bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of Dietary Protein and Tsaa Levels on Performance, Carcass Traits, Meat Composition and Some Blood Components of Egyptian Geese During the Rearing Period
Authors: Ashour Elwy A. , Abou-Kassem Diaa E. , Abd El-Hack Mohamed E. , Alagawany Mahmoud
Published: March 2020

The present study was performed to investigate the effect of dietary levels of protein, total sulfur amino acids (TSAA), methionine and cystine (M + C) and their interaction on the performance, carcass characteristics, blood components and meat quality of Egyptian geese. A total number of 144 geese at twelve weeks of age were randomly divided into 9 groups (16 birds/each group), each group of birds was sub-divided into 4 replicates, each of 4 birds. There was a significant increase in the bodyweight of geese due to protein and M + C levels (p < 0.01). The studied levels of M + C affected significantly on weight gain of growing geese at the early period of 12–18 wk of age. Feed intake was increased with high dietary levels of CP % or M + C (p < 0.05). There was a significant (p < 0.01) increase in percentages of carcass, liver, dressing, breast and wing with high dietary protein level as compared to a moderate or low level. A high level of dietary protein led to increase in concentrations of total protein and albumin, while total lipids, cholesterol, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were decreased with increasing level of protein (p < 0.01). Fat percentage of breast muscle was significantly (p < 0.01) decreased with increasing M + C levels. Protein % of breast muscle was increased with increasing protein levels. Finally, it can be concluded that the consumption of diets with high levels of protein or M + C can improve the bodyweight, feed conversion ratio, carcass and meat composition of Egyptian geese during the rearing period (12–24 wk of age).
In Vitro Methods of Assessing Protein Quality for Poultry
Authors: Bryan Dervan D.S.L. , Classen Henry L.
Published: March 2020

Protein quality assessment of feed ingredients for poultry is often achieved using in vitro or in vivo testing. In vivo methods can be expensive and time consuming. Protein quality can also be evaluated using less expensive and time consuming chemical methods, termed in vitro. These techniques are used to improve the user’s efficiency when dealing with large sample numbers, and some mimic the physiological and chemical characteristics of the animal digestive system to which the ingredient will be fed. The pepsin digestibility test is the in vitro method of choice for quick evaluation of protein sample during quality control and in most research settings. Even though the pepsin digestibility test uses enzymes to liberate the amino acids from the protein, it does not mimic normal in vivo digestive conditions. The results obtained with this method may be misleading if the samples tested contain fats or carbohydrates which they often do. Multi-enzyme tests have been proposed to overcome the problem encountered when using the pepsin digestibility test. These tests use a combination of enzymes in one or multiple steps customized to simulate the digestive process of the animal. Multi enzyme assays can predict animal digestibility, but any inherent biological properties of the ingredients on the animal digestive tract will be lost.
Solidago virgaurea L. Plant Extract Targeted against Candida albicans to Reduce Oral Microbial Biomass: A Double Blind Randomized Trial on Healthy Adults
Authors: Prêcheur Isabelle , Rolland Yohan , Hasseine Lilia , Orange François , Morisot Adeline , Landreau Anne
Published: March 2020

Oral microbiome plays an important part on oral health and endogenous bacteria and fungi should not be eradicated. However, their proliferation must be controlled by oral hygiene care. In vitro, Solidago virgaurea ssp. virgaurea L. (SV) plant extract inhibits the adherence and hyphal formation of a fungus, Candida albicans. It reduces the biomass of Candida-bacterial biofilms but not fungal or bacterial growth. Unlike chemical antiseptics, like triclosan and chlorhexidine for instance, SV is a plant extract easily biodegradable. The purpose of this study was to assess the in vivo effectiveness of SV extract in reducing oral biomass. A randomized, double-blind clinical study, with dental plaque evaluation designed to assess the effectiveness of a fluorinated toothpaste containing SV (Bucovia™, Givaudan, Vernier, Switzerland) was conducted. Sixty-six subjects (SV group n = 33 vs. control n = 33) brushed their teeth twice a day for a 4-week period. Supragingival dental plaque was sampled. Total bacterial load (broad spectral bacterial quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR)), C. albicans and seven bacterial species were quantified by qPCR. In the Intervention group, there was a decrease of Total bacterial load (ΔD0D28 p = 0.005 and ΔD14D28 p = 0.026), Streptococcus mutans (ΔD0D14 p = 0.024) and C. albicans (ΔD0D28 p = 0.022). In the Control group Total bacterial load tended to decrease from baseline to day 28 (ΔD0D28 p = 0.062 and ΔD14D28 p = 0.009). Plaque Index and Gingival Index improved in both groups.
A Comparative Study of the in Vitro Antimicrobial and Synergistic Effect of Essential Oils from Laurus nobilis L. and Prunus armeniaca L. from Morocco with Antimicrobial Drugs: New Approach for Health Promoting Products
Authors: Nafis Ahmed , Kasrati Ayoub , Jamali Chaima Alaoui , Custódio Luísa , Vitalini Sara , Iriti Marcello , Hassani Lahcen
Published: March 2020

