bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Selection of suitable biomass conservation process techniques: a versatile approach to normal wiggly interval-valued hesitant fuzzy set using multi-criteria decision making
Authors: Narayanamoorthy Samayan , Ramya L. , Gunasekaran Angappa , Kalaiselvan Samayan , Kang Daekook
Published: May 2023

A country that relies on developing industrialization and GDP requires a lot of energy. Biomass is emerging as one of the possible renewable energy resources that may be used to generate energy. Through the proper channels, such as chemical, biochemical, and thermochemical processes, it can be turned into electricity. In the context of India, the potential sources of biomass can be broken down into agricultural waste, tanning waste, sewage, vegetable waste, food, meat waste, and liquor waste. Each form of biomass energy so extracted has advantages and downsides, so determining which one is best is crucial to reaping the most benefits. The selection of biomass conversion methods is especially significant since it requires a careful study of multiple factors, which can be aided by fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) models. This paper proposes the normal wiggly interval-valued hesitant fuzzy-based decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory model (DEMATEL) and the Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment of Evaluations II (PROMETHEE) for assessing the problem of determining a workable biomass production technique. The proposed framework is used to assess the production processes under consideration based on parameters such as fuel cost, technical cost, environmental safety, and $$CO_2$$

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emission levels. Bioethanol has been developed as a viable industrial option due to its low carbon footprint and environmental viability. Furthermore, the superiority of the suggested model is demonstrated by comparing the results to other current methodologies. According to comparative study, the suggested framework might be developed to handle complex scenarios with many variables.
Wildland Firefighter Critical Training Elicits Positive Adaptations to Markers of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health
Authors: Christison Katherine S. , Sol Joseph A. , Gurney Shae C. , Dumke Charles L.
Published: May 2023

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to identify physiologic changes in body composition and resting metabolic markers of health across 2 wk of critical training (CT) in wildland firefighters (WLFFs).

Methods

Twenty-two male and 3 female participants were recruited from 2 hotshot crews across the western United States prior to the 2022 fire season and monitored over their 80-h CT. Body weight (BW) and skinfolds were recorded before and after CT to estimate body fat (BF) and lean body weight (LBW). Blood was analyzed for changes in hematocrit, hemoglobin, plasma volume, and resting values of a lipid and metabolic panel.

Results

The high physical demands of CT resulted in improvements in total cholesterol (−19.3 mg/dL, P<0.001), triglycerides (−34.4 mg/dL, P<0.001), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (−18.1 mg/dL, P<0.001), very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (−5.2 mg/dL, P<0.001), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (+4.0 mg/dL, P=0.002), non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (−19.3 mg/dL, P<0.001), and fasting glucose (−4.3 mg/dL, P=0.008) from before CT to after CT. Significant decreases in hemoglobin and hematocrit were also seen ( P<0.001) with corresponding increases in estimated plasma volume (+6.1%, P<0.001). These alterations were seen despite maintenance of BW, LBW, and BF. Lower pretraining BF was associated with a greater magnitude of improvements in fasting glucose and cholesterol markers.

Conclusions

The observed improvements in baseline metabolic and cardiovascular markers along with plasma volume expansion suggest a positive response to the physical stress of WLFF CT. It appears that higher preseason fitness was associated with greater adaptations to the CT stressor.
Twenty-Four Percent of Wildland Firefighters Reach Critical Levels of Serum Creatine Kinase During 80-Hour Critical Training
Authors: Christison Katherine S. , Sol Joseph A. , Gurney Shae C. , Dumke Charles L.
Published: May 2023

Introduction

Wildland firefighters (WLFFs) must undergo a 2-wk critical training (CT) period prior to deployment to the field. This stress may result in clinical risks, including severe muscle damage and rhabdomyolysis. We aimed to document the effects of WLFFs’ CT on physiologic markers of muscle damage and soreness.

Methods

Two interagency hotshot crews (n=25) were followed during spring 2022 for 80 h of training. Activity counts as well as records of upper-body (US) and lower-body (LS) muscle soreness were collected daily. Body weight (BW) and skinfold measurements were recorded on Day 1 (D1) and D11 to estimate body fat (BF) and lean body weight (LBW). Blood was collected on D1 and D11 to measure muscle and liver damage markers.

Results

Critical training resulted in significant elevations in creatine kinase (CK) (216.9±57.4 U/L vs 5166.4±1927.8 U/L, P=0.017) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (175.5±4.0 IU/L vs 340.0±42.6 IU/L, P=0.001) despite no significant changes in BW, BF, LBW, cortisol, or testosterone. Main effects of time were seen in US and LS, peaking on D11 (US: 5.2±0.4 cm, P<0.001; LS: 5.5±0.4 cm, P<0.001). Those who spent the most minutes with activity counts of >1500 counts/min showed the greatest increase in CK and LDH.

