bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Estimation of the non-linear parameter in Generalised Diversity-Interactions models is unaffected by change in structure of the interaction terms
Authors: Vishwakarma Rishabh , Byrne Laura , Connolly John , de Andrade Moral Rafael , Brophy Caroline
Published: August 2023

Many approaches for modelling the biodiversity and ecosystem function (BEF) relationship have been developed over recent decades. Diversity-Interactions modelling, a regression-based approach, models the BEF relationship by expressing ecosystem functions as a linear combination of species-specific effects, species’ proportions, and species’ interactions. The species interactions in a Diversity-Interactions model can take different forms (e.g., a unique interaction term for each pair of species, or a single interaction term foranypair of species) and may include a non-linear parameter ($$\theta$$θ) as an exponent to the species interactions to capture non-linear relationships, giving rise to Generalized Diversity-Interactions (GDI) modelling. The structure of the interaction terms describes the underlying biological processes in the ecosystem, while the value of$$\theta$$θcan determine the shape of the BEF relationship. When fitting GDI models, it is unclear whether one should choose the interaction structure first and then estimate θ, or vice versa. It is also unknown whether the estimate of$$\theta$$θis robust to changes in the structure of the linear interaction terms of the model. Using a simulation study, we test the robustness of$$\theta$$θand compare multiple model selection approaches to identify an optimal and computationally efficient model selection procedure for GDI models. Results show that the estimate of$$\theta$$θis robust and remains unbiased regardless of changes in the underlying structure of interaction terms, and that the most efficient model selection procedure is to first estimate$$\theta$$θfor one interaction structure and then reuse this estimate for the other interaction structures.
Law, human capital, and the emergence of free city-states in medieval Italy
Authors: Belloc Marianna , Drago Francesco , Galbiati Roberto
Published: August 2023

This paper considers how the foundation of the first universities in Italy affected the emergence of free city-states (the communes) in the period 1000–1300 CE. Exploiting a panel dataset of 121 cities, we show that the time variant distance of the sample cities to their closest university is inversely correlated with the probability of their transition to communal institutions. Our evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that the medieval universities provided the useful juridical knowledge and skills for building legal capacity and developing communal institutions.
Enhancing active model learning with equivalence checking using simulation relations
Authors: Yogananda Jeppu Natasha , Melham Tom , Kroening Daniel
Published: August 2023

We present a new active model-learning approach to generating abstractions of a system from its execution traces. Given a system and a set of observables to collect execution traces, the abstraction produced by the algorithm is guaranteed to admit all system traces over the set of observables. To achieve this, the approach uses a pluggable model-learning component that can generate a model from a given set of traces. Conditions that encode a certain completeness hypothesis, formulated based on simulation relations, are then extracted from the abstraction under construction and used to evaluate its degree of completeness. The extracted conditions are sufficient to prove model completeness but not necessary. If all conditions are true, the algorithm terminates, returning a system overapproximation. A condition falsification may not necessarily correspond to missing system behaviour in the abstraction. This is resolved by applying model checking to determine whether it corresponds to any concrete system trace. If so, the new concrete trace is used to iteratively learn new abstractions, until all extracted completeness conditions are true. To evaluate the approach, we reverse-engineer a set of publicly available Simulink Stateflow models from their C implementations. Our algorithm generates an equivalent model for 98% of the Stateflow models.
The global impact of public and private funding on cultural and economic movie success: evidence from German film funding
Authors: Weber Nicolas R. , Marchand André , Kunz Reinhard E.
Published: August 2023

Entertainment products such as movies are risky investments but contribute to societal welfare through their cultural and economic value. Therefore, movie production receives financial support from both private investors and public institutions, in the form of subsidies. Noting the ongoing debate about the actual impact of such funding, in research and practice, this study reviews a large sample of 1984 movies (co-) produced in Germany and released to cinemas over a 10-year period. The findings demonstrate the positive impact of public funding on movie success: indirectly by attracting private funding, and directly by increasing local and global box office revenues. However, public funding does not directly improve movie quality, which contradicts one of the aims of public funding. The analyses reveal different correlations and interaction effects with regard to financing and quality signals generated by the cast, directors, and producers of movies. Public funding emerges not only as relevant for the economic success of movies but also as a factor that supports their cultural contribution.
Process Evaluation of Food Game: A Gamified School-Based Intervention to Promote Healthier and More Sustainable Dietary Choices
Authors: Aresi Giovanni , Giampaolo Martina , Chiavegatti Benedetta , Marta Elena
Published: August 2023

