bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Rutaecarpine Ameliorates Ethanol-Induced Gastric Mucosal Injury in Mice by Modulating Genes Related to Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis
Authors: Ren Sichen , Wei Ying , Wang Ruilin , Wei Shizhang , Wen Jianxia , Yang Tao , Chen Xing , Wu Shihua , Jing Manyi , Li Haotian , Wang Min , Zhao Yanling
Published: November 2020

Background: Rutaecarpine (RUT), a major quinazolino carboline alkaloid compound from the dry unripe fruit Tetradium ruticarpum (A. Juss.) T. G. Hartley, has various pharmacological effects. The aim of this present study was to investigate the potential gastroprotective effect of rutaecarpine on ethanol-induced acute gastric mucosal injury in mice and associated molecular mechanisms, such as activating Nrf2 and Bcl-2 via PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and inhibiting NF-κB.

Methods: Gastric ulcer index and histopathology was carried out to determine the efficacy of RUT in gastric ulceration, and the content of SOD, GSH in serum and CAT, MDA, MPO, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β in tissue were measured by kits. Besides, in order to illustrate the potential inflammatory, oxidative, and apoptotic perturbations, the mRNA levels of NF-κB p65, PI3K, AKT, Nrf2, Nqo1, HO-1, Bcl-2 and Bax were analyzed. In addition, the protein expression of NF-κB p65 and Nrf2 in cytoplasm and nucleus, AKT, p-AKT, Bcl-2 Bax and Caspase 3 were analyzed for further verification. Finally, immunofluorescence analysis was performed to further verify nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65.

Results: Current data strongly demonstrated that RUT alleviated the gross gastric damage, ulcer index and the histopathology damage caused by ethanol. RUT inhibited the expression and nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65 and the expression of its downstream signals, such as TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β and MPO. Immunofluorescence analysis also verifies the result. In the context of oxidative stress, RUT improved the antioxidant milieu by remarkably upregulating the expression Nqo1 and HO-1 with activating Nrf2, and could remarkably upregulate antioxidant SOD, GSH, CAT and downregulate levels of MDA. Additionally, RUT activate the expression of Bcl-2 and inhibited the expression of downstream signals Bax and Caspase 3 to promote gastric cellular survival. These were confirmed by RUT activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway manifested by enhanced expression of PI3K and promotion of AKT phosphorylation.

Conclusion: Taken together, these results strongly demonstrated that RUT exerted a gastroprotective effect against gastric mucosal injury induced by ethanol. The underlying mechanism might be associated with the improvement of anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation and anti-apoptosis system.
Largely Accelerated Arterial Aging in Rheumatoid Arthritis Is Associated With Inflammatory Activity and Smoking in the Early Stage of the Disease
Authors: Mong Nikolett , Tarjanyi Zoltan , Tothfalusi Laszlo , Bartykowszki Andrea , Nagy Aniko Ilona , Szekely Anett , Becker David , Maurovich-Horvat Pal , Merkely Bela , Nagy Gyorgy
Published: November 2020

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have a shorter life expectancy than the general population primarily due to cardiovascular comorbidities.

Objectives: To characterize arterial aging in RA.

Patients and Methods: Coronary calcium score (CCS) were available from 112 RA patients; out of these patients, follow-up CCS were measured for 54 randomly selected individuals. Control CCS were obtained from the MESA database (includes 6,000 < participants); arterial age was calculated from CCS.

Results: RA patients were significantly older (10.45 ± 18.45 years, p < 0.001) in terms of the arterial age than the age-, gender-, and race-matched controls. The proportion of RA patients who had zero CCS was significantly less (p < 0.01) than that of those in the MESA reference group. Each disease year contributed an extra 0.395 years (p < 0.01) on the top of the normal aging process. However, the rate of the accelerated aging is not uniform, in the first years of the disease it is apparently faster. Smoking (p < 0.05), previous cardiovascular events (p < 0.05), and high blood pressure (p < 0.05) had additional significant effect on the aging process. In the follow-up study, inflammatory disease activity (CRP > 5 mg/L, p < 0.05) especially in smokers and shorter than 10 years of disease duration (p = 0.05) had the largest impact.

