bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Contribution of outdoor noise-induced health risk in schools located in urbanized arid country
Authors: Amoatey Patrick , Al-Harthy Issa , Amankona Diawuo , Douban Stella , Izady Azizallah , Chen Mingjie , Al-Jabri Khalifa , Al-Alawi Mubarak 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
Ambient noise pollution is deemed as one of the major growing public health issues, especially in developing countries. Therefore, it is crucial to assess the impact of noise pollution on public health. The aim of this study is to investigate the health risk of noise exposure levels in three schools: Kaab Bin Zeyd of Basic Education (School A), Hail Al-Awamour Girls school (School B), and Al-Fikr School (School C) in Muscat, Oman. The study employed a survey of 300 students, dose-response models, and regression models to quantify health risk and to determine the relationship between noise levels and perceived noise annoyance sources. The study found average noise levels (LAeq) of school A (70.03 ± 8.21 dBA), school B (69.54 ± 7.75 dBA), and school C (55.95 ± 5.67 dBA) to be higher than WHO's outdoor schools environment standard of 55 dBA and European (EN16798-1) classroom’s critical limits of 30–34 dBA. Most of the students from schools A (30.9%), B (33.3%), and C (63%) have reported noise produced from traffic as extremely annoyed compared to aircraft of 15.4%, 11.5%, and 27.2%, respectively. Regression analysis results showed that LAeq explained most of the changes in variations of perceived traffic annoyance by 48.1%, 12.1%, and 13.2% for schools A (R2 = 0.481), B (R2 = 0.121), and C ( R2 = 0.132), respectively. The health risk assessment results show that the percentage of highly annoyed (%HA) was higher in school A (15.2%), and school B (14.95%), than in school C (8.18%). The estimated highly sleep disturbed (%HSD) based on mean noise levels were almost the same in schools A (15.62%) and B (15.19%) but far higher compared to school C (6.01%). However, there was an association between the mean noise exposure levels and the risk of developing ischaemic heart diseases (IHD) in school A (RR = 1.172, 95% CI: 1.020–1.334), school B (RR = 1.167, 95% CI: 1.020–1.325) and school C (RR = 1.051, 95% CI: 1.006–1.095). Moreover, attributable risk percentage (AR%) for school A (AR% =14.675, 95% CI: 2.028–25.037), school B (AR% =14.310, 95% CI: 1.960-24.528), and school C (AR% = 4.852, 95% CI:0.596–8.742) have shown that a substantial portion of the population could be prevented from developing IHD. It is expected that findings of the study can be applied in other arid regions with sprawl urbanized built environments.
A taxonomic study on pollen morphology characteristics, chromosome karyotype characteristics, floral and fruit pigment compositions of 13 species and hybrids of Lonicera L
Authors: Li Dalong , Zhai Xiaoou , Fang Li , Sun Liwei , Ji Xing , Zhang Sijia , Zhang Yujiao , Huimin Liu 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
In this paper, the pollen morphology characteristics, chromosome karyotype characteristics, floral and fruity pigment compositions of 13 species and hybrids of Lonicera L. were analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy, root tip squash method, HPLC-MS and GC-MS, and then they were classified separately to discuss their genetic relationship and taxonomic relationship. According to the morphological taxonomy, Lonicera L. distributed in northern are divided into two categories by whether the branchlets are hollow or not. In this experiment, Lonicera chrysanthaTurcz. ex Ledeb., Lonicera maackii (Rupr.) Maxim., Lonicera ruprechtiana Regel., Lonicera tatarica Linn. and Lonicera korolkowi ‘Zabelii’. belongsto the category of hollow branchlets; and Lonicera edulisTurcz. and Lonicera tatarinowiiMaxim. belongs to the category of branchlets with solid white pith. Through the analysis of pollen morphology characteristics, chromosome karyotype characteristics, floral and fruit pigment compositions, and using the above four indexes for clustering, Lonicera ruprechtiana Regel. and Lonicera tatarica Linn. can always be clustered together. Five hybrids such as Lonicera korolkow‘Zabelii’.×Lonicera maackii (Rupr.) Maxim., Lonicera korolkow‘Zabelii’.×Lonicera tatarica Linn.No.8 etal. can basically clustered with their parents, which is conform to the morphological taxonomy. These results indicate that the analysis of pollen morphology characteristics, chromosome karyotype characteristics, floral and fruit pigment compositions, has certain value and significance for the study of system classification and genetic relationship of Lonicera L., and the conclusions of this study partially support morphological taxonomy. Among the four clusters, the clustering result of pollen morphology characteristics was in the highest agreement with morphological taxonomy.
