bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Contribuições da leitura e da literatura infantil para os processos do pensamento, da linguagem e da língua escrita na criança: uma análise na perspectiva da teoria histórico-cultural
Authors: Dos Santos Bruna Assem Sasso , Simões Girotto Cyntia Graziella Guizelim
Published: August 2020

São muitos os autores que se dedicaram a investigar sobre questões que buscam correlacionar o desenvolvimento do pensamento e da linguagem, uma vez que ao se analisar uma criança com apenas alguns meses de vida e compará-la com uma criança de dois ou três anos, na posse de expressões verbais elementares, fica evidente a qualquer adulto que a linguagem modificou veementemente sua inteligência, como se lhe acrescentasse o pensamento. Questiona-se, então: será que existe relação, na perspectiva vigotiskiniana, entre o desenvolvimento do pensamento e da linguagem oral e o desenvolvimento da língua escrita? E qual seria o papel desempenhado pela linguagem oral na aquisição da língua escrita? O presente texto tem como objetivo, assim, buscar as possíveis relações existentes entre o desenvolvimento do pensamento, da linguagem oral e da linguagem escrita na criança, considerando também as contribuições da leitura e da literatura infantil para tais processos, segundo as concepções de autores da Teoria Histórico-Cultural. O método utilizado fora mediante análise bibliográfica. A hipótese que se teve foi a que, nesta perspectiva, a influência da linguagem é primordial tanto para o desenvolvimento do pensamento quanto para o desenvolvimento da linguagem escrita, e sem o papel do mediador de leitura (o adulto – especialmente, o professor) a atividade literária não ocorreria na criança, sendo esta atividade mediadora imprescindível para aquisição da lectoescrita. Mediante a apresentação realizada, a hipótese inicial pôde ser confirmada.
Actitudes de homofobia en estudiantes de Psicología en Bogotá
Authors: Rincón Araque Maryi Andrea
Published: August 2020

Durante la última década, en Colombia se pueden identificar transformaciones en referencia a los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje encaminadas a resaltar la importancia de la inclusión y la diversidad en el entorno educativo. Sin embargo, el modelo heterosexista predominante en la sociedad colombiana genera dificultades para incluir en el ámbito académico, perspectivas de diversidad e inclusión hacia la comunidad LGBTI. El presente estudio evaluó las actitudes de una muestra de 751 estudiantes de psicología (131 hombres, 610 mujeres y 10 participantes que no se identificaron con ninguno de los dos sexos) de ocho universidades públicas y privadas en la ciudad de Bogotá. La media de edad de los participantes fue de 22,6 años, con un rango de edad que oscila entre los 16 y los 59 años. Para evaluar las actitudes de homofobia, se utilizó la Escala de Conducta Homosexual de Pérez y Urriola, este instrumento tiene un total de 43 ítems en escala de medida Likert de cinco opciones de respuesta que se agrupan en un total de seis (6) factores: fobia, aceptación, rechazo, naturalidad, derechos y violencia. Los resultados indican actitudes homófobas entre los estudiantes de psicología, evidenciándose una mayor prevalencia en hombres que en mujeres; se resalta que tener amigos homosexuales favorece actitudes más positivas y de aceptación hacia la homosexualidad, a su vez, la religiosidad o la ausencia de la misma se encuentra como un factor importante que influye en la aceptación o no de la homosexualidad en estudiantes de psicología; el grupo de estudiantes no creyentes y no practicantes mostraron una mejor actitud frente a la homosexualidad mientras que en los estudiantes que se describen a sí mismos como creyentes se identifica una dificultad en la aceptación de la homosexualidad. Es importante que, hacia el futuro, se pongan en práctica dentro del ámbito universitario estrategias que favorezcan el enfoque de inclusión y diversidad, el cual resalte la construcción de género, estereotipos de género, y se promocione el respeto hacia la diversidad y la no discriminación.
Percepción emocional del docente- tutor en el proceso de aprendizaje
Authors: Sánchez Chacón Cindy Lorena , Duarte Sabogal Diana Carolina
Published: August 2020

Se presentan los resultados de la investigación acerca de la percepción que tiene el docente (llamado tutor en los ambientes virtuales de aprendizaje) sobre las emociones que se vinculan al aprendizaje en los estudiantes de modalidad a distancia en una institución de educación superior ubicada en la ciudad de Bogotá, Colombia. Se describe la manera en que intervienen las competencias emocionales en el quehacer docente y se promueve el reconocimiento de las emociones en relación con los ambientes de aprendizaje propios de la modalidad. El contexto que sustenta la necesidad de la investigación en la modalidad a distancia, parte de las transformaciones de intereses, roles y actitudes que convergen en los sistemas educativos a los que se acogen las instituciones, lo que implica la transformación y resignificación del rol del docente-tutor en la modalidad. Esta es una investigación de tipo cualitativo, dónde se culminó el proceso de análisis categorial en el segundo semestre del año 2019, partiendo de la recolección de datos por medio de dos herramientas previamente diseñadas (entrevista y grupo focal), con la intención de describir la importancia de la conciencia emocional e identificar cuáles son las posibles emociones que se perciben como obstáculos o estrategias que facilitan procesos de aprendizaje y cuáles son las relaciones que establece el docente – tutor con estas. Se encontró que para el docente – tutor las emociones que son significativas en el proceso de aprendizaje en los estudiantes de educación a distancia son la alegría, miedo, confusión y enojo, sin diferenciarlas claramente de los ambientes virtuales y presenciales; y las emociones que consideran deben ser promovidas son: satisfacción, entusiasmo, empatía y bienestar. Este proceso implica comprensión del docente – tutor y una postura que le permita generar experiencias de aprendizaje enriquecedoras en el panorama educativo desde los ambientes y los procesos de interacción permitiendo a los estudiantes reconocer y adquirir nuevos aprendizajes para reconocer la complejidad de las emociones involucradas.
Abordaje Fonoaudiológico de la Deglución en el Síndrome de Enclaustramiento
Authors: Vargas Garcia Miguel Antonio , Eusse Solano Paola , Alvarado Meza Jimy , Santoya Figueroa Olga
Published: August 2020

