bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Disclosing and discussing the role of spirituality in the transition theory of Afaf Meleis
Authors: Martins Helga , Caldeira Sílvia
Published: February 2021

Spirituality is as an individual, dynamic, and a complex concept. Meleis's theory includes spirituality in many aspects, and looking at this dimension within this specific theory may help in understanding spirituality as a critical dimension in transitions, as processes, but also as a dimension of self–transition as individual development and growing. Therefore, spirituality is an inherent and integral element of the several foundations of this theory, especially in nursing therapeutics, patterns of responses and transition conditions (facilitators and inhibitors).
Features and roles of T helper 22 cells in immunological diseases and malignancies
Authors: Hossein‐Khannazer Nikoo , Zian Zeineb , Bakkach Joaira , Kamali Ali N. , Hosseinzadeh Ramin , Anka Abubakar Umar , Yazdani Reza , Azizi Gholamreza
Published: February 2021

T helper 22 (Th22) cell populations are a newly identified subset of CD4+ T cells that primarily mediate biological effects on the epithelial barrier through interleukin (IL)‐22. Although, new studies showed that both Th22 and IL‐22 are closely associated with the pathogenesis of inflammatory, autoimmune and allergic disease as well as malignancies. In this review, we aim to describe the development and characteristics of Th22 cells as well as their roles in the immunopathogenesis of immune‐related disorders and cancer.
Circumventing Sovereignty: Extraterritorial Sanctions Leveraging the Technologies of the Financial System
Authors: Jaeger Mark Daniel
Published: February 2021

US extraterritorial sanctions are implemented with comprehensive global reach, despite allies and adversaries opposing and rejecting them as violations of international law. I argue that this staggering reach rests on more than just the central position of the US in the global financial system, as existing accounts indicate; it builds fundamentally on the financial system’s operational autonomy. Enabled by technologies such as the ‘risk‐based approach’ and automated screening procedures, this globalized network of private actors observes its regulatory environment through its own logic. It translates sanctions into risks susceptible to mitigation beyond the political system’s territorial borders, as the cases of Switzerland and the European Union show. These jurisdictions took futile measures to defend against foreign encroachment of their authority. Unless the financial system’s increased autonomy from the state system is recognized conceptually, analyses of international sanctions will remain deficient and attempts to counter their extraterritorial reach ineffective.
A Degradation Diagnosis Method for Gas Turbine—Fuel Cell Hybrid Systems Using Bayesian Networks
Authors: Mantelli Luca , Zaccaria Valentina , Ferrari Mario Luigi , Kyprianidis Konstantinos
Published: February 2021

This paper aims to develop and test Bayesian belief network-based diagnosis methods, which can be used to predict the most likely degradation levels of turbine, compressor, and fuel cell (FC) in a hybrid system based on different sensors measurements. The capability of the diagnosis systems to understand if an abnormal measurement is caused by a component degradation or by a sensor fault is also investigated. The data used both to train and to test the networks are generated from a deterministic model and later modified to consider noise or bias in the sensors. The application of Bayesian belief networks (BBNs) to fuel cell—gas turbine hybrid systems is novel, thus the results obtained from this analysis could be a significant starting point to understand their potential. The diagnosis systems developed for this work provide essential information regarding levels of degradation and presence of faults in a gas turbine, fuel cell and sensors in a fuel cell—gas turbine hybrid system. The Bayesian belief networks proved to have a good level of accuracy for all the scenarios considered, regarding both steady-state and transient operations. This analysis also suggests that in the future a Bayesian belief network could be integrated with the control system to achieve safer and more efficient operations of these plants.
Characterization of Product End-of-Life Strategies to Enhance Recyclability
Authors: Rose Catherine M. , Beiter Kurt A. , Ishii Kosuke , Masui Keijiro
Published: February 2021

This paper surveys end-of-life strategies currently used in the electronics and appliances industries and identifies product characteristics to guide designers to specify appropriate strategies. The survey indicates that characteristics such as wear-out life, design cycle, technology cycle, functional complexity, number of materials, number of parts and others are important in determining the end-of-life strategy. Two characteristics, product life and technology cycle, serve to demonstrate a possible categorization of products’ end-of-life path. The categorization leads to developing a methodology that guides product developers. By expanding the methodology to include all characteristics, designers will be able to specify end-of-life strategies, to seek environmentally friendly designs, and to develop new recycling technologies. This paper concludes with a proposed web-based application for identifying suitable product end-of-life strategies early in the design cycle of a broad range of products based on key product characteristics.
Defining Product Architecture During Conceptual Design
Authors: Allen Kevin R. , Carlson-Skalak Susan
Published: February 2021

Product architecture can have a significant impact on a product’s life-cycle and its development time. Modular product architecture allows for easy disassembly upon product retirement and allows for wide product variety. In a small company, the team structure of the company can correspond to the modules, and modules can be used across product lines. By using similar modules from one generation to the next, product development time can be reduced. The methodology described in this paper gives a small company the framework from which to develop modular products.
Agent-Based Synthesis of Electro-Mechanical Design Configurations
Authors: Campbell Matthew , Cagan Jonathan , Kotovsky Kenneth
Published: February 2021