Conclusion: Arterial aging is faster in RA patients than in control subjects, particularly in the first 10 years of the disease. Inflammation, previous cardiovascular events, and smoking are additional contributing factors to the intensified coronary atherosclerosis progression. These data support that optimal control of inflammation is essential to attenuate the cardiovascular risk in RA.
Recent Advances in the Calculation of Dynamical Correlation Functions
Authors: Florencio J. , de Alcantara Bonfim O. F.
Published: November 2020

We review various theoretical methods that have been used in recent years to calculate dynamical correlation functions of many-body systems. Time-dependent correlation functions and their associated frequency spectral densities are the quantities of interest, for they play a central role in both the theoretical and experimental understanding of dynamic properties. In particular, dynamic correlation functions appear in the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, where the response of a many-body system to an external perturbation is given in terms of the relaxation function of the unperturbed system, provided the disturbance is small. The calculation of the relaxation function is rather difficult in most cases of interest, except for a few examples where exact analytic expressions are allowed. For most of systems of interest approximation schemes must be used. The method of recurrence relation has, at its foundation, the solution of Heisenberg equation of motion of an operator in a many-body interacting system. Insights have been gained from theorems that were discovered with that method. For instance, the absence of pure exponential behavior for the relaxation functions of any Hamiltonian system. The method of recurrence relations was used in quantum systems such as dense electron gas, transverse Ising model, Heisenberg model, XY model, Heisenberg model with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, as well as classical harmonic oscillator chains. Effects of disorder were considered in some of those systems. In the cases where analytical solutions were not feasible, approximation schemes were used, but are highly model-dependent. Another important approach is the numericallly exact diagonalizaton method. It is used in finite-sized systems, which sometimes provides very reliable information of the dynamics at the infinite-size limit. In this work, we discuss the most relevant applications of the method of recurrence relations and numerical calculations based on exact diagonalizations. The method of recurrence relations relies on the solution to the coefficients of a continued fraction for the Laplace transformed relaxation function. The calculation of those coefficients becomes very involved and, only a few cases offer exact solution. We shall concentrate our efforts on the cases where extrapolation schemes must be used to obtain solutions for long times (or low frequency) regimes. We also cover numerical work based on the exact diagonalization of finite sized systems. The numerical work provides some thermodynamically exact results and identifies some difficulties intrinsic to the method of recurrence relations.
Network Physiology of Cortico–Muscular Interactions
Authors: Rizzo Rossella , Zhang Xiyun , Wang Jilin W. J. L. , Lombardi Fabrizio , Ivanov Plamen Ch.
Published: November 2020

Skeletal muscle activity is continuously modulated across physiologic states to provide coordination, flexibility and responsiveness to body tasks and external inputs. Despite the central role the muscular system plays in facilitating vital body functions, the network of brain-muscle interactions required to control hundreds of muscles and synchronize their activation in relation to distinct physiologic states has not been investigated. Recent approaches have focused on general associations between individual brain rhythms and muscle activation during movement tasks. However, the specific forms of coupling, the functional network of cortico-muscular coordination, and how network structure and dynamics are modulated by autonomic regulation across physiologic states remains unknown. To identify and quantify the cortico-muscular interaction network and uncover basic features of neuro-autonomic control of muscle function, we investigate the coupling between synchronous bursts in cortical rhythms and peripheral muscle activation during sleep and wake. Utilizing the concept of time delay stability and a novel network physiology approach, we find that the brain-muscle network exhibits complex dynamic patterns of communication involving multiple brain rhythms across cortical locations and different electromyographic frequency bands. Moreover, our results show that during each physiologic state the cortico-muscular network is characterized by a specific profile of network links strength, where particular brain rhythms play role of main mediators of interaction and control. Further, we discover a hierarchical reorganization in network structure across physiologic states, with high connectivity and network link strength during wake, intermediate during REM and light sleep, and low during deep sleep, a sleep-stage stratification that demonstrates a unique association between physiologic states and cortico-muscular network structure. The reported empirical observations are consistent across individual subjects, indicating universal behavior in network structure and dynamics, and high sensitivity of cortico-muscular control to changes in autonomic regulation, even at low levels of physical activity and muscle tone during sleep. Our findings demonstrate previously unrecognized basic principles of brain-muscle network communication and control, and provide new perspectives on the regulatory mechanisms of brain dynamics and locomotor activation, with potential clinical implications for neurodegenerative, movement and sleep disorders, and for developing efficient treatment strategies.
Comparison of Unipolar and Bipolar Voltage Mapping for Localization of Left Atrial Arrhythmogenic Substrate in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Nairn Deborah , Lehrmann Heiko , Müller-Edenborn Björn , Schuler Steffen , Arentz Thomas , Dössel Olaf , Jadidi Amir , Loewe Axel
Published: November 2020

Background: Presence of left atrial low voltage substrate in bipolar voltage mapping is associated with increased arrhythmia recurrences following pulmonary vein isolation for atrial fibrillation (AF). Besides local myocardial fibrosis, bipolar voltage amplitudes may be influenced by inter-electrode spacing and bipole-to-wavefront-angle. It is unclear to what extent these impact low voltage areas (LVA) in the clinical setting. Alternatively, unipolar electrogram voltage is not affected by these factors but requires advanced filtering.

Objectives: To assess the relationship between bipolar and unipolar voltage mapping in sinus rhythm (SR) and AF and identify if the electrogram recording mode affects the quantification and localization of LVA.

