bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analytical Model for Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Charge Density in Recessed-Gate GaN High-Electron-Mobility Transistors
Authors: Sharbati Samaneh , Gharibshahian Iman , Ebel Thomas , Orouji Ali A. , Franke Wulf-Toke
Published: April 2021

A physics-based analytical model for GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) with non-recessed- and recessed-gate structure is presented. Based on this model, the two-dimensional electron gas density (2DEG) and thereby the on-state resistance and breakdown voltage can be controlled by varying the barrier layer thickness and Al mole fraction in non-recessed depletion-mode GaN HEMTs. The analytical model indicates that the 2DEG charge density in the channel increases from 2.4 × 1012 cm−2 to 1.8 × 1013 cm−2 when increasing the Al mole fraction from x = 0.1 to 0.4 for an experimental non-recessed-gate GaN HEMT. In the recessed-gate GaN HEMT, in addition to these parameters, the recess height can also control the 2DEG to achieve high-performance power electronic devices. The model also calculates the critical recess height for which a normally-ON GaN switch becomes normally-OFF. This model shows good agreement with reported experimental results and promises to become a useful tool for advanced design of GaN HEMTS.
Diagnostik und Therapie der residualen Tagesschläfrigkeit bei Patienten mit therapierter obstruktiver Schlafapnoe
Authors: Fietze Ingo , Blum Hans-Christian , Grüger Hartmut , Käßner Frank , Maurer Joachim T. , Nilius Georg , Penzel Thomas , Triché Dora , Arzt Michael
Published: April 2021

Die residuale Tagesschläfrigkeit tritt bei 12–65 % der Schlafapnoe-Patienten unter eingeleiteter Positivdrucktherapie („positive airway pressure“) auf. Eine häufige Ursache ist die geringe PAP-Nutzungszeit. Mögliche weitere Gründe sind ein hoher Rest-Apnoe-Hypopnoe-Index und eine vorhandene Komorbidität. Prädiktoren sind ein initial hoher Epworth-Schläfrigkeitsscore, jüngeres Alter und die erst kurze PAP-Nutzung. Gesichert wird die Restschläfrigkeit mittels objektiver Testverfahren (z. B. multipler Wachbleibetest oder Oxford Sleep Resistance Test [Osler-Test]). Eine der wesentlichen Ursachen für die residuale Schläfrigkeit nach Ausschluss konkurrierender Auslöser ist die stattgehabte intermittierende nächtliche Hypoxämie, die zu nervalen Zellschädigungen, zu hormonellen und genetischen Veränderungen und zu Änderungen des Mikrobioms führen kann.

Die klinischen Beschwerden werden bestimmt durch eine ausgeprägte Tagesschläfrigkeit, depressive Verstimmung und eine Minderung der Lebensqualität.

Nach Ausschluss möglicher therapiebedingter Ursachen kann die residuale Tagesschläfrigkeit medikamentös mit u. a. Modafinil, Armodafinil, Pitolisant oder Solriamfetol behandelt werden. Die genannten Arzneimittel haben unterschiedliche Wirkmechanismen. Die Studien und die Effekte der Substanzen auf die Tagesschläfrigkeit, die Lebensqualität und die Leistungsfähigkeit der Betroffenen werden vorgestellt. Das Nebenwirkungsprofil der Wirkstoffe ist ähnlich. Für die Indikation residuale Schläfrigkeit einer therapierten obstruktiven Schlafapnoe ist in Europa derzeit nur Solriamfetol zugelassen.

Ein vom Autorenteam entworfener Behandlungspfad für Patienten mit therapierter obstruktiver Schlafapnoe mit residualer Tagesschläfrigkeit, von der Erstvorstellung nach Therapiebeginn über die Therapieoptimierung bis hin zu einer medikamentösen Behandlung, wird vorgestellt.
It takes two to tango: the interplay between decision logics, communication strategies and social media engagement in start-ups
Authors: Rudeloff Christian , Pakura Stefanie , Eggers Fabian , Niemand Thomas
Published: April 2021

This manuscript analyzes start-ups’ usage of different communication strategies (information, response, involvement), their underlying decision logics (effectuation, causation, strategy absence) and respective social media success. A multitude of studies have been published on the decision logics of entrepreneurs as well as on different communication strategies. Decision logics and according strategies and actions are closely connected. Still, research on the interplay between the two areas is largely missing. This applies in particular to the effect of different decision logics and communication models on social media success. Through a combination of case studies with fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis this exploratory study demonstrates that different combinations of causal and absence of strategy decision logics can be equally successful when it comes to social media engagement, whereas effectuation is detrimental for success. Furthermore, we find that two-way-communication is essential to create engagement, while information strategy alone cannot lead to social media success. This study provides new insights into the role of decision logics and connects effectuation theory with the communication literature, a field that has been dominated by causal approaches.
Clustering activity at Mt Etna based on volcanic tremor: A case study
Authors: Nunnari Giuseppe
Published: April 2021

