bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mechanics Modeling and Simulation Analysis of a Novel Articulated Chassis for Forestry
Authors: Lin Xintao , Zhu Yue , Xie Zheng
Published: December 2022

When the power chassis of general forest machinery is working on uneven terrains, the power is insufficient due to the poor traction between the wheels and the road surface, which affects the driving operation of the entire vehicle. According to the principle of multiple-degree-of-freedom profiling, a novel articulated chassis for forestry was designed. The innovative articulated structure realizes active pitching, active deflection, and passive torsion in the front and rear frames. The kinematics and dynamics (mechanics modeling) of the articulated structure were analyzed, and a theoretical model of the relationship between the rotation angle of the rotary shaft and the pitching angle of the front and rear frames was established. A three-dimensional model of the forestry chassis was established using SolidWorks, and a kinematic simulation of the articulated structure was performed by ADAMS. When the simulation and theoretical results were compared, the maximum error was found to occur at the position where the rotation angle of the rotary shaft was 90° and was less than 1%, demonstrating the accuracy of the theoretical model. Furthermore, a chassis working condition simulation experiment was conducted using ADAMS. When climbing a slope with a wheel speed of 1.39 rev/s, the duration of the effective driving force of the front wheels of the novel chassis was 61.5% longer than the ordinary chassis. In steep-convex-obstacle climbing, the active pitch function of the novel chassis can ensure that the wheels have a good contact with the road, and the load can pass through an obstacle smoothly. For single-side obstacle crossing, the wheels of the novel chassis can provide a continuous and stable effective driving force for obstacle crossing owing to the excellent road surface profiling.
Exploring the Co-Creation of Small and Medium Enterprises, and Service Providers Enabled by Digital Interactive Platforms for Internationalization: A Case Study in Malaysia
Authors: Mohamad Azlina , Mohd Rizal Adriana , Kamarudin Suzilawati , Sahimi Musli
Published: December 2022

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make an important contribution to their country’s economy, job creation and balance of trade. The government has supported their development through service providers and has encouraged them to participate in the international market. Despite its importance and the encouragement from the government, participation in the international market is low and studies have shown that SMEs struggle to overcome barriers to internationalization. Digital technologies are tools to accelerate internationalization. This study aimed to explore the collaboration between SMEs and service providers enabled by digital interactive platforms (DIP) to accelerate internationalization. Interviews were conducted with seven participants involving two SME food and beverage (F&B) manufacturing company owners, three government agencies and two experts to gain a deeper understanding of the collaborative process through DIP to accelerate internationalization. A thematic analysis of the triadic qualitative study was utilized to understand the themes that emerged from different data sources, including in-depth interviews, observation and documentation review. Our findings show that the co-creation process was more effective through DIP and that it helps service providers create more value towards the internationalization of SMEs. In addition, the triadic approach proved that there was a more prevalent use-value among actors when using digital technology as a platform, as it helped them to expedite internationalization. The service experience by SMEs is also more impactful to a firm’s performance and enables them to follow strategic sustainability practices. We also found that the symbiotic relationship between SMEs and service providers has an important role to play in generating value for both parties.
Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) Approach for Determining the Effects of the Waste Charging Scheme on Household Food Waste Recycling
Authors: Chua Mark Hansley , Yau Yung
Published: December 2022

This review demonstrates the analytical application of Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework in identifying and evaluating possible outcomes of how the upcoming waste charging scheme could promote collective actions for post-consumption household food waste recycling in Hong Kong. This novel approach enables analysts to examine thoroughly complex collective action situations such as the case in this paper. A comprehensive review was performed on the published government documents and statistics, together with the past scholarly literature pertinent to the case. Previous studies and reports have shown due diligence on the part of the authorities in preparing infrastructure, educational campaigns, and recycling centres for the full implementation of the forthcoming waste charge scheme. Nevertheless, the findings also show the presence of an information gap in the practical aspect of the food waste collection and monitoring system. Some future research areas identified from this review are: how food waste can be collected from households; how illegal waste disposal be monitored; how the recent pandemic shapes households’ valorisation of food waste recycling; and how technological interventions can help optimise the collection efficacy of food waste.
PM2.5 Prediction Based on the CEEMDAN Algorithm and a Machine Learning Hybrid Model
Authors: Ban Wenchao , Shen Liangduo
Published: December 2022

