bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cross-Sectional Study of Self-Concept and Gender in Relation to Physical Activity and Martial Arts in Spanish Adolescents during the COVID-19 Lockdown
Authors: Lindell-Postigo David , Zurita-Ortega Félix , Ortiz-Franco Manuel , González-Valero Gabriel
Published: August 2020

The COVID-19 lockdown has negatively affected individuals’ welfare. However, there has been no research published heretofore about the levels of self-concept (SC) in adolescents, nor how having practised martial arts (MA) or any physical activity (PA) before the lockdown may have influenced the SC in that time. Hence, this study aimed to analyze some demographic, physical, and psychosocial parameters in Spanish adolescents throughout the COVID-19 quarantine through a cross-sectional investigation, establishing correlations among these factors. Methods: The present study had a descriptive, comparative, and cross-sectional design. The sample comprised of 54 (39.7%) male and 82 (60.3%) female Spanish adolescents aged 12–18 (M = 14.49; SD = 1.80). An ad-hoc questionnaire collected sociodemographic data; the self-concept Form 5 (AF5) questionnaire obtained data on SC dimensions. Results: There were some differences among the SC dimensions, with family and academic dimensions having higher values than the physical and emotional ones. Females’ academic SC was higher than that of males (p = 0.019). The practice of PA before the lockdown was positively associated with physical (p < 0.001) and social (p = 0.012) SC, yet there was no significant association between the previous practice of MA and SC (p > 0.050). Conclusions: the findings suggest that the COVID-19 lockdown negatively affected Spanish adolescents by decreasing their total SC and some dimensions of it, although PA may buffer psychological harmfulness in adolescents.
Man-In-The-Middle Attack against Certain Authentication Protocols Revisited: Insights into the Approach and Performances Re-Evaluation
Authors: Knežević Milica , Tomović Siniša , Mihaljević Miodrag J.
Published: August 2020

We address a class of authentication protocols called “HB” ones and the man-in-the-middle (MIM) attack, reported at the ASIACRYPT conference, called OOV-MIM (Ouafi-Overbeck-Vaudenay MIM). Analysis of the considered attack and its systematic experimental evaluation are given. It is shown that the main component of OOV-MIM, the algorithm for measuring the Hamming weight of noise vectors, outputs incorrect results as a consequence of the employed approximation of the probability distributions. The analysis reveals that, practically, the only scenario in which the OOV-MIM attack is effective is the one in which two incorrect estimations produced by the algorithm for measuring the Hamming weight, when coupled, give the correct result. This paper provides additional insights into the OOV-MIM and corrected claims about the performance/complexity showing that the performances of the considered attack have been overestimated, i.e., that the complexity of the attack has been underestimated. Particularly, the analysis points out the reasons for the incorrect claims and to the components of the attack that do not work as expected.
Smart Fuzzy Logic-Based Density and Distribution Adaptive Scheme for Efficient Data Dissemination in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks
Authors: Limouchi Elnaz , Mahgoub Imad
Published: August 2020

In vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs), smart data dissemination is crucial for efficient exchange of traffic and road information. Given the dynamic nature of VANET, the challenge is to design an adaptive multi-hop broadcast scheme that achieves high reachability while efficiently utilizing the bandwidth by reducing the number of redundant transmissions. In this paper, we propose a novel intelligent fuzzy logic based density and distribution adaptive broadcast protocol for VANETs. The proposed protocol estimates the spatial distribution of vehicles in the network employing the Nearest Neighbor Distance method, and uses it to adapt the transmission range to enhance reachability. To reduce packet collisions, the protocol intelligently adapts the contention window size to the network density and spatial distribution. Bloom filter technique is used to reduce the overhead resulting from the inclusion of the neighbor IDs in the header of the broadcast message, which is needed in identifying the set of potential rebroadcasting vehicles. Our simulation results confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in enhancing reachability while efficiently utilizing bandwidth.
Parallelisation of a Cache-Based Stream-Relation Join for a Near-Real-Time Data Warehouse
Authors: Naeem M. Asif , Khan Habib , Aslam Saad , Jamil Noreen
Published: August 2020

Near real-time data warehousing is an important area of research, as business organisations want to analyse their businesses sales with minimal latency. Therefore, sales data generated by data sources need to reflect immediately in the data warehouse. This requires near-real-time transformation of the stream of sales data with a disk-based relation called master data in the staging area. For this purpose, a stream-relation join is required. The main problem in stream-relation joins is the different nature of inputs; stream data is fast and bursty, whereas the disk-based relation is slow due to high disk I/O cost. To resolve this problem, a famous algorithm CACHEJOIN (cache join) was published in the literature. The algorithm has two phases, the disk-probing phase and the stream-probing phase. These two phases execute sequentially; that means stream tuples wait unnecessarily due to the sequential execution of both phases. This limits the algorithm to exploiting CPU resources optimally. In this paper, we address this issue by presenting a robust algorithm called PCSRJ (parallelised cache-based stream relation join). The new algorithm enables the execution of both disk-probing and stream-probing phases of CACHEJOIN in parallel. The algorithm distributes the disk-based relation on two separate nodes and enables parallel execution of CACHEJOIN on each node. The algorithm also implements a strategy of splitting the stream data on each node depending on the relevant part of the relation. We developed a cost model for PCSRJ and validated it empirically. We compared the service rates of both algorithms using a synthetic dataset. Our experiments showed that PCSRJ significantly outperforms CACHEJOIN.
Frequency-Tracking Algorithm Based on SOGI-FLL for Wireless Power Transfer System to Operate ZPA Region
Authors: Kim Do-Hyun , Kim Min-Soo , Kim Hee-Je
Published: August 2020

