bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Delay from Onset of Symptoms to Reporting at a Cancer Care Facility and the Impact of Alternate Medicine Usage as a Contributing Factor
Authors: Seenu V. , Kole Pratibha , Dhabal Suman
Published: April 2024

Cancer patients often present after a period of certain delay from onset of symptoms. By tradition, alternate medicine has been the commonly sought after remedy for them. The objective of this study was to evaluate the delay in presentation to a cancer care facility, with respect to advanced stage at diagnosis and the use of alternate medicine. A cross-sectional study was undertaken in a tertiary care hospital from eastern India over 5 months where patients with cytological or histological proof of malignancy were interviewed using a pretested questionnaire. Comparative analysis was done with cross tables along with Kruskal–Wallis test for association between delay and the independent variables (demographic parameters and alternate medicine usage). Predictors for delay were assessed with logistic regression analysis. Spearman's rank test was used to measure the direction and strength of correlation of delay and alternate medicine use against stage at presentation. One-thousand twenty-two subjects were interviewed of whom 61.44% presented in advanced stage (either stage III and IV). About 56.1% patients had 4 to 6 months delay, while 19.1% patients presented after more than 6 months. About 27.5% patients had history of initial alternate medicine usage. Progressive increase in subjects presenting in advanced stage was observed with corresponding increase in delay, from 62.63% in more than 1 month delay to 80.48% in more than 3-month delay and 98.47% in those having more than 6-month delay. More of alternate medicine users presented with significant delay versus who did not (96.08 vs. 67.34% for >3 months delay) and the difference further increased with longer delay. About 89.67% of those who had used alternate medicine presented in advanced stage. Among them, this percentage progressively escalated with increase in delay period. Positive correlation between delay (ρ = 0.742 for total sample) and (ρ = 0.592 for alternate medicine users) advanced stage was observed. This study found a considerably high occurrence of delay in presentation among cancer patients after onset of symptoms. This delay was strongly associated with advanced stage at diagnosis and alternate medicine use initially. It provides substantial information to formulate policies for implementing awareness on symptoms of cancer and benefits of its early detection.
Prevalence and Associations of Co-occurrence of NFE2L2 Mutations and Chromosome 3q26 Amplification in Lung Cancer
Authors: Liu Jinfeng , Liu Sijie , Li Dan , Li Hongbin , Zhang Fan
Published: April 2024

Background NFE2L2 (nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor-2) encodes a basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor and exhibits variations in various tumor types, including lung cancer. In this study, we comprehensively investigated the impact of simultaneous mutations on the survival of NFE2L2-mutant lung cancer patients within specific subgroups.

Methods A cohort of 1,103 lung cancer patients was analyzed using hybridization capture-based next-generation sequencing.

Results The NFE2L2 gene had alterations in 3.0% (33/1,103) of lung cancer samples, including 1.5% (15/992) in adenocarcinoma and 16.2% (18/111) in squamous cell carcinoma. Thirty-four variations were found, mainly in exons 2 (27/34). New variations in exon 2 (p.D21H, p.V36_E45del, p.F37_E45del, p.R42P, p.E67Q, and p.L76_E78delinsQ) were identified. Some patients had copy number amplifications. Co-occurrence with TP53 (84.8%), CDKN2A (33.3%), KMT2B (33.3%), LRP1B (33.3%), and PIK3CA (27.3%) mutations was common. Variations of NFE2L2 displayed the tightest co-occurrence with IRF2, TERC, ATR, ZMAT3, and SOX2 (p < 0.001). In The Cancer Genome Atlas Pulmonary Squamous Carcinoma project, patients with NFE2L2 variations and 3q26 amplification had longer median survival (63.59 vs. 32.04 months, p = 0.0459) and better overall survival.

Conclusions NFE2L2 mutations display notable heterogeneity in lung cancer. The coexistence of NFE2L2 mutations and 3q26 amplification warrants in-depth exploration of their potential clinical implications and treatment approaches for affected patients.
Cuboid Bone for Distal Radius Reconstruction: An Anatomical Cadaver Study
Authors: Alvedro-Ruiz Pedro , Trapero-Ovejero Ana , Ferràs-Tarragó Joan , Pérez-García Alberto , Valverde-Navarro Alfonso , Thione Alessandro
Published: April 2024

Background The cuboid bone (CB) of the foot has been suggested as a potential source of autologous reconstruction of the distal radius (DR). This study sought to examine the feasibility of harvesting the CB as a vascularized bone transfer for DR reconstruction.

Purposes We evaluated the feasibility of a vascularized bone transfer of the CB by performing the flap dissection, analyzing its pedicle and demonstrating its perfusion using indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence angiography.

Methods Ten feet from five fresh-frozen cadaver specimens were dissected. The lateral tarsal artery (LTA) mean diameter, length, and emerging point were described. The CB mean length and the mean length of the bone segment harvested were reported. ICG injection was used to demonstrate its blood supply.

Results The average length of the pedicle was 68.26 ± 3.12 mm. The mean diameter was 1.43 ± 0.15 mm. The CB had a mean anterior–posterior length of 40.81 ± 5.05 mm. The harvested bone had a mean length of 15.05 ± 2.03 mm. All CBs showed enhancement after ICG injection.

