bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impact of Distracting Emotional Stimuli on the Characteristics of Movement Performance: A Kinematic Study
Authors: Lu Yingzhi , Wang Tianyi , Long Qiuping , Cheng Zijian
Published: March 2021

It is well-documented that emotional stimuli impact both the cognitive and motor aspects of “goal-directed” behavior. However, how emotional distractors impact motor performance remains unclear. This study aimed to characterize how movement quality was impacted during emotional distractors. We used a modified oddball paradigm and documented the performance of pure movement. Participants were designated to draw a triangle or a polygon, while an emotional stimulus was presented. Speed was assessed using reaction time and movement time. The quality and precision of movement were assessed by calculating the accuracy and root-mean-square error (RMSE). Compared to drawings of triangles, polygons had higher accuracy under negative stimuli, but lower RMSE under positive stimuli. The results indicate that distracting emotional stimuli impact different aspects of movement quality, with movement complexity influencing accuracy under negative distractors and precision under positive distractors. This study provides further evidence that movement precision is an important feature of emotional embodiment that should be incorporated in future studies.
Rational and Flexible Adaptation of Sentence Production to Ongoing Language Experience
Authors: Thothathiri Malathi
Published: March 2021

Whether sentences are formulated primarily using lexically based or non-lexically based information has been much debated. In this perspective article, I review evidence for rational flexibility in the sentence production architecture. Sentences can be constructed flexibly via lexically dependent or independent routes, and rationally depending on the statistical properties of the input and the validity of lexical vs. abstract cues for predicting sentence structure. Different neural pathways appear to be recruited for individuals with different executive function abilities and for verbs with different statistical properties, suggesting that alternative routes are available for producing the same structure. Together, extant evidence indicates that the human brain adapts to ongoing language experience during adulthood, and that the nature of the adjustment may depend rationally on the statistical contingencies of the current context.
The Impact of Psycho-Social Interventions on the Wellbeing of Individuals With Acquired Brain Injury During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Wilkie Lowri , Arroyo Pamela , Conibeer Harley , Kemp Andrew Haddon , Fisher Zoe
Published: March 2021

Individuals with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) suffer chronic impairment across cognitive, physical and psycho-social domains, and the experience of anxiety, isolation and apathy has been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative evaluation was conducted of 14 individuals with ABI who had participated in series of COVID adapted group-based intervention(s) that had been designed to improve wellbeing. Eight themes were identified: Facilitating Safety, Fostering Positive Emotion, Managing and Accepting Difficult Emotions, Promoting Meaning, Finding Purpose and Accomplishment, Facilitating Social Ties, (Re)Connecting to Nature, and Barriers to Efficacy. Findings are discussed with respects to recent theoretical developments in positive psychology and wellbeing science and support the use of online and outdoor interventions to enhance wellbeing in individuals living with ABI during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper makes a unique contribution to second wave positive psychology (PP2.0) through the application of recent advances in wellbeing science to an ABI population during the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, this paper lays the foundation for new interventions that not only reduce impairment and distress, but also create opportunities for meaning and enhanced wellbeing in people living with chronic conditions and those individuals living with ABI in particular.
Disentangling Within- and Between-Person Effects During Response Inhibition in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Authors: Hagland Pernille , Thorsen Anders Lillevik , Ousdal Olga Therese , Gjestad Rolf , de Wit Stella J. , Hansen Bjarne , Hagen Kristen , Kvale Gerd , van den Heuvel Odile A.
Published: March 2021

Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been related to worse performance, abnormal brain activity, and functional connectivity during response inhibition. Whether these findings are indications of stable traits that contribute to the development of the disorder, or whether they are a result of the state severity of obsessions and anxiety, remains unclear since previous research mainly has employed cross-sectional designs. The present study aimed to assess longitudinal between- and within-person relationships between symptoms, task performance, right inferior frontal gyrus brain activation, and connectivity between the right amygdala and the right pre-supplementary motor area in 29 OCD patients before and after concentrated exposure and response prevention treatment.

Method: Patients received exposure and response prevention delivered during 4 consecutive days, following the Bergen 4-day Treatment format. Patients performed a Stop Signal Task during 3T functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging the day before treatment, as well as 1 week and 3 months after treatment completion. Multilevel models were used to analyze disaggregated within- and between-person effects over time. Independent variables were scores on the symptom severity scales for OCD, anxiety, depression, and state distress during scanning. Dependent variables were reaction time for go trials, stop signal response time, task-related brain activation and connectivity.

Results: A positive between-person effect was found for obsessive-compulsive, anxiety, and depressive symptom severity on go trial reaction time, indicating that patients with higher symptom scores on average respond slower during accurate go trials. We also found no significant between- or within-person relations between symptom severity and task-related activation or fronto-limbic connectivity.

