bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Child and Parent Physical Activity, Sleep, and Screen Time During COVID-19 and Associations With Mental Health: Implications for Future Psycho-Cardiological Disease?
Authors: Olive Lisa S. , Sciberras Emma , Berkowitz Tomer S. , Hoare Erin , Telford Rohan M. , O'Neil Adrienne , Mikocka-Walus Antonina , Evans Subhadra , Hutchinson Delyse , McGillivray Jane A. , Berk Michael , Teague Sam J. , Wood Amanda G. , Olsson Craig , Westrupp Elizabeth M.
Published: February 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has afforded the opportunity for some to improve lifestyle behaviours, while for others it has presented key challenges. Adverse changes in global lifestyle behaviours, including physical activity, sleep, and screen time can affect proximal mental health and in turn distal cardiovascular outcomes. We investigated differences in physical activity, sleep, and screen time in parents and children during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia compared to pre-COVID-19 national data; and estimated associations between these movement behaviours with parent and child mental health. Cross-sectional baseline data from the COVID-19 Pandemic Adjustment Study (CPAS; N = 2,365) were compared to nationally representative pre-pandemic data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC; N = 9,438). Participants were parents of children aged ≤ 18 years, residing in Australia. Parents provided self-report measures of mental health, physical activity and sleep quality, and reported on child mental health, physical activity and screen time. Children in CPAS had significantly more sleep problems and more weekend screen time. Their parents had significantly poorer sleep quality, despite increased weekly physical activity. Children's sleep problems were significantly associated with increased mental health problems, after accounting for socioeconomic status, physical activity, and screen time. Poorer parent sleep quality and lower levels of physical activity were significantly associated with poorer mental health. Monitoring this cohort over time will be important to examine whether changes in movement behaviour are enduring or naturally improve with the easing of restrictions; and whether these changes have lasting effects on either parent or child mental health, and in turn, future risk for CVD.
Female Forensic Patients May Be an Atypical Sub-type of Females Presenting Aggressive and Antisocial Behavior
Authors: Hodgins Sheilagh
Published: February 2022

The percentage of forensic psychiatric patients who are female varies from 5 to 13% in Europe, rises to 18% in England and Wales, and sits at 15% in Canada. Similarly, many fewer women than men are incarcerated in correctional facilities. While these statistics supposedly reflect less antisocial and aggressive behavior (AAB) among females than males, not all findings support this supposition. Data from prospective longitudinal studies show that aggressive and antisocial behavior onsets in childhood, and in a small group of females it remains stable across the life-span. Unlike similar males, few of these females are convicted of crimes. This article begins with a review of descriptive studies of females sentenced by criminal courts to treatment in forensic psychiatric hospitals and moves on to present evidence showing that most female AAB does not lead to criminal prosecution. Next, studies of female AAB are reviewed, noting that it onsets in early childhood and, that in a small group remains stable across the life-span. Subsequent sections of the article focus on the two most common mental disorders presented by female forensic patients, schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder, highlighting what is known about the sub-groups of women with these disorders who present AAB. The article concludes with recommendations for earlier identification by psychiatric services of women presenting mental disorders and AAB, treatments to reduce both the symptoms of their mental disorders and their life-long AAB, and the research that is needed in order to improve the effectiveness of these treatments. The real possibilities of prevention of the development of AAB, and even perhaps aspects of the mental disorders that plague female forensic patients, are described.
Do Global Adolescents With Food Insecurity Feel Lonely?
Authors: Wu Haowen , Gu Zhijun , Zeng Linmiao , Guo Tianyou
Published: February 2022

As a proxy measure of socioeconomic status, food insecurity is understudied in mental health-related research. This study aimed to explore the association between food insecurity and loneliness in adolescents. Using cross-sectional data from the Global Student Health Survey (GSHS), 164,993 adolescent participants were included in this study. Food insecurity, loneliness, and other covariates were assessed by self-reported questionnaire. Multivariable logistics regression considering complex survey was used to explore the association between food insecurity and loneliness. The prevalence of loneliness was 10.8% in adolescents. With higher levels of food insecurity, the prevalence of loneliness in general increased, but “most of the time” was the most frequently reported item in terms of food insecurity. Adolescents who reported severe food insecurity had significantly greater odds for loneliness: (1) being most of the time [odd ratio (OR) = 2.54, 95% CI = 2.13–3.02]; (2) always hungry (OR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.55–2.51). Of all the 53 countries, adolescents from 39 countries reported significantly higher prevalence of loneliness when exposed to food insecurity. The pooled OR was 1.74 (1.60–1.89) with a negligible heterogeneity (higher I-squared was 34.2%). Adolescents with food insecurity were more likely to be exposed to be lonely. Eliminating socioeconomic disparities in adolescents might be a good approach to promote mental health in adolescents. Future studies are encouraged to utilize longitudinal studies to confirm or negate our study findings.
A Monte Carlo Simulation Approach to Optimizing Capacity in a High-Volume Congenital Heart Pediatric Surgical Center
Authors: Elia Eleni G. , Ge Shirley , Bergersen Lisa , Thiagarajan Ravi R. , Thornton Jason , Sleeper Lynn A. , Fynn-Thompson Francis , Mathieu Derek , Alexander Peta M. A.
Published: February 2022

Importance

Elective surgeries are primarily scheduled according to surgeon availability with less consideration of patients' postoperative cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) length of stay. Furthermore, the CICU census can exhibit a high rate of variation in which the CICU is operating at over-capacity, resulting in admission delays and cancellations; or under-capacity, resulting in underutilized labor and overhead expenditures.

