bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Can Sustained Deficit Irrigation Save Water and Meet the Quality Characteristics of Mango?
Authors: Lipan Leontina , Carbonell-Pedro Aarón A. , Cárceles Rodríguez Belén , Durán-Zuazo Víctor Hugo , Franco Tarifa Dionisio , García-Tejero Iván Francisco , Gálvez Ruiz Baltasar , Cuadros Tavira Simón , Muelas Raquel , Sendra Esther , Carbonell-Barrachina Ángel A. , Hernández Francisca
Published: May 2021

Mango is one of the most cultivated tropical fruits worldwide and one of few drought-tolerant plants. Thus, in this study the effect of a sustained deficit irrigation (SDI) strategy on mango yield and quality was assessed with the aim of reducing irrigation water in mango crop. A randomized block design with four treatments was developed: (i) full irrigation (FI), assuring the crop’s water needs, and three levels of SDI receiving 75%, 50%, and 33% of irrigation water (SDI75, SDI50, and SDI33). Yield, morphology, color, titratable acidity (TA), total soluble solids (TSS), organic acids (OA), sugars, minerals, fiber, antioxidant activity (AA), and total phenolic content (TPC) were analyzed. The yield was reduced in SDI conditions (8%, 11%, and 20% for SDI75, SDI50, and SDI33, respectively), but the irrigation water productivity was higher in all SDI regimes. SDI significantly reduced the mango size, with SDI33 generating the smallest mangoes. Peel color significantly changed after 13 days of ripening, with SDI75 being the least ripe. The TA, AA, and citric acid were higher in SDI75, while the TPC and fiber increased in all SDI levels. Consequently, SDI reduced the mango size but increased the functionality of samples, without a severe detrimental effect on the yield.
Intercropping—Evaluating the Advantages to Broadacre Systems
Authors: Khanal Uttam , Stott Kerry J. , Armstrong Roger , Nuttall James G. , Henry Frank , Christy Brendan P. , Mitchell Meredith , Riffkin Penny A. , Wallace Ashley J. , McCaskill Malcolm , Thayalakumaran Thabo , O’Leary Garry J.
Published: May 2021

Intercropping is considered by its advocates to be a sustainable, environmentally sound, and economically advantageous cropping system. Intercropping systems are complex, with non-uniform competition between the component species within the cropping cycle, typically leading to unequal relative yields making evaluation difficult. This paper is a review of the main existing metrics used in the scientific literature to assess intercropping systems. Their strengths and limitations are discussed. Robust metrics for characterising intercropping systems are proposed. A major limitation is that current metrics assume the same management level between intercropping and monocropping systems and do not consider differences in costs of production. Another drawback is that they assume the component crops in the mixture are of equal value. Moreover, in employing metrics, many studies have considered direct and private costs and benefits only, ignoring indirect and social costs and benefits of intercropping systems per se. Furthermore, production risk and growers’ risk preferences were often overlooked. In evaluating intercropping advantage using data from field trials, four metrics are recommended that collectively take into account all important differences in private costs and benefits between intercropping and monocropping systems, specifically the Land Equivalent Ratio, Yield Ratio, Value Ratio and Net Gross Margin.
Effects of Adding Pre-Fermented Fluid Prepared from Red Clover or Lucerne on Fermentation Quality and In Vitro Digestibility of Red Clover and Lucerne Silages
Authors: Sun Lin , Jiang Yun , Ling Qinyin , Na Na , Xu Haiwen , Vyas Diwakar , Adesogan Adegbola Tolulope , Xue Yanlin
Published: May 2021

This study examined the effects of chopping or chopping + blender maceration of red clover or lucerne on pre-fermented juice (PFJ) and determined the effects of PFJs on the quality of red clover silage or lucerne silage. The PFJs from chopping red clover (PFJ-RC) or lucerne (PFJ-LC) had a higher lactic acid bacteria (LAB) count than that from chopping + blender maceration (p < 0.05) and were used as additives. Compared with the Control of both silages, adding PFJ increased LAB, lactic acid (LA), and in vitro digestibility of dry matter (IVDMD) (p < 0.05), while pH, acetic acid (AA), and ammonia nitrogen/total nitrogen (NH3-N/TN) were decreased (p < 0.05). For red clover silages, the PFJ-RC treatment contained the greatest LAB and LA and the lowest pH and NH3-N/TN among treatments (p < 0.05); similar results were observed in PFJ-LC treatment for lucerne silages (p < 0.05). The IVDMD of both silages correlated negatively with pH, AA, and NH3-N/TN and positively with LA (p < 0.05). Overall, chopping alone was a better method for preparing PFJ. Adding PFJ at ensiling increased LA and decreased the pH, AA, and NH3-N/TN of both silages. Ensiling lucerne or red clover with PFJ from the ensiling material had a more positive effect on the fermentation parameters mentioned above. Satisfactory fermentation parameters detected in the present study contributed to improving the IVDMD of both silages.
CLAVATA3/EMBRYO SURROUNDING REGION (CLE) Gene Family in Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.): Identification and Expression Analysis
Authors: Gancheva Maria , Dodueva Irina , Lebedeva Maria , Lutova Ludmila
Published: May 2021