Conclusions: The between-person findings may point toward a general association between slower processing speed and symptom severity in OCD. Longitudinal studies should disaggregate between- and within-person effects to better understand variation over time.
Cortical Thickness Changes in Chronic Ketamine Users
Authors: Zhong Jun , Wu Huawang , Wu Fengchun , He Hongbo , Zhang Zhaohua , Huang Jiaxin , Cao Penghui , Fan Ni
Published: March 2021

Background: Previous studies have examined the effects of long-term ketamine use on gray matter volume. But it is unclear whether chronic ketamine use alters cortical thickness and whether cortical thickness changes in chronic ketamine users are associated with cognitive deficits observed in chronic ketamine users.

Methods: Here, 28 chronic ketamine users and 30 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. Cortical morphometry based on Computational Anatomy Toolbox (CAT12) was used to measure cortical thickness. Cognitive performance was measured by MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). Two-sample t-test was used to assess differences in cortical thickness and cognitive performance between the two groups. Partial correlation analysis was used for assessing correlations between cortical thickness changes and clinical characteristics, cognitive performance in chronic ketamine users.

Results: Chronic ketamine users exhibited significantly reduced cortical thickness in frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes compared to HC [false discovery rate (FDR) corrected at p < 0.05]. In chronic ketamine users, the average quantity (g) of ketamine use/day was negatively correlated with cortical thickness in the left superior frontal gyrus (SFG), right caudal middle frontal gyrus (MFG), and right paracentral lobule. The frequency of ketamine use (days per week) was negatively correlated with cortical thickness in the left isthmus cingulate cortex. Duration of ketamine use (month) was negatively correlated with cortical thickness in the left precentral gyrus. The chronic ketamine users showed significantly poorer cognitive performance on the working memory (P = 0.009), visual learning (P = 0.009), speed of processing (P < 0.000), and Matrics composite (P = 0.01). There was no correlation between scores of domains of MCCB and reduced cortical thickness.

Conclusion: The present study observed reduced cortical thickness in multiple brain areas, especially in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in chronic ketamine users. Dose, frequency, and duration of ketamine use was negatively correlated with cortical thickness of some brain areas. Our results suggest that chronic ketamine use may lead to a decrease of cortical thickness. But the present study did not observe any correlation between reduced cortical thickness and decreased cognitive performance in chronic ketamine users.
Association of Loneliness and Wisdom With Gut Microbial Diversity and Composition: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Nguyen Tanya T. , Zhang Xinlian , Wu Tsung-Chin , Liu Jinyuan , Le Collin , Tu Xin M. , Knight Rob , Jeste Dilip V.
Published: March 2021

Loneliness and wisdom have opposite effects on health and well-being. Loneliness is a serious public health problem associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Wisdom is associated with better health and well-being. We have consistently found a strong negative correlation between loneliness and wisdom. The present study aimed to investigate the association of loneliness and wisdom with the gut microbiome. One hundred eighty-four community-dwelling adults (28–97 years) completed validated self-report-based measures of loneliness, wisdom, compassion, social support, and social engagement. Fecal samples were collected and profiled using 16S rRNA sequencing. Linear regression analyses, controlling for age and body mass index, revealed that lower levels of loneliness and higher levels of wisdom, compassion, social support, and social engagement were associated with greater phylogenetic richness and diversity of the gut microbiome. Partial least squares (PLS) analysis to investigate multivariate relationships extracted two composite variables. Linear regression model predicting alpha-diversity with PLS components revealed that a linear combination of all psychosocial predictors (with negative loading for loneliness and positive loadings for all others, including wisdom, compassion, social support, and social engagement) was significantly associated with alpha-diversity. For beta-diversity, compassion and wisdom accounted for a significant proportion of variance in overall microbial community composition. Findings may have implications for interventions to reduce loneliness and possibly its health-related adverse consequences. Future research should explore whether increasing compassion and wisdom may improve loneliness and overall well-being as well as microbial diversity.
A Bioecosystem Theory of Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia
Authors: Strauss Gregory P.
Published: March 2021

Objective:Negative symptoms are a core feature of schizophrenia that has been linked to numerous poor clinical outcomes. Although person-level mechanisms have been identified for negative symptoms, psychosocial and pharmacological treatments targeting these mechanisms have been ineffective. The current theoretical paper proposes that limited treatment progress may result in part from a failure to identify and target environmental processes that cause and maintain negative symptoms.

Methods:A novel theoretical model is outlined, called the bioecosystem theory of negative symptoms, that offers a conceptual framework for studying interactions among environmental systems and person-related biological and psychosocial factors.

Results:Relying on Bronfenbrenner's developmental theory as an organizing framework, four interactive environmental systems are proposed to be critical for the genesis and maintenance of negative symptoms: (1) Microsystem: the immediate environment; (2) Mesosystem: the interactions among microsystems; (3) Exosystem: indirect environments that influence the individual through the microsystems; (4) Macrosystem: socio-cultural factors. The environmental factors within these systems are proposed to function as a network and have dynamic within-system interactions, as well as cross-system interactions that change over time and across phases of illness.

