bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Classification and neuroimaging of ependymal tumors
Authors: Mu Weiya , Dahmoush Hisham
Published: May 2023

Ependymal tumors arise from the ependymal cell remnants of the cerebral ventricles, the central canal of the spinal cord, or the filum terminale or conus medullaris, although most pediatric supratentorial ependymomas do not exhibit clear communication or abutment of the ventricles. In this article, we discuss the classification, imaging characteristics, and clinical settings of these tumors. The WHO 2021 classification system has categorized ependymal tumors based on histopathologic and molecular features and location, in which they are grouped as supratentorial, posterior fossa (PF), and spinal. The supratentorial tumors are defined by either the ZFTA (formerly RELA) fusion or the YAP1 fusion. Posterior fossa tumors are divided into group A and group B based on methylation. On imaging, supratentorial and infratentorial ependymomas may arise from the ventricles and commonly contain calcifications and cystic components, with variable hemorrhage and heterogeneous enhancement. Spinal ependymomas are defined by MYCN amplification. These tumors are less commonly calcified and may present with the “cap sign,” with T2 hypointensity due to hemosiderin deposition. Myxopapillary ependymoma and subependymoma remain tumor subtypes, with no change related to molecular classification as this does not provide additional clinical utility. Myxopapillary ependymomas are intradural and extramedullary tumors at the filum terminale and/or conus medullaris and may also present the cap sign. Subependymomas are homogeneous when small and may be heterogeneous and contain calcifications when larger. These tumors typically do not demonstrate enhancement. Clinical presentation and prognosis vary depending on tumor location and type. Knowledge of the updated WHO classification of the central nervous system in conjunction with imaging features is critical for accurate diagnosis and treatment.
A novel benzothiazole derivative induces apoptosis via the mitochondrial intrinsic pathway producing antitumor activity in colorectal cancer
Authors: Zhou Jing , Zhao Rongce , Zhou Haoxuan , Yang Shuping , Tao Feiyan , Xie Yongmei , Wang Hongli , Yun Jingping
Published: May 2023

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies causing the third highest mortality rate in the world. It is particularly urgent to explore effective therapeutic strategies to overcome this disease. We identified a novel benzothiazole derivative (BTD) that may serve as a potentially effective agent against CRC.

Method: MTT assays, cell colony formation assays, EdU staining assays, flow cytometry, RNA-seq, Western blotting, and migration and invasion assays were used to examine the effects of BTD on cell proliferation, apoptosis, metastasis, and the cell cycle. The antitumor activity of BTD in vivo was investigated in a CT26 tumor-bearing mouse model. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to examine the protein expression in mouse tumors. Hematology, biochemical analysis, and H&E staining were used to assess the biosafety of BTD.

Results: We observed that BTD suppressed cell proliferation and metastasis and promoted the apoptosis of tumor cells in vitro. Treatment with BTD at a tolerable dose significantly reduced tumor growth in CT26-tumor-bearing mice and appeared to be safe. Treatment of BTD induced apoptosis by increasing the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and evoking the loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential. Overall, BTD suppressed cell proliferation and metastasis, and induced apoptosis of colorectal tumor cells through the ROS–mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathway. The preliminary proof of the antitumor activity and relative safety of BTD were validated in a mouse model.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that BTD could serve as a potentially safe and effective candidate for CRC treatment.
Mechanisms involved in hereditary angioedema with normal C1-inhibitor activity
Authors: Shamanaev Aleksandr , Dickeson S. Kent , Ivanov Ivan , Litvak Maxim , Sun Mao-Fu , Kumar Sunil , Cheng Quifang , Srivastava Priyanka , He Tracey Z. , Gailani David
Published: May 2023

Patients with the inherited disorder hereditary angioedema (HAE) suffer from episodes of soft tissue swelling due to excessive bradykinin production. In most cases, dysregulation of the plasma kallikrein-kinin system due to deficiency of plasma C1 inhibitor is the underlying cause. However, at least 10% of HAE patients have normal plasma C1 inhibitor activity levels, indicating their syndrome is the result of other causes. Two mutations in plasma protease zymogens that appear causative for HAE with normal C1 inhibitor activity have been identified in multiple families. Both appear to alter protease activity in a gain-of-function manner. Lysine or arginine substitutions for threonine 309 in factor XII introduces a new protease cleavage site that results in formation of a truncated factor XII protein (Δ-factor XII) that accelerates kallikrein-kinin system activity. A glutamic acid substitution for lysine 311 in the fibrinolytic protein plasminogen creates a consensus binding site for lysine/arginine side chains. The plasmin form of the variant plasminogen cleaves plasma kininogens to release bradykinin directly, bypassing the kallikrein-kinin system. Here we review work on the mechanisms of action of the FXII-Lys/Arg309 and Plasminogen-Glu311 variants, and discuss the clinical implications of these mechanisms.
Revision total hip arthroplasty using a fluted, tapered, modular stem follow-up method for a mean of three years: A preliminary study
Authors: Xing Shu-Xing , Huang Qiang , Li Zheng-Jiang , Li Yong-Kui , Ban Zhao-Nan
Published: May 2023

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the results and complications related to revision total hip arthroplasty within a short-to-medium follow up period.

