bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of Home Enteral Nutritional Support Compared With Normal Oral Diet in Postoperative Subjects With Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Resection: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Liu Fang , Pan Xuling , Zhao SuQing , Ren RuiJun , Chang GuiXia , Mao Yu
Published: February 2022

Introduction

We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the influence of a home enteral nutritional support compared with a normal oral diet in postoperative subjects with upper gastrointestinal cancer resection.

Methods

A systematic literature search up to December 2021 was done and 23 studies included 3,010 subjects with upper gastrointestinal cancer resection at the start of the study; 1,556 of them were given home enteral nutritional support and 1,454 were normal oral diet. We calculated the odds ratio (OR) and mean difference (MD) with 95% CIs to evaluate the influence of home enteral nutritional support compared with a normal oral diet in postoperative subjects with upper gastrointestinal cancer resection by the dichotomous or continuous methods with a random or fixed-influence model.

Results

Home enteral nutritional support had significantly higher quality of life (MD, 2.08; 95% CI, 1.50–2.67, p < 0.001), better body weight change (MD, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.31–2.43, p < 0.001), higher albumin (MD, 1.27; 95% CI, 0.72–1.82, p < 0.001), and higher pre-albumin (MD, 30.79; 95% CI, 7.29–54.29, p = 0.01) compared to the normal oral diet in subjects with upper gastrointestinal cancer resection. However, home enteral nutritional support had no significant impact on the hemoglobin (MD, 4.64; 95% CI, −4.17 to 13.46, p = 0.30), and complications (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.76–1.40, p = 0.83) compared to the normal oral diet in subjects with upper gastrointestinal cancer resection.

Conclusions

Home enteral nutritional support had a significantly higher quality of life, better body weight change, higher albumin, and higher pre-albumin, and had no significant impact on the hemoglobin and complications compared to the normal oral diet in subjects with upper gastrointestinal cancer resection. Further studies are required.
A Cage Is a Cage, Unless You Educate. Rhetoric Negatively Impacts Support for a Novel Housing System for Laying Hens Unless the Public Are Educated
Authors: Nolan Huw R. J. , Hemsworth Lauren M. , Power-Geary Jennifer A. , Taylor Peta S.
Published: February 2022

It has been proposed that terminology on commercially available eggs can impact the manner in which the eggs are discussed and ultimately consumer support. In this paper we tested if the label of ‘furnished cage’ eggs is a barrier for its support in Australia. Furthermore, we examined if educational interventions could change support and the way furnished cages were discussed. Survey participants (n = 1,157) were recruited by a stratified random sample of Australian adults. The participants were surveyed on their demographics, attitudes toward the poultry industry and animal welfare, and their egg buying behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups; two control groups and two educational groups. Participants were shown one of three videos, the control groups were shown a video with general information about chickens, the educated groups were shown one of two almost identical videos that educated them on aspects of the egg-laying industry in Australia, and the welfare implications of different housing systems including furnished systems. The only difference between the two educational videos was the name given to the furnished housing system; one group was introduced to furnished cages, the other was introduced to furnished coops. Educated participants were more likely to support furnished eggs and discuss them more positively than the control groups. When asked to discuss their support for furnished systems, control group participants exposed to the term cage were more likely to discuss the impacts of caged environments than the other treatment groups. The study suggests any negative impacts of housing system terminology can be mitigated through educational interventions.
Is Single Nucleotide Polymorphism ADIPOQ (NM_004797.4):c.214+62G>T (rs1501299) Associated With Uterine Leiomyomas? A Pilot Study
Authors: Bieńkiewicz Jan , Smolarz Beata , Wilczyński Miłosz , Stepowicz Anna , Jabłoński Grzegorz , Obłękowska Anna , Malinowski Andrzej , Romanowicz Hanna
Published: February 2022

Objective: Although polymorphisms of adiponectin gene (ADIPOQ) in obesity-related conditions have been the target of research efforts, little is known about this genetic marker in uterine leiomyomas. The aim of this pilot study was to analyze the frequencies of alleles and genotypes of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism ADIPOQ (NM_004797.4):c.214+62G>T (rs1501299) and to correlate it with the risk of uterine fibroids.

Study Design: The Test Group comprised 90 women treated surgically for uterine leiomyomas in the Department of Operative Gynecology, Endoscopy and Gynecologic Oncology, Polish Mother’s Memorial Hospital-Research Institute. 90 disease-free individuals were used as Controls. Patients within both groups were additionally stratified into lean, overweight and obese, according to Body Mass Index. Statistical analysis was performed between the two major groups and, furthermore, within the abovementioned subgroups.

Results: The study revealed no statistically significant differences in the distribution of alleles and genotypes of SNP ADIPOQ (NM_004797.4):c.214+62G>T (rs1501299) between the two main groups. A weak correlation within distributions of alleles was observed between obese Test Patients and lean Controls.

