bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Familial Environment and Overweight/Obese Adolescents’ Physical Activity
Authors: Carbert Nicole S. , Brussoni Mariana , Geller Josie , Mâsse Louise C.
Published: July 2019

(1) Background: Family environments can impact obesity risk among adolescents. Little is known about the mechanisms by which parents can influence obesity-related adolescent health behaviours and specifically how parenting practices (e.g., rules or routines) and/or their own health behaviours relate to their adolescent’s behaviours. The primary aim of the study explored, in a sample of overweight/obese adolescents, how parenting practices and/or parental modeling of physical activity (PA) behaviours relate to adolescents’ PA while examining the moderating role of parenting styles and family functioning. (2) Methods: A total of 172 parent-adolescent dyads completed surveys about their PA and wore an accelerometer for eight days to objectively measure PA. Parents completed questionnaires about their family functioning, parenting practices, and styles (authoritative and permissive). Path analysis was used for the analyses. (3) Results: More healthful PA parenting practices and parental modeling of PA were both associated with higher levels of adolescents’ self-reported moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). For accelerometer PA, more healthful PA parenting practices were associated with adolescents’ increased MVPA when parents used a more permissive parenting style. (4) Conclusions: This study suggests that parenting practices and parental modeling play a role in adolescent’s PA. The family’s emotional/relational context also warrants consideration since parenting style moderated these effects. This study emphasizes the importance of incorporating parenting styles into current familial interventions to improve their efficacy.
Linkage Between the Environment and Individual Resilience to Urban Flooding: A Case Study of Shenzhen, China
Authors: Song Jing , Li Weifeng
Published: July 2019

Resilience is widely accepted as the capacities implemented to manage climate change. Exploring how individual resilience can be enhanced to better prepare residents for natural disasters, such as urban flooding, is therefore necessary. Environmental cognitions that provide psychological and physiological benefits to people by adding motivation to interact with the place are factors influencing people’s resilience-oriented behaviors but have largely been ignored in existing research. As such, this study establishes a framework for the concept of individual resilience to urban flooding. Gongming, a sub-district of Shenzhen, China, is considered the case area wherein individual resilience and its environmental determinants are evaluated. Through hierarchical linear modeling, the environmental determinants of individual resilience at the individual and community levels are identified. At the individual level, the main factors are a few green spaces, low quality of the built environment, mutual distrust and lack of well-being perceived by residents. At the community level, the results suggest that the social environment, particularly its gatedness, is pivotal to individual resilience. This study offers an approach for analyzing factors that limit individual resilience from the environmental perspective, thereby providing a basis for formulating corresponding policy recommendations to effectively improve resilience through urban planning.
Proposal of an Adapted Physical Activity Exercise Protocol for Women with Osteoporosis-Related Vertebral Fractures: A Pilot Study to Evaluate Feasibility, Safety, and Effectiveness
Authors: Marini Sofia , Leoni Erica , Raggi Alessandra , Sanna Tiziana , Malavolta Nazzarena , Angela Buffa , Maietta Latessa Pasqualino , Dallolio Laura
Published: July 2019

A quasi-experimental pilot study was performed to determine the feasibility and safety of an Adapted Physical Activity (APA) protocol and its effect on health-related quality of life (HRQOL), fear of falling, pain, and physical performance in women with osteoporosis-related vertebral fractures. Forty-four post-menopausal women (mean age: 67.6 ± 4.6) with osteoporotic vertebral fractures were assigned to an exercise group (APA group = 26) who attended a six-month exercise protocol that included postural and muscular reinforcement exercises, and a control group (CG = 18) who was asked to maintain their current lifestyle. At baseline and six months after baseline, HRQOL was measured as primary outcome by the Assessment of Health Related Quality of Life in Osteoporosis (ECOS-16) questionnaire. Secondary outcomes were fear of falling (Fall Efficacy Scale International, FES-I), lumbar back pain (Visual Analogue Scale-VAS), functional exercise capacity (Six Minutes Walking Test-6MWT, Borg scale), balance and gait (Tinetti Scale), and flexibility of the column (Chair Sit-and-Reach). The effects of the intervention were analyzed by comparison within groups and between groups. Effect sizes (ES) were calculated using Cohen’s d. All the outcomes significantly improved in the APA group, while they remained unchanged in the CG. After adjustment for unbalanced variables, the comparison between groups showed significant effects of the intervention for ECOS-16-score, functional exercise capacity, balance, and gait. The exercise program had big effect sizes on HRQOL (ES = 1.204), fear of falling (ES = 1.007), balance (ES = 0.871), and functional exercise capacity (ES = 1.390). Good adherence (75.8%) and no injuries were observed. Due to its feasibility, safety, and effectiveness, the proposed exercise protocol can be adopted in APA programs addressed to patients with osteoporosis-related vertebral fractures.
Exploring Unconventional Risk-Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases: Has Opioid Therapy Been Overlooked?
Authors: Ogungbe Oluwabunmi , Akil Luma , Ahmad Hafiz A.
Published: July 2019

