bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sorbent Based on Polyvinyl Butyral and Potassium Polytitanate for Purifying Wastewater from Heavy Metal Ions
Authors: Ermolenko Anna , Vikulova Maria , Shevelev Alexey , Mastalygina Elena , Ogbuna Offor Peter , Konyukhov Yuri , Razinov Anton , Gorokhovsky Alexander , Burmistrov Igor
Published: June 2020

Currently, the rapid development of industry leads to an increase in negative anthropogenic impacts on the environment, including water ecosystems. This circumstance entails toughening environmental standards and, in particular, requirements for the content of pollutants in wastewater. As a result, developing technical and cost-effective ways for wastewater purification becomes relevant. This study is devoted to the development of a novel composite sorbent, based on polyvinyl butyral and potassium polytitanate, designed to purify water from heavy metal ions. The co-deposition of a mixture based on a polymer solution and a filler suspension was used to obtain a composite material. In this work, the influence of the deposition conditions on the structure and properties of the resulting composites was studied, as well as the optimal ratio of components, including solvent, precipitant, polymer binder, and filler, were established. In the course of this study on the sorption properties of the developed composite materials using various sorption models, the sorption capacity of the obtained material, the sorption mechanism, and the limiting stage of the sorption process were determined. The developed sorbent can be suitably used in the wastewater treatment systems of galvanic industries, enterprises producing chemical current sources, and in other areas.
“Headship”: Making the Case for Fruitful Equality in a World of Indifferent Sameness and Unbridgeable Difference
Authors: McCarthy Margaret Harper
Published: June 2020

The article takes up the biblical category of “headship,” one of the “third rails” for Christians in a context dominated by the limited conceptions of equality, especially those assumed by “second wave” and “difference” feminism, viz., that of interchangeable sameness and unbridgeable difference. Headship is easily dismissed as an instance of (bad) cultural influence that spoiled Christianity’s egalitarian beginnings. Less radically, headship is simply avoided, or glossed over with apologetic caveats. Headship is an embarrassment, because it suggests not only exclusive differences—the “head” is not the “body”—but an order between them. Head and body are “subject to each other” in distinct and coordinated ways. In what follows, the author claims that headship is not only not an affront to equality, but its very condition between subjects who belong to each other in a generous relation of reciprocal and fruitful unity and distinction. Moreover, it is the expression of the novelty of Christianity, regarding first of all the nature of God in whom there is an original Head, and a “positive other,” without any hint of subordinationism (inequality). On the contrary, the Father is never absolute, but always already determined by the Son. This original headship then informs the Christian conception of the world, its positivity, even to the point that it can give something to God. Finally, it informs the this-worldly headships (Christ–Church and husband–wife). There, headship counters the status quo, by countering the “body’s” default immanentistic “certainty” about her exclusive life-giving power, enjoining her to acknowledge a transcendent source. It restores equality to the head. For the “head,” it counters the false absolutist image of God, while enjoining him to “radiate” something of which he is first “subject,” to “be involved with,” and determined by, the woman, as a positive other. It restores equality to the body. In sum, the article urges us to turn towards the deepest resources of Christianity, to find therein a more fruitful equality.
Beyond Sensitive and Selective Electrochemical Biosensors: Towards Continuous, Real-Time, Antibiofouling and Calibration-Free Devices
Authors: Campuzano Susana , Pedrero María , Gamella Maria , Serafín Verónica , Yáñez-Sedeño Paloma , Pingarrón José Manuel
Published: June 2020

Nowadays, electrochemical biosensors are reliable analytical tools to determine a broad range of molecular analytes because of their simplicity, affordable cost, and compatibility with multiplexed and point-of-care strategies. There is an increasing demand to improve their sensitivity and selectivity, but also to provide electrochemical biosensors with important attributes such as near real-time and continuous monitoring in complex or denaturing media, or in vivo with minimal intervention to make them even more attractive and suitable for getting into the real world. Modification of biosensors surfaces with antibiofouling reagents, smart coupling with nanomaterials, and the advances experienced by folded-based biosensors have endowed bioelectroanalytical platforms with one or more of such attributes. With this background in mind, this review aims to give an updated and general overview of these technologies as well as to discuss the remarkable achievements arising from the development of electrochemical biosensors free of reagents, washing, or calibration steps, and/or with antifouling properties and the ability to perform continuous, real-time, and even in vivo operation in nearly autonomous way. The challenges to be faced and the next features that these devices may offer to continue impacting in fields closely related with essential aspects of people’s safety and health are also commented upon.
Fault Diagnosis in the Slip–Frequency Plane of Induction Machines Working in Time-Varying Conditions
Authors: Puche-Panadero Ruben , Martinez-Roman Javier , Sapena-Bano Angel , Burriel-Valencia Jordi , Riera-Guasp Martin
Published: June 2020

