bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Enhancing low velocity impact characteristics of glass fiber laminates by short fiber reinforcement—Failure evolution and damage mechanisms
Authors: Singh Manoj K. , Kitey Rajesh
Published: July 2022

For enhancing impact characteristics, woven glass fiber epoxy laminates are reinforced with short fibers. The 6‐mm‐long slender fillers, when added up to 4% in the matrix, exhibit no influence on the flexural modulus, but at 2% they maximize the laminate's flexural strength. While the dissipation energy continues to increase up to 30 J of impact, the laminates' post‐impact load bearing capacity gets significantly affected beyond 20 J. The reinforced laminates exhibit better elastic response and enhanced damage resistance with as high as 50% reduction in the visible damage area as well as up to 35% increase in the damage initiation force. The degree of damage shows excellent correlation with the visible damage area. The distinct through thickness conical region, diverging from the impact site, is attributed to the presence of microcracks oriented along the fiber directions. The cone boundary, from where the interlaminar failure initiates, is largely the manifestation of transverse matrix cracks. While the damage cone with greater divergence indicates reduced impact resistance of the laminate, the orientation of transverse matrix cracks remains unaffected by the impact energy or the filler content. At low impact energies, the failure initiated from the fiber/matrix interfaces, coalesce to form the matrix cracks, which act as a precursor to the interlaminar failure. However, at high energy levels, several failure mechanisms simultaneously develop with no clear indication of the order of damage evolution. The short fibers enhance the laminate's impact resistance either by arresting the cracks or by developing tortuous crack path with high energy dissipation.
Polyethylene crosslinking using the epoxy‐anhydride reaction I: A strategy for a curing process with high thermal sensitivity
Authors: Lawry Kevin , Bernales Varinia , Cogen Jeffrey , Davies Daniel , Koh Kyoungmoo , Kramer John , Ren Dakai , Rickard Mark , Singh‐Rachford Tanya , Sun Yabin , Peterson Thomas
Published: July 2022

The initiated epoxy‐anhydride reaction was examined as a crosslink motif for effecting cure in functionalized polyethylene for electrical cable insulation applications. A specific challenge for this application is that little to no crosslinking can occur during the processing steps (~140°C), but crosslinking must be rapid and complete within a few minutes during the curing process (~200°C). To achieve this, we coupled the kinetics of the formation of an initiator for the epoxy‐anhydride reaction to the crosslinking step to achieve a phenomenological temperature sensitivity or “latency” that would be difficult to access via a single simple reaction. Evaluations of different imidazolium and phosphonium salts as initiator precursors were conducted with model compounds in solution, and specific salts were chosen for polymer studies based on the ratio of the phenomenological rates measured for the model reaction at ~140°C and ~200°C. In polymer studies using epoxide‐functional poly(ethylene), high crosslinking rates were observed at ~200°C while crosslinking was minimal at ~140°C. However, inclusion of the anhydride‐functional polyethylene in the formulation led to loss of initiator latency, and significant crosslinking was observed at ~140°C. A reaction between the anhydride or an impurity and initiator precursor is postulated to produce a kinetically‐competent initiator at lower temperatures that destroys latency.
Anticoagulant rodenticide blood‐clotting dose‐responses and resistance factors for Tyrosine139Cysteine (Y139C) heterozygous‐ and homozygous‐resistant house mice (Mus musculus)
Authors: Baxter Mhairi Alyson , Buckle Alan Peter , Endepols Stefan , Prescott Colin Vittorio
Published: July 2022

Background

The house mouse (Mus musculus) is a globally distributed rodent pest species against which anticoagulant rodenticides are widely used for the protection of human and animal health and the conservation of threatened wildlife. Anticoagulant‐resistant house mice have been known for more than half a century. A house mouse strain was developed in the laboratory that was homozygous resistant for the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) Tyrosine139Cysteine (Y139C) and, subsequently, heterozygous resistant animals were produced from this strain by crossing with the homozygous susceptible strain.

Results

Using blood clotting response tests, resistance factors at the ED50 level in the homozygous resistant strain for the first‐generation anticoagulants warfarin, chlorophacinone, diphacinone and coumatetralyl were in the range 31.5 to 628.0 for males (M) and 21.6 to 628.0 for females (F), thus indicating that Y139C house mice are substantially resistant to all these substances. Resistance factors at the ED50 level for the homozygous strain generated against the second‐generation compounds were: brodifacoum (M, 1.7; F, 1.9), bromadiolone (M, 16.6; F, 21.0), difenacoum (M, 1.2; F, 2.7), difethialone (M, 1.5; F, 1.5), and flocoumafen (M, 0.9; F, 1.2). Equivalent values for the heterozygous strain were: brodifacoum (M, 1.6; F, 1.4), bromadiolone (M, 5.6; F, 6.5), difenacoum (M, 1.0; F, 1.3), difethialone (M, 1.1; F, 1.1), flocoumafen (M, 0.9; F, 1.1).