Methods: From January 2016 to January 2020, we reviewed 31 prosthetic hip arthroplasty stem revisions using a fluted, tapered modular stem with distal fixation. The median age of the patients was 74.55–79 years. The survival rate was 100%, and there were no re-revisions. The Harris hip score improved from an average of 36.5 ± 7.8 before surgery to 81.8 ± 6.2 at the final follow-up.

Results: The average final follow-up was 36 (24–60) months. During this time, there was no periprosthetic infection, no prosthesis loosening or breakage, and no sciatic nerve injury. Complications included four (12.9%) intraoperative fractures and eight (25.8%) dislocations that had no stem fractures. The postoperative limb was lengthened by 17.8 ± 9.8 mm. In most cases, bone regeneration was an early and important finding. Three cases underwent extended trochanteric osteotomy, and bone healing was achieved by the final follow-up.

Conclusion: The modular tapered stem reviewed in this study was very versatile, could be used in most femoral revision cases, and allowed for rapid bone reconstruction. However, a long-term follow-up study is needed to confirm these results.
Impacts of urban green infrastructure on attentional functioning: insights from an fMRI study
Authors: Jiang Xiangrong , Hu Yifan , Larsen Linda , Chang Chun-Yen , Sullivan William C.
Published: May 2023

Multiple studies using various measures, technologies, and participant groups have found that exposure to urban green infrastructure can help alleviate the daily attentional fatigue that human experience. Although we have made significant progress in understanding the effects of exposure to urban green infrastructure on attention restoration, two important gaps in our knowledge remain. First, we do not fully understand the neural processes underlying attention restoration that exposure to urban green infrastructure elicits. Second, we are largely unaware of how typical patterns of urban green infrastructure, such as combinations of trees and bioswales, affect recovery from attentional fatigue. This knowledge is crucial to guide the design and management of urban landscapes that effectively facilitate attention restoration. To address these gaps in our knowledge, we conducted a controlled experiment in which 43 participants were randomly assigned to one of three video treatment categories: no green infrastructure (No GI), trees, or trees and bioswales. We assessed attentional functioning using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and the Sustained Attention Response Task (SART). Participants exposed to urban settings with trees exhibited improved top-down attentional functioning, as evidenced by both fMRI and SART results. Those exposed to urban settings with trees and bioswales demonstrated some attention-restorative neural activity, but without significant improvements in SART performance. Conversely, participants exposed to videos of urban environments without green infrastructure displayed increased neural vigilance, suggesting a lack of attention restoration, accompanied by reduced SART performance. These consistent findings offer empirical support for the Attention Restoration Theory, highlighting the effectiveness of tree exposure in enhancing attentional functioning. Future research should investigate the potential impact of bioswales on attention restoration.
Explanatory model of the psychosocial variables related to the social acceptance of a uranium mine project in northwest Spain
Authors: Sánchez-Tabernero Gonzalo , Hidalgo-Muñoz Antonio R. , Galán José Ignacio , Tabernero Carmen
Published: May 2023

Introduction

The demographic growth and the development of the welfare system have been accompanied by an important social dilemma between preserving nature or promoting energy development by assuming the benefits and risks of both proposals. This research attempts to address this social dilemma by analyzing the psychosocial factors that influence the acceptance or rejection of a new uranium mining development and exploitation project. The main objective was to test an explanatory theoretical model of uranium mining project acceptance, based on the interrelation of sociodemographic variables (e.g., age, gender, economic and educational situation, and level of knowledge about uranium energy) and cognitive variables (e.g., environmental beliefs, risk, and benefit perceptions), along with the activation of an emotional balance in response to the proposal of constructing a uranium mine.

Method

Three hundred seventy-one individuals responded to the questionnaire about the variables included in the model.

Results

The results showed that older participants showed lower levels of agreement with the mining proposal people, while women and those with greater knowledge of nuclear energy perceived greater risks and had a more negative emotional balance. The proposed explanatory model based on sociodemographic, cognitive, and affective variables showed good fit indices for explaining the assessment of the uranium mine. Thus, age, level of knowledge, risks and benefits, and emotional balance had a direct effect on the acceptance of the mine. Likewise, emotional balance showed a partial mediation effect between the relationships existing between the perception of benefits and risks and the acceptance of the mining proposal.

Discussion

The results are discussed based on the consideration of analyzing sociodemographic, cognitive, and affective variables to understand potential conflicts in communities affected by energy projects.
Predicting coping with expectation violations: combining the ViolEx Model and the Covariation Principle
Authors: Pietzsch Martin Christian , Pinquart Martin
Published: May 2023