Food Game is a gamified school-based intervention that aims to promote healthier dietary choices (i.e., adherence to the Mediterranean diet) and more sustainable behaviors among high school students in an urban area in Northern Italy. The program consists of an offline and online competition in which groups of students participate in peer-led activities to design and communicate products promoting health and sustainability. This study aimed to examine how the program works in practice, understand its mechanisms of change and assess any variation in student outcomes. A mixed methods process evaluation was conducted. Students completed a three-wave longitudinal survey and participated in focus groups. Program staff and teachers were also interviewed. Qualitative and quantitative data analyses indicate that Food Game?s gamification strategy was successful in engaging students, who felt stimulated by the game, its embedded competition and the self-organized group work. Although no significant change in adherence to the Mediterranean diet was found, pro-environmental behaviors, attitudes and perceived peer approval on healthy eating increased over time. Findings provide preliminary support for Food Game as an acceptable and engaging intervention though there is yet not sufficient evidence that it is also promotes healthier and more sustainable behaviors. The results contribute to the limited evidence base for offline gamified school-based interventions and offer insight into the applicability of the gamification approach as a key motivational strategy in other prevention settings and contexts. Suggestions on how to strengthen the program include dosage increase and addition of activities to promote change on relevant school and community factors.
Impact of Equity in Social Protection Spending on Income Poverty and Inequality
Authors: Popova Daria
Published: August 2023

This study aims to investigate whether higher equity in government social protection spending strongly predicts positive changes in income poverty and inequality. Our approach was to regress the measures of absolute poverty and inequality on the indicators of equity in social protection spending at the country level, controlling for the level of spending and the country wealth measured by per capita GDP. For that purpose, we have compiled a dataset of 535 observations from 101 countries over years 1998–2017, including 199 observations for 70 low- and middle-income countries from Europe, Asia, North and South America, and Africa. Our findings support the proposition that equity in social spending (measured by the share of social protection spending going to the bottom quintile) is a significant and strong predictor of improved distributional outcomes (poverty measured at Int$1.90 a day and inequality measured by the Gini index). Moreover, in low- and middle-income countries in our sample the poverty and inequality reducing impact of this equity measure is stronger than in the sample including all countries. The presence of a significant gap in equity of social protection spending between the high-income countries and the rest of countries included in the study signifies that there is a large potential in improving equity in social protection spending in low- and middle-income countries. Social protection reforms in these countries should be focused on extending the coverage of social protection programs and improving access to social protection for the poorest segments of the population.
A Two-Step Estimator for Multilevel Latent Class Analysis with Covariates
Authors: Di Mari Roberto , Bakk Zsuzsa , Oser Jennifer , Kuha Jouni
Published: August 2023

We propose a two-step estimator for multilevel latent class analysis (LCA) with covariates. The measurement model for observed items is estimated in its first step, and in the second step covariates are added in the model, keeping the measurement model parameters fixed. We discuss model identification, and derive an Expectation Maximization algorithm for efficient implementation of the estimator. By means of an extensive simulation study we show that (1) this approach performs similarly to existing stepwise estimators for multilevel LCA but with much reduced computing time, and (2) it yields approximately unbiased parameter estimates with a negligible loss of efficiency compared to the one-step estimator. The proposal is illustrated with a cross-national analysis of predictors of citizenship norms.
The Potential Roles of Transacylation in Intracellular Lipolysis and Related Qssa Approximations
Authors: Eliaš Ján , Fellner Klemens , Hofer Peter , Oberer Monika , Schreiber Renate , Zechner Rudolf
Published: August 2023

Fatty acids (FAs) are crucial energy metabolites, signalling molecules, and membrane building blocks for a wide range of organisms. Adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) is the first and presumingly most crucial regulator of FA release from triacylglycerols (TGs) stored within cytosolic lipid droplets. However, besides the function of releasing FAs by hydrolysing TGs into diacylglycerols (DGs), ATGL also promotes the transacylation reaction of two DG molecules into one TG and one monoacylglycerol molecule. To date, it is unknown whether DG transacylation is a coincidental byproduct of ATGL-mediated lipolysis or whether it is physiologically relevant. Experimental evidence is scarce since both, hydrolysis and transacylation, rely on the same active site of ATGL and always occur in parallel in an ensemble of molecules. This paper illustrates the potential roles of transacylation. It shows that, depending on the kinetic parameters but also on the state of the hydrolytic machinery, transacylation can increase or decrease downstream products up to 80% respectively 30%. We provide an extensive asymptotic analysis including quasi-steady-state approximations (QSSA) with higher order correction terms and provide numerical simulation. We also argue that when assessing the validity of QSSAs one should include parameter sensitivity derivatives. Our results suggest that the transacylation function of ATGL is of biological relevance by providing feedback options and altogether stability to the lipolytic machinery in adipocytes.
SWEL: A Domain-Specific Language for Modeling Data-Intensive Workflows
Authors: Salado-Cid Rubén , Vallecillo Antonio , Munir Kamram , Romero José Raúl
Published: August 2023

