bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mechanical Equilibrium Dynamics Controlling Wetting State Transition at Low-Temperature Superhydrophobic Array-Microstructure Surfaces
Authors: Shen Yizhou , Xie Xinyu , Tao Jie , Chen Haifeng , Cai Zeyu , Liu Senyun , Jiang Jiawei
Published: April 2021

Superhydrophobic materials are significant for engineering applications in the anti-icing field because of their non-wetting property. The interface physical mechanisms of non-wetting properties are important to promote real applications of superhydrophobic surfaces, especially under low-temperature conditions. Here, we found that low temperature could induce the wetting state transition from a Cassie–Baxter state to a Wenzel state. This transition occurred at 14 °C (and 2 °C) on superhydrophobic surfaces with pillar heights of 250 μm (and 300 μm). As a consequence, the driving-force of the Cassie-Wenzel (C-W) wetting transition was induced by the contraction of air pockets on cooling, and the pressure of air pockets supporting the droplet decreased with the contraction degree. Decreasing the pressure of air pockets broke the mechanical equilibrium at the solid–liquid contact interface, and the continuous contraction overcame the resistance in the C-W wetting transition. Based on the analysis of work against resistance in the C-W wetting transition, lower C-W wetting transition temperature was mainly attributed to a higher pillar, which produced more work against resistance to require more energy. This energy was directly reflected by the energy required for continuous contraction of air pockets. Superhydrophobic surfaces with higher pillar structure remain stable non-wetting property at low-temperature conditions. This work provides theoretical support for the application of superhydrophobic materials in low-temperature environments.
Study of Al2O3 Sol-Gel Coatings on X20Cr13 in Artificial North German Basin Geothermal Water at 150 °C
Authors: Aristia Gabriela , Hoa Le Quynh , Nofz Marianne , Sojref Regine , Bäßler Ralph
Published: April 2021

Al2O3 has been widely used as a coating in industrial applications due to its excellent chemical and thermal resistance. Considering high temperatures and aggressive mediums exist in geothermal systems, Al2O3 can be a potential coating candidate to protect steels in geothermal applications. In this study, γ-Al2O3 was used as a coating on martensitic steels by applying AlOOH sol followed by a heat treatment at 600 °C. To evaluate the coating application process, one-, two-, and three-layer coatings were tested in the artificial North German Basin (NGB), containing 166 g/L Cl−, at 150 °C and 1 MPa for 168 h. To reveal the stability of the Al2O3 coating in NGB solution, three-layer coatings were used in exposure tests for 24, 168, 672, and 1296 h, followed by surface and cross-section characterization. SEM images show that the Al2O3 coating was stable up to 1296 h of exposure, where the outer layer mostly transformed into boehmite AlOOH with needle-like crystals dominating the surface. Closer analysis of cross-sections showed that the interface between each layer was affected in long-term exposure tests, which caused local delamination after 168 h of exposure. In separate experiments, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was performed at 150 °C to evaluate the changes of coatings within the first 24 h. Results showed that the most significant decrease in the impedance is within 6 h, which can be associated with the electrolyte penetration through the coating, followed by the formation of AlOOH. Here, results of both short-term EIS measurements (up to 24 h) and long-term exposure tests (up to 1296 h) are discussed.
Anhydride-Cured Epoxy Powder Coatings from Natural-Origin Resins, Hardeners, and Fillers
Authors: Kugler Szymon , Ossowicz-Rupniewska Paula , Wierzbicka Ewa , Łopiński Jakub
Published: April 2021

Carbon-neutral policy and technological race on the powder coatings market force to develop more advanced, safer, cheaper, and naturally sourced products. To meet the market needs, powder coating compositions and coatings were prepared from safe and natural-origin hardeners, resins, and fillers prepared from rosin, bio-diols, bio-epichlorohydrin, and halloysite, to investigate their thermal, mechanical, and functional properties in comparison with petroleum-based references: cross-linking behavior, glass transition temperature, thermal stability, hardness, cupping resistance, adhesion, chemical resistance, gloss, color, and anti-corrosive behavior in salt chamber. As a result, compositions containing up to 83 wt.% of natural resources, and showing comparable or better properties, as compared to references, were successfully prepared. Their application includes binders for future ecological powder paints for demanding protection of steel substrates.
Effect of Different Salinity Levels on Population Dynamics and Growth of the Cyclopoid Copepod Oithona nana
Authors: Magouz Fawzy I. , Essa Mohamed A. , Matter Mustafa , Mansour Abdallah Tageldein , Gaber Ahmed , Ashour Mohamed
Published: April 2021