Approximately 2150 adults die every day in the U.S. from Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) and another 115 deaths are attributed to opioid-related causes. Studies have found conflicting results on the relationship between opioid therapy and the development of cardiovascular diseases. This study examined whether an association exists between the use of prescription opioid medicines and cardiovascular diseases, using secondary data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) 2015 survey. Of the 1829 patients, 1147 (63%) were male, 1762 (98%) above 45 years of age, and 54% were overweight. The rate of cardiovascular diseases was higher among women [(p < 0.001), 95% CI: 0.40–0.51]. The covariates were age, race/ethnicity, sex, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension; and were adjusted. Diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension were significant predictors of CVD [(p < 0.001, 95% CI: 0.57–0.78); (p < 0.001, 95% CI: 0.34–0.44); (p < 0.001, 95% CI: 0.49–0.59)]. There was no significant association between prescription opioid medication use and coronary artery disease [first opioid group p = 0.34, Prevalence Odds Ratio (POR): 1.39, 95% CI: 0.71–2.75; second opioid group: p = 0.59, POR: 1.20, 95% CI: 0.61–2.37, and third opioid group: p = 0.62, POR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.45–1.6]. The results of this study further accentuate the conflicting results in literature. Further research is recommended, with a focus on those geographical areas where high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases exists.
Premature Vascular Aging in Guinea Pigs Affected by Fetal Growth Restriction
Authors: Paz Adolfo A. , Arenas German A. , Castillo-Galán Sebastián , Peñaloza Estefanía , Cáceres-Rojas Gabriela , Suazo José , Herrera Emilio A. , Krause Bernardo J.
Published: July 2019

Cardiovascular risk associated with fetal growth restriction (FGR) could result from an early impaired vascular function. However, whether this effect results in premature vascular aging has not been addressed. We studied the ex vivo reactivity of carotid and femoral arteries in fetal (near term), adults (eight months-old) and aged (16 months-old) guinea pigs in normal (control) and FGR offspring. Additionally, an epigenetic marker of vascular aging (i.e., LINE-1 DNA methylation) was evaluated in human umbilical artery endothelial cells (HUAEC) from control and FGR subjects. Control guinea pig arteries showed an increased contractile response (KCl-induced) and a progressive impairment of NO-mediated relaxing responses as animals get older. FGR was associated with an initial preserved carotid artery reactivity as well as a later significant impairment in NO-mediated responses. Femoral arteries from FGR fetuses showed an increased contractility but a decreased relaxing response compared with control fetuses, and both responses were impaired in FGR-adults. Finally, FGR-HUAEC showed decreased LINE-1 DNA methylation compared with control-HUAEC. These data suggest that the aging of vascular function occurs by changes in NO-mediated responses, with limited alterations in contractile capacity. Further, these effects are accelerated and imposed at early stages of development in subjects exposed to a suboptimal intrauterine environment.
Global DNA Methylation Patterns in Human Gliomas and Their Interplay with Other Epigenetic Modifications
Authors: J. Dabrowski Michal , Wojtas Bartosz
Published: July 2019

During the last two decades, several international consortia have been established to unveil the molecular background of human cancers including gliomas. As a result, a huge outbreak of new genetic and epigenetic data appeared. It was not only shown that gliomas share some specific DNA sequence aberrations, but they also present common alterations of chromatin. Many researchers have reported specific epigenetic features, such as DNA methylation and histone modifications being involved in tumor pathobiology. Unlike mutations in DNA, epigenetic changes are more global in nature. Moreover, many studies have shown an interplay between different types of epigenetic changes. Alterations in DNA methylation in gliomas are one of the best described epigenetic changes underlying human pathology. In the following work, we present the state of knowledge about global DNA methylation patterns in gliomas and their interplay with histone modifications that may affect transcription factor binding, global gene expression and chromatin conformation. Apart from summarizing the impact of global DNA methylation on glioma pathobiology, we provide an extract of key mechanisms of DNA methylation machinery.
Pharmacological Targeting of KCa Channels to Improve Endothelial Function in the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat
Authors: Khaddaj Mallat Rayan , Mathew John Cini , Mishra Ramesh C , Kendrick Dylan J , Braun Andrew P
Published: July 2019

Systemic hypertension is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease and is often associated with endothelial dysfunction. KCa2.3 and KCa3.1 channels are expressed in the vascular endothelium and contribute to stimulus-evoked vasodilation. We hypothesized that acute treatment with SKA-31, a selective activator of KCa2.x and KCa3.1 channels, would improve endothelium-dependent vasodilation and transiently lower mean arterial pressure (MAP) in male, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). Isolated vascular preparations exhibited impaired vasodilation in response to bradykinin (i.e., endothelial dysfunction) compared with Wistar controls, which was associated with decreased bradykinin receptor expression in mesenteric arteries. In contrast, similar levels of endothelial KCa channel expression were observed, and SKA-31 evoked vasodilation was comparable in vascular preparations from both strains. Addition of a low concentration of SKA-31 (i.e., 0.2–0.3 μM) failed to augment bradykinin-induced vasodilation in arteries from SHRs. However, responses to acetylcholine were enhanced. Surprisingly, acute bolus administration of SKA-31 in vivo (30 mg/kg, i.p. injection) modestly elevated MAP compared with vehicle injection. In summary, pharmacological targeting of endothelial KCa channels in SHRs did not readily reverse endothelial dysfunction in situ, or lower MAP in vivo. SHRs thus appear to be less responsive to endothelial KCa channel activators, which may be related to their vascular pathology.
Dietary Cholesterol Is Highly Associated with Severity of Hyperlipidemia and Atherosclerotic Lesions in Heterozygous LDLR-Deficient Hamsters
Authors: Wang Jinjie , He Kunxiang , Yang Chun , Lin Xiao , Zhang Xin , Wang Yuhui , Liu George , Xian Xunde
Published: July 2019

