bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A high‐efficient nano pesticide‐fertilizer combination fabricated by amino acid‐modified cellulose based carriers
Authors: Zhao Ming , Zhou Hongjun , Hao Li , Chen Huayao , Zhou Xinhua
Published: October 2021

BACKGROUND

As the global population grows, large quantities of agrochemicals are used to secure food demand and there is an urgent need to develop efficient and environmentally friendly pesticides and fertilizers. Compared with traditional pesticides, nanopesticide formulations can achieve better foliar wettability, chemical stability, and water dispersibility without or with the minimal use of organic solvents, in line with the development of sustainable agriculture.

RESULTS

In this research, glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) was used as an intermediate and glycine methyl ester (GLY) was used as an organic nitrogen source to modify carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) to synthesize a pesticide nanocarrier CMC‐PGMA‐GLY. A nanopesticide EB@CMC‐PGMA‐GLY (EB@CPG) was formed by the hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions of emamectin benzoate (EB), which had good water dispersion. The good affinity of the composite towards leaves led to the effective moistening of the leaf surface by the pesticide and through the pH control pesticide release. Biological experiments show that nanopesticides can maintain high insecticidal activity and have no toxicity to seed germination. The results of pot experiment showed that the nanocarriers could be used as an organic nitrogen fertilizer to increase the fresh weight of plants by 39.77%.

CONCLUSIONS

This environmentally friendly pesticide carrier can be used as a fertilizer to provide sufficient nutrients for crops, opening a new method for the development of sustainable agriculture. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.
The triple exponentially weighted moving average control chart for monitoring Poisson processes
Authors: Alevizakos Vasileios , Chatterjee Kashinath , Koukouvinos Christos
Published: October 2021

In many real applications, the quality characteristics of interest, such as the number of nonconformities in a production unit or the annual incidence rate, may follow the Poisson distribution. In the present article, we propose a triple exponentially weighted moving average control chart for monitoring Poisson processes (regarded as PTEWMA chart). One‐ and two‐sided schemes of the proposed chart are designed and are compared with the existing PEWMA and PDEWMA charts in terms of the average run‐length (ARL). The results show that for small values of the smoothing parameter , the PTEWMA chart is more effective than its competitors in detecting small shifts while its superiority increases as the value of increases. Moreover, the two‐sided PTEWMA chart is less ARL‐biased for small downward shifts than the other two charts. Two illustrative examples are provided to demonstrate the application of the proposed chart.
A novel trophectoderm biopsy technique for all blastocyst stages
Authors: Mizobe Yamato , Kuwatsuru Yukari , Kuroki Yuko , Fukumoto Yumiko , Tokudome Mari , Moewaki Harue , Watanabe Mia , Iwakawa Tokiko , Takeuchi Kazuhiro
Published: October 2021

Purpose

This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a new trophectoderm (TE) biopsy method that does not require prior opening of the zona pellucida at the blastocyst stage.

Methods

TE biopsy was conducted using a modified extrusion method for embryos during the cleavage stage. In this method, culture medium was injected into the perivitelline space to help extrude TE cells from the zona pellucida before TE biopsy.

Results

Our extrusion method preserves the embryo culture environment until immediately before biopsy because it does not require opening of the zona pellucida prior to TE biopsy. Furthermore, this method does not require a waiting time for blastocyst hatching after laser irradiation, thereby minimizing damage to the embryos and maintaining the time schedule of culture operations.

Conclusions

TE biopsy using this novel extrusion method may be useful in various applications, including the collection of TE cells for next‐generation sequencing analysis.
Synthesis and Biological Assessment of PyrimidoTacrines as Promising Agents for Alzheimer's Disease Therapy
Authors: Dakhlaoui Imen , Maalej Emna , Martin Helene , Lucht Aurélia , Iriepa Isabel , Moraleda Ignacio , Marco‐Contelles Jose , Chabchoub Fakher , Ismaili Lhassane
Published: October 2021

Considering the multifactorial nature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), multitarget small molecules (MTSMs) represent the most potent and attractive therapeutic strategy to design new drugs for Alzheimer's disease therapy. Thus, new Pyrimidotacrines were designed and synthesized by merging pyrimidine scaffold and tacrine. Among them, 4‐(4‐nitrophenyl)‐2‐phenyl‐6,7,8,9‐tetrahydropyrimido[4,5‐b]quinolin‐5‐amine (4 j) was identified as less hepatotoxic than tacrine at high concentration, a submicromolar inhibitor against both acetylcholinesterase (AChE) (IC50=677±28 nM) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) (IC50=756±41 nM) showing potent antioxidant properties (2.43 TE) and displaying a strong neuroprotection effect against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and Oligomycin Rotenone. Consequently, 4 j is a potential new hit‐ligand for AD therapy for further biological exploration
Rational Design of Heterocyclic Moieties Incorporated in [1,2,3]Sugar‐Triazole Derivatives for Antioxidant Studies
Authors: Jenifer V. Rabecca , Muthuvel Panneerselvam , Das Thangamuthu Mohan
Published: October 2021

