bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Genome-Wide Identification and Evolution of Receptor-Like Kinases (RLKs) and Receptor like Proteins (RLPs) in Brassica juncea
Authors: Yang Hua , Bayer Philipp E. , Tirnaz Soodeh , Edwards David , Batley Jacqueline
Published: December 2020

Brassica juncea, an allotetraploid species, is an important germplasm resource for canola improvement, due to its many beneficial agronomic traits, such as heat and drought tolerance and blackleg resistance. Receptor-like kinase (RLK) and receptor-like protein (RLP) genes are two types of resistance gene analogues (RGA) that play important roles in plant innate immunity, stress response and various development processes. In this study, genome wide analysis of RLKs and RLPs is performed in B. juncea. In total, 493 RLKs (LysM-RLKs and LRR-RLKs) and 228 RLPs (LysM-RLPs and LRR-RLPs) are identified in the genome of B. juncea, using RGAugury. Only 13.54% RLKs and 11.79% RLPs are observed to be grouped within gene clusters. The majority of RLKs (90.17%) and RLPs (52.83%) are identified as duplicates, indicating that gene duplications significantly contribute to the expansion of RLK and RLP families. Comparative analysis between B. juncea and its progenitor species, B. rapa and B. nigra, indicate that 83.62% RLKs and 41.98% RLPs are conserved in B. juncea, and RLPs are likely to have a faster evolution than RLKs. This study provides a valuable resource for the identification and characterisation of candidate RLK and RLP genes.
Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Renal and Cardiovascular Complications of Diabetes
Authors: Charlton Amelia , Garzarella Jessica , Jandeleit-Dahm Karin A. M. , Jha Jay C.
Published: December 2020

Oxidative stress and inflammation are considered major drivers in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications, including renal and cardiovascular disease. A symbiotic relationship also appears to exist between oxidative stress and inflammation. Several emerging therapies target these crucial pathways, to alleviate the burden of the aforementioned diseases. Oxidative stress refers to an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant defenses, a pathological state which not only leads to direct cellular damage but also an inflammatory cascade that further perpetuates tissue injury. Emerging therapeutic strategies tackle these pathways in a variety of ways, from increasing antioxidant defenses (antioxidants and Nrf2 activators) to reducing ROS production (NADPH oxidase inhibitors and XO inhibitors) or inhibiting the associated inflammatory pathways (NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors, lipoxins, GLP-1 receptor agonists, and AT-1 receptor antagonists). This review summarizes the mechanisms by which oxidative stress and inflammation contribute to and perpetuate diabetes associated renal and cardiovascular disease along with the therapeutic strategies which target these pathways to provide reno and cardiovascular protection in the setting of diabetes.
Cytocompatibility of Modified Silk Fibroin with Glycidyl Methacrylate for Tissue Engineering and Biomedical Applications
Authors: Hong Heesun , Lee Ok Joo , Lee Young Jin , Lee Ji Seung , Ajiteru Olatunji , Lee Hanna , Suh Ye Ji , Sultan Md Tipu , Kim Soon Hee , Park Chan Hum
Published: December 2020

Hydrogel with chemical modification has been used for 3D printing in the biomedical field of cell and tissue-based regeneration because it provides a good cellular microenvironment and mechanical supportive ability. As a scaffold and a matrix, hydrogel itself has to be modified chemically and physically to form a β-sheet crosslinking structure for the strength of the biomaterials. These chemical modifications could affect the biological damage done to encapsulated cells or surrounding tissues due to unreacted chemical residues. Biological assessment, including assessment of the cytocompatibility of hydrogel in clinical trials, must involve testing with cytotoxicity, irritation, and sensitization. Here, we modified silk fibroin and glycidyl methacrylate (Silk-GMA) and evaluated the physical characterizations, residual chemical detection, and the biological effect of residual GMA depending on dialysis periods. Silk-GMA depending on each dialysis period had a typical β-sheet structure in the characterization analysis and residual GMA decreased from dialysis day 1. Moreover, cell proliferation and viability rate gradually increased; additionally, necrotic and apoptotic cells decreased from dialysis day 2. These results indicate that the dialysis periods during chemical modification of natural polymer are important for removing unreacted chemical residues and for the potential application of the manufacturing standardization for chemically modified hydrogel for the clinical transplantation for tissue engineering and biomedical applications.
Differential Expression of ADP/ATP Carriers as a Biomarker of Metabolic Remodeling and Survival in Kidney Cancers
Authors: Trisolini Lucia , Laera Luna , Favia Maria , Muscella Antonella , Castegna Alessandra , Pesce Vito , Guerra Lorenzo , De Grassi Anna , Volpicella Mariateresa , Pierri Ciro Leonardo
Published: December 2020

