bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reexamining the Post‐Treatment Effects on Perovskite Solar Cells: Passivation and Chloride Redistribution
Authors: Yuan Ligang , Wang Jiarong , Huang Peng , Yin Qixin , Zou Shibing , Wang Lipeng , Zhang Zheng , Luo Huiming , Liu Feng , Qiu Jianhang , Xie Jiangsheng , Ding Liming , Yan Keyou
Published: January 2023

Post‐treatment is an essential passivation step for the state‐of‐the‐art perovskite solar cells (PSCs) but the additional role is not yet exploited. In this work, perovskite film is fabricated under ambient air with wide humidity window and identify that chloride redistribution induced by post‐treatment plays an important role in high performance. The chlorine/iodine ratio on the perovskite surface increases from 0.037 to 0.439 after cyclohexylmethylammonium iodide (CHMAI) treatment and the PSCs deliver a champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 24.42% (certificated 23.60%). The maximum external quantum efficiency of electroluminescence (EQEEL) reaches to 10.84% with a radiance of 170 W sr−1 m−2, forming the reciprocity relation between EQEEL and nonradiative open‐circuit voltage loss (86.0 mV). After thermal annealing, 2D component of perovskite will increase while chloride decline, leading to improved photovoltage but reduced fill factor. Hence, it distinguishes that chloride enrichment can improve charge transport/recombination simultaneously and 2D passivation can suppress the nonradiative recombination. Moreover, CHMAI can leverage their roles in charge transport/recombination for better performance than phenylethylammonium iodide (Cl/I = 0.114, PCE = 23.32%), due to the stronger binding energy of Cl−. This work provides the insight that the chloride fixation can improve the photovoltaic performance.
Why Woodward and Hoffmann? And Why 1965?**
Authors: Seeman Jeffrey I.
Published: January 2023

Previous publications in this series on the history of the development of the Woodward–Hoffmann rules revealed why Woodward and Hoffmann were prime candidates to solve the pericyclic no‐mechanism problem. This publication explains why it was the collaborative team of R. B. Woodward and Roald Hoffmann who did solve this mechanistic problem in a series of five communications in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 1965. That is, the reasons why Woodward and Hoffmann were the perfect team, and why their individual capabilities, experiences, and qualities provided the perfect synergy are described. In part, this was the right time and the right place for them both, but the synergies were fundamental, intrinsic and idiosyncratic as a collaborative pair. Their orbital symmetry rules provided the mechanism of all concerted pericyclic reactions including electrocyclizations, cycloadditions, and sigmatropic rearrangements. Why it was 1965 and not earlier is also discussed.
Fluorinated Imines in Tandem and Cycloaddition Reactions
Authors: Escorihuela Jorge , Fustero Santos
Published: January 2023

The chemistry of fluorinated compounds has experienced extraordinary growth in recent decades due to the many and varied properties which many of the compounds that contain fluorinated groups possess. Among all of them, fluorinated chiral imines, in particular the Ellman's imines, are of great importance since they are some of the most interesting building blocks for the synthesis of a large number of enantioenriched carbocycles and heterocycles with extraordinary biological and synthetic properties. This personal account covers the most significant results obtained in our research group in the last two decades concerning asymmetric tandem reactions, paying special attention to the intramolecular aza‐Michael reaction (IMAMR), diversity oriented synthesis (DOS), asymmetric tandem reactions involving a p‐tolylsulfinyl group as chiral inducer and cycloaddition processes, in particular, the Pauson‐Khand reaction, [2+2+2]‐cycloadditions and metathesis reactions, starting mainly from enyne compounds and through the use of fluorinated chiral N‐sulfinyl imines and their derivatives as starting materials.
Replacing starch with resistant starch (Laminaria japonica) improves water quality, nitrogen and phosphorus budget and microbial community in hybrid snakehead (Channa maculata ♀ × Channa argus ♂)
Authors: Wang Shaodan , Zuo Zhiheng , Wang Qiujie , Zhou Aiguo , Wang Guiqin , Xu Guohuan , Zou Jixing
Published: January 2023

It is essential to increase the use of carbohydrates as an energy source and improve protein synthesis and utilization to reduce ammonia nitrogen emissions. A 60‐day cultural experiment was conducted to assess the impact of resistant starch (kelp meal, Laminaria japonica) replacing starch on water quality, nitrogen and phosphorus budget and microbial community of hybrid snakehead. Approximately 1350 experimental fish (11.4 ± 0.15 g) were randomly divided into control group (C, 20% starch) and four resistant starch groups: low replacement group (LR, 15% starch), medium replacement group (MR, 10% starch), high replacement group (HR, 5% starch) and full replacement group (FR, 0% starch). The crude protein and crude fat content of hybrid snakehead fish fed with the FR diet had the most significant improvement (P < 0.05). However, resistant starch also increased the effectiveness of nitrogen and phosphorus utilization in hybrid snakeheads, which decreased the proportion of total nitrogen and total phosphorus in tail water. The minimum nitrogen and phosphorus emission rate was when the starch level was 6.1%. Denitrifying microbes including Gemmobacter, Rhodobacter, Emticicia and Bosea have become much more prevalent in group FR (P < 0.05). In general, replacing starch with resistant starch can enhance the rate at which nitrogen and phosphorus are used in feeding, lessening water pollution and altering environmental microbial composition.

