bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pelvic Congestion Syndrome Presenting with Massive Pulmonary Embolism
Authors: Harsha Mullusoge Mariappa , Sharma Megha , Sahu Ankit Kumar
Published: January 2021

Pelvic Congestion Syndrome (PCS) causes chronic pelvic pain due to incompetent, dilated pelvic veins. Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) thrombosis can either be a cause or effect of PCS. Pulmonary embolism in such a setting is rare with only a few reported cases till date. A heightened awareness and clinical suspicion for the specific symptomatology and associated findings are necessary to prevent catastrophe. This report is about a rare case in a young multiparous female with overlooked chronic pelvic pain, due to PCS presenting with breathlessness and hypotension. On evaluation, her echocardiogram revealed dilated right sided chambers, large thrombus in IVC and right pulmonary artery. Troponin was elevated. Computed Tomography (CT) scan confirmed massive pulmonary embolism along with presence of dilated pelvic plexus and dilated right ovarian vein. Patient was successfully treated with systemic thrombolysis followed by oral anticoagulation.
The link between suggestibility, compliance, and false confessions: A review using experimental and field studies
Authors: Otgaar Henry , Schell‐Leugers Jennifer Maria , Howe Mark L. , Vilar Alejandra De La Fuente , Houben Sanne T. L. , Merckelbach Harald
Published: January 2021

Expert witnesses and scholars sometimes disagree on whether suggestibility and compliance are related to people's tendency to falsely confess. Hence, the principal aim of this review was to amass the available evidence on the link between suggestibility and compliance and false confessions. We reviewed experimental data in which false confessions were experimentally evoked and suggestibility and compliance were measured. Furthermore, we reviewed field data of potential false confessions and their relationship with suggestibility and compliance. These diverse databases converge to the same conclusion. We unequivocally found that high levels of suggestibility (and to a lesser extent compliance) were associated with an increased vulnerability to falsely confess. Suggestibility measurements might be informative for expert witnesses who must evaluate the false confession potential in legal cases.
Tackling Photonic Inverse Design with Machine Learning
Authors: Liu Zhaocheng , Zhu Dayu , Raju Lakshmi , Cai Wenshan
Published: January 2021

Machine learning, as a study of algorithms that automate prediction and decision‐making based on complex data, has become one of the most effective tools in the study of artificial intelligence. In recent years, scientific communities have been gradually merging data‐driven approaches with research, enabling dramatic progress in revealing underlying mechanisms, predicting essential properties, and discovering unconventional phenomena. It is becoming an indispensable tool in the fields of, for instance, quantum physics, organic chemistry, and medical imaging. Very recently, machine learning has been adopted in the research of photonics and optics as an alternative approach to address the inverse design problem. In this report, the fast advances of machine‐learning‐enabled photonic design strategies in the past few years are summarized. In particular, deep learning methods, a subset of machine learning algorithms, dealing with intractable high degrees‐of‐freedom structure design are focused upon.
Preferential snake detection in a simulated ecological experiment
Authors: Jensen Cody H. , Caine Nancy G.
Published: January 2021

Objectives

According to Isbell's snake detection theory (SDT), the need to rapidly detect and thus avoid snakes had a major impact on the evolution of the primate visual system, and thus the origin and evolution of the primate lineage, as expansion of the visual sense is a key characteristic of primates. The SDT rests on the assumption that there are both cortical (conscious) and subcortical (unconscious) brain structures and pathways that are responsible for rapid visual detection of and quick avoidance reactions to snakes. Behavioral evidence for the SDT primarily comes from visual search tasks and presentations of images on a computer screen; our aim was to evaluate the SDT under more ecologically valid circumstances.

Materials and methods

We asked participants to take a virtual hike in which a realistic model of a snake, rabbit, or bottle had been placed on the trail. Subjects were instructed simply to imagine themselves as the hiker while watching the video. We measured heart rate and skin conductance reactions while the participants viewed the video. After the video, the participants were shown pictures of the three stimuli and asked if they had seen any of them.

Results

We found that snakes were detected more often than rabbits or bottles, and that participants showed greater changes in heart rate and greater skin conductance responses in the snake condition than in the other two conditions, even when the participant did not report having seen the snake.

Discussion

A critical component of the SDT is that primates must be able to quickly detect snakes even when their attention is directed elsewhere. Using a novel experimental context—a simulated hike—we assessed arousal and detection without directing participants to attend to any particular stimulus or event. Our data support the SDT by providing evidence of enhanced detection and autonomic arousal even in the absence of detection. Replication of these results using additional controls and experimental contexts will help refine our understanding of snake avoidance by primates.
Immobilized some of vanadium compounds on modified graphene oxide as nanofiber network for epoxidation of allyl alcohols
Authors: Farzaneh Faezeh , Ahmadi Zahra , Azarkamanzad Zahra , Ghahremani Maryam
Published: January 2021