ADP/ATP carriers (AACs) are mitochondrial transport proteins playing a strategic role in maintaining the respiratory chain activity, fueling the cell with ATP, and also regulating mitochondrial apoptosis. To understand if AACs might represent a new molecular target for cancer treatment, we evaluated AAC expression levels in cancer/normal tissue pairs available on the Tissue Cancer Genome Atlas database (TCGA), observing that AACs are dysregulated in most of the available samples. It was observed that at least two AACs showed a significant differential expression in all the available kidney cancer/normal tissue pairs. Thus, we investigated AAC expression in the corresponding kidney non-cancer (HK2)/cancer (RCC-Shaw and CaKi-1) cell lines, grown in complete medium or serum starvation, for investigating how metabolic alteration induced by different growth conditions might influence AAC expression and resistance to mitochondrial apoptosis initiators, such as “staurosporine” or the AAC highly selective inhibitor “carboxyatractyloside”. Our analyses showed that AAC2 and AAC3 transcripts are more expressed than AAC1 in all the investigated kidney cell lines grown in complete medium, whereas serum starvation causes an increase of at least two AAC transcripts in kidney cancer cell lines compared to non-cancer cells. However, the total AAC protein content is decreased in the investigated cancer cell lines, above all in the serum-free medium. The observed decrease in AAC protein content might be responsible for the decrease of OXPHOS activity and for the observed lowered sensitivity to mitochondrial apoptosis induced by staurosporine or carboxyatractyloside. Notably, the cumulative probability of the survival of kidney cancer patients seriously decreases with the decrease of AAC1 expression in KIRC and KIRP tissues making AAC1 a possible new biomarker of metabolic remodeling and survival in kidney cancers.
BCL2L10 Is Overexpressed in Melanoma Downstream of STAT3 and Promotes Cisplatin and ABT-737 Resistance
Authors: Quezada María Josefina , Picco María Elisa , Villanueva María Belén , Castro María Victoria , Barbero Gastón , Fernández Natalia Brenda , Illescas Edith , Lopez-Bergami Pablo
Published: December 2020

The anti-apoptotic proteins from the Bcl-2 family are important therapeutic targets since they convey resistance to anticancer regimens. Despite the suspected functional redundancy among the six proteins of this subfamily, both basic studies and therapeutic approaches have focused mainly on BCL2, Bcl-xL, and MCL1. The role of BCL2L10, another member of this group, has been poorly studied in cancer and never has been in melanoma. We describe here that BCL2L10 is abundantly and frequently expressed both in melanoma cell lines and tumor samples. We established that BCL2L10 expression is driven by STAT3-mediated transcription, and by using reporter assays, site-directed mutagenesis, and ChIP analysis, we identified the functional STAT3 responsive elements in the BCL2L10 promoter. BCL2L10 is a pro-survival factor in melanoma since its expression reduced the cytotoxic effects of cisplatin, dacarbazine, and ABT-737 (a BCL2, Bcl-xL, and Bcl-w inhibitor). Meanwhile, both genetic and pharmacological inhibition of BCL2L10 sensitized melanoma cells to cisplatin and ABT-737. Finally, BCL2L10 inhibited the cell death upon combination treatments of PLX-4032, a BRAF inhibitor, with ABT-737 or cisplatin. In summary, we determined that BCL2L10 is expressed in melanoma and contributes to cell survival. Hence, targeting BCL2L10 may enhance the clinical efficacy of other therapies for malignant melanoma.
STAT3 Stabilizes IKKα Protein through Direct Interaction in Transformed and Cancerous Human Breast Epithelial Cells
Authors: Hahn Young-Il , Saeidi Soma , Kim Su-Jung , Park Se-Young , Song Na-Young , Zheng Jie , Kim Do-Hee , Lee Han-Byoel , Han Wonshik , Noh Dong-Young , Na Hye-Kyung , Surh Young-Joon
Published: December 2020

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) are two representative transcription factors that play a critical role in inflammation-associated tumorigenesis through multi-level cooperation. Unlike other types of tumors, breast carcinomas have shown a significant dependency on the non-classical NF-κB pathway as well as the classical one. The α subunit of the inhibitor of the κB kinase (IKK) complex, IKKα, is involved in both classical and non-classical activation of NF-κB. Although the cross-talk between STAT3 and NF-κB has been suggested in several studies, the interplay between STAT3 and the regulators of NF-κB including IKKα has not been fully clarified yet. In this study, we observed overexpression and co-localization of IKKα and STAT3 in human breast cancer tissues as well as in H-Ras transformed human breast epithelial (H-Ras MCF-10A) and breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cells. By utilizing small interfering RNA (siRNA) technology, we were able to demonstrate that STAT3 up-regulated IKKα, but not IKKβ or IKKγ, in these cells. This was attributable to direct binding to and subsequent stabilization of IKKα protein by blocking the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Notably, we identified the lysine 44 residue of IKKα as a putative binding site for STAT3. Moreover, siRNA knockdown of IKKα attenuated viability, anchorage-independent growth and migratory capabilities of H-Ras MCF-10A cells. Taken together, these findings propose a novel mechanism responsible for NF-κB activation by STAT3 through stabilization of IKKα, which contributes to breast cancer promotion and progression. Thus, breaking the STAT3-IKKα alliance can be an alternative therapeutic strategy for the treatment of breast cancer.
Recent Insights into Therapy Resistance in Osteosarcoma
Authors: Prudowsky Zachary D. , Yustein Jason T.
Published: December 2020

