bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
What is better for psychiatry: Titrated or fixed concentrations of nitrous oxide?
Authors: Gillman Mark A.
Published: August 2022

Medication dosages are crucial–no single dose fits all. My paper compares the safety, scientific and practical applicability of fixed 25–50% concentrations of nitrous oxide (N2O) with the variable titrated concentrations of Psychotropic Analgesic N2O (PAN), as used in dentistry, and neuropsychiatry. A crucial difference is that PAN is always titrated, via an open circuit (nasal mask), to the minimum concentration (dose), which ensures full consciousness, cooperation, comfort and relaxation. With PAN, the goal is subject comfort, not dose. In contrast, fixed goal concentrations are usually given via relatively closed circuits (full facial mask/similar) without account for individual patient's dose-response. Hence, fixed concentrations, in N2O sensitive subjects, could result in unconsciousness and other adverse effects (nausea, vomiting, anxiety, aspiration, might occur; requiring an anaesthesiologist for patient safety. PAN is titrated using each subject's subjective and objective responses as the guide to the ideal concentration. Thus, when PAN is used, there is no fixed concentration even for a single subject, nor is an anaesthesiologist required. Furthermore, there is a greater scientific rationale for using PAN, because the receptor systems involved are better known, whilst those for fixed concentrations are not. The PAN or dental titration method has been safely used in general dentistry for over 70 years and as an investigative, diagnostic and therapeutic tool for neuropsychiatry for over 40 years. Clinical applications include substance abuse detoxification, ameliorating depression, and investigations of schizophrenia, human orgasm, pain perception and basic neuroscience. By contrast, the experience with fixed doses in psychiatry is limited.
Psychoactive substance use, internet use and mental health changes during the COVID-19 lockdown in a French population: A study of gender effect
Authors: Malandain Leo , Fountoulakis Konstantinos N. , Syunyakov Timur , Malashonkova Evgeniia , Smirnova Daria , Thibaut Florence
Published: August 2022

Introduction

COVID-19 has enormous impacts on each individual. The goals of our study were (1) to assess the rate of internet and psychoactive substance use, clinical depression and anxiety in a French population during the lockdown (2) to study the role of clinical and socio-demographic variables (especially, gender).

Materials and methods

During lockdown, an online anonymous questionnaire was used to assess socio-demographic and health data, previous psychiatric history, anterior and current internet and psychoactive substance use, current anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. The associations of socio-demographic, clinical variables with anxiety, depression, internet or psychoactive substance use were examined.

Results

The study included 263 participants (aged 38.1 ± 15.3−197 males and 64 females). During the lockdown, internet use increased in 14.4% of cases, alcohol use in 20.2%, and tobacco use in 6.8%. In contrast, more participants reported a decrease in alcohol, tobacco or illicit drug use (25.9, 24, and 27.8% respectively). Anxiety was reported in 62.4% and depression in 20.2% of cases; 29.7% of participants reported an increase in anxiety and 25.5% an increase in depression. Depression was associated with an increase in internet and tobacco use. Tobacco and alcohol use were positively associated and an increase in use was more frequent in previous users of both substances. Maintaining a daily routine and relationships with family, being self-employed were associated to lower risks of depression and anxiety.

Conclusion

Higher rates of internet use, as well as depression and anxiety, were observed during the lockdown. Gender was not a significant associated factor.
The quality of father-child feeding interactions mediates the effect of maternal depression on children’s psychopathological symptoms
Authors: Cimino Silvia , Tambelli Renata , Di Vito Paola , D’Angeli Gessica , Cerniglia Luca
Published: August 2022

Research has shown that Postnatal maternal depression (PND) is associated with children’s emotional and behavioral problems during infancy, but the possible effect of father-child relationship quality on this association is yet to be thoroughly investigated. We recruited 401 families (802 parents; 401 children) via mental health clinics in Central Italy. We divided families into two groups: Group 1 included families with mothers with PND; Group 2 included families with mothers without PND (control group). The assessment took place at T1 (18 months of age of children) and T2 (36 months of age of children): postnatal maternal depression was measured through the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS); parent-child relationship quality was assessed through the Scale for the Assessment of Feeding Interactions (SVIA); and the child emotional–behavioral functioning was evaluated with the Child-Behavior-Checklist (CBCL). Compared to the control group, the children of the groups where mothers had PND, showed overall higher scores (i.e., more maladaptive) on the CBCL. A direct effect of postnatal maternal depression on children’s emotional-behavioral functioning was found, both at T1 and at T2. A mediation effect of father-child relationship quality between postnatal maternal depression and child outcomes was also found. These results could inform prevention and intervention programs in families with mothers with PND.
Do older adults benefit from telepsychiatric care: Comparison to younger adults
Authors: Belanger Heather G. , Winsberg Mirène
Published: August 2022

Background

Telemental health platforms may increase access to care for older adults. Historically, older adults have tended to adopt new technologies at a slower rate which creates a perception that they may not be able to benefit from them. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not older adult patients receiving psychiatric care for depression via a telemental health platform achieve the same outcomes as younger adults.

