bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Detection and Characterization of Microplastics in Commercial Salts in India
Authors: Vittal Rajeshwari , Xavier Sneha , Mohan Masmarika , Chakraborty Anirban , Chakraborty Gunimala 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Plastic waste accumulation is an ever-growing menace affecting both aquatic and terrestrial environments. One of the primary concerns associated with plastic pollution is the accumulation of microplastics (MPs) in the ecosystem, particularly in the marine ecosystem. Microplastics pollution in marine environment is a matter of grave concern because marine resources are one of the primarily contributors to human food supply. In addition, the marine environment possesses a plethora of bioactive compounds that are used in a wide variety of products, intended for human use. One of the easiest routes of MPs ingestion from marine environment is through salt, an indispensable ingredient in cooking. This study aimed at analysing commercial brands of sea salt and rock salt for the presence of MPs by Nile red fluorescent staining (NR) and characterizing the plastic polymers by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). A total of thirty different brands of salts available in India were collected and analysed. The results indicate that presence of MPs is highly prevalent in sea salts with variable number, particles size and polymer types. In sea salt samples, the number of MPs ranged between 13- 27 particles/100g whereas in rock salt, it ranged between 8- 29 particles/100g. Both plastic microfibers and MPs were detected in the categories of samples analysed, ranging between 2- 14 particles/100 g for microfibers and 2- 27 particles/100g for microparticles. The size of MPs ranged between 19.45μm - 512.91μm in sea salts and between 29.69μm– 1432.85μm in rock salt. FTIR Spectroscopy identified polyethylene terephthalate as the most prevalent polymer (37%) in the salt samples, followed by polyvinyl chloride (25.9%) polypropylene (22.2%), polyethylene (11%), and polystyrene (3.7%). This study highlights yet another source of MPs ingestion by humans. Given the fact that salt is a preservative, a taste enhancer, and a source of an essential micronutrient, there is an imminent need for potential mitigation techniques to ensure MP-free salts for human consumption.
Postprandial blood glucose and insulin response in healthy adults when lentils replace high glycemic index food ingredients in muffins, chilies and soups
Authors: Ramdath D.Dan , Chamoun Dita , Duncan AM , Lukus Patricia , Loreto Michael , Pals-Horne Frances , Hawke Aileen 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Objectives: To assess postprandial blood glucose response (PBGR), relative glycemic response (RGR) and insulin response when 25 g available carbohydrates (AC) is replaced with cooked lentils in the formulation of muffins, chilies and soups.
Methods: In randomized, crossover studies, healthy adults consumed foods containing 25 g AC from green lentils, red lentils or a control (wheat muffin, n=24; rice chili, n=24; potato soup, n=20). Blood collected at fasting and at 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 min was analyzed to derive incremental area under the response curve (iAUC) for glucose and insulin, RGR and maximum concentration (CMAX). Treatment effects were assessed with repeated measures ANOVA.
Results: Replacement of 25 g AC with green lentils significantly decreased glucose iAUC compared to chili and soup (P<0.0001) but not muffin (P=0.07) controls, while also eliciting a significantly lower insulin iAUC for all 3 foods (muffin P=0.03; chili P=0.0002; soup P<0.0001). Red lentil foods significantly decreased glucose iAUC (muffin P=0.02; chili P<0.0001; soup P<0.0001) compared to controls, with a significantly lower insulin iAUC for chili and soup (P<0.0001) but not muffin (P=0.09). The RGR for muffin, chili and soup was 88, 58 and 61%, respectively, for green lentils, and 84, 48 and 49%, respectively, for red lentils.
Conclusions: PBGR, insulin and RGR are decreased when lentils are incorporated into food products providing credible evidence to promote carbohydrate replacement with lentil-based foods.
