bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Indigenous Service Provider Perspectives of an Online Education Module to Support Safe Clinical Encounters about Family Violence in Canada
Authors: Wekerle Christine , McQueen Kahontiyoha Cynthia Denise , Barker Bronwyn , Acai Anita , Smith Savanah , Allice Ilana , Kimber Melissa
Published: December 2022

Given colonial genocide, Indigenous peoples are rightfully reticent to disclose their experiences of family violence to practitioners working within mainstream health care and social services. Health care and social service providers (HSSPs) have varied formal education on providing trauma-and-violence informed care to Indigenous and non-Indigenous families affected by family violence, including intimate partner violence and child maltreatment. The purpose of this study is to understand and describe the perspectives of Six Nations of the Grand River community members on the relevance of an education module to support HSSPs to provide physically and emotionally safe care to Indigenous families affected by family violence. Two-Eyed Seeing and Two Row Wampum approaches guided our qualitative study. Twenty-one (66.7% women) Indigenous HSSPs completed a semi-structured interview; 15 identified as a regulated HSSP, nine as a Knowledge Keeper/Cultural Holder, and three as a HSSP trainees. Conventional content analysis guided the development of codes and categories. The Violence, Evidence, Guidance, Action (VEGA)—Creating Safety education module was described as having elements consistent with Indigenous experiences and values, and supportive of Indigenous peoples seeking care from HSSPs for family violence related concerns. Participants described several suggestions to better adapt and align the module content with the diversity of values and beliefs of different Indigenous Nations. Collectively, the Creating Safety module may be used as an educational adjunct to Indigenous-focused, cultural safety training that can support HSSPs to provide physically, emotionally, and psychologically safe care to Indigenous peoples who have experienced family violence. Future work needs to consider the perspectives of other Indigenous communities and Nations.
Co-Occurrence of Gaming Disorder and Other Potentially Addictive Behaviours between Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom
Authors: Burleigh Tyrone L. , Griffiths Mark D. , Sumich Alexander , Wang Grace Y. , Stavropoulos Vasileios , Kannis-Dymand Lee , Kuss Daria J.
Published: December 2022

Background: Evidence suggests that gamers can have varying experiences of disordered gaming behaviours due to coping mechanisms and how they can act as risk or protective factor in the development and/or maintenance of disordered behaviours. A particular area of interest is how this may manifest across different countries. Understanding the interplay of these potential risk and protective factors within different countries will aid identifying and preventing disordered behaviours. Methods: Three cohorts were recruited from Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Each cohort was required to complete a battery of psychometric scales exploring problematic behaviours, problematic substance use, co-occurrence, coping styles, and personality. A latent profile analysis was conducted to examine the differences between cohorts and further investigated with additional analyses. Results: The findings suggested that a minority of gamers were affected by gaming disorder, and there appeared an at-risk cohort who utilise gaming as a maladaptive coping strategy. Other accompanying potentially addictive behaviour or substance use may be exacerbated as a result, the manifestation of which can be influenced by cultural elements. Conclusions: When considering gamers from countries which hold similar views, it is important to be cognisant of the variations found in the manifestations of disordered gaming and accompanying potentially addictive behaviours. This will allow for a more precise identification of at-risk behaviours, which will result in more favourable treatment outcomes for those who are considered at-risk or high-risk individuals.
Comparison of the Thermal Reaction of Patients after Conserving Procedures and after Mastectomy to the Radiation Dose Obtained during Radiotherapy
Authors: Plaza Dominika , Baic Agnieszka , Lange Barbara , Brzęk Anna , Ślosarek Krzysztof , Stanek Agata , Cholewka Armand
Published: December 2022

The main aim of the study was to compare the temperature response of the body to the dose received during breast cancer radiotherapy. The control group consisted of 50 healthy volunteers. They underwent one thermographic examination and compared the temperatures between the left and right breasts. The research group consisted of 50 patients. Based on the treatment plan, the area PTV and isodose was marked on the thermograms. Five thermographs were performed in each patient (before radiotherapy and in each week of treatment). A qualitatively similar increase in mean temperature during treatment was observed in both subgroups in the analyzed areas. The highest increase in temperature was obtained in the third week of treatment. Compared with the value before treatment, the increase in the mean temperature in PTV in patients after partial surgery was 0.78 °C, these values are statistically significant p = 0.000055. In the case of post-mastectomy patients, 0.8 °C was obtained, these values are statistically significant p = 0.00369. In addition, strong correlation was calculated between isodoses read from treatment plans and isotherms obtained from the analysis of thermal images. In post-mastectomy patients for PTV r = 0.77, 30 Gy r = 0.94, 20 Gy r = 0.96, and 10 Gy r = 0.75. For patients after partial surgery for PTV r = 0.74, 30 Gy r = 0.89, 20 Gy r = 0.83, and 10 Gy r = 0.89. Infrared thermography seems to be a useful method of assessing the thermal response of the body to the dose received during radiotherapy of breast cancer and may be a clinically useful method of assessing the early skin response to radiation.
Academic Acculturation of International Doctoral Students in the U.S.: A Qualitative Inquiry
Authors: Park Seungyeon
Published: December 2022

