bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Integrating human values in software development using a human values dashboard
Authors: Nurwidyantoro Arif , Shahin Mojtaba , Chaudron Michel , Hussain Waqar , Perera Harsha , Shams Rifat Ara , Whittle Jon
Published: April 2023

There is a growing awareness of the importance of human values in software systems. However, limited tools are available to support the integration of human values during software development. Most of these tools are focused on concepts related to specific, well-known human values (e.g., privacy, security) in software engineering. This paper aims to (partially) address this gap by developing a human values dashboard. We conducted a multi-stage study to design, implement and evaluate a human values dashboard. First, an exploratory study was conducted by interviewing 15 software practitioners to investigate the possibility of using a human values dashboard to help address human values in software development, its potential benefits, and required features. Second, we experimented with four Machine Learning approaches to detect the presence of human values in issue discussions. We used the best approach to develop a human values dashboard for software development. The dashboard displays whether any human values are present in each issue discussion. Finally, we interviewed ten different practitioners to investigate the usefulness of the dashboard in practice. This study found that the human values dashboard could help raise awareness, focus attention, and prioritise issues based on the presence of values. This study also identified two potential challenges to the adoption of the dashboard. First, the possible incorrect issues description that can mislead the automated values identification in the dashboard. Second, the lack of willingness of a company to adopt the dashboard.
Knowing Food: Sustainability Politics, Food Policy Councils and the Co-Production of Knowledge
Authors: Schiller-Merkens Simone , Machin Amanda
Published: April 2023

As one of the major causes of climate change, there is an urgent need for a fundamental transformation of the food system. Calls for greater sustainability underscore the importance of integrating civil society and the local knowledge of citizens in this transformation process. One increasingly relevant organisation that can actively engage a plurality of actors from across civil society is the Food Policy Council (FPC). In this paper, we explore the potential role of FPCs in sustainability politics to create an alternative food system, with a focus on the co-production of knowledge for policy-making. We propose that the co-production of knowledge requires knowledge inclusion, exchange and transmission, and we focus on the challenges that can arise for FPCs. Our paper shows that bottom-up emerging FPCs constitute a new form of alternative food organisation that can integrate and support the critical capacity of civil society in food system transformation, but also face potential struggles in the co-production of knowledge for sustainable food policy-making. The paper further highlights that co-producing knowledge in and for sustainability transformation is fundamentally a political process, with politics broadly conceived. It not only has relevance for the institutions of formal politics, but emerges in and is intrinsically linked to the grassroots collective action of contentious and prefigurative politics in civil society. FPCs (re)politicise food by combining these various kinds of sustainability politics, which constitutes their transformative potential.
Links of positive affect and stress to HbA1c: a prospective longitudinal study
Authors: Horner Fiona S. , Helgeson Vicki S. , Korytkowski Mary T.
Published: April 2023

While affect is linked to a number of diabetes outcomes, the specific role of positive affect (PA) in HbA1c remains unclear. The present study examined whether PA prospectively predicted lower HbA1c among adults with type 2 diabetes and whether this relation was moderated by stress. Participants were 123 adults (44.7% female; 60.2% White, 39.8% Black) recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Perceived stress, diabetes-specific distress, and PA were assessed at baseline; HbA1c was assessed at baseline (T1), six months (T2), and five years (T3). PA was cross-sectionally associated with lower HbA1c at T1 and prospectively predicted lower HbA1c at T3. PA interacted with both measures of T1 stress to predict T1 HbA1c, and PA interacted with T3 perceived stress to predict T3 HbA1c. Interactions were consistent with stress buffering. Sensitivity analyses attentuated findings, but robust evidence remained for PA as a protective factor for blood glucose five years later and for a stress-buffering effect of PA on diabetes-specific distress. Findings suggest PA may be a clinically useful indicator among adults with type 2 diabetes and may be particularly important for those experiencing the greatest stress from their disease.
Relative contributions of water-level components to extreme water levels along the US Southeast Atlantic Coast from a regional-scale water-level hindcast
Authors: Parker Kai , Erikson Li , Thomas Jennifer , Nederhoff Kees , Barnard Patrick , Muis Sanne
Published: April 2023

