bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Choosing of the basic material in the millet breeding based on the recombination ability assessment
Authors: Kamaleev R D , Novikova A A , Zorov A A , Lebedev S V
Published: October 2021

The recombination ability of the breeding material is an important feature that must be taken into account when cultivars involve in hybridization. The recombination ability of the basic seed millet material was established based on the analysis of long-term data on cross-breeding combinations and the output of promising lines in a competitive test. The analysis showed that not all varieties of the Orenburg breeding, both in direct and reverse crosses, had a high coefficient of recombination potential. Based on the results obtained, the varieties that are better included in the hybridization as the mother line were identified, since the coefficient of recombination ability is higher in direct crosses. Also there were varieties which is advisable to inclusion in the breeding process only in reverse crosses.
The natural flora in landscaping the city of Krasnoyarsk
Authors: Antipova E M , Antipova S V
Published: October 2021

The dynamics of flora in urbanized areas is associated with the problem of biodiversity conservation, as one of the key problems of global ecology. The unification of the natural environment of cities leads to a loss of diversity inherent in natural flora, synanthropization of vegetation cover, depletion of the gene pool of aboriginal flora, cosmopolitanization and unification of flora, a decrease in the potential for evolution, artificial impoverishment of phylogenesis, phylocenogenesis and biotogenesis. The city of Krasnoyarsk is a large administrative centre of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, one of the largest industrial, scientific and cultural centres in Siberia. It stretches from west to east for 18–20 km along the left bank and up to 25 km along the right bank of the river. The Yenisei with a building depth of 3–4 km on both banks of the river, where the areas built up many decades ago are combined with new peripheral areas, the development of which began 10–15 years ago and is still ongoing. Currently, the area of the city is about 400 km2. The comfort of the urban environment is made up of a variety of components, among which wildlife objects - parks, squares, urban forests, river floodplains and the rivers themselves, swamp ecosystems - are the most important for urban residents, both from an ecological and socio-psychological point of view. The purpose of the article is to present one of the modern bioecological technologies for the improvement of the urban human environment. It is proposed to identify the species composition of 14 plant communities used for landscaping and the formation of a comfortable urban environment in Krasnoyarsk by creating natural parks on the embankment of the Yenisei River.
Toxicity of metal chelates mixture in aquatic environment at Danio rerio
Authors: Nikiforov-Nikishin D L , Kochetkov N I , Smorodinskaya S V , Tatarenko P Yu , Matveeva D M
Published: October 2021

In this paper, the toxic effect of a complex chelate mixture containing microelements (Fe, Mn, Zn, Se, I, Cu) on Danio rerio was investigated. Chelated compounds are used to detoxify elements in the aquatic environment, as well as feed additives for various types of farm animals. The effect of chelate complexes was studied according to the following parameters: LC50, survival in chronic experience (30 days), embryotoxicity and genotoxicity by the micronucleus test method. The established LC50 value was 2.73 mg/l, the maximum allowable concentration that does not have a negative effect on adults fish and eggs was 0.5 mg/l. The genotoxic effect on erythrocytes of fish blood was not found in the entire range of sublethal concentrations. Comparison of the data obtained on the toxicity in this study allows asserting that the toxicity of chelates is lower than that of the ionic forms of the elements, subject to their complex effect. To accurately determine the safe level of exposure to chelates, additional studies on other organisms of the hydrobiocenosis are required.
Communities of herpetobional invertebrate agroecosystems at different levels of intensification
Authors: Maksimovich K Y , Khodakova A V , Novikov E A , Zhuchaev K V
Published: October 2021

Human economic activity, including agriculture, leads to an inevitable decrease in the biodiversity of natural fauna and flora, both in the cultivated areas and in the surrounding natural ecosystems. The degree of these violations depends on a number of factors, including the agrotechnical measures used and the level of chemicalization. The species composition has been researched and the characteristics of the ecological structure of herpetobiont invertebrates in areas with crops of grain crops differing in the level of chemicalization and adjacent virgin areas with natural vegetation are given. It was revealed that the most numerous orders in areas with extensive and intensive cultivation technologies are: Coleoptera (Carabidae), Opiliones (Phalangiidae) and Hymenoptera (Formicidae). It has been established that geographically adjacent agrocenoses, which differ in terms of the level of anthropogenic impact, and their border areas, are similar in their species composition. At the same time, an increase in the level of intensification of the cultivated areas leads to a significant restructuring of the structure of communities of terrestrial invertebrates. The dynamic density of most species in areas with intensive processing technology was lower than in fields with a low background of chemicalization. Also, in areas with intensive technology, a decrease in species richness and a decrease in the relative number of dominant groups were noted. Low values of the diversity index in areas with extensive cultivation technology compared to not cultivated, border areas indicate an uneven distribution of invertebrate groups in these areas.
Anatomical structure of the leaf of Filipéndula hexapetala
Authors: Ochirova S S , Dordzhieva V I , Boskhomdzhieva E D , Kolivaev B B
Published: October 2021

