bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prediction of Damage in Non-Crimp Fabric Composites Subjected to Transverse Crushing: A Comparison of Two Constitutive Models
Authors: Kazemian Milad , Cherniaev Aleksandr
Published: August 2022

Non-crimp fabrics (NCFs) are increasingly used in industry for manufacturing of composite structures due to a combination of high mechanical properties and excellent manufacturability. As with other composites, in-service damage can be a cause for severe reduction in load-carrying capacity of NCF-reinforced plastics. In this experimental and numerical study, two constitutive material models previously used only for damage prediction in unidirectional (UD) tape and woven fabric-reinforced materials (LS-DYNA’s *MAT_ENHANCED_COMPOSITE_DAMAGE—MAT54 and *MAT_LAMINATED_COMPOSITE_FABRIC—MAT58) were evaluated for simulating transverse crushing of composite parts processed from a non-crimp carbon fabric. For this purpose, UD NCF components of tubular shape were subjected to transverse crushing through a controlled indentation of a metallic cylinder, and results of the experiment were compared with numerical modeling. Considered verification metrics included the observed and the predicted patterns of interlaminar damage, the extent of delamination, as well as the ability of the models to replicate force-displacement response exhibited by the tested specimens.
Investigation of Collagen-Incorporated Sodium Alginate Bioprinting Hydrogel for Tissue Engineering
Authors: Chen Yan , Zhou Yingge , Wang Chi
Published: August 2022

Tissue engineering is a promising area that is aimed at tissue regeneration and wound repair. Sodium alginate (SA) has been widely used as one of the most biocompatible materials for tissue engineering. The cost-efficiency and rapid gel ability made SA attractive in would healing and regeneration area. To improve printability and elasticity, many hydrogel-based bioinks were developed by mixing SA with other natural or synthetic polymers. In this paper, composite SA/COL bioink was used for the bioprinting of artificial cartilage tissue mimicries. The results showed that the concentration of both SA and COL has significant effects on filament diameter and merging. A higher concentration of the bioink solution led to better printing fidelity and less deformation. Overall, a higher SA concentration and a lower COL concentration contributed to a lower shrinkage ratio after crosslinking. In summary, the SA/COL composite bioink has favorable rheological properties and this study provided material composition optimization for future bioprinting of engineered tissues.
Electrically Conductive Biocomposites Based on Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) and Wood-Derived Carbon Fillers
Authors: Unterweger Christoph , Ranzinger Matija , Duchoslav Jiri , Piana Francesco , Pasti Igor , Zeppetzauer Franz , Breitenbach Stefan , Stifter David , Fürst Christian
Published: August 2022

In this paper, biobased carbons were used as fillers in poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV). The mechanical and electrical properties of these 100% biocomposites were analyzed. First, biocarbons were prepared from wood dust and cellulose fibers using carbonization temperatures ranging 900–2300 °C. XRD revealed significant improvements of the graphitic structure with increasing temperatures for both precursors, with slightly higher ordering in wood-dust-based carbons. An increase of the carbon content with continuous removal of other elements was observed with increasing temperature. The carbonized cellulose fiber showed an accumulation of Na and O on the fiber surface at a carbonization temperature of 1500 °C. Significant degradation of PHBV was observed when mixed with this specific filler, which can, most probably, be attributed to this exceptional surface chemistry. With any other fillers, the preparation of injection-molded PHBV composites was possible without any difficulties. Small improvements in the mechanical performance were observed, with carbonized fibers being slightly superior to the wood dust analogues. Improvements at higher filler content were observed. These effects were even more pronounced in the electrical conductivity. In the range of 15–20 vol.% carbonized fibers, the percolation threshold could be reached, resulting in an electrical conductivity of 0.7 S/cm. For comparison, polypropylene composites were prepared using cellulose fibers carbonized at 2000 °C. Due to longer fibers retained in the composites, percolation could be reached in the range of 5–10 vol.%. The electrical conductivity was even higher compared to that of composites using commercial carbon fibers, showing a great potential for carbonized cellulose fibers in electrical applications.
Joining 30 mm Thick Shipbuilding Steel Plates EH36 Using a Process Combination of Hybrid Laser Arc Welding and Submerged Arc Welding
Authors: Gook Sergej , Midik Ahmet , Biegler Max , Gumenyuk Andrey , Rethmeier Michael
Published: August 2022

This article presents a cost-effective and reliable method for welding 30 mm thick sheets of shipbuilding steel EH36. The method proposes to perform butt welding in a two-run technique using hybrid laser arc welding (HLAW) and submerged arc welding (SAW). The HLAW is performed as a partial penetration weld with a penetration depth of approximately 25 mm. The SAW is carried out as a second run on the opposite side. With a SAW penetration depth of 8 mm, the weld cross-section is closed with the reliable intersection of both passes. The advantages of the proposed welding method are: no need for forming of the HLAW root; the SAW pass can effectively eliminate pores in the HLAW root; the high stability of the welding process regarding the preparation quality of the weld edges. Plasma cut edges can be welded without lack of fusion defects. The weld quality achieved is confirmed by destructive tests.
Is HIF-PHI the Answer to Tackle ESA Hyporesponsiveness in the Elderly?
Authors: Wu Henry H. L. , Chinnadurai Rajkumar , Walker Robert J.
Published: August 2022

Anemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) has become an important clinical issue with the increased prevalence of elderly patients living with CKD progressing to kidney failure. The causes of anemia in elderly individuals tend to be multifactorial, exacerbated by the physiological effects of aging, frailty and declining kidney function. Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) are the conventional therapeutic option for anemia in CKD. However, ESA hyporesponsiveness is a commonly observed issue in clinical practice and an issue that is more challenging to resolve in elderly patients living with frailty, kidney disease, and multi-morbidities. Following the emergence of oral hypoxia-induced factor prolyl-hydroxylase inhibitors (HIF-PHI) in recent years, there is discussion on whether it is a solution to the conundrum of ESA hyporesponsiveness, as HIF-PHI treats anemia via an alternative physiological pathway. There remains uncertainty on the suitability of HIF-PHI use in elderly patients, given a lack of data on its safety over long-term follow-up for the elderly population. Further study is needed to provide answers, considering the clinical significance of this issue within a public-health scale.
Arabic Aspect-Based Sentiment Classification Using Seq2Seq Dialect Normalization and Transformers
Authors: Chennafi Mohammed ElAmine , Bedlaoui Hanane , Dahou Abdelghani , Al-qaness Mohammed A. A.
Published: August 2022

Sentiment analysis is one of the most important fields of natural language processing due to its wide range of applications and the benefits associated with using it. It is defined as identifying the sentiment polarity of natural language text. Researchers have recently focused their attention on Arabic SA due to the massive amounts of user-generated content on social media and e-commerce websites in the Arabic world. Most of the research in this fieldwork is on the sentence and document levels. This study tackles the aspect-level sentiment analysis for the Arabic language, which is a less studied version of SA. Because Arabic NLP is challenging and there are few available Arabic resources and many Arabic dialects, limited studies have attempted to detect aspect-based sentiment analyses on Arabic texts. Specifically, this study considers two ABSA tasks: aspect term polarity and aspect category polarity, using the text normalization of the Arabic dialect after making the classification task. We present a Seq2Seq model for dialect normalization that can serve as a pre-processing step for the ABSA classification task by reducing the number of OOV words. Thus, the model’s accuracy increased. The results of the conducted experiments show that our models outperformed the existing models in the literature on both tasks and datasets.
Impacts of Policy-Driven Transformation in the Livelihoods of Fishermen on Agricultural Landscape Patterns: A Case Study of a Fishing Village, Island of Poyang Lake
Authors: Ou Minghui , Zhong Yexi , Ma Hongzhi , Wang Wenhui , Bi Manyu
Published: August 2022

The agricultural landscape patterns of fishing village have undergone visible transformations in recent decades. Scholars pay less attention to fishermen with diverse livelihoods. Therefore, it is necessary to sort out the changing characteristics of fishermen’ livelihoods and agricultural landscape patterns under different policy periods. We use in-depth interviews, remote sensing technology, and mathematical analysis to systematically study the changes in fishermen’s livelihoods and in agricultural landscape patterns in a typical fishing village. The results show that policy have profoundly affected fishermen’ livelihoods. Livelihood transformation have altered local land use practices, which had a direct impact on agricultural landscape patterns. The livelihood of fishermen has changed from diverse to single, and their cropping structure were gradually becoming simpler and more specialised. After grazing ban and comprehensive fishing ban, many fishermen migrated to towns and cities, it accelerated the loss of population in the fishing village, which caused the amount of abandoned land increasingly. Left-behind fishermen became rice farmers by contracting abandoned paddy fields. The expanses of abandoned land and bamboo woodland had increased, which caused agricultural landscape patterns gradually becoming fragmented, heterogeneous and complex.
Urban Cemeteries as Shared Habitats for People and Nature: Reasons for Visit, Comforting Experiences of Nature, and Preferences for Cultural and Natural Features
Authors: Straka Tanja M. , Mischo Maren , Petrick Konstantin J. S. , Kowarik Ingo
Published: August 2022

Cemeteries are globally culturally protected greenspaces in cities that meet different societal needs and often harbor high biodiversity. To harness the potential of cemeteries as urban green infrastructure, stakeholders need to understand why people visit cemeteries and their preferences. We conducted an online survey in Berlin, Germany (n = 627) to understand (i) the reasons for cemetery visits; (ii) preferences for cemetery features; (iii) the effect of a dead tree as a wilderness component on preferences for differently managed green areas (wild, meadows, lawns); (iv) preferences of nature elements as comforting experiences; and (v) how reasons for the visit and sociodemographic variables relate to respondents’ preferences. The major reasons to visit cemeteries were ‘enjoying nature’, ‘mourning’, and ‘historical interest’ and most preferred cemetery features were ‘wildlife‘, ‘solitude’, and ‘vegetation‘. Presenting a dead tree did not modulate preference ratings for green areas that were depicted on photographs. Comforting experiences with nature elements were high overall. The reasons to visit had besides socio-demographic variables predictive potential on pronounced preferences. The results underscore the importance of cemeteries as multidimensional places and indicate tolerance for the inclusion of dead trees as important wildlife habitat. Strategies to develop cemeteries as shared habitats for people and nature should also consider, besides socio-demographic background, the reasons for cemetery visits.
Inventory of China’s Net Biome Productivity since the 21st Century
Authors: Du Chaochao , Bai Xiaoyong , Li Yangbing , Tan Qiu , Zhao Cuiwei , Luo Guangjie , Wu Luhua , Chen Fei , Li Chaojun , Ran Chen , Luo Xuling , Xi Huipeng , Chen Huan , Zhang Sirui , Liu Min , Gong Suhua , Xiong Lian , Song Fengjiao , Xiao Biqin
Published: August 2022

