bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Consumer acceptance of fungus-resistant grape wines: Evidence from Italy, the UK, and the USA
Authors: Vecchio Riccardo , Pomarici Eugenio , Giampietri Elisa , Borrello Massimiliano
Published: April 2022

While there is evidence of consumers’ interest in wine sustainability, acceptance of innovations in wine production is not guaranteed. The current study addresses this issue by analyzing consumers’ acceptance of fungus-resistant grape (FRG) wines, a sustainable innovation that can substantially reduce the need for chemical inputs in viticulture. To do so, by means of an online survey including large samples of regular wine drinkers in Italy (N = 752), the UK (N = 858) and the USA (N = 856), the study compares individuals’ preferences for conventional wines with preferences for FRG wines. The study also explores whether FRG wine acceptance is influenced by informal or formal purchase occasion, by different types of information regarding the product, and by individual attitudinal characteristics. The findings show a general acceptance of FRG wines among consumers. In particular, consumers’ preferences for FRG wines on formal occasions are not significantly different from their preferences for conventional wine, whereas on informal occasions, consumers prefer FRG wines over conventional wines. Regarding the impact of information on participant choice, participants informed about the potential effects of FRG on sensory wine characteristics had lower preferences for FRG wines than those who read an information script regarding crop biodiversity. Last, individuals’ sustainability concerns and food technology neophobia had positive and negative influences on FRG acceptance, respectively. Overall, this research provides wineries, nurseries and policy-makers with important insights concerning the market potential of FRG wines in three key markets.
Breastfeeding practice and factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding among mothers in Horro District, Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study
Authors: Jebena Debela Daba , Tenagashaw Mesfin Wogayehu
Published: April 2022

Background

Breastfeeding is the process of feeding a newborn with the mother’s milk, and it is very important for enhancing child and maternal health. The proportion and duration of breastfeeding may vary by location, and is poorly practiced for cultural, economic, and societal reasons. Thus, this study was conducted to determine breastfeeding practices and determinants of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers of six month aged infants in the Horro district, Ethiopia.

Methods

We used a community-based cross-sectional study among 649 mothers of index infants. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select the women. Data were collected from March 15 to April 5, 2020. Face-to-face interviews were used to collect data using a semi-structured questionnaire. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression were performed to examine the factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding.

Results

All women who participated in the study have ever breastfed their children at some point. Exclusive breastfeeding and breastfeeding initiation were found to be good (70.4% and 61.8%, respectively) within 24 hours prior to the survey time. Having had information about breastfeeding during antenatal care (AOR = 4.15, 95% CI = 2.36, 7.30), postnatal care follow-up (AOR = 4.74, 95% CI = 2.92, 7.70), having infant aged 0-1month (AOR = 12.14, 95% CI = 3.83, 38.46) and 2–3 month (AOR = 8.62, 95% CI = 5.00, 14.85), being a single birth (AOR = 12.91, 95% CI = 3.86, 43.21), having monthly income of ≤ 100 Ethiopian Birrs (AOR = 1.96, 95% CI = 1.16, 3.32), and breastfeeding initiation within one hour of birth (AOR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.13, 3.35) were found to be a significantly associated factors of exclusive breastfeeding.

Conclusion

Despite meeting the global nutrition target of 2025, the practice of exclusive breastfeeding was lower than the WHO recommendations. Providing education about breastfeeding during antenatal care follow-up and increasing access to postnatal care follow-up is recommended to enhance exclusive breastfeeding practices in the study area.
Towards skin-acetone monitors with selective sensitivity: Dynamics of PANI-CA films
Authors: Annerino Anthony , Faltas Michael , Srinivasan Manoj , Gouma Pelagia-Irene
Published: April 2022

Most research aimed at measuring biomarkers on the skin is only concerned with sensing chemicals in sweat using electrical signals, but these methods are not truly non-invasive nor non-intrusive because they require substantial amounts of sweat to get a reading. This project aims to create a truly non-invasive wearable sensor that continuously detects the gaseous acetone (a biomarker related to metabolic disorders) that ambiently comes out of the skin. Composite films of polyaniline and cellulose acetate, exhibiting chemo-mechanical actuation upon exposure to gaseous acetone, were tested in the headspaces above multiple solutions containing acetone, ethanol, and water to gauge response sensitivity, selectivity, and repeatability. The bending of the films in response to exposures to these environments was tracked by an automatic video processing code, which was found to out-perform an off-the-shelf deep neural network-based tracker. Using principal component analysis, we showed that the film bending is low dimensional with over 90% of the shape changes being captured with just two parameters. We constructed forward models to predict shape changes from the known exposure history and found that a linear model can explain 40% of the observed variance in film tip angle changes. We constructed inverse models, going from third order fits of shape changes to acetone concentrations where about 45% of the acetone variation and about 30% of ethanol variation are captured by linear models, and non-linear models did not perform substantially better. This suggests there is sufficient sensitivity and inherent selectivity of the films. These models, however, provide evidence for substantial hysteretic or long-time-scale responses of the PANI films, seemingly due to the presence of water. Further experiments will allow more accurate discrimination of unknown exposure environments. Nevertheless, the sensor will operate with high selectivity in low sweat body locations, like behind the ear or on the nails.
Determination of the center of mass in a heterogeneous population of dogs
Authors: Johnson Tiffany A. , Gordon-Evans Wanda J. , Lascelles B. Duncan X. , Conzemius Michael G.
Published: April 2022

