bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Applications of time‐resolved step‐scan Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy in revealing the light‐initiated reactions in condensed phases
Authors: Chu Li‐Kang
Published: August 2023

Step‐scan Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (ssFTIR) simultaneously provides the spectroscopic and kinetic information of a given reaction. ssFTIR has been extensively employed to acquire the transient absorption and emission spectra in gas phase for identifying unstable species, for example, various Criegee intermediates, and elucidating the dynamics and kinetics of the reaction, such as the molecular elimination dynamics of haloalkenes and the bimolecular reactions involving chlorine atoms and singlet oxygen atoms. In addition to gaseous studies, ssFTIR has been also utilized to record the time‐resolved difference spectra of the photochemical reactions in condensed phases, such as the photolysis of metal–ligand complexes, photocycles of the retinal proteins, coordination capability of solvents to unstable transient species, chemical reactions of atmosphere‐related molecules in aqua, and the exciplex dynamics of organic light emitting materials. Moreover, my group has pioneered the recording of the transient thermal infrared emission of gold nanostructures upon photoexcitation. The experimental setups and the working principles for probing the time‐resolved infrared absorption and emission in condensed phases will be revealed and a number of studies on chemical, biological, and materials systems will be described. These reported results demonstrate that ssFTIR is a versatile tool for exploring the properties of novel materials and photoreactions in condensed phases.
Structural and immunohistochemical characterization of pancreas of Molly fish (Poecilia sphenops), with a special reference to its immune role
Authors: Hussein Marwa M. , Sayed Ramy K. A. , Mokhtar Doaa M.
Published: August 2023

Recently, teleost species have been considered important model systems for investigating different research areas including immunologic one. The available literature provides poor data about the localization and the structure of pancreas in Molly fish. Moreover, little attention has been paid to the immunologic role of pancreatic tissue of teleost, particularly Molly fish; therefore, this study aimed to highlights the description of pancreatic tissue in Molly fish using light‐ and electron‐ microscopy, focusing on the role of pancreatic immune cells and pancreatic acinar cells in immune responses. Microscopic analysis revealed that the pancreas of Molly fish was composed of intrahepatic, disseminated and compact parts. Exocrine pancreatic tissue was diffusely extended within the hepatic tissue forming hepatopancreas. The disseminated pancreas appeared as several irregular nodules of pancreatic tissue localized within the mesenteric adipose tissue. The compact pancreas appeared as an oval shaped body embedded within the mesenteric adipose tissue between the spleen and the intestinal loops. Several telocytes and melanomacrophages were detected within the disseminated pancreatic nodules. Moreover, dendritic cells were found in a close association to the exocrine pancreatic acini. The pancreatic acinar cells showed strong immunoreactivity to APG5, TGF‐β, IL‐1β, NF‐κB, Nrf2, and SOX9 in both hepatopancreas and disseminated pancreas of Molly fish. S100 protein revealed a strong expression in the exocrine pancreatic acinar cells of disseminated pancreas and also in the endocrine cells of the compact pancreas. In conclusion, findings of this study suggest the potential role of the pancreas of the Molly fish in cell proliferation and differentiation, proinflammatory cytokines stimulation, and regulation of both innate and adaptive immunity.

Research Highlights

Telocytes and melanomacrophages were detected in the disseminated pancreatic nodules of the Molly fish.

In Molly fish, dendritic cells were found in a close association to the exocrine pancreatic acini.

Strong immunoreactivity of the pancreatic acinar cells of the Molly fish to APG5, TGF‐β, IL‐1β, NF‐κB, Nrf2, SOX9, and S100.
Cross‐cultural adaptation of the Genetic Counseling Outcome Scale (GCOS‐24) for use in Canada: A qualitative study
Authors: Redondo Laura , McAllister Marion
Published: August 2023

The Genetic Counselling Outcome Scale (GCOS)‐24 is a patient‐reported outcome measure (PROM) developed and validated in the United Kingdom (UK). The aim of this study was to cross‐culturally adapt GCOS‐24 to Canadian Clinical Genetic Services (CGS). This was achieved through a qualitative study exploring whether the existing GCOS‐24 maintains its intended meaning in a Canadian population and assessing whether GCOS‐24 items could be better worded to meet the needs of members of families affected by genetic conditions in Canada. Thirteen participants were recruited from Canadian Patient Organizations supporting people and families affected by genetic conditions. Data were collected through semi‐structured cognitive interviews, as these allow exploration of participants' comprehension, opinions, thoughts, and feelings regarding GCOS‐24's instructions, response options, and the meaning/relevance of each item. Thematic analysis was utilized for data analysis, and an inductive approach to coding was followed to allow for themes to emerge from the data. Themes were organized in respect to their questionnaire item and further classified into their respective Empowerment dimension. The GCOS‐24 instructions were found easy to understand by all thirteen participants. Although the response options were also found to be straightforward, the data suggest the questionnaire would benefit from the addition of a “non‐applicable” option. Semantic validation of the GCOS‐24 showed that items within the Cognitive Control and Emotional Regulation dimensions were found easy to understand by participants. However, items within the Decisional Control, Behavioural Control and Hope dimensions presented semantic difficulties. Participants provided feedback on syntactic changes to support understanding, and this feedback was used to develop a final Canadian‐adapted version of GCOS‐24, GCOS‐Canada. This study provides the first step towards a valid, culturally adapted PROM for use in Canadian CGS service evaluation and research. GCOS‐Canada would benefit from psychometric validation to ensure validity, reliability, responsiveness, minimal clinically important difference and internal consistency.
Overview of mathematical background of homogenization, summary of method MASH and comments on benchmark validation
Authors: Szentimrey Tamás
Published: August 2023

