bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
‘Keep it Gothic, Man’: Gothic and Graphic Medicine in Ian Williams’s The Bad Doctor
Authors: Green Matthew J. A.
Published: November 2023

Exploring the intersection of Gothic Medicine and Graphic Medicine in Ian William’s graphic novel, The Bad Doctor, this article discusses the ways in which gothic aesthetics, particularly representations of the abject encounter, contribute to an understanding of mental illness whilst also interrogating dominant paradigms within medical discourse. Further, this study suggests that the gothic aspects of comics as a medium contribute to the effectiveness of Gothic Medicine as a genre by offering insight into visual and verbal representations of the body. Detailed close readings indicate that Williams’s work draws a parallel between the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder on an individual level and the hostility toward the Gothic that formed a cornerstone in the foundation of modern medicine as a discipline.
Memlük Ulemâsından Şümünnîler ve Hadis Usulü Çalışmaları
Authors: Özben Dokak Zübeyde
Published: November 2023

Bu makalenin konusu Memlükler döneminde Kahire’de yaşamış ve hadis usulü alanına katkı sunmuş olan baba ve oğul Şümünnîler’dir. Kemâleddîn eş-Şümünnî ve oğlu Takıyyüddîn eş-Şümünnî İslâm tarihinin ilmî açıdan en parlak dönemlerinden birinde ve önemli bir ilmî çevrede yetişip faaliyet göstermişlerdir. Bu çalışmada biri Mâlikî diğeri Hanefî mezhebine mensup olan baba-oğul Şümünnîlerin önce hayatları ve ilmî şahsiyetleri ele alınmış sonrasında hadis usulü alanında yapmış oldukları çalışmalar incelenmiştir. Şümünnîlerin Irâkî, Zerkeşî, İbn Hacer, Sehâvî ve Süyûti gibi dönemin önemli hadis âlimleriyle hoca-talebe ilişkileri olmuştur. Kemâleddîn eş-Şümünnî hadis usulünün klasik eserlerinden biri olan İbn Hacer’in Nuhbetü’l-fiker’inin ilk şerhini kaleme almıştır. Oğlu Takıyyüddîn eş-Şümünnî ise Sehâvî ve Süyûtî gibi dönemin iki önemli hadis âliminin hocasıdır. Makalede dördü Kemâleddîn eş-Şümünnî’ye biri oğlu Takıyyüddîn eş-Şümünnî’ye ait olmak üzere toplamda beş hadis usulü çalışması ele alınmıştır. Bu çalışmalar incelenirken eserlerin müelliflere nispetlerinin sıhhati, yazılış amaçları, metodu, müelliflerin mezheplerinin hadis usulü ile ilgili görüşlerine etkisi, kaynakları, sonraki hadis usulü çalışmalarına tesiri gibi konular ele alınmıştır.
Ecological and economic assessment of the use of water resources of Ukraine in the context of sustainable development
Authors: Sakharnatskyi V.
Published: November 2023

Water resources are crucial for sustaining human life, industry, agriculture, and ecosystems. However, increasing pressure on these resources, pollution of water sources and climate change pose serious challenges to their effective management. It was determined that the water resources of Ukraine have great potential for the development of society, but they require effective management taking into account the principles of sustainable development. It is substantiated that the formation of the fundamental scientific basis for the evaluation of water resources of Ukraine should be based on the use of ecological and economic approaches, in particular, on the study of the water balance, assessment of ecosystem services, cost analysis and other tools for determining the ecological and economic value of water resources. A comparison of the indicators of the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6 "Ensuring the availability and rational use of water resources and sanitation for all" between Ukraine and Poland was carried out. The study revealed certain differences and similarities in the level of achievement of both countries in this direction. Based on the results of the study, it was established that ecological and economic approaches to the assessment of water resources are effective tools for determining their value and making rational decisions about their management, which allows taking into account not only economic aspects, but also the impact on ecosystems and human health.
Features of land use and tourism and recreation activities in the territory of national nature parks
Authors: Kalyna T. , Arzumanyan T.
Published: November 2023

The article examines issues related to the peculiarities of the functioning of land use and the conduct of tourist and recreational activities on the territory of national natural parks. The essence of the concept of “nature protection territories” was determined and the trend of development of nature protection territories was analyzed. The main functions are justified, which are to protect the environment and contribute to the comprehensive development of territories. It was determined that the core of nature conservation areas consists of the territories and objects of the nature reserve fund, which include 11 categories on the territory of Ukraine. The assessment of the formation and functioning of nature protection territories was carried out on the example of Odesa region, and the study of the peculiarities of land use and tourist and recreational activities was carried out on the example of the local territory of the Nizhny Dniester National Park, which is determined by the species diversity of birds, the Dniester delta occupies one of the first places among the most valuable natural territories in Europe . An assessment of the functional zoning of the NPP territory was carried out and the allocated zones: protected — 44.07 %; regulated recreation — 35.62 %; stationary recreation — 0.05 %; economic — 20.26 % of the total territory of the park. Grounded features of land use and the conduct of tourist, recreational and economic activities within each of the functional zones.
PI Control For Rotation Speed Stability Of Induction Motor In Disc Mill Type Coffee Grinder
Authors: Fauziyah Mila , Rifai Muhammad , Sudha Paramartha Dhiksa , Agus Idris Mochammad
Published: November 2023

