486 research outputs found
sj-docx-1-sjp-10.1177_14034948241247612 – Supplemental material for Awareness of having hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia among US adults: The 2011–2018 NHANES data
No full textSupplemental material, sj-docx-1-sjp-10.1177_14034948241247612 for Awareness of having hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia among US adults: The 2011–2018 NHANES data by Kien G. To, Corneel Vandelanotte, Anh N.V. Huynh, Stephanie Schoeppe, Stephanie Alley, Aamir Raoof Memon, Nhung T.Q. Nguyen and Quyen G. To in Scandinavian Journal of Public Health</p
Design and development of an novel anticancer peptide from human gut microbiome by using recombinant protein engineering
No full textHuman microbiota is a microbial community that lives on and in the human body. It has received considerable attention and research ef-forts over the past decade because it exerts a major impact on human health, from metabolism to immunity. In order to leverage the close associations between microbes and their host, many studies have identified and screened therapeutic drugs from the human microbiome with a focus on the gut microbiome. In a recent study, we identified novel anticancer Azurin-like peptides from the human gut microbiome using combined molecular biology and bioinformatics based approaches. Herein, we present the cloning, expression and partial purification of one of these peptides as a case study towards the design and development of novel anticancer peptide drugs by the use of recombinant protein engineering. Firstly, the vector pET42a(+) is used for the cloning of a peptide Cnazu8 encoded by p2seq12 (cnazu8) from Clostridium nexile DSM 1718 in E. coli OmniMAX. Secondly, this vector is further used for expression in E. coli BL21 (DE3). The results from these steps show that the plasmid pDT008 allows Cnazu8 to express in fusion with GST-6xHis-TEV in E. coli. In particularly, the optimal conditions for expression of the fusion peptide GST-6xHis-TEV-Cnazu8 with the expected molecular weight of 36.7 kDa are IPTG at 0.05 mM and the temperature at 37C. However, most of the expected proteins are expressed in the insoluble forms. Thus, a sonication method for cell disrup-tion is developed to increase the solubility of the desired proteins. Finally, protein purification is performed in a HisPur Ni-NTA column (Qiagen) which results in a relatively low amount of desired fusion proteins. Thus, the optimization of protein purification and anticancer bioassays of this peptide are required for further studies to develop Cnazu8 as a novel therapeutic drug candidate against cancer
Odorrana mutschmanni Pham & Nguyen & Le & Bonkowski & Ziegler 2016, sp. nov.
No full textOdorrana mutschmanni sp. nov. (Figs. 2, 3) Holotype: IEBR 3723 (Field No. CB 2015.12), adult male, collected by T.Q. Nguyen on 22 April 2015 in the karst forest near Coong Village (22o42.712’N, 106o40.075’E, at an elevation of 447 m), Duc Quang Commune, Ha Lang District, Cao Bang Province, Vietnam. Paratypes: IEBR 3724 (Field No. CB 2012.77), adult males, collected on 15 April 2012; IEBR 3725 (Field No. CB 2012.89), adult female and IEBR 3726–3729 (Field No. CB 2012.90–93), adult males, collected on 16 April 2012, by T.Q. Nguyen et al.; ZFMK 97329, 97330 (Field No. CB 2012.139, 2012.140), adult males, collected on 3 May 2012, by H. T. An, S. Herbst and T. Lehmann; IEBR 3730 (Field No. CB2014.16), adult female, collected by C.T. Pham et al. on 10 June 2014, IEBR 3731 (Field No. CB 2015.11), adult female, collected by T.Q. Nguyen on 22 April 2015, the same data as the holotype. Diagnosis. The new species was strongly supported as a member of Odorrana based on molecular analyses (Fig. 1) and is distinguishable from its congeners by a combination of the following morphological characters: (1) size large (SVL 85.9–91.6 mm in males, 108.7–110.1 mm in females); (2) head longer than wide; (3) vomerine teeth present; (4) external vocal sacs absent; (5) snout short (SL/SVL 0.16–0.17); (6) tympanum large (TD/ED 0.70 in