bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of a combination of butorphanol and detomidine on endoscopic assessment of laryngeal function in Thoroughbred yearlings
Authors: Almonte Hugo , Schumacher James , Johnson Christopher R. , Berk Jeffrey T. , Bell Rhodes P.
Published: March 2022

Background

To the authors’ knowledge, the effect of a combination of butorphanol tartrate and detomidine hydrochloride on the laryngeal function and symmetry of the arytenoid cartilages in young Thoroughbred horses has not been examined. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effects of administration of butorphanol and detomidine on left‐to‐right rima glottidis ratio (L:R RGR), cross‐sectional area of the rima glottidis (CSARG) and grade of laryngeal function of Thoroughbred yearlings examined endoscopically at rest.

Methods

Forty‐six Thoroughbred yearlings underwent laryngeal video endoscopy, at rest, before and after sedation with butorphanol and detomidine. Three clinicians assigned grades of laryngeal function after reviewing the video recordings. The L:R RGR and CSARG were measured at the point of arytenoid cartilages’ maximal abduction. Student's t‐test was used to compare the L:R RGR and CSARG. Cohen's kappa (κ) was used to compare the intra‐ and interobserver agreements. Spearman's rank order was used to assess agreement between CSARG and grade of laryngeal function.

Results

Sedation had no effect on L:R RGR and CSARG. Mean intraobserver agreement of grade of laryngeal function of unsedated yearlings was 93.1%, and that of sedated yearlings was 92.9%. Mean interobserver agreement of grade of laryngeal function of unsedated yearlings was 92.8%, and that of sedated yearlings was 92.7%. Correlation between CSARG and laryngeal function grade was significant for both groups (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Sedating Thoroughbred yearlings with detomidine and butorphanol, before endoscopically examining the larynx, did not significantly affect the grade of laryngeal function.
Synthesis, characterization, and multielectron redox property of pyridine‐coordinated tetra‐Ru‐oxo core sandwich‐type silicotungstate, [(γ‐SiW10O36)2({Ru(IV)(pyridine)}4O4(OH)2]10−
Authors: Kokumai Kodai , Sugiarto  , Sadakane Masahiro
Published: March 2022

A pyridine‐coordinated tetra‐Ru‐oxo core sandwich‐type silicotungstate, [(γ‐SiW10O36)2({Ru(IV)(pyridine)}4O4(OH)2]10−, in which four Ru atoms are coordinated by pyridine molecules, was prepared and characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray structure analysis, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR), high‐resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HR‐ESI‐MS), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. Cyclic voltammetry and ultraviolet–visible (UV‐Vis) electrospectroscopy indicated that the molecule showed multielectron redox processes over a wide pH range (1–12).
Modelling vector-like quarks in partial compositeness framework
Authors: Banerjee Avik , Franzosi Diogo Buarque , Ferretti Gabriele
Published: March 2022

Abstract

Composite Higgs models, together with partial compositeness, predict the existence of new scalars and vector-like quarks (partners) at and above the TeV scale. Generically, the presence of these additional scalars opens up new decay topologies for the partners. In this paper we show how to systematically construct the general low energy Lagrangian to capture this feature. We emphasize the specific pattern in the top-partner spectrum arising in this class of models. We then present a concrete realization in the context of the SU(5)/SO(5) coset. We show that the top-partners in this model can have significant branching ratios to the additional scalars and a third generation quark, compared to the usual Standard Model channels. Amongst the most promising signatures at the LHC are final states containing a diphoton resonance along with a top quark.
Study of surface modification strategies to create glassy carbon-supported, aptamer-based sensors for continuous molecular monitoring
Authors: Pellitero Miguel Aller , Arroyo-Currás Netzahualcóyotl
Published: March 2022

Electrochemical, aptamer-based (E-AB) sensors uniquely enable reagentless, reversible, and continuous molecular monitoring in biological fluids. Because of this ability, E-AB sensors have been proposed for therapeutic drug monitoring. However, to achieve translation from the bench to the clinic, E-AB sensors should ideally operate reliably and continuously for periods of days. Instead, because these sensors are typically fabricated on gold surfaces via self-assembly of alkanethiols that are prone to desorption from electrode surfaces, they undergo significant signal losses in just hours. To overcome this problem, our group is attempting to migrate E-AB sensor interfaces away from thiol-on-gold assembly towards stronger covalent bonds. Here, we explore the modification of carbon electrodes as an alternative substrate for E-AB sensors. We investigated three strategies to functionalize carbon surfaces: (I) anodization to generate surface carboxylic groups, (II) electrografting of arenediazonium ions, and (III) electrografting of primary aliphatic amines. Our results indicate that electrografting of primary aliphatic amines is the only strategy achieving monolayer organization and packing densities closely comparable to those obtained by alkanethiols on gold. In addition, the resulting monolayers enable covalent tethering of DNA aptamers and support electrochemical sensing of small molecule targets or complimentary DNA strands. These monolayers also achieve superior stability under continuous voltammetric interrogation in biological fluids relative to benchmark thiol-on-gold monolayers when a positive voltage scan window is used. Based on these results, we postulate the electrografting of primary aliphatic amines as a path forward to develop carbon-supported E-AB sensors with increased operational stability.

