bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The 1994 Hutu and Tutsi Ethnopolitics Conflict in Rwanda: Genocide Revenge Settlement Through the Gacaca Reconciliation System
Authors: Yakti Probo Darono
Published: July 2022

The conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes that occurred in Rwanda at the end of the 20th century opened the eyes of the international community that ethnic issues could escalate into a political issue which encouraged the crime of genocide. This politicization led to the deaths of more than 800 thousand Tutsis due to planned mass killings by the Hutu government. This justifies Gilroy and Wright's argument about ethnic politicization which can form an exclusive feeling in talking about one's nationality within the state. Likewise with Yun and Synder's opinion about racial issues affecting people's political preferences on a large scale and tend to see negative forms of nationalism when viewed from ethnicity. By using a discourse analysis and qualitative-explanatory research approach, a comprehensive approach is obtained to understand the problem in its entirety and explore the research questions: how to explain the conflict in Rwanda between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes from the aspect of politicizing the identity issue in the era of postcolonialism? In this paper, a number of issues will be raised, namely the fundamental differences between the Hutu and Tutsi, the chronology of the conflicts between the two tribes, the spread of these problems into regional conflicts, investigating the causes, settlement methods, and post-conflict life in Rwanda. So that it concludes that it is true that there is ethnic politicization in Rwanda. The importance of this paper is to be a lesson for other regions of the world that experience the same problems and can offer options for methods of conflict resolution as has been done by Rwanda: reconciliation, accommodation, and the Gacaca system. These four methods require a long process and a sense of relief from each individual community to forgive the actions of their own neighbors who become murderers for their own neighbors. So it is important to make lessons for conflicts based on other ethnic differences.
AUKUS and Australia’s Nuclear-Powered Submarine: A Reinforced Strategic Culture
Authors: Adamy Muhammad Ilham Ramandha
Published: July 2022

Australia’s decision to enter the AUKUS has caused some controversies among regional powers, especially noting the heightened Indo-Pacific discourse lately. But AUKUS isn’t a mere alliance against revisionist power, it has much deeper dan greater significance on Australia’s defence policies. This paper argues that AUKUS reflect the dilemmatic sub-strategic cultures within Australia’s defence policy considerations against the changing strategic environment in Indo-Pacific, the self-reliance and strategic dependence. Strategically, AUKUS presented Australia the opportunity to participate and shaping the Indo-Pacific under US-led initiative and act as technology catalysator on defence sector. Operationally, the nuclear-powered procurement under AUKUS will significantly boost Australia’s submarine fleet capability in sea denial and sea control mission as a part of larger coalition. Using strategic culture lens and studying primary and secondary documents in a qualitative work, the analysis of this paper concludes that AUKUS reflected the return and reinforced pattern of strategic dependence within Australia’s defence policy in the age of Indo-Pacific.
Підвищення ефективності роботи розподілених сховищ даних
Authors: Мамута M. , Ліхоузова T.
Published: July 2022

В статті розглянуто проблему оптимальної обробки та зберігання великих даних. Запропоновано на базі декількох реплік сховища даних підготувати сховище, яке є об’єднанням кількох різних за типом сховищ даних у одному і єадаптивним до задач користувачів. Розроблено комплекс програм, завдяки яким можна здійснити вибір способу введення великих даних, вибір алгоритму зміни внутрішньої будови сховища, виконання алгоритму перетворення, отримання результатів виконання запитів до даних. В систему перетворення внутрішньої будови сховища даних доданоблок, що відповідає за введення в роботу алгоритмів перетворення.Для оцінки швидкодії роботи використано метрики обсягу використаної пам'яті для резервних копій та швидкість виконання запитів до даних. Практичне значення: розробка програмного забезпечення, що використовує існуючі репліки сховища (які створювалися для резервного копіювання) для підвищення швидкодії роботи ізсховищем в цілому. Перевагою запропонованого рішення є те, що немає потреби в додатковому просторі для збереження даних, а додається лише управляючий модуль сховищами.

Бібл. 10, іл. 2, табл. 1.
Концептуальна модель автоматизованого управління конструкторською підготовкою виробництва електронних апаратів
Authors: Cмолій В. , Смолій Н.
Published: July 2022

Об’єктом дослідження є спосіб управління конструкторською підготовкою виробництва електронних апаратів. Робота присвячена зміні концепції управління, перестановці пріоритетів в конструкторській підготовці виробництва нааналіз вібраційних і резонансних властивостей конструкції електронного апарату без змін в процесі виробництва. В результаті застосування пропонованої концепції управління не повинні бути порушена ні технологія виробництва, ні послідовність етапів і стадій виробництва, а повинні бути виключені ітераційні цикли у виробництві і вплив суб'єктивного чинника на кінцеві параметри і компоновку електронного апарату. Метою роботи є вдосконалення способу управління конструкторською підготовкою виробництва електронних апаратів шляхом розробки нової концепції управління, яка спирається на єдиний інформаційний простір компоновки електронного апарату, оперативного управління конструкторською підготовкою виробництва і системи управління ресурсами підприємства.

