bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Responses of Combined Non-starch Polysaccharide Enzymes and Protease on Growth Performance, Meat Quality, and Nutrient Digestibility of Yellow-Feathered Broilers Fed With Diets With Different Crude Protein Levels
Authors: Wang Chaoyong , Yuan Tong , Yang Jing , Zheng Wenxuan , Wu Qilin , Zhu Kaixuan , Mou Xiangyu , Wang Lizhi , Nie Kangkang , Li Xinyun , Zhu Yongwen
Published: July 2022

The aim of this study was to investigate the responses of non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) enzymes and protease combination on growth performance, meat quality, and nutrients digestibility of yellow-feathered broilers fed with corn-soybean meal basal diets with normal and subnormal crude protein (CP) levels. The experimental design was completely randomized with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments, including six replicates of 20 birds per pen. Two basal diets were formulated with normal CP level as positive control (PC) and subnormal CP level without extra essential amino acid (AA) supplementation as negative control (NC). The basal diets were supplemented without or with NSP enzymes and protease. Broilers fed with the NC diet had lower (P < 0.05) final body weight (BW), average daily weight gain (ADG) on days 1–21, 22–56 and 1–56 and higher (P < 0.05) feed-to-gain ratio (F/G) on day 22–56 than those fed with PC diet. The broilers fed with the NC diet had higher (P < 0.05) L* and b* values in thigh muscle, crypt depth in the duodenum, and dry matter (DM) digestibility as well as lower (P < 0.05) villus height, musculature thicknesses, and villus height: crypt depth in the duodenum than those fed with the PC diet. Dietary NSP enzymes and protease combination increased (P < 0.05) the ADG and F/G of the broilers on days 1–56, and pH values in breast and thigh muscles as well as the digestibility of DM, gross energy (GE), CP and most AAs of the broilers on day 56. Compared with the PC diet, the combination of NSP enzymes and protease exhibited greater (P < 0.05) improvements in the digestibility of DM, CP, and some AAs (Asp, Ile, and Leu) in the broilers fed with the NC diet. In conclusion, reducing CP diet without essential AA supplementation impaired the growth performance and meat color of the thigh muscles of the broilers. The combination of NSP enzymes and protease effectively improved the growth performance, meat quality, and nutritional values of the broilers. In terms of the digestibility of DM, CP, and some AAs, the magnitude of response to the addition of NSP enzymes and protease was greater in the low nutritional-quality diet with a subnormal CP level.
Exploring a Multi-Layer Coupled Network Propagation Model Based on Information Diffusion and Bounded Trust
Authors: Ju Chunhua , Wang Chenyu , Jiang Yihao , Bao Fuguang , Zhou Huajian , Xu Chonghuan
Published: July 2022

Objective: To explore the law of opinion dissemination and individual opinion evolution at the micro level, this paper analyzes the influence of variation and oyster on communication from the perspective of network structure.

Methods: In this paper, we introduce the concepts of “variation” and “oyster”, build a multi-layer coupled network environment combined with the ISOVR model, and conduct simulation experiments of network information dissemination based on the bounded trust model.

Results: The experimental results reveal that the extent and scope of variation’s spread in the network are more dependent on the trust of nodes themselves, and decreasing the trust of nodes significantly reduces the rate and peak value of variation. Changing the silence coefficient of variation does not effectively change the direction of rumor propagation, which indicates that rumor has a strong propagation ability after mutation.

Conclusion: The insights of this paper on the dissemination of public opinions include: 1) pay attention to people with high trust levels, such as opinion leaders; 2) clarify the misinformation in time to prevent further spread of rumors.
An Active Fault-Tolerant Control Based on Synchronous Fast Terminal Sliding Mode for a Robot Manipulator
Authors: Le Quang Dan , Kang Hee-Jun
Published: July 2022

To maintain the safe operation and acceptable performance of robot manipulators when faults occur inside the system, fault-tolerant control must deal differently uncertainties and disturbances, especially with the occurrence of loss-effective faults. Therefore, in this paper, an active fault-tolerant control for robot manipulators based on the combination of a novel finite-time synchronous fast terminal sliding mode control and extended state observer is proposed. Due to the internal constraints of the synchronization technique, the position error at each actuator simultaneously approaches zero and tends to be equal. Therefore, the proposed controller can suppress the effects of faults and guarantee the acceptable performance of robot manipulators when faults occur. First, an extended state observer is designed to estimate the lumped uncertainties, disturbance and faults. Then, the information from the observer is used to combine with the main novel synchronous fast terminal sliding mode controller as a compensator. By combining the merits of the observer compensation, sliding mode and synchronization technique, the proposed fault-tolerant controller is able to deal with uncertainties and disturbances in normal operation mode and reduce the effects of faults in case faults occur, especially in the occurrence of loss-effective faults. Finally, the enhanced safety, reality and effectiveness of the proposed fault-tolerant control are evaluated through the control of a 3-DOF robot manipulator in both a simulated environment and experiment.
Analysis, Design, and Optimization of a Novel Asymmetrical Bistable Short Mover Permanent Magnet Actuator for High-Voltage Circuit Breaker Application
Authors: Zeng Guanbao , Yang Xiangyu
Published: July 2022