Motor current signature analysis (MCSA) is a fault diagnosis method for induction machines (IMs) that has attracted wide industrial interest in recent years. It is based on the detection of the characteristic fault signatures that arise in the current spectrum of a faulty induction machine. Unfortunately, the MCSA method in its basic formulation can only be applied in steady state functioning. Nevertheless, every day increases the importance of inductions machines in applications such as wind generation, electric vehicles, or automated processes in which the machine works most of time under transient conditions. For these cases, new diagnostic methodologies have been proposed, based on the use of advanced time-frequency transforms—as, for example, the continuous wavelet transform, the Wigner Ville distribution, or the analytic function based on the Hilbert transform—which enables to track the fault components evolution along time. All these transforms have high computational costs and, furthermore, generate as results complex spectrograms, which require to be interpreted for qualified technical staff. This paper introduces a new methodology for the diagnosis of faults of IM working in transient conditions, which, unlike the methods developed up to today, analyzes the current signal in the slip-instantaneous frequency plane (s-IF), instead of the time-frequency (t-f) plane. It is shown that, in the s-IF plane, the fault components follow patterns that that are simple and unique for each type of fault, and thus does not depend on the way in which load and speed vary during the transient functioning; this characteristic makes the diagnostic task easier and more reliable. This work introduces a general scheme for the IMs diagnostic under transient conditions, through the analysis of the stator current in the s-IF plane. Another contribution of this paper is the introduction of the specific s-IF patterns associated with three different types of faults (rotor asymmetry fault, mixed eccentricity fault, and single-point bearing defects) that are theoretically justified and experimentally tested. As the calculation of the IF of the fault component is a key issue of the proposed diagnostic method, this paper also includes a comparative analysis of three different mathematical tools for calculating the IF, which are compared not only theoretically but also experimentally, comparing their performance when are applied to the tested diagnostic signals.
Event-Based Gesture Recognition through a Hierarchy of Time-Surfaces for FPGA
Authors: Tapiador-Morales Ricardo , Maro Jean-Matthieu , Jimenez-Fernandez Angel , Jimenez-Moreno Gabriel , Benosman Ryad , Linares-Barranco Alejandro
Published: June 2020

Neuromorphic vision sensors detect changes in luminosity taking inspiration from mammalian retina and providing a stream of events with high temporal resolution, also known as Dynamic Vision Sensors (DVS). This continuous stream of events can be used to extract spatio-temporal patterns from a scene. A time-surface represents a spatio-temporal context for a given spatial radius around an incoming event from a sensor at a specific time history. Time-surfaces can be organized in a hierarchical way to extract features from input events using the Hierarchy Of Time-Surfaces algorithm, hereinafter HOTS. HOTS can be organized in consecutive layers to extract combination of features in a similar way as some deep-learning algorithms do. This work introduces a novel FPGA architecture for accelerating HOTS network. This architecture is mainly based on block-RAM memory and the non-restoring square root algorithm, requiring basic components and enabling it for low-power low-latency embedded applications. The presented architecture has been tested on a Zynq 7100 platform at 100 MHz. The results show that the latencies are in the range of 1 μ s to 6.7 μ s, requiring a maximum dynamic power consumption of 77 mW. This system was tested with a gesture recognition dataset, obtaining an accuracy loss for 16-bit precision of only 1.2% with respect to the original software HOTS.
Did the Consumption Voucher Scheme Stimulate the Economy? Evidence from Smooth Time-Varying Cointegration Analysis
Authors: Lin Feng-Li , Chen Wen-Yi
Published: June 2020

Background: The stimulus coupon plan is one of the economic relief plans used to boost Taiwan’s slumping economy in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. In order to obtain prior information to understand whether or not the stimulus coupon plan would effectively revive the economy in advance, the purpose of this study is to learn lessons from Taiwan’s consumption voucher scheme initiated during the 2007–2009 global financial crisis through evaluating the effect of the consumption voucher scheme on private consumption expenditure. Methods: The smooth time-varying cointegration analysis was applied to estimate the income elasticity of consumption, indicating the individual’s reaction to consumption vouchers in terms of private consumption expenditure, and then the multiple structural change model was estimated to identify endogenous regime changes of the income elasticity of consumption. Results: We found that the income elasticity of consumption dramatically decreased after 2007Q1, a period that covered the subprime mortgage crisis in 2007–2009 and the time of issuance of the consumption vouchers in 2009. Conclusions: We concluded that Taiwan’s consumption voucher scheme might have had either no or little effect on stimulating the economy, so policymakers should be cautioned concerning the potential ineffectiveness of the stimulus coupon plan in the future.
Income Levels and Farm Economic Viability in Italian Farms: An Analysis of FADN Data
Authors: Coppola Adele , Scardera Alfonso , Amato Mario , Verneau Fabio
Published: June 2020

In the European Union legislative proposals for the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) the income support remains an essential part of the CAP. This paper analyses agricultural income levels, the role of EU aids in ensuring fair levels of income and how different socio-economic and structural characteristics affect farms’ economic viability. Italian Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data have been processed and economic viability has been assessed by comparing Farm Net Income to a reference income and by estimating a profitability index to check whether the agricultural activities remunerate factors owned by the farmer and his/her family. After an explorative analysis, two multinomial logit models have been estimated to evaluate how structural and socio-economic characteristics affect the likelihood of a farm to be viable with and without EU aids. Both structural farm characteristics and farmer’s production strategies explain the likelihood of a farm to be viable in the short and in the medium-long term. Farms are more likely to be viable as the size increases and the higher the capital intensity, while viability likelihood decreases with the farmer’s age, when the holder is a woman, and the farm is localized in Southern Italy. CAP payments do not modify the factors that affect farm viability but can change their weight.
Multiscale Quantile Correlation Coefficient: Measuring Tail Dependence of Financial Time Series
Authors: Xu Chao , Ke Jinchuan , Zhao Xiaojun , Zhao Xiaofang
Published: June 2020

