bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Association of SOD2 (rs4880) and GPX1 (rs1050450) Gene Polymorphisms with Risk of Balkan Endemic Nephropathy and its Related Tumors
Authors: Dragicevic Biljana , Suvakov Sonja , Jerotic Djurdja , Reljic Zorica , Djukanovic Ljubica , Zelen Ivanka , Pljesa-Ercegovac Marija , Savic-Radojevic Ana , Simic Tatjana , Dragicevic Dejan , Matic Marija
Published: August 2019

Background and Objectives: Experimental data show that superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) is involved in ochratoxin (OTA)-induced nephrotoxicity, whereas clinical data indicate the role of SOD2 rs4880 or glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPX1) rs1050450 polymorphisms in end-stage renal disease and urothelial carcinoma risk, known to be the major complications of Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN). Therefore, we hypothesized that SOD2 and GPX1 gene polymorphisms would influence the risk of BEN and its associated tumors. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in 207 BEN patients and 86 controls from endemic areas. Results: Individuals with both copies of variant SOD2 allele, known for lower mitochondrial antioxidant protection, are at a significantly higher BEN risk (OR = 2.6, p = 0.021). No association was observed between GPX1 gene polymorphism and BEN risk. Combining SOD2 and GPX1 genotypes did not alter the risk of BEN development. Regarding the risk of urothelial tumors in BEN patients, none of the polymorphisms studied was significantly associated with the risk of these tumors. Conclusions: Polymorphism in SOD2 rs4880 gene affects the risk of BEN development. Hence, SOD2 genotyping could, together with a panel of other enzymes, be used as a biomarker of susceptibility in BEN areas.
Polypharmacy in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Insights from an Internal Medicine Department
Authors: Dobrică Elena-Codruța , Găman Mihnea-Alexandru , Cozma Matei-Alexandru , Bratu Ovidiu , Pantea Stoian Anca , Diaconu Camelia
Published: August 2019

Background and Objectives: Polypharmacy heavily impacts the quality of life of patients worldwide. It is a necessary evil in many disorders, and especially in type 2 diabetes mellitus, as patients require treatment both for this condition and its related or unrelated comorbidities. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the use of polypharmacy in type 2 diabetes mellitus vs. non-diabetes patients. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective observational study was conducted. We collected the medical records of patients hospitalized in the Internal Medicine Clinic of the Clinical Emergency Hospital of Bucharest, Romania, for a period of two months (01/01/2018–28/02/2018). Patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus were included in the study group, whereas patients who were not diabetic were used as controls. Results: The study group consisted of 63 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (mean age 69.19 ± 9.67 years, range 46–89 years; 52.38% males). The control group included 63 non-diabetes patients (mean age 67.05 ± 14.40 years, range 42–93 years, 39.68% males). Diabetic patients had more comorbidities (10.35 ± 3.09 vs. 7.48 ± 3.59, p = 0.0001) and received more drugs (7.81 ± 2.23 vs. 5.33 ± 2.63, p = 0.0001) vs. non-diabetic counterparts. The mean number of drug-drug and food-drug interactions was higher in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients vs. controls: 8.86 ± 5.76 vs. 4.98 ± 5.04, p = 0.0003 (minor: 1.22 ± 1.42 vs. 1.27 ± 1.89; moderate: 7.08 ± 4.08 vs. 3.54 ± 3.77; major: 0.56 ± 0.74 vs. 0.37 ± 0.77) and 2.63 ± 1.08 vs. 2.19 ± 1.42 (p = 0.0457), respectively. Conclusions: Polypharmacy should be an area of serious concern also in type 2 diabetes mellitus, especially in the elderly. In our study, type 2 diabetes mellitus patients received more drugs than their non-diabetes counterparts and were exposed to more drug-drug and food-drug interactions.
“A Tale of Two Cities”: Anticoagulation Management in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and Prosthetic Valves in the Era of Direct Oral Anticoagulants
Authors: Palmiero Giuseppe , Melillo Enrico , Rubino Antonino Salvatore
Published: August 2019

Valvular heart disease and atrial fibrillation often coexist. Oral vitamin K antagonists have represented the main anticoagulation management for antithrombotic prevention in this setting for decades. Novel direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are a new class of drugs and currently, due to their well-established efficacy and security, they represent the main therapeutic option in non-valvular atrial fibrillation. Some new evidences are exploring the role of DOACs in patients with valvular atrial fibrillation (mechanical and biological prosthetic valves). In this review we explore the data available in the medical literature to establish the actual role of DOACs in patients with valvular heart disease and atrial fibrillation.
Antifouling Properties of Silver-Zinc Oxide Polyamide Thin Film Composite Membrane and Rejection of 2-Chlorophenol and 2,4-Dichlorophenol
Authors: Kotlhao Kate , Lawal Isiaka , Moutloali Richard , Klink Michael
Published: August 2019