Laurus nobilis L. (laurel, Lauraceae) and Prunus armeniaca L. (apricot, Rosaceae) are important industrial crops and display significant biological properties, including antimicrobial activity. In this work, essential oils (EOs) prepared from the leaves of both species from Morocco were evaluated for the first time for possible synergistic in vitro antibacterial and antifungal effects with some conventional antimicrobial drugs, namely fluconazole, ciprofloxacin and vancomycin. Samples were further evaluated for chemical composition by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The main volatile compounds detected in L. nobilis were eucalyptol (40.85%), α-terpinyl acetate (12.64%) and methyl eugenol (8.72%), while P. armeniaca was dominated essentially by (Z)-phytol (27.18%), pentacosane (15.11%), nonacosane (8.76%) and benzaldehyde (7.25%). Regarding antimicrobial activity, both EOs inhibited significantly all the microorganisms tested. The EO from L. nobilis had the highest activity, with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranging from 1.39 to 22.2 mg/mL for bacteria and between 2.77 and 5.55 mg/mL for yeasts. Conversely, the combination of the studied EOs with ciprofloxacin, vancomycin and fluconazol resulted in a noteworthy decrease in their individual MICs. In fact, of the 32 interactions tested, 23 (71.87%) demonstrated total synergism and 9 (28.12%) a partial synergistic interaction. The EO from L. nobilis exhibited the highest synergistic effect with all the antibiotics used, with fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) index values in the range of 0.266 to 0.75 for bacteria, and between 0.258 and 0.266 for yeast. The synergistic interaction between the studied EOs and standard antibiotics may constitute promising anti-infective agents useful for treating diseases induced by antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
Selenium Biofortification Impacts the Nutritive Value, Polyphenolic Content, and Bioactive Constitution of Variable Microgreens Genotypes
Authors: Pannico Antonio , El-Nakhel Christophe , Graziani Giulia , Kyriacou Marios C. , Giordano Maria , Soteriou Georgios A. , Zarrelli Armando , Ritieni Alberto , De Pascale Stefania , Rouphael Youssef
Published: March 2020

Selenium (Se) is considered essential for human nutrition as it is involved in the metabolic pathway of selenoproteins and relevant biological functions. Microgreens, defined as tender immature greens, constitute an emerging functional food characterized by overall higher levels of phytonutrients than their mature counterparts. The nutraceutical value of microgreens can be further improved through Se biofortification, delivering Se-enriched foods and potentially an enhanced content of bioactive compounds. The current study defined the effect of sodium selenate applications at three concentrations (0, 8, and 16 μM Se) on the bioactive compounds and mineral content of coriander, green basil, purple basil, and tatsoi microgreens grown in soilless cultivation. Analytical emphasis was dedicated to the identification and quantification of polyphenols by UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-HRMS, major carotenoids by HPLC-DAD, and macro micro-minerals by ICP-OES. Twenty-seven phenolic compounds were quantified, of which the most abundant were: Chlorogenic acid and rutin in coriander, caffeic acid hexoside and kaempferol-3-O(caffeoyl) sophoroside-7-O-glucoside in tatsoi, and cichoric acid and rosmarinic acid in both green and purple basil. In coriander and tatsoi microgreens, the application of 16 μM Se increased the total phenols content by 21% and 95%, respectively; moreover, it improved the yield by 44% and 18%, respectively. At the same Se dose, the bioactive value of coriander and tatsoi was enhanced by a significant increase in rutin (33%) and kaempferol-3-O(feruloyl)sophoroside-7-O-glucoside (157%), respectively, compared to the control. In green and purple basil microgreens, the 8 μM Se application enhanced the lutein concentration by 7% and 19%, respectively. The same application rate also increased the overall macroelements content by 35% and total polyphenols concentration by 32% but only in the green cultivar. The latter actually had a tripled chicoric acid content compared to the untreated control. All microgreen genotypes exhibited an increase in the Se content in response to the biofortification treatments, thereby satisfying the recommended daily allowance for Se (RDA-Se) from 20% to 133%. The optimal Se dose that guarantees the effectiveness of Se biofortification and improves the content of bioactive compounds was 16 μM in coriander and tatsoi, and 8 μM in green and purple basil.
Instance Hard Triplet Loss for In-video Person Re-identification
Authors: Fan Xing , Jiang Wei , Luo Hao , Mao Weijie , Yu Hongyan
Published: March 2020

Traditional Person Re-identification (ReID) methods mainly focus on cross-camera scenarios, while identifying a person in the same video/camera from adjacent subsequent frames is also an important question, for example, in human tracking and pose tracking. We try to address this unexplored in-video ReID problem with a new large-scale video-based ReID dataset called PoseTrack-ReID with full images available and a new network structure called ReID-Head, which can extract multi-person features efficiently in real time and can be integrated with both one-stage and two-stage human or pose detectors. A new loss function is also required to solve this new in-video problem. Hence, a triplet-based loss function with an online hard example mining designed to distinguish persons in the same video/group is proposed, called instance hard triplet loss, which can be applied in both cross-camera ReID and in-video ReID. Compared with the widely-used batch hard triplet loss, our proposed loss achieves competitive performance and saves more than 30% of the training time. We also propose an automatic reciprocal identity association method, so we can train our model in an unsupervised way, which further extends the potential applications of in-video ReID. The PoseTrack-ReID dataset and code will be publicly released.
Thickness Uniformity Dependence on Polymer Viscosity in Silver-Nanowire-Embedded Flexible and Transparent Electrodes
Authors: Chae Moonsoo , Ko Dongwook , Ma Yoohan , Jo Sungjin , Hyun Dong Choon , Oh Hyeon-Ju , Kim Jongbok
Published: March 2020

