bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analysis of adoption of conservation agriculture practices in southern Africa: mixed-methods approach
Authors: Tufa Adane H. , Kanyamuka Joseph S. , Alene Arega , Ngoma Hambulo , Marenya Paswel P. , Thierfelder Christian , Banda Happy , Chikoye David
Published: April 2023

In southern Africa, conservation agriculture (CA) has been promoted to address low agricultural productivity, food insecurity, and land degradation. However, despite significant experimental evidence on the agronomic and economic benefits of CA and large scale investments by the donor community and national governments, adoption rates among smallholders remain below expectation. The main objective of this research project was thus to investigate why previous efforts and investments to scale CA technologies and practices in southern Africa have not led to widespread adoption. The paper applies a multivariate probit model and other methods to survey data from 4,373 households and 278 focus groups to identify the drivers and barriers of CA adoption in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The results show that declining soil fertility is a major constraint to maize production in Zambia and Malawi, and drought/heat is more pronounced in Zimbabwe. We also find gaps between (a) awareness and adoption, (b) training and adoption, and (c) demonstration and adoption rates of CA practices in all three countries. The gaps are much bigger between awareness and adoption and much smaller between hosting demonstration and adoption, suggesting that much of the awareness of CA practices has not translated to greater adoption. Training and demonstrations are better conduits to enhance adoption than mere awareness creation. Therefore, demonstrating the applications and benefits of CA practices is critical for promoting CA practices in all countries. Besides, greater adoption of CA practices requires enhancing farmers’ access to inputs, addressing drudgery associated with CA implementation, enhancing farmers’ technical know-how, and enacting and enforcing community bylaws regarding livestock grazing and wildfires. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for policy and investments in CA promotion.
Use of indocyanine green near-infrared lymphography to detect sentinel lymph nodes in a dog with a malignant insulinoma: a case report
Authors: Nolff Mirja Christine , Dennler Renate , Dennler Matthias
Published: April 2023

Malignant insulinoma is the most common type of neuroendocrine tumor found in the pancreas of dogs. Canine insulinoma displays malignant behavior with a high rate of metastasis. The most common sites of metastases are the draining lymph nodes, which are also the primary location sites for the recurrence of functional disease. However, identifying metastatic nodes can often be complicated, as the pancreas is drained by numerous lymphatic centers, and clinical enlargement or structural changes may not always be present in metastatic nodes. Additionally, unaltered nodes are frequently small (a few millimeters) and can be hard to distinguish from the surrounding tissues. Therefore, lymphadenectomy is generally recommended for affected dogs. Unlike in human medicine, there are currently no established strategies for lymph node resection in dogs with malignant insulinoma. This report presents a technique for identifying and removing sentinel nodes using indocyanine green and near-infrared lymphography (NIRFL) during surgery. A total of six sentinel nodes were detected and resected with this method. This technique could provide a more structured approach for lymph node resection in affected dogs and potentially in humans in the future. However, its therapeutic benefits must be evaluated in a larger cohort of cases.
Stirling Numbers of Uniform Trees and Related Computational Experiments
Authors: Barghi Amir , DeFord Daryl
Published: April 2023

The Stirling numbers for graphs provide a combinatorial interpretation of the number of cycle covers in a given graph. The problem of generating all cycle covers or enumerating these quantities on general graphs is computationally intractable, but recent work has shown that there exist infinite families of sparse or structured graphs for which it is possible to derive efficient enumerative formulas. In this paper, we consider the case of trees and forests of a fixed size, proposing an efficient algorithm based on matrix algebra to approximate the distribution of Stirling numbers. We also present a model application of machine learning to enumeration problems in this setting, demonstrating that standard regression techniques can be applied to this type of combinatorial structure.
High-Throughput Canopy and Belowground Phenotyping of a Set of Peanut CSSLs Detects Lines with Increased Pod Weight and Foliar Disease Tolerance
Authors: Gimode Davis , Chu Ye , Holbrook Corley C. , Fonceka Daniel , Porter Wesley , Dobreva Iliyana , Teare Brody , Ruiz-Guzman Henry , Hays Dirk , Ozias-Akins Peggy
Published: April 2023

We deployed field-based high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) techniques to acquire trait data for a subset of a peanut chromosome segment substitution line (CSSL) population. Sensors mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) were used to derive various vegetative indices as well as canopy temperatures. A combination of aerial imaging and manual scoring showed that CSSL 100, CSSL 84, CSSL 111, and CSSL 15 had remarkably low tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) incidence, a devastating disease in South Georgia, USA. The four lines also performed well under leaf spot pressure. The vegetative indices showed strong correlations of up to 0.94 with visual disease scores, indicating that aerial phenotyping is a reliable way of selecting under disease pressure. Since the yield components of peanut are below the soil surface, we deployed ground penetrating radar (GPR) technology to detect pods non-destructively. Moderate correlations of up to 0.5 between pod weight and data acquired from GPR signals were observed. Both the manually acquired pod data and GPR variables highlighted the three lines, CSSL 84, CSSL 100, and CSSL 111, as the best-performing lines, with pod weights comparable to the cultivated check Tifguard. Through the combined application of manual and HTP techniques, this study reinforces the premise that chromosome segments from peanut wild relatives may be a potential source of valuable agronomic traits.
Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) Interruption Cultivation Evidently Decreases the Anthracnose in the Succeeding Crop Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.)
Authors: Liu Feihu , Li Xuan , Hu Huaran , Li Jiaonan , Du Guanghui , Yang Yang , Tang Kailei , Li E , Li Huiping , Chen Li
Published: April 2023