Intraprocedural CT guided Navigation with Ventilatory Strategy for Atelectasis (ICNVA): a modified electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy
Authors: Dai Shaohua , Xu Guoqiu , Chen Zhiguo , Tang Jian 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Background: CT-body divergence limits the accuracy of electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy (ENB) in peripheral lung lesions diagnosis. We developed intraprocedural CT guided Navigation with Ventilatory Strategy for Atelectasis (ICNVA) ENB for patients with peripheral lung lesions.
Methods: Retrospective observational study in which ten consecutive patients with pulmonary lesions (without bronchial direct connection) underwent ICNVA-ENB was conducted. We collected three sets of CT data: preENB CT, post-anesthesia intubation CT, and postENB CT.
To evaluated the accuracy of ICNVA-ENB, we measured the distance between the ENB probe and the actual lesion location, but also recorded the results of rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE), and postoperative pathology. To evaluate the impact of CT-body divergence induced by atelectasis, we calculated the mutual position distance of target lesions in preENB CT, post-anesthesia intubation CT and postENB CT. Furthermore, ENB operation time, operative complications were recorded.
Results: Our analysis revealed that the distance between the navigation probe with the actual location of lesion center is 4–10 (5.90±1.73) mm. The ROSE results were consistent with the postoperative pathological diagnosis in 9 out of 10 patients (90%). The ICNVA-ENB atelectasis CT-body divergence was smaller than traditional ENB ((12.10±3.67)mm vs (6.60±2.59)mm, p＜0.01). The ENB operation time was 20-53(29.30±10.14) minutes and one patient developed slight intrapulmonary hemorrhage.
Conclusions: ICNVA-ENB can reduce the CT-body divergence and appears to be safe and accurate for patients with peripheral lung lesions.
Association Rule Mining of Aircraft Incident Causes based on Apriori Algorithm
Authors: Chen Huaqun , Yang Minghui , Tang Xie 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Combining accident causation 2–4 model with Apriori algorithm of data mining technology, an association rule of aircraft incident causation is proposed. The data cleaning model based on expert system is adopted on the python platform with the statistics of unsafe events in Civil Aviation of China in 2023. The accident cause 2–4 model divides the factors leading to aircraft unsafe incidents into internal and external factors of HMI organization. The top 30 TF-IDF words of each level are taken as the cause factors of the level, and strong association rules between aircraft unsafe events and cause factors are found through the iterative method of searching layer by layer with Apriori algorithm. Taking the 3-year unsafe incidents of Southwest Air Traffic Management Bureau in CAAC as an example, 90 cause-causing factor sets were identified, and unsupervised and supervised learning methods were respectively adopted. The support, confidence and improvement degrees of the two methods were compared using the complex network diagram of aircraft accident cause-causing generated by Gephi. The comparison results revealed that the analysis of association rules among factors is no longer limited to a single node, the index difference of association rules is increased, and the strong causality is more significant. It points out the direction of accident prevention and prediction.
Growth performance, protein utilization and haemato-biochemical parameters of broilers fed marama bean (Tylosema esculentum) based diets
Authors: Tjetjeo Samuel , Marume upenyu 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

This study investigated growth performance, protein utilization and blood parameters in broiler chickens fed diets containing marama bean (MB). Three hundred day-old broiler chicks were randomly allocated to 5 dietary treatments with eight replicates. The chicks were fed commercial starter diets from 1 to 14 days. The experimental diets were offered during the grower and finisher phases. Five isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets with the inclusion of marama bean at 0 (MB0, control), 7 (MB7), 14 (MB14), 21 (MB21) and 28% (MB28) were formulated. From the results, Diets containing marama bean had lower average daily gain (ADG) and higher feed conversion ratios (FCR) compared to the control diet. In both phases, the birds fed diet containing MB7 diet had higher ADG compared with other marama bean containing diets. The birds fed control diet also had high cumulative weight gain followed by the birds fed the MB7 diet. In both feeding phases, protein efficient ratio (PER) and specific growth rate (SGR) were higher in birds fed the control diet followed by those fed MB7 diet. With regards to serum metabolites, birds fed control diet had the highest amounts of calcium, phosphorus and total albumin followed by those fed the MB7 diet. However, total protein, total globulin and cholesterol were higher in the birds fed MB7 compared to the control. Higher values for alkaline transferase (ALT) were obtained in all diets containing marama bean compared with the control. In conclusion, inclusion of marama bean meal in diets at 7% provided the optimum performance.