The wireless power transfer (WPT) system has attracted attention for energy transmission without physical contact. However, a WPT system has low coupling condition because of a big air gap between transmitter and receiver coils. The low coupling condition has a high leakage inductance. To overcome this problem, we design a proposed system for WPT using series-series (S-S) topology of one resonant circuit. To obtain the higher efficiency power conversion of the WPT system, it has to operate the resonant frequency in the zero phase angle (ZPA) point even under mutual coefficient and load variation. Therefore, we propose the resonant frequency tracking algorithm to operate ZPA point based on the second order generalized integrator-frequency locked loop (SOGI-FLL) method. This proposed frequency-tracking algorithm can estimate ZPA point by changing switching frequency. We can reduce the switching loss with this proposed algorithm and improve the low conversion efficiency of the WPT system. The performance of the proposed frequency-tracking algorithm is automatically verified through various coupling coefficients and the load variation.
NVM-Shelf: Secure Hybrid Encryption with Less Flip for Non-Volatile Memory
Authors: Haywood Dadzie Thomas , Lee Jiwon , Kim Jihye , Oh Hyunok
Published: August 2020

The Non-Volatile Memory (NVM), such as PRAM or STT-MRAM, is often adopted as the main memory in portable embedded systems. The non-volatility triggers a security issue against physical attacks, which is a vulnerability caused by memory extraction and snapshots. However, simply encrypting the NVM degrades the performance of the memory (high energy consumption, short lifetime), since typical encryption causes an avalanche effect while most NVMs suffer from the memory-write operation. In this paper, we propose NVM-shelf: Secure Hybrid Encryption with Less Flip (shelf) for Non-Volatile Memory (NVM), which is hybrid encryption to reduce the flip penalty. The main idea is that a stream cipher, such as block cipher CTR mode, is flip-tolerant when the keystream is reused. By modifying the CTR mode in AES block cipher, we let the keystream updated in a short period and reuse the keystream to achieve flip reduction while maintaining security against physical attacks. Since the CTR mode requires additional storage for the nonce, we classify write-intensive cache blocks and apply our CTR mode to the write-intensive blocks and apply the ECB mode for the rest of the blocks. To extend the cache-based NVM-shelf implementation toward SPM-based systems, we also propose an efficient compiler for SA-SPM: Security-Aware Scratch Pad Memory, which ensures the security of main memories in SPM-based embedded systems. Our compiler is the first approach to support full encryption of memory regions (i.e., stack, heap, code, and static variables) in an SPM-based system. By integrating the NVM-shelf framework to the SA-SPM compiler, we obtain the NVM-shelf implementation for both cache-based and SPM-based systems. The cache-based experiment shows that the NVM-shelf achieves encryption flip penalty less than 3%, and the SPM-based experiment shows that the NVM-shelf reduces the flip penalty by 31.8% compared to the whole encryption.
Volatile Composition and Sensory Properties as Quality Attributes of Fresh and Dried Hemp Flowers (Cannabis sativa L.)
Authors: Kwaśnica Andrzej , Pachura Natalia , Masztalerz Klaudia , Figiel Adam , Zimmer Aleksandra , Kupczyński Robert , Wujcikowska Katarzyna , Carbonell-Barrachina Angel A. , Szumny Antoni , Różański Henryk
Published: August 2020

Flowers of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) are widely used in cosmetics, food, and in the pharmaceutical industry. The drying process plays a key role in retention of aroma and also in the quality of products. Seven variants of hemp flower drying, including convection drying (CD), vacuum–microwave drying (VMD), and combined drying consisting of convective pre-drying followed by vacuum–microwave finishing drying (CPD-VMFD) were checked in this study. For each process, we applied the two-term model. Dried material was submitted to color and chromatographical assessments. Analyses of obtained essential oil showed the presence of 93 volatile compounds, predominantly β-myrcene, limonene, and β-(E)-caryophyllene, as well as α-humulene. Application of 240 W during VMD and 50 °C during CD gave the highest retention of aroma compounds, amounting to 85 and 76%, respectively, but with huge color changes. Additionally, sensory analysis proved that drying with a microwave power of 240 W provides a product most similar to fresh material.
Forecasting Social Conflicts in Africa Using an Epidemic Type Aftershock Sequence Model
Authors: van den Hengel Gilian , Franses Philip Hans
Published: August 2020

We propose to view social conflicts in Africa as having similarities with earthquake occurrences and hence to consider the spatial-temporal Epidemic Type Aftershock Sequence (ETAS) model. The parameters of this highly parameterized model are estimated through simulated annealing. We consider data for 2012 to 2016 to calibrate the model for four African regions separately, and we consider the data for 2017 to evaluate the forecasts. These forecasts concern the amount of future large events as well as their locations. Examples of our findings are that the model predicts a cluster of large events in the Central Africa region, which was not expected based on past events, and that in particular for East Africa it apparently holds that small conflicts can trigger a larger number of conflicts.
Observing Planetary and Pre-Planetary Nebulae with the James Webb Space Telescope
Authors: Sahai Raghvendra
Published: August 2020

