bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using Mobile Device Data to Track the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Spatiotemporal Patterns of National Park Visitation
Authors: Kupfer John A. , Li Zhenlong , Ning Huan , Huang Xiao
Published: August 2021

Effective quantification of visitation is important for understanding many impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on national parks and other protected areas. In this study, we mapped and analyzed the spatiotemporal patterns of visitation for six national parks in the western U.S., taking advantage of large mobility records sampled from mobile devices and released by SafeGraph as part of their Social Distancing Metric dataset. Based on comparisons with visitation statistics released by the U.S. National Park Service, our results confirmed that mobility records from digital devices can effectively capture park visitation patterns but with much finer spatiotemporal granularity. In general, triggers of visitation changes corresponded well with the parks’ management responses to COVID-19, with all six parks showing dramatic decreases in the number of visitors (compared to 2019) beginning in March 2020 and continuing through April and May. As restrictions were eased to promote access to the parks and the benefits associated with outdoor recreation, visitation in 2020 approached or even passed that from 2019 by late summer or early autumn at most of the parks. The results also revealed that parks initially saw the greatest increases in visitation after reopening originating from nearby states, with visitorship coming from a broader range of states as time passed. Our study highlights the capability of mobility data for providing spatiotemporally explicit knowledge of place visitation.
Comparing Impact Evaluation Evidence of EU and Local Development Policies with New Urban Agenda Themes: The Agri Valley Case in Basilicata (Italy)
Authors: Pontrandolfi Piergiuseppe , Dastoli Priscilla Sofia
Published: August 2021

The European Union’s Cohesion Policy is the most important structural policy in terms of financial commitment, geographical size and time frame, aimed at redistributing wealth between regions and countries, to stimulate growth in areas whose development is lagging behind. The reach of the investments prompted the EU Commission to promote an impact evaluation of the European Structural Funds (SF); however, the impact evaluation of EU programs is almost neglected in the Italian regions. This paper is based on the results developed within the RI.P.R.O.VA.RE project and is aimed at defining an impact evaluation of EU SF and other regional funds, based on evidence derived from the analysis of a specific case study in the Agri Valley area (Basilicata, Italy). To develop the impact evaluation process, the euro amounts of all the individual policies organized according to the themes of the New Urban Agenda (NUA), the impact indicators and the trend for the municipalities are considered together, in order to obtain an overall trend for the entire case study area. An important result is achieved above all in the methodological approach to impact evaluation: the municipal territorial scale is taken into account; the maps illustrate the use of resources; regardless of the type of funding source since there is a comparison between the priority axes of the funds with the NUA issues; and indicators are developed with open data available at a national level. This experiment makes it possible to detect that, even in the face of significant investments, some substantial aspects that are part of the policy objectives remain unchanged or even worsen.
Evolution and Current Challenges of Sustainable Consumption and Production
Authors: Glavič Peter
Published: August 2021

This review paper examines the past, present, and future of sustainable consumption and production (SCP). The history of the Sustainable Development Goal No. 12 (i.e., to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns) is presented and analyzed. A definition of the sustainable consumption is given and the role of education is explained. The present status and existing trends of SCP are introduced by analyzing unsustainable behavior and the existing dilemma, namely sustainable growth or degrowth. A very broad range of methods is used for measuring and evaluating SCP within sustainable development. To forecast the future of SCP, important trends are presented. The future development of SCP will follow several megatrends and it will require reduced personal and collective consumption (degrowth). Energy usage in buildings, renewable energy sources, and energy storage will be important in that respect. Transportation emissions will continue to be lowered. Waste, especially food waste, shall be reduced, and consumer products shall become more durable. All waste must be collected and separated to be reused. SPC is elaborated in view of the two approaches—Industry 4.0 (smart factory), and the “Sixth Wave” evolution. Net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, resource efficiency, and zero waste will be at the forefront of future activities. A circular economy requires extension of product lifetimes, and the reuse and recycling of products. Reducing emissions, pollution and specific energy, water, and raw material usage (especially critical raw materials), as well as the role of digitalization, will be important.
Technology and Management for Sustainable Buildings and Infrastructures
Authors: Kim Sunkuk
Published: August 2021

According to a report published in 2019 by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the building sector accounts for 38% of all energy-related CO2 emissions when adding building construction industry emissions. [...]
A Hybrid Traceability Technology Selection Approach for Sustainable Food Supply Chains
Authors: Islam Samantha , Manning Louise , Cullen Jonathan M.
Published: August 2021

