bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Novel three-dimensional renewable phytic acid based aerogel electronics
Authors: Yao Rui
Published: May 2021

Novel three-dimensional renewable phytic acid (AP) aerogel electronics were synthesized through in-site polymerization and oriented lyophilization method. Three stages of the aerogels were apparently observed via SEM and TEM tests: the honeycomb structure consituted the first stage; the network with micropores formed the second stage; the third stage was composed of nanopores structure inside the micropores. When the molar ratio of aniline and phytic acid reached certain degree, the AP aerogel will emerge high pore volume and excellent specific capacitance. What’s more, the mechanical properties of AP aerogel were about 5 times (9 times for electrical properties) higher in vertical direction than those in horizontal direction. To sum up, the three-dimensional AP aerogel owned great mechanical and electrical properties in specific direction, at the same time, it exhibited outstanding specific capacitance (448 F.g-1).
Simulation study on effect of late-intake-valve-closing Atkinson cycle on the performance of a direct injection engine based on fuel economy
Authors: Li Yue , Ning Zhi , Lü Ming , Zhi Xin , Luo Xian
Published: May 2021

Given the wide application of hybrid engines, how to improve hybrid engine fuel economy is being more and more studied, and using the Atkinson cycle to improve fuel economy is considered effective. In this study, the in-cylinder direct injection engine model was established with the data obtained from a benchmarking test using the GT-POWER simulation software. The working process of this engine was simulated after using Atkinson cycle. This simulation primarily focused on the research of the impact on engine fuel economy with different late intake valve closing strategies. The simulation results were calculated under the partial load conditions which are typically used in hybrid engines. The results indicated that engine fuel economy improved and fuel consumption decreased by using the Atkinson cycle. However, the Atkinson cycle would cause a decrease in power.
Research on ecological water demand of lakes
Authors: Lu Pingyu , Chen Junxi , Luo Huihuang , Yang Qingrui
Published: May 2021

With the rapid development of social economy, the development and utilization of water resources is increasing, which leads to the increasing importance of ecological water demand in wetland protection. The study of lake ecological water demand can provide theoretical basis for improving the distribution of water resources and ecosystem balance in lake wetland and establish a solid theoretical basis for the sustainable development of lake wetland ecosystem. Based on the analysis and summary of the relevant literature on wetland ecological water demand, this paper expounded the connotation of lake ecological water demandand summarized the calculation method of ecological water demand of lake type wetland in China. In addition,this paper pointed out that the research focus of lake ecological water demand mainly included the application of hydrologicalhydrodynamic- water quality and the research of water demand based on ecological protection target hydrology demand.
Model construction and application analysis under environment and resource constraints in China
Authors: Niu Feiliang , Fu Yunzheng
Published: May 2021

How to make sustainable development in the new era has been becoming the most important issue in China. This research explains why China could rapidly increase in the past, and how to fulfil a sustainable development under the resource and environmental constraints in the future by employing an endogenous growth model which includes “learning by doing” factors. Our model explains a learning mechanism called “learning by doing” and the knowledge reserve needed for the sustainable development. The empirical estimation results shows: under threats of environmental pollution and restrictions on natural resource depletion, an sustainable development is possible. Human capital use and technological advances crucially support the maintenance of sustainable growth, and the learning-by-doing effect increases the explanatory power of capital for knowledge production. The sustainable development awareness of consumers determines the economic growth quality. The explanation of the environmental pollution parameter could be extended to a policy simulation variable to measure the practical management level and the contamination controlling effect.
The impacts of new energy vehicles on fleet average oil consumption of passenger vehicles in China
Authors: Li Jiacai
Published: May 2021

Using authoritative data and calculation formulas, this paper reveals exactly the role of new energy vehicles (NEV) in the decrease of fleet average oil consumption (FAOC) of passenger vehicles in China. NEV is the reason for the gap among the accounted FAOC, the real FAOC of passenger vehicles and the FAOC of conventional energy vehicles (CEV). Specifically, the NEV multipliers result in the difference between the accounted FAOC and the real FAOC of passenger vehicles, while the low oil consumption and output of NEV result in the difference between the real FAOC of passenger vehicles and the FAOC of CEV. NEV is accelerating the reduction of the FAOC of passenger vehicles in China.
Control scheme based on capacitor voltage second-order complex-vector feedforward for LCL-filtered inverter
Authors: Yang Linhang , Yang Daliang , Chen Jiahao
Published: May 2021

For an inverter with LCL filter, voltage at the point of common coupling (PCC) is equivalent to the filter capacitor voltage in practical applications. However, the PCC voltage background harmonics will cause the distortion of grid current. Some problems exist in the traditional methods for harmonics suppression, such as insufficient phase margin, increasing design complexity and computation burden. Thus, a scheme of second-order complex-vector feedforward (SOCVF) of capacitor voltage is proposed in this article. First, based on the vectorial principle, the active unit vectors of capacitor voltage were calculated. Then, its fundamental component was obtained by the SOCVF-function. Furthermore, the references of the grid current were obtained with the instantaneous power theory. Hence, the proposed scheme helps effectively dampen the LCL resonance to make the system stable, and works well at suppressing the injected grid current distortion simultaneously. Simulation and experimental results validated the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
Accurate radial boundary loading and measuring methods for optical components
Authors: Xiong Jian , Zhang Zhijing , Chen Xiao
Published: May 2021