There are several methods and software for the homogenization of climate data series but there is not any exact mathematical theory of homogenization. As we see, the basic problem of homogenization is the unreasonable dominance of the practical procedures over the theory. Therefore we try to formulate some questions of homogenization in accordance with the mathematical conventions. The topics to be discussed are as follows. (a) Themes and systems—meteorological, mathematical and software links. (b) Mathematical formulation of climate data series homogenization and special case of normal distribution. (c) Additive and multiplicative spatiotemporal models for climate data series homogenization. (d) Mathematical overview of methodological questions as, spatial comparison of series, inhomogeneity detection and adjustment of series, in accordance with the WMO Guidelines on Homogenisation (2020). (e) The last topic is the new version of MASH for homogenization of mean and standard deviation. The earlier versions of our method MASH (Multiple Analysis of Series for Homogenization; Szentimrey) were developed formerly at the Hungarian Meteorological Service. These procedures aimed to homogenize the daily and monthly data series in the mean, that is, the first order moment. The new version MASHv4.01 has been developed for joint homogenization of mean and standard deviation using some mathematical results. Theoretically, in case of normal distribution, the homogenization of mean and standard deviation is sufficient since if the first two moments are homogenous then the higher order moments are also homogeneous. An interactive automatic algorithm also was developed in this new version in order to make the homogenization easier for the users. We will present a summary of the software MASH where our intention was to develop a flexible, interactive automatic, artificial intelligence (AI) system. We finish the paper with some comments connected to the theoretical evaluation and benchmark validation of the methods.
Guidelines for parenteral nutrition in preterm infants: The American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
Authors: Robinson Daniel T. , Calkins Kara L. , Chen Yimin , Cober M. Petrea , Falciglia Gustave H. , Church David D. , Mey Jacob , McKeever Liam , Sentongo Timothy
Published: August 2023

Background

Parenteral nutrition (PN) is prescribed for preterm infants until nutrition needs are met via the enteral route, but unanswered questions remain regarding PN best practices in this population.

Methods

An interdisciplinary committee was assembled to answer 12 questions concerning the provision of PN to preterm infants. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) process was used. Questions addressed parenteral macronutrient doses, lipid injectable emulsion (ILE) composition, and clinically relevant outcomes, including PNALD, early childhood growth, and neurodevelopment. Preterm infants with congenital gastrointestinal disorders or infants already diagnosed with necrotizing enterocolitis or PN‐associated liver disease (PNALD) at study entry were excluded.

Results

The committee reviewed 2460 citations published between 2001 and 2023 and evaluated 57 clinical trials. For most questions, quality of evidence was very low. Most analyses yielded no significant differences between comparison groups. A multicomponent oil ILE was associated with a reduction in stage 3 or higher retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) compared to an ILE containing 100% soybean oil. For all other questions, expert opinion was provided.

Conclusion

Most clinical outcomes were not significantly different between comparison groups when evaluating timing of PN initiation, amino acid dose, and ILE composition. Future clinical trials should standardize outcome definitions to permit statistical conflation of data, thereby permitting more evidence based recommendations in future guidelines. This guideline has been approved by the ASPEN 2022‐2023 Board of Directors.
Rare events meta‐analysis using the Bayesian beta‐binomial model
Authors: Jansen Katrin , Holling Heinz
Published: August 2023

In meta‐analyses of rare events, it can be challenging to obtain a reliable estimate of the pooled effect, in particular when the meta‐analysis is based on a small number of studies. Recent simulation studies have shown that the beta‐binomial model is a promising candidate in this situation, but have thus far only investigated its performance in a frequentist framework. In this study, we aim to make the beta‐binomial model for meta‐analysis of rare events amenable to Bayesian inference by proposing prior distributions for the effect parameter and investigating the models' robustness to different specifications of priors for the scale parameter. To evaluate the performance of Bayesian beta‐binomial models with different priors, we conducted a simulation study with two different data generating models in which we varied the size of the pooled effect, the degree of heterogeneity, the baseline probability, and the sample size. Our results show that while some caution must be exercised when using the Bayesian beta‐binomial in meta‐analyses with extremely sparse data, the use of a weakly informative prior for the effect parameter is beneficial in terms of mean bias, mean squared error, and coverage. For the scale parameter, half‐normal and exponential distributions are identified as candidate priors in meta‐analysis of rare events using the Bayesian beta‐binomial model.
Controlling the positive ion electrospray ionization of poly(ethylene glycols) when using ultra‐high‐performance supercritical fluid chromatography‐mass spectrometry
Authors: Cancho‐Gonzalez Sergio , Ferguson Paul , Herniman Julie M. , Langley G. John
Published: August 2023

