bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ancora sul distretto industriale ecuadoriano: l'agglomerazione manifatturiera del cuoio di Quisapincha (Ecuador)
Authors: Curiazi Roberta , Mayoral Fernando Martin
Published: October 2020

Nella fase II di un'indagine sui distretti manifatturieri dell'Ecuador analizziamo l'agglomerato di produttori di pelletteria di Quisapincha (Provincia del Tungurahua), con l'obiettivo di investigarne le caratteristiche come sistema di produzione locale e ragionare sul ruolo delle PMI locali come possibili vettori di sviluppo economico e sociale del territorio. La carenza di dati quantitativi e la difficoltà di accesso a informazioni in loco ci hanno spinto stavolta verso un'analisi in toto qualitativa, dinamica e di matrice comparativa, realizzata con il supporto di macro-categorie concettuali interpretative, diverse da quelle utilizzate nella fase I, che rispettano la natura immateriale e disomegenea di molti dei fattori analizzati come parte di una struttura più ampia di regole, procedure e convenzioni sociali, culturali e politiche del territorio. Quisapincha, ancora in uno stato di sviluppo distrettuale "embrionale", appare caratterizzato da una particolare "atmosfera industriale" e patisce l'assenza di una governance interna che produca "efficienza collettiva", di iniziative di outsourcing e di un adeguato supporto istituzionale. A questi fattori si aggiungono il marcato declino economico del paese in atto dal 2014 e la crescente concorrenza (settoriale e territoriale) degli ultimi anni, che hanno messo in pericolo la sopravvivenza stessa del distretto produttivo. Tuttavia questa sorte potrebbe essere invertita con processi di integrazione verticale e orizzontale tra microimprese, guidati da un potenziale agente coordinatore (l'impannatore), l'impresa Curtiembres Quisapincha1, l'unica realtà locale nelle condizioni di generare un possibile "effetto distretto" e permettere la sopravvivenza e il consolidamento del sistema produttivo locale.
La Gazzetta del Frenocomio: un esperimento di "giornalismo psichiatrico" al San Lazzaro di Reggio Emilia (1875-1881)
Authors: Paolella Francesco
Published: October 2020

Questo intervento è dedicato alla ‘Gazzetta del Frenocomio', un periodico pubblicato dall'amministrazione del manicomio San Lazzaro di Reggio Emilia fra il 1875 e il 1881. Se ne ricava l'immagine di una istituzione in forte crescita, desiderosa di affermarsi come luogo di formazione e di perfezionamento negli studi psichiatrici di assoluta eccellenza e come manicomio-modello per le altre realtà italiane e straniere.
Юридичні позиції Конституційного Суду України щодо референдуму як форми прямої демократії
Authors: ЗАДОРОЖНЯ ГАЛИНА , ЗАДОРОЖНИЙ ЮРІЙ
Published: October 2020

Відсутність правового механізму реалізації референдуму в Україні унеможливлює, незважаючи на пряму дію норм Конституції України, практичну реалізацію низки положень Основного Закону в аспекті народного волевиявлення. Законодавець, працюючи над проєктом “референдного” закону, зобо в’язаний враховувати юридичні позиції Конституційного Суду України (КСУ), щоб попередити можливість його визнання таким, що не відповідає Конституції України (є неконституційним) за своїм змістом. Аналіз останніх досліджень і публікацій пока зав, що попри доктринально обґрунтовану необхідність унормування відносин в аспекті організації та проведення всеукраїнського і місцевого референдумів, у системі національного законодавства і донині немає профільного закону про референдум. Воля народу в державі повинна бути основою влади уряду, тому здійснення народного волевиявлення через ухвалення ним обов’язкових рішень є формою реалізації його суверенітету. Саме такі юридичні міркування лягли в основу низки юридичних позицій, сформованих органом конституційної юрисдикції в аспекті народного волевиявлення.
Мета статті полягає у предметному аналізі юридичних позицій КСУ, сформованих ним у контексті тлумачення норм Конституції України, щодо референдуму як форми прямої демократії, а також в аспекті врахування законодавцем його юридичних позицій при розробленні проєкту Закону про народовладдя через всеукраїнський референдум № 3612.
Результати дослідження свідчать, що процесуально-правова незабезпеченість реалізації інституту референдуму нівелює авторитет Конституції України як Основного Закону держави та унеможливлює здійснення Українським народом як “єдиним джерелом влади в Україні” і “носієм суверенітету” безпосередньої влади у державі на всеукраїнському та місцевому рівнях, що є неприпустимим у правовій державі.
Уперше на основі узагальнення юридичних позицій КСУ сформовано правовий підхід, відповідно до якого унеможливлення практичної реалізації Українським народом його конституційно визначеного владного права вирішувати питання на референдумі є проявом відчуження “народного суверенітету” від його конституційного носія, оскільки референдум є формою реалізації дискреційних повноважень.
У контексті викладу підсумкових узагальнень автори публікації: а) запропонували авторське визначення поняття “юридична позиція” як стійке смислове юридичне твердження КСУ стосовно змісту норм права, сформоване ним у результаті предметно-системного оцінення і роз’яснення їх смислового значення, завдяки чому усувається предметно-правова невизначеність у теорії та практиці національного правотворення і державотворення, або ж виявляється така предметно-правова невизначеність, усунення якої покладається на нормотворчі органи; б) визначили ключові юридичні позиції КСУ в аспекті референдного народовладдя; в) проаналізували сув’язну відповідність змісту норм проєкту Закону № 3612 юридичним позиціям органу конституційної юрисдикції, завдяки чому зробили узагальнення про необхідність предметного його доопрацювання.
Розвиток ідей професора Герша Лаутерпахта щодо відповідальності за вчинення злочинів проти людяності у сучасному міжнародному кримінальному праві (до 75-річчя перемоги над нацистським режимом у другій світовій війні)
Authors: РАБІНОВИЧ ПЕТРО , ДЕРЖИПІЛЬСЬКА АННА
Published: October 2020

