bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Enhancement of energy storage in nanocomposite thin films: Investigating PVDF-ZnO and PVDF-TZO for improved dielectric and ferroelectric characteristics
Authors: Kaur Daljeet , Kumar Naveen , Anand Gagan , Panwar Ranvir Singh , Madhu Charu
Published: February 2024

In contrast to a polymer nanocomposite for high energy density application, a lead-free material such as zinc oxide (ZnO) and a non-toxic polymer matrix such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) can serve as a potential candidate for use in eco-friendly applications. In the present report, an effort has been made to enhance the dielectric behaviour of the PVDF-based nanocomposites by adding ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) and TiO2-coated ZnO NPs (TZO) as nanofillers. A wet chemical precipitation technique was adopted to synthesize the thin films of PVDF,PVDF-ZnO, and PVDF-TZO nanocomposites. The structural, dielectric, ferroelectric, and energy density studies of PVDF, PVDF-ZnO, and PVDF-TZO nanocomposites thin films were performed for different concentrations (10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%) of nanofillers. Structural characterization carried out using x-ray diffraction studies confirmed the formation of PVDF-ZnO and PVDF-TZO nanocomposite thin films as the diffraction peaks (110) and (200) belonging to β-phase of PVDF, and (100, (002), (101), (110), (103), (200), (112), and (210) peaks were observed for ZnO, and (200), (116), (202) peaks belonging to TiO2 in case of PVDF+ 10% TZO and PVDF+40% TZO thin films. The functional groups belonging to β-phase of PVDF and ZnO were detected using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR). The surface microstructural of pure PVDF thin films showed spherulites and microimages of PVDF+ 10% ZnO and PVDF+ 10% TZO thin films depicted the inhomogeneous distribution of particles in the PVDF matrix. The maximum value of the dielectric constant, the maximum value of energy density, maximum remnant polarization, and the minimum value of dielectric loss for PVDF-TZO. PVDF-TZO thin films show an energy density of 65.3 μJ/cm3 for 40% of the nanofiller (TZO).
ReQUSA: a novel ReRAM-based hardware accelerator architecture for high-speed quantum computer simulation
Authors: Lee Sanghyeon , Hour Leanghok , Kim Yongtae , Han Youngsun
Published: February 2024

Quantum computers are currently regarded as an emerging computing technology that can solve problems more quickly than classical computers. However, since constructing a general quantum computer is technically difficult, quantum computer simulation has been used instead of real quantum computers. Simulating quantum computers on classical computers is challenging because the time and resources required for the vectormatrix multiplication (VMM) increase exponentially with the number of qubits. This paper proposes a new accelerator architecture called ReQUSA that leverages resistive random access memory (ReRAM) to accelerate the quantum computer simulation. The ReQUSA employs a ReRAM crossbar array structure, which is specialized for implementing the VMM, and a realized state method for reduced VMM operation. To the best of our knowledge, ReRAM-based accelerators for quantum computer simulators has not been previously reported. Here, we describe the hardware design of the architecture and compare the performances (hardware resource, simulation time, and accuracy) of our accelerator with those of current quantum computer simulators (QuEST, QPlayer, and Qiskit). On average, our proposed architecture reduced the simulation times by factors of ×104 and ×103 (×102) on average from those of QuEST and QPlayer (also Qiskit), respectively. In addition, our architecture achieved 99% accuracy in 16-bit fixed-point data representation.
A study on the dynamics of a breast cancer model with discrete-time delay
Authors: Das Anusmita , Dehingia Kaushik , Hinçal Evren , Özköse Fatma , Hosseini Kamyar
Published: February 2024

This study aims to discuss the impact of discrete-time delay on the anti-tumor immune response against tumor growth, excess levels of estrogen, and the source rate of immune cells in a breast cancer model. The non-negativity and boundedness of the solutions of the model are discussed. The existence of equilibria and their stability are examined. It is found that if the estrogen level is normal and the source rate of immune cells is low, the stability of the model around the co-existing equilibrium switches to instability via a Hopf bifurcation as the time delay increases. To validate the theoretical findings, a few numerical examples have been presented. The main result of this study is that the growth of tumors can be controlled if the immune system quickly generates an anti-tumor immune response. However, if the immune system takes a longer time to generate anti-tumor immune responses, the tumor growth cannot be controlled, and the system becomes unstable, which may result in the further spread of the disease.
Theoretical investigations on electron-impact single-ionization cross section of Sn 11+
Authors: Zhang Fangjun , Ding Xiaobin , Gao Cheng , Zhang Denghong , Zeng Jiaolong , Dong Chenzhong
Published: February 2024