The silver-zinc oxide (Ag-ZnO) polyamide thin film composite (PA-TFC) membrane was prepared by interfacial polymerization. The Ag-ZnO/PA-TFC membrane was characterized by attenuated total reflectance fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) for polyamide functional groups and contact angle for surface hydrophilicity. The Ag-ZnO/PA-TFC membrane was further characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) for morphology and surface roughness, respectively. The performance of the fabricated membrane was investigated using pure water flux, permeability, rejection, flux recovery, and fouling resistance using low molecular weight organic pollutants, 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) and 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP). The results were compared to the neat (PA-TFC) membrane. It was observed that incorporation of Ag-ZnO nanocomposites into the PA-TFC membrane improved hydrophilicity, permeation, rejection, and fouling resistance properties of the membrane. The contact angle decreased from 62.8° to 54° for PA-TFC and the Ag-ZnO/PA-TFC membrane, respectively. The presence of Ag-ZnO enhanced permeability of the membrane from 0.9 (Lm−2h−1bar−1) to 1.9 (Lm−2h−1bar−1). Modification of the membrane with Ag-ZnO further showed an enhanced rejection of 2-CP and 2,4-DCP from 43% to 80% and 58% to 85%, respectively. The 2,4-DCP molecules were rejected more than 2-CP due to enhanced repulsive forces from the extra Cl ion. A high flux recovery of about 95% was achieved for the modified membrane compared to 64% for the neat membrane. The improved flux recovery was an indication of enhanced antifouling propensity.
Symbiosis in Sustainable Agriculture: Can Olive Fruit Fly Bacterial Microbiome Be Useful in Pest Management?
Authors: Nobre Tânia
Published: August 2019

The applied importance of symbiosis has been gaining recognition. The relevance of symbiosis has been increasing in agriculture, in developing sustainable practices, including pest management. Insect symbiotic microorganisms’ taxonomical and functional diversity is high, and so is the potential of manipulation of these microbial partners in suppressing pest populations. These strategies, which rely on functional organisms inhabiting the insect, are intrinsically less susceptible to external environmental variations and hence likely to overcome some of the challenges posed by climate change. Rates of climate change in the Mediterranean Basin are expected to exceed global trends for most variables, and this warming will also affect olive production and impact the interactions of olives and their main pest, the obligate olive fruit fly (Bactrocera oleae). This work summarizes the current knowledge on olive fly symbiotic bacteria towards the potential development of symbiosis-based strategies for olive fruit fly control. Particular emphasis is given to Candidatus Erwinia dacicola, an obligate, vertically transmitted endosymbiont that allows the insect to cope with the olive-plant produced defensive compound oleuropein, as a most promising target for a symbiosis disruption approach.
5-Methyl Furfural Reduces the Production of Malodors by Inhibiting Sodium l-Lactate Fermentation of Staphylococcus epidermidis: Implication for Deodorants Targeting the Fermenting Skin Microbiome
Authors: Kumar Manish , Myagmardoloonjin Binderiya , Keshari Sunita , Negari Indira , Huang Chun-Ming
Published: August 2019

Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) is a common bacterial colonizer on the surface of human skin. Lactate is a natural constituent of skin. Here, we reveal that S. epidermidis used sodium l-lactate as a carbon source to undergo fermentation and yield malodors detected by gas colorimetric tubes. Several furan compounds such as furfural originating from the fermentation metabolites play a role in the negative feedback regulation of the fermentation process. The 5-methyl furfural (5MF), a furfural analog, was selected as an inhibitor of sodium l-lactate fermentation of S. epidermidis via inhibition of acetolactate synthase (ALS). S. epidermidis treated with 5MF lost its ability to produce malodors, demonstrating the feasibility of using 5MF as an ingredient in deodorants targeting malodor-causing bacteria in the skin microbiome.
Morphology, Ultrastructure, and Mitochondrial Genome of the Marine Non-Photosynthetic Bicosoecid Cafileria marina Gen. et sp. nov.
Authors: Jirsová Dagmar , Füssy Zoltán , Richtová Jitka , Gruber Ansgar , Oborník Miroslav
Published: August 2019

In this paper, we describe a novel bacteriophagous biflagellate, Cafileria marina with two smooth flagellae, isolated from material collected from a rock surface in the Kvernesfjorden (Norway). This flagellate was characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, fluorescence, and light microscopy. The sequence of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (18S) was used as a molecular marker for determining the phylogenetic position of this organism. Apart from the nuclear ribosomal gene, the whole mitochondrial genome was sequenced, assembled, and annotated. Morphological observations show that the newly described flagellate shares key ultrastructural characters with representatives of the family Bicosoecida (Heterokonta). Intriguingly, mitochondria of C. marina frequently associate with its nucleus through an electron-dense disc at the boundary of the two compartments. The function of this association remains unclear. Phylogenetic analyses corroborate the morphological data and place C. marina with other sequence data of representatives from the family Bicosoecida. We describe C. marina as a new species from a new genus in this family.
Proteasome Activation to Combat Proteotoxicity
Authors: Jones Corey L. , Tepe Jetze J.
Published: August 2019

