bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Urbanization structures urban insect communities in aquatic microhabitats
Authors: Sommer Anna , Petermann Jana Sandra 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

More and more people are living in cities and cities are predicted to increase in size and number. Urbanization may have several effects on biodiversity. However, these effects can be species (or taxon) specific and may be dependent on the measured urbanization variables. Water-filled tree holes constitute breeding habitats for a range of insects and may be used as model systems to investigate effects of anthropogenic change such as urbanization. Even in cities these and other small standing waters are colonized by aquatic insects. Using a Citizen Science Project, we investigated how urbanization (imperviousness, altered temperature, building density, etc.), environmental parameters (pH, O2) and detritus serving as a food source affect aquatic larval insect communities and leaf-litter decomposition in artificial aquatic microhabitats resembling tree holes in the city of Salzburg, Austria. We found that these artificial containers were colonized by a broad range of insect species. Detritus content partly explained larval abundance. Urbanization however, measured as imperviousness and human population density, predicted shifts in community composition, especially contrasting patterns between the mosquito species Culex pipiens and Aedes japonicus. Urban microhabitats could be shown to be important habitats for aquatic insects. However, with increasing urbanization, aquatic communities mainly consist of midges, for example mosquitoes and ceratopogonids, potentially threatening human health via pathogen transmission. Therefore, we suggest improving citizen information on possible measures preventing the establishment and spread of harmful species while still supporting native biodiversity in urban spaces.
AlGaN/AlN heterostructures: an emerging platform for nonlinear integrated photonics
Authors: Gundogdu Sinan , Pazzagli Sofia , Pregnolato Tommaso , Kolbe Tim , Hagedorn Sylvia , Weyers Markus , Schröder Tim 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

In the rapidly evolving area of integrated photonics, there is a growing need for materials that satisfy the particular requirements of increasingly complex and specialized devices and applications. Present photonic material platforms have made significant progress over the past years; however, each platform still faces specific material and performance challenges. We introduce a novel material for integrated photonics: Aluminum Gallium Nitride (AlGaN) on Aluminum Nitride (AlN) as a platform for developing reconfigurable and nonlinear on-chip optical systems. AlGaN combines compatibility with standard semiconductor fabrication technologies, high electro-optic modulation capabilities, and large nonlinear coefficients while providing a broad and low-loss spectral transmission range, making it a viable material for advanced photonic applications. In this work, we design and grow AlGaN/AlN heterostructures and integrate fundamental photonic building blocks into these chips. In particular, we fabricate edge couplers, low-loss waveguides, directional couplers, and tunable high-quality factor ring resonators to enable nonlinear light-matter interaction and quantum functionality. The comprehensive platform we present in this work paves the way for nonlinear photon-pair generation applications, on-chip nonlinear quantum frequency conversion, and fast electro-optic modulation for switching and routing classical and quantum light fields.
Validation of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and prevalence of depression among adolescent mothers in a Cameroonian context.
Authors: Miafo Joël Djatche , Nzebou Daniel , Stoll Beat , Ngambia Joris Cathel Yimga , Ekedy Marquise Kouo Ngamby , Ottino Saskia von Overbeck , Moayedoddin Amir 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is the screening tool for perinatal depression, and its cut-off score varies according to context and population. In Cameroon, no study has yet defined a cut-off score or the prevalence of perinatal depression in adolescent mothers. Our aim is to determine the cut-off for teenage mothers in Cameroon. The study is cross-sectional and analytical in nature. The EPDS was administered and the DSM-5 was used to diagnose depression. The data were analysed with Epidata 3.1 and processed with SPSS 25. Positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NVP) were calculated. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, is analyse. 1633 adolescent mothers were recruited. The prevalence of perinatal depression was 60.8% (95% CI = 58.5, 63.2). The cut-off score for this population was ≥ 13. Sensitivity was 85.3% (95% CI = 0.836, 0.870]) specificity 66.9% (95% CI = 0.646,0.692), PPV 80.1% and NPV 74.5%. This score of ≥ 13 is retained because the model is well discriminating, with the air under the curve (AUC) being 0.823 (95% CI = 0.801, 0.844) with p = 0.000. This study on the validation of the EPDS and the prevalence of perinatal depression in a population of teenage mothers is new in Cameroon and central Africa.
Pore structure characteristics of deep coal seams under the synergistic effect of high temperature and high pressure and their impact on coalbed methane adsorption
Authors: Si Shasha , Wang Zhaofeng , Kang Jianhong , Yue Jiwei , Dai Juhua 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