The total cross-section of electron-impact single ionization for the ground configuration 3d
104s
24p
64d
3 and excited configuration 3d
104s
24p
64d
24f of Sn
11+ is determined from the ionization threshold to 1000 eV. The contributions of direct ionization, excitation auto-ionization, and resonant excitation double auto-ionization to the total electron-impact single ionization cross-section are systematically demonstrated. The cross-section of direct ionization and excited auto-ionization are determined using the level-to-level method, while the cross-section of partially resonant excited double auto-ionization are determined through the configuration averaged method. To obtain convergence, excitation channels with the maximum principal quantum number up to n = 25 are considered. A comparison of the present results with the experimental data [Borovik et al. J. Phys. B 46, 175 201 (2013)] reveal considerably improved agreement when including the resonant excitation double auto-ionization in the calculation.
Colliding null matter with a specific stress tensor
Authors: Halilsoy Mustafa , Hsieh Chia-Li , Mangut Mert
Published: February 2024

The accretion disks around black holes consist of infalling matter boosted almost to the speed of light making collisions with opposite counterpart. This is the rough picture occurring near black holes or other strongly gravitating centers that produce observed phenomena such as astrophysical jets. A toy model that can be considered imitating such a process is colliding null sources in general relativity. We present such a simple model projected into the plane of null coordinates that takes into account only neutral sources. We show that even at such a simplified model, uncharged and non-rotating, it is possible to obtain jet-like ejections albeit they lie below the horizon. In the present study the spacetime consists of either one of (i) a cloud of strings, (ii) a global monopole, (iii) a particular model of bumblebee gravity, all described by a similar class of stress-energy tensor. There are gravitational waves accompanying the null sources and naturally collision of gravitational waves is also taken into account. After the collision, the spacetime contains both null and non-null sources, followed by trailing gravitational radiations. Locally the interaction region of the colliding null-sources and gravitational waves is isometric to the static background spacetime.
Solution of steady state in the model polymer system with rupture and rebinding
Authors: Shukla Prakhar , Pathak Neha , Debnath Pallavi
Published: February 2024

In this paper, we study the steady state attained in our model polymer system that attempts to explain the relative motion between soft rubbing surfaces at the single polymer level. We generalize our one-dimensional model [Borah et al, 2016 Soft Matter
12 4406] by including the rebinding of interconnecting bonds between a flexible transducer (bead spring polymer) and a rigid fixed plate. The interconnecting bonds described as harmonic springs rupture and rebind stochastically when a constant force pulls the flexible transducer. We obtain a distinct steady state in stochastic simulations of the model when the bead positions and the bond states (closed or open) are independent of time, analogous to creep states in frictional systems and rupture termination states in earthquakes. The simulation results of the stochastic model for specific parameter sets agree with the numerical solution to the mean-field equations developed for analytical tractability. We develop an analytical solution for the steady state within the homotopy analysis method, which converges and agrees well with the numerical results.
Oxygen locations and electronic structures of oxygenated coinage-metal clusters
Authors: Zhang Manli , Wang Xuemei , Bao Xia , Liu Qiman , Cheng Longjiu
Published: February 2024

The structure features and stability of MnO (M = Cu, Ag and Au; n = 2–9) clusters are investigated using the genetic algorithm combined with the density functional theory (DFT). It is found that CunO and AgnO are more inclined to 3-dimension compact structures, while the transition of AunO from 2 to 3-dimensions occurs at n = 7, in which O atoms prefer to be located on the vertexes regardless of different sizes and configurations of metal Mn cores. Due to the relativistic effect, the stability of AunO is maximum, while the AgnO are less stable, and that of CunO is in between them. The molecular dynamics simulations show that the structures of M4O can maintain integrity with only slight disturbances of individual atoms at a temperature of 300 K. But only the Au4O is stable at 500K, and the Ag4O and Cu4O have severely structural deformation. In most cases, the density of states of larger-sized MnO can be regarded as the superposition of small clusters, and distributions of the curves are in good agreement on the whole. The molecular orbitals reveal that the HOMO/LUMO orbitals are mainly distributed around the M atoms. The natural population analysis charges show that the charge-transferring direction is from M to O atoms, where the charge of O atoms exhibits odd–even oscillation behaviors, with different intensity peaks at the same n.
Weakly confined silicon nanodiscs as material system for THz absorption: analytical study
Authors: Sudha Pooja , Goswami Mayank , Samanta Arup
Published: February 2024

A weakly confined silicon based nano structure as a THz absorbing material is introduced. Using an effective mass approximation and 2D hydrogenic solution along with 1st order perturbation correction for truncated potential, we calculated inter-band and intra-band energy spectrum of weakly confined silicon nanodisc system. Variation of inter-band and intra-conduction-band absorption spectrum with the different sizes of the nanodisc are presented for various diameter from 10 nm to 32 nm and constant thickness of 4 nm. Inter-band and intra-band absorption spectrum are simulated using the oscillator strength. These calculation shows that intra-band absorption spectrum of the weakly confined nanodisc can cover a large THz (∼ 0.3–6.5 THz) spectrum range for these set of nanodiscs. The proposed silicon based THz absorbing material can be utilized for CMOS compatible THz technology if design on silicon-on-insulator system.
Knob of adjusting light group velocity in an inhomogeneously broadened degenerate two-level atomic medium by a magnetic field
Authors: Tuan Anh Nguyen , Doan Thanh Thai , Huy Bang Nguyen , Yen Nga Luong Thi , Hoang Minh Dong
Published: February 2024