males, 0.68 in females); (7) dorsal surface of head and anterior part of body smooth, posterior part of body and flanks with small tubercles; (8) supratympanic fold present; (9) dorsolateral fold absent; (10) webbing formula I0– 0II0–0III0–1/ 2IV 1/2–0V; (11) in life, dorsum green with dark brown spots; (12) flanks greyish brown with dark brown spots; (13) throat and chest grey, underside of limbs with large dark brown spots, edged in white, forming a network. Description of holotype. Adult male; SVL 85.9 mm; head longer than wide (HL 33.6 mm, HW 29.9 mm); snout round anteriorly in dorsal view, projecting beyond lower jaw; nostril lateral, closer to the snout tip than to eye (NS 6.2 mm, EN 7.5 mm); canthus rostralis distinct; pupil horizontally oval; loreal region slightly concave and oblique; snout length greater than eye diameter (SL 14.0 mm, ED 9.9 mm); internarial distance wider than interorbital distance and upper eyelid (IND 10.5. mm, IOD 9.7 mm, UEW 6.6 mm); tympanum distinct, round, 70% eye diameter (TD 6.9 mm); vomerine teeth in two oblique ridges; tongue cordiform, deeply notched posteriorly; vocal sac absent. Forelimbs: Forelimb length (FLL 16.6 mm), hand length (HAL 44.4 mm); relative finger lengths: II 2 times of the width of phalanges and about 40% the diameter of tympanum; subarticular tubercles round, formula 1, 1, 2, 2; inner metatarsal tubercle oval, elongate; outer metatarsal tubercle small; finger I with nuptial pad, elongate. Hindlimbs: Tibia longer than thigh (FeL 38.1 mm, TbL 46.9 mm), approximately five times longer than wide (TbW 9.8 mm); tips of toes expanded into discs, with circummarginal grooves; width of toe IV disc narrower than width of finger III disc, approximately two times of the width of phalanges; relative length of toes: I 2 times base of phalanges (vs. ≤ 2 times base of phalanges in O. andersonii), and different egg color (wholly unpigmented vs. pigmented in O. andersonii); from O. jingdongensis by having a higher ratio of TD/ED 0.70 in males and 0.68 in females (vs. 0.54 in males and 0.51 in females in O. jingdongensis), different ventral color pattern (large dark spots vs. immaculate white in O. jingdongensis), males without spines on chest (vs. present in O. jingdongensis), and the disc of finger III> 2 times base of phalanges (vs. ≤ 2 times base of phalanges in O. jingdongensis); from O. margaretae by having large dark spots on belly (vs. small dark spots in O. margaretae), males without spines on chest (vs. present in O. margaretae), the disc of finger III> 2 times base of phalanges (vs. ≤ 2 times base of phalanges in O. margaretae), more developed toe webbing (complete to disc on I vs. as narrow fringe to disc on I in O. margaretae), and different egg color (wholly unpigmented vs. pigmented in O. margaretae); from O. kuangwuensis by having a larger body size (SVL 87–92 mm in males and 108–110 mm in females vs. 57 mm in males and 69–71 mm in females in O. kwangwuensis), a higher ratio of TD/ED 0.70 in males and 0.68 in females (vs. 0.55 in males and 0.5 in females in O. kwangwuensis), different ventral color pattern (large black spots vs. white with some black spots in O. kwangwuensis), and the disc of finger III> 2 times base of phalanges (vs. ≤ 2 times base of phalanges in O. kwangwuensis); from O. grahami by having a higher ratio of TD/ED 0.70 in males and 0.68 in females (vs. 0.53 in males and 0.48 in females in O. grahami), different ventral color pattern (large black spots vs. immaculate white in O. grahami), males without spines on chest (vs. present in O. grahami), the disc of finger III> 2x base of phalanges (vs. finger III without disc in O. grahami), and different egg color (wholly unpigmented vs. pigmented in O. grahami); from O. junlianensis by having a higher ratio of TD/ED 0.70 in males and 0.68 in females (vs. 0.47 in males and 0.46 in females in O. junlianensis), the absence of external vocal sacs (vs. present in O. junlianensis), and males without spines on chest (vs. white spinules present on the chest in O. junlianensis), the