bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the role of transverse motion in pseudo-steady gravity currents
Authors: Marshall C. R. , Dorrell R. M. , Keevil G. M. , Peakall J. , Tobias S. M.
Published: March 2023

Flow in the body of gravity currents is typically assumed to be statistically two-dimensional, and cross-stream flow is often neglected (Simpson 1997; Meiburg et al. 2015). Here, we assess the validity of such assumptions using Shake-the-Box particle tracking velocimetry measurements of experimental gravity current flows. The resulting instantaneous, volumetric, whole-field velocity measurements indicate that cross-stream and vertical velocities (and velocity fluctuations) are equivalent in magnitude and thus are key to energy distribution and dissipation within the flow. Further, the presented data highlight the limitations of basing conclusions regarding body structure on a single cross-stream plane (particularly if that plane is central). Spectral analysis and dynamic mode decomposition of the fully three-dimensional, volumetric velocity data suggests internal waves within the current body that are associated with coherent three-dimensional motions in higher Reynolds number flows. Additionally, a potential critical layer at the height of the downstream velocity maximum is identified.
Systematic review of long term follow-up and transitional care in adolescents and adults with esophageal atresia - why is transitional care mandatory?
Authors: Brooks G. , Gazzaneo M. , Bertozzi M. , Riccipetitoni G. , Raffaele A.
Published: March 2023

Purpose: to review recent literature concerning long-term health issues and transitional care in esophageal atresia (EA) patients. PubMed, Scopus, Embase and Web of Science databases were screened for studies regarding EA patients aged more than or equal to 11 years, published between August 2014 and June 2022. Sixteen studies involving 830 patients were analyzed. Mean age was 27.4 years (range 11–63). EA subtype distribution was: type C (48.8%), A (9.5%), D (1.9%), E (0.5%) and B (0.2%). 55% underwent primary repair, 34.3% delayed repair, 10.5% esophageal substitution. Mean follow-up was 27.2 years (range 11–63). Long-term sequelae were: gastro-esophageal reflux (41.4%), dysphagia (27.6%), esophagitis (12.4%), Barrett esophagus (8.1%), anastomotic stricture (4.8%); persistent cough (8.7%), recurrent infections (4.3%) and chronic respiratory diseases (5.5%). Musculo-skeletal deformities were present in 36 out of 74 reported cases. Reduced weight and height were detected in 13.3% and 6% cases, respectively. Impaired quality of life was reported in 9% of patients; 9.6% had diagnosis or raised risk of mental disorders. 10.3% of adult patients had no care provider. Meta-analysis was conducted on 816 patients. Estimated prevalences are: GERD 42.4%, dysphagia 57.8%, Barrett esophagus 12.4%, respiratory diseases 33.3%, neurological sequelae 11.7%, underweight 19.6%. Heterogeneity was substantial (> 50%).

   Conclusion: EA patients must continue follow-up beyond childhood, with a defined transitional-care path by a highly specialized multidisciplinary team due to the multiple long-term sequelae.

What is Known:• Survival rates of esophageal atresia patients is now more than 90% thanks to the improvements in surgical techniques and intensive care, therefore patients’ needs throughout adolescence and adulthood must be taken into account.

What is New:• This review, by summarizing recent literature concerning long term sequelae of esophageal atresia, may contribute to raise awareness on the importance of defining standardized protocols of transitional and adulthood care for esophageal atresia patients.
DynQ: a dynamic query engine with query-reuse capabilities embedded in a polyglot runtime
Authors: Schiavio Filippo , Bonetta Daniele , Binder Walter
Published: March 2023

Language-integrated query (LINQ) frameworks offer a convenient programming abstraction for processing in-memory collections of data, allowing developers to concisely express declarative queries using popular programming languages. Existing LINQ frameworks rely on the type system of statically typed languages such as C$$^\sharp $$♯or Java to perform query compilation and execution. As a consequence of this design, they do not support dynamic languages such as Python, R, or JavaScript. Such languages are however very popular among data scientists, who would certainly benefit from LINQ frameworks in data-analytics applications. The gap between dynamic languages and LINQ frameworks has been partially bridged by the recent work DynQ, a novel query engine designed for dynamic languages. DynQ is language-agnostic, since it is able to execute SQL queries on all languages supported by the GraalVM platform. Moreover, DynQ can execute queries combining data from multiple sources, namely in-memory object collections as well as on-file data and external database systems. The evaluation of DynQ shows performance comparable with equivalent hand-optimized code, and in line with common data-processing libraries and embedded databases, making DynQ an appealing query engine for standalone analytics applications and for data-intensive server-side workloads. In this work, we extend DynQ addressing the problem of optimizing high-throughput workloads in the context of fluent APIs. In particular, we focus on applications which make use of data-processing libraries mostly for executing many queries on small batches of datasets, e.g., in micro-services, as well as applications which make use of data-processing libraries within recursive functions. For this purpose, we presentreusable compiled queries, a novel approach to query execution which allows reusing the same dynamically compiled code for different queries. As we show in our evaluation, thanks to reusable compiled queries, DynQ can also speed up applications that heavily use data-processing libraries on small datasets using a typical fluent API.
Expanding risk predictions of pesticide resistance evolution in arthropod pests with a proxy for selection pressure
Authors: Thia Joshua A. , Maino James , Kelly Alicia , Hoffmann Ary A. , Umina Paul A.
Published: March 2023

