bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Nitrogen source: an effective component for the growth and viability of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus
Authors: Ayivi Raphael D. , Ibrahim Salam A. , Krastanov Albert , Somani Abishek , Siddiqui Shahida A. 
Published: August 2022

AbstractIn this study, we developed and optimized a growth media by evaluating various nitrogen sources for the cultivation of Lactobacillus bulgaricus, a probiotic and an important dairy starter culture. We modified the composition of deMan, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) culture media and substituted the nitrogen content with alternative nitrogen sources X-Seed KAT, X-Seed Carbo Max and X-Seed Nucleo Max in various blends of 5 g/l and 10 g/l respectively. Results showed that bacterial growth was significantly higher when the nitrogen source blend KCMax (10/10) was used. The optical density (OD610 nm) of the Lactobacillus bulgaricus strains were higher (1.34 and 1.79) in the KCMax (10/10) medium than in the MRS medium (0.89 and 1.42) (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the bacterial counts for both the MRS medium and the KCMax (10/10) medium, and all bacterial counts were estimated at 8 log CFU/ml. The buffering capacity of KCMax (10/10) was also tested and supplemented with l-histidine and was significantly different (P < 0.05) than that of the MRS control medium. Calcium supplemented in the KCMax (10/10) also served as a cryoprotectant for the cells during freezing and freeze-drying. Bacterial counts of the recovered calcium-treated freeze-dried cells were statistically significant (P < 0.05). We hypothesized that alternative nitrogen sources such as selected yeast extracts from the X-Seed brand of complex nitrogen sources could efficiently support the viability of Lb. bulgaricus. Our results thus suggested the growth of Lb. bulgaricus was efficiently supported by the X-Seed KAT, X-Seed Nucleo Max and X-Seed Carbo Max nitrogen sources. Consequently, these alternative nitrogen sources could potentially be recommended for dairy starter culture fermentations.
Genetic evidence for cryptic species in the vulnerable spiny butterfly ray Gymnura altavela (Rajiformes: Gymnuridae)
Authors: Vilasboa Anderson , Lamarca Felipe , Solé-Cava Antônio M. , Vianna Marcelo 
Published: August 2022

AbstractThe spiny butterfly ray Gymnura altavela (Linnaeus 1758) is classified as Endangered by the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) and considered Critically Endangered in the Mediterranean Sea and South-west Atlantic. Despite its status, few studies on the population biology and genetics for the species are available, undermining conservation efforts. In the present study, we evaluated the taxonomic status of Gymnura altavela along both sides of the Atlantic using COI sequences. Our genetic data support the existence of two genetically differentiated G. altavela lineages (West and East Atlantic) and further studies are required to evaluate the hypothesis that these lineages could, in fact, be cryptic species within this endangered batoid's genus.
Food habits of fishes in a subtropical seagrass bed in Nagura Bay, Ishigaki Island, southern Japan
Authors: Shimizu Masashi , Nanjo Kusuto , Tanita Iwao , Kon Koetsu , Yamada Hideaki 
Published: August 2022

AbstractRecent losses of seagrass beds have resulted in a decrease in seagrass-associated fishes, highlighting the need for the improved management of such habitats and resources. Analyses of feeding patterns of fish associated with seagrass habitats are useful for understanding their habitat dependence, which contributes to achieving their effective conservation. The gut contents of 61 fish species were examined to clarify the food habits of subtropical seagrass fishes in Nagura Bay, Ishigaki Island, southern Japan. A cluster analysis based on dietary overlaps showed that the seagrass fish assemblage comprised six trophic groups (small crustacean, large crustacean, detritus, plant, fish and zooplankton feeders). Small and large crustacean feeders were the most abundant, followed by detritus, plant and fish feeders. Zooplankton feeders were represented by only two species. Ontogenetic changes in food preference were recognized in four species, including Lutjanus fulviflamma, Ostorhinchus ishigakiensis, Gerres oyena and Siganus fuscescens. Small individuals of the four species generally fed on small crustaceans or detritus, subsequently switching to other larger prey items with growth (e.g. crabs, shrimps and seagrass fronds). The most important food items for the assemblage comprised harpacticoid copepods, shrimps, crabs and detritus, representing high cumulative gut volumes for all fishes. Some species showed diets remarkably different from those determined for fishes in other seagrass beds off a nearby neighbouring island, evidence of the food-use patterns of seagrass fishes varying on a small spatial scale. Such dietary flexibility may increase the adaptability of fishes to seagrass beds characterized by significant variations in available food resources.
Design and single-parameter adaptive fuzzy control of pneumatic lower limb exoskeleton with full state constraints
Authors: Chen Cheng , Huang Jian , Tu Xikai 
Published: August 2022