This paper deals with the classification of volcanic activity into three classes, referred to as Quite, Strombolian and Paroxysm. The main purpose is to give a measure of the reliability with which such a classification, typically carried out by experts, can be performed by Machine Learning algorithms, by using the volcanic tremor as a feature. Both supervised and unsupervised methods are considered. It is experimentally shown that at least the Paroxysm activity can be reliably classified. Performances are rigorously assessed, in comparison with the classification made by expert volcanologists, in terms of popular indices such as thef1-score and the Area under the ROC curve (AuC). The work is basically a case study carried out on a dataset recorded in the area of the Mt Etna volcano. However, as volcanic tremor is a geophysical signal widely available, considered methods and strategies can be easily applied to similar volcanic areas.
On diverse arts: crucible metallurgy and the polymetallic cycle at Scandinavia’s earliest Viking town, Ribe (8th–9th c. CE), Denmark
Authors: Orfanou V. , Birch T. , Sindbæk S. M. , Feveile C. , Barfod G. H. , Lesher C. E.
Published: April 2021

This study presents results from the analytical investigation of the polymetallic, non-ferrous metallurgical cycle at early Viking Age Ribe, Denmark, in the 8th and 9th centuries CE. We combine extensive surface analyses of crucibles and moulds (handheld XRF) with targeted micro-destructive examination (micro XRF, electron microprobe spectroscopy—EPMA) of crucibles, moulds, ingots, blanks, and finished objects from the different stages of the secondary metallurgical production. Results show the working of a range of copper alloys with (leaded) brass as the most common, alongside small-scale working of silver and gold. Analytical evidence suggests a move towards technological standardisation at Ribe workshops from the pre-Viking period to the early Viking Age as reflected in the tighter compositional groupings for the crucible fabrics, the alloy choices for specific artefact types, e.g. keys and brooches, and an overall move towards high Zn brass from the 8th century to the first half of the 9th century CE. Finally, we discuss the limitations and potentials of the surface and micro-destructive analytical methods used and the insights gained from each data set and propose a direction for future research.
On the dimension of totally geodesic submanifolds in the Prym loci
Authors: Colombo Elisabetta , Frediani Paola
Published: April 2021

In this paper we give a bound on the dimension of a totally geodesic submanifold of the moduli space of polarised abelian varieties of a given dimension, which is contained in the Prym locus of a (possibly) ramified double cover. This improves the already known bounds. The idea is to adapt the techniques introduced by the authors in collaboration with A. Ghigi and G. P. Pirola for the Torelli map to the case of the Prym maps of (ramified) double covers.
Enhanced Wastewater Treatment by Immobilized Enzymes
Authors: Zdarta Jakub , Jankowska Katarzyna , Bachosz Karolina , Degórska Oliwia , Kaźmierczak Karolina , Nguyen Luong N. , Nghiem Long D. , Jesionowski Teofil
Published: April 2021

Purpose of Review

In the presented review, we have summarized recent achievements on the use of immobilized oxidoreductases for biodegradation of hazardous organic pollutants including mainly dyes, pharmaceuticals, phenols, and bisphenols. In order to facilitate process optimization and achievement of high removal rates, effect of various process conditions on biodegradation has been highlighted and discussed.

Recent Findings

Current reports clearly show that immobilized oxidoreductases are capable of efficient conversion of organic pollutants, usually reaching over 90% of removal rate. Further, immobilized enzymes showed great recyclability potential, allowing their reuse in numerous of catalytic cycles.

Collected data clearly indicates immobilized oxidoreductases as an efficient biocatalytic tools for removal of hazardous phenolic compounds, making them a promising option for future water purification. Data shows, however, that both immobilization and biodegradation conditions affect conversion efficiency; therefore, process optimization is required to achieve high removal rates. Nevertheless, we have demonstrated future trends and highlighted several issues that have to be solved in the near-future research, to facilitate large-scale application of the immobilized oxidoreductases in wastewater treatment.
Adaptive dynamic programming-based feature tracking control of visual servoing manipulators with unknown dynamics
Authors: Ren Xiaolin , Li Hongwen
Published: April 2021

This paper investigates a feature tracking control method for visual servoing (VS) manipulators adaptive dynamic programming (ADP)-based the unknown dynamics. The major superiority of ADP-based optimal control lies in that the visual tracking problem is converted to the feature tracking error control with optimal cost function. Moreover, an adaptive neural network observer is developed to approximate the entire uncertainties, which are utilized to construct an improved cost function. By establishing a critic neural network, the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB) equation is solved, and the approximate optimal error control policy is derived. The closed-loop VS manipulator system is verified to be ultimately uniformly bounded with the developed ADP-based feature tracking control strategy according to the Lyapunov theory. Finally, simulation results under various situations demonstrate that the proposed method achieves higher tracking accuracy than other methods, as well as satisfies energy optimal requirements.
Sniffing Bacteria with a Carbon-Dot Artificial Nose
Authors: Shauloff Nitzan , Morag Ahiud , Yaniv Karin , Singh Seema , Malishev Ravit , Paz-Tal Ofra , Rokach Lior , Jelinek Raz
Published: April 2021

Highlights

Novel artificial nose based upon electrode-deposited carbon dots (C-dots). Significant selectivity and sensitivity determined by “polarity matching” between the C-dots and gas molecules.

The C-dot artificial nose facilitates, for the first time, real-time, continuous monitoring of bacterial proliferation and discrimination among bacterial species, both between Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and between specific strains.

