bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Policy learning governance: a new perspective on agency across policy learning theories
Authors: Zaki Bishoy L.
Published: January 2024

The predominant ontological position on agency in policy learning literature has been relatively learner-oriented, thus focusing on policy actors puzzling about policy problems. In other words, it focuses on how actors acquire, translate, and disseminate knowledge and information to address policy problems or ‘puzzles’. However, despite its influence on learning and its outcomes, policy actors’ powering, or agency in shaping learning processes has been scarcely explored or theorised. Drawing on policy learning literature, this article explores and demarcates the concept of ‘policy learning governance’ as a supplementary perspective to the learner-oriented view of agency in policy learning research. Here, learning governance can be understood as the deliberate processes by which policy actors strategise, design, and govern policy learning processes towards achieving technical or political objectives. This article explains how integrating a learning governance perspective into existing conceptual approaches to policy learning can provide a better basis for understanding the interactions between different constitutive elements of policy learning processes and outcomes, such as policy or belief change. In this way, it offers a more robust baseline for explaining learning processes, an advancement that has significant implications for both policy learning theory and practice.
THIS IS ME! The Financial Impact of Ad Agency CEOs and CCOs Who Are Women and People of Color in the C-Suite
Authors: Lindsey-Warren Tyrha M. , James J. P. , Lee Kyungwon
Published: January 2024

Abstract: Although there have been many advances for women and people of color in corporate America, their representation in the top management positions, such as chief executive officer (CEO) and chief operating officer (COO), is still scarce. Among the CEO positions in the 2020 S&P 500, there are only four African American chief executives leading the largest 500 companies in the US. The advertising industry parallels corporate America when it comes to race, gender, and diversity in the top echelons of firms. Can these dismal statistics ever change? If given the opportunity, can White women and people of color excel as CEOs in the advertising industry? This study seeks to understand the role of ownership on revenues when diverse c-suite leaders manage multicultural or general market agencies. This work first posits the predictive relationship of private and public (holding company) advertising agency ownership on revenue. Next, the work leverages the theories of economic detour and resource dependence theory to hypothesize that the race or ethnicity of the advertising agency's CEO and agency type (general market or multicultural) are boundary conditions of this relationship. Results demonstrated that publicly-owned advertising agencies predicted increased revenues. This positive relationship was strengthened by multicultural advertising agencies yet inconclusive for advertising agency CEOs of color. CEOs of color perform at relative parity, in terms of revenue, in privately-owned versus publicly-owned advertising agencies. These findings demonstrate a racial and ethnic separation in the advertising industry, where advertising agency CEOs of color are revenue-constrained. Yet, if given the opportunity to excel into the c-suite, CEOs of color and White women can be very successful and make their ad agencies profitable. In closing, the authors discuss policy implications for advertising agency executive hiring practices as well as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts and trends.
"I thought this was Shakespeare": Romeo & Juliet: The Musical and Teenage Sexual Liberation in Netflix's Sex Education
Authors: Compagnoni Michela
Published: January 2024

Abstract: An increasing number of contemporary Shakespearean adaptations exploit the transformative possibilities of performance to address social injustice and inequality from different perspectives and towards new directions. A timely response to the challenge of finding alternatives to target current social concerns comes from Sex Education , a British TV series created by Laurie Nunn for Netflix in 2019. This series’ engagement with Shakespeare fosters a radical and wide-ranging critique of reactionism and a fight for change in terms of teenage sexual liberation, freedom of self-expression, inclusivity, and representation of queerness and gender fluidity. In the finale of season two, a long sequence is devoted to Romeo & Juliet: The Musical , an erotic and galactic musical version of Shakespeare’s tragedy, created by a young eccentric writer of science fiction attending the school. By also taking into consideration both the production context and Netflix’s status as a streaming platform, this article explores how this parodic postmodern version of Romeo and Juliet —informed by references to queer pop culture and to contemporary movements for civil rights—becomes the ultimate realization of Sex Education ’s rallying cry against the regimes of the “normal,” through the words of a Shakespearean play that opens up possibilities of resistance for teenagers which go beyond distinctions between heteronormative and queer.
"Nothing will come of nothing": King Lear and the Paradoxical Debasement of Whiteness in HBO's Succession
Authors: Votava Jennie M.
Published: January 2024

Abstract: This essay examines the central role of racial whiteness in the self-construction and widespread reception of HBO’s popular series, Succession , as King Lear ’s twenty-first-century heir. Drawing on Christina Wald’s analysis of Succession as “serial Shakespeare,” conversations about the show in digital culture, and work in critical whiteness studies including several recent discussions of race in King Lear , I trace Succession ’s representation of the four Roy children’s battle for control of their father’s global media empire to the racialized portrayal of key characters in Shakespeare’s arguably grimmest tragedy. My focus is the Roy empire’s heir apparent, Kendall Roy, and his affinities with Edgar, Goneril, Cordelia, and Lear himself as figures of early modern racial ideologies. Kendall’s association with these characters in King Lear not only sheds light on the roles of race and gender in HBO’s flagrantly white drama, but also exemplifies what Arthur L. Little, Jr. describes as Shakespeare’s underappreciated but “prodigious contribution” to the making of white people. Succession ’s repeated exposures of the Roy siblings’ toxic, privileged whiteness, along with Kendall’s repeated, failed efforts to be crowned head of his father’s company, resonate with King Lear ’s oft-discussed emphasis on “nothing,” as well as its ambivalence about the future of a unified white nation. What Succession finally reveals about King Lear is a paradox fundamental to both dramas’ constructions of racial whiteness: debasement only adds to its power.
Thinking through the Home: Work, Rent, and the Reproduction of Society
Authors: Taha Mai
Published: January 2024