The center of mass (CoM) is the location in a body where mass distribution is balanced. It has a fundamental role in balance and motion which has been poorly described in the dog. The objective of this study was to estimate the variance of the center of mass (CoM) in a heterogeneous population of client-owned dogs and to describe the relationship between CoM, subject morphometrics and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) box positioned ventrally on a neck collar. A single force platform and a reaction board were used to determine CoM in the transverse, sagittal and dorsal planes in thirty-one healthy adult dogs. A series of morphometric measurements were acquired with each dog standing, including distances relative to an IMU box positioned ventrally on a neck collar. Mean transverse plane CoM was 48% the distance from ischium to the IMU box, near the xiphoid process. Mean sagittal place CoM was 59% the width of the chest on the left side. Mean dorsal plane CoM was 41% the distance from the most dorsal to the most ventral aspect of the body. Dog length was the primary variable required to maximize the relationship between three-dimensional CoM and identifiable variables measured. A CoM based normalization procedure should be considered to normalize mass or motion based outcome measure output (e.g., ground reaction forces, vector acceleration) in a heterogeneous population of dogs. Future research will be needed to determine if CoM-based normalization procedures reduce variance in outcome measures affected by subject morphometrics.
Demographics, comorbidities, and laboratory parameters in hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV2 infection at a community hospital in rural Pennsylvania
Authors: Pachpande Vrushali , Senapathi Sri Harsha Vardhan , Williams Karen , Chai Seungwoo , Mandal Shobha , Prabhu Sheela
Published: April 2022

Introduction

Inherent differences as well as health disparities among rural and urban populations warrant further studies focused on the characteristics and outcomes in COVID-19 patients in a rural setting. The aim of this study was to describe these elements in patients infected with SARS-CoV2, hospitalized at a single center in rural Pennsylvania.

Methods

Patients with SARS-CoV2 infections hospitalized between March-December 2020 were studied. Data were obtained from electronic health records generated reports and was retrospectively analyzed. Patients were classified into three groups according to severity. Distribution of variables was studied among these three groups. Using certain variables, we ran logistic regression analysis to study the odds of death and requirement of mechanical ventilation (MV).

Results

Among 335 hospitalized patients infected with SARS-CoV2, age more than 65 years increased the severity of clinical status and in-hospital mortality. Gender did not affect odds of death nor need for MV. Hypertension was the most common comorbidity, but diabetes mellitus and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) increased the risk of death. In terms of laboratory parameters, our data suggests that maximum LDH marginally increased the risk of death and maximum WBC marginally increased the risk of need for MV and death.

Conclusion

Through our basic analysis of various characteristics of SARS-CoV2 positive patients admitted in a rural hospital, we have identified certain risk factors associated with severe disease and increased in-hospital mortality. These were found to be largely similar to current literature from studies in urban populations, bolstering the reproducibility and generalizability of existing knowledge. This information lays the foundation for future studies to investigate the role of these factors in morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19 in depth.
A machine learning and clustering-based approach for county-level COVID-19 analysis
Authors: Nicholson Charles , Beattie Lex , Beattie Matthew , Razzaghi Talayeh , Chen Sixia
Published: April 2022

COVID-19 is a global pandemic threatening the lives and livelihood of millions of people across the world. Due to its novelty and quick spread, scientists have had difficulty in creating accurate forecasts for this disease. In part, this is due to variation in human behavior and environmental factors that impact disease propagation. This is especially true for regionally specific predictive models due to either limited case histories or other unique factors characterizing the region. This paper employs both supervised and unsupervised methods to identify the critical county-level demographic, mobility, weather, medical capacity, and health related county-level factors for studying COVID-19 propagation prior to the widespread availability of a vaccine. We use this feature subspace to aggregate counties into meaningful clusters to support more refined disease analysis efforts.
Waist circumference and mortality or cardiovascular events in a general Korean population
Authors: Song Do Kyeong , Hong Young Sun , Sung Yeon-Ah , Lee Hyejin
Published: April 2022

Background

Obesity is associated with cardiovascular diseases and is a risk factor for all-cause mortality. Until now, the associations between abdominal obesity and mortality or cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence have not been conclusive. We aimed to evaluate the associations between waist circumference (WC) and mortality or CVD incidence in a general Korean population.

Methods

We analyzed a total of 204,068 adults older than 40 years of age who had undergone a national health examination at least once from 2009 to 2018 in the Korean National Health Insurance Service Cohort. WC was divided into five categories (< 80, 80–84.9, 85–89.9, 90–94.9, ≥ 95 cm). Hazard ratios for death and CVD incidence were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models.

Results

In men, WC and overall mortality showed a reverse J-shaped association. In women, the association between WC and overall mortality was not significant. For both men and women, WC was not associated with the risk of cardiovascular mortality. Contrary to the mortality trend, CVD incidence was positively associated with WC in both men and women, and the risk of the CVD incidence was the lowest in subjects with a WC < 80 cm.