In the context of the frequent occurrence of extreme events, measuring the tail dependence of financial time series is essential for maintaining the sustainable development of financial markets. In this paper, a multiscale quantile correlation coefficient (MQCC) is proposed to measure the tail dependence of financial time series. The new MQCC method consists of two parts: the multiscale analysis and the correlation analysis. In the multiscale analysis, the coarse graining approach is used to study the financial time series on multiple temporal scales. In the correlation analysis, the quantile correlation coefficient is applied to quantify the correlation strength of different data quantiles, especially regarding the difference and the symmetry of tails. One reason to adopt this method is that the conditional distribution of the explanatory variables can be characterized by the quantile regression, rather than simply by the conditional expectation analysis in the traditional regression. By applying the MQCC method in the financial markets of different regions, many interesting results can be obtained. It is worth noting that there are significant differences in tail dependence between different types of financial markets.
Social Vulnerability to Natural Hazards in Namibia: A District-Based Analysis
Authors: Kapuka Alpo , Hlásny Tomáš
Published: June 2020

Southern Africa is one of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable regions with severe barriers to its sustainable development. We strived to understand here the patterns and drivers of social vulnerability to natural hazards in Namibia, which is the most arid sub-Saharan country with large social inequalities. We used a total of 12 indicators that characterized social, economic and demographic settings of the 14 districts in the country. Further, we evaluated the countrywide pattern of most relevant natural hazards, including wildfires, floods and drought. We identified the main factors driving social vulnerability in the districts, and we evaluated how the socio-economic fitness of populations coincided with the distribution of high-hazard areas. We found that populations with the poorest socio-economic performance were mostly distributed in the country’s northern districts, which are also exposed to the highest frequency and severity of natural hazards, particularly to floods and wildfires. This coincidence of highly sensitive populations with high exposure to hazards renders these populations particularly vulnerable. That the frequency of natural hazards increases with climate change, and implementation of programs enhancing the social resilience is insufficient, underscores the urgency of actions targeted at the priority areas identified herein.
Växjö Municipality’s Planning Strategy to Increase the Construction of Wooden Multi-Family Buildings
Authors: Lindblad Fredrik
Published: June 2020

Sweden has a housing shortage, which the Swedish authorities expect to continue until 2025. Producers of wooden multi-family buildings have a relatively small market share in comparison to traditional building materials. The limited capacity to fulfil the increased building demand also restricts the possibilities for development towards innovation, bio-economy and sustainability. The municipalities in Sweden have responsibility for the planning of the building development in their region based on their projected requirements and strategies. Combining this with a desire to develop sustainable building solutions based on wood increases the complexity. Currently, public building developments are achieved through the public procurement act or the land allocation activity, dependent on their development strategy. This normally involves the development of local strategies regarding, for example, design, material choice and geographical development. This study aims to identify drivers that will enable improved market activities related to actions in public building initiatives using wood-based solutions, which is conducted by studying a specific building project managed by the Växjö Municipality in Sweden. The result indicates that improved transparency in the land allocation activity generates possibilities for developers to respond successfully to the requests submitted by the municipalities, and thus, increase the possible use of sustainable building methods using wood. This knowledge improves the understanding of the required strategic development for the companies, the government and the municipalities, to increase the use of sustainable building materials in Swedish multi-family housing projects.
On the Importance of Asymmetry in the Phenotypic Expression of the Genetic Code upon the Molecular Evolution of Proteins
Authors: José Marco V. , Zamudio Gabriel S.
Published: June 2020

The standard genetic code (SGC) is a mapping between the 64 possible arrangements of the four RNA nucleotides (C, A, U, G) into triplets or codons, where 61 codons are assigned to a specific amino acid and the other three are stop codons for terminating protein synthesis. Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) are responsible for implementing the SGC by specifically amino-acylating only its cognate transfer RNA (tRNA), thereby linking an amino acid with its corresponding anticodon triplets. tRNAs molecules bind each codon with its anticodon. To understand the meaning of symmetrical/asymmetrical properties of the SGC, we designed synthetic genetic codes with known symmetries and with the same degeneracy of the SGC. We determined their impact on the substitution rates for each amino acid under a neutral model of protein evolution. We prove that the phenotypic graphs of the SGC for codons and anticodons for all the possible arrangements of nucleotides are asymmetric and the amino acids do not form orbits. In the symmetrical synthetic codes, the amino acids are grouped according to their codonicity, this is the number of triplets encoding a given amino acid. Both the SGC and symmetrical synthetic codes exhibit a probability of occurrence of the amino acids proportional to their degeneracy. Unlike the SGC, the synthetic codes display a constant probability of occurrence of the amino acid according to their codonicity. The asymmetry of the phenotypic graphs of codons and anticodons of the SGC, has important implications on the evolutionary processes of proteins.
Construction of Weights for Positive Integral Operators
Authors: Kerman Ron
Published: June 2020