The two main fixing methods in the assembly process of optical components are adhesive bonding and thread fastening. For both methods, boundary loading effect is generated on optical component, which results in stress distribution in it. The quantitative prediction and control of the stress distribution in optical component is not available because the boundary load induced by adhesive or thread is difficult to control and test quantitatively. Up to now, the interrelationship and variation between the boundary load and the internal stress in optical component have not been effectively studied. Based on the above requirements, quantitative radial boundary loading and real-time measuring methods for optical component are proposed in this paper. Quantitative interrelationship between the boundary load and the stress distribution and surface form in optical component can be obtained by integrating the stress and surface measurement devices with radial boundary loading system. This innovative loading and measuring device is suitable for various sizes of optical components, and it solves the quantitative application and control problems during loading, measuring, and real-time detection of adhesive curing force.
Study of novel high-density solar panels based on small space interconnection technology
Authors: Huang Guoping , Zhuang Hao , Shen Honglie , Jiang Yashuai , Sun Guan , Bai Xueliang , Li Jingnan
Published: May 2021

Small space interconnection technology (SSIT) has been utilized in solar panels recently. The application of this technology can further increase the module efficiency. However, higher power decay after long-time operation may occur due to additional risk. Therefore, in this paper, damp heat (DH), thermal cycle (TC), UV irradiation and humidity freezing (HF) tests were utilized to study the weatherability performance of SSIT-based high-density solar panels fabricated with cells cut by two different techniques. The achieved data suggest that the novel high-density modules with small space between cells have good reliability in various weather conditions. The novel low-damage laser-induced cutting technique is beneficial for the improvement of module reliability.
Analysis of upper air detection above frozen wind turbine in high-altitude mountains
Authors: Feng Tao , Guo Jun , Yang Li , Cai Zelin , Hu Bo , Jian Zhou
Published: May 2021

In winter, icing is one of the key factors that restrict the generation of wind power in high-altitude mountains. In this paper, through analyzing the upper air temperature profile of wind farms by using microwave radiometer, we established the water drop temperature calculation formula under non-phase change conditions. Three vertical temperature structures conditions and the relationship between ground water drop temperature and icing efficiency under different conditions are analyzed. This study makes up for the deficiency that the wind turbine icing numerical prediction model can only give the three-dimensional ambient temperature, but cannot give the icing efficiency, which will improve the prediction accuracy of wind turbine icing.
Robot arm trajectory planning study for a table tennis robot
Authors: Zhang Bo , Chen Bingqiang , Deng Yansong
Published: May 2021

The 4 degree of freedom robot arm of a table tennis robot has a variety of trajectories. In order to improve the response and the success rate of the shots, we used the joint space trajectory planning method to establish a kinematic model with the robot arm joints as variables, and by combining it with the robot arm kinematics, we obtained the relevant parameters for each joint of the robot arm. Simulation tests and physical tests were carried out to obtain a more accurate trajectory of the robot arm.
Improve SegNet with feature pyramid for road scene parsing
Authors: Ai Xinbo , Xie Yunhao , He Yinan , Zhou Yi
Published: May 2021

Road scene parsing is a common task in semantic segmentation. Its images have characteristics of containing complex scene context and differing greatly among targets of the same category from different scales. To address these problems, we propose a semantic segmentation model combined with edge detection. We extend the segmentation network with an encoder-decoder structure by adding an edge feature pyramid module, namely Edge Feature Pyramid Network (EFPNet, for short). This module uses edge detection operators to get boundary information and then combines the multiscale features to improve the ability to recognize small targets. EFPNet can make up the shortcomings of convolutional neural network features, and it helps to produce smooth segmentation. After extracting features of the encoder and decoder, EFPNet uses Euclidean distance to compare the similarity between the presentation of the encoder and the decoder, which can increase the decoder’s ability to restore from the encoder. We evaluated the proposed method on Cityscapes datasets. The experiment on Cityscapes datasets demonstrates that the accuracies are improved by 7.5% and 6.2% over the popular SegNet and ENet. And the ablation experiment validates the effectiveness of our method.
Research on seat perceived comfort evaluation based on factor analysis
Authors: Qiao Yu , Du Changjiang , Cong Yunpeng , Tian Zeyang , Wang Shuhang , Zhao Zhun
Published: May 2021

Car seat is one of the most important parts of the direct contact with consumers, consumers' subjective perception of seat comfort depends on the choice of car, and the automobile industry in the perception of car seat comfort evaluation and research work, is still in its infancy, convened by the project through to the six major cities, 900 consumers respectively for 18 to subjective comfort evaluation of standard models, this article selects three same level models of standard models, for example, through the factor analysis method to calculate the subjective comfort ratings, and use the objective measurement data of subjective rating transverse comparison test. The results show that the subjective comfort score can reflect the comfort degree of the seat.
Die freie Serratus-Carpaccio-Lappenplastik: Indikationen und Technik
Authors: Rein Susanne , Gazyakan Emre , Kneser Ulrich , Kremer Thomas
Published: May 2021

