bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Le Conseil de l’Arctique est-il vraiment « le principal forum intergouvernemental pour la région arctique »?
Authors: De Pooter Hélène
Published: August 2021

Depuis 2019, le Conseil de l’Arctique revendique la qualité de « principal forum intergouvernemental pour la région arctique ». La formulation choisie soulève deux questions : celle de la nature du Conseil de l’Arctique et celle de l’importance de son rôle. Ces deux questions sont abordées tour à tour afin d’évaluer si l’image que le Conseil de l’Arctique veut donner de lui-même, 25 ans après sa création, relève du slogan ou correspond à la réalité. Or, s’il apparaît que l’expression « forum intergouvernemental » ne permet plus de saisir la nature du Conseil de l’Arctique dans toute sa complexité, ce dernier parvient effectivement à se positionner comme un acteur central sur les questions arctiques.
Science en puissances : La recherche scientifique, porte d’entrée vers la gouvernance arctique pour les États observateurs
Authors: Strouk Mayline
Published: August 2021

Cet article propose d’analyser la recherche scientifique comme étant la principale voie d’intégration d’États extérieurs à la région arctique. Nous montrons que, pour un ensemble d’États européens et asiatiques, leur engagement scientifique en Arctique a été le moteur de leur insertion dans le système politique régional, en particulier dans la gouvernance, dont la structure principale est le Conseil de l’Arctique depuis 1996. Uniquement composé des huit États reconnus comme souverains dans la région et de six organisations autochtones, le Conseil a intégré treize États au statut d’« observateurs ». Nous nous intéressons ainsi dans cet article à l’activité scientifique de ces États observateurs et à la dimension plus large de la science comme instrument de diplomatie, pour une participation à la gouvernance. Cependant, le seul cadre du Conseil de l’Arctique est limité et nous montrons que la science est en réalité la voie vers d’autres formes d’intégration.
La route de la soie numérique, outil d’influence chinois, y compris dans l’Arctique?
Authors: Delaunay Michael
Published: August 2021

L’Arctique n’échappe pas à l’extension du réseau physique d’Internet soutenu par les câbles sous-marins de fibre optique, dont plusieurs projets sont en cours ou réalisés. Cette possible nouvelle route des données est plus rapide et plus sûre que les routes habituelles reliant l’Amérique du Nord, l’Europe et l’Asie. La Chine, qui souhaite mettre en place une route de la soie numérique chinoise, est fortement intéressée par cette nouvelle route et pourrait y prendre pied par l’intermédiaire du projet de câble Arctic Connect. Dans un contexte de guerre commerciale et technologique entre la Chine et les États-Unis, on peut se poser des questions quant aux intentions réelles de la Chine pour ce qui est de ce projet de réseau Internet 100 % chinois. En effet, le financement et la construction par la Chine de ce genre d’infrastructure vitale pour l’économie mondiale ne sont-ils pas pour elle un moyen d’étendre son influence, dans la région mais aussi au niveau global?
Anatomical Differences of the Donkey, Mule, and Horse: An Analysis Relevant to Veterinary Medicine
Authors: Pérez William , Souza Anderson Fernando de
Published: August 2021

A literatura veterinária recebe mais uma grande contribuição, a publicação do livro "Anatomical Differences of the Donkey, Mule, and Horse. An Analysis Relevant to Veterinary Medicine" (Diferenças anatômicas do asno, do muar e do cavalo. Uma análise relevante para a medicina veterinária, em tradução livre). Este livro é o primeiro trabalho a descrever a anatomia aplicada das espécies domésticas da família Equidae. Devido à rusticidade, os asininos e muares tiveram grande importância econômica como animais de carga em muitos países de topografia montanhosa, em áreas de mineração e de difícil acesso. Nos últimos anos, muitos destes animais foram mantidos como animais de estimação nos países ocidentais e usados para fins recreativos e turísticos. Na América do Sul, esses animais são comuns e ainda muito utilizados, sendo que no Brasil estima-se que existam aproximadamente 822.255 e 1.252.029 cabeças de asininos e muares respectivamente.
Filiform projections of the vestibular mucosa: What’s your diagnosis?
Authors: Hamouda Mouna Ben , Belajouza Colandane , Denguezli Mohamed
Published: August 2021