Method

Participant data utilized in the current investigation were obtained from a national mental health telehealth company (i.e., Brightside) and consisted of 12,908 U.S.-based adult patients receiving psychiatric care for depression between October, 2018 and January, 2022. Propensity matching was used to create an older and younger sample (n = 141 in each) using 23 covariates. These samples were then compared using repeated measures ANOVA on Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores at start of treatment, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 10 weeks, 12 weeks, 14 weeks, and 16 weeks.

Results

Despite matching, the groups still significantly differed on prior mental health treatment, such that more older adults reported having had prior mental health treatment. There were no other differences between the groups on assessed variables. Both younger and older adults had decreasing scores over time with no significant differences between them.

Conclusion

Older adults have similar improvement in depression symptom severity over time following initiation of psychiatric treatment via a telehealth platform. These findings suggest that age is not a barrier to benefitting from telepsychiatric care.
Go/no-go task performance of Japanese children: Differences by sex, grade, and lifestyle habits
Authors: Shikano Akiko , Noi Shingo
Published: August 2022

Background

Japanese children face critical psychological challenges that urgently need to be addressed.

Objective

This study aimed to clarify performance differences in go/no-go tasks among Japanese elementary and junior high students by sex and grade and comprehensively investigate the relationship between children's lifestyle habits and performance.

Methods

In total, 4,482 (2,289 males, 2,193 females) 1st grade elementary to 3rd grade junior high students (6–15 years old) participated. We conducted a survey and the go/no-go experiments in the participating schools on weekday mornings from November 2017 to February 2020. We collected data on the number of errors in the go/no-go tasks in response to visual stimuli (commission errors in the no-go tasks; omission errors in the go tasks); and on lifestyle habits (i.e., sleep, screen time, and physical activity) using questionnaires.

Results

For the commission errors, the results demonstrated differences by sex and grade; for the omission errors, differences were only observed by grade. Additionally, we analysed the relationship between both types of errors and sex, grade, sleep conditions, screen time, and physical activity using binomial logistic regression analysis. Commission errors were significantly related to sex and grade whereas omission errors were related to grade, bedtime, screen time, and physical activity.

Conclusions

Our results highlighted that children's cognitive functions are related to their lifestyle habits (i.e., sleep conditions, screen time, and physical activity) in addition to sex and grade.
Climate change and adventure guiding: The role of nature connection in guide wellbeing
Authors: Valdivielso Martínez Elsa , Houge Mackenzie Susan
Published: August 2022

Ecological challenges are quickly shaping the future of the tourism industry with an increasing focus on how to develop more sustainable adventure tourism practises. Adventure guides play an important role in this transition and in shaping client experiences, however there is a need to better understand how climate change may have important impacts on guides' wellbeing. This study explored adventure guides' experiences of nature connectedness and potential links between climate change, nature connexion, and wellbeing for adventure guides. Semi-structured qualitative interviews (x = 11) with adventure guides were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis to explore these relationships. Adventure guides reported experiencing meaningful connexions and relationships with the natural environments in which they worked, while also highlighting why not all types of nature nor time spent outdoors facilitated this connexion. Guides that reported being more connected to nature also reported a higher sense of environmental responsibility, and guides described how this often created “ethical dilemmas” in seeking to resolve tensions between their deep connexion to nature and unsustainable practises that their guiding work often entailed. Analysis also highlighted the value and wellbeing guides derived from sharing their love of nature with clients. These findings expand emerging theoretical models of adventure guide wellbeing, and suggest a range of practises that can support a more ecologically sustainable adventure tourism industry.
Delay discounting of money and health outcomes, and adherence to policy guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Krawiec Jakub M. , Mizak Szymon , Tagliabue Marco , Białaszek Wojciech
Published: August 2022

Delay discounting refers to the observation that the subjective value of an outcome decreases as the delay to its receipt increases. It is well-established that steep delay discounting is related to various maladaptive behaviors, including poorer health-related choices. One of the current challenges of public health policies that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic is to encourage preventive behaviors against infectious diseases. In this study, we aimed to explore possible underpinnings of adherence to COVID-19 related public health policy guidelines such as disinfection, distancing, and masks (DDM). Participants completed monetary and health discounting tasks across two outcome amounts in gain and loss conditions, and they provided self-report measures of adherence to the DDM policy. Contrary to the theoretically plausible prediction that higher discounting rates would be negatively associated with adherence to health-related public policy guidelines, we found no compelling evidence to support such statement. We discuss the potential weaknesses of declarative measurements of attitudes toward COVID-19 and consider using behavioral interventions for influencing discounting rates for complementing and enhancing current policy guidelines.
Drinking natural water unchangeably is associated with reduced all-cause mortality in elderly people: A longitudinal prospective study from China
Authors: Liu Lu , Zheng Yi , Ruan Haiyan , Li Liying , Zhao Liming , Zhang Muxin , Duan Linjia , He Sen
Published: August 2022

Objective

Because of rapid economic growth and followed urban expansion in China, many people drinking natural water had to change their water sources to tap water. We aimed to test the unknown association that whether continued use of natural water for drinking is different from switching to tap water in all-cause mortality risks in elderly people.