Conclusions

These data suggest that WLFFs undergo significant physiologic stressors, resulting in muscle soreness and damage during CT, with 6 of the 25 subjects reaching critical levels of serum CK. It appears that much of the muscle damage and soreness occurred because of unaccustomed WLFF job-specific tasks.
Viscous flow around three-dimensional macroscopic cavities in a granular material: asymptotic theory for two sufficiently distant spherical cavities of arbitrary configuration
Authors: Sano Osamu , Karmakar Timir , Raja Sekhar G.P.
Published: May 2023

Viscous flow around two spherical macroscopic cavities (or void spaces) in a granular material, which is exposed to an otherwise uniform flow at infinity, is investigated. The flow field is obtained analytically by solving the Stokes equation inside and the Darcy–Brinkman equation outside of the cavities, where continuity of the velocity and that of the stress are assumed on the boundary. In our previous complementary paper (Sano, Karmakar & Sekhar, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 931, 2022, A20), we obtain that two cavities of equal size in a tandem position are more prone to collapse for a shorter centre-to-centre distance with low permeability. In the present study, the asymptotic analysis of the interaction of two spherical cavities of different sizes with arbitrary configuration is presented. Particular attention is paid to the configuration dependence of two cavities of equal radius. The velocity field and the volume flux into respective cavities are calculated, which reveal that two cavities with orientation less than a certain critical angle are given a larger volume flux and are more prone to collapse. The present results are applicable to predicting the behaviour in a fixed-bed regime of a solid–gas transport system, microscale waterway formation in a granular material, onset of landslides, collapse of cliffs and river banks, etc.
Linear-model-based study of the coupling between velocity and temperature fields in compressible turbulent channel flows
Authors: Cheng Cheng , Fu Lin
Published: May 2023

It is generally believed that the temperature and the velocity fields are highly coupled in compressible wall-bounded turbulence. In the present study, we employ a linear model, i.e. the two-dimensional spectral linear stochastic estimation (SLSE), to study this coupling from the perspective of the multi-scale energy-containing eddies. Particular attention is paid to the relevant statistical characteristics of the temperature field. The connections of the two fields are found to be varied with the wall-normal position in the boundary layer. In a nutshell, their entanglement is strongest in the near-wall region, and only the extreme thermal events cannot be captured by SLSE. In the logarithmic region, only the scales that correspond to the attached eddies and the very large-scale motions (VLSMs) are firmly coupled. The near-wall footprints of the former are organized in an additive manner and fulfil the predictions of the celebrated attached-eddy model. In the outer region, the two fields are linearly coupled only at the scales corresponding to VLSMs. These findings are demonstrated to be insensitive to the Mach number effects and ascribed to the similarity between the momentum and the heat transfer in compressible wall turbulence. It is also shown that it is the Reynolds number rather than Mach number that acts as a key similarity parameter in constructing their coupling. The framework built in the present study may pave a way for investigating the multi-physics coupling in turbulence, and reinforcing our analysing and modelling capability to the interrelated problems.
Investigation of conceptus stimulated gene expression in buffalo peripheral blood mononuclear cells as potential diagnostic markers of early pregnancy
Authors: Sharma Paramjeet , Choudhary Ratan Kumar , Ratta Navdeep Singh , Singh Sikh Tejinder
Published: May 2023

Exploration of novel strategies for early pregnancy diagnosis is pivotal in enhancing the reproductive potential and monetary gains from dairy herds. In buffalo, the trophectoderm cells of the elongating conceptus secrete interferon-tau that stimulates the transcription of various genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) during the peri-implantation period. We explored the differential expression of classical (ISG15) and novel (LGALS3BP and CD9) early pregnancy markers in PBMC of buffaloes during various stages of pregnancy. Natural heat was detected in buffaloes by assessing the vaginal fluid, and artificial insemination (AI) was done. Whole blood was collected from the jugular vein in EDTA-containing vacutainers for PBMC isolation before AI (0-day) and 20, 25 and 40 d post-AI. On day 40, transrectal ultrasonography examination was performed to confirm pregnancy. The inseminated non-pregnant animals served as control. Total RNA was extracted using the TRIzol method. The temporal abundance of ISG15, LGALS3BP and CD9 genes in PBMC was compared between pregnant and non-pregnant groups (n = 9 per group) using real time-qPCR. Results showed transcripts of ISG15 and LGALS3BP were more abundant at 20 d in the pregnant group compared to the 0 d and 20 d values of the non-pregnant group. However, due to variability in expression, threshold (Ct) cycle of RT-qPCR alone could not distinguish pregnant and non-pregnant animals. In conclusion, ISG15 and LGALS3BP transcripts abundance in PBMCs are potential candidate biomarkers for early prediction of buffalo pregnancy 20-days post-AI, but further work is required to allow the development of a reliable new methodology.
Decolonising food regulatory frameworks: importance of recognising traditional culture when assessing dietary safety of traditional foods
Authors: Williams Luke B. , Jones Mark , Wright Paul F. A.
Published: May 2023