Methods: Patients (n = 28, 66±7 years, 46% male, 82% persistent AF, 32% redo-procedures) underwent high-density (>1,200 sites, 20 ± 10 sites/cm2, using a 20-pole 2-6-2 mm-spaced Lasso) voltage mapping in SR and AF. Bipolar LVA were defined using four different thresholds described in literature: <0.5 and <1 mV in SR, <0.35 and <0.5 mV in AF. The optimal unipolar voltage threshold resulting in the highest agreement in both unipolar and bipolar mapping modes was determined. The impact of the inter-electrode distance (2 vs. 6 mm) on the correlation was assessed. Regional analysis was performed using an 11-segment left atrial model.

Results: Patients had relevant bipolar LVA (23 ± 23 cm2 at <0.5 mV in SR and 42 ± 26 cm2 at <0.5 mV in AF). 90 ± 5% (in SR) and 85 ± 5% (AF) of mapped sites were concordantly classified as high or low voltage in both mapping modes. Discordant mapping sites located to the border zone of LVA. Bipolar voltage mapping using 2 vs. 6 mm inter-electrode distances increased the portion of matched mapping points by 4%. The unipolar thresholds (y) which resulted in a high spatial concordance can be calculated from the bipolar threshold (x) using following linear equations: y = 1.06x + 0.26mV (r = 0.994) for SR and y = 1.22x + 0.12mV (r = 0.998) for AF.

Conclusion: Bipolar and unipolar voltage maps are highly correlated, in SR and AF. While bipole orientation and inter-electrode spacing are theoretical confounders, their impact is unlikely to be of clinical importance for localization of LVA, when mapping is performed at high density with a 20-polar Lasso catheter.
Five-Factor Personality Inventories Have a Competence-Related Higher-Order Factor Due to Item Phrasing
Authors: Bäckström Martin , Björklund Fredrik , Persson Rebecka , Costa Ariela
Published: November 2020

This research examines whether the items of some of the most well-established five-factor inventories refer to competence. Results reveal that both experts and laymen can distinguish between items that refer to how competently a behavior is performed and items that do not (Study 1). Responses to items that refer to competence create a higher-order factor in the personality inventories (Study 2), and the variability in responses to competence-related items in personality self-ratings is best modeled as a general factor rather than as also tied to the specific Big Five factors (Studies 3 and 4). We suggest that a focused debate on what personality items should refer to is likely to have considerable positive consequences for both theory and measurement of personality.
Maintained Visual-, Auditory-, and Multisensory-Guided Associative Learning Functions in Children With Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder
Authors: Pertich Ákos , Eördegh Gabriella , Németh Laura , Hegedüs Orsolya , Öri Dorottya , Puszta András , Nagy Péter , Kéri Szabolcs , Nagy Attila
Published: November 2020

Sensory-guided acquired equivalence learning, a specific kind of non-verbal associative learning, is associated with the frontal cortex–basal ganglia loops and hippocampi, which seem to be involved in the pathogenesis of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). In this study, we asked whether visual-, auditory-, and multisensory-guided associative acquired equivalence learning is affected in children with OCD. The first part of the applied learning paradigm investigated association building between two different sensory stimuli (where feedback was given about the correctness of the choices), a task that critically depends upon the basal ganglia. During the test phases, which primarily depended upon the hippocampi, the earlier learned and hitherto not shown but predictable associations were asked about without feedback. This study involved 31 children diagnosed with OCD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-V) criteria and 31 matched healthy control participants. The children suffering from OCD had the same performance as the control children in all phases of the applied visual-, auditory-, and multisensory-guided associative learning paradigms. Thus, both the acquisition and test phases were not negatively affected by OCD. The reaction times did not differ between the two groups, and the applied medication had no effect on the performances of the OCD patients. Our results support the findings that the structural changes of basal ganglia and hippocampi detected in adult OCD patients are not as pronounced in children, which could be the explanation of the maintained associative equivalence learning functions in children suffering from OCD.
Association Between Trait Empathy and Resting Brain Activity in Women With Primary Dysmenorrhea During the Pain and Pain-Free Phases
Authors: Dun Wanghuan , Fan Tongtong , Wang Qiming , Wang Ke , Yang Jing , Li Hui , Liu Jixin , Liu Hongjuan
Published: November 2020

