bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A CRISPR Test for Rapidly and Sensitively Detecting Circulating EGFR Mutations
Authors: Tsou Jen-Hui , Leng Qixin , Jiang Feng
Published: February 2020

The detection of EGFR mutations in circulating cell-free DNA can enable personalized therapy for cancer. The current techniques for detecting circulating EGFR mutations are expensive and time-consuming with moderate sensitivity. Emerging CRISPR is revolutionizing medical diagnostics and showing a great promise for nucleic acid detection. This study aims to develop CRISPR-Cas12a as a simple test to sensitively detect circulating EGFR mutations in plasma. Serially diluted samples of DNA containing heterozygous EGFR mutations (L858R and T790M) in wild-type genomic DNA are concurrently tested for the mutations by a CRISPR-Cas12a system and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). The CRISPR-Cas12a system can detect both L858R and T790M with a limit of detection of 0.005% in less than three hours. ddPCR detects the mutations with a limit of detection of 0.05% for more than five hours. Plasma samples of 28 lung cancer patients and 20 cancer-free individuals are tested for the EGFR mutations by CRISPR-Cas12a system and ddPCR. The CRISPR-Cas12a system could detect L858R in plasma of two lung cancer patients whose tissue biopsies are positive for L858R, and one plasma sample of three lung cancer patients whose tissue biopsies are positive for T790M. ddPCR detects L858R in the same two plasm samples, however, does not detect T790M in any of the plasma samples. This proof of principle study demonstrates that the CRISPR-Cas12a system could rapidly and sensitively detect circulating EGFR mutations, and thus, has potential prognostic or therapeutic implications.
The Impact of Policy and Technology Parameters on the Economics of Microgrids for Rural Electrification: A Case Study of Remote Communities in Bolivia
Authors: Husein Munir , Kim Hyung-Ju , Chung Il-Yop
Published: February 2020

Throughout the developing world, most remote and isolated communities are still without reliable electricity in the twenty-first century, and this is primarily due to the high cost of grid extensions. In communities that do have electricity, they usually rely on diesel generators, though these have high operating and maintenance costs, while also polluting the environment. A more sustainable approach is to deploy microgrids, however, microgrids have a high upfront cost, which is a major obstacle, especially in rural areas of developing countries. This study aims to investigate the parameters that can be influenced to make microgrids more economical for rural electrification. Through sensitivity analyses, five key policy and technology parameters were identified. They include real discount rates, diesel prices, grants, battery chemistry, and operating strategies. The system was then redesigned using scenarios formulated by varying these parameters. Results show that the parameters affect the configuration, levelized cost of energy (LCOE), renewable energy penetration (REP), and pollutant emissions. The study uses three remote communities in the Beni Department of Bolivia as case studies. MDSTool was used as a modeling framework to design the microgrids. The unique insights and lessons learned during the design process are discussed at length because these may be valuable for future microgrid designs for remote communities.
Energy, Exergy and Economic Analyses of a Combined Heating and Power System with Turbine-Driving Fans and Pumps in Northeast China
Authors: Li Ximei , Gao Jianmin , Zhang Yaning , Zhang Yu , Du Qian , Wu Shaohua , Qin Yukun
Published: February 2020

The combined heating and power (CHP) system with turbine-driving fans and pumps is more efficient and economical in meeting heat demand in cold areas, however, there are no detailed studies that investigate its thermodynamic performance, improvement possibilities and economy. In this paper, the energy, exergy and economic analysis of a CHP system with turbine-driving fans and pumps operated in Northeast China were conducted to provide insights into improvement options. It is revealed that the boiler is the main source of exergy destruction, followed by the steam-water heat exchangers (SWHE), temperature and pressure reducer (TPR), turbines, and deaerator. The energy and exergy efficiencies of the system are 89.72% and 10.07%, while the boiler’s are 84.89% and 30.04%. The thermodynamic performance of the boiler and turbines are compared with other studies, and the inefficiencies of major components are analyzed and some advice for further improvement is given. As the reference state changes, the main conclusions stay the same. The turbine-driving mode saves an electricity cost of 16,654.08 yuan on 15 December 2018. The effect of electricity price and on-grid price on the saved daily electricity cost is investigated and it proves that the turbine-driving mode is more economical in China.
Combined Radiative Cooling and Solar Thermal Collection: Experimental Proof of Concept
Authors: Vall Sergi , Medrano Marc , Solé Cristian , Castell Albert
Published: February 2020

