bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Gut Microbiota: How Does It Influence the Development and Progression of Liver Diseases
Authors: Kanmani Paulraj , Suganya Kanmani , Kim Hojun
Published: November 2020

The gut–liver axis plays important roles in both the maintenance of a healthy liver and the pathogenesis of liver diseases, where the gut microbiota acts as a major determinant of this relationship. Gut bacteria-derived metabolites and cellular components are key molecules that affect the function of the liver and modulate the pathology of liver diseases. Accumulating evidence showed that gut microbiota produces a myriad of molecules, including lipopolysaccharide, lipoteichoic acid, peptidoglycan, and DNA, as well as short-chain fatty acids, bile acids, trimethylamine, and indole derivatives. The translocation of these components to the liver exerts beneficial or pathogenic effects by interacting with liver immune cells. This is a bidirectional relationship. Therefore, the existence of crosstalk between the gut and liver and its implications on host health and diseases are essential for the etiology and treatment of diseases. Several mechanisms have been proposed for the pathogenesis of liver diseases, but still, the mechanisms behind the pathogenic role of gut-derived components on liver pathogenesis remain elusive and not understandable. This review discusses the current progress on the gut microbiota and its components in terms of the progression of liver diseases, and in turn, how liver diseases indirectly affect the intestinal function and induce intestinal inflammation. Moreover, this paper highlights the current therapeutic and preventive strategies used to restore the gut microbiota composition and improve host health.
Microwave-Assisted Solvothermal Synthesis of Fe3O4/CeO2 Nanocomposites and Their Catalytic Activity in the Imine Formation from Benzyl Alcohol and Aniline
Authors: Rizzuti Antonino , Dipalo Maria C. , Allegretta Ignazio , Terzano Roberto , Cioffi Nicola , Mastrorilli Piero , Mali Matilda , Romanazzi Giuseppe , Nacci Angelo , Dell’Anna Maria Michela
Published: November 2020

Fe3O4/CeO2 nanocomposites were synthetized by coating magnetite seeds of different morphologies (hexagonal, spheroidal, quasi-spherical) with ceria, in ethylene glycol as solvothermal solvent. The synthesis was performed in the presence of microwave irradiation aiming to overcome the common disadvantages proper of the classic solvothermal/hydrothermal procedure. The obtained nanocomposites were calcined at the optimum temperature of 550 °C. The structure of the new nanomaterials was carefully investigated by IR, XRD, SEM, EDS and TEM analyses. The nanocomposites resulted to be constituted by CeO2 nanoparticles distributed onto Fe3O4 seeds, that kept their pristine morphology. The new materials were used as catalysts for imine synthesis from benzyl alcohol and aniline. The highest imine conversion rate was obtained with Fe3O4/CeO2, which was synthesized from Fe3O4 nanoparticles (hexagonal) obtained by microwave hydrothermal procedure in the absence of any organic additive (polyvinylpyrrolidone, trisodium citrate dihydrate or oleic acid). The catalyst could be easily removed from the reaction mixture with the help of an external magnet, and it was recycled for at least five runs with increasing catalytic activity.
Copper- and Nitrogen-Codoped Graphene with Versatile Catalytic Performances for Fenton-Like Reactions and Oxygen Reduction Reaction
Authors: Liao Xiuxiang , Wang Xiaobo , Huang Cuiyu , Zhu Lihua
Published: November 2020

Copper- and nitrogen-codoped reduced graphene oxide material (Cu/N-rGO) was prepared with a hydrothermal method. Its versatile catalytic performances were demonstrated toward the oxidative degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The Cu and N codoping of graphene enhanced not only its activation ability toward H2O2, but also its electrocatalytic ability for ORR. It was observed that the use of 3%Cu/N-rGO together with 40 mmol·L−1 H2O2 and 4 mmol·L−1 Na2CO3 could remove more than 94% of the added RhB (30 mg·L−1) in 20 min through a catalytic Fenton-like degradation. Quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements indicated that the main reactive species generated in the catalytic oxidation process were surface-bound •OH. The modified graphene also showed good electrocatalytic activity for ORR reaction in alkaline media through a four-electron mechanism. On the electrode of Cu/N-rGO, the ORR reaction exhibited an onset potential of −0.1 V and a half-wave potential of −0.248 V, which were correspondingly close to those on a Pt/C electrode. In comparison with a Pt/C electrode, the 3%Cu/N-rGO electrode showed much greater tolerance to methanol. Such outstanding catalytic properties are attributed to the abundant active sites and the synergism between Cu and N in Cu/N-rGO.
Phthalocyanine-Grafted Titania Nanoparticles for Photodegradation of Ibuprofen
Authors: Krakowiak Rafal , Musial Joanna , Frankowski Robert , Spychala Marcin , Mielcarek Jadwiga , Dobosz Bernadeta , Krzyminiewski Ryszard , Sikorski Marek , Bendzinska-Berus Wioletta , Tykarska Ewa , Blazejewski Ryszard , Zgoła-Grześkowiak Agnieszka , Stanisz Beata J. , Mlynarczyk Dariusz T. , Goslinski Tomasz
Published: November 2020