We herein report the effect of the viscosity of a prepolymer solution on the thickness uniformity of silver-nanowire-embedded flexible transparent electrodes. We adopted a model system with all the prepolymer solutions possessing identical physical properties except for the viscosity and then explored the most common prepolymer solutions for silver-nanowire-embedded flexible electrodes. In all experiments, single-step spin coating was conducted to coat the prepolymer solution on silver nanowires. We found that the electrodes were thinner for lower viscosity. However, the thickness ratio between the center and edge was comparable (50–60%) and independent of the prepolymer solution viscosity. This indicates that the viscosity does not determine the thickness uniformity, and that the coating method itself is vital to obtain films with uniform thickness. The flexible electrodes were introduced into organic solar cells. Their device performance was comparable regardless of the position of the electrodes and their thickness. This is because the thickness difference of the flexible electrodes did not affect their transmittance significantly. Thus, we conclude that although different coating approaches are needed to obtain flexible electrodes with high uniformity, the performance of optoelectronic devices on silver-nanowire-embedded flexible electrodes is independent of them.
Survey of Network Coding Based P2P File Sharing in Large Scale Networks
Authors: AbuDaqa Anas A. , Mahmoud Ashraf , Abu-Amara Marwan , Sheltami Tarek
Published: March 2020

Peer-to-peer (P2P) content distribution and file sharing systems aim to facilitate the dissemination of large files over unreliable networks. Network coding is a transmission technique that has captured the interest of researchers because of its ability to increase throughput and robustness of the network, and decrease the download time. In this survey paper, we extensively summarize, assess, compare, and classify the most recently used techniques to improve P2P content distribution systems performance using network coding. To the best of our knowledge, this survey is the first comprehensive survey that specifically focuses on the performance of network coding based P2P file sharing systems.
Medical Instructed Real-Time Assistant for Patient with Glaucoma and Diabetic Conditions
Authors: Rehman Ubaid Ur , Chang Dong Jin , Jung Younhea , Akhtar Usman , Razzaq Muhammad Asif , Lee Sungyoung
Published: March 2020

Virtual assistants are involved in the daily activities of humans such as managing calendars, making appointments, and providing wake-up calls. They provide a conversational service to customers around-the-clock and make their daily life manageable. With this emerging trend, many well-known companies launched their own virtual assistants that manage the daily routine activities of customers. In the healthcare sector, virtual medical assistants also provide a list of relevant diseases linked to a specific symptom. Due to low accuracy and uncertainty, these generated recommendations are untrusted and may lead to hypochondriasis. In this study, we proposed a Medical Instructed Real-time Assistant (MIRA) that listens to the user’s chief complaint and predicts a specific disease. Instead of informing about the medical condition, the user is referred to a nearby appropriate medical specialist. We designed an architecture for MIRA that considers the limitations of existing virtual medical assistants such as weak authentication, lack of understanding multiple intent statements about a specific medical condition, and uncertain diagnosis recommendations. To implement the designed architecture, we collected the chief complaints along with the dialogue corpora of real patients. Then, we manually validated these data under the supervision of medical specialists. We then used these data for natural language understanding, disease identification, and appropriate response generation. For the prototype version of MIRA, we considered the cases of glaucoma (eye disease) and diabetes (an autoimmune disease) only. The performance measure of MIRA was evaluated in terms of accuracy (89%), precision (90%), sensitivity (89.8%), specificity (94.9%), and F-measure (89.8%). The task completion was calculated using Cohen’s Kappa ( k = 0.848 ) that categorizes MIRA as ‘Almost Perfect’. Furthermore, the voice-based authentication identifies the user effectively and prevent against masquerading attack. Simultaneously, the user experience shows relatively good results in all aspects based on the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) benchmark data. The experimental results show that MIRA efficiently predicts a disease based on chief complaints and supports the user in decision making.
Intercalating Sn/Fe Nanoparticles in Compact Carbon Monolith for Enhanced Lithium Ion Storage
Authors: Deng Jie , Dai Yu , Dai Hui , Li Luming
Published: March 2020