An experimental vignette study examined whether three specific situational cues predict ways of coping with violated expectations. The situational cues (consistency, distinctiveness, consensus) were derived from the Covariation Principle. The assessed coping strategies were based on the ViolEx Model—assimilation (activities to fulfill one’s expectation), accommodation (expectation change) and immunization (ignoring the discrepant information). A sample of 124 adults (mean age = 23.60 years; 49.19 percent psychology students) were randomly assigned to an experimental and control condition. Participants of the experimental condition read several vignettes about expectation violations with systematically manipulated situational cues, while participants of the control condition received the same vignettes without such cues. Participants had to rate the usefulness of each coping strategy per vignette. The situational cues mostly led to response shifts in coping tendencies: Situations with low consistency cues mostly led to immunization, whereas high consistency led to assimilation in the case of high distinctiveness and to accommodation in the case of low distinctiveness. Consensus cues only played a minor part in the coping process. The results show that situational characteristics influence people’s coping behavior, regardless of their dispositional preferences for certain coping strategies.
“Attitudes to voices”: a survey exploring the factors influencing clinicians’ intention to assess distressing voices and attitudes towards working with young people who hear voices
Authors: Rammou Aikaterini , Berry Clio , Fowler David , Hayward Mark
Published: May 2023

Introduction

Due to the general psychopathological vulnerability of young people who hear distressing voices, research has stressed the importance for clinicians to assess this experience in youth. Nonetheless, the limited literature on the topic comes from studies with clinicians in adult health services and it primarily reports that clinicians do not feel confident in systematically assessing voice-hearing and doubt the appropriateness of doing so. We applied the Theory of Planned Behavior and identified clinicians’ job attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and perceived subjective norms as putative predictors of their intent to assess voice-hearing in youth.

Method

Nine hundred and ninety-six clinicians from adult mental health services, 467 from Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) and Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) services and 318 primary care clinicians across the UK completed an online survey. The survey gathered data on attitudes toward working with people who hear voices, stigmatizing beliefs, and self-perceived confidence in voice-related practices (screening for, discussing and providing psychoeducation material about voice-hearing). Responses from youth mental health clinicians were compared with professionals working in adult mental health and primary care settings. This study also aimed to identify what youth mental health clinicians believe about assessing distressing voices in adolescents and how beliefs predict assessment intention.

Results

Compared to other clinicians, EIP clinicians reported the most positive job attitudes toward working with young voice-hearers, the highest self-efficacy in voice-hearing practices, and similar levels of stigma. Job attitudes, perceived behavioral control and subjective norms explained a large part of the influences on clinician’s intention to assess voice-hearing across all service groups. In both CAMHS and EIP services, specific beliefs relating to the usefulness of assessing voice-hearing, and perceived social pressure from specialist mental health professionals regarding assessment practices predicted clinician intention.

Discussion

Clinicians’ intention to assess distressing voices in young people was moderately high, with attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control explaining a large part of its variance. Specifically in youth mental health services, promoting a working culture that encourages opening and engaging in discussions about voice-hearing between clinicians, and with young people, and introducing supportive assessment and psychoeducation material about voice-hearing could encourage conversations about voices.
Epistemic planning for multi-robot systems in communication-restricted environments
Authors: Bramblett Lauren , Bezzo Nicola
Published: May 2023

Many real-world robotic applications such as search and rescue, disaster relief, and inspection operations are often set in unstructured environments with a restricted or unreliable communication infrastructure. In such environments, a multi-robot system must either be deployed to i) remain constantly connected, hence sacrificing operational efficiency or ii) allow disconnections considering when and how to regroup. In communication-restricted environments, we insist that the latter approach is desired to achieve a robust and predictable method for cooperative planning. One of the main challenges in achieving this goal is that optimal planning in partially unknown environments without communication requires an intractable sequence of possibilities. To solve this problem, we propose a novel epistemic planning approach for propagating beliefs about the system’s states during communication loss to ensure cooperative operations. Typically used for discrete multi-player games or natural language processing, epistemic planning is a powerful representation of reasoning through events, actions, and belief revisions, given new information. Most robot applications use traditional planning to interact with their immediate environment and only consider knowledge of their own state. By including an epistemic notion in planning, a robot may enact depth-of-reasoning about the system’s state, analyzing its beliefs about each robot in the system. In this method, a set of possible beliefs about other robots in the system are propagated using a Frontier-based planner to accomplish the coverage objective. As disconnections occur, each robot tracks beliefs about the system state and reasons about multiple objectives: i) coverage of the environment, ii) dissemination of new observations, and iii) possible information sharing from other robots. A task allocation optimization algorithm with gossip protocol is used in conjunction with the epistemic planning mechanism to locally optimize all three objectives, considering that in a partially unknown environment, the belief propagation may not be safe or possible to follow and that another robot may be attempting an information relay using the belief state. Results indicate that our framework performs better than the standard solution for communication restrictions and even shows similar performance to simulations with no communication limitations. Extensive experiments provide evidence of the framework’s performance in real-world scenarios.
O przydatności Historii filozofii po góralsku Józefa Tischnera jako
źródła poznania gwary i kultury podhalańskiej
Authors: Andrulonis Krzysztof
Published: May 2023