The current serious air pollution problem has become a closely investigated topic in people’s daily lives. If we want to provide a reasonable basis for haze prevention, then the prediction of PM2.5 concentrations becomes a crucial task. However, it is difficult to complete the task of PM2.5 concentration prediction using a single model; therefore, to address this problem, this paper proposes a fully adaptive noise ensemble empirical modal decomposition (CEEMDAN) algorithm combined with deep learning hybrid models. Firstly, the CEEMDAN algorithm was used to decompose the PM2.5 timeseries data into different modal components. Then long short-term memory (LSTM), a backpropagation (BP) neural network, a differential integrated moving average autoregressive model (ARIMA), and a support vector machine (SVM) were applied to each modal component. Lastly, the best prediction results of each component were superimposed and summed to obtain the final prediction results. The PM2.5 data of Hangzhou in recent years were substituted into the model for testing, which was compared with eight models, namely, LSTM, ARIMA, BP, SVM, CEEMDAN–ARIMA, CEEMDAN–LSTM, CEEMDAN–SVM, and CEEMDAN–BP. The results show that for the coupled CEEMDAN–LSTM–BP–ARIMA model, the prediction ability was better than all the other models, and the timeseries decomposition data of PM2.5 had their own characteristics. The data with different characteristics were predicted separately using appropriate models and the final combined model results obtained were the most satisfactory.
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of a Novel Cultivated Meat Burger Patty in the United States
Authors: Kim Sunghoon , Beier Adam , Schreyer H. Brett , Bakshi Bhavik R.
Published: December 2022

The meat industry has a substantial negative impact on the environment. As a result, this industry is in a period of change to alternative meat to mitigate the environmental issues caused by conventional meat production. Cultivated meat is highlighted as an alternative to conventional meat-based diets. SCiFi Foods has developed such a novel cultivated meat burger as a potential successor to the currently available burgers. Based on the process information provided by SCiFi Foods, this work performed a life cycle analysis on the novel cultivated meat burger and compared it with alternatives. The life cycle impacts of the novel burger were evaluated using four indicators: greenhouse gas emissions (CML-IA); energy use (cumulative energy demand); land use (ReCiPe midpoint); and water use (ReCiPe midpoint). The study found that the cultivated meat burger generated 87% less greenhouse gas emissions, required 39% less energy, had 90% less influence on land use, and 96% less water use than the comparable beef patty. The effects of uncertainty in the data, sensitivity to major assumptions, and the effect of the manufacturing plant location were analyzed. The studied burger was also found to have a life cycle environmental impact that is comparable with plant-based commercialized burgers that are currently available.
Speed Behavior of Heterogeneous Traffic on Two-Lane Rural Roads in Malaysia
Authors: Faiz Rizwan Ullah , Mashros Nordiana , Hassan Sitti Asmah
Published: December 2022

Highway geometry is a significant factor that affects the efficiency and safety of highway systems. The present study aims to investigate the speed behavior of various vehicle classes on the horizontal alignment of two-lane rural roads. An automatic data collection system based on a pressure sensor was employed to collect the speed of each individual vehicle, vehicle type, and headway at seven sites in each travel direction. The 85th percentile speed under free-flow conditions was used to observe the relationship between the operating speeds of various vehicle classes at consecutive curve points and the effect of the travel direction, time of day, and curve radius on the operating speed of the vehicle. A one-way ANOVA was employed to evaluate whether there is a significant difference in speed on horizontal curves. Then, a Tukey post hoc test was used to assess the significance of the difference in speed across four classes of vehicles. The results revealed that the horizontal curve affects the operating speed for all vehicle classes. A curve radius of less than 500 m, the travel direction, and the time of day are significant variables that affect the speed of all vehicle classes. The findings from this study can provide insight to transportation engineers for safer road design of horizontal curves and to assess traffic safety based on actual speed behavior.
Analysis of Ozone Pollution Characteristics and Transport Paths in Xi’an City
Authors: Song Xiaowei , Hao Yongpei
Published: December 2022

Xi’an is a key city for air-pollution prevention and control in China, and its near-ground ozone (O3) pollution has become a key issue whose resolution is urgent. The spatial and temporal variations in ozone pollution and their relationship with meteorological factors, transport pathways, and potential source distribution in Xi’an City were investigated in this study using the backward trajectory clustering analysis, potential source contribution function (PSCF), and concentration weight trajectory (CWT) methods coupled with the hourly ozone-mass concentration observations and meteorological data from 2014 to 2020. The results indicate that Xi’an City has suffered from increasingly severe ozone pollution in recent years. Overall, the annual average mass concentration of O3_8h_max presented an upward trend, exhibiting a 34.94% increase from 2014 to 2020. A seasonal variation peak occurred in summer, and the monthly variations featured an inverted “V” shape. Furthermore, the diurnal variation was significantly affected by the near-surface atmospheric photochemical process, showing a discernible single-peak and single-valley distribution with a peak between 15:00 and 17:00. The O3 concentration demonstrated a significant linear positive correlation with surface temperature and sunshine duration. When the relative humidity was 30~50%, the temperature was above 30 °C, and the wind speed was ≤4 m/s, high-concentration O3 pollution was liable to occur. The transmission mainly relied on short-distance airflow during periods of heavy O3-polluted weather. In this context, in addition to local O3 generation, high O3 concentrations were also affected by the large NOx and VOC emissions from heavy industries in neighboring cities in Shaanxi Province, southwest Shanxi Province, and northern Henan Province. Therefore, joint prevention and control measures on the O3 pollution in Xi’an City must be adopted throughout the Fenwei Plain area with the aim of strictly controlling the emissions from regional pollution sources.
The Development and Evolution of Digital Leadership: A Bibliometric Mapping Approach-Based Study
Authors: Karakose Turgut , Kocabas Ibrahim , Yirci Ramazan , Papadakis Stamatios , Ozdemir Tuncay Yavuz , Demirkol Murat
Published: December 2022