We proposed a simple model for investigating subluminal and superluminal light propagation via an external magnetic field in an inhomogeneously broadened degenerate two-level atomic medium. We show that a magnetic field can be utilized as a knob to control the absorption/dispersion properties and group index of the medium. By changing the magnitude and reversing the direction of the magnetic field, the positive group index is converted to the negative group index at the center of the EIT window, corresponding with the propagation of a weak light pulse from subluminal to superluminal. Moreover, the influence of the Doppler broadening effect on the group index is also included, making the results approach to actual conditions. Therefore, the suggested model may be helpful for the application realization of optical storage in quantum computers and quantum information processing.
Kinetic plasma-sheath self-organization
Authors: Munschy Yann , Bourne Emily , Dif-Pradalier Guilhem , Donnel Peter , Ghendrih Philippe , Grandgirard Virginie , Sarazin Yanick
Published: February 2024

The interaction between a plasma and a solid surface is studied in a (1D–1V) kinetic framework using a localized particle and convective energy source. Matching the quasineutral plasma region and sheath horizon is addressed in the fluid framework with a zero heat flux closure. It highlights non-polytropic nature of the physics of parallel transport. Shortfalls of this approach compared to a reference kinetic simulation highlight the importance of the heat flux as the measure of kinetic effects. Non-collisional closure and higher moment closure are used to determine the sound velocity. Within these frameworks, no gain in the fluid predictive capability is obtained. The kinetic constraint at the sheath horizon is discussed and modified to account for conditions that are actually met in simulations, namely quasineutrality with a small but finite charge density. Analyzing the distribution functions shows that collisional transfer is mandatory to achieve steady-state self-organization on the open field lines.
Seasonal variability and predictability of monsoon precipitation in Southern Africa
Authors: Horan Matthew F , Kucharski Fred , Ashfaq Moetasim
Published: February 2024

Rainfed agriculture is the mainstay of economies across Southern Africa (SA), where most precipitation is received during the austral summer monsoon. This study aims to further our understanding of monsoon precipitation predictability over SA. We use three natural climate forcings, El Niño–Southern Oscillation, Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), and the Indian Ocean Precipitation Dipole (IOPD)—the dominant precipitation variability mode—to construct an empirical model that exhibits significant skill over SA during monsoon in explaining precipitation variability and in forecasting it with a five-month lead. While most explained precipitation variance (50%–75%) comes from contemporaneous IOD and IOPD, preconditioning all three forcings is key in predicting monsoon precipitation with a zero to five-month lead. Seasonal forecasting systems accurately represent the interplay of the three forcings but show varying skills in representing their teleconnection over SA. This makes them less effective at predicting monsoon precipitation than the empirical model.
Eco-friendly green roof from biodegradable substrate for stormwater quality improvement
Authors: Azam N I Z Mohd , Romali N S , Razak A S Abd
Published: February 2024

Currently, there is a significant surge of interest in green roof technology for construction buildings due to its numerous environmental benefits, such as stormwater management, energy efficiency, and enhanced urban biodiversity. However, the issue of potential pollutant release from green roof substrates into runoff water, causing water pollution, needs to be addressed. To tackle this concern, a lab-scale green roof model was assessed, utilizing a biodegradable substrate made from banana peels and eggshell waste (organic fertilizer). Three models were tested: a conventional green roof (control), a green roof with chemical fertilizer, and a green roof with organic fertilizer. Various water quality parameters, including pH, total suspended solids (TSS), nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK), and chemical oxygen demand (COD), were evaluated. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of organic fertilizer in reducing TSS and COD levels, where the eco-friendly green roof with biodegradable substrate exhibited an impressive performance, achieving a higher COD removal percentage (78%) compared to the green roof with chemical fertilizer (50%). The utilization of organic fertilizer led to an enhancement in the quality of stormwater runoff, resulting in NPK removal percentages ranging from 17% to 25%. Additionally, the organic fertilizer fostered healthier vegetation growth, leading to a greater number of leaves compared to the chemical fertilizer. These findings highlight the potential of eco-friendly green roofs as a sustainable and effective tool for stormwater management, provided suitable substrate materials are employed.
Enhancing Educational Environments: Retrofitting for Improved Accessibility and Inclusion of Person with disabilities (PWDs) in Schools
Authors: Julius J. , Gungat L. , Tukiman I.
Published: February 2024