Practitioner Points

Resistant starch (RS) improves whole fish nutritional content.

Resistant starch improves dietary nitrogen and phosphorus utilization.

Resistant starch acts as a carbon source and encourages the colonization of denitrifying bacteria in water.
Determining all thermodynamic transport coefficients for an interacting large N quantum field theory
Authors: Weiner Max , Romatschke Paul
Published: January 2023

Abstract

Thermodynamic transport coefficients can be calculated directly from quantum field theory without requiring analytic continuation to real time. We determine all second-order thermodynamic transport coefficients for the uncharged N-component massless (critical) scalar field theory with quartic interaction in the large N limit, for any value of the coupling. We find that in the large N limit, all thermodynamic transport coefficients for the interacting theory can be expressed analytically in terms of the in-medium mass and sums over modified Bessel functions. We expect our technique to allow a similar determination of all thermodynamic transport coefficients for all theories that are solvable in the large N limit, including certain gauge theories.
Expression of PKM2 in wound keratinocytes is coupled to angiogenesis during skin repair in vivo and in HaCaT keratinocytes in vitro
Authors: Sych Khrystyna , Nold Simon P. , Pfeilschifter Josef , Vutukuri Rajkumar , Meisterknecht Jana , Wittig Ilka , Frank Stefan , Goren Itamar
Published: January 2023

An injured skin is rapidly restored in a manner of wound healing. We have previously shown that intact insulin signaling and glucose uptake are fundamental to proper wound closure. Consequently, under exacerbated inflammation, compromised insulin action and glucose uptake lead to impaired healing. However, in spite of the increased attention to cell metabolism during tissue regeneration, metabolic mediators that govern cellular and physiological processes throughout skin repair remained largely elusive. Through assessment of mRNA using real-time PCR and protein blot analysis, we report that healing of cutaneous wounds comprise a boosted expression of genes involved in glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation, pentose phosphate shunt, and glutamine anaplerosis. We further focused on the functional role of pyruvate kinase M (PKM) isoenzymes that catalyze the final and rate-limiting step of glycolysis. Whereas the expression of the metabolic constitutively active Pkm1 isozyme remained almost unchanged, Pkm2 is augmented during the inflammatory phase of healing. The immunohistochemistry and RNA in situ hybridization analysis showed a confined Pkm2 expression to keratinocytes of the hyperproliferative epithelium and, to a lesser extent, infiltrating neutrophils and monocytes as well as later on in macrophages. Notably, the expression of Pkm2 in keratinocytes facing the wound bed side colocalized with VEGF expression. The in vitro knockdown of PKM2 in HaCaT keratinocytes using small interfering (si) RNA confirmed an acute role for PKM2 in facilitating the complete induction of VEGF mRNA and protein expression in keratinocytes; this function is mainly HIF-1α independent.

Key messages

• Wound healing involves activation of glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation, pentos-phosphate shunt, and replenishment of tri-carboxylic acid (TCA) cycle through glutamine anaplerosis.

• The pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) isoform is upregulated during the inflammatory phase of cutaneous healing, mainly in keratinocytes of hyperproliferative epithelia.

• In vivo, the expression of VEGF in wound keratinocytes is colocalized with PKM2.

• PKM2 is required for full induction of VEGF in HaCaT keratinocytes in vitro.
Extremely hot East Asia and flooding western South Asia in the summer of 2022 tied to reversed flow over Tibetan Plateau
Authors: He Chao , Zhou Tianjun , Zhang Lixia , Chen Xiaolong , Zhang Wenxia
Published: January 2023

In the summer (July and August) of 2022, unprecedented heat wave occurred along the Yangtze River Valley (YRV) over East Asia while unprecedented flood occurred over western South Asia (WSA), which are located on the eastern and western sides of Tibetan Plateau (TP). Here, by analyzing the interannual variability based on observational and reanalysis data, we show evidences that the anomalous zonal flow over subtropical Tibetan Plateau (TP) explains a major fraction the extreme events occurred in 2022. As isentropic surfaces incline eastward (westward) with altitude on the eastern (western) side of the warm center over TP in summer, anomalous easterly (westerly) flow in upper troposphere generates anomalous descent (ascent) on the eastern side of TP and anomalous ascent (descent) on the western side of TP via isentropic gliding. The anomalous easterly flow is extremely strong to reverse the climatological westerly flow over subtropical TP in 1994, 2006, 2013 and 2022. The easterly flow in 2022 is the strongest since 1979, and it generates unprecedented descent (ascent) anomaly on the eastern (western) side of TP, leading to extreme heat wave over YRV and extreme flood over WSA in 2022. The anomalously strong easterly flow over subtropical TP in 2022 is dominated by atmospheric internal variability related to mid-latitude wave train, while the cold sea surface temperature anomaly over the tropical Indian Ocean increases the probability of a reversed zonal flow over TP by reducing the meridional gradient of tropospheric temperature.
Treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration: insights into drug-switch real-world from the Berlin Macular Registry
Authors: Riemer Tommes , Berndt Dominique , Böker Alexander , Lehmann Josefine , Schrifl Ulrike , Rau Saskia , Rübsam Anne , Joussen Antonia M. , Zeitz Oliver
Published: January 2023

Purpose

Bevacizumab, ranibizumab, and aflibercept are commonly used to treat neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). The results of various interventional, mostly randomized head-to-head studies, indicate statistical non-inferiority of these three drugs. The results of these studies are often interpreted as the three drugs being freely interchangeable, resulting in some health systems to pressure ophthalmologists to preferentially use the less expensive bevacizumab. This study analyzes switching from aflibercept or ranibizumab to bevacizumab and back under real-world conditions in order to investigate the assumption of interchangeability of the drugs.