In this paper, a novel asymmetrical bistable short mover permanent magnet actuator is presented. The comparisons between the presented machine and the asymmetrical structure bistable permanent magnet actuator are introduced. The static and dynamic characteristics of the high-voltage circuit breaker with the presented machine are calculated and discussed. The influences of the length of the mover and the initial mover position in the presented machine are studied and researched. The merits of the presented machine, such as less permanent magnet volume, low cost, small mover mass, and high starting speed, are researched and discussed. The Genetic Algorithm is used to optimize the presented machine. Finally, a conventional permanent magnet actuator prototype is created and tested on account of the limited experimental conditions. The characteristic curves of position versus retaining force are acquired to confirm the proposed design.
Municipal Executive Recommendation by Citizens: Who Is Most Significant?
Authors: Meirinhos Galvão , Bessa Maximino , Leal Carmem , Sol Márcio , Carvalho Amélia , Silva Rui
Published: July 2022

This paper explores which variables are more significant in municipal executive recommendation by citizens. We estimated the influence of public dimensions, such as municipe loyalty, municipe satisfaction, and municipe perceived value in municipal executive recommendation by citizens. Then, we tried to understand if the citizen’s opinions influenced the evaluation of the municipal executive recommendation. The parishes of the municipality of Valongo were selected and analyzed, namely the parishes of Alfena, Campo e Sobrado, Valongo, and Ermesinde, and a total of 998 questionnaires were collected. Data were collected in November 2020 in the different parishes under study. It was concluded that all studied dimensions were statistically significant in the final structural estimated model. The structural results point to municipe loyalty and municipe satisfaction dimensions having a direct, positive, and statistically significant influence on municipal executive recommendation. On the other side, the municipe perceived value dimension has a direct positive but not statistically significant influence on municipal executive recommendation. This study showed that a loyal and satisfied citizen recommends the continuity of the municipal executive in the city’s political leadership in which he or she lives. Therefore, for the municipal executive administration, it is fundamental to know which dimensions the society considers most important in order to be able to remain in the management of the shared destinies of a city. In this sense, political decisions throughout the mandates can be directed, on the one hand, to the satisfaction and loyalty of the citizens and, on the other hand, to the balanced management of the destinies of this type of public entity.
Design of the ASSUT-FF Algorithm for GTO Satellite CNS/BDS Integrated Navigation
Authors: Hua Bing , Wei Xiaosong , Wu Yunhua , Chen Zhiming
Published: July 2022

The velocity and acceleration of geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) satellites change dramatically and periodically, and the operating area extends from hundreds of kilometers to 36,000 km above the Earth’s surface. This leads to the limitation of navigation methods of GTO satellites, the complexity of perturbation components and the increase of sensor measurement noise. Therefore, in this paper, a celestial navigation system/Beidou navigation system (CNS/BDS) integrated navigation method based on the adaptive spherical simplex unscented transformation federated Kalman filter (ASSUT-FF) algorithm is designed for GTO satellite high-precision autonomous navigation, considering the integrated navigation method and filtering algorithm. A Beidou observation model based on the relative pseudorange/pseudorange rate is established. Even when the GTO satellite moves to the high orbit region, it can still use BDS navigation information to determine the orbit. In addition, the designed adaptive algorithm can still ensure the filter stability in a complex space environment. The CNS/BDS integrated navigation method based on the ASSUT-FF algorithm proposed in this paper can realize continuous and high-precision autonomous navigation of GTO satellites. The simulation results show that the orbit determination accuracy of the proposed navigation method is 96.23% and 84.06% higher than that of the single celestial navigation method and the traditional Beidou geometric positioning correction celestial navigation method, respectively. The performance test results of the adaptive algorithm also show that the ASUT-FF algorithm has good robustness.
Analysis of Genotypic and Environmental Effects on Biomass Yield, Nutritional and Antinutritional Factors in Common Vetch
Authors: Parissi Zoi , Irakli Maria , Tigka Evangelia , Papastylianou Panayiota , Dordas Christos , Tani Eleni , Abraham Eleni M. , Theodoropoulos Agisilaos , Kargiotidou Anastasia , Kougiteas Leonidas , Kousta Angeliki , Koskosidis Avraam , Kostoula Stavroula , Beslemes Dimitrios , Vlachostergios Dimitrios N.
Published: July 2022

Vicia sativa L. (common vetch) is an annual legume species of high economic and ecological importance which is characterized by high nutritive value for animal feeding and its ability to adapt to various edaphic–climatic conditions. However, limited information is available about genotypic and environmental effects on agronomic, nutritional, and antinutritional traits of common vetch genotypes. Thus, in the present study, four advanced breeding lines and three commercial cultivars were evaluated for yield biomass, color assessment, fiber, crude protein (CP), and polyphenols in three locations (Spata, Larissa, and Thessaloniki) for two consecutive growing seasons (2018–2019 and 2019–2020). The effects of genotype, environment and their interaction (GXE) were significant for all the studied traits. The main source of variation for yield, color, CP, and polyphenols was the environment as it explained 71.5–89.7% of the total variation, whereas for the fibers content it was the GXE interaction. On the other hand, genotype had a much smaller effect on all the traits studied (2.9–16.6%). According to GGE biplot analysis, the ‘Alexandros’ cultivar was the most high-yielding and stable, whereas ‘Leonidas’ was the best performing in terms of nutritional and antinutritional traits. However, one advanced line combined high and stable yield biomass with high nutritive value, indicating the possibility for simultaneous improvement of both features.
Spatial and Temporal Evolution of Sowing and the Onset of the Rainy Season in a Region of Large Agricultural Expansion in Brazil
Authors: Fonseca Humberto Paiva , Pires Gabrielle Ferreira , Brumatti Livia Maria
Published: July 2022