Reaction of heterocyclic azides with sugar alkyne under copper catalyzed 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition reaction resulted in the formation of triazoles in 64–90 % of yield. Existence of β‐anomeric forms of sugar were identified from NMR spectral studies. The structures were confirmed by elemental analyses, spectrometry (1H & 13C NMR) analysis. Antioxidant activities of the synthesised sugar triazoles shows significant inhibition (89.2 %) at lower than 100 μg/mL.
Research Progress of Hydrogen Sulfide Adsorption Based on MOFs
Authors: Li Ying
Published: October 2021

Adsorption method is one of the main technologies for hydrogen sulfide treatment. Developing an adsorbent with good selectivity, large adsorption capacity, stability and good regeneration is the key to the removal of hydrogen sulfide by adsorption method. Compared with the traditional adsorbents, Metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) have a large specific surface area, a variety of framework structures, adjustable pore sizes and functionality, showing significant advantages in the adsorption of hydrogen sulfide. In this paper, the research progress of hydrogen sulfide adsorption based on MOFs in recent years was summarized. The influences of pore structure and unsaturated metal sites on the hydrogen sulfide adsorption performance of MOFs were discussed, and the strategies of functionalized groups and preparation of composites were proposed to improve the hydrogen sulfide adsorption performance of MOFs. Finally, the problems and challenges in the future industrial application of MOFs as low concentration hydrogen sulfide adsorbents were pointed out.
Position Control of Rotary Flexible Joint System Using Adaptive Dynamic Inversion
Authors: Mehedi Ibrahim M. , Shah Mohd Heidir Mohd
Published: October 2021

This paper presents an adaptive generalized dynamic inversion (AGDI) control methodology to the problem of angular position tracking of the rotary flexible joint system while suppressing joint vibrations. The AGDI control is composed of an equivalent control, which is responsible to enforce the prescribed constraint dynamics that encompasses the control objectives and control expression is obtained by inverting the constraint dynamics using Moore–Penrose generalized inversion. Furthermore, robustness is achieved by integrating a switching (discontinuous) term based on the sliding mode control method. The sliding mode gain of the switching control law is made adaptive for chattering reduction and improved tracking capability. The performance of AGDI control is evaluated through both numerical simulation and experimental investigations executed on Quanser's rotary flexible joint system. Simulation and experimental results reveal that the AGDI control is quiet capable to achieve the desired response curves against set‐point tracking and disturbance rejection scenarios. © 2021 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
One-loop Feynman integrals for 2 → 3 scattering involving many scales including internal masses
Authors: Syrrakos Nikolaos
Published: October 2021

Abstract

We study several multiscale one-loop five-point families of Feynman integrals. More specifically, we employ the Simplified Differential Equations approach to obtain results in terms of Goncharov polylogarithms of up to transcendental weight four for families with two and three massive external legs and massless propagators, as well as with one massive internal line and up to two massive external legs. This is the first time this computational approach is applied to cases involving internal masses.
Discontinuous perturbations of nonhomogeneous strongly-singular Kirchhoff problems
Authors: Rădulescu Vicenţiu D. , Santos Carlos Alberto , Santos Lais , Carvalho Marcos L. M.
Published: October 2021

In this paper, we are concerned with a Kirchhoff problem in the presence of a strongly-singular term perturbed by a discontinuous nonlinearity of the Heaviside type in the setting of Orlicz–Sobolev space. The presence of both strongly-singular and non-continuous terms brings up difficulties in associating a differentiable functional to the problem with finite energy in the whole space $$W_0^{1,\Phi }(\Omega )$$

W
0

1
,
Φ

(
Ω
)

. To overcome this obstacle, we establish an optimal condition for the existence of $$W_0^{1,\Phi }(\Omega )$$

W
0

1
,
Φ

(
Ω
)

-solutions to a strongly-singular problem, which allows us to constrain the energy functional to a subset of $$W_0^{1,\Phi }(\Omega )$$

W
0

1
,
Φ

(
Ω
)

in order to apply techniques of convex analysis and generalized gradient in the sense of Clarke.
Origin of an evolutionary novelty: the worker phenotype of eusocial wasps
Authors: Hunt J. H.
Published: October 2021

Complex problems in evolutionary biology can be approached in two ways, top down using theoretical constructs and bottom up using empirical studies . Theoretical concepts predominate evolutionary interpretations of eusociality in a literature that is small relative to an enormous literature of natural history and basic research that is not synthesized into a conceptual whole. Here, I draw insights from this literature to show how paper wasps’ allomaternal non-reproductive worker phenotype originates in every colony cycle via confluence of multiple factors of paper wasp biology. These include behavior, development, nutrient dynamics, indirect genetic effects, sex ratio, and demography. A novel perspective on the colony cycle, based on individuals’ reproductive physiology, serves as context to examine of each of these. It will be shown that the allomaternal non-reproductive worker phenotype does not require relatedness among colony members to originate. Allomaternal care of non-relatives is frequent and can occur in at least twelve contexts. Life histories of living species as they will be presented here show that relatedness among colony members is not the target of selection in simple eusociality. However, the novel allomaternal non-reproductive worker phenotype had to be present at the ancestral origins of complex eusociality in which relatedness among colony members is essential.
Multi-stage sulfide evolution of the Moran Ni sulfide ore, Kambalda, Western Australia: insights into the dynamics of ore forming processes of komatiite-hosted deposits
Authors: Staude Sebastian , Oelze Marcus , Markl Gregor
Published: October 2021