Most stars in the Universe that leave the main sequence in a Hubble time will end their lives evolving through the Planetary Nebula (PN) evolutionary phase. The heavy mass loss which occurs during the preceding Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase is important across astrophysics, dramatically changing the course of stellar evolution, contributing to the dust content of the interstellar medium, and influencing its chemical composition. The evolution from the AGB phase to the PN phases remains poorly understood, especially the dramatic transformation that occurs in the morphology of the mass-ejecta as AGB stars enter the post-AGB phase and their round circumstellar envelopes evolve into pre-PNe (PPNe) and then to PNe. The majority of PPNe and PNe deviate strongly from spherical symmetry. Strong binary interactions most likely play a fundamental role in influencing this evolutionary phase, but the details of these interactions remain shrouded in mystery. Thus, understanding the formation and evolution of these objects is of wide astrophysical importance. PNe have long been known to emit across a very large span of wavelengths, from the radio to X-rays. Extensive use of space-based observatories at X-ray (Chandra/ XMM-Newton), optical (HST) and mid- to far-infrared (Spitzer, Herschel) wavelengths in recent years has produced significant new advances in our knowledge of these objects. Given the expected advent of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in the near future, we focus on future high-angular-resolution, high-sensitivity observations at near and mid-IR wavelengths with JWST that can help in addressing the major unsolved problems in the study of PNe and their progenitors.
Evaluation of the Ion AmpliSeq SARS-CoV-2 Research Panel by Massive Parallel Sequencing
Authors: Alessandrini Federica , Caucci Sara , Onofri Valerio , Melchionda Filomena , Tagliabracci Adriano , Bagnarelli Patrizia , Di Sante Laura , Turchi Chiara , Menzo Stefano
Published: August 2020

Deep knowledge of the genetic features of SARS-CoV-2 is essential to track the ongoing pandemic through different geographical areas and to design and develop early diagnostic procedures, therapeutic strategies, public health interventions, and vaccines. We describe protocols and first results of the Ion AmpliSeq™ SARS-CoV-2 Research Panel by a massively parallel sequencing (MPS) assay. The panel allows for targeted sequencing by overlapping amplicons, thereby providing specific, accurate, and high throughput analysis. A modified reverse transcription reaction, which consists of the use of a SARS-CoV-2 specific primers pool from the Ion AmpliSeq SARS-CoV-2 Research Panel, was assessed in order to promote viral RNA specific reverse transcription. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Ion AmpliSeq™ SARS-CoV-2 Research Panel in sequencing the entire viral genome in different samples. SARS-CoV-2 sequence data were obtained from ten viral isolates and one nasopharyngeal swab from different patients. The ten isolate samples amplified with 12 PCR cycles displayed high mean depth values compared to those of the two isolates amplified with 20 PCR cycles. High mean depth values were also obtained for the nasopharyngeal swab processed by use of a target-specific reverse transcription. The relative depth of coverage (rDoC) analysis showed that when 12 PCR cycles were used, all target regions were amplified with high sequencing coverage, while in libraries amplified at 20 cycles, a poor uniformity of amplification, with absent or low coverage of many target regions, was observed. Our results show that the Ion AmpliSeq SARS-CoV-2 Research Panel can achieve rapid and high throughput SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequencing from 10 ng of DNA-free viral RNA from isolates and from 1 ng of DNA-free viral RNA from a nasopharyngeal swab using 12 PCR cycles for library amplification. The modified RT-PCR protocol yielded superior results on the nasopharyngeal swab compared to the reverse transcription reaction set up according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Insights into Mobile Genetic Elements of the Biocide-Degrading Bacterium Pseudomonas nitroreducens HBP-1
Authors: Carraro Nicolas , Sentchilo Vladimir , Polák Lenka , Bertelli Claire , van der Meer Jan Roelof
Published: August 2020

The sewage sludge isolate Pseudomonas nitroreducens HBP-1 was the first bacterium known to completely degrade the fungicide 2-hydroxybiphenyl. PacBio and Illumina whole-genome sequencing revealed three circular DNA replicons: a chromosome and two plasmids. Plasmids were shown to code for putative adaptive functions such as heavy metal resistance, but with unclarified ability for self-transfer. About one-tenth of strain HBP-1′s chromosomal genes are likely of recent horizontal influx, being part of genomic islands, prophages and integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs). P. nitroreducens carries two large ICEs with different functional specialization, but with homologous core structures to the well-known ICEclc of Pseudomonas knackmussii B13. The variable regions of ICEPni1 (96 kb) code for, among others, heavy metal resistances and formaldehyde detoxification, whereas those of ICEPni2 (171 kb) encodes complete meta-cleavage pathways for catabolism of 2-hydroxybiphenyl and salicylate, a protocatechuate pathway and peripheral enzymes for 4-hydroxybenzoate, ferulate, vanillin and vanillate transformation. Both ICEs transferred at frequencies of 10−6–10−8 per P. nitroreducens HBP-1 donor into Pseudomonas putida, where they integrated site specifically into tRNAGly-gene targets, as expected. Our study highlights the underlying determinants and mechanisms driving dissemination of adaptive properties allowing bacterial strains to cope with polluted environments.
A Linear Regression and Deep Learning Approach for Detecting Reliable Genetic Alterations in Cancer Using DNA Methylation and Gene Expression Data
Authors: Mallik Saurav , Seth Soumita , Bhadra Tapas , Zhao Zhongming
Published: August 2020