Traceability technologies have great potential to improve sustainable performance in cold food supply chains by reducing food loss. In existing approaches, traceability technologies are selected either intuitively or through a random approach, that neither considers the trade-off between multiple cost–benefit technology criteria nor systematically translates user requirements for traceability systems into the selection process. This paper presents a hybrid approach combining the fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) with integer linear programming to select the optimum traceability technologies for improving sustainable performance in cold food supply chains. The proposed methodology is applied in four case studies utilising data collected from literature and expert interviews. The proposed approach can assist decision-makers, e.g., food business operators and technology companies, to identify what combination of technologies best suits a given food supply chain scenario and reduces food loss at minimum cost.
Doublespeak? Sustainability in the Arctic—A Text Mining Analysis of Norwegian Parliamentary Speeches
Authors: Moilanen Mikko , Østbye Stein
Published: August 2021

This paper contributes to the recent literature on sustainability in the Arctic as a political concept. Parliamentary proceedings have increasingly been recognized as an important source of information for eliciting political issues. In this paper, we use unsupervised text mining techniques to analyze parliamentary speeches for Norway from the period from 2009 to 2016 to answer whether political coalitions talk differently about sustainability in the Arctic depending on being in opposition or government. We find that the difference between being in government and opposition, controlling for political label (left-right), is far more important than the difference between left and right, controlling for role (opposition-government). The results suggest that in the trade-off between political preferences and election success, the balance is tilted in favour of the latter. Our interpretation is that opportunistic behavior seems to dominate partisan behavior in the politics related to sustainability in the Arctic.
The Impact of Informatization on the Relationship between the Tourism Industry and Regional Economic Development
Authors: Zhou Xianghong , Chen Weiwei
Published: August 2021

Modern tourism plays an increasingly important economic role in regional development. However, in the practice of regional economic development, there is often a lag in economic development where the tourism industry is prosperous. We explored the potential impact of the development level of informatization on the coupling and coordination relationship between the tourism industry and regional economic development. Using provincial panel data from 2008 to 2017, we constructed a spatial Dubin model for empirical research. We established an evaluation model for the coupling and coordination relationship between tourism and regional economic development based on the establishment of evaluation models and indicator systems for informatization, tourism, and regional economic development. The results show that improvements to informatization generally promoted the coupling and coordination of tourism and regional economic development. Informatization not only improved the coupling and coordination of tourism and economic development in the region but also had significant spatial spillover effects. In addition to the influencing factors at the information level, the advantages of tourism resources and the level of economic development on the whole also helped to improve the degree of coupling and coordination, while the widening of the income gap between urban and rural areas hindered coordinated development. Further discussion shows that informatization will affect the degree of coupling and coordination between the tourism industry and regional economic development by influencing the level of institutional environment. The findings highlight the need to focus on diversified development of the regional tourism industry and economy while improving the level of informatization and strengthening cross-regional cooperation during informatization. The conclusions contribute to improving the coordinated development of regional tourism and regional economy and provide a scientific basis for the development of informatization and the formulation of tourism and economic policies.
Marketing Activities of Local Food Producers in E-Commerce
Authors: Szymański Grzegorz
Published: August 2021

The food industry is characterized by a constant increase in value. The purpose of this study is to identify the most popular marketing forms used by the analyzed enterprises, which were food producers selling online among the local community and identification of the correlation of the analyzed variables with the age of companies. The survey was carried out with the use of the CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) method, and the research tool was a questionnaire. The Chi-square statistics was used to examine the dependencies of individual variables and V-Cramer coefficient was used to identify the strength of the correlation. The obtained results and their analysis enable to conclude that there is a strong relation between the number of encountered problems in conducting online sales and the period of the company’s existence. The relationship (with a moderate strength) between sources of marketing inspirations used in e-stores and the company’s age was also confirmed. Furthermore, it was noticed that the number of marketing tools increases with the period of the company’s existence. Sales promotion, social media marketing and website positioning were indicated among the most popular tools.
Sustainable Loyalty of Employees in Poland as a Result of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Lipka Anna , Król Małgorzata
Published: August 2021

The pandemic has triggered, on one hand, a wave of employee disloyalty in the form of quitting from non-functioning companies and choosing those seeking employees, and on the other hand, reinforcing their relationships with those companies that made a lot of effort to prevent quitting or letting employees go. The cognitive aim of this article is to answer the question of whether this transition is intended to be temporary or permanent—an issue which has not been recognized in the literature on the subject so far. The planned cognitive contribution is the verification of the hypothesis pertaining to the uneven occurrence of individual types of loyalty. The study was conducted on a nationwide, representative sample (n = 1000) with the use of the CAWI questionnaire. Research has confirmed that sustainable loyalty occurs more often than other types of loyalty. This is a balanced type of loyalty in which the commitment of the employer and the employee is equal, and the employee is attached to the organization and puts their trust in it. The obtained results were interpreted in the context of the influence of the pandemic.
Urban Demolition: Application of Blight Elimination Programs and Flood Buyout Programs to the Italian Case
Authors: Rusci Simone , Altafini Diego , Di Pinto Valerio
Published: August 2021