Utilization study on red brick waste as novel reinforcing and economic filler for acrylonitrile butadiene rubber composite
Authors: Shafik Emad S. , Tharwat C. , Abd-El-Messieh Salwa L. 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
Red brick waste (Rbw) powder was employed to be used as reinforcing filler for acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) for preparing eco-friendly composites. The main constituent of this waste is silica which is one of the traditional filler used in rubber industry so, it was worthily to get (Rbw) with suitable manner through using this waste as filler for NBR. Physico-mechanical properties including tensile strength, elongation at break, hardness shore A, and change in mechanical properties after thermal oxidative aging for 7 days at 90°C were evaluated. In addition to, equilibrium swelling in toluene for prepared composites was also included. Moreover, crosslinking density was measured according to Flory Rehner equation. From physico-mechanical measurements, it is observed that the tensile strength and hardness (shore A) increased with increasing the waste filler content and this is because of stiffness of the red brick waste filler. While, the elongation at break and equilibrium swelling degree decreased with increasing the waste filler content. The morphology of the polymeric composites was monitored using scanning electron microscope which reflect uniform distribution of the filler inside the NBR matrix. The electrical and magnetic properties for NBR/Rbw composites were evaluated. The electrical measurements revealed that the values of ε′ are found to increase by increasing red brick waste while ε'' decrease with increasing filler content. The dc conductivity σdc values are lie in the order of 10− 11 S/cm this finding recommend such composites to be used in insulation purposes and or antistatic applications. In addition to, the magnetic measurements shows superparamagnetic behavior NBR/Rbw composites. Based on the electrical and magnetic measurements one can see that the obtained composites could be used as electromagnetic composites.
Prediction model for reference crop evapotranspiration based on the back-propagation algorithm with limited factors
Authors: Zhao Long , Xing Liwen , Wang Yuhang , Cui Ningbo , Zhou Hanmi , Shi Yi , Chen Sudan , Zhao Xinbo , Li Zhe 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
The accurate estimation of reference crop evapotranspiration (ETO) is vital for regional water and irrigation water resource management and is beneficial to the rational allocation of regional water resources, and alleviates the disparity between water supply and demand. This study accurately estimates the ETO of 14 meteorological stations in southern China. Five neural network models (back-propagation neural network [BP], extreme learning machine [ELM], ant colony optimization [ACO]-BP, bird swarm algorithm [BSA]-BP, cat swarm optimization [CSO]-BP) were introduced to predict ETO with limited factors using different methods. The results demonstrated that models inputting T (maximum, minimum and average air temperature), sunshine duration (n) and relative humidity (RH) exhibited the highest accuracy of all studied combinations; the role of T, n, RH, wind speed (U2) and average atmospheric pressure (AP) in relation to ETO gradually decreased. All the three biological heuristic algorithms effectively improved the performance of the BP model. The accuracy and computational cost of the CSO-BP model are better than those built by other algorithms. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to use the CSO-BP model for ETO prediction in southern China. This result provided a reference for the more accurate prediction of ETO for future irrigation decision-making and water resource management in southern China.
The impact of the establishment of carbon emissions trade exchange on carbon emissions efficiency
Authors: Chen Jing , Gui Wenlin , Huang Yunying 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
The China government focuses on changes in carbon emissions efficiency with establishing carbon emissions trade exchange (CETE). It is meaningful to study whether the pilot CETEs can facilitate the betterment of carbon emissions efficiency. Using the data of 30 provinces in China within 2000–2017, this article gauges the carbon emissions efficiency with the SBM-DEA model. This paper analyzes the impact of China's pilot CETEs, which was gradually launched from 2013 to 2014, on carbon emissions efficiency through the Time-Varying difference-in-difference (DID) model. Finally, the mediating effect model is further used to analyze the impact mechanism of the pilot CETEs on carbon emission efficiency from the perspectives of innovation investment and pollution control investment. The results reveal that the carbon emissions efficiency of each province from 2000 to 2017 is not very ideal. All provinces have some room to facilitate the carbon emissions efficiency. The pilot CETEs have increased the carbon emissions efficiency and reduced carbon dioxide emissions. The policy affects the innovation investment and pollution control investment, further influences the carbon emissions efficiency.