Loss of proteome fidelity leads to the accumulation of non-native protein aggregates and oxidatively damaged species: hallmarks of an aged cell. These misfolded and aggregated species are often found, and suggested to be the culpable party, in numerous neurodegenerative diseases including Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and Alzheimer’s Diseases (AD). Many strategies for therapeutic intervention in proteotoxic pathologies have been put forth; one of the most promising is bolstering the efficacy of the proteasome to restore normal proteostasis. This strategy is ideal as monomeric precursors and oxidatively damaged proteins, so called “intrinsically disordered proteins” (IDPs), are targeted by the proteasome. This review will provide an overview of disorders in proteins, both intrinsic and acquired, with a focus on susceptibility to proteasomal degradation. We will then examine the proteasome with emphasis on newly published structural data and summarize current known small molecule proteasome activators.
Antibacterial Activity and Cytocompatibility of Bone Cement Enriched with Antibiotic, Nanosilver, and Nanocopper for Bone Regeneration
Authors: Wekwejt Marcin , Michno Anna , Truchan Karolina , Pałubicka Anna , Świeczko-Żurek Beata , Osyczka Anna Maria , Zieliński Andrzej
Published: August 2019

Bacterial infections due to bone replacement surgeries require modifications of bone cement with antibacterial components. This study aimed to investigate whether the incorporation of gentamicin or nanometals into bone cement may reduce and to what extent bacterial growth without the loss of overall cytocompatibility and adverse effects in vitro. The bone cement Cemex was used as the base material, modified either with gentamicin sulfate or nanometals: Silver or copper. The inhibition of bacterial adhesion and growth was examined against five different bacterial strains along with integrity of erythrocytes, viability of blood platelets, and dental pulp stem cells. Bone cement modified with nanoAg or nanoCu revealed greater bactericidal effects and prevented the biofilm formation better compared to antibiotic-loaded bone cement. The cement containing nanoAg displayed good cytocompatibility without noticeable hemolysis of erythrocytes or blood platelet disfunction and good viability of dental pulp stem cells (DPSC). On the contrary, the nanoCu cement enhanced hemolysis of erythrocytes, reduced the platelets aggregation, and decreased DPSC viability. Based on these studies, we suggest the modification of bone cement with nanoAg may be a good strategy to provide improved implant fixative for bone regeneration purposes.
Detwinning Mechanism for Nanotwinned Cubic Boron Nitride with Unprecedented Strength: A First-Principles Study
Authors: Yang Bo , Peng Xianghe , Sun Sha , Huang Cheng , Yin Deqiang , Chen Xiang , Fu Tao
Published: August 2019

Synthesized nanotwinned cubic boron nitride (nt-cBN) and nanotwinned diamond (nt-diamond) exhibit extremely high hardness and excellent stability, in which nanotwinned structure plays a crucial role. Here we reveal by first-principles calculations a strengthening mechanism of detwinning, which is induced by partial slip on a glide-set plane. We found that continuous partial slip in the nanotwinned structure under large shear strain can effectively delay the structural graphitization and promote the phase transition from twin structure to cubic structure, which helps to increase the maximum strain range and peak stress. Moreover, ab initio molecular dynamics simulation reveals a stabilization mechanism for nanotwin. These results can help us to understand the unprecedented strength and stability arising from the twin boundaries.
Two-Dimensional Hybrid Composites of SnS2 Nanosheets Array Film with Graphene for Enhanced Photoelectric Performance
Authors: Fang Feier , Li Henan , Yao Huizhen , Jiang Ke , Liu Zexiang , Lin Congjian , Chen Fuming , Wang Ye , Liu Lai
Published: August 2019

Two-dimensional (2D) metal dichalcogenides have attracted considerable attention for use in photoelectric devices due to their unique layer structure and strong light-matter interaction. In this paper, vertically grown SnS2 nanosheets array film was synthesized by a facile chemical bath deposition (CBD). The effects of deposition time and annealing temperature on the quality of SnS2 films was investigated in detail. By optimizing the preparation conditions, the SnS2 array film exhibited efficient photoelectric detection performance under sunlight. Furthermore, in order to improve the performance of the photodetector based on SnS2 nanosheets film, a transparent graphene film was introduced as the hole-transport layer by wet-chemical method directly transferring techniques. Graphene/SnS2 nanosheets array film heterojunction photodetectors exhibit enhanced photoresponsivity. The light on/off ratio of the photodetector based on graphene/SnS2 was 1.53, about 1.4 times higher than that of the pristine SnS2 array films. The improved photoresponse performance suggested that the effective heterojunction between vertical SnS2 nanosheets array film and graphene suppresses the recombination of photogenerated carriers. The results indicate that the graphene/SnS2 heterojunction photodetectors have great potential in photodetection devices.
Optically Stimulated Nanodosimeters with High Storage Capacity
Authors: Van der Heggen David , Cooper Daniel R. , Tesson Madeleine , Joos Jonas J. , Seuntjens Jan , Capobianco John A. , Smet Philippe F.
Published: August 2019

In this work we report on the thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) properties of β-Na(Gd,Lu)F4:Tb3+ nanophosphors prepared via a standard high-temperature coprecipitation route. Irradiating this phosphor with X-rays not only produces radioluminescence but also leads to a bright green afterglow that is detectable up to hours after excitation has stopped. The storage capacity of the phosphor was found to be (2.83 ± 0.05) × 1016 photons/gram, which is extraordinarily high for nano-sized particles and comparable to the benchmark bulk phosphor SrAl2O4:Eu2+,Dy3+. By combining TL with OSL, we show that the relatively shallow traps, which dominate the TL glow curves and are responsible for the bright afterglow, can also be emptied optically using 808 or 980 nm infrared light while the deeper traps can only be emptied thermally. This OSL at therapeutically relevant radiation doses is of high interest to the medical dosimetry community, and is demonstrated here in uniform, solution-processable nanocrystals.
Hafnium-Doped Mesoporous Silica as Efficient Lewis Acidic Catalyst for Friedel–Crafts Alkylation Reactions
Authors: Huang Yao-Bing , Luo Yu-Jia , Wang Fei
Published: August 2019