Hintergrund Anforderungen, welche an Weichteilrekonstruktionen gestellt werden, sind eine dünne und widerstandsfähige Lappenplastik der Palma manus oder der Planta pedis sowie die Gleitfähigkeit zwischen der Lappenplastik und den Strecksehnen der Dorsi pedis et manus. Die Elastizität der Hautweichteile sollte einen normalen Bewegungsumfang am Handgelenk und am Vorfuß ermöglichen. Eine Option in diesen Fällen ist die freie Serratus-Faszienlappenplastik, welche gelegentlich Einschränkungen hinsichtlich der Widerstandsfähigkeit sowie der Zuverlässigkeit aufweist. Wir beschreiben eine einfache Modifikation, die Serratus-Carpaccio-Lappenplastik, welche eine dünne Muskelschicht in den Serratusfaszienlappen einbezieht, wodurch dessen Hebung und Entnahme sowie die Morbiditätsraten verbessert werden.

Material und Methoden Die Indikationen für die Serratus- Carpaccio-Lappenplastik, deren Entnahmetechnik, Konturierung sowie Insertion werden detailliert beschrieben und anhand klinischer Beispiele verdeutlicht.

Ergebnisse Der Hauptvorteil der Serratus-Carpaccio-Lappenplastik ist die Möglichkeit, die Lappendicke an die Anforderungen der Empfängerstelle anzupassen. Dies ermöglicht hervorragende Ergebnisse der Kontur und Funktion. Die Spalthautentnahme aus dem Instep-Bereich des Fußes wird für Weichteilrekonstruktionen der Palma manus und der Planta pedis empfohlen. Es wurden 18 Rekonstruktionen von Weichteildefekten an der Hand (n = 5), am Fuß (n = 10) und am Unterschenkel (n = 3) durchgeführt. Zu den Komplikationen gehörten ein Lappenverlust, eine venöse Reanastomose, 2 partielle Wunddehiszenzen und ein postoperatives Hämatom an der Hebestelle. Siebzehn Lappenplastiken heilten letztendlich vollständig ein. Sekundäre Ausdünnungsverfahren waren nicht erforderlich.

Schlussfolgerung Die Serratus-Carpaccio-Lappenplastik ist eine hervorragende Option für die Rekonstruktion mittelgroßer Haut- und Weichteildefekte des Hand- oder Fußrückens, der Handfläche und des distalen Unterarms.
Synthesis of Enantiopure ω-(4-Fluorophenyl)-6,11-Methylene Lipoxin B4 Methyl Ester
Authors: Nubbemeyer Udo , Trippe Lukas , Nava Analuisa , Frank Andrea , Schollmeyer Dieter
Published: May 2021

The synthesis of Lipoxin B4 analogues (LXB4) to gain access to stabilized inflammation-resolving compounds is an active field of research. Focusing on variation and stabilization of the conjugated E,Z,E,E C6–C13 tetraene moiety of natural LXB4, a methylene bridge introduced between C6 and C11 suppresses any Z/E isomerization of the C8–C9 olefin. Furthermore, rapid ω-oxidation (C20) should be avoided by replacing the C18–C20 segment by an aromatic moiety. Optically active C1–C12 building blocks were accessed from methyl cycloheptatriene-1-carboxylate (C6–C11, C21) and glutaryl chloride (C1–C5) as described earlier. The ω-segment was generated via a five-step sequence starting from 4-arylbutanoic acid. Horner key olefination enabled assembly of the carbon backbone. A final five-step sequence including a chelate Cram reduction of the unsaturated ketone moiety afforded the target ω-aryl 6,11-methylene-LXB4 methyl ester.
Phenotypic Detection of Carbapenemase Production in Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae by Modified Hodge Test and Modified Strip Carba NP Test
Authors: Patidar Nisha , Vyas Nitya , Sharma Shanoo , Sharma Babita
Published: May 2021

Objective Carbapenems are last resort antibiotics for multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. However, resistance to carbapenem is increasing at an alarming rate worldwide leading to major therapeutic failures and increased mortality rate. Early and effective detection of carbapenemase producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) is therefore key to control dissemination of carbapenem resistance in nosocomial as well as community-acquired infection. The aim of present study was to evaluate efficacy of Modified strip Carba NP (CNP) test against Modified Hodge test (MHT) for early detection of carbapenemase producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE).

Material and Methods Enterobacteriaceae isolated from various clinical samples were screened for carbapenem resistance. A total of 107 CRE were subjected to MHT and Modified strip CNP test for the detection of CPE.

Statistical Analysis It was done on Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, IBM India; version V26. Nonparametric test chi-square and Z-test were used to analyze the results within a 95% level of confidence.

Results Out of 107 CRE, 94 (88%) were phenotypically confirmed as carbapenemase producer by Modified strip CNP test and 46 (43%) were confirmed by Modified Hodge Test (MHT). Thirty-eight (36%) isolates showed carbapenemase production by both MHT and CNP test, 56 isolates (52%) were CNP test positive but MHT negative, eight (7%) isolates were MHT positive but CNP test negative and five (5%) isolates were both MHT and CNP test negative. There is statistically significant difference in efficiency of Modified CNP test and MHT (p < 0.05).

