bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characteristics of Sedimentary Organic Matter and Phosphorus in Minor Rivers Discharging into Zhejiang Coast, China
Authors: Loh Pei Sun , Cheng Long-Xiu , Lin Shi-Yuan , Kandasamy Selvaraj
Published: September 2020

In this study, the spatial distribution of lignin-derived phenols, bulk elemental composition and different phosphorus (P) species in surface sediments along six rivers discharging into Zhejiang coast, Southeast China, were investigated to improve the understanding of the carbon and P dynamics in these small river systems. The Shuang, Jiao, Ximen, Feiyun and Ao Rivers have total organic carbon (TOC) ranging from 0.29% to 2.77% and Λ (total lignin in mg/100 mg TOC) ranging from 0.24 to 4.24; Qiantang River has the lowest Λ (0.08–0.19) but the highest TOC (1.05%–6.46%). Jiao, Ximen, Feiyun and Ao Rivers have mean the total P (TP) and bioavailable P (BAP) of 34 to 124 mg/kg and 29 to 89 mg P/kg, and mean OC/OP molar ratio of 397–917. Qiantang River has the lowest mean TP and BAP of 13 mg P/kg and 7 mg P/kg, and highest OC/OP of 18,753; whereas Shuang River has the highest mean TP and BAP of 645 mg P/kg and 559 mg P/kg, and lowest mean OC/OP of 90. The lowest Λ, TP and BAP, but highest OC/OP, in the Qiantang River could be due to tidal bore causing rapid cycling of carbon and P. Trends of slight decrease in abundance of OC, Λ, TP and BAP, but increasing ratios of vanillic acid to vanillin [(Ad/Al)v], syringic acid to syringaldehyde [(Ad/Al)s] and OC/OP farther downstream of the rivers indicate a continuous decomposition of organic matter during transport along the rivers.
Structure Reversal of Online Public Opinion for the Heterogeneous Health Concerns under NIMBY Conflict Environmental Mass Events in China
Authors: Hou Jundong , Yu Tongyang , Xiao Renbin
Published: September 2020

Public opinions play an important role in the formation of Not in My Back Yard (NIMBY) conflict environmental mass events. Due to the continual interactions between affected groups and the corresponding government responses surrounding the public interests related to health, online public opinion structure reversal arises frequently in NIMBY conflict events, which pose a serious threat to social public security. To explore the underlying mechanism, this paper introduces an improved dynamic model which considers multiple heterogeneities in health concerns and social power of individuals and in government’s ability. The experimental results indicate that the proposed model can provide an accurate description of the entire process of online public opinion structure reversal in NIMBY conflict environmental mass incidents on the Internet. In particular, the proportion of the individual agents without health interest appeals will delay the online public opinion structure reversal, and the upper threshold remains within regulatory limits from 0.4 to 0.5. Unlike some previous results that show that the guiding powers of the opinion leaders varied over its ratio in a fixed-sized group, our results suggest that the impact of opinion leaders is of no significant difference for the time of structure reversal after it increased to about 6%. Furthermore, a double threshold effect of online structure reversal during the government’s response process was observed. The findings are beneficial for understanding and explaining the process of online public opinion structure reversal in NIMBY conflict environmental mass incidents, and provides theoretical and practical implications for guiding public or personal health opinions on the Internet and for a governments’ effective response to them.
Modeling Diurnal Changes in Land Surface Temperature in Urban Areas under Cloudy Conditions
Authors: Hofierka Jaroslav , Bogľarský Jozef , Kolečanský Štefan , Enderova Anastasia
Published: September 2020

Land surface temperature (LST) in urban areas is a dynamic phenomenon affected by various factors such as solar irradiance, cloudiness, wind or urban morphology. The problem complexity requires a comprehensive geographic information system (GIS)-based approach. Our solution is based on solar radiation tools, a high-resolution digital surface model of urban areas, spatially distributed data representing thermal properties of urban surfaces and meteorological conditions. The methodology is implemented in GRASS GIS using shell scripts. In these shell scripts, the r.sun solar radiation model was used to calculate the effective solar irradiance for selected time horizons during the day. The calculation accounts for attenuation of beam solar irradiance by clouds estimated by field measurements. The suggested algorithm accounts for heat storage in urban structures depending on their thermal properties and geometric configuration. Computed land surface temperature was validated using field measurements of LST in 10 locations within the study area. The study confirmed the applicability of our approach with an acceptable accuracy expressed by the root mean square error of 3.45 K. The proposed approach has the advantage of providing high spatial detail coupled with the flexibility of GIS to evaluate various geometrical and land surface properties for any daytime horizon.
Investigating Ganglion Cell Complex Thickness in Children with Chronic Heart Failure due to Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Authors: Rakusiewicz Klaudia , Kanigowska Krystyna , Hautz Wojciech , Ziółkowska Lidia
Published: September 2020