Given its high-capacity of multielectron (de-)lithiation, SnO2 is deemed as a competitive anode substance to tackle energy density restrictions of low-theoretical-capacity traditional graphite. However, its pragmatic adhibition seriously encounters poor initial coulombic efficiency from irreversible Li2O formation and drastic volume change during repeated charge/discharge. Here, an applicable gel pyrolysis methodology establishes a SnO2/Fe2O3 intercalated carbon monolith as superior anode materials for Li ion batteries to effectively surmount problems of SnO2. Its bulk-like, micron-sized, compact, and non-porous structures with low area surfaces (14.2 m2 g−1) obviously increase the tap density without compromising the transport kinetics, distinct from myriad hierarchically holey metal/carbon materials recorded till date. During the long-term Li+ insertion/extraction, the carbon matrix not only functions as a stress management framework to alleviate the stress intensification on surface layers, enabling the electrode to retain its morphological/mechanic integrity and yielding a steady solid electrolyte interphase film, but also imparts very robust connection to stop SnO2 from coarsening/losing electric contact, facilitating fast electrolyte infiltration and ion/electron transfer. Besides, the closely contacted and evenly distributed Fe2O3/SnO2 nanoparticles supply additional charge-transfer driving force, thanks to a built-in electric field. Benefiting from such virtues, the embedment of binary metal oxides in the dense carbons enhances initial Coulombic efficiency up to 67.3%, with an elevated reversible capacity of 726 mAh/g at 0.2 A/g, a high capacity retention of 84% after 100 cycles, a boosted rate capability between 0.2 and 3.2 A g−1, and a stable cycle life of 466 mAh/g over 200 cycles at 1 A g−1. Our scenario based upon this unique binary metal-in-carbon sandwich compact construction to achieve the stress regulation and the so-called synergistic effect between metals or metal oxides and carbons is economically effective and tractable enough to scale up the preparation and can be rifely employed to other oxide anodes for ameliorating their electrochemical properties.
Electro-Optical Ion Trap for Experiments with Atom-Ion Quantum Hybrid Systems
Authors: Perego Elia , Duca Lucia , Sias Carlo
Published: March 2020

In the development of atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics, atom-ion hybrid systems are characterized by the presence of a new tool in the experimental AMO toolbox: atom-ion interactions. One of the main limitations in state-of-the-art atom-ion experiments is represented by the micromotion component of the ions’ dynamics in a Paul trap, as the presence of micromotion in atom-ion collisions results in a heating mechanism that prevents atom-ion mixtures from undergoing a coherent evolution. Here, we report the design and the simulation of a novel ion trapping setup especially conceived of for integration with an ultracold atoms experiment. The ion confinement is realized by using an electro-optical trap based on the combination of an optical and an electrostatic field, so that no micromotion component will be present in the ions’ dynamics. The confining optical field is generated by a deep optical lattice created at the crossing of a bow-tie cavity, while a static electric quadrupole ensures the ions’ confinement in the plane orthogonal to the optical lattice. The setup is also equipped with a Paul trap for cooling the ions produced by photoionization of a hot atomic beam, and the design of the two ion traps facilitates the swapping of the ions from the Paul trap to the electro-optical trap.
Shape Design Optimization of a Robot Arm Using a Surrogate-Based Evolutionary Approach
Authors: Hsiao J. C. , Shivam Kumar , Chou C. L. , Kam T. Y.
Published: March 2020

In the design optimization of robot arms, the use of simulation technologies for modeling and optimizing the objective functions is still challenging. The difficulty is not only associated with the large computational cost of high-fidelity structural simulations but also linked to the reasonable compromise between the multiple conflicting objectives of robot arms. In this paper we propose a surrogate-based evolutionary optimization (SBEO) method via a global optimization approach, which incorporates the response surface method (RSM) and multi-objective evolutionary algorithm by decomposition (the differential evolution (DE ) variant) (MOEA/D-DE) to tackle the shape design optimization problem of robot arms for achieving high speed performance. The computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools such as CAE solvers, computer-aided design (CAD) Inventor, and finite element method (FEM) ANSYS are first used to produce the design and assess the performance of the robot arm. The surrogate model constructed on the basis of Box–Behnken design is then used in the MOEA/D-DE, which includes the process of selection, recombination, and mutation, to optimize the robot arm. The performance of the optimized robot arm is compared with the baseline one to validate the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed method. The results obtained for the adopted example show that the proposed method can not only significantly improve the robot arm performance and save computational cost but may also be deployed to solve other complex design optimization problems.
Automatic Language Identification Using Speech Rhythm Features for Multi-Lingual Speech Recognition
Authors: Kim Hwamin , Park Jeong-Sik
Published: March 2020

The conventional speech recognition systems can handle the input speech of a specific single language. To realize multi-lingual speech recognition, a language should be firstly identified from input speech. This study proposes an efficient Language IDentification (LID) approach for the multi-lingual system. The standard LID tasks depend on common acoustic features used in speech recognition. However, the features may convey insufficient language-specific information, as they aim to discriminate the general tendency of phonemic information. This study investigates another type of feature characterizing language-specific properties, considering computation complexity. We focus on speech rhythm features providing the prosodic characteristics of speech signals. The rhythm features represent the tendency of consonants and vowels of languages, and therefore, classifying them from speech signals is necessary. For the rapid classification, we employ Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM)-based learning in which two GMMs corresponding to consonants and vowels are firstly trained and used for classifying them. By using the classification results, we estimate the tendency of two phonemic groups such as the duration of consonantal and vocalic intervals and calculate rhythm metrics called R-vector. In experiments on several speech corpora, the automatically extracted R-vector provided similar language tendencies to the conventional studies on linguistics. In addition, the proposed R-vector-based LID approach demonstrated superior or comparable LID performance to the conventional approaches in spite of low computation complexity.
Route Prefix Caching Using Bloom Filters in Named Data Networking
Authors: Kim Junghwan , Ko Myeong-Cheol , Kim Jinsoo , Shin Moon Sun
Published: March 2020

