bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Long Noncoding RNA and mRNA Expression Profiles of Testes with High and Low Sperm Motility in Domestic Pigeons (Columba livia)
Authors: Xu Xiuli , Tan Yuge , Mao Haiguang , Liu Honghua , Dong Xinyang , Yin Zhaozheng
Published: April 2020

Sperm motility is one of the most important indicators in assessing semen quality, and it is used to evaluate poultry fertility. Many long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and mRNAs are involved in regulating testis development and spermatogenesis. In this study, we employed RNA sequencing to analyse the testis transcriptome (lncRNA and mRNA) of ten pigeons with high and low sperm motility. In total, 46,117 mRNAs and 17,463 lncRNAs were identified, of which 2673 mRNAs and 229 lncRNAs (P < 0.05) were significantly differentially expressed (DE) between the high and low sperm motility groups. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotation analysis showed that target genes of DE lncRNAs and DE mRNAs were related to calcium ion binding, ATP binding, and spermatogenesis. Moreover, we found that UBB, a target gene of lncRNA MSTRG.7787.5, was involved in germ cell development. Our study provided a catalogue of lncRNAs and mRNAs associated with sperm motility, and they deserve further study to deepen the understanding of biological processes in the pigeon testis.
Extracellular Vesicle-Mediated siRNA Delivery, Protein Delivery, and CFTR Complementation in Well-Differentiated Human Airway Epithelial Cells
Authors: Singh Brajesh K. , Cooney Ashley L. , Krishnamurthy Sateesh , Sinn Patrick L.
Published: April 2020

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a class of naturally occurring secreted cellular bodies that are involved in long distance cell-to-cell communication. Proteins, lipids, mRNA, and miRNA can be packaged into these vesicles and released from the cell. This information is then delivered to target cells. Since EVs are naturally adapted molecular messengers, they have emerged as an innovative, inexpensive, and robust method to deliver therapeutic cargo in vitro and in vivo. Well-differentiated primary cultures of human airway epithelial cells (HAE) are refractory to standard transfection techniques. Indeed, common strategies used to overexpress or knockdown gene expression in immortalized cell lines simply have no detectable effect in HAE. Here we use EVs to efficiently deliver siRNA or protein to HAE. Furthermore, EVs can deliver CFTR protein to cystic fibrosis donor cells and functionally correct the Cl− channel defect in vitro. EV-mediated delivery of siRNA or proteins to HAE provides a powerful genetic tool in a model system that closely recapitulates the in vivo airways.
Small Molecules Targeting H3K9 Methylation Prevent Silencing of Reactivated FMR1 Alleles in Fragile X Syndrome Patient Derived Cells
Authors: Kumari Daman , Sciascia Nicholas , Usdin Karen
Published: April 2020

In fragile X syndrome (FXS), expansion of a CGG repeat tract in the 5′-untranslated region of the FMR1 gene to >200 repeats causes transcriptional silencing by inducing heterochromatin formation. Understanding the mechanism of FMR1 silencing is important as gene reactivation is a potential treatment approach for FXS. To date, only the DNA demethylating drug 5-azadeoxycytidine (AZA) has proved effective at gene reactivation; however, this drug is toxic. The repressive H3K9 methylation mark is enriched on the FMR1 gene in FXS patient cells and is thus a potential druggable target. However, its contribution to the silencing process is unclear. Here, we studied the effect of small molecule inhibitors of H3K9 methylation on FMR1 expression in FXS patient cells. Chaetocin showed a small effect on FMR1 gene reactivation and a synergistic effect on FMR1 mRNA levels when used in combination with AZA. Additionally, chaetocin, BIX01294 and 3-Deazaneplanocin A (DZNep) were able to significantly delay the re-silencing of AZA-reactivated FMR1 alleles. These data are consistent with the idea that H3K9 methylation precedes DNA methylation and that removal of DNA methylation is necessary to see the optimal effect of histone methyl-transferase (HMT) inhibitors on FMR1 gene expression. Nonetheless, our data also show that drugs targeting repressive H3K9 methylation marks are able to produce sustained reactivation of the FMR1 gene after a single dose of AZA.
Genes and Eating Preferences, Their Roles in Personalized Nutrition
Authors: Vesnina Anna , Prosekov Alexander , Kozlova Oksana , Atuchin Victor
Published: April 2020

At present, personalized diets, which take into account consumer genetic characteristics, are growing popular. Nutrigenetics studies the effect of gene variations on metabolism and nutrigenomics, which branches off further and investigates how nutrients and food compounds affect genes. This work deals with the mutations affecting the assimilation of metabolites, contributing to nutrigenetic studies. We searched for the genes responsible for eating preferences which allow for the tailoring of personalized diets. Presently, genetic nutrition is growing in demand, as it contributes to the prevention and/or rehabilitation of non-communicable diseases, both monogenic and polygenic. In this work, we showed single-nucleotide polymorphisms in genes—missense mutations that change the functions of coded proteins, resulting in a particular eating preferences or a disease. We studied the genes influencing food preferences—particularly those responsible for fats and carbohydrates absorption, food intolerance, metabolism of vitamins, taste sensations, oxidation of xenobiotics, eating preferences and food addiction. As a result, 34 genes were identified that affect eating preferences. Significant shortcomings were found in the methods/programs for developing personalized diets that are used today, and the weaknesses were revealed in the development of nutrigenetics (inconsistency of data on SNP genes, ignoring population genetics data, difficult information to understand consumer, etc.). Taking into account all the shortcomings, an approximate model was proposed in the review for selecting an appropriate personalized diet. In the future, it is planned to develop the proposed model for the compilation of individual diets.
Differential Responses of LINE-1 in the Dentate Gyrus, Striatum and Prefrontal Cortex to Chronic Neurotoxic Methamphetamine: A Study in Rat Brain
Authors: Moszczynska Anna
Published: April 2020

