bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Women and the Islamic Republic
Authors: Saeidi Shirin
Published: January 2022

Based on extensive interviews and oral histories as well as archival sources, Women and the Islamic Republic challenges the dominant masculine theorizations of state-making in post-revolutionary Iran. Shirin Saeidi demonstrates that despite the Islamic Republic's non-democratic structures, multiple forms of citizenship have developed in post-revolutionary Iran. This finding destabilizes the binary formulation of democratization and authoritarianism which has not only dominated investigations of Iran, but also regime categorizations in political science more broadly. As non-elite Iranian women negotiate or engage with the state's gendered citizenry regime, the Islamic Republic is forced to remake, oftentimes haphazardly, its citizenry agenda. The book demonstrates how women remake their rights, responsibilities, and statuses during everyday life to condition the state-making process in Iran, showing women's everyday resistance to the state-making process.
African Peacekeeping
Authors: Fisher Jonathan , Wilén Nina
Published: January 2022

Exploring the story of Africa's contemporary history and politics through the lens of peacekeeping, this concise and accessible book, based on over a decade of research across ten countries, focuses not on peacekeeping in Africa but, rather, peacekeeping by Africans. Going beyond the question of why post-conflict states contribute troops to peacekeeping efforts, Jonathan Fisher and Nina Wilén demonstrate how peacekeeping is – and has been – weaved into Africa's national, regional and international politics more broadly, as well as what implications this has for how we should understand the continent, its history and its politics. In doing so, and drawing on fieldwork undertaken in every region of the continent, Fisher and Wilén explain how profoundly this involvement in peacekeeping has shaped contemporary Africa.
Agents of the Hidden Imam
Authors: Hayes Edmund
Published: January 2022

In 874 CE, the eleventh Imam died, and the Imami community splintered. The institutions of the Imamate were maintained by the dead Imam's agents, who asserted they were in contact with a hidden twelfth Imam. This was the beginning of 'Twelver' Shiʿism. Edmund Hayes provides an innovative approach to exploring early Shiʿism, moving beyond doctrinal history to provide an analysis of the socio-political processes leading to the canonisation of the Occultation of the twelfth Imam. Hayes shows how these agents cemented their authority by reproducing the physical signs of the Imamate, including protocols of succession, letters and the alm taxes. Four of these agents were ultimately canonised as “envoys” but traces of earlier conceptions of authority remain embedded in the earliest reports. Hayes dissects the complex and contradictory Occultation narratives to show how, amidst the claims of numerous actors, the institutional positioning of the envoys allowed them to assert a quasi-Imamic authority in the absence of an Imam.
Exploring culturally acceptable, nutritious, affordable and low climatic impact diet for Japanese diets: proof of concept of applying a new modelling approach using data envelopment analysis
Authors: Sugimoto Minami , Temme Elisabeth H. M. , Biesbroek Sander , Kanellopoulos Argyris , Okubo Hitomi , Fujiwara Aya , Asakura Keiko , Masayasu Shizuko , Sasaki Satoshi , van’t Veer Pieter
Published: January 2022

A future sustainable dietary pattern for Japanese is yet undefined. This study aimed to explore more sustainable Japanese diets that are nutritious, affordable and with low greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and particular emphasis on cultural acceptability. A newly developed data envelopment analysis (DEA) diet model was applied to 4-d dietary record data among 184 healthy Japanese men and 185 women volunteers aged 21–69 years. Alternative diets were calculated as the linear combinations of observed diets. Firstly, for each individual, four modelled diets were calculated that maximised cultural acceptability (i.e. minimise dietary change from observed diet), maximised nutritional quality assessed by the Nutrient-Rich Food Index (NRF), minimised monetary diet costs or minimised diet-related GHGE. The final modelled diet combined all four indicators. In the first four models, the largest improvement was obtained for each targeted indicator separately, while relatively small improvements or unwanted changes were observed for other indicator. When all indicators were aimed to optimise, the NRF score and diet-related GHGE were improved by 8–13 % with the lower monetary cost than observed diets, although the percentage improvement was a bit smaller than the separate models. The final modelled diets demanded increased intakes for whole grains, fruits, milk/cream/yogurt, legumes/nuts, and decreased intakes for red and processed meat, sugar/confectioneries, alcoholic and sweetened beverages, and seasonings in both sexes. In conclusion, more sustainable dietary patterns considering several indicators are possible for Japanese, while total improvement is moderate due to trade-offs between indicators and methodological limitation of DEA diet model.
HEALTH, HUMAN PRODUCTIVITY, AND LONG-TERM ECONOMIC GROWTH
Authors: Arora Suchit
Published: January 2022

This article investigates the influence of health on the growth paths of ten industrialized countries over the course of 100 to 125 years. Changes in health increased their pace of growth by 30 to 40 percent, altering permanently the slope of their growth paths. This finding is robust across five measures of long-term health and it remains largely unchanged when “controlled” for investment in physical capital. Health-related variables correlate positively with years of schooling. However, schooling variables by themselves do not replicate the results obtained from health-related measures. Health improvements thus do not merely follow economic progress.
Welfare Sanctions and Deprivation in Germany: Do First Sanctions Lead to Higher Levels of Deprivation Among the Long-Term Unemployed and Recipients of Basic Income Support?
Authors: LÖWE PAUL SEVERIN , UNGER STEFANIE ALEXANDRA
Published: January 2022