Цьогоріч всі цивілізовані народи світу відзначатимуть (навіть за надзвичайних умов пандемії) 75-річний ювілей перемоги над нацистським режимом. У зв’язку з цим виглядає доречним вкотре звернутися до проблеми юридичної відпо відальності за вчинення злочинів проти людяності, покарання за які були вперше застосовані Міжнародним трибуналом у Нюрнберзі.
Правові погляди професора Герша Лаутерпахта вже привертали неабияку увагу вітчизняних і зарубіжних фахівців, насамперед, із міжнародного кримінального права. Зокрема, заслуговують на увагу праці В. Навроцького, Ф. Сендса, Ш. Мерфі. Проте зазвичай поза увагою дослідників залишалася та обставина, що першим доктринальним проєктантом назв декількох видів злочинів проти людяності став урод-женець Східної Галичини – професор Г. Лаутерпахт. Яким чином проєкт Г. Лаутерпахта вперше було офіційно реалізовано в Статуті Нюрнберзького трибуналу – цей епізод яскраво відображено у широковідомій нині книзі авторитетного британського професора міжнародного права Ф. Сендса. Йдеться про те, що влітку 1945 р. Г. Лаутерпахта в Англії відвідав американський юрист-практик Р. Джексон – майбутній головний обвинувач від США на Нюрнберзькому процесі. І йому Г. Лаутерпахт продиктував відповідний текст, який згодом було використано у згаданому Статуті.
Метою статті є визначення внеску професора Г. Лаутерпахта у початкове формування інституту міжнародної кримінальної відповідальності за вчинення злочинів проти людяності та втілення і розвиток цього інституту в сучасному міжнародному праві.
Основними методами дослідження були антропосоціальний, історичний, порівняльно-правовий, герменевтичний, системно-структурний, формально-логічний.
До висновків статті належать, зокрема, такі положення. Професор Кембриджського університету Г. Лаутерпахт (колишній студент юридичного факультету Львівського університету) вперше в історії людства визначив декілька видів злочинів проти людяності, які були закріплені у Статуті Нюрнберзького трибуналу. Згодом ці юридичні конструкції були використані у статутних документах наступних міжнародних трибуналів, створюваних під егідою Організації Об’єднаних Націй (ООН). Найповніший перелік різновидів злочинів проти людяності, з-поміж яких постійно відтворювалися ідеї Г. Лаутерпахта, було сформульовано у ст. 7 Римського статуту Міжнародного кримінального суду. Нині ж їх продубльовано у проєкті Конвенції ООН про запобігання та покарання злочинів проти людяності, підготовленому її Комісією з міжнародного права протягом 2015–2020 рр. і наприкінці минулого року прийнято Генеральною Асамблеєю ООН до розгляду. Усе це свідчить про унікальні заслуги професора Г. Лаутерпахта в реалізації сучасного всесвітнього стандарту заборони нелюдського поводження, у гуманізацію національного і міжнародного правового регулювання. І на цьому варто наголосити зараз, коли відзначається 75-річниця перемоги над нацистським режимом.
Визначення судової юрисдикції (підсудності) при вирішенні спорів у публічно-закупівельній сфері
Authors: ЯРОШЕНКО АРТЕМ , КОСТЕНКО ОКСАНА
Published: October 2020

Нині у нашій державі відбувається приведення системи публічних закупівель до європейських стандартів. Зокрема, 19 квітня 2020 р. набула чинності нова редакція Закону України “Про публічні закупівлі”. Зміни відбуваються з метою адаптації вітчизняного законодавства до вимог Угоди про асоціацію між Україною, з однієї сторони, та Європейським Союзом, Європейським співтовариством з атомної енергії і їхніми державами-членами, з іншої сторони, підвищення рівня конкуренції у сфері публічних закупівель та сприяння прозорості використання бюджетних коштів. Від дієвості роботи системи публічних закупівель залежить загальна успішність функціонування державного сектору. Під ефективністю у цьому контексті слід розуміти економію бюджетних коштів при забезпеченні високої якості продукції, товарів, робіт і послуг, що закуповуються. Також публічні закупівліє важливим інструментом впливу на економічні та соціальні процеси. Однак, незважаючи на зміни, що відбуваються у законодавстві, у сфері публічних закупівель залишаються проблемні аспекти, серед яких варто виділити питання визначення судової юрисдикції (підсудності) при вирішенні спорів у публічно-закупівельній сфері.
Метою статті є визначення судової юрисдикції (підсудності) при вирішенні спорів у публічно-закупівельній сфері та надання рекомендацій щодо вдосконалення законодавства у цій сфері.
У процесі дослідження з’ясовано, що перешкодою до ефективного вирішення спорів є заплутаність і невизначеність предметної підсудності при вирішенні спорів у публічно-закупівельній сфері. Несформована стала практика Верховним Судом із цього питання не дає змоги судам першої та апеляційної інстанцій дійти однакових висновків щодо визначення предметної юрисдикції.
Проаналізувавши правову природу рішень Антимонопольного комітету України, робиться висновок про необхідность розгляду справ щодо їх оскарження адміністративними судами, оскільки такі рішення нічим не відрізняються від рішень інших суб’єктів владних повноважень. Узагальнюючи наявні погляди вчених і проаналізовану судову практику, пропонуються зміни до чинного законодавства, а саме до ч. 1 ст. 20 Господарського процесуального кодексу України, у якій доцільно закрі пити компетенцію адміністративних судів розглядати справи стосовно договорів про публічні закупівлі.
Coral husbandry for ocean futures: leveraging abiotic factors to increase survivorship, growth, and resilience in juvenile Montipora capitata
Authors: Hancock JR , Barrows AR , Roome TC , Huffmyer AS , Matsuda SB , Munk NJ , Rahnke SA , Drury C
Published: October 2020