Conclusion Modified strip CNP test is simple and inexpensive test which is easy to perform and interpret and gives rapid results in less than 5 minutes. It has high degree of sensitivity and specificity. Modified strip CNP test shows significantly higher detection capacity for carbapenemase producers as compared with MHT.
Effect of a Real-Time Risk Score on 30-day Readmission Reduction in Singapore
Authors: Wu Christine Xia , Suresh Ernest , Phng Francis Wei Loong , Tai Kai Pik , Pakdeethai Janthorn , D'Souza Jared Louis Andre , Tan Woan Shin , Phan Phillip , Lew Kelvin Sin Min , Tan Gamaliel Yu-Heng , Chua Gerald Seng Wee , Hwang Chi Hong
Published: May 2021

Objective To develop a risk score for the real-time prediction of readmissions for patients using patient specific information captured in electronic medical records (EMR) in Singapore to enable the prospective identification of high-risk patients for enrolment in timely interventions.

Methods Machine-learning models were built to estimate the probability of a patient being readmitted within 30 days of discharge. EMR of 25,472 patients discharged from the medicine department at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital between January 2016 and December 2016 were extracted retrospectively for training and internal validation of the models. We developed and implemented a real-time 30-day readmission risk score generation in the EMR system, which enabled the flagging of high-risk patients to care providers in the hospital. Based on the daily high-risk patient list, the various interfaces and flow sheets in the EMR were configured according to the information needs of the various stakeholders such as the inpatient medical, nursing, case management, emergency department, and postdischarge care teams.

Results Overall, the machine-learning models achieved good performance with area under the receiver operating characteristic ranging from 0.77 to 0.81. The models were used to proactively identify and attend to patients who are at risk of readmission before an actual readmission occurs. This approach successfully reduced the 30-day readmission rate for patients admitted to the medicine department from 11.7% in 2017 to 10.1% in 2019 (p < 0.01) after risk adjustment.

Conclusion Machine-learning models can be deployed in the EMR system to provide real-time forecasts for a more comprehensive outlook in the aspects of decision-making and care provision.
Rethinking PICO in the Machine Learning Era: ML-PICO
Authors: Liu Xinran , Anstey James , Li Ron , Sarabu Chethan , Sono Reiri , Butte Atul J.
Published: May 2021

Background Machine learning (ML) has captured the attention of many clinicians who may not have formal training in this area but are otherwise increasingly exposed to ML literature that may be relevant to their clinical specialties. ML papers that follow an outcomes-based research format can be assessed using clinical research appraisal frameworks such as PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome). However, the PICO frameworks strain when applied to ML papers that create new ML models, which are akin to diagnostic tests. There is a need for a new framework to help assess such papers.

Objective We propose a new framework to help clinicians systematically read and evaluate medical ML papers whose aim is to create a new ML model: ML-PICO (Machine Learning, Population, Identification, Crosscheck, Outcomes). We describe how the ML-PICO framework can be applied toward appraising literature describing ML models for health care.

Conclusion The relevance of ML to practitioners of clinical medicine is steadily increasing with a growing body of literature. Therefore, it is increasingly important for clinicians to be familiar with how to assess and best utilize these tools. In this paper we have described a practical framework on how to read ML papers that create a new ML model (or diagnostic test): ML-PICO. We hope that this can be used by clinicians to better evaluate the quality and utility of ML papers.
Identifying Factors Affecting Outcomes in Scalp Replantation: A Systematic Review of the Literature
Authors: Kotamarti Vasanth S. , Heiman Adee J. , Camargo Lauren , Ricci Joseph A.
Published: May 2021

Background Replantation is the ideal treatment in traumatic scalp defects to provide immediate coverage with restoration of hair-bearing skin. However, data are limited to case reports and small case series. Comprehensive analysis of techniques and outcomes is not available. Our aim was to systematically analyze the available literature to better understand management and postoperative outcomes of patients undergoing scalp replantation.

Methods A systematic review of the PubMed, Cochrane, and EBSCO databases was performed in October 2019. Search terms included “replantation,” “replant,” “revascularized,” “revascularization,” “avulsion,” and “scalp.” Only papers reporting microvascular replantation of completely avulsed scalps, including case reports, were included. Review articles, non-English language articles, articles discussing nonreplant coverage, incomplete scalp avulsions, and articles discussing delayed scalp replantation were excluded. Data extracted included demographics, percent of scalp affected, mechanism, operative technique, and postoperative outcomes. Statistical analysis was performed using Mann–Whitney U tests, Kruskal–Wallis, and chi-squared tests.

Results From a total of 704 initial results, 61 studies were included for analysis comprising 149 scalps. Complete survival was achieved in 54.7%, partial survival in 38.9%, and failure in 6.7%. Total ischemia time greater than 12 hours was associated with complete replant failure. Arterial anastomoses appeared to protect against complete loss. The number of venous repairs, proportion of venous-to-arterial repairs, use of vein grafts, thromboprophylaxis, or intraoperative complications did not affect outcomes. Patients required significant volumes of blood products, which was associated with partial success. Salvage rate after unplanned return to the operating room was 60.0%. Normal hair growth was achieved in all surviving native scalp tissue.