Objective: Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a dominant inherited disease caused mainly by low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) gene mutations. To different extents, both heterozygous and homozygous FH patients develop premature coronary heart disease (CHD). However, most of the experimental animal models with LDLR deficiency could not fully recapitulate FH because they develop hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis only in homozygous, but not in heterozygous, form. In the current study, we investigated the responsiveness of the LDLR+/− hamster to dietary cholesterol and whether plasma cholesterol levels were positively associated with the severity of atherosclerosis. Approach and Methods: wild type WT and LDLR+/− hamsters were fed a high fat diet with different cholesterol contents (HCHF) for 12 or 16 weeks. Plasma lipids, (apo)lipoproteins, and atherosclerosis in both the aorta and coronary arteries were analyzed. After a HCHF diet challenge, the levels of total cholesterol (TC) in WT and LDLR+/− hamsters were significantly elevated, but the latter showed a more pronounced lipoprotein profile, with higher cholesterol levels that were positively correlated with dietary cholesterol contents. The LDLR+/− hamsters also showed accelerated atherosclerotic lesions in the aorta and coronary arteries, whereas only mild aortic lesions were observed in WT hamsters. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that, unlike other rodent animals, the levels of plasma cholesterol in hamsters can be significantly modulated by the intervention of dietary cholesterol, which were closely associated with severity of atherosclerosis in LDLR+/− hamsters, suggesting that the LDLR+/− hamster is an ideal animal model for FH and has great potential in the study of FH and atherosclerosis-related CHD.
Flavonoids from Chionanthus retusus (Oleaceae) Flowers and Their Protective Effects against Glutamate-Induced Cell Toxicity in HT22 Cells
Authors: Lee Yeong-Geun , Lee Hwan , Jung Jae-Woo , Seo Kyeong-Hwa , Lee Dae Young , Kim Hyoung-Geun , Ko Jung-Hwan , Lee Dong-Sung , Baek Nam-In
Published: July 2019

The dried flowers of Chionanthus retusus were extracted with 80% MeOH, and the concentrate was divided into EtOAc, n-BuOH, and H2O fractions. Repeated SiO2, octadecyl SiO2 (ODS), and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography of the EtOAc fraction led to the isolation of four flavonols (1–4), three flavones (5–7), four flavanonols (8–11), and one flavanone (12), which were identified based on extensive analysis of various spectroscopic data. Flavonoids 4–6 and 8–11 were isolated from the flowers of C. retusus for the first time in this study. Flavonoids 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, and 10–12 significantly inhibited NO production in RAW 264.7 cells stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and glutamate-induced cell toxicity and effectively increased HO-1 protein expression in mouse hippocampal HT22 cells. Flavonoids with significant neuroprotective activity were also found to recover oxidative-stress-induced cell damage by increasing HO-1 protein expression. This article demonstrates that flavonoids from C. retusus flowers have significant potential as therapeutic materials in inflammation and neurodisease.
Drought Resistance in Rice from Conventional to Molecular Breeding: A Review
Authors: Oladosu Yusuff , Rafii Mohd Y. , Samuel Chukwu , Fatai Arolu , Magaji Usman , Kareem Isiaka , Kamarudin Zarifth Shafika , Muhammad Isma’ila , Kolapo Kazeem
Published: July 2019

Drought is the leading threat to agricultural food production, especially in the cultivation of rice, a semi-aquatic plant. Drought tolerance is a complex quantitative trait with a complicated phenotype that affects different developmental stages in plants. The level of susceptibility or tolerance of rice to several drought conditions is coordinated by the action of different drought-responsive genes in relation with other stress components which stimulate signal transduction pathways. Interdisciplinary researchers have broken the complex mechanism of plant tolerance using various methods such as genetic engineering or marker-assisted selection to develop a new cultivar with improved drought resistance. The main objectives of this review were to highlight the current method of developing a durable drought-resistant rice variety through conventional breeding and the use of biotechnological tools and to comprehensively review the available information on drought-resistant genes, QTL analysis, gene transformation and marker-assisted selection. The response, indicators, causes, and adaptation processes to the drought stress were discussed in the review. Overall, this review provides a systemic glimpse of breeding methods from conventional to the latest innovation in molecular development of drought-tolerant rice variety. This information could serve as guidance for researchers and rice breeders.
A Review Structure Based Ensemble Model for Deceptive Review Spam
Authors: Zeng Zhi-Yuan , Lin Jyun-Jie , Chen Mu-Sheng , Chen Meng-Hui , Lan Yan-Qi , Liu Jun-Lin
Published: July 2019

Consumers’ purchase behavior increasingly relies on online reviews. Accordingly, there are more and more deceptive reviews which are harmful to customers. Existing methods to detect spam reviews mainly take the problem as a general text classification task, but they ignore the important features of spam reviews. In this paper, we propose a novel model, which splits a review into three parts: first sentence, middle context, and last sentence, based on the discovery that the first and last sentence express stronger emotion than the middle context. Then, the model uses four independent bidirectional long-short term memory (LSTM) models to encode the beginning, middle, end of a review and the whole review into four document representations. After that, the four representations are integrated into one document representation by a self-attention mechanism layer and an attention mechanism layer. Based on three domain datasets, the results of in-domain and mix-domain experiments show that our proposed method performs better than the compared methods.
Serum Aldosterone Is Related to Left Ventricular Geometry and Function in Young Adults with Never-Treated Primary Hypertension
Authors: Park Seong-Mi , Kim Mi-Na , Kim Sua , Shim Wan-Joo
Published: July 2019