Chemical resistance in pest organisms threatens global food security and human health, yet resistance issues are mostly dealt with reactively. Predictive models of resistance risk provide an avenue for field practitioners to implement proactive pest management but require knowledge of factors that drive resistance evolution. Despite the importance of chemical selection pressure on resistance evolution, poor availability of chemical usage data has limited the use of a general multi-species measure of selection pressure in predictive models. We demonstrate the use of pesticide product registrations as a predictor of resistance status and potential proxy of chemical selection pressure. Pesticide product registrations were obtained for 427 USA and 209 Australian agricultural arthropod pests, for 42 and 39 chemical Mode of Action (MoA) groups, respectively. We constructed Bayesian logistic regressions of resistance status as a function of the number of pesticide product registrations and two ecological traits, phagy, and voltinism. Our models were well-supported with demonstrated power to discriminate between resistant and susceptible observations in both USA and Australian species sets using cross-validation. Importantly, we observed strong support for a positive association between pesticide products and resistance status. Our work expands the horizon for proactive management by quantitatively linking a proxy for selection pressure on pest species to different chemical MoAs, which can be combined with ecological information to build models of resistance evolution risk. Because pesticide product registrations can typically be obtained from publicly available data, we believe they have broad applicability for risk predictions in other agricultural pests, such as weeds and fungi, and to other geographical regions beyond the USA and Australia.
A simplified semi-quantitative procedure based on the SLIP model for landslide risk assessment: the case study of Gioiosa Marea (Sicily, Italy)
Authors: Gatto Michele Placido Antonio , Lentini Valentina , Montrasio Lorella , Castelli Francesco
Published: March 2023

Landslide risk assessment is fundamental in identifying risk areas, where mitigation measures must be introduced. Most of the existing methods are based on susceptibility assessment strongly site-specific and require information often unavailable for damage quantification. This study proposes a simplified methodology, specific for rainfall-induced shallow landslides, that tries to overcome both these limitations. Susceptibility assessed from a physically-based model SLIP (shallow landslides instability prediction) is combined with distance derived indices representing the interference probability with elements at risk in the anthropized environment. The methodology is applied to Gioiosa Marea municipality (Sicily, south Italy), where shallow landslides are often triggered by rainfall causing relevant social and economic damage because of their interference with roads. SLIP parameters are first calibrated to predict the spatial and temporal occurrence of past surveyed phenomena. Susceptibility is then assessed in the whole municipality and validated by comparison with areas affected by slide movements according to the regional databases of historical landslides. It is shown that all the detected areas are covered by points where the SLIP safety factor ranges between 0 and 2. Risk is finally assessed after computation of distances from elements at risk, selected from the land use map. In this case, results are not well validated because of lack of details in the available regional hydrogeological plan, both in terms of extension and information. Further validation of the proposed interference indices is required, e.g., with studies of landslide propagation, which can also allow considerations on the provoked damage.
Identification of vitamin B12 producing bacteria based on the presence of bluB/cobT2 homologues
Authors: Dudko Darya , Milker Sofia , Holtmann Dirk , Buchhaupt Markus
Published: March 2023

Objectives

The objective of the study was to develop a strategy for the identification of new vitamin B12-producing species and to characterize their production capability using a fast and sensitive LC–MS/MS method developed in this study.

Results

Searching for homologues of the bluB/cobT2 fusion gene known to be responsible for the production of the active vitamin B12 form in P. freudenreichii was shown to be a successful strategy for the identification of new vitamin B12-producing strains. The analysis of the identified strains via LC–MS/MS showed the ability of Terrabacter sp. DSM102553, Yimella lutea DSM19828 and Calidifontibacter indicus DSM22967 to produce the active form of vitamin B12. Further analysis of vitamin B12 production capability of Terrabacter sp. DSM102553 in M9 minimal medium and peptone-based media revealed that the highest yield of 2.65 µg of vitamin B12 per g dry cell weight was obtained in M9 medium.

Conclusions

The proposed strategy enabled identification of Terrabacter sp. DSM102553, whose relatively high yields obtained in the minimal medium open new perspectives for the possible application of the strain for biotechnological vitamin B12 production.
A phase I dose-escalation study of SYHA1813, a VEGFR and CSF1R inhibitor, in patients with recurrent High-Grade Gliomas or Advanced Solid Tumors
Authors: Kang Zhuang , Li Shenglan , Lin Yi , Li Yongsheng , Mao Ying , Zhang Jing , Lei Ting , Wang Haidan , Su Yangzhi , Yang Yang , Qiu Jingbo , Li Wenbin
Published: March 2023