Data-intensive applications aim at discovering valuable knowledge from large amounts of data coming from real-world sources. Typically, workflow languages are used to specify these applications, and their associated engines enable the execution of the specifications. However, as these applications become commonplace, new challenges arise. Existing workflow languages are normally platform-specific, which severely hinders their interoperability with other languages and execution engines. This also limits their reusability outside the platforms for which they were originally defined. Following the Design Science Research methodology, the paper presents SWEL (Scientific Workflow Execution Language). SWEL is a domain-specific modeling language for the specification of data-intensive workflows that follow the model-driven engineering principles, covering the high-level definition of tasks, information sources, platform requirements, and mappings to the target technologies. SWEL is platform-independent, enables collaboration among data scientists across multiple domains and facilitates interoperability. The evaluation results show that SWEL is suitable enough to represent the concepts and mechanisms of commonly used data-intensive workflows. Moreover, SWEL facilitates the development of related technologies such as editors, tools for exchanging knowledge assets between workflow management systems, and tools for collaborative workflow development.
From ‘the dirtiest to the best water’ in Romania. Public health, sanitary diplomacy and water in Sulina (1890s-1914)
Authors: Ardeleanu Constantin
Published: August 2023

In the late nineteenth century, Sulina, a settlement of about 10,000 inhabitants, was Romania’s busiest port. Located at the mouth of the only navigable branch of the Danube, the town held a strategic position along South-Eastern European transportation corridors, being the gateway of Lower Danubian trade and shipping. But Sulina was also a hydrobiological melting pot of natural and anthropogenic water flows carried by the Danube, the Black Sea’s currents, and the tanks and bilges of the thousands of ships that came to load their cargoes in the local harbour and roadstead. With advances in the science of bacteriology, provisioning Sulina with safe urban water became a Romanian and international public health priority. Investments in the town’s water supply and sanitation are a fascinating, yet little-known episode of sanitary internationalism, in which several actors in Romania and Europe cooperated – institutionally, technologically and financially – in the attempt to bring sanitary civilisation to one of Europe’s most crucial commercial and epidemiological gateways. In line with similar interest for water, disease and urban infrastructure in a peripheral (quasi-colonial) context, this paper will be illustrative for the growing debates in Romania around the quality of water in the context of the larger hygiene movement. The rhetoric of ‘improvement’ and ‘progress’ in providing access to safe drinking water, stemming from the idea that ‘uncleanliness with all its consequences comes mainly from lack of water’, was accompanied by calls for the construction of modern water infrastructure.
Effective lane width analysis for autonomous trucks
Authors: Fahad Mohammad , Nagy Richard
Published: August 2023

Lateral wander of autonomous truck can be further improved by optimizing the uniform wander. Increase in available lane width for the autonomous trucks can increase the performance efficiency of this mode. This research is based on finding the optimum, combination of lane width increment and asphalt layer thickness reduction among different scenarios. Therefore, In this research with assumed maximum lane width of 4.35 m, difference combination of lane width and asphalt layer thickness scenarios have been analyzed using finite element modelling in ABAQUS. Considering the base pavement width of 3.75 m, increment for each scenario is 15 cm and reduction in asphalt layer thickness is at 2 cm. Performance efficiency of each scenario is conducted while considering the initial construction costs and damage assessment for each scenario. Moreover, life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is conducted for the base scenario and selected optimum scenario. Results show that increase in pavement width beyond 4.2 m, renders the scenarios uneconomical and thus, the scenario consisting of 4.2 m lane width and 16 cm asphalt layer thickness yield a maximum performance efficiency of 20% among all other alternatives. LCCA analysis shows that a difference in salvage value of 42 million Euros exists when compared with the base scenario. By selecting the optimum lane width of 4.2 m and asphalt layer thickness of 16 cm, Pavement lifetime can be further increased by 13 years with full depth reclamation used as maintenance intervention.
Digital Health Technologies in Clinical Trials: An Ontology-Driven Analysis to Inform Digital Sustainability Policies
Authors: Hey Spencer Phillips , Dellapina Maria , Lindquist Kristin , Hartog Bert , LaRoche Jason
Published: August 2023

Background

Digital health technologies (DHTs) can facilitate the execution of de-centralized trials that can offer opportunities to reduce the burden on participants, collect outcome data in a real-world setting, and potentially make trial populations more diverse and inclusive. However, DHTs can also be a significant source of electronic waste (e-waste). In recognition of the potential health and environmental impact from DHT use in trials, private and public institutions have recently launched initiatives to help measure and manage this e-waste. But in order to develop sound e-waste management policies, it will be necessary to first estimate the current volume of e-waste that results from the use of DHTs in trials.

Materials and Methods

A Web Ontology Language (OWL)-compliant ontology of DHTs was created using a list of 500 DHT device names derived from a mixture of public and private sources. The U.S. clinical trials registry, ClinicalTrials.gov, was then queried to identify and classify trials using any of the devices in the ontology. The ClinicalTrials.gov records from this search were then analyzed to characterize the volume and properties of trials using DHTs, as well as estimating the total volume of individual DHT units that have been provisioned (or are planned to be provisioned) for clinical research.

Results

Our ontology-driven search identified 2326 unique clinical trials with a reported “actual” enrollment of 200,947 participants and a “planned” enrollment of an additional 4,094,748 participants. The most-used class of DHTs in our ontology was “wearables,” (1852 trials), largely driven by the use of smart watches and other wrist-worn sensors (estimated to involve 149,391 provisioned devices). The most-used subtype of DHTs in trials was “subcutaneous” devices (367 trials), driven by the prevalent use and testing of glucose monitors (estimated to involve 17,666 provisioned devices).