Conclusion Scalp replantations, while technically challenging, are the ideal treatment for scalp avulsions. Fortunately, these have high rates of success. And as a focal point of a patient's appearance, this is invaluable in restoration of a sense of normalcy.
Telemedicine during COVID-19 in India—a new policy and its challenges
Authors: Dash Sambit , Aarthy Ramasamy , Mohan Viswanathan
Published: May 2021

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a countrywide lockdown of nearly twelve weeks in India reduced access to regular healthcare services. As a policy response, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare which exercises jurisdiction over telemedicine in India, rapidly issued India’s first guidelines for use of telemedicine. The authors argue that: guidelines must be expanded to address ethical concerns about the use of privacy, patient data and its storage; limited access to the internet and weaknesses in the telecom infrastructure challenge widespread adoption of telemedicine; only by simultaneously improving both will use of telemedicine become equitable; Indian medical education curricula should include telemedicine and India should rapidly extend training to practitioner. They determine that for low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), including India, positive externalities of investing in telemedicine are ample, thus use of this option can render healthcare more accessible and equitable in future.
Effect of pump-induced loss on the spectral dependence of Rhodamine 6G laser efficiency under microsecond coherent pumping
Authors: Tarkovsky V.V. , Anufrik S.S. , Kurstak V.Yu.
Published: May 2021

We examine the effect of the pump-induced loss in the gain medium of a Rhodamine 6G laser on the spectral dependence of the laser efficiency under microsecond coherent pumping. It is shown theoretically and experimentally that the pump-induced loss is mainly due to nonlinear refraction and thermo-optic inhomogeneities of the gain medium, which produce a negative thermal lens, whose defocusing effect reduces the laser efficiency. The induced absorption by excited-state singlet and triplet levels of dye molecules is shown to make no significant contribution to changes in laser efficiency. The pump-induced thermal loss at the peak absorption wavelength of Rhodamine 6G plays a more important role well above the threshold pump power density (γ ⩾ 5). We demonstrate that the maximum dye laser efficiency under microsecond coherent pumping can only be achieved at an optimal pump wavelength.
Controlling logical operations with images in accumulated echo holography using the effects of information locking and erasing
Authors: Garnaeva G.I. , Nefediev L.A. , Nizamova E.I.
Published: May 2021

The possibility of implementing logical operations with images using the accumulated echo hologram in the presence of external spatially inhomogeneous electric fields is considered. It is shown that the photon echo locking effect makes it possible to control the execution of logical operations (from the union of sets to the symmetric difference and their superposition), as well to control their form by varying the values of the gradients of external spatially inhomogeneous electric fields and the phase difference between pairs of pulses.
Zero shift in a Zeeman laser gyroscope with periodic modulation of intracavity losses
Authors: Lariontsev E.G.
Published: May 2021

Periodic modulation of intracavity losses is shown theoretically to result in a change in the shape of the alternating frequency dithering created in a Zeeman ring laser when a magnetic field is applied to the active medium. A mechanism is proposed of a vibrational zero shift in a Zeeman laser gyroscope due to modulation of intracavity losses during vibration of the resonator mirrors.
Broadening of energy levels of Rydberg states with small orbital angular momenta in ions of group IIb by ambient thermal radiation
Authors: Glukhov I.L. , Kamenski A.A. , Ovsiannikov V.D.
Published: May 2021

We present the derivation of simple analytical expressions for calculating the widths of Rydberg states with small orbital angular momenta in Zn+, Cd+, Hg+ ions of group IIb of the periodic system of elements induced by blackbody radiation (BBR) at ambient temperatures from 100 to 3000 K. The probabilities of radiative transitions from excited nS, nP, nD and nF states to all dipole-accessible states of ions are calculated. The wave functions of the quantum defect (QD) method for the initial and final states of the Rydberg electron are used to calculate the amplitudes of transitions between bound states. The dependences of the probabilities of induced decays and excitations on the BBR temperature, the principal and orbital quantum numbers of the Rydberg ion are determined. Analytical expressions are derived for numerical estimates of the contributions of the probabilities of thermally induced decays and excitations to the width of the Rydberg energy level. The numerical values of the coefficients of interpolation polynomials representing asymptotic expansions in powers of the principal quantum number n for the relative probabilities of decays and excitations of Rydberg states with large values of n and small orbital angular momenta l = 0, 1, 2, 3 are calculated.
Three genomes in the algal genus
Volvox
reveal the fate of a haploid sex-determining region after a transition to homothallism
Authors: Yamamoto Kayoko , Hamaji Takashi , Kawai-Toyooka Hiroko , Matsuzaki Ryo , Takahashi Fumio , Nishimura Yoshiki , Kawachi Masanobu , Noguchi Hideki , Minakuchi Yohei , Umen James G. , Toyoda Atsushi , Nozaki Hisayoshi
Published: May 2021