The natural environment is constantly under threat from man-made pollution. More and more pharmaceuticals are recognized as emerging pollutants due to their growing concentration in the environment. One such chemical is ibuprofen which has been detected in processed sewage. The ineffectiveness of water methods treatment currently used raises the need for new remediation techniques, one of such is photodegradation of pollutants. In the present study, zinc(II) and copper(II) phthalocyanines were grafted onto pure anatase TiO2 nanoparticles (5 and 15 nm) to form photocatalysts for photodecomposition of ibuprofen in water. The nanoparticles were subjected to physicochemical characterization, including: thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area analysis and particle size measurements. In addition, they were assessed by means of electron spin resonance spectroscopy to evaluate the free radical generation. The materials were also tested for their photocatalytic activity under either UV (365 nm) or visible light (665 nm) irradiation. After 6 h of irradiation, almost complete removal of ibuprofen under UV light was observed, as assessed by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The reaction kinetics calculations revealed that the copper(II) phthalocyanine-containing nanoparticles were acting at a faster rate than those with zinc(II) derivative. The solutions after the photoremediation experiments were subjected to Microtox® acute toxicity analysis.
Synergistic Effect on Photocatalytic Activity of Co-Doped NiTiO3/g-C3N4 Composites under Visible Light Irradiation
Authors: Dao Duc Quang , Nguyen Thi Kim Anh , Pham Thanh-Truc , Shin Eun Woo
Published: November 2020

Co-doped NiTiO3/g-C3N4 composite photocatalysts were prepared by a modified Pechini method to improve their photocatalytic activity toward methylene blue photodegradation under visible light irradiation. The combination of Co-doped NiTiO3 and g-C3N4 and Co-doping into the NiTiO3 lattice synergistically enhanced the photocatalytic performance of the composite photocatalysts. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results for the Co-doped NiTiO3/g-C3N4 composite photocatalysts confirmed Ti-N linkages between the Co-doped NiTiO3 and g-C3N4. In addition, characteristic X-ray diffraction peaks for the NiTiO3 lattice structure clearly indicated substitution of Co into the NiTiO3 lattice structure. The composite structure and Co-doping of the C-x composite photocatalysts (x wt % Co-doped NiTiO3/g-C3N4) not only decreased the emission intensity of the photoluminescence spectra but also the semicircle radius of the Nyquist plot in electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, giving the highest kapp value (7.15 × 10−3 min−1) for the C-1 composite photocatalyst.
The Genetic Algorithm: Using Biology to Compute Liquid Crystal Director Configurations
Authors: Yang S. , Collings Peter J.
Published: November 2020

The genetic algorithm is an optimization routine for finding the solution to a problem that requires a function to be minimized. It accomplishes this by creating a population of solutions and then producing “offspring” solutions from this population by combining two “parental” solutions in much the way that the DNA of biological parents is combined in the DNA of offspring. Strengths of the algorithm include that it is simple to implement, no trial solution is required, and the results are fairly accurate. Weaknesses include its slow computational speed and its tendency to find a local minimum that does not represent the global minimum of the function. By minimizing the elastic, surface, and electric free energies, the genetic algorithm is used to compute the liquid crystal director configuration for a wide range of situations, including one- and two-dimensional problems with various forms of boundary conditions, with and without an applied electric field. When appropriate, comparisons are made with the exact solutions. Ways to increase the performance of the algorithm as well as how to avoid various pitfalls are discussed.
Interobserver Reliability of Endoscopic Ultrasonography: Literature Review
Authors: Yamamiya Akira , Irisawa Atsushi , Kashima Ken , Kunogi Yasuhito , Nagashima Kazunori , Minaguchi Takahito , Izawa Naoya , Yamabe Akane , Hoshi Koki , Tominaga Keiichi , Iijima Makoto , Goda Kenichi
Published: November 2020

Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) has been applied to the diagnosis of various digestive disorders. Although it has been widely accepted and its diagnostic value is high, the dependence of EUS diagnosis on image interpretation done by the endosonographer has persisted as an important difficulty. Consequently, high interobserver reliability (IOR) in EUS diagnosis is important to demonstrate the reliability of EUS diagnosis. We reviewed the literature on the IOR of EUS diagnosis for various diseases such as chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic solid/cystic mass, lymphadenopathy, and gastrointestinal and subepithelial lesions. The IOR of EUS diagnosis differs depending on the disease; moreover, EUS findings with high IOR and those with IOR that was not necessarily high were used as diagnostic criteria. Therefore, to further increase the value of EUS diagnosis, EUS diagnostic criteria with high diagnostic characteristics based on EUS findings with high IOR must be established.
Role of Endoscopic Ultrasonography-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration/Biopsy in the Diagnosis of Autoimmune Pancreatitis
Authors: Noguchi Kensaku , Nakai Yousuke , Mizuno Suguru , Hirano Kenji , Kanai Sachiko , Suzuki Yukari , Inokuma Akiyuki , Sato Tatsuya , Hakuta Ryunosuke , Ishigaki Kazunaga , Saito Kei , Saito Tomotaka , Hamada Tsuyoshi , Takahara Naminatsu , Kogure Hirofumi , Isayama Hiroyuki , Koike Kazuhiko
Published: November 2020