SYHA1813 is a potent multikinase inhibitor that targets vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFRs)/colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R). This study aimed to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics (PK), and antitumor activity of escalating doses of SYHA1813 in patients with recurrent high-grade gliomas (HGGs) or advanced solid tumors. This study adopted a combination of accelerated titration and a 3 + 3 design for dose escalation, with a starting dose of 5 mg once daily. The dose escalation continued at successive dose levels until the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) was determined. A total of 14 patients were enrolled and treated, including 13 with WHO grade III or IV gliomas and 1 with colorectal cancer. Two patients experienced dose-limiting toxicities (grade 4 hypertension and grade 3 mucositis oral) at 30 mg SYHA1813. The MTD was defined as 15 mg once daily. Hypertension (n = 6, 42.9%) was the most frequent treatment-related adverse event. Among evaluable patients (n = 10), 2 (20%) patients achieved partial response, and 7 (70%) had stable disease. The exposure increased with increasing doses within the studied dose range of 5 to 30 mg. Biomarker assessments demonstrated significant reductions in the levels of soluble VEGFR2 (P = .0023) and increases in the levels of VEGFA (P = .0092) and placental growth factor (P = .0484). The toxicities of SYHA1813 were manageable, and encouraging antitumor efficacy was observed in patients with recurrent malignant glioma. This study is registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx; identifier ChiCTR2100045380).
Two’s company: first record of two free-swimming megamouth sharks, Megachasma pelagios (Lamniformes: Megachasmidae), off the California coast
Authors: Skelton Zachary R. , Kacev Dovi , Frable Benjamin W. , Chang Andrew , Costescu Valentin , Stabile David , Ebert David A.
Published: March 2023

On September 11, 2022, two megamouth sharks (Megachasma pelagios), estimated at 3.7–4.6 m TL, were observed swimming together near the surface about 39 km off the coast of San Diego, CA, USA. Megamouth sharks are rarely observed pelagic sharks, and the film from this encounter provided new insight into the social behavior of this species. We attempt to put the behavior of these two individuals into the context of past sightings, known megamouth shark biology, and with analogous behavior observed in other shark and pelagic fish species.
Elucidating the Associations Between Achievement Goals and Academic Dishonesty: a Meta-analysis
Authors: Fritz Tanja , González Cruz Hernán , Janke Stefan , Daumiller Martin
Published: March 2023

Academic dishonesty is a pervasive problem undermining the effectiveness of educational institutions. From a motivational perspective, researchers have proposed achievement goals as antecedents of academic dishonesty. Empirical findings corroborate the notion that mastery goals (focus on learning and competence development) are negatively linked to academic dishonesty. However, even though theoretical considerations suggest positive links between performance goals (focus on competence demonstration) and academic dishonesty, empirical findings are mixed. To provide a better understanding of how goals matter for academic dishonesty, we conducted three-level meta-analyses encompassing 163 effect sizes from 33 studies and a total of 19,787 participants. We found a disproportional use of correlational designs (using self-report measures of academic dishonesty) and personal goal measures (opposed to surrounding goal structures). Evidence of publication bias was not found. Our results confirmed the expected negative associations between mastery goals and academic dishonesty and revealed heterogenous findings for performance goals, with indications of positive associations within behavioral and intentional dishonesty measures, but not within self-reports. To further clarify the associations between achievement goals and academic dishonesty, we call for more methodological rigor in the measurement of goals and dishonesty as well as multi-methods approaches when investigating their interplay.
The Coloniality of Contemporary Human Rights Discourses on ‘Honour’ in and Around the United Nations
Authors: Cetinkaya Hasret
Published: March 2023

In United Nations (UN) human rights reporting and analysis, ‘honour’ has been systematically conflated with ‘honour-related violence’ (HRV). However, honour and HRV are not the same thing. In this article I examine contemporary UN human rights discourses around honour. I argue that these discourses are underpinned by racialised and orientalist-colonial imaginaries which falsely categorise people and places as either having or not having honour. This conflation presents honour as a cultural problem attributed to racialised communities mostly associated with the Muslim World. Adopting a critical post- and de-colonial perspective, I undertake a discourse analysis of UN human rights documents to expose orientalist tropes that reproduce epistemic and material violence against honour. There are three strategies employed to commit this violence: first, through the reduction of honour to physical and emotional HRV—a violence predicated upon the logic of coloniality and the orientalist division of the world into modern and pre-modern states; second, by associating honour as violence with Muslims and migrant communities, the discourse furthers structural Islamophobia; third, by reproducing colonial saviour narratives that designate honour as control over women’s sexuality. The human rights discourse on honour forecloses upon alternative ways of understanding what honour is and means for those who live with it. As such, the international human rights discourse on honour extends the coloniality of power and the geopolitics of knowledge.
Intraoperative primary partial occlusion of the PreserFlo MicroShunt to prevent initial postoperative hypotony
Authors: Lüke Jan Niklas , Reinking Niklas , Dietlein Thomas S. , Haendel Alexander , Enders Philip , Lappas Alexandra
Published: March 2023

Purpose

The aim of the underlying study was to present a new surgical method in PreserFlo MicroShunt surgery for glaucoma. A removable polyamide suture was placed into the lumen of the MicroShunt during implantation to prevent early postoperative hypotony.

Methods

Thirty-one patients undergoing stand-alone glaucoma surgery with implantation of a PreserFlo MicroShunt and an intraluminal occlusion were retrospectively reviewed and compared to a control group without occlusion. Inclusion criteria were diagnosis of primary open-angle glaucoma or secondary open-angle glaucoma due to pseudoexfoliation or pigment dispersion. Patients with a history of filtrating glaucoma surgery were excluded.