Osteosarcoma, the most common bone malignancy of childhood, has been a challenge to treat and cure. Standard chemotherapy regimens work well for many patients, but there remain minimal options for patients with progressive or resistant disease, as clinical trials over recent decades have failed to significantly improve survival. A better understanding of therapy resistance is necessary to improve current treatments and design new strategies for future treatment options. In this review, we discuss known mechanisms and recent scientific advancements regarding osteosarcoma and its patterns of resistance against chemotherapy, radiation, and other newly-introduced therapeutics.
Drug Conjugates Based on a Monovalent Affibody Targeting Vector Can Efficiently Eradicate HER2 Positive Human Tumors in an Experimental Mouse Model
Authors: Xu Tianqi , Ding Haozhong , Vorobyeva Anzhelika , Oroujeni Maryam , Orlova Anna , Tolmachev Vladimir , Gräslund Torbjörn
Published: December 2020

The human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is frequently overexpressed in a variety of cancers and therapies targeting HER2 are routinely used in the clinic. Recently, small engineered scaffold proteins, such as affibody molecules, have shown promise as carriers of cytotoxic drugs, and these drug conjugates may become complements or alternatives to the current HER2-targeting therapies. Here, we investigated if a monovalent HER2-binding affibody molecule, ZHER2:2891, fused with a plasma half-life extending albumin binding domain (ABD), may be used as carrier of the cytotoxic maytansine derivate mcDM1. We found that the resulting drug conjugate, ZHER2:2891-ABD-E3-mcDM1, had strong affinity for its cognate molecular targets: HER2 and serum albumin. ZHER2:2891-ABD-E3-mcDM1 displayed potent cytotoxic activity towards cells with high HER2 expression, with IC50 values ranging from 0.6 to 33 nM. In vivo, an unspecific increase in uptake in the liver, imparted by the hydrophobic mcDM1, was counteracted by incorporation of hydrophilic and negatively charged glutamate residues near the site of mcDM1 conjugation. A dose-escalation experiment showed that increasing doses up to 15.1 mg/kg gave a proportional increase in uptake in xenografted HER2-overexpressing SKOV3 tumors, after which the tumors became saturated. Experimental therapy with four once-weekly injection of 10.3 or 15.1 mg/kg led to efficient regression of tumors in all animals and complete regression in some. Weight loss was detected for some animals in the group receiving the highest dose, suggesting that it was close to the maximum tolerated dose. In conclusion, the monovalent HER2-targeting affibody drug conjugate presented herein have potent anti-tumor activity in vivo.
Monoclonal Antibody-Based Immunotherapy and Its Role in the Development of Cardiac Toxicity
Authors: Kumar Mohit , Thangavel Chellappagounder , Becker Richard C. , Sadayappan Sakthivel
Published: December 2020

Immunotherapy is one of the most effective therapeutic options for cancer patients. Five specific classes of immunotherapies, which includes cell-based chimeric antigenic receptor T-cells, checkpoint inhibitors, cancer vaccines, antibody-based targeted therapies, and oncolytic viruses. Immunotherapies can improve survival rates among cancer patients. At the same time, however, they can cause inflammation and promote adverse cardiac immune modulation and cardiac failure among some cancer patients as late as five to ten years following immunotherapy. In this review, we discuss cardiotoxicity associated with immunotherapy. We also propose using human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes/ cardiac-stromal progenitor cells and cardiac organoid cultures as innovative experimental model systems to (1) mimic clinical treatment, resulting in reproducible data, and (2) promote the identification of immunotherapy-induced biomarkers of both early and late cardiotoxicity. Finally, we introduce the integration of omics-derived high-volume data and cardiac biology as a pathway toward the discovery of new and efficient non-toxic immunotherapy.
Restricted Water Diffusion in Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Pancreatic Cancer is Associated with Tumor Hypoxia
Authors: Mayer Philipp , Kraft Anne , Witzel Hagen R. , Marnet Nicole , Hörner Nina , Roth Wilfried , Heinrich Stefan , Hackert Thilo , Bergmann Frank , Kauczor Hans-Ulrich , Klauss Miriam , Gaida Matthias M.
Published: December 2020

Hypoxia is a hallmark of pancreatic cancer (PDAC) due to its compact and extensive fibrotic tumor stroma. Hypoxia contributes to high lethality of this disease, by inducing a more malignant phenotype and resistance to radiation and chemotherapy. Thus, non-invasive methods to quantify hypoxia could be helpful for treatment decisions, for monitoring, especially in non-resectable tumors, or to optimize personalized therapy. In the present study, we investigated whether tumor hypoxia in PDAC is reflected by diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI), a functional imaging technique, frequently used in clinical practice for identification and characterization of pancreatic lesions. DW-MRI assesses the tissue microarchitecture by measuring the diffusion of water molecules, which is more restricted in highly compact tissues. As reliable surrogate markers for hypoxia, we determined Blimp-1 (B-lymphocyte induced maturation protein), a transcription factor, as well as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which are up-regulated in response to hypoxia. In 42 PDAC patients, we observed a close association between restricted water diffusion in DW-MRI and tumor hypoxia in matched samples, as expressed by high levels of Blimp-1 and VEGF in tissue samples of the respective patients. In summary, our data show that DW-MRI is well suited for the evaluation of tumor hypoxia in PDAC and could potentially be used for the identification of lesions with a high hypoxic fraction, which are at high risk for failure of radiochemotherapy.
Reply to Comment on Katsarelias, D., et al. “The Effect of Beta-Adrenergic Blocking Agents in Cutaneous Melanoma—A Nation-Wide Swedish Population-Based Retrospective Register Study.” Cancers 2020, 12, 3228
Authors: Katsarelias Dimitrios , Eriksson Hanna , Mikiver Rasmus , Krakowski Isabelle , Nilsson Jonas A. , Ny Lars , Olofsson Bagge Roger
Published: December 2020