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness that not all decommissioned and obsolete real-estate assets can be recovered and reused. After the paradigm of urban growth, and following the paradigm of regeneration, a new paradigm seems to be looming on the horizon: the paradigm of shrinkage. Due to this change in perspective, discussions on the potential of demolition policies as an alternative to regeneration and reuse are gaining support in the debate about urban growth. In the United States, there are two on-going programs using demolition as their main tool for urban planning: the blight elimination programs and the flood buyout programs. The former foresees the demolition of abandoned and decayed real-estate assets, while the latter envisions the demolition and relocation of buildings within areas under flooding risks. Given their successful employment in the U.S., this paper evaluates the applicability of these programs to an Italian case, which is characterized by a different building heritage and different territorial conditions. Simulations of the programs’ application are made using two case studies: Lecce nei Marsi (Abruzzo) and Moncalieri (Piemonte). The results demonstrate the substantial feasibility of the blight elimination programs’ usage in Italy, while the flood buyout programs instead demonstrates major obstacles that may hinder its successful application.
Cost and Environmental Impacts of a Mixed Fleet of Vehicles
Authors: Fraselle Justin , Limbourg Sabine Louise , Vidal Laura
Published: August 2021

Urban parcel delivery is increasingly restricted by regulations limiting access to certain heavy or high emitting vehicles to reduce emissions and noise pollution in cities. Cargo bikes represent an alternative solution that enables deliveries with low environmental impact, but they may represent a higher economic cost and come with constraints like battery autonomy or small loading capacity. As a transport scheme relying on bikes for the last miles with fewer externalities, it is regarded as an environmentally friendly choice, and economic sustainability is assessed. This paper aims to present the environmental and economic aspects of different delivery means of transport in European urban areas. Life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology is selected to analyse the environmental impact of several vehicles, allowing us to quantify the emissions according to the loading factor. The electricity mix is an important parameter and makes the results vary according to the country studied. For the economic aspect, the cost price allows us to quantify the operational cost of each means of transport. A trade-off can thus be made between the two.
The Environmental-Economic Performance of a Poblano Family Milpa System: An Emergy Evaluation
Authors: Avalos-Rangel Miguel Angel , Campbell Daniel E. , Reyes-López Delfino , Rueda-Luna Rolando , Munguía-Pérez Ricardo , Huerta-Lara Manuel
Published: August 2021

The family milpa system (FMS) is of great importance to food security and the livelihoods of rural families in Mexico. However, the performance of the system can be compromised due to inappropriate agricultural practices. Therefore, a suitable evaluation strategy is required to identify the best management of resources. Nonetheless, at present, there is no holistic understanding around the nature–society interface that allows us to predict the global behavior of the FMS. Thus, this study assesses the global performance of a Poblano FMS through emergy-based indices. The emergy evaluation was carried out by accounting for the available energy of different qualities used in the system, which were subsequently converted to one kind of energy (solar emjoules). The percentage of renewable emergy (%Ren) used in the system was 72.16%. The emergy self-support ratio (ESR) showed that 74% of the emergy used came from free local resources. The emergy investment ratio (EIR) of 0.36 indicated that the emergy use was efficient. The emergy yield ratio (EYR) was 3.78, which in terms of net emergy (NE), was equivalent to a gain of 1.35 × 1016 sej ha−1 y−1. The environmental loading ratio (ELR) was 0.39, which indicated a low potential environmental impact. The emergy sustainability index (ESI) was high (9.80) compared to other agricultural systems. The performance of the FMS is superior compared to other agricultural systems, including ecologic and recycling systems. However, the use of resources is not optimum and needs to be improved to reach maximum empower.
The Efficiency of LED Irradiation for Cultivating High-Quality Tomato Seedlings
Authors: Meiramkulova Kulyash , Tanybayeva Zhanar , Kydyrbekova Assel , Turbekova Arysgul , Aytkhozhin Serik , Zhantasov Serik , Taukenov Aman
Published: August 2021

Light qualities are considered to affect many plant physiological processes during growth and development. To investigate how light qualities make an influence on tomato seedlings under greenhouse conditions, the growth and morphological parameters of tomato seedlings (Fortizia F1RC hybrid) were studied under three supplemental light irradiations such as light-emitting diodes with nanoparticle coating (LED 1—Red light-emitting diodes); Blue, Green, Yellow, Red light-emitting diodes (LED 2), and traditional high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps with different photosynthetic photon flux density and the same irradiation time for 33 days. Morphological appearances of three groups of tomato seedlings were different between light treatments, that is, the plants under LED-1 and LED-2 were shorter than those under HPS, while stem diameter, leaf area, dry and fresh weights, and health indices of tomato seedlings grown under alternative light sources were higher than of those cultivated under traditional HPS lights. However, the higher plant height was in plants containing traditional high-pressure sodium lamps treatment. Photosynthetic pigments were shown to have a significant difference under respective light irradiations of LEDs. The levels of photosynthetic pigments were higher in the leaves of seedlings under LED 1 and LED 2, and lower in those that underwent HPS control treatment. Based on the data of morphological and statistical analysis, LEDs with nanoparticle coating proved to be beneficial factors for the growth of tomato seedlings under greenhouse conditions.
Learning to Leave and to Return: Mobility, Place, and Sense of Belonging amongst Young People Growing up in Border and Rural Regions of Mainland Portugal
Authors: Silva Sofia Marques da , Silva Ana Milheiro , Cortés-González Pablo , Brazienė Rūta
Published: August 2021