As interest in Australian native products continues to grow worldwide, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (First Peoples) are striving to be industry leaders in the production of their traditional foods that are being developed for commercial markets. To successfully gain market approval both within Australia and globally, food regulatory authorities require at least a documented history of safe use to indicate dietary safety. Moreover, many countries also require compositional analysis and safety data to further support their safe human consumption. However, safety data are lacking for many of these traditional food items and the history that surrounds their safe use has rarely been recorded in written form, but rather passed on through cultural practices and language. This review evaluates the suitability of current frameworks for assessing the dietary safety of traditional foods and highlights the food-safety regulatory hurdles currently felt by First Peoples and their businesses attempting to enter the Australian native foods industry. These issues also extend to the requirements of food regulatory authorities around the world, when assessing the market eligibility of traditional food items. Potential solutions to these problems are discussed, including new proposed processes that can be incorporated into the current food regulatory frameworks. Importantly, these proposed processes would allow the dietary risk assessment of traditional foods to be completed in a manner that better accommodates the stories, traditional knowledge and interests of First Peoples, while also meeting the safety data requirements set out by regulatory bodies both within Australia and around the world.
Employer Engagement with Third-Sector Activation Programmes for Vulnerable Groups: Interrogating Logics and Roles
Authors: Butler Peter , Payne Jonathan
Published: May 2023

Employer engagement with active labour market programmes (ALMPs) and related employability projects is seen as vital to their ‘success’. However, the role of employers remains under-researched – a gap which widens in relation to non-governmental programmes led by not-for-profit, third-sector organisations (TSOs). Recent studies suggest that engaging employers may depend on addressing both human resource (HR) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) ‘logics’ and linking the roles of ‘gatekeeper to jobs’ and ‘proactive strategic partner’. A key question is whether TSO-led programmes are better placed to combine these logics and roles in engaging employers to help vulnerable groups into decent sustainable employment. The article explores this through a case study of two projects in England. The findings highlight the challenges that TSOs face in having to appeal almost exclusively to a CSR logic and explores why this is the case.
Aegean and Aegeanising Geometric pottery at Kinet Höyük: new patterns of Greek pottery production, exchange and consumption in the Mediterranean
Authors: Gimatzidis Stefanos , Gates Marie-Henriette , Lehmann Gunnar
Published: May 2023

This paper examines the Aegean and Aegeanising ceramic wares of Geometric type that were recovered in excavations at the Cilician seaport of Kinet Höyük. Its Geometric pottery assemblage, published here for the first time, is among the largest found so far in the eastern Mediterranean and provides the starting point for a new reconstruction of Greek pottery consumption patterns in the eastern Mediterranean. With this aim, we first present the formal and archaeometric characteristics of the Kinet repertoire, the nature of its archaeological contexts, and how it compares with Geometric ceramic assemblages elsewhere. The second part of our paper assesses this popular Aegean ceramic type’s modes of production in order to define the conditions that sponsored the many dimensions of its distribution, exchange and consumption.*
Cool-season cover crop effects on forage productivity and short-term soil health in a semi-arid environment
Authors: Ogunleye Anuoluwapo M. , Opoku Akwasi , Solomon Juan K.Q. , Payne William
Published: May 2023

There have been no systematic experiments conducted in Nevada's water-limited environment that examined the simultaneous benefits of soil health and feed value derived from cool-season cover cropping systems. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of different annual cool-season cover crop systems on above and belowground biomass production, plant tissue carbon and nitrogen, forage nutritive value (crude protein, acid, and neutral detergent fiber), relative feed value (RFV), and short-term soil health indicators under irrigation in a semi-arid environment. Treatments (cover crop systems) were a fallow (no cover crop), five monocultures of rye (Secale cereale L.), winter lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.), arrowleaf clover (Trifolium vesiculosum Savi), white sweetclover (Melilotus alba), forage kale (Brassica oleracea L.), and two three-species mixtures in 50-25-25 seeding ratios (CCM 1: rye, winter lentil, arrowleaf clover; CCM 2: rye, white sweetclover, forage kale). Cover crop systems were arranged in an RCBD with three replications. Plots were fall seeded in Reno, NV early October of each year (2020 and 2021) and terminated at the end of July of 2021 and 2022, respectively. Averaged across years, aboveground biomass production was lowest for the monoculture of winter lentil (4104 kg DM ha−1; SE = 1551) compared to all other cover crop systems (average = 7593 kg DM ha−1; SE = 1551). Biomass carbon produced was lowest for winter lentil (1717 kg ha−1; SE = 675) relative to all other cover crop systems (average = 3227 kg ha−1; SE = 675). The CCM 1 system had a greater C/N ratio (36.3) than CCM 2 and the monocultures of winter lentil, arrowleaf clover, and white sweetclover (average = 24.9). Belowground biomass did not differ among cover crop systems (average = 3161 kg DM ha−1; SE = 962). Crude protein concentration was similar among cover crop systems but the RFV was greatest for forage kale (RFV = 165; SE = 4.0) among all cover crop systems. Soil total N and organic carbon concentration did not differ among cover crop systems but soil K concentration was greatest under fallow (428 mg kg−1 soil; SE = 26) relative to all other systems (average = 345.6 mg kg−1 soil; SE = 26). Soil microbial community biomass was not altered by cover crop system or its interaction with year. While the short-term impact of the cover crop systems on soil health indicators was minimal relative to the fallow system, the overall results suggested that there is potential to integrate cover crops in Nevada's semi-arid environment under irrigation.
Plasmapause Surface Waves Triggered by Substorms
Authors: Hao Y. X. , Zong Q.‐G. , Yue C. , Zhou X.‐Z. , Zhang H. , Pu Z. Y. , Shprits Y. Y.
Published: May 2023