Climate change is becoming more important day after day. The main actor to decarbonize the economy is the building stock, especially in the energy used for Domestic Hot Water (DHW), heating and cooling. The use of renewable energy sources to cover space conditioning and DHW demands is growing every year. While solar thermal energy can cover building heating and DHW demands, there is no technology with such potential and development for space cooling. In this paper, a new concept of combining radiative cooling and solar thermal collection, the Radiative Collector and Emitter (RCE), through the idea of an adaptive cover, which uses different material properties for each functionality, is for the first time experimentally tested and proved. The RCE relies on an adaptive cover that uses different material properties for each functionality: high spectral transmittance in the solar radiation band and very low spectral transmittance in the infrared band during solar collection mode, and high spectral transmittance in the atmospheric window wavelength during radiative cooling mode. Experiments were performed during the summer period in Lleida (Dry Mediterranean Continental climate). The concept was proved, demonstrating the potential of the RCE to heat up water during daylight hours and to cool down water during the night. Daily/nightly average efficiencies up to 49% and 32% were achieved for solar collection and radiative cooling, respectively.
Inter-turn Fault Identification of Surface-Mounted Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Based on Inverter Harmonics
Authors: Gao Fengyang , Zhang Guoheng , Li Mingming , Gao Yunbo , Zhuang Shengxian
Published: February 2020

Inter-turn short-circuit faults can lead to further faults in motors. This makes monitoring and identifying such faults particularly important. However, because of interference in their working environment, fault signals can be weak and difficult to detect in permanent magnet synchronous motors. This paper proposes a method for overcoming this by extracting the inverter harmonics as an excitation source and then extracting characteristic of fault measurements from the negative sequence voltage. First of all, a model of permanent magnet synchronous motor faults is established and a fault negative sequence voltage is introduced to calculate the fault indicators. Then the high frequency harmonic excitation in the voltage is extracted. This is injected into the original voltage signal and the high frequency negative sequence component is separated and detected by a second-order generalized integrator. Simulation results show that the proposed method can effectively identify inter-turn short-circuit faults in permanent magnet synchronous motors while remaining highly resistant to interference. The method is especially effective when the severity of the fault is relatively small and the torque is relatively large.
Vortex-Induced Vibration Characteristics of a PTC Cylinder with a Free Surface Effect
Authors: Zhang Dahai , Feng Lei , Yang Hao , Li Tianjiao , Sun Hai
Published: February 2020

The experimental study of vortex induced vibration needs to be carried out in water tunnel, but in previous associated simulation work, the water tunnel was treated as an infinite flow field in the depth direction with the effect of the free surface neglected. In the paper, the dynamic characteristics and physical mechanisms of a passive turbulence control (PTC) cylinder in a flow field with a free surface is studied, and the combined technique of a volume of fluid (VOF) method and vortex-induced vibration (VIV) was realized. In the range of Reynolds number studied in this paper (3.5 × 104 ≤ Re ≤ 7.0 × 104), the dynamic parameters (lift and drag coefficients), vortex structures, VIV response (amplitude and frequency ratios), and energy harvesting characteristics of a PTC cylinder under different flow conditions were obtained. The study found that: (1) the shear layer was made more unstable behind the cylinder by the free surface, which made it quicker to reach periodic stability, and the asymmetry shortened the initial stage of vibration of the oscillator, which made it easier to produce dynamic control of the motion of the oscillator; (2) the presence of the free surface only affected the positive amplitude ratio, but had almost no effect on the negative amplitude ratio; (3) the frequency ratio in the free surface flow was closer to the experimental data; (4) the presence of the free surface did not affect the detached vortex pattern in the flow around the stationary cylinder, but in the VIV, the lower the free surface height Z, the more vortices that were shed from the moving cylinder.
Effects of a Combination Impeller on the Flow Field and External Performance of an Aero-Fuel Centrifugal Pump
Authors: Li Jia , Wang Xin , Wang Yue , Wang Wancheng , Chen Baibing , Chen Xiaolong
Published: February 2020

Aero-fuel centrifugal pumps are important power plants in aero-engines. Unlike most of the existing centrifugal pumps, a combination impeller is integrated with the pump to improve performance. First, the critical geometrical parameters of the combination impeller and volute are given. Then, the effects of the combination impeller on the flow characteristics of the impeller and volute are clarified by comparing simulation results with that of the conventional impeller, where the effectiveness of the selected numerical method is validated by an acceptable agreement between simulation and experiment. Finally, the experiment is set to test the external performance of the studied pump. A significant feature of this study is that the flow characteristics are significantly ameliorated by reducing the flow losses that emerged in the impeller inlet, impeller outlet, and volute tongue. Correspondingly, the head and efficiency of a combination impeller are higher with comparison to a conventional impeller. Consequently, it is a promising approach in ameliorating the flow field and improving external performance by applying a combination impeller to an aero-fuel centrifugal pump.
Automated Negotiation for Peer-to-Peer Electricity Trading in Local Energy Markets
Authors: Etukudor Christie , Couraud Benoit , Robu Valentin , Früh Wolf-Gerrit , Flynn David , Okereke Chinonso
Published: February 2020

