bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
In-flight icing simulation for two-dimensional configurations
Authors: Liu Tong , Cai Jin-Sheng , Qu Kun , Pan Shu-Cheng
Published: April 2020

This paper presents a comprehensive aircraft icing simulation tool implemented in an in-house Navier–Stokes parallel multi-block solver. In detail, the droplet flow field is solved by Eulerian approach, and a Partial Differential Equation (PDE)-based ice accretion model is adopted to determine the runback water flow and icing rate. Numerical validations are performed on the two-dimensional (2D) NACA 0012 airfoil, where good agreements with the literature are observed. Additionally, the paper investigates the influence of droplet size on the final ice shape. Results show that droplets with greater Median Volume Diameter (MVD) are more likely to impact on the wall, which results in larger droplet impingement limit and icing limit.
A generalized sphere function-based gas kinetic scheme for simulation of compressible viscous flows
Authors: Yang Tian-Peng , Wang Jiang-Feng
Published: April 2020

In this paper, a generalized sphere function-based gas kinetic scheme (GKS) is developed for simulation of two-dimensional compressible viscous flows. This work aims to improve the existing simplified GKS, in which a simple two-dimensional/three-dimensional distribution function is used as the equilibrium state. The present scheme applies the finite volume method to discretize Navier–Stokes equations and the numerical flux at cell interface is evaluated by the local reconstruction of solution for the continuous Boltzmann equation with [Formula: see text]-dimensional sphere function. This local solution contains both the equilibrium part and nonequilibrium part, and the contribution of the nonequilibrium part is controlled by a switch function. It is found that the present scheme has the same expression as the circular function-based GKS for the two-dimensional case and the sphere function-based GKS for the three-dimensional case. Therefore, these two GKSs can be unified, and the developed method provides another way for the simple distribution function.
Experimental study of wind load on tree using scaled fractal tree model
Authors: Chan Woei Leong , Cui Yongdong , Jadhav Siddharth Sunil , Khoo Boo Cheong , Lee Heow Pueh , Lim Chi Wan Calvin , Gobeawan Like , Wise Daniel Joseph , Ge Zhengwei , Poh Hee Joo , Raghavan Venugopalan , Lin Ervine Shengwei , Burcham Daniel Christopher
Published: April 2020

Green urbanism has stimulated more research on the aerodynamics of tree in recent years. The insight gained in studying wind load on trees would mitigate risk of tree falling and enable sustainable landscape planning. However, deciphering the effect of wind on trees is a daunting task because trees come in various species, shapes and sizes. In this study, we aim at conducting wind tunnel tests on various species of trees, including measuring the respective drag coefficient and turbulent flow field using a force balance and particle image velocimetry system. The wind tunnel experiment is conducted using scaled down fractal tree model at 10 and 15 m/s. The 3D-printed tree model is grown based on the data collected on the species-specific tree parameters, such as the height, trunk diameters, crown box dimensions, etc. In this paper, the wind tunnel result of Yellow Flame (Peltophorum pterocarpum) is presented. Results show that the drag coefficient for this inflexible tree model is not sensitive to wind speed. The Reynolds shear stress and turbulence kinetic energy are observed to be the largest at the top and bottom of the crown where the velocity gradients are the highest.
The high-pressure study of nanocrystalline CeO2
Authors: Xiong Lun , Liang Bi , Li Bin , Tu Pu , Miao Fang , Zhang Yufeng
Published: April 2020

The structure and properties of the nanosized [Formula: see text] under high pressure have been investigated by synchrotron X-ray diffraction in the diamond anvil cell combined with the first-principle methods based on density functional theory. The experimental data demonstrate that nanosized [Formula: see text] is highly stable upto 31.3 GPa and bulk modulus is [Formula: see text] GPa. The calculated results by [Formula: see text] indicate that [Formula: see text] undergoes structural transition from cubic fluorite-type structure to orthorhombic [Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text]-type structure at 20 GPa. The indirect band gap [Formula: see text] is 1.89 eV and increases with the increasing pressure while it suddenly reduces to 1.62 eV at transition pressure. The transition pressure calculated by GGA is 40.3 GPa.
Theoretical study on saturable absorption using Gaussian vortex beam z-scan
Authors: Srinivasa Rao A.
Published: April 2020

The study of nonlinear absorption has potential applications as saturable absorption and optical limiting character in scientific and engineering technology. In this work, we report on the Gaussian vortex beam z-scan to study the saturable absorption in the two-level model. For a given material and laser beam parameters, even though vortex beam shows less saturable absorption nature than the conventional Gaussian beam but not much appreciated. The open aperture z-scan peak is narrower for Gaussian vortex beam as compared with Gaussian beam. Also, in the presence of pico- and femto-second laser pulses, the central dark core of Gaussian vortex beam can provide a stable and accurate z-scan profile with avoiding thermal and other nonlinear optical effects at the beam waist of z-scan in the saturable absorber characterization. With including above mentioned points, we have shown how the Gaussian vortex z-scan is superior to the conventional Gaussian beam z-scan for saturable absorber characterization. Though discussed for single-photon absorption, it may extend to multi-photon absorption.
Nonlinear surface waves propagating along the composite waveguide consisting of self-focusing slab between defocusing media separated by interfaces with nonlinear response
Authors: Savotchenko S. E.
Published: April 2020