En el Síndrome de Enclaustramiento (Locked-In Syndrome, LIS) las manifestaciones clínicas son preponderantemente de orden motor, situación que requiere de la intervención del Fonoaudiólogo, dado el compromiso comunicativo y de la biomecánica deglutoria. La disfagia en el Locked-In Syndrome está dada por la desconexión sensorial y motriz de las estructuras anatómicas de la deglución, alterando la secuencia neuromotora y sensitiva del proceso deglutorio debido a la desconexión pontina.
Dadas las características multicéntricas de la deglución, la intervención fonoaudiológica debe darse oportunamente, donde el eje fundamental de la intervención fonoaudiológica debe estar en la secuencialidad de los procesos neurofisiológicos; adoptando como estrategia fundamental el manejo de consistencias, para el fortalecimiento sensorial y motor de la deglución. Al intervenir las necesidades sensoriomotoras orales en pro de la alimentación, y usando como estrategias terapéuticas la modificación de consistencias, manejo de volúmen, postura, aditamento para suministro de alimento y tiempos de ingesta, se minimizan los riesgos en el proceso de alimentación y se pudo llegar a mantener un estado nutricional y de hidratación óptimo para la recuperación física general, desarrollado paralelamente con mejores procesos de interacción familiar que impactan positivamente la calidad de vida.
Cuerpo, Fenomenología y Desarrollo
Authors: Chaves Peña Daniel Eduardo , Yáñez Canal Jaime
Published: August 2020

En el contexto de la psicología del desarrollo, el cuerpo ocupa un lugar central en las explicaciones de la progresiva estructuración cognitiva. En la obra de Piaget los logros del estadio sensoriomotor constituyen la piedra angular de las formas más complejas de la cognición, tales como la representación o el pensamiento abstracto. Luego de realizar un examen crítico de las suposiciones que en las teorías del desarrollo psicológico vinculan el cuerpo y la cognición, abogamos por un enfoque fenomenológico del cuerpo que nos permite reformular su relación con la cognición, incluyendo así, aspectos centrales de las discusiones contemporáneas acerca de la naturaleza de la experiencia consciente.
Conductas disruptivas infantiles y estilos de crianza
Authors: Villavicencio Aguilar Carmita Esperanza , Armijos Piedra Tania Rosalía , Castro Ponce Mónica Cecibel
Published: August 2020

Este estudio investigativo pretende analizar los estilos de crianza parental y su relación con la aparición y mantenimiento de conductas disruptivas en escolares. El proceso de socialización en la familia es el primer y principal medio que provee y retroalimenta a nivel comportamental y emocional la conducta infantil, al vincular la práctica de actitudes, delimitación de normas-límites, valores, cumplimientos de funciones-roles y expresiones de comunicación-afecto. Participaron seis padres de familia, sus hijos 5 a 9 años de edad y docentes. Corresponde a una investigación de tipo mixto, diseño narrativo-biográfico y de alcance descriptivo-interpretativo, busca caracterizar y explicar la dinámica familiar y los comportamientos que resultan producto de las prácticas educativas parentales. Se aplicaron entrevistas psicológicas, simultáneamente escalas: Funcionamiento Familiar (EFP y FF-SI); a los docentes se administró: Escala de Evaluación del Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad e Inventario del Comportamiento de niños/as de 6-8 años para profesores/as. En los resultados obtenidos, las familias emplean los estilos de crianza parental rígido y permisivo, de ellas la mitad es moderadamente funcional y disfuncional; la mayoría de los niños muestran conductas disruptivas en los contextos: familiar y educativo, sus principales manifestaciones: irritaciones, confrontaciones, exigencias, búsqueda constante de atención, bajo rendimiento escolar, inquietud, desobediencia, no cumplen con tareas u obligaciones, desafiantes y manipuladores; existe trastorno de conducta de riesgo elevado y moderado, con rango clínico de problemas de conducta. Los estilos de crianza parental se convierten en factores de protección o riesgo en la conducta de niños según la interacción que exista.
Mitos del Amor Romántico y Calidad en las Relaciones Sentimentales Adolescentes
Authors: Gómez Perea Lucía , Viejo Carmen
Published: August 2020

