bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of Tree Presence and Soil Characteristics on Soybean Yield and Quality in an Innovative Alley-Cropping System
Authors: Mantino Alberto , Volpi Iride , Micci Martina , Pecchioni Giovanni , Bosco Simona , Dragoni Federico , Mele Marcello , Ragaglini Giorgio
Published: January 2020

Agroforestry is indicated as a farming practice suited to enhance ecosystem services generated by cropping systems. However, farmers are often reluctant to implement agroforestry systems due to the potential yield loss of crops. In a field trial, soybean was intercropped with poplar short-rotation-coppice rows in an alley-cropping system with 13.5 m wide alleys, in order to assess the effect of tree presence on soybean yield and quality. The light availability (LA) was significantly affected by the tree presence, with an increasing effect along the season due to tree growth, being at its lowest in the tree–crop interface positions (West and East). Significant effects of the tree-distance and LA were registered on soybean yield, with the highest reduction of soybean yield in the West (−78%) and East (−35%) positions. Crude fat content in soybean grain did not vary among positions in the alley, while crude protein content was the lowest in the most shaded position (West −8% than the highest value). The assessment of spatial variability among plots of measured soil characteristics highlighted no significant effect of pedological conditions upon soybean yield. Thus, in our study, the LA effect was more important than soil characteristics in determining a detrimental effect of competition for resources between soybean and poplar. Conversely, soybean quality was affected by soil characteristics, since crude fat significantly correlated with soil nutrients, pH, soil organic matter and soil texture.
Diversity and Domestication Status of Spider Plant (Gynandropsis gynandra, L.) amongst Sociolinguistic Groups of Northern Namibia
Authors: Chataika Barthlomew , Akundabweni Levi , Achigan-Dako Enoch G. , Sibiya Julia , Kwapata Kingdom , Thomas Benisiu
Published: January 2020

Knowledge on the diversity and domestication levels of the spider plant (Gynandropsis gynandra) has the potential to affect pre-breeding for client-preferred traits, yet information is scarce in Namibia due to limited research. We investigated indigenous knowledge on the species diversity and domestication levels in the regions of Kavango West, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, and Oshikoto of northern Namibia. Semi-structured interviews involving 100 randomly selected farming households, four key informant interviews, and a focus group discussion were conducted. Descriptive and chi-square tests were conducted using IBM SPSS version 20. Out of the possible four morphotypes, the results suggested that only one with green stem and green petiole existed and was associated with soils rich in organic manure. Spider plant abundance was reported to be on the decline, due to declining soil fertility. On a scale of 0 (wild species) to 6 (highest level of domestication), an index of 1.56 was found and this implied very low domestication levels. Furthermore, the study found significant differences in the trends of domestication across the sociolinguistic groups (χ2 (12, N = 98) = 46.9, p < 0.001) and regions studied (χ2 (12, N = 100) = 47.8, p < 0.001), suggesting cultural and geographical influences. In conclusion, the findings constituted an important precedent for guiding subsequent pre-breeding efforts.
Understanding Molecular Mechanisms of Seed Dormancy for Improved Germination in Traditional Leafy Vegetables: An Overview
Authors: Sohindji Fernand S. , Sogbohossou Dêêdi E. O. , Zohoungbogbo Herbaud P. F. , Houdegbe Carlos A. , Achigan-Dako Enoch G.
Published: January 2020

Loss of seed viability, poor and delayed germination, and inaccessibility to high-quality seeds are key bottlenecks limiting all-year-round production of African traditional leafy vegetables (TLVs). Poor quality seeds are the result of several factors including harvest time, storage, and conservation conditions, and seed dormancy. While other factors can be easily controlled, breaking seed dormancy requires thorough knowledge of the seed intrinsic nature and physiology. Here, we synthesized the scattered knowledge on seed dormancy constraints in TLVs, highlighted seed dormancy regulation factors, and developed a conceptual approach for molecular genetic analysis of seed dormancy in TLVs. Several hormones, proteins, changes in chromatin structures, ribosomes, and quantitative trait loci (QTL) are involved in seed dormancy regulation. However, the bulk of knowledge was based on cereals and Arabidopsis and there is little awareness about seed dormancy facts and mechanisms in TLVs. To successfully decipher seed dormancy in TLVs, we used Gynandropsis gynandra to illustrate possible research avenues and highlighted the potential of this species as a model plant for seed dormancy analysis. This will serve as a guideline to provide prospective producers with high-quality seeds.
Bruise Patterns of Fresh Market Apples Caused by Fruit-to-Fruit Impact
Authors: Fu Han , Karkee Manoj , He Long , Duan Jieli , Li Jun , Zhang Qin
Published: January 2020