Empathy refers to the ability to understand someone else's emotions and fluctuates with the current state in healthy individuals. However, little is known about the neural network of empathy in clinical populations at different pain states. The current study aimed to examine the effects of long-term pain on empathy-related networks and whether empathy varied at different pain states by studying primary dysmenorrhea (PDM) patients. Multivariate partial least squares was employed in 46 PDM women and 46 healthy controls (HC) during periovulatory, luteal, and menstruation phases. We identified neural networks associated with different aspects of empathy in both groups. Part of the obtained empathy-related network in PDM exhibited a similar activity compared with HC, including the right anterior insula and other regions, whereas others have an opposite activity in PDM, including the inferior frontal gyrus and right inferior parietal lobule. These results indicated an abnormal regulation to empathy in PDM. Furthermore, there was no difference in empathy association patterns in PDM between the pain and pain-free states. This study suggested that long-term pain experience may lead to an abnormal function of the brain network for empathy processing that did not vary with the pain or pain-free state across the menstrual cycle.
Analysis of a Blended, In-Service, Continuing Education Course in a Public Health System: Lessons for Education Providers and Healthcare Managers
Authors: Manzini Fernanda , Diehl Eliana Elisabeth , Farias Mareni Rocha , dos Santos Rosana Isabel , Soares Luciano , Rech Norberto , Lorenzoni Andrigo Antonio , Leite Silvana Nair
Published: November 2020

Introduction:To train pharmacists working in the public health system, the Brazilian Ministry of Health developed a specialization course called Pharmaceutical Service and Access to Medicine Management (PSAMM) between 2010 and 2016. The course was free of charge and used e-learning as its main approach. In the end, 2,500 pharmacists were trained. The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of an in-service and e-learning course for pharmacists working in a public health system.

Materials and Methods:Three workshops involving 67 participants were conducted at the conclusion of the course to analyze the perspective of the PSAMM course's faculty (tutors, regional coordinators, professors, and management committee) and students (pharmacists). Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis and qualitative analysis methods were used.

Results and Discussion:The strength dimension had the greatest number of items. The qualitative analysis resulted in six categories: the category “E-learning in continuing education” had the most cited items. Internal elements such as in-service hands-on activities directly related to the professionals' roles, course contents, faculty, and the methods to offer the course (the mixed methods and materials) were positively assessed. Nonetheless, external elements were considered critical for the course's outcomes such as investments in the infrastructure of pharmaceutical services, access to the internet, local managers' support for continuing education and innovation implementation, practice of interprofessional collaboration, and political stability. The continuing education course in the public health system was affected by internal elements such as its project and structure as well as external elements such as the sociopolitical scenario. Continuing education investment must be accompanied by infrastructure investment and coordination of services.
The Effects of Air Pollution on COVID-19 Infection and Mortality—A Review on Recent Evidence
Authors: Ali Nurshad , Islam Farjana
Published: November 2020

The outbreak of COVID-19 has created a serious public health concern worldwide. Although, most of the regions around the globe have been affected by COVID-19 infections; some regions are more badly affected in terms of infections and fatality rates than others. The exact reasons for such variations are not clear yet. This review discussed the possible effects of air pollution on COVID-19 infections and mortality based on some recent evidence. The findings of most studies reviewed here demonstrate that both short-term and long-term exposure to air pollution especially PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) may contribute significantly to higher rates of COVID-19 infections and mortalities with a lesser extent also PM10. A significant correlation has been found between air pollution and COVID-19 infections and mortality in some countries in the world. The available data also indicate that exposure to air pollution may influence COVID-19 transmission. Moreover, exposure to air pollution may increase vulnerability and have harmful effects on the prognosis of patients affected by COVID-19 infections. Further research should be conducted considering some potential confounders such as age and pre-existing medical conditions along with exposure to NO2, PM2.5 and other air pollutants to confirm their detrimental effects on mortalities from COVID-19.
Radiation Mapping and Laser Profiling Using a Robotic Manipulator
Authors: White Samuel R. , Megson-Smith David A. , Zhang Kaiqiang , Connor Dean T. , Martin Peter G. , Hutson Chris , Herrmann Guido , Dilworth John , Scott Thomas B.
Published: November 2020

The use of a robotic arm manipulator as a platform for coincident radiation mapping and laser profiling of radioactive sources on a flat surface is investigated in this work. A combined scanning head, integrating a micro-gamma spectrometer and Time of Flight (ToF) sensor were moved in a raster scan pattern across the surface, autonomously undertaken by the robot arm over a 600 × 260 mm survey area. A series of radioactive sources of different emission intensities were scanned in different configurations to test the accuracy and sensitivity of the system. We demonstrate that in each test configuration the system was able to generate a centimeter accurate 3D model complete with an overlaid radiation map detailing the emitted radiation intensity and the corrected surface dose rate.
Interventions Aiming to Promote Active Commuting in Children and Adolescents: An Evaluation From a Sex/Gender Perspective
Authors: Marzi Isabel , Emmerling Sandra , Demetriou Yolanda , Bucksch Jens , Schulze Carolin , Brindley Catherina , Reimers Anne Kerstin
Published: November 2020