A new theory of engineering design known as A-Design is presented that creates design configurations through the interaction of directed software agents. By combining unique problem solving strategies, these agents are able to generate solutions to open-ended design problems. Currently, the A-Design representation and implementation is tailored to solve general electro-mechanical design problems where, given specific user goals, agents within the system reason about the desired functionality to create possible alternatives. These alternatives are subject to an iterative stochastic search algorithm in order to find improved design states. This paper presents an overview of the A-Design theory and focuses on two major aspects: a method for representing electromechanical design configurations, and the reasoning of the agents which construct these configurations.
Web-Based Collaborative Design Modeling and Decision Support
Authors: Pahng Gun-Dong F. , Bae Seockhoon , Wallace David
Published: February 2021

This paper presents an integrated but open product development environment for distributed and collaborative design. The web-based framework, called DOME, allows designers to build integrated models using both local and distributed resources and to collaborate by exchanging services. Thus, an integrated model can be created while each participant focuses on their own area of expertise. A design model is created by connecting modules, each of which can represent specific components, analysis capabilities/software, disciplines, or organizations relevant to the problem. The modules interact with each other using service exchanges based upon the CORBA standard communication protocol for distributed objects. The resulting module network forms a concurrent model in which changes propagate through service exchanges. Modules can simultaneously function as both clients (using services from other modules) and servers (providing services to other modules). A Java applet-based user interface provides cross-platform and distributed user access to DOME module servers throughout the network.
Dynamic Modeling of a Parallel Manipulator With Three Translational Degrees of Freedom
Authors: Stamper Richard , Tsai Lung-Wen
Published: February 2021

The dynamics of a parallel manipulator with three translational degrees of freedom are considered. Two models are developed to characterize the dynamics of the manipulator. The first is a traditional Lagrangian based model, and is presented to provide a basis of comparison for the second approach. The second model is based on a simplified Newton-Euler formulation. This method takes advantage of the kinematic structure of this type of parallel manipulator that allows the actuators to be mounted directly on the base. Accordingly, the dynamics of the manipulator is dominated by the mass of the moving platform, end-effector, and payload rather than the mass of the actuators. This paper suggests a new method to approach the dynamics of parallel manipulators that takes advantage of this characteristic. Using this method the forces that define the motion of moving platform are mapped to the actuators using the Jacobian matrix, allowing a simplified Newton-Euler approach to be applied. This second method offers the advantage of characterizing the dynamics of the manipulator nearly as well as the Lagrangian approach while being less computationally intensive. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the close agreement between the two models.
Evaluation of TiO2 and ZnO atomic layer deposition coated polyamide 66 fabrics for photocatalytic activity and antibacterial applications
Authors: Akyildiz Halil I. , Diler Sumeyye , Islam Shafiqul
Published: February 2021

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a versatile technique to functionalize textile substrates due to its ability to create conformal films on the fibers’ surface. Photocatalytic activity and antibacterial activity of TiO2 and ZnO films deposited onto polyamide 66 fabrics were investigated. ALD coated fabrics were examined to eliminate Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria with ISO 20645 and AATCC 100 standard methods. Both materials were only slightly successful for the elimination of E. coli. However, ZnO films were more effective in killing S. aureus bacteria than TiO2 films independent of incubation conditions (i.e., under dark or ambient light). Deposited films were characterized using SEM, FTIR, UV-Vis, and XPS spectroscopy techniques. Furthermore, the samples’ photocatalytic activity was determined by measuring methylene blue degradation as a model organic molecule showing that ZnO films were better photocatalysts as deposited. The films’ antibacterial mechanism is mainly due to ions dissolving from the films into the bacterial solutions.
Area-selective molecular layer deposition of nylon 6,2 polyamide: Growth on carbon and inhibition on silica
Authors: Junige Marcel , George Steven M.
Published: February 2021