Poly(ethylene glycols) are complex polymers often added to pharmaceutical formulations to improve drug solubility and delivery. One of the main challenges when using chromatographic techniques coupled to mass spectrometry is the unselective ionization of poly(ethylene glycols) oligomers. Additionally, when the chain length is large enough, multiple charged species are formed, further complicating the mass spectra and processing. This study uses the advanced oligomer separation provided by supercritical fluid chromatography with a mass spectrometry approach that selectively ionizes poly(ethylene glycols) as ammoniated molecules to simplify data analysis and facilitate batch‐to‐batch comparisons. Several visual representations of the response of the ionization events based on the polymer molecular weight and the repeating unit were used to elucidate trends in ionization. Evaluation of the influence of the oligomer length and end‐group on the electrospray ionization of the polymer allowed the development of a process to enable selective ionization for these complex polymers.
Neisseria meningitidis on Sinonasal Culture for Sinusitis: A Case Series and Literature Review
Authors: Ivancic Ryan J. , Root Zachary T. , deSilva Brad W.
Published: August 2023

Neisseria meningitidis is carried asymptomatically in the nasopharynx and is most known for causing septicemia and meningitis; however, the pathogenesis and incidence rates of N. meningitidis sinusitis are not well described. This case series describes four patients from a tertiary medical center who presented with culture‐positive N. meningitidis sinusitis within a nine‐month period. Three patients had complete resolution of symptoms after treatment with the appropriate antibiotic regimen, with one patient requiring functional endoscopic sinus surgery. We encourge providers to advocate for vaccination in their young adult unvaccinated patients, as each patient here was not appropriately vaccinated according to CDC guidelines. Laryngoscope, 134:1603–1605, 2024
Extraction of the bare rock rate in counties of typical karst areas based on unmanned aerial vehicle images and satellite data, China
Authors: Wang Dongliang , Sui Xiangyu
Published: August 2023

Rocky desertification is a land degradation process. The bare rock rate (BRR) is an important index. Satellite‐based methods for BRR estimation can generate BRR datasets, but the spatial resolution and accuracy are low. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data can be used for BRR extraction with much higher resolution and higher accuracy, but the data are laborious and costly to collect. This study proposed a stepwise upscaling method employing the UAV‐extracted BRR as the ground truth to establish a multiband regression model and calibrated the BRR derived from 30‐m resolution LANDSAT 8 data, which was then used to calibrate 500‐m resolution moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. We compared the results with the satellite‐based BRR and the results of UAV‐MODIS upscaling methods. The results showed that (1) the UAV provides high‐resolution data, and exposed rocks can be efficiently extracted from UAV images. This method could replace ground surveys. (2) The accuracy of the stepwise upscaling method was higher than that of the nonstepwise upscaling method in large areas. R2 increased by 64.9%, and the root mean square error (RMSE) decreased by 82.9%. (3) Compared with that of the satellite‐based BRR, the accuracy of the multiband regression model‐extracted BRR was higher. R2 increased by 21.5%, and the RMSE decreased by 62.2%. This study demonstrated that the stepwise upscaling method and multiband regression can be combined to extract high‐precision and large‐scale BRR data, which can be used to serve ecological engineering monitoring and ecological governance.
Miniature mass spectrometers and their potential for clinical point‐of‐care analysis
Authors: Zhai Yanbing , Fu Xinyan , Xu Wei
Published: August 2023

Mass spectrometry (MS) has become a powerful technique for clinical applications with high sensitivity and specificity. Different from conventional MS diagnosis in laboratory, point‐of‐care (POC) analyses in clinics require mass spectrometers and analytical procedures to be friendly for novice users and applicable for on‐site clinical diagnosis. The recent decades have seen the progress in the development of miniature mass spectrometers, providing a promising solution for clinical POC applications. In this review, we report recent advances of miniature mass spectrometers and their exploration in clinical applications, mainly including the rapid analysis of illegal drugs, on‐site monitoring of therapeutic drugs, and detection of biomarkers. With improved analytical performance, miniature mass spectrometers are also expected to apply to more and more clinical applications. Some promising POC analyses that can be performed by miniature mass spectrometers in the future are discussed. Lastly, we also provide our perspectives on the challenges in technical development of miniature mass spectrometers for clinical POC analysis.
The Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy‐Health Index: Development and evaluation of a disease‐specific outcome measure
Authors: Varma Anika , Weinstein Jennifer , Seabury Jamison , Rosero Spencer , Engebrecht Charlotte , Wagner Ellen , Zizzi Christine , Luebbe Elizabeth A. , Dilek Nuran , McDermott Michael P. , Kissel John , Sansone Valeria , Heatwole Chad
Published: August 2023

Introduction/Aims

As promising therapeutic interventions are tested among patients with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), there is a clear need for valid and reliable outcome tools to track disease progression and therapeutic gain in clinical trials and for clinical monitoring. Our aim was to develop and validate the Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy‐Health Index (FSHD‐HI) as a multifaceted patient‐reported outcome measure (PRO) designed to measure disease burden in adults with FSHD.