This article examines how mobility is incorporated into the lives of young people growing up in rural border regions of continental Portugal. It also explores how municipalities are dealing with the contemporary imperative of mobility and its consequences. Young people from these regions are affected by decisions to leave to continue studying in higher education, or to find a job. Combined, these lead to an outward migration trend and thus loss of human capital. This paper is based on a multi-method research project carried out in the border regions and involves young people and other stakeholders from 38 municipalities. The data were selected from a questionnaire completed by young people (9th–12th grade; n = 3968), 38 semi-structured interviews with local policymakers, 50 biographical interviews, and 5 focus groups with young people. Results indicate that although most young people aspire to further education and do not fear leaving their region, they nonetheless tend to integrate the necessity to be mobile into their biographies. Hence, they do not associate it with displacement or as being tantamount to abandoning their region, and to which some of them want to return. We consider that in parallel with learning to leave local sentiments, policies, and actions are emerging towards coalescing a trend of learning to stay and returning. We propose an interpretation of this tendency as indicative of new understandings around these peripheral territories and which are shaped by young people’s experience of reconciling a sense of belonging to place and any associated mobilities.
A Global Media Analysis of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Chicken Meat Food Systems: Key Vulnerabilities and Opportunities for Building Resilience
Authors: Chapot Lorraine , Whatford Louise , Compston Polly , Tak Mehroosh , Cuevas Soledad , Garza Maria , Bennani Houda , Bin Aslam Hassaan , Hennessey Mathew , Limon Georgina , Queenan Kevin , Fournié Guillaume , Dadios Nikolaos , Häsler Barbara
Published: August 2021

Food systems are increasingly under threat, with climate, biological, economic or policy shocks and stressors occurring at an increasing frequency and scale. Their complex and fragile nature has become even more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic review of news articles published globally between December 2019 and April 2020 was conducted to describe the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the chicken meat system and to identify key vulnerabilities and intervention points to build resilience. Most of the impacts identified were caused by a combination of the different mitigation measures implemented by the system actors such as movement restrictions rather than by the direct effects of the virus, thereby demonstrating the importance of interconnections and coordination in the system. Social media were found to have played a crucial role in amplifying, mitigating or mediating the impact of the pandemic. The findings highlight the importance of adopting a holistic approach that integrates the multiple dimensions of food systems for effective responses to systemic shocks.
Design and Catalytic Behaviour of Hosted in Activated Carbon Foam CoxZn1−xFe2O4 Ferrites
Authors: Tsoncheva Tanya , Ivanova Radostina , Velinov Nikolay , Kovacheva Daniela , Spassova Ivanka , Karashanova Daniela , Petrov Nartzislav
Published: August 2021

Carbon foams with different surface functionality and tailored texture characteristics were prepared from mixtures containing coal tar pitch and furfural in different proportions. The obtained materials were used as a host matrix for the preparation of zinc- and cobalt-mixed ferrite nanoparticles. The texture, morphology, phase composition, and the related redox and catalytic properties of the obtained composites were characterized by low-temperature nitrogen physisorption, XRD, SEM, HRTEM, FTIR, Mössbauer spectroscopy, TPR and catalytic decomposition of methanol to syngas. The impact of the carbon support on the formation of Co- and Zn-mixed ferrites was discussed in detail using KIT-6 silica-based modifications as reference samples. The catalytic behavior of the ferrites was considered in a complex relation to their composition, morphology, location in the porous matrix and metal ions distribution in the spinel sub-lattices. The higher amount of furfural in the carbon foam precursor promoted the formation of cobalt-rich, more accessible and highly active methanol decomposition to syngas spinel particles.
Finding Hidden Outliers to Promote the Consistency of Key Morphological Traits and Phylogeny in Dennstaedtiaceae
Authors: Wang Ting , Liu Li , Luo Jun-Jie , Gu Yu-Feng , Chen Si-Si , Liu Bing , Shang Hui , Yan Yue-Hong
Published: August 2021

