bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Co-application of wood biochar and paper mill biosolids affects yield and short-term nitrogen and phosphorus availability in temperate loamy soils
Authors: Gagnon Bernard , Ziadi Noura , Manirakiza Eric
Published: July 2021

Amending croplands with forest residues may help in restoring soil properties in fields subject to intensive land management. Despite their known benefits when applied separately, co-application of wood biochar with paper mill biosolids (PB) has seen little investigation under field conditions. A study was initiated in Québec, QC, Canada, to determine the effect of a single application of wood biochar with and without PB on the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability of two pH-neutral to alkaline loamy soils. Biochar at 0, 10, and 20 Mg dry weight·ha−1 and PB at 30 Mg wet weight·ha−1 were applied before planting of corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] in 2018. Residual effect of this co-application was determined under soybean and corn in the subsequent year. In both years, corn received supplemental N and P from mineral fertilizers according to local agronomic recommendations. Co-applying biochar and PB reduced soil NO3-N availability in the year of application and decreased corn yield by 1.0 Mg·ha−1 compared with biochar or PB applied alone, but these amendments did not affect soybean yields. In the following year, the previous biochar addition increased soybean yield by 0.6 Mg·ha−1 but had little effect on corn. For both years, biochar addition induced a large increase in soil Mehlich-3 P. This study revealed that wood biochar positively impacted P status of these soils but was not a source of N to crops even when co-applied with PB.
Review of studies analysing glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) occurrence in groundwater
Authors: Carretta Laura , Masin Roberta , Zanin Giuseppe
Published: July 2021

The herbicide glyphosate (N-phosphonomethylglycine) has been the most commonly applied herbicide worldwide for the past 40 years. This review presents and discusses the state of knowledge concerning groundwater contamination by glyphosate and its metabolite, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA). A dataset of 48 reports and articles reporting on glyphosate and AMPA in groundwater worldwide was constructed from the published literature. Specific attention was given to the analysis of available studies on glyphosate and AMPA transport in groundwater to investigate groundwater contamination factors. The information presented in this review highlights detectable groundwater contamination in several countries, with many cases exceeding European groundwater quality standards. Both agricultural and non-agricultural applications of glyphosate can be significant sources of pollution, and proximity to agricultural fields is a significant risk factor. AMPA has two primary sources, glyphosate and amino polyphosphates, but very little information is available about the origin of AMPA detected in groundwater. Glyphosate and AMPA transport to groundwater can be significant in well-structured soils that are rich in macropores, where it generally occurs via preferential flow. An inverse relationship was highlighted between the groundwater depth and glyphosate and the occurrence and concentration of AMPA in groundwater; however, some discrepancies among the studies were identified. Heavy rainfall shortly after glyphosate application poses a high risk of its transport to groundwater. Seasonal trends in glyphosate and AMPA in groundwater, related to application timing, agronomic practices, and weather conditions, were also observed. Finally, risk-management measures are proposed.
Underlying gauge-fermion models of compositeness
Authors: Ferretti Gabriele
Published: July 2021

We review recent advances in the construction of models of compositeness using four-dimensional gauge theories with fermionic matter. We discuss the group theory data needed to fulfill the basic phenomenological requirements and we touch upon the main predictions of these constructions.
Analysis of tooth-bound fluoride after the application of coating materials on the enamel surface with an in-air micro PIXE/PIGE
Authors: Okuyama K. , Tamaki Y. , Matsuda Y. , Saito T. , Yamamoto H. , Naito K. , Hayashi M. , Suzuki K.
Published: July 2021

Tooth-bound (KOH-insoluble) fluoride prevents caries via long retention within the tooth structure. Tooth-bound fluoride in the enamel was investigated after applying various fluoride-containing tooth-coating materials using an in-air micro [Formula: see text] PIXE/PIGE system. Three different fluoride-containing or a non-fluoride containing coating materials were applied to the coronal enamel surface of 24 extracted human molars. The samples were stored in water for 1 or 7 days and then sectioned into two slices. One slice was immersed in 1M KOH solution for 24 h for KOH-insoluble fluoride (KOH(T)) analysis. The second slice was not subjected to KOH treatment and was used to analyze the whole fluoride (KOH-soluble plus insoluble fluoride: KOH(U)). Fluorine and calcium distribution were measured in all the slices with [Formula: see text]PIXE/PIGE. KOH(U) was higher than KOH(T) on some materials, especially those that released more fluoride. For KOH(T), there was no significant difference among all fluoride-containing materials in the 7-day group. However, there were significant differences in the KOH(U) samples during the same period. PIXE/PIGE analysis confirmed the presence of tooth-bound fluoride in the enamel adjacent to the fluoride-containing coating materials. The amount of tooth-bound fluoride depended on the type of material.
Thermal effects on the Casimir energy of a Lorentz-violating scalar in magnetic field
Authors: Erdas Andrea
Published: July 2021