Methods

Treatment data of IVT patients with diagnosed nAMD were extracted from the clinical Berlin Macular Registry database. Patients who underwent a drug switch from aflibercept or ranibizumab to bevacizumab were subject of this study. Statistical comparisons were pre-planned for best corrected visual acuity, central retinal thickness, macular volume, and length of injection interval. Additional endpoints were analyzed descriptively.

Results

Mean visual acuity decreased from 0.57 ± 0.05 under aflibercept/ranibizumab to 0.68 ± 0.06 logMAR after the switch (P = 0.001; N = 63). CRT increased from 308 ± 11 µm to 336 ± 16 µm (P = 0.011; N = 63). About half of the subjects were switched back: visual acuity increased from 0.69 ± 0.08 logMAR to 0.58 ± 0.09 logMAR (N = 26). CRT decreased from 396 ± 28 to 337 ± 20 µm (N = 28).

Conclusion

The data provides real-world evidence that there is loss of visual acuity and an increase in retinal edema after switching to bevacizumab. Thus, the assumption of free interchangeability cannot be confirmed in this cohort.
Clinical features and risk factors of plastic bronchitis caused by refractory Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia in children: a practical nomogram prediction model
Authors: Zhang Han , Yang Jingjing , Zhao Wenqi , Zhou Jing , He Shuangyu , Shang Yunxiao , Cheng Qi
Published: January 2023

Early assessment of refractory Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (RMPP) with plastic bronchitis (PB) allows timely removal of casts using fiberoptic bronchoscopic manipulation, which relieves airway obstruction and limit sequelae development. This study aimed to analyze clinical data for risk factors and develop a nomogram for early predictive evaluation of RMPP with PB. The clinical data of 1-14 year-old patients with RMPP were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were classified into a PB or non-PB group. The general characteristics, clinical symptoms, laboratory test results, imaging findings, and microscopic changes of the two groups were compared. A statistical analysis of the risk factors for developing PB was performed, and a nomogram model of risk factors was constructed. Of 120 patients with RMPP included, 68 and 52 were in the non-PB and PB groups, respectively. Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, fever before bronchoscopy, extrapulmonary complications, pleural effusion, cough duration, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were identified as risk factors. A nomogram was constructed based on the results of the multivariate analysis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value of the nomogram was 0.944 (95% confidence interval: 0.779-0.962). The Hosmer-Lemeshow test displayed good calibration of the nomogram (p = 0.376, R2 = 0.723).

Conclusion: The nomogram model constructed in this study based on five risk factors (persistent fever before bronchoscopy, extrapulmonary complications, pleural effusion, cough duration, and LDH levels) prior to bronchoscopy can be used for the early identification of RMPP-induced PB.

What is Known:• Refractory Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (RMPP) in children has been increasingly reported and recognized, which often leads to serious complications.• Plastic bronchitis (PB) is considered to be one of the causes of RMPP, and bronchoscopic treatment should be improved as soon as possible to remove plastic sputum thrombus in bronchus.

What is New:• This study determined the risk factors for RMPP-induced PB.• The nomogram model constructed in this study prior to bronchoscopy can be used for the early identification of RMPP-induced PB, which facilitate the early bronchoscopic removal of casts, thereby promoting recovery and reducing cases with poor RMPP prognosis.
The mesenchymal circulating tumor cells as biomarker for prognosis prediction and supervision in hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Zhao Lina , Zheng Zhifa , Liu Yunhe , Liu Fei , Li Xiaoxin , Wu Zhihong
Published: January 2023

Purpose

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers and a leading cause of death worldwide. Accurate prognosis prediction tools are urgently needed. While the use of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as prognostic prediction tool has a clear potential.

Methods

We established a comprehensive, negative enrichment-based strategy for CTCs analysis in patients with HCC, involving identification of epithelial CTCs (E-CTCs) and mesenchymal CTCs (M-CTCs) through specific biomarker. This strategy was performed in 127 HCC cases, 21 nonmalignant liver disease (NMLD) patients and 42 health control to analyze the relevance between CTCs and tumor recurrence.

Results

The total CTC number and M-CTC percent were positively correlated with tumor malignancy and high recurrence risk. Individually, preoperative total CTC number and M-CTC percent could robustly distinguish relapse cases from those with no relapse, with sensitivity of 80.95% and 90.48%, specificity of 74.12% and 84.71%, respectively. Levels of preoperative total CTC number and M-CTC percent can both be regarded as independent risk factors for HCC with early recurrence (P = 0.0053, P < 0.0001), and are both significantly correlated with worse recurrence-free survival (RFS) (log rank P < 0.0001; HR 7.78, 95% CI = 3.59–16.87; log rank P < 0.0001; HR 24.4, 95% CI = 8.67–68.77). The levels of total CTC number and M-CTC number had higher effectiveness than alpha fetal protein (AFP) in HCC longitudinal supervision (77.78% vs 88.89% vs 22.22%).