Let ( X , M , μ ) be a σ -finite measure space and denote by P ( X ) the μ -measurable functions f : X → [ 0 , ∞ ] , f < ∞ μ ae. Suppose K : X × X → [ 0 , ∞ ) is μ × μ -measurable and define the mutually transposed operators T and T ′ on P ( X ) by ( T f ) ( x ) = ∫ X K ( x , y ) f ( y ) d μ ( y ) and ( T ′ g ) ( y ) = ∫ X K ( x , y ) g ( x ) d μ ( x ) , f , g ∈ P ( X ) , x , y ∈ X . Our interest is in inequalities involving a fixed (weight) function w ∈ P ( X ) and an index p ∈ ( 1 , ∞ ) such that: (*): ∫ X [ w ( x ) ( T f ) ( x ) ] p d μ ( x ) ≲ C ∫ X [ w ( y ) f ( y ) ] p d μ ( y ) . The constant C > 1 is to be independent of f ∈ P ( X ) . We wish to construct all w for which (*) holds. Considerations concerning Schur’s Lemma ensure that every such w is within constant multiples of expressions of the form ϕ 1 1 / p − 1 ϕ 2 1 / p , where ϕ 1 , ϕ 2 ∈ P ( X ) satisfy T ϕ 1 ≤ C 1 ϕ 1 and T ′ ϕ 2 ≤ C 2 ϕ 2 . Our fundamental result shows that the ϕ 1 and ϕ 2 above are within constant multiples of (**): ψ 1 + ∑ j = 1 ∞ E − j T ( j ) ψ 1 and ψ 2 + ∑ j = 1 ∞ E − j T ′ ( j ) ψ 2 respectively; here ψ 1 , ψ 2 ∈ P ( X ) , E > 1 and T ( j ) , T ′ ( j ) are the jth iterates of T and T ′ . This result is explored in the context of Poisson, Bessel and Gauss–Weierstrass means and of Hardy averaging operators. All but the Hardy averaging operators are defined through symmetric kernels K ( x , y ) = K ( y , x ) , so that T ′ = T . This means that only the first series in (**) needs to be studied.
Nanorod Arrays Enhanced UV Light Response of Mg-Doped ZnO Films
Authors: Lin Der-Yuh , Chen Hone-Zern , Kao Ming-Cheng , Young San-Lin , Sung Wen-Yi
Published: June 2020

Zn1−xMgxO (x = 0, 0.03, 0.05, and 0.07) nanocrystalline films were grown on silicon substrates using the sol–gel method. Furthermore, Zn1−xMgxO vertically aligned hexagonal symmetrical nanorods with six reflection symmetries were fabricated on pure ZnO-seeded layer n-type silicon substrates via a low-temperature hydrothermal method to enhance the ultraviolet (UV) light response. The crystal microstructures and surface morphologies of nanocrystalline films and nanorod arrays were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Transmission spectra showed that the increasing Mg content will increase the band gap energy from 3.28 to 3.46 eV. However, the current–voltage curves in the dark and under UV illumination showed that the UV response did not improve by the incorporation of magnesium. We changed the flat surface of films into symmetrical nanorod arrays and demonstrated they can significantly enhance the normalized photo-to-dark-current ratio up to ten times.
Canonical Transformation of Potential Model Hamiltonian Mechanics to Geometrical Form I
Authors: Strauss Yosef , Horwitz Lawrence P. , Levitan Jacob , Yahalom Asher
Published: June 2020

Using the methods of symplectic geometry, we establish the existence of a canonical transformation from potential model Hamiltonians of standard form in a Euclidean space to an equivalent geometrical form on a manifold, where the corresponding motions are along geodesic curves. The advantage of this representation is that it admits the computation of geodesic deviation as a test for local stability, shown in recent previous studies to be a very effective criterion for the stability of the orbits generated by the potential model Hamiltonian. We describe here an algorithm for finding the generating function for the canonical transformation and describe some of the properties of this mapping under local diffeomorphisms. We give a convergence proof for this algorithm for the one-dimensional case, and provide a precise geometric formulation of geodesic deviation which relates the stability of the motion in the geometric form to that of the Hamiltonian standard form. We apply our methods to a simple one-dimensional harmonic oscillator and conclude with a discussion of the relation of bounded domains in the two representations for which Morse theory would be applicable.
Similarity Measures of Quadripartitioned Single Valued Bipolar Neutrosophic Sets and Its Application in Multi-Criteria Decision Making Problems
Authors: Roy Subhadip , Lee Jeong-Gon , Pal Anita , Samanta Syamal Kumar
Published: June 2020

In this paper, a definition of quadripartitioned single valued bipolar neutrosophic set (QSVBNS) is introduced as a generalization of both quadripartitioned single valued neutrosophic sets (QSVNS) and bipolar neutrosophic sets (BNS). There is an inherent symmetry in the definition of QSVBNS. Some operations on them are defined and a set theoretic study is accomplished. Various similarity measures and distance measures are defined on QSVBNS. An algorithm relating to multi-criteria decision making problem is presented based on quadripartitioned bipolar weighted similarity measure. Finally, an example is shown to verify the flexibility of the given method and the advantage of considering QSVBNS in place of fuzzy sets and bipolar fuzzy sets.
An Asymptotic Test for Bimodality Using The Kullback–Leibler Divergence
Authors: Contreras-Reyes Javier E.
Published: June 2020

Detecting bimodality of a frequency distribution is of considerable interest in several fields. Classical inferential methods for detecting bimodality focused in third and fourth moments through the kurtosis measure. Nonparametric approach-based asymptotic tests (DIPtest) for comparing the empirical distribution function with a unimodal one are also available. The latter point drives this paper, by considering a parametric approach using the bimodal skew-symmetric normal distribution. This general class captures bimodality, asymmetry and excess of kurtosis in data sets. The Kullback–Leibler divergence is considered to obtain the statistic’s test. Some comparisons with DIPtest, simulations, and the study of sea surface temperature data illustrate the usefulness of proposed methodology.
Bioconvection in Cross Nano-Materials with Magnetic Dipole Impacted by Activation Energy, Thermal Radiation, and Second Order Slip
Authors: Abdelmalek Zahra , Al-Khaled Kamel , Waqas Hassan , Aldabesh A. , Khan Sami Ullah , Musmar Sa’ed A. , Tlili Iskander
Published: June 2020