Type 1 autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is histologically characterized by lymphoplasmacytic sclerosing pancreatitis (LPSP). Recently, the diagnostic yield of endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration/biopsy (EUS-FNA/B) for AIP has been reported. However, its role in the diagnostic flow of AIP is not fully elucidated. We retrospectively reviewed 53 consecutive patients who were suspected with AIP and underwent EUS-FNA/B. We evaluated the contribution of EUS-FNA/B to the diagnosis of AIP before considering response to steroid therapy among patients with diffuse enlargement of the pancreas and those with focal enlargement, respectively. Twenty-two patients showed diffuse pancreatic enlargement and 31 showed focal enlargement. The final diagnosis was definitive AIP in 32 patients, probable AIP in 2, possible AIP in 1, and mass-forming focal pancreatitis in 18. There was no change in diagnosis after EUS-FNA/B among patients with diffuse pancreatic enlargement, while diagnosis changed in 38.7% (12/31) among those with focal enlargement—there was a probable to definitive diagnosis in 4 patients, unspecified to definitive in 3, and unspecified to probable in 5. EUS-FNB provided a significantly higher sensitivity for typical pathological findings of LPSP than EUS-FNA, and 10 patients were diagnosed as pathologically definitive AIP by EUS-FNB, though none were by EUS-FNA (p = 0.002). EUS-FNA/B was useful in the diagnosis of focal type AIP, and steroid therapy could be introduced after the diagnosis was confirmed. Meanwhile, EUS-FNA/B provided no contribution to diagnosis of diffuse type AIP. EUS-FNB showed a higher diagnostic yield than FNA.
Enumerating Tree-Like Graphs and Polymer Topologies with a Given Cycle Rank
Authors: Azam Naveed Ahmed , Shurbevski Aleksandar , Nagamochi Hiroshi
Published: November 2020

Cycle rank is an important notion that is widely used to classify, understand, and discover new chemical compounds. We propose a method to enumerate all non-isomorphic tree-like graphs of a given cycle rank with self-loops and no multiple edges. To achieve this, we develop an algorithm to enumerate all non-isomorphic rooted graphs with the required constraints. The idea of our method is to define a canonical representation of rooted graphs and enumerate all non-isomorphic graphs by generating the canonical representation of rooted graphs. An important feature of our method is that for an integer n≥1, it generates all required graphs with n vertices in O(n) time per graph and O(n) space in total, without generating invalid intermediate structures. We performed some experiments to enumerate graphs with a given cycle rank from which it is evident that our method is efficient. As an application of our method, we can generate tree-like polymer topologies of a given cycle rank with self-loops and no multiple edges.
Does Project-Based Learning (PBL) Promote Student Learning? A Performance Evaluation
Authors: Ngereja Bertha , Hussein Bassam , Andersen Bjørn
Published: November 2020

The purpose of the study on which this paper is based was to conduct a performance evaluation of student learning for an introductory course in project management in a higher educational institution in Norway. This was done by utilizing performance measurement philosophy to evaluate perceived student learning after a project-based assignment was applied as an instructional tool. The evaluation was conducted at the end of the semester to determine whether it facilitated learning effectiveness by providing an authentic learning experience. Relevant learning criteria were identified from existing literature and were measured by means of a questionnaire survey. Ten measurement scales were established using a 5-point Likert scale. The survey was then rolled out for the same subject for two consecutive semesters for just over 100 project management students. The results indicated that the incorporation of project-based assignments has a positive impact on student learning, motivation, and performance both in the short and long term. The study finally revealed that the incorporation of project-based assignments enables the creation of real-life experiences, which further stimulates the creation and development of real-life competencies.
Assessing Biology Pre-Service Teachers’ Professional Vision of Teaching Scientific Inquiry
Authors: Vogt Friederike , Schmiemann Philipp
Published: November 2020

Professional vision is a key ability in the professional development of pre- and in-service teachers as it determines how professionals perceive and interpret situations. The aim of this study was to conceptualize an instrument for professional vision focusing on formative assessment in the context of scientific inquiry. This focus is highly valuable, since formative assessment contributes to the quality of science teaching and learning. The four-dimensionality of the construct of professional vision with its abilities (perception, description, explanation, and prediction) was confirmed by means of our text-vignette-based instrument. The professional vision of pre-service teachers (N = 80) was fostered in training, involving a seminar phase and a teaching phase in an out-of-school laboratory. In a pre-post design significant interaction effects of groups (training vs. comparison group (N = 39)) and time for the ability description (F(1,117) = 29.14 p < 0.001) and prediction (F(1,117) = 14.81 p < 0.001) were found, indicating the sensitivity of the instrument. Our instrument allows the assessment of the abilities description and prediction. The scales for the abilities perception and explanation need further refinements. Nonetheless, our instrument could be a starting point to further investigate professional vision in science contexts as it incorporates the essential key features such as a situated approach.
An Adaptive Delay-Tolerant Routing Algorithm for Data Transmission in Opportunistic Social Networks
Authors: Chen Shupei , Chen Zhigang , Wu Jia , Liu Kanghuai
Published: November 2020