VO(acac)2 and the in situ generated VO(Salen) complex were immobilized on the covalently modified graphene oxide (GO) with ethylenediamine (en) and designated as VO(acac)2@en‐GO and VO@Salen@en‐GO, respectively. Characterization of the prepared compounds was carried out with FT‐IR, XRD, ICP, CHN, Raman, SEM, TEM, and BET techniques. The SEM results confirmed the formation a nanofiber network and nanointerconnected needles. The prepared immobilized complexes were then used as heterogeneous catalysts for epoxidation of some allyl alcohols such as geraniol, trans‐2‐hexene‐1‐ol, and 1‐octen‐3‐ol. Based on the results obtained by GC and GC–mass analyses, epoxidation of geraniol with 97% conversion and 100% selectivity seemed promising. Readily recycling of the catalyst and reusing for four successive catalytic runs without significant loss of activity revealed that this catalysis system deserves nomination for practical application.
Telechelic PEG‐polymers end‐capped with chromophores: Using as cationic reactive dyes and salt‐free dyeing properties on cotton fabrics
Authors: Zhang Zhen , Wang Haiying , Sun Jie
Published: January 2021

In this article, telechelic polymers containing polyethylene glycol (PEG) moieties as space groups were combined with chromophores to synthesize cationic reactive dyes (BCD‐R, BCD‐Y, and BCD‐B). The salt‐free dyeing performance of these telechelic polymeric cationic reactive dyes on cotton fabrics was evaluated. The exhaustion and fixation of the dyes in salt‐free dyeing was above 89.33 and 77.22%, respectively. The color fastness of dry rubbing for the three dyes reached grade 4–5, and their color fastness to light reached grade 5–6. Their washing fastness also reached grade 4–5, except for that of BCD‐Y (grade 3–4). The results showed that the dyes possessed good leveling and build‐up properties and substantivity to cellulose fiber. The zeta potential (ξ‐potential) of dyed fabric was estimated, and it was found that the ξ‐potential of the fabrics increased after dying with telechelic polymeric cationic reactive dyes, and the more dye that was used, the greater ξ‐potential increase. The exhaustion curves of dyes were also determined, and they were much different from those of anionic reactive dyes. The adsorption kinetics and isotherms of BCD‐R were investigated. It was found that the pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model gave the best fit of the experimental data at all three tested dyeing temperatures (25, 45, and 65°C) with R2 values over 0.998. Both the Langmuir and Freundlich models could be used to describe the adsorption of BCD‐R onto cellulose fibers and the Langmuir model fit the experimental data better than the Freundlich model. The thermodynamic parameters (ΔG, ΔS, ΔH, and activation energy) of the dye adsorption process were researched further. The results indicated that the adsorption of BCD‐R onto cotton fibers was spontaneous and exothermic and that after adsorption onto the cotton fibers, the degree of freedom of the dye decreased.
Hemodynamic and behavioral changes in older adults during cognitively demanding dual tasks
Authors: Salzman Talia , Tobón Vallejo Diana , Polskaia Nadia , Michaud Lucas , St‐Amant Gabrielle , Lajoie Yves , Fraser Sarah
Published: January 2021

Introduction

Executive functions play a fundamental role in walking by integrating information from cognitive‐motor pathways. Subtle changes in brain and behavior may help identify older adults who are more susceptible to executive function deficits with advancing age due to prefrontal cortex deterioration. This study aims to examine how older adults mitigate executive demands while walking during cognitively demanding tasks.

Methods

Twenty healthy older adults (M = 71.8 years, SD = 6.4) performed simple reaction time (SRT), go/no‐go (GNG), n‐back (NBK), and double number sequence (DNS) cognitive tasks of increasing difficulty while walking (i.e., dual task). Functional near infra‐red spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to measure the hemodynamic response (i.e., oxy‐ [HbO2] and deoxyhemoglobin [HbR]) changes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during dual and single tasks (i.e., walking alone). In addition, performance was measured using gait speed (m/s), response time (s), and accuracy (% correct).

Results

Using repeated measures ANOVAs, neural findings demonstrated a main effect of task such that ∆HbO2 (p = .047) and ∆HbR (p = .040) decreased between single and dual tasks. An interaction between task and cognitive difficulty (p = .014) revealed that gait speed decreased in the DNS between single and dual tasks. A main effect of task in response time indicated that the SRT response time was faster than all other difficulty levels (p < .001). Accuracy performance declined between single and dual tasks (p = .028) and across difficulty levels (p < .001) but was not significantly different between the NBK and DNS.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that a healthy older adult sample might mitigate executive demands using an automatic locomotor control strategy such that shifting conscious attention away from walking during the dual tasks resulted in decreased ∆HbO2 and ∆HbR. However, decreased prefrontal activation was inefficient at maintaining response time and accuracy performance and may be differently affected by increasing cognitive demands.
Asymmetric effects of corporate sustainability strategy on value creation among global automotive firms: A dynamic panel quantile regression approach
Authors: Lin Woon Leong , Lee Chin , Law Siong Hook
Published: January 2021