Abstract: This essay explores the tensions between two positions on revolutionary subjectivity. The first confines it to the production process and the creation of value, and the second ignores the value-form as economistic Marxist orthodoxy. I consider a third position that tries to capture the reach and open-endedness of capitalism, and in the process imagine a more expansive conception of revolutionary subjectivity. Accounting for the vastness of capitalism’s reach entails thinking with and beyond the production of value—about the preconditions that make the wage-relation possible—that is the reproduction of society, broadly conceived. This not only encompasses reproductive labor but also implicates broader gender and race relations through precarity and the gig economy, as well as struggles over homes and housing, health care, and border crossing.
SRS conversion efficiency assessment of a single cell Raman gas mixture for DIAL ozone lidar
Authors: Raman M. Roja , Chen Wei-Nai
Published: January 2024

A single Raman cell configuration useful for DIAL ozone lidar is designed and optimized. The conversion efficiency and flexibility of using a single Raman cell filled with a mixture of high pressure Raman active gases hydrogen (H2) and methane (CH4) have been examined and reported. The stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) conversion efficiency of Raman active gases with different total cell pressures and the volume mixing ratio excited with a focused, frequency quadrupled Nd:YAG laser with a maximum pulse energy of 25 mJ and a pulse duration of 10 ns at 100 Hz repetition rate are examined in detail. The gas combination of H2:CH4 emits a coaxial beam of two wavelengths, 288.4 nm (CH4) and 299.1 nm (H2), with a maximum total conversion efficiency of about 45%. The optimum volume mixing ratio for generating the required wavelength pair with almost equal energies is found to be 2:1 (H2:CH4) at a total cell pressure of 18 bar. The contribution of cascade Raman scattering (CRS) and four-wave mixing (FWM) to the higher order Stokes lines is examined. The laser attenuation due to soot formation under various mixing ratios in the cell is also presented.
Deep learning model for dynamic color design of all-dielectric metasurfaces
Authors: Yan Haotian , Hao Ran , Meng Yanlong , Jin Shangzhong
Published: January 2024

Silicon nanostructure colors have rapidly developed in recent years, offering high resolution and a broad color gamut that traditional pigments cannot achieve. The reflected colors of metasurfaces are determined by the geometric structure of the unit cell and the refractive index matching layer parameters. It is evident that the design of specific colors involves numerous parameters, making it challenging to achieve through conventional calculations. Therefore, the tandem network instead of conventional electromagnetic simulation is natural. The forward part of the network incorporates feature cross terms to improve accuracy, enabling high-precision predictions of structural colors based on structural parameters. The average color difference between the predicted and actual color values in the L,a,b color space is 1.38. The network has been proven to accurately predict the refractive index and height of the refractive index matching layer during the dynamic tuning process. Additionally, the issue of the inverse network converging to incorrect solutions was addressed by leveraging the characteristics of the activation function. The results show that the color difference between the colors designed by the inverse network compared to the actual colors in the L,a,b color spaces is only 2.22, which meets the requirements for commercial applications.
Optical biosensor based on weak measurement for ultra-sensitive detection of calreticulin in human serum
Authors: Peng Zhikang , Chen Jiali , Liu Yufei , Li Dongmei , Li Yixiao , Zhang Qihao , Chen Chaoyi , Zhang Ying , Yao Jia , Wang Shuqian , Lin Qiang , Ruan Yi
Published: January 2024

A novel real-time optical phase sensing method based on the Mach-Zehnder interference principle has been proposed for the detection of calreticulin (CRT) levels in human serum samples. In this approach, anti-CRT antibodies are utilized to capture CRT molecules in serum, leading to a phase shift in both the measuring and reference arms of the system. By employing the concept of weak amplification within the framework of weak measurements, it becomes feasible to continuously monitor the response of CRT in real-time, allowing for the precise determination of serum CRT content at the picomolar level. Our achievement may pave the way in establishing CRT as a diagnostic biomarker for a wide range of medical applications, including rheumatoid arthritis.
Dual-band topological rainbows in Penrose-triangle photonic crystals
Authors: Xu Qingxi , Peng Yuchen , Shi Aoqian , Peng Peng , Liu Jianjun
Published: January 2024