Conclusions

WC exhibited a significant J-shaped association with overall mortality in men, where subjects who had central obesity showed a lower rate of mortality than those in the lowest or highest WC group. The risk of incident CVD showed a positive association with central obesity, where the lowest risk was observed for subjects in the lowest WC group in a general Korean population.
The TSP-1 domain of the matricellular protein CCN5 is essential for its nuclear localization and anti-fibrotic function
Authors: Song Min Ho , Jo Yongjoon , Kim Young-Kook , Kook Hyun , Jeong Dongtak , Park Woo Jin
Published: April 2022

The matricellular protein CCN5 exerts anti-fibrotic activity in hearts partly by inducing reverse trans-differentiation of myofibroblasts (MyoFBs) to fibroblasts (FBs). CCN5 consists of three structural domains: an insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP), a von Willebrand factor type C (VWC), and a thrombospondin type 1 (TSP-1). In this study, we set out to elucidate the roles of these domains in the context of the reverse trans-differentiation of MyoFBs to FBs. First, human cardiac FBs were trans-differentiated to MyoFBs by treatment with TGF-β; this was then reversed by treatment with recombinant human CCN5 protein or various recombinant proteins comprising individual or paired CCN5 domains. Subcellular localization of these recombinant proteins was analyzed by immunocytochemistry, cellular fractionation, and western blotting. Anti-fibrotic activity was also evaluated by examining expression of MyoFB-specific markers, α-SMA and fibronectin. Our data show that CCN5 is taken up by FBs and MyoFBs mainly via clathrin-mediated endocytosis, which is essential for the function of CCN5 during the reverse trans-differentiation of MyoFBs. Furthermore, we showed that the TSP-1 domain is essential and sufficient for endocytosis and nuclear localization of CCN5. However, the TSP-1 domain alone is not sufficient for the anti-fibrotic function of CCN5; either the IGFBP or VWC domain is needed in addition to the TSP-1 domain.
Changing Times: The Diatonic Rhythms of Nobuo Uematsu’s Final Fantasy Battle Music
Authors: Mitchell Ross
Published: April 2022

The Final Fantasy series’ battle themes are some of the most beloved tracks from their respective games, and not simply out of the player’s sheer exposure to them over the course of a game. Battle themes are designed to be thrilling accompaniments to tense gameplay, and one of the key musical parameters with which many of them generate this tension is rhythm. This chapter explores the rhythmic construction of Uematsu’s Final Fantasy battle themes through the lens of diatonic rhythm, and finds a gap between the music and theory that allows each to inform the other. Ultimately, this chapter carves out a new category – propulsive rhythm – that partially overlaps with diatonic rhythm while also serving to explain how rhythm functions in Uematsu’s battle music.
Penultimate Fantasies: Compositional Precedents in Uematsu’s Early Works
Authors: Elkins Alan
Published: April 2022

This chapter surveys Nobuo Uematsu’s early compositional output, noting musical features that carry into his later style, as well as elements that were deemphasized or dropped in his soundtracks for Final Fantasy. Although many of these titles are relatively unknown in the West and were of limited success in Japan, studying them is essential to attaining a complete perspective on his compositional output. I begin by discussing Uematsu’s earliest RPG soundtracks, arguing that the stylistic differences from his later works may be partly due to differences in theming and gameplay from Square’s later role-playing titles. Next, I demonstrate how his early scores for action-oriented titles share more in common with Final Fantasy than his RPG soundtracks, owing to musical features that crossed game genre boundaries. Finally, I demonstrate how Uematsu’s underscoring for important plot moments in graphical adventure games parallels similar techniques found in the early Final Fantasy titles.
Time in Fashion: Industrial, Antilinear and Uchronic Temporalities, Caroline Evans and Alessandra Vaccari (eds) (2020)
Authors: Kutesko Elizabeth
Published: April 2022

Review of: Time in Fashion: Industrial, Antilinear and Uchronic Temporalities, Caroline Evans and Alessandra Vaccari (eds) (2020)

London: Bloomsbury, 187 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-35014-693-8, p/bk, £22.25
The Effect of Sargassum angustifolium Brown Seaweed Extracts on Gut Microbiota in Induced Obese Male Rats
Authors: Zarrin Varied , Talaei-Khozani Tahereh , Taherizadeh Mohamadreza , Tanideh Nader
Published: April 2022

Marine organisms, especially brown algae are good dietary complements with probiotic and anti-obesity activities. The objective of this study was to find the effects of Persian Gulf marine algae Sargassum angustifolium (SA) on the intestinal microbiota of animals exposed to a high-fat diet (HFD). Rats were fed with hot water (HW) and ethanolic (E) extracts of Sargassum angustifolium for two months. At the end of the experimental period, serum indices, food intake, and weight loss were measured. We also analyzed the intestinal microorganisms through 16SrRNA sequencing in all groups. The distribution ratio of intestinal microorganisms showed that Bacteroides and Firmicutes as dominant phyla in the intestinal rats, and obesity-associated bacteria were decreased and leanness-associated genera were increased in all treatment groups compared with the control obese group. Clostridium and Lactobacillus were the dominant genera in all groups with pathogenic potentials, and lactic acid genera, respectively. In addition, all the extracts could decrease the level of cholesterol, inflammatory factors including IL1 and TNF-α, and liver enzymes, and also led to reduction of the food intake and weight loss due to high fibers. Our results indicate that consumption of Sargassum angustifolium seaweeds can balance intestinal microbiota as well as decrease serum indices.
The Relationship between Self-Efficacy, Self-Care Behavior, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder in COVID-19: A Path Analysis Model
Authors: Delshad Mohammad Hossien , Pourhaji Fahimeh , Pourhaji Fatemeh , Azhdari Zarmehri Hassan
Published: April 2022

