bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Investigation on material physical properties for application in seawater-RHA concrete added with coal bottom ash
Authors: Adawiyah Waliyo Rabiatul , Md Noor Nurazuwa
Published: May 2022

This paper presented the result of a laboratory investigation to determine the properties of the material used for seawater-RHA concrete added with coal bottom ash. Seawater, rice husk ash and coal bottom ash were introduced as eco-material in concrete to totally or partially replace conventional material as an effort to introduce environmental-friendly material. Testing was carried out on sieve analysis, fineness modulus, specific gravity and water absorption which complies with the standard available. In addition, a scanning electron microscope and X-ray fluorescence were conducted on ordinary Portland cement, rice husk ash, coal bottom ash and sand to study the microstructural and element composition of the material. It was found that specific gravity for seawater is slightly higher than tap water. Meanwhile, rice husk ash and coal bottom ash have a specific gravity lower than conventional materials. From the XRF test, rice husk ash is classified as type F pozzolans with silica oxide more than 90 percent and coal bottom ash has more voids compared to normal sand. These investigations are important to ensure good concrete performance especially in controlling water-cementitious ratio, strength and quality of the concrete.
Adsorption Isotherms of Dimethyl Phthalate (DMP), DiEthyl Phthalate (DEP), Dibutyl Phthlate (DBP) and Benzyl Butyl Phthalate (BBP) Compounds in Synthetic and Sembrong River Sediment
Authors: Rapok K J , Karim A T A , Hashim N H , Muhammad A
Published: May 2022

Concentrations of Dimethyl Phthalate (DMP), Diethyl Phthalate (DEP), Dibutyl Phthlate (DBP), and Benzyl Butyl Phthalate (BBP) analysis proved present in Sembrong river sediment. These findings occurred during a certain extent of time depending on the properties of sediment and phthalates esters compound. Therefore, adsorption isotherm conducted using optimization method using manipulating variables of initial concentrations and contact times. The results analysis showed higher percentage adsorption recorded in DMP, DEP, DBP and BBP compounds by synthetic sediment which is 88.3%,89.6%,89.0% and 94.8% whereas river sediment is 87.4%,88.4%, 87.1% and 93.4%. The contributing factors aided in the adsorption of PAEs onto synthetic sediment are higher organic content (OC), smaller particle size having larger surface area and higher molecular weight of PAEs. Competitive adsorption occurred between DMP, DEP and DBP as they are low molecular weight compounds. Adsorption isotherms models by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms models showed separation factor, RL values are favourable from 0.11 to 0.69. Good statistical fit R2 ranged from 0.97 to 0.99 of a good fit. Therefore, in conclusion, Sembrong river sediment is an adsorbent sediment storage of PAEs compounds.
Assessment, Monitoring, and Reduction Strategy Development for Non- Revenue Water (NRW) of Calamba Water District (CWD), Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines
Authors: Cervancia K. , Gomez C J , Niega C E , Tividad K M
Published: May 2022

NRW is a portion of water supply that is lost and consequently, a wasted revenue for water distributor. This study develop reduction strategies of NRW in CWD through the assessment of the company’s operating practices by conducting interviews and determining the relationships between the real loss and the range of variation of pressure, and between the apparent loss and the number of service connections using simple linear regression method. Results shows that significant relationship was only shown between the number of service connections and apparent losses. Furthermore, the apparent losses came from the number of service connections is the highest contributor of water loss. Hence, the recommended reduction plans are to start and monitor the record of the age of infrastructure, to manage inaccurate meter readings, to establish a water meter repair and replacement program, and to have a regular monitoring for water theft to address the problems in NRW. Finally, it is also recommended to establish a new department that focuses in NRW reduction through standardizing zones and areas for assessment and monitoring purposes.
Remediation of Organic Contaminant in Sludge by using Bioaugmentation and Solidification and Stabilization (S/S) Method
Authors: Syafiqah Mohd Rizal Nur , Nasuha Mohd Rais Nurul , Filzah Mohd Kamil Nor Amani , Hamzah Nurhidayah , Azliza Akbar Nor , Shaylinda Mohd Zin Nur
Published: May 2022

Fiberboard industrial wastewater sludge is a type of waste produced as a by-product of the wastewater treatment plant, which consists of organic matters that can turn into toxic and hazardous forms if left untreated. Hence, this study aims to remediate the sludge by using fungi bioaugmentation and solidification and stabilization (S/S) method in 7 days. This study focus on the degradation of organic contaminants based on leaching behaviour of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). Besides, the compressive strength was also measure for safe disposal. Aspergillus brasiliensis ATCC 16404 was used for fungi bioaugmentation of sludge and Portland cement was used as the binder in the S/S method. After a week, bioaugmentation method shows the lowest COD concentration (467mg/L). Whereas, higher COD concentration was detected for S/S method (550 mg/L). By using both methods, COD concentration was detected highest (570 mg/L) than single method. Since both methods were less successful in removing COD, it is highly recommended to conduct in longer duration for future work.
Effect of Spent Tea Leave Dosages on the Removals of Chemical Oxygen Demand and Total Phosphorus from Synthetic Food Processing Wastewater
Authors: Nabilah Daski Fatin , Ab. Aziz Nur Adila
Published: May 2022