With the development of open science and technological innovation, using sharing data and molecular biology techniques in the study of taxonomy and systematics have become a crucial component of plants, which undoubtedly helps us discover more hidden outliers or deal with difficult taxa. In this paper, we take Dennstaedtia smithii as an example, based on sharing molecular database, virtual herbarium and plant photo bank, to clarify the outliers that have been hidden in Dennstaedtia and find the key morphological traits with consistent of molecular systematics. In molecular phylogenetic analyses, we used rbcL, rps4, psbA-trnH and trnL-F sequences from 5 new and 49 shared data; the results showed that Dennstaedtia smithii is nested within Microlepia rather than Dennstaedtia. We further studied the morphological characters based on the phylogeny result and found that D. smithii is distinguished from other species of Dennstaedtia by spore ornamentation and the unconnected of grooves between rachis and pinna rachis. According to morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies, our results supported that D. smithii should be a new member of Microlepia and renamed Microlepia smithii (Hook.) Y.H. Yan. Finding hidden outliers can promote the consistency of morphological and molecular phylogenetic results, and make the systematic classification more natural.
Cytotoxicity of Mycotoxins Frequently Present in Aquafeeds to the Fish Cell Line RTGill-W1
Authors: Bernal-Algaba Elena , Pulgarín-Alfaro Marta , Fernández-Cruz María Luisa
Published: August 2021

In the last decades, the aquaculture industry has introduced plant-based ingredients as a source of protein in aquafeeds. This has led to mycotoxin contaminations, representing an ecological, health and economic problem. The aim of this study was to determine in the RTgill-W1 fish cell line the toxicity of fifteen mycotoxins of common occurrence in aquafeeds. To identify the most sensitive endpoint of toxicity, the triple assay was used. It consisted of three assays: alamarBlue, Neutral Red Uptake and CFDA-AM, which revealed the mitochondrial activity, the lysosomal integrity and the plasma membrane integrity, respectively. Most of the assayed mycotoxins were toxic predominantly at lysosomal level (enniatins, beauvericin, zearalenone, ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol (DON) and its acetylated metabolites 15-O-acetyl-DON and 3-acetyl-DON). Aflatoxins B1 and B2 exerted the greatest effects at mitochondrial level, while fumonisins B1 and B2 and nivalenol were not toxic up to 100 µg/mL. In general, low toxicity was observed at plasma membrane level. The vast majority of the mycotoxins assayed exerted a pronounced acute effect in the fish RTgill-W1 cell line, emphasizing the need for further studies to ascertain the impact of mycotoxin contamination of fish feeds in the aquaculture industry and to establish safe limits in aquafeeds.
Human-Relevant Sensitivity of iPSC-Derived Human Motor Neurons to BoNT/A1 and B1
Authors: Schenke Maren , Prause Hélène-Christine , Bergforth Wiebke , Przykopanski Adina , Rummel Andreas , Klawonn Frank , Seeger Bettina
Published: August 2021

The application of botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) for medical treatments necessitates a potency quantification of these lethal bacterial toxins, resulting in the use of a large number of test animals. Available alternative methods are limited in their relevance, as they are based on rodent cells or neuroblastoma cell lines or applicable for single toxin serotypes only. Here, human motor neurons (MNs), which are the physiological target of BoNTs, were generated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and compared to the neuroblastoma cell line SiMa, which is often used in cell-based assays for BoNT potency determination. In comparison with the mouse bioassay, human MNs exhibit a superior sensitivity to the BoNT serotypes A1 and B1 at levels that are reflective of human sensitivity. SiMa cells were able to detect BoNT/A1, but with much lower sensitivity than human MNs and appear unsuitable to detect any BoNT/B1 activity. The MNs used for these experiments were generated according to three differentiation protocols, which resulted in distinct sensitivity levels. Molecular parameters such as receptor protein concentration and electrical activity of the MNs were analyzed, but are not predictive for BoNT sensitivity. These results show that human MNs from several sources should be considered in BoNT testing and that human MNs are a physiologically relevant model, which could be used to optimize current BoNT potency testing.
Gravitational Capture Cross-Section of Particles by Schwarzschild-Tangherlini Black Holes
Authors: Ahmedov Bobomurat , Rahimov Ozodbek , Toshmatov Bobir
Published: August 2021

We study the capture cross-section of massless (photon) and massive test particles by the Schwarzschild–Tangherlini black hole, which is a solution of pure general relativity in higher dimensional spacetime with R×SD−2 topology. It is shown that an extra dimension weakens the gravitational attraction of a black hole, and consequently, radii of all the characteristic circular orbits, such as the radius of a photonsphere decrease in the higher dimensions. Furthermore, it is shown that in higher dimensions, there are no stable and bounded circular orbits. The critical impact parameters and capture cross-sections of photons and massive particles are calculated for several higher dimensions and it is shown that they also decrease with increasing dimension. Moreover, we calculate the capture cross-section of relativistic and non-relativistic test particles in the higher dimensions.
New Bounds for the Mass of Warm Dark Matter Particles Using Results from Fermionic King Model
Authors: Velazquez Luisberis
Published: August 2021