In a coffee processing production process, roasted coffee beans can now be ground using a motor-driven grinder. For an industrial scale, a Disc Mill typecoffee bean grinder is generally needed because it is able to get coffee grounds faster and smoother than other types. However, a Disc Mill typecoffee bean grinder has a disadvantage if the grinding load increases, it will affect the rotational speed of the motor so that there is the potential for congestion in the Disc Mill blade. Therefore, a control method is needed to maintain the speed stability of the induction motor. The control method used is Proportional-Integral(PI). To obtain the exact value of the parameter used the Ziegler-Nichols method of oscillations. The PI controller using the Ziegler-Nichols method is considered capable of obtaining a relatively stable system response and get a shorter reference value. System testing with tuning values Kp = 0.108 and Ki = 0.13 was carried out at a speed of 1400rpm. A stable system response was obtained with a rise time of 4 seconds, a settling time of 5 seconds, a peak time of 9s, a maximum overshoot of 2.85% and a steady state error of 0.89%. With the application of the PI method, the Disc Mill type coffee bean grinding motor can maintain the stability of the rotational speed compared to without control.
O papel da psicologia e bioética na prática de cuidados paliativos enquanto prevenção da distanásia
Authors: Zucco João Vitor Galbiati , Melo Andressa Lopes de , Sanches Junior Roberto Esposito , Wiegand Bárbara Bowoniuk , Milani Rute Grossi
Published: November 2023

A pesquisa proposta é uma revisão bibliográfica que aborda o papel da Psicologia e da Bioética na prática de cuidados paliativos enquanto prevenção da distanásia. Observa-se, com o desenvolvimento de recursos tecnológicos disponíveis em saúde, que a distanásia tem roubado o protagonismo do paciente acometido por uma doença com prognóstico desfavorável, infringindo os princípios bioéticos e impossibilitando a aplicação dos cuidados paliativos. Busca-se, com esse artigo, entender os temas em questão, a fim de (re)pensar o papel da Psicologia neste cenário, de modo a promover reflexões e ações sobre a temática. Sendo assim, foram encontrados importantes resultados, como o uso excessivo de recursos tecnológicos na prática da distanásia, a importância da interdisciplinaridade no hospital, o papel da Psicologia atrelada à Bioética e a relevância dos cuidados paliativos nesse cenário. Além disso, foi possível observar uma escassez de materiais produzidos sobre a temática, bem como a falta de materiais escritos pelos profissionais da Psicologia.
КРАТКАЯ ИСТОРИЯ ОДОНТОЛОГИЧЕСКОГО ИЗУЧЕНИЯ РУССКИХ
Authors: Халдеева Наталия , Харламова Наталья
Published: November 2023

Статья посвящена истории получения и изучения одонтологических данных по русскому или относящемуся к нему населению России. В работе обозначены ключевые вехи и представлены результаты исследований мор-фологии зубной системы русских по опубликованным данным. Публикация представляет собой немного доработанный текст доклада «Одонтологиче-ский аспект формирования русских. История изучения», прочитанного 18 октября 2021 г. в Биологическом музее им. К.А. Тимирязева на IX Бунаков-ских чтениях.
Unleashing the potential of catalytic RNAs to combat mis-spliced transcripts
Authors: Khalifah Bashayer A. , Alghamdi Shareefa A. , Alhasan Ali H.
Published: November 2023

Human transcriptome can undergo RNA mis-splicing due to spliceopathies contributing to the increasing number of genetic diseases including muscular dystrophy (MD), Alzheimer disease (AD), Huntington disease (HD), myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Intron retention (IR) is a major inducer of spliceopathies where two or more introns remain in the final mature mRNA and account for many intronic expansion diseases. Potential removal of such introns for therapeutic purposes can be feasible when utilizing bioinformatics, catalytic RNAs, and nano-drug delivery systems. Overcoming delivery challenges of catalytic RNAs was discussed in this review as a future perspective highlighting the significance of utilizing synthetic biology in addition to high throughput deep sequencing and computational approaches for the treatment of mis-spliced transcripts.
The CURE assessment landscape from the instructor’s point of view: knowledge and skills assessments are highly valued support tools for CURE adoption
Authors: Kleinschmit Adam J. , Govindan Brinda , Larson Jennifer R. , Qureshi Amber A. , Bascom-Slack Carol
Published: November 2023