Methods

In total, based on Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, 26,688 elderly participants drinking natural water from childhood to young-old were included in the final analyses. Associations between whether changing drinking water sources or not and all-cause mortality risk were then estimated by Cox regression models with the use of multiple propensity score methods, and the primary analysis used propensity score matching, with other propensity score methods confirming the robustness of the results.

Results

Baseline characteristics were fairly well balanced by the three post-randomization methods. During a median follow-up period of 3.00 (IQR: 1.52, 5.73) years, 21,379 deaths were recorded. The primary analysis showed people using natural water unchangeably was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality than those switching to tap water in later life (HR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.91–0.97, p < 0.001). Other propensity score methods, as well as Cox regression analysis without using propensity score methods, showed similar results.

Conclusions

Among elderly people depending on natural water for drinking from their childhood to young-old in China, continued use of natural water was associated with a lower all-cause mortality risk than conversion to tap water later. Further studies in different countries and populations are needed to verify our conclusions.
Consumer food demand in Japan before and after the beginning of COVID-19: AIDS analysis using home scan data
Authors: Ito Nobuhiro , Maruyama Yuki , Wakamatsu Hiroki
Published: August 2022

COVID-19 had an impact not only on human health but also on consumers' food consumption. Employing the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS), this study analyzes whether consumers change their demand for food between 2019 and 2020 in Japan, where the legal action was not implemented to restrict consumer behavior. Using the home scan data, 25 food items, including eating out and delivery, were analyzed to see the impact of COVID-19. Results show that the increase in shares of expenditure is mainly related to consumption in the home in 2020, while that for eating out turned into a significant decrease. The estimated own price elasticity and expenditure elasticity of demand shows that ingredients for home cooking are more substitutive with eating out and more complementary within the ingredients in 2020.
Intimate partner violence experienced by women living with—and without—disability in the European Union. A quantitative intersectional analysis
Authors: Rodriguez Martinez Pilar
Published: August 2022

This article aims to explore the specific combination and interactions of inequalities associated with experiencing Intimate Partner Violence that affects European women living with—or without—a disability. The analysis is based on the survey carried out by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) between 2010 and 2012. In that survey, 42,002 women were interviewed, with a representative sample of women from each of the 28 countries of the European Union. We try to elucidate through a multiple logistic regression analysis if the experience of IPV is something that can simply be added to—or overlap with—social categories (feeling of household income, educational level, and marital status), the aggressor (partner abusing alcohol, partner violent against others), the relationship (duration, equal say in economic decisions), and the previous experience of IPV. The result of the analysis shows that living with a disability intersects with low income, which comes hand in hand with experiencing more violence. Other interactions like living with a disability when the woman is under 15 years and living with a disability and the partner abusing alcohol are also relevant. In terms of social policies, our result should induce investment in IPV prevention policies among poor women who live with a disability, who have a history of physical violence, and whose partners abuse alcohol.
Possibilities and constraints of rapid online ethnography: Lessons from a rapid assessment of COVID-19 policy for people who use drugs
Authors: Eaves Emery R. , Trotter Robert T. , Marquez Bonnie , Negron Kayla , Doerry Eck , Mensah David , Compton-Gore Kate A. , Lanzetta Shana A. , Kruithoff Kathryn , Dykman Kaitlyn , Baldwin Julie A.
Published: August 2022

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, health care provision changed rapidly and funding became available to assess pandemic-related policy change. Research activities, however, were limited to contactless, online delivery. It was clear early on that some elements of online rapid ethnography were feasible and effective, while others would not approach traditional ethnographic depth. We conducted an online Rapid Assessment, Response, and Evaluation (RARE) project from August 2020 to September 2021 to understand how COVID-19 policy impacted people who use drugs. Our interdisciplinary research team conducted online ethnographic interviews and focus groups with 45 providers and community stakeholders, and 19 clients from rural and urban areas throughout Arizona. In addition, 26 webinars, online trainings, and virtual conferences focused on opioid policy and medication for opioid use disorders (MOUD) were opportunities to observe conversations among providers and program representatives about how best to implement policy changes, how to reach people in recovery, and what aspects of the changes should carry forward into better all-around opioid services in the future. Our RARE project was successful in collecting a range of providers' perspectives on both rural and urban implementation of take-home MOUDs as well as a wide view of national conversations, but client perspectives were limited to those who were not impacted by the policies and continued to attend in-person daily clinic visits. We describe challenges to online rapid ethnography and how online research may have allowed for an in-depth, but incomplete picture of how policy changes during COVID-19 policy affected people with opioid use disorders.
Friction Torque Analysis and Verification of Planetary Thread Roller Bearing
Authors: Liu Lu , Zhang Congcong , Guo Yanqing , Bian Yuxiang , Fu Yongling , Ning Yifan , Zhou Jinjie
Published: August 2022