Methods

Through initial interviews with 20 individuals and a national cross‐sectional study with 328 individuals with FSHD, we identified the most prevalent and impactful symptoms in FSHD. The most relevant symptoms were included in the FSHD‐HI. We used patient interviews, test–retest reliability evaluation, known groups validity testing, and factor analysis to evaluate and optimize the FSHD‐HI.

Results

The FSHD‐HI contains 14 subscales that measure FSHD disease burden from the patient's perspective. Fourteen adults with FSHD participated in semistructured beta interviews and found the FSHD‐HI to be clear, usable, and relevant to them. Thirty‐two adults with FSHD participated in test–retest reliability assessments, which demonstrated the high reliability of the FSHD‐HI total score (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.924). The final FSHD‐HI and its subscales also demonstrated a high internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.988).

Discussion

The FSHD‐HI provides researchers and clinicians with a reliable and valid mechanism to measure multifaceted disease burden in patients with FSHD. The FSHD‐HI may facilitate quantification of therapeutic effectiveness, as demonstrated by its use as a secondary and exploratory measure in several clinical trials.
Evictions and psychiatric treatment
Authors: Bradford Ashley C. , Maclean Johanna Catherine
Published: August 2023

Stable housing is critical for health, employment, education, and other social outcomes. Evictions reflect a form of housing instability that is experienced by millions of Americans each year. Inadequately treated psychiatric disorders have the potential to influence evictions in several ways. For example, these disorders may impede labor market performance and thus the ability to pay rent, or increase the likelihood of risky and/or nuisance behaviors that can lead to a lease violation. We estimate the effect of local access to psychiatric treatment on eviction rates. We combine data on the number of psychiatric treatment centers that offer outpatient and residential care within a county with eviction rates in a two‐way fixed‐effects framework. Our findings imply that 10 additional psychiatric treatment centers in a county lead to a reduction of 2.1% in the eviction rate.
Impact dynamics and polarization mechanism of BaxSr1−xTiO3 particles reinforced polydimethylsiloxane composites
Authors: Chang Mengzhou , Liu Yihao , Li Ke , Che Mingyue , Guo Kai
Published: August 2023

BaxSr1−xTiO3 (BST) ceramics have excellent performance of electromechanical conversion, however, the application of BST ceramics in the field of sensing is restricted by the brittle fracture, electromechanical failure, and collateral damage of BST under impact. In this article, unpolarized BST particles reinforced polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites‐BST/PDMS with excellent mechanical properties, flexibility and flexoelectric coefficient have been prepared. Experimental study on the dynamic mechanical behavior and polarization characteristics of BST/PDMS composites under different impact velocity, element ratio and content of BST are carried out. Furthermore, the three‐phase model have been developed, based on that, impact deformation, stress behavior and polarization response have been investigated. The results show that, the duration of elastic deformation stage increases with increasing of BST content, but maximum stress decreases; time‐history curves of polarization voltage are approximately a “sine” function distribution, polarization voltages of Ba0.75Sr0.25TiO3/PDMS are higher than that of Ba0.25Sr0.75TiO3/PDMS; flexoelectric coefficient increases with increasing of BST content, and μzzzz is larger than that of μxxzz and μxzxz; addition of BST particle leads to greater strain gradient, and increases the polarization voltage of PDMS matrix; electric field at the interface increases due to the dielectric effect, which improves the ability of charge migration, voltage difference of 20% Ba0.75Sr0.25TiO3/80% PDMS caused by interfacial potential is smaller (about 9.3%) compared with 10% Ba0.75Sr0.25TiO3/90% PDMS. This work is significant for the development of flexible intelligent sensing materials.

Highlights

The mechanical behavior and polarization characteristics of BST/PDMS are studied.

The polarization voltages of BST/PDMS (x = 0.75) are higher than BST/PDMS (x = 0.25).

The flexoelectric coefficient increases with increasing of BST content.
Evaluation of the performance of porous PBAT/modified zeolite composite materials for adsorption of Pb(II) ions from wastewater
Authors: Zhan Xiao , Sun Junzhuo , Zhang Daohai
Published: August 2023

This study is aiming to prepare the porous PBAT/modified zeolite composite by the simple, rapid, and efficient method of preparing them by the solution coating process with modified zeolite as adsorbent, as well as with PBAT as carrying agents and with ethanol as porogenic agent. Some influencing factors for adsorbing PBAT/modified zeolite composite membrane in Lead‐Ion‐Heavy Metal wastewater were researched in this paper, including the effects of zeolite content, modifier type, initial pH, pore‐making agent, adsorption time, adsorption temperature, initial concentration, and feeding quantity. In addition, the adsorption processes of the porous PBAT/modified zeolite composite membrane are studied by means of the adsorption kinetics and adsorption isotherm models. The finding shows the kinetic data were consistent with the pseudo‐second‐order model, and the data fitting of isothermal adsorption experiment is closer to the Langmuir adsorption model, which is a single‐molecule adsorption process and belongs to chemisorption, with a saturation adsorption amount of about 106.3 mg/g. Therefore, zeolite has great prospects for the removal of Pb(II) in wastewater, and provides a theoretical basis for the efficient treatment of heavy metal‐containing wastewater.