In Germany, as in many other European countries, vast changes in the welfare regime – towards workfare – have taken place. As a central activating element of workfare, sanctions were introduced to take effect by temporarily increasing deprivation through benefit cuts. This paper provides first quantitative insights on the effect of first sanctions on deprivation and contributes to the recent debate on the (un)constitutionality of sanctions, which re-emerged after a verdict of the Federal Constitutional Court, criticizing the lack of knowledge about the effects of sanctions on those affected. We implement a difference-in-differences propensity score matching approach that addresses selection on observables and individual time constant unobserved differences. High data accuracy is ensured by combining the “Panel Labour Market and Social Security” (PASS) with administrative data from the Federal Employment Agency. The results illustrate a slightly higher yet statistically insignificant level of deprivation for first-sanctioned unemployment/basic income recipients compared to non-sanctioned recipients. The results hint in the direction that higher levels of deprivation are not what activates the sanctioned beneficiaries to reintegrate into the labour market. We discuss whether the results imply a significant deviation from the socio-cultural subsistence minimum of sanctioned recipients and a failure of the welfare state.
Graph-optimisation-based self-calibration method for IMU/odometer using preintegration theory
Authors: Bai Shiyu , Lai Jizhou , Lyu Pin , Cen Yiting , Wang Bingqing , Sun Xin
Published: January 2022

Determination of calibration parameters is essential for the fusion performance of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and odometer integrated navigation system. Traditional calibration methods are commonly based on the filter frame, which limits the improvement of the calibration accuracy. This paper proposes a graph-optimisation-based self-calibration method for the IMU/odometer using preintegration theory. Different from existing preintegrations, the complete IMU/odometer preintegration model is derived, which takes into consideration the effects of the scale factor of the odometer, and misalignments in the attitude and position between the IMU and odometer. Then the calibration is implemented by the graph-optimisation method. The KITTI dataset and field experimental tests are carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results illustrate that the proposed method outperforms the filter-based calibration method. Meanwhile, the performance of the proposed IMU/odometer preintegration model is optimal compared with the traditional preintegration models.
A survey on the application of path-planning algorithms for multi-rotor UAVs in precision agriculture
Authors: Basiri Amin , Mariani Valerio , Silano Giuseppe , Aatif Muhammad , Iannelli Luigi , Glielmo Luigi
Published: January 2022

Multi-rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), although originally designed and developed for defence and military purposes, in the last ten years have gained momentum, especially for civilian applications, such as search and rescue, surveying and mapping, and agricultural crops and monitoring. Thanks to their hovering and Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) capabilities and the capacity to carry out tasks with complete autonomy, they are now a standard platform for both research and industrial uses. However, while the flight control architecture is well established in the literature, there are still many challenges in designing autonomous guidance and navigation systems to make the UAV able to work in constrained and cluttered environments or also indoors. Therefore, the main motivation of this work is to provide a comprehensive and exhaustive literature review on the numerous methods and approaches to address path-planning problems for multi-rotor UAVs. In particular, the inclusion of a review of the related research in the context of Precision Agriculture (PA) provides a unified and accessible presentation for researchers who are initiating their endeavours in this subject.
Obstacle type recognition in visual images via dilated convolutional neural network for unmanned surface vehicles
Authors: Shi Binghua , Su Yixin , Lian Cheng , Xiong Chang , Long Yang , Gong Chenglong
Published: January 2022

Recognition of obstacle type based on visual sensors is important for navigation by unmanned surface vehicles (USV), including path planning, obstacle avoidance, and reactive control. Conventional detection techniques may fail to distinguish obstacles that are similar in visual appearance in a cluttered environment. This work proposes a novel obstacle type recognition approach that combines a dilated operator with the deep-level features map of ResNet50 for autonomous navigation. First, visual images are collected and annotated from various different scenarios for USV test navigation. Second, the deep learning model, based on a dilated convolutional neural network, is set and trained. Dilated convolution allows the whole network to learn deep features with increased receptive field and further improves the performance of obstacle type recognition. Third, a series of evaluation parameters are utilised to evaluate the obtained model, such as the mean average precision (mAP), missing rate and detection speed. Finally, some experiments are designed to verify the accuracy of the proposed approach using visual images in a cluttered environment. Experimental results demonstrate that the dilated convolutional neural network obtains better recognition performance than the other methods, with an mAP of 88%.
Inland waterway network mapping of AIS data for freight transportation planning
Authors: Asborno Magdalena I. , Hernandez Sarah , Mitchell Kenneth N. , Yves Manzi
Published: January 2022