Purpose: To assess ganglion cell complex (GCC) thickness in children with chronic heart failure (CHF) due to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods: Sixty eyes of 30 patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) due to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and 60 eyes of 30 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers (control group) were enrolled. The mean age of the patients and controls was 9.9 ± 3.57 (range 5–17) years and 10.08 ± 3.41 (range 4–16) years, respectively. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmic assessment and OCT imaging using RTVue XR Avanti (Optovue). The following OCT-based parameters were analysed: average ganglion cell complex thickness (avgGCC), superior ganglion cell complex thickness (supGCC), inferior ganglion cell complex thickness (infGCC), global loss of volume (GLV) and focal loss of volume (FLV). Results: There were no significant differences in avgGCC (98.13 μm vs. 99.96 μm, p = 0.21), supGCC (97.17 μm vs. 99.29 μm, p = 0.13), infGCC (99.03 μm vs. 100.71 μm, p = 0.25), FVL (0.49% vs. 0.4%, p = 0.25) and GVL (2.1% vs. 1.3%, p = 0.09) between patients with chronic heart failure due to dilated cardiomyopathy and healthy children. There was no correlation between avgGCC, supGCC, infGCC, FLV, GLV and ocular biometry, refractive errors or age. There was no correlation between avgGCC, supGCC, infGCC, FLV, GLV and NT-proBNP or LVEF. There were no significant differences in the studied parameters between the sexes. There were no significant differences in the studied parameters between the left and right eye. Conclusion: Our study seems to be the first to analyse ganglion cell complex in paediatric patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. We have demonstrated no changes in the ganglion cell complex thickness parameters in children with chronic heart failure due dilated cardiomyopathy, as compared to their healthy peers.
Amyloid Beta Peptide (Aβ1-42) Reverses the Cholinergic Control of Monocytic IL-1β Release
Authors: Richter Katrin , Ogiemwonyi-Schaefer Raymond , Wilker Sigrid , Chaveiro Anna I. , Agné Alisa , Hecker Matthias , Reichert Martin , Amati Anca-Laura , Schlüter Klaus-Dieter , Manzini Ivan , Schmalzing Günther , McIntosh J. Michael , Padberg Winfried , Grau Veronika , Hecker Andreas
Published: September 2020

Amyloid-β peptide (Aβ1-42), the cleavage product of the evolutionary highly conserved amyloid precursor protein, presumably plays a pathogenic role in Alzheimer’s disease. Aβ1-42 can induce the secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokine intereukin-1β (IL-1β) in immune cells within and out of the nervous system. Known interaction partners of Aβ1-42 are α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). The physiological functions of Aβ1-42 are, however, not fully understood. Recently, we identified a cholinergic mechanism that controls monocytic release of IL-1β by canonical and non-canonical agonists of nAChRs containing subunits α7, α9, and/or α10. Here, we tested the hypothesis that Aβ1-42 modulates this inhibitory cholinergic mechanism. Lipopolysaccharide-primed monocytic U937 cells and human mononuclear leukocytes were stimulated with the P2X7 receptor agonist 2′(3′)-O-(4-benzoylbenzoyl)adenosine-5′-triphosphate triethylammonium salt (BzATP) in the presence or absence of nAChR agonists and Aβ1-42. IL-1β concentrations were measured in the supernatant. Aβ1-42 dose-dependently (IC50 = 2.54 µM) reversed the inhibitory effect of canonical and non-canonical nicotinic agonists on BzATP-mediated IL-1β-release by monocytic cells, whereas reverse Aβ42-1 was ineffective. In conclusion, we discovered a novel pro-inflammatory Aβ1-42 function that enables monocytic IL-1β release in the presence of nAChR agonists. These findings provide evidence for a novel physiological function of Aβ1-42 in the context of sterile systemic inflammation.
Aorto-Iliac Artery Calcification Prior to Kidney Transplantation
Authors: Benjamens Stan , Rijkse Elsaline , te Velde-Keyzer Charlotte A. , Berger Stefan P. , Moers Cyril , de Borst Martin H. , Yakar Derya , Slart Riemer H. J. A. , Dor Frank J. M. F. , Minnee Robert C. , Pol Robert A.
Published: September 2020

As vascular calcification is common in kidney transplant candidates, aorto-iliac vessel imaging is performed for surgical planning. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a novel non-contrast enhanced computed tomography-based quantification technique for aorto-iliac calcification can be used for cardiovascular risk stratification prior to kidney transplantation. In this dual-center cohort study, we measured the aorto-iliac calcium score (CaScore) of 547 patients within three years prior to transplantation (2005–2018). During a median (interquartile range) follow-up of 3.1 (1.4, 5.2) years after transplantation, 80 (14.7%) patients died, of which 32 (40.0%) died due to cardiovascular causes, and 84 (15.5%) patients had a cardiovascular event. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed significant differences between the CaScore tertiles for cumulative overall-survival (Log-rank test p < 0.0001), cardiovascular survival (p < 0.0001), and cardiovascular event-free survival (p < 0.001). In multivariable Cox regression, the aorto-iliac CaScore was associated with all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 1.53, 95%CI 1.14–2.06, p = 0.005), cardiovascular mortality (2.04, 1.20–3.45, p = 0.008), and cardiovascular events (1.35, 1.01–1.80, p = 0.042). These independent associations of the aorto-iliac CaScore with the outcome measures can improve the identification of patients at risk for (cardiovascular) death and those who could potentially benefit from stringent cardiovascular monitoring to improve their prognosis after transplantation.
The Colour of the Night Sky
Authors: Kolláth Zoltán , Száz Dénes , Tong Kai Pong , Kolláth Kornél
Published: September 2020

