bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluating the occurrence and spatial patterns of soil water repellency in the Deschutes National Forest, Oregon
Authors: Weatherholt Jalene A. , Johnson Brittany G.
Published: April 2024

High levels of soil water repellency (SWR) can hinder water infiltration and increase surface soil erosion risk and runoff. Although SWR occurs naturally in many areas, it is often patchy and does not impede water movement. However, fire can increase the connectedness and extent of SWR leading to topsoil loss, nutrient limitations, increased root water stress, and ultimately slower ecosystem recovery. This study examines the naturally hydrophobic soils of Oregon's Deschutes National Forest following the 2020 Green Ridge Fire to (1) examine the relationship between SWR and management‐relevant burn severity classes, (2) quantify an appropriate spatial scale over which to evaluate SWR properties, and (3) determine which environmental factors drive patterns in SWR. We found that the top 1–3 cm of soil became less hydrophobic after fire, while the profile to about 10 cm became more uniformly hydrophobic. This could indicate that surface soil is more prone to post‐fire erosion in burned areas. However, predicting SWR is still challenging. While burn severity and environmental metrics did statistically account for some variation in SWR following fire, the range of SWR spatial autocorrelation was at best a few meters. Due to this fine‐scale variation, future work should focus on determining an efficient post‐fire soil evaluation protocol with adequate density and scale of sampling while also incorporating the influence of environmental factors to inform management decisions.
The moral economy of land markets in the Nicaragua highlands
Authors: Ripoll Santiago
Published: April 2024

This article explores how small‐scale farmers' shared moral understandings of land shape both land sales and land rental markets, in the context of the commoditization of agriculture in Nicaragua. The results here presented are based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a subsistence farming community in the highlands of Nicaragua. This research shows that even in relatively commoditized market economies, shared yet contested ideas around the ethics of a community moral economy stall and constrain the local marketization of land. Social relationships, ideas of a sacred origin of land, and expectations about the duties of landholders toward their community peers undermine the capitalist dynamics of supply and demand. This ethical challenge to capitalist market expansion into land markets enables the survival of small‐scale subsistence farming. These findings are important, as they show how land markets are shaped by differing perspectives on historical dynamics of land tenure, class differentiation, and the everyday moral economies in which competing ideas of obligation, solidarity, and fair prices are articulated.
Gas‐centered mutation testing of Ethereum Smart Contracts
Authors: Delgado‐Pérez Pedro , Meléndez‐Lapi Ignacio , Boubeta‐Puig Juan
Published: April 2024

Smart contracts (SC) are programs embodying certain business logic stored on a blockchain network like Ethereum. The execution of transactions on SC has a cost, measured in gas units, that depends on the low‐level operations performed. Therefore, a poor choice of high‐level language constructs could lead to overcharging users for their transactions. Thus, a testing process focused on possible deviations of the gas used in diverse scenarios could provide substantial global savings. This paper presents a gas‐centered mutation testing approach for taking care of the gas consumed by Solidity SCs. This approach can be useful to improve the test quality to detect gas‐related problems, reason about performance issues that only manifest in certain situations, and identify alternative more optimal implementations. We define and implement several mutation operators specifically designed to perturb gas consumption while preserving contract semantics in general. Our experiments using several real‐world SCs show the feasibility of the technique, with some mutants reproducing meaningful differences in the consumption and exposing some gas limits not tight enough in historic transactions. Therefore, our approach is shown to be a good ally to prevent the appearance of gas‐related issues and lays the groundwork for researchers seeking to improve performance testing practices.
Large‐Area Deposition of Highly Crystalline F4‐Tetracyanoquinodimethane Thin Films by Molecular Step Templates
Authors: Qiu Fengquan , Deng Wei , Shi Xinmin , Ai Dewen , Ren Xiaobin , Dong Anyi , Zhang Xiujuan , Jie Jiansheng
Published: April 2024

Theoretical studies have unequivocally determined the exceptional electron transport properties of the fluorinated tetracyanoquinodimethane (Fx‐TCNQ) family, presenting a promising avenue for the realization of high‐performance n‐channel organic thin‐film transistors (OTFTs). However, owing to the intrinsic low crystallinity of this class of materials, Fx‐TCNQ‐based n‐channel OTFTs have not been experimentally achieved so far. Herein, a molecular step template (MST)‐assisted method that dramatically improves the crystallinity of F4‐TCNQ thin films is reported. The MST not only lowers the nucleation barrier of F4‐TCNQ molecules along the in‐plane direction but also reduces the nucleation density. This approach facilitates the realization of compact, oriented, and highly crystalline F4‐TCNQ thin films, resulting in impressive electron mobility of up to 2.58 cm2 V−1 s−1. Notably, this achievement surpasses the electron mobility of F4‐TCNQ thin films fabricated without the MST by a factor of 107. Furthermore, the incorporation of the p‐type MST provides a novel pathway for constructing complementary inverters, showcasing a high voltage gain of 112.6 V V−1 and a substantial noise margin of 89.3% with exceptional uniformity. In this work, a general and efficient route is paved to produce high‐performance n‐channel OTFTs toward organic complementary circuits.
The Electrocatalytic Activity of Au Electrodes Changes Significantly in Various Na+/K+ Supporting Electrolyte Mixtures
Authors: Sarpey Theophilus K. , Himmelreich Adrian V. , Song Kun‐Ting , Gubanova Elena L. , Bandarenka Aliaksandr S.
Published: April 2024