Methamphetamine (METH) is a widely abused psychostimulant with the potential to cause a broad range of severe cognitive deficits as well as neurobehavioral abnormalities when abused chronically, particularly at high doses. Cognitive deficits are related to METH neurotoxicity in the striatum and hippocampus. The activation of transposable Long INterspersed Nuclear Element 1 (LINE-1) is associated with several neurological diseases and drug abuse, but there are very limited data regarding the effects of high-dose METH on the activity of LINE-1 in the adult brain. Using real-time quantitative PCR, the present study demonstrates that the chronic administration of neurotoxic METH doses results in the increased expression of LINE-1-encoded Open Reading Frame 1 (ORF-1) in rat striatum shortly after the last dose of the drug and decreased ORF-1 expression during METH withdrawal, with dentate gyrus potentially developing “tolerance” to these METH effects. LINE-1 activation may be a new factor mediating the neurotoxic effects of chronic METH in the striatum and, therefore, a new drug target against METH-induced psychomotor impairments in chronic METH users.
Validation of the Reference Genes for the Gene Expression Studies in Chicken DT40 Cell Line
Authors: Dunislawska Aleksandra , Slawinska Anna , Siwek Maria
Published: April 2020

The selection of a suitable reference gene assures a reliable gene expression analysis when using the qPCR method. Normalization of the reaction is based on the basic metabolism genes. These genes show a constant, unregulated expression in all cells and function throughout their lifetime. In the current study, seven reference gene candidates were screened using RT-qPCR, to determine the best-matched pair of reference genes in the chicken DT40 cell line. The DT40 was derived from bursal lymphoma cells that were subjected to RAV-1 bird retroviral infection. It is a simplified in vitro model that allows tracking the direct interaction of stimulants on the lymphoid population and profiling of the hepatocellular B cell transcriptome. The reference gene analysis was carried out using statistical tools integrating four independent methods—geNorm, Best Keeper, NormFinder, delta Ct and RefFinder. Based on the selected reference genes, the relative gene expression analysis was done using the ddCt method. Complete relative gene expression study on a panel of the target genes revealed that proper selection of reference genes depending on the tissue eliminate decreases in data quality. The SDHA and RPL4 genes constitute stable internal controls as reference genes when analyzing gene expression in the DT40 cell line.
PIDS: A User-Friendly Plant DNA Fingerprint Database Management System
Authors: Jiang Bin , Zhao Yikun , Yi Hongmei , Huo Yongxue , Wu Haotian , Ren Jie , Ge Jianrong , Zhao Jiuran , Wang Fengge
Published: April 2020

The high variability and somatic stability of DNA fingerprints can be used to identify individuals, which is of great value in plant breeding. DNA fingerprint databases are essential and important tools for plant molecular research because they provide powerful technical and information support for crop breeding, variety quality control, variety right protection, and molecular marker-assisted breeding. Building a DNA fingerprint database involves the production of large amounts of heterogeneous data for which storage, analysis, and retrieval are time and resource consuming. To process the large amounts of data generated by laboratories and conduct quality control, a database management system is urgently needed to track samples and analyze data. We developed the plant international DNA-fingerprinting system (PIDS) using an open source web server and free software that has automatic collection, storage, and efficient management functions based on merging and comparison algorithms to handle massive microsatellite DNA fingerprint data. PIDS also can perform genetic analyses. This system can match a corresponding capillary electrophoresis image on each primer locus as fingerprint data to upload to the server. PIDS provides free customization and extension of back-end functions to meet the requirements of different laboratories. This system can be a significant tool for plant breeders and can be applied in forensic science for human fingerprint identification, as well as in virus and microorganism research.
The Age at Which a Woman Becomes a Mother and Her Satisfaction with the Process of Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Puerperium
Authors: Molina-García Leticia , Hidalgo-Ruiz Manuel , Gálvez-Toro Alberto , Aguilar-Puerta Silvia Cristina , Delgado-Rodríguez Miguel , Martínez-Galiano Juan Miguel
Published: April 2020

This study assessed the effect of maternal age on satisfaction at each stage of pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium, and globally. An observational study was carried out in five hospitals of the Andalusian public health system with older primiparous women, from May 2016 to May 2018. Using a pre-piloted questionnaire, information was collected on pregnancy, childbirth, puerperium, newborn variables and degree of satisfaction with the care received. Crude and adjusted mean differences and the standard error of the mean were calculated. A total of 373 women participated. In total, 43.0% of the sample were very satisfied with the care received during pregnancy, and 74.2% with the care received during childbirth. During the puerperium, the highest percentage (60.4%) was found among the women who reported being quite satisfied, although the results were not significant in any of these stages (p > 0.05). No significant differences were established between women’s different age strata and maternal satisfaction. However, the average given by women regarding their satisfaction with the process, on a scale from 0 to 4, was: 3.5 ± 0.5 in general, 3.2 ± 0.8 regarding pregnancy, 3.7 ± 0.5 in childbirth and 3.1 ± 0.6 in the postpartum period. The woman’s satisfaction with the follow up and health care received during pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium is independent of the mother’s age.
Will Peri-Urban Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) Challenge Local Eradication?
Authors: Horner Rachael , Paterson Georgia , Walker James T.S. , Perry George L.W. , Jaksons Rodelyn , Suckling David Maxwell
Published: April 2020