The inevitable digitalization of workplaces in the present era, generally as a result of technological developments, has caused a paradigm shift, along with new innovative business models and business behaviors, which has required leaders to possess certain digital skills for sustainable corporate performance. Hence, studies on digital leadership have attracted the attention of academics and practitioners worldwide, with many studies having been conducted on the topic. However, a comprehensive analysis of the intellectual architecture, knowledge structure, and thematic evolution of the digital leadership field of research using science mapping tools has yet to be conducted. The current study, therefore, aimed at reviewing the intellectual structure and evolution of the digital leadership field through a bibliometric and science-mapping analysis. This study used digital leadership as an umbrella term comprising leadership styles such as e-leadership, virtual leadership, technology leadership, and leadership 4.0, which have similar meanings and can be used interchangeably. With this purpose, bibliometric performance and science mapping analysis was performed on articles related to the research field that were retrieved from the Scopus database using SciMAT software (version 1.1.04). The results of the study revealed that the scope of digital leadership research is gradually expanding and diversifying and that publication output is increasing steadily. In addition, period-based analysis showed that the technology management theme during the first period, the virtual teams and technology themes during the second period, and the COVID-19, virtual reality, and digital technologies themes during the third period emerged as the motor themes and formed the focus of research in this field. Thematic evolution analysis showed that virtual leadership during the first and second periods, virtual teams during the second period, e-leadership and technology during the second and third periods, and digital leadership, COVID-19, and virtual reality during the third period, along with technology leadership in all three periods were all noteworthy as well-developed research themes. These findings enable a better understanding of the research field of digital leadership and provide a reference for future research by revealing the conceptual structure and thematic evolution of the digital leadership knowledge base.
Using Social Media Analytics and Machine Learning Approaches to Analyze the Behavioral Response of Agriculture Stakeholders during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Singh Madanjit , Singh Amardeep , Bharti Sarveshwar , Singh Prithvipal , Saini Munish
Published: December 2022

COVID-19, over time, has spread around multiple countries and has affected a large number of humans. It has influenced diverse people’s lives, consisting of social, behavioral, physical, mental, and economic aspects. In this study, we aim to analyze one such social impact: the behavioral aspects of agriculture stakeholders during the pandemic period in the Indian region. For this purpose, we have gathered agriculture-related tweets from Twitter in three phases: (a) initial phase, (b) mid-phase, and (c) later phase, where these phases are related to the period of complete lockdown implemented in India in the year 2020. Afterward, we applied machine-learning-based qualitative-content-based methods to analyze the sentiments, emotions, and views of these people. The outcomes depicted the presence of highly negative emotions in the initial phase of the lockdown, which signifies fear of insecurity among the agriculture stakeholders. However, a decline in unhappiness was noted during the later phase of the lockdown. Furthermore, these outcomes will help policymakers to obtain insights into the behavioral responses of agricultural stakeholders. They can initiate primitive and preventive actions accordingly, to tackle such issues in the future.
A Novel Multi-Scale Feature Fusion-Based 3SCNet for Building Crack Detection
Authors: Yadav Dhirendra Prasad , Kishore Kamal , Gaur Ashish , Kumar Ankit , Singh Kamred Udham , Singh Teekam , Swarup Chetan
Published: December 2022

Crack detection at an early stage is necessary to save people’s lives and to prevent the collapse of building/bridge structures. Manual crack detection is time-consuming, especially when a building structure is too high. Image processing, machine learning, and deep learning-based methods can be used in such scenarios to build an automatic crack detection system. This study uses a novel deep convolutional neural network, 3SCNet (3ScaleNetwork), for crack detection. The SLIC (Simple Linear Iterative Clustering) segmentation method forms the cluster of similar pixels and the LBP (Local Binary Pattern) finds the texture pattern in the crack image. The SLIC, LBP, and grey images are fed to 3SCNet to form pool of feature vector. This multi-scale feature fusion (3SCNet+LBP+SLIC) method achieved the highest sensitivity, specificity, an accuracy of 99.47%, 99.75%, and 99.69%, respectively, on a public historical building crack dataset. It shows that using SLIC super pixel segmentation and LBP can improve the performance of the CNN (Convolution Neural Network). The achieved performance of the model can be used to develop a real-time crack detection system.
A Novel Approach for Urban Road Network Maintenance Plans Using Spatial Autocorrelation Analysis and Roadside Conditions: A Case Study of Muroran City, Japan
Authors: Asada Takumi , Ha Tran Vinh , Arimura Mikiharu , Kameyama Shuichi
Published: December 2022