The aim of this phenomenological inquiry is to explore the academic acculturation experiences of international kinesiology professionals during their doctoral programs in higher education institutions in the U.S. Purposive sampling technique was used which include six study participants. The data collected from a demographic questionnaire and a focused interview. Using acculturation theory as a conceptual framework, the subjects’ academic acculturation as former international PhD students were described. There are three subthemes: (1) graduate program and requirements, (2) the academic environment of graduate program, and (3) professional development for a career in kinesiology. Findings are discussed in light of academic acculturation with a focus on assimilation (proactive adaptation in a new environment), and integration (flexibly to embrace the life experiences, learning experiences, and current experiences of the students in a new context). Particularly, findings examine how international kinesiology professionals perceived their doctoral degree experiences and sustained academic acculturation, pertaining to research and professional development at their programs. Exploring the academic acculturation of international PhD students is crucial for diversity awareness in higher education in the U.S. Often described as a minority with a narrower status, these international students undergoing academic acculturation should be assisted with aligning to their contextual frames, in terms of degree level and its characteristics in their field of study.
Effect of Stress Signals and Ib-rolB/C Overexpression on Secondary Metabolite Biosynthesis in Cell Cultures of Ipomoea batatas
Authors: Vasyutkina Elena A. , Yugay Yulia A. , Grigorchuk Valeria P. , Grishchenko Olga V. , Sorokina Maria R. , Yaroshenko Yulia L. , Kudinova Olesya D. , Stepochkina Varvara D. , Bulgakov Victor P. , Shkryl Yury N.
Published: December 2022

Ipomoea batatas is a vital root crop and a source of caffeoylquinic acid derivatives (CQAs) with potential health-promoting benefits. As a naturally transgenic plant, I. batatas contains cellular T-DNA (cT-DNA) sequence homologs of the Agrobacterium rhizogenes open reading frame (ORF)14, ORF17n, rooting locus (Rol)B/RolC, ORF13, and ORF18/ORF17n of unknown function. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of abiotic stresses (temperature, ultraviolet, and light) and chemical elicitors (methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid, and sodium nitroprusside) on the biosynthesis of CQAs and cT-DNA gene expression in I. batatas cell culture as a model system. Among all the applied treatments, ultraviolet irradiation, methyl jasmonate, and salicylic acid caused the maximal accumulation of secondary compounds. We also discovered that I. batatas cT-DNA genes were not expressed in cell culture, and the studied conditions weakly affected their transcriptional levels. However, the Ib-rolB/C gene expressed under the strong 35S CaMV promoter increased the CQAs content by 1.5–1.9-fold. Overall, our results show that cT-DNA-encoded transgenes are not involved in stress- and chemical elicitor-induced CQAs accumulation in cell cultures of I. batatas. Nevertheless, overaccumulation of RolB/RolC transcripts potentiates the secondary metabolism of sweet potatoes through a currently unknown mechanism. Our study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms linked with CQAs biosynthesis in cell culture of naturally transgenic food crops, i.e., sweet potato.
Effects of Phototherapy on Free Vitamin D Levels in Ten Patients with Atopic Dermatitis
Authors: Elmelid Andrea , Osmancevic Amra , Gillstedt Martin , Alsterholm Mikael
Published: December 2022

The role of vitamin D in atopic dermatitis (AD) is controversial. Conflicting data could be due to the use of inadequate markers for assessing vitamin D status. So far, directly measured free 25(OH)D concentrations have not been reported in AD patients. Ten adults with AD were treated with narrow band ultraviolet light B (NB-UVB) for 10–12 weeks. SCORing atopic dermatitis (SCORAD) and the visual analogue scale (VAS) were used to assess disease severity before and after NB-UVB therapy. Total and free 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)2D serum levels were analyzed before and after treatment. Free 25(OH)D concentrations were measured with a two-step immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The majority of patients had sufficient levels of 25(OH)D before treatment (mean 76.4 nmol/L). Mean free 25(OH)D was 11.9 pmol/L and mean 1,25(OH)2D was 108.9 pmol/L. Median SCORAD decreased from 37.1 to 19.8 and VAS improved significantly after phototherapy. Total and free 25(OH)D increased in all subjects. No correlations between disease severity and vitamin D levels were found. There was no correlation between total and free 25(OH)D levels. Larger studies are needed to test the applicability of the free hormone hypothesis in AD pathogenesis.
CA-STD: Scene Text Detection in Arbitrary Shape Based on Conditional Attention
Authors: Wu Xing , Qi Yangyang , Song Jun , Yao Junfeng , Wang Yanzhong , Liu Yang , Han Yuexing , Qian Quan
Published: December 2022