Codling moth, Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is a phytosanitary pest of New Zealand’s export apples. The sterile insect technique supplements other controls in an eradication attempt at an isolated group of orchards in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. There has been no attempt in New Zealand to characterize potential sources of uncontrolled peri-urban populations, which we predicted to be larger than in managed orchards. We installed 200 pheromone traps across Hastings city, which averaged 0.32 moths/trap/week. We also mapped host trees around the pilot eradication orchards and installed 28 traps in rural Ongaonga, which averaged 0.59 moths/trap/week. In Hastings, traps in host trees caught significantly more males than traps in non-host trees, and spatial interpolation showed evidence of spatial clustering. Traps in orchards operating the most stringent codling moth management averaged half the catch rate of Hastings peri-urban traps. Orchards with less rigorous moth control had a 5-fold higher trap catch rate. We conclude that peri-urban populations are significant and ubiquitous, and that special measures to reduce pest prevalence are needed to achieve area-wide suppression and reduce the risk of immigration into export orchards. Because the location of all host trees in Hastings is not known, it could be more cost-effectively assumed that hosts are ubiquitous across the city and the area treated accordingly.
Fungicides Reduce the Abundance of Yeast-like Symbionts and Survival of White-Backed Planthopper Sogatella furcifera (Homoptera: Delphacidae)
Authors: Pang Kun , Dong Shengzhang , Hao Peiying , Chen Tongtong , Wang Xinlong , Yu Xiaoping , Lin Huafeng
Published: April 2020

The white-backed planthopper (WBPH) Sogatella furcifera is one of the most harmful pests of rice in Southeast Asia. The fat body of WBPH harbors intracellular yeast-like symbionts (YLS). YLS are vertically transmitted to WBPH offspring by transovarial infection. YLS play an important role in the WBPH life cycle. YLS diversity and function have been extensively studied in the brown planthopper (BPH) and small brown planthopper but not in WBPH, even though a novel strategy for controlling the BPH based on suppressing YLS has been proposed. Here, using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, we identified 12 unique fungal sequences among YLS of WBPH, and five of them represented uncultured fungi. We then fed WBPH with rice plants treated with different fungicides [70% propineb wettable powder (WP) (PR), 70% propamocarb hydrochloride aqueous solution (AS) (PH), 25% trifloxystrobin and 50% tebuconazole water-dispersible granules (WG) (TT), 40% pyrimethanil suspension concentrate (SC) (PY), and 50% iprodione SC (IP)] and evaluated their effects on YLS abundance and WBPH survival rate. Both YLS abundance and adult WBPH survival rate were significantly decreased upon feeding fungicide-treated rice plants, and exposure to 50% IP resulted in the strongest reduction. The abundance of two Sf-YLS species (Ascomycetes symbiotes and Cla-like symbiotes) was significantly reduced upon exposure to 50% IP. The counts of Ascomycetes symbiotes, the most abundant YLS species, were also suppressed by the other fungicides tested. In conclusion, 50% IP was the most effective fungicide, reducing YLS abundance and WBPH survival rate under controlled conditions, suggesting its potential use to control WBPH.
Male-biased Adult Production of the Striped Fruit Fly, Zeugodacus scutellata, by Feeding dsRNA Specific to Transformer-2
Authors: Al Baki Md. Abdullah , Vatanparast Mohammad , Kim Yonggyun
Published: April 2020

Sterile insect release technique (SIT) is effective for eradicating quarantine insects including various tephritid fruit flies. When SIT is used for fruit flies, it is challenging to remove females from sterile males due to oviposition-associated piercing damage. This study developed a sex transition technique by feeding double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) specific to a sex-determining gene, Transformer-2 (Zs-Tra2) of the striped fruit fly, Zeugodacus scutellata. Zs-Tra2 is homologous to other fruit fly orthologs. It is highly expressed in female adults. RNA interference (RNAi) of Zs-Tra2 by injecting or feeding its specific dsRNA to larvae significantly increased male ratio. Recombinant Escherichia coli cells expressing dsRNA specific to Zs-Tra2 were prepared and used to feed larvae to suppress Zs-Tra2 gene expression levels. When these recombinant bacteria were fed to larvae during the entire feeding stage, the test population was significantly male-biased. Some females treated with such recombinant E. coli exhibited mosaic morphological characters such as the presence of male-specific abdominal setae in females. This study proposes a novel technique by feeding dsRNA specific to Transformer-2 to reduce female production during mass-rearing of tephritid males for SIT.
A Review of the Phenotypic Traits Associated with Insect Dispersal Polymorphism, and Experimental Designs for Sorting out Resident and Disperser Phenotypes
Authors: Renault David
Published: April 2020