The aim of this article is to show the extent to which Józef Tischner’s Historia filozofii po góralsku (The History of Philosophy, Highlander Style) is a cognitively attractive source of learning about Podhale’s dialect and culture and the possible threats or difficulties that may be associated with using the work to this end. The author begins his discussions by considering such features of the work under examination as its apocryphal and fairy-tale-like nature and proceeds to showing it on three different planes. From the linguistic perspective, he notes the dialectal features characteristic of the work in terms of phonetics, inflection, syntax, word formation, lexis, and phraseology. In terms of cultural studies, he devotes his attention to the customs and traditions of the Podhale region as well as to the regional cuisine, which found their places in individual stories. In some of the consideraƟ ons focused to a greater extent on philosophy, the author indicates the characteristic features of the highlander worldview, which Tischner captures in his work, and conducts the word-formation and semantic analysis of selected neologisms and
neosemantisms, which were used by the author of the stories to enrich the highlanders’ speech with philosophical terminology
Geografia wybranych określeń związanych ze szkołą – ‘gumka do
mazania’ i ‘temperować’
Authors: Osowski Błażej
Published: May 2023

School equipment has not been a common object of interest for dialectologists and therefore this article focuses on two issues that have not been discussed to date, i.e. names of an item used for removing marks made by a pencil and a verb for sharpening a pencil, crayon, etc. The research material is the data collected by means of an online survey. The geography of the analysed lexemes, their presence in selected lexicographic sources and origin is discussed.
Integrated Security Control for Nonlinear CPS with Actuator Fault and FDI Attack: An Active Attack-Tolerant Approach
Authors: Zhao Li , Li Wei , Li Yajie , Han Nani , Zheng Naiqin
Published: May 2023

This paper investigated the co-design problem of less conservative integrated security control and communication for a nonlinear cyber-physical system (CPS) with an actuator fault and false data injection (FDI) attacks. Firstly, considering the efficient utilisation and allocation of computing and communication resources, an integrated framework was proposed from the perspective of active defence against FDI attacks. Secondly, the actuator fault and FDI attacks were augmented as a vector, and a robust observer was proposed to estimate the system state, actuator fault and FDI attacks. Furthermore, based on the obtained estimation results and the location of the FDI attack in the dual-end network, we designed an integrated security control strategy of active attack tolerance and active fault tolerance and, by constructing Lyapunov–Krasovskii functions and using time-delay system theory and the affine Bessel–Legendre inequality, a less conservative co-design method for integrated security control and network communication resource saving was developed. Finally, a simulation experiment of a quadruple tank was carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Neural Network Sliding Model Control of Radial Translation for Magnetically Suspended Rotor (MSR) in Control Moment Gyro
Authors: Tang Jiqiang , Zhang Min , Cui Xu , Sun Jinji , Zhou Xinxiu
Published: May 2023

For a magnetically suspended control moment gyro (MSCMG), the high-speed rotor is actively suspended by magnetic bearings of 5-DOF, but the nonlinearity of the magnetic suspension force is one of the main reasons for the poor accuracy of radial translation control of the magnetically suspended rotor (MSR). To solve this problem, here, the characteristics of the magnetic suspension force are analyzed, and the nonlinear dynamic model of MSR is established. A sliding mode control (SMC) based on a neural network is presented, and the radial basis function (RBF) neural network is adopted to approximate the nonlinear displacement stiffness and the current displacement stiffness to weaken the chattering in SMC to improve the control accuracy of the MSR. The stability of the neural network SMC for the MSR is analyzed based on Lyapunov functions, and the rules of updating network weights are presented based on adaptive algorithms. Compared with these existing classic control methods, the simulation and experimental tests performed on a single-gimbal MSCMG with an angular momentum of 200 N.m.s indicated that this neural network SMC for MSR’s radial translation can not only make its suspension more stable but can also make its position precision higher.
Observability-Driven Path Planning Design for Securing Three-Dimensional Navigation Performance of LiDAR SLAM
Authors: Kim Donggyun , Lee Byungjin , Sung Sangkyung
Published: May 2023

This paper presents an efficient method for securing navigation performance by suppressing divergence risk of LiDAR SLAM through a newly proposed geometric observability analysis in a three-dimensional point cloud map. For this, observability characteristics are introduced that quantitatively evaluate the quality of the geometric distribution of the features. To be specific, this study adapts a 3D geometric observability matrix and the associated condition number for developing numerical benefit. In an extensive application, we implemented path planning in which the enhanced SLAM performs smoothly based on the proposed method. Finally, to validate the performance of the proposed algorithm, a simulation study was performed using the high-fidelity Gazebo simulator, where the path planning strategy of a drone depending on navigation quality is demonstrated. Additionally, an indoor autonomous vehicle experimental result is presented to support the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Integrated Flight Control System Characterization Approach for Civil High-Speed Vehicles in Conceptual Design
Authors: Ferretto Davide , Gori Oscar , Fusaro Roberta , Viola Nicole
Published: May 2023

