bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Degraded and computer-generated speech processing in a bonobo
Authors: Lahiff Nicole J. , Slocombe Katie E. , Taglialatela Jared , Dellwo Volker , Townsend Simon W.
Published: May 2022

The human auditory system is capable of processing human speech even in situations when it has been heavily degraded, such as during noise-vocoding, when frequency domain-based cues to phonetic content are strongly reduced. This has contributed to arguments that speech processing is highly specialized and likely a de novo evolved trait in humans. Previous comparative research has demonstrated that a language competent chimpanzee was also capable of recognizing degraded speech, and therefore that the mechanisms underlying speech processing may not be uniquely human. However, to form a robust reconstruction of the evolutionary origins of speech processing, additional data from other closely related ape species is needed. Specifically, such data can help disentangle whether these capabilities evolved independently in humans and chimpanzees, or if they were inherited from our last common ancestor. Here we provide evidence of processing of highly varied (degraded and computer-generated) speech in a language competent bonobo, Kanzi. We took advantage of Kanzi’s existing proficiency with touchscreens and his ability to report his understanding of human speech through interacting with arbitrary symbols called lexigrams. Specifically, we asked Kanzi to recognise both human (natural) and computer-generated forms of 40 highly familiar words that had been degraded (noise-vocoded and sinusoidal forms) using a match-to-sample paradigm. Results suggest that—apart from noise-vocoded computer-generated speech—Kanzi recognised both natural and computer-generated voices that had been degraded, at rates significantly above chance. Kanzi performed better with all forms of natural voice speech compared to computer-generated speech. This work provides additional support for the hypothesis that the processing apparatus necessary to deal with highly variable speech, including for the first time in nonhuman animals, computer-generated speech, may be at least as old as the last common ancestor we share with bonobos and chimpanzees.
Gemeinschaftsdiagnose: Ohne russisches Gas droht eine scharfe Rezession in Deutschland
Authors: Gornig Martin , Holtemöller Oliver , Kooths Stefan , Schmidt Torsten , Wollmershäuser Timo
Published: May 2022

Die deutsche Wirtschaft steuert durch schwieriges Fahrwasser. Die Auftriebskräfte durch den Wegfall der Pandemiebeschränkungen, die Nachwehen der Coronakrise und die Schockwellen durch den Krieg in der Ukraine sorgen für gegenläufige konjunkturelle Strömungen. Allen Einflüssen gemeinsam ist ihre preistreibende Wirkung.
Neuer Nachholfaktor der Rentenversicherung im Geflecht von Schutz- und Niveauschutzklausel
Authors: Schätzlein Uwe
Published: May 2022

Im Zuge der Einführung der Niveauschutzklausel in der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung hat man den Nachholfaktor außer Kraft gesetzt. Um diese unbefriedigende Situation zu beenden, hat das Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales nun einen Referentenentwurf vorgelegt, der darlegt, wie man sich vorstellt, den Nachholfaktor zur Rentenanpassung 2022 wiedereinzuführen. Die Wiedereinführung ist ein guter Schritt. In Anbetracht des Zusammenspiels mit der Niveauschutzklausel ist der Entwurf jedoch noch nicht ausgereift. Darüber hinaus hat man eine Lock-in-Klausel eingebaut, die eine große Last darstellt. Sie wirft ein neues Problem auf, dessen Ausmaß ähnlich groß ist wie das des ausgesetzten Nachholfaktors, das man mit dem vorliegenden Referentenentwurf zu lösen gedenkt.
Mean-semivariance portfolio optimization using minimum average partial
Authors: Rigamonti Andrea , Lučivjanská Katarína
Published: May 2022

Mean-semivariance and minimum semivariance portfolios are a preferable alternative to mean-variance and minimum variance portfolios whenever the asset returns are not symmetrically distributed. However, similarly to other portfolios based on downside risk measures, they are particularly affected by parameter uncertainty because the estimates of the necessary inputs are less reliable than the estimates of the full covariance matrix. We address this problem by performing PCA using Minimum Average Partial on the downside correlation matrix in order to reduce the dimension of the problem and, with it, the estimation errors. We apply our strategy to various datasets and show that it greatly improves the performance of mean-semivariance optimization, largely closing the gap in out-of-sample performance with the strategies based on the covariance matrix.
Heavy metals in soils of Mayabeque, Cuba: multifaceted and hardly discernable contributions from pedogenic and anthropogenic sources
Authors: Sosa Dayana , Hilber Isabel , Buerge-Weirich Diane , Faure Roberto , Escobar Arturo , Bucheli Thomas D.
Published: May 2022

