bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Influence of Parents’ Nutritional Education Program on Their Infants’ Metabolic Health
Authors: Woźniak Dagmara , Podgórski Tomasz , Dobrzyńska Małgorzata , Przysławski Juliusz , Drzymała Sylwia , Drzymała-Czyż Sławomira
Published: June 2022

Childhood obesity is considered an epidemic in both developing and developed countries. Children obesity plays a vital role in children’s development and has a profound impact on their health in adult life. Although the etiology of obesity is multifactorial, it can be prevented. According to research, feeding practices, developing eating habits, and parenting styles are of primary importance. Despite the widespread access to information on children’s nutrition, parents still make many mistakes preparing their meals. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of parents’ nutritional education on children’s selected anthropometric-metabolic parameters during their first year of life. The study comprised a group of parents of 203 Polish infants. Their parents were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the intervention group received intensive mobile nutritional education for a year, while the control group received no intervention. Blood tests and anthropometric measures were performed on both groups at the beginning of the study and one year later. Our study showed that parental nutritional education influences, among others. the BMI Z-score (the difference between the groups was 1.039) and the TG/HDL ratio (p < 0.001) in children. The final results of our study showed that proper nutritional education could improve children’s nutritional status at the population level.
Correction: Mathur et al. Effectiveness of a Theory-Informed Documentary to Reduce Consumption of Meat and Animal Products: Three Randomized Controlled Experiments. Nutrients 2021, 13, 4555
Authors: Mathur Maya B. , Peacock Jacob R. , Robinson Thomas N. , Gardner Christopher D.
Published: June 2022

The authors wish to make the following correction to this paper [...]
Serology as a Tool to Assess Infectious Disease Landscapes and Guide Public Health Policy
Authors: Haselbeck Andrea H. , Im Justin , Prifti Kristi , Marks Florian , Holm Marianne , Zellweger Raphaël M.
Published: June 2022

Understanding the local burden and epidemiology of infectious diseases is crucial to guide public health policy and prioritize interventions. Typically, infectious disease surveillance relies on capturing clinical cases within a healthcare system, classifying cases by etiology and enumerating cases over a period of time. Disease burden is often then extrapolated to the general population. Serology (i.e., examining serum for the presence of pathogen-specific antibodies) has long been used to inform about individuals past exposure and immunity to specific pathogens. However, it has been underutilized as a tool to evaluate the infectious disease burden landscape at the population level and guide public health decisions. In this review, we outline how serology provides a powerful tool to complement case-based surveillance for determining disease burden and epidemiology of infectious diseases, highlighting its benefits and limitations. We describe the current serology-based technologies and illustrate their use with examples from both the pre- and post- COVID-19-pandemic context. In particular, we review the challenges to and opportunities in implementing serological surveillance in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which bear the brunt of the global infectious disease burden. Finally, we discuss the relevance of serology data for public health decision-making and describe scenarios in which this data could be used, either independently or in conjunction with case-based surveillance. We conclude that public health systems would greatly benefit from the inclusion of serology to supplement and strengthen existing case-based infectious disease surveillance strategies.
Interactome Profiling of N-Terminus-Truncated NS1 Protein of Influenza A Virus Reveals Role of 14-3-3γ in Virus Replication
Authors: Kuo Rei-Lin , Tam Ee-Hong , Woung Chian-Huey , Hung Chu-Mi , Liu Hao-Ping , Liu Helene Minyi , Wu Chih-Ching
Published: June 2022

Influenza A virus is transmitted through a respiratory route and has caused several pandemics throughout history. The NS1 protein of influenza A virus, which consists of an N-terminal RNA-binding domain and a C-terminal effector domain, is considered one of the critical virulence factors during influenza A virus infection because the viral protein can downregulate the antiviral response of the host cell and facilitate viral replication. Our previous study identified an N-terminus-truncated NS1 protein that covers the C-terminus effector domain. To comprehensively explore the role of the truncated NS1 in cells, we conducted immunoprecipitation coupled with LC-MS/MS to identify its interacting cellular proteins. There were 46 cellular proteins identified as the components of the truncated NS1 protein complex. As for our previous results for the identification of the full-length NS1-interacting host proteins, we discovered that the truncated NS1 protein interacts with the γ isoform of the 14-3-3 protein family. In addition, we found that the knockdown of 14-3-3γ in host cells reduced the replication of the influenza A/PR8 wild-type virus but not that of the PR8-NS1/1-98 mutant virus, which lacks most of the effector domain of NS1. This research highlights the role of 14-3-3γ, which interacts with the effector domain of NS1 protein, in influenza A viral replication.
Design, Synthesis and Molecular Docking of Novel Acetophenone-1,2,3-Triazoles Containing Compounds as Potent Enoyl-Acyl Carrier Protein Reductase (InhA) Inhibitors
Authors: Albelwi Fawzia Faleh , Abdu Mansour Hanaa M. , Elshatanofy Maram M. , El Kilany Yeldez , Kandeel Kamal , Elwakil Bassma H. , Hagar Mohamed , Aouad Mohamed Reda , El Ashry El Sayed H. , Rezki Nadjet , El Sawy Maged A.
Published: June 2022