The model of the composite symmetric waveguide consisting of self-focusing slab between defocusing nonlinear media separated by interfaces characterized by own nonlinearity response is proposed. Two new types of nonlinear surface waves propagating along it with anti-phase amplitude oscillations at interface planes are found. The frequencies of the nonlinear surface waves existing near the interfaces with the nonlinear response only are calculated analytically. The conditions of the surface wave existence are found. The frequencies and localization distances of the surface waves in dependence on nonlinearity waveguide parameters, slab width and interface characteristics are analyzed.
Enhancement of Magneto-optic Kerr effect of YIG nanoparticle by backscattering suppression
Authors: Nurrahman Mohamad Reza , Kim Dongha , Seo Min-Kyo , Iskandar Alexander A.
Published: April 2020

Magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) enhancement is studied for Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG) nanoparticle. The MOKE is quantified by the ratio of the polarization components of reflected wave, namely between the perpendicular component to the parallel component with respect to the polarization of the incident wave. Thus, the enhancement of MOKE can be obtained by increasing the perpendicular component or reducing the parallel component of the reflected wave polarization. An FDTD calculation is performed to obtain the scattered field. Projecting the resulting scattered field to the vector spherical harmonic basis, we show through multipole moments analysis that the suppression of backscattering non-MO field and the raise of the backscattered MO field can be achieved by subtle superposition of some optical modes. For the specific YIG particle system and the wavelength range chosen, the result shows that enhancement of MOKE up to 7.5[Formula: see text]mrad can be achieved.
Dynamic Response Analysis of Long-Span Continuous Bridge Considering the Effect of Train Speeds and Earthquakes
Authors: Gao Xin-Jun , Duan Peng-Hui , Qian Hui
Published: April 2020

In this paper, the dynamic response analysis of long-span continuous bridge under earthquake and train load was simultaneously performed. In order to clearly reveal the mechanism of vibration coupling between vehicles and highway long-span continuous bridge, a numerical model including soil foundation, vehicle and bridge under inclined seismic wave was established utilizing finite element software. The dynamic response of the bridge with different wave incident angles and different train speeds was numerically analyzed. The results show that the wave incident angles have a significant effect on the dynamic response of the bridge, and with the increasing of the wave incident angle, the vertical displacement and velocity as well as the acceleration of mid-span constantly increase. While the dynamic response of the bridge does not increase always with the increasing of train speed, however, at a certain train speed, the dynamic response will reach the maximum. With the increasing of the train speed, the vertical displacements of mid-span points increase while the moments at mid-span reduce significantly when the soil–structure dynamic interaction was considered. The results can provide significant references to ensure the train safe running on the bridges under the earthquake.
Application of Support Vector Machine for Arabic Sentiment Classification Using Twitter-Based Dataset
Authors: Alyami Sarah N. , Olatunji Sunday O.
Published: April 2020

Sentiment classification is the process of classifying emotions and opinions in texts. In this study, the problem of Arabic sentiment analysis was addressed. A support vector machine (SVM) model was proposed to classify opinions in Arabic micro-texts as being positive or negative. To evaluate the performance of the SVM model, a dataset was built from tweets discussing several social issues in Saudi Arabia. These issues include changes that were implemented by the country as part of a newly established vision, known as Saudi Arabia Vision 2030. The constructed dataset was manually annotated according to the sentiment conveyed in the text. To achieve the best sentiment classification accuracy, several procedures were implemented within the proposed framework including light stemming, feature extraction (Ngrams, emoji and tweet-topic features), parameter optimisation and feature-set reduction. The experimental results revealed excellent outcomes. An accuracy of 89.83% was achieved using the proposed SVM model.
Firms’ Reputation for Innovation: Role of Marketing Capability, Innovation Capability, and Knowledge Sharing
Authors: Ganguly Anirban , Kumar Chitresh , Saxena Garima , Talukdar Asim
Published: April 2020

In the current day competitive business environment, continuous innovation has become a central strategy for most firms. The ability to achieve continuous innovation has been observed to facilitate the growth and profitability of a firm. Innovation can not only lead to new customers and market segments, but it also enables firms to develop a reputation for being innovative. In today’s world of fast-changing preferences and trends, such a reputation for a firm is likely to considerably add to its brand equity and growth prospects. The current study investigates the role of knowledge sharing, innovation capability, and marketing capability in a firm’s reputation for innovation. A set of hypotheses were developed to analyse these relationships using structural equation modelling (SEM). The data were collected from seventy-five (75) senior executives spanning across five different industries in the Indian service and manufacturing sector. The findings of the study indicated that a firm’s reputation for innovation is influenced by factors like innovation capability, which in turn is an outcome of tacit and explicit knowledge sharing within the firm. Further, marketing capability plays a positively moderating role between innovation capability and the firm’s reputation for innovation. Overall, the study highlights that the innovation capability of a firm is a result of tacit and explicit knowledge sharing inside the firm. However, such innovation capability alone is not sufficient for a firm to be viewed as “innovative”. The firm must develop and use appropriate marketing and knowledge management capabilities to highlight such an innovative nature of the firm in order to be viewed as innovative in the market.
Resuscitation with PEGylated carboxyhemoglobin preserves renal cortical oxygenation and improves skeletal muscle microcirculatory flow during endotoxemia
Authors: Guerci Philippe , Ergin Bülent , Kandil Aslı , Ince Yasin , Heeman Paul , Hilty Matthias Peter , Bakker Jan , Ince Can
Published: April 2020