CLE genes encode a group of small secretory peptides, which regulate cell proliferation and differentiation in plants. CLE genes have been studied in many plants; however, little is known about this gene family in potato. In this study, we characterized members of the CLE gene family in potato Solanum tuberosum (StCLE) and comprehensively analyzed their phylogenetic relationships, structure, and expression patterns. Using available transcriptomic data, we found a relative high expression level of StCLE8, StCLE12, and StCLE13 in stolons and tubers. Real-time PCR analysis showed that the StCLE23 gene was upregulated by water deficiency, whereas the expression of StCLE4 and StCLE10 was induced by nitrogen supply. Besides that, using data from transcriptomic studies obtained previously for plants with the induction the StBEL5 gene, a positive regulator of tuber development, we found that StCLE4 was among genes upregulated in response to StBEL5 induction, suggesting that StCLE4 could be a target of StBEL5 transcription factor. However, we did not reveal a direct binding of StBEL5 to the regulatory sequences of StCLE4 using yeast one-hybrid assay. Taken together, our data provide basic information for future functional studies of CLE peptides in potato growth and tuberization and in response to various environmental stimuli.
Dietary Supplementation with Enterococcus faecium R1 Attenuates Intestinal and Liver Injury in Piglets Challenged by Lipopolysaccharide
Authors: Zhang Yanyan , Wu Tao , Chen Zhenqiang , Meng Yuxuan , Zhu Zhekun , Wang Qian , Tian Junjie , Yi Dan , Wang Lei , Zhao Di , Hou Yongqing
Published: May 2021

In this study, a strain of E. faecium R1 with effective bacteriostatic activity, acid resistance, bile salt resistance, high-temperature resistance was screened. To study the effect of E. faecium R1 on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced intestinal and liver injury in piglets, twenty-four weaned female piglets were randomly assigned into one of three groups (8 piglets per group). Piglets in the control group and LPS group were fed a basal diet, piglets in the E. faecium group were fed the basal diet supplemented with E. faecium R1 (6.5 × 106 CFU/g). On day 21 of the trial, piglets in the LPS group and E. faecium group were intraperitoneally administered LPS (100 μg/kg), piglets in the control group were administered the same volume of saline. Subsequently, blood samples were collected at 3 h, and intestinal, liver, and pancreas samples were collected at 6 h. Results showed that E. faecium R1 supplementation significantly decreased the diarrhea rate and feed to gain ratio, and dramatically reduced LPS-induced intestinal and liver injury in piglets. Compared with the LPS group, E. faecium R1 supplementation significantly increased the content of glucagon in plasma and IL-1β in the liver, and the mRNA levels of villin in jejunum and ileum and Bcl-xL and pBD-L in the ileum, and significantly decreased the contents of prostaglandin 2 and malondialdehyde in the liver and the activities of myeloperoxidase and aspartate aminotransferase in plasma in piglets. Moreover, E. faecium R1 improved the pancreatic antioxidant capacity in piglets, which was indicated by a significant increase in catalase activity and a decrease in total nitric oxide synthase activity. In summary, dietary supplementation with E. faecium R1 alleviates intestinal and liver injury in LPS-challenged piglets.
Effects of Resveratrol on Growth Performance, Intestinal Development, and Antioxidant Status of Broilers under Heat Stress
Authors: Wang Chi , Zhao Fei , Li Zhen , Jin Xu , Chen Xingyong , Geng Zhaoyu , Hu Hong , Zhang Cheng
Published: May 2021

The study investigated resveratrol’s effect on growth performance, intestinal development, and antioxidant capacity of broilers subjected to heat stress (HS). A total of 162 21-day-old male AA broilers were randomly divided into 3 treatment groups with 6 replicates of 9 birds each. The 3 treatment groups were as follows: the control (CON), in which broilers were housed at 22 ± 1 °C for 24 h day−1, and the HS and HS + resveratrol (400 mg/kg) groups, in which broilers were housed at 33 ± 1 °C for 10 h a day from 8:00 to 18:00 and 22 ± 1 °C for rest of the time. Results indicated that birds in the HS group exhibited lower (p < 0.05) final body weight (BW) and average daily gain (ADG) compared with birds in the CON group. HS birds also had lower (p < 0.05) relative jejunum weight, relative ileum and jejunum length, jejunal villus height, and villus height to crypt depth ratios than the CON group. The activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione S-transferase (GST), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and the mRNA levels of NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), SOD1, and GPX were also lower (p < 0.05) in the HS than CON group. The HS group had higher (p < 0.05) protein carbonyl (PC) contents and Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) mRNA levels. Compared with HS group, the HS + resveratrol group exhibited higher (p < 0.05) BW and ADG, relative jejunum weight, relative length of ileum, jejunal villus height, activities of GPX and GST, and mRNA levels of Nrf2 and SOD1, but they had lower (p < 0.05) PC content and Keap1 mRNA levels. In conclusion, resveratrol can improve the intestinal development and antioxidant function of broilers under HS, and therefore improve growth performance. The mechanism by which resveratrol enhances the intestinal antioxidant capacity is mediated by Nrf2 signaling pathway.
Coaching Belgian and Dutch Broiler Farmers Aimed at Antimicrobial Stewardship and Disease Prevention
Authors: Caekebeke Nele , Ringenier Moniek , Jonquiere Franca , Tobias Tijs , Postma Merel , van den Hoogen Angelique , Houben Manon , Velkers Francisca , Sleeckx Nathalie , Stegeman Arjan , Dewulf Jeroen ,   on behalf of the i-4-1-Health Study Group
Published: May 2021