Copepods are one of the most abundant and diverse live food sources for mesopelagic and bathypelagic fishes and crustaceans. They could contribute to the overlap of the transition period from live feed to an artificial weaning diet in marine larvae production. However, the culture conditions still need optimization to provide sufficient production to cover the increasing demand for marine hatcheries. Therefore, the present study investigated the effects of different salinity levels (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 ppt) on the population growth, growth rate, and population composition (males, females, copepodite, and nauplii ratio) of the marine copepod, Oithona nana. The experiment continued for 15 days, under laboratory-controlled conditions of temperature (27 ± 1 °C), pH (7.7 ± 0.15), and continuous gentle aeration in 30 L glass aquaria. The copepod culture aquaria were supplemented with a mixture of soybean and yeast (0.5 g 10−6 individual−1 24-h−1) as a feed source. The highest significant population growth and population growth rate of O. nana were achieved with a salinity level of 20 ppt. Regarding population composition, O. nana cultured at the salinity level of 20 ppt recorded the highest significant percentages of copepodite and nauplii. The results concluded that copepod, O. nana, is capable of withstanding abrupt changes in the salinity, but there are limits to their tolerance, with an optimal salinity level of 20 ppt. This salinity level achieved the highest population growth and the highest percentages of copepodite and nauplii of marine Copepoda, O. nana.
A Machine Learning Decision Support System (DSS) for Neuroendocrine Tumor Patients Treated with Somatostatin Analog (SSA) Therapy
Authors: Hasic Telalovic Jasminka , Pillozzi Serena , Fabbri Rachele , Laffi Alice , Lavacchi Daniele , Rossi Virginia , Dreoni Lorenzo , Spada Francesca , Fazio Nicola , Amedei Amedeo , Iadanza Ernesto , Antonuzzo Lorenzo
Published: April 2021

The application of machine learning (ML) techniques could facilitate the identification of predictive biomarkers of somatostatin analog (SSA) efficacy in patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). We collected data from 74 patients with a pancreatic or gastrointestinal NET who received SSA as first-line therapy. We developed three classification models to predict whether the patient would experience a progressive disease (PD) after 12 or 18 months based on clinic-pathological factors at the baseline. The dataset included 70 samples and 15 features. We initially developed three classification models with accuracy ranging from 55% to 70%. We then compared ten different ML algorithms. In all but one case, the performance of the Multinomial Naïve Bayes algorithm (80%) was the highest. The support vector machine classifier (SVC) had a higher performance for the recall metric of the progression-free outcome (97% vs. 94%). Overall, for the first time, we documented that the factors that mainly influenced progression-free survival (PFS) included age, the number of metastatic sites and the primary site. In addition, the following factors were also isolated as important: adverse events G3–G4, sex, Ki67, metastatic site (liver), functioning NET, the primary site and the stage. In patients with advanced NETs, ML provides a predictive model that could potentially be used to differentiate prognostic groups and to identify patients for whom SSA therapy as a single agent may not be sufficient to achieve a long-lasting PFS.
Multidimensional Arrays, Indices and Kronecker Products
Authors: Pollock D. Stephen G.
Published: April 2021

Much of the algebra that is associated with the Kronecker product of matrices has been rendered in the conventional notation of matrix algebra, which conceals the essential structures of the objects of the analysis. This makes it difficult to establish even the most salient of the results. The problems can be greatly alleviated by adopting an orderly index notation that reveals these structures. This claim is demonstrated by considering a problem that several authors have already addressed without producing a widely accepted solution.
Theoretical Study of the Input Impedance and Electromagnetic Field Distribution of a Dipole Antenna Printed on an Electrical/Magnetic Uniaxial Anisotropic Substrate
Authors: Bouknia Mohamed Lamine , Zebiri Chemseddine , Sayad Djamel , Elfergani Issa , Rodriguez Jonathan , Alibakhshikenari Mohammad , Abd-Alhameed Raed A. , Falcone Francisco , Limiti Ernesto
Published: April 2021

The present work considers the investigation of the effects of both electrical and magnetic uniaxial anisotropies on the input impedance, resonant length, and fields distribution of a dipole printed on an anisotropic grounded substrate. In this study, the associated integral equation, based on the derivation of the Green’s functions in the spectral domain, is numerically solved employing the method of moments. In order to validate the computing method and the evaluated calculation code, numerical results are compared with available data in the literature treating particular cases of electrical uniaxial anisotropy; reasonable agreements are reported. Novel results of the magnetic uniaxial anisotropy effects on the input impedance and the evaluated electromagnetic field are presented and discussed. This work will serve as a stepping stone for further works for a better understanding of the electromagnetic field behavior in complex anisotropic and bi-anisotropic media.
Energy Efficient Self-Adaptive Dual Mode Logic Address Decoder
Authors: Vicuña Kevin , Mosquera Cristhopher , Musello Ariana , Benedictis Sara , Rendón Mateo , Garzón Esteban , Prócel Luis Miguel , Trojman Lionel , Taco Ramiro
Published: April 2021

This paper presents a 1024-bit self-adaptive memory address decoder based on Dual Mode Logic (DML) design style to allow working in two modes of operation (i.e., dynamic for high-performance and static for energy-saving). The main novelty of this work relies on the design of a controlling mechanism that mixes both of these modes of operation to simultaneously benefit from their inherent advantages. When performance is the primary target, the mixed operating mode is enabled, and the self-adjustment mechanism identifies at run time the logic gates that have to work in the energy-efficient mode (i.e., static mode), while those belonging to the critical path operate in the faster dynamic mode. Moreover, our address decoder can run in the fully static mode for the lowest energy consumption when speed is not a primary concern. A 65 nm CMOS technology was exploited to simulate and compare our solution with other logically equivalent dynamic and static designs. Operated in the mixed mode, the proposed circuit exhibits negligible speed reduction (8.7%) in comparison with a dynamic logic based design while presenting significantly reduced energy consumption (28%). On the contrary, further energy is saved (29%) with respect to conventional logic styles when our design runs in its energy efficient mode.
DoA Estimation Using Neural Tangent Kernel under Electromagnetic Mutual Coupling
Authors: Wang Qifeng , Hu Xiaolin , Deng Xiaobao , Buris Nicholas E.
Published: April 2021