Active commuting (AC) provides numerous health benefits and is one way to improve physical activity in children and adolescents. Boys are more likely to use active transport modes than girls. Girls and boys benefit differently from interventions that promote AC. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the effects of interventions on girls and boys and to appraise the extent to which previous studies have taken sex/gender into account. Eleven electronic databases were searched to identify all relevant randomized and non-randomized controlled trials based on a priori defined eligibility criteria. Two independent reviewers screened the literature for eligibility and assessed risk of bias. Semiquantitative analyses were conducted to evaluate the effects of intervention effects by taking sex/gender aspects into account. To evaluate sex/gender considerations in interventional studies, a recently developed sex/gender checklist was applied. Twelve studies were included that examined intervention effects on AC in girls and boys. Three intervention studies showed significant effects in increasing AC, with one study favoring girls, one favoring boys, and another focusing on a single sex/gender (only girls). According to the checklist, the overall sex/gender rating highlighted a lack of information in sex/gender consideration. Studies with and without significant effects indicated no differences in the sex/gender checklist. The results indicate that sex/gender is not considered adequately in primary interventional research on AC. To evaluate the effectiveness of intervention in boys and girls, detailed analyses of sex/gender are required, and better reporting about sex/gender-specific intervention content is necessary. In future health research to promote AC, sex/gender should be systematically taken into account.
Evaluating the Untapped Potential of U.S. Conservation Investments to Improve Soil and Environmental Health
Authors: Basche Andrea , Tully Katherine , Álvarez-Berríos Nora L. , Reyes Julian , Lengnick Laura , Brown Tabitha , Moore Jennifer M. , Schattman Rachel E. , Johnson Lana Koepke , Roesch-McNally Gabrielle
Published: November 2020

There is increasing enthusiasm around the concept of soil health, and as a result, new public and private initiatives are being developed to increase soil health-related practices on working lands in the United States. In addition, billions of U.S. public dollars are dedicated annually toward soil conservation programs, and yet, it is not well quantified how investment in conservation programs improve soil health and, more broadly, environmental health. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is one of the major U.S. public conservation programs administered on privately managed lands for which public data are available. In this research, we developed a multi-dimensional classification system to evaluate over 300 EQIP practices to identify to what extent practices have the potential to improve different aspects of soil and environmental health. Using available descriptions and expert opinion, these practices were evaluated with a classification system based on the practice's potential to exhibit the following environmental health outcomes: (i) principles of soil health to reduce soil disturbance and increase agrobiodiversity; (ii) a transition to ecologically-based management to conserve soil, water, energy and biological resources; and (iii) adaptive strategy to confer agroecosystem resilience. Further, we analyzed nearly $7 billion U.S. dollars of financial assistance dedicated to these practices from 2009 through 2018 to explore the potential of these investments to generate environmental health outcomes. We identified nine practices that fit the highest level of potential environmental health outcomes in our classification systems. These included wetlands and agroforestry related practices, demonstrating that ecologically complex practices can provide the broadest benefits to environmental health. Practices with the greatest potential to improve environmental health in our classification system represent 2–27% of annual EQIP funding between 2009 and 2018. In fiscal year 2018, these practices represented between $13 and 121 million, which represented ~0.08% of total annual USDA expenditures. These classifications and the subsequent funding analysis provide evidence that there is tremendous untapped potential for conservation programs to confer greater environmental health in U.S. agriculture. This analysis provides a new framework for assessing conservation investments as a driver for transformative agricultural change.
Novel Anaplasma Variants in Small Ruminants From Central China
Authors: Zhang Yan , Cui Yanyan , Sun Yanting , Jing Huiyuan , Ning Changshen
Published: November 2020

Anaplasma capra is an emerging zoonotic pathogen that pose a risk to the health of human and veterinary animal. Numerous variants in a variety of domestic and wild animals had been reported since its discovery and confirmation in humans in 2015 and its first detection from goat blood during 2012–2013. In order to find out more A. capra variants data of A. capra in central China, 16S rRNA, gltA, groEL, and msp4 genes of this pathogen were amplified from sheep and goat samples collected during 2011–2015 and phylogenetic analysis of these sequences were conducted. The results of 16S rRNA and gltA manifested that partial sequences obtained in this study were 100% identical with A. capra isolates, while phylogenetic analysis results of groEL and msp4 showed that the obtained sequences were independent with all other Anaplasmas, formed separate branches on the evolutionary trees. What needed to be emphasized was that the 16S rRNA and gltA gene sequences of X51 (KX505302 and KX450269), a sample from Shandong in 2011, were found to be 100% identical with A. capra. Therefore, we could speculate that the occurrence of A. capra may be earlier than its first discovery and report. And the A. capra isolates in central China were novel variants which were different from known genotypes.
Genome-Wide Association Studies for the Concentration of Albumin in Colostrum and Serum in Chinese Holstein
Authors: Lin Shan , Wan Zihui , Zhang Junnan , Xu Lingna , Han Bo , Sun Dongxiao
Published: November 2020

