bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessment of environmental impact of coarse aggregates substitution by crushed pavements in concrete mixtures
Authors: Kočí Jan , Fořt Jan , Kočí Václav , Hager Izabela
Published: October 2020

Inefficient use of end-of-life materials in combination with depletion of primary sources can be understood as a significant factor that motivates to effective waste material recycling and reuse. Since the construction industry produces millions of tons of building materials, which are continuously reaching their service life end, there is a great potential for their reuse instead of simple landfilling. In this light, concrete is a versatile building material that might incorporate lots of recycled building materials as it is demanding on primary sources. A substitution of coarse aggregates by recycled products is, therefore, one of the ways how to mitigate these environmental burdens. This paper aims at evaluation of environmental contributions of concrete with coarse aggregates being substituted by crushed concrete pavements. Various amounts of recycled aggregates were assumed (0%, 50%, and 100%) to reveal the environmental impacts. The analysis incorporates all inputs and outputs related to the production of concrete and recycling of concrete pavements (raw materials production, processing, transport emissions, energy production, etc.). The results indicate that substitution of coarse aggregates by recycled concrete pavements may bring significant mitigation of environmental impacts and hence it deserves further investigation.
Profilage in silico des inhibiteurs de protéine kinases
Authors: Reys Victor , Labesse Gilles
Published: October 2020

Les protéine kinases ont été rapidement identifiées comme favorisant l’apparition de cancers, à travers leur implication dans la régulation du développement et du cycle cellulaire. Il y a une vingtaine d’années, la mise sur le marché des premiers traitements par inhibiteur de protéine kinase, ouvrait la voie vers de nouvelles solutions médicamenteuses plus ciblées contre le cancer. Depuis, nombreuses sont les données structurales et fonctionnelles acquises sur ces cibles thérapeutiques. Les techniques informatiques ont elles aussi évolué, notamment les méthodes d’apprentissage automatique. En tirant parti de la grande quantité d’informations disponibles aujourd’hui, ces méthodes devraient permettre prochainement la prédiction fine de l’interaction d’un inhibiteur donné avec chaque protéine kinase humaine et donc, à terme, la construction d’outils de profilage de leurs inhibiteurs spécifiques. Cette approche intégrative devrait aider la découverte de solutions thérapeutiques anti-cancéreuses plus efficaces et plus sûres.
Les facteurs OvoL
Authors: Mancheno-Ferris Alexandra , Polesello Cédric , Payre François
Published: October 2020

Des avancées majeures révèlent l’hétérogénéité intra-tumorale des cancers d’origine épithéliale, incluant des cellules initiatrices de tumeurs qui ressemblent aux cellules souches adultes. Les cellules souches normales et tumorales partagent en effet leur plasticité entre phénotypes épithéliaux et mésenchymateux, progressant par une série d’états intermédiaires, réversibles. Si un cœur de régulateurs (Snail, Zeb, …) est bien connu pour déclencher la transition épithélio-mésenchymateuse (TEM), les facteurs OvoL/Shavenbaby sont récemment apparus comme des stabilisateurs épithéliaux. La balance entre facteurs pro-TEM et OvoL pourrait ainsi réguler la plasticité phénotypique et le potentiel métastatique des tumeurs. Nous abordons cette question chez la drosophile, un modèle pour disséquer in vivo la fonction de Shavenbaby. Nos travaux montrent que Shavenbaby est un régulateur clé de l’homéostasie des cellules souches adultes. Shavenbaby est indispensable à leur survie, agissant en interaction directe avec la voie Hippo pour protéger les cellules souches de la mort cellulaire programmée.
Stratégies de ciblage spécifique de la tumeur fondées sur les caractéristiques des antigènes tumoraux et du microenvironnement tumoral
Authors: Mangeat Tristan , Gracia Matthieu , Martineau Pierre , Robert Bruno
Published: October 2020

L’immunothérapie à base d’anticorps monoclonaux (AcM) connaît un plein essor en cancérologie. En 2020, plus de 40% des anticorps approuvés par la FDA (Food and Drug Administration) (34 sur 84 anticorps, selon The Antibody Society) ont une indication pour les thérapies anti-cancéreuses. Contrairement à la chimiothérapie standard, ils démontrent un bien meilleur profil de tolérance pour les patients. Malgré cela, des effets indésirables néfastes peuvent survenir en raison du ciblage de l’antigène qui est également exprimé au niveau des tissus sains. C’est pourquoi des stratégies émergentes visent à optimiser le format des anticorps et à tenir compte des particularités du microenvironnement tumoral pour conférer une action encore plus spécifique de l’anticorps au niveau tumoral.
Leitlinien in der Praxis: der herzchirurgische Patient in der intensivmedizinischen Versorgung
Authors: Sander David , Dusse Fabian
Published: October 2020

Die S3-Leitlinie zur intensivmedizinischen Versorgung herzchirurgischer Patienten – Hämodynamisches Monitoring und Herz-Kreislauf 1 vereint aktuelles Wissen zu Empfehlungen für das hämodynamische Monitoring und die differenzierte Kreislauftherapie bei herzchirurgischen Intensivpatienten. Zudem werden anzustrebende Zielparameter der Kreislauftherapie, Behandlungsstrategien bei Links- und Rechtsherzinsuffizienz sowie klare Handlungsempfehlungen nach diversen Eingriffen in diesem Patientenkollektiv aufgezeigt.
Comparison of Three Nursing Workload Assessment Tools in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Their Association with Outcomes of Very Preterm Infants
Authors: Lemieux-Bourque Charlotte , Piedboeuf Bruno , Gignac Simon , Taylor-Ducharme Sharon , Julien Anne-Sophie , Beltempo Marc
Published: October 2020

Objective Nursing workload assessment tools are widely used to determine nurse staffing requirements in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). We aimed to compare three existing workload assessment tools and assess their association with mortality or morbidity among very preterm infants.