PEGylated carboxyhemoglobin (PEGHbCO), which has carbon monoxide-releasing properties and plasma expansion and oxygen-carrying properties, may improve both skeletal microcirculatory flow and renal cortical microcirculatory Po2 (CµPo2) and, subsequently, limit endotoxemia-induced acute kidney injury. Anesthetized, ventilated Wistar albino rats ( n = 44) underwent endotoxemic shock. CµPo2 was measured in exposed kidneys using a phosphorescence-quenching method. Rats were randomly assigned to the following five groups: 1) unresuscitated lipopolysaccharide (LPS), 2) LPS + Ringer’s acetate (RA), 3) LPS + RA + 0.5 µg·kg·−1min−1 norepinephrine (NE), 4) LPS + RA + 320 mg/kg PEGHbCO, and 5) LPS + RA + PEGHbCO + NE. The total volume was 30 mL/kg in each group. A time control animal group was used. Skeletal muscle microcirculation was assessed by handheld intravital microscopy. Kidney immunohistochemistry and myeloperoxidase-stained leukocytes in glomerular and peritubular areas were analyzed. Endotoxemia-induced histological damage was assessed. Plasma levels of IL-6, heme oxygenase-1, malondialdehyde, and syndecan-1 were assessed by ELISA. CµPo2 was higher in the LPS + RA + PEGHbCO-resuscitated group, at 35 ± 6mmHg compared with 21 ± 12 mmHg for the LPS+RA group [mean difference: −13.53, 95% confidence interval: (−26.35; −0.7156), P = 0.035]. The number of nonflowing, intermittent, or sluggish capillaries was smaller in groups infused with PEGHbCO compared with RA alone ( P < 0.05), while the number of normally perfused vessels was greater ( P < 0.05). The addition of NE did not further improve CµPo2 or microcirculatory parameters. Endotoxemia-induced kidney immunohistochemistry and histological alterations were not mitigated by PEGHbCO 1 h after resuscitation. Renal leukocyte infiltration and plasma levels of biomarkers were similar across groups. PEGHbCO enhanced CµPo2 while restoring skeletal muscle microcirculatory flow in previously nonflowing capillaries. PEGHbCO should be further evaluated as a resuscitation fluid in mid- to long-term models of sepsis-induced acute kidney injury.
Price Strategy of Competitive Supply Chain Based on Bank Financing
Authors: Gao Jing
Published: April 2020

In the traditional single-chain supply chain literature research, it is assumed that enterprises in the supply chain system have enough working capital. However, in practical management practice, enterprises are often faced with capital shortage, poor operation, and other related risks. In this paper, the price strategy of competitive supply chain based on bank financing is studied when many retailers are short of funds in the competitive environment. It is found that once the market share among retailers is fixed, the wholesale price of suppliers and the selling price of retailers will gradually increase with the increase of competition intensity, regardless of whether the retailer has financial constraints or not. The greater the competition intensity among retailers is, the better the expected profit of each member of the supply chain and the system will be. Finally, with the help of numerical analysis, the validity of the conclusion is depicted and verified. The relevant conclusions enrich and develop the financing theory of competitive supply chain, providing a strong practical reference value for the fund risk management of supply chain enterprises in the competitive environment.
Altered Macular Vasculature in Migraine Patients without Aura: Is It Associated with Ocular Vasculature and White Matter Hyperintensities?
Authors: Taşlı Nurdan Gamze , Ersoy Alevtina
Published: April 2020