In opportunistic networks, the requirement of QoS (quality of service) poses several major challenges to wireless mobile devices with limited cache and energy. This implies that energy and cache space are two significant cornerstones for the structure of a routing algorithm. However, most routing algorithms tackle the issue of limited network resources from the perspective of a deterministic approach, which lacks an adaptive data transmission mechanism. Meanwhile, these methods show a relatively low scalability because they are probably built up based on some special scenarios rather than general ones. To alleviate the problems, this paper proposes an adaptive delay-tolerant routing algorithm (DTCM) utilizing curve-trapezoid Mamdani fuzzy inference system (CMFI) for opportunistic social networks. DTCM evaluates both the remaining energy level and the remaining cache level of relay nodes (two-factor) in opportunistic networks and makes reasonable decisions on data transmission through CMFI. Different from the traditional fuzzy inference system, CMFI determines three levels of membership functions through the trichotomy law and evaluates the fuzzy mapping from two-factor fuzzy input to data transmission by curve-trapezoid membership functions. Our experimental results show that within the error interval of 0.05~0.1, DTCM improves delivery ratio by about 20% and decreases end-to-end delay by approximate 25% as compared with Epidemic, and the network overhead from DTCM is in the middle horizon.
Improved Deep Learning Technique to Detect Freezing of Gait in Parkinson’s Disease Based on Wearable Sensors
Authors: Li Bochen , Yao Zhiming , Wang Jianguo , Wang Shaonan , Yang Xianjun , Sun Yining
Published: November 2020

Freezing of gait (FOG) is a paroxysmal dyskinesia, which is common in patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD). It is an important cause of falls in PD patients and is associated with serious disability. In this study, we implemented a novel FOG detection system using deep learning technology. The system takes multi-channel acceleration signals as input, uses one-dimensional deep convolutional neural network to automatically learn feature representations, and uses recurrent neural network to model the temporal dependencies between feature activations. In order to improve the detection performance, we introduced squeeze-and-excitation blocks and attention mechanism into the system, and used data augmentation to eliminate the impact of imbalanced datasets on model training. Experimental results show that, compared with the previous best results, the sensitivity and specificity obtained in 10-fold cross-validation evaluation were increased by 0.017 and 0.045, respectively, and the equal error rate obtained in leave-one-subject-out cross-validation evaluation was decreased by 1.9%. The time for detection of a 256 data segment is only 0.52 ms. These results indicate that the proposed system has high operating efficiency and excellent detection performance, and is expected to be applied to FOG detection to improve the automation of Parkinson’s disease diagnosis and treatment.
Design Space Exploration for YOLO Neural Network Accelerator
Authors: Huang Hongmin , Liu Zihao , Chen Taosheng , Hu Xianghong , Zhang Qiming , Xiong Xiaoming
Published: November 2020

The You Only Look Once (YOLO) neural network has great advantages and extensive applications in computer vision. The convolutional layers are the most important part of the neural network and take up most of the computation time. Improving the efficiency of the convolution operations can greatly increase the speed of the neural network. Field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) have been widely used in accelerators for convolutional neural networks (CNNs) thanks to their configurability and parallel computing. This paper proposes a design space exploration for the YOLO neural network based on FPGA. A data block transmission strategy is proposed and a multiply and accumulate (MAC) design, which consists of two 14 × 14 processing element (PE) matrices, is designed. The PE matrices are configurable for different CNNs according to the given required functions. In order to take full advantage of the limited logical resources and the memory bandwidth on the given FPGA device and to simultaneously achieve the best performance, an improved roofline model is used to evaluate the hardware design to balance the computing throughput and the memory bandwidth requirement. The accelerator achieves 41.99 giga operations per second (GOPS) and consumes 7.50 W running at the frequency of 100 MHz on the Xilinx ZC706 board.
Using Stable Isotopes to Determine the Water Balance of Utah Lake (Utah, USA)
Authors: Zanazzi Alessandro , Wang Weihong , Peterson Hannah , Emerman Steven H.
Published: November 2020

To investigate the hydrology of Utah Lake, we analyzed the hydrogen (δ2H) and oxygen (δ18O) stable isotope composition of water samples collected from the various components of its system. The average δ2H and δ18O values of the inlets are similar to the average values of groundwater, which in turn has a composition that is similar to winter precipitation. This suggests that snowmelt-fed groundwater is the main source of Utah Valley river waters. In addition, samples from the inlets plot close to the local meteoric water line, suggesting that no significant evaporation is occurring in these rivers. In contrast, the lake and its outlet have higher average δ-values than the inlets and plot along evaporation lines, suggesting the occurrence of significant evaporation. Isotope data also indicate that the lake is poorly mixed horizontally, but well mixed vertically. Calculations based on mass balance equations provide estimates for the percentage of input water lost by evaporation (~47%), for the residence time of water in the lake (~0.5 years), and for the volume of groundwater inflow (~700 million m3) during the period April to November. The short water residence time and the high percentage of total inflow coming from groundwater might suggest that the lake is more susceptible to groundwater pollution than to surface water pollution.
Clinical and Obstetric Risk Factors for Postnatal Depression in HIV Positive Women: A Cross Sectional Study in Health Facilities in Rural KwaZulu-Natal
Authors: Mbatha Nontokozo Lilian , Mokwena Kebogile Elizabeth , Madiba Sphiwe
Published: November 2020