Conclusion

Y139C SNP homozygous resistant mice are more resistant to anticoagulants than heterozygous resistant animals. All first‐generation anticoagulants are highly resisted and, among the second‐generation compounds, Y139C mice are resistant to bromadiolone and sometimes to difenacoum. © 2022 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
The power of cross‐indication testing: agrochemicals originally stemming from a different indication
Authors: Lamberth Clemens
Published: July 2022

Cross‐indication testing is the assaying of final compounds, but also their intermediates or side products, from one agrochemical indication against target species of other product lines. This approach has proven to be a highly successful source of lead compounds, which led to several important crop protection products. This review article describes, which herbicides came from fungicides and insecticides, how fungicides have been obtained from herbicide and insecticide leads and which insecticides have their roots in herbicide and fungicide chemistry. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.
Effect of Qishen granules on isoproterenol‐induced chronic heart failure in rats evaluated by comprehensive metabolomics
Authors: Liu Shuxin , Xing Junpeng , Zheng Zhong , Liu Zhiqiang , Song Fengrui , Liu Shu
Published: July 2022

Qishen granules (QSG), a Chinese herbal formula, has been widely used in the treatment of myocardial ischemic chronic heart failure (CHF) for many years, but its mechanism of action is still unclear. In this study, comprehensive metabolomics was used to investigate the underlying protective mechanisms of QSG in an isoproterenol‐induced CHF rat model. A total of 14 biomarkers were identified in serum and 34 biomarkers in urine, which were mainly related to fatty acid metabolism, bile acid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, purine metabolism, vitamin metabolism, and inflammation. Finally, 22 markers were selected for quantitative analysis of serum, urine, and fecal samples to verify the reliability of the results of untargeted metabolomics, and the results were similar to those of untargeted metabolomics. The correlation analysis showed that the targeted quantitative endogenous metabolites and CHF‐related indexes were closely related. QSG might alleviate myocardial inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and amino acid metabolism disorder in CHF by regulating the level of endogenous metabolites. This study revealed QSG could regulate potential biomarkers and correlated metabolic pathway, which provided support for the further application of QSG.
Assessment of food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices of street food vendors in Chattogram city, Bangladesh: A cross‐sectional study
Authors: Abid Mohammad Tazrian , Banna Md. Hasan Al , Hamiduzzaman Mohammad , Seidu Abdul‐Aziz , Kundu Satyajit , Rezyona Humayra , Disu Tasnim Rahman , Akter Nargees , Khaleduzzaman Md , Ahinkorah Bright Opoku , Khan Md Shafiqul Islam
Published: July 2022

Introduction

Street food has become popular in developing countries due to its affordability, availability and taste. Maintaining the quality and safety of street food is linked to the vendors’ appropriate food handling practices to reduce foodborne illness. Therefore, this study aimed to assess food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices of street food vendors in Chattogram city, Bangladesh.

Methods

A cross‐sectional study was carried out among 302 street food vendors from December 2020 to March 2021. Data were collected by in‐person interviews through a structured questionnaire. Independent sample t‐tests and one‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare food safety knowledge, attitudes, and practices scores across socio‐demographic variables.

Results

The mean score of food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices was 8.99 (SD = 4.17, range: 1–18), 8.46 (SD = 3.51, range: 1–16) and 17.78 (SD = 5.74, range: 1–34), respectively. The food safety knowledge scores significantly (p < 0.05) differed by the participants’ age, marital status, income, residence and work experience. The average food safety attitudes score significantly (p < 0.05) varied by age, marital status, income, and education level. The average food safety practices score significantly (p < 0.05) differed by the respondents’ education level and work experience.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that food safety knowledge, attitudes, and practices were poor among street food vendors. Therefore, there is a need for strategies and intervention programs such as food safety training and awareness campaigns as well as financial support to improve food safety knowledge, attitudes, and practices which help to reduce foodborne illness.
Gas sensing properties of Mg‐doped graphene for H2S, SO2, SOF2, and SO2F2 based on DFT
Authors: Peng Xiao , Liu Dongsheng , Zhao Feng , Tang Chao
Published: July 2022

Sulfur hexafluoride decompositions have been studied to analyze their adsorption properties on pristine graphene (PG) and Mg‐doped graphene (MgG). First of all, after calculating the formation energy of three Mg doping sites, the T doping site of Mg‐doped graphene is the most stable one. Then, several characteristic structures with different orientations and positions of the gas molecules have been carried out to adsorb on PG and MgG, respectively. By calculating the adsorption energies and distance, the most stable adsorption structure of each gas molecule is obtained. In addition, transferred charge (Qt), the density of states (DOS), the energy of highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) were used to further analyze the conductivity change and chemical stability of each adsorption system. The results indicate that the adsorption interactions of H2S, SO2, SOF2, and SO2F2 on PG are weak. H2S adsorbed on MgG presented physical adsorption, while the adsorption behaviors of SO2, SOF2, and SO2F2 on MgG are chemisorption. And the adsorption strength was SO2F2 > SOF2 > SO2. In short, MgG shows better selectivity and higher sensitivity to SO2, SOF2, and SO2F2 than PG, demonstrating that the MgG material can be used as suitable gas sensing equipment based on SF6 decomposition products detection, which provides a meaningful guide of alkaline earth metal‐doped graphene in the detection of partial discharge and partial overheat in gas‐insulated switchgears (GIS).
Homemade equity offerings via dividend reinvestment and stock purchase plans
Authors: Bond Shaun , Pai Yu‐Jou , Zheng Suyan
Published: July 2022