This paper proposes an elaborate route prefix caching scheme for fast packet forwarding in named data networking (NDN) which is a next-generation Internet structure. The name lookup is a crucial function of the NDN router, which delivers a packet based on its name rather than IP address. It carries out a complex process to find the longest matching prefix for the content name. Even the size of a name prefix is variable and unbounded; thus, the name lookup is to be more complicated and time-consuming. The name lookup can be sped up by using route prefix caching, but it may cause a problem when non-leaf prefixes are cached. The proposed prefix caching scheme can cache non-leaf prefixes, as well as leaf prefixes, without incurring any problem. For this purpose, a Bloom filter is kept for each prefix. The Bloom filter, which is widely used for checking membership, is utilized to indicate the branch information of a non-leaf prefix. The experimental result shows that the proposed caching scheme achieves a much higher hit ratio than other caching schemes. Furthermore, how much the parameters of the Bloom filter affect the cache miss count is quantitatively evaluated. The best performance can be achieved with merely 8-bit Bloom filters and two hash functions.
Crown Wall Modifications as Response to Wave Overtopping under a Future Sea Level Scenario: An Experimental Parametric Study for an Innovative Composite Seawall
Authors: Contestabile Pasquale , Crispino Gaetano , Russo Sara , Gisonni Corrado , Cascetta Furio , Vicinanza Diego
Published: March 2020

The overtopping phenomenon at the rear side of breakwaters has particular importance in harbor protection. Undoubtedly, this topic needs to be taken even more seriously, considering the sea level rise. The present study focuses on the effectiveness in the reduction of the wave overtopping of a triangular parapet placed on the top of an innovative concrete superstructure. The last is part of the OBREC device (Overtopping BReakwater for wave Energy Conversion), an overtopping structure which is integrated into a traditional rubble-mound breakwater, to convert wave energy into electricity. Parametric laboratory tests, including the influence of water depth, have led to the evaluation of the accuracy of the main literature formulations and to the introduction of a new overtopping formula to take into account the influence of the parapet geometry. The results highlight the capability of the parapet in significantly increasing the hydraulic protection compared to a breakwater with a traditional crown wall. The findings from this work are expected to support in promoting and developing adaptive management strategies for existing coastal defenses and smart approaches in the construction and maintenance of new ones, with special reference to future sea-level-rise scenarios.
Influence of Current Density on the Microstructure of Carbon-Based Cathode Materials during Aluminum Electrolysis
Authors: Wang Wei , Sun Kai
Published: March 2020

Sodium expansion plays an important role in cathode deterioration during aluminum electrolysis. In this work, the sodium expansion of semigraphitic cathode material has been measured at various cathodic current densities using a modified Rapoport apparatus. We have studied the microstructural changes of carbon cathodes after aluminum electrolysis using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Because of an increasing trend toward higher amperage in retrofitted aluminum reduction cells, an investigation is conducted both at a representative cathode current density (0.45 A/cm2) and at a high cathodic current density (0.7 A/cm2). The results indicate that the microstructures of carbon cathodes can be modified by Joule heating and electrostatic charging with higher current densities during aluminum electrolysis. With the penetration of the sodium and melt, zigzag and armchair edges, disordered carbon, and exfoliation of the surface layers may appear in the interior of the carbon cathode. The penetration of the sodium and melt causes remarkable stresses and strains in the carbon cathodes, that gradually result in performance degradation. This shows that increasing the amperage in aluminum reduction cells may exacerbate the material deterioration of the cathodes.
Transport Properties of Film and Bulk Sr0.98Zr0.95Y0.05O3−δ Membranes
Authors: Khaliullina Adelya , Dunyushkina Liliya , Pankratov Alexander
Published: March 2020

In electrode-supported solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with a thin electrolyte, the electrolyte performance can be affected by its interaction with the electrode, therefore, it is particularly important to study the charge transport properties of thin electrode-supported electrolytes. The transport numbers of charged species in Ni-cermet supported Sr0.98Zr0.95Y0.05O3−δ (SZY) membranes were studied and compared to those of the bulk membrane. SZY films of 2.5 μm thickness were fabricated by the chemical solution deposition technique. It was shown that the surface layer of the films contained 1.5–2 at.% Ni due to Ni diffusion from the substrate. The Ni-cermet supported 2.5 μm-thick membrane operating in the fuel cell mode was found to possess the effective transport number of oxygen ions of 0.97 at 550 °C, close to that for the bulk SZY membrane (0.99). The high ionic transport numbers indicate that diffusional interaction between SZY films and Ni-cermet supporting electrodes does not entail electrolyte degradation. The relationship between SZY conductivity and oxygen partial pressure was derived from the data on effective conductivity and ionic transport numbers for the membrane operating under two different oxygen partial pressure gradients—in air/argon and air/hydrogen concentration cells.
TLS and GB-RAR Measurements of Vibration Frequencies and Oscillation Amplitudes of Tall Structures: An Application to Wind Towers
Authors: Artese Serena , Nico Giovanni
Published: March 2020