The development of an efficient solid catalyst for Friedel–Crafts (FC) reactions is of great importance to organic synthetic chemistry. Herein, we reported the hafnium-doped mesoporous silica catalyst Hf/SBA-15 and its first use for Friedel–Crafts alkylation reactions. Catalysts with different Si/Hf ratios were prepared and characterized, among which Hf/SBA-15(20) (Si/Hf = 20:1) was the most active catalyst, offering up to 99.1% benzylated product under mild reaction conditions. The influences of reaction conditions on the product were systematically investigated and compared. Pyridine-IR characterization of the catalyst showed that Lewis acid formed the primary active sites for the Friedel–Crafts alkylation reaction. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization revealed that the electron shift from the Hf center to the silica framework resulted in a more active Lewis metal center for FC reactions. Moreover, the catalyst was successfully applied to the alkylation reaction with different alcohols and aromatic compounds. Finally, the Hf/SBA-15(20) catalyst also showed good recyclability in the recycling runs, demonstrating its high potential of being used for large scale FC reactions in the industry.
Identification of the Secreted Proteins Originated from Primary Human Hepatocytes and HepG2 Cells
Authors: Franko Andras , Hartwig Sonja , Kotzka Jörg , Ruoß Marc , Nüssler Andreas K. , Königsrainer Alfred , Häring Hans-Ulrich , Lehr Stefan , Peter Andreas
Published: August 2019

The liver plays a pivotal role in whole-body carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism. One of the key regulators of glucose and lipid metabolism are hepatokines, which are found among the liver secreted proteins, defined as liver secretome. To elucidate the composition of the human liver secretome and identify hepatokines in primary human hepatocytes (PHH), we conducted comprehensive protein profiling on conditioned medium (CM) of PHH. Secretome profiling using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) identified 691 potential hepatokines in PHH. Subsequently, pathway analysis assigned these proteins to acute phase response, coagulation, and complement system pathways. The secretome of PHH was compared to the secreted proteins of the liver hepatoma cell line HepG2. Although the secretome of PHH and HepG2 cells show a high overlap, the HepG2 secretome rather mirrors the fetal liver with some cancer characteristics. Collectively, our study represents one of the most comprehensive secretome profiling approaches for PHH, allowing new insights into the composition of the secretome derived from primary human material, and points out strength and weakness of using HepG2 cell secretome as a model for the analysis of the human liver secretome.
Health Benefits of Mediterranean Diet
Authors: Martini Daniela
Published: August 2019

Growing evidence shows that a dietary pattern inspired by Mediterranean Diet (MD) principles is associated with numerous health benefits [...]
Effect of the Resveratrol Rice DJ526 on Longevity
Authors: Islam Md. Saidul , Jin Yan Yan , Chung Hea-Jong , Kim Hyeon-Jin , Baek So-Hyeon , Hong Seong-Tshool
Published: August 2019

Resveratrol is the best-known chemical for extending the lifespan of various organisms. Extensive recent research has shown that resveratrol can extend the lifespan of single-celled organisms, but its effects on the extension of animal lifespans are marginal. Despite the limited efficacy of pure resveratrol, resveratrol with the endogenous property of the DJ rice in the resveratrol rice DJ526 previously showed profound health benefits. Here, we report that the resveratrol rice DJ526 markedly extended the lifespan of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster by as much as 41.4% compared to that of the control. The resveratrol rice DJ526 also improved age-related symptoms such as locomotive deterioration, body weight gain, eye degeneration and neurodegeneration in D. melanogaster upon aging. This result shows the most significantly improved lifespan in animal experiments to date, meaning that the resveratrol rice DJ526 will assist in the development of a therapeutic agent for longevity or addressing age-related degeneration.
Correction: Faught et al. “Socioeconomic Disadvantage across the Life Course is associated with Diet Quality in Young Adulthood” Nutrients, 2019, 11(2), 242
Authors: Faught Erin L. , McLaren Lindsay , Kirkpatrick Sharon I. , Hammond David , Minaker Leia M. , Raine Kim D. , Olstad Dana Lee
Published: August 2019

The authors wish to make a correction to the published version of their paper [...]
Formulation, Colloidal Characterization, and In Vitro Biological Effect of BMP-2 Loaded PLGA Nanoparticles for Bone Regeneration
Authors: del Castillo-Santaella Teresa , Ortega-Oller Inmaculada , Padial-Molina Miguel , O’Valle Francisco , Galindo-Moreno Pablo , Jódar-Reyes Ana Belén , Peula-García José Manuel
Published: August 2019