Significance

Evolutionary transitions between species with separate sexes and species in which individuals have both sex functions have wide-ranging biological implications. It is largely unknown how such transitions occur in systems with haploid male- and female-determining chromosomes in algae and bryophytes. We investigated such a transition in the algal genus
Volvox
by making whole-genome sequences of two closely related species, one of which is heterothallic (with distinct males and females) and the other homothallic (with only bisexual, self-compatible individuals). The heterothallic species harbors a sex-determining region (SDR), while the homothallic species retains a nearly intact female-derived SDR-like region and separate regions containing key male genes. Thus, an ancestral female has probably become homothallic by acquiring genes that confer male functions.
Does it help to see the speaker’s lip movements?
Authors: Gieshoff Anne Catherine
Published: May 2021

Simultaneous interpreting combines auditory and visual information. Within a multitude of visual inputs that
interpreters receive, the one from the speaker seems to be particularly important (Bühler
1985; Seubert 2019). One reason might be that lip movements enhance speech
perception and might thus reduce cognitive load in simultaneous interpreting and hence, induce lower mental effort. This effect
may be even more pronounced when noise is added to the source speech. This study was conducted to investigate cognitive load and
mental effort during simultaneous interpreting (a) with and without the ability to see speaker’s lip movements, and (b) with and
without interfering noise. A group of listeners was included to control for task-related effects. Mental effort and cognitive load
were measured using pupillometry, interpreting accuracy measures, and subjective reports. The facilitation hypothesis for lip
movements was not confirmed. However, the pupillometric data suggests that lip movements may increase arousal.
Crystalline phase discriminating neutron tomography using advanced reconstruction methods
Authors: Ametova Evelina , Burca Genoveva , Chilingaryan Suren , Fardell Gemma , Jørgensen Jakob S , Papoutsellis Evangelos , Pasca Edoardo , Warr Ryan , Turner Martin , Lionheart William R B , Withers Philip J
Published: May 2021

Time-of-flight (ToF) neutron imaging offers complementary attenuation contrast to x-ray computed tomography, coupled with the ability to extract additional information from the variation in attenuation as a function of neutron energy (ToF) at every point (voxel) in the image. In particular, Bragg edge positions provide crystallographic information and therefore enable the identification of crystalline phases directly. Here we demonstrate Bragg edge tomography with high spatial and spectral resolution. We propose a new iterative tomographic reconstruction method with a tailored regularisation term to achieve high quality reconstruction from low-count data, where conventional filtered back-projection (FBP) fails. The regularisation acts in a separated mode for spatial and spectral dimensions and favours characteristic piece-wise constant and piece-wise smooth behaviour in the respective dimensions. The proposed method is compared against FBP and a state-of-the-art regulariser for multi-channel tomography on a multi-material phantom. The proposed new regulariser which accommodates specific image properties outperforms both conventional and state-of-the-art methods and therefore facilitates Bragg edge fitting at the voxel level. The proposed method requires significantly shorter exposures to retrieve features of interest. This in turn facilitates more efficient usage of expensive neutron beamline time and enables the full utilisation of state-of-the-art high resolution detectors.
Robust limits from upcoming neutrino telescopes and implications on minimal dark matter models
Authors: Basegmez du Pree S. , Arina C. , Cheek A. , Dekker A. , Chianese M. , Ando S.
Published: May 2021

Experimental developments in neutrino telescopes are drastically improving their ability to constrain the annihilation cross-section of dark matter. In this paper, we employ an angular power spectrum analysis method to probe the galactic and extra-galactic dark matter signals. First we derive projections for a next generation of neutrino telescope that is inspired by KM3NeT. We emphasise that such analysis is much less sensitive to the choice of dark matter density profile. Remarkably, the projected sensitivity is improved by more than an order of magnitude with respect to the existing limits obtained by assuming the Burkert dark matter density profile describing the galactic halo.
Second, we analyse minimal extensions to the Standard Model that will be maximally probed by the next generation of neutrino telescopes. As benchmark scenarios, we consider Dirac dark matter in s- and t-channel models with vector and scalar mediators. We follow a global approach by examining all relevant complementary experimental constraints.
We find that neutrino telescopes will be able to competitively probe significant portions of parameter space. Interestingly, the anomaly-free L_μ-L_τ model can potentially be explored in regions where the relic abundance is achieved through freeze-out mechanism.
Spectral features of cortical auditory evoked potentials inform hearing threshold and intensity percepts in acoustic and electric hearing
Authors: Mao Darren , Innes-Brown Hamish , Petoe Matthew A , McKay Colette M , Wong Yan T
Published: May 2021

