bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Air Quality Index in major cities of India - Lessons from Lockdown
Authors: Selvi Sugashini Masillamani , Ravikumar Kesavan , Rajendran Arun Dharshini , Bagavathi Anushya Banu , Narayanan Natarajan , Mangottiri Vasudevan
Published: November 2020

An unexpected closure episode of most of the public movement and industrial activities during the initial spreading duration of COVID-19 has significantly resulted in drastic reduction of environmental pollution in the urban areas globally. Being an active bio-aerosol with pandemic effect, COVID-19 presents a never-before scenario for the meteorologists and environmental engineers to look for systematic analysis of the overlap of air quality modelling with modifications in the atmospheric science. The long-term monitoring of pollution records help in defining unique indices for categorizing the severity of the existing pollution and thus helps in developing strategies for improving environmental quality. In this study, we present the observations in major air quality parameters in selected major cities of India using air quality index (AQI) before and after the announcement of a nationwide lockdown that extended nearly for many months. The results indicate a major sustaining type of decline in the average AQI values for major Type-1 and Type-2 cities due to the reduction in public movement and industrial activities, whereas the reduction AQI values for Type-3 and Type-4 cities were observed to be fluctuating due to the continued small-scale industrial activities and low level of awareness about ban on public gathering programmes.
Rational suitability of low cost activated carbon in removing hexavalent chromium ions from wastewater by uninterrupted mode of adsorption
Authors: Sivarethinamohan Sujatha , Rajamanickam Sivarethinamohan , Baskaran Anuradha , Ramakrishnan Devananth
Published: November 2020

Heavy metals such as chromium, lead, arsenic and others are dense metals whose contamination of water may exterminate life on earth at the niche in industrial activities, foodstuffs or medicines and so on. Activated carbons are very helpful in removing heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions by adsorption, and have been investigated by many researchers so far. The practical relevance of activated carbon made from de oiled soya in the removal of hexavalent chromium ions through continuous adsorption mode is reported in this paper. A breakthrough plot was plotted in finding the effect of initial concentration and adsorbent bed height in the adsorption of hexavalent chromium through activated carbon of de oiled soya. The breakthrough time and saturation time increased as the concentration of the initial solution shot up from 40 mg/L to 60 mg/L. The saturation time was in an incremental mode when the thickness of the adsorbent bed height in a fixed bed was increased from 5cm to 7cm for 40 mg/L initial concentration of hexavalent chromium. The Adams-Bohart’s model was found to fit perfectly the fixed bed column in the removal of hexavalent chromium from aqueous solutions. The fabricated adsorbent worked well in detoxifying hexavalent chromium metal ion contaminated wastewater.
Precipitation of struvite by sustainable waste materials and use as slow release fertilizer – A circular economy approach
Authors: Ramprasad Chandrasekaran , Alekhya Dodapalli , Bhishmitha Challa , Deepika Chow Sai
Published: November 2020

The increased concern on the quantity of wastewater generation subsequent degradation in the quality of surface water sources, especially through eutrophication has urged many researchers to find sustainable ways to recover the nutrients and reuse as a natural fertilizer. Precipitation and simultaneous removal of struvite, otherwise called as magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate (MgNH4PO4.6H2O), from the wastewater using natural coagulants will be a better alternative. In the present study, the wastewater rich in ammonia was treated using sustainable modus operandi and nutrient-rich struvite was recovered. The objective of the research was to (i) optimize the quantity and struvite precipitation rate and study the effect of pH and (ii) germinate the seed (cereals) with optimal struvite dosage. Initially, the wastewater obtained from the hostel was characterized and subsequently coagulated using natural coagulants like pumpkin seeds and fish bones to precipitate the struvite. The raw wastewater found to have a pH of 6.64±0.32, the turbidity 304±28 NTU, ammoniacal nitrogen 32±3.9 mg/L, total solids 2240±72 mg/L and total alkalinity as 950±25 mg/L. The struvite with varied dosages in the order of 0.25 to 1.5 grams per 500 grams of soil was used for seed germination. At an optimal dosage of 0.5 grams per 500 grams of soil showed an effective plant growth and increased yield. Additionally, the wastewater after recovering struvite can be treated with a reed-bed system providing a circular economical solution for the modern agriculture industry.
Purification of Contaminated Water Using Eco Enzyme
Authors: Janarthanan Madhumitha , Mani Kalaiyarasi , Raja Sakthiya Ram Shankar
Published: November 2020

Eco Enzyme is an unpredictable arrangement formed by the fermentation of new kitchen squander, brown sugar and water. Utilization of Garbage Enzyme is developing as a viable strategy for treating contaminated water. The arrangement can be used after three months to purify the contaminated water. A message will be sent with the help of IoT once the solution is ready. Two different combinations of vegetable squanders are used and tested in the contaminated water. One solution gives better result when compared with the other solution. IoT is used to send message to the registered mobile once the solution reached required pH value. Furthermore improvements like sending message based on the application of the solution can be added in future.
Comparative study of the stability of edible oil by the utilization of various natural antioxidants
Authors: Balan Veeramalini Jaya , Ganesan Baskar , Baskaran Thomas Edison
Published: November 2020