Reef restoration via direct outplanting of sexually propagated juvenile corals is a key strategy in preserving coral reef ecosystem function in the face of global and local stressors (e.g. ocean warming). To advance our capacity to scale and maximize the efficiency of restoration initiatives, we examined how abiotic conditions (i.e. larval rearing temperature, substrate condition, light intensity, and flow rate) interact to enhance post-settlement survival and growth of sexually propagated juvenileMontipora capitata. Larvae were reared at 3 temperatures (high: 28.9°C, ambient: 27.2°C, low: 24.5°C) for 72 h during larval development, and were subsequently settled on aragonite plugs conditioned in seawater (1 or 10 wk) and raised in different light and flow regimes. These juvenile corals underwent a natural bleaching event in Kāne‘ohe Bay, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i (USA), in summer 2019, allowing us to opportunistically measure bleaching response in addition to survivorship and growth. This study demonstrates how leveraging light and flow can increase the survivorship and growth of juvenileM. capitata. In contrast, larval preconditioning and substrate conditioning had little overall effect on survivorship, growth, or bleaching response. Importantly, there was no optimal combination of abiotic conditions that maximized survival and growth in addition to bleaching tolerances. This study highlights the ability to tailor sexual reproduction for specific restoration goals by addressing knowledge gaps and incorporating practices that could improve resilience in propagated stocks.
Making Scotland an ACE-informed nation
Authors: Davidson Emma , Critchley Ariane , Wright Laura H.V.
Published: October 2020

In recent years, tackling Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) has become a central dimension of early years, education, youth and family policy. In this Scottish Affairs special issue, we discuss why this public policy has galvanized so much attention in Scotland, and the possible consequence its popularity might have in theory, policy and practice. How, for example, has ACE research shaped how policy is responding to poverty and social inequality? What moral judgements are made by the ACE-agenda, and how might it obscure alternative ways of thinking about the problem of adversity, and cultivating lasting solutions. With contributions from academics and practitioners across different disciplines and practice settings, the collection points to an ongoing need for critical engagement in ACE-policy, and a greater commitment to understanding how ACE-policy is being translated into different practice settings. While theoretical debates are important, future research must prioritise the experiences of practitioners, and those with lived experience of adversity.
ACEs policy and adults: The missing role of sexual abuse
Authors: Nelson Sarah
Published: October 2020

Traumatised adults have been rather neglected in policy on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in comparison with children. Yet the key message from the original ACE studies was the need to change the way adults with ill health are heard, understood, diagnosed and treated. Within ACEs policy, childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has also had marginal attention. This paper traces how adult survivors of CSA provided the spark for the first and subsequent ACE studies, describing the serious mental and physical health issues this trauma can bring throughout the lifecourse. It raises the possibility that some of the original ten ACEs may be more impactful to health and wellbeing over the lifecourse than others and should receive greater priority in terms of prevention and recovery. A series of questions is asked about how physical and mental health services are responding, and how they may need to be monitored in order to fully integrate the needs of CSA survivors into current Scottish ACEs policy.
Educação e desenvolvimento regional
Authors: Gumbowsky Argos , Juraszek Lucia , Noernberg Elfi Irene , Maia Erick Douglas Weber da
Published: October 2020

Este artigo tem como objetivo apresentar abordagens inerentes à relação educação e desenvolvimento regional a partir de abordagens da Organização das Nações Unidas para a Educação, a Ciência e a Cultura (UNESCO). Justifica-se por articular as ações desenvolvidas pela UNESCO no campo da educação à discussão do desenvolvimento regional. Convenciona-se como artigo de revisão bibliográfica apoiada na pesquisa documental. A coleta de dados foi realizada no período de 02 a 30 de maio de 2020 no site da UNESCO, no Scientific Electronic Library Online, em Banco de teses, dissertações e periódicos da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, portal de legislação do Governo Federal, portal do Ministério da Educação, acervo bibliográfico de Universidades dentre outros. No referencial teórico estão os temas: educação como fator de desenvolvimento; a UNESCO e a educação básica; a UNESCO e a educação superior. Em ambas as abordagens explora-se as interseções com o desenvolvimento regional. Concluiu-se que o organismo contribui para a educação e desenvolvimento ao defender o fortalecimento do Estado de Direito por meio da educação para formuladores de políticas da educação básica e superior.
Fundamentos para pensar a inovação sustentável
Authors: Fáveri José Ernesto De
Published: October 2020