Net biome productivity (NBP), which takes into account abiotic respiration and metabolic processes such as fire, pests, and harvesting of agricultural and forestry products, may be more scientific than net ecosystem productivity (NEP) in measuring ecosystem carbon sink levels. As one of the largest countries in global carbon emissions, in China, however, the spatial pattern and evolution of its NBP are still unclear. To this end, we estimated the magnitude of NBP in 31 Chinese provinces (except Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan) from 2000 to 2018, and clarified its temporal and spatial evolution. The results show that: (1) the total amount of NBP in China was about 0.21 Pg C/yr1. Among them, Yunnan Province had the highest NBP (0.09 Pg C/yr1), accounting for about 43% of China’s total. (2) NBP increased from a rate of 0.19 Tg C/yr1 during the study period. (3) At present, NBP in China’s terrestrial ecosystems is mainly distributed in southwest and south China, while northwest and central China are weak carbon sinks or carbon sources. (4) The relative contribution rates of carbon emission fluxes due to emissions from anthropogenic disturbances (harvest of agricultural and forestry products) and natural disturbances (fires, pests, etc.) were 70% and 9.87%, respectively. This study emphasizes the importance of using NBP to re-estimate the net carbon sink of China’s terrestrial ecosystem, which is beneficial to providing data support for the realization of China’s carbon neutrality goal and global carbon cycle research.
Fault Diagnosis of Rolling Bearings Based on Variational Mode Decomposition and Genetic Algorithm-Optimized Wavelet Threshold Denoising
Authors: Hu Can , Xing Futang , Pan Shuhan , Yuan Rui , Lv Yong
Published: August 2022

Fault diagnosis of rolling bearings can be a serious challenge, as rolling bearings often work under complex conditions and their vibration signals are typically nonlinear and nonstationary. This paper proposes a novel approach to diagnosing faults of rolling bearings based on variational mode decomposition (VMD) and genetic algorithm-optimized wavelet threshold denoising. First, VMD was used to decompose the vibration signals of faulty rolling bearings into a series of band-limited intrinsic mode functions (BLIMFs). During the decomposition, the parameters of VMD were selected by Kullback–Leibler (K–L) divergence. Then, the effective BLIMFs were determined by the analysis of their correlation coefficients and variance contributions. Finally, genetic algorithm-optimized wavelet threshold denoising was proposed to optimize the selection of important parameters, and the optimized threshold function used not only ensures the continuity of the threshold function but also avoids the fixed deviation of the soft threshold. The validity and superiority of the proposed approach were verified by theoretical calculations, numerical simulations and application studies. The results indicate that the proposed approach is promising in fault diagnosis of rotary machinery.
Integrated Path Tracking and Lateral Stability Control with Four-Wheel Independent Steering for Autonomous Electric Vehicles on Low Friction Roads
Authors: Jeong Yonghwan , Yim Seongjin
Published: August 2022

This paper presents a method to design an integrated path tracking and lateral stability controller for an autonomous electric vehicle with four-wheel independent steering (4WIS) on low friction roads. Recent advances in autonomous driving have led to extensive studies on path tracking control. However, path tracking is difficult on low friction roads. In this paper, path tracking control was converted to the yaw rate tracking one to cope with problems caused by low friction roads. To generate a reference yaw rate for path tracking, we present several methods using a driver model and a target path. For yaw rate tracking, we designed a controller with a two-layer control hierarchy, i.e., upper and lower layers. The control yaw moment was calculated using a direct yaw moment controller in the upper layer. In the low layer, a control allocation method was adopted to allocate the control yaw moment into steering angles of 4WIS. To verify the performance of the proposed controller, we conducted a simulation on vehicle simulation software. From the simulation results, it is shown that the proposed controller is effective for path tracking and lateral stability on low friction roads. To analyze path tracking and lateral stability performance of the proposed controller on low friction roads, the effects of the steady-state yaw rate gain are investigated from the simulation results.
Stationary Conditions and Characterizations of Solution Sets for Interval-Valued Tightened Nonlinear Problems
Authors: Lai Kin Keung , Mishra Shashi Kant , Singh Sanjeev Kumar , Hassan Mohd
Published: August 2022