Study Design Single-center retrospective cohort study of infants born <33 weeks and admitted to a 52-bed tertiary NICU in 2017 to 2018. Required nurse staffing was estimated for each shift using the Winnipeg Assessment of Neonatal Nursing Needs Tool (WANNNT) used as reference tool, the Quebec Provincial NICU Nursing Ratio (QPNNR), and the Canadian NICU Resource Utilization (CNRU). Poisson regression models with robust error variance estimators were used to assess the association between nursing provision ratios (actual number of nurses/required number of nurses) during the first 7 days of admission and neonatal outcomes.

Results Median number of nurses required per shift using the WANNNT was 25.0 (interquartile range [IQR]: 23.1–26.7). Correlation between WANNNT and QPNNR was high (r = 0.92, p < 0.0001), but the QPNNR underestimated the number of nurses per shift by 4.8 (IQR: 4.1–5.4). Correlation between WANNNT and CNRU was moderate (r = 0.45, p < 0.0001). The NICU nursing provision ratios during the first 7 days of admission calculated using the WANNNT (adjusted risk ratio [aRR]: 0.96, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.93–0.99) and QPNNR (aRR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.95–0.99) were associated with mortality or morbidity.

Conclusion Lower nursing provision ratio calculated using the WANNNT and CNRU during the first 7 days of admission is associated with an increased risk of mortality/morbidity in very preterm infants.

Key Points
Conceptualizing science diplomacy in the practitioner-driven literature: a critical review
Authors: Ruffini Pierre-Bruno
Published: October 2020

Science diplomacy and the practices it covers have existed for a long time, but the related vocabulary emerged only recently. It is only in the last fifteen years or so that there has been a discourse on science diplomacy, in which the practitioner-driven literature dominates. This article is based on a careful examination of some of its key writings. It aims at reflecting on the construction of the concept of science diplomacy, as it is penned by practitioners. Mainstream narratives magnify the practices of international scientific cooperation and generally under-represent the use of science in foreign policy for competitive purposes. In order to explain the gap that exists between the discourse and the reality of practices, this article puts forward a hypothesis, that of a cultural bias originating from the profile of the leading authors, who are both scientists and actors of science diplomacy.
Numerical investigation of medium grade sensible and latent heat storage system for small scale CSP plants
Authors: Bennouna El Ghali , Mimet Abdelaziz
Published: October 2020

Packed bed thermocline heat storage is a promising thermal energy storage alternative to molten salt storage in concentrating solar power plants. Such technology opens the way for using worldwide available materials such as natural rocks and some industrial residues. Packed bed thermocline is highly interesting for small scale plants using medium grade heat as well as for large heat consuming industries and has a potential of increasing the local content of future solar power projects in Morocco and other neighboring countries. In this paper, two packed bed thermocline storage systems are proposed based on the sensible and latent heat storage approaches. A numerical study of both systems is carried out to assess their performance in terms of storage capacity, output stability, and charge/discharge efficiency for a potential pilot application. The target facility is an experimental 1 MWe concentrating solar power with organic Rankine cycle plant at the research platform Green Energy Park in Morocco.
Strain induced Co/Mn ionization and magnetic properties in double-perovskite Nd2CoMnO6 thin films
Authors: Xu X. M. , Shi L. , Pan S. Y. , Zhao J. Y. , Zhou S. M.
Published: October 2020

The double-perovskite Nd2CoMnO6 (NCMO) thin films were epitaxially grown on LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 substrates with different orientations by the polymer-assisted deposition technique. A well crystallization quality of the films is confirmed by x-ray diffraction. The magnetism measurement suggests that all the films have a single ferromagnetic (FM) transition, but its substrate-orientational dependence is different from those in normal perovskite ABO3. By the analysis of the valence states of cations combining with the single FM transition, we suggest that the ionization degree of Co and Mn can be stimulated under both tensile and compressive strain, which can weaken the magnetic interaction. Thus, there are two aspects that competitively affect the magnetism [M(T) and Tc] of the NCMO film, i.e., the variation of oxygen octahedron similar to that in the normal perovskite ABO3 film and the degree of Co/Mn ionization, without changing the order of Co–O–Mn chain arrangement, resulting in the different orientation-dependent magnetism in NCMO films from that normally observed in ABO3 films. Our results give a systematic understanding of the substrate-induced-strain influence on the magnetic interaction in NCMO thin films and widen its practical application.
Separate device probes 2D electron systems without degrading silicon host surface
Authors: Patrick Chris
Published: October 2020

