bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ruth Behar and Deborah A. Gordon, eds., Women Writing Culture, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995
Authors: Barrientos Bahamonde Melchor Enrique , Betancur Vargas Cristopher Alejandro
Published: March 2021

Se presenta una interpretación en español de la introducción del libro Women Writing Culture. En este capítulo introductorio titulado en su versión original “Out of exile”, Ruth Behar, su autora, contextualiza a través de relatos y vivencias la constante lucha de las antropólogas para ser reconocidas en el ámbito académico, en el cual han sido muchas veces invisibilizadas por sus pares masculinos. Bajo este contexto nace “Women Writing Culture”, como una respuesta a la inexistente participación de mujeres antropólogas en el proyecto “Writing Culture” (escrito por hombres antropólogos). Women Writing Culture incorpora el punto de vista de aquellas que han sido marginadas, y que han debido mantenerse a la sombra de los hombres a lo largo del devenir histórico. En la introducción se presentan atisbos de cómo a lo largo del texto — mediante la experimentación de diferentes formas de escritura— se busca demostrar la capacidad de las mujeres para generar escritura antropológica, liberándolas del escrutinio constante de sus colegas y mentores masculinos, quienes las han considerado más bien el lado “blando” de la disciplina, incapaces de realizar un trabajo feminista y al mismo tiempo innovador.
El bienestar en el Estado neoliberal: escenarios de la propiedad en el Gran Santiago
Authors: Alvarado Peterson Voltaire
Published: March 2021

El tamaño del Estado dentro de un modelo neoliberal de desarrollo económico representa un motivo de discusión constante. Las evidencias respecto a la estructura subsidiaria residencial vigente en Chile para el acceso a la vivienda social indican una fuerte presencia de lo público en distintas dimensiones, siendo la transformación de los espacios metropolitanos una de las claves dentro del proceso territorial contemporáneo. El presente trabajo propone describir determinados impactos espaciales de ciertas políticas subsidiarias en el Gran Santiago, la construcción de una idea de bienestar neoliberal y la trayectoria de las políticas habitacionales desde 2000 en adelante. Se propone una discusión teórica con elaboraciones orientadas a describir las formas del bienestar neoliberal, considerando como vértice a la propiedad en tanto máxima conquista patrimonial de las clases medias trabajadoras y las denominadas como vulnerables. Para las conclusiones se trazan líneas de investigación futuras y desafíos para una Geografía de la propiedad en Chile.
Mujeres en el trabajo: persistencia de los condicionantes de género en el ámbito laboral
Authors: Flego Lucila , Ortega Julian
Published: March 2021

En el contexto actual de la creciente visibilización de las manifestaciones y reclamos de los movimientos feministas en Argentina, este artículo se propone indagar sobre la desigualdad de género hacia las mujeres en el ámbito laboral. Desde un enfoque cualitativo se analizaron las percepciones de las entrevistadas respecto de los siguientes condicionantes en sus trabajos: brecha salarial, segmentación horizontal y vertical, distribución del trabajo doméstico y otras formas de discriminación de género. Los resultados muestran la presencia de todos los condicionantes estudiados. Además, si bien las entrevistadas se mostraron familiarizadas y a favor de ciertas demandas del feminismo ello no redundó en una interpelación subjetiva que posibilite una apropiación de dichos reclamos ante las inequidades vivenciadas y relatadas por ellas mismas en sus espacios de trabajo, en comparación con sus colegas y superiores varones.
Representaciones sociales de pobreza: miradas de los apoyos familiares del programa familias de la provincia del Biobío, VIII región Chile
Authors: López Rubilar Deiset , Chamblás García Isis
Published: March 2021

El propósito del estudio fue conocer las representaciones sociales de pobreza y/o personas en situación de pobreza en profesionales que se desempeñan como Apoyos familiares del Programa Familias. Se trata de un estudio cuantitativo, complementado con aspectos cualitativos, con alcance descriptivo. Se aplicó una encuesta a 41 apoyos familiares de 13 de las 14 comunas de la provincia del Biobío. Los resultados y conclusiones dan cuenta que prevalecen representaciones sociales de pobreza asociadas a una concepción de pobreza absoluta, descrita como de “carencias” y “necesidades” y en menor medida, con expresiones como “falta de oportunidades” y “exclusión social”. No se observa suficiente diferencia en los significados asignados a pobreza y a pobreza extrema; en ambos casos las representaciones refieren a “personas pobres” más que a la “situación de pobreza”. Destaca la mirada positiva respecto de la factibilidad de “superación de la pobreza” y reconocimiento de capacidades en las personas con las cuales intervienen para superar la situación de pobreza.
Arqueología en el valle inferior-medio del río Chubut. Resultados de los trabajos exploratorios en la localidad Las Chapas, dto. Alsina
Authors: Schuster Verónica , Massaferro Gabriela Isabel
Published: March 2021

Desde el año 2014 se vienen desarrollando tareas de relevamiento y prospecciones arqueológicas en un área que carecía de investigaciones sistemáticas previas sobre ambas márgenes del río Chubut en el paraje denominado Las Chapas. Estas tareas han permitido registrar hasta el momento ocho sitios, la mayoría de ellos se encuentran emplazados en aleros y cuevas labradas en la Formación Marifil y, presentan arte rupestre (generalmente pinturas monocromas rojas con motivos geométricos). No obstante, se identificaron también materiales de manera aislada, un sitio de superficie -todos ellos con presencia exclusivamente lítica- y un enterratorio del tipo chenque.El conjunto lítico estudiado a la fecha proviene de recolecciones de superficie y de sondeos y se caracteriza por un alto predominio de materias primas silíceas locales de buena calidad, y en menor frecuencia, por materiales alóctonos como cuarcita y obsidiana. Se aprecia además una baja cantidad de instrumentos terminados (principalmente raspadores) mientras que son preponderantes los productos de talla y los núcleos agotados.
A REVIEW ON POTENTIAL BIOACTIVE CHEMICAL FROM RAUWOLFIA SERPENTINA: RESERPINE
Authors: Srivastava Mukul , Kesharwani Shikha , Kesharwani Roohi , Patel Dilip K , Singh S N
Published: March 2021