Study on the inhibitory activity and mechanism of Mentha haplocalyx essential oils nanoemulsion against Fusarium oxysporum growth
Authors: Liao Hongxin , Wen Jinrui , Nie Hongyan , Ling Cuiqiong , Zhang Liyan , Xu Furong , Dong Xian 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
As a green and environmentally friendly natural product, Mentha haplocalyx essential oil (MEO) inhibits F. oxysporum, but its field application is limited by its poor water solubility. The nanoemulsion can improve bioavailability and provide a green way to prevent and control P. notoginseng root rot. In this study, Tween-80 and anhydrous ethanol were selected as carriers, and the ultrasonic method was adopted to prepare a nanoemulsion of MEO (MNEO) with an average particle size of 26.07 nm. Compared with traditional emulsion of MEO (MTEO, MEO dissolved in an aqueous solution of 2% DMSO and 0.1% Tween 80), MNEO was superior in inhibiting F. oxysporum in terms of spore germination, hyphal growth, and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Through transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses, it was found that both MNEO and MTEO can inhibit the Glycolysis/Gluconeogenesis and Starch and Sucrose metabolism pathways of F. oxysporum. Nevertheless, MNEO can inhibit the expression of more genes and metabolites. In addition, some key genes in meiosis, ribosome, and ribosome biogenesis were also significantly downregulated only under MNEO treatment. These genes and metabolites provide valuable information for the later prevention and control of F. oxysporum and provide a theoretical basis for better utilization of MEO resources to develop plant-derived bacteriostatic agents and agricultural modernization and ecological development.
A study on the value estimation of LNG cold heat with application to the liquefaction of various refrigerants
Authors: Asante Daniel Owusu , Galanido Russel J. , Jo Youngjoo , Cho Jungho 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Refrigeration effects lower than − 20°C can be traditionally achieved using a vapor-recompression refrigeration cycle with various refrigerants having their own supply temperatures. In this study, the values contained in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) cold heat have been estimated when more than 30 pure refrigerants are liquefied by exchanging heat with LNG instead of using a vapor-recompression refrigeration cycle. There was a total of 35 selected refrigerants for evaluation of cold heat price contained in LNG, which includes n-butane, propane, propylene, ammonia (NH3), 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (R-134a), hydrochlorofluorocarbon (R-22) etc. Simulation works have been carried out for each single refrigeration cycle using the Peng-Robinson equation of state in combination with TWU’s alpha function. PRO/II with PROVISION V2021, a steady-state simulation tool from Aveva Company, was used to model the refrigeration cycle and LNG cold heat value estimation. It was concluded that the estimated values of the LNG cold heat were inversely proportional to refrigerant supply temperature since the compressor power is proportionally increasing when the refrigerant supply temperature is lower and vice versa.
Functional constraints on tetrapod feeding ecology were released long after terrestrialisation
Authors: Deakin William , Donoghue Philip , Rayfield Emily 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
The radiation of tetrapods during the Devonian and Carboniferous was associated with a transition from aquatic to terrestrial environments, with attendant changes in feeding ecology that are poorly characterized. Using a theoretical morphospace and functional optimality approach, we characterize the functional evolution of tetrapod mandibles, finding an antagonistic relationship between the strength, rotational efficiency and the height of jaw morphologies. We further show that the regions of morphospace occupied by the jaws of aquatic, semi-aquatic and early terrestrial tetrapods are optimised within this trade-off. As terrestrial amniotes radiated, they explored broader regions of jaw morphospace that are suboptimal with respect to the trade-off. We interpret this as a release of functional constraint on the jaw morphology of later branching terrestrial herbivores, with new functional demands driving evolutionary innovation. While feeding in aquatic and terrestrial environments is fundamentally different, the functional requirements of the lower jaw do not change. Instead, the jaws of aquatic species perform adequately on land.