In this paper, we obtain characterizations of solution sets of the interval-valued mathematical programming problems with switching constraints. Stationary conditions which are weaker than the standard Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions need to be discussed in order to find the necessary optimality conditions. We introduce corresponding weak, Mordukhovich, and strong stationary conditions for the corresponding interval-valued mathematical programming problems with switching constraints (IVPSC) and interval-valued tightened nonlinear problems (IVTNP), because the W-stationary condition of IVPSC is equivalent to Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions of the IVTNP. Furthermore, we use strong stationary conditions to characterize the several solutions sets for IVTNP, in which the last ones are particular solutions sets for IVPSC at the same time, because the feasible set of tightened nonlinear problems (IVTNP) is a subset of the feasible set of the mathematical programs with switching constraints (IVPSC).
A Parallel Convolution and Decision Fusion-Based Flower Classification Method
Authors: Jia Lianyin , Zhai Hongsong , Yuan Xiaohui , Jiang Ying , Ding Jiaman
Published: August 2022

Flower classification is of great significance to the fields of plants, food, and medicine. However, due to the inherent inter-class similarity and intra-class differences of flowers, it is a difficult task to accurately classify them. To this end, this paper proposes a novel flower classification method that combines enhanced VGG16 (E-VGG16) with decision fusion. Firstly, facing the shortcomings of the VGG16, an enhanced E-VGG16 is proposed. E-VGG16 introduces a parallel convolution block designed in this paper on VGG16 combined with several other optimizations to improve the quality of extracted features. Secondly, considering the limited decision-making ability of a single E-VGG16 variant, parallel convolutional blocks are embedded in different positions of E-VGG16 to obtain multiple E-VGG16 variants. By introducing information entropy to fuse multiple E-VGG16 variants for decision-making, the classification accuracy is further improved. The experimental results on the Oxford Flower102 and Oxford Flower17 public datasets show that the classification accuracy of our method reaches 97.69% and 98.38%, respectively, which significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art methods.
Inference for a Progressive-Stress Model Based on Ordered Ranked Set Sampling under Type-II Censoring
Authors: Hashem Atef F. , Alyami Salem A. , Abdel-Hamid Alaa H.
Published: August 2022

The progressive-stress accelerated life test is discussed under the ordered ranked set sampling procedure. It is assumed that the lifetime of an item under use stress is exponentially distributed and the law of inverse power is considered as the relationship between the scale parameter and the applied stress. The involved parameters are estimated using the Bayesian technique, under symmetric and asymmetric loss functions, based on ordered ranked set samples and simple random samples subject to type-II censoring. Real and simulated data sets are used to illustrate the theoretical results presented in this paper. Finally, a simulation study followed by numerical calculations is performed to evaluate the Bayesian estimation performance based on the two sampling types.
Lie Symmetries of the Nonlinear Fokker-Planck Equation Based on Weighted Kaniadakis Entropy
Authors: Hirica Iulia-Elena , Pripoae Cristina-Liliana , Pripoae Gabriel-Teodor , Preda Vasile
Published: August 2022

The paper studies the Lie symmetries of the nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation in one dimension, which are associated to the weighted Kaniadakis entropy. In particular, the Lie symmetries of the nonlinear diffusive equation, associated to the weighted Kaniadakis entropy, are found. The MaxEnt problem associated to the weighted Kaniadakis entropy is given a complete solution, together with the thermodynamic relations which extend the known ones from the non-weighted case. Several different, but related, arguments point out a subtle dichotomous behavior of the Kaniadakis constant k, distinguishing between the cases k∈(−1,1) and k=±1. By comparison, the Lie symmetries of the NFPEs based on Tsallis q-entropies point out six “exceptional” cases, for: q=12, q=32, q=43, q=73, q=2 and q=3.
An Efficient Numerical Scheme Based on Radial Basis Functions and a Hybrid Quasi-Newton Method for a Nonlinear Shape Optimization Problem
Authors: El Yazidi Youness , Ellabib Abdellatif
Published: August 2022

The purpose of this work is to construct a robust numerical scheme for a class of nonlinear free boundary identification problems. First, a shape optimization problem is constructed based on a least square functional. Schauder’s fixed point theorem is manipulated to show the existence solution for the state solution. The existence of an optimal solution of the optimization problem is proved. The proposed numerical scheme is based on the Radial Basis Functions method as a discretization approach, the minimization process is a hybrid Differential Evolution heuristic method and the quasi-Newton method. At the end we establish some numerical examples to show the validity of the theoretical results and robustness of the proposed scheme.
How Strong Can We Pull? Critical Thresholds for Traction Forces on the Aortic Annulus: Measurements on Fresh Porcine Hearts
Authors: Hartrumpf Martin , Sterner Josephine , Schroeter Filip , Kuehnel Ralf-Uwe , Ostovar Roya , Albes Johannes M.
Published: August 2022