A chip makes the electrical contact necessary to probe a 2D electron system without putting dopants, metals or ohmic contacts directly on the silicon host surface, maintaining its purity.
Design and development of a multipurpose portable heating setup for 45S5 bioglass and other ceramic samples
Authors: Singh Jitendra Kumar , Rao U. S. , Pyare Ram
Published: October 2020

As per the voices in the precision manufacturing industries, the machining of brittle materials such as glass and diamond is intricate owing to their thermo-mechanical properties. Machining of the brittle material with a localized heating method produced softness in the work material during the operation, resulting in microcracks and voids on the finished surface due to thermal stresses. Such pressing issues are solved by dry machining with bulk heating. The objective of the present research is to develop a sophisticated lab-made portable multipurpose heating setup for enabling various potent applications such as machining, elevated temperature scratch and indentation tests, and grinding, among other things, on hard and brittle materials. The mentioned process is done by softening the material with preheating of the samples. The overall dimensions of the developed setup are 105 × 150 × 53 mm3. This setup has been evaluated at different temperatures of the 45S5 bioglass sample surface up to 426 °C and is capable of holding and heating the samples.
Direct Iterative Reconstruction of Computed Tomography Trajectories Reconstruction from limited number of projections with DIRECTT
Authors: Magkos Sotirios , Kupsch Andreas , Bruno Giovanni
Published: October 2020

X-ray computed tomography has many applications in materials science and non-destructive testing. While the standard filtered back-projection reconstruction of the radiographic datasets is fast and simple, it typically fails in returning accurate results from missing or inconsistent projections. Among the alternative techniques that have been proposed to handle such data is the Direct Iterative REconstruction of Computed Tomography Trajectories (DIRECTT) algorithm. We describe a new approach to the algorithm, which significantly decreases the computational time while achieving a better reconstruction quality than that of other established algorithms.
Formation of large-volume plasmas in a microhollow cathode sustained discharge with a needle-plate second anode
Authors: He Shoujie , Zhang Xiwang , Ha Jing , Li Jing , Wang Peng , Li Qing
Published: October 2020

A large-volume glow discharge is produced using a microhollow cathode sustained discharge (MCSD) with a needle-plate second anode in argon. The length and volume of the glow discharge are approximately 3 cm and 7 cm3, respectively, and the electron density is on the order of 1011 cm−3. The MCSD is also simulated using a two-dimensional self-consistent fluid model with a single plate as the second anode. Both the experimental and simulated results show that MCSD generation originates from cooperative formation that involves the microhollow cathode discharge and a discharge that arises from the second anode. The second anode plays an important role in MCSD generation. The electric field and the average electron energy clearly increase in the region near the second anode. The influence of the structure of the second anode on the MCSD characteristics is investigated. When the second anode has a needle-plate structure instead of a single plate structure, the sustaining voltage, breakdown, and annihilation current of the cathode for MCSD decrease substantially, a higher discharge current is obtained, and a more stable, uniform MCSD is produced. The results also show that both needle and plate contribute to glow discharge formation in the region near the second anode.
Dimits shift, avalanche-like bursts, and solitary propagating structures in the two-field flux-balanced Hasegawa–Wakatani model for plasma edge turbulence
Authors: Qi Di , Majda Andrew J. , Cerfon Antoine J.
Published: October 2020

We show that the recently introduced two-field flux-balanced Hasegawa–Wakatani (BHW) model captures the key features of drift-wave turbulent transport mediated by zonal flows observed in more complete and accurate gyrokinetic simulations, such as the existence of a nonlinear upshift of the threshold for drift wave turbulence driven transport, often called the Dimits shift, as well as non-local transport with avalanche bursts and solitary propagating structures. Because of the approximations made in the BHW model, these observations are made for the particle flux instead of the heat flux more commonly studied in ion temperature gradient (ITG) driven turbulence in fluid or gyrokinetic codes. Many of these features are not seen in other Hasegawa–Wakatani models, which confirm the critical role of the electron dynamics parallel to the magnetic field lines. To address questions regarding the role of boundary conditions on the drift-wave zonal flow dynamics, we apply our model to both a channel domain geometry and the more typical doubly periodic geometry. We only observe strong soliton-like solutions in the particle flux for the channel geometry, in the vicinity of the boundaries, where strong velocity shear and density gradients are generated, which are absent in the doubly periodic simulations. Changing the aspect ratio of the simulation domain also has a significant effect. In domains which are elongated in the radial direction, more complex multi-scale dynamics takes place, with multiple zonal jets interacting with each other, and large scale avalanches.
A novel soft gripper based on improved liquid crystal elastomer actuator
Authors: You Ziyue , Liu Fu , Hou Tao
Published: October 2020