DNA methylation change has been useful for cancer biomarker discovery, classification, and potential treatment development. So far, existing methods use either differentially methylated CpG sites or combined CpG sites, namely differentially methylated regions, that can be mapped to genes. However, such methylation signal mapping has limitations. To address these limitations, in this study, we introduced a combinatorial framework using linear regression, differential expression, deep learning method for accurate biological interpretation of DNA methylation through integrating DNA methylation data and corresponding TCGA gene expression data. We demonstrated it for uterine cervical cancer. First, we pre-filtered outliers from the data set and then determined the predicted gene expression value from the pre-filtered methylation data through linear regression. We identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by Empirical Bayes test using Limma. Then we applied a deep learning method, “nnet” to classify the cervical cancer label of those DEGs to determine all classification metrics including accuracy and area under curve (AUC) through 10-fold cross validation. We applied our approach to uterine cervical cancer DNA methylation dataset (NCBI accession ID: GSE30760, 27,578 features covering 63 tumor and 152 matched normal samples). After linear regression and differential expression analysis, we obtained 6287 DEGs with false discovery rate (FDR) <0.001. After performing deep learning analysis, we obtained average classification accuracy 90.69% (±1.97%) of the uterine cervical cancerous labels. This performance is better than that of other peer methods. We performed in-degree and out-degree hub gene network analysis using Cytoscape. We reported five top in-degree genes (PAIP2, GRWD1, VPS4B, CRADD and LLPH) and five top out-degree genes (MRPL35, FAM177A1, STAT4, ASPSCR1 and FABP7). After that, we performed KEGG pathway and Gene Ontology enrichment analysis of DEGs using tool WebGestalt(WEB-based Gene SeT AnaLysis Toolkit). In summary, our proposed framework that integrated linear regression, differential expression, deep learning provides a robust approach to better interpret DNA methylation analysis and gene expression data in disease study.
Effects of CYP1A2 and ADORA2A Genotypes on the Ergogenic Response to Caffeine in Professional Handball Players
Authors: Muñoz Alejandro , López-Samanes Álvaro , Aguilar-Navarro Millán , Varillas-Delgado David , Rivilla-García Jesús , Moreno-Pérez Víctor , Del Coso Juan
Published: August 2020

Previous investigations have found that several genes may be associated with the interindividual variability to the ergogenic response to caffeine. The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of the genetic variations in CYP1A2 (−163C  > A, rs762551; characterized such as “fast” (AA genotype) and “slow” caffeine metabolizers (C-carriers)) and ADORA2A (1976T  > C; rs5751876; characterized by “high” (TT genotype) or “low” sensitivity to caffeine (C-carriers)) on the ergogenic response to acute caffeine intake in professional handball players. Thirty-one professional handball players (sixteen men and fifteen women; daily caffeine intake = 60 ± 25 mg·d−1) ingested 3 mg·kg−1·body mass (bm) of caffeine or placebo 60 min before undergoing a battery of performance tests consisting of a countermovement jump (CMJ), a sprint test, an agility test, an isometric handgrip test, and several ball throws. Afterwards, the handball players performed a simulated handball match (2 × 20 min) while movements were recorded using inertial units. Saliva samples were analyzed to determine the genotype of each player for the −163C  > A polymorphism in the CYP1A2 gene (rs762551) and for the 1976T  > C polymorphism in the ADORA2A gene (rs5751876). In the CYP1A2, C-allele carriers (54.8%) were compared to AA homozygotes (45.2%). In the ADORA2A, C-allele carriers (80.6%) were compared to TT homozygotes (19.4%). There was only a genotype x treatment interaction for the ball throwing from 7 m (p = 0.037) indicating that the ergogenic effect of caffeine on this test was higher in CYP1A2 AA homozygotes than in C-allele carriers. In the remaining variables, there were no genotype x treatment interactions for CYP1A2 or for ADORA2A. As a whole group, caffeine increased CMJ height, performance in the sprint velocity test, and ball throwing velocity from 9 m (2.8–4.3%, p = 0.001–0.022, effect size = 0.17–0.31). Thus, pre-exercise caffeine supplementation at a dose of 3 mg·kg−1·bm can be considered as an ergogenic strategy to enhance some neuromuscular aspects of handball performance in professional handball players with low daily caffeine consumption. However, the ergogenic response to acute caffeine intake was not modulated by CYP1A2 or ADORA2A genotypes.
Comparative Analysis of Mouse Decidualization Models at the Molecular Level
Authors: Wang Chong , Zhao Miao , Zhang Wen-Qian , Huang Ming-Yu , Zhu Can , He Jia-Peng , Liu Ji-Long
Published: August 2020