In the food processing industries, enormous amounts of water are utilized in the manufacturing process. Therefore, wastewater discharged from food industries must be characterized to develop viable treatment technologies. In this study, the adsorption method is used throughout the investigation and spent tea leave is used as a potential adsorbent to remove the concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total phosphorus (TP). The synthetic wastewater sample containing COD, TP, suspended solids, and ammoniacal nitrogen was prepared to mimic the actual food processing wastewater as reported in the literature. The synthetic wastewater samples were formulated using analytical grade chemicals such as glucose anhydrous, sodium dihydrogen phosphate, kaolin, and ammonium chloride. The concentrations of the targeted parameters in the synthetic samples were first identified using the calibration curves. Then, this study was carried out in batch adsorption technique to determine the removal of COD and TP using varied adsorbent dosages between 100 mg/L to 500 mg/L. This study found that TP and COD were removed up to 75.04% and 15.5%, respectively, at the adsorbent dosage of 500 mg/L. Furthermore, the trend of TP and COD removals is increased as the adsorbent doses increased due to the availability of binding sites being higher at higher adsorbent dosage. Therefore, the results from this study suggest that spent tea leave has the potential to be used as an adsorbent to treat wastewater containing organic pollutants.
Study on Ammonia and Colour Removal from Leachate via Aerated Electrocoagulation (Ferum and Aluminium Electrode)
Authors: Anuar N K , Zin N S M , Zailani L W , Salleh S N A , Akbar N A
Published: May 2022

Untreated landfill leachate is harmful to the groundwater resources, environment, and human health. Therefore, proper treatment is needed. This study investigates the efficiency of the aerated electrocoagulation (AEC) method in removing ammonia (NH3-N) and colour in leachate under the influence of current density and to review the data from previous research on the removal of NH3-N and colour in AEC under the influence of pH and aeration rate. In this research, leachate samples from Simpang Renggam Landfill are used, and characterisation for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), pH, suspended solids (SS), colour, and NH3-N had been conducted. Ferum and aluminium electrodes with a dimension of 200 mm × 50 mm × 1 mm are used in this experiment. From the data obtained, the optimum current density for the removal of NH3-N and colour using AEC was at 200 A/m² with the percentage of removal 40.66% and 85.91%, respectively. For optimum pH and optimum aeration rate, the data was reviewed from the previous studies, and the maximum efficiency of NH3-N and colour removal from stabilised leached occurred at optimum conditions of pH 7 to 8 and 0.5 L/min-1.5 L/min aeration rate). Based on the observation and previous studies reviewed, aeration can increase the efficiency of NH3-N and colour removal in the electrocoagulation process.
MSMA Implementation Factors in Integrated Stormwater Management
Authors: Luqman Ismail Mohd , Meryam Shareh Musa Sharifah , Kasim Narimah , Zainal Rozlin
Published: May 2022

The Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia (DID) released the Urban Stormwater Management Manual for Malaysia (MSMA) in 2000 as a guideline to address longterm national goals and priorities in ensuring that sustainable urban drainage systems are properly used. MSMA’s emphasis on control at source approaches may be divided into three categories: water quantity control, erosion and sediment control, and water quality control. As highlighted in the manual, a successful implementation of its principles and techniques though calls for involvement of various professionals including engineers, urban planners, environmental scientists, landscape architects and other professionals. Apart from civil engineers, not much known about the other professional’s involvement in the execution of MSMA. The development of comprehensive and adaptable techniques requires increased collaboration among a varied group of individuals engaged. However, progress toward more inclusive planning has been gradual, with technological and institutional lock-ins. Taking this into consideration, this paper discusses the findings of a survey carried out to assess the levels of understanding and involvement of urban planning professionals in the implementation of MSMA. The study was conducted using a questionnaire form approach in obtaining feedback from the respondents involved. Questionnaires designed to assess the levels of understanding and involvement of the urban planning professionals in MSMA were distributed to randomly selected urban planning professionals from government agencies and private firms. The responses were then tabulated and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The findings of the study are based on the highest mean values for each category in order of priority: policy management and action (3.800), education and marketing (3.732), cost and maintenance (3.646), and technological design (3.817). Based on this order of priorities can indicate the main factors that are obstacles to the effectiveness of the implementation of MSMA.
The Application of Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Approach in Water Quality Assessment for The Batu Pahat River
Authors: Adnan MS , Roslen H , Samsuri S
Published: May 2022