Reliable access to electricity is still a challenge in many developing countries. Indeed, rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa and developing countries such as India still encounter frequent power outages. Local energy markets (LEMs) have emerged as a low-cost solution enabling prosumers with power supply systems such as solar PV to sell their surplus of energy to other members of the local community. This paper proposes a one-to-one automated negotiation framework for peer-to-peer (P2P) local trading of electricity. Our framework uses an autonomous agent model to capture the preferences of both an electricity seller (consumer) and buyer (small local generator or prosumer), in terms of price and electricity quantities to be traded in different periods throughout a day. We develop a bilateral negotiation framework based on the well-known Rubinstein alternating offers protocol, in which the quantity of electricity and the price for different periods are aggregated into daily packages and negotiated between the buyer and seller agent. The framework is then implemented experimentally, with buyers and sellers adopting different negotiation strategies based on negotiation concession algorithms, such as linear heuristic or Boulware. Results show that this framework and agents modelling allow prosumers to increase their revenue while providing electricity access to the community at low cost.
A National Strategy Proposal for Improved Cooking Stove Adoption in Honduras: Energy Consumption and Cost-Benefit Analysis
Authors: Flores Wilfredo C. , Bustamante Benjamin , Pino Hugo N. , Al-Sumaiti Ameena , Rivera Sergio
Published: February 2020

The high consumption of firewood in Honduras necessitates the search for alternatives with less-negative effects on health, the economy, and the environment. One of these alternatives has been the promotion of improved cooking stoves, which achieve a large reduction in firewood consumption. This paper presents a cost-benefit analysis for an improved cooking stove adoption strategy for Honduras. The methodology uses the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System, LEAP, a tool used globally in the analysis and formulation of energy policies and strategies. The energy model considers the demand for firewood as well as the gradual introduction of improved cooking stoves, according to the premises of a National Strategy for improved cooking stoves adoption in Honduras. Hence, it is demonstrated that the costs of implementing this adoption strategy are lower than the costs of not implementing it, taking into consideration representative scenarios up to and including the year 2030.
Numerical Investigation on Instability Flow Behaviors of Liquid Oxygen in a Feeding Pipeline with a Five-Way Spherical Cavity
Authors: Xie Fushou , Xia Siqi , Chen Erfeng , Li Yanzhong , Mao Hongwei , Ma Yuan
Published: February 2020

The hydrodynamic information of liquid oxygen in the conveying pipeline of cryogenic launch vehicles directly determines the reliability of the operation of the turbopump. A 0.09 MPa anomalous pressure fall phenomenon in the feeding system has been observed during the flight and run test of a cryogenic rocket with four parallel engines. In previous work, we set up a full-scale experimental system with liquid oxygen as media. The anomalous pressure fall was successfully reproduced. Experimental studies of this phenomenon suggest that the problem might be associated with vortices into the five-way spherical cavity structure. The objective of this study was to determine the three-dimensional instability flow by computational methods to identify and better understand the anomalous pressure fall phenomenon. A numerical model developed by the turbulent conservation equations was validated by experimental data. The generation and evolution of vortices into the five-way spherical cavity of feeding pipelines was captured. It was found that the root cause of the instability flow causing the unusual pressure fall is the formation of a spindle-like vortex into the five-way spherical cavity due to disturbance of the inlet liquid oxygen. The results showed that there is a mirror-symmetrical four-vortices structure in the absence of disturbance, in which the liquid oxygen pressure fall with the rise of the Reynolds number is in good agreement with the predicting values calculated by a set of traditional empirical correlations. In the case of the specific operating conditions, it is also consistent with the experimental results. When the disturbance occurs at the inlet of the spherical cavity, the mirror-symmetrical four-vortices structure gradually evolves into the mirror-symmetrical two-vortices structure. When the disturbance is further enhanced, the mirror-symmetrical two-vortices structure merge with each other to form a spindle-like vortex, which is similar to the Rankine vortex structure. The pressure fall on the corresponding side of the spindle-like vortex core reduces abnormally, and is about 0.07 MPa, which is consistent with the experimental data under certain disturbance conditions. Moreover, it was found that the spindle-like vortex is a stable eddy structure, and would continue to exist once it is formed, which could also not disappear with the removal of the disturbance.
Analysis of the Influencing Factors on Oil Removal Efficiency in Large-Scale Flotation Tanks: Experimental Observation and Numerical Simulation
Authors: Huang Qian , Long Xueyuan
Published: February 2020

A modified computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model has been developed to obtain oil removal efficiency for oily wastewater treatment in large-scale flotation tanks. According to the investigation of oil droplet/bubble interactions in a flotation tank, a modified Bloom–Heindel model is used to calculate the collision and attachment efficiencies between oil droplets and bubbles. Effects of the gas flow rate, oil diameter and oil concentration on oil removal efficiency of flotation tank were analyzed experimentally. The application scope of this modified CFD model is evaluated using experimental results. In addition, the comparison between the existing model and the modified model demonstrates that this modified CFD model can make a good prediction for the separation performance of the flotation tank.
Solar Energy Technology for Northern Cyprus: Assessment, Statistical Analysis, and Feasibility Study
Authors: Kassem Youssef , Çamur Hüseyin , Alhuoti Salman Mohammed Awadh
Published: February 2020