In microelectronic or nanoelectronic manufacturing, pattern transfer by directional reactive ion etching (RIE) progressively erodes amorphous carbon (aC) hard masks. To maintain critical dimensions and tolerances of high-aspect-ratio device structures, new carbonaceous materials may be added repeatedly to replace the eroded aC hard mask. Such a mask repairing step during RIE needs self-aligning growth of organic materials. Area selectivity is required to deposit the organic material on the aC hard mask exclusively. Deposition on the dielectric or semiconductor device structures underlying the mask would complicate their precise etching or later cleaning. When ashing the aC hard mask, all-organic materials are preferable to organic-inorganic hybrid materials because they leave no residue. In this work, area-selective molecular layer deposition (MLD) was developed for the all-organic polyamide nylon 6,2. The monomer reactants for nylon 6,2 MLD were ethylene diamine and adipoyl chloride. Nylon 6,2 MLD was studied in the homogeneous, steady-state growth regime and during nucleation on various starting surfaces utilizing in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry. Area-selective MLD of nylon 6,2 was achieved on the “growth” carbon surface in the presence of silica by functionalizing aC via mild oxidation. In addition, a surface passivant was selectively attached to silica by using an amine-catalyzed coupling chemistry. The passivant inhibited the nylon 6,2 MLD on the “nongrowth” silica surface. A single passivation pretreatment was sufficient to restrict the MLD on the silica surface. The passivant, however, did not substantially impact the MLD nucleation and growth on the aC surface. This strategy yielded area selectivity with exceptionally high quality and over a wide range of MLD cycles. The area-selective MLD of nylon 6,2 was further applied on industrial test features with aC patterns masking trenches in silica. This demonstration illustrated the capability of area-selective MLD to repair RIE-eroded aC hard masks and to maintain the critical dimension.
The Rematch of the Tortoise and the Hare: A Story of Speed and Velocity
Authors: Bellavia Landon
Published: February 2021

In traditional introductory physics courses, concepts of distance, displacement, speed, velocity, scalars, and vectors are generally taught near the beginning of the course. However, students often contend with preexisting notions, such as the idea that speed and velocity are synonyms, which present some of the first conceptual hurdles that they face. “The Rematch of the Tortoise and the Hare” (provided below) offers a modern sequel to an ancient fable, and has been used to successfully help students differentiate between average speed and average velocity where traditional instruction has failed.
Data-driven physics-informed constitutive metamodeling of complex fluids: A multifidelity neural network (MFNN) framework
Authors: Mahmoudabadbozchelou Mohammadamin , Caggioni Marco , Shahsavari Setareh , Hartt William H. , Em Karniadakis George , Jamali Safa
Published: February 2021

In this work, we introduce a comprehensive machine-learning algorithm, namely, a multifidelity neural network (MFNN) architecture for data-driven constitutive metamodeling of complex fluids. The physics-based neural networks developed here are informed by the underlying rheological constitutive models through the synthetic generation of low-fidelity model-based data points. The performance of these rheologically informed algorithms is thoroughly investigated and compared against classical deep neural networks (DNNs). The MFNNs are found to recover the experimentally observed rheology of a multicomponent complex fluid consisting of several different colloidal particles, wormlike micelles, and other oil and aromatic particles. Moreover, the data-driven model is capable of successfully predicting the steady state shear viscosity of this fluid under a wide range of applied shear rates based on its constituting components. Building upon the demonstrated framework, we present the rheological predictions of a series of multicomponent complex fluids made by DNN and MFNN. We show that by incorporating the appropriate physical intuition into the neural network, the MFNN algorithms capture the role of experiment temperature, the salt concentration added to the mixture, as well as aging within and outside the range of training data parameters. This is made possible by leveraging an abundance of synthetic low-fidelity data that adhere to specific rheological models. In contrast, a purely data-driven DNN is consistently found to predict erroneous rheological behavior.
United States rushes to fill void in viral sequencing
Authors: Wadman Meredith
Published: February 2021

Some experts say Biden administration plan is too modest to track fast-evolving variants as they arise and spread.
Genes for life on land evolved earlier in fish
Authors: Pennisi Elizabeth
Published: February 2021

Hidden genetic pathways behind land-water transition are found in living fish.
Pandemic hit academic mothers hard, data show
Authors: Langin Katie
Published: February 2021

New evidence highlights need for policy changes to aid female scientists.
Reintroduction of the archaic variant of
NOVA1
in cortical organoids alters neurodevelopment
Authors: Trujillo Cleber A. , Rice Edward S. , Schaefer Nathan K. , Chaim Isaac A. , Wheeler Emily C. , Madrigal Assael A. , Buchanan Justin , Preissl Sebastian , Wang Allen , Negraes Priscilla D. , Szeto Ryan A. , Herai Roberto H. , Huseynov Alik , Ferraz Mariana S. A. , Borges Fernando S. , Kihara Alexandre H. , Byrne Ashley , Marin Maximillian , Vollmers Christopher , Brooks Angela N. , Lautz Jonathan D. , Semendeferi Katerina , Shapiro Beth , Yeo Gene W. , Smith Stephen E. P. , Green Richard E. , Muotri Alysson R.
Published: February 2021

Brain organoids with Neanderthal genes

The genomes of Neanderthals and modern humans are overall very similar. To understand the impact of genetic variants that are specific to modern humans, Trujillo
et al.
performed a genome-wide analysis to identify 61 coding variants in protein-coding genes. Identifying the gene encoding the RNA-binding protein
NOVA1
as a top candidate for functional analyses, they introduced the archaic gene variant into human pluripotent stem cells and generated brain organoids. These organoids showed alterations in gene expression and splicing as well as morphology and synaptogenesis, suggesting that this method could be used to explore other genetic changes that underlie the phenotypic traits separating our species from extinct relatives.