In order to assist in high-yield agricultural management in multiple cropping systems, it is essential to understand the link between the rainy season onset and crops sowing dates, since it considerably affects the management, yield and output. We built crop calendars derived from remote sensing products and investigated the link between sowing dates and the onset of the rainy season in irrigated and rainfed agriculture in Western Bahia, a new and important agricultural frontier in Brazilian Cerrado. Crop sowing dates were obtained from green-up dates from 2001 to 2019. Rainy season onset dates were determined using CHIRPS daily precipitation data. Results indicate that sowing occurs from 26 October to 15 November and the rainy season starts from 17 to 27 October. Rainfed sowing dates are strongly correlated to rainy season onset and are particularly affected in years where rains are delayed. Sowing dates in irrigated pixels occur up to 25 days earlier than rainfed and are not correlated to rainy season onset. Irrigated farms are sowing earlier and in a shorter window than rainfed, with a stronger resilience in years where rains are delayed, and have adapted their sowing operation towards a more intensive agriculture and efficient water use during the rainy season.
The Influence of Foliar Nutrition of Apple Trees with Silicon on Growth and Yield as Well as Mineral Content in Leaves and Fruits
Authors: Świerczyński Sławomir , Zydlik Zofia , Kleiber Tomasz
Published: July 2022

The technology of producing fruits containing an increased amount of elements essential for the health of the human body, including silicon, has become very important in recent years. Due to the popularity of apple tree cultivation in Europe, appropriate research has been undertaken. The aim of the experiment was to determine the advisability of foliar silicon nutrition in apple tree cultivation. Apple cultivars ‘Gala Schniga’, ‘Ligol’ and ‘Topaz’ were studied and treated with three different doses of silicon (100, 200, 300 mg SiO2·L−1). The treatments were performed five times during tree growth in the third year of cultivation from early June to late July. Foliar application of silicon did not improve the evaluated tree growth parameters. It significantly influenced, in the highest analysed concentration, a better fruit yield (12%), a higher yield coefficient, depending on the concentration, from 16 to 18%, a better fruit quality (weight and size) and a more extensive red blush. The considered cultivars differed in the growth and yield of trees in the third year of cultivation. ‘Topaz’ grew strongest and ‘Ligol’ yielded the best. The highest yield coefficient was found for the Topaz’ cultivar. The fruit of ‘Topaz’ had the biggest blush and ‘Gala Schniga’ the biggest sugar content. Macro- and micro-nutrient nutritional status of trees were no better, except for iron and copper in leaves, and at some concentrations of applied silicon also zinc and copper in fruit.
Alternative Splicing (AS) Dynamics in Dwarf Soybean Derived from Cross of Glycine max and Glycine soja
Authors: Roy Neha Samir , Basnet Prakash , Ramekar Rahul Vasudeo , Um Taeyoung , Yu Ju-Kyung , Park Kyong-Cheul , Choi Ik-Young
Published: July 2022

Short crop height is the preferred breeding trait since there is a positive correlation between lodging resistance and a crop yield increase. Alternative splicing can alter transcriptome diversity and contribute to plant adaptation to environmental stress. We characterized the transcriptomes obtained from dwarf and normal soybean lines derived from a cross of Glycine max var. Peking (G. max) and G. soja var. IT182936 in an F7 RIL population to study the differences between the isoforms. Full-length mRNA derived from leaf tissues was sequenced using the PacBio RSII platform, generating 904,474 circular consensus sequence (CCS) reads. Using the Structural and Quality Annotation of Novel Transcript Isoforms (SQANTI) process, 42,582 and 44,762 high-quality isoforms, and 91 and 179 polished low-quality isoforms were obtained in dwarf and normal cells, respectively. As a result, 832 and 36,772 nonredundant transcripts were generated. Approximately 30% of the identified genes were estimated to produce two or more isoforms. We detected an average of 166,171 splice junctions (SJs), of which 93.8% were canonical SJs. We identified that novel isoforms accounted for 19% of all isoforms, among which 12% fell within coding regions. The dwarf soybean demonstrated a greater number of isoforms in most of the annotated genes, particularly in genes related to growth hormones and defense responses. Our study provides comprehensive isoform and gene information that may accelerate transcriptome research in G. max and provide a basis to further study the impact of these isoforms on plant growth.
Effect of Soil Regenerative Practice on Selected Soil Physical Properties and Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) Yield
Authors: Adamczewska-Sowińska Katarzyna , Wojciechowski Wiesław , Krygier Magdalena , Sowiński Józef
Published: July 2022