Бібл. 5, іл. 2.
Genome sequencing and oenologically relevant traits of the Uruguayan native yeast Issatchenkia terricola
Authors: Dourron Juliette , De Ovalle Stefani , González-Pombo Paula , Villarino Andrea , Ramón Ana , Costábile Alicia
Published: July 2022

Issatchenkia terricola 0621 is a non-Saccharomyces yeast strain isolated from Tannat grapes from Uruguayan vineyards; it stands out for its ability to produce high levels of β-glucosidase activity, which contributes to the aromatic complexity of wines. To delve into the potential oenological applications of this strain, its high-quality genome was obtained and explored, allowing the main central carbon and nitrogen metabolic pathways to be reconstructed. I. terricola is able to utilise glycerol as the sole carbon source in a way that has not previously been described for yeasts. The genes of the fermentome and those involved in stress resistance during winemaking were also identified, and differences were found when compared to S. cerevisiae, which may explain why I. terricola is unable to complete fermentation. The pathways responsible for natural aroma synthesis were also reconstructed, and the production of aromatic acids, alcohols, esters, acetates and lactones was verified experimentally. Finally, sequences encoding for β-glucosidases, in addition to the previously characterised one, were identified in the genome. The work presented here lays the groundwork for experimental research focused on the dissection of the metabolism of a native non-Saccharomyces strain and its application for oenological and biotechnological purposes.
Proposed Method of Combining Continuum Mechanics With Einstein Field Equations
Authors: Ogonowski Piotr
Published: July 2022

The article proposes an amendment to the relativistic continuum mechanics which introduce the relationship between density tensors and the curvature of spacetime. The resulting formulation of a symmetric stress-energy tensor for a system with an electromagnetic field, leads to the solution of Einstein Field Equations indicating a relationship between the electromagnetic field tensor and the metric tensor. In this EFE solution, the cosmological constant is related to the invariant of the electromagnetic field tensor, and an additional gravitational pull appears, dependent on the velocity of orbiting bodies and the vacuum energy contained in the system. In flat Minkowski spacetime, the vanishing four-divergence of this stress-energy tensor expresses relativistic Cauchy's momentum equation, leading to the emergence of force densities which can be developed and parameterized to obtain known interactions. Transformation equations were also obtained between spacetime with fields and forces, and a curved spacetime reproducing the motion resulting from the fields under consideration, which allows for the extension of the solution with new fields.
Abnormal in LMNA Triggers a Shift in Intracellular Metabolic Homeostasis Via AMPK Activation
Authors: Zhou Ying , Yang Jia-jie , Cheng Yuan , Feng Ge-xuan , Yang Rong-hui , Yuan Yuan , Wang Li-yong , Kong Lu
Published: July 2022

Laminopathies are a spectrum of diseases caused by LMNA mutations. In familial partial lipodystrophy of Dunnigan (FPLD), LMNA plays role in the differentiation and development of adipocytes and lipid metabolism. Changes in LMNA predict not only the differentiation of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) but also the transformation of cancer cells. Hence, our in-depth study aimed to identify the molecular connection between disordered lipid metabolism and hepatic carcinogenesis. We first discovered significant positive correlations between pLMNA and two key rate-limiting enzymes in de novo fatty acid synthesis, acetyl-CoA-carboxylase 1 (ACC1) and fatty acid synthase (FASN), in the liver tissue but not in adipose tissue of obese model rats. Moreover, LMNA knockdown (KD) in rat AD-MSCs prevented the differentiation and maturation of adipocytes. To clarify the mechanistic relationship with lipogenesis, gain- and loss-of-function experiments in which functional changes and the related molecular pathways were investigated in a normal hepatocyte line (7701 cells). Adenosine 5'-monophosphate activated protein kinase α (AMPKα) was found to be activated by abnormalities in the LMNA structure under conditions of LMNA deletion, farnesyltransferase inhibitor (FTI) treatment and LMNA mutations associated with clinical FPLD pathogenic phenotype. Active AMPKα could directly phosphorylate ACC1 and thus inhibit lipid synthesis but induced glycolysis in both HCC cells and normal cells. The HCC cells could not survive with LMNA knockout (KO) or even KD. Lonafarnib (an FTI) combined with low-glucose conditions significantly decreased the proliferation of HepG2 and MHCC cells by inhibiting glycolysis and the maturation of prelamin A.
Ladderpath Approach: How Tinkering and Reuse Increase Complexity and Information
Authors: Liu Yu , Di Zengru , Gerlee Philip
Published: July 2022

The notion of information and complexity are important concepts in many scientific fields such as molecular biology, evolutionary theory, and exobiology. Many measures of these quantities, either rely on a statistical notion of information, are difficult to compute, or can only be applied to strings. Based on assembly theory, we propose the notion of a \textit{ladderpath}, which describes how an object can be decomposed into a hierarchical structure using repetitive elements. From the ladderpath two measures naturally emerge: the ladderpath-index and the order-index, which represent two axes of complexity. We show how the ladderpath approach can be applied to both strings and spatial patterns and argue that all systems that undergo evolution can be described as ladderpaths. Further, we discuss possible applications to human language and the origins of life. The ladderpath approach provides a novel characterization of the information that is contained in a single object (or a system) and could aid in our understanding of evolving systems and the origin of life in particular.
A Remotely Sensed Study of the Impact of Meteorological Parameters on Vegetation for the Eastern Basins of Afghanistan
Authors: Nabizada Ahmad Farid , Rousta Iman , Dalvi Marjan , Olafsson Haraldur , Siedliska Anna , Baranowski Piotr , Tkaczyk Przemysław , Krzyszczak Jaromir
Published: July 2022