Scene Text Detection (STD) is critical for obtaining textual information from natural scenes, serving for automated driving and security surveillance. However, existing text detection methods fall short when dealing with the variation in text curvatures, orientations, and aspect ratios in complex backgrounds. To meet the challenge, we propose a method called CA-STD to detect arbitrarily shaped text against a complicated background. Firstly, a Feature Refinement Module (FRM) is proposed to enhance feature representation. Additionally, the conditional attention mechanism is proposed not only to decouple the spatial and textual information from scene text images, but also to model the relationship among different feature vectors. Finally, the Contour Information Aggregation (CIA) is presented to enrich the feature representation of text contours by considering circular topology and semantic information simultaneously to obtain the detection curves with arbitrary shapes. The proposed CA-STD method is evaluated on different datasets with extensive experiments. On the one hand, the CA-STD outperforms state-of-the-art methods and achieves 82.9 in precision on the dataset of TotalText. On the other hand, the method has better performance than state-of-the-art methods and achieves the F1 score of 83.8 on the dataset of CTW-1500. The quantitative and qualitative analysis proves that the CA-STD can detect variably shaped scene text effectively.
Taxonomic Review of the Genus Caloptilia Hübner, 1825 (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) with Descriptions of Three New Species and Seven Newly Recorded Species from Korea
Authors: Kim Da-Som , Shin Young-Min , Lee Ji-Young , Byun Bong-Kyu
Published: December 2022

In this study, 29 species of Caloptilia Hübner, 1825, belonging to the family Gracillariidae, were recognized in Korea. Among these, three species, i.e., C. purpureus sp. nov., C. koreana sp. nov., and C. xanthos sp. nov., are described as new to science. In addition, seven species of this genus are reported for the first time in Korea. All known species were enumerated, based on their available information. Adult specimens and genitalia of the new and newly recorded species were examined and described using all available information.
Is Adynamic Bone Always a Disease? Lessons from Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease
Authors: Nagy Eman , Sobh Mahmoud M. , Abdalbary Mohamed , Elnagar Sherouk , Elrefaey Rabab , Shabaka Shimaa , Elshabrawy Nehal , Shemies Rasha , Tawfik Mona , Santos Cássia Gomes S. , Barreto Fellype C. , El-Husseini Amr
Published: December 2022

Renal osteodystrophy (ROD) is a common complication of end-stage kidney disease that often starts early with loss of kidney function, and it is considered an integral part in management of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Adynamic bone (ADB) is characterized by suppressed bone formation, low cellularity, and thin osteoid seams. There is accumulating evidence supporting increasing prevalence of ADB, particularly in early CKD. Contemporarily, it is not very clear whether it represents a true disease, an adaptive mechanism to prevent bone resorption, or just a transitional stage. Several co-players are incriminated in its pathogenesis, such as age, diabetes mellitus, malnutrition, uremic milieu, and iatrogenic factors. In the present review, we will discuss the up-to-date knowledge of the ADB and focus on its impact on bone health, fracture risk, vascular calcification, and long-term survival. Moreover, we will emphasize the proper preventive and management strategies of ADB that are pivotal issues in managing patients with CKD. It is still unclear whether ADB is always a pathologic condition or whether it can represent an adaptive process to suppress bone resorption and further bone loss. In this article, we tried to discuss this hard topic based on the available limited information in patients with CKD. More studies are needed to be able to clearly address this frequent ROD finding.
Severe Scalp Psoriasis Microbiome Has Increased Biodiversity and Relative Abundance of Pseudomonas Compared to Mild Scalp Psoriasis
Authors: Choi Jin-Young , Kim Hyunseong , Koo Ha-Yeh-Rin , You Jaeyoon , Yu Dong-Soo , Lee Young-Bok , Lee Minho
Published: December 2022

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease associated with various factors. Recently, alterations in the gut and skin microbiomes have been shown to interact with host immunity, affect skin barrier function, as well as development and progression of psoriasis. We aimed to analyze the microbiota of the scalp of patients with psoriasis and determine the characteristics of the microbiome according to disease severity. We investigated the scalp microbiome of 39 patients with psoriasis scalp lesions and a total of 47 samples were analyzed. The patients were divided into mild, moderate, and severe groups according to the European recommendations for scalp psoriasis. For bacterial identification, we utilized the SILVA database targeting the V3 region of the 16 S rRNA gene. The mean Shannon index escalated along with disease severity, and the diversity of the scalp microbiome tended to increase with disease severity (R = 0.37, p < 0.01). The relative abundance of Pseudomonas was increased in severe scalp psoriasis (0.49 ± 0.22) compared to the mild group (0.07 ± 0.03, p = 0.029), and Diaphorobacter was enriched in the mild group (0.76 ± 0.16%) compared to the severe group (0.44 ± 0.22, p < 0.001). We identified that increased diversity of the scalp microbiome and the relative abundance of Pseudomonas are associated with the severity of scalp psoriasis.
How Well Do Self-Supervised Models Transfer to Medical Imaging?
Authors: Anton Jonah , Castelli Liam , Chan Mun Fai , Outters Mathilde , Tang Wan Hee , Cheung Venus , Shukla Pancham , Walambe Rahee , Kotecha Ketan
Published: December 2022