AbstractWith the excellent characteristic of intrinsic compliance, pneumatic artificial muscle can improve the interaction comfort of wearable robotic devices. This paper resolves the safety tracking control problem of a pneumatically actuated lower limb exoskeleton system. A single-parameter adaptive fuzzy control strategy is proposed with high control precision and full state constraints for the safe gait training tasks. Based on the barrier Lyapunov function, all signals in the closed-loop system can be bounded in finite time, which guarantees the deviation of the exoskeleton’s moving trajectory within a bounded range. Furthermore, with the proposed single-parameter adaptive law, the computational burden and the complexity of the control are reduced significantly. Finally, numerical simulations, no-load tracking experiments, and passive and active gait training experiments with healthy subjects validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Sea current relative navigation using interacting multiple model filter with adaptive fading technique
Authors: Cha Jaehyuck , Hwang Jeong Ho , Park Chan Gook 
Published: August 2022

AbstractIn this paper, we propose a sea current relative navigation method using an interacting multiple model (IMM) filter with adaptive fading technique that can compensate an inaccurate sea current dynamics model. Due to the marine environment, the underwater vehicles largely depend on inertial navigation. Unfortunately, since its performance deteriorates with time, it is usually aided by another sensor. An electromagnetic-log (EM-log) and a Doppler velocity log (DVL), which are mainly used in marine navigation, provide relative velocity measurements to the sea currents, and hence require an accurate sea current dynamics model to fully utilise them. However, it is difficult to reflect the actual sea current changes with just a single fixed model, resulting in degraded overall navigation performance. Therefore, this paper proposes an IMM filter that can use multiple sea current dynamics models and has sub-filters designed with adaptive fading extended Kalman filter (AFEKF) to compensate for the mismodelling of sea current dynamics. The method is verified by simulation and shows a performance improvement comparable to the optimal filter.
Attention-guided lightweight generative adversarial network for low-light image enhancement in maritime video surveillance
Authors: Liu Ryan Wen , Liu Nian , Huang Yanhong , Guo Yu 
Published: August 2022

AbstractBenefiting from video surveillance systems that provide real-time traffic conditions, automatic vessel detection has become an indispensable part of the maritime surveillance system. However, high-level vision tasks generally rely on high-quality images. Affected by the imaging environment, maritime images taken under poor lighting conditions easily suffer from heavy noise and colour distortion. Such degraded images may interfere with the analysis of maritime video by regulatory agencies, such as vessel detection, recognition and tracking. To improve the accuracy and robustness of detection accuracy, we propose a lightweight generative adversarial network (LGAN) to enhance maritime images under low-light conditions. The LGAN uses an attention mechanism to locally enhance low-light images and prevent overexposure. Both mixed loss functions and local discriminator are then adopted to reduce loss of detail and improve image quality. Meanwhile, to satisfy the demand for real-time enhancement of low-light maritime images, model compression strategy is exploited to enhance images efficiently while reducing the network parameters. Experiments on synthetic and realistic images indicate that the proposed LGAN can effectively enhance low-light images with better preservation of detail and visual quality than other competing methods.
A machine learning approach to mapping canopy gaps in an indigenous tropical submontane forest using WorldView-3 multispectral satellite imagery
Authors: Jackson Colbert M , Adam Elhadi 
Published: August 2022