A reduction in antimicrobial use (AMU) is needed to curb the increase in antimicrobial resistance in broiler production. Improvements in biosecurity can contribute to a lower incidence of disease and thereby lower the need for AMU. However, veterinary advice related to AMU reduction or biosecurity is often not complied with, and this has been linked to the attitudes of farmers. Behavior change promoted by coaching may facilitate uptake and compliance regarding veterinary advice. Thirty broiler farms in Belgium and the Netherlands with high AMU were included in this study for 13 months. For each farmer, the attitude towards AMU reduction was quantified using an adjusted Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement (ADKAR®) change management model, and farm biosecurity was assessed with the Biocheck.UGent™ tool. Subsequently, farmers were coached to improve disease prevention and antimicrobial stewardship. After the individual coaching of farmers, there was a change in their attitudes regarding AMU, reflected by an increase in ADKAR® scores. Biosecurity levels improved by around 6% on average, and AMU was reduced by 7% on average without negative effects on performance parameters. Despite these improvements, no significant association could be found between higher ADKAR® scores and lower AMU. Further investigation into sociological models is needed as a tool to reduce AMU in livestock production.
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Prescribing Patterns of First-Line Antibiotics in English Primary Care: A Longitudinal Analysis of National Prescribing Dataset
Authors: Hussain Alisha Zubair , Paudyal Vibhu , Hadi Muhammad Abdul
Published: May 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on public access to health services. This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on commonly prescribed first-line antibiotics in English primary care. A secondary analysis of publicly available government data pertaining to primary care prescribing was conducted. A list of twenty first-line antibiotics used to treat common infections was developed following the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines. All primary care prescription and cost data pertaining to commonly prescribed first-line antibiotics in England between March and September of 2018–2020 were extracted and adjusted for inflation. Analysis suggests prescribing of antibiotics significantly reduced by 15.99% (p = 0.018) and 13.5% (p = 0.002) between March and September 2020 compared with same time period for 2018 and 2019, respectively. The most noticeable decrease in 2020 was noticed for prescribing for meningitis (−62.3%; p = 0.002) followed by respiratory tract infections (−39.13%; p = 0.035), in terms of indications. These results are suggestive of reduced transmission of infections in the community due to national lockdowns, social distancing and hygiene practices. In addition, the impact of reduced face-to-face consultations in general practices needs to be investigated as a potential reason for reduced prescribing. The pandemic also offers an opportunity to rationalize antibiotics use in the community.
Antifungal and Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Bupleurum rigidum subsp. paniculatum (Brot.) H.Wolff Essential Oil
Authors: Zuzarte Mónica , Correia Pedro M. P. , Alves-Silva Jorge M. , Gonçalves Maria J. , Cavaleiro Carlos , Cruz Teresa , Salgueiro Lígia
Published: May 2021

Fungal infections remain a major health concern with aromatic plants and their metabolites standing out as promising antifungal agents. The present study aims to assess, for the first time, the antifungal and anti-inflammatory potential of Bupleurum subsp. paniculatum (Brot.) H.Wolff essential oil from Portugal. The oil obtained by hydrodistillation and characterized by GC-MS, showed high amounts of monoterpene hydrocarbons, namely α-pinene (29.0–36.0%), β–pinene (26.1–30.7%) and limonene (10.5–13.5%). The antifungal potential was assessed, according to CLSI guidelines, against several clinical and collection strains. The essential oil showed a broad fungicidal effect being more potent against Cryptococcus neoformans and dermatophytes. Moreover, a significant germ tube inhibition was observed in Candida albicans as well as a disruption of mature biofilms, thus pointing out an effect of the oil against relevant virulent factors. Furthermore, fungal ultrastructural modifications were detected through transmission electron microscopy, highlighting the nefarious effect of the oil. Of relevance, the oil also evidenced anti-inflammatory activity through nitric oxide inhibition in macrophages activated with lipopolysaccharide. In addition, the essential oil’s bioactive concentrations did not present toxicity towards macrophages. Overall, the present study confirmed the bioactive potential of B. rigidum subsp. paniculatum essential oil, thus paving the way for the development of effective drugs presenting concomitantly antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties.
Clinical Significance of Heme Oxygenase 1 in Tumor Progression
Authors: Nitti Mariapaola , Ivaldo Caterina , Traverso Nicola , Furfaro Anna Lisa
Published: May 2021

Heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) plays a key role in cell adaptation to stressors through the antioxidant, antiapoptotic, and anti-inflammatory properties of its metabolic products. For these reasons, in cancer cells, HO-1 can favor aggressiveness and resistance to therapies, leading to poor prognosis/outcome. Genetic polymorphisms of HO-1 promoter have been associated with an increased risk of cancer progression and a high degree of therapy failure. Moreover, evidence from cancer biopsies highlights the possible correlation between HO-1 expression, pathological features, and clinical outcome. Indeed, high levels of HO-1 in tumor specimens often correlate with reduced survival rates. Furthermore, HO-1 modulation has been proposed in order to improve the efficacy of antitumor therapies. However, contrasting evidence on the role of HO-1 in tumor biology has been reported. This review focuses on the role of HO-1 as a promising biomarker of cancer progression; understanding the correlation between HO-1 and clinical data might guide the therapeutic choice and improve the outcome of patients in terms of prognosis and life quality.
Chemical Composition and Biological Properties of Two Jatropha Species: Different Parts and Different Extraction Methods
Authors: Zengin Gokhan , Mahomoodally Mohamad Fawzi , Sinan Kouadio Ibrahime , Ak Gunes , Etienne Ouattara Katinan , Sharmeen Jugreet B. , Brunetti Luigi , Leone Sheila , Di Simone Simonetta Cristina , Recinella Lucia , Chiavaroli Annalisa , Menghini Luigi , Orlando Giustino , Jekő József , Cziáky Zoltán , Ferrante Claudio
Published: May 2021

Jatropha L. species, in particular, J. curcas and J. gossypiifolia, are well known medicinal plants used for treating various diseases. In the present study, leaf and stem bark extracts of J. curcas and J. gossypiifolia obtained by maceration or homogenizer assisted extraction, were investigated for their phytochemical contents and biological potential as antioxidants, enzyme inhibitors and neuromodulators. In this regard, the gene expression of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was investigated in hypothalamic HypoE22 cells. Finally, a bioinformatics analysis was carried out with the aim to unravel the putative mechanisms consistent with both metabolomic fingerprints and pharmacological effects. The leaf extracts of J. curcas showed higher total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) than the stem bark extracts (range: 5.79–48.95 mg GAE/g and 1.64–13.99 mg RE/g, respectively), while J. gossypiifolia possessed TPC and TFC in the range of 42.62–62.83 mg GAE/g and 6.97–17.63 mg RE/g, respectively. HPLC-MS/MS analysis revealed that the leaf extracts of both species obtained by homogenizer assisted extraction are richer in phytochemical compounds compared to the stem bark extracts obtained by the same extraction method. In vitro antioxidant potentials were also demonstrated in different assays (DPPH: 6.89–193.93 mg TE/g, ABTS: 20.20–255.39 mg TE/g, CUPRAC: 21.07–333.30 mg TE/g, FRAP: 14.02–168.93 mg TE/g, metal chelating activity: 3.21–17.51 mg EDTAE/g and phosphomolybdenum assay: 1.76–3.55 mmol TE/g). In particular, the leaf extract of J. curcas and the stem bark extract of J. gossypiifolia, both obtained by homogenizer assisted extraction, showed the most potent antioxidant capacity in terms of free radical scavenging and reducing activity, which could be related to their higher TPC and TFC. Furthermore, anti-neurodegenerative (acetylcholinesterase inhibition: 1.12–2.36 mg GALAE/g; butyrylcholinetserase inhibition: 0.50–3.68 mg GALAE/g), anti-hyperpigmentation (tyrosinase inhibition: 38.14–57.59 mg KAE/g) and antidiabetic (amylase inhibition: 0.28–0.62 mmol ACAE/g; glucosidase inhibition: 0.65–0.81 mmol ACAE/g) properties were displayed differentially by the different extracts. Additionally, the extracts were effective in reducing the gene expression of both TNFα and BDNF, which could be partially mediated by phenolic compounds such as naringenin, apigenin and quercetin. Indeed, the scientific data obtained from the present study complement the several other reports highlighting the pharmacological potentials of these two species, thus supporting their uses as therapeutically active plants.
Partial Energy Transfer Model of Lamb Waves Scattering in Materially Isotropic Waveguides
Authors: Šofer Pavel , Šofer Michal , Raček Marek , Cekus Dawid , Kwiatoń Paweł
Published: May 2021

The scattering phenomena of the fundamental antisymmetric Lamb wave mode with a horizontal notch enabling the partial energy transfer (PET) option is addressed in this paper. The PET functionality for a given waveguide is realized using the material interface. The energy scattering coefficients are identified using two methods, namely, a hybrid approach, which utilizes the finite element method (FEM) and the general orthogonality relation, and the semi-analytical approach, which combines the modal expansion technique with the orthogonal property of Lamb waves. Using the stress and displacement continuity conditions on the present (sub)waveguide interfaces, one can explicitly derive the global scattering matrix, which allows detailed analysis of the scattering process across the considered interfaces. Both methods are then adopted on a simple representation of a surface breaking crack in the form of a vertical notch, of which a certain section enables not only the reflection of the incident energy, but also its nonzero transfer. The presented results show very good conformity between both utilized approaches, thus leading to further development of an alternative technique.
Building an Operational Solution Assistant System for Foreign SMEs in ROK
Authors: Thai Hong-Danh , Huh Jun-Ho
Published: May 2021