Dispersal represents a key life-history trait with several implications for the fitness of organisms, population dynamics and resilience, local adaptation, meta-population dynamics, range shifting, and biological invasions. Plastic and evolutionary changes of dispersal traits have been intensively studied over the past decades in entomology, in particular in wing-dimorphic insects for which literature reviews are available. Importantly, dispersal polymorphism also exists in wing-monomorphic and wingless insects, and except for butterflies, fewer syntheses are available. In this perspective, by integrating the very latest research in the fast moving field of insect dispersal ecology, this review article provides an overview of our current knowledge of dispersal polymorphism in insects. In a first part, some of the most often used experimental methodologies for the separation of dispersers and residents in wing-monomorphic and wingless insects are presented. Then, the existing knowledge on the morphological and life-history trait differences between resident and disperser phenotypes is synthetized. In a last part, the effects of range expansion on dispersal traits and performance is examined, in particular for insects from range edges and invasion fronts. Finally, some research perspectives are proposed in the last part of the review.
Ingestion of Novaluron Elicits Transovarial Activity in Stephanitis pyrioides (Hemiptera: Tingidae)
Authors: V. Joseph Shimat
Published: April 2020

Azaleas (Rhododendron L. spp.) are widely grown ornamental plants in eastern and western regions of the USA. The azalea lace bug, Stephanitis pyrioides (Scott) (Hemiptera: Tingidae), is an important insect pest of azaleas. Adults and nymphs of S. pyrioides consume chlorophyll in azalea foliage, and severely affected plants appear bleached. Neonicotinoid insecticides are effective and widely used for S. pyrioides control; however, nursery growers and landscape professionals are concerned about nontarget effects on beneficial insects and demand neonicotinoid-free plants. There is clearly a need to develop reduced-risk control strategies for S. pyrioides. The insect growth regulator (IGR) novaluron elicits transovarial activity when adult S. pyrioides are exposed to it. However, it is not certain whether transovarial effects can be observed when S. pyrioides adults that colonize the abaxial leaf surface ingest novaluron residues deposited on the adaxial leaf surface. Experiments were conducted to assess transovarial activity upon exposure to various application rates of novaluron alone and novaluron with various adjuvants. The numbers of nymphs were significantly lower when the full rate of novaluron was applied on the adaxial surface of leaves compared to the number of nymphs on non-treated leaves. The densities of nymphs were not significantly different between the half and full rates of novaluron treatment. When novaluron with various adjuvants was applied to the adaxial surface of the leaves, the densities of nymphs were significantly lower under the novaluron treatments compared to the non-treated leaves, regardless of the type of adjuvant added. There was no significant difference between treatment with novaluron alone and the treatments of novaluron with adjuvants. These data show that transovarial activity was elicited in adults of S. pyrioides when novaluron was applied on the adaxial leaf surface.
Study of Directional Declustering for Estimating Extreme Wave Heights in the Yellow Sea
Authors: Gao Huijun , Shao Zhuxiao , Wu Guoxiang , Li Ping
Published: April 2020

The study of extreme waves is important for the protection of coastal and ocean structures. In this work, a 22-year (1990–2011) wave hindcast in the Yellow Sea is employed to perform the assessment of extreme significant wave heights in this area. To extract the independent sample from this database, the fixed window method is used, which takes the peak significant wave height within five d. With the selected samples, directional declustering is studied to extract the homogenous sample. The results show that most of the independent samples (especially large samples) are observed in the North. In this direction, the peak over threshold (POT) method is used to extract the extreme sample from the homogenous sample, and then the generalized Pareto distribution model is used to extrapolate the extreme significant wave height. In addition to this combination, the annual maxima method with the Gumbel model is also used for estimating extreme values. The comparisons show that the return significant wave heights of the first combination are reliable, resulting from a flexible sampling window in the POT method. With this conclusion, the extreme significant wave height is extrapolated from the Yellow Sea, which can be used to protect the structure in the main directional bin.
Flotillin: A Promising Biomarker for Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Angelopoulou Efthalia , Paudel Yam Nath , Shaikh Mohd. Farooq , Piperi Christina
Published: April 2020

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by the accumulation of beta amyloid (Aβ) in extracellular senile plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) mainly consisting of tau protein. Although the exact etiology of the disease remains elusive, accumulating evidence highlights the key role of lipid rafts, as well as the endocytic pathways in amyloidogenic amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing and AD pathogenesis. The combination of reduced Aβ42 levels and increased phosphorylated tau protein levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is the most well established biomarker, along with Pittsburgh compound B and positron emission tomography (PiB-PET) for amyloid imaging. However, their invasive nature, the cost, and their availability often limit their use. In this context, an easily detectable marker for AD diagnosis even at preclinical stages is highly needed. Flotillins, being hydrophobic proteins located in lipid rafts of intra- and extracellular vesicles, are mainly involved in signal transduction and membrane–protein interactions. Accumulating evidence highlights the emerging implication of flotillins in AD pathogenesis, by affecting APP endocytosis and processing, Ca2+ homeostasis, mitochondrial dysfunction, neuronal apoptosis, Aβ-induced neurotoxicity, and prion-like spreading of Aβ. Importantly, there is also clinical evidence supporting their potential use as biomarker candidates for AD, due to reduced serum and CSF levels that correlate with amyloid burden in AD patients compared with controls. This review focuses on the emerging preclinical and clinical evidence on the role of flotillins in AD pathogenesis, further addressing their potential usage as disease biomarkers.
Effect of Cr on the Mineral Structure and Composition of Cement Clinker and Its Solidification Behavior
Authors: Fan Haihong , Lv Mengqi , Wang Xiaosha , Xiao Jianmin , Mi Xiaofan , Jia Luwei
Published: April 2020