We thank De Giorgi et al for their interest in our study, and for raising important and relevant questions [...]
Fenton-Type Bimetallic Catalysts for Degradation of Dyes in Aqueous Solutions
Authors: Santos Bebiana L. C. , Parpot Pier , Soares Olívia S. G. P. , Pereira Manuel F. R. , Rombi Elisabetta , Fonseca António M. , Correia Neves Isabel
Published: December 2020

Dye compounds are becoming a problematic class of pollutants for the environment, so it is important to develop stable catalysts for their elimination. First, several studies were performed with different Y zeolites (NaY, (NH4)Y and USY) in order to select the best support for the preparation of the bimetallic catalysts. In particular, NaY zeolite was used as the support for Fe, Cu and Mn metals to prepare mono and bimetallic Fenton-type catalysts by the ion exchange method. The catalysts were characterized by several techniques, such as chemical analysis, nitrogen physisorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and cyclic voltammetry studies. Characterization results revealed that the metals were successfully ion-exchanged within the NaY zeolite. The prepared catalysts were tested for the aqueous-phase degradation of dye compounds (Procion yellow (PY) and Tartrazine (Tar)) at atmospheric pressure and different temperatures, using H2O2 as the oxidant. All the investigated samples were found to be active in degrading the dyes through the Fenton-type process; however, the oxidation rate was found to be higher in the presence of the bimetallic catalysts. CuFe-NaY displays the best mineralization rate for PY oxidation while MnFe-NaY shows the highest activity for Tar degradation. This work may provide further insight into the design of Fenton-type bimetallic catalysts with improved catalytic properties for environmental remediation.
Reversed Proteolysis—Proteases as Peptide Ligases
Authors: Goettig Peter
Published: December 2020

Historically, ligase activity by proteases was theoretically derived due to their catalyst nature, and it was experimentally observed as early as around 1900. Initially, the digestive proteases, such as pepsin, chymotrypsin, and trypsin were employed to perform in vitro syntheses of small peptides. Protease-catalyzed ligation is more efficient than peptide bond hydrolysis in organic solvents, representing control of the thermodynamic equilibrium. Peptide esters readily form acyl intermediates with serine and cysteine proteases, followed by peptide bond synthesis at the N-terminus of another residue. This type of reaction is under kinetic control, favoring aminolysis over hydrolysis. Although only a few natural peptide ligases are known, such as ubiquitin ligases, sortases, and legumains, the principle of proteases as general catalysts could be adapted to engineer some proteases accordingly. In particular, the serine proteases subtilisin and trypsin were converted to efficient ligases, which are known as subtiligase and trypsiligase. Together with sortases and legumains, they turned out to be very useful in linking peptides and proteins with a great variety of molecules, including biomarkers, sugars or building blocks with non-natural amino acids. Thus, these engineered enzymes are a promising branch for academic research and for pharmaceutical progress.
Variation in Ectosymbiont Assemblages Associated with Rock Pigeons (Columba livia) from Coast to Coast in Canada
Authors: Grossi Alexandra , Proctor Heather
Published: December 2020

When a species colonizes a new area, it has the potential to bring with it an array of smaller-bodied symbionts. Rock Pigeons (Columba livia Gmelin) have colonized most of Canada and are found in almost every urban center. In its native range, C. livia hosts more than a dozen species of ectosymbiotic arthropods, and some of these lice and mites have been reported from Rock Pigeons in the United States. Despite being so abundant and widely distributed, there are only scattered host-symbiont records for rock pigeons in Canada. Here we sample Rock Pigeons from seven locations across Canada from the west to east (a distance of > 4000 km) to increase our knowledge of the distribution of their ectosymbionts. Additionally, because ectosymbiont abundance can be affected by temperature and humidity, we looked at meteorological variables for each location to assess whether they were correlated with ectosymbiont assemblage structure. We found eight species of mites associated with different parts of the host’s integument: the feather dwelling mites Falculifer rostratus (Buchholz), Pterophagus columbae (Sugimoto) and Diplaegidia columbae (Buchholz); the skin mites: Harpyrhynchoides gallowayi Bochkov, OConnor and Klompen, H. columbae (Fain), and Ornithocheyletia hallae Smiley; and the nasal mites Tinaminyssus melloi (Castro) and T. columbae (Crossley). We also found five species of lice: Columbicola columbae (Linnaeus), Campanulotes compar (Burmeister), Coloceras tovornikae Tendeiro, Hohorstiella lata Piaget, and Bonomiella columbae Emerson. All 13 ectosymbiont species were found in the two coastal locations of Vancouver (British Columbia) and Halifax (Nova Scotia). The symbiont species found in all sampling locations were the mites O. hallae, H. gallowayi, T. melloi and T. columbae, and the lice Colu. columbae and Camp. compar. Three local meteorological variables were significantly correlated with mite assemblage structure: annual minimum and maximum temperatures and maximum humidity in the month the pigeon was collected. Two local meteorological variables, annual maximum and average temperatures, were significantly correlated with louse assemblages. Our results suggest that milder climatic conditions may affect richness and assemblage structure of ectosymbiont assemblages associated with Rock Pigeons in Canada.
Outdoor Adventure Education: Trends and New Directions—Introduction to a Special Collection of Research
Authors: Roberts Nina S.
Published: December 2020