In this work, I investigate the finite temperature Casimir effect due to a massive and charged scalar field that breaks Lorentz invariance in a CPT-even, aether-like way. I study the cases of Dirichlet and mixed (Dirichlet–Neumann) boundary conditions on a pair of parallel plates. I will not examine the case of Neumann boundary conditions since it produces the same results as Dirichlet boundary conditions. The main tool used in this investigation is the [Formula: see text]-function technique that allows me to obtain the Helmholtz free energy and Casimir pressure in the presence of a uniform magnetic field perpendicular to the plates. Three cases of Lorentz asymmetry are studied: timelike, spacelike and perpendicular to the magnetic field, spacelike and parallel to the magnetic field. Asymptotic cases of small plate distance, high temperature, strong magnetic field, and large mass will be considered for each of the three types of Lorentz asymmetry and each of the two types of boundary conditions examined. In all these cases, simple and very accurate analytic expressions of the thermal corrections to the Casimir energy and pressure are obtained and I discover that these corrections strongly depend on the direction of the unit vector that produces the breaking of the Lorentz symmetry.
Nanofilm boiling and evaporation of working fluids R32/R1234ze(E) on metal walls: Insights from molecular dynamics simulations
Authors: Zhang Cheng , Deng Kangjie , Yuan Dewen , Liu Wenxing , Yan Xiao
Published: July 2021

Understanding energy transfer between working fluid and vapor is a critical issue in absorption refrigeration and thermophysics for the aim of intensifying heat conversion. However, it is difficult to achieve by experimental measurements due to the difficulty in catching the detailed and accurate modeling information, e.g., specific working fluid, and its underlying molecular mechanism. In order to study the evaporation and boiling behavior of refrigerant mixture from the microscopic point of view, the nanofilm consisting of different working fluids, with the evaporation model of R32/R1234ze (E) on metal wall, was established by utilizing molecular dynamics (MD) method. The effect of different mole ratios, i.e., pure R32, 3:1, 1:1, 1:3, pure R1234ze (E), on the evaporation and boiling behavior of mixtures was analyzed. The results show that the probability of explosive boiling decreases with the decrease of R32 molecular mole ratios. Thus, in turn, the performance of refrigerant mixture is observed to be better than that of pure refrigerant. Insights from this simulation research could provide an effective reference for the MD interactions and have potential benefit in developing efficient and sustainable processes for industries to minimize the chemical usage and environmental damage.
Implication of fluid rheology on the Cattaneo–Christov heat flux theory for fourth grade nanofluid over a riga device with thermal radiation
Authors: Khan M. Ijaz , Alzahrani F.
Published: July 2021

This paper analyzes the influence of mixed convective fourth grade nanofluid flow by a stretchable Riga device in the presence variable thermal conductivity and mass diffusivity. Heat and mass transportation are considered with Cattaneo–Christov (CC) model. Thermal radiation and dissipation are also taken in the energy expression. Suitable transformation is employed to reduce partial differential system into nonlinear ordinary system. The governing nonlinear expression is solved via optimal homotopy analysis method. Impact of different physical variables is discussed via graphs. Velocity profile is enhanced for higher values of cross viscous parameter and fourth grade fluid variable. Fluid temperature enhances for higher estimation of thermal relaxation parameter but reverse behavior is seen for solutal concentration variable on nanoparticle concentration.
A State of the Art Technology with Machine Intelligence in Human Emotion Recognition
Authors: Bi Xiyan , Chen Liguo , Gayathri R. , Ravi Renjith V.
Published: July 2021

Emotion plays a significant role in human understanding and generally connected with rational decision making, attitudes, human activity, and human intelligence. To create realistic emotional relations between human beings and machines, the research community’s increasing interests need reliable and deployable solutions to recognize human emotional conditions. Automatic emotion detection is one of the main obstacles in providing innovative methods for more comfortable and more objective diagnosis, communication and analysis. Hence in this paper, an Artificial intelligence-assisted emotion prediction model (AIEPM) has been proposed to evaluate the probability of digital representation, identification and estimation of feelings, their state-of-the-art methods and primary research guidance. The proposed AIEPM analyses the effect on multimodal detection of emotional models. This paper presents emerging works based on language, sound, image, film, and physiological signals using current methods such as machine intelligence for recognizing human emotion. The proposed emphasis on this cutting-edge analysis reflects elements like the form and presentation of emotional stimulation, the sample’s scale. The numerical outcome suggested AIEPM, according to age, behaviour classification according to age (95.2%), emotions state recognition high probability in satisfaction compared to the proposed method, accuracy ratio (89.6%), performance ratio (94.5%) and recognition outcomes of existing and proposed work (98.2%) compared to other existing approaches improve behaviour classification.
Existence of infinitely many solutions for fractional p-Laplacian Schrödinger–Kirchhof-Type equations with general potentials
Authors: Benhamida Ghania , Moussaoui Toufik
Published: July 2021

In this paper, we use the genus properties in critical point theory to prove the existence of infinitely many solutions for fractional [Formula: see text]-Laplacian equations of Schrödinger-Kirchhoff type.
A thermal event in the Dolpo region (Nepal): a consequence of the shift from orogen perpendicular to orogen parallel extension in central Himalaya?
Authors: Nania Laura , Montomoli Chiara , Iaccarino Salvatore , Di Vincenzo Gianfranco , Carosi Rodolfo
Published: July 2021