Background: Although aldosterone has been demonstrated to induce left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy not only in primary aldosteronism but also in primary hypertension (HT), it can be affected by multiple factors, including age, and the effect of aldosterone on LV function is controversial. This study was to investigate the relationship of aldosterone to changes in LV geometry and function in young adults with never-treated HT. Methods: Seventy-five consecutive patients (age, 29.8 ± 6.3 years) with never-treated HT and 45 normal controls were enrolled. Echocardiographic values and LV global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) were obtained. Serum aldosterone concentration (SAC) and serum procollagen type III amino-terminal peptide (PIIINP) level were obtained in HT patients. Results: HT patients had higher LV mass index, higher relative wall thickness (RWT), and worse LV function than normal controls. LVGLS and e’ velocity were worse in HT patients with normal geometry than in normal controls. SAC was well correlated with LV mass index, RWT, e’ velocity, LVGLS, and PIIINP (all p < 0.05). LV geometry pattern was most related to SAC among clinical parameters (p = 0.019). LVGLS was most related to LV geometry and diastolic blood pressure. In contrast, e’ velocity was most related to PIIINP. Conclusion: Our findings may indicate that in young patients with never-treated HT, aldosterone significantly contributes to changes in LV geometry and functional impairment through its pro-hypertrophic and myocardial fibrosis effects beyond blood pressure.
Effect of Sodium Hydroxide Concentration in Synthesizing Zinc Selenide/Graphene Oxide Composite via Microwave-Assisted Hydrothermal Method
Authors: Lee Han Kee , Talib Zainal Abidin , Mamat @ Mat Nazira Md Shuhazlly , Wang EnZe , Lim Hong Ngee , Mahdi Mohd Adzir , Ng Eng Khoon , Yusoff Norita Mohd , AL-Jumaili Batool Eneaze , Liew Josephine Ying Chyi
Published: July 2019

The effect of NaOH solution on the formation of nanoparticles has been the subject of ongoing debate in selenium-based material research. In this project, the robust correlation between the mechanistic growth of zinc selenide/graphene oxide (ZnSe/GO) composite and the concentration of NaOH are elucidated. The ZnSe/GO composite was synthesized via microwave-assisted hydrothermal method and the concentrations of NaOH are controlled at 2 M, 3 M, 4 M, 5 M and 6 M. The XRD spectra show that the crystal phases of the samples exhibited a 100% purity of ZnSe when the concentration of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) was set at 4 M. The further increase of NaOH concentration leads to the formation of impurities. This result reflects the essential role of hydroxyl ions in modifying the purity state of ZnSe/GO composite. The optical band gap energy of ZnSe/GO composite also decreased from 2.68 eV to 2.64 eV when the concentration of NaOH increased from 2 M to 4 M. Therefore, it can be concluded that the optimum concentration of NaOH used in synthesizing ZnSe/GO composite is 4 M. This project provides an alternative green method in the formation of a high purity ZnSe/GO composite.
Thread as a Low-Cost Material for Microfluidic Assays on Intact Tumor Slices
Authors: Rumaner Maxwell , Horowitz Lisa , Ovadya Avital , Folch Albert
Published: July 2019

In this paper we describe the use of thread as a low-cost material for a microfluidic chemosensitivity assay that uses intact tumor tissue ex vivo. Today, the need for new and effective cancer treatments is greater than ever, but unfortunately, the cost of developing new chemotherapy drugs has never been higher. Implementation of low-cost microfluidic techniques into drug screening devices could potentially mitigate some of the immense cost of drug development. Thread is an ideal material for use in drug screening as it is inexpensive, widely available, and can transport liquid without external pumping hardware, i.e., via capillary action. We have developed an inexpensive microfluidic delivery prototype that uses silk threads to selectively deliver fluids onto subregions of living xenograft tumor slices. Our device can be fabricated completely for less than $0.25 in materials and requires no external equipment to operate. We found that by varying thread materials, we could optimize device characteristics, such as flow rate; we specifically explored the behavior of silk, nylon, cotton, and polyester. The incremental cost of our device is insignificant compared to the tissue culture supplies. The use of thread as a microfluidic material has the potential to produce inexpensive, accessible, and user-friendly devices for drug testing that are especially suited for low-resource settings.
Automated Quantitative Mineralogy Optimized for Simultaneous Detection of (Precious/Critical) Rare Metals and Base Metals in A Production-Focused Environment
Authors: Warlo Mathis , Wanhainen Christina , Bark Glenn , Butcher Alan R. , McElroy Iris , Brising Dominique , Rollinson Gavyn K.
Published: July 2019