Este texto é uma proposta de reflexão aberta em torno dos fundamentos para compreender a inovação sustentável. Pretende ser uma reflexão no sentido de apontar que a sustentabilidade está vinculada diretamente a realidade objetiva em que o sujeito e a sociedade estão inseridos para produzir as coisas materiais para manter o ser humano vivo zelando pela preservação ambiental. Fora ou além dessa orientação de análise a sustentabilidade torna-se um discurso ideológico para ocultar a problemática da inovação ser um meio de predação do pensamento e das ações empreendidas pelo sistema de produção material predador do meio ambiente e da qualidade de vida individual e coletiva. O objetivo consiste em despertar o debate sobre a origem e o significado da autentica forma de pensar a inovação compatível com preservação do meio ambiente, através de num sistema econômico ocupado e comprometido com o equilíbrio do planeta, no presente e no futuro. Essa abordagem está fundada em três pontos: o primeiro, uma contextualização e abrangência da temática; O segundo, consiste numa reflexão em torno da inovação, o terceiro, uma análise crítica sobre a sustentabilidade. Os três eixos estão interligados pelo vínculo essencial entre a inovação e a sustentabilidade.
Motley Crew: Overview of the Currently Available Phage Diversity
Authors: Zrelovs Nikita , Dislers Andris , Kazaks Andris
Published: October 2020

The first complete genome that was sequenced at the beginning of the sequencing era was that of a phage, since then researchers throughout the world have been steadily describing and publishing genomes from a wide array of phages, uncovering the secrets of the most abundant and diverse biological entities known to man. Currently, we are experiencing an unprecedented rate of novel bacteriophage discovery, which can be seen from the fact that the amount of complete bacteriophage genome entries in public sequence repositories has more than doubled in the past 3 years and is steadily growing without showing any sign of slowing down. The amount of publicly available phage genome-related data can be overwhelming and has been summarized in literature before but quickly becomes out of date. Thus, the aim of this paper is to briefly outline currently available phage diversity data for public acknowledgment that could possibly encourage and stimulate future “depth” studies of particular groups of phages or their gene products.
RETRACTED: LOXL2 Upregulation in Gliomas Drives Tumorigenicity by Activating Autophagy to Promote TMZ Resistance and Trigger EMT
Authors: Zhang Qing , Yang Lianhe , Guan Gefei , Cheng Peng , Cheng Wen , Wu Anhua
Published: October 2020

Glioma is the most prevalent primary brain tumor in adults and has an extremely unfavorable prognosis. As a member of the lysyl oxidase (LOX) family, lysyl-oxidase-like-2 (LOXL2) is known to play different roles in different tumors. However, the role of LOXL2 in glioma has not yet been fully elucidated. In the present study, we detected that LOXL2 was considerably upregulated in glioma and that LOXL2 upregulation was evidently related to glioma WHO grade, malignant molecular subtypes, and poor prognosis in glioma patients. Additionally, we found that LOXL2 not only promoted glioma cells proliferation, migration, invasion, and induced the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process, but also reduced the sensitivity of glioma cells to temozolomide (TMZ). Furthermore, we identified that LOXL2 reduced TMZ sensitivity and induced EMT in glioma via the activation of autophagy. Mechanistically, LOXL2 enhanced Atg7 expression by promoting the phosphorylation of Erk1/2, leading to the activation of autophagy and regulation of EMT process and TMZ sensitivity through autophagy. Our study describes an LOXL2-Erk1/2-Atg7 signaling axis that influences glioma EMT and chemosensitivity through autophagy; moreover, LOXL2 may serve as a promising therapeutic target in the treatment of glioma.
A Review on Recent Advances in Aloperine Research: Pharmacological Activities and Underlying Biological Mechanisms
Authors: Zhou Haifeng , Li Junyi , Sun Fei , Wang Faxi , Li Mingyue , Dong Yalan , Fan Heng , Hu Desheng
Published: October 2020

Aloperine, a quinolizidine-type alkaloid, was first isolated from the seeds and leaves of herbal plant, Sophora alopecuroides L. Empirically, Sophora alopecuroides L. is appreciated for its anti-dysentry effect, a property that is commonly observed in other Sophora Genus phytomedicines. Following the rationale of reductionism, subsequent biochemical analyses attribute such anti-dysentry effect to the bactericidal activity of aloperine. From then on, the multiple roles of aloperine are gradually revealed. Accumulating evidence suggests that aloperine possesses multiple pharmacological activities and holds a promising potential in clinical conditions including skin hyper-sensitivity, tumor and inflammatory disorders etc.; however, the current knowledge on aloperine is interspersed and needs to be summarized. To facilitate further investigation, herein, we conclude the key pharmacological functions of aloperine, and most importantly, the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms are clarified in detail to explain the functional mode of aloperine.
A Comprehensive Comparison Between the Semi-sterile and Sterile Technique for Closed Reduction and Percutaneous Pinning of Pediatric Supracondylar Humerus Fractures
Authors: Wang Guo-Qiang , Wang Qing-Feng , Wang Xiao-Dong
Published: October 2020

Background: Supracondylar humerus fracture is the most common elbow fracture in children, which often requires closed reduction and percutaneous pinning (CRPP) procedure for full recovery. In addition to the traditional sterile technique with full prep and draping, the semi-sterile technique without sterile gowns and drapes has been suggested to be a viable alternative for CRPP.