Cuba is a country with considerable potential for economic growth, and special efforts are made to increase the agricultural output. As food production depends on the quality of soils, heavy metal concentrations were measured in 39 soils in the province of Mayabeque, Cuba, and interpreted in light of anthropogenic activities and pedogenic conditions (soil type and properties). With median concentrations of 1.8 Cd, 60.3 Cr, 48.1 Cu, 36.2 Ni, 16.7 Pb, 55.0 Zn, and 0.1 mg/kg Hg, soils of Mayabeque were mostly below Cuban quality reference values (QRV) representing benchmarks of quality standards but no official threshold values. Only Cd concentrations were in many cases above the QRV of 0.6 mg/kg and some Cu concentrations above the one of 83 mg/kg. While Cd, Cr, and Ni concentrations were rather pedogenically driven, Cu, Pb, Zn, and Hg contents were rather anthropogenically influenced. When evaluated statistically, Cd and Cr showed most times a significant influence of both sources. In contrast, Ni and Zn could not be significantly related with the origins investigated in this study. Hence, the allocation of heavy metal concentrations to pedogenic or anthropogenic contamination or pollution sources is tentative and needs further investigations. Nevertheless, the present data adds information on soil heavy metal concentrations in the Caribbean region, serves as reference before further industrial development, and sets the ground for adaptation of the QRV for Cd and possibly future national environmental standards.
Site suitability analysis of indigenous rainwater harvesting systems in arid and data-poor environments: a case study of Sana’a Basin, Yemen
Authors: Aklan Musaed , Al-Komaim Muhammed , de Fraiture Charlotte
Published: May 2022

Indigenous rainwater harvesting (RWH) is a promising tool for increasing water availability and conserving groundwater in arid environments. This study aimed to develop a multicriteria analysis (MCA) framework to identify and rank suitable sites for different indigenous RWH systems in data-poor areas taking Sana’a Basin, Yemen, as a case study. Unlike previous research, this study focused only on indigenous RWH systems and, for the first time, considered the site suitability analysis of spate irrigation systems. Five biophysical and six socioeconomic criteria were used to select, prioritize, and map suitable zones for indigenous RWH systems. This study, the first to be conducted in Yemen, found that more than 30% of the case area has a high or very high level of suitability for each of the studied RWH systems. Only 11% to 17% of the area is not suitable for RWH due to socioeconomic activities. Twenty-four percent of the area was considered moderately suitable, and 28% had a low level of suitability for RWH. These results are promising, and the preliminary identification process of suitable areas for indigenous RWH systems is a useful guide for future water resource and land management programs.

Graphical abstract
A Novel Metric to Evaluate the Association Rules for Identification of Functional Dependencies in Complex Technical Infrastructures
Authors: Antonello Federico , Baraldi Piero , Zio Enrico , Serio Luigi
Published: May 2022

Functional dependencies in complex technical infrastructures can cause unexpected cascades of failures, with major consequences on availability. For this reason, they must be identified and managed. In recent works, the authors have proposed to use association rule mining for identifying functional dependencies in complex technical infrastructures from alarm data. For this, it is important to have adequate metrics for assessing the effectiveness of the association rules identifying the functional dependencies. This work demonstrates the limitations of traditional metrics, such as lift, interestingness, cosine and laplace, and proposes a novel metric to measure the level of dependency among groups of alarms. The proposed metric is compared to the traditional metrics with reference to a synthetic case study and, then, applied to a large-scale database of alarms collected from the complex technical infrastructure of CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research). The results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed metric of evaluation of association rules in identifying functional dependencies.
“It’s where learning and teaching begins ‒ is this relationship” — insights on the teacher-student relationship at university from the teachers’ perspective
Authors: Hagenauer Gerda , Muehlbacher Franziska , Ivanova Mishela
Published: May 2022

Positive teacher-student relationships have been identified as important for teacher and student well-being and for high-quality teaching and learning processes and outcomes. However, research on the perceptions of teachers in higher education on a high-quality relationship with students and the perceived antecedents is still scarce. This study aimed to address this research gap by interviewing 15 Australian higher education teachers about their perception of forming relationships with first-year students. The results suggest that the quality of the teacher-student relationship comprises both a professional and an interpersonal dimension, reflecting the different roles teachers and students assume within it. These two dimensions can be further differentiated into various relational quality indicators, such as approachability, care, support, trust, and others. Furthermore, the results indicate that several contextual and personal attributes contribute to the development of this relationship. Implications about how to shape positive relationships between teachers and students in higher education are discussed.
Betti numbers of fat forests and their Alexander dual
Authors: Fröberg Ralf
Published: May 2022

Let k be a field and $$R=k[x_1,\ldots ,x_n]/I=S/I$$

R
=
k
[

x
1

,
…
,

x
n

]
/
I
=
S
/
I

a graded ring. Then R has a t-linear resolution if I is generated by homogeneous elements of degree t, and all higher syzygies are linear. Thus, R has a t-linear resolution if $$\mathrm{Tor}^S_{i,j}(S/I,k)=0$$

Tor

i
,
j

S

(
S
/
I
,
k
)

=
0

if $$j\ne i+t-1$$

j
≠
i
+
t
-
1

. For a graph G on $$\{1,\ldots ,n\}$$

{
1
,
…
,
n
}

, the edge algebra is $$k[x_1,\ldots ,x_n]/I$$

k
[

x
1

,
…
,

x
n

]
/
I

, where I is generated by those $$x_ix_j$$

x
i

x
j

for which $$\{ i,j\}$$

{
i
,
j
}

is an edge in G. We want to determine the Betti numbers of edge rings with 2-linear resolution. But we want to do that by looking at the edge ring as a Stanley–Reisner ring. For a simplicial complex $$\Delta $$
Δ
on $$[\mathbf{n}]=\{1,\ldots ,n\}$$