The study is devoted to the study of the anatomical structure of the leaf blades of Filipendula hexapetala, growing in the middle mountain belt in the territory of the Kamyshanova Polyana nature reserve, Krasnodar Territory, at an altitude of more than 1200 meters above sea level. Six-petaled meadowsweet can be considered as a valuable medicinal, melliferous, fodder and ornamental plant. In the work, the structure of the mesophyll is established and the differences between the upper and lower epidermis are considered, the sizes of the main cells and the relative volumes of the tissues of the plate are determined. All research results are reflected in the anatomical drawings, which are presented in the work. A feature of the blades is the presence of both signs of leaves of scyophyte plants and signs of leaf blades of heliophyte plants. The research results can be used in further studies of the genus Filipendula in the field of botany, physiology, and ecological anatomy of plants.
Availability of forest plots for reforestation activities
Authors: Varaksin G S , Vais A A , Sokolov V A , Vtyurina O P , Yelizentsev E A , Repyakh K K
Published: October 2021

Over the past decades, as a result of the economic use of forests, the impact of fires and biotic factors, the forest cover has undergone significant anthropogenic transformation. In certain forest conditions, reforestation is delayed for a long period, which leads to the accumulation of non-producing forest lands. The aim of the work was to develop a methodology for determining the criteria for accessibility of forest areas for carrying out reforestation activities on the example of the territory of the Taezhinsky forestry of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The area is dominated by deciduous plantations of average productivity. In the surveyed areas, natural regeneration is represented by soft-leaved species - birch and aspen of medium and large size categories from 1000 to 6000 pcs/ha. There is no natural regeneration of coniferous species. In these areas, it is necessary to create forest crops. The availability of forest areas for carrying out reforestation activities is limited by the transport, ecological and economic accessibility of forest crops. Within the boundaries of transport accessible quarters for carrying out reforestation activities, areas are identified that are suitable for soil and forest growing conditions for creating forest cultures with promising forest inventory characteristics not lower than grade III. The presented conditions correspond, first of all, to the green moss and forb groups of forest types. These plots constitute the second zone of silvicultural zoning, that is, an outstanding characteristic within the transport accessible quarters. The first stage of development includes forest areas of the II class of bonitet and higher, the second stage - III class of bonitet. Areas of quality class IV and below are reserved for natural reforestation.
Mathematical methods for substantiating transport routes for the movement of natural resources through the forest area
Authors: Medvedev S O , Mokhirev A P , Gerasimova M M , Lyshko A S
Published: October 2021

The use of modern mathematical tools is an integral part of the development of business and society. Their application allows planning the activities of various institutions and forecasting the development of many complex processes. In particular, such tools are used to substantiate routes for the movement of natural resources. The article shows that the use of graphic-analytical methods can be one of the most optimal solutions in this direction. The graphic-analytical model (simplified) and mathematical models are presented. The paper presents the results of a study of individual features of the use of the mathematical substantiation of the routes of industrial enterprises when moving natural resources (including wood resources delivered from the forest area).
Interaction feature of caterpillar tracks with soil under significant axial displacements of pressure center
Authors: Dobretsov R Yu , Sokolova V A , Teterina I A , Malyukov S V , Aksenov A A , Smertin N V
Published: October 2021

A calculation method is proposed for assessing the values of normal pressures and transverse reactions under the track of a transport-technological or transport vehicle. The technique is based on a deterministic approach to modeling the interaction of caterpillar tracks with soil. The geometric, power and other characteristics of the chassis and the main characteristics of the soil are taken into account. When modeling normal soil deformation, the Bernstein-Letoshnev relationship was used. Calculated dependencies are proposed, allowing to estimate the value of normal reactions on the supporting surface of the machine and the value of the coefficient of the moment of resistance to turning the chassis. An example of calculations for a tracked chassis weighing eight tons when predicting the track depth is given. The advantage of deterministic methods over stochastic ones in solving problems related to the operational assessment of changes made to the design of the undercarriage of a tracked vehicle has been substantiated.
Forecasting the final moisture of birch lumbers in the process of chamber drying
Authors: Korchuk Yu A , Orlov A A , Popov A A , Ovsyankin A K
Published: October 2021