After reviewing several aspects about the thermodynamics of self-gravitating systems that undergo the evaporation (escape) of their constituents, some recent results obtained in the framework of fermionic King model are applied here to the analysis of galactic halos considering warm dark matter (WDM) particles. According to the present approach, the reported structural parameters of dwarf galaxies are consistent with the existence of a WDM particle with mass in the keV scale. Assuming that the dwarf galaxy Willman 1 belongs to the region III of fermionic King model (whose gravothermal collapse is a continuous phase transition), one obtains the interval 1.2 keV ≤ m ≤ 2.6 keV for the mass of WDM particle. This analysis improves previous estimates by de Vega and co-workers [Astropart. Phys. 46 (2013) 14–22] considering both the quantum degeneration and the incidence of the constituents evaporation. This same analysis evidences that most of galaxies are massive enough to undergo a violent gravothermal collapse (a discontinuous microcanonical phase transition) that leads to the formation of a degenerate core of WDM particles. It is also suggested that quantum-relativistic processes governing the cores of large galaxies (e.g., the formation of supermassive black holes) are somehow related to the gravothermal collapse of the WDM degenerate cores when the total mass of these systems are comparable to the quantum-relativistic characteristic mass Mc=ℏc/G3/2m−2≃1012M⊙ obtained for WDM particles with mass m in the keV scale. The fact that a WDM particle with mass in the keV scale seems to be consistent with the observed properties of dwarf and large galaxies provides a strong support to this dark matter candidate.
RNA and Sugars, Unique Properties of Bacteriophages Infecting Multidrug Resistant Acinetobacter radioresistens Strain LH6
Authors: Crippen Clay S. , Zhou Bibi , Andresen Silke , Patry Robert T. , Muszyński Artur , Parker Craig T. , Cooper Kerry K. , Szymanski Christine M.
Published: August 2021

Bacteriophages (phages) are predicted to be the most ubiquitous biological entity on earth, and yet, there are still vast knowledge gaps in our understanding of phage diversity and phage–host interactions. Approximately one hundred Acinetobacter-infecting DNA viruses have been identified, and in this report, we describe eight more. We isolated two typical dsDNA lytic podoviruses (CAP1–2), five unique dsRNA lytic cystoviruses (CAP3–7), and one dsDNA lysogenic siphovirus (SLAP1), all capable of infecting the multidrug resistant isolate Acinetobacter radioresistens LH6. Using transmission electron microscopy, bacterial mutagenesis, phage infectivity assays, carbohydrate staining, mass-spectrometry, genomic sequencing, and comparative studies, we further characterized these phages. Mutation of the LH6 initiating glycosyltransferase homolog, PglC, necessary for both O-linked glycoprotein and capsular polysaccharide (CPS) biosynthesis, prevented infection by the lytic podovirus CAP1, while mutation of the pilin protein, PilA, prevented infection by CAP3, representing the lytic cystoviruses. Genome sequencing of the three dsRNA segments of the isolated cystoviruses revealed low levels of homology, but conserved synteny with the only other reported cystoviruses that infect Pseudomonas species. In Pseudomonas, the cystoviruses are known to be enveloped phages surrounding their capsids with the inner membrane from the infected host. To characterize any membrane-associated glycoconjugates in the CAP3 cystovirus, carbohydrate staining was used to identify a low molecular weight lipid-linked glycoconjugate subsequently identified by mutagenesis and mass-spectrometry as bacterial lipooligosaccharide. Together, this study demonstrates the isolation of new Acinetobacter-infecting phages and the determination of their cell receptors. Further, we describe the genomes of a new genus of Cystoviruses and perform an initial characterization of membrane-associated glycoconjugates.
The Microvillar and Solitary Chemosensory Cells as the Novel Targets of Infection of SARS-CoV-2 in Syrian Golden Hamsters
Authors: Seo Jin-Seok , Yoon Sun-Woo , Hwang Seung-Hyeon , Nam Sung-Min , Nahm Sang-Soep , Jeong Jei-Hyun , Lee Jiho , Youn Ha-Na , Kim Jun-Beom , Kim Woosuk
Published: August 2021

Patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019, suffer from respiratory and non-respiratory symptoms. Among these symptoms, the loss of smell has attracted considerable attention. The objectives of this study were to determine which cells are infected, what happens in the olfactory system after viral infection, and how these pathologic changes contribute to olfactory loss. For this purpose, Syrian golden hamsters were used. First, we verified the olfactory structures in the nasal cavity of Syrian golden hamsters, namely the main olfactory epithelium, the vomeronasal organ, and their cellular components. Second, we found angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 expression, a receptor protein of SARS-CoV-2, in both structures and infections of supporting, microvillar, and solitary chemosensory cells. Third, we observed pathological changes in the infected epithelium, including reduced thickness of the mucus layer, detached epithelia, indistinct layers of epithelia, infiltration of inflammatory cells, and apoptotic cells in the overall layers. We concluded that a structurally and functionally altered microenvironment influences olfactory function. We observed the regeneration of the damaged epithelium, and found multilayers of basal cells, indicating that they were activated and proliferating to reconstitute the injured epithelium.
Equine Influenza Virus and Vaccines
Authors: Oladunni Fatai S. , Oseni Saheed Oluwasina , Martinez-Sobrido Luis , Chambers Thomas M.
Published: August 2021