Objective. Stimulus-elicited changes in electroencephalography (EEG) recordings can be represented using Fourier magnitude and phase features (Makeig et al (2004 Trends Cogn. Sci.
8 204–10)). The present study aimed to quantify how much information about hearing responses are contained in the magnitude, quantified by event-related spectral perturbations (ERSPs); and the phase, quantified by inter-trial coherence (ITC). By testing if one feature contained more information and whether this information was mutually exclusive to the features, we aimed to relate specific EEG magnitude and phase features to hearing perception. Approach. EEG responses were recorded from 20 adults who were presented with acoustic stimuli, and 20 adult cochlear implant users with electrical stimuli. Both groups were presented with short, 50 ms stimuli at varying intensity levels relative to their hearing thresholds. Extracted ERSP and ITC features were inputs for a linear discriminant analysis classifier (Wong et al (2016 J. Neural. Eng.
13 036003)). The classifier then predicted whether the EEG signal contained information about the sound stimuli based on the input features. Classifier decoding accuracy was quantified with the mutual information measure (Cottaris and Elfar (2009 J. Neural. Eng.
6 026007), Hawellek et al (2016 Proc. Natl Acad. Sci.
113 13492–7)), and compared across the two feature sets, and to when both feature sets were combined. Main results. We found that classifiers using either ITC or ERSP feature sets were both able to decode hearing perception, but ITC-feature classifiers were able to decode responses to a lower but still audible stimulation intensity, making ITC more useful than ERSP for hearing threshold estimation. We also found that combining the information from both feature sets did not improve decoding significantly, implying that ERSP brain dynamics has a limited contribution to the EEG response, possibly due to the stimuli used in this study. Significance. We successfully related hearing perception to an EEG measure, which does not require behavioral feedback from the listener; an objective measure is important in both neuroscience research and clinical audiology.
Corrosion resistance, nano-mechanical properties, and biocompatibility of Mg-plasma-implanted and plasma-etched Ta/TaN hierarchical multilayered coatings on the nitrided AZ91 Mg alloy
Authors: Shanaghi Ali , Souri Ali Reza , Mehrjou Babak , Chu Paul K
Published: May 2021

A tantalum/tantalum nitride (Ta/TaN) multilayered coating is deposited on plasma-nitridedAZ91 Mg alloy. The top TaN layer undergoes O2 + Ar plasma etching to improve the antibacterial properties and Mg plasma immersion ion implantation (MgPIII) is performed to enhance the biocompatibility and wound healing capability. A uniform, compact, homogeneous, and columnar nanostructured MgPIII and plasma-etched TaN layer with a cluster size of about 17 nm, surface roughness of 0.28 nm, and needle morphology is observed. Although, plasma etching increases the corrosion current density (i
corr) from 0.02 to 0.19 µA cm−2 due to larger surface roughness and different potentials between sharp points and smooth points, MgPIII decreases i
corr from 0.19 to 0.02 µA cm−2 besides a more positive corrosion potential. The amounts of Mg+2 released to the simulated body fluid (SBF) diminishes from 89.63 ± 0.54 to 60.30 ± 0.47 mg l−1 cm−2 indicating improved corrosion resistance. Under fever conditions (40 °C), i
corr decreases by 63%, but the open circuit potential does not change due to the constant chemical composition of the surface as well as thicker double layer and less defects, as confirmed by the larger amount of Mg+2 of 71.49 ± 0.22 mg l−1 cm−2 leached to the SBF. In the self-healing process which occurs via the reactions between the tantalum intermediate layer and electrolytes and penetrating ions through the defects as well as formation of oxide compounds, creation and propagation of defects are deterred as shown the 24 h destructive polarization test in SBF. The combination of plasma etching and MgPIII enhance not only the bacterial resistance and biocompatibility of the super-hard TaN layer by providing the rougher surface on TaN–P–Mg, but also the nano-mechanical properties and anticorrosion properties. As a result, the hardness increases by 7%, elastic modulus decreases by 19%, and the stiffness increases by 21%.
Short-term impacts of 2017 western North American wildfires on meteorology, the atmosphere’s energy budget, and premature mortality
Authors: Bernstein Diana N , Hamilton Douglas S , Krasnoff Rosalie , Mahowald Natalie M , Connelly David S , Tilmes Simone , Hess Peter G M
Published: May 2021

Western North American fires have been increasing in magnitude and severity over the last few decades. The complex coupling of fires with the atmospheric energy budget and meteorology creates short-term feedbacks on regional weather altering the amount of pollution to which Americans are exposed. Using a combination of model simulations and observations, this study shows that the severe fires in the summer of 2017 increased atmospheric aerosol concentrations leading to a cooling of the air at the surface, reductions in sensible heat fluxes, and a lowering of the planetary boundary layer height over land. This combination of lower-boundary layer height and increased aerosol pollution from the fires reduces air quality. We estimate that from start of August to end of October 2017, ∼400 premature deaths occurred within the western US as a result of short-term exposure to elevated PM2.5 from fire smoke. As North America confronts a warming climate with more fires the short-term climate and pollution impacts of increased fire activity should be assessed within policy aimed to minimize impacts of climate change on society.
First-principles investigation of the electronic and thermoelectric properties of SiGe doped with Sn and one percent B
Authors: Ouserigha C E , Ogobiri G E
Published: May 2021