Event Type and Relationship Extraction Based on Dependent Syntactic Semantic Augmented Graph Networks
Authors: Zuo Min , Song Zexi , Liu Yueheng , Zhang Qingchuan , Cai Yuanyuan , Wu Di 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

In the domain of natural language processing, tasks such as trigger word extraction, event type recognition, and event relation extraction occupy pivotal positions. These tasks enable the discernment and extraction of salient information through profound analysis of textual content, thereby not only extricating key event data but also facilitating a deeper understanding of the semantic essence of the text. The process of extracting trigger words and event types often grapples with the complexities posed by polysemous words and intricate sentence structures, which can lead to deficiencies in the semantic representation of sentences. Addressing this challenge, this paper introduces a Dependency Syntactic Analysis model and proposes a novel framework Event Type Extraction Model base on Gravitational Network with Enhanced Dependency Semantics(GNEDS) that elucidates the intricate relationships and structures among words in a sentence. This approach significantly enriches the comprehension of contextual information, thereby enabling more precise identification of trigger words and their contextual affiliations, and consequently enhancing the text’s semantic representation.Furthermore, in the realm of event relation recognition, while traditional research has predominantly concentrated on intrasentential event relations, real world texts frequently exhibit event relations that span multiple sentences and entail complex contextual and implicit reasoning. This complexity often results in the sub-optimal performance of existing models in cross-sentence event relation extraction tasks. To overcome this limitation, this study introduces Graph Convolutional Neural Network (GCN) and the innovative concept of document nodes. Consequently, a Document Event Relationship Extraction based on Graph Convolutional Network with Enhanced Dependency Semantics(GCNEDS) is proposed that extends the scope to encompass a broader spectrum of global information, thereby enabling the amalgamation of textual information across various levels. This model is adept at capturing the long-distance dependencies between individual sentences within a document with greater accuracy, representing a significant advancement in the field of event type and relationship extraction based on dependent syntactic-semantic augmented graph networks.
Effect of dealloying temperature on ligament morphology and size of hierarchically porous silver and its mechanical behaviour
Authors: Sun Yikai , Liu Endian , Li Zaijiu , Jin Qinglin , Sun Daliang 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Hierarchically porous metal materials show great potential for applications in catalysis, energy storage, etc. However, its brittle nature is unfavorable to the application scope and prospect of hierarchically porous metal materials. In this paper, a three-level hierarchically porous silver (THPS) was prepared by a combinational method of Gasar and dealloying processes. THPS with ligament size in range of 16–55 nm was prepared by chemical dealloying with citric acid at different temperatures. The results show that the temperature has a significant effect on the structure of THPS. As the temperature increase, the structure of the nano-ligament is coarsened, the hardness and elastic modulus of THPS show a downward trend.
Nanotechnology for Thermal Comfort and Energy Efficiency in Educational Buildings: A Simulation and measurment Approach in BSh Climate
Authors: Soleymani Marzieh , Amrollahi Rezvaneh , Taghdir Samaneh , Barzegar Zahra 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Educational buildings have a large share and impact on urban development. While research shows a significant portion of non-industrial energy consumption in these buildings, obtaining optimal thermal comfort in educational buildings remains one of the main concerns in achieving the grounds to promote students’ best performance and efficiency. Extensive research has been done in this field, however, this research presents a new approach to the diverse use of nanotechnology techniques which improve its properties and components in the buildings, aiming to reduce energy consumption and increase thermal comfort. In this paper, thermal comfort and energy consumption is evaluated in a 12-class elementary school located in Shiraz City. Aeropan and nano-PCM is used in the window glass and walls of the studied case. This evaluation presents the simulation and experimental analysis of thermal comfort (PMV) and energy consumption of three classroom alignments in the school building including the Linear-shape (LS), the Integrated Linear-shape (ILS), and the U-shaped (US) alignment. The simulation was performed using EnergyPlus 9.6 software, while the experimental data was collected using TESTO 425 device. The result of this research shows that after applying nano-PCM and Aeropan techniques in window glass and walls, the US alignment has the highest reduction in energy consumption (annual monthly average of 11.80%) compared to LS and ILS alignments. This alignment includes an energy consumption reduction of 12.03% in the coldest, and, 11.66% in the hottest day of the year in addition to increasing the annual thermal comfort of school by the use of nanomaterials.