Comprehensive understanding of bruise damage caused by apple-to-apple impacts is beneficial to design a low-impact fruit capturing mechanism for mass (shake-and-catch) harvesting, as well as to design other fruit handling devices. This study quantified the bruising severity in ‘Jazz’ apples induced by different levels of impact upon various fruit surface locations. Impact experiments were carried out to analyze bruising patterns in three zones in a fruit surface, i.e., middle/cheek-to-top/stem, middle-to-middle and middle-to-bottom/calyx. Moving fruit and stationary fruit were impacted using a pendulum-type test device, and an equivalent drop height of fruit was calculated to provide a more practical measure for designing a catching surface. In each impact zone, seven different levels of impacts were applied respectively at seven different locations on the fruit surface. Those locations were evenly distributed along the circumferential direction in each of the three zones, and moving fruit was replaced after each impact test. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) standard was then used to estimate percentages of fruit in the Extra Fancy Class 1 (no bruising), Extra Fancy (a bruising area diameter ≤ 12.7 mm) and Fresh Market (a bruising area diameter ≤ 19 mm) grades. Results showed that fruit bruising severity increased in a non-linear manner with increasing drop height. It was also found that there existed significant differences in fruit bruising severity between stationary and moving fruit under different fruit-to-fruit impact zones. The bottom zone showed the least bruising sensitivity, followed by the middle zone which was statistically similar to the same in the top zone. The results suggested that the free drop height need to be <3 cm to keep from fruit bruising caused by apple-to-apple impact at a negligible level for ‘Jazz’ apples.
Advances in Genomic Interventions for Wheat Biofortification: A Review
Authors: Saini Dinesh Kumar , Devi Pooja , Kaushik Prashant
Published: January 2020

Wheat is an essential constituent of cereal-based diets, and one of the most significant sources of calories. However, modern wheat varieties are low in proteins and minerals. Biofortification is a method for increasing the availability of essential elements in the edible portions of crops through agronomic or genetic and genomic interventions. Wheat biofortification, as a research topic, has become increasingly prevalent. Recent accomplishments in genomic biofortification could potentially be helpful for the development of biofortified wheat grains, as a sustainable solution to the issue of “hidden hunger”. Genomic interventions mainly include quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, marker-assisted selection (MAS), and genomic selection (GS). Developments in the identification of QTL and in the understanding of the physiological and molecular bases of the QTLs controlling the biofortification traits in wheat have revealed new horizons for the improvement of modern wheat varieties. Markers linked with the QTLs of desirable traits can be identified through QTL mapping, which can be employed for MAS. Besides MAS, a powerful tool, GS, also has great potential for crop improvement. We have compiled information from QTL mapping studies on wheat, carried out for the identification of the QTLs associated with biofortification traits, and have discussed the present status of MAS and different prospects of GS for wheat biofortification. Accelerated mapping studies, as well as MAS and GS schemes, are expected to improve wheat breeding efficiency further.
Identification of Cabbage Seedling Defects in a Fast Automatic Transplanter Based on the maxIOU Algorithm
Authors: Zhang Gan , Wen Yongshuang , Tan Yuzhi , Yuan Ting , Zhang Junxiong , Chen Ying , Zhu Sishuo , Duan Dongshuai , Tian Jinyuan , Zhang Yu
Published: January 2020

The automatic identification of seedling defects is an important technology of an intelligent automatic transplanting machine, which effectively improves the quality of the transplanting machine’s operation. The accurate segmentation of seedling substrate and seedling region is the key to the success of the seedling defect recognition algorithm. This paper proposes the maxIOU algorithm to calculate the image segmentation threshold: The image G channel and excess green color space were selected as the color space for the segmentation of the substrate region and seedling region by analyzing the color histogram. Several images were randomly selected from the dataset to generate a training set and were labeled manually as the ground truth. The training set images were segmented using a threshold of zero to 255, and the intersection over union (IOU) were calculated using the algorithm segmented result and the ground truth. The threshold corresponding to the average IOU maximum was used as the segmentation threshold. After image segmentation, three features (area of the substrate, area of the seedling, and filling ratio of the lower part of the substrate) were obtained by the algorithm, and the image was identified for whether there was an empty conveyor belt, seedling deficiency, multiple seedlings, skew, and damaged substrate. The algorithm was tested on the automatic transplanter test platform. The experiment results were as follows: Firstly, the image segmentation threshold was calculated by the maxIOU method. The color component interval corresponding to the segmented substrate region was [0, 24] in the G channel, and the color component interval corresponding to the segmented seedling region was [21, 255] in the excess green channel. The average IOU of the substrate area was 0.854, and the average IOU of the seedling area was 0.820 in the verification experiment. Secondly, a dataset including 431 normal seedling images and 69 defective seedling images (empty conveyor belt, seedling deficiency, multiple seedlings, skew, and damaged substrate) was identified for defects. The accuracy, precision, and recall were 97.6%, 97.4%, and 99.8%. The processing time was 71.4 ms. The conclusion of the experiment was as follows: the maxIOU algorithm had high accuracy in the segmentation of the substrate and seedling region. The defect identification algorithm had high accuracy for defect identification of cabbage seedlings, and the algorithm had good real-time performance, which can be applied to high speed field transplanters.
Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) Yield Reduction due to Late Sowing as a Function of Radiation Interception and Use in a Cool Region of Northern Japan
Authors: Kumagai Etsushi , Takahashi Tomoki
Published: January 2020

