bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reaction of 4,5-Dichloro-1,2,3-dithiazolium Chloride with 2-(Phenylsulfonyl)acetonitrile
Authors: Plakas Konstantinos , Kalogirou Andreas S. , Kourtellaris Andreas , Koutentis Panayiotis A.
Published: January 2022

The reaction of 4,5-dichloro-1,2,3-dithiazolium chloride with 2-(phenylsulfonyl)acetonitrile (1 equiv) in the presence of pyridine (2 equiv) gave S-(3-chloro-5-cyanoisothiazol-4-yl)benzenesulfonothioate and (Z)-2-(4-chloro-5H-1,2,3-dithiazol-5-ylidene)-2-(phenylsulfonyl)acetonitrile in 19% and 23% yield, respectively. The compounds were fully characterized and the mechanistic rationale is proposed for the formation of the benzensulfonate.
Study on the Hydrophobic Modification of MTES/NH3 Vapor Surface Treatment for SiO2 Broadband Anti-Reflection Coating
Authors: Fan Qianyang , Liu Hanxi , Jia Xinli , Yan Lianghong , Jiang Bo
Published: January 2022

In this article, ammonia and methyltriethoxysilane (MTES) were chosen as vapor phase modifiers for the base-catalyzed SiO2 film. The surface of the film became more dense because of the hydroxyl condensation under the catalyst of ammonia, while the introduction of methyl groups by MTES of vapor treatment hindered the condensation to avoid over-change in film thickness. The hydrophobic of film was improved while the surface roughness of the film increased after treatment. The treated double-layer broadband anti-reflection (AR) coating retains high optical properties with the transmittance of 99.61%, 98.85%, and 99.16% at 355 nm, 532 nm, and 1064 nm, respectively. After exposing to the high humidity condition for 30 days, the broadband AR coating after treatment shows good optical durability, and the transmittance at 355 nm only drops by 0.12%. This vapor surface treatment can find potential application in high-power laser systems and solar cells.
Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Calcium Sulfate Whisker-Reinforced Cement-Based Composites
Authors: Cao Kai , Liu Ganggui , Li Hui , Huang Zhiyi
Published: January 2022

This study aims to investigate the effect of calcium sulfate whisker (CSW) on the properties and microstructure of cement-based composites. Further, nanosilica (NS) was used as a comparison. The results show that the compressive strength and fracture toughness of cement-based composites increased by 10.3% and 10.2%, respectively, with 2% CSW. The flexural strength, splitting tensile strength, and fracture energy increased by 79.7, 34.8 and 28.7%, respectively, with 1% CSW. With the addition of CSW, shrinkage deformation was aggravated, and the capillary water absorption coefficients were clearly reduced. Compared with NS, CSW-reinforced cement-based composites show better tensile, flexural, and fracture properties and smaller shrinkage deformations and capillary water absorption coefficients. The residual mechanical properties of all groups improve when the treating temperature is lower than 400 °C and decline rapidly when the temperature goes over 600 °C. When treated at 900 °C, the residual mechanical properties are 40% less than those at ambient temperature, with the NS group showing the best performance, followed by the control group and the CSW group. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tests show that the addition of CSW improves the microstructure of the matrix. CSW can reinforce and toughen composites by generating ettringite and whisker pullout, whisker breakage, crack bridging, and crack deflection at the microstructure level.
Multi-Objective Optimization of Material Removal Rate and Tool Wear in Rough Honing Processes
Authors: Buj-Corral Irene , Sivatte-Adroer Maurici
Published: January 2022

This study focuses on obtaining regression models for material removal rate and tool wear in rough honing processes. For this purpose, experimental tests were carried out according to a central composite design of experiments. Five different parameters were varied: grain size or particle size of abrasive, density of abrasive or abrasive concentration, pressure of the stones against the cylinder internal surface, tangential speed (in this case, corresponding to the rotation speed of the cylinder), and linear speed of the honing head. In addition, multi-objective optimization was carried out with the aim of maximizing the material removal rate and minimizing tool wear. The results show that, within the range studied, the material removal rate depends mainly on tangential speed, followed by grain size and pressure. Tool wear is directly influenced by density of abrasive, followed by pressure, tangential speed, and grain size. According to the multi-objective optimization, if the two responses are given the same importance, it is recommended that high grain size, high density, high tangential speed, and low pressure be selected. Linear speed has less influence on both responses studied. If the material removal rate is considered to be more preponderant than tool wear, then the same values should be considered, except for high pressure. If tool wear is preponderant, then lower grain size of 128 (ISO 6106) should be selected, and lower tangential speed of approximately 166 min−1. The other variables, density and pressure, would not change significantly from the first situation.
Speed-Sensorless Control of Induction Machines with LC Filter for Geothermal Electric Submersible Pumping Systems
Authors: Kullick Julian , Hackl Christoph M.
Published: January 2022