Antenna element mutual coupling degrades the performance of Direction of Arrival (DoA) estimation significantly. In this paper, a novel machine learning-based method via Neural Tangent Kernel (NTK) is employed to address the DoA estimation problem under the effect of electromagnetic mutual coupling. NTK originates from Deep Neural Network (DNN) considerations, based on the limiting case of an infinite number of neurons in each layer, which ultimately leads to very efficient estimators. With the help of the Polynomial Root Finding (PRF) technique, an advanced method, NTK-PRF, is proposed. The method adapts well to multiple-signal scenarios when sources are far apart. Numerical simulations are carried out to demonstrate that this NTK-PRF approach can handle, accurately and very efficiently, multiple-signal DoA estimation problems with realistic mutual coupling.
Microbiological and Metagenomic Characterization of a Retail Delicatessen Galotyri-Like Fresh Acid-Curd Cheese Product
Authors: Samelis John , Doulgeraki Agapi I. , Bikouli Vasiliki , Pappas Dimitrios , Kakouri Athanasia
Published: April 2021

This study evaluated the microbial quality, safety, and ecology of a retail delicatessen Galotyri-like fresh acid-curd cheese traditionally produced by mixing fresh natural Greek yogurt with ‘Myzithrenio’, a naturally fermented and ripened whey cheese variety. Five retail cheese batches (mean pH 4.1) were analyzed for total and selective microbial counts, and 150 presumptive isolates of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were characterized biochemically. Additionally, the most and the least diversified batches were subjected to a culture-independent 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis. LAB prevailed in all cheeses followed by yeasts. Enterobacteria, pseudomonads, and staphylococci were present as <100 viable cells/g of cheese. The yogurt starters Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii were the most abundant LAB isolates, followed by nonstarter strains of Lactiplantibacillus, Lacticaseibacillus, Enterococcus faecium, E. faecalis, and Leuconostoc mesenteroides, whose isolation frequency was batch-dependent. Lactococcus lactis isolates were sporadic, except for one cheese batch. However, Lactococcus lactis, Enterobacteriaceae, Vibrionaceae, Salinivibrio, and Shewanellaceae were detected at fairly high relative abundances culture-independently, despite the fact that their viable counts in the cheeses were low or undetectable. Metagenomics confirmed the prevalence of S. thermophilus and Lb. delbrueckii. Overall, this delicatessen Galotyri-like cheese product was shown to be a rich pool of indigenous nonstarter LAB strains, which deserve further biotechnological investigation.
Collecting a Large Scale Dataset for Classifying Fake News Tweets Using Weak Supervision
Authors: Helmstetter Stefan , Paulheim Heiko
Published: April 2021

The problem of automatic detection of fake news in social media, e.g., on Twitter, has recently drawn some attention. Although, from a technical perspective, it can be regarded as a straight-forward, binary classification problem, the major challenge is the collection of large enough training corpora, since manual annotation of tweets as fake or non-fake news is an expensive and tedious endeavor, and recent approaches utilizing distributional semantics require large training corpora. In this paper, we introduce an alternative approach for creating a large-scale dataset for tweet classification with minimal user intervention. The approach relies on weak supervision and automatically collects a large-scale, but very noisy, training dataset comprising hundreds of thousands of tweets. As a weak supervision signal, we label tweets by their source, i.e., trustworthy or untrustworthy source, and train a classifier on this dataset. We then use that classifier for a different classification target, i.e., the classification of fake and non-fake tweets. Although the labels are not accurate according to the new classification target (not all tweets by an untrustworthy source need to be fake news, and vice versa), we show that despite this unclean, inaccurate dataset, the results are comparable to those achieved using a manually labeled set of tweets. Moreover, we show that the combination of the large-scale noisy dataset with a human labeled one yields more advantageous results than either of the two alone.
Experimental Evaluation of a LoRa Wildlife Monitoring Network in a Forest Vegetation Area
Authors: Ojo Mike Oluwatayo , Adami Davide , Giordano Stefano
Published: April 2021

Smart agriculture and wildlife monitoring are one of the recent trends of Internet of Things (IoT) applications, which are evolving in providing sustainable solutions from producers. This article details the design, development and assessment of a wildlife monitoring application for IoT animal repelling devices that is able to cover large areas, thanks to the low power wide area networks (LPWAN), which bridge the gap between cellular technologies and short range wireless technologies. LoRa, the global de-facto LPWAN, continues to attract attention given its open specification and ready availability of off-the-shelf hardware, with claims of several kilometers of range in harsh challenging environments. At first, this article presents a survey of the LPWAN for smart agriculture applications. We proceed to evaluate the performance of LoRa transmission technology operating in the 433 MHz and 868 MHz bands, aimed at wildlife monitoring in a forest vegetation area. To characterize the communication link, we mainly use the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and packet delivery ratio (PDR). Findings from this study show that achievable performance can greatly vary between the 433 MHz and 868 MHz bands, and prompt caution is required when taking numbers at face value, as this can have implications for IoT applications. In addition, our results show that the link reaches up to 860 m in the highly dense forest vegetation environment, while in the not so dense forest vegetation environment, it reaches up to 2050 m.
Assessment of the Genetic Potential of the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus peregrinus) Population Used in the Reintroduction Program in Poland
Authors: Puchała Karol O. , Nowak-Życzyńska Zuzanna , Sielicki Sławomir , Olech Wanda
Published: April 2021