Topological rainbows (TRs) possess the potential to separate and localize topological photonic states across different frequencies. However, previous works on TRs have been confined to a single-frequency band. Furthermore, the achievement of multiband TRs within a single structure is still a significant challenge. In this paper, a composed structure waveguide is designed based on Penrose-triangle photonic crystals. By adjusting the size of scatterers and introducing non-Hermitian terms, we successfully realize dual-band TRs. This achievement will not only enhance the uniformity of the electric field intensity distribution but also provide the potential to introduce a new avenue for the development of robust photonic devices dedicated to processing vast amounts of data information.
Illustrated tutorial on global optimization in nanophotonics
Authors: Bennet Pauline , Langevin Denis , Essoual Chaymae , Khaireh-Walieh Abdourahman , Teytaud Olivier , Wiecha Peter , Moreau Antoine
Published: January 2024

Numerical optimization for the inverse design of photonic structures is a tool that is providing increasingly convincing results—even though the wave nature of problems in photonics makes them particularly complex. In the meantime, the field of global optimization is rapidly evolving but is prone to reproducibility problems, making it harder to identify the right algorithms to use. This paper is thought as a tutorial on global optimization for photonics problems. We provide a general background on global optimization algorithms and a rigorous methodology for a physicist interested in using these tools—especially in the context of inverse design. We suggest algorithms and provide explanations for their efficiency. We provide codes and examples as an illustration that can be run online, integrating quick simulation code and Nevergrad, a state-of-the-art benchmarking library. Finally, we show how physical intuition can be used to discuss optimization results and to determine whether the solutions are satisfactory or not.
Mode localization in plasmonic optomechanical resonators for ultrasensitive infrared sensing
Authors: Hao Yulong , Yu Xinyao , Lang Tingting , Li Fanghao
Published: January 2024

Uncooled infrared thermal detectors are gaining increasing attention owing to their ability to operate at room-temperature and their low cost. This study proposes a plasmonic optomechanical resonator for ultrasensitive long-wave infrared wave sensing based on mode localization mechanism. The mode-localized effect confines the plasmonic energy in the resonators and induces a significant modal amplitude shift through infrared irradiation, thus achieving highly sensitive detection. The results show that the detection sensitivity can reach 1.304 /mW, which is three-order improvement compared to the frequency-shift sensing metrics. The research provides a new approach to further improve the detection sensitivity of uncooled infrared sensors.
Real-time tunable notched waveguide based on voltage controllable ferroelectric resonator
Authors: Lei Shun , Hu Mingzhe , Xu Jie , Zhou Chaobiao , Zhao Qi , Zhang Lepeng , Zhang Haochi
Published: January 2024

In the present study, we have devised and conducted an investigation into a real-time tunable notched waveguide, employing a voltage-controllable plasmonic resonator. This plasmonic resonator is meticulously engineered from a ferroelectric substrate featuring a compound multilayer structure, thereby conferring it with the remarkable capability of flexible permittivity control. Furthermore, we have implemented two non-intersecting Archimedean spiral electrodes on the surface of the ferroelectric substrate, dedicated to applying the bias field onto the controllable plasmonic ferroelectric resonator (CPFR). Notably, our system affords the capability to finely tune both the magnetic and electric modes, achieving precise adjustments of 8.7% and 11%, respectively. The performance is complemented by minimal insertion loss, rapid response times, and a broad range of potential applications, positioning it as a candidate for a diverse array of notched waveguide scenarios.
Gigahertz electromagnetic pulse emission from femtosecond relativistic laser-irradiated solid targets
Authors: Qi Rong , Zhou Chuliang , Zheng Zhuorui , Zhang Dongdong , Yang Xiaojun , Gui Jiayan , Song Liwei , Tian Ye , Li Ruxin
Published: January 2024

The interactions between high-intensity laser and matter produce particle flux and electromagnetic radiation over a wide energy range. The generation of extremely intense transient fields in the radio frequency–microwave regime has been observed in femtosecond-to-nanosecond laser pulses with 1011–1020-W/cm2 intensity on both conductive and dielectric targets. These fields typically cause saturation and damage to electronic equipment inside and near an experimental chamber; nevertheless, they can also be effectively used as diagnostic tools. Accordingly, the characterization of electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) is extremely important and currently a popular topic for present and future laser facilities intended for laser–matter interaction. The picosecond and sub-picosecond laser pulses are considerably shorter than the characteristic electron discharge time (∼0.1 ns) and can be efficient in generating GHz EMPs. The EMP characterization study of femtosecond laser-driven solid targets is currently mainly in the order of 100 mJ laser energy, in this study, the EMP generated by intense (Joule class) femtosecond laser irradiation of solid targets has been measured as a function of laser energy, laser pulse duration, focal spot size, and target materials. And a maximum electric field of the EMP reaching up to 105 V/m was measured. Analyses of experimental results confirm a direct correlation between measured EMP energy and laser parameters in the ultrashort pulse duration regime. The EMP signals generated by femtosecond laser irradiation of solid targets mainly originate from the return current inside the target after hot electron excitation. Numerical simulations of EMP are performed according to the target charging model, which agree well with the experimental results.
Optical hyperdimensional soft sensing: speckle-based touch interface and tactile sensor
Authors: Kitagawa Kei , Tsuji Kohei , Sagehashi Koyo , Niiyama Tomoaki , Sunada Satoshi
Published: January 2024