The Present Investigation is to compare the effects of various natural antioxidants like Vitus vinifera species and Tamarindus indica species and also to evaluate its chemical characterization of pertinent properties in two varied edible oil. Vitus vinifera species and Tamarindus indica species and whose antioxidant activity measured by Totox assay (Total Oxidation Value) and DPPH scavenging assays. The quantitative amount results showed were 0.4% w/w Tamarindus indica species and 0.5% w/w of Vitus vinifera species were able to inhibit lipid oxidation throughout storage (p < 0.04). Quantitative results of the Vitus vinifera species with 0.25% (w/w) of Refined oil (RO) showed a good synergic effect, displayed radical scavenging activity and better antioxidant activity and acts as a better food ingredient for the healthier food commodities.
Seismic Performance Analysis of Irregular Structures under Combined Action of Base Isolation and Energy Dissipation Braces
Authors: Wang Ying , Pan Futing , Yang Tan , Dai Chunjiao
Published: November 2020

Irregular structures are prone to torsional vibration under earthquake action, which aggravates the damage of structures. With the development of energy dissipation technology, LRB and BRB are applied to an irregular steel frame. By comparing and analyzing the seismic response characteristics and laws of the original structure, BRB structure, LRB structure and LRB + BRB structure, the seismic performance and advantages and disadvantages of each control scheme are obtained, especially the influence on torsion effect, which provides technical reference for the practical application of such projects.
Analytical Solution of the Nonlinear Vibration of the Steel Skeleton Supported Membrane Structure
Authors: Wang Mengfei , Liu Changjiang , Xie Haibing , Jiang Su , Zhang Mengjia , Su Yaozeng
Published: November 2020

Steel skeleton supported membrane structure is the major structural form of membrane structure, accounting for more than 50%. The structural characteristics of membrane structure itself determine that the analysis of its self-vibration characteristics is very important in the design process. According to the von Karman’s large deflection theory and the D’Alembert’s principle, the governing equations of nonlinear viscous damping vibration of the skeleton supported orthotropic membrane structure were proposed. By applying the Galerkin method and the KBM perturbation means of obtaining the analytical solutions of frequency function, displacement function and mode function of damped nonlinear and linear free vibration of simply supported orthotropic membrane structures on four sides were obtained. In addition, it can be known by example analysis that the transverse stiffness of membrane structure can be improved by increasing prestress and rise span ratio in the practical engineering, and while the influence of geometrically nonlinear, orthotropic, damping and prestress on the dynamic feature of membrane structure must be fully considered. This paper provides some theoretical references for the wind-induced dynamic stability calculation and wind-resistant design of the steel skeleton supported membrane structure.
Performance Analysis and Optimization of Prefabricated Frame Connection Nodes
Authors: Zhuang Jinping , Dong Shuqing
Published: November 2020

Structural connection and seismic capacity were key technologies in assembly reinforced concrete structure. In this paper, the connection form, transmission force and the seismic performance of fabricated connection nodes were analyzed. Based on the analysis, a kind of assembled steel pipe restrained energy dissipation frame joint with good seismic performance was put forward to realize the seismic requirement of “strong node, weak component”, “strong shear and weak bending”. Besides, The influence on the core area is reduced by plastic hinge migration. At last, the construction process of the connection node is introduced.
Damping Characteristics of Three-dimensional Co-continuous Network Graphite / Cast Steel Composites
Authors: Feng Shengshan , Zhan Chunyi , Bian Qingqing , Wu Weifeng , Huang Dong , Zhang Xiaoming , Chen Jianli , Zhou Dunbai , Chen Wenjiang , Wei Zebin , Ling Xihui , Ou Xiaoming , Li Jinghui , Feng Guiran , Qin Junhua
Published: November 2020

The infiltration casting method is used for the preparation of three-dimensional co-continuous network structure of graphite/cast steel composite material in atmospheric pressure. Using modal analysis method, flake graphite cast iron specimen and composite sample are compared about damping factors. The results show that amplitude attenuation of the composite material is more quickly than that of flake graphite cast iron specimens. Supported in two rigid points state, the first step damping ratio of the composite material is 2.1 times of flake graphite cast iron. At the same time, its tensile strength is 1.54 to 1.68 times that of flake graphite cast iron, its hardness reaches more than 86%, and its bulk density is reduced to less than 94%. The composite not only has good vibration damping and anti-friction performance, but also has comprehensive mechanical properties exceeding the level of flake graphite cast iron. It is possible to replace flake graphite cast iron for manufacturing important mechanical equipment castings such as fuselage and guide rail to obtain better anti-wear / vibration damping effect.
Solvothermal Synthesis and Characterization of Peanut-like BiVO4
Authors: Wei Jiangang , Wang Xiaoyu , Yang Hui , Mao Yuqin , Zhu Luping
Published: November 2020

Peanut-like BiVO4 were synthesized through a simple solvothermal method under the premise that the ratio of ethylene glycol (EG) to deionized water (DI) is 1:5, X-ray diffractometer was used to characterize the structure, scanning electron microscope was employed to characterize the morphology, and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy were used to research optical properties of peanut-like BiVO4. SEM images revealed that the as-synthesized BiVO4 sample owned peanut-like and rods structures. XRD results revealed synthesized sample was monoclinic scheelite BiVO4. The morphology of as-synthesized sample showed a shape of peanut-like. The strip width (Eg) of the BiVO4 sample was 2.46 eV.
A Study on Colour Print Quality Attributes Variance of OMR between PET and ABS by Digital Inkjet Printing
Authors: Lu Xiaoling , Chen Changlang
Published: November 2020