The measurement of night sky quality has become an important task in night sky conservation. Modern measurement techniques involve mainly a calibrated digital camera or a spectroradiometer. However, panchromatic devices are still prevalent to this day, even in the absence of determining the spectral information of the night sky. In the case of multispectral measurements, colour information is currently presented in multiple ways. One of the most frequently used metrics is correlated colour temperature (CCT), which is not without its limitation for the purpose of describing especially the colour of natural night sky. Moreover, visually displaying the colour of the night sky in a quantitatively meaningful way has not attracted sufficient attention in the community of astronomy and light pollution research—most photographs of the night sky are post-processed in a way for aesthetic attractiveness rather than accurate representation of the night sky. The spectrum of the natural night sky varies in a wide range depending on solar activity and atmospheric properties. The most noticeable variation in the visible range is the variation of the atomic emission lines, primarily the green oxygen and orange sodium emission. Based on the accepted models of night sky emission, we created a random spectral database which represents the possible range of night sky radiance distribution. We used this spectral database as a learning set, to create a colour transformation between different colour spaces. The spectral sensitivity of some digital cameras is also used to determine an optimal transformation matrix from camera defined coordinates to real colours. The theoretical predictions were extended with actual spectral measurements in order to test the models and check the local constituents of night sky radiance. Here, we present an extended modelling of night sky colour and recommendations of its consistent measurement, as well as methods of visualising the colour of night sky in a consistent way, namely using the false colour enhancement.
Pattern Recognition in Multivariate Time Series: Towards an Automated Event Detection Method for Smart Manufacturing Systems
Authors: Kapp Vadim , May Marvin Carl , Lanza Gisela , Wuest Thorsten
Published: September 2020

This paper presents a framework to utilize multivariate time series data to automatically identify reoccurring events, e.g., resembling failure patterns in real-world manufacturing data by combining selected data mining techniques. The use case revolves around the auxiliary polymer manufacturing process of drying and feeding plastic granulate to extrusion or injection molding machines. The overall framework presented in this paper includes a comparison of two different approaches towards the identification of unique patterns in the real-world industrial data set. The first approach uses a subsequent heuristic segmentation and clustering approach, the second branch features a collaborative method with a built-in time dependency structure at its core (TICC). Both alternatives have been facilitated by a standard principle component analysis PCA (feature fusion) and a hyperparameter optimization (TPE) approach. The performance of the corresponding approaches was evaluated through established and commonly accepted metrics in the field of (unsupervised) machine learning. The results suggest the existence of several common failure sources (patterns) for the machine. Insights such as these automatically detected events can be harnessed to develop an advanced monitoring method to predict upcoming failures, ultimately reducing unplanned machine downtime in the future.
Numerical Modelling and Experimental Testing of the Hydrodynamic Characteristics for an Open-Frame Remotely Operated Vehicle
Authors: Li Qian , Cao Yu , Li Boyang , Ingram David M. , Kiprakis Aristides
Published: September 2020

The remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are important to provide the technology support for both the traditional offshore structures and rapidly-growing renewable energy facilities during their full-lifecycles, such as site survey, installation, inspection, maintenance and repair. Regarding the motion and performance of a ROV, the understanding of its hydrodynamic properties is essential when exposing to the disturbances of wave and current. In this study, a numerical model is proposed within the frame of an open-source platform OpenFOAM. The hydrodynamics of the adopted ROV (BlueRov2) in its four principal degrees of freedoms (DOFs) is numerically simulated by a Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver. Meanwhile, an experimental test is carried out by using a novel technique on measuring the hydrodynamic forces and moments. To validate the numerical prediction methodologies, a set of systematic simulations of the ROV subjected to the disturbances caused by various flow conditions are performed. Comparing to the model test measurement, the numerical model proved to be reliable in offering a good estimation of the hydrodynamic parameters. This also indicates that the presented numerical methodologies and experimental techniques can be applied to other types of open-frame ROVs in quantifying the hydrodynamic parameters, capturing the physics of the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) and feature of the turbulent vorticity which are all essential for the effective control of the ROVs under the nonlinear flow disturbances.
Hydrodynamic Measurements of Propagating Waves at Different Nearshore Depths in Hujeong Beach, Korea
Authors: Do Jong Dae , Chang Yeon S. , Jin Jae-Youll , Jeong Weon Mu , Lee Byunggil , Ha Ho Kyung
Published: September 2020