New medications are desperately needed to combat rising drug resistance among tuberculosis (TB) patients. New agents should ideally work through unique targets to avoid being hampered by preexisting clinical resistance to existing treatments. The enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase InhA of M. tuberculosis is one of the most crucial targets since it is a promising target that has undergone extensive research for anti-tuberculosis drug development. A well-known scaffold for a variety of biological activities, including antitubercular activity, is the molecular linkage of a1,2,3-triazole with an acetamide group. As a result, in the current study, which was aided by ligand-based molecular modeling investigations, 1,2,3-triazolesweredesigned and synthesized adopting the CuAAC aided cycloaddition of 1-(4-(prop-2-yn-1-yloxy)phenyl)ethanone with appropriate acetamide azides. Standard spectroscopic methods were used to characterize the newly synthesized compounds. In vitro testing of the proposed compounds against the InhA enzyme was performed. All the synthesized inhibitors completely inhibited the InhA enzyme at a concentration of 10 µM that exceeded Rifampicin in terms of activity. Compounds 9, 10, and 14 were the most promising InhA inhibitors, with IC50 values of 0.005, 0.008, and 0.002 µM, respectively. To promote antitubercular action and investigate the binding manner of the screened compounds with the target InhA enzyme’s binding site, a molecular docking study was conducted.
Safety and Prophylactic Efficacy of Liposome-Based Vaccine against the Drug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in Mice
Authors: Khan Masood Alam , Allemailem Khaled S. , Maswadeh Hamzah , Younus Hina
Published: June 2022

In recent years, the emergence of multidrug-resistant Acientobacter baumannii has greatly threatened public health and depleted our currently available antibacterial armory. Due to limited therapeutic options, the development of an effective vaccine formulation becomes critical in order to fight this drug-resistant pathogen. The objective of the present study was to develop a safe vaccine formulation that can be effective against A. baumannii infection and its associated complications. Here, we prepared liposomes-encapsulated whole cell antigens (Lip-WCAgs) as a vaccine formulation and investigated its prophylactic efficacy against the systemic infection of A. baumannii. The immunization with Lip-WCAgs induced the higher production of antigen-specific antibody titers, greater lymphocyte proliferation, and increased secretion of Th1 cytokines, particularly IFN-γ and IL-12. Antisera from Lip-WCAgs-immunized mice showed the utmost bactericidal activity and potently inhibited the biofilm formation by A. baumannii. Interestingly, Lip-WCAgs-induced immune response was translated in in vivo protection studies as the immunized mice exhibited the highest resistance to A. baumannii infection. Mice in the group immunized with Lip-WCAgs had an 80% survival rate and a bacterial burden of 5464 ± 1193 CFUs per gram of the lung tissue, whereas the mice immunized with IFA-WCAgs had a 50% survival rate and 51,521 ± 8066 CFUs. In addition, Lip-WCAgs vaccinated mice had lower levels of the inflammatory markers, including CRP, IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α. The findings of this study suggest that Lip-WCAgs may be considered a potential vaccine formulation to protect individuals against A. baumannii infection.
Design and Performance Analysis of Hybrid Multidimensional OAM-DM-WDM-OFDM-PON System with High-Capacity and Long-Distance Transmission
Authors: Ding Qingan , Zheng Li , Liu Huixin , Li Junkai , Guo Xiaohan , Cheng Xudong , Dai Zhenfei , Yang Qunying , Li Jun
Published: June 2022

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) with mutually orthogonal advantage attribute to break through the high capacity and long-reach transmission limited in the classical passive optical network (PON). Employing Laguerre Gaussian (LG) mode as the orthogonal OAM excitation, a more dimensional multiplexing PON system is proposed to creatively hybridize OAM division multiplexing (OAM-DM) based on wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). By utilizing the compatibility of OAM-DM and WDM, data of 40 Gbit/s OFDM signals is successfully transmitted in 80 km multimode fiber (MMF) with low crosstalk. Within this hybrid system, the effects of different wavelengths and different modes on the bit error rate (BER) are discussed at varying transmission distances. Moreover, the performance of several subsystems carrying quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), on-off keying (OOK), and OFDM modulation signals is also compared at a BER less than 3.8×10−3. It is observed that the proposed OAM-DM-WDM-OFDM-PON system has favorable performance, which is a reasonable solution for large-capacity PON architecture.
SCDeep: Single-Channel Depth Encoding for 3D-Range Geometry Compression Utilizing Deep-Learning Techniques
Authors: Finley Matthew G. , Schwartz Broderick S. , Nishimura Jacob Y. , Kubicek Bernice , Bell Tyler
Published: June 2022