disc of finger III> 2 times base of phalanges (vs. ≤ 2 times base of phalanges in O. junlianensis), and different egg color (wholly unpigmented vs. pigmented in O. junlianensis); from O. wuchuanensis by having a larger size (SVL 87–92 mm in males and 108–110 mm in females vs. 71–77 mm in males and 76–90 mm in females in O. wuchuaensis), a smaller ratio TD/ED (0.70 in males and 0.68 in females vs. 0.83 in males and 0.8 in females in O. wuchuaensis), dorsal surface of head and anterior part of body smooth (vs. shagreened in O. wuchuanensis), different color pattern of flank and limbs (brown vs. green in O. wuchuanensis), and males without white spines on dorsal surface of arm (vs. present in O. wuchuanensis). Odorrana mutschmanni sp. nov. differs from O. absita, O. anlungensis, O. ammaiensis, O. aureola, O. bacboensis, O. banaorum, O. bolavensis, O. chloronota, O. exiliversabilis, O. fengkaiensis, O. gigatympana, O. graminea, O. hainanensis, O. heatwolei, O. hejingensis, O. hosii, O. huanggangensis, O. khalam, O. lipuensis, O. lungshengensis, O. macrotympana, O. monjerai, O. morafkai, O. nanjingensis, O. narina, O. nasica, O. nasuta, O. orba, O. rotodora, O. schmakeri, O. sinica, O. tiananensis, O. tianmuii, O. tormota, O. yentuensis, O. yizhangensis, and O. zhaoi, by having a larger size (SVL 87–92 mm in males vs. ≤ 70 mm in males in other species). Odorrana mutschmanni sp. nov. further differs from O. absita, O. amamiensis, O. aureola, O. banaorum, O. chloronota, O. exiliversabilis, O.gigatympana, O. graminea, O. hosii, O. indeprensa, O. khalam, O. leporipes, O. livida, O. morafkai, O. nasica, O. nasuta, O. orba, O. swinhoana, O. tormota, O. trankieni, O. versabilis, O. yentuensis, and O. zhaoi by the presence of black bars on lips (vs. absent in the latter). Odorrana mutschmanni sp. nov. differs from O. absita, O. alungensis, O. banaorum, O. bolavensis, O. exiliversabilis, O. hosii, O. indeprensa, O. khalam, O. leporpes, O.monjerai, O. narina, O. nasica, O. supranarina, O. tormota, O. trankieni, O. utsunomiyaorum, O. versabilis, O. yentuensis, and O. zhaoi by lacking dorsolateral folds (vs. present in the latter). Odorrana muschmanni sp. nov. differs from O. amamiensis, O. bacboensis, O. bolavensis, O.chapaensis, O. exiliversabilis, O. geminata, O. gigatypana, O. hainanensis, O. heatwolei, O. lipuensis, O. macrotympana, O. nasica, O. orba, O. utsunomiyaorum, O. supranarina, O. tiannanensis, O. tormota, O. versabilis, and O. yentuensis by having a green dorsum (vs. brown, light brown, olive-brown, reddish-brown, gray-blue, iridescent blue or grassgreen in the latter). Odorrana mutschmanni sp. nov. differs from O. absita, O. aureola, O. bacboensis, O. banaorum, O. bolavensis, O. chapaensis, O. chloronota, O. fengkaiensis, O. geminata, O. graminea, O. gigatympana, O. heatwolei, O. indeprensa, O. ishikawae, O. khalam, O. lungshengensis, O. morafkai, O. nasica, O. orba, O. swinhoana, O. tinananensis, O. tormota, O. trankieni, O. yentuensis, O. yizhangensis, and O. zhaoi by the absence of vocal sacs in males (vs. present in the latter)Published as part of Pham, Cuong The, Nguyen, Truong Quang, Le, Minh Duc, Bonkowski, Michael & Ziegler, Thomas, 2016, A new species of Odorrana (Amphibia: Anura: Ranidae) from Vietnam, pp. 421-435 in Zootaxa 4084 (3) on pages 423-430, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4084.3.7, http://zenodo.org/record/105221
Sustainability and circularity assessment of biomass-based energy supply chain