The Moran komatiite-hosted Ni sulfide deposit at Kambalda (Australia) is one of the better preserved orebodies at Kambalda. Its geochemical signature is used to investigate the evolution of the sulfide mineralization. The orebody has several parts, including a flanking segment where massive sulfides formed relatively early and a central portion in a 40-m-deep erosional embayment representing a later generation of massive and net-textured sulfides. Basal massive sulfides within the deep embayment vary systematically in their chalcophile element contents (Ni, PGE, Au, Te, As, Bi). Elements compatible in monosulfide solid solution (MSS) exhibit the highest concentration at the edge of the orebody (up to 4.3 ppm Ir + Os + Ru + Rh), whereas incompatible elements are most concentrated in the centre (up to 11.2 ppm Pt + Pd + Au). This difference in element distributions is explained by fractional crystallization of sulfide melt from the edge towards the centre. To explain the vertical movement of the residual fractionated melt, a new model of sulfide crystallization is proposed. A low-viscosity boundary layer containing incompatible elements is formed between MSS and sulfide melt. This melt propagates with the crystallization front towards the centre of the sulfide melt pool. Trace element variations in pentlandite (e.g. Co) and composite Co- and Bi-bearing arsenide-telluride grains suggest that during the final stages of crystallization, an immiscible Co-As-Te-Bi melt is formed.
Optimal design of SSSC and crowbar parameters for performance enhancement of Egyptian Zafrana wind farm
Authors: Rashad Ahmed , Kamel Salah , Jurado Francisco , Rihan Mahmoud , Ebeed Mohamed
Published: October 2021

Zafarana Wind Park is considered the largest wind farm in Middle East. By the year 2022, Zafarana wind farm will inject 545 MW to Egypt national electric network (ENEN). This wind farm has been connecting to ENEN in stages (eight stages) from ten years ago. Each stage represents a project of wind farm. Hence, the impact of the emergency condition of ENEN on the performance of the installed stage of Zafarana Wind Park should be studied. Moreover, determining the possible method to reduce the side effects of the emergency condition of ENEN on the installed stage of Zafarana Wind Park becomes an important issue. In this paper, a combination between Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC) and crowbar (Cro-SSSC) is used to enhance the performance of the one installed stage of Zafarana Wind Park. The studied stage of Zafarana Wind Park is Zafarana Z1 wind farm (Z1). Zafarana Z1 wind farm represents that first stage of Zafarana Wind Park that was connected to ENEN. Hence, the paper takes Zafarana Z1 wind farm as the studied case to examine the impact of Cro-SSSC. The crowbar is used to protect the power components of the SSSC from the high current during grid fault condition. Also, in this paper multi-objective lightning attachment procedure optimization algorithm (LAPO) and the sine cosine algorithm (SCA) are used to evaluate and tune the control gains of SSSC and the value of crowbar's resistance. This step is important in order to determine the values of the control's gains of SSSC and the value of crowbar resistance which suit the studied system (one installed stage of Zafarana Wind Park). The sliding mode control (SMC) is used as an example of nonlinear control of SSSC. Also, a hybrid of LAPO and SMC is used to improve the performance of Zafarana Z1 during faults. The results of LAPO, SCA and SMC are compared during three-phase fault and single line to ground fault applied to the studied system.
Unobstructedness of hyperkähler twistor spaces
Authors: Brecan Ana-Maria , Kirschner Tim , Schwald Martin
Published: October 2021

A family of irreducible holomorphic symplectic (ihs) manifolds over the complex projective line has unobstructed deformations if its period map is an embedding. This applies in particular to twistor spaces of ihs manifolds. Moreover, a family of ihs manifolds over a subspace of the period domain extends to a universal family over an open neighborhood in the period domain.
Co-exposure of cannabinoids with amphetamines and biological, behavioural and health outcomes: a scoping review of animal and human studies
Authors: Daldegan-Bueno Dimitri , Maia Lucas O. , Glass Michelle , Jutras-Aswad Didier , Fischer Benedikt
Published: October 2021

Rationale

The growing prevalence of psychostimulant (including amphetamine) use and associated health harms, with limited treatment options, present a global challenge. There is an increasing availability and medical applications of cannabinoids, and growing interest in their therapeutic potential for addictive disorders.

Objectives

The objective of this study is to review available data regarding cannabis/cannabinoid co-use or exposure on amphetamine-related outcomes.

Methods

Towards the present scoping review, we systematically searched four databases (Medline, Web-of-Science, CINAHL Plus and PsycInfo) using cannabis/cannabinoid and amphetamine text-terms identifying peer-reviewed, English-language studies published in 2000–2020 involving multiple methods approaches among both human and animal study samples, assessing the association of co-use/administration of cannabis/cannabinoids products with non-medical amphetamines on biological, behavioural or health outcomes.

Results

Twenty-five articles were included. Pre-clinical studies (n = 15) found mostly protective effects of single or repeated cannabinoids administration on rodents in amphetamine addiction models, amphetamine-induced models of human mental disorders (e.g. schizophrenia) and amphetamine-induced neurotoxicity. Human studies (n = 10) were more heterogeneously designed (e.g. cross-sectional, case–control, longitudinal) and assessed natural ongoing cannabis and methamphetamine use or dependence, showing mostly enhanced harms in a diversity of outcomes (e.g. mental health, methamphetamine use, cognition).