Bayes t and Bayes DE: robust Bayesian models for genomic selection
Authors: Oliveira Max Brandão , Sena Luciano Silva , Sarmento José Lindenberg Rocha 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
Background: The inclusion of genomic data in selection schemes has contributed substantially to increase livestock production. The robustness we are treating is related to the conflict of information, the thread initiated by Dawid [1]. This achievement is due to the development of several statistical models for the application in different scenarios. In this sense, the use of simulated data has been essential, as these data allow the researchers to explore important aspects that would be impossible using real data. The objective of this study was to develop Bayesian genome-wide selection models using the Student’s t (Bayes t) and double exponential (Bayes DE) probability density functions for the response variable. For this, a Bayesian model was developed in the R software and different criteria were used (e.g., DIC, residual analysis, and accuracy) to quantify the difference between fitting the proposed models and the well-known Bayesian Ridge Regression Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (RRBLUP) model. The models were fitted to simulated data generated by the QMSim software, with different phenotypic variance levels for the response variable (5, 10, and 15) and different sample sizes (300, 1000, 2000, and 4000), quantities commonly used in GWS studies. Results: In the presence of outliers, identified by the interquartile distance in the boxplot, the Bayes t and Bayes DE models were more robust than RRBLUP. That is, even with more dispersed data, they presented good measures of goodness of fit. Despite the three models evaluated were centered at zero, the residual dispersion of the proposed models was the best. In all scenarios, the Bayes t and Bayes DE models were more accurate than RRBLUP. The Bayes t model was the most accurate and presented lower residual variability than Bayes DE, especially for smaller sample sizes, where Bayes t was 57.33% more accurate than RRBLUP for n = 300 and σ2p=10.Conclusion: The proposed models were more attractive for data sets with greater presence of outliers, larger dispersion and smaller sample sizes, conferring more robustness in comparison to the RRBLUP model.
LC-MS/MS analysis of carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines in Spodoptera litura using the QuEChERS method
Authors: Somala Karthik , Gummudala Yashaswini , Morthala Shankara Sai Reddy , Thakur Himanshu , A Keerthana , P Shireesh Kumar M , Battu Jabez Raju 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
Nicotine is a highly addictive alkaloid and a neurostimulator found in tobacco that causes addiction in humans and makes tobacco a high-demand commercial product. It is popularly used for recreational purposes and is not a harmful substance except for the addiction it causes. The metabolites of nicotine such as the Tobacco-specific Nitrosamines (TSNAs) are hazardous substances whose metabolites are highly electrophilic and form DNA adducts, which will initiate the process of carcinogenesis. TSNAs are formed during curing, storage and fermentation due to the nitrosation of nicotine and other tobacco alkaloids. TSNAs are used as biomarkers for cancer risk assessment in humans exposed to tobacco and its products. To determine the occasional formation of TSNAs in tobacco-feeding insects, 5th instar larvae of Spodoptera litura and their faeces were analyzed for the presence of NNN, NNK, and NNAL along with the stored tobacco leaves (PT-76) using an Agilent 6470B LC-MS/MS system following ISO/DIS 19290:2015 protocol. The LOD and LOQ were 0.001 mg/kg and 0.005 mg/kg for all the tested nitrosamines. NNN was found to be 0.365 mg/kg, 0.344 mg/kg, and 5.71 mg/kg in insect whole-body samples, faeces, and tobacco leaves, respectively. NNK was found to be 0.062 mg/kg, 0.036 mg/kg and 0.97 mg/kg in insect whole body samples, faeces and tobacco leaves, respectively. However, NNAL was not detected in both the insect’s whole body and faeces. Recoveries ranged between 95-98% for all compounds when spiked at LOD and LOQ. The presence of TSNAs is a biomarker for cancer risk and their presence in insects would point to cancer risk assessment in tobacco feeding insects and any possible TSNA-detoxifying pathways in insects that might prevent mutagenesis caused these compounds.