The vulnerability of vegetation in the Middle East to meteorological conditions and climate change, especially those leading to drought, is high. Despite the importance of the Amu Darya and Kabul River Basins (ADB and KRB) as a region in which more than 15 million people live, and its vulnerability to global warming, only several studies addressed the issue of the linkage of meteorological parameters on vegetation for the eastern basins of Afghanistan. In this study, data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM), and Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) to examine the impact of meteorological parameters on vegetation for the eastern basins of Afghanistan for the period from 2000 to 2021. The study utilized several indices, such as Precipitation Condition Index (PCI), Temperature Condition Index (TCI), Soil Moisture Condition Index (SMCI), and Microwave Integrated Drought Index (MIDI). The relationships between meteorological quantities, drought conditions, and vegetation variations were examined by analyzing the anomalies and using regression methods. The results showed that the years 2000, 2001, and 2008 had the lowest vegetation coverage (VC) (56, 56, and 55% of the study area, respectively). On the other hand, the years 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2020 had the highest VC (71, 71, 72, and 72% of the study area, respectively). The trend of the VC for the eastern basins of Afghanistan for the period from 2000 to 2021 was upward. High correlations between VC and soil moisture (R = 0.70, p = 0.0004), and precipitation (R = 0.5, p = 0.008) were found, whereas no significant correlation was found between VC and drought index MIDI. It was revealed that soil moisture, precipitation, land surface temperature, and area under meteorological drought conditions explained 45% of annual VC variability.
Melatonin Decreases Acute Inflammatory Response to Neural Probe Insertion
Authors: Krahe Daniela D. , Woeppel Kevin M. , Yang Qianru , Kushwah Neetu , Cui Xinyan Tracy
Published: July 2022

Neural electrode insertion trauma impedes the recording and stimulation capabilities of numerous diagnostic and treatment avenues. Implantation leads to the activation of inflammatory markers and cell types, which is detrimental to neural tissue health and recording capabilities. Oxidative stress and inflammation at the implant site have been shown to decrease with chronic administration of antioxidant melatonin at week 16, but its effects on the acute landscape have not been studied. To assess the effect of melatonin administration in the acute phase, specifically the first week post-implantation, we utilized histological and q-PCR methods to quantify cellular and molecular indicators of inflammation and oxidative stress as well as two-photon microscopy to track the microglial responses in real-time. Histological results indicate that melatonin effectively maintained neuron density surrounding the electrode, inhibited accumulation and activation of microglia, astrocytes, and reduced oxidative tissue damage. The expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α and IL-6, were significantly reduced in melatonin-treated animals. Additionally, microglia encapsulation of the implant surface was inhibited by melatonin as compared to control animals following implantation. Our results combined with previous research suggest that melatonin is a particularly suitable drug for modulating inflammatory activity around neural electrode implants both acutely and chronically, translating to more stable and reliable interfaces.
A Systematic Review of Blockchain Technology in Current Epoch: Applications, Adoption Challenges, and Opportunities
Authors: Nouman Muhammad , Azam Muhammad , Rehman Gill Ahsan
Published: July 2022

Blockchain innovation stands out enough to be noticed and adopted in various countries and organizations around the world. Many businesses, including finance, medical services, inventory networks, security, libraries, and the internet of things, are currently under attack. For the benefit of the blockchain, many businesses incorporate blockchain technology into their frameworks. Despite its solidarity, blockchain faces a few challenges in security, protection, adaptability, and other areas. This paper examines the forward leap in blockchain innovation, as well as its applications and challenges. While many blockchain papers focus on digital currencies, IoT, and security, this paper focuses on the overall best in a class of blockchain innovation, its new twists and turns, and choices, particularly in areas other than cryptographic forms of money. The investigators' goal is to provide a thorough audit of the cryptography underlying blockchain to better understand the innovation. The examiners also conduct general research on people and venture blockchains, as well as future exploration opportunities and their implications for blockchain innovation.
Evaluating the Sensitivity of Heat Wave Definitions Among North Carolina Physiographic Regions
Authors: Puvvula Jagadeesh , Abadi Azar , Conlon Kathryn , Rennie Jared , Jones Hunter , Bell Jesse
Published: July 2022

Exposure to extreme heat is a known risk factor that is associated with increased heat-related illness (HRI) outcomes. The relevance of heat wave definitions could change across the health conditions and geographies due to the heterogenous climate profile. This study compared the sensitivity of 28 heat wave definitions associated with HRI emergency department visits over five summer seasons (2011-2016), stratified by two physiographic regions (Coastal and Piedmont) in North Carolina. The HRI rate ratios associated with heat waves were estimated using the generalized linear regression framework assuming a negative binomial distribution. We compared the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) values across the heat wave definitions to identify an optimal heat wave definition. In the Coastal region, heat wave definition based on daily maximum temperature with a threshold >90th percentile for two or more consecutive days had the optimal model fit. In the Piedmont region, heat wave definition based on the daily minimum temperature with a threshold value >90th percentile for two or more consecutive days was optimal. Additionally, we observed that the optimal heat wave definitions from this study captured moderate and frequent heat episodes than the national weather service (NWS) heat products that worked best for extreme heat episodes. This study compared the HRI morbidity risk associated with epidemiologic-based heat wave definitions and with NWS heat products. Our findings could be used for public health education and suggest recalibrating NWS heat products.
A Lightweight In-Vehicle Alcohol Detection using Smart Sensing and Supervised Learning
Authors: Abu Al-Haija Qasem , Krichen Moez
Published: July 2022