Aim. We aimed to determine the alterations in macular and optic nerve vasculature in patients with migraine without aura using optical coherence tomography-angiography (OCTA). We also aimed to determine whether there were clinical differences and alterations in ocular structures in migraine cases with white matter hyperintensities (WMH) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Materials and Methods. The study group comprised patients with migraine without aura and age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Detailed histories of the patients with migraine were recorded including the disease duration, number of attacks in the last month, and attack durations. Visual evoked potentials (VEP) were recorded in all migraine patients. The migraine disability assessment (MIDAS) questionnaire was administered to all patients. The patients were divided into two groups as migraine with WMHs and migraine without WMHs. All subjects underwent a complete neurological and ophthalmological examination. Only the right eyes of the patients were included in the study. Retinal imaging was performed using OCT and OCTA. Results. A total of 66 migraine patients (29 with WMH and 37 without WMH) and 43 healthy controls were included in this study. Among the migraine patients, disease duration, attack frequency in the last month, attack durations, and the visual analogue scale (VAS), MIDAS, and VEP scores were all similar between those with and without WMHs. There was no significant difference between the groups regarding the ganglion cell complex, foveal, and retinal nerve fiber layer thicknesses. The superficial or deep vascular perfusion densities of the optic disc were also similar between the groups. The foveal avascular zone (FAZ) was significantly larger (P=0.034), and both superficial and deep macular vascular densities were significantly lower in the migraine groups compared with the healthy controls (P=0.001). There was no significant difference concerning the FAZ size or vascular densities between the migraine groups with and without WMHs. In the correlation analysis performed between the migraine patients, the FAZ size was correlated with age and VAS and MIDAS scores while both superficial and deep macular vascular densities were negatively correlated with age and VAS and MIDAS scores. Conclusion. We suggest that for not only migraine with aura but also migraine without aura, neurovascular structures play an important role in pathogenesis, and novel studies are warranted to elucidate the alterations in these and determine the significance of WMHs in these patient groups.
miR-21 and Pellino-1 Expression Profiling in Autoimmune Premature Ovarian Insufficiency
Authors: Li Xinran , Xie Jiaxin , Wang Qingru , Cai Huihua , Xie Chuhai , Fu Xiafei
Published: April 2020

Background. Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) represents the hypergonadotropic hypoestrogenic symptoms that result in the loss of ovarian follicles. 5-30% POI cases are suggested to be involved in autoimmune etiology. MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) plays a vital role in ovarian folliculogenesis via regulating and interacting with multiple target genes. Here, we conduct the target prediction of miR-21, identify the expression and correlation of miR-21 and its putative target Pellino-1 (Peli1), and confirm their relationship with clinical characteristics in autoimmune POI. Methods. Bioinformatic analysis was conducted to screen the miR-21 putative target gene. Autoimmune POI mouse models were established by ZP3 immunization. Serum miR-21, Peli1 mRNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and regulatory T cells (Tregs), general status, spleen Tregs ratio, inflammatory factors, ovarian endocrine function, and ovarian structure were evaluated. For autoimmune POI patients, serum miR-21, PBMCs Peli1 mRNA levels, general data, immune parameters, hormone levels, and ultrasound examinations were obtained. The correlations of miR-21 with Peli1 and clinical characteristics in patients were analyzed. Results. Peli1 was selected based on four microRNA prediction databases and literature retrieval. In mouse models, serum miR-21 level, PBMCs and Tregs Peli1 mRNA, and spleen Tregs ratio were 0.61±0.09, 0.12±0.12, 0.27±0.23 and 4.82±0.58, respectively, lower than those in the control group. In patients, miR-21 level (0.60±0.14) and Peli1 mRNA (0.30±0.14) were lower than those in the control group (1.01±0.07 and 1.63±0.54); miR-21 was positively related with Peli1, AMH, E2, the size of the uterus, and ovarian volume and negatively related with FSH, LH, and the number of positive immune parameters (AOAb, EMAb, ACL, ANA, ds-DNA, ACA, IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE, C3, and C4). Conclusions. Low expressions of miR-21 and Peli1 were detected in autoimmune POI mice and patients. Positive correlation between miR-21 and Peli1 was observed in autoimmune POI patients, suggesting that miR-21 and Peli1 might be associated with the pathogenesis of autoimmune POI.
Modeling the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Oncolytic Viruses and Radiotherapy as a Treatment for Cancer
Authors: Simbawa Eman , Al-Johani Najwa , Al-Tuwairqi Salma
Published: April 2020

Virotherapy is a novel treatment for cancer, which may be delivered as a single agent or in combination with other therapies. Research studies indicated that the combination of viral therapy and radiation therapy has synergistic antitumor effects in in vitro and in vivo. In this paper, we proposed two models in the form of partial differential equations to investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of tumor cells under virotherapy and radiovirotherapy. We first presented a virotherapy model and solved it numerically for different values of the parameters related to the oncolytic virus, which is administered continuously. The results showed that virotherapy alone cannot eradicate cancer, and thus, we extended the model to include the effect of radiotherapy in combination with virotherapy. Numerical investigations were carried out for three modes of radiation delivery which are constant, decaying, and periodic. The numerical results showed that radiovirotherapy leads to complete eradication of the tumor provided that the delivery of radiation is constant. Moreover, there is an optimal timing for administering radiation, as well as an ideal dose that improves the results of the treatment. The virotherapy in our model is given continuously over a certain period of time, and bolus treatment (where virotherapy is given in cycles) could be considered and compared with our results.
Electricity, Neurology, and Noninvasive Brain Stimulation: Looking Back, Looking Ahead
Authors: Renga Vijay
Published: April 2020