In this study, we present in‐situ measurement on board Van Allen Probes showing that surface wave can cause oscillations of the plasmapause and modulate hiss and electron cyclotron harmonic (ECH) waves. Plasmapause surface wave (PSW) in Ps6 band was observed during an intense substorm on 16 July 2017, accompanied with quasi‐periodic emissions of hiss (positively correlated with plasma density) and ECH waves (anticorrelated with density). Phase relation between magnetic field and velocity perturbations indicate that the PSW was an eigenmode between southern and northern ionosphere. Measurements from ground‐based magnetometers suggest that such PSW propagates sunward at the dusk flank and were excited around the expansion phase of an intense substorm. Additional cases of PSWs are also presented to demonstrate that such waves are commonly observed near plasmapause and are likely to be related to the substorm activity.
Ubiquitous Earthquake Dynamic Triggering in Southern California
Authors: DeSalvio Nicolas D. , Fan Wenyuan
Published: May 2023

Earthquakes can be dynamically triggered by the passing waves of other distant events. The frequent occurrence of dynamic triggering offers tangible hope in revealing earthquake nucleation processes. However, the physical mechanisms behind earthquake dynamic triggering have remained unclear, and contributions of competing hypotheses are challenging to isolate with individual case studies. To gain a systematic understanding of the spatiotemporal patterns of dynamic triggering, we investigate the phenomenon in southern California from 2008 to 2017. We use the Quake Template Matching catalog and an approach that does not assume an earthquake occurrence distribution. We develop a new set of statistics to examine the significance of seismicity‐rate changes as well as moment‐release changes. Our results show that up to 70% of 1,388 global M ≥ 6 events may have triggered earthquakes in southern California. The triggered seismicity often occurred several hours after the passing seismic waves. The Salton Sea Geothermal Field, San Jacinto fault, and Coso Geothermal Field are particularly prone to triggering. Although adjacent fault segments can be triggered by the same earthquakes, the majority of triggered earthquakes seem to be uncorrelated, suggesting that the process is primarily governed by local conditions. Further, the occurrence of dynamic triggering does not seem to correlate with ground motion (e.g., peak ground velocity) at the triggered sites. These observations indicate that nonlinear processes may have primarily regulated the dynamic triggering cases.
Unraveling effects of electron correlation in two-dimensional FenGeTe2 (n = 3, 4, 5) by dynamical mean field theory
Authors: Ghosh Sukanya , Ershadrad Soheil , Borisov Vladislav , Sanyal Biplab
Published: May 2023

The FenGeTe2 systems are recently discovered two-dimensional van-der-Waals materials, exhibiting magnetism at room temperature. The sub-systems belonging to FenGeTe2 class are special because they show site-dependent magnetic behavior. We focus on the critical evaluation of magnetic properties and electron correlation effects in FenGeTe2 (n = 3, 4, 5) (FGT) systems performing first-principles calculations. Three different ab initio approaches have been used primarily, viz., (i) standard density functional theory (GGA), (ii) incorporating static electron correlation (GGA + U) and (iii) inclusion of dynamic electron correlation effect (GGA + DMFT). Our results show that GGA + DMFT is the more accurate technique to correctly reproduce the magnetic interactions, experimentally observed transition temperatures and electronic properties. The inaccurate values of magnetic moments, exchange interactions obtained from GGA + U make this method inapplicable for the FGT family. Correct determination of magnetic properties for this class of materials is important since they are promising candidates for spin transport and spintronic applications at room temperature.
Electrochemical and theoretical investigations of favipiravir drug performance as ecologically benign corrosion inhibitor for aluminum alloy in acid solution
Authors: Deyab M. A. , El-Shamy Omnia A. A. , Thabet Hamdy Khamees , Ashmawy Ashraf M.
Published: May 2023

Aluminum–silicon alloys have become a preferred option in the automotive and aerospace industries thanks to their fault-tolerant process ability and reasonable static characteristics at relatively affordable costs. This study aimed to investigate the use of favipiravir (FAV) drug as a biocompatible and eco-friendly inhibitor to protect aluminum alloy (AlSi) surface in an aggressive acid environment (1.0 M HCl). The electrochemical measurements declare that FAV is categorized as an inhibitor of mixed type with a cathodic effect. At 100 ppm, FAV had the highest inhibitory efficiency (96.45%). FAV is associated with lower double-layer capacitance values and more excellent charge-transfer resistance. These results show that AlSi corrosion in 1.0 M HCl is reduced in the presence of FAV. The Langmuir model is well-suited to the FAV adsorption behavior (R2≈ 1). Chemisorption is the primary adsorption in this environment. The theoretical calculation studies corrosion inhibitors' molecular structure and behavior. Different quantum chemical properties of the FAV have been calculated, including energy difference (ΔE), softness, global hardness, and energy of back-donation depending on the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals. In addition, Mulliken and Fukui’s population analysis and the Molecular Electrostatic Potential map represent the electron distribution and the molecule’s active centers. Experimental findings and quantum chemical computations matched, and FAV is recommended as a green corrosion inhibitor.
Streptozotocin induces renal proximal tubular injury through p53 signaling activation
Authors: Nakai Kunihiro , Umehara Minato , Minamida Atsushi , Yamauchi-Sawada Hiroko , Sunahara Yasuto , Matoba Yayoi , Okuno-Ozeki Natsuko , Nakamura Itaru , Nakata Tomohiro , Yagi-Tomita Aya , Uehara-Watanabe Noriko , Ida Tomoharu , Yamashita Noriyuki , Kamezaki Michitsugu , Kirita Yuhei , Konishi Eiichi , Yasuda Hiroaki , Matoba Satoaki , Tamagaki Keiichi , Kusaba Tetsuro
Published: May 2023

