bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Valoración bioquímica en la enfermedad hepática grasa asociada a la disfunción metabólica
Authors: Guerra-Ruiz Armando R. , Casals Gregori , Iruzubieta Paula , Lalana Marta , Leis Alba , López Rosa María , Crespo Javier , Morales-Ruiz Manuel
Published: February 2021

La enfermedad hepática grasa asociada a la disfunción metabólica (MAFLD) se define por el acúmulo de grasa en el hígado en presencia de alteraciones metabólicas. Suele cursar de forma asintomática y puede progresar a formas graves de enfermedad hepática, ligadas a la aparición de inflamación y/o fibrosis. Su prevalencia es muy elevada (26%), resultando en un alto número de pacientes con riesgo de presentar una enfermedad hepática avanzada. El presente documento describe los marcadores serológicos más relevantes en la caracterización y diagnóstico de la MAFLD, y se propone un ejemplo de su integración en un algoritmo diagnóstico en práctica clínica habitual. En la actualidad se dispone de índices serológicos útiles en el manejo de los pacientes con MAFLD, especialmente en la estratificación del riesgo de la presencia fibrosis. Una gran parte de la población está en riesgo de desarrollar enfermedad hepática grave. La integración de los marcadores serológicos no invasivos en la estratificación del riesgo de fibrosis hepática puede contribuir a un mejor control y manejo de los pacientes con MAFLD.
Modeling the Deformation of Shear Thinning Droplets Suspended in a Newtonian Fluid
Authors: Almusallam Abdulwahab S. , Daffallah Isameldeen E. , Benyahia Lazhar
Published: February 2021

In this work, we carried out numerical modeling of the large deformation of a shear thinning droplet suspended in a Newtonian matrix using the constrained volume model. The adopted approach was to consider making incremental corrections to the evolution of the droplet anisotropy equation in order to capture the experimental behavior of a shear thinning droplet when subjected to deformation due to imposed flow. The constrained volume model was modified by using different models to describe the viscosity of droplet phase: the Bautista et al. model, the Carreau-Yasuda model and the Power-law model. We found that by combining the constrained volume model with a simple shear thinning viscosity model we were able to describe the available experimental data for large deformation of a shear thinning droplet suspended in a Newtonian matrix. Moreover, we developed an equation approximating flow strength during droplet retraction, and we found that the model can accurately describe the experimental data of the retraction of a shear thinning droplet.
What a Theory of Social Norms and Institutions Should Look Like
Authors: Opp Karl-Dieter
Published: February 2021

In the previous issue of Analyse & Kritik (2020, vol. 42, issue 1) Alexander Vostroknutov (3-39) aims at a ‘synthesis’ of economics with ‘psychology, sociology, and evolutionary human biology.’ This paper argues that his approach needs to be complemented at least by work from sociologists and social psychologists. Starting with problems of defining and measuring norms it is then claimed that a theory of norms should address the origin, change and effects of norms and model micromacro processes. This should also be the goal of a theory of institutions (which are defined here as sets of norms-norms in the sense of accepting oughtness statements). We show how the social psychological value expectancy theory can be applied to model the variety of incentives that could play a role in explaining the effects of norms. Regarding the origin Coleman’s theory of norms is applied to show how Vostroknutov’s dissatisfaction-norms hypothesis can be improved.
Social Integration and Right-Wing Populist Voting in Germany
Authors: Sachweh Patrick
Published: February 2021

Electoral support for right-wing populist parties is typically explained either by economic deprivation or cultural grievances. Attempting to bring economic and cultural explanations together, recent approaches have suggested to conceptualize right-wing populist support as a problem of social integration. Applying this perspective to the German case, this article investigates whether weak subjective social integration-or subjective social marginalization, respectively-is associated with the intention to vote for the AfD. Furthermore, it asks whether the strength of this association varies across income groups. Based on original survey data from 2017, the results show that indicators of weak subjective social integration-feeling socially excluded, being anxious about one’s status, and distrusting others-increase the likelihood of voting for the AfD. Moreover, weak subjective social integration increases right-wing party support particularly among the middle-class. Thus, next to fears of downward mobility, feelings of subjective social marginalization emerge as a pathway to right-wing populism for the middle-class.
The Intended and Unintended Effects of Opioid Policies on Prescription Opioids and Crime
Authors: Deiana Claudio , Giua Ludovica
Published: February 2021

In response to the opioid crisis, US states have implemented policies to reduce the dispensing of opioids and curb drug mortality. Exploiting a long panel of county-level data, we analyse the combination of demand- and supply-side state opioid policies and evaluate their effect on opioids per capita dispensed and their unintended fallouts on drug-related crime. We demonstrate that only laws targeting the supply for opioids reduce the volume of prescribed drugs, while demand-side policies are less effective. We also emphasize that within supply-side state regulations, Pain Management Clinics Laws are the most successful in reducing the dispensation of prescription opioids. Remarkably, the drop in opioids distributed due to supply-side regulations is accompanied by negative externalities in the local market for illicit drugs.
The Information Structure–prosody interface in text-to-speech technologies. An empirical perspective
Authors: Domínguez Mónica , Farrús Mireia , Wanner Leo
Published: February 2021