Ferro liquids derive their magneto–viscous behavior from the suspended magnetic nanomaterial that enables tunable changes in temperature, as well as nano-structured fluid characteristics. A theoretical model that depicts the bioconvection flow of cross nanofluid with a magnetic dipole subjected to a cylindrical surface was developed and numerically solved. The model encountered nonlinear thermal radiation, activation energy, and second order slip. The flow equations were reduced and are presented in dimensionless forms, and they were solved numerically using the shooting technique, which is a built-in feature of MatLab. The model encountered symmetrical constraints for predicting velocity, temperature, concentration, and gyrotactic microorganism distribution and profiles. Moreover, the numerical values were computed for local Nusselt number, local Sherwood number, and motile density number against each physical parameter.
Comprehensive View on Racing Car Upright Design and Manufacturing
Authors: Hunar Marek , Jancar Lukas , Krzikalla David , Kaprinay David , Srnicek David
Published: June 2020

This paper deals with the design of an upright using a topological optimization. This type of optimization is a relatively young and rapidly evolving area of computational mechanics that seeks to make multiple material savings that cannot be achieved by conventional methods. The optimized upright was utilized in a fully functional prototype of the student formula within the Formula Student competition. The main objective of the optimization was to meet the requirements of the physical properties, weight, stiffness, and strength of the upright. The initial model of the upright was iteratively optimized using topological optimization and a finite element static analysis to obtain the final model. Using the finite element analysis, its behavior in operation within individual load cases was predicted. Symmetry was used to mirror the finished model to obtain the opposite upright of the other side of the car. Finally, the topologically optimized upright was compared with an upright made by conventional methods.
Low-Computational Extended Orthogonal Matched Filter Structure for Multiuser Detection
Authors: Takabayashi Kento , Harada Shuhei , Kobayashi Takumi , Sakakibara Katsumi , Kohno Ryuji
Published: June 2020

This research provides a novel extended orthogonal matched filter (EOMF) structure that supports multiuser detection. In addition, this structure is designed to suppress increases in computational complexity and circuit scale. In coming years, the number of Internet of Things (IoT) applications that use wireless ad hoc networks is expected to increase. To realize a highly reliable wireless ad hoc network, it is essential to introduce a method for cancelling the interference from other users. This research adopts a method based on code division multiple access (CDMA). However, a CDMA-based method has difficulty with deteriorating performance due to the near-far problem and the increase in the amount of interference as the number of users increases. Another problem is that the spreading sequence of each user is unknown in a wireless ad hoc network. The EOMF effectively removes interference while solving the above problems by combining an OMF and an adaptive array antenna. In this research, an EOMF structure with multiuser detection and lower computational complexity than the conventional EOMF is proposed. By the derived formulas and numerical examples, the proposed structure reduces the computational complexity by approximately 75% compared to the conventional EOMF and obtains sufficient bit error ratio (BER) performance.
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Neurotoxicity in Sentinel and Non-Traditional Laboratory Model Systems: Potential Utility in Predicting Adverse Outcomes in Human Health
Authors: Foguth Rachel , Sepúlveda Maria S. , Cannon Jason
Published: June 2020

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of chemicals that were widely used in manufacturing and are now present in the environment throughout the world. It is known that various PFAS are quantifiable in human in blood, but potential adverse health outcomes remain unclear. Sentinel and non-traditional model species are useful to study potential toxicity of PFAS in order to understand the relationship between environmental and human health. Here, we present a critical review of studies on the neurotoxicity of PFAS in sentinel and non-traditional laboratory model systems, including Caenorhabditis elegans (nematode), Dugesia japonica (planarian), Rana pipiens (frogs), Danio rerio and Oryzias melastigma (fish), and Ursus maritimus (polar bears). PFAS have been implicated in developmental neurotoxicity in non-traditional and traditional model systems as well as sentinel species, including effects on neurotransmitter levels, especially acetylcholine and its metabolism. However, further research on the mechanisms of toxicity needs to be conducted to determine if these chemicals are affecting organisms in a similar manner. Overall, findings tend to be similar among the various species, but bioaccumulation may vary, which needs to be taken into account in future studies by quantifying target organ concentrations of PFAS to better compare different species. Furthermore, data on the majority of PFAS is lacking in neurotoxicity testing, and additional studies are needed to corroborate findings thus far.
Technological Approaches for Improving Vaccination Compliance and Coverage
Authors: Lemoine Céline , Thakur Aneesh , Krajišnik Danina , Guyon Romain , Longet Stephanie , Razim Agnieszka , Górska Sabina , Pantelić Ivana , Ilić Tanja , Nikolić Ines , Lavelle Ed C. , Gamian Andrzej , Savić Snežana , Milicic Anita
Published: June 2020