Streptozotocin (STZ), an anti-cancer drug that is primarily used to treat neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) in clinical settings, is incorporated into pancreatic β-cells or proximal tubular epithelial cells through the glucose transporter, GLUT2. However, its cytotoxic effects on kidney cells have been underestimated and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We herein demonstrated that DNA damage and subsequent p53 signaling were responsible for the development of STZ-induced tubular epithelial injury. We detected tubular epithelial DNA damage in NET patients treated with STZ. Unbiased transcriptomics of STZ-treated tubular epithelial cells in vitro showed the activation of the p53 signaling pathway. STZ induced DNA damage and activated p53 signaling in vivo in a dose-dependent manner, resulting in reduced membrane transporters. The pharmacological inhibition of p53 and sodium-glucose transporter 2 (SGLT2) mitigated STZ-induced epithelial injury. However, the cytotoxic effects of STZ on pancreatic β-cells were preserved in SGLT2 inhibitor-treated mice. The present results demonstrate the proximal tubular-specific cytotoxicity of STZ and the underlying mechanisms in vivo. Since the cytotoxic effects of STZ against β-cells were not impaired by dapagliflozin, pretreatment with an SGLT2 inhibitor has potential as a preventative remedy for kidney injury in NET patients treated with STZ.
Mixed Micromax and hematite-based fly ash geopolymer for heavy-weight well cementing
Authors: Abdelaal Ahmed , Elkatatny Salaheldin
Published: May 2023

Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) has introduced different environmental and technical issues. Researchers tried either adding new materials to cement or developing alternatives for both technical and environmental challenges. Hematite as a weighting agent is used to increase cement slurry density. Heavy particles sedimentation in cement and geopolymer slurries is a serious issue which creates heterogenous properties along the cemented section. This work presents a new class of geopolymers using both hematite and Micromax as weighting materials for high density well cementing applications. The first system used only hematite while the other system used both hematite and Micromax. The main goal behind using Micromax with hematite is to check the possibility of eliminating the sedimentation issue associated with hematite in geopolymers. Moreover, the effects of adding Micromax on different FFA geopolymer properties were also evaluated. Different mixtures of retarder, retarder intensifier and superplasticizer were introduced to increase the thickening times of the developed geopolymer systems. The results showed that adding Micromax to hematite decreased the average density variation from 12.5% to almost 3.9%. Micromax addition reduced plastic viscosity by 44.5% and fluid loss by 10.5%. Both systems had a close performance in terms of strength, elastic properties, and permeability. The thickening time was 390 min for the hematite system and 300 min for the mixed system using the proposed additives mixtures.
Menstrual cycle length variation by demographic characteristics from the Apple Women’s Health Study
Authors: Li Huichu , Gibson Elizabeth A. , Jukic Anne Marie Z. , Baird Donna D. , Wilcox Allen J. , Curry Christine L. , Fischer-Colbrie Tyler , Onnela Jukka-Pekka , Williams Michelle A. , Hauser Russ , Coull Brent A. , Mahalingaiah Shruthi
Published: May 2023

Menstrual characteristics are important signs of women’s health. Here we examine the variation of menstrual cycle length by age, ethnicity, and body weight using 165,668 cycles from 12,608 participants in the US using mobile menstrual tracking apps. After adjusting for all covariates, mean menstrual cycle length is shorter with older age across all age groups until age 50 and then became longer for those age 50 and older. Menstrual cycles are on average 1.6 (95%CI: 1.2, 2.0) days longer for Asian and 0.7 (95%CI: 0.4, 1.0) days longer for Hispanic participants compared to white non-Hispanic participants. Participants with BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2 have 1.5 (95%CI: 1.2, 1.8) days longer cycles compared to those with BMI between 18.5 and 25 kg/m2. Cycle variability is the lowest among participants aged 35–39 but are considerably higher by 46% (95%CI: 43%, 48%) and 45% (95%CI: 41%, 49%) among those aged under 20 and between 45–49. Cycle variability increase by 200% (95%CI: 191%, 210%) among those aged above 50 compared to those in the 35–39 age group. Compared to white participants, those who are Asian and Hispanic have larger cycle variability. Participants with obesity also have higher cycle variability. Here we confirm previous observations of changes in menstrual cycle pattern with age across reproductive life span and report new evidence on the differences of menstrual variation by ethnicity and obesity status. Future studies should explore the underlying determinants of the variation in menstrual characteristics.
Ocean alkalinity enhancement through restoration of blue carbon ecosystems
Authors: Fakhraee Mojtaba , Planavsky Noah J. , Reinhard Christopher T.
Published: May 2023