Accessibility and inclusion of Persons with disabilities (PWDs) is an essential requirement in every school building. This is in line with the latest amendments to Uniform Building By-Laws 2022 gazetted by the Sabah Local Government, and Malaysian Standard (MS). All public buildings including schools, were made compulsory to provide accessibility and inclusion of Persons with disabilities (PWDs). A lack of accessibility contributed to dull educational environments for teachers and students. The aim of this research is to develope a framework for enhancing educational environments for retrofitting existing schools. Research method employed for this study is data collection from questionnaire gathered from the overall school’s plan layout with building retrofit of Universal Design (UD) elements and access audit for star rating compliance with inclusive design assessment. It is also an opportunity to identify any issues with school constraints that make it difficult to meet the Uniform Building By-Laws (UBBL) requirements through the focus group access audit group. Research finding shows that less building retrofit elements been built according to the Malaysian Standards (MS) to schools in Kota Kinabalu. In conclusion, all existing and current-use schools are deserved to be retrofitted with quality Universal Design (UD) elements such as ramps, handrails, disabled car parks, covered walkways, signage, wayfinding, lift, disabled-toilet, etc. Thus, the level of accessibility can be achieved with satisfaction and equivalency to Malaysian Standard through the introducing of framework for enhancing educational environments of retrofitting Inclusive design for PWDs.
Assessing Earthquake-Induced Housing Damage: A Fuzzy Ahp Approach Incorporating Local Parameters and Pga Zoning in the Bantul District, Indonesia
Authors: Bawono A S , Ramli N I , Ali M I
Published: February 2024

Earthquakes used to cause significant harm, including loss of life and damage to buildings and infrastructure. For example, the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake in Indonesia resulted in widespread devastation, injuries, and extensive damage. In the past, people relied on Seismic Risk Assessment (SRA) to estimate the chances of earthquake-related damage to buildings and infrastructure and the economic losses involved. SRA used vulnerability functions to understand how susceptible buildings were to earthquake damage. Many places and situations used the Hazard United States (HAZUS) system, which had categories like slight, moderate, extensive, and complete damage, to classify building damage. However, there used to be differences in expert opinions about earthquake vulnerability due to variations in their knowledge and experience. Experts often used words like “very high” or “low irregularity” to express their understanding, and they evaluated these factors using qualitative logic. Different approaches were explored in the past to tackle the complexity and uncertainty in the assessment process, including fuzzy logic. The methodology presented in this paper introduced a framework called Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP). This framework aimed to assist decision-makers, engineers, and policymakers in choosing the most appropriate category for assessing earthquake-induced housing damage. Four experts with over twenty years of experience in disaster management, earthquake-affected residential housing, and related fields were involved in the research. The goal was to present a method for estimating the Best Nonfuzzy Performance value (BNP) weight based on differences in Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) zoning (green, yellow, and red zones) in the Bantul district. The results showed that slight damage had the highest score in the green zone, while complete damage had the lowest score. Similarly, in the yellow zone, slight damage maintained the highest score, while complete damage received the lowest score. Lastly, moderate damage was identified as the most critical in the red zone, and complete damage had the lowest score. These findings had implications for decision-makers, engineers, and policymakers: 1). Decision-makers could use this information to allocate budgets efficiently for safety measures. 2). Engineers were able to focus on strengthening structures in the green zone for slight damage and allocate more resources to address moderate damage in the red zone. 3). Policymakers had the opportunity to tailor disaster response plans based on the predominant damage state in each zone, allowing them to prioritize evacuations and resource deployment accordingly. This paper provides an overview that needs to be developed by researchers in order to improve the results and offer more effective education.
Investigation of Depth-Area-Duration (DAD) Curves for Kuantan River Basin (KRB)
Authors: Othman N , Krishnan B , Misbari S , Samat S R
Published: February 2024

Depth-area-duration (DAD) analysis of rainfall is performed to evaluate the maximum amount of rainfall over areas of various sizes within different durations. It is frequently used to characterize precipitation extremes for the specification of so-called rainfall, with DAD curves resembling the correlation between rainfall depth and area. Kuantan River Basin (KRB) is one of the major rivers in Pahang that typically experiences heavy precipitation during the northeast monsoon season from November through March. In this study, DAD curves for KRB were developed for the duration of 1-day to 7-day. Daily rainfall data between 2008 to 2019 from eight stations in KRB were used to develop the DAD curves. DAD curve development initially requires an isohyet map’s illustration that can be constructed through the interpolation of Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) method. The isohyet maps were developed in the ArcGIS software to purposely obtain the average maximum rainfall depths for each rainfall duration. The maximum rainfall amount of 1-day up to 7-day durations increased from 394.45 mm to 857.61 mm. The results indicated that the maximum amount of rainfall will increase along with the duration from 1-day to 7-day. The gap between the final DAD curve of 6-day and 7-day was less compared to other duration curves; however, the gap for both curves increased from the 800 km2 to 1000 km2 areas where the gap differences between the curves accelerated from 12 mm to 34 mm. Final DAD curves of KRB were produced from the combination of initial DAD curves with durations ranging from 1 to 7 days. The DAD curves produced in this study can provide further information on the maximum rainfall depth under different storm durations for hydrological planning purposes, particularly in KRB.
Microstructure Analysis and Permanent Deformation of Porous Asphalt incorporating Steel Fiber
Authors: Mohd Rodzi A. S. , Masri K.A. , Shahnewaz S.Md. , Ferdaus R. , Abd Ghani N. A. A. , Arshad A. K.
Published: February 2024