SummarySelective logging in tropical forests may lead to deforestation and forest degradation, so accurate mapping of it will assist in forest restoration, among other ecological applications. This study aimed to track canopy tree loss due to illegal logging of the important hardwood tree Ocotea usambarensis in a closed-canopy submontane tropical forest by evaluating the mapping potential of the very-high-resolution WorldView-3 multispectral dataset using random forest (RF) and support vector machine (SVM) with radial basis function kernel classifiers. The results show average overall accuracies of 92.3 ± 2.6% and 94.0 ± 2.1% for the RF and SVM models, respectively. Average kappa coefficients were 0.88 ± 0.03 for RF and 0.90 ± 0.02 for SVM. The user’s and producer’s accuracies for both classifiers were in the range of 84–100%. This study further indicates that vegetation indices derived from bands 5 and 6 helped detect canopy gaps in the study area. Both variable importance measurement in the RF algorithm and pairwise feature selection proved useful in identifying the most pertinent variables in the classification of canopy gaps. These findings could allow forest managers to improve methods of detecting canopy gaps at larger scales using remote sensing data and relatively little additional fieldwork.
On Petrie cycle and Petrie tour partitions of 3- and 4-regular plane graphs
Authors: He Xin , Zhang Huaming , Han Yijie 
Published: August 2022

AbstractGiven a plane graph
$G=(V,E)$
, a Petrie tour of G is a tour P of G that alternately turns left and right at each step. A Petrie tour partition of G is a collection
${\mathscr P}=\{P_1,\ldots,P_q\}$
of Petrie tours so that each edge of G is in exactly one tour
$P_i \in {\mathscr P}$
. A Petrie tour P is called a Petrie cycle if all its vertices are distinct. A Petrie cycle partition of G is a collection
${\mathscr C}=\{C_1,\ldots,C_p\}$
of Petrie cycles so that each vertex of G is in exactly one cycle
$C_i \in {\mathscr C}$
. In this paper, we study the properties of 3-regular plane graphs that have Petrie cycle partitions and 4-regular plane multi-graphs that have Petrie tour partitions. Given a 4-regular plane multi-graph
$G=(V,E)$
, a 3-regularization of G is a 3-regular plane graph
$G_3$
obtained from G by splitting every vertex
$v\in V$
into two degree-3 vertices. G is called Petrie partitionable if it has a 3-regularization that has a Petrie cycle partition. The general version of this problem is motivated by a data compression method, tristrip, used in computer graphics. In this paper, we present a simple characterization of Petrie partitionable graphs and show that the problem of determining if G is Petrie partitionable is NP-complete.
Comprehensive Environmental Flows Assessment for Multi‐Guilds in the Riparian Habitats of the Yangtze River
Authors: Ban X. , Qi T. , Wang H. Z. , Du H. , Diplas P. , Xiao F. , Du Y. , Gao W. J. , Guo W. X. , Shi X. , Huang W. 
Published: August 2022

AbstractThe development of new strategies for the operation of existing dams is essential for restoring ecosystems that have already been affected by the construction and current regulation of these dams. The assessment of environmental flows (EFs) is significant in guiding such strategic dam operations. However, most of the existing methods just focus on one species or guild without simultaneously considering the interactions with other aquatic organisms. This study proposes an innovative method to determine comprehensive environmental flows (CEFs) for multi‐guilds (fish, macroinvertebrates, and hygrophytes) based on the habitat simulation model. We focused on the riparian habitats in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, coupled the biological preferences of multi‐guilds with suitable habitat factors, including velocity, depth, and substrate, and then analyzed the relationships of flow and weighted usable areas to determine the CEFs for multi‐guilds. The results showed that while the optimal CEFs could be satisfied only in Spring and Summer, the threshold CEF conditions could be met in the Jianli reach throughout the year after the impoundment of Three Gorges Dam (TGD). The results obtained by using the CEFs assessment could better satisfy the EFs for multi‐guilds than the ones developed for individual species. The CEFs could be also used to evaluate the impact of TGD on multi‐guilds’ habitats and optimize ecologically‐friendly operations in already designed dams. This study is helpful for maintaining ecosystem integrity in Yangtze River and provides a good example for use in other dams facing similar issues.
Three‐Dimensional Stress Model of the Collision‐Subduction Junction East of Taiwan: Implications for the Decoupling of the Luzon Arc During Subduction
Authors: Jian Pei‐Ru , Liang Wen‐Tzong , Kuo Ban‐Yuan 
Published: August 2022