An increased number of rivers categorized as polluted is alarming that their repercussions are so severe that the rivers can no longer be rehabilitated. This pollution might result from rapid urbanization and population growth, uncontrolled development, which produces a high volume of water pollution that is discharged into the river. Rapid development has led to a large discharge of point source (PS) and nonpoint source (NPS) pollution into the water supply. As a result, the deterioration in water quality, a decline of safe water supply, and the difficulties in accessing clean water have emerged as massive concerns for water authorities attempting to fulfill the increasing supply of clean water resources. To resolve these issues, several approaches were implemented to determine the best approach that could effectively control water quality pollution in Malaysia. One of the best methods that could be used to manage the water quality is Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). TMDL seeks to establish or restrict the amounts of a pollutant allowed to enter the river and is assisted by identifying physical, chemical, and organic qualities in the river water body. In this study, six parameters were measured such as dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N), total suspended solids (TSS), and pH. QUAL2K software was utilized to model the water quality and test several scenarios to reduce the pollutant concentration. The analysis shows that the commercial sector poses the most contributor to the pollution loading (kg/day) in Batu Pahat River, mainly from workshop, wet market and restaurant. In addition, low tide flow produced a higher pollution load (kg/day) than high tide flow due to larger discharge during high flow. In conclusion, the development TMDL plan could improve water quality at the Batu Pahat River by analysing pollution loading reduction and future management of watersheds area.
Microbial Growth Rate and Distribution of Doubling Time at Different Concentration of Oil Sludge Medium
Authors: Zahari N Z , Tuah P M , Ali S A M , Sabullah M K
Published: May 2022

Microorganisms play a critical part in the development of a sustainable ecosystem and biosphere. The generation time, which differs among bacteria is influenced by many environmental factors as well as the nature of the bacteria species. In this present work, the growth curves of five consortia locally isolated beneficial microorganisms (LIBeM) in mixtures of (LIBeM) Candida tropicalis-RETL-Cr1, Chromobacterium violaceum-MAB-Cr1, Pseudomonas aeruginosa-BAS-Cr1, Sphingomonas paucimobilis-RETOS-Cr1, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia-RAS-Cr1 were reported. A laboratory scale was conducted to observe the doubling time (dt) observed for each consortium LIBeM at varied concentration levels of oil sludge (2%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) v/v. After 24 hours of incubation, the growth of microorganisms was determined using spectrophotometer at 600nm and the standard growth profile were plotted according to the concentrations studied. The results showed that consortia LIBeM at 2% and 5% v/v oil sludge showed the similar growth pattern in the sigmoid curve over a 24-hour period. However, at 10%, 15%, and 20% (v/v) concentrations, the growth tendency is increased and remains consistent during the incubation period. Study on growth rate and doubling time (dt) had showed that Consortia 3 consists of C. tropicalis –RETL-Cr1+ S. maltophilia-RAS-Cr1+ P. aeruginosa-BAS-Cr1 performed the highest growth rate with 0.16 hour-1 and lowest doubling time (dt) of 4.41. This result is critical for determining the efficiency and tolerance of LIBeM for petroleum degradation at various concentration levels of oil sludge in real-world applications.
Food waste type and moisture content influence on the Hermetia illucens (L.), (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) Larval Development and Survival
Authors: Khairuddin D , Ghafar S N A , Hassan S N F
Published: May 2022

Black Soldier Fly (BSF) or its scientific name Hermetia Illucens is insect native to most tropical and subtropical region. The larvae (BSFL) are capable of eating almost any substrate supplied to it, making it one of the saprophagous insects that is very useful as a recycler. BSFL digests these substrates into a source of nutrients that help their growth. With biomass that is full of absorbed nutrients makes it rich in protein that is suitable as livestock feed. For this purpose, the composition of BSFL is important to be observed as it can affect their quality for further application. Usually, in further applications of BSFL, the weight of biomass is one of the criteria that can provide a good profit return. Therefore, identifying the appropriate type of food waste and the most economical way for the rearing process of BSF is important for this purpose. In this research, the larval growth and survival in the bio-conversion process were tested using two types of food waste with several levels of moisture contents. The two types of food waste were the vegetable trimming (VT) and left over (LO) food waste. The moisture contents for each type of food waste were adjusted to 60, 70 and 80% for three different replicated batch of larvae. The larvae of these different duplicated batch were sampled every day to measure their survival rate as well as changes in wet weight. Results obtained from this study indicate that, larvae supplied with 80% moisture content of food waste (VT and LO) showed the fastest growth rate (wet weight basis) compared to others. The result also suggest that the survival rate of the larvae was not significantly affected by the high content of moisture. It was found that the survival rate of BSFL were more than 95% throughout the experiment. As a conclusion, this study provides valuable insights for the profitable waste management industry employing the BSFL as agent of bioconversion for food waste recycling.
Highly efficient wavefront control based on extremely anisotropic materials
Authors: He Weicong , Zhu Shan , Hu Chuanjie , Hao Zhanlei , Liu Yineng , Chen Huanyang
Published: May 2022

In this paper, a new strategy to design phase gradient metasurfaces (PGMs) are proposed. Using this way, we can achieve highly efficient control of the electromagnetic wavefronts. Specifically, we design reflection-type PGMs formed by an extremely anisotropic medium and a perfect electric conductor boundary. Instead of using refractive index distributions of materials to control the phases, we use a uniform anisotropic medium to control the reflection phases by changing the shape of the boundary. Using this strategy, three devices of the reflection focusing lens, the generator of the quasi airy beam and the PGMs have been realized, which show excellent performance in wavefront control. Our method is also suitable for the design of transmission-type metasurfaces and other wavefront transformations, which provides a novel approach for wave manipulation.
Ultrafast flash memory with large self-rectifying ratio based on atomically thin MoS2-channel transistor
Authors: Liu Liwei , Sun Yibo , Huang Xiaohe , Liu Chunsen , Tang Zhaowu , Zeng Senfeng , Zhang David Wei , Deng Shaozhi , Zhou Peng
Published: May 2022