Conclusions:Environmental contributions to negative symptoms have received minimal empirical attention, despite their potential to explain variance in negative symptom severity. The bioecosystem model of negative symptoms introduced here offers a novel conceptual framework for exploring environmental contributions to negative symptoms and their interaction with person-level biological and psychological factors. This theory may facilitate new avenues for identifying environmental treatment targets and novel systems-level interventions.
Social Determinants of Health and Well-Being of Adolescents in Multicultural Families in South Korea: Social-Cultural and Community Influence
Authors: Shin Jungeun , Lee Hyeonkyeong , Choi Eun Kyoung , Nam Chungmo , Chae Sun-Mi , Park Oksik
Published: March 2021

Objectives: Adolescents in multicultural families (AMFs) are exposed to numerous stressors and face environmental vulnerability within the family, school, and community systems, which may affect their health and well-being. Concrete discussion on policies is lacking due to insufficient data on the levels of well-being of AMFs in South Korea. This study aimed to investigate social-cultural and community factors affecting their well-being.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a convenience sample of 206 AMFs (aged 13–18 years) from 16 general schools and three multicultural schools across eight large cities. AMFs completed a self-administrative questionnaire assessing well-being, individual factors (acculturative stress, health behavior), social and community factors (social support, sense of community), and environmental factors (school type, economic status). Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Results: Social support and sense of community significantly and directly affected well-being. The economic status and type of school had an indirect effect on well-being, whereas the effect of acculturative stress was not significant. Factors significantly affecting adolescents' well-being were social support, sense of community, economic status, and type of school.

Conclusion: Addressing well-being may be the strategy leading AMFs to grow into healthy adults. These results could help educators, health professionals, and policymakers to identify ways to enhance the well-being of AMFs.
ChEMU 2020: Natural Language Processing Methods Are Effective for Information Extraction From Chemical Patents
Authors: He Jiayuan , Nguyen Dat Quoc , Akhondi Saber A. , Druckenbrodt Christian , Thorne Camilo , Hoessel Ralph , Afzal Zubair , Zhai Zenan , Fang Biaoyan , Yoshikawa Hiyori , Albahem Ameer , Cavedon Lawrence , Cohn Trevor , Baldwin Timothy , Verspoor Karin
Published: March 2021

Chemical patents represent a valuable source of information about new chemical compounds, which is critical to the drug discovery process. Automated information extraction over chemical patents is, however, a challenging task due to the large volume of existing patents and the complex linguistic properties of chemical patents. The Cheminformatics Elsevier Melbourne University (ChEMU) evaluation lab 2020, part of the Conference and Labs of the Evaluation Forum 2020 (CLEF2020), was introduced to support the development of advanced text mining techniques for chemical patents. The ChEMU 2020 lab proposed two fundamental information extraction tasks focusing on chemical reaction processes described in chemical patents: (1)chemical named entity recognition, requiring identification of essential chemical entities and their roles in chemical reactions, as well as reaction conditions; and (2)event extraction, which aims at identification of event steps relating the entities involved in chemical reactions. The ChEMU 2020 lab received 37 team registrations and 46 runs. Overall, the performance of submissions for these tasks exceeded our expectations, with the top systems outperforming strong baselines. We further show the methods to be robust to variations in sampling of the test data. We provide a detailed overview of the ChEMU 2020 corpus and its annotation, showing that inter-annotator agreement is very strong. We also present the methods adopted by participants, provide a detailed analysis of their performance, and carefully consider the potential impact of data leakage on interpretation of the results. The ChEMU 2020 Lab has shown the viability of automated methods to support information extraction of key information in chemical patents.
Toward Augmented Reality in Museums: Evaluation of Design Choices for 3D Object Pose Estimation
Authors: Panteleris Paschalis , Michel Damien , Argyros Antonis
Published: March 2021

The solutions to many computer vision problems, including that of 6D object pose estimation, are dominated nowadays by the explosion of the learning-based paradigm. In this paper, we investigate 6D object pose estimation in a practical, real-word setting in which a mobile device (smartphone/tablet) needs to be localized in front of a museum exhibit, in support of an augmented-reality application scenario. In view of the constraints and the priorities set by this particular setting, we consider an appropriately tailored classical as well as a learning-based method. Moreover, we develop a hybrid method that consists of both classical and learning based components. All three methods are evaluated quantitatively on a standard, benchmark dataset, but also on a new dataset that is specific to the museum guidance scenario of interest.
An Auroral Alfvén Wave Cascade
Authors: Chaston C. C.
Published: March 2021