Microsatellite DNA analysis is a powerful tool for assessing population genetics. The main aim of this study was to assess the genetic potential of the peregrine falcon population covered by the restitution program. We characterized individuals from breeders that set their birds for release into the wild and birds that have been reintroduced in previous years. This was done using a well-known microsatellite panel designed for the peregrine falcon containing 10 markers. We calculated the genetic distance between individuals and populations using the UPGMA (unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean) method and then performed a Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCoA) and constructed phylogenetic trees, to visualize the results. In addition, we used the Bayesian clustering method, assuming 1–15 hypothetical populations, to find the model that best fit the data. Units were segregated into groups regardless of the country of origin, and the number of alleles and observed heterozygosity were different in different breeding groups. The wild and captive populations were grouped independent of the original population.
Investigating Olfactory Gene Variation and Odour Identification in Older Adults
Authors: Raj Siddharth , Thalamuthu Anbupalam , Armstrong Nicola J , Wright Margaret J , Kwok John B , Trollor Julian N , Ames David , Schofield Peter R , Brodaty Henry , Sachdev Perminder S , Mather Karen A
Published: April 2021

Ageing is associated with a decrease in odour identification. Additionally, deficits in olfaction have been linked to age-related disease and mortality. Heritability studies suggest genetic variation contributes to olfactory identification. The olfactory receptor (OR) gene family is the largest in the human genome and responsible for overall odour identification. In this study, we sought to find olfactory gene family variants associated with individual and overall odour identification and to examine the relationships between polygenic risk scores (PRS) for olfactory-related phenotypes and olfaction. Participants were Caucasian older adults from the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study and the Older Australian Twins Study with genome-wide genotyping data (n = 1395, mean age = 75.52 ± 6.45). The Brief-Smell Identification Test (BSIT) was administered in both cohorts. PRS were calculated from independent GWAS summary statistics for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), white matter hyperintensities (WMH), Parkinson’s disease (PD), hippocampal volume and smoking. Associations with olfactory receptor genes (n = 967), previously identified candidate olfaction-related SNPs (n = 36) and different PRS with BSIT scores (total and individual smells) were examined. All of the relationships were analysed using generalised linear mixed models (GLMM), adjusted for age and sex. Genes with suggestive evidence for odour identification were found for 8 of the 12 BSIT items. Thirteen out of 36 candidate SNPs previously identified from the literature were suggestively associated with several individual BSIT items but not total score. PRS for smoking, WMH and PD were negatively associated with chocolate identification. This is the first study to conduct genetic analyses with individual odorant identification, which found suggestive olfactory-related genes and genetic variants for multiple individual BSIT odours. Replication in independent and larger cohorts is needed.
Circ-140/chi-miR-8516/STC1-MMP1 Regulates αs1-/β-Casein Secretion and Lipid Formation in Goat Mammary Epithelial Cells
Authors: Zhang Yue , Wu Qiong , Liu Jidan , An Xiaopeng , Cao Binyun
Published: April 2021

MicroRNAs play an essential role in mammary gland development, and involution is a factor that limits lactation. Chi-miR-8516 is one of the validated microRNAs that regulates the expression of STC1 and MMP1, which surge during the involution of the mammary gland. This study aims to explore the direct or indirect regulation of STC1 and MMP1 by chi-miR-8516 and the regulation of chi-miR-8516 by circ-140. In goat mammary epithelial cells, we found that chi-miR-8516 takes circ-140 as a sponge and regulates MMP1 expression by targeting STC1 and promoting the phosphorylation of MAPK. The examination of αs1-/β-casein and lipid showed the modulation of the circ-140/chi-miR-8516/STC1-MMP1 axis in casein secretion and lipid formation, which was regulated by the phosphorylation of mTOR and STAT5. This study illustrates an axis that regulates the synthesis of milk components, and explores the pathways in which the axis participates.
Cryptochromes and the Circadian Clock: The Story of a Very Complex Relationship in a Spinning World
Authors: Lopez Loredana , Fasano Carlo , Perrella Giorgio , Facella Paolo
Published: April 2021