The drug Rauwolfia serpentina is known to Indian system of medicine since last many centuries. Because of snake like shape of drug, it has been known as sarpgandha. Although Rauwolfia serpentina contain more than 50 alkaloids but Reserpine is the principal alkaloid of Rauwolfia serpentina. Reserpine has a success application in antihypertensive even at a smaller dose. Rhizomes of Rauwolfia serpentine also have hepatoprotective activity including antihypertensive, hepatoprotective, Rauwolfia serpentina have many other medicinal uses like: Antidiahoerreal, antipsychotic, sedative, anticancer (in breast) etc. Although Rauwolfia serpentina contains major four Indole alkaloids but main object of this context is to provide knowledge about the main active alkaloid Reserpine, having more concentration in the root of plant, play a major role in antihypertensive activity of Rauwolfia serpentina. A much lesser dose of Reserpine is required to provide an antihypertensive effect otherwise it can cause some serious adverse effect like- lethargy, sedation, psychiatric depression, hypotension, nausea, bradycardia, bronchospasm and withdrawal psychosis. Because of its potent activity Reserpine is still used as antihypertensive and sedative agent.
EFFECT OF STHIRADI NIRUHA BASTI IN MYOPIA (PRATHAMA PATALAGATA TIMIRA): A CASE STUDY
Authors: Gahalawat Manpreet , Kumar Pankaj
Published: March 2021

Refractive error is very common eye disorder. It affects day today activities of people unless taken care properly. Uncorrected refractive errors are most frequently encountered cause for visual impairment. Myopia referred to as short sightedness, is most common eye diseases worldwide. Myopia is state of refraction in which parallel rays of light are brought to focus in front of retina of a resting eye. It is highly prevalent in our society, affecting at least 25% of adult population in US and is even more common in Asian countries affecting up to 84% of adolescents. In India Myopia prevalence ranging from 6.9% to 19.7%. One recent study suggested that students exposed to extensive study work are at higher risk of developing Myopia. A 24 years old female patient from Agroha Haryana visited our OPD on 13/09/2019. She was complaining of weak eyesight from 7 years. Patient has a history of kidney stone due to which she has suffered of vomiting for continuous 7 days, 7 years ago. Due to this gradually she developed weak eye sight. Before 5 years patient also suffered from typhoid and after that she lost her weight and became underweight on basis of all finding’s patient was diagnosed as Prathama Patalagata Timira along with Karshayahara. Sthiradi Niruha Basti was given as main treatment procedure along with Tarpana. Given treatment pacifies vata along with pitta dosha because of their Guna and Karma. Hence Sthiradi Niruha Basti could be a good line of treatment with other suitable procedures in Pratham Patalagata Timira or Myopia.
AYURVEDIC MANAGEMENT OF BELL’S PALSY IN CHILDREN: A CLINICAL CASE STUDY
Authors: Injamuri Radhika , Mudadla Suryanarayana
Published: March 2021

Bell’s palsy is the most common, acute unilateral lower motor neuron nerve palsy and is characterized by sudden onset of weakness in the facial muscles to one side of the face controlled by the facial nerve due to uncertain post infective autoimmune disease. Incidence is approximately 40-75% and the cause is obscure. The therapeutic approach in children often involves a multidisciplinary team comprehending pediatrician, neurologist and physiotherapists. A 4 years old male child with chief complaints of deviation of mouth to left side for one day while attempt to speak and smile and partially opened right eye while sleeping since few hours associated with excessive lacrimation of right eye without any cause. Then the case has been diagnosed as Bell’s palsy based on clinical examination and internal medication along with Nasya procedure is administered there by child improved with this experience same treatment is being practiced in few more cases. In Ayurveda present condition can be compared with Ardita vata under one of Ashta mahagada i.e. under Vata vyadhi. Ardita vata is the broad term which includes all the kinds of facial palsies including Bell’s palsy. There is no exclusive treatment for Bell’s palsy but treatment mentioned for Ardita vata can be adopted like abhyanga, pata sweda and Nasya along with few internal medicines and considering these concepts treatment protocol has been made and executing in hospital of SJG Ayurvedic medical college and getting satisfactory treatment out come within 1-2 weeks without steroidal, antiviral and physiotherapy.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS A CAREER IN TOURISM INDUSTRY: THE CASE OF INDONESIA
Authors: Rosyidi Muhammad Iqbal
Published: March 2021