Folding, kinking, curling and vortical optical forms are distinctive features of most bright auroral displays. These forms are symptomatic of non-linear forcing of the plasma above auroral arcs resulting from the intensification of electrical currents and Alfvén waves along high-latitude geomagnetic field-lines during periods of disturbed space weather. Electrons accelerated to energies sufficient to carry these currents impact the atmosphere and drive visible emission with spatial structure and dynamics that replicate the morphology and time evolution of the plasma region where the acceleration occurs. Movies of active auroral displays, particularly when combined with conjugate in-situ fields and plasma measurements, therefore capture the physics of a driven, non-linearly evolving space plasma system. Here a perspective emphasizing the utility of combining in-situ measurements through the auroral acceleration region with high time and spatial resolution auroral imaging for the study of space plasma turbulence is presented. It is demonstrated how this special capacity reveals the operation of a cascade of vortical flows and currents through the auroral acceleration region regulated by the physics of Alfvén waves similar to that thought to operate in the Solar wind.
Synergy of Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation and Trichoderma spp. in Rhizoctonia Root Rot Suppression
Authors: Khadka Ram B. , Miller Sally A.
Published: March 2021

Potential synergy between anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) and Trichoderma spp. in suppression of Rhizoctonia root rot in radish was evaluated. A split-plot design with three replications was used; main plots were Trichoderma harzianum T22, Trichoderma asperellum NT25 and a non-Trichoderma control. Subplots were ASD carbon sources wheat bran, molasses, chicken manure, and mustard greens and two non-amended controls: anaerobic (covered and flooded) and aerobic (not covered or flooded). Carbon sources and Rhizoctonia solani inoculant were mixed with soil, placed in pots, and flooded, followed by drenching Trichoderma spore suspensions and sealing the pots in zip-lock bags. After 3 weeks, bags were removed, soil was aired for 1 week and radish “SSR-RR-27” was seeded. Rhizoctonia root rot severity and incidence were lowest in radish plants grown in ASD-treated soil amended with wheat bran, molasses, or mustard greens across all Trichoderma treatments. Disease severity was lower in radish plants treated with NT25 than with T22 or the non-Trichoderma control across all ASD treatments, and in radish grown in ASD-treated soil amended with wheat bran plus NT25 compared to ASD-wheat bran or NT25 alone. Rhizoctonia solani populations were significantly reduced by ASD treatment regardless of carbon source, while Trichoderma populations were not affected by ASD treatment with the exception of ASD-mustard greens. The interactions of either Trichoderma isolate and ASD with most carbon sources were additive, while T22 with ASD-molasses and NT25 with ASD–wheat bran interactions were synergistic in reducing disease severity. One interaction, T22 with ASD-chicken manure was antagonistic. Enhancement of ASD efficacy in suppressing soilborne diseases such as Rhizoctonia root rot by additional soil amendment with Trichoderma spp. during the process appears to be dependent on both Trichoderma isolate and ASD carbon source.
Targeting Youths’ Intentions to Avoid Food Waste: Segmenting for Better Policymaking
Authors: Marek-Andrzejewska Ewelina M. , Wielicka-Regulska Anna
Published: March 2021

Food waste is a global challenge that raises many questions about the reasons and prevalence of this phenomenon in all sectors of the economy. The youth is regarded as a consumer group, which is the most prone to food waste. This paper aims to understand their food waste intentions to support tailored policies for policymakers, retailers, and other market actors. We applied the extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to find the relevant variables that affect the youth’s intention not to waste food. Besides creating a general model, we divided the sample into segments differing in respondents’ intentions to avoid food waste and specific socioeconomic characteristics. The data confirm significant differences between young women and men from urban and rural areas. Each of the segments was characterized by specific latent variables, influencing the intentions to avoid food waste. This segmentation allowed for developing policy recommendations that were tailored to each segment. It is a unique approach to differentiate the youth to unveil their specific food-waste intentions. Based on the above, we conclude that segmenting is a useful approach to the general TPB model, allowing for interesting insights. A fine segmentation is also a milestone to develop tailored policies, interventions, and communication on food waste reduction in rural and urban areas.
Changes in the Bio-Availability of Phosphorus in Pyrochars and Hydrochars Derived from Sewage Sludge after Their Amendment to Soils
Authors: Paneque Marina , de la Rosa José María , Patti Antonio F. , Knicker Heike
Published: March 2021