Science
, this issue p.
eaax2537
Stick to science
Authors: Thorp H. Holden
Published: February 2021

“Just stick to science.” This is a common admonition that
Science
receives when we publish commentaries and news stories on policies that readers disagree with (rather, we should “stay in our lane” and focus on research). It turns out that “stick to science” is a tired-but-very-much-still-alive political talking point used to suppress scientific advice and expertise. According to a recent issue of
The Washington Post
, “stick to science” is what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator said in chastising and silencing its own Scientific Advisory Board, of which two-thirds of the members were appointed by the current administration. The EPA is planning to pat these folks on the head while the administration does what suits its political goals. Sadly, this pattern is not new—the administration declares something outrageous, goes through the motions of consulting scientists, and then does the outrageous thing, regardless. The scientific community should not let this cycle continue because facts that have stood up to, in some cases, years of scrutiny are being suppressed in the service of politics.
Enhanced atomic ordering leads to high thermoelectric performance in AgSbTe
2
Authors: Roychowdhury Subhajit , Ghosh Tanmoy , Arora Raagya , Samanta Manisha , Xie Lin , Singh Niraj Kumar , Soni Ajay , He Jiaqing , Waghmare Umesh V. , Biswas Kanishka
Published: February 2021

Ordering up better conductivity

Improving a thermoelectric material's ability to convert heat to electricity involves optimizing one property without changing another in a detrimental way. Roychowdhury
et al.
found that cadmium doping of silver antimony telluride enhances cationic ordering, which simultaneously improves electric properties and helpfully decreases thermal conductivity (see the Perspective by Liu and Ibáñez). This strategy markedly improves thermoelectric properties and could be used for other materials.

Science
, this issue p.
722
; see also p.
678
Communicating clocks shape circadian homeostasis
Authors: Koronowski Kevin B. , Sassone-Corsi Paolo
Published: February 2021

Regulating multiple body clocks

Circadian rhythms that affect multiple tissues and organ systems are aligned with the dark-light cycle and other external inputs such as feeding. But how is such time keeping modulated throughout complex systems and anatomical regions? Koronowski and Sassone-Corsi reviewed how central regulators in the brain and peripheral regulators throughout organs can behave cooperatively or independently to modulate circadian rhythms. This systemic view of circadian rhythm modulation is important to understand behavior and disease, because dysregulated clocks are associated with metabolic syndrome and cancer.

Science
, this issue p.
eabd0951
How to do no harm: empowering local leaders to make care safer in low-resource settings
Authors: Vincent Charles A , Mboga Mwanamvua , Gathara David , Were Fred , Amalberti Rene , English Mike
Published: February 2021

In a companion paper, we showed how local hospital leaders could assess systems and identify key safety concerns and targets for system improvement. In the present paper, we consider how these leaders might implement practical, low-cost interventions to improve safety. Our focus is on making immediate safety improvements both to directly improve patient care and as a foundation for advancing care in the longer-term. We describe a ‘portfolio’ approach to safety improvement in four broad categories: prioritising critical processes, such as checking drug doses; strengthening the overall system of care, for example, by introducing multiprofessional handovers; control of known risks, such as only using continuous positive airway pressure when appropriate conditions are met; and enhancing detection and response to hazardous situations, such as introducing brief team meetings to identify and respond to immediate threats and challenges. Local clinical leaders and managers face numerous challenges in delivering safe care but, if given sufficient support, they are nevertheless in a position to bring about major improvements. Skills in improving safety and quality should be recognised as equivalent to any other form of (sub)specialty training and as an essential element of any senior clinical or management role. National professional organisations need to promote appropriate education and provide coaching, mentorship and support to local leaders.
Fifteen-minute consultation: Childhood rumination syndrome
Authors: Winter Robert , Velleman Sophie , Wiskin Anthony E
Published: February 2021

Rumination syndrome is a functional bowel disorder where stomach contents effortlessly regurgitate into the mouth. It is an entirely separate entity to gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and requires behavioural rather than pharmaceutical management. Symptoms usually respond well to treatment, though in extreme cases, patients may experience significant weight loss and require inpatient admission.
Unusual finding of two filamentous fungi in a contact lens-related keratitis
Authors: Tendo Chris , Shahin Bayan , Welch James
Published: February 2021

This is a rare case report of two filamentous fungi in a patient with contact lens related keratitis. An early corneal scrape may be useful in detecting multiple causative pathogens and aiding management. The main learning point is to consider fungal infections in patients with atypical ulcer appearances, as prompt diagnosis may reduce the morbidity burden.
The rising burden of penetrating knife injuries
Authors: Ajayi Bisola , Guthrie Hugo , Trompeter Alex , Tennent Duncan , Lui Darren F
Published: February 2021

Introduction

Knife crime remains an area of public health concern. In order to tackle this problem and reduce its burden, the epidemiology of penetrating knife injuries needs to be understood. The aim of this study is to analyse the pattern of knife injuries at a major trauma centre (MTC) in London.