Postnatal depression (PND) remains underdiagnosed and undertreated in different socio-economic backgrounds in South Africa. This study determined the prevalence of and clinical and obstetric risk factors for PND symptoms among HIV positive women in health facilities in a rural health district in South Africa. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was used to measure PND from 386 women who had delivered a live infant. More than half (58.5%) tested HIV positive during the current pregnancy. The prevalence of PND symptoms was 42.5%. Logistic regression analysis yielded significant associations between clinical and obstetric variables of pre-term baby (p-value < 0.01), baby health status p-value < 0.01), baby hospitalization, (p-value < 0.01), and knowing the baby’s HIV status (p-value = 0.047). Maternal variables associated with PND were level of education (p-value < 0.01), monthly income (p-value < 0.01), and source of income (p-value = 0.05). At multivariate analysis, none of the clinical and obstetrical risk factors were independently associated with the PND. The high prevalence of PND symptoms underscore the need to integrate routine screening for PND in prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV programmes to enable early diagnosing and treatment of PND.
Challenges of Providing Home Care for a Family Member with Serious Chronic Mental Illness: A Qualitative Enquiry
Authors: Mokwena Kebogile Elizabeth , Ngoveni Amukelane
Published: November 2020

The South African Mental Health Act of 2002 advocates the de-institutionalization of treatment of patients with mental disorders, so that the mental health care users or patients are treated in their communities. Although this approach is often used to discharge patients from hospital, no feasibility assessments are conducted to ascertain adequate care for these patients. The objective of the study was to explore the experiences of family members who provide home care for patients with serious mental disorders. A qualitative explorative design was used to interview 20 primary caregivers whose family members were readmitted to a public psychiatric hospital in Pretoria. Data were analysed using NVivo version 11. The findings are that caring for patients with serious mental illness at home is difficult, sometimes unbearable, because the families have to deal with violence perpetrated by the patients, safety concerns, financial difficulties and emotional turmoil, and wish that the patients would be kept in institutions. The absence of required skills and resources to care for the mentally ill at home exposes the patients and their families to emotional, financial and social difficulties, and results in unfavourable outcomes for both the patients and their families.
Impaired Odor Identification of Culturally Familiar Odorants Associated with Dementia in South Korean Older Adults
Authors: Kim Sun Mi , Kim Hye Ri , Min Hyun Jin , Kim Kyung Soo , Ga Hyuk , Lee Sang Hoon , Han Doug Hyun
Published: November 2020

Among olfactory functions, odor identification is the most studied predictor of dementia. We aimed to verify whether patients with dementia are less aware of specific odors than cognitively normal individuals using an odor identification test, which includes odorants that are culturally familiar to South Koreans. We divided 139 older adults aged 57–79 years into the dementia and normal cognition groups. Odor identification function was assessed in all participants. We conducted hierarchical logistic regression analyses with the diagnosis of dementia as a dependent variable and three demographic characteristics, as well as 12 odor identification items, as independent variables. Impaired odor identification for herbal medicine (odds ratio (OR) = 9.420; p = 0.012) and Korean grilled meat (OR = 5.361; p = 0.019) and older age (OR = 1.176; p = 0.005) were significant predictors of dementia. Impaired odor identification of culturally familiar odorants was associated with dementia risk. This may be explained by the fact that compared with culturally non-specific universal odorants, familiar odorants are more related to episodic memory, which is impaired in the early stages of dementia. Thus, an optimal combination of odor identification items should be used for screening individuals with cognitive decline requiring further neurocognitive function tests.
Perfectionism and Pain Intensity in Women with Fibromyalgia: Its Influence on Activity Avoidance from The Contextual Perspective
Authors: Sheila Blanco , Octavio Luque-Reca , Patricia Catala , Dolores Bedmar , Lilian Velasco , Cecilia Peñacoba
Published: November 2020

Given the scarcity of studies regarding perfectionism from a contextual perspective, this study aims to analyze its role in the relationship between pain and activity avoidance and its differential effect among patients with different fibromyalgia severity. A cross-sectional study with 228 women with fibromyalgia classified into two disease severity groups (low/moderate vs. high) was carried out. Moderation analyses were conducted; perfectionism was used as moderator, pain (in high and low pain situations) as independent variable, and activity avoidance as the outcome. Among the high disease severity group, analyses showed direct contributions of perfectionism (p < 0.001) but not of pain (p > 0.05); moderation effects were found in high pain situations (p = 0.002) (for low levels of perfectionism, a positive association was found between pain intensity and avoidance). Among the low severity group, direct effects of perfectionism (p < 0.05) and pain intensity (p = 0.04) were found (although the latter only for high pain situations); moderation effects were found in high pain situations (p = 0.018) (for high levels of perfectionism a positive and significant association was found between pain intensity and avoidance). Perfectionism has been found to be a key variable in the differential relationship between pain intensity (in high pain situations) and activity avoidance in groups with high and low disease severity.
Enhanced Production of Biosurfactant from Bacillus subtilis Strain Al-Dhabi-130 under Solid-State Fermentation Using Date Molasses from Saudi Arabia for Bioremediation of Crude-Oil-Contaminated Soils
Authors: Al-Dhabi Naif Abdullah , Esmail Galal Ali , Valan Arasu Mariadhas
Published: November 2020