[
n
]
=
{
1
,
…
,
n
}

and a field k, the Stanley–Reisner ring $$k[\Delta ]$$

k
[
Δ
]

is $$k[x_1,\ldots ,x_n]/I$$

k
[

x
1

,
…
,

x
n

]
/
I

, where I is generated by the squarefree monomials $$x_{i_1}\ldots x_{i_k}$$

x

i
1

…

x

i
k

for which $$\{ i_1,\ldots ,i_k\}$$

{

i
1

,
…
,

i
k

}

does not belong to $$\Delta $$
Δ
. Which Stanley–Reisner rings that are edge rings with 2-linear resolution are known. Their associated complexes has had different names in the literature. We call them fat forests here. We determine the Betti numbers of many fat forests and compare our result with what is known. We also consider Betti numbers of Alexander duals of fat forests.
Electronic and thermoelectric properties of group IV–VI van der Waals heterostructures
Authors: Rahim A. , Haider W. , Khan A. , Khan Hamdullah , Din H. U. , Shafiq M. , Amin B. , Idrees M.
Published: May 2022

Stacking of two-dimensional materials, in the form of heterostructures, is recently considered as a promising candidate for thermoelectric devices application because it can combine the advantages of the individual 2D materials. The structural, electronic, and thermoelectric properties of group IV–VI [AB/XY (A = Ge, B = O, S, Se, Te, X = C, Sn, Si, Sn, and Y = Se, S)] van der Waals heterostructures are investigated by using first principles calculations. Binding energies and thermal stability showed that all heterobilayers are energetically and thermally stable. Calculated electronic band structure confirmed that IV–VI [AB/XY (A = Ge, B = O, S, Se, Te, X = C, Sn, Si, Sn, and Y = Se, S)] van der Waals heterostructures have indirect with type-II band alignment, which is crucial for separation of photogenerated carriers in solar cell device applications. Transport coefficients including Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity and power factor versus chemical potential are calculated by using Boltzmann transport theory which is implemented in BoltzTrap code. Among these heterobilayers, GeO/CSe has considerably large power factor at 800 K, making it more promising for good thermoelectric purposes. These findings pave the way for designing future electronic and thermoelectric devices.
In-verse reflection: structured creative writing exercises to promote reflective learning in medical students
Authors: McLean David , Chiavaroli Neville , Denniston Charlotte , Richardson Martin
Published: May 2022

Medical educators recognize the value of reflection for medical students and the role creative writing can play in fostering this. However, direct creative writing tasks can be challenging for many students, particularly those with limited experience in the arts and humanities. An alternative strategy is to utilize an indirect approach, engaging students with structured tasks that obliquely encourage reflection. This paper reports one such approach. We refer to this approach asin-verse reflection, playing on both the structure of the writing and its novel approach to reflection. Students were invited to write, in verse-like structures, about their personal and clinical experiences as medical students. Thematic analysis of their creative outputs and reactions identified four principal themes: the challenges of life as a medical student, the emotional demands of the medical course, a sense of connectedness and solidarity with fellow students, and a sense of marginality within the hospital system. Students generally found the tasks highly engaging and conducive to reflection, producing texts representing significant insights into their experiences as medical students. The reported method offers a relatively simple, structured, and guided approach to reflective writing, adding to the repertoire of methods available to educators in the medical humanities.
Revisiting Major Dry Periods by Rolling Time Series Analysis for Human-Water Relevance in Drought
Authors: Cavus Yonca , Stahl Kerstin , Aksoy Hafzullah
Published: May 2022

Drought is increasingly gaining importance for society, humans, and the environment. It is analyzed commonly by the use of available hydroclimatic or hydrologic data with little in-depth consideration of specific major dry periods experienced over a region. Also, it is not a common practice to assess the probability of drought categories with a rolling time series and hence the changing knowledge for operational drought monitoring. A combination of such quantitative analysis with a comprehensive qualitative assessment of drought as a human-water relation aimed to fill this gap performing a case study in the Seyhan River Basin, Turkey. Six major dry periods were identified from the precipitation time series of 19 meteorological stations. Major dry periods were analyzed by rolling time series and full time series, and they were also analyzed individually. A major dry period could be important in terms of its duration while another in terms of its severity or intensity, and each with its own impact on the human-water relations that can be influential on the drought mitigation, management and governance. Significantly higher probabilities were calculated for extreme droughts with the use of individual major dry periods. An important outcome from the study is that drought is underestimated in practice with the sole use of the whole data record.
Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of LED Lamp for Visible Light Communications
Authors: de Oliveira Marcelo , Tosta Fernando César Baraviera , Guillen David Esteban Farfán , Monteiro Paulo P. , Pohl Alexandre de Almeida Prado
Published: May 2022