Living mulches can play a crucial role in the protection of the soil against erosion, as well as biological and chemical degradation. Soil fertility and its physical properties, including soil structure, are of special importance to crops. Soil physical properties are affected, among other factors, by the type of tillage. In order to determine the effect of regenerative practice (living mulches) on soil physical properties, a two-factorial experiment was conducted. The first factor involved white clover and perennial ryegrass as an intercropping of eggplant. The second factor was the living mulches sowing term: three weeks before eggplant planting, at the time of planting and three weeks after eggplant planting. Covering eggplant inter-rows with living mulches reduced eggplant yield and was beneficial to soil structure and improved water resistance of soil aggregates. Perennial ryegrass had a slightly more advantageous effect on yield and improvement of soil physical properties, as compared to white clover. The greater eggplant fruit yield was obtained from vegetable grown without companion plants. The application of living mulches (especially Trifolium repens L.) caused a non-significant decrease in eggplant fruit yield. It was found that limiting the growth of seedlings sown on the first date result in a decrease in marketable fruit yield (on average 14%). A similar result occurred when living mulches were sown on the planting date of eggplants and difference between the yields was 4.3%. The first term of sowing living mulches—three weeks before eggplant planting—no significantly affected the mean weighted diameter of soil aggregate (MWDg), the water stability index (ΔMWD), the index of waterproof index (Wod) and the soil structure index (W). Later sowing terms resulted in the improvement of the majority of the parameters; however, this was not confirmed statistically. Soil with periodic mechanical treatment of inter-rows showed the 3–4% lower values of soil porosity, 3–16% increased compactness, as well as 28–30% lower indices soil structure and 28–30% for water resistance of soil aggregates compared to the living mulches system.
Actions for Monitoring the Gonipterus Pest in Eucalyptus on the Cantabrian Coast
Authors: Ayuga-Téllez Esperanza , García-Iruela Alberto , Rielo José Causí , González-García Concepción
Published: July 2022

Forests are a natural resource of great importance for sustainable development. They represent the primary use of Spanish territory and cover 36% of its area. Eucalyptus shrublands are the most productive, particularly on the Cantabrian coast, occupying a total area of 406,566 ha. Since 1991, some of these shrublands have been affected by the eucalyptus snout beetle (Gonipterus platensis), a coleoptera (weevil) from the Curculionidae family that feeds on eucalyptus leaves and produces significant damage. The innovation project of the Supra-regional Operational Health Group on Gonipterus in Eucalyptus was developed (2019–2020) to establish a global approach to the serious problem it causes in Asturias and Galician Eucalyptus stands. A group of experts devised two action protocols to unify the methods and variables measured in the field: a protocol for measuring and estimating damage (degree of defoliation) and a parasitism protocol to establish actions to monitor the degree of parasitism (collection of oothecae, management of the sample, laboratory procedure). In the results, in addition to establishing the sampling protocol, an analysis of the data (from 2017 to spring 2020) provided by the different administrations of the Autonomous Communities studied has been carried out. The data analysis reveals an improvement in the impact of the damage on the Cantabrian coast (29.8% reduction in damage in Galicia and 14.7% in Asturias). In Galicia, the number of adult insects decreased from 2017 to 2019, increasing in the spring (from April to June) of 2020 above the mean values of previous years in that period. The number of larvae in the different larval stages showed similar development in all cases. The mean larvae (in their different stages) and mean oothecae showed a significant decline in the year 2018 compared to the spring of 2017, with an upturn in 2019 and again similar values to 2018 in the spring of 2020. In Asturias, similar mean values of the order of 0.5 insects per plot on dates (May–June) in spring were observed in 2019. While in 2020, a progressive increase could be seen in the mean number of insects throughout March, up to 1.9 insects per plot. Results of research on the biological treatment of parasitisation of oothecae with A.nitens were also collected to adjust the number of oothecae per bag deposited in the field and the number of Anaphes released per ha. Based on the field observations, the appropriate release time was determined to succeed in controlling the Gonipterus population.
Variation in Fatty Acids Concentration in Grasses, Legumes, and Forbs in the Allegheny Plateau
Authors: Whetsell Marcella , Rayburn Edward
Published: July 2022

This study was conducted to determine the fatty acid (FA) content in pasture grasses, legumes, and non-leguminous forbs in northeast West Virginia. Grass, legume, and forb plant material were collected from rotationally stocked pastures and analyzed for crude protein (CP), linoleic acid (C18:2), α-linolenic acid (C18:3), and total FA content. Species within botanical classes varied in FA content. Forbs had the highest linoleic acid (C18:2) content followed by legume and grass species. Grasses and forbs had the highest α-linolenic acid (C18:3) content. Forbs had the highest total FA content. These field data were combined with FA data from the research literature to evaluate the correlation of CP concentration with fatty acid concentration. Likewise, after accounting for CP, the summer months caused a decrease while forbs caused an increase in α-linolenic acid (C18:3) content. Vegetative growth and leafiness are the major determinants of FA content in pasture forage. Grazing management to benefit vegetative growth and the presence of desirable forbs in tune with seasonal changes are valuable tools to increase desirable FA profiles in milk and meat products that may be of benefit to human health.
Agriculture in Marginal Areas: Reintroduction of Rye and Wheat Varieties for Breadmaking in the Antrona Valley
Authors: Colombo Federico , Franguelli Nicolò , Licheri Gianni , Ghidoli Martina , Cassani Elena , Castelli Lorenzo , Pasquali Matias , Bresciani Andrea , Marti Alessandra , Dell’Anno Matteo , Rossi Luciana , De Negri Ivano , Landoni Michela , Pilu Roberto
Published: July 2022