This study explores the asymmetric effects of corporate sustainability strategy on firm value at different conditioning quantiles by performing a dynamic panel quantile regression analysis on global automotive firms from 2011 to 2017. Further, this study measures the distinct effects of positive and negative corporate sustainability strategies on firm value, which has remained unconsidered as yet. The findings suggest that low‐value and midvalue firms respond more strongly to positive and negative corporate sustainability strategies than high‐value firms. This implies that for low‐value and midvalue corporations that are in a growth phase, an investment in positive corporate sustainability strategies is essential to increase firm value by enhancing public perception of their efforts. Therefore, positive corporate sustainability strategy contributes substantially to future growth. Conversely, positive corporate sustainability strategy may not be a priority in increasing firm value for high‐value corporations, because these strategies do not enhance the public's discernment of their efforts in ethics management and hence do not contribute to a future increase in value. Meanwhile, engagement in negative corporate sustainability strategy worsens firm value in all quantiles, although the effect is somewhat weaker for high‐value firms. Nevertheless, however high valued and well established a firm is, it is not immune to crisis.
Ego‐resiliency in borderline personality disorder and the mediating role of positive and negative affect on its associations with symptom severity and quality of life in daily life
Authors: Harpøth Tine S.D. , Yeung Ellen W. , Trull Timothy J. , Simonsen Erik , Kongerslev Mickey T.
Published: January 2021

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious mental health condition associated with severe symptoms of distress and poor quality of life (QoL). Research outside the field of BPD suggests that ego‐resiliency is negatively associated with psychopathology and positively associated with a range of positive life outcomes. Thus, ego‐resiliency may be a valuable construct for furthering our understanding and treatment of BPD. However, the mechanisms linking ego‐resiliency to psychopathology and QoL in relation to BPD have not been examined and explored by research. This study has addressed this gap in the collective knowledge by evaluating whether within‐person associations between daily reports of positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) mediated the relationship between ego‐resiliency, BPD symptom severity, and QoL. For 21 consecutive days, 72 women diagnosed with BPD completed end‐of‐day electronic assessments regarding ego‐resiliency, PA and NA, symptom severity, and QoL. Multilevel structural equation modelling established that PA and NA were parallel mediators linking ego‐resiliency with BPD symptom severity and QoL. As hypothesized, the path to QoL was stronger through PA than through NA. The mediation paths through NA and PA to BPD symptom severity were both significant, but their strength did not differ. Our findings align with the assertions of theories on emotion, thus suggesting a two‐factor approach to PA and NA. Future research can build on these findings by developing psychotherapeutic interventions designed not only to reduce symptom severity but also to enhance PA in individuals with BPD and determine whether an increase in PA is associated with improved QoL.
Object relations assessment predicts outpatients' attrition, early working alliance and psychotherapy process
Authors: Vaughn Kristin Niemeyer , Jenkins Sharon Rae , Weber Katherine M.
Published: January 2021

This study investigated the predictive utility of assessing clients' object relations functioning to prognosticate therapy dropout, quality of the early working alliance and psychotherapy process events reported by clients after their first five sessions. Clients accepting a recruitment invitation were administered the thematic apperception test (TAT) shortly after intake, and those still in treatment three to four sessions later rated the working alliance and psychotherapy process events. Participants were 47 clients beginning psychotherapy with advanced doctoral practicum students at a university‐based community‐serving training clinic. The Social Cognition and Object Relations Scales (SCORS), an object relations scoring system for TAT stories, was used to assess object relations functioning. The California Psychotherapy Alliance Scales—Patient form measured four dimensions of the alliance. The Therapy Orientation Process Scales, created from the Psychotherapy Process Q‐set, measured clients' perceptions of therapy process events as involving relatively more psychodynamic or cognitive behavioural techniques. The SCORS significantly predicted remaining in therapy, client ratings of stronger working alliance and typical therapy process as more psychodynamic than cognitive behavioural. SCORS complexity of representations and capacity for emotional investment in relationships scales were the strongest predictors, especially of the patient commitment facet of the alliance. The findings suggest that (1) beginning psychotherapy with object relations assessment can be useful for treatment planning and (2) the relationship between clients' object relations functioning, working alliance and greater sensitivity to psychodynamic than to cognitive behavioural interventions depends on the aspect of object relations that is being assessed.
Card pull effects of the Thematic Apperception Test using the Social Cognition and Object Relations‐Global Rating Method on complex psychiatric sample
Authors: Ridenour Jeremy M. , Lewis Katie C. , Siefert Caleb J. , Pitman Seth R. , Knauss Daniel , Stein Michelle B.
Published: January 2021

In recent years, there has been growing interest in examining the stimulus pull effects on respondent narratives to the Thematic Apperception Test (Murray, 1943) using standardized coding methods such as the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale–Global Rating Method (SCORS‐G; Stein, Hilsenroth, Slavin‐Mulford, & Pinsker, 2011; Westen, 1995). The present study expands on prior work by examining sources of variance in SCORS‐G dimensions and card pull effect patterns in an adult clinical sample characterized by high psychiatric comorbidity and clinical severity. A sample of 158 adult psychiatric patients in long‐term residential treatment provided narratives to 10 TAT cards (five of which have not previously been studied for pull effects). Cards 2 and 7BM pulled for significantly more adaptive narratives (positive pull), whereas Card 13MF pulled for more pathological stories (negative pull). Like prior studies, variance in cognitive dimensions of the SCORS‐G was most explained by person effects, whereas the largest source of variance for all other dimensions was best explained by a combination of the card and the person effects on the narrative. Finally, exploratory analyses of card pull effects within different gender groups were conducted. The implications of these findings for performance‐based future studies and possible clinical applications of card pull findings are discussed.
Circuit system based on cloud edge fusion and outdoor intelligent light networking
Authors: Jin Renyun , Qiu Haifeng , Weng Liguo , Yu Bin , Chen Jie , Zhang Yanghui
Published: January 2021