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an important resource that helps accelerate the development of the country’s economy, add substantial funding to growth and facilitate technology transfer. Republic of Korea (ROK) is one of the world’s developed countries with dynamic economy, advanced science and technology. In recent years, the Korean government has continuously formulated tax policies, policies to support the business economy and import policies to support foreign businesses in Korea. The Pangyo Valley Creative Economy Valley is being groomed as a global startup hub in Asia. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in foreign countries are increasingly interested and eager to seek investment opportunities in the Korean market. Nonetheless, for these companies, language barriers and cultural and institutional differences make it more difficult and time-consuming to learn about the Korean market (such as investment trends, laws, visa policies, taxes and business establishment issues in Korea, etc.). In this study, we explored the process of searching information and seeking investment opportunities and built a business consulting and support application in the first stages of starting a business in ROK to increase effectiveness and save time, which is also an innovative business practice in Use-case ROK. We designed our Virtual Assistant system that can crawl and analyze data on foreign investments in ROK from open data resource websites (data.co.kr) and used analytic and aggregation techniques to explore trends in investments of foreign enterprises. We also researched the process of searching information and seeking investment opportunities for SMEs when investing in ROK, government support policies, laws and taxes as well as a number of other related issues. We built datasets and used Natural Language Processing (NLP) together with Natural Language Understanding (NLU) algorithms to build chatbot applications. Friendly framework for new developers to add and build up the dataset of AI Assistant is built by providing input intent data function, input Entity data function, input utterance data function as well as training and test function. In addition, we built a web-app connected to the server to visualize all the results of research so that SMEs owners can easily use and look for information on investments. Based on the research results, we can make recommendations to SMEs in keeping with the changing investment trends in ROK.
Exploitation of Antimicrobial Nanoparticles and Their Applications in Biomedical Engineering
Authors: Yang XiuYi , Chung Etelka , Johnston Ian , Ren Guogang , Cheong Yuen-Ki
Published: May 2021

Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to public health, which contributes largely to increased mortality rates and costs in hospitals. The severity and widespread nature of antibiotic resistance result in limited treatments to effectively combat antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Nanoparticles have different or enhanced properties in contrast to their bulk material, including antimicrobial efficacy towards a broad range of microorganisms. Their beneficial properties can be utilised in various bioengineering technologies. Thus, antimicrobial nanoparticles may provide an alternative to challenge antibiotic resistance. Currently, nanoparticles have been incorporated into materials, such as fibres, glass and paints. However, more research is required to elucidate the mechanisms of action fully and to advance biomedical applications further. This paper reviews the antimicrobial efficacies and the intrinsic properties of different metallic nanoparticles, their potential mechanisms of action against certain types of harmful pathogens and how these properties may be utilised in biomedical and healthcare products with the aim to reduce cross contaminations, disease transmissions and usage of antibiotics.
Skin Lesion Segmentation by U-Net with Adaptive Skip Connection and Structural Awareness
Authors: Phan Tran-Dac-Thinh , Kim Soo-Hyung , Yang Hyung-Jeong , Lee Guee-Sang
Published: May 2021

Skin lesion segmentation is one of the pivotal stages in the diagnosis of melanoma. Many methods have been proposed but, to date, this is still a challenging task. Variations in size and color, the fuzzy boundary and the low contrast between lesion and normal skin are the adverse factors for deficient or excessive delineation of lesions, or even inaccurate lesion location detection. In this paper, to counter these problems, we introduce a deep learning method based on U-Net architecture, which performs three tasks, namely lesion segmentation, boundary distance map regression and contour detection. The two auxiliary tasks provide an awareness of boundary and shape to the main encoder, which improves the object localization and pixel-wise classification in the transition region from lesion tissues to healthy tissues. Moreover, concerning the large variation in size, the Selective Kernel modules, which are placed in the skip connections, transfer the multi-receptive field features from the encoder to the decoder. Our methods are evaluated on three publicly available datasets: ISBI2016, ISBI 2017 and PH2. The extensive experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method in the task of skin lesion segmentation.
Control of Timing Stability, and Suppression in Delayed Feedback Induced Frequency-Fluctuations by Means of Power Split Ratio and Delay Phase-Dependent Dual-Loop Optical Feedback
Authors: Asghar Haroon , McInerney John G.
Published: May 2021

We experimentally demonstrated a power split ratio and optical delay phase dependent dual-loop optical feedback to investigate the suppression of frequency-fluctuations induced due to delayed optical feedback. The device under investigation is self-mode-locked (SML) two-section quantum-dash (QDash) laser operating at ∼21 GHz and emitting at ∼1.55 μm. The effect of two selective combinations of power split ratios (Loop-I: −23.29 dB and Loop-II: −28.06 dB, and Loop-I and Loop-II: −22 dB) and two optical delay phase settings ((i) stronger cavity set to integer resonance and fine-tuning the weaker cavity, (ii) weaker cavity set to integer resonance and fine-tuning of stronger cavity) on the suppression of cavity side-bands have been studied. Measured experimental results demonstrate that delayed optical feedback induced frequency-fluctuations can be effectively suppressed on integer resonance as well as on full delay range tuning (0–84 ps) by adjusting coupling strength −22 dB through Loop-I and Loop-II, respectively. Our findings suggest that power split ratio and delays phase-dependent dual-loop optical feedback can be used to maximize the performance of semiconductor mode-locked lasers.
Methods for Improving Deep Learning-Based Cardiac Auscultation Accuracy: Data Augmentation and Data Generalization
Authors: Jeong Yoojin , Kim Juhee , Kim Daeyeol , Kim Jinsoo , Lee Kwangkee
Published: May 2021