Self-supervised learning approaches have seen success transferring between similar medical imaging datasets, however there has been no large scale attempt to compare the transferability of self-supervised models against each other on medical images. In this study, we compare the generalisability of seven self-supervised models, two of which were trained in-domain, against supervised baselines across eight different medical datasets. We find that ImageNet pretrained self-supervised models are more generalisable than their supervised counterparts, scoring up to 10% better on medical classification tasks. The two in-domain pretrained models outperformed other models by over 20% on in-domain tasks, however they suffered significant loss of accuracy on all other tasks. Our investigation of the feature representations suggests that this trend may be due to the models learning to focus too heavily on specific areas.
Multi-Branch Gated Fusion Network: A Method That Provides Higher-Quality Images for the USV Perception System in Maritime Hazy Condition
Authors: Fan Yunsheng , Niu Longhui , Liu Ting
Published: December 2022

Image data acquired by unmanned surface vehicle (USV) perception systems in hazy situations is characterized by low resolution and low contrast, which can seriously affect subsequent high-level vision tasks. To obtain high-definition images under maritime hazy conditions, an end-to-end multi-branch gated fusion network (MGFNet) is proposed. Firstly, residual channel attention, residual pixel attention, and residual spatial attention modules are applied in different branch networks. These attention modules are used to focus on high-frequency image details, thick haze area information, and contrast enhancement, respectively. In addition, the gated fusion subnetworks are proposed to output the importance weight map corresponding to each branch, and the feature maps of three different branches are linearly fused with the importance weight map to help obtain the haze-free image. Then, the network structure is evaluated based on the comparison with pertinent state-of-the-art methods using artificial and actual datasets. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed network is superior to other previous state-of-the-art methods in the PSNR and SSIM and has a better visual effect in qualitative image comparison. Finally, the network is further applied to the hazy sea–skyline detection task, and advanced results are still achieved.
Underwater Image Classification Algorithm Based on Convolutional Neural Network and Optimized Extreme Learning Machine
Authors: Yang Junyi , Cai Mudan , Yang Xingfan , Zhou Zhiyu
Published: December 2022

In order to deal with the target recognition in the complex underwater environment, we carried out experimental research. This includes filtering noise in the feature extraction stage of underwater images rich in noise, or with complex backgrounds, and improving the accuracy of target classification in the recognition process. This paper discusses our contribution to improving the accuracy of underwater target classification. This paper proposes an underwater target classification algorithm based on the improved flow direction algorithm (FDA) and search agent strategy, which can simultaneously optimize the weight parameters, bias parameters, and super parameters of the extreme learning machine (ELM). As a new underwater target classifier, it replaces the full connection layer in the traditional classification network to build a classification network. In the first stage of the network, the DenseNet201 network pre-trained by ImageNet is used to extract features and reduce dimensions of underwater images. In the second stage, the optimized ELM classifier is trained and predicted. In order to weaken the uncertainty caused by the random input weight and offset of the introduced ELM, the fuzzy logic, chaos initialization, and multi population strategy-based flow direction algorithm (FCMFDA) is used to adjust the input weight and offset of the ELM and optimize the super parameters with the search agent strategy at the same time. We tested and verified the FCMFDA-ELM classifier on Fish4Knowledge and underwater robot professional competition 2018 (URPC 2018) datasets, and achieved 99.4% and 97.5% accuracy, respectively. The experimental analysis shows that the FCMFDA-ELM underwater image classifier proposed in this paper has a greater improvement in classification accuracy, stronger stability, and faster convergence. Finally, it can be embedded in the recognition process of underwater targets to improve the recognition performance and efficiency.
Numerical Investigation on the Dynamics of Mixture Transport in Flexible Risers during Deep-Sea Mining
Authors: Liu Lei , Gai Kangyu , Yang Jianmin , Guo Xiaoxian
Published: December 2022

Mixture transport from a seabed mining vehicle to a buffer is a key procedure in deep-sea mining. Dynamic performances of the particle–seawater mixture in a single-peak flexible riser were numerically investigated using computational fluid dynamics and the discrete element method. Both the time-averaged local characteristics and the instantaneous flow behaviors in the riser are presented. The effects of key parameters, such as feeding concentration and mixture transport velocity, were evaluated by a sensitivity analysis. Large local concentration accompanied by small particle velocity occurs in the ascending sections and increases the risk of blockage. The particle–wall contact reaches the maximum value at both the peak and trough of the single-peak riser. A small feeding concentration would reduce both particle–wall contact, and hydraulic gradient, whereas a moderate mixture transport velocity may be appropriate for the transport in terms of operation safety and energy efficiency. In addition, the mixture transport in a double-peak riser was simulated to examine which configuration is better for engineering applications. The lower maximum local concentration, particle–wall contact and hydraulic gradient and the larger minimum particle velocity indicate that a double-peak flexible riser may be more suitable for the mixture transport.
Development of Discrete-Time Waterjet Control Systems Used in Surface Vehicle Thrust Vectoring
Authors: Loghis Eleftherios K. , Xiros Nikolaos I.
Published: December 2022