Conclusion The CB presented reasonable anatomical similarities with the DR and a long and consistent pedicle with an adequate blood supply observed during ICG injection.

Clinical Relevance This study supports the possibility of using the CB as a vascularized bone transfer for autologous reconstruction of the articular surface of the DR. Further study is warranted.
Robust day-ahead solar forecasting with endogenous data and sliding windows
Authors: Kamarianakis Yiannis , Pantazis Yannis , Kalligiannaki Evangelia , Katsaounis Theodoros D. , Kotsovos Konstantinos , Gereige Issam , Abdullah Marwan , Jamal Aqil , Tzavaras Athanasios
Published: April 2024

Renewable energy forecasting services comprise various modules for intra-day and day-ahead forecasts. This work specifically addresses day-ahead forecasts, utilizing specifications based on endogenous, historical measurements. These specifications are designed to be computationally efficient, requiring fewer input variables and less training data. Such weather-independent specifications serve as benchmarks against the more computationally demanding forecasts based on numerical weather predictions. A series of experiments, designed to simulate the real-world application of an online system, were conducted on sliding windows of back-contact photovoltaic (installed at KAUST, Saudi Arabia) output series, solar irradiance recorded in Hawaii, and simulated data. Our analysis evaluated 24 specifications, which are variants of (i) functional time series models (including two novel shrinkage procedures); (ii) time series nearest neighbor schemes; (iii) exponential smoothing procedures; (iv) autoregressive integrated moving average processes; (v) automatic techniques based on time series decomposition; and (vi) the persistence model. In addition to employing outlier-robust accuracy metrics, such as mean absolute error, our evaluation also prioritized prediction-interval accuracy, quantified by the mean scaled interval score. Our findings suggest that practitioners can achieve significant improvements over the persistence model by forecasting daily profiles using adaptive nonparametric or functional data analysis-based procedures. Moreover, applying shrinkage to nearest neighbor (NN) forecasts toward smooth, average daily profiles significantly enhances NN performance. Conversely, some popular, computationally intensive models fail to perform adequately to justify their additional cost.
Thermodynamic properties of rhodium—A first principle study
Authors: Thakur Balaram , Gong Xuejun , Dal Corso Andrea
Published: April 2024

The high-pressure and high-temperature thermodynamic properties of rhodium (up to 2000 K and 300 GPa) are presented using the first principle approach within the quasi-harmonic approximation. The thermal Helmholtz free energy includes the contribution of both phonon vibrations and electronic excitations. The performance of three popular exchange-correlation functionals—local density approximation [Perdew et al., Phys. Rev. B 23, 5048 (1981)], Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof generalized gradient approximation (PBE) [Perdew et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3865 (1996)], PBE modified for dense solids [Perdew et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 136406 (2008)] are shown. The simulated thermal expansion coefficient, isobaric heat capacity, mode-Grüneisen parameter, thermodynamic average Grüneisen parameter, and bulk modulus are compared with the available experimental and theoretical reports. The contribution of thermal electronic excitations to the obtained thermodynamic parameters is significant at low pressure and high temperatures, except in bulk modulus, where it is small. The pressure-dependent elastic constant coefficient (Cij) and the Debye temperature are computed at 0 K. The Pugh ratio calculated from Cij indicates that rhodium undergoes brittle to ductile transitions at an average pressure of 7.45 GPa.
Unlocking a new hydrogen-bonding marker: C–O bond shortening in vicinal diols revealed by rotational spectroscopy
Authors: Ma Jiarui , Insausti Aran , Al-Jabiri Mohamad H. , Carlson Colton D. , Jäger Wolfgang , Xu Yunjie
Published: April 2024

The conformational space of cis-1,2-cyclohexanediol, a model molecule for cyclic vicinal diols, was investigated using rotational spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. Four low energy conformers within an energy window of 5 kJ mol−1 were identified computationally. A rotational spectrum of jet-cooled cis-1,2-cyclohexanediol was recorded with a chirped pulse Fourier transform microwave spectrometer. Two sets of rotational transitions were observed and could be assigned to conformers of cis-1,2-cyclohexanediol. The non-observation of other low energy conformers was explained by conformational conversion barrier height calculations and results from experimental spectra recorded with different carrier gases. Eight isotopologues, including those with 13C and 18O, of the lowest energy conformer were observed, allowing the determination of the semi-experimental equilibrium structure, reSE. Interestingly, the structural analysis revealed that the C–O bond length of the intramolecular hydrogen-bond donor is shorter than that of the acceptor. This appears to be a general characteristic of vicinal diols and can be used as a novel hydrogen-bond marker in such compounds.
Influence of reactive environment on the growth of graphene by CVD method
Authors: Selvakumar D. , Loganathan R. , Jayavel R.
Published: April 2024