Background: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has a strong impact on individuals and becomes a very stressful period. Long-term exposure to stress due to lockdown scenario may also increase psychological distress by reducing support resources, and in these circumstances, personal resources such as self-efficacy and its relationships appear important. It is important to explore people’s beliefs about their capabilities to produce designated levels of behavior in the face of COVID-19, which is not known in the target population, and also to show its effect on anxiety.Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between self-efficacy, self-care behavior, and generalized anxiety disorder in COVID-19.Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was performed after COVID-19 was confirmed in Iran. The population of the study was 500 residents in a province in Iran that were randomly selected. Demographic data, general self-efficacy, self-care behavior, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) questionnaires were used for data collection. The data were analyzed using bivariate correlation and hierarchical linear regression models by using the SPSS statistical version (V.20).Results: The mean(SD) of age participants was 31.9(11.9). Their GAD-7 scores had severe anxiety (score ≥17). There was a negative and significant relationship between generalized anxiety disorder and self-efficacy (r=-0.238, p≤0.01). Also, there was a positive and significant relationship between self-efficacy and self-care behavior. No significant relationship between generalized anxiety disorder and self-care behavior was found. The path analysis model estimated anxiety and self-efficacy as about 4% of the variance self-care behavior in COVID-19.Conclusion: This study revealed that enhancing self-efficacy levels might reduce anxiety. Self-efficacy-enhancing programs should be used as part of the routine readiness effort drives and health care system change.
The Role of Organizational Culture in Moderating Effect of Emotional Labor Strategies on Nursing Professionalism
Authors: Bakar Resekiani Mas , Khaerah Yaumil , Hidayati Nurul , Hamid Andi Nasrawaty
Published: April 2022

Background: Emotional labor strategies are necessary for nurses to provide nursing care for society through friendliness, caring, and positive emotion. The results of a meta-analysis of emotional labor research have proven that previous studies focused more on the impact of deep and surface acting strategies only at the individual level of the nurses. This study emphasizes the impact of emotional labor strategies at the individual and organizational levels.Purpose: The study aimed to measure the effect of emotional labor strategy (surface and deep acting strategy) toward nursing professionalism mediated by organizational culture.Methods: This research design is a quantitative survey. The respondents were 124 hospital nurses recruited by accidental sampling technique. The instrument in this study used emotional labor, organizational culture, and nursing professionalism scale. The mediation model technique by Hayes’s PROCESS was used to analyse the data.Results: The result showed an indirect effect of the role of organizational culture in mediating deep acting strategy toward nursing professionalism (b=0.03, 95% CI [-0.00–0.94]). Nurses who displayed deep acting strategies to their patients indirectly affected professionalism through the mediation of organizational culture. However, the surface acting strategies did not show a significant effect on nursing professionalism (b=-0.02, 95% CI [-0.05–0.00]) .Conclusion: Deep acting strategies indirectly affect nursing professionalism through organizational culture as a mediation variable compared to surface acting strategies. This study supports the control theory that emotional strategies implemented by nurses as organizational culture are a comparator to engage in nurse professionalism to provide healthcare. The deep acting strategies through organizational culture are essentially recommended for nurses in the hospital to improve their professionalism.
Comparison of the Effectiveness of Breast Cancer Education through Two Virtual Methods for Increasing Knowledge in Nurses
Authors: Jannat Forouzandeh , Alipour Sadaf , Noori Fariba , Ansari Somayeh , Ashtab Tahereh , Eskandari Amirhossein , Boroumand Sani Sepehr , Orouji Marzieh , Goodarzi Donya , Dousti Amshaki Fatemeh
Published: April 2022

Background: Virtual education today is about to become one of the most important educational methods in nursing. However, there have been few studies that have examined the effectiveness of virtual education to increase knowledge towards breast cancer among nurses in Iran.Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the knowledge towards breast cancer among nurses who were provided with two different methods of virtual training.    Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted among 182 nurses in two hospitals in Tehran, Iran, who were randomly selected and divided into two groups of 91 nurses. Participants of the first group got virtual training about breast cancer in two sessions within two weeks by Skyroom. In the second group, the content was sent as educational messages by WhatsApp within two weeks. Participants’ knowledge in both groups was measured using valid and reliable questionnaires developed by the researchers as a pretest and three posttests, and the satisfaction of the participants was also measured. To analyze the data, analysis of variance, standard deviation, t-test and Tukey test were performed.Results: According to the average score observed in the post-test period, the score of the WhatsApp group was 7.62, significantly higher than the Skyroom group of 6.25. The scores of the three post-test were higher than the pre-test in the two groups (with no significant difference between the two groups, p-value = 0.825 in the first post-test), but the scores declined from the first to third tests, showing a decline in the learning effect with time. However, the slope was gentler in the WhatsApp group, showing a more persistent learning effect.Conclusion: This study showed that teaching with educational messages through WhatsApp had a greater impact on the sustainability of learning than teaching via lecturing through Skyroom.
Patients with severe COVID-19 do not have elevated autoantibodies against common diagnostic autoantigens
Authors: Ulndreaj Antigona , Wang Mingyue , Misaghian Salvia , Paone Louis , Sigal George B. , Stengelin Martin , Campbell Christopher , Van Nynatten Logan R. , Soosaipillai Antoninus , Ghorbani Atefeh , Mathew Anu , Fraser Douglas D. , Diamandis Eleftherios P. , Prassas Ioannis
Published: April 2022