Conclusion

Preoperative and postoperative CTCs with higher effectiveness than AFP in prognosis prediction and recurrence supervision, indicating that CTCs could work as the biomarker for HCC clinical management.
Multiscale structural analysis of an Epiligurian wedge-top basin: insights into the syn- to post-orogenic evolution of the Northern Apennines accretionary wedge (Italy)
Authors: Stendardi F. , Viola G. , Vignaroli G.
Published: January 2023

Wedge-top basins represent useful tectonic elements for the characterisation of the evolution of their underlying accretionary wedge in space and time, as their final state of deformation sums up the bulk shortening and structural instability conditions of the wedge. Here, we present the geometric and kinematic patterns of deformation structures deforming the wedge-top Epiligurian basins of the Northern Apennines (Italy). Our main goals are to generate an evolutionary model to account for the syn- to post-orogenic evolution of the Epiligurian basins and to infer the building style of the Northern Apennines wedge during continental collision. Mesoscale structural analysis shows that common and widely distributed thrust and normal fault arrays deform the entire Epiligurian stratigraphic succession infilling the broadly E-vergent wedge-top basins. Thrusts are invariably cut by later NW–SE and NE-SW-striking normal and oblique fault systems characterised by fault planes that mutually intersect at all scales to form polygonal patterns. Remote sensing analysis of the tectonic structures affecting the Epiligurian formations confirms the variable orientation of both thrusts and normal faults within the different studied stratigraphic successions. As a whole, results suggest a polyphase tectonic evolution of the Epiligurian wedge-top basins during the widening of the Northern Apennines accretionary wedge towards the foreland by frontal accretion. The recognised main phases are: (i) syn-orogenic compression accommodating overall tectonic transport towards the eastern quadrants; (ii) post-orogenic extension genetically related to the extension of the inner zone of the Northern Apennines; (iii) more recent extension forming collapse-induced normal faults spatially arranged in polygonal patterns.
Giotto's Arena Chapel and the Triumph of Humility
Authors: Lange Henrike Christiane
Published: January 2023

In this book, Henrike Lange takes the reader on a tour through one of the most beloved and celebrated monuments in the world – Giotto's Arena Chapel. Paying close attention to previously overlooked details, Lange offers an entirely new reading of the stunning frescoes in their spatial configuration. The author also asks fundamental questions that define the chapel's place in Western art history. Why did Giotto choose an ancient Roman architectural frame for his vision of Salvation? What is the role of painted reliefs in the representation of personal integrity, passion, and the human struggle between pride and humility familiar from Dante's Divine Comedy? How can a new interpretation regarding the influence of ancient reliefs and architecture inform the famous “Assisi controversy” and cast new light on the debate around Giotto's authorship of the Saint Francis cycle? Illustrated with almost 200 color plates, this volume invites scholars and students to rediscover a key monument of art and architecture history and to see it with new eyes.
Moving Bodies
Authors: Ringmar Erik
Published: January 2023

Increasingly we have come to live in our heads, leaving our bodies behind. The consequences have been far-reaching, of which cognitive theory has warned us, advocating a 'return to the body.' This book employs several case studies-kings performing in ballets, sea captains dancing with natives, nationalists engaged in gymnastics exercises-to demonstrate what has been lost and what could be gained by a more embodied approach to living, to history. These curious movements were ways to be, to think, to know, to imagine, and to will. They highlight the limits of historical explanations focusing on cultural factors and question currently fashionable 'cultural' and 'post-modern' perspectives. Bodies, cognitive theory tells us, are the same regardless of historical context, and they engage in the same intentional activities. Returning to our bodies and their movements enables us not only to explain historical actions anew, but also to understand ourselves better.
Wang Bing's Filmmaking of the China Dream
Authors: Pollacchi Elena
Published: January 2023

This volume offers an organic discussion of Wang Bing's filmmaking across China's marginal spaces and against the backdrop of the state-sanctioned 'China Dream'. Wang's work has contemporary China as its focus and testifies to the country's contradictions, not dissimilar to those of contemporary societies dealing with issues of inequality, labour, and migration.

Without being an activist, Wang Bing gives voice to the subaltern. His internationally awarded documentaries are recognized as world masterpieces. His unique aesthetics bears references to film masters, therefore this investigation goes beyond the divide between Western and non-Western film traditions.