Solar power is the fastest-growing energy source in the world. New technologies can help to generate more power from solar energy. The present paper aims to encourage people and the government to develop solar energy-based power projects to achieve sustainable energy infrastructures, especially in developing countries. In addition, this paper presents a solar energy road map to attract investors to invest in clean energy technology to help reduce the effect of global warming and enhance sustainable technological development. Therefore, the first objective of the paper is to analyze and compare the monthly global solar radiation for five different locations in Northern Cyprus using the measured data collected from the Meteorological Department and estimated values collected from the satellite imagery database. In addition, the mean hourly meteorological parameters including global solar radiation, air temperature, sunshine, and relative humidity are analyzed statistically and the type of distribution functions are selected based on skewness and kurtosis values. Accordingly, estimating global solar radiation improves solar power generation planning and reduces the cost of measuring. Therefore, models of a surface were analyzed by means of polynomial adjustments considering the values of R-squared. Finally, this study provides a comprehensive and integrated feasibility analysis of a 100 MW grid-connected solar plant project as an economic project in the selected region to reduce electricity tariffs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. RETScreen Expert software was used to conduct the feasibility analysis in terms of energy production, GHG emissions, and financial parameters for the best location for the installation of a 100 MW grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) plant. Finally, the results concluded that the proposed solar system could be used for power generation in Northern Cyprus.
Optimising Medicines Administration for Patients with Dysphagia in Hospital: Medical or Nursing Responsibility?
Authors: Wright David J. , Smithard David G. , Griffith Richard
Published: February 2020

Dysphagia is common—not only associated with stroke, dementia, Parkinson’s but also in many non-neurological medical problems—and is increasingly prevalent in ageing patients, where malnutrition is common and pneumonia is frequently the main cause of death. To improve the care of people with dysphagia (PWD) and minimise risk of aspiration and choking, the textures of food and drinks are frequently modified. Whilst medicines are usually concurrently prescribed for PWD, their texture is frequently not considered and therefore any minimisation of risk with respect to food and drink may be being negated when such medicines are administered. Furthermore, evidence is starting to emerge that mixing thickeners with medicines can, in certain circumstances, significantly affect drug bioavailability and therefore amending the texture of a medicine may not be straightforward. Research across a number of hospital trusts demonstrated that PWD are three times more likely to experience medication administration errors than those without dysphagia located on the same ward. Errors more commonly seen in PWD were missed doses, wrong formulation and wrong preparation through medicines alteration. Researchers also found that the same patient with dysphagia would be given their medicines in entirely different ways depending on the person administering the medicine. The alteration of medicines prior to administration has potential for patient harm, particularly if the medicine has been designed to release medicines at a pre-defined rate or within a pre-defined location. Alteration of medicines can have significant legal implications and these are frequently overlooked. Dispersing, crushing or mixing medicines can be part of, or misconstrued as, covert administration, thus introducing a further raft of legislation. Guidance within the UK recommends that following identification of dysphagia, the ongoing need for the medicine should be considered, as should the most appropriate route and formulation, with medicines alteration used as a last resort. The patient should be at the centre of any decision making. Evidence suggests that in the UK this guidance is not being followed. This article considers the clinical and legal issues surrounding administration of medicines to PWD from a UK perspective and debates whether medicines optimisation should be the primary responsibility of the prescriber when initiating therapy on the ward or the nurse who administers the medicine.
Government R&D Subsidies, Environmental Regulations, and Their Effect on Green Innovation Efficiency of Manufacturing Industry: Evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt of China
Authors: Yi Ming , Wang Yiqian , Yan Modan , Fu Lina , Zhang Yao
Published: February 2020

The Yangtze River Economic Belt is the most important manufacturing economic belt in China. The level of manufacturing green innovation efficiency of the Yangtze River Economic Belt directly affects the overall competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industry. With panel data from 11 provinces and cities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China for the period of 2008 to 2017, this paper applies the slacks-based measure (SBM)-data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and panel Tobit model to conduct an empirical study of the effects of government research and development subsidies and environmental regulations on the green innovation efficiency of the manufacturing industry of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The results show that, firstly, government R&D subsidies and environmental regulations are both conducive to improving the green innovation efficiency of the manufacturing industry of the Yangtze River Economic Belt; secondly, because of the fact that the interaction terms between government R&D subsidies and environmental regulations failed to pass the significance test, the positive moderating effects of R&D subsidies on environmental regulations and green innovation efficiency of the manufacturing industry are not obvious; thirdly, in terms of control variables, strengthening agglomeration is the only factor that is positively correlated with green innovation efficiency improvement of the manufacturing industry. Enterprise scale and industrial structure have negative effects on green innovation efficiency improvement, and the openness of economy has no correlation with green innovation efficiency.
Vegetation Phenological Changes in Multiple Landforms and Responses to Climate Change
Authors: Han Hongzhu , Bai Jianjun , Ma Gao , Yan Jianwu
Published: February 2020