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are a high-impact educational practice that engage students with authentic research in the classroom. CURE development models include those designed and implemented at individual institutions to wide-reaching multi-institutional network CUREs. The latter have lowered barriers to implementation by providing a centralized support system, centralized training and curricula, and mentoring. CURE learning outcomes span the three domains of learning: knowledge, skills, and attitude. Assessment of these domains can serve a variety of purposes to a collection of different stakeholders. To better understand the CURE assessment landscape from the instructor’s point of view we surveyed instructors from an established network CURE. We found that these instructors, particularly those from associate’s colleges, overwhelmingly prefer use of knowledge and skills-based assessments over attitudinal CURE assessment instruments. Instructors value knowledge and skills assessment data when deciding whether to adopt a particular CURE and for identifying student misconceptions to improve CURE instruction, and for documentation necessary for Community College transfer agreements or for gaining approval from curriculum committees. CURE learning models have pointed toward use of generalizable instruments for measuring CURE outcomes, but since knowledge and skills assessments are typically CURE specific, obtaining funds for their development may not be realistic. To address this concern, we outline a CURE network stakeholder co-design process for developing and validating a knowledge and skills assessment instrument without external support or a sizable time commitment. We encourage network CUREs to leverage their communities to generate and validate knowledge and skills assessment instruments to further lower barriers for instructor adoption.
Development of a tetravalent subunit vaccine against dengue virus through a vaccinomics approach
Authors: Basheer Amina , Jamal Syed Babar , Alzahrani Badr , Faheem Muhammad
Published: November 2023

Dengue virus infection (DVI) is a mosquito-borne disease that can lead to serious morbidity and mortality. Dengue fever (DF) is a major public health concern that affects approximately 3.9 billion people each year globally. However, there is no vaccine or drug available to deal with DVI. Dengue virus consists of four distinct serotypes (DENV1-4), each raising a different immunological response. In the present study, we designed a tetravalent subunit multi-epitope vaccine, targeting proteins including the structural protein envelope domain III (EDIII), precursor membrane proteins (prM), and a non-structural protein (NS1) from each serotype by employing an immunoinformatic approach. Only conserved sequences obtained through a multiple sequence alignment were used for epitope mapping to ensure efficacy against all serotypes. The epitopes were shortlisted based on an IC50 value <50, antigenicity, allergenicity, and a toxicity analysis. In the final vaccine construct, overall, 11 B-cell epitopes, 10 HTL epitopes, and 10 CTL epitopes from EDIII, prM, and NS1 proteins targeting all serotypes were selected and joined via KK, AAY, and GGGS linkers, respectively. We incorporated a 45-amino-acid-long B-defensins adjuvant in the final vaccine construct for a better immunogenic response. The vaccine construct has an antigenic score of 0.79 via VaxiJen and is non-toxic and non-allergenic. Our refined vaccine structure has a Ramachandran score of 96.4%. The vaccine has shown stable interaction with TLR3, which has been validated by 50 ns of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Our findings propose that a designed multi-epitope vaccine has substantial potential to elicit a strong immune response against all dengue serotypes without causing any adverse effects. Furthermore, the proposed vaccine can be experimentally validated as a probable vaccine, suggesting it may serve as an effective preventative measure against dengue virus infection.
A preliminary model of the mangrove ecosystem of Dongzhaigang Bay, Hainan, (China) based on Ecopath and Ecospace
Authors: Jiang Chengpu , Pauly Daniel , Wang Wenqing , Du Jianguo , Cheng Jianhua , Wang Mao
Published: November 2023

Introduction

Marine and coastal ecosystems are complex, especially because of the connection between their many functional groups and the various habitats provided by subsystems.

Method

To describe the trophic interactions, energy flows, and spatial distribution of species in the ecosystem of Dongzhaigang Bay, in Hainan, China, 28 functional groups were identified, incorporated in Ecopath and Ecospace models, and used to derive the particle size and spatial distribution of the functional groups.

Result

The results show that the trophic levels of top predators are lower than in similar ecosystems, but that the ecosystem of Dongzhaigang Bay exhibits a high ecotrophic efficiency, leading to a high fraction of its primary and secondary production being transferred to the higher trophic levels. The particle size distribution (PSD; i.e., log(biomass) vs log(particle weight)) in Dongzhaigang Bay, the first estimated for any mangrove ecosystem, has a slope (-0.80) similar to that of other ecosystems along China’s coast , but does not include the largest size groups. Ecospace allowed a visualization of the functional groups in Dongzhaigang Bay, which can serve as a basis, e.g., for identifying areas requiring special protection.