Highlights

A composite film that can effectively remove Pb(II) from water was prepared.

The composite exhibits rational pore structure and high specific surface area.

This composite has advantages of biodegradability and reproducibility.
Preparation and performance of self‐healing nanocomposite coating with hydrophobic self‐cleaning ability
Authors: Liu Zhihao , Zhu Shanshan , Zhang Haiwei , Li Wenyao , Jiang Li , Zhou Xing
Published: August 2023

With the rapid development of today's society, hydrophobic materials are widely used in many fields due to their excellent hydrophobicity. This article presents a nanocomposite coating with self‐cleaning and self‐healing properties. The nanoparticles (TiO2) were prepared by hydrothermal method, and the TiO2 was hydrophobically modified by adjusting the content of stearic acid (SA) and compounded with a synthetic self‐healing silicone‐containing polyurethane (SiPU). A self‐healing nanocomposite coating (SA‐TiO2/SiPU) with hydrophobic self‐cleaning capability was obtained by a simple brushing technique, with a water contact angle of up to 135.1° and good mechanical properties, reaching a maximum tensile strength of 3.11 MPa and a maximum elongation of 537%, and a repair efficiency of 89.39% after 12 h of fracture repair at room temperature. The self‐healing properties and stability of the coating can increase the service life of the coating, and the self‐cleaning properties can also effectively prevent contaminants from adhering to the surface; its excellent performance has the potential for a wide range of practical applications.

Highlights

An environmentally self‐cleaning composite coating (SA‐TiO2/SiPU) was prepared in this study.

The preparation method of the hydrophobic composite coating is simple.

The micro‐nano structure of SA‐TiO2/SiPU is critical for its hydrophobicity.

The SA‐TiO2/SiPU coating with good self‐healing properties.

The SA‐TiO2/SiPU exhibited excellent durability and self‐cleaning properties.
Adverse drug reactions and hospital admissions: Large case‐control study of patients aged 65–100 years using linked English primary care and hospital data
Authors: van Staa Tjeerd Pieter , Pirmohamed Munir , Sharma Anita , Ashcroft Darren M. , Buchan Iain
Published: August 2023

Background

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are common and a leading cause of injury. However, information on ADR risks of individual medicines is often limited. The aim of this hypothesis‐generating study was to assess the relative importance of ADR‐related and emergency hospital admission for large group of medication classes.

Methods

This study was a propensity‐matched case‐control study in English primary care. Data sources were Clinical Practice Research Databank and Aurum with longitudinal, anonymized, patient level electronic health records (EHRs) from English general practices linked to hospital records. Cases aged 65–100 with ADR‐related or emergency hospital admission were matched to up to six controls by age, sex, morbidity and propensity scores for hospital admission risk. Medication groups with systemic administration as listed in the British National Formulary (used by prescribers for medication advice). Prescribing in the 84 days before the index date was assessed. Only medication groups with 50+ cases exposed were analysed. The outcomes of interest were ADR‐related and emergency hospital admissions. Conditional logistic regression estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results

The overall population included 121 546 cases with an ADR‐related and 849 769 cases with emergency hospital admission. The percentage of hospitalizations with an ADR‐related code for admission diagnosis was 1.83% and 6.58% with an ADR‐related code at any time during hospitalization. A total of 137 medication groups was included in the main ADR analyses. Of these, 13 (9.5%) had statistically non‐significant adjusted ORs, 58 (42.3%) statistically significant ORs between 1.0 and 1.5, 37 (27.0%) between 1.5–2.0, 18 (13.1%) between 2.0–3.0 and 11 (8.0%) 3.0 or higher. Several classes of antibiotics (including penicillins) were among medicines with largest ORs. Evaluating the 14 medications most often associated with ADRs, a strong association was found between the number of these medicines and the risk of ADR‐related hospital admission (adjusted OR of 7.53 (95% CI 7.15–7.93) for those exposed to 6+ of these medicines).