In order to reveal the solidification behavior of Cr in the cement clinker mineral phase, 29Si magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy techniques were used to analyze the morphology and composition of the cement clinker mineral phase doped with Cr. The results showed that the addition of Cr did not change the chemical environment of 29Si in the clinker mineral phase, and it was still an isolated silicon–oxygen tetrahedron. Cr affected the orientation of the silicon–oxygen tetrahedron and the coordination number of calcium, leading to the formation of defects in the crystal structure of the clinker mineral phase, by replacing Ca2+ into the mineral phase lattice to form a new mineral phase Ca3Cr2(SiO4)3. Cr acted as a stabilizer for the formation of β-C2S in the clinker calcination. As the amount of Cr increased, the relative content of C3S decreased and the relative content of C2S increased. Further, Cr easily dissolved in C2S, while it was not found in C3S. This study is conducive to further research on the mechanism of heavy metal solidification in cement clinker. Furthermore, it is important to evaluate the environmental risk of heavy metals in the process of sludge disposal through cement kiln and promote the utilization of sludge resources and the sustainable development of the cement industry.
Electrodeposition of CdTe Thin Films for Solar Energy Water Splitting
Authors: Ling Jun , Zhang Xulei , Mao Ting , Li Lei , Wang Shilin , Cao Meng , Zhang Jijun , Shi Haozhi , Huang Jian , Shen Yue , Wang Linjun
Published: April 2020

CdTe thin films have been prepared by electrochemical deposition. The morphological, structural, and optical properties of CdTe thin films deposited with different deposition time were investigated, and the influence of film thickness on the photoelectric characteristics of CdTe thin films was studied. At the deposition time of 1.5 h, CdTe thin films had good optical properties and the photocurrent reached 20 μAcm−2. Furthermore, the Pt/CdS/CdTe/FTO structure was prepared to improve its PEC stability and the photocurrent of 240 μAcm−2 had been achieved.
Titanite-Containing Mineral Compositions and Their Chemical Treatment with Preparation of Functional Materials
Authors: Gerasimova Lidia G. , Nikolaev Anatoly I. , Shchukina Ekaterina S. , Maslova Marina V.
Published: April 2020

The waste of apatite-nepheline ore processing was chosen as the material of study for the present investigation. The chemical and phase compositions have been analyzed and the route of the new technology has been developed. Treatment of the waste with diluted hydrochloric acid enables to separate apatite, nepheline, titano-magnetite minerals from titanite (CaSiTiO5). The obtained titanite concentrate contains 30–32% of titanium dioxide. Interaction of titanite with hydrochloric acid under heating and stirring conditions results in calcium leaching. The titanite decomposition is accompanied by titanium and silica oxides precipitation. The resulting solid has been used as a precursor for the synthesis of functional materials. Mechanochemical activation of the precursor provides the structural and morphological disorder of the initial particles. Thermodynamic stability of activated particles is achieved by chemisorption or roasting.
A Class of Equations with Three Solutions
Authors: Ricceri Biagio
Published: April 2020

Here is one of the results obtained in this paper: Let Ω ⊂ R n be a smooth bounded domain, let q > 1 , with q < n + 2 n − 2 if n ≥ 3 and let λ 1 be the first eigenvalue of the problem − Δ u = λ u in Ω , u = 0 on ∂ Ω . Then, for every λ > λ 1 and for every convex set S ⊆ L ∞ ( Ω ) dense in L 2 ( Ω ) , there exists α ∈ S such that the problem − Δ u = λ ( u + − ( u + ) q ) + α ( x ) in Ω , u = 0 on ∂ Ω , has at least three weak solutions, two of which are global minima in H 0 1 ( Ω ) of the functional u → 1 2 ∫ Ω | ∇ u ( x ) | 2 d x − λ ∫ Ω 1 2 | u + ( x ) | 2 − 1 q + 1 | u + ( x ) | q + 1 d x − ∫ Ω α ( x ) u ( x ) d x where u + = max { u , 0 } .
Influence of Spacer Design and Module Geometry on the Filtration Performance during Skim Milk Microfiltration with Flat Sheet and Spiral-Wound Membranes
Authors: Hartinger Martin , Napiwotzki Jonas , Schmid Eva-Maria , Hoffmann Dominik , Kurz Franziska , Kulozik Ulrich
Published: April 2020