Conclusion: This pilot study has revealed no association between SNP ADIPOQ (NM_004797.4):c.214+62G>T (rs1501299) and uterine fibroids. Further studies on larger groups are warranted to elucidate whether this SNP may be correlated with uterine leiomyomas.
Research on the Identification of Tyre-Road Peak Friction Coefficient under Full Slip Rate Range Based on Normalized Tyre Model
Authors: Han Yinfeng , Lu Yongjie , Chen Na , Wang Hongwei
Published: February 2022

The accurate estimation of the tyre-road peak friction coefficient is the key basis for the normal operation of the vehicle active safety control system. The estimation algorithm needs to be able to adapt to various conditions encountered in the actual driving process of the vehicle and obtain the estimation results timely and accurately. Therefore, a new normalized strategy is proposed in this paper. The core is the equal ratio between the peak friction coefficient and the utilization friction coefficient between adjacent typical roads. This strategy can establish the direct connection (normalization) between tyre force and tyre-road peak friction coefficient through most tyre models in the field of vehicle dynamics and accomplish estimation by combining with the filtering algorithm. In addition, most of the vehicle dynamic estimation algorithms are limited by road excitation, and it is difficult to obtain satisfactory estimation results. This strategy can greatly reduce the system error caused by insufficient road excitation (slip rate is not 0.15–0.20) and improve the applicability of the estimation algorithm to the actual driving process of the vehicle. Finally, the magic formula (MF) tyre model is selected to describe the tyre characteristics after treatment of the normalized strategy; the tyre-road peak friction coefficient is estimated by combining the extended Kalman filter and vehicle dynamics model. Satisfactory estimation results are obtained in both simulation and real vehicle tests, which verifies the effectiveness of the proposed normalized strategy.
Sustainability Reporting at a Crossroads in Italian Universities: Is Web-Based Media Adoption Deinstitutionalising Sustainability Reporting?
Authors: Di Tullio Patrizia , La Torre Matteo
Published: February 2022

Higher education institutions and universities have recently started to publish their sustainability and corporate responsibility reports. Yet, due to digitalisation and the benefits of digital reporting, websites offer organisations novel opportunities to communicate more updated, timely and interactive information than a periodic sustainability report. However, we know little about sustainability reporting practice within universities and their use of online communication. This study examines the relationship between sustainability reporting practices and web-based communication practices in Italian universities. We employed a qualitative enquire and content analysis of the sustainability web pages of Italian public universities by analysing their content and updates and their relationship with their adoption of sustainability reporting. Our results suggest there are risks to web-based media being used to replace sustainability reporting, resulting in a deinstitutionalising effect for sustainability reporting. This study contributes to the literature on sustainability reporting and disclosure in universities by exploring web-based university communication on sustainability issues and stimulating the debate on replacing sustainability reports with more timely and interactive forms of communication.
Fundamental Framework to Plan 4D Robust Descent Trajectories for Uncertainties in Weather Prediction
Authors: Kamo Shumpei , Rosenow Judith , Fricke Hartmut , Soler Manuel
Published: February 2022

Aircraft trajectory planning is affected by various uncertainties. Among them, those in weather prediction have a large impact on the aircraft dynamics. Trajectory planning that assumes a deterministic weather scenario can cause significant performance degradation and constraint violation if the actual weather conditions are significantly different from the assumed ones. The present study proposes a fundamental framework to plan four-dimensional optimal descent trajectories that are robust against uncertainties in weather-prediction data. To model the nature of the uncertainties, we utilize the Global Ensemble Forecast System, which provides a set of weather scenarios, also referred to as members. A robust trajectory planning problem is constructed based on the robust optimal control theory, which simultaneously considers a set of trajectories for each of the weather scenarios while minimizing the expected value of the overall operational costs. We validate the proposed planning algorithm with a numerical simulation, assuming an arrival route to Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany. Comparison between the robust and the inappropriately-controlled trajectories shows the proposed robust planning strategy can prevent deteriorated costs and infeasible trajectories that violate operational constraints. The simulation results also confirm that the planning can deal with a wide range of cost-index and required-time-of-arrival settings, which help the operators to determine the best values for these parameters. The framework we propose is in a generic form, and therefore it can be applied to a wide range of scenario settings.
LA-DeepLab V3+: A Novel Counting Network for Pigs
Authors: Liu Chengqi , Su Jie , Wang Longhe , Lu Shuhan , Li Lin
Published: February 2022