Conclusions

While human studies suggest cannabis use as an adverse risk factor among non-medical amphetamine users, pre-clinical studies suggest therapeutic potential of cannabinoids, especially cannabidiol, to alleviate amphetamine addiction and harms, including treatment outcomes. Given increasing psychostimulant harms but lack of care options, rigorous, high-quality design studies should aim to translate and investigate pre-clinical study results for potential therapeutic benefits of cannabinoids for amphetamine use/abuse in human subjects.
Medication-related adverse events in health care—what have we learned? A narrative overview of the current knowledge
Authors: Laatikainen O. , Sneck S. , Turpeinen M.
Published: October 2021

Purpose

Although medication-related adverse events (MRAEs) in health care are vastly studied, high heterogeneity in study results complicates the interpretations of the current situation. The main objective of this study was to form an up-to-date overview of the current knowledge of the prevalence, risk factors, and surveillance of MRAEs in health care.

Methods

Electronic databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Scopus) were searched with applicable search terms to collect information on medication-related adverse events. In order to obtain an up-to-date view of MRAEs, only studies published after 2000 were accepted.

Results

The prevalence rates of different MRAEs vary greatly between individual studies and meta-analyses. Study setting, patient population, and detection methods play an important role in determining detection rates, which should be regarded while interpreting the results. Medication-related adverse events are more common in elderly patients and patients with lowered liver or kidney function, polypharmacy, and a large number of additional comorbidities. However, the risk of MRAEs is also significantly increased by the use of high-risk medicines but also in certain care situations. Preventing MRAEs is important as it will decrease patient mortality and morbidity but also reduce costs and functional challenges related to them.

Conclusions

Medication-related adverse events are highly common and have both immediate and long-term effects to patients and healthcare systems worldwide. Conclusive solutions for prevention of all medication-related harm are impossible to create. In the future, however, the development of efficient real-time detection methods can provide significant improvements for event prevention and forecasting.
Delineating neural responses and functional connectivity changes during vestibular and nociceptive stimulation reveal the uniqueness of cortical vestibular processing
Authors: Huber Judita , Ruehl Maxine , Flanagin Virginia , zu Eulenburg Peter
Published: October 2021

Vestibular information is ubiquitous and often processed jointly with visual, somatosensory and proprioceptive information. Among the cortical brain regions associated with human vestibular processing, area OP2 in the parietal operculum has been proposed as vestibular core region. However, delineating responses uniquely to vestibular stimulation in this region using neuroimaging is challenging for several reasons: First, the parietal operculum is a cytoarchitectonically heterogeneous region responding to multisensory stimulation. Second, artificial vestibular stimulation evokes confounding somatosensory and nociceptive responses blurring responses contributing to vestibular perception. Furthermore, immediate effects of vestibular stimulation on the organization of functional networks have not been investigated in detail yet. Using high resolution neuroimaging in a task-based and functional connectivity approach, we compared two equally salient stimuli—unilateral galvanic vestibular (GVS) and galvanic nociceptive stimulation (GNS)—to disentangle the processing of both modalities in the parietal operculum and characterize their effects on functional network architecture. GNS and GVS gave joint responses in area OP1, 3, 4, and the anterior and middle insula, but not in area OP2. GVS gave stronger responses in the parietal operculum just adjacent to OP3 and OP4, whereas GNS evoked stronger responses in area OP1, 3 and 4. Our results underline the importance of considering this common pathway when interpreting vestibular neuroimaging experiments and underpin the role of area OP2 in central vestibular processing. Global network changes were found during GNS, but not during GVS. This lack of network reconfiguration despite the saliency of GVS may reflect the continuous processing of vestibular information in the awake human.
Angle Sums of Schläfli Orthoschemes
Authors: Godland Thomas , Kabluchko Zakhar
Published: October 2021

We consider the simplices $$\begin{aligned} K_n^A=\{x\in {\mathbb {R}}^{n+1}:x_1\ge x_2\ge \cdots \ge x_{n+1},x_1-x_{n+1}\le 1,\,x_1+\cdots +x_{n+1}=0\} \end{aligned}$$

K
n
A

=

{
x
∈

R

n
+
1

:

x
1

≥

x
2

≥
⋯
≥

x

n
+
1

,

x
1

-

x

n
+
1

≤
1
,

x
1

+
⋯
+

x

n
+
1

=
0
}

and $$\begin{aligned} K_n^B=\{x\in {\mathbb {R}}^n:1\ge x_1\ge x_2\ge \cdots \ge x_n\ge 0\}, \end{aligned}$$

K
n
B

=

{
x
∈

R

n

:
1
≥

x
1

≥

x
2

≥
⋯
≥

x
n

≥
0
}

,

which are called the Schläfli orthoschemes of types A and B, respectively. We describe the tangent cones at their j-faces and compute explicitly the sums of the conic intrinsic volumes of these tangent cones at all j-faces of $$K_n^A$$