29-year-old recently married woman was reffered by her gynecologist to our dermatology department for suspected vulvar condyloma acuminatum. She had no history of any extramarital sexual contacts and her partner was free of any clinical features of genital HPV infections. She was anxious about the origin of her lesions and the risk of her husband’s contamination. She reported burning sensation, irritation and vulvar pain. On clinical examination soft digitate mucous colored papules with a smooth surface were noted at the vulvar vestibule. These papillomatous projections were pearly, uniformly arranged and had separate bases (Fig. 1). Dermatoscopy demonstrated regular and linear pinkish projections arranged in a symmetric distribution. Irregular linear vascular channels were observed (Fig. 2). Figure 1: Clinical aspect: multiple skin-colored filiform and soft projections. Figure 2: Dermatoscopy showing regular and linear pinkish projections arranged in a symmetric distribution. WHAT’S YOUR DIAGNOSIS? ANSWER: Vestibular Papillomatosis Vestibular papillomatosis (VP) is a normal variant of the female genital mucosa [1,2]. It is first described in 1981 by Altemeyer and named pseudocondylomata of the vulva [3]. VP is frequently misdiagnosed as condyloma acuminatum and presents a source of anxiety in patients, aggressive investigations and inappropriate treatment [2]. This entity is most often asymptomatic, but it can be accompanied, as our case, by a feeling of burning, pain or dyspareunia. To avoid the misdiagnosis of VP as genital warts, Moyal-Barranco et al. had proposed five clinical parameters [4]. Unlike condyloma acuminatum, VP is formed by regular, soft and pink-colored papillae arising from a separate base. It is also characterized by the lack of circumscribed whitening on 5% acetic acid application. Dermoscopy can help to differentiate these two conditions by allowing a better identification of these clinical parameters. Linear vessels may sometimes be observed in the transparent core of the finger-like projections [5]. On the other hand, dermoscopy of condyloma acuminatum shows irregular whitish projections with tapering end that arise from a common base and comprise conglomerate vessel. Based on these clinical criteria and the dermoscopic aspect, biopsies will be unnecessary to confirm the diagnosis of VP.
On exemption from criminal liability for unlawful restriction of competition (the Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)
Authors: Derevyagina Ol'ga Evgen'evna
Published: August 2021

The subject of this research is the notes to the Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Article 14.32 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses; foreign antimonopoly legislation on exemption and mitigation of liability for cartels; decisions of the plenums of higher judicial instances of the Russian Federation regarding the grounds and procedure for exemption from liability for cartel agreements; draft of the federal law on introducing amendments to the Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and antimonopoly practice on cartels. The article aims to examine the grounds for exemption from criminal liability for cartel agreements, including in comparative-legal and interdisciplinary aspects. The novelty of this research consists in establishing extension of the grounds for exemption from liability in the Russian legislation to all cartel participants (unlike foreign legislation, according to which the cartel facilitator is not exempt from liability). This article is firs to provide interpretation to scantily studied questions of the procedure for realization of the conditions of exemption from criminal liability: the instance, when the cartel participant is still able to declare the restriction of competition to law enforcement agencies, and other measures of reparation of the inflicted damage. The author proposes a method for unification of the the grounds for exemption from liability stipulated by the Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Article 14.32 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses. The acquired results can be applied in the activity of law enforcement agencies.
A construção da notícia: interseções entre jornalismo e comunicação estratégica
Authors: Carvalho Claudiane
Published: August 2021

A obra objetiva analisar a construção da notícia na articulação entre jornalismo e comunicação estratégica, investigando o impacto dessa relação na tessitura da informação. Que contratos são estabelecidos? Como são definidos os critérios de noticiabilidade? Como se consegue o efeito de sentido de verdade? Em busca de respostas a essas questões, a autora conecta três domínios do conhecimento – a análise do discurso, a hermenêutica e as teorias do jornalismo -, transformando suas fronteiras em membranas. Além disso, reflete sobre a configuração do discurso informativo numa zona de convergência, que é constituída no processo de agendamento público e tem implicações na construção social da realidade.
A semantic rule based digital fraud detection
Authors: Ahmed Mansoor , Ansar Kainat , Muckley Cal B. , Khan Abid , Anjum Adeel , Talha Muhammad
Published: August 2021

Digital fraud has immensely affected ordinary consumers and the finance industry. Our dependence on internet banking has made digital fraud a substantial problem. Financial institutions across the globe are trying to improve their digital fraud detection and deterrence capabilities. Fraud detection is a reactive process, and it usually incurs a cost to save the system from an ongoing malicious activity. Fraud deterrence is the capability of a system to withstand any fraudulent attempts. Fraud deterrence is a challenging task and researchers across the globe are proposing new solutions to improve deterrence capabilities. In this work, we focus on the very important problem of fraud deterrence. Our proposed work uses an Intimation Rule Based (IRB) alert generation algorithm. These IRB alerts are classified based on severity levels. Our proposed solution uses a richer domain knowledge base and rule-based reasoning. In this work, we propose an ontology-based financial fraud detection and deterrence model.
Cellulose aerogel composites as oil sorbents and their regeneration
Authors: Paulauskiene Tatjana , Uebe Jochen , Ziogas Mindaugas
Published: August 2021

Background

With every oil tanker comes the risk of an accident and oil spill. Sorbents are the most suitable means to remove oil spills. Aerogels as sorbents have high porosity and can be made from cellulose from paper waste. The literature does not distinguish between paper and cardboard as sources of cellulose aerogels and little is known about composites of cellulose aerogels consisting of cellulose fibres and chemically untreated, unprocessed fibres or particles of straw, wool, macroalgae or cellulose acetate from cigarette butts. In this study, the sorption properties for marine diesel oil and biodiesel of such aerogels and their regenerative capacity with bioethanol were investigated.

Methods

Cellulose aerogels were prepared from office paper and cardboard waste without and with chemically untreated algae, straw, wool and cellulose acetate as a composite by freeze drying. All samples were hydrophobised with methylsilane. The density to calculate the porosity and the contact angle were determined. Then the sorption capacity was determined over five cycles of sorption of oil and regeneration with bioethanol.