Methods

An analysis of cases from the prospectively collected Trauma Audit and Research Network database of patients attending the emergency department with violent intentional knife injuries from January 2014 to December 2018 was performed. Registry data were analysed for mechanism of injury, number of stabbings, month/date/time of admission, patient demographics, anatomical pattern of injury, hospital length of stay, intervention, ethnicity, repeat victims and fatality.

Results

1373 penetrating knife injuries activated the major trauma call representing 11.7% of all major trauma alerts. 44% occurred in the 16–25 years age group and 85.6% were male. 67.2% required hospital admission. 14.1% required surgery. 50.3% required intervention from multiple specialities. 39.4% had thoracic injuries and 25.8% abdominal injuries. Fatality rate was 0.9% (n=12). 3.6% were repeat victims. 26.8% were multiple stabbings. 5.2% were deliberate self-harm. 23.2% were of white ethnic background. Injury incidence peaked on a Saturday. A significant peak in injuries occurred between 22:00 and 00:00.

Conclusion

This study shows an increase in the incidence of knife crime per year. These cases contribute approximately 12% of major trauma calls. Female assaults increased from 8.4% to 14.3%. Approximately 2/3 injuries occur in the thorax and abdomen with high frequencies at weekends and evenings. These facts can help allocate resources more efficiently.
COVID-19 detection by dogs: from physiology to field application—a review article
Authors: Sakr Rania , Ghsoub Cedra , Rbeiz Celine , Lattouf Vanessa , Riachy Rachelle , Haddad Chadia , Zoghbi Marouan
Published: February 2021

For years, the dog, man's best friend, was the most widely employed scent-detector tool for civilian and military purposes. Recently, many studies highlighted the role of canine olfactory ability in the medical field, specifically in detecting different infectious, metabolic and neoplastic conditions. The objective of this literature review is to clarify the rationale behind dog's ability to detect diseases, to assess the possible application for COVID-19 detection and to discuss the evidence available on the matter. Available evidence shows that properly trained disease-detector dogs are an efficient tool for identification of specific disease-associated volatile organic compounds marker profiles for a particular disease. And since COVID-19 positive persons have a specific volatilome different from non-infected persons, they can be recognised by the dogs, by sniffing different body fluids consequently aiding in the diagnosis of COVID-19. Possible applications of dogs as COVID-19 detectors will be an easy real-time mobile diagnostic aid with low cost and good performance. More evidence is needed to be able to describe standardised measures concerning the best fluid to test, testing procedure, time of possible detection according to disease evolution, risks associated with the dog exposure and to translate the good results in study setting into the real-life operational one.
Recent advances in the aetiology of recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS)
Authors: Wang Zihan , Cao Haibo , Xiong Jianqi , Lu Yilong , Deng Yixiao , Nan Han , Zheng Shutian , Ye Hui , Cao Zhensheng
Published: February 2021

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is the most common disease of oral mucosa, which almost attacks each individual once in their lifespan. Although plenty of factors have been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of RAS, the aetiology of RAS is still controversial, which might lead to limited clinical therapies in accordance with each RAS patient. This review mainly illustrates recent advances in potential causes associated with RAS in detail. Deeper comprehension of the aetiology of RAS will support doctors and researchers to make a better management of RAS patients and to discover new treatments. The aetiology of RAS is complicated, hence we should take a comprehensive view into its aetiology, with multiple potential factors being considered. Sample collection of RAS patients have greatly limited the progress in the aetiology of RAS. A research model of multiagency cooperation can help achieve perfect sample collection of year-round and multiposition.
Diagnostic block and radiofrequency ablation of the acromial branches of the lateral pectoral and suprascapular nerves for shoulder pain: a 3D cadaveric study
Authors: Tran John , Peng Philip , Agur Anne , Mittal Nimish
Published: February 2021

Background and objectives

Acromial branches of the lateral pectoral and suprascapular nerves have been proposed as targets for diagnostic block and radiofrequency ablation to treat superior shoulder pain; however, the nerve capture rates of these procedures have not been investigated. The objectives of this study were to use dissection and 3D modeling technology to determine the course of these acromial branches, relative to anatomical landmarks, and to evaluate nerve capture rates using ultrasound-guided dye injection and lesion simulation.

Methods

Ultrasound-guided dye injections, targeting the superior surface of coracoid process and floor of supraspinous fossa, were performed (n=5). Furthermore, needles targeting the superior and posterior surfaces of the coracoid process were placed under ultrasound guidance to simulate needle electrode position (n=5). Specimens were dissected, digitized, and modeled to determine capture rates of acromial branches of lateral pectoral and suprascapular nerves.