With the continuous improvement of the national design standards of urban road lighting system, the intelligent, automatic, and remote management of urban street lighting system by using modern computer technology and the rapid development of Internet of things technology have become one of the important symbols of modern city. This paper mainly studies the circuit system based on cloud edge fusion outdoor intelligent light networking. Based on the development of wireless networking technology of new light source and sensor and data communication and processing technology of Internet of things, this paper analyzes the development trend and support status of intelligent lighting system, summarizes the overall demand for intelligent lighting system, and proposes a complete set of communication interface software, data‐processing software, operation management software, and street lamp controller group system architecture. The street lamp controller realizes the short distance wireless network through ZigBee technology and realizes the communication interaction of control and state acquisition data by GPRS wireless transmission technology. This paper tests the real‐time performance, packet loss rate, and stability of sensor data service provided by sensor nodes in the system. Finally, the monitoring experiments of the lighting circuit system are carried out, and the status of all street lamps in the centralized controller of street lamps is inquired every 5 min for 20 times. In these 20 times, the success rate of the first return of the switch state of the lamp is 100%, while that of the current and voltage is 98.6%. The experimental results show that the design of the lighting circuit system is feasible and the system runs stable and realizes the intelligent monitoring of the lighting system.
Electrochemical determination of T2 toxin by graphite/polyacrylonitrile nanofiber electrode
Authors: Moradi Mona , Azizi‐Lalabadi Maryam , Motamedi Parisa , Sadeghi Ehsan
Published: January 2021

Fabricating graphite electrode corrected with nanofiber by electrospinning as a considerable procedure for utilization in the fluid materials, milk, and syrup for detection of T2 mycotoxin is a significant technique. The modern biosensor was fabricated at normal degrees of room and utilized via buffer Britton–Robinson (B‐R) in pH = 5 to refine the chemico‐mechanical specifications. The electrochemical manner of the modified surface was surveyed using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), square wave voltammetry (SQWV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The corrected electrode displayed a linear reply to T2 toxin in two distinct concentration ranges of 30–100 nM with correlation coefficients of 0.99. The greatest signals in the square wave spectrums for the B‐R buffer created on the uttermost signals of the obtained streams were pH = 5 and 0.5 M of KNO3 for T2 toxin. The modified electrode has a big signal, broad dynamic concentration and high sensitivity and selectivity.
Discriminating subcortical ischemic vascular disease and Alzheimer's disease by diffusion kurtosis imaging in segregated thalamic regions
Authors: Tu Min‐Chien , Huang Sheng‐Min , Hsu Yen‐Hsuan , Yang Jir‐Jei , Lin Chien‐Yuan , Kuo Li‐Wei
Published: January 2021

Differentiating between subcortical ischemic vascular disease (SIVD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and normal cognition (NC) remains a challenge, and reliable neuroimaging biomarkers are needed. The current study, therefore, investigated the discriminative ability of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) metrics in segregated thalamic regions and compare with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics. Twenty‐three SIVD patients, 30 AD patients, and 24 NC participants underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging. The DKI metrics including mean kurtosis (MK), axial kurtosis (Kaxial) and radial kurtosis (Kradial) and the DTI metrics including diffusivity and fractional anisotropy (FA) were measured within the whole thalamus and segregated thalamic subregions. Strategic correlations by group, thalamo‐frontal connectivity, and canonical discriminant analysis (CDA) were used to demonstrate the discriminative ability of DKI for SIVD, AD, and NC. Whole and segregated thalamus analysis suggested that DKI metrics are less affected by white matter hyperintensities compared to DTI metrics. Segregated thalamic analysis showed that MK and Kradial were notably different between SIVD and AD/NC. The correlation analysis between Kaxial and MK showed a nonsignificant relationship in SIVD group, a trend of negative relationship in AD group, and a significant positive relationship in NC group. A wider spatial distribution of thalamo‐frontal connectivity differences across groups was shown by MK compared to FA. CDA showed a discriminant power of 97.4% correct classification using all DKI metrics. Our findings support that DKI metrics could be more sensitive than DTI metrics to reflect microstructural changes within the gray matter, hence providing complementary information for currently outlined pathogenesis of SIVD and AD.
Sex differences in outcomes of acute pancreatitis: Findings from a nationwide analysis
Authors: Sharma Sachit , Weissman Simcha , Aburayyan Kanana , Acharya Ashu , Aziz Muhammad , Systrom Hannah K. , Lew Daniel , Vohra Ishaan , Feuerstein Joseph D. , Pandol Stephen J.
Published: January 2021

Background

Sex is thought to play a significant role in predicting outcomes in numerous diseases. The role sex plays in acute pancreatitis (AP) remains limited. We sought to determine if sex is associated with hospitalization outcomes in this population, using a large national database.