Cryptochromes are flavin-containing blue light photoreceptors, present in most kingdoms, including archaea, bacteria, plants, animals and fungi. They are structurally similar to photolyases, a class of flavoproteins involved in light-dependent repair of UV-damaged DNA. Cryptochromes were first discovered in Arabidopsis thaliana in which they control many light-regulated physiological processes like seed germination, de-etiolation, photoperiodic control of the flowering time, cotyledon opening and expansion, anthocyanin accumulation, chloroplast development and root growth. They also regulate the entrainment of plant circadian clock to the phase of light–dark daily cycles. Here, we review the molecular mechanisms by which plant cryptochromes control the synchronisation of the clock with the environmental light. Furthermore, we summarise the circadian clock-mediated changes in cell cycle regulation and chromatin organisation and, finally, we discuss a putative role for plant cryptochromes in the epigenetic regulation of genes.
Professional Quality of Life, Engagement, and Self-Care in Healthcare Professionals in Ecuador during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Cuartero-Castañer María Elena , Hidalgo-Andrade Paula , Cañas-Lerma Ana J.
Published: April 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of healthcare workers and their professional quality of life. This quantitative cross-sectional study aims at exploring the professional quality of life, work engagement, and self-care of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador. A convenience sample of 117 participants completed an online voluntary and anonymous survey between April and July 2020. It contained a sociodemographic section, the Professional Quality of Life questionnaire V, the work engagement scale, and the scale of self-care behaviors for clinical psychologists. Results show that healthcare workers have an average quality of life with high levels of compassion satisfaction and average levels of compassion fatigue and burnout. Data also indicate that the sample frequently engaged in self-care practices and had high levels of work engagement. The regression analyses reveal that gender, the number of patients per week, the perceived fairness of the salary, among other variables are possible predictors of professional quality of life, frequency of self-care practices, and engagement. This study contributes to the understanding of these variables among healthcare professionals in Ecuador. These results should be considered when planning policies and prevention intervention efforts to promote professionals’ wellbeing.
How Environmental Knowledge Management Promotes Employee Green Behavior: An Empirical Study
Authors: Zhang Wenyao , Xu Ruzhi , Jiang Yuan , Zhang Wei
Published: April 2021

As environmental protection has gradually become the focus of enterprises’ development, employee green behavior becomes an important and key antecedent to study this issue, but there have been less studies conducted with knowledge management. As a result, drawing on the theory of planned behavior and the organizational support theory, this study investigates how environmental knowledge practices (environmental knowledge sharing and environmental knowledge application) affect employee green behavior by using a questionnaire survey administered to 266 employees in China to reveal their complex relationship mechanism. The results show that environmental knowledge application and environmental knowledge sharing have a positive effect on employee green behavior; environmental behavioral intention mediates the relationship between environmental knowledge application and employee green behavior, and between environmental knowledge sharing and employee green behavior; green perceived organizational support positively moderates the relationship between environmental behavioral intention and employee green behavior. The findings shed new light on the development of employee green behavior literature and provide practical reference for strategies related to environmental protection for managers.
New Generalized Cyclotomic Quaternary Sequences with Large Linear Complexity and a Product of Two Primes Period
Authors: Ma Jiang , Zhao Wei , Jia Yanguo , Jiang Haiyang
Published: April 2021

Linear complexity is an important criterion to characterize the unpredictability of pseudo-random sequences, and large linear complexity corresponds to high cryptographic strength. Pseudo-random Sequences with a large linear complexity property are of importance in many domains. In this paper, based on the theory of inverse Gray mapping, two classes of new generalized cyclotomic quaternary sequences with period pq are constructed, where pq is a product of two large distinct primes. In addition, we give the linear complexity over the residue class ring Z4 via the Hamming weights of their Fourier spectral sequence. The results show that these two kinds of sequences have large linear complexity.
A Systematic Review of the Behavioral Responses by Stored-Product Arthropods to Individual or Blends of Microbially Produced Volatile Cues
Authors: Ponce Marco A. , Kim Tania N. , Morrison III William R.
Published: April 2021

Microbes are ubiquitous and play important ecological roles in a variety of habitats. While research has been largely focused on arthropods and microbes separately in the post-harvest supply chain, less attention has been paid to their interactions with each other. Up to this point, there has been no attempt to systematically describe the patterns of behavioral responses by stored-product insects to microbially produced volatile organic compounds (MVOCs). Thus, our aims were to evaluate whether stored-product arthropods were primarily and significantly attracted, repelled, or had a net neutral effect (e.g., unaffected or mixed) by MVOCs presented as (1) complex headspace blends or (2) single constituents and known mixtures. In total, we found 43 articles that contained 384 sets of tests with different combinations of methodology and/or qualitative findings, describing the behavioral responses of 24 stored-product arthropod species from two classes, four orders, and 14 families to 58 individual microbial compounds and the complex headspace blends from at least 78 microbial taxa. A total of five and four stored-product arthropod species were significantly attracted and repelled by MVOCs across odor sources, respectively, while 13 were unaffected or exhibited mixed effects. We summarize the biases in the literature, including that the majority of tests have occurred in the laboratory with a limited subset of methodology and has largely only assessed the preference of adult arthropods. Finally, we identify foundational hypotheses for the roles that MVOCs play for stored-product arthropods as well as gaps in research and future directions, while highlighting that the behavioral responses to MVOCs are complex, context-, and taxon-dependent, which warrants further investigation.
Vectors of Dutch Elm Disease in Northern Europe
Authors: Jürisoo Liina , Süda Ilmar , Agan Ahto , Drenkhan Rein
Published: April 2021