This paper investigates equity issuances through dividend reinvestment and stock purchase plans (DRSPPs). Using a unique sample collected from security registration filings, we show that firms can issue new shares through DRSPPs without using underwriters and consequently, save a large part of direct costs. This economical form of equity offering helps high dividend paying firms retain a substantial amount of cash flow from operations. With this innovative strategic practice of capital‐raising, we provide direct evidence showing that the pecking order still drives firms' financing. Furthermore, equity offerings via DRSPPs can avoid negative stock market reactions around the issuance date.
A more exhaustive study on the finite‐time and exponential tracking continuous control for constrained‐input mechanical systems: Improved design and experiments
Authors: Zavala‐Río Arturo , Zamora‐Gómez Griselda I. , Sanchez Tonametl , Reyes‐Cortes Fernando , López‐Araujo Daniela J.
Published: July 2022

A more exhaustive study on the finite‐time/exponential tracking continuous control for mechanical systems with input constraints is developed. The resulting control scheme is characterized by the inclusion of position‐error and velocity‐error correction terms which are suitably shaped to achieve the concerned types of convergence. Such a shaping is carried out through control parameters that act as exponential weights on the gained position and velocity errors. As an innovative aspect of the proposal, such exponential weights are not restricted to satisfy a fixed equivalence relation among them but rather a wider comparative one. This gives rise to a wider spectrum of finite‐time convergent closed‐loop trajectories and gives an optional type of (unconventional) exponential convergence (in addition to the conventional one), which enlarges the controller potential for performance adjustment. This is further potentiated through a more generalized saturating structure on the error correction terms, that includes the usual saturating‐proportional saturating‐derivative type one as a particular case. The improved design is supported through a more general analysis based on more general strict Lyapunov functions, stating more solid analytical bases for possible design extensions on the accomplishment of other (more complex) control objectives. The study is further supported through experimental tests on a 3‐degree‐of‐freedom robot manipulator.
Tracking control design for periodic piecewise polynomial systems with multiple disturbances
Authors: Rathinasamy Sakthivel , Narayanan Aravinth , Kwon Ohmin
Published: July 2022

The present study examines the state tracking problem of periodic piecewise polynomial systems subject to multiple disturbances and actuator faults. Specifically, the fundamental period is partitioned into several subintervals and the piecewise matrix polynomial functions can be put together to approximate the dynamics over each period, which are characterized by Bernstein polynomials. Moreover, the system dynamics contains both matched and mismatched disturbances, wherein the matched disturbance is unknown and resulted from some exogenous system, and mismatched case is norm‐bounded. The control law is configured by integrating the output of the disturbance observer with state‐feedback reliable control law. Particularly, a disturbance observer is designed to estimate the disturbance caused by an exogenous system. Besides, by considering time‐varying polynomial Lyapunov function and making use of Bernstein polynomial approach, a set of sufficient conditions is derived which are expressed in terms of linear matrix inequalities. Further, by virtue of MATLAB software the desired controller and observer gain matrices can be computed. In conclusion, the potential and significance of the theoretical findings are confirmed by presenting a numerical example with simulation results.
Confidence interval‐based overload avoidance algorithm for virtual machine placement
Authors: Ahmadi Javad , Toroghi Haghighat Abolfazl , Rahmani Amir Masoud , Ravanmehr Reza
Published: July 2022

Virtualization plays an essential role in decreasing energy consumption and optimizing resource utilization by enabling the creation of virtual machines (VM) and their consolidation through live migration. Excessive migrations and a lack of required VMs are two critical factors in QoS degradation. The current consolidation approaches impose an intensive time complexity and cannot be used in large data centers with hundreds of hosts. This article proposes a framework for dynamic consolidation divided into a QoS‐aware algorithm for overload avoidance and a power‐aware algorithm for VM placement. To compute a safe zone criterion for any VM, relations were suggested by applying an interval estimate with a confidence level. By employing this criterion, the offered algorithm could guarantee the quality of service (QoS), particularly for specific VMs, while avoiding overhead. The VM placement algorithm is developed based on the maximum utilization of active hosts. It provides the capability to control the number of active hosts for the data center manager. The simulation results with real workloads revealed that the proposed framework could decline the amount of service level agreement violations by 78% and the number of migrations by 74%, and energy consumption by up to 13% in comparison with the best results of the benchmark algorithms. Hence, the application of this framework upgrades the QoS of data centers and declines their energy costs.
Analytical solution of the bond strength between ribbed steel bar and engineered cementitious composites considering the fiber bridging effect
Authors: Pan Jiaojiao , Han Jian , Lou Tao , Deng Mingke
Published: July 2022