A speed-sensorless state-feedback controller for induction machines (IMs) with LC filter is proposed. The speed and state estimation is based on a speed-adaptive observer, requiring only the measurement of the filter input currents. The motor currents are controlled by a state-feedback controller with prefilter and integral control action, in order to achieve fast and asymptotic set point tracking. Observer and controller gains are calculated offline using linear quadratic regulator (LQR) theory and updated online (gain-scheduling) in order to attain stability and improve controller performance in the whole operation range. Implementation aspects, such as discretization of the control system and reduction of computational effort, are taken into account as well. The proposed control scheme is validated by simulations and experimental results, even for critical operating conditions such as speed zero-crossings. It is shown that the overall control system performs very well under various load- and speed conditions; while its tuning remains simple which makes it attractive for industrial application such as geothermal electric submersible pumping (ESP) systems.
An Analytical Method for Tensor Visualization in a Plane
Authors: Stejskal Tomáš , Svetlík Jozef , Dobránsky Jozef
Published: January 2022

The rendering of tensor glyphs is a progressive process of visualizing the vector space both in fluid dynamics and the latest medical scanning. Nowadays, the rendering accuracy is ensured by numerical methods based on interpolation of tensor functions. The tensor glyph functions to visualize significant properties of the vector space. Not all these properties are visualized at all times. The number of properties and their unambiguity depend on the method chosen. This work presents a direct analytical expression covering rank two tensors in a plane. Unlike the methods used so far, this method is accurate and unambiguous one for tensor visualization. The method was applied to the simplest tensor type, which presented an advantage for the method’s analytical approach. The analytical approach to the planar case is significant also because it provides instruction on how to expand analytical calculations to cover higher spatial dimensions. In this way, numerical methods for tensor rendering can be replaced with an accurate analytical method.
A Novel Fault Diagnosis Method Based on the KELM Optimized by Whale Optimization Algorithm
Authors: Liang Ruijun , Chen Yao , Zhu Rupeng
Published: January 2022

To solve the problem that fault features are difficult to extract and the time-frequency features cannot fully represent the state information, a novel method is proposed in this paper based on the whale optimization algorithm (WOA) and the kernel extreme learning machine (KELM). First, the vibration signals are processed by the ensemble empirical mode decomposition and sample entropy to obtain the feature vectors. Based on this, a KELM model for fault diagnosis is established. Then, the penalty factor and the kernel parameters in the KELM are optimized by WOA to improve the stability and classification accuracy. Taking faults of a ball-screw pair on a linear feed table as a case, the experimental results indicate that the proposed method can effectively extract the fault features of the ball-screw pair, and it can achieve higher classification accuracy, faster convergence speed, and greater convergence precision than the existing fault diagnosis methods.
Tuning the Spin-Crossover Behaviour in Fe(II) Polymeric Composites for Food Packaging Applications
Authors: Lada Zoi G. , Andrikopoulos Konstantinos S. , Mathioudakis Georgios N. , Piperigkou Zoi , Karamanos Nikos , Perlepes Spyros P. , Voyiatzis George A.
Published: January 2022

Although the spin-crossover (SCO) phenomenon is well documented, tuning the SCO behaviour remains a challenging task. This could be mainly attributed to the ‘delicate’ nature of the phenomenon; cooperativity expressed through differences in particle size and morphologies, and electrostatic interactions could significantly affect the process. The goal of the present effort is dual bearing both scientific and technological interest. Firstly, to examine the technological potential of SCO complexes by incorporating them into polymers, and secondly—and most importantly—to investigate if polymer-SCO complex interactions could occur and could affect the SCO behaviour, depending on the structural properties of both the polymer matrix and the SCO complex. In this context, two different polymers, polylactic acid (PLA) and polysulphone (PSF), which are capable of developing different interactions with the inclusions, and the SCO complexes [Fe(abpt)2{N(CN)2}2] and [Fe(abpt)2(SCN)2] were examined; abpt is the N,N’-bidentate chelating ligand 4-amino-3,5-bis(pyridin-2-yl)-1,2,4-triazole. The composites were characterised through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), attenuated total reflectance infrared (ATR/FTIR), and Raman spectroscopy. In addition, the potential migration release of the SCO compounds from the polymeric matrices and their toxicity evaluation were also studied. In addition, the potential migration release of the SCO compounds from the polymeric matrices was evaluated, and their insignificant toxicity was also verified. Temperature-dependent Raman spectra were collected in situ for the monitoring of the SCO behaviour after the incorporation of the Fe(II) complexes into the polymers; an upshift of the T1/2 transition and a hysteretic behaviour was detected for PSF-SCO composites, compared with the non-hysteretic behaviour of the pristine SCO complexes.
Numerical Study of Natural Convection of Power Law Fluid in a Square Cavity Fitted with a Uniformly Heated T-Fin
Authors: Bilal Sardar , Khan Noor Zeb , Shah Imtiaz Ali , Awrejcewicz Jan , Akgül Ali , Riaz Muhammad Bilal
Published: January 2022

Flow of a liquid in an enclosure with heat transfer has drawn special focus of researchers due to the abundant thermal engineering applications. So, the aim of present communication is to explore thermal characteristics of natural convective power-law liquid flow in a square enclosure rooted with a T-shaped fin. The formulation of the problem is executed in the form of partial differential expressions by incorporating the rheological relation of the power-law fluid. The lower wall of the enclosure along with the fin is uniformly heated and vertical walls are prescribed with cold temperature. For effective heat transfer within the cavity the upper boundary is considered thermally insulated. A finite element based commercial software known as COMSOL is used for simulations and discretization of differential equations and is executed incorporating a weak formulation. Domain discretization is performed by dividing it into triangular and rectangular elements at different refinement levels. A grid independence test is accomplished for quantities of engineering interest like local and average Nusselt numbers to attain accuracy and validity in results. Variation in the momentum and thermal distributions against pertinent parameters is analyzed through stream lines and isothermal contour plots. Measurement of the heat flux coefficient along with the calculation of kinetic energy against involved parameters is displayed through graphs and tables. After the comprehensive overview of attained results it is deduced that kinetic energy elevates against the upsurging magnitude of the Rayleigh number, whereas contrary behavior is encapsulated versus power-law index n. Elevation in the Nusselt number for the shear thinning case i.e., n=0.5 adheres as compared to Newtonian i.e., n=1  and shear thickening cases  i.e., n=1.5. It is perceived that by the upsurging power-law index viscosity augmentations and circulation zones increases. Heat is transferred quickly against Rayleigh number (Ra) due to production of temperature difference in flow domain.
Stability and Numerical Solutions of Second Wave Mathematical Modeling on COVID-19 and Omicron Outbreak Strategy of Pandemic: Analytical and Error Analysis of Approximate Series Solutions by Using HPM
Authors: Muniyappan Ashwin , Sundarappan Balamuralitharan , Manoharan Poongodi , Hamdi Mounir , Raahemifar Kaamran , Bourouis Sami , Varadarajan Vijayakumar
Published: January 2022

This paper deals with the mathematical modeling of the second wave of COVID-19 and verifies the current Omicron variant pandemic data in India. We also we discussed such as uniformly bounded of the system, Equilibrium analysis and basic reproduction number R0. We calculated the analytic solutions by HPM (homotopy perturbation method) and used Mathematica 12 software for numerical analysis up to 8th order approximation. It checked the error values of the approximation while the system has residual error, absolute error and h curve initial derivation of square error at up to 8th order approximation. The basic reproduction number ranges between 0.8454 and 2.0317 to form numerical simulation, it helps to identify the whole system fluctuations. Finally, our proposed model validated (from real life data) the highly affected five states of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant. The algorithm guidelines are used for international arrivals, with Omicron variant cases updated by the Union Health Ministry in January 2022. Right now, the third wave is underway in India, and we conclude that it may peak by the end of May 2022.
An Exact Solution to the Modified Winding Function for Eccentric Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines
Authors: Klein Carsten , Pinter Mira , Palmieri Marco , Nienhaus Matthias , Grasso Emanuele
Published: January 2022

The Winding Function Approach has been used since 1965 to describe the inductance behavior of small air-gap electrical machines, and several works have contributed to its formulation in the presence of mechanical faults, such as eccentricity, leading to the Modified Winding Function Approach (MWFA). In order to use the MWFA, an integral over a full rotation period needs to be computed. Nevertheless, this typically requires the performance of numerical integration, and thus it is affected by integration error, requires relatively high computational effort and, at the same time, it does not easily allow for performance of the analysis of the inductance harmonics. In this work, an exact analytical solution to the MWFA equation is provided in a form that allows to highlight the harmonic content of the inductances. After a thorough mathematical derivation of the solution, a numerical investigation is proposed for verification purposes.
Optimal Reactive Power Dispatch Using a Chaotic Turbulent Flow of Water-Based Optimization Algorithm
Authors: Abd-El Wahab Ahmed M. , Kamel Salah , Hassan Mohamed H. , Mosaad Mohamed I. , AbdulFattah Tarek A.
Published: January 2022

In this study, an optimization algorithm called chaotic turbulent flow of water-based optimization (CTFWO) algorithm is proposed to find the optimal solution for the optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD) problem. The ORPD is formulated as a complicated, mixed-integer nonlinear optimization problem, comprising control variables which are discrete and continuous. The CTFWO algorithm is used to minimize voltage deviation (VD) and real power loss (P_loss) for IEEE 30-bus and IEEE 57-bus power systems. These goals can be achieved by obtaining the optimized voltage values of the generator, the transformer tap changing positions, and the reactive compensation. In order to evaluate the ability of the proposed algorithm to obtain ORPD problem solutions, the results of the proposed CTFWO algorithm are compared with different algorithms, including artificial ecosystem-based optimization (AEO), the equilibrium optimizer (EO), the gradient-based optimizer (GBO), and the original turbulent flow of water-based optimization (TFWO) algorithm. These are also compared with the results of the evaluated performance of various methods that are used in many recent papers. The experimental results show that the proposed CTFWO algorithm has superior performance, and is competitive with many state-of-the-art algorithms outlined in some of the recent studies in terms of solution accuracy, convergence rate, and stability.
A Sustainable Methodology Using Lean and Smart Manufacturing for the Cleaner Production of Shop Floor Management in Industry 4.0
Authors: Tripathi Varun , Chattopadhyaya Somnath , Mukhopadhyay Alok Kumar , Sharma Shubham , Li Changhe , Di Bona Gianpaolo
Published: January 2022

The production management system in Industry 4.0 is emphasizes the improvement of productivity within limited constraints by sustainable production planning models. To accomplish this, several approaches are used which include lean manufacturing, kaizen, smart manufacturing, flexible manufacturing systems, cyber–physical systems, artificial intelligence, and the industrial Internet of Things in the present scenario. These approaches are used for operations management in industries, and specifically productivity maximization with cleaner shop floor environmental management, and issues such as worker safety and product quality. The present research aimed to develop a methodology for cleaner production management using lean and smart manufacturing in industry 4.0. The developed methodology would able to enhance productivity within restricted resources in the production system. The developed methodology was validated by production enhancement achieved in two case study investigations within the automobile manufacturing industry and a mining machinery assembly unit. The results reveal that the developed methodology could provide a sustainable production system and problem-solving that are key to controlling production shop floor management in the context of industry 4.0. It is also capable of enhancing the productivity level within limited constraints. The novelty of the present research lies in the fact that this type of methodology, which has been developed for the first time, helps the industry individual to enhance production in Industry 4.0 within confined assets by the elimination of several problems encountered in shop floor management. Therefore, the authors of the present study strongly believe that the developed methodology would be beneficial for industry individuals to enhance shop floor management within constraints in industry 4.0.
Unsteady Three-Dimensional Flow in a Rotating Hybrid Nanofluid over a Stretching Sheet
Authors: Mohd Sohut Noor Farizza Haniem , Soid Siti Khuzaimah , Abu Bakar Sakhinah , Ishak Anuar
Published: January 2022

The problem of an unsteady 3D boundary layer flow induced by a stretching sheet in a rotating hybrid nanofluid is studied. A dimensionless set of variables is employed to transform the system of partial differential equations (PDEs) to a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs). Then, the system of ODEs is solved numerically using the MATLAB software. The impacts of different parameters, such as copper nanoparticles volume fraction, radiation, rotation, unsteadiness, and stretching parameters are graphically displayed. It is found that two solutions exist for the flow induced by the stretching sheet. Furthermore, the increasing nanoparticle volume fraction enhances the skin friction coefficient. It is noticed that the skin friction coefficient, as well as the heat transfer rate at the surface, decrease as the rotating parameter increases. Additionally, the thermal radiation as well as the unsteadiness parameter stimulate the temperature.
Bivariate Continuous Negatively Correlated Proportional Models with Applications in Schizophrenia Research
Authors: Sun Yuan , Tian Guoliang , Guo Shuixia , Shu Lianjie , Zhang Chi
Published: January 2022

Bivariate continuous negatively correlated proportional data defined in the unit square (0,1)2 often appear in many different disciplines, such as medical studies, clinical trials and so on. To model this type of data, the paper proposes two new bivariate continuous distributions (i.e., negatively correlated proportional inverse Gaussian (NPIG) and negatively correlated proportional gamma (NPGA) distributions) for the first time and provides corresponding distributional properties. Two mean regression models are further developed for data with covariates. The normalized expectation–maximization (N-EM) algorithm and the gradient descent algorithm are combined to obtain the maximum likelihood estimates of parameters of interest. Simulations studies are conducted, and a data set of cortical thickness for schizophrenia is used to illustrate the proposed methods. According to our analysis between patients and controls of cortical thickness in typical mutual inhibitory brain regions, we verified the compensatory of cortical thickness in patients with schizophrenia and found its negative correlation with age.
Mathematical Modeling of Toxoplasmosis Considering a Time Delay in the Infectivity of Oocysts
Authors: González-Parra Gilberto , Sultana Sharmin , Arenas Abraham J.
Published: January 2022

In this paper, we study the effect of the introduction of a time delay on the dynamics of toxoplasmosis. This time delay is the elapsed time from when oocysts become present in the environment and when they become infectious. We construct a mathematical model that includes cats and oocysts in the environment. We include the effect of oocysts, since they are crucial for the dynamics of toxoplasmosis. The likelihood of the acquisition of Toxoplasma gondii infection depends on the environmental load of the parasite. Furthermore, the model considers the possibility of vaccination of the feline host. In the mathematical model, we consider directly the infection of cats through the oocysts shed by other cats. We prove that the basic reproduction number R0 is a secondary parameter that determines the global dynamics of toxoplasmosis in cat populations. We study the effect of the time delay on the stability of the steady states. We find that the time delay cannot change the stability of the endemic state, which is an important result from the biological point of view. Numerical simulations are performed to support the theoretical results and obtain further insight into understanding toxoplasmosis dynamics in cat populations.
A Distributed Optimization Accelerated Algorithm with Uncoordinated Time-Varying Step-Sizes in an Undirected Network
Authors: Lü Yunshan , Xiong Hailing , Zhou Hao , Guan Xin
Published: January 2022

In recent years, significant progress has been made in the field of distributed optimization algorithms. This study focused on the distributed convex optimization problem over an undirected network. The target was to minimize the average of all local objective functions known by each agent while each agent communicates necessary information only with its neighbors. Based on the state-of-the-art algorithm, we proposed a novel distributed optimization algorithm, when the objective function of each agent satisfies smoothness and strong convexity. Faster convergence can be attained by utilizing Nesterov and Heavy-ball accelerated methods simultaneously, making the algorithm widely applicable to many large-scale distributed tasks. Meanwhile, the step-sizes and accelerated momentum coefficients are designed as uncoordinate, time-varying, and nonidentical, which can make the algorithm adapt to a wide range of application scenarios. Under some necessary assumptions and conditions, through rigorous theoretical analysis, a linear convergence rate was achieved. Finally, the numerical experiments over a real dataset demonstrate the superiority and efficacy of the novel algorithm compared to similar algorithms.
Real Economy Effects on Consumption-Based CAPM
Authors: Zheng Dandan , Ding Shusheng , Cui Tianxiang , Jin Huan
Published: January 2022

The consumption-based capital asset pricing model (CCAPM) is an attractive research field in finance, and extant studies have examined the impacts of different factors towards traditional CCAPM, intending to improve the model from the practical perspective. In this paper, we comprehensively scrutinize the real economy effects on the CCAPM by comprising expenditure on durable, expenditure on non-durable goods, services, and real estate four factors. Our study pays great attention to the real economy effect on the CCAPM based on two types of portfolios. By employing both time-series and cross-sectional analysis, our empirical results suggest that the real economy factors can help traditional CCAPM to produce better asset pricing results. Particularly, incorporating the real estate component into the CCAPM model can improve its explanation power on the stock market risk. Our results are potentially useful for investors, portfolios managers and policy makers towards the CCAPM.
Structural Stability on the Boundary Coefficient of the Thermoelastic Equations of Type III
Authors: Chen Xuejiao , Li Yuanfei
Published: January 2022

This paper investigates the spatial behavior of the solutions of thermoelastic equations of type III in a semi-infinite cylinder by using the partial differential inequalities. By setting an arbitrary positive constant in the energy expression, the fast decay rate of the solutions is obtained. Based on the results of decay, the continuous dependence and the convergence results on the boundary coefficient are established by using the differential inequality technique and the energy analysis method. The main work of this paper is to extend the study of continuous dependence to a semi-infinite cylinder, which can be used as a reference for the study of other types of partial differential equations.
Two-Field Weak Solutions for a Class of Contact Models
Authors: Matei Andaluzia , Osiceanu Madalina
Published: January 2022

Two contact models are considered, with the behavior of the materials being described by a constitutive law governed by the subdifferential of a convex map. We deliver variational formulations based on the theory of bipotentials. In this approach, the unknowns are pairs consisting of the displacement field and the Cauchy stress tensor. The two-field weak solutions are sought into product spaces involving variable convex sets. Both models lead to variational systems which can be cast in an abstract setting. After delivering some abstract results, we apply them in order to study the weak solvability of the mechanical models as well as the data dependence of the weak solutions.
Conditions for Existence of Second-Order and Third-Order Filters for Discrete Systems with Additive Noises
Authors: Kamenshchikov Mikhail
Published: January 2022

The problem of constructing functional optimal observers (filters) for stochastic control systems with additive noises in discrete time are studied in this work. Under the assumption that there is no filter of the first order, necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of filters of the second and third order are obtained in the canonical basis. Analytical expressions of the transfer function matrix from the input noise to the estimation error are presented. A numerical example is given to compare the performance of filters by the quadratic criterion in the steady state.
Hybrid Symmetrical Uncertainty and Reference Set Harmony Search Algorithm for Gene Selection Problem
Authors: Shreem Salam Salameh , Ahmad Nazri Mohd Zakree , Abdullah Salwani , Sani Nor Samsiah
Published: January 2022

Selecting the most miniature possible set of genes from microarray datasets for clinical diagnosis and prediction is one of the most challenging machine learning tasks. A robust gene selection technique is required to identify the most significant subset of genes by removing spurious or non-predictive genes from the original dataset without sacrificing or reducing classification accuracy. Numerous studies have attempted to address this issue by implementing either a filter or a wrapper. Although the filter approaches are computationally efficient, they are completely independent of the induction algorithm. On the other hand, wrapper approaches outperform filter approaches but are computationally more expensive. Therefore, this study proposes an enhanced gene selection method that uses a hybrid technique that combines the Symmetrical Uncertainty (SU) filter and Reference Set Harmony Search Algorithm (RSHSA) wrapper method, known as SU-RSHSA. The framework to develop the proposed SU-RSHSA includes numerous stages: (1) investigate a novel gene selection method based on the HSA and will then determine appropriate values for the HSA’s parameters, (2) enhance the construction process of the initial harmony memory while satisfying the diversity of the solution by embedding a reference set within the HSA (RSHSA), and (3) investigates the effect of integrating Symmetrical Uncertainty (SU) as a filter and RSHSA as a wrapper (SU-RSHSA) to maximize classification accuracy by leveraging their respective advantages. The results demonstrate that the SU-RSHSA outperforms the original HSA and SU-HSA in terms of classification accuracy, a small number of selected relevant genes, and reduced computational time. More importantly, the proposed SU-RSHSA gene selection method effectively generates a small subset of salient genes with high classification accuracy.
Quantum Algorithms for Some Strings Problems Based on Quantum String Comparator
Authors: Khadiev Kamil , Ilikaev Artem , Vihrovs Jevgenijs
Published: January 2022

We study algorithms for solving three problems on strings. These are sorting of n strings of length k, “the Most Frequent String Search Problem”, and “searching intersection of two sequences of strings”. We construct quantum algorithms that are faster than classical (randomized or deterministic) counterparts for each of these problems. The quantum algorithms are based on the quantum procedure for comparing two strings of length k in O(k) queries. The first problem is sorting n strings of length k. We show that classical complexity of the problem is Θ(nk) for constant size alphabet, but our quantum algorithm has O˜(nk) complexity. The second one is searching the most frequent string among n strings of length k. We show that the classical complexity of the problem is Θ(nk), but our quantum algorithm has O˜(nk) complexity. The third problem is searching for an intersection of two sequences of strings. All strings have the same length k. The size of the first set is n, and the size of the second set is m. We show that the classical complexity of the problem is Θ((n+m)k), but our quantum algorithm has O˜((n+m)k) complexity.
Inverse Modeling of Grout Curtain Hydraulic Conductivity Evolution Considering the Calcium Leaching Effect
Authors: Zhang Kailai , Shen Zhenzhong , Xu Liqun , Shu Yongkang , Yang Chao
Published: January 2022

The calcium leaching effect inevitably increases the grout curtain hydraulic conductivity. It is diffucult to sample and obtain the leaching-related calculation parameters for deep-buried grout curtains. This study introduced the inversion method into the calcium leaching analysis to get proper leaching-related calculation parameters and accurate results. An inverse analysis model was proposed using the genetic algorithm (GA) and finite element analysis technology to solve the calcium leaching problems. The objective function is constructed using the hydraulic head and leakage quantity time-series measurements, which improves the uniqueness and reliability of the inverse results. The proposed method was applied to the inverse analysis of the hydraulic conductivity evolution of the grout curtain in a concrete dam foundation. The predicted water heads and leakage quantity are consistent with the monitored data, indicating the rationality of this simulation. The grout curtain hydraulic conductivity prediction in 100 years is also presented. The results illustrate the feasibility of the proposed method for determining leaching-related parameters and the hydraulic conductivity prediction in the leaching process.
MDR Tuberculosis Treatment
Authors: Espinosa-Pereiro Juan , Sánchez-Montalvá Adrian , Aznar Maria Luisa , Espiau Maria
Published: January 2022

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB), resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin, continues to be one of the most important threats to controlling the TB epidemic. Over the last few years, there have been promising pharmacological advances in the paradigm of MDR TB treatment: new and repurposed drugs have shown excellent bactericidal and sterilizing activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and several all-oral short regimens to treat MDR TB have shown promising results. The purpose of this comprehensive review is to summarize the most important drugs currently used to treat MDR TB, the recommended regimens to treat MDR TB, and we also summarize new insights into the treatment of patients with MDR TB.
CD74 and HLA-DRA in Cervical Carcinogenesis: Potential Targets for Antitumour Therapy
Authors: Balakrishnan Carol K. , Tye Gee Jun , Balasubramaniam Shandra Devi , Kaur Gurjeet
Published: January 2022

Background and Objectives: Abnormal expressions of CD74 and human leukocyte antigen-DR alpha (HLA-DRA) have been reported in various cancers, though their roles in cervical cancer remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the gene and protein expressions of CD74 and HLA-DRA in the progression from normal cervix to precancerous cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and finally to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Materials and Methods: The gene expression profiles of CD74 and HLA-DRA were determined in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues, with three samples each from normal cervixes, human papillomavirus type 16/18-positive, low-grade CIN (LGCIN), high-grade CIN (HGCIN), and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) using Human Transcriptome Array 2.0. Immunohistochemical expression of the proteins was semi-quantitatively assessed in another cohort of tissue microarray samples comprising 7 normal cervix cases, 10 LGCIN, 10 HGCIN, and 95 SCC. Results: The transcriptomics profile and proteins’ expression demonstrated similar trends of upregulation of CD74 and HLA-DRA from normal cervix to CIN and highest in SCC. There was a significant difference in both proteins’ expression between the histological groups (p = 0.0001). CD74 and HLA-DRA expressions were significantly associated with CIN grade (p = 0.001 and p = 0.030, respectively) but not with the subjects’ age or SCC stage. Further analysis revealed a positive correlation between CD74 and HLA-DRA proteins. Conclusions: CD74 appears to promote cervical carcinogenesis via oncogenic signalling mechanisms and may serve as a potential antitumour target. Additionally, the upregulation of HLA-DRA, often associated with stronger immunogenicity, could be a promising biomarker for developing immunotherapies.
Emerging Tools to Capture Self-Reported Acute and Chronic Pain Outcome in Children and Adolescents: A Literature Review
Authors: Turnbull Alexandra , Sculley Dean , Santos Derek , Maarj Mohammed , Chapple Lachlan , Gironès Xavier , Fellas Antoni , Coda Andrea
Published: January 2022

The advancement of digital health provides strategic and cost-effective opportunities for the progression of health care in children and adolescents. It is important for clinicians to be aware of the potential of emerging pain outcome measures and employ evidence-based tools capable of reliably tracking acute and chronic pain over time. The main emerging pain outcome measures for children and adolescents were examined. Overall, seven main texts and their corresponding digital health technologies were included in this study. The main findings indicated that the use of emerging digital health is able to reduce recall bias and can improve the real time paediatric data capture of acute and chronic symptoms. This literature review highlights new developments in pain management in children and adolescents and emphasizes the need for further research to be conducted on the use of emerging technologies in pain management. This may include larger scale, multicentre studies to further assess validity and reliability of these tools across various demographics. The privacy and security of mHealth data must also be carefully evaluated when choosing health applications that can be introduced into daily clinical settings.
Amelioration of Cadmium-Induced Oxidative Damage in Wistar Rats by Vitamin C, Zinc and N-Acetylcysteine
Authors: Poli Venkataramanaiah , Madduru Renuka , Aparna Yenukolu , Kandukuri Vimala , Motireddy Srinivasulu Reddy
Published: January 2022

The present study was performed to determine the protective effects of vitamin C, zinc, and N-acetylcysteine, individually or in combination with Cd, to monitor their amelioration capability against Cd-induced oxidative damage in Wistar rats. We investigated and demonstrated that cadmium is a toxic element that damages rat liver and kidney tissues. Vitamin C, zinc, and NAC have been proven to have protective roles against Cd toxic effects. Nine groups of rats were studied as the experimental group. The present experiment was conducted for 45 days. Liver and kidneys were excised for biochemical evaluation by assaying antioxidant enzymes and lipid oxidation products to assess the impact of Cd toxicity and its amelioration by co-administration of vitamin C, zinc, and NAC along with Cd. Basal metabolic rates and tissue respiration rates of liver and kidney were significantly decreased (p < 0.05) during Cd toxicity. Serum biochemical parameters were also found to be significantly altered to cope with Cd toxicity. All the antioxidant enzymes and products were significant inhibited (p < 0.05) or elevated in rat liver and kidney tissues during Cd-induced toxicity. Our results suggest that co-administration of vitamin C, zinc, and NAC to rats ameliorates oxidative damage induced by Cd toxicity. From the results obtained in the present study, all the agents tested had protective effects against Cd-induced oxidative damage.
Study on the Control of Dichloroacetonitrile Generation by Two-Point Influent Activated Carbon-Quartz Sand Biofilter
Authors: Gui Xinrui , Zhang Huining , Ji Bixiao , Ma Jianqing , Xu Meijuan , Li Yan , Yan Ming
Published: January 2022

Aiming at the problem of highly toxic Nitrogenous disinfection by-products (N-DBPs) produced by disinfection in the process of drinking water, two-point influent activated carbon-quartz sand biofilter, activated carbon-quartz sand biofilter, and quartz sand biofilter are selected. This study takes typical N-DBPs Dichloroacetonitrile (DCAN) as the research object and aromatic amino acid Tyrosine (Tyr), an important precursor of DCAN, as the model precursor. By measuring the changes of conventional pollutants in different biofilters, and the changes of Tyr, the output DCAN formation potential of the biofilters, this article investigates the control of DCAN generation of the two-point influent activated carbon-quartz sand biofilter. The results show that the average Tyr removal rate of the three biofilters during steady operation is 73%, 50%, and 20%, respectively, while the average effluent DCAN generation potential removal rate is 78%, 52%, and 23%, respectively. The two-point influent activated carbon-sand biofilter features the highest removal rate. The two-point water intake improves the hypoxia problem of the lower filter material of the activated carbon-quartz sand biofilter, and at the same time, the soluble microbial products produced by microbial metabolism can be reduced by an appropriate carbon sand ratio, which is better than traditional quartz sand filters and activated carbon-quartz sand biofilters in the performance of controlling the precursors of N-DBPs.
A Strategy toward Realizing Narrow Line with High Electrical Conductivity by Electrohydrodynamic Printing
Authors: Liang Hongfu , Yao Rihui , Zhang Guanguang , Zhang Xu , Liang Zhihao , Yang Yuexin , Ning Honglong , Zhong Jinyao , Qiu Tian , Peng Junbiao
Published: January 2022