A planetary thread roller bearing (PTRB) is a state-of-the-art component in electromechanical actuators (EMA) due to its high load-bearing capacity and small volume. The study of the PTRB is a leading task in the domain of EMA application. In this study, we propose a mathematical model of PTRB friction torque on its working principle and causes. Specifically, the impact of basic properties of the PTRB on friction torque, i.e., rotating speed and external load, are modeled and analyzed. To verify the variation principle of friction torque, experiments are carried out on an actual PTRB. For the test PTRB, the rotating speed ranges from 200 to 2000 rpm with a reverse load from 2000 to 30,000 N at a constant temperature of 55 °C. Experimental results verify the effectiveness of the mathematical model under conditions of 200–2000 rpm rotating speed and 2000–30,000 N external load, which establish strong evidence for model accuracy and robustness.
A Global ArUco-Based Lidar Navigation System for UAV Navigation in GNSS-Denied Environments
Authors: Qiu Ziyi , Lin Defu , Jin Ren , Lv Junning , Zheng Zhangxiong
Published: August 2022

With the continuous expansion of the application field of UAV intelligent systems to GNSS-denied environments, the existing navigation system can hardly meet low cost, high precision, and high robustness in such conditions. Most navigation systems used in GNSS-denied environments give up the connection between the map frame and the actual world frame, making them impossible to apply in practice. Therefore, this paper proposes a Lidar navigation system based on global ArUco, which is widely used in large-scale known GNSS-denied scenarios for UAVs. The system jointly optimizes the Lidar, inertial measurement unit, and global ArUco information by factor graph and outputs the pose in the real-world frame. The system includes a method to update the global ArUco confidence with sampling, improving accuracy while using the pose solved from the global ArUco. The system uses the global ArUco to maintain navigation when Lidar is degraded. The system also has a loop closure determination part based on ArUco, which reduces the consumption of computing resources. The navigation system has been tested in the dry coal shed of a thermal power plant using a UAV platform. Experiments demonstrate that the system can achieve global, accurate, and robust pose estimation in large-scale, complex GNSS-denied environments.
Nonlinear Dynamic Modeling of Joints between Solar Panels on Spacecraft
Authors: Wu Shuang , Zhao Zhijun , Liang Dongping , Li Qunzhi , Zhao Shougen
Published: August 2022

Multiple linear and nonlinear dynamic parameters of the joints at the root of solar panels and between solar panels on spacecraft, both of which have complex nonlinear dynamic properties, were identified by using the force state mapping method for modeling complex nonlinear joints in deployable mechanisms of spacecraft, and the differential equations representing the nonlinear dynamic model of the joints were derived. On the basis of the actual force characteristics of the joints, test systems were developed to investigate the vibration response of the complex nonlinear joints in spacecraft so as to acquire test data necessary for the identification. The relation between the moment and bending angle of the panel root and inter-panel joints on spacecraft was obtained through vibration tests under various frequencies and excitation forces. The validity and effectiveness of the dynamic model have been verified by vibration tests of the joints under pulsed excitation. The parameters identified in this paper reflect the nonlinear stiffness, friction and damping characteristics of the joints. The dynamic model established based on these parameters can describe multiple linear and nonlinear dynamic properties of the joints and can be further applied in modeling and control of the entire spacecraft system.
Establishment of Non-Destructive Methods for the Detection of Amylose and Fat Content in Single Rice Kernels Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy
Authors: Fan Shuang , Xu Zhuopin , Cheng Weimin , Wang Qi , Yang Yang , Guo Junyao , Zhang Pengfei , Wu Yuejin
Published: August 2022

For the efficient selection of high-quality rice varieties, the near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technique has been widely applied to detect constituents in single rice kernels. Compared with other constituents, amylose content (AC) and fat content (FC) are the key parameters that can affect the quality of rice. Based on two modified AC and FC trace detection methods, two NIRS methods to detect AC and FC in single rice kernels were developed. Using the proposed methods, the AC and FC in two groups of rice kernel datasets were measured. The datasets were collected on two spectrometers with different sample movement states (static and dynamic) and measurement modes (diffuse reflectance (NIRr) and diffuse transmission (NIRt)). By optimizing the pre-treatment method and spectral range, the determination coefficients of cross-validation (R2cv) and prediction (R2p) of the NIRS models under different measurement conditions were all above 0.6. The results indicated that the proposed methods were applicable to the rapid, non-destructive detection and sorting of individual rice seeds with different AC and FC, and it was shown that these methods can meet the requirements of the rough screening of rice seed varieties.
The Effect of Cotton Lint from Agribusiness in Diets on Intake, Digestibility, Nitrogen Balance, Blood Metabolites and Ingestive Behaviour of Rams
Authors: Zanine Anderson , Castro Wanderson , Ferreira Daniele , Sousa Alexandre , Parente Henrique , Parente Michelle , Santos Edson , Geron Luiz , Lima Anny Graycy , Ribeiro Marinaldo , Rodrigues Arlan , Sá Cledson , Costa Renata , Nascimento Thiago Vinicius , Santos Francisco Naysson , Negrão Fagton
Published: August 2022