In-mould transfer printings are limited, such as surface bending, only on plastic parts, cost higher and print for a small run length of productions. OMR transfer can be transferred to plastic or metal, transfer process accurate register, high quality and tolerance. The current printing market tend to develop personalized, so this study to use digital inkjet printing, through rigorous experimental process and quantitative measurement and comprehensive analysis, summarized the most suitable digital inkjet printing methods and the best quality attributes. In each combination, the samples will be selected to transfer printed products which will be examined for print quality attributes (SID, TVI, PC, colour difference and colour gamut). This study results found that when the higher coverage and the lower pass of inkjet printing, the SIDs will become higher as well. When transferred to ABS, SIDs in each combination will increase. The higher coverage printed, the higher TVI. After transferred into ABS, each combination of PC is worst. When transferred to ABS, colour variances of each combination are different from orange and cyan colour. Through this study, we can get the colour correspondence between the original and the finished product ABS, to establish the personalized service process, to improve the digital inkjet printing and technology application to enhance its product added value, and to provide research results to give back to the printing market. It can bring new opportunities for the industry.
Features of the Temperature Cracks in a Tunnel Final Lining
Authors: Ma Jianqin , Xue Chen , Wang Le , Fang Pan , Ren Ke
Published: November 2020

Cast-in-place concrete lining, which is the major structure of a tunnel with composite or monolithic lining, requires high safety, durability and waterproof performance. The prevention and control of lining concrete cracks are of great concern. However, the temperature and shrinkage cracks in the arch and wall of a cast-in-place concrete lining are common construction quality defects in practical cases. This contribution presents the changing features of temperature crack widths in responding to the temperature variation with seasons in several cast-in-place final ling panels, where there are no waterproof and drainage sheets in their composite linings. The crack width changing features imply that the constraints to the temperature drop and shrinkage deformation of the concrete in its arch and wall in construction stage still work in the period of post-construction. Considering the cracks beyond the planned allowable values, the information on the width changing features presents clue to determine the rule on the occurring and developing of the temperature and shrinkage cracks in the cast-in-place lining concrete, as well as crack resistance design and construction quality control.
Visualization Analysis of Top Papers in the Subject Category of Agricultural Engineering Based on ESI
Authors: Yuan Baozhong , Sun Jie
Published: November 2020

All of 404 top papers for Agricultural Engineering were analyzed from 2009 to 2019, which included 396 highly cited papers and 13 hot papers. All papers were written in English, from 56 countries/territories. The 7 core journals were Bioresource Technology, Industrial Crops and Products, Biomass Bioenergy, Transactions of the ASABE, Biosystems Engineering, Aquacultural Engineering, International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Top 3 countries and regions were Peoples R China, USA, India. The research were separated 6 clusters.
Seasonal Variation in Masked Nocturnal Hypertension: The J-HOP Nocturnal Blood Pressure Study
Authors: Narita Keisuke , Hoshide Satoshi , Kanegae Hiroshi , Kario Kazuomi
Published: November 2020

BACKGROUND

Little is known about seasonal variation in nighttime blood pressure (BP) measured by a home device. In this cross-sectional study, we sought to assess seasonal variation in nighttime home BP using data from the nationwide, practice-based Japan Morning Surge-Home BP (J-HOP) Nocturnal BP study.

METHODS

In this study, 2,544 outpatients (mean age 63 years; hypertensives 92%) with cardiovascular risks underwent morning, evening, and nighttime home BP measurements (measured at 2:00, 3:00, and 4:00 am) using validated, automatic, and oscillometric home BP devices.

RESULTS

Our analysis showed that nighttime home systolic BP (SBP) was higher in summer than in other seasons (summer, 123.3 ± 14.6 mmHg vs. spring, 120.7 ± 14.8 mmHg; autumn, 121.1 ± 14.8 mmHg; winter, 119.3 ± 14.0 mmHg; all P<0.05). Moreover, we assessed seasonal variation in the prevalence of elevated nighttime home SBP (≥120 mmHg) in patients with non-elevated daytime home SBP (average of morning and evening home SBP <135 mmHg; n = 1,565), i.e., masked nocturnal hypertension, which was highest in summer (summer, 45.6% vs. spring, 27.2%; autumn, 28.8%; winter, 24.9%; all P<0.05). Even in intensively controlled morning home SBP (<125 mmHg), the prevalence of masked nocturnal hypertension was higher in summer (summer, 27.4% vs. spring, 14.2%; autumn, 8.9%; winter, 9.0%; all P<0.05). The urine albumin–creatinine ratio in patients with masked nocturnal hypertension tended to be higher than that in patients with non-elevated both daytime and nighttime SBP throughout each season.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of masked nocturnal hypertension was higher in summer than other seasons and the difference proved to be clinically meaningful.
Systemic targeted and immunotherapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Cersosimo Robert J
Published: November 2020

Purpose

The activity of targeted agents and immunotherapy in the management of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is reviewed.