As a world-class tourism destination, Indonesia is facing challenges in providing competent tourism human capital. Currently, the majority of tourism labor in Indonesia are low levels of education and only a few of them are graduated from higher education. Empirically, numerous studies suggest that many graduates from various tourism schools in several countries preferred to not opt for the tourism careers. This study aims to discover and analyze the perceptions and attitudes of final year students majoring in tourism and hospitality in Indonesia to pursue a career in the tourism industry. Using online distributed questionnaire through snowball sampling method, this study obtained 422 completed responses of tourism and hospitality undergraduates from Jakarta, Bandung, Lombok, Makassar, Palembang, Bali, Yogyakarta, Surakarta, and Batam. The collected data then analyzed by Importance Performance Analysis and cross-tabulation analysis. This study found that the career advancement and salaries were two factors in the industry considered as important factors but got a bad perception.  However, the nature of work of tourism industry which offering enjoyable and fun environment are considered important and earned positive perception. This study also presents some impli­cations, mainly for the tourism industry in Indonesia.
Estudo e Monitoramento Tecnológico de Dessalinização via Destilação por Recompressão Mecânica de Vapor
Authors: Segundo Valdirio Alexandre Gadelha , Cavalcanti Mônica Tejo , Silva José Nilton
Published: March 2021

Este artigo aborda um estudo de monitoramento tecnológico de purificação de águas via destilação por recompressão de vapor, a partir da busca de patentes como fontes de informações. Para levantamento das informações, utilizou-se a plataforma Questel Orbit®, aplicando como critério de busca as palavras-chaves “Dessalinização”, “Vapor”, “Recompressão” e “Mecânica”, combinando operadores booleanos e de truncamentos. Foram realizadas análises “macro”, “meso” e “micro”, com o objetivo de identificar as principais características tecnológicas relacionadas à dessalinização por recompressão de vapor. As aplicações da destilação por recompressão de vapor são amplas e estão em constante desenvolvimento, principalmente nas áreas de recompressão mecânica de vapor e recompressão térmica de vapor. A principal matéria-prima utilizada para a produção foi a água do mar, também denominada de salmoura.
LIVROS, LEITURA E CIDADANIA: CARTOGRAFIA CULTURAL DE UMA CIDADE
Authors: Souza Elisabete Gonçalves de , Blanco Letícia de Souza , Brasil Gessylene Adriely Lemos
Published: March 2021

Este trabalho discute a relação espaço, leitura, informação e cidadania na cidade de Niterói, RJ. Relaciona acesso à informação e à leitura com as questões espaciais, mais especificamente com os níveis de renda da população, sendo as características socioeconômicas de cada região um fator determinante no mapeamento de bens culturais, públicos e privados, como as bibliotecas, livrarias e editoras respectivamente. Tem como referencial teórico-metodológico os estudos da cartografia cultural, cujo objetivo é representar o espaço tanto em seu aspecto físico como social. O levantamento dos dados empíricos foi feito em fontes primárias e secundárias, como Censos Demográficos, Guias e Atlas. Por meio do aplicativo Google maps fez-se o mapeamento das editoras, livrarias e bibliotecas do município de modo a verificar como estes equipamentos culturais estão distribuídos pelas cinco regiões da cidade. Conclui que o acesso ao livro e a leitura em Niterói ocorre de forma desigual havendo regiões com maior concentração de livrarias e bibliotecas e outras desprovidas desses equipamentos, e que essa desigualdade relaciona-se com a questão socioeconômica, fazendo com que as famílias com renda entre três e cinco salários mínimos mensais tenham que buscar outros mecanismos para ter acesso à informação e à leitura, como as locadoras de livros.
Weight Calculation of Risk Factors of Aircraft Hangar Fire Suppression System using AHP
Authors: Lee Jong Guk , Kim Hak Joong
Published: March 2021

Aircraft hangars are used to store and maintain aircraft. Although the frequency of fires in such hangars is low, the physical damage caused by a fire can be extremely large, and thus it is important to verify the reliability of an automatic fire suppression system. For intensive fire management, it is necessary to identify the risk factors of an automatic fire suppression system and calculate the weights for each factor. In this study, through a hierarchical analysis, fire risk factors of an automatic fire suppression system used in aircraft hangars were identified and the weights for each risk factor were calculated. As the analysis results indicate, the risk of failing in the initial fire suppression factor of foamhead fire suppression system was the highest among the 26 items considered and the calculated weight can be used as basic data necessary for a future quantitative fire risk assessment of an aircraft hangar fire suppression system.
Analysis of Static Characteristics of Steel Box Girder Bridge being composited High Strength Concrete at the Lower Flange of the Support
Authors: Cha Taegweon , Jang Ilyoung
Published: March 2021

The steel box girder bridge has excellent applicability to curved bridges owing to its large torsional rigidity. In addition, because the weight of the segments is smaller than that of concrete bridges, it also has many applications for medium-range bridges. However, when a bridge with a span greater than 70 m is constructed, the height of the steel box girder increases, which is disadvantageous for the manufacture and transportation of girders and for bridge construction. Therefore, improvements in the construction methods are required to facilitate construction. Therefore, a structural system of a double composite box girder bridge with an upper slab and composite high-strength concrete at the lower flange of the support of continuous span was proposed, and the structural performance was verified by finite element analysis and a static loading test of an actual specimen. It was confirmed that such a structure minimizes the height of the girder of continuous support by optimizing the sectional efficiency and also improves usability.
Association of life‐course depression with the risk of dementia in late life: A nationwide twin study
Authors: Yang Wenzhe , Li Xuerui , Pan Kuan‐Yu , Yang Rongrong , Song Ruixue , Qi Xiuying , Pedersen Nancy L. , Xu Weili
Published: March 2021

Introduction

Whether depression is a prodromal phase or risk factor for dementia is under debate. We aimed to unveil the nature of depression–dementia association by looking into the time window of depression occurrence.

Methods

Dementia‐free twins (n = 41,727) from the Swedish Twin Registry were followed‐up for 18 years. Data were analyzed using generalized estimating equation (GEE) for all individuals and conditional logistic regression for co‐twin matched pairs.