Spacer design in spiral-wound membranes (SWMs) significantly affects the axial pressure drop in the flow channel but also the deposit layer removal. However, the effects of the spacer design and feed flow distribution in the module on the filtration performance have not yet been investigated during the highly fouling-susceptible fractionation of proteins from skim milk by SWMs. Therefore, a parallel spacer with no turbulence promotion and a less homogeneous feed flow distribution in the SWM was compared to a diamond spacer with regard to its impact on deposit formation and filtration performance. The experiments were conducted in a flat sheet test cell and in SWMs. The parallel spacer induced a more homogeneous deposit layer formation. However, no difference in filtration performance could be observed in the experiments with the test cell. Even though deposit layer formation dominates the microfiltration, its amount and spatial distribution could not be directly linked to the filtration performance. Furthermore, both spacers were assessed in SWM. Despite the higher crossflow velocity applicable in the more open channels of the parallel spacer, the performance of the parallel spacer was inferior to the diamond spacer. This was independent of the viscosity of the feed. Due to the high curvature of the membrane sheets close to the permeate collection tube, the cross-section of the flow channels in the SWM equipped with the parallel spacer was reduced. This resulted in a distinctly lower deposit layer control and performance, which could not be compensated by the resulting higher crossflow velocity far from the permeate collection tube.
Element Vaporization of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy during Selective Laser Melting
Authors: Zhang Guohao , Chen Jing , Zheng Min , Yan Zhenyu , Lu Xufei , Lin Xin , Huang Weidong
Published: April 2020

The present study aims to reveal the mechanism of element vaporization of Ti-6Al-4V alloy during selective laser melting (SLM). The equations of Redlich–Kister and the thermodynamics principles were employed to calculate the vaporization thermodynamics, which contributes to the obtaining the vaporization kinetic based on the Chapman-Enskog theory and the diffusion model. According to the achieved vaporization model, the elements with the most prominent tendency and flux to vaporize were distinguished. Moreover, the effect of the process parameters on the vaporization of Al and Ti is experimentally investigated using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP) technology. The analyzed results of the chemical composition of the powders and builds show a great agreement with the kinetic results calculated by the vaporization model. Notably, the element vaporization can be curbed by regulating the laser energy input.
Evaluation of Non-Equibiaxial Residual Stresses in Metallic Materials via Instrumented Spherical Indentation
Authors: Peng Guangjian , Xu Fenglei , Chen Jianfeng , Wang Huadong , Hu Jiangjiang , Zhang Taihua
Published: April 2020

Residual stresses, existed in engineering structures, could significantly influence the mechanical properties of structures. Accurate and non-destructive evaluation of the non-equibiaxial residual stresses in these structures is of great value for predicting their mechanical performance. In this work, investigating the mechanical behaviors of instrumented spherical indentation on stressed samples revealed that non-equibiaxial residual stresses could shift the load-depth curve upwards or downwards and cause the residual indentation imprint to be an elliptical one. Through theoretical, experimental, and finite element (FE) analyses, two characteristic indentation parameters, i.e., the relative change in loading curvature and the asymmetry factor of the residual indentation imprint, were found to have optimal sensitivity to residual stresses at a depth of 0.01R (R is the radius of spherical indenter). With the aid of dimensional analysis and FE simulations, non-equibiaxial residual stresses were quantitatively correlated with these two characteristic indentation parameters. The spherical indentation method was then proposed to evaluate non-equibiaxial residual stress based on these two correlations. Applications were illustrated on metallic samples (AA 7075-T6 and AA 2014-T6) with various introduced stresses. Both the numerical and experimental verifications demonstrated that the proposed method could evaluate non-equibiaxial surface residual stresses with reasonable accuracy.
Mechanisms of Oxidation Degradation of Cr12 Roller Steel during Thermal Fatigue Tests
Authors: Bombač David , Gintalas Marius , Kugler Goran , Terčelj Milan
Published: April 2020

Degradation by the penetration of oxidation into the Cr12 roller steel is evaluated during thermal fatigue tests in the laboratory in the temperature range of 500–700 °C. A qualitative assessment is carried out with regard to the thermal load, the microstructure and the test temperature. The results show that the specific properties of the microstructure with respect to thermal stress and temperature have a significant influence on the oxidation behavior as well as on the crack propagation mode and crack growth. The conditions that lead to an increase in the oxidation rate and thus to premature and sudden local chipping of the roll surface layer are analyzed and explained.
Metals in Hydrogen Technology
Authors: Pistidda Claudio
Published: April 2020

The world transition to a sustainable and reliable carbon-free economy is the greatest challenge of the 21st century [...]
2D Spatially-Resolved Depth-Section Microfluidic Flow Velocimetry Using Dual Beam OCT
Authors: Hallam Jonathan M. , Rigas Evangelos , Charrett Thomas O. H. , Tatam Ralph P.
Published: April 2020

A dual beam optical coherence tomography (OCT) instrument has been developed for flow measurement that offers advantages over microscope derived imaging techniques. It requires only a single optical access port, allows simultaneous imaging of the microfluidic channel, does not require fluorescent seed particles, and can provide a millimetre-deep depth-section velocity profile (as opposed to horizontal-section). The dual beam instrument performs rapid re-sampling of particle positions, allowing measurement of faster flows. In this paper, we develop the methods and processes necessary to make 2D quantitative measurements of the flow-velocity using dual beam OCT and present exemplar results in a microfluidic chip. A 2D reference measurement of the Poiseuille flow in a microfluidic channel is presented over a spanwise depth range of 700 μm and streamwise length of 1600 μm with a spatial resolution of 10 μm, at velocities up to 50 mm/s. A measurement of a more complex flow field is also demonstrated in a sloped microfluidic section.
Recent Progress in Optical Sensors for Biomedical Diagnostics
Authors: Pirzada Muqsit , Altintas Zeynep
Published: April 2020