This paper reports the results of hydrodynamic measurements at two different water depths to observe wave properties in the course of wave propagation, especially during storm periods, in Hujeong Beach, Korea. In addition to hydrodynamic measurements, video monitoring data and satellite images from Sentinel-II were employed to compare the temporal changes in shoreline positions and shallow water bathymetry during the storms. Through combination of a variety of observational data sets, the accuracy of analysis could be enhanced by preventing possible misinterpretation. Two significant storms were observed from two experiments conducted at different times and locations of the beach. The hydrodynamic conditions were similar in both of the periods in terms of wave and current conditions as well as wave nonlinearity such as skewness. However, the response of shoreline during the two storms was the opposite because it was eroded during the first storm but advanced during the second storm. This suggests that other controlling factors such as storm duration need to be investigated to support the analysis of cross-shore sediment transport and consequent shoreline evolution for future studies.
Abandonment and Recultivation of Agricultural Lands in Slovakia—Patterns and Determinants from the Past to the Future
Authors: Pazúr Robert , Lieskovský Juraj , Bürgi Matthias , Müller Daniel , Lieskovský Tibor , Zhang Zhen , Prishchepov Alexander
Published: September 2020

Central and Eastern Europe has experienced fundamental land use changes since the collapse of socialism around 1990. We analyzed the patterns and determinants of agricultural land abandonment and recultivation in Slovakia during the transition from a state-controlled economy to an open-market economy (1986 to 2000) and the subsequent accession to the European Union (2000 to 2010). We quantified agricultural land-use change based on available maps derived from 30-m multi-seasonal Landsat imagery and analyzed the socioeconomic and biophysical determinants of the observed agricultural land-use changes using boosted regression trees. We used a scenario-based approach to assess future agricultural land abandonment and recultivation until 2060. The maps of agricultural land use analysis reveal that cropland abandonment was the dominant land use process on 11% of agricultural land from 1986 to 2000, and on 6% of the agricultural land from 2000 to 2010. Recultivation occurred on approximately 2% of agricultural land in both periods. Although most abandoned land was located in the plains, the rate of abandonment was twice as high in the mountainous landscapes. The likelihood of abandonment increased with increased distance from the national capital (Bratislava), decreased with an increase of annual mean temperatures and was higher in proximity to forest edges and on steeper slopes. Recultivation was largely determined by the opposite effects. The scenario for 2060 suggests that future agricultural land abandonment and recultivation may largely be determined by climate and terrain conditions and, to a lesser extent, by proximity to economic centers. Our study underscores the value of synergetic use of satellite data and land-use modeling to provide the input for land planning, and to anticipate the potential effects of changing environmental and policy conditions.
A Usage-Based Perspective on Spanish Variable Clitic Placement
Authors: Requena Pablo E.
Published: September 2020

This study provides a usage-based analysis of Spanish Variable Clitic Placement (VCP). A variationist analysis of VCP in spoken Argentine Spanish indicates that VCP grammar is constrained by lexical (finite verb) and semantic (animacy) factors. Considering the finite effect, the study focuses on usage-based accounts for the gradience attested across finite verb constructions. Grammaticalized meaning and increased frequency tend to account for VCP in general. However, one [tener que + infinitive] construction is found exceptional in that it favors enclisis despite its grammaticalized meaning of obligation and its high frequency of use. Data from a larger corpus indicate that the [tener que + infinitive] construction lacks unithood, signaling great analyzability of its component elements. Through an exemplar analysis, the [haber que ‘must’ + infinitive] construction that categorically takes enclisis and which is strongly linked to [tenerque + infinitive] diachronically, semantically, and structurally emerges as a likely analogical model for VCP with tener que, pushing tener que towards enclisis. This study not only illustrates how usage-based linguistics can capture VCP more generally, but also how this framework provides powerful tools to discover the constraints on VCP in naturalistic use in order to account for individual construction behavior.
Tolerance Modelling of Vibrations and Stability for Periodic Slender Visco-Elastic Beams on a Foundation with Damping. Revisiting
Authors: Jędrysiak Jarosław
Published: September 2020

The mathematical modelling of certain problems of vibrations and stability for periodic slender visco-elastic beams is presented in this note. To consider these problems and take into account the effect of the microstructure, the tolerance modelling approach is proposed. Using this technique, the equation with non-continuous, periodic, highly oscillating coefficients is replaced by a system of differential equations with constant coefficients. Moreover, these governing equations describe the effect of the microstructure on the overall behavior of the beams under consideration. The tolerance modelling can lead to equations of two different tolerance models—the standard and the general, under weakened assumptions. This averaging tolerance method was assessed by comparison with the asymptotic homogenization, the governing equations of which omit this effect. My considerations were limited to proposing and presenting only mathematical models describing investigated beams. In a simple analytical example, the application of the presented average models is shown.
Semi-Supervised Adversarial Variational Autoencoder
Authors: Zemouri Ryad
Published: September 2020

We present a method to improve the reconstruction and generation performance of a variational autoencoder (VAE) by injecting an adversarial learning. Instead of comparing the reconstructed with the original data to calculate the reconstruction loss, we use a consistency principle for deep features. The main contributions are threefold. Firstly, our approach perfectly combines the two models, i.e., GAN and VAE, and thus improves the generation and reconstruction performance of the VAE. Secondly, the VAE training is done in two steps, which allows to dissociate the constraints used for the construction of the latent space on the one hand, and those used for the training of the decoder. By using this two-step learning process, our method can be more widely used in applications other than image processing. While training the encoder, the label information is integrated to better structure the latent space in a supervised way. The third contribution is to use the trained encoder for the consistency principle for deep features extracted from the hidden layers. We present experimental results to show that our method gives better performance than the original VAE. The results demonstrate that the adversarial constraints allow the decoder to generate images that are more authentic and realistic than the conventional VAE.
On the Optimal Control of a Malware Propagation Model
Authors: Hernández Guillén Jose Diamantino , Martín del Rey Ángel , Casado Vara Roberto
Published: September 2020