AbstractCarried by the Philippine Sea Plate converging with the Eurasian Plate, the Luzon Arc is obliquely colliding with and accreting to the Eurasian continental margin to build the Taiwan orogen. Northward along the collision suture, the Luzon Arc extends offshore and is being subducted under the Ryukyu Trench. How the northern segment of the Luzon Arc responds to both collision and subduction remains poorly understood. At present, seismic tomography and conventional stress analyses cannot fully capture images of this arc or discern how it deforms following subduction. We employed a three‐dimensional spatial clustering approach in eastern Taiwan to reveal how stress varies along the collision suture. Our results show that the maximum horizontal compression orientation, SH, is sub‐parallel to the plate motion at all depths across the lithosphere, except at shallow depths for the northern segment, where SH exhibits a clockwise rotation from convergence‐parallel by 10°–30°. Accompanying the SH rotation in the northern crustal segment is a tilt of the maximum compressive P‐axes by approximately 20°. We interpret this systematic variation along the suture and with depth as resulting from the rotation of the stress regime in the crust of the Luzon Arc forced by the oblique subduction, and likely augmented by the bending of the Central Range crustal block. The location of rotation/tilting and its disparity with depth may signify a decoupling of the volcanic arc from the mantle lithosphere during early subduction.
Snowmelt Water Use at Transpiration Onset: Phenology, Isotope Tracing, and Tree Water Transit Time
Authors: Nehemy Magali F. , Maillet Jason , Perron Nia , Pappas Christoforos , Sonnentag Oliver , Baltzer Jennifer L. , Laroque Colin P. , McDonnell Jeffrey J. 
Published: August 2022

AbstractStudies of tree water source partitioning have primarily focused on the growing season. However, little is yet known about the source of transpiration before, during, and after snowmelt when trees rehydrate and recommence transpiration in the spring. This study investigates tree water use during spring snowmelt following tree's winter stem shrinkage. We document the source of transpiration of three boreal forest tree species—Pinus banksiana, Picea mariana, and Larix laricina—by combining observations of weekly isotopic signatures (δ18O and δ2H) of xylem, soil water, rainfall and snowmelt with measurements of soil moisture dynamics, snow depth and high‐resolution temporal measurements of stem radius changes and sap flow. Our data shows that the onset of stem rehydration and transpiration overlaps with snowmelt for evergreens. During rehydration and transpiration onset, xylem water at the canopy reflected a constant pre‐melt isotopic signature likely showing late fall conditions. As snowmelt infiltrates the soil and recharges the soil matrix, soil water shows a rapid isotopic shift to depleted‐snowmelt water values. While there was an overlap between snowmelt and transpiration timing, xylem and soil water isotopic values did not overlap during transpiration onset. Our data showed 1–2‐week delay in the shift in xylem water from pre‐melt to clear snowmelt‐depleted water signatures in evergreen species. This delay appears to be controlled by tree water transit time that was in the order of 9–18 days. Our study shows that snowmelt is a key source for stem rehydration and transpiration in the boreal forest during spring onset.
Outcomes of Babies with Opioid Exposure (OBOE): protocol of a prospective longitudinal cohort study
Authors: Bann Carla M. , Newman Jamie E. , Poindexter Brenda , Okoniewski Katherine , DeMauro Sara , Lorch Scott A. , Wilson-Costello Deanne , Ambalavanan Namasivayam , Peralta-Carcelen Myriam , Limperopoulos Catherine , Kapse Kushal , Davis Jonathan M. , Walsh Michele , Merhar Stephanie 
Published: August 2022