In recent years, several types of optical sensors have been probed for their aptitude in healthcare biosensing, making their applications in biomedical diagnostics a rapidly evolving subject. Optical sensors show versatility amongst different receptor types and even permit the integration of different detection mechanisms. Such conjugated sensing platforms facilitate the exploitation of their neoteric synergistic characteristics for sensor fabrication. This paper covers nearly 250 research articles since 2016 representing the emerging interest in rapid, reproducible and ultrasensitive assays in clinical analysis. Therefore, we present an elaborate review of biomedical diagnostics with the help of optical sensors working on varied principles such as surface plasmon resonance, localised surface plasmon resonance, evanescent wave fluorescence, bioluminescence and several others. These sensors are capable of investigating toxins, proteins, pathogens, disease biomarkers and whole cells in varied sensing media ranging from water to buffer to more complex environments such as serum, blood or urine. Hence, the recent trends discussed in this review hold enormous potential for the widespread use of optical sensors in early-stage disease prediction and point-of-care testing devices.
Microfluidic Devices for Biomedical Applications: Biomedical Microfluidic Devices 2019
Authors: Oh Kwang W.
Published: April 2020

Microfluidic devices and systems are well-suited for the manipulation of biomolecules, cells, or particles [...]
A Multi-task Learning Model for Daily Activity Forecast in Smart Home
Authors: Yang Hong , Gong Shanshan , Liu Yaqing , Lin Zhengkui , Qu Yi
Published: April 2020

Daily activity forecasts play an important role in the daily lives of residents in smart homes. Category forecasts and occurrence time forecasts of daily activity are two key tasks. Category forecasts of daily activity are correlated with occurrence time forecasts, however, existing research has only focused on one of the two tasks. Moreover, the performance of daily activity forecasts is low when the two tasks are performed in series. In this paper, a forecast model based on multi-task learning is proposed to forecast category and occurrence time of daily activity mutually and iteratively. Firstly, raw sensor events are pre-processed to form a feature space of daily activity. Secondly, a parallel multi-task learning model which combines a convolutional neural network (CNN) with bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) units are developed as the forecast model. Finally, five distinct datasets are used to evaluate the proposed model. The experimental results show that compared with the state-of-the-art single-task learning models, this model improves accuracy by at least 2.22%, and the metrics of NMAE, NRMSE and R2 are improved by at least 1.542%, 7.79% and 1.69%, respectively.
Intellectual Capital: ISVA, the Alternative Way of Calculating Creating Value in Agricultural Entities—Case of Poland
Authors: Kozera-Kowalska Magdalena
Published: April 2020

In the knowledge-based economy, knowledge is regarded as a strategic resource that helps entities to become market leaders. This strategy has been successfully used for years by companies operating in various sectors of the economy. The exception, however, is agriculture, which has been seen for years as a sector with low knowledge intensity and is one that is skeptical about the possibility of using knowledge. This is important especially in that the use of it is, for many managers, still unconscious, and, therefore, this factor remains unused in practice. This paper describes the Intellectual Sources of Value Added (ISVA), an alternative method for analyzing the productivity of tangible and intangible inputs affecting the value-adding process in agricultural holdings. The reasons for developing the concept of that indicator were the imperfections found in the Value-Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC™), a widely adopted method authored by A. Pulić. However, the index of efficiency of intellectual capital (VAIC), recognized as suitable for research purposes, demonstrates certain methodological imperfections, including the simultaneous use of resource- and flow-based values. In addition to certain relevant reservations, the above has other consequences, including the declining trend followed by the efficiency of working capital calculated using this formula. In a situation where working capital is observed to grow, this would mean that funds are irrationally invested in assets with a decreasing capacity to add value. This results in drawing a false picture of economic realities of agricultural holdings which, by nature, demonstrate a high share of physical asset consumption in total production costs. As another consequence, the calculated value of the indicator becomes unacceptable in the long run. The use of the ISVA indicator allowed the author to obtain homogeneous results in terms of methodology and confirming the regularities observed in practice. In addition, the research confirmed not only the fact that agricultural enterprises have intellectual capital resources, but also the high efficiency of their use, exceeding the efficiency of use of traditional ones. It also indicates the desirability of continuing research using measures that will enable the monitoring of intellectual capital and their use in agricultural enterprises.
The Persuasive Effect of Competence and Warmth on Clothing Sustainable Consumption: The Moderating Role of Consumer Knowledge and Social Embeddedness
Authors: Hwang Yoon Yong , Jo Gin Young , Oh Min Jung
Published: April 2020