Conclusions and Relevance

There is a need for a regular systematic assessment of the harm‐benefit ratio of medicines, harvesting the information in large healthcare databases and combining it with causality assessment of individual case histories.
One‐step Fabrication of Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Dots‐Based Fluorescent Sensors with Red Emission for Efficient Detection of pH
Authors: Hou Haoting , Wu Miao , Wang Mao , Miao Xirui , Li Haichao , Chen Yang , Yang Xudong
Published: August 2023

Carbon dots have been widely noticed due to their excellent optical properties, such as good photostability and a wide excitation wavelength range. However, the emission peaks of most known carbon dots (CDs) are in the blue region, which hinders their extensive applications in long‐wavelength emission. In this study, red‐emitting carbon dots (RCDs) that are pH‐responsive are synthesized using citric acid and urea as precursors, and their fluorescence intensity increased gradually with increasing solution pH from 1 to 12. A new mechanism based on H aggregation and Fermi energy level transfer is proposed to explain the pH‐responsive emission of RCDs. In contrast to the narrow response range of most pH‐sensitive CDs reported so far, the pH‐responsive range of RCDs is large, especially in the alkaline range, and their pronounced red light emission is well visualized. The prepared carbon dots have the advantages of non‐toxicity, low cost, and a wide pH response range. In addition, “rose” test paper and carbon dot PVA composite film, RCDs‐PVA film, are made to demonstrate the visualization of carbon dots in pH detection. The “rose” test paper and carbon dot PVA still have good fluorescence intensity. The prepared carbon dots have good application prospects for pH detection.
Composite g‐C3N4@ZnO NP electrostatic self‐assembly: enhanced ROS as a key factor for high‐efficiency control of tobacco wildfire disease
Authors: Cai Lin , Huang Xunliang , Feng Hui , Fan Guangjin , Sun Xianchao
Published: August 2023

BACKGROUND

The utilization of non‐metallic inorganic nanomaterials for antimicrobial photocatalytic technology has emerged as a promising approach to combat drug‐resistant bacteria. Recently, g‐C3N4 nanosheets have attracted significant attention due to their exceptional stability, degradability, low cost, and remarkable antibacterial properties. In this study, a facile electrostatic self‐assembly approach was utilized to functionalize ZnO nanoparticles with g‐C3N4 nanosheets, resulting in the formation of g‐C3N4@ZnO nanoparticle composites.

RESULTS

The Z‐shaped heterojunction architecture of these composites facilitates efficient separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs and enhances visible light catalytic performance. Moreover, the formation of the g‐C3N4@ZnO heterostructure showed a higher photocatalytic capacity and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) than g‐C3N4 nanosheets. The photocatalytic antibacterial mechanisms of g‐C3N4@ZnO at the transcriptomic level primarily involve disrupting bacterial membrane synthesis and inhibiting motility and energy metabolism. Therefore, the antibacterial mechanism of g‐C3N4@ZnO can be attributed to a combination of physical membrane damage, chemical damage (ROS enhancement) and inhibition of chemotaxis, biofilm formation and flagellar motility.

CONCLUSION

These findings collectively provide novel high potential and insights into the practical application of photocatalysts in plant disease management. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.
A quantum chemical prediction on arc interruption capability of dielectric gases
Authors: Zhang Mi , Hou Hua , Wang Baoshan
Published: August 2023

The use of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) as an electrical insulator and arc‐quenching gas in high‐voltage equipment raises serious environmental concerns. The search of a replacement gas for SF6 is hindered by a priori assessment on its interruption performance. The routine fluid or mathematic magneto‐hydrodynamic models for arc burning and extinguishing are too complex to be practical for virtual screening. Herein a state‐of‐the‐art quantum chemical model to predict the interruption capability of the dielectric gases straightforwardly has been established in terms of the rate of rise of the recovery voltage (RRRV). On the basis of the molecular electrostatic potentials, five sets of descriptors, including the global statistical parameters and , the site‐specific parameter ΔVs, the total positive surface area As+, augmented with the product of polarizability and dipole moment αμ, were optimized to reveal the inherent mechanisms for interruption and thus a viable structure–activity relationship mode for RRRV has been developed with the correlation coefficient 0.975. Theoretical RRRV relative to SF6 = 100 for all the known dielectric gases are in good agreement with the experimental data by a mean absolute deviation of 3.6. Accordingly, the perfluorinated cycloalkenes and alkynes, in particular, 1,3,3,3‐tetrafluoropropyne, are found to be the promising candidates as the replacement dielectric gases for SF6.
Distributed online multi‐task sparse identification for multiple systems with asynchronous updates
Authors: Zhang Kang , Luan Xiaoli , Ding Feng , Liu Fei
Published: August 2023

Simultaneous online identification of the structure and parameters for multiple systems can use the multi‐task learning to share parameter sparse patterns across different identification tasks to improve the estimation accuracy. To reduce the communication and computational burden, improve the convergence rate and increase the reliability of the identification task, a distributed asynchronous multi‐task sparse identification algorithm is proposed. The alternating minimization algorithm is applied to design a distributed multi‐task loss function. Then by constructing the auxiliary matrix and transforming the sparse constraint on the parameter matrix to the constructed auxiliary matrix, the asynchronous parameter update and sparse model update can be realized. The algorithm uses a recursive form to complete online identification which is feasible to analyze. After proving the convergence of the identification algorithm, we present an example to support the theoretical analysis and show the advantages of the proposed algorithm.
Improving the sustainable development of firms: Evidence from the environmental constraint target policy in China
Authors: Zhou Luoqiong , Du Lei
Published: August 2023