Continuous cropping increases disease severity and causes arrested development of chilli plants and the decrease of yield and quality. Hemp-chilli rotation cropping evidently eased chilli diseases, but the causation remains unknown. This paper investigated the disease index (DI) of chilli’s anthracnose for hemp-chilli and continuous chilli cropping, the antifungal effect of water extract of hemp and chilli residues, and bacteria antagonistic to chilli anthracnose fungus from hemp and chilli rhizosphere. Hemp grown as a preceding crop decreased anthracnose DI from 35–39% for the continuous chilli to 14–15% for hemp-chilli rotation. Hemp residue water extract executed suppression of chilli anthracnose fungus and the efficiency increased as the extract concentration increased from 1% to 5%. Hemp extract concentration 5% gave a mean inhibition ratio (IR) of 32.34% to spore germination and IR 53.72% to mycelia growth, which was much greater than that of the chilli extract. Antagonistic bacteria isolated from the hemp rhizosphere evidently depressed the mycelia growth of the fungus with a mean IR 32.35%, while no antagonistic bacteria were obtained from the chilli rhizosphere. The stronger allelopathy of preceding hemp plants and antagonistic bacteria from the hemp rhizosphere synergistically suppressed the fungus growth and eased the disease in the succeeding chilli crop.
Effects of Vegetable–Fish Co-Culture on CH4 and N2O Emissions from an Aquaculture Pond
Authors: Bao Ting , Wang Xiaodan , Fang Fuping , Feng Jinfei , Li Fengbo
Published: April 2023

Freshwater aquaculture is an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions are expected to lead to global warming and climate change. A reduction in GHG emissions is urgently required for the sustainable development of freshwater aquaculture. In this study, a laboratory-scale experiment was conducted to analyze the effects of a vegetable–fish co-culture on CH4 and N2O emissions from a freshwater aquaculture pond. The results show that the co-culturing of yellow catfish with pak choi (PC-F) or water spinach (WS-F) significantly reduced the N2O emission from the aquaculture pond by 60.20% and 67.71%, respectively, as compared with a yellow catfish monoculture (F). However, the co-culture of these two vegetables did not affect the level of CH4 emissions. The reduction in N2O emissions was primarily attributed to the decrease in the concentration of N2O and NO3− in the water. The overall global warming potential (GWP) of CH4 and N2O was significantly reduced by 19.1% with PC-F compared to F, but it did not significantly differ between WS-F and F. PC and WS cultivation improved the food yield by 1555.52% and 419.95% compared to F, respectively. Consequently, the GHG emissions intensity (GHGI) under PC-F and WS-F decreased by 96.15% and 80.77% compared to F, respectively. Altogether, the results highlight that a vegetable–fish co-culture is likely an efficient system for mitigating GWP per unit of food yield in freshwater aquaculture ponds. These results can provide a reference for the mitigation of GHG emissions from freshwater aquaculture.
Influence of Fruit Wounding on Subsequent Monilinia laxa Infection of Nectarines
Authors: Dini Maximiliano , Raseira Maria do Carmo Bassols , Corre Marie-Noëlle , Signoret Véronique , Quilot-Turion Bénédicte
Published: April 2023

Despite the fact that brown rot is the most economically important disease in stone fruits, the relationship between mechanical stress and infection has never been explored. Thus, to explore this connection, we carried out four experiments linking nectarine wounding and M. laxa infection. First, we evaluated a possible systemic reaction of the fruit to wounding that could impact the M. laxa infection. Afterward, we study the impact of the fruit in the environment on M. laxa colonies grown in vitro. Subsequently, we tested the disease susceptibility of fruits inoculated with M. laxa placed in the same environment as wounded fruits. Finally, in the fourth experiment, the effect of wounding on the subsequent fruit infections was evaluated at three fruit stages. As a result, we observed that there was no evidence of a fruit systemic reaction to wounding and M. laxa infection. In the study related to the impact of the fruit in the environment of M. laxa, the findings suggest that M. laxa “perceived” the fruit’s presence, resulting in accelerated in vitro growth. Moreover, the presence of wounded fruits in the box increased the susceptibility to brown rot. Inoculated fruits showed a delayed and reduced infection 7 h after being wounded, during the second stage of fruit development (15–19 weeks after full bloom). Moreover, a red reaction associated with inoculation was detected immediately after the fruits were wounded. Nine phenolic compounds exclusively related to the red areas were extracted, while six other compounds were present in higher proportions. These compounds may be actively involved in plant–pathogen interactions and the activation of metabolic pathways involved in nectarine susceptibility/resistance to M. laxa.
The CfAtg5 Regulates the Autophagy and Pathogenicity of Colletotrichum fructicola on Camellia oleifera
Authors: Chen Yan , Jin Juan , Li Yiting , Jiao Han , Luo Lan , Chen Qingtian , Li He , Zhang Shengpei
Published: April 2023