Equine influenza virus (EIV) is a constantly evolving viral pathogen that is responsible for yearly outbreaks of respiratory disease in horses termed equine influenza (EI). There is currently no evidence of circulation of the original H7N7 strain of EIV worldwide; however, the EIV H3N8 strain, which was first isolated in the early 1960s, remains a major threat to most of the world’s horse populations. It can also infect dogs. The ability of EIV to constantly accumulate mutations in its antibody-binding sites enables it to evade host protective immunity, making it a successful viral pathogen. Clinical and virological protection against EIV is achieved by stimulation of strong cellular and humoral immunity in vaccinated horses. However, despite EI vaccine updates over the years, EIV remains relevant, because the protective effects of vaccines decay and permit subclinical infections that facilitate transmission into susceptible populations. In this review, we describe how the evolution of EIV drives repeated EI outbreaks even in horse populations with supposedly high vaccination coverage. Next, we discuss the approaches employed to develop efficacious EI vaccines for commercial use and the existing system for recommendations on updating vaccines based on available clinical and virological data to improve protective immunity in vaccinated horse populations. Understanding how EIV biology can be better harnessed to improve EI vaccines is central to controlling EI.
Recombinant Antigens Based on Non-Glycosylated Regions from RBD SARS-CoV-2 as Potential Vaccine Candidates against COVID-19
Authors: Núñez-Muñoz Leandro , Marcelino-Pérez Gabriel , Calderón-Pérez Berenice , Pérez-Saldívar Miriam , Acosta-Virgen Karla , González-Conchillos Hugo , Vargas-Hernández Brenda , Olivares-Martínez Ana , Ruiz-Medrano Roberto , Roa-Velázquez Daniela , Morales-Ríos Edgar , Ramos-Flores Jorge , Torres-Franco Gustavo , Peláez-González Diana , Fernández-Hernández Jorge , Espinosa-Cantellano Martha , Tapia-Sidas Diana , Ramírez-Pool José Abrahan , Padilla-Viveros América , Xoconostle-Cázares Beatriz
Published: August 2021

The Receptor-Binding Domain (RBD) of the Spike (S) protein from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has glycosylation sites which can limit the production of reliable antigens expressed in prokaryotic platforms, due to glycan-mediated evasion of the host immune response. However, protein regions without glycosylated residues capable of inducing neutralizing antibodies could be useful for antigen production in systems that do not carry the glycosylation machinery. To test this hypothesis, the potential antigens NG06 and NG19, located within the non-glycosylated S-RBD region, were selected and expressed in Escherichia coli, purified by FPLC and employed to determine their immunogenic potential through detection of antibodies in serum from immunized rabbits, mice, and COVID-19 patients. IgG antibodies from sera of COVID-19-recovered patients detected the recombinant antigens NG06 and NG19 (A450 nm = 0.80 ± 0.33; 1.13 ± 0.33; and 0.11 ± 0.08 for and negatives controls, respectively). Also, the purified antigens were able to raise polyclonal antibodies in animal models evoking a strong immune response with neutralizing activity in mice model. This research highlights the usefulness of antigens based on the non-N-glycosylated region of RBD from SARS-CoV-2 for candidate vaccine development.
The Credibility of Health Information Sources as Predictors of Attitudes toward Vaccination—The Results from a Longitudinal Study in Poland
Authors: Stasiuk Katarzyna , Polak Mateusz , Dolinski Dariusz , Maciuszek Jozef
Published: August 2021

Background: The research focused on the relationships between attitudes towards vaccination and the trust placed in different sources of information (science, experts and the information available on the Internet) before and during COVID-19. Method: A longitudinal design was applied with the first measurement in February 2018 (N = 1039). The second measurement (N = 400) was carried out in December 2020 to test if the pandemic influenced the trust in different sources of information. Results: The final analyses carried out on final sample of 400 participants showed that there has been no change in trust in the Internet as a source of knowledge about health during the pandemic. However, the trust in science, physicians, subjective health knowledge, as well as the attitude towards the vaccination has declined. Regression analysis also showed that changes in the level of trust in physicians and science were associated with analogous (in the same direction) changes in attitudes toward vaccination. The study was also focused on the trust in different sources of health knowledge as possible predictors of willingness to be vaccinated against SARS-nCoV-2. However, it appeared that the selected predictors explained a small part of the variance. This suggests that attitudes toward the new COVID vaccines may have different sources than attitudes toward vaccines that have been known to the public for a long time.
Wildfire Impacts on Groundwater Aquifers: A Case Study of the 1996 Honey Boy Fire in Beaver County, Utah, USA
Authors: Johnk Benjamin T. , Mays David C.
Published: August 2021