Conclusion

Thousands of trials, involving hundreds of thousands of devices, have already been completed, and many more trials (potentially involving millions more devices) are planned. Despite the great opportunities that are afforded by DHTs to the clinical trial enterprise, if the industry lacks the ability to track DHT use with sufficient resolution, the result is likely to be a great deal of e-waste. A new ontology of DHTs, combined with rigorous data science methods like those described in this paper, can be used to provide better information across the industry, and in turn, help create a more sustainable and equitable clinical trials enterprise.
Leg length discrepancy complications from osteotomy procedures in pediatric developmental dysplasia of the hip: A systematic review
Authors: Muhammad Hilmi , Saraswati Paramita Ayu , Ismiarto Adrian Fakhri , Ismiarto Yoyos Dias
Published: August 2023

Abstract

Background

In pediatric patients with developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH), leg discrepancy may occur from treatment complications or from the treatment itself. Surgeons should be mindful that performing osteotomies with the purpose of providing better pelvic joint fit comes with risks of unequal bone growth. This article aimed to systematically review the reported leg length discrepancy (LLD) as a potential complication from osteotomy procedures in surgical treatment of pediatric patients with DDH.

Methods

This systematic review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and MetaAnalyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The study protocol was registered on the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews. A comprehensive search was performed on PubMed (MEDLINE), Scopus, the Cochrane Library and Europe PubMed Central in March 2022. Studies reporting outcomes of leg length discrepancy after osteotomy was performed were the main inclusion criteria. Quality and risk of bias assessment were performed by individual reviewers.

Results

From existing literatures, a total of eight studies were included in the review. From the data extracted, a total of 94 cases of DDH reported various LLD from 836 published cases with mean incidence of 11.2%. According to the patients’ age when the operation was performed, LLD of 2.20 cm was reported from the youngest patient operated on at 1.6 years old and LLD of 1.50 cm from the oldest patient operated on at 18 years old. The median LLD across the included studies was 1.30 cm. Limitations to this systematic review include study risk of bias, LLD reporting inconsistencies and assumptions when extracting the data which might have caused abnormal data distribution. Since no agreement exists regarding how much discrepancy between limb lengths is considered pathological, reports of cases and management of LLD vary widely. These results underline the importance of creating specific criteria to classify LLD severity and recommend appropriate treatment. WC:298.

Highlights
The Dermatological Effects of Box Jellyfish Envenomation in Stinging Victims in Thailand: Underestimated Severity
Authors: Thaikruea Lakkana
Published: August 2023

Introduction

The dermatological effects of box jellyfish envenomation among stinging victims in Thailand are not well reported, particularly concerning chronic effects. For first aid, different recommendations indicate the necessity for the removal of tentacles in life-threatening situations. This study aimed to describe the dermatological effects of box jellyfish envenomation and propose recommendations regarding first aid for victims in urgent care or life-threatening situations.

Methods

Surveillance systems and Toxic Jellyfish Networks were established to improve detection and investigation. The networks investigated all severe victims of jellyfish envenomation. A retrospective study was conducted, and victims of stinging by box jellyfish investigated from 1999 to 2021 were included.

Results

One hundred and twenty-four victims were recorded. The majority of victims were males (55%), tourists (69%), and Thai nationals (49%). Direct contact had more severe consequences than indirect contact. Dermatological effects included edema, erythematous caterpillar track–like rash, blistering, bullae, papular eruption, necrosis, digital gangrene, recurrent dermatitis, dermal hypersensitivity, numbness, lichenification, hyperpigmentation, keloids, and scarring. Suffering and healing continued from several weeks to many years. Victims with multiple-tentacle box jellyfish stings had papular eruptions and greater severity of skin issues. All fatally envenomed victims collapsed within a few minutes and received incorrect/no first aid. The proposed first aid for life-threatening box jellyfish stings is continuous irrigation of the wound with vinegar for at least 30 s and initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation if there is no respiration or heartbeat. Tentacles often detach spontaneously, and removal is not always necessary, thus saving time.

Conclusions

The findings provide input for improving diagnosis and treatment guidelines.
Palmar Shift of the Proximal Interphalangeal Joint in Different Grip Positions as a Potential Risk Factor for Periphyseal Injuries in Adolescent Climbers
Authors: Bärtschi Natalie , Scheibler Anne-Gita , Schweizer Andreas
Published: August 2023

Introduction

The aim of this study was to evaluate different grip positions as a contributing factor for primary periphyseal stress injuries of the finger phalanges in climbing.

Methods

Ultrasound imaging of the proximal interphalangeal joint was performed on 37 asymptomatic adolescent climbers. Longitudinal images were obtained of middle and ring fingers of both hands in different grip positions (open, half-open, and crimp), unloaded and loaded. The translation between the dorsal head of the proximal phalanx and the shaft of the middle phalanx was measured in an unloaded and loaded situation for all grip positions. The resulting difference was determined as the palmar shift.