Objectives

Infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative pathogen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presents occasionally with an aberrant autoinflammatory response, including the presence of elevated circulating autoantibodies in some individuals. Whether the development of autoantibodies against self-antigens affects COVID-19 outcomes remains unclear. To better understand the prognostic role of autoantibodies in COVID-19, we quantified autoantibodies against 23 markers that are used for diagnosis of autoimmune disease. To this end, we used serum samples from patients with severe [intensive care unit (ICU)] and moderate (ward) COVID-19, across two to six consecutive time points, and compared autoantibody levels to uninfected healthy and ICU controls.

Methods

Acute and post-acute serum (from 1 to 26 ICU days) was collected from 18 ICU COVID-19-positive patients at three to six time points; 18 ICU COVID-19-negative patients (sampled on ICU day 1 and 3); 21 ward COVID-19-positive patients (sampled on hospital day 1 and 3); and from 59 healthy uninfected controls deriving from two cohorts. Levels of IgG autoantibodies against 23 autoantigens, commonly used for autoimmune disease diagnosis, were measured in serum samples using MSD® U-PLEX electrochemiluminescence technology (MSD division Meso Scale Discovery®), and results were compared between groups.

Results

There were no significant elevations of autoantibodies for any of the markers tested in patients with severe COVID-19.

Conclusions

Sample collections at longer time points should be considered in future studies, for assessing the possible development of autoantibody responses following infection with SARS-CoV-2.
On tempered representations
Authors: Kazhdan David , Yom Din Alexander
Published: April 2022

Let G be a unimodular locally compact group. We define a property of irreducible unitary G-representations V which we call c-temperedness, and which for the trivial V boils down to Følner’s condition (equivalent to the trivial V being tempered, i.e. to G being amenable). The property of c-temperedness is a-priori stronger than the property of temperedness.

We conjecture that for semisimple groups over local fields temperedness implies c-temperedness. We check the conjecture for a special class of tempered V’s, as well as for all tempered V’s in the cases of

G
:=

SL
2

⁢

(
ℝ
)

{G:=\mathrm{SL}_{2}({\mathbb{R}})}

and of

G
=

PGL
2

⁢

(
Ω
)

{G=\mathrm{PGL}_{2}(\Omega)}

for a non-Archimedean local field Ω of characteristic 0 and residual characteristic not 2. We also establish a weaker form of the conjecture, involving only K-finite vectors.

In the non-Archimedean case, we give a formula expressing the character of a tempered V as an appropriately-weighted conjugation-average of a matrix coefficient of V, generalising a formula of Harish-Chandra from the case when V is square-integrable.
The role of natural rubber endogenous proteins in promoting the formation of vulcanization networks
Authors: Liu Xiu-Xiu , He Meng-Fan , Luo Ming-Chao , Wei Yan-Chan , Liao Shuangquan
Published: April 2022

Non-rubber components are critical in the formation of the natural rubber (NR) vulcanization network, which leads to outstanding mechanical properties of NR. This study reports the effect of NR endogenous proteins (C-serum protein/lutoid protein [CSP/LP]) on the formation of vulcanization networks at the molecular level. Results indicate that CSP/LP has a positive effect on vulcanization. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses demonstrate that the decrease in vulcanization time of CSP/LP is ascribed to coordination interaction between Zn2+ and amide bond. The interaction increases the availability of ZnO in the matrix, thereby promoting the formation of the vulcanized network. CSP/LP also participates in the construction of the vulcanization network as a new crosslinking point, thus increasing crosslinking density and improving the mechanical properties of the NR. This study provides new research ideas for studying the relationship among component–structure–property of NR materials and developing high-strength and high-toughness elastomer materials.
Convolution and product theorems for the quadratic-phase Fourier transform
Authors: Sharma Pratap Bhanu , Prasad Akhilesh
Published: April 2022

In this paper, we establish the convolution and product theorems for the quadratic-phase Fourier transform (QPFT) and also deduce the convolution theorem associated with generalized translation. Moreover, the Shannon-type reconstruction formula for band-limited signals in the QPFT domain is formulated.
Ionic liquid-catalyzed synthesis of (1,4-benzoxazin-3-yl) malonate derivatives via cross-dehydrogenative-coupling reactions
Authors: Sharifi Ali , Moazami Maryam , Saeed Abaee Mohammad , Mirzaei Mojtaba
Published: April 2022