Crude oil and its derivatives are the most important pollutants in natural environments. Bioremediation of crude oil using bacteria has emerged as a green cleanup approach in recent years. In this study, biosurfactant-producing Bacillus subtilis strain Al-Dhabi-130 was isolated from the marine soil sediment. This organism was cultured in solid-state fermentation using agro-residues to produce cost-effective biosurfactants for the bioremediation of crude-oil contaminated environments. Date molasses improved biosurfactant production and were used for further optimization studies. The traditional “one-variable-at-a-time approach”, “two-level full factorial designs”, and a response surface methodology were used to optimize the concentrations of date molasses and nutrient supplements for surfactant production. The optimum bioprocess conditions were 79.3% (v/w) moisture, 34 h incubation period, and 8.3% (v/v) glucose in date molasses. To validate the quadratic model, the production of biosurfactant was performed in triplicate experiments, with yields of 74 mg/g substrate. These findings support the applications of date molasses for the production of biosurfactants by B. subtilis strain Al-Dhabi-130. Analytical experiments revealed that the bacterial strain degraded various aromatic hydrocarbons and n-alkanes within two weeks of culture with 1% crude oil. The crude biosurfactant produced by the B. subtilis strain Al-Dhabi-130 desorbed 89% of applied crude oil from the soil sample. To conclude, biosurfactant-producing bacterial strains can increase emulsification of crude oil and support the degradation of crude oil.
Monetary Policy Rule and Taylor Principle in Mongolia: GMM and DSGE Approaches
Authors: Taguchi Hiroyuki , Gunbileg Ganbayar
Published: November 2020

This article aims to examine the monetary policy rule under an inflation targeting in Mongolia with a focus on its conformity to the Taylor principle, through two kinds of approaches: a monetary policy reaction function by the generalized-method-of-moments (GMM) estimation and a New Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model with a small open economy version by the Bayesian estimation. The main findings are summarized as follows. First, the GMM estimation identified an inflation-responsive rule fulfilling the Taylor principle in the recent phase of the Mongolian inflation targeting. Second, the DSGE-model estimation endorsed the GMM estimation by producing a consistent outcome on the Mongolian monetary policy rule. Third, the Mongolian rule was estimated to have a weaker response to inflation than the rules of the other emerging Asian adopters of an inflation targeting.
Inhibition of 37/67kDa Laminin-1 Receptor Restores APP Maturation and Reduces Amyloid-β in Human Skin Fibroblasts from Familial Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Bhattacharya Antaripa , Izzo Antonella , Mollo Nunzia , Napolitano Filomena , Limone Adriana , Margheri Francesca , Mocali Alessandra , Minopoli Giuseppina , Lo Bianco Alessandra , Di Maggio Federica , D’Argenio Valeria , Montuori Nunzia , Lavecchia Antonio , Sarnataro Daniela
Published: November 2020

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by protein misfolding and aggregation, affecting brain function and causing dementia. Amyloid beta (Aβ), a peptide deriving from amyloid precursor protein (APP) cleavage by-and γ-secretases, is considered a pathological hallmark of AD. Our previous study, together with several lines of evidence, identified a strict link between APP, Aβ and 37/67kDa laminin receptor (LR), finding the possibility to regulate intracellular APP localization and maturation through modulation of the receptor. Here, we report that in fibroblasts from familial AD (fAD), APP was prevalently expressed as an immature isoform and accumulated preferentially in the transferrin-positive recycling compartment rather than in the Golgi apparatus. Moreover, besides the altered mitochondrial network exhibited by fAD patient cells, the levels of pAkt and pGSK3 were reduced in respect to healthy control fibroblasts and were accompanied by an increased amount of secreted Aβ in conditioned medium from cell cultures. Interestingly, these features were reversed by inhibition of 37/67kDa LR by NSC47924 a small molecule that was able to rescue the “typical” APP localization in the Golgi apparatus, with consequences on the Aβ level and mitochondrial network. Altogether, these findings suggest that 37/67kDa LR modulation may represent a useful tool to control APP trafficking and Aβ levels with implications in Alzheimer’s disease.
A Socio-Spatial Analysis of Land Use Dynamics and Process of Land Intervention in the Peri-Urban Areas of Bahir Dar City
Authors: Wubie Abebe Mengaw , de Vries Walter T. , Alemie Berhanu Kefale
Published: November 2020