Travel demand models (TDMs) with freight forecasts estimate performance metrics for competing infrastructure investments and potential policy changes. Unfortunately, freight TDMs fail to represent non-truck modes with levels of detail adequate for multi-modal infrastructure and policy evaluation. Recent expansions in the availability of maritime movement data, i.e. Automatic Identification System (AIS), make it possible to expand and improve representation of maritime modes within freight TDMs. AIS may be used to track vessel locations as timestamped latitude–longitude points. For estimation, calibration and validation of freight TDMs, this work identifies vessel trips by applying network mapping (map-matching) heuristics to AIS data. The automated methods are evaluated on a 747-mile inland waterway network, with AIS data representing 88% of vessel activity. Inspection of 3820 AIS trajectories was used to train the heuristic parameters including stop time, duration and location. Validation shows 84⋅0% accuracy in detecting stops at ports and 83⋅5% accuracy in identifying trips crossing locks. The resulting map-matched vessel trips may be applied to generate origin–destination matrices, calculate time impedances, etc. The proposed methods are transferable to waterways or maritime port systems, as AIS continues to grow.
Corporate responsibility and biodiversity conservation: challenges and opportunities for companies participating in China’s Belt and Road Initiative
Authors: Bohnett Eve , Coulibaly Abdoulaye , Hulse Dave , Hoctor Thomas , Ahmad Bilal , An Li , Lewison Rebecca
Published: January 2022

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), designed to build critical infrastructure and coordinate economic growth, is the most significant development initiative in modern history. The BRI has a documented vision for sustainability, including environmental impact assessments and responsibility tenets. Despite this, a growing body of literature has found adverse effects of BRI projects on protected land and species. To understand corporate responsibility and regulations for companies participating in the BRI, we gathered information on 260 BRI companies using the Refinitiv Eikon BRI Connect database and the China Global Investment Tracker. The results revealed a significant gap in corporate responsibility reporting for biodiversity impacts, environmental restoration, environmental project financing and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 14 ‘Life below Water’ and 15 ‘Life on Land’. The modest fraction of companies that we found to report biodiversity accountability highlights the need to restructure and incentivize the reporting of environmental and biodiversity risks. The current evidence of limited adherence to responsibility measures highlights a clear opportunity to align BRI development with the BRI’s vision for sustainability, and to strengthen links for policy engagement within Chinese regulatory frameworks and international obligations at the United Nations within its SDG framework.
Transplacental treatment of foetal supraventricular tachycardia with triple antiarrhythmic combination to avoid intra-foetal intervention
Authors: Babaoglu Kadir , Dogan Yasemin , Uzun Orhan
Published: January 2022

Although a high percentage of foetuses with supraventricular tachycardia respond to single or dual antiarrhythmic therapy, on occasion when there is no response to these combination regimens, direct intra-foetal therapy remains the only choice, albeit such an approach carries a potential risk to the foetus.

Data with regard to the safety and efficacy of triple antiarrhythmic combination have not been reported before. Here, we present a foetus with intractable tachycardia in whom arrhythmia termination was successfully achieved with triple oral antiarrhythmic therapy.
Norwegian Open Fracture Management System: Outcomes After 10 Years Working in Low-Resource Settings in Cambodian Hospitals
Authors: Tajsic Nenad B. , Sørbye Sigrunn H. , Nguon Sophy , Sokh Vannara , Lim Aymeric
Published: January 2022

Introduction:

The treatment of open lower limb fractures represents a major challenge for any trauma surgeon, and this even more so in resource-limited areas. The aim of the study is to describe the intervention, report the treatment plan, and observe the effectiveness of the Norwegian Open Fracture Management System in saving lower limbs in rural settings.

Materials and Methods:

A retrospective and prospective interventional study was carried out in the period 2011 through 2017 in six rural hospitals in Cambodia. The fractures were managed with locally produced external fixators and orthosis developed in 2007. Based on skills and living locations, two local surgeons and one paramedic without reconstructive surgery experience were selected to reach the top of the reconstructive ladder and perform limb salvage surgeries. This study evaluated 56 fractures using the Ganga Hospital Open Injury Score (GHOIS) for Gustilo-Anderson Type IIIA and Type IIIB open fracture classification groups.

Results:

The primary success rate in open tibia fractures was 64.3% (95% CI, 50.3 - 76.3). The average treatment time to complete healing for all of the patients was 39.6 weeks (95% CI, 34.8 - 44.4). A percentage of 23.2% (95% CI, 13.4 - 36.7) experienced a deep infection. Fifteen of the patients had to undergo soft tissue reconstruction and 22 flaps were performed. Due to non-union, a total of 15 bone grafts were performed. All of the 56 patients in the study gained limb salvage and went back to work.