Results

In the GEE model, multi‐adjusted odds ratios (ORs; 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) of dementia were 1.46 (1.09–1.95) for mid‐life, 2.16 (1.82–2.56) for late‐life, 2.24 (1.49–3.36) for mid‐ to late‐life, and 2.65 (1.17–5.98) for lifelong depression. The ORs in conditional logistic regression and in GEE did not differ significantly (P = 0.60). Education ≥8 years attenuated dementia risk associated with mid‐life depression.

Discussion

Not only late‐life depression, but also mid‐life depression is associated with dementia. Genetic and early‐life environmental factors could not account for this association. Education ≥8 years might buffer the impact of mid‐life depression on dementia.
Diverse coordination geometry of cobalt (II), zinc (II), and cadmium (II) complexes comprising N,N‐bis(1H‐pyrazol‐1‐yl)methyl)amines derivatives: Synthesis, structures, and ring opening polymerization of rac‐lactide
Authors: Choe Solhye , Lee Hyosun , Nayab Saira
Published: March 2021

A series of six new complexes of Co (II), Zn (II), and Cd (II) supported by bis(1H‐pyrazol‐1‐yl)methyl)amine derivatives (N,N‐bis((1H‐pyrazol‐1‐yl)methyl)‐1‐phenylethanamine (LA), N,N‐bis((1H‐pyrazol‐1‐yl)methyl)‐1‐(furan‐2‐yl)methanamine (LB), and N,N‐bis((1H‐pyrazol‐1‐yl)methyl)‐4‐isopropylaniline (LC) synthesized. The direct chelation of the ligands (Ln = LA − LC) with ZnCl2, CoCl2.6H2O, and CdBr2·4H2O produced [LnMX2] (Ln = LA − LC; M = Zn, Co; X = Cl; M = Cd, X = Br) and [LCCd(μ‐Br)Br]2 in high yields. Structural studies revealed that [LnZnCl2] (Ln = LA − LC), [LACdBr2], and [LCCoCl2] adopted the distorted tetrahedral geometry, whereas [LACoCl2] and [LCCd(μ‐Br)Br]2 adopted a distorted square pyramidal geometry by coordinating with corresponding ligands in a bidentate fashion. Additionally, [LBCdBr2] possessed a distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry that was obtained by the chelation with corresponding ancillary ligands in the tridentate coordination mode. The dimethyl derivatives of [LnMMe2] (Ln = LA − LC; M = Zn, Co; X = Cl; M = Cd, X = Br), which were generated in situ, were employed to catalyze the ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of rac‐lactide (rac‐LA). Hetero‐enriched polylactides (PLAs) were furnished with all these complexes (Complex [LBZnCl2] produced PLA with superior heterotactic bias (Pr of up to 0.93) at −25°C). PLAs with wide‐ranged polydispersity indices (PDI = 1.43–1.54) were produced in all the cases irrespective of the M (II) center and variations in ancillary ligands.
A case of multiple metastatic sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma with complete response to nivolumab
Authors: Tomioka Masayuki , Nakane Keita , Ozawa Kaori , Iinuma Koji , Suzui Natsuko , Miyazaki Tatsuhiko , Koie Takuya
Published: March 2021

Background

Sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma (SRCC) is associated with poor prognosis. Although there is no standard treatment for SRCC, recent studies have reported the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Case

An 82‐year‐old Japanese man presented to our hospital with an incidental right renal tumor. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) showed an exophytic tumor in the right kidney with suspected right iliopsoas muscle invasion. Laparoscopic right radical nephrectomy was performed. Histopathological diagnosis revealed a clear cell RCC with a spindle cell carcinoma component. CT performed 3 months after surgery revealed multiple bilateral lung metastases and local recurrence. Although the patient received tyrosine‐kinase inhibitors for treating multiple metastases, the lung metastases continued to gradually increase, and peritonitis carcinomatosis was observed. Thus, the patient was intravenously administered nivolumab once every 2 weeks. After nivolumab administration, lung metastases, local recurrence, and peritonitis carcinomatosis gradually reduced. After 20 months of nivolumab treatment, the patient achieved a complete response of multiple metastases on CT.

Conclusion

Nivolumab may be used as a treatment option for sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma with multiple metastases.
One‐pot emulsion templating for simultaneous hydrothermal carbonization and hydrogel synthesis: porous structures, nitrogen contents and activation
Authors: Horowitz Adi , Shaul Gil , Silverstein Michael S
Published: March 2021

Porous carbons are of interest for a wide range of advanced‐technology ‘green’ energy applications including fuel cells, hydrogen storage, supercapacitors and batteries. Functional groups, heteroatoms and a more accessible hierarchical porous structure would be advantageous for many of these applications. This paper describes the generation of carbonaceous monoliths with hierarchically porous structures and nitrogen functionalities by using a one‐pot, simultaneous combination of hydrogel synthesis and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) that involves templating within high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs). A carbon monolith with a density of 0.058 g cm−3, a highly interconnected, bimodal porous structure and an apparent specific surface area (SBET) of 101 m2 g−1 was produced by carbonizing a HTC monolith based on 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) at 450 °C. SBET of 1540 m2 g−1 was produced through subsequent chemical activation with ZnCl2 at 700 °C, but the overall residual mass (Rm) was only 9 wt%. Direct chemical activation of the HTC monolith, on the other hand, generated SBET of 1250 m2 g−1 and an overall Rm of 28 wt%, corresponding to a higher apparent surface area per mass of HTC monolith. Carbon monoliths with N/C ratios of 0.09 and 0.07 were achieved using nitrogen‐rich monomers (acrylamide and vinylimidazole, respectively) as compared to the HEMA‐based carbon monolith with an N/C ratio of 0.03. This work demonstrates that the hierarchically porous structures and the chemical structures of these highly porous monoliths can be fine‐tuned by modifying the HIPE composition and/or the processing conditions. © 2021 Society of Industrial Chemistry.
Prolonged Annealing Improves Hole Transport of Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells
Authors: Huang Shenglei , Liu Wenzhu , Li Xiaodong , Li Zhenfei , Wu Zhuopeng , Huang Wei , Yang Yuhao , Jiang Kai , Shi Jianhua , Zhang Liping , Meng Fanying , Liu Zhengxin
Published: March 2021