Background and Objectives: Friable or infected tissue remains a challenge in surgical aortic valve replacement. We recently described the “Caput medusae” method, in which circumferential tourniquets temporarily secure the prosthesis and are then gently knotted. Tourniquets have been shown to develop significantly less force than knots. The current study investigates the critical threshold forces for tissue damage to the aortic annulus. Materials and Methods: In 14 fresh porcine hearts, the aortic valve leaflets were removed and several pledgeted sutures were placed along the annulus at defined locations. The hearts were mounted in a self-constructed device. Incremental traction force was applied to every suture and continuously recorded. The movement of each Teflon pledget was filmed with a high-speed camera. Forces at the moment of pledget “cut-in” as well as complete “tear-out” were determined from the recordings. Results: The average threshold force was determined 9.31 ± 6.04 N for cut-in and 20.41 ± 10.02 N for tear-out. Detailed analysis showed that the right coronary region had lower threshold forces than the other regions (4.77 ± 3.28 N (range, 1.67–12.75 N) vs. 10.67 ± 6.04 N (1.62–26.00 N) for cut-in and 10.67 ± 4.04 N (5.40–18.64 N) vs. 23.33 ± 9.42 N (9.22–51.23 N) for tear-out). The findings are discussed in conjunction with the knot and tourniquet forces from our previous study. Conclusions: Even in healthy tissue, moderate forces can reach a critical level at which a Teflon pledget will cut into the annulus, while a complete tear-out is unlikely. The right coronary portion is more susceptible to damage than the remaining regions. When compared to previous data, forces during manual knotting may exceed the critical cut-in level, while rubber tourniquets may provide a higher safety margin against tissue rupture.
Testing for Thrombophilia in Young Cryptogenic Stroke Patients: Does the Presence of Patent Foramen Ovale Make a Difference?
Authors: Jokubaitis Mantas , Mineikytė Rūta , Kryžauskaitė Lina , Gumbienė Lina , Kaplerienė Lina , Andruškevičius Saulius , Ryliškienė Kristina
Published: August 2022

Background and Objectives: The diagnostic value of thrombophilia remains unknown in young patients with patent foramen ovale (PFO) and stroke. In this study we hypothesized that inherited thrombophilias that lead to venous thrombosis are more prevalent in patients with PFO. Materials and Methods: The study included patients of the tertiary center Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos who had a cryptogenic ischemic stroke between the ages of 18 and 50 between the years 2008 and 2021. Transient ischemic attacks were excluded. Contrast-enhanced transcranial Doppler ultrasound and extensive laboratory testing were performed. Results: The study included 161 cryptogenic stroke patients (mean age 39.2 ± 7.6 years; 54% female), and a right-to-left shunt was found in 112 (69.6%). The mean time between stroke and thrombophilia testing was 210 days (median 98 days). In total, 61 (39.8%) patients were diagnosed with thrombophilia. The most common finding was hyperhomocysteinemia (26.7%), 14.3% of which were genetically confirmed. Two patients (1.2%) were diagnosed with factor V Leiden mutation, three patients (1.9%) with prothrombin G20210A mutation, one patient (0.6%) had a protein C mutation and one patient (0.6%) had a protein S mutation. No antithrombin mutations were diagnosed in our study population. A total of 45.5% of patients with inherited thrombophilia had a right-to-left shunt, while 54.5% did not, p = 0.092. Personal thrombosis anamnesis was positive significantly more often in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome. Conclusions: The hypothesis of the study was rejected since inherited venous thrombophilia was not significantly more common in patients with PFO. Due to the rarity of thrombophilias in general, more research with a larger sample size is required to further verify our findings.
Effect of Two Strains of Beauveria bassiana on the Fecundity of Nezara viridula L. (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)
Authors: Portilla Maribel , Reddy Gadi V. P. , Tertuliano Moukaram
Published: August 2022

The southern green stink bug (SGSB) Nezara viridula (L.) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), has become a significant pest of soybean and cotton in southern Central America and in the lower mid-southern U.S. A laboratory colony of SGSB was used to evaluate the effect of two isolates of Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo-Crivelli) Vuillemin (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) including the commercial strain GHA and the Mississippi Delta native NI8 strain on the fecundity of this pest. Water control, Tween-80, and four concentrations of each strain (n × 104, 105, 106, and 107) were evaluated. Both native and commercial isolates with the highest concentrations were susceptible to the SGSB. Females, however, were much more pathogenic to both strains than males. Lethal concentration of the native strain (236 spores/mm2) was 1.4-fold lower (326 spores/mm2) than the GHA strain for females evaluated 20 d post-exposure. Greater concentrations (1.1 × 107 spores/mm2, 5.2 × 106 spores/mm2) were required to kill males with both strains native and commercial, respectively. For controls and lower concentrations, cumulative fecundity ranged from 1178 to 2082 eggs/10 couples/life reproduction, compared with 597 and 673 eggs/10 couples sprayed (n × 106 and 107) with the native NI8, respectively, and 386 eggs/10 couples sprayed (n × 107) with the commercial GHA.
A Small Natural Molecule S3 Protects Retinal Ganglion Cells and Promotes Parkin-Mediated Mitophagy against Excitotoxicity
Authors: Zhuang Dongli , Zhang Rong , Liu Haiyang , Dai Yi
Published: August 2022