Recent studies have revealed that control surface deflection can cause a reduction in the aerodynamic efficiency of a hypersonic aircraft of up to 30%. In fact, the characterization of the Flight Control System is essential for the estimation of the consistent aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle in different phases, considering the contribution of control surfaces to stability and trim. In terms of the sizing process, traditional methodologies have been demonstrated to be no longer applicable to estimations of the actuation power required for the control surfaces of a high-speed aircraft, due to their peculiar working conditions and to the characteristics of the flow to which they are exposed. In turn, numerical simulation approaches based on computational fluid dynamics or panel methods may require considerable time resources, which do not fit with the needs of the quick and reliable estimates that are typical of the early design phases. Therefore, this paper is aimed at describing a methodology to show how to anticipate the Flight Control System design for high-speed vehicles at the conceptual design stage, properly considering the interactions at vehicle level and predicting the behavior of the system throughout an entire mission. It is also a core part of the work to provide designers with an example of how neglecting the effect of trim drag can be detrimental to a reliable estimation of overall aircraft performance. The analysis, mainly focused on the longitudinal plane of the vehicle, is presented step-by-step on a specific case study, namely the STRATOFLY MR3 vehicle, a Mach 8 waverider concept for civil antipodal flights. The application of the methodology, conceived as an initial step towards an iterative Flight Control System design process, also shows that the most power-demanding phases are take-off, low supersonic acceleration, and approach, where peaks of over 130 kW are reached, while an average of 20 kW is sufficient to support deflections in a hypersonic cruise.
Effects of Nitrogen Application in Recovery Period after Different High Temperature Stress on Plant Growth of Greenhouse Tomato at Flowering and Fruiting Stages
Authors: Li Chunying , Yang Zaiqiang , Zhang Chunlong , Luo Jing , Zhang Fengyin , Qiu Rangjian
Published: May 2023

High temperatures have become a severe factor limiting growth and yield for tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) due to unfavorable, above-optimum temperatures. Temperature and nitrogen application were the main regulatory factors in tomato plant cultivation. This research was undertaken to evaluate the effects of nitrogen application and high temperature on tomato morphology, dry matter accumulation and distribution, root vitality and nitrogen content of the above ground. Tomato variety “Jinfen No. 1” was planted and exposed to 4 day/night temperature levels (25 °C/15 °C as control CKT; 30 °C/20 °C, lightly high-temperature LHT; 35 °C/25 °C, moderate high-temperature MHT; 40 °C/30 °C, severe high temperature SHT) for 7 days after five nitrogen supply levels (N1–N5: 0, 1.3, 1.95, 2.6 and 3.75 g/plant, respectively; 2.6 g/plant is the recommended nitrogen-application rate, as control CKTN4). Within conditions, there was an extremely significant difference (p < 0.01) in all tomato plant parameters and an extremely significant interaction (p < 0.01) between high temperatures and nitrogen supply levels, except for plant height sampling on the 1st day in the recovery period. Dry matter accumulation decreased, and the accumulation rate slowed down. Dry matter accumulation under low nitrogen treatment was higher than in high nitrogen treatment. The proportion of dry matter in leaves decreased, the proportion of dry matter in stems increased and the difference in dry matter accumulation and proportion of dry matter between different nitrogen treatments decreased. Under LHT, the root activity of the tomato was increased under all nitrogen levels, while under MHT and SHT, high nitrogen and low nitrogen supply significantly inhibited root activity. Lightly high-temperature stress can increase root activity, and LHTN4 can increase by 5.15% compared with CKTN4. Appropriate nitrogen application can alleviate the damage caused by high-temperature stress on tomato plants and enhance the resistance of tomato plants, while excessive nitrogen application will aggravate the damage degree of tomato plants. In this study, the optimal nitrogen application rates under CKT-SHT treatment were 2.6, 2.6, 1.95 and 1.3 g/plant, respectively.
An Efficient Method for Monitoring Birds Based on Object Detection and Multi-Object Tracking Networks
Authors: Chen Xian , Pu Hongli , He Yihui , Lai Mengzhen , Zhang Daike , Chen Junyang , Pu Haibo
Published: May 2023

To protect birds, it is crucial to identify their species and determine their population across different regions. However, currently, bird monitoring methods mainly rely on manual techniques, such as point counts conducted by researchers and ornithologists in the field. This method can sometimes be inefficient, prone to errors, and have limitations, which may not always be conducive to bird conservation efforts. In this paper, we propose an efficient method for wetland bird monitoring based on object detection and multi-object tracking networks. First, we construct a manually annotated dataset for bird species detection, annotating the entire body and head of each bird separately, comprising 3737 bird images. We also built a new dataset containing 11,139 complete, individual bird images for the multi-object tracking task. Second, we perform comparative experiments using a state-of-the-art batch of object detection networks, and the results demonstrated that the YOLOv7 network, trained with a dataset labeling the entire body of the bird, was the most effective method. To enhance YOLOv7 performance, we added three GAM modules on the head side of the YOLOv7 to minimize information diffusion and amplify global interaction representations and utilized Alpha-IoU loss to achieve more accurate bounding box regression. The experimental results revealed that the improved method offers greater accuracy, with mAP@0.5 improving to 0.951 and mAP@0.5:0.95 improving to 0.815. Then, we send the detection information to DeepSORT for bird tracking and classification counting. Finally, we use the area counting method to count according to the species of birds to obtain information about flock distribution. The method described in this paper effectively addresses the monitoring challenges in bird conservation.
Radio Tracking Reveals the Home Range and Activity Patterns of Nutria (Myocastor coypus) in the Macdo Wetland in South Korea
Authors: Banjade Maniram , Adhikari Pradeep , Hong Sun-Hee , Lee Do-Hun
Published: May 2023