Methods

This was a retrospective study of adult patients with AP utilizing the 2016 and 2017 National Inpatient Sample via ICD‐10 codes. The clinical courses of females were compared to that of males. The primary outcome was all‐cause inpatient mortality. Secondary outcomes, including healthcare utilization, were assessed. Statistical analyses were performed using STATA, version 16.1.

Results

Of the 553 480 adult patients hospitalized with AP; 25.3% had AP secondary to alcohol (61.4% male, 38.6% female) and 17.44% secondary to gallstones (48.6% male, 51.4% female). Females were significantly older than males (52.81 years vs 50.97 years, P < .01). Females had a significantly lower likelihood of mortality (aOR: 0.69), shock (aOR: 0.64), sepsis (aOR: 0.70), acute kidney injury (aOR 0.66), intensive care unit admission (aOR 0.53), and pancreatic drainage (aOR 0.61) as compared to males (all with P < .01). There was no significant difference between females and males with regards to mean length of stay and hospitalization charges and costs.

Conclusions

In this large cohort of patients admitted for AP, despite being significantly older, we found that females had significantly improved clinical outcomes, including lower mortality, compared to males. Further prospective studies are needed to accurately understand these differences to guide clinical practice.
Behavioral and neural evidence on consumer responses to human doctors and medical artificial intelligence
Authors: Yun Jin Ho , Lee Eun‐Ju , Kim Dong Hyun
Published: January 2021

Will consumers accept artificial intelligence (AI) as a medical care provider? On the basis of evolution theory, we investigate the implicit psychological mechanisms that underlie consumers’ interactions with medical AI and a human doctor. In a behavioral investigation (Study 1), consumers expressed a positive intention to use medical AI's healthcare services when it used personalized rather than mechanical conversation. However, neural investigation (Study 2) using functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed that some consumers’ implicit attitudes toward medical AI differed from their expressed behavioral intentions. The brain areas linked with implicitly apathetic emotions were activated even when medical AI used a personalized conversation, whereas consumers’ brains were activated in areas associated with prosociality when they interacted with a human doctor who used a personalized conversation. On the basis of our neural evidence, consumers perceive an identical personalized conversation differently when it is offered by a medical AI versus a human doctor. These findings have implications for the area of human–AI interactions and medical decision‐making and suggest that replacing human doctors with medical AI is still an unrealistic proposition.
Hybrid structural electronics printing by novel dry film stereolithography and laser induced forward transfer
Authors: Levy Asaf , Bernstein Toker Gil , Winter Shoshana , Cohen Sharona S. , Ermak Oleg , Peled Itay , Kotler Zvi , Gelbstein Yaniv
Published: January 2021

3D printing has seen much progress in recent decades with the introduction of new materials and printing techniques. This article describes the combination of a novel, stereolithography (SLA) based method for structural material buildup with laser induced forward transfer (LIFT) printing of conductive and resistive elements and placement of commercial active and passive components for the additive manufacturing of 3D functional electronic devices. The structural material is composed of dry film photoresists that are exposed and laminated to form a stack which is later developed to remove unexposed area and reveal the desired free form shape. Interconnection using pillar penetration between the structural layers is described in detail. Several examples of functional objects (lamp, microphone) demonstrate the practicality of this novel, multi material printing method.
A new preconditioning approach for an interior point‐proximal method of multipliers for linear and convex quadratic programming
Authors: Bergamaschi Luca , Gondzio Jacek , Martínez Ángeles , Pearson John W. , Pougkakiotis Spyridon
Published: January 2021

In this article, we address the efficient numerical solution of linear and quadratic programming problems, often of large scale. With this aim, we devise an infeasible interior point method, blended with the proximal method of multipliers, which in turn results in a primal‐dual regularized interior point method. Application of this method gives rise to a sequence of increasingly ill‐conditioned linear systems which cannot always be solved by factorization methods, due to memory and CPU time restrictions. We propose a novel preconditioning strategy which is based on a suitable sparsification of the normal equations matrix in the linear case, and also constitutes the foundation of a block‐diagonal preconditioner to accelerate MINRES for linear systems arising from the solution of general quadratic programming problems. Numerical results for a range of test problems demonstrate the robustness of the proposed preconditioning strategy, together with its ability to solve linear systems of very large dimension.
Is the emerging mite pest Aculops lycopersici controllable? Global and genome‐based insights in its biology and management
Authors: Vervaet Lore , De Vis Raf , De Clercq Patrick , Van Leeuwen Thomas
Published: January 2021

Over the last decade, the tomato russet mite, Aculops lycopersici, has become a major pest in tomato crops worldwide, both in open‐field and protected cultivation. Its minute size of 150 to 200 μm complicates early detection and monitoring in tomato crops. Passive dispersal occurs via air currents, crop management practices and commercial trade. Chemical control of Aculops lycopersici is difficult. Altered product use from broad spectrum pesticides towards selective acaricides, to meet integrated pest management (IPM) standards, has created better conditions for the rapid expansion of this specialized eriophyid mite. Moreover, practical implementation of promising natural enemies is challenging due to the complexity of biological control in tomato crops. Trichomes on tomato negatively affect arthropod natural enemies, but provide a refuge for the tomato russet mite. Despite the cosmopolitan nature of Aculops lycopersici, knowledge associated with IPM is limited and fragmented. This review describes fundamental biological data on Aculops lycopersici from the last 20 years and novel developments in the field of prevention, monitoring, chemical and biological control. The recent analysis of the genome sequence will be helpful in the development of a sustainable control strategy for Aculops lycopersici. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry
Double‐diffusive convection in a rotating viscoelastic fluid layer
Authors: Raghunatha Kondethimmanahalli Rangadhamappa , Shivakumara Inapura Siddagangaiah
Published: January 2021