Blue carbon ecosystems provide a wide range of ecosystem services, are critical for maintaining marine biodiversity and may potentially serve as sites of economically viable carbon dioxide removal through enhanced organic carbon storage. Here we use biogeochemical simulations to show that restoration of these marine ecosystems can also lead to permanent carbon dioxide removal by driving ocean alkalinity enhancement and atmosphere-to-ocean CO2 fluxes. Most notably, our findings suggest that restoring mangroves, which are common in tropical shallow marine settings, will lead to notable local ocean alkalinity enhancement across a wide range of scenarios. Enhanced alkalinity production is linked to increased rates of anaerobic respiration and to increased dissolution of calcium carbonate within sediments. This work provides further motivation to pursue feasible blue carbon restoration projects and a basis for incorporating inorganic carbon removal in regulatory and economic incentivization of blue carbon ecosystem restoration.
Inflammatory cells dynamics control neovascularization and tissue healing after localized radiation induced injury in mice
Authors: Loinard Céline , Benadjaoud Mohamed Amine , Lhomme Bruno , Flamant Stéphane , Baijer Jan , Tamarat Radia
Published: May 2023

Local overexposure to ionizing radiation leads to chronic inflammation, vascular damage and cachexia. Here we investigate the kinetics of inflammatory cells from day (D)1 to D180 after mouse hindlimb irradiation and analyze the role of monocyte (Mo) subsets in tissue revascularization. At D1, we find that Mo and T cells are mobilized from spleen and bone marrow to the blood. New vessel formation during early phase, as demonstrated by ~1.4- and 2-fold increased angiographic score and capillary density, respectively, correlates with an increase of circulating T cells, and Mohi and type 1-like macrophages in irradiated muscle. At D90 vascular rarefaction and cachexia are observed, associated with decreased numbers of circulating Molo and Type 2-like macrophages in irradiated tissue. Moreover, CCR2- and CX3CR1-deficency negatively influences neovascularization. However adoptive transfer of Mohi enhances vessel growth. Our data demonstrate the radiation-induced dynamic inflammatory waves and the major role of inflammatory cells in neovascularization.
Robust oscillator-mediated phase gates driven by low-intensity pulses
Authors: Arrazola Iñigo , Casanova Jorge
Published: May 2023

Robust qubit-qubit interactions mediated by bosonic modes are central to many quantum technologies. Existing proposals combining fast oscillator-mediated gates with dynamical decoupling require strong pulses or fast control over the qubit-boson coupling. Here, we present a method based on dynamical decoupling techniques that leads to faster-than-dispersive entanglement gates with low-intensity pulses. Our method is general, i.e., it is applicable to any quantum platform that has qubits interacting with bosonic mediators via longitudinal coupling. Moreover, the protocol provides robustness to fluctuations in qubit frequencies and control fields, while also being resistant to common errors such as frequency shifts and heating in the mediator as well as crosstalk effects. We illustrate our method with an implementation for trapped ions coupled via magnetic field gradients. With detailed numerical simulations, we show that entanglement gates with infidelities of 10−3 or 10−4 are possible with current or near-future experimental setups, respectively.
Design of acoustic absorbing metasurfaces using a data-driven approach
Authors: Baali Hamza , Addouche Mahmoud , Bouzerdoum Abdesselam , Khelif Abdelkrim
Published: May 2023

The design of acoustic metasurfaces with desirable properties is challenging due to their artificial nature and the large space of physical and geometrical parameters. Until recently, design strategies were primarily based on numerical simulations based on finite-element or finite-difference time-domain methods, which are limited in terms of computational speed or complexity. Here, we present an efficient two-stage data-driven approach for analyzing and designing membrane-type metasurface absorbers with desirable characteristics. In the first stage, a forward model consisting of a neural network is trained to map an input, comprising the membrane parameters, to the observed sound absorption spectrum. In the second stage, the learned forward model is inverted to infer the input parameters that produce the desired absorption response. The metasurface membrane parameters, which serve as input to the neural network, are estimated by minimizing a loss function between the desired absorption profile and the output of the learned forward model. Two devices are then fabricated using the estimated membrane parameters. The measured acoustic absorption responses of the fabricated devices show a very close agreement with the desired responses.
Human microglia show unique transcriptional changes in Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Prater Katherine E. , Green Kevin J. , Mamde Sainath , Sun Wei , Cochoit Alexandra , Smith Carole L. , Chiou Kenneth L. , Heath Laura , Rose Shannon E. , Wiley Jesse , Keene C. Dirk , Kwon Ronald Y. , Snyder-Mackler Noah , Blue Elizabeth E. , Logsdon Benjamin , Young Jessica E. , Shojaie Ali , Garden Gwenn A. , Jayadev Suman
Published: May 2023