Albumin can be of particular benefit in fighting infections for newborn calves due to its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative stress properties. To identify the candidate genes related to the concentration of albumin in colostrum and serum, we collected the colostrum and blood samples from 572 Chinese Holstein cows within 24 h after calving and measured the concentration of albumin in the colostrum and serum using the ELISA methods. The cows were genotyped with GeneSeek 150 K chips (containing 140,668 single nucleotide polymorphisms; SNPs). After quality control, we performed GWASs via GCTA software with 91,620 SNPs and 563 cows. Consequently, 9 and 7 genome-wide significant SNPs (false discovery rate (FDR) at 1%) were identified. Correspondingly, 42 and 206 functional genes that contained or were approximate to (±1 Mbp) the significant SNPs were acquired. Integrating the biological process of these genes and the reported QTLs for immune and inflammation traits in cattle, 3 and 12 genes were identified as candidates for the concentration of colostrum and serum albumin, respectively; these are RUNX1, CBR1, OTULIN,CDK6, SHARPIN, CYC1, EXOSC4, PARP10, NRBP2, GFUS, PYCR3, EEF1D, GSDMD, PYCR2 and CXCL12. Our findings provide important information for revealing the genetic mechanism behind albumin concentration and for molecular breeding of disease-resistance traits in dairy cattle.
What People Really Think About Safety around Horses: The Relationship between Risk Perception, Values and Safety Behaviours
Authors: Chapman Meredith , Thomas Matthew , Thompson Kirrilly
Published: November 2020

The equestrian industry reports high rates of serious injuries, illness and fatalities when compared to other high-risk sports and work environments. To address these ongoing safety concerns, a greater understanding of the relationship between human risk perception, values and safety behaviours is required. This paper presents results from an international survey that explored relationships between a respondents’ willingness to take risk during daily activities along with, their perceptions of risk and behaviours during horse-related interactions. Respondents’ comments around risk management principles and safety-first inspirations were also analysed. We examined what humans think about hazardous situations or activities and how they managed risk with suitable controls. Analysis identified three important findings. First, safe behaviours around horses were associated with safety training (formal and/or informal). Second, unsafe behaviours around horses were associated with higher levels of equestrian experience as well as income from horse-related work. Finally, findings revealed a general acceptance of danger and imminent injury during horse interactions. This may explain why some respondents de-emphasised or ‘talked-down’ the importance of safety-first principles. In this paper we predominantly reported quantitative findings of respondents self-reported safety behaviours, general and horse-related risk perceptions despite injury or illness. We discussed the benefits of improved safety-first principles like training, risk assessments, rider-horse match with enriched safety communications to enhance risk-mitigation during human–horse interactions.
Long-Term Exposure to Temozolomide Affects Locomotor Activity and Cartilage Structure of Elderly Experimental Rats
Authors: Suhovskih Anastasia V. , Molodykh Olga P. , Ushakov Victor S. , Politko Maxim O. , Sokolov Dmitry K. , Koldysheva Elena V. , Grigorieva Elvira V.
Published: November 2020

Chemotherapy with temozolomide (TMZ) is an essential part of anticancer therapy of various malignant tumours; however, its long-term effects on patients’ health and life quality need to be further investigated. Here, we studied the effects of TMZ and/or companion drug dexamethasone (DXM) on the locomotor activity and cartilage structure of elderly Wistar rats (n = 40). Long-term TMZ treatment selectively inhibited the horizontal, but not vertical locomotor activity of the rats (6.7-fold, p < 0.01) and resulted in delamination of the superficial epiphyseal cartilage of the femoral epiphysis of knee joints, a 2-fold decrease in mean thickness of epiphyseal cartilage (p < 0.001), and changes in the proliferative and maturation cartilage zones ratio. The simultaneous use of DXM attenuated TMZ-induced changes in cartilage thickness and integrity and compensated the decrease in horizontal locomotor activity of experimental animals. Nevertheless, combined TMZ/DXM treatment still significantly affected the structure of proximal tibial, but not distal femoral epiphysis of knee joints of the rats. These changes were accompanied by the increased content of total glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and their partial re-localisation from chondrocytes into tissue matrix, as well as the decrease in sulfated GAGs content in both compartments. Taken together, the results demonstrate that long-term treatment with TMZ results in a significant decrease in locomotor activity of elderly Wistar rats and the reorganisation of their knee joint cartilage structure, while DXM treatment attenuates those effects. So, use of DXM or chondroprotective drugs might be beneficial to maintain quality of life for TMZ-treated cancer patients.
An Improved, Assay Platform Agnostic, Absolute Single Sample Breast Cancer Subtype Classifier
Authors: Seo Mi-kyoung , Paik Soonmyung , Kim Sangwoo
Published: November 2020