This study aimed to evaluate intake, digestibility, nitrogen balance, ingestive behavior, and blood parameters of sheep fed with cotton lint levels. Twenty rams weighing 30.2 ± 3.7 kg and aged 12 ± 1.3 months were distributed in a completely randomized design, with four treatments and five repetitions. Diets consisted of 50% roughage and 50% concentrate. The treatments consisted of replacing corn with cotton lint at levels of 0, 70, 140, and 210 g/kg of dry matter (DM) of the diets. The animals’ feeding behavior was determined in the last three days of the experimental period. Data were subjected to regression analysis. Decreased linear effect (p < 0.05) was observed for the nutritional fraction’s intake. However, neutral detergent fibre (NDF) intake and plasma urea-N were not affected (p > 0.05) by lint levels. Apparent digestibility of DM, crude protein (CP), ethereal extract (EE), and non-fibrous carbohydrate (NFC) were affected (p < 0.05), except for total carbohydrate. There was a decreased linear effect (p < 0.05) for the intake efficiency of DM and NDF in g/h. The nitrogen balance (g/day) and glucose levels (mg/dL) were reduced with the addition of lint in the diet. The addition of cotton lint up to 70 g/kg in DM can be used over a short-term period.
Prediction of Corn Yield in the USA Corn Belt Using Satellite Data and Machine Learning: From an Evapotranspiration Perspective
Authors: Ji Zhonglin , Pan Yaozhong , Zhu Xiufang , Zhang Dujuan , Dai Jiajia
Published: August 2022

The reliable prediction of corn yield for the United States of America is essential for effective food and energy management of the world. Three satellite-derived variables were selected, namely enhanced vegetation index (EVI), leaf area index (LAI) and land surface temperature (LST). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) was used for regression, while random forest (RF), support vector regression (SVR) and long short-term memory (LSTM) methods were selected for machine learning. The three variables serve as inputs to these methods, and their efficacy in predicting corn yield was assessed in relation to evapotranspiration (ET). The results confirmed that a high level of performance can be achieved for yield prediction (mean predicted R2 = 0.63) by combining EVI + LAI + LST with the four methods. Among them, the best results were obtained by using LSTM (mean predicted R2 = 0.67). EVI and LST provided extra and unique information in peak and early growth stages for corn yield, respectively, and the usefulness of including LAI was not readily apparent across the whole season, which was consistent with the field growing conditions affecting the ET of corn. The satellite-derived data and the methods used in this study could be used for predicting the yields of other crops in different regions.
Effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Supplementation on Reproductive Performance and Ruminal Digestibility of Queue Fine de l’Ouest Adult Rams Fed a Wheat Straw-Based Diet
Authors: Ben Saïd Samia , Jabri Jihene , Amiri Sihem , Aroua Mohamed , Najjar Amel , Khaldi Sana , Maalaoui Zied , Kammoun Mohamed , Mahouachi Mokhtar
Published: August 2022

This study aimed to investigate the effect of supplementing a wheat straw-based diet with Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S.C.) on feed intake, nutrient digestibility, nitrogen balance, body weight and reproduction performance. The experiment was conducted on 14 Queue Fine de l’Ouest rams between 3 and 4 years of age (body weight (B.W.): 54.7 ± 2.03 kg; body condition score (B.C.S.): 3.5 ± 0.5), for 80 days during the breeding season. The rams were divided into two homogenous groups (n = 7), housed individually in floor pens, and allocated to two dietary treatments. The control group was offered a basal diet of 1 kg/d of wheat straw and 700 g of concentrate. The experimental group (yeast) received the same basal diet supplemented with 10 g of S.C./head/day. The results indicated that the S.C. supplementation had no significant effect on the animal’s body weight, volume and concentration of semen, dry matter intake, crude protein digestibility and nitrogen balance. Compared to the control group, the S.C. addition improved (p < 0.05) the digestibility of dry matter by 7.3%, organic matter by 11.9% and crude fiber by 24%. In addition, the mass motility score increased for the yeast group compared to the control (3.7 ± 0.24 vs. 1.9 ± 0.27, p < 0.05). The total number of dead and abnormal spermatozoa decreased for the yeast group in contrast to the control group (9.28 ± 0.95 vs. 26.8 ± 3.85% and 25.5 ± 3.33 vs. 59.2 ± 2.78%, respectively; p < 0.05). These results showed that adding S.C. to Queue Fine de l’Ouest ram’s diet during breeding season could improve nutrient digestibility and reproductive performance.
Exogenous Spermidine Optimizes Nitrogen Metabolism and Improves Maize Yield under Drought Stress Conditions
Authors: Dong Ling , Li Lijie , Meng Yao , Liu Hongliang , Li Jing , Yu Yang , Qian Chunrong , Wei Shi , Gu Wanrong
Published: August 2022