Electricity and neurology evolved synchronously over the past few centuries. This article looks at their origins and their journey into noninvasive brain stimulation technique of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), which is now popular in neuroscience research.
Faster Recovery of Internal Ophthalmoplegia than External Ophthalmoplegia in a Miller Fisher Variant of Guillain-Barre Syndrome
Authors: Abhinav Golla , Gamez Jorge , Yang Michael C. , Vaysman Tetyana , von Gunten Michelle , Liu Antonio
Published: April 2020

We present a case of classic Miller Fisher Syndrome (MFS) variant of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) with detailed description in the difference between the internal and external ophthalmoplegia. They are different in their onset, duration, and recovery.
Current Advances of Polymer Composites for Water Treatment and Desalination
Authors: Berber Mohamed R.
Published: April 2020

Over the past five years, a lot of research activities in polymer composites were done in order to improve environmental sustainability and to present advantages for commercial applications of water treatment and desalination. Polymers offered tunable properties, improved processability, remarkable stability, high surface area for fast decontamination, selectivity to eliminate different pollutants, and cost-cutting of water treatment. Hence, the development of polymeric materials is one of the future directions to meet the environmental water standards and to supply the water requirements of the growing populations. This review highlighted the very recent achievements in fabrication, characterization, and applications of polymeric composites used for water treatment and desalination. The polymeric modifications, the addition of functional groups, and the assemblies of nanomaterials were also discussed in detail. In particular, great attention was paid to the recent advances in polymer/polymer composites, polymer/carbon composites, and polymer/clay composites, presenting their usage in the removal of various types of contaminants, e.g., metal ions, dyes, and other toxic pollutants. The review also summarized the main advantages and disadvantages of the different adsorbent materials. Specific attention was paid to the mechanism of adsorption, including chemisorption and physisorption mechanisms. In addition, the challenges and the future perspectives were identified to reach the optimal performance of the different adsorbents.
RNA‐Seq Analysis of the Liver Transcriptome Reveals the Networks Regulating Treatment of Sitagliptin Phosphate plus Fuzhujiangtang Granule in the Zucker Diabetic Fatty Rats
Authors: Guo Xuan , Sun Wen , Xu Guangyuan , Hou Dan , Zhang Zhuo , Wu Lili , Liu Tonghua
Published: April 2020

Diabetes is one of the most serious chronic diseases. Numerous drugs including oral agents and traditional Chinese medicines, such as sitagliptin phosphate (SP) and Fuzhujiangtang granules (FJG), have been discovered to treat diabetes and used in combination in clinical practice. However, the exact effect and underlying mechanism of using combined medicine is not clear. In this study, we compared the antidiabetic effect of SP, FJG, and SP plus FJG (SP‐FJG) using forty 8‐week‐old Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats and 10 age‐matched Zucker lean rats as the normal control group. ZDF rats were treated with different therapies, respectively, for 6 weeks. The study showed that the fast blood glucose, random blood glucose (RBG), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), insulin tolerance test (ITT), homeostasis model of assessment‐insulin resistance index, triglyceride (TC), superoxide dismutase, and malondialdehyde of each treatment group were improved when compared with the diabetes mellitus (DM) control group. Using SP‐FJG in combination had better improvements in OGTT, fast serum insulin levels, TNF‐α, and IL‐6 compared with using SP individually. Besides, the increased LDL and TC caused by using SP was attenuated by using FJG in combination. Meanwhile, compared with the DM group, 1781 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (including 1248 mRNA, 211 ncRNA, 202 cirRNA, and 120 miRNA) were enriched in 58 pathways. Through analysis of ceRNA networks, we found that rno-miR-326-3p, rno-miR-423-5p, rno-miR-15b-5p, rno-let-7c-5p, and rno-let-7b-5p were related to pharmacodynamics in different groups. By analyzing the protein‐protein interaction (PPI) and coexpression networks of the transcriptomes of different groups, it is inferred that Lrrk2 and Irak3 may be pharmacodynamic genes for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Our research compared the treatment of SP, FJG, and SP‐FJG and acquainted the PPI network, coexpression network, mutations, and pharmacodynamics genes, which reveals the new mechanisms of pathogenesis of T2DM.
CNTNAP1 Mutations and Their Clinical Presentations: New Case Report and Systematic Review
Authors: Sabbagh Sandra , Antoun Stephanie , Mégarbané André
Published: April 2020

Lethal congenital contracture syndrome type 7 (LCCS7) and congenital hypomyelinating neuropathy type 3 (CHN3) are rare autosomal recessive diseases, characterized by severe neonatal hypotonia, polyhydramnios, arthrogryposis, facial diplegia, and severe motor paralysis, leading to death in early infancy. They are related to mutations in the CNTNAP1 (contactin associated protein 1) gene, playing an important role in myelination. Recent studies have shown that both diseases could present with a wide phenotypic spectrum, with promising survival up to early childhood. We report on a 7-year-old boy from a nonconsanguineous Lebanese family presenting with neonatal hypotonia, respiratory distress, and arthrogryposis. Molecular analysis revealed the presence of a pathogenic variant in the CNTNAP1 gene leading to a premature stop codon: NM_003632.2:c.3361C>T p.(Arg1121∗). A review of the literature is discussed.
A Hierarchical Innovation-Related Crowdsourcing Decision in Fast Fashion Industry
Authors: Li Jizi , Bian Yueqing , Liu Chunling , Wu Doudou
Published: April 2020