To create an autonomous surface vehicle, the microcontroller that will be responsible for the vessel’ s response will have access to both engine thrust controls and steering controls. In the case of a vehicle with waterjet propulsion, the term “controls” refers to engine RPM and nozzle angle. The latter allows the thrust vectoring. Having performed the mathematical modelling of the surface vessel, a method must be found such that the microcontroller actions on the controls create the desired outputs, based on predefined performance objectives. A commonly selected control algorithm considered an industry standard for control applications—at least from the perspective of classical control methods—is the PID control scheme. Many times, a PID control scheme is sufficient for achieving the required performance. There are also many methods that extend the functionality of the PID to robust control schemes, to accomplish more specific targets, such as noise rejection. The vast majority of all these implementations, will have to be implemented using a digital microcontroller or an FPGA. This paper assists theoretically in implementing PID controllers digitally, by elaborating on the discrete-time perspective of PID control. It also provides a test method for evaluating the algorithmic implementation.
Sexuality, Intimacy, and Reproductive Health after Spinal Cord Injury
Authors: Zizzo John , Gater David R. , Hough Sigmund , Ibrahim Emad
Published: December 2022

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a life-altering event often accompanied by a host of anxiety-provoking questions and concerns in the minds of affected individuals. Questions regarding the ability to resume sexual activity, partner’s satisfaction as well as the ability to have biological children are just a few of the unknowns facing patients following the devastating reality that is SCI. As a result of advances in SCI research over the last few decades, providers now have the knowledge and tools to address many of these concerns in an evidence-based and patient-centered approach. SCI can impair multiple components involved in sexual function, including libido, achieving and maintaining an erection, ejaculation, and orgasm. Many safe and effective fertility treatments are available to couples affected by SCI. Finally, learning to redefine one’s self-image, reinforce confidence and self-esteem, and feel comfortable communicating are equally as important as understanding functionality in regaining quality of life after SCI. Thus, this review aims to highlight the current state of SCI research relating to sexual function, reproductive health, and the search for meaning.
Holding Companies and Debt Financing: A Comparative Analysis Using Option-Adjusted Spreads
Authors: Boliari Natalia , Topyan Kudret
Published: December 2022

This work investigates and compares the total risk attributable to holding and operating companies, using data from the United States. By proxying overall risk by the option-adjusted spread on corporate bonds, we hypothesize that operating companies face a higher risk. Our data were obtained from Bloomberg and comprise 17,800 corporate bonds. Our methodology entails stratified univariate comparisons of the means of the option-adjusted spreads of sub-samples of operating companies versus holding companies. The principal bases of stratification are issue size, bond maturity, and creditworthiness proxied by the Standard and Poor ratings. With very few exceptions, our results report insignificant t-statistics, thus making us unable to reject the null hypothesis that the operating companies have the same business risk as holding companies. When bond rating, maturity, and size are controlled, there is no consistent cost reduction attributable to holding companies, and contrary to common belief, this is more visible for smaller firms. Our work suggests that there is no evidence consistently favoring holding-company financing compared to operating ones.
How Much Are Fans Willing to Pay to Help “Their” Soccer Clubs to Overcome a Crisis? An Analysis of Central European Fans during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Lintumäki Petri , Walcher Clemens , Schnitzer Martin
Published: December 2022

Through restrictions and people’s behavioral changes with regard to public events, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive financial impact on professional team sports clubs. Particularly, many smaller clubs that are more dependent on match-day revenues were facing an existential struggle. In this study, we examined the willingness of fans to contribute financially to help their favorite teams to overcome financial difficulties caused by this unforeseen operational risk. Moreover, we investigated the significance of the level of team identification among fans as an antecedent for willingness to pay. Analyzing the data from an online survey with 178 respondents, we found that fans would be willing to participate in fundraising campaigns to support their favorite teams. Among the fans of small clubs, the level of identification drives the willingness to support. On the one hand, the findings are encouraging for clubs as they underscore the potential role fans could play in overcoming the current crisis while showing that including fans in future risk management strategies is a promising approach. On the other hand, for this to be successful, clubs need to unravel and invest in measures for nurturing the fans’ identification with the team.
Use of Blockchain Technology to Manage the Supply Chains: Comparison of Perspectives between Technology Providers and Early Industry Adopters
Authors: Tokkozhina Ulpan , Martins Ana Lúcia , Ferreira Joao C.
Published: December 2022

Following the interest in blockchain technology (BCT) business solutions and the nascent stage of technology in supply chain (SC) practices, this research compares views from business practitioners who are experienced in real cases of BCT adoption with the views of technology consultants proficient in the complexities of BCT to analyze the benefits and challenges BCT holds for SCs. Based on the comparison of the two sides, the joint views that both adopters and technology consultants share is the ability that BCT holds to speed up processes across SCs through decentralized data access, thus decreasing human errors and reducing paperwork. However, technology consultants perceive the need to increase BCT awareness levels of businesses, to prevent BCT implementation just for reasons such as ‘recordkeeping’ and to reduce misconceptions in areas such as cryptocurrency applications. The findings also revealed that technology consultants insist on the careful evaluation and definition of records to be kept on BCT platforms prior to the adoption process, in order to avoid unnecessary data input. Currently, according to early industry adopters’ cases, most business attempts of BCT adoption use private networks, so technology consultants promote business entities on developing plans towards open-access public networks.
Analyzing Stakeholder Relationships for Construction Land Reduction Projects in Shanghai, China
Authors: Lu Zhaodi , Xu Mengyao , Zhang Zhengfeng
Published: December 2022