Discussion

Though the status of the bay, overall, appears to be better than many of the Chinese coastal ecosystems, further monitoring and data collection are required to deepen the understanding of the interactions within the ecosystems, and the impacts of human activities on Dongzhaigang Bay. The models presented here should help in this undertaking.
Causal association between constipation and risk of colorectal cancer: a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study
Authors: Wu Long , Wu Huan , Huang Fei , Li Xiao-yun , Zhen Yun-huan , Zhang Bao-fang , Li Hai-yang
Published: November 2023

Background

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a globally significant health concern, necessitating effective preventive strategies through identifying modifiable risk factors. Constipation, characterized by infrequent bowel movements or difficulty passing stools, has been proposed as a potential CRC risk factor. However, establishing causal links between constipation and CRC remains challenging due to observational study limitations.

Methods

Mendelian randomization (MR) utilizes genetic variants as instrumental variables, capitalizing on genetically determined variation to assess causal relationships. In this dual-sample bidirectional MR study, we extracted genetic data from independent cohorts with CRC (Include colon cancer and rectal cancer) and constipation cases. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identified constipation and CRC-associated genetic variants used as instruments to infer causality. The bidirectional MR analysis evaluated constipation’s impact on CRC risk and the possibility of reverse causation.

Results

Employing bidirectional MR, we explored the causal relationship between constipation and CRC using publicly available GWAS data. Analysis of constipation’s effect on CRC identified 26 significant SNPs, all with strong instrumental validity. IVW-random effect analysis suggested a potential causal link [OR = 1.002(1.000, 1.004); P = 0.023], although alternative MR approaches were inconclusive. Investigating CRC’s impact on constipation, 28 significant SNPs were identified, yet IVW analyses found no causal effect [OR = 0.137(0.007, 2.824); P = 0.198]. Other MR methods also yielded no significant causal association. We analyzed constipation separately from colon and rectal cancer using the same methodology in both directions, and no causal relationship was obtained.

Conclusion

Our bidirectional MR study suggests a potential constipation-CRC link, with mixed MR approach outcomes. Limited evidence supports constipation causing CRC. Reliable instruments, minimal heterogeneity, and robust analyses bolster these findings, enriching understanding. Future research should explore additional factors to enhance comprehension and clinical implications.
Antisense oligonucleotides: a novel Frontier in pharmacological strategy
Authors: Collotta D. , Bertocchi I. , Chiapello E. , Collino M.
Published: November 2023

Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) are short single stranded synthetic RNA or DNA molecules, whereas double-stranded RNA nucleotide sequences are called small interfering RNA (siRNA). ASOs bind to complementary nucleic acid sequences impacting the associated functions of the targeted nucleic acids. They represent an emerging class of drugs that, through a revolutionary mechanism of action, aim to directly regulate disease-causing genes and their variants, providing an alternative tool to traditional “protein-specific” therapies. The majority of the ASOs are designed to treat orphan genetic disorders that in most of the cases are seriously disabling and still lacking an adequate therapy. In order to translate ASOs into clinical success, constant technological advances have been instrumental in overcoming several pharmacological, toxicological and formulation limitations. Accordingly, chemical structures have been recently implemented and new bio-conjugation and nanocarriers formulation strategies explored. The aim of this work is to offer an overview of the antisense technology with a comparative analysis of the oligonucleotides approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Examination of promotive and protective effects on early adolescent prosocial behavior through a bioecological lens
Authors: Bates Elizabeth J. S. , Berny Lauren M. , Ganiban Jody M. , Natsuaki Misaki N. , Neiderhiser Jenae M. , Shaw Daniel S. , Leve Leslie D.
Published: November 2023

Introduction

Prosocial behavior during childhood has been associated with numerous positive developmental and behavioral outcomes in adolescence and adulthood. Prosocial behavior, which includes cooperation and helping others, develops within a bioecological context. Considering it through such a lens enhances the understanding of the roles of different bioecological factors in its development.

Methods

Using data from a longitudinal study of adopted children and children reared with their biological parents, this paper examined if positive aspects of a child’s bioecological system at age 7 predict prosocial behavior in early adolescence (age 11), and whether these bioecological factors could offset risk due to biological family psychopathology and/or maternal prenatal substance use. The analyses incorporated variables from different levels of Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model (the individual, microsystem, exosystem, and macrosystem) and examined the promotive, and potentially protective, effect of each contextual factor, while also considering their interplay with biological family psychopathology and prenatal substance use.

Results

Results from linear regression models indicated that the microsystem variable of parental warmth at age 7 had a promotive effect on age 11 prosocial behavior. Further, in addition to its main effect, parental warmth was protective against maternal substance use during pregnancy when children were raised with their biological parent (s). Household type (biological family) and biological family internalizing psychopathology were the only other significant predictors in the model, with each associated with lower prosocial behavior at age 11.