Results

The mean age of the study population was 13 y. Results showed a palmar shift of 0.57 mm in a loaded crimp grip position compared to 0.13 mm in an open position and 0.20 mm in a half-open grip position. With a P value of <0.001, this shift was significantly higher in a crimp grip position compared to open or half-open grip positions.

Conclusions

This leads to an increase in joint incongruity and much higher peak forces on the dorsal aspect of the epiphyseal-physeal-metaphyseal complex, which is particularly vulnerable during the adolescent growth spurt. Thus, climbing and training behavior should be adapted accordingly during this phase by avoiding the crimp grip position until epiphyseal fusion.
Vision-based dirt distribution mapping using deep learning
Authors: Singh Ishneet Sukhvinder , Wijegunawardana I. D. , Samarakoon S. M. Bhagya P. , Muthugala M. A. Viraj J. , Elara Mohan Rajesh
Published: August 2023

Cleaning is a fundamental routine task in human life that is now handed over to leading-edge technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence. Various floor-cleaning robots have been developed with different cleaning functionalities, such as vacuuming and scrubbing. However, failures can occur when a robot tries to clean an incompatible dirt type. These situations will not only reduce the efficiency of the robot but also impose severe damage to the robots. Therefore, developing effective methods to classify the cleaning tasks performed in different regions and assign them to the respective cleaning agent has become a trending research domain. This article proposes a vision-based system that employs YOLOv5 and DeepSORT algorithms to detect and classify dirt to create a dirt distribution map that indicates the regions to be assigned for different cleaning requirements. This map would be useful for a collaborative cleaning framework for deploying each cleaning robot to its respective region to achieve an uninterrupted and energy-efficient operation. The proposed method can be executed with any mobile robot and on any surface and dirt, achieving high accuracy of 81.0%, for dirt indication in the dirt distribution map.
Lysophosphatidylglucoside/GPR55 signaling promotes foam cell formation in human M2c macrophages
Authors: Shimai Ryosuke , Hanafusa Kei , Nakayama Hitoshi , Oshima Eriko , Kato Masaki , Kano Koki , Matsuo Ichiro , Miyazaki Tetsuro , Tokano Takashi , Hirabayashi Yoshio , Iwabuchi Kazuhisa , Minamino Tohru
Published: August 2023

Atherosclerosis is a major cause of cerebral and cardiovascular diseases. Intravascular plaques, a well-known pathological finding of atherosclerosis, have a necrotic core composed of macrophages and dead cells. Intraplaque macrophages, which are classified into various subtypes, play key roles in maintenance of normal cellular microenvironment. Excessive uptake of oxidized low-density lipoprotein causes conversion of macrophages to foam cells, and consequent progression/exacerbation of atherosclerosis. G-protein-coupled receptor 55 (GPR55) signaling has been reported to associate with atherosclerosis progression. We demonstrated recently that lysophosphatidylglucoside (lysoPtdGlc) is a specific ligand of GPR55, although in general physiological ligands of GPR55 are poorly understood. Phosphatidylglucoside is expressed on human monocytes and can be converted to lysoPtdGlc. In the present study, we examined possible involvement of lysoPtdGlc/GPR55 signaling in foam cell formation. In monocyte-derived M2c macrophages, lysoPtdGlc/GPR55 signaling inhibited translocation of ATP binding cassette subfamily A member 1 to plasma membrane, and cholesterol efflux. Such inhibitory effect was reversed by GPR55 antagonist ML193. LysoPtdGlc/GPR55 signaling in M2c macrophages was involved in excessive lipid accumulation, thereby promoting foam cell formation. Our findings suggest that lysoPtdGlc/GPR55 signaling is a potential therapeutic target for inhibition of atherosclerosis progression.
An application of stereo matching algorithm based on transfer learning on robots in multiple scenes
Authors: Bi Yuanwei , Li Chuanbiao , Tong Xiangrong , Wang Guohui , Sun Haiwei
Published: August 2023

Robot vision technology based on binocular vision holds tremendous potential for development in various fields, including 3D scene reconstruction, target detection, and autonomous driving. However, current binocular vision methods used in robotics engineering have limitations such as high costs, complex algorithms, and low reliability of the generated disparity map in different scenes. To overcome these challenges, a cross-domain stereo matching algorithm for binocular vision based on transfer learning was proposed in this paper, named Cross-Domain Adaptation and Transfer Learning Network (Ct-Net), which has shown valuable results in multiple robot scenes. First, this paper introduces a General Feature Extractor to extract rich general feature information for domain adaptive stereo matching tasks. Then, a feature adapter is used to adapt the general features to the stereo matching network. Furthermore, a Domain Adaptive Cost Optimization Module is designed to optimize the matching cost. A disparity score prediction module was also embedded to adaptively adjust the search range of disparity and optimize the cost distribution. The overall framework was trained using a phased strategy, and ablation experiments were conducted to verify the effectiveness of the training strategy. Compared with the prototype PSMNet, on KITTI 2015 benchmark, the 3PE-fg of Ct-Net in all regions and non-occluded regions decreased by 19.3 and 21.1% respectively, meanwhile, on the Middlebury dataset, the proposed algorithm improves the sample error rate at least 28.4%, which is the Staircase sample. The quantitative and qualitative results obtained from Middlebury, Apollo, and other datasets demonstrate that Ct-Net significantly improves the cross-domain performance of stereo matching. Stereo matching experiments in real-world scenes have shown that it can effectively address visual tasks in multiple scenes.
Effect of slight structural difference in polyvinylidene fluoride binders on the electrochemical performance of single-crystal LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 cathode
Authors: Cao Tangzhe , Xie Huaming , Lei Ying , Zou Wei , Li Hui , Yang Kang , Zan Tong , Li Liming , Fang Yongxian
Published: August 2023