Accurate identification and intelligent counting of pig herds can effectively improve the level of fine management of pig farms. A semantic segmentation and counting network was proposed in this study to improve the segmentation accuracy and counting efficiency of pigs in complex image segmentation. In this study, we built our own datasets of pigs under different scenarios, and set three levels of number detection difficulty—namely, lightweight, middleweight, and heavyweight. First, an image segmentation model of a small sample of pigs was established based on the DeepLab V3+ deep learning method to reduce the training cost and obtain initial features. Second, a lightweight attention mechanism was introduced, and attention modules based on rows and columns can accelerate the efficiency of feature calculation and reduce the problem of excessive parameters and feature redundancy caused by network depth. Third, a recursive cascade method was used to optimize the fusion of high- and low-frequency features for mining potential semantic information. Finally, the improved model was integrated to build a graphical platform for the accurate counting of pigs. Compared with FCNNs, U-Net, SegNet, and DenseNet methods, the DeepLab V3+ experimental results show that the values of the comprehensive evaluation indices P, R, AP, F1-score, and MIoU of LA-DeepLab V3+ (single tag) are higher than those of other semantic segmentation models, at 86.04%, 75.06%, 78.67%, 0.8, and 76.31%, respectively. The P, AP, and MIoU values of LA-DeepLab V3+ (multiple tags) are also higher than those of other models, at 88.36%, 76.75%, and 74.62%, respectively. The segmentation accuracy of pig images with simple backgrounds reaches 99%. The pressure test of the counting network can calculate the number of pigs with a maximum of 50, which meets the requirements of free-range breeding in standard piggeries. The model has strong generalization ability in pig herd detection under different scenarios, which can serve as a reference for intelligent pig farm management and animal life research.
Barriers to the Development of Agricultural Mechanization in the North and Northeast China Plains: A Farmer Survey
Authors: Huo Yuewen , Ye Songlin , Wu Zhou , Zhang Fusuo , Mi Guohua
Published: February 2022

Agricultural mechanization is essential to increase farmers’ income in modern agriculture. However, the use of machinery for crop production in China is quite inefficient. To understand the obstacles limiting farmers’ use of machinery, we conducted face-to-face interview surveys with 1023 farmers (including cooperative directors, machine operators, and farmers without machines) in two major cereal-producing regions with large differences in farming scale: the North China Plain (2.7 ha per capita) and the Northeast China Plain (12.8 ha per capita). The results revealed that farmers in both regions had strong will to use machines. The obstacle preventing farmers from buying machines was the lack of machinery training in the Northeast China Plain and land fragmentation in the North China Plain. Among different farmer groups, land fragmentation was the main barrier for cooperative directors. Farmers without machines thought that there was lack of machinery training and that the cost of machinery purchase was high. Machine operators believed that machine maintenance was too expensive. The income and age also had an effect on the different groups of farmer. It is concluded that, to improve mechanization efficiency and stimulate farmers’ intention to use machinery, the government should make policies to encourage the merge of fragmented farmlands, provide targeted subsidies for agricultural machinery, and organize machinery training in an efficient way.
Intercropping Systems for Sustainable Agriculture
Authors: Weih Martin , Mínguez M. Inés , Tavoletti Stefano
Published: February 2022

Increasing sustainability in agriculture is an imperative target for whole food and feed production and transformation chains [...]
Foliar Application of a Tagatose-Based Product Reduces Downy Mildew Symptoms through Induction of Grapevine Resistance and Anti-Oomycete Action
Authors: Mijailovic Nikola , Nesler Andrea , Perazzolli Michele , Aziz Aziz , Essaïd Ait Barka
Published: February 2022

Downy mildew caused by the oomycete Plasmopara viticola represents one of the most devastating diseases in vineyards. Current ways to control this disease rely mainly on fungicide applications, but agro-ecological concerns have raised interest in sustainable alternative methods. Certain rare sugars, like D-tagatose, have shown efficacy in reducing various plant diseases, including grapevine downy mildew. However, the mechanism of action of D-tagatose against grapevine downy mildew is not understood. The aim of this study was to characterize the efficacy and mechanism of action of a D-tagatose-based formulated product (IFP48) against grapevine downy mildew and compare it with the correspondent active molecule, pure D-tagatose (TAG). Whereas IFP48 root treatment provided scarce protection, the leaf treatment was the most efficient, especially at the dosage of 5 g/L. In particular, IFP48 treatment directly inhibited P. viticola sporangia germination, upregulated the expression of defense-related genes, and increased the content of stilbene phytoalexins. Conversely, the expression of defense-related genes and the content of stilbene phytoalexins were only slightly affected by TAG, suggesting that the formulation possibly improved D-tagatose effects against downy mildew in grapevine.
Application of Potassium along with Nitrogen under Varied Moisture Regimes Improves Performance and Nitrogen-Use Efficiency of High- and Low-Potassium Efficiency Cotton Cultivars
Authors: Akhtar Muhammad Naeem , Ul-Haq Tanveer , Ahmad Fiaz , Imran Muhammad , Ahmed Wazir , Ghaffar Abdul , Shahid Muhammad , Saleem Muhammad Hamzah , Alshaya Huda , Okla Mohammad K. , Ali Shafaqat
Published: February 2022