Urban and residential roads play an integral role in the infrastructure system of a city. Although they take up a large proportion of the national road network, maintenance plans for urban roads are beset by many problems. These include difficulty in collecting enormous volumes of data, implementing analyses, and interpreting results because of complicated frameworks. Thus, this study aims to introduce an effective and reliable method of formulating a maintenance plan using integrated criteria of spatial autocorrelation analysis and roadside conditions. The results demonstrate that defective pavements are clustered in certain areas, for example, mountainous and forested areas, which indicate environmental effects. Using a mixed index as a criterion for prioritization, approximately 55% of roadside residents (represented by the total residential housing floor area) and 90% of commercial and medical facilities surrounding critical sections gained benefit from maintenance activities in the second year. Importantly, the proposed method presents the advantages of simplifying implications and quantitative outcomes that could support local agents in not only implementing but also making decisions and interpreting such decisions for the community.
Does Uncertainty of Trade Environment Promote Green Technological Innovation? Empirical Evidence from China
Authors: Sun Weize , Yu Mingtao , Zhang Haotian , Zhang Yifan
Published: December 2022

In recent years, the international environment has changed rapidly, and the uncertainty of the trade environment faced by enterprises has dramatically increased. As a major participant in world trade, the uncertainty of the trade environment has significantly impacted the daily business activities and various behaviors of Chinese manufacturing enterprises. Green technology innovation has also become an important tool for enterprises to enhance their sustainable development ability and improve their ability to cope with changes in the external environment. The change in the trade environment will affect the business development of enterprises. To face the change in the trade environment, enterprises often choose to improve their technology level and increase the added value of their products. In the context of sustainable development, green technology innovation has higher technical strength and is more in line with the requirements of international development, which is strong support for enterprises to cope with the change in the trade environment. However, the current literature is scant on the association between trade uncertainty and green innovation. In this context, this study used the data of Chinese manufacturing listed companies from 2011 to 2020 to empirically analyze the relationship between trade environment uncertainty (UTE) and green technology innovation (GTI) using panel data estimation methods and further explore the related heterogeneity and its impact on sustainable development. The results show that: (1) UTE has a significant positive impact on the GTI of enterprises, and the robustness test verifies these findings. Different kinds of UTE have different effects on enterprise GTI. UTE also has a positive impact on the independent GTI of enterprises. (2) Compared with non-state-owned enterprises, the GTI of state-owned enterprises is more vulnerable to the positive impact of UTE. (3) UTE significantly and negatively impacts enterprises’ business activities and further challenges enterprises’ sustainable development. However, the enterprise’s GTI behavior, especially the substantial GTI, helps mitigate the adverse impact of UTE on the company’s sustainable development. Finally, this paper provides targeted suggestions for enterprises to better cope with UTE and improve their sustainable development capabilities.
Favorable Fiscal Self-Sufficiency Enables Local Governments to Better Improve the Environmental Governance—Evidence from China’s Lower-Pollution Areas
Authors: Gu Zhijun , Tian Chaowei , Zheng Zeyuan , Zhang Shujian
Published: December 2022

With the rapid development of industrial economy, local governments in China have invested a large amount of financial funds in environmental protection. In the era of widespread use of clean energy, local governments have a greater responsibility to coordinate fiscal policies with industrial development policies to improve regional environment. Local governments with large fiscal surpluses would make more efforts to improve environmental efficiency, rather than attract heavily polluting industrial enterprises to develop their local economies, and more likely to promote the use of clean energy equipment and raise environmental awareness in government. This paper focuses on testing the impact of abundant fiscal revenue of local governments on the efficiency of regional environmental governance with the data in all prefecture-level cities of China’s Guangdong province from 2001 to 2020. We estimate local environmental governance efficiency score with super-efficiency SBM method, taking unexpected output into account. Then we find that fiscal affluence has significant positive effect on the efficiency of environmental governance and the environmental awareness of the government also has obvious help in improving local environmental efficiency. We hope that these findings will provide practical help for local governments to improve their fiscal policy agendas and the quality of environmental governance.
Revisiting Past Experiences of LGBTQ+-Identifying Students: An Analysis Framed by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
Authors: Wilson-Daily Ann E. , Harris Richard , Sebares-Valle Gemma , Sabido-Codina Judit
Published: December 2022

The United Nations (UN) places inclusive and equitable lifelong quality education at the center of its Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education. Nevertheless, the express inclusion of gender non-conforming and sexual minority students is omitted from UN communications. Drawing on interview and focus group data with recent secondary graduates who identify as LGBTQ+ (n = 20), we investigate their experiences, in terms of equity and inclusivity and lack thereof, in schools during the first years of the SDG-era in Spain (the data collection type respected participants’ personal preferences). Three SDGs, complementary to SDG4, were used as a framework for data analysis: SDG3 Good Health and Well-being, SDG5 Gender Equality, and SDG10 Reduced Inequalities, with SDG4 interconnectedly at the center of the overarching analyses. Participants reported preventable aggressions that affected their mental health and wellbeing in schools, receiving little LGBTQ+-related content in classes other than one-off mentions, and reflected on gender inequalities in their treatment from both peers and teachers. The authors discuss the need for local and national development education action plans and policies to address the exclusion and marginalization of LGBTQ+ students in Spanish high schools and elsewhere.
A Circular Economy Model to Improve Phosphate Rock Fertiliser Using Agro-Food By-Products
Authors: Piscitelli Lea , Bennani Zineb , El Chami Daniel , Mondelli Donato
Published: December 2022

Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for the plant life cycle. The agricultural management of phosphorus is complicated by the inefficient use of phosphorus by plants, consequent environmental losses, and the rapid consumption of slowly renewed phosphate rock (PR). These issues represent a huge environmental burden and jeopardise food production. In this study, we proposed the combination of this fertiliser with food-processing by-products such as olive pomace, barley spent grain, and citrus pomace to increase phosphate rock solubility and the efficient use of P. Phosphate rock, by-products, and mixtures of phosphate rock and by-products were placed into litterbags and buried in sand. Periodically, one replicate per treatment was collected for the destructive measurement of total and water-soluble phosphorus. In parallel, pH, organic matter, and ash content were measured to investigate the mechanisms behind changes in P content. The mixtures’ P-release values ranged between 80% and 88%, whereas phosphate rock lost 23% of its P over 30 days. Phosphate rock showed a constant water-soluble P fraction at the four sampling times, whereas the mixtures exhibited a highly water-soluble P fraction that tended to decrease over time. Specifically, citrus pomace led to the significant and rapid release of phosphorus, barley spent grain maintained the highest water-soluble fraction over 30 days, and olive pomace was not the best-performing product but still performed better than pure phosphate rock. Moreover, the increased solubility of phosphate rock in mixtures was significantly (p < 0.001) ascribed to the reduction in pH. The results of this experiment are promising for in vivo trials and suggest the possibility of simple and easily achievable solutions for more sustainable production systems and effective P-fertilisation strategies. Proposing such easily applicable and inexpensive solutions can reduce the distance between research achievements and field applications.
Municipal Solid Waste Collection and Haulage Modeling Design for Lahore, Pakistan: Transition toward Sustainability and Circular Economy
Authors: Iqbal Asif , Yasar Abdullah , Nizami Abdul-Sattar , Haider Rafia , Sharif Faiza , Sultan Imran Ali , Tabinda Amtul Bari , Kedwaii Aman Anwer , Chaudhary Muhammad Murtaza
Published: December 2022

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is a critical administrative, environmental and financial issue in low-income countries, such as Pakistan, where waste collection efficiency is less than 75% in all urban areas, except Lahore. Therefore, it is pertinent to develop practical decision-making tools to enhance waste collection efficiency by local municipalities and waste management companies (WMCs). A tool/calculator, holistically measure analyze forecast honestly (HMAFH), is proposed for waste collection in urban areas based on the lessons learned. The tool was developed considering local conditions, i.e., business environment, socio-economic and cultural dynamics, city infrastructure and stakeholders’ desires. It is flexible to various proposed waste collection modes, with heterogeneous fleet choices, and it presents an opportunity to integrate collection with a material recovery facility (MRF) or direct haulage to the disposal site. The HMAFH was tested successfully in the Lahore district. Based on the proposed scenarios, the result shows a material recovery of up to 33% by defining dedicated waste collection streams with a 26% saving on fuel. The proposed interventions can prove to be a defining step toward building a circular economy (CE) that allows the integration of treatment options with economic potential to account for 35% of the current operating expenditures and a reduction in greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission, i.e., 1,604,019 tons of CO2-eq./annum.
Implementation of Cooperative Learning and Its Relationship with Prior Training of Teachers, Performance and Equity in Mathematics: A Longitudinal Study
Authors: Prieto-Saborit Jose Antonio , Méndez-Alonso David , Fernández-Viciana Ana , Dixit Laxmi J. Dixit , Nistal-Hernández Paloma
Published: December 2022

Active pedagogies and specifically cooperative learning have been described as effective tools for inclusion and educational equity, a key concept in objective 4 within the Sustainable Development Goals. The aim of this study was to test the temporal stability of a cooperative learning (CL) over two academic years and to analyse its effects on achievement in mathematics. The sample consisted of 6456 students enrolled in school in Spain, aged between 10 and 15 years. The results showed some consistency in the use of this methodology during two school years. Mathematics scores correlated positively with all elements of CL in each of the separate school years. However, logistic regression data showed a significant drop in mathematics. In contrast, during the same period, four of the five elements of CL correlated positively with the results.
From Five-Loop Scattering Amplitudes to Open Trees with the Loop-Tree Duality
Authors: Ramírez-Uribe Selomit , Hernández-Pinto Roger José , Rodrigo Germán , Sborlini German F. R.
Published: December 2022