La existencia de violencia en las relaciones de pareja adolescente es un fenómeno de creciente interés en el ámbito científico. El desarrollo de comportamientos agresivos en el interior de las primeras relaciones de intimidad dependerá en gran medida del ideario de amor que los y las adolescentes tengan y utilicen para modelar sus propias parejas; en este sentido, los mitos de amor romántico juegan un papel clave. Este estudio analiza el ideario romántico de los jóvenes, señalando las diferencias significativas en función alsexo y la edad; concretamente, así como la relación existente entre estos mitos y la calidad de las primeras parejas, identificando, a su vez, el grado de implicación en violencia que estos presentan. Participaron 583 estudiantes (49.6% chicas), con edades comprendidas entre los 14 y los 18 años. Los resultados mostraron diferencias significativas en cuanto al ideario amoroso, en relación al sexo y a la edad de los participantes: las chicas se encontraban de acuerdo en mayor grado con los mitos referidos a la duración de la pasión de los primeros momentos y, al amor ciego; mientras que los chicos, con los mitos referidos a los celos como prueba de amor y la omnipotencia del amor verdadero; además, el grado de aceptación de los mitosaumentaba a medida que avanzaban en los años adolescentes. Fue posible identificar tres perfiles de ideario romántico, que se relacionaban con la implicación en violencia en la pareja: El amor justifica violencia, Baja idealización del amor e Ideal romántico no violento.
A NARX Model Reference Adaptive Control Scheme: Improved Disturbance Rejection Fractional-Order PID Control of an Experimental Magnetic Levitation System
Authors: Alimohammadi Hossein , Alagoz Baris Baykant , Tepljakov Aleksei , Vassiljeva Kristina , Petlenkov Eduard
Published: August 2020

Real control systems require robust control performance to deal with unpredictable and altering operating conditions of real-world systems. Improvement of disturbance rejection control performance should be considered as one of the essential control objectives in practical control system design tasks. This study presents a multi-loop Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) scheme that leverages a nonlinear autoregressive neural network with external inputs (NARX) model in as the reference model. Authors observed that the performance of multi-loop MRAC-fractional-order proportional integral derivative (FOPID) control with MIT rule largely depends on the capability of the reference model to represent leading closed-loop dynamics of the experimental ML system. As such, the NARX model is used to represent disturbance-free dynamical behavior of PID control loop. It is remarkable that the obtained reference model is independent of the tuning of other control loops in the control system. The multi-loop MRAC-FOPID control structure detects impacts of disturbance incidents on control performance of the closed-loop FOPID control system and adapts the response of the FOPID control system to reduce the negative effects of the additive input disturbance. This multi-loop control structure deploys two specialized control loops: an inner loop, which is the closed-loop FOPID control system for stability and set-point control, and an outer loop, which involves a NARX reference model and an MIT rule to increase the adaptation ability of the system. Thus, the two-loop MRAC structure allows improvement of disturbance rejection performance without deteriorating precise set-point control and stability characteristics of the FOPID control loop. This is an important benefit of this control structure. To demonstrate disturbance rejection performance improvements of the proposed multi-loop MRAC-FOPID control with NARX model, an experimental study is conducted for disturbance rejection control of magnetic levitation test setup in the laboratory. Simulation and experimental results indicate an improvement of disturbance rejection performance.
Identification of Transformation Stages and Evolution of Agricultural Development Types Based on Total Factor Productivity Analysis: A Case Study of Gansu Province, China
Authors: Chen Meimei , Ma Libang , Che Xinglong , Dou Haojian
Published: August 2020

Agricultural transformation is a transition process of agriculture from the low development stage to the high development stage. Identifying the agricultural transformation stage and analyzing the evolution of agricultural development types based on Total Factor Productivity (TFP) are of great significance for the rational formulation of agricultural development policies. Based on the total factor productivity analysis framework, the DEA-Malmquist index model was used to measure the agricultural TFP of the 87 counties in Gansu Province from 1988 to 2017. The cumulative anomaly method was used to help identify agricultural transformation stages. Agricultural development types of counties in different stages and their evolution process were analyzed. Results show that (1) the agricultural transformation of Gansu Province can be divided into three stages: Traditional agriculture in 1988–1998; low-capacity technology agriculture in 1999–2011; and high-capacity technology agriculture in 2012–2017. (2) From 1988 to 2017, the agricultural TFP showed periodic U-shaped fluctuations, and the areas with high TFP value expanded from the central region to the western region and then to the entire region of the province. (3) Gansu Province presented a significant spatiotemporal variation of agricultural development types. From 1988 to 1998, type-I (low technological efficiency and slow technological progress) and type-VI (high technological efficiency and fast technological progress) agricultural development was mainly observed, and these two kinds of counties accounted for 55.17% of all evaluation units. From 1999 to 2011, the number of counties with type-I agricultural development increased significantly, reaching 35, followed by the number of counties with type IV (low technological efficiency) agricultural development, reaching 18. They together accounted for 60.92% of all evaluation units. From 2012 to 2017, the number of counties with type-IV and type-VI agricultural development was the largest, reaching 29 and 25, respectively. They together accounted for 62.07% of all evaluation units. (4) Types of agricultural development frequently change—from 1988 to 2017, the influencing factors of agricultural development had undergone a transition from both technological efficiency and technological improvement to technological efficiency or technological improvement alone.
Supporting Beneficial Insects for Agricultural Sustainability: The Role of Livestock-Integrated Organic and Cover Cropping to Enhance Ground Beetle (Carabidae) Communities
Authors: Adhikari Subodh , Menalled Fabian D.
Published: August 2020