A 38-year hindcast water-level product is developed for the US Southeast Atlantic coastline from the entrance of Chesapeake Bay to the southeast tip of Florida. The water-level modeling framework utilized in this study combines a global-scale hydrodynamic model (Global Tide and Surge Model, GTSM-ERA5), a novel ensemble-based tide model, a parameterized wave setup model, and statistical corrections applied to improve modeled water-level components. Corrected water-level data are found to be skillful, with an RMSE of 13 cm, when compared to observed water-level measurement at tide gauge locations. The largest errors in the hindcast are location-based and typically found in the tidal component of the model. Extreme water levels across the region are driven by compound events, in this case referring to combined surge, tide, and wave forcing. However, the relative importance of water-level components varies spatially, such that tides are found to be more important in the center of the study region, non-tidal residual water levels to the north, and wave setup in the north and south. Hurricanes drive the most extreme water-level events within the study area, but non-hurricane events define the low to mid-level recurrence interval water-level events. This study presents a robust analysis of the complex oceanographic factors that drive coastal flood events. This dataset will support a variety of critical coastal research goals including research related to coastal hazards, landscape change, and community risk assessments.
Assessing the effectiveness of landslide slope stability by analysing structural mitigation measures and community risk perception
Authors: Kamal A. S. M. Maksud , Hossain Farhad , Ahmed Bayes , Rahman Md. Zillur , Sammonds Peter
Published: April 2023

Rainfall-induced landslides seriously threaten hilly environments, leading local authorities to implement various mitigation measures to decrease disaster risk. However, there is a significant gap in the current literature regarding evaluating their effectiveness and the associated community risk perception. To address this gap, we used an interdisciplinary and innovative approach to analyse the slope stability of landslides, evaluate the effectiveness of existing structural mitigation measures, and assess the risk perception of those living in danger zones. Our case study focused on the Kutupalong Rohingya Camp (KRC) in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, which is home to over one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. Although various structural and non-structural countermeasures were implemented in the KRC to mitigate the impact of landslides, many of them failed to prevent landslides from occurring. We utilised a variety of methods from the physical sciences, including the infinite slope, limit equilibrium (LEM), and finite element (FEM) approaches, to calculate the factor of safety (FoS) for specific slopes. Additionally, in the social sciences domain, we conducted a questionnaire survey of approximately 400 Rohingya participants to assess the community’s perception of the interventions and the degree of disaster risk. Our findings indicated that slopes with a gradient greater than 40° were unstable (FoS < 1), which was present throughout the entire KRC area. The effectiveness of the LEM and FEM methods was evaluated for four dominant slope angles (40°, 45°, 50°, and 55°) under varying loads (0, 50, and 100 kN/m2). The slopes were found to be stable for lower slope angles but unstable for higher slope angles (> 50°) and increased overburden loads (50–100 kN/m2). Different mitigation measures were tested on the identified unstable slopes to assess their effectiveness, but the results showed that the countermeasures only provided marginal protection against landslides. Survey results revealed that at least 70% of respondents believed that concrete retaining walls are more effective in reducing landslide occurrence compared to other measures. Additionally, about 60% of the respondents questioned the reliability of the existing structural mitigation measures. The study also found that the cohesion and friction angle of lower sandstone and the cohesion of upper soil layers are important factors to consider when designing and implementing slope protection countermeasures in the KRC area.
Predicting the ripening time of ‘Hass’ and ‘Shepard’ avocado fruit by hyperspectral imaging
Authors: Han Yifei , Bai Shahla Hosseini , Trueman Stephen J. , Khoshelham Kourosh , Kämper Wiebke
Published: April 2023

Predicting the ripening time of avocado fruit accurately could improve fruit storage and decrease food waste. No reasonable method exists for predicting the postharvest ripening time of avocado fruit during transport, storage or retail display. Here, hyperspectral imaging ranging from 388 to 1005 nm with 462 bands was applied to 316 ‘Hass’ and 160 ‘Shepard’ mature, unripe avocado fruit to predict how many days it took for individual fruit to become ripe. Three models were developed using partial least squares regression (PLSR), deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) regression and DCNN classification. Our PLSR models provided coefficients of determination (R2) of 0.76 and 0.50 and root mean squared errors (RMSE) of 1.20 and 1.13 days for ‘Hass’ and ‘Shepard’ fruit, respectively. The DCNN-based regression models produced similar results with R2 of 0.77 and 0.59, and RMSEs of 1.43 and 0.94 days for ‘Hass’ and ‘Shepard’ fruit, respectively. The prediction accuracies and RMSEs from DCNN classification models, respectively, were 67.28% and 1.52 days for ‘Hass’ and 64.06% and 1.03 days for ‘Shepard’. Our study demonstrates that the spectral reflectance of the skin of mature, unripe ‘Hass’ and ‘Shepard’ fruit provides adequate information to predict ripening time and, thus, has the potential to improve postharvest processing and reduce postharvest losses of avocado fruit.
Trust-Region Adaptive Frequency for Online Continual Learning
Authors: Kong Yajing , Liu Liu , Qiao Maoying , Wang Zhen , Tao Dacheng
Published: April 2023