Objective

To identify strategies to reduce variation in CICU occupancy levels and avoid late patient surgery cancellation.

Design

Monte Carlo simulation study of the daily and weekly CICU census at Boston Children's Hospital Heart Center. Data on all surgical admissions to and discharges from the CICU at Boston Children's Hospital between September 1, 2009 and November 2019 were included to obtain the distribution of length of stay for the simulation study. The available data allows us to model realistic length of stay samples that include short and extended lengths of stay.

Main Outcomes

Annual number of patient surgical cancellations and change in average daily census.

Results

We demonstrate that the models of strategic scheduling would result in up to 57% reduction in patient surgical cancellations, increase the historically low Monday census and decrease the historically higher late-mid-week (Wednesday and Thursday) censuses in our center.

Conclusions and Relevance

Use of strategic scheduling may improve surgical capacity and reduce the number of annual cancellations. The reduction of peaks and valleys in the weekly census corresponds to a reduction of underutilization and overutilization of the system.
Primitive Action Based Combined Task and Motion Planning for the Service Robot
Authors: Jeon Jeongmin , Jung Hong-ryul , Yumbla Francisco , Luong Tuan Anh , Moon Hyungpil
Published: February 2022

The need for combined task and motion planning (CTAMP) in robotics is well known as robotic technologies become more mature. The goal of CTAMP is to determine a proper sequence of a robot’s actions based on symbolic and geometric reasoning. Because of the fundamental difference in symbolic and geometric reasoning, a CTAMP system often requires an interface module between the two reasoning modules. We propose a CTAMP system in which a symbolic action sequence is generated in task planning, and each action is verified geometrically in motion planning using the off-the-shelf planners and reasoners. The approach is that a set of action models is defined with PDDL in the interface module (action library) and the required information to each planner is automatically provided by the interface module. The proposed method was successfully implemented in three simulated experiments that involve manipulation tasks. According to our findings, the proposed method is effective in responding to changes in the environment and uncertainty with errors in recognition of the environment and the robot motion control.
Impact of COVID-19 on Periodontitis and Peri-Implantitis: A Narrative Review
Authors: Mancini Leonardo , Americo Lorenzo Maria , Pizzolante Tommaso , Donati Raffaele , Marchetti Enrico
Published: February 2022

COVID-19 is reported as one of the most widespread diseases in the world. An extraordinary number of articles and manuscripts have focused on the inflammatory cascade and sequelae, showing the important roles of cytokines and renin-angiotensin levels and possible links to other pathologies. Nowadays, interest regarding the possible correlation between COVID-19 and periodontal and Peri-implant diseases is increasing. This mini-review aims to collect data regarding the possible correlation between COVID-19 and periodontitis or Peri-implantitis through the analysis of articles published in the last 3 years. The following keywords were used: ([periodontitis OR periodontal disease] AND [COVID-19]); ([Peri-implantitis OR mucositis] AND [COVID-19 OR Sars-CoV-2]). The inclusion criteria were studies on COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 and periodontitis or Peri-implantitis, and studies on the molecular and cellular aspect of COVID-19 in periodontal or Peri-implant tissues. The search revealed 484 articles in total (PubMed 208 and Scopus 276). After a screening of titles and abstracts, 47 articles were included in the full-text analysis. Two articles comprised the Peri-implant group: a short communication and a review. Regarding the periodontal group, 45 articles were selected and analyzed according to the type of study, population, and aim. Of these, 10 articles were clinical studies, and the other 35 were hypotheses, reviews, letters to the editor, or commentaries. In conclusion, according to the data extracted, a mutual correlation between COVID-19 and periodontitis can be stated; however, data linked to Peri-implantitis are still missing, and future clinical studies are still needed.
A Novel Object Detection Model Based on Faster R-CNN for Spodoptera frugiperda According to Feeding Trace of Corn Leaves
Authors: Du Lei , Sun Yaqin , Chen Shuo , Feng Jiedong , Zhao Yindi , Yan Zhigang , Zhang Xuewei , Bian Yuchen
Published: February 2022