Graphical abstract
The Canny–Emiris Conjecture for the Sparse Resultant
Authors: D’Andrea Carlos , Jeronimo Gabriela , Sombra Martín
Published: March 2022

We present a product formula for the initial parts of the sparse resultant associated with an arbitrary family of supports, generalizing a previous result by Sturmfels. This allows to compute the homogeneities and degrees of this sparse resultant, and its evaluation at systems of Laurent polynomials with smaller supports. We obtain an analogous product formula for some of the initial parts of the principal minors of the Sylvester-type square matrix associated with a mixed subdivision of a polytope. Applying these results, we prove that under suitable hypothesis, the sparse resultant can be computed as the quotient of the determinant of such a square matrix by one of its principal minors. This generalizes the classical Macaulay formula for the homogeneous resultant and confirms a conjecture of Canny and Emiris.
Directional droplet transport on switchable ratchets by mechanowetting
Authors: De Jong Edwin , Den Toonder Jaap M. J. , Onck Patrick R.
Published: March 2022

Materials with a mechanical response to an external stimulus are promising for application in miniaturized cargo and fluid manipulation in microfluidic (lab-on-a-chip) systems and microsystems in general. One of the main challenges in droplet microfluidics is the precise control of the droplet motion, and existing technologies have drawbacks that can compromise the droplet contents. Here, we demonstrate how an on–off switchable ratchet topography combined with a simple actuation strategy can be exploited to accurately manipulate mm-sized droplets. Because of the mechanowetting principle, the three-phase line dynamically attaches to these deforming ratchets, affecting the droplet displacement in a controlled matter. We show that such topographies are capable of transporting droplets over a surface in a stepwise fashion. We calculate the forces generated by the surface using both a theoretical description of the three-phase line and fluid simulations, and we identify the window of applicability in terms of the droplet size relative to the sawtooth dimensions. Our results enable the design of microfluidic systems with deforming wall topographies for controlled droplet manipulation.
The David Noakes article that debunked the misguided belief that absolute numbers of fish can be captured in fresh waters: a lesson for early-career scientists
Authors: Copp Gordon H.
Published: March 2022

This article presents a personal account of the important contribution a publication from David Noakes’ lab (Pot, Noakes, Ferguson and Coker 1984, Quantitative sampling of fishes in a simple system: failure of conventional methods. Hydrobiologia 114:249–254) made to freshwater fish science in general and to the successful public defence of a doctoral thesis in particular. Pot et al. (1984) tested the accuracy of two conventional sampling approaches in their estimation of numbers of fish in a small pond (capture-mark-recapture and total sampling, following rotenone treatment). Their results demonstrated that even in a small and relatively uniform freshwater system (a pond of 0.1 ha), the so-called total sampling approach failed to provide the true number of any species of fish in the pond. The outcome of the study provided the evidence to debunk the assumption that absolute numbers of fishes can be obtained using rotenone treatment. This article therefore allowed me to defend my doctoral dissertation in the face of critical comments from a principal jury member, and firm proponent of ‘absolute sampling’, and it provided fish biologists with justification to focus on the development and application of sampling approaches, such as relative densities, which do not require futile attempts to obtain total fish numbers.
Dietary contributions of the alien zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha in British freshwater fish suggest low biological resistance to their invasion
Authors: Dominguez Almela Victoria , Nolan Emma T. , Winter Emily R. , Britton J. Robert
Published: March 2022

Native communities can resist the establishment and invasion of alien species through consumptive and/or competitive interactions. The extent of consumptive resistance from freshwater fish to the invasion of zebra mussels Dreissena polymorpha, a globally invasive Ponto-Caspian species, was assessed in two areas in Britain using stable isotope analysis, where mixing models predicted the contribution of putative prey resources (including zebra mussel) to fish diet. Across the sites and species, only roach Rutilus rutilus were predicted to have a diet where zebra mussels contributed highly (predicted contribution: 44%), with literature suggesting that their functional morphology would have facilitated their consumption of this prey item. Predicted contributions of zebra mussels to common bream Abramis brama diet was comparatively low (29%), despite them being present to much larger sizes than roach, and with pike Esox lucius, perch Perca fluviatilis and pikeperch Sander lucioperca also predicted to have low dietary contributions of zebra mussels (0.08%, 24% and 24%, respectively). These results suggest the consumptive resistance to its invasion in Britain has been low and, correspondingly, if there is a management desire to further limit the invasion of zebra mussels then relying on biological resistance to limit their invasion appears to be insufficient.
Glycogen, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and pigment accumulation in three Synechocystis strains when exposed to a stepwise increasing salt stress
Authors: Meixner K. , Daffert C. , Dalnodar D. , Mrázová K. , Hrubanová K. , Krzyzanek V. , Nebesarova J. , Samek O. , Šedrlová Z. , Slaninova E. , Sedláček P. , Obruča S. , Fritz I.
Published: March 2022