In the paradigm of online continual learning, one neural network is exposed to a sequence of tasks, where the data arrive in an online fashion and previously seen data are not accessible. Such online fashion causes insufficient learning and severe forgetting on past tasks issues, preventing a good stability-plasticity trade-off, where ideally the network is expected to have high plasticity to adapt to new tasks well and have the stability to prevent forgetting on old tasks simultaneously. To solve these issues, we propose a trust-region adaptive frequency approach, which alternates between standard-process and intra-process updates. Specifically, the standard-process replays data stored in a coreset and interleaves the data with current data, and the intra-process updates the network parameters based on the coreset. Furthermore, to improve the unsatisfactory performance stemming from online fashion, the frequency of the intra-process is adjusted based on a trust region, which is measured by the confidence score of current data. During the intra-process, we distill the dark knowledge to retain useful learned knowledge. Moreover, to store more representative data in the coreset, a confidence-based coreset selection is presented in an online manner. The experimental results on standard benchmarks show that the proposed method significantly outperforms state-of-art continual learning algorithms.
Research on the evolution and the driving forces of land use classification for production, living, and ecological space in China’s Qilian Mountains Nature Reserve from 2000 to 2020
Authors: Wang Yaobin , Zhao Ruitao , Li Ying , Yao Rong , Wu Ruoxue , Li Wenlin
Published: April 2023

With the rapid development of the economy, problems such as resource depletion, environmental degradation, and increasingly strained human-land relations have become increasingly prominent. The rational layout of the production, living, and ecological spaces is the basis for solving the contradiction between economic development and environmental protection. This paper analyzed the spatial distribution pattern and evolution characteristics of the Qilian Mountains Nature Reserve based on the theory of production, living, and ecological space. The results show that the production and living function indexes are rising. The most advantaged areas are in the northern part of the research area, where the terrain is flat and transportation is convenient. The ecological function index rises, falls, then rises again. The high-value area is located in the south of the study area, and its ecological function is intact. The study area is dominated by ecological space. During the study period, the area of production space increased by 858.5 km2 and the living space area increased by 341.12 km2. The intensification of human activities has separated the continuity of ecological space. The area of ecological space has decreased by 233.68 km2. Among geographical factors, altitude has a significant impact on the evolution of living space. Population density is the main socioeconomic factor in changing the areas of production space and ecological space. This study is expected to provide a reference basis for land use planning and sustainable development of resources and environment in nature reserves.
Bildungsaspirationen Jugendlicher in Österreich im Kontext sozialer und regionaler Ungleichheit
Authors: Bodi-Fernandez Otto , Fernandez Karina , Zehetner Elisabeth , Quenzel Gudrun , Auferbauer Martin
Published: April 2023

Im Beitrag werden mittels Daten aus der Jugendstudie „Lebenswelten“ die Einflüsse sozialer und regionaler Ungleichheiten auf die Bildungsaspirationen Jugendlicher in Österreich analysiert. In der Erhebung wurden 14.432 Schülerinnen und Schüler in Österreich aus den Jahrgangsstufen 8 bis 10 zu ihren Lebenszielen, Einstellungen und Lebensbedingungen befragt. Als Ungleichheitsindikatoren dienen neben Stadt-Land-Vergleichen der sozioökonomische Status der Herkunftsfamilie, der Bildungshintergrund der Eltern und der sprachliche Hintergrund. Dabei zeigen sich enge Verflechtungen zwischen regionalen und sozialen Ungleichheiten, wobei beide Ungleichheitsdimensionen unabhängig voneinander Erklärungsanteile für unterschiedliche Bildungsaspirationen liefern.
Sind Einkommensunterschiede zu groß? Eine Analyse von Einstellungen in der österreichischen Bevölkerung
Authors: Wiesböck Laura , Verwiebe Roland
Published: April 2023