The linear instability and a weakly nonlinear stability of a rotating double‐diffusive convection in a viscoelastic fluid layer are investigated. An Oldroyd‐B constitutive equation is used to describe the rheological behavior of the viscoelastic fluid. Several remarkable departures from those of single‐diffusive and double‐diffusive viscoelastic fluid systems are explored by performing the linear instability analysis. Under certain conditions, it is observed that (i) a non‐rotating double diffusive viscoelastic fluid layer becomes destabilized by rotation, (ii) a rotating viscoelastic fluid layer gets destabilized by the addition of heavy solute to the bottom of the layer, (iii) disconnected closed convex oscillatory neutral curve from the stationary neutral curve exists, and (iv) three critical thermal Rayleigh numbers are required to specify the linear instability criteria, as opposed to a single critical value. The nature of linear instability characteristics for Oldroyd‐B, Maxwell and Newtonian fluids is found to be contradictory for the identical values of governing parameters. By performing a weakly nonlinear stability analysis, a cubic Landau equation for the amplitude corresponding to stationary convection is derived and the stability of bifurcating equilibrium solution is discussed. The viscoelastic parameters influence the stability of stationary bifurcation despite their effect is not felt on the stationary onset. The influence of various parameters on heat and mass transfer is also elucidated.
Stratified Guarded First-Order Transition Systems
Authors: Müller Christan , Seidl Helmut
Published: January 2021

First-order transition systems are a convenient formalism to specify parametric systems such as multi-agent workflows or distributed algorithms. In general, any nontrivial question about such systems is undecidable. Here, we present three subclasses of first-order transition systems where every universal invariant can effectively be decided via fixpoint iteration. These subclasses are defined in terms of syntactical restrictions: negation, stratification and guardedness. While guardedness represents a particular pattern how input predicates control existential quantifiers, stratification limits the information flow between predicates. Guardedness implies that the weakest precondition for every universal invariant is again universal, while the remaining sufficient criteria enforce that either the number of first-order variables, or the number of required instances of input predicates remains bounded, or the number of occurring negated literals decreases in every iteration. We argue for each of these three cases that termination of the fixpoint iteration can be guaranteed.
Mal’cev conditions corresponding to identities for compatible reflexive relations
Authors: Fioravanti Stefano
Published: January 2021

We investigate Mal’cev conditions described by those equations whose variables runs over the set of all compatible reflexive relations. Let $$p \le q$$

p
≤
q

be an equation for the language $$\{\wedge , \circ ,+\}$$

{
∧
,
∘
,
+
}

. We give a characterization of the class of all varieties which satisfy $$p \le q$$

p
≤
q

over the set of all compatible reflexive relations. The aim is to find an analogon of the Pixley–Wille algorithm for conditions expressed by equations over the set of all compatible reflexive relations, and to characterize when an equation $$p \le q$$

p
≤
q

expresses the same property when considered over the congruence lattices or over the sets of all compatible reflexive relations of algebras in a variety.
Predictors of working days lost due to sickness absence and disability pension
Authors: Shiri Rahman , Hiilamo Aapo , Rahkonen Ossi , Robroek Suzan J. W. , Pietiläinen Olli , Lallukka Tea
Published: January 2021

Objective

To identify social and health-related predictors of the number of days lost due to sickness absence (SA) and disability pension (DP) among initially 55-year-old public-sector workers.

Methods

The data from the Finnish Helsinki Health Study included participants aged 55 years at the baseline (in 2000–2002, N = 1630, 81% women), and were enriched with register-based information on SA and DP. The cumulative number of calendar days lost due to SA ≥ 1 day or DP between ages 55 and 65 was calculated. Negative binomial regression model was used to identify the predictors of days lost.

Results

The average calendar days lost was 316 days (about 220 working days) during a 10-year follow-up, and 44% were due to SA and 56% due to DP. Smoking [incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.19, 95% CI 1.01–1.40 for past and IRR = 1.30, CI 1.07–1.58 for current], binge drinking (IRR = 1.22, CI 1.02–1.46), lifting or pulling/pushing heavy loads (IRR = 1.35, CI 1.10–1.65), awkward working positions (IRR = 1.24, CI 1.01–1.53), long-standing illness limiting work or daily activities (IRR = 2.32, CI 1.93–2.79), common mental disorder (IRR = 1.52, CI 1.30–1.79), and multisite pain (IRR = 1.50, CI 1.23–1.84) increased the number of days lost, while high level of education (IRR = 0.66, CI 0.52–0.82) and moderate level of leisure-time physical activity (IRR = 0.80, CI 0.67–0.94) reduced the number of days lost.