Yields decrease when soybean is sown later than recommended in the cool climate of the Tohoku region of Japan. However, the factors responsible for this decrease are not fully understood. We investigated the effects of late sowing on growth, phenological development, yield, yield components, and radiation interception of three soybean cultivars in two consecutive years and analyzed the relationships of those variables with temperature and soil volumetric moisture content (SMC). Averaged across years and cultivars, yields decreased significantly when plants were sown approximately three weeks late. Yield reductions were partially due to reductions in node number per plant, dry matter production, and capture of cumulative irradiance, resulting from slowed canopy development during vegetative and early reproductive stages. The number of seeds per pod was one of the major determinants of the variation in yield. Owing to the delay in sowing date, the reduction in seeds per pod was likely due to low temperatures during the 20 days after seed filling began. Occasional lower SMC during reproductive stages did not affect yield, yield components, and growth parameters. However, these results were obtained from the two years’ experiments. Therefore, further investigations of the relationship of yield with temperature and SMC under different years and sites are needed.
Molecular Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Ginseng Germplasm in RDA-Genebank: Implications for Breeding and Conservation
Authors: Lee Kyung Jun , Lee Jung-Ro , Sebastin Raveendar , Cho Gyu-Taek , Hyun Do Yoon
Published: January 2020

Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer), commonly known as Korean or Asian ginseng, is a perennial herb native to Korea and China. There has been limited research effort to analyze the genetic diversity and population structure of ginseng germplasm because of its growth habits. In the present study, genetic diversity and population structure of ginseng germplasm conserved in the National Agrobiodiversity Center (NAC) of South Korea were analyzed to provide basic data for future preservation and breeding of ginseng genetic resources. Seventeen simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to assess the genetic diversity and population structure of 1109 ginseng accessions. Among 1109 ginseng accessions, 1042 (94.0%) accessions were landraces and 66 (6.0%) accessions were breeding lines (61 accessions, 5.5%) or cultivars (5 accessions, 0.5%). SSR markers revealed 56 different alleles with an average of 3.29 alleles per locus. The average gene diversity was 0.49. Analysis of molecular variance showed that 91% of allelic diversity was attributed to individual accessions within clusters while only 9% was distributed among clusters. Using discriminant analysis of principal components, 12 clusters were detected in 1109 ginseng accessions. The results of this study provide molecular evidence for the narrow genetic base of ginseng germplasm in NAC. For the broad understanding and efficient use of ginseng germplasm, it is necessary to analyze functional factors and to evaluate morphological traits.
Comparative Performance of Organic Fertilizers in Maize (Zea mays L.) Growth, Yield, and Economic Results
Authors: Jjagwe Joseph , Chelimo Keneth , Karungi Jeninah , Komakech Allan John , Lederer Jakob
Published: January 2020

Maize is a major crop grown and consumed in Uganda and it requires a high fertilizer input. However, the existing inorganic fertilizers in the market are often not affordable especially to small scale farmers, which results in decreased maize yields in the country. On the other hand, there is an abundance of unutilized animal manure, which, when treated, can be used to increase maize yields. This study evaluated the response of maize to products of different cattle manure treatment methods as well as inorganic fertilizer. The treatments such as cattle manure stored under shade (T), cattle manure stored in the open (M), cattle manure slurry digestate (S), vermicompost (V), and an inorganic fertilizer, DAP (D) were all applied in completely randomized block plots at an equal application rate of 50 kg N ha−1 with four replications per treatment. Control plots (C) where no fertilizer was applied were also considered. The experiment was done for two planting seasons in 2018. Number of leaves, plant height, cob, and grain yields were used to evaluate the performance of different fertilizer treatments. Economic assessment of all the six treatments was also carried out to determine the economic viability of applying these fertilizers on maize. Maize growth parameters and yields were all significantly increased (p < 0.05) with an application of both organic and inorganic fertilizers when compared with the control. However, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the maize yields under the different fertilizer treatments. Vermicomposting was the most economically viable manure treatment method due to low operating costs and higher returns on investment that are supplemented with the production of chicken fodder (earthworm biomass) and, thus, can be recommended to farmers for production of a fertilizer that increases maize yields with assurance of economic returns.
Antibody Screening by Microarray Technology—Direct Identification of Selective High-Affinity Clones
Authors: Paul Martin , Weller Michael G.
Published: January 2020