The potential of maximum entropy (PME) is an indicator of extreme disorder at the electrode/electrolyte interface and can predict changes in catalytic activity within electrolytes of varying compositions. The laser‐induced current transient technique is employed to evaluate the PME for Au polycrystalline (Aupc) electrodes immersed in Ar‐saturated cation electrolyte mixtures containing potassium and sodium ions at pH = 8. Five cation ratios (0.5 M K2SO4:0.5 M Na2SO4 = 0:1, 0.25:0.75, 0.5:0.5, 0.75:0.25, and 1:0) are explored, considering earlier studies that unveil cation‐dependent shifts at near‐neutral pH. Moreover, for all electrolyte compositions, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy is utilized to determine the double‐layer capacitance (CDL), the minimum of which should be close to the potential of zero charge (PZC). By correlating cation molar ratios with the PMEs and PZCs, the impact on the model oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity, assessed via the rotating disk electrode method, is analyzed. The results demonstrate a linear relationship between electrolyte cation mixtures and PME, while ORR activity exhibits an exponential trend. This observation validates the PME–activity link hypothesis, underscoring electrolyte components’ pivotal role in tailoring interfacial properties for electrocatalytic systems. These findings introduce a new degree of freedom for designing optimal electrocatalytic systems by adjusting various electrolyte components.
Significance of the Different Exposed Surfaces of ZnO Single Crystals and Nanowires on the Photocatalytic Activity and Processes
Authors: Baillard Adrien , Appert Estelle , Rapenne Laetitia , Jacob Véronique , Dieulesaint Alexandre , Chauveau Jean‐Michel , Consonni Vincent
Published: April 2024

The heterogeneous photocatalysis of organic dyes using ZnO nanowires (NWs) is of high interest to face the challenge of eco‐efficient water remediation. However, the effects of the wurtzite structure of ZnO and hence of the shape of nanostructures on the photocatalytic processes are still under debate. Herein, it is shown that the photocatalytic activity of ZnO single crystals with five different orientations follows a pseudo‐first‐order kinetics as: () < {} < {} < {} < (). The photocatalytic processes are independent of the nature of the crystallographic planes, apart from the semipolar {} orientation. Interestingly, ZnO NWs exhibit a photocatalytic activity that is relatively independent of their length, which is neither due to the penetration of organic dyes nor to the penetration of UV light. Instead, the sidewalls of ZnO NWs are much less efficient than the ZnO single crystal with the same nonpolar m‐plane orientation, indicating that the structural morphology and chemical composition of the surface, as well as their much higher doping level, govern the photocatalytic activity and processes. These findings indicate that the increase in the photocatalytic activity of ZnO NWs should be addressed by designing more active surfaces rather than simply increasing their total surface area.
Exceeding 50 000 Cycle Durability of Layered Hydroxide‐Based Hybrid Supercapacitor Through Scandium Doping‐Induced Superlong Activation Process
Authors: Hu Wenxuan , Hu Bin , Wu Ziliang , Zuo Min , Song Yihu , Zheng Qiang , Shan Guorong , Du Miao
Published: April 2024

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are a class of promising cathode materials for supercapacitors. However, the bad cycling performance has always been the Achilles’ heel of LDHs‐based supercapacitors. In this contribution, a nonelectrochemical active element Scandium (Sc) is doped into NiCo‐LDHs to greatly improve the intrinsic cycling performance of active materials. The trimetallic NiCoSc‐LDHs exhibit an ultralong cycle lifespan with 40 000 charge–discharge cycles (exceeding 50 days) and a high specific capacity of 196 mAh g−1 (1695 F g−1). Sc doping greatly changes the degradation mode of NiCo‐LDHs from rapid decay in thousands of cycles to a two‐stage performance evolution, which consists of a superlong activation process of about 10 000 cycles and then extremely slow degradation. Moreover, Sc doping enhances the electrochemical activity of Ni3+, so as to not only avoid its Jahn–Teller distortion, but also perform as a structural stabilizer to alleviate the local strain of host layer. The assembled asymmetric supercapacitor delivers an ultralong cycling lifespan with 101% capacity retention even after 50 000 cycles. This work presents a new pathway to significantly improve the electrochemical performance, especially the cycling stability of LDH‐based electrodes for high‐performance supercapacitors.
Examining success factors for logistics outsourcing in Sub‐Saharan Africa
Authors: Alioni Christopher , Park Byung‐In , Min Hokey
Published: April 2024