Scalable graphene was grown on commercially purchased Cu foil by using the chemical vapor deposition method with a growth temperature and time of 900 °C and 30 min, respectively. The growth mechanism was investigated in a different reactive environment (gas flow). The crystallinity of the surface absorbed chemical species was identified through x-ray diffraction analysis. The structural morphology was determined by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and optical microscopy. Raman spectroscopy revealed the formation of defects in graphene under growth conditions. The growth environments of C2H4 and C2H2 result in higher defects than the CH4 state.
Location has a significant effect on body condition and blood parameters in the eastern longneck turtle (Chelodina longicollis)
Authors: Scheelings Titus Franciscus
Published: April 2024

The aim of this investigation was to explore the effect point of capture has on relative weight (Wr), as well as haematology and biochemistry values, in wild eastern longneck turtles (Chelodina longicollis). This study group consisted of two sites of turtles residing in Duck Pond (DP) and Ivanhoe Wetland (IW) in the Darebin Parklands, in Alphington, Melbourne. From DP, 184 turtles were captured, and from IW, 37 turtles were captured. All turtles were weighed and measured, and a random subset of 20 turtles from each waterbody was selected for blood collection. Significant differences were found to exist for Wr, basophils, glucose, uric acid, triglycerides and bile acids between the two sites. Serum glucose levels tended to decrease as a turtle increased in mass, straight carapace length (SCL) and Wr. The results of this investigation highlight the need to take location into consideration when assessing blood parameters in reptiles.
Substantial transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through casual contact in retail stores: Evidence from matched administrative microdata on card payments and testing
Authors: Johannesen Niels , Tang-Andersen Martinello Alessandro , Meyer Bjørn Bjørnsson , Vestergaard Emil Toft , Andersen Asger Lau , Jensen Thais Lærkholm
Published: April 2024

This paper presents quasiexperimental evidence of Covid-19 transmission through casual contact between customers in retail stores. For a large sample of individuals in Denmark, we match card payment data, indicating exactly where and when each individual made purchases, with Covid-19 test data, indicating when each individual was tested and whether the test was positive. The resulting dataset identifies more than 100,000 instances where an infected individual made a purchase in a store and, in each instance, allows us to track the infection dynamics of other individuals who made purchases in the same store around the same time. We estimate transmissions by comparing the infection rate of exposed customers, who made a purchase within 5 min of an infected individual, and nonexposed customers, who made a purchase in the same store 16 to 30 min before. We find that exposure to an infected individual in a store increases the infection rate by around 0.12 percentage points (
P
< 0.001) between day 3 and day 7 after exposure. The estimates imply that transmissions in stores contributed around 0.04 to the reproduction number for the average infected individual and significantly more in the period where Omicron was the dominant variant.
Negotiating converso identities in the inquisition courtroom
Authors: Díaz-Vera Javier E.
Published: April 2024

This paper explores the processes of identity construction and negotiation through face work in a Portuguese
Inquisition record, corresponding to the trial for Judaism of Catarina de Orta. Concentrating as much on the inquisitor’s
questions as on the answers offered by the defendant, I show here that impoliteness and self-politeness co-occur in interaction in
the Portuguese Inquisition courtroom discourse. On the one hand, the inquisitor makes abundant use of impoliteness strategies with
at least three main aims: to exert his power over the defendant, to trigger specific negative emotions, and to attack her face and
her credibility. On the other hand, the defendant’s answers display numerous features of self-politeness, aimed at saving her face
from the inquisitor’s attacks and accusations. It is precisely through the interplay of impoliteness and self-politeness that the
two competing narratives proposed by the accuser and the defendant are constructed and re-elaborated during every
interrogation.
Urban Parks and Acceptable Animal Bodies
Authors: Tully Paul
Published: April 2024

Urban parks are critical spaces for outdoor leisure. As urban sprawl increases, these places are highly valued by humans as ways to experience enhanced wellbeing through recreational activities. This has been a primary purpose behind humans’ physical and social construction of urban parks over the last two centuries. Their importance and constructed nature mean they are highly ordered social spaces (Taylor,
1999
). As such, bodies, in terms of appearances and actions, are designated as either appropriate or not in urban parks. The homeless human body, for example, is socially positioned as deviating from suitable norms and, thus, a challenge that authorities try to deal with by removal (Rose,
2014
). As well as applying to humans, social norms around body desirability in urban parks relate to other species. In this case study, acceptable and unacceptable non-human animal bodies are considered.

The case interweaves a discussion with notes on legislation, rules, and visitor guidance (henceforth ‘management documents’) that govern urban parks within UK city council boundaries. Such regulatory techniques are significant in constructing norms that constitute park order (Taylor, 1999). How animals are positioned via these is indicative of their acceptability. The case considers how acceptance of animal bodies means urban parks are spaces of control and deviance. It does so by illustrating that human ideals of value and control are instrumental for animal body suitability.