The content of coalbed methane is an important parameter for preventing coal and gas outbursts and preventing coal mine accidents. In order to explore the adsorption law of deep coalbed methane, this paper selects coal samples from two high-quality mining areas, and uses low-temperature nitrogen adsorption, mercury intrusion porosimetry, and high-pressure volume method to study the pore structure characteristics and adsorption properties of deep coalbeds from microscopic and macroscopic perspectives. It reveals the influence of temperature, pressure, and pore structure on the content of coalbed methane, and constructs a deep coalbed methane content adsorption model considering the synergistic effect of these factors. The research results show that the hysteresis degree of the intrusion and extrusion mercury curves of deep coalbeds decreases, the number of semi-closed pores increases, and the connectivity of coal deteriorates. The low-temperature nitrogen adsorption-desorption curves all conform to Type II isotherms. When the gas pressure reaches 0.9 MPa, the adsorption and desorption curves completely overlap, indicating the end of monolayer adsorption. More than 80% of the deep coalbed methane is stored in pores ranging from 2 to 10 nm in the form of micropore filling, while less than 10% is adsorbed as monolayers in pores larger than 10 nm. There is a significant linear relationship between the Langmuir volume (V) and the micropore volume and BET. The Langmuir pressure (P0 is related to the volume and specific surface area of mesopores, indicating that micropore structure controls the ultimate adsorption capacity of coal for methane, while mesopore structure affects the morphological characteristics of methane adsorption isotherms. The adsorption zones of deep coalbeds are divided into micropore weak adsorption zone, micropore strong adsorption zone, and monolayer adsorption, and a temperature-pressure-pore synergistic adsorption model for deep coalbed methane is constructed. The coefficient of determination (R2) of this model reaches 0.999, which can well characterize the adsorption characteristics of deep coalbed methane. By applying the constructed adsorption model, it is found that the content of coalbed methane tends to decrease with increasing depth, laying a theoretical foundation for revealing the law of changes in deep coalbed methane content.
Sustainable Concrete Material Reinforced with Recycled Polypropylene Tarpaulin Fibers
Authors: Borkar S. P. , Kole S. S. , Ranshur S. , Salve L. , Ghate T. , Awatade D. , Varma A. 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Tarpaulin is a multipurpose textile product made from different coating formulation grades of polymer of which Polyethylene based tarpaulins are wildly used. It is water resistant and UV resistant, which makes it long lasting. However, after usage of for a season, it leads to the problem of disposal due to its non-degradable characteristics. This contribute to the growing problem of plastic waste in landfills, oceans, and other natural environments. Tarpaulins are not recyclable in conventional recycling methods. India generates a significant amount of plastic waste each year, with estimates suggesting that it produces around 9.46 million tons of plastic waste annually. While tarpaulins are just one type of plastic waste, they can contribute to the overall plastic waste problem in the country. As tarpaulin are of polymeric nature, it is proposed that this material also can turn into a value-added material by incorporating it into concrete mixture. In the current project, the attempt is made to develop a sustainable concrete material using shredded tarpaulin tapes of 3–5 cm in length. The volume of sand is replaced by these fibres in 5% concentrations. The concrete blocks with tarpaulin embedded in them showed marginal reductions in strength than the control blocks but this strength is acceptable by the ISO Standards. This project leads to sustainability and follows the principle of circular economy.
Molecular detection of Brucella species from apparently healthy camels slaughtered at the Akaki abattoir, Ethiopia
Authors: Legesse Abinet , Birhanu Kenaw , Mekuriaw Aregitu , Akalu Mirtneh , Abayneh Takele , Adamu Kassaye , Deresse Getaw , Bayissa Berecha , Tesfaw Liyuwork , Sherefa Kedir 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

BACKGROUND ANDMETHODS: Brucellosis is a dreadful zoonotic disease affecting humans and all domestic animals including camels worldwide. Serological evidence for Brucella infection in camels has been reported from all pastoralist and agro-pastoralist regions of Ethiopia. Investigations have shown that antibody concentrations are lower in camels than in cattle. However, serological diagnostic kits have been developed for cattle brucellosis is directly transposed for camels without adequate assay validation and genotyping of Brucella species is still absent in camel population in Ethiopia. This study aimed to evaluate gaps associated with Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and molecular detection of Brucella species from apparently healthy camels slaughtered at the Akaki abattoir. The study applied Brucella genus specific, Brucella abortus (B.abortus) and Brucella melitensis (B.melitensis) species-specific primers on RBPT-positive and retropharyngeal lymph node samples collected from 100 camels’ heads.
RESULTS: RBPT revealed the presence of anti-Brucella antibodies in 5 of 100 (5%) slaughtered camels. All RBPT-positive were also positive for PCR. Among the100 lymph node samples examined, 35 (35%) were Brucella positive by PCR. All were found to be B. abortus;however, B. melitessis was not detected in either the serum or lymph node samples.
CONCLUSION: To the authors’ knowledge, this investigation is the first report on the molecular detection of B.abortus from camel in Ethiopia. Sequence data confirmed the presence of B. abortus from apparently healthy camels slaughtered at Akaki abattoir, Ethiopia. B. abortus molecular detection rate on lymph nodes samples was seven times greater than that of RBPT. We recommend that advanced research be conducted on camel milk and meat and those camel herders emphasize Ethiopian pastoral areas in particular to understand Brucella epidemiology and its public health significance.
WBi-YOLOSF: Improved FPN for aquatic real-time target detection under the Artificial rabbits optimization
Authors: Jiang Liubing , Mu Yujie , Che Li , Wu Yongman 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