The first drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for advanced HCC, sorafenib, was approved in 2007. Regorafenib, the second drug, was approved 10 years later. Six additional drugs have been approved since. Targeted agents and checkpoint inhibitors are the only agents approved for systemic therapy of advanced HCC. Sorafenib and lenvatinib are approved as first-line agents, with regorafenib, cabozantinib, ramucirumab, nivolumab (used alone or with ipilimumab), and pembrolizumab approved for patients who have received prior sorafenib therapy. Most patients in phase 3 studies had Child-Pugh class A cirrhosis, and data on the use of these agents in patients with more advanced hepatic dysfunction are limited. All of the targeted agents improve survival in patients with advanced disease. Median overall survival durations of up to 12.3 and 13.6 months were reported with use of sorafenib and lenvatinib, respectively, in phase 3 trials. Overall survival durations of 10.6, 10.2, and 9.2 months have been achieved with use of regorafenib, cabozantinib, and ramucirumab as second-line therapy after sorafenib. A median overall survival of 13.2 months was reported in 1 cohort of a dose-expansion study of nivolumab in which all patients received prior sorafenib therapy. Median survival durations of 12.9 months and 13.9 months were reported with use of pembrolizumab in patients with a history of sorafenib therapy. The most common adverse effects associated with targeted agents are dermatological effects, diarrhea, fatigue, and hypertension. Immune-mediated adverse effects are associated with checkpoint inhibitors.

Conclusion

Targeted agents and checkpoint inhibitors are the standard of therapy for patients who need systemic therapy for advanced HCC.
Facelift Surgery Turns Back the Clock: Artificial Intelligence and Patient Satisfaction Quantitate Value of Procedure Type and Specific Techniques
Authors: Gibstein Alexander R , Chen Kevin , Nakfoor Bruce , Lu Stephen M , Cheng Roger , Thorne Charles H , Bradley James P
Published: November 2020

Background

Patients desire facelifting procedures to look younger, refreshed, and attractive. Unfortunately, there are few objective studies assessing the success of types of facelift procedures and ancillary techniques.

Objectives

The authors sought to utilize convolutional neural network algorithms alongside patient-reported FACE-Q outcomes to evaluate perceived age reduction and patient satisfaction following various facelift techniques.

Methods

Standardized preoperative and postoperative (1-year) images of patients who underwent facelift procedures were analyzed by 4 neural networks to estimate age reduction after surgery (n = 105). FACE-Q surveys were employed to measure patient-reported facial aesthetic outcome. We compared (1) facelift procedure type: skin-only vs superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS)-plication, vs SMAS-ectomy; and (2) ancillary techniques: fat grafting (malar) vs no fat grafting. Outcomes were based on complications, estimated age-reduction, and patient satisfaction.

Results

The neural network preoperative age accuracy score demonstrated that all neural networks were accurate in identifying our patients’ ages (mean score = 100.4). SMAS-ectomy and SMAS-plication had significantly greater age-reduction (5.85 and 5.35 years, respectively) compared with skin-only (2.95 years, P < 0.05). Fat grafting compared to no fat grafting demonstrated 2.1 more years of age reduction. Facelift procedure type did not affect FACE-Q scores; however, patients who underwent fat grafting had a higher satisfaction with outcome (78.1 ± 8 vs 69 ± 6, P < 0.05) and decision to have the procedure (83.0 ± 6 vs 72 ± 9, P < 0.05).

Conclusions

Artificial intelligence algorithms can reliably estimate the reduction in apparent age after facelift surgery. Facelift technique, like SMAS-ectomy or SMAS-plication, and specific technique, like fat grafting, were found to enhance facelifting outcomes and patient satisfaction.
Sparse Project VCF: efficient encoding of population genotype matrices
Authors: Lin Michael F , Bai Xiaodong , Salerno William J , Reid Jeffrey G
Published: November 2020

Variant Call Format (VCF), the prevailing representation for germline genotypes in population sequencing, suffers rapid size growth as larger cohorts are sequenced and more rare variants are discovered. We present Sparse Project VCF (spVCF), an evolution of VCF with judicious entropy reduction and run-length encoding, delivering >10× size reduction for modern studies with practically minimal information loss. spVCF interoperates with VCF efficiently, including tabix-based random access. We demonstrate its effectiveness with the DiscovEHR and UK Biobank whole-exome sequencing cohorts.

Availability and implementation

Apache-licensed reference implementation: github.com/mlin/spVCF.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Prioritizing genes for systematic variant effect mapping
Authors: Kuang Da , Truty Rebecca , Weile Jochen , Johnson Britt , Nykamp Keith , Araya Carlos , Nussbaum Robert L , Roth Frederick P
Published: November 2020

Motivation

When rare missense variants are clinically interpreted as to their pathogenicity, most are classified as variants of uncertain significance (VUS). Although functional assays can provide strong evidence for variant classification, such results are generally unavailable. Multiplexed assays of variant effect can generate experimental ‘variant effect maps’ that score nearly all possible missense variants in selected protein targets for their impact on protein function. However, these efforts have not always prioritized proteins for which variant effect maps would have the greatest impact on clinical variant interpretation.