In marginal lands, cereal landraces continue to be important in agricultural production, whereas hybrids lose their competitive advantage. In this context, selection for adaptation to each environment is particularly important in crops grown under unfavourable conditions, e.g., mountain areas. In this work, from a panel of traditional and modern varieties, mixtures and evolutionary populations, a randomised block experiment was established to select the most productive and suitable wheat and rye varieties specific for the Antrona Valley. The nutritional analysis of each flour was carried out. The results obtained in two years of varietal comparison suggested that rye is more suitable than wheat for growing in this environment: Alpina rye showed the highest yield/m2 and the highest ash content (1.87% ± 0.03%; p < 0.05) compared to other varieties, indicating it as suitable for the baking process. Among wheats, San Pastore showed the highest number of ears/m2 (411 and 350; p < 0.05) compared to others. However, in a context of climate change, the cultivation of Solibam could ensure yield stability, thanks to the high variability within the evolutionary population. Overall, our results demonstrated the possible reintroduction of the cereal supply chain in the Valley and the resumption of the historic rye bread production.
Density-Dependent Fertilization of Nitrogen for Optimal Yield of Perennial Rice
Authors: Huang Guangfu , Zhang Yujiao , Zhang Shilai , Zhang Jing , Hu Fengyi , Li Fengmin
Published: July 2022

In the absence of tillage, perennial rice is an innovation and supplement to rice production. Proper N fertilizer application connected to planting density has been proposed as an effective way to improve rice yields. The tradeoff between crop N uptake and N supply is essential for optimal N management and soil environment benefit in the perennial rice cropping system. To assess the response of perennial rice to N fertilizer and planting density, field experiments with four consecutive growing seasons within two years, from 2016 to 2017, were conducted in southern China. Four nitrogen rates (N0, N1, N2, and N3 refer to 0, 120, 180, and 240 kg N ha−1, respectively) combined with three planting densities (D1, D2, and D3 refer to 100 × 103, 167 × 103 and 226 × 103 plants ha−1, respectively) were designed. The results showed that both N rate and planting density significantly affected crop production (p < 0.05), N uptake and soil N balance. Specifically, the N2D3 mode could achieve sustainable and higher dry matter accumulation (15.15 t ha−1) and grain yield (7.67 t ha−1) among all the treatments over the four seasons. A positive relationship between N uptake and dry matter/grain yield was observed. The N2D3 mode showed significantly higher N uptake (201 kg ha−1 each season) and less soil N loss (27.1%), relative to C.K. Additionally, the N2D3 mode could reach the optimal N balance (−0.2 kg ha−1) with a low N requirement (23.9 kg N Mg−1 grain), resulting in higher N use efficiency (NAE: 26.5 kg N kg−1, NRE: 64.9%). In the perennial rice cropping system, therefore, 180 kg N ha−1 integrated with 226 × 103 plants ha−1 could deliver higher grain yields with less N requirement, higher N use efficiency and less soil N loss. This optimal combination between planting density and nitrogen rate can result in soil N balance for sustainable perennial rice production.
An Integrated Goat Head Detection and Automatic Counting Method Based on Deep Learning
Authors: Zhang Yu , Yu Chengjun , Liu Hui , Chen Xiaoyan , Lei Yujie , Pang Tao , Zhang Jie
Published: July 2022

Goat farming is one of the pillar industries for sustainable development of national economies in some countries and plays an active role in social and economic development. In order to realize the precision and intelligence of goat breeding, this paper describes an integrated goat detection and counting method based on deep learning. First, we constructed a new dataset of video images of goats for the object tracking task. Then, we took YOLOv5 as the baseline of the object detector and improved it using a series of advanced methods, including: using RandAugment to explore suitable data augmentation strategies in a real goat barn environment, using AF-FPN to improve the network’s ability to represent multi-scale objects, and using the Dynamic Head framework to unify the attention mechanism with the detector’s heads to improve its performance. The improved detector achieved 92.19% mAP, a significant improvement compared to the 84.26% mAP of the original YOLOv5. In addition, we also input the information obtained by the detector into DeepSORT for goat tracking and counting. The average overlap rate of our proposed method is 89.69%, which is significantly higher than the 82.78% of the original combination of YOLOv5 and DeepSORT. In order to avoid double counting as much as possible, goats were counted using the single-line counting based on the results of goat head tracking, which can support practical applications.
Virulence Factors and Antimicrobial Resistance Profile of Escherichia Coli Isolated from Laying Hens in Italy
Authors: Gambi Lorenzo , Rossini Rachele , Menandro Maria Luisa , Franzo Giovanni , Valentini Francesco , Tosi Giovanni , D’Incau Mario , Fiorentini Laura
Published: July 2022