No full textClimate change and other environmental consequences of socio-economic activities require a more sustainable and circular growth. At the same time, the limitation of the earth resource demands industries to improve resource efficiency and increase the rate of recycling of materials. There are several sustainable and circular alternatives that the industries may adopt. However, the question is that among these alternatives, which one should be selected for implementation for the highest sustainable and circular benefits. This study introduces a novel tool for assessing the sustainability and circularity of biomass-based energy supply chains, integrating multi-criteria decision-making methods with life cycle thinking approach. It evaluates five alternatives using a sustainability and circularity indicators, offering new insights into the deloyment of circular business models at companies in biomass-based energy supply chain. The tool is also applied to a specific rice straw supply chain in Italy, to assess the sustainability and circularity of five alternatives and outrank them. The results indicated that not all the alternatives are better in terms of supporting sustainable development and circular economy, compared to the baseline business model. In this supply chain, the extended lifetime for digestate from the aerobic digestion plant is the most ‘sustainable and circular’ alternative, while the capture of carbon dioxide from the same plant and its use for microalgae cultivation is the least ‘sustainable and circular’ alternative. A sensitivity analysis was conducted on different weighting sets during the assessment. It indicated that the priority of the decision makers can slightly change the outrank of the alternatives and the magnitude of the outranks
Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis Schneider, Phung, Le, Nguyen & Ziegler, 2014, sp. nov.
No full textCyrtodactylus cucdongensis sp. nov. (Figs. 2, 3) Holotype. IEBR A. 2013.104, adult male, collected by T. M. Phung on 12 June, 2011, from Cuc Dong Cape, Ninh Hoa District, Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam. Paratypes. VNMN A.2013.18, adult male, ZFMK 95513, adult female, ZFMK 95514 subadult male and ZFMK 95515, subadult female, collected on 12 June, 2011, IEBR A. 2013.105, adult female and VNMN A.2013.19, adult female, collected on 2 September, 2011, the same data as the holotype. Diagnosis. Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis sp. nov. is distinguished from the remaining bent-toed geckos by a combination of the following characters: maximum SVL 65.9 mm; 16–19 dorsal tubercle rows; 41–44 ventral scales at midbody; 5 or 6 precloacal pores in males, 4–6 pitted precloacal scales in females; no femoral pores; 6–13 enlarged precloacal scales; 5–9 enlarged femoral scales; no transversally enlarged subcaudals; dorsal pattern consists of irregular dark bands. Description of the holotype. Adult male with a total length of 147.2 mm (SVL 65.9 mm, tail broken, TL 81.3 mm); rostral Y-shaped, wider than high (RW 2.3 mm, RH 1.7 mm, RW/RH 1.35), medially with a straight, vertical rostral suture, in contact with nasorostral, nare and first supralabial on each side, medially in contact with internasal; mental wider than rostral (MW 2.9 mm); supralabials 9; infralabials 8; supralabials separated from orbit by 3 or 4 rows of granular scales; nares in contact with rostral, nasorostral, supranasal, two postnasals, and first supralabial; internasal single; snout scales larger than head scales; scales between fifth supralabials 53; scales between anterior corner of eyes 57; interorbital region with small round, convex scales; scales in postorbital region distinctly smaller (ca. half the size) than snout scales, posteriorly increasing in size, irregular in shape; postorbital region with enlarged tubercles in 5 or 6 rows on each side; pupil vertical; spinous ciliaria 9 / 10, posterior ones more developed; ear opening vertical, oval; mental triangular, in contact with two postmentals and the first infralabial on each side; postmentals surrounded by four granular scales, of which two outer ones distinctly enlarged, and first infralabial on each side; gular scales granular. Dorsal scales small, twice the size of head scales between the eyes; dorsal tubercles in 18 longitudinal rows at midbody; dorsal surface of body with tubercles; dorsal tubercles surrounded by 9–12 dorsal scales, separated from each other by 2–4 scales; lateral body folds slightly developed, without tubercles; ventral scales round, slightly arched, imbricated, 3 or 4 times larger than gular