The contemporary urbanization and its implication to land use dynamics especially in the peri-urban areas are emerging as a cross-cutting theme in policy debates and scientific discourse. As most cities in developing countries, including Ethiopia, are experiencing continuous expansion of built-ups and dynamic land use changes, monitoring and an in-depth analysis of the past, present and future predictions of these changes are important for a holistic understanding of the problem, its consequence, and to regulate proper land use intervention options. Thus, the main objective of this research is to assess land use dynamics and processes of land intervention in the peri-urban areas of Bahir Dar city using a socio-spatial analysis. It assesses to what extent the existing peri-urban land intervention processes and land use decisions are effective in combating and controlling unwanted land use changes. Primary socio-economic data were collected using questionnaires, focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews; in addition, spatial data including Landsat and Sentinel imageries of 1993, 2001, 2011 and 2020 were utilized. Land use/land cover (LULC) classes were computed using the integration of spectral and object-based image classification techniques. The results signal that built-ups are expanding horizontally with unpredicted patterns. This is because the existing land intervention processes are lacking effectiveness to govern the spatial patterns of built-ups. The results further depict that processes of land use intervention do not only determine horizontal urban expansion but also determine the nature of people-to-land relationships, which involve both formal and informal processes. This creates haphazard, disputed and unregulated land use systems in peri-urban areas of Bahir Dar. The socio-spatial methodology applied in this research is effective in monitoring both the spatial and social dimensions of land use changes. The spatial results effectively demonstrate the dynamics of land uses; whereas, the social analysis supports understanding of the processes of land use interventions. In conclusion, monitoring processes of land use interventions are key policy and decision making directions to regulate and manage land use dynamics in the peri-urban area.
Crowdsourcing LUCAS: Citizens Generating Reference Land Cover and Land Use Data with a Mobile App
Authors: Laso Bayas Juan Carlos , See Linda , Bartl Hedwig , Sturn Tobias , Karner Mathias , Fraisl Dilek , Moorthy Inian , Busch Michaela , van der Velde Marijn , Fritz Steffen
Published: November 2020

There are many new land use and land cover (LULC) products emerging yet there is still a lack of in situ data for training, validation, and change detection purposes. The LUCAS (Land Use Cover Area frame Sample) survey is one of the few authoritative in situ field campaigns, which takes place every three years in European Union member countries. More recently, a study has considered whether citizen science and crowdsourcing could complement LUCAS survey data, e.g., through the FotoQuest Austria mobile app and crowdsourcing campaign. Although the data obtained from the campaign were promising when compared with authoritative LUCAS survey data, there were classes that were not well classified by the citizens. Moreover, the photographs submitted through the app were not always of sufficient quality. For these reasons, in the latest FotoQuest Go Europe 2018 campaign, several improvements were made to the app to facilitate interaction with the citizens contributing and to improve their accuracy in LULC identification. In addition to extending the locations from Austria to Europe, a change detection component (comparing land cover in 2018 to the 2015 LUCAS photographs) was added, as well as an improved LC decision tree. Furthermore, a near real-time quality assurance system was implemented to provide feedback on the distance to the target location, the LULC classes chosen and the quality of the photographs. Another modification was a monetary incentive scheme in which users received between 1 to 3 Euros for each successfully completed quest of sufficient quality. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether citizens can provide high quality in situ data on LULC through crowdsourcing that can complement LUCAS. We compared the results between the FotoQuest campaigns in 2015 and 2018 and found a significant improvement in 2018, i.e., a much higher match of LC between FotoQuest Go Europe and LUCAS. As shown by the cost comparisons with LUCAS, FotoQuest can complement LUCAS surveys by enabling continuous collection of large amounts of high quality, spatially explicit field data at a low cost.
Effects of Resistance Exercise on Balance Ability: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Authors: Šarabon Nejc , Kozinc Žiga
Published: November 2020

With this systematic review, we explored whether resistance exercise (RE) could be used to improve balance in addition to muscular strength and power. Scientific databases were searched for randomized controlled trials that investigated the effects of RE on the performance of various balance tests. Studies were considered if they involved healthy participants of any age group. Thirteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. The results showed moderate to large improvements in balance ability following RE in older adults, as reflected in functional reach test (mean difference (MD): +4.22 cm, p < 0.001), single-leg standing test (MD: +1.9–37.6 s, p < 0.001) and timed-up-and-go test (MD: −0.55 s; p = 0.002). Moderate to large improvements following RE were seen in adults in star excursion balance test (MD: +4.09–5.17 cm; p = 0.001–0.020), but not for Y-balance test score (MD: +4.94%, p = 0.14). The results implicate that RE interventions may significantly improve balance ability in adults and older adults. Therefore, RE could be used to improve balance in these populations, while further studies are needed to investigate children populations. Performing RE alone could be a time-efficient compromise for individuals who are unwilling or unable to perform large volumes of exercise or different exercise modalities.
Specialisation of Yeast Genera in Different Phases of Bee Bread Maturation
Authors: Detry Roxane , Simon-Delso Noa , Bruneau Etienne , Daniel Heide-Marie
Published: November 2020

Pollen stored by bees undergoes a fermentation marked by the presence of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. It results in bee bread. Past studies have singled out Starmerella (Candida) magnoliae as the most common yeast species in honey bee-stored bee bread. Starmerella species are ecological specialists with potential biotechnological value. The rarity of recent studies on yeasts in honey bees prompted us to generate new information on yeast diversity during the conversion of bee-collected pollen to bee bread. Bees and stored pollen from two apiaries in Belgium were sampled, a yeast isolation protocol was developed, yeast isolates were grouped according to their macro- and micromorphology, and representative isolates were identified using DNA sequences. Most of the 252 identified isolates belonged to the genera Starmerella, Metschnikowia, and Zygosaccharomyces. The high abundance of yeasts in fresh bee bread decreased rapidly with the storage duration. Starmerella species dominated fresh bee bread, while mostly Zygosaccharomyces members were isolated from aged bee bread. Starmerella (Candida) apis, a rarely isolated species, was the most frequent and abundant species in fresh bee bread. Yeasts from the bee’s honey stomach and from pollen pellets obtained from bees hind legs were dominated by Metschnikowia species. The distinctive communities from pollen pellets over fresh bee bread to aged bee bread indicate a non-random distribution of these yeasts.
Proteomics and Lipidomics Investigations to Decipher the Behavior of Willaertia magna C2c Maky According to Different Culture Modes
Authors: Hasni Issam , Armstrong Nicholas , Decloquement Philippe , Azza Said , Fontanini Anthony , Abbe Olivier , Cherif Louazani Amina , Demanèche Sandrine , Chabrière Eric , Colson Philippe , La Scola Bernard
Published: November 2020