According to the risk investigations of being involved in an accident, alcohol-impaired driving is one of the major causes of motor-vehicles accidents. Preventing highly intoxicated persons from driving would potentially save many lives. This paper proposes a lightweight in-vehicle alcohol detection that processes the data generated from 6-alcohol sensors (MQ-3 Alcohol Sensors) using an optimizable shallow neural network (O-SNN). The experimental evaluation results exhibit a high-performance detection system scoring a 99.8% of detection accuracy with a very short inferencing delay of 2.22 µ seconds. Hence, the proposed model can be efficiently deployed and used to discover in-vehicle alcohol with high accuracy and low inference overhead as a part of the driver alcohol detection system for safety (DADSS) system aiming at massive deployment of alcohol sensing systems that could potentially save thousands of lives annually.
GRASP: the Future!
Authors: Grant Ian , Quiney Harry M.
Published: July 2022

Relativistic atomic and molecular structure calculations start from very different premises to quantum electrodynamics (QED). QED predicts radiative corrections that can nly be approximated crudely in today's atomic structure programs. This paper describes rigorous simple algorithms for including accurate vacuum polarization and self-energy corrections in the GRASP programs.
Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete: Applications
Authors: Qaidi Shaker
Published: July 2022

UHPC is a type of cement-based composite used in new construction and/or rehabilitation of existing buildings to extend service life. It is a novel composite material that can serve as an alternative to concrete construction in hostile climates. Following decades of study and production, a diverse variety of commercial UHPC compositions are now available globally to meet the rising number of applicants and demand for high-quality building materials. Although UHPC offers major benefits over normal concrete, its utilization is restricted due to restrictive design rules and exorbitant costs. As a result, a thorough examination of the durability properties of UHPC is required to give important information for material testing requirements and processes, as well as to broaden its practical uses. This report is aimed at increasing basic understanding of UHPC and supporting more UHPC research and applications.
Identification of Source of Energy for Creation of Universe and Prediction of Minimum Possible Length by New Cosmological Model
Authors: Dikshit Biswaranjan
Published: July 2022

Law of conservation of energy is the most well-established law of modern physics. But, inflationary cosmological model which assumes the universe to be created from a point of singularity has not been able to identify the source of energy for creation of this universe. As per uncertainty principle, a quantum vacuum fluctuation can at most create energy of ~10-8 kg in a Planck time of ~5.4 ×10-44 s whereas total positive energy due to matter/vacuum existing in the universe is more than ~1054 kg. To solve this problem, we have recently published a new cosmological model (Biswaranjan Dikshit, Canadian Journal of Physics, 100, 218-225, [2022]) in which we have mathematically proved that the total energy of the universe can be zero right from the beginning of the universe to till date due to negative gravitational potential energy and thus law of conservation of energy can be satisfied during creation of the universe from nothing. In this article, starting from a simple argument, we explain why net energy of the universe can be zero only in our model, not in standard cosmological model. An interesting fact pointed out in this paper is that the factor ~1062 by which radius of universe has increased from its starting value of ~10-36 m to present value of ~1026 m is same as the factor by which positive energy has increased from Planck energy ~10-8 kg to present value ~1054 kg. This is in agreement with our new model that predicts the positive energy of universe to be proportional to the radius of universe. We also bring out to the notice that zero energy universe is possible only if smallest possible length in nature is, lmin=lp(π/2)1/2 = 2.0×10-35 m. Minimum possible length is important in theory of quantum gravity and string theory.
Biodiesel Synthesis from Milk Thistle Extract of Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn. using ZnO Nanoparticles as A Catalyst
Authors: Jan Hammad Ahmad , Šurina Igor , Al-Fatesh Ahmed , Almutlaq Abdulaziz M. , Wali Sher
Published: July 2022

Biodiesel is considered valuable to reduce dependency on petro-fuels. This work aimed to synthesize biodiesel from Silybum marianum using synthesized ZnO nanoparticles as a catalyst. The synthesized ZnO nanoparticles were examined by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction for confirmation. The synthesized biodiesel was confirmed by ASTM D-6751, H and C-NMR, GC-MS, and FT-IR spectroscopy. The optimal biodiesel yield of 91% was obtained in the oil-to-methanol ratio of 1:24, 15 mg of catalyst concentration, 60 0C temperature, and 45 minutes of reaction time. Fuel properties were determined according to the ASTM defined methods and found within the defined limits of ASTM D-6751. 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR showed characteristic peaks at 3.667 ppm, 2.000 to 2.060 ppm, 0.858-0.918 ppm, 5.288-5.407 ppm, 24.93-34.22 ppm, 172.71, 173.12, 130.16 ppm, and 128.14 ppm, respectively, which confirm biodiesel synthesis. The FAMEs composition of biodiesel was determined by GC-MS which recognized 19 peaks for different types of FAMEs. FT-IR spectroscopy showed two main peaks, first in the range of 1725-1750 cm-1 and second in the range of 1000-1300 cm-1, which confirmed that the transesterification process was completed successfully. The physicochemical characteristics of Silybum marianum confirm that it is a suitable source to produce biodiesel on industrial scale.
TPE-RBF-SVM Model for Soybean Categories Recognition in Selected Hyperspectral Bands Based on Extreme Gradient Boosting Feature Importance Values
Authors: Zhao Qinghe , Zhang Zifang , Huang Yuchen , Fang Junlong
Published: July 2022