Ground beetles (Carabidae) are beneficial insects providing ecosystem services by regulating insect pests and weed seeds. Despite several studies conducted on ground beetles worldwide, there is a lack of knowledge on how these insects are affected by differently managed organic systems (e.g., tillage-based versus grazed-based) compared to that of chemical-based no-tillage conventional cropping systems. In a 5-year (2013–2017) study, we assessed the ground beetle communities in cover crops and winter wheat (Triticum aestivium L.) in Montana, USA, with three contrasting cropping systems: a chemically managed no-tillage, a tillage-based organic, and a livestock-integrated organic with reduced tillage. The first three years (i.e., 2013–2015) corresponded to the transition to organic period, while the last two (i.e., 2016–2017) were conducted in United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic-certified tillage-based and livestock-integrated organic systems. The experiment was designed with three management systems across three blocks as the whole plot variable and 5-year rotation of crop phases as the subplot variable. Using pitfall traps, we sampled ground beetles across all cover crop and winter wheat subplots for five years (n = 450). The data were analyzed using mixed effects models and PERMANOVA and visualized with non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination. Our study indicated that organically managed farms, whether tilled or grazed, enhance activity density, species richness, diversity, and evenness of ground beetles in the dryland row crop productions. Also, irrespective of farming system, cover crops supported higher species richness, diversity, and evenness of ground beetles than winter wheat. The ground beetle communities were mostly similar during the transition to organic period. However, during the established organic phase, cropping systems acted as contrasting ecological filters and beetle communities became dissimilar. Cover cropping affected ground beetle communities positively not only in organically managed systems but also in chemical-based conventional systems. Our study provides evidence supporting the adoption of ecologically-based cropping systems such as crop-livestock integration, organic farming, and cover cropping to enhance beneficial insects and their pest-regulation services.
Regulation of Agronomic Traits, Nutrient Uptake, Osmolytes and Antioxidants of Maize as Influenced by Exogenous Potassium Silicate under Deficit Irrigation and Semiarid Conditions
Authors: Ibrahim Mohamed F. M. , Abd El-Samad Gomaa , Ashour Hatem , El-Sawy Ahmed M. , Hikal Mohamed , Elkelish Amr , El-Gawad Hany Abd , El-Yazied Ahmed Abou , Hozzein Wael N. , Farag Reham
Published: August 2020

Understanding the link between the protective role of potassium silicate (K2SiO3) against water shortage and the eventual grain yield of maize plants is still limited under semiarid conditions. Therefore, in this study, we provide insights into the underlying metabolic responses, mineral nutrients uptake and some nonenzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants that may differ in maize plants as influenced by the foliar application of K2SiO3 (0, 1 and 2 mM) under three drip irrigation regimes (100, 75 and 50% of water requirements). Our results indicated that, generally, plants were affected by both moderate and severe deficit irrigation levels. Deficit irrigation decreased shoot dry weight, root dry weight, leaf area index (LAI), relative water content (RWC), N, P, K, Ca, Fe, Zn, carotenoids, grain yield and its parameters, while root/shoot ratio, malondialdehyde (MDA), proline, soluble sugars, ascorbic acid, soluble phenols, peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) were improved. The foliar applications of K2SiO3 relatively alleviated water stress-induced damage. In this respect, the treatment of 2 mM K2SiO3 was more effective than others and could be recommended to mitigate the effect of deficit irrigation on maize plants. Moreover, correlation analysis revealed a close link between yield and the most studied traits.
Long-Term Effect of Environmental Enrichment on Reproductive Performance of Swiss Webster Mice and Their Female Offspring
Authors: Meikle María Noel , Arévalo Ana Paula , Schlapp Geraldine , Fernández-Graña Gabriel , Menchaca Alejo , Crispo Martina
Published: August 2020

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an environmental enrichment (EE) plan on the reproductive performance of Swiss Webster mice and their female offspring used as recipients for embryo transfer. A total of 54 breeder mice and 60 F1 females, used as foster mothers, were allocated in two experimental groups to receive or not receive EE for physical well-being. Reproductive outcomes of the Swiss trios such as birth rate and pup number, litter size, pups’ weight at weaning, interlitter interval and time to first litter were analyzed. Environmental enrichment significantly increased pups weight from breeding trios compared to the control group (14.4 ± 0.1 vs. 13.8g ± 0.1, EE vs. control, respectively; p < 0.01). Other parameters did not differ between both groups. Reproductive parameters of female offspring used as recipients for embryo transfer did not differ among groups subjected or not to EE. These data demonstrate that the EE protocol applied in Swiss Webster breeder mice positively enhanced pups weight, and did not interfere with other reproductive outcomes. In conclusion, this study supports the implementation of EE plans usually applied for animal welfare in mouse facilities with slight improvement in reproductive performance.
Histological Evaluation of Gonad Impairments in Russian Sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) Reared in Recirculating Aquatic System (RAS)
Authors: Rzepkowska Małgorzata , Adamek-Urbańska Dobrochna , Fajkowska Magdalena , Roszko Marek Łukasz
Published: August 2020