Recent advances in optics and computing technologies have encouraged many applications to adopt the use of three-dimensional (3D) data for the measurement and visualization of the world around us. Modern 3D-range scanning systems have become much faster than real-time and are able to capture data with incredible precision. However, increasingly fast acquisition speeds and high fidelity data come with increased storage and transmission costs. In order to enable applications that wish to utilize these technologies, efforts must be made to compress the raw data into more manageable formats. One common approach to compressing 3D-range geometry is to encode its depth information within the three color channels of a traditional 24-bit RGB image. To further reduce file sizes, this paper evaluates two novel approaches to the recovery of floating-point 3D range data from only a single-channel 8-bit image using machine learning techniques. Specifically, the recovery of depth data from a single channel is enabled through the use of both semantic image segmentation and end-to-end depth synthesis. These two distinct approaches show that machine learning techniques can be utilized to enable significant file size reduction while maintaining reconstruction accuracy suitable for many applications. For example, a complex set of depth data encoded using the proposed method, stored in the JPG 20 format, and recovered using semantic segmentation techniques was able to achieve an average RMS reconstruction accuracy of 99.18% while achieving an average compression ratio of 106:1 when compared to the raw floating-point data. When end-to-end synthesis techniques were applied to the same encoded dataset, an average reconstruction accuracy of 99.59% was experimentally demonstrated for the same average compression ratio.
Pharmacological and Chemical Potential of Spiranthes sinensis (Orchidaceae): A Narrative Review
Authors: Kuo Yu-Jen , Pei Jin-Kuo , Chao Wen-Wan
Published: June 2022

Orchidaceae is one of the largest families of flowering plants with more than 27,000 accepted species, and more than 31,000–35,000 species are estimated to exist in total. The orchid Spiranthes sinensis (Pers.) Ames, having ornamental and medicinal value, is widely distributed throughout Asia and Oceania. S. sinensis (Shou Tsao) is also known as Panlongshen among the common folk herbs. It has a fleshy root similar to ginseng, and the entire plant is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. Owing to overexploitation and habitat destruction in recent years, the wild population has become scarce. The traits of this species show obvious differences in different countries. In the Taiwanese climate, it flowers during the Ching Ming Festival, also called the ching ming tsao. Previous investigations into S. sinensis have revealed the presence of flavonoids, homocyclotirucallane, dihydrophenanthrenes, ferulic acid, and 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde. Phenolic constituents of structural and biological interest, including phenanthrenes and flavonoids, have been isolated and identified from S. sinensis. This natural product possesses extensive bioactivity, including anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects. In this review, we outline the herbal medicine formulations and plant-derived natural products of S. sinensis.
Physiological and Structural Responses to Prolonged Water Deficit in Young Trees of Two Olive Cultivars
Authors: Massenti Roberto , Scalisi Alessio , Marra Francesco Paolo , Caruso Tiziano , Marino Giulia , Lo Bianco Riccardo
Published: June 2022

This study aimed to characterize the physiological and structural responses of potted one-year-old olive trees belonging to two olive cultivars—‘Nocellara del Belice’ and ‘Cerasuola’—exposed to prolonged drought under greenhouse conditions. Two irrigation treatments based on evapotranspiration (ET) were imposed for 69 days, i.e., well-watered (WW, 100% ET) and drought-stressed (DS, 10–30% ET). Leaf stomatal conductance (gs), stem water potential (Ψstem), transpiration (E), photosynthetic capacity (Amax), water use efficiency (WUE), stem (Kstem) and root (Kroot) hydraulic conductance, trunk diameter variations (TDV), and leaf patch attenuated pressure fluctuations (pp, a proxy of the inverse of leaf turgor pressure) were measured in WW and DS trees at different stages of the experiment. Leaf gs did not significantly differ between cultivars under DS, whereas differences in Ψstem only became significant at the end of prolonged drought, when ‘Nocellara del Belice’ experienced Ψstem < −4 MPa. ‘Cerasuola’ trees expressed the best WUE under drought, although they were more susceptible to photoinhibition under optimal plant water status. Both cultivars tended to increase their Kstem at the end of the drought period. A marked reduction in Kroot occurred in ‘Cerasuola’ plants after prolonged drought; however, a similar mechanism was not observed in ‘Nocellara del Belice’. The ratio between Kstem and Kroot exponentially increased towards the end of the prolonged drought period in both cultivars, but more markedly in ‘Cerasuola’. TDV and pp trends suggested that ‘Cerasuola’ plants keep better plant water status under severe drought compared to ‘Nocellara del Belice’ by maintaining high leaf turgor and reduced trunk diameter fluctuations. These responses may be related to reduced cell wall elasticity and xylem vessel size and/or wall thickness—drought avoidance mechanisms. The Kstem/Kroot ratio can serve as an indicator of drought stress avoidance mechanisms to compare genotype-specific responses to drought stress.
Prediction of Oil Palm Yield Using Machine Learning in the Perspective of Fluctuating Weather and Soil Moisture Conditions: Evaluation of a Generic Workflow
Authors: Khan Nuzhat , Kamaruddin Mohamad Anuar , Ullah Sheikh Usman , Zawawi Mohd Hafiz , Yusup Yusri , Bakht Muhammed Paend , Mohamed Noor Norazian
Published: June 2022