Results

IOP decreased from 26.9 ± 6.6 to 18.0 ± 9.5 mmHg at the first postoperative day after PreserFlo MicroShunt implantation. Postoperative removal of the occluding suture resulted in a mean IOP reduction in 11.1 ± 7.6 mmHg. Mean visual acuity was 0.43 ± 0.24 logMAR during the first postoperative examination. The interval with the occluding intraluminal suture in place varied from days to 2–3 weeks. Patients were followed up to 1 year.

Conclusion

Implantation of a PreserFlo MicroShunt combined with an intraluminal suture prevented postoperative hypotony in all patients. Mean postoperative pressure was reduced despite the occluding suture in place.
How localized are computational templates? A machine learning approach
Authors: Noichl Maximilian
Published: March 2023

A commonly held background assumption about the sciences is that they connect along borders characterized by ontological or explanatory relationships, usually given in the order of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, and the social sciences. Interdisciplinary work, in this picture, arises in the connecting regions of adjacent disciplines. Philosophical research into interdisciplinary model transfer has increasingly complicated this picture by highlighting additional connections orthogonal to it. But most of these works have been done through case studies, which due to their strong focus struggle to provide foundations for claims about large-scale relations between multiple scientific disciplines. As a supplement, in this contribution, we propose to philosophers of science the use of modern science mapping techniques to trace connections between modeling techniques in large literature samples. We explain in detail how these techniques work, and apply them to a large, contemporary, and multidisciplinary data set (n=383.961 articles). Through the comparison of textual to mathematical representations, we suggest formulaic structures that are particularly common among different disciplines and produce first results indicating the general strength and commonality of such relationships.
Management of Environmental Plastic Pollution: a Comparison of Existing Strategies and Emerging Solutions from Nature
Authors: Dunn Rebecca Amy , Welden Natalie Ann
Published: March 2023

The recalcitrance of modern plastics is a key driver of the accretion of plastics in both waste management streams and the environment. As a result, the management of plastic waste has become a focal point of both research and public policy. The following review summarises the effectiveness of widespread approaches to plastic management, before exploring recent developments in the use of both naturally derived products and plastic-degrading organisms to reduce the burden of plastic wastes, including the potential value of symbiotic relationships between plastic-degrading organisms in the biodegradation of plastics in the environment. To date, plastic management strategies have typically focused on interventions to influence both plastic production and consumer behaviour, improvements in effective waste management systems and increased circularity of materials, and changes to the product design to increase the lifespan of the product and its suitability for preferred waste streams. However, the relative success of these measures has been mixed. Complementary to these established approaches is the increasing exploitation of biological and biochemical processes and natural products, including the identification of organisms and enzymes which are able to biodegrade different plastics at meaningful rates. This recent research frequently focuses on microbes from soil and marine environments, identifying numerous enzymes capable of acting on polymers or specific functional groups. While questions remain as to their effectiveness outside of laboratory conditions, the distribution of identified species and their apparent effectiveness indicates the potential benefits of these microbes both individually or in symbiosis with an appropriate host species.

Graphical Abstract

Overview of plastic life cycle and current management strategies. Arrows indicate the flow of plastic material; thicker-lined boxes highlight plastic management beyond simple landfilling. Pros and cons for different stages and management are listed above and below items, respectively. WWTP: Wastewater treatment plants.
How Good is Stratification and Prediction Model Analysis Between Primary and Revisional Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery? A Multi-center Study and Narrative Review
Authors: Hany Mohamed , Zidan Ahmed , Sabry Karim , Ibrahim Mohamed , Agayby Ann Samy Shafiq , Aboelsoud Moustafa R. , Torensma Bart
Published: March 2023

Introductions

Revision surgery because of weight recurrence is performed in 2.5–33% of primary vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG), laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG), and gastric band (GB) cases. These cases qualify for revisional Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RRYGB).

Methods

This retrospective cohort study analyzed data from 2008 to 2019. A stratification analysis and multivariate logistic regression for prediction modeling compared the possibility of sufficient % excess weight loss (%EWL) ≥ 50 or insufficient %EWL < 50 between three different RRYGB procedures, with primary Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (PRYGB) as the control during 2 years of follow-up. A narrative review was conducted to test the presence of prediction models in the literature and their internal and external validity.

Results

A total of 558 patients underwent PRYGB, and 338 underwent RRYGB after VBG, LSG, and GB, and completed 2 years of follow-up. Overall, 32.2% of patients after RRYGB had a sufficient %EWL ≥ 50 after 2 years, compared to 71.3% after PRYGB (p ≤ 0.001). The total %EWL after the revision surgeries for VBG, LSG, and GB was 68.5%, 74.2%, and 64.1%, respectively (p ≤ 0.001). After correcting for confounding factors, the baseline odds ratio (OR) or sufficient %EWL ≥ 50 after PRYGB, LSG, VBG, and GB was 2.4, 1.45, 0.29, and 0.32, respectively (p ≤ 0.001). Age was the only significant variable in the prediction model (p = 0.0016). It was impossible to develop a validated model after revision surgery because of the differences between stratification and the prediction model. The narrative review showed only 10.2% presence of validation in the prediction models, and 52.5% had external validation.