Results

Here, we mined databases of clinically interpreted variants and applied three strategies, each building on the previous, to prioritize genes for systematic functional testing of missense variation. The strategies ranked genes (i) by the number of unique missense VUS that had been reported to ClinVar; (ii) by movability- and reappearance-weighted impact scores, to give extra weight to reappearing, movable VUS and (iii) by difficulty-adjusted impact scores, to account for the more resource-intensive nature of generating variant effect maps for longer genes. Our results could be used to guide systematic functional testing of missense variation toward greater impact on clinical variant interpretation.

Availability and implementation

Source code available at: https://github.com/rothlab/mave-gene-prioritization

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Altered sense of agency in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome: behavioural, clinical and functional magnetic resonance imaging findings
Authors: Zapparoli Laura , Seghezzi Silvia , Devoto Francantonio , Mariano Marika , Banfi Giuseppe , Porta Mauro , Paulesu Eraldo
Published: November 2020

Current neurocognitive models of motor control postulate that accurate action monitoring is crucial for a normal experience of agency—the ability to attribute the authorship of our actions and their consequences to ourselves. Recent studies demonstrated that action monitoring is impaired in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, a movement disorder characterized by motor and vocal tics. It follows that Tourette syndrome patients may suffer from a perturbed sense of agency, the hypothesis tested in this study. To this end, we recruited 25 Tourette syndrome patients and 25 matched healthy controls in a case-control behavioural and functional magnetic resonance imaging study. As an implicit index of the sense of agency, we measured the intentional binding phenomenon, i.e., the perceived temporal compression between voluntary movements and their external consequences. We found evidence of an impaired sense of agency in Tourette syndrome patients who, as a group, did not show a significant intentional binding. The more reduced was the individual intentional binding, the more severe were the motor symptoms. Specific differences between the two groups were also observed in terms of brain activation patterns. In the healthy controls group, the magnitude of the intentional binding was associated with the activity of a premotor–parietal–cerebellar network. This relationship was not present in the Tourette syndrome group, suggesting an altered activation of the agency brain network for self-generated acts. We conclude that the less accurate action monitoring described in Tourette syndrome also involves the assessment of the consequences of actions in the outside world. We discuss that this may lead to difficulties in distinguishing external consequences produced by their own actions from the ones caused by others in Tourette syndrome patients.
Hybrid Multi-Channel EEG Filtering Method for Ocular and Muscular Artifact Removal Based on the 3D Spline Interpolation Technique
Authors: Abidi Afef , Nouira Ibtihel , Assali Ines , Saafi Mohamed Ali , Bedoui Mohamed Hedi
Published: November 2020

The present work develops a novel hybrid method for ocular and muscular artifact removal from electroencephalography (EEG) signals, EFICA-TQWT. It is a combination of efficient fast independent component analysis (EFICA) method with the tunable Q-factor wavelet transform (TQWT). The main contribution of this paper is to apply the 3D interpolation method in the filtering system. Three EEG datasets are used in this work, two healthy and one epileptic. The choice of subjects for each dataset is made with the help of an expert in physiology. The selection criterion adopted is the presence of muscular and ocular artifacts in the processed recordings. First, a noisy channel automatic classification is performed by the support vector machine (SVM) with radial basis function in order to delete the signal(s) corresponding to the noisiest channel(s) from each EEG recording. The results of the automatic classification by the SVM were compared with those found by the expert’s classification. An accuracy of 97.45%, a sensitivity of 86.66% and a 100% specificity are provided by the SVM classification. The hybrid method of artifact removal will be applied on the rest of the EEG channels of international 10/20 system for each subject. Then, a reconstruction of the eliminated channel signal(s) will be performed in order to obtain a well-filtered signal. The proposed filtering process is evaluated by calculating the mean squared error (MSE) and the signal to noise ratio (SNR). Both for the healthy and pathological EEG datasets, a comparative study of the proposed method (EFICA-TQWT) and other filtering techniques (Fast-ICA, DWT, TQWT and EFICA) is generated. The EFICA-TQWT method gave the best results with a minimum of MSE and a maximum of SNR, more particularly in the case of the application of the 3D interpolation method. Besides, in order to optimize the computing time of the proposed system, a parallel implementation of this filtering system is developed based on graphical processing units using compute unified device architecture.
Assessment of chicken breast shelf life based on bench-top and portable near-infrared spectroscopy tools coupled with chemometrics
Authors: Lanza Ilaria , Conficoni Daniele , Balzan Stefania , Cullere Marco , Fasolato Luca , Serva Lorenzo , Contiero Barbara , Trocino Angela , Marchesini Giorgio , Xiccato Gerolamo , Novelli Enrico , Segato Severino
Published: November 2020

Objectives

Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a rapid technique able to assess meat quality even if its capability to determine the shelf life of chicken fresh cuts is still debated, especially for portable devices. The aim of the study was to compare bench-top and portable NIR instruments in discriminating between four chicken breast refrigeration times (RT), coupled with multivariate classifier models.

Materials and Methods

Ninety-six samples were analysed by both NIR tools at 2, 6, 10 and 14 days post mortem. NIR data were subsequently submitted to partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and canonical discriminant analysis (CDA). The latter was preceded by double feature selection based on Boruta and Stepwise procedures.