In the Lower Dolpo region (central Himalaya), structurally above the South Tibetan Detachment System (STDS), blastesis of static micas have been recognized. Nevertheless, until now, very little work has been done to constrain the tectonic meaning and the timing of this static mica growth. In this work we investigate samples from the STDS hanging wall, characterized by three populations of micas, defining (i) S1 and (ii) S2 foliations, and (iii) M3 static mineral growth cutting both foliations. New geochronological
40
Ar/
39
Ar analyses on the microtexturally different micas, complemented by microstructural and compositional data, allow us to place temporal constraints on the static (re)crystallization at the STDS hanging wall. Results reveal homogeneous chemical compositions and ages of micas within the investigated samples, irrespective of the structural positions. Phlogopite and muscovite on S1 and S2 and post-kinematic biotite yielded
40
Ar/
39
Ar ages within 14–11 Ma with decreasing ages upward. We suggest that mica (re)crystallized under static conditions during a late thermal event at low structural levels (
c.
15–18 km), after cessation of the ductile activity of the shear zone. We hypothesize that this later thermal event is kinematically linked to the switch from orogen perpendicular to orogen parallel extension in central Himalaya.

Supplementary material:
Electron microprobe analyses of biotite and white mica are available at
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5509998

Thematic collection:
This article is part of the Isotopic Dating of Deformation collection available at:
https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/isotopic-dating-of-deformation
Large igneous provinces of the Amazonian Craton and their metallogenic potential in Proterozoic times
Authors: Reis Nelson Joaquim , Teixeira W. , D'Agrella-Filho M. S. , Bettencourt J. S. , Ernst R. E. , Goulart L. E. A.
Published: July 2021

This paper overviews the Proterozoic large igneous provinces (LIPs) of the Amazonian Craton, characterized by large volumes of extrusive and intrusive magmatic rocks. We reassess the geologic, geochronological and geochemical information to stablish three intracontinental felsic volcanic–plutonic igneous belts (i.e. SLIPs), namely: Orocaima (1.98–1.96 Ga), Uatumã (1.88–1.87 Ga) and Alta Floresta (1.80–1.79 Ga). The Avanavero LIP (1.79–1.78 Ga), as well as the Rincón del Tigre-Huanchaca LIP (1.11 Ga) are also revisited. The relationships of these events to intraplate settings through time and space are apparent. We examine the main characteristics of each magmatic event in light of the U–Pb zircon and baddeleyite ages and coupled isotopic–geochemical constraints, the geodynamic significance and metallogenetic potential. The Uatumã and Alta Floresta SLIPs host the most important mineral resources within the Amazonian Craton. Global barcode matches of the Proterozoic SLIP/LIP events of Amazonia are also addressed, as well as their possible links with geological timescale periods: the Orosirian, Statherian and Stenian boundaries. We also evaluate the available palaeomagnetic data to address issues related to the barcode match of such SLIP/LIP events in the context of supercontinent cycles.
Joint QoS-aware and Cost-efficient Task Scheduling for Fog-cloud Resources in a Volunteer Computing System
Authors: Hoseiny Farooq , Azizi Sadoon , Shojafar Mohammad , Tafazolli Rahim
Published: July 2021

Volunteer computing is an Internet-based distributed computing in which volunteers share their extra available resources to manage large-scale tasks. However, computing devices in a
Volunteer Computing System (VCS)
are highly dynamic and heterogeneous in terms of their processing power, monetary cost, and data transferring latency. To ensure both of the high
Quality of Service (QoS)
and low cost for different requests, all of the available computing resources must be used efficiently. Task scheduling is an NP-hard problem that is considered as one of the main critical challenges in a heterogeneous VCS. Due to this, in this article, we design two task scheduling algorithms for VCSs, named
Min-CCV
and
Min-V
. The main goal of the proposed algorithms is jointly minimizing the computation, communication, and delay violation cost for the
Internet of Things (IoT)
requests. Our extensive simulation results show that proposed algorithms are able to allocate tasks to volunteer fog/cloud resources more efficiently than the state-of-the-art. Specifically, our algorithms improve the deadline satisfaction task rates around 99.5% and decrease the total cost between 15 to 53% in comparison with the genetic-based algorithm.
Game-Theoretic Strategic Coordination and Navigation of Multiple Wheeled Robots
Authors: Pradhan Buddhadeb , Hui Nirmal Baran , Roy Diptendu Sinha , Srivastava Gautam , Lin Jerry Chun-Wei
Published: July 2021

Multiple robots negotiating in a dynamic workspace may lead to collisions. To avoid such issues, multi-robot navigation and coordination becomes necessary but is computationally very challenging, particularly when there are many robots. This article addresses the problem of multi-robot navigation where individual robots require coordination. Although a few such attempts for modeling multi-robot coordination and navigation have been studied, this work proposes a game-theoretic coordination strategy, also referred to as strategic coordination. We make use of a genetic algorithm tuned fuzzy logic–based motion planner. The proposed strategic coordination strategy has been pitted against a basic potential field-based motion planner, also referred to as the heuristic method, for performance comparison. Results are compared through computer simulation with 8 to 17 robots at different rounds. From the obtained results, it was observed that the proposed coordination scheme’s efficacy is strong for a larger number of robots. In addition, the proposed strategic coordination scheme with the genetic-fuzzy-based motion planner was found to outperform other combinations as far as the quality of solutions and time to reach the goal positions. The computational complexity of different methods has also been compared and presented.
The Quest for Strong Inapproximability Results with Perfect Completeness
Authors: Brakensiek Joshua , Guruswami Venkatesan
Published: July 2021