Nanoparticles (NPs) based on the polymer poly (lactide-co-glycolide) acid (PLGA) have been widely studied in developing delivery systems for drugs and therapeutic biomolecules, due to the biocompatible and biodegradable properties of the PLGA. In this work, a synthesis method for bone morphogenetic protein (BMP-2)-loaded PLGA NPs was developed and optimized, in order to carry out and control the release of BMP-2, based on the double-emulsion (water/oil/water, W/O/W) solvent evaporation technique. The polymeric surfactant Pluronic F68 was used in the synthesis procedure, as it is known to have an effect on the reduction of the size of the NPs, the enhancement of their stability, and the protection of the encapsulated biomolecule. Spherical solid polymeric NPs were synthesized, showing a reproducible multimodal size distribution, with diameters between 100 and 500 nm. This size range appears to allow the protein to act on the cell surface and at the cytoplasm level. The effect of carrying BMP-2 co-adsorbed with bovine serum albumin on the NP surface was analyzed. The colloidal properties of these systems (morphology by SEM, hydrodynamic size, electrophoretic mobility, temporal stability, protein encapsulation, and short-term release profile) were studied. The effect of both BMP2-loaded NPs on the proliferation, migration, and osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stromal cells from human alveolar bone (ABSC) was also analyzed in vitro.
Dermal Delivery of the High-Molecular-Weight Drug Tacrolimus by Means of Polyglycerol-Based Nanogels
Authors: Rancan Fiorenza , Volkmann Hildburg , Giulbudagian Michael , Schumacher Fabian , Stanko Jessica Isolde , Kleuser Burkhard , Blume-Peytavi Ulrike , Calderón Marcelo , Vogt Annika
Published: August 2019

Polyglycerol-based thermoresponsive nanogels (tNGs) have been shown to have excellent skin hydration properties and to be valuable delivery systems for sustained release of drugs into skin. In this study, we compared the skin penetration of tacrolimus formulated in tNGs with a commercial 0.1% tacrolimus ointment. The penetration of the drug was investigated in ex vivo abdominal and breast skin, while different methods for skin barrier disruption were investigated to improve skin permeability or simulate inflammatory conditions with compromised skin barrier. The amount of penetrated tacrolimus was measured in skin extracts by liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), whereas the inflammatory markers IL-6 and IL-8 were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Higher amounts of tacrolimus penetrated in breast as compared to abdominal skin or in barrier-disrupted as compared to intact skin, confirming that the stratum corneum is the main barrier for tacrolimus skin penetration. The anti-proliferative effect of the penetrated drug was measured in skin tissue/Jurkat cells co-cultures. Interestingly, tNGs exhibited similar anti-proliferative effects as the 0.1% tacrolimus ointment. We conclude that polyglycerol-based nanogels represent an interesting alternative to paraffin-based formulations for the treatment of inflammatory skin conditions.
Tetracycline Allergy
Authors: Hamilton Leslie A. , Guarascio Anthony J.
Published: August 2019

Despite the widespread use of tetracycline antibiotics since the late 1940s, tetracycline hypersensitivity reactions have rarely been described in the literature. A comprehensive PubMed search was performed, including allergic and serious adverse reactions attributed to the tetracyclines class of antibiotics. Of the evaluated tetracycline analogs, minocycline was attributed to the greatest overall number and severity of serious adverse events reported in the literature, with notable reactions primarily reported as respiratory and dermatologic in nature. Reactions to tetracycline have also been well described in the literature, and although dermatologic reactions are typically less severe in comparison with minocycline and doxycycline, various reports of anaphylactic reactions exist. Although doxycycline has been noted to have had the fewest reports of severe allergic reactions, rare descriptions of life-threatening reactions are still reported in the literature. Allergic reactions regarding tetracyclines are rare; however, adverse reaction type, severity, and frequency among different tetracycline analogs is somewhat variable. A consideration of hypersensitivity and adverse reaction incidence should be performed prior to the selection of individual tetracycline entities.
Enhanced Interfacial and Mechanical Properties of PBX Composites via Surface Modification on Energetic Crystals
Authors: Zeng Chengcheng , Yang Zhijian , Zhang Jianhu , Li Yubin , Lin Congmei , He Guansong , Zhao Xu , Liu Shijun , Gong Feiyan
Published: August 2019

The mechanical properties of composites are highly dependent on the interfacial interaction. In the present work, inspired by marine mussel, the adhesion between energetic crystals of 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) and polymer binders was improved. Three types of linear polymeric agents of glycidyl azide polymer (GAP), polyethylene glycol (PEG), and polytetramethylene ether glycol (PTMEG) were grafted onto TATB particles bridged through polydopamine (PDA) films. SEM images showed that 5% grafting contents could evidently form roughness shells on the surface. With a reinforcement at the interface produced by grafting shells, the mechanical properties of polymer-bonded explosives (PBXs) exhibited outstanding mechanical performance, especially for the PTMEG-grafting sample. Examined by the contact-angle test, the PTMEG-grafting sample possessed a value of polar component similar to that of fluoropolymer, leading to an excellent wettability of the two phases. Additionally, different contents of PTMEG were grafted to reveal that the mechanical properties could be improved even with content as little as 0.5 wt.% PTMEG. These results might highlight a correlation between interfacial interaction and macroscopic properties for mechanically energetic composites, while providing a versatile route of grafting on highly loaded composites.
A Review on Porous Polymeric Membrane Preparation. Part II: Production Techniques with Polyethylene, Polydimethylsiloxane, Polypropylene, Polyimide, and Polytetrafluoroethylene
Authors: Tan XueMei , Rodrigue Denis
Published: August 2019