Potential Dutch elm disease vector beetle species were caught with pheromone bottle traps and handpicked in 2019: in total, seven species and 261 specimens were collected. The most common was Scolytus triarmatus, but by percent, the incidence of Ophiostoma novo-ulmi was highest in Scolytus scolytus, followed by Xyleborinus saxesenii and S. triarmatus. We analysed the beetles’ DNA using PacBio sequencing to determine vector beetles of Ophiostoma novo-ulmi. Ophiostoma novo-ulmi was found on six out of seven analysed beetle species: Scolytus scolytus, S. triarmatus, S. multistriatus, S. laevis, Xyleborinus saxesenii and Xyleborus dispar. The last two beetles were detected as vectors for Ophiostoma novo-ulmi for the first time. Previous knowledge on the spread of beetles is discussed.
Establishment of a Faba Bean Banker Plant System with Predator Orius strigicollis for the Control of Thrips Dendrothrips minowai on Tea Plants under Laboratory Conditions
Authors: Zhang Chang-Rong , Liu Mei , Ban Fei-Xue , Shang Xiao-Li , Liu Shao-Lan , Mao Ting-Ting , Zhang Xing-Yuan , Zhi Jun-Rui
Published: April 2021

The stick tea thrip Dendrothrips minowai (Priesner) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a destructive pest in tea plantations in south and southwest China. To control this pest, a non-crop banker plant system was developed using a polyphagous predator Orius strigicollis (Poppius) (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae) with the black bean aphid Aphis fabae (Scopoli) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) as an alternative prey and the faba bean Vicia faba as the banker plant to support the predator in targeting the pest. The fitness of A. fabae on tea plants and faba bean was evaluated to determine its host specificity. Moreover, the control efficacy of the banker plant system on D. minowai on tea plants was tested in the laboratory and compared with that of direct release of O. strigicollis. The experiments showed that faba bean was an excellent non-crop host for A. fabae because, while the aphid population increased quickly on faba bean, it could only survive for up to 9 days on tea plants. Compared with direct release of O. strigicollis, lower densities of pest were observed when introducing the banker plant system. Our results indicate that this banker plant system has the potential to be implemented in the field to improve the control of the pest thrips.
Nucleoside Analogue Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors Improve Clinical Outcome in Transcriptional Active Human Parvovirus B19-Positive Patients
Authors: Schultheiss Heinz-Peter , Bock Thomas , Pietsch Heiko , Aleshcheva Ganna , Baumeier Christian , Fruhwald Friedrich , Escher Felicitas
Published: April 2021

Human parvovirus B19 (B19V) is the predominant cardiotropic virus associated with dilated inflammatory cardiomyopathy (DCMi). Transcriptionally active cardiotropic B19V infection is clinically relevant and triggers adverse long-term mortality. During the study; we evaluated whether antiviral treatment with the nucleoside analogue telbivudine (LTD) is effective in suppressing transcriptional active B19V in endomyocardial biopsies (EMBs) of B19V positive patients and improving clinical outcomes. Seventeen B19V-positive patients (13 male; mean age 45.7 ± 13.9 years; mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) 37.7 ± 13.5%) with positive B19V DNA and transcriptional activity (B19V mRNA) in EMBs were treated with 600 mg/d LTD over a period of six months. Patients underwent EMBs before and after termination of the LTD treatment. B19V RNA copy numbers remained unchanged in 3/17 patients (non-responder) and declined or disappeared completely in the remaining 14/17 patients (responder) (p ≤ 0.0001). Notably; LVEF improvement was more significant in patients who reduced or lost B19V RNA (responder; p = 0.02) in contrast to non-responders (p = 0.7). In parallel; responder patients displayed statistically significant improvement in quality of life (QoL) questionnaires (p = 0.03) and dyspnea on exertion (p = 0.0006), reflecting an improvement in New York Heart Association (NYHA) Classification (p = 0.001). Our findings demonstrated for the first time that suppression of B19V transcriptional activity by LTD treatment improved hemodynamic and clinical outcome significantly. Thus; the present study substantiates the clinical relevance of detecting B19V transcriptional activity of the myocardium.
Rheological Behavior of a New Mucoadhesive Oral Formulation Based on Sodium Chondroitin Sulfate, Xyloglucan and Glycerol
Authors: Pecora Tiziana Maria Grazia , Ragazzo Barbara , Bertin Walter , Ragonese Alessia , Mascagni Marco , Maffei Paola , Pignatello Rosario
Published: April 2021

