressed individual pixel values of corresponding HRS and BIT predictions to quantify the spatio-temporal accuracy. Results showed strong temporal correlations with an average R2 of 0.63 and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 5.47% as well as strong spatio-temporal correlations with an average R2 of 0.52 and RMSE of 7.89% across components. Our approach increased the validation sample size relative to direct comparison of field observations. Validation results showed robust spatio-temporal relationships between HRS and BIT data, providing increased user confidence in the data.
Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Soil Salinity and Moisture and Its Influence on Agricultural Irrigation in the Ili River Valley, China
Authors: Xu Li , Du Hongru , Zhang Xiaolei
Published: December 2019

Soil salinization is a global problem, which threatens agricultural productivity and sustainability, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Soil salinity and moisture are important factors affecting agricultural production in arid regions. However, few studies have considered the influence of topographic factors on the spatial distribution patterns of soil salinity and moisture. This research aims to explore the spatial distribution characteristics and its influencing factors of soil salinity and moisture in the oasis farmland of arid areas. In this paper, GIS and geostatistics methods were applied to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics and variability of soil salinity and moisture, and then the corresponding proxy variables were used to quantitatively study the influence factors by using the geographical detector model. The results showed the coefficients of the variation of soil salinity and moisture to be 71.25% and 31.89%, respectively. There was moderate spatial autocorrelation of soil salinity and moisture. Soil salinity in the southwest was higher than in the northeast, and soil moisture in the northwest and southeast were lower than in the center and the northeast edge. The main influencing factors were available phosphorus, roughness of terrain, alkaline nitrogen, available potassium, and elevation. Combined action of topographic factors and soil nutrients has a major influence on the spatial distribution of soil salinity and moisture. Therefore, developing a suitable fertilizer regime under different topographic conditions could be an effective way to promote the sustainability of oasis agriculture in arid areas.
The Perception of Overtourism from the Perspective of Different Generations
Authors: Szromek Adam R. , Hysa Beata , Karasek Aneta
Published: December 2019

The problem of overtourism, i.e., tourist congestion in visited places, and the negative impacts of tourists on the environment and residents, are increasingly noticeable with the increase in popularity of tourism. In addition, human impact on the environment is often negative in relation to the assumptions of the concept of sustainable development. However, the attitude of tourists to the problem of overtourism may vary depending on their ages, because, as in every aspect of life, there are intergenerational differences arising from the political, economic or technological development of the times in which a given generation grew up. The main purpose of the article is to examine the public awareness of the phenomenon of overtourism in the context of intergenerational differences, as well as to determine the impact of tourists on the places visited and the local community. The study was conducted on a sample of 386 respondents representing the X, Y, and Z generations. The study results showed that there is awareness among all generations of respondents about the problem of overtourism, although indifference to this phenomenon was demonstrated by the youngest respondents (Z generation). The respondents also agreed on individual elements of their own impact on the environment and residents, but with different determinations. The article ends with recommendations on the introduction of various management practices that should be implemented in order to make tourism more responsible and sustainable in the future. It is proposed that a road map should be compiled at the local level for sustainable tourism development.
A Holistic Conceptual Framework into Practice-Based on Urban Tourism Toward Sustainable Development in Thailand
Authors: Koodsela Wannipa , Dong Huang , Sukpatch Kassara
Published: December 2019

This article is a research output presenting a new step for urban tourism development in Thailand. It focused on how a urban tourism development action plan was made in accordance with the sustainable tourism development policy in Thailand, and the overall effect of urban tourism development plan-making practice on the environment, quality society, local economics, and urban history and culture. This article proposed a holistic conceptual framework of urban tourism development plan-making practices regarding sustainability. It began with a literature review of urban tourism development and stakeholders in urban tourism development planning. The author emphasized the presentation of the outcome from quantitative and qualitative investigations of urban tourism in Chiang Mai and Phuket, two cities, in a case study of Thailand. The result highlighted the capacity of the area and the urgent need, in a five year period, to develop urban tourism towards sustainability by focusing on the fundamental problems of urban development and urban tourism development, as well as the integration of sustainable policies and the stakeholders’ participation in urban tourism development planning. For this reason, a possible sustainable urban tourism development plan-driving framework has been proposed to encourage the existing participation of stakeholders for future research development.
Complexity Assessment of Assembly Supply Chains from the Sustainability Viewpoint
Authors: Modrak Vladimir , Soltysova Zuzana , Onofrejova Daniela
Published: December 2019