While intrinsic molecular subtypes provide important biological classification of breast cancer, the subtype assignment of individuals is influenced by assay technology and study cohort composition. We sought to develop a platform-independent absolute single-sample subtype classifier based on a minimal number of genes. Pairwise ratios for subtype-specific differentially expressed genes from un-normalized expression data from 432 breast cancer (BC) samples of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were used as inputs for machine learning. The subtype classifier with the fewest number of genes and maximal classification power was selected during cross-validation. The final model was evaluated on 5816 samples from 10 independent studies profiled with four different assay platforms. Upon cross-validation within the TCGA cohort, a random forest classifier (MiniABS) with 11 genes achieved the best accuracy of 88.2%. Applying MiniABS to five validation sets of RNA-seq and microarray data showed an average accuracy of 85.15% (vs. 77.72% for Absolute Intrinsic Molecular Subtype (AIMS)). Only MiniABS could be applied to five low-throughput datasets, showing an average accuracy of 87.93%. The MiniABS can absolutely subtype BC using the raw expression levels of only 11 genes, regardless of assay platform, with higher accuracy than existing methods.
Intraspecific Trait Variation Dilutes Deterministic Processes in Community Assembly of Arid Shrubs across Multiple Scales
Authors: Xu Jinshi , Dang Han , Tian Tingting , Chai Yongfu , Quan Jiaxin , Lei Maolin , Liu Xiao , Guo Yaoxin , Yue Ming
Published: November 2020

Trait-based approaches present a promising avenue for improving our understanding of species coexistence and community assembly, while intraspecific trait variation (ITV) across different spatial scales is important in trait-based community assembly mechanisms, especially in extreme environments. In this study, we focused on the functional diversity and community assembly patterns of a desert community across different spatial scales and investigated whether ITV plays a significant role in community assembly processes in arid habitats. A 50 m × 50 m plot with different small quadrats was established in a typical desert community at the transition zone between the Tengger Desert and Loess Plateau in China. A total of 14 traits were selected to assess the trait-based functional diversity and assembly processes in the community. We found that functional diversity showed different patterns when considering ITV and related to different types of traits (chemical traits or morphological traits) and some soil factors (pH and nitrate nitrogen). Plant communities in this study showed stochastic distribution patterns and similar functional diversity patterns based on functional trait approaches, regardless of spatial scales. Also, the effect of ITV on community assembly did not show more effect with increasing scales. These results indicated that ITV diluted deterministic processes in community assembly across scales in arid habitats.
Development of a Neurodegenerative Disease Gait Classification Algorithm Using Multiscale Sample Entropy and Machine Learning Classifiers
Authors: Nam Nguyen Quoc Duy , Liu An-Bang , Lin Che-Wei
Published: November 2020

The prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases (NDD) has grown rapidly in recent years and NDD screening receives much attention. NDD could cause gait abnormalities so that to screen NDD using gait signal is feasible. The research aim of this study is to develop an NDD classification algorithm via gait force (GF) using multiscale sample entropy (MSE) and machine learning models. The Physionet NDD gait database is utilized to validate the proposed algorithm. In the preprocessing stage of the proposed algorithm, new signals were generated by taking one and two times of differential on GF and are divided into various time windows (10/20/30/60-sec). In feature extraction, the GF signal is used to calculate statistical and MSE values. Owing to the imbalanced nature of the Physionet NDD gait database, the synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) was used to rebalance data of each class. Support vector machine (SVM) and k-nearest neighbors (KNN) were used as the classifiers. The best classification accuracies for the healthy controls (HC) vs. Parkinson’s disease (PD), HC vs. Huntington’s disease (HD), HC vs. amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), PD vs. HD, PD vs. ALS, HD vs. ALS, HC vs. PD vs. HD vs. ALS, were 99.90%, 99.80%, 100%, 99.75%, 99.90%, 99.55%, and 99.68% under 10-sec time window with KNN. This study successfully developed an NDD gait classification based on MSE and machine learning classifiers.
Revisiting Information Detection and Energy Harvesting: A Power Splitting-Based Approach
Authors: Kim Jaehong , Shin Won-Yong , Kang Xin , Lee Han Lim , Joung Jingon
Published: November 2020

Wireless sensors are becoming essential in machine-type communications and Internet of Things. As the key performance metrics, the spectral efficiency as well as the energy efficiency have been considered while determining the effectiveness of sensor networks. In this paper, we present several power-splitting solutions to maximize the average harvested energy under a rate constraint when both the information and power are transmitted through the same wireless channel to a sensor (i.e., a receiver). More specifically, we first designed the optimal dynamic power-splitting policy, which decides the optimal fractional power of the received signal used for energy harvesting at the receiver. As effective solutions, we proposed two types of single-threshold-based power-splitting policies, namely, Policies I and II, which decide to switch between energy harvesting and information decoding by comparing the received signal power with some given thresholds. Additionally, we performed asymptotic analysis for a large number of packets along with practical statistics-based policies. Consequently, we demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed power-splitting solutions in terms of the rate–energy trade-off.
Conventional or Microwave Sintering: A Comprehensive Investigation to Achieve Efficient Clean Energy Harvesting
Authors: Nemala Siva Sankar , Ravulapalli Sujitha , Mallick Sudhanshu , Bhargava Parag , Bohm Sivasambu , Bhushan Mayank , Thakur Anukul K. , Mohapatra Debananda
Published: November 2020