Vegetation phenology is highly sensitive to climate change, and the phenological responses of vegetation to climate factors vary over time and space. Research on the vegetation phenology in different climatic regimes will help clarify the key factors affecting vegetation changes. In this paper, based on a time-series reconstruction of Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data using the Savitzky–Golay filtering method, the phenology parameters of vegetation were extracted, and the Spatio-temporal changes from 2001 to 2016 were analyzed. Moreover, the response characteristics of the vegetation phenology to climate changes, such as changes in temperature, precipitation, and sunshine hours, were discussed. The results showed that the responses of vegetation phenology to climatic factors varied within different climatic regimes and that the Spatio-temporal responses were primarily controlled by the local climatic and topographic conditions. The following were the three key findings. (1) The start of the growing season (SOS) has a regular variation with the latitude, and that in the north is later than that in the south. (2) In arid areas in the north, the SOS is mainly affected by the temperature, and the end of the growing season (EOS) is affected by precipitation, while in humid areas in the south, the SOS is mainly affected by precipitation, and the EOS is affected by the temperature. (3) Human activities play an important role in vegetation phenology changes. These findings would help predict and evaluate the stability of different ecosystems.
Impact of Pituitary Autoimmunity and Genetic Disorders on Growth Hormone Deficiency in Children and Adults
Authors: Bellastella Giuseppe , Maiorino Maria Ida , Longo Miriam , Cirillo Paolo , Scappaticcio Lorenzo , Vietri Maria Teresa , Bellastella Antonio , Esposito Katherine , De Bellis Annamaria
Published: February 2020

Growth hormone (GH), mostly through its peripheral mediator, the insulin-like growth factor 1(IGF1), in addition to carrying out its fundamental action to promote linear bone growth, plays an important role throughout life in the regulation of intermediate metabolism, trophism and function of various organs, especially the cardiovascular, muscular and skeletal systems. Therefore, if a prepubertal GH secretory deficiency (GHD) is responsible for short stature, then a deficiency in adulthood identifies a nosographic picture classified as adult GHD syndrome, which is characterized by heart, muscle, bone, metabolic and psychic abnormalities. A GHD may occur in patients with pituitary autoimmunity; moreover, GHD may also be one of the features of some genetic syndromes in association with other neurological, somatic and immune alterations. This review will discuss the impact of pituitary autoimmunity on GHD and the occurrence of GHD in the context of some genetic disorders. Moreover, we will discuss some genetic alterations that cause GH and IGF-1 insensitivity and the arguments in favor and against the influence of GH/IGF-1 on longevity and cancer in the light of the papers on these issues that so far appear in the literature.
Ceramide Kinase Is Upregulated in Metastatic Breast Cancer Cells and Contributes to Migration and Invasion by Activation of PI 3-Kinase and Akt
Authors: Schwalm Stephanie , Erhardt Martin , Römer Isolde , Pfeilschifter Josef , Zangemeister-Wittke Uwe , Huwiler Andrea
Published: February 2020

Ceramide kinase (CerK) is a lipid kinase that converts the proapoptotic ceramide to ceramide 1-phosphate, which has been proposed to have pro-malignant properties and regulate cell responses such as proliferation, migration, and inflammation. We used the parental human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 and two single cell progenies derived from lung and bone metastasis upon injection of the parental cells into immuno-deficient mice. The lung and the bone metastatic cell lines showed a marked upregulation of CerK mRNA and activity when compared to the parental cell line. The metastatic cells also had increased migratory and invasive activity, which was dose-dependently reduced by the selective CerK inhibitor NVP-231. A similar reduction of migration was seen when CerK was stably downregulated with small hairpin RNA (shRNA). Conversely, overexpression of CerK in parental MDA-MB-231 cells enhanced migration, and this effect was also observed in the non-metastatic cell line MCF7 upon CerK overexpression. On the molecular level, CerK overexpression increased the activation of protein kinase Akt. The increased migration of CerK overexpressing cells was mitigated by the CerK inhibitor NVP-231, by inhibition of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway and the Rho kinase, but not by inhibition of the classical extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway. Altogether, our data demonstrate for the first time that CerK promotes migration and invasion of metastatic breast cancer cells and that targeting of CerK has potential to counteract metastasis in breast cancer.
Integrated Metabolomic and Transcriptomic Analysis to Characterize Cutin Biosynthesis between Low- and High-Cutin Genotypes of Capsicum chinense Jacq
Authors: Natarajan Purushothaman , Akinmoju Tolulope Abodunrin , Nimmakayala Padma , Lopez-Ortiz Carlos , Garcia-Lozano Marleny , Thompson Benjamin J. , Stommel John , Reddy Umesh K.
Published: February 2020