The mouse is widely used to study decidualization and there are three well-established mouse models of decidualization, namely natural pregnancy decidualization (NPD), artificial decidualization (AD), and in vitro decidualization (IVD). However, the extent of similarity and difference between these models at the molecular level remains largely unknown. Here, we performed a comparative analysis using the RNA-seq approach. In the NPD model, which is thought to be the golden standard of mouse decidualization, we found a total of 5277 differentially expressed genes, with 3158 genes being up-regulated and 2119 genes being down-regulated. A total of 4294 differentially expressed genes were identified in the AD model: 1127 up-regulated genes and 3167 down-regulated genes. In comparison to NPD, 1977 genes were consistently expressed, whereas only 217 genes were inconsistently expressed, indicating that AD is a reliable model for mouse decidualization. In the IVD model, RNA-seq analysis revealed that 513 genes were up-regulated and 988 genes were down-regulated. Compared to NPD, 310 genes were consistently expressed, whereas 456 genes were inconsistently expressed. Moreover, although the decidualization marker Prl8a2 (prolactin family 8 subfamily a member 2) was up-regulated, the widely-used marker Alpl (alkaline phosphatase liver/bone/kidney) was down-regulated in the IVD model. Therefore, we suggest that the IVD model should be optimized to mimic NPD at the transcriptomic level. Our study contributes to an increase in the knowledge about mouse models of decidualization.
Sedimentation Patterns of Multiple Finnish Lakes Reveal the Main Environmental Stressors and the Role of Peat Extraction in Lake Sedimentation
Authors: Vähäkuopus Tuija , Kauppila Tommi , Mäkinen Jari , Ojala Antti E. K. , Valpola Samu E.
Published: August 2020

Human land-use activities, especially in the peatlands, are under consideration as the mitigation and lowering of CO2 emissions from land-use practices is needed to address climate change. In Finland, approximately one third of the land surface is covered by peatlands, and around 50% of peatlands are ditched for forestry. Another 3% of peatlands are used for agriculture and approximately 1% for peat extraction. The effects of these different land-use practices, including changes in sediment depositional rates and sediment quality, need to be identified. This study analyzed 51 lakes that were subdivided into two groups: (1) a group of impacted lakes in which peat was recently extracted from the catchments and (2) a reference group consisting of lakes where peat had not been extracted from the basin, but in which other land-use activities had occurred. The overall aim of the study was to investigate if peat extraction caused excessive delivery and deposition of dry and organic matter in lakes that are located in their immediate downstream catchment areas. Differences in sediment accumulation were defined by comparing the overall sediment thickness and recent (post 1986) sedimentation levels to identify if there were differences in the sediment chemical composition or rate of organic matter deposition between groups and to identify possible land-use stressors that could explain the possible differences in sediment chemical assemblages or sedimentation rates. The results show moderate (cm scale) sedimentation rates in both impacted and reference lakes after 1986, while sediment chemical assemblages indicated the erosion and input of mineral soils to all of the studied lakes, rather than the input of organic materials. No statistically significant correlations were observed between selected environmental variables and the recent accumulation rates of carbon and dry matter. Moreover, significant changes in the stressors potentially affecting the chemical assemblages of pre- and post-disturbance sediments were not observed.
A Review on the Surgical Management of Intramural Haematoma of the Aorta
Authors: Kho Jason , Petrou Mario
Published: August 2020

Intramural haematoma (IMH) of the aorta is one of the causes of acute aortic syndrome which often requires emergency or urgent life-saving surgery. In this review, we discuss the pathophysiology, epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic imaging, surgery and clinical outcomes associated with IMH.
Characterization of Sodium Channel Mutations in the Dengue Vector Mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus within the Context of Ongoing Wolbachia Releases in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Authors: Ahmad Noor Afizah , Endersby-Harshman Nancy M. , Mohd Mazni Nur Ruqqayah , Mohd Zabari Nur Zatil Aqmar , Amran Siti Nor Syazwani , Ridhuan Ghazali Muhammad Kamarul , Abdul Karim Mohd Arif , Cheong Yoon Ling , Sinkins Steven P. , Ahmad Nazni Wasi , Hoffmann Ary A.
Published: August 2020

Specific sodium channel gene mutations confer target site resistance to pyrethroid insecticides in mosquitoes and other insects. In Aedes mosquito species, multiple mutations that contribute to resistance vary in their importance around the world. Here, we characterize voltage sensitive sodium channel (Vssc) mutations in populations of Aedesaegypti from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and look at their persistence in populations affected by ongoing Wolbachia releases (a dengue control measure). We also describe a Vssc mutation in Aedesalbopictus (F1534L) found for the first time in Malaysia. We show that there are three predominant Vssc haplotypes in Aedesaegypti in this region, which all persist with regular backcrossing, thereby maintaining the original genetic composition of the populations. We identify changes in genotype frequency in closed populations of Ae. aegypti maintained for multiple generations in laboratory culture, suggesting different fitness costs associated with the genotypes, some of which may be associated with the sex of the mosquito. Following population replacement of Ae. aegypti by Wolbachia in the target area, however, we find that the Vssc mutations have persisted at pre-release levels. Mosquitoes in two genotype classes demonstrate a type I pyrethroid resistance advantage over wildtype mosquitoes when exposed to 0.25% permethrin. This resistance advantage is even more pronounced with a type II pyrethroid, deltamethrin (0.03%). The results point to the importance of these mutations in pyrethroid resistance in mosquito populations and the need for regular backcrossing with male mosquitoes from the field to maintain similarity of genetic background and population integrity during Wolbachia releases.
Virus-Induced Asthma Exacerbations: SIRT1 Targeted Approach
Authors: Fukuda Yosuke , Akimoto Kaho , Homma Tetsuya , Baker Jonathan R , Ito Kazuhiro , Barnes Peter J , Sagara Hironori
Published: August 2020