Commonly, most companies regard consumer satisfaction to be their major goal. Companies have in the past been focusing on consumer choice in product sales from a utility theory perspective. However, these days, in addition to personal choice, clothing disposal and sustainable consumption are also becoming main concerns of consumers because of growing environmental problems in many parts of the world. In this research, two studies were conducted, and the results of study 1 were economic factors that affected sustainable consumption behavior positively, and competence cognition was the basis of this effect. A philanthropic factor also positively influenced sustainable consumption behavior, and this effect was mediated by warmth cognition. Economic factors influenced consumers’ product disposal behavior not only through competence cognition but also through warmth cognition. Therefore, to encourage disposal behaviors, such as recycling and donation, strategies are needed that can appeal to economic advantages. Study 2 examined the clothing disposal behavior considering environmental economic factors by scenarios. As a result, it was confirmed that environmental economics factors influenced clothing disposal behavior. In addition, we could confirm the moderated mediating effect as well as the moderating effects of knowledge level. The implications of these results and some suggestions for future research are discussed.
Dynamic Input–Output Analysis of a Carbon Emission System at the Aggregated and Disaggregated Levels: A Case Study in the Northeast Industrial District
Authors: Zang Hongkuan , Zhang Lirong , Xu Ye , Li Wei
Published: April 2020

Research on carbon emissions of complex interactive activities in urban agglomerations is one of the hotspots of global climate change research. A comprehensive analysis of the urban agglomeration system’s carbon emissions is essential to reveal strategies for reduction and support sustainable development. The objective of this research is to develop an integrated carbon emission network model to explore the impact of different energy types on the Northeast Industrial District (NID), China. Four representative energy groups are considered. Specifically, at the aggregated sector-level, this research quantified the relative contributions of socioeconomic factors to carbon emission changes using structural decomposition analysis and examined the system efficiency and redundancy through robustness analysis. At the disaggregated level, the research investigated carbon emissions of different sectors from production-based, consumption-based, and income-based viewpoints. Moreover, emissions from specific categories of final demand and primary input were quantified. It was found that the increase of final demand level will proceed to push up the carbon emissions of the NID. Changing the production structure contributes to reducing emissions. The carbon emissions system has a high redundancy and low efficiency, illustrating that there are many emission pathways within the system. In addition, the use of crude oil significantly increases system redundancy and inhibits system efficiency. However, the major limitation of the model is that the long-term changes of the system are not considered. Moreover, considering the actual policies, emission reduction simulations could be added in the future.
A New Integrated Scheme for Urban Road Traffic Flood Control Using Liquid Air Spray/Vaporization Technology
Authors: Wu Dawei , Zhang Wenhui , Tang Li , Zhang Cunquan
Published: April 2020

With the rapid progress of urbanization, cities’ demands for traffic flood control are steadily on the increase, and people are gradually paying more attention to traffic safety and environmental issues. Considering the considerable convenience and service ability of liquid air and corresponding products, people have begun to switch to using liquid air as an emergency coolant. However, this air’s cryogenic operation and vigorous vaporization expansion restricts its widespread application. Our study explores innovative applications based on liquid air spray/evaporation icing and natural melting, which can be applied to urban flood protection. This study also includes a brief introduction to the nature of liquid air and road icing, a conceptual design based on liquid air flash evaporation (for urban flood protection), and the modeling and solving of natural road ice melting. This paper introduces many innovative key technologies, which include the rapid solidification of floods to form emergency ice dams or diversion channels and the application of liquid air spray to form icy roads for the temporary passage of small cars or pickup trucks. Additionally, the economic estimations are performed by using downtown traffic flood control in Wuhan as an example to showcase our innovative scheme for applying liquid air spray/vaporization for urban traffic flooding control, which is practical, pollution free, and cost effective. Our innovative scheme will be promising for flood control in modern cities.
Hubungan Penerimaan Diri dengan Kecenderungan Narsistik pada Mahasiswa Pengguna Instagram di Universitas Medan Area
Authors: Dalimunthe Hairul Anwar , Br Sihombing Dinda Marito
Published: April 2020

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji secara empirik mengenai hubungan antara penerimaan diri dengan kecenderungan narsistik, pada mahasiswa Universitas Medan Area. Penelitian ini dilakukan kepada 77 orang mahasiswa Universitas Medan Area, dimana melalui proses screening 42 orang dinyatakan gugur karena tidak memenuhi karakteristik kecenderungan narsistik menurut DSM IV-TR. Sehingga jumlah subjek penelitian didapatkan sebesar 35 orang. Hipotesis yang diajukan dalam penelitian ini adanya hubungan negatif antara penerimaan diri dengan kecenderungan narsistik, dengan asumsi bahwa semakin buruk penerimaan diri maka semakin tinggi kecenderungan narsistiknya dan sebaliknya, semakin baik penerimaan diri maka semakin rendah kecenderungan narsistiknya. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kuantitatif dengan alat ukur skala Penerimaan Diri dan skala Kecenderungan Narisitik, dimana penelitian tersebut diuji dengan menggunakan teknik korelasi Product Moment. Berdasarkan hasil analisis didapatkan rxy = -0,628 dengan p = 0,000 ; p < 0,01 yang menunjukkan bahwa terdapat hubungan negatif yang signifikan antara penerimaan diri dengan kecenderungan narsistik pada mahasiswa Universitas Medan Area. Dari hasil analisis juga didapatkan bahwa kecenderungan narsistik mahasiswa UMA tergolong tinggi, karena mean hipotetik yang didapatkan melalui penelitian lebih kecil dibandingkan mean empiriknya, sedangkan penerimaan diri tergolong buruk karena mean hipotetik lebih besar dibandingkan mean empirik. Adapun koefisien determinan (r2) diatas adalah sebesar r2= 0,395. Ini artinya kecenderungan narsistik dibentuk oleh penerimaan diri sebesar 39,5%.