Methods: Here, we performed a retrospective study over a 3-year period to comprehensively evaluate the outcomes of the semi-sterile and the sterile techniques for CRPP in supracondylar humerus fractured patients. Demographic data, fracture type, nerve injury status and the type of preparation technique (semi-sterile vs. sterile) were recorded. Time of preparation and operation, costs and elbow recovery status were compared. Outcomes of the two techniques were compared with bivariate analysis.

Results: In a total of 137 patients, we found that the semi-sterile technique could significantly reduce the total operation room usage time (80 ± 13 min vs. 94 ± 12 min, 15% reduction, P < 0.001) and costs of CRPP. Specifically, anesthesia and medical waste costs were reduced by 139 RMB (1,736 ± 128 vs. 1,875 ± 197, 7.4% reduction, P < 0.001) and 103.0 RMB (14.6 vs. 117.9) per operation, respectively. At the meantime, the infection rate and recovery efficiency (89 ± 10 vs. 91 ± 9 of the Mayo Elbow Performance Score, P = 0.352) were almost unchanged as compared to the sterile technique group.

Conclusions: Our study suggests that the semi-sterile technique can be used as a cost-effective alternative for CRPP in supracondylar humerus fracture and even other bone-related non-surgical approaches.

Level of Evidence: The present study is a retrospective cohort study with a level III of evidence.
A Multiple-Input Neural Network Model for Predicting Cotton Production Quantity: A Case Study
Authors: Livieris Ioannis E. , Dafnis Spiros D. , Papadopoulos George K. , Kalivas Dionissios P.
Published: October 2020

Cotton constitutes a significant commercial crop and a widely traded commodity around the world. The accurate prediction of its yield quantity could lead to high economic benefits for farmers as well as for the rural national economy. In this research, we propose a multiple-input neural network model for the prediction of cotton’s production. The proposed model utilizes as inputs three different kinds of data (soil data, cultivation management data, and yield management data) which are treated and handled independently. The significant advantages of the selected architecture are that it is able to efficiently exploit mixed data, which usually requires being processed separately, reduces overfitting, and provides more flexibility and adaptivity for low computational cost compared to a classical fully-connected neural network. An empirical study was performed utilizing data from three consecutive years from cotton farms in Central Greece (Thessaly) in which the prediction performance of the proposed model was evaluated against that of traditional neural network-based and state-of-the-art models. The numerical experiments revealed the superiority of the proposed approach.
Curcumin Mitigates AFB1-Induced Hepatic Toxicity by Triggering Cattle Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Pathways: A Whole Transcriptomic In Vitro Study
Authors: Pauletto Marianna , Giantin Mery , Tolosi Roberta , Bassan Irene , Barbarossa Andrea , Zaghini Anna , Dacasto Mauro
Published: October 2020

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) toxicity in livestock and human beings is a major economic and health concern. Natural polyphenolic substances with antioxidant properties have proven to be effective in ameliorating AFB1-induced toxicity. Here we assessed the potential anti-AFB1 activity of curcumin (pure curcumin, C, and curcumin from Curcuma longa, CL) in a bovine fetal hepatocyte-derived cell line (BFH12). First, we measured viability of cells exposed to AFB1 in presence or absence of curcumin treatment. Then, we explored all the transcriptional changes occurring in AFB1-exposed cells cotreated with curcumin. Results demonstrated that curcumin is effective in reducing AFB1-induced toxicity, decreasing cells mortality by approximately 30%. C and CL induced similar transcriptional changes in BFH12 exposed to AFB1, yet C treatment resulted in a larger number of significant genes compared to CL. The mitigating effects of curcuminoids towards AFB1 toxicity were mainly related to molecular pathways associated with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory response, cancer, and drug metabolism. Investigating mRNA changes induced by curcumin in cattle BFH12 cells exposed to AFB1 will help us to better characterize possible tools to reduce its consequences in this susceptible and economically important food-producing species.
Carotenoids as a Protection Mechanism against Oxidative Stress in Haloferax mediterranei
Authors: Giani Micaela , Martínez-Espinosa Rosa María
Published: October 2020

Haloarchaea are extremophilic microorganisms that in their natural ecosystem encounter several sources of oxidative stress. They have developed different strategies to cope with these harsh environmental conditions, among which bacterioruberin production is a very notable strategy. Bacterioruberin (BR) is a C50 carotenoid synthesized in response to different types of stress. Previous works demonstrated that it shows interesting antioxidant properties with potential applications in biotechnology. In this study, Haloferax mediterranei strain R-4 was exposed to different concentrations of the oxidant compound H2O2 to evaluate the effect on carotenoid production focusing the attention on the synthesis of bacterioruberin. Hfx. mediterranei was able to grow in the presence of H2O2 from 1 mM to 25 mM. Cells produced between 16% and 78% (w/v) more carotenoids under the induced oxidative stress compared to control cultures. HPLC-MS analysis detected BR as the major identified carotenoid and confirmed the gradual increase of BR content as higher concentrations of hydrogen peroxide were added to the medium. These results shed some light on the biological role of bacterioruberin in haloarchaea, provide interesting information about the increase of the cellular pigmentation under oxidative stress conditions and will allow the optimization of the production of this pigment at large scale using these microbes as biofactories.
Prediction of a Two-Transistor Vertical QNOT Gate
Authors: Han Heesung , Kim Chang-Hyun
Published: October 2020