The cyanobacterial genus Synechocystis is of particular interest to science and industry because of its efficient phototrophic metabolism, its accumulation of the polymer poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and its ability to withstand or adapt to adverse growing conditions. One such condition is the increased salinity that can be caused by recycled or brackish water used in cultivation. While overall reduced growth is expected in response to salt stress, other metabolic responses relevant to the efficiency of phototrophic production of biomass or PHB (or both) have been experimentally observed in three Synechocystis strains at stepwise increasing salt concentrations. In response to recent reports on metabolic strategies to increase stress tolerance of heterotrophic and phototrophic bacteria, we focused particularly on the stress-induced response of Synechocystis strains in terms of PHB, glycogen and photoactive pigment dynamics. Of the three strains studied, the strain Synechocystis cf. salina CCALA192 proved to be the most tolerant to salt stress. In addition, this strain showed the highest PHB accumulation. All the three strains accumulated more PHB with increasing salinity, to the point where their photosystems were strongly inhibited and they could no longer produce enough energy to synthesize more PHB.
Quantum computations for disambiguation and question answering
Authors: Correia A. D. , Moortgat M. , Stoof H. T. C.
Published: March 2022

Automatic text processing is now a mature discipline in computer science, and so attempts at advancements using quantum computation have emerged as the new frontier, often under the term of quantum natural language processing. The main challenges consist in finding the most adequate ways of encoding words and their interactions on a quantum computer, considering hardware constraints, as well as building algorithms that take advantage of quantum architectures, so as to show improvement on the performance of natural language tasks. In this paper, we introduce a new framework that starts from a grammar that can be interpreted by means of tensor contraction, to build word representations as quantum states that serve as input to a quantum algorithm. We start by introducing an operator measurement to contract the representations of words, resulting in the representation of larger fragments of text. We then go on to develop pipelines for the tasks of sentence meaning disambiguation and question answering that take advantage of quantum features. For the first task, we show that our contraction scheme deals with syntactically ambiguous phrases storing the various different meanings in quantum superposition, a solution not available on a classical setting. For the second task, we obtain a question representation that contains all possible answers in equal quantum superposition, and we implement Grover’s quantum search algorithm to find the correct answer, agnostic to the specific question, an implementation with the potential of delivering a result with quadratic speedup.
Interest rate shocks, competition and bank liquidity creation
Authors: Kick Thomas
Published: March 2022

We study the effects of interest rate shocks (IRS) on banks’ liquidity creation. A unique supervisory data set from the Deutsche Bundesbank allows identifying banks’ liquidity creation for the real economy and the effects of banking market competition. Here, we employ a novel approach to account for IRS that are both unexpected and effective for a bank’s business model. We find that higher individual pricing power in the market lowers banks’ liquidity creation, which is in line with theory that monopolistic firms undersupply the market when utilizing their high pricing power in the bank competition–liquidity creation nexus. While positive IRS per se lead to an increase in bank liquidity creation, we find that a high bank-individual pricing power curbs this impact on liquidity creation significantly. Moreover, we show that monetary policy was most effective during the global financial crisis and for well-capitalized banks, whereas periods of low interest rates are characterized by the persistent increase in liability-side liquidity creation.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Miscommunication in UK Police Interviews and US Police Interrogations
Authors: Filipović Luna
Published: March 2022

This is the first comparative empirical study of miscommunication in US police interrogations and UK police interviews with suspects. The research was based on an extensive real-life data consisting of 100 transcripts. The main goal was to detect when and why miscommunication occurs in these two policing contexts, whether and how it gets resolved, and what the consequences of miscommunication may be. Miscommunication arises when speech participants draw opposing inferences from the same communicative exchange. Two main sources of miscommunication were identified: a) inferential ambiguity and b) linguistic complexity. The quantitative and qualitative analyses showed that, while the types of miscommunication are shared in the two jurisdictions, their frequencies and functions differ in some respects. Namely, deliberate miscommunication is more likely to be found in the US context while in the UK miscommunication is more likely to occur inadvertently. On the other hand, linguistic complexity gives rise to miscommunication more often in the UK than in US police communication. We discuss the results with respect to the two different approaches to questioning suspects in the two locales and translate our findings into practical applications for the training of law enforcement and language professionals worldwide.
CGRP in Childhood and Adolescence Migraine: (Patho)physiological and Clinical Aspects
Authors: Evers Stefan
Published: March 2022

Purpose of Review

To summarise and analyse the current knowledge of CGRP metabolism in childhood and adolescence and its role in childhood and adolescence migraine.