Results

PLS-DA sorted moderate separation of RT theses, while shelf life assessment was more accurate on application of Stepwise-CDA. Bench-top tool had better performance than portable one, probably because it captured more informative spectral data as shown by the variable importance in projection (VIP) and restricted pool of Stepwise-CDA predictive scores (SPS).

Conclusions

NIR tools coupled with a multivariate model provide deep insight into the physicochemical processes occurring during storage. Spectroscopy showed reliable effectiveness to recognise a 7-day shelf life threshold of breasts, suitable for routine at-line application for screening of meat quality.
A new catalogue of toroidal-mode overtone splitting function measurements
Authors: Schneider Simon , Deuss Arwen
Published: November 2020

Spectra of whole Earth oscillations or normal modes provide important constraints on Earth’s large-scale structure. The most convenient way to include normal mode constraints in global tomographic models is by using splitting functions or structure coefficients, which describe how the frequency of a specific mode varies regionally. Splitting functions constrain 3-D variations in velocity, density structure and boundary topography. They may also constrain anisotropy, especially when combining information from spheroidal modes, which are mainly sensitive to P–SV structure, with toroidal modes, mainly sensitive to SH structure. Spheroidal modes have been measured extensively, but toroidal modes have proven to be much more difficult and as a result only a limited number of toroidal modes have been measured so far. Here, we expand previous splitting function studies, by focusing specifically on toroidal-mode overtone observations. We present splitting function measurements for 19 self-coupled toroidal modes of which 13 modes have not been measured before. They are derived from radial and transverse horizontal component normal mode spectra up to 5 mHz for 91 events with MW ≥ 7.4 from the years 1983–2018. Our data include the Tohoku event of 2011 (9.1MW), the Okhotsk event of 2013 (8.3MW) and the Fiji Island event from 2018 (8.2MW). Our measurements provide new constraints on upper- and lower-mantle shear wave velocity structure and in combination with existing spheroidal mode measurements can be used in future inversions for anisotropic mantle structure. Our new splitting function coefficient data set will be available online.
Subspace clustering using ensembles of K-subspaces
Authors: Lipor John , Hong David , Tan Yan Shuo , Balzano Laura
Published: November 2020

Subspace clustering is the unsupervised grouping of points lying near a union of low-dimensional linear subspaces. Algorithms based directly on geometric properties of such data tend to either provide poor empirical performance, lack theoretical guarantees or depend heavily on their initialization. We present a novel geometric approach to the subspace clustering problem that leverages ensembles of the $K$-subspace (KSS) algorithm via the evidence accumulation clustering framework. Our algorithm, referred to as ensemble $K$-subspaces (EKSSs), forms a co-association matrix whose $(i,j)$th entry is the number of times points $i$ and $j$ are clustered together by several runs of KSS with random initializations. We prove general recovery guarantees for any algorithm that forms an affinity matrix with entries close to a monotonic transformation of pairwise absolute inner products. We then show that a specific instance of EKSS results in an affinity matrix with entries of this form, and hence our proposed algorithm can provably recover subspaces under similar conditions to state-of-the-art algorithms. The finding is, to the best of our knowledge, the first recovery guarantee for evidence accumulation clustering and for KSS variants. We show on synthetic data that our method performs well in the traditionally challenging settings of subspaces with large intersection, subspaces with small principal angles and noisy data. Finally, we evaluate our algorithm on six common benchmark datasets and show that unlike existing methods, EKSS achieves excellent empirical performance when there are both a small and large number of points per subspace.
Purely Infinite Locally Compact Hausdorff étale Groupoids and Their C*-algebras
Authors: Ma Xin
Published: November 2020

In this paper, we introduce properties including groupoid comparison, pure infiniteness, and paradoxical comparison as well as a new algebraic tool called groupoid semigroup for locally compact Hausdorff étale groupoids. We show these new tools help establishing pure infiniteness of reduced groupoid $C^*$-algebras. As an application, we show a dichotomy of stably finiteness against pure infiniteness for reduced groupoid $C^*$-algebras arising from locally compact Hausdorff étale minimal topological principal groupoids. This generalizes the dichotomy obtained by Bönicke–Li and Rainone–Sims. We also study the relation among our paradoxical comparison, $n$-filling property, and locally contracting property that appeared in the literature for locally compact Hausdorff étale groupoids.
Diversity, Host Ranges, and Potential Drivers of Speciation Among the Inquiline Enemies of Oak Gall Wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae)
Authors: Ward Anna K G , Sheikh Sofia I , Forbes Andrew A
Published: November 2020