This special issue on “outdoor adventure education” contains seven articles focused on varied topics in outdoor adventure education (OAE) from the impact of COVID-19, creating a mobile App and girls outdoors to urban programming, systems of privilege and more [...]
Service Robots in Catering Applications: A Review and Future Challenges
Authors: Garcia-Haro Juan Miguel , Oña Edwin Daniel , Hernandez-Vicen Juan , Martinez Santiago , Balaguer Carlos
Published: December 2020

“Hello, I’m the TERMINATOR, and I’ll be your server today”. Diners might soon be feeling this greeting, with Optimus Prime in the kitchen and Wall-E then sending your order to C-3PO. In our daily lives, a version of that future is already showing up. Robotics companies are designing robots to handle tasks, including serving, interacting, collaborating, and helping. These service robots are intended to coexist with humans and engage in relationships that lead them to a better quality of life in our society. Their constant evolution and the arising of new challenges lead to an update of the existing systems. This update provides a generic vision of two questions: the advance of service robots, and more importantly, how these robots are applied in society (professional and personal) based on the market application. In this update, a new category is proposed: catering robotics. This proposal is based on the technological advances that generate new multidisciplinary application fields and challenges. Waiter robots is an example of the catering robotics. These robotic platforms might have social capacities to interact with the consumer and other robots, and at the same time, might have physical skills to perform complex tasks in professional environments such as restaurants. This paper explains the guidelines to develop a waiter robot, considering aspects such as architecture, interaction, planning, and execution.
Performance Evaluation of CNN-Based End-Point Detection Using In-Situ Plasma Etching Data
Authors: Kim Bobae , Im Sungbin , Yoo Geonwook
Published: December 2020

As the technology node shrinks and shifts towards complex architectures, accurate control of automated semiconductor manufacturing processes, particularly plasma etching, is crucial in yield, cost, and semiconductor performance. However, current endpoint detection (EPD) methods relying on the experience of skilled engineers result in process variations and even errors. This paper proposes an enhanced optimal EPD in the plasma etching process based on a convolutional neural network (CNN). The proposed approach performs feature extraction on the spectral data obtained by optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and successfully predicts optimal EPD time. For the purpose of comparison, the support vector machine (SVM) classifier and the Adaboost Ensemble classifier are also investigated; the CNN-based model demonstrates better performance than the two models.
Real-Time Adversarial Attack Detection with Deep Image Prior Initialized as a High-Level Representation Based Blurring Network
Authors: Sutanto Richard Evan , Lee Sukho
Published: December 2020

Several recent studies have shown that artificial intelligence (AI) systems can malfunction due to intentionally manipulated data coming through normal channels. Such kinds of manipulated data are called adversarial examples. Adversarial examples can pose a major threat to an AI-led society when an attacker uses them as means to attack an AI system, which is called an adversarial attack. Therefore, major IT companies such as Google are now studying ways to build AI systems which are robust against adversarial attacks by developing effective defense methods. However, one of the reasons why it is difficult to establish an effective defense system is due to the fact that it is difficult to know in advance what kind of adversarial attack method the opponent is using. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a method to detect the adversarial noise without knowledge of the kind of adversarial noise used by the attacker. For this end, we propose a blurring network that is trained only with normal images and also use it as an initial condition of the Deep Image Prior (DIP) network. This is in contrast to other neural network based detection methods, which require the use of many adversarial noisy images for the training of the neural network. Experimental results indicate the validity of the proposed method.
Psychrophilic Full Scale Tubular Digester Operating over Eight Years: Complete Performance Evaluation and Microbiological Population
Authors: Jaimes-Estévez Jaime , Zafra German , Martí-Herrero Jaime , Pelaz Guillermo , Morán Antonio , Puentes Alejandra , Gomez Christian , Castro Liliana del Pilar , Escalante Hernández Humberto
Published: December 2020

Most biogas plants in the world run under psychrophilic conditions and are operated by small and medium farmers. There is a gap of knowledge on the performance of these systems after several years of operation. The aim of this research is to provide a complete evaluation of a psychrophilic, low-cost, tubular digester operated for eight years. The thermal performance was monitored for 50 days, and parameters such as pH, total volatile fatty acid (tVFA), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and volatile solids (VS) were measured every week for the influent and effluent. The digester operated at a stabilized slurry temperature of around 17.7 °C, with a mean organic load rate (OLR) equal to 0.52 kg VS/m3digester *d and an estimated hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 25 days. The VS reduction in the digester was around 77.58% and the COD reduction was 67 ± 3%, with a mean value for the effluent of 3.31 ± 1.20 g COD/Lt, while the tVFA decreased by 83.6 ± 15.5% and the presence of coliforms decreased 10.5%. A BioMethane potential test (BMP) for the influent and effluent showed that the digester reached a specific methane production of 0.40 Nm3CH4/kg VS and a 0.21 Nm3CH4/m3digester d with 63.1% CH4 in the biogas. These results, together with a microbiological analysis, show stabilized anaerobic digestion and a biogas production that was higher than expected for the psychrophilic range and the short HRT; this may have been due to the presence of an anaerobic digestion microorganism consortium which was extremely well-adapted to psychrophilic conditions over the eight-year study period.
Estimation of the Compressive Strength of Corrugated Cardboard Boxes with Various Openings
Authors: Garbowski Tomasz , Gajewski Tomasz , Grabski Jakub
Published: December 2020