Conclusion:

The given fracture management program proves that low-resource countries are able to produce essential surgical tools at high quality and low price. Treatment with external fixation and functional bracing, combined with high-level training of local surgeons, demonstrates that a skilled surgical team can perform advanced limb salvage surgery in low-resource settings.
Coordinating nominations: how to deal with an incumbent surplus after electoral reform
Authors: Rehmert Jochen
Published: January 2022

How do parties and candidates react to electoral system reform? While the literature on causes and consequences of electoral reforms is receiving increasing attention, we lack a systematic micro-level account on how parties and candidates adopt to changes in electoral rules and district boundaries. This paper examines the case of the Japanese Liberal Democrats to explore how the party has managed to accommodate a surplus of incumbents to a reduced number of nominal tier seats following the 1994 electoral reform. By using micro-level data, I examine how the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has matched candidates based on their expected electoral strength and ideological positioning to new districts. Moreover, I investigate how the newly instituted party-list allowed the LDP to avoid its disintegration at the local level by systematically defusing local stand-offs through the handing out of promising list positions. My findings help to understand how the LDP could avoid its disintegration and could continue to dominate Japanese politics until today.
Protestant Missionary Education and the Diffusion of Women’s Education in Ottoman Turkey: A Historical GIS Analysis
Authors: Amasyalı Emre
Published: January 2022

A significant literature demonstrates that the presence of historic missionary societies—especially Protestant societies—during the colonial period is significantly and positively associated with increased educational attainment and economic outcomes. However, we know less about the mechanisms underlying the long-run consequences of institutions, as it is commonly very hard to disentangle direct effects from indirect effects. One clear way to do so, however, is to explore the long-term impact of missionary influence in places in which the direct beneficiaries of missionary education are no longer present. The present article considers one such region, the Anatolian region of the Ottoman Empire. Due to the ethnic violence and population movements at the start of the twentieth century, the newfound Turkish nation-state was largely religiously homogenous. This provides us with a unique situation to empirically assess the long-run indirect effects of Christian missionary societies on local human capital. For this purpose, I present an original dataset that provides the locations of Protestant mission stations and schools, Ottoman state-run schools, and Armenian community schools contained within Ottoman Anatolia between 1820 and 1914. Contrary to the common association found in the literature, this study does not find missionary presence to be correlated with modern-day schooling. Rather, I find that regions with a heightened missionary presence and an active Christian educational market perform better on the gender parity index for pretertiary schooling during both the Ottoman and Turkish periods.
The Working Week in the Long Nineteenth Century: Evidence from the Timings of Political Events in Britain
Authors: Tiratelli Matteo
Published: January 2022

Debates about patterns of time use in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain go back to the seminal work of E. P. Thompson in the 1960s. But the lack of systematic evidence means that many of these questions remain unresolved. In an attempt to advance those debates, this essay uses three catalogs of political events to reconstruct the working week in Britain over the long nineteenth century. Three patterns emerge. First, observance of Saint Monday appears to have been widespread in the early nineteenth century before declining slowly in the mid-1800s, a process that happened faster in factory towns than elsewhere. This finding supports the orthodox narrative about Saint Monday against its recent challengers (in particular Hans-Joachim Voth). Second, I find that political organizers in the early nineteenth century were reluctant to profane the Sabbath by arranging public meetings on Sundays, but that this came to an end during the heyday of Chartism. Third, these catalogs also provide some, more speculative, evidence that the working day and the working week became more ordered as the nineteenth century wore on.
Upwelling and Downwelling Driven by the North Equatorial Countercurrent and Internal Waves at Hatohobei Island and Helen Reef, Palau
Authors: Johnston T.  M. Shaun , Colin Patrick L.
Published: January 2022

Upwelling and downwelling at two near‐equatorial islands in the western Pacific, Hatohobei Island and Helen Reef, Palau, are investigated using time series from a temperature array in the upper 57 m from 2014 to 2019 and a ship survey from 3 to 5 July 2013. During the survey, on the upstream side, upwelling/downwelling is found above/below an eastward subsurface current maximum due to an unusual mesoscale eddy. This eddy detached from a meander in the eastward North Equatorial Countercurrent in May 2013 and translated southwestward to the islands over 2 months bringing among the strongest currents seen at these islands in altimetry from 1993 to 2020. Following a streamline, the flow satisfied the Bernoulli equation outside of the wake. In both the cyclonic and anticyclonic wakes from the south and north points of Helen Reef, elevated estimated diffusivities from a shear‐based parameterization were similar at 10−5 m2 s−1 and a factor of 10 above background values. In the time series, downwelling in the upper 57 m is associated with a broader, surface‐intensified NECC converging at topography. Also, the shallower thermocline in 2014 and during the El Niños of 2015–2016 and 2018–2019 led to increased stratification at this depth and permitted greater internal wave activity. Peaked semidiurnal internal waves with peak‐to‐peak amplitudes of 4°C were equal to interannual changes. The net downwelling/warming of 0.5°C at the temperature array when smoothed over 2 months is consistent with both current‐driven downwelling and internal‐wave driven mixing of warmer waters downwards.
The Effects of Truncating the Capillary Fringe on Water‐Table Dynamics During Periodic Forcing
Authors: Zheng Yihao , Yang Mingzhe , Liu Haijiang
Published: January 2022