Glutamate excitotoxicity may contribute to retinal ganglion cell (RGC) degeneration in glaucoma and other optic neuropathies, leading to irreversible blindness. Growing evidence has linked impaired mitochondrial quality control with RGCs degeneration, while parkin, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, has proved to be protective and promotes mitophagy in RGCs against excitotoxicity. The purpose of this study was to explore whether a small molecule S3 could modulate parkin-mediated mitophagy and has therapeutic potential for RGCs. The results showed that as an inhibitor of deubiquitinase USP30, S3 protected cultured RGCs and improved mitochondrial health against NMDA-induced excitotoxicity. Administration of S3 promoted the parkin expression and its downstream mitophagy-related proteins in RGCs. An upregulated ubiquitination level of Mfn2 and protein level of OPA1 were also observed in S3-treated RGCs, while parkin knockdown resulted in a major loss of the protective effect of S3 on RGCs under excitotoxicity. These findings demonstrated that S3 promoted RGC survival mainly through enhancing parkin-mediated mitophagy against excitotoxicity. The neuroprotective value of S3 in glaucoma and other optic neuropathies deserves further investigation.
The Effect of Nano-ZnO on Seeds Germination Parameters of Different Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Cultivars
Authors: Włodarczyk Katarzyna , Smolińska Beata
Published: August 2022

The agriculture sector faces numerous problems. One of the beforementioned problems relates to the proper crop plants’ fertilization. The conventional bulk fertilizers are becoming less effective and have a negative impact on the environment. Nanomaterials such as zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are widely used in various sectors such as medicine or electronics. Several studies indicate that nano-ZnO may likewise be considered as a potential nanofertilizer. In present research, an attempt was made to study the influence of two different sized ZnO NPs (<50 nm and <100 nm) on the seed germination of chosen tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) cultivars. The seeds of three cherry tomato cultivars were placed on a Petri dish with the NPs suspensions (0, 50, 150, and 250 mg/L) in order to examine the influence on germination parameters at a certain size of NPs and at a chosen concentration. In addition, within this study, we verified that the implicated conditions have the exact impact on all three cultivars. The obtained results indicate that all the factors affect the seed sprouting, however, this process mainly depends on the type of tomato cultivar and the size of the used nanoparticles. The parameter of the germination percentage (GP) was the only of the assumed factors that did not influence it significantly. Nevertheless, the values of other examined parameters such as the MGT, GRI, CVG, or VI depend strongly on all assumed features including the type of chosen cultivar. The obtained results vary significantly between all cultivars which indicates that the plants from the same family may require different conditions for optimal growth. In this research the <50 nm ZnO nanoparticles had more beneficial influence on sprouting parameters then parallelly used <100 nm ZnO nanoparticles.
Experimental and Theoretical Study of Fluorescent Properties of Morin
Authors: Deriabina Alexandra , Prutskij Tatiana , Castillo Trejo Leticia , Sanchez Gutierrez Maria Patricia , Gonzalez Jimenez Eduardo
Published: August 2022

Morin (M) is one of the most widely distributed flavonoids with several beneficial effects on human health, and has the potential of being used as a possible treatment for COVID-19. To achieve a better understanding of the process of M dissolution, the fluorescent (FL) emission from M solutions prepared with different polar and nonpolar solvents (methanol, DMSO, and chloroform) was measured and compared with the FL emission from M powder and M crystals. In the FL spectra of the solutions with high M concentration, as well as in the spectra of M in solid state, two features, at 615 nm and 670 nm, were observed. As the solution concentration decreases, the maxima of FL spectra of the M solutions in all considered solvents shift to the blue side of the spectrum until reaching the value of 520 nm. To explain the experimental results, the TDDFT-M06-2X/6-31++G(d,p) method was used to determine the possible electronic transitions in the M molecule. The computations show that the FL emission in the spectral range of detection of our setup (405–800 nm) is related to the excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT). Comparison of the experimental data with the computations strongly suggests that in low-concentrated solutions, the FL emission is mostly due to electronic transitions in the keto OH3 form, whereas in aggregated states, the dominate contribution to the FL emission spectra is due to the transitions in keto OH5 form. Moreover, the time evolution of the M solutions FL spectra was observed, measured and explained for the first time.
Insights into the Explicit Protective Activity of Herbals in Management of Neurodegenerative and Cerebrovascular Disorders
Authors: Behl Tapan , Makkar Rashita , Sehgal Aayush , Sharma Neelam , Singh Sukhbir , Albratty Mohammed , Najmi Asim , Meraya Abdulkarim M. , Bungau Simona Gabriela
Published: August 2022