Machine learning algorithm furnishes excellent predictability both in the case of individual gases and for complex gas mixtures.

Continuous, real-time monitoring and identification of bacteria through detection of microbially emitted volatile molecules are highly sought albeit elusive goals. We introduce an artificial nose for sensing and distinguishing vapor molecules, based upon recording the capacitance of interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) coated with carbon dots (C-dots) exhibiting different polarities. Exposure of the C-dot-IDEs to volatile molecules induced rapid capacitance changes that were intimately dependent upon the polarities of both gas molecules and the electrode-deposited C-dots. We deciphered the mechanism of capacitance transformations, specifically substitution of electrode-adsorbed water by gas molecules, with concomitant changes in capacitance related to both the polarity and dielectric constants of the vapor molecules tested. The C-dot-IDE gas sensor exhibited excellent selectivity, aided by application of machine learning algorithms. The capacitive C-dot-IDE sensor was employed to continuously monitor microbial proliferation, discriminating among bacteria through detection of distinctive “volatile compound fingerprint” for each bacterial species. The C-dot-IDE platform is robust, reusable, readily assembled from inexpensive building blocks and constitutes a versatile and powerful vehicle for gas sensing in general, bacterial monitoring in particular.
Trust in the European Union project and the role of ECB
Authors: Liotti Giorgio , Canale Rosaria Rita
Published: April 2021

Was the European Central Bank able to assure the relaunch of the European project after the weakening of the post-crisis period? To answer this question, this paper presents an empirical analysis connecting citizen trust in the European Union with a variable intended to be a measure of the monetary policy strategy of the European Central Bank, namely, the interest rate on government bonds extracted from the 1-year maturity yield curve. The dynamic panel technique, applied to nineteen Eurozone countries for the time span of 2004–2018, estimates the presence of a long-run common relationship between the variables despite allowing different short-run adjustment mechanisms. Results are revealed to be not univocal: the easy monetary policy strategy is associated for the whole period with a decline of trust, and therefore, despite its impressiveness, it was not sufficient to relaunch the European Union project. However, when considering the change in strategy of the post-2013 period, it seemed to have contributed to a slight inversion of the decline of trust. These results highlight the importance of non-conventional measures and call for further support from coordinated policy action as a response to the negative shock deriving from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ein Epigone bekennt sich zu den Herausgebern der Gesamtausgabe der Werke von Friedrich List und sieht sich in deren Nachfolge
Authors: Wendler Eugen
Published: April 2021

Seit 5 Jahrzehnten steht die Erforschung von Leben, Werk und Wirkungsgeschichte von Friedrich List (1789–1846) im Zentrum der wissenschaftlichen Arbeit von Eugen Wendler. Im Laufe der Zeit sind ca. 30 Monographien und eine größere Anzahl von wissenschaftlichen Aufsätzen und journalistischen Artikeln entstanden. Dabei baute Eugen Wendler auf der unschätzbaren Vorarbeit der Herausgeber der Gesamtausgabe von Lists Werken von 1925 bis 1935 auf.

Der vorliegende Aufsatz vermittelt einen Überblick über die Buchpublikationen von Eugen Wendler zur List-Forschung. Mit seinem eindrucksvollen Oeuvre bekennt er sich zum letzten lebenden Fossil in der Nachfolge der FLG und erweist damit den Herausgebern die gebührende und längst überfällige Wertschätzung und Achtung.
Physical stabilization of expansive subgrade soil using locally produced geogrid material
Authors: Aga Samson Yonas
Published: April 2021

This paper illustrates application of a locally produced geogrid material for strength improvement of expansive subgrade soil. Samples of black, soft soil predominating the study area were collected from south western parts of Modjo town, inside the rift valley region of central parts of Ethiopia. X-Ray diffraction as well as index property tests were executed to identify and categorize the expansiveness of the highly plastic soft soil. The effects of two locally manufactured geogrid reinforcement materials; namely, polypropylene (PP) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) on the California bearing ratio (CBR) values of the expansive soil have been investigated. The test results indicated that the use of the geogrid reinforcement can significantly improve the bearing capacity of weak subgrade soil. The soaked CBR of the untreated soil sample, which was about 2.98%, was able to be raised to 10.16% and 7.48% by the application of PP and HDPE type of geogrid respectively, that were placed at 0.35H from the top of specimen. The research demonstrated the potential of using locally produced geogrid material for the improvement of weak subgrade soil.
Gaussian Based Non-linear Function Approximation for Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Haider Abbas , Hawe Glenn , Wang Hui , Scotney Bryan
Published: April 2021