The Schottky barrier is a fundamental issue when an n‐type transparent conductive oxide (TCO) is contacted with p‐type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (p‐a‐Si:H) in silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. Herein, it is found that the hydrogen (H) atoms in p‐a‐Si:H diffuse into tungsten‐doped indium oxide (IWO) during annealing, which improves the electric properties of both the IWO films and the p‐a‐Si:H/IWO interface. H diffusion reduces the surface work function of p‐a‐Si:H, and thus reduces the Schottky barrier between the p‐a‐Si:H and the IWO. Consequently, it improves the hole transport of SHJ solar cells; i.e., both the fill factor (FF) and power conversion efficiency (PCE) substantially increase. These findings provide a new strategy to optimize the FF of SHJ solar cells.
How to choose a time zero for patients in external control arms
Authors: Backenroth Daniel
Published: March 2021

When a sponsor carries out a single‐arm trial of a novel oncology compound, it may wish to assess the efficacy of the compound via comparison of overall survival to an external control arm, constructed using patients included in some retrospective registry. If efficacy of the novel compound is compared to efficacy of physician's choice of chemotherapy, patients in the retrospective registry might qualify for inclusion in the external control arm at multiple different points in time, when they receive different chemotherapy treatments. For example, a patient might qualify at the start of their second, third and fourth lines of therapy. From the start of which line of therapy should this patient's survival be compared to survival of participants in the single‐arm trial? Some sponsors have elected to include patients in the external control arm from the last available line of therapy in the retrospective database. Another possibility is to randomly select a line of therapy for each external control arm patient from among those available. In this paper, we show, via probabilistic arguments and also via simulation based on real data, that both of these methods give rise to a bias in favor of the single‐arm trial. We further show that this bias can be avoided by instead including external control arm patients multiple times in the external control arm, once for each time they receive qualifying treatment.
Effects of physicochemical factors on PAH degradation by Planomicrobium alkanoclasticum
Authors: Al‐Dossary Mustafa A. , Abood Shaymaa A. , Al‐Saad Hamid T.
Published: March 2021

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental pollutants that are mutagenic, carcinogenic, and toxic to living organisms. Here, the ability and effectiveness of selected bacteria isolated from an oil‐contaminated area in biodegrading PAHs were evaluated, and the optimal conditions conducive to bacterial PAH biodegradation were determined. Of six bacterial isolates identified based on their 16S rRNA sequences, Planomicrobium alkanoclasticum could subsist on and consume nearly all hydrocarbons according to the 2,6‐dichlorophenolindophenol assay. The efficacy of this isolate at PAH biodegradation was then empirically confirmed. After 30 days of incubation, P. alkanoclasticum degraded 90.8% of the 16 PAH compounds analyzed and fully degraded eight of them. The optimum P. alkanoclasticum growth conditions were 35°C, pH 7.5, and NaNO3 as the nitrogen source. Under these biostimulant conditions, P. alkanoclasticum degraded 91.4% of the total PAH concentration and completely decomposed seven PAHs after 15 days incubation. Hence, P. alkanoclasticum is an apt candidate for the biodegradation of PAHs and the bioremediation of sites contaminated by them.
Confining Pyrrhotite Fe7S8 in Carbon Nanotubes Covalently Bonded onto 3D Few‐Layer Graphene Boosts Potassium‐Ion Storage and Full‐Cell Applications
Authors: Han Kun , An Fuqiang , Wan Qi , Xing Lidong , Wang Lei , Liu Qiang , Wang Wei (Alex) , Liu Yongchang , Li Ping , Qu Xuanhui
Published: March 2021

The pyrrhotite Fe7S8 with mixed Fe‐valence possesses high theoretical capacity, high conductivity, low discharge/charge voltage plateaus, and superior redox reversibility but suffers from structural degradation upon (de)potassiation process due to severe volume variations. Herein, to conquer this issue, a novel hierarchical architecture of confining nano‐Fe7S8 in carbon nanotubes covalently bonded onto 3D few‐layer graphene (Fe7S8@CNT@3DFG) is designed for potassium storage. Notably, CNTs could successfully grow on the surface of 3DFG via a tip‐growth model under the catalytic effect of Fe3C. Such structure enables the hierarchical confinement of 0D nano‐Fe7S8 to 1D CNTs and further 1D CNTs to 3DFG, effectively buffering the volume variations, prohibiting the agglomeration of Fe7S8 nanograins, and boosting the ionic/electronic transportation through the stable and conductive CNTs‐grafted 3DFG framework. The as‐prepared Fe7S8@CNT@3DFG electrode delivers an exceptional rate capability (502 mAh g−1 at 50 mA g−1 with 277 mAh g−1 at 1000 mA g−1) and an excellent long‐term cyclic stability up to 1300 cycles. Besides, the in‐situ XRD and ex‐situ XPS/HRTEM results first elucidate the highly reversible potassium‐storage mechanism of Fe7S8. Furthermore, the designed potassium full‐cell employing Fe7S8@CNT@3DFG anode and potassium Prussian blue (KPB) cathode delivers a promising energy density of ≈120 Wh kg−1, demonstrating great application prospects.
Approaches to Cyclophane‐Types of Cyclopeptide Alkaloids
Authors: Wang Yuanhao , Joullié Madeleine M.
Published: March 2021