Recent Findings

Influencing CGRP pathways is nowadays one of the main mechanisms to treat migraine. In adults, several clinical trials with different drug classes have supported this finding. However, only very little is known on these mechanisms in children and adolescents with migraine. Based on a literature search, it can be concluded that substantial parts of the CGRP pathways are already developed and working in the preterm fetus of animals. Newborn animals show high CGRP levels and high density of CGRP positive neurons and nerve fibres. In human studies, increased levels of CGRP were observed in childhood and adolescent migraine patients. Remedies based on influencing CGRP metabolism are also working in that age group. For triptans, this has clearly been shown; for gepants, no data are available, and for CGRP ligand/receptor antibodies, positive evidence is only available from case series.

Only very little is known on CGRP metabolism in childhood and adolescence. However, placebo-controlled clinical trials both on CGRP antagonists and on CGRP ligand/receptor antibodies are under way and will show in some years whether these drug classes are efficacious also in children and adolescents.
Investigation of genome-wide InDel distribution and segregation in Populus with restriction-site associated DNA sequencing data
Authors: Pan Zhiliang , Li Zhiting , Zhang Jinpeng , Bai Shengjun , Zhao Wei , Tong Chunfa
Published: March 2022

Insertion or deletion polymorphism (InDel) is one of the main genetic variations in plant genomes. However, there are few studies on InDels across the whole genome inPopulus. In this study, we investigated genome-wide InDels inPopulus deltoidesandPopulus simoniiand InDel segregation in their F1hybrid population with restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) data. A total of 119,066 InDels were identified inP. deltoidesandP. simoniiaccording to the reference genome ofPopulus trichocarpa, including 58,532 unique InDels inP. deltoides, 54,469 unique InDels inP. simonii, and 6,065 common InDels in both. Meanwhile, the distribution of these InDels was analyzed along chromosomes, indicating that the distribution patterns for both species were largely similar, but the average InDel density was slightly higher inP. deltoidesthan inP. simonii. GO annotation and enrichment analysis of those genes harboring InDels showed the same patterns between the two poplar species. It is interesting to find that the ratio (~ 46%) of the common InDels within genes to all common InDels was higher than that of the InDels within genes to all InDels inP. deltoides(~ 35%) or inP. simonii(~ 34%), possibly indicating that those InDels are more conservative between poplar species. Moreover, investigation of the InDel segregation patterns demonstrated that a large number of Mendelian InDels could be selected for genetic mapping in the F1hybrid population. RAD-seq provides genome-wide insights into the InDel distributions inP. deltoidesandP. simoniiand the segregation patterns in their progeny, providing valuable genomic variation information for genetic and evolutionary studies inPopulus.
Career Change of Young Talent and the Influence of Knowledge Transfer on Vocational Commitment: a Study of Hospitality Apprentices in Bavaria (Germany)
Authors: Schmidt Laura , García-Almeida Desiderio J. , Chang Celine
Published: March 2022

Career change of young talent aggravates human resource shortages in various industries and the analysis of vocational commitment during the educational phase becomes paramount. Knowledge transfer modes and dynamics in the education of young professionals can influence their vocation or “calling” in the sector they are specialising for. With the background of the knowledge-based view, the goal of this study is to identify knowledge transfer-related aspects of education that exert a relevant influence on apprentices’ vocational commitment. The findings of the study of 331 hospitality apprentices in Bavaria, Germany, reveal that both academic sources and firm sources in the apprenticeship-based, also called dual, educational system affect the vocational commitment of apprentices. Specifically, the satisfaction with the training in the educational centre, the existence of organisational mentorship, and a personalised training system in the firm significantly affect vocational commitment after the educational stage. Consequently, educators along with mentors and managers in the partner firms can help enhance their students’ vocational commitment and potentially decrease their likelihood of leaving a sector.
A revision of Gomphostemma (Lamiaceae)
Authors: Bongcheewin Bhanubong , Ingrouille Martin J. , Paton Alan J.
Published: March 2022

The genus Gomphostemma Wall. ex Benth. is revised. Thirty-one species are recognised with three new species described: G. flexuosum Bongch. from north-eastern Thailand, southern Laos and central Vietnam, G. longipetalum Bongch. and G. repentum Bongch. from northern Myanmar. Thirty names are lectotypified. A key to species, distribution maps and conservation categories for all species are provided.
The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire—Short Form (CTQ-SF) used with adolescents – methodological report from clinical and community samples
Authors: Hagborg Johan Melander , Kalin Torbjörn , Gerdner Arne
Published: March 2022

Purpose

The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire—Short Form (CTQ-SF) is a widely used retrospective screening tool for childhood maltreatment in adults. Its properties are less known in adolescents. The objective was to investigate acceptability and psychometric properties when used in adolescents.

Method

A community sample of adolescents (n=1885) in four waves (from 13 or 14 to 17 years old) and a clinical sample (n=74, mean age 18), both from Sweden, were used to assess acceptability and different aspects of validity and reliability.