Porous asphalt composition is frequently used for the surface extraction layer of pavements because to its open structure and high air void percentage, which lessens disturbance and offers protection during precipitation. Porous asphalt composition has a high air void percentage. This would make it possible for water to be stored horizontally inside the pavement layer as well as moved about within that layer. It is possible that this may lessen the impacts of splash and spray, hence improving drivers’ sight during rainstorms. On the other hand, because to the large percentage of air voids contained inside it, the porous asphalt would be prone to rutting, cracking, and peeling. The goal of this research is to explore the microstructure of porous asphalt that has been mixed with steel fibers in proportions ranging from 0 percent to 0.3 percent. The second objective was to analyze the long-term deformation of porous asphalt that had either 0 or 0.3 percent steel fiber content. In this study, a porous asphalt composition was developed with the help of Marshall mix design. Using sieve analysis, the whole mixture of coarse, fine, filler, bituminous binder, and a range of aggregate sizes was separated into its component parts. Pictures taken using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), an energy dispersive x-ray (EDX), an x-ray diffractometer (XRD), and a fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) are being used in this inquiry (FTIR). The findings point to the possibility that the performance of porous asphalt mixture might be greatly improved by the addition of steel fiber. Additionally, one may make the case that steel fiber has a longer lifespan than the several other forms of fiber that are used in porous asphalt pavement.
Physical design and recent experimental results of the new ICRF antenna on EAST
Authors: YANG 杨 Hua 桦 , ZHANG 张 Xinjun 新军 , YUAN 袁 Shuai 帅 , QIN 秦 Chengming 成明 , ZHANG 张 Wei 伟 , URBANCZYK G. , Qian 钱 Jinping 金平 , LIU 刘 Lunan 鲁南 , WANG 王 Gaoxiang 高翔 , Chen 陈 Qingqing 青青
Published: February 2024

Two new ICRF antennas operating in the ion cyclotron radio frequency (ICRF) range have been developed for EAST to overcome the low coupling problem of the original antennas. The original ICRF antennas were limited in their power capacity due to insufficient coupling. The new antenna design takes into account both wave coupling and absorption processes through comprehensive wave coupling and absorption codes, with the dominant parallel wave number

of 7.5 m−1 at dipole phasing. Through the use of these new ICRF antennas, we are able to achieve 3.8 MW output power and 360 s operation, respectively. The initial experimental results demonstrate the reliability of the antenna design method.
A review of control strategies for automatic generation control in power systems with renewable energy
Authors: Kuang Ming , Tian Youwen , Liu Qingyu , Zhao Meng , Wu Xin
Published: February 2024

This review presents a state-of-the-art literature review of automatic generation control (AGC) control strategies for power systems containing renewable energy sources. The incorporation of renewable energy into the power system has a large impact on the stability, reliability, economy and security of the power system. To mitigate these effects, it is important to choose a suitable control strategy for AGC. However, there is a limited amount of literature available on the review of AGC in renewable energy power systems, so a review of AGC control strategies for renewable energy-containing power systems is necessary. The investigation of this paper focuses on all kinds of different AGC control strategies for renewable energy-containing power systems, such as proportional integral derivative control, fuzzy control, artificial neural network control, etc, and compares and considers these different control methods, while this paper summarises the power system models with/without renewable energy. In addition, this paper summarises and discusses the application of intelligent optimization algorithms and energy storage systems to control strategies. The problems and future research directions of the current research on power systems with renewable energy sources are also discussed.
Stochastic-like characteristics of arithmetic dynamical systems: the Collatz hailstone sequences
Authors: Polli J G , Raposo E P , Viswanathan G M , da Luz M G E
Published: February 2024

The numerical hailstone sequences, or orbits, generated by the Collatz map have been disclosed to present relevant features commonly associated with complex systems. It is so despite the extreme simplicity of the arithmetic dynamical system iteration rule. Indeed, for a positive integer n, the Collatz map f reads

f
(
n
)
=
n

/

2

(

f
(
n
)
=
3
n
+
1

) for n even (odd). Seeking to elucidate this surprising fact, here we unveil distinct characteristics of stochastic-like behavior for collections of Collatz orbits by considering methods commonly employed to temporal series, as cryptography tests, power-spectrum, detrended fluctuation, auto-correlation and entropy measure. Besides confirming previous predictions that the Collatz orbits display some global properties of geometric Brownian motion, our results are likewise able to explain, at least heuristically, the reasons for so. In special, we show by means of comprehensive analysis that our findings cannot be ascribed to standard chaotic evolution. Moreover, we identify novel short- and mid-range correlations in the Collatz orbits. The Collatz map is hence a paradigmatic example of an arithmetic dynamical system which could also be regarded as displaying key characteristics of an arithmetic statistical physics system, explaining its dynamical richness.
Mitigating agricultural residue burning: challenges and solutions across land classes in Punjab, India
Authors: Krishnapriya P P , Pattanayak Subhrendu K , Somanathan E , Keil Alwin , Jat M L , Sidhu H S , Shyamsundar Priya
Published: February 2024