Flexible intelligent materials have been created by imitating natural intelligence and have been used to create soft robots, such as soft grippers with a wide variety of complicated functions. Compared with traditional rigid grippers, soft grippers are strongly adaptable, have simple grabbing systems, and can grab and manipulate more types of objects. Due to the flexibility of their materials and machinery, their complexity of control is greatly reduced. Accordingly, in this paper, the control of a liquid crystal elastomer, a popular material in the field of soft robots subjected to thermal stimulation, was studied based on its strong adaptability and reversible shape changes. Within a safe temperature range for deformation control analysis, a genetic algorithm was used to optimize proportional–integral–differential parameters, accompanied by establishing a hardware system for real-time temperature measurement and control. Moreover, the previous experimental results were used to design a soft gripper prototype that could capture small and lightweight fragile objects, which provides guidance for the future research and development of soft grippers.
Bifurcations and chaos in a Lorenz-like pilot-wave system
Authors: Durey Matthew
Published: October 2020

A millimetric droplet may bounce and self-propel on the surface of a vertically vibrating fluid bath, guided by its self-generated wave field. This hydrodynamic pilot-wave system exhibits a vast range of dynamics, including behavior previously thought to be exclusive to the quantum realm. We present the results of a theoretical investigation of an idealized pilot-wave model, in which a particle is guided by a one-dimensional wave that is equipped with the salient features of the hydrodynamic system. The evolution of this reduced pilot-wave system may be simplified by projecting onto a three-dimensional dynamical system describing the evolution of the particle velocity, the local wave amplitude, and the local wave slope. As the resultant dynamical system is remarkably similar in form to the Lorenz system, we utilize established properties of the Lorenz equations as a guide for identifying and elucidating several pilot-wave phenomena, including the onset and characterization of chaos.
Ordering of adsorbed rigid rods mediated by the Boussinesq interaction on a soft substrate
Authors: Kumari Sunita , Ye Fangfu , Podgornik Rudolf
Published: October 2020

Orientational ordering driven by mechanical distortion of soft substrates plays a major role in material transformation processes such as elastocapillarity and surface anchoring. We present a theoretical model of the orientational response of anisotropic rods deposited onto a surface of a soft, elastic substrate of finite thickness. We show that anisotropic rods exhibit a continuous isotropic–nematic phase transition, driven by orientational interactions between surface deposited rods. This interaction is mediated by the deformation of the underlying elastic substrate and is quantified by the Boussinesq solution adapted to the case of slender, surface deposited rods. From the microscopic rod–rod interactions, we derive the appropriate Maier–Saupe mean-field description, which includes the Boussinesq elastic free energy contribution due to the substrate elasticity, derive the conditions for the existence of a continuous orientational ordering transition, and discuss the implication of results in the soft (bio)system context.
Stability and collision dynamics of electron–proton in dense semi-classical hydrogen plasma
Authors: Karmakar Akashdip , Das Biswajit , Ghoshal Arijit
Published: October 2020

Fully quantum mechanical calculations have been carried out to investigate the properties of bound states and collision dynamics of an electron–proton system embedded in dense semi-classical plasmas. In particular, the investigation includes the stability of the hydrogen atom and the dynamics of electron scattering from a proton for a wide range of plasma parameters. The interaction between the electron and proton is modeled by a pseudopotential which takes care of the quantum mechanical effects of diffraction at short distances as well as the collective effect at large distances. A large basis set is employed in the Rayleigh–Ritz variational principle to study the stability of the hydrogen atom. On the other hand, the Schwinger variational method in the momentum space is applied to perform a detailed study on the scattering process. Particular emphasis is made to investigate the scattering dynamics at low energies. Scattering length has been calculated quite accurately to explore the phenomenon of zero-energy resonance. Furthermore, effects of diffraction and effects of screening on the scattering length, full cross section, and transport cross section have been investigated in detail.
A non-invasive gating method for probing 2D electron systems on pristine, intrinsic H-Si(111) surfaces
Authors: Robertson L. D. , Kane B. E.
Published: October 2020

Intrinsic Si(111) surfaces passivated with atomic hydrogen are an ideal platform to host two-dimensional electron systems. Traditional methods to probe these surfaces, however, typically involve the placement of dopants and metals directly onto the surface and subsequent high temperature processing, which can be harsh and invasive and lead to surface degradation. Here, we detail a non-invasive gating approach for probing two-dimensional electron systems on intrinsic H-Si(111) surfaces using a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) gating assembly. In this architecture, all harsh device fabrication is performed on a single SOI chip, ensuring that the H-Si(111) surface remains in pristine condition, or as close to the original manufactured intrinsic-Si wafer as possible. To achieve this, we intentionally keep our H-Si(111) surfaces free of any dopants or metals, which are instead placed on the adjacent SOI chip. All electrical components, including Ohmic contacts and accumulation and depletion gates, are housed in the SOI piece. The Ohmic contacts on the SOI piece are brought into physical and electrical contact with the pristine H-Si(111) piece after being van der Waals bonded at room temperature, while all gates on the SOI piece are separated from the H-Si(111) surface by vacuum. Architecture details, baseline operation tests, and 77 K device characterization measurements will be discussed, as well as the implications of going beyond H-Si(111) surfaces and using our device architecture to facilitate transport measurements on halogen-terminated Si surfaces.
A deep neural network interatomic potential for studying thermal conductivity of
β
-Ga2O3
Authors: Li Ruiyang , Liu Zeyu , Rohskopf Andrew , Gordiz Kiarash , Henry Asegun , Lee Eungkyu , Luo Tengfei
Published: October 2020