The paper substantiates a method for predicting the timely completion of the process of convective drying of birch lumber. The results of statistical processing of industrial drying of birch lumber in MJR-150 chambers are presented. It has been established that there is a statistically significant dependence of the final moisture content of the dried batch of sawn timber on the temperature difference and equilibrium moisture content characterizing the intensity of moisture evaporation along the movement of the drying agent through the stacks. Depending on the thickness of the sawn timber in the last period of the drying process, the temperature difference is from 0.9 to 3.1 °C, and the EMC difference is from 0.5 to 0.9%. As the average moisture content of wood Wav in stacks decreases, the difference in temperature and equilibrium moisture content decreases. Graphical dependencies for birch lumber 25 and 50 mm thick were built. These graphs are offered to the camera operator as an additional tool for making a decision about the end of the drying process.
Completing of modern energy-saving machine-tractor units
Authors: Yudina E M , Rinas N A , Papusha S K , Brusentsov A S , Samurganov G E
Published: October 2021

Labor productivity and crop production of a high quality directly depend on its equipment with the most advanced energy-rich machinery and the use of modern resource-saving technologies. Today, despite the difficult financial situation of agricultural enterprises, their technological infrastructure is implemented without necessary scientific justification, most often at the discretion of particular specialists or for other reasons, but without calculating the optimal composition and structure of the machine-tractor fleet. The units are completed according to the seller and manufacturer recommendations, relying only on the technical characteristics of the tractor and agricultural machine. The article focuses on the problem of completing machine-tractor aggregates, consisting of modern tractors and agricultural machines of domestic and foreign production, which are technically based production rates. For these units, a methodology for their completing, using the potential tractor thrust characteristics, has been developed. A graphic-analytical method for determining the technically based machine production rates is proposed.
Combine harvester improvement for selection and collection of high-quality soybeans
Authors: Prisyazhnaya I M , Prisyazhnaya S P , Sinegovskaya V T , Sinegovskiy M O
Published: October 2021

To obtain biologically valuable and high-quality soybeans it is necessary to improve the design of the two-phase threshing combine harvester which will have a gentle mode for threshing the most mature soybeans in the first threshing drum, make their high-quality cleaning directly in the combine harvester and collect them in a separate hopper. The first seed fraction of biologically valuable and high-quality soybeans is obtained by separating the threshed heap in the first threshing drum. It’s cleaned and collected in a separate hopper. The return is processed in the second threshing drum, and the second fraction of seeds is cleaned and collected in the second hopper of the combine. The straw that comes off the straw walker and enters the auger is divided into two parts, and when it leaves the auger on both sides, it is crushed and thrown out of the sides of the combine. At the same time, during the combine harvesting of soybeans, the chaff coming of the sieve boot and being the high-protein feed consisting of 90% of the bean flaps is collected in the chaff collector. By collecting the most valuable components of the soybean crop, i.e beans and chaff, and embedding the crushed plant stems on the small depth by disking or cultivation, the task of creating conditions for the growth and development of plants in the crop rotation with full mechanized technology of soybean harvesting is solved.
Analytical study of the nonisothermal flow of viscous fluid in an annular clearance at large pressure differentials
Authors: Prokhasko L S , Zalilov R V , Terenteva N G , Ovchinnikova K R , Shakhovskoy A V
Published: October 2021

The questions of theory related to the study of viscous fluid flow in a small clearances at large pressure differentials are remarkably interesting for practical implementation. These are studies of operation of devices with an uncompressed piston, hydroextrusion with an uncompressed press-washer, hydroextrusion with an uncompressed shank, processes of continuous hydraulic pressing with viscous fluid, analysis of leaks in hydraulic drive elements and other technological spheres. The article presents the results of analytical study of the nonisothermal flow of a viscous fluid in a thin clearance with one movable boundary. The mathematical model takes into account the change of the fluid viscosity caused by pressure and temperature in accordance with the exponential law, as well as the elastic deformations of the walls which limit the clearance, directly proportional to the fluid pressure in a layer.
Renovation of the tractor fleet in the agriculture of the region
Authors: Selivanov N I , Averyanov V V , Kuznetsov A V , Kuzmin N V , Zaprudsky V N
Published: October 2021

The article examines the prospect of renewing the tractor fleet in the agriculture of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. It is based on the assessment of the actual composition and renewal of the tractor fleet over the past five years using the developed models for the formation of tractor availability in production. In the period from 2016 to 2020 the annual fleet reduction was 2.90%, with a decrease of 4.76% and a renewal of 1.86%. Tractor availability decreased from 3.40 to 3.27 reference units per 1000 hectares of arable land with practically unchanged age composition and amounted to 69.3% of the norm. A significant reduction in the number of the tractor fleet is compensated by its renewal due to the purchase of wheeled tractors of higher power than those that have departed. The existing rates of renovation do not allow to form in the near future even the basis of the innovation park. It needs to be updated with a simultaneous increase in the number of the main standard sizes of tractors. The average annual increase in the number of tractors in the fleet should be 105 physical or 271 reference units. The total number of the innovation park is 7869 physical or 8708 reference units with a conventional conversion factor of 1.107 and a standard tractor supply of 4.718 reference tractors per 1000 hectares of arable land. The indicated indicators of renewal will make it possible to form the composition of the innovative tractor fleet of the region by 2030.
Investigation of the propagation of free waves in a rod in the design of building structures
Authors: Salieva Olima , Safarov Ismoil , Abidov Komil
Published: October 2021