Discussion

Study results extend prior work on the benefits of parental warmth on child outcomes by employing a strength-based, bioecological approach to the development of prosocial behavior during early adolescence and examining “for whom” the effects of parental warmth are most protective.
The impact of maternal work–family conflict on problem behaviors among preschoolers during the COVID-19 epidemic: a moderated mediation model of maternal anxiety and trait mindfulness
Authors: Jin Xiuzhen , Ahn Jinkyeong
Published: November 2023

Purpose

The mediating effects of maternal anxiety and moderating effects of trait mindfulness on the relationship between Work–family conflict (WFC) and preschool children’s problem behaviors remain unclear during the COVID-19 epidemic. So, this study examined the association between mothers’ WFC and preschoolers’ problem behaviors and identified the roles of maternal anxiety as a mediator and trait mindfulness as a moderator during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, a sample of 1,068 Chinese preschoolers and their mothers from coastal cities in southern China were investigated. Data were collected using demographic questionnaires, Carlson’s WFC scale, Ma’s Parenting Anxiety Scale, Goodman’s SDQ Scale, and Brown and Ryan’s Trait Mindfulness Scale, and were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 and Process 3.3.

Results

WFC had a positive and direct association with problem behaviors in preschoolers (β = 0.118, t = 3.880, p < 0.001). WFC also had a positive and direct association with maternal anxiety (β = 0.480, t = 18.034, p < 0.001). Maternal anxiety had a positive and direct association with preschoolers’ problem behaviors (β = 0.415, t = 13.584, p < 0.001). The mediating effect value of maternal anxiety between WFC and preschoolers’ problem behaviors was 0.199, and the moderating effect value of trait mindfulness between maternal anxiety and preschoolers’ problem behaviors was −0.078.

Conclusion

WFC was positively associated with preschoolers’ problem behaviors, and maternal anxiety was a mediator of this association. So, WFC could cause maternal anxiety and lead to more problematic behaviors in children. Besides, maternal anxiety was positively associated with preschoolers’ problem behaviors, and trait mindfulness was a moderator of this association.
Effect of fear of missing out on learning burnout in medical students: a moderated mediation
Authors: Ye Xin , Li Yang , Liu Yang , Zheng Qiuyue , Lin Zhongli , Zeng Yinhua , Lin Ziyue , Zhu Tan , Chen Xiayan , Chen Liangliang , Liu Tao
Published: November 2023

Introduction

Learning burnout has a significant negative impact on students’ academic performance and professional development, which has been exacerbated by the growing trend of problematic smartphone use, such as smartphone addiction, among young people. Recently, the literature on excessive social media use has revealed a critical role of fear of missing out. Objective The purpose of this study was to examine how fear of missing out affects smartphone addiction and its subsequent effect on learning burnout in college students.

Methods

In Study 1, 352 medical students were recruited to complete a cross-sectional survey. In Study 2, 2,948 college students were recruited to complete a cross-sectional survey. Further in Study 3, 30 medical students were recruited into a mindfulness-based intervention program.

Results

Study 1 preliminarily confirmed that fear of missing out was positively correlated with learning burnout. Study 2 then revealed a moderated mediation model showing that fear of missing out may increase smartphone addiction, which in turn affects their sleep quality and finally leads to learning burnout. This chain mediation model was moderated by the participants’ level of mindfulness. To confirm the promoting role of mindfulness, Study 3 further confirmed that mindfulness training indeed can improve smartphone addiction and reduce learning burnout in medical students.

Discussion

Theoretical and practical contributions were discussed, highlighting the effects of fear of missing out on smartphone addiction and a moderating role of mindfulness training.
Training in new forms of human-AI interaction improves complex working memory and switching skills of language professionals
Authors: Wallinheimo Anna-Stiina , Evans Simon L. , Davitti Elena
Published: November 2023

AI-related technologies used in the language industry, including automatic speech recognition (ASR) and machine translation (MT), are designed to improve human efficiency. However, humans are still in the loop for accuracy and quality, creating a working environment based on Human-AI Interaction (HAII). Very little is known about these newly-created working environments and their effects on cognition. The present study focused on a novel practice, interlingual respeaking (IRSP), where real-time subtitles in another language are created through the interaction between a human and ASR software. To this end, we set up an experiment that included a purpose-made training course on IRSP over 5 weeks, investigating its effects on cognition, and focusing on executive functioning (EF) and working memory (WM). We compared the cognitive performance of 51 language professionals before and after the course. Our variables were reading span (a complex WM measure), switching skills, and sustained attention. IRSP training course improved complex WM and switching skills but not sustained attention. However, the participants were slower after the training, indicating increased vigilance with the sustained attention tasks. Finally, complex WM was confirmed as the primary competence in IRSP. The reasons and implications of these findings will be discussed.
Treating the dead; how far ought medicine go to obtain transplantable organs?
Authors: Bernstock Joshua D. , Chalif Joshua I. , Jha Rohan , Brown Ashley , Essayed Walid I. , Caplan Arthur , Peruzzi Pierpaolo
Published: November 2023