The correspondence between the communicative intention of a speaker in terms of Information Structure and the way this speaker reflects communicative aspects by means of prosody have been a fruitful field of study in Linguistics. However, text-to-speech applications still lack the variability and richness found in human speech in terms of how humans display their communication skills. Some attempts were made in the past to model one aspect of Information Structure, namelythematicityfor its application to intonation generation in text-to-speech technologies. Yet, these applications suffer from two limitations: (i) they draw upon a small number of made-up simple question-answer pairs rather than on real (spoken or written) corpus material; and (ii) they do not explore whether any other interpretation would better suit a wider range of textual genres beyond dialogs. In this paper, two different interpretations of thematicity in the field of speech technologies are examined: the state-of-art binary (and flat) theme-rheme, and the hierarchical thematicity defined by Igor Mel’čuk within the Meaning-Text Theory. The outcome of the experiments on a corpus of native speakers of US English suggests that the latter interpretation of thematicity has a versatile implementation potential for text-to-speech applications of theInformation Structure–prosodyinterface.
Lexically specific accumulation in memory of word and segment speech rates
Authors: Brown Esther L. , Raymond William D. , Brown Earl Kjar , File-Muriel Richard J.
Published: February 2021

Variability abounds in speech. According to usage-based accounts, lexical representations reflect phonetic variants of words resulting from contextual conditioning. Because faster speech contexts promote durational shortening of words and segments, words that occur more often in fast speech may be more reduced than words commonly used in slow speech, independent of the target’s contextual speech rate. To test this, linear mixed-effects models including a word form’s ratio of conditioning by fast speech contexts (FRCRATE) are used to predict the duration of Spanish /s/ and words containing /s/ in a corpus of spoken Spanish. Results show that words’ cumulative exposure to relatively fast speech affects phonetic realizations independent of factors operative in the production contexts. Thus, word and segment rates reflect cumulative (lexicalized) effects of words’ experience in fast speech contexts. The results suggest that lexically specific cumulative measures should be incorporated into models of linguistic variation and change.
An Adaptive Finite Element Scheme for the Hellinger–Reissner Elasticity Mixed Eigenvalue Problem
Authors: Bertrand Fleurianne , Boffi Daniele , Ma Rui
Published: February 2021

In this paper, we study the approximation of eigenvalues arising from the mixed Hellinger–Reissner elasticity problem by using a simple finite element introduced recently by one of the authors.
We prove that the method converges when a residual type error estimator is considered and that the estimator decays optimally with respect to the number of degrees of freedom.
A postprocessing technique originally proposed in a different context is discussed and tested numerically.
Preparation of graphene oxide–boron nitride hybrid to reinforce the corrosion protection coating
Authors: Liu Xiaoling , Chen Shougang , Zhang Yingjun , Liu Mingshun , Emori Wilfred , Shao Yawei
Published: February 2021

Coatings based on a graphene oxide–boron nitride/epoxy (GO–BN/EP) system were fabricated and applied for corrosion protection of metal substrates. GO–BN hybrid sheet synthesized by using a modified Hummers’ method had a higher lipophilicity than GO and BN. Then, GO–BN hybrid was incorporated into an epoxy coating to investigate the compactness and the corrosion protection ability of GO–BN hybrid/epoxy coating for metal substrates. The results show that GO–BN hybrid presents a desirable dispersibility in epoxy coating, exhibiting an outstanding barrier property for corrosive ions in a 3.5 wt% NaCl solution among the four systems under investigation. The present study set forth an innovative method to synthesize GO–BN hybrid in the field of corrosion protection.
Modeling of CCLP in koryo extract production
Authors: Chol Ji , Il Ri Jun
Published: February 2021

The modeling of counter-current leaching plant (CCLP) in Koryo Extract Production is presented in this paper. Koryo medicine is a natural physic to be used for a diet and the medical care. The counter-current leaching method is mainly used for producing Koryo medicine. The purpose of the modeling in the previous works is to indicate the concentration distributions, and not to describe the model for the process control. In literature, there are no nearly the papers for modeling CCLP and especially not the presence of papers that have described the issue for extracting the effective components from the Koryo medicinal materials. First, this paper presents that CCLP can be shown like the equivalent process consisting of two tanks, where there is a shaking apparatus, respectively. It allows leachate to flow between two tanks. Then, this paper presents the principle model for CCLP and the state space model on based it. The accuracy of the model has been verified from experiments made at CCLP in the Koryo Extract Production at the Gang Gyi Koryo Manufacture Factory.
Foreign language education in Spain: A historical view
Authors: García Bermejo María Luisa
Published: February 2021

Foreign language education (FLE) has always been a pending issue in Spain. However, after the accession to the European Union, globalisation and the European Commission language policies (European Commission 1995), new and more effective approaches to language teaching have been progressively established. Bilingual education has proved to be a successful pedagogical model to increase the knowledge of languages and content (Lasagabaster and Ruiz de Zarobe 2010). This article overviews the development of FLE in Spain from the mid-20thcentury to date. The main methodological changes from traditional models such as grammar-translation, direct and audio-visual methods to communicative approaches like task-based language teaching and, more recently, CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), will be examined in the light of the Spanish official language policies.
Weyl 𝑛-algebras and the Swiss cheese operad
Authors: Markarian Nikita
Published: February 2021