Automated Scanning Electron Microscopy (ASEM) systems are applied in the mining industry to quantify the mineralogy of the ore feed and products. With society pushing towards sustainable mining, this quantification should be comprehensive and include trace minerals since they are often either deleterious or potential by-products. Systems like QEMSCAN® offer a mode for trace mineral analysis (TMS mode); However, it is unsuitable when all phases require analysis. Here, we investigate the potential of detecting micron-sized trace minerals in fieldscan mode using the QEMSCAN® system with analytical settings in line with the mining industry. For quality comparison, analysis was performed at a mining company and a research institution. This novel approach was done in full collaboration with both parties. Results show that the resolution of trace minerals at or below the scan resolution is difficult and not always reliable due to mixed X-ray signals. However, by modification of the species identification protocol (SIP), quantification is achievable, although verification by SEM-EDS is recommended. As an add-on to routine quantitative analysis focused on major ore minerals, this method can produce quantitative data and information on mineral association for trace minerals of precious and critical metals which may be potential by-products in a mining operation.
Preparation of SiO2-MnFe2O4 Composites via One-Pot Hydrothermal Synthesis Method and Microwave Absorption Investigation in S-Band
Authors: Yin Pengfei , Zhang Limin , Wang Jian , Feng Xing , Zhao Liang , Rao Hanbing , Wang Yanying , Dai Jianwu
Published: July 2019

MnFe2O4 NPs are successfully decorated on the surface of SiO2 sheets to form the SiO2-MnFe2O4 composite via one-pot hydrothermal synthesis method. The phase identification, morphology, crystal structure, distribution of elements, and microwave absorbing properties in S-band (1.55~3.4 GHz) of the as-prepared composite were investigated by XRD, SEM, TEM, and Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) respectively. Compared with the pure MnFe2O4 NPs, the as-prepared SiO2-MnFe2O4 composite exhibits enhanced microwave absorption performance in this frequency band due to the strong eddy current loss, better impedance matching, excellent attenuation characteristic, and multiple Debye relaxation processes. The maximum reflection loss of −14.87 dB at 2.25 GHz with a broader −10 dB bandwidth over the frequency range of 1.67~2.9 GHz (1.23 GHz) can be obtained at the thickness of 4 mm. Most importantly, the preparation method used here is relatively simple, hence such composite can be served as a potential candidate for effective microwave absorption in S-band.
Synthesis, Fungicidal Activity and SAR of 2-Thiazolamide/Pyrazolamide-Cyclohexylsulfonamides against Botrytis cinerea
Authors: Zhang Shen , Meng Siqi , Xie Yong , Yang Yonggui , Zhang Yumeng , He Lu , Wang Kai , Qi Zhiqiu , Ji Mingshan , Qin Peiwen , Li Xinghai
Published: July 2019

In order to explore more efficient sulfonamides against Botrytis cinereal, 36 novel cyclohexylsulfonamides were synthesized by N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N′-ethylcarbodiimide (EDCI) and 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HOBt) condensation reaction using chesulfamide as a lead compound, introducing thiazole and pyrazole active groups. Their structures were characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, mass spectrum (MS), and elemental analysis. Compound III -31 was further confirmed by X-ray single crystal diffraction. The in vitro and in vivo fungicidal activities against B. cinerea were evaluated by three bioassay methods. The results of mycelial growth demonstrated that median effective concentration (EC50) values of nine compounds were close to boscalid (EC50 = 1.72 µg/mL) and procymidone (EC50 = 1.79 µg/mL) against B. cinerea (KZ-9). In the spore germination experiment, it was found that compounds III-19 and III-31 inhibited germination 93.89 and 98.00%, respectively; at 10 µg/mL, they approached boscalid (95.97%). In the tomato pot experiment, the control effects of two compounds (III-21 and III-27) were 89.80 and 87.90%, respectively, at 200 µg/mL which were significantly higher than boscalid (81.99%). The structure–activity relationship (SAR) was also discussed, which provided a valuable idea for developing new fungicides.
Physical–Chemical Composition and Quality Related Changes in “Ruaner” Pear (Pyrus ussuriensis) During Freezing–Thawing Period
Authors: Liu Yulian , Wu Yuxia , Che Fei , Zhang Zhimin , Chen Baihong
Published: July 2019

“Ruaner” pear (Pyrus ussuriensis Maxim.) is a fruit crop that is frequently served frozen in China. It is a typical postharvest ripening fruit that needs to ripen after harvest before it can be eaten, and freezing–thawing is one way that pears are treated during postharvest ripening. In order to study the physical–chemical composition and quality-related changes in “Ruaner” pears that result the freezing–thawing period, “Ruaner” pears were kept in a freezer (−20 °C) for 7 days, after which they were transferred to room temperature for thawing. The color of the peel of the “Ruaner” pears changed from yellow-green to yellow and then brown. The chlorophyll content and titratable acidity (TA) decreased significantly throughout 0–12 h period. The carotenoid content tended to rise and then decrease, peaking at 3 h after thawing (HAT), while the soluble solids content (SSC), firmness, total phenolic content, and total flavonoid content all generally decreased. The composition of soluble sugars and organic acids was examined in “Ruaner” pears, and the major soluble sugars were fructose and glucose, with citric acid being the most abundant organic acid. The data suggest that freezing–thawing significantly changes firmness, water content, SSC, and TA in “Ruaner” pears. At 3–4 HAT, “Ruaner” pears have moderate hardness, high water content, low acid content, and higher total phenolic, total flavonoid, and soluble solids content. Therefore, 3–4 HAT is the best time for pears in terms of both table and processing quality.
Development of Palm Fatty Acid Distillate-Containing Medium for Biosurfactant Production by Pseudomonas sp. LM19
Authors: Nurfarahin Abdul Hamid , Mohamed Mohd Shamzi , Phang Lai Yee
Published: July 2019