Flash memory with high operation speed and stable retention performance is in great demand to meet the requirements of big data. In addition, the realisation of ultrafast flash memory with novel functions offers a means of combining heterogeneous components into a homogeneous device without considering impedance matching. This report proposes a 20 ns programme flash memory with 108 self-rectifying ratios based on a 0.65 nm-thick MoS2-channel transistor. A high-quality van der Waals heterojunction with a sharp interface is formed between the Cr/Au metal floating layer and h-BN tunnelling layer. In addition, the large rectification ratio and low ideality factor (n = 1.13) facilitate the application of the MoS2-channel flash memory as a bit-line select transistor. Finally, owing to the ultralow MoS2/h-BN heterojunction capacitance (50 fF), the memory device exhibits superior performance as a high-frequency (up to 1 MHz) sine signal rectifier. These results pave the way toward the potential utilisation of multifunctional memory devices in ultrafast two-dimensional NAND-flash applications.
CURC: a CUDA-based reference-free read compressor
Authors: Xie Shaohui , He Xiaotian , He Shan , Zhu Zexuan
Published: May 2022

Motivation

The data deluge of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) has posed great challenges to data storage and transfer. Many specific compression tools have been developed to solve this problem. However, most of the existing compressors are based on central processing unit (CPU) platform, which might be inefficient and expensive to handle large-scale HTS data. With the popularization of graphics processing units (GPUs), GPU-compatible sequencing data compressors become desirable to exploit the computing power of GPUs.

Results

We present a GPU-accelerated reference-free read compressor, namely CURC, for FASTQ files. Under a GPU–CPU heterogeneous parallel scheme, CURC implements highly efficient lossless compression of DNA stream based on the pseudogenome approach and CUDA library. CURC achieves 2–6-fold speedup of the compression with competitive compression rate, compared with other state-of-the-art reference-free read compressors.

Availability and implementation

CURC can be downloaded from https://github.com/BioinfoSZU/CURC.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A Single Dose of BNT162b2 Messenger RNA Vaccine Induces Airway Immunity in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Naive and Recovered Coronavirus Disease 2019 Subjects
Authors: Martinuzzi Emanuela , Benzaquen Jonathan , Guerin Olivier , Leroy Sylvie , Simon Thomas , Ilie Marius , Hofman Véronique , Allegra Maryline , Tanga Virginie , Michel Emeline , Boutros Jacques , Maniel Charlotte , Sicard Antoine , Glaichenhaus Nicolas , Czerkinsky Cecil , Blancou Philippe , Hofman Paul , Marquette Charles H
Published: May 2022

Background

Mucosal antibodies can prevent virus entry and replication in mucosal epithelial cells and therefore virus shedding. Parenteral booster injection of a vaccine against a mucosal pathogen promotes stronger mucosal immune responses following prior mucosal infection compared with injections of a parenteral vaccine in a mucosally naive subject. We investigated whether this was also the case for the BNT162b2 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) messenger RNA vaccine.

Methods

Twenty recovered COVID-19 subjects (RCSs) and 23 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)–naive subjects were vaccinated with, respectively, 1 and 2 doses of the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine. Nasal epithelial lining fluid (NELF) and plasma were collected before and after vaccination and assessed for immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA antibody levels to Spike and for their ability to neutralize binding of Spike to angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor. Blood was analyzed 1 week after vaccination for the number of Spike-specific antibody-secreting cells (ASCs) with a mucosal tropism.

Results

All RCSs had both nasal and blood SARS-CoV-2–specific antibodies at least 90 days after initial diagnosis. In RCSs, a single dose of vaccine amplified preexisting Spike-specific IgG and IgA antibody responses in both NELF and blood against both vaccine homologous and variant strains, including Delta. These responses were associated with Spike-specific IgG and IgA ASCs with a mucosal tropism in blood. Nasal IgA and IgG antibody responses were lower in magnitude in SARS-CoV-2–naive subjects after 2 vaccine doses compared with RCSs after 1 dose.

Conclusions

Mucosal immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein is higher in RCSs after a single vaccine dose compared with SARS-CoV-2–naive subjects after 2 doses.
Real-world performance, long-term efficacy, and absence of bias in the artificial intelligence enhanced electrocardiogram to detect left ventricular systolic dysfunction
Authors: Harmon David M , Carter Rickey E , Cohen-Shelly Michal , Svatikova Anna , Adedinsewo Demilade A , Noseworthy Peter A , Kapa Suraj , Lopez-Jimenez Francisco , Friedman Paul A , Attia Zachi I
Published: May 2022

Aims

Some artificial intelligence models applied in medical practice require ongoing retraining, introduce unintended racial bias, or have variable performance among different subgroups of patients. We assessed the real-world performance of the artificial intelligence-enhanced electrocardiogram to detect left ventricular systolic dysfunction with respect to multiple patient and electrocardiogram variables to determine the algorithm’s long-term efficacy and potential bias in the absence of retraining.