We apply Weyl 𝑛-algebras to prove formality theorems for higher Hochschild cohomology.
We present two approaches: via propagators and via the factorization complex.
It is shown that the second approach is equivalent to the first one taken with a new family of propagators we introduce.
Lyapunov-type inequalities for partial differential equations with 𝑝-Laplacian
Authors: Stegliński Robert
Published: February 2021

The aim of this paper is to extend results from [A. Cañada, J. A. Montero and S. Villegas, Lyapunov inequalities for partial differential equations, J. Funct. Anal.
237 (2006), 1, 176–193] about Lyapunov-type inequalities for linear partial differential equations to nonlinear partial differential equations with 𝑝-Laplacian with zero Neumann or Dirichlet boundary conditions.
Evaluation of the potential anticancer activity of different vitamin D metabolites on colorectal and breast cancer cell lines
Authors: Khriesha Abeer , Bustanji Yasser , Abu Farha Rana , Al-Abbasi Reem , Abu-Irmaileh Bashaer
Published: February 2021

Objectives

Vitamin D is very important for calcium and mineral metabolism, and many hypotheses appear to link sunlight exposure with cancer risk and prognosis. As many studies supported the antitumor effect of vitamin D we wanted to investigate the potential effect of multiple vitamin D metabolites.

Methods

This study compared the anticancer effect of three inactive forms of vitamin D3 which are; cholecalciferol, alfacalcidol, and calcifediol on two human cancer cell lines colorectal cancer (CaCo II) and breast cancer (MCF-7). All were examined after 24, 48, and 72 h continuous exposure using a colorimetric assay (MTT) seeded in 96-multiwell plates. Doxorubicin anticancer used as a standard agent for comparison, while normal skin fibroblast cells (HDFa) was used as our negative control. IC50 values were calculated as indication of antitumor effect.

Results

Broad-spectrum of cytotoxicity with IC50 values ranging from 4 to 200 μM were found. Alfacalcidol was the most potent cytotoxic agents on colorectal cancer (CaCo II) and breast cancer (MCF-7) compared to cholecalciferol, and calcifediol. Both, alfacalcidol and calcifediol were more cytotoxic than cholecalciferol on the tested cell lines as they are partially active metabolites. Breast cancer (MCF-7) was the most sensitive to all metabolites at all-time intervals with the best IC50 values of 4.35 μM ± 1.06 after 72 h continuous exposure of alfacalcidol.

Conclusions

Vitamin D metabolites are a potential option for cancer treatment along with or an alternative to chemo-therapeutics although extensive preclinical studies are required to prove this effect.
TFAP2A-induced SLC2A1-AS1 promotes cancer cell proliferation
Authors: Cui Yuanbo , Zhang Chunyan , Ma Shanshan , Guan Fangxia
Published: February 2021

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in the occurrence and development of human cancers including lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). SLC2A1-AS1 is a novel lncRNA that has been reported to be exceptionally expressed in several cancer types. However, the expression and role of SLC2A1-AS1 in cancer remains largely unclear. In this study, it was revealed that lncRNA SLC2A1-AS1 was notably over-expressed in LUAD and was closely correlated with patients’ overall survival (OS). Knockdown of SLC2A1-AS1 could significantly restrain cell proliferation of LUAD in vitro, while over-expression of SLC2A1-AS1 had the accelerative effect. SLC2A1-AS1 enriched in the cytoplasm of LUAD cells could directly bind to miR-508-5p and negatively regulate its level. The inhibitory effect of miR-508-5p on LUAD cell proliferation was in part abrogated by SLC2A1-AS1 manipulation. Moreover, the transcription factor activating enhancer binding protein 2 α (TFAP2A) was highly expressed in LUAD and predicted worse patients’ OS. TFAP2A could directly bind to the promoter region of SLC2A1-AS1 encoding gene and positively regulate the transcription of SLC2A1-AS1 in LUAD cells. Furthermore, TFAP2A-induced SLC2A1-AS1 promoted cell proliferation of lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) and pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD). Collectively, these findings suggest that TFAP2A-mediated lncRNA SLC2A1-AS1 works as an oncogene to drive cancer cell proliferation.
A comprehensive review on the role of protein tyrosine phosphatases in gastric cancer development and progression
Authors: Clerici Stefano Piatto , Oliveira Patrícia Fernandes de Souza , Akagi Erica Mie , Cordeiro Helon Guimarães , Azevedo-Martins Jordana Maria , Faria Alessandra Valéria de Sousa , Ferreira-Halder Carmen Veríssima
Published: February 2021