Conclusion

Overall, 32.2% of all patients after revisional surgery had a sufficient %EWL ≥ 50 after 2 years, compared to PRYGB. LSG had the best outcome in the revisional surgery group in the sufficient %EWL group and the best outcome in the insufficient %EWL group. The skewness between the prediction model and stratification resulted in a partially non-functional prediction model.

Graphical Abstract
Immunizing customers against negative brand-related information
Authors: Merlo Omar , Eisingerich Andreas B. , Hoyer Wayne D.
Published: March 2023

In today’s connected market, brands are more likely than ever to face negative press that can put their customer relationships to the test. Building and fortifying positive aspects of the brand-customer relationship (such as brand commitment, brand love and self-brand connections) may ward off some of the impact of negative information on customers, but this does not always provide full protection. Even customers who love a brand can turn against it when negative information enters the picture. Considering this, the current study provides an exploratory investigation into a new way to build up customer resilience that would otherwise not be formed simply by strengthening positive attributes of the customer-brand relationship. It argues that brands can strengthen their customers’ immunity to negative brand-related information by using an immunity metric (i.e., merely asking customers to reflect on their immunity makes them more resilient to actual negative information in the future). The construct of immunity has the dual benefit of being diagnostic of relationship strength, as well as acting as an immunizing agent. We test this effect and the process underlying it using three pilot studies, three multi-method studies, and interviews with customers and managers across different contexts. By doing so, the study establishes the theoretical and practical value of customer immunity to negative information and makes critical conceptual and pragmatic contributions to the existing body of customer research.
Sensitivity of PM10 oxidative potential to aerosol chemical composition at a Mediterranean urban site: ascorbic acid versus dithiothreitol measurements
Authors: Clemente Á. , Gil-Moltó J. , Yubero E. , Juárez N. , Nicolás J. F. , Crespo J. , Galindo N.
Published: March 2023

The oxidative potential (OP) of PM10 daily samples collected at a traffic site in southeastern Spain during summer and winter was assessed by two acellular assays: the ascorbic acid (AA) and dithiothreitol (DTT) methods. Although PM10 levels were similar during both periods, OP values (expressed in nmol min−1 m−3) showed a defined seasonal trend. The AA activity was higher in summer than in winter, whereas the DTT reactivity exhibited an opposite seasonal pattern. Both assays were sensitive to different PM10 components, as shown by the results of the linear correlation analysis. Moreover, the relationship between OP values and PM10 chemical species was not the same during summer and winter, indicating that particle toxicity is associated with different sources during the warm and cold seasons. When OP values were expressed on a mass basis (nmol min−1 µg−1), lower correlation coefficients with PM10 chemical species were generally obtained compared to volume-normalized activities. These outcomes suggest that only some specific components have a significant intrinsic oxidative potential.
Validation of the Methods for the Non-Milk Fat Detection in Artificially Adulterated Milk with Palm Oil
Authors: El-Nabawy Marwa , Awad Sameh , Ibrahim Amel
Published: March 2023

Dairy products are among the most adulterated food products. Due to the current high price of milk fat, it has been replaced by low-cost oils, especially those oils that have the same fatty acid profile as milk fat. This study intends to confirm the lowest level of palm oil added to milk and validate various methods for detecting palm oil in milk, including gas chromatography, reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography, and Fourier transform infrared. Different amounts of palm oil were prepared in the final liquid milk using five treatments of fresh milk cream and an emulsion of palm oil. The results of this study showed that the values of the saponification number decreased with the increase in the percentages of added palm oil. There was no decrease under the limits of the Egyptian standards until the addition of 50% palm oil. The iodine number is less sensitive than the saponification number in the detection of palm oil. Butyro refractometer reading is unable to detect the palm oil in milk. The fatty acid profile in milk determined by gas chromatography correlated well with the addition of palm oil. Furthermore, there is a positive relationship between the level of added palm oil and the β-sitosterol content as measured by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. There was no relationship between the behavior of the spectra resulting from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the presence of palm oil.
Effects of Thermocapillary and Natural Convection During the Melting of PCMs with a Liquid Bridge Geometry
Authors: Varas Roberto , Martínez Úrsula , Olfe Karl , Salgado Sánchez Pablo , Porter Jeff , Ezquerro José Miguel
Published: March 2023

The results of a numerical investigation of the melting of a PCM occupying an axisymmetric volume in the presence of gravity are presented. The PCM is held between two circular supports maintained at different temperatures. The melting process, which is analyzed for n-octadecane, is affected by a combination of thermocapillary and natural convection. If the PCM is heated from above, the convective motion driven by the thermocapillary force is opposed by the buoyant force, which reduces the heat transfer rate. If the PCM is heated from below, natural convection acts in the same sense as thermocapillary convection and the heat transfer rate is increased. The volume$$\mathcal {V}$$Vof the PCM relative to an ideal cylinder, which selects the shape of the PCM/air interface, is found to play an important role. The overall effect of natural convection on heat transfer is characterized by the ratio of the melting time in microgravity to that of the same system with gravity. This gain factor is greater (less) than unity when heating from below (above) and depends strongly on$$\mathcal {V}$$V, particularly for smaller PCM volumes.
Approximation of seismic velocities from the spectrum of weighted graphs
Authors: Alfuraidan Monther Rashed , Al-Shuhail Abdullatif , Hanafy Sherif M. , Sarumi Ibrahim O.
Published: March 2023