AbstractBackgroundWhile the health, social, and economic impacts of opioid addiction on adults and their communities are well known, the impact of maternal opioid use on the fetus exposed in utero is less well understood.MethodsThis paper presents the protocol of the ACT NOW Outcomes of Babies with Opioid Exposure (OBOE) Study, a multi-site prospective longitudinal cohort study of infants with antenatal opioid exposure and unexposed controls. Study objectives are to determine the impact of antenatal opioid exposure on brain development and neurodevelopmental outcomes over the first 2 years of life and explore whether family, home, and community factors modify developmental trajectories during this critical time period.ResultsPrimary outcomes related to brain development include cortical volumes, deep cerebral gray matter volumes, resting-state functional connectivity measures, and structural connectivity measures using diffusion tensor imaging. Primary neurodevelopmental outcomes include visual abnormalities, cognitive, language, and motor skills measured using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and social–emotional and behavioral problems and competence measured by the Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment.ConclusionsThe OBOE study has been designed to overcome challenges of previous studies and will help further understanding of the effects of antenatal opioid exposure on early infant development.ImpactThis study will integrate MRI findings and comprehensive neurodevelopmental assessments to provide early insights into the functional topography of the brain in this high-risk population and assess MRI as a potential biomarker.Rather than conducting neuroimaging at a single time point, the study will include serial MRI assessments from birth to 2 years, allowing for the examination of trajectories throughout this period of rapid brain development.While previous studies often have had limited information on exposures, this study will use umbilical cord assays to accurately measure amounts of opioids and other substances from 20 weeks of gestation to birth.
Inhibitory effect of the novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor DCC-2036 on triple-negative breast cancer stem cells through AXL-KLF5 positive feedback loop
Authors: Shen Yingying , Zhu Qingyun , Xiao Maoyu , Yin Liyang , Feng Wenjie , Feng Jianbo , He Jun , Li Pei , Chen Xiguang , Ding Wenjun , Zhong Jing , Zeng Zhaolin , Xie Zhuoye , Liu Jianghua , Zu Xuyu 
Published: August 2022

AbstractTriple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive histological subtype of breast cancer, exhibits a high risk of early recurrence rate and a poor prognosis, and it is primarily associated with the abundance of cancer stem cells (CSCs). At present, the strategies for effectively eradicating or inhibiting TNBC CSCs are still limited, which makes the development of novel drugs with anti-CSCs function be of great value for the treatment of TNBC, especially the refractory TNBC. In this study, we found that the small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor DCC-2036 suppressed TNBC stem cells by inhibiting the tyrosine kinase AXL and the transcription factor KLF5. DCC-2036 downregulated the expression of KLF5 by decreasing the protein stability of KLF5 via the AXL-Akt-GSK3β signal axis, and in turn, the downregulation of KLF5 further reduced the expression of AXL via binding to its promotor (−171 to −162 bp). In addition, p-AXL/AXL levels were positively correlated with KLF5 expression in human TNBC specimens. These findings indicated that DCC-2036 is able to suppress the CSCs in TNBC by targeting the AXL-KLF5 positive feedback loop. Moreover, our findings indicated that DCC-2036 increased the sensitivity of TNBC chemotherapy. Therefore, this study proposes a potential drug candidate and several targets for the treatment of refractory TNBC.
GASP1 enhances malignant phenotypes of breast cancer cells and decreases their response to paclitaxel by forming a vicious cycle with IGF1/IGF1R signaling pathway
Authors: Liu Zhao , Meng Du , Wang Jianling , Cao Hongxin , Feng Peng , Wu Siyu , Wang Na , Dang Chengxue , Hou Peng , Xia Peng 
Published: August 2022

AbstractThere is a potential correlation between G-protein-coupled receptor-associated sorting protein 1 (GASP1) and breast tumorigenesis. However, its biological function and underlying molecular mechanism in breast cancer have not been clearly delineated. Here, we demonstrated that GASP1 was highly expressed in breast cancers, and patients harboring altered GASP1 showed a worse prognosis than those with wild-type GASP1. Functional studies showed that GASP1 knockout significantly suppressed malignant properties of breast cancer cells, such as inhibition of cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, invasion and xenograft tumor growth in nude mice as well as induction of G1-phase cell cycle arrest, and vice versa. Mechanistically, GASP1 inhibited proteasomal degradation of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) by competitively binding to IGF1R with ubiquitin E3 ligase MDM2, thereby activating its downstream signaling pathways such as NF-κB, PI3K/AKT, and MAPK/ERK pathways given their critical roles in breast tumorigenesis and progression. IGF1, in turn, stimulated GASP1 expression by activating the PI3K/AKT pathway, forming a vicious cycle propelling the malignant progression of breast cancer. Besides, we found that GASP1 knockout obviously improved the response of breast cancer cells to paclitaxel. Collectively, this study demonstrates that GASP1 enhances malignant behaviors of breast cancer cells and decreases their cellular response to paclitaxel by interacting with and stabilizing IGF1R, and suggests that it may serve as a valuable prognostic factor and potential therapeutic target in breast cancer.