This article investigates the dispersion dependences of waves propagating in a system consisting of an elastic rod immersed in a linear elastic medium. The phase velocities of a wave with a length λ, which propagate under stationary conditions, are investigated. It was found that for a sufficiently small η (a/λ), i.e., for relatively large wavelengths, no waves can propagate in the system under stationary conditions, i.e. there are critical values of η below which no real values of the phase velocity are possible.
Parameters of deep chiseling of soil
Authors: Bibutov Narzulla
Published: October 2021

The article covers materials related to the value of soil density and the method of its reduction, deformation, the choice of depth and technology of loosening the subsurface horizon, as well as the determination of some parameters of the loosening leg. One of the optimal ways to reduce the density of the soil is its two-tier chiseling, with the least resistance of the soil to the movement of the tool, with a stroke depth of the working bodies of the upper tier = 0.2.
Effects of irregularities of irrigated lots on stable operation of planning units
Authors: Norov Sobir , Nabiev Mukhammad , Zokirova Dilorom , Muzaffarova Nilufar
Published: October 2021

Study of theoretical attempts to influence irregularities of irrigated lots on the stability of planning units. The laws and regulations of farming mechanics have been used in the research process. The diagram of forces acting on the driven front wheel of the tractor when it overcomes a vertical obstacle is justified. Leveling the fields increases the productivity of planning machines, increases the yield of crops, reduces irrigation water and losses during harvesting, at the same time working conditions of workers and mechanization operators, serving the machine-tractor unit, are improved. Maneuvering the speeds of the planning unit allows compensate the loss of time for idle move, thereby increasing the performance of the unit. Irregularities of the worked lands violate the stability of unit’s travel, which leads to violation of quality of performed work.
Combine technology in construction of transport tunnels
Authors: Nosenko A S , Domnitskiy A A , Nosenko V V , Altunina M S , Zubov V V , Kirsanov I A
Published: October 2021

Article reviews the questions of using the combine technology in construction of transport tunnels with mechanized mining, taking into account the standard being developed, which establishes characteristic features and procedures of classifying the tunnels in public roads. Restrictions in connection to environmental safety of transport activities are specified. It was suggested, along with tunnelling machines of selective effect, to use reloaders with reciprocated motion of traction transporting units and with variable geometry of transporting elements.
Technical condition diagnostics of potato combine harvester
Authors: Ovchinnikova N I , Bonnet V V , Kosareva A V
Published: October 2021

The technical condition of the combine harvester is one of the critical factors affecting the performance of mechanized potato harvesting. In order to maintain the required level of reliability and durability of farming machinery used for potato harvesting, the authors propose to perform maintenance checks of the mechanical drive on the lifting section of the harvester while turning the drive shaft in two modes: with free and fixed auger. This approach uncovers new dynamic maintenance parameters, which can help detect malfunctions in the safety clutches and working components of the potato harvester, determine when the safety clutches operate, and evaluate the loads acting on the transmission and related parts of the mechanical drive. The study was carried out for three harvesting seasons in the farms of the Irkutsk region using the potato combine harvester KPK-2-01+ MTZ-80. The results can be applied when setting up and adjusting potato harvesters, and when evaluating the technical condition of potato harvesting units with the required configuration.
Separating grain thrower for processing grain material
Authors: Yampilov S S , Tsybenov Zh B , Gylykova S Zh , Onkhonova l O , Moshkin N I
Published: October 2021

Research is underway to develop a grain separator. This device performs processing of grain material including cleaning, drying and cooling of grain. The device is able to perform all these operations. Currently, such machines do not exist. Known machines are able to perform only one process. The proposed device differs from all known machines in that it is able to perform the entire complex of works on the processing of grain material. The device consists of a rotating drum, where separating and other elements are installed, allowing to carry out the flight of the grain material into the air stream. The purpose of the research is to study the influence of the main parameters of the separating grain thrower on the processing efficiency of grain material. The geometrical parameters of the device are calculated using differential equations analytically describing the movement of grain in the drum of the device. Experimental setup was made for laboratory research and confirmation of theoretical studies. The tests confirmed the theoretical conclusions.
Simulation of soot formation in a tractor diesel engine running on rapeseed oil methyl ether and methanol
Authors: Likhanov V A , Lopatin O P , Yurlov A S , Anfilatova N S
Published: October 2021