Results

The average contact angle of all samples was 125°, indicating hydrophobicity. Paper-based aerogels were found to consistently have higher sorption capacities for biodiesel, marine diesel oil and bioethanol than cardboard-based aerogels. In particular, the wool/cellulose aerogel composite was found to have better sorption capacity for biodiesel, marine diesel oil and bioethanol than all other samples. The cellulose acetate/cellulose aerogel composite showed significantly higher sorption capacities than the paper and cardboard control samples (highest value is 32.25 g g−1) only when first used as a sorbent for biodiesel, but with a rapid decrease in the following cycles.
Translation of N.B.K. Sänger’s (1871) “Peripatus capensis Gr. and Peripatus leuckartii n. sp.” (Onychophora), along with remarks about the author and significance of his work
Authors: Tait Noel N. , de Sena Oliveira Ivo , Mayer Georg
Published: August 2021

The basic biology of onychophorans was revealed slowly and controversially during much of the 19th century. Communications were in Latin, French, Spanish, German and English. This information was synthesised in the monumental monographs of Bouvier in 1905 and 1907. However, amongst this multicultural endeavour is a significant Russian contribution by Nikolai Sänger, a student of Professor Leuckart of the Zoological Institute in Leipzig, Germany. Sänger requested a specimen of Onychophora from the Institute’s collection for serial sectioning. This resulted in a detailed account of the anatomy of Peripatopsis capensis. Sänger’s description of the extensive slime glands was the first to recognise them as the hallmark of onychophorans for defence and prey capture, and not the male reproductive system as previously claimed. Based on these morphological observations, he correctly concluded that onychophorans are not hermaphrodites and, furthermore, are “predominantly predaceous” animals. He further appropriately assigned the slime glands and salivary glands to the slime papilla segment, despite the lack of embryological data at that time. Sänger also identified the excretory organs (nephridia) and their openings, although he erroneously assigned them to a dual role of excretion and respiration. Moreover, he highlighted the importance of the position of the genital opening as a diagnostic character, described the ventral/preventral organs as “subcutaneous glandules”, identified the neurilemma enclosing the central nervous system, and recognised “oval holes of different sizes” in each nerve cord that were subsequently demonstrated to represent giant fibres. Of interest to parasitologists, he discovered a larval acanthocephalan encysted within the cutaneous muscles of his specimen of P. capensis, suggesting that onychophorans act as a secondary host for this parasite. Sänger’s memoir concludes with a brief but important description of the first species of Onychophora recorded from Australia, “northwest of Sydney, New Holland”. This species is now known as Euperipatoides leuckartii with a neotype designated from a specific location northwest of Sydney.
Factors Affecting the Adoption Level of Good Agricultural Practices by Cucurbit Farmers in Anuradhapura District, Sri Lanka
Authors: Bandara A. M. K. R. , Jayarathne A. A. M. , Lankapura A. I. Y.
Published: August 2021

Aims: The primary focus of this empirical study was to investigate the factors influencing the level of GAP adoption for cucurbit vegetable in the Anuradhapura district of Sri Lanka.

Study Design: Three-stage purposive and proportionate sampling 

Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in the Anuradhapura district, North Central Province of Sri Lanka in 2018. 

Methodology: Primary and secondary data were used in the study. The primary data were collected mainly through a field survey using a structured and pre-tested questionnaire. The total sample size was 120.  Key informant interviews (KII), and a focus group discussion (FGD) were conducted to triangulate data and information obtained from the questionnaire survey and to obtain additional qualitative information. Descriptive analytical techniques, analysis of variance (ANOVA) test, and the General Linear Model (GLM) were employed for the data analysis.  

Results: Results revealed that 40% of respondents are moderate level GAP adopters, whilst about 68% practiced more than half of the recommended GAPs. The results of ANOVA revealed that farmers who adopted a higher proportion of GAPs earned a higher farming income, than those who practiced a moderate or low proportion of GAPs. Similarly, when compared to moderate and poor level GAP adopters, the average cost of production of higher-level adopters decreased significantly (p < 0.05). The results of the regression analysis revealed that farmer awareness of GAPs, farmer education level, farming experience, farming income, and cost of cultivation have a significant (p < 0.05) effect on the level of GAP adoption by cucurbit farmers.

Conclusion: Awareness of GAPs, farmer education level, farming experience, and farming income significantly affect the adoption level of GAPs. Policy priority should be given to planning for a long-term farmer awareness program on GAPs through proper training and extension programs.
Global Circulation Models (GCMs) Simulate the Current Temperature Only If the Shortwave Radiation Anomaly of the 2000s Has Been Omitted
Authors: Ollila Antero
Published: August 2021