β-Ga2O3 is a wide-bandgap semiconductor of significant technological importance for electronics, but its low thermal conductivity is an impeding factor for its applications. In this work, an interatomic potential is developed for β-Ga2O3 based on a deep neural network model to predict the thermal conductivity and phonon transport properties. Our potential is trained by the ab initio energy surface and atomic forces, which reproduces phonon dispersion in good agreement with first-principles calculations. We are able to use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to predict the anisotropic thermal conductivity of β-Ga2O3 with this potential, and the calculated thermal conductivity values agree well with experimental results from 200 to 500 K. Green–Kubo modal analysis is performed to quantify the contributions of different phonon modes to the thermal transport, showing that optical phonon modes play a critical role in the thermal transport. This work provides a high-fidelity machine learning-based potential for MD simulation of β-Ga2O3 and serves as a good example of exploring thermal transport physics of complex semiconductor materials.
Time-independent quantum theory on vibrational inelastic scattering between atoms and open-shell diatomic molecules: Applications to NO + Ar and NO + H scattering
Authors: Zuo Junxiang , Guo Hua
Published: October 2020

A full-dimensional rigorous quantum mechanical treatment of non-reactive inelastic scattering of an open-shell diatom [e.g., NO(2Π)] with a structureless and spinless atom is presented within the time-independent close-coupling framework. The inclusion of the diatomic vibrational degree of freedom allows the investigation of transitions between different vibrational manifolds, in addition to those between different rotational, spin–orbit, and Λ-doublet states. This method is applied to the scattering of vibrationally excited NO(2Π) with Ar and H (with its spin ignored). The former has negligible vibrational inelasticity, thanks to the weak interaction between the two collisional partners. This conclusion justifies the commonly used two-dimensional approximation in treating NO scattering with rare gas atoms. The latter, on the other hand, is shown to undergo significant vibrational relaxation, even in the ultra-cold regime, owing to a chemically bonded (HNO) complex on the lowest-lying singlet potential energy surfaces.
Simulating phonological and semantic impairment of English tense inflection with linear discriminative learning
Authors: Heitmeier Maria , Baayen R. Harald
Published: October 2020

This study applies the computational theory of the ‘discriminative lexicon’ (Baayen, Chuang, and Blevins, 2019) to the modeling of the production of English verbs in aphasic speech. Under semantic impairment, speakers have been reported to have greater difficulties with irregular verbs, whereas speakers with phonological impairment are described as having greater problems with regulars.Joanisse and Seidenberg (1999)were able to model this dissociation, but only by adding noise to the semantic units of their model. We report two simulation studies in which topographically coherent regions of phonological and semantic networks were selectively damaged. Our model replicated the main findings, including the high variability in the consequences of brain lesions for speech production. Importantly, our model generated these results without having to lesion the semantic system more than the phonological system. The model’s success hinges on the use of a corpus-based distributional vector space for representing verbs’ meanings. Irregular verbs have denser semantic neighborhoods than do regular verbs (Baayen and Moscoso del Prado Martín, 2005). In our model this renders irregular verbs more fragile under semantic impairment. These results provide further support for the central idea underlying the discriminative lexicon: that behavioral patterns can, to a considerable extent, be understood as emerging from the distributional properties of a language and basic principles of human learning.
From experiment to real-life data
Authors: Surkyn Hanne , Vandekerckhove Reinhild , Sandra Dominiek
Published: October 2020

We examine unintentional spelling errors on verb homophones in informal online chat conversations of Flemish adolescents. In experiments, these verb forms yielded an effect of homophone dominance, i.e., most errors occurred on the lower-frequency form (Sandra et al., 1999). Verb homophones are argued to require the conscious application of a spelling rule, which may cause a temporary overload of working memory resources and trigger automatic retrieval of the higher-frequency spelling from the mental lexicon. Unlike most previous research, we investigate homophone intrusions in a natural writing context. Thus, we test the ‘ecological validity’ of psycholinguistic experiments. Importantly, this study relates these psycholinguistic constructs to different social variables in social media writing to test a prediction that directly follows from Sandra et al.’s account. Whereas social factors likely affect the error rates, they should not affect the error pattern: the number of working memory failures occurs at another processing level than the homophone intrusions. Hence, the focus is on the interaction between homophone dominance and the social variables. The errors for two types of verb homophones reveal (a) an impact of all social variables, (b) an effect of homophone dominance, and (c) no interaction between this effect and the social factors.
Electrophoretic deposition of carbon nanotubes: recent progress and remaining challenges
Authors: Atiq Ur Rehman Muhammad , Chen Qianq , Braem Annabel , Shaffer Milo S. P. , Boccaccini Aldo R.
Published: October 2020

Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is a powerful technique to assemble carbon nanotube (CNT) coatings and composite films with controlled architectures. This comprehensive review of the EPD of CNTs and CNT-containing composites focuses on achievements within the last 15 years and ongoing challenges. Stable CNT suspensions are a pre-requisite for successful EPD and have been prepared by a variety of strategies, discussed here. The resulting film microstructure is determined by the initial feedstock, the suspension, and the EPD approach applied, as well as a variety of EPD processing parameters. Nanocomposites can be prepared via co-deposition, sequential deposition, or post-deposition treatments, to introduce metallic, ceramic or polymeric phases. There are numerous potential applications for both homogeneous and patterned CNT films, including as structural reinforcements for composites, as field emission, energy storage and conversion devices, as well as in biomedical applications. The advantages and disadvantages of EPD processing in these contexts are discussed.
Return after 500 years? Spanish and Portuguese repatriation laws and the reconstruction of Sephardic identity
Authors: Goldschläger Arielle , Orjuela Camilla
Published: October 2020

In a gesture of reconciliation, Spain and Portugal in 2015 passed bills inviting the descendants of Sephardic Jews – expelled 500 years earlier – to acquire citizenship. Applicants are to ascertain their Sephardic heritage through family trees, evidence of belonging to a religious community, language skills and/or retained links with the homeland. This article explores applicants’ motivations to request citizenship and the ways in which legal provisions, religious associations, and the migration industry become gatekeepers of and (re)shape what it means to be Sephardic. Based on interviews with applicants and other actors involved, the article discusses how states, religious associations, applicants themselves and businesses facilitate and define the process towards citizenship. It also points to how the repatriation laws have spurred identification with – but also alienation from – Spain and Portugal, by making it possible to gain an attractive EU passport, while encouraging the revisiting of a painful past.
Covid-19, social class and work experience in Germany: inequalities in work-related health and economic risks
Authors: Holst Hajo , Fessler Agnes , Niehoff Steffen
Published: October 2020

The study analyses inequalities in how German employees experience corona-related health and economic risks at the workplace. A social class framework is used to locate both types of risks within the vertically stratified and horizontally differentiated employment structure. A mixed-methods approach is applied based on a workforce survey (n = 9737) and qualitative interviews (n = 27), from the early stage of the pandemic (April to May 2020). Logistic regressions triangulated with interview analysis reveal striking occupational inequalities in employees’ corona experience: The work-life burdens of Covid-19 hit social classes quite unequally. Three findings are particularly noteworthy. First, health and economic risk experiences are primarily located in different horizontal segments of the employment structure. Perceived health risks are highest for the classes based on the interpersonal work logic, whereas the independent classes and the technical classes experience higher economic risks. Second, risk experience among wage earners is vertically stratified. In each horizontal segment, members of the lower classes report significantly higher health and economic risks than the upper classes. Third, although health and economic risks have their centres in different horizontal segments, the risks overlap among production and service workers at the lower end of the employment structure; thus, amplifying pre-existing class inequalities.
Nuclear envelope–vacuole contacts mitigate nuclear pore complex assembly stress
Authors: Lord Christopher L. , Wente Susan R.
Published: October 2020

The intricacy of nuclear pore complex (NPC) biogenesis imposes risks of failure that can cause defects in nuclear transport and nuclear envelope (NE) morphology; however, cellular mechanisms used to alleviate NPC assembly stress are not well defined. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we demonstrate that NVJ1- and MDM1-enriched NE–vacuole contacts increase when NPC assembly is compromised in several nup mutants, including nup116ΔGLFG cells. These interorganelle nucleus–vacuole junctions (NVJs) cooperate with lipid droplets to maintain viability and enhance NPC formation in assembly mutants. Additionally, NVJs function with ATG1 to remodel the NE and promote vacuole-dependent degradation of specific nucleoporins in nup116ΔGLFG cells. Importantly, NVJs significantly improve the physiology of NPC assembly mutants, despite having only negligible effects when NPC biogenesis is unperturbed. These results therefore define how NE–vacuole interorganelle contacts coordinate responses to mitigate deleterious cellular effects caused by disrupted NPC assembly.
High-speed single-molecule imaging reveals signal transduction by induced transbilayer raft phases
Authors: Koyama-Honda Ikuko , Fujiwara Takahiro K. , Kasai Rinshi S. , Suzuki Kenichi G.N. , Kajikawa Eriko , Tsuboi Hisae , Tsunoyama Taka A. , Kusumi Akihiro
Published: October 2020

Using single-molecule imaging with enhanced time resolutions down to 5 ms, we found that CD59 cluster rafts and GM1 cluster rafts were stably induced in the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane (PM), which triggered the activation of Lyn, H-Ras, and ERK and continually recruited Lyn and H-Ras right beneath them in the inner leaflet with dwell lifetimes <0.1 s. The detection was possible due to the enhanced time resolutions employed here. The recruitment depended on the PM cholesterol and saturated alkyl chains of Lyn and H-Ras, whereas it was blocked by the nonraftophilic transmembrane protein moiety and unsaturated alkyl chains linked to the inner-leaflet molecules. Because GM1 cluster rafts recruited Lyn and H-Ras as efficiently as CD59 cluster rafts, and because the protein moieties of Lyn and H-Ras were not required for the recruitment, we conclude that the transbilayer raft phases induced by the outer-leaflet stabilized rafts recruit lipid-anchored signaling molecules by lateral raft–lipid interactions and thus serve as a key signal transduction platform.
Pathological RANK signaling in B cells drives autoimmunity and chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Authors: Alankus Begüm , Ecker Veronika , Vahl Nathalie , Braun Martina , Weichert Wilko , Macher-Göppinger Stephan , Gehring Torben , Neumayer Tanja , Zenz Thorsten , Buchner Maike , Ruland Jürgen
Published: October 2020