Extracting seismic velocities from recorded seismic data requires converting the shot gathers to mid-point gathers, calculating the velocity spectrum, and picking the velocity values. In this paper, we propose to use graph theory to extract the seismic velocity values directly from the mid-point gathers. We use spectral data of a weighted graph model for approximating the seismic velocity. We develop a regression model to predict the seismic velocity from the largest eigenvalue of the graph representing the physical system. The approach is tested on a synthetic seismic data that represent a typical near-surface geological situation. The method was able to predict the seismic velocity of the second layer with 99.4% accuracy.
Insecticidal effect of the entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis megidis (Nematoda: Heterorhabditidae) baited from the soil on the larvae of Monochamus alternatus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)
Authors: Ozawa Sota , Maehara Noritoshi , Takatsuka Jun , Aikawa Takuya , Nakamura Katsunori
Published: March 2023

To scout for an entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) that effectively controls the pine sawyer beetle, Monochamus alternatus Hope (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), we screened EPNs from soil samples using M. alternatus larvae as bait. A population of the nematode obtained was named isolate SOz01, and molecularly identified as Heterorhabditis megidis Poinar, Jackson and Klein (Nematoda: Heterorhabditidae). In the inoculation test of the infective juveniles (IJs) of SOz01 onto mature larvae of M. alternatus under laboratory conditions, a mortality of 86–100% occurred when more than 20 IJs were inoculated. Even when the larvae were inoculated with only five IJs, one-third of them died. This finding suggests that H. megidis SOz01 has a strong insecticidal effect on M. alternatus.
The C-S Inverse and Its Applications
Authors: Wang Hongxing , Liu Na
Published: March 2023

In this paper, we introduce a generalized core inverse (called the C-S inverse) and give some properties and characterizations of the inverse. By applying the C-S inverse, we introduce a binary relation (denoted “ $${\mathop \le \limits ^{\textcircled {S}}}$$

≤

S

”) and a partial order (called the C-S partial order and denoted “ $${\mathop \le \limits ^{\textcircled {{c\!s}}}}$$

≤

c

s

”), study their properties and consider the relationship between them and some classical partial orders. At last, by applying the C-S inverse, we give some characterizations of the EP matrix and i-EP matrix.
Design a Hybrid Energy-Supply for the Electrically Driven Heavy-Duty Hexapod Vehicle
Authors: Xu Zhenyu , Yi Haoyuan , Liu Dan , Zhang Ru , Luo Xin
Published: March 2023

Increasing the power density and overload capability of the energy-supply units (ESUs) is always one of the most challenging tasks in developing and deploying legged vehicles, especially for heavy-duty legged vehicles, in which significant power fluctuations in energy supply exist with peak power several times surpassing the average value. Applying ESUs with high power density and high overload can compactly ensure fluctuating power source supply on demand. It can avoid the ultra-high configuration issue, which usually exists in the conventional lithium-ion battery-based or engine-generator-based ESUs. Moreover, it dramatically reduces weight and significantly increases the loading and endurance capabilities of the legged vehicles. In this paper, we present a hybrid energy-supply unit for a heavy-duty legged vehicle combining the discharge characteristics of lithium-ion batteries and peak energy release/absorption characteristics of supercapacitors to adapt the ESU to high overload power fluctuations. The parameters of the lithium-ion battery pack and supercapacitor pack inside the ESU are optimally matched using the genetic algorithm based on the energy consumption model of the heavy-duty legged vehicle. The experiment results exhibit that the legged vehicle with a weight of 4.2 tons can walk at the speed of 5 km/h in a tripod gait under a reduction of 35.39% in weight of the ESU compared to the conventional lithium-ion battery-based solution.
Europa dezentralisieren als Strategie – Was bedeutet „nicht-westlich“ in der und für die Friedens- und Konfliktforschung?
Authors: Ketzmerick Maria , Sydiq Tareq
Published: March 2023

Bereits seit langem gibt es die Kritik, dass bestehende Wissensproduktionen in- und außerhalb der Sozialwissenschaften zu westlich, zu rassistisch oder zu wenig global seien. Ebenso lange gibt es Versuche, „nicht-westliche“ Theorieerzählungen und lokale Perspektiven produktiv einzubringen. In unserem Beitrag fügen wir diesen vor allem an Fragen der Theorie orientierten Debatten eine methodische Dimension hinzu und betrachten die dreiTheoriegeflechteNahda, Négritude und Nihonjinron vergleichend. Das vergleichende Lesen, welches wir als Methode vorschlagen, soll so Dichotomien zwischen Nord/Süd und „westlich“/„nicht-westlich“ für eine kritische Lesart bestehender Literatur nutzbar machen, ohne deren Hierarchien zu reproduzieren. Wir fragen dabei nicht primär,wergelesen wird, sondern richten unsere Aufmerksamkeit darauf,wie„nicht-westliche“ Theorien zu lesen sind.
Kategoriale Dissonanzen. Russlands regressiver Weg in den Krieg und die Historische Soziologie imperialistischer Außenpolitiken
Authors: Hoppe Sebastian
Published: March 2023