Colibacillosis is the most common bacterial disease in the poultry industry. The isolation of Escherichia coli (E. coli) strains with multiple resistance to various classes of antimicrobials has been increasing in recent years. In this study, antimicrobial resistance features, serotyping and the presence of avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) virulence genes were investigated on a total of 71 E. coli strains isolated during outbreaks of colibacillosis in laying hens. The correlation between these features was evaluated. The most frequently isolated serogroups were O2 and O88. Resistance was often detected with nalidixic acid (49%) and ampicillin (38%), while all strains were sensitive to ceftiofur and florfenicol. Overall, 25% of the isolates showed resistance to at least three or more antimicrobial classes (multidrug-resistant strains), and 56% of the isolates were defined as APEC strains (due to the presence of at least five virulence genes). Correlation between the different parameters (virulence genes, serogroup and antimicrobial resistance) did not reveal relevant associations. The comparison of the obtained results with those of similar studies highlighted the importance of continuous monitoring in order to have a better understanding of colibacillosis. An evaluation of the national epidemiological situation would allow, especially with regard to antimicrobial resistance, to focus on the right measures in order to prioritize the available resources for effective disease control.
Effect of Dietary Supplementation with Calcium, Phosphorus and Vitamin D3 on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, and Serum Biochemical Parameters of Growing Blue Foxes
Authors: Liu Jiayu , Du Zhiheng , Li Ting , Xu Yinan , Lv Jing , Bai Xiujuan , Xu Yuan , Li Guangyu
Published: July 2022

Based on the randomized design, a 3 × 3 factorial experiment was designed to examine the effects of dietary calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), and vitamin D3 (VD3) supplemental levels with a fixed 1.5/1 ratio of Ca to P on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and serum biochemical indices blue foxes’ growth. In total, 135 male blue foxes with the age of 60 days were randomly divided into 9 groups each with 15 blue foxes. The blue foxes belonging to the nine treatment groups were fed Ca supplementation (0%, 0.4%, or 0.8%) and VD3 supplementation (1000, 2000, or 4000 IU/kg DM). The base diet contained 0.8% Ca and 327 IU/kg VD3. The dosage of VD3 in blue foxes showed a significant impact on their growth performance (p < 0.05). The Ca dosage had a linear effect on the digestibility of the CP and carbohydrates (CHO) (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the results indicated that the Ca and VD3 doses showed promising effects on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in growing blue foxes and could reduce fecal N and P via improvement in protein and P utilization.
Hematological Parameters from the Feline Blood Donor to the Blood Unit: What Changes Are to Be Expected?
Authors: Vascellari Marta , Carminato Antonio , De Zottis Giovanni , Bisconti Matilde , Gagliazzo Laura , Bozzato Elisa , Bertazzo Valentina , Stefani Annalisa
Published: July 2022

Feline blood donation requires sedation to allow for good blood collection, avoiding venous damage and unnecessary donor stress. In the present study, we describe the variation of hematological parameters in a population of 74 healthy blood-donor cats that underwent the same sedation protocol, including medetomidine, alfaxalone, and butorphanol. Changes in hematological parameters were evaluated in blood samples collected from conscious cats (group A), sedated cats (group B), and feline whole-blood units (FBUs) (group C). Significant differences were observed between unsedated and sedated cats: the mean RBC count, HGB, HCT, and RDW were significantly lower in sedated cats than in conscious ones, with a difference of 17.95%, 18.42%, 28.21%, and 10.00%, respectively. In accordance with previously reported data, our results confirm that sedation is a critical procedure in cats that can affect most of the hematological parameters. The second finding of our study is that no significant differences for the main hematological parameters were observed between sedated cats and FBUs, thus suggesting that the dilution with the conservative–anticoagulant solution exert negligible effects on these parameters with respect to samples of sedated animals. This hematological change must be taken into consideration since such parameters are important to define the quality of FBUs.
Mining Amphibian and Insect Transcriptomes for Antimicrobial Peptide Sequences with rAMPage
Authors: Lin Diana , Sutherland Darcy , Aninta Sambina Islam , Louie Nathan , Nip Ka Ming , Li Chenkai , Yanai Anat , Coombe Lauren , Warren René L. , Helbing Caren C. , Hoang Linda M. N. , Birol Inanc
Published: July 2022

Antibiotic resistance is a global health crisis increasing in prevalence every day. To combat this crisis, alternative antimicrobial therapeutics are urgently needed. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), a family of short defense proteins, are produced naturally by all organisms and hold great potential as effective alternatives to small molecule antibiotics. Here, we present rAMPage, a scalable bioinformatics discovery platform for identifying AMP sequences from RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) datasets. In our study, we demonstrate the utility and scalability of rAMPage, running it on 84 publicly available RNA-seq datasets from 75 amphibian and insect species—species known to have rich AMP repertoires. Across these datasets, we identified 1137 putative AMPs, 1024 of which were deemed novel by a homology search in cataloged AMPs in public databases. We selected 21 peptide sequences from this set for antimicrobial susceptibility testing against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and observed that seven of them have high antimicrobial activity. Our study illustrates how in silico methods such as rAMPage can enable the fast and efficient discovery of novel antimicrobial peptides as an effective first step in the strenuous process of antimicrobial drug development.
Whole-Genome Sequencing of ST2 A. baumannii Causing Bloodstream Infections in COVID-19 Patients
Authors: Cherubini Sabrina , Perilli Mariagrazia , Segatore Bernardetta , Fazii Paolo , Parruti Giustino , Frattari Antonella , Amicosante Gianfranco , Piccirilli Alessandra
Published: July 2022