Nutria (Myocastor coypus) are semi-aquatic rodents that were introduced in South Korea for commercial farming but significantly damaged aquatic ecosystems. Understanding nutria ecological behavior is essential for developing effective control and eradication strategies to mitigate their impacts. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the home range and activity patterns of 24 nutria (12 males and 12 females) in the Macdo wetland in South Korea from 2015–2016 through radio tracking. The average minimum convex polygon home range of the nutria was 0.29 ± 0.55 km2, with a 95% kernel density estimation (KDE) home range of 0.43 ± 0.85 km2 and a 50% KDE home range of 0.05 ± 1.1 km2. The home range of males was larger than that of females; however, the winter home range of females was as large as that of males. The home range also varied seasonally, with the smallest observed in winter. The nutria showed crepuscular and nocturnal activity patterns throughout the year, with no significant difference between sexes. The activities in spring, summer, and autumn showed no significant differences, but the activity in winter was significantly different from that in the other seasons. This study may serve as a basis for developing appropriately timed and scaled management strategies to mitigate the impacts of nutria on ecosystems. In conclusion, several environmental and biological factors contribute to the behavior of nutria in South Korea.
Effect of Dietary Guanidinoacetic Acid Levels on the Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Production and the Rumen Fermentation Profile of Alfalfa-Based Diets
Authors: Vazquez-Mendoza Oscar Vicente , Andrade-Yucailla Veronica , Elghandour Mona Mohamed Mohamed Yasseen , Masaquiza-Moposita Diego Armando , Cayetano-De-Jesús Jorge Adalberto , Alvarado-Ramírez Edwin Rafael , Adegbeye Moyosore Joseph , Barros-Rodríguez Marcos , Salem Abdelfattah Zeidan Mohamed
Published: May 2023

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different percentages of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) hay (AH) and doses of guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) in the diet on the mitigation of greenhouse gas production, the in vitro rumen fermentation profile and methane (CH4) conversion efficiency. AH percentages were defined for the diets of beef and dairy cattle, as well as under grazing conditions (10 (AH10), 25 (AH25) and 100% (AH100)), while the GAA doses were 0 (control), 0.0005, 0.0010, 0.0015, 0.0020, 0.0025 and 0.0030 g g−1 DM diet. With an increased dose of GAA, the total gas production (GP) and methane (CH4) increased (p = 0.0439) in the AH10 diet, while in AH25 diet, no effect was observed (p = 0.1311), and in AH100, GP and CH4 levels decreased (p = 0.0113). In addition, the increase in GAA decreased (p = 0.0042) the proportion of CH4 in the AH25 diet, with no influence (p = 0.1050) on CH4 in the AH10 and AH100 diet groups. Carbon monoxide production decreased (p = 0.0227) in the AH100 diet with most GAA doses, and the other diets did not show an effect (p = 0.0617) on carbon monoxide, while the production of hydrogen sulfide decreased (p = 0.0441) in the AH10 and AH100 diets with the addition of GAA, with no effect observed in association with the AH25 diet (p = 0.3162). The pH level increased (p < 0.0001) and dry matter degradation (DMD) decreased (p < 0.0001) when AH was increased from 10 to 25%, while 25 to 100% AH contents had the opposite effect. In addition, with an increased GAA dose, only the pH in the AH100 diet increased (p = 0.0142 and p = 0.0023) the DMD in the AH10 diet group. Similarly, GAA influenced (p = 0.0002) SCFA, ME and CH4 conversion efficiency but only in the AH10 diet group. In this diet group, it was observed that with an increased dose of GAA, SCFA and ME increased (p = 0.0002), while CH4 per unit of OM decreased (p = 0.0002) only with doses of 0.0010, 0.0015 and 0.0020 g, with no effect on CH4 per unit of SCFA and ME (p = 0.1790 and p = 0.1343). In conclusion, the positive effects of GAA depend on the percentage of AH, and diets with 25 and 100% AH showed very little improvement with the addition of GAA, while the diet with 10% AH presented the best results.
Lameness in Pregnant Sows Alters Placental Stress Response
Authors: Parada Sarmiento Marisol , Lanzoni Lydia , Sabei Leandro , Chincarini Matteo , Palme Rupert , Zanella Adroaldo José , Vignola Giorgio
Published: May 2023