The conventional method for crop insect detection based on visual judgment of the field is time-consuming, laborious, subjective, and error prone. The early detection and accurate localization of agricultural insect pests can significantly improve the effectiveness of pest control as well as reduce the costs, which has become an urgent demand for crop production. Maize Spodoptera frugiperda is a migratory agricultural pest that has severely decreased the yield of maize, rice, and other kinds of crops worldwide. To monitor the occurrences of maize Spodoptera frugiperda in a timely manner, an end-to-end Spodoptera frugiperda detection model termed the Pest Region-CNN (Pest R-CNN) was proposed based on the Faster Region-CNN (Faster R-CNN) model. Pest R-CNN was carried out according to the feeding traces of maize leaves by Spodoptera frugiperda. The proposed model was trained and validated using high-spatial-resolution red–green–blue (RGB) ortho-images acquired by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). On the basis of the severity of feeding, the degree of Spodoptera frugiperda invasion severity was classified into the four classes of juvenile, minor, moderate, and severe. The degree of severity and specific feed location of S. frugiperda infestation can be determined and depicted in the frame forms using the proposed model. A mean average precision (mAP) of 43.6% was achieved by the proposed model on the test dataset, showing the great potential of deep learning object detection in pest monitoring. Compared with the Faster R-CNN and YOLOv5 model, the detection accuracy of the proposed model increased by 12% and 19%, respectively. Further ablation studies showed the effectives of channel and spatial attention, group convolution, deformable convolution, and the multi-scale aggregation strategy in the aspect of improving the accuracy of detection. The design methods of the object detection architecture could provide reference for other research. This is the first step in applying deep-learning object detection to S. frugiperda feeding trace, enabling the application of high-spatial-resolution RGB images obtained by UAVs to S. frugiperda-infested object detection. The proposed model will be beneficial with respect to S. frugiperda pest stress monitoring to realize precision pest control.
Standing Biomass, Dry-Matter Production, and Nutrient Demand of Tenera Oil Palm
Authors: Siang Cheah See , Wahid Siti Aishah Abd , Sung Christopher Teh Boon
Published: February 2022

Recent advances in oil-palm breeding and agronomic practices may have influenced the dry-matter production and nutrient demand of tenera oil palm since the last comprehensive studies published some three decades ago. This has raised concerns, since updated knowledge of nutrient requirements at various stages of oil palm growth is essential for formulating fertilizer recommendations that meet agronomic, economic, and environmental objectives. We therefore filled in this knowledge gap with the objective to quantify the standing biomass, dry-matter production, and nutrient demand of tenera oil palm of different ages, grown under current agronomic practices. Tenera palms were sampled at 12, 29, 48, 88, 133, 209, and 238 months since nursery planting and separated into spear leaves, leaflets, rachis, petiole, leaf bases, cabbage, trunk, bole, and roots attached to bole for determination of dry weights and nutrient contents. Fruit bunches were harvested, with dry weights and nutrient contents of ripe bunches determined. Annual dry-matter production was calculated from dry weights of different plant parts, and together with nutrient concentrations determined in these plant parts and fruit bunches, annual nutrient demand was calculated. Excluding roots, the total standing vegetative biomass increased almost linearly from 1.3 kg palm−1 at 12 months old to 808.6 kg palm−1 at 238 months old. Whole-palm dry-matter production increased with palm age but at a decreasing rate, from 1.5 kg palm−1 year−1 at 12 months old to 285.5 kg palm−1 year−1 after 133 months, with little increase thereafter. The maximum rates of nutrient demand occurred after 209 months, coinciding with peak production of fruit bunches—except for K, which occurred at month 88 when vegetative growth demand for K peaked. Annual gross amounts of nutrients required to produce 25 t fresh fruit bunches ha−1 were 1.99 kg N, 0.28 kg P, 3.94 kg K, 0.42 kg Mg, 0.99 kg Ca, and 2.5 g B per palm. The net amounts of nutrients required to meet similar production level of fruit bunches were 1.04 kg N, 0.16 kg P, 1.85 kg K, 0.26 kg Mg, 0.47 kg Ca, and 1.3 g B per palm per year if all nutrients contained in the pruned leaves were recycled. These results provide much-needed updated data on the dry-matter production and nutrient demand of tenera oil palm grown under current agronomic practices and also serve as a general yardstick for practitioners to further refine fertilizer recommendations.
Assessment of Fermentative Quality of Ensiled High-Moisture Maize Grains by a Multivariate Modelling Approach
Authors: Segato Severino , Marchesini Giorgio , Serva Lorenzo , Contiero Barbara , Magrin Luisa , Andrighetto Igino
Published: February 2022

The study aimed to define a grain-adapted quality score (GQS) to assess the fermentative pattern of ensiled high-moisture maize grain (EMG) based on organic acids, ammonia, and ethanol data of a lab-scale dataset. The GQS was validated by comparison with both the Flieg-Zimmer’s quality score (FQS) and a standardized quality score (SQS) by a received operating analysis. Compared with FQS and SQS, the cut-offs of poor/good samples for the proposed GQS were 47 (accuracy of 0.94) and 71 points (accuracy of 0.88) over 100, respectively. The relationship among indices was also tested in a farm-derived dataset by arranging a confusion matrix, which showed the higher predictive performance considering the lower cut-off. On the lab-scale dataset, a factorial discriminant analysis (FDA) assessed the most predictive chemical post-ensiled traits able to segregate EMG samples according to three fermentative quality classes of GQS. High-quality samples were accurately determined as having a positive correlation with lactate, while low- and middle-quality ones were partially overlapped and correlated with NH3-N, butyrate, and propionate. The validation of the FDA model in the blind farm-derived dataset confirms the effectiveness of the proposed GMS to rank between poorly- or well-preserved EMG.
Farmers’ Attitudes towards Irrigating Crops with Reclaimed Water in the Framework of a Circular Economy
Authors: López-Serrano María. J. , Velasco-Muñoz Juan F. , Aznar-Sánchez José A. , Román-Sánchez Isabel M.
Published: February 2022