The mass content of soot (C) in the cylinder of a tractor diesel engine (TDE) is directly affected by the temperature conditions, the excess air coefficient, and the chemical composition of the fuel. Methanol (M) does not form C particles during combustion. As the C chain in the fuel molecule increases, the propensity to C formation during combustion increases. However, in the presence of oxygen atoms in the initial fuel molecule, it significantly slows down the rate of nucleation of primary particles. During the evolution of the particle in the cylinder of a TDE when working on rapeseed oil methyl ether and methanol (ROMEM), a number of characteristic stages are identified.
Study of the biogas plant with catalytic heating
Authors: Medyakov A A , Lastochkin D M , Kamenskih A D , Anisimov P N , Ostashenkov A P
Published: October 2021

Nowadays improving the methods of anaerobic processing of organic waste is an important topic in the development of biogas technologies. Different articles suggest different options to increase the efficiency of biogas plants. The use of catalytic heaters in biogas plants makes it possible to increase the efficiency of their operation. To study the features of using catalytic heaters, a scheme for the functioning of a biogas plant with catalytic heating was developed. The experimental studies with the use of the designed biogas plant with catalytic heating was carried out. Experimental studies of the designed biogas plant with catalytic heating showed the applicability of the proposed technical solutions for the catalytic heating system.
Mathematical efficiency model of the block-module cooling system of automotive vehicles and tractors
Authors: Parlyuk E P , Pulyaev N N , Kurilenko A V
Published: October 2021

As related to other heat exchange systems, the operation of a heat exchanger should be based on the quality analysis of the heat carrier flows. One of these quality characteristics is the uneven distribution of temperature and air flow velocity ahead of the heat exchanger. To obtain more accurate performance indicators, it is necessary to build mathematical models of thermal processes in the radiator taking into account the unevenness of the air flow. The improvement of cooling systems is one of the priorities for the development of motor vehicles, as the temperature and dynamic loads in the engines are increasing due to the requirements that are becoming more stringent every year. First of all, this relates to environmental friendliness and fuel efficiency parameters, and secondly, it is service maintenance and labor safety, etc. Given this trend, it is necessary to pay attention to such important issues as improving the design of cooling systems, influencing the efficiency of heat balance distribution in the internal combustion engine. When developing new heat exchangers, a thermal engineering design should be analyzed to determine the heat exchange surface area that ensures the transfer of a given amount of heat from one heat carrier to another.
Increasing the service life of lubricants for the lubrication of agricultural machinery and road machinery
Authors: Pokidko B V , Alisin V V , Roshchin M N , Simakov A Yu
Published: October 2021

The article presents the results of the research on the adsorption activity of activated and organomodified aluminosilicate particles used as nanosized organomineral additives in lubricants technology. The technologies of oil adsorptive purification in presence of modified aluminosilicate particles are examined. The efficiency of bentonite activation with sodium chloride solution, acid activation of powdered bentonite, production of organomodified bentonite for base oil additives, aimed at increasing the wear resistance of steel surfaces, are analyzed. The efficiency of such materials usability for extending the lubricants life cycle has been shown. Tribological tests have confirmed the prospects of additives based on modified particles of aluminosilicates to increase the service life of friction units.
Group Leverage Centrality and its Applications in Brain Networks
Authors: Gupta Amogh , Balaji Harish , Sundareswaran R. , Mahesh V. , Geetanjali B.
Published: September 2021

The concept of leverage centrality is the relationship between the degree of a node relative to its neighbours and operates under the principle that a node in a network is central if its immediate neighbours rely on it for information. It was specifically formulated for brain networks. In this paper, we have built upon leverage centrality and introduced group leverage centrality, which is a measure of how important a subset of nodes is in the network. Then, the effects of meditation on different lobes of the brain were quantified using this new centrality measure
Comparison of word embeddings in text classification based on RNN and CNN
Authors: David Merlin Susan , Renjith Shini
Published: September 2021

This paper presents a comparison of word embeddings in text classification using RNN and CNN. In the field of image classification, deep learning methods like as RNN and CNN have shown to be popular. CNN is most popular model among deep learning techniques in the field of NLP because of its simplicity and parallelism, even if the dataset is huge. Word embedding techniques employed are GloVe and fastText. Use of different word embeddings showed a major difference in the accuracy of the models. When it comes to embedding of rare words, GloVe can sometime perform poorly. Inorder to tackle this issue, fastText method is used. Deep neural networks with fastText showed a remarkable improvement in the accuracy than GloVe. But fastText took some time to train when compared to GloVe. Further, the accuracy was improved by minimizing the batch size. Finally we concluded that the word embeddings have a huge impact on the performance of text classification models
Assessment of Asphalt Road Pavement Rehabilitation and Maintenance Practices: The Case of West Showa Zone in Oromia, Ethiopia
Authors: Kenea Lensa Merga , Kumar Leevesh , Singh Sitesh Kumar , Chala Geleta , Chimdi Jifara
Published: September 2021