When PVDF binders with different phase proportions were used for binding NCM523 SC active materials, it was found that PVDF with a higher β-phase content contributed to enhancing the ion conductivity and surface structural stability of the active materials.
A comprehensive review of recent advances in optimal allocation methods for distributed renewable generation
Authors: Tercan Said Mirza , Demirci Alpaslan , Unutmaz Yesim Esra , Elma Onur , Yumurtaci Recep
Published: August 2023

Distributed generation (DG) has a key role in enlarging the implementation of renewable energy resources (RES). However, the intermittent and uncontrollable nature of RES can lead to several severe power quality‐related issues. Therefore, many efforts have been made to overcome these issues by optimizing DG sizes and locations. Hence, optimal DG allocation (ODGA) is significant for DG performance and provides advantages to the power system, such as improved power quality, voltage stability, reliability, and profitability. This study reviews recent ODGA studies eliminating the main DG integration problems. Often used ODGA methods have been categorized, and the main differences have been discussed, giving the details of features of optimization methods such as convergence performance and computational burden. A deep analysis for categorizing the objectives of ODGA has been done. In addition, optimization methods applied in ODGA studies have been presented by comparing the superiorities of algorithms and validated test network models. The objectives and significant findings of the ODGA applications are summarized with the advantages and disadvantages. It can be concluded that ODGA has a critical role in RES integration on the DG side and in reducing carbon emissions. This paper leads and provides a perspective for researchers working on recent ODGA methods.
Body temperature, heart rate, and locomotor activity measured by bio-loggers before and after a progestogen+eCG treatment for artificial insemination in sheep: effect of pregnancy
Authors: Abecia J. A. , Canto F. , Plaza J. , Palacios C.
Published: August 2023

Context The introduction of bio-sensors for monitoring real-time changes in physiological variables has helped understand how external factors affect an animal’s resiliency to stressors. Aims To quantify changes in temperature, heart rate, and locomotor activity in ewes during hormonal treatments for artificial insemination (AI) for up to 15 days after insemination. Method Twelve ewes received a surgically implanted subcutaneous bio-logger to record data every 5 min. One week later, ewes received an intravaginal sponge for 12 days and AI was performed 54 ± 1 h after sponge withdrawal. The data were divided into the following four periods: ‘sponge in’ (Days −14 to −2), ‘day before AI’ (Day −1), ‘day AI’ (Day 0), and ‘post-AI’ (Days 1–5, Days 6–10, and Days 11–15). Key results Ewes presented significantly (P < 0.001) higher mean temperature and activity, and a lower heart rate when the sponges were in place than they did in the days following AI. Mean body temperature in the ‘sponge in’ period and the ‘day before AI’, but not in ‘post-AI period’, differed significantly (P < 0.001) between pregnant and non-pregnant ewes. Non-pregnant ewes had a significantly (P < 0.001) higher heart rate than did pregnant ewes when sponges were in and in the ‘post-AI’ period. Non-pregnant ewes were significantly (P < 0.001) less active than were pregnant ewes in the ‘sponge in’ period and on Days 1–5 after AI; however, the former were significantly (P < 0.001) more active than were pregnant ewes on Days 11–15 after AI. Conclusions The subcutaneous bio-logger system documented 24-h variations in body temperature, heart rate, and locomotor activity before and after AI in ewes that had received an estrus-synchronising hormonal treatment. Pregnancy status affected those variables and their circadian fluctuations at the time of the hormonal treatment and in the ‘post-AI’ period. Implications Any device designed for use in the study of Precision Livestock Farming that allows a simple, non-invasive measurement of these variables might provide the basis for the development of a system that could identify females that are in an optimal state for insemination, and provide an early pregnancy prediction system.
K’gari (Fraser Island) World Heritage Area: evaluating change in plant species richness and composition over two decades
Authors: Ngugi Michael R. , Neldner Victor J. , Melzer Rhonda , Behrendorff Linda , Dodt William G.
Published: August 2023