The primary screening of hybridoma cells is a time-critical and laborious step during the development of monoclonal antibodies. Often, critical errors occur in this phase, which supports the notion that the generation of monoclonal antibodies with hybridoma technology is difficult to control and hence, a risky venture. We think that it is crucial to improve the screening process to eliminate most of the critical deficits of the conventional approach. With this new microarray-based procedure, several advances could be achieved: Selectivity for excellent binders, high-throughput, reproducible signals, avoidance of misleading avidity (multivalency) effects, and performance of simultaneous competition experiments. The latter can also be used to select clones of desired cross-reactivity properties. In this paper, a model system with two excellent clones against carbamazepine, two weak clones, and blank supernatant containing fetal bovine serum was designed to examine the effectiveness of the new system. The excellent clones could be detected largely independent of the immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration, which is usually unknown during the clone screening since the determination and subsequent adjustment of the antibody concentration are not feasible in most cases. Furthermore, in this approach, the enrichment, isolation, and purification of IgG for characterization is not necessary. Raw cell culture supernatant can be used directly, even when fetal calf serum (FCS) or other complex media is used. In addition, an improved method for the oriented antibody-immobilization on epoxy-silanized slides is presented. Based on the results of this model system with simulated hybridoma supernatants, we conclude that this approach should be preferable to most other protocols leading to many false positives, causing expensive and lengthy elimination steps to weed out the poor clones.
Helicobacter pylori Infection and Autoimmune Thyroid Diseases: The Role of Virulent Strains
Authors: Figura Natale , Di Cairano Giovanni , Moretti Elena , Iacoponi Francesca , Santucci Annalisa , Bernardini Giulia , Gonnelli Stefano , Giordano Nicola , Ponzetto Antonio
Published: January 2020

Aim: To verify a possible association between overall H. pylori and CagA+ H. pylori infection and autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs). Methods: Consecutive patients with AITDs admitted to one single centre of Endocrinology during one solar year were examined. The diagnoses were Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) in 76, Graves’ Disease (GD) in 39, and aspecific thyroiditis (AT) in 44 patients. Controls were 136 individuals without AITDs. Median values of fT3, fT4, anti-thyreoglobulin (Tg) antibodies, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in patients were compared with those in controls. H. pylori infection and CagA status were determined serologically. Structural homology of some thyroid proteins with H. pylori antigens was investigated. Results: H. pylori infection prevalence was significantly increased in GD (66.6%) and HT (64.4%) patients, vs. 29.4% of controls and 34.0% of AT. CagA seropositivity was significantly more frequent in GD (46.1%) and HT (46.9%) infected patients, vs. infected controls (20%). fT3 and fT4 median values were significantly decreased in infected CagA+ GD patients vs. uninfected GD patients. IL-1β median values were increased in patients respect to controls, independently of the clinical form of AITD. Median values of IL-6, TNF-α and anti-Tg autoantibodies in CagA infected patients were significantly higher than those measured in infected CagA− and uninfected patients and in infected CagA+ controls. The examined thyroid proteins shared putative conserved domains with numerous bacterial antigens. Conclusions: Overall H. pylori and CagA+ H. pylori infection were associated with GD and HT, putatively through an increased inflammatory status and molecular mimicry.
Extraintestinal Clostridioides difficile Infections: Epidemiology in a University Hospital in Hungary and Review of the Literature
Authors: Urbán Edit , Terhes Gabriella , Gajdács Márió
Published: January 2020

Extraintestinal manifestations of Clostridioides difficile infections (CDIs) are very uncommon, and according to the literature, poor outcomes and a high mortality have been observed among affected individuals. The objective of this study was to investigate the incidence rate of extraintestinal infections caused by C. difficile (ECD) in a tertiary-care university hospital in Hungary. During a 10-year study period, the microbiology laboratory isolated 4129 individual strains of C. difficile; among these, the majority were either from diarrheal fecal samples or from colonic material and only n = 24 (0.58%) were from extraintestinal sources. The 24 extraintestinal C. difficile isolates were recovered from 22 patients (female-to-male ratio: 1, average age: 55.4 years). The isolates in n = 8 patients were obtained from abdominal infections, e.g., appendicitis, rectal abscess or Crohn’s disease. These extraintestinal cases occurred without concomitant diarrhea. In all, but two cases C. difficile was obtained as a part of a polymicrobial flora. Our isolates were frequently toxigenic and mostly belonged to PCR ribotype 027. Resistance to metronidazole, vancomycin, clindamycin and rifampin were 0%, 0%, 20.5% and 9.7%, respectively. The increasing amount of reports of C. difficile extraintestinal infections should be noted, as these infections are characterized by a poor outcome and high mortality rate.
Chemical Characterization and Bioactivity of Extracts from Thymus mastichina: A Thymus with a Distinct Salvianolic Acid Composition
Authors: Taghouti Meriem , Martins-Gomes Carlos , Schäfer Judith , Santos João A. , Bunzel Mirko , Nunes Fernando M. , Silva Amélia M
Published: January 2020