Im Zentrum dieser Forschungsnotiz steht die Frage nach der Bewertung von Einkommensungleichheit in der österreichischen Gegenwartsgesellschaft. Anhand von ISSP- und SSÖ-Daten können unsere Analysen diesbezüglich zeigen, dass Einkommensungleichheit von einer großen Mehrheit aktuell als zu hoch wahrgenommen wird. Zudem sehen die Menschen in Österreich sehr häufig den Staat in der Verantwortung Einkommensungleichheit abzubauen; viel häufiger als das in anderen europäischen Ländern der Fall ist. Während der Bereich Gesundheit und Pension seit Mitte der 1980er von der überwiegenden Mehrheit als staatliche Aufgabe gesehen wurde, liegt die Verantwortung für den Abbau von Einkommensungleichheit auf einem niedrigeren Zustimmungsniveau. Die Befürwortung der Absicherung von Arbeitslosen als Verantwortung des Staats nimmt aktuell eher ab, trotz der gestiegenen Arbeitslosigkeit zu Beginn der Pandemie. Schließlich zeigen unsere Regressionsanalysen, dass Unterschiede in der Beurteilung von Einkommensungleichheiten u. a. durch sozio-demographische Faktoren, die berufliche Stellung, das Haushaltseinkommen aber auch durch persönliche Einstellungen und Gerechtigkeitsüberzeugungen erklärt werden können.
YuNet: A Tiny Millisecond-level Face Detector
Authors: Wu Wei , Peng Hanyang , Yu Shiqi
Published: April 2023

Great progress has been made toward accurate face detection in recent years. However, the heavy model and expensive computation costs make it difficult to deploy many detectors on mobile and embedded devices where model size and latency are highly constrained. In this paper, we present a millisecond-level anchor-free face detector, YuNet, which is specifically designed for edge devices. There are several key contributions in improving the efficiency-accuracy trade-off. First, we analyse the influential state-of-the-art face detectors in recent years and summarize the rules to reduce the size of models. Then, a lightweight face detector, YuNet, is introduced. Our detector contains a tiny and efficient feature extraction backbone and a simplified pyramid feature fusion neck. To the best of our knowledge, YuNet has the best trade-off between accuracy and speed. It has only 75856 parameters and is less than 1/5 of other small-size detectors. In addition, a training strategy is presented for the tiny face detector, and it can effectively train models with the same distribution of the training set. The proposed YuNet achieves 81.1% mAP (single-scale) on the WIDER FACE validation hard track with a high inference efficiency (Intel i7-12700K: 1.6ms per frame at 320 × 320). Because of its unique advantages, the repository for YuNet and its predecessors has been popular at GitHub and gained more than 11K stars at https://github.com/ShiqiYu/libfacedetection
Effects of Puberty on Blood Pressure Trajectories — Underlying Processes
Authors: Wójcik Małgorzata , Starzyk Jerzy B. , Drożdż Monika , Drożdż Dorota
Published: April 2023

Puberty is a complex process leading to physical, sexual, and psychosocial maturation. The changes in morphology and organ function during puberty also affect blood pressure (BP) regulation, and as a consequence (BP) values change noticeably, reaching values often higher than after reaching full maturity. In children entering puberty, BP, especially systolic, increases and then reaches adult values by the end of puberty. The mechanisms responsible for this process are complex and not fully understood. Sex hormones, growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-1, and insulin, whose production increases during puberty, significantly regulate BP through complex and overlapping mechanisms. During puberty, the incidence of arterial hypertension also increases, especially in children with excess body weight. The present paper presents the current state of knowledge regarding the influence of processes occurring during puberty on blood pressure.
PTA-metrics for time-lapse analysis of well performance
Authors: Shchipanov A. , Kollbotn L. , Namazova G.
Published: April 2023

Monitoring of a well and the surrounding reservoir performances is a crucial component in evaluating on-going and planning future well and field operations. This is carried out at all stages of a well life-span: from exploration to production and, sometimes, after abandonment. Despite tremendous progress in reservoir simulations, simple and fast techniques for well-reservoir performance evaluation are still demanded in the industry, especially in the context of the vast amount of permanent well monitoring data continuously accumulated. Such techniques are of special interest for on-the-fly well monitoring to detect and alarm about deteriorating performance issues. Installation of permanent pressure gauges in many wells motivated development of time-lapse Pressure Transient Analysis (PTA), capable of revealing and monitoring of different factors governing well performance and reservoir production. The paper describes PTA-based metrics introduced in the context of automated interpretation of time-lapse pressure responses and their derivatives. The paper begins with a review of time-lapse PTA applications in the oil and gas industry and examples of patterns formed by the time-lapse pressure transients and their derivatives in the log–log scale. Then, integral-based PTA-metrics for well-reservoir performance analysis are introduced. The metrics enable to distinguish between reservoir and well-reservoir connection contributions to a well’s performance using the Bourdet derivative, while avoiding the need for selecting and matching of a well-reservoir model. The metrics were further tested with synthetic well models and field cases. The testing demonstrated high accuracy of the metrics for the cases of vertical wells with stable transient patterns. Testing for the horizontal well cases has confirmed reliability of the metrics for the stable patterns, while change of the patterns may reduce the metrics reliability. Model independence and using only pressure and rate measurements as input data are the main advantages of the metrics for integration into automated interpretation workflows and on-the-fly analysis intensively developed in the industry.
Lipid content and fatty acid methyl ester profile by Chromochloris zofingiensis under chemical and metabolic stress
Authors: Vitali Lorenzo , Lolli Veronica , Sansone Francesco , Kumar Amit , Concas Alessandro , Lutzu Giovanni Antonio
Published: April 2023