This article presents a methodology for the monitoring of tall structures based on the joint use of a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS), configured in line scanner mode, and a ground-based real aperture radar (GB-RAR) interferometer. The methodology provides both natural frequencies and oscillation amplitudes of tall structures. Acquisitions of the surface of the tall structure are performed by the TLS with a high sampling rate: each line scan provides an instantaneous longitudinal section. By interpolating the points of each line, oscillation profiles are estimated with a much better precision than each single point. The amplitude and frequency of the main oscillation mode of the whole structure are derived from the TLS profiles. GB-RAR measurements are used to measure the vibration frequencies of higher oscillation modes which are not caught by the TLS due its lower precision in the measurement of displacements. In contrast, the high spatial resolution of TLS measurements provides an accurate description of oscillation amplitude along the tower, which cannot be caught by the GB-RAR, due to its poorer spatial resolution. TLS and GB-RAR acquisitions are simultaneous. The comparison with the analytical solution for oscillation modes demonstrates that the proposed methodology can provide useful information for structural health monitoring (SHM). The methodology does not require the use of targets on the structure and it can be applied during its normal use, even in presence of dynamic loads (wind, traffic vibrations, etc.). A test was carried out on a wind tower where the synergistic use of TLS and GB-RAR made it possible to fully describe the spectral properties of the tower and at the same time measure the amplitude of the first oscillation mode along the tower with a high spatial resolution.
Shallow Water Magnetohydrodynamics in Plasma Astrophysics. Waves, Turbulence, and Zonal Flows
Authors: Petrosyan Arakel , Klimachkov Dmitry , Fedotova Maria , Zinyakov Timofey
Published: March 2020

The purpose of plasma astrophysics is the study and description of the flow of rotating plasma in order to understand the evolution of various objects in the universe, from stars and planetary systems to galaxies and galaxy clusters. A number of new applications and observations have appeared in recent years and actualized the problem of studying large-scale magnetohydrodynamic flows, such as a thin layer under the convective zone of the sun (solar tachocline), propagation of accreting matter in neutron stars, accretion disks in astrophysics, dynamics of neutron star atmospheres, and magnetoactive atmospheres of exoplanets tidally locked with their host star. The article aims to discuss a fundamental problem in the description and study of multiscale astrophysical plasma flows by studying its general properties characterizing different objects in the universe. We are dealing with the development of geophysical hydrodynamic ideas concerning substantial differences in plasma flow behavior due to the presence of magnetic fields and stratification. We discuss shallow water magnetohydrodynamic equations (one-layer and two-layer models) and two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic equations as a basis for studying large-scale flows in plasma astrophysics. We discuss the novel set of equations in the external magnetic field. The following topics will be addressed: Linear theory of magneto-Rossby waves, three-wave interactions and related parametric instabilities, zonal flows, and turbulence.
The Comparison of Predicting Storm-Time Ionospheric TEC by Three Methods: ARIMA, LSTM, and Seq2Seq
Authors: Tang Rongxin , Zeng Fantao , Chen Zhou , Wang Jing-Song , Huang Chun-Ming , Wu Zhiping
Published: March 2020

Ionospheric structure usually changes dramatically during a strong geomagnetic storm period, which will significantly affect the short-wave communication and satellite navigation systems. It is critically important to make accurate ionospheric predictions under the extreme space weather conditions. However, ionospheric prediction is always a challenge, and pure physical methods often fail to get a satisfactory result since the ionospheric behavior varies greatly with different geomagnetic storms. In this paper, in order to find an effective prediction method, one traditional mathematical method (autoregressive integrated moving average—ARIMA) and two deep learning algorithms (long short-term memory—LSTM and sequence-to-sequence—Seq2Seq) are investigated for the short-term predictions of ionospheric TEC (Total Electron Content) under different geomagnetic storm conditions based on the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) madrigal observation from 2001 to 2016. Under the extreme condition, the performance limitation of these methods can be found. When the storm is stronger, the effective prediction horizon of the methods will be shorter. The statistical analysis shows that the LSTM can achieve the best prediction accuracy and is robust for the accurate trend prediction of the strong geomagnetic storms. In contrast, ARIMA and Seq2Seq have relatively poor performance for the prediction of the strong geomagnetic storms. This study brings new insights to the deep learning applications in the space weather forecast.
Community Structure and Influencing Factors of Airborne Microbial Aerosols over Three Chinese Cities with Contrasting Social-Economic Levels
Authors: Rao Ying , Li Heyang , Chen Mingxia , Huang Kan , Chen Jia , Xu Jian , Zhuang Guoshun
Published: March 2020