Visible light communications (VLC) are an emerging technology that uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and photodiodes to provide high-speed communication between devices employing the visible light spectrum. Taking advantage of a large unregulated spectrum with capacity for gigabit per second data rates, VLC has the potential to enable the more recent and future telecommunications technologies, such as IoT, 5G and beyond, to unlock their full capabilities, either acting as a sole solution or supporting traditional radiofrequency communications. One of the goals of VLC is to employ illumination LEDs as access points. In this paper we analyze the communication and illumination performance of an LED lamp. Both theoretical and experimental analysis are conducted and results compared. Theoretical analysis are conducted with VLC mathematical model and also with ray-tracing simulations employing the a commercial software. We show that the LED lamp is capable of providing both communication and illumination simultaneously under the proposed scenario. Our results present strong correlation between theoretical and experimental results, indicating that the theoretical model is robust.
Learning Latent and Hierarchical Structures in Cognitive Diagnosis Models
Authors: Ma Chenchen , Ouyang Jing , Xu Gongjun
Published: May 2022

Cognitive Diagnosis Models (CDMs) are a special family of discrete latent variable models that are widely used in educational and psychological measurement. A key component of CDMs is the Q-matrix characterizing the dependence structure between the items and the latent attributes. Additionally, researchers also assume in many applications certain hierarchical structures among the latent attributes to characterize their dependence. In most CDM applications, the attribute–attribute hierarchical structures, the item-attribute Q-matrix, the item-level diagnostic models, as well as the number of latent attributes, need to be fully or partially pre-specified, which however may be subjective and misspecified as noted by many recent studies. This paper considers the problem of jointly learning these latent and hierarchical structures in CDMs from observed data with minimal model assumptions. Specifically, a penalized likelihood approach is proposed to select the number of attributes and estimate the latent and hierarchical structures simultaneously. An expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm is developed for efficient computation, and statistical consistency theory is also established under mild conditions. The good performance of the proposed method is illustrated by simulation studies and real data applications in educational assessment.
Service-oriented Device Connectivity interface for a situation recognition system in the OR
Authors: Junger Denise , Beyersdorffer Patrick , Kücherer Christian , Burgert Oliver
Published: May 2022

Purpose

Context awareness in the operating room (OR) is important to realize targeted assistance to support actors during surgery. A situation recognition system (SRS) is used to interpret intraoperative events and derive an intraoperative situation from these. To achieve a modular system architecture, it is desirable to de-couple the SRS from other system components. This leads to the need of an interface between such an SRS and context-aware systems (CAS). This work aims to provide an open standardized interface to enable loose coupling of the SRS with varying CAS to allow vendor-independent device orchestrations.

Methods

A requirements analysis investigated limiting factors that currently prevent the integration of CAS in today's ORs. These elicited requirements enabled the selection of a suitable base architecture. We examined how to specify this architecture with the constraints of an interoperability standard. The resulting middleware was integrated into a prototypic SRS and our system for intraoperative support, the OR-Pad, as exemplary CAS for evaluating whether our solution can enable context-aware assistance during simulated orthopedical interventions.

Results

The emerging Service-oriented Device Connectivity (SDC) standard series was selected to specify and implement a middleware for providing the interpreted contextual information while the SRS and CAS are loosely coupled. The results were verified within a proof of concept study using the OR-Pad demonstration scenario. The fulfillment of the CAS’ requirements to act context-aware, conformity to the SDC standard series, and the effort for integrating the middleware in individual systems were evaluated. The semantically unambiguous encoding of contextual information depends on the further standardization process of the SDC nomenclature. The discussion of the validity of these results proved the applicability and transferability of the middleware.

Conclusion

The specified and implemented SDC-based middleware shows the feasibility of loose coupling an SRS with unknown CAS to realize context-aware assistance in the OR.
Investigating the Effects of H2O Interaction with Rainscreen Façade ACMs During Fire Exposure
Authors: Casey L. , Simandjuntak S. , Zekonyte J. , Buick J. M. , Saifullah A.
Published: May 2022

Preliminary investigations into adverse reactions between aluminum alloy sheets, used as facings for aluminum composite material rainscreen panels, and water vapor (2Al + 3H2O −> Al2O3 + 3H2) contributing to high-rise façade fire events are reported. Panels containing a PE blend (70% polyethylene 30% calcium carbonate) core were characterised and subsequently exposed to a surface irradiance of 50 kW/m2 using a cone calorimeter, in modified ISO 5660:1/ASTM 1354 procedures, involving water spray. Inverse modeling techniques were applied to determine the effects of water spray on the samples’ combustion parameters. From the current study, evidence for the liberation of diatomic hydrogen (H2) contributing to peak heat release rate during combustion was not found. Observed thermal shock and subsequent degradation led to a greater surface area exposure of combustible inner core material, contributing to an increase for both peak heat release rate (from 393 kW/m2 to 1040 kW/m2) and total energy release (97 MJ/m2 to 117 MJ/m2). Findings suggest no significant increase in the combustibility of aluminum composite panels arises through reduction–oxidation reactions between aluminum-water at 50 kW/m2 irradiance. However, thermomechanical processes, brought upon by environmental conditions and external intervention, may affect the dynamic combustion behavior of aluminum composite panels.
Theoretical and Empirical Foundations for a Unified Pyramid of Human Motivation
Authors: Pincus J. David
Published: May 2022