The development of porous polymeric membranes is an important area of application in separation technology. This article summarizes the development of porous polymers from the perspectives of materials and methods for membrane production. Polymers such as polyethylene, polydimethylsiloxane, polypropylene, polyimide, and polytetrafluoroethylene are reviewed due to their outstanding thermal stability, chemical resistance, mechanical strength, and low cost. Six different methods for membrane fabrication are critically reviewed, including thermally induced phase separation, melt-spinning and cold-stretching, phase separation micromolding, imprinting/soft molding, manual punching, and three-dimensional printing. Each method is described in details related to the strategy used to produce the porous polymeric membranes with a specific morphology and separation performances. The key factors associated with each method are presented, including solvent/non-solvent system type and composition, polymer solution composition and concentration, processing parameters, and ambient conditions. Current challenges are also described, leading to future development and innovation to improve these membranes in terms of materials, fabrication equipment, and possible modifications.
Mediatized Catholicism—Minority Voices and Religious Authority in the Digital Sphere
Authors: Giorgi Alberta
Published: August 2019

Over the last decade, many scholars have explored the thesis of the mediatization of religion proposed by Hjarvard and how mediatization has impacted religious authority. While some scholars have underlined the increasing opportunities for marginalized religious actors to make their voices heard, others have explored how mediatization can also result in the enhancement of traditional religious authority or change the logic of religious authority. Against this background, in this paper, I focus on Christian LGBT+ digital voices in Italy to explore how they discursively engage with the official religious authority of the Catholic Church. The analysis adopts Campbell typology of religious authority. It highlights the complex balance between challenging and reaffirming traditional religious authority, and points out the role of the type of digital community in exploring the effects of the mediatization of religion.
Rhetorica and Exemplum: The Genesis of Christian Literature in Late Imperial China
Authors: Li Sher-Shiueh
Published: August 2019

This paper offers a survey of how European rhetoric reached China in the transitional period between the Ming and the Qing dynasties. The focus of my paper is how a verbal ars is transformed into the written ars, thus inaugurating the Christian literature in late imperial China.
On the Laplace Transforms of the First Hitting Times for Drawdowns and Drawups of Diffusion-Type Processes
Authors: Gapeev Pavel V. , Rodosthenous Neofytos , Chinthalapati V. L. Raju
Published: August 2019

We obtain closed-form expressions for the value of the joint Laplace transform of the running maximum and minimum of a diffusion-type process stopped at the first time at which the associated drawdown or drawup process hits a constant level before an independent exponential random time. It is assumed that the coefficients of the diffusion-type process are regular functions of the current values of its running maximum and minimum. The proof is based on the solution to the equivalent inhomogeneous ordinary differential boundary-value problem and the application of the normal-reflection conditions for the value function at the edges of the state space of the resulting three-dimensional Markov process. The result is related to the computation of probability characteristics of the take-profit and stop-loss values of a market trader during a given time period.
Deep Residual Squeeze and Excitation Network for Remote Sensing Image Super-Resolution
Authors: Gu Jun , Sun Xian , Zhang Yue , Fu Kun , Wang Lei
Published: August 2019

Recently, deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN) have obtained promising results in single image super-resolution (SISR) of remote sensing images. Due to the high complexity of remote sensing image distribution, most of the existing methods are not good enough for remote sensing image super-resolution. Enhancing the representation ability of the network is one of the critical factors to improve remote sensing image super-resolution performance. To address this problem, we propose a new SISR algorithm called a Deep Residual Squeeze and Excitation Network (DRSEN). Specifically, we propose a residual squeeze and excitation block (RSEB) as a building block in DRSEN. The RSEB fuses the input and its internal features of current block, and models the interdependencies and relationships between channels to enhance the representation power. At the same time, we improve the up-sampling module and the global residual pathway in the network to reduce the parameters of the network. Experiments on two public remote sensing datasets (UC Merced and NWPU-RESISC45) show that our DRSEN achieves better accuracy and visual improvements against most state-of-the-art methods. The DRSEN is beneficial for the progress in the remote sensing images super-resolution field.
Impacts of Large-Scale Open-Pit Coal Base on the Landscape Ecological Health of Semi-Arid Grasslands
Authors: Wu Zhenhua , Lei Shaogang , Lu Qingqing , Bian Zhengfu
Published: August 2019