Assembly supply chain systems are becoming increasingly complex and, as a result, there is more and more need to design and manage them in a way that benefits the producers and also satisfies the interests of community stakeholders. The structural (static) complexity of assembly supply chain networks is one of the most important factors influencing overall system complexity. Structures of such networks can be modeled as a graph, with machines as nodes and material flow between the nodes as links. The purpose of this paper is to analyze existing assembly supply chain complexity assessment methods and propose such complexity metric(s) that will be able to accurately reflect not only specific criteria for static complexity measures, but also selected sustainability aspects. The obtained results of this research showed that selected complexity indicators reflect sustainability facets in different ways, but one of them met the mentioned requirements acceptably.
Coworking, a Way to Achieve Sustainable Mobility? Designing an Interdisciplinary Research Project
Authors: Lejoux Patricia , Flipo Aurore , Ortar Nathalie , Ovtracht Nicolas , Souche-Lecorvec Stéphanie , Stanica Razvan
Published: December 2019

Sustainable mobility has been one of the central paradigms of research in the field of transport and mobility for several decades. However, the implications of adopting the concept of “sustainable mobility” for the conduct of interdisciplinary research has been little discussed within the relevant research community. Research in the field of transport and mobility has nevertheless been the setting for major debates in recent years on the question of interdisciplinarity, or even transdisciplinarity, with the emergence of mobility studies as opposed to transportation studies. The objective of this paper is to show, empirically, how researchers who are specialised in mobility and transport issues, but who belong to different disciplines (anthropology, computer science, economics, geomatics, sociology and urban planning) have sought to build an interdisciplinary research project—which is currently ongoing—around the links between the development of coworking, which is a new way of organising work, mobility and sustainability. This paper sets out to highlight cross-fertilisation between disciplines, the issues raised, and the difficulties encountered. As such, it provides an account that is as faithful as possible to our experience of conducting interdisciplinary research in the area of sustainable mobility.
Public Procurement in the Context of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) in South Africa—Lessons Learned for Sustainable Public Procurement
Authors: Shai Lerato , Molefinyana Comfort , Quinot Geo
Published: December 2019

Public procurement is a key instrument in the post-apartheid South African government’s broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE), a legislative and policy framework aimed at reversing the country’s legacy of injustice and inequality through pursuing a range of socio-economic objectives that favour the majority black population. This paper employs a theoretical and derived logic model to analyse the design and implementation of BBBEE by means of literature and document review as well as key stakeholder interviews. It seeks to answer two key research questions: (1) has BBBEE achieved its intended outcomes? and (2) what lessons can be drawn from the South African experience for sustainable public procurement? The study finds a significant knowledge gap that precludes definitive conclusions on the impact of BBBEE, largely due to the limited rigorous evidence, particularly evaluations, on whether BBBEE is achieving the desired outcomes. Instead, the paper’s key contribution is the development of a derived logic model that clearly outlines how BBBEE is intended to work and is used to provide insight into how BBBEE has performed against aspects of its intended outcomes. The paper finds that the intervention’s effectiveness has largely been undermined by various challenges and demonstrates that it remains unclear whether BBBEE’s observed achievements have translated into targeted impact of meaningful participation of all black people in the economy. Considering the scale of BBBEE and its implementation for over 16 years, the paper concludes that the limited evidence on how it is performing against its key objectives is both a design and implementation shortcoming.
New Results on Neutrosophic Extended Triplet Groups Equipped with a Partial Order
Authors: Zhou Xin , Li Ping , Smarandache Florentin , Khalil Ahmed Mostafa
Published: December 2019