Under what circumstances, is it ethical to perform tumor surgery on a brain-dead individual? The neurosurgeons at Brigham and Women's Hospital were recently faced with such a question when asked to operate on a 28-year-old man who was pronounced brain-dead secondary to a severe brain-stem injury. His advanced directives clearly documented a desire for organ donation. During his transplant work-up, cranial imaging suggested a possible cerebellar mass of unknown etiology that was concerning for metastatic disease. Despite negative full body imaging, the neurosurgical team was asked to perform an open biopsy of the intracranial lesion to rule out occult systemic cancer. This case invites many nuanced questions related to the decisions surgeons and the broader medical community must make in the face of pursuing viable organs for the many in need. What is the moral standing and personhood eligibility of brain-dead individuals? What is the scope of medical interventions and procedures that surgeons are ethically bound to carry out? How ought the desire for increased medical intervention to try to save organs be balanced with practical limitations given limited medical resources?
Research on Secure State Estimation and Recovery Control for CPS under Stealthy Attacks
Authors: Yang Biao , Xin Liang , Long Zhiqiang
Published: November 2023

As the application of cyber-physical systems (CPSs) becomes more and more widespread, its security is becoming a focus of attention. Currently, there has been much research on the security defense of the physical layer of the CPS. However, most of the research only focuses on one of the aspects, for example, attack detection, security state estimation, or recovery control. Obviously, the effectiveness of security defense targeting only one aspect is limited. Therefore, in this paper, a set of security defense processes is proposed for the case that a CPS containing multiple sensors is subject to three kinds of stealthy attacks (i.e., zero-dynamics attack, covert attack, and replay attack). Firstly, the existing attack detection method based on improved residuals is used to detect stealthy attacks. Secondly, based on the detection results, an optimal state estimation method based on improved Kalman filtering is proposed to estimate the actual state of the system. Then, based on the optimal state, internal model control (IMC) is introduced to complete the recovery control of the system. Finally, the proposed methods are integrated to give a complete security defense process, and the simulation is verified for three kinds of stealthy attacks. The simulation results show that the proposed methods are effective.
The Effects of Dissolved Organic Matter Derived from Agricultural Waste Materials on Phosphorus Sorption in Sandy Soils
Authors: Debicka Magdalena , Morshedizad Mohsen , Leinweber Peter
Published: November 2023

The effect of organic matter (OM) on soil phosphorus (P) sorption is controversial, as there is still no clear answer whether organic matter inhibits or increases P sorption. Despite the great need for renewable sources of available P and OM in agricultural soils, little is known about the interaction between P and dissolved organic matter (DOM) in natural soil systems. The aim of this research was to uncover if and how soil saturation with DOM derived from different types of abundant agricultural wastes (cattle manure, horse manure, biogas digestate, compost) affects the phosphate sorption. We examined the P sorption process in control and DOM-saturated sandy soils. The results indicated that OM introduced with agricultural waste did not always reduce P sorption, but certainly had an effect on impairing P fixation, and thus, may result in potentially greater P mobility in the soil, including P availability. Among these waste materials, DOM from horse manure had the most positive effect on P mobilization; thus, horse manure—if available—is recommended for spreading on soils with low P mobility.
A Review: Development of Plant Protection Methods and Advances in Pesticide Application Technology in Agro-Forestry Production
Authors: Zheng Jiaqiang , Xu Youlin
Published: November 2023

In this review, through reviewing the history of the struggle between human beings and plant diseases, insects and weeds, more specifically thoughts on plant protection in ancient Chinese agricultural books, the recognition of plant pests as a target and six types of plant protection methods and 36 subdivision measures are summarized. Then, we focus on the development overview of pesticide application technology and conduct a systematic review by combining the development timeline of pesticide application and key technologies including performance measurement and the simulation and modeling of pesticide-spraying systems. Finally, three suggestions for further research are proposed from the perspectives of human beings’ and environmental health, sustainable and eco-friendly application media and efficient application equipment systems in plant protection.
The Impact of Mechanical Compression on the Postharvest Quality of ‘Shine Muscat’ Grapes during Short-Term Storage
Authors: Zhu Shan , Liu Jizhan , Yang Qiya , Jin Yucheng , Zhao Shengyi , Tan Zhuqing , Qiu Jieer , Zhang Hongyin
Published: November 2023