Clinical evidence suggests alterations in receptor activator of NF-κB (RANK) signaling are key contributors to B cell autoimmunity and malignancy, but the pathophysiological consequences of aberrant B cell–intrinsic RANK signaling remain unknown. We generated mice that express a human lymphoma–derived, hyperactive RANKK240E variant in B lymphocytes in vivo. Forced RANK signaling disrupted B cell tolerance and induced a fully penetrant systemic lupus erythematosus–like disease in addition to the development of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Importantly, RANKK240E transgenic CLL cells as well as CLL cells of independent murine and of human origin depend on microenvironmental RANK ligand (RANKL) for tumor cell survival. Consequently, inhibition of the RANKL–RANK axis with anti-RANKL antibodies killed murine and human CLL cells in vitro and in vivo. These results establish pathological B cell–intrinsic RANK signaling as a potential driver of autoimmunity and B cell malignancy, and they suggest the exploitation of clinically available anti-RANKL compounds for CLL treatment.
Generating black holes in 4D Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet gravity
Authors: Ghosh Sushant G , Kumar Rahul
Published: October 2020

In recent times there is a surge of interest in constructing Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet (EGB) gravity, in the limit D → 4, of the D-dimensional EGB gravity. Interestingly, the static spherically symmetric solutions in the various proposed D → 4 regularized EGB gravities coincide, and incidentally some other theories also admit the same solution. We prove a theorem that characterizes a large family of nonstatic or radiating spherically symmetric solutions to the 4D EGB gravity, representing, in general, spherically symmetric type II fluid. An extension of the theorem, given without proof as being similar to the original theorem, generates static spherically symmetric black hole solutions of the theory. It not only enables us to identify available known black hole solutions as particular cases but also to generate several new solutions of the 4D EGB gravity.
Elastic-plastic properties of mesoscale electrodeposited LIGA nickel alloy films: microscopy and mechanics
Authors: Liew Li-Anne , Read David T , Martin May L , DelRio Frank W , Bradley Peter E , Barbosa Nicholas , Christenson Todd R , Geaney John T
Published: October 2020

The elastic-plastic properties of mesoscale electrodeposited LIGA Ni alloy specimens are investigated as a function of specimen size, strain rate, and material composition. Two material compositions are studied: a high-strength fine-grained Ni-Fe alloy and a high-ductility coarse-grained Ni-Co alloy. The specimens have thicknesses of approximately 200 μm and gauge widths ranging from 75 μm to 700 μm. Tensile tests are conducted at strain rates of 0.001/s and 1/s using tabletop loading apparatuses and digital image correlation (DIC) for strain measurement. For each test condition, the apparent Young’s modulus, yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and strain hardening exponent and strength coefficient are extracted from the tensile tests. The true strains to failure are also assessed from fractography. Size, rate, and composition effects are discussed. For most properties, the statistical scatter represented by the standard deviation exceeds the measurement uncertainty; the notable exceptions to these observations are the apparent Young’s modulus and yield strength, where large measurement uncertainties are ascribed to common experimental factors and material microplasticity.
Exploration of MXene/polyaniline composites as promising anode materials for sodium ion batteries
Authors: Zhou Wentong , Kuang Wei , Liang Xianqing , Zhou Wenzheng , Guo Jin , Gan Liyong , Huang Dan
Published: October 2020

MXenes are one of the most promising electrode materials in energy storage devices owing to their unique properties, but the practical applications have been severely plagued by the low accessible electroactive area due to their inevitable restacking during electrode preparation. Recent experimental studies have reported that the additivepolyaniline (PANI) enables us to greatly improve the electrochemical performance of MXene-based electrodes. Herein, we systematically investigate the electronic, electrochemical and mechanical properties of MXene/PANI composites, aiming to acquire a comprehensive insight. The results demonstrate that the insertion of PANI allows effective suppression of the restacking and enhances the electric conductivity and mechanical flexibility. Moreover, the presence of PANI maintains the high Na adsorption strength and fast Na mobility and preserves well the average open circuit voltage features and the maximum Na content of MXenes. These favorable attributes may not only collectively explain the experimentally observed outstanding electrochemical performance, but also render the MXene/PANI composites promising anode candidates in Na-ion batteries.
Probing the sensitivity to leptonic δ
CP in presence of invisible decay of ν
3 using atmospheric neutrinos
Authors: Mohan Lakshmi S
Published: October 2020

One of the main neutrino oscillation parameters whose value has not been determined very precisely is the leptonic δ
CP phase. Since neutrinos have a tiny but finite mass they can undergo decay both visibly and invisibly. The effect of invisible decay of the third mass eigen state ν
3 on the sensitivity to δ
CP is analysed here using atmospheric neutrino and anti-neutrino events. Effects of detector resolutions and systematic uncertainties are studied to identify the optimum resolutions and efficiencies required by a detector to obtain a significant sensitivity even in the presence of decay.
How augmented reality enhances typical classroom experiments: examples from mechanics, electricity and optics
Authors: Teichrew Albert , Erb Roger
Published: October 2020