This paper presents mixed analytical/numerical method for estimating the static top-to-bottom compressive strength of corrugated packaging with different ventilation openings and holes, in which the torsional and shear stiffness of corrugated cardboard as well as the panel depth-to-width ratio are included. Analytical framework bases on Heimerls assumption with a modification to a critical force, which is here computed by a numerical algorithm. The proposed method is compared herein with the successful McKee formula and is verified with the large number of experiment results of various packaging designs made of different qualities of corrugated cardboard. The results show that, for various hole dimensions or location of openings in no-flap and flap boxes, the estimation error may be reduced up to three times than in the simple analytical approach.
Optimization of the Urea Injection Angle and Direction: Maximizing the Uniformity Index of a Selective Catalytic Reduction System
Authors: Jeong Seokhoon , Kim Hoonmyung , Kim Hyunjun , Kwon Ohyun , Park Eunyong , Kang Jeongho
Published: December 2020

The uniformity of ammonia is very crucial for reducing the NOX emissions in a selective catalytic reduction system since the uniformity highly affects the chemical reaction between the ammonia and NOX emission. However, increasing ammonia uniformity in a short time period while injecting a urea solution is not a trivial task. Therefore, in this study, the uniformity of various urea injector designs is compared and an optimal design for the urea injector angle and direction is selected. The uniformity index (UI) was calculated using numerical analysis and compared with experimental result to achieve high reliability. The boundary condition of the analysis is extracted from the dominant operating region of the non-road transient cycle (NRTC) to guarantee a realistic analysis result. The design candidates were generated from the combination of three urea injection angles and eight urea injection directions and thoroughly compared to provide an insightful analysis. The conclusion is that injecting urea in the opposite direction to the main stream of exhaust gas increases the kinetic energy and thus the uniformity is highly increased. For example, urea injection in the opposite direction and angle to the mainstream flow could increase the UI to 0.966, which is a 16.7% improvement compared to the same direction and angle injection.
A Study of the Electrical Output and Reliability Characteristics of the Crystalline Photovoltaic Module According to the Front Materials
Authors: Lim Jong Rok , Shin Woo Gyun , Lee Chung Geun , Lee Yong Gyu , Ju Young Chul , Ko Suk Whan , Kim Jung Dong , Kang Gi Hwan , Hwang Hyemi
Published: December 2020

In recent years, various types of installations such as floating photovoltaic (PV) and agri-voltaic systems, and BIPV (building integrated photovoltaic system) have been implemented in PV systems and, accordingly, there is a growing demand for new PV designs and materials. In particular, in order to install a PV module in a building, it is important to reduce the weight of the module. The PV module in which low-iron, tempered glass is applied to the front surface, which is generally used, has excellent electrical output and reliability characteristics; however, it is heavy. In order to reduce the weight of the PV module, it is necessary to use a film or plastic-based material, as opposed to low-iron, tempered glass, on the front surface. However, if a material other than glass is used on the front of the PV module, various problems such as reduced electrical output and reduced reliability may occur. Therefore, in this paper, a PV module using a film instead of glass as the front surface was fabricated, and a characteristic analysis and reliability test were conducted. First, the transmittance and UV characteristics of each material were tested, and one-cell and 24-cell PV modules were fabricated and tested for electrical output and reliability. From the results, it was found that the transmittance and UV characteristics of the front material were excellent. In addition, the electrical output and reliability test results confirmed that the front-surface film was appropriate for use in a PV module.
Scaling the Roots Mechanical Reinforcement in Plantation of Cunninghamia R. Br in Southwest China
Authors: Mehtab Alam , Jiang Yuan-Jun , Su Li-Jun , Shamsher Sadiq , Li Jia-Jia , Mahfuzur Rahman
Published: December 2020