As the pillar industry of coastal areas, aquaculture needs artificial intelligence technology to promote economic development. To realize the automation of the aquaculture industry, this paper proposes a new underwater object detection network: WBi-YOLOSF. It realizes the automatic classification and detection of aquatic products, improves the production efficiency of the aquaculture industry, and promotes its economic development. This paper creates an image dataset containing 15 aquatic products to lay the data foundation for model training. In the data preprocessing part, an underwater image enhancement algorithm is proposed to improve the quality of the data set effectively. Aiming at the problem of high false detection rate and missed detection rate of underwater dense small targets, a new data enhancement method was proposed to improve the training set's data quality comprehensively. Inspired by the weighted bidirectional feature pyramid network, this paper proposes a new feature extraction network: AU-BiFPN, which solves the gradient problem caused by the network hierarchy's deepening on enhancing the network's multi-scale feature fusion. Here, the swarm intelligence algorithm is introduced to optimize the model hyperparameters, accelerating the convergence speed of model training and significantly reducing the computational cost. At the same time, the model's accuracy is improved by a cliff. In addition, the FReLU activation function is introduced in the network's backbone, and the SimAM attention mechanism is integrated, effectively improving the accuracy and speed of the model prediction. Ablation and comparison experiments show the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed model. Verified by the mAP and FPS evaluation indicators, the experimental results of the WBi-YOLOSF target detection network can reach 0.982 and 203 frames per second, which are 1.4\% and five frames per second higher than the network with the second score. In summary, this method can quickly and accurately identify aquatic products, realize real-time target detection of aquatic products, and lay the foundation for developing an aquaculture automation system.
Visual fields after anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy for retinopathy of prematurity
Authors: Imai Kazuki , Obata Shumpei , Matsumoto Riko , Nishida Ayaka , Iwasa Maki , Kakinoki Masashi , Sawada Osamu , Sawada Tomoko , Saishin Yoshitsugu , Ohji Masahito 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

It is known that laser photocoagulation for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) can cause visual field defects. There are no reports comparing the visual fields of ROP patients treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy and those of normal controls.
A retrospective cohort study was conducted for the anti-VEGF therapy group and a prospective study was carried out for the normal control group. Visual fields were tested using Goldmann perimetry. The viewing angles in eight directions (upper, nasal-upper, nasal, nasal-lower, lower, temporal-lower, temporal and temporal-upper) and the total angle were compared between the two groups.
Nine eyes in the anti-VEGF therapy group and 10 eyes in the normal control group met the criteria. The visual field angles were significantly narrower in the anti-VEGF therapy group, compared with the normal control group, for the total, and the nasal-lower, lower, temporal-lower, temporal and temporal-upper directions (502 versus 540 degrees, P = 0.003; 55 versus 61 degrees, P = 0.002; 60 versus 66 degrees, P = 0.001; 72 versus 77 degrees, P = 0.04; 82 versus 90 degrees, P = 0.004; and 62 versus 72 degrees, P = 0.003, respectively).
Patients with ROP may exhibit narrower-than-normal visual fields after anti-VEGF therapy.
Performance of Organizational structure and Irrigation Water Management at Dirma Small Scale Irrigation Scheme Northern, Ethiopia
Authors: Kibret Eshetu Adane , Gebeyehu Tirngo Belayneh , Kumlachew Yibeltal Zewdu 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Evaluations of irrigation water management and organizational scenarios are essential for tracking project performance. For Dirma small-scale irrigation small-scale irrigation scheme, an exhaustive investigation on irrigation water management and organizational structures performance has been carried out. The data collected for this study were field visit and observations, key informants and farmers interviewing, focus group discussion and Household Survey with questionnaires and report document. SPSS 21 software was used to analyze the data.
The study result indicated that from respondants and observations 66.7% faced irrigation water supply unreliability, 79.5% encountered unfair distribution of water, 83.3% lack of maintenance, and 83.3% faced institutional support problem. The Water Users Associations (WUAs) lack clear by-laws and strategies to lead and administor operations and maintenances of the scheme. It is hard to consider closing the skill gap among farmers, to have a functional maintenance strategy, to distribute irrigation water fairly, to have a reliable irrigation water supply, and to provide irrigation water on schedule without an efficient WUA. Therefore, high infrastructure maintenance is required, proper organizational setup, scheme monitoring, and upgrading its capacity to be in place and WUA should be empowered for it to discharge its responsibility.
A Sustainable Integrated Agroforestry System
Authors: COMOLLI LUIS R. , Schegg Esteban , Infuleski Cristian , Fassola Hugo , von Wallis Alejandra , Barth Sara , Bulfe Nardia , Gauchat María Elena , Munareto Néstor , Wyss Fabio 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