The Unique Games Conjecture has pinned down the approximability of all constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs), showing that a natural semidefinite programming relaxation offers the optimal worst-case approximation ratio for any CSP. This elegant picture, however, does not apply for CSP instances that are perfectly satisfiable, due to the imperfect completeness inherent in the Unique Games Conjecture.

This work is motivated by the pursuit of a better understanding of the approximability of perfectly satisfiable instances of CSPs. We prove that an “almost Unique” version of Label Cover can be approximated within a constant factor on satisfiable instances. Our main conceptual contribution is the formulation of a (hypergraph) version of Label Cover that we call
V Label Cover
. Assuming a conjecture concerning the inapproximability of V Label Cover on perfectly satisfiable instances, we prove the following implications:

• There is an absolute constant
c
0
such that for
k
≥ 3, given a satisfiable instance of Boolean
k
-CSP, it is hard to find an assignment satisfying more than
c
0
k
2
/2

k

fraction of the constraints.

• Given a
k
-uniform hypergraph,
k
≥ 2, for all ε > 0, it is hard to tell if it is
q
-strongly colorable or has no independent set with an ε fraction of vertices, where
q
=⌈
k
+√
k
-1/2⌉.

• Given a
k
-uniform hypergraph,
k
≥ 3, for all ε > 0, it is hard to tell if it is (
k
-1)-rainbow colorable or has no independent set with an ε fraction of vertices.
Online Service with Delay
Authors: Azar Yossi , Ganesh Arun , Ge Rong , Panigrahi Debmalya
Published: July 2021

In this article, we introduce the
online service with delay
problem. In this problem, there are
n
points in a metric space that issue service requests over time, and there is a server that serves these requests. The goal is to minimize the sum of distance traveled by the server and the total delay (or a penalty function thereof) in serving the requests. This problem models the fundamental tradeoff between batching requests to improve locality and reducing delay to improve response time, which has many applications in operations management, operating systems, logistics, supply chain management, and scheduling.

Our main result is to show a poly-logarithmic competitive ratio for the online service with delay problem. This result is obtained by an algorithm that we call the
preemptive service algorithm
. The salient feature of this algorithm is a process called preemptive service, which uses a novel combination of (recursive) time forwarding and spatial exploration on a metric space. We also generalize our results to
k
> 1 servers and obtain stronger results for special metrics such as uniform and star metrics that correspond to (weighted) paging problems.
SateLoc: A Virtual Fingerprinting Approach to Outdoor LoRa Localization Using Satellite Images
Authors: Lin Yuxiang , Dong Wei , Gao Yi , Gu Tao
Published: July 2021

With the increasing relevance of the Internet of Things and large-scale location-based services, LoRa localization has been attractive due to its low-cost, low-power, and long-range properties. However, existing localization approaches based on received signal strength indicators are either easily affected by signal fading of different land-cover types or labor intensive. In this work, we propose SateLoc, a LoRa localization system that utilizes satellite images to generate virtual fingerprints. Specifically, SateLoc first uses high-resolution satellite images to identify land-cover types. With the path loss parameters of each land-cover type, SateLoc can automatically generate a virtual fingerprinting map for each gateway. We then propose a novel multi-gateway combination strategy, which is weighted by the environmental interference of each gateway, to produce a joint likelihood distribution for localization and tracking. We implement SateLoc with commercial LoRa devices without any hardware modification, and evaluate its performance in a 227,500-m

urban area. Experimental results show that SateLoc achieves a median localization error of 43.5 m, improving more than 50% compared to state-of-the-art model-based approaches. Moreover, SateLoc can achieve a median tracking error of 37.9 m with the distance constraint of adjacent estimated locations. More importantly, compared to fingerprinting-based approaches, SateLoc does not require the labor-intensive fingerprint acquisition process.
Maat
Authors: Salem Aleieldin , Banescu Sebastian , Pretschner Alexander
Published: July 2021

The malware analysis and detection research community relies on the online platform VirusTotal to label Android apps based on the scan results of around 60 antiviral scanners. Unfortunately, there are no standards on how to best interpret the scan results acquired from VirusTotal, which leads to the utilization of different threshold-based labeling strategies (e.g., if 10 or more scanners deem an app malicious, it is considered malicious). While some of the utilized thresholds may be able to accurately approximate the ground truths of apps, the fact that VirusTotal changes the set and versions of the scanners it uses makes such thresholds unsustainable over time. We implemented a method,
Maat
, that tackles these issues of standardization and sustainability by automatically generating a
Machine Learning
(
ML
)-based labeling scheme, which outperforms threshold-based labeling strategies. Using the VirusTotal scan reports of 53K Android apps that span 1 year, we evaluated the applicability of
Maat
’s
Machine Learning
(
ML
)-based labeling strategies by comparing their performance against threshold-based strategies. We found that such
ML
-based strategies (a) can accurately and consistently label apps based on their VirusTotal scan reports, and (b) contribute to training
ML
-based detection methods that are more effective at classifying out-of-sample apps than their threshold-based counterparts.
Rethinking search
Authors: Metzler Donald , Tay Yi , Bahri Dara , Najork Marc
Published: July 2021