K
n
A

and $$K_n^B$$

K
n
B

. This setting contains sums of external and internal angles of $$K_n^A$$

K
n
A

and $$K_n^B$$

K
n
B

as special cases. The sums are evaluated in terms of Stirling numbers of both kinds. We generalize these results to finite products of Schläfli orthoschemes of type A and B and, as a probabilistic consequence, derive formulas for the expected number of j-faces of the Minkowski sums of the convex hulls of a finite number of Gaussian random walks and random bridges. Furthermore, we evaluate the analogous angle sums for the tangent cones of Weyl chambers of types A and B and finite products thereof.
Deep learning approach to obtain collaborative filtering neighborhoods
Authors: Bobadilla Jesús , González-Prieto Ángel , Ortega Fernando , Lara-Cabrera Raúl
Published: October 2021

In the context of recommender systems based on collaborative filtering (CF), obtaining accurate neighborhoods of the items of the datasets is relevant. Beyond particular individual recommendations, knowing these neighbors is fundamental for adding differentiating factors to recommendations, such as explainability, detecting shilling attacks, visualizing item relations, clustering, and providing reliabilities. This paper proposes a deep learning architecture to efficiently and accurately obtain CF neighborhoods. The proposed design makes use of a classification neural network to encode the dataset patterns of the items, followed by a generative process that obtains the neighborhood of each item by means of an iterative gradient localization algorithm. Experiments have been conducted using five popular open datasets and five representative baselines. The results show that the proposed method improves the quality of the neighborhoods compared to theK-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) algorithm for the five selected similarity measure baselines. The efficiency of the proposed method is also shown by comparing its computational requirements with that of KNN.
KP772 overcomes multiple drug resistance in malignant lymphoma and leukemia cells in vitro by inducing Bcl-2-independent apoptosis and upregulation of Harakiri
Authors: Kater Lisa , Kater Benjamin , Jakupec Michael A. , Keppler Bernhard K. , Prokop Aram
Published: October 2021

Despite high cure rates in pediatric patients with acute leukemia, development of resistance limits the efficacy of antileukemic therapy.Tris(1,10-phenanthroline)tris(thiocyanato-κN)lanthanum(III) (KP772) is an experimental antineoplastic agent to which multidrug-resistant cell models have shown hypersensitivity. Antiproliferative and apoptotic activities of KP772 were tested in leukemia, lymphoma and solid tumor cell lines as well as primary leukemia cells (isolated from the bone marrow of a child with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The ability to overcome drug resistances was investigated in doxorubicin- and vincristine-resistant cell lines. Real-time PCR was used to gain insight into the mechanism of apoptosis induction. KP772 inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in various leukemia and lymphoma cell lines in a concentration-dependent manner (LC50 = 1–2.5 µM). Primary AML cells were also sensitive to KP772, whereas daunorubicin showed no significant effect. KP772 induces apoptosis independently of Bcl-2, Smac, and the CD95 receptor and is also effective in caspase 3-deficient MCF7 cells, indicating that apoptosis is partly triggered independently of caspase 3. mRNA expression profiling revealed an upregulation of the BH3-only Bcl-2 protein Harakiri in the course of KP772-induced apoptosis. Remarkably, KP772 overcame drug resistance to doxorubicin and vincristine in vitro, and the apoptotic effect in resistant cells was even superior to that in non-resistant parental cells. In combination with vincristine, doxorubicin and cytarabine, synergistic effects were observed in BJAB cells. The cytotoxic potency in vitro/ex vivo and the remarkable ability to overcome multidrug resistance propose KP772 as a promising candidate drug for antileukemic therapy, especially of drug-refractory malignancies.

Graphic abstract
Sublinear Circuits for Polyhedral Sets
Authors: Naumann Helen , Theobald Thorsten
Published: October 2021

Sublinear circuits are generalizations of the affine circuits in matroid theory, and they arise as the convex-combinatorial core underlying constrained non-negativity certificates of exponential sums and of polynomials based on the arithmetic-geometric inequality. Here, we study the polyhedral combinatorics of sublinear circuits for polyhedral constraint sets. We give results on the relation between the sublinear circuits and their supports and provide necessary as well as sufficient criteria for sublinear circuits. Based on these characterizations, we provide some explicit results and enumerations for two prominent polyhedral cases, namely the non-negative orthant and the cube [− 1,1]n.
Solving the restructuring problems of (former) old industrial regions with smart specialization? Conceptual thoughts and evidence from the Ruhr
Authors: Hassink Robert , Kiese Matthias
Published: October 2021

(Former) old industrial regions are a specific kind of lagging regions that suffer from long-term restructuring problems and deindustrialization. They are back in the focus of many researchers as well as media observers, because of the rise of populist parties in many of these regions in North America and Europe. Therefore, new policy options are discussed in the literature. In this paper, we critically discuss the effects of smart specialization as the most recent regional policy strategy in Europe on solving the restructuring problems and deindustrialization in (former) old industrial regions and we illustrate our analysis with a view on the Ruhr in Germany. Since smart specialization focuses on existing endogenous potential and entrepreneurial discovery processes from the region, vested interests in (former) old industrial regions might hinder necessary restructuring. Although potentially path transformation might be fostered in some cases, overall, smart specialization is certainly not a quick fix for solving long-term negative effects of restructuring and deindustrialization in (former) old industrial regions.
Quantitative analysis of Cenozoic faults and fractures and their impact on groundwater flow in the bedrock aquifers of Ireland
Authors: Moore J. P. , Walsh J. J.
Published: October 2021