This study was to explore the nitrogen metabolism and transcriptome mechanism of spermidine (Spd) under drought stress conditions. Firstly, maize variety Xianyu 335 (drought insensitive type) and Fenghe 1 (drought sensitive type) were chosen as experimental materials under hydroponic conditions. The effects of PEG-6000 combined with Spd application on nitrogen metabolism were studied. Secondly, we chose maize variety Xianyu 335 for the field experiment. At the flowering stage, normal water treatment and moderate drought stress were carried out, respectively. The results showed that: (1) Hydroponics experiment showed that the content of NH4+ in the leaves of maize seedlings under drought stress increased significantly, while the content of NO3− and nitrate reductase (NR), glutamine synthetase (GS), glutamate synthase (GOGAT), glutamine dehydrogenase (GDH), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) increased significantly. Spd can promote the assimilation of excess ammonia by enhancing the activities of ammonia assimilating enzymes GS/GOGAT and GDH, and transaminase (GOT and GPT), effectively alleviate the ammonia toxicity and nitrogen metabolism disorder induced by drought stress. (2) Pot experiment showed that Spd significantly promoted the root growth of maize under drought stress, so as to improve the absorption and utilization of water and nutrients. In addition, Spd can improve the chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rate of maize leaves under drought stress. After the application of exogenous Spd, the photosynthetic green leaf area increased, the leaf senescence rate slowed down, and the dry matter accumulation increased after anthesis, resulting in the increase of grain weight and grain number per ear, and finally improve the maize yield.
A Real-Time Sorting Robot System for Panax Notoginseng Taproots Equipped with an Improved Deeplabv3+ Model
Authors: Zhang Fujie , Lin Yuhao , Zhu Yinlong , Li Lixia , Cui Xiuming , Gao Yongping
Published: August 2022

The classification of the taproots of Panax notoginseng is conducive to improving the economic added value of its products. In this study, a real-time sorting robot system for Panax notoginseng taproots was developed based on the improved DeepLabv3+ model. The system is equipped with the improved DeepLabv3+ classification model for different grades of Panax notoginseng taproots. The model uses Xception as the taproot feature extraction network of Panax notoginseng. In the residual structure of the Xception network, a group normalization layer with deep separable convolution is adopted. Meanwhile, the global maximum pooling method is added in the Atrous Spatial Pyramid Pooling (ASPP) part to retain more texture information, and multiple shallow effective feature layers are designed to overlap in the decoding part to minimize the loss of features and improve the segmentation accuracy of Panax notoginseng taproots of all grades. The model test results show that the Xception-DeepLabv3+ model performs better than VGG16-U-Net and ResNet50-PSPNet models, with a Mean Pixel Accuracy (MPA) and a Mean Intersection over Union (MIoU) of 78.98% and 88.98% on the test set, respectively. The improved I-Xce-DeepLabv3+ model achieves an average detection time of 0.22 s, an MPA of 85.72%, and an MIoU of 90.32%, and it outperforms Xce-U-Net, Xce-PSPNet, and Xce-DeepLabv3+ models. The system control software was developed as a multi-threaded system to design a system grading strategy, which solves the problem that the identification signal is not synchronized with the grading signal. The system test results show that the average sorting accuracy of the system is 77% and the average false detection rate is 21.97% when the conveyor belt running speed is 1.55 m/s. The separation efficiency for a single-channel system is 200–300 kg/h, which can replace the manual work of three workers. The proposed method meets the requirements of current Panax notoginseng processing enterprises and provides technical support for the intelligent separation of Panax notoginseng taproots.
IoAT Enabled Smart Farming: Urdu Language-Based Solution for Low-Literate Farmers
Authors: Cheema Sehrish Munawar , Ali Muhammad , Pires Ivan Miguel , Gonçalves Norberto Jorge , Naqvi Mustahsan Hammad , Hassan Maleeha
Published: August 2022

The agriculture sector is the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, reflecting 26% of its GPD and 43% of the entire labor force. Smart and precise agriculture is the key to producing the best crop yield. Moreover, emerging technologies are reducing energy consumption and cost-effectiveness for saving agricultural resources in control and monitoring systems, especially for those areas lacking these resources. Agricultural productivity is thwarted in many areas of Pakistan due to farmers’ illiteracy, lack of a smart system for remote access to farmland, and an absence of proactive decision-making in all phases of the crop cycle available in their native language. This study proposes an internet of agricultural things (IoAT) based smart system armed with a set of economical, accessible devices and sensors to capture real-time parameters of farms such as soil moisture level, temperature, soil pH level, light intensity, and humidity on frequent intervals of time. The system analyzes the environmental parameters of specific farms and enables the farmers to understand soil and environmental factors, facilitating farmers in terms of soil fertility analysis, suitable crop cultivation, automated irrigation and guidelines, harvest schedule, pest and weed control, crop disease awareness, and fertilizer guidance. The system is integrated with an android application ‘Kistan Pakistan’ (prototype) designed in bilingual, i.e., ‘Urdu’ and ‘English’. The mobile application is equipped with visual components, audio, voice, and iconic and textual menus to be used by diverse literary levels of farmers.
An R2R3-Type Transcription Factor OsMYBAS1 Regulates Seed Germination under Artificial Accelerated Aging in Transgenic Rice (Oryza sativa L.)
Authors: Wu Rong , Ding Yunqian , Li Chenyong , Wu Bangkui , Huang Zhongji , Li Zhenan , Wang Xiaomin , Zhao Guangwu
Published: August 2022