Pregnant sows from commercial pig farms may experience painful states, such as lameness, an essential indicator in assessing sow welfare. We investigated the effect of lameness during the last third of pregnancy on reproductive performance and placental glucocorticoid concentrations in sows. Periodic locomotion assessments were carried out on two commercial pig farms using a validated 0–5 scoring system (from 0: normal locomotion; to 5: a downer animal). Sows from both farms (N = 511) were grouped based on their average locomotion scores. On Farm 1, 30 sows were selected and grouped as either Not Lame (NL = 16; X¯ = 0–1) or Lame (L = 14; X¯ > 1). On Farm 2, 39 sows were selected and grouped as either Not Lame (G1 = 12; X¯ = 0–1), Moderately Lame (G2 = 13; X¯ = 1.1–2), or Severely Lame (G3 = 14; X¯ ≥ 2.1). Reproductive data (gestation length, litter weight, average piglet weight, litter size, and the number of piglets born alive/mummified/stillborn) were recorded on both farms. Moreover, on Farm 2, piglet intrauterine growth restriction score and the number of piglets dead during the first week were also recorded, and placenta samples were collected to determine their cortisol/cortisone concentrations. A linear mixed model was used to analyze the data. The proportion of lameness in pregnant sows (N = 511) was >40%, and the gestation length tended to decrease with the presence of lameness (p < 0.1) in both farms. G2 sows had a higher placental cortisol/cortisone ratio than G1 and G3 sows (p < 0.01). In conclusion, lameness was high in the sows assessed, which may decrease sow gestation length and reduce placental efficiency in protecting the offspring from the sows’ stress response.
The Effect of Lameness on Milk Production of Dairy Goats
Authors: Jaques Natasha , Turner Sally-Anne , Vallée Emilie , Heuer Cord , Lopez-Villalobos Nicolas
Published: May 2023

Lameness on dairy goat farms is a welfare concern and could negatively affect milk production. This study’s objective was to evaluate the effects of clinical lameness on the daily milk production of dairy goats. Between July 2019 and June 2020, 11,847 test-day records were collected from 3145 goats on three farms in New Zealand. Locomotion scoring of goats used a five-point scoring system (0 to 4). The dataset was split into two groups by lactation type, where goats were classified as being in seasonal lactation (≤305 days in milk) or extended lactation (>305 days in milk). A linear mixed model was used to analyze datasets using milk characteristics as the dependent variables. Severely lame goats (score 4) in seasonal and extended lactation produced 7.05% and 8.67% less milk than goats not lame, respectively. When the prevalence of severe lameness is between 5 and 20% of the herd, the estimated average daily milk income lost was between NZD 19.5 and 104 per day. This study established the negative impact of lameness on milk production and annual income in dairy goats on three farms.
Selective Bacteriocins: A Promising Treatment for Staphylococcus aureus Skin Infections Reveals Insights into Resistant Mutants, Vancomycin Resistance, and Cell Wall Alterations
Authors: Jaumaux Félix , Petit Kenny , Martin Anandi , Rodriguez-Villalobos Hector , Vermeersch Marjorie , Perez-Morga David , Gabant Philippe
Published: May 2023

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant S. aureus has become a major public health concern, necessitating the discovery of new antimicrobial compounds. Given that the skin microbiome plays a critical role in the host defence against pathogens, the development of therapies that target the interactions between commensal bacteria and pathogens in the skin microbiome offers a promising approach. Here, we report the discovery of two bacteriocins, cerein 7B and cerein B4080, that selectively inhibit S. aureus without affecting S. epidermidis, a commensal bacterium on the skin. Our study revealed that exposure of S. aureus to these bacteriocins resulted in mutations in the walK/R two-component system, leading to a thickening of the cell wall visible by transmission electron microscopy and subsequent decreased sensitivity to vancomycin. Our findings prompt a nuanced discussion of the potential of those bacteriocins for selective targeting of S. aureus on the skin, given the emergence of resistance and co-resistance with vancomycin. The idea put forward implies that by preserving commensal bacteria, selective compounds could limit the emergence of resistance in pathogenic cells by promoting competition with remaining commensal bacteria, ultimately reducing chronical infections and limiting the spread of antibiotic resistance.
Overexpression of Mitochondrial Catalase within Adipose Tissue Does Not Confer Systemic Metabolic Protection against Diet-Induced Obesity
Authors: Croft Amanda J. , Kelly Conagh , Chen Dongqing , Haw Tatt Jhong , Sverdlov Aaron L. , Ngo Doan T. M.
Published: May 2023

Obesity is associated with significant metabolic co-morbidities, such as diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidaemia, as well as a range of cardiovascular diseases, all of which lead to increased hospitalisations, morbidity, and mortality. Adipose tissue dysfunction caused by chronic nutrient stress can result in oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation, hypoxia, and insulin resistance. Thus, we hypothesised that reducing adipose tissue oxidative stress via adipose tissue-targeted overexpression of the antioxidant mitochondrial catalase (mCAT) may improve systemic metabolic function. We crossed mCAT (floxed) and Adipoq-Cre mice to generate mice overexpressing catalase with a mitochondrial targeting sequence predominantly in adipose tissue, designated AdipoQ-mCAT. Under normal diet conditions, the AdipoQ-mCAT transgenic mice demonstrated increased weight gain, adipocyte remodelling, and metabolic dysfunction compared to the wild-type mice. Under obesogenic dietary conditions (16 weeks of high fat/high sucrose feeding), the AdipoQ-mCAT mice did not result in incremental impairment of adipose structure and function but in fact, were protected from further metabolic impairment compared to the obese wild-type mice. While AdipoQ-mCAT overexpression was unable to improve systemic metabolic function per se, our results highlight the critical role of physiological H2O2 signalling in metabolism and adipose tissue function.
Online Home-Based Physical Activity Counteracts Changes of Redox-Status Biomarkers and Fitness Profiles during Treatment Programs in Postsurgery Female Breast Cancer Patients
Authors: Moulton Chantalle , Grazioli Elisa , Antinozzi Cristina , Fantini Cristina , Cerulli Claudia , Murri Arianna , Duranti Guglielmo , Ceci Roberta , Vulpiani Maria Chiara , Pellegrini Patrizia , Nusca Sveva Maria , Cavaliere Francesco , Fabbri Simona , Sgrò Paolo , Di Luigi Luigi , Caporossi Daniela , Parisi Attilio , Dimauro Ivan
Published: May 2023