When experiencing an information need, users want to engage with a domain expert, but often turn to an information retrieval system, such as a search engine, instead. Classical information retrieval systems do not answer information needs directly, but instead provide references to (hopefully authoritative) answers. Successful question answering systems offer a limited corpus created on-demand by human experts, which is neither timely nor scalable. Pre-trained language models, by contrast, are capable of directly generating prose that may be responsive to an information need, but at present they are dilettantes rather than domain experts - they do not have a true understanding of the world, they are prone to hallucinating, and crucially they are incapable of justifying their utterances by referring to supporting documents in the corpus they were trained over. This paper examines how ideas from classical information retrieval and pre-trained language models can be synthesized and evolved into systems that truly deliver on the promise of domain expert advice.
Intersectional Ecologies: Reimagining Anthropology and Environment
Authors: Vaughn Sarah E. , Guarasci Bridget , Moore Amelia
Published: July 2021

Drawing on the work of Black feminist scholars, this review suggests “intersectional ecologies” as a method for critically engaging anthropology's relationship with the environment across subfields, intellectual traditions, and authorial politics. Intersectional ecologies helps us trace how a broad coalition of scholars represents and accounts for the environment within shifting planetary arrangements of bodies, sites, practices, and technologies. Our basic argument in this article is that because the environment is a malleable and contingent social fact, it matters who is analyzing its formation and how they are analyzing it. To this end, the scholarship we review comes from a diverse array of authors. The three themes we have identified—materiality, knowledge, and subjectivity—are central to bringing this diverse scholarship into dialogue while putting into focus anthropology's uneven commitments to the environment as a concept.
The Social Effects of Emotions
Authors: van Kleef Gerben A. , Côté Stéphane
Published: July 2021

We review the burgeoning literature on the social effects of emotions, documenting the impact of emotional expressions on observers’ affect, cognition, and behavior. We find convergent evidence that emotional expressions influence observers’ affective reactions, inferential processes, and behaviors across various domains, including close relationships, group decision making, customer service, negotiation, and leadership. Affective reactions and inferential processes mediate the effects of emotional expressions on observers’ behaviors, and the relative potency of these mediators depends on the observers’ information processing and the perceived appropriateness of the emotional expressions. The social effects of emotions are similar across expressive modalities (face, voice, body, text, symbols). We discuss the findings in relation to emotional contagion, emotional intelligence, emotion regulation, emotions as social information (EASI) theory, and the functionality of emotions in engendering social influence. Finally, we identify gaps in our current understanding of the topic and call for interdisciplinary collaboration and methodological diversification.
Social Motivation at Work: The Organizational Psychology of Effort for, Against, and with Others
Authors: Grant Adam M. , Shandell Marissa S.
Published: July 2021

Although a great deal of effort in tasks, projects, and jobs is fueled by our interactions and relationships, psychologists have often overlooked the social forces that shape work motivation. In this review, we examine new developments in research on the interpersonal dynamics that enable and constrain proactivity, persistence, performance, and productivity. The first section examines the impact of competition on work motivation, including the roles of rivalries, favorite versus underdog expectations, and status strivings. The second section focuses on when and how prosocial motivation can drive people to work harder, smarter, safer, and more collaboratively, as well as on the antecedents and collective consequences of this desire to benefit others. The third section centers on motivation in collaborations, emphasizing contagion, social proximity, friendship, and the motivation to lead. Together, these literatures suggest that although rivalries and friendships are double-edged swords, the twin goals to compete and contribute can be harnessed constructively.
In-Situ Electrochemical Construction of Stable Water Oxidation Catalysts
Authors: Chen Jiaye , Geng Dongsheng
Published: July 2021

Hydrogen has been regarded as a perfect future energy source alternative to fossil energy because of its wide application in chemical industry and great potential in fuel cells. However, the high overpotential is often required for the anodic reaction (OER) of the water splitting. Presently, the best catalysts for OER are based on precious metals (such as IrO2 and RuO2), however, the high cost and scarcity of these catalysts limit their wide applications. Therefore, non-noble metal catalysts have attracted much attention as electrocatalysts used in alkaline electrolyzer. However, it is more important to improve the stability than the activity of non-noble metal catalysts towards their large-scale application, especially under extreme electrolysis conditions. This work developed an OER electrocatalyst with superlattice structure by in-situ electrochemical process, which shows high electrocatalytic activity and stability in alkaline.