Hyperdimensional computing (HDC) is an emerging computing paradigm that exploits the distributed representation of input data in a hyperdimensional space, the dimensions of which are typically between 1,000–10,000. The hyperdimensional distributed representation enables energy-efficient, low-latency, and noise-robust computations with low-precision and basic arithmetic operations. In this study, we propose optical hyperdimensional distributed representations based on laser speckles for adaptive, efficient, and low-latency optical sensor processing. In the proposed approach, sensory information is optically mapped into a hyperdimensional space with >250,000 dimensions, enabling HDC-based cognitive processing. We use this approach for the processing of a soft-touch interface and a tactile sensor and demonstrate to achieve high accuracy of touch or tactile recognition while significantly reducing training data amount and computational burdens, compared with previous machine-learning-based sensing approaches. Furthermore, we show that this approach enables adaptive recalibration to keep high accuracy even under different conditions.
Broadband and robust Mach-Zehnder interferometer for Rydberg atomic system
Authors: Li Qinghui , Ju Mingjian , Shang Xin , Ma Zhenglei , Li Wei , Wang Yajun , Chen Lirong , Zhang Linjie , Zhang Pengfei , Zheng Yaohui
Published: January 2024

We present a broadband and robust Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) with meter-scale arm length, aiming to acquire the full information of an atomic system. We utilize a pre-loading phase shifter as servo actuator, broadening the servo bandwidth to 108 kHz without sacrificing the size of the piezoelectric transducer (PZT) and mirror. An auxiliary laser at 780 nm, counter-propagating with the probe laser, is employed to achieve arbitrary phase locking of the MZI, boosting a phase accuracy of 0.45 degrees and an Allan deviation of 0.015 degrees, which breaks the current record. By utilizing our robust MZI, the measurement accuracy of atomic system can be theoretically predicted to improve by 2.3 times compared to the most stable MZI in other literatures. In addition, we also demonstrate the sensitivity improvement in imaginary part and real part of the susceptibility in virtue of the completed interferometer, which exhibits tremendous potential in atom-based measurement system.
Levitated 2D manipulation on dielectric metasurface by the tuning of polarization states
Authors: Xu Feng , Wang Lin , Mu Rongqiu , Zheng Feixiang , Jiang Min , Wang Guanghui
Published: January 2024

In this Letter, we have proposed a particle manipulation system based on a polarization-dependent dielectric metasurface (PDM), which enables far-field trapping and 2D arbitrary transporting. Based on flexible phase manipulation, by tuning the size and angle of meta-atoms, polarization-selective focusing in different modules of the metasurface can be realized. Then, when those regional focuses are continuously lighted in a relay way, the trapped particle at the focus could be delivered to the next one. When six different characteristic polarization states are tuned in order, the trapped particle could be transported to any adjacent hot spots so that 2D manipulation can be realized in an extended range. With the consideration of the Brownian motion, our simulation results show that the success rate of the particle transport can reach more than 96.0%, even after 20 periods when excited at the wavelength of 1064 nm with a power density of 0.15 mW/µm2. We believe that our research provides a new and promising method for particle manipulation and furthers on-chip optofluidic applications.
Compact, efficient, and scalable nanobeam core for photonic matrix-vector multiplication
Authors: Zhang Jiahui , Wu Bo , Cheng Junwei , Dong Jianji , Zhang Xinliang
Published: January 2024

Optical neural networks have emerged as a promising avenue for
implementing artificial intelligence applications, with matrix
computations being a crucial component. However, the existing
implementations based on microring resonators (MRRs) face bottlenecks
in integration, power efficiency, and scalability, hindering the
practical applications of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM)-based
matrix-vector multiplications at the hardware level. Here we present a
photonic crystal nanobeam cavity (PCNC) matrix core. Remarkably
compact with dimensions reduced to 20µm×0.5µm, the PCNC unit exhibits a thermal
tuning efficiency more than three times that of MRRs. Crucially, it is
immune to the free spectral range constraint, thus able to harness the
wealth of independent wavelength channels provided by WDM. A 3×3 PCNC core chip is demonstrated for
animal face recognition and a six-channel chip is employed for
handwritten digit classification to demonstrate the scalability. The
PCNC solution holds immense promise, offering a versatile platform for
next-generation photonic artificial intelligence chips.
Quantifying the distribution of feature values over data represented in arbitrary dimensional spaces
Authors: Sebastian Enrique R. , Esparza Julio , M. de la Prida Liset
Published: January 2024