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed types of cancer in women. Oxidative stress may contribute to cancer etiology through several mechanisms. A large body of evidence indicates that physical activity (PA) has positive effects on different aspects of BC evolution, including mitigation of negative effects induced by medical treatment. With the aim to verify the capacity of PA to counteract negative effects of BC treatment on systemic redox homeostasis in postsurgery female BC patients, we have examined the modulation of circulating levels of oxidative stress and inflammation markers. Moreover, we evaluated the impacts on physical fitness and mental well-being by measuring functional parameters, body mass index, body composition, health-related quality of life (QoL), and fatigue. Our investigation revealed that PA was effective in maintaining plasma levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and tGSH, as well as peripheral blood mononuclear cells’ (PBMCs) mRNA levels of SOD1 and heat-shock protein 27. Moreover, we found a significant decrease in plasma interleukin-6 (≈0.57 ± 0.23-fold change, p < 0.05) and increases in both interleukin-10 (≈1.15 ± 0.35-fold change, p < 0.05) and PBMCs’ mRNA level of SOD2 (≈1.87 ± 0.36-fold change, p < 0.05). Finally, PA improves functional parameters (6 min walking test, ≈+6.50%, p < 0.01; Borg, ≈−58.18%, p < 0.01; sit-and-reach, ≈+250.00%, p < 0.01; scratch right, ≈−24.12%, and left, ≈−18.81%, p < 0.01) and body composition (free fat mass, ≈+2.80%, p < 0.05; fat mass, ≈−6.93%, p < 0.05) as well as the QoL (physical function, ≈+5.78%, p < 0.05) and fatigue (cognitive fatigue, ≈−60%, p < 0.05) parameters. These results suggest that a specific PA program not only is effective in improving functional and anthropometric parameters but may also activate cellular responses through a multitude of actions in postsurgery BC patients undergoing adjuvant therapy. These may include modulation of gene expression and protein activity and impacting several signaling pathways/biological activities involved in tumor-cell growth; metastasis; and inflammation, as well as moderating distress symptoms known to negatively affect QoL.
Analysis of the Mechanical Properties and Study of Influential Factors of Different Materials in Tape Spring
Authors: Yang Yang , Wang Fan , Liu Jieshan
Published: May 2023

This paper analyzes and calculates the mechanical properties of composite tape spring structures during folding and bending and establishes a non-linear control equation for the folding and bending of composite laminate tape spring structures. Accurate expressions for folding and bending displacements are obtained. The influence of the cross-section’s central angle and the composite tape spring’s ply thickness on their mechanical properties are analyzed. Finite element numerical analysis is performed on [−45 45]s laminated composite tape springs, and the correctness of the theoretical derivation is proved by comparing the curvature radius-bending moment curve. Based on previous research, the mechanical properties of different tape spring materials and structures are compared, further studying the lightweight design of space deployment mechanisms. The results show that the steady-state bending moment performance of composite tape springs is excellent, with a 162.1% improvement in steady-state bending moment performance per unit mass compared to traditional metallic tape springs. Additionally, the critical bending moment performance of negative Poisson ratio honeycomb structure tape springs is also excellent, with a 62.3% improvement in steady-state bending moment performance per unit mass compared to traditional metallic tape springs.
A Novel Sampling Method Based on Normal Search Particle Swarm Optimization for Active Learning Reliability Analysis
Authors: Yuan Yi-li , Hu Chang-ming , Li Liang , Xu Jian , Wang Ge
Published: May 2023

In active learning reliability methods, an approximation of limit state function (LSF) with high precision is the key to accurately calculating the failure probability (Pf). However, existing sampling methods cannot guarantee that candidate samples can approach the LSF actively, which lowers the accuracy and stability of the results and causes excess computational effort. In this paper, a novel candidate samples-generating algorithm was proposed, by which a group of evenly distributed candidate points on the predicted LSF of performance function (either the real one or the surrogate model) could be obtained. In the proposed method, determination of LSF is considered as an optimization problem in which the absolute value of performance function was considered as objective function. After this, a normal search particle swarm optimization (NSPSO) was designed to deal with such problems, which consists of a normal search pattern and a multi-strategy framework that ensures the uniform distribution and diversity of the solution that intends to cover the optimal region. Four explicit performance functions and two engineering cases were employed to verify the effectiveness and accuracy of NSPSO sampling method. Four state-of-the-art multi-modal optimization algorithms were used as competitive methods. Analysis results show that the proposed method outperformed all competitive methods and can provide candidate samples that evenly distributed on the LSF.