BnaC01.BIN2, a GSK3-like kinase, modulates plant height and yield by regulating cell elongation in Brassica napus
Authors: Li Bao , Liu Xinhong , Guo Yiming , Deng Lichao , Qu Liang , Yan Mingli , Mei Li , Wang Tonghua 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
The modification of plant height is one of the most important goals in rapeseed breeding. Although several genes that regulate rapeseed plant height have been cloned, the genetics mechanisms underlying rapeseed plant height remain poorly understood, and the desirable genetic resource for rapeseed ideotype breeding is scarcity. In present, we show that a rapeseed semi-dominant gene, Df4, profoundly impacts rapeseed plant height. Df4 encodes brassinosteroid-insensitive 2 (BIN2), a glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3), controls the elongation of stem cell. Transcriptome data show that several cell expansion-related genes that involves auxin and brassinosteroids pathways were significantly downregulated in Df4. We demonstrated that a point mutation in BnaC01.BIN2 leads to a semi-dwarf phenotype, and heterozygosity in the Df4 allele results in small stature with no marked differences in other agronomic traits. Furthermore, a kompetitive allele specific PCR marker was developed based on the point mutation. Our results provide a desirable genetic resource for producing small stature rapeseed and support a new scenario for breeding rapeseed varieties with enhanced yield.
Demonstration of widely tunable electron bunch trains for high-power narrow-band 1-10 THz radiation generation
Authors: Liang Yi , Liu Zhuoyuan , Tian Qi , Li Tong , Lin Xiancai , Yan Lixin , Du Yingchao , Li Renkai , Shi Jiaru , Cheng Cheng , Huang Wenhui , Tang Chuanxiang 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
Terahertz radiation enables coherent excitation of many fundamental modes, such as molecular rotation, lattice vibration and spin precession. To excite the transient state of matter far out of equilibrium, high-power and tunable narrow-band THz radiation source has been in great demand for years. However, with such fertile spectrum resources waiting for exploitation, the currently available THz sources cannot satisfy the demands on the tunability and the power level, leaving a large scientific gap scarcely explored. Here, we convert the energy modulation exerted by the nonlinear longitudinal space charge force to density modulation, and for the first time experimentally demonstrate the generation of widely tunable electron bunch trains with modulation frequency adjustable between 1-10 THz. The electron bunch trains can be directly used to produce tunable high-power narrow-band THz radiation fully covering the long-standing ‘THz gap’, which will open up much more possibilities in THz science.
A Gene Based Optimally Weighted Combination Test Using GWAS Summary Data
Authors: Zhang Jianjun , Liang Xiaoyu , Gonzales Samantha , Liu Jianguo , Gao Xiaoyi Raymond , Wang Xuexia 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
Background: Gene-based association tests provide a useful alternative and complement to the usual single marker association tests, especially in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The way of weighting for variants in a gene plays an important role in boosting the power of a gene-based association test. Appropriate weights can boost statistical power, especially when detecting genetic variants with weak effects on a trait. However, the effect sizes or directions of causal genetic variants in real data are usually unknown, driving a need for a flexible yet robust methodology. Furthermore, access to individual-level data is often limited, while thousands of GWAS summary data are publicly and freely available. Results: To resolve these limitations, we propose an optimally weighted combination (OWC) test based on summary statistics from GWAS data. Several traditional methods including burden test, weighted sum of squared score test [SSU], weighted sum statistic [WSS], SNP-set Kernel Association Test [SKAT], and the score test are special cases of OWC. To evaluate the performance of OWC, we perform extensive simulation studies. Results of simulation studies demonstrate that OWC outperforms several existing popular methods. We further show that OWC outperforms comparison methods in real-world data analyses using schizophrenia GWAS summary data and a fasting glucose GWAS meta-analysis data. The proposed method is implemented in an R package available at https://github.com/Jianjun-CN/R-package-for-OWC. Conclusions: We propose a novel gene-based association test that incorporates four different weighting schemes (two constant weights and two weights proportional to normal statistic Z) and includes several popular methods as its special cases. Results of the simulation studies and real data analyses illustrate that the proposed test, OWC, outperforms comparable methods in most scenarios. These demonstrate that OWC is a useful tool that adapts to the underlying biological model for a disease by optimally weighting variants.