Faults and fractures are a critical store and pathway for groundwater in Ireland’s limestone bedrock aquifers either directly as conductive structures or indirectly as the locus for the development of karst conduits. From the quantitative analysis of post-Devonian faults and fractures in a range of lithological sequences, this report describes the principal characteristics of Cenozoic strike-slip faults and joints, the youngest and the most intrinsically conductive fractures within Irish bedrock. Analysis of these structures in more than 120 outcrop, quarry, mine and cave locations in a range of bedrock types, provides a basis for: (1) definition of quantitative models for their depth dependency, lithological control, scaling systematics and links to preexisting structure, (2) conceptualisation of their impact on groundwater behaviour, and (3) estimation of groundwater flow parameters. The quantitative models provide constraints on fracture-controlled flow connectivity. Commonly observed decreases in sustainable flows and water strike interceptions with depth are attributed to increasing confinement and decreasing fracture connectivity and dissolution. Faults and joints have quite different end member geometries, with faults having strongly heterogeneous scale-independent properties and joints more often showing scale-dependent stratabound properties. The highest and most sustainable groundwater flows are usually associated with the complexity of structure of Cenozoic faults and of preexisting Carboniferous structures (on which conductive fracturing localises), enhanced by karstification and strongly jointed limestone bedrock particularly in the near-surface. Increased groundwater flow is promoted within bedded, rather than massive (i.e. unbedded), limestone sequences, characterised by bedding-parallel fractures and karst connecting otherwise subvertical fractures and subvertical wells.
Crop diversity effects on temporal agricultural production stability across European regions
Authors: Egli Lukas , Schröter Matthias , Scherber Christoph , Tscharntke Teja , Seppelt Ralf
Published: October 2021

Stabilizing agricultural production is fundamental to food security. At the national level, increasing the effective diversity of cultivated crops has been found to increase temporal production stability, i.e., the year-to-year stability of total caloric production of all crops combined. Here, we specifically investigated these effects at the regional level for the European Union and tested the effect of crop diversity in relation to agricultural inputs, soil properties, climate instability, and time on caloric, protein, and fat stability, as we hypothesized that the effect of diversity is context dependent. We further investigated these relationships for specific countries. We found that greater crop diversity was consistently associated with an increase in production stability, particularly in regions with large areas equipped for irrigation and low soil type diversity. For instance, in Spain and Italy, crop diversity showed the strongest positive effect among all predictors, while on the European level, the stabilizing effect of nitrogen use was substantially higher. In Germany, the crop diversity-stability relationship was weak, suggesting that crops react similarly to climatic, economic, and political factors or are grown in the same periods. With this study, we substantiate previous findings that crop diversity stabilizes agricultural caloric production and extend these with regard to protein and fat. The results elucidate the key drivers that enhance production stability for different European countries and regions, which is of key importance for a comparably productive agricultural region like Europe.
Citation analysis of the most influential ependymoma research articles illustrates improved knowledge of the molecular biology of ependymoma
Authors: Brown Nolan J. , Wilson Bayard , Lien Brian V. , Himstead Alexander , Tafreshi Ali R. , Shahrestani Shane , Birkenbeuel Jack , Tran Katelynn , Horton David , Paladugu Anushka , Kirillova Lydia R. , Yang Chen Yi , Ransom Seth C. , Sahyouni Ronald , Yang Isaac
Published: October 2021

The history of academic research on ependymoma is expansive. This review summarizes its history with a bibliometric analysis of the 100 most cited articles on ependymoma. In March 2020, we queried the Web of Science database to identify the most cited articles on ependymoma using the terms “ependymoma” or “ependymal tumors,” yielding 3145 publications. Results were arranged by the number of times each article was cited in descending order. The top 100 articles spanned across nearly a century; the oldest article was published in 1924, while the most recent was in 2017. These articles were published in 35 unique journals, including a mix of basic science and clinical journals. The three institutions with the most papers in the top 100 were St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (16%), the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (6%), and the German Cancer Research Center (5%). We analyzed the publications that may be considered the most influential in the understanding and treatment management of ependymoma. Studies focused on the molecular classification of ependymomas were well-represented among the most cited articles, reflecting the field’s current area of focus and its future directions. Additionally, this article also offers a reference for further studies in the ependymoma field.
Hydrogen production, storage, utilisation and environmental impacts: a review
Authors: Osman Ahmed I. , Mehta Neha , Elgarahy Ahmed M. , Hefny Mahmoud , Al-Hinai Amer , Al-Muhtaseb Ala’a H. , Rooney David W.
Published: October 2021