The expected shortage of global phosphate has enforced the search for alternative resources for P fertilizers. Therefore, the present study focuses on the turnover of phosphorus (P) of hydrochars and pyrochars derived from sewage sludge (SS) in soils during plant growth. We designed a pot experiment in which Lolium perenne L. was allowed to grow on a Calcic Cambisol amended with SS-derived chars. Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) yielded the SS-hydrochars (200 °C, 260 °C; 30 min, 3 h), whereas the SS-pyrochars were obtained after dry pyrolysis (600 °C, 1 h). Increasing severity of HTC lowered the recovery of total P (PT) from the feedstock to 76%. The Olsen-P diminished from 4% PT in the untreated sludge to 1% PT in the hydrochars, whereas the pyrochars exhibited an Olsen-P between 3 and 6%. At the end of the pot experiment, the soils amended with pyrochars and with hydrochars produced at 200 °C contained more Olsen-P than the unamended soils, proving that P-rich chars can indeed serve as a P fertilizer. Part of the P sequestered in the chars turned into a mobile form during the experiment. After addition of our chars, the soil pH remained alkaline, allowing the conclusion that P could not have been solubilized through just abiotic processes. We suggest that biological and biochemical processes are involved in this mobilization. This work demonstrates that, in order to evaluate the efficiency of an organic amendment as a P fertilizer, the knowledge of their P availability alone is not sufficient and a better understanding of the biochemical processes involved in the cycling of its immobilized P is certainly required.
A Pesticide Biopurification System: A Source of Biosurfactant-Producing Bacteria with Environmental Biotechnology Applications
Authors: Lamilla Claudio , Schalchli Heidi , Briceño Gabriela , Leiva Bárbara , Donoso-Piñol Pamela , Barrientos Leticia , Rocha Vanessa A. L. , Freire Denise M. G. , Diez M. Cristina
Published: March 2021

Biosurfactants, a wide group of compounds produced by different microorganisms, generally have less toxicity and are more biodegradable than synthetic surfactants. Biosurfactant-producing bacteria can be found in contaminated environments, such as soils receiving pesticide applications constantly, or in pesticides treatment systems where microorganisms are adapted to biodegrading pesticides. Five pesticide-tolerant bacteria previously isolated from a pesticide biopurification system were evaluated as biosurfactant-producers. Pseudomonas rhodesiae C4, Rhodococcus jialingiae C8 and Pseudomonas marginalis C9 strains were positive in qualitative tests. Biosurfactant production by these strains using Bushnell-Haas medium with olive oil at 2% (w/v) was evaluated as emulsification index, oil displacement, droplet collapse test and surface tension. After 144 h, these strains showed a similar emulsification index of >55%. The two Pseudomonas (C4 and C9) strains showed lower superficial tension compared with Rhodococcus strain (C8)—34.47, 37.44 and 47.55 mN/m for strains C4, C9 and C8, respectively. The chemical characterization of the biosurfactants revealed the presence of glycolipids in P. rhodesiae (C4) and glycopeptides in P. marginalis (C9). The degradation of chlorpyrifos increased from 39.2% to 51.6% when biosurfactants produced by P.rhodesiae (C4) were added (10%) with respect to the control. Therefore, biopurification systems are a relevant source of biosurfactant-producing bacteria with environmental biotechnology applications.
Factors Associated with Shelter Dog Euthanasia versus Live Release by Adoption or Transfer in the United States
Authors: Cain Cassie J. , Woodruff Kimberly A. , Smith David R.
Published: March 2021

The objective of this study was to identify phenotypic characteristics predicting the outcome of euthanasia for dogs entering shelters compared to live release. Individual dog records for 2017 were requested from shelters in five states (Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado, and Oklahoma) receiving municipal funding and using electronic records. Duplicate dogs were removed and records from 17 shelters were merged into a dataset of 25,047 unique dogs with variables of breed, gender, coat color, size, age, region, and time in shelter. Only data from dogs with the potential to be adopted (n = 19,514) were analyzed. From these data, a simple random sample of 6200 dogs was used for modelling. Variables describing coat length, estimated adult size, and skull type were imputed from the breed description. A Cox proportional hazard model with a random effect of shelter was developed for the outcome of euthanasia using manual forward variable selection and significance for variable retention at alpha = 0.05. A size by geographic region interaction was associated with the hazard of euthanasia (p = 0.0204). Additionally, age group and skull type were both associated with euthanasia compared to live release (p < 0.0001). The results of this study indicate that phenotypic characteristics of dogs are predictive of their hazard for euthanasia in shelters.
Placental Characteristics Classification of Various Native Turkish Sheep Breeds
Authors: Şen Uğur , Önder Hasan , Şirin Emre , Özyürek Selçuk , Piwczynski Dariusz , Kolenda Magdalena , Ocak Yetişgin Sezen
Published: March 2021

The aim of this study was to classify placental characteristics of Akkaraman, Morkaraman, Karayaka, Awassi, Malya, and Bafra sheep breeds using the hierarchical clustering method. In total, 240 individual data records were used as experimental material. Placental characteristics such as total cotyledon surface area, small and large cotyledon length, small cotyledon depth, etc. were used as explanatory variables to classify the breeds’ characteristics. Hierarchical clustering was used with the nearest neighbour method with Euclidean distance in order to classify the sheep breeds’ variations. As a result, six breeds were separated into three clusters: the first cluster consisted of Bafra, Karayaka, and Awassi breeds; the second consisted of Akkaraman and Malya breeds; and the third cluster included only the Morkaraman breed. Bafra and Karayaka were pointed as the nearest breeds, with a similarity of 98.7% in terms of placental characteristics. The similarity rate of the Akkaraman and Malya breeds was at a level of 97.5%, whereas it was 96.8% for Bafra, Karayaka, and Awassi breeds. The similarity of Akkaraman, Karayaka, Awassi, Malya, and Bafra sheep breeds was estimated as 95.7%. The overall similarity was found to be at a level of 93.2% among sheep breeds. The outcomes of the study might be useful as a selection tool for reproductivity and can be used to select the breed to be reared.
Calcium Carbonate Nanoparticles—Toxicity and Effect of In Ovo Inoculation on Chicken Embryo Development, Broiler Performance and Bone Status
Authors: Matuszewski Arkadiusz , Łukasiewicz Monika , Niemiec Jan , Kamaszewski Maciej , Jaworski Sławomir , Domino Małgorzata , Jasiński Tomasz , Chwalibog André , Sawosz Ewa
Published: March 2021