and throat scales, three times larger than dorsals; ventral scales in 42 rows; midbody scales rows 116; scales between mental and cloacal slit 183; dorsal surface of limbs with tubercles, more developed on hind limbs; enlarged femoral scales 6 on each side, two series of three enlarged scales separated by two granular scales on right hind limb, outer enlarged femoral scale separated by six granular scales from other enlarged femoral scales on left hind limb; fingers and toes free of webbing; relative finger lengths I <II <V <IV <III, relative toe lengths I <II <III <V <IV; claw sheathed by two scales; subdigital lamellae: finger I 10 or 11 (including 3 basally broadened lamellae), finger II 13 (4), finger III 15 (4), finger IV 17 (4–5), finger V 12 or 13 (3–4), toe I 10 or 11 (3–4), toe II 14 or 15 (4), toe III 17 (5), toe IV 18–20 (7), toe V 17–18 (6); precloacal depression absent; precloacal pores 6; pore-bearing scales posteriorly surrounded by nine enlarged scales, arranged in a diamond shape; adjoining scales continuously decreasing in size; two postcloacal tubercles on each side, well developed; hemipenis not everted; original tail without distinct whorls; dorsal surface covered by 14 rows of tubercles, each row with 4 or 5 tubercles, tubercles absent in distal part of tail; median row of subcaudals not transversally enlarged. Coloration in life: Top of head light brown; each side with a dark stripe, from between tip of snout and eye, running below the eyes and connecting with the other band at the neck, stripe on right side not clear, blurred between eye and neck; irregular dark blotches on dorsal surface of the head indistinct; eyelids with green cast; ciliaria bright yellow; iris marbled in black and metallic-yellow; dorsal surface of body light brown with irregular transverse dark brown bands; dark bands between limb insertions four, two inner ones in irregular shape, consisting of blotches and small bands; a median dark spot just behind the neck band; five or six blotches in one row on each side from neck to hind limbs; flanks without dark bands or blotches; dorsal pattern of limbs consisting of a mixture of light and dark brown; dorsal tail with seven dark brown bands or broad blotches on a light brown ground; ventral surface of body solid light beige, with ventral side of tail being slightly darker. Color in preservative (70 % ethanol): The overall color scheme is somewhat less pronounced, slightly fades in alcohol. Main characteristics are still clearly visible, the slight green cast of the eyelids and the bright yellow color of the ciliaria are not visible, but have the same bright brown color compared to remaining parts of the head. Variation. The paratype series largely corresponded with the description of the holotype. For measurements, scalation, and color pattern variation see Tables 2, 3 and Fig. 3. ZFMK 95515 has, in contrast to the holotype and the other paratypes, distinct whorls on the dorsal surface of tail. Transverse body bands individually vary in intensity (darker bands versus lighter bands) and shape (continuously developed body bands versus interrupted or irregularly shaped body bands). Sexual dimorphism was also discernible in terms of hemipenial swellings at the under tail base in adult males, the enlarged precloacal scales are distinctly larger in males (even in the subadult male) and the precloacal pores in females are indistinct, like pitted scales. Comparisons. Comparisons are based on the original descriptions or descriptions provided in broader faunal and taxonomic publications (e.g., Smith 1920, 1921, 1935; Ulber & Grossmann 1991; Darevsky & Szczerbak 1997; Bauer 2002, 2003; Bauer et al. 2002, 2003, 2009; David et al. 2004, 2011; Pauwels et al. 2004, 2013, 2014; Nguyen S.N. et al. 2006, 2013; Hoang et al. 2007; Orlov et al. 2007; Nazarov et al. 2008; Ngo 2008; Ngo & Bauer 2008; Rösler & Glaw 2008; Rösler et al. 2008; Geissler et al. 2009; Mahony 2009; Ngo & Chan 2010; Ngo & Pauwels 2010; Ngo et al. 2008, 2010, 2011; Nguyen T.Q. et al. 2010; Sumontha et al. 2010; Schneider et al. 2011; Grismer et al. 2012; Nazarov et al. 2012; Ziegler et al. 2010, 2013; Luu et al. 2014; Pauwels & Sumontha 2014). Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from all the Vietnamese congeners as follows: The new species has no transversally enlarged subcaudal scales and thus differs from the following species: C. badenensis Nguyen, Orlov & Darevsky, 2006, C. bichnganae Ngo & Grismer, 2010, C. caovansungi Orlov, Nguyen, Nazarov, Ananjeva & Nguyen, 2007, C. chauquangensis Hoang, Orlov, Ananjeva, Johns, Hoang & Dau, 2007, C. condorensis (Smith, 1920), C. cucphuongensis Ngo & Chan, 2011, C. eisenmanae Ngo, 2008, C. grismeri Ngo, 2008, C. hontreensis Ngo, Grismer & Grismer, 2008, C. huongsonensis Luu, Nguyen, Do & Ziegler, 2011, C. intermedius (Smith, 1917), C. kingsadai, C. martini Ngo, 2011, C. nigriocularis Nguyen, Orlov & Darevsky, 2006, C. paradoxus (Darevsky & Szczerbak, 1997), C. phongnhakebangensis Ziegler, Rösler, Herrmann & Vu, 2002, C. phuquocensis Ngo, Grismer & Grismer, 2010, C. roesleri Ziegler, Nazarov, Orlov, Nguyen, Vu, Dang, Dinh & Schmitz, 2010, C. takouensis Ngo & Bauer, 2008, C. thochuensis Ngo & Grismer, 2012, and C. yangbayensis. The following species have femoral pores, which are lacking in Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis sp. nov.: C. huynhi (3–8) and C. dati Ngo, 2013 (3–4). Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis sp. nov. has enlarged femoral scales which are absent in C. cryptus. Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from C. thuongae Phung, van Schingen, Ziegler & Nguyen, 2014 by having more precloacal pores in males (5–6 vs. 0–1). From the representatives of the C. irregularis complex, Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis sp. nov. differs as follows (only characters are mentioned, which are not listed in Table 4): from C. bidoupimontis by lacking a dark neckband and tail bands which are distinctly broader; from C. bugiamapensis by having fewer dorsal tubercle rows (16–19 vs. 20–24), additionally, the dorsal pattern of Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis sp. nov. consists of irregular dark bands vs. transverse bands formed by dark spots in C. bugiamapensis; from C. cattienensis by having more enlarged precloacal scales in most specimens (8–21 vs. 6–13); from C. irregularis by lacking a thickened tail base that shows very large triple-edged knobs and forms 3–5 pronounced semi-rings of tail segments, additionally, the dorsal pattern of Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis sp. nov. differs from the pattern of C. irregularis (banded vs. blotched); from C. phuocbinhensis by having irregular dark bands vs. two dark brown stripes or blotches on dorsum; from C. pseudoquadrivirgatus by the absence of enlarged lateral tubercles (vs. present), the presence of enlarged femoral scales (vs. absent), and by having uniformly bright colored limbs versus striped or mottled limbs in C. pseudoquadrivirgatus; from C. taynguyenensis by the presence of enlarged femoral scales (vs. absent) and by having irregular dark bands (vs. irregular blotches bordered by light brown edges); from C. ziegleri by having fewer dorsal tubercle rows (16–19 vs. 20–24). FIGURE 5. From other congeners from the Indochinese region, the new species differs as follows: Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis sp. nov. has 4–6 precloacal pores in both sexes and thus differs from the following species, which have distinctly lower or higher precloacal pore counts: C. aequalis Bauer, 2003 (9), C. annandalei Bauer, 2003 (11–12), C. ayeyarwadyensis Bauer, 2003 (10–28), C. brevidactylus Bauer, 2002 (8), C. chrysopylos Bauer, 2003 (10), C. consobrinus (Peters, 1871) (9–11), C. erythrops Bauer, Kunya, Sumontha Niyomwan, Panitvong, Pauwels, Chanhome & Kunya,, 2009 (9), C. gansi Bauer, 2003 (16–29), C. interdigitalis Ulber, 1993 (14), C. pulchellus (8), C. russelli Bauer, 2003 (15), C. slowinskii Bauer, 2002 (9–11), C. sumonthai Bauer, Pauwels & Chanhome, 2002 (2), C. teyniei David, Nguyen, Schneider & Ziegler, 2011 (14 in the single known specimen, an adult female), C. tigroides Bauer, Sumontha & Pauwels, 2003 (8–9), and C. wakeorum Bauer, 2003 (12). Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis sp. nov. lacks a series of precloacal-femoral or precloacal and femoral pores, which is present in the following Cyrtodactylus species: C. auribalteatus Sumontha, Panitvong & Deein, 2010 (6 precloacal pores + 4–5 femoral pores), C. brevipalmatus (Smith, 1923) (7–10 + 6–7), C. chanhomeae Bauer, Sumontha & Pauwels, 2003 (32–34 precloacal-femoral pores), C. consobrinoides (Annandale, 1905) (26), C. dumnuii Bauer, Kunya, Sumontha, Niyomwan, Pauwels, Chanhome & Kunya, 2010 (5–6 + 6), C. feae (Boulenger, 1893) (32), C. jarujini Ulber, 1993 (42–54), C. lekaguli Grismer, Wood, Quah, Anuar, Muin, Sumontha, Ahmad, Bauer, Wangkulangkul, Grismer & Pauwels, 2012 (31–43), C. lomyenensis Ngo & Pauwels, 2010 (39–40), C. phuketensis Sumontha, Pauwels, Kunya, Nitikul, Samphantamit & Grismer, 2012 (33–36), C. tamaiensis (Smith, 1940) (40), and C. variegatus (Blyth, 1859) (32). The following Cyrtodactylus species differ from Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis sp. nov. by the absence of precloacal pores in both sexes: C. buchardi David, Teynié & Ohler, 2004, C. guakanthanensis Grismer, Belabut, Quah, Chan, Wood & Hasim, 2014, C. sanook Pauwels, Sumontha, Latinne & Grismer, 2013 and C. thirakhupti Pauwels, Bauer, Sumontha & Chanhome, 2004. Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis sp. nov. has no transversally enlarged subcaudals and thus differs from C. angularis (Smith, 1921), C. jaegeri Luu, Calame, Bonkowski, Nguyen & Ziegler, 2014, C. khelangensis Pauwels, Sumontha, Panitvong & Varaguttanonda, 2014, C. oldhami (Theobald, 1876), C. pageli Schneider, Nguyen, Schmitz, Kingsada, Auer & Ziegler, 2011, C. samroiyot Pauwels & Sumontha, 2014, and C. surin Chan-Ard & Makchai, 2011. Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis sp. nov. has 41–44 ventral scales at midbody and thus differs from C. mandalayensis Mahony, 2009 (32), C. papilionoides Ulber & Grossmann, 1991 (30–34), and C. wayakonei Nguyen, Kingsada, Rösler, Auer & Ziegler, 2010 (31–35). Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis sp. nov. differs from C. quadrivirgatus by having generally more ventral scales (40– 44 vs. 40), by having more precloacal pores in males (5–6 vs. 4), and the presence of enlarged femoral scales (vs. absent in C. quadrivirgatus). Etymology. The specific epithet is referring to the type locality of the new species. As common names we propose Cucdong Bent-toed Gecko (English) and Thach sung ngon cuc dong (Vietnamese). Distribution. The new species is currently known only from the type locality in Cuc Dong Cape, Ninh Hoa District, Khanh Hoa Province, southern Vietnam (Fig. 4). Ecological notes. The type series of Cyrtodactylus cucdongensis was found at night time, on granitic stones, at elevations between 5 and 50 m a.s.l. The surrounding habitat was mixed secondary forest of small prickly shrubs and species of the families Annonaceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Ebenaceae, and Fabaceae (Fig. 5).Published as part of Schneider, Nicole, Phung, Trung My, Le, Minh Duc, Nguyen, Truong Quang & Ziegler, Thomas, 2014, A new Cyrtodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Khanh Hoa Province, southern Vietnam, pp. 518-532 in Zootaxa 3785 (4) on pages 521-529, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3785.4.2, http://zenodo.org/record/22820
Evaluating and Prioritizing Circular Supply Chain Alternatives in the Energy Context with a Holistic Multi-Indicator Decision Support System