This paper investigated the analytical solution of the bond strength between ribbed steel bar and engineered cementitious composites (ECC). In this method, ECC cover was regarded as a thick‐walled cylinder subjected to the uniform internal pressure which consisted of an elastic uncracked outer ring and a partially cracked inner ring. For the uncracked outer ring, it can be solved by the elastic mechanics theory. To solve the partially cracked inner ring, two key problems that had to be investigated were the crack width and the tensile stress–crack width relationship of ECC. According to the steady‐state cracking mode, the hoop deformation of ECC was expressed by the equal distribution and then the crack width can be determined. Besides, the fictitious crack model in fracture mechanic was introduced to describe the crack propagation process. Then a trilinear model was applied to reflect the tensile stress–crack width relationship of ECC materials, which considered the combined action of aggregate bridging and fiber bridging on the crack surface. Finally, the comparison between the calculation results and experimental results was carried out to prove the validity of the analytic method of bond strength proposed in this paper. Results indicated that the analytical solution and the experimental data fitted in well with each other. Then parameter analyses were conducted based on the analytical method proposed in this paper.
Effect of design‐based learning on achievement in K‐12 education: A meta‐analysis
Authors: Delen Ibrahim , Sen Sedat
Published: July 2022

Design‐based learning (DBL) offers opportunities to support students' content understanding. Previous DBL studies reported different effect sizes by using the data from one participant group. The goal of this study was to conduct a meta‐analysis that would give a comprehensive picture of how DBL is connected to student achievement in different disciplines. In addition, we explored the moderators influencing achievement in DBL for K‐12 education. After investigating content‐related gains in our meta‐analysis on 37 individual articles with 52 effect sizes, we found that DBL had a positive and large effect ( = 0.602) on achievement in K‐12 education, and the effect size for science ( = 0.703) was higher than mathematics ( = 0.418) education. When considering the strong emphasis on science education in different DBL related frameworks and STEM (science, engineering, technology, and mathematics) education studies, this cumulative understanding could play an important role in the difference between science and mathematics. Studies that had control groups in the same school ( = 0.703) had statistically significantly higher effect sizes compared to studies that included control groups from different schools ( = 0.447). Studies with random assignment ( = 0.258) had statistically significantly smaller effect sizes compared to studies with non‐random assignment ( = 0.623). In addition, the effect of DBL on achievement showed statistically significant differences among different countries. The remaining moderators (school level, content support, measurement type, and experimental design) did not show statistically significant differences in terms of the effect of DBL on student achievement. Our review presents evidence that participating in DBL activities supports student achievement after the intervention, but how students transfer their content gains in other situations needs convincing evidence. To overcome this challenge, future studies can prioritize how to support achievement in state mandated tests to understand DBL's effect on students' content gains in different learning situations.
Prioritizing emotion objects in making sense of student learning of socioscientific issues
Authors: Leung Jessica Shuk Ching , Cheng Maurice Man Wai
Published: July 2022

We advance the understanding of how student emotions relate to their learning of socioscientific issues (SSI). Studies have tended to examine how students' positive and negative emotions about an issue contribute to their learning. However, this approach overlooks the fact that students may have different emotions about different objects (i.e., stakeholders, phenomena, the status quo, and the future) within an issue. In this study, we examined students' patterns of emotion objects with respect to the extent of their conceptual change from a reductionist view to a systems view of obesity. Using a multiple case study design, we tracked the emotion objects of four purposefully selected university students, who demonstrated either significant change or minimal change in their view of obesity. Data were collected over a 12‐week general education course on obesity and 6 months after the course, and included weekly reflective journals and delayed postcourse interviews. We found that students with different extents of conceptual change had distinguishable sets of emotion objects. For example, the emotion objects of students with significant conceptual change included obese people and the food industry. Furthermore, their emotions were more often moral in nature. These findings suggest that moral emotions are an integral part of SSI learning. We make two contributions to the literature. First, we identify the need to attend to and specify emotion objects as key variables in future research on emotions. In practice, teachers should consider strategies that help students attend to the emotion objects that matter for SSI learning. Second, we identify stakeholders as key emotion objects in SSI learning. The expression of moral emotions about stakeholders coincided with conceptual change to a systems view. This implies that future research and the practice of SSI learning should pay attention to students' moral emotions about stakeholders.
Review on the ecotoxicological impacts of plastic pollution on the freshwater invertebrate Daphnia
Authors: Samadi Afshin , Kim Youngsam , Lee Sang‐Ah , Kim Young Jun , Esterhuizen Maranda
Published: July 2022

The environmental impacts of plastic pollution have recently attracted universal attention, especially in the aquatic environment. However, research has mostly been focused on marine ecosystems, even though freshwater ecosystems are equally if not more polluted by plastics. In addition, the mechanism and extent to which plastic pollution affects aquatic biota and the rates of transfer to organisms through food webs eventually reaching humans are poorly understood, especially considering leaching hazardous chemicals. Several studies have demonstrated extreme toxicity in freshwater organisms such Daphnia. When such keystone species are affected by ambient pollution, entire food webs are destabilized and biodiversity is threatened. The unremitting increase in plastic contaminants in freshwater environments would cause impairments in ecosystem functions and structure, leading to various kinds of negative ecological consequences. As various studies have reported the effects on daphnids, a consolidation of this literature is critical to discuss the limitations and knowledge gaps and to evaluate the risk posed to the aquatic environment. This review was undertaken due to the evident need to evaluate this threat. The aims were to provide a meaningful overview of the literature relevant to the potential impact of plastic pollution and associated contaminants on freshwater daphnids as primary consumers. A critical evaluation of research gaps and perspectives is conducted to provide a comprehensive risk assessment of microplastic as a hazard to aquatic environments. We outlined the challenges and limitations to microplastic research in hampering better‐focused investigations that could support the development of new plastic materials and/or establishment of new regulations.
Prediction of traffic noise induced annoyance of vendors through noise indices using structural equation modeling: Artificial neural network model
Authors: Das Chidananda Prasad , Goswami Shreerup , Das Mira
Published: July 2022