The longstanding progressive neurodegenerative conditions of the central nervous system arise mainly due to deterioration, degradation and eventual neuronal cell loss. As an individual ages, the irreversible neurodegenerative disorders associated with aging also begin to develop, and these have become exceedingly prominent and pose a significant burden mentally, socially and economically on both the individual and their family. These disorders express several symptoms, such as tremors, dystonia, loss of cognitive functions, impairment of motor activity leading to immobility, loss of memory and many more which worsen with time. The treatment employed in management of these debilitating neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease (which mainly involves the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the nigrostriatal region), Alzheimer’s disease (which arises due to accumulation of Tau proteins causing diffusive atrophy in the brain), Huntington’s disease (which involves damage of striatal and spinal neurons, etc.), have several adverse effects, leading to exploration of several lead targets and molecules existing in herbal drugs. The current review highlights the mechanistic role of natural products in the treatment of several neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, ischemic stroke and depression.
Giant Dipole Multi-Resonances Excited by High-Frequency Laser Pulses
Authors: Mişicu Şerban
Published: August 2022

The worldwide advent of new laser facilities makes possible the investigation of the nuclear response to a very strong electromagnetic field. In this paper, we inquire on the excitation of one of the most conspicuous collective excitations, the giant dipole resonance, within the hydrodynamical model for a proton-neutron fluid mixture placed in a Skyrme mean-field and interacting with an external ultra-strong electromagnetic field. The variables of this approach are: proton and neutron displacement (velocity) fields, density fluctuations, and fluctuations of the electric field due to the coupling of the laser electromagnetic field to the dynamical distortions of the baryonic system (electro-magneto-hydrodynamical effect). We point out the occurrence of a multiresonance structure of the absorption cross-section.
Studying the Interaction of Neutrophils and Glaesserella Parasuis Indicates a Serotype Independent Benefit from Degradation of NETs
Authors: Bonilla Marta C. , Lassnig Simon , Obando Corella Andrea , Imker Rabea , Valentin-Weigand Peter , von Köckritz-Blickwede Maren , Luther Anne-Marie , Hennig-Pauka Isabel , de Buhr Nicole
Published: August 2022

Glaesserella (G.) parasuis is one of the most important porcine pathogens causing Glaesser’s disease. Neutrophil granulocytes are the major counteracting cell type of the innate immune system, which contribute to the host defense by phagocytosis or the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Recently, NET-formation has been shown to facilitate the survival of bacteria from the Pasteurellaceae family. However, the interaction of NETs and G. parasuis is unclear so far. In this study, we investigated the interplay of three G. parasuis serotypes with porcine neutrophils. The production of reactive oxygen species by neutrophils after G. parasuis infection varied slightly among the serotypes but was generally low and not significantly influenced by the serotypes. Interestingly, we detected that independent of the serotype of G. parasuis, NET formation in neutrophils was induced to a small but significant extent. This phenomenon occurred despite the ability of G. parasuis to release nucleases, which can degrade NETs. Furthermore, the growth of Glaesserella was enhanced by external DNases and degraded NETs. This indicates that Glaesserella takes up degraded NET components, supplying them with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), as this benefit was diminished by inhibiting the 5′-nucleotidase, which metabolizes NAD. Our results indicate a serotype-independent interaction of Glaesserella with neutrophils by inducing NET-formation and benefiting from DNA degradation.
Wittgenstein and Care Ethics as a Plea for Realism
Authors: Laugier Sandra
Published: August 2022

This paper aims to bring together the appeal to the ordinary in the ethics of care and the ‘destruction’ or philosophical subversion which Wittgenstein references in his Philosophical Investigations: Where does our investigation get its importance from, since it seems to destroy everything interesting, all that is great and important? What we are destroying is nothing but houses of cards. The paper pursues a connection between the ethics of care and ordinary language philosophy as represented by Wittgenstein, Austin and Cavell, in particular in a feminist perspective. The central point of Carol Gilligan’s In a Different Voice may not be the idea of a ‘feminine morality’ but a claim for an alternative form of morality. Gilligan’s essay seeks to capture a different, hitherto neglected yet universally present alternative ethical perspective, one easy to ignore because it relates to women and women’s activities. The ethics of care recalls a plea for ‘realism’; in the sense given to it in Cora Diamond’s The Realistic Spirit to mean the necessity of seeing (or attending to) what lies close at hand. Reflection on care brings ethics back to everyday practice much as Wittgenstein sought to bring language back from the metaphysical level to its everyday use.
Management and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for a Sustainable Agriculture
Authors: Pathirana Ranjith , Carimi Francesco
Published: August 2022

Despite the dramatic increase in food production thanks to the Green Revolution, hunger is increasing among human populations around the world, affecting one in nine people. The negative environmental and social consequences of industrial monocrop agriculture is becoming evident, particularly in the contexts of greenhouse gas emissions and the increased frequency and impact of zoonotic disease emergence, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Human activity has altered 70–75% of the ice-free Earth’s surface, squeezing nature and wildlife into a corner. To prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide, the UN has launched a Decade of Ecosystem Restoration. In this context, this review describes the origin and diversity of cultivated species, the impact of modern agriculture and other human activities on plant genetic resources, and approaches to conserve and use them to increase food diversity and production with specific examples of the use of crop wild relatives for breeding climate-resilient cultivars that require less chemical and mechanical input. The need to better coordinate in situ conservation efforts with increased funding has been highlighted. We emphasise the need to strengthen the genebank infrastructure, enabling the use of modern biotechnological tools to help in genotyping and characterising accessions plus advanced ex situ conservation methods, identifying gaps in collections, developing core collections, and linking data with international databases. Crop and variety diversification and minimising tillage and other field practices through the development and introduction of herbaceous perennial crops is proposed as an alternative regenerative food system for higher carbon sequestration, sustaining economic benefits for growers, whilst also providing social and environmental benefits.
Effect of Wheat Crop Nitrogen Fertilization Schedule on the Phenolic Content and Antioxidant Activity of Sprouts and Wheatgrass Obtained from Offspring Grains
Authors: Falcinelli Beatrice , Galieni Angelica , Tosti Giacomo , Stagnari Fabio , Trasmundi Flaviano , Oliva Eleonora , Scroccarello Annalisa , Sergi Manuel , Del Carlo Michele , Benincasa Paolo
Published: August 2022