Each chapter takes a different articulation of space (spaces of labour, spaces of history, spaces of memory) as its entry point bringing together film and documentary studies, Chinese studies, and studies in globalization issues. This volume benefits from the author's extensive conversation with Wang Bing and from insider's observations of film production and the film festival circuit.
Production et circulation des savoirs dans une monarchie polycentrique
Authors: Palomo Federico
Published: January 2023

La production et la circulation des savoirs dans les contextes ibériques de l’époque moderne se trouvent au cœur de cet article. Plus précisément, celui-ci tente d’analyser les connexions qui, au-delà des liens politiques et commerciaux, se sont établies sur le plan de la culture lettrée entre plusieurs des espaces, africains, asiatiques et américains, où les Portugais étaient présents aux xvie et xviie siècles. L’étude vise à éclairer des circulations de savoirs peu explorées au sein de cette monarchie polycentrique. Celles-ci permettent d’observer la constitution de certains lieux en centres d’accumulation, de (ré)élaboration et de dissémination des savoirs produits dans le cadre des expériences ibériques dans les océans Indien et Atlantique. Ces circulations révèlent surtout des dynamiques qui, en marge de la communication avec les centres métropolitains, ont permis de connecter directement entre eux les espaces coloniaux.
Activity-induced migration of viscous droplets on a solid substrate
Authors: Aggarwal A. , Kirkinis E. , Olvera de la Cruz M.
Published: January 2023

Active matter exploits motion to induce changes in shape and conformation via external input. In this paper, we establish theoretically that viscous liquid droplets containing magnetic nanoparticles with frozen-in magnetic moments, sitting on a solid substrate and surrounded by an ambient gas phase, can deform and migrate under the influence of a magnetic torque. The effect arises because the collective rotation of the magnetic nanoparticles at the liquid–gas interface tilts the droplet away from a symmetric configuration, breaks the reflection symmetry with respect to the centre axis, and leads to a left–right asymmetry of the contact angles. A sufficiently strong magnetic torque leads the contact angles to overcome hysteresis effects leading the droplet to migrate. We develop a general framework to explain how symmetry-breaking affects droplet migration. Thus previous results of droplet spreading and migration can be recovered as special cases. Such droplets can be employed as agents in active surfaces and can move against gravity, chemical and thermal gradients, providing a mechanism that could be utilized by both industry and medicine.
Dietary diversity and associated factors among adult cancer patients attending treatment at Black Lion Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Authors: Girma Helen , Nana Amanuel
Published: January 2023

Background: Cancer has become a significant public health issue around the world and an increasingly important contributor to disease burdens. In countries like Ethiopia with high nutrient demands, people with chronic diseases like cancer are at a high risk of macro and micronutrient deficiencies. Therefore, the present study attempted to assess dietary diversity and associated factors among adult cancer patients attending treatment at Black Lion Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Method and Materials: Hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 22 April 2021 to 22 May 2021 on 416 adult cancer patients at Black Lion Specialized Hospital (BLSH). A systematic random sampling technique was applied to select study subjects. Quantitative data were collected using a structured, pretested and interviewer-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised the standard dietary diversity measurement tool, which was adopted from the Food and Technical Assistance (FANTA) then data were entered into EPI INFO software and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Frequency, mean and standard deviation were used to describe variables. A binary logistic regression model was fitted to elicit factors associated with the dietary diversity of cancer patients and a P-value of less than 0⋅2 was used as a cut-off for further analysis. Logistic regression analysis with a 95 % confidence interval (CI) was estimated to measure the strength of association at P < 0⋅05. Results: The present study revealed that 61⋅5 % of patients had low dietary diversity. Being from a family size of five and more (AOR = 1⋅48, 95 % CI 1⋅28, 1⋅83), having no permanent income (AOR = 1⋅31, 95 % CI 1⋅15, 1⋅67), alcohol consumption (AOR = 3⋅97, 95 % CI 1⋅20, 13⋅1), not doing regular physical exercise (AOR = 1⋅83, 95 % CI 1⋅07, 3⋅12), lack of nutritional information (AOR = 2⋅23, 95 % CI 1⋅30, 3⋅82), poor nutritional knowledge (AOR = 1⋅84, 95 % CI 1⋅05, 3⋅25) and minimum meal frequency (AOR = 10⋅7, 95 % CI 5⋅04, 22⋅7) were factors associated with inadequate dietary diversity. Conclusion: The present study showed that the majority of cancer patients had low dietary diversity, suggesting that they are highly vulnerable to micronutrient deficiencies. Therefore, efforts should be strengthened to improve patients’ income level, access to nutrition information and nutritional knowledge.
State-Sponsored Activism: How China’s Law Reforms Impact NGOs’ Legal Practice
Authors: Wang Yueduan , Xia Ying
Published: January 2023

This study examines legal opportunity in China after the recent “law-based governance” reforms, including those that have professionalized the judiciary, established NGOs’ public interest standing, and expanded legal aid coverage. Based on in-depth interviews, it finds that despite the generally tightening political control over the social sector, the reforms have helped some law-related NGOs expand their litigation practice, social and legislative influence, and domestic funding sources. At the same time, these changes have had considerable cooptation effects by aligning these NGOs’ interests with the state’s and channeling their activities into state-sanctioned institutional processes. The findings suggest that states can effectively utilize a dualist strategy that combines restrictive and supportive approaches to public participation in the legal process. It thus sheds light on the progression of legality within various political and institutional contexts.
Comparative analysis of machine learning algorithms for predicting standard time in a manufacturing environment
Authors: Çakıt Erman , Dağdeviren Metin
Published: January 2023