Results

The CTQ-SF was found to be well-accepted. As expected, the community sample scored lower than the clinical sample on all maltreatment-scales and showed stability over-time. In the community sample, internal consistencies were substantial or excellent for all scales except Physical neglect, and in the clinical sample this was found for all scales. One-year test-retest consistencies of subscales were substantial or almost perfect, and for all scales, they increased from early to mid-adolescence. Directed inconsistencies on item level decreased from early to mid-adolescence. Convergent validity was shown in relation to scales on family climate, parental relations, and emotional health also from early adolescence. Discriminant analyses showed more moderate discriminatory ability although almost seven times better than by-chance.

Conclusions

The CTQ is well accepted and can be trusted to provide consistent and valid self-reports from the age of 14 on childhood maltreatment. Some caution is advised when used with younger adolescents, since the test-retest stability is then weaker, and the interpretation of the M/D scale is more ambiguous.
Counseling (ro)bot as a use case for 5G/6G
Authors: Taniguchi Yoshio , Ikegami Yukino , Fujikawa Hiroshi , Pathare Yogesh , Kutics Andrea , Massimo Banzi , Anisetti Marco , Damiani Ernesto , Sakurai Yoshitaka , Tsuruta Setsuo
Published: March 2022

This paper presents a counseling (ro)bot called Visual Counseling Agent (VICA) which focuses on remote mental healthcare. It is an agent system leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to aid mentally distressed persons through speech conversation. The system terminals are connected to servers by the Internet exploiting Cloud-nativeness, so that anyone who has any type of terminal can use it from anywhere. Despite a promising voice communication interface, VICA shows limitations in conversation continuity on conventional 4G networks. Concretely, the use of the current 4G networks produces word dropping, delayed response, and the occasional connection failure. The objective of this paper is to mitigate these issues by leveraging a 5G/6G slice inclusive of mobile/multiple edge computing (MEC). First, we propose and partly implement the enhanced and advanced version of VICA. Servers of enhanced versions collaborate to increase speech recognition reliability. Although it significantly increases generated data volume, the advanced version enables a recognition of the facial expressions to greatly enhance counseling quality. Then, we propose a quality assurance mechanism using multiple levels of catalog, as well as 5G/6G slice inclusive of MEC, and conduct experiments to uncover issues related to the 4G. Results indicate that the number of speech recognition errors in Internet Cloud is more than twofold compared to edge computing, implying that quality assurance using 5G/6G in conjunction with VICA Counseling (ro)bot has higher efficiency.
Wie nutzen Unternehmen externe Unterstützungsangebote zu psychischer Gesundheit? Ein Blick auf die Dienstleistungsbranchen ambulante Pflege und IT-Dienste
Authors: Stange Lena , Mümken Sarah , Koppelin Frauke , Gerdau-Heitmann Cornelia
Published: March 2022

Ein Großteil der deutschen Erwerbsbevölkerung ist im Dienstleistungssektor beschäftigt. Beschäftigte, deren Tätigkeit durch flexible Interaktionen gekennzeichnet ist, stehen vor besonders fordernden Aufgaben. Gerichtete Interventionen von Seiten der Unternehmen hinsichtlich der psychischen Gesundheit sind vergleichsweise selten zu finden. In einer qualitativen Studie im Projekt FlexiGesA („Flexible Dienstleistungsarbeit gesundheitsförderlich gestalten“) wurden in Nordwestdeutschland zwölf Expert:innen, die im Bereich der ambulanten Pflege und der IT-Dienste agieren sowie Akteur:innen der Sozialleistungserbringung und der betrieblichen Gesundheitsförderung zur Einschätzung der Situation und zu Änderungsbedarfen interviewt, um herauszufinden, welche Unterstützungsangebote zum Umgang mit psychischer Belastung von Beschäftigten vorhanden sind, und inwiefern darauf zurückgegriffen wird.

Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass aus Sicht der befragten Akteur:innen, die in diesem Themenfeld tätig sind, noch Defizite vorliegen, zum Teil was die Informationen, aber vor allem, was die Vernetzung der Unterstützungsangebote betrifft.

Praktische Relevanz: Die Thematisierung der psychischen Arbeitsgesundheit ist von hoher arbeits- und gesundheitspolitischer Relevanz, dennoch fühlen sich Unternehmen oft nicht in der Lage, angemessen mit dem Thema umzugehen. So gilt es, beteiligte Akteur:innen auf unterschiedlichen Ebenen zu sensibilisieren, um einen handlungsleitenden Diskurs zu erwirken, da es sich bei psychischen Störungen um eine branchen- und geschlechterübergreifende Thematik handelt.
Advancing a cultural change agenda in higher education: issues and values related to reimagining academic leadership
Authors: Whittaker Joseph A. , Montgomery Beronda L.
Published: March 2022