Results

The course of acromial branches of lateral pectoral and suprascapular nerves were documented. Dye spread capture rates: acromial branches of lateral pectoral and suprascapular nerves were captured in all specimens. Lesion simulation capture rates: (1) when targeting superior surface of coracoid process, the entire acromial branch of lateral pectoral nerve was captured in all specimens and (2) when targeting posterior surface of coracoid process, the acromioclavicular and bursal branches of acromial branch of suprascapular nerve were captured in all specimens; coracoclavicular branch was captured in 3/5 specimens.

Conclusions

This study supports the anatomical feasibility of ultrasound-guided targeting of the acromial branches of lateral pectoral and suprascapular nerves. Further clinical investigation is required.
Association networks in the Dutch offshore beam trawl fleet: their predictors and relationship to vessel performance
Authors: Gillis Darren M. , Rijnsdorp Adriaan D. , Poos Jan Jaap
Published: February 2021

Networks play a key role in the functioning of socioecological fishery systems. Most network studies among fish harvesters examining fishing success utilize interviews and questionnaires. Though insightful, such studies are resource and time-intensive and thus unlikely to be replicated frequently through time. Alternatively, commercial landings records and vessel monitoring systems (VMS) provide continuous sources of information that can be used to examine variation in vessel networks through time. We used VMS data to define association networks among vessels. Relationships were found between common network metrics and annual performance based on landings data. Associations between vessels were more closely examined as a function of annual activity, performance, favoured species, and landing port using temporal exponential random graph models. We examined network dynamics across 4 consecutive years. Changes in vessel associations were clearly related to performance, landing port, and species targeted. Network structure could affect the relationship between catch and nominal effort, influencing stock assessments and responses to management actions. Our methodology provides a means to follow network change, identifying situations where more detailed study is warranted.
Partial migration and spawning movements of humpback chub in the Little Colorado River are better understood using data from autonomous PIT tag antennas
Authors: Dzul Maria Christina , Kendall William Louis , Yackulic Charles Brandon , Winkelman Dana L. , Van Haverbeke David Randall , Yard Michael
Published: February 2021

Choosing whether or not to migrate is an important life history decision for many fishes. Here we combine data from physical captures and detections on autonomous passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag antennas to study migration in an endangered fish, the humpback chub (Gila cypha). We develop hidden Markov mark–recapture models with and without antenna detections and find that the model fit without antenna detections misses a large proportion of fish and underestimates migration and survival probabilities. We then assess survival and growth differences associated with life history strategy and migration for different demographic groups (small male, small female, large male, large female). We find large differences in survival according to life history strategy, where residents had much lower overwinter survival than migrants. However, within the migratory life history strategy, survival and growth were similar for active migrants and skipped migrants for all demographic groups. We discuss some common challenges to incorporating detections from autonomous antennas into population models and demonstrate how these data can provide insight about fish movement and life history strategies.
Volunteer Brassica napus (L.) interference with soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]: management thresholds, plant growth, and seed return
Authors: Gregoire Paul , Rosset Jonathan D. , Gulden Robert H.
Published: February 2021

Canola (Brassica napus L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] are currently two of the three most common crops grown in Manitoba, which comprises the eastern regions of the Canadian Prairies. Volunteer B. napus is a prominent weed in soybean in Manitoba and glyphosate-resistant (GR) volunteer B. napus often is the only weed remaining after in-crop weed control with glyphosate in soybean. Additive-series field experiments were established at three locations in Manitoba in 2012 and 2013 to study volunteer B. napus interference with soybean and develop action and economic thresholds for this weed. Soybean were planted in narrow (25 cm) or wide (75 cm) row spacing and glyphosate-resistant B. napus seed was broadcast at densities of 0, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, and 640 seeds·m−2 at the time of soybean planting. Development of soybean and volunteer B. napus were determined throughout the growing season and seed yield of both species was determined at their respective physiological maturity. Volunteer B. napus is highly competitive with soybean, as action (<9 plants·m−2) and economic (<5 plants·m−2) thresholds were low. At these action thresholds, volunteer B. napus seed return to the weed seedbank was on average 14 400 seeds·m−2 and 10 400 seeds·m−2 in narrow- and wide-row soybean, respectively.
Black hole shadows in M-theory scenarios
Authors: Belhaj A. , Benali M. , El Balali A. , El Hadri W. , El Moumni H. , Torrente-Lujan E.
Published: February 2021

We study the shadows of four-dimensional black holes in M-theory inspired models. We first inspect the influence of M2-branes on such optical aspects for nonrotating solutions. In particular, we show that the M2-brane number can control the circular shadow size. This geometrical behavior is distorted for rotating solutions exhibiting cardioid shapes in certain moduli space regions. Implementing a rotation parameter, we analyze the geometrical shadow deformations. Among others, we recover the circular behaviors for a large M2-brane number. Investigating the energy emission rate at high energies, we find, in a well-defined approximation, that the associated peak decreases with the M2-brane number. Moreover, we investigate a possible connection with observations (from Event Horizon Telescope or future devices) from a particular M-theory compactification by deriving certain constraints on the M[Formula: see text]-brane number in the light of the [Formula: see text] observational parameters.
The Durability of China’s Lawmaking Process under Xi Jinping: A Tale of Two Foreign Investment Laws
Authors: LI XIAOJUN
Published: February 2021