Current development in precision agriculture has underscored the role of machine learning in crop yield prediction. Machine learning algorithms are capable of learning linear and nonlinear patterns in complex agro-meteorological data. However, the application of machine learning methods for predictive analysis is lacking in the oil palm industry. This work evaluated a supervised machine learning approach to develop an explainable and reusable oil palm yield prediction workflow. The input data included 12 weather and three soil moisture parameters along with 420 months of actual yield records of the study site. Multisource data and conventional machine learning techniques were coupled with an automated model selection process. The performance of two top regression models, namely Extra Tree and AdaBoost was evaluated using six statistical evaluation metrics. The prediction was followed by data preprocessing and feature selection. Selected regression models were compared with Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, Decision Tree, and other non-tree algorithms to prove the R2 driven performance superiority of tree-based ensemble models. In addition, the learning process of the models was examined using model-based feature importance, learning curve, validation curve, residual analysis, and prediction error. Results indicated that rainfall frequency, root-zone soil moisture, and temperature could make a significant impact on oil palm yield. Most influential features that contributed to the prediction process are rainfall, cloud amount, number of rain days, wind speed, and root zone soil wetness. It is concluded that the means of machine learning have great potential for the application to predict oil palm yield using weather and soil moisture data.
Antibacterial Activity against Foodborne Pathogens and Inhibitory Effect on Anti-Inflammatory Mediators’ Production of Brazilin-Enriched Extract from Caesalpinia sappan Linn
Authors: Pattananandecha Thanawat , Apichai Sutasinee , Julsrigival Jakaphun , Ogata Fumihiko , Kawasaki Naohito , Saenjum Chalermpong
Published: June 2022

Caesalpinia sappan L. heartwood was collected from Mae Chaem District, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. Crude extracts were prepared by Soxhlet’s extraction using 50, 60, and 70% of ethanol (EtOH) at 50, 60, and 70 °C, and the brazilin content was measured using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogens and anti-inflammatory aspects were investigated. C. sappan, prepared from 70% EtOH at 70 °C (E70T70), significantly (p < 0.05) exhibited the highest amount of brazilin (7.90 ± 0.50% w/w). All extracts were investigated for anti-inflammatory activity through an inhibition effect on nitric oxide (NO) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) production in RAW264.7 mouse macrophage cells. The inhibitory effect on cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) production in HT-29 and HCT116 was also studied. All the extracts inhibited NO, iNOS, and COX-2 production induced by combined lipopolysaccharide and interferon-γ, especially E70T70, indicating the highest inhibition effect among other extracts. Additionally, E70T70 was selected to determine the antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. The result showed that 200 µg/mL extract reduced all test pathogens 100% at 24 h. These results suggested the potential of using C. sappan L. extract as a natural preservative in food and a natural active pharmaceutical ingredient.
Comparative LC–LTQ–MS–MS Analysis of the Leaf Extracts of Lantana camara and Lantana montevidensis Growing in Egypt with Insights into Their Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory, and Cytotoxic Activities
Authors: El-Din Mariam I. Gamal , Fahmy Nouran M. , Wu Fulin , Salem Maha M. , Khattab Omar M. , El-Seedi Hesham R. , Korinek Michal , Hwang Tsong-Long , Osman Ahmed K. , El-Shazly Mohamed , Fayez Shaimaa
Published: June 2022

Lantana camara L. and Lantana montevidensis Briq. (F. Verbenaceae) are invasive ornamental weeds native to the tropical regions of Africa and America. The leaves of both species have been traditionally used as infusions for treating fever, rheumatism, and cancer. LC–MS–MS-guided profiling of the methanolic extracts of the leaves of L. camara and L. montevidensis growing in Egypt led to the putative identification of 59 compounds belonging to terpenoids, flavonoids, iridoid glycosides, phenolic acids, and their derivatives. The in-vitro antioxidants and anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities of the two extracts were investigated. L. camara and L. montevidensis inhibited DPPH• (IC50 = 34.01 ± 1.32 and 47.43 ± 1.74 µg/mL), ABTS+ (IC50 = 30.73 ± 1.42 and 40.37 ± 1.51 µg/mL), and superoxide anion (IC50 = 1.57 ± 0.19 and 1.31 ± 0.14 μg/mL) free radicals. A potent anti-inflammatory effect was observed for both species through the inhibition of elastase release in fMLF/CB-induced human neutrophils (IC50 = 2.40 ± 0.16 and 1.90 ± 0.07 μg/mL). The extracts showed significant cytotoxic activity against a panel of cancer cell lines with the most potent activity against Caco cells (IC50 = 45.65 ± 1.64 and 40.67 ± 1.52 µg/mL for L. camara and L. montevidensis, respectively). Western blotting supported by FACS analysis revealed that the extracts inhibited cancer cell proliferation, reduced metastasis, and induced apoptosis resulting in cell cycle arrest. This was achieved via increasing mRNA and protein expressions of p53 and GSK-3β as well as decreasing the expression of PI3K, Akt, and cyclin D1.
Identification of Genomic Loci and Candidate Genes Related to Seed Tocopherol Content in Soybean
Authors: Ghosh Suprio , Zhang Shengrui , Azam Muhammad , Agyenim-Boateng Kwadwo Gyapong , Qi Jie , Feng Yue , Li Yecheng , Li Jing , Li Bin , Sun Junming
Published: June 2022