With the tightening of resource and environmental constraints and the increasing manifestation of land use conflicts, construction land reduction has become an important way to optimize land resource allocation and improve resource use efficiency. Taking the towns of Zhuqiao and Zhujiajiao in Shanghai as research subjects, this paper uses field research and case studies to summarize the main practices and completion of the land reduction and analyzes the interest preferences of different stakeholders. The results showed that the main stakeholders in the reduction of inefficient construction land in Shanghai include the municipal government, district government, town government, rural collective economic organizations, entrepreneurs, and villagers, which form a complex and intertwined interest relationship. The allocation of new construction land indexes, the supply of funds for the cost of reduction, and the resettlement method of the reduced enterprises are the key factors affecting the coordination of the relationship between the stakeholders. Protecting the economic interests of village collective organizations and villagers is an effective way to reduce the conflicts that occur between government and villagers, and between government and village collectives. The research outcomes will provide a theoretical reference for improving the existing reduction policies and function as a reference for the spatial development and control work in other regions of China.
Assessment of Relationship between Climate Change, Drought, and Land Use and Land Cover Changes in a Semi-Mountainous Area of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta
Authors: Ty Tran Van , Lavane Kim , Nguyen Phan Chi , Downes Nigel K. , Nam Nguyen Dinh Giang , Minh Huynh Vuong Thu , Kumar Pankaj
Published: December 2022

Agriculture in the Global South is innately susceptible to climatic variability and change. In many arid and semi-mountainous regions of the developing world, drought is regularly cited as a significant threat to agricultural systems. The objective of this study is to assess the impacts of climate change on drought and land use and land cover (LULC) change in a semi-mountainous region of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. We assessed previous drought trends (1980–2020) and future drought in the context of climate change, in accordance with three selected scenarios from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 global climate models which have recently been released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2021–2060) using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The change of land use for the period 2010–2020 was then assessed and the associated climatic variability explored. The results show that for the period 1980–2019, SPI 3 responds quickly to changes in precipitation, whereas SPI 9 showed a clear trend of precipitation over time. The first longest duration occurrence of drought for SPI 3, SPI 6, and SPI 9 patterns were respectively 15–16, 21, and 25 months at Chau Doc station, and respectively 11, 14–15, and 16–17 months at Tri Ton station. Future precipitation and both maximum/minimum temperatures are projected to increase in both the wet and dry seasons. In addition, for all-time series scales and climate change scenarios, the levels of drought were slight, followed by moderate. In the future, the humidity at Chau Doc station is expected to decrease, while the occurrence of drought events is expected to increase at Tri Ton station, particularly in SPI 6 patterns (110 drought events in 1980–2020, and up to 198 drought events in the future). Moreover, between 2010–2020, the agricultural land area was seen to decrease, replaced by non-agricultural land uses that were found to increase by 22.4%. Among the agricultural land area, forestry, rice crops, and upland rice were found to reduce by 7.5, 16.0, and 21.2%, respectively, while cash crops and perennial crops increased by 26.4% and 170.6%, respectively. Amongst other factors, it is concluded that the variability of climate has led to drought and thus impacted on the conversion of LULC in the study area. Due to low economic efficiency, changing climate conditions, and a lack of irrigated water, the area of rice crops, forestry, aquaculture, and upland rice decreased, replaced by land for orchards for fruit production and other cash crops.
Double-Loop Control for Torque Tracking of Dry Clutch
Authors: Wu Peng , Qiang Penghui , Pan Tao , Zang Huaiquan
Published: December 2022

Torque tracking is an important control target of a dry clutch. At present, the torque tracking control method of a dry clutch generally uses the relationship between the clutch torque and release bearing position obtained via experiment to convert the torque tracking control of the clutch into the position tracking control of the release bearing. However, due to the nonlinearity and time-varying parameters of the dry clutch, it is difficult to obtain an accurate and fixed relationship between torque and position. At the same time, there are also the nonlinearity and interference problems in the position tracking control process. In order to solve the above problems, this paper takes the torque tracking control process of the dry clutch in a three-speed automatic mechanical transmission of an electric vehicle as an example and proposes a double-loop control controller including torque loop and position loop. Firstly, the drive system dynamic model of electric vehicles and clutch actuator dynamic models is established. Secondly, the torque loop controller is established with the adaptive feedforward-feedback control method. The time-varying parameters are adaptively adjusted with adaptive feedforward control to solve the problem of the time-varying relationship between torque and position. In addition, the feedback control loop is added to improve the robustness of the controller. Thirdly, the position loop controller is established with the backstepping-based active disturbance rejection control method to solve the nonlinear and disturbance problems of the position tracking control. In the end, the torque loop and position loop are cascaded to form a double-loop controller, and the torque tracking control simulations of the dry clutch are carried out. The simulation results show that the double-loop controller has good control performance, and the effectiveness of the controller has been preliminarily verified.
Effect of the Preparation Conditions on the Magnetic Coercivity of CoPt Alloy Nanowires
Authors: Tibu Mihai , Lupu Nicoleta , Dragos-Pinzaru Oana-Georgiana
Published: December 2022