Thymus mastichina, also called mastic thyme or Spanish marjoram, is endemic to the Iberian Peninsula, where it is widely used in folk medicine especially for treating digestive and respiratory systems disorders, and as a condiment to season olives. This work describes for the first time the detailed phenolic composition of exhaustive hydroethanolic extracts and aqueous decoctions of Thymus mastichina. Unlike other species of the Thymus genera, Thymus mastichina extracts contain high amounts of salvianolic acid derivatives, with salvianolic acid A isomer being the main derivative. This isomer was identified in extracts from Thymus mastichina for the first time. Also, an undescribed salvianolic acid derivative in Thymus mastichina was identified and its structure was tentatively described. Extracts from Thymus mastichina showed significant scavenging activity of 2,2-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) radical cation, hydroxyl, and nitric oxide radicals. The anti-proliferative effect of both T. mastichina extracts were tested against Caco-2 and HepG2 cells; the hydroethanolic extract showed a high anti-proliferative activity against Caco-2 cells compared to HepG2 cells (at 24 h exposure, the concentration that inhibits 50% of proliferation, IC50, was 71.18 ± 1.05 µg/mL and 264.60 ± 11.78 µg/mL for Caco-2 and HepG2, respectively). Thus, these results make this species a promising candidate for further investigation of its anti-tumoral potential. Therefore, Thymus mastichina can be potentially used as a functional food (used as a decoction or herbal tea) or as a source of bioactive ingredients with antioxidant and anti-proliferative properties.
Therapeutic Hypothermia Improves Hind Limb Motor Outcome and Attenuates Oxidative Stress and Neuronal Damage in the Lumbar Spinal Cord Following Cardiac Arrest
Authors: Ahn Ji Hyeon , Lee Tae-Kyeong , Kim Bora , Lee Jae-Chul , Tae Hyun-Jin , Cho Jeong Hwi , Park Yoonsoo , Shin Myoung Cheol , Ohk Taek Geun , Park Chan Woo , Cho Jun Hwi , Hong Seongkweon , Park Joon Ha , Choi Soo Young , Won Moo-Ho
Published: January 2020

Hypothermia enhances outcomes of patients after resuscitation after cardiac arrest (CA). However, the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated effects of hypothermic therapy on neuronal damage/death, microglial activation, and changes of endogenous antioxidants in the anterior horn in the lumbar spinal cord in a rat model of asphyxial CA (ACA). A total of 77 adult male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomized into five groups: normal, sham ACA plus (+) normothermia, ACA + normothermia, sham ACA + hypothermia, and ACA + hypothermia. ACA was induced for 5 min by injecting vecuronium bromide. Therapeutic hypothermia was applied after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) via rapid cooling with isopropyl alcohol wipes, which was maintained at 33 ± 0.5 °C for 4 h. Normothermia groups were maintained at 37 ± 0.2 °C for 4 h. Neuronal protection, microgliosis, oxidative stress, and changes of endogenous antioxidants were evaluated at 12 h, 1 day, and 2 days after ROSC following ACA. ACA resulted in neuronal damage from 12 h after ROSC and evoked obvious degeneration/loss of spinal neurons in the ventral horn at 1 day after ACA, showing motor deficit of the hind limb. In addition, ACA resulted in a gradual increase in microgliosis with time after ACA. Therapeutic hypothermia significantly reduced neuronal loss and attenuated hind limb dysfunction, showing that hypothermia significantly attenuated microgliosis. Furthermore, hypothermia significantly suppressed ACA-induced increases of superoxide anion production and 8-hydroxyguanine expression, and significantly increased superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), SOD2, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase. Taken together, hypothermic therapy was found to have a substantial impact on changes in ACA-induced microglia activation, oxidative stress factors, and antioxidant enzymes in the ventral horn of the lumbar spinal cord, which closely correlate with neuronal protection and neurological performance after ACA.
Melatonin Prevents Transforming Growth Factor-β1-Stimulated Transdifferentiation of Renal Interstitial Fibroblasts to Myofibroblasts by Suppressing Reactive Oxygen Species-Dependent Mechanisms
Authors: Kim Jung-Yeon , Park Jae-Hyung , Jeon Eon Ju , Leem Jaechan , Park Kwan-Kyu
Published: January 2020

Accumulating evidence suggests that the pineal hormone melatonin displays protective effects against renal fibrosis, but the mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we investigate the effect of the pineal hormone on transdifferentiation of renal fibroblasts to myofibroblasts invoked by transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1). Increased proliferation and activation of renal interstitial fibroblasts after TGF-β1 treatment were attenuated by melatonin pretreatment. Mechanistically, melatonin suppressed Smad2/3 phosphorylation and nuclear co-localization of their phosphorylated forms and Smad4 after TGF-β1 stimulation. In addition, increased phosphorylations of Akt, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, and p38 after TGF-β1 treatment were also suppressed by the hormone. These effects of melatonin were not affected by pharmacological and genetic inhibition of its membrane receptors. Furthermore, melatonin significantly reversed an increase of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde levels, and a decrease of the reduced glutathione/oxidized glutathione ratio after TGF-β1 treatment. Finally, TGF-β1-induced proliferation and activation were also suppressed by N-acetylcysteine. Altogether, these findings suggest that the pineal hormone melatonin prevents TGF-β1-induced transdifferentiation of renal interstitial fibroblasts to myofibroblasts via inhibition of Smad and non-Smad signaling cadcades by inhibiting ROS-mediated mechanisms in its receptor-independent manner.
Adipocyte Specific HO-1 Gene Therapy Is Effective in Antioxidant Treatment of Insulin Resistance and Vascular Function in an Obese Mice Model
Authors: Singh Shailendra P. , Greenberg Menachem , Glick Yosef , Bellner Lars , Favero Gaia , Rezzani Rita , Rodella Luigi Fabrizio , Agostinucci Kevin , Shapiro Joseph I. , Abraham Nader G.
Published: January 2020