Information

© CAB International 2024
Direct Observation on H-Elimination Enhancement from C2H4 through Non-Adiabatic Process by Femtosecond Laser Induced Coulomb Explosion
Authors: Jin 金 Wuwei 无维 , Wang 王 Chuncheng 春成 , Zhao 赵 Xiaoge 晓戈 , Yang 杨 Yizhang 译章 , Ren 任 Dianxiang 殿相 , Liu 刘 Zejin 泽槿 , Li 李 Xiaokai 孝开 , Luo 罗 Sizuo 嗣佐 , Ding 丁 Dajun 大军
Published: April 2024

Ethylene, the simplest model of a carbon-carbon double bond system, is pivotal in numerous chemical and biological processes. By employing intense infrared laser pump-probe techniques alongside coincidence measurements, we investigate the ultrafast non-adiabatic dynamics involved in the breakage of carbon-carbon double bonds and hydrogen elimination in dissociation of ethylene. Our study entails analyzing the dynamic kinetic energy release spectra to assess three bond-breaking scenarios, movements of nuclei, and structural changes around the carbon atoms. This allows us to evaluate the relaxation dynamics and characteristics of various dissociative states. Notably, we observe a significant rise in the yield of fragments resulting from C–H bond breakage with the delay time extended, suggesting non-adiabatic coupling through conical intersections from C–C bond breakage as a probable cause.
Characterizing an effective magnetic field during asymmetric creep motion of Dzyaloshinskii domain walls
Authors: Jiang Lai , Sokalski Vincent
Published: April 2024

Understanding the role of Landau Lifshitz Gilbert dynamics in describing magnetic domain wall (DW) motion in the creep regime is complicated by the presence of static pinning, but has regained interest due to recently observed directional growth in thin films with significant interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction. Here, we delve into this directional domain growth behaviour in Pt/Co/Ni-based multi-layers under the influence of combined longitudinal and perpendicular magnetic fields via magneto-optical Kerr effect microscopy. Observations, including the onset field,

μ
0

H
onset

, where the growth direction reverses by 180 degrees, align with the transient steady-state model predictions. By systematically varying the applied perpendicular magnetic field, we estimate the strength of an effective perpendicular field that acts on the DW during creep movement, which was expectedly found to be much smaller than the applied external field itself. This work further adds to the complexity of asymmetric domain expansion in the creep regime, but also highlights the range of magnetic information that can be extracted from careful analysis of this behavior.
Investigation of O atom kinetics in O2 plasma and its afterglow
Authors: Albrechts Matthias , Tsonev Ivan , Bogaerts Annemie
Published: April 2024

We have developed a comprehensive kinetic model to study the O atom kinetics in an O2 plasma and its afterglow. By adopting a pseudo-1D plug-flow formalism within the kinetic model, our aim is to assess how far the O atoms travel in the plasma afterglow, evaluating its potential as a source of O atoms for post-plasma gas conversion applications. Since we could not find experimental data for pure O2 plasma at atmospheric pressure, we first validated our model at low pressure (1–10 Torr) where very good experimental data are available. Good agreement between our model and experiments was achieved for the reduced electric field, gas temperature and the densities of the dominant neutral species, i.e. O2(a), O2(b) and O. Subsequently, we confirmed that the chemistry set is consistent with thermodynamic equilibrium calculations at atmospheric pressure. Finally, we investigated the O atom densities in the O2 plasma and its afterglow, for which we considered a microwave O2 plasma torch, operating at a pressure between 0.1 and 1 atm, for a flow rate of 20 slm and an specific energy input of 1656 kJ mol−1. Our results show that for both pressure conditions, a high dissociation degree of ca. 92% is reached within the discharge. However, the O atoms travel much further in the plasma afterglow for p = 0.1 atm (9.7 cm) than for p = 1 atm (1.4 cm), attributed to the longer lifetime (3.8 ms at 0.1 atm vs 1.8 ms at 1 atm) resulting from slower three-body recombination kinetics, as well as a higher volumetric flow rate.
The tendency of V segregation in Pd/V(110) and Pd/V(100) surfaces induced by H adsorption
Authors: Palmero Marianne A , Shimizu Koji , Nakanishi Hiroshi , Watanabe Satoshi , Padama Allan Abraham B
Published: April 2024

This study employs density functional theory-based calculations to investigate the tendency of V atom segregation in Pd/V(100) and Pd/V(110) surfaces upon adsorption of H at varying coverage (0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.0 ML). Geometric, energetic, and electronic structure analyses were performed to elucidate the stability of H on the surfaces, the V atoms segregation tendency, and the interactions of atoms in the systems. By calculating the relative energies, we found that Pd atoms will favor residing in the topmost layer of pristine Pd/V. Segregation of V atom in pristine Pd/V(100) is more endothermic than in Pd/V(110). For H-Pd/V systems, a tendency of V segregation was observed for 0.50–1.0 ML H coverage on Pd/V(110). V atom segregation was not predicted in H-Pd/V(100). Due to the more endothermic V atom segregation process in pristine (100) than in (110) facet, a larger energy is necessary to induce V segregation by H adsorption in (100). The adsorption energies, charge density difference distributions, and density of states revealed the stronger H-V interaction compared to H-Pd interaction. Hence, H adsorption stabilizes the V atoms in the topmost layers and could induce V segregation in the surface.
Dipole-dipole interactions in the presence of a topological insulator stratified sphere: dyadic Green’s function method
Authors: Xie Huai-Yi
Published: April 2024