The main post-translational reversible modulation of proteins is phosphorylation and dephosphorylation, catalyzed by protein kinases (PKs) and protein phosphatases (PPs) which is crucial for homeostasis. Imbalance in this crosstalk can be related to diseases, including cancer. Plenty of evidence indicates that protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) can act as tumor suppressors and tumor promoters. In gastric cancer (GC), there is a lack of understanding of the molecular aspects behind the tumoral onset and progression. Here we describe several members of the PTP family related to gastric carcinogenesis. We discuss the associated molecular mechanisms which support the down or up modulation of different PTPs. We emphasize the Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) virulence which is in part associated with the activation of PTP receptors. We also explore the involvement of intracellular redox state in response to H. pylori infection. In addition, some PTP members are under influence by genetic mutations, epigenetics mechanisms, and miRNA modulation. The understanding of multiple aspects of PTPs in GC may provide new targets and perspectives on drug development.
Comparative studies on the separation of endocrine disrupting compounds from aquatic environment by emulsion liquid membrane and hollow fiber supported liquid membrane
Authors: Kohli Himanshu P. , Gupta Smita , Chakraborty Mousumi
Published: February 2021

Endocrine disrupting compounds have been found to limit the natural working of the endocrine system like synthesis, secretion, transference and binding. Endocrine disrupting compounds are released from humans, animals and from production industries to soil, surface water and sediments mostly through the sewage treatment system. Studies have revealed the impact of these compounds on the nervous system, lungs, liver, thyroid, prostate, metabolism, obesity and reproductive system. So removal of these compounds from sewage water/wastewater by appropriate processes is essential. Conventional techniques like coagulation, precipitation, flocculation, microfiltration and ultrafiltration are effective for the removal of these compounds but limitations like low molecular weight of these compounds and pore size of membrane restricts the complete removal. Liquid membrane is a promising technology which combines the steps like extraction and stripping in a single step thereby providing the instantaneous removal and recovery of solutes and also results in high selectivity and savings of chemicals. This paper mainly focuses on the use of liquid membrane techniques like emulsion liquid membrane and hollow fiber supported liquid membrane which are the promising techniques for the removal of endocrine disrupting compounds from aqueous streams. The working principle, mechanism and implementation of these two techniques in the removal of several endocrine disrupting compounds from aquatic streams are also discussed.
Development of inexpensive, simple and environment-friendly solar selective absorber using copper nanoparticle
Authors: Yerudkar Aditi , Nair Mamta , Dalvi Vishwanath H. , Panse Sudhir V. , Deshpande Vineeta D. , Joshi Jyeshtharaj B.
Published: February 2021

Concentrating solar power is the most challenging and expensive yet highly efficient source of thermal energy from solar power. This is mainly due to the intermittency of the sun rays and expensive materials used to harness its energy. One of the main components adding to the cost is the solar selective absorber materials which are simply put spectrally selective coatings on a receiver system to capture maximum heat from the sun. These materials add to a large extent to the efficiency of converting the sun’s energy to thermal energy and in turn electricity. An ideal solar selective absorber possesses the property of absorbing maximum radiations in the solar spectrum and emit minimum in the thermal energy spectrum. In the current study, an inexpensive, simple and environment-friendly solar selective absorber is fabricated by a galvanic displacement reaction of copper nanoparticles on galvanised metal substrates. These copper nanoparticles have high absorptivity (0.8–0.9) by virtue of plasmon resonance property. The emissivity is low due to the highly reflective metal substrate. By varying size of the copper nanoparticles from 100 nm to 2 μm emissivity and absorptivity can be varied. However, achieving low emissivity and high absorptivity requires some optimising. The size depends on the concentration of precursor solution and immersion time of substrate. One of the remedies for controlling the deposition rate to tune the nanoparticle size and microstructure of deposited copper nanoparticle is by addition of a deposition inhibitor (e.g. Polyethylene glycol).
Numerical simulation of squeezing flow Jeffrey nanofluid confined by two parallel disks with the help of chemical reaction: effects of activation energy and microorganisms
Authors: Chu Yu-Ming , Khan M. Ijaz , Waqas Hassan , Farooq Umar , Khan Sami Ullah , Nazeer Mubbashar
Published: February 2021

The utilization of nano-materials in a base fluid is a new dynamic technique to improve the thermal conductivity of base fluids. The suspension of tiny nanoparticles in base fluids is referred to the nano-materials. Nanofluids play a beneficial contribution in the field of nanotechnology, heat treatment enhancement, cooling facilities, biomedicine, bioengineering, radiation therapy and in military fields. The analysis of bioconvection characteristics for unsteady squeezing flow of non-Newtonian Jeffery nanofluid with swimming microorganisms over parallel disks with thermal radiation and activation energy has been studied in this continuation. The motivations for performing current analysis are to inspect the heat transfer enhancement in Jeffrey nanofluid in presence of multiple thermal features. The Jeffrey nanofluid contains motile microorganisms which convey dynamic applications in bio-technology and medical sciences and agricultural engineering. The system comprising differential equations of derivative is restricted to an ordinary one by means of a sufficient dimensionless similarity vector, and then implemented numerically by means of a famous shooting scheme with MATLAB tools. The effect of the significant parameters over the fluid flow is investigated from a physical point of view. The numerical findings of the modeled system are explored in detail using tabular data.
Mixing performance of an electroosmotic micromixer with Koch fractal structure
Authors: Xiong Siyue , Chen Xueye
Published: February 2021