Urbanization and population growth, as well as the movement of diverse vehicles on urban roadways, all contribute to excessive noise in the urban acoustic environment. Annoyance, cardiovascular disease, dementia, hypertension, stress, sleeping problem, irritation, hair‐fall, headache, are the most common reported problems due to traffic noise exposure. The “Structural Equation Modeling–Artificial Neural Network Model” was used in the current study to predict traffic noise induced annoyance among 100 vendors whose shops are located from Khandagiri to Baramunda along the National Highway 16 of the smart city Bhubaneswar Odisha. Due to the movement of large number of heavy vehicles as well as medium and light weight vehicles, these roadways remain noisy throughout the day. Moreover, the annoyance questionnaire was developed in compliance with ISO/TS 15666 criteria for assessing annoyance level. The combination of SEM and ANN is rarely seen in acoustics, especially in noise studies. However, in this study, both SEM and ANN are used to predict annoyance using various noise indices. Moreover, the SEM model revealed a significant association between “Equivalent Noise Level” (Leq) and annoyance (p‐value = 0.031), “Minimum Noise Level” (LMin) and annoyance (p‐value = 0.049), “Background Noise Level” (L90) and annoyance (p‐value = 0.047), “Noise Pollution Level” (NPL) and annoyance (p‐value = 0.038). These associations indicate that Leq, LMin, L90 and NPL have a significant effect on annoyance. Furthermore, the PLS algorithm output from the measurement model verified a 47 percent variance in annoyance level. The ANN model confirmed that NPL is the most significant predictor of noise annoyance, followed by LMin, Leq, and L90. Moreover, the ANN model can predict annoyance with an accuracy of 68.5 percent.
Training-Related Stress and Performance in the Military
Authors: Vartanian Oshin , Boscarino Cathy , Jarmasz Jerzy , Zotov Vlad
Published: July 2022

Considerable research has focused on the effects of stress on the performance of military personnel on the battlefield. Less studied are the effects of stress on the performance of military personnel in the course of routine activities such as training. This chapter takes stock of stressors that impact learning and performance on a wide host of training-related activities, including simulated stress. This literature suggests a nuanced relationship between stress and performance in training, and highlights the moderating and mediating effects that social, contextual, and individual-differences factors exert on that relationship. Importantly, although training scenarios aim to mimic realistic levels of stress to develop resilience, it is critical that stress induced in the training environment does not surpass the regulatory abilities of the trainees to cause impairments in learning. Toward that end, we discuss regulatory mechanisms that can be engaged to manage the effect of stress on training-related performance, as well as novel findings from systems neuroscience on how the brain responds to the presence of acute stress.
Childhood Nature Connection and Constructive Hope
Authors: Chawla Louise
Published: July 2022

1. Within a generation, children’s lives have largely moved indoors, with the loss of free-ranging exploration of the nearby natural world, even as research indicates that direct experiences of nature in childhood contribute to care for nature across the life span.

2. In response, many conservation organizations advocate connecting children with nature, and there has been rising interest in measuring young people’s connectedness with nature, understanding how it relates to their well-being and stewardship behaviour and creating programs to increase connection.

3. This article reviews the literature on these topics, covering both quantitative and qualitative studies. It notes that this research emphasizes positive experiences and emotions, even as global environmental changes and biodiversity loss accelerate.

4. Young people’s emotions of worry, frustration and sadness as they learn about environmental degradation also express their understanding that they are connected to the biosphere. Therefore this review includes research on how young people cope with information about large-scale environmental problems, and it identifies practices to sustain hope.

5. The review concludes by suggesting how research on connection with nature and coping with environmental change can benefit from integration.
Chemical characterization of cherry (Prunus avium) extract in comparison with commercial mimosa and chestnut tannins
Authors: Cesprini Emanuele , De Iseppi Alberto , Giovando Samuele , Tarabra Elisa , Zanetti Michela , Šket Primož , Marangon Matteo , Tondi Gianluca
Published: July 2022

In a growing context of green and circular economy, gaining knowledge of the composition of every crop is crucial, as this will allow for their full exploitation. Cherry (Prunus avium L.) is a widespread tree of particular interest for its fruits and its valuable timber. Its wood is rich in extractives and its characterization will allow to consider other applications for this feedstock. In this study, chipped cherry wood was extracted and chemically analysed to determine its total phenolic content, total condensed tannin, antioxidant capacity, and polysaccharide content through wet chemistry analysis. These investigations were coupled with 13C-NMR and FTIR spectrometry, with HPLC as well as elemental analysis to conduct a comprehensive chemical characterization. Thermogravimetric measurements were also taken to understand the behaviour of the extract when exposed to high temperature. The registered findings were benchmarked against commercial mimosa (Acacia mearnsii De Wild.) and chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) tannins which were selected as template for condensed and hydrolysable tannins, respectively. Cherry extract was found to be the poorest in phenolics which are mainly constituted of pyrogallic flavonoids strongly interconnected with significant amounts of polysaccharides.
Evaluation of Full-Length Versus V4-Region 16S rRNA Sequencing for Phylogenetic Analysis of Mouse Intestinal Microbiota After a Dietary Intervention
Authors: Katiraei Saeed , Anvar Yahya , Hoving Lisa , Berbée Jimmy F. P. , van Harmelen Vanessa , Willems van Dijk Ko
Published: July 2022

The composition of microbial communities is commonly determined by sequence analyses of one of the variable (V) regions in the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. We aimed to assess whether sequencing the full-length versus the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene affected the results and interpretation of an experiment. To test this, mice were fed a diet without and with the prebiotic inulin and from cecum samples, two primary data sets were generated: (1) a 16S rRNA full-length data set generated by the PacBio platform; (2) a 16S rRNA V4 region data set generated by the Illumina MiSeq platform. A third derived data set was generated by in silico extracting the 16S rRNA V4 region data from the 16S rRNA full-length PacBio data set. Analyses of the primary and derived 16S rRNA V4 region data indicated similar bacterial abundances, and α- and β-diversity. However, comparison of the 16S rRNA full-length data with the primary and derived 16S rRNA V4 region data revealed differences in relative bacterial abundances, and α- and β-diversity. We conclude that the sequence length of 16S rRNA gene and not the sequence analysis platform affected the results and may lead to different interpretations of the effect of an intervention that affects the microbiota.
Paired Domination in Trees
Authors: Gorzkowska Aleksandra , Henning Michael A. , Kleszcz Elżbieta , Pilśniak Monika
Published: July 2022

A set S of vertices in a graph G is a paired dominating set if every vertex of G is adjacent to a vertex in S and the subgraph induced by S contains a perfect matching (not necessarily as an induced subgraph). The paired domination number, $$\gamma _{\mathrm{pr}}(G)$$

γ
pr

(
G
)

, of G is the minimum cardinality of a paired dominating set of G. In this paper, we show that if T is a tree of order at least 2, then $$\gamma _{\mathrm{pr}}(T) \le 2\alpha (T) - \varphi (T)$$

γ
pr

(
T
)

≤
2
α

(
T
)

-
φ

(
T
)

where $$\alpha (T)$$

α
(
T
)

is the independence number and $$\varphi (T)$$

φ
(
T
)

is the $$P_3$$

P
3

-packing number. We present a tight upper bound on the paired domination number of a tree T in terms of its maximum degree $$\varDelta$$
Δ
. For $$\varDelta \ge 1$$

Δ
≥
1

, we show that if T is a tree of order n with maximum degree $$\varDelta$$
Δ
, then $$\gamma _{\mathrm{pr}}(T) \le \left( \frac{5\varDelta -4}{8\varDelta -4} \right) n + \frac{1}{2}n_1(T) + \frac{1}{4}n_2(T) - \left( \frac{\varDelta -2}{4\varDelta -2} \right)$$

γ
pr

(
T
)

≤

5
Δ
-
4

8
Δ
-
4

n
+

1
2

n
1

(
T
)

+

1
4

n
2

(
T
)

-

Δ
-
2

4
Δ
-
2

, where $$n_1(T)$$

n
1

(
T
)

and $$n_2(T)$$

n
2

(
T
)

denote the number of vertices of degree 1 and 2, respectively, in T. Further, we show that this bound is tight for all $$\varDelta \ge 3$$

Δ
≥
3

. As a consequence of this result, if T is a tree of order $$n \ge 2$$

n
≥
2

, then $$\gamma _{\mathrm{pr}}(T) \le \frac{5}{8} n + \frac{1}{2}n_1(T) + \frac{1}{4}n_2(T)$$

γ
pr

(
T
)

≤

5
8

n
+

1
2

n
1

(
T
)

+

1
4

n
2

(
T
)

, and this bound is asymptotically best possible.
Galectin-3 is elevated in CSF and is associated with Aβ deposits and tau aggregates in brain tissue in Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Boza-Serrano Antonio , Vrillon Agathe , Minta Karolina , Paulus Agnes , Camprubí-Ferrer Lluís , Garcia Megg , Andreasson Ulf , Antonell Anna , Wennström Malin , Gouras Gunnar , Dumurgier Julien , Cognat Emmanuel , Molina-Porcel Laura , Balasa Mircea , Vitorica Javier , Sánchez-Valle Raquel , Paquet Claire , Venero Jose Luis , Blennow Kaj , Deierborg Tomas
Published: July 2022

Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a beta-galactosidase binding protein involved in microglial activation in the central nervous system (CNS). We previously demonstrated the crucial deleterious role of Gal-3 in microglial activation in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Under AD conditions, Gal-3 is primarily expressed by microglial cells clustered around Aβ plaques in both human and mouse brain, and knocking out Gal-3 reduces AD pathology in AD-model mice. To further unravel the importance of Gal-3-associated inflammation in AD, we aimed to investigate the Gal-3 inflammatory response in the AD continuum. First, we measured Gal-3 levels in neocortical and hippocampal tissue from early-onset AD patients, including genetic and sporadic cases. We found that Gal-3 levels were significantly higher in both cortex and hippocampus in AD subjects. Immunohistochemistry revealed that Gal-3+ microglial cells were associated with amyloid plaques of a larger size and more irregular shape and with neurons containing tau-inclusions. We then analyzed the levels of Gal-3 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from AD patients (n = 119) compared to control individuals (n = 36). CSF Gal-3 levels were elevated in AD patients compared to controls and more strongly correlated with tau (p-Tau181 and t-tau) and synaptic markers (GAP-43 and neurogranin) than with amyloid-β. Lastly, principal component analysis (PCA) of AD biomarkers revealed that CSF Gal-3 clustered and associated with other CSF neuroinflammatory markers, including sTREM-2, GFAP, and YKL-40. This neuroinflammatory component was more highly expressed in the CSF from amyloid-β positive (A+), CSF p-Tau181 positive (T+), and biomarker neurodegeneration positive/negative (N+/−) (A + T + N+/−) groups compared to the A + T−N− group. Overall, Gal-3 stands out as a key pathological biomarker of AD pathology that is measurable in CSF and, therefore, a potential target for disease-modifying therapies involving the neuroinflammatory response.
Molecular Regulation of Biosynthesis of Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Atlantic Salmon
Authors: Datsomor Alex K. , Gillard Gareth , Jin Yang , Olsen Rolf E. , Sandve Simen R.
Published: July 2022

Salmon is a rich source of health-promoting omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LC-PUFA), such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3). The LC-PUFA biosynthetic pathway in Atlantic salmon is one of the most studied compared to other teleosts. This has largely been due to the massive replacement of LC-PUFA-rich ingredients in aquafeeds with terrestrial plant oils devoid of these essential fatty acids (EFA) which ultimately pushed dietary content towards the minimal requirement of EFA. The practice would also reduce tissue content of n-3 LC-PUFA compromising the nutritional value of salmon to the human consumer. These necessitated detailed studies of endogenous biosynthetic capability as a contributor to these EFA. This review seeks to provide a comprehensive and concise overview of the current knowledge about the molecular genetics of PUFA biosynthesis in Atlantic salmon, highlighting the enzymology and nutritional regulation as well as transcriptional control networks. Furthermore, we discuss the impact of genome duplication on the complexity of salmon LC-PUFA pathway and highlight probable implications on endogenous biosynthetic capabilities. Finally, we have also compiled and made available a large RNAseq dataset from 316 salmon liver samples together with an R-script visualization resource to aid in explorative and hypothesis-driven research into salmon lipid metabolism.
Towards an axiomatic approach to truth discovery
Authors: Singleton Joseph , Booth Richard
Published: July 2022

The problem of truth discovery, i.e., of trying to find the true facts concerning a number of objects based on reports from various information sources of unknown trustworthiness, has received increased attention recently. The problem is made interesting by the fact that the relative believability of facts depends on the trustworthiness of their sources, which in turn depends on the believability of the facts the sources report. Several algorithms for truth discovery have been proposed, but their evaluation has mainly been performed experimentally by computing accuracy against large datasets. Furthermore, it is often unclear how these algorithms behave on an intuitive level. In this paper we take steps towards a framework for truth discovery which allows comparison and evaluation of algorithms based instead on their theoretical properties. To do so we pose truth discovery as a social choice problem, and formulate various axioms that any reasonable algorithm should satisfy. Along the way we provide an axiomatic characterisation of the baseline ‘Voting’ algorithm—which leads to an impossibility result showing that a certain combination of the axioms cannot hold simultaneously—and check which axioms a particular well-known algorithm satisfies. We find that, surprisingly, our more fundamental axioms do not hold, and propose modifications to the algorithms to partially fix these problems.
Stochastic relaxed inertial forward-backward-forward splitting for monotone inclusions in Hilbert spaces
Authors: Cui Shisheng , Shanbhag Uday , Staudigl Mathias , Vuong Phan
Published: July 2022