Traditional models of academic leadership are based largely on managerial and transactional approaches. Such efforts frequently support status quo individual success rather than values-based leadership based on collective institutional or sustainability-centered pursuits. Evolved reward systems and leaderships modes that support collective and institution-level effort and innovations prioritizing community and sustainability require new leadership models. Innovative leadership models that transcend traditional gatekeeping are needed and four leadership modes to support innovation and collective efforts are discussed, including shared leadership that draws on distributed contributions of multiple individuals; creative or innovative leadership that requires risk-taking, experimentation, and experiential learning; qualitative leadership that is data-driven and includes evidence-based innovation; and, dynamic leadership based on demonstrated agility and ability to traverse different spaces using diverse modes of doing and thinking. Progressive leaders can move in and out of these modes in response to ecosystem needs, demands, and changes through the use of design thinking and initiatives to support innovation and sustainability in higher education. Success in evolved leadership approaches, including centering sustainability goals that impact institutions themselves and communities in which they exist, require aligning reformed leadership goals and practices with funding models and reward systems, as well as policies and institutional change strategies.
Comparison Between China and Brazil in the Two Waves of COVID-19 Prevention and Control
Authors: Liu Meiheng , Shi Leiyu , Chen Haiqian , Wang Xiaohan , Yang Manfei , Jiao Jun , Yang Junyan , Sun Gang
Published: March 2022

Objective

This study analyzes the effectiveness of COVID-19 prevention and control in China and Brazil from the perspectives of policy and meteorological conditions, and provides experience for epidemic prevention and control.

Methods

This study collects data on meteorological conditions, vaccination and mutant strains in the two countries to analyze the reasons for the differences in epidemic status between the two countries and extracts public data on COVID-19 through various official websites, summarizes the prevention and control policies implemented by the two countries, and evaluates their effectiveness.

Results

As of August 12, 2021, the total number of COVID-19 cases and the daily number of new COVID-19 cases in China have been growing steadily, showing remarkable results in epidemic control. The total number of confirmed cases and the daily number of new confirmed cases in Brazil have continued to increase rapidly. The total death case in Brazil has reached 560,000, far exceeding that in China, and the effect of epidemic prevention and control is not satisfactory.

Conclusions

Multiple factors, such as meteorological conditions, policies and strategies, and economic conditions, can influence the spread of COVID-19, and therefore, the situation varies greatly from country to country. China and Brazil have chosen different interventions in the fight against COVID-19. The policy measures taken by China are typical containment measures and Brazil has a mitigation strategy. From the perspective of the current situation of the epidemic development in both countries, the cumulative death rate and daily new confirmed cases in Brazil are much higher than those in China, which indicates that the containment strategy is more effective than mitigation strategy in preventing and controlling COVID-19. Fighting the epidemic is a global long-lasting battle, and the two countries should learn from each other with the premise of respecting their national conditions. Countries should deepen cooperation and not let up prematurely.
Exploring the future of commercial dispute resolution in Asia: Accelerating efficiency and effectiveness in ADR
Authors: Tezuka Hiroyuki , Koeda Mihiro
Published: March 2022

Since 2017, Japan has rapidly developed its hard and soft infrastructure to accelerate the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in Japan, such as establishing the Japan International Dispute Resolution Center and the Japan International Mediation Center, Kyoto, as well as amending the Foreign Lawyers Act. The legislative process to amend the Japanese Arbitration Act is underway and discussions to accede to the Singapore Convention are ongoing. Mediation and settlement discussions involving judges during the litigation process are traditionally common in Japanese court practices, which would have some implications for investor–state mediation, which is a recent hot topic in the field of investor–state dispute settlement. Numerous means of further improving the efficiency and effectiveness of ADR proceedings have been discussed globally, including mid-stream conferences, Calderbank offers, the use of mediation in complex disputes, and the advanced use of Arb-Med-Arb proceedings utilizing party-appointed arbitrators.
Higher total faecal short-chain fatty acid concentrations correlate with increasing proportions of butyrate and decreasing proportions of branched-chain fatty acids across multiple human studies
Authors: LaBouyer Maria , Holtrop Grietje , Horgan Graham , Gratz Silvia W. , Belenguer Alvaro , Smith Nicola , Walker Alan W. , Duncan Sylvia H. , Johnstone Alexandra M. , Louis Petra , Flint Harry J. , Scott Karen P.
Published: March 2022

Metabolites produced by microbial fermentation in the human intestine, especially short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), are known to play important roles in colonic and systemic health. Our aim here was to advance our understanding of how and why their concentrations and proportions vary between individuals. We have analysed faecal concentrations of microbial fermentation acids from 10 human volunteer studies, involving 163 subjects, conducted at the Rowett Institute, Aberdeen, UK over a 7-year period. In baseline samples, the % butyrate was significantly higher, whilst % iso-butyrate and % iso-valerate were significantly lower, with increasing total SCFA concentration. The decreasing proportions of iso-butyrate and iso-valerate, derived from amino acid fermentation, suggest that fibre intake was mainly responsible for increased SCFA concentrations. We propose that the increase in % butyrate among faecal SCFA is largely driven by a decrease in colonic pH resulting from higher SCFA concentrations. Consistent with this, both total SCFA and % butyrate increased significantly with decreasing pH across five studies for which faecal pH measurements were available. Colonic pH influences butyrate production through altering the stoichiometry of butyrate formation by butyrate-producing species, resulting in increased acetate uptake and butyrate formation, and facilitating increased relative abundance of butyrate-producing species (notably Roseburia and Eubacterium rectale).
Dynamics of finite-size spheroids in turbulent flow: the roles of flow structures and particle boundary layers
Authors: Jiang Linfeng , Wang Cheng , Liu Shuang , Sun Chao , Calzavarini Enrico
Published: March 2022