Due to scarcity of designers in fast fashion industry and proliferation of the Internet, small- and medium-sized garment makers have gradually turned to external designers to enhance their innovation efficiency via crowdsourcing initiative. However, few have investigated the issue of fast fashion customized-design matching decision in the crowdsourcing context. Different from previous works, we split crowdsourcing matching decision process into three hierarchical submodels in terms of three key factors, namely, surplus, due date, and goodwill. From a dynamic perspective, we first develop a two-sided matching model where garment makers and online designers select one another by maximizing their total surpluses with an aim to reach robust final pairs and derive the corresponding conditions under which the optimal pairs can be obtained. Then, the extensions of the matching model are conducted by incorporating the critical factors of due date and garment makers’ goodwill, respectively. Followed by that, an improved Gale–Shapley algorithm is devised to solve the crowdsourcing matching problems. The results illustrate when garment makers exceed online designers in number, crowdsourcing design tasks without due-date constraint are more attractive for designers’ participation than those with due-date constraint, and garment makers intend to share the incremental surpluses with designers to maximize the total surpluses. By contrast, when online designers surpass garment makers in number, designers prefer due-date design tasks to those without it. In addition, regardless of whether under the irregular or regular case, the model with goodwill concern always outperforms the two others. Moreover, celebrated garment makers are invited to post design tasks, thus enabling to entice more designers’ engagement in crowdsourcing activities, which in turn facilitating to transfer myopic designers to strategic ones. Finally, sensitivity analysis further verifies the models are stable and robust.
Nodal Solutions for Problems with Mean Curvature Operator in Minkowski Space with Nonlinearity Jumping Only at the Origin
Authors: Shen Wenguo
Published: April 2020

In this paper, we establish a unilateral global bifurcation result for half-linear perturbation problems with mean curvature operator in Minkowski space. As applications of the abovementioned result, we shall prove the existence of nodal solutions for the following problem −div∇v/1−∇v2=αxv++βxv−+λaxfv, in BR0,vx=0, on ∂BR0, where λ ≠ 0 is a parameter, R is a positive constant, and BR0=x∈ℝN:x<R is the standard open ball in the Euclidean space ℝNN≥1 which is centered at the origin and has radius R. a(|x|) ∈ C[0, R] is positive, v+ = max{v, 0}, v− = −min{v, 0}, α(|x|), β(|x|) ∈ C[0, R]; f∈Cℝ,ℝ, s f (s) > 0 for s ≠ 0, and f0 ∈ [0, ∞], where f0 = lim|s|⟶0 f(s)/s. We use unilateral global bifurcation techniques and the approximation of connected components to prove our main results.
Dose-Response Relationship Between Intracoronary Acetylcholine and Minimal Lumen Diameter in Coronary Endothelial Function Testing of Women and Men With Angina and No Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: Pargaonkar Vedant S. , Lee Justin H. , Chow Eric K.H. , Nishi Takeshi , Ball Robyn L. , Kobayashi Yuhei , Kimura Takumi , Lee David P. , Stefanick Marcia L. , Fearon William F. , Yeung Alan C. , Tremmel Jennifer A.
Published: April 2020

Background:

Intracoronary acetylcholine (Ach) provocation testing is the gold standard for assessing coronary endothelial function. However, dosing regimens of Ach are quite varied in the literature, and there are limited data evaluating the optimal dose. We evaluated the dose-response relationship between Ach and minimal lumen diameter (MLD) by sex and studied whether incremental intracoronary Ach doses given during endothelial function testing improve its diagnostic utility.

Methods:

We evaluated 65 men and 212 women with angina and no obstructive coronary artery disease who underwent endothelial function testing using the highest tolerable dose of intracoronary Ach, up to 200 μg. Epicardial endothelial dysfunction was defined as a decrease in MLD >20% after intracoronary Ach by quantitative coronary angiography. We used a linear mixed effects model to evaluate the dose-response relationship. Deming regression analysis was done to compare the %MLD constriction after incremental doses of intracoronary Ach.

Results:

The mean age was 53.5 years. Endothelial dysfunction was present in 186 (68.1%). Among men with endothelial dysfunction, there was a significant decrease in MLD/10 µg of Ach at doses above 50 μg and 100 µg, while this decrease in MLD was not observed in women (
P
<0.001). The %MLD constriction at 20 μg versus 50 μg and 50 μg versus 100 μg were not equivalent while the %MLD constriction at 100 μg versus 200 μg were equivalent.