With the rapid globalization of business activities, logistics has become incredibly complex and intricate. As such, managing logistics is more challenging than ever. One of the trendy solutions to deal with this challenge is logistics outsourcing. In this regard, Sub‐Saharan African firms are no exception. To help Sub‐Saharan African firms succeed in leveraging logistics outsourcing for their competitive differentiators, this article aims to investigate how the organizational capabilities of third‐party logistics service providers (3PLs) contribute to their users' logistics outsourcing success. Based on an empirical analysis of 211 food processing firms in Uganda, we found that the 3PLs' technological and innovation capabilities positively affected logistics outsourcing success. In contrast, the 3PLs' flexibility and integration capabilities had no bearing on the logistics outsourcing success. In particular, our importance–performance map analysis (IPMA) revealed that the 3PLs' technological capability was the most significant factor in logistics outsourcing success. The article also expounds on how the 3PLs' technical capability can bring logistics outsourcing success.
Baseball, Presidents, and State Test Passages: Considering Gendered Knowledge in Literacy Research, Curricula, and Assessments
Authors: Reynolds Dan , Hattan Courtney
Published: April 2024

The role of knowledge and reading comprehension has seen a recent explosion of attention from researchers, journalists, and policy advocates. Much of this discourse describes knowledge in neutral terms such as knowledge of “the world”. That knowledge of the world, however, is woven into the fabric of the gendered world we live in and its gendered education systems. In this article, we delve into three “exhibits” to highlight gendered aspects of knowledge and comprehension research and practice. In the first exhibit, we demonstrate the gendered nature of knowledge research by examining the male‐centric participant sampling and measurement design of baseball knowledge studies, which are widely cited in translational science and practitioner articles about knowledge and literacy curriculum. We then examine the gendered nature of knowledge curriculum by looking at a male‐centric unit from a popular knowledge‐focused curriculum, Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA). Then, we present data about the gender of authors whose passages are selected for state ELA assessments, finding that women authors are overrepresented in the elementary and underrepresented in the high school grades. As former K‐12 teachers and current researchers engaged with the everyday work of literacy teaching, we agree that knowledge‐rich curriculum supports students’ reading comprehension. Still, we call for researchers and educators to interrogate gendered discourse around knowledge and comprehension to avoid reproducing traditional gender inequities.
Auf den Spuren des Urknalls
Authors: Gerberding Oliver , Grundmann Jens , Wutzler René , Basalaev Artem
Published: April 2024

Seit der LIGO‐Kollaboration Ende 2015 der erste direkte Nachweis gravitationsbedingter Ausbreitungen von Raumzeit‐Störungen gelang, steht ein weiteres Werkzeug zur Beobachtung des Weltalls zur Verfügung. In verschiedensten Projekten feilt man nun an der Verfeinerung der Messtechnik, um aus möglichst weiter Entfernung ausgesendete Signale untersuchen und so noch weiter in die Vergangenheit des Weltalls schauen zu können. Neben exzellenten Laser‐Interferometern, deren Funktionsweise hier kurz vorgestellt wird, braucht es zuverlässige Vakuumtechnik für den Erfolg dieser Messungen.

Was beim Aufbau einer solchen Vakuumanlage zu berücksichtigen ist, und welche Pumpentypen dabei zum Einsatz kommen, wird hier anhand des Projekts „VATIGrav” beschrieben.
Vacuum Guerikianum ‐ Guericke‐Vakuum
Authors: Knapp Wolfram
Published: April 2024

Otto von Guericke hat die Vakuumpumpe etwa 1649 in Magdeburg erfunden und weiterentwickelt. Damit begründete er die Vakuumtechnik, deren weltweite Anwendung gegenwärtig rasant wächst. Das Guericke‐Vakuum ist der Druckbereich von Atmosphärendruck bis zu dem Vakuumdruck, den Otto von Guericke in seinen Experimenten minimal erreicht hat bzw. erreicht haben könnte. Der Vakuumdruck wurde von Guericke nicht gemessen. Aber mit seinen Versuchsbedingungen: 1. Wasser als Dichtungsflüssigkeit, 2. Glasrezipient und 3. Beobachtung von Wasserdampf beim Abpumpen, kann der unterste Vakuumenddruck anhand der Sättigungsdampfdruckkurve von Wasser rekonstruiert werden. Das Ergebnis ist abhängig von der Temperatur. Wie genau auch, das Guericke‐Vakuum entspricht dem Grobvakuum‐Bereich der Vakuumtechnik. In Würdigung Guerickes genialem Wirken zur Begründung und Entwicklung der Vakuumtechnik nennen wir das Grobvakuum auch Guericke‐Vakuum, welches den Druckbereich von Normaldruck bis 1 hPa umfasst.
Empowering PVD for corrosion protection
Authors: Hoche Holger , Ulrich Thomas , Kaestner Peter , Oechsner Matthias
Published: April 2024

A novel, monolithic DC‐magnetron sputtered TiN+MgGd coating, only 3to5 μm thick, effectively protects steel substrates from corrosion. This achievement is due to alloying of TiN with MgGd, which not only maintains the renowned wear resistance of TiN coatings, but potentially improves it through optimized deposition parameters.

The key to the enhanced corrosion resistance lies in the addition of magnesium (Mg) and gadolinium (Gd). It reduces the coating's free corrosion potential, thereby mitigating the driving force for galvanic corrosion between coating and substrate. Moreover, at specific Mg to Gd ratios, a cathodic protection effect can be observed. Crucially, the presence of Gd is essential for this performance. It imparts hydrophobicity to the coating surface, reinforces a passivating layer and significantly enhances defect tolerance.