Cardiac auscultation is a cost-effective and noninvasive technique for cardiovascular disease detection. Recently, various studies have been underway for cardiac auscultation using deep learning, not doctors. When training a deep learning network, it is important to secure large amount of high-quality data. However, medical data are difficult to obtain, and in most cases the number of abnormal classes is insufficient. In this study, data augmentation is used to supplement the insufficient amount of data, and data generalization to generate data suitable for convolutional neural networks (CNN) is proposed. We demonstrate performance improvements by inputting them into the CNN. Our method achieves an overall performance of 96%, 81%, and 90% for sensitivity, specificity, and F1-score, respectively. Diagnostic accuracy was improved by 18% compared to when it was not used. Particularly, it showed excellent detection success rate for abnormal heart sounds. The proposed method is expected to be applied to an automatic diagnosis system to detect heart abnormalities and help prevent heart disease through early detection.
Adversarial Data Augmentation on Breast MRI Segmentation
Authors: Teixeira João F. , Dias Mariana , Batista Eva , Costa Joana , Teixeira Luís F. , Oliveira Hélder P.
Published: May 2021

The scarcity of balanced and annotated datasets has been a recurring problem in medical image analysis. Several researchers have tried to fill this gap employing dataset synthesis with adversarial networks (GANs). Breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides complex, texture-rich medical images, with the same annotation shortage issues, for which, to the best of our knowledge, no previous work tried synthesizing data. Within this context, our work addresses the problem of synthesizing breast MRI images from corresponding annotations and evaluate the impact of this data augmentation strategy on a semantic segmentation task. We explored variations of image-to-image translation using conditional GANs, namely fitting the generator’s architecture with residual blocks and experimenting with cycle consistency approaches. We studied the impact of these changes on visual verisimilarity and how an U-Net segmentation model is affected by the usage of synthetic data. We achieved sufficiently realistic-looking breast MRI images and maintained a stable segmentation score even when completely replacing the dataset with the synthetic set. Our results were promising, especially when concerning to Pix2PixHD and Residual CycleGAN architectures.
Calculation of Transient Magnetic Field and Induced Voltage in Photovoltaic Bracket System during a Lightning Stroke
Authors: Zhang Xiaoqing , Wang Yaowu
Published: May 2021

An effective method is proposed in this paper for calculating the transient magnetic field and induced voltage in the photovoltaic bracket system under lightning stroke. Considering the need for the lightning current responses on various branches of the photovoltaic bracket system, a brief outline is given to the equivalent circuit model of the photovoltaic bracket system. The analytic formulas of the transient magnetic field are derived from the vector potential for the tilted, vertical and horizontal branches in the photovoltaic bracket system. With a time–space discretization scheme put forward for theses formulas, the magnetic field distribution in an assigned spatial domain is determined on the basis of the lightning current responses. The magnetic linkage passing through a conductor loop is evaluated by the surface integral of the magnetic flux density and the induced voltage is obtained from the time derivative of the magnetic linkage. In order to check the validity of the proposed method, an experiment is made on a reduced-scale photovoltaic bracket system. Then, the proposed method is applied to an actual photovoltaic bracket system. The calculations are performed for the magnetic field distributions and induced voltages under positive and negative lightning strokes.
Slope Stability Analysis to Correlate Shear Strength with Slope Angle and Shear Stress by Considering Saturated and Unsaturated Seismic Conditions
Authors: Khan Muhammad Israr , Wang Shuhong
Published: May 2021

Assessment and analysis of soil slope stability is an important part of geotechnical engineering at all times. This paper examines the assessment of soil slope stability in fine-grained soils. The effect of change in shear strength (τ), shear stress (σ) and slope angle (β) on the factor of safety has been studied. It correlates shear strength with slope angle and shear stress by considering the horizontal seismic coefficients in both saturated and unsaturated conditions. The slope failure surface was considered a circular slip surface. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) and Slide, numerical modeling software and limit equilibrium slope stability analysis software, respectively, are used to find out the correlations between the three basic parameters. The slope angle varied from 70 to 88 degrees, which are the most critical values for slope angles, and a total of 200 analyses were performed. τ, β and σ are correlated, and the correlations are provided in the results section. The results indicate that the correlations developed between the parameters have a very close relationship. The applicability of the developed equations is above 99%. These correlations are applicable in any type of soil slope stability analysis, where the value of shear strength and factor of safety is required with the variation of slope angle and shear stress.
Research on Applicability of the Practical Transient Voltage Stability Criterion Based on Voltage Magnitude and Sag Duration
Authors: Wang Guoteng , Xu Zheng , Zhang Zheren
Published: May 2021