Low nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) is a serious issue for cotton production and environmental sustainability in arid climates. A pot study was conducted to evaluate the effect of K nutrition on NUE and performance of low- and high-K-efficiency cotton cultivars under two moisture regimes. Treatments included two soil moisture levels—i.e., normal irrigation, 100% available water content (AWC); reduced irrigation, 50% AWC—three levels of nitrogen (N)—i.e., 0, 375, and 750 mg N pot−1—and two K levels, i.e., 0 and 208 mg K pot−1. Results reveal that 208 mg K pot−1 application with nitrogen significantly enhanced the N-use efficiency, growth, and yield attributes of both cotton cultivars compared with sole N fertilization. Similarly, the combined application of NK @ 375 N + 208 K mg pot−1 caused up to 83% increase in NUE under AWC50% and AWC100%, as compared with NK control (0 N + 0 K). Compared with the control, imposed low-moisture stress caused a decrease of 13.9% in stomatal conductance (gs), 2.5% in transpiration rate (E), and 6.5% in net photosynthetic rate (PN), respectively. The physiological water use efficiency (PN/E) decreased by 13.2% under AWC50%. Applied NK @ 375 N:208 K, mg pot−1 caused 27.39 and 27.56% improvement in the PN/E in HKE and LKE cultivars under AWC50%, respectively. The HKE cultivar, i.e., CIM-554, maintained the highest gs and PN than FH-901, that was low-K-efficiency cultivar. The study suggests that varietal selection and adequate K fertilization have the prospects to improve NUE and save considerable quantities of fertilizer and irrigation water in cotton production under arid environments.
Impact of COVID-19 on the Agriculture Sector: Survey Analysis of Farmer Responses from Kerala and Tamil Nadu States in India
Authors: Habanyati Estone Jiji , Paramasivam Sivaraj , Seethapathy Parthasarathy , Jayaraman Aravind , Kedanhoth Rahul , Viswanathan Pozhamkandath Karthiayani , Manalil Sudheesh
Published: February 2022

The global COVID-19 pandemic has hit the agriculture sector hard around the world. A study was conducted to assess the impact of the pandemic on cropping patterns, crop management, usage of chemical inputs and their organic alternatives, harvesting, and marketing avenues through a survey approach in the two states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in India. A total of 250 farmers participated in the study, the data was analyzed by Chi-square test and Kruskal–Wallis test. The assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on some aspects was undertaken by dividing the study period into three phases. Though a smaller number of people were infected with COVID-19 in the initial phase of the pandemic compared to the later phases, farm operations and the procurement of inputs were significantly affected at this phase as there was a sudden disruption in transportation due to COVID-19-induced movement restrictions. During the entire study period, commodities such as rice, bananas, vegetables, coconuts, and flowers suffered maximum crop loss compared to pulses, groundnuts, cotton, and rubber. Among fertilizers, the maximum shortage was observed for chemical fertilizers (46%) and biofertilizers (30%) compared to cow dung (18%) and poultry manure (6%), indicating that farmers tended to use more local materials that could be easily procured and accessed compared to shop-based inputs. A rise in the cost of cultivation, scarcity of farm workforce, and difficulty in hiring farm machinery all have contributed to the loss of profit during the pandemic period. As a response to COVID-19, growers initiated post-harvest processing of commodities, and cropping systems remained the same during the period. The paper also discusses some remedial measures to be adopted by households in the future, to minimize the impacts of such pandemics in the agrarian sector.
Characterization of Flowering Time in Genebank Accessions of Grain Amaranths and Their Wild Relatives Reveals Signatures of Domestication and Local Adaptation
Authors: Baturaygil Ali , Schmid Karl
Published: February 2022

Grain amaranths (Amaranthus spp.) are ancient crops from the Americas that are consumed as pseudo-cereals and vegetables. Two grain amaranths, A. cruentus and A. hypochondriacus, originated in Central America, and A. caudatus in South America. Flowering time variation plays a central role in their uses as seed, vegetable and biomass crops. We characterized phenotypic variation for plant height, flowering time and seed setting among 253 genebank accessions including three grain and two wild ancestor species (A. hybridus and A. quitensis) in the temperate climatic and long-day conditions of Germany. Among grain amaranths, A. cruentus flowered early and 88% of the accessions set seed. A. hypochondriacus accessions were mildly or highly photoperiod-sensitive with a lower proportion of seed setting (31%). A. caudatus accessions were mildly photoperiod-sensitive and failed seed production. Photoperiod-insensitive accessions set seed regardless of their origin, and mildly photoperiod-sensitive accessions set seed if they originated from regions with higher temperatures. Overall, Central American accessions of both wild and domesticated amaranths showed large variation in flowering time and photoperiod sensitivity, whereas variation among South American wild and domesticated amaranths was limited to mild photoperiod sensitivity. This observation is consistent with a model of independent domestication in Central and South America, and suggests a potential Central American origin of A. hybridus followed by migration to and selection against high photoperiod sensitivity in South America. Our results provide useful information for the design of breeding programs for different uses, and provide insights into grain amaranth domestication by considering flowering time as an adaptive trait.
Flower Visitation Time and Number of Visitor Species Are Reduced by the Use of Agrochemicals in Coffee Home Gardens
Authors: Manson Sophie , Nekaris K. A. I. , Hedger Katherine , Balestri Michela , Ahmad Nabil , Adinda Esther , Budiadi Budiadi , Imron Muhammad Ali , Nijman Vincent , Campera Marco
Published: February 2022