An important way considered to control malware epidemic processes is to take into account security measures that are associated to the systems of ordinary differential equations that governs the dynamics of such systems. We can observe two types of control measures: the analysis of the basic reproductive number and the study of control measure functions. The first one is taken at the beginning of the epidemic process and, therefore, we can consider this to be a prevention measure. The second one is taken during the epidemic process. In this work, we use the theory of optimal control that is associated to systems of ordinary equations in order to find a new function to control malware epidemic through time. Specifically, this approach is evaluate on a particular compartmental malware model that considers carrier devices.
Electricity Cost Optimization in Energy Storage Systems by Combining a Genetic Algorithm with Dynamic Programming
Authors: Lee Seung-Ju , Yoon Yourim
Published: September 2020

Recently, energy storage systems (ESSs) are becoming more important as renewable and microgrid technologies advance. ESSs can act as a buffer between generation and load and enable commercial and industrial end users to reduce their electricity expenses by controlling the charge/discharge amount. In this paper, to derive efficient charge/discharge schedules of ESSs based on time-of-use pricing with renewable energy, a combination of genetic algorithm and dynamic programming is proposed. The performance of the combined method is improved by adjusting the size of the base units of dynamic programming. We show the effectiveness of the proposed method by simulating experiments with load and generation profiles of various commercial electricity consumers.
Association between Metabolites and the Risk of Lung Cancer: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies
Authors: Lee Kian Boon , Ang Lina , Yau Wai-Ping , Seow Wei Jie
Published: September 2020

Globally, lung cancer is the most prevalent cancer type. However, screening and early detection is challenging. Previous studies have identified metabolites as promising lung cancer biomarkers. This systematic literature review and meta-analysis aimed to identify metabolites associated with lung cancer risk in observational studies. The literature search was performed in PubMed and EMBASE databases, up to 31 December 2019, for observational studies on the association between metabolites and lung cancer risk. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic and Cochran’s Q test. Meta-analyses were performed using either a fixed-effects or random-effects model, depending on study heterogeneity. Fifty-three studies with 297 metabolites were included. Most identified metabolites (252 metabolites) were reported in individual studies. Meta-analyses were conducted on 45 metabolites. Five metabolites (cotinine, creatinine riboside, N-acetylneuraminic acid, proline and r-1,t-2,3,c-4-tetrahydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrophenanthrene) and five metabolite groups (total 3-hydroxycotinine, total cotinine, total nicotine, total 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (sum of concentrations of the metabolite and its glucuronides), and total nicotine equivalent (sum of total 3-hydroxycotinine, total cotinine and total nicotine)) were associated with higher lung cancer risk, while three others (folate, methionine and tryptophan) were associated with lower lung cancer risk. Significant heterogeneity was detected across most studies. These significant metabolites should be further evaluated as potential biomarkers for lung cancer.
Akkermansia muciniphila is Negatively Correlated with Hemoglobin A1c in Refractory Diabetes
Authors: Shih Ching-Tang , Yeh Yao-Tsung , Lin Ching-Chiang , Yang Lin-Yu , Chiang Chih-Po
Published: September 2020

Patients with refractory diabetes are defined as type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients; they cannot achieve optimal glycemic control and exhibit persistent elevations of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) ≥8% while on appropriate therapy. Hyperglycemia can lead to severe microvascular/macrovascular complications. However, in contrast to T2D, few studies have focused specifically on the gut microbiota in refractory diabetes. To examine this issue, we recruited 79 subjects with T2D and refractory diabetes (RT2D), and all subjects received standard therapy with Metformin or other hypoglycemic agents with or without insulin for at least one year. The α-diversity displayed no significant difference, whereas the β-diversity showed a marginal significance (p = 0.054) between T2D and RT2D. The evaluation of taxonomic indices revealed reductions in both Akkermansia muciniphila and Fusobacterium and a corresponding enrichment of Bacteroides vulgatus, Veillonella denticariosi among those with RT2D. These microbial markers distinguished RT2D from T2D with an acceptable degree of discrimination (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.719, p < 0.01) and were involved in several glucose-related functional pathways. Furthermore, the relative abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila was negatively correlated with HbA1c. Our combined results reveal unique features of the gut microbiota in RT2D and suggest that the evaluation of the gut microbiota could provide insights into the mechanisms underlying glycemic control and the impact of therapeutic modalities in patients with RT2D.
Development and Validation of an In-House Library for Filamentous Fungi Identification by MALDI-TOF MS in a Clinical Laboratory in Medellin (Colombia)
Authors: Gómez-Velásquez Juan C. , Loaiza-Díaz Natalia , Norela Hernández Gilma , Lima Nelson , Mesa-Arango Ana C.
Published: September 2020