Silicon-Germanium (SiGe) has recently attracted much interest as a room temperature thermoelectric (TE) material for converting heat into electrical output power. With the advantage of silicon being non-toxic, cost-effective, and abundant on earth, a silicon base TE material has a promising future. A first-principle calculation based on the fully self-consistent Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method with the coherent potential approximation (KKR-CPA) to treat several forms of chemical disorders of SiGe by Sn-doping was carried out. In SiGe1-xSnx, as the Sn content increases the Fermi level shifts to the conduction band edge. Similarly, in Si1-xSnxGe, a high Sn content (x = 0.4 to 0.9) results in the Fermi level shifting to the conduction band edge. On the contrary, a low amount of Sn content (x = 0.1 to 0.3) causes the Fermi level to fluctuate between the conduction band and the valence band states. With the addition of 1% Boron impurity to the alloys Si1-xSnxGe and SiGe1-xSnx, the number of carriers (electron and hole) states was enhanced by 0.05 states/eV. This makes the alloys Si0.3Sn0.69B0.01Ge and SiGe0.4Sn0.59B0.01 promising for application as n-type electrodes in a thermoelectric generator (TEG).
Advancing Energy Storage Technology through Hybridization of Supercapacitors and Batteries: A Review on the Contribution of Carbon-Based Nanomaterials
Authors: Uyor UO , Popoola API , Popoola OM , Aigbodion VS , Ujah CO
Published: May 2021

Fast depletion of fossil fuel and other non-renewable energy resources with their negative environmental impact have raised the quest for eco-friendly and sustainable energy resources. Sustainable energy resources such as solar and wind energy are periodical. Therefore, such energy resources can only be effectively utilized with advanced energy storage technology. Currently, various energy storage technologies such as batteries and supercapacitors are available with various energy storage properties. For instance, batteries are characterized with high energy and low power density. On the other hand, supercapacitors are low energy and high power density devices. The high power density of supercapacitors results to their faster charging and discharging capability compared to batteries. While batteries can accommodate higher energy compared to supercapacitors. Therefore, to obtain single energy storage material/device with both high energy and power density is a challenge in the energy storage sector. However, various efforts have been made to address this challenge through combinations of various materials or devices. For instance, carbon-based nanomaterials such as graphene and carbon nanotubes have been extensively studied in design of supercapacitors for high energy storage density. While supercapacitors and batteries have been hybridized on the effort to obtain energy storage device with both high energy and power density for advanced energy storage technology. Therefore, this review looks into the contribution of carbon-based nanomaterials in improving energy storage density of supercapacitors and their hybridization with batteries as the way forward to obtain energy storage materials/devices with both high energy and power density for advanced energy storage technology.
Cost Analysis of Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) System for Urban Home in Bayelsa State, Nigeria
Authors: Ainah P. K. , Buraindi A. D. , Karimo S. J.
Published: May 2021

Building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) based system is gaining popularity in Nigeria due to the incessant blackout and cost of fuelling petrol generators. However, one of the reasons for slow installation of the BIPV is the cost of the entire system which include PV modules, storage battery, inverters, etc. This paper analyses the factors that determine the cost of the BIPV system such as building load, and the autonomy of the storage battery. Some electrical appliances were used to develop different load profile for an urban building. The different load profile and the battery depth of discharge (DoD) and autonomy of the battery bank were used to analyse a sustainable and cost effective BIPV system. The paper reveals that a sustainable cost effective BIPV system for urban homes in Nigeria is determined by the type of electrical appliances used, and the appliances usage pattern. Also, the cost of the system is also affected by the depth of discharge (DoD) and autonomy of the battery bank as revealed in the paper.
Comparative study of calorific values and proximate analysis of biogas from different feedstocks
Authors: Ezekoye V , Ezekoye D , Ofomatah A , Agbaogu A
Published: May 2021

Wastes used in this research paper were Orange and plantain peels with the addition of catalyst (clay). From the experiment carried out, the co-digestion of orange and plantain peels was the first to become flammable. The retention time was 66 days during which the ambient temperature and slurry temperature fluctuated between 22°C to 42°C which is within the range of mesophilic temperature. Orange peel, plantain peel and Orange/plantain became combustible on 64th,55th, and 31stday respectively. Calorific values of the samples were 15,213.85 KJ/Kg, 18,309.35 K J/Kg, and 16761.60 KJ/Kg respectively. Biochemical demands and chemical demand were obtained. The biogas produced was analyzed using biogas analyzer. The methane composition of the biogas produced were 70.70 %, 82.99 % and 77.85 % respectively. The proximate analysis of the samples was done. The Ash content was 0.35% for Orange peel, 0.55% for plantain peel and 0.41% for Orange/plantain due to the co-digestion process. The total viable count of the samples was also done.
Many-body effects of Cu-Phthalocyanine crystal for Solar Cell application
Authors: Lawal Abdullahi , Koma Ahmed Musa , Godfrey Lawissense Dunah
Published: May 2021

Performance of organic semiconductor material is very sensitive to the reactivity of electrical and optical properties. Structural properties of Cu-Phthalocyanine molecular crystal (β-CuPc) are studied via first-principles approach within density functional theory (DFT) framework. The calculated structural parameters are close to experimental result. Many-body perturbation theory (MBPT) based on convolution of non-interacting Green’s function (G0) and a screened Coulomb interaction (W0), G0W0 approximation were used for quasiparticle (QP) band structure and optical properties calculations. The bandgap value of 1.71 eV calculated with G0W0+RPA is in good agreement with experimental value. Optical properties calculations show that the results obtained within G0W0 plus random phase approximation (RPA) are close to available experimental results. Interestingly, optical gap of 1.71 eV and strong absorption of β-CuPc in the visible light and ultraviolet regions shows that the investigated material is suitable for optoelectronic and solar cells applications.