India faces significant air quality challenges, contributing to local health and global climate concerns. Despite a national ban on agricultural residue burning and various incentive schemes, farmers in northern India continue to face difficulties in curbing open-field burning. Using data from 1021 farming households in rural Punjab in India, we examine the patterns and drivers of the adoption of no-burn agriculture, particularly for farmers who mulch instead of burning crop residue. We find a growing trend in no-burn farming practices among farmers between 2015 and 2017, with the highest adoption rates among large farmers compared to medium and small farmers. Our findings suggest that access to equipment and learning opportunities may increase the likelihood of farmers using straw as mulch instead of burning it. Specifically, social learning appears to increase the likelihood of farmers embracing no-burn practices relative to learning from extension agencies. Furthermore, the form of learning depends on farm size. While large and medium farmers exhibit a variety of learning strategies, small farmers primarily self-learn. These results underscore the importance of a multiprong policy that provides sufficient access to equipment and a combination of learning platforms that enabling farmers from different land classes to adopt no-burn technologies.
Construction of diagonal quintic threefolds with infinitely many rational points
Authors: Ulas Maciej
Published: February 2024

In this note we present a construction of an infinite family of diagonal quintic threefolds defined over

Q

\mathbb {Q}

each containing infinitely many rational points. As an application, we prove that there are infinitely many quadruples

B
=
(

B

0

,

B

1

,

B

2

,

B

3

)

B=(B_{0}, B_{1}, B_{2}, B_{3})

of co-prime integers such that for a suitable chosen integer

b
b

(depending on

B
B

), the equation

B

0

X

0

5

+

B

1

X

1

5

+

B

2

X

2

5

+

B

3

X

3

5

=
b

B_{0}X_{0}^5+B_{1}X_{1}^5+B_{2}X_{2}^5+B_{3}X_{3}^{5}=b

has infinitely many positive integer solutions.
The Gelfand–Phillips and Dunford–Pettis type properties in bimodules of measurable operators
Authors: Huang Jinghao , Nessipbayev Yerlan , Pliev Marat , Sukochev Fedor
Published: February 2024

We fully characterize noncommutative symmetric spaces

E
(

M

,
τ
)

E(\mathcal {M},\tau )

affiliated with a semifinite von Neumann algebra

M

\mathcal {M}

equipped with a faithful normal semifinite trace

τ
\tau

on a (not necessarily separable) Hilbert space having the Gelfand–Phillips property and the WCG-property. The complete list of their relations with other classical structural properties (such as the Dunford–Pettis property, the Schur property and their variations) is given in the general setting of noncommutative symmetric spaces.
Ketogluconate production by Gluconobacter strains: enzymes and biotechnological applications
Authors: Kataoka Naoya
Published: February 2024

Gluconobacter strains perform incomplete oxidation of various sugars and alcohols, employing regio- and stereoselective membrane-bound dehydrogenases oriented toward the periplasmic space. This oxidative fermentation process is utilized industrially. The ketogluconate production pathway, characteristic of these strains, begins with the conversion of d-glucose to d-gluconate, which then diverges and splits into 2 pathways producing 5-keto-d-gluconate and 2-keto-d-gluconate and subsequently 2,5-diketo-d-gluconate. These transformations are facilitated by membrane-bound d-glucose dehydrogenase, glycerol dehydrogenase, d-gluconate dehydrogenase, and 2-keto-d-gluconate dehydrogenase. The variance in end products across Gluconobacter strains stems from the diversity of enzymes and their activities. This review synthesizes biochemical and genetic knowledge with biotechnological applications, highlighting recent advances in metabolic engineering and the development of an efficient production process focusing on enzymes relevant to the ketogluconate production pathway in Gluconobacter strains.
Integrative open workflow for confident annotation and molecular networking of metabolomics MSE/DIA data
Authors: Katchborian-Neto Albert , Alves Matheus F , Bueno Paula C P , de Jesus Nicácio Karen , Ferreira Miller S , Oliveira Tiago B , Barbosa Henrique , Murgu Michael , de Paula Ladvocat Ana C C , Dias Danielle F , Soares Marisi G , Lago João H G , Chagas-Paula Daniela A
Published: February 2024

Liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry data-independent acquisition (LC-HRMS/DIA), including MSE, enable comprehensive metabolomics analyses though they pose challenges for data processing with automatic annotation and molecular networking (MN) implementation. This motivated the present proposal, in which we introduce DIA-IntOpenStream, a new integrated workflow combining open-source software to streamline MSE data handling. It provides ‘in-house’ custom database construction, allows the conversion of raw MSE data to a universal format (.mzML) and leverages open software (MZmine 3 and MS-DIAL) all advantages for confident annotation and effective MN data interpretation. This pipeline significantly enhances the accessibility, reliability and reproducibility of complex MSE/DIA studies, overcoming previous limitations of proprietary software and non-universal MS data formats that restricted integrative analysis. We demonstrate the utility of DIA-IntOpenStream with two independent datasets: dataset 1 consists of new data from 60 plant extracts from the Ocotea genus; dataset 2 is a publicly available actinobacterial extract spiked with authentic standard for detailed comparative analysis with existing methods. This user-friendly pipeline enables broader adoption of cutting-edge MS tools and provides value to the scientific community. Overall, it holds promise for speeding up metabolite discoveries toward a more collaborative and open environment for research.
Spatially contrastive variational autoencoder for deciphering tissue heterogeneity from spatially resolved transcriptomics
Authors: Hu Yaofeng , Xiao Kai , Yang Hengyu , Liu Xiaoping , Zhang Chuanchao , Shi Qianqian
Published: February 2024