Soybean with insignificant differences in appearance have large differences in their internal physical and chemical components, therefore follow-up storage, transportation and processing require targeted differential treatment. A fast and effective machine learning method based on hyperspectral data of soybean for pattern recognition of categories is designed as a non-destructive testing method in this paper. A hyperspectral-image dataset with 2299 soybean seeds in 4 categories is collected; Ten features is selected by extreme gradient boosting algorithm from 203 hyperspectral bands in range 400 to 1000 nm; A Gaussian radial basis kernel function support vector machine with optimization by the Tree-structured Parzen Estimator algorithm is built as TPE-RBF-SVM model for pattern recognition of soybean categories. The metrics of TPE-RBF-SVM are significantly improved compared with other machine learning algorithms. The accuracy is 0.9165 in the independent test dataset which is 9.786% higher for vanilla RBF-SVM model and 10.02% higher than the extreme gradient boosting model.
Software-Defined Networks for Optical Networks using Flexible Orchestration : Advances, Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: Nsafoa-Yeboah Kenneth , Tchao Eric , Yeboah-Akowuah Bright , Kommey Benjamin , Agbemenu Andrew Selasi , Keelson Eliel , Monirujjaman Khan Mohammad
Published: July 2022

Optical networks offer a wide range of benefits to the telecommunication sector world- wide with its provision of higher bandwidth which leads to faster data speed, longer transmission distance, and improved latency. Currently, the complexity associated with advancements in optical networks poses problems to network flexibility, reliability, and quality of service. Over the years, many reviews and proposals have been implemented by several literatures to provide solutions for optical networks using software-defined networks and network service orchestrators. This paper reviews the significant challenges in current optical network applications, the various solutions rendered by software-defined networks as well as network service orchestration, the impediments, and gaps in these software – defined networks. This paper will go a step further to look into the various improvements and implementations of software-defined networks tailored to solve specific optical network problems. This paper further proposes a flexible orchestration architecture for software-defined networks for solving flexibility and scalability problems in optical networks. This proposal uses Open Network System (ONOS) SDN controller, leveraging on dockerisation as well as kubernetes clusterisation and orchestration. This solution presents a more flexible, reliable, customable, and higher quality of service which is an improvement upon current solutions in literature.
Some New Fixed Point Theorems in Weak Partial Metric Spaces
Authors: Hashim Amal M. , Hashim Ayat T.
Published: July 2022

The main objective of this work is to introduce and investigate fixed point (F. p) theorems for maps that satisfy contractive conditions in weak partial metric spaces (W.P.M.S), and give some new generalization of the fixed point theorems of Mathews and Heckmann. Our results extend, and unify a multitude of (F. p) theorems and generalize some results in (W.P.M.S). An example is given as an illustration of our results.
Phytochemical profile, Antioxidant, Enzyme inhibitory and acute toxicity activity of Astragalus bruguieri
Authors: Jabbar Ahmed Aj , Abdulrahman Kamaran Kaiani , Abdulsamad Parween , Mojarrad Sharoukh , Mehmetçik Güldal , Sardar Abdullah Sh
Published: July 2022

The medicinal plants (Astragalus species) have been used traditionally as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and Anti-diabetics. The current research investigates the phytochemistry and some biological activity of methanol extract of different parts of Astragalus bruguieri Bioss., a wild medicinal plant grows on Safeen mountain, Erbil, Iraq. The methanol extracts of A. bruguieri were analyzed for total phenolic, flavonoid, and saponin contents. In-vitro antioxidant activity was analyzed by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) assays. Furthermore, the plant extracts were examined for in-vitro enzyme inhibitory activity and in-vivo sub-acute toxicity. The results have shown the highest total phenolic (28.83, 20.62 mg GAEs/g extracts) contents, in the leave and root extracts, respectively. While the highest total Flavonoid (50.08, 44.01 mg REs/g) contents, were found in the extracts of aerial parts and leaves, respectively. The total saponin was higher (25.33, 23.18 mg GAEs/g extracts) in the roots and aerial parts, respectively. In-vitro antioxidant   measurement by (DPPH) assay showed leaves as superior part in this activity (42.19mg TEs/g extract), while antioxidant evaluation by (ABTS) assay indicated roots as the most active part (86.90mg TEs/g extract). The α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory activity were found as 0.45-0.67, and 1.2-1.8 mmol ACAEs/g, respectively. The oral acute toxicity test indicated the safety of 600mg/kg dosage of different parts of A. bruguieri on albino rats without behavioral abnormality or mortality. The current study is considered as the first report on the A. bruguieri as a possible new source of biocompatible material for many industrial products.
Antibacterial Activity of Three Algal Genera against some Pathogenic Bacteria
Authors: Toma Janan Jabbar , Aziz Farhad Hassan
Published: July 2022