Soybean seeds are primary sources of natural tocopherols used by the food and pharmaceutical industries, owing to their beneficial impacts on human health. Selection for higher tocopherol contents in seeds along with other desirable traits is an important goal in soybean breeding. In order to identify the genomic loci and candidate genes controlling tocopherol content in soybean seeds, the bulked-segregant analysis technique was performed using a natural population of soybean consisting of 1525 accessions. We constructed the bulked-segregant analysis based on 98 soybean accessions that showed extreme phenotypic variation for the target trait, consisting of 49 accessions with extremely-high and 49 accessions with extremely-low tocopherol content. A total of 144 variant sites and 109 predicted genes related to tocopherol content were identified, in which a total of 83 genes were annotated by the gene ontology functions. Furthermore, 13 enriched terms (p < 0.05) were detected, with four of them found to be highly enriched: response to lipid, response to abscisic acid, transition metal ion transmembrane transporter activity, and double-stranded DNA binding. Especially, six candidate genes were detected at 41.8–41.9 Mb genomic hotspots on chromosome 5 based on ANNOtate VARiation analysis. Among the genes, only Glyma.05G243400 carried a non-synonymous mutation that encodes a “translation elongation factor EF1A or initiation factor IF2gamma family protein” was identified. The haplotype analysis confirmed that Glyma.05G243400 exhibited highly significant variations in terms of tocopherol content across multiple experimental locations, suggesting that it can be the key candidate gene regulating soybean seed tocopherols. The present findings provide novel gene resources related to seed tocopherols for further validation by genome editing, functional characterization, and genetic improvement targeting enhanced tocopherol composition in soybean molecular breeding.
Fabrication of Wearable Transistor with All-Graphene Electrodes via Hot Pressing
Authors: Kim Youn , Hong Jin-Yong , Jeon Young-Pyo , Park Jung , Lee Cheol , Lee Jea
Published: June 2022

Textile electronics are ideal for novel electronic devices owing to their flexibility, light weight, and wearability. In this work, wearable organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) with all-graphene electrodes, fabricated using hot pressing, are described. First, highly conductive and flexible electrodes consisting of a cotton textile substrate and electrochemically exfoliated graphene (EEG) were prepared via hot pressing. The EEG/textile electrodes exhibited a low sheet resistance of 1.3 Ω sq−1 and high flexibility; these were used as gate electrodes in the wearable OFETs. In addition, spray-coated EEG was also used as the source/drain (S/D) electrodes of the wearable OFETs, which recorded a sheet resistance of 14.8 Ω sq−1 after hot pressing. The wearable OFETs exhibited stable electrical performance, a field-effect mobility of 13.8 cm2 V−1 s−1, and an on–off current ratio of ~103 during 1000 cycles of bending. Consequently, the fabrication method for wearable transistors developed using textiles and hot-pressed graphene electrodes has potential applications in next-generation wearable devices.
Comparison of Microleakage in Nanocomposite and Amalgam as a Crown Foundation Material Luted with Different Luting Cements under CAD-CAM Milled Metal Crowns: An In Vitro Microscopic Study
Authors: Amina  , Rajput Geeta , Ahmed Saad , Chaturvedi Saurabh , Addas Mohamed Khaled , Bhagat Tushar Vitthalrao , Gurumurthy Vishwanath , Alqahtani Saeed M. , Alobaid Mohammed A. , Alsubaiy Ebrahim Fihaid , Gupta Kanishk
Published: June 2022

Microleakage is a persistent problem despite advancement in materials and techniques in fixed prosthodontics. This leads to the importance of sound crown foundation material and luting agents used to maintain the marginal seal. The literature is deficient with studies, comparing microleakage under various crown foundation materials and luting agents, especially with CAD-CAM (computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing) metal crowns. This study was aimed to compare microleakage in a nanocomposite/dentinal bonding agent and amalgam/cavity varnish as crown foundation materials luted with two different luting cements: resin-reinforced glass ionomer cement and self-adhesive resin cement, under both dry and contaminated conditions. A hundred intact, caries-free human molars were prepared to receive crown foundation material and extra coronal restorations. Amalgams with cavity varnish and nanocomposites with dentinal bonding agent in both ideal and contaminated conditions were used as crown foundation materials. After restoration, each sample was cemented with a CAD-CAM milled metal crown using two different luting agents—resin-reinforced glass ionomer cement and self-adhesive resin cements both in ideal and contaminated conditions. Cementation was followed by thermocycling of samples, immersion in erythrosine B dye, embedding in clear auto polymerizing acrylic resin and sectioning to evaluate microleakage using stereomicroscope. The mean microleakage between different luting cements on the experimental side of the facial surface was 137.64 μm and 211.01 μm for resin-reinforced GIC and for self-adhesive resin cement was 119.78 μm and 150.42 μm, under ideal and contaminated condition, respectively. There was a significant difference in mean micro-leakage between different crown foundation material and cement groups used in the study. The composites and amalgam, both when used as crown foundation material and luted with use of technically advanced CAD-CAM metal crown with self-adhesive resin cement (in both ideal or contaminated condition), showed less microleakage than in resin-reinforced glass ionomer cement. Overall, the self-adhesive resin cement showed comparatively reduced microleakage in all combinations with different crown foundations. Thus, this combination can be used in daily clinical practice to provide better protection from further decay.
Pulmonary Delivery of Hydroxychloroquine Nanostructured Lipid Carrier as a Potential Treatment of COVID-19
Authors: Ali Ahmed Shaker , Alrashedi Mohsen Geza , Ahmed Osama Abdelhakim Aly , Ibrahim Ibrahim M.
Published: June 2022