A convenient C(sp3)–C(sp3) oxidative dehydrogenative coupling reaction of 1,4-benzoxazin-2-ones with malonate esters was developed under mild conditions to obtain the respective ester malonates in high yields. Reactions take place in [omim]FeCl4, acting as both the solvent and the catalyst. Under [omim]Cl/FeCl3-DDQ conditions, derivatives of 1 coupled with malonate 2 to give the target molecules within 1–2 h time periods. The ionic liquid was recovered and reused in the next reactions without losing its efficiency.
A tailored fast thioacidolysis method incorporating multi-reaction monitoring mode of GC-MS for higher sensitivity on lignin monomer quantification
Authors: Yang Linjie , Wang Jiangli , Wang Chen , Yue Fengxia , Lu Fachuang
Published: April 2022

Thioacidolysis is widely used for lignin structural characterization by cleaving β-aryl ethers to release syringyl (S), guaiacyl (G), and p-hydroxyphenyl (H) monomers followed by GC analysis. However, the traditional thioacidolysis method requires tedious extraction steps with chlorinated solvent underlying harmful to health, limiting its efficiency and application. Herein, an improved thioacidolysis method with high sensitivity for the quantitation of lignin-derived monomers was developed. The improved protocol used a quick, streamlined procedure to recover the monomeric products using ethyl acetate as extracting solvent and MS detector in multi-reaction monitoring mode to enhance its ability to detect extremely low concentration (0.1 ppb with signal-to-noise higher than 2) of monomeric products. Additionally, a fast GC program was established to speed up the GC quantitation. Several representative lignocellulose samples, including gymnosperm, angiosperm, and poaceae, were used to test this tailored method. The results demonstrated that the ratios of lignin monomer compositions determined by this method were consistent with that of traditional procedure despite the slightly higher monomer yields measured. More importantly, this method uses non-chlorinated solvent for microscale extraction and requires no evaporation step for workup, which is a green and efficient way for the quantification of lignin monomer compositions.
Bewertung und Vermittlung gendergerechter Sprache durch DaZ/DaF-Lehrkräfte
Authors: Stark Katharina Sophie
Published: April 2022

Untersucht werden die Emotionen von DaZ/DaF-Lehrkräften zu verschiedenen Varianten der nominalen Personenreferenz, ihre Bewertung gendergerechter Sprache (ggS) sowie Sprachverwendungsweisen im privaten und unterrichtlichen Kontext. Die Befragung zeigt, dass ggS teilweise Eingang in den DaZ/DaF-Unterricht findet. Die Bewertung von ggS polarisiert, obwohl insgesamt keine starken Emotionen durch einzelne Varianten hervorgerufen werden. Es zeigt sich die begründete Vermutung eines erheblichen Einflusses der persönlichen Positionierung auf den Einbezug von ggS im Unterricht.
Construction of precise three-dimensional engineering control network with total station and laser tracker
Authors: Guo Yinggang , Li Zongchun , Yang Hao
Published: April 2022

In view of the defects of total station and laser tracker in the construction of three-dimensional control network, a construction method of three-dimensional control network is proposed by combining total station and laser tracker. Total stations and laser trackers are utilized separately to observe the control points according to the free-stationing method. In data processing, the weights of different types of observations of total station and laser tracker are reasonably determined based on the Helmert variance component estimation. The high-precision horizontal direction observations of total station, which are better than

0
.

5

″

0.{5^{\prime\prime }}

, and the ultra-high-precision ranging observations of laser tracker, which are better than 10 μm, are effectively combined in order to obtain more precise adjustment results. The experimental results show that the positional precision of the combined adjustment is better than that of the adjustment results of a single measurement system, and the precision of three-dimensional control network can be further improved by employing Helmert variance component estimation to determine the weight reasonably.
R-ratio test threshold selection in GNSS integer ambiguity resolution
Authors: Wu Yanze , Yu Xianwen , Wang Jiafu
Published: April 2022

Ensuring that ambiguity cycles are correctly fixed as integers is a critical prerequisite for ensuring the reliability of GNSS high-precision carrier positioning results. As a result, it is both theoretically and practically important to investigate the performance of the ambiguity validation test by selecting an appropriate threshold. To begin, two statistics are proposed in this paper to quantitatively describe the performance of the validation test, namely the true negative rate and the false positive rate, which are based on the percentage of Type I errors (discarded-truth) in the total number of failed tests and the percentage of Type II errors (false positive) in the total number of passed tests. Following that, this paper employs the false positive rate and the true negative rate as primary and secondary criteria for evaluating the performance of the R-ratio test, respectively, and develops simulation experiments to evaluate the performance of different thresholds under different ambiguity dimensions and data accuracy, and finally provides decisions for test threshold selection: (1) For ambiguities with 4 to 9 dimensions, a reference table for the selection of thresholds is given. (2) For ambiguities of 10 dimensions or more, the threshold value should be no less than 2.0 (where data with a mean value of more than 3.7 for the main diagonal elements of the variance matrix should not be fixed).
An inverse problem for Moore–Gibson–Thompson equation arising in high intensity ultrasound
Authors: Arancibia Rogelio , Lecaros Rodrigo , Mercado Alberto , Zamorano Sebastián
Published: April 2022