Conclusions:

Women and men appear to have different responses to Ach during endothelial function testing. In addition to having a greater response to intracoronary Ach at all doses, men also demonstrate an Ach-MLD dose-response relationship with doses up to 200 μg, while women have minimal change in MLD with doses above 50 µg. An incremental dosing regimen during endothelial function testing appears to improve the diagnostic utility of the test and should be adjusted based on the sex of the patient.
Living with Uncertainty: Modeling China's Nuclear Survivability
Authors: Riqiang Wu
Published: April 2020

Many strategists argue that to deter a nuclear attack, states must be certain of their ability to retaliate after a nuclear first strike. China's nuclear posture of uncertain retaliation suggests an alternative logic. Given the catastrophic consequences of a nuclear attack, uncertain retaliation can have a strong deterrent effect, and assured retaliation is not necessary. A simplified nuclear exchange model developed to evaluate China's nuclear retaliatory capabilities against the Soviet Union in 1984 and the United States in 2000 and 2010 shows that China's nuclear retaliatory capability has been and remains far from assured. In its 2010 Nuclear Posture Review Report, the United States promised to maintain strategic stability with China; therefore, the 2010 scenario can be considered as a baseline for China-U.S. strategic stability. Both China and the United States are developing or modernizing their strategic offensive and defensive weapons. The technical competition between China and the United States favors each in different ways. A hypothetical scenario of China versus the United States in 2025 reveals that China-U.S. strategic stability will likely be maintained at no lower than its 2010 level.
From swimming towards sessility in two metamorphoses – the drastic changes in structure and function of the nervous system of the bay barnacle Amphibalanus improvisus (Crustacea, Thecostraca, Cirripedia) during development
Authors: Kalke Paul , Frase Thomas , Richter Stefan
Published: April 2020

Knowledge about the development of the nervous system in cirripeds is limited, particularly with regard to the changes that take place during the two metamorphoses their larvae undergo. This study delivers the first detailed description of the development of the nervous system in a cirriped species, Amphibalanus improvisus by using immunohistochemical labeling against acetylated alpha-tubulin, and confocal laser scanning microscopy. The development of the nervous system in the naupliar stages corresponds largely to that in other crustaceans. As development progresses, the protocerebral sensory organs differentiate and the intersegmental nerves forming the complex peripheral nervous system appear, innervating the sensory structures of the cephalic shield. During metamorphosis into a cypris the lateral sides of the cephalic shield fold down into a bilateral carapace, which leads to a reorganization of the peripheral nervous system. The syncerebrum of the cypris exhibits the highest degree of complexity of all developmental stages, innervating the frontal filaments, nauplius eye, compound eyes and the antennules. During settlement, when the second metamorphosis occur, the closely associated frontal filaments and compound eyes are shed together with the cuticle of the carapace and the antennules. In adults, the syncerebral structures are reduced while the ventral nerve cord and the peripheral nervous system increase in complexity. The peripheral nervous system plays an important role in processing sensory input and also in settlement. In summary, through the larval development we observed a structural and thus also functional increase of complexity in favor of the peripheral nervous system and the ventral nerve cord.
Penetration of Wind-Generated Near-Inertial Waves into a Turbulent Ocean
Authors: Asselin Olivier , Young William R.
Published: April 2020

An idealized storm scenario is examined in which a wind-generated inertial wave interacts with a turbulent baroclinic quasigeostrophic flow. The flow is initialized by spinning up an Eady model with a stratification profile based on observations. The storm is modeled as an initial value problem for a mixed layer confined, horizontally uniform inertial oscillation. The primordial inertial oscillation evolves according to the phase-averaged model of Young and Ben Jelloul. Waves feed back onto the flow by modifying the potential vorticity. In the first few days, refraction dominates and wave energy is attracted (repelled) by regions of negative (positive) vorticity. Wave energy is subsequently drained down into the interior ocean guided by anticyclonic vortices. This drainage halts as wave energy encounters weakening vorticity. After a week or two, wave energy accumulates at the bottom of negative vorticity features, that is, along filamentary structures at shallow depths and in larger anticyclonic vortices at greater depths. Wave feedback tends to weaken vortices and thus slows the penetration of waves into the ocean interior. This nonlinear effect, however, is weak even for vigorous storms.
Gender and Metaphysics: Judith Butler and Bernard Lonergan in Conversation
Authors: Hohman Benjamin
Published: April 2020

There has long been a mutual distrust between gender theory and Catholic metaphysics. However, this article argues that at least one significant figure in gender studies, Judith Butler, has been broadly misunderstood by many Catholic thinkers. Bringing Butler into dialogue with Bernard Lonergan, this article proposes to show (1) that Butler’s critiques reveal certain influential strands of Catholic theology as metaphysically untenable, (2) that Lonergan’s metaphysics evades Butler’s critiques, and (3) that there is a complementarity between Butler and Lonergan’s approaches and their aims. The final section of the article offers some foundational principles from Lonergan’s metaphysics for framing ongoing dialogue.
Semiparametric integrative interaction analysis for non-small-cell lung cancer
Authors: Li Yang , Wang Fan , Li Rong , Sun Yifan
Published: April 2020