MYB-type transcription factors play an essential regulatory role in seed germination and the response to seedling establishment stress. This study isolated a rice R2R3-MYB transcription factor, OsMYBAS1, and functionally characterized its role in seed germination. There was no significant difference in the germination rate of each transgenic line in the standard germination test. However, compared to the germination rate of the wild type (WT) measured in the artificial accelerated aging test, the germination rates of the overexpression lines OE-OsMYBAS1-1 and OE-OsMYBAS1-2 were significantly increased by 25.0% and 21.7%, respectively. In contrast, the germination rates of the knockout mutants osmybas1-1 and osmybas1-2 were decreased by 21.7% and 33.3%, respectively. Additionally, the above data indicated that OsMYBAS1 possibly plays a positive role in rice seed germination. Moreover, the antioxidant enzyme activities of OsMYBAS1-overexpressing plants were enhanced by 38.5% to 151.0% while the superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activity of osmybas1 mutants was decreased by 27.5%, and the malondialdehyde (MDA) content was increased by 24.7% on average. Interestingly, the expression of the antioxidation-related genes OsALDH3, OsAPX3, and OsCATC was enhanced in the OsMYBAS1 overexpression lines, which is consistent with the above results. Furthermore, transcriptome sequencing determined 284 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which were mainly involved in the carbohydrate metabolic process, glycerolipid metabolism, and glycerophospholipid metabolism. Therefore, these findings provide valuable insight into the breeding of new rice varieties with high seed germination.
Tender Leaf Identification for Early-Spring Green Tea Based on Semi-Supervised Learning and Image Processing
Authors: Yang Jie , Chen Yong
Published: August 2022

Tea is one of the most common beverages in the world. Automated machinery that is suitable for plucking high-quality green tea is necessary for tea plantations and the identification of tender leaves is one of the key techniques. In this paper, we proposed a method that combines semi-supervised learning and image processing to identify tender leaves. Both in two-dimensional and three-dimensional space, the three R, G, and B components of tender leaves and their backgrounds were trained and tested. The gradient-descent method and the Adam algorithm were used to optimize the objective function, respectively. The results show that the average accuracy of tender leaf identification is 92.62% and the average misjudgment rate is 18.86%. Our experiments have shown that green tea tender leaves in early spring can be identified effectively using the model based on semi-supervised learning, which has strong versatility and perfect adaptability, so as to improve the problem of deep learning requiring a large number of labeled samples.
Irrigation Decision Support Systems (IDSS) for California’s Water–Nutrient–Energy Nexus
Authors: Jha Gaurav , Nicolas Floyid , Schmidt Radomir , Suvočarev Kosana , Diaz Dawson , Kisekka Isaya , Scow Kate , Nocco Mallika A.
Published: August 2022

California has unsustainable use of agricultural water and energy, as well as problems of severe drought, nitrate pollution and groundwater salinity. As the leading producer and exporter of agricultural produce in the United States, 5.6 percent of California’s energy is currently used for pumping groundwater. These problems and new regulatory policies (e.g., Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program) pressure growers to schedule, account and maintain records of water, energy and nutrients needed for crop and soil management. Growers require varying levels of decision support to integrate different irrigation strategies into farm operations. Decision support can come from the public or private sector, where there are many tradeoffs between cost, underlying science, user friendliness and overall challenges in farm integration. Thus, effective irrigation management requires clear definitions, decision support and guidelines for how to incorporate and evaluate the water–nutrient–energy nexus benefits of different practices and combinations of practices under shifting water governance. The California Energy Commission-sponsored Energy Product Evaluation Hub (Cal-EPE Hub) project has a mission of providing science-based evaluation of energy-saving technologies as a direct result of improved water management for irrigation in agriculture, including current and future irrigation decision support systems in California. This project incorporates end-user perceptions into evaluations of existing decision support tools in partnership with government, agricultural and private stakeholders. In this article, we review the policy context and science underlying the available irrigation decision support systems (IDSS), discuss the benefits/tradeoffs and report on their efficacy and ease of use for the most prevalent cropping systems in California. Finally, we identify research and knowledge-to-action gaps for incorporating irrigation decision support systems into new incentives and requirements for reporting water and energy consumption as well as salinity and nitrogen management in the state of California.
Machine Learning-Based Hyperspectral and RGB Discrimination of Three Polyphagous Fungi Species Grown on Culture Media
Authors: Piekarczyk Jan , Wójtowicz Andrzej , Wójtowicz Marek , Jasiewicz Jarosław , Sadowska Katarzyna , Łukaszewska-Skrzypniak Natalia , Świerczyńska Ilona , Pieczul Katarzyna
Published: August 2022