Vaccination has been well recognised as a critically important tool in preventing infectious disease, yet incomplete immunisation coverage remains a major obstacle to achieving disease control and eradication. As medical products for global access, vaccines need to be safe, effective and inexpensive. In line with these goals, continuous improvements of vaccine delivery strategies are necessary to achieve the full potential of immunisation. Novel technologies related to vaccine delivery and route of administration, use of advanced adjuvants and controlled antigen release (single-dose immunisation) approaches are expected to contribute to improved coverage and patient compliance. This review discusses the application of micro- and nano-technologies in the alternative routes of vaccine administration (mucosal and cutaneous vaccination), oral vaccine delivery as well as vaccine encapsulation with the aim of controlled antigen release for single-dose vaccination.
Computational Analyses of the Effects of Wind Tunnel Ground Simulation and Blockage Ratio on the Aerodynamic Prediction of Flow over a Passenger Vehicle
Authors: Fu Chen , Uddin Mesbah , Zhang Chunhui
Published: June 2020

With the fast-paced growth of computational horsepower and its affordability, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been rapidly evolving as a popular and effective tool for aerodynamic design and analysis in the automotive industry. In the real world, a road vehicle is subject to varying wind and operating conditions that affect its aerodynamic characteristics, and are difficult to reproduce in a traditional wind tunnel. CFD has the potential of becoming a cost-effective way of achieving this, through the application of different boundary conditions. Additionally, one can view wind tunnel testing, be it a fixed-floor or rolling road tunnel, as a physical simulation of actual on-road driving. The use of on-road track testing, and static-floor, and rolling-road wind tunnel measurements are common practices in industry. Subsequently, we investigated the influences of these test conditions and the related boundary conditions on the predictions of the aerodynamic characteristics of the flow field around a vehicle using CFD. A detailed full-scale model of Hyundai Veloster with two vehicle configurations, one with the original and the other with an improved spoiler, were tested using a commercial CFD code STAR-CCM+ from Siemens. Both vehicle configurations were simulated using four different test conditions, providing overall eight different sets of simulation settings. The CFD methodology was validated with experimental data from the Hyundai Aero-acoustic Wind Tunnel (HAWT), by accurately reproducing the test section with static floor boundary conditions. In order to investigate the effect of the blockage ratio on the aerodynamic predictions, the vehicle models were then tested with moving ground plus rotating wheel boundary conditions, using a total of four virtual wind tunnel configurations, with tunnel solid blockage ratios ranging from 1.25%, which corresponds to the actual HAWT, to 0.04%, which presents an open air driving condition.
Assessment of the Water, Environmental, Economic and Social Vulnerability of a Watershed to the Potential Effects of Climate Change and Land Use Change
Authors: Orozco Ismael , Martínez Adrián , Ortega Víctor
Published: June 2020

In semi-arid regions, where hydrological resources are very vulnerable and where there are water shortages in many regions of the world, it is of great importance to assess the vulnerability that a system is facing or will face to the potential impacts of climatic changes and changes on the use of land. For that reason, this research focuses on evaluating the global vulnerability of a hydrological basin, taking into consideration these changes. Being different from the existing methodologies that assess the vulnerability, our methodology interconnects through a new interface a distributed hydrological model, global climate models, climate change scenarios, land use change scenarios and the largest number of system variables calculated with information from official sources. Another important point of our methodology is that it quantifies the global vulnerability of the system, taking into consideration hydrological, environmental, economic and social vulnerabilities. The results obtained show that the proposed methodology may provide a new approach to analyze vulnerability in semi-arid regions. Moreover, it made it possible to diagnose and establish that the greatest current and future vulnerabilities of the system are the result of activities in agricultural areas and urban centers.
Effects of epidural bupivacaine, bupivacaine-butorphanol and bupivacaine-morphine on postoperative analgesia for hind limb and pelvic orthopedic operations in dogs
Authors: KARSLI Birkan , PEKCAN Zeynep , KUMANDAŞ Ali , KÜRÜM Barış , ÇINAR Miyase
Published: June 2020

The aim of this study was to compare the postoperative analgesic effects of epidural bupivacaine, bupivacaine-butorphanol and bupivacaine-morphine in hind limb and pelvic orthopedic operations in dogs. Three groups each containing 10 dogs were formed. Through the lumbosacral space, group B was administered bupivacaine, 1 mg kg-1; group BB was administered bupivacaine, 1 mg kg-1 and butorphanol, 0.25 mg kg-1; and group BM was administered bupivacaine, 1 mg kg-1 and morphine, 0.1 mg kg-1. Anaesthesia was induced with diazepam (0.2 mg kg-1) and propofol (5 mg kg-1) and maintenance with isoflurane in oxygen. Pain assessment was performed with the University of Melbourne Pain Scale (UMPS) by a blinded observer. Plasma cortisol levels were measured preoperatively and postoperatively. Postoperative pain scores were significantly lower at 2 hours in the group BM, and at 8 and 12 hours in the groups BB and BM compared to the group B (P=0.007). Group BM had a lower plasma cortisol level than the group B at 2 hours (P=0.002). Bupivacaine-butorphanol and bupivacaine-morphine use were shown to provide longer analgesia in the postoperative period; and the epidural administration of bupivacaine-butorphanol and bupivacaine-morphine was considered to be potentially useful in clinical practice.
Entinociceptive effects of Euphorbia helioscopia extract on Balb/c mice
Authors: Alibabaei Zahra , Lorigooini Zahra , Amini-Khoei Hossein , Rabiei Zahra , Rafieian-Kopaei Mahmoud
Published: June 2020