This discovery paves the way for a sustainable alternative to electroplated chromium or combined electroplating and PVD, offering superior corrosion protection with minimal coating thickness.
Angeregte Moleküle
Authors: Stadtmüller Benjamin
Published: April 2024

Die Umwandlung von Licht in Ladungsträger und deren Transport zu elektrischen Kontakten sind die Hauptaufgaben organischer Halbleiter in Bauelementen der Informationstechnologie und Photovoltaik. Doch bislang ist wenig über die gegenseitige Beeinflussung beider Prozesse bekannt. Die zeitaufgelöste Photoelektronen‐Spektroskopie mit ultrakurzen Pulsen im extremen UV‐Bereich liefert Einblicke in die Kopplung von optischen und Transporteigenschaften in organischen Halbleitern.
Fabrication and antimicrobial properties of novel meropenem‐honey encapsulated chitosan nanoparticles against multiresistant and biofilm‐forming Staphylococcus aureus as a new antimicrobial agent
Authors: Hajimohammadi Sameh , Momtaz Hassan , Tajbakhsh Elahe
Published: April 2024

Background

Honey exhibits a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity against Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria, including methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) ones. Chitosan (Cs) is a mucoadhesive polymer that also has antibacterial properties. Special attention has been paid to the design of polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) as new nano drug delivery systems to overcome bacterial resistance and its problems.

Objectives

The aim of the present study is to synthesize Cs‐meropenem NPs with/without honey as an antibiofilm and antibacterial agent to inhibit Staphylococcus aureus.

Methods

This study synthesized meropenem and honey‐loaded Cs nanogels and subsequently characterized them by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and DLS‐zeta potential. Using the broth microdilution and crystal violet assays, the antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of meropenem and honey‐loaded Cs nanogel, free meropenem, free honey, and free Cs NPs were investigated in vitro against MRSA strains. 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyl‐2H‐tetrazolium bromide (MTT) was also used to test the cytotoxicity of several Cs‐NPs compound against the HEK‐293 regular cell line.

Results

The average size of meropenem and honey‐Cs‐NPs was reported to be 119.885 nm, and encapsulation efficiency was 88.33 ± 0.97 with stability up to 60 days at 4°C. The NPs showed enhanced antibiofilm efficacy against S. aureus at sub‐minimum inhibitory concentrations. Additionally, the cytotoxicity of meropenem and honey‐encapsulated Cs against the HEK‐293 normal cell line was insignificant.

Conclusions

Our findings suggested that meropenem and honey‐Cs‐NPs might be potential antibacterial and antibiofilm materials.
Establishment of the HPLC fluorescence detection method for plasma trace ivermectin and its pharmacokinetics in Bactrian camel
Authors: Hou Bin , Wang Haifeng , Jiang Nan , Haosi Bilige , Hasi Surong
Published: April 2024

Background and objective

Ivermectin (IVM), a widely used veterinary anthelmintic, lacks recommended doses for Bactrian camels. This study aims to establish its pharmacokinetics in Bactrian camels, comparing with other livestock.

Methods

A method for high‐performance liquid chromatography fluorescence detection of IVM in plasma was developed.

Results

IVM exhibited linear scaling (y = 0.6946x + 0.0088, R2 = 0.9988) within 0.025–5 ng/mL, with a lower limit of quantification of 25.00 pg/mL, high recovery (>70%) and low RSD (<7%). In Bactrian camels, IVM injection showed a low Cmax, extended Tmax and apparent secondary absorption compared to cattle and sheep.

Conclusions

Slow absorption and widespread distribution were observed, with peak concentration and area under the curve correlating positively with the dose. This study provides insights into IVM pharmacokinetics in Bactrian camels, informing dose determination and highlighting potential metabolic differences compared to other livestock.
Identifying veterinary surgeons’ barriers to, and potential solutions for, improving antimicrobial stewardship among sheep farmers in Northern Ireland
Authors: Crawford Paul E. , Hamer Kim , Lovatt Fiona , Behnke Malgorzata C. , Robinson Philip A.
Published: April 2024

Background

In order to improve antimicrobial stewardship (AMS), including changes in antimicrobial prescribing and use, an enhanced understanding is needed of the barriers that veterinary surgeons (vets) encounter to institute such change.

Methods

A qualitative approach, using grounded theory, was followed. Interviews and discussion groups, with vets and farm industry stakeholders in Northern Ireland (NI), were undertaken to identify and explore attitudes and behaviours surrounding AMS, with a particular emphasis on the barriers vets encountered and the context within which they were working.

Results

Seven inter‐related themes associated with improving AMS among their sheep farming clients were identified. The first six addressed barriers were working under commercial and practical constraints, farmer behaviour, multiple medicine sources, poor prescribing practice, a perceived lack of incentive or facilitation to improve AMS and a perceived lack of action by regulators to challenge poor AMS. The seventh theme revealed suggestions vets considered that may improve AMS in NI, including greater state intervention in recording and regulating medicine sales.