This study mainly aimed at assessing asphalt road pavement rehabilitation and maintenance practices in West Showa Zone with particular reference to the roads from Ambo to Gedo which covers over 64kms. The study aimed at identifying pavement distresses and causes of pavement distresses. According to data collection and analysis, it was found that the material properties and composition (28.1%), construction quality (18.8%), and road maintenance standards (15.6%) were perceived to be the major causes of pavement distresses on the roadway under study. On the other hand, the result of survey condition data obtained from ERA was analyzed and major distresses were identified including longitudinal joint crack, bleeding and tripping, potholes, generalized marked fretting, deformation, subsidence, rutting, patch, wide block crack, isolated scabbing, low shoulder and wheel path rutting. Besides, limited skilled man power (x=3.78), lack of appropriate pavement management system (x =3.93), budget constraint (x=4.43), absence of appropriate machineries (x=3.53), and lack of monitory and quality control (x=3.75) were among the major challenges related to effective pavement work, road maintenance and rehabilitation practices on the roadway under study.
Patterns of Error in Interpretive Pathology
Authors: Packer Matthew D C , Ravinsky Esther , Azordegan Nazila
Published: October 2021

Objectives

To demonstrate how the educational presentation and targeted review of cases with discrepant interpretive findings between pathologists can raise awareness for specific diagnostic errors through identification of common overarching patterns of error in interpretive pathology.

Methods

We performed a review of 147 surgical pathology and cytopathology cases of discordances from 23 PowerPoint presentations presented between 2010 and 2017. Pathologists and pathology residents, blinded from the official interpretations, were presented each case and surveyed for their own diagnostic assessments. Survey results were compared with the final/correct interpretations of the signing pathologists.

Results

Of the 134 cases with available survey results, there were 87 (64.9%) for which most survey respondents proposed a diagnostic interpretation concordant with the final/correct diagnosis. There were 37 (27.6%) cases for which most survey responses were either wholly or partially discordant with the final/correct diagnosis. For 10 (7.5%) cases, there were equal numbers of concordant and discordant survey responses.

Conclusions

Our analyses of the cases with frequent erroneous diagnoses reveal common patterns of error that are widely applicable and outline specific error-prone interpretive tendencies. Greater awareness for these tendencies, highlighted by presentation of discordant cases, can improve the quality of diagnostic pathology services.
Factors Associated With Not Having a Healthcare Visit in the Past Year Among US Adults With Hypertension: Data From NHANES 2013–2018
Authors: Akinyelure Oluwasegun P , Hubbard Demetria , Sakhuja Swati , Hardy Shakia T , Oparil Suzanne , Cherrington Andrea L , Reynolds Kristi , Wozniak Gregory , Muntner Paul
Published: September 2021

Background

Not having a healthcare visit in the past year has been associated with a higher likelihood of uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) among individuals with hypertension.

Methods

We examined factors associated with not having a healthcare visit in the past year among US adults with hypertension using data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013–2018 (n = 5,985). Hypertension was defined as systolic BP (SBP) ≥140 mm Hg, diastolic BP (DBP) ≥90 mm Hg, or antihypertensive medication use. Having a healthcare visit in the past year was self-reported.

Results

Overall, 7.0% of US adults with hypertension reported not having a healthcare visit in the past year. Those without vs. with a healthcare visit in the past year were less likely to be aware they had hypertension (45.0% vs. 83.9%), to be taking antihypertensive medication (36.7% vs. 91.4%, among those who were aware they had hypertension), and to have controlled BP (SBP/DBP <140/90 mm Hg; 9.1% vs. 51.7%). After multivariable adjustment, not having a healthcare visit in the past year was more common among US adults without health insurance (prevalence ratio [PR]: 2.22; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.68–2.95), without a usual source of healthcare (PR: 5.65; 95% CI 4.16–7.67), who smoked cigarettes (PR: 1.34; 95% CI 1.02–1.77), and with heavy vs. no alcohol consumption (PR: 1.55; 95% CI 1.16–2.08). Also, not having a healthcare visit in the past year was more common among those without diabetes or a history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, and those not taking a statin.

Conclusions

Interventions should be considered to ensure all adults with hypertension have annual healthcare visits.
Attenuation of Myocardial Fibrosis Using Molecular Hydrogen by Inhibiting the TGF-β Signaling Pathway in Spontaneous Hypertensive Rats
Authors: Liu Libo , Shi Qian , Liu Xiaohong , Li Yanmin , Li Xiuchang
Published: October 2021

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have shown that hydrogen can antagonize the fibrosis of various organs. We investigated whether hydrogen-rich saline (HRS) can attenuate myocardial fibrosis in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and clarified the mechanisms involved.