Background and aims:
Euphorbia helioscopia has multiple pharmacological activities, such as antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal,anticancer and/or antitumor, allelopathic, anti-allergic and anti-asthmatic, antioxidant, antinociceptive effect. The aim of the study was to evaluate the antinociceptive activities of Euphorbia helioscopia extract in Balb/c mice, as well as the total flavonoids, phenolic contents, and antioxidant activities of the extract. Methods: In this study, 90 Balb/c mice were randomly designated into 9 groups. Group 1 received normal saline, groups 2 to 7 received different doses of the E. helioscopia hydroethanolic extract (i.e., 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 2, & 8 mg/kg, i.p.).In addition, groups 8 and 9 received naloxone (1 mg/kg) and extract (8 mg/kg) plus naloxone (1 mg/kg), respectively (Naloxone was injected 15 minutes after extract administration). Then, pain response was evaluated for 30 minutes after the injection of 20 µL formalin (1.5%) in the plantar surface of the mice foot. Further, the beta-carotene-linoleate method was used for measuring antioxidant capacity. Finally, total phenolic and flavonoid content were measured based on Folin-Ciocalteu colorimetric and aluminum chloride colorimetric methods, respectively. Results: Total phenol and flavonoid content were 49.43 ± 1.8 mg GAE/g dried extract and 30.19 ± 1.96 mg rutin/g dried extract, respectively. Our results showed that during the first 5 minutes (the acute pain step), a significant difference (P<0.05) was observed between the control group and the group which received the E. helioscopia hydroethanolic extract (8 mg/kg). In the next 25 minutes (the chronic pain step), a significant difference (P<0.05) was found between the control group and the group which received 0.1 and 8 mg/kg doses of the extract. Based on the results, naloxone was unable to reverse the antinociceptive effects of the extract and the maximum antioxidant activity of the extract was 1.641 mg/g of rutin equivalent. Conclusion: In general, this study supports the use of the E. helioscopia extract in folk medicine as the analgesic agent and calls for further investigations regarding elucidating its mechanism of action. Eventually, our findings revealed that the extract of E. helioscopia possessed either antinociceptive or anti-oxidative activities.
The frequency of cytogenetic abnormalities in idiopathic oligospermia and azoospermia infertile men in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Jafari- Ghahfarrokhi Hamideh , Gholami Delnya , Rajaie Esfahani Mohammad , Teimori Hossein
Published: June 2020

Background and aims: Infertility is one of the main health issues in families worldwide. In addition, there is a complex correlation between genetics and infertility and chromosomal abnormalities are found in 8% of infertile males. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of cytogenetic abnormalities among idiopathic oligospermia and azoospermia infertile men who were treated in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the records of a total of 100 participants were evaluated retrospectively. The patients who were under careful physical and para-clinical (i.e., hormonal, ultrasound, and spermiogeram) examinations were enrolled in the study. Chromosomal analysis was carried out on the cultures of peripheral blood lymphocytes by Giemsa (G) banding. Eventually, 10 well-spread metaphases were analyzed by G-banding. Result: The chromosome abnormality frequency, the numerical type, and the structural type were 13%, 3%, and 10%, respectively. Among patients with azoospermia, two cases had Klinefelter syndrome with karyotype. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that structural abnormalities are more prevalent than numerical abnormalities in infertile men who were treated in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. This indicates the importance of cytogenetic examination and the relevance of its achievements to the patient’s management in infertility clinics. Therefore, the cytogenetic test is proposed for infertile men, in particular in those who endure azoospermia.
The effects of pBudCE4.1-azurin-MAM-A recombinant vector on IL-2, IL-6, IL-7, and IL-10 expressions in laboratory mice
Authors: Ghasemi-Dehkordi Payam , Doosti Abbas , Jami Mohammad-Saeid
Published: June 2020

Background and aims: Breast cancer is one of the most common types of malignancy in women with morbidity and mortality (15.0%) in the world. The antitumor activity of azurin protein produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been described before. Mammaglobin-A (MAM-A) protein is especially expressed in 40%-80% of breast cancer types and this protein is a very specific molecular marker for stimulating the immune system. Accordingly, this study investigated the effects of pBudCE4.1-azurin-MAM-A recombinant vector on the induction of the immune system in laboratory mice by the real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method.Methods: The pBudCE4.1-azurin-MAM-A recombinant and empty vectors were purchased and then separately transformed into Escherichia coli for multiplying. Next, each plasmid was extracted and the accuracy of transformation was confirmed by the PCR. These recombinant and empty (control) vectors were separately infused into the thigh muscle of the animals and the healthy group was infused with phosphatebuffered saline. The infusion sites, blood specimens, as well as the serum of the animals were collected and examined by serological and molecular tests.Results: Molecular and serological studies showed that the serum and expression levels of IL-2, IL-6, IL-7, and IL-10 in infused mice with pBudCE4.1-azurin-MAM-A recombinant vector significantly increased compared to healthy animals and injected mice with an empty vector (P<0.05).Conclusion: In general, the findings revealed that the pBudCE4.1-azurin-MAM-A recombinant vector can stimulate the immune system of the mouse by an increase in the expression levels of IL-2, IL-6, IL-7, and IL-10. Thus, it would be better to examine the effects of this recombinant vector as a DNA vaccine on the prevention and treatment of breast cancer.
Tarımsal Ürünlerde Rekabet Gücü: Bölgesel Bir Analiz
Authors: TUNCA Halil
Published: June 2020