The cyclopeptide alkaloids are cyclic depsipeptides incorporating cyclophanes with polyamide units 13‐, 14‐ and 15‐membered macrocyclic systems. Although various pharmacological activities have been ascribed to cyclopeptide alkaloids from plants of the Rhamnacea family, these studies have been hampered by their low availability due to the lack of reasonable amounts distributed in nature. Therefore, novel and efficient synthetic approaches should be an important aim, which inspired us to examine how to diversely construct the unique structures of this type of natural products. In this account, several typical strategies are presented in terms of efficient, stereocontrolled and regioselective synthesis of cyclopeptide alkaloids.
An implicit–explicit time discretization scheme for second-order semilinear wave equations with application to dynamic boundary conditions
Authors: Hochbruck Marlis , Leibold Jan
Published: March 2021

We construct and analyze a second-order implicit–explicit (IMEX) scheme for the time integration of semilinear second-order wave equations. The scheme treats the stiff linear part of the problem implicitly and the nonlinear part explicitly. This makes the scheme unconditionally stable and at the same time very efficient, since it only requires the solution of one linear system of equations per time step. For the combination of the IMEX scheme with a general, abstract, nonconforming space discretization we prove a full discretization error bound. We then apply the method to a nonconforming finite element discretization of an acoustic wave equation with a kinetic boundary condition. This yields a fully discrete scheme and a corresponding a-priori error estimate.
Systematic reviews in sentiment analysis: a tertiary study
Authors: Ligthart Alexander , Catal Cagatay , Tekinerdogan Bedir
Published: March 2021

With advanced digitalisation, we can observe a massive increase of user-generated content on the web that provides opinions of people on different subjects. Sentiment analysis is the computational study of analysing people's feelings and opinions for an entity. The field of sentiment analysis has been the topic of extensive research in the past decades. In this paper, we present the results of a tertiary study, which aims to investigate the current state of the research in this field by synthesizing the results of published secondary studies (i.e., systematic literature review and systematic mapping study) on sentiment analysis. This tertiary study follows the guidelines of systematic literature reviews (SLR) and covers only secondary studies. The outcome of this tertiary study provides a comprehensive overview of the key topics and the different approaches for a variety of tasks in sentiment analysis. Different features, algorithms, and datasets used in sentiment analysis models are mapped. Challenges and open problems are identified that can help to identify points that require research efforts in sentiment analysis. In addition to the tertiary study, we also identified recent 112 deep learning-based sentiment analysis papers and categorized them based on the applied deep learning algorithms. According to this analysis, LSTM and CNN algorithms are the most used deep learning algorithms for sentiment analysis.
Conditional particle filters with diffuse initial distributions
Authors: Karppinen Santeri , Vihola Matti
Published: March 2021

Conditional particle filters (CPFs) are powerful smoothing algorithms for general nonlinear/non-Gaussian hidden Markov models. However, CPFs can be inefficient or difficult to apply with diffuse initial distributions, which are common in statistical applications. We propose a simple but generally applicable auxiliary variable method, which can be used together with the CPF in order to perform efficient inference with diffuse initial distributions. The method only requires simulatable Markov transitions that are reversible with respect to the initial distribution, which can be improper. We focus in particular on random walk type transitions which are reversible with respect to a uniform initial distribution (on some domain), and autoregressive kernels for Gaussian initial distributions. We propose to use online adaptations within the methods. In the case of random walk transition, our adaptations use the estimated covariance and acceptance rate adaptation, and we detail their theoretical validity. We tested our methods with a linear Gaussian random walk model, a stochastic volatility model, and a stochastic epidemic compartment model with time-varying transmission rate. The experimental findings demonstrate that our method works reliably with little user specification and can be substantially better mixing than a direct particle Gibbs algorithm that treats initial states as parameters.
Bayesian ODE solvers: the maximum a posteriori estimate
Authors: Tronarp Filip , Särkkä Simo , Hennig Philipp
Published: March 2021

There is a growing interest in probabilistic numerical solutions to ordinary differential equations. In this paper, the maximum a posteriori estimate is studied under the class of $$\nu $$
ν
times differentiable linear time-invariant Gauss–Markov priors, which can be computed with an iterated extended Kalman smoother. The maximum a posteriori estimate corresponds to an optimal interpolant in the reproducing kernel Hilbert space associated with the prior, which in the present case is equivalent to a Sobolev space of smoothness $$\nu +1$$

ν
+
1

. Subject to mild conditions on the vector field, convergence rates of the maximum a posteriori estimate are then obtained via methods from nonlinear analysis and scattered data approximation. These results closely resemble classical convergence results in the sense that a $$\nu $$
ν
times differentiable prior process obtains a global order of $$\nu $$
ν
, which is demonstrated in numerical examples.
Associations Between Endometriosis and Gut Microbiota
Authors: Svensson Agnes , Brunkwall Louise , Roth Bodil , Orho-Melander Marju , Ohlsson Bodil
Published: March 2021