The research article of Gillett et al. was published in Nature Climate Change (NCC) in March 2021. The objective of the NCC study was to simulate human-induced forcings to warming by applying 13 CMIP6 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6) climate models. NCC did not accept the author’s remarks as a “Matters arising” article. The purpose of this article is to detail the original three remarks and one additional remark: 1) the discrepancy between the graphs and reported numerical values, 2) the forcings of aerosols and clouds, 3) the positive water feedback, and 4) the calculation basis of the Paris agreement. The most important finding is that General Circulation Models (GCMs) used in simulations omit the significant shortwave anomaly from 2001 to 2019, which causes a temperature error of 0.3°C according to climate change physics of Gillett et al. For the year 2019, this error is 0.8°C showing the magnitude of shortwave anomaly impact. The main reason for this error turns out to be the positive water feedback generally applied in climate models. The scientific basis of the Paris climate agreement is faulty for the same reason.
Separation of Commercially Important Tuna from Other Fishes Using Feature Descriptor and Pre-trained CNN Models
Authors: Jose Jisha Anu , Kumar C. Sathish , Sureshkumar S.
Published: August 2021

Aims / Objectives: Identification of fish species is essential in export industries. Among the different fish species exported, tuna forms a significant portion and hence the separation of tuna from other fishes is necessary. The work aims to develop automated systems for the separation of commercially important tuna from other fishes. 

Methodology: The work proposes two models for the classification of commercial fishes. The first model uses conventional feature descriptors, which extract features from both spatial and frequency domain. These features are combined and are reduced by an ensemble dimension reduction method. The combined and reduced feature sets are evaluated using different classifiers. The second proposed model uses four pre-trained convolutional neural networks, VGG16, VGG19, Xception, and MobileNet, for the classification. The models are fine-tuned for the classification process.

Results: Results show that for the first model, extreme learning machine classifier with Mercer wavelet kernel gives high accuracy on combined feature set while the polynomial kernel ELM provides better performance with the reduced set. For the second model, a comparison of the performance of four CNN models is done, and results indicate that VGG19 outperforms other networks in the classification task. 

Conclusion: Among the two proposed models, pre-trained CNN based model shows better performance than the conventional method in the separation task. Different performance measures, accuracy, precision, recall, F-score, and misclassification error are used to evaluate the system. A comparison of performance of the proposed models with the state-of-the-art systems is also reported.
Quantifying the impact of SpaceOAR hydrogel on inter‐fractional rectal and bladder dose during 0.35 T MR‐guided prostate adaptive radiotherapy
Authors: Farjam Reza , Mahase Sean S. , Chen Shu Ling , Coonce Madeline , Pennell Ryan T. , Fecteau Ryan , Chughtai Bilal , Dewyngaert J. Keith , Kang Josephine , Ch Formenti Silvia , Nagar Himanshu
Published: August 2021

Purpose

To investigate the impact of rectal spacing on inter‐fractional rectal and bladder dose and the need for adaptive planning in prostate cancer patients undergoing SBRT with a 0.35 T MRI‐Linac.

Materials and Methods

We evaluated and compared SBRT plans from prostate cancer patients with and without rectal spacer who underwent treatment on a 0.35 T MRI‐Linac. Each group consisted of 10 randomly selected patients that received prostate SBRT to a total dose of 36.25 Gy in five fractions. Dosimetric differences in planned and delivered rectal and bladder dose and the number of fractions violating OAR constraints were quantified. We also assessed whether adaptive planning was needed to meet constraints for each fraction.

Results

On average, rectal spacing reduced the maximum dose delivered to the rectum by more than 8 Gy (p < 0.001). We also found that D3cc received by the rectum could be 12 Gy higher in patients who did not have rectal spacer (p < 9E‐7). In addition, the results show that a rectal spacer can reduce the maximum dose and D15cc to the bladder wall by more than 1 (p < 0.004) and 8 (p < 0.009) Gy, respectively. Our study also shows that using a rectal spacer could reduce the necessity for adaptive planning. The incidence of dose constraint violation was observed in almost 91% of the fractions in patients without the rectal spacer and 52% in patients with implanted spacer.

Conclusion

Inter‐fractional changes in rectal and bladder dose were quantified in patients who underwent SBRT with/without rectal SpaceOAR hydrogel. Rectal spacer does not eliminate the need for adaptive planning but reduces its necessity.
In Situ Synchrotron X‐Ray Diffraction during High‐Pressure Torsion Deformation of Ni and NiTi
Authors: Kerber Michael Bernhard , Spieckermann Florian , Schuster Roman , von Baeckmann Cornelia , Fischer Torben , Schell Norbert , Waitz Thomas , Schafler Erhard
Published: August 2021

A down‐sized high‐pressure torsion device is developed to be used in an INSTRON deformation machine available at the High Energy Materials Science beamline at PETRA III. This setup allows to obtain synchrotron diffraction patterns in situ during severe plastic straining. Two different materials are studied: in pure Ni, the dislocation density and coherently scattering domain size are analyzed; in NiTi shape memory alloy, amorphization and a reverse martensitic phase transformation are investigated. The in situ experiments facilitate the characterization of the microstructural evolution of these materials depending on uniaxial loading, hydrostatic pressure, and torsional strain.
Research on Hot Deformation Behavior of Mo‐Containing Ti2AlNb‐Based Alloy
Authors: Zhang Yefei , Tian Shiwei , Jiang Haitao , Zhang Guihua , Zhang Siyuan , Lin Hongtao , Wang Jiayi
Published: August 2021