Camellia oleifera is the native economic edible oil tree in China and anthracnose occurs commonly in its producing areas. We previously found that ubiquitin-like CfAtg8-related autophagy is essential for the pathogenicity of Colletotrichum fructicola, the major pathogen of anthracnose on C. oleifera. The aim of this study is to further elucidate the roles of autophagy in the pathogenesis of C. fructicola. Based on BLAST_P analysis and reverse genetics, we identified the central hub of another ubiquitin-like system, CfAtg5, and characterized its functions in C. fructicola. As suspected, we found that CfAtg5 is required for autophagy, both in MM-N and H2O2 induction conditions. Targeted gene deletion of CfATG5 revealed that CfAtg5 is involved in growth and conidiation. We further found that the ∆Cfatg5 mutant is defective in appressorium formation and in responses to cell wall integrity and oxidative stresses. The combined effects, together with the abolished autophagy, result in the pathogenicity defects of the ∆Cfatg5 mutant. Our study further illustrates the importance of normal autophagy in the physiology and pathogenicity of C. fructicola, and offers a potential target in the development of new anthracnose control strategies.
Effect of Increasing the Methionine Level and Reducing the Threonine Level in the Diet of Fast-Growing Rabbits
Authors: Marín-García Pablo Jesús , Ródenas Luís , Martínez-Paredes Eugenio , Moya Vicente Javier , Cambra-López María , Blas Enrique , Pascual Juan José
Published: April 2023

The main aim of this work was to evaluate a novel combination of the first limiting amino acids (lysine, methionine, and threonine) in fast-growing rabbits (combination MHL, shown to minimise levels of plasmatic urea nitrogen in previous research, medium level of lysine, high level of methionine, and low level of threonine) and compare it with current recommendations (combination MMM, medium level of all amino acids). A total of 165 weaned rabbits (28 d old) from a paternal line selected for growth rate were used in the growth trial. The effect of the diet on apparent fecal digestibility, as well as the apparent and true ileal digestibility, were studied. Nutrient retention was also determined. Although no differences in digestibility between diets were observed, animals fed with Diet MHL improved the global average daily gain (+2.3 g/d; p = 0.0482) and feed conversion ratio (−0.10; p = 0.0229). Animals fed with Diet MMM reduced the protein-to-energy ratio retained (p = 0.0086). In conclusion, Diet MHL promoted an improvement in growth traits in a paternal line. Consequently, we propose its levels of 6.4, 5.4, and 5.0 g/kg DM of true ileal digestible lysine, methionine, and threonine, respectively.
Comparison of Chiggers (Acari: Trombiculidae, Leeuwenhoekiidae) on Two Sibling Mouse Species, Apodemus draco and A. ilex (Rodentia: Muridae), in Southwest China
Authors: Guo Yu , Guo Xian-Guo , Song Wen-Yu , Lv Yan , Yin Peng-Wu , Jin Dao-Chao
Published: April 2023

Chigger mites (Acari) are common ectoparasites on rodents, and they are the exclusive vector of scrub typhus. South China field mouse (Apodemus draco) and Lantsang field mouse (A. ilex) are two sibling rodent species. Based on field investigations in southwest China (2001–2015), this paper compared the infestation of these two mouse species with chiggers. Of 42 chigger species identified from two mouse species, 36 were found on A. draco, 11 on A. ilex and 5 common species on both mice. Jaccard similarity index (J = 0.12, J < 0.25) showed a very different species composition of chiggers on two mouse species, and some parameters of the chigger community were also different. The overall mean intensity of chiggers on A. draco (MI = 4.26) was higher than that on A. ilex (MI = 3.91, p < 0.05). The dominant chigger species on A. draco were Trombiculindus yunnanus, Leptotrombidium scutellare (a major vector species in China) and L. sinicum with a total constituent ratio Cr = 42.9% (106/247). Leptorombidium sinicum and L. scutellare independently occurred on A. draco with an association coefficient V = 0.09 (V ≈ 0). The dominant chigger species on A. ilex were L. rusticum, L. densipunctatum and L. gongshanense, with a total Cr = 58.14% (25/43). Leptorombidium rusticum and L. densipunctatum on A. ilex had a slight positive association (V = 0.49, 0.5 < V < 1). All dominant chigger species were unevenly distributed among different individuals of two mouse species. Chigger infestation showed sex bias on different sexes of two mouse species. The species abundance of the chigger community on A. draco was revealed as a log-normal distribution pattern.
Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR Genotyping of 89 SNPs in Romanian Spotted and Romanian Brown Cattle Breeds and Their Association with Clinical Mastitis
Authors: Ilie Daniela Elena , Gavojdian Dinu , Kusza Szilvia , Neamț Radu Ionel , Mizeranschi Alexandru Eugeniu , Mihali Ciprian Valentin , Cziszter Ludovic Toma
Published: April 2023