Microglia, the innate immune cells of the brain, influence Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression and are potential therapeutic targets. However, microglia exhibit diverse functions, the regulation of which is not fully understood, complicating therapeutics development. To better define the transcriptomic phenotypes and gene regulatory networks associated with AD, we enriched for microglia nuclei from 12 AD and 10 control human dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (7 males and 15 females, all aged >60 years) before single-nucleus RNA sequencing. Here we describe both established and previously unrecognized microglial molecular phenotypes, the inferred gene networks driving observed transcriptomic change, and apply trajectory analysis to reveal the putative relationships between microglial phenotypes. We identify microglial phenotypes more prevalent in AD cases compared with controls. Further, we describe the heterogeneity in microglia subclusters expressing homeostatic markers. Our study demonstrates that deep profiling of microglia in human AD brain can provide insight into microglial transcriptional changes associated with AD.
Effect of the steam/hydrogen ratio on the performance of flat-tube solid oxide electrolysis cells for seawater
Authors: Pan Hu , Wu Anqi , Au Siu Fai , Yang Yiping , Song Zihan , Liu Zhao , Gong Xiwu , Guan Wanbing
Published: May 2023

This work investigated the durability of seawater electrolysis and degradation mechanism for hydrogen production at different seawater steam contents using a flat-tube solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC).
Power management of harmonic polluted active distribution network in the presence of integrated unit of electric spring and electric vehicles parking lot
Authors: Rohani Arash , Nahavandi Ali , Abasi Mahyar , Joorabian Mahmood
Published: May 2023

This paper presents the optimal scheduling of active distribution network (ADN) with linear and non‐linear loads in the presence of an integrated unit of electric spring and electric vehicle parking lot (IUEE). The proposed scheme is formulated in the form of three‐objective optimization, which minimizes the expected operating cost of the ADN, voltage deviation function (VDF), and the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the voltage in separate objective functions. Constraints include harmonic power flow (HPA) equations, operation and power quality limits, and operation model of the IUEE. This scheme has uncertainties of load, energy price, and energy demand of EVs, which are modelled here using stochastic programming. Next, the sum of the weighted functions method as a subset of the Pareto optimization technique is adopted to extract the integrated single‐objective problem. Then, Sine‐Cosine Combined Algorithm (SCA) and Gray Wolf Optimization (GWO) are used to achieve an optimal solution. In the end, by examining the numerical results obtained from the implementation of the proposed scheme on a 69‐bus ADN, the capability of the design in enhancing the economic situation, operation, and power quality of the ADN compared to network power flow studies obtained by optimal scheduling of the IUEE is confirmed.
Single‐image super‐resolution using lightweight transformer‐convolutional neural network hybrid model
Authors: Liu Yuanyuan , Yue Mengtao , Yan Han , Zhu Lu
Published: May 2023

With constant advances in deep learning methods as applied to image processing, deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been widely explored in single‐image super‐resolution (SISR) problems and have attained significant success. These CNN‐based methods cannot fully use the internal and external information of the image. The authors add a lightweight Transformer structure to capture this information. Specifically, the authors apply a dense block structure and residual connection to build a residual dense convolution block (RDCB) that reduces the parameters somewhat and extracts shallow features. The lightweight transformer block (LTB) further extracts features and learns the texture details between the patches through the self‐attention mechanism. The LTB comprises an efficient multi‐head transformer (EMT) with small graphics processing unit (GPU) memory footprint, and benefits from feature preprocessing by multi‐head attention (MA), reduction, and expansion. The EMT significantly reduces the use of GPU resources. In addition, a detail‐purifying attention block (DAB) is proposed to explore the context information in the high‐resolution (HR) space to recover more details. Extensive evaluations of four benchmark datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the authors’ proposed model in terms of quantitative metrics and visual effects. The proposed EMT only uses about 40% as much GPU memory as other methods, with better performance.
Exergy analysis and particle swarm optimization of clean energy router based on a solar‐thermal‐assisted advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage system
Authors: Ni Chenyixuan , Chen Laijun , Chen Xiaotao , Zhai Junyi , Mei Shengwei , Zhang Xiao‐Ping
Published: May 2023

The clean Energy router based on advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage (AA‐CAES) has the characteristics of large capacity, high efficiency and zero carbon emission which are an effective mitigation scheme for the integration of renewables and peak‐shaving and a new clean energy technology for storing energy in the world. A novel solar‐thermal‐assisted AA‐CAES (ST‐AA‐CAES) is proposed in this paper, integrating variable thermal energy storage to improve the system electric to electric (E2E) and round‐trip efficiency (RTE). The efficiency and exergy evaluation of ST‐AA‐CAES are carried out to determine the performance of ST‐AA ‐CAES. The results illustrate that E2E, RTE, and exergy efficiency can reach 56.4%, 95.5%, and 55.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, the details of exergy efficiency and destruction of each subsystem are demonstrated. Particle swarm optimization algorithm is applied to analyse the economy of optimally integrated energy systems which has the advantages of high accuracy, convenient implementation and fast convergence. The system can be applied in abundant solar energy resources area with high efficiency and multi‐energy supply capability.
Research on the Dynamic Evolution of Export Product Quality of Chinese Industrial Enterprises: Based on the Dual Dimensions of Quantitative Change and Qualitative Change
Authors: Wu Pingping
Published: May 2023