Reinforcement learning (RL) problems with continuous states and discrete actions (CSDA) can be found in classic examples such as Cart Pole and Puck World, as well as real world applications such as Market Making. Solutions to CSDA problems typically involve a function approximation (FA) of the mapping from states to actions and can be linear or nonlinear. Linear FAs such as tile-coding (Sutton and Barto in Reinforcement learning, 2nd ed, 2009) suffer from state information loss due to state discretization, whilst non-linear FAs such as DQN (Mnih et al. in Playing atari with deep reinforcement learning,https://arxiv.org/abs/1312.5602, 2013) are practically infeasible in infinitely large state spaces due to their cubic time complexity ($$O(n^3)$$O(n3)). In this paper, we propose a novel, general solution to CSDA problems, called Gaussian distribution based non-linear function approximation (GBNLFA). Experimentation on three CSDA RL problems (Cart Pole, Puck World, Market Marking) demonstrates the superiority of GBNLFA over state-of-the-art FAs, namely tile-coding and DQN. In particular, GBNLFA resolves the state information loss problem with linear FAs and provides an asymptotically faster algorithm (O(n)) than linear FAs ($$O(n^2)$$O(n2)) and neural network based nonlinear FAs ($$O(n^3)$$O(n3)).
Using Speech Acts to Elicit Positive Emotions for Complainants on Social Media
Authors: Argyris Young Anna , Monu Kafui , Kim Yongsuk , Zhou Yilu , Wang Zuhui , Yin Zhaozheng
Published: April 2021

A carefully tailored tone in response to a complaint on social media can create positive emotions for an upset customer. However, very few studies have identified what response tones, based on an established theory, would be most effective for complaint management. This study conceptualizes a service agent's response tones based on Ballmer and Brennenstuhl's (1981) classification of speech acts and examines how an agent's use of speech acts elicit positive emotions for the complainant. Ballmer and Brennenstuhl classify speech acts within the dimensions of conventionality and dialogicality, and they suggest the two dimensions interact. Thus, we examine the impact of each dimension of speech acts and the interactions between the two dimensions on the elicitation of positive emotions for complainants. We collected over 100,000 tweets and classified firm agents’ speech acts and complainants’ emotions by designing deep learning architectures (i.e., bi-directional recurrent neural networks). Our fixed-effect regression results show that a low level of each speech act leads to the elicitation of customers’ positive emotions but that the combination of the two erodes the individual advantages. This study expands Ballmer and Brennenstuhl's (1981) speech act classification from a speaker's perspectives to a listener's perspectives by contextualizing it in an analysis of service agents’ tones and their roles in eliciting positive emotions among complainants.
The Burden of Illness of Migraine in Canada: New Insights on Humanistic and Economic Cost
Authors: Amoozegar Farnaz , Khan Zaeem , Oviedo-Ovando Mariana , Sauriol Stephanie , Rochdi Driss
Published: April 2021

Background:

The aim of this study was to characterize the burden of illness of migraine in Canada. The primary objective was to estimate the annual direct medical resource use and associated costs in migraine patients who failed at least two prophylactic therapies for migraine.

Methods:

Adults with at least four migraine days per month and who had failed at least two prophylactic migraine therapies were included. Participation in a clinical trial within 12 months of enrollment was the sole exclusionary criterion. Patient demographic and clinical characteristics, migraine-related treatment and medical history, and direct medical resource utilization were collected through a retrospective medical chart review. Data on patient characteristics, lifestyle factors, treatments, medical resource utilization, out-of-pocket expenses, and indirect costs were collected through a cross-sectional patient survey. The patient survey also included validated patient-reported outcome instruments to assess migraine impact on quality of life and work productivity loss.

Results:

In total, 287 migraine patients were included. The mean time since migraine diagnosis was 14.3 years and patients experienced a mean of 14.1 migraine days per month. The total estimated annual cost of chronic migraine (CM) was $25,669 per patient, while the annual total costs for high-frequency episodic and low-frequency episodic migraine (EM) were estimated to be $24,885 and $15,651, respectively.

Conclusion:

Migraine is associated with moderate to severe disability. This results in substantial economic burden, directly from healthcare costs such as prescription medications and indirectly through lost work productivity. We also observed that patients with high-frequency EM experience significant burden, similar to that observed for patients with CM.
Auctions and the Making of the Nabob in Late Eighteenth-Century Calcutta and London
Authors: Rasico Patrick D.
Published: April 2021

This article examines the meanings and controversies surrounding sales by public auction in British colonial Calcutta and in London during the last decades of the eighteenth century. For Britons living in Calcutta's European sector, auctions were essential for acquiring imported European items that granted a sense of gentility and Britishness abroad. Public sales in Calcutta provided Britons with goods that instilled the fantasy of living in a British geography in India. However, by the last quarter of the century, ‘sales by hammer’ throughout the colonial world carried association with corruption, cruelty, and orientalization in the metropolitan imagination. In Britain, textual and visual accounts circulated of Europeans transforming into debauched ‘nabobs’, of the horrors of American slave auctions, and of the British East India Company's use of public sales to defraud and abuse prominent Indians. For some metropolitan observers, sales by hammer were a deceitful means of seizing property and status from the traditional landed elite of India and Britain. British critics feared that colonial auction practices could become common in Britain and could lead to the upending of social hierarchization and the normalization of slavery in the metropolis.
Doctors Playing Gods? The Legal Challenges in Regulating the Experimental Stage of Cybernetic Human Enhancement
Authors: Moulin Thibault
Published: April 2021