Nickel phosphate (NPO) with nanowire morphology was synthesized by hydrothermal reaction firstly. ꞵ-Ni(OH)2 was obtained by in-situ electrochemical scanning the NPO powder coated on carbon papers in alkaline solution. ꞵ-Ni(OH)2-CNTs were also prepared by the same method with the only difference of mixing NPO and CNTs. Catalytic activity of ꞵ-Ni(OH)2 for OER was evaluated by the three-electrode system in 1 M KOH solution. And the catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis.

Figure 1a shows the uniform NPO nanowire with a diameter of 5 nm obtained by hydrothermal reaction. Figure 1b-d display that the ꞵ-Ni(OH)2 nanosheets with superlattice structure has been successfully synthesized with the use of NPO nanowires as precursor by in-situ electrochemical method under alkaline condition. High resolution TEM shows that the thickness of ꞵ-Ni(OH)2 and NiOOH layer is 0.9 nm and 0.6 nm, respectively. The ꞵ-Ni(OH)2 and ꞵ-Ni(OH)2-CNTs showed high activity and stability toward the OER with an overpotential of 310 mV and 270 mV to reach the current density of 10 mA cm-2, respectively, and a long-term stability of 100 h showed in Figure 1e-f. This excellent property may be related to the superlattice structure which improves the efficiency of electronic transmission.

Figure 1. (a) TEM picture of Ni3(PO4)2; (b) TEM pictures of ꞵ-Ni(OH)2; (c) Elemental mapping of ꞵ-Ni(OH)2; (d) XPS spectra of P 2p of ꞵ-Ni(OH)2; (e) iR-corrected polarization curves of ꞵ-Ni(OH)2, ꞵ-Ni(OH)2-CNTs, IrO2, and RuO2 in 1 M KOH solution; (f) Chronopotentiometry curves of ꞵ-Ni(OH)2 and ꞵ-Ni(OH)2-CNTs at the potential of 1.54 V and 1.50 V, respectively.

Figure 1
Voltage-gated potassium channel dysfunction in dorsal root ganglia contributes to the exaggerated exercise pressor reflex in rats with chronic heart failure
Authors: Hong Juan , Fu Shubin , Gao Lie , Cai Yanhui , Lazartigues Eric , Wang Han-Jun
Published: July 2021

The primary finding of this manuscript is that voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channel dysfunction in DRGs plays a critical role in mediating the exaggerated EPR and muscle afferent sensitization in chronic heart failure (CHF). We propose that manipulation of Kv channels in DRG neurons could be considered as a potential new approach to reduce the exaggerated sympathoexcitation and to improve exercise intolerance in CHF, which can ultimately facilitate an improved quality of life and reduce mortality.
A Cross-Border E-Commerce Approach Based on Blockchain Technology
Authors: Hongmei Zhao
Published: July 2021

In the current cross-border electronic commerce (e-commerce) system, various document recording and authorization processes are cumbersome, record sharing efficiency is low, and identity verification is difficult. A method of asymmetric encryption technology combining Blockchain technology and cryptography is proposed. The advantages of asymmetric encrypted communications include high security and ease of multiparties communication collaboration, being applied to a peer-to-peer network formed by Blockchain technology, and making cross-border e-commerce record cross-domain sharing traceable, data immutable, and identity verification simplified. First of all, based on the immutable modification of Blockchain technology and asymmetric encryption technology, file synchronization contracts and authorization contracts are designed. Its distributed storage advantages ensure the privacy of users’ cross-border e-commerce information. Second, the design of the cross-domain acquisition contract can effectively verify the identity and transmission efficiency of both parties to the data sharing, so that illegal users can be safely filtered without a third-party notary institution. The simulation experiment results show that the solution proposed in this paper has obvious advantages in data antitheft, multiparty authentication, and saving system overhead compared with traditional cloud computing methods to solve the problem of sharing medical records. It provides a reference for solving the security problems in the process of data sharing by using the advantages of Blockchain’s decentralization and auditability and provides reference ideas for solving the problems of data sharing and cross-domain authentication.
Atypical Antiglomerular Basement Membrane Disease in a Pediatric Patient Successfully Treated with Rituximab
Authors: Jen Kuang-Yu , Auron Ari
Published: July 2021

Classic antiglomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) disease is an exceedingly rare but extremely aggressive form of glomerulonephritis, typically caused by autoantibodies directed against cryptic, conformational epitopes within the noncollagenous domain of the type IV collagen alpha-3 subunit. Pathologic diagnosis is established by the presence of strong, diffuse, linear staining for immunoglobulin on immunofluorescence microscopy. Recently, patients with atypical clinical and pathologic findings of anti-GBM disease have been described. These patients tend to have an indolent clinical course, without pulmonary involvement, and laboratory testing rarely reveals the presence of anti-GBM antibodies. Specific guidelines for the treatment and management of these patients are unclear. Here, we describe a case of atypical anti-GBM disease in a young child who presented with hematuria and prominent proteinuria. Throughout the course of his illness, creatinine remained normal. He was conservatively treated with steroids and rituximab, resulting in resolution of his clinical symptoms and normalization of laboratory findings.
Computational Image Encryption Techniques: A Comprehensive Review
Authors: Kaur Mandeep , Singh Surender , Kaur Manjit
Published: July 2021