Revisions are proposed to the taxonomic model of human motivation of Forbes (Review of General Psychology, 15(2), 85-98, 2011) in order to incorporate a heretofore missing fourth life domain, the spiritual. The growing literature on spiritual motives is systematically reviewed in accordance with literature review standards for theory development (Templier & Paré, 2018) focusing on the objective of identifying comprehensive theoretical systems that explicitly incorporate the spiritual domain as one of a limited set of human life domains. The structure of the Forbes model is contrasted with thirteen theoretical systems that explicitly incorporate the spiritual as a fourth life domain. Consistent with the Forbes model, the spiritual domain is proposed to consist of three modes of existence (Being, Doing, Having) represented as justice motivation, moral motivation, and transcendental motivation, respectively, as well as both promotion and prevention goals within each of the three motives. Empirical evidence is reviewed in support of a revised heuristic device wherein the Spiritual domain is closely linked with the Intrapsychic and Interpersonal domains, but not the Instrumental domain, resulting in a pyramidal structure and corresponding set of testable hypotheses.
Locating optimal position of artificial recharge wells in aquifer using grey wolf optimization algorithm and isogeometric numerical method
Authors: Poursalehi F. , Akbarpour A. , Hashemi S. R.
Published: May 2022

The construction of injection wells is one of the direct methods of artificial recharge and determining their optimal location is one of the important issues that are discussed in the topics of projects related to the rehabilitation of aquifers. In this research, a simulation–optimization model was proposed to determine the optimal location of injection wells using the Isogeometric analysis (IGA) numerical model and the Grey wolf optimization algorithm (GWO). In this regard, first, a groundwater model based on Isogeometric analysis was created to simulate groundwater flow in a hypothetical aquifer. Finally, after ensuring the accuracy of the simulator model, the optimal location of 10 injection wells was evaluated under two scenarios based on different values of hydraulic conductivity and specific yield. The accuracy of the simulation model is computed based on three error criteria ME, MAE and RMSE were the evaluation criteria which equaled −0.96%, 1.11%, and 0.0146 m, respectively. The achieved results showed that the Isogeometric analysis model has high accuracy. The results of the IGA-GWO model indicated that after constructing injection wells in the optimal location, the groundwater table on average in 10 injection wells rises more than 50 cm in both scenarios. The results also showed that due to the change in aquifer hydraulic conductivity and specific yield in different regions and the defined boundary conditions in the problem, the optimal location of injection wells are in regions with more hydraulic conductivity and more specific yield. Also, injection in regions with more drops will increase the groundwater table.
Division of district metered areas (DMAs) in a part of water supply network using WaterGEMS (Bentley) software: a case study
Authors: Kowalska B. , Suchorab P. , Kowalski D.
Published: May 2022

Designing of District metered areas (DMA) schemes is a key element in developing a technique for detecting and removing unreported leaks in a water distribution system (WDS) called active leakage control. The design of DMA is very specific to individual networks’ hydraulic and often constitutes one area with pressure managed zones. This paper presents the division of a selected water supply network zone into DMA areas. Based on the spatial distribution of the flow rate and the geometrical structure of the network (routes, pipe diameters, existing gate valves) in the analyzed water supply zone, the main transmission trunks were separated (DN150 ÷ DN500 diameter range) and were excluded from the division into metering areas. DMA areas were separated from the remaining parts of the network, using the district metered areas module, supporting the division of water supply networks into metering zones, available in the WaterGEMS software by Bentley. The number of nodes in the area was 200 as the main criterion for separating DMAs. The separated areas were combined into 3 main DMA zones, in which the sum of the pipe lengths varied between 2500 ÷ 3800 m. For each of the DMAs, the water supply route was determined individually, seeking a one-sided inflow to the isolated area. In two out of three cases, this goal has been achieved. In the third case, it turned out necessary to provide two-sided water inflow. The analysis of the correct operation of DMAs was based on the hydraulic modeling of WDS.
Potential application of graphene nanoplatelets as a high temperature lubricant for hot rolling
Authors: Wang Long , Tieu Anh Kiet , Ma Ming , Li Jiaqing , Hai Guojuan , Zhu Hongtao
Published: May 2022

Graphene has been shown to be a promising solid lubricant to reduce friction and wear of the sliding counterparts, and currently is reported to only function below 600 °C. In this study, its potential as a lubricant above 600 °C was studied using a ball-on-disc tribo-meter and a rolling mill. Friction results suggest that a reduction up to 50% can be obtained with graphene nanoplatelets (GnP) under lubricated conditions between 600–700 °C when compared with dry tests. and this friction reduction can last more than 3 min. At 800 and 900 °C, the friction reduction is stable for 70 and 40 s, respectively, which indicates that GnP can potentially provide an effective lubrication for hot metal forming processes. Hot rolling experiments on steel strips indicate that GnP reduces the rolling force by 11%, 7.4%, and 6.9% at 795, 890, and 960 °C, respectively. These friction reductions are attributed to the easily sheared GnP between the rubbing interfaces. A temperature higher than 600 °C will lead to the gasification of the residual graphene on the strip surface, which is believed to reduce the black contamination from traditional graphite lubricant.
Supernovae and their cosmological implications
Authors: Cappellaro Enrico
Published: May 2022