The emergence of new technologies might challenge our assumptions about biomedical research: medical progress may not only cure but enhance human capacities. In particular, the emergence of brain-machine interfaces will admittedly allow disabled people to move or communicate again, but also has various military applications, such as remote control of drones and avatars. Although there is no express legal framework pertaining to the experimental phase of human enhancement techniques, they are actually constrained by international law. According to international humanitarian law, civilians and prisoners of war may be subjected to experiments only when required by their state of health or for medical treatment. According to international human rights law, experimentations are permissible when they meet two conditions: (i) free consent, and (ii) proportionality (that is, the adequacy of risk and benefit). In light of these conditions, this article assesses the situations in which experimentation involving brain-computer interfaces would be lawful. It also gives specific attention to those experimentations carried out on members of the armed forces. In fact, owing to the military hierarchy and the unique nature of its mission (to protect national security at the risk of their own lives), it is necessary to determine how the military may comply with this legal framework.
Using social media data to assess the impact of COVID-19 on mental health in China
Authors: Zhu Yongjian , Cao Liqing , Xie Jingui , Yu Yugang , Chen Anfan , Huang Fengming
Published: April 2021

Background

The outbreak and rapid spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) not only caused an adverse impact on physical health, but also brought about mental health problems among the public.

Methods

To assess the causal impact of COVID-19 on psychological changes in China, we constructed a city-level panel data set based on the expressed sentiment in the contents of 13 million geotagged tweets on Sina Weibo, the Chinese largest microblog platform.

Results

Applying a difference-in-differences approach, we found a significant deterioration in mental health status after the occurrence of COVID-19. We also observed that this psychological effect faded out over time during our study period and was more pronounced among women, teenagers and older adults. The mental health impact was more likely to be observed in cities with low levels of initial mental health status, economic development, medical resources and social security.

Conclusions

Our findings may assist in the understanding of mental health impact of COVID-19 and yield useful insights into how to make effective psychological interventions in this kind of sudden public health event.
Kierkegaard's Socratic Alternative to Hegel inFear and Trembling
Authors: Dinan Matthew
Published: April 2021

Søren Kierkegaard'sFear and Tremblinghas traditionally attracted interest from scholars of political theory for its apparent hostility to political philosophy, and more recently for its compatibility with Marxism. This paper argues for a reconsideration of Kierkegaard's potential contributions to political theory by suggesting that the work's shortcomings belong to its pseudonymous author, Johannes de Silentio, and are in fact intended by Kierkegaard. Attentiveness to the literary development of the pseudonym allows us to see a Kierkegaard who is a deeper and more direct critic of Hegel's political philosophy than is usually presumed. By creating a pseudonym whose argument ultimately fails, Kierkegaard employs Socratic irony in order to point readers to the need to recover Socratic political philosophy as the appropriate adjunct to the faith of Abraham, and as an alternative to Hegelian, and post-Hegelian, political thought.
Search for smart evaders with sweeping agents
Authors: Francos Roee M. , Bruckstein Alfred M.
Published: April 2021

Suppose in a given planar circular region, there are smart mobile evaders and we want to find them using sweeping agents. We assume the sweeping agents are in a line formation whose total length is predetermined. We propose procedures for designing a sweeping process that ensures the successful completion of the task, thereby deriving conditions on the sweeping velocity of the linear formation and its path. Successful completion of the task means that evaders with a given limit on their velocity cannot escape the sweeping agents. We present results on the search time given the initial conditions.
SERVER COORDINATION IN QUEUEING SYSTEMS: WHEN AND HOW?
Authors: Hu Junqi , Andradóttir Sigrún , Ayhan Hayriye
Published: April 2021

Standard server assignment policies for multi-server queueing stations include the noncollaborative policy, where the servers work in parallel on different jobs; and the fully collaborative policy, where the servers work together on the same job. However, if each job can be decomposed into subtasks with no precedence relationships, then we consider a form of server coordination named task assignment where the servers work in parallel on different subtasks of the same job. We identify the task assignment policy that maximizes the long-run average throughput of a queueing station with finite internal buffers when blocked servers can be idled or reassigned to either replace or collaborate with other servers on unblocked subtasks. We then compare the server coordination policies and show that the task assignment is best when the servers are highly specialized; otherwise, the fully collaborative or noncollaborative policies are preferable depending on whether the synergy level among the servers is high or not. We also provide numerical results that quantify our previous comparison. Finally, we address buffer allocation in longer lines where there are precedence relationships between some of the tasks, and present numerical results that suggest our comparisons for one queueing station generalize to longer lines.
Double burden of underweight and overweight among Indian adults: spatial patterns and social determinants
Authors: Bhandari Pravat , Gayawan Ezra , Yadav Suryakant
Published: April 2021

Objective:

The current study explores the spatial patterns of underweight and overweight among adult men and women in districts of India and identifies the micro-geographical locations where the risks of underweight and overweight are simultaneously prevalent, after accounting for demographic and socio-economic factors.

Design:

We relied on BMI (weight (kg)/height squared (m2)), a measure of nutritional status among adult individuals, from the 2015–2016 National Family and Health Survey. Underweight was defined as <18·5 kg/m2 and overweight as ≥25·0 kg/m2.

Setting:

We adopted Bayesian structured additive quantile regression to model the underlying spatial structure in underweight and overweight burden.

Participants:

Men aged 15–54 years (sample size: 108 092) and women aged 15–49 years (sample size: 642 002).