A total of 43 A. baumannii strains, isolated from 43 patients affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and by bacterial sepsis, were analyzed by antimicrobial susceptibility testing. All strains were resistant to almost three different classes of antibiotics, including carbapenems and colistin. The whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of eight selected A. baumannii isolates showed the presence of different insertion sequences (ISs), such as ISAba13, ISAba26, IS26, ISVsa3, ISEc29, IS6100 and IS17, giving to A. baumannii a high ability to capture and mobilize antibiotic resistance genes. Resistance to carbapenems is mainly mediated by the presence of OXA-23, OXA-66 and OXA-82 oxacillinases belonging to OXA-51-like enzymes. The presence of AmpC cephalosporinase, ADC-25, was identified in all A. baumannii. The pathogenicity of A. baumannii was exacerbated by the presence of several virulence factors. The multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) analysis showed that all strains belong to sequence type 2 (ST) international clone.
Resveratrol Reverts Tolerance and Restores Susceptibility to Chlorhexidine and Benzalkonium in Gram-Negative Bacteria, Gram-Positive Bacteria and Yeasts
Authors: Migliaccio Antonella , Stabile Maria , Bagattini Maria , Triassi Maria , Berisio Rita , De Gregorio Eliana , Zarrilli Raffaele
Published: July 2022

The spread of microorganisms causing health-care associated infection (HAI) is contributed to by their intrinsic tolerance to a variety of biocides, used as antiseptics or disinfectants. The natural monomeric stilbenoid resveratrol (RV) is able to modulate the susceptibility to the chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX) biocide in Acinetobacter baumannii. In this study, a panel of reference strains and clinical isolates of Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positive bacteria and yeasts were analyzed for susceptibility to CHX and benzalkonium chloride (BZK) and found to be tolerant to one or both biocides. The carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazine protonophore (CCCP) efflux pump inhibitor reduced the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of CHX and BZK in the majority of strains. RV reduced dose-dependently MIC and MBC of CHX and BZK biocides when used as single agents or in combination in all analyzed strains, but not CHX MIC and MBC in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Burkholderia spp. strains. In conclusion, RV reverts tolerance and restores susceptibility to CHX and BZK in the majority of microorganisms responsible for HAI. These results indicates that the combination of RV, CHX and BZK may represent a useful strategy to maintain susceptibility to biocides in several nosocomial pathogens.
Food-Grade Quercetin-Loaded Nanoemulsion Ameliorates Effects Associated with Parkinson’s Disease and Cancer: Studies Employing a Transgenic C. elegans Model and Human Cancer Cell Lines
Authors: Das Sabya Sachi , Sarkar Arunabh , Chabattula Siva Chander , Verma Priya Ranjan Prasad , Nazir Aamir , Gupta Piyush Kumar , Ruokolainen Janne , Kesari Kavindra Kumar , Singh Sandeep Kumar
Published: July 2022

A nanosized food-grade quercetin-loaded nanoemulsion (QNE) system comprising capmul MCM NF (oil) and cremophor RH 40 (surfactant) was developed using a high-speed homogenization technique. The developed QNE was studied for its significant neuroprotective (anti-Parkinsonism) and cytotoxicity (anticancer) effects against Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) strains and human cancer cells, respectively. HR-TEM studies revealed that the QNE was spherical with a mean globule size of ~50 nm. Selected area electron diffraction (SAED) studies results demonstrated that QNE was amorphous. In vivo results show that QNE potentially reduced the α-Syn aggregation, increased mitochondrial and fat content, and improved the lifespan in transgenic C. elegans strain NL5901. QNE significantly downregulated the reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in wild-type C. elegans strain N2. In vitro results of the MTT assay show that QNE significantly exhibited chemotherapeutic effects in all treated human cancer cells in an order of cytotoxicity: HeLa cells > A549 cells > MIA PaCa-2 cells, based on the IC50 values at 24 h. Conclusively, the QNE showed improved solubility, targetability, and neuroprotective effects against the PD-induced C. elegans model, and also cytotoxicity against human cancer cells and could be potentially used as an anti-Parkinson’s or anticancer agent.
Characteristics of PM2.5 and PM10 Spatio-Temporal Distribution and Influencing Meteorological Conditions in Beijing
Authors: Xing Qiaofeng , Sun Meiping
Published: July 2022

PM2.5 and PM10 in the atmosphere seriously affect human health and air quality, a situation which has aroused widespread concern. In this paper, we analyze the temporal and spatial distribution of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations from 2016 to 2021 based on real-time monitoring data. In addition, we also explore the influence of meteorological conditions on pollutants. The results show that PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations are similarly distribution in temporal and spatial from 2016 to 2021, and the average concentrations of both show a decreasing trend. The ratio of PM2.5 to PM10 is decreasing, indicating that the proportion of fine particles is declining. PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations are higher in spring and winter, but lower in summer. Spatially, it shows a gradual shift from the characteristic of “high in the south and low in the north” to a uniform homogenization across districts. The spatial distribution of PM2.5 and PM10 mass concentrations is synchronous by applying empirical orthogonal functions (EOF). The first EOF pattern exhibits a consistent characteristic of high in the southeast and low in the northwest. The second pattern EOF reflects the effect of impairing PM2.5 concentrations in the southeast during the winter of 2016–2018. The PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations are significantly negatively correlated with wind speed and precipitation in both spring and winter. On the other hand, from the perspective of the circulation situation, the southeasterly and weak westerly wind in spring produce convergence resulting in higher particulate matter concentrations in the south than in the north in Beijing. The westerly wind is flatter at 700 hPa geopotential height, which is conducive to the formation of stationary weather. The vertical direction of airflow in spring and winter is dominated by convergence and sinking, indicating the weak dispersion ability of the atmosphere. The reason for the accumulation of particulate matter at the surface is investigated, which is beneficial to provide the theoretical basis for air quality management and pollution control in Beijing.
Development of Dust Collectors to Reduce Brake Wear PM Emissions
Authors: Woo Sang-Hee , Lee Gunhee , Han Bangwoo , Lee Seokhwan
Published: July 2022