The aim of the study was to raise an issue concerning gonadal impairments in sturgeon reared in recirculating aquatic systems (RAS). In the present study, an in-depth histological evaluation in terms of gonadal pathologies was performed on over-4-year-old (1600 days post-hatching) Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) reared under indoor RAS. A female-biased sex ratio, intersex occurrence, ovarian fat overgrowth, T-cell infiltration and follicle atresia were the most commonly observed disorders in the analyzed gonads. The combined processes of oocyte autophagy and follicular cell apoptosis were engaged in follicular atresia; however, atretic follicles showed a varied morphology, whereas oogonia and oocytes in the early stages of meiosis, as well as spermatogonia, underwent degeneration by apoptosis. The most severe pathology was observed in females with abundant intra-ovarian fat deposition. The extremely fatty ovaries were noted to lose the majority of ovarian follicles, which directly leads to fish sterility. The identified impairments might be related to estrogenic endocrine disruption, as feminization and unspecific vitellogenin synthesis were detected, although the sources of the observed pathologies can be diverse. Therefore, the presented research lays the groundwork for further studies on reproductive disorders in this prized and endangered fish species.
Large Lemurs: Ecological, Demographic and Environmental Risk Factors for Weight Gain in Captivity
Authors: Mellor Emma L. , Cuthill Innes C. , Schwitzer Christoph , Mason Georgia J. , Mendl Michael
Published: August 2020

Excessive body mass, i.e., being overweight or obese, is a health concern associated with issues such as reduced fertility and lifespan. Some lemur species are prone to extreme weight gain in captivity, yet others are not. To better understand species- and individual-level effects on susceptibility to captive weight gain, we use two complementary methods: phylogenetic comparative methods to examine ecological explanations for susceptibility to weight gain across species, and epidemiological approaches to examine demographic and environment effects within species. Data on body masses and living conditions were collected using a survey, yielding useable data on 675 lemurs representing 13 species from 96 collections worldwide. Data on species-typical wild ecology for comparative analyses came from published literature and climate databases. We uncovered one potential ecological risk factor: species adapted to greater wild food resource unpredictability tended to be more prone to weight gain. Our epidemiological analyses on the four best-sampled species revealed four demographic and one environmental risk factors, e.g., for males, being housed with only fixed climbing structures. We make practical recommendations to help address weight concerns, and describe future research including ways to validate the proxy we used to infer body condition.
Dietary Lipids Influence Bioaccessibility of Polyphenols from Black Carrots and Affect Microbial Diversity under Simulated Gastrointestinal Digestion
Authors: Gu Chunhe , Suleria Hafiz A. R. , Dunshea Frank R. , Howell Kate
Published: August 2020

The bioaccessibility and activity of polyphenols is dependent on their structure and entrapment in the food matrix. While dietary lipids are known to transit into the colon, the impact of different lipids on the microbiome, and their interactions with dietary polyphenols are largely unknown. Here, we investigated the effect of dietary lipids on the bioaccessibility of polyphenols from purple/black carrots and adaptation of the gut microbiome in a simulated in vitro digestion-fermentation. Coconut oil, sunflower oil, and beef tallow were selected to represent common dietary sources of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and long-chain polysaturated fatty acids (SFAs), respectively. All lipids promoted the bioaccessibility of both anthocyanins and phenolic acids during intestinal digestion with coconut oil exhibiting the greatest protection of anthocyanins. Similar trends were shown in antioxidant assays (2,2-Diphenyl-1-pricrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric reducing ability (FRAP), and total phenolic content (TPC)) with higher phytochemical bioactivities observed with the addition of dietary lipids. Most bioactive polyphenols were decomposed during colonic fermentation. Black carrot modulated diversity and composition of a simulated gut microbiome. Dramatic shifts in gut microbiome were caused by coconut oil. Inclusion of sunflower oil improved the production of butyrate, potentially due to the presence of PUFAs. The results show that the impact of polyphenols in the digestive tract should be considered in the context of other components of the diet, particularly lipids.
TXNIP/TBP-2: A Master Regulator for Glucose Homeostasis
Authors: Yoshihara Eiji
Published: August 2020

Identification of thioredoxin binding protein-2 (TBP-2), which is currently known as thioredoxin interacting protein (TXNIP), as an important binding partner for thioredoxin (TRX) revealed that an evolutionarily conserved reduction-oxidation (redox) signal complex plays an important role for pathophysiology. Due to the reducing activity of TRX, the TRX/TXNIP signal complex has been shown to be an important regulator for redox-related signal transduction in many types of cells in various species. In addition to its role in redox-dependent regulation, TXNIP has cellular functions that are performed in a redox-independent manner, which largely rely on their scaffolding function as an ancestral α-Arrestin family. Both the redox-dependent and -independent TXNIP functions serve as regulatory pathways in glucose metabolism. This review highlights the key advances in understanding TXNIP function as a master regulator for whole-body glucose homeostasis. The potential for therapeutic advantages of targeting TXNIP in diabetes and the future direction of the study are also discussed.
Cotinine and 6-Hydroxy-L-Nicotine Reverses Memory Deficits and Reduces Oxidative Stress in Aβ25-35-Induced Rat Model of Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Boiangiu Razvan Stefan , Mihasan Marius , Gorgan Dragos Lucian , Stache Bogdan Alexandru , Petre Brindusa Alina , Hritcu Lucian
Published: August 2020