Results:

About 19·7 % of men and 22·9 % of women were underweight, and 19·6 % of men and 20·6 % of women were overweight. Results indicate that malnutrition burden in adults exhibits geographical divides across the country. Districts located in the central, western and eastern regions show higher risks of underweight. There is evidence of substantial spatial clustering of districts with higher risk of overweight in southern and northern India. While finding a little evidence on double burden of malnutrition among population groups, we identified a total of sixty-six double burden districts.

Conclusions:

The current study demonstrates that the geographical burden of overweight in Indian adults is yet to surpass that of underweight, but the coexistence of double burden of underweight and overweight in selected regions presents a new challenge for improving nutritional status and necessitates specialised policy initiatives.
Correlative Approach for Atom Probe Sample Preparation of Interfaces Using Plasma Focused Ion Beam Without Lift-Out
Authors: Rielli Vitor Vieira , Theska Felix , Primig Sophie
Published: April 2021

Plasma focused ion beam microscopy (PFIB) is a recent nanofabrication technique that is suitable for site-specific atom probe sample preparation. Higher milling rates and fewer artifacts make it superior to Ga+ FIBs for the preparation of samples where large volumes of material must be removed, for example, when trying to avoid lift-out techniques. Transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) is a method that has facilitated phase identification and crystallographic measurements in such electron transparent samples. We propose a procedure for preparing atom probe tomography (APT) tips from mechanically prepared ribbons by using PFIB. This is highly suitable for the preparation of atom probe tips of interfaces such as interphase boundaries from challenging materials where lift-out tips easily fracture. Our method, in combination with TKD, allows the positioning of regions of interest such as interfaces close to the apex of the tip. We showcase the efficacy of the proposed method in a case study on Alloy 718, where the interface between γ-matrix and δ-phase has not been yet extensively explored through APT due to preparation challenges. Results show depletion of γ″-precipitates near the γ/δ interface. A quantitative evaluation of the composition of phases in the bulk versus near the interface is achieved.
DEFORMATIONS OF THE VERONESE EMBEDDING AND FINSLER
-SPHERES OF CONSTANT CURVATURE
Authors: Lange Christian , Mettler Thomas
Published: April 2021

We establish a one-to-one correspondence between, on the one hand, Finsler structures on the

$2$
-sphere with constant curvature

$1$
and all geodesics closed, and on the other hand, Weyl connections on certain spindle orbifolds whose symmetric Ricci curvature is positive definite and whose geodesics are all closed. As an application of our duality result, we show that suitable holomorphic deformations of the Veronese embedding

$\mathbb {CP}(a_1,a_2)\rightarrow \mathbb {CP}(a_1,(a_1+a_2)/2,a_2)$
of weighted projective spaces provide examples of Finsler

$2$
-spheres of constant curvature whose geodesics are all closed.
A wideband, compact, high gain, low-profile, monopole antenna using wideband artificial magnetic conductor for off-body communications
Authors: Hazarika Bidisha , Basu Banani , Nandi Arnab
Published: April 2021

A wideband staircase pattern defected ground monopole antenna integrated with an artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) reflector has been proposed for C-band (4–8 GHz) and ITU band (8.01–8.5 GHz) applications. The integrated antenna consists of a staircase antenna at top, a 2 × 2 AMC reflector at the bottom and an air substrate as gap between them. The AMC offers 18.5% ± 90° reflection phase bandwidth from 6.10 to 7.32 GHz. The AMC layer has achieved mu-negative properties in the designated band. The AMC proffers polarization independent behavior in the respective frequency band depicting robustness in AMC reflection phase characteristics. The integrated antenna has offered a wide impedance bandwidth of 2.78 GHz (42.8% at 6.5 GHz and 34.1% at 8.15 GHz) due to the defected ground monopole. The integration of wideband AMC beneath the staircase monopole antenna alters the out of phase radiation to in-phase planer pattern which enhances the peak gain up to 9.7 dB. It reduces the 1-g averaged specific absorption rate to 0.223 and 0.324 W/kg at the two designated bands. The structure maintains almost similar bandwidth and gain due to artificial human body loading.
Thallium Isotope Fractionation During Magma Degassing: Evidence From Experiments and Kamchatka Arc Lavas
Authors: Nielsen Sune G. , Shu Yunchao , Wood Bernard J. , Blusztajn Jerzy , Auro Maureen , Norris C. Ashley , Wörner Gerhard
Published: April 2021

Thallium (Tl) isotope ratios are an emerging tool that can be used to trace crustal recycling processes in arc lavas and ocean island basalts (OIBs). Thallium is a highly volatile metal that is enriched in volcanic fumaroles, but it is unknown whether degassing of Tl from subaerial lavas has a significant effect on their residual Tl isotope compositions. Here, we present Tl isotope and concentration data from degassing experiments that are best explained by Rayleigh kinetic isotope fractionation during Tl loss. Our data closely follow predicted isotope fractionation models in which TlCl is the primary degassed species and where Tl loss is controlled by diffusion and natural convection, consistent with the slow gas advection velocity utilized during our experiments. We calculate that degassing into air should be associated with a net Tl isotope fractionation factor of αnet = 0.99969 for diffusion and natural gas convection (low gas velocities) and αnet = 0.99955 for diffusion and forced gas convection (high gas velocities). We also show that lavas from three volcanoes in the Kamchatka arc exhibit Tl isotope and concentration patterns that plot in between the two different gas convection regimes, implying that degassing played an important role in controlling the observed Tl isotope compositions in these three volcanoes. Literature inspection of Tl isotope data for subaerial lavas reveals that the majority of these appear only minorly affected by degassing, although a few samples from both OIBs and arc volcanoes can be identified that likely experienced some Tl degassing.
Modeling a Large Coastal Upwelling Event in Lake Superior
Authors: Li Yaru , Beletsky Dmitry , Wang Jia , Austin Jay , Kessler James , Fujisaki‐Manome Ayumi , Bai Peng
Published: April 2021