This work encompasses the effect of chemical and metabolic stress on lipid content and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profile by Chromochloris zofingiensis. To this aim, a control medium amended with specific concentrations of sodium chloride (15 g L−1, 30 g L−1, and 60 g L−1) and of ethanolamine (ETA) and triethylamine (TEA) (0.050 g L−1, 0.100 g L−1, and 0.150 g L−1) has been used for the cultivation of this strain. A better lipid content than the control was obtained under salt stress compared to chemical stress induced by ETA and TEA, while the effect on lipid productivity was negligible. Thirty grams per liter of NaCl allowed to obtain the highest value of the total lipid content (30.33% DW) compared to the control (20% DW). FAME profile revealed a 97.50–98.99% composition in C16–C18 with no statistically meaningful differences among the three concentrations of salt and chemicals tested. The most represented fatty acids were C18:1 oleic (> 45%wt), C16:0 palmitic (> 34%wt), and C18:2 linoleic (> 21%wt) obtained under 60 and 30 mg L−1 of NaCl and 0.150 g L−1 of ETA, respectively. When using 0.150 g L−1 of ETA, unsaturated fatty acids reached the highest portion (67.53%wt) than the control (62.26%wt). A quantitative and qualitative analysis of all FAMEs has been carried out to improve biodiesel properties. Chemical and physical properties of algal lipid–derived biodiesel showed a compliance with ASTM standards for unmixed biodiesel and the main European regulations (EN 14214 and EN 590) for the quality of biodiesel resulted fulfilled. Therefore, a profitable biodiesel can be obtained when cultivating C. zofingiensis under osmotic stress.

Graphical abstract
The effect of moderate-intensity endurance plus resistance training combined with MCCR diet on glycemic status in prediabetes
Authors: Zeng Siqin , Tian Xiaolou , Liu Yang , Deng Yuting , Chen Jiawei , Su Peng , Feng Chen , Wang Mei , Liu Hua
Published: April 2023

Background

There is little clinical evidence that exercise improves prediabetic individuals' glycemic status on glycated hemoglobin A1c (Hb1Ac) and homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) indices. The purpose of this study is to investigate how an eight-week high volume of moderate-intensity endurance plus resistance exercise combined with a medium carbohydrate, low fat, calorie-restricted, carbohydrate counting diet (MCCR) affects Hb1Ac and HOMA indices in individuals with prediabetes.

Methods

Twenty-two young obese people (BMI ≥ 28 kg/m2) were divided into two groups: prediabetes intervention group (INT, n = 10) and normoglycemic control group (CON, n = 12). All participants received the MCCR dietary intervention and a high volume of moderate-intensity endurance plus resistance training, 6 days/week, 5 times/day, and 50 min/time, for 8 weeks. Body composition and circumference, serum lipids, fasting blood glucose (FPG), 2-h post-glucose (2 h-PG), fasting insulin (FINS), Hb1Ac, the insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), insulin sensitivity (HOMA-IS) and β-cell function (HOMA-β) indices were assessed.

Results

After exercise and dietary intervention, Hb1Ac, 2 h-PG, and FINS levels were significantly reduced in both the INT and CON groups (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). HOMA-IR, HOMA-IS, and body fat percent were significantly improved in the INT group (p < 0.05), but HOMA-β was not observed. Additionally, Hb1Ac levels were significantly normalized in the prediabetic individuals, with a reversion rate of 71.43%, while there was no difference in FPG.