Coal is an important energy resource in the world, especially in China. Extensive coal exploitation seriously damaged the grassland and its fragile ecosystem. However, temporal and spatial impact laws of open-pit coal exploitation on Landscape Ecological Health (LEH) of semi-arid grasslands are still not clear. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to study impact of Large-scale Open-pit Coal Base (LOCB) on the LEH of semi-arid grasslands from the perspectives of temporal and spatial. Taking Shengli LOCB of Xilinguole grassland in Inner Mongolia as an example, we demonstrate a conceptual model of LOCB impact on LEH of semi-arid grasslands, and establish a research system called landscape Index-pattern Evolution-Driving force-Spatial statistics (IEDS). A complete process integrated from investigation, monitoring, and evaluation to the analysis of impact laws was developed. Result indicated that coal mining causes gradual increase of landscape patches, landscape fragmentation, gradual decline of landscape connectivity, complexity and irregularity of landscape shape, enhancement of landscape heterogeneity and complexity, gradual decline of landscape stability, gradual decrease of grassland landscape and annual increase of unhealthy grassland landscape. The LEH of grassland basically belongs to the state of slight deterioration. In the past 15 years, the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of LEH in the study area are similar. This study provides scientific reference for ecological disturbance research, environmental protection, landscape planning, restoration and renovation of ecological environment in mining areas. At the same time, future research should integrate geological, hydrological, soil, vegetation, microorganisms, animals, climate, and other perspectives to study the impact of mining on landscape ecology deeply.
Tensor Discriminant Analysis via Compact Feature Representation for Hyperspectral Images Dimensionality Reduction
Authors: An Jinliang , Song Yuzhen , Guo Yuwei , Ma Xiaoxiao , Zhang Xiangrong
Published: August 2019

Dimensionality reduction is of great importance which aims at reducing the spectral dimensionality while keeping the desirable intrinsic structure information of hyperspectral images. Tensor analysis which can retain both spatial and spectral information of hyperspectral images has caused more and more concern in the field of hyperspectral images processing. In general, a desirable low dimensionality feature representation should be discriminative and compact. To achieve this, a tensor discriminant analysis model via compact feature representation (TDA-CFR) was proposed in this paper. In TDA-CFR, the traditional linear discriminant analysis was extended to tensor space to make the resulting feature representation more informative and discriminative. Furthermore, TDA-CFR redefines the feature representation of each spectral band by employing the tensor low rank decomposition framework which leads to a more compact representation.
Evaluating the Performance of Satellite-Derived Vegetation Indices for Estimating Gross Primary Productivity Using FLUXNET Observations across the Globe
Authors: Huang Xiaojuan , Xiao Jingfeng , Ma Mingguo
Published: August 2019

Satellite-derived vegetation indices (VIs) have been widely used to approximate or estimate gross primary productivity (GPP). However, it remains unclear how the VI-GPP relationship varies with indices, biomes, timescales, and the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) effect. We examined the relationship between VIs and GPP for 121 FLUXNET sites across the globe and assessed how the VI-GPP relationship varied among a variety of biomes at both monthly and annual timescales. We used three widely-used VIs: normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), enhanced vegetation index (EVI), and 2-band EVI (EVI2) as well as a new VI - NIRV and used surface reflectance both with and without BRDF correction from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) to calculate these indices. The resulting traditional (NDVI, EVI, EVI2, and NIRV) and BRDF-corrected (NDVIBRDF, EVIBRDF, EVI2BRDF, and NIRV, BRDF) VIs were used to examine the VI-GPP relationship. At the monthly scale, all VIs were moderate or strong predictors of GPP, and the BRDF correction improved their performance. EVI2BRDF and NIRV, BRDF had similar performance in capturing the variations in tower GPP as did the MODIS GPP product. The VIs explained lower variance in tower GPP at the annual scale than at the monthly scale. The BRDF-correction of surface reflectance did not improve the VI-GPP relationship at the annual scale. The VIs had similar capability in capturing the interannual variability in tower GPP as MODIS GPP. VIs were influenced by temperature and water stresses and were more sensitive to temperature stress than to water stress. VIs in combination with environmental factors could improve the prediction of GPP than VIs alone. Our findings can help us better understand how the VI-GPP relationship varies among indices, biomes, and timescales and how the BRDF effect influences the VI-GPP relationship.
Changes in Water Surface Area during 1989–2017 in the Huai River Basin using Landsat Data and Google Earth Engine
Authors: Xia Haoming , Zhao Jinyu , Qin Yaochen , Yang Jia , Cui Yaoping , Song Hongquan , Ma Liqun , Jin Ning , Meng Qingmin
Published: August 2019

The dynamics of surface water play a crucial role in the hydrological cycle and are sensitive to climate change and anthropogenic activities, especially for the agricultural zone. As one of the most populous areas in China’s river basins, the surface water in the Huai River Basin has significant impacts on agricultural plants, ecological balance, and socioeconomic development. However, it is unclear how water areas responded to climate change and anthropogenic water exploitation in the past decades. To understand the changes in water surface areas in the Huai River Basin, this study used the available 16,760 scenes Landsat TM, ETM+, and OLI images in this region from 1989 to 2017 and processed the data on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. The vegetation index and water index were used to quantify the spatiotemporal variability of the surface water area changes over the years. The major results include: (1) The maximum area, the average area, and the seasonal variation of surface water in the Huai River Basin showed a downward trend in the past 29 years, and the year-long surface water areas showed a slight upward trend; (2) the surface water area was positively correlated with precipitation (p < 0.05), but was negatively correlated with the temperature and evapotranspiration; (3) the changes of the total area of water bodies were mainly determined by the 216 larger water bodies (>10 km2). Understanding the variations in water body areas and the controlling factors could support the designation and implementation of sustainable water management practices in agricultural, industrial, and domestic usages.
A Bayesian Argumentation Framework for Distributed Fault Diagnosis in Telecommunication Networks
Authors: Carrera Álvaro , Alonso Eduardo , Iglesias Carlos A.
Published: August 2019