Tarım sektörü, gıda güvenliğini sağlama ve
istikrarlı bir ekonomik gelişmeye yardımcı olmak gibi hayati görevlere
sahiptir. Bu görevlerin başarılı bir şekilde gerçekleştirilebilmesi için hangi
tarımsal ürünlerde karşılaştırmalı üstünlüğe sahip olunduğunun bilinmesi
gerekmektedir. Bu sebepten ötürü bu çalışmanın amacı Türkiye’deki illerin
tarımsal ürün gruplarındaki karşılaştırmalı üstünlüğünün hesaplanmasıdır. Bunun
için Balassa tarafından geliştirilen Açıklanmış Karşılaştırmalı Üstünlükler
indeksi kullanılmıştır. 2015 ve 2018 yılları için yapılan hesaplamada
Uyumlaştırılmış Mal Tanım ve Kod (HS) sistemi kullanılmış ve ihtiyaç duyulan
veriler TÜİK’dan elde edilmiştir. Çalışma sonuçları herhangi bir ilin sahip
olduğu tarımsal performans ve rekabetçi yapı açısından ön plana çıkmadığını
göstermektedir. HS 04 ve HS 11 ürün gruplarında karşılaştırmalı üstünlüğe sahip
olan il sayısı en fazladır. HS 13 ve HS 24 ise en kötü performansa sahip olan
ürün gruplarıdır. Ankara, Adana, Burdur, Bursa, Denizli, Gaziantep, Mersin ve
Konya karşılaştırmalı üstünlüğe sahip olan illerdir. Ardahan, Bayburt, Karaman,
Muş, Kütahya, Kars, Elazığ, Erzurum, Adıyaman ve Bitlis gibi illerin ise hiçbir
ürün grubunda karşılaştırmalı üstünlüğe sahip olmadıkları görülmüştür.
Thirumoolarin Thirumanthira Thiruvarutkaatchi
Authors: R Dhandapani , K Venkatesan
Published: June 2020

This article looks at the various street game of the lord through the thirumandra Thiruvarut scenario. The essence of this article is to know the greatness of Siva, Siddhu, Siddhu games through Thirumanthiram. Through this article, the Principles of the life Style, Yoga, Ethical, and Piety which Thirumoolar illustrates through three thousand songs are researched. Thirumoolar’s Thirumandhiram (Patham Thirumurai) is a part of Panniru Thirumurai. This book includes many divine play of Lord Shiva and divine appearance of god to his devotees. A review of this book reveals the spiritual faith of Thirumoolar in Lord Shiva. The aim of this paper is to tell about spiritualism of Thirumoolar and his extreme belief in the mantra “OM NAMA SHIVAYA” to blend his soul with the supreme power. In Thirumanthiram, Thirumoolar has mentioned about Shivam, Bhathi, Yoga, Meditation, Shakthi in human physiology, Maya, Prayers, Belief in god, method of worshipping god. He categorized all these characteristics into science, psychology, spiritualism and exchange of soul from one body to another. he explained the presence of Lord Shiva in living and non-living things, blending of spiritualism with psychology, attitude of human beings towards spiritualism. Thirumanthiram insisted that the great five letters mantra “OM NAMA SHIVAYA” covers the entire universe with love and affection of Lord Shiva.
Petrol Kirliliği Kaynaklı Uluslararası Tazminat Sistemi ve Mesuliyetin Paylaştırılması
Authors: KAMAL Bünyamin , ÇİLOĞLU Erhan
Published: June 2020

Dünya enerji ihtiyacının ciddi bir kısmı petrolden tedarik edilmektedir. Farklı ulaştırma modlarıyla taşınsa da petrol ticareti için düşük maliyetli olduğu için en çok deniz ulaştırma modu kullanılmaktadır. Denizlerdeki yoğun petrol taşımacılığı çevresel riskleri tetiklemektedir ve petrol tankerlerinden kaynaklanan kazalar sadece kıyı devletlerindeki yapıları değil kirlenen alanlardaki insanların yaşamlarını da etkilemektedir. Bu sebebe binaen petrol kirliliğinden zarar görenlerin tazmin edilmesi bir gereklilik olarak ortaya çıkmaktadır. Tanker gemileri kaynaklı petrol kirliliği mağdurlarının tazmin edilmesi için bazı çabalar gösterilmiştir. Bu bağlamda 1969 Hukuki Sorumluluk Sözleşmesi (CLC 1992) ve 1971 Fon Sözleşmesi (Fon 1971) geliştirilmiştir ve bunlar sonradan CLC 1992 ve Fon 1992 Sözleşmeleri ile ve son olarak üçüncü kademe tazminat sistemini teşkil eden Ek Fon Protokolü ile ikame edilmiştir. Bu düzenlemelerde, mesuliyet yükünün çoğunluğu Petrol Kirliliği Tazminat (IOPC) Fonlarına (1992 Fonu ve Ek Fon) katkıda bulunan petrol ithal eden şirketlerin omuzuna yüklenmiştir ve bu petrol ithal eden şirketler ve tanker gemisi malikleri arasında açık bir eşitsizliğe yol açmıştır. Bundan dolayı, petrol ithal eden şirketler lehine, gemi malikleri adına Uluslararası P&I Kulüpler Grubu gönüllü olarak STOPIA ve TOPIA adlı iki mekanizma geliştirmiştir. Bu çalışmada üç basamaklı tazminat sistemi, STOPIA ve TOPIA mekanizmaları analiz edilmiştir ve STOPIA ve TOPIA’nın ilk on yıllık gözden geçirme periyodu mesuliyetin dağıtılması hususunda değerlendirilmiştir.