In this article, we study the inverse problem of recovering a space-dependent coefficient of the Moore–Gibson–Thompson (MGT) equation from knowledge of the trace of the solution on
some open subset of the boundary. We obtain the Lipschitz stability for this inverse problem, and we design a convergent algorithm for the reconstruction of the unknown coefficient. The techniques used are based on Carleman inequalities for wave equations and properties of the MGT equation.
Identification of an unknown flexural rigidity of a cantilever Euler–Bernoulli beam from measured boundary deflection
Authors: Baysal Onur
Published: April 2022

The problem of identifying an unknown flexural rigidity

r
⁢

(
x
)

{r(x)}

of the cantilever Euler–Bernoulli beam from measured boundary deflection is studied. The problem leads to the inverse coefficient problem of determining the unknown principal coefficient

r
⁢

(
x
)

{r(x)}

in the Euler–Bernoulli beam equation

ρ
⁢

(
x
)

⁢

u

t
⁢
t

+

μ
⁢

(
x
)

⁢

u
t

+

(

r
⁢

(
x
)

⁢

u

x
⁢
x

)

x
⁢
x

-

(

T
r

⁢

(
x
)

⁢

u
x

)

x

=
0

,

\rho(x)u_{tt}+\mu(x)u_{t}+(r(x)u_{xx})_{xx}-(T_{r}(x)u_{x})_{x}=0,

(
x
,
t
)

∈

(
0
,
ℓ
)

×

(
0
,
T
)

{(x,t)\in(0,\ell)\times(0,T)}

subject to the boundary conditions

u
⁢

(
0
,
t
)

=

u
x

⁢

(
0
,
t
)

=
0

,

\displaystyle u(0,t)=u_{x}(0,t)=0,

r
⁢

(
ℓ
)

⁢

u

x
⁢
x

⁢

(
ℓ
,
t
)

=
0

,

\displaystyle r(\ell)u_{xx}(\ell,t)=0,

-

(

r
⁢

(
ℓ
)

⁢

u

x
⁢
x

⁢

(
ℓ
,
t
)

)

x

+

T
r

⁢

(
ℓ
)

⁢

u
x

⁢

(
ℓ
,
t
)

=

g
⁢

(
t
)

,

\displaystyle{-}(r(\ell)u_{xx}(\ell,t))_{x}+T_{r}(\ell)u_{x}(\ell,t)=g(t),

from the measured deflection

w
⁡

(
t
)

:=

u
⁢

(
ℓ
,
t
)

{\operatorname{w}(t):=u(\ell,t)}

,

t
∈

[
0
,
T
]

{t\in[0,T]}

, at the free end

x
=
ℓ

{x=\ell}

of the cantilever beam. Compactness and Lipschitz continuity of the Neumann-to-Dirichlet operator

Φ

[
⋅
]

:

ℛ
2

⊂

H
2

(
0
,
ℓ
)

↦

L
2

(
0
,
T
)

,

(
Φ
r
)

(
t
)

:=
u

(
ℓ
,
t
;
r
)

,

\Phi[\,\cdot\,]:\mathcal{R}^{2}\subset H^{2}(0,\ell)\mapsto L^{2}(0,T),\quad(%
\Phi r)(t):=u(\ell,t;r),

corresponding to the inverse problem is proved. These properties allow us to prove the existence of a quasi-solution of the inverse problem as a solution of the minimization problem for the Tikhonov functional

J
⁢

(
r
)

:=

(

1
2

)

⁢

∥

Φ
⁢
r

-
w

∥

L
2

⁢

(
0
,
T
)

2

.

J(r):=\Bigl{(}\frac{1}{2}\Bigr{)}\lVert\Phi r-\operatorname{w}\rVert^{2}_{L^{2%
}(0,T)}.

It is proved that this functional is Fréchet differentiable. Furthermore, an explicit formula for the Fréchet gradient of this functional is derived by making use of the unique solution to the corresponding adjoint problem.
Rituximab therapy in ROHHAD(NET) syndrome
Authors: Hawton Katherine A.C. , Doffinger Rainer , Ramanan Athimalaipet V. , Langton Hewer Simon C. , Evans Hazel J. , Giri Dinesh , Hamilton Shield Julian P.
Published: April 2022

Objectives

Rapid-onset obesity with hypoventilation, hypothalamic dysfunction, autonomic dysregulation, and neural-crest tumour (ROHHAD(NET)) is a rare syndrome presenting in early childhood associated with high morbidity and mortality. There is no specific diagnostic biomarker and diagnosis is based on clinical features. An autoimmune origin has been postulated.

Case presentation

Management is largely supportive. We report a case of a five-year old female who presented in respiratory arrest after 6-months of rapid weight gain. She had central hypoventilation, central diabetes insipidus, growth hormone deficiency and hyperprolactinaemia. She displayed elevated interleukin-6 levels on cytokine serology which normalised after rituximab treatment. After rituximab treatment, her weight reduced significantly from greatly above the 99.6th to the 50th centile in 12 months.