Neutrosophic extended triplet group (NETG) is a novel algebra structure and it is different from the classical group. The major concern of this paper is to present the concept of a partially ordered neutrosophic extended triplet group (po-NETG), which is a NETG equipped with a partial order that relates to its multiplicative operation, and consider properties and structure features of po-NETGs. Firstly, in a po-NETG, we propose the concepts of the positive cone and negative cone, and investigate the structure features of them. Secondly, we study the specificity of the positive cone in a partially ordered weak commutative neutrosophic extended triplet group (po-WCNETG). Finally, we introduce the concept of a po-NETG homomorphism between two po-NETGs, construct a po-NETG on a quotient set by providing a multiplication and a partial order, then we discuss some fundamental properties of them.
Collection of Anthropogenic Litter from the Shores of Lake Malawi: Characterization of Plastic Debris and the Implications of Public Involvement in the African Great Lakes
Authors: Mayoma Bahati S. , Mjumira Innocent S. , Efudala Aubrery , Syberg Kristian , Khan Farhan R.
Published: December 2019

Anthropogenic debris is an environmental problem that affects beaches and coastlines worldwide. The abundance of beach debris is often documented with the use of public volunteers. To date, such community participations have been largely confined to the marine environment, but the presence and impact of anthropogenic debris on freshwater shorelines has been increasingly recognized. Our study presents the first such information from the African Great Lakes, specifically Lake Malawi. A total of 490,064 items of anthropogenic litter were collected by over 2000 volunteers in a clean-up campaign that took place annually between 2015 and 2018. Approximately 80% of the anthropogenic debris was comprised of plastic litter, with plastic carrier bags being the most common item. The dominance of plastic litter, and in particular the presence of plastic bags, which have subjected to bans in some African countries, is discussed. The broader implications of citizen science in the African Great Lakes area is also discussed.
Measurement of Microcystin and Nodularin Activity in Human Urine by Immunocapture-Protein Phosphatase 2A Assay
Authors: Wharton Rebekah E. , Cunningham Brady R. , Schaefer Adam M. , Guldberg Sophia M. , Hamelin Elizabeth I. , Johnson Rudolph C.
Published: December 2019

Microcystins (MC) and nodularin (NOD) are toxins released by cyanobacteria during harmful algal blooms. They are potent inhibitors of protein phosphatases 1 and 2A (PP1 and PP2A) and cause a variety of adverse symptoms in humans and animals if ingested. More than 250 chemically diverse congeners of MCs have been identified, but certified reference materials are only available for a few. A diagnostic test that does not require each reference material for detection is necessary to identify human exposures. To address this need, our lab has developed a method that uses an antibody to specifically isolate MCs and NOD from urine prior to detection via a commercially available PP2A kit. This assay quantitates the summed inhibitory activity of nearly all MCs and NOD on PP2A relative to a common MC congener, microcystin-LR (MC-LR). The quantitation range for MC-LR using this method is from 0.050–0.500 ng/mL. No background responses were detected in a convenience set of 50 individual urines. Interday and intraday % accuracies ranged from 94%–118% and relative standard deviations were 15% or less, meeting FDA guidelines for receptor binding assays. The assay detected low levels of MCs in urines from three individuals living in close proximity to harmful algal blooms (HABs) in Florida.
AflSte20 Regulates Morphogenesis, Stress Response, and Aflatoxin Biosynthesis of Aspergillus flavus
Authors: Li Ding , Qin Ling , Wang Yinchun , Xie Qingchen , Li Na , Wang Shihua , Yuan Jun
Published: December 2019

Various signaling pathways in filamentous fungi help cells receive and respond to environmental information. Previous studies have shown that the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway is phosphorylation-dependent and activated by different kinase proteins. Serine/threonine kinase plays a very important role in the MAPK pathway. In this study, we selected the serine/threonine kinase AflSte20 in Aspergillus flavus for functional study. By constructing Aflste20 knockout mutants and complemented strains, it was proven that the Aflste20 knockout mutant (ΔAflste20) showed a significant decrease in growth, sporogenesis, sclerotinogenesis, virulence, and infection compared to the WT (wild type) and complemented strain (ΔAflste20C). Further research indicated that ΔAflste20 has more sensitivity characteristics than WT and ΔAflste20C under various stimuli such as osmotic stress and other types of environmental stresses. Above all, our study showed that the mitogen-activated kinase AflSte20 plays an important role in the growth, conidia production, stress response and sclerotia formation, as well as aflatoxin biosynthesis, in A. flavus.
Non-Singular Model of Magnetized Black Hole Based on Nonlinear Electrodynamics
Authors: Kruglov Sergey I.
Published: December 2019