Context K’gari (Fraser Island) World Heritage Area in eastern Queensland is the largest sand island in the world and is characterised by a diversity of landscapes, ecosystem types and cultural values. The biodiversity values are threatened by degradation associated with increasing visitor numbers, inappropriate fire regimes, invasive plants and animals, and climate change. Aim This study investigated changes in vegetation community attributes (species richness and composition) monitored for over two decades. Methods Twenty-two long-term vegetation monitoring sites established in 1995 were resurveyed in 2021 and analysed. Key results The sites experienced between one to five fire events in the period from 1994 to 2020. Species richness and the overall differences within regional ecosystems through time were not statistically significant at P ≤ 0.05. A comparison between observed species in the 2021 survey against a list of expected species within each regional ecosystem showed no statistically significant difference (t7 = 0.649, P = 0.268). Recently burnt sites showed the greatest degree of dissimilarity. Six invasive plant species that are known environmental weeds were recorded. Conclusion Our research suggests that most vegetation communities in K’gari are adversely affected by widespread, severe bushfire but are resilient; except for Casuarina equisetifolia subsp. incana communities on exposed frontal areas and dry peat swamps. Implications Targeted planned burning is a key management tool that aims to achieve fire regimes appropriate to the ecosystems and to mitigate risk of severe bushfires. Hence, timely implementation of the existing planned burn guidelines for the south-east Queensland Bioregion is imperative.
A pH-responsive polymer-coated CaO2 as oxygen-generating nanoparticle in situ for enhanced chemo-photodynamic synergistic therapy against tumors
Authors: Chen Xiaolu , Song Ping , Li Wanzhen , Wang Jun , Gui Ting , Zhang Weiwei , Ge Fei , Zhu Longbao
Published: August 2023

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as an efficient strategy for tumor treatment. However, Insufficient amounts of inherent hypoxia and intrinsic hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the tumor microenvironment severely constrained PDT, as oxygen is the critical substrate for photosensitivity reaction. Here, a pH-responsive H2O2 and O2 self-supplying hybrid nanoparticle was designed. Through, the calcium peroxide (CaO2) as carriers loading a chemotherapeutic drug a photosensitizer 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-aminophenyl) porphyrin (TAPP) and doxorubicin (DOX), was covered with polyacrylic acid (PAA) to build up a feature material DOX-TAPP-CaO2@OA@PAA (denoted as DTCOP) through the reverse microemulsion method. In the acidic tumor microenvironment conditions exposing the water-sensitive CaO2 nanocore to generate hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and O2, the self-supplied O2 alleviates hypoxia to enhance the PDT, and releasing DOX and TAPP. Synthetic characterization shows that the succeeded synthesized Nanocarriers could effectively carry DOX and TAPP to the tumor site and release O2 at the low pH of TME. And the experimental results demonstrated that this interpose exogenous oxygen strategy is efficient at inhibition of tumor growth both in vitro and in vivo. The nanocomposite exhibits excellent biocompatibility and the ability to inhibit tumor growth and has significant potential for the treatment of hypoxic tumors.
Development of the first non-planar REBCO stellarator coil using VIPER cable
Authors: Riva N , Granetz R S , Vieira R , Hubbard A , Pfeiffer A T , Harris P , Chamberlain C , Hartwig Z S , Watterson A , Anderson D , Volberg R
Published: August 2023

The benefits of operating fusion devices, such as tokamaks and stellarators, at high fields make high-temperature superconducting magnets necessary to realize a compact fusion power system. Superconducting stellarators, such as W7-X, have used standard low-temperature superconductor technology niobium-titanium. ARPA-E has recently funded a two-year project led by the startup Type One Energy and involving the Fusion Technology Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Plasma Science to design and fabricate the first non-planar high-temperature superconductor (HTS) rare-earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) coil for a high-field stellarator based on the SPARC tokamak’s VIPER cable concept. The design consists of a 1.5-turn non-planar REBCO coil supported by a pair of 3D printed stainless steel radial plates. The ultimate goals of the project are to determine if commercial REBCO tapes and additive manufacturing can be used to fabricate high field (

⩾
10
T

) non-planar coils with tight bending radii (

≃

100

m
m

) and with a degradation of the critical current smaller than 20% with respect to the expected performance. In this work we present numerical analysis for non-planar coils (critical current, magnetic field map, Lorentz forces and quench aspects) at the operating conditions of 77 K and 20 K and the fabrication and testing in liquid nitrogen (77 K) of the first two non-planar demonstrators for stellarators based on a VIPER cable. The first demonstrator is a short NOn-planar VIPER cabLe (cable demonstrator at which we will refer to as NOVEL) equipped with 100 HTS REBCO tapes and with a critical current of 5700 A at 77 K (self-field); the second is a MultIple turns (1.5-turns) NOn-plANar coil (coil demonstrator at which we will refer to as MINOAN) equipped with 30 HTS tapes and with a critical current of 2100 A at 77 K (self-field). Both demonstrators were tested at 77 K (liquid nitrogen bath) and the results showed that—even after being bent into non-planar shapes with bend radii

≃

100

m
m

—the degradation of the critical current

I

c

was within 15%, meeting the expected goals of the project.
Online community photo-sharing in entomology: a large-scale review with suggestions on best practices
Authors: Skvarla Michael J , Fisher J Ray
Published: August 2023