It is well known that wildfires destroy vegetation and form soil crusts, both of which increase stormwater runoff that accelerates erosion, but less attention has been given to wildfire impacts on groundwater aquifers. Here, we present a systematic study across the contiguous United States to test the hypothesis that wildfires reduce infiltration, indicated by temporary reductions in groundwater levels. Geographic information systems (GIS) analysis performed using structured queried language (SQL) categorized wildfires by their proximity to wells with publicly available monitoring data. Although numerous wildfires were identified with nearby monitoring wells, most of these data were confounded by unknown processes, preventing a clear acceptance or rejection of the hypothesis. However, this analysis did identify a particular case study, the 1996 Honey Boy Fire in Beaver County, Utah, USA that supports the hypothesis. At this site, daily groundwater data from a well located 790 m from the centroid of the wildfire were used to assess the groundwater level before and after the wildfire. A sinusoidal time series adjusted for annual precipitation matches groundwater level fluctuations before the wildfire but cannot explain the approximately two-year groundwater level reduction after the wildfire. Thus, for this case study, there is a correlation, which may be causal, between the wildfire and temporary reduction in groundwater levels. Generalizing this result will require further research.
Coupling Rivers and Estuaries with an Ocean Model: An Improved Methodology
Authors: Sobrinho João , de Pablo Hilda , Campuzano Francisco , Neves Ramiro
Published: August 2021

Freshwater sources are essential inputs for regional ocean models covering coastal areas such as the western Iberian Peninsula. The problem is how to include the mixture between fresh and salt water, typically performed by estuaries and in the adjacent areas of river mouths, without unsustainable increases of computational time and human setup errors. This work provides a proof-of-concept solution to both these problems through the use of an offline two-way methodology, where local schematic rivers and estuaries are responsible for mixing river freshwater with salt water of a regional model application. Two different offline upscaling methodologies—which focus on the implementation of tidal fluxes from local domains to regional domains in the context of operational modelling—are implemented in the Portuguese Coast Operational Modelling System (PCOMS) regional model application as well as in a version without rivers. A comparison between results produced by these methodologies, field data, and satellite imagery was performed, which confirmed that the proposed methodology of using schematic rivers and estuaries, combined with the new offline upscaling methodology proposed herein, represents a good solution for operational modelling of coastal areas subject to a high dominance of freshwater inputs.
Cloud Physical and Climatological Factors for the Determination of Rain Intensity
Authors: Dahlström Bengt
Published: August 2021

The focus of this research is to develop a general method for estimation of rain intensity for application in various geographical regions. In a world with a changing climate, a high importance is attributed to the potential threats caused by increased temperature and rainfall intensity levels. The rainfall intensity climate is here interpreted by a combination of cloud physical factors affecting rain intensity and further developed by the use of climate data and rain intensity statistics. A formula was developed that estimates extreme rainfall and the frequency of these extremes with durations in the intervals of 5 min to 24 h. The obtained estimates are compared in this article with results from statistical methods for the extreme value analysis of measurements. The comparison shows about 90% of the explained variance. The coefficients in the formula are connected with climatological predictors based on the climatological norms of temperature and rainfall. Rain intensity maps over Sweden were produced using the developed formula. Examples of the function of the formula are also given for six European countries. The application of the formula in connection with the probable maximum precipitation (PMP) is presented, where the return period of extreme rainfall is a key factor. The formula is tested with an assumed increased warming of the atmosphere of 1 to 5 °C, and the result indicates an increase of 5.9% of the rainfall amount per each warming degree in intense rainfall.
Effect of Gas Volume Fraction on the Energy Loss Characteristics of Multiphase Pumps at Each Cavitation Stage
Authors: Shi Jianwei , Tao Sijia , Shi Guangtai , Song Wenwu
Published: August 2021

In the process of conveying a medium, when the inlet pressure is low, the cavitation phenomenon easily occurs in the pump, especially in the gas–liquid two-phase working condition. The occurrence of the cavitation phenomenon has a great impact on the performance of the multiphase pump. In this paper, the SST (sheard stress transport) k-ω turbulence model and ZGB (Zwart–Gerber–Belamri) cavitation model were used to simulate the helical axial flow multiphase pump (hereinafter referred to as the multiphase pump), and the experimental verification was carried out. The effect of gas volume fraction (GVF) on the energy loss characteristics in each cavitation stage of the multiphase pump is analyzed in detail. The study shows that the critical cavitation coefficient of the multiphase pump gradually decreases with the increase in GVF, which depresses the evolution of cavitation, and the cavitation performance of the multiphase hump is improved. The ratio of total loss and friction loss to total flow loss in the impeller fluid domain gradually increases with the development of cavitation, and the pressurization performance of the multiphase pump gradually decreases with the development of cavitation. The results of the study can provide theoretical guidance for the improvement of the performance of the multiphase pump.