Dyadic Green’s functions (DGFs) are developed for calculating electric fields induced by multiple sources in the presence of a topological insulator (TI) stratified sphere within the framework of axion electrodynamics. Generalizing our previous work, these sources can be placed at arbitrary locations rather than be limited outside the TI stratified sphere. Utilizing these DGFs, we explore the topological magneto-electric (TME) effect of the dipole–dipole interaction in the presence of composite structures of an alternating metal-TI stratified sphere, causing some modifications of the energy transfer (ET) enhancement spectrum. Furthermore, for the multipolar resonances of the metal shells, we find the TME-induced red-shifts of each bonding and antibonding mode in the ET enhancement spectrum are independent on the locations and orientations of the two dipoles but only depend on the configuration of these composite structures. These phenomenological findings provide some useful guidance with experimenters to design realistic experiments for exploring possible unique TME signatures via the energy transfer between molecules near/in TI multicoated nanoparticles in the near-infrared region.
Primordial Black hole formation from overlapping cosmological fluctuations
Authors: Escrivà Albert , Yoo Chul-Moon
Published: April 2024

We consider the formation of primordial black holes (PBHs), during the radiation-dominated
Universe, generated from the collapse of super-horizon curvature fluctuations that are overlapped
with others on larger scales. Using a set of different curvature profiles, we show that the
threshold for PBH formation (defined as the critical peak of the compaction function) can be
decreased by several percentages, thanks to the overlapping between two peaks in the profile of
the compaction function. In the opposite case, when the fluctuations are sufficiently decoupled
the threshold values behave as having the fluctuations isolated (isolated peaks). We find that the
analytical estimates of ref. [1] can be used accurately when applied to the
corresponding peak that is leading to the gravitational collapse. We also study in detail the
dynamics and estimate the final PBH mass for different initial configurations, showing that the
profile dependence has a significant effect on that.
Gravitational wave probe of primordial black hole origin via superradiance
Authors: Banerjee Indra Kumar , Dey Ujjal Kumar
Published: April 2024

In this article we have used stochastic gravitational wave background as a unique probe to gain insight regarding the creation mechanism of primordial black holes. We have considered the cumulative gravitational wave background which consists of the primary part coming from the creation mechanism of the primordial black holes and the secondary part coming from the different mechanisms the primordial black holes go through. We have shown that in the presence of light or ultra light scalar bosons, superradiant instability generates the secondary part of the gravitational wave background which is the most detectable. In order to show the unique features of the cumulative background, we have consdiered the delayed vacuum decay during a first order phase transition as the origin of primordial black holes. We have shown the dependence of the features of the cumulative background, such as the mass of the relevant light scalars, peak frequencies, etc. on the transition parameters. We have also generated the cumulative background for a few benchmark cases to further illustrate our claim.
Induced gravitational waves and baryon asymmetry fluctuations from primordial black hole formation
Authors: Altavista Chiara , Rey Julián
Published: April 2024

We consider black hole formation due to the gravitational collapse produced by large density fluctuations during an epoch of reheating with a stiff equation of state and calculate the induced gravitational wave spectrum. By considering the existing bounds on the total energy density of gravitational waves today, we find constraints on the parameter space of this scenario. We also calculate the lepton asymmetry generated by metric perturbations via the chiral gravitational anomaly present in the Standard Model and find that, once the electroweak sphaleron processes have taken place, the large spectrum of scalar perturbations responsible for black hole formation induces a peak in the baryon asymmetry fluctuations on small scales.
Light thermal self-interacting dark matter in the shadow of non-standard cosmology
Authors: Ho Shu-Yu , Ko Pyungwon , Nanda Dibyendu
Published: April 2024

In this paper, we construct a viable model for a GeV scale self-interacting dark
matter (DM), where the DM was thermally produced in the early universe. Here, a new vector-like
fermion with a dark charge under the U(1)_D gauge symmetry serves as a
secluded WIMP DM and it can dominantly annihilate into the light dark gauge boson and singlet
scalar through the dark gauge interaction. Also, the self-interaction of DM is induced by the
light dark gauge boson via the same gauge interaction. In addition to these particles, we further
introduce two Weyl fermions and a doublet scalar, by which the dark gauge boson produced from
s-wave DM annihilations can mostly decay into active neutrinos after the dark symmetry
breaking such that the CMB bound on the DM with low masses can be eluded. In order to have a
common parameter region to explain the observed relic abundance and self-interaction of DM, we
also study this model in a non-standard cosmological evolution, where the cosmic expansion driven
by a new field species is faster than the standard radiation-dominated universe during the
freeze-out of DM. Reversely, one can also use the self-interacting nature of light thermal DM to
examine the non-standard cosmological history of the universe.
The CMOS Pseudo-Thyristor: a zero-static current discriminator circuit
Authors: Wen X. , Fu T. , Gong D. , Huang X. , Liu T. , Gui P. , Wu J.
Published: April 2024