Mastitis is the most common production disease in the dairy sector worldwide, its incidence being associated with both cows’ exposure to bacteria and the cows’ genetic make-up for resistance to pathogens. The objective of our study was to analyse 89 missense SNPs belonging to six genes (CXCR2, CXCL8, TLR4, BRCA1, LTF, BOLA-DRB3), which were found to be associated with genetic resistance or susceptibility to mastitis. A total of 298 cattle (250 Romanian Spotted and 48 Romanian Brown) were genotyped by Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) and a chi-squared test was used for genetic association studies with clinical mastitis. A total of 35 SNPs (39.3%) among the selected 89 SNPs were successfully genotyped, of which 31 markers were monomorphic. The polymorphic markers were found in two genes: TLR4 (rs460053411) and BOLA-DRB3 (rs42309897, rs208816121, rs110124025). The polymorphic SNPs with MAF > 5% and call rates > 95% were used for the association study. The results showed that rs110124025 in the BOLA-DRB3 gene was significantly associated with mastitis prevalence (p ≤ 0.05) in both investigated breeds. Current results show that the SNP rs110124025 in the BOLA-DRB3 gene can be used as a candidate genetic marker in selection for mastitis resistance in Romanian dairy cattle.
Extraction and Elevation of Cell-Free DNA under Mastitis and Heat Stress in Dairy Cattle
Authors: Chen Yumei , Abbas Zaheer , Hu Lirong , Kang Ling , Tan Xiao , Xu Qing , Wang Yachun
Published: April 2023

In this study, four methods (phenol-chloroform protocol, sodium iodide kit, QIAamp DNA Blood Mini Kit, and TIANamp Micro DNA Kit) were used to extract cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from cattle blood, and the yield and purity of cfDNA varied in four different methods from 0.36 to 0.84 ng/mL for yield and 0.67 to 1.80 (A260/A280) for purity. Compared with other methods, the TIANamp Micro DNA kit performed better in both cfDNA amount and purity (p < 0.05); furthermore, blood cfDNA levels were significantly increased in Holstein dairy cows under the influence of heat stress (p < 0.01) and mastitis (p < 0.0001), which showed a potential power to discriminate mastitis (AUC = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.97 to 1.00) or heat stress (AUC = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.73 to 0.98) in cows. In brief, we established a complete experimental system for the extraction of cfDNA from cattle blood based on the high-yielding method of the TIANamp Micro DNA Kit and showed the effect of mastitis and heat stress on cfDNA levels in cattle blood for the first time. Our findings suggested that cfDNA in cattle blood may be a useful marker to measure mastitis and heat stress in dairy cattle.
First Report of Rickettsia conorii in Hyalomma kumari Ticks
Authors: Ullah Shafi , Alouffi Abdulaziz , Almutairi Mashal M. , Islam Nabila , Rehman Gauhar , Ul Islam Zia , Ahmed Haroon , Júnior Itabajara da Silva Vaz , Labruna Marcelo B. , Tanaka Tetsuya , Ali Abid
Published: April 2023

As a vector of wide range of pathogenic agents, ticks pose health threats to wild and domestic animals, and humans. Information is unavailable about the prevalence and spatial survey of Hyalomma kumari ticks and associated Rickettsia spp. in Pakistan. Concerning this knowledge gap, the present study aimed to molecularly detect Rickettsia species associated with H. kumari infesting small ruminants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. A total of 409 H. kumari ticks were collected from 163/295 infested hosts with an infestation rate of 55.25%. A total of 204 females, 158 males, and 47 nymphs were collected. Goats were heavily infested by 224 ticks having an infestation rate of 58.33% (98/168), whereas sheep were infested by 185 ticks having a lesser infestation rate of 51.18% (65/127). Genomic DNA extracted from ticks was used for the amplification of tick (cox I, 16S rRNA, ITS-2) species and Rickettsia (gltA, ompA, and ompB) partial genes. Eighty-three ticks were subjected to PCR, and 8/83 (9.6%) were found positive for rickettsial agents. The cox I and 16S rRNA sequences of H. kumari showed 98.90–99.74% identity with H. kumari sequences reported from Pakistan, and phylogenetically clustered to the corresponding species reported from Pakistan and India. The obtained rickettsial gltA, ompA, and ompB sequences showed 100% identity with Rickettsia sp. of the Rickettsia conorii reported from Pakistan. In the phylogenetic trees, rickettsial sequences clustered with uncharacterized Rickettsia sp. from Pakistan and R. conorii from Israel, Russia, South Africa, and India. The present molecular based detection of H. kumari-associated R. conorii will facilitate effective surveillance in the region.
Co-Occurrence of mcr-1 and Carbapenem Resistance in Avian Pathogenic E. coli Serogroup O78 ST95 from Colibacillosis-Infected Broiler Chickens
Authors: Usman Muhammad , Rasool Muhammad Hidayat , Khurshid Mohsin , Aslam Bilal , Baloch Zulqarnain
Published: April 2023

Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) is responsible for significant economic losses in the poultry industry. This study aimed to molecularly detect carbapenem-resistant co-harboring mcr-1 avian pathogenic E. coli in broiler chickens infected with colibacillosis. A total of 750 samples were collected from colibacillosis-infected broilers, and conventional microbiological techniques were used to isolate and identify APEC. MALDI-TOF and virulence-associated genes (VAGs) were used for further identification. Phenotypic carbapenem resistance profiling was followed by molecular detection of carbapenem resistance genes (CRGs) and other resistance genes through PCR using specific primers. Isolates were also subjected to PCR for O typing, followed by allele-specific PCR to detect sequence type (ST) 95. Results showed that 154 (37%) isolates were confirmed as APEC, with 13 (8.4%) isolates found to be carbapenem-resistant (CR)-APEC. Among CR-APEC isolates, 5 (38%) were observed to co-harbor mcr-1. All CR-APEC showed the presence of five markers (ompT, hylF, iutA, iroN, and iss) APEC VAGs, and 89% of CR-APEC isolates displayed O78 type. Furthermore, 7 (54%) CR-APEC isolates were observed with ST95, all displaying O78 type. These results suggest that the improper use of antibiotics in poultry production systems is contributing to the emergence of pathogens such as CR-APEC co-harboring the mcr-1 gene.
Acinetobacter baumannii under Acidic Conditions Induces Colistin Resistance through PmrAB Activation and Lipid A Modification
Authors: Ko Seo-Yeon , Kim Nayeong , Park Seong-Yong , Kim Seong-Yeop , Shin Minsang , Lee Je-Chul
Published: April 2023

Colistin is a last-resort antimicrobial agent for treating carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infections. The activation of PmrAB by several environmental signals induces colistin resistance in Gram-negative bacteria. This study investigated the molecular mechanisms of colistin resistance in A. baumannii under acidic conditions using wild-type (WT) A. baumannii 17978, ΔpmrA and ΔpmrB mutants, and pmrA-complemented strains. The pmrA or pmrB deletion did not affect the growth of A. baumannii under acidic or aerobic conditions. A. baumannii under acidic (pH 5.5) and high-iron (1 mM) conditions showed 32- and 8-fold increases in the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of colistin, respectively. The ΔpmrA and ΔpmrB mutants at pH 5.5 showed a significant decrease in colistin MICs compared to the WT strain at pH 5.5. No difference in colistin MICs was observed between WT and mutant strains under high-iron conditions. The pmrCAB expression significantly increased in the WT strain at pH 5.5 compared to the WT strain at pH 7.0. The pmrC expression significantly decreased in two mutant strains at pH 5.5 compared to the WT strain at pH 5.5. The PmrA protein was expressed in the ΔpmrA strain carrying ppmrA_FLAG plasmids at pH 5.5 but not at pH 7.0. Lipid A modification by the addition of phosphoethanolamine was observed in the WT strain at pH 5.5. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that A. baumannii under acidic conditions induces colistin resistance via the activation of pmrCAB operon and subsequent lipid A modification.
Multiple Thermal Parameter Inversion for Concrete Dams Using an Integrated Surrogate Model
Authors: Wang Fang , Zhao Chunju , Zhou Yihong , Zhou Huawei , Liang Zhipeng , Wang Feng , Seman Ebrahim Aman , Zheng Anran
Published: April 2023

An efficient and accurate method for concrete thermal parameter inversion is essential to guarantee the reliable and prompt thermal analysis results of dams. Traditional inversion methods either suffer from low analysis efficiency or are limited in accuracy. Thus, this paper presents a method for multiple thermal parameter inversion based on an integrated surrogate model (ISM) and the Jaya algorithm. This method replaces finite element analysis with an ISM incorporating three machine learning algorithms, Kriging, support vector regression (SVR), and radial basis function (RBF), to describe the mapping relationship between thermal parameters and structure temperature responses. The input datasets for model training and testing are generated by a uniform design approach. Subsequently, a simple and efficient global optimization algorithm, Jaya, is used to identify the thermal parameters by minimizing the error between calculated and monitored temperatures. The effectiveness and practicality of this method are verified by applying monitored data of two strength grades of concrete in a dam. The verification results indicate that the proposed approach can obtain more accurate inversion results than the above individual models. Compared with these models, the inversion errors using ISM are reduced by 8.45%, 3.93% and 20.85%, respectively for C35 concrete, and by 6.53%, 23.82% and 44.43%, respectively for C40 concrete. Additionally, this approach maintains the powerful computational efficiency of surrogate-based optimization, and compared to the methods that directly invert using swarm intelligence algorithms, the analysis efficiency is improved by about 111.7 times.
Enhancing Transferability of Near-Infrared Spectral Models for Soluble Solids Content Prediction across Different Fruits
Authors: Guo Cheng , Zhang Jin , Cai Wensheng , Shao Xueguang
Published: April 2023

Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is widely used for non-destructive detection of fruit quality, but the transferability of NIR models between different fruits is still a challenge. This study investigates the transferability of NIR models from strawberry to grape and apple using two case studies. A total of 94 strawberry, 80 grape, and 125 apple samples were measured for their soluble solids content (SSC) and NIR spectra. Partial least squares (PLS) regression was used to establish a model for predicting strawberry SSC, with an acceptable root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) and correlation coefficient (R) of 0.53 °Brix and 0.91, respectively. Directly applying the strawberry model to grape and apple spectra significantly degrades the performance, increasing the RMSEP up to 3.47 and 16.40, respectively. Spectral preprocessing can improve the predictions for all three fruits, but the bias cannot be eliminated. Global modeling produces a generalized model, but the prediction for strawberry degrades. Calibration transfer with SS-PFCE and PLS correction, which are calibration methods without standard samples, was found to be an effective way to improve the prediction of grape and apple spectra using the strawberry model. Therefore, calibration transfer may be a feasible way for improving the transferability of NIR models for multiple fruits.
CatBoost–Bayesian Hybrid Model Adaptively Coupled with Modified Theoretical Equations for Estimating the Undrained Shear Strength of Clay
Authors: Yang Huajian , Liu Zhikui , Li Yuantao , Wei Haixia , Huang Nengsheng
Published: April 2023