Animals that exploit living spaces of other animals (inquilines) may have specialized traits that adapt them to extended phenotypes of their ‘hosts’. These adaptations to host traits may incur fitness trade-offs that restrict the host range of an inquiline such that shifts to new hosts might trigger inquiline diversification. Speciation via host shifting has been studied in many animal parasites, but we know less about the role of host shifts in inquiline speciation. Synergus Hartig (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Synergini) is a speciose but taxonomically challenging genus of inquilines that feed inside galls induced by oak gall wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini). Here, we report on a large collection of Synergus reared from galls of 33 oak gall wasp species in the upper Midwestern United States. We integrated DNA barcodes, morphology, ecology, and phenology to delimit putative species of Synergus and describe their host ranges. We find evidence of at least 23 Synergus species associated with the 33 gall wasp hosts. At least five previously described Synergus species are each complexes of two to five species, while three species fit no prior description. We find evidence that oak tree phylogeny and host gall morphology define axes of specialization for Synergus. The North American Synergus have experienced several transitions among gall hosts and tree habitats and their host use is correlated with reproductive isolation. It remains too early to tell whether shifts to new hosts initiate speciation events in Synergus inquilines of oak gall wasps, or if host shifts occur after reproductive isolation has already evolved.
Comparison of regression and fat-free diet methods for estimating ileal and total tract endogenous losses and digestibility of fat and fatty acids in growing pigs
Authors: Wang Lu , Wang Li , Zhou Junyan , Gao Tianzeng , Liang Xiaoxiao , Hu Qile , Huang Bingbing , Lyu Zhiqian , Johnston L J , Lai Changhua
Published: November 2020

An experiment was conducted to 1) compare the regression and fat-free diet methods for estimating total or basal endogenous losses of fat (ELF) and fatty acids (ELFA) and true digestibility (TD) or standardized digestibility (SD) of fat and fatty acids in growing pigs and 2) compare these estimated values at the end of the ileum and over the entire intestinal tract. Ten barrows (initial body weight: 45.1 ± 2.8 kg) were surgically fitted with a T-cannula in the distal ileum, and allotted to 1 of 5 experimental diets in a 3-period Youden Square design. A fat-free diet was formulated using cornstarch, soy protein isolate and sucrose. Four oil-added diets were formulated by adding 4 levels of soybean oil (2, 4, 6 and 8%) to the fat-free basal diet at the expense of cornstarch. All diets contained 26% sugar beet pulp and 0.40% chromic oxide. Results indicated that here were no differences between true ileal digestibility (TID) of fat and true total tract digestibility (TTTD) of fat when pigs were fed soybean oil. The TID of C18:0 and total saturated fatty acids were greater than TTTD (P < 0.05). The total ELF at the end of the ileum was not different from that over the entire intestinal tract. In addition, total endogenous losses of C18:0 and total saturated fatty acids were greater for the entire intestinal tract than at the end of the ileum, whereas total endogenous losses of C18:2 and total unsaturated fatty acids were just the opposite. Similar results were observed for basal ELF and ELFA. As inclusion level of soybean oil increased, apparent digestibility of fat and fatty acids increased linearly (P < 0.05) except for apparent ileal digestibility of C18:0. However, SD of fat and fatty acids were not influenced by inclusion level of soybean oil. Estimation of ELF and ELFA observed by the regression and fat-free diet methods did not differ when measured at the end of the ileal or total tract. There were no differences between estimations of TD and SD of fat and fatty acids for soybean oil. Collectively, estimation of TD or SD of fat can be measured over the entire intestinal tract, whereas the ileal analysis method should be used to determine the ELF, ELFA and TD or SD of fatty acids. Correcting apparent digestibility for basal ELF and ELFA can accurately estimate SD values of fat and fatty acids.
Low dietary silicon supplementation may not affect bone and cartilage in mature, sedentary horses
Authors: Pritchard Abby , Nielsen Brian D , Robison Cara , Manfredi Jane M
Published: November 2020

As osteoarthritis is a major cause of lameness in horses in the United States, improving collagen health prior to onset and increasing collagen turnover within affected joints could improve health- and welfare-related outcomes. Through its positive effects on bone mineral content and density and its role in increasing collagen synthesis, silicon (Si) may slow the development and progression of osteoarthritis, thereby reducing lameness. This study evaluated the hypothesis that Si supplementation would increase cartilage turnover through increased collagen degradation and formation markers, as well as bone formation markers, resulting in reduced lameness severity when compared with controls. Ten mature Standardbred geldings were assigned to either a Si-treated (SIL) or control (CON) group and group-housed on pasture for 84 d. Horses were individually fed to ensure no cross-contamination of Si other than what was present in the environment. For the duration of the study, SIL horses received a Si–collagen supplement at the rate of 0.3 g supplement/(100 kg body weight day). Serum samples were taken weekly for osteocalcin, and plasma samples were taken on days 0, 42, and 84 for plasma minerals. On days 0, 42, and 84, subjective and objective lameness exams were performed, and radiographs and synovial fluid samples were taken from reference and osteoarthritic joints. Plasma minerals were similar in both groups and were lower on day 84 than on day 0 (P < 0.05). Si supplementation, fed at the manufacturer’s recommended rate, did not improve lameness or radiographs when compared with controls, and supplemented horses did not show greater collagen degradation and/or synthesis markers in synovial fluid than controls, indicating that cartilage turnover remained unaffected. However, a minimum beneficial threshold and range for Si supplementation standardized to body weight need to be established.
Effect of long-term feeding of graded levels of deoxynivalenol (DON) on growth performance, nutrient utilization, and organ health in finishing pigs and DON content in biological samples
Authors: Wellington Michael O , Bosompem Michael A , Petracek Raelene , Nagl Veronika , Columbus Daniel A
Published: November 2020