High production costs of biosurfactants are mainly caused by the usage of the expensive substrate and long fermentation period which undermines their potential in bioremediation processes, food, and cosmetic industries even though they, owing to the biodegradability, lower toxicity, and raise specificity traits. One way to circumvent this is to improvise the formulation of biosurfactant-production medium by using cheaper substrate. A culture medium utilizing palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD), a palm oil refinery by-product, was first developed through one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) technique and further refined by means of the statistical design method of factorial and response surface modeling to enhance the biosurfactant production from Pseudomonas sp. LM19. The results shows that, the optimized culture medium containing: 1.148% (v/v) PFAD; 4.054 g/L KH2PO4; 1.30 g/L yeast extract; 0.023 g/L sodium-EDTA; 1.057 g/L MgSO4·7H2O; 0.75 g/L K2HPO4; 0.20 g/L CaCl2·2H2O; 0.080 g/L FeCl3·6H2O gave the maximum biosurfactant productivity. This study demonstrated that the cell concentration and biosurfactant productivity could reach up to 8.5 × 109 CFU/mL and 0.346 g/L/day, respectively after seven days of growth, which were comparable to the values predicted by an RSM regression model, i.e., 8.4 × 109 CFU/mL and 0.347 g/L/day, respectively. Eleven rhamnolipid congeners were detected, in which dirhamnolipid accounted for 58% and monorhamnolipid was 42%. All in all, manipulation of palm oil by-products proved to be a feasible substrate for increasing the biosurfactant production about 3.55-fold as shown in this study.
Anti-Edematogenic and Anti-Granuloma Activity of a Synthetic Curcuminoid Analog, 5-(3,4-Dihydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxy-1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)penta-2,4-dien-1-one, in Mouse Models of Inflammation
Authors: Hisamuddin Nadia , Shaik Mossadeq Wan Mastura , Sulaiman Mohd Roslan , Abas Faridah , Leong Sze Wei , Kamarudin Nadhirah , Ong Hui Ming , Ahmad Azmi Ahmad Farhan , Ayumi Rasyidah Ryta , Talib Madihah
Published: July 2019

Curcumin, derived from the rhizome Curcuma longa, has been scientifically proven to possess anti-inflammatory activity but is of limited clinical and veterinary use owing to its low bioavailability and poor solubility. Hence, analogs of curcuminoids with improved biological properties have been synthesized to overcome these limitations. This study aims to provide the pharmacological basis for the use of 5-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxy-1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)penta-2,4-dien-1-one (DHHPD), a synthetic curcuminoid analog, as an anti-edematogenic and anti-granuloma agent. The carrageenan-induced paw edema and the cotton pellet-induced granuloma assays were used to assess the anti-inflammatory activity of DHHPD in mice. The effects of DHHPD on the histaminergic, serotonergic, and bradykininergic systems were determined by the histamine-, serotonin-, and bradykinin-induced paw edema tests, respectively. DHHPD (0.1, 0.3, 1, and 3 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) evoked significant reductions (p < 0.05) in carrageenan-induced paw edema at different time intervals and granuloma formation (p < 0.0001) by 22.08, 32.57, 37.20, and 49.25%, respectively. Furthermore, DHHPD significantly reduced paw edema (p < 0.05) induced by histamine, serotonin, and bradykinin. The present study suggests that DHHPD exerts anti-edematogenic activity, possibly by inhibiting the synthesis or release of autacoid mediators of inflammation through the histaminergic, serotonergic, and bradykininergic systems. The anti-granuloma effect may be attributed to the suppression of transudative, exudative, and proliferative activities associated with inflammation.
Separating the Wheat from the Chaff: RNA Editing and Selection of Translatable mRNA in Trypanosome Mitochondria
Authors: Maslov Dmitri A.
Published: July 2019

In the mitochondria of trypanosomes and related kinetoplastid protists, most mRNAs undergo a long and sophisticated maturation pathway before they can be productively translated by mitochondrial ribosomes. Some of the aspects of this pathway (identity of the promotors, transcription initiation, and termination signals) remain obscure, and some (post-transcriptional modification by U-insertion/deletion, RNA editing, 3′-end maturation) have been illuminated by research during the last decades. The RNA editing creates an open reading frame for a productive translation, but the fully edited mRNA often represents a minor fraction in the pool of pre-edited and partially edited precursors. Therefore, it has been expected that the final stages of the mRNA processing generate molecular hallmarks, which allow for the efficient and selective recognition of translation-competent templates. The general contours and several important details of this process have become known only recently and represent the subject of this review.
Drought Stress Effects and Olive Tree Acclimation under a Changing Climate
Authors: Brito Cátia , Dinis Lia-Tânia , Moutinho-Pereira José , Correia Carlos M.
Published: July 2019