Identifying the structured distribution (or lack thereof) of a given feature over a point cloud is a general research question. In the neuroscience field, this problem arises while investigating representations over neural manifolds (e.g., spatial coding), in the analysis of neurophysiological signals (e.g., sensory coding) or in anatomical image segmentation. We introduce the Structure Index (SI) as a directed graph-based metric to quantify the distribution of feature values projected over data in arbitrary D-dimensional spaces (defined from neurons, time stamps, pixels, genes, etc). The SI is defined from the overlapping distribution of data points sharing similar feature values in a given neighborhood of the cloud. Using arbitrary data clouds, we show how the SI provides quantification of the degree and directionality of the local versus global organization of feature distribution. SI can be applied to both scalar and vectorial features permitting quantification of the relative contribution of related variables. When applied to experimental studies of head-direction cells, it is able to retrieve consistent feature structure from both the high- and low-dimensional representations, and to disclose the local and global structure of the angle and speed represented in different brain regions. Finally, we provide two general-purpose examples (sound and image categorization), to illustrate the potential application to arbitrary dimensional spaces. Our method provides versatile applications in the neuroscience and data science fields.
A unifying model that explains the origins of human inverted copy number variants
Authors: Brewer Bonita J. , Dunham Maitreya J. , Raghuraman M. K.
Published: January 2024

With the release of the telomere-to-telomere human genome sequence and the availability of both long-read sequencing and optical genome mapping techniques, the identification of copy number variants (CNVs) and other structural variants is providing new insights into human genetic disease. Different mechanisms have been proposed to account for the novel junctions in these complex architectures, including aberrant forms of DNA replication, non-allelic homologous recombination, and various pathways that repair DNA breaks. Here, we have focused on a set of structural variants that include an inverted segment and propose that they share a common initiating event: an inverted triplication with long, unstable palindromic junctions. The secondary rearrangement of these palindromes gives rise to the various forms of inverted structural variants. We postulate that this same mechanism (ODIRA: origin-dependent inverted-repeat amplification) that creates the inverted CNVs in inherited syndromes also generates the palindromes found in cancers.
Harnessing fluorescent carbon quantum dots from natural resource for advancing sweat latent fingerprint recognition with machine learning algorithms for enhanced human identification
Authors: Yadav Nisha , Mudgal Deeksha , Mishra Amarnath , Shukla Sacheendra , Malik Tabarak , Mishra Vivek
Published: January 2024

Nowadays, it is fascinating to engineer waste biomass into functional valuable nanomaterials. We investigate the production of hetero-atom doped carbon quantum dots (N-S@MCDs) to address the adaptability constraint in green precursors concerning the contents of the green precursors i.e., Tagetes erecta (marigold extract). The successful formation of N-S@MCDs as described has been validated by distinct analytical characterizations. As synthesized N-S@MCDs successfully incorporated on corn-starch powder, providing a nano-carbogenic fingerprint powder composition (N-S@MCDs/corn-starch phosphors). N-S@MCDs imparts astounding color-tunability which enables highly fluorescent fingerprint pattern developed on different non-porous surfaces along with immediate visual enhancement under UV-light, revealing a bright sharp fingerprint, along with long-time preservation of developed fingerprints. The creation and comparison of latent fingerprints (LFPs) are two key research in the recognition and detection of LFPs, respectively. In this work, developed fingerprints are regulated with an artificial intelligence program. The optimum sample has a very high degree of similarity with the standard control, as shown by the program’s good matching score (86.94%) for the optimal sample. Hence, our results far outperform the benchmark attained using the conventional method, making the N-S@MCDs/corn-starch phosphors and the digital processing program suitable for use in real-world scenarios.
Developing a text-message library for tobacco prevention among adolescents: A qualitative study
Authors: Khalil Georges Elias , McLean David , Ramirez Erica , Mihaj Paris Piere , Zhao Bairu , Dhar Biswadeep , Khan Meerah
Published: January 2024

Introduction

Communicating the risks associated with nicotine and tobacco use to adolescents can be challenging, especially with the current tobacco market’s attempt to capture the attention of youths. Text message interventions have emerged to address the need to improve tobacco risk communication. This article informs the design of a message library for tobacco risk communication that is based on the transtheoretical model and addresses the risk of multiple tobacco products.

Methods

We draw findings from this study from two phases. Phase 1 involved six remote focus group discussions (n = 25) and an in-depth interview, and Phase 2 involved online ideation sessions (n = 11) that led to the current version of the messages. We conducted the study within a larger project for the design and testing of a tobacco prevention program. With thematic analysis and the affinity mapping technique, two research team members identified repeated topics and relevant quotes to organize them into themes and subthemes.

Results

In Phase 1, thematic analysis revealed four major themes: 1) Adolescents’ gap in tobacco knowledge, 2) Social influence and popularity, 3) Attitude toward marketing, and 4) Text message framing preferences. During Phase 2, participants generated 1-to-7 iterations of the original messages. Votings and discussions resulted in a library of 306 messages under 7 sections, categorized based on the processes of change from the transtheoretical model.