A new modified Hayward metric of magnetically charged non-singular black hole spacetime in the framework of nonlinear electrodynamics is constructed. When the fundamental length introduced, characterising quantum gravity effects, vanishes, one comes to the general relativity coupled with the Bronnikov model of nonlinear electrodynamics. The metric can have one (an extreme) horizon, two horizons of black holes, or no horizons corresponding to the particle-like solution. Corrections to the Reissner–Nordström solution are found as the radius approaches infinity. As r → 0 the metric has a de Sitter core showing the absence of singularities, the asymptotic of the Ricci and Kretschmann scalars are obtained and they are finite everywhere. The thermodynamics of black holes, by calculating the Hawking temperature and the heat capacity, is studied. It is demonstrated that phase transitions take place when the Hawking temperature possesses the maximum. Black holes are thermodynamically stable at some range of parameters.
Seeing the Forest for the Trees: A Review-Based Framework for Better Harmonization of Timber Production, Biodiversity, and Recreation in Boreal Urban Forests
Authors: Gundersen Vegard , Köhler Berit , Myrvold Knut Marius
Published: December 2019

Forested lands serve multiple needs, and the priorities that go into balancing the competing demands can vary over time. In addition to being the source of timber and other natural resources, forested lands provide a number of other services such as biodiversity conservation and opportunities for outdoor recreation. While allocations that enhance conservation and recreation can involve expenses and lost revenue, mechanisms exist to provide landowners with incentives to make such contributions. Here, we review the literature and present a conceptual framework that can help landowners envision possible contributions towards bolstering outdoor recreation opportunities on their lands. The framework classifies forests within a simple conceptual space defined by two axes: (1) the spectrum of intensity of recreational use, and (2) the level of economic contribution required by landowners to meet recreational demands of visitors to their lands. The resulting matrix consists of four broad categories that can be used in forest management zoning as seen from an outdoor recreation perspective: general and special considerations for recreational opportunities and biodiversity, wilderness and nature reserves, and service areas. These categories have different tolerances for active silviculture and require shifting harvest practices spatially within the forest property. While timber revenues may decrease with shifting allocations, other sources of revenue may open up. With an increasingly urban population and rising demands for natural resources, it is prudent for landowners and land use planners to consider zoning their properties to better handle potential conflicts. The framework presented here provides a simple, structured approach to visualize future challenges and opportunities.
Clove Oil Delays Rather Than Prevents Scur/Horn Growth in Dairy Cattle
Authors: Sutherland Mhairi , Julian Alan , Huddart Frances
Published: December 2019

The objective of this study was to evaluate if administration of clove oil prevents scur/horn growth in dairy cattle long term. At approximately 4 days of age, calves had one of four treatments assigned to each horn bud: (1) clove oil administered subcutaneously under the horn bud (CLOV, n = 132); (2) cautery disbudded and the horn bud removed (BUDOFF, n = 126); (3) cautery disbudded and the horn bud tissue left intact (BUDON, n = 129); (4) a liquid nitrogen filled probe applied to the horn bud area (CRYO, n = 131). At approximately 16 months of age, all cattle were checked for scur or horn development. A sub-set of scurs/horns from the CLOV cattle were removed to evaluate tissue and structural development. In total, 5% of CLOV buds developed into horns and 63% into scurs; 10% of the scurs looked like normally developed horns but they were not attached to the skull. Cautery disbudding prevented scur and horn development in cattle when the horn bud tissue was removed, but some scur growth was observed in the BUDON treatment. CRYO was 100% ineffective at preventing scur/horn growth. Injecting clove oil under the horn bud appeared to delay horn development, but not prevent it, when administered to 4 day old dairy calves.