Prognostic scoring system based on indicators reflecting the tumor glandular differentiation and microenvironment for patients with colorectal cancer
Authors: Kobayashi Toshinori , Ishida Mitsuaki , Miki Hisanori , Yamamoto Nobuyuki , Harino Takashi , Yagyu Takuki , Hori Soshi , Hatta Masahiko , Hashimoto Yuki , Kotsuka Masaya , Yamasaki Makoto , Inoue Kentaro , Hirose Yoshinobu , Sekimoto Mitsugu 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Prognostic stratification is an urgent concern for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). The desmoplastic reaction (DR) is speculated to mirror the tumor microenvironment. DR types are considered independent prognostic indicators in CRC, but have not been incorporated in previous prognostic nomograms. We aimed to assess the prognostic significance of a novel approach incorporating histopathological indicators reflecting tumor glandular differentiation and microenvironment. We evaluated 329 consecutive patients with CRC who underwent surgical resection at Kansai Medical University. Histological glandular differentiation was scored as 2 (0 point), 3 (1 point), or 4 (2 points). Tumor buddings (TBs) were classified as TB1 (0 point), TB2 (1 point), or TB3 (2 points). pT1 or 2 was considered as 0 point, pT3 or 4 + DR non-immature type as 1 point, and pT3 or 4 + DR immature type as 2 points. Lymph node metastasis was classified as pN0 (0 point), pN1 (1 point), or pN2 (2 points). The preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen levels were categorized as < 5.0 ng/mL (0 point) and ≧ 5.0 (1 point). Considering these factors, the following D&M scoring system was applied: I (0–2 points), II (3–4 points), III (5–6 points), and IV (7–9 points). Kaplan-Meier curves showed significant differences in disease-specific survival and recurrence-free survival among the assigned scores, highlighting their enhanced utility compared with the American Joint Committee on Cancer 8th edition staging system. The D&M scoring system was valuable as the initial prognostic nomogram including DR.
An unusually prolonged Pacific-North American pattern promoted the quad-state tornado outbreak on 10-11 December 2021
Authors: Kim Dongmin , Lee Sang-Ki , Lopez Hosmay , Jeong Jong-Hoon , Hong Jin-Sil 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

This study examines the large-scale atmosphere-ocean environments that led to the winter tornado outbreak across the Ohio Valley on 10–11 December 2021, also known as the quad-state tornado outbreak. Here, we show that the quad-state tornado outbreak occurred under an exceptionally strong and prolonged negative Pacific-North American pattern (PNA), which developed around December 1 and persisted for a month. This unusual PNA produced a strong atmospheric ridge along the south and eastern US seaboard, which in turn helped warm up the Gulf of Mexico and produced large-scale environments conducive for tornadogenesis across the Ohio Valley. Further analysis shows that a broad region across the Ohio Valley is particularly vulnerable to extensive winter tornado outbreaks during long-lived negative PNA, whereas a limited region in the central US is exposed to winter tornado activity during short-lived negative PNA. Finally, although the PNA is a mode of internal variability that occurs with or without El Niño - Southern Oscillation, the occurrence of prolonged negative PNA is more frequent during La Niña than during El Niño.