We study the translational and rotational dynamics of neutrally buoyant finite-size spheroids in hydrodynamic turbulence by means of fully resolved numerical simulations. We examine axisymmetric shapes, from oblate to prolate, and the particle volume dependences. We show that the accelerations and rotations experienced by non-spherical inertial-scale particles result from volume filtered fluid forces and torques, similar to spherical particles. However, the particle orientations carry signatures of preferential alignments with the surrounding flow structures, which are reflected in distinct axial and lateral fluctuations for accelerations and rotation rates. The randomization of orientations does not occur even for particles with volume-equivalent diameter size in the inertial range, here up to

$60$

dissipative units (

$\eta$

) at Taylor-scale Reynolds number

${Re_{\lambda }=120}$

. Additionally, we demonstrate that the role of fluid boundary layers around the particles cannot be neglected in reaching a quantitative understanding of particle statistical dynamics, as they affect the intensities of the angular velocities and the relative importance of tumbling with respect to spinning rotations. This study brings to the fore the importance of inertial-scale flow structures in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence and their impacts on the transport of neutrally buoyant bodies with sizes in the inertial range.
A theoretical model for the growth of spherical bubbles by rectified diffusion
Authors: Smith Warren R. , Wang Qianxi
Published: March 2022

Rectified diffusion is a bubble growth phenomenon that occurs in acoustic fields. Despite the existence of a well-established spherically symmetric mathematical model, theoretical results have been unsuccessful in reproducing the bubble growth even in the case of a single spherical bubble in the bulk. In the latter case, the influence of surfactants and acoustic microstreaming have been speculated as the explanation for this disagreement. In this article, an exact solution for the leading-order concentration of gas in the liquid is determined. Using this exact solution, the well-established mathematical model is reduced to a system of two ordinary differential equations for the spherical bubble radius and the mass of gas in the bubble. This simplified model predicts the rapid bubble growth observed in experiments of a single spherical bubble in the bulk. The new results show that the bubble growth is asymptotically larger than at later times when the mass flux is limited by the slow diffusion of gas in a much larger region of the liquid surrounding the bubble. The new results also show that this bubble growth is relatively insensitive to a reduction in surface tension.
The structure of the nonmarine fossil record: predictions from a coupled stratigraphic–paleoecological model of a coastal basin
Authors: Holland Steven M.
Published: March 2022

Presented here is a coupled model of the nonmarine fossil record, based on a geometric model of deposition, a random-branching model of evolution, and an ecological model based on an elevation gradient. This model provides testable predictions about the stratigraphy and fossil occurrences in coastal nonmarine settings under three scenarios of sea-level change. A slow relative rise in sea level causes a declining ratio of channel to floodplain deposits, plus changes in community composition that reflect an upward increase in elevation relative to sea level. A rapid relative rise in sea level drives increasing aggradation rates, decreases the ratio of channel to floodplain deposits, and triggers a shift from higher-elevation (more inland) to lower-elevation (more coastal) communities. A fall in sea level produces an unconformity, manifested by valleys separated by interfluves. The resumption of deposition following the sea-level fall causes an abrupt shift in community composition across the unconformity, reflecting the duration of the hiatus and the increased elevation relative to sea level. This produces a cluster of first and last occurrences at the unconformity, and it is the only sequence-stratigraphic source of such clusters in a nonmarine system, in contrast to the multiple mechanisms for generating these clusters in marine systems. A central prediction of these models is that the nonmarine fossil record preserves systematic changes in community composition that reflect elevation (or equivalently, distance from shore). Diagnosing these gradients in ancient systems is a promising avenue of future research.
SAU-RFC hand: a novel self-adaptive underactuated robot hand with rigid-flexible coupling fingers
Authors: Su Congjia , Wang Rui , Lu Tao , Wang Shuo
Published: March 2022