Methods and results

Electrocardiograms acquired in 2019 at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Arizona, and Florida with an echocardiogram performed within 14 days were analyzed (n = 44 986 unique patients). The area under the curve (AUC) was calculated to evaluate performance of the algorithm among age groups, racial and ethnic groups, patient encounter location, electrocardiogram features, and over time. The artificial intelligence-enhanced electrocardiogram to detect left ventricular systolic dysfunction had an AUC of 0.903 for the total cohort. Time series analysis of the model validated its temporal stability. Areas under the curve were similar for all racial and ethnic groups (0.90–0.92) with minimal performance difference between sexes. Patients with a ‘normal sinus rhythm’ electrocardiogram (n = 37 047) exhibited an AUC of 0.91. All other electrocardiogram features had areas under the curve between 0.79 and 0.91, with the lowest performance occurring in the left bundle branch block group (0.79).

Conclusion

The artificial intelligence-enhanced electrocardiogram to detect left ventricular systolic dysfunction is stable over time in the absence of retraining and robust with respect to multiple variables including time, patient race, and electrocardiogram features.
Duration of antiplatelet therapy after complex percutaneous coronary intervention in patients at high bleeding risk: a MASTER DAPT trial sub-analysis
Authors: Valgimigli Marco , Smits Pieter C , Frigoli Enrico , Bongiovanni Dario , Tijssen Jan , Hovasse Thomas , Mafragi Al , Ruifrok Willem Theodoor , Karageorgiev Dimitar , Aminian Adel , Garducci Stefano , Merkely Bela , Routledge Helen , Ando Kenji , Diaz Fernandez Josè Francisco , Cuisset Thomas , Nesa Malik Fazila Tun , Halabi Majdi , Belle Loic , Din Jehangir , Beygui Farzin , Abhyankar Atul , Reczuch Krzysztof , Pedrazzini Giovanni , Heg Dik , Vranckx Pascal ,   MASTER DAPT Investigators
Published: May 2022

Aim

To assess the effects of 1- or ≥3-month dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) in high bleeding risk (HBR) patients who received biodegradable-polymer sirolimus-eluting stents for complex percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and/or acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Methods and results

In the MASTER DAPT trial, 3383 patients underwent non-complex (abbreviated DAPT, n = 1707; standard DAPT, n = 1676) and 1196 complex (abbreviated DAPT, n = 588; standard DAPT, n = 608) PCI. Co-primary outcomes at 335 days were net adverse clinical events [NACE; composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and bleeding academic research consortium (BARC) 3 or 5 bleeding events]; major adverse cardiac or cerebral events (MACCE; all-cause death, myocardial infarction, and stroke); and Types 2, 3, or 5 BARC bleeding. Net adverse clinical events and MACCE did not differ with abbreviated vs. standard DAPT among patients with complex [hazard ratio (HR): 1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.69–1.52, and HR: 1.24, 95% CI: 0.79–1.92, respectively] and non-complex PCI (HR: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.71–1.15, and HR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.69–1.21; Pinteraction = 0.60 and 0.26, respectively). BARC 2, 3, or 5 was reduced with abbreviated DAPT in patients with and without complex PCI (HR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.42–0.98, and HR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.55–0.89; Pinteraction = 0.72). Among the 2816 patients with complex PCI and/or ACS, NACE and MACCE did not differ and BARC 2, 3, or 5 was lower with abbreviated DAPT.

Conclusion

In HBR patients free from recurrent ischaemic events at 1 month, DAPT discontinuation was associated with similar NACE and MACCE and lower bleeding rates compared with standard DAPT, regardless of PCI or patient complexity.

Clinical Trial Registration

This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT03023020, and is closed to new participants, with follow-up completed.
Algorithmic Agents in the Hybrid Media System: Social Bots, Selective Amplification, and Partisan News about COVID-19
Authors: Duan Zening , Li Jianing , Lukito Josephine , Yang Kai-Cheng , Chen Fan , Shah Dhavan V , Yang Sijia
Published: May 2022

Social bots, or algorithmic agents that amplify certain viewpoints and interact with selected actors on social media, may influence online discussion, news attention, or even public opinion through coordinated action. Previous research has documented the presence of bot activities and developed detection algorithms. Yet, how social bots influence attention dynamics of the hybrid media system remains understudied. Leveraging a large collection of both tweets (N = 1,657,551) and news stories (N = 50,356) about the early COVID-19 pandemic, we employed bot detection techniques, structural topic modeling, and time series analysis to characterize the temporal associations between the topics Twitter bots tend to amplify and subsequent news coverage across the partisan spectrum. We found that bots represented 8.98% of total accounts, selectively promoted certain topics and predicted coverage aligned with partisan narratives. Our macro-level longitudinal description highlights the role of bots as algorithmic communicators and invites future research to explain micro-level causal mechanisms.
An investigation of the relationship between the performance and management practices of health facilities under a performance-based financing scheme in Nigeria
Authors: Mabuchi Shunsuke , Alonge Olakunle , Tsugawa Yusuke , Bennett Sara
Published: May 2022