In this paper, we have designed a Koch fractal electroosmotic micromixer (KFEM). A low-voltage electroosmotic micromixer. In order to optimize the electrode position, Koch microchannel is designed according to the Koch fractal principle and the electrode pairs based on the fractal are arranged. Then the effect of electrode voltage, electrode distribution positions, the number of electrode pairs, two kinds of Koch fractal structures, Reynolds (Re) number and the frequency of alternating current (AC) on the mixing performance are studied. The results show that the mixing efficiency can reach 99% in a short time when the AC voltage is 1 V, the AC frequency is 12 Hz and the electroosmotic micromixer has two sets of electrode pairs.
Gastric emptying pattern and disintegration kinetics of cooked rice in a 3D printed in vitro dynamic digestion model ARK®
Authors: Ranganathan Saranya , Vasikaran Evanjalin Monica , Elumalai Arunkumar , Moses Jeyan A. , Anandharamakrishnan Chinnaswamy
Published: February 2021

Understanding the gastric digestion process is essential for evaluating the bioaccessibility of nutrients from food matrices. The objective of this study was to investigate the kinetics of disintegration and gastric emptying patterns in a 3D printed stomach (ARK®) with white rice as the study sample. Modified power exponential model was used to fit the gastric retention data and the average t
1/2 and t
lag values of the solid fractions were found to be 109.22 ± 4.20 and 84.16 ± 5.72 min, respectively. During the disintegration process, the weight percentage of medium size particles (∼0.35 mm) was found to be higher at 30 and 60 min. Moreover, there was a sharp decrease in the percentage of fine particles (<0.125 mm) at 90 and 120 min. The ARK® could effectively mimic the physiochemical process of the human stomach, providing promising insights for future studies on the development of novel and functional food products.
Experimentation and modeling of convective heat transfer coefficient for evaporation of liquid foods in a pilot plant double effect
Authors: Macedo y Ramírez Reyes Carlos , Vélez Ruiz Jorge Fernando
Published: February 2021

Even though the evaporation is a common process in the food industry, there is scarce information about the convective coefficient evaluation as an important parameter for equipment and process design. A research on evaporation of sugar solution in a double effect was carried out. The experimental results obtained in this equipment, from the heat transfer and concentration processes are presented, a range of 2658–6091 W of heat flow was quantified implying computed values of 1431–3763 W/m2K for the convective coefficients and 1020–1815 W/m2K for the overall coefficient. The quantification of the convective coefficient, the fitting methodology and modeling were developed in order, to obtain the correspondent correlations. Then, from a set of several equations, two general relationships are proposed. Both correlations were applied to experimental and supposed data, finding a difference lower than 30% between the experimental and predicted values of the Nusselt number, that was considered as satisfactory.
The effect of structure and texture on pure magnesium properties
Authors: Sułkowski Bartosz
Published: February 2021

Deformation modes and twin hardening of pure magnesium under compression in respect of the initial structure and texture were studied in the present work. In general, samples had two types of texture with different alignment of c-axis in respect to a compression direction. In the first case, most of the grains have the c-axis parallel to the compression direction and in the second case, the c-axis was perpendicular with the compression direction. It was found that coarse grained material deformed by slip despite the type of the texture, while the fine grained samples, with c-axis perpendicular to the compression direction, deformed by twinning. The samples which deform by twinning exhibited the highest yield point. It was concluded that combination of the fine grained structure and hard type texture components may introduce twinning as the main deformation mode and may increase the mechanical properties of magnesium and its alloys. The model for twin induced hardening is proposed where twins act as the grain refinement factor.
Microstructural and fractographic analysis of A359/Si3N4 surface composite produced by friction stir processing
Authors: Srivastava Ashish K. , Maurya Manish , Saxena Ambuj , Maurya Nagendra K. , Dwivedi Shashi P. , Dixit Amit R.
Published: February 2021

High strength and lightweight materials are currently used in the automobile and defence sectors. In this framework, aluminium-based composites are a suitable choice due to their improved properties. The present study deals with the development of surface composites of A359/Si3N4 via friction stir processing. The varying percentage of reinforcement (2% to 6%) is the main criterion behind the study to observe its influence on mechanical, wear, thermal and corrosion properties. Investigations of microstructure and morphological characterization of the developed samples were conducted by optical light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Identification of the alloying elements, reinforcement materials and phase distribution is observed by EDS mapping. In addition, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis were also conducted to validate the structural composition. As a research outcome, the effect of varying reinforcement percentage was examined on the tensile strength supported by fractographic analysis and hardness values. Apart from this, wear, thermal expansion and corrosion tests were conducted to assess the behavior of samples in different operation conditions. The results reveal the maximum tensile strength (478 MPa) and maximum hardness (119 HRB) with minimum wear loss (3.3 mg m–1), maximum thermal expansion (8.2 mm3) and maximum weight loss due to corrosion (0.0058 g) for A359/6%Si3N4 composite.
Mechanism of kink band formation in zinc single crystals
Authors: Pieła Krzysztof , Korbel Andrzej
Published: February 2021