Images contain very sensitive and confidential information. Because images play a significant role in many applications such as military communication, remote-sensing, and medical-imaging, therefore, it is necessary to protect sensitive and confidential information from unauthorized use and modification. To achieve this objective, encryption is one of the best methods among the information hiding methods. In recent years, many image encryption approaches are designed by the researchers. They use different concepts for image encryption to increase security. The main aim of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of the existing image encryption approaches. These approaches are categorized based on different concepts such as chaotic maps, DNA, compressive sensing, and optical image encryption. Comparisons are made among the existing approaches to access the various security parameters. Key performance metrics are also presented. The future scope of image encryption is also presented to encourage the research community.
The Evolutionary Game of Trust in Public-Private Partnership Project Networks
Authors: Nie Xiangtian , Feng Kai , Zhao Guoxiang , Fan Tianyu , Wang Shengnan
Published: July 2021

In public-private partnership (PPP) projects, the government plays a role as both regulator and participant. Trust between the government and the private sector is important as it may affect project performance and even cause the problem of a breach of contract, which may lead to project failure. Little is known, however, about the formation and evolution mechanisms of trust in this context. This study analyses the complex evolution of trust in PPP project networks. An evolutionary game of trust model between government and the private sector is established and analysed, the strategic equilibrium points are obtained by solving the replication dynamic equation, and the Jacobian matrix and differential equation stability theory are introduced to analyse the stability of the equilibrium points. The results reveal the relationships among the stable state of trust, the initial state of trust, and the payment matrix, indicating that the payment matrix can effectively shape the evolution process and stable state of trust to influence performance. This study provides a novel contribution in solving the complex trust problem in PPP project networks and it provides a new analytical tool for PPP project management practice.
Effects of Fruit Maturity Stages on GC-FID Fatty Acid Profiles, Phenolic Contents, and Biological Activities of Eucalyptus marginata L.
Authors: Ghazghazi Hanene , Essghaier Badiaa , Jawadi Ichrak , Riahi Leila , Ben Salem Ridha , Rigane Ghayth
Published: July 2021

The objective of this study was to determine the impact of development stages of Eucalyptus marginata’s fruits on the fatty acid composition as well as on phenolic, flavonoid, and tannin contents of oils. Taking into account fruit maturity stages, vegetable oils have been evaluated for their biological potentials. Fatty acid profiles were quantified using gas chromatography (GC) coupled to a flame ionization detector (FID). The fatty acid profiles of oils obtained from mature fruits showed highest linoleic acid content (49.21%) and Z-vaccenic (C18:1n-7) + oleic (C18:1n-9) acids (22.40%) and a low content of linolenic acid (C18:3) (1.59%). On the other hand, the major saturated fatty acid compound found in the oil of immature Eucalyptus marginata fruits was palmitic acid (C16:0) with about 27%. Based on the Folin–Ciocalteau method, the obtained results revealed a significant difference in the contents of total polyphenols, flavonoids, and tannins according to the stage of fruit maturity (

p
<
0.05

). Furthermore, the detected antimicrobial potentials were related to the fruit maturity stage. While both veg\etable oils extracted from mature and immature Eucalyptus marginata fruits exhibited notable antibacterial activities against the species Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Serratia marcescens, and Escherichia coli, only the oils extracted from immature fruits exhibited an antifungal activity against Candida parapsilosis.
Effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine Therapy on the Trend in CD4+ T-Cell Counts among Patients with HIV/AIDS Treated with Antiretroviral Therapy: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Wang Dongli , Ma Suna , Ma Yanmin , Guo Huijun , Li Pengyu , Yang Chunling , Xu Qianlei , Liu Zhibin , Jin Yantao
Published: July 2021

This retrospective cohort study was conducted to explore the effect of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapy on the long-term trends in CD4+ T-cell count among patients with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) who were treated with combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) over a 14-year period. A total of 721 individuals were treated with cART alone (cART group), and 307 individuals were treated with both cART and TCM (TCM + cART group). Among all enrolled patients with HIV/AIDS, 99.5% were farmers, 71.1% had more than 6 years of education, and 96.8% were infected with HIV via a paid blood donation. For those patients with HIV/AIDS who had a baseline CD4+ T-cell count of <350 cells/mL, the CD4+ T-cell count tended to increase to approximately 350 cells/mL more rapidly in the TCM + cART group than in the cART group, but when the baseline CD4+ T-cell count was ≥350 cells/mL, there was no difference between the cART and TCM + cART groups. For other patients with HIV/AIDS who had a baseline CD4+ T-cell count of 350–500 cells/mL, the CD4+ T-cell counts tended to increase slightly, but there was no difference between the two groups. For patients with HIV/AIDS who had a baseline CD4+ T-cell count of ≥500 cells/mL, the CD4+ T-cell counts tended to be maintained at a particular level, with no difference between the two groups. The results show that the effect of TCM on the CD4+ T-cell counts of patients with HIV/AIDS is related to the CD4+ T-cell level at the time of initial treatment. TCM can increase the CD4+ T-cell count among patients with HIV/AIDS who have a baseline CD4+ T-cell count of <350 cells/mL. Sex and age have a slight influence on the therapeutic effect of TCM.
Pharmacological Mechanisms Underlying the Hepatoprotective Effects of Ecliptae herba on Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Authors: Pan Botao , Pan Wenxiu , Lu Zheng , Xia Chenglai
Published: July 2021