In the current study, three types of algae namely Tetradesmus nygaardi (MZ801740), Scenedesmus quadricauda (MZ801741) and Coelastrella sp (MZ801742) were extracted by 95% ethanol and hexane against two types of gram positive and two types of gram negative bacteria by wells diffusion methods. Eleven concentrations from the extract of algae (2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 mg/ml) were utilized. It was noticed that ethanolic extraction was more effective than hexane in Scenedesmus quadricauda than the two other mentioned algal species against all pathogenic bacteria, Acintobacter baumanii (ATCC: 19606), Klebsiella pneumonia (ATCC: 13883) Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC: 29212) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC: 14028). In addition to that, extraction of Tetradesmus nygaardi by hexane was more effective than ethanol against all studied pathogenic bacteria. Extract of Coelastrella sp by Ethanol showed weak effect against all pathogenic bacteria compared with the other types of algae. Many chemical compounds which possess antibacterial activities were obtained through analyzing the extraction of algae by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS)
Effects of prophylactic palonosetron combined with low dose droperidol on the QTc interval: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Guo Zhijia , Wang Chenggang , Bai Dongdong , Wang Chunyan , Tian Shouyuan , Lv Jieping , Luan Shuwei , Zhang Wenjie
Published: July 2022

Objective To study the effect on QTc intervals in patients who are undergoing surgery and receive palonosetron combined with low-dose droperidol.Methods Our study included 60 patients who were undergoing laparoscopic surgery under hysteroscope. The patients were randomly assigned to two groups: those who received an i.v. injection of droperidol 1 mg (F group, n=30) and those who received palonosetron 0.075 mg and droperidol 1 mg (P+F group, n=30) at 5 min after tracheal intubation. Mean arterial pressure, heart rate, bispectral index (BIS) and QTc intervals were measured before (T0) and 5 (T1), 10 (T2), and 20 min (T3) after administration of droperidol or palonosetron plus droperidol. QTc intervals were measured and calculated according to the correction formulas. The severity of postoperative nausea and vomiting and the incidence of other adverse effects in patients at 24 h after surgery were recorded.Results At T1, the QTc intervals of F group and P+F group were significantly prolonged from the T0 values (P < 0.05); at T0~T3, there was no statistically significant difference in the comparison of the changes of heart rate, mean arterial pressure, BIS, and QTc intervals between the two groups (P > 0.05); the severity of nausea and vomiting at 24h postoperatively in the P+F group was lower than that in the F group (P < 0.05); there was no significant difference in the incidence of other postoperative adverse reactions between the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion There was no significant difference in the QTc intervals during the perioperative period, whether 1 mg of droperidol or 1 mg of droperidol plus 0.075 mg of palonosetron is administered. And the severity of postoperative nausea and vomiting in patients who received palonosetron combined with low-dose droperidol was lower than those who received droperidol.Trial Registration Chinese clinical trial registry, ChiCTR2000029678, 09/02/2020
Spatial toxicity of selected insecticidal plant oils against Anopheles gambiae Giles (Diptera: Culicidae)
Authors: Adelaja Olukayode James , Oduola Adedayo Olatubosun , Omotayo Ahmed Idowu , Obembe Abiodun , Adeogun Adedapo Olufemi
Published: July 2022

Background
Plant oils possess biological activities which offer tremendous potential for disease vector management. This study investigated the bioactivity of selected insecticidal plant oils against Anopheles gambiae s.s. Kisumu Susceptible Strain (KSS) mosquitoes. The plant oils from leaves of Hyptis suaveolens, Ocimum gratissimum, Nicotiana tabacum, Ageratum conyzoides and fruit peels of Citrus sinensis were extracted and the major chemical components analysed using coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The spatial toxicity effects of the plant oils were tested at different concentration (0.1 mg/ml, 0.3 mg/ml and 0.5 mg/ml) against An. gambiae s.s. KSS in a Peet-Grady Chamber. Deltamethrin was used as the positive control.
Results
D-Limonene was the major chemical component found in Ci. sinensis and Ni. tabacum. Prococene I was the major chemical component in Oc. gratissimum while P-Xylene had the highest percent composition in Ni. tabacum. The control (Deltamethrin) and 0.3 mg/ml concentration of oil from Oc. gratissimum elicited a 100% knockdown on An. gambiae s.s. KSS. At 0.5 mg/ml, oils from Ci. sinensis, Oc. gratissimum and Ni. tabacum elicited significantly (P > 0.05) the same knockdown effect (100%) as the control on An. gambiae s.s. KSS. After 24hrs post-exposure, all the plant oils evaluated elicited 100% mortality on An. gambiae s.s. KSS at both 0.3 and 0.5 mg/ml. The lowest knockdown times KdT50 (34.80 minutes) and KdT95 (92.50 mins) were noted at the lowest concentration (0.1 mg/ml) of oils from Ni. tabacum which was better compared to the control (36.1 and114.9 mins respectively) against An. gambiae s.s. KSS.
Conclusions
Oc. gratissimum and Ni. tabacum displayed excellent spatial toxicity capabilities against An. gambiae s.s. KSS and can be incorporated into the management of malaria vectors in Nigeria.
Temperature and flooding depth thresholds for early recruitment stages in a bulbous plant Bolboschoenus planiculmis
Authors: Yu Dongjia , Tang Haoran , Li Pangwei , Zhou Mengdie , Zhao Guangying , Lou Yanjing
Published: July 2022