The prevalence of deoxynivalenol (DON) is a concern for swine producers, and although there has been extensive research into the effects of DON in pigs, focus has been in young pigs and/or in short-term studies. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of long-term exposure to DON-contaminated diets in finisher pigs. A total of 200 pigs (76.6 ± 3.9 kg initial weight) were group housed (five pigs per pen; n = 10 pens/treatment) in a 6-wk trial. Pigs were fed a wheat-barley-soybean meal-based control (CONT) diet with no DON or the basal diet in which clean wheat was replaced by DON-contaminated wheat and wheat screenings to provide DON content of 1, 3, or 5 ppm (DON1, DON3, and DON5, respectively). Individual BW and pen feed intake were recorded weekly to calculate average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and gain to feed ratio (G:F). Blood was collected on days 0, 14, and 43 and analyzed for indicators of liver and kidney health. Nitrogen (N)-balance was conducted immediately following the growth performance period to determine the effect of DON on nutrient utilization. Blood and urine samples collected during N balance were analyzed for DON content. Feeding DON reduced (P < 0.05) ADFI and ADG from days 0 to 28 compared with CONT, after which there was no effect of diet on ADFI and ADG. The G:F was lower (P < 0.05) in DON5 fed pigs compared with all treatments during days 0 to 7; however, no treatment effects on G:F was observed from days 8 to 42. Nitrogen retention was lower (P < 0.05) in DON3 and DON5 compared with DON1-fed pigs. Nitrogen retention efficiency was higher (P < 0.05) in DON1 compared with DON3 and DON5 and protein deposition for DON1 pigs was higher (P < 0.05) than all treatments. There were no treatment effects on indicators of liver and kidney health. As dietary DON intake increased, concentration of DON in blood and urine increased. Overall, although there was an initial decrease in ADG and ADFI in pigs receiving diets containing >1 ppm DON, pig performance recovered after a period of time, whereas nutrient utilization continued to be affected after recovery of performance. Moreover, the lack of DON on G:F indicates that the negative effects of DON on growth performance are largely due to reduced feed intake. Overall, although pigs maybe capable of adapting to intake of DON-contaminated diets, their final body weight will be reduced when fed diets containing >1 ppm DON.
Consumer Preferences for E-cigarette Flavor, Nicotine Strength, and Type: Evidence from Nielsen Scanner Data
Authors: Zare Samane , Zheng Yuqing
Published: November 2020

Introduction

Many countries regulate e-cigarette attributes such as flavors and nicotine strength. Despite a large literature on consumer preferences for e-cigarette attributes, none used consumer-level longitudinal purchase data. We therefore use a unique large dataset on U.S. adults' e-cigarette purchases as to gain insight into real-world consumer choices and purchasing patterns.

Methods

A total of 7098 purchase transactions, made by 1239 households on e-cigarette from various retail outlets for 2013 through 2017, were collected from Nielsen scanner data. We then apply an innovative multinomial logit model to examine which factors affected adult choices over 23 e-cigarettes products broken down by eight brands, three flavors, three nicotine strength levels, and two types.

Results

We found that tobacco flavor, medium nicotine strength (12< mg/ml ≤18), or disposables lead to higher adult purchases and such preference can vary over cigarette smoking status, purchase frequency, gender, race, and age. Specifically, smokers tend to purchase tobacco flavor, non-smokers or female vapers tend to purchase medium strength, and infrequent vapers tend to purchase disposables. Vapers are quite responsive to e-cigarette prices and also display loyalty (inertia) to e-cigarette brands, flavor, and nicotine strength.

Conclusions

When modeled together, e-cigarette flavors, strength, type, price, and previous choice were all found to influence vapers' current purchase decision in the actual retail environment.

Implications

The evidence presented here indicates that the impacts of certain restrictions on e-cigarette attributes, such as a flavor ban or maximum level of nicotine content, might have heterogeneous impacts on adults.
Ricercar and Fantasia in the Sixteenth Century
Authors: Walker Paul
Published: November 2020

It is on the ricercar that most treatments of pre-Bach fugue have focused. The genre’s focus on serious fugal counterpoint can be traced to the year 1540, at the point when Gombert’s experiments had borne fruit, in a publication of ricercars by Willaert and others active in Venice. The central early contributions to the genre came from Venetian organists, both Italian and northern, including J. Buus, A. Padovano, and especially, beginning in the 1560s, Claudio Merulo and Andrea Gabrieli. Thanks to the absence of text, composers explored a wide range of structural possibilities within the point-of-imitation model, including the return of thematic material later in the piece, such contrapuntal devices as augmentation, diminution, inversion, and inganno, and even the basing of an entire piece on only one theme. Later in the century other, more southerly Italian cities, including Ferrara, Rome, and Naples, also saw important ricercar cultivation.
Introduction
Authors: Jiang Li Julie
Published: November 2020

This chapter offers a brief introduction to the book. It provides general criteria for the definition of a “classifier language” and offers an overview of the properties along which classifier languages may vary. After briefly discussing two ongoing debates regarding nominal arguments—one is about the syntax of nominal arguments and the other is about the reference of bare nominal argument terms—this chapter provides a brief summary of each of the remaining chapters.