Continuum of size from microplastics to nanoplastics: effects on the estuarine bivalve Scrobicularia plana at different levels of biological organization.
Authors: METAIS Isabelle , Latchere Oihana , Roman Coraline , Perrein-Ettajani Hanane , Mouloud Mohammed , Georges Didier , Audroin Thybaud , Catrouillet Charlotte , Gigault Julien , Baudrimont Magalie , Châtel Amélie 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
Plastic has been largely detected in estuarine environments and represent major concern towards aquatic living organisms. Whereas the majority of previous studies analyze the effects of standard particles, mainly polystyrene (PS), not representative to what is found in natural environments, the present study evaluates the impact of microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) under realistic exposure conditions. Scrobicularia plana individuals were exposed to low concentrations (0.008, 10 and 100 µg L− 1) of environmental MPs and NPs as well as to standard PS NPs, as a comparison condition. The aim of this study was to understand the ecotoxicological effects of environmental plastic particles on S. plana gills and digestive glands but also to compare the effects of plastic polymers size in order to highlight if the size could induce different toxicity profiles within this model organism, at different levels of biological organization. Results showed a differential induction of detoxification enzymes (CAT, GST), immunity (AcP), DNA damage processes as well as differential effect on behavior and condition index of animals depending upon the type of plastic, the size, the concentration tested and the type of organ. This study underlines the necessity of testing i) plastics collected from the environment as compared to standard ones and ii) the effect of size using plastics coming from the same batch of macrosized plastics. This study concludes on the future need directions that plastic-based studies must take in order to be able to generate large quantity of relevant data that could be used for future regulatory needs on the use of plastic.
The study of the impact of COVID-19 and related public health policies on taxi drivers' income: a data mining approach
Authors: Qin Zixi , Zhang Mengyan 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
Background: The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a significant impact on economic activity and taxi drivers are representative of groups that suffer substantial financial loss. This study aims to examine the impact of this pandemic and related public health policies on taxi drivers’ income.Methods: 350 million records of taxi trip data in New York City (NYC) in 2020 from February to December were used in this study. The taxi trip data was summarised based on the unit of day and combined with the NYC pandemic data and the related policies details. Then we built two-way ANOVA models to assess the significance with relevant factors.Result: Based on the model comparison, effects from both 7-day averages of count on the total payment per day and case count on the average tip per day are significant, with p < 2e-16, and their corresponding p-value of public health policy is p < 2e-16. Moreover, both total payment per day and average tips per day demonstrate a similar tendency: a significant reduction after the “New York State Pause” followed by a gradual growth after the Phase 1 reopening. The study also discovers that the shrinkage in demand for taxis between 2019 and 2020 is larger during night-time and weekends, compared with daytime on weekdays. Conclusion: The Covid-19 will lead to a decline in taxi drivers’ income, while influence of related public health policies is noteworthy. We recommend that governments should build a database of the impact of public health policies and pandemics on various industries to provide an adequate basis for future decisions under similar circumstances.
Resequencing of 558 Chinese mungbean landraces identifies genetic loci associated with key agronomic traits
Authors: Han Xuesong , Li Li , Chen Hongwei , Liu Liangjun , Sun Longqin , Wang Xingmin , Xiang Yantao , Wan Zhenghuang , Liu Changyan 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
Mungbean is a warm-season annual food legume and plays important role in supplying food and nutritional security in many tropical countries. However, the genetic basis of its agronomic traits remains poorly understood. Therefore, we resequenced 558 Chinese mungbean landraces and produced a comprehensive map of mungbean genomic variation. We classified the 558 landraces into two distinct subpopulations, which exhibited strong geographic distribution patterns, and then phenotyped all landraces in six different environments. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) produced 110 signals significantly associated with nine agronomic traits, for which several candidate genes were identified. Overall, this study provides new insight into the genetic architecture of mungbean agronomic traits. Moreover, the genome-wide variations identified here should be valuable resources for future breeding studies of this important food legume.