Herein, the hot compression deformation behavior and microstructure instability of the different Mo‐containing Ti2AlNb‐based alloys are investigated in the temperature range of 900−1150 °C and strain rate range of 0.001−1 s−1. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are used to characterize the microstructure evolution during the deformation process. The results reveal that Mo element addition can refine the lamellar α2/O phase of Ti2AlNb‐based alloy. In addition, it has a certain influence on the phase‐transition temperature of the alloy, which leads to the narrowing of the O + B2 + α2 phase region. During the hot compression process, the spheroidization of the lamellar structure in Ti2AlNb−0.5Mo alloy is mainly through the transformation of O→B2 + α2, whereas the microstructure of Ti2AlNb−2Mo alloy is mainly converted from the O phase to the B2 phase. In addition, it is found that the high content of Mo element causes the segregation of Al element and leads to poor plasticity and stability of the Ti2AlNb−2Mo alloy. As such, the hot deformation performance of the Ti2AlNb−0.5Mo alloy is significantly better, which provides theoretical guidance for the composition design of the Ti2AlNb‐based alloy.
Mechanical and Electromagnetic Shielding Properties of Carbon Foam
Authors: Li Wanchong , Feng Lu , Shi Xiaolei , Wang Yan
Published: August 2021

More importance is being attached to the harm caused by electromagnetic interference (EMI) problems. Plenty of research in this field has used carbon foam materials to solve EMI, and some excellent results are obtained, whereas the mechanical properties of carbon foam are poor, which limit applications in particular fields. The physical mechanism of electromagnetic shielding is unanswered and further study is needed. Herein, a kind of carbon foam material is obtained by the templating method; the effect of foam structure on the electromagnetic shielding properties of the carbon foam material is investigated through experiment and simulation. The electromagnetic shielding performance, mechanical properties, and thermal stability of carbon foam are also studied. The electromagnetic shielding performance of carbon foam material is 20 dB in the X‐band range with the thickness and density as 2 mm and , respectively. In addition, the compressive strength of the carbon foam is 0.55 MPa.
In Situ/Operando Capturing Unusual Ir6+ Facilitating Ultrafast Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation
Authors: Li Lili , Sun Hainan , Hu Zhiwei , Zhou Jing , Huang Yu‐Cheng , Huang Haoliang , Song Sanzhao , Pao Chih‐Wen , Chang Yu‐Chung , Komarek Alexander C. , Lin Hong‐Ji , Chen Chien‐Te , Dong Chung‐Li , Wang Jian‐Qiang , Zhang Linjuan
Published: August 2021

Identifying real active sites and understanding the mechanism of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are still a big challenge today for developing efficient electrochemical catalysts in renewable energy technologies. Here, using a combined in situ/operando experiments and theory, the catalytic mechanism of the ordered OER active Co and Ir ions in Sr2CoIrO6−δ is studied, which exhibits an unprecedented low overpotential 210 mV to achieve 10 mA cm–2, ranking the highest performance among perovskite‐based solid‐state catalysts. Operando X‐ray absorption spectroscopies as a function of applied voltage indicates that Ir4+ ion is gradually converted into extremely high‐valence Ir5+/6+, while the part of Co3+ ion is transferred into Co4+ under OER process. Density functional theory calculations explicitly reveal the order Co‐O‐Ir network as an origin of ultrahigh OER activity. The work opens a promising path to overcome the sluggish kinetics of OER bottleneck for water splitting via proper arrangements of the multi‐active sites in catalyst.
AIEgens for Bacterial Imaging and Ablation
Authors: Borjihan Qinggele , Wu Haixia , Dong Alideertu , Gao Hui , Yang Ying‐Wei
Published: August 2021

Accurate and sensitive diagnosis of pathogenic bacterial infection is a fundamental first step for correct bacteria management, helping to avoid the development of drug‐resistant bacteria caused by the inappropriate use and overuse of antibiotics. Fluorescence probes as a promising visual tool can help identify pathogens rapidly and reliably. However, rigidly structured traditional fluorescence probes generally suffer from the drawback of aggregation‐caused quenching (ACQ) effect, which greatly undermines their advantages with respect to sensitivity. Luminogens with aggregation‐induced emission properties, namely AIEgens, can overcome the ACQ effect and certain AIEgen‐based materials are capable of generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the aggregate states. Hence, they have become powerful tools for imaging and killing bacteria. This review summarizes the recent advances in AIEgens for the diagnosis and treatment of pathogen infections. Special attention has been paid to the molecular design, the application in bacterial imaging and ablation in vitro and in vivo, and the biocompatibility of AIEgens. Finally, the challenges and prospects are discussed in terms of using AIEgens to advance precision therapies for pathogen infections.
Strong Suppression of Thermal Conductivity in the Presence of Long Terminal Alkyl Chains in Low‐Disorder Molecular Semiconductors
Authors: Selezneva Ekaterina , Vercouter Alexandre , Schweicher Guillaume , Lemaur Vincent , Broch Katharina , Antidormi Aleandro , Takimiya Kazuo , Coropceanu Veaceslav , Brédas Jean‐Luc , Melis Claudio , Cornil Jérôme , Sirringhaus Henning
Published: August 2021