This paper is focused on the mechanism of kink band formation. In the general case, lattice rotation in a kink band may be realized by two sequentially activated simple elastic shears in nearly perpendicular planes. In the case of zinc crystals, compressed along (0001) plane at the temperature 523 K, the first shear may result from stress-induced temporary lattice instability (movement of atoms towards metastable positions in tetrahedric holes), while the second shear occurring along a temporary ‘new-positioned’ basal plane immediately ‘rebuilds’ the stable lattice.
Blowup and global existence of mild solutions for fractional extended Fisher–Kolmogorov equations
Authors: Chen Pengyu , Ma Weifeng , Tao Shu , Zhang Kaibin
Published: February 2021

In this paper, we investigate the blowup, as well as global existence, and uniqueness of mild solutions for the initial-boundary value problem to a class of fractional extended Fisher–Kolmogorov equations with a general nonlinear term. We establish a general framework to find the global mild solutions for fractional extended Fisher–Kolmogorov equations with general nonlinear function, which will provide an effective way to deal with such problems. The results obtained in this paper can be considered as a contribution to this nascent field.
Transfer and unlearning of topic prominence by Chinese learners of English
Authors: Chang Hui , Xu Lilong
Published: February 2021

Chinese allows both gapped and gapless topic constructions without their usage being restricted to specific contexts, while English only allows gapped topic constructions which are used in certain contexts. In other words, Chinese uses ‘topic prominence’, whereas English does not. The contrast between English and Chinese topic constructions poses a learnability problem for Chinese learners of English. This paper uses an empirical study investigating first language (L1) transfer in the case of Chinese learners of English and the extent to which they are able to unlearn topic prominence as they progress in second language (L2) English. Results of an acceptability judgment test indicate that Chinese learners of English initially transfer Chinese topic prominence into their English, then gradually unlearn Chinese topic prominence as their English proficiency improves, and finally unlearn Chinese topic prominence successfully. The results support the Full Transfer Theory (Schwartz, Bonnie & Rex Sprouse. 1996. L2 cognitive states and the Full Transfer/Full Access model.Second Language Research12. 40–72) and the Variational Learning Model (Yang, Charles. 2004. Universal Grammar, statistics or both?Trends in Cognitive Sciences8. 451–456), but contradict the proposal that the topic prominence can never be transferred but may be unlearned from the beginning in Chinese speakers’ acquisition of English (Zheng, Chao. 2001.Nominal Constructions Beyond IP and Their Initial Restructuring in L2 Acquisition. Guangzhou: Guangdong University of Foreign Studies Ph.D. dissertation). In addition, the type of topic constructions that is used and whether or not a comma is added after the topic have an effect on learners’ transfer and unlearning of topic prominence. It is proposed that the specification of Agr(eement) and T(ense) as well as the presence of expletive subjects in English input can trigger the unlearning of topic prominence for Chinese learners of English.
Solution of a transport equation with discontinuous coefficients
Authors: Das Abhishek , Joseph K. T.
Published: February 2021

In this article, we study initial and initial-boundary value problems for a non-strictly hyperbolic system whose characteristic speed is not smooth and takes values in

{

-
1

,
0
,
1
}

{\{-1,0,1\}}

. We construct an explicit formula for the weak solution. We also study the interaction of waves and the large time asymptotic behavior of a solution for the case when the initial data is periodic with zero mean over the period and also for the case when the initial data has compact support.
Growing Potentials for Migration Research using the German Socio-Economic Panel Study
Authors: Jacobsen Jannes , Krieger Magdalena , Schikora Felicitas , Schupp Jürgen
Published: February 2021

This article highlights the potentials for migration research using the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), a longitudinal panel dataset of private households in Germany running since 1984. We provide a concise overview of its basic features, describe the survey contents and research potentials, and demonstrate opportunities to link external data sources to the SOEP thereby presenting its diverse and impactful applications in migration research.
Neurotoxicity of organic solvents with emphasis on the role of iron
Authors: Shahy Eman M. , Ibrahim Khadiga S. , Mahdy-Abdallah Heba , Taha Mona M. , Saad-Hussien Amal , Hafez Salwa F.
Published: February 2021

Background

Exposure to organic solvents (OS) adversely affects different body systems, the central and peripheral nervous systems being the most susceptible ones.

Objectives

This study investigated the role of iron in association with some neurotransmitters for diagnosis of neurotoxicity of OS.

Methods

The study included 90 workers, 50 occupationally exposed to OS and 40 representing control group. Blood samples were collected from the included subjects for determination of serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

Results

Revealed reduction in serotonin level and serum iron. However, the elevation in GABA and TIBC was observed. The duration of exposure was significantly correlated with iron and serotonin while it was positively correlated with GABA and TIBC.

Conclusions

Elevated GABA and TIBC with decreased serotonin and serum iron can be used as early diagnostic measures to detect the neurotoxic effects of OS.
Immediate effect of interscapular cupping on blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse rate and chest expansion in sedentary smoker students
Authors: Ali Ismail Ali Mohamed , Abdelghany Abdelrhman Ismail , Abdelhalim Elfahl Ahmed Mohamed
Published: February 2021

Objectives

Increased sympathetic stimulation in smokers may be a risk factor for pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases. This study was conducted to assess the immediate effect of interscapular cupping on blood pressure (BP), oxygen (O2) saturation, chest expansion (CE), pulse rate (PR) in sedentary male smoker students.