In a global situation where water constraints are a daily concern and expected to worsen in the upcoming years, finding new water alternatives to guarantee its supply is of critical importance. Against this background, reclaimed water has proved to be a sustainable alternative that recycles wastewater from a circular economy approach, thus enhancing water availability for key sectors such as agriculture. In such a context where public policies should encourage the implementation of this sustainable resource that helps reduce climate change by allowing wastewater reuse, there is too often a lack of knowledge of farmers’ perceptions, thus resulting in them being ineffective. In this sense, studying and analyzing agriculturalists’ perceptions is of interest for the development of appropriate policies that truly foster reclaimed water use in agriculture and enhance its shift from waste to resource. For this research 231 farmers, both long-time users of reclaimed water and non-users, were surveyed to find common and differing attitudes and perceptions. Results show how once farmers start irrigating their crops with this alternative resource there is a marked improvement in their opinion. The high price is the most widespread barrier, which can be tempered with public subsidies that absorb part of this cost. The insights obtained from this research may be of interest to other regions, especially for those in arid and semi-arid climates where water scarcity is a critical problem and sustainability a growing concern.
Sainfoin in the Dams’ Diet as a Source of Proanthocyanidins: Effect on the Growth, Carcass and Meat Quality of Their Suckling Lambs
Authors: Baila Clàudia , Lobón Sandra , Blanco Mireia , Casasús Isabel , Ripoll Guillermo , Joy Margalida
Published: February 2022

Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) is a forage legume with a medium content of proanthocyanidins (PAC), which may affect animal performance and product quality. The objective of the present study was to assess the effect of PAC from sainfoin fed to dams, using polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a blocking agent, on the performance and carcass and meat quality of their suckling male lambs. After lambing, twenty lactating dams were fed fresh sainfoin ad libitum plus 200 g per day of barley; ten were orally dosed with water (Sainfoin), and ten were dosed orally with a water dilution of 100 g PEG (Sainfoin + PEG). Their lambs (4.1 ± 0.64 kg at birth) suckled ad libitum until they reached the target slaughter weight of 10–12 kg. The presence of PAC in the dams’ diet did not affect the growth, blood metabolites and carcass weight and fatness of the suckling lambs but decreased the lightness of caudal fat (p < 0.05) and increased the weight of the digestive compartments (p < 0.05). Regarding the meat characteristics, PAC only decreased polyphenols content (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the presence of PAC in the dams’ diet had not significant effects on the performance and product quality of their suckling lambs.
Training in the Dark: Using Target Training for Non-Invasive Application and Validation of Accelerometer Devices for an Endangered Primate (Nycticebus bengalensis)
Authors: Nekaris K. Anne-Isola , Campera Marco , Chimienti Marianna , Murray Carly , Balestri Michela , Showell Zak
Published: February 2022

Accelerometers offer unique opportunities to study the behaviour of cryptic animals but require validation to show their accuracy in identifying behaviours. This validation is often undertaken in captivity before use in the wild. While zoos provide important opportunities for trial field techniques, they must consider the welfare and health of the individuals in their care and researchers must opt for the least invasive techniques. We used positive reinforcement training to attach and detach a collar with an accelerometer to an individual Bengal slow loris (Nycticebus bengalensis) at the Shaldon Wildlife Trust, U.K. This allowed us to collect accelerometer data at different periods between January–June 2020 and January–February 2021, totalling 42 h of data with corresponding video for validation. Of these data, we selected 54 min where ten behaviours were present and ran a random forest model. We needed 39 15-min sessions to train the animal to wear/remove the collar. The accelerometer data had an accuracy of 80.7 ± SD 9.9% in predicting the behaviours, with 99.8% accuracy in predicting resting, and a lower accuracy (but still >75% for all of them apart from suspensory walk) for the different types of locomotion and feeding behaviours. This training and validation technique can be used in similar species and shows the importance of working with zoos for in situ conservation (e.g., validation of field techniques).
The Fibrolytic Enzyme Profiles and the Composition of Fungal Communities in Donkey Cecum-Colon Ecosystem
Authors: Zhang Zhenwei , Wang Yonghui , Huang Bingjian , Zhu Mingxia , Wang Changfa
Published: February 2022

The fibrolytic enzymes and the hindgut fungi in donkey cecum-colon ecosystem play an important role in dietary fiber digestion. A better understanding of the fibrolytic enzyme profiles and the fungal community along donkey caecum and colon is key for optimizing hindgut function. In the present study, the fibrolytic enzyme activities within donkey caecum and colon were firstly measured by spectrophotometry. Activities of carboxymethyl cellulase, avicelase, xylanase, and acetyl esterase were greater in donkey dorsal colon than in caecum, indicating that the colon microorganisms may be more efficient in producing fibrolytic enzymes compared to caecum microbes. The fungal community composition along donkey hindgut was determined by sequencing ITS region using Illumina MiSeq. Three fungal phyla were identified by sequence comparison: Ascomycota (66.8%–74.4%), Basidiomycota (21.6%–30.9%), and Neocallimastigomycota (0.9%–3.3%). The Aspergillus, Wallemia, Phanerochaete, Fusarium, and Penicillium were detected as the dominant genera, but their metabolic and functional significance in donkey cecum-colon ecosystem need further investigation. In terms of the anaerobic fungi Neocallimastigomycota, its abundance was greater in donkey colon than in caecum (p < 0.05), indicating that the donkey hindgut region was associated with differences in fungal community composition. Moreover, the relative abundance of enzymes related to plant cell wall degradation were predicted by PICRUSt, and they were also lower in caecum than in colon. The present study provided new information about fibrolytic enzyme profiles and fungal composition in donkey hindgut ecosystem.
Environmental Enrichment for Rats and Mice Housed in Laboratories: A Metareview
Authors: Ratuski Anna S. , Weary Daniel M.
Published: February 2022