Conclusions

Modifiable lifestyle risk factors, workload factors, common mental disorder, and multisite pain substantially increase the number of days lost. However, the findings of this study could be generalized to female workers in the public sector. Future research should also consider shorter SA spells in estimating working years lost and working life expectancy.
Simple monetary rules: many strengths and few weaknesses
Authors: Taylor John B.
Published: January 2021

This paper endeavors to examine the basic idea in Richard Epstein’s book Simple Rules for a Complex World. It does so by considering a specific simple rule which was explicitly designed for complex world. A basic idea in Epstein’s book is that the more complex is the world the better is the case for simple rules. To show this, he develops six simple rules pertaining to the rights of individuals, first possession, contracts, torts, government eminent domain and the power of taxation to provide public goods. This paper considers one rule rather than six rules, and it looks at monetary policy rather than policy in general. While the context is different, the case for simple rules made here provides a useful comparison with the case made by Epstein.
The circular RNA circSlc7a11 promotes bone cancer pain pathogenesis in rats by modulating LLC-WRC 256 cell proliferation and apoptosis
Authors: Chen Han-Wen , Zhang Xiao-Xia , Peng Zhu-Ding , Xing Zu-Min , Zhang Yi-Wen , Li Ya-Lan
Published: January 2021

Treatment of bone cancer pain (BCP) caused by bone metastasis in advanced cancers remains a challenge in clinical oncology, and the underlying mechanisms of BCP are poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the pathogenic roles of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in regulating cancer cell proliferation and BCP development. Eight differentially expressed circRNAs in the rat spinal cord were validated by agarose gel electrophoresis and Sanger sequencing. Expression of circRNAs and mRNAs was detected by quantitative RT-PCR. MTS assay and flow cytometry were performed to analyze cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively. Differentially expressed mRNA profiles were characterized by deep RNA sequencing, hierarchical clustering, and functional categorization. The interactions among circRNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs), and mRNAs were predicted using TargetScan. Additionally, western blot was performed to determine the protein levels of Pax8, Isg15, and Cxcl10. Multiple circRNAs were differentially expressed in the spinal cords of BCP model rats; of these, circSlc7a11 showed the greatest increase in expression. The overexpression of circSlc7a11 significantly promoted cell proliferation and repressed apoptosis of LLC-WRC 256 and UMR-106 cells, whereas circSlc7a11 silencing produced the opposite effects. Altered expression of circSlc7a11 also induced substantial changes in the mRNA expression profiles of LLC-WRC 256 cells; these changes were linked to multiple apoptotic processes and signaling pathways, such as the chemokine signaling pathway, and formed a complex circRNA/miRNA/mRNA network. Additionally, Pax8, Isg15, and Cxc110 protein level in LLC-WRC 256 cells was consistent with the mRNA results. The circRNA circSlc7a11 regulates rat BCP development by modulating LLC-WRC 256 cell proliferation and apoptosis through multiple-signaling mechanisms.
Counting people in the crowd using social media images for crowd management in city events
Authors: Gong V. X. , Daamen W. , Bozzon A. , Hoogendoorn S. P.
Published: January 2021

City events are getting popular and are attracting a large number of people. This increase needs for methods and tools to provide stakeholders with crowd size information for crowd management purposes. Previous works proposed a large number of methods to count the crowd using different data in various contexts, but no methods proposed using social media images in city events and no datasets exist to evaluate the effectiveness of these methods. In this study we investigate how social media images can be used to estimate the crowd size in city events. We construct a social media dataset, compare the effectiveness of face recognition, object recognition, and cascaded methods for crowd size estimation, and investigate the impact of image characteristics on the performance of selected methods. Results show that object recognition based methods, reach the highest accuracy in estimating the crowd size using social media images in city events. We also found that face recognition and object recognition methods are more suitable to estimate the crowd size for social media images which are taken in parallel view, with selfies covering people in full face and in which the persons in the background have the same distance to the camera. However, cascaded methods are more suitable for images taken from top view with gatherings distributed in gradient. The created social media dataset is essential for selecting image characteristics and evaluating the accuracy of people counting methods in an urban event context.
SERENA: Particle Instrument Suite for Determining the Sun-Mercury Interaction from BepiColombo
Authors: Orsini S. , Livi S. A. , Lichtenegger H. , Barabash S. , Milillo A. , De Angelis E. , Phillips M. , Laky G. , Wieser M. , Olivieri A. , Plainaki C. , Ho G. , Killen R. M. , Slavin J. A. , Wurz P. , Berthelier J.-J. , Dandouras I. , Kallio E. , McKenna-Lawlor S. , Szalai S. , Torkar K. , Vaisberg O. , Allegrini F. , Daglis I. A. , Dong C. , Escoubet C. P. , Fatemi S. , Fränz M. , Ivanovski S. , Krupp N. , Lammer H. , Leblanc François , Mangano V. , Mura A. , Nilsson H. , Raines J. M. , Rispoli R. , Sarantos M. , Smith H. T. , Szego K. , Aronica A. , Camozzi F. , Di Lellis A. M. , Fremuth G. , Giner F. , Gurnee R. , Hayes J. , Jeszenszky H. , Tominetti F. , Trantham B. , Balaz J. , Baumjohann W. , Brienza D. , Bührke U. , Bush M. D. , Cantatore M. , Cibella S. , Colasanti L. , Cremonese G. , Cremonesi L. , D’Alessandro M. , Delcourt D. , Delva M. , Desai M. , Fama M. , Ferris M. , Fischer H. , Gaggero A. , Gamborino D. , Garnier P. , Gibson W. C. , Goldstein R. , Grande M. , Grishin V. , Haggerty D. , Holmström M. , Horvath I. , Hsieh K.-C. , Jacques A. , Johnson R. E. , Kazakov A. , Kecskemety K. , Krüger H. , Kürbisch C. , Lazzarotto F. , Leblanc Frederic , Leichtfried M. , Leoni R. , Loose A. , Maschietti D. , Massetti S. , Mattioli F. , Miller G. , Moissenko D. , Morbidini A. , Noschese R. , Nuccilli F. , Nunez C. , Paschalidis N. , Persyn S. , Piazza D. , Oja M. , Ryno J. , Schmidt W. , Scheer J. A. , Shestakov A. , Shuvalov S. , Seki K. , Selci S. , Smith K. , Sordini R. , Svensson J. , Szalai L. , Toublanc D. , Urdiales C. , Varsani A. , Vertolli N. , Wallner R. , Wahlstroem P. , Wilson P. , Zampieri S.
Published: January 2021