Conclusions

Improving AMS will require vets and their client farmers to change behaviour. This will involve concerted effort over an extended period of time to enact and embed change. Veterinary surgeons believe that further action by the industry and state to develop centralised antimicrobial sales recording and by the state to enforce prescribing regulations will aid their efforts. However, critical to achieving this is the development of a sustainable and funded mechanism to create more meaningful farmer–vet consultation around flock health prior to every prescription to improve AMS and sheep welfare.
Upper gastrointestinal and hepatopancreaticobiliary surgery in New Zealand: Balancing the volume‐outcome relationship with accessibility in a surgically low volume country
Authors: Koea Jonathan , Chao Phillip , Srinivasa Sanket , Gurney Jason
Published: April 2024

Introduction

New Zealand has a population of only 5.5 million meaning that for many surgical procedures the country qualifies as a “low‐volume center.” However, the health system is well developed and required to provide complex surgical procedures that benchmark internationally against comparable countries. This investigation was undertaken to review regional variation and volumes of complex resection and palliative upper gastrointestinal (UGI) surgical procedures within New Zealand.

Methods

Data pertaining to patients undergoing complex resectional UGI procedures (esophagectomy, gastrectomy, pancreatectomy, and hepatectomies) and palliative UGI procedures (esophageal stenting, enteroenterostomy, biliary enteric anastomosis, and liver ablation) in a New Zealand hospital between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2019 were obtained from the National Minimum Dataset.

Results

New Zealand is a low‐volume center for UGI surgery (229 hepatectomies, 250 gastrectomies, 126 pancreatectomies, and 74 esophagectomies annually). Over 80% of patients undergoing hepatic resection/ablation, gastrectomy, esophagectomy, and pancreatectomy are treated in one of the six national cancer centers (Auckland, Waikato, Mid‐Central, Capital Coast, Canterbury, or Southern). There is evidence of the decreasing frequency of these procedures in small centers with increasing frequency in large centers suggesting that some regionalization is occurring. Palliative procedures were more widely performed. Indigenous Māori were less likely to be treated in a nationally designated cancer center than non‐Māori.

Conclusions

The challenge for New Zealand and similarly sized countries is to develop and implement a system that optimizes the skills and pathways that come from a frequent performance of complex surgery while maintaining system resilience and ensuring equitable access for all patients.
The application strategy of liposomes in organ targeting therapy
Authors: Xun Zengyu , Li Tianqi , Xue Xue
Published: April 2024

Liposomes—microscopic phospholipid bubbles with bilayered membrane structure—have been a focal point in drug delivery research for the past 30 years. Current liposomes possess a blend of biocompatibility, drug loading efficiency, prolonged circulation and targeted delivery. Tailored liposomes, varying in size, charge, lipid composition, and ratio, have been developed to address diseases in specific organs, thereby enhancing drug circulation, accumulation at lesion sites, intracellular delivery, and treatment efficacy for various organ‐specific diseases. For further successful development of this field, this review summarized liposomal strategies for targeting different organs in series of major human diseases, including widely studied cardiovascular diseases, liver and spleen immune diseases, chronic or acute kidney injury, neurodegenerative diseases, and organ‐specific tumors. It highlights recent advances of liposome‐mediated therapeutic agent delivery for disease intervention and organ rehabilitation, offering practical guidelines for designing organ‐targeted liposomes.

This article is categorized under:

Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies

Biology‐Inspired Nanomaterials > Lipid‐Based Structures
Comparative transcriptome analysis reveals the redirection of metabolic flux from cell growth to astaxanthin biosynthesis in Yarrowia lipolytica
Authors: Wang Dan‐Ni , Yu Chen‐Xi , Feng Jie , Wei Liu‐Jing , Chen Jun , Liu Zhijie , Ouyang Liming , Zhang Lixin , Liu Feng , Hua Qiang
Published: April 2024

Engineering Yarrowia lipolytica to produce astaxanthin provides a promising route. Here, Y. lipolytica M2 producing a titer of 181 mg/L astaxanthin was isolated by iterative atmospheric and room‐temperature plasma mutagenesis and diphenylamine‐mediated screening. Interestingly, a negative correlation was observed between cell biomass and astaxanthin production. To reveal the underlying mechanism, RNA‐seq analysis of transcriptional changes was performed in high producer M2 and reference strain M1, and a total of 1379 differentially expressed genes were obtained. Data analysis revealed that carbon flux was elevated through lipid metabolism, acetyl‐CoA and mevalonate supply, but restrained through central carbon metabolism in strain M2. Moreover, upregulation of other pathways such as ATP‐binding cassette transporter and thiamine pyrophosphate possibly provided more cofactors for carotenoid hydroxylase and relieved cell membrane stress caused by astaxanthin insertion. These results suggest that balancing cell growth and astaxanthin production may be important to promote efficient biosynthesis of astaxanthin in Y. lipolytica.
Performance and Energy Aware Training of a Deep Neural Network in a Multi-GPU Environment with Power Capping
Authors: Koszczał Grzegorz , Dobrosolski Jan , Matuszek Mariusz , Czarnul Paweł
Published: April 2024