The undrained shear strength of clay is an important index for the calculation of the bearing capacity of the foundation soil, the calculation of the soil pressure of the foundation pit, and the analysis of the slope stability. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to conduct a comprehensive study of the combined use of machine learning with clay theoretical equations to estimate it. Under the Bayesian framework, the CatBoost algorithm (CatBoost–Bayesian) based on Bayesian optimization algorithm was developed to obtain the feature importance level of soil parameters affecting the undrained shear strength of clay, so as to adaptively couple the theoretical equation of undrained shear strength of K0 consolidated clay, which was derived from the modified Cambridge model. Then, the theoretical equation of undrained shear strength of the isotropically consolidated clay was established from the critical state of the clay parameters. Finally, it was illustrated and verified using the experimental samples of Finnish clay. The results indicate that the theoretical equation established by the overconsolidation ratio and effective overburden pressure parameters can well estimate the undrained shear strength of isotropically consolidated clays, and the parameter uncertainty can be considered explicitly and rigorously.
A Robust Deep Learning-Based Damage Identification Approach for SHM Considering Missing Data
Authors: Deng Fan , Tao Xiaoming , Wei Pengxiang , Wei Shiyin
Published: April 2023

Data-driven methods have shown promising results in structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. However, most of these approaches rely on the ideal dataset assumption and do not account for missing data, which can significantly impact their real-world performance. Missing data is a frequently encountered issue in time series data, which hinders standardized data mining and downstream tasks such as damage identification and condition assessment. While imputation approaches based on spatiotemporal relations among monitoring data have been proposed to handle this issue, they do not provide additional helpful information for downstream tasks. This paper proposes a robust deep learning-based method that unifies missing data imputation and damage identification tasks into a single framework. The proposed approach is based on a long short-term memory (LSTM) structured autoencoder (AE) framework, and missing data is simulated using the dropout mechanism by randomly dropping the input channels. Reconstruction errors serve as the loss function and damage indicator. The proposed method is validated using the quasi-static response (cable tension) of a cable-stayed bridge released in the 1st IPC-SHM, and results show that missing data imputation and damage identification can be effectively integrated into the proposed unified framework.
Use of CNN for Water Stress Identification in Rice Fields Using Thermal Imagery
Authors: Li Mu-Wei , Chan Yung-Kuan , Yu Shyr-Shen
Published: April 2023

Rice is a staple food in many Asian countries, but its production requires a high water demand. Moreover, more attention should be paid to the water management of rice due to global climate change and frequent droughts. To address this problem, we propose a rice water stress identification system. Since water irrigation usually affects the opening and closing of rice leaf stomata which directly affects leaf temperature, rice leaf temperature is a suitable index for evaluating rice water stress. The proposed rice water stress identification system uses a CNN (convolutional neural network) to identify water stress in thermal images of rice fields and to classify the irrigation situation into three classes: 100%, 90%, and 80% irrigation. The CNN was applied to extract the temperature level score from each thermal image based on the degree of difference between the three irrigation situations, then these scores were used to further classify the water-stress situation. In the experiments in this study, we compare CNN classification results without considering the degree between each class. The proposed method considerably improves water stress identification. Since rice leaf temperature is relative to air temperature and is not an absolute value, the background temperature is also important reference information. We combine two different methods for background processing to extract more features and achieve more accurate identification.
Analysis of Machine Learning Techniques for Information Classification in Mobile Applications
Authors: Pérez Arteaga Sandra , Sandoval Orozco Ana Lucila , García Villalba Luis Javier
Published: April 2023

Due to the daily use of mobile technologies, we live in constant connection with the world through the Internet. Technological innovations in smart devices have allowed us to carry out everyday activities such as communicating, working, studying or using them as a means of entertainment, which has led to smartphones displacing computers as the most important device connected to the Internet today, causing users to demand smarter applications or functionalities that allow them to meet their needs. Artificial intelligence has been a major innovation in information technology that is transforming the way users use smart devices. Using applications that make use of artificial intelligence has revolutionised our lives, from making predictions of possible words based on typing in a text box, to being able to unlock devices through pattern recognition. However, these technologies face problems such as overheating and battery drain due to high resource consumption, low computational capacity, memory limitations, etc. This paper reviews the most important artificial intelligence algorithms for mobile devices, emphasising the challenges and problems that can arise when implementing these technologies in low-resource devices.
Multi-Attention-Guided Cascading Network for End-to-End Person Search
Authors: Yang Jianxi , Wang Xiaoyong
Published: May 2023

The key procedure is to accurately identify pedestrians in complex scenes and effectively embed features from multiple vision cues. However, it is still a limitation to coordinate two tasks in the unified framework, thus leading to high computational overhead and unsatisfactory search performance. Furthermore, most methods do not take significant clues and key features of pedestrians into consideration. To remedy these issues, we introduce a novel method named Multi-Attention-Guided Cascading Network (MGCN) in this paper. Specifically, we obtain the trusted bounding box through the detection header as the label information for post-process. Based on the end-to-end network, we demonstrate the advantages of jointly learning to construct the bounding box and attention module by maximizing the complementary information from different attention modules, which can achieve optimized person search performance. Meanwhile, by imposing an aligning module on re-id feature extracted network to locate visual clues with semantic information, which can restrain redundant background information. Extensive experimental results for the two benchmark person search datasets are provided to demonstrate that the proposed MGCN markedly outperforms the state-of-the-art baselines.
Delamination Behavior of Highly Stretchable Soft Islands Multi-Layer Materials
Authors: Kowol Philipp , Bargmann Swantje , Görrn Patrick , Wilmers Jana
Published: April 2023