The prevalence of asthma has increased worldwide. Asthma exacerbations triggered by upper respiratory tract viral infections remain a major clinical problem and account for hospital admissions and time lost from work. Virus-induced asthma exacerbations cause airway inflammation, resulting in worsening asthma and deterioration in the patients’ quality of life, which may require systemic corticosteroid therapy. Despite recent advances in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying asthma exacerbations, current therapeutic modalities are inadequate for complete prevention and treatment of these episodes. The pathological role of cellular senescence, especially that involving the silent information regulator 2 homolog sirtuin (SIRT) protein family, has recently been demonstrated in stable and exacerbated chronic respiratory disease states. This review discusses the role of SIRT1 in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma. It also discusses the role of SIRT1 in inflammatory cells that play an important role in virus-induced asthma exacerbations. Recent studies have hypothesized that SIRT1 is one of major contributors to cellular senescence. SIRT1 levels decrease in Th2 and non-Th2-related airway inflammation, indicating the role of SIRT1 in several endotypes and phenotypes of asthma. Moreover, several models have demonstrated relationships between viral infection and SIRT1. Therefore, targeting SIRT1 is a novel strategy that may be effective for treating virus-induced asthma exacerbations in the future.
The Interrelation of Neurological and Psychological Symptoms of COVID-19: Risks and Remedies
Authors: Nami Mohammad , Gadad Bharathi S. , Chong Li , Ghumman Usman , Misra Amogh , Gadad Shrikanth S. , Kumar Dharmendra , Perry George , Abraham Samuel J. K. , Rao K. S.
Published: August 2020

COVID-19 has catastrophically affected the world’s panoramic view of human well-being in terms of healthcare and management. With the increase in the number of cases worldwide, neurological symptoms and psychological illnesses from COVID-19 have increasingly upsurged. Mental health illness and affective disorders, including depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, phobia, and panic disorders, are highly impacted due to social distress. The COVID-19 pandemic not only affected people with pre-existing mental and affective illnesses, but also healthy individuals with anxiety, worrying, and panic symptoms, and fear conditioning. In addditon, the novel coronavirus is known to impact the central nervous system in the brain, resulting in severe and certain long-lasting neurological issues. Owing to the significance of neurological and psychological events, the present perspective has been an attempt to disseminate the impact of COVID-19 on neural injury through inflammation, and its interrelation with psychological symptoms. In this current review, we synthesize the literature to highlight the critical associations between SARS-CoV-2 infection and the nervous system, and mental health illness, and discuss potential mechanisms of neural injury through psycho-neuroimmunity.
Effect of Calcium Chloride Hydrothermal Treatment of Titanium on Protein, Cellular, and Bacterial Adhesion Properties
Authors: Haraguchi Takuya , Ayukawa Yasunori , Shibata Yukie , Takeshita Toru , Atsuta Ikiru , Ogino Yoichiro , Yasunami Noriyuki , Yamashita Yoshihisa , Koyano Kiyoshi
Published: August 2020

Topographical modification of the dental implant surface is one of the main topics for the improvement of the material, however, the roughened surface has some risks for peri-implantitis. A hydrothermal treatment (HT) of titanium with calcium chloride solution was reported to improve osseointegration and soft tissue sealing without changing the surface topography; however, its mechanism is unclear. We herewith investigated the interaction between extracellular matrix (ECM) protein and HT titanium. Furthermore, we also clarified the bacterial interaction. We employed two kinds of HT, HT with water (DW-HT) and HT with calcium chloride solution (Ca-HT). As a result, the adsorptions of both laminin-332 and osteopontin onto the Ca-HT surface were enhanced. In contrast, the adsorption of albumin, which was reported to have no cell adhesion capacity, was not influenced by Ca-HT. Osteoblast adhesion onto Ca-HT was also enhanced. Although Ca-HT was reported to enhance both epithelial cell attachment strength and in vivo peri-implant epithelial bonding, the number of epithelial cell attachment was not increased even after HT. Ca-HT had no impact in the adhesion of Streptococcus gordonii. These results suggest that Ca-HT enhances cell adhesion onto titanium without increasing bacterial adhesion, and the improvement of ECM protein adsorption is supposed to contribute to cell adhesion.
Current Insights in Genetics of Sarcoidosis: Functional and Clinical Impacts
Authors: Calender Alain , Weichhart Thomas , Valeyre Dominique , Pacheco Yves
Published: August 2020