Characterizing multiloop topologies is an important step towards developing novel methods at high perturbative orders in quantum field theory. In this article, we exploit the Loop-Tree Duality (LTD) formalism to analyse multiloop topologies that appear for the first time at five loops. Explicitly, we open the loops into connected trees and group them according to their topological properties. Then, we identify a kernel generator, the so-called N7MLT universal topology, that allows us to describe any scattering amplitude of up to five loops. Furthermore, we provide factorization and recursion relations that enable us to write these multiloop topologies in terms of simpler subtopologies, including several subsets of Feynman diagrams with an arbitrary number of loops. Our approach takes advantage of many symmetries present in the graphical description of the original fundamental five-loop topologies. The results obtained in this article might shed light into a more efficient determination of higher-order corrections to the running couplings, which are crucial in the current and future precision physics program.
How China Achieves the Delicate Balance in Ecological Poverty Alleviation: A Systems Thinking Perspective
Authors: Wang Linlin , Wu Meng , Goh Jenson , Richardson John , Yan Haiyan
Published: December 2022

Ecological poverty alleviation (EPA) is a syngenetic approach to tackling challenges in alleviating extreme poverty and ecological protection. Such an approach is crucial to help countries facing these two challenges to accelerate their progression towards meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in 2030. Prior research on EPA was focusing on understanding EPA from a national perspective and limited consideration was given to regional pertinence. This study uses systems thinking to construct causal loop diagrams (CLDs) and analyzes the mechanisms of EPA in Lanping County, Yunnan Province based on qualitative material. It reveals that the dynamics mechanism of EPA in Lanping County consists of seven reinforcing feedback loops and ten balancing feedback loops. Results indicate that external support, funding resources, employment, and endogenous-driven industrial development are the key drivers to successful EPA. Policies should be taken to avoid the risk of returning to poverty caused by the withdrawal of external support. This study proposes an effective tool with system foresight for exploring the mechanism of EPA and provides reference suggestions for poverty alleviation and development worldwide.
Reducing Children’s Obesity in the Age of Telehealth and AI/IoT Technologies in Gulf Countries
Authors: Faisal Mohammed , ElGibreen Hebah , Alafif Nora , Joumaa Chibli
Published: December 2022

Childhood obesity has become one of the major health issues in the global population. The increasing prevalence of childhood obesity is associated with serious health issues and comorbidities related to obesity. Several studies mentioned that childhood obesity became even worse recently due to the effect of COVID-19 and the consequent policies and regulations. For that reason, Internet of Things (IoT) technologies should be utilized to overcome the challenges related to obesity management and provide care from a distance to improve the health care services for obesity. However, IoT by itself is a limited resource and it is important to consider other artificial intelligent (AI) components. Thus, this paper contributes into the literature of child obesity management by introducing a comprehensive survey for obesity management covering clinical work measuring the association between sleep disturbances and childhood obesity alongside physical activity and diet and comparatively analyzing the emerging technologies used to prevent childhood obesity. It further contributes to the literature by proposing an interactive smart framework that combines clinical and emerging AI/telehealth technologies to manage child obesity. The proposed framework can be used to reduce children obesity and improve their quality of life using Machine Learning (ML). It utilizes IoT devices to integrate information from different sources and complement it with a mobile application and web-based platform to connect parents and physicians with their child.
OnabotulinumtoxinA Add-On to Monoclonal Anti-CGRP Antibodies in Treatment-Refractory Chronic Migraine
Authors: Argyriou Andreas A. , Dermitzakis Emmanouil V. , Xiromerisiou Georgia , Vikelis Michail
Published: December 2022

We sought to assess the effectiveness of combining dual therapy with onabotulinumtoxinA (BTX) add-on to anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) monoclonal antibodies (anti-CGRP MAbs) in treatment-refractory patients with chronic migraine (CM). We retrospectively reviewed the medical files of 19 treatment-refractory patients with CM who had failed to two oral migraine preventatives, at least three consecutive BTX cycles (less than 30% response rate), at least three consecutive sessions with either fremanezumab or erenumab (less than 30% response rate), and were eventually switched to dual therapy with BTX add-on to any of the already-given anti-CGRP MAbs. We then assessed from baseline to each monotherapy or dual intervention predefined efficacy follow-up the changes in the following efficacy outcomes: (i) monthly headache days (MHD), (ii) monthly days with moderate/severe peak headache intensity, and (iii) monthly days with intake of any acute headache medication. Response (50% reduction in MHD) rates, safety, and tolerability were also determined. In the majority of cases (n = 14), dual targeting proved effective and was associated with clinically meaningful improvement in all efficacy variables; 50% response rates (also disability and QOL outcomes) coupled with favorable safety/tolerability. Our results advocate in favor of the view that dual therapy is effective and should be considered in difficult-to-treat CM patients who have failed all available monotherapies.
Treatments and Predictors of Mortality for Carbapenem-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacilli Infections in Malaysia: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Abubakar Usman , Zulkarnain Amni Izzati , Rodríguez-Baño Jesús , Kamarudin Norhidayah , Elrggal Mahmoud E. , Elnaem Mohamed Hassan , Harun Sabariah Noor
Published: December 2022