Methods

Forty sedentary male smoker students– aged 18–25 years -were divided randomly into two equal numbered groups; wet cupping (WC) and dry cupping (DC) groups. Systolic and diastolic BP, upper and lower CE, O2 saturation and PR were measured immediately before and after a single cupping session in both groups.

Results

Both WC and DC types showed improvements in all measurements with a high statistically significant difference (p<0.05).

Conclusions

Interscapular cupping enhanced CE, O2 saturation, BP and PR in sedentary male smoker students.
Neera, a non-fermented traditional drink from coconut spadix restores the redox status in sodium fluoride intoxicated mice
Authors: Silpa Prabha , Meera Nair , Shaji Edappilly M. , Indu Muralidharan S. , Smitha Koyickalmadham R. , Kuzhivelil Balu T. , Babu Thekkekara D.
Published: February 2021

Objectives

Neera, non-fermented coconut inflorescence sap (NFCIS) and its fermented form, toddy (FCIS) are the two well-known traditional drinks in South India. Both the saps show high rejuvenation effect and NFCIS is used for the curing of bronchial suffocation, anemia, tuberculosis and piles in traditional medicine. But, a few scientific studies have been reported on their health benefits so far. Presently, the antioxidant effect of both non-fermented (NFCIS) and fermented form (FCIS) of coconut inflorescence were analyzed in experimental animals.

Methods

The free radical scavenging property of FCIS and NFCIS was analyzed in vitro. The effect of these saps on mitigating sodium fluoride (NaF) deteriorated redox status was evaluated in mice.

Results

NFCIS exhibited high antioxidant activity than its fermented form. NFCIS reduces metal ions and scavenge hydroxyl and DPPH radicals with IC50 values 6.5 ± 1.9 and 44 ± 3.14 µL/mL, respectively. Supplementation of NFCIS for 14 days increased SOD, CAT and GPx activities and GSH level in liver by 51.67, 52, 27.88 and 35.77%, respectively against NaF induced decline with a concomitant decrease in lipid peroxidation to 40.76%. Saps rich in minerals indicate pharmaceutical and nutritional value.

Conclusion

The study revealed the antioxidant efficacy of non-alcoholic natural drink, Neera and recommends an alternative for synthetic carbonated soft drinks. The regular consumption of Neera may protect the body from various chronic diseases especially where the oxidative stress played as a key role.
Preventive aspect of ayurveda and yoga towards newly emerging disease COVID-19
Authors: Sawant Ranjeet S. , Zinjurke Bharat D. , Binorkar Sandeep V.
Published: February 2021

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV 2) and unique in various facets. The earlier experience from the past severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemics seem to be insufficient and there is need for better strategies in public health and medical care. Ayurved & Yog are well known for their preventive and therapeutic aspect, but not getting utilized properly for prevention of Covid 19 crisis which may also be helpful as supportive therapy along with current line of management. This paper is aimed at unrevealing the role of Ayurved and Yoga guidelines established by Department of AYUSH for prevention from SARS-CoV-2 by providing help to improving the quality of supportive/prophylactic therapy in relation with their immunity.
Terminalia arjuna induced testicular assault through Leydig cell derangement: an in vitro approach
Authors: Banerjee Arnab , Maji Bithin Kumar , Chattopadhyay Alok
Published: February 2021

Objectives

Terminalia arjuna (TA) has been widely used as folk medicine since ancient times. Apart from its therapeutic properties it also has anti-spermatogenic activity, but its effectiveness and mode of action on male gonadal activity remains to be revealed.

Methods

TA bark extract was dissolved in 1% dimethyl sulfoxide and applied in primary Leydig cell culture from rat testis in dose dependent manner. After 24 h of treatment cellular toxicity marker, cytokines, steroid 5-alpha-reductase 1 (SRD5A1) and androgen receptor (AR) were measured.

Results

Present study first proposed the cytotoxic impacts of TA on Leydig cells via leakage of lactate dehydrogenase and inflammatory responses by altering the pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in dose-dependent-manner. Furthermore, down regulation of SRD5A1 and AR indicated inhibition of normal steroidogenesis which well corroborated with cytotoxity and inflammation related parameters to promote damage of Leydig cell function. Nevertheless, it can be speculated that the inhibition of normal steroidogenesis and thereby spermatogenesis induced by TA is possibly due to the presence of β-sitosterol.