On March 15, 2019, the National People’s Congress passed a long-anticipated Foreign Investment Law (FIL) after a short deliberation period of only three months. This expedited legislative process seems unusual, considering that the original draft of the FIL proposed by the Ministry of Commerce in January 2015 was tabled indefinitely after a brief period of public consultation. How can we explain this stark difference? Comparing the legislative processes and contents of the two laws, this paper shows that, as with many previous laws, bureaucratic politics likely contributed to an impasse in the 2015 draft, whereas external shocks—in this case, the escalating trade war between China and the United States—helped accelerate the deliberation process and the passage of the new FIL. These two cases demonstrate the durability of lawmaking institutions and procedures under Xi Jinping despite the recentralization of power in the executive after changes to the constitution.
The multi-directional reach test in children with Down syndrome
Authors: Promsorn Sawika , Taweetanalarp Soontharee
Published: February 2021

Objective: This study investigated the limits of stability (LOS) and the movement patterns during reaching by applying the Multi-Directional Reach Test (MDRT) in children with Down syndrome (DS) aged 7–12 years old.

Methods: Thirty children with DS and 30 age and gender typical development (TD) matched children, aged 7–12 years old were recruited. Each child was asked to reach as far as possible during standing in four directions using a self-selected movement pattern. The movement patterns were classified by two experienced pediatric physical therapists.

Results: The reach distance in children with DS aged 7–9 years old was significantly shorter than TD children aged 7–9 years old for the forward and backward directions. Also, the reach distance in DS children aged 7–9 years old was significantly smaller than that of TD children aged 10–12 years old for all directions. For children with DS aged 10–12 years old, the reach distance was significantly less than that of TD children only in the backward direction. All children with DS in this study adopt a hip and mixed strategy during forward and backward reaching. In contrast, TD children adopt an adult-like movement pattern.

Conclusion: The boundary of stability in an anteroposterior (AP) direction of children with DS aged 7–12 years old was lesser than the matched TD children, especially for the backward direction. These findings may assist therapists in detecting postural control and balance problems in children with DS.
A Hybrid Approach to Formal Verification of Higher-Order Masked Arithmetic Programs
Authors: Gao Pengfei , Xie Hongyi , Song Fu , Chen Taolue
Published: February 2021

Side-channel attacks, which are capable of breaking secrecy via side-channel information, pose a growing threat to the implementation of cryptographic algorithms. Masking is an effective countermeasure against side-channel attacks by removing the statistical dependence between secrecy and power consumption via randomization. However, designing efficient and effective masked implementations turns out to be an error-prone task. Current techniques for verifying whether masked programs are secure are limited in their applicability and accuracy, especially when they are applied. To bridge this gap, in this article, we first propose a sound type system, equipped with an efficient type inference algorithm, for verifying masked arithmetic programs against higher-order attacks. We then give novel model-counting-based and pattern-matching-based methods that are able to precisely determine whether the potential leaky observable sets detected by the type system are genuine or simply spurious. We evaluate our approach on various implementations of arithmetic cryptographic programs. The experiments confirm that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art baselines in terms of applicability, accuracy, and efficiency.
Are Multi-Language Design Smells Fault-Prone? An Empirical Study
Authors: Abidi Mouna , Rahman Md Saidur , Openja Moses , Khomh Foutse
Published: February 2021

Nowadays, modern applications are developed using components written in different programming languages and technologies. The cost benefits of reuse and the advantages of each programming language are two main incentives behind the proliferation of such systems. However, as the number of languages increases, so do the challenges related to the development and maintenance of these systems. In such situations, developers may introduce design smells (i.e., anti-patterns and code smells) which are symptoms of poor design and implementation choices. Design smells are defined as poor design and coding choices that can negatively impact the quality of a software program despite satisfying functional requirements. Studies on mono-language systems suggest that the presence of design smells may indicate a higher risk of future bugs and affects code comprehension, thus making systems harder to maintain. However, the impact of multi-language design smells on software quality such as fault-proneness is yet to be investigated.