Identification of filamentous fungi by conventional phenotypic methods are time-consuming, and a correct identification at the species level is prone to errors. Therefore, a more accurate and faster time-to-results, and cost-effective technique, is required, such as the Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). In this study, we describe the development of an in-house spectra library for the identification of filamentous fungi frequently isolated from patients with infections. An in-house spectra library was constructed using 14 reference strains grown in solid medium. Clinical isolates were identified either by the in-house spectra library or the Biotyper commercial library from Bruker Daltonics. Fungal identification was carried following the Biotyper’s established scores: ≤1.699: not reliably identified (NRI); 1.700–1.999: genus-level; ≥2.000: species-level. Clinical isolates were identified, with the in-house library, at species- and genus-level at 88.70% (55) and 3.22% (2), respectively. While 4.80% (3) was NRI and 3.22% (2) was discrepant concerning sequencing. On the contrary, identification up to species and genus-level with the commercial library was 44.44% (16) and 22.22% (8), respectively. NRI and the discrepancy was 30.55% (11) and 2.77% (1), respectively. For the reaming 26 isolates, 16 from Neoscytalidium dimidiatum and 10 from Sporothrix spp., respectively, the absence of spectrum and the specific spectra within the Sporothrix complex in the commercial library resulted in the inability to obtain an identification. In conclusion, the current results advocate the importance that each clinical microbiological laboratory needs to develop an ad hoc library associated with the MALDI-TOF MS fungal identification to overcome the limitations of the available commercial libraries.
Recent Advances in Applied Microbiology: Editorial
Authors: Estevinho Letícia M. , Combarros-Fuertes Patrícia , Paula Vanessa Branco
Published: September 2020

The importance of microbiology has grown exponentially since the development of genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics, making it possible to clarify microbial biogeochemical processes and their interactions with macroorganisms in both health and disease. Particular attention is being payed to applied microbiology, a discipline that deals with the application of microorganisms to specific endeavors, whose economic value is expected to exceed USD 675.2 billion by 2024. In the Special Issue “Recent Advances in Applied Microbiology”, twenty-four papers were published (four reviews and twenty original research papers), covering a wide range of subjects within applied microbiology, including: microbial pathogenesis, the health-promoting properties of microorganisms and their by-products, food conservation, the production of alcoholic beverages, bioremediation and the application of microbiology to several industrial processes.
Antiviral Strategies against Arthritogenic Alphaviruses
Authors: Abdelnabi Rana , Delang Leen
Published: September 2020

Alphaviruses are members of the Togaviridae family that are mainly transmitted by arthropods such as mosquitoes. In the last decades, several alphaviruses have re-emerged, causing outbreaks worldwide. One example is the re-emergence of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in 2004, which caused massive epidemics in the Indian Ocean region after which the virus dramatically spread to the Americas in late 2013. Besides CHIKV, other alphaviruses, such as the Ross River virus (RRV), Mayaro virus (MAYV), and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), have emerged and have become a serious public health concern in recent years. Infections with the Old World alphaviruses (e.g., CHIKV, RRV) are primarily associated with polyarthritis and myalgia that can persist for months to years. On the other hand, New World alphaviruses such as VEEV cause mainly neurological disease. Despite the worldwide (re-)emergence of these viruses, there are no antivirals or vaccines available for the treatment or prevention of infections with alphaviruses. It is therefore of utmost importance to develop antiviral strategies against these viruses. We here provided an overview of the reported antiviral strategies against arthritogenic alphaviruses. In addition, we highlighted the future perspectives for the development and the proper use of such antivirals.
Integrated qPCR and Staining Methods for Detection and Quantification of Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei in Shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei
Authors: Wang Lijun , Lv Qing , He Yantong , Gu Ruocheng , Zhou Bingqian , Chen Jie , Fan Xiaodong , Pan Guoqing , Long Mengxian , Zhou Zeyang
Published: September 2020

Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) is an obligate, intracellular, spore-forming parasite, which mainly infects the gastrointestinal tract of shrimp. It significantly hinders the growth of shrimp, which causes substantial economic losses in farming. In this study, we established and optimized a SYBR Green I fluorescent quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay based on the polar tube protein 2 (PTP2) gene for the quantitative analysis of EHP-infected shrimp. The result showed that the optimum annealing temperature was 60 °C for the corresponding relation between the amplification quantitative (Cq) and the logarithmic of the initial template quantity (x), conformed to Cq = −3.2751x + 31.269 with a correlation coefficient R2 = 0.993. The amplification efficiency was 102%. This qPCR method also showed high sensitivity, specificity, and repeatability. Moreover, a microscopy method was developed to observe and count EHP spores in hepatopancreas tissue of EHP-infected shrimp using Fluorescent Brightener 28 staining. By comparing the PTP2-qPCR and microscopy method, the microscopic examination was easier to operate whereas PTP2-qPCR was more sensitive for analysis. And we found that there was a correspondence between the results of these two methods. In summary, the PTP2-qPCR method integrated microscopy could serve for EHP detection during the whole period of shrimp farming and satisfy different requirements for detecting EHP in shrimp farming.
Genetic Improvement of Torulaspora delbrueckii for Wine Fermentation: Eliminating Recessive Growth-Retarding Alleles and Obtaining New Mutants Resistant to SO2, Ethanol, and High CO2 Pressure
Authors: Velázquez Rocío , Martínez Alberto , Zamora Emiliano , Álvarez María L. , Bautista-Gallego Joaquín , Hernández Luis M. , Ramírez Manuel
Published: September 2020