Early recruitment process dominated by vegetation reproduction for wetland plant is a key life-history stage affecting species distribution. Extreme climatic events, such as extreme temperature and heavy rainfall have been predicted to become more intense and frequent under future climate scenarios. To explore the effect of temperature and flooding depth on tubers sprouting and early growth of Bolboschoenus planiculmis, we conducted two artificial experiments in the incubator and greenhouse, including ten temperature regimes (8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28 and 31°C), and ten flooding depth treatments (-5, 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 20, 30 and 40 cm). The results showed that the temperature and flooding depth had significant effect on the tuber sprouting and ramet early growth. The estimated base temperature for the sprouting is 6.2°C, the final sprouting percentage increased parabolically with increasing temperature and reached a maximum of 61.09% at 25.4°C. The final sprouting percentage increased first and then decreased with increasing flooding depth, and reached a maximum of 96.04% at 3.92 cm. The ramet height increased first and then decreased with increasing flooding depth, and reached a maximum of 61.29 cm at 8.20 cm. Our study will provide a basis for understanding and predicting the influence of climate change on the distribution of B. planiculmis.
Black carbon over tropical Indian coast during the COVID-19 lockdown: inconspicuous role of coastal meteorology
Authors: Vaishya Aditya , Raj Subha , Singh Aishwarya , Sivakumar Swetha , Ojha Narendra , Sharma Som Kumar , Ravikrishna Raghunathan , Gunthe Sachin
Published: July 2022

Black Carbon (BC) aerosols critically impact the climate and hydrological cycle. The impact of anthropogenic emissions and coastal meteorology on BC dynamics, however, remain unclear over tropical India, a globally identified hotspot. In this regard, we have performed in situ measurements of BC over a megacity (Chennai, 12°59'26.5"N, 80°13'51.8"E) on the eastern coast of India during January­–June 2020, comprising the period of COVID-19 induced strict lockdown. Our measurements revealed an unprecedented reduction in BC concentration by an order of magnitude as reported by other studies for various other pollutants. This was despite having stronger precipitation during pre-lockdown and lesser precipitation washout during the lockdown. Our analyses, taking mesoscale dynamics into account, unravels stronger BC depletion in the continental air than marine air. Additionally, the BC source regime also shifted from a fossil-fuel dominance to a biomass burning dominance as a result of lockdown, indicating relative reduction in fossil fuel combustion. Considering the rarity of such a low concentration of BC in a tropical megacity environment, our observations and findings under near-natural or background levels of BC may be invaluable to validate model simulations dealing with BC dynamics and its climatic impacts in the Anthropocene.
Developing and evaluating a new method and apparatus for examining bumble bee foraging behavior
Authors: Bryan Caleb B. , Prager Sean M.
Published: July 2022

A key question in pollination biology is that of how pollinators identify and choose foraging patches. Several approaches have been employed for this, including field studies and large greenhouse flight chambers. Most methods used to date are limited, though, by reliance on a combination of artificial flowers, large spatial scales, or lack of spatially distinct floral patches. To address this issue, we designed and tested a y-maze flight arena and tested it using the bumblebee Bombus impatiens and canola plants. Our results indicate that the system is not biased by environmental conditions, or by an innate “handedness” of Bombus impatiens. We did find that bees made all the expected patch choices when presented with soil, plants without flowers, or plants with flowers. This new method is important and useful as it allows researchers to ask questions of both plant health and insect behavior and the chamber system is modular allowing for simple changes to the setup to focus on different questions.
Effect of chromium content on anaerobic fermentation of chrome shaving collagen and rice straw juice
Authors: shaolan Ding , Yun Liu , Yanhua Liu
Published: July 2022

The tanning industry in China produces about 1 million tons of chromium leather scraps annually. In this thesis, the collagen solution obtained by hydrolysis of chromium leather scraps through a combined alkali-enzyme method was mixed with rice stalk hydrolysate for anaerobic fermentation, and the effects of different chromium contents on the gas production characteristics of anaerobic fermentation were investigated. The changes of system pH, VFAs concentration, SCOD concentration, ammonia nitrogen concentration and chromium concentration during anaerobic fermentation were examined. The experimental results showed that the best SCOD removal rate of 54.54% was achieved at a Cr content of 5 mg/L and a C/N ratio of 20:1. With the increase of chromium content the increase of SCOD concentration decreased and the highest degradation rate of SCOD was achieved for chromium content of 5 mg/L. The results of this thesis provide data support and theoretical guidance for the resource utilization of chromium leather shavings.
A Systematic Scoping Review of Digital Health Technologies During COVID-19: A New Normal in Primary Health Care Delivery
Authors: Ndayishimiye Costase , Lopes Henrique , Middleton John
Published: July 2022