The hydrodynamic response of the capillary zone is an important factor for understanding and predicting the propagation of groundwater head changes in unconfined aquifers. While the response can be predicted for a capillary fringe that is not bounded above by the ground surface, the influence of an upper boundary is poorly understood. In this study, we present laboratory sand column experiments for a range of water‐table depths below the ground surface, corresponding to truncation factors that represent the range of capillary‐zone truncation. Periodic forcing from below is related to observed amplitude attenuation and phase lag of the water‐table position. An abrupt decline of the water‐table occurs if the capillary fringe is truncated during the entire oscillation period, whereas a sudden increase is observed when the capillary fringe is truncated for only part of the period. Fluctuations during truncation are always larger than without, which is ascribed to meniscus behavior at the ground surface. Air entrapment will reduce the capillary fringe, which is confirmed through a watering test. Simulation using both Cartwright's “wetting and drying” model and Richards' model with dynamic effective porosity are used to evaluate experimental results, with the latter model providing a better match for large capillary‐fringe truncation.
Overcoming the Challenges of Ocean Data Uncertainty
Authors: Elipot Shane , Drushka Kyla , Subramanian Aneesh , Patterson Mike
Published: January 2022

In oceanography, as in any scientific field, the goal is not to eliminate uncertainty in data, but instead to better quantify and clearly communicate its size and nature.
Identifying temporal and spatial patterns of variation from multimodal data using MEFISTO
Authors: Velten Britta , Braunger Jana M. , Argelaguet Ricard , Arnol Damien , Wirbel Jakob , Bredikhin Danila , Zeller Georg , Stegle Oliver
Published: January 2022

Factor analysis is a widely used method for dimensionality reduction in genome biology, with applications from personalized health to single-cell biology. Existing factor analysis models assume independence of the observed samples, an assumption that fails in spatio-temporal profiling studies. Here we present MEFISTO, a flexible and versatile toolbox for modeling high-dimensional data when spatial or temporal dependencies between the samples are known. MEFISTO maintains the established benefits of factor analysis for multimodal data, but enables the performance of spatio-temporally informed dimensionality reduction, interpolation, and separation of smooth from non-smooth patterns of variation. Moreover, MEFISTO can integrate multiple related datasets by simultaneously identifying and aligning the underlying patterns of variation in a data-driven manner. To illustrate MEFISTO, we apply the model to different datasets with spatial or temporal resolution, including an evolutionary atlas of organ development, a longitudinal microbiome study, a single-cell multi-omics atlas of mouse gastrulation and spatially resolved transcriptomics.
The preference for sugar over sweetener depends on a gut sensor cell
Authors: Buchanan Kelly L. , Rupprecht Laura E. , Kaelberer M. Maya , Sahasrabudhe Atharva , Klein Marguerita E. , Villalobos Jorge A. , Liu Winston W. , Yang Annabelle , Gelman Justin , Park Seongjun , Anikeeva Polina , Bohórquez Diego V.
Published: January 2022

Guided by gut sensory cues, humans and animals prefer nutritive sugars over non-caloric sweeteners, but how the gut steers such preferences remains unknown. In the intestine, neuropod cells synapse with vagal neurons to convey sugar stimuli to the brain within seconds. Here, we found that cholecystokinin (CCK)-labeled duodenal neuropod cells differentiate and transduce luminal stimuli from sweeteners and sugars to the vagus nerve using sweet taste receptors and sodium glucose transporters. The two stimulus types elicited distinct neural pathways: while sweetener stimulated purinergic neurotransmission, sugar stimulated glutamatergic neurotransmission. To probe the contribution of these cells to behavior, we developed optogenetics for the gut lumen by engineering a flexible fiberoptic. We showed that preference for sugar over sweetener in mice depends on neuropod cell glutamatergic signaling. By swiftly discerning the precise identity of nutrient stimuli, gut neuropod cells serve as the entry point to guide nutritive choices.
Thermoelectric properties plus phonon and de Haas–van Alphen frequencies of hole/electron-doped $$\hbox {CeIn}_3$$
Authors: Yazdani-Kachoei M. , Rahimi S. , Ebrahimi-Jaberi R. , Nematollahi J. , Jalali-Asadabadi S.
Published: January 2022

We investigate temperature, pressure, and localization dependence of thermoelectric properties, phonon and de Haas–van Alphen (dHvA) frequencies of the anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) CeIn$$_3$$

3

using density functional theory (DFT) and local, hybrid, and band correlated functionals. It is found that the maximum values of thermopower, power factor, and electronic figure of merit of this compound occur at low (high) temperatures provided that the 4f-Ce electrons are (not) localized enough. The maximum values of the thermopower, power factor, electronic figure of merit (conductivity parameters), and their related doping levels (do not) considerably depend on the localization degree and pressure. The effects of pressure on these parameters substantially depend on the degree of localization. The phonon frequencies are calculated to be real which shows that the crystal is dynamically stable. From the phonon band structure, the thermal conductivity is predicted to be homogeneous. This prediction is found consistent with the thermal conductivity components calculated along three Cartesian directions. In analogous to the thermoelectric properties, it is found that the dHvA frequencies also depend on both pressure and localization degree. To ensure that the phase transition at Néel temperature cannot remarkably affect the results, we verify the density of states (DOS) of the compound at the paramagnetic phase constructing a non-collinear magnetic structure where the angles of the spins are determined so that the resultant magnetic moment vanishes. The non-collinear results reveal that the DOS and whence the thermoelectric properties of the compound are not changed considerably by the phase transition. To validate the accuracy of the results, the total and partial DOSs are recalculated using DFT plus dynamical mean-field theory (DFT+DMFT). The DFT+DMFT DOSs, in agreement with the hybrid DOSs, predict the Kondo effect in this compound.
Interocular symmetry of optical coherence tomography parameters in healthy children and adolescents
Authors: Song Mi Yeon , Hwang Young Hoon
Published: January 2022