Over the past 2 decades, digital photography has grown increasingly accessible. This has ushered in a golden age of community science, where nonspecialists share natural history observations from across the globe via digital media. Importantly, these observations are accessible to researchers, who can readily share expertise directly with the community and connect observations and observers with research projects. This has fueled a rising number of publications combining specialist and nonspecialist observations, which occasionally make national and international headlines. Entomology has embraced this trend, but the scope and impact are not clear. A review of its effect on the field is therefore warranted. Herein, we review and analyze publications that incorporated information from photographs shared on photo-sharing websites. In total, 2,123 publications that incorporated information from 77 photo-sharing websites were examined. Seven websites accounted for 66% of the publication citations. 84.6% of publications focused on data from the Holarctic ecoregion (56.2% Palearctic and 28.4% Nearctic). Forty-six arthropod orders were represented, but the Big Five—Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, and Diptera—accounted for 75% of all publications. We divide the publications into 28 discovery and use categories, review how community photograph data has been used within each category, and provide examples of categories utilized in nonentomology natural history fields, which we hope will provide inspiration and spur future research. We also discuss benefits and considerations when using such data—including the accuracy of identifications, inherent biases, and digital data impermanence—and suggest best practices to follow.
The nutritional landscape in agroecosystems: a review on how resources and management practices can shape pollinator health in agricultural environments
Authors: Lau Pierre W , Esquivel Isaac L , Parys Katherine A , Hung Keng-Lou James , Chakrabarti Priyadarshini
Published: August 2023

Pollinator nutrition is a highly complex subject that we are just starting to unravel, from the multidimensional nature of bee forage (pollen and nectar) to how the abiotic environment can affect the resources available to bees. Doing so is of utmost importance, as improving pollinator resource availability and nutrition is one of the proposed mechanisms to improve populations and pollinator health. However, landscape change has changed the resources naturally available for pollinators. Farmland and cropping systems create a unique nutritional landscape for pollinators, with agroecosystems typically containing few crops dominating a landscape along with natural corridors containing noncrop plants. The types of crops planted and the surrounding landscape will ultimately affect the nutritional landscape bees have access to. Even the management practices in agriculture and how pests are controlled will, directly and indirectly, affect bee health and nutrition. Hence, a better understanding of bee nutrition in agricultural ecosystems is warranted. This review synthesizes research on bee nutritional ecology and the agricultural landscapes to advance our understanding of bee health in agriculture.
Two tumors with combined features of bronchiolar adenoma/ciliated muconodular papillary tumor and sclerosing pneumocytoma
Authors: Boland Jennifer M , Larsen Brandon T , Ryan Lori , Yi Eunhee S , Aubry Marie Christine
Published: August 2023

Objectives

Bronchiolar adenoma/ciliated muconodular papillary tumor (BA/CMPT) and sclerosing pneumocytoma (SP) are both rare and morphologically unique peripheral lung tumors with indolent behavior. These tumors have not been previously described as showing overlapping morphologic features and are generally genetically distinct.

Methods

Two cases were recently encountered that show hybrid morphologic features between BA/CMPT and SP, and the morphology and immunophenotype are described in detail.

Results

Both cases showed interstitial round cells typical of SP (TTF1+, EMA+), as well as areas more typical of BA/CMPT. One case showed BRAFV600E expression in the BA/CMPT areas but not in the SP-like cells.

Conclusions

Although it is possible that these cases represent collision tumors or are examples of unusual metaplastic epithelial changes in SP, they also raise the possibility that these 2 entities could occasionally coexist in true hybrid tumors.
The success rates of clinical cancer next-generation sequencing based on pathologic diagnosis: Experience from a single academic laboratory
Authors: Latham Katherine , Dong Fei
Published: August 2023

Objectives

This article aims to establish the relationship between pathologic diagnosis and the rate of success in cancer next-generation sequencing testing.

Methods

Clinical next-generation sequencing results performed for solid tumors were reviewed. The rate of success was analyzed in the context of tumor type and accompanying variables.

Results

Out of 683 total specimens, 533 (78.0%) underwent successful sequencing. The rate of success was 91.8% for ovarian carcinomas, 87.5% for lung non–small cell carcinomas, 82.0% for colorectal adenocarcinomas, 78.3% for melanomas, 75.9% for breast carcinomas, and 64.7% for pancreatic adenocarcinomas. For specimens that successfully underwent sequencing, pancreatic adenocarcinomas had the lowest median tumor proportion and somatic RAS and TP53 mutation allele fractions compared with other tumor types. Cytology specimens had a 33.3% success rate for pancreatic adenocarcinomas (5 of 15) and a 93.3% success rate for lung carcinomas (14 of 15). Compared with tissue from primary sites, tissue from metastatic sites showed a higher success rate for pancreatic adenocarcinomas and lower success rates for colorectal adenocarcinomas and melanomas.

Conclusions

The success rate of cancer next-generation sequencing testing is dependent on pathologic diagnosis, tissue site, and diagnostic procedure. Understanding which specimens are at higher risk for failing molecular testing may help pathologists and clinical care teams optimize tissue acquisition and usage for patient care.