Conclusions

Therefore, the dose and duration of treatment should be carefully monitored in cases of its medicinal uses and longer duration should be avoided to protect reproductive health and fertility.
Detecting conjugacy stability of subgroups in certain classes of groups
Authors: Fernández Martínez Isabel , Serbin Denis
Published: February 2021

In this paper, we consider the conjugacy stability property of subgroups and provide effective procedures to solve the problem in several classes of groups.
In particular, we start with free groups, that is, we give an effective procedure to find out if a finitely generated subgroup of a free group is conjugacy stable.
Then we further generalize this result to quasi-convex subgroups of torsion-free hyperbolic groups and finitely generated subgroups of limit groups.
Alternating direction based method for optimal control problem constrained by Stokes equation
Authors: Gao Yu , Li Jingzhi , Song Yongcun , Wang Chao , Zhang Kai
Published: February 2021

We consider the optimal control problems constrained by Stokes equations.
It has been shown in the literature, the problem can be discretized by the finite element method to generate a discrete system, and the error estimate has also been established.
In this paper, we focus on solving the discrete system by the alternating splitting augmented Lagrangian method, which is a direct extension of alternating direction method of multipliers and possesses a global

O
⁢

(

1
/
k

)

\mathcal{O}({1}/{k})

convergence rate.
In addition, we propose an acceleration scheme based on the alternating splitting augmented Lagrangian method to improve the efficiency of the algorithm.
The error estimates and convergence analysis of our algorithms are presented for several different types of optimization problems.
Finally, numerical experiments are performed to verify the efficiency of the algorithms.
Soliton orthogonal frequency division multiplexing with phase–frequency coding on the base of inverse scattering transform
Authors: Bogdanov Stepan A. , Frumin Leonid L.
Published: February 2021

We propose a method for increasing the speed and spectral efficiency of information transmission over soliton communication lines, based on algorithms for solving inverse and direct scattering problems, in the frame of a modern soliton orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (SOFDM) approach. The proposed method uses a simultaneous phase and frequency coding. This phase–frequency coding method retains all the technological advantages of the SOFDM method, and due to the additional frequency coding, a noticeable increase in the information transfer rate over the soliton optical lines is expected. Numerical modeling confirmed the proposed method for telecommunication applications’ prospects.
A hypersurface containing the support of a Radon transform must be an ellipsoid. II: The general case
Authors: Boman Jan
Published: February 2021

If the Radon transform of a compactly supported distribution

f
≠
0

{f\neq 0}

in

ℝ
n

{\mathbb{R}^{n}}

is supported on the set of tangent planes to the boundary

∂
⁡
D

{\partial D}

of a bounded convex domain D, then

∂
⁡
D

{\partial D}

must be an ellipsoid. The special case of this result when the domain D is symmetric was treated in
[J. Boman,
A hypersurface containing the support of a Radon transform must be an ellipsoid. I: The symmetric case,
J. Geom. Anal. 2020, 10.1007/s12220-020-00372-8].
Here we treat the general case.
A novel framework for content connectivity through optical data centers
Authors: Gupta Rajat , Aggarwal Mona , Ahuja Swaran
Published: February 2021

Nowadays, the data centers have become a significant physical infrastructure for the purpose of supporting various Internet applications like cloud services, entertainment, web search and social networking. The traffic among the data centers is growing rapidly accompanied by the services that are obtained. The data centers are connected via fiber channels to support long-haul networks and high data rate transmissions by utilizing various modulation techniques. However, it has some drawbacks such as increased delay, computational complexities, high wavelength consumption, link failures, etc. Recently, researchers are focusing on improving the survivability and wavelength usage efficiency in optical data center networks. In this work, a novel framework depending on the concept of content connectivity is proposed for optical data center networks. Here, a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) is utilized for transmitting the data through optical data centers. The main intention of this research is to improve the performance and wavelength efficiency in optical data center networks. The performance of the MILP approach is evaluated and compared with the existing integer linear programming (ILP) technique and found that this new approach provides better performance with higher wavelength efficiency and reduced wavelength consumption.
Electrocardiogram transmission over OFDM system
Authors: Jain Divya , Sharma Sanjeev Narayan , Jain Alok
Published: February 2021

Remote patient monitoring is an important area of research. Electrocardiogram (ECG) is a vital health parameter which can be remotely transmitted to monitor the patient’s health. In this field, there are many research directions which include ECG security, patient data hiding in ECG, ECG classification, ECG transmission and reception. In this paper, an effective methodology for ECG transmission over OFDM wireless communication system has been presented. Issues related to transmission of ECG as image have also been discussed. Before ECG is transmitted over OFDM analog ECG signal is to be converted into series of bits for which sampling and quantization has to be performed. The quantization error arises due to number of chosen samples and quantization levels. In this work, it is shown that the quantization error can be brought down to zero using symbolic aggregate approximation (SAX) for data representation. Performance of the ECG transmission using different methodologies has been compared using peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) Structural Similarity Index Metric (SSIM), Bit Error Rate (BER) and Pixel Error Rate (PER).
Performance of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing based 60-GHz transmission over turbulent free-space optical link
Authors: Tripathi Abhishek , Gupta Shilpi , Mandloi Abhilash
Published: February 2021

In this paper, radio-over-free-space optic (RoFSO) transmission is investigated for the next-generation wireless networks. Here, the 60 GHz based radio frequency (RF) system is demonstrated using 16-quadrature amplitude modulation with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing scheme. System performance for FSO link is evaluated by modeling the channel with the gamma-gamma fading. The optical spectrum and constellation diagram of the received signals are analyzed. The improvement reported for error vector magnitude is 3.8–0.6% and symbol error rate of 0.03–0.005 for free-space range of 0.2–1 km. Proposed work claims that orthogonal frequency division multiplexing can be helpful for the FSO systems by providing robustness to adverse atmospheric turbulence.