While the charge transport properties of organic semiconductors have been extensively studied over the recent years, the field of organics‐based thermoelectrics is still limited by a lack of experimental data on thermal transport and of understanding of the associated structure–property relationships. To fill this gap, a comprehensive experimental and theoretical investigation of the lattice thermal conductivity in polycrystalline thin films of dinaphtho[2,3‐b:2′,3′‐f]thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene (Cn‐DNTT‐Cnwithn = 0, 8) semiconductors is reported. Strikingly, thermal conductivity appears to be much more isotropic than charge transport, which is confined to the 2D molecular layers. A direct comparison between experimental measurements (3ω–Völklein method) and theoretical estimations (approach‐to‐equilibrium molecular dynamics (AEMD) method) indicates that the in‐plane thermal conductivity is strongly reduced in the presence of the long terminal alkyl chains. This evolution can be rationalized by the strong localization of the intermolecular vibrational modes in C8‐DNTT‐C8 in comparison to unsubstituted DNTT cores, as evidenced by a vibrational mode analysis. Combined with the enhanced charge transport properties of alkylated DNTT systems, this opens the possibility to decouple electron and phonon transport in these materials, which provides great potential for enhancing the thermoelectric figure of meritZT.
Can China meet its purchase obligations under the Phase One Trade Agreement?
Authors: Muhammad Andrew , Smith Stephen A. , Grant Jason H.
Published: August 2021

This paper examines China's likelihood of meeting its purchase obligations under the Phase One Trade Agreement. In 2020, US agricultural exports to China ($27.2 billion) were 85% higher than in 2019 but 18% short of the first‐year Phase One goal ($33.4 billion). Evidence shows that many sectors experienced no change, particularly when compared to exports before the trade war. Some sectors benefited from China's overall demand growth and not necessarily from agreement commitments. Although there were substantial increases in exports of other major products (e.g., corn and poultry), these increases could not make up for less than expected soybean exports.
Human biological variation and the “normal”
Authors: Graves Joseph L.
Published: August 2021

Anatomically modern human being is a relatively young species (~300 000 years old) with small amounts of genetic variation contained within them. The vast majority of its existence was spent in Eastern Africa, migration out of the region began around 100 000 YBP. Sub‐Saharan African populations have the greatest amount of human genetic variation. However, migration allowed populations to accumulate genomic variation associated with living in the arctic, higher altitudes, disease resistance, living on high fat or starchy foods, surviving toxic arsenic‐rich environments, lactase persistence, changing skin pigmentation, gaining thicker hair, and changing height and body mass index. Understanding these aspects of human evolution forces us to reconsider our notion of the “normal.” Thus, normal for our species includes having dark melanic skin, brown eyes, and brown tightly curled hair. Derived features include lighter skin (~10 000 YBP), blue eyes (~6000 YBP), and blond straight hair (~6000 YBP). Yet in reality, “normal” has no meaning for a species that inhabits such a broad geographic range. Natural selection and genetic drift have genetically differentiated human populations in ways that impact our morphological and physiological traits. The genomic differentiation is small and does not allow any unambiguous classification of human populations into biological races. Despite these now well‐established facts of human variation, significant confusion associated with Eurocentric notions of the normal still persist in both the lay public and various professions such as biomedical research and clinical practice.
Procalcitonin elevation induced by sympathomimetic drug overdose
Authors: Kodama Sota , Kashiura Masahiro , Moriya Takashi
Published: August 2021

Background

Procalcitonin, a biomarker used to detect systemic bacterial infection, can be elevated in other conditions. Some case reports have suggested procalcitonin elevation induced by drug overdose.

Case Presentation

A 20‐year‐old woman with insignificant medical history presented with vomiting, fever, and impaired consciousness. Her vital signs showed an altered mental status (Glasgow Coma Scale score, 11 [E4V1M6]) and high fever (38.0°C), and no significant neurological signs were detected. Laboratory tests revealed that her serum procalcitonin level was significantly high (>10 ng/dL). Gradually, her level of consciousness improved, and she admitted that she had taken an overdose of sympathomimetic drugs. She was discharged from the hospital on day 5 without any problems.

Conclusion

Drug overdose is seldom mentioned as one of the causes of serum procalcitonin level elevation. Sympathomimetic drug overdose can be one of the causes of procalcitonin elevation.
Multifunctional Nanocarriers‐Mediated Synergistic Combination of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Cancer Immunotherapy and Interventional Oncology Therapy
Authors: Choi Bongseo , Kim Dong-Hyun
Published: August 2021

Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) cancer immunotherapies are becoming one of the standard therapies for cancer patients. However, ICI cancer immunotherapy's overall response rate is still moderate and even combinational ICI cancer immunotherapies are not showing significant improvement in therapeutic outcomes. Only a subset of patients respond to the therapy due to the resistance and ignorance to the ICI cancer immunotherapy. Following immune‐related adverse events (irAEs) is also limiting the whole therapeutic regimen. New approaches that can increase the immunotherapeutic efficacy and reduce systemic irAEs are required. Recently, multifunctional nanocarriers, which can extend the half‐life of ICIs and modulate tumor microenvironment (TME), have shown a substantial opportunity to enhance ICI cancer immunotherapies. Interventional oncology (IO), allowing simultaneous diagnosis, immunogenic locoregional therapeutic delivery, and real‐time monitoring of the treatment efficacy, has advanced to demonstrate the effective conversion of TME. The use of multifunctional nanocarriers with the IO therapies amplifies the image guidance capability and immunogenic therapeutic localization for the potential combinational ICI cancer immunotherapy. Herein, emerging opportunity of multifunctional nanocarriers‐mediated synergistic combination of ICI cancer immunotherapy and IO local therapy is discussed.
Restriction of Intramolecular Vibration in Aggregation‐Induced Emission Luminogens: Applications in Multifunctional Luminescent Metal–Organic Frameworks
Authors: Liu Yuan Yuan , Zhang Xin , Li Kai , Peng Qiu Chen , Qin Yu Jing , Hou Hong Wei , Zang Shuang Quan , Tang Ben Zhong
Published: August 2021