Increasing consciousness regarding the nutritional value of olive oil has enhanced the demand for this product and, consequently, the expansion of olive tree cultivation. Although it is considered a highly resilient and tolerant crop to several abiotic stresses, olive growing areas are usually affected by adverse environmental factors, namely, water scarcity, heat and high irradiance, and are especially vulnerable to climate change. In this context, it is imperative to improve agronomic strategies to offset the loss of productivity and possible changes in fruit and oil quality. To develop more efficient and precise measures, it is important to look for new insights concerning response mechanisms to drought stress. In this review, we provided an overview of the global status of olive tree ecology and relevance, as well the influence of environmental abiotic stresses in olive cultivation. Finally, we explored and analysed the deleterious effects caused by drought (e.g., water status and photosynthetic performance impairment, oxidative stress and imbalance in plant nutrition), the most critical stressor to agricultural crops in the Mediterranean region, and the main olive tree responses to withstand this stressor.
UV Light Assisted Coating Method of Polyphenol Caffeic Acid and Mediated Immobilization of Metallic Silver Particles for Antibacterial Implant Surface Modification
Authors: Lee Ji Yeon , Aguilar Ludwig Erik , Park Chan Hee , Kim Cheol Sang
Published: July 2019

Titanium implants are extensively used in biomedical applications due to their excellent biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, and superb mechanical stability. In this work, we present the use of polycaffeic acid (PCA) to immobilize metallic silver on the surface of titanium materials to prevent implant bacterial infection. Caffeic acid is a plant-derived phenolic compound, rich in catechol moieties and it can form functional coatings using alkaline buffers and with UV irradiation. This combination can trigger oxidative polymerization and deposition on the surface of metallic substrates. Using PCA can also give advantages in bone implants in decreasing inflammation by decelerating macrophage and osteoclast activity. Here, chemical and physical properties were investigated using FE-SEM, EDS, XPS, AFM, and contact angle. The in vitro biocompatibility and antibacterial studies show that PCA with metallic silver can inhibit bacterial growth, and proliferation of MC-3T3 cells was observed. Therefore, our results suggest that the introduced approach can be considered as a potential method for functional implant coating application in the orthopedic field.
Overview of Alternative Ethanol Removal Techniques for Enhancing Bioethanol Recovery from Fermentation Broth
Authors: Zentou Hamid , Abidin Zurina , Yunus Robiah , Awang Biak Dayang , Korelskiy Danil
Published: July 2019

This study aims at reviewing the alternative techniques for bioethanol recovery, highlighting its advantages and disadvantages, and to investigate the technical challenges facing these alternatives to be widely used. The findings showed that the integration of these techniques with the fermentation process did not meet a large acceptance in the industrial sector. The majority of conducted studies were mainly focusing on ethanol recovery from aqueous standard solution rather than the investigation of these techniques performance in fermentation-separation coupled system. In this context, pervaporation has received more attention as a promising alternative to distillation. However, some challenges are facing the integration of these techniques in the industrial scale as the fouling problem in pervaporation, the toxicity of solvent in liquid extraction, energy consumption in vacuum fermentation. It was also found that there is a lack of the technical economic analysis for these techniques which may limit the spread of its application in the large scale. Currently, hybrid systems integrating distillation with other alternative techniques are considered as an innovative solution to reduce the high cost of the distillation process and the low separation efficiency of the alternatives techniques.
Adsorptive Removal of Pyridine in Simulation Wastewater Using Coke Powder
Authors: Gao Qieyuan , Wang Lei , Li Zhipeng , Xie Yaqi , He Qiongqiong , Wang Yongtian
Published: July 2019

Pyridine is a toxic component in industrial wastewater, which is difficult to remove using conventional methods. In this study, the cost-effective coke powder was used to remove pyridine from a pyridine simulation wastewater. The removal efficiency and adsorption capacity of pyridine reached up to 67.32% and 0.4488 mg/g, respectively, at a coke powder concentration of 60 mg/L and an adsorption time of 30 min. The pyridine removal efficiency and adsorption capacity of coke powder reached saturation when the initial concentration was 40 mg/L. The pH of 2–12 in the solution was found to have little effect on the pyridine adsorption process of coke powder, while the coke powder with lower ash content was of better adsorbability for pyridine. The coke powder was regenerated by heat treatment, and reused for pyridine adsorption. It was found that the pyridine removal efficiency slightly decreased after nine times of reuse, in addition to a small cumulative weight loss rate of coke powder. Adsorption isotherm analysis showed that the adsorption of pyridine by coke powder could be well described by the Freundlich isothermal adsorption model, indicating multi-molecular layers mainly dominated the adsorption of pyridine on the surface of coke powder.
Rinse and Repeat: Understanding the Value of Replication across Different Ways of Knowing
Authors: Penders Bart , Holbrook J. Britt , de Rijcke Sarah
Published: July 2019

The increasing pursuit of replicable research and actual replication of research is a political project that articulates a very specific technology of accountability for science. This project was initiated in response to concerns about the openness and trustworthiness of science. Though applicable and valuable in many fields, here we argue that this value cannot be extended everywhere, since the epistemic content of fields, as well as their accountability infrastructures, differ. Furthermore, we argue that there are limits to replicability across all fields; but in some fields, including parts of the humanities, these limits severely undermine the value of replication to account for the value of research.
The Apparent Resilience of the Dry Tropical Forests of the Nicaraguan Region of the Central American Dry Corridor to Variations in Climate Over the Last C. 1200 Years
Authors: Harvey William J. , Stansell Nathan , Nogué Sandra , Willis Katherine J.
Published: July 2019