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Pneumonia is considered the most severe and long-term complication of COVID-19. Among other drugs, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was repurposed for the management of COVID-19; however, low efficacy and cardiac toxicity of the conventional dosage form limited its use in COVID-19. Therefore, utilizing nanotechnology, a pulmonary delivery system of HCQ was investigated to overcome these limitations. HCQ was formulated in nanostructured lipid carriers (HCQ-NLCs) using the hot emulsification–ultrasonication method. Furthermore, the prepared formulation was evaluated in vitro. Moreover, the efficacy was tested in vivo in a bleomycin-induced acute lung injury mice model. Intriguingly, nanoformulations were given by the intratracheal route for 6 days. HCQ-NLCs showed a mean particle size of 277 nm and a good drug release profile. Remarkably, acute lung injury induced by bleomycin was associated with a marked elevation of inflammatory markers and histological alterations in lung tissues. Astoundingly, all these changes were significantly attenuated with HCQ-NLCs. The pulmonary delivery of HCQ-NLCs likely provided adequate targeting to lung tissues. Nevertheless, there is hope that this novel strategy will eventually lead to the improved effectiveness and diminished probability of alarming adverse drug reactions.
Degradation of Diazepam with Gamma Radiation, High Frequency Ultrasound and UV Radiation Intensified with H2O2 and Fenton Reagent
Authors: Manduca Artiles Michel , Gómez González Susana , González Marín María A. , Gaspard Sarra , Jauregui Haza Ulises J.
Published: June 2022

A degradation study of diazepam (DZP) in aqueous media by gamma radiation, high frequency ultrasound, and UV radiation (artificial-solar), as well with each process intensified with oxidizing agents (H2O2 and Fenton reagent) was performed. The parameters that influence the degradation of diazepam such as potency and frequency, irradiation dose, pH and concentration of the oxidizing agents used were studied. Gamma radiation was performed in a 60Co source irradiator; an 11 W lamp was used for artificial UV radiation, and sonification was performed at frequency values of 580 and 862 kHz with varying power values. In the radiolysis a 100% degradation was obtained at 2500 Gy. For the sonolysis, 28.3% degradation was achieved after 180 min at 862 kHz frequency and 30 W power. In artificial photolysis, a 38.2% degradation was obtained after 300 min of UV exposure. The intensification of each process with H2O2 increased the degradation of the drug. However, the best results were obtained by combining the processes with the Fenton reagent for optimum H2O2 and Fe2+ concentrations, respectively, of 2.95 mmol L−1 and of 0.06 mmol L−1, achieving a 100% degradation in a shorter treatment time, with a dose value of 750 Gy in the case of gamma radiation thanks to increasing in the amount of free radicals in water. The optimized processes were evaluated in a real wastewater, with a total degradation at 10 min of reaction.
A Fault-Tolerant and a Reconfigurable Control Framework: Application to a Real Manufacturing System
Authors: Tahiri Imane , Philippot Alexandre , Carré-Ménétrier Véronique , Tajer Abdelouahed
Published: June 2022

In this paper, we propose a framework to implement a fault-tolerant and a reconfigurable distributed control approach in programmable logic controller (PLC) for manufacturing systems (MS). The reconfiguration methodology adopted in this paper is based on supervisory control theory (SCT), and it is triggered following sensor fault detection. The lost information about these sensors is replaced by timed information allowing the MS to continue its operations. The switch from a normal behavior to a degraded behavior when a sensor fault appears is ensured by reconfiguration rules. The main objective of our framework is to implement the obtained control into a PLC. To meet this objective, the distributed controllers of the two operating modes as well as the reconfiguration rules are interpreted into different Grafcet models. The implementation of these different models is verified by a checker-model technique before being tested on a digital twin and validated on a real MS.
Improvement of Ecological Risk Considering Heavy Metal in Soil and Groundwater Surrounding Electroplating Factories
Authors: Fang Hong , Wang Xiujuan , Xia Di , Zhu Jianting , Yu Weida , Su Yaoming , Zeng Jingwen , Zhang Yuanling , Lin Xiaojun , Lei Yutao , Qiu Jinrong
Published: June 2022

Heavy metals in groundwater and soil are toxic to humans. An accurate risk assessment of heavy metal contamination can aid in environmental security decision making. In this study, the improved ecological risk index (RI) is used to comprehensively investigate the influence of heavy metals in soil and groundwater within electroplating factories and their surrounding regions. In the non-overlapping area, the RI of soil and groundwater is computed individually, and in the overlapping area, the greater RI of soil and groundwater is employed. Two typical electroplating factories are used to examine the heavy metal distribution pattern. The heavy metal concentrations are compared between Factory A, which is in operation, and Factory B, which is no longer in operation, in order to analyze the heavy metal concentrations and associated ecological risks. Heavy metals continue to spread horizontally and vertically after Factory B was closed. Heavy metal concentrations in groundwater surrounding Factory B are substantially greater, and the maximum concentration exists deeper than in Factory A. Because Cr, Cu, and Hg in soil contribute significantly to the RI, the primary high RI region is observed at Factory A and the region to the southwest. The RI of Factory B demonstrates a broad, moderate risk zone in the west and southwest.
Gasification of Biomass: The Very Sensitive Monitoring of Tar in Syngas by the Determination of the Oxygen Demand—A Proof of Concept
Authors: Ojha Binayak , Schober Marco , Turad Stefan , Jochum Joachim , Kohler Heinz
Published: June 2022