A new design of quaternary inverter (QNOT gate) is proposed by means of finite-element simulation. Traditionally, increasing the number of data levels in digital logic circuits was achieved by increasing the number of transistors. Our QNOT gate consists of only two transistors, resembling the binary complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) inverter, yet the two additional levels are generated by controlling the charge-injection barrier and electrode overlap. Furthermore, these two transistors are stacked vertically, meaning that the entire footprint only consumes the area of one single transistor. We explore several key geometrical and material parameters in a series of simulations to show how to systematically modulate and optimize the quaternary logic behaviors.
A Machine Learning Based Prediction Model for the Sound Absorption Coefficient of Micro-Expanded Metal Mesh (MEMM)
Authors: TSAY Yaw-Shyan , YEH Chiu-Yu
Published: October 2020

Recently, micro-perforated panels (MPP) have become a popular sound absorbing material in the field of architectural acoustics. However, the cost of MPP is still high for the commercial market in Taiwan, and MPP is still not very popular compared to other sound absorbing materials and devices. The objective of this study is to develop a prediction model for MEMM via a machine learning approach. An experiment including 14 types of MEMM was first carried out in a reverberation room based on ISO 354. To predict the sound absorption coefficient of the MEMM, the capability of three conventional models and three machine learning (ML) models of the supervised learning method were studied for the development of the prediction model. The results showed that in most conventional models, the sound absorption coefficient of using an equivalent perimeter had the best agreement compared with other parameters, and the root mean square error (RMSE) between prediction models and experimental data were around 0.2~0.3. However, the RMSE of all ML models was less than 0.1, and the RMSE of the gradient boost model was 0.033 in the training sets and 0.062 in the testing sets, which showed the best agreement with the experiment data.
Effect of Fiber-Reinforced Composite and Elastic Post on the Fracture Resistance of Premolars with Root Canal Treatment—An In Vitro Pilot Study
Authors: Mena-Álvarez Jesús , Agustín-Panadero Rubén , Zubizarreta-Macho Alvaro
Published: October 2020

(1) Background: To analyze the fracture resistance of endodontically upper premolar teeth restored with glass fiber reinforced posts, glass fiber elastic posts, conventional composite resin (CR) and glass fiber reinforced composite (FRC) resins as restorations. (2) Methods: Seventy premolars were submitted to root canal treatment and restored with the following restorative materials (n = 10): A. FRC posts restored with resin; B. Elastic FRC posts restored with resin; C. FRC posts restored with FRC resin; D. Elastic FRC posts restored with FRC resin; E. Direct restoration with resin; F. Direct restoration with FRC resin; G. Untreated teeth. The teeth were embedded in an epoxy resin model, thermal cycling fatigued in distilled water and mechanical cycling fatigued inducing 80 N load. Loading was applied axially on the center of the occlusal surface with a vertical displacement. The fracture was produced by a universal machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/s with a 5000 N load cell. The results were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey’s test and Weibull characteristic strength and modulus were calculated. (3) Results: The group that obtained the greatest fracture resistance was D (3620 ± 470 N) and the least resistant was group A (2420 ± 1010 N). Statistically significant differences were observed between the groups restored with Elastic FRC posts-CR versus FRC post-CR and only CR (p = 0.043 and p = 0.008). (4) Conclusions: The glass fiber reinforced restorative materials increase the fracture resistance of endodontically treated teeth.
Experimental Investigation on Crack Behavior and Stress Thresholds of Sandstone Containing a Square Inclusion under Uniaxial Compression
Authors: Zhu Quanqi , Li Diyuan
Published: October 2020

To study the effect of strength, stiffness and inclination angle of square inclusions on failure characteristics of rock, uniaxial compression tests were carried out on prismatic sandstone containing a square hole with different filling modes and hole angles using a servo-hydraulic loading system. Digital image correlation and acoustic emission techniques were jointly applied to analyze the damage and fracture process, and the crack stress thresholds were determined qualitatively and quantitatively by combining the stress–strain behavior. The results show that the mechanical properties and crack stress thresholds of pre-holed specimens increase with the increase of the strength and stiffness of inclusions, and are affected by the hole angle. Rock failure is mainly caused by secondary crack propagation and shear crack coalescence, eventually forming mixed tensile-shear failure. The crack behavior, especially the crack initiation position, is affected by the filling mode and the hole angle. Interface debonding tends to initiate at the vertical interface, while interface slipping tends to propagate along the inclined interface. Under identical loading conditions, the specimen with 45° hole is more susceptible to crack and damage than that with 0° hole. Notably, inclusions can inhibit the hole deformation and the fracture of rock matrix, especially the sidewall spalling of 0° hole.
Biological Maturity Status, Anthropometric Percentiles, and Core Flexion to Extension Strength Ratio as Possible Traumatic and Overuse Injury Risk Factors in Youth Alpine Ski Racers: A Four-Year Prospective Study
Authors: Steidl-Müller Lisa , Hildebrandt Carolin , Niedermeier Martin , Müller Erich , Romann Michael , Javet Marie , Bruhin Björn , Raschner Christian
Published: October 2020