METHODS

We examined the effect of HRS and pirfenidone (PFD) on myocardial fibrosis in SHR. Systolic blood pressure, left ventricular mass index (LVMI), and heart weight index (HWI) were measured, Masson trichrome staining was performed. We assessed the role of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), Alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), collagen I, collagen III, and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) in myocardium. We detected the concentrations of procollagen type-I C-terminal propeptide (PICP), procollagen type-III N-terminal propeptide (PIIINP), and angiotensin II (Ang II) in rat serum. Furthermore, the relative protein levels of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β)/Smad pathway were tested.

RESULTS

We discovered that HRS decreases LVMI (P < 0.05) and HWI (P < 0.05) in vivo. Compared with model group, HRS decreases the level of collagen volume fraction (P < 0.0001), collagen I (P < 0.001), and collagen III (P < 0.001) in myocardium, and Ang II (P < 0.05), PICP (P < 0.001), and PIIINP (P < 0.05) in serum. In addition, HRS downregulates the expression of MDA (P < 0.01), α-SMA (P < 0.05), and TIMPs (P < 0.05), and increased SOD (P < 0.05). Furthermore, HRS downregulated the expression levels of TGF-β1 (P < 0.0001), Smad3 (P < 0.0001), and Smad2/3 (P < 0.001), but had no effect on Smad7 expression (P > 0.05). PFD had similar effect compared with HRS and control group.

CONCLUSIONS

HRS reduced oxidative stress and improved myocardial collagen content, which may be related to inhibition of the TGF-β signaling pathway. This suggests that HRS is an effective therapeutic strategy for myocardial fibrosis.
Does developmental environment affect sexual conflict? An experimental test in the seed beetle
Authors: Zhang Zhuzhi , Head Megan L
Published: October 2021

Sexual conflict and sexually antagonistic coevolution are driven by differences in reproductive interests between the sexes. There have been numerous studies focused on how both the social and physical environment that individuals experience as adults, or where mating occurs, mediate the intensity of sexual conflict. However, how the physical environment that juveniles experience, mediates their later mating interactions, is still poorly understood. In seed beetles, Callosobruchus maculatus, water is an important resource that can impact fitness and reproduction. Here, we manipulated the water content of beans that beetles were reared in and explored how this environmental variation affects mating interactions and subsequent male and female fitness. We measured the mass of ejaculate transferred, mating behavior, female fecundity, and offspring production as well as male and female lifespan. We found that males reared in wet environments transferred a larger ejaculate to females, but only when females were reared in dry environments. We also found that females mated to males reared in dry environments laid more eggs than those mated to males from wet environments. Additionally, eggs laid by females reared in dry conditions had greater survival when they had mated to males reared in dry than wet environments. Overall, however, there were no treatment effects on the number of adult offspring females produced nor male or female adult lifespan, thus it is difficult to determine the evolutionary implications of these results. Our research provides evidence for the importance of developmental environment for determining the expression of adult mating and fitness traits.
Post-fledging behavioral ecology of migratory songbirds: how do fledgling activity rates vary across species?
Authors: Jones Todd M , Ward Michael P
Published: October 2021

Despite a large literature on the ontogeny of animal behavior, our understanding of behavioral development in young songbirds remains relatively poor. This is particularly true for the post-fledging period, where it is often difficult to follow and observe small, freely moving fledglings for extended periods of time. Fortunately, technological advances have enabled more robust examinations of songbird post-fledging behaviors. To provide greater insight into fledgling developmental and behavioral ecology, we used automated radio-telemetry systems to document post-fledging activity rates of juveniles across 9 songbird species of east-central Illinois, USA. Specifically, we sought to examine differences in the ontogeny of activity rates across species, and compare activity rates to intrinsic (e.g. morphological traits, age) and extrinsic (e.g. predation risk, brood size) factors that have the potential to influence fledgling behavior. While post-fledging activity rates differed by species, our findings show remarkable similarities in the ontogeny of fledgling activity across the avian community; all species exhibited a steady increase in activity rates with post-fledging age, with rates leveling off roughly 3 to 4 weeks post-fledging. These general patterns mirrored rates of post-fledging mortality (primarily due to predation) across the period, including the presence or absence of a post-fledging bottleneck, in which species with bottlenecks exhibit slight declines in activity rates during the first few days out of the nest. Alongside fledgling age and mortality risk, our findings also suggest that juvenile wing development and brood size at fledging mediate fledgling activity rates within and across species.
MungeSumstats: a Bioconductor package for the standardization and quality control of many GWAS summary statistics
Authors: Murphy Alan E , Schilder Brian M , Skene Nathan G
Published: September 2021

Motivation

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) summary statistics have popularized and accelerated genetic research. However, a lack of standardization of the file formats used has proven problematic when running secondary analysis tools or performing meta-analysis studies.

Results

To address this issue, we have developed MungeSumstats, a Bioconductor R package for the standardization and quality control of GWAS summary statistics. MungeSumstats can handle the most common summary statistic formats, including variant call format (VCF) producing a reformatted, standardized, tabular summary statistic file, VCF or R native data object.