Evaluation of interocular asymmetry of optical coherence tomography (OCT) parameters is important for the glaucoma and optic neuropathies. This study was performed to evaluate the interocular asymmetry of OCT parameters in healthy children and adolescents. The circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, optic nerve head (ONH) parameters, and macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness were measured in 620 eyes of 310 healthy children and adolescents using Cirrus HD-OCT. The interocular asymmetry (right eye–left eye) in the OCT parameters was analyzed. The mean ± standard deviation age was 10.3 ± 3.7 years (range 5–17). The right eyes showed thinner superior quadrant RNFL, thicker nasal and temporal quadrant RNFL, lesser rim and disc areas, and thinner average, superior, and superonasal GCIPL than the left eyes (P < 0.05). The 2.5th and 97.5th percentile interocular difference tolerance limits were − 9.0 μm and 11.0 μm for average RNFL thickness, − 0.21 and 0.18 for average cup-to-disc ratio, and − 4.0 μm and 4.0 μm for average GCIPL thickness, respectively. Interocular differences were found in RNFL thickness, ONH parameters, and GCIPL thickness in healthy children and adolescents. These findings should be considered when comparing OCT parameters between the right and left eyes.
Diabetic macular edema and proliferative diabetic retinopathy treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor under the reimbursement policy in Taiwan
Authors: Hsieh Ming-Chieh , Cheng Chieh-Yin , Li Kun-Hsien , Chuang Chih-Chun , Wu Jian-Sheng , Lee Sheng-Ta , Lu Wei-Yang , Chiu Shin-Lin , Liu Yu-Ling , Chen San-Ni
Published: January 2022

The purpose of this retrospective interventional case series is to compare the functional and anatomical outcomes in eyes with diabetic macular edema (DME) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) treated intravitreally with aflibercept or ranibizumab under the Taiwan National Insurance Bureau reimbursement policy. 84 eyes were collected and all eyes were imaged with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), color fundus photographs (CFPs), and fluorescein angiography (FA). At 24 months after therapy initiation, the logMAR BCVA improved from 0.58 ± 0.33 to 0.47 ± 0.38 (p < 0.01), the CRT decreased from 423.92 ± 135.84 to 316.36 ± 90.02 (p < 0.01), and the number of microaneurysms decreased from 142.14 ± 57.23 to 75.32 ± 43.86 (p < 0.01). The mean injection count was 11.74 ± 5.44. There was no intergroup difference in logMAR BCVA (p = 0.96), CRT (p = 0.69), or injection count (p = 0.81). However, the mean number of microaneurysms was marginally reduced (p = 0.06) in eyes treated with aflibercept at the end of the follow-up, and the incidence rates of supplementary panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) (p = 0.04) and subthreshold micropulse laser (SMPL) therapy sessions (p = 0.01) were also reduced. Multivariate analysis revealed that only initial logMAR BCVA influenced the final VA improvements (odds ratio (OR) 0.49, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.21 ~ 0.93, p < 0.01); in contrast, age (OR − 0.38, 95% CI − 6.97 ~ − 1.85, p < 0.01) and initial CRT (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.34 ~ 0.84, p < 0.01) both influenced the final CRT reduction at 24 months. To sum up, both aflibercept and ranibizumab are effective in managing DME with PDR in terms of VA, CRT and MA count. Eyes receiving aflibercept required less supplementary PRP and SMPL treatment than those receiving ranibizumab. The initial VA influenced the final VA improvements at 24 months, while age and initial CRT were prognostic predictors of 24-month CRT reduction.
Evaluation of multi-task learning in deep learning-based positioning classification of mandibular third molars
Authors: Sukegawa Shintaro , Matsuyama Tamamo , Tanaka Futa , Hara Takeshi , Yoshii Kazumasa , Yamashita Katsusuke , Nakano Keisuke , Takabatake Kiyofumi , Kawai Hotaka , Nagatsuka Hitoshi , Furuki Yoshihiko
Published: January 2022

Pell and Gregory, and Winter’s classifications are frequently implemented to classify the mandibular third molars and are crucial for safe tooth extraction. This study aimed to evaluate the classification accuracy of convolutional neural network (CNN) deep learning models using cropped panoramic radiographs based on these classifications. We compared the diagnostic accuracy of single-task and multi-task learning after labeling 1330 images of mandibular third molars from digital radiographs taken at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at a general hospital (2014–2021). The mandibular third molar classifications were analyzed using a VGG 16 model of a CNN. We statistically evaluated performance metrics [accuracy, precision, recall, F1 score, and area under the curve (AUC)] for each prediction. We found that single-task learning was superior to multi-task learning (all p < 0.05) for all metrics, with large effect sizes and low p-values. Recall and F1 scores for position classification showed medium effect sizes in single and multi-task learning. To our knowledge, this is the first deep learning study to examine single-task and multi-task learning for the classification of mandibular third molars. Our results demonstrated the efficacy of implementing Pell and Gregory, and Winter’s classifications for specific respective tasks.
Quantum Fourier transform to estimate drive cycles
Authors: Dixit Vinayak , Jian Sisi
Published: January 2022