Environmental enrichment has been widely studied in rodents, but there is no consensus on what enrichment should look like or what it should achieve. Inconsistent use of the term “enrichment” creates challenges in drawing conclusions about the quality of an environment, which may slow housing improvements for laboratory animals. Many review articles have addressed environmental enrichment for laboratory rats and mice (Rattus norvegicus and Mus musculus). We conducted a metareview of 29 review articles to assess how enrichment has been defined and what are commonly described as its goals or requirements. Recommendations from each article were summarised to illustrate the conditions generally considered suitable for laboratory rodents. While there is no consensus on alternative terminology, many articles acknowledged that the blanket use of the terms “enriched” and “enrichment” should be avoided. Environmental enrichment was most often conceptualised as a method to increase natural behaviour and improve animal welfare. Authors also commonly outlined perceived risks and requirements of environmental enrichment. We discuss these perceptions, make suggestions for future research, and advocate for the adoption of more specific and value-neutral terminology.
Oral Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir Therapy for COVID-19: The Dawn in the Dark?
Authors: Hung Yuan-Pin , Lee Jen-Chieh , Chiu Chun-Wei , Lee Ching-Chi , Tsai Pei-Jane , Hsu I-Lin , Ko Wen-Chien
Published: February 2022

Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid™) is an effective and safe antiviral drug that inhibits the main protease (Mpro), 3CL protease, of SARS-CoV-2. A reduction in COVID-19-related hospitalization or death was observed in patients treated with nirmatrelvir/ritonavir within five days of symptom onset. Moreover, good oral availability enables the usage of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, not only in hospitalized patients, but also among outpatients. Nirmatrelvir (PF-07321332) has been demonstrated to stop the spread of COVID-19 in animal models. Despite frequent mutations in the viral genomes of SARS-CoV-2, nirmatrelvir shows an effective antiviral effect against recent coronavirus mutants. Despite the promising antiviral effect of nirmatrelvir, there are several unresolved concerns. First, the final results of large-scale clinical trials for early therapy of mild cases of COVID-19 are not yet published. Second, the effectiveness of nirmatrelvir against upcoming variants in the coming years requires close monitoring. Considering the promising preliminary results of the EPIC-HR trial, nirmatrelvir/ritonavir in conjunction with vaccines and non-pharmacological interventions, may represent the dawn in the dark of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Performance Evaluation of Bio-Based Fractions Derived from Bacillus spp. for Potential In Situ Soil Stabilisation
Authors: Ramdas Veshara , Lalloo Rajesh , Mandree Prisha , Mgangira Martin , Mukaratirwa Samson , Ramchuran Santosh
Published: February 2022

Current and future research focuses on the use of renewable technologies and materials to stabilise weak soils, of varying degrees, for road construction applications. Soil stabilisation is a method of strengthening a natural soil to meet this purpose. Our interest is in the use of bio-based components, derived from microbial growth processes, that contribute to the needed desirable strength characteristics for in situ soil stabilisation. This investigation focuses on novel Bacillus-based stabilisers obtained from the vegetative and spore growth stage. In this study, eighteen bio-based components were derived from a Bacillus licheniformis fermentation and extracted into various aqueous and non-aqueous fractions for strength property assessment. The strength properties of the treated soils (i.e., dolerite and weathered granite soil) were assessed via previously developed lab-scale equipment to rapidly pre-select the best performing fractions, (i.e., compression stress, erosion, abrasion, and water absorption tests). The effect of one superior performing prototype (a) was validated at large-scale, using standard erosion and abrasion tests (i.e., whole broth at 1.8% stabiliser concentrations), and showed resistance to abrasion (3.37 ± 0.03%) (p value ≤ 0.0001) and resistance to erosion (33.20 ± 0.15%) (p value ≤ 0.001). The elemental composition and microstructure of the bio-stabilised soil was determined using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. This evaluation formed part of the selection of the best performing Bacillus derived fractions and achieved a proof of concept for the next phase of product prototype development. This study demonstrated a novel bio-mediated approach to the overall criteria for evaluation and selection of candidate product prototype/s, for stabilisation of two varying soils, and for potential application in road construction works.
Development of a FBG Stress Sensor for Geostress Measurement Using RSR Method in Deep Soft Fractured Rock Mass
Authors: Zhu Yuanguang , Liu Bin , Wang Sheng , Yang Zhanbiao
Published: February 2022