Sarcoidosis is a complex disease that belongs to the vast group of autoinflammatory disorders, but the etiological mechanisms of which are not known. At the crosstalk of environmental, infectious, and genetic factors, sarcoidosis is a multifactorial disease that requires a multidisciplinary approach for which genetic research, in particular, next generation sequencing (NGS) tools, has made it possible to identify new pathways and propose mechanistic hypotheses. Codified treatments for the disease cannot always respond to the most progressive forms and the identification of new genetic and metabolic tracks is a challenge for the future management of the most severe patients. Here, we review the current knowledge regarding the genes identified by both genome wide association studies (GWAS) and whole exome sequencing (WES), as well the connection of these pathways with the current research on sarcoidosis immune-related disorders.
Synergistic Effect of Calcium Carbonate and Biobased Particles for Rubber Reinforcement and Comparison to Silica Reinforced Rubber
Authors: Jong Lei
Published: August 2020

Silica is a standard commercial filler to reduce rolling resistance of tires. The co-filler of nano-size calcium carbonate and bio-based particles also produce reinforced rubber with similar tensile properties and rolling resistance as silica reinforced rubber. A synergistic effect between calcium carbonate and soy protein nanoparticles was observed to produce reinforced rubber with good tensile properties and low rolling resistance. The protein increases the effective crosslink density and moduli of calcium carbonate reinforced rubber. Stearic acid coated calcium carbonate particles have a greater reinforcement effect than the uncoated calcium carbonate particles. Mechanical properties of the composites can be adjusted through the complimentary effect of these two fillers. The composite that contains 60% protein and 40% coated calcium carbonate has mechanical properties comparable to that of the silica reinforced rubber. The temperature and strain dependent dynamic mechanical properties, as well as the stress relaxation behaviors of these rubbers, reveal synergistic effect between the co-fillers. This development demonstrates an economical method to produce useful reinforced rubbers.
Partition of Primary Shear Plane Heat in Orthogonal Metal Cutting
Authors: Langenhorst Lars , Sölter Jens , Kuschel Sven
Published: August 2020

When assessing the effect of metal cutting processes on the resulting surface layer, the heat generated in the chip formation zone that is transferred into the workpiece is of major concern. Models have been developed to estimate temperature distributions in machining processes. However, most of them need information on the heat partition as input for the calculations. Based on analytical and numerical models, it is possible to determine the fraction of shear plane heat transferred into the workpiece for orthogonal cutting conditions. In the present work, these models were utilized to gain information on the significant influencing factors on heat partition, based on orthogonal cutting experiments, experimental results from the literature, and a purely model-based approach. It could be shown that the heat partition does not solely depend on the cutting velocity, the uncut chip thickness, and the thermal diffusivity—combined in the dimensionless thermal number—but the shear angle also has to be taken into account, as already proposed by some researchers. Furthermore, developed numerical models show that a more realistic representation of the process kinematics, e.g., regarding chip flow and temperature-dependent material properties, do not have a relevant impact on the heat partition. Nevertheless, the models still assume an idealized orthogonal cutting process and comparison to experimental-based findings on heat partition indicates a significant influence of the cutting edge radius and the friction on the flank face of the tool.
Analysis of Wind-Induced Vibration of a Spoke-Wise Cable–Membrane Structure
Authors: Huang Hua , Xian Yaoqiang , Zhang Wei , Guo Mengxue , Yang Kun , Xi Kailin
Published: August 2020

Lightweight cable–membrane structures can span large distances and undertake aesthetically pleasing shapes. They are widely used for roofs and modern structural canopies and in the aerospace industry for large on-board antenna reflectors that are to be deployed in space. This paper studies a wind-induced vibration under different cable stress relaxation conditions based on the wind load time-history to obtain the dynamic behavior of such a structure. Particularly, the focus is put upon its wind resistance in the event of stress relaxation. This research can provide an important reference for the design of wind resistance, damage assessment, and emergency maintenance for the spoke-wise cable–membrane structure (SCMS).
Spatially Explicit Reconstruction of Anthropogenic Grassland Cover Change in China from 1700 to 2000
Authors: Yang Fan , He Fanneng , Li Shicheng
Published: August 2020

Long-term anthropogenic land use and land cover changes (LULCCs) are regarded as an important component of past global change. The past 300 years have witnessed dramatic changes in LULCC in China, and this has resulted in the large-scale conversion of natural vegetation to agricultural landscapes. Studies of past LULCC in China have mainly focused on cropland and forest; however, estimates of grassland cover remain rare due to the scarcity of grassland-related historical documents. Based on a qualitative analysis of trends in grassland cover in China and their driving forces, we devised different reconstruction methods for grassland cover in eastern and western China and then developed a 10 km database of grassland cover in China for the past 300 years. The grassland area in western China decreased from 295.54 × 106 ha in 1700 to 269.78 × 106 ha in 2000 due to the increase in population and cropland, especially in northeastern China (Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning), Gan-Ning, and Xinjiang. In eastern China, grassland is degraded secondary vegetation characterized by shrub grassland and meadow grassland, which is scattered in the hills and mountains; its area increased from 7.30 × 106 ha in 1700 to 16.43 × 106 ha in 1950 due to the increase in the degraded land caused by deforestation.
A Deep Neural Networks Approach for Augmenting Samples of Land Cover Classification
Authors: Zhao Chuanpeng , Huang Yaohuan
Published: August 2020