Conclusion

The MCCR diet combined with an eight-week high volume of moderate-intensity endurance and resistance training is effective in reversing Hb1Ac and improving insulin sensitivity in young, obese adults with prediabetes.
Variational methods for nonpositive mixed local–nonlocal operators
Authors: Maione Alberto , Mugnai Dimitri , Vecchi Eugenio
Published: April 2023

We prove the existence of a weak solution for boundary value problems driven by a mixed local–nonlocal operator. The main novelty is that such an operator is allowed to be nonpositive definite.
Clinical features and outcome of vertebral osteomyelitis after spinal injection: is it worth the price?
Authors: Yagdiran Ayla , Paul Gregor , Meyer-Schwickerath Charlotte , Scheder-Bieschin Justus , Tobys David , Kernich Nikolaus , Eysel Peer , Jung Norma
Published: April 2023

Purpose

Spinal injections are increasingly used for back pain treatment. Vertebral osteomyelitis (VO) after spinal injection (SIVO) is rare, but patient characteristics and outcome have not been well characterized. The aim of this study was to assess patient characteristics of SIVO in comparison to patients with native vertebral osteomyelitis (NVO) and to determine predictors for 1-year survival.

Methods

This is a single-center cohort study from a tertiary referral hospital. This is a retrospective analysis of Patients with VO who were prospectively enrolled into a spine registry from 2008 to 2019. Student’s t-test, Kruskal–Wallis test or Chi-square test were applied for group comparisons. Survival analysis was performed using a log-rank test and a multivariable Cox regression model.

Results

283 VO patients were enrolled in the study, of whom 44 (15.5%) had SIVO and 239 (84.5%) NVO. Patients with SIVO were significantly younger, had a lower Charlson comorbidity index and a shorter hospital stay compared to NVO. They also showed a higher rate of psoas abscesses and spinal empyema (38.6% [SIVO] vs. 20.9% [NVO]). Staphylococcus aureus (27%) and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) (25%) were equally often detected in SIVO while S. aureus was more frequently than CNS in NVO (38.1% vs. 7.9%).Patients with SIVO (P = 0.04) had a higher 1-year survival rate (Fig. 1). After multivariate analysis, ASA score was associated with a lower 1-year survival in VO.

Conclusion

The results from this study emphasize unique clinical features of SIVO, which warrant that SIVO should be estimated as a separate entity of VO.
The M-matrix group inverse problem for distance-biregular graphs
Authors: Abiad Aida , Carmona Ángeles , Encinas Andrés M. , Jiménez María José
Published: April 2023

In this work, we obtain the group inverse of the combinatorial Laplacian matrix of distance-biregular graphs. This expression can be obtained trough the so-called equilibrium measures for sets obtained by deleting a vertex. Moreover, we show that the two equilibrium arrays characterizing distance-biregular graphs can be expressed in terms of the mentioned equilibrium measures. As a consequence of the minimum principle, we provide a characterization of when the group inverse of the combinatorial Laplacian matrix of a distance-biregular graph is an M-matrix.
Effect of demineralization on pyrolysis characteristics of LPS coal based on its chemical structure
Authors: Qian Lin , Xue Jinkai , Tao Chao , Ma Chao , Jiang Xiaopeng , Guo Feiqiang
Published: April 2023

The critical issue in developing mature Oxy-Coal Combustion Steam System technology could be the reactivity of demineralized coal which, is closely related to its chemical structure. The chemical structures of Liupanshui raw coal (LPS-R) and Liupanshui demineralized coal (LPS-D) were analyzed by FTIR and solid-state 13C-NMR. The pyrolysis experiments were carried out by TG, and the pyrolysis kinetics was analyzed by three iso-conversional methods. FTIR and 13C-NMR results suggested that the carbon structure of LPS coal was not altered greatly, while demineralization promoted the maturity of coal and the condensation degree of the aromatic ring, making the chemical structure of coal more stable. The oxygen-containing functional groups with low bond energy were reduced, and the ratio of aromatic carbon with high bond energy was increased, decreasing the pyrolysis reactivity. DTG curve-fitting results revealed that the thermal weight loss of LPS coal mainly came from the cleavage of aliphatic covalent bonds. By pyrolysis kinetics analysis of LPS-R and LPS-D, the apparent activation energies were 76 ± 4 to 463 ± 5 kJ/mol and 84 ± 2 to 758 ± 12 kJ/mol, respectively, under different conversion rates. The reactivity of the demineralized coal was inhibited to some extent, as the apparent activation energy of pyrolysis for LPS-D increased by acid treatment.
Combustion mechanism and control approaches of underground coal fires: a review
Authors: Liang Yuntao , Yang Yalan , Guo Sida , Tian Fuchao , Wang Shaofeng
Published: April 2023