A very low power discriminator circuit for pixelized detectors, called the Pseudo-Thyristor is described in this document. It is a positive feedback topology using regular PMOS and NMOS field-effect transistors (FET's) with zero static current. When a small charge is injected into the circuit, it flips rapidly due to the positive feedback and outputs a logic transition for further digitization. Simulation shows that in a 65 nm process, it is possible to achieve a detecting threshold below 5 fC while maintain the average power consumption below 10 micro-Watts when the hit occupancy is <10% for 40 MHz operation.
Asymmetric fin shape changes swimming dynamics of ancient marine reptiles’ soft robophysical models
Authors: Sprumont Hadrien , Allione Federico , Schwab Fabian , Wang Bingcheng , Mucignat Claudio , Lunati Ivan , Scheyer Torsten , Ijspeert Auke , Jusufi Ardian
Published: April 2024

Animals have evolved highly effective locomotion capabilities in terrestrial, aerial, and aquatic environments. Over life’s history, mass extinctions have wiped out unique animal species with specialized adaptations, leaving paleontologists to reconstruct their locomotion through fossil analysis. Despite advancements, little is known about how extinct megafauna, such as the Ichthyosauria one of the most successful lineages of marine reptiles, utilized their varied morphologies for swimming. Traditional robotics struggle to mimic extinct locomotion effectively, but the emerging soft robotics field offers a promising alternative to overcome this challenge. This paper aims to bridge this gap by studying Mixosaurus locomotion with soft robotics, combining material modeling and biomechanics in physical experimental validation. Combining a soft body with soft pneumatic actuators, the soft robotic platform described in this study investigates the correlation between asymmetrical fins and buoyancy by recreating the pitch torque generated by extinct swimming animals. We performed a comparative analysis of thrust and torque generated by Carthorhyncus, Utatsusaurus, Mixosaurus, Guizhouichthyosaurus, and Ophthalmosaurus tail fins in a flow tank. Experimental results suggest that the pitch torque on the torso generated by hypocercal fin shapes such as found in model systems of Guizhouichthyosaurus, Mixosaurus and Utatsusaurus produce distinct ventral body pitch effects able to mitigate the animal’s non-neutral buoyancy. This body pitch control effect is particularly pronounced in Guizhouichthyosaurus, which results suggest would have been able to generate high ventral pitch torque on the torso to compensate for its positive buoyancy. By contrast, homocercal fin shapes may not have been conducive for such buoyancy compensation, leaving torso pitch control to pectoral fins, for example. Across the range of the actuation frequencies of the caudal fins tested, resulted in oscillatory modes arising, which in turn can affect the for-aft thrust generated.
Air quality and heath co-benefits of low carbon transition policies in electricity system: the case of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region
Authors: Guo Zheng-Quan , Zhang Jia-Qi , Zhang Wen-Wen , Zhao Bin , Jiang Yue-Qi , Wang Shu-Xiao , Sheng Xin-Yi , Wu Yi , Chen Xia-Qing , Rao Lan-Lan , Nie Jian-Yun
Published: April 2024

Low carbon transition strategies of power plants are crucial to meet China’s ‘Dual Carbon’ targets. While the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region, the ‘capital economic circles’ of China, is suffering from serious air pollution, air quality co-benefits of low carbon transition policies in electricity system in BTH area remain unclear. Here, we estimate the impacts of low carbon transition policies, including one BAU, six single and five combined scenarios, in electricity system in BTH area on installed power capacity, CO2 emissions, air quality and human health through 2060 based on open source energy modeling system and extend response surface model ERSM models. Results show that the total installed capacity under single and combined scenarios (except RE and Tech single scenarios) fluctuates around the BAU level of 310.5 GW in 2060. While all single and combined scenarios would generally achieve ‘carbon peak’ in BTH electricity system before 2030, only S4 (combining technological progress, renewable energy development and CCUS) and S5 (in additional to S4, including gas-fired power generation instead of coal-fired power generation) scenarios have the potential to realize carbon neutrality by 2060. The magnitude of reductions in air pollutant emissions and improvement in air quality in BTH area from the BAU level in 2060 under combined scenarios, especially S4 and S5, generally exceed that of six single scenarios. Importantly, S5 in 2060 contributes to about 8528 avoided premature mortalities in BTH area, which are more effective than any other scenarios. The results suggest that S5 is a promising low carbon transition policy to achieve environmental improvement and produce health benefits.
The emergence of cooperation via Q-learning in spatial donation game
Authors: Zhang Jing , Rong Zhihai , Zheng Guozhong , Zhang Jiqiang , Chen Li
Published: April 2024

Decision-making often overlooks the feedback between agents and the environment. Reinforcement learning is widely employed through exploratory experimentation to address problems related to states, actions, rewards, decision-making in various contexts. This work considers a new perspective, where individuals continually update their policies based on interactions with the spatial environment, aiming to maximize cumulative rewards and learn the optimal strategy. Specifically, we utilize the Q-learning algorithm to study the emergence of cooperation in a spatial population playing the donation game. Each individual has a Q-table that guides their decision-making in the game. Interestingly, we find that cooperation emerges within this introspective learning framework, and a smaller learning rate and higher discount factor make cooperation more likely to occur. Through the analysis of Q-table evolution, we disclose the underlying mechanism for cooperation, which may provide some insights to the emergence of cooperation in the real-world systems.
Connecting people with place-specific nature in cities reduces unintentional harm
Authors: Stanley Margaret C , Galbraith Josie A
Published: April 2024