This scoping review compiled information concerning digital health technologies (DHTs) evolvement to support the primary health care (PHC) sector during COVID-19 and lessons for the future PHC. The identified literature has been published during the COVID-19 peak years (2019–2021), retrieved from PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, as well as hand searched on the internet. Predefined inclusion criteria were used; thematic analysis was applied; and reporting followed the PRISMA for Scoping Reviews.A total of 46 studies were included in the final synthesis: 40 articles; one book; two book chapters; one working paper; and two technical reports. These studies scrutinized various aspects of DHTs, entailing 19 types of DHTs with 20 areas of use that can be compressed into five bigger PHC functions: general PHC service delivery (teleconsultations, e-diagnosis, e-prescription, etc.); behaviour promotion and digital health literacy (e.g., combating vaccine hesitancy); surveillance functions; vaccination and drugs; and enhancing system decision-making for proper follow-up of ongoing PHC interventions during COVID-19.DHTs have the potential to solve some of the problems that plagued us even prior to COVID-19. Therefore, this study uses a forward-looking viewpoint to further stimulate the use of evidence based DHT, making it more inclusive, educative, and satisfying to people's needs, both under normal conditions and during outbreaks. More research with narrowed research questions is required, with a particular emphasis on quality assurance in the use of DHTs; technical aspects (standards for digital health tools, infrastructure, and platforms); and financial perspectives (payment for digital health services and adoption incentives).
Dermato-kit: A newly developed dotted lateral flow immunochromatographic kit for rapid diagnosis of dermatophytosis
Authors: Aboul-Ella Hassan , Sayed Rafik Hamed , Abo-Elyazeed Heidy Shawky
Published: July 2022

Dermatophytosis is a widely spread contagious zoonotic disease, affecting both man (tinea) and animals (ringworm). This disease is caused by a group of closely related keratinophilic fungi known collectively as the dermatophytes group. Although the wide distribution of dermatophytosis cases throughout the whole world and its adverse clinical effect on human health, economical effect on productive animals, and pet animal welfare, there is no rapid accurate diagnostic tool for such disease. Up to date, dermatophytosis diagnosis is limited to direct, rapid with low sensitivity and specificity several wet mounts techniques, sophisticated with high skilled personnel requirement molecular assays, and gold standard with long time consumption conventional culturing and biochemical testing. All of the previously mentioned existing diagnostic methods are lab confined techniques with no availability of a field, handheld, or bedside tests. The different aspects of difficulties facing dermatophytosis diagnosis lead to mistaken diagnosis and faulty prescription of antifungals with its expected long list of side effects on man and animals. The current conducted study tries to accomplish the difficult equation by achieving an accurate, sensitive, specific, user-friendly, rapid, robust, device less, deliverable to end-users, and economic cost for development and production diagnostic kit. The newly designated and developed kit, based on lateral flow immune-chromatographic assay, showed a very promising competitive diagnostic result.
Environmental Regulations and Pollution: Measuring Direct and Indirect Impact Using Innovation as Mediation Factor in G-7 Economies
Authors: Nazir Rabia , gillani seemab , Shafiq Muhammad Nouman
Published: July 2022

The alarming impact of climate change and environmental pollutants has increased the focus of policymakers and think tanks on the formulation of environmental regulations. The environmental regulations may reduce emissions directly and indirectly as postulated by the famous Porter Hypothesis. It shows that environmental regulation may enhance pollution-reducing innovation, by reducing agency costs, while at the same time increasing firms’ private benefit. The study is designed to investigate the direct and indirect impact of environmental regulations on CO2 and GHG emissions using innovations as mediation factors. The study employs a structural equation method using data on G-7 economies for the period 1990–2020 to test the relationship between regulations, innovations, and pollution. The study findings confirm that environmental regulations help reduce emissions directly. Our findings also confirm the Porter hypothesis whereby regulations encourage innovations and result in reduced emissions through this indirect channel. The study findings have significant implications for controlling pollution through placing environmental regulations and encouraging innovations.JEL Codes: C33, H23, Q53, Q55
Bioclogging alleviation for constructed wetland based on the interaction among biofilm growth and hydrodynamics
Authors: Tang Ping , Chen Li , Zhang Wenming , Zhou Yongchao
Published: July 2022

Bioclogging is the most crucial operation problem of the constructed wetlands, which reduce its removal efficiency and life span. A strategy through properly increasing hydraulic loading is proposed in this study to alleviate the bioclogging for CWs. The two-dimensional porous media flow cell (2D PMFC) test indicated that a quadratic correlation was found between local biofilms growth rate and the near-wall Reynolds number (r > 0.765, p < 0.05). The biofilm growth rate declined with the flow rate when Re exceeded 6. It was also found that the higher flowrate (6 mL/min) lead to the homogeneous biofilm and velocity distribution in the PFMC. The column test indicated that the highest hydraulic loading (9.2 cm/h) produced the smallest decrease in hydraulic conductivity, which was 80 times more than that of low hydraulic load (3.0 cm/h) at the end (40 days) of experiment. Moreover, the relatively homogenized distribution of biofilm was found along the column with the highest hydraulic loading, which confirmed that the proper increase in hydraulic loading can alleviate bioclogging.