Obesity is a risk factor for vascular dysfunction and insulin resistance. The study aim was to demonstrate that adipocyte-specific HO-1 (heme oxygenase-1) gene therapy is a therapeutic approach for preventing the development of obesity-induced metabolic disease in an obese-mice model. Specific expression of HO-1 in adipose tissue was achieved by using a lentiviral vector expressing HO-1 under the control of the adiponectin vector (Lnv-adipo-HO-1). Mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) developed adipocyte hypertrophy, fibrosis, decreased mitochondrial respiration, increased levels of inflammatory adipokines, insulin resistance, vascular dysfunction, and impaired heart mitochondrial signaling. These detrimental effects were prevented by the selective expression of HO-1 in adipocytes. Lnv-adipo-HO-1-transfected mice on a HFD display increased cellular respiration, increased oxygen consumption, increased mitochondrial function, and decreased adipocyte size. Moreover, RNA arrays confirmed that targeting adipocytes with HO-1 overrides the genetic susceptibility of adiposopathy and correlated with restoration of the expression of anti-inflammatory, thermogenic, and mitochondrial genes. Our data demonstrate that HO-1 gene therapy improved adipose tissue function and had positive impact on distal organs, suggesting that specific targeting of HO-1 gene therapy is an attractive therapeutic approach for improving insulin sensitivity, metabolic activity, and vascular function in obesity.
Anthocyanins from Hibiscus syriacus L. Inhibit Oxidative Stress-Mediated Apoptosis by Activating the Nrf2/HO-1 Signaling Pathway
Authors: Molagoda Ilandarage Menu Neelaka , Lee Kyoung Tae , Choi Yung Hyun , Kim Gi-Young
Published: January 2020

Hibiscus syriacus L. is distributed widely throughout Eastern and Southern Asia and considered as the national flower of South Korea. The extraction of several plant parts of H. syriacus L. is currently used as a natural remedy for several diseases, including breast and lung cancer, microbial infection, and chronic inflammation. However, the effect of the anthocyanin extract of H. syriacus L. petals (PS) in oxidative stress conditions has not been studied. In this study, we evaluated the cytoprotective effect of PS against H2O2-induced oxidative stress in HaCaT keratinocytes. In this study, we found that PS significantly inhibited H2O2-induced apoptosis of HaCaT keratinocytes. We also revealed that PS mediated-cytoprotective effect was associated with the increased expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) arising from the activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor-2 (Nrf2). PS also decreased H2O2-induced excessive intracellular ROS generation and restored H2O2-induced mitochondrial depolarization through the downregulation of mitochondrial ROS production. Furthermore, H2O2-induced Bax and caspase-3 expression was markedly abolished in the presence of PS. The inhibition of HO-1 by zinc protoporphyrin significantly attenuated the cytoprotective effect of PS in H2O2-treated HaCaT keratinocytes along with ROS generation, indicating that HO-1 crucially affects PS-mediated cytoprotective properties. Collectively, our results suggested that, under H2O2-mediated oxidative stress conditions, PS sustained a normal level of mitochondrial membrane potential and ROS generation in HaCaT keratinocytes by activating the Nrf2/HO-1 axis, exerting cytoprotective effects against oxidative stress.
Robust Backstepping Control with Active Damping Strategy for Separating-Metering Electro-Hydraulic System
Authors: Lin Suhong , An Gaocheng , Huang Jiahai , Guo Yuhang
Published: January 2020

Electro-hydraulic servo systems are widely used in industrial applications. The load greatly affects the dynamic response of the separating-metering electro-hydraulic system. The current researches mainly aim at the system tracking performance for the hydraulic servo system, but the researches on the damping characteristics are relatively less. For energy-saving reasons, the metering-out chamber is often maintained near a lower pressure. The system will oscillate when the load drastically changes. The active damping strategy is proposed in this work in order to increase the damping and suppress the oscillation in separating-metering electro-hydraulic system. The effectiveness of the active damping strategy is proven by mathematical derivation. Furthermore, the nonlinear mathematical model of the separating-metering electro-hydraulic system is built, and a robust backstepping controller that combines the tracking differentiator and nonlinear disturbance observer is designed. The experimental results indicate that the system oscillation is suppressed and the proposed controller has good tracking accuracy.
Implementation of an Obstacle Recognition System for the Blind
Authors: Ou Soobin , Park Huijin , Lee Jongwoo
Published: January 2020