In this article, we present an approach to detect multi-language design smells in the context of JNI systems. We then investigate the prevalence of those design smells and their impacts on fault-proneness. Specifically, we detect 15 design smells in 98 releases of 9 open-source JNI projects. Our results show that the design smells are prevalent in the selected projects and persist throughout the releases of the systems. We observe that, in the analyzed systems, 33.95% of the files involving communications between Java and C/C++ contain occurrences of multi-language design smells. Some kinds of smells are more prevalent than others, e.g.,
Unused Parameters
,
Too Much Scattering
, and
Unused Method Declaration
. Our results suggest that files with multi-language design smells can often be more associated with bugs than files without these smells, and that specific smells are more correlated to fault-proneness than others. From analyzing fault-inducing commit messages, we also extracted activities that are more likely to introduce bugs in smelly files. We believe that our findings are important for practitioners as it can help them prioritize design smells during the maintenance of multi-language systems.
Exosomal microRNAs in the development of essential hypertension and its potential as biomarkers
Authors: Tan Paulina Pei Suu , Hall Deborah , Chilian William M. , Chia Yook Chin , Mohd Zain Shamsul , Lim Hooi Min , Kumar Devaraj Navin , Ching Siew Mooi , Low Teck Yew , Md Noh Mohd Fairulnizal , Pung Yuh-Fen
Published: February 2021

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small regulatory molecules that are involved in posttranscriptional modifications. These noncoding RNAs are usually ferried by extracellular carriers such as exosomes or other protein and lipid carriers inside a range of body fluids including plasma and urine. Due to their ability to withstand harsh external conditions, exosomal miRNAs possess enormous potential as noninvasive disease biomarkers for, notably hypertension, whereby exosomal miRNAs have been implicated in its pathophysiological processes. More importantly, alterations in the microenvironment as a result of disease progression can induce active and selective loading of miRNAs into exosomes. In this paper, we first review the mechanisms of miRNA loading into exosomes, followed by the roles of exosomal miRNAs in the development of hypertension, and the potentials of exosomal miRNAs as biomarkers in comparison with other free circulating miRNAs. Finally, challenges and future research surrounding exosomal miRNAs will also be discussed. This review will aid in the understanding of noninvasive biomarkers for the early diagnosis of hypertension and for probing therapeutic efficacy.
Impact of Media-Induced Fear on the Control of COVID-19 Outbreak: A Mathematical Study
Authors: Maji Chandan
Published: February 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has put the world in threat for a long time. It was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and has been declared a pandemic by the WHO. This disease is mainly caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). So far, no vaccine or medicine has been developed for the proper treatment of this disease, so people are afraid of getting infected. The pandemic has placed many nations at the door of socioeconomic emergencies. Therefore, it is very important to predict the development trend of this epidemic, and we know mathematical modelling is a basic tool to research the dynamic behaviour of disease and predict the spreading trend of the disease. In this study, we have formulated a mathematical model for the COVID-19 outbreak by introducing a quarantine class with media-induced fear in the disease transmission rate to analyze the dynamic behaviour of this epidemic. We have calculated the basic reproduction number R0, and we observed that when R0 < 1, disease-free equilibrium is globally stable whereas if R0> 1, then the system is permanent and there exists a unique endemic equilibrium point. Global stability of the endemic equilibrium point is developed by using Li and Muldowney’s high-dimensional Bendixson criterion. Finally, some numerical simulations are performed using MATLAB to verify our analytical results.
(
∈
,
∈
∨

q
˘

)-Bipolar Fuzzy
b
-Ideals of BCK/BCI-Algebras
Authors: Mursaleen M. , Balamurugan M. , Loganathan K. , Nisar Kottakkaran Sooppy
Published: February 2021

In this paper, the idea of

∈
,
∈
∨

q
˘

-bipolar fuzzy

b

-ideals and an

∈
,
∈
∨

q
˘

-bipolar fuzzy ideals of

BCK
/
BCI

-algebras is delivered, and their related properties are investigated with the aid of some examples. We also provide the connection between

∈
,
∈
∨

q
˘

-bipolar fuzzy ideals and bipolar fuzzy ideals and

∈
,
∈
∨

q
˘

-bipolar fuzzy

b

-ideals and bipolar fuzzy

b

-ideals by way of counterexamples.
Proposing a Density‐Based Clustering Approach (DBCA) to Aggregate Data Collected from the Environment in Arid Area for Desertification
Authors: Peng Zhihao , Daraei Raziyeh , Ahmadpanahi Seyed Mojtaba , Danesh Amir Seyed , Siadat Safieh , Pirozmand Poria , Oskouei Rozita Jamili
Published: February 2021

Nowadays, the expansion of desert areas has become one of the main problems in arid areas due to various reasons such as rising temperatures and vegetation fires. Establishment of wireless sensor networks in these areas can accelerate the process of environmental monitoring and integrate temperature and humidity information sending to base stations in order to make basic decisions on desertification. The main problem in this regard is the energy limitation of sensor nodes in wireless sensor networks, which is one of the main challenges in using these nodes due to the lack of a fixed power supply. Because the node consumes the most energy during data transmission, the node that transmits the most data or sends the packets over long distances runs out of energy faster than the others and the network work process is disrupted. Therefore, in this study, a density‐based clustering approach is proposed to integrate data collected from the environment in arid areas for desertification. In the proposed method at each step, the node that has the most residual energy and is highly centralized will be selected to transfer information. The results of experiments for evaluating the performance of the proposed method show that the proposed method balances the energy consumption of the nodes and optimizes the lifespan of the nodes in the wireless sensor network installed in the arid area.