Russlands Angriff auf die Ukraine im Februar 2022 legt die Diagnose eines imperialistischen Eroberungskrieges nahe. Gleichzeitig fristen imperialismustheoretischeZugänge zur russländischen Außenpolitik ein widersprüchliches Nischendasein. So führen die kritischen Sozialwissenschaften Imperialismus maßgeblich auf kapitalistische Entwicklungsdynamiken und die Hegemoniebestrebungen der USA im 20. und 21. Jahrhundert zurück. Politologische und soziologische Ansätze hingegen fokussieren auf die ideologische Dimension des Imperialismus oder normalisieren imperialistische Außenpolitiken in transhistorischen Imperien-Typologien. Aufbauend auf einer Kritik bestehender Deutungsangebote unternimmt der Beitrag einen Bestimmungsversuch des russländischen Imperialismus seit den späten 2000er Jahren. Dabei wird das Argument entwickelt, dass sich in Russland vor dem Hintergrund einer Doppelkrise der Rentenökonomie und der politischen Legitimation seit 2008 ein regressives souveränistisches Projekt fomiert hat, das auf militaristische Politik zur eigenen Reproduktion angewiesen ist. Außenpolitisch kristallisierte sich diese Regression insbesondere um die Formulierung und versuchte Umsetzung imperialer Verfügungsansprüche über die Ukraine. Erklärungen, die auf das Axiom eines globalen oder russländischen Kapitalismus oder die atavistische Ideologie der russländischen Staatselite rekurrieren, bleiben jedoch defizitär. Alternativ greift der Beitrag auf jüngere historisch-soziologische Zugänge zur Außenpolitik sowie Konzepte der älteren Historischen Sozialwissenschaft in den deutschen Internationalen Beziehungen (IB) zurück und schlägt einen historisierenden Zugang zur Rekonstruktion von Außenpolitik vor. Dieser betont neben der fundamentalen Kontextgebundenheit internationaler Politik die prozesshafte Ko-Konstitution krisenhafter sozioökonomischer Entwicklung, strategischer Elitenprojekte der Herrschaftslegitimierung und Geopolitik.
Emergency endotracheal intubation in critically ill patients with COVID-19: management and clinical characteristics
Authors: Fang Fuquan , Jin Jing , Pi Yongmin , Guo Shaohui , Li Yuhong , Zhu Shengmei , Kang Xianhui
Published: March 2023

Purposes

SARS-CoV-2 have become widespread worldwide since the outbreak. Respiratory function deteriorates rapidly in critically ill patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Endotracheal intubation is an indispensable therapeutic measure during the development of the disease. This study was intended to describe the experience of endotracheal intubation from front-line anesthesiologists and clinical prognosis of patients infected with Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19).

Methods

Fourteen critical patients infected with COVID-19 who underwent endotracheal intubation were included in this study. We collate and analyze the blood gas results before and after tracheal intubation of patients and clinical prognostic indicators such as length of stay and. mortality. The experience of anesthesiologists who intubated patients has also been recorded in detail.

Results

Patients had a mean time of 10.6 days from initial symptoms to endotracheal intubation. Most intubated patients had one or more underlying conditions: hypertension (8, 57.14%), diabetes (5, 35.71%), and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (2, 14.29%). The oxygenation index increased significantly after intubation compared with before intubation (148.80 ± 42.25 vs 284.43 ± 60.17 p < 0.001). 85.72% of patients required extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) due to inability to maintain oxygen saturation with standard therapeutic measures. Two patients underwent lung transplantation because their lungs were essentially nonfunctional, and they recovered well after surgery. As of this writing, all patients were discharged after satisfactory recovery.

Conclusions

Reasonable selection of intubation timing is particularly important. It is crucial to increase the patient's oxygen supply and reduce oxygen consumption as much as possible during endotracheal intubation. In addition, the personal protective measures of medical personnel participating in treatment should be scientific and standardized.

Graphical Abstract
Inaugural editorial post COVID-19 global society: issues, challenges and edging forward
Authors: Baikady Rajendra
Published: March 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in the later part of 2020 resulted in enormous social and economic disruption leading to a quick transformation of global society. A health crisis that interrupted the lives of every individual across the globe, soon changed in to a human, economic and social crisis. All segments of the society irrespective of their status and privilege experienced the challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic, however the marginalized and vulnerable populations including people living in poverty situations, older persons, persons with disabilities, youth, and indigenous peoples in developing, less developed and lower- and middle-income countries had the greater impact on their lives and livelihood. Furthermore, homeless population, people effected by war and conflict, people without access to running water, refugees, migrants, or displaced population continues to face the aftermaths of the pandemic.
Samuel Barber Remembered
Authors: Dickinson Peter
Published: March 2023