Conclusion

The current study presents key insights crucial for developing and evaluating a library of tobacco prevention text messages that is scientifically valid and successfully resonates with today’s adolescents. Our future plan is to go beyond this initial message development and vet the message library by adolescents and expert reviewers in tobacco risk communication. Future research may consider developing messages that are tailored based on gender, ethnicity, and other factors that are predictive of tobacco use.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of the global prevalence and relationships among Burkholderia pseudomallei sequence types isolated from humans, animals, and the environment
Authors: Laklaeng Sa-ngob , Phu Doan Hoang , Songsri Jirarat , Wisessombat Sueptrakool , Mala Wanida , Senghoi Wilaiwan , Phothaworn Preeda , Nuinoon Manit , Wongtawan Tuempong , Klangbud Wiyada Kwanhian
Published: January 2024

Background and Aim: Burkholderia pseudomallei, a highly pathogenic bacterium responsible for melioidosis, exhibits ecological ubiquity and thrives within soil and water reservoirs, posing significant infection risks to humans and animals through direct contact. The aim of this study was to elucidate the genetic diversity and prevalence patterns of B. pseudomallei sequence types (STs) across a global spectrum and to understand the relationships between strains isolated from different sources.

Materials and Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis in this study. Extensive research was carried out across three comprehensive databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect with data collected from 1924 to 2023.

Results: A total of 40 carefully selected articles contributed 2737 B. pseudomallei isolates attributed to 729 distinct STs and were incorporated into the systematic review. Among these, ST46 emerged as the most prominent, featuring in 35% of the articles and demonstrating a dominant prevalence, particularly within Southeast Asia. Moreover, ST51 consistently appeared across human, animal, and environmental studies. Subsequently, we performed a meta-analysis, focusing on nine specific STs: ST46, ST51, ST54, ST70, ST84, ST109, ST289, ST325, and ST376. Surprisingly, no statistically significant differences in their pooled prevalence proportions were observed across these compartments for ST46, ST70, ST289, ST325, and ST376 (all p > 0.69). Conversely, the remaining STs, including ST51, ST54, ST84, and ST109, displayed notable variations in their prevalence among the three domains (all p < 0.04). Notably, the pooled prevalence of ST51 in animals and environmental samples surpassed that found in human isolates (p < 0.01).

Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the intricate relationships between STs and their sources and contributes significantly to our understanding of B. pseudomallei diversity within the One Health framework.

Keywords: Burkholderia pseudomallei, melioidosis, meta-analysis, One Health, sequence type, systematic review.
Exploring relationship expectations and communication motives in the use of the dating APP Tinder
Authors: Arias Vladimir Santiago , Punyanunt-Carter Narissra
Published: January 2024

Tinder is one of the most popular dating apps for heterosexual people/people seeking partners different from their own sex. In consequence, Tinder for some analysts the app has a reputation of being a hook-up app, albeit for other scholars, the app is simply a mediated venue for romantic acquaintanceship. In order to contribute on the discussion of the competing debate about Tinder and online dating in general, this study surveyed 278 participants regarding their Tinder usage, relationship expectations, and communication motives for using Tinder. Current Tinder users reported less intent to marry and more negative attitudes about marriage. Findings also revealed that men and women use the Tinder differently in terms of their communication motives. Specifically, men are more likely than women to use Tinder for the motives of affection, control, and escape. Older adults report using the Tinder significantly more for the motive of pleasure compared to college aged adults.
Nuclear Meltdown Relocation and Core Catcher Analysis
Authors: Bregu Evald , Ajah Stephen Aroh , Gomes Jefferson
Published: January 2024

Nuclear meltdown with the potential human and environmental harm is one of the major accident hazard (MAH) faced by nuclear power plants. Limiting (or entirely avoiding) criticality events are the main design strategies for reactors of generations 3½ and 4 (Gen3½ and Gen4). These include ensuring negative void and negative temperature coefficients (for both moderator and fuel) regardless of operational conditions, which provide a self-regulating mechanism that helps preventing accidents occurrence (i.e., to address safety and reliability aspects of Gen4’s goals). However, in severe accident scenarios (e.g. during loss-of-coolant, LOCA, events) where failure to extract heat from the reactor may lead to core degradation, strategies to mitigate reactor meltdown and relocation are critical in the design of safety protocols. This work aims to numerically investigate core relocation as an integrated multi-fluid and heat dynamics problem in which flow of melted materials (UO2, Zircaloy and graphite) are modelled through interface capturing/tracking methods. Two interface tracking/capturing methods were compared, the level-set volume of fluid method (VOF) in Ansys Fluent, and the compressive advection method (CAM) in Fluidity/ICFERST. Both methods are in good agreement for the core relocation simulation. An in-vessel core catcher (IVCC) of tungsten alloy was also proposed to demonstrate core degradation control strategy through cooling of the melted multi-materials. The IVCC was simulated with a multifluid model in Ansys Fluent, in a specified applied heat flux model. The thickness of the IVCC is 0.20 m and the heat flux used is 600 kW m-2. The tungsten material used was able to withstand both thermal and mechanical loads on the lower plenum by extracting decay heat from the corium.
Influência da escolha do critério de informação na proporção de não rejeição da hipótese nula do teste ADF considerando a presença de raiz unitária
Authors: Silveira Anderson , Coelho Amaral Mariane , Leite Dias de Mattos Viviane , Nakamura Luiz Ricardo , Konrath Andrea Cristina
Published: January 2024