The nicotinic derivatives, cotinine (COT), and 6-hydroxy-L-nicotine (6HLN), showed promising cognitive-improving effects without exhibiting the nicotine’s side-effects. Here, we investigated the impact of COT and 6HLN on memory impairment and the oxidative stress in the Aβ25-35-induced rat model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). COT and 6HLN were chronically administered to Aβ25-35-treated rats, and their memory performances were assessed using in vivo tasks (Y-maze, novel object recognition, and radial arm maze). By using in silico tools, we attempted to associate the behavioral outcomes with the calculated binding potential of these nicotinic compounds in the allosteric sites of α7 and α4β2 subtypes of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). The oxidative status and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity were determined from the hippocampal tissues. RT-qPCR assessed bdnf, arc, and il-1β mRNA levels. Our data revealed that COT and 6HLN could bind to α7 and α4β2 nAChRs with similar or even higher affinity than nicotine. Consequently, the treatment exhibited a pro-cognitive, antioxidant, and anti-AChE profile in the Aβ25-35-induced rat model of AD. Finally, RT-qPCR analysis revealed that COT and 6HLN positively modulated the bdnf, arc, and il-1β genes expression. Therefore, these nicotinic derivatives that act on the cholinergic system might represent a promising choice to ameliorate AD conditions.
Lining Fatigue Test and Influence Zoning of Tridimensional Cross-Tunnel under High-Speed Train Loads
Authors: Yang Weichao , Deng E , Shi Chenghua , Liu Ning , Fei Ruizhen , Yue Huan
Published: August 2020

Tridimensional cross tunnels usually manifest the vulnerable components of a high-speed railway caused by the sophistication of the structural pattern and the continuous shock from the train. The frequent defect of tunnel lining at the intersection would affect the safe operation of the two rails. As a result, attention has been paid to fatigue damage caused by the long-term dynamic load from a running train, in order to ensure the safety and serviceability of the cross tunnel lining. However, an influence zoning method with respect to tunnel crossing for the direct estimation of whether the lining structure is damaged due to the train load, and to what extent, is unavailable. In this paper, a systematic study that consists of numerical simulation and fatigue damage experiment is conducted to develop an approximate method to enable practicing engineers to evaluate reasonable design parameters. The initial static stress, which corresponds to the static tensile stress of secondary lining under the stratum load, and the maximum dynamic stress, which refers to the maximum dynamic tensile stress under the train load, are estimated according to the numerical simulation. A simplified damage evolution model and its parameters are identified on the basis of a systematic fatigue damage experiment. Finally, the influence zoning method is conducted on the basis of two criteria, namely (1) that initial stress level should not exceed 0.6, and (2) that load cycles should not exceed N = 2 × 106 times. Thus, the practicing parameters during the cross tunnel design, such as surrounding rock mass, cross angle, rock pillar thickness between two tunnels, and train speed can be utilized conveniently by using the proposed calculation charts, according to the identification of initial stress level and the magnitude of dynamic stresses caused by the train load.
Automatic Segmentation of Macular Edema in Retinal OCT Images Using Improved U-Net++
Authors: Gao Zhijun , Wang Xingle , Li Yi
Published: August 2020

The number and volume of retinal macular edemas are important indicators for screening and diagnosing retinopathy. Aiming at the problem that the segmentation method of macular edemas in a retinal optical coherence tomography (OCT) image is not ideal in segmentation of diverse edemas, this paper proposes a new method of automatic segmentation of macular edema regions in retinal OCT images using the improved U-Net++. The proposed method makes full use of the U-Net++ re-designed skip pathways and dense convolution block; reduces the semantic gap of the feature maps in the encoder/decoder sub-network; and adds the improved Resnet network as the backbone, which make the extraction of features in the edema regions more accurate and improves the segmentation effect. The proposed method was trained and validated on the public dataset of Duke University, and the experiments demonstrated the proposed method can not only improve the overall segmentation effect, but also can significantly improve the segmented precision for diverse edema in multi-regions, as well as reducing the error of the number of edema regions.
Surface Morphology of Three-Dimensionally Printed Replicas of Upper Dental Arches
Authors: Eliasova Hana , Dostalova Tatjana , Jelinek Miroslav , Remsa Jan , Bradna Pavel , Prochazka Ales , Kloubcova Magdalena
Published: August 2020

The aim of our study was to analyze the precision of fused-deposition modeling (FDM), polyjet technology (PJ), stereolithography (SLA) and selective laser sintering (SLS) and to evaluate some interesting indications of these methods in clinical practice. Forty upper dental arches were scanned using a 3Shape Trios 3R optical scanner system and 3D models were made. An Atos II 400 optical 3D scanner was used for calculating the coordinates of points by optical triangulation, photogrammetry and fringe projection. Each model was scanned from a minimum of 56 positions to evaluate global coordinates. Surface morphology was evaluated with an Alpha Step IQ profilometer and a JSM 5510 LV scanning electron microscope. From the measurements in cross-sections it was evident that the deviation shifted by approximately 0.1 mm. The smoothest and most homogeneous sample was SLA. SLS and SLA samples showed the most similar results in comparison of perpendicular directions (homogeneity). FDM and PJ materials exhibited significantly greater roughness in the printing direction than in the perpendicular one, which is most likely caused by the technology selected and/or print parameters. Clinical applications have demonstrated unusual treatment options for patients with rare diseases.
An ERNIE-Based Joint Model for Chinese Named Entity Recognition
Authors: Wang Yu , Sun Yining , Ma Zuchang , Gao Lisheng , Xu Yang
Published: August 2020