Most of the existing studies on the dynamic evolution of Chinese export product quality have been analyzed from an empirical perspective, lacking theoretical investigation of its intrinsic evolution rules. Therefore, this paper defines the connotation of export product quality improvement (quantitative change of export product quality) and export product quality upgrading (qualitative change of export product quality), analysis the connection and difference between them, and constructs the corresponding evaluation indexes by referring to the rules of quantitative change and qualitative change in materialistic dialectics. Based on the data of Chinese industrial exporters from 2000 to 2013, the dynamic evolution of export product quality was measured statistically. The results of the research are as follows: (1) the overall export product quality of Chinese industrial enterprises showed a fluctuating upward trend. Among them, the export product quality of foreign-invested enterprises, large enterprises, and enterprises in the eastern region is higher. (2) From the dimension of quantitative change, the export product quality of Chinese industrial enterprises improved in 2001, 2003-2005, 2007, and 2011-2012, and there are some differences in the improvement of export product quality among enterprises of different ownership, scale, and regions. (3) From the dimension of qualitative change, the number of enterprises that achieve export product quality upgrading is increasing, and the mean and level of export product quality upgrading are improving. Among them, the export product quality upgrading of state-owned enterprises, large enterprises, and enterprises in the western region is higher.
Optimal credit strategy for MSMEs
Authors: Mao Wangxiao
Published: May 2023

We address two main issues: one is to quantify the credit risk of enterprises and establish a complete credit risk system, and the other is to give the optimal credit risk strategy for banks. We first analyze and pre-process the data. From the data, we extracted a series of indicators such as the total amount of input and output, and the length of operation. We analyze the credit risk in three directions: strength, stability of supply and demand, and creditworthiness, and establish a credit risk quantification system for the enterprise. Then we quantify the credit risk of the enterprise by entropy method and TOPSIS. Second, a function is fitted to the bank’s customer churn rate and the bank’s lending rate. Using a planning-type model, the credit decisions of the firms are required to be given. We follow the principle of maximizing benefits and minimizing risks to build a multi-objective planning model. We base on the scores of each firm that have been solved, for the classification of firms, and follow the principle of low credit risk, low lending rate, and set the corresponding lending rate for each type of firm. The model is solved by the through-order solution method, and the linear weighting method is used to test the comparison. The credit decision for each enterprise is given.
Research on the Impact of the Construction of Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones on the Innovation Level of Countries along the “the Belt and Road”
Authors: Wang Lina , Shan Yuanyuan
Published: May 2023

From the perspective of the host country, this paper studies the impact of the construction of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones on the innovation level of countries along “the Belt and Road” based on the national level panel data of 42 countries from 2003 to 2019. The research finds that the construction of cooperation zones has significantly improved the innovation level of countries along “the Belt and Road”, and the national cooperation zones passing the assessment of the Ministry of Commerce have a stronger role in improving the innovation level of the host country. This conclusion is still valid after a variety of robustness tests. The conclusions of this study provide empirical evidence that the overseas economic and trade cooperation zone is a win-win “China” model, and has important reference significance for China to improve the function of the opening platform through the cooperation zone and promote the high-quality development of the “the Belt and Road”.
Research on the impact of RCEP rules of origin on China’s manufacturing industry
Authors: Ling Dan , Qian Kun
Published: May 2023

As an extremely important part of the RCEP agreement, rules of origin will encourage enterprises to make more use of raw materials and intermediate products in the region, and more easily reach the regional value components to enjoy the preferential tariff treatment of the RCEP. This paper first analyzes the possible impact of the RCEP rules of origin on China’s manufacturing industry, and then simulates the economic impact of the implementation of the RCEP agreement on China’s manufacturing industry through the Global Trade Analysis Model (GTAP). The simulation results show that: (1) China’s industries with obvious industrial advantages, such as textiles and clothing, will benefit from this, but the output of some industries, such as rubber and plastic products, chemical products and drugs, will be impacted to some extent. (2) From the perspective of the import and export scale of the segmented industries, after the entry into force of the RCEP, China’s imports from the member countries in the region have increased significantly in rubber and plastic products, mineral products, transportation equipment, etc., while the exports have increased significantly in food, beverage, tobacco products, textile, clothing, leather products.
Analysis of the dilemma of public health committee construction and optimization path
Authors: Zhang Yuxin , Zhou Zhiwei , Pan Xiaoqi , Hu Jiacheng , Ma Zhendong
Published: May 2023

Establishing public health committees within the village (neighborhood) committees is an explicit provision of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China and an inevitable requirement to promote the implementation of the Health China strategy and ensure people’s health. In practice, fragmentation, lagging and blurring of relevant legislation, differences in regional construction, barriers to information flow, omissions in emergency response mechanisms, scarcity of cross-disciplinary talents, and lack of personnel training in the rule of law are the primary legal regulation dilemmas in the construction and operation of public health committees. Given this, based on building a systematic, complete, and normative system, we should form a coordinated and highly efficient working mechanism and develop a comprehensive work team that equips with talents with both medical and legal knowledge.