The development of industrialized agriculture has met the need to feed a growing global population with higher quality foods, through increases in yields, productivity, and efficiency. However, agriculture is now a dominant force behind many environmental threats including excessive deforestation, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, chemical pollution, and contributions to greenhouse gasses and global warming. These externalities can no longer be ignored. Several agricultural movements arose as an alternative to the conventional farming paradigm, using various terms including “organic”, “biodynamic”, “ecological”, and “biological”. None has been capable of challenging the development trajectory of conventional agriculture, underpinned by simplification, specialisation, and increased inputs. As extreme climate events have become globally more common, a heightening of the level of public awareness about global warming and the relevance of ecosystem services provides an opportunity for change. All climate adaptation and mitigation strategies with a potential to have global impact are worth disseminating and discussing. Agroforestry, which is the intentional combination of trees and shrubs with crops or livestock, could be the next step in sustainable agriculture. This multifunctional approach for our food system, focusing on complexity, diversity, and recycling, mimicking nature’s functions, has the potential to sustain production while supporting a range of ecosystem services. For over two decades and a half we have committed heavily in the creation of the integrated agroforestry system we document here. The creation and continued leveraging of the system provide an example that it is possible to recover biodiversity and ecosystem services on lands previously eroded due to highly extractive exploitation. Collaborations with public extension agencies have helped in capacity building and public outreach to show how an economic activity can be strengthen by the recovery of natural complexity. We believe that our project and similar ones should be one type of strategy in the toolkit for meeting the 2030 biodiversity targets, e.g., as discussed in the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 15) Global Biodiversity Framework.
The impact of random parameter distribution on RVFL model performance in bearing fault diagnosis
Authors: Li Junliang , Liu Jingna , Ren Bin 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Although deep learning has achieved revolutionary progress in may application fields including image processing and fault diagnosis scenarios, the extremely high computation cost with long running time and the non-interpretability of black box mechanism seriously downgrades its applicability in some areas especially in real time tasks. To overcome these drawbacks, lightweight neural networks with quick training and less computational cost, which include the randomly weighted networks such as RVFL with non-iterative training mechanism, have been proposed to replace the deep learning models. This paper conducts a study on RVFL model performance with respect to bearing fault diagnosis problems, focusing on the difference between uniform and normal distributions of random parameters. It experimentally shows that difference of performance between both distributions is significant, and the accuracy of normal distribution is slightly better than the uniform distribution regarding this application scenario. It provides some useful guidelines for real bearing fault diagnosis with real time requirement to choose an appropriate distribution of parameters for random weighted neural network training.
Adaptive Phase-field total Lagrangian Material Point Method for Evaluating Dynamic Fracture of Soft Material
Authors: Zheng Yonggang , Zhang Shun , Yang Weilong , Zhang Zijian , Ye Hongfei , Zhang Hongwu 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

An adaptive phase-field total Lagrangian material point method (APTLMPM) is proposed in this paper for effectively simulating the dynamic fracture of soft materials with finite deformation. In this method, the governing equations for the fracture of soft materials are derived by integrating the phase-field fracture model with the total Lagrangian material point method (TLMPM), and corresponding discrete equations are then formulated with explicit time integration. To address the significant computational issue in terms of memory and processing time, an adaptive technique for dynamically splitting particles and background grids in the phase-field TLMPM is proposed, based on the phase-field values of the particles. To further maintain continuity of the physical field throughout the computational process and consider the characteristics of the field update, an information remapping strategy is developed. Several representative numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed APTLMPM by comparing the simulation results with experimental data and those as obtained with other numerical methods.