The gut microbiota has been associated with many diseases, including endometriosis. However, very few studies have been conducted on this topic in human. This study aimed to investigate the association between endometriosis and gut microbiota. Women with endometriosis (N=66) were identified at the Department of Gynaecology and each patient was matched with three controls (N=198) from the general population. All participants answered questionnaires about socioeconomic data, medical history, and gastrointestinal symptoms and passed stool samples. Gut bacteria were analyzed using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing, and in total, 58 bacteria were observed at genus level in both patients with endometriosis and controls. Comparisons of the microbiota between patients and controls and within the endometriosis cohort were performed. Both alpha and beta diversities were higher in controls than in patients. With the false discovery rate q<0.05, abundance of 12 bacteria belonging to the classes Bacilli, Bacteroidia, Clostridia, Coriobacteriia, and Gammaproteobacter differed significantly between patients and controls. Differences observed between patients with or without isolated ovarian endometriosis, involvement of the gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal symptoms, or hormonal treatment disappeared after calculation with false discovery rate. These findings indicate that the gut microbiota may be altered in endometriosis patients.
Deep Sleep and Beeps: Sleep Quality Improvement Project in General Surgery Patients
Authors: Allen Robert W. , Burney Charles P. , Davis Amy , Henkin Jessica , Kelly Julia , Judd Brooke G. , Ivatury Srinivas Joga
Published: March 2021

BACKGROUND:

Poor sleep leads to poor health outcomes. Inpatient sleep disturbance has been studied primarily in the ICU. Minimal research exists on sleep in surgical populations.

METHODS:

We recruited patients undergoing elective, inpatient general surgery procedures. Participants wore Fitbit trackers while inpatient to measure total sleep time (CDC recommendation is 7 or more hours per night). At discharge, patients completed the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (RCSQ) to measure inpatient sleep quality. The RCSQ combines 5 domains into a cumulative score (0 to 100); a higher score means better sleep quality. Patients also completed the outpatient Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index preoperatively and postoperatively. The primary end point was percentage of patients with total sleep score ≥ 50. Secondary outcomes included mean RCSQ domain scores, Fitbit total sleep time, and percentage with Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Score indicating poor sleep.

RESULTS:

We included 64 patients (mean ± SD age 55.0 ± 14.1 years). Mean ± SD RCSQ total sleep score was 49 ± 20.5 and 53.1% with total sleep score < 50. Mean ± SD RCSQ domain scores were Awakenings: 40.4 ± 22.8, Sleep Quality: 49.1 ± 27.9, Sleep Latency: 49.2 ± 25.3, Sleep Depth: 50.2 ± 26.5, Returning to Sleep: 55.9 ± 28.1, and Noise Disturbance: 59.1 ± 27.9. On night one, 25 devices (40%) had recorded sleep data due to enough sleep. Mean ± SD total sleep time on night 1 was 4.7 ± 2.8 hours. Mean total sleep time for nights 2, 3, and 4 remained fewer than 7 hours. Percentages for each night that achieved the CDC goal of 7 or more hours were as follows: night one 10.9%, night two 32.8%, night three 35.3%, and night four 27.6%. Per the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, 88.1% of patients were poor sleepers preoperatively and 84.5% were poor sleepers at follow-up (p = 0.6).

CONCLUSIONS:

Elective general surgery patients experience a severe inpatient sleep disturbance, worse than in similarly studied ICU cohorts. This disturbance is driven primarily by nighttime awakenings.
Extending the Atmospheric River Concept to Aerosols: Climate and Air Quality Impacts
Authors: Chakraborty Sudip , Guan Bin , Waliser Duane E. , da Silva Arlindo M. , Uluatam Sophie , Hess Peter
Published: March 2021

Despite strong impacts that aerosols have on climate and air quality, significant gaps remain in our knowledge concerning their long‐range transport, especially extreme transport events. With this consideration in mind and by leveraging the “atmospheric river” concept, this work develops an objective global algorithm for detecting aerosol atmospheric rivers (AARs), shows a climatology of AARs, elucidates their contributions to major global aerosol transport pathways, and illustrates how AARs can drive extreme cases of poor air quality conditions. Our methodology separately accounts for dust, carbonaceous (accounting for organic and black carbon separately where appropriate), sea salt, and sulfate aerosols. Findings show there are a number of long‐range regional transport pathways where AARs account for a sizable fraction (40% to >100%) of the total transport in relatively few events (20–40 AAR days/year). This study highlights the role of AARs in establishing source‐receptor relationships that can drive regional air‐quality and extremes.
Meridional Asymmetry in Recent Decadal Sea‐Level Trends in the Subtropical Pacific Ocean
Authors: Schloesser F. , Thompson P. R. , Piecuch C. G.
Published: March 2021

Recent sea surface height (SSH) trends in the South Pacific are substantially greater than trends in the North Pacific. Here, we use the Estimating the Climate and Circulation of the Ocean Version 4 Release 4 ocean state estimate and the Ocean Reanalysis System 5 to identify the forcing and mechanisms underlying that meridional asymmetry during 2005–2015. Thermosteric contributions dominate the spatial structure in Pacific SSH trends, but contributions from local surface heat fluxes are small. Wind stress trends drive a spin‐up of the South Pacific subtropical gyre and a northward shift of the North Pacific subtropical gyre. A reduced gravity model forced with reanalysis winds qualitatively reproduces the meridional seesaw in sea level, suggesting that asymmetric trends in subtropical wind stress drive a cross‐equatorial heat transport. A reversal in forcing associated with this process could impact near‐term rates of coastal sea‐level change, particularly in Pacific Island communities.
Competition between strains of Borrelia afzelii in the host tissues and consequences for transmission to ticks
Authors: Genné Dolores , Rossel Marika , Sarr Anouk , Battilotti Florian , Rais Olivier , Rego Ryan O M , Voordouw Maarten J
Published: March 2021