Real situations are overlaid with virtual information using augmented reality technology. In a learning environment, this technology could give everyday relevance to abstract concepts. In this paper, we will show how physical structures in typical experiments can be simply augmented by virtual objects in physics classes. This is achieved by modelling objects with the GeoGebra software and overlaying visualisations of non-tangible, physical properties such as force arrows, colour-coded potential and light rays. Using the GeoGebra 3D Calculator app on a smartphone or tablet, these models can be displayed on any surface seen through the camera and dynamically adapted to real structures such as inclined planes, simple circuits or plane mirrors. As a result, elements that are normally not observable are visualised and contribute to understanding the phenomenon. Based on these ideas, further so-called augmented reality experiments can be devised from these examples. Augmenting real experiments with representations of physical concepts should enable students to see the world through the lens of a scientist and gain a deeper understanding.
Determination of kinetic friction coefficient using an Arduino
Authors: Çoban Atakan
Published: October 2020

In this study, a kinetic friction coefficient was determined using an Arduino microcontroller. For this purpose, we used an Arduino UNO, an HC-SR04 ultrasonic distance sensor, two wooden blocks, a pulley system and connecting cables. In the experimental process, one wooden block was attached to another wooden block that was able move in the vertical direction with the help of a pulley. The acceleration was calculated by taking the change of the position of the object per unit of time with the help of a distance sensor throughout the movement. Then, using Newton’s second law, the friction coefficient between the wooden block and the surface was calculated as 0.426. In order to test the accuracy of the study result, a widely used method was also used and the kinetic friction coefficient was found to be 0.384, which is close to the result determined in this study.
Deep learning-based inverse mapping for fluence map prediction
Authors: Ma Lin , Chen Mingli , Gu Xuejun , Lu Weiguo
Published: October 2020

We developed a fluence map prediction method that directly generates fluence maps for a given desired dose distribution without optimization for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) planning. The prediction consists of two steps. First, projections of the desired dose are calculated and then inversely mapped to fluence maps in the phantom geometry by a deep neural network. Second, a plan scaling technique is applied to scale fluence maps from phantom to patient geometry. We evaluated the performance of the proposed fluence map prediction method for 102 head and neck (H&N) and 14 prostate cancer VMAT plans by comparing the patient doses calculated from the predicted fluence maps with the given desired dose distributions. The mean dose differences were 1.42% ± 0.37%, 1.53% ± 0.44% and 1.25% ± 0.44% for the planning target volume (PTV), the region from the PTV boundary to the 50% isodose line, and the region from the 50% to the 20% isodose line, respectively. The gamma passing rate was 98.06% ± 2.64% with the 3 mm/3% criterion. The prediction time for a single VMAT plan was less than one second. In conclusion, we developed an inverse mapping-based method that predicts fluence maps for desired dose distributions with high accuracy. Our method is effectively an optimization-free inverse planning approach, which was orders of magnitude faster than fluence map optimization. Combining the proposed method with leaf sequencing has the potential to dramatically speed up VMAT treatment planning.
Optimal treatment plan adaptation using mid-treatment imaging biomarkers
Authors: ten Eikelder S C M , Ferjančič P , Ajdari A , Bortfeld T , den Hertog D , Jeraj R
Published: October 2020

Previous studies on personalized radiotherapy (RT) have mostly focused on baseline patient stratification, adapting the treatment plan according to mid-treatment anatomical changes, or dose boosting to selected tumor subregions using mid-treatment radiological findings. However, the question of how to find the optimal adapted plan has not been properly tackled. Moreover, the effect of information uncertainty on the resulting adaptation has not been explored.

In this paper, we present a framework to optimally adapt radiation therapy treatments to early radiation treatment response estimates derived from pre- and mid-treatment imaging data while considering the information uncertainty. The framework is based on the optimal stopping in radiation therapy (OSRT) framework. Biological response is quantified using tumor control probability (TCP) and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) models, and these are directly optimized for in the adaptation step. Two adaptation strategies are discussed: (1) uniform dose adaptation and (2) continuous dose adaptation. In the first strategy, the original fluence-map is simply scaled upwards or downwards, depending on whether dose escalation or de-escalation is deemed appropriate based on the mid-treatment response observed from the radiological images. In the second strategy, a full NTCP-TCP-based fluence map re-optimization is performed to achieve the optimal adapted plans.

We retrospectively tested the performance of these strategies on 14 canine head and neck cases treated with tomotherapy, using as response biomarker the change in the 3’-deoxy-3’[(18)F]-fluorothymidine (FLT)-PET signals between the pre- and mid-treatment images, and accounting for information uncertainty. Using a 10% uncertainty level, the two adaptation strategies both yield a noteworthy average improvement in guaranteed (worst-case) TCP.
Addendum: Electron-cyclotron heating and kinetic instabilities of a mirror-confined plasma: the quasilinear theory revised (2020 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 62 065005)
Authors: Shalashov A G , Gospodchikov E D , Izotov I V
Published: October 2020

We explain and fix a mistake of the original paper related to derivation of the Fokker–Planck kinetic equation for the distribution function in the non-canonical (not Hamiltonian) phase space.