Layers of titania are the critical components in sensitized photovoltaics. The transfer of electrons occurs from the dye molecule to the external circuit through a transparent conducting oxide, namely fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO). Porosity, interparticle connectivity, and the titania films’ defects play a vital role in assessing the dye-sensitized solar cells’ (DSSCs) performance. The conventional methods typically take several hours to fabricate these layers. This is a significant impediment for the large-scale manufacture of DSSCs. This step can be reduced to a few hours by a microwave sintering process and may facilitate the rapid fabrication of the critical layers for sensitized photovoltaics, thus, boosting the prospects for the commercialization of these devices. In the present study, we aimed to perform different heat treatments (conventional and microwave) on the titania films with different temperatures to understand the phase formation, transmittance, and porosity without losing the titania’s interparticle connectivity. The solar cell performance of microwave-sintered titania films is comparatively higher than that of conventionally sintered titania films.
Extending and Solving the Refrigerated Routing Problem
Authors: Ceschia Sara , Di Gaspero Luca , Meneghetti Antonella
Published: November 2020

In recent years, cold food chains have shown an impressive growth, mainly due to customers life style changes. Consequently, the transportation of refrigerated food is becoming a crucial aspect of the chain, aiming at ensuring efficiency and sustainability of the process while keeping a high level of product quality. The recently defined Refrigerated Routing Problem (RRP) consists of finding the optimal delivery tour that minimises the fuel consumption for both the traction and the refrigeration components. The total fuel consumption is related, in a complex way, to the distance travelled, the vehicle load and speed, and the outdoor temperature. All these factors depend, in turn, on the traffic and the climate conditions of the region where deliveries take place and they change during the day and the year. The original RRP has been extended to take into account also the total driving cost and to add the possibility to slow down the deliveries by allowing arbitrarily long waiting times when this is beneficial for the objective function. The new RRP is formulated and solved as both a Mixed Integer Programming and a novel Constraint Programming model. Moreover, a Local Search metaheuristic technique (namely Late Acceptance Hill Climbing), based on a combination of different neighborhood structures, is also proposed. The results obtained by the different solution methods on a set of benchmarks scenarios are compared and discussed.
Comprehensive Evaluation of Photovoltaic Solar Plants vs. Natural Ecosystems in Green Conflict Situations
Authors: Mori Kosuke , Tabata Tomohiro
Published: November 2020

This study aims to develop a comprehensive method for evaluating the environmental cost/benefits of photovoltaic (PV) solar plant installation versus conserving natural ecosystems. First, the positive and negative impacts of installing PV solar plants in regions with natural ecosystems are reviewed. For focus and quantification, climate change mitigation and economic benefit were considered as benefits, and the loss of carbon sinks and biodiversity as well as disaster risk were considered as negatives. These items were also integrated as external costs using a life-cycle assessment method, and a ratio of positive versus negative impacts (P/N ratio) was developed, as part of our evaluation. The method was applied to a case study in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, where 361 large PV solar plants have been installed in areas that previously supported natural ecosystems. Prior to the PV installation, 25.5% of the plants were cleared from the natural ecosystem. Consequently, the annualized benefits (costs) for these Hyogo plants were estimated to be 101.16 (73.88) million USD, which yielded a P/N ratio of 1.37, indicating that their benefits outweighed their costs. An economic benefit was found to be one of the parameters that significantly influenced the P/N ratio.
Small Hydropower Plants with Variable Speed Operation—An Optimal Operation Curve Determination
Authors: Borkowski Dariusz , Majdak Marek
Published: November 2020

In recent times, much attention has been paid to small hydropower plants (SHPs) with variable speed operation and different control techniques. Control complexity in SHPs is mainly caused by specific steady-state features of the water turbine, the long time constants of the hydraulic system and significant seasonal and/or aging-related deterioration in the system performance. This paper presents the most important features of the turbine model from a control point of view. It classifies control techniques for SHPs with variable speed operation in terms of the turbine type and SHP function (run-of-the-river and reservoir). Furthermore, various control methods are analysed taking into account the complexity of the method, dynamics, adaptability and applicability. The novelty of this study is the proposal of a simple, universal analytical formula, which, based on the basic dimensions of the turbine, determines the optimal operating curve. The proposed formula is verified on a real SHP 150 kW by comparison with measurements in the form of operational characteristics. The analysis of the annual energy production confirms the effectiveness of the approximation precision, yielding only 1% production losses, and shows an advantage of variable speed over constant speed in annual energy production of 16%.