Pathogen species often consist of genetically distinct strains, which can establish mixed infections or coinfections in the host. In coinfections, interactions between pathogen strains can have important consequences for their transmission success. We used the tick-borne bacterium Borrelia afzelii, which is the most common cause of Lyme disease in Europe, as a model multi-strain pathogen to investigate the relationship between coinfection, competition between strains, and strain-specific transmission success. Mus musculus mice were infected with one or two strains of B. afzelii, strain transmission success was measured by feeding ticks on mice, and the distribution of each strain in six different mouse organs and the ticks was measured using qPCR. Coinfection and competition reduced the tissue infection prevalence of both strains and changed their bacterial abundance in some tissues. Coinfection and competition also reduced the transmission success of the B. afzelii strains from the infected hosts to feeding ticks. The ability of the B. afzelii strains to establish infection in the host tissues was strongly correlated with their transmission success to the tick vector. Our study demonstrates that coinfection and competition between pathogen strains inside the host tissues can have major consequences for their transmission success.
Anaerobic endosymbiont generates energy for ciliate host by denitrification
Authors: Graf Jon S. , Schorn Sina , Kitzinger Katharina , Ahmerkamp Soeren , Woehle Christian , Huettel Bruno , Schubert Carsten J. , Kuypers Marcel M. M. , Milucka Jana
Published: March 2021

Mitochondria are specialized eukaryotic organelles that have a dedicated function in oxygen respiration and energy production. They evolved about 2 billion years ago from a free-living bacterial ancestor (probably an alphaproteobacterium), in a process known as endosymbiosis1,2. Many unicellular eukaryotes have since adapted to life in anoxic habitats and their mitochondria have undergone further reductive evolution3. As a result, obligate anaerobic eukaryotes with mitochondrial remnants derive their energy mostly from fermentation4. Here we describe ‘Candidatus Azoamicus ciliaticola’, which is an obligate endosymbiont of an anaerobic ciliate and has a dedicated role in respiration and providing energy for its eukaryotic host. ‘Candidatus A. ciliaticola’ contains a highly reduced 0.29-Mb genome that encodes core genes for central information processing, the electron transport chain, a truncated tricarboxylic acid cycle, ATP generation and iron–sulfur cluster biosynthesis. The genome encodes a respiratory denitrification pathway instead of aerobic terminal oxidases, which enables its host to breathe nitrate instead of oxygen. ‘Candidatus A. ciliaticola’ and its ciliate host represent an example of a symbiosis that is based on the transfer of energy in the form of ATP, rather than nutrition. This discovery raises the possibility that eukaryotes with mitochondrial remnants may secondarily acquire energy-providing endosymbionts to complement or replace functions of their mitochondria.
Trends in early initiation of breastfeeding in Bangladesh and a multilevel analysis approach to find its determinants
Authors: Ahmmed Foyez , Manik Muhammad Mahabub Rahaman
Published: March 2021

Early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF) is an essential practice for child health as well as for maternal health. This study aims to determine trends, prevalence, and factors associated with EIBF in Bangladesh. Data for this study were extracted from Bangladesh demographic and health surveys (BDHS) 2004, 2007, 2011, and 2014. This study found an increasing trend in EIBF in Bangladesh irrespective of the different characteristics of mothers and children. Chi-square test was conducted to find the association between EIBF and different factors. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was used to consider the hierarchical structure of the data. Regression result showed that educated parents [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.14, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.04, 1.26 ], exposure to media [AOR = 1.13, CI = 1.05, 1.21], 2nd or 3rd birth order [AOR = 1.13, CI = 1.04, 1.23], wanted child [AOR = 1.12, CI = 1.02, 1.23], antenatal visit [AOR = 1.07, CI = 1.00, 1.15], antenatal visit by medically trained provider [AOR = 1.06, CI = 1.00,1.13] and rich wealth index [AOR = 1.10, CI = 1.01, 1.20] were positively associated with EIBF. In contrast, mothers with caesarian delivery [AOR = 0.36, CI = 0.31, 0.40], delivery in private facility [AOR = 0.83, CI = 0.73, 0.95], multiple birth, and higher maternal age were less likely to EIBF.
Experimental validation of new self-voltage balanced 9L-ANPC inverter for photovoltaic applications
Authors: Sathik M. Jagabar , Almakhles Dhafer J. , Sandeep N. , Siddique Marif Daula
Published: March 2021

Multilevel inverters play an important role in extracting the power from renewable energy resources and delivering the output voltage with high quality to the load. This paper proposes a new single-stage switched capacitor nine-level inverter, which comprises an improved T-type inverter, auxiliary switch, and switched cell unit. The proposed topology effectively reduces the DC-link capacitor voltage and exhibits superior performance over recently switched-capacitor inverter topologies in terms of the number of power components and blocking voltage of the switches. A level-shifted multilevel pulse width modulation scheme with a modified triangular carrier wave is implemented to produce a high-quality stepped output voltage waveform with low switching frequency. The proposed nine-level inverter’s effectiveness, driven by the recommended modulation technique, is experimentally verified under varying load conditions. The power loss and efficiency for the proposed nine-level inverter are thoroughly discussed with different loads.