A novel method for quasi-continuous tar monitoring in hot syngas from biomass gasification is reported. A very small syngas stream is extracted from the gasifier output, and the oxygen demand for tar combustion is determined by a well-defined dosage of synthetic air. Assuming the total oxidation of all of the combustible components at the Pt-electrode of a lambda-probe, the difference of the residual oxygen concentrations from successive operations with and without tar condensation represents the oxygen demand. From experiments in the laboratory with H2/N2/naphthalene model syngas, the linear sensitivity and a lower detection limit of about 70 ± 5 mg/m3 was estimated, and a very good long-term stability can be expected. This extremely sensitive and robust monitoring concept was evaluated further by the extraction of a small, constant flow of hot syngas as a sample (9 L/h) using a Laval nozzle combined with a metallic filter (a sintered metal plate (pore diameter 10 µm)) and a gas pump (in the cold zone). The first tests in the laboratory of this setup—which is appropriate for field applications—confirmed the excellent analysis results. However, the field tests concerning the monitoring of the tar in syngas from a woodchip-fueled gasifier demonstrated that the determination of the oxygen demand by the successive estimation of the oxygen concentration with/without tar trapping is not possible with enough accuracy due to continuous variation of the syngas composition. A method is proposed for how this constraint can be overcome.
Integrative Proteomic and Phosphoproteomic Analyses of Hypoxia-Treated Pulmonary Artery Smooth Muscle Cells
Authors: Luo Ang , Hao Rongrong , Zhou Xia , Jia Yangfan , Tang Haiyang
Published: June 2022

Abnormal proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) is one of the main causes of pulmonary vascular remodeling in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Hypoxia is an important factor related to PAH and can induce the excessive proliferation of PASMCs and inhibit apoptosis. To explore the possible mechanism of hypoxia-related PAH, human PASMCs are exposed to hypoxia for 24 h and tandem mass tag (TMT)-based quantitative proteomic and phosphoproteomic analyses are performed. Proteomic analysis revealed 134 proteins are significantly changed (p < 0.05, |log2 (fold change)| > log2 [1.1]), of which 48 proteins are upregulated and 86 are downregulated. Some of the changed proteins are verified by using qRT-PCR and Western blotting. Phosphoproteomic analysis identified 404 significantly changed (p < 0.05, |log2 (fold change)| > log2 [1.1]) phosphopeptides. Among them, 146 peptides are upregulated while 258 ones are downregulated. The kinase-substrate enrichment analysis revealed kinases such as P21 protein-activated kinase 1/2/4 (PAK1/2/4), protein-kinase cGMP-dependent 1 and 2 (PRKG1/2), and mitogen-activated protein-kinase 4/6/7 (MAP2K4/6/7) are significantly enriched and activated. For all the significantly changed proteins or phosphoproteins, a comprehensive pathway analysis is performed. In general, this study furthers our understanding of the mechanism of hypoxia-induced PAH.
The Translingual Ziran of Laozi Chapter 25: Global Laozegetics and Meaning Unbound by Language
Authors: Tadd Misha
Published: June 2022

Many scholars view translations of the Chinese classics as inevitably lacking fidelity to the “original,” asserting language difference as a fundamental impediment to cross-cultural understanding. The present study disputes this viewpoint by employing the perspective of Global Laozegetics. This notion affirms a fundamental continuity between the native Laozi or Daodejing commentarial tradition and its corresponding foreign translation tradition. Specifically, I will investigate a range of interpretations of the term ziran found in Laozi Chapter 25, including 16 traditional and modern Chinese readings and 67 translations in 26 languages. My broad investigation of this narrow topic will reveal a rich historical development of interpretation and translation, highlight the philosophical ramifications of different exegetical choices, deepen our understanding of the core Daoist concept ziran, and assist in confirming the basic premise of Global Laozegetics that language, even the original language of Chinese, is secondary to interpretive strategy when engaging with classical works.
Gandhi and Buber on Individual and Collective Transformation
Authors: Meir Ephraim
Published: June 2022

A virtual encounter between Buber and Gandhi articulates where they differ and where they touch common ground. They developed a transformative thinking that opened up the individual and collective ego to others. Only recently have scholars paid full attention to Buber’s theo-political thinking. Gandhi’s article “The Jews” made his way of thinking irrelevant for many Zionists over the decades. The relative neglect of Buber’s political thought and of Gandhi’s contribution to conflict resolution in Israel/Palestine explains why studies systematically comparing Buber’s politico-religious thinking with that of Gandhi are rare. The present article wants to fill this gap. Gandhi and Buber’s religiosity impacted upon spiritual, social, and political life. Their transformational perspectives could shed new light on how to deal with violent conflict situations.
Exploring Ocean Floor Geodiversity in Relation to Mineral Resources in the Southwest Pacific Ocean
Authors: Seijmonsbergen Arie Christoffel , Valentijn Sanne , Westerhof Lisan , Rijsdijk Kenneth Frank
Published: June 2022