Named Entity Recognition (NER) is the fundamental task for Natural Language Processing (NLP) and the initial step in building a Knowledge Graph (KG). Recently, BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers), which is a pre-training model, has achieved state-of-the-art (SOTA) results in various NLP tasks, including the NER. However, Chinese NER is still a more challenging task for BERT because there are no physical separations between Chinese words, and BERT can only obtain the representations of Chinese characters. Nevertheless, the Chinese NER cannot be well handled with character-level representations, because the meaning of a Chinese word is quite different from that of the characters, which make up the word. ERNIE (Enhanced Representation through kNowledge IntEgration), which is an improved pre-training model of BERT, is more suitable for Chinese NER because it is designed to learn language representations enhanced by the knowledge masking strategy. However, the potential of ERNIE has not been fully explored. ERNIE only utilizes the token-level features and ignores the sentence-level feature when performing the NER task. In this paper, we propose the ERNIE-Joint, which is a joint model based on ERNIE. The ERNIE-Joint can utilize both the sentence-level and token-level features by joint training the NER and text classification tasks. In order to use the raw NER datasets for joint training and avoid additional annotations, we perform the text classification task according to the number of entities in the sentences. The experiments are conducted on two datasets: MSRA-NER and Weibo. These datasets contain Chinese news data and Chinese social media data, respectively. The results demonstrate that the ERNIE-Joint not only outperforms BERT and ERNIE but also achieves the SOTA results on both datasets.
Investigation of the Vertical Influence of the 11-Year Solar Cycle on Ozone Using SBUV and Antarctic Ground-Based Measurements and CMIP6 Forcing Data
Authors: Grytsai Asen , Evtushevsky Oleksandr , Klekociuk Andrew , Milinevsky Gennadi , Yampolsky Yuri , Ivaniha Oksana , Wang Yuke
Published: August 2020

The 11-year solar activity cycle in the vertical ozone distribution over the Antarctic station Faraday/Vernadsky in the Antarctic Peninsula region (65.25° S, 64.27° W) was analyzed using the Solar Backscatter Ultra Violet (SBUV) radiometer data Version 8.6 Merged Ozone Data Sets (MOD) over the 40-year period 1979–2018. The SBUV MOD ozone profiles are presented as partial column ozone in layers with approximately 3-km altitude increments from the surface to the lower mesosphere (1000–0.1 hPa, or 0–64 km). Periodicities in the ozone time series of the layer data were studied using wavelet transforms. A statistically significant signal with a quasi-11-year period consistent with solar activity forcing was found in the lower–middle stratosphere at 22–31 km in ozone over Faraday/Vernadsky, although signals with similar periods were not significant in the total column measurements made by the Dobson spectrophotometer at the site. For comparison with other latitudinal zones, the relative contribution of the wavelet spectral power of the quasi-11-year periods to the 2–33-year period range on the global scale was estimated. While a significant solar activity signal exists in the tropical lower and upper stratosphere and in the lower mesosphere in SBUV MOD, we did not find evidence of similar signals in the ozone forcing data for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). In the extratropical lower–middle stratosphere and lower mesosphere, there is a strong hemispheric asymmetry in solar activity–ozone response, which is dominant in the Southern Hemisphere. In general, the results are consistent with other studies and highlight the sensitivity of ozone in the lower–middle stratosphere over the Antarctic Peninsula region to the 11-year solar cycle.
A Study of False Alarms of a Major Sudden Stratospheric Warming by Real-Time Subseasonal-to-Seasonal Forecasts for the 2017/2018 Northern Winter
Authors: Taguchi Masakazu
Published: August 2020

This study investigates false alarms of a major sudden stratospheric warming (MSSW) by real-time subseasonal-to-seasonal forecast data of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts system for the 2017/2018 Northern Hemisphere winter season. The analysis reveals two false alarm cases in the season, one in early December and the other in early February. Each case is characterized by ensembles of which a considerable part of the members (MSSW members) show an MSSW, that is, reversal of the zonal mean zonal wind in the extratropical stratosphere on similar calendar dates. Ensemble forecasts that are initialized earlier or later basically lack an MSSW, demonstrating clear intraseasonal variability in the frequency of forecasted MSSWs. For each false alarm case, the MSSW member mean field shows equatorward displacement of the polar vortex around the onset date. For both cases, the MSSW members accompany stronger wave activity in the lower stratosphere than other non-MSSW members and reanalysis data. They are further associated with higher geopotential height than the non-MSSW members, in the upper troposphere over northeastern Canada and Greenland before the first case, and lower height over northeastern Eurasia before the second case. These are located over the ridge and trough, respectively, of the climatological planetary wave of zonal wave number one, and are consistent with the increased wave activity.
Hurricane Dorian Outer Rain Band Observations and 1D Particle Model Simulations: A Case Study
Authors: Bringi Viswanathan , Seifert Axel , Wu Wei , Thurai Merhala , Huang Gwo-Jong , Siewert Christoph
Published: August 2020