Mechanical stress induced by compression during preharvest and postharvest handling of fresh fruit is a major factor influencing the quality of fresh fruit. The degree of compression primarily governs the extent of quality deterioration. However, research on the damage mechanisms of mechanical compression in table grapes remains scarce. This investigation evaluated the impact of varying compression levels (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80%) on the postharvest quality attributes of table grapes. Changes in postharvest physical properties (overall appearance and color), structural properties (firmness, springiness, cohesiveness, and chewiness), physiological qualities (total soluble solids, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, malonaldehyde content, and relative electrical conductivity), and cell microstructure of the berries was determined at 4 °C during 15 d of storage. Mechanical compression contributed to the deterioration of the quality of table grapes during storage, resulting in increased weight loss, decay rate, malonaldehyde content, and relative electrical conductivity; and decreased total soluble solids, titratable acidity, and ascorbic acid content. Furthermore, as compared to the control group, mechanical compression resulted in substantial yellowing and diminished textural qualities of grapes. In particular, compression treatment caused significant deformation of grape cell microstructure. In conclusion, mechanical compression stress significantly affects the physical and physiological properties of postharvest table grapes, as well as the internal cellular organization. As compression levels increase, the quality of table grapes progressively deteriorates, leading to a substantial reduction in storage life and commercial value. This study offers essential information for devising damage prevention strategies in preharvest and postharvest handling of table grapes.
Inbreeding Depression and Purging for Meat Performance Traits in German Sheep Breeds
Authors: Justinski Cathrin , Wilkens Jens , Distl Ottmar
Published: November 2023

This study provides estimates on genetic parameters, inbreeding depression and purging for meat performance measures from 25 German sheep breeds. All German meat, merino sheep breeds and breeds of other breeding directions with a sufficient number of pedigree and performance data were included in this study. Phenotypic traits retrieved from the national database OviCap were evaluated: daily weight gain, meatiness score and ultrasound measurements for muscle and fat thickness. We employed animal models to estimate heritability, variance and covariance components for these meat performance traits as well as inbreeding depression and purging. The heritabilities, on average, reached estimates of 0.55, 0.34, 0.53 and 0.61 for daily weight gain, meatiness score and ultrasound measurements for muscle and fat thickness, respectively. We estimated the linear regression slopes for the individual rate of inbreeding, new and ancestral inbreeding, as well as the inbreeding coefficient and its interaction with the inbreeding coefficient of Ballou, employing animal models with non-genetic effects and the additive genetic effect of the animal. Across all breeds, inbreeding was only significant for daily weight gain, whereas for all other traits, estimates were not significant. Within sheep breeds, we found significant inbreeding depression for daily weight gain in German Mutton Merino and German Blackheaded Mutton as well as for the meatiness score in German Whiteheaded Mutton. Significant effects for purging, based on ancestral inbreeding and the interaction effect of the classical inbreeding coefficient with the inbreeding coefficient of Ballou, were not obvious either across or within any sheep breed. A 1% increase in inbreeding significantly decreased the phenotypic trait median of daily weight gain across all sheep breeds by 0.50% and 0.70% of phenotypic and genetic standard deviation, respectively. Purging effects due to ancestral inbreeding were not significant in any breed or across breeds. The results of this study may indicate that inbreeding depression may be more harmful in traits under stronger selection than in traits that exert low selection pressure. The results of this study demonstrate the different effects that result in meat performance traits due to inbreeding. With increasing rates of inbreeding and critical effective population sizes, selection intensity for breeding objectives has to be critically reviewed for each sheep breed. Inbreeding depression and purging should be evaluated in order to prevent a decrease in trait means due to inbreeding and to determine whether detrimental alleles are eliminated.
Exploring the Accessory Genome of Multidrug-Resistant Rhodococcus equi Clone 2287
Authors: Alvarez Narvaez Sonsiray , Sanchez Susan
Published: November 2023

Decades of antimicrobial overuse to treat respiratory disease in foals have promoted the emergence and spread of zoonotic multidrug-resistant (MDR) Rhodococcus equi worldwide. Three main R. equi MDR clonal populations—2287, G2106, and G2017—have been identified so far. However, only clones 2287 and G2016 have been isolated from sick animals, with clone 2287 being the main MDR R. equi recovered. The genetic mechanisms that make this MDR clone superior to the others at infecting foals are still unknown. Here, we performed a deep genetic characterization of the accessory genomes of 207 R. equi isolates, and we describe IME2287, a novel genetic element in the accessory genome of clone 2287, potentially involved in the maintenance and spread of this MDR population over time. IME2287 is a putative self-replicative integrative mobilizable element (IME) carrying a DNA replication and partitioning operon and genes encoding its excision and integration from the R. equi genome via a serine recombinase. Additionally, IME2287 encodes a protein containing a Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domain that may inhibit TLR-mediated NF-kB signaling in the host and a toxin–antitoxin (TA) system, whose orthologs have been associated with antibiotic resistance/tolerance, virulence, pathogenicity islands, bacterial persistence, and pathogen trafficking. This new set of genes may explain the success of clone 2287 over the other MDR R. equi clones.
Tackling Antibiotic and Antifungal Resistance in Domestic Animals, Synanthropic Species, and Wildlife: A Global Health Imperative
Authors: Russo Tamara Pasqualina , Santaniello Antonio
Published: November 2023

Antibiotic resistance (ABR) and antifungal resistance (AFR) arise when microorganisms evolve mechanisms to resist pharmacological treatments [...]
Antibacterial Efficiency of Tanacetum vulgare Essential Oil against ESKAPE Pathogens and Synergisms with Antibiotics
Authors: Roman Horațiu , Niculescu Adelina-Gabriela , Lazăr Veronica , Mitache Mihaela Magdalena
Published: November 2023