The aim of the present study was to investigate prospectively the role of biological maturity status, anthropometric percentiles, and core flexion to extension strength ratios in the context of traumatic and overuse injury risk identification in youth ski racing. In this study, 72 elite youth ski racers (45 males, 27 females) were prospectively observed from the age of 10 to 14 years. Anthropometric parameters, biological maturity status, and core flexion to extension strength ratios were assessed twice per year. Type and severity of traumatic and overuse injuries were prospectively recorded during the 4 years. Generalized estimating equations were used to model the binary outcome (0: no injury; 1: ≥1 injury). Factors tested on association with injury risk were sex, relative age quarter, age, maturity group, puberty status, core flexion to extension strength ratio, height percentile group, and weight percentile group. In total, 104 traumatic injuries and 39 overuse injuries were recorded. Age (odds ratio (OR) = 3.36) and weight percentile group (OR = 0.38) were significant risk factors for traumatic injuries (tendency: pubertal status). No significant risk factor for overuse injuries was identified (tendency: maturity group, puberty status, height percentile group). Future studies should focus on identifying risk factors for overuse injuries; growth rates might be of importance.
How Do Plants and Climatic Conditions Control Soil Properties in Hypersaline Tidal Flats?
Authors: Cabral Raiana L. , Ferreira Tiago O. , Nóbrega Gabriel N. , Barcellos Diego , Roiloa Sergio R. , Zandavalli Roberta B. , Otero Xosé L.
Published: October 2020

Hypersaline tidal flats (HTF) are ecotones associated with mangrove ecosystems in arid and semiarid coasts. They are predominantly vegetated by halophytes which are related to environmental stabilization and fauna protection. Some plants thrive in HTF by modifying soil biogeochemical conditions at their rhizospheres, expanding across barren soils. Thus, we aimed to study rhizospheric and the adjacent bulk soils of the three most abundant plant species in HTF under a seasonal semiarid climate of northeastern Brazil. We analyzed both rhizospheric and bulk soils of vegetation patches in wet and dry seasons. We found that HTF soils are a heterogeneous system highly influenced by water availability and plant activity. The soils were mostly sandy textured, containing low C and N contents, and hypersaline conditions. Comparing bulk and rhizospheric soils, we concluded that plants changed their own rhizosphere by creating nutrient pools to improve survival under saline conditions. Seasonal changes also affected soil biogeochemical processes in HTF, mainly the bulk soils by changing water availability. Understanding rhizospheric changes by halophytes, their expansion over barren soils, and the amelioration of soil physicochemical conditions, are fundamental to provide support for preservation and management of coastal ecosystems, including HTF.
On the Handwriting Tasks’ Analysis to Detect Fatigue
Authors: Garnacho-Castaño Manuel-Vicente , Faundez-Zanuy Marcos , Lopez-Xarbau Josep
Published: October 2020

Practical determination of physical recovery after intense exercise is a challenging topic that must include mechanical aspects as well as cognitive ones because most of physical sport activities, as well as professional activities (including brain–computer interface-operated systems), require good shape in both of them. This paper presents a new online handwritten database of 20 healthy subjects. The main goal was to study the influence of several physical exercise stimuli in different handwritten tasks and to evaluate the recovery after strenuous exercise. To this aim, they performed different handwritten tasks before and after physical exercise as well as other measurements such as metabolic and mechanical fatigue assessment. Experimental results showed that although a fast mechanical recovery happens and can be measured by lactate concentrations and mechanical fatigue, this is not the case when cognitive effort is required. Handwriting analysis revealed that statistical differences exist on handwriting performance even after lactate concentration and mechanical assessment recovery. This points out a necessity of more recovering time in sport and professional activities than those measured in classic ways.
An Event-Based Programming Model with Geometric Spatial Semantics For Cyber-Physical Production Systems
Authors: Wan Guangxi , Zeng Peng
Published: October 2020

With the increasing complexities, such as massive computing devices and strict requirements for collaboration, of industrial production systems, the concept of the cyber-physical production system (CPPS) is considered as a promising approach for addressing these challenges. However, programmability is a challenge in CPPSs. The traditional chimney style of programming requires considerable design effort from engineers to handle the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of cyber-physical model that encompasses computing, temporal, and geometric semantics along with physical dynamics. Thus, an easy-to-use programming model and an integrated programming framework that are suited to this context are required. However, the existing programming models typically fully consider only computing while only partially considering temporal characteristics, and they rarely consider geometric semantics. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a novel event-based programming model, GePro, considering the geometric spatial semantics to realize integrated programming and reduce design effort, especially the reconfiguration of adding new physical devices into the exist system. A prototype of GePro is implemented and verified based on IEC 61499 by the implementation of design and reconfigure assembly CPPS. The results show that using GePro results in a programming time savings of an development life cycle time compared to traditional models for reconfiguration.
Coronary Artery Disease Detection by Machine Learning with Coronary Bifurcation Features
Authors: Chen Xueping , Fu Yi , Lin Jiangguo , Ji Yanru , Fang Ying , Wu Jianhua
Published: October 2020