Butterfly‐like molecules of oxacalix[2]arene[2]pyrazine (OAP) are reported, which exhibit the typical characteristics of aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) via the restriction of intramolecular vibration (RIV) mechanism. Unlike any of the reported RIV‐type AIE molecules, the synthetic procedures of which are complicated and have associated high costs, OAP AIEgens can be synthesized in a facile manner by a one‐step catalyst‐free reaction using commercially available materials. Notably, OAP AIEgens are ideal ligands for constructing metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) due to their built‐in pyrazine coordination sites. OAP‐based MOFs exhibit multiple potential applications in reversible gas response, encrypted information storage, and construction of white light‐emitting devices. This work builds on RIV‐type AIEgens, offers additional selections of bridging ligands for constructing luminescent MOFs and provides a visualized prototype to understand the effect of the RIV process on the luminescence properties of MOFs.
Base‐Activated Latent Heteroaromatic Sulfinates as Nucleophilic Coupling Partners in Palladium‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling Reactions
Authors: Cook Xinlan A. F. , Pantaine Loïc R. E. , Blakemore David C. , Moses Ian B. , Sach Neal W. , Shavnya Andre , Willis Michael C.
Published: August 2021

Heteroaromatic sulfinates are effective nucleophilic reagents in Pd0‐catalyzed cross‐coupling reactions with aryl halides. However, metal sulfinate salts can be challenging to purify, solubilize in reaction media, and are not tolerant to multi‐step transformations. Here we introduce base‐activated, latent sulfinate reagents: β‐nitrile and β‐ester sulfones. We show that under the cross‐coupling conditions, these species generate the sulfinate salt in situ, which then undergo efficient palladium‐catalyzed desulfinative cross‐coupling with (hetero)aryl bromides to deliver a broad range of biaryls. These latent sulfinate reagents have proven to be stable through multi‐step substrate elaboration, and amenable to scale‐up.
Preparation and characterization of GO/KCC‐1/Ni(II) as an efficient catalyst for the green synthesis of some 1,8‐dioxodecahydroacridine derivatives
Authors: Zare Mina , Moradi Leila
Published: August 2021

Herein, we successfully prepared a new heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of some 1,8‐dioxodecahydroacridine derivatives. The catalyst was prepared through the loading of KCC‐1 nanoparticles on graphene oxide (to prevent the agglomeration of KCC‐1 nanoparticles and extended the surface area), and the immobilization of Ni(II) on GO/KCC‐1 was done using a simple procedure. The structure of catalyst was characterized using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), energy‐dispersive X‐ray (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), elemental mapping, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques. One‐pot pseudo‐four‐component reaction for the synthesis of 1,8‐dioxodecahydroacridines was performed under green conditions, and products were obtained in good to excellent yields. The structure of 1,8‐dioxodecahydroacridines was confirmed with FTIR, 1H NMR, and 13C NMR. Easy recovery and reusability of the catalyst, green conditions, short reaction times with high yield of products, and high‐efficient catalyst are some advantages of presented method.
Temperature‐Dependent Photoluminescence of Hexafluorobenzene‐Intercalated Phenethylammonium Tin Iodide 2D Perovskite
Authors: Dutta Taniya , Sheikh Tariq , Nag Angshuman
Published: August 2021

Tin halide perovskites are potential alternatives of lead halide perovskites. However, the easy oxidation of Sn2+ to Sn4+ brings in a challenge. Recently, layered two‐dimensional hybrid tin halide perovskites have been shown to partially resist the oxidation process because of the presence of hydrophobic organic molecules. Consequently, such layered hybrid perovskites are being explored for optoelectronic applications. The optical properties of layered tin halide perovskites depend on the interlayer separation and the dielectric mismatch between the organic and inorganic layers. Intercalation (insertion) of a molecular species between the layers modifies the interlayer interactions affecting the optical properties of layered hybrid perovskites. We investigated the effect of hexafluorobenzene (HFB) intercalation in phenethylammonium tin iodide [(PEA)2SnI4] using temperature‐dependent (6 K to 300 K) photoluminescence (PL). HFB intercalation increases the bandgap. A strong PL quenching is observed in pristine (PEA)2SnI4 below 150 K, probably because of the presence of non‐emissive states. HFB intercalation suppresses the influence of such non‐emissive states resulting in an increase in PL intensity at the cryogenic temperatures. Our results highlight that a simple molecular intercalation (non‐covalent interaction) into layered hybrid perovskites can significantly tailor the electronic and optical properties.
“Less is More′′: Ultra Low LiPF6 Concentrated Electrolyte for Efficient Li‐Ion Batteries
Authors: Nikiforidis Georgios , Anouti Mérièm
Published: August 2021