Drive cycles in vehicle systems are important determinants for energy consumption, emissions, and safety. Estimating the frequency of the drive cycle quickly is important for control applications related to fuel efficiency, emission reduction and improving safety. Quantum computing has established the computational efficiency that can be gained. A drive cycle frequency estimation algorithm based on the quantum Fourier transform is exponentially faster than the classical Fourier transform. The algorithm is applied on real world data set. We evaluate the method using a quantum computing simulator, demonstrating remarkable consistency with the results from the classical Fourier transform. Current quantum computers are noisy, a simple method is proposed to mitigate the impact of the noise. The method is evaluated on a 15 qubit IBM-q quantum computer. The proposed method for a noisy quantum computer is still faster than the classical Fourier transform.
De-novo fabrication of sunlight irradiated silver nanoparticles and their efficacy against E. coli and S. epidermidis
Authors: Arshad Hammad , Sadaf Saima , Hassan Umer
Published: January 2022

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) gained significant attention due to their activity against microbial pathogens, cancer cells, and viral particles etc. Traditional fabrication methods require hazardous chemicals as reducing agents and their usage and disposal pose a significant hazard to environmental ecosystem. Here, a de novo, robust, cost effective and an eco-friendly method is reported to fabricate AgNPs irradiated with sunlight (SL) while using Salvadora persica root extract (SPE) as reducing agent. Sunlight (SL) irradiated S. persica silver nanoparticles (SpNPs) i.e., SL-SpNPs were characterized using multiple techniques and their antibacterial efficacy was evaluated. The SL-SpNPs were synthesized in 10 min. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis revealed their spherical morphology with a size range of 4.5–39.7 nm, while surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peaked at 425 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis suggested that the reduction of SL-SpNPs was due to the presence of phytochemicals in the SPE. Furthermore, X-ray powder diffraction (P-XRD) pattern depicted the crystal structure of SL-SpNPs, hence proving the presence of AgNPs. Further the antibacterial studies were carried out against Escherichia coli (ATCC 11229) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 12228) using Kirby Bauer method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) for E. coli were determined to be 1.5 μg/mL and 3.0 μg/mL respectively while MIC and MBC values for S. epidermidis were found to be 12.5 μg/mL and 25 μg/mL respectively. The solar irradiation-based fabrication method and resulting SL-SpNPs can find their utility in many biomedical and environmental applications.
Field canalization using anisotropic 2D plasmonics
Authors: Chang Po-Han , Lin Charles , Helmy Amr S.
Published: January 2022

Optical devices capable of suppressing diffraction nature of light are of great technological importance to many nanophotonic applications. One important technique to achieve diffractionless optics is to exploit field canalization effect. However, current technological platforms based on metamaterial structures typically suffer from strict loss-confinement trade-off, or lack dynamic reconfigurability over device operations. Here we report an integrated canalization platform that can alleviate this performance trade-off. It is found that by leveraging material absorption of anisotropic 2D materials, the dispersion of this class of materials can flatten without increasing propagation losses and compromising confinement. The realization of such plasmon canalization can be considered using black phosphorus (BP), where topological transition from elliptic to hyperbolic curves can be induced by dynamically leveraging material absorption of BP. At the transition point, BP film can support long range, deeply subwavelength, near-diffractionless field propagation, exhibiting diffraction angle of 5.5°, propagation distance of 10λspp, and λspp < λ0/300.
Aluminium complexes: next-generation catalysts for selective hydroboration
Authors: Das Amrita , Rej Supriya , Panda Tarun K.
Published: January 2022

Development of efficient Al-complexes and their crucial roles in catalytic selective hydroboration of several unsaturated compounds such as carbonyls, alkenes, alkynes, imines, nitriles and others were well documented in this review.
X-ray absorption spectra of f-element complexes: insight from relativistic multiconfigurational wavefunction theory
Authors: Sergentu Dumitru-Claudiu , Autschbach Jochen
Published: January 2022

The calculation of X-ray absorption structures with relativistic multiconfiguration ab-initio wavefunction approaches helps elucidating metal-ligand bonding in lanthanide and actinide complexes.
Tetradentate halogen bonding macrocyclic anion receptor inspired by the “Texas-sized” molecular box
Authors: Zhao Tian , Lynch Vincent M. , Sessler Jonathan L.
Published: January 2022

An analogue of the tetracationic “Texas-sized” molecular box containing iodotriazole halogen bond-promoting subunits (“Ibox”) was prepared and found to recognize larger halides in organic media.
Efficient one-pot tandem catalysis of glucose into 1,1,2-trimethoxyethane over W-Beta catalysts
Authors: Zhao Xinpeng , Liu Wang , Zhu Lijun , Zhang Yanfei , Sun Mengya , Miao Gai , Luo Hu , Li Shenggang , Kong Lingzhao
Published: January 2022