Supernovae (SNe) are luminous optical transients, which, despite being rare events in a single galaxy, nowadays are discovered at a rate of ten per day. They populate a growing zoo of different types linked to a variety of progenitors and explosion mechanisms. Through a biased selection of a century of researches, I will review how SNe have became a leading tool to probe the cosmic expansion. I will mainly focus on SNe of type Ia, originating from the thermonuclear explosion of white dwarfs, that were demonstrated to be excellent distance indicators after proper calibration and standardisation. Two decades ago, SNe Ia provided the surprising result that the cosmic expansion is accelerated by a misterious dark energy. Recently, with the decisive contribution of Cepheids variables as primary distance indicators, SN Ia allowed to measure the value of the Hubble-Lemaître constant, $$H_0$$

H
0

, with an error of only 1%. It turned out that the value of $$H_0$$

H
0

based on SNe Ia is in tension with the one measured through the fit of the CMB fluctuations. If confirmed, this finding requires a deep revision of the standard cosmological model.
Disruptive behavior in the operating room: Systemic over individual determinants
Authors: Campos Mauricio , Lira María Jesús , Mery Pamela , Calderón Maribel , Sepúlveda Macarena , Pimentel Fernando , Zúñiga Denisse
Published: May 2022

ABSTRACT

Background:

The operating room (OR) environment presents specific conditions that put stress on work dynamics. Disruptive behavior among members of the health team is recognized to affect work dynamics and patient outcomes. As surgeons have been syndicated as frequent disruptors, the objective was to explore their perceptions about OR working dynamics and the occurrence of disruptive behavior.

Study design:

Qualitative exploratory study, based on semi-structured individual interviews. Twenty participants were sampled until data saturation. For better context, we also included in the sample anesthesiologists, nurses, and technicians, among others. Using grounded theory framework, investigators extracted data from verbatim transcriptions with qualitative software.

Results:

Problems of infrastructure, interpersonal relationships, and organizational failures had most density of citations and trigger the most disruptive behavior narrated events. Although personality traits were noted to promote some disruptive behavior occurrence, systemic determinants were critical, such as poorly defined working roles and a plethora of personal ways to cope or avoid disruptive behavior.

Conclusion:

Our results suggest that disruptive behavior events are not just a matter of a surgeon's personality traits but also substantiated by systemic normalization, informal communication strategies, and undefined roles, making teams less resilient to unexpected events.

Graphical abstract

Highlights
Prediction of the prognosis by the preoperative red blood cell distribution width in distal cholangiocarcinoma
Authors: Hamada Takashi , Okamoto Tatsuya , Kitasato Amane , Hida Taiji , Tetsuo Hanako , Murakami Shunsuke , Miyoshi Takayuki , Yoneda Akira , Takeshita Hiroaki , Tamotsu Kuroki
Published: May 2022

ABSTRACT

Cholangiocarcinoma has a very poor prognosis, with no specific tumor markers or clear prognostic factors. The red blood cell distribution width (RDW) was recently suggested as an independent prognostic factor in cancer patients; however, no report has examined the association with distal cholangiocarcinoma. In this retrospective analysis of 38 patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy for distal cholangiocarcinoma at Nagasaki Medical Center in Japan from January 2011 to December 2020, we explored whether or not the preoperative RDW was a prognostic factor in distal cholangiocarcinoma. Patients were divided into two groups (RDW-high: n = 20 vs. RDW-low: n = 18) according to the median preoperative RDW (13.6%). The T-Bil (1.75 vs. 0.9 mg/dl, p = 0.022) and CEA (2.95 vs. 1.95 ng/ml, p = 0.043) values were higher and the ALB (3.35 vs. 3.95 g/dl, p = 0.007) value was lower in the RDW-high group than in the RDW-low group. The RDW-high group had a poorer survival than the RDW-low group. The overall survival for the RDW-high group was 29.1 months, and that for the RDW-low group was 37.9 months (p = 0.042). However, there was no significant difference in the recurrence-free survival between the groups (p = 0.140). In conclusion, the preoperative RDW was suggested to be a possible prognostic factor in distal cholangiocarcinoma.

Highlights
Continued increases in the incidence of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) during the second year of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic
Authors: Lastinger Lindsey M. , Alvarez Carlos R. , Kofman Aaron , Konnor Rebecca Y. , Kuhar David T. , Nkwata Allan , Patel Prachi R. , Pattabiraman Vaishnavi , Xu Sunny Y. , Dudeck Margaret A.
Published: May 2022

Data from the National Healthcare Safety Network were analyzed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the incidence of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) during 2021. Standardized infection ratios were significantly higher than those during the prepandemic period, particularly during 2021-Q1 and 2021-Q3. The incidence of HAI was elevated during periods of high COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak investigation in a hospital emergency department—California, December 2020–January 2021
Authors: Li Ruoran , Beshearse Elizabeth , Malden Deborah , Truong Holly , Kraushaar Vit , Bonin Brandon J. , Kim Janice , Kennedy Idamae , McNary Jennifer , Han George S. , Rudman Sarah L. , Perz Joseph F. , Perkins Kiran M. , Glowicz Janet , Epson Erin , Benowitz Isaac , Villarino Elsa
Published: May 2022