In the pursuit of lowering the cost of lithium‐ion (LIB) and lithium‐metal batteries (LMB), we reduced the lithium salt concentration of the electrolyte (i. e., lithium hexafluorophosphate LiPF6) to a record low 0.1 mol L−1 LiPF6. Herein we present the performance of lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC), lithium manganese oxide (LMO), lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathodes together with graphite and lithium metal anodes in a ternary solvent mixture of ethylene carbonate (EC), ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC), and 1,1,2,2‐tetrafluoroethyl 2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl ether (TFE) (3EC/7EMC/20TFE, by weight) containing 0.1 mol L−1 LiPF6. By virtue of the favored ionic associations between Li+ and PF6− in the presence of the TFE together with EC and EMC, the half and full coin cells revealed a robust performance at room temperature with high specific capacities and coulombic efficiencies (>98.5 %) over a wide current range (C/2→2C), high capacity retention, modest energy density (180 to 207 Wh kg−1 depending on the system), extended calendar life (600 h for the Li symmetric cells), and superior operation to cells using commercial carbonate electrolytes (i. e., 1 mol L−1 LiPF6 in EC/EMC, 3/7, v/v). The morphological characterization of the electrodes revealed mild structural degradation, homogenous distribution of the electrode and electrolyte‐based elements, as well as the formation of decomposition products, especially for the graphite anode. Overall, this study attests to the compatibility of low‐concentrated Li salt electrolytes with promising cathode and anode materials for efficient and cost‐effective battery systems.
Knowledge transfer across cell lines using hybrid Gaussian process models with entity embedding vectors
Authors: Hutter Clemens , von Stosch Moritz , Cruz Bournazou Mariano N. , Butté Alessandro
Published: August 2021

To date, a large number of experiments are performed to develop a biochemical process. The generated data is used only once, to take decisions for development. Could we exploit data of already developed processes to make predictions for a novel process, we could significantly reduce the number of experiments needed. Processes for different products exhibit differences in behaviour, typically only a subset behave similar. Therefore, effective learning on multiple product spanning process data requires a sensible representation of the product identity. We propose to represent the product identity (a categorical feature) by embedding vectors that serve as input to a Gaussian process regression model. We demonstrate how the embedding vectors can be learned from process data and show that they capture an interpretable notion of product similarity. The improvement in performance is compared to traditional one‐hot encoding on a simulated cross product learning task. All in all, the proposed method could render possible significant reductions in wet‐lab experiments.
Metabolic and process engineering for microbial production of protocatechuate with Corynebacterium glutamicum
Authors: Labib Mohamed , Görtz Jonas , Brüsseler Christian , Kallscheuer Nicolai , Gätgens Jochem , Jupke Andreas , Marienhagen Jan , Noack Stephan
Published: August 2021

3,4‐Dihydroxybenzoate (protocatechuate, PCA) is a phenolic compound naturally found in edible vegetables and medicinal herbs. PCA is of high interest in the chemical industry and has wide potential for pharmaceutical applications. We designed and constructed a novel Corynebacterium glutamicum strain to enable the efficient utilization of d‐xylose for microbial production of PCA. Shake flask cultivation of the engineered strain showed a maximum PCA titer of 62.1 ± 12.1 mM (9.6 ± 1.9 g L−1) from d‐xylose as the primary carbon and energy source. The corresponding yield was 0.33 C‐mol PCA per C‐mol d‐xylose, which corresponds to 38% of the maximum theoretical yield. Under growth‐decoupled bioreactor conditions, a comparable PCA titer and a total amount of 16.5 ± 1.1 g PCA could be achieved when d‐glucose and d‐xylose were combined as orthogonal carbon substrates for biocatalyst provision and product synthesis, respectively. Downstream processing of PCA was realized via electrochemically induced crystallization by taking advantage of the pH‐dependent properties of PCA. This resulted in a maximum final purity of 95.4%. The established PCA production process represents a highly sustainable approach, which will serve as a blueprint for the bio‐based production of other hydroxybenzoic acids from alternative sugar feedstocks.
Net‐zero emission targets and the role of managerial environmental awareness, customer pressure, and regulatory control toward environmental performance
Authors: Zameer Hashim , Wang Ying , Saeed Muhammad Rashid
Published: August 2021

To avoid the worst effects of global warming, countries agreed to limit warming below 2.0°C and ideally to 1.5°C preindustrial level. This requires countries to drop half of their greenhouse gas emission by 2030 and reach net‐zero emission by 2050. In this regard, current study explores the role of green production as a mediator in the impact of managerial environmental awareness, customer pressure, and regulatory control on environmental performance. The data collected from 381 managers was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. Results indicate that customer pressure, regulatory control, and managerial environmental awareness play a pivotal role toward green production, whereas only managerial environmental awareness among them directly influences environmental performance. Green production fully mediates the relationship from customer pressure and regulatory control to environmental performance. However, it partially mediates the relation between managerial environmental awareness and environmental performance. Similarly, the importance of green production for environmental performance is highlighted.