In this paper we demonstrate that it is possible to obtain considerable improvement of performance and energy aware metrics for training of deep neural networks using a modern parallel multi-GPU system, by enforcing selected, non-default power caps on the GPUs. We measure the power and energy consumption of the whole node using a professional, certified hardware power meter. For a high performance workstation with 8 GPUs, we were able to find non-default GPU power cap settings within the range of 160–200 W to improve the difference between percentage energy gain and performance loss by over 15.0%, EDP (Abbreviations and terms used are described in main text.) by over 17.3%, EDS with k = 1.5 by over 2.2%, EDS with k = 2.0 by over 7.5% and pure energy by over 25%, compared to the default power cap setting of 260 W per GPU. These findings demonstrate the potential of today’s CPU+GPU systems for configuration improvement in the context of performance-energy consumption metrics.
GPPRMon: GPU Runtime Memory Performance and Power Monitoring Tool
Authors: Topçu Burak , Öz Işıl
Published: April 2024

Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) perform highly efficient parallel execution for high-performance computation and embedded system domains. While performance concerns drive the main optimization efforts, power issues become important for energy-efficient GPU executions. While performance profilers and architectural simulators offer statistics about the target execution, they either present only performance metrics in a coarse kernel function level or lack visualization support that enables performance bottleneck analysis or performance-power consumption comparison. Evaluating both performance and power consumption dynamically at runtime and across GPU memory components enables a comprehensive tradeoff analysis for GPU architects and software developers. This paper presents a novel memory performance and power monitoring tool for GPU programs, GPPRMon, which performs a systematic metric collection and offers useful visualization views to track power and performance optimizations. Our simulation-based framework dynamically collects microarchitectural metrics by monitoring individual instructions and reports achieved performance and power consumption information at runtime. Our visualization interface presents spatial and temporal views of the execution. While the first demonstrates the performance and power metrics across GPU memory components, the latter shows the corresponding information at the instruction granularity in a timeline. Our case study reveals the potential usages of our tool in bottleneck identification and power consumption for a memory-intensive graph workload.
Towards Resource-Efficient DNN Deployment for Traffic Object Recognition: From Edge to Fog
Authors: Stojanovic Dragan , Sentic Stefan , Stojanovic Natalija
Published: April 2024

The paper focuses on the challenges associated with deploying deep neural networks (DNNs) for the recognition of traffic objects using the camera of Android smartphones. The main objective of this research is to achieve resource-awareness, enabling efficient utilization of computational resources while maintaining high recognition accuracy. To achieve this, a methodology is proposed that leverages the Edge-to-Fog paradigm to distribute the inference workload across multiple tiers of the distributed system architecture. The evaluation was conducted using a dataset comprising real-world traffic scenarios and diverse traffic objects. The main findings of this research highlight the feasibility of deploying DNNs for traffic object recognition on resource-constrained Android smartphones. The proposed Edge-to-Fog methodology demonstrated improvements in terms of both recognition accuracy and resource utilization, and viability of both edge-only and edge-fog based approaches. Moreover, the experimental results showcased the adaptability of the system to dynamic traffic scenarios, thus ensuring real-time recognition performance even in challenging environments.
The Implementation of Battery Charging Strategy for IoT Nodes
Authors: Rajković Petar , Aleksić Dejan , Janković Dragan
Published: April 2024

The Internet of Things (IoT) nodes dedicated to off-grid usage must fully rely on their battery power for continuous operation. In that sense battery charging process design is one of the focal points for the complete system design. Nowadays, battery charging, for such devices, usually relies on solar power which is not, unfortunately, the source of constant energy. Both environmental and constructive elements could easily make a negative impact on the charging process and reduce the amount of collected energy. Furthermore, if the IoT nodes are in hazardous areas, they are less accessible, and the value of effective battery management is even higher. The requirements for the battery charging process implementation are considered as opposite – on one hand, the requirement is to run charging with the lowest possible frequency and not up to 100%, and on the other hand, the battery should always have enough energy to maintain regular operation. In this research, we present the structure of the custom-developed IoT node based on the ECS32 system-on-a-chip dedicated to operating in remote industrial areas, and with an accent of its battery charging routine. The current routine is based on a standard thresholds approach and improved by including consumption estimates for the predefined periods. This paper presents the first results and should pave the ground for further upgrades. In addition, the comparison with state-of-the-art charging approaches is presented, as the guidelines for future work.
subMFL: Compatible subModel Generation for Federated Learning in Device Heterogeneous Environment
Authors: Oz Zeyneddin , Soygul Oz Ceylan , Malekjafarian Abdollah , Afraz Nima , Golpayegani Fatemeh
Published: April 2024