There is an increasing disconnect between people and nature as we become more urbanised. Intensification in cities often results in a reduction of natural areas, more homogenised and manicured green spaces, and loss of biota. Compared to people in rural areas, urban dwellers are less likely visit natural areas and recognise and value biota. Reconnecting people with nature in the city not only benefits human mental and physical wellbeing but can also have positive effects on how people value biodiversity and act on conservation issues. However, in some contexts, the push to reconnect people with nature may have unintended negative outcomes on biodiversity, particularly if place-specific nature is not used in urban greening. In the current biodiversity crisis, using vegetation and green space design that is not reflective of the environmental context of a city can further disconnect residents, particularly Indigenous people, from their local environment and species, and further entrench extinction of experience and loss of environmental values. This disconnect can result in residents applying wildlife gardening practices, such as bird feeding, that are not specific to place, and benefit introduced species over indigenous species. Furthermore, cities are gateways for invasive species, and using species in greening projects that are not locally sourced has already left cities and their surrounding regions with a large weed legacy. Using place-specific nature and green space in cities can be less resource intensive, highly beneficial for biodiversity and give residents a unique sense of place. Rather than simply adding ‘more nature’ in cities, the messaging should be more complex, emphasising the need for urban greening to be context specific to avoid negative impacts on biodiversity and ecological and cultural services.
Law and American Literature
Authors: Clymer Jeffory A.
Published: April 2024

Law and American literature is a subfield of the wider interdisciplinary field of law and literature. Law and literature are socially embedded discourses that rely on narrative and figures of speech to describe events, render them meaningful, and persuade audiences. Even as law and literature each has its own unique rhetorical forms (e.g., the statute, the legal opinion, the novel, the poem), as well as specific techniques and protocols for creating, organizing, and disseminating their narrative products, they share a fundamental commitment to ordering and interpreting our understanding of the world around us. Although the law itself is often thought of as an objective arena to which disputes are brought for adjudication and resolution, law does much more than simply arbitrate preexisting disputes. It is inherently a political and rhetorical practice that has coercive power to shape in myriad ways the most significant and intimate aspects of our lives. Law confers and delimits rights and opportunities, privileges some identities and disadvantages others, and defines acceptable and proscribed behaviors. Unsurprisingly, then, the law and important legal issues have been a constant source of interest and inspiration for American literary authors. Although obviously lacking law’s coercive or normative power, literature alternatively provides ways of thinking and imagines modes of being that help to form readers’ understandings of the world and their places in it. Over the 21st century, American writers’ longstanding interest in the law has been particularly resonant for Americanist literary critics, who often combine a theoretically informed historicist interpretive methodology with an interest in social justice. Scholars of “law and American literature” have provided sophisticated analyses of literature and law’s intersection on a litany of subjects. Prominent among these topics has been scholars’ examination of the many ways that legal and literary works have parsed the racial dynamics of the United States, a nation that has repeatedly used the law to construct and organize racial difference. Significant areas of imbrication between law and American literature over the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries include slavery, citizenship, property, and incarceration.
Modern Sudanese Literature
Authors: Oladosu Afis Ayinde
Published: April 2024

Modern Sudanese literature presents an extremely interesting landscape that mirrors the problems that the category “Sudan” represents for scholars across disciplinary barriers and specializations. To account for its extremely slippery trajectories and, through that, show how vital its contributions have been not only to Sudanese but also to African literature, questions relating to its existence or otherwise have to be explored: To what extent is it true that literary writing in Sudan should be referred to as Sudanese Arabic literature (al-Adab al-ʿArabī al-Sūdānī), not Arabic literature in Sudan (al-Adab al-ʿArabī fī al-Sūdān)? What cultural artifacts are there in Sudanese history that can be cited in support of the latter? To provide answers, these arguments can be situated against data on the medieval, Turkish, Mahdist, and Anglo-Egyptian Sudanese histories; perspectives on the cultural affinity between Egypt and Sudan as exemplified by the Nile Valley (Wādī al-Nīl) can be explored; and these can be shown to have accentuated the birth and development of modern Sudanese literature. Further, its trajectories—poetry and prose, including the traditionalist, the romanticist, the realist, and the postcolonialist—can be explored. Some Sudanese literary-critical writers, including Muʿāwīyah Muḥammad Nūr (who wrote the first Sudanese short fiction in 1930), Malikat al-Dār Muḥammad, al-Tījānī Yūsuf Bashīr, ʿArafah Muḥammad ʿAbdullāh, Ṣalāh Aḥmad Ibrāhīm, and Muḥammad Miftāḥ al-Faytūrī, contributed to the field. Others include al-Ṭayyib Ṣāliḥ (Tayeb Salih), whose novel Mawsim al-Hijrah ilá al-Shamāl (published in 1966 and translated into English as Season of Migration to the North in 1969) remains unrivaled in contemporary Sudanese literary history; ʿAbdullāh Maḥjūb; Sayyid al-Fīl; Ibrāhīm Khālid ʿUways; Buthaynah Khiḍr Makkī; Istilā Qaytānū (Stella Gaytano); and Safia Elhillo. The works of these writers have continued to give modern Sudanese literature the global attention that it deserves. Plotting the geography of its large corpus can therefore be likened to enumerating pebbles in the desert. But there is a thread that runs through the works. From Muʿāwīyah Muḥammad Nūr to Muḥammad Miftāḥ al-Faytūrī, whose sharp vision and creative spirit preceded al-Ṭayyib Ṣāliḥ, and from Buthaynah Khiḍr Makkī to Safia Elhillo, modern Sudanese literature is consistent in its attention to the inner schisms in pre- and post-independence Sudanese society. The corpus thus represents the slippages and the shifting identities of postcolonial Sudanese modernities. In modern Sudanese literature, thoughts and reflections on race, gender, and nation by Michel Foucault, Edward Said, Frantz Fanon, Kadiatu Kanneh, and Muhsin al-Musawi find ample representation.
The Harms and Crimes Against Plant Species
Authors: Morelle-Hungría Esteban , Serra-Palao Pablo
Published: April 2024