In this paper, 3 µm length and 200 nm diameter CoPt nanowire arrays (NWs) with different Co contents were prepared by electrodeposition at a controlled potential from an aqueous hexachloroplatinate solution. The synthesis occurred at two different solution pH values (2.5 and 5.5) in an electrochemical bath free of additives, as well as with saccharin as an organic additive. A complete morphological, compositional, structural and magnetic characterization of the as-prepared nanowires has been carried out. The results show that, by controlling the electrodeposition conditions, the Co content of the alloy can be tuned from 16% to 92%. The crystalline structure of the as-deposited compounds can also be controlled, with the obtained data showing that the face-centered cubic (fcc) crystalline structure changes into a hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure when saccharin is used as an organic additive during the electrodeposition. The changes in the alloy’s composition and crystalline structure strongly influence the magnetic properties of the NW’s arrays.
Model Predictive Paradigm with Low Computational Burden Based on Dandelion Optimizer for Autonomous Vehicle Considering Vision System Uncertainty
Authors: Bergies Shimaa , Su Shun-Feng , Elsisi Mahmoud
Published: December 2022

The uncertainty due to road fluctuations and vision system dynamics represents a big challenge to adjusting the steering angle of autonomous vehicles (AVs). Furthermore, AVs require fast action to follow the target lane to overcome lateral deviation with minor errors. In this regard, this paper introduces a fast model predictive controller formulated based on the discrete-time Laguerre function (DTLF) to overcome the high computational burden of the traditional MPC. To improve the hybrid DTLF-MPC performance, a modern and effective dandelion optimizer (DO) strategy is used in this work, which resulted in obtaining the optimal DTLF-MPC parameters and achieving satisfactory results. Furthermore, the proposed hybrid DTLF-MPC is designed based on different algorithms in the literature to evaluate the performance of the DO. Several scenarios are discussed in this paper to confirm the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed control strategy system against the vision system uncertainty and road fluctuations. The results emphasize that the proposed DTLF-MPC based on the DO can achieve the best damping performance for the lateral deviations with less overshoot; around 0.4533, and a settling time of around 0.01979 s compared with other algorithms.
Effect of Lipid-Based Multiple Micronutrients Supplementation in Underweight Primigravida Pre-Eclamptic Women on Maternal and Pregnancy Outcomes: Randomized Clinical Trial
Authors: Sher Nabila , Mubaraki Murad A. , Zafar Hafsa , Nazli Rubina , Zafar Mashal , Fatima Sadia , Fozia Fozia
Published: December 2022

Background and Objectives: In pre-eclampsia, restricted blood supply due to the lack of trophoblastic cell invasion and spiral artery remodeling is responsible for adverse pregnancies and maternal outcomes, which is added to by maternal undernutrition. This study was designed to observe the effect of multiple nutritional micronutrient supplements on the pregnancy outcomes of underweight pre-eclamptic women. To investigate the effects of lipid-based multiple micr supplementations (LNS-PLW) on pregnancy and maternal outcomes in underweight primigravida pre-eclamptic women. Materials and Methods: A total of 60 pre-eclamptic, underweight primigravida women from the antenatal units of tertiary care hospitals in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan, were randomly divided into two groups (Group 1 and Group 2). The participants of both groups were receiving routine treatment for pre-eclampsia: iron (60 mgs) and folic acid (400 ug) IFA daily. Group 2 was given an additional sachet of 75 gm LNS-PLW daily till delivery. The pregnancy outcomes of both groups were recorded. The clinical parameters, hemoglobin, platelet count, and proteinuria were measured at recruitment. Results: The percentage of live births in Group 2 was 93% compared to 92% in Group 1. There were more normal vaginal deliveries (NVDs) in Group 2 compared to Group 1 (Group 2, 78% NVD; group 1, 69% NVD). In Group 1, 4% of the participants developed eclampsia. The frequency of cesarean sections was 8/26 (31%) in Group 1 and 6/28 (22%) in Group 2. The number of intrauterine deaths (IUDs) was only 1/28 (4%) in Group 2, while it was 2/26 (8%) in Group 1. The gestational age at delivery significantly improved with LNS-PLW supplementation (Group 2, 38.64 ± 0.78 weeks; Group 1, 36.88 ± 1.55 weeks, p-value 0.006). The Apgar score (Group 2, 9.3; Group 1, 8.4) and the birth weight of the babies improved with maternal supplementation with LNS-PLW (Group 2, 38.64 ± 0.78 weeks: Group 1, 36.88 ± 1.55; p-value 0.003). There was no significant difference in systolic blood pressure, while diastolic blood pressure (Group 2, 89.57 ± 2.08 mmHg; Group 1, 92.17 ± 5.18 mmHg, p-value 0.025) showed significant improvement with LNS-PLW supplementation. The hemoglobin concentration increased with the LNS-PLW supplement consumed in Group 2 (Group 2, 12.15 ± 0.78 g/dL; Group 1, 11.39 ± 0.48 g/dL, p-value < 0.001). However, no significant difference among the platelet counts of the two groups was observed. Conclusions: The pregnancy and maternal outcomes of underweight pre-eclamptic women can be improved by the prenatal daily supplementation of LNS-PLW during pregnancy, along with IFA and regular antenatal care and follow-up.
The Contribution of Hydrophobic Interactions to Conformational Changes of Inward/Outward Transmembrane Transport Proteins
Authors: Roterman Irena , Stapor Katarzyna , Konieczny Leszek
Published: December 2022