Determining accurate standard time using direct measurement techniques is especially challenging in companies that do not have a proper environment for time measurement studies or that manufacture items requiring complex production schedules. New and specific time measurement techniques are required for such companies. This research developed a novel time estimation approach based on several machine learning methods. The set of collected inputs in the manufacturing environment, including a number of products, the number of welding operations, product's surface area factor, difficulty/working environment factors, and the number of metal forming processes. The data were collected from one of the largest bus manufacturing companies in Turkey. Experimental results demonstrate that when model accuracy was measured using performance measures, k-nearest neighbors outperformed other machine learning techniques in terms of prediction accuracy. “The number of welding operations” and “the number of pieces” were found to be the most effective parameters. The findings show that machine learning algorithms can estimate standard time, and the findings can be used for several purposes, including lowering production costs, increasing productivity, and ensuring efficiency in the execution of their operating processes by other companies that manufacture similar products.
‘Success to the Shropshire Chamber of Agriculture’: a reappraisal of the role of chambers of agriculture in Britain during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries
Authors: Bowen James P.
Published: January 2023

The central and associated county or district chambers of agriculture have attracted little attention from historians. Their origins have been attributed to the perceived lack of a national coordinating body for agriculture highlighted by the 1865–7 cattle plague. This article based on the records of the Shropshire Chamber of Agriculture, newspapers and printed histories reconsiders their role. Members were initially drawn from landowning society and larger tenant farmers, although membership widened with the growth of rival organisations. Activities included lectures, talks and debates on agricultural subjects, visits to farms, factories and the county agricultural college and farm institute, dinners and social occasions at which those interested in agriculture could meet. By foregrounding the people and politics of the chambers of agriculture, it is argued they need to be incorporated more fully into the historiography of agricultural and rural politics of Britain during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Socializing the Materiality of Earthen Structures: TheChaîne Opératoireof Construction Practices at the Neolithic Site of Kleitos 2, Greece
Authors: Kalogiropoulou Evita , Kloukinas Dimitris , Kotsakis Kostas
Published: January 2023

This paper describes thechaîne opératoireof earthen architecture relating to buildings and thermal structures at the Neolithic site of Kleitos 2 in Kozani. It provides a material-based approach to the variable processes involved in construction as a practice of community involvement. Thechaîne opératoire, adapted based on a refined concept of technology, is employed here as a key analytical tool. This paper tackles questions relating to the social scale of the construction processes concerned, specialization in construction, and the participation and collaboration of the builders. By choosing to focus on a local-scale analysis of a single site, we were able to develop a detailed framework that includes all the steps involved in manufacturing the earthen features, from the decision-making processes to questions of spatial allocation, the acquisition and processing of materials and construction practices, together with their subsequent use and end-life. The aim of this paper is to recognize construction processes as a social event involving cooperation and social performativity, which fosters and reaffirms social interactions, obligations and entanglements, shedding light on the dynamics of the society in question.
Adults with CHD balancing motivations and concerns in pregnancy decision-making
Authors: West Kathleen M. , Bayley Elizabeth , Pechan Jaimie , Engelberg Ruth A. , Albright Catherine , Buber Jonathan , Steiner Jill M.
Published: January 2023

Background:

While the incidence of pregnancy has increased among individuals with adult CHD, little has been described about considerations and experiences of patients with adult CHD regarding pregnancy.

Objective:

We aimed to explore patients’ motivations, concerns, and decision-making processes regarding pregnancy.

Methods:

In April 2019–January 2020, we conducted in-depth telephone interviews with patients (n = 25) with simple, moderate, or complex adult CHD, who received prenatal care at the University of Washington during 2010–2019 and experienced a live birth. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results:

Participants described motivations for pregnancy as both internal desires (motherhood, marriage fulfillment, biological connection, fetal personhood, self-efficacy) and external drivers (family or community), as well as concerns for the health and survival of themselves and the fetus. Factors that enabled their decision to maintain a pregnancy included having a desire that outweighed their perceived risk, using available data to guide their decision, planning for contingencies and knowing their beliefs about termination, plus having a trusted healthcare team, social support, and resources. Factors that led to insurmountable risk in subsequent pregnancies included desire having been fulfilled by the first pregnancy, compounding risk with age and additional pregnancies, new responsibility to an existing child, and reduced healthcare team and social support.

Conclusions:

Understanding individuals’ motivations and concerns, and how they weigh their decisions to become or remain pregnant, can help clinicians better support patients with adult CHD considering pregnancy. Clinician education on patient experiences is warranted.
Cardiac arrest as initial presentation of pheochromocytoma in a young
Authors: Li Xuanxuan , Wang Renping , Yang Zhikai
Published: January 2023

We reported a case of pheochromocytoma with initial presentation of cardiac arrest. The patient underwent implantable cardioverter defibrillator for primary prevention but subsequently experienced repeated implantable cardioverter defibrillator shocks and syncopal episodes. A mass was found in the adrenal gland by CT, which was confirmed by anatomopathological analysis of the surgical specimen.
The unbearable lightness of being? Reconfiguring the moral underpinnings and sources of ontological security
Authors: Bolton Derek
Published: January 2023