As an important part of atmospheric aerosol, airborne bacteria have major impacts on human health. However, variations of airborne community structure due to human-induced activities and their possible impact on human health have not been well understood. In this study, we sampled atmospheric microbial aerosols in three Chinese cities (Shanghai, Xiamen, and Zhangzhou) with contrasting social-economic levels and analyzed the bacterial composition using high-throughput sequencing methods. A high similarity of the predominant phyla was observed in three cities but the relative abundances were quite different. At the genus level, the most dominant genus in Shanghai and Xiamen was Deinococcus while the most dominant genus in Zhangzhou was Clostridium. The different characteristics of airborne bacterial in the three cities above may be ascribed to the environmental variables affected by human over-activities such as the vehicle exhausts and coal-burning emissions in Shanghai, the tourist aggregation and construction works in Xiamen, the extensive uses of chemical fertilizers, and agricultural activities in Zhangzhou. The variation of the bacterial community and the pathogenic bacteria detected in three cities would have a potential threat to human health.
The Value of Ocean Decadal Climate Variability Information to United States Agriculture
Authors: Rhodes Lauren A. , McCarl Bruce A.
Published: March 2020

Ocean-related decadal climate variability (ODCV) has the potential to influence regional climates and, in turn, crop yields. ODCV event forecasts with associated climate and crop yield implication information can provide farmers with the opportunity to alter their crop mixes and input usage to adapt to the forecast conditions. We investigate the value of ODCV information and the nature of adaptations. This is done by estimating the changes in welfare under differing information scenarios using a nonlinear dynamic optimization model. We find evidence that both perfect forecasts and the use of forecasts permitting a conditional probability of future phase combinations can significantly increase agriculture consumer and producer welfare. This is a new result that is an estimate of the US national value of releasing ODCV forecasts and accompanying yield information.
Proteomic Analysis of Blood Exosomes from Healthy Females and Breast Cancer Patients Reveals an Association between Different Exosomal Bioactivity on Non-tumorigenic Epithelial Cell and Breast Cancer Cell Migration in Vitro
Authors: Tutanov Oleg , Orlova Evgeniya , Proskura Ksenia , Grigor’eva Alina , Yunusova Natalia , Tsentalovich Yuri , Alexandrova Antonina , Tamkovich Svetlana
Published: March 2020

Exosomes are important intercellular communication vehicles, secreted into body fluids by multiple cell types, including tumor cells. They contribute to the metastatic progression of tumor cells through paracrine signalling. It has been recently discovered that blood circulating exosomes contain distinguishable fractions of free and cell-surface-associated vesicles. We evaluated the influence of protein cargoes from exosomes from plasma, and exosomes from the total blood of healthy females (HFs) and breast cancer patients (BCPs), on cell motility. We conducted a mass spectrometric analysis of exosomal contents isolated from samples using ultrafiltration and ultracentrifugation approaches and verified their nature using transmission electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis and flow cytometry. We observed that malignant neoplasm-associated proteins in exosomes from BCP total blood were detected more often than in plasma (66% vs. 59%). FunRich analysis to assess Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment revealed that proteins with catalytic activities, transporter functions and protein metabolism activities were increased in exosomes from BCP blood. Finally, GO analysis revealed that proteomic profiles of exosomes from HF total blood were enriched with proteins inhibiting cell migration and invasion, which explains the low stimulating activity of exosomes from HF total blood on SKBR-3 cancer cell migration velocity. This allows exosomes to act as intermediaries providing intercellular communications through horizontal transfer of RNA and functionally active proteins, potentially affecting the development of both primary neoplasms and distant metastases.
CSF Ubiquitin Levels Are Higher in Alzheimer’s Disease than in Frontotemporal Dementia and Reflect the Molecular Subtype in Prion Disease
Authors: Abu-Rumeileh Samir , Oeckl Patrick , Baiardi Simone , Halbgebauer Steffen , Steinacker Petra , Capellari Sabina , Otto Markus , Parchi Piero
Published: March 2020

Disturbances in the ubiquitin-proteasome system seem to play a role in neurodegenerative dementias (NDs). Previous studies documented an increase of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) free monoubiquitin in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD). However, to date, no study explored this biomarker across the heterogeneous spectrum of prion disease. Using a liquid chromatography−multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry, we investigated CSF free monoubiquitin in controls (n = 28) and in cases with prion disease (n = 84), AD (n = 38), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) (n = 30). Furthermore, in CJD subtypes, we evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) the relative extent of brain ubiquitin deposits. Prion disease and, to a lesser extent, AD subjects showed increased levels of CSF free monoubiquitin, whereas FTD cases had median protein values similar to controls. The biomarker showed a good to optimal accuracy in the differential diagnosis between NDs and, most interestingly, between AD and FTD. After stratification, according to molecular subtypes, sporadic CJD VV2 demonstrated significantly higher levels of CSF ubiquitin and more numerous brain ubiquitin deposits at IHC in comparison to the typical and most prevalent MM(V)1 subtype. Moreover, CSF ubiquitin correlated with biomarkers of neurodegeneration and astrogliosis in NDs, and was associated with disease stage but not with survival in prion disease. The differential increase of CSF free monoubiquitin in prion disease subtypes and AD may reflect common, though disease and time-specific, phenomena related to neurodegeneration, such as neuritic damage, dysfunctional proteostasis, and neuroinflammation.
Comparative Study of Piper sylvaticum Roxb. Leaves and Stems for Anxiolytic and Antioxidant Properties Through In Vivo, In Vitro, and In Silico Approaches
Authors: Adnan Md. , Chy Md. Nazim Uddin , Kamal A.T.M. Mostafa , Azad Md Obyedul Kalam , Chowdhury Kazi Asfak Ahmed , Kabir Mohammad Shah Hafez , Gupta Shaibal Das , Chowdhury Md. Ashiqur Rahman , Lim Young Seok , Cho Dong Ha
Published: March 2020