The rheological stress recovery (RSR) method was proposed to obtain measurements of in-situ stress. Rock stress can be evaluated by monitoring the recovery process of stress sensors embedded in rock mass. In order to achieve this application, a novel stress sensor employing the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) technique was designed and manufactured. This stress sensor consisted of three parts: A sensing spherical head, connecting rod, and coupler box. In the sensing spherical head, six independent pressure sensing units were assembled together with a temperature compensation unit. In addition, wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology was adopted to ensure that only one fiber splice for each stress sensor is output. The fiber splicing of the sensing units was assembled in the coupler box. The transformation equations from the six pressure sensing units to the stress sensor were established. Furthermore, a calibrating device for the stress sensor was designed, and the general calibration and long-term stability tests were carried out to investigate the characteristic indexes (maximum range, full-range output, and sensitivity) and measurement error (zero drift index, hysteresis index, and repeatability index). Measurement errors showed that the degrees of linearity, zero drift, hysteresis, and repeatability were all below 1.5%. The stability test indicated that the creep of the stress sensor can gradually stabilize in 24 days, and the errors were less than 1.5%. As a result, the stress sensor developed here satisfies the requirements for the RSR method and can be used in field.
Numerical Study of Coupled Fluid and Solid Wave Propagation Related to the Cladding Failure of a Nuclear Fuel Rod
Authors: Julien Tristan , Faucher Vincent , Pantera Laurent , Ricciardi Guillaume , Sarrouy Emmanuelle
Published: February 2022

Fuel rod cladding failure in a nuclear reactor produces different phenomena related to vibrations and fluid–structure interaction. The most significant aspect of those phenomena is the creation of a pressure wave at the failure position and its propagation in the coolant fluid flowing around the fuel rod. An accurate understanding of the propagation of the pressure wave around the fuel rod can help us design a method to detect a failure, determine its position, and estimate some of its characteristics with a single and simple sensor, such as a pressure sensor or a piezoelectric acoustic sensor, that can be mounted relatively far from the failure. Such a method can be useful for the monitoring of nuclear fuel rods, where instrumentation possibilities are restricted (because of neutron flux, radiation, high temperature, and available space) as well as for any kind of application involving annular ducts and limited instrumentation possibilities. The current paper is related to the specific application of nuclear fuel rod monitoring. It deals with preliminary numerical simulations that are necessary to know the evolution of a fluid pressure profile along the system containing the rod. They are carried out by finite element methods, using the EUROPLEXUS code. They provide the necessary information about the propagation of pressure waves around the rod to design measurement and signal processing methods as well as properly interpret experimental results from tests in industrial reactors, research reactors, or experimental mock-ups. They also provide some information that could not be experimentally obtained because of the constraints in a nuclear environment. Despite the specific application we show in this article, similar calculation methods, theoretical observations, and results interpretations can be easily adapted to the other mentioned applications.
Comprehensive Analysis of Traffic Accidents in Seoul: Major Factors and Types Affecting Injury Severity
Authors: Jeong Hyeonchoel , Kim Inhi , Han Keejun , Kim Jungeun
Published: February 2022

Accident and fatality rates of traffic accidents worldwide are steadily increasing every year; thus, considerable effort has been made to prevent traffic accidents and prepare countermeasures. This study aims to identify the major factors and types that affect the severity of traffic accidents in Seoul by utilizing the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s traffic accident dataset. To achieve this, we perform a comprehensive analysis by adopting various machine learning techniques—not only supervised learning methods but also unsupervised learning methods. As a result of the experiment, we derived several critical factors that were found to affect the severity of traffic accidents via supervised learning methods (i.e., ensemble-based and regression-based algorithms) and discovered dominant accident types via unsupervised learning methods (i.e., clustering-based algorithms). One of our primary findings is that, in contrast to common sense, environmental factors such as weather, season, and day of the week do not significantly affect the severity of traffic accidents in Seoul. Moreover, all methods highlight the importance of pedestrian-related factors, implying that it is highly necessary to prepare more meticulous institutional measures for pedestrians to reduce the negative influence of serious traffic accidents in Seoul.
Evaluation of Vision-Based Hand Tool Tracking Methods for Quality Assessment and Training in Human-Centered Industry 4.0
Authors: De Feudis Irio , Buongiorno Domenico , Grossi Stefano , Losito Gianluca , Brunetti Antonio , Longo Nicola , Di Stefano Giovanni , Bevilacqua Vitoantonio
Published: February 2022

Smart industrial workstations for the training and evaluation of workers are an innovative approach to face the problems of manufacturing quality assessment and fast training. However, such products do not implement algorithms that are able to accurately track the pose of a hand tool that might also be partially occluded by the operator’s hands. In the best case, the already proposed systems roughly track the position of the operator’s hand center assuming that a certain task has been performed if the hand center position is close enough to a specified area. The problem of the pose estimation of 3D objects, including the hand tool, is an open and debated problem. The methods that lead to high accuracies are time consuming and require a 3D model of the object to detect, which is why they cannot be adopted for a real-time training system. The rise in deep learning has stimulated the search for better-performing vision-based solutions. Nevertheless, the problem of hand tool pose estimation for assembly and training procedures appears to not have been extensively investigated. In this study, four different vision-based methods based, respectively, on ArUco markers, OpenPose, Azure Kinect Body Tracking and the YOLO network have been proposed in order to estimate the position of a specific point of interest of the tool that has to be tracked in real-time during an assembly or maintenance procedure. The proposed approaches have been tested on a real scenario with four users handling a power drill simulating three different conditions during an assembly procedure. The performance of the methods has been evaluated and compared with the HTC Vive tracking system as a benchmark. Then, the advantages and drawbacks in terms of the accuracy and invasiveness of the method have been discussed. The authors can state that OpenPose is the most robust proposal arising from the study. The authors will investigate the OpenPose performance in more depth in further studies. The framework appears to be very interesting regarding its integration into a smart workstation for quality assessment and training.
Blood Pressure Estimation by Photoplethysmogram Decomposition into Hyperbolic Secant Waves
Authors: Nagasawa Takumi , Iuchi Kaito , Takahashi Ryo , Tsunomura Mari , de Souza Raquel Pantojo , Ogawa-Ochiai Keiko , Tsumura Norimichi , Cardoso George C.
Published: February 2022