Dentre as diversas técnicas utilizadas para a análise de séries temporais está a análise econométrica, onde em muitos casos é necessário verificar a estacionariedade da série. Uma série não estacionária apresenta a presença de raiz unitária, o que faz com que não seja adequada para realizar previsões. Nesse contexto, surgiram os denominados testes de raiz unitária, dentre os quais cabe destacar o teste de Dickey-Fuller Aumentado (ADF). Uma das etapas de grande importância na aplicação do teste ADF é a seleção de defasagens. Para selecionar as defasagens a serem aplicadas no teste, é necessário definir um número máximo, a partir do qual será selecionado o número ideal que será utilizado na aplicação do ADF. Este número ideal pode ser determinado com o auxílio dos critérios de informação, como por exemplo os tradicionais AIC, BIC e HQC. Este trabalho avaliou a influência da escolha do critério de informação no resultado do teste, considerando a presença de raiz unitária. Após a construção dos cenários, aplicação dos testes, e realização de análise de variância, não foram encontrados indícios que a escolha do critério de informação possa interferir na taxa de não rejeição da hipótese nula no teste ADF.
Aceleração da Solução Numérica de Problemas Da Biomecânica Cardíaca Utilizando Métodos Multigrid da Biblioteca AmgX
Authors: Dias Machado Costa Jonatas , Silva Santana Lucas , Weber dos Santos Rodrigo , Martins Rocha Bernardo , De Oliveira Campos Joventino
Published: January 2024

A resolução de sistemas lineares desempenha um papel fundamental em softwares de simulações computacionais baseadas em modelos matemáticos para o avanço de pesquisas científicas contemporâneas. Consequentemente, há uma demanda crescente por métodos numéricos e implementações eficientes para enfrentar esse desafio, em particular no contexto da engenharia biomédica onde deseja-se utilizar esses simuladores para criar gêmeos digitais de pacientes e estudar determinadas condições patológicas. Este trabalho tem como objetivo explorar e identificar técnicas eficientes para resolver sistemas lineares relacionados ao problema da biomecânica cardíaca, acelerando assim as simulações relacionadas ao intrincado sistema cardiovascular humano. Para atingir esse objetivo, foram selecionados vários métodos multigrid disponíveis na biblioteca AmgX, que foram testados e analisados em termos do seu desempenho computacional. Como um passo inicial, problemas baseados na equação de Poisson, foram resolvidos considerando geometrias simplificadas e complexas como, por exemplo, um cubo e um ventrículo humano. Esse estudo revelou vantagens distintas associadas a cada método, dependendo da complexidade e do formato dos problemas em questão.
IPSAL: Implementation of the module to generate the Sobol sequence and indices
Authors: Alves Borges Luiz Felipe , Freitas Ferreira Fabio , Gonçalves Fábio , Espósito Junior Antônio , Da Silva Oliveira Aline Fernanda , Rambaldi Telles Wagner
Published: January 2024

Sensitivity and uncertainty analysis hold significant importance across a range of applications, spanning from industrial problems to climate change, financial risk assessment, as well as mathematical and computational models. These analyses involve identifying influential input parameters in models to comprehend their impact on the output. Sensitivity analysis can be performed locally, examining parameter effects at a fixed value, or globally, evaluating the model across a range of parameter values. The Sobol method stands as a robust approach for global sensitivity analysis, employing a Sobol sequence to create samples more uniformly within the input parameter space, thus enabling efficient exploration of model inputs. This paper aims to introduce a computational implementation in Scilab to generate the Sobol sequence for utilization in sensitivity analysis through the Sobol method. A test case was applied to generate Sobol sequences and discuss the obtained results.
ACG Clinical Guideline: Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease
Authors: Jophlin Loretta L. , Singal Ashwani K. , Bataller Ramon , Wong Robert J. , Sauer Bryan G. , Terrault Norah A. , Shah Vijay H.
Published: January 2024