Willaertia magna C2c Maky is a free-living amoeba that has demonstrated its ability to inhibit the intracellular multiplication of some Legionella pneumophila strains, which are pathogenic bacteria inhabiting the aquatic environment. The Amoeba, an industry involved in the treatment of microbiological risk in the water and plant protection sectors, has developed a natural biocide based on the property of W. magna to manage the proliferation of the pathogen in cooling towers. In axenic liquid medium, amoebas are usually cultivated in adhesion on culture flask. However, we implemented a liquid culture in suspension using bioreactors in order to produce large quantities of W. magna. In order to investigate the culture condition effects on W. magna, we conducted a study based on microscopic, proteomics and lipidomics analyzes. According to the culture condition, amoeba exhibited two different phenotypes. The differential proteomics study showed that amoebas seemed to promote the lipid metabolism pathway in suspension culture, whereas we observed an upregulation of the carbohydrate pathway in adherent culture. Furthermore, we observed an over-regulation of proteins related to the cytoskeleton for W. magna cells grown in adhesion. Regarding the lipid analysis, suspension and adhesion cell growth showed comparable lipid class compositions. However, the differential lipid analysis revealed differences that confirmed cell phenotype differences observed by microscopy and predicted by proteomics. Overall, this study provides us with a better insight into the biology and molecular processes of W. magna in different culture lifestyles.
Genome-Scale Metabolic Modeling Reveals Metabolic Alterations of Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in a Murine Bloodstream Infection Model
Authors: Zhao Jinxin , Zhu Yan , Han Jiru , Lin Yu-Wei , Aichem Michael , Wang Jiping , Chen Ke , Velkov Tony , Schreiber Falk , Li Jian
Published: November 2020

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii is a critical threat to human health globally. We constructed a genome-scale metabolic model iAB5075 for the hypervirulent, MDR A. baumannii strain AB5075. Predictions of nutrient utilization and gene essentiality were validated using Biolog assay and a transposon mutant library. In vivo transcriptomics data were integrated with iAB5075 to elucidate bacterial metabolic responses to the host environment. iAB5075 contains 1530 metabolites, 2229 reactions, and 1015 genes, and demonstrated high accuracies in predicting nutrient utilization and gene essentiality. At 4 h post-infection, a total of 146 metabolic fluxes were increased and 52 were decreased compared to 2 h post-infection; these included enhanced fluxes through peptidoglycan and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, tricarboxylic cycle, gluconeogenesis, nucleotide and fatty acid biosynthesis, and altered fluxes in amino acid metabolism. These flux changes indicate that the induced central metabolism, energy production, and cell membrane biogenesis played key roles in establishing and enhancing A. baumannii bloodstream infection. This study is the first to employ genome-scale metabolic modeling to investigate A. baumannii infection in vivo. Our findings provide important mechanistic insights into the adaption of A. baumannii to the host environment and thus will contribute to the development of new therapeutic agents against this problematic pathogen.
Design and Synthesis of New Benzo[d]oxazole-Based Derivatives and Their Neuroprotective Effects on β-Amyloid-Induced PC12 Cells
Authors: Liu Zheng , Bian Ming , Ma Qian-Qian , Zhang Zhuo , Du Huan-Huan , Wei Cheng-Xi
Published: November 2020

A series of novel synthetic substituted benzo[d]oxazole-based derivatives (5a–5v) exerted neuroprotective effects on β-amyloid (Aβ)-induced PC12 cells as a potential approach for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In vitro studies show that most of the synthesized compounds were potent in reducing the neurotoxicity of Aβ25-35-induced PC12 cells at 5 μg/mL. We found that compound 5c was non-neurotoxic at 30 μg/mL and significantly increased the viability of Aβ25-35-induced PC12 cells at 1.25, 2.5 and 5 μg/mL. Western blot analysis showed that compound 5c promoted the phosphorylation of Akt and glycogen synthase kinase (GSK-3β) and decreased the expression of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in Aβ25-35-induced PC12 cells. In addition, our findings demonstrated that compound 5c protected PC12 cells from Aβ25-35-induced apoptosis and reduced the hyperphosphorylation of tau protein, and decreased the expression of receptor for AGE (RAGE), β-site amyloid precursor protein (APP)-cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and Bcl-2-associated X protein/B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bax/Bcl-2) via Akt/GSK-3β/NF-κB signaling pathway. In vivo studies suggest that compound 5c shows less toxicity than donepezil in the heart and nervous system of zebrafish.