Photoplethysmographic (PPG) pulses contain information about cardiovascular parameters. In particular, blood pressure can be estimated using PPG pulse decomposition analysis, which assumes that a PPG pulse is composed of the original heart ejection blood wave and its reflections in arterial branchings. Among pulse decomposition wave functions that have been studied in the literature, Gaussian waves are the most successful ones. However, a more adequate pulse decomposition function could be found to improve blood pressure estimates. In this paper, we propose pulse decomposition analysis using hyperbolic secant (sech) waves and compare results with corresponding Gaussian wave decomposition. We analyze how the parameters of each of the two types of decomposition waves correlate with blood pressure. For this analysis, continuous blood pressure data and PPG data were acquired from ten healthy volunteers. The blood pressure of volunteers was varied by asking them to hold their breath for up to 60 s. The results suggested sech wave decomposition had higher accuracy in estimating blood pressure than the Gaussian function. Thus, sech wave decomposition should be considered as a more robust alternative to Gaussian wave pulse decomposition for blood pressure estimation models.
Isolation and Screening of Odor-Reducing Microbes from Swine Manure and Its Role in Reducing Ammonia Release in Combination with Surfactant Foam
Authors: Bajagain Rishikesh , Gautam Prakash , Le Thi Tuyet Nhan , Dahal Ram Hari , Kim Jaisoo , Jeong Seung-Woo
Published: February 2022

Swine farming facilities have increased the production of malodorous gases, which negatively affects people. Hence, we developed a new feasible bio-foam technology wherein long-lasting surfactant foam, including bacteria, were sprayed on swine manure. The surfactant foam acted as a physical barrier, suppressing NH3 release, and the aqueous-phase bacteria formed after foam breaking infiltrated in manure and degraded NH3. In this study, we first isolated NH3-degrading bacteria from swine manure. A bacterial consortium was prepared using the effective NH3-degrading strains Saccharomyces cerevisiae NRRL Y-12632 (99.88%) (TP1), Lactococcus lactis subsp. hordniae NBRC100931T (99.93%) (TP3), and Lactobacillus argentoratensis DSM 16365T (100%) (TP5). The surfactant foam used in this study was a dry foam (foam quality 98.5–99.0% and foam density 0.025–0.026 g/cm3), with a foam expansion of 110–112 and high foamability. Large bubbles were generated with a bubble density of 1 bubble/cm2 and a foam lamella thickness of 0.12 mm. In a lab-scale study, foam was sprayed onto NH3-contaminated soil or real swine manure, which reduced the NH3 emission from the source (soil/manure) almost completely (97–100%), but NH3 was re-emitted after foam breaking (5 h: open reactor, 7 h: closed reactor). After loading the bacteria on the foam, the initial NH3 odor suppression was similar to that of the foam alone. However, NH3 was effectively reduced by microbial degradation even after foam breaking. Complete odor degradation was observed after 3 days (72 h; 90–100% reduction) for the NH3-contaminated soil, and 97.7% NH3 in the swine manure was reduced in 24 h. Furthermore, the reagent cost for preparing stable foam was reasonable, indicating its possible field extension.
Design and Implementation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)-Based Processor
Authors: Chan Yee Kit , Lee Yung Chong , Koo Voon Chet
Published: February 2022

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is a unique imaging radar system that is capable of obtaining high-resolution images by using signal-processing techniques while operating in all weather and in the absence of a light source. The potential of SAR in a wide range of applications has led to new challenges in digital SAR processor design. On-board storage of SAR raw data is often not practical for real-time applications. The design of digital SAR processors is always restricted by the available space of the carrier system, data transfer rate, payload capacity and on-board power supplies. As reported in the literature, although customized hardware solutions could offer the desired performance, they are not feasible for low-volume production. This research aims to design and develop an efficient digital SAR processor by using field-programmable gate array (FPGA) with the consideration of hardware resources, processing speed and precision. In this paper, a hardware implementation of an FPGA-based SAR processor is presented. The implementation and architecture of the proposed SAR processor are highlighted in this paper. A MATLAB-based SAR processing range-Doppler algorithm (RDA) was developed as the benchmark for the development of an SAR processor. The target device, Altera Stratix IV GX FPGA EP4SGX230KF40C2, was selected for the design and implementation of an FPGA-based SAR processor. Comprehensive evaluations of the performance of the proposed SAR processor in terms of precision, timing performance and hardware resource utilizations are also presented. The proposed FPGA-based digital SAR processor achieves optimum performance in processing SAR signals for image formation. Evaluation shows that the designed SAR processor is capable of processing SAR images with ±1% difference error as compared to SAR images processed by MATLAB. The results also show a reduction in hardware usage via the implementation of an FPGA-based FFT/IFFT coprocessor. These promising results prove that the performance of the proposed processor is satisfactory and the achieved processing time, as well as the power consumption of the processor, outperformed existing implementations.
The Embodiment of Artistic Objects in Pablo Picasso’s Cubism
Authors: Mallen Enrique
Published: February 2022