Federated Learning (FL) is commonly used in systems with distributed and heterogeneous devices with access to varying amounts of data and diverse computing and storage capacities. FL training process enables such devices to update the weights of a shared model locally using their local data and then a trusted central server combines all of those models to generate a global model. In this way, a global model is generated while the data remains local to devices to preserve privacy. However, training large models such as Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) on resource-constrained devices can take a prohibitively long time and consume a large amount of energy. In the current process, the low-capacity devices are excluded from the training process, although they might have access to unseen data. To overcome this challenge, we propose a model compression approach that enables heterogeneous devices with varying computing capacities to participate in the FL process. In our approach, the server shares a dense model with all devices to train it: Afterwards, the trained model is gradually compressed to obtain submodels with varying levels of sparsity to be used as suitable initial global models for resource-constrained devices that were not capable of train the first dense model. This results in an increased participation rate of resource-constrained devices while the transferred weights from the previous round of training are preserved. Our validation experiments show that despite reaching about 50% global sparsity, generated submodels maintain their accuracy while can be shared to increase participation by around 50%.
Towards a Simulation as a Service Platform for the Cloud-to-Things Continuum
Authors: Valdez Wilson , Baniata Hamza , Markus Andras , Kertesz Attila
Published: April 2024

In the past years, we have seen an unprecedented pace of technological development in smart applications. Smart Systems incorporate securely connected sensors, actuators, and data processing resources to provide digital services. They provide a wide range of smart applications using emerging technologies that address governmental or industrial processes or citizen life in smart cities, and many of them have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which involved a general lack of trust. Integrating Blockchain-based data management into smart systems can enhance the performance, trust, and privacy of their applications, which are getting more and more crucial. In this paper, we propose a vision for a unified Simulation as a Service platform, which will be able to model and investigate Blockchain-based smart systems exploiting IoT, Fog, and Cloud Computing infrastructures.
Cormas: The Software for Participatory Modelling and Its Application for Managing Natural Resources in Senegal
Authors: Zaitsev Oleksandr , Vendel François , Delay Etienne
Published: April 2024

Cormas is an agent-based simulation platform developed in the late 90s by the Green research at CIRAD unit to support the management of natural resources and understand the interactions between natural and social dynamics. This platform is well-suited for a participatory simulation approach that empowers local stakeholders by including them in all modelling and knowledge-sharing steps. In this short paper, we present the Cormas platform and discuss its unique features and their importance for the participatory simulation approach. We then present the early results of our ongoing study on managing pastoral resources in the Sahel region, identify the problems faced by local stakeholders, and discuss the potential use of Cormas at the next stage of our study to collectively model and understand the effective ways of managing the shared agro-sylvo-pastoral resources.
Grounding Higher Education Leadership Research in Non-affirmative Education Theory
Authors: Uljens Michael , Elo Janne
Published: April 2024

This chapter argues that higher education leadership research lacks sufficient theoretical underpinning and requires a more comprehensive theoretical framework. We propose that establishing a solid theoretical foundation involves a systematic exploration of three key perspectives: the why, how and what of leadership. First, recognising that leadership in and of educational institutions is relational and contextual, shaped by historical evolution, we advocate for a clarification of universities’ roles and responsibilities from societal, cultural, disciplinary, economic and individual perspectives—the why of higher education curriculum leadership. We argue that education theory provides valuable insights into understanding how the university, as an institutional context, and its tasks relate to these dimensions. Second, considering higher education institutions as knowledge-intensive organisations, leadership’s fundamental role is seen in facilitating the professional and personal development of both staff and students. Consequently, higher education leadership should articulate its position on pedagogical influence across various levels—the how of higher education curriculum leadership. Third, recognising that the primary focus of higher education leadership at different levels is the academic and professional learning of students, it involves providing direct and indirect support for leaders and teachers, as well as shaping the curriculum and organisation of study programmes. These aspects collectively constitute the what of higher education curriculum leadership. In light of these three perspectives, this chapter outlines the theoretical grounding for research on the pedagogical dimension of multi-level higher education leadership within the framework of non-affirmative education theory.
Levels of Pedagogical Leadership in Higher Education: An Overview
Authors: Elo Janne , Uljens Michael
Published: April 2024

Leadership in higher education is widely recognised as existing within a network of actors situated at different organisational levels and encompassing a broad variety of tasks and assignments. Leadership interactions are partly pedagogical in character, meaning that their goal is to support, both directly and indirectly, the development of the insights, understandings, and competencies of others. This chapter draws on examples of contemporary research in higher education to provide an overview of how pedagogical leadership can emerge at different leadership levels. We apply the non-affirmative theory of education to enable a conceptual understanding of the pedagogical nature of interactions among higher education leadership at and between all levels of leadership. Drawing from contemporary research concerning higher education leadership, this chapter elucidates the pedagogical dimensions of leadership at various levels in higher education.
Higher Education Curriculum Leadership in the Anthropocene
Authors: Wolff Lili-Ann , Elo Janne , Uljens Michael
Published: April 2024

