Showing papers in "MethodsX in 2020"

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a method to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) and meta-analysis studies on environmental science, which is an explicit, transferable and reproducible procedure to conduct systematic review work.

TL;DR: This paper addresses skin lesion classification with an ensemble of deep learning models including EfficientNets, SENet, and ResNeXt WSL, selected by a search strategy and predicts an additional, unknown class with a data-driven approach and makes use of patient meta data with an additional input branch.

TL;DR: In this paper, a simplified method for the application of the analytic hierarchy method (AHP) is presented, which aims to calculate the priorities of each alternative against a set of criteria with only n-1 comparisons of n alternatives for each criterion (instead of (n2-n)/2 comparisons in the original method proposed by Saaty).

TL;DR: In this article, the combination of a representative microplastic sampling method and a fastquantitative analysis using Pyrolysis-GC-MS for investigation of the micro-plastic load and mass balances is presented.

TL;DR: In this article, a simple protocol to determine the concentrations of airborne microplastics and fibers is presented, which is accomplished by removing organic matter using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), followed by removal of mineral matter by density separation with sodium iodide (NaI).

TL;DR: In this article, the authors used confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to detect the localization of polystyrene (PS) beads in the root and the green tissue respectively.

TL;DR: Graphical abstract Photodegradation of ciprofoxacin by CuFe2O4@MC shows how the chiral stationary phase affects the racemates’ ability to degrade into polyene and polymethine.

TL;DR: The novel dynamic ARDL Simulations and Kernel-based Regularized Least Squares techniques are useful and improved time series techniques for policy formulation and are applied to examine the economic effect of denuclearization in Switzerland by 2034.

TL;DR: The results revealed that the ANN has great performance in predicting the removal efficiency of TC, and the model's predictive performance evaluated by MSE, MAPE, and R2.

TL;DR: In this article, a sieve filtration method is proposed for the measurement of the swelling rate of hydrogels, which is more efficient than the traditional methods due to full contact of the hydrogel powders with water or aqueous solution as well as fast and complete removal of excessive fluid from the waterabsorbed gel.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a universal framework of modular protocols (QuEChERS: Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, Safe) as well as providing best practices for reasonable MP working conditions within a standard laboratory.

TL;DR: Here, it is shown how flow cytometry can be used to track changes in mitochondrial mass, membrane potential and superoxide (ROS) production in live immune cells and suggests a quick way of evaluating mitochondrial fitness using flow cytometers.

TL;DR: The paper provides guidance for conducting a Bayesian multilevel analysis in social sciences through constructing directed acyclic graphs (DAGs, or "relationship trees") for different models, basic and more complex ones.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented a simple methodology to reuse the ZnCl2 solution ensuring the efficiency of the product and showed that the reuse of this salt solution is the most cost-effective methodology to isolate microplastics from aquatic samples.

TL;DR: Principal component analysis was conducted to determine the correlations between the abundances of volatile terpenes and thiols and sensory attribute scores in marinated grilled meats, and to analyze if there was any clustering based on the type of meat and marination treatments employed.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors used QSR International's NVivo 10 text-based analytic software to organize and document their close-reading (line-by-line coding) of 109 laws to address insect pollinator population declines.

TL;DR: In this article, the adsorption of fluoride from aqueous solution by lanthanum ferrite nanoparticles (LaFeO3 NPs) synthesized by the hydrothermal method has been investigated.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a detailed explanation of the Outcome Evaluation approach applied in Belcher et al. (2019), which provides a clear conceptual and analytical framework in addition to actor-specific and impact pathway analyses for more precision in the assessment of outcomes.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed an optimized protocol for overlap extension PCR, which is a powerful tool for generating specific fragments of DNA that can be used to create gene variations or tagged expression constructs.

TL;DR: Protocols to standardize methods that allow for the exploration of lethal and sublethal effects of agrochemicals via acute and chronic exposure of stingless bees are described and proved that these standardized protocols are reliable for toxicological research on stingless bee.

TL;DR: A simple, quick and cost-effective method for synthesis of biochar nanodots through hydrothermally using agricultural residuals and by-products was developed and revealed that both of the biochars had a well-developed porous structure following pyrolysis.

TL;DR: This study reassesses the literature on stream daylighting with a particular focus on its role, as a nature-based solution, for climate change mitigation and adaptation and for socio-environmental justice and develops a method that combines a systematic review of the stream Daylighting literature and inductive content analysis.

TL;DR: This study builds on existing literature regarding how more direct quantification of pozzolanic products can be obtained through tests that directly identify and quantify pozzolic products, specifically in lime-treated clay soils by using x-ray diffraction and differential thermogravimetric analysis.

TL;DR: The proposed method applies natural language processing on article meta data and a k-means clustering algorithm to automatically convert large article corpora into a distribution of focal topics that allows efficient filtering as well as objectifying the process through the discussion of the clustering results.

TL;DR: This study focused on measuring the online sentiment of South Africa's major banks over a 12-month period and provides an analysis of online sentiment using a unique combination of NLP and human validation techniques to create net sentiment scores and categorise topics of online conversation.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented a new approach of filter area analysis using an intelligent algorithm to measure only those spots on a filter that would produce evaluable FTIR data, where empty spaces or IR absorbers like carbon black particles were not measured.

TL;DR: It was found that increasing initial tissue mass and decreasing TRIzol volume simultaneously improved RNA yield and purity and the modifications in the isolation protocol were combined and tested through reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR, which yielded consistent results, upholding the optimisation.

TL;DR: A systems-based methodology to identify and evaluate cascading climate change impacts and implications is elaborate using the case of a participatory process with urban infrastructure managers, facing the legacy effects of damaging earthquakes and the prospect of future climate change.

TL;DR: The UV/COP hybrid process using ZnO as a catalyst immobilized on a stone surface for degradation of acid red 18 (AR18) Dye had high efficiency for removal of resistant dyes from the textile wastewater.

TL;DR: The methods and procedures used for the assessment of physical activity and sedentary time in the Latin American Study of Nutrition and Health (Estudio Latinoamericano de Nutrición y Salud; ELANS), a multicentre, cross-sectional and surveillance study of a nationally representative sample from eight Latin American countries are described.