Pollination services, from both wild and managed populations of insect pollinators, have degraded as a result of agricultural intensification. Whilst 75% of economically important crops depend on insect pollinators for cultivation, 40% of insect pollinator species are threatened with extinction. Pollination services must be preserved if there is to be enough food for a global population whose demand is expected to double, if not triple, by 2050. Pollinator diversity and pollinator efficiency have been found to increase as a result of wildlife-friendly farming practices (i.e., natural chemicals and fertilizers and agroforestry). We evaluated the presence of insect pollinators in 42 coffee home gardens in West Java, Indonesia. Via generalized linear mixed models, we found that number of visitor species (β = 0.418 ± SE 0.194, p = 0.031) and visitation time (β = 0.845 ± SE 0.308, p = 0.006) decreased as farms were more intensely managed, (i.e., used chemical pesticides), compared to fields using organic practices. As knowledge of pollination services is widespread amongst smallholder farmers in Indonesia and beyond due to the long-held tradition of beekeeping, these results will add to their existing knowledge and empower farmers to enhance resources for pollinator species through agroforestry and natural pest management. Although we found significant differences in pollination services provided in intensely managed and wildlife-friendly farms, chemical use can affect farms far beyond a particular area of production. Therefore, pollinator conservation must be applied at a landscape level and involve all stakeholders, including farmers, when making effective policies.
Sire Breed, Litter Size, and Environment Influence Genetic Potential for Lamb Growth When Using Sire Breeding Values
Authors: Kelman Khama R. , Alston-Knox Clair , Pethick David W. , Gardner Graham E.
Published: February 2022

Lamb growth can be optimised with genetic selection using sire Australian sheep breeding values, however, breeding value expression has been shown to be reduced with poor nutrition. It was therefore hypothesised that the genetic potential for lamb growth would also be reduced, where production factors such as multiple births limit growth. Live weights at birth, weaning, and post-weaning were collected from more than 18,000 lambs produced over five years and eight locations of the Sheep Cooperative Research Centre Information Nucleus Flock experiment, and the impact of environment, production factors, and genotype was determined using mixed effects regression. The genetic potential for lamb growth was moderated by environment, multiple births, and sire type (p < 0.05). Twin lambs achieved 76% of the expected weight gain at weaning and 58% post-weaning. For triplet lambs weight gains were drastically less at approximately 30% of the expected gain at the same time points. Lambs born to maternal sires consistently had the poorest response to genetic selection, achieving approximately half the expected weight gain. Hence, producers need to temper expectations for growth based on genetic selection, or employ mitigation strategies such as precision feeding, the use of alternate breeds, or place emphasis on the genetic merit of other desirable traits.
Biohydrogenation Pathway of α-Linolenic Acid in Rumen of Dairy Cow In Vitro
Authors: Huang Guoxin , Guo Liya , Chen Meiqing , Wu Xufang , Tang Wenhao , Zheng Nan , Zhao Shengguo , Zhang Yangdong , Wang Jiaqi
Published: February 2022

The t9,c12,c15-C18:3 as an isomer of α-linolenic acid (c9,c12,c15-C18:3; ALA), has been recently detected in milk, but has not been found in the rumen. This study hypothesized that it may be a biohydrogenation product of ALA in rumen and aimed to explore whether it was present in the rumen and help to understand the rumen biohydrogenation mechanisms of ALA. The in vitro experiment included two treatments, a control check (CK group) with 50 µL ethanol added, and ALA group with 50 µL ethanol and 2.6 mg ALA (ALA addition calculated by 1.30% of dry matter base of diet); each sample of fermentation fluid had the composition of C18 fatty acids analyzed at 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 h. The results showed that no t9,c12,c15-C18:3 was detected in the CK group, but ALA addition increased the concentration of t9,c12,c15-C18:3 in fermentation fluid. The content of t9,c12,c15-C18:3 peaked 1 h after fermentation, then declined gradually. At 1 h, no t9c12c15-C18:3 was detected in the fermentation fluid of the CK treatment. The results suggested that ALA converted to the isomer t9,c12,c15-C18:3 through biohydrogenation in the rumen. The addition of ALA can also increase the concentration of t9,c12-C18:2, c9,t11-C18:2, c12-C18:1, t11-C18:1, t9-C18:1, and c6-C18:1 in fermentation fluid. It was concluded using an in vitro experiment that t9,c12,c15-C18:3 was a product of rumen biohydrogenation of ALA.
MiR-24-3p Conservatively Regulates Muscle Cell Proliferation and Apoptosis by Targeting Common Gene CAMK2B in Rat and Cattle
Authors: Yang Ge , Wu Mingli , Liu Xinqi , Wang Fuwen , Li Mei , An Xiaoya , Bai Fuxia , Lei Chuzhao , Dang Ruihua
Published: February 2022