Stretchable electronics rely on sophisticated structural designs to allow brittle metallic conductors to adapt to curved or moving substrates. Patterns of soft islands and stable cracks in layered silver-PDMS composites provide exceptional stretchability by means of strain localization as the cracks open and the islands strain. To investigate the reliability and potential failure modes, we study the initiation and propagation of delamination in dependence of structure geometry and quality of the metal-polymer bonding. Our numerical experiments show a well-bonded metal film to be under no risk of delamination. Even weakly bonded metal films sustain moderate strains well above the limits of classical electronic materials before the onset of delamination in the soft islands structures. If delamination occurs, it does so in predictable patterns that retain functionality over a remarkable strain range in the double-digit percent range before failure, thus, providing safety margins in applications.
Installation Art and the Elaboration of Psychological Concepts: A Definition of the Term ‘Excursive’
Authors: Karadjova Lilyana Georgieva
Published: May 2023

This paper focuses on installation art and its potential to employ and elaborate psychological concepts. As Claire Bishop argues, installation art has a psychologically absorptive character because it activates and immerses the viewing subject. To analyze this immersive experience, she refers to Maurice Merleau-Ponty and the premise that subject and object are intertwined and reciprocally interdependent. In this paper I refer to these registers of artistic perception in order to explore the concept of ‘excursive object’, which was introduced by the contemporary artist and theorist Peter Tzanev in a site-specific installation (Credo Bonum Gallery, Sofia, 2018). It refers to both Elizabeth Helsinger’s term ‘excursive sight’ and to Michel Foucault’s notion of ‘discursive object’. Whereas the latter is a discursive textual formation, which consists of apparent internal relations inside a statement, the excursive object of art emerges as a less perceivable configuration of elements. It does not result in a clear perceptual experience and reflects the unstable phenomenological interdependence of subject and object. Thus, Tzanev’s novel excursive objects depart from the usual modes of perception. His concept reveals the viewer’s particular experience of unstable configurations of elements in installation art. Furthermore, it could be explored as a resourceful term to describe perceptive situations in the psychology of contemporary art.
Extratropical Cyclone Response to Projected Reductions in Snow Extent over the Great Plains
Authors: Clare Ryan M. , Desai Ankur R. , Martin Jonathan E. , Notaro Michael , Vavrus Stephen J.
Published: April 2023

Extratropical cyclones develop in regions of enhanced baroclinicity and progress along climatological storm tracks. Numerous studies have noted an influence of terrestrial snow cover on atmospheric baroclinicity. However, these studies have less typically examined the role that continental snow cover extent and changes anticipated with anthropogenic climate change have on cyclones’ intensities, trajectories, and precipitation characteristics. Here, we examined how projected future poleward shifts in North American snow extent influence extratropical cyclones. We imposed 10th, 50th, and 90th percentile values of snow retreat between the late 20th and 21st centuries as projected by 14 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase Five (CMIP5) models to alter snow extent underlying 15 historical cold-season cyclones that tracked over the North American Great Plains and were faithfully reproduced in control model cases, providing a comprehensive set of model runs to evaluate hypotheses. Simulations by the Advanced Research version of the Weather Research and Forecast Model (WRF-ARW) were initialized at four days prior to cyclogenesis. Cyclone trajectories moved on average poleward (μ = 27 +/− σ = 17 km) in response to reduced snow extent while the maximum sea-level pressure deepened (μ = −0.48 +/− σ = 0.8 hPa) with greater snow removed. A significant linear correlation was observed between the area of snow removed and mean trajectory deviation (r2 = 0.23), especially in mid-winter (r2 = 0.59), as well as a similar relationship for maximum change in sea-level pressure (r2 = 0.17). Across all simulations, 82% of the perturbed simulation cyclones decreased in average central sea-level pressure (SLP) compared to the corresponding control simulation. Near-surface wind speed increased, as did precipitation, in 86% of cases with a preferred phase change from the solid to liquid state due to warming, although the trends did not correlate with the snow retreat magnitude. Our results, consistent with prior studies noting some role for the enhanced baroclinity of the snow line in modulating storm track and intensity, provide a benchmark to evaluate future snow cover retreat impacts on mid-latitude weather systems.
Demonstration of a Nowcasting Service for High Ice Water Content (HIWC) Conditions
Authors: Potts Rodney , Haggerty Julie , Rugg Allyson , Protat Alain
Published: April 2023