The degree of mechanical reinforcement provided by plants depends upon its roots distribution in the soil and mechanical properties of the roots. The mechanical properties and distribution of root traits (root diameter and number) in the soil of the standing forest depends on the tree stem diameter. This variation of root traits with tree stem diameter is rarely investigated. Therefore, this research presents the effect of tree stem diameter on the distribution of roots within the standing forest of Cunninghamia in the Longchi forest area, Sichuan province, China. In this area, shallow landslides take place frequently. We investigated the root traits distribution for trees with different stem diameters, i.e., 220 mm, 320 mm, 450 mm, and 468 mm, to show the variation of roots distribution in the soil with stem diameter. The root architecture of the selected trees was studied by step excavation method of the root zone accompanied by measurement of roots physical parameters (roots number and roots diameter) and indices (roots area ratio (RAR), roots biomass (RB), and roots distribution (RD)). We measured the root’s maximum tensile strength by performing root tensile tests in the laboratory. The field and laboratory-measured data were used to estimate the root cohesion by both the commonly used model Wu and Waldron Model (WWM) and Fiber Bundle Model (FBM). The results indicate that the tree stem diameter correlates with both the root distribution and the tensile strength. The roots indices and root cohesion increase with an increase in the diameter of the tree. Further, RAR decreases with depth and lateral distance from the tree stem, while the maximum values were observed in 10 cm depth. The relationship between roots diameter and roots tensile strength is established through power function. The average root cohesion estimated for a tree with stem diameter 220 mm is 23 kPa, 29 kPa for 320 mm, 54 kPa for 450 mm, and 63 kPa for 460 mm. This effect of stem diameter on the increase of soil shear resistance should be considered while evaluating the stability of slopes in standing forests. The comparison between WWM and FBM for investigated species suggests that WWM estimates the cohesion values greater than FBM by 65%.
Variability among Sites and Climate Models Contribute to Uncertain Spruce Growth Projections in Denmark
Authors: Huang Weiwei , Fonti Patrick , Ræbild Anders , Larsen Jørgen Bo , Wellendorf Hubert , Hansen Jon Kehlet
Published: December 2020

Projecting trees species growth into future climate is subject to large uncertainties and it is of importance to quantify the different sources (e.g., site, climate model) to prioritize research efforts. This study quantifies and compares sites and climate model-induced uncertainties in projected Norway spruce growth from Denmark. We analyzed tree-rings from 340 Norway spruce trees sampled in 14 planted stands (1. Plantation; period 1950–1987) and additionally 36 trees from six trials in a common garden experiment (2. Common garden; period 1972–2012). Growth-climate correlations were estimated and multiple linear and nonlinear regression models relating growth with climate were tested. Tree growth was projected up to 2100 applying multiple linear or quadratic regression models based on the 15 Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models (AOGCMs) of the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). The climate-growth models showed that summer drought and warm previous-year late-summer and early-autumn constrain growth. In some stands, warm springs affected growth positively. The projections of growth under future climates on average showed from no to slightly negative changes in growth compared to present growth rates. However, projections showed a very large variation, ranging from highly positive to highly negative growth changes. The uncertainties due to variation in site responses and in climate models were substantial. A lesser degree of uncertainty was related to the emission scenarios. Even though our projections on average suggest that Norway spruce may experience a growth reduction in the future, the tremendous variation in growth predictions due to differences between stands and climate models calls for further research and caution when projections are interpreted. These results also suggest that forest managers in general should avoid the use of Norway spruce on exposed and drought prone sites and as an additional resilience measure primarily use it in mixtures with other more climate tolerant species.
Architecture for Enabling Edge Inference via Model Transfer from Cloud Domain in a Kubernetes Environment
Authors: Pääkkönen Pekka , Pakkala Daniel , Kiljander Jussi , Sarala Roope
Published: December 2020

The current approaches for energy consumption optimisation in buildings are mainly reactive or focus on scheduling of daily/weekly operation modes in heating. Machine Learning (ML)-based advanced control methods have been demonstrated to improve energy efficiency when compared to these traditional methods. However, placing of ML-based models close to the buildings is not straightforward. Firstly, edge-devices typically have lower capabilities in terms of processing power, memory, and storage, which may limit execution of ML-based inference at the edge. Secondly, associated building information should be kept private. Thirdly, network access may be limited for serving a large number of edge devices. The contribution of this paper is an architecture, which enables training of ML-based models for energy consumption prediction in private cloud domain, and transfer of the models to edge nodes for prediction in Kubernetes environment. Additionally, predictors at the edge nodes can be automatically updated without interrupting operation. Performance results with sensor-based devices (Raspberry Pi 4 and Jetson Nano) indicated that a satisfactory prediction latency (~7–9 s) can be achieved within the research context. However, model switching led to an increase in prediction latency (~9–13 s). Partial evaluation of a Reference Architecture for edge computing systems, which was used as a starting point for architecture design, may be considered as an additional contribution of the paper.
Quality Parameters of Spanish Lemons with Commercial Interest
Authors: Aguilar-Hernández Marlene G. , Núñez-Gómez Dámaris , Forner-Giner María Ángeles , Hernández Francisca , Pastor-Pérez Joaquín J. , Legua Pilar
Published: December 2020

The Spanish Mediterranean region concentrates the largest producers of lemons (Citrus limon Burm. f.) at the national level where the 98.4% of the cultivated area of lemons corresponds to the varieties “Verna” and “Fino”. In this study, the morphological and chemical variations of the fruits obtained in five variety/rootstock combinations were investigated in order to determine the influence and impact of the rootstock on the physicochemical properties of the fruits. The assay was carried out using three lemon varieties (“Fino 95”, “Fino 49” and “Verna”) grafted onto two different rootstocks (Citrus macrophylla and Citrus aurantium). The varieties were selected due to be consolidated commercial varieties, while the rootstocks are the most commonly used in the world. Both the morphological characteristics of the fruits (colour, weight, size) as well as their physicochemical characteristics (total soluble solids, titratable acidity, maturity index, antioxidant activity, sugars, and organic acids) were evaluated. Based on the results, the lemons with the best physicochemical and the best compositional characteristics were obtained in the “Fino 95” and “Fino 49” lemons grafted onto C. aurantium rootstock presented the highest quality fruits.
From Polyclonal Sera to Recombinant Antibodies: A Review of Immunological Detection of Gluten in Foodstuff
Authors: Garcia-Calvo Eduardo , García-García Aina , Madrid Raquel , Martin Rosario , García Teresa
Published: December 2020