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is the most common cause of advanced hepatic disease and frequent indication for liver transplantation worldwide. With harmful alcohol use as the primary risk factor, increasing alcohol use over the past decade has resulted in rapid growth of the ALD-related healthcare burden. The spectrum of ALD ranges from early asymptomatic liver injury to advanced disease with decompensation and portal hypertension. Compared with those with other etiologies of liver disease, patients with ALD progress faster and more often present at an advanced stage. A unique phenotype of advanced disease is alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH) presenting with rapid onset or worsening of jaundice, and acute on chronic liver failure in severe forms conveying a 1-month mortality risk of 20%–50%. The model for end stage disease score is the most accurate score to stratify AH severity (>20 defined as severe disease). Corticosteroids are currently the only available therapeutic with proven efficacy for patients with severe AH, providing survival benefit at 1 month in 50%–60% of patients. Abstinence of alcohol use, a crucial determinant of long-term outcomes, is challenging to achieve in ALD patients with concurrent alcohol use disorder (AUD). As patients with ALD are rarely treated for AUD, strategies are needed to overcome barriers to AUD treatment in patients with ALD and to promote a multidisciplinary integrated care model with hepatology, addiction medicine providers, and social workers to comprehensively manage the dual pathologies of liver disease and of AUD. Liver transplantation, a definitive treatment option in patients with advanced cirrhosis, should be considered in selected patients with AH, who are unresponsive to medical therapy and have a low risk of relapse to posttransplant alcohol use. Level of evidence and strength of recommendations were evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations system. This guideline was developed under the American College of Gastroenterology Practice Parameters Committee.
Research on the Protective Effect of Twin-groyne Arrangement on Riverbank
Authors: Mao Xi , Liu Xiaofan , Xie Chengle , Xu Zhongquan , Huang Jiawen , Li Henggan , Lei Nengzhong , Wang Shuiqian , Wang Lele , Chen Songliang , Qiu Hongyu
Published: January 2024

A curved channel with intersecting streams can be easily scoured by incoming flow, and the concave bank is badly damaged. This research showed that the twin-groyne could effectively adjust and optimize the flow velocity distribution, change the shape of the free water surface of the bend, prevent erosion, and promote silting on the concave bank, and it could provide a scouring and silting effect on the convex bank. When the spacing of twin-groyne was increased to more than four times the body length of the single-groyne (spur dike), the protective effect on the concave bank was weakened, and the scouring and silting effect of the convex bank was reduced. Excessive spacing of the twin-groyne could cause local erosion damage to the concave bank. When the distance exceeded the theoretical optimum, it was equivalent to the effect of single-groyne. With the increase in the submergence degree, the velocity of the concave bank decreased first and then increased, while the velocity of convex bank decreased continuously. The protective effect of a non-submerged twin-groyne with a dam spacing of four times the body length of the single-groyne was better than that of other conditions, and it is recommended to be used in practice.
REDUCTION OF INDOOR RADON CONCENTRATION IN A ROOM USING HEAT RECOVERY VENTILATION
Authors: Krajčík Matus , Ďurec František , Mahas Nataliia
Published: January 2024

Increased requirements for the energy efficiency of buildings often lead to an increase in the tightness of the building envelope. A lower level of ventilation subsequently worsens the quality of the indoor air and also causes an increase in the indoor radon concentration. This problem can be solved by using ventilation devices with heat recovery. The paper deals with the influence of local ventilation equipment with heat recovery on indoor radon concentration. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the rate of reduction of indoor radon concentration by using this method of ventilation.
FINITE ELEMENT SIMULATION ANALYSIS OF STEEL TRUSS ARCH BRIDGE JACKING CONSTRUCTION
Authors: Zheng Xilong , Li Wei , Zhang Kexin
Published: January 2024

In this study, a spatial model of a steel truss arch bridge was established using the finite element software Midas/Civil to simulate and analyze the jacking construction process. The stress performance of the guide beam and main structure at each jacking stage was obtained. The results showed that in the first stage of jacking, the maximum stress and deflection values of the main girder were observed. The maximum stress on the upper edge of the main girder was 34.9MPa, and on the lower edge, it was -60.4MPa. The maximum deflection was -35.88mm. The maximum stress in the guide beam occurred during the jacking process and was -53.2MPa, corresponding to the cross-section at the root of the guide beam. The maximum deflection of the guide beam occurred in the maximum cantilever state and was -30.79mm. During the arch rib jacking process, the maximum stress was -49.4MPa. Both the maximum stress and deflection values were within the allowable range, indicating that the structure was in a safe state. This study provides a reference for similar bridge jacking construction projects.
Hybrid Adaptive Beamforming Approach for Antenna Array fed Parabolic Reflector for C-band Applications
Authors: Bawane Sheetal , Panda Debendra Kumar
Published: January 2024

This paper presents the design of a parabolic reflector fed through a patch antenna array feed to enhance the directivity and radiation properties. Adaptive beam formers steer and alter an array's beam pattern to increase signal reception and minimize interference. Weight selection is a critical difficulty in achieving low SLL and beam width. Low SLL and narrow beam reduce antenna radiation and reception. Adjusting the weights reduces SLL and tilts the nulls. Adaptive beam formers are successful signal processors if their array output converges to the required signal. Smart antenna weights can be determined using any window function. HPBW and SLL could be used to explore different algorithms. Both must be low for excellent smart antenna performance. In noisy settings, ACLMS and CLMS create narrow beams and side lobes. AANGD offers more control than CLMS and ACLMS. The blend of CLMS and ACLMS is more effective at signal convergence than CLMS and AANGD. It presents an alternative to the conventionally used horn-based feed network for C-band applications such as satellite communication. Broadside radiation patterns and 4x4 circular patch antenna arrays are used in the proposed design. 1400 aperture illumination is provided by the array's feed parabolic reflector, whose F/D ratio is 0.36. The proposed design's efficacy is assessed using simulation analysis.