The availability of high quality surface observations of precipitation and volume observations by polarimetric operational radars make it possible to constrain, evaluate, and validate numerical models with a wide variety of microphysical schemes. In this article, a novel particle-based Monte-Carlo microphysical model (called McSnow) is used to simulate the outer rain bands of Hurricane Dorian which traversed the densely instrumented precipitation research facility operated by NASA at Wallops Island, Virginia. The rain bands showed steady stratiform vertical profiles with radar signature of dendritic growth layers near −15 °C and peak reflectivity in the bright band of 55 dBZ along with polarimetric signatures of wet snow with sizes inferred to exceed 15 mm. A 2D-video disdrometer measured frequent occurrences of large drops >5 mm and combined with an optical array probe the drop size distribution was well-documented in spite of uncertainty for drops <0.5 mm due to high wind gusts and turbulence. The 1D McSnow control run and four numerical experiments were conducted and compared with observations. One of the main findings is that even at the moderate rain rate of 10 mm/h collisional breakup is essential for the shape of the drop size distribution.
Gravity Wave Investigations over Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station in 2017: General Characteristics, Wind Filtering and Case Study
Authors: Giongo Gabriel Augusto , Bageston José Valentin , Figueiredo Cosme Alexandre Oliveira Barros , Wrasse Cristiano Max , Kam Hosik , Kim Yong Ha , Schuch Nelson Jorge
Published: August 2020

This work presents the characteristics of gravity waves observed over Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station (EACF: 62.1° S, 58.4° W). A total of 122 gravity waves were observed in 34 nights from March to October 2017, and their parameters were obtained by using the Fourier Transform spectral analysis. The majority of the observed waves presented horizontal wavelength ranging from 15 to 35 km, period from 5 to 20 min, and horizontal phase speed from 10 to 70 ± 2 m·s−1. The propagation direction showed an anisotropic condition, with the slower wave propagating mainly to the west, northwest and southeast directions, while the faster waves propagate to the east, southeast and south. Blocking diagrams for the period of April–July showed a good agreement between the wave propagation direction and the blocking positions, which are eastward oriented while the waves propagate mainly westward. A case study to investigate wave sources was conducted for the night of 20–21 July, wherein eight small-scale and one medium-scale gravity waves were identified. Reverse ray tracing model was used to investigate the gravity wave source, and the results showed that six among eight small-scale gravity waves were generated in the mesosphere. On the other hand, only two small-scale waves and the medium-scale gravity wave had likely tropospheric or stratospheric origin, however, they could not be associated with any reliable source.
Spectroscopic Measurement of Hydrogen Atom Density in a Plasma Produced with 28 GHz ECH in QUEST
Authors: Mori Satoru , Shikama Taiichi , Hanada Kazuaki , Yoneda Nao , Kuzmin Arseniy , Hasuo Masahiro , Idei Hiroshi , Onchi Takumi , Ejiri Akira , Osawa Yuki , Peng Yi , Matsuzaki Kyohei , Kado Shinichiro , Sawada Keiji , Ido Takeshi , Nakamura Kazuo , Ikezoe Ryuya , Nagashima Yoshihiko , Hasegawa Makoto , Kuroda Kengo , Higashijima Aki , Nagata Takahiro , Shimabukuro Shun
Published: August 2020

The spatial distribution of the hydrogen atom density was evaluated in a spherical tokamak (ST) plasma sustained only with 28 GHz electron cyclotron heating (ECH). The radially resolved Hδ emissivity was measured using multiple viewing chord spectroscopy and Abel inversion. A collisional-radiative (CR) model analysis of the emissivity resulted in a ground-state hydrogen atom density of 1015–1016 m−3 and an ionization degree of 1–0.85 in the plasma.
Conservation of Cell Communication Systems in Invertebrate Host–Defence Mechanisms: Possible Role in Immunity and Disease
Authors: Auguste Manon , Balbi Teresa , Ciacci Caterina , Canesi Laura
Published: August 2020

Innate immunity is continuously revealing multiple and highly conserved host–defence mechanisms. Studies on mammalian immunocytes are showing different communication systems that may play a role in coordinating innate immune responses also in invertebrates. Extracellular traps (ETs) are an immune response by which cells release net-like material, including DNA, histones and proteins. ETs are thought to immobilise and kill microorganisms, but are also involved in inflammation and autoimmune disease. Immune cells are also known to communicate through extracellular vesicles secreted in the extracellular environment or exosomes, which can carry a variety of different signalling molecules. Tunnelling nanotubes (TNTs) represent a direct cell-to-cell communication over a long distance, that allow for bi- or uni-directional transfer of cellular components between cells. Their functional role in a number of physio-pathological processes, including immune responses and pathogen transfer, has been underlined. Although ETs, exosomes, and TNTs have been described in invertebrate species, their possible role in immune responses is not fully understood. In this work, available data on these communication systems are summarised, in an attempt to provide basic information for further studies on their relevance in invertebrate immunity and disease.