We consider monotone inclusions defined on a Hilbert space where the operator is given by the sum of a maximal monotone operatorTand a single-valued monotone, Lipschitz continuous, and expectation-valued operatorV. We draw motivation from the seminal work by Attouch and Cabot (Attouch in AMO 80:547–598, 2019, Attouch in MP 184: 243–287) on relaxed inertial methods for monotone inclusions and present a stochastic extension of the relaxed inertial forward–backward-forward method. Facilitated by an online variance reduction strategy via a mini-batch approach, we show that our method produces a sequence that weakly converges to the solution set. Moreover, it is possible to estimate the rate at which the discrete velocity of the stochastic process vanishes. Under strong monotonicity, we demonstrate strong convergence, and give a detailed assessment of the iteration and oracle complexity of the scheme. When the mini-batch is raised at a geometric (polynomial) rate, the rate statement can be strengthened to a linear (suitable polynomial) rate while the oracle complexity of computing an$$\epsilon $$ϵ-solution improves to$${\mathcal {O}}(1/\epsilon )$$O(1/ϵ). Importantly, the latter claim allows for possibly biased oracles, a key theoretical advancement allowing for far broader applicability. By defining a restricted gap function based on the Fitzpatrick function, we prove that the expected gap of an averaged sequence diminishes at a sublinear rate of$${\mathcal {O}}(1/k)$$O(1/k)while the oracle complexity of computing a suitably defined$$\epsilon $$ϵ-solution is$${\mathcal {O}}(1/\epsilon ^{1+a})$$O(1/ϵ1+a)where$$a > 1$$a>1. Numerical results on two-stage games and an overlapping group Lasso problem illustrate the advantages of our method compared to competitors.
Human-in-the-loop handling of knowledge drift
Authors: Bontempelli Andrea , Giunchiglia Fausto , Passerini Andrea , Teso Stefano
Published: July 2022

We introduce and study knowledge drift (KD), a special form of concept drift that occurs in hierarchical classification. Under KD the vocabulary of concepts, their individual distributions, and the is-a relations between them can all change over time. The main challenge is that, since the ground-truth concept hierarchy is unobserved, it is hard to tell apart different forms of KD. For instance, the introduction of a new is-a relation between two concepts might be confused with changes to those individual concepts, but it is far from equivalent. Failure to identify the right kind of KD compromises the concept hierarchy used by the classifier, leading to systematic prediction errors. Our key observation is that in human-in-the-loop applications like smart personal assistants the user knows what kind of drift occurred recently, if any. Motivated by this observation, we introduce trckd, a novel approach that combines two automated stages—drift detection and adaptation—with a new interactive disambiguation stage in which the user is asked to refine the machine’s understanding of recently detected KD. In addition, trckd implements a simple but effective knowledge-aware adaptation strategy. Our simulations show that, when the structure of the concept hierarchy drifts, a handful of queries to the user are often enough to substantially improve prediction performance on both synthetic and realistic data.
Constant-r geodesics in the Painlevé–Gullstrand form of Lense–Thirring spacetime
Authors: Baines Joshua , Berry Thomas , Simpson Alex , Visser Matt
Published: July 2022

Herein we explore the non-equatorial constant-r (“quasi-circular”) geodesics (both timelike and null) in the Painlevé–Gullstrand variant of the Lense–Thirring spacetime recently introduced by the current authors. Even though the spacetime is not spherically symmetric, shells of constant-r geodesics still exist. Whereas the radial motion is (by construction) utterly trivial, determining the allowed locations of these constant-r geodesics is decidedly non-trivial, and the stability analysis is equally tricky. Regarding the angular motion, these constant-r orbits will be seen to exhibit both precession and nutation — typically with incommensurate frequencies. Thus this constant-r geodesic motion, though integrable in the precise technical sense, is generically surface-filling, with the orbits completely covering a symmetric equatorial band which is a segment of a spherical surface, (a so-called “spherical zone”), and whose latitudinal extent is governed by delicate interplay between the orbital angular momentum and the Carter constant. The situation is qualitatively similar to that for the (exact) Kerr spacetime — but we now see that any physical model having the same slow-rotation weak-field limit as general relativity will still possess non-equatorial constant-r geodesics.
Parental Self-Efficacy and Intra- and Extra-Familial Relationships
Authors: Salo Anne-Elina , Junttila Niina , Vauras Marja
Published: July 2022

Relationships are at the heart of well-being. Parental self-efficacy emerges as a powerful construct for understanding parenting and parent–child relationships. However, person-centered approaches that allow identification of different family-specific configurations of mothers’ and fathers’ parental self-efficacy and potential within-family discrepancies remain scarce. Families are more than the sums of their parts, and holistic approaches are needed to deepen our understanding of potential family-level accumulation of relationship well-being and vulnerability. A latent profile analysis of 249 families of preadolescents identified four family profiles of parental self-efficacy: (1) low–low, (2) low–average, (3) high–average, and (4) high–high (a mother’s–a father’s parental self-efficacy within the family). We further applied the Mplus auxiliary function to explore what characterizes mothers’, fathers’, and their preadolescents’ intra- and extra-familial relationships within these profiles. Belonging to the balanced low parental self-efficacy family profile was associated with intra- and extra-familial relationship vulnerability: mothers, fathers, and preadolescents reported the highest social and emotional loneliness, parents perceived their family communication as less open, and preadolescents were evaluated as the least prosocial (in parent, teacher, and peer evaluations) and as the most antisocial (in parent evaluations). Mothers’, fathers’, and preadolescents’ intra- and extra-familial relationship well-being was the strongest in high parental self-efficacy family profiles. Promoting parental self-efficacy can be a promising way to enhance all family members’ relationship well-being. Moreover, as loneliness experiences accumulated in the balanced low parental self-efficacy family profile, efforts to tackle preadolescents’ loneliness should acknowledge the well-being of all family members.