While ontological security (OS) studies have gone through a recent evolution, shifting toward psychoanalytic and existential accounts of anxiety, this article argues there remains a deficient engagement with the affective environments within which actors operate. Specifically, focusing on shared emotions/affect allows for a thicker account of the mechanisms of OS – including the constitutive forces underpinning society/societal trust, the role/power of signifiers and narratives, and the basis upon which actors promote social change. Accordingly, it suggests Durkheim's social theory, his broader concept of ‘religion’ as an affective community constituted by faith in a moral order entwined with the sacred, offers a viable pathway to develop these insights and develop a new basis for the mechanisms of OS. The drive for OS thus becomes reconfigured as an effort to act faithfully toward a dynamic moral order, while ontological insecurity emerges from the unbearable lightness of being experienced within moral disorder. Following Durkheim's preliminary argument on nationalism representing the continuation of religion, we can then revise how/why nations are integral to OS and International Relations. Specifically, we can view foreign policy as informed by debates around how to act faithfully toward the moral order – a process interrelated with revitalization and renewal of the sacred.
Shared Genetic Factors Contributing to the Overlap between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms and Overweight/Obesity in Swedish Adolescent Girls and Boys
Authors: Javaras Kristin N. , Munn-Chernoff Melissa A. , Diemer Elizabeth W. , Thornton Laura M. , Bulik Cynthia M. , Yilmaz Zeynap , Lichtenstein Paul , Larsson Henrik , Baker Jessica H.
Published: January 2023

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obesity are positively associated, with increasing evidence that they share genetic risk factors. Our aim was to examine whether these findings apply to both types of ADHD symptoms for female and male adolescents. We used data from 791 girl and 735 boy twins ages 16−17 years to examine sex-specific phenotypic correlations between the presence of ADHD symptoms and overweight/obese status. For correlations exceeding .20, we then fit bivariate twin models to estimate the genetic and environmental correlations between the presence of ADHD symptoms and overweight/obese status. ADHD symptoms and height/weight were parent- and self-reported, respectively. Phenotypic correlations were .30 (girls) and .08 (boys) for inattention and overweight/obese status and .23 (girls) and .14 (boys) for hyperactivity/impulsivity and overweight/obese status. In girls, both types of ADHD symptoms and overweight/obese status were highly heritable, with unique environmental effects comprising the remaining variance. Furthermore, shared genetic effects explained most of the phenotypic correlations in girls. Results suggest that the positive association of both types of ADHD symptoms with obesity may be stronger in girls than boys. Further, in girls, these associations may stem primarily from shared genetic factors.
Discovery of a >1,000 km Cambrian Eclogite‐Bearing High‐Pressure Metamorphic Belt in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt: Implications for the Final Closure of the Pan‐Rodinian Ocean
Authors: Zhu Mingshuai , Zhang Fuqin , Smit Matthijs A. , Pastor‐Galán Daniel , Guilmette Carl , Miao Laicheng , Zou Yi , Yang Shunhu , Ganbat Ariuntsetseg , Tual Lorraine , Wang Zeli
Published: January 2023

The immense Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) records the transition from the Pan‐Rodinian Mirovoi Ocean to the Paleo‐Asian Ocean, but the final closure of the Mirovoi Ocean remains unexplored. Here we document two new eclogite occurrences, located between CAOB microcontinents and the Ediacaran–Cambrian island arc in Mongolia. Pseudosection modeling and geothermobarometry constrain peak conditions of ∼560°C and ∼2.2 GPa for the Urgamal eclogite and ∼715°C and ∼2.0 GPa for the Tsengel eclogite. Zircon U‐Pb dating results suggest the Urgamal eclogite‐facies metamorphism occurred at ∼522 Ma, and the granite gneiss enclosing the eclogite yielded ∼811 Ma crystallization age and ∼519 Ma metamorphic age. Detrital zircon age spectra of the paragneisses associated with the eclogite suggest a probable provenance from the adjacent Zavkhan microcontinent and the Neoproterozoic arc superimposed on the microcontinent. The Tsengel eclogite has a protolith age of ∼853 Ma and an eclogite‐facies metamorphic age of ∼522 Ma, and the associated migmatite gneiss record a ∼520 Ma migmatization event. The rock associations and geochemical affinities indicate that their protoliths represent mafic rocks formed in a continental rift setting and the Early Neoproterozoic subduction–accretion complex, respectively. Their similar tectonic position and metamorphic age suggest that these rocks are part of a single >1,000 km long Cambrian high‐pressure metamorphic belt. The rocks record closure of the Mirovoi Ocean within the CAOB and constrain this crucial event to ∼520 Ma along the western margin of the microcontinents in Mongolia.
LNOx Emission Model for Air Quality and Climate Studies Using Satellite Lightning Mapper Observations
Authors: Wu Y. , Pour‐Biazar A. , Koshak W. J. , Cheng P.
Published: January 2023