Recent advances in spatially resolved transcriptomics (SRT) have brought ever-increasing opportunities to characterize expression landscape in the context of tissue spatiality. Nevertheless, there still exist multiple challenges to accurately detect spatial functional regions in tissue. Here, we present a novel contrastive learning framework, SPAtially Contrastive variational AutoEncoder (SpaCAE), which contrasts transcriptomic signals of each spot and its spatial neighbors to achieve fine-grained tissue structures detection. By employing a graph embedding variational autoencoder and incorporating a deep contrastive strategy, SpaCAE achieves a balance between spatial local information and global information of expression, enabling effective learning of representations with spatial constraints. Particularly, SpaCAE provides a graph deconvolutional decoder to address the smoothing effect of local spatial structure on expression’s self-supervised learning, an aspect often overlooked by current graph neural networks. We demonstrated that SpaCAE could achieve effective performance on SRT data generated from multiple technologies for spatial domains identification and data denoising, making it a remarkable tool to obtain novel insights from SRT studies.
Likelihood-based feature representation learning combined with neighborhood information for predicting circRNA–miRNA associations
Authors: Guo Lu-Xiang , Wang Lei , You Zhu-Hong , Yu Chang-Qing , Hu Meng-Lei , Zhao Bo-Wei , Li Yang
Published: February 2024

Connections between circular RNAs (circRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) assume a pivotal position in the onset, evolution, diagnosis and treatment of diseases and tumors. Selecting the most potential circRNA-related miRNAs and taking advantage of them as the biological markers or drug targets could be conducive to dealing with complex human diseases through preventive strategies, diagnostic procedures and therapeutic approaches. Compared to traditional biological experiments, leveraging computational models to integrate diverse biological data in order to infer potential associations proves to be a more efficient and cost-effective approach. This paper developed a model of Convolutional Autoencoder for CircRNA–MiRNA Associations (CA-CMA) prediction. Initially, this model merged the natural language characteristics of the circRNA and miRNA sequence with the features of circRNA–miRNA interactions. Subsequently, it utilized all circRNA–miRNA pairs to construct a molecular association network, which was then fine-tuned by labeled samples to optimize the network parameters. Finally, the prediction outcome is obtained by utilizing the deep neural networks classifier. This model innovatively combines the likelihood objective that preserves the neighborhood through optimization, to learn the continuous feature representation of words and preserve the spatial information of two-dimensional signals. During the process of 5-fold cross-validation, CA-CMA exhibited exceptional performance compared to numerous prior computational approaches, as evidenced by its mean area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.9138 and a minimal SD of 0.0024. Furthermore, recent literature has confirmed the accuracy of 25 out of the top 30 circRNA–miRNA pairs identified with the highest CA-CMA scores during case studies. The results of these experiments highlight the robustness and versatility of our model.
509 - Dupilumab improves disease severity in children less than 12 years of age with moderate-severe AD: interim results from PEDISTAD real-world registry
Authors: Baselga Eulalia , Ramien Michele , Marcoux Danielle , de Graaf Marlies , Irvine Alan D , Carvalho Vania Oliveira , Ardusso Ledit R F , Toledo-Bahena Mirna , Gupta Rajan , Tong Thu , Zhang Annie
Published: February 2024

Introduction

In phase 3 studies, dupilumab significantly improved disease severity in children with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD). However, the impact of this systemic treatment on children in real-world treatment settings is yet to be investigated.

Objectives

To report the real-world effectiveness and safety of dupilumab in children the PEDISTAD registry.

Methods

PEDISTAD (NCT03687359) is an ongoing, international, longitudinal, observational 10-year registry study in patients aged from 6 months to 11 years at enrollment with moderate-to-severe AD, whose disease is not adequately controlled by topical prescription therapies or for whom those therapies are medically inadvisable. This interim analysis measures the effect of dupilumab on Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) total score and %-affected body surface area (BSA) from therapy start to up to 3 years’ follow up. Safety was also evaluated.

Results

A total of 214 patients received dupilumab (median treatment observation period: 16.1 months; accumulated 3-year discontinuation rate: 13.3%). The proportion of patients with clear/mild AD (EASI score <7 [range 0–28]) increased from 20.8% at therapy start to 76.7% at last observation. The mean (±SE) EASI score decreased with dupilumab use, from 19.7±1.0 at therapy start to 6.1±0.8 at last observation. The proportion of patients with <10% BSA affected by AD increased from 12.6% at therapy start to 46.5% at last observation. The mean (± SE) BSA affected decreased from 38.3%±1.7 at therapy start to 17.1%±2.0 at last observation. 24.2% of patients had adverse events, including 2.4% serious adverse events.