This study evaluated the treatments, mortality rate and patient-related factors associated with mortality. This is a retrospective study involving hospitalised patients with infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacilli (CR-GNB) in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia from January 2018 to June 2020. A clinical pharmacist reviewed patients’ electronic records and collected the data according to a pre-designed form. Data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential tests. The study included 145 patients with CR-GNB infections including 77, 40 and 28 Acinetobacter baumannii, enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively. The mean age was 57.9 ± 15.8 years. Pneumonia (40.7%) and bacteremia (25.5%) were the most common infections. Meropenem (24.7%) and piperacillin-tazobactam (20.4%) were the most commonly used empiric antibiotics while colistin (63.3%) and amikacin (8.3%) were the most common definitive antibiotics. The mean duration before active antibiotics was 4.6 ± 3.3 days. Overall, the in-hospital mortality rate was 41.4%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that intensive care unit (ICU) admission (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 5.201; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.603–16.872; p = 0.006), sepsis/septic shock (AOR: 3.430; 95% CI: 1.021–11.522; p = 0.049) and elevated serum creatinine (AOR: 2.752; 95% CI: 1.005–7.536; p = 0.049) were independently associated with mortality. The mortality rate among patients with CR-GNB infection is high. A high rate of inappropriate antibiotic use was observed, including combination antibiotic therapy and delays in starting active antibiotics. Mortality was significantly associated with ICU admission, sepsis/septic shock and elevated serum creatinine.
Evaluation of Chiral Organosulfur Compounds on Their Activity against the Malaria Parasite Plasmodium falciparum
Authors: Ngwa Che , Stratmann Rabea , Musabyimana Jean , Pannen Kristina , Schöbel Jan-Hendrik , Frings Marcus , Schiffers Ingo , Quaranta Calogero , Koschmieder Steffen , Chatain Nicolas , Pradel Gabriele , Bolm Carsten
Published: December 2022

Malaria is one of the deadliest tropical diseases, especially causing havoc in children under the age of five in Africa. Although the disease is treatable, the rapid development of drug resistant parasites against frontline drugs requires the search for novel antimalarials. In this study, we tested a series of organosulfur compounds from our internal library for their antiplasmodial effect against Plasmodium falciparum asexual and sexual blood stages. Some active compounds were also obtained in enantiomerically pure form and tested individually against asexual blood stages of the parasite to compare their activity. Out of the 23 tested compounds, 7 compounds (1, 2, 5, 9, 15, 16, and 17) exhibited high antimalarial activity, with IC50 values in the range from 2.2 ± 0.64 to 5.2 ± 1.95 µM, while the other compounds showed moderate to very low activity. The most active compounds also exhibited high activity against the chloroquine-resistant strain, reduced gametocyte development and were not toxic to non-infected red blood cells and Hela cells, as well as the hematopoietic HEL cell line at concentrations below 50 µM. To determine if the enantiomers of the active compounds display different antimalarial activity, enantiomers of two of the active compounds were separated and their antimalarial activity compared. The results show a higher activity of the (–) enantiomers as compared to their (+) counterparts. Our combined data indicate that organosulfur compounds could be exploited as antimalarial drugs and enantiomers of the active compounds may represent a good starting point for the design of novel drugs to target malaria.
Linear Polarization Signatures of Particle Acceleration in High-Synchrotron-Peak Blazars
Authors: Marscher Alan P. , Jorstad Svetlana G.
Published: December 2022

Blazars whose synchrotron spectral energy distribution (SED) peaks at X-ray energies need to accelerate electrons to energies in the >100 GeV range in relativistic plasma jets at distances of parsecs from the central engine. Compton scattering by the same electrons can explain high luminosities at very high photon energies (>100 GeV) from the same objects. Turbulence combined with a standing conical shock can accomplish this. Such a scenario can also qualitatively explain the level and variability of linear polarization observed at optical frequencies in these objects. Multi-wavelength polarization measurements, including those at X-ray energies by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), find that the degree of polarization is several times higher at X-ray than at optical wavelengths, in general agreement with the turbulence-plus-shock picture. Some detailed properties of the observed polarization can be naturally explained by this scenario, while others pose challenges that may require modifications to the model.
Specificity of DNA Vaccines against the Genogroup J and U Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus Strains Prevalent in China
Authors: Huo Caiyun , Huang Dandan , Ma Zhihong , Li Guiping , Li Tieliang , Lin Wutong , Jiang Na , Xing Wei , Xu Guanling , Yu Huanhuan , Luo Lin , Sun Huiling
Published: December 2022

Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is the most important pathogen threatening the aquaculture of salmonid fish in China. In addition to the common genogroup J IHNV, genogroup U has been newly discovered in China. However, there is no effective DNA vaccine to fight against this emerging genogroup U IHNV in China. In this study, DNA vaccines encoding the IHNV viral glycoprotein (G) gene of the GS2014 (genogroup J) and BjLL (genogroup U) strains isolated from northern China were successfully developed, which were identified by restriction analysis and IFA. The expression of the Mx-1 gene and G gene in the spleens and muscles of the injection site as well as the titers of the serum antibodies were measured to evaluate the vaccine efficacy by RT-qPCR and ELISA. We found that DNA vaccine immunization could activate Mx1 gene expression and upregulate G gene expression, and the mRNA levels of the Mx1 gene in the muscles were significantly higher than those in the spleens. Notably, DNA vaccine immunization might not promote the serum antibody in fish at the early stage of immunization. Furthermore, the efficacy of the constructed vaccines was tested in intra- and cross-genogroup challenges by a viral challenge in vivo. It seemed that the DNA vaccines were able to provide great immune protection against IHNV infection. In addition, the genogroup J IHNV-G DNA vaccine showed better immune efficacy than the genogroup U IHNV-G or divalent vaccine, which could provide cross-immune protection against the genogroup U IHNV challenge. Therefore, this is the first study to construct an IHNV DNA vaccine using the G gene from an emerging genogroup U IHNV strain in China. The results provide great insight into the advances of new prophylactic strategies to fight both the genogroup J and U IHNV in China.
SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Surveillance in Brazil: A Systematic Review with Scientometric Analysis
Authors: Menezes Diego , Fonseca Paula Luize Camargos , de Araújo João Locke Ferreira , Souza Renan Pedra de
Published: December 2022

Several studies have monitored the SARS-CoV-2 variants in Brazil throughout the pandemic. Here, we systematically reviewed and conducted a scientometric analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance studies using Brazilian samples. A Pubmed database search on October 2022 returned 492 articles, of which 106 were included. Ninety-six different strains were reported, with variant of concern (VOC) gamma (n = 35,398), VOC delta (n = 15,780), and the variant of interest zeta (n = 1983) being the most common. The top three states with the most samples in the published articles were São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Minas Gerais. Whereas the first year of the pandemic presented primary circulation of B.1.1.28 and B.1.1.33 variants, consecutive replacements were observed between them and VOI zeta, VOC gamma, VOC delta, and VOC omicron. VOI mu, VOI lambda, VOC alpha, and VOC beta were also detected but failed to reach significant circulation. Co-infection, re-infection, and vaccine breakthrough reports were found. Article co-citation differed from the co-authorship structure. Despite the limitations, we expect to give an overview of Brazil’s genomic surveillance studies and contribute to future research execution.
Serological Responses in Cattle following Booster Vaccination against Serotypes 4 and 8 Bluetongue Virus with Two Bivalent Commercial Inactivated Vaccines
Authors: Sailleau Corinne , Postic Lydie , Chatenet Xavier , Salat Olivier , Turpaud Mathilde , Durand Benoit , Vitour Damien , Zientara Stéphan , Bréard Emmanuel
Published: December 2022

Since the outbreak of bluetongue in Northern Europe in 2006, numerous outbreaks involving several serotypes have been observed. Since 2008, compulsory or voluntary vaccination campaigns with inactivated vaccines have been carried out to eradicate these serotypes. In France, serotypes 8 and 4 have been enzootic since 2017, and currently, the majority of vaccinations take place in the context of animal movements, to comply with the regulations of the importing countries. Several vaccine manufacturers have developed inactivated vaccines against serotypes 4 and 8 (mono or bivalent). In this study, we investigated and compared the serological responses to a booster vaccination with two different bivalent inactivated vaccines (BTVPUR suspension injectable® 4 + 8, Boehringer Ingelheim or SYVAZUL ® BTV 4 + 8, Biové) following a primary vaccination with BTVPUR® 4 + 8 in the previous year. The results show that using an alternative vaccine for booster vaccination is at least as effective as using the homologous vaccine. Indeed, the antibody response against BTV-8 is higher in the case of a heterologous vaccination and identical for BTV-4. This information could allow more flexibility in the choice of vaccines used for booster vaccination, particularly in cases where homologous vaccines are in short supply or unavailable.
An Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Care: An Update
Authors: Chavda Vivek , Ping Feng-Feng , Chen Zhe-Sheng
Published: December 2022

The world has been affected socioeconomically for the last two years due to the emergence of different variants of the COVID-19 virus. Vaccination is the major and most efficient way to prevent the widening of this pandemic. Those who are having comorbidities are more vulnerable to serious infections due to their immunocompromised state. Additionally, cancer patients could be at significant risk for COVID-19. In this pandemic era, the diagnosis and treatment of cancer were significantly affected. Clinical trials at the initial stage were performed on healthy or COVID-19 infected patients. This produces a greater level of hesitancy in cancer patients. This review article provide an update regarding the vaccination and treatment for COVID-19 in patients with cancer and future directions.