Habanero peppers constantly face biotic and abiotic stresses such as pathogen/pest infections, extreme temperature, drought and UV radiation. In addition, the fruit cutin lipid composition plays an important role in post-harvest water loss rates, which in turn causes shriveling and reduced fruit quality and storage. In this study, we integrated metabolome and transcriptome profiling pertaining to cutin in two habanero genotypes: PI 224448 and PI 257145. The fruits were selected by the waxy or glossy phenotype on their surfaces. Metabolomics analysis showed a significant variation in cutin composition, with about 6-fold higher cutin in PI 257145 than PI 224448. It also revealed that 10,16-dihydroxy hexadecanoic acid is the most abundant monomer in PI 257145. Transcriptomic analysis of high-cutin PI 257145 and low-cutin PI 224448 resulted in the identification of 2703 statistically significant differentially expressed genes, including 1693 genes upregulated and 1010 downregulated in high-cutin PI 257145. Genes and transcription factors such as GDSL lipase, glycerol-3 phosphate acyltransferase 6, long-chain acyltransferase 2, cytochrome P450 86A/77A, SHN1, ANL2 and HDG1 highly contributed to the high cutin content in PI 257145. We predicted a putative cutin biosynthetic pathway for habanero peppers based on deep transcriptome analysis. This is the first study of the transcriptome and metabolome pertaining to cutin in habanero peppers. These analyses improve our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms regulating the accumulation of cutin in habanero pepper fruits. These resources can be built on for developing cultivars with high cutin content that show resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses with superior postharvest appearance.
Characterization of a Unique Bordetella bronchiseptica vB_BbrP_BB8 Bacteriophage and Its Application as an Antibacterial Agent
Authors: Szymczak Mateusz , Grygorcewicz Bartłomiej , Karczewska-Golec Joanna , Decewicz Przemysław , Pankowski Jarosław Adam , Országh-Szturo Hanna , Bącal Paweł , Dołęgowska Barbara , Golec Piotr
Published: February 2020

Bordetella bronchiseptica, an emerging zoonotic pathogen, infects a broad range of mammalian hosts. B. bronchiseptica-associated atrophic rhinitis incurs substantial losses to the pig breeding industry. The true burden of human disease caused by B. bronchiseptica is unknown, but it has been postulated that some hypervirulent B. bronchiseptica isolates may be responsible for undiagnosed respiratory infections in humans. B. bronchiseptica was shown to acquire antibiotic resistance genes from other bacterial genera, especially Escherichia coli. Here, we present a new B. bronchiseptica lytic bacteriophage—vB_BbrP_BB8—of the Podoviridae family, which offers a safe alternative to antibiotic treatment of B. bronchiseptica infections. We explored the phage at the level of genome, physiology, morphology, and infection kinetics. Its therapeutic potential was investigated in biofilms and in an in vivo Galleria mellonella model, both of which mimic the natural environment of infection. The BB8 is a unique phage with a genome structure resembling that of T7-like phages. Its latent period is 75 ± 5 min and its burst size is 88 ± 10 phages. The BB8 infection causes complete lysis of B. bronchiseptica cultures irrespective of the MOI used. The phage efficiently removes bacterial biofilm and prevents the lethality induced by B. bronchiseptica in G. mellonella honeycomb moth larvae.
Nanoplastics Cause Neurobehavioral Impairments, Reproductive and Oxidative Damages, and Biomarker Responses in Zebrafish: Throwing up Alarms of Wide Spread Health Risk of Exposure
Authors: Sarasamma Sreeja , Audira Gilbert , Siregar Petrus , Malhotra Nemi , Lai Yu-Heng , Liang Sung-Tzu , Chen Jung-Ren , Chen Kelvin H.-C. , Hsiao Chung-Der
Published: February 2020

Plastic pollution is a growing global emergency and it could serve as a geological indicator of the Anthropocene era. Microplastics are potentially more hazardous than macroplastics, as the former can permeate biological membranes. The toxicity of microplastic exposure on humans and aquatic organisms has been documented, but the toxicity and behavioral changes of nanoplastics (NPs) in mammals are scarce. In spite of their small size, nanoplastics have an enormous surface area, which bears the potential to bind even bigger amounts of toxic compounds in comparison to microplastics. Here, we used polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) (diameter size at ~70 nm) to investigate the neurobehavioral alterations, tissue distribution, accumulation, and specific health risk of nanoplastics in adult zebrafish. The results demonstrated that PS-NPs accumulated in gonads, intestine, liver, and brain with a tissue distribution pattern that was greatly dependent on the size and shape of the NPs particle. Importantly, an analysis of multiple behavior endpoints and different biochemical biomarkers evidenced that PS-NPs exposure induced disturbance of lipid and energy metabolism as well as oxidative stress and tissue accumulation. Pronounced behavior alterations in their locomotion activity, aggressiveness, shoal formation, and predator avoidance behavior were exhibited by the high concentration of the PS-NPs group, along with the dysregulated circadian rhythm locomotion activity after its chronic exposure. Moreover, several important neurotransmitter biomarkers for neurotoxicity investigation were significantly altered after one week of PS-NPs exposure and these significant changes may indicate the potential toxicity from PS-NPs exposure. In addition, after ~1-month incubation, the fluorescence spectroscopy results revealed the accumulation and distribution of PS-NPs across zebrafish tissues, especially in gonads, which would possibly further affect fish reproductive function. Overall, our results provided new evidence for the adverse consequences of PS-NPs-induced behavioral dysregulation and changes at the molecular level that eventually reduce the survival fitness of zebrafish in the ecosystem.
Heterologous Expression of CLIBASIA_03915/CLIBASIA_04250 by Tobacco Mosaic Virus Resulted in Phloem Necrosis in the Senescent Leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana
Authors: Li Hui , Ying Xiaobao , Shang Lina , Redfern Bryce , Kypraios Nicholas , Xie Xuejun , Xu FeiFei , Wang Shaopeng , Zhang Jinghua , Jian Hongju , Yu Hongtao , Lv Dianqiu
Published: February 2020

Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as citrus greening, is the most notorious citrus disease worldwide. Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CaLas) is a phloem-restricted bacterium associated with HLB. Because there is no mutant library available, the pathogenesis of CaLas is obscure. In this study, we employed tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) to express two mature secretion proteins CLIBASIA_03915 (m03915) and CLIBASIA_04250 (m04250) in Nicotiana benthamiana (N. benthamiana). Phloem necrosis was observed in the senescent leaves of N. benthamiana that expressed the two low molecular weight proteins, while no phloem necrosis was observed in the plants that expressed the control, green fluorescent protein (GFP). Additionally, no phloem necrosis was observed in the senescent leaves of N. benthamiana that expressed the null mutation of m03915 and frameshifting m04250. The subcellular localizations of m03915 and m04250 were determined by fusion with GFP using confocal microscopy. The subcellular localization of m03915 was found to be as free GFP without a nuclear localization sequence (NLS). However, m04250 did have an NLS. Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) was carried out to probe the citrus proteins interacting with m03915 and m04250. Six citrus proteins were found to interact with m03915. The identified proteins were involved in the metabolism of compounds, transcription, response to abiotic stress, ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation, etc. The prey of m04250 was involved in the processing of specific pre-mRNAs. Identification of new virulence factors of CaLas will give insight into the pathogenesis of CaLas, and therefore, it will eventually help develop the HLB-resistant citrus.
Worldwide Research on Low Cost Technologies through Bibliometric Analysis
Authors: Salmerón-Manzano Esther , Manzano-Agugliaro Francisco
Published: February 2020

It is essential to address research into low-cost technologies, as those employed on a wide scale demand a great amount of resources. The main goal of this work was to analyze the research on low cost technologies worldwide by studying the scientific output recorded in the Scopus database. This analysis makes it possible to determine the evolution of research into low cost technologies. In particular, we analyzed the distribution of this research by the different scientific categories, the categories’ evolution over time, the types of publications, the geographical distribution throughout different countries, the main institutions in each scientific category, and the areas of research identified through the main keywords indexed in the publications. A remarkable finding of this work has been that the universities that are most active in low-cost technologies are those in the most technologically advanced countries. There is only one exception to the above statement and it is in the field of medicine, where the most technologically developed countries are not always the most interested in this field. Given the trends observed in recent years, there is a need for a major change and for low-cost technologies to become an area of interest in countries with emerging economies.
3D Chitin Scaffolds of Marine Demosponge Origin for Biomimetic Mollusk Hemolymph-Associated Biomineralization Ex-Vivo
Authors: Wysokowski Marcin , Machałowski Tomasz , Petrenko Iaroslav , Schimpf Christian , Rafaja David , Galli Roberta , Ziętek Jerzy , Pantović Snežana , Voronkina Alona , Kovalchuk Valentine , Ivanenko Viatcheslav , Hoeksema Bert , Diaz Cristina , Khrunyk Yuliya , Stelling Allison , Giovine Marco , Jesionowski Teofil , Ehrlich Hermann
Published: February 2020

Structure-based tissue engineering requires large-scale 3D cell/tissue manufacture technologies, to produce biologically active scaffolds. Special attention is currently paid to naturally pre-designed scaffolds found in skeletons of marine sponges, which represent a renewable resource of biomaterials. Here, an innovative approach to the production of mineralized scaffolds of natural origin is proposed. For the first time, a method to obtain calcium carbonate deposition ex vivo, using living mollusks hemolymph and a marine-sponge-derived template, is specifically described. For this purpose, the marine sponge Aplysin aarcheri and the terrestrial snail Cornu aspersum were selected as appropriate 3D chitinous scaffold and as hemolymph donor, respectively. The formation of calcium-based phase on the surface of chitinous matrix after its immersion into hemolymph was confirmed by Alizarin Red staining. A direct role of mollusks hemocytes is proposed in the creation of fine-tuned microenvironment necessary for calcification ex vivo. The X-ray diffraction pattern of the sample showed a high CaCO3 amorphous content. Raman spectroscopy evidenced also a crystalline component, with spectra corresponding to biogenic calcite. This study resulted in the development of a new biomimetic product based on ex vivo synthetized ACC and calcite tightly bound to the surface of 3D sponge chitin structure.
‘In Our Whole Society, There Is No Equality’: Sikh Householding and the Intersection of Gender and Caste
Authors: Mooney Nicola
Published: February 2020