Availability and implementation

MungeSumstats is available on Bioconductor (v 3.13) and can also be found on Github at: https://neurogenomics.github.io/MungeSumstats.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
RCytoGPS: an R package for reading and visualizing cytogenetics data
Authors: Abrams Zachary B , Tally Dwayne G , Abruzzo Lynne V , Coombes Kevin R
Published: September 2021

Cytogenetics data, or karyotypes, are among the most common clinically used forms of genetic data. Karyotypes are stored as standardized text strings using the International System for Human Cytogenomic Nomenclature (ISCN). Historically, these data have not been used in large-scale computational analyses due to limitations in the ISCN text format and structure. Recently developed computational tools such as CytoGPS have enabled large-scale computational analyses of karyotypes. To further enable such analyses, we have now developed RCytoGPS, an R package that takes JSON files generated from CytoGPS.org and converts them into objects in R. This conversion facilitates the analysis and visualizations of karyotype data. In effect this tool streamlines the process of performing large-scale karyotype analyses, thus advancing the field of computational cytogenetic pathology.

Availability and implementation

Freely available at https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=RCytoGPS. The code for the underlying CytoGPS software can be found at https://github.com/i2-wustl/CytoGPS
EZH2 knockout in oral cavity basal epithelia causes more invasive squamous cell carcinomas
Authors: Baquero Jorge , Tang Xiao-Han , Scognamiglio Theresa , Gudas Lorraine J
Published: October 2021

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (oral SCC) is an aggressive disease and despite intensive treatments, 5-year survival rates for patients have remained low in the last 20 years. Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), part of polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), is highly expressed in human oral SCC samples and cell lines and has been associated with greater epithelia-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), invasion and metastasis. Here, we developed a tamoxifen-regulated, transgenic mouse line (KcEZH2) in which EZH2 is selectively knocked out (KO) in some tongue epithelial basal stem cells (SCs) in adult mice. EZH2 KO SCs do not show the H3K27me3 mark, as assessed by double-label immunofluorescence. We used this mouse line to assess EZH2 actions during oral tumorigenesis with our immunocompetent 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide model of oral SCC. We report that higher percentages of mice with invasive SCCs and high-grade neoplastic lesions are observed in mice containing EZH2 KO SCs (KcEZH2-2TΔ and KcEZH2-5TΔ mice). Moreover, EZH2 expression does not correlate with the expression of markers of invasive SCCs. Finally, EZH2 KO cells that are E-cadherin+ are present at invasion fronts infiltrating underlying muscle tissue. Our findings indicate that the knockout of EZH2 in basal SCs of tongue epithelia results in more aggressive carcinomas, and this should be considered when targeting EZH2 as a therapeutic strategy.
Therapeutic Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) During Pandemics: Double-edged Swords
Authors: Bhimraj Adarsh , Morgan Rebecca L , Shumaker Amy Hirsch , Lavergne Valery , Baden Lindsey , Cheng Vincent Chi-Chung , Edwards Kathryn M , Gandhi Rajesh T , Gallagher Jason C , Muller William J , O’Horo John C , Shoham Shmuel , Wollins Dana Swartzberg , Falck-Ytter Yngve
Published: October 2021

Given the urgent need for treatments during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the US Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for multiple therapies. In several instances, however, these EUAs were issued before sufficient evidence of a given therapy’s efficacy and safety were available, potentially promoting ineffective or even harmful therapies and undermining the generation of definitive evidence. We describe the strengths and weaknesses of the different therapeutic EUAs issued during this pandemic. We also contrast them to the vaccine EUAs and suggest a framework and criteria for an evidence-based, trustworthy, and publicly transparent therapeutic EUA process for future pandemics.
Modeling Temperature-Dependent Development Rate in Insects and Implications of Experimental Design
Authors: Régnier Baptiste , Legrand Judith , Rebaudo François
Published: October 2021

Characterizing the temperature-dependent development rate requires empirical data acquired by rearing individuals at different temperatures. Many mathematical models can be fitted to empirical data, making model comparison a mandatory step, yet model selection practices widely vary. We present guidelines for model selection using statistical criteria and the assessment of biological relevance of fits, exemplified throughout a Lepidoptera pest dataset. We also used in silico experiments to explore how experimental design and species attributes impact estimation accuracy of biological traits. Our results suggested that the uncertainty in model predictions was mostly determined by the rearing effort and the variance in development times of individuals. We found that a higher number of tested temperatures instead of a higher sample size per temperature may lead to more accurate estimations of model parameters. Our simulations suggested that an inappropriate model choice can lead to biased estimated values of biological traits (defined as attributes of temperature dependent development rate, i.e., optimal temperature for development and critical thresholds), highlighting the need for standardized model selection methods. Therefore, our results have direct implications for future studies on the temperature-dependent development rate of insects.