The future extraction of mineral resources may irreversibly damage ocean floor geodiversity in the Southwest Pacific Ocean. Therefore, understanding of the spatial distribution of ocean floor geodiversity in relation to mineral resources is important. For that purpose, we first developed a geodiversity index map of the western Pacific Ocean including spatial information of openly available digital layers of four components: seafloor geomorphology, sediment thickness, bathymetry and seafloor roughness. Second, we analysed how these components contributed to the geodiversity index. Finally, correlations between three mineral resources (seafloor massive sulphides, polymetallic nodules and cobalt-rich crusts) and the geodiversity index, its components, and the ocean floor age were calculated. The results showed that the ocean floor environment and the time necessary for the formation of the three mineral resources were predominantly related to the bathymetry component and the age of the ocean floor, and to a lesser extent to the seafloor roughness, geomorphology and sediment thickness components. We conclude that the ocean floor geodiversity index and its components contribute to an improved understanding of the spatial distribution of abiotic seafloor diversity and can be optimized by using higher resolution data. We suggest that ocean floor geodiversity could be considered in future resource extraction to support responsible mining and help limit environmental damage.
The Lumping/Splitting Conversation Related to Fibromyalgia in Rheumatology: Does It Matter?
Authors: Rothschild Bruce M.
Published: June 2022

Diagnoses for which there are no pathognomonic laboratory tests are highly dependent on the opinions we call clinical judgement [...]
Prediction of Total Phosphorus Concentration in Macrophytic Lakes Using Chlorophyll-Sensitive Bands: A Case Study of Lake Baiyangdian
Authors: Zhang Linshan , Zhang Lifu , Cen Yi , Wang Sa , Zhang Yu , Huang Yao , Sultan Mubbashra , Tong Qingxi
Published: June 2022

Total phosphorus (TP) is a significant indicator of water eutrophication. As a typical macrophytic lake, Lake Baiyangdian is of considerable importance to the North China Plain’s ecosystem. However, the lake’s eutrophication is severe, threatening the local ecological environment. The correlation between chlorophyll and TP provides a mechanism for TP prediction. In view of the absorption and reflection characteristics of the chlorophyll concentrations in inland water, we propose a method to predict TP concentration in a macrophytic lake with spectral characteristics dominated by chlorophyll. In this study, water spectra noise is removed by discrete wavelet transform (DWT), and chlorophyll-sensitive bands are selected by gray correlation analysis (GRA). To verify the effectiveness of the chlorophyll-sensitive bands for TP concentration prediction, three different machine learning (ML) algorithms were used to build prediction models, including partial least squares (PLS), random forest (RF) and adaptive boosting (AdaBoost). The results indicate that the PLS model performs well in terms of TP concentration prediction, with the least time consumption: the coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE) are 0.821 and 0.028 mg/L in the training dataset, and 0.741 and 0.029 mg/L in the testing dataset, respectively. Compared with the empirical model, the method proposed herein considers the correlation between chlorophyll and TP concentration, as well as a higher accuracy. The results indicate that chlorophyll-sensitive bands are effective for predicting TP concentration.
Sentinel-2 Satellite Image Time-Series Land Cover Classification with Bernstein Copula Approach
Authors: Tamborrino Cristiano , Interdonato Roberto , Teisseire Maguelonne
Published: June 2022

A variety of remote sensing applications call for automatic optical classification of satellite images. Recently, satellite missions, such as Sentinel-2, allow us to capture images in real-time of the Earth’s scenario. The classification of this large amount of data requires increasingly precise and fast methods, which must take into account not only the spectral features dependence of each individual image but also that of the temporal ones. Copulas are an excellent statistical tool, able to model joint distributions between even random variables. In this paper, we propose a new approach for Satellite Image Time-Series (SITS) land cover classification, which combines the matrix factorization to reduce the dimensionality of the data and the use of copulas distribution to model the dependencies. We will show how the use of particular copulas can improve the accuracy of classification compared to the latest methodologies used for the classification task, such as those using Neural Networks. Experiments were conducted at a study site located on Reunion Island, using Sentinel-2 SITS data. Results are compared to those achieved by several approaches commonly used to address SITS-based land cover mapping and show that the use of copulas, in combination with the matrix factorization, achieved the highest classification yield compared to competing approaches.
Analysis of the Optical Turbulence Model Using Meteorological Data
Authors: Xu Manman , Shao Shiyong , Weng Ningquan , Liu Qing
Published: June 2022

The model of atmosphere optical turbulence is important in the research field of laser atmospheric transmission, and plays a key role in astronomical site selection. In this paper, the single and overall statistical analysis between different outer scale models (HMNSP99 and the Dewan model) were conducted and the results show that the HMNSP99 model has better performance with the lowest bias, root mean square error, and center root mean square error. The results of the statistical analysis of three turbulence parameters revealed that there is a correlation between turbulence parameters and statistical operators, where statistical operators increase significantly when wind shear and temperature gradient respectively exceed 0.016 s−1, 0 K/m, and the outer scale is within 2.5 m. Furthermore, a new statistical outer-scale model, the WSTG model, is proposed and the results of statistical analysis present that the WSTG model is more reliable than the HMNSP99 model in reconstructing optical turbulence strength. These results acquired from this paper add substantially to our understanding of atmosphere optical turbulence and the conclusions can be applied to improve the performance of an adaptive optics system and astronomical site selection.