The use of Torulaspora delbrueckii has been repeatedly proposed to improve a wine’s organoleptic quality. This yeast has lower efficiency in completing wine fermentation than Saccharomyces cerevisiae since it has less fermentation capability and greater sensitivity to SO2, ethanol, and CO2 pressure. Therefore, the completion of fermentation is not guaranteed when must or wine is single-inoculated with T. delbrueckii. To solve this problem, new strains of T. delbrueckii with enhanced resistance to winemaking conditions were obtained. A genetic study of four wine T. delbrueckii strains was carried out. Spore clones free of possible recessive growth-retarding alleles were obtained from these yeasts. These spore clones were used to successively isolate mutants resistant to SO2, then those resistant to ethanol, and finally those resistant to high CO2 pressure. Most of these mutants showed better capability for base wine fermentation than the parental strain, and some of them approached the fermentation capability of S. cerevisiae. The genetic stability of the new mutants was good enough to be used in industrial-level production in commercial wineries. Moreover, their ability to ferment sparkling wine could be further improved by the continuous addition of oxygen in the culture adaptation stage prior to base wine inoculation.
Structure and Stability of Iron Fluoride at High Pressure–Temperature and Implication for a New Reservoir of Fluorine in the Deep Earth
Authors: Lin Yanhao , Hu Qingyang , Zhu Li , Meng Yue
Published: September 2020

Fluorine (F) is the most abundant halogen in the bulk silicate Earth. F plays an important role in geochemical and biological systems, but its abundance and distribution in the terrestrial mantle are still unclear. Recent studies suggested that F reservoirs in the deep mantle are potentially hosted in terrestrial oxide minerals, especially in aluminous bridgmanite. However, the knowledge about the formation and stability field of fluoride in the Earth’s interior is rare. In this study, we combine in situ laser-heated diamond anvil cell, synchrotron X-ray diffraction, and first-principles structure search to show that a new tetragonal structure of FeF3 is stable at pressures of 78–130 GPa and temperatures up to ~1900 K. Simulation predicted the tetragonal phase takes a much denser structure due to the rotation of FeF6 octahedral units. The equations of states of tetragonal FeF3 are determined by experiment and verified by simulation. Our results indicate that FeF3 can be a potential key phase for storing F in the Earth’s lower mantle and may explain some mantle-derived magma with high F concentration.
Evaluation of Two Major Rhodiola Species and the Systemic Changing Characteristics of Metabolites of Rhodiola crenulata in Different Altitudes by Chemical Methods Combined with UPLC-QqQ-MS-Based Metabolomics
Authors: Dong Xueda , Guo Yiwen , Xiong Chuan , Sun Liwei
Published: September 2020

Rhodiola species have a long history of use in traditional medicine in Asian and European countries and have been considered to possess resistance to the challenges presented by extreme altitudes. However, the influence of different Rhodiola species on quality is unclear, as well as the influence of altitude on phytochemicals. In this study, the phenolic components and antioxidant abilities of two major Rhodiola species are compared, namely Rhodiolacrenulata and Rhodiola rosea, and the metabolomes of Rhodiolacrenulata from two representative elevations of 2907 and 5116 m are analyzed using a UPLC-QqQ-MS-based metabolomics approach. The results show that the phenolic components and antioxidant activities of Rhodiolacrenulata are higher than those of Rhodiola rosea, and that these effects in the two species are positively correlated with elevation. Here, 408 metabolites are identified, of which 178 differential metabolites (128 upregulated versus 50 downregulated) and 19 biomarkers are determined in Rhodiola crenulata. Further analysis of these differential metabolites showed a significant upregulation of flavonoids, featuring glucosides, the enhancement of the phenylpropanoid pathway, and the downregulation of hydrolyzed tannins in Rhodiola crenulata as elevation increased. Besides, the amino acids of differential metabolites were all upregulated as the altitude increased. Our results contribute to further exploring the Rhodiola species and providing new insights into the Rhodiola crenulata phytochemical response to elevation.
Synthesis, Anti-proliferative Activity, and Molecular Docking Study of New Series of 1,3-5-Triazine Schiff Base Derivatives
Authors: Al Rasheed Hessa H. , Malebari Azizah M. , Dahlous Kholood A. , Fayne Darren , El-Faham Ayman
Published: September 2020

Based on the use of s-triazine as a scaffold, we report here a new series of s-triazine Schiff base derivatives and their anti-proliferative activity against two cancer cell lines: human breast carcinoma (MCF-7), and colon cancer (HCT-116) compared with tamoxifen as a reference compound. Several derivatives exhibited growth inhibition activity in the sub-micromolar range. The results reveal that the s-triazine Schiff base derivatives showed varied activities and that the substituents on the s-triazine core have a great effect on the anti-proliferative activity. Compounds with a piperidino and benzylamino substituent on the s-triazine moiety 4b and 4c were most effective in both cell lines compared to the reference compound used. In addition, compound 4b has a para chlorine atom on the benzylidine residue, demonstrating the most potent activity with IC50 values of 3.29 and 3.64 µM in MCF-7 and HCT-116, respectively. These results indicate that in general, the nature of the substituents on the triazine core and the type of substituent on the benzilyldene ring significantly influenced the anti-proliferative activity. The results obtained from the anti-proliferative activity and the molecular docking study indicate that s-triazine-hydrazone derivatives may be an excellent scaffold for the development of new anti-cancer agents.
A Brief Overview of Dietary Zeaxanthin Occurrence and Bioaccessibility
Authors: Tudor Cristina , Pintea Adela
Published: September 2020