Conclusions

This response possibly reflects an underlying, immune-inflammatory pathology driving excess adiposity in this condition. Potentially, other aspects of ROHHAD(NET) may be mediated through autoimmune dysregulation in which case rituximab may provide benefits for prognosis and survival.
Drones application scenarios in a nuclear or radiological emergency
Authors: Hussain Mazzammal , Mehboob Khurram , Ilyas Syed Zafar , Shaheen Saima , Abdulsalam Alhawsawi
Published: April 2022

During a nuclear or radiological emergency, timely implementation of precautionary urgent protective actions, urgent protective actions, early protective actions, and other response actions is inevitable for the protection of the public and the emergency workers. unmanned aerial vehicles commonly known as drones have numerous applications including their use in disaster management for support in early warning, provision of medical aid, monitoring, situational awareness, taking various protective and response actions, and post-accident assessment. In the current study, in comparison to drone applications in response to other disasters, their potential use in response to a nuclear or radiological emergency has been discussed. The drones use in mapping radiation and contamination levels in Fukushima nuclear power plant accidents have already proved their applications in a nuclear or radiological emergency. It is concluded that drones inherently complement the existing disaster management arrangements and have the potential for their use in strengthening arrangements for taking protective and response actions in case of a nuclear or radiological emergency.
Moral and Political Foundations: From Political Psychology to Political Realism
Authors: Kreutz Adrian
Published: April 2022

The political psychologists Hatemi, Crabtree and Smith accuse orthodox moral foundations theory of predicting what is already intrinsic to the theory, namely that moral beliefs influence political decision-making. The authors argue that, first, political psychology must start from a position which treats political and moral beliefs as equals so as to avoid self-justificatory theorising, and second, that such an analysis provides stronger evidence for political attitudes predicting moral attitudes than vice versa. I take this empirical result as a starting point to intervene in a debate in contemporary normative political theory which has, to my mind, become largely unwieldy: the political realism controversy. I advise the realists to ‘downplay’ the (thus far) inconclusive debate over realism’s metanormative standing in favour of a non-metanormative inquiry. Hatemi, Crabtree and Smith’s study makes for an excellent backdrop. It affirms the realist hypothesis that politics is in some relevant sense – a causal, psychological sense – prior to morality.
Northern Raglai voicing and its relation to Southern Raglai register: evidence for early stages of registrogenesis
Authors: Brunelle Marc , Brown Jeanne , Thị Thu Hà Phạm
Published: April 2022

Northern and Southern Raglai are two closely related Austronesian dialects (Chamic branch) spoken in south-central Vietnam. Although they are mutually intelligible, Northern Raglai is described as having a voicing contrast in onset stops, while Southern Raglai is assumed to have replaced the Chamic voicing contrast with a register contrast realized on the whole syllable (but primarily on its vowel). A production study of the two dialects confirms that Northern Raglai preserves a voicing contrast, even if most women exhibit partial devoicing of their voiced stops, and that Southern Raglai has developed a register contrast based on F1 and phonation cues at the beginning of vowels. The weights of the acoustic properties of voicing and register are similar across ages and genders, suggesting that the two laryngeal contrasts are phonetically stable. Even if there is little evidence of change in progress, a close inspection of the Northern Raglai voicing contrast reveals voicing-conditioned modulations of F1 and perturbations of phonation after partially devoiced stops that could be precursors of a register system similar to that of Southern Raglai. We argue that this is a pathway to registrogenesis and speculate about the articulatory laryngeal mechanisms that could trigger registrogenetic changes. Our data also show that the Northern Raglai voicing contrast is unstable in aspirated stops and that voiced aspirated stops typically have a partially voiceless and partially voiced aspiration.
An analytical model for solute transport from blood to tissue
Authors: Chebbi Rachid
Published: April 2022

For narrow tubes, red blood cells concentrate in the core region, leaving an annular zone called cell-free layer. This has an impact on both the tube hematocrit level (Fåhraeus effect) and the apparent blood viscosity (Fåhraeus–Lindqvist effect). Blood flow, mass transfer across the microvessel membrane, and diffusion in the tissue affect the solute concentration profiles. The Krogh tissue cylinder concept, limiting mass transfer to a cylinder around each microvessel, and the marginal zone concept (introduced by Haynes to analyze blood flow dynamics in narrow tubes) are both used to develop a model for solute transfer from blood in microvessels to the surrounding tissues, based on fundamentals. The analysis accounts for advection and diffusion in each zone of the microvessel, solute transport in the microvessel membranes, and diffusion and reaction in the tissues. The present investigation provides an analytical solution. The approach can be extended to treat other kinetic models, while accounting for Fåhraeus and Fåhraeus–Lindqvist effects in blood microvessels. The model is validated against published results for glucose transport from blood to tissue.
Catalytic applications of graphene oxide towards the synthesis of bioactive scaffolds through the formation of carbon–carbon and carbon–heteroatom bonds
Authors: Singha Rabindranath , Basak Puja , Ghosh Pranab
Published: April 2022

During the past several decades, metal-based catalysis is one of the major and direct approaches for the synthesis of organic molecules. Nowadays, materials containing predominantly carbon element which are termed as carbocatalysts, become the most promising area of research to replace transition metal catalysts. In this context of carbocatalysis, the use of graphene oxide (GO) and GO-based materials are under spotlight due to their sustainability, environmental benignity and large scale-availability. The presence of oxygen containing functional groups in GO makes it benign oxidant and slightly acidic catalyst. This chapter provides a broad discussion on graphene oxide (GO) as well as its preparation, properties and vast area of application. The catalytic activity of GO has been explored in different organic transformations and it has been recognized as an oxidation catalyst for various organic reactions.