The blind encounter commuting risks, such as failing to recognize and avoid obstacles while walking, but protective support systems are lacking. Acoustic signals at crosswalk lights are activated by button or remote control; however, these signals are difficult to operate and not always available (i.e., broken). Bollards are posts installed for pedestrian safety, but they can create dangerous situations in that the blind cannot see them. Therefore, we proposed an obstacle recognition system to assist the blind in walking safely outdoors; this system can recognize and guide the blind through two obstacles (crosswalk lights and bollards) with image training from the Google Object Detection application program interface (API) based on TensorFlow. The recognized results notify the blind through voice guidance playback in real time. The single shot multibox detector (SSD) MobileNet and faster region-convolutional neural network (R-CNN) models were applied to evaluate the obstacle recognition system; the latter model demonstrated better performance. Crosswalk lights were evaluated and found to perform better during the day than night. They were also analyzed to determine if a client could cross at a crosswalk, while the locations of bollards were analyzed by algorithms to guide the client by voice guidance.
Experimental and Numerical Investigation on Ballast Flight from Perspective of Individual Particles
Authors: Yin Hao , Gao Liang
Published: January 2020

Ballast flight significantly affects the safe operation of high-speed railway. A wind tunnel experiment and computational fluid dynamics simulation were performed to investigate the occurrence and development mechanism of ballast flight from the perspective of individual particles, which was based on the capture, reconstruction, and analysis approach of ballast features. The dynamic characteristics of ballast particles under wind load, the flow field characteristics such as the distribution of air pressure and streamline, and the influence of the ballast mass and shape, windward direction, and wind speed on the ballast flight were investigated. The results show that the critical velocity of the ballast weighing from 5 g to 200 g is between 14.22 m/s and 29.89 m/s. The massive ballast with the shape of an oblate is unlikely to fly. The air pressure difference is proportional to the square of the wind speed, and it increases 14.9 times when the wind speed increases from 10 m/s to 40 m/s. In order to avoid ballast flight, recommended suggestions include limiting the proportions of the small and the ellipsoid ballast praticles, laying the ballast with high density and a large size on the top of the ballast bed, and reducing the degradation and fouling of the ballast bed.
A Parallel-Phase Demodulation-Based Distance-Measurement Method Using Dual-Frequency Modulation
Authors: Jang In-Gyu , Lee Sung-Hyun , Park Yong-Hwa
Published: January 2020

Time-of-flight (ToF) measurement technology based on the amplitude-modulated continuous-wave (AMCW) model has emerged as a state-of-the-art distance-measurement method for various engineering applications. However, many of the ToF cameras employing the AMCW process phase demodulation sequentially, which requires time latency for a single distance measurement. This can result in significant distance errors, especially in non-static environments (e.g., robots and vehicles) such as those containing objects moving relatively to the sensors. To reduce the measurement time required for a distance measurement, this paper proposes a novel, parallel-phase demodulation method. The proposed method processes phase demodulation of signal in parallel rather than sequentially. Based on the parallel phase demodulation, 2π ambiguity problem is also solved in this work by adopting dual frequency modulation to increase the maximum range while maintaining the accuracy. The performance of proposed method was verified through distance measurements under various conditions. The improved distance measurement accuracy was demonstrated throughout an extended measurement range (1–10 m).
Automatic Generation of Locomotion Patterns for Soft Modular Reconfigurable Robots
Authors: Sui Xin , Cai Hegao , Bie Dongyang , Zhang Yu , Zhao Jie , Zhu Yanhe
Published: January 2020

In recent years, soft modular robots have become popular among researchers with the development of soft robotics. However, the absence of a visual 3D simulation platform for soft modular robots hold back the development of the field. The three-dimensional simulation platform plays an important role in the field of multi-body robots. It can shorten the design cycle, reduce costs, and verify the effectiveness of the optimization algorithm expediently. Equally importantly, evolutionary computation is a very effective method for designing the controller of multi-body robots and soft robots with hyper redundancy and large parametric design space. In this paper, a tradeoff between the structural complexity of the soft modular robot and computational power of the simulation software is made. A reconfigurable soft modular robot is designed, and the open-source simulation software VOXCAD is re-developed to simulate the actual soft robot. The evolutionary algorithm is also applied to search for the most efficient motion pattern for an established configuration in VOXCAD, and experiments are conducted to validate the results.
Flow Synthesizer: Universal Audio Synthesizer Control with Normalizing Flows
Authors: Esling Philippe , Masuda Naotake , Bardet Adrien , Despres Romeo , Chemla-Romeu-Santos Axel
Published: January 2020