Whereas the effect of performance-based financing (PBF) on improving the quantity and quality of health services has been established, little is known about what matters for health facilities to improve performance under a PBF scheme. This study examined the associations between management practices and the performance of primary healthcare centres (PHCCs) under a PBF scheme in Nigeria. This study utilized longitudinal data on monthly institutional deliveries and outpatient visits collected between December 2011 and March 2016 from 111 randomly selected PHCCs in Adamawa, Ondo and Nasarawa states of Nigeria. A management practices scorecard, based on a health facility survey conducted in April/May 2016, was used to derive management practices scores for the 111 PHCCs. The management practices examined included activities to recruit and retain clients, staff’s attention to performance targets, listening and responding to client feedback, teamwork building and addressing low-performing staff. A multilevel, multilinear regression model was used to investigate the associations between health facility performance (monthly number of institutional deliveries and outpatient visits) and management practices at the PHCCs, adjusting for key control variables (number of skilled health workers, the size of PHCC catchment population, PHCC quality score, seasonality and states). Following PBF introduction, PHCCs with medium management scores had 0.42 (95% CI 0.18–0.65; P < 0.001) and 9.93 (95% CI 6.15–13.71; P < 0.001) higher monthly improvement rates for institutional delivery and outpatient visits, respectively, compared to the PHCCs with low management scores. Also, the PHCCs with high management scores had 0.49 (95% CI 0.28–0.70; P < 0.001) and 5.10 (95% CI 1.76–8.44; P < 0.003) higher monthly improvement rates for institutional delivery and outpatient visits compared to the PHCCs with low management scores. These findings suggest the importance of management practices in facilitating the effect of PBF on health facility performance and the need to strengthen PHCC management practices in low- and middle-income countries.
Impairment of root auxin–cytokinins homeostasis induces collapse of incompatible melon grafts during fruit ripening
Authors: Camalle Maria Dolores , Pěnčík Aleš , Novák Ondřej , Zhao Lina , Zurgil Udi , Fait Aaron , Tel-Zur Noemi
Published: May 2022

The factors underlying the plant collapse of certain melon-pumpkin graft combinations are not fully understood. Our working hypothesis was that impairment of photoassimilates transport in incompatible combinations induces an imbalance in the homeostasis of root auxin (indole-3-acetic acid; IAA) and of cytokinins, probably triggering plant collapse. Root IAA and cytokinins levels in the presence and absence of fruit and changes in root and scion metabolites were investigated in compatible and incompatible combinations. We showed elevated levels of IAA, 2-oxoindole-3-acetic acid (IAA catabolite), indole-3-acetylaspartate (IAA conjugate), and cis-zeatin-type cytokinins, but low levels of trans-zeatin-type cytokinins in the roots of plants of the incompatible combination during fruit ripening. Similarly, during fruit ripening, the expression of the YUCCA genes, YUC2, YUC6, and YUC11 (required for auxin biosynthesis), the GRETCHEN-HAGEN3 gene (required for auxin conjugation), and the cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase 7 (CKX7) gene (regulates the irreversible degradation of cytokinin) was enhanced in the roots of plants of the incompatible combination. Moreover, in the incompatible combination the fruiting process restricted transport of photoassimilates to the rootstock and induces their accumulation in the scion. In addition, high levels of hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde and reduced activity of antioxidant enzymes were observed in the roots of the incompatible graft. Our results showed that the collapse of the incompatible graft combination during fruit ripening is closely associated with a dramatic accumulation of IAA in the roots, which probably elicits oxidative damage and disturbs the balance of IAA and cytokinins that is of critical importance in melon-pumpkin graft compatibility.
Quantitative proteomic sequencing of F
1 hybrid populations reveals the function of sorbitol in apple resistance to Botryosphaeria dothidea
Authors: He Xiaowen , Meng Hui , Wang Haibo , He Ping , Chang Yuansheng , Wang Sen , Wang Chuanzeng , Li Linguang , Wang Chen
Published: May 2022

Apple ring rot, which is caused by Botryosphaeria dothidea, is one of the most devastating diseases of apple. However, the lack of a known molecular resistance mechanism limits the development of resistance breeding. Here, the ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Fuji Nagafu No. 2’ apple cultivars were crossed, and a population of 194 F1 individuals was generated. The hybrids were divided into five categories according to their differences in B. dothidea resistance during three consecutive years. Quantitative proteomic sequencing was performed to analyze the molecular mechanism of the apple response to B. dothidea infection. Hierarchical clustering and weighted gene coexpression network analysis revealed that photosynthesis was significantly correlated with the resistance of apple to B. dothidea. The level of chlorophyll fluorescence in apple functional leaves increased progressively as the level of disease resistance improved. However, the content of soluble sugar decreased with the improvement of disease resistance. Further research revealed that sorbitol, the primary photosynthetic product, played major roles in apple resistance to B. dothidea. Increasing the content of sorbitol by overexpressing MdS6PDH1 dramatically enhanced resistance of apple calli to B. dothidea by activating the expression of salicylic acid signaling pathway-related genes. However, decreasing the content of sorbitol by silencing MdS6PDH1 showed the opposite phenotype. Furthermore, exogenous sorbitol treatment partially restored the resistance of MdS6PDH1-RNAi lines to B. dothidea. Taken together, these findings reveal that sorbitol is an important metabolite that regulates the resistance of apple to B. dothidea and offer new insights into the mechanism of plant resistance to pathogens.
Energy-saving contribution of the thermochromic coating in exterior walls in hot-summer and cold-winter zone
Authors: Meng Xi , Meng Li , Wang Jiahui
Published: May 2022