This work was aimed at investigating the effects of rate and timing of nitrogen fertilization applied to a maternal wheat crop on phytochemical content and antioxidant activity of edible sprouts and wheatgrass obtained from offspring grains. We hypothesized that imbalance in N nutrition experienced by the mother plants translates into transgenerational responses on seedlings obtained from the offspring seeds. To this purpose, we sprouted grains of two bread wheat cultivars (Bologna and Bora) grown in the field under four N fertilization schedules: constantly well N fed with a total of 300 kg N ha−1; N fed only very early, i.e., one month after sowing, with 60 kg N ha−1; N fed only late, i.e., at initial shoot elongation, with 120 kg N ha−1; and unfertilized control. We measured percent germination, seedling growth, vegetation indices (by reflectance spectroscopy), the phytochemical content (total phenols, phenolic acids, carotenoids, chlorophylls), and the antioxidant activity (by gold nanoparticles photometric assay) of extracts in sprout and wheatgrass obtained from the harvested seeds. Our main finding is that grains obtained from crops subjected to late N deficiency produced wheatgrass with much higher phenolic content (as compared to the other N treatments), and this was observed in both cultivars. Thus, we conclude that late N deficiency is a stressing condition which elicits the production of phenols. This may help counterbalance the loss of income related to lower grain yield in crops subjected to such an imbalance in N nutrition.
Advances in Microfluidic Synthesis of Solid Catalysts
Authors: Chen Huihui , Dong Zhenhua , Yue Jun
Published: August 2022

Heterogeneous catalysis plays a central role in the chemical and energy fields, owing to the high and tunable activities of solid catalysts that are essential to achieve the favorable reaction process efficiency, and their ease of recycle and reuse. Numerous research efforts have been focused on the synthesis of solid catalysts towards obtaining the desired structure, property and catalytic performance. The emergence and development of microfluidic reactor technology provide a new and attractive platform for the controllable synthesis of solid catalysts, primarily because of its superior mixing performance and high heat/mass transfer efficiency. In this review, the recent research progress on the synthesis of solid catalysts based on microfluidic reactor technology is summarized. The first section deals with the synthesis strategies for solid catalysts, including conventional methods in batch reactors and microfluidic alternatives (based on single- and two-phase flow processing). Then, different kinds of solid catalysts synthesized in microflow are discussed, especially with regard to the catalyst type, synthetic process, structure and property, and catalytic performance. Finally, challenges in the microreactor operation and scale-up, as well as future perspectives in terms of the synthesis of more types of catalysts, catalyst performance improvement, and the combination of catalyst synthesis process and catalytic reaction in microreactors, are provided.
Introducing Non-Hierarchical RSM and MIGA for Performance Prediction and Optimization of a Centrifugal Pump under the Nominal Condition
Authors: Wang Wenjie , Sun Ju , Liu Jun , Zhao Jiantao , Pei Ji , Wang Jiabin
Published: August 2022

In order to improve the operation performance of the multi-stage double-suction centrifugal pump and reduce the internal energy loss of the pump, this paper proposes a single-objective optimization design method based on the non-hierarchical response surface methodology (RSM) and the multi-island genetic algorithm (MIGA). Nine parameters, such as the blade outlet width and blade wrap angle, were used as design variables, and the optimization objective was efficiency under design conditions. In total, 149 sets of valid data were obtained under the Latin hypercube sampling method (LHS), the corresponding thresholds were set for efficiency and head, and 99 sets of valid data were obtained. A cross-validation analysis of the sieved data was carried out based on non-hierarchical RSM, global optimization of the efficiency was carried out using MIGA, and numerical verification was carried out via CFD. The research results show that compared with hierarchical RSM, non-hierarchical RSM can approximate the nonlinear relationship between the objective function and the design variables with higher accuracy, and the model fitting R2 value was 0.919. The efficiency was improved by 3.717% after optimization. The overall prewhirl of the impeller inlet after optimization decreased, the internal speed of the volute significantly improved, the large-area vortex at the volute and the outlet pipe was eliminated, the impact loss at the volute separating tongue disappeared, and the overall hydraulic performance of the pump was improved. The total entropy output value of the optimized pump was reduced by 4.79 (W/K), mainly concentrated on the reduction in the entropy output value of the double volute, and the overall energy dissipation of the pump was reduced.