Dihydrogen (H2), commonly named ‘hydrogen’, is increasingly recognised as a clean and reliable energy vector for decarbonisation and defossilisation by various sectors. The global hydrogen demand is projected to increase from 70 million tonnes in 2019 to 120 million tonnes by 2024. Hydrogen development should also meet the seventh goal of ‘affordable and clean energy’ of the United Nations. Here we review hydrogen production and life cycle analysis, hydrogen geological storage and hydrogen utilisation. Hydrogen is produced by water electrolysis, steam methane reforming, methane pyrolysis and coal gasification. We compare the environmental impact of hydrogen production routes by life cycle analysis. Hydrogen is used in power systems, transportation, hydrocarbon and ammonia production, and metallugical industries. Overall, combining electrolysis-generated hydrogen with hydrogen storage in underground porous media such as geological reservoirs and salt caverns is well suited for shifting excess off-peak energy to meet dispatchable on-peak demand.
Contrasting responses of large carnivores to land use management across an Asian montane landscape in Iran
Authors: Mohammadi Alireza , Lunnon Christopher , Moll Remington J. , Tan Cedric Kai Wei , Hobeali Kaveh , Behnoud Pouyan , Moghadas Peyman , Macdonald David W. , Farhadinia Mohammad S.
Published: October 2021

Land-use change has led to substantial range contractions for many species. Such contractions are particularly acute for wide-ranging large carnivores in Asia’s high altitude areas, which are marked by high spatiotemporal variability in resources. Current conservation planning for human-dominated landscapes often takes one of two main approaches: a “coexistence” (land sharing) approach or a “separation” (land sparing) approach. In this study, we evaluated the effects of land-use management on a guild of large carnivores in a montane ecosystem located in northeastern Iran. We used interview surveys to collect data on Persian leopardPanthera pardus saxicolorand grey wolfCanis lupusand modeled the areas occupied by these species in a Bayesian framework. After accounting for imperfect detection, we found that wolves had a higher probability of occupying the study area than leopards (82%; 95% CI 73–90% vs. 63%; 95% CI 53–73%). Importantly, each predator showed contrasting response to land-use management. National Parks (i.e. human-free areas) had a positive association with leopard occupancy (αNational Park = 2.56, 95% CI 0.22–5.77), in contrast to wolves, which displayed a negative association with National Parks (αNational Park= − 1.62, 95% CI − 2.29 to 0.31). An opposite pattern was observed for human-dominated areas (i.e. Protected Areas and Communal Lands), where occupancy was higher for wolves but lower for leopards. Our study suggests that to protect these large carnivores, a combination of land sharing and land sparing approaches is desirable within Iran montane landscapes. Any recovery program for big cats in Iranian mountains, and likely similar mountainous landscapes in west Asia, should take into account other sympatric carnivores and how they can affect adjacent human communities. For example, conflict mitigation and compensation efforts are required to include the guild of large carnivores, instead of solely targeting the charismatic big cats.
Effects of virtual learning environments: A scoping review of literature
Authors: Caprara Laura , Caprara Cataldo
Published: October 2021

The purpose of this scoping review is to isolate and investigate the existing data and research that identifies if the synchronous face-to-face visual presence of a teacher in a virtual learning environment (VLE) is a significant factor in a student’s ability to maintain good mental health. While the present research on this explicit interaction among VLE implementation and student mental health is limited, the material suggests a framework for strong utilization of VLEs. Overall, our research has shown that authentic, high quality VLEs are ones that have as their primary focus the communication between students and their teachers and between students and their peers. This communication is best generated through synchronous connections where there exists the ability to convey the student’s immediate needs in real-time. Our research results and discussion will outline how a team approach that brings together teachers, students, administration, counsellors, mental health support staff, instructional designers, and ICT specialists is necessary to create a genuinely enriching VLE where both learning and social-emotional needs can be met. The authors present a case for further study in order to reveal the nature of the interaction among VLEs and student mental health.
Identifying the effect of retail brands on private residential rental prices in Great Britain
Authors: Clark Stephen , Hood Nick , Birkin Mark
Published: October 2021

This study extends our understanding of the influence of proximity to retail grocery provision on housing rental prices. To achieve this, extensive data on the size and location of retail outlets are combined with neighbourhood rental values for small areas across a two year period, together with varied contextual data for each area. In order to control the influence of many confounding variables in the determination of housing rentals, the technique of propensity score matching is applied. This provides a sophisticated means for the comparison between areas where there is substantial natural variation, rather than manageable controls. For a variety of types of retail brands, only a significant relationship is found between the proximity of a Premium retail outlet and the housing rental value. The findings of this research allow local planning officers to further understand the impact of planning applications on the potential for gentrification and the affordability of neighbouring housing.
Singularly Perturbed Reaction–Diffusion Problems as First order systems
Authors: Franz Sebastian
Published: October 2021

We consider a singularly perturbed reaction diffusion problem as a first order two-by-two system. Using piecewise discontinuous polynomials for the first component and$$H_{{{\,\mathrm{{div}}\,}}}$$Hdiv-conforming elements for the second component we provide a convergence analysis on layer adapted meshes and an optimal convergence order in a balanced norm that is comparable with a balanced$$H^2$$H2-norm for the second order formulation.
Ergodic Decomposition of Dirichlet Forms via Direct Integrals and Applications
Authors: Dello Schiavo Lorenzo
Published: October 2021