A lightning nitrogen oxides (LNOx) emissions model using satellite‐observed lightning optical energy is introduced for utilization in Air Quality modeling systems. The effort supports assessments of air‐quality/climate coupling as related to the influence of LNOx on atmospheric chemistry. The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), International Space Station Lightning Imaging Sensor (ISS‐LIS), and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) LIS data are used to examine the efficacy of the method, extend the previously derived LNOx record, and demonstrate a path for using ISS‐LIS observations to cross‐calibrate regional LNOx estimates from the future global constellation of geostationary lightning observations. A detailed evaluation of the GLM data set is provided to establish the robustness of observations for LNOx estimates and to make preliminary assessments of the LNOx emissions model. Seasonal and geographical variation, land/ocean contrast, and annual fluctuation in the GLM observed lightning activity and flash optical energy are provided. GLM detection substantially degrades with the increase in the field of view, resulting in 44% more flashes and 40% less optical energy observation by GLM‐16 (compared to GLM‐17) to the east of the middle‐longitude between the two mappers (106.2°W). Regular horizontal striations are found in the optical energy product. On average, GLM flashes matched to the cloud‐to‐ground flashes have ∼30% longer duration, 50%–70% more extension, and ≥100% higher optical energy compared to the unmatched flashes (assumed to be intra‐cloud). The results from summer‐long chemical transport simulations using LNOx generated from the emission model agrees with previous studies and shows consistency across the GLM/LIS data sets.
Multiple vehicle cooperation and collision avoidance in automated vehicles: survey and an AI-enabled conceptual framework
Authors: Muzahid Abu Jafar Md , Kamarulzaman Syafiq Fauzi , Rahman Md Arafatur , Murad Saydul Akbar , Kamal Md Abdus Samad , Alenezi Ali H
Published: January 2023

Prospective customers are becoming more concerned about safety and comfort as the automobile industry swings toward automated vehicles (AVs). A comprehensive evaluation of recent AVs collision data indicates that modern automated driving systems are prone to rear-end collisions, usually leading to multiple-vehicle collisions. Moreover, most investigations into severe traffic conditions are confined to single-vehicle collisions. This work reviewed diverse techniques of existing literature to provide planning procedures for multiple vehicle cooperation and collision avoidance (MVCCA) strategies in AVs while also considering their performance and social impact viewpoints. Firstly, we investigate and tabulate the existing MVCCA techniques associated with single-vehicle collision avoidance perspectives. Then, current achievements are extensively evaluated, challenges and flows are identified, and remedies are intelligently formed to exploit a taxonomy. This paper also aims to give readers an AI-enabled conceptual framework and a decision-making model with a concrete structure of the training network settings to bridge the gaps between current investigations. These findings are intended to shed insight into the benefits of the greater efficiency of AVs set-up for academics and policymakers. Lastly, the open research issues discussed in this survey will pave the way for the actual implementation of driverless automated traffic systems.
Neural decoding of music from the EEG
Authors: Daly Ian
Published: January 2023

Neural decoding models can be used to decode neural representations of visual, acoustic, or semantic information. Recent studies have demonstrated neural decoders that are able to decode accoustic information from a variety of neural signal types including electrocortiography (ECoG) and the electroencephalogram (EEG). In this study we explore how functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be combined with EEG to develop an accoustic decoder. Specifically, we first used a joint EEG-fMRI paradigm to record brain activity while participants listened to music. We then used fMRI-informed EEG source localisation and a bi-directional long-term short term deep learning network to first extract neural information from the EEG related to music listening and then to decode and reconstruct the individual pieces of music an individual was listening to. We further validated our decoding model by evaluating its performance on a separate dataset of EEG-only recordings. We were able to reconstruct music, via our fMRI-informed EEG source analysis approach, with a mean rank accuracy of 71.8% ($$n~=~18$$

n

=

18

, $$p~<~0.05$$

p

<

0.05

). Using only EEG data, without participant specific fMRI-informed source analysis, we were able to identify the music a participant was listening to with a mean rank accuracy of 59.2% ($$n~=~19$$

n

=

19

, $$p~<~0.05$$

p

<

0.05

). This demonstrates that our decoding model may use fMRI-informed source analysis to aid EEG based decoding and reconstruction of acoustic information from brain activity and makes a step towards building EEG-based neural decoders for other complex information domains such as other acoustic, visual, or semantic information.
Realizing acoustic qubit analogues with nonlinearly tunable phi-bits in externally driven coupled acoustic waveguides
Authors: Deymier P. A. , Runge K. , Hasan M. A. , Lata T. D. , Levine J. A. , Cutillas P.
Published: January 2023

Using experiments and theory, we investigate the behavior of nonlinear acoustic modes in a physical system composed of an array of three coupled acoustic waveguides, two of which are externally driven with two different frequencies. Nonlinear modes with frequency given by linear combinations of the driving frequencies are realizations of so-called logical phi-bits. A phi-bit is a two-state degree of freedom of an acoustic wave, which can be in a coherent superposition of states with complex amplitude coefficients, i.e., a qubit analogue. We demonstrate experimentally that phi-bit modes are supported in the array of waveguides. Using perturbation theory, we show that phi-bits may result from the intrinsic nonlinearity of the material used to couple the waveguides. We have also isolated possible effects on phi-bit states associated with the systems’ electronics, transducers and ultrasonic coupling agents used to probe the array and that may introduce extrinsic nonlinearities. These extrinsic effects are shown to be easily separable from the intrinsic behavior. The intrinsic behavior includes sharp jumps in phi-bit phases occurring over very narrow ranges of driving frequency. These jumps may also exhibit hysteretic behavior dependent on the direction of driving frequency tuning. The intrinsic states of phi-bits and multiple nonlinearly correlated phi-bits may serve as foundation for robust and practical quantum-analogue information technologies.