An extraordinary strong wind‐driven upwelling event occurred in Lake Superior in summer of 2010 when the lake was strongly stratified. In this paper, a detailed three‐dimensional (3‐D) investigation of the current and thermal structures during the upwelling event was conducted using in situ observations, remote sensing products, and the results of a long‐term numerical simulation. A 3‐D finite‐volume coupled ice–ocean model tailored for the Laurentian Great Lakes was employed for this purpose. The model was validated with temperature observations at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration buoys and mooring data from 2010. The upwelling event observed in satellite imagery and at a mooring station was reproduced by the model, showing a cooling of as much as 10°C in August 2010 along the northwestern coast. The relationship between the alongshore wind and the offshore thermocline displacement (upwelling front) derived in theoretical work (Csanady, 1977, https://doi.org/10.1029/JC082i003p00397) was used to calculate upwelling front movement offshore and found to be in in close agreement with model prediction. A significant correlation between alongshore wind stress and lake temperature change in the upwelling zone was found with a correlation coefficient of −0.87. A simple linear heat balance model explained most of variability in temperature.
Effect of Forest Canopy Structure on Wintertime Land Surface Albedo: Evaluating CLM5 Simulations With In‐Situ Measurements
Authors: Malle Johanna , Rutter Nick , Webster Clare , Mazzotti Giulia , Wake Leanne , Jonas Tobias
Published: April 2021

Land Surface Albedo (LSA) of forested environments continues to be a source of uncertainty in land surface modeling, especially across seasonally snow covered domains. Assessment and improvement of global scale model performance has been hampered by the contrasting spatial scales of model resolution and in‐situ LSA measurements. In this study, point‐scale simulations of the Community Land Model 5.0 (CLM5) were evaluated across a large range of forest structures and solar angles at two climatically different locations. LSA measurements, using an uncrewed aerial vehicle with up and down‐looking shortwave radiation sensors, showed canopy structural shading of the snow surface exerted a primary control on LSA. Diurnal patterns of measured LSA revealed strong effects of both azimuth and zenith angles, neither of which were adequately represented in simulations. In sparse forest environments, LSA were overestimated by up to 66%. Further analysis revealed a lack of correlation between Plant Area Index (PAI), the primary canopy descriptor in CLM5, and measured LSA. Instead, measured LSA showed considerable correlation with the fraction of snow visible in the sensor's field of view, a correlation which increased further when only considering the sunlit fraction of visible snow. The use of effective PAI values as a simple first‐order correction for the discrepancy between measured and simulated LSA in sparse forest environments substantially improved model results (64%–76% RMSE reduction). However, the large biases suggest the need for a more generic solution, for example, by introducing a canopy metric that represents canopy gap fraction rather than assuming a spatially homogeneous canopy.
Landslides Mar the “Pearl of Africa”
Authors: Mafaranga Hope
Published: April 2021

Behind Uganda’s lavish beauty, climate change has taken its toll: Death, destroyed properties, and displaced communities increase as above-normal rainfall floods the country.
On the Assessment of Day‐To‐Day Occurrence of Equatorial Plasma Bubble
Authors: Das S. K. , Patra A. K. , K. Niranjan
Published: April 2021

In this paper, we address the day‐to‐day variation in the development of equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) using simultaneous observations made by the 30 MHz Gadanki Ionospheric Radar Interferometer (GIRI) and ionosonde (DPS‐4D) from Gadanki and C/NOFS. We show that wave‐like variations with horizontal wavelengths of 200–660 km observed prior to sunset have a close connection with EPB spacings. We also show that the locations of EPB development at their origins, which varied on a day‐to‐day basis, were as large as 2600 km from Gadanki. A detailed analysis clearly reveals the cause of such variability and provides clue as to where the background ionospheric conditions led to the growth of the Rayleigh Taylor instability (RTI) generating EPB and where they failed. Results clearly show that while ionosonde observations show great potential for understanding day‐to‐day variation and predicting EPB development overhead (within ±1° longitude), they are inadequate to assess the growth potential of EPB at longitudes away from a longitude zone of about ±1° from overhead. A detailed analysis suggests that the day‐to‐day variability in EPB development is governed by large scale wave structures (LSWS) and it is inferred that the LSWS troughs (low electron density) are the sites for the EPB development. Results further suggest that LSWS with horizontal wavelength of 200–660 km acts as seed for the growth of the RTI resulting in EPBs with same spacing. While the sources of LSWS remain to be identified, it is suggested that observations with longitudinally distributed ground‐based sensor, viz., ionosonde, preferably separated by 250–300 km, would be an immediate step forward in this effort.
Exchange Flow and Material Transport Along the Salinity Gradient of a Long Estuary
Authors: Xiong Jilian , Shen Jian , Qin Qubin
Published: April 2021