With the large-scale mining of coal resources, the huge economic losses and environmental problems caused by underground coal fires have become increasingly prominent, and the research on the status quo and response strategies of underground coal fires is of great significance to accelerate the green prevention and control of coal fires, energy conservation and emission reduction. In this paper, we summarized and sorted out the research status of underground coal fires, focused on the theoretical and technical issues such as underground coal fire combustion mechanism, multiphysics coupling effect of coal fire combustion, fire prevention and extinguishing technology for underground coal fires, and beneficial utilization technology, and described the latest research progress of the prevention and control for underground coal fire hazards. Finally, the key research problems in the field of underground coal fire hazards prevention and control were proposed in the direction of the basic theory, technology research, comprehensive management and utilization, with a view to providing ideas and solutions for the management of underground coal fires.
Process and strategies of growth in medium-sized fast-growing firms
Authors: Morettini Lucio , Potì Bianca , Gabriele Roberto
Published: April 2023

The study investigates the firm high growth phenomenon and its relationships with reorganization costs and external financial dependence. We use a sample of medium-sized Italian fast-growing firms. Fast-growth firms are structured enough to plan growth strategies and not depend on occasional external events. The paper provides insight into the lumpiness of the process of firm expansion accompanying its reorganization, conditional on the presence or not of a fast-growth event. Moreover, the analysis shed some light on the relationship between growth and performance and on the growth process of a subsample of young, fast-growing firms to check the presence of differences in the process or the strategy of growth. We find a positive and significant relation between present growth and proxy variables for resources organization, a lumpy growth process, and a positive association of growth and profit for almost the whole sample, i.e., a positive balance between costs and benefit of growth.
Regulating the Electrical and Mechanical Properties of TaS2 Films via van der Waals and Electrostatic Interaction for High Performance Electromagnetic Interference Shielding
Authors: Deng Fukang , Wei Jianhong , Xu Yadong , Lin Zhiqiang , Lu Xi , Wan Yan-Jun , Sun Rong , Wong Ching-Ping , Hu Yougen
Published: April 2023

Low-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have unique electronic structure, vibration modes, and physicochemical properties, making them suitable for fundamental studies and cutting-edge applications such as silicon electronics, optoelectronics, and bioelectronics. However, the brittleness, low toughness, and poor mechanical and electrical stabilities of TMD-based films limit their application. Herein, a TaS2 freestanding film with ultralow void ratio of 6.01% is restacked under the effect of bond-free van der Waals (vdW) interactions within the staggered 2H-TaS2 nanosheets. The restacked films demonstrated an exceptionally high electrical conductivity of 2,666 S cm−1, electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) of 41.8 dB, and absolute EMI SE (SSE/t) of 27,859 dB cm2 g−1, which is the highest value reported for TMD-based materials. The bond-free vdW interactions between the adjacent 2H-TaS2 nanosheets provide a natural interfacial strain relaxation, achieving excellent flexibility without rupture after 1,000 bends. In addition, the TaS2 nanosheets are further combined with the polymer fibers of bacterial cellulose and aramid nanofibers via electrostatic interactions to significantly enhance the tensile strength and flexibility of the films while maintaining their high electrical conductivity and EMI SE.This work provides promising alternatives for conventional materials used in EMI shielding and nanodevices.
Regulating the Solvation Structure of Li+ Enables Chemical Prelithiation of Silicon-Based Anodes Toward High-Energy Lithium-Ion Batteries
Authors: He Wenjie , Xu Hai , Chen Zhijie , Long Jiang , Zhang Jing , Jiang Jiangmin , Dou Hui , Zhang Xiaogang
Published: April 2023

The solvation structure of Li+ in chemical prelithiation reagent plays a key role in improving the low initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) and poor cycle performance of silicon-based materials. Nevertheless, the chemical prelithiation agent is difficult to dope active Li+ in silicon-based anodes because of their low working voltage and sluggish Li+ diffusion rate. By selecting the lithium–arene complex reagent with 4-methylbiphenyl as an anion ligand and 2-methyltetrahydrofuran as a solvent, the as-prepared micro-sized SiO/C anode can achieve an ICE of nearly 100%. Interestingly, the best prelithium efficiency does not correspond to the lowest redox half-potential (E1/2), and the prelithiation efficiency is determined by the specific influencing factors (E1/2, Li+ concentration, desolvation energy, and ion diffusion path). In addition, molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that the ideal prelithiation efficiency can be achieved by choosing appropriate anion ligand and solvent to regulate the solvation structure of Li+. Furthermore, the positive effect of prelithiation on cycle performance has been verified by using an in-situ electrochemical dilatometry and solid electrolyte interphase film characterizations.
From grassroots to centralization—the development of local and regional governance in the german energy transition
Authors: Fuchs Gerhard , Fettke Ulrike
Published: April 2023