The use of intensive selection procedure in modern broiler chicken lines has led to the development of several skeletal disorders in broiler chickens. Therefore, current research is focused on methods to improve the bone quality in birds. In ovo technology, using nanoparticles with a high specificity to bones, is a potential approach. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of in ovo inoculation (IOI) of calcium carbonate nanoparticles (CCN) on chicken embryo development, health status, bone characteristics, and on broiler production results and bone quality. After assessing in vitro cell viability, the IOI procedure was performed with an injection of 500 μg/mL CCN. The control group was not inoculated with CCN. Hatchability, weight, and selected bone and serum parameters were measured in embryos. Part of hatchlings were reared under standard conditions until 42 days, and production results, meat quality, and bone quality of broilers were determined. CCN did not show cytotoxicity to cells and chicken embryo and positively influenced bone parameters of the embryos and of broilers later (calcification) without negatively affecting the production results. Thus, the IOI of CCN could modify the molecular responses at the stage of embryogenesis, resulting in better mineralization, and could provide a sustained effect, thereby improving bone quality in adult birds.
Motion Parallax Holograms Generated from an Existing Hologram
Authors: Shimobaba Tomoyoshi , Katsuyama Shuhei , Nishitsuji Takashi , Hoshi Ikuo , Shiomi Harutaka , Wang Fan , Kakue Takashi , Takada Naoki , Ito Tomoyoshi
Published: March 2021

Generating new motion parallax holograms is required for holographic head-mounted displays when the head moves. Additionally, it is required for hologram generation from light field data that consist of a number of motion parallax images. However, re-rendering three-dimensional (3D) scenes and re-calculating holograms are computationally complex. Therefore, we propose a generation strategy of holograms with different motion parallax from an existing hologram without re-rendering 3D scenes and re-calculating holograms. The proposed method employs Fourier band-pass filtering and the simple relation of trigonometric functions, which makes it capable of skipping the computationally complex processes.
Global Study of Human Heart Rhythm Synchronization with the Earth’s Time Varying Magnetic Field
Authors: Timofejeva Inga , McCraty Rollin , Atkinson Mike , Alabdulgader Abdullah A. , Vainoras Alfonsas , Landauskas Mantas , Šiaučiūnaitė Vaiva , Ragulskis Minvydas
Published: March 2021

Changes in geomagnetic conditions have been shown to affect the rhythms produced by the brain and heart and that human autonomic nervous system activity reflected in heart rate variability (HRV) over longer time periods can synchronize to changes in the amplitude of resonant frequencies produced by geomagnetic field-line and Schumann resonances. During a 15-day period, 104 participants located in California, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, and England underwent continuous ambulatory HRV monitoring. The local time varying magnetic field (LMF) intensity was obtained using a time synchronized and calibrated network of magnetometers located at five monitoring sites in the same geographical locations as the participant groups. This paper focuses on the results of an experiment conducted within the larger study where all of the participants simultaneously did a heart-focused meditation called a Heart Lock-In (HLI) for a 15-min period. The participant’s level of HRV coherence and HRV synchronization to each other before, during and after the HLI and the synchronization between participants’ HRV and local time varying magnetic field power during each 24-h period were computed for each participant and group with near-optimal chaotic attractor embedding techniques. In analysis of the participants HRV coherence before, during and after the HLI, most of the groups showed significantly increased coherence during the HLI period. The pairwise heart rhythm synchronization between participants’ in each group was assessed by determining the Euclidean distance of the optimal time lag vectors of each participant to all other participants in their group. The group member’s heart rhythms were significantly more synchronized with each other during the HLI period in all the groups. The participants’ daily LMF-HRV-synchronization was calculated for each day over an 11-day period, which provided a 5-day period before, the day of and 5-days after the HLI day. The only day where all the groups HRV was positively correlated with the LMF was on the day of the HLI and the synchronization between the HRV and LMF for all the groups was significantly higher than most of the other days.
Uptake and Dissemination of Multi-Criteria Decision Support Methods in Civil Engineering—Lessons from the Literature
Authors: Bruen Michael
Published: March 2021