Piper sylvaticum Roxb. is traditionally used by the indigenous people of tropical and subtropical countries like Bangladesh, India, and China for relieving the common cold or a variety of chronic diseases, such as asthma, chronic coughing, piles, rheumatic pain, headaches, wounds, tuberculosis, indigestion, and dyspepsia. This study tested anxiolytic and antioxidant activities by in vivo, in vitro, and in silico experiments for the metabolites extracted (methanol) from the leaves and stems of P. sylvaticum (MEPSL and MEPSS). During the anxiolytic evaluation analyzed by elevated plus maze and hole board tests, MEPSL and MEPSS (200 and 400 mg/kg, body weight) exhibited a significant and dose-dependent reduction of anxiety-like behavior in mice. Similarly, mice treated with MEPSL and MEPSS demonstrated dose-dependent increases in locomotion and CNS simulative effects in open field test. In addition, both extracts (MEPSL and MEPSS) also showed moderate antioxidant activities in DPPH scavenging and ferric reducing power assays compared to the standard, ascorbic acid. In parallel, previously isolated bioactive compounds from this plant were documented and subjected to a molecular docking study to correlate them with the pharmacological outcomes. The selected four major phytocompounds displayed favorable binding affinities to potassium channel and xanthine oxidoreductase enzyme targets in molecular docking experiments. Overall, P. sylvaticum is bioactive, as is evident through experimental and computational analysis. Further experiments are necessary to evaluate purified novel compounds for the clinical evaluation.
A Gecko-Inspired Soft Passive Gripper
Authors: Seibel Arthur , Yıldız Mert , Zorlubaş Berkan
Published: March 2020

This paper presents a soft passive gripper consisting of six fluidic soft bending actuators arranged in a star-shaped manner. The actuators are oriented such that, upon pressurization, they bend against gravity. Gripping is realized by a commercial tape with mushroom-shaped adhesive structures that is glued to the bottom patches of the gripper. In this way, the object is released by peeling away the actuators from the object’s surface. In contrast to active grippers, which require continuous pressurization during gripping and holding, the presented passive gripper only requires energy for the release process. However, due to its working principle, the gripper is restricted to only flat objects or objects with at least one flat surface.
The Effect of Mental Fatigue on Neuromuscular Function is Similar in Young and Older Women
Authors: Morris Amanda J. , Christie Anita D.
Published: March 2020

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a mentally fatiguing task on neuromuscular function in young and older women. Neuromuscular measures were obtained prior to and following 20 min of a mentally fatiguing task. Maximal force output significantly decreased after the mental fatigue task (p = 0.02) and this was not different between age groups (p = 0.32). Increases in cortical silent period duration approached significance in both young and older groups (p = 0.06), suggesting that mental fatigue may cause increased cortical inhibition. Measures of peripheral neuromuscular function (contractile properties of the muscle, M-wave) did not change (p ≥ 0.09), suggesting that changes in force production with mental fatigue are more likely due to supraspinal than peripheral mechanisms. These findings provide further evidence of an interaction between mental fatigue and physical function.
Hippocampal and Cerebellar Changes in Acute Restraint Stress and the Impact of Pretreatment with Ceftriaxone
Authors: Amin Shaimaa , Hassan Sherif , Khashaba Ahmed , Youakim Magdy , Latif Noha , Rashed Laila , Yassa Hanan
Published: March 2020

Acute restraint stress (ARS) is an unavoidable stress situation and may be encountered in different clinical situations. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of ARS on the hippocampus and cerebellum, assess the impact of these effects on the behavior and cognitive function, and determine whether pretreatment with ceftriaxone would attenuate the damages produced by ARS on the hippocampus and cerebellum. Four groups of male mice were included in this study: The control group, ARS group, ceftriaxone group, and ARS + ceftriaxone group. Tail suspension test, Y-maze task, and open field tests were used to assess depression, working spatial memory, and anxiety. The biochemical analyses included measurements of serum cortisol, tumor necrotic factor (TNF), interleukin-6, hippocampal expression of bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP9), lysosomal-associated membrane protein 1 (LAMP1), glutamate transporter 1 (GLT1), heat shock protein 90, cerebellar expression of S100 protein, glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), and carbon anhydrase. Histopathological examination of the brain sections was conducted on the hippocampus and cerebellum by hematoxylin and eosin stains in addition to ultrastructure evaluation using electron microscopy. Our results suggested that ceftriaxone had neuroprotective properties by attenuating the effects of ARS on the hippocampus and cerebellum in mice. This effect was demonstrated by the improvement in the cognitive and behavioral tests as well as by the preservation of the hippocampal and cerebellar architecture.