Background: The study aimed at assessing the mucoadhesive properties and the barrier effect of a formulation, labelled as AL2106, containing sodium chondroitin sulfate (ChS), xyloglucan from tamarind seed extract, and glycerol, by evaluating the capacity to adhere to a layer of mucin, the rheological synergism and the barrier effect in comparison to the marketed Esoxx One medical device. AL2106 is a medical device distributed by Alfasigma SpA, Italy with REF FTP57 (Manufacturer: Labomar SpA); it is analogous to Esoxx One medical device: the two products are drinkable solutions that, after swallowing, adhere to the esophageal mucosa, protecting it from the corrosive effect of the gastric acid reflux. AL2106 has been conceived to be better performing in terms of duration of the barrier effect compared to Esoxx One. Methods: The mucoadhesive properties, rheological behavior, buffering capacity against acidity, and film-forming ability with the resultant protecting effect on esophagus mucosa (caffeine permeation test) was compared between the two products. Results: The mucoadhesivity of the formulations was shown in vitro: both remained adherent to a mucin layer, also when the support was rotated by 90°, and when the film layer was washed with water, intended to simulate the washout due to swallowing. AL2106 showed a good buffering efficacy, being able to absorb at least 50% of its weight of 0.03 M HCl while maintaining the pH above 4. The film-forming effect and barrier properties of AL2106 and Esoxx One were confirmed by an in vitro study on reconstructed human esophageal epithelium. A greater film-forming efficacy of AL2106, lasting for at least 5 h, than Esoxx One was observed. Noteworthy, the barrier function of esophageal tissues was shown to be preserved after the application of both formulations. Conclusions: The combination of ChS with the mucoadhesive glycerol−xyloglucan complex and other excipients, which contribute to the barrier effect and to mucoadhesion, contained in AL2106, allowed a longer-lasting protective effect than Esoxx One, proving its effectivity and safety for oral use.
GMDSS Equipment Usage: Seafarers’ Experience
Authors: Valčić Sanjin , Škrobonja Antonio , Maglić Lovro , Sviličić Boris
Published: April 2021

Maritime non-commercial communications are performed using the equipment of Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). This equipment includes numerous devices of different technologies, features and user interfaces, which every officer of the watch (OOW) must know how to use. Besides, the equipment, i.e., its technology has not changed significantly in the last 30 years. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to collect and analyze information on how often GMDSS devices are used and whether any modernization is needed. The main research method was a questionnaire survey intended for experienced officers. Each question, as well as the answers of the respondents, were analyzed in detail and presented graphically. The results of the survey analysis indicate that the VHF (Very High Frequency) radiotelephone, Navigational Telex (NAVTEX) receiver, and Enhanced Group Call (EGC) receiver are still very used, while Digital Selective Calling (DSC) devices and MF/HF (Medium Frequency/High Frequency) radios (telephone and telex) are almost unused onboard. Additionally, more than 80% of respondents believe that GMDSS needs modernization.
Exhaust Gas Emission Improvements of Water/Bunker C Oil-Emulsified Fuel Applied to Marine Boiler
Authors: Lee Tae-Ho , Lee Sang-Hyun , Lee Jee-Keun
Published: April 2021

In this study, emulsified fuels were prepared and produced by blending 0%, 5%, 15%, and 25% water with Bunker C oil to reduce the amount of air pollution emitted by ships and replace oil resources, and they were applied to an actual marine boiler to analyze the exhaust gas. The fuel effects on the improvement in exhaust gas emissions were as follows: The oxygen (O2) concentration increased by up to 4.2%, and that of carbon dioxide decreased by approximately 2.1%. Under the standard O2 concentration of 4%, the concentration of nitrogen oxides decreased by up to 31.41%, and that of sulfur oxides decreased by up to 37.47%. However, the exhaust gas temperature decreased by approximately 14.3%, and the combustion efficiency decreased by approximately 2.6%. Comparing the emission improvements, the combustion performance of the emulsified fuels was close to that of the conventional Bunker C fuel. These results indicate that the application of water-emulsified fuels to a marine boiler can reduce the amounts of certain air pollutants.
Multi-Objective Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of a Robotic Fish System
Authors: Chen Hao , Li Weikun , Cui Weicheng , Yang Ping , Chen Linke
Published: April 2021

Biomimetic robotic fish systems have attracted huge attention due to the advantages of flexibility and adaptability. They are typically complex systems that involve many disciplines. The design of robotic fish is a multi-objective multidisciplinary design optimization problem. However, the research on the design optimization of robotic fish is rare. In this paper, by combining an efficient multidisciplinary design optimization approach and a novel multi-objective optimization algorithm, a multi-objective multidisciplinary design optimization (MMDO) strategy named IDF-DMOEOA is proposed for the conceptual design of a three-joint robotic fish system. In the proposed IDF-DMOEOA strategy, the individual discipline feasible (IDF) approach is adopted. A novel multi-objective optimization algorithm, disruption-based multi-objective equilibrium optimization algorithm (DMOEOA), is utilized as the optimizer. The proposed MMDO strategy is first applied to the design optimization of the robotic fish system, and the robotic fish system is decomposed into four disciplines: hydrodynamics, propulsion, weight and equilibrium, and energy. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method is employed to predict the robotic fish’s hydrodynamics characteristics, and the backpropagation neural network is adopted as the surrogate model to reduce the CFD method’s computational expense. The optimization results indicate that the optimized robotic fish shows better performance than the initial design, proving the proposed IDF-DMOEOA strategy’s effectiveness.
Elevated Sporulation Efficiency in Fission Yeast Schizosaccharomyces japonicus Strains Isolated from Drosophila
Authors: Seike Taisuke , Sakata Natsue , Matsuda Fumio , Furusawa Chikara
Published: April 2021