Our study focuses on a new environmental policy tool, environmental constraint target policy, which minimizes the implementation bias of environmental objectives through effective decomposition of environmental targets and goal management, thus ensuring the expected environmental performance. Using longitudinal data (2006–2019) covering 11,252 Chinese firm‐year observations in high‐pollution industries, we find that environmental constraint target policy promotes firms' green innovation. Such an effect is stronger when the firms are intensively monitored and weaker when the firms are located in a region with lower environmental enforcement capability. Further analysis reveals that environmental constraint target policy can enhance firms' economic performance by promoting green innovation, thereby facilitating sustainable development.
Stabilizing Zinc Anodes by a Uniform Nucleation Process with Cysteine Additive
Authors: Jiang Pengjie , Du Qijun , Shi Min , Yang Wei , Liang Xiao
Published: August 2023

Zinc anodes in aqueous batteries face challenges such as dendrite growth and interfacial instability. This study investigates the use of cysteine as an electrolyte additive to address these issues. By establishing the correlation between the size of zinc nuclei and the surface tensions/contact angle at the electrolyte‐anode interface, it is demonstrated that the addition of cysteine in the electrolyte alters the surface tensions/contact angle at the electrolyte‐anode interface and the nucleation process of zinc. This alteration results in the formation of smaller and more dispersed nuclei, as opposed to the formation of larger island grains. This has a profound impact on the subsequent deposition growth process, enabling smooth and uniform zinc electrodeposition without the formation of dendrites. Additionally, cysteine molecules create a stable interface during zinc plating and stripping, effectively preventing corrosion from side reactions. The incorporation of cysteine in the electrolyte significantly enhances cycling stability and extends the lifespan of zinc anodes in aqueous batteries.
Gender Category and Gender Status: A Critical Distinction
Authors: Kolber Jesse
Published: August 2023

Gender has been of explicit analytical interest in sociology for decades. Despite its centrality to the field, “gender” eludes conceptual specificity in significant ways, such as lacking distinction betweengender category(identification as a man, woman, nonbinary, etc.) andgender status(the state of being cisgender or not). I contend that thecisgender statusis a rich site of interpersonal and institutional power that has been understudied. This work forwards the concepts of gender category and status as analytical tools to help explore key elements of gender interaction and structure, such as cisness. I argue cisness must be teased out via the express distinction between gender category and status, and I provide empirical evidence from 75 interviews with various gendered actors (i.e., cisgender men, cisgender women, transgender men, transgender women, nonbinary individuals) to demonstrate the applied purchase of my findings.
MBSE adoption experiences in organizations: Lessons learned
Authors: Henderson Kaitlin , McDermott Thomas , Salado Alejandro
Published: August 2023

Lessons learned through MBSE adoption efforts is one of the key ways of communicating best practices and recommendations for MBSE. This study compiles lessons learned from published case studies and practitioner interviews. Lessons are summarized into categories such as adoption strategy, modeling practices, and communication. This paper provides a source for future adopters of MBSE to review best practices and recommendations from a multitude of different experiences. This should improve the adoption and implementation of MBSE.
Predicting acceleration response of super‐tall buildings by support vector regression
Authors: Doroudi Rouzbeh , Hosseini Lavassani Seyed Hossein , Shahrouzi Mohsen
Published: August 2023

Recovering missing data of defective sensors is an important challenge for reliability of structural health monitoring systems and misjudgment of structural conditions. The present study concerns predicting corrupted data of lost sensors by support vector regression (SVR). The method is tuned via optimizing their parameters by observer–teacher–learner‐based optimization as a powerful meta‐heuristic algorithm. Their performances are compared in predicting the acceleration responses of two real‐world super‐tall buildings: Milad Tower, located in Tehran, and Canton Tower in Guangzhou. Also the minimum required of sensors to predict the acceleration responses are investigated. The results are evaluated by five statistical indices exhibiting that the optimized SVR has sufficient capacity to predict acceleration responses of both towers with limited number of sensors. The proposed method is of practical interest as it does not require finite element modeling of the structure to derive its dynamic responses.
Prediction of persistent occiput posterior position by sonographic assessment of fetal head attitude at start of second stage of labor: prospective study
Authors: Ramirez Zegarra R. , Dall'Asta A. , Di Pasquo E. , Morganelli G. , Falcone V. , Lizarraga Cepeda E. , Falvo G. , Bontempo P. , Kiener A. J. O. , Fieni S. , Ghi T.
Published: August 2023

Objectives

To evaluate the relationship between the attitude of the fetal head quantified by means of the chin‐to‐chest angle (CCA) in fetuses in occiput posterior (OP) position at the beginning of the second stage of labor, and persistent OP position at birth.

Methods

This was a single‐center, prospective observational study conducted at the University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy. We included singleton pregnancies at term with fetuses in the OP position at the beginning of the second stage of labor. The fetal head position, station by means of angle of progression and head‐to‐perineum distance, and attitude by means of CCA were assessed using transabdominal or transperineal ultrasound. The primary outcome was persistent OP position at birth.