In this study, two different dust collectors, one based on an inertial separator and the other based on an electrostatic precipitator (ESP), were developed in order to reduce brake wear particulate matter (PM) emissions. Additionally, the collection efficiencies for brake wear particles (BWPs) of the inertial separator and the ESP were evaluated according to brake pad type. In the case of the inertial separator, the BWP collection efficiencies for the low-metallic (LM) and non-asbestos organic (NAO) pads were similar, and the cut-off size at 50% collection efficiency (D50) was 2.2 µm. The ESP was designed without an additional electrostatic charging device because naturally induced electrostatic charging occurred due to the friction between the brake disc and pad. The BWP collection efficiency of the ESP was higher for NAO pad than for LM pad because the BWPs generated from the NAO pad contained a relatively low iron (Fe) component compared to that of the LM pad, thereby generating more frictional electricity. The maximum ESP collection efficiencies of the BWPs generated from the LM and NAO pads were determined to be 60% and 75%, respectively, and the remaining BWPs that were not collected were presumed to be particles that were not frictionally charged.
Visibility Prediction Based on Machine Learning Algorithms
Authors: Zhang Yu , Wang Yangjun , Zhu Yingqian , Yang Lizhi , Ge Lin , Luo Chun
Published: July 2022

In this study, ground observation data were selected from January 2016 to January 2020. First, six machine learning methods were used to predict visibility. We verified the accuracy of the method with and without principal components analysis (PCA) by combining actual examples with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) data and National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NECP) data. The results show that PCA can improve visibility prediction. Neural networks have high accuracy in machine learning algorithms. The initial visibility data plays an important role in the visibility forecast and can effectively improve forecast accuracy.
Canopy Effects on Rainfall Partition and Throughfall Drop Size Distribution in a Tropical Dry Forest
Authors: Brasil José Bandeira , Andrade Eunice Maia de , Araújo de Queiroz Palácio Helba , Fernández-Raga María , Carvalho Ribeiro Filho Jacques , Medeiros Pedro Henrique Augusto , Guerreiro Maria Simas
Published: July 2022

The energy distribution of natural rainfall droplets at different stages of canopy development in low-latitude semi-arid environments is still understudied. We assessed relationships between canopy development, gross rainfall (P) and throughfall (TF) characteristics in a tropical dry forest (TDF) with a total of 95 events of natural rain during December 2019–July 2021, in Northeast Brazil. One disdrometer was installed in an open field to record the gross rainfall and another under the deciduous vegetation canopy to record the throughfall. At the onset of the rainy season with a low leaf density, a larger fraction of rainfall was converted into throughfall, which declines as the leaf density increases. For events higher than 3 mm, the number of TF drops was always higher than that of P and with smaller diameters, regardless of the stage of canopy development, which indicates fragmenting of the rain drops by the vegetation canopy. The insights of this study are useful to quantify the impact of canopy development stages of a TDF on the characteristics of rainfall reaching the soil forest. Since those characteristics affect the water balance and soil erosion at the hillslope scale, the information provided is crucial for water and soil management.
Is the Apparent Correlation between Solar-Geomagnetic Activity and Occurrence of Powerful Earthquakes a Casual Artifact?
Authors: Akhoondzadeh Mehdi , De Santis Angelo
Published: July 2022

So far, many efforts have been made to provide a reliable and robust mechanism for the occurrence of large earthquakes. In recent years, different studies have been conducted on the possible correlation between solar-terrestrial interactions and the occurrence of earthquakes. In this paper, the hypothesis that there is a correlation between solar-geomagnetic activities and powerful earthquakes first is investigated in three case studies, and then it is discussed by studying the variations of indices, including F10.7, Kp, ap, and Dst, before 333 large earthquakes (Mw ≥ 7.0) that occurred between 1 January 2000 and 28 April 2022. As the time series of the solar index follows special cycles, in another scenario, after removing the non-linear variations with fitting a polynomial, the anomalous F10.7 variations above and below the median ± 1.25 × interquartile ranges were considered. Although anomalies in solar and magnetic indices are observed in 33% of earthquakes one day before the occurrence, by analyzing 100 simulated data sets, we find that analogous anomalies can be found. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is no significant correlation between solar and geomagnetic indices and the occurrence of strong earthquakes. These findings could be effective in better defining alternative robust mechanisms for the occurrence of earthquakes that are more of internal origin than external to the Earth system.