In genomic analysis, it is significant though challenging to identify markers associated with cancer outcomes or phenotypes. Based on the biological mechanisms of cancers and the characteristics of datasets, we propose a novel integrative interaction approach under a semiparametric model, in which genetic and environmental factors are included as the parametric and nonparametric components, respectively. The goal of this approach is to identify the genetic factors and gene–gene interactions associated with cancer outcomes, while estimating the nonlinear effects of environmental factors. The proposed approach is based on the threshold gradient-directed regularisation technique. Simulation studies indicate that the proposed approach outperforms alternative methods at identifying the main effects and interactions, and has favourable estimation and prediction accuracy. We analysed non-small-cell lung carcinoma datasets from the Cancer Genome Atlas, and the results demonstrate that the proposed approach can identify markers with important implications and that it performs favourably in terms of prediction accuracy, identification stability, and computation cost.
An Analysis of the Importance of Terms of Trade in South Africa Using Impulse Response Function
Authors: Leshoro Temitope L. A.
Published: April 2020

The understanding of the terms of trade is essential as its worsening can cause severe disruptions in any economy. South Africa, as a developing nation and a net importer, coupled with its low contribution to the global export market, is not spared the effects of the volatility of export prices. It is therefore important to observe the effects of a negative shock in the commodity terms of trade on selected key macroeconomic variables. Using quarterly data from the period 1988: Q2 to 2019: Q3, the study adopted the Monte Carlo impulse response function and variance decomposition analyses to examine the path of a given variable that resulted from a negative shock in the terms of trade. The results showed that all the variables responded, as expected, to the shock in the commodity terms of trade, both in the short and long run, and that they all returned to stable states. The study further showed the importance of output growth, exchange rate and investment in explaining the commodity terms of trade decomposition. The study concludes by providing some policy recommendations.
Reactive computational fluid dynamics modelling methane–hydrogen admixtures in internal combustion engines part II: Large eddy simulation
Authors: Koch Jann , Schürch Christian , Wright Yuri M , Boulouchos Konstantinos
Published: April 2020

Fuels based on admixtures of methane/natural gas and hydrogen are a promising way to reduce CO2 emissions of spark ignition engines and increase their efficiency. A lot of work was conducted experimentally, whereas only limited numerical work is available in the context of three-dimensional modelling of the full engine cycle. This work addresses this fact by proposing a reactive computational fluid dynamics modelling framework to consider the effects of hydrogen addition on the combustion process. Part I of this two-part study focuses on the modelling and crucial considerations in order to predict the mean cycle based on the G-equation combustion model using the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations. There, the effect of increased burning speed was globally captured by increasing the flame speed coefficient A, appearing in the considered flame speed closure. The proposed simplified modelling of the early flame stage proved to be robust for the conducted hydrogen variation from 0 to 50 vol% H2 for stoichiometric and lean operation. Scope of this work, Part II, are cyclic fluctuations and the hydrogen influence thereon using large eddy simulation and the proposed modelling framework. The model is probed towards its capabilities to predict the fluctuation of the combustion process for 0 and 50 vol% H2 and correlations influencing the observed peak pressure of the individual cycle are presented. It is shown that the considered approach is capable to reproduce the cyclic fluctuations of the combustion process under the influence of hydrogen addition as well as lean operation. The importance of the early flame phase with respect to arising fluctuations is highlighted as well as the contribution of the resolved scales in terms of the flame front wrinkling.
Analysis of the lubrication process with composition of solid lubricants of laser-modified sliding surfaces
Authors: Wang Hao , Xie Xuan , Hua Xijun , Xu Sheng , Yin Bifeng , Qiu Baijing
Published: April 2020

Solid lubricants have been applied diffusely in numerous domains. This article investigates the impacts of each component in composite solid lubricants on the tribological performance and compares the antifriction effects of different kinds of solid lubricants to solve the lubrication problem of sliding bearing. Surface textures with dimples were fabricated on the surfaces of GCr15 bearing steel by a Q-switched solid-state Nd:YAG laser. The composite solid lubricants were filled in the micro-dimples by the deposition processes of heat-maintaining and pressure-maintaining, consisting of blinding elements and lubricating elements. Tribological performances under sliding friction for different kinds of adhesives and lubricants with different grain sizes were evaluated by ring-on-disk tribometer. On this basis, an orthogonal experiment of four factors and three levels (34) was designed to investigate the impacts of different components of the solid lubricants on the tribological performance. Solid lubricants with nanoparticles can enhance antifriction ability: the friction coefficient of nano-graphite is 18.9% lower than that of micron-graphite, and the friction coefficient of nano-sized molybdenum disulfide declines 7.6% comparing to that of micron-sized molybdenum disulfide. According to the results of the orthogonal experiment, the optimal formula of the composite solid lubricants was graphite:molybdenum disulfide:polyimide:carbon nano-tubes = 4:1:0.5:0.4.
Initiating adjunct low-dose hydroxyurea therapy for stroke prevention in children with SCA during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: DeBaun Michael R.
Published: April 2020

In anticipation of possible blood shortages during the current COVID-19 pandemic, DeBaun proposes rapid initiation of administration of low, fixed doses of hydroxyurea for children with sickle cell anemia (SCA) who receive regular prophylactic transfusions for stroke prevention.