Results

Between January and July 2022, 76 women were included in the study. There were 48 (63.2%) spontaneous rotations of the fetal head and spontaneous vaginal delivery occurred in all. Among the 28 (36.8%) fetuses that did not rotate spontaneously into an occiput anterior position, eight (28.6%) had a spontaneous vaginal delivery, while operative vaginal delivery and Cesarean delivery was performed in 11 (39.3%) and nine (32.1%) cases, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that the CCA (adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 2.15 (95% CI, 1.22–3.78); P = 0.008) and nulliparity (aOR, 0.20 (95% CI, 0.06–0.76); P = 0.02) were associated independently with persistent OP position at birth. Moreover, the CCA showed an area under the receiver‐operating‐characteristics curve of 0.69 (95% CI, 0.56–0.82); P = 0.005) for the prediction of persistent OP position. The optimal cut‐off value of the CCA was 36.5°, and was associated with a sensitivity of 0.82 (95% CI, 0.63–0.94), specificity of 0.50 (95% CI, 0.35–0.65), positive predictive value of 0.49 (95% CI, 0.34–0.64), negative predictive value of 0.83 (95% CI, 0.64–0.94), positive likelihood ratio of 1.64 (95% CI, 1.18–2.29) and negative likelihood ratio of 0.36 (95% CI, 0.15–0.83).

Conclusions

Our data show that, within a population of women with fetal OP position at the beginning of the second stage of labor, the sonographic fetal head attitude measured by means of the CCA might help in the identification of fetuses at risk of persistent OP position. Such findings can be useful for patient counseling when OP position is diagnosed at full cervical dilatation. Further studies should investigate if the CCA might select patients who may benefit from manual rotation of the fetal head. © 2023 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Delayed Fertility as a Driver of Fertility Decline?
Authors: Beaujouan Eva
Published: August 2023

A major transformation of life in the last decades has been the delay in fertility – that is, the decrease in fertility among people below age 25–30. At the same time that fertility has been delayed, the proportion of people having children later in life has increased, but in many countries, completed fertility has declined. In this chapter I (re)consider the extent to which these three phenomena –fertility delay, increase in later fertility, and fertility decline – are related. I examine whether fertility delay causes fertility decline and review evidence that an increasing number of people are facing constraints to childbearing in later life. Finally, I discuss the relevance of changes in partnership dynamics for fertility decline, as well as some implications of fertility delay on future completed fertility.

I take a cohort and life course approach. While I acknowledge the temporality of fertility behavior and the importance of period “shocks” (e.g., recessions, pandemics), a cohort approach is the most natural way to examine the link between fertility timing (i.e., delay) and fertility quantum: the key question is, after all, whether the same people who delay fertility earlier in life wind up with fewer children at the end of their reproductive window. To explore overall trends as well as cross-country variation, I cover a range of low fertility countries at different stages of fertility delay and with different childbearing contexts over the 1940–80 birth cohorts.
Methodik
Authors: Zimmermann Yves Clément
Published: August 2023

Gegenstand dieses Kapitels sind die eingesetzte Methodik und die gewählte Datenbasis. Genauer eingegangen wird an dieser Stelle auf die Entscheidungen für qualitatives Vorgehen, für das konkrete Design der explorativen Fallstudie und deren Elemente. Dabei werden sowohl Erhebungs-, Transkriptions- und Auswertungsmethoden dargestellt als auch auf Details zur verwendeten Stichprobe eingegangen.
Shock waves and delay of hyperfast growth in de Sitter complexity
Authors: Anegawa Takanori , Iizuka Norihiro
Published: August 2023

Abstract

We study the holographic complexity in de Sitter spacetime, especially how the hyperfast growth of holographic complexity in de Sitter spacetime is affected under a small and early perturbation. The perturbed geometry is de Sitter spacetime with shock waves. We find that the critical time, at which de Sitter holographic complexity diverges, becomes always greater in the presence of the shock waves, which satisfies the averaged null energy conditions. This means that the hyperfast property of de Sitter complexity is delayed by small perturbations.
Artificial intelligence-related anomies and predictive policing: normative (dis)orders in liberal democracies
Authors: Behnam Shad Klaus
Published: August 2023

This article links three rarely considered dimensions related to the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI)-based technologies in the form of predictive policing and discusses them in relation to liberal democratic societies. The three dimensions are the theoretical embedding and the workings of AI within anomic conditions (1), potential normative disorders emerging from them in the form of thinking errors and discriminatory practices (2) as well as the consequences of these disorders on the psychosocial, and emotional level (3). Against this background, AI-induced anomie is conceptualized as a field of tension that refers to a systematic deterioration of democratic norms that are supposed to create ‘normative orders’, but which, when implemented through AI-supported measures, can reproduce existing discriminations, and establish new kinds of discriminatory relations. In future, these AI-based measures have the potential to lead to opposing normative disorders by emerging in the form of false social norms to an equally false Second Nature. They deprive persons involved of the possibility of individual appropriation of social norms and the specific emotional development associated with it.