Conclusions

Dupilumab treatment significantly improved disease severity in patients aged from 6 months to 11 years in real-world practice.
548 - Tralokinumab improves signs and symptoms of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in patients aged 12 years and older with and without atopic comorbidities
Authors: Paller Amy S , Soong Weily , Boguniewicz Mark , Geng Bob , Thyssen Jacob P , Rosso Aldana , Steffensen Louise , Schneider Shannon , Wollenberg Andreas
Published: February 2024

Introduction/Background

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory skin disease associated with atopic comorbidities, including asthma, food allergy, hay fever, and allergic conjunctivitis. Tralokinumab, a high-affinity monoclonal antibody that specifically targets IL-13, is indicated for the treatment of moderate-to-­severe AD.

Objectives

To assess the impact of atopic comorbidities on the efficacy and safety of tralokinumab vs. placebo for moderate-to-­severe AD in patients age ≥12 years.

Methods

This post-hoc analysis presents data from the adult trials ECZTRA 1 and 2 (NCT03131648 and NCT03160885 pooled; 300 mg tralokinumab every 2 weeks [Q2W] vs. placebo) and ECZTRA 3 (NCT03363854; 300 mg tralokinumab Q2W vs. placebo, both plus TCS as needed), and the ECZTRA 6 adolescent trial (NCT03526861; pooled 150 mg and 300 mg tralokinumab Q2W vs. placebo). Tralokinumab-treated patients received a loading dose. Proportion of patients achieving IGA 0/1 and EASI-75 at Week 16 according to patient-reported current or past atopic comorbidity are presented as observed regardless of rescue medication use; missing data were imputed as non-responders.

Results

In total 2,223 patients were included across four trials. Among patients in ECZTRA 1 and 2, 50.5% reported history of asthma, 38.5% food allergy, 53.8% hay fever, and 33.5% allergic conjunctivitis, while 19.8% reported no atopic comorbidities and 79.3% reported ≥1 atopic comorbidity. Proportions of patients in ECZTRA 3 and 6 reporting history of atopic comorbidities were largely similar, although more adolescent patients reported food allergy. In all subgroups at Week 16, higher proportions of patients receiving tralokinumab vs. placebo achieved EASI-75. In ECZTRA 1 and 2, response rates among patients in each subgroup were asthma: 35.3% vs. 12.8%, food allergy: 33.2% vs. 14.7%, hay fever: 36.8% vs. 16.5%, allergic conjunctivitis: 34.8% vs. 12.7%, none: 34.6% vs. 20.5%; and ≥1 atopic comorbidity: 35.5% vs. 15.2% (P<0.05 for all). A similar pattern of response was observed in ECZTRA 3 and 6, and for IGA 0/1 across trials. EASI-75 response rates for tralokinumab-treated patients were consistent across patients with different numbers of atopic comorbidities. Safety across subgroups was consistent with the safety profile of tralokinumab observed overall in adults and adolescents.

Conclusions

16 weeks of tralokinumab treatment improved AD signs and symptoms in adult and adolescent patients with and without atopic comorbidities, regardless of type or number of atopic comorbidities. The safety profile of tralokinumab was consistent between patients with and without atopic comorbidities.
536 - Association between pediatric BMI and vitiligo distribution: an observational cohort study
Authors: O’Hagan Ross , Wieder Shira , Perl Marcel , Silverberg Jonathan I , Silverberg Nanette B
Published: February 2024

Background

No articles have ever addressed the relationship of BMI with the location of disease in pediatric vitiligo patients.

Objective

We aimed to explore the relationship between birthweight, reported BMI classifications, and pediatric vitiligo disease characteristics.

Methods

We explored 232 consecutive pediatric vitiligo patients. Patients’ parents self-reported height, weight, and disease localization. The body mass index classifications were divided into underweight for body mass index (BMI) <18.5, normal for BMI of 18.5 or greater and <25, and overweight for a BMI of 25.

Results

Exploring birthweight and age of onset, there was a trend towards decreasing median age of onset with weight increases, but it is not statistically significant when we group the patients by BMI class. There is a trend towards older age for children with higher BMI classes (p-value = 0.06). For kids under the age of 12, duration of disease was 4.6 years, vs. 7.7 years for kids over the age of 12 years (p<0.001). When further broken down into kids under 6 years, >6 and less than 12 years, >12 years, and less than 14 years, and 14-17 years, years of disease jumped from 1.3 to 4, to 6.6, and to 7.5 years respectively, demonstrating increased years of disease burden (P<0.001). There is a positive trend in locations and age when looked at for self-reported BSA of 1-25% vs. >25%: (p-value = 0.044). Wrists, hands, hips, legs, ankles, and feet were statistically more likely to be involved by 14-17 years, over 0-6 years (p<0.05 for each site). BSA was 1-25% in 79% of kids under 12 years of age and 75% for kids> 12 years of age. For those with a BSA of 26%+ all anatomical regions explored were statistically significant (p<0.05) other than the specific locations of the scalp, eyelids, lips or mouth.

Limitations

The cohort does not address long-term weight fluctuations. There are some limitations to self-reported data.

Conclusion and Relevance

Long-term disease in children and adolescents is associated with increasing years of disease burden and extension of disease to highly visible acral locations. BMI was not directly associated with disease extent in this cohort.