Skeletal muscle plays an important role in the growth and development of meat animals. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can participate in the regulation of muscle development-related functions; however, there have been few reports on whether there are related miRNAs that conservatively regulate muscle development among different species. In this study, the miRNA transcriptome sequencing data of the muscle tissue of cattle, rat, goat, and pig showed that miR-24-3p may conservatively regulate muscle development in these species. Furthermore, mmu-miR-24-3p can positively regulate C2C12 cell proliferation and apoptosis by regulating key proliferation and apoptosis genes in muscle development, which was verified by CCK-8 and RT-qPCR. Bta-miR-24-3p can also positively regulate the proliferation and apoptosis of bovine muscle primary cells by regulating key proliferation and apoptosis genes in the process of muscle development, as verified by CCK-8 and RT-qPCR. The target genes of miR-24-3p in cattle, rat, goat, and pig, which include a large proportion of target genes shared among the four species, are enriched in multiple cell functions and signal pathways that are closely related to muscle development, as revealed by GO and KEGG enrichment analysis. A double luciferase test showed that the shared target genes WNT4, CAMK2B, and TCF7 were targeted by mmu-miR-24-3p in rat and bta-miR-24-3p in cattle. These three shared target genes WNT4, CAMK2B, and TCF7 are involved in the Wnt signaling pathway, which showed that miR-24-3p plays an important role in rat and cattle. The shared target gene (CAMK2B) in rat and cattle increased significantly after the inhibition of miR-24-3p by RT-qPCR. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the role of miR-24-3p in the regulation of muscle development.
Modeling Method to Characterize the Pore Structure of Fractured Tight Reservoirs
Authors: Zhou You , Zhang Guangzhi , Liu Junzhou
Published: February 2022

The study of unconventional reservoirs has gained increasing attention with the deepening of exploration and development especially in deep-buried tight sandstone reservoirs. We could not obtain the accurate elastic parameters of reservoirs using the conventional rock physics model, since tight sandstone reservoirs have the characteristics of strong heterogeneity, complex lithology and storage space. In order to better describe tight sandstone reservoirs, we improved the traditional tight sandstone rock physics model by combining the dual-connected pore model and the linear slip model. Since the combined modeling process subtly considers four characteristics including the diversity of tight sandstone matrix minerals, the irregularities of pores structure, the connectivity between pores, and the anisotropy caused by fractures, multiple reservoir characteristic parameters can be derived from the limited logging information by the improved model. These reservoir characteristic parameters could account for the difference of diagenesis, which are useful to distinguish different pore types and eliminate ineffective reservoirs. The practical application shows that the improved model can extract microscopic reservoir information hidden in the logging data more effectively than the traditional model. It provides a reliable tool for identifying effective reservoirs in tight sandstone.
Multi-Classification of Chest X-rays for COVID-19 Diagnosis Using Deep Learning Algorithms
Authors: AbdElhamid Abeer A. , AbdElhalim Eman , Mohamed Mohamed A. , Khalifa Fahmi
Published: February 2022

Accurate detection of COVID-19 is of immense importance to help physicians intervene with appropriate treatments. Although RT-PCR is routinely used for COVID-19 detection, it is expensive, takes a long time, and is prone to inaccurate results. Currently, medical imaging-based detection systems have been explored as an alternative for more accurate diagnosis. In this work, we propose a multi-level diagnostic framework for the accurate detection of COVID-19 using X-ray scans based on transfer learning. The developed framework consists of three stages, beginning with a pre-processing step to remove noise effects and image resizing followed by a deep learning architecture utilizing an Xception pre-trained model for feature extraction from the pre-processed image. Our design utilizes a global average pooling (GAP) layer for avoiding over-fitting, and an activation layer is added in order to reduce the losses. Final classification is achieved using a softmax layer. The system is evaluated using different activation functions and thresholds with different optimizers. We used a benchmark dataset from the kaggle website. The proposed model has been evaluated on 7395 images that consist of 3 classes (COVID-19, normal and pneumonia). Additionally, we compared our framework with the traditional pre-trained deep learning models and with other literature studies. Our evaluation using various metrics showed that our framework achieved a high test accuracy of 99.3% with a minimum loss of 0.02 using the LeakyReLU activation function at a threshold equal to 0.1 with the RMSprop optimizer. Additionally, we achieved a sensitivity and specificity of 99 and F1-Score of 99.3% with only 10 epochs and a 10−4 learning rate.
MIss RoBERTa WiLDe: Metaphor Identification Using Masked Language Model with Wiktionary Lexical Definitions
Authors: Babieno Mateusz , Takeshita Masashi , Radisavljevic Dusan , Rzepka Rafal , Araki Kenji
Published: February 2022

Recent years have brought an unprecedented and rapid development in the field of Natural Language Processing. To a large degree this is due to the emergence of modern language models like GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3), XLNet, and BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers), which are pre-trained on a large amount of unlabeled data. These powerful models can be further used in the tasks that have traditionally been suffering from a lack of material that could be used for training. Metaphor identification task, which is aimed at automatic recognition of figurative language, is one of such tasks. The metaphorical use of words can be detected by comparing their contextual and basic meanings. In this work, we deliver the evidence that fully automatically collected dictionary definitions can be used as the optimal medium for retrieving the non-figurative word senses, which consequently may help improve the performance of the algorithms used in metaphor detection task. As the source of the lexical information, we use the openly available Wiktionary. Our method can be applied without changes to any other dataset designed for token-level metaphor detection given it is binary labeled. In the set of experiments, our proposed method (MIss RoBERTa WiLDe) outperforms or performs similarly well as the competing models on several datasets commonly chosen in the research on metaphor processing.
Large Area Detection of Microstructural Defects with Multi-Mode Ultrasonic Signals
Authors: Ju Taeho , Findikoglu Alp T.
Published: February 2022