Land cover is one of key indicators for modeling ecological, environmental, and climatic processes, which changes frequently due to natural factors and anthropogenic activities. The changes demand various samples for updating land cover maps, although in reality the number of samples is always insufficient. Sample augment methods can fill this gap, but these methods still face difficulties, especially for high-resolution remote sensing data. The difficulties include the following: (1) excessive human involvement, which is mostly caused by human interpretation, even by active learning-based methods; (2) large variations of segmented land cover objects, which affects the generalization to unseen areas especially for proposed methods that are validated in small study areas. To solve these problems, we proposed a sample augment method incorporating the deep neural networks using a Gaofen-2 image. To avoid error accumulation, the neural network-based sample augment (NNSA) framework employs non-iterative procedure, and augments from 184 image objects with labels to 75,112 samples. The overall accuracy (OA) of NNSA is 20% higher than that of label propagation (LP) in reference to expert interpreted results; the LP has an OA of 61.16%. The accuracy decreases by approximately 10% in the coastal validation area, which has different characteristics from the inland samples. We also compared the iterative and non-iterative strategies without external information added. The results of the validation area containing original samples show that non-iterative methods have a higher OA and a lower sample imbalance. The NNSA method that augments sample size with higher accuracy can benefit the update of land cover information.
5,5′-Oxybis(1,3,7-trihydroxy-9H-xanthen-9-one): A New Xanthone from the Stem Bark of Garcinia porrecta (Clusiaceae)
Authors: Safitri Ayu N. , Nurlelasari  , Mayanti Tri , Darwati  , Supratman Unang
Published: August 2020

A new polyoxygenated dimer-type xanthone, namely 5,5′-oxybis(1,3,7-trihydroxy-9H-xanthen-9-one (1), has been isolated from the stem bark of Garcinia porrecta. The structure of 1 was determined based on spectroscopic data, including 1D and 2D-NMR as well as high resolution mass spectroscopy analysis.
Edge Balanced 3-Uniform Hypergraph Designs
Authors: Bonacini Paola , Gionfriddo Mario , Marino Lucia
Published: August 2020

In this paper, we completely determine the spectrum of edge balanced H-designs, where H is a 3-uniform hypergraph with 2 or 3 edges, such that H has strong chromatic number χs(H)=3.
Nonlinear Position Control Using Only Position Feedback under Position Errors and Yaw Constraints for Air Bearing Planar Motors
Authors: Kim Wonhee , Shin Donghoon , Lee Youngwoo
Published: August 2020

In this paper, we propose a nonlinear position control using only position feedback to guarantee the tolerances for position tracking errors and yaw. In the proposed method, both mechanical and electrical dynamics are considered. The proposed method consists of the nonlinear position controller and nonlinear observer. The nonlinear position controller is designed by a backstepping procedure using the barrier Lyapunov function to satisfy the constraints of position error and yaw. The nonlinear observer is developed to estimate full state using only position feedback. The stability of the closed-loop system is proven using Lyapunov and input-to-state stabilities. Consequently, the proposed method satisfies the constraints of position error and yaw using only position feedback for the planar motor.
Almost Hermitian Identities
Authors: Cirici Joana , Wilson Scott O.
Published: August 2020

We study the local commutation relation between the Lefschetz operator and the exterior differential on an almost complex manifold with a compatible metric. The identity that we obtain generalizes the backbone of the local Kähler identities to the setting of almost Hermitian manifolds, allowing for new global results for such manifolds.
UHPLC-HRMS and GC-MS Screening of a Selection of Synthetic Cannabinoids and Metabolites in Urine of Consumers
Authors: Pellegrini Manuela , Marchei Emilia , Papaseit Esther , Farré Magí , Zaami Simona
Published: August 2020

Background and Objectives: The use of synthetic cannabinoids has increased around the world. As a result, the implementation of accurate analysis in human biological matrices is relevant and fundamental. Two different analytical technologies, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS) and high-sensitivity gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used for the determination of three synthetic cannabinoids JWH-122, JWH 210, UR-144 and their metabolites in urine of consumers. Materials and Methods: Sample preparation included an initial hydrolysis with β-glucuronidase and liquid-liquid extraction. The UHPLC-HRMS method included a Kinetex 2.6 u Biphenyl 100A (100 × 2.1 mm, 2.6 μm) (Phenomenex, Italy) column with a gradient mobile phase consisting of mobile phase A (ammonium formate 2mM in water, 0.1% formic acid) and mobile phase B (ammonium formate 2mM in methanol/acetonitrile 50:50 (v/v), 0.1% formic acid) and a full-scan data-dependent MS2 (ddMS2) mode was used (mass range 100–1000 m/z). The GC-MS method employed an ultra-Inert Intuvo GC column (HP-5MS UI, 30 m × 250 µm i.d, film thickness 0.25 µm; Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) and electron-impact (EI) mass spectra were recorded in total ion monitoring mode (scan range 40–550 m/z). Results: Both methods have been successfully used for screening of parent synthetic cannabinoids and their metabolites in urine samples of consumers. Conclusions: The screening method applied JWH-122, JWH-210, UR-144 and their metabolites in urine of consumers can be applied to other compounds of the JWH family.