In the 21st century, the socio-environmental crisis is not limited to the quantitative analysis of the biophysical conditions on a global or sub-global scale. Individual species are directly affected by the “dynamics of the Anthropocene”: climate change, extreme weather events, deforestation, the acidification of the oceans, pollution, the use of pesticides, and many other anthropogenic pressures. All of these pressures have serious implications for individual species. Among all these affected species, this entry focuses on plant species. The Anthropocene dynamics and their associated impacts on individual plant species can be perceived at a number of different levels and with varying degrees of intensity and severity. In green criminology, the conceptual complexity of the distinction between environmental damage and crime has been widely debated, mainly due to their different politico-legal responses. For this reason, it is essential to provide an overview of environmental harms and crimes that affect plant species. To achieve this, the analysis begins with a theoretical foundation of green criminology, outlining its origins, multiple definitions and perspectives, ethical foundations, and justice frameworks. From this green criminological perspective, the scientific literature on a selected list of harms and crimes against plant species is reviewed using a holistic and interdisciplinary approach.
Child Sexual Exploitation
Authors: Rimer Jonah R.
Published: April 2024

Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is a broad term that refers to a form of child sexual abuse (CSA) involving some combination of particular elements including power imbalance, grooming, manipulation, coercion, deception, fraud, force, threats, exchange, or status. Definitions, research, and resources are inconsistent and often conflate different kinds of CSE and CSA, making the concept difficult to generalize and questioning the utility of separating CSE from CSA. There are also persistent misunderstandings and myths that continue to pervade society, including “stranger danger” and the notion that CSE cannot happen in one’s own community, which have potential to negatively impact community protective behaviors. There are multiple kinds of CSE, both offline and online, and demarcating offline and online is not always possible or advisable. More than one type of CSE may be present in a single case because they are not mutually exclusive. These include child sexual exploitation material (CSEM), livestreaming, capping, online sexual solicitation and child luring, sextortion, commercial sexual exploitation, CSA tourism, human trafficking, and forced marriage. Common among these, although potentially in different forms, is a process of grooming.

Because CSE is diverse, it is difficult to generalize about offenders and victims. However, victims are more likely to be female, whereas offenders are more likely to be male. Also common across crime types are a host of social, emotional, personal, and physical effects on and consequences for victims, some of which may be exacerbated if there are online elements such as images or videos. Current best practice suggests that responding to victims should be done through a trauma-informed approach that avoids victim-blaming. For offenders, risk management is done through assessments, post-release laws, and treatment, all of which have their own limitations.

Because CSE is complex and includes a range of crimes, different theoretical and conceptual perspectives can be applied to the topic. Some of these focus on sexual offending against children generally, whereas others situate CSE within more macro structures. These theories and perspectives include Lanning’s situational versus preferential offender typology, the psychological concept of “cognitive distortions,” Finkelhor’s model of preconditions to CSA, the Good Lives Model of offending and rehabilitation, ecological systems theory, criminological perspectives that emphasize situational and environmental factors, and anthropological perspectives on the internet. Prevention of CSE victimization should be evidence-based and not founded on misconceptions or myths; however, not all prevention programs have engaged with realistic and accurate understandings of CSE. Overall, CSE is complex, and nuance is required in research, practice, and policy to reflect this complexity.
Jean-René Cruchet (1875–1959)
Authors: Walusinski Olivier
Published: April 2024

Jean-René Cruchet (1875–1959) was a French physician from Bordeaux, where he practiced for the entirety of his career. His notoriety resulted from his publication of the first cases of the encephalitis lethargica epidemic in World War I soldiers in 1917, a few days before Constantin von Economo reported his cases. Cruchet developed an interest in abnormal movements, notably tics and dystonia, for which he primarily saw a psychological cause, to be treated rigorously with good habits and repressive precepts. He wrote prolifically about his areas of interest, also focusing on parkinsonian syndromes and the treatment of hysterics, notably soldiers with camptocormia. One of the first physicians to also be an aviator, Cruchet was a pioneer in the study of autonomic modifications caused by flying and pressure variations, which he referred to as aviator’s disease. As a personality with an outsized ego, he imagined that he would remain as famous after his death as Jean-Martin Charcot or Louis Pasteur.