In the process of sustainability and especially electricity transition, the local and regional levels gain a new importance. Both social movements as well as governments from different levels (state, federal) are mobilizing and/or addressing local actors. The way this has been done and the capacities for local actors to have a say in the way transition processes do unfold, however, has changed significantly over the last decades in Germany. The paper will use the example of wind energy projects to analyze how multilevel governance arrangements have changed over time. The main thesis will be that the available repertoires of activities for local actors have become increasingly limited due to increasing policy management activities by state and federal governments. Especially the creation of artificial markets and auctioning devices have severely limited the scope of action for local actors. The article will reconstruct the changes in the multi-level governance structure and assess the effects on the development of wind energy by studying in detail two cases.
Being Moved: A Meaningful but Enigmatic Emotional Experience
Authors: Hänninen Vilma , Koski-Jännes Anja
Published: April 2023

The emotion often labelled as “being moved” is a commonly felt but somewhat mysterious experience in which joy and sadness are combined in a specific way. In recent years, it has gained much research attention, particularly within psychology, mostly using quantitative methods. The topics of discussion have included, for example, whether being moved is caused by an intensification of social relations or rather by core values of life becoming salient. This article aspires to shed further light on this emotion by exploring descriptions and reflections on moving experiences written by Finnish participants (N = 56). The writings were collected through a web-based data collection service and analyzed by inductive categorization. The findings suggest that being moved is a commonly recognized emotional state with characteristic bodily concomitants, that it is difficult to control and is often held private. Yet being moved is evaluated as a positive and valuable phenomenon. The events that were reported in this study to arouse such experiences are categorized into three main groups: important life course events (progression of the life course, memories, achievements, the birth and growth of a child), intensification of social relations (compassion and empathy, opening interindividual boundaries, communal experiences, morality), and beauty (art, nature). Our interpretation of what is common to the diversity of events behind the emotion is that they reveal core issues deeply meaningful for individuals and human life.
Challenges and perspectives for solar fuel production from water/carbon dioxide with thermochemical cycles
Authors: Chen Chen , Jiao Fan , Lu Buchu , Liu Taixiu , Liu Qibin , Jin Hongguang
Published: April 2023

Solar energy is the most sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. The production of solar thermochemical fuels from water/carbon dioxide not only overcomes the intermittent nature of solar energy, but also allows for flexible transportation and distribution. In this paper, the challenges for solar thermochemical H2/CO production are reviewed. New perspectives and insights to overcome these challenges are presented. For two-step cycles, the main challenges are high temperatures, low conversions and the intensive oxygen removal work. Theoretically feasible temperature and pressure ranges are needed to develop reactant materials. The fundamental mechanism to reduce the temperature and the potential to improve the efficiency by minimizing the oxygen removal work need be revealed. Various material modification strategies and advanced reactors are proposed to improve the efficiency by reducing the temperature and enhancing heat transfer process. But the oxygen removal work required has not been minimized. For multi-step cycles, the main challenges are the separation of corrosive acid and insufficient reaction kinetics. For the separation of acids, many methods have been proposed. But these methods require extra energy and causes undesired side reactions or byproducts. The reaction kinetics have been enhanced by improving catalysts with noble materials or complex fabrication methods. Developing novel multi-step cycles using metal oxides, hydroxides and carbonates may be promising.
Global dispersal and adaptive evolution of domestic cattle: a genomic perspective
Authors: Xia Xiaoting , Qu Kaixing , Wang Yan , Sinding Mikkel-Holger S. , Wang Fuwen , Hanif Quratulain , Ahmed Zulfiqar , Lenstra Johannes A. , Han Jianlin , Lei Chuzhao , Chen Ningbo
Published: April 2023

Domestic cattle have spread across the globe and inhabit variable and unpredictable environments. They have been exposed to a plethora of selective pressures and have adapted to a variety of local ecological and management conditions, including UV exposure, diseases, and stall-feeding systems. These selective pