bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Conceptual Model for the Flutter Mechanism in Interlocked Turbine Blades
Authors: Gallardo Juan Manuel , Escobar Óscar Pérez
Published: September 2023

Many turbine rotor blades adopt the interlock configuration; among its advantages, there is a large increase in the natural frequencies with respect to the simpler cantilever configuration. Most widespread assessment methods estimate that this frequency increase should lead to a large improvement to the flutter stability of the interlocked rotor rows; some well-known approaches, such as the Panovsky–Kielb stability maps, suggest that flutter should be very unlikely for interlock configurations. Nevertheless, both the experience and detailed simulations indicate that it is possible to find flutter in interlocked blades, even with moderate aspect ratio. In this paper, the authors study the underlying physics behind flutter for interlocked blades, and present a very simplified model that is able to reproduce the main modal characteristics of interlocked blades, including the frequency increase and change in mode-shape as a function of the nodal diameter. This model also identifies a flutter mechanism, which is dependent on the aerodynamic interaction between the bending and torsion motion of the blade; even if both basic motions are individually stable, their interaction may lead to a coupled aeroelastic instability. The results from this simplified model are fully consistent with detailed three-dimensional linearized unsteady computational fluid dynamics simulations of representative turbine rotor blades, and should be of application in many realistic cases of interlock flutter. Finally, the authors present a study on the influence of the main parameters of the simplified model on the flutter stability, and derive some conclusions about the implications on flutter-free interlock design.
The Effect of Hydrogen on Nonlinear Flame Saturation
Authors: Æsøy Eirik , Indlekofer Thomas , Bothien Mirko R. , Dawson James R.
Published: September 2023

We investigate the effect of increasing levels of hydrogen enrichment on the nonlinear response and saturation of premixed bluff-body stabilized methane/hydrogen flames submitted to acoustic forcing. The thermal power is kept approximately constant to preserve the nozzle velocity while increasing the flame speed through hydrogen enrichment. The flame describing function (FDF) is measured for a fixed frequency and three hydrogen–methane blends ranging from 10% to 50% by power, corresponding to 25% to 75% by volume. We show that when the flame is forced at the same frequency at similar power and bulk velocities, increasing levels of hydrogen enrichment increase the saturation amplitude of the flame. To provide insight into the flame dynamics responsible for the change in the global nonlinear response and saturation amplitude, the flames were investigated using high-speed imaging in combination with OH planar laser-induced fluorescence (OH-PLIF) at a range of forcing amplitudes. At lower hydrogen concentrations, the flame is stabilized along the inner shear layer and saturation in the heat release rate (HRR) occurs at lower forcing amplitudes due to large-scale flame–vortex interactions causing flame annihilation as observed in several previous studies. At increased levels of hydrogen enrichment, distinctly different flame dynamics are observed. In these cases, the flame accelerates and propagates across to the outer shear layer, which acts to suppress large-scale flame annihilation during roll-up of both the inner and outer shear layers. This results in a coherent increase in flame surface area with forcing amplitudes significantly increasing the saturation amplitude of the flame. These results show that high levels of hydrogen increase the amplitude response to acoustic forcing leading to higher saturation amplitudes. This suggests that substituting natural gas with hydrogen in gas turbines increases the risk of much higher limit-cycle amplitudes if self-excited instabilities occur.
Consideration of Nonideal Detonation Regimes Influenced by Wave Modes in a Water-Cooled Rotating Detonation Engine Using OH* Chemiluminescence
Authors: Johnson Kristyn B. , Ferguson Donald H. , Weber Justin M. , Nix Andrew C.
Published: September 2023

Although inherently unstable, existing research in rotating detonation combustion supports its application in notionally steady processes resulting in greater availability compared to conventional, constant pressure combustion. Further improvements rely on a more in-depth understanding of system losses and identifying conditions which optimize device performance. Within this study, the presence and proportion of ideal and nonideal combustion regimes are compared across a variety of process conditions and wave modes. Large-scale data analysis seeks to summarize proportional heat release associated with commensal, parasitic, and detonative combustion averaged across individual traces of OH* chemiluminescent data acquired at the detonation plane. Means of regime partitioning based on the anatomy of the time-resolved OH* signal are proposed to ensure consistent analysis throughout the current and future studies concerning combustion regimes. Of particular interest is the possible influence of wave on the nonideal combustion in relative proportion to the desired detonation. Results showed improved percent detonation with increasing significance for the following trends: decreasing equivalence ratio, increasing wave count, decreasing wave velocity, and increasing detonation time. Increased wave number, brought on by decreased equivalence ratios and wave velocities, is thought to decrease fill region surface area, and therefore, decrease nonideal contact burning. Additional analysis is performed to consider possible trend variation due to the presence of stable galloping waves, which were found to have minimal influence on relative percent detonation values. The outcome of this study suggests operational states, which correspond to increased wave quantities for increased proportions of reactants consumed by the targeted detonative combustion regime.
Open NASA Blade Models for Nonlinear Dynamics Simulations
Authors: Kojtych Solène , Batailly Alain
Published: September 2023

This contribution presents a catalogue of open turbomachinery blade models dedicated to nonlinear dynamics simulations. Based on a specifically developed in-house computer code, three-dimensional computer-aided design (CAD) models and finite element (FE) models of multiple-circular-arc (MCA) NASA airfoils are generated. Both the in-house code and the models are made freely accessible online. To cover a wide range of geometries, 39 blades are considered from different stages and with different aspect ratios. It is expected that this blade catalogue will provide an opportunity for the direct comparison of recently developed methodologies relative to nonlinear vibration phenomena in turbomachines, including rubbing events and blade-tip/casing contacts. To this end, the paper also contains original results for some of the most emblematic NASA blades, with an emphasis on nonlinear interaction maps and a detailed presentation of redesign operations to mitigate high amplitude of vibrations when blade-tip/casing contacts occur.
Effect of Tip-Mounted Propeller and Trailing-Edge Flap on Wing's Lift and Drag Coefficients and Vortical Wake
Authors: Lin G. , Ni T. , Lee T.
Published: September 2023

The lift and drag forces and vortical wake of a rectangular semiwing equipped with a tip-mounted propeller and a plain trailing-edge flap both outside and in ground effect were investigated experimentally at Re = 2.49 × 105. Outside the ground effect, the slipstream of the inboard-up propeller rotation attenuated the wingtip vortex, significantly decreasing the lift-induced drag. The propeller rotation also led to an increased maximum lift and stall angle. At a fixed lift condition, the propeller rotation led to a reduced drag. The deployment of the flap further increased the lift curve slope and maximum lift but at the expense of an increased drag and earlier stall as compared to the unflapped wing. In ground effect, the lift augmentation of the unflapped wing increased pronouncedly with propeller rotation as the ground was approached. For the flapped wing, the propeller rotation, however, produced a smaller lift increment than the unflapped wing due to the recirculation of the deflected slipstream into the propeller disk. The extent of this recirculation increased with flap deflection and propeller rotation, contributing to the inferior lift production of the flapped wing with a tip-mounted propeller in ground effect.
MahaEmoSen: Towards Emotion-aware Multimodal Marathi Sentiment Analysis
Authors: Chaudhari Prasad , Nandeshwar Pankaj , Bansal Shubhi , Kumar Nagendra
Published: September 2023

With the advent of the Internet, social media platforms have witnessed an enormous increase in user-generated textual and visual content. Microblogs on platforms such as Twitter are extremely useful for comprehending how individuals feel about a specific issue through their posted texts, images, and videos. Owing to the plethora of content generated, it is necessary to derive an insight of its emotional and sentimental inclination. Individuals express themselves in a variety of languages and, lately, the number of people preferring native languages has been consistently increasing. Marathi language is predominantly spoken in the Indian state of Maharashtra. However, sentiment analysis in Marathi has rarely been addressed. In light of the above, we propose an emotion-aware multimodal Marathi sentiment analysis method (MahaEmoSen). Unlike the existing studies, we leverage emotions embedded in tweets besides assimilating the content-based information from the textual and visual modalities of social media posts to perform a sentiment classification. We mitigate the problem of small training sets by implementing data augmentation techniques. A word-level attention mechanism is applied on the textual modality for contextual inference and filtering out noisy words from tweets. Experimental outcomes on real-world social media datasets demonstrate that our proposed method outperforms the existing methods for Marathi sentiment analysis in resource-constrained circumstances.
Multimodal Deep Learning for Robust Road Attribute Detection
Authors: Yin Yifang , Hu Wenmiao , Tran An , Zhang Ying , Wang Guanfeng , Kruppa Hannes , Zimmermann Roger , Ng See-Kiong
Published: September 2023

Automatic inference of missing road attributes (e.g., road type and speed limit) for enriching digital maps has attracted significant research attention in recent years. A number of machine learning-based approaches have been proposed to detect road attributes from GPS traces, dash-cam videos, or satellite images. However, existing solutions mostly focus on a single modality without modeling the correlations among multiple data sources. To bridge this gap, we present a multimodal road attribute detection method, which improves the robustness by performing pixel-level fusion of crowdsourced GPS traces and satellite images. A GPS trace is usually given by a sequence of location, bearing, and speed. To align it with satellite imagery in the spatial domain, we render GPS traces into a sequence of multi-channel images that simultaneously capture the global distribution of the GPS points, the local distribution of vehicles’ moving directions and speeds, and their temporal changes over time, at each pixel. Unlike previous GPS-based road feature extraction methods, our proposed GPS rendering does not require map matching in the data preprocessing step. Moreover, our multimodal solution addresses single-modal challenges such as occlusions in satellite images and data sparsity in GPS traces by learning the pixel-wise correspondences among different data sources. On top of this, we observe that geographic objects and their attributes in the map are not isolated but correlated with each other. Thus, if a road is partially labeled, then the existing information can be of great help on inferring the missing attributes. To fully use the existing information, we extend our model and discuss the possibilities for further performance improvement when partially labeled map data is available. Extensive experiments have been conducted on two real-world datasets in Singapore and Jakarta. Compared with previous work, our method is able to improve the detection accuracy on road attributes by a large margin.
New Subspace Method for Unconstrained Derivative-Free Optimization
Authors: Kimiaei Morteza , Neumaier Arnold , Faramarzi Parvaneh
Published: September 2023

This article defines an efficient subspace method, called
SSDFO
, for unconstrained derivative-free optimization problems where the gradients of the objective function are Lipschitz continuous but only exact function values are available.
SSDFO
employs line searches along directions constructed on the basis of quadratic models. These approximate the objective function in a subspace spanned by some previous search directions. A worst-case complexity bound on the number of iterations and function evaluations is derived for a basic algorithm using this technique. Numerical results for a practical variant with additional heuristic features show that, on the unconstrained
CUTEst
test problems,
SSDFO
has superior performance compared to the best solvers from the literature.
Cross-modality Multiple Relations Learning for Knowledge-based Visual Question Answering
Authors: Wang Yan , Li Peize , Si Qingyi , Zhang Hanwen , Zang Wenyu , Lin Zheng , Fu Peng
Published: September 2023

Knowledge-based visual question answering not only needs to answer the questions based on images but also incorporates external knowledge to study reasoning in the joint space of vision and language. To bridge the gap between visual content and semantic cues, it is important to capture the question-related and semantics-rich vision-language connections. Most existing solutions model simple intra-modality relation or represent cross-modality relation using a single vector, which makes it difficult to effectively model complex connections between visual features and question features. Thus, we propose a cross-modality multiple relations learning model, aiming to better enrich cross-modality representations and construct advanced multi-modality knowledge triplets. First, we design a simple yet effective method to generate multiple relations that represent the rich cross-modality relations. The various cross-modality relations link the textual question to the related visual objects. These multi-modality triplets efficiently align the visual objects and corresponding textual answers. Second, to encourage multiple relations to better align with different semantic relations, we further formulate a novel global-local loss. The global loss enables the visual objects and corresponding textual answers close to each other through cross-modality relations in the vision-language space, and the local loss better preserves semantic diversity among multiple relations. Experimental results on the Outside Knowledge VQA and Knowledge-Routed Visual Question Reasoning datasets demonstrate that our model outperforms the state-of-the-art methods.
Feasibility Analysis for Sybil Attacks in Shard-Based Permissionless Blockchains
Authors: Rajabi Tayebeh , Khalil Alvi Ataur , Manshaei Mohammad Hossein , Rahman Mohammad Ashiqur , Dakhilalian Mohammad , Ngouen Maurice , Jadliwala Murtuza , Uluagac A. Selcuk
Published: September 2023

Committee-based permissionless blockchain approaches overcome single leader consensus protocols’ scalability issues by partitioning the outstanding transaction set into shards and selecting multiple committees to process these transactions in parallel. However, by design, shard-based blockchain solutions are vulnerable to Sybil attacks. An adversary with enough computational/hash power can easily manipulate the consensus protocol by generating multiple valid node identifiers/IDs (i.e., multiple Sybil committee members).Despite the straightforward nature of these attacks, they have not been systematically investigated. This article fills this research gap by analyzing Sybil attacks in shard-based consensus of proof-of-work blockchain systems. Specifically, we provide a detailed analysis for Elastico, one of the prominent shard-based blockchain models. We show that the proof-of-work technique used for ID generation in the initial phase of such protocols is vulnerable to Sybil attacks when an adversary (could be a group of colluding nodes) possesses enough hash power. We analytically derive conditions for two different Sybil attacks and perform numerical simulations to validate our theoretical results under various parameters. Further, we utilize the BlockSim simulator to validate our mathematical computation, and results confirm the correctness of the analysis.
A Dual Kalman Filtering Algorithm for Estimating the SOC of Lithium-Ion Batteries with LiMn0.6Fe0.4PO4/LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 Cathode Based on Multi-Innovation and Schmidt Orthogonal Transformation
Authors: Xiao Jie , Xiong Yonglian , Lei Pengju , Yi Ting , Hou Quanhui , Fan Yongsheng , Li Chunsheng , Sun Yan
Published: September 2023

Accurately estimating the state of charge (SOC) is imperative for ensuring safe and dependable battery utilization. However, accurately calculating SOC for LiMn0.6Fe0.4PO4/LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 (LMFP/NCM) batteries can be challenging due to their two flat voltage platforms and significant temperature dependence. To improve estimation accuracy, a battery SOC estimation method based on a dual Kalman filter (DKF) was proposed. The adaptive unscented Kalman filter (AUKF) process starts with the introduction of Schmidt orthogonal transform, which is subsequently employed in the algorithm’s sampling point selection procedure to mitigate computational complexity. Moreover, the utilization of the multi-innovation theory serves to enhance the accuracy of algorithmic estimation. The extended Kalman filter is used to identify the parameters of the equivalent circuit model online while simultaneously carrying out battery SOC estimation. This approach mitigates the impact of variations in battery model parameters during charging and discharging processes. Under complex conditions, the algorithm’s average error is less than 0.53%, demonstrating its effectiveness in improving SOC estimation accuracy as evidenced by comparison between experiment and simulation results. It has reference significance for optimizing LMFP/NCM battery SOC estimation.
Molecular Differentiation of Cathepsins B and D, and of p53 Protein, and their Quantitative Assay in Biological Samples
Authors: Bratei Alexandru-Adrian , Stefan-van Staden Raluca-Ioana , Ilie-Mihai Ruxandra-Maria , Gheorghe Damaris-Cristina
Published: September 2023

Cathepsins B, D and protein p53 are three of the biomarkers with a large spectrum of implications in the field of physiopathology as many diseases proved to be associated with their variation in concentration. Therefore, there is a need for reliable tools able to perform molecular recognition/differentiation, and also reliable quantification of cathepsins B, cathepsin D, and protein p53. Two stochastic microsensors based on diamond/graphene nanopowders modified with 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethyl-21H,23H-porphine manganese (III) chloride were proposed for the simultaneous differentiation and quantification of cathepsins B, D and protein p53 in whole blood, urine, saliva, and tumoral tissues. The lowest limits of determination and the highest sensitivities were recorded when the stochastic microsensor based on nanopowder of graphene was used. Wide linear concentration ranges were recorded for both microsensors. The recovery values obtained for the microsensors, were higher than 97.00%, and the relative standard deviations values were lower than 1.00%, when used for screening of whole blood, urine, saliva, and tumoral tissues.
Improved Cycle Performance of Li-CO2 Batteries with Nickel Manganite Supported Carbon Nanotube NiMn2O4 @CNT Cathode
Authors: Wang Jianda , Powell Matthew , Alcala Ryan , Fetrow Christopher , Zhou Xiao-Dong , Wei Shuya
Published: September 2023

Rechargeable Li-CO2 batteries have emerged as promising candidates for next generation batteries due to their low cost, high theoretical capacity, and ability to capture the greenhouse gas CO2. However, these batteries still face challenges such as slow reaction kinetic and short cycle performance due to the accumulation of discharge products. To address this issue, it is necessary to design and develop high efficiency electrocatalysts that can improve CO2 reduction reaction. In this study, we report the use of NiMn2O4 electrocatalysts combined with multiwall carbon nanotubes as a cathode material in the Li-CO2 batteries. This combination proved effective in decomposing discharge products and enhancing cycle performance. The battery shows stable discharge–charge cycles for at least 30 cycles with a high limited capacity of 1000 mAh g−1 at current density of 100 mA g−1. Furthermore, the battery with the NiMn2O4@CNT catalyst exhibits a reversible discharge capacity of 2636 mAh g−1. To gain a better understanding of the reaction mechanism of Li-CO2 batteries, spectroscopies and microscopies were employed to identify the chemical composition of the discharge products. This work paves a pathway to increase cycle performance in metal-CO2 batteries, which could have significant implications for energy storage and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Comparing Theoretical Salt Concentration Profiles in a Polymer Electrolyte with Experimental Measurements using Operando Raman Spectroscopy
Authors: Hoffman Zach J. , Galluzzo Michael D. , Gordon Madeleine P. , Urban Jeffrey J. , Balsara Nitash P.
Published: September 2023

Concentrated solution theory has furthered our understanding of ion transport in electrolytes. This theory can be used to predict salt concentration profiles under an applied current if the transport properties of the electrolyte (conductivity (κ), restricted diffusion coefficient (D), and the cation transference number with respect to the solvent velocity (

t

+

0

)), and the thermodynamic factor (T

f
) are known. In this work, we provide the first study comparing the predicted salt concentration profiles with measurements based on operando Raman spectroscopy. Concentration polarization is asymmetrical; the increase in salt concentration near the positive electrode is a factor of two greater than the decrease in salt concentration near the negative electrode. We find qualitative agreement between theory and experiment. Further work is needed to resolve the quantitative differences.
Numerical Study of Carbon Nanofoam Targets for Laser-Driven Inertial Fusion Experiments
Authors: Maffini A. , Cipriani M. , Orecchia D. , Ciardiello V. , Formenti A. , Consoli F. , Passoni M. , Fukuda Yuji
Published: September 2023

Porous materials have peculiar characteristics that are relevant for inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Among them, chemically produced foams are proved to be able to smooth the laser inhomogeneities and to increase the coupling of the laser with the target. Foams realized with other elements and techniques may prove useful as well for ICF applications. In this work, we explore the potential of a novel class of porous materials for ICF, namely, carbon nanofoams produced with the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique, by means of hydrodynamic numerical simulations. By comparison with a simulation of solid-density carbon, PLD nanofoams show a higher pressure at the shock front, which could make them potential good candidates as ablators for a capsule for direct-drive fusion.
Adaptive Control for Complex Systems with Dynamics and Time-Varying Powers
Authors: Xue Lingrong , Liu Zhen-Guo
Published: September 2023

This work focuses on presenting a control algorithm to investigate nonlinear systems, which contain time-varying powers, inverse dynamics, and uncertainties. First, some appropriate transformations are introduced to obtain a new system. Then, a Lyapunov function, which covers quadratic and high-order components, is recursively constructed for control design. Subsequently, by introducing the neural networks, the uncertain functions encountered during the design are approximated. Based on the inequality techniques, the nonlinear terms are skillfully estimated. By defining the bounds of some unknown parameters and using the adaptive technique, some virtual controllers are selected in each step to dominate the nonlinear functions and guarantee that the derivative of the Lyapunov function satisfies the required form. Finally, a new adaptive controller is constructed and semiglobal practical finite time stability (SGPFS) is guaranteed. The proposed approach is verified with a numerical example.
A Triband Compact Antenna for Wireless Applications
Authors: Allin Joe D. , Krishnan Thiyagarajan
Published: September 2023

This paper presents the implementation of a triple band microstrip patch antenna based on modified split ring resonator (SRR) and modified complementary split ring resonator (CSRR) as defected ground plane. The antenna is designed in a FR4 substrate of dielectric constant 4.4 with dimensions as 35 mm × 35 mm × 1.6 mm that comprises a total designed antenna volume of 1960 mm3. Multiband operation is introduced in the antenna through multiple resonators that are introduced in the patch. Impedance matching was provided with the help of partial ground plane and modified SRR in patch. The simulation performance of the antenna is verified using high frequency structural simulator (HFSS) software. The designed antenna resonates at 2.8 GHz, 5.8 GHz, and 6.9 GHz for the application requirements of WiMAX, ISM, and Sub-7 GHz wireless communication. The antenna is fabricated as printed circuit board (PCB) format, and its return loss characteristics are measured using a vector network analyser (VNA). The measurement results of the proposed triband antenna are in good agreement with simulated return loss characteristics.
Surface Diffusion of C1–C3 Alcohols on Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes
Authors: Zhokh Alexey , Serebrii Tamila , Strizhak Peter
Published: September 2023

The diffusion of methanol, ethanol, and 2-propanol using individual multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and MWCNT bundles was investigated for the first time via application of the quartz crystal microbalance. At small times, the release of alcohol obeys the advective mechanism. In contrast, no deviations from Fick’s law were justified at large times. This situation holds for either individual MWCNTs or MWCNT bundles. The utilized MWCNTs are mainly closed from both ends. Therefore, the alcohol release is controlled by surface diffusion. The measured surface diffusivity is in the order of 10-13 m2/s. The obtained diffusivities are in close proximity with the known surface diffusion coefficients on carbon materials.
GRD‐Net: Generative‐Reconstructive‐Discriminative Anomaly Detection with Region of Interest Attention Module
Authors: Ferrari Niccolò , Fraccaroli Michele , Lamma Evelina
Published: September 2023

Anomaly detection is nowadays increasingly used in industrial applications and processes. One of the main fields of the appliance is the visual inspection for surface anomaly detection, which aims to spot regions that deviate from regularity and consequently identify abnormal products. Defect localization is a key task that is usually achieved using a basic comparison between generated image and the original one, implementing some blob analysis or image‐editing algorithms in the postprocessing step, which is very biased towards the source dataset, and they are unable to generalize. Furthermore, in industrial applications, the totality of the image is not always interesting but could be one or some regions of interest (ROIs), where only in those areas there are relevant anomalies to be spotted. For these reasons, we propose a new architecture composed by two blocks. The first block is a generative adversarial network (GAN), based on a residual autoencoder (ResAE), to perform reconstruction and denoising processes, while the second block produces image segmentation, spotting defects. This method learns from a dataset composed of good products and generated synthetic defects. The discriminative network is trained using a ROI for each image contained in the training dataset. The network will learn in which area anomalies are relevant. This approach guarantees the reduction of using preprocessing algorithms, formerly developed with blob analysis and image‐editing procedures. To test our model, we used challenging MVTec anomaly detection datasets and an industrial large dataset of pharmaceutical BFS strips of vials. This set constitutes a more realistic use case of the aforementioned network.
Metamorphic Malware and Obfuscation: A Survey of Techniques, Variants, and Generation Kits
Authors: Brezinski Kenneth , Ferens Ken
Published: September 2023

The competing landscape between malware authors and security analysts is an ever-changing battlefield over who can innovate over the other. While security analysts are constantly updating their signatures of known malware, malware variants are changing their signature each time they infect a new host, leading to an endless game of cat and mouse. This survey looks at providing a thorough review of obfuscation and metamorphic techniques commonly used by malware authors. The main topics covered in this work are (1) to provide an overview of string-scanning techniques used by antivirus vendors and to explore the impact malware has had from a security and monetary perspective; (2) to provide an overview of the methods of obfuscation during disassembly, as well as methods of concealment using a combination of encryption and compression; (3) to provide a comprehensive list of the datasets we have available to us in malware research, including tools to obfuscate malware samples, and to finally (4) discuss the various ways Windows APIs are categorized and vectorized to identify malicious binaries, especially in the context of identifying obfuscated malware variants. This survey provides security practitioners a better understanding of the nature and makeup of the obfuscation employed by malware. It also provides a review of what are the main barriers to reverse-engineering malware for the purposes of uncovering their complexity and purpose.
Prevalence and Antimicrobial-Resistant Features of Shigella Species in East Africa from 2015–2022: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Ayele Basha , Beyene Getenet , Alemayehu Mekdelawit , Dekebo Aman , Mekonnen Zeleke , Nigussie Gashaw
Published: September 2023

Background. Shigellosis is the most common cause of epidemic dysentery found worldwide, particularly in developing countries, where it causes infant diarrhea and mortality. The prevalence of Shigella species resistant to commonly used antimicrobial drugs has steadily increased. The purpose of this review is to describe the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) characteristics of Shigella species in East Africa between 2015 and 2022. Methods. Studies were identified using a computerized search of Medline/PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science databases, with a detailed search strategy and cross-checking of reference lists for studies published between 2015 and 2022. Articles presenting data on prevalence and AMR, accessibility of the full-length article, and publication dates between 2015 and 2022 were the eligibility criteria for inclusion in the review. Original research reports written in English were considered. The heterogeneities of the studies were examined, and a meta-analysis was performed to estimate the pooled prevalence and AMR using a random effects model. Results. The pooled prevalence of Shigella species in East Africa was 6.2% (95% CI −0.20–12.60), according to an analysis of 22 studies. Shigella species prevalence was 4.0% in Ethiopia, 14.6% in Kenya, 0.7% in Sudan, 5.2% in South Sudan, and 20.6% in Somalia. The association of Shigella infection significantly varied among the countries (

p
=
0.01

). Among the antibiotics tested, most Shigella isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, nalidixic acid, and ceftriaxone. Despite the fact that the reports varied in study sites and time, Shigella species were resistant to tetracycline, ampicillin, amoxicillin, chloramphenicol, and co-trimoxazole. Conclusion. The pooled estimate indicates high burden of Shigella infection in East Africa, as well as a high proportion of drug resistance pattern to tetracycline, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, and amoxicillin. Therefore, initiating and scale-up of performing drug susceptibility test for each shigellosis case need to be considered and strengthened.
Sensor Array System Based on Electronic Nose to Detect Borax in Meatballs with Artificial Neural Network
Authors: Pradhana Anak Agung Surya , Astuti Suryani Dyah , Fauziah  , Permatasari Perwira Annissa Dyah , Agustina Riskia , Yaqubi Ahmad Khalil , Setyawati Harsasi , Winarno  , Putra Cendra Devayana
Published: September 2023

The categorization of odors utilizing gas sensor arrays with various meatball borax concentrations has been studied. The samples included meatballs with a borax content of 0.05%, 0.10%, 0.15%, 0.20%, and 0.25% (%mm) and meatballs without any borax. Six TGS gas sensors with a baseline of 10 seconds, a detecting period of 120 seconds, and a purging period of 250 seconds make up the gas sensor array used in this work. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) and principal component analysis (PCA), which are beneficial for feature extraction and classification, are used to handle the collected data based on machine learning approaches. Two models were produced by the data analysis: model 1, which only used the PCA approach, and model 2, which only used the ANN methodology. 90.33% is the total variance value of PC from model 1. In addition, the multilayer perceptron artificial neural network (ANN-MLP) technique for model 2 yielded accuracy values of 95%.
Rule of Law Challenges of ‘Algorithmic Discretion’ & Automation in EU Border Control
Authors: Musco Eklund Amanda
Published: September 2023

The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will profile visa- exempt third-country nationals using a screening rules algorithm to make automated predictive risk assessments. By using the screening rules algorithm as a case study, this article analyses if the ETIAS Regulation, and the legal safeguards it establishes for the decision-making process, comply with formal and substantive legality requirements as defined by the Venice Commission and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Three legality challenges are identified: [1] The regulatory design of ETIAS raises issues in relation to the foreseeability, clarity and accessibility of law, as well as insufficient limits to discretion. [2] The ETIAS screening rules algorithm represents a development towards a new form of arbitrariness through ‘algorithmic discretion’. [3] The safeguard of manual (human) processing in case of a ‘hit’ is not a panacea for the identified legality challenges.
Stuck in Greece? Unaccompanied Minors’ Stratified Access to Family Reunification on the Way to Other EU Member States
Authors: Melissourgos Stamatis , Leerkes Arjen , Klaassen Mark
Published: September 2023

We analyse the family reunification troubles of a largely overlooked category of unaccompanied minors in Europe. The unaccompanied “followers” migrate in the footsteps of primary or secondary kin, or get separated from accompanying kin during their irregular journey, and then, typically after arriving in the European Union, seek family reunification with family members living in another EU Member State. Using extensive desk research, legal analysis, and semi-structured interviews, we document a considerable ‘family reunification gap’: followers arriving in Greece often see the realisation of their reunification aspirations prevented, or much delayed, because they lack clear family reunification rights or have difficulty accessing their rights, while the – tempting – path to continued irregular family reunification is similarly full of obstacles. We also show how the interplay of legislation, implementation practices, and opportunities for irregular reunification results in family reunification hierarchy, in which the best interests of the child are unequally fulfilled.
Resisting International Norm Transfer While Seeking International Recognition – Ukrainian Asylum Lawmaking
Authors: Mützelburg Irina
Published: September 2023

This article contributes to the understanding of why international organisations’ attempts to transfer policies frequently fail or lead to only partial practical change in the target states. It sheds light on legislative resistance by analysing how Ukrainian lawmakers reacted to attempts to impose international asylum norms on them. Instead of overtly opposing the import of international norms, Ukrainian lawmakers resisted in a subtle way, frequently by making the implementation of the adopted norms impossible. As international normative texts contain vague formulations of certain norms, lawmakers benefited from a certain leeway when translating these norms into domestic law. They also adopted laws in a shallow way, integrating a particular norm into a very prominent law, often in a vague way, but failing to adapt other laws necessary for implementation. Finally, lawmakers delayed adoption or implementation, only making good on their commitment many years later when the pressure from international actors or incentives became too strong.
Nomi uralici e altaici di animali e uccelli in osseto
Authors: Ognibene Paolo
Published: September 2023

In the third part of his Ossetian studies Vsevolod Miller hypothesized that the Alans moved towards the Caucasus following a northern route, that is, without crossing the mountain ridge. In support of his hypothesis he considered the presence in the Ossetian lexicon of many names relating to the terminology of metals of Ural and Altaic origin. In order to consolidate his hypothesis, he also examined various Altaic names of animals and birds present in Ossetian. The diffusion of these names in the Caucasian area allows us to make some considerations on the period and the road through which these words entered Ossetian.
In This World or the Next: Investigation Over the “End of the World” in Contemplative Practice Through the Pāli Canon
Authors: Divino Federico
Published: September 2023

This article is the result of a research dedicated to the analysis of the term loka (“world”) in the Pāli canon. This work consists mainly of a translation and analysis of the Pāli suttas concerning loka and related terms. What this study reveals is a peculiar conception of the world as a cognitive construct, with a close relationship to the philosophy of mind and language. The “end of the world” (lokanta) corresponds to the state of full consciousness necessary to become a Buddha. The figure of the world ender (lokantagū) is also fundamental as a metaphor for the Buddha as an otherworldly being (lokuttara), a concept we also find in the Abhidhamma and which will form a significant part of this study. Instead of an apocalyptic vision, the idea of the end of the world seems to be the main goal of meditation in Early Buddhism and part of the Buddhist epistemological panorama.
Dissolute Libertine or Venerable Confucian?
Authors: Canale Massimiliano
Published: September 2023

This work aims to explore the moral conflict that many Northern Song (960–1127) scholar-officials (shidaifu 士大夫) experienced as a result of their involvement in the ci 詞 song lyric, by focusing on Ouyang Xiu’s 歐陽修 (1007–1072) collection. The song lyric was held in low regard by many exponents of high culture for several reasons, but primarily due to the fact that it exposed the literati’s relationships with courtesans. A lyricist who belonged to the Confucian elite thus found himself in a complicated position: he had to publicly advocate a moral system that was particularly conservative on matters such as sex, when he in fact privately wrote songs that would be seen as “lascivious” (yin 淫) by the very moral standards that he preached. Firstly, I will approach the problem by exploring the conflict between the Confucian ideal of sexual moderation and the diverging tendencies to sexual freedom that emerged from the practice and the poetics of the eleventh-century song lyric. I will then discuss the long critical tradition aimed at denying Ouyang Xiu’s authorship of the erotic songs attributed to him by some sources. My goal is to try to understand why so many critics espoused this view, regardless of the fact that other literati were also known to have composed rather explicit lyrics. In doing so, I shall seek to demonstrate that the attempts to dissociate Ouyang Xiu from the authorship of the “contested” erotic songs in his collection were mainly motivated by a moralistic need to preserve his reputation as a great master of the literati culture.
Parliamentary Dimension and Multilateralism
Authors: Kronlund Anna
Published: September 2023

Debates on the United Nations (UN) often refers to its legitimacy – its right to rule and how it is perceived. The UN and its organs, including the UN Security Council and General Assembly have been considered unrepresentative, not inclusive, and lacking democratic accountability due to the specific institutional settings and normative ideas. Different proposals have been introduced to respond to these acknowledged deficits, including the establishment of a parliamentary assembly within the United Nations following the example of the European Parliament. This article will concentrate on examining the already existing framework of having a parliamentary dimension within an intergovernmental organization, namely the UN, by recognizing the role of parliaments and parliamentarians through the UN’s cooperation with Inter-Parliamentary Union (ipu) to provide more inclusiveness to global governance. The article will contribute to the discussions of how recognizing the role of parliaments and parliamentarians could not only strengthen multilateralism but also provide for a more legitimate UN. The article covers not only the institutionalization of the cooperation between the ipu and UN but also the views of the UN member states towards parliamentary dimension in multilateral international cooperation. The article contributes to the ongoing discussions of bridging the gap between executive and legislative in international affairs and the role played by parliaments and parliamentarians in terms of supporting multilateralism.
miR-221-3p Modulates Cervical Cancer Cells Proliferation and Invasion After Co-Culture with Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells (BMSCs)
Authors: Cheng Hongyan , Jiang Tao
Published: September 2023

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) affect EMT-related factors. miR-221-3p involves in several tumors. However, whether miR-221-3p affects cervical cancer (CC) cells co-cultured with BMSCs is unclear. BMSCs and CC cells were co-cultured, and transfected with miR-221-3p
inhibitor followed by analysis of miR-221-3p level by real time PCR, cell proliferation, apoptosis activity, E-cadherin and Vimentin level, TGF-β1 secretion by ELISA as well as Smad1 and Smad2 expression. BMSCs upregulated miR-221-3p level in CC cells, increased cell proliferation
and reduced apoptotic activity along with the decreased expression of EMT, increased TGF-β1 secretion and Smad1 and Smad2 expression (P <0.05). miR-221-3p inhibitor can reduce BMSCs’ effect on CC cells, and reverse the above changes (P <0.05). The co-culture
of BMSCs promotes CC cell proliferation and invasion. Down-regulating miR-221-3p can change TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway and affect malignant characteristics of CC cells.
Factors Influencing Selection of Dental Implants Among Implantologists in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alzahrani Ahmed A. , Kayal Rayyan A. , Tomishan Fatemah A.
Published: September 2023

Objectives: This study aims to determine the variables influencing Saudi Arabia implantologists’ choice of the implant system. Materials and Methods: 78 dental implantologists in Saudi Arabia were interviewed and asked to complete a questionnaire. The questionnaire
included age and gender demographic, followed by inquiries on the standards for choosing implant systems and used Likert scales. Results: Gender, place of employment, and specialization comparison between the doctor’s opinion and Fisher’s tests will be analyzed. The post-sale
service (66.6%), size and prosthesis variety (59%), ease of surgical and prosthetic stages (56.4%), geometry and surface, and kind of connections were the most significant factors. The most relevant element in choosing an implant system was the implant system’s popularity (51.2%), and
the least relevant aspect was a referral from a dentist (20.5%). One of the insignificant variables in choosing an implant system was the manufacturing country (25.6%). Patient preference (25.3%) is the irrelevant and negligible element influencing the choice of dental implant systems. Conclusions:
This study indicated that most dentists prefer acid etching and blasting surface treatments.
Surface Microhardness of Different Ceramic Materials Used for Esthetic Full-Ceramic Veneers
Authors: Attar Esraa A. , Aldharrab Ayman , Ajaj Reem
Published: September 2023

The study examines the microhardness of five ceramic materials using CAD-CAM technology. Twenty-five disc-shaped specimens for the study, using I.P.S. Empress CAD (fully sintered), I.P.S. e.max CAD (30 minutes) and Vita Suprinity (26 minutes) milled in a pre-crystallized stage, Coprasmile
(8 hours), and Zenostar milled in partially sintered stage (9 hours and 50 minutes). Each specimen had ten indentations, with a 1000-gram load applied for 10 seconds using a Vickers diamond indenter. Vickers values were automatically converted to microhardness using the formula Hv = 1.8544×F/d2.
IBM SPSS 26 for statistical analysis, calculating microhardness values for each group. One-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD posthoc test compared differences between ceramic groups at a P <0.05 significance level. Results showed significant differences among the means (P <0.05),
with Coprasmile, Zenostar, and Suprinity groups having the highest and lowest values, respectively.
Overexpression of MicroRNA-182-5p Alleviates Pain in Rats with Lumbar Disc Herniation
Authors: Niyazi Maimaitiaili , Dai Jie , Wang Xiaoyuan , Muheremu Aikeremujiang
Published: September 2023

Inflammatory factor stimulation secondary to lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is considered to be the main cause of lumbar back and lower extremity pain in patients with LDH. In the meanwhile, microRNAs have been reported to be effective in inhibiting the expression of several inflammatory
factors. In the current study, we used rat LDH model to explore the feasibility of MSCs overexpressing microRNA-182-5p as a treatment option for LDH. Changes of inflammatory factors and changes of histological properties of dorsal root ganglion were observed to test the efficacy of this treatment
option for lower back and extremity pain due secondary to LDH. All the rats survived by the end of eight week study period. The expression of TNF-α, IL-1, IL-6 both in dorsal root ganglia and blood serum were significantly lower in the experimental group than the control group
(P <0.01). Histopathologic examination results showed better preserved tissue structural integrity of nerve ganglion in rats treated with BMSCs overexpressing microRNA-182-5p. Those results indicated that, BMSCs overexpressing microRNA-182-5p can significantly inhibit inflammatory
reaction after LDH, and may be used as a therapeutic option to alleviate pain in patients with neurogenic pain after LDH.