We study direct integrals of quadratic and Dirichlet forms. We show that each quasi-regular Dirichlet space over a probability space admits a unique representation as a direct integral of irreducible Dirichlet spaces, quasi-regular for the same underlying topology. The same holds for each quasi-regular strongly local Dirichlet space over a metrizable Luzin σ-finite Radon measure space, and admitting carré du champ operator. In this case, the representation is only projectively unique.
Feasibility study of fluorescent lamp waste recycling by thermal desorption
Authors: Esbrí José María , Rivera Sofía , Tejero José , Higueras Pablo León
Published: October 2021

The proposed Minamata Convention ban on the use of fluorescent lamps at the end of 2020, with a consequent reduction in mercury (Hg) light products, is expected to produce large amounts of discarded fluorescent bulbs. In this context, the most effective recycling options are a thermal mercury recovery system and/or aqueous solution leaching (lixiviation) to recover rare earth elements (REEs). Due to the heterogeneous nature of these wastes, a complete characterization of Hg compounds in addition to a determination of their desorption temperatures is required for their recycling. The objective of this study is to assess the feasibility of a fast cost-effective thermal characterization to ameliorate recycling treatments. A pyrolysis heating system with a heat ramping capability combined with atomic absorption spectrometry makes it possible to obtain residue data with regard to the temperature ranges needed to achieve total Hg desorption. The major drawback of these heat treatments has been the amount of Hg absorbed from the residue by the glass matrices, ranging from 23.4 to 39.1% in the samples studied. Meanwhile, it has been estimated that 70% of Hg is recovered at a temperature of 437 °C.
Environmental life cycle assessment of yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) production for human consumption in Austria – a comparison of mealworm and broiler as protein source
Authors: Dreyer Moritz , Hörtenhuber Stefan , Zollitsch Werner , Jäger Henry , Schaden Lisa-Marie , Gronauer Andreas , Kral Iris
Published: October 2021

Purpose

Global food production needs to increase to provide enough food for over 9 billion people living by 2050. Traditional animal production is among the leading causes for climate change and occupation of land. Edible insects might be a sustainable protein supply to humans, but environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) studies on them are scarce. This study performs an LCA of a small-scale production system of yellow mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) in Central Europe that are supplied with organic feedstuff.

Methods

A combined ReCiPe midpoint (H) and CED method is used to estimate the potential environmental impacts from cradle-to-gate. Impact categories include global warming potential (GWP), non-renewable energy use (NREU), agricultural land occupation (ALOP), terrestrial acidification potential (TAP) and freshwater eutrophication potential (FEP). The robustness of the results is tested via sensitivity analyses and Monte Carlo simulations.

Results and discussion

Impacts related to the production of 1 kg of edible mealworm protein amount to 20.4 kg CO2-eq (GWP), 213.66 MJ-eq (NREU), 22.38 m2 (ALOP), 159.52 g SO2-eq (TAP) and 12.41 g P-eq (FEP). Upstream feed production and on-farm energy demand related to the heating of the facilities are identified as environmental hot-spots: Depending on the impact category, feed supply contributes up to 90% and on-farm heating accounts for up to 65% of overall impacts. The organic mealworm production system is contrasted with a selected Austrian organic broiler production system, to which it compares favourably (18–72% lower impacts per category), with the exception of freshwater eutrophication (6% higher impacts).

Conclusions

This case study shows that the Austrian mealworm production system compares favourably to traditional livestock systems. Compared to LCAs from large-scale T. molitor rearing facilities in France and in the Netherlands, however, the Austrian production system cannot compete for the reasons of production scale, feed conversion efficiency and type of production system. Nevertheless, the investigated mealworms represent a sustainable protein alternative that should be added to the Western diet.
Female genital injury—which findings have to be considered physiological using colposcopy with and without toluidine blue dye?
Authors: Berlit Clara , Sütterlin Marc , Yen Kathrin , Weiß Christel , Heinze Sarah , Tuschy Benjamin , Berlit Sebastian
Published: October 2021

This study aimed to assess the validity and efficacy of blue dye in colposcopic assessment of genital injury in pre- and postmenopausal women with and without history of consensual sexual intercourse. Two hundred women were prospectively enrolled and examined colposcopically with and without toluidine blue dye in order to detect and categorize genital lesions (laceration, bruise and abrasion). Examination of genital trauma was accomplished in a standardized way and findings were photo documented. A wide range of influencing factors with a potential impact on prevalence and nature of genital injury was recorded beforehand using a questionnaire. The frequency of diagnostic injury differed substantially depending on the examination technique, ranging from 9% using colposcopic magnification only to 28% with the additional use of toluidine blue dye. A vertical laceration affecting the posterior fourchette was the most frequent lesion detected (17%, n = 32). Menopausal status seems to have significant impact on genital injury prevalence (p = 0.0165), as 42% (16/ 38) of postmenopausal compared to 24% (36/ 151) of premenopausal women had at least one genital lesion. Furthermore, vaginal medication (p = 0.0369), vaginal dryness (p = 0.0228), dyspareunia (p = 0.0234) and low frequency of sexual intercourse (p = 0.0022) were found to significantly correlate with the presence of genital lesions. According to our findings, standardized colposcopy in combination with toluidine blue dye facilitates accurate assessment of genital lesions. Genital trauma situated at another site than the posterior part of the vaginal introitus seems to be uncommon after consensual intercourse.