Most estuaries are characterized by non‐uniform axial topography with shallow shoals near the mouth. Previous studies have addressed the impacts of the axial topographic variations on mixing and estuarine circulations yet seldom on material transport and retention. This study investigates the longitudinal structure and mechanisms of exchange flow and material transport of Chesapeake Bay (CB), featuring a shallow sill in the lower bay, by applying total exchange flow (TEF) algorithm, tracer experiments, and partial residence time (PRT) using a validated 32‐years numerical model simulation. A retention coefficient was adopted to quantify the material retention rate using two characteristic PRTs: with and without incorporating water parcels returning to a concerned region. It is found that shoaling from the Rappahannock Shoal to the mouth causes persistent downwelling, strong reflux, and the highest material retention rate in the middle of the bay. The gravitational circulation and the river outflow dominate the transport of salt and riverine dissolved materials (RDMs), whereas the contribution of the tidal oscillatory process is localized near the mouth. The dominance of river outflow over the gravitational circulation for transporting RDMs is confined within the upper bay, where PRTs exhibit distinct seasonality. PRTs show small seasonality in the middle to the lower bay controlled by the exchange flow. The present analysis combining TEF, efflux/reflux theory, and PRT is applicable to other coastal aquatic ecosystems to characterize the water exchange and renewal efficiency along the salinity gradient and understand the contributions of transport to biogeochemical processes.
Exposure to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol during rat pregnancy leads to impaired cardiac dysfunction in postnatal life
Authors: Lee Kendrick , Laviolette Steven R. , Hardy Daniel B.
Published: April 2021

Background

Cannabis use in pregnancy leads to fetal growth restriction (FGR), but the long-term effects on cardiac function in the offspring are unknown, despite the fact that fetal growth deficits are associated with an increased risk of developing postnatal cardiovascular disease. We hypothesize that maternal exposure to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) during pregnancy will impair fetal development, leading to cardiac dysfunction in the offspring.

Methods

Pregnant Wistar rats were randomly selected and administered 3 mg/kg of Δ9-THC or saline as a vehicle daily via intraperitoneal injection from gestational days 6 to 22, followed by echocardiogram analysis of cardiac function on offspring at postnatal days 1 and 21. Heart tissue was harvested from the offspring at 3 weeks for molecular analysis of cardiac remodelling.

Results

Exposure to Δ9-THC during pregnancy led to FGR with a significant decrease in heart-to-body weight ratios at birth. By 3 weeks, pups exhibited catch-up growth associated with significantly greater left ventricle anterior wall thickness with a decrease in cardiac output. Moreover, these Δ9-THC-exposed offsprings exhibited increased expression of collagen I and III, decreased matrix metallopeptidase-2 expression, and increased inactivation of glycogen synthase kinase-3β, all associated with cardiac remodelling.

Conclusions

Collectively, these data suggest that Δ9-THC-exposed FGR offspring undergo postnatal catch-up growth concomitant with cardiac remodelling and impaired cardiac function early in life.

Impact

To date, the long-term effects of perinatal Δ9-THC (the main psychoactive component) exposure on the cardiac function in the offspring remain unknown.

We demonstrated, for the first time, that exposure to Δ9-THC alone during rat pregnancy results in significantly smaller hearts relative to body weight.

These Δ9-THC-exposed offsprings exhibited postnatal catch-up growth concomitant with cardiac remodelling and impaired cardiac function.

Given the increased popularity of cannabis use in pregnancy along with rising Δ9-THC concentrations, this study, for the first time, identifies the risk of perinatal Δ9-THC exposure on early postnatal cardiovascular health.
ODFM, an omics data resource from microorganisms associated with fermented foods
Authors: Whon Tae Woong , Ahn Seung Woo , Yang Sungjin , Kim Joon Yong , Kim Yeon Bee , Kim Yujin , Hong Ji-Man , Jung Hojin , Choi Yoon-E , Lee Se Hee , Roh Seong Woon
Published: April 2021

ODFM is a data management system that integrates comprehensive omics information for microorganisms associated with various fermented foods, additive ingredients, and seasonings (e.g. kimchi, Korean fermented vegetables, fermented seafood, solar salt, soybean paste, vinegar, beer, cheese, sake, and yogurt). The ODFM archives genome, metagenome, metataxonome, and (meta)transcriptome sequences of fermented food-associated bacteria, archaea, eukaryotic microorganisms, and viruses; 131 bacterial, 38 archaeal, and 28 eukaryotic genomes are now available to users. The ODFM provides both the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool search-based local alignment function as well as average nucleotide identity-based genetic relatedness measurement, enabling gene diversity and taxonomic analyses of an input query against the database. Genome sequences and annotation results of microorganisms are directly downloadable, and the microbial strains registered in the archive library will be available from our culture collection of fermented food-associated microorganisms. The ODFM is a comprehensive database that covers the genomes of an entire microbiome within a specific food ecosystem, providing basic information to evaluate microbial isolates as candidate fermentation starters for fermented food production.