Sikhism is widely understood and celebrated as san egalitarian religion. This follows from its interpretation as a challenge to the caste schema of Hinduism as well as readings which suggest its gender equality. This paper explores the intersection of caste and gender in Sikh society in relation to Guru Nanak’s tenet that Sikhs be householders. Nanak’s view that householding is the basis of religious life and spiritual liberation—as opposed to the caste Hindu framework in which householding relates only to the specific stage of life in which one is married and concerned with domestic affairs—was one of the most important social and ritual reforms he introduced. By eliminating the need for an asceticism supported by householders, or in other words the binary framework of lay and renunciant persons, Nanak envisioned the possibility that the rewards of ascetism could accrue to householders. For Sikhs living at Kartarpur, the first intentional Sikh community, established by Guru Nanak as a place of gathering and meditation, Nanak’s egalitarian ideals were practiced so that women and members of all castes were equal participants. Guru Nanak’s model for social and ritual life presents a radical challenge to the hierarchies and exclusions of Hinduism, and yet, contains within it the basis for ongoing caste and gender disparity for Sikhs, since most Sikhs continue to arrange their householding around caste endogamous marriages and social and domestic arrangements which privilege men. Taking the position shared by a number of Sikh ethnographic informants, and supported by a number of feminist scholars, that the realization of an equal Sikh society remains incomplete, I juxtapose the continued acquiescence to caste and gender with the vision of an ideal and socially just society put forward by the Gurus.
PCDRN: Progressive Cascade Deep Residual Network for Pansharpening
Authors: Yang Yong , Tu Wei , Huang Shuying , Lu Hangyuan
Published: February 2020

Pansharpening is the process of fusing a low-resolution multispectral (LRMS) image with a high-resolution panchromatic (PAN) image. In the process of pansharpening, the LRMS image is often directly upsampled by a scale of 4, which may result in the loss of high-frequency details in the fused high-resolution multispectral (HRMS) image. To solve this problem, we put forward a novel progressive cascade deep residual network (PCDRN) with two residual subnetworks for pansharpening. The network adjusts the size of an MS image to the size of a PAN image twice and gradually fuses the LRMS image with the PAN image in a coarse-to-fine manner. To prevent an overly-smooth phenomenon and achieve high-quality fusion results, a multitask loss function is defined to train our network. Furthermore, to eliminate checkerboard artifacts in the fusion results, we employ a resize-convolution approach instead of transposed convolution for upsampling LRMS images. Experimental results on the Pléiades and WorldView-3 datasets prove that PCDRN exhibits superior performance compared to other popular pansharpening methods in terms of quantitative and visual assessments.
An Au Nanofilm-Graphene/D-Type Fiber Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor for Highly Sensitive Specificity Bioanalysis
Authors: Xi Xiangtai , Xu Jihua , Li Shuanglu , Song Jingyi , Yang Wen , Sun Yang , Jiang Shouzhen , Han Yanshun , Fan Xiuwei
Published: February 2020

A highly sensitive Au-graphene structure D-type fiber surface plasmon resonance biosensor is presented in this study to specifically detect biomolecules. The method of growing graphene is employed directly on the copper, and then a gold film of optimum thickness is sputtered, and the copper foil is etched to obtain the structure. This method makes the contact closer between the gold layer and the graphene layer to improve surface plasmon resonance performance. The performance of this type of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor has been previously verified both theoretically and experimentally. With the proposed Au-graphene structure D-type fiber biosensor, the SPR behaviors are obtained and discussed. In the detection of ethanol solution, a red shift of 40 nm is found between the refractive index of 1.3330 and 1.3657. By calculation, the sensitivity of the sensor we designed is 1223 nm/RIU. Besides, the proposed sensor can detect the nucleotide bonding between the double-stranded DNA helix structures. Thus, our sensors can distinguish between mismatched DNA sequences.
Use Of Smartphones for Ensuring Vulnerable Road User Safety through Path Prediction and Early Warning: An In-Depth Review of Capabilities, Limitations and Their Applications in Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems
Authors: Vourgidis Ioannis , Maglaras Leandros , Alfakeeh Ahmed S. , Al-Bayatti Ali H. , Ferrag Mohamed Amine
Published: February 2020

The field of cooperative intelligent transport systems and more specifically pedestrians to vehicles could be characterized as quite challenging, since there is a broad research area to be studied, with direct positive results to society. Pedestrians to vehicles is a type of cooperative intelligent transport system, within the group of early warning collision/safety system. In this article, we examine the research and applications carried out so far within the field of pedestrians to vehicles cooperative transport systems by leveraging the information coming from vulnerable road users’ smartphones. Moreover, an extensive literature review has been carried out in the fields of vulnerable road users outdoor localisation via smartphones and vulnerable road users next step/movement prediction, which are closely related to pedestrian to vehicle applications and research. We identify gaps that exist in these fields that could be improved/extended/enhanced or newly developed, while we address future research objectives and methodologies that could support the improvement/development of those identified gaps.