Background. The number of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases worldwide has increased significantly. As a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with a long history, Ecliptae herba (EH) has been widely used in HCC patients in China, but its hepatoprotective mechanism is still unclear. Methods. In this study, we applied a network pharmacology-based strategy and experimental verification to systematically unravel the underlying mechanisms of EH against HCC. First, six active ingredients of EH were screened from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) by the ADME method. Subsequently, 52 potential targets of 6 active ingredients acting on HCC were screened from various databases, including TCMSP, DGIdb, SwissTargetPrediction, CTD, and GeneCards. Then, by constructing protein-protein interaction (PPI) network from STRING, we displayed the intricate connections among these 52 targets through Cytoscape software. We also applied enrichment analysis, including Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses, to provide an outline and set of concepts for describing gene functions and the advanced functions of biological systems of these 52 targets from genomic and molecular level information. Finally, molecular docking and biological experiments were used to reconfirm these results. Results. We hypothesized that EH might exert anti-HCC activity by acting on hub genes, including RELA, MMP9, PTGS2, ESR1, EGFR, AR, AKT1, HIF1A, AHR, CYP3A4, ABCG2, and MMP2. Moreover, based on GO and KEGG analysis, we speculated that EH may exert hepatoprotective effects on HCC through the following mechanisms: regulation of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway to promote apoptosis and inhibit the abnormal proliferation of HCC, downregulation of HIF-1A expression by activating the HIF-1 signaling pathway, prevention of HCC by regulating lipid metabolism, and inhibition of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) by the cytochrome P450 subfamily. Subsequent biological experiments verified that EH inhibits the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway through its active ingredients, quercetin, and wedelolactone, thereby inhibiting the proliferation of HCC cells and promoting the apoptosis of HCC cells. Conclusions. The network pharmacological strategy provides an efficient method to systematically explore the pharmacological mechanism of EH in HCC. Our study demonstrated that the anti-HCC proliferation activity of EH is mainly exerted by two active ingredients (quercetin and wedelolactone), which inhibit the proliferation of HCC cells (HepG2 and Huh-7) by inhibiting PI3K-AKT signaling.
Photoassisted Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Riceberry Rice Extract and Their Antibacterial Application
Authors: Jiamboonsri Pimsumon , Wanwong Sompit
Published: July 2021

The green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) has been attractive in biomedical applications due to its nontoxic and eco-friendly approach. This study presents the facile, rapid, and cost-effective synthesis of AgNPs by photoassisted chemical reduction using Riceberry (RB) rice extract as a reducing agent. The effects of reaction parameters including photoirradiation, irradiation time, the volume ratio of silver nitrate (AgNO3) to RB extract, and pH condition on the AgNP formation were also investigated. The characterization of AgNPs was determined by UV–visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. For antibacterial application, the synthesized AgNPs were studied by disc diffusion method against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The results indicated that light irradiation was an important factor to accelerate the formation of AgNPs. The synthesis parameters including volume of RB extract and pH condition significantly affected the particle size and crystallinity of AgNPs. The volume ratio of AgNO3 to RB extract 1 : 12.5 at pH 2.5 under photoirradiation was the successful condition to form nanometer-sized crystalline particles (average particle size of

59.48
±
0.37
 
nm

) within 30 min with a rate constant of 0.210 min–1. The FT-IR measurement also suggested that the phytochemical constituents in RB extract were served as reducing and stabilizing agents for the synthesis of AgNPs. Additionally, the obtained AgNPs from various conditions demonstrated the antibacterial activity against both strains. Therefore, this study proposes an effective integration technique to synthesize AgNPs within a short time for antibacterial application.
Failure Analysis of Deep Composite Roof Roadway and Support Optimization of Anchor Cable Parameters
Authors: Li Chen , Zhang Wenlong , Huo Tianhong , Yu Rui , Zhao Xidong , Luo Ming
Published: July 2021

The stability of the roadway surrounding rock is the key factor of underground mining. Roof subsidence occurred during roadway excavation in the Menkeqing Coal Mine. For the sake of safety, it was decided to stop tunneling project and strengthen roadway support, which resulted in a delay of the construction period and economic damage. To maintain the stability of the surrounding rock, we carried out a systematic study through field monitoring, theoretical analysis, and numerical simulation. The deformation and failure law of the surrounding rock, roof structure characteristics, and mechanical properties of the surrounding rock were obtained by field monitoring. The failure characteristics and forms of deep composite roof roadway are further analyzed. The key points of stability of the roadway surrounding rock of soft rock composite laminated roof are obtained by theoretical analysis, i.e., improving the effective stress diffusion efficiency of the anchor cable through the reasonable arrangement of the anchor cable. We use FLAC numerical simulation software to study the influence of different supporting parameters of anchor cable on the stress diffusion in the surrounding rock and put forward the optimal parameters. The optimized support parameters have been applied in the field, and the ideal results have been obtained.