Medicinal plants with multiple targets of action have become one of the most promising solutions in the fight against multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections. Tanacetum vulgare (Tansy) is one of the medicinal plants with antibacterial qualities that deserve to be studied. Thus, this research takes a closer look at tansy extract’s composition and antibacterial properties, aiming to highlight its potential against clinically relevant bacterial strains. In this respect, the antibacterial test was performed against several drug-resistant pathogenic strains, and we correlated them with the main isolated compounds, demonstrating the therapeutic properties of the extract. The essential oil was extracted via hydrodistillation, and its composition was characterized via gas chromatography. The main isolated compounds known for their antibacterial effects were α-Thujone, β-Thujone, Eucalyptol, Sabinene, Chrysanthenon, Camphor, Linalool oxide acetate, cis-Carveol, trans-Carveyl acetate, and Germacrene. The evaluation of the antibacterial activity was carried out using the Kirby–Bauer and binary microdilution methods on Gram-positive and Gram-negative MDR strains belonging to the ESKAPE group (i.e., Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter spp.). Tansy essential oil showed MIC values ranging from 62.5 to 500 μg/mL against the tested strains. Synergistic activity with different classes of antibiotics (penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, monobactams, aminoglycosides, and quinolones) has also been noted. The obtained results demonstrate that tansy essential oil represents a promising lead for developing new antimicrobials active against MDR alone or in combination with antibiotics.
Automatic Recognition of Blood Cell Images with Dense Distributions Based on a Faster Region-Based Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Liu Yun , Liu Yumeng , Chen Menglu , Xue Haoxing , Wu Xiaoqiang , Shui Linqi , Xing Junhong , Wang Xian , Li Hequn , Jiao Mingxing
Published: November 2023

In modern clinical medicine, the important information of red blood cells, such as shape and number, is applied to detect blood diseases. However, the automatic recognition problem of single cells and adherent cells always exists in a densely distributed medical scene, which is difficult to solve for both the traditional detection algorithms with lower recognition rates and the conventional networks with weaker feature extraction capabilities. In this paper, an automatic recognition method of adherent blood cells with dense distribution is proposed. Based on the Faster R-CNN, the balanced feature pyramid structure, deformable convolution network, and efficient pyramid split attention mechanism are adopted to automatically recognize the blood cells under the conditions of dense distribution, extrusion deformation, adhesion and overlap. In addition, the Align algorithm for region of interest also contributes to improving the accuracy of recognition results. The experimental results show that the mean average precision of cell detection is 0.895, which is 24.5% higher than that of the original network model. Compared with the one-stage mainstream networks, the presented network has a stronger feature extraction capability. The proposed method is suitable for identifying single cells and adherent cells with dense distribution in the actual medical scene.
One Hundred and Fifty Years of Skin Effect
Authors: Coufal Oldřich
Published: November 2023

In 1873, J.C. Maxwell derived relations for current density and current in a solitary long cylindrical conductor supplied with variable current. According to Maxwell, the current density in a conductor increases towards the conductor surface. This phenomenon is called the skin effect. The skin effect affects in particular the inductance of a line formed by one or several long parallel conductors. A number of papers have been published regarding the skin effect and its effect on inductance. Another phenomenon, closely related to the skin effect, is the proximity effect, which refers to the dependence of the current density in a conductor on the proximity of other conductors through which a time-variable current is flowing. Many published papers deal with the calculation of current density in two conductors, using the method for calculating current density in a solitary conductor. All the phenomena given above can be analysed and quantitatively described based on the knowledge of current density in conductors, and therefore the method for calculating current density in a group of conductors is of fundamental significance. It follows from the analysis performed that the skin effect is not a general characteristic of current density in long conductors, except for in the solitary conductor. This conclusion affects the knowledge of the phenomena associated with the skin effect.
Convolutional Neural Network–Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit Facial Expression Recognition Method Fused with Attention Mechanism
Authors: Tang Chaolin , Zhang Dong , Tian Qichuan
Published: November 2023

The relationships among different subregions in facial images and their varying contributions to facial expression recognition indicate that using a fixed subregion weighting scheme would result in a substantial loss of valuable information. To address this issue, we propose a facial expression recognition network called BGA-Net, which combines bidirectional gated recurrent units (BiGRUs) with an attention mechanism. Firstly, a convolutional neural network (CNN) is employed to extract feature maps from facial images. Then, a sliding window cropping strategy is applied to divide the feature maps into multiple subregions. The BiGRUs are utilized to capture the dependencies among these subregions. Finally, an attention mechanism is employed to adaptively focus on the most discriminative regions. When evaluated on CK+, FER2013, and JAFFE datasets, our proposed method achieves promising results.