As it exhibits no provitamin A activity, the dietary intake of zeaxanthin is not considered essential. However, its contribution to ocular health has long been acknowledged. Numerous publications emphasize the importance of zeaxanthin alongside lutein in ocular diseases such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration which constitute an important health concern, especially among the elderly. Considering that the average dietary ratio of lutein to zeaxanthin favors the first, more bioaccessible food sources of zeaxanthin that can hinder the development and progression of the above-mentioned disorders are of great interest. In this paper, a brief overview of the more recent state of knowledge as regards dietary sources together with their respective zeaxanthin bioaccessibility assessed through a standardized in vitro digestion method was provided.
Antibacterial Activity of Bacterial Cellulose Loaded with Bacitracin and Amoxicillin: In Vitro Studies
Authors: Lemnaru (Popa) Georgiana-Mădălina , Truşcă Roxana Doina , Ilie Cornelia-Ioana , Țiplea Roxana Elena , Ficai Denisa , Oprea Ovidiu , Stoica-Guzun Anicuța , Ficai Anton , Dițu Lia-Mara
Published: September 2020

The use of bacterial cellulose (BC) in skin wound treatment is very attractive due to its unique characteristics. These dressings’ wet environment is an important feature that ensures efficient healing. In order to enhance the antimicrobial performances, bacterial-cellulose dressings were loaded with amoxicillin and bacitracin as antibacterial agents. Infrared characterization and thermal analysis confirmed bacterial-cellulose binding to the drug. Hydration capacity showed good hydrophilicity, an efficient dressing’s property. The results confirmed the drugs’ presence in the bacterial-cellulose dressing’s structure as well as the antimicrobial efficiency against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The antimicrobial assessments were evaluated by contacting these dressings with the above-mentioned bacterial strains and evaluating the growth inhibition of these microorganisms.
Structure and Physical Properties of Cardamonin: A Spectroscopic and Computational Approach
Authors: Budziak Iwona , Arczewska Marta , Kamiński Daniel M.
Published: September 2020

This is the first study of the crystal structure of cardamonin (CA) confirmed using single-crystal XRD analysis. In the crystal lattice of CA, two symmetry independent molecules are linked by hydrogen bonds within the layers and by the π···π stacking interactions in the columns which lead to the occurrence of two types of conformations among the CA molecules in the crystal structure. To better understand the stability of these arrangements in both crystals and the gaseous phase, seven different CA dimers were theoretically calculated. The molecular structures were optimized using density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6–311G+(d,p) level and the spectroscopic results were compared. It was found that the calculated configurations of dimer I and III were almost identical to the ones found in the CA crystal lattice. The calculated UV-Vis spectra for the CA monomer and dimer I were perfectly consistent with the experimental spectroscopic data. Furthermore, enhanced emissions induced by aggregated CA molecules were registered in the aqueous solution with the increase of water fractions. The obtained results will help to further understand the relation between a variety of conformations and the biological properties of CA, and the results are also promising in terms of the applicability of CA as a bioimaging probe to monitor biological processes.
High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry-Based Approaches for the Detection and Quantification of Peptidase Activity in Plasma
Authors: Maffioli Elisa , Jiang Zhenze , Nonnis Simona , Negri Armando , Romeo Valentina , Lietz Christopher B. , Hook Vivian , Ristagno Giuseppe , Baselli Giuseppe , Kistler Erik B. , Aletti Federico , O’Donoghue Anthony J. , Tedeschi Gabriella
Published: September 2020

Proteomic technologies have identified 234 peptidases in plasma but little quantitative information about the proteolytic activity has been uncovered. In this study, the substrate profile of plasma proteases was evaluated using two nano-LC-ESI-MS/MS methods. Multiplex substrate profiling by mass spectrometry (MSP-MS) quantifies plasma protease activity in vitro using a global and unbiased library of synthetic peptide reporter substrates, and shotgun peptidomics quantifies protein degradation products that have been generated in vivo by proteases. The two approaches gave complementary results since they both highlight key peptidase activities in plasma including amino- and carboxypeptidases with different substrate specificity profiles. These assays provide a significant advantage over traditional approaches, such as fluorogenic peptide reporter substrates, because they can detect active plasma proteases in a global and unbiased manner, in comparison to detecting select proteases using specific reporter substrates. We discovered that plasma proteins are cleaved by endoproteases and these peptide products are subsequently degraded by amino- and carboxypeptidases. The exopeptidases are more active and stable in plasma and therefore were found to be the most active proteases in the in vitro assay. The protocols presented here set the groundwork for studies to evaluate changes in plasma proteolytic activity in shock.