1,1,2-Trimethoxyethane was synthesized from glucose over W-Beta catalysts with a high yield of 54.2% through epimerization, RAC, acetalization, and etherfication processes.
Joint trajectory design and power allocation for unmanned aerial vehicles aided secure transmission in the presence of no‐fly zone
Authors: Yin Guoxiao , Zhou Xiaotian , Ma Piming , Fang Fang , Zhao Peng
Published: January 2022

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are widely considered as key enablers for future wireless networks due to their advantages, such as high mobility and flexible deployment. In this paper, the UAV assisted secure communication system is investigated, where the UAV is deployed as the mobile jammer to prevent the eavesdropper from overhearing the confidential message. With the objective of maximizing the secrecy rate, a joint optimization problem involving the trajectory and transmit power of UAV, as well as the transmit power of source node is formulated. Moreover, the effects of Non‐Fly Zone (NFZ) and imperfect estimation on the location of eavesdropper are also taken into consideration. As the original problem is hardly trackable, the worst case secrecy rate (WCSR) assumption is first employed to bypass the uncertainty brought by the estimation error. Then a block coordinate descent (BCD) based algorithm is proposed to decompose the problem into three sub‐ones, where the trajectory of UAV, the transmit power of UAV and the transmit power of source can be obtained in an iterative manner. Simulation results reveal that the proposed algorithm can improve the secrecy performance significantly. In addition, the robustness of the proposed algorithm under the estimation error can also be verified.
Centre including eccentricity algorithm for complex networks
Authors: Akhtanov S. , Turlykozhayeva D. , Ussipov N. , Ibraimov M. , Zhanabaev Z.
Published: January 2022

In this work, the authors propose a new centre including eccentricity algorithm, to define the fractal dimension of networks. The authors did the fractal analysis of the real Escherichia coli network and a model UV‐flower network and confirmed that these networks are fractals . The fractal dimensions () of these networks are calculated and = 2.485 for the real E. coli network and = 2.1 for the UV‐flower network is obtained. Also, the authors defined the fractal dimensions of real social networks and compared their method with Song's, Zhang's and Zheng's methods. Furthermore, the authors’ algorithm can solve situations with single‐node boxes at the edges of the network and can cover networks with minimum number of boxes. The authors believe that centre including eccentricity algorithm is competitive among existing algorithms and can be used to evaluate fractal properties of complex networks.
Expansion planning of electric vehicle charging stations considering the benefits of peak‐regulation frequency modulation
Authors: He Jun , Yang Xiao Ling , Deng ChangHong , Liu GuoGang , Huang WenTao , Zhu LiWen
Published: January 2022

The China Energy Administration has issued policies to encourage energy storage to participate in the electric auxiliary service market, which will provide ideas for electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs) to collectively participate in peak‐regulation and frequency modulation (FM). Taking into account the benefits of EVs participating in peak‐regulation and FM, this paper studies expansion planning for EVCSs. First, the orderly scheduling strategy of EVs under vehicle‐to‐grid (V2G) technology is established in this paper. And a peak regulation method is proposed to maximize the economic benefits of charging and discharging during peak and valley periods. Second, based on the temporal and spatial prediction model of EV charging demand, the expansion planning model of EVCSs is constructed considering the benefits of peak‐regulation and FM. Aiming at minimizing the comprehensive annual social cost of charging stations, the expansion site selection and capacity scheme of EVCSs are obtained. Finally, taking the 24 nodes in Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai City as an example, the location and capacity of the final annual expansion plan are obtained. And the influence of main control parameters on the results of the whole model and method is analysed in detail, the feasibility and effectiveness of the whole model and method are verified.
Novel framework for the three-dimensional NLTE inverse problem
Authors: Štěpán Jiří , del Pino Alemán Tanausú , Trujillo Bueno Javier
Published: January 2022

The inversion of spectropolarimetric observations of the solar upper atmosphere is one of the most challenging goals in solar physics. If we account for all relevant ingredients of the spectral line formation process, such as the three-dimensional (3D) radiative transfer out of local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE), the task becomes extremely computationally expensive. Instead of generalizing 1D methods to 3D, we have developed a new approach to the inverse problem. In our meshfree method, we do not consider the requirement of 3D NLTE consistency as an obstacle, but as a natural regularization with respect to the traditional pixel-by-pixel methods. This leads to more robust and less ambiguous solutions. We solve the 3D NLTE inverse problem as an unconstrained global minimization problem that avoids repetitive evaluations of the Λ operator. Apart from the 3D NLTE consistency, the method allows us to easily include additional conditions of physical consistency such as the zero divergence of the magnetic field. Stochastic ingredients make the method less prone to ending up within the local minima of the loss function. Our method is capable of solving the inverse problem faster by several orders of magnitude than by using grid-based methods. The method can provide accurate and physically consistent results if sufficient computing time is available, along with approximate solutions in the case of very complex plasma structures or limited computing time.