The Central American Dry Corridor (CADC) is the most densely populated area of the Central American Isthmus and is subject to the greatest variability in precipitation between seasons. The vegetation of this region is composed of Dry Tropical Forests (DTF), which are suggested to be highly susceptible to variations in climate and anthropogenic development. This study examines the vulnerability of past DTF surrounding the Asese peninsula, Nicaragua to climatic and anthropogenic disturbances over the past c. 1200 years. Past vegetation, climate, burning, and animal abundance were reconstructed using proxy analysis of fossil pollen, diatoms, macroscopic charcoal, and Sporormiella. Results from this research suggest that DTF have been highly resilient to past climatic and anthropogenic perturbations. Changes in DTF structure and composition appear to be linked to the abundance and intensity of fire. Pre-Columbian anthropogenic impacts on DTF are not detected in the record; however, DTF taxa decline slightly after European contact (1522 C.E.). Overall the DTF for the Nicaraguan region of the CADC were found to be highly resilient to both climatic and anthropogenic disturbances, suggesting that this region will continue to be resilient in the face of future population expansion and climatic variation.
The Extension of Phase Correlation to Image Perspective Distortions Based on Particle Swarm Optimization
Authors: Wan Xue , Wang Chenhui , Li Shengyang
Published: July 2019

Phase correlation is one of the widely used image registration method in medical image processing and remote sensing. One of the main limitations of the phase correlation-based registration method is that it can only cope with Euclidean transformations, such as translation, rotation and scale, which constrain its application in wider fields, such as multi-view image matching, image-based navigation, etc. In this paper, we extended the phase correlation to perspective transformation by the combination of particle swarm optimization. Inspired by optic lens alignment based on interference, we propose to use the quality of PC fringes as the similarity, and then the aim of registration is to search for the optimized geometric transformation operator, which obtain the maximize value of PC-based similarity function through particle swarm optimization approach. The proposed method is validated by image registration experiments using simulated terrain shading, texture and natural landscape images containing different challenges, including illumination variation, lack of texture, motion blur, occlusion and geometric distortions. Further, image-based navigation experiments are carried out to demonstrate that the proposed method is able to correctly recover the trajectory of camera using multimodal target and reference image. Even under great radiometric and geometric distortions, the proposed method is able to achieve 0.1 sub-pixel matching accuracy on average while other methods fail to find the correspondence.
The Dead Time Characterization Method of Quartz Flexure Accelerometers Using Monotonicity Number
Authors: Wu Bin , Ye Lingyun , Huang Tiantian , Yang Zhaowei , Song Kaichen
Published: July 2019

Dead time estimation is important in the design process of quartz flexure accelerometers. However, to the authors’ knowledge, the dead time existing in quartz flexure accelerometers is not well investigated in conventional identification studies. In this paper, the dead time, together with the open-loop transfer function of quartz flexure accelerometers, is identified from step excitation experiments using two steps. Firstly, a monotonicity number was proposed to estimate the dead time. Analysis showed that the monotonicity number was robust enough to measurement noise and sensitive to step excitation. Secondly, parameters of the open-loop transfer function were identified using the least mean squares algorithm. A simulation example was applied to demonstrate the validity of the proposed method. The verified method was used to test a quartz flexure accelerometer. The experimental result shows that the dead time was 500 μs.
An Intelligent Fire Warning Application Using IoT and an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System
Authors: Sarwar Barera , Bajwa Imran Sarwar , Jamil Noreen , Ramzan Shabana , Sarwar Nadeem
Published: July 2019

In the recent past, a few fire warning and alarm systems have been presented based on a combination of a smoke sensor and an alarm device to design a life-safety system. However, such fire alarm systems are sometimes error-prone and can react to non-actual indicators of fire presence classified as false warnings. There is a need for high-quality and intelligent fire alarm systems that use multiple sensor values (such as a signal from a flame detector, humidity, heat, and smoke sensors, etc.) to detect true incidents of fire. An Adaptive neuro-fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) is used in this paper to calculate the maximum likelihood of the true presence of fire and generate fire alert. The novel idea proposed in this paper is to use ANFIS for the identification of a true fire incident by using change rate of smoke, the change rate of temperature, and humidity in the presence of fire. The model consists of sensors to collect vital data from sensor nodes where Fuzzy logic converts the raw data in a linguistic variable which is trained in ANFIS to get the probability of fire occurrence. The proposed idea also generates alerts with a message sent directly to the user’s smartphone. Our system uses small size, cost-effective sensors and ensures that this solution is reproducible. MATLAB-based simulation is used for the experiments and the results show a satisfactory output.
Cu/CuO@ZnO Hollow Nanofiber Gas Sensor: Effect of Hollow Nanofiber Structure and P–N Junction on Operating Temperature and Sensitivity
Authors: Hwang Sung-Ho , Kim Young Kwang , Hong Seong Hui , Lim Sang Kyoo
Published: July 2019

For the fast and easy detection of carbon monoxide (CO) gas, it was necessary to develop a CO gas sensor to operate in low temperatures. Herein, a novel Cu/CuO-decorated ZnO hollow nanofiber was prepared with the electrospinning, calcination, and photodeposition methods. In the presence of 100 ppm CO gas, the Cu/CuO-photodeposited ZnO hollow nanofiber (Cu/CuO@ZnO HNF) showed twice higher sensitivity than that of pure ZnO nanofiber at a relatively low working temperature of 300 °C. The hollow structure and p–n junction between Cu/CuO and ZnO would be considered to contribute to the enhancement of sensitivity to CO gas at 300 °C due to the improved specific surface area and efficient electron transfer.