In this study, three fungi species (Botrytis cinerea, Rhizoctonia solani, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) were discriminated using hyperspectral and red-green-blue (RGB) data and machine learning methods. The fungi were incubated at 25 °C for 10 days on potato dextrose agar in Petri dishes. The Hyperspectral data were acquired using an ASD spectroradiometer, which measures reflectance with 3 and 10 nm bandwidths over the range 350–1000 nm and the range 1000–2500 nm, respectively. The RGB images were collected using a digital Canon 450D camera equipped with the DIGIC 3 processor. The research showed the possibility of distinguishing the analysed fungi species based on hyperspectral curves and RGB images and assessing this differentiation using machine learning statistical methods (extreme boosting machine with bootstrap simulation). The best results in analysed fungi discrimination based on hyperspectral data were achieved using the Principal Component Analysis method, in which the average values of recognition and accuracy for all three species were 0.96 and 0.93, respectively. The wavelengths of the shortwave infrared (SWIR) wavelength region appeared to be the most effective in distinguishing B. cinerea-R. solani and B. cinerea-S. sclerotiorum, while of the visible range (VIS) of electromagnetic spectrum in discrimination of R. solani-S. sclerotiorum. The hyperspectral reflectance data were strongly correlated with the intensity of the pixels in the visible range (R2 = 0.894–0.984). The RGB images proved to be successfully used primarily for the identification of R. solani (recognition = 0.90, accuracy = 0.79) and S. sclerotiorum (recognition = 0.84, accuracy = 0.76). The greatest differences in the intensity of the pixels between B. cinerea and R. solani as well as R. solani and S. sclerotiorum occurred in the blue band and in distinguishing B. cinerea and S. sclerotiorum in the red band.
Chlorpyrifos Removal in an Artificially Contaminated Soil Using Novel Bacterial Strains and Cyclodextrin. Evaluation of Its Effectiveness by Ecotoxicity Studies
Authors: Lara-Moreno Alba , Morillo Esmeralda , Merchán Francisco , Madrid Fernando , Villaverde Jaime
Published: August 2022

The removal of chlorpyrifos (CLP) from the environment is a matter of general interest, because it is one of the most widely used insecticides in the world but presents a high toxicity and persistence in the environment. Biological strategies are considered as a good option to remediate different environmental compartments. Assisted natural attenuation was used to find the ability of different kinds of soils to mineralise CLP. In this way, two soils showed the capacity to degrade CLP (R and LL up to 47.3% and 61.4% after 100 d, respectively). Thus, two CLP-degrading strains, Bacillus megaterium CCLP1 and Bacillus safensis CCLP2 were isolated from them, showing the capacity to degrade up to 99.1 and 98.9% of CLP in a solution with an initial concentration of 10 mg L−1 after 60 d. Different strategies were considered for increasing the effectiveness of soil bioremediation: (i) biostimulation, using a nutrients solution (NS); (ii) bioaugmentation, using B. megaterium CCLP1 or B. safensis CCLP2; (iii) bioavailability enhancement, using randomly methylated β-cyclodextrin (RAMEB), a biodegradable compound. When bioaugmentation and RAMEB were jointly inoculated and applied, the best biodegradation results were achieved (around 70%). At the end of the biodegradation assay, a toxicity test was used to check the final state of the bioremediated soil, observing that when the degrading strains studied were individually inoculated into the soil, the toxicity was reduced to undetectable levels.
At Which Spatial Scale Does Crop Diversity Enhance Natural Enemy Populations and Pest Control? An Experiment in a Mosaic Cropping System
Authors: Jaworski Coline C. , Thomine Eva , Rusch Adrien , Lavoir Anne-Violette , Xiu Chunli , Ning Di , Lu Yanhui , Wang Su , Desneux Nicolas
Published: August 2022

The importance of plant richness to enhance the presence, biodiversity and efficiency of natural enemies in agricultural systems has largely been studied and demonstrated these last decades. Planting and preserving non-crop plants or manipulating crop richness in fields are practices that have proven their efficiency. However, the impact of crop-richness continuity in space and time on pests and natural enemies at a landscape scale remains poorly studied. In a two-year study, we assessed the effect of crop richness (single crop vs. multiple crops) on pest and natural enemy abundance and spillover in a field experiment in north-east China. Overall, we found crop diversity had a limited impact on pest and natural enemy abundance at the spatial scale tested (0.025 vs. 0.2 ha). The total pest and natural enemy abundances were not different between single-crop and multi-crop plots in either year, and the community composition at the functional group level was mostly determined by the crop but not crop diversity. However, we found that crop diversity influenced the numeric response of ladybirds to aphids in wheat; their negative response (higher abundance where aphid abundance was lower, suggesting predation) was attenuated in multi-crop plots (no correlation of aphid and ladybird abundance, suggesting the use of alternative resources). This pattern was not found in maize. Finally, crop succession enhanced the spillover of ladybirds from wheat and maize to cotton plots but with limited benefits for aphid control. Because of these limited impacts, we hypothesized that crop diversity may benefit natural enemy populations and enhance pest control at larger spatial scales; while we found similar abundances of ladybirds between our small (0.025–0.2 ha) plots and in large (2 ha) close-by cotton fields, aphid abundances were more than ten times higher in large cotton fields. Our study highlights the need to accurately estimate the spatial scale at which crop biodiversity may benefit pest control, in relation to the ecology of the target pest and natural enemies.