In a time that many researchers have started to refer to the Anthropocene, the role of higher education (HE), as predominant educational institutions, is most relevant. Humanity faces big challenges with climate change that have become too obvious to be denied, a faster biodiversity loss than ever, growing inequality and poverty problems, and a zoonotic pandemic that has revealed that humans are parts of viral ecosystems. In such a world, the idea of the university and higher education in general is crucial in preparing for the future. This chapter discusses more precisely HE curriculum leadership (HECL) in the Anthropocene. The argumentation explores the topic from a view of Bildung and non-affirmative education. Based on the literature, the study specifically explores if the non-affirmative education theory could be an option to develop HECL in the Anthropocene. The paradoxical situation with an education that promotes freedom for humans, who live on a planet that noticeably limits their activities, is all but easy. Therefore, the HECL challenge includes the promotion of responsible discussions about values and urgent activities now, but also about how to enable the students to live in an unknown future.
Understanding Higher Education Decision-Making and Educational Practice as Interrelated and Historically Framed Phenomena—A Non-affirmative Take
Authors: Välimaa Jussi , Uljens Michael , Elo Janne
Published: April 2024

This chapter discusses three historically rooted ideals of decision-making practices in universities (collegiality, democracy and managerialism) from the perspective of non-affirmative theory of education (NAT). Following a discussion on the historical layers of Finnish universities, we analyse how different practices of higher education decision-making are connected to ideas of what a university is and does. Utilising NAT, we reflect on higher education leadership both in terms of its internal character and its object and historical context. The chapter has three starting points. First, we note that contributions to conceptualisations of educational leadership, governance and management need to provide an idea of the object of this leadership—what is being led. Second, we argue that higher education leadership and governance theory needs to say something meaningful about the relation between society and university. Third, we discuss how decision-making is managing the gap between external expectations and conditions and institutional operational culture. We discuss the ways in which both collegiality and democracy recognise each other as free, capable of and responsible for participating in decision-making, either directly or indirectly. From the perspective of NAT, recognition without affirmation creates a space for collaborative reflection and the repositioning of the activities of individuals and organisations. However, the shift from the democratic mode of decision-making to managerialism implies a break with this tradition. Decision-making in Finnish universities in the period after the university law (2009) is characterised by a shift of power from democratically elected bodies into the hands of deans and the rector. Utilising NAT, we discuss how this change influences academics.
On Maintaining Social and Moral Agency beyond Instrumental Managerialism in a Knowledge-Based Economy—A Sociological and Educational Perspective
Authors: Normand Romuald , Uljens Michael , Elo Janne
Published: April 2024

This chapter examines transformations in the epistemic governance of higher education and research on education in Europe, and in how the production of scientific knowledge increasingly is constrained by utilitarian expectations and standards based on policymaking decisions. The chapter explains how new political technologies produce certain modes of representation, cognitive categories, and value judgments that support development of new forms of interaction between researchers, experts, and policymakers. By characterizing transformations of academic capitalism, the chapter examines how academics today are engaged in heterogeneous networks that legitimize new relationships and work conventions. The chapter draws on sociological and education theory in explaining these transformations’ consequences, not only on the generation of academic knowledge, but also on selves and identities within scientific communities. This epistemic governance undermines some moral components and leadership attitudes in an increasingly competitive and instrumental environment.
A generalized Selberg zeta function for flat space cosmologies
Authors: Bagchi Arjun , Keeler Cynthia , Martin Victoria , Poddar Rahul
Published: April 2024

Abstract

Flat space cosmologies (FSCs) are time dependent solutions of three-dimensional (3D) gravity with a vanishing cosmological constant. They can be constructed from a discrete quotient of empty 3D flat spacetime and are also called shifted-boost orbifolds. Using this quotient structure, we build a new and generalized Selberg zeta function for FSCs, and show that it is directly related to the scalar 1-loop partition function. We then propose an extension of this formalism applicable to more general quotient manifolds $$ \mathcal{M} $$
M
/ℤ, based on representation theory of fields propagating on this background. Our prescription constitutes a novel and expedient method for calculating regularized 1-loop determinants, without resorting to the heat kernel. We compute quasinormal modes in the FSC using the zeroes of a Selberg zeta function, and match them to known results.
QCD corrections to the Golden decay channel of the Higgs boson
Authors: Kaur Mandeep , Mahakhud Maguni , Shivaji Ambresh , Zhao Xiaoran
Published: April 2024

Abstract

Future colliders aim to provide highly precise experimental measurements of the properties of the Higgs boson. In order to benefit from these precision machines, theoretical errors in the Higgs sector observables have to match at least the experimental uncertainties. The theoretical uncertainties in the Higgs sector observables can be reduced by including missing higher-order terms in their perturbative calculations. In this direction, we compute the mixed QCD-electroweak corrections at $$\mathcal{O}\left({\alpha \alpha }_{s}\right)$$ to the Higgs decay into four charged leptons by considering the golden decay channel, H → e+e−μ+μ−. Due to color conservation, these corrections receive contributions only from the two-loop virtual diagrams. In the complex mass scheme, we find that the mixed QCD-electroweak corrections to the partial decay width, relative to the leading order predictions, are positive and about 0.27% for αs(MZ). Relative to the next-to-leading order electroweak corrections, the mixed QCD-electroweak corrections are found to be approximately 18% for αs(MZ). With respect to the leading order, we observe a flat effect of the mixed QCD-electroweak corrections on the invariant mass distribution of the lepton pairs with fixed QCD coupling. The ϕ distribution, due to the mixed QCD-electroweak corrections, follows a (1 − cos ϕ) dependence.