Voltage sags threaten the transient voltage stability of power systems. To evaluate the transient voltage stability, practical criteria based on voltage magnitude and sag duration are widely used in practical engineering. However, the applicability of practical criteria needs to be studied. In this paper, in a single-load system, a theoretical derivation was first made to obtain the transient voltage stability boundary. Then, by studying the relationship between the practical criteria and the stability boundary, the application scope of the practical criteria was determined. The application scope described in this paper can guide operators to use the practical criteria correctly and avoid misjudgment of the transient voltage stability as much as possible. Finally, a case study based on PSCAD/EMTDC is presented, and the simulation results verified the conclusions proposed in this paper.
Dense U-Net for Limited Angle Tomography of Sound Pressure Fields
Authors: Rothkamm Oliver , Gürtler Johannes , Czarske Jürgen , Kuschmierz Robert
Published: May 2021

Tomographic reconstruction allows for the recovery of 3D information from 2D projection data. This commonly requires a full angular scan of the specimen. Angular restrictions that exist, especially in technical processes, result in reconstruction artifacts and unknown systematic measurement errors. We investigate the use of neural networks for extrapolating the missing projection data from holographic sound pressure measurements. A bias flow liner was studied for active sound dampening in aviation. We employed a dense U-Net trained on synthetic data and compared reconstructions of simulated and measured data with and without extrapolation. In both cases, the neural network based approach decreases the mean and maximum measurement deviations by a factor of two. These findings can enable quantitative measurements in other applications suffering from limited angular access as well.
Conditional Measurements with Silicon Photomultipliers
Authors: Chesi Giovanni , Allevi Alessia , Bondani Maria
Published: May 2021

Nonclassical states of light can be efficiently generated by performing conditional measurements. An experimental setup including Silicon Photomultipliers can currently be implemented for this purpose. However, these devices are affected by correlated noise, the optical cross talk in the first place. Here we explore the effects of cross talk on the conditional states by suitably expanding our existing model for conditional measurements with photon-number-resolving detectors. We assess the nonclassicality of the conditional states by evaluating the Fano factor and provide experimental evidence to support our results.
Internet of Things Meet Internet of Threats: New Concern Cyber Security Issues of Critical Cyber Infrastructure
Authors: Djenna Amir , Harous Saad , Saidouni Djamel Eddine
Published: May 2021

As a new area of technology, the Internet of Things (IoT) is a flagship and promising paradigm for innovating society. However, IoT-based critical infrastructures are an appealing target for cybercriminals. Such distinctive infrastructures are increasingly sensitive to cyber vulnerabilities and subject to many cyberattacks. Thus, protecting these infrastructures is a significant issue for organizations and nations. In this context, raising the cybersecurity posture of critical cyber infrastructures is an extremely urgent international issue. In addition, with the rapid development of adversarial techniques, current cyber threats have become more sophisticated, complicated, advanced and persistent. Thus, given these factors, prior to implementing efficient and resilient cybersecurity countermeasures, identification and in-depth mapping of cyber threats is an important step that is generally overlooked. Therefore, to solve cybersecurity challenges, this study presents a critical analysis of the most recent cybersecurity issues for IoT-based critical infrastructures. We then discuss potential cyber threats and cyber vulnerabilities and the main exploitation strategies adopted by cybercriminals. Further, we provide a taxonomy of cyberattacks that may affect critical cyber infrastructures. Finally, we present security requirements and some realistic recommendations to enhance cybersecurity solutions.
Tensile Behavior of Geometrically Irregular Bagasse Fiber
Authors: Bhuiyan Md Shahnewaz , Rahman Muhommad Azizur , Farabi Md Shahriar , Hasan Md Mahedi
Published: May 2021

In the present work, an investigation on the surface topography and geometry variation of bagasse fibers was correlated with their mechanical properties via image analysis. The fibers were tested under a universal tensile testing machine and the diameter of the fibers was calculated using images obtained in a digital microscope. Furthermore, surface characterization and quantification were also performed using images obtained via SEM. The results showed that the surface roughness of alkali-treated bagasse fiber increased compared to that of the untreated one. Moreover, it was observed that the diameter variation of bagasse fiber along its length and among different fibers is not only variable but also unpredictable. The tensile test results revealed that bagasse fibers showed lower stress at a rupture with considerable scatter. It can be inferred that the synergistic effect of thick bagasse fiber, bagasse fiber diameter variations along its length and among fibers, and the fiber fracture mechanism establishes a local condition for fracture and resulted in such variations in tensile properties. Finally, the results clearly showed that the two-parameter Weibull fit the experimental data fairly well (R2=0.97). The Weibull modulus (m) was found to be 1.7, indicating that the strength distribution is high.
Exposure Assessment of Climate Extremes over the Europe–Mediterranean Region
Authors: Kelebek Mehmet Barış , Batibeniz Fulden , Önol Barış
Published: May 2021