The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces japonicus, comprising S. japonicus var. japonicus and S. japonicus var. versatilis varieties, has unique characteristics such as striking hyphal growth not seen in other Schizosaccharomyces species; however, information on its diversity and evolution, in particular mating and sporulation, remains limited. Here we compared the growth and mating phenotypes of 17 wild strains of S. japonicus, including eight S. japonicus var. japonicus strains newly isolated from an insect (Drosophila). Unlike existing wild strains isolated from fruits/plants, the strains isolated from Drosophila sporulated at high frequency even under nitrogen-abundant conditions. In addition, one of the strains from Drosophila was stained by iodine vapor, although the type strain of S. japonicus var. japonicus is not stained. Sequence analysis further showed that the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of pheromone-related genes have diversified among the eight strains from Drosophila, suggesting crossing between S. japonicus cells of different genetic backgrounds occurs frequently in this insect. Much of yeast ecology remains unclear, but our findings suggest that insects such as Drosophila might be a good niche for mating and sporulation, and will provide a basis for the understanding of sporulation mechanisms via signal transduction, as well as the ecology and evolution of yeast.
Basic and Preclinical Research for Personalized Medicine
Authors: Lattanzi Wanda , Ripoli Cristian , Greco Viviana , Barba Marta , Iavarone Federica , Minucci Angelo , Urbani Andrea , Grassi Claudio , Parolini Ornella
Published: April 2021

Basic and preclinical research founded the progress of personalized medicine by providing a prodigious amount of integrated profiling data and by enabling the development of biomedical applications to be implemented in patient-centered care and cures. If the rapid development of genomics research boosted the birth of personalized medicine, further development in omics technologies has more recently improved our understanding of the functional genome and its relevance in profiling patients’ phenotypes and disorders. Concurrently, the rapid biotechnological advancement in diverse research areas enabled uncovering disease mechanisms and prompted the design of innovative biological treatments tailored to individual patient genotypes and phenotypes. Research in stem cells enabled clarifying their role in tissue degeneration and disease pathogenesis while providing novel tools toward the development of personalized regenerative medicine strategies. Meanwhile, the evolving field of integrated omics technologies ensured translating structural genomics information into actionable knowledge to trace detailed patients’ molecular signatures. Finally, neuroscience research provided invaluable models to identify preclinical stages of brain diseases. This review aims at discussing relevant milestones in the scientific progress of basic and preclinical research areas that have considerably contributed to the personalized medicine revolution by bridging the bench-to-bed gap, focusing on stem cells, omics technologies, and neuroscience fields as paradigms.
International Capital Flows and Speculation
Authors: Hayward Rob , Gregoriou Andros
Published: April 2021

In response to questions about the relative importance of different types of capital flow for international competitiveness, we develop a structural vector auto-regressive model of the real exchange rate and international capital flows. We reveal that innovations to speculative sentiment cause changes in competitiveness. We report that speculation replaces the effect of equity, bond and most of the interest rate effect. The results show that international speculative sentiment is an important contributor to exchange rate and that monetary and regulatory authorities should find ways of measuring and understanding banking and financial flows.
An Electrochemical Approach to Follow and Evaluate the Kinetic Catalysis of Ricin on hsDNA
Authors: Oliveira George , Schneedorf José Maurício
Published: April 2021

International authorities classify the ricin toxin, present in castor seeds, as a potential agent for use in bioterrorism. Therefore, the detection, identification, and characterization of ricin are considered the first actions for its risk assessment during a suspected exposure, parallel to the development of therapeutic and medical countermeasures. In this study, we report the kinetic analysis of electro-oxidation of adenine released from hsDNA by the catalytic action of ricin by square wave voltammetry. The results suggest that ricin-mediated adenine release exhibited an unusual kinetic profile, with a progress curve controlled by the accumulation of the product and the values of the kinetic constants of 46.6 µM for Km and 2000 min−1 for kcat, leading to a catalytic efficiency of 7.1 × 105 s−1 M−1.
Synthesis of Multilayered DLC Films with Wear Resistance and Antiseizure Properties
Authors: Li Yucheng , Enomoto Jun , Hirata Yuki , Akasaka Hiroki , Ohtake Naoto
Published: April 2021

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films have attracted considerable interest for application as protective films in diverse industrial parts. This is attributed to their desirable characteristics, such as high hardness, low coefficient of friction, gas-barrier properties, and corrosion resistance. Antiseizure properties, in addition to wear resistance, are required during the die molding of polymer and polymer-matrix composite parts. Graphite films can be easily peeled because the vertically stacked graphene sheets are bonded via weak van der Waals forces. The present study demonstrates the fabrication of multilayered DLC/Cu films, where the Cu film functions as a catalyst for the formation of a graphite-like layer between the DLC and Cu films. The DLC/Cu film was synthesized on a Si (100) substrate via plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and magnetron sputtering. The peelability, wear resistance, microstructure, texture, and cross-section of the film were experimentally analyzed. The results indicated a variation in the peelability with the deposition conditions of the Cu film that comprised particles with diameters of several nanometers. The DLC film at the interface in contact with the Cu film was transformed into a graphite-like state i.e., graphitized. The surface of the multilayered film exhibited antiseizure properties with the peeling of the upper DLC film. The multilayered film also exhibited wear resistance owing to the repeated appearances of a new DLC film. It is expected that the wear-resistant films with antiseizure properties demonstrated in the present study will be utilized in various industrial sectors.