Compulsively readable interviews with the great American composer and his friends and colleagues, including Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, and Leontyne Price.
Quantifying Wheat Blast Disease Induced Yield and Production Losses of Wheat: A Quasi-Natural Experiment
Authors: Mottaleb Khondoker Abdul , Hodson David P. , Krupnik Timothy J. , Sonder Kai
Published: March 2023

Applying the difference-in-difference (DID) estimation procedure, this study quantifies the wheat blast (Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum) induced losses in wheat yield, quantity of wheat sold, consumed, or stored, as well as wheat grain value in Bangladesh in 2016 following a disease outbreak that affected over 15,000 ha. Estimates show that the blast-induced yield loss was 540 kg ha−1 on average for households in blast-affected districts. Estimated total wheat production loss was approximately 8,205 tons worth USD 2.1 million in during the 2016 outbreak. Based on these insights, we discuss the need for long-term assured investment and concerted research efforts in controlling transboundary diseases such as wheat blast, including the importance of weather forecast driven early warning systems and the dissemination of blast-resistant varieties.
Worst-case moments under partial ambiguity
Authors: Tang Qihe , Yang Yunshen
Published: March 2023

The model uncertainty issue is pervasive in virtually all applied fields but especially critical in insurance and finance. To hedge against the uncertainty of the underlying probability distribution, which we refer to as ambiguity, the worst case is often considered in quantifying the underlying risk. However, this worst-case treatment often yields results that are overly conservative. We argue that, in most practical situations, a generic risk is realized from multiple scenarios and the risk in some ordinary scenarios may be subject to negligible ambiguity so that it is safe to trust the reference distributions. Hence, we only need to consider the worst case in the other scenarios where ambiguity is significant. We implement this idea in the study of the worst-case moments of a risk in the hope to alleviate the over-conservativeness issue. Note that the ambiguity in our consideration exists in both the scenario indicator and the risk in the corresponding scenario, leading to a two-fold ambiguity issue. We employ the Wasserstein distance to construct an ambiguity ball. Then, we disentangle the ambiguity along the scenario indicator and the risk in the corresponding scenario, so that we convert the two-fold optimization problem into two one-fold problems. Our main result is a closed-form worst-case moment estimate. Our numerical studies illustrate that the consideration of partial ambiguity indeed greatly alleviates the over-conservativeness issue.
How do we overcome the current limitations of bioelectronic sensors used in healthcare and medicine?
Authors: Chakrabarty Samit , Chew Daniel , Güemes Amparo , Loeb Gerald , Sharma Rajnish , Shivdasani Mohit , Sridhar Arun , Yin Heyu
Published: March 2023

There are several concerns with the use of bioelectronic sensors for healthcare applications, including:

1.

Implantation: Bioelectronic sensors that are implanted into the body can cause discomfort, infection, and scarring, and they can also trigger an immune response that can affect their performance over time. This degradation of the sensor can be toxic to the body.

2.

Power supply: Bioelectronic sensors often require a power source to operate, which can be a challenge for devices especially those that are implanted inside the body. If at all, bioelectronic sensors must draw power, then it must be at a minimum possible.

3.

Data security: Bioelectronic sensors can generate sensitive medical information, which must be protected from unauthorized access, hacking, or data breaches.

4.

Performance: Bioelectronic sensors must be highly accurate and reliable, as even small errors in readings can have significant consequences for patient health.

5.

Interoperability: Bioelectronic sensors must be able to work seamlessly with other medical devices and software, to enable the exchange and analysis of data.

6.

Cost: Bioelectronic sensors can be expensive, both to manufacture and to maintain, which can limit their accessibility and affordability for patients.

7.

Regulatory approval: Bioelectronic sensors must be approved by regulatory agencies such as the FDA, which can be a lengthy and complex process that requires extensive testing and data analysis.

8.

Designing good bioelectronic sensors remains a challenge due to unavailability of necessary circuit simulation tools. Software currently available may be good for normal electronic circuits, but design of any bioelectronic circuit is different and challenging. Proposed solutions must show that value addition.
An Empirical Analysis of Credibility Assessment in German Asylum Cases
Authors: Baade Björnstjern , Gölz Leah
Published: March 2023

This study analyzes empirically how 236 German court decisions assess the credibility of asylum seekers’ accounts of their persecution. In their reasoning, the courts rely on generally accepted content-based credibility criteria, including consistency, level of detail, and timeliness of the claim. But they also rely on conduct-based criteria, which have been resoundingly discredited in the relevant scientific literature. Too rarely, the courts considered confounding factors such as cultural distance or interpreter mistakes. They need to be more aware of their duty to confront applicants with negative credibility criteria. Article 4 (5) Qualification Directive played no role whatsoever in the sample analyzed in this study, which can be explained by specifics of German asylum law.

The human judgment that is required in the balancing of credibility criteria and confounding factors is problematic for its subjectivity but unavoidable. Attempts at replacing this human credibility assessment with seemingly objective technical means have led to arbitrary decisions and encroached gravely on applicants’ human rights. While the credibility assessment procedure employed in German courts is far from flawless, it can produce convincing decisions. It should be further refined and provided with safeguards to arrive at decisions that are as rational and objective as possible.