Proteins transporting ions or other molecules across the membrane, whose proper concentration is required to maintain homeostasis, perform very sophisticated biological functions. The symport and antiport active transport can be performed only by the structures specially prepared for this purpose. In the present work, such structures in both In and Out conformations have been analyzed with respect to the hydrophobicity distribution using the FOD-M model. This allowed for identifying the role of individual protein chain fragments in the stabilization of the specific cell membrane environment as well as the contribution of hydrophobic interactions to the conformational changes between In/Out conformations.
A Review on Phase Field Modeling for Formation of η-Cu6Sn5 Intermetallic
Authors: Sun Jia , Zhao Lingyan , Liang Huaxin , Zhang Yao , Li Xuexiong , Teng Chunyu , Wang Hao , Bai Hailong
Published: December 2022

Formation of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) exhibits remarkable microstructural features and provides opportunities for microstructure control of microelectronic interconnects. Excessive formation of brittle IMCs at the Cu/Sn interface such as η-Cu6Sn5 can deteriorate the reliability and in turn lead to solder joint failure in the Pb-free Sn-based solder joints. Phase field method is a versatile tool for prediction of the mesoscopic structure evolution in solders, which does not require tracking interfaces. The relationships between the microstructures, reliability and wettability were widely investigated, and several formation and growth mechanisms were also proposed for η-Cu6Sn5. In this paper, the current research works are reviewed and the prospective of the application of phase field method in the formation of η-Cu6Sn5 are discussed. Combined phase field simulations hold great promise in modeling the formation kinetics of IMCs with complex microstructural and chemical interactions.
Association between Fatty Acid Composition in Hair and Energy Availability during Early Lactation in Simmental and German Holstein Cows
Authors: Wulf Ramona , Arends Danny , Dannenberger Dirk , Ettle Thomas , Meyer Ulrich , Mohr Uwe , Brockmann Gudrun A.
Published: December 2022

This study examined (1) if fatty acids in bovine hair are influenced by dietary energy levels and (2) if the relationship between energy availability and fatty acids in hair persists across breeds and farms. Sixty-two and 59 Fleckvieh (Simmental), and 55 German Holstein cows from three farms, respectively, were fed two levels of energy concentration of roughage (6.1 and 6.5 MJ net energy for lactation/kg dry matter) and two levels of concentrate supply (150 and 250 g/kg energy-corrected milk). The average body weight was 727 kg (Simmental) and 668 kg (Holstein). The average lactation number was 3.1. Hair samples were taken in lactation weeks 4 and 8. In Simmental cows, a lower energy deficit due to a relatively higher energy intake from high energy concentration of the roughage was associated with higher C18:2n-6 and C18:3n-3 contents in hair at week 8. In cows from all three farms, higher energy intake between lactation weeks 2 and 6 correlated with higher content of C18:2n-6 in hair samples taken in lactation weeks 4 and 8. No correlation was found for C12:0. These results provide the first evidence that increased energy intake increases the contents of C18:2n-6 in hair.
Study on the CHZ-II Gravimeter and Its Calibrations along Forward and Reverse Overlapping Survey Lines
Authors: Tu Haibo , Liu Kun , Sun Heng , Cui Qian , Yuan Yuan , Liu Sunjun , He Jiangang , Liu Lintao
Published: December 2022

The moving-base gravimeter is one of the key instruments used for Earth gravity survey. The accuracy of the survey data is closely related to the calibration precision of several key parameters, such as the damping delay time, the drift coefficient, the gravity scale factor, and the measurement accuracy. This paper will introduce the development of the CHZ-II gravimeter system in which a cylindrical sampling mass suspended vertically by a zero-length spring acts as a sensitive probe to measure specific force. Meanwhile, a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) positioning system is employed to monitor the carrier motion and to remove the inertia acceleration. In order to achieve high-precision calibrations for the key parameters, a new calibration method performed along forward and reverse overlapping lines is proposed, which is used to calibrate the above parameters and to estimate the measurement accuracy of the instrument used for a normal gravity survey. The calibration principle and the shipboard calibration data processing method are introduced. The calibration was performed for three moving-base gravimeters and the corresponding results are determined, indicating that the method can significantly improve the accuracy of the parameters. For the CHZ-II gravimeter, the measurement accuracy of the survey is 0.471 mGal (1 mGal = 10−5 m/s2), which improved by 19.5% after applying the calibrated parameters. This method is also practical for use with aviation, marine and even vehicle-carried moving-base gravimeters.