Traditionally, fault diagnosis in telecommunication network management is carried out by humans who use software support systems. The phenomenal growth in telecommunication networks has nonetheless triggered the interest in more autonomous approaches, capable of coping with emergent challenges such as the need to diagnose faults’ root causes under uncertainty in geographically-distributed environments, with restrictions on data privacy. In this paper, we present a framework for distributed fault diagnosis under uncertainty based on an argumentative framework for multi-agent systems. In our approach, agents collaborate to reach conclusions by arguing in unpredictable scenarios. The observations collected from the network are used to infer possible fault root causes using Bayesian networks as causal models for the diagnosis process. Hypotheses about those fault root causes are discussed by agents in an argumentative dialogue to achieve a reliable conclusion. During that dialogue, agents handle the uncertainty of the diagnosis process, taking care of keeping data privacy among them. The proposed approach is compared against existing alternatives using benchmark multi-domain datasets. Moreover, we include data collected from a previous fault diagnosis system running in a telecommunication network for one and a half years. Results show that the proposed approach is suitable for the motivational scenario.
3D-Printed Multilayer Sensor Structure for Electrical Capacitance Tomography
Authors: Kowalska Aleksandra , Banasiak Robert , Romanowski Andrzej , Sankowski Dominik
Published: August 2019

Presently, Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) is positioned as a relatively mature and inexpensive tool for the diagnosis of non-conductive industrial processes. For most industrial applications, a hand-made approach for an ECT sensor and its 3D extended structure fabrication is used. Moreover, a hand-made procedure is often inaccurate, complicated, and time-consuming. Another drawback is that a hand-made ECT sensor’s geometrical parameters, mounting base profile thickness, and electrode array shape usually depends on the structure of industrial test objects, tanks, and containers available on the market. Most of the traditionally fabricated capacitance tomography sensors offer external measurements only with electrodes localized outside of the test object. Although internal measurement is possible, it is often difficult to implement. This leads to limited in-depth scanning abilities and poor sensitivity distribution of traditionally fabricated ECT sensors. In this work we propose, demonstrate, and validate experimentally a new 3D ECT sensor fabrication process. The proposed solution uses a computational workflow that incorporates both 3D computer modeling and 3D-printing techniques. Such a 3D-printed structure can be of any shape, and the electrode layout can be easily fitted to a broad range of industrial applications. A developed solution offers an internal measurement due to negligible thickness of sensor mount base profile. This paper analyses and compares measurement capabilities of a traditionally fabricated 3D ECT sensor with novel 3D-printed design. The authors compared two types of the 3D ECT sensors using experimental capacitance measurements for a set of low-contrast and high-contrast permittivity distribution phantoms. The comparison demonstrates advantages and benefits of using the new 3D-printed spatial capacitance sensor regarding the significant fabrication time reduction as well as the improvement of overall measurement accuracy and stability.
A Hybrid Sliding Window Optimizer for Tightly-Coupled Vision-Aided Inertial Navigation System
Authors: Jiang Junxiang , Niu Xiaoji , Guo Ruonan , Liu Jingnan
Published: August 2019

The fusion of visual and inertial measurements for motion tracking has become prevalent in the robotic community, due to its complementary sensing characteristics, low cost, and small space requirements. This fusion task is known as the vision-aided inertial navigation system problem. We present a novel hybrid sliding window optimizer to achieve information fusion for a tightly-coupled vision-aided inertial navigation system. It possesses the advantages of both the conditioning-based method and the prior-based method. A novel distributed marginalization method was also designed based on the multi-state constraints method with significant efficiency improvement over the traditional method. The performance of the proposed algorithm was evaluated with the publicly available EuRoC datasets and showed competitive results compared with existing algorithms.
Blood Pressure Estimation from Photoplethysmogram Using a Spectro-Temporal Deep Neural Network
Authors: Slapničar Gašper , Mlakar Nejc , Luštrek Mitja
Published: August 2019

Blood pressure (BP) is a direct indicator of hypertension, a dangerous and potentially deadly condition. Regular monitoring of BP is thus important, but many people have aversion towards cuff-based devices, and their limitation is that they can only be used at rest. Using just a photoplethysmogram (PPG) to estimate BP is a potential solution investigated in our study. We analyzed the MIMIC III database for high-quality PPG and arterial BP waveforms, resulting in over 700 h of signals after preprocessing, belonging to 510 subjects. We then used the PPG alongside its first and second derivative as inputs into a novel spectro-temporal deep neural network with residual connections. We have shown in a leave-one-subject-out experiment that the network is able to model the dependency between PPG and BP, achieving mean absolute errors of 9.43 for systolic and 6.88 for diastolic BP. Additionally we have shown that personalization of models is important and substantially improves the results, while deriving a good general predictive model is difficult. We have made crucial parts of our study, especially the list of used subjects and our neural network code, publicly available, in an effort to provide a solid baseline and simplify potential comparison between future studies on an explicit MIMIC III subset.