According to Michael Tucker, the breakdown of consciousness in modern art, a breakdown that carries the modern artist backwards to an all-embracing participation with the world, leads to a return to archaic qualities of participation mystique that involves constructive, creative elements of a new vision of reality. This may be observed in Pablo Picasso, who wanted with the help of primitive vision to cleanse painting of the stale and paralyzing conventions that he viewed as a sham compared to the profound truth of art. For the Spaniard, painting at its origins was capable of an expressive force so powerful that even the great classic masters were unable to match it, much less strengthen it. The new art he defended was an art of creation, not imitation. It should follow its own generative principles. I examine the three major periods of Cubism (Cézannian, analytic and synthetic) from this perspective as a process of creativity in which Picasso struggled to find the true real and in the process opened up the possibility for new creations including his own persona.
Statistical Analysis of PM10 Concentration in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area, Mexico (2010–2018)
Authors: Aguirre-López Mario A. , Rodríguez-González Miguel Angel , Soto-Villalobos Roberto , Gómez-Sánchez Laura Elena , Benavides-Ríos Ángela Gabriela , Benavides-Bravo Francisco Gerardo , Walle-García Otoniel , Pamanés-Aguilar María Gricelda
Published: February 2022

Air-quality monitoring and analysis are initial parts of a comprehensive strategy to prevent air pollution in cities. In such a context, statistical tools play an important role in determining the time-series trends, locating areas with high pollutant concentrations, and building predictive models. In this work, we analyzed the spatio-temporal behavior of the pollutant PM10 in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA), Mexico during the period 2010–2018 by applying statistical analysis to the time series of seven environmental stations. First, we used experimental variograms and scientific visualization to determine the general trends and variability in time. Then, fractal exponents (the Hurst rescaled range and Higuchi algorithm) were used to analyze the long-term dependence of the time series and characterize the study area by correlating that dependence with the geographical parameters of each environmental station. The results suggest a linear decrease in PM10 concentration, which showed an annual cyclicity. The autumn-winter period was the most polluted and the spring-summer period was the least. Furthermore, it was found that the highest average concentrations are located in the western and high-altitude zones of the MMA, and that average concentration is related in a quadratic way to the Hurst and Higuchi exponents, which in turn are related to some geographic parameters. Therefore, in addition to the results for the MMA, the present paper shows three practical statistical methods for analyzing the spatio-temporal behavior of air quality.
Genetic Variants of Matrix Metalloproteinase and Sepsis: The Need Speed Study
Authors: Fiotti Nicola , Mearelli Filippo , Di Girolamo Filippo Giorgio , Castello Luigi Mario , Nunnari Alessio , Di Somma Salvatore , Lupia Enrico , Colonetti Efrem , Muiesan Maria Lorenza , Montrucchio Giuseppe , Giansante Carlo , Avanzi Gian Carlo , Biolo Gianni
Published: February 2022

Many causal mechanisms in sepsis susceptibility are largely unknown and the functional genetic polymorphisms (GP) of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their natural tissue inhibitor of MMPs (TIMP1) could play a role in its development. GPs of MMPs and TIMP (namely MMP-1 rs1799750, MMP-3 rs3025058, MMP-8 rs11225395, MMP-9 rs2234681, and TIMP-1 rs4898) have been compared in 1058 patients with suspected sepsis to assess the association with susceptibility and etiology of sepsis. Prevalence of MMP8 rs11225395 G/G genotype was higher in sepsis patients than in those with non-infective Systemic Inflammatory Reaction Syndrome (35.6 vs. 26%, hazard ratio, HR 1.56, 95% C.I. 1.04–2.42, p = 0.032). G/G patients developed less hyperthermia (p = 0.041), even after stratification for disease severity (p = 0.003). Patients carrying the 6A allele in MMP3 rs3025058 had a higher probability of microbiologically-proven sepsis (HR 1.4. 95%C.I. 1.01–1.94, p = 0.044), particularly when due to virus (H.R. 2.14, 95% C.I. 1.06–4.31, p = 0.046), while MMP-1 G/G genotype patients carried a higher risk for intracellular bacteria (Chlamydia, Mycoplasma, and Legionella, H.R. 6.46, 95% C.I. 1.58–26.41, p = 0.003). Neither severity of sepsis at presentation, nor 30-day mortality were influenced by the investigated variants or their haplotype. MMP8 rs11225395 G/G carriers have lower temperature at presentation and a more than 50% increased susceptibility to sepsis. Among patients with sepsis, carriers of MMP1 rs1799750 G/G have an increased susceptibility for intracellular pathogen infections, while virus serology is more often positive in those with the MMP3 rs3025058 A/A genotype.