We describe a large outbreak of severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) involving an acute-care hospital emergency department during December 2020 and January 2021, in which 27 healthcare personnel worked while infectious, resulting in multiple opportunities for SARS-CoV-2 transmission to patients and other healthcare personnel. We provide recommendations for improving infection prevention and control.
A simple model for the reflection by a vertical barrier of a dambreak flow over a dry or pre-wetted bottom
Authors: Ungarish M.
Published: May 2022

We revisit the theoretical solutions of the problem of the reflected flow from a vertical obstacle encountered by a current generated by dambreak of a Cartesian long reservoir over a dry bottom and with tailwaters. Previous investigations derived accurate solutions by quite complex manipulation of the balances along the characteristics, supported by numerical solutions, of the shallow-water equations (a significant extension is the recent paper Hogg & Skevington, Q. J. Mech. Appl. Maths, vol. 74, no. 4, 2021, pp. 441–465). Here we developed a simplified model, based on the major assumption that the fluid between the obstacle (wall) and the reflected jump is stagnant. This allows the solution of the problem by a straightforward numerical integration of one initial-value ordinary differential equation. The model provides the position, height and speed of the jump as functions of time. For long times a simple analytical approximation is also available. The model points out clear-cut effects of the presence of the tailwaters. The model has been validated by comparisons with exact solutions of the shallow-water equations of the recent study of Hogg & Skevington (Q. J. Mech. Appl. Maths, vol. 74, no. 4, 2021, pp. 441–465) (obtained by significantly more complex hodograph-plane methods). In all the tested cases the agreement is good, for long periods of time. This model provides reliable insights and fast quantitative predictions recommended for use in research and engineering problems where a fair approximation is sufficient for the application.
Non-monotonic wettability effects on displacement in heterogeneous porous media
Authors: Lei Wenhai , Lu Xukang , Liu Fanli , Wang Moran
Published: May 2022

We report non-monotonic wettability effects on displacement efficiency in heterogeneous porous structures at the post-breakthrough stage, in contrast to the monotonic ones in homogeneous porous structures. Experiments on designed microfluidic chips show that there exists a critical wettability to attain the highest efficiency of displacement in the porous matrix structure combined with a preferential flow pathway, while a stronger wettability of the displacing fluid leads to a higher displacement efficiency on the same matrix structure only. The porous structure with or without a preferential flow pathway results in totally different topological characteristics of phase distribution during displacement. Pore-scale mechanisms are identified to elucidate the formation of this non-monotonic wettability rule: cooperative pore filling under weakly water-wet conditions yields the best displacement; corner flow under strongly water-wet conditions and Haines events under strongly oil-wet conditions decrease the displacement efficiency. The pore-scale findings may provide unique insights into the joint effects of both wettability and flow heterogeneity on fluid displacement in porous media.
The Reluctant Postmodernism of Jürgen Habermas: Reevaluating Habermas's Debates with Foucault and Derrida
Authors: Verovšek Peter J.
Published: May 2022

Politicians and scholars alike have blamed postmodernism—and the identity politics that have emerged in its wake—for the pathologies of the early twenty-first century. Despite his limited defense of the Enlightenment and his disputes with his French contemporaries, I argue that Habermas's philosophy displays many postmodern characteristics that are often overlooked. These include its decentering of the autonomous subject, its skepticism towards metaphysics, and its rejection of stadial philosophies of history. In light of the fact that Habermas adopts weaker versions of many postmodern commitments, I reconsider his disputes with Foucault and Derrida regarding the legacy of the Enlightenment. I conclude that rather than interpreting Habermas as a conservative critic of his more radical counterparts in France, we should instead see these three thinkers as part of a shared attempt to come to terms with the problems of postwar Europe in a public, discursive manner.
Back to the future? What we can learn from the 2nd generation of Social Policy academics
Authors: HAUX TINA
Published: May 2022

Topics such as climate change, diversity and inequality are likely to dominate the future of Social Policy. This is also a time of a generational change in Social Policy.

In this paper I will address the questions of the future challenges for Social Policy by mapping the trajectories of the second generation of Social Policy Academics. There is much to learn from this generation such as the importance of epistemic communities, of mentoring and sustained engagement with policy-makers. However, the argument put forward in this paper is that Social Policy as it developed into an academic subject from the 1960s lost the connection to policy-makers due to expanding outside London; focusing on establishing social policy as an academic subject, academic careers and moving into comparative Social Policy. One effect of this is that an explicit focus on policy innovation and design has gone missing. Instead, this space in the policy landscape has been claimed by think tanks that continue to be highly successful in influencing government policy. A re-discovery of policy design as a key part of Social Policy together with the other lessons from this generation will be needed if we want to tackle the big challenges of tomorrow.
REGULARITY OF AML FUNCTIONS IN TWO-DIMENSIONAL NORMED SPACES
Authors: TAPIA-GARCÍA SEBASTIÁN
Published: May 2022