The SCOPUS and Wed of Science bibliometric databases were searched for papers related to the use of multi-criteria methods in civil engineering related disciplines. The results were analyzed for information on the reported geographical distribution of usage, the methods used, the application areas with most usage and the software tools used. There was a wide geographical distribution of usage with all northern hemisphere continents well represented. However, of the very many methods available, a small number seemed to dominate usage, with the Analytic Hierarchy Process being the most frequently used. The application areas represented in the documents found was not widely spread and mainly seemed to be focused on issues such as sustainability, environment, risk, safety and to some extent project management, with less usage on other areas. This may be due to individual engineer’s choices in relation to if and how to disseminate the results of their work and to their choice of keywords and titles that determine if their publications are selected in bibliographic searches and thus more visible to a wider readership. A comparison with more topic focused searches, relating to Bridge Design, Earthquake Engineering, Cladding, Sewage Treatment, Foundation design, Truss design, Water Supply, Building Energy, Route selection and Transport mode showed very different results. Analysis of the papers in this area indicated that the full range of supporting software available for multi-criteria decision analysis (many listed in this paper) may not be fully appreciated by potential users.
Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the Kinetic Energy in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer from Minisodar Measurements
Authors: Potekaev Alexander , Shamanaeva Liudmila , Kulagina Valentina
Published: March 2021

Spatiotemporal dynamics of the atmospheric kinetic energy and its components caused by the ordered and turbulent motions of air masses are estimated from minisodar measurements of three velocity vector components and their variances within the lowest 5–200 m layer of the atmosphere, with a particular emphasis on the turbulent kinetic energy. The layered structure of the total atmospheric kinetic energy has been established. From the diurnal hourly dynamics of the altitude profiles of the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) retrieved from minisodar data, four layers are established by the character of the altitude TKE dependence, namely, the near-ground layer, the surface layer, the layer with a linear TKE increase, and the transitive layer above. In the first layer, the most significant changes of the TKE were observed in the evening hours. In the second layer, no significant changes in the TKE values were observed. A linear increase in the TKE values with altitude was observed in the third layer. In the fourth layer, the TKE slightly increased with altitude and exhibited variations during the entire observation period. The altitudes of the upper boundaries of these layers depended on the time of day. The MKE values were much less than the corresponding TKE values, they did not exceed 50 m2/s2. From two to four MKE layers were distinguished based on the character of its altitude dependence. The two-layer structures were observed in the evening and at night (under conditions of the stable atmospheric boundary layer). In the morning and daytime, the four-layer MKE structures with intermediate layers of linear increase and subsequent decrease in the MKE values were observed. Our estimates demonstrated that the TKE contribution to the total atmospheric kinetic energy considerably (by a factor of 2.5–3) exceeded the corresponding MKE contribution.
Assessment of the Contribution of Different Particulate Matter Sources on Pollution in Sofia City
Authors: Dimitrova Reneta , Velizarova Margret
Published: March 2021

The habitants of Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria, are unfortunately exposed to high levels of particulate matter (PM), despite a lot of efforts made by the government and the municipality in recent decades. A high resolution model using the Atmospheric Dispersion Modeling System (ADMS)-Urban was carried out for one year (2014) with elevated levels of PM concentration for the Sofia region measured during the winter. Four main emission sources (point industrial, domestic heating, roads, and unorganized transport) were taken into account for this study. This works intends to evaluate the impacts of different sources on the air pollution and quality of life in Sofia city. Although this type of modeling only accounts for the local sources, and has some deficiency, it can be a very useful tool for estimating the contribution of each source type to the concentration field, and it allows simulating different scenarios for future emission reduction that can help authorities with decision making.
Relative Growth of Series in Systems of Functions and Laplace—Stieltjes-Type Integrals
Authors: Sheremeta Myroslav
Published: March 2021

For a regularly converging-in-C series A(z)=∑n=1∞anf(λnz), where f is an entire transcendental function, the asymptotic behavior of the function Mf−1(MA(r)), where Mf(r)=max{|f(z)|:|z|=r}, is investigated. It is proven that, under certain conditions on the functions f, α, and the coefficients an, the equality limr→+∞α(Mf−1(MA(r)))α(r)=1 is correct. A similar result is obtained for the Laplace–Stiltjes-type integral I(r)=∫0∞a(x)f(rx)dF(x). Unresolved problems are formulated.
The Paediatric Glaucoma Diagnostic Ability of Optical Coherence Tomography: A Comparison of Macular Segmentation and Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fibre Layer Thickness
Authors: Lever Mael , Halfwassen Christian , Unterlauft Jan Darius , Bechrakis Nikolaos E. , Manthey Anke , Böhm Michael R. R.
Published: March 2021