In this study, the improvement efficiency of the thermochromic coating was analyzed comprehensively on the thermal performance of exterior walls by regulating solar radiation absorptivity in the hot-summer and cold-winter zone. The heat transfer model with the dynamic radiation absorptivity was built by The ANSYS 16.0 software, while the heat transfer process of the exterior wall was simulated numerically in the whole year. Numerical results showed the thermochromic coating exerted the regulation ability on the solar radiation absorptivity with 80% to enhance the heat gain during winter and 20% to dampen the heat gain during summer. Due to the regulation ability of the thermochromic coating, the maximum and average temperatures in outer surfaces were increased by 1.68°C~6.96°C and 1.24°C~1.92°C in winter, while they were lowered by 13.10°C~13.45°C and 3.09°C~4.42°C in summer. The load reduction efficiency of the thermochromic coating was the most obvious in summer, followed by winter and the worst in the transition season. In the transition season, the thermochromic coating had the small benefit and even the negative effect on the wall thermal performance. From the view of the whole year, the cooling and heating loads were reduced by 10.93% and 16.36%, respectively, due to employing the thermochromic coating.
Evaluation of lipid sources and emulsifier addition on fat digestion of yellow-feathered broilers
Authors: Ye Xiaomeng , Yu Yao , Chen Jiang , Zou Yi , Liu Songbai , Tan Huize , Zhao Feng , Wang Yuming
Published: May 2022

This study evaluated the effect of an emulsifier on the energetic values of lipids fed to yellow-feathered chickens and established prediction equations for the metabolizable energy (ME) of lipids fed with and without an emulsifier. One hundred and ninety-two Chinese yellow-feathered roosters [Wen’s Yellow A; initial body weight (BW) = 2.37 ± 0.33 kg] were individually weighed, divided into four BW blocks, and randomly assigned within block to the 16 dietary treatments with replicates of three roosters. The diets consisted of a corn basal diet or the basal diet supplemented with 8% of corn oil (CO), soybean oil (SO), cottonseed oil (CSO), rice bran oil (RBO), palm oil (PO), modified palm oil (MPO), or lard were evaluated with or without an emulsifier (0.02% of diet) in an 8 × 2 factorial arrangement. Diets were fed for 8 d, with 4 d for adaptation to diets and another 4 d for excreta collection. There was an interaction between lipid sources and emulsifier on ME (apparent ME and N-corrected apparent ME) of the lipids (P < 0.05). Addition of 0.02% emulsifier had no effect on the ME of CO, SO, PO, or lard, but reduced the ME of CSO (P < 0.05) and MPO (P < 0.05), and tended to increase the ME of RBO (0.05 ≤ P < 0.10). There was a quadratic relationship between ME and concentration of stearic (C18:0) (P < 0.05) or linoleic acid (C18:2) (0.05 ≤ P < 0.10), and a linear function between ME and concentration of oleic acid (C18:1) or monounsaturated fatty acids (P < 0.05) in diets without emulsifier. The ME of lipids could be predicted by the concentration of C18:0 with C18:1 or with monounsaturated fatty acid without an emulsifier. With an emulsifier, the ME concentration was affected linearly by the concentration of myristic acid (C14:0), palmitic acid (C16:0), C18:2, polyunsaturated fatty acids, unsaturated fatty acids, saturated fatty acids, and the ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids (U:S) (P < 0.05). Prediction equations for the ME of lipid were established on the content of C18:0, C16:0, C14:0, SFA, and U:S. These results indicated that the ME of RBO is positively affected by emulsifiers, but the ME of CSO and MPO declines with emulsifiers. These inconsistent results may be influenced by the relationship between ME and concentration of fatty acid across sources of dietary lipids.
History and self-reflection in the teaching of international law
Authors: Jones Henry , O’Donoghue Aoife
Published: May 2022

This article is about how international law, and specifically its history, is taught. The article critiques the pedagogy in this area by analysis of textbooks, and then considers the contexts in which international legal texts are written, taught and read. In light of this we suggest how to teach the history of international law, and international law in general, better.
Selecting a complete sample of blazars in sub-millimetre catalogues
Authors: Massardi M , Bonato M , López-Caniego M , Galluzzi V , De Zotti G , Bonavera L , González-Nuevo J , Lapi A , Liuzzo E
Published: May 2022

The Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS), which has covered about 642 sq. deg. in five bands from 100 to 500 $\mu \rm m$, allows a blind flux-limited selection of blazars at sub-mm wavelengths. However, blazars constitute a tiny fraction of H-ATLAS sources and therefore identifying them is not a trivial task. Using the data on known blazars detected by the H-ATLAS, we have defined a locus for 500 $\mu$m selected blazars and exploited it to select blazar candidates in the H-ATLAS fields. Candidates and known blazars in the H-ATLAS equatorial and South Galactic Pole fields were followed up with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) or with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), and matched with existing radio- and mm-catalogues to reconstruct the spectral behaviour over at least six orders of magnitude in frequency. We identified a selection approach that, combining the information in the sub-mm and radio domains, efficiently singles out genuine blazars. In this way, we identified a sample of 39 blazars brighter than $S_{500\mu \rm m} = 35\,$mJy in the H-ATLAS fields. Tests made cross-matching the H-ATLAS catalogues with large catalogues of blazar candidates indicate that the sample is complete. The derived counts are compared with model predictions finding good consistency with the C2Ex model and with estimates based on ALMA data.
Radio pulsar beam geometry at lower frequencies: bright sources outside the Arecibo sky
Authors: Rankin Joanna
Published: May 2022

We present pulsar emission beam analyses and models in an effort to examine pulsar geometry and physics at the lowest frequencies scattering permits. We consider two populations of well-studied pulsars that lie outside the Arecibo sky, the first drawing on the Jodrell Bank Gould & Lyne survey down to –35° declination and a second using Parkes surveys in the far south. These assemble the full sky population of 487 pulsars known before the late 1990s which conveniently all have ‘B’ names. We make full use of the core/double-cone emission beam model to assess its efficacy at lower frequencies, and we outline how different pair plasma sources probably underlie its validity. The analysis shows that with a very few exceptions pulsar radio emission beams can be modeled quantitatively with two concentric conal beams and a core beam of regular angular dimensions at 1 GHz. Further, the beamforms at lower frequencies change progressively in size but not in configuration. Pulsar emission-beam properties divide strongly depending on whether the plasma excitation is central within the polar fluxtube producing a core beam or peripheral along the edges generating conal beams, and this seems largely determined by whether their spin-down energy is greater or less than about 1032.5 ergs s−1. Core emission dominated pulsars tend concentrate closely along the Galactic plane and in the direction of the Galactic center; whereas conal pulsars are somewhat more uniformly distributed both in Galactic longitude and latitude. Core dominated pulsars also tend to be more distant and particularly so in the inner Galaxy region.
Galaxy blending effects in deep imaging cosmic shear probes of cosmology
Authors: Nourbakhsh Erfan , Tyson J Anthony , Schmidt Samuel J ,   The LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration, Armstrong Bob , Burchat Patricia , Sánchez Javier
Published: May 2022

Upcoming deep imaging surveys such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time will be confronted with challenges that come with increased depth. One of the leading systematic errors in deep surveys is the blending of objects due to higher surface density in the more crowded images; a considerable fraction of the galaxies which we hope to use for cosmology analyses will overlap each other on the observed sky. In order to investigate these challenges, we emulate blending in a mock catalogue consisting of galaxies at a depth equivalent to 1.3 yr of the full 10-yr Rubin Observatory that includes effects due to weak lensing, ground-based seeing, and the uncertainties due to extraction of catalogues from imaging data. The emulated catalogue indicates that approximately 12 per cent of the observed galaxies are ‘unrecognized’ blends that contain two or more objects but are detected as one. Using the positions and shears of half a billion distant galaxies, we compute shear–shear correlation functions after selecting tomographic samples in terms of both spectroscopic and photometric redshift bins. We examine the sensitivity of the cosmological parameter estimation to unrecognized blending employing both jackknife and analytical Gaussian covariance estimators. An ∼0.025 decrease in the derived structure growth parameter S8 = σ8(Ωm/0.3)0.5 is seen due to unrecognized blending in both tomographies with a slight additional bias for the photo-z-based tomography. This bias is greater than the 2σ statistical error in measuring S8.
Hermeian haloes: Field haloes that interacted with both the Milky Way and M31
Authors: Newton Oliver , Libeskind Noam I , Knebe Alexander , Sánchez-Conde Miguel A , Sorce Jenny G , Pilipenko Sergey , Steinmetz Matthias , Pakmor Rüdiger , Tempel Elmo , Hoffman Yehuda , Vogelsberger Mark
Published: May 2022

The Local Group is a unique environment in which to study the astrophysics of galaxy formation. The proximity of the Milky Way and M31 enhances the frequency of interactions of the low-mass halo population with more massive dark matter haloes, which increases their concentrations and strips them of gas and other material. Some low-mass haloes pass through the haloes of the Milky Way or M31 and are either ejected into the field or exchanged between the two primary hosts. We use high resolution gas-dynamical simulations to describe a new class of field haloes that passed through the haloes of both the Milky Way and M31 at early times and are almost twice as concentrated as field haloes that do not interact with the primary pair. These ‘Hermeian’ haloes are distributed anisotropically at larger distances from the Local Group barycentre than the primary haloes and appear to cluster along the line connecting the Milky Way and M31. Hermeian haloes facilitate the exchange of dark matter, gas, and stars between the Milky Way and M31 and can enhance the star formation rates of the gas in the primary haloes during their interactions with them. We also show that some Hermeian haloes can host galaxies that, because they are embedded in haloes that are more concentrated than regular field haloes, are promising targets for indirect dark matter searches beyond the Milky Way virial radius and can produce signals that are competitive with those of some dwarf galaxies. Hermeian galaxies in the Local Group should be detectable by forthcoming wide-field imaging surveys.