The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury will provide simultaneous measurements from two spacecraft, offering an unprecedented opportunity to investigate magnetospheric and exospheric particle dynamics at Mercury as well as their interactions with solar wind, solar radiation, and interplanetary dust. The particle instrument suite SERENA (Search for Exospheric Refilling and Emitted Natural Abundances) is flying in space on-board the BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and is the only instrument for ion and neutral particle detection aboard the MPO. It comprises four independent sensors: ELENA for neutral particle flow detection, Strofio for neutral gas detection, PICAM for planetary ions observations, and MIPA, mostly for solar wind ion measurements. SERENA is managed by a System Control Unit located inside the ELENA box. In the present paper the scientific goals of this suite are described, and then the four units are detailed, as well as their major features and calibration results. Finally, the SERENA operational activities are shown during the orbital path around Mercury, with also some reference to the activities planned during the long cruise phase.
Passive sampler phases for pesticides: evaluation of AttractSPE™ SDB-RPS and HLB versus Empore™ SDB-RPS
Authors: Becker Benjamin , Kochleus Christian , Spira Denise , Möhlenkamp Christel , Bachtin Julia , Meinecke Stefan , Vermeirssen Etiënne L. M.
Published: January 2021

In this study, three different passive sampling receiving phases were evaluated, with a main focus on the comparability of established styrene-divinylbenzene reversed phase sulfonated (SDB-RPS) sampling phase from Empore™ (E-RPS) and novel AttractSPE™ (A-RPS). Furthermore, AttractSPE™ hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) disks were tested. To support sampling phase selection for ongoing monitoring needs, it is important to have information on the characteristics of alternative phases. Three sets of passive samplers (days 1–7, days 8–14, and days 1–14) were exposed to a continuously exchanged mixture of creek and rainwater in a stream channel system under controlled conditions. The system was spiked with nine pesticides in two peak scenarios, with log KOW values ranging from approx. − 1 to 5. Three analytes were continuously spiked at a low concentration. All three sampling phases turned out to be suitable for the chosen analytes, and, in general, uptake rates were similar for all three materials, particularly for SDB-RPS phases. Exceptions concerned bentazon, where E-RPS sampled less than 20% compared with the other phases, and nicosulfuron, where HLB sampled noticeably more than both SDB-RPS phases. All three phases will work for environmental monitoring. They are very similar, but differences indicate one cannot just use literature calibration data and transfer these from one SDB phase to another, though for most compounds, it may work fine.

Graphical abstract
Determinants of CO2 emissions generated by air travel vary across reasons for the trip
Authors: Falk Martin Thomas , Hagsten Eva
Published: January 2021

This study estimates factors of importance for the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions generated by travellers flying for different reasons based on representative Austrian micro data for the period 2014–2016. The annual average number of flights taken by adults vary between 0.1 (visiting friends) and 0.8 (going on holiday), and the amount of CO2e emissions generated by each return flight is approximately 1100 kg. This leads to a total of 6 million tonnes CO2e emissions per year. Results of the Pseudo Poisson Maximum Likelihood estimations reveal that the amount of CO2e emissions created is related to socio-demographic, locational and seasonal factors, although mainly for the largest group of travellers: the holiday makers. In this group, individuals with university degrees, young persons (16–24 years) and capital city residents generate the largest amounts of emissions, as opposed to persons with children and large households. Residents of the capital region each quarter cause 64 kg more CO2e emissions than inhabitants of rural areas, persons with university degrees create 74 kg larger emissions than those without degrees and young adults instigate 90 kg more emissions than middle-aged persons. CO2e emissions of holiday flights are highest in the first quarter of the year. The importance of education is also pronounced for CO2e emissions related to business travel, as is gender.