Paediatric glaucoma leads to a decreased thickness of the peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (pRNFL) and of the macula. These changes can be precisely quantified using spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Despite abundant reports in adults, studies on the diagnostic capacity of macular SD-OCT in paediatric glaucoma are rare. The aim of this study was to compare the glaucoma discriminative ability of pRNFL and macular segment thickness in paediatric glaucoma patients and healthy children. Data of 72 children aged 5–17 years (glaucoma: 19 (26.4%), healthy: 53 (73.6%)) examined with SD-OCT (SPECTRALIS®, Heidelberg Engineering) were analysed retrospectively. The thickness of pRNFL sectors and of macular segment subfields were compared between diseased and healthy participants. Areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curves (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity from logistic regression were used to evaluate the glaucoma discriminative capacity of single and combined pRNFL and macular segments’ thickness. The results revealed a reduced thickness of the pRNFL and of the three inner macular layers in glaucoma patients, which correlates highly with the presence of glaucoma. The highest glaucoma discriminative ability was observed for the combination of pRNFL sectors or inner macular segments (AUC: 0.83 and 0.85, respectively), although sensitivity remained moderate (both 63% at 95% specificity). In conclusion, while confirmation from investigations in larger cohorts is required, SD-OCT-derived pRNFL and macular thickness measurements seem highly valuable for the diagnosis of paediatric glaucoma.
A Clinical and Histological Study about the Socket Preservation in a Patient under Oral Bisphosphonates Treatment: A Case Report
Authors: Falco Antonello , Bataccia Francesco , Vittorini Orgeas Lorenzo , Perfetti Federico , Basile Mariangela , Di Pietro Roberta
Published: March 2021

The aim of the present study is to assess the clinical and histological healing of a post-extractive alveolus following the procedure for socket preservation, in a patient receiving oral bisphosphonates for more than 6 years. After the extraction, enzymatically-deantigenated horse bone granules and an equine pericardium membrane were used to preserve the tooth socket. The patient was placed on a monthly follow-up in order to monitor the healing process. A 3 mm trephine bur was used to drill the bone for implant site preparation and to collect the bone sample. No signs and symptoms related to osteonecrosis of the jaws were reported. Histological data showed that, after 5 months, the mean percentages of trabecular bone, bone marrow and residual bone graft were respectively 45.74 ± 0.09%, 48.09 ± 0.08%, and 6.16 ± 0.01%. The residual graft material appeared to be osteointegrated and none of the particles appeared to be encapsulated. The present case report supports the guidelines that assume that patients undergoing oral bisphosphonate therapy can be eligible for surgical therapy. More clinical studies with larger sample sizes are needed to support this clinical evidence.
Interaction between Metarhizium anisopliae and Its Host, the Subterranean Termite Coptotermes curvignathus during the Infection Process
Authors: Syazwan Samsuddin Ahmad , Lee Shiou Yih , Sajap Ahmad Said , Lau Wei Hong , Omar Dzolkhifli , Mohamed Rozi
Published: March 2021

Metarhizium anisopliae (Metchnikoff) Sorokin, a pathogenic fungus to insects, infects the subterranean termite, Coptotermes curvignathus Holmgren, a devastating pest of plantation trees in the tropics. Electron microscopy and proteomics were used to investigate the infection and developmental process of M. anisopliae in C. curvignathus. Fungal infection was initiated by germ tube penetration through the host’s cuticle as observed at 6 h post-inoculation (PI), after which it elongated into the host’s integumental tissue. The colonization process continued as seen from dissemination of blastospores in the hemocoel at 96 h PI. At this time point, the emergent mycelia had mummified the host and forty-eight hours later, new conidia were dispersed on the termites’ body surface. Meanwhile, hyphal bodies were observed in abundance in the intercellular space in the host’s body. The proteomes of the pathogen and host were isolated separately using inoculated termite samples withdrawn at each PI-time point and analyzed in two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) gels. Proteins expressed in termites showed evidence of being related to cell regulation and the immune response, while those expressed in M. anisopliae, to transportation and fungal virulence. This study provides new information on the interaction between termites and its entomopathogen, with potential utilization for developing future biopesticide to control the termite population.
A Photogrammetric Technique for Developing Boundary Equations for Flexible Sheath Waterless Trap Seals as Used in Building Drainage Systems
Authors: Jean Nicole , Gormley Michael
Published: March 2021

The water trap seal is still the main method of protecting building inhabitants from the ingress of foul contaminated air and noxious gases from the sewer. This seal can become compromised when water is lost in the trap by processes including evaporation and siphonage from excessive system suction pressures. A recent innovation is the waterless trap seal, which uses flexible sheaths, typically made from silicone rubber to form the seal. The sheath opens in response to a sub-atmospheric air pressure and will shut tightly under a supra-atmospheric pressure in order to form a seal. Full system numerical modelling of building drainage systems has offered insight into system responses to pressure transients and has opened up the evaluation of building wastewater systems to predictive modelling which has assisted in producing improvements to public health. A requirement of any predictive model is a mathematical representation of the physical characteristics of the system. This research develops a technique for developing boundary equations so that predictive modelling is possible. We combine photographic and pressure data analysed by Fourier analysis to develop the model. The technique is applicable to any device were the fluid structure interaction plays a significant role in its operation.