Cyclic loading or other stresses can lead to development of cracks and crack growth in mechanical structures, leading to eventual failure. While ultrasound imaging can be used for non-destructive testing of such structures, conventional ultrasound techniques are often limited by crack size, density, and areal coverage. An effective characterization of real-world, large-area structures is required at an early damage stage to prevent catastrophic failure and predict remaining life. In this study, a new nonlinear ultrasonic testing (NUT) method is proposed for large-area monitoring of practical structures with arbitrary complexity by using multiple-mode guided-wave ultrasonic signals. The proposed guided-wave NUT technique requires single-element transducers, simple electronics, and a mixed time-frequency domain signal processing. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, numerical simulations and experiments are performed on an A36 carbon steel beam assembly with previously formed microstructural defects that cause nonlinearities in ultrasonic response. The quadratic dependence of the nonlinear wave excitation on the input ultrasonic signal amplitude is shown by numerical simulations, and such a nonlinear ultrasonic response is experimentally observed in the zone with a high density of microstructural defects.
A Fog Computing Model for VANET to Reduce Latency and Delay Using 5G Network in Smart City Transportation
Authors: Farooqi Abdul Majid , Alam M. Afshar , Hassan Syed Imtiyaz , Idrees Sheikh Mohammad
Published: February 2022

Connected vehicles are a vital part of smart cities, which connect over a wireless connection and bring mobile computation and communication abilities. As a mediator, fog computing resides between vehicles and the cloud and provides vehicles with processing, storage, and networking power through Vehicular Ad-hoc networks (VANET). VANET is a time-sensitive technology that requires less time to process a request received from a vehicle. Delay and latency are the notorious issues of VANET and fog computing. To deal with such problems, in this work, we developed a priority-based fog computing model for smart urban vehicle transportation that reduces the delay and latency of fog computing. To upgrade the fog computing infrastructure to meet the latency and Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, 5G localized Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) servers have also been used, which resulted tremendously in reducing the delay and the latency. We decreased the data latency by 20% compared to the experiment carried using only cloud computing architecture. We also reduced the processing delay by 35% compared with the utilization of cloud computing architecture.
Attempt to Develop an Effective Method for the Separation of Gamma-Decalactone from Biotransformation Medium
Authors: Małajowicz Jolanta , Górska Agata , Bryś Joanna , Ostrowska-Ligęza Ewa , Wirkowska-Wojdyła Magdalena
Published: February 2022

Gamma-decalactone (GDL) is a fragrance compound obtained in the process of β-oxidation of ricinoleic acid, which is derived from the hydrolysis of castor oil. The biotechnological method of the synthesis of this lactone has been improved for over two decades, but the vast majority of research results have been based only on determining the concentration of the lactone by chromatographic methods without separating it from the biotransformation medium. In this study, we attempted to separate GDL from the medium in which the lactone was synthesized by Yarrowia lipolytica from castor oil. The effectiveness of liquid–liquid extraction, hydrodistillation, and adsorption on the porous materials (zeolite, vermiculite and resin Amberlite XAD-4) was compared. The influence of the solvent on the efficiency of GDL extraction, the influence of the acidity of the medium on the amount of GDL in the distillate, and the level of lactone adsorption on the above-mentioned adsorbents were compared by calculating the initial adsorption rate. The adsorption isotherm was determined for the most effective adsorbent. Among the five solvents tested, the most effective was diethyl ether, used at the ratio of 1:1. The extraction was characterized by higher efficiency than hydrodistillation; the difference in GDL determinations by these two methods ranged from 12.8 to 22%. The purity of the distillates was much higher than that of the extracts at 88.0 ± 3.4% compared to 53.0 ± 1.8%. The acidification of the biotransformation medium increased the concentration of the lactone in both the reaction mixture and the distillate. GDL was most efficiently adsorbed on Amberlite XAD-4 resin, for which the lactone isotherm adsorption was linear. The amount of lactone adsorbed on Amberlite XAD-4 within 1 h was approx. 80% (2.45 g), of which 1.96 g was then desorbed with ethanol. In the context of industrial applications, adsorption of GDL on Amberlite XAD-4 seems to be the most appropriate method due to material costs, the ease of the process, and low environmental burden.
Does a Previous Segmentation Improve the Automatic Detection of Basal Cell Carcinoma Using Deep Neural Networks?
Authors: Vélez Paulina , Miranda Manuel , Serrano Carmen , Acha Begoña
Published: February 2022

Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) is the most frequent skin cancer and its increasing incidence is producing a high overload in dermatology services. In this sense, it is convenient to aid physicians in detecting it soon. Thus, in this paper, we propose a tool for the detection of BCC to provide a prioritization in the teledermatology consultation. Firstly, we analyze if a previous segmentation of the lesion improves the ulterior classification of the lesion. Secondly, we analyze three deep neural networks and ensemble architectures to distinguish between BCC and nevus, and BCC and other skin lesions. The best segmentation results are obtained with a SegNet deep neural network. A 98% accuracy for distinguishing BCC from nevus and a 95% accuracy classifying BCC vs. all lesions have been obtained. The proposed algorithm outperforms the winner of the challenge ISIC 2019 in almost all the metrics. Finally, we can conclude that when deep neural networks are used to classify, a previous segmentation of the lesion does not improve the classification results. Likewise, the ensemble of different neural network configurations improves the classification performance compared with individual neural network classifiers. Regarding the segmentation step, supervised deep learning-based methods outperform unsupervised ones.
Hematite Nanoparticles Addition to Serpentine/Pyroxenes By-Products of Magnesite Mining Enrichment Process for the Production of Refractories
Authors: Kalaitzidou Kyriaki , Pagona Evangelia , Stratigousis Paraskevas , Ntampou Xanthi , Zaspalis Vasileios , Zouboulis Anastasios , Mitrakas Manassis
Published: February 2022

The present study focuses on the refractory upgrade and reuse of the mining wastes/by-products of the magnesite mine “Grecian Magnesite SA” (Chalkidiki, N. Greece), by the addition of hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanomaterial. These by-products were also examined after the application of thermal pre-treatment, i.e., treated at 850 °C for 30 min, prior to sintering. Different thermal treatments and times were applied, aiming to induce the formation of forsterite and attempting to examine the respective effects on the refractory properties of up-cycled products. The results indicate that hematite addition of 5 wt.% can improve the major refractory parameters of products, whereas the applied thermal pre-treatment was not found to be particularly beneficial. Nevertheless, the optimum results were realized after thermal treatment at 1300 °C for 120 min heating time, also revealing that the initial mineralogical content of the examined mineral wastes is a key factor for the subsequent upgrade ranking of the final product.
Processing Non-Gaussian Data Residuals in Geomagnetism
Authors: Khokhlov Andrey
Published: February 2022

Some time ago, we considered non-Gaussian shapes of histograms of quantities that were related to residuals in data: we showed at a qualitative level that non-Gaussianity is most likely the result of mixing of Gaussian distributions. In this addendum, we argue that there is a quantitative description that can be used in fairly general situations. Briefly, we present here the same magnetic measurement data that were reported in the original publication: Khokhlov, A.; Hulot, G. On the cause of the non-Gaussian distribution of residuals in geomagnetism. Geophys. J. Int. 2017, 209, 1036–1047.
Alternative Woods in Oenology: Volatile Compounds Characterisation of Woods with Respect to Traditional Oak and Effect on Aroma in Wine, a Review
Authors: Martínez-Gil Ana María , del Alamo-Sanza Maria , del Barrio-Galán Rubén , Nevares Ignacio
Published: February 2022

The interest of winemakers to find new woods that can give their wines a special personality and the need for cooperage wood have led to the use of other woods than traditional oak. The aroma of wines is undoubtedly one of the quality factors most valued by consumers. Volatile compounds from wood are transferred to wines during ageing. The type and quantity of aromas in wood depend on several factors, with the species, origin and cooperage treatments, particularly toasting, being very important. The transfer of volatile compounds to the wine depends not only on the wood but also on the wine itself and the type of ageing. This review therefore aims to recapitulate the volatile composition of alternative oenological woods at different cooperage stages and to compare them with traditional woods. It also summarises studies on the effect of wine aromas during ageing both in barrels and with fragments of alternative woods. In summary, it is observed that both woods and wines aged with alternative species of the Quercus genus present the same volatile compounds as traditional ones, but differ quantitatively; however, non-Quercus woods also differ qualitatively.
Resonant Magnetoelectric Effect at Low Frequencies in Layered Polymeric Cantilevers Containing a Magnetoactive Elastomer
Authors: Saveliev Dmitry V. , Glavan Gašper , Belan Viktoria O. , Belyaeva Inna A. , Fetisov Leonid Y. , Shamonin Mikhail
Published: February 2022

In this work, the resonance enhancement of magnetoelectric (ME) coupling at the two lowest bending resonance frequencies was investigated in layered cantilever structures comprising a magnetoactive elastomer (MAE) slab and a commercially available piezoelectric polymer multilayer. A cantilever was fixed at one end in the horizontal plane and the magnetic field was applied horizontally. Five composite structures, each containing an MAE layer of different thicknesses from 0.85 to 4 mm, were fabricated. The fundamental bending resonance frequency in the absence of a magnetic field varied between roughly 23 and 55 Hz. It decreased with the increasing thickness of the MAE layer, which was explained by a simple theory. The largest ME voltage coefficient of about 7.85 V/A was measured in a sample where the thickness of the MAE layer was ≈2 mm. A significant increase in the bending resonance frequencies in the applied DC magnetic field of 240 kA/m up to 200% was observed. The results were compared with alternative designs for layered multiferroic structures. Directions for future research were also discussed.