No full textTransitioning to a circular economy is crucial for sustainable energy development; yet, current energy supply chains lack comprehensive assessment tools. This study introduces the Holistic Multi-Indicator Decision Support System (HMI_DSS), an innovative tool grounded in life cycle thinking and advanced multi-criteria decision-making methodologies, including Entropy and PROMETHEE II. The HMI_DSS quantifies and assesses sustainability and circularity in energy systems by employing 49 indicators, with a focus on energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. A case study on the rice straw energy supply chain for biogas production illustrates the tool’s effectiveness, comparing a baseline scenario to an alternative. The results show that the global warming potential (GWP) of the baseline is 122 gCO2eq/kWh, while the alternative is 116 gCO2eq/kWh. However, the baseline scenario has lower energy consumption (1.72 × 107 MJ annually) than the alternative (1.98 × 107 MJ). Overall, the alternative outperforms the baseline in terms of sustainability and circularity. The HMI_DSS offers a flexible and robust framework for evaluating trade-offs in energy systems, providing valuable insights for energy companies and researchers in adopting circular economy principles to achieve sustainable development
Spatiotonal adaptivity in super-resolution of under-sampled image sequences
No full textThis thesis concerns the use of spatial and tonal adaptivity in improving the resolution of aliased image sequences under scene or camera motion. Each of the five content chapters focuses on a different subtopic of super-resolution: image registration (chapter 2), image fusion (chapter 3 and 4), super-resolution restoration (chapter 5), and super-resolution synthesis (chapter 6). Chapter 2 derives the Cramer-Rao lower bound of image registration and shows that iterative gradient-based estimators achieve this performance limit. Chapter 3 presents an algorithm for image fusion of irregularly sampled and uncertain data using robust normalized convolution. The size and shape of the fusion kernel is adapted to local curvilinear structures in the image. Each data sample is assigned an intensity-related certainty value to limit the influence of outliers. Chapter 4 presents two fast implementations of the signal-adaptive bilateral filter. The xy-separable implementation filters the image along sampling axes, while the uv-separable implementation filters the image along gauge coordinates. Chapter 5 presents a robust image restoration method using Gaussian error norm rather than quadratic error norm. The robust solution resembles the maximum-likelihood solution under Gaussian noise, and it is not susceptible to outliers. A series of objective quality measures confirms the superiority of this solution to current super-resolution algorithms in the literature. Chapter 6 proposes a super-resolution synthesis algorithm in the DCT domain. The algorithm requires a high-resolution image of similar content to be used as texture source for the low-resolution input image.Applied Science
Numerical modelling of wave overwash at low-crested sand barriers
No full textIn overwash beaches, response of a barrier profile as a whole to storm wave attacks can be distinguished into seaward and landward parts that are associated with two respective across-shore driving processes i.e. surge erosion, and overwash. Modeling of overwash relies heavily on the specification of wave overtopping from the seaside (see problem schematization in Fig.1). In return, overwash imposes a non-zero landward sediment transport rate and thus significantly modifies also the seaward profile, especially on the beach face area. This defers substantially from cases of high beach profiles where there is no or negligible transport in the landward direction. These two above cross-shore processes are therefore well interrelated and must be convoluted in one single model. In order to form the basis for the development of a numerical model of low-crested sand barriers response to wave attacks, two successive test series were carried out to increase physical insight into wave overwash. Low-crested condition corresponding to moderate to severe overtopping was selected for all the tests.Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience
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