Background: Early accurate detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the most important medical research areas. Researchers are motivated to utilize machine learning techniques for quick and accurate detection of CAD. Methods: To obtain the high quality of features used for machine learning, we here extracted the coronary bifurcation features from the coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) images by using the morphometric method. The machine learning classifier algorithms, such as logistic regression (LR), decision tree (DT), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), k-nearest neighbors (k-NN), artificial neural network (ANN), and support vector machine (SVM) were applied for estimating the performance by using the measured features. Results: The results showed that in comparison with other machine learning methods, the polynomial-SVM with the use of the grid search optimization method had the best performance for the detection of CAD and had yielded the classification accuracy of 100.00%. Among six examined coronary bifurcation features, the exponent of vessel diameter (n) and the area expansion ratio (AER) were two key features in the detection of CAD. Conclusions: This study could aid the clinicians to detect CAD accurately, which may probably provide an alternative method for the non-invasive diagnosis in clinical.
GIS-Based Land Suitability and Crop Vulnerability Assessment under Climate Change in Chtouka Ait Baha, Morocco
Authors: Seif-Ennasr Marieme , Bouchaou Lhoussaine , El Morjani Zine El Abidine , Hirich Abdelaziz , Beraaouz El Hassane , Choukr-Allah Redouane
Published: October 2020

Agriculture plays a crucial role in the economic development in Morocco, contributing to 14% of the national gross domestic product. However, this sector is facing various challenges, including climate change. This study aims to assess relevant indicators that may affect land suitability, water demand, and crop growing season duration under climate change. Further, it may be used as a decision support tool in the Chtouka area known for its irrigated agriculture. The approach proposed, the spatial distribution of land based on suitability, is founded on the multiple-criteria decision-making method of four parameters; soil texture, temperature, land use, and slope. The duration of the length of crop season was simulated using the concept of growing degree days. The projection of land suitability for 2031–2050 indicated an important decrease of 12.11% of “highly suitable” agricultural land under the RCP4.5 emission scenario and a significant increase of 4.68% of “highly unsuitable” land, according to the RCP8.5 emission scenario compared to the baseline (1985–2005). The projected growing degree days in 2031–2050 showed a strong shortening in the growing period length compared to the baseline 1985–2006, mainly under the RCP8.5 emission scenario, with a reduction from 8% to 21% depending on crops. Moreover, crop water productivity indicated that berries were over 50% less water productive than other vegetable crops for almost the same amount of applied irrigation water. These findings highlight the vulnerability of agriculture to climate change, which requires important political and management efforts to sustain agricultural activity.
Understanding the Solid–Ice Interface Mechanism on the Hydrophobic Nano-Pillar Structure Epoxy Surface for Reducing Ice Adhesion
Authors: Jia Zhenfeng , Shen Yizhou , Tao Jie , Zhang Yu , Chen Haifeng , Lu Yang , Wu Zhengwei
Published: October 2020

Ice accumulation on wind turbine blades reduces power generation efficiency and increases wind turbines’ maintenance cost, even causing equipment damage and casualties. In this work, in order to achieve passive anti-icing, a series of nano-pillar array structures with different diameters of from 100 to 400 nm and heights of from 400 to 1500 nm were constructed on the substrate bisphenol-A epoxy resin, which is generally used in the manufacturing of wind turbine blades. The as-constructed functional surface showed excellent water repellence, with a contact angle of up to 154.3°. The water repellence on the nano-pillar array structures could induce ultra-low ice adhesion as low as 7.0 kPa, finding their place in the widely recognized scope of icephobic materials. The underlying solid–ice interface mechanism was well revealed in regard to two aspects: the interface non-wetting regime and the stress concentration behavior on the nano-pillar array structured surface. A detailed discussion on both the factors presented here will help surface structure design and function of icephobic materials, especially for epoxy-based composite materials.
Optical Density Optimization of Malaria Pan Rapid Diagnostic Test Strips for Improved Test Zone Band Intensity
Authors: Manta Prince , Nagraik Rupak , Sharma Avinash , Kumar Akshay , Verma Pritt , Paswan Shravan Kumar , Bokov Dmitry O. , Shaikh Juber Dastagir , Kaur Roopvir , Leite Ana Francesca Vommaro , Filho Silas Jose Braz , Shiwalkar Nimisha , Persaud Purnadeo , Kapoor Deepak N.
Published: October 2020

For the last few decades, the immunochromatographic assay has been used for the rapid detection of biological markers in infectious diseases in humans and animals The assay, also known as lateral flow assay, is utilized for the detection of antigen or antibody in human infectious diseases. There are a series of steps involved in the development of these immuno-chromatographic test kits, from gold nano colloids preparation to nitrocellulose membrane coating (NCM). These tests are mostly used for qualitative assays by a visual interpretation of results. For the interpretation of the results, the color intensity of the test zone is therefore very significant. Herein, the study was performed on a malaria antigen test kit. Several studies have reported the use of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with varying diameters and its binding with various concentrations of protein in order to optimize tests. However, none of these studies have reported how to fix (improve) test zone band intensity (color), if different sized AuNPs were synthesized during a reaction and when conjugated equally with same amount of protein. Herein, different AuNPs with average diameter ranging from 10 nm to 50 nm were prepared and conjugated equally with protein concentration of 150 µg/mL with KD = 1.0 × 10−3. Afterwards, the developed kits’ test zone band intensity for all different sizes AuNPs was fixed to the same band level (high) by utilization of an ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer. The study found that the same optical density (OD) has the same test zone band intensity irrespective of AuNP size. This study also illustrates the use of absorption maxima (λ max) techniques to characterize AuNPs and to prevent wastage of protein while developing immunochromatographic test kits.