In this paper, a novel self-adaptive underactuated robot hand with rigid-flexible coupling fingers (SAU-RFC hand) is proposed. The seven degrees of freedom (DOFs) SAU-RFC hand is driven by four servomotors, consists of three fingers, including two side-turning (ST) fingers and one non-side-turning finger. Specially, the ST fingers can perform synchronous reverse rotation laterally with each other. Each finger with three joints and two DOFs introduces a flexible structure, and the inner part of the proximal phalanx that makes most of the contact with the object is replaced by a flexible belt. The fingers can generate flexion/extension under the pull of the flexible belt, and the middle and distal phalanxes are mechanically coupled through a four-bar linkage. In particular, the flexible belt in the inner direction of the finger will deform, while it will not deform in the outer direction since the outer is a rigid structure. The flexible belt not only plays the role of transmitting power but also has the effect of uniformizing the contact force. Due to the rigid-flexible finger structure, the developed robot hand has a higher self-adaptive grasping ability for objects with different shapes, sizes, and hardness. In addition, the kinematic and kinetic analyses of SAU-RFC hand are performed. A contact force distribution model is established for the flexible belt, which demonstrates its effect of promoting uniform force distribution theoretically. In the end, experiments are conducted on different objects to verify the performance of SAU-RFC hand.
Reflections on a national public health emergency response to carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE)
Authors: Humphreys Hilary , Cormican Martin , Brennan Wendy , Burns Karen , O'Donovan Diarmuid , Dalchan Therese , Keane Shirley , Sheahan Anne
Published: March 2022

Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) are important globally. In 2017, Ireland declared a national public health emergency to address CPE in acute hospitals. A National Public Health Emergency Team and an expert advisory group (EAG) were established. The EAG has identified key learnings to inform future strategies. First, there is still an opportunity to prevent CPE becoming endemic. Second, damp environmental reservoirs in hospitals are inadequately controlled. Third, antibiotic stewardship remains important in control. Finally, there is no current requirement to extend screening to detect CPE outside of acute hospitals. These conclusions and their implications may also be relevant in other countries.
In-depth analysis of the impact of OCR errors on named entity recognition and linking
Authors: Hamdi Ahmed , Linhares Pontes Elvys , Sidere Nicolas , Coustaty Mickaël , Doucet Antoine
Published: March 2022

Named entities (NEs) are among the most relevant type of information that can be used to properly index digital documents and thus easily retrieve them. It has long been observed that NEs are key to accessing the contents of digital library portals as they are contained in most user queries. However, most digitized documents are indexed through their optical character recognition (OCRed) version which include numerous errors. Although OCR engines have considerably improved over the last few years, OCR errors still considerably impact document access. Previous works were conducted to evaluate the impact of OCR errors on named entity recognition (NER) and named entity linking (NEL) techniques separately. In this article, we experimented with a variety of OCRed documents with different levels and types of OCR noise to assess in depth the impact of OCR on named entity processing. We provide a deep analysis of OCR errors that impact the performance of NER and NEL. We then present the resulting exhaustive study and subsequent recommendations on the adequate documents, the OCR quality levels, and the post-OCR correction strategies required to perform reliable NER and NEL.
Still valuable? Reconsidering the role of authoritarian values among Japanese voters
Authors: Benasaglio Berlucchi Antonio , Hino Airo
Published: March 2022

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has dominated Japanese politics since its foundation in 1955. The party's ability to support the interests of small farmers and its commitment to the middle-class through redistributive economic policies have been regarded as among the primary factors leading to its prolonged hegemony. Yet, the LDP has occasionally relied on non-economic political appeals addressing rather conservative issues such as Japan's military force and the country's traditional values. These appeals have significantly intensified under the premiership of Junichirō Koizumi and his successor Shinzō Abe, whose authoritative leadership styles and nationalist agendas reveal the relevance of non-economic values. This study focuses on the role of authoritarian values in shaping vote choice in twenty-first century Japan. Previously emphasized in The Japanese Voter, the authority–liberty dimension has gradually lost prominence in recent models of voting behavior, where socio-economic factors have had a central role in explaining vote choice. Our inquiry places new emphasis on this value dimension and provides evidence for the enduring relevance of individual authoritarian dispositions in models of vote choice.
Future Flood Risk Exacerbated by the Dynamic Impacts of Sea Level Rise Along the Northern Gulf of Mexico
Authors: Bilskie M. V. , Angel D. Del , Yoskowitz D. , Hagen S. C.
Published: March 2022

A growing concern of coastal communities is increased flood risk and non‐monetary consequences due to climate‐induced impacts such as sea level rise (SLR). Previous efforts have discussed the importance of future flood risk quantification using broad aggregations of monetary loss with “bathtub” SLR models rather than more physically based modeling approaches. Here we quantify actual impacts to coastal communities at the census block level using a dynamic, high‐resolution, bio geophysical modeling framework for four SLR scenarios for the year 2100. This framework accounts for future sea‐levels, landscape change, and urbanization to quantify the 1% and 0.2% annual exceedance probability (AEP) water levels. The computed AEP water levels were used to quantify building damage and populations of displaced people and people requiring long‐term shelter across the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) (Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida panhandle). The increase in damaged buildings under SLR is linear, with an increase of 16,367 damaged buildings per 1 m of SLR (R2 = 0.96) for the 1% AEP flood. The rate increases to 24,981 damaged buildings per 1 m of SLR (R2 = 0.96) for the 0.2% AEP, on average. The increase in displaced people across the NGOM is 8,056 people per meter of SLR, and people requiring shelter is 300 per meter of SLR. The results in this work highlight the varying levels of risk across the NGOM and the change in risk under climate change‐induced impacts.