Areas of high ice water content (HIWC) within cloud systems may cause power loss events and engine damage in jet aircraft due to ice crystal icing (ICI). The Algorithm for Prediction of HIWC Areas (ALPHA) was developed to identify these regions and enable provision of guidance to airlines. ALPHA combines numerical weather prediction model data, satellite data, and radar data (where available), and applies fuzzy logic to identify the likely presence of HIWC. In a collaboration between the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, and Australian airlines, a trial of ALPHA was conducted for an area across Indonesia, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and northern Australia, a region with frequent deep convection and a relatively high incidence of ICI events. ALPHA was adapted to ingest data from the Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator model and the Japanese Himawari-8 geostationary meteorological satellite. Radar data was not used. The HIWC product was made available to stakeholder groups for evaluation. Independent validation of the HIWC product was undertaken by comparing it with retrieved profiles of ice water content (IWC) from the cloud profiling radar on the NASA polar-orbiting CloudSat satellite. Conduct of the ALPHA trial and results from validation of the HIWC product provides confidence in the potential utility for flight planning, maintaining situational awareness, and flight monitoring.
Three-Dimensional Simulation of Corona Discharge in a Double-Needle System during a Thunderstorm
Authors: Guo Xiufeng , Zhang Ling , Ji Ziyu , Gao Yue , Wang Zhaoxia , Zhao Nian
Published: April 2023

The effect of corona discharge from buildings or structures on the surrounding atmospheric electric field is very important in the measurement of urban atmospheric electric fields and the early warning of lightning. However, most previous studies were focused on independent buildings, with little research on three-dimensional building groups. Therefore, based on three-dimensional numerical simulation technology, this paper uses a double-needle system to simulate the characteristics of thunderstorm corona discharge from two equal-height buildings separated by a variable distance. The shielding effect of the double-needle system on the ground electric field is evaluated both with and without corona discharge, and the main conclusions are as follows: (1) The larger the distance between the two needles, the closer the peak corona current from each tip of the double-needle system is to that from an independent lightning rod at the same height. When the peak corona current from each tip of the double-needle system equals the peak corona current from an independent lightning rod at the same height to some level of approximation, the distance between the two needle systems is determined by the needle height at this time. (2) If the distance between the two needles is 0.1 m, the corona charge released by the double-needle system is almost equal to that released by an independent lightning rod. The corona charge released by the double-needle system is approximately twice as much as that released by an independent lightning rod when the distance between the two needles is increased to a certain value that increases with the needle height and the time of corona discharge. (3) The greater the value of the time of corona discharge, the stronger the shielding effect of the corona discharge on the ground electric field and the larger the shielding range, but the greater the value of the needle height, the smaller the shielding range. (4) Compared with the shielding effect with no corona discharge, that with corona discharge is greater, but the greater the value of the needle height, the less the enhancement. For example, for corona discharge with a time of 10 s, the needle height is 20 m, and the shielding range is ca. 70 m, which is 8.8 times that without corona discharge; however, for the needle height of 100 m, the shielding range is ca. 150 m, which is only 1.5 times that without corona discharge.
Reconstructed Malacothermometer July Paleotemperatures from the Last Nine Glacials over the South-Eastern Carpathian Basin (Serbia)
Authors: Radaković Milica G. , Oches Eric A. , Hughes Philip D. , Marković Rastko S. , Hao Qingzhen , Perić Zoran M. , Gavrilović Bojan , Ludwig Patrick , Lukić Tin , Gavrilov Milivoj B. , Marković Slobodan B.
Published: April 2023

In this study, the compiled malacological record of the two most important loess–palaeosol sequences (LPS) in Serbia was used to reconstruct the Malacothermometer July Paleotemperature (MTJP) of the last nine glacials. The sieved loess samples yielded shells of 11 terrestrial gastropod species that were used to estimate the MTJP. Veliki Surduk (covering the last three glacial cycles) and Stari Slankamen (covering the last fourth to ninth glacial cycle) LPSs previously lacked the malacological investigations. After the sieving, a total of 66,871 shells were found, from which 48,459 shells were used for the estimation of the MTJP. Through the studied period, the reconstructed MTJP was ranging from 14.4 °C to 21.5 °C. The lowest temperature was recorded during the formation of the loess unit L5, equivalent to the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12. The second-coldest summers were occurring during the MIS 16 glacial. Although the warmest glacial was L8 (MIS 20) according to MTJP, these July temperatures might be overestimated due to only two samples from the poorly preserved L8 unit. The malacological material derived from the loess units at Veliki Surduk and Stari Slankamen LPSs showed great potential for July temperature reconstruction, as the comparison with other regional records showed similar climate changes. Further work is necessary to validate the age scale of the oldest samples, and a higher resolution sampling could lead to more detailed July temperature fluctuations, as was shown for the youngest glacial in this study. Likewise, estimating the July temperature using different proxies (e.g., pollen) from the same LPSs could be used to confirm the observed climate trends.
Applications Laguerre Polynomials for Families of Bi-Univalent Functions Defined with (p,q)-Wanas Operator
Authors: Wanas Abbas Kareem , Sakar Fethiye Müge , Alb Lupaş Alina
Published: April 2023

In current manuscript, using Laguerre polynomials and (p−q)-Wanas operator, we identify upper bounds a2 and a3 which are first two Taylor-Maclaurin coefficients for a specific bi-univalent functions classes W∑(η,δ,λ,σ,θ,α,β,p,q;h) and K∑(ξ,ρ,σ,θ,α,β,p,q;h) which cover the convex and starlike functions. Also, we discuss Fekete-Szegö type inequality for defined class.