Savin [‘
$\mathcal {C}^{1}$
regularity for infinity harmonic functions in two dimensions’, Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal.3(176) (2005), 351–361] proved that every planar absolutely minimizing Lipschitz (AML) function is continuously differentiable whenever the ambient space is Euclidean. More recently, Peng et al. [‘Regularity of absolute minimizers for continuous convex Hamiltonians’, J. Differential Equations274 (2021), 1115–1164] proved that this property remains true for planar AML functions for certain convex Hamiltonians, using some Euclidean techniques. Their result can be applied to AML functions defined in two-dimensional normed spaces with differentiable norm. In this work we develop a purely non-Euclidean technique to obtain the regularity of planar AML functions in two-dimensional normed spaces with differentiable norm.
The effectiveness of remote therapy in two London IAPT services
Authors: Nguyen Jen , McNulty Nicholas , Grant Nina , Martland Natasha , Dowling Daniel , King Sophie , Neely Lizzie , Ball Jack , Dom Gabriele
Published: May 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic increased population levels of depression and anxiety, and infection control measures obliged services to provide psychological therapies remotely. Evidence for the routine provision of psychological therapy via telephone and video-conferencing is limited. This study compared therapy outcomes for 5360 clients in two London Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) services before and after homeworking produced a compete shift to remotely delivered therapy. Despite the psychological impacts of pandemic restrictions, and the use of a novel therapy modality in video-conferencing, recovery rates and net score change improved in both services, significantly in one. There was no significant worsening of outcomes for any demographic group or presenting disorder. The findings suggest that for those able to access it, therapy provided by telephone and video is a clinically effective option for IAPT services.

Key learning aims

(1)

To assess the clinical effectiveness of delivering IAPT therapies remotely.

(2)

To gain insight into the impacts of remote therapy on different client groups, including ethnicity, gender, age and presenting problem.

(3)

To assess the impact of remote therapy on access to IAPT services.
Aberrant inflammation in rat pregnancy leads to cardiometabolic alterations in the offspring and intrauterine growth restriction in the F2 generation
Authors: Ushida Takafumi , Cotechini Tiziana , Protopapas Nicole , Atallah Aline , Collyer Charlotte , Toews Alexa J. , Macdonald-Goodfellow Shannyn K. , Tse M. Yat , Winn Louise M. , Pang Stephen C. , Adams Michael A. , Othman Maha , Kotani Tomomi , Kajiyama Hiroaki , Graham Charles H.
Published: May 2022

Children of women with pre-eclampsia have increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) and metabolic disease in adult life. Furthermore, the risk of pregnancy complications is higher in daughters born to women affected by pre-eclampsia than in daughters born after uncomplicated pregnancies. While aberrant inflammation contributes to the pathophysiology of pregnancy complications, including pre-eclampsia, the contribution of maternal inflammation to subsequent risk of CV and metabolic disease as well as pregnancy complications in the offspring remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that 24-week-old female rats (F1) born to dams (F0) exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) during pregnancy (to induce inflammation) exhibited mild systolic dysfunction, increased cardiac growth-related gene expression, altered glucose tolerance, and coagulopathy; whereas male F1 offspring exhibited altered glucose tolerance and increased visceral fat accumulation compared with F1 sex-matched offspring born to saline-treated dams. Both male and female F1 offspring born to LPS-treated dams had evidence of anemia. Fetuses (F2) from F1 females born to LPS-treated dams were growth restricted, and this reduction in fetal growth was associated with increased CD68 positivity (indicative of macrophage presence) and decreased expression of glucose transporter-1 in their utero-placental units. These results indicate that abnormal maternal inflammation can contribute to increased risk of CV and metabolic disease in the offspring, and that the effects of inflammation may cross generations. Our findings provide evidence in support of early screening for CV and metabolic disease, as well as pregnancy complications in offspring affected by pre-eclampsia or other pregnancy complications associated with aberrant inflammation.
Lanthanide-doped heterostructured nanocomposites toward advanced optical anti-counterfeiting and information storage
Authors: Xie Yao , Song Yapai , Sun Guotao , Hu Pengfei , Bednarkiewicz Artur , Sun Lining
Published: May 2022

The continuously growing importance of information storage, transmission, and authentication impose many new demands and challenges for modern nano-photonic materials and information storage technologies, both in security and storage capacity. Recently, luminescent lanthanide-doped nanomaterials have drawn much attention in this field because of their photostability, multimodal/multicolor/narrowband emissions, and long luminescence lifetime. Here, we report a multimodal nanocomposite composed of lanthanide-doped upconverting nanoparticle and EuSe semiconductor, which was constructed by utilizing a cation exchange strategy. The nanocomposite can emit blue and white light under 365 and 394 nm excitation, respectively. Meanwhile, the nanocomposites show different colors under 980 nm laser excitation when the content of Tb3+ions is changed in the upconversion nanoparticles. Moreover, the time-gating technology is used to filter the upconversion emission of a long lifetime from Tb3+or Eu3+, and the possibilities for modulating the emission color of the nanocomposites are further expanded. Based on the advantage of multiple tunable luminescence, the nanocomposites are designed as optical modules to load optical information. This work enables multi-dimensional storage of information and provides new insights into the design and fabrication of next-generation storage materials.