Gluten is the ethanol-soluble protein fraction of cereal endosperms like wheat, rye, and barley. It is widely used in the food industry because of the physical–chemical properties it gives to dough. Nevertheless, there are some gluten-related diseases that are presenting increasing prevalences, e.g., celiac disease, for which a strict gluten-free diet is the best treatment. Due to this situation, gluten labeling legislation has been developed in several countries around the world. This article reviews the gluten immune detection systems that have been applied to comply with such regulations. These systems have followed the development of antibody biotechnology, which comprise three major methodologies: polyclonal antibodies, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) derived from hybridoma cells (some examples are 401.21, R5, G12, and α-20 antibodies), and the most recent methodology of recombinant antibodies. Initially, the main objective was the consecution of new high-affinity antibodies, resulting in low detection and quantification limits that are mainly achieved with the R5 mAb (the gold standard for gluten detection). Increasing knowledge about the causes of gluten-related diseases has increased the complexity of research in this field, with current efforts not only focusing on the development of more specific and sensitive systems for gluten but also the detection of protein motifs related to pathogenicity. New tools based on recombinant antibodies will provide adequate safety and traceability methodologies to meet the increasing market demand for gluten-free products.
Solid-State Fermentation of Arthrospira platensis to Implement New Food Products: Evaluation of Stabilization Treatments and Bacterial Growth on the Volatile Fraction
Authors: Martelli Francesco , Cirlini Martina , Lazzi Camilla , Neviani Erasmo , Bernini Valentina
Published: December 2020

Arthrospira platensis is a cyanobacterium widely used in food formulation and mainly consumed as a food supplement because of its high amount of proteins, vitamins and minerals. Different probiotic food supplements are present in the market, and a lactic acid fermented food product like dried spirulina could be useful not only to introduce lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with beneficial effects to the diet of consumers, but also to improve or change the aromatic profile of the substrate. Therefore, the aim of this study was the evaluation of lactic acid fermentation of A. platensis biomass, focusing on the consequent changes in the aromatic profile. For this purpose, two different stabilization treatments (UV light treatment and sterilization) were applied prior to fermentation with two LAB strains, Lacticaseibacillus casei 2240 and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG. The biomass proved to be a suitable matrix for solid-state fermentation, showing a LAB growth of more than 2 log CFU/g in 48 h. The fermentation process was also useful for off-flavor reduction. In particular, the fermentation process significantly influenced the concentration of those compounds responsible for aldehydic/ethereal, buttery/waxy (acetoin and diacetyl), alkane and fermented aromatic notes (isoamyl alcohol). The heat treatment of the matrix, in addition to guaranteed safety for consumers, led to an improved aroma after fermentation. In conclusion, a fermented spirulina powder with a different aromatic profile was obtained with the applied heat treatment. Fermentation with lactic acid bacteria can be an interesting tool to obtain cyanobacterial biomasses with more pleasant sensory properties for potential use in food formulations.
RET Copy Number Alteration in Medullary Thyroid Cancer Is a Rare Event Correlated with RET Somatic Mutations and High Allelic Frequency
Authors: Ramone Teresa , Mulè Chiara , Ciampi Raffaele , Bottici Valeria , Cappagli Virginia , Prete Alessandro , Matrone Antonio , Piaggi Paolo , Torregrossa Liborio , Basolo Fulvio , Elisei Rossella , Romei Cristina
Published: December 2020

Copy number variations (CNV) of the RET gene have been described in 30% of Medullary Thyroid Cancer (MTC), but no information is available about their role in this tumor. This study was designed to clarify RET gene CNV prevalence and their potential role in MTC development. RET gene CNV were analyzed in 158 sporadic MTC cases using the ION Reporter Software (i.e., in silico analysis) while the multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification assay (i.e., in vitro analysis) technique was performed in 78 MTC cases. We identified three categories of RET ploidy: 137 in 158 (86.7%) cases were diploid and 21 in 158 (13.3%) were aneuploid. Among the aneuploid cases, five out of 21 (23.8%) showed an allelic deletion while 16 out of 21 (76.2%) had an allelic amplification. The prevalence of amplified or deleted RET gene cases (aneuploid) was higher in RET positive tumors. Aneuploid cases also showed a higher allelic frequency of the RET driver mutation. The prevalence of patients with metastatic disease was higher in the group of aneuploid cases while the higher prevalence of disease-free patients was observed in diploid tumors. A statistically significant difference was found when comparing the ploidy status and mortality. RET gene CNVs are rare events in sporadic MTC and are associated with RET somatic mutation, suggesting that they could not be a driver mechanism of tumoral transformation per se. Finally, we found a positive correlation between RET gene CNV and a worse clinical outcome.