Over the past few decades, electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing has proved to be an environmentally friendly, cost-effective and powerful tool in manufacturing electronic devices with a wire width of less than 50 μm. In particular, EHD printing is highly valued for the printing of ultrafine wire-width silver electrodes, which is important in manufacturing large-area, high-resolution micron-scale or even nanoscale structures. In this paper, we compare two methods of surface modification of glass substrate: UV treatment and oxygen plasma treatment. We found that oxygen plasma was better than UV treatment in terms of wettability and uniformity. Secondly, we optimized the annealing temperature parameter, and found that the conductivity of the electrode was the highest at 200 °C due to the smoothing silver electrode and the oxidation-free internal microstructure. Thirdly, we used EHD printing to fabricate silver electrodes on the glass substrate. Due to the decrease of conductivity as a result of the skin effect and the decrease of silver content, we found that driving voltage dropped, line width decreased, and the conductivity of silver line decreased. After the optimization of the EHD printing process, Ag electrode line width and conductivity reached 19.42 ± 0.24 μm and 6.01 × 106 S/m, demonstrating the potential of electro-hydraulic printing in the manufacturing of flexible, wearable, high-density, low-power-consumption electronics.
On the Proton Conduction Pathways in Polyelectrolyte Membranes Based on Syndiotactic-Polystyrene
Authors: Schiavone Maria-Maddalena , Zhao Yue , Iwase Hiroki , Arima-Osonoi Hiroshi , Takata Shin-ichi , Radulescu Aurel
Published: January 2022

When functionalized by the solid-state sulfonation process, the amorphous regions of the semi-crystalline syndiotactic-polystyrene (sPS) become hydrophilic, and thus can conduct protons upon membrane hydration, which increases the interest in this material as a potential candidate for applications with proton exchange membranes. The resistance of sulfonated sPS to oxidative decomposition can be improved by doping the membrane with fullerenes. In previous work, we have described the morphology in hydrated sulfonated sPS films doped with fullerenes on different length scales as determined by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and the structural changes in such membranes as a function of the degree of hydration and temperature. In the current work, we report on the relationship between the morphology of hydrated domains as obtained by SANS and the proton conductivity in sulfonated sPS-fullerene composite membranes at different temperature and relative humidity (RH) conditions. Based on this combined experimental approach, clear evidence for the formation and evolution of the hydrated domains in functionalized sPS membranes has been provided and a better understanding of the hydration and conductivity pathways in this material has been obtained.
Fabrication of a Cation-Exchange Membrane via the Blending of SPES/N-Phthaloyl Chitosan/MIL-101(Fe) Using Response Surface Methodology for Desalination
Authors: Wang Xiaomeng , Wang Qun , Zhao Mengjuan , Zhang Lu , Ji Xiaosheng , Sun Hui , Sun Yongchao , Ma Zhun , Xue Jianliang , Gao Xueli
Published: January 2022

In the present work, a novel mixed matrix cation exchange membrane composed of sulfonated polyether sulfone (SPES), N-phthaloyl chitosan (NPHCs) and MIL-101(Fe) was synthesized using response surface methodology (RSM). The electrochemical and physical properties of the membrane, such as ion exchange capacity, water content, morphology, contact angle, fixed ion concentration and thermal stability were investigated. The RSM based on the Box–Behnken design (BBD) model was employed to simulate and evaluate the influence of preparation conditions on the properties of CEMs. The regression model was validated via the analysis of variance (ANOVA) which exhibited a high reliability and accuracy of the results. Moreover, the experimental data have a good fit and high reproducibility with the predicted results according to the regression analysis. The embedding of MIL-101(Fe) nanoparticles contributed to the improvement of ion selective separation by forming hydrogen bonds with the polymer network in the membrane. The optimum synthesis parameters such as degree of sulfonation (DS), the content of SPES and NPHCs and the content of MIL-101(Fe) were acquired to be 30%, 85:15 and 2%, respectively, and the corresponding desalination rate of the CEMs improved to 136% while the energy consumption reduced to 90%. These results revealed that the RSM was a promising strategy for optimizing the preparation factors of CEMs and other similar multi-response optimization studies.
Dependence of Electrochemical Properties of MK-40 Heterogeneous Membrane on Number of Adsorbed Layers of Polymers
Authors: Rybalkina Olesya , Tsygurina Kseniia , Sabbatovskiy Konstantin , Kirichenko Evgeniy , Sobolev Vladimir , Kirichenko Ksenia
Published: January 2022

The creation of monovalent selective ion exchange membranes benefits the desalination of surface waters by removing interfering monovalent ions while preserving polyvalent ionic nutrients. Studies of a promising method of layer-by-layer adsorption of polymers for the creation of monovalent selective coatings note a significant effect of the number of formed layers and of the nature of the external layer on the properties of the resulting membranes. This article reports the changes in properties of layer-by-layer coated heterogeneous membranes occurring at increasing numbers of layers that are attributed to the supposed intermixing of polymers between the layers, namely dependence of limiting current densities determined from i-V curve, enhanced electroconvection that was attributed to the appearing electrical heterogeneity of the surface, and the decreasing monovalent selectivity in electrodialysis of mixed NaCl + CaCl2 solution (from 1.33 to about 1) between the samples with five and six to eight layers of polymers.