The ubiquity of sound synthesizers has reshaped modern music production, and novel music genres are now sometimes even entirely defined by their use. However, the increasing complexity and number of parameters in modern synthesizers make them extremely hard to master. Hence, the development of methods allowing to easily create and explore with synthesizers is a crucial need. Recently, we introduced a novel formulation of audio synthesizer control based on learning an organized latent audio space of the synthesizer’s capabilities, while constructing an invertible mapping to the space of its parameters. We showed that this formulation allows to simultaneously address automatic parameters inference, macro-control learning, and audio-based preset exploration within a single model. We showed that this formulation can be efficiently addressed by relying on Variational Auto-Encoders (VAE) and Normalizing Flows (NF). In this paper, we extend our results by evaluating our proposal on larger sets of parameters and show its superiority in both parameter inference and audio reconstruction against various baseline models. Furthermore, we introduce disentangling flows, which allow to learn the invertible mapping between two separate latent spaces, while steering the organization of some latent dimensions to match target variation factors by splitting the objective as partial density evaluation. We show that the model disentangles the major factors of audio variations as latent dimensions, which can be directly used as macro-parameters. We also show that our model is able to learn semantic controls of a synthesizer, while smoothly mapping to its parameters. Finally, we introduce an open-source implementation of our models inside a real-time Max4Live device that is readily available to evaluate creative applications of our proposal.
Risk Quantification and Analysis of Coupled Factors Based on the DEMATEL Model and a Bayesian Network
Authors: Jiao Jian , Wei Mengwei , Yuan Yuan , Zhao Tingdi
Published: January 2020

With the developing of high integrations in large scale systems, such as aircraft and other industrial systems, there are new challenges in safety analysis due to the complexity of the mission process and the more complicated coupling characteristic of multi-factors. Aiming at the evaluation of coupled factors as well as the risk of the mission, this paper proposes a combined technology based on the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) model and the Bayesian network (BN). After identifying and classifying the risk factors from the perspectives of humans, machines, the environment, and management, the DEMATEL technique is adopted to assess their direct and/or indirect coupling relationships to determine the importance and causality of each factor; moreover, the relationship matrix in the DEMATEL model is used to generate the BN model, including its parameterization. The inverse reasoning theory is then implemented to derive the probability, and the risk of the coupled factors is evaluated by an assessment model integrating the probability and severity. Furthermore, the key risk factors are identified based on the risk radar diagram and the Pareto rule to support the preventive measurements. Finally, an application of the take-off process of aircraft is provided to demonstrate the proposed method.
Parameter Evaluation of Exponential-Form Critical State Line of a State-Dependent Sand Constitutive Model
Authors: Zhu Zhehao , Cheng Wei
Published: January 2020

In sand constitutive models, it is of cardinal importance to consider a state parameter to distinguish the real dilatancy for cohesionless soils (sand), which is different from cohesive soils (clay). Thus, one of the key issues in simulating the sand behaviour is the better representation and parameter calibration of critical state line (CSL) for estimating contraction in loose state and dilatancy in dense state, respectively. For this purpose, a new exponential form for CSL with two model constants a and b has been presented in the literature. This paper provides a valuable insight into the two model constants, controlling the shape of the critical state line by simulating a uniform quartz reference sand (Hostun RF) in loose and dense states under undrained triaxial conditions. It can be concluded that the liquefaction behaviour in loose state is fundamentally affected by even a minor variation in model constant a , but insensitive to model constant b . Moreover, the linear fitting calibration of CSL recommended in the literature is complicated in consideration of the non-unified critical state line. Thus, the maximum void ratio in the natural state could be considered as a comparison basis on which to evaluate the liquefaction potential as an alternative. The numerical results showed good agreement with real experimental data. However, in dense state, the dilatant behaviour of sand was found to be mainly controlled by model parameter b . In addition, the influence of a non-unified critical state under various confining pressures on the determination of b should not be neglected. With the correction of b , the numerical results were found to be consistent with the experimental data concerning Hostun RF sand.
Sustainable FRP-Confined Symmetric Concrete Structures: An Application Experimental and Numerical Validation Process for Reference Data
Authors: Raza Ali , Shah Syyed Adnan Raheel , Khan Ahsan Rehman , Aslam Muhammad Asif , Khan Tanveer Ahmed , Arshad Kinza , Hussan Sabahat , Sultan Asad , Shahzadi Gullnaz , Waseem Muhammad
Published: January 2020

The use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) jackets as external confinement is becoming popular, especially in seismic areas, because of its ability to enhance the strength and ductility of reinforced concrete to perform as a sustainable symmetric structural member. Therefore, various researchers have worked out for the prediction of strength and strain models of FRP-confined concrete. This study presents the improved strain models for the FRP confined cylindrical concrete members. Different previously proposed models of axial strain of FRP-confined concrete were evaluated based on a large database of 678 specimens from previous experiments and an improved model was proposed using the general regression analysis technique. Furthermore, the proposed model was validated using the previous experimental work of FRP-wrapped concrete cylinders and their finite elements analysis (FEA) using the ABAQUS software. The accuracy of the proposed strain model was quite satisfactory in comparison with the previous experimental and FEA results of the present study. Moreover, the proposed empirical strain model was used for the parametric study to investigate the effect of different geometric and material parameters such as the compressive strength of unconfined concrete, diameter of the cylinder, elastic modulus and thickness of the FRP layers, on the axial strain of FRP-wrapped cylinders. A close agreement among the proposed strain models and experimental outputs was observed. This study will help in understanding the behavior of sustainable FRP-confined symmetric concrete members.