The use of a compact set of climate change indexes enhances our understanding of the combined impacts of extreme climatic conditions. In this study, we developed the modified Climate Extremes Index (mCEI) to obtain unified information about different types of extremes. For this purpose, we calculated 10 different climate change indexes considering the temperature extremes, extreme precipitation, and moisture surplus and drought over the Europe–Mediterranean (EURO–MED) region for the 1979–2016 period. As a holistic approach, mCEI provides spatiotemporal information, and the high-resolution grid-based data allow us to accomplish detailed country-based and city-based analyses. The analyses indicate that warm temperature extremes rise significantly over the EURO–MED region at a rate of 1.9% decade−1, whereas the cold temperature extremes decrease. Extreme drought has a significant increasing trend of 3.8% decade−1. Although there are regional differences, extreme precipitation indexes have a significant increasing tendency. According to the mCEI, the major hotspots for the combined extremes are the Mediterranean coasts, the Balkan countries, Eastern Europe, Iceland, western Russia, western Turkey, and western Iraq. The decadal changes of mCEI for these regions are in the range of 3–5% decade−1. The city-scale analysis based on urbanized locations reveals that Fes (Morocco), Izmir (Turkey), Marseille and Aix-en-Provence (France), and Tel Aviv (Israel) have the highest increasing trend of mCEI, which is greater than 3.5% decade−1.
Beneficial Modulation of Lipid Mediator Biosynthesis in Innate Immune Cells by Antirheumatic Tripterygium wilfordii Glycosides
Authors: Zhang Kehong , Pace Simona , Jordan Paul M. , Peltner Lukas K. , Weber Alexander , Fischer Dagmar , Hofstetter Robert K. , Chen Xinchun , Werz Oliver
Published: May 2021

Tripterygium wilfordii glycosides (TWG) is a traditional Chinese medicine with effectiveness against rheumatoid arthritis (RA), supported by numerous clinical trials. Lipid mediators (LM) are biomolecules produced from polyunsaturated fatty acids mainly by cyclooxygenases (COX) and lipoxygenases (LOX) in complex networks which regulate inflammation and immune responses and are strongly linked to RA. The mechanism by which TWG affects LM networks in RA treatment remains elusive. Employing LM metabololipidomics using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry revealed striking modulation of LM pathways by TWG in human monocyte-derived macrophage (MDM) phenotypes. In inflammatory M1-MDM, TWG (30 µg/mL) potently suppressed agonist-induced formation of 5-LOX products which was confirmed in human PMNL and traced back to direct inhibition of 5-LOX (IC50 = 2.9 µg/mL). TWG also efficiently blocked thromboxane formation in M1-MDM without inhibiting other prostanoids and COX enzymes. Importantly, in anti-inflammatory M2-MDM, TWG (30 µg/mL) induced pronounced formation of specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPM) and related 12/15-LOX-derived SPM precursors, without COX and 5-LOX activation. During MDM polarization, TWG (1 µg/mL) decreased the capacity to generate pro-inflammatory 5-LOX and COX products, cytokines and markers for M1 phenotypes. Together, suppression of pro-inflammatory LM but SPM induction may contribute to the antirheumatic properties of TWG.
Role of Biomolecules in Osteoclasts and Their Therapeutic Potential for Osteoporosis
Authors: Zhao Xin , Patil Suryaji , Xu Fang , Lin Xiao , Qian Airong
Published: May 2021

Osteoclasts (OCs) are important cells that are involved in the regulation of bone metabolism and are mainly responsible for coordinating bone resorption with bone formation to regulate bone remodeling. The imbalance between bone resorption and formation significantly affects bone metabolism. When the activity of osteoclasts exceeds the osteoblasts, it results in a condition called osteoporosis, which is characterized by reduced bone microarchitecture, decreased bone mass, and increased occurrences of fracture. Molecules, including transcription factors, proteins, hormones, nucleic acids, such as non-coding RNAs, play an important role in osteoclast proliferation, differentiation, and function. In this review, we have highlighted the role of these molecules in osteoclasts regulation and osteoporosis. The developed therapeutics targeting these molecules for the treatment of osteoporosis in recent years have also been discussed with challenges faced in clinical application.
Influence of Microbial Metabolites on the Nonspecific Permeability of Mitochondrial Membranes under Conditions of Acidosis and Loading with Calcium and Iron Ions
Authors: Fedotcheva Nadezhda , Olenin Andrei , Beloborodova Natalia
Published: May 2021

Mitochondrial dysfunction is currently considered one of the main causes of multiple organ failure in chronic inflammation and sepsis. The participation of microbial metabolites in disorders of bioenergetic processes in mitochondria has been revealed, but their influence on the mitochondrial membrane permeability has not yet been studied. We tested the influence of various groups of microbial metabolites, including indolic and phenolic acids, trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) and acetyl phosphate (AcP), on the nonspecific permeability of mitochondrial membranes under conditions of acidosis, imbalance of calcium ions and excess free iron, which are inherent in sepsis. Changes in the parameters of the calcium-induced opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) and iron-activated swelling of rat liver mitochondria were evaluated. The most active metabolites were indole-3-carboxylic acid (ICA) and benzoic acid (BA), which activated MPTP opening and swelling under all conditions. AcP showed the opposite effect on the induction of MPTP opening, increasing the threshold concentration of calcium by 1.5 times, while TMAO activated swelling only under acidification. All the redox-dependent effects of metabolites were suppressed by the lipid radical scavenger butyl-hydroxytoluene (BHT), which indicates the participation of these microbial metabolites in the activation of membrane lipid peroxidation. Thus, microbial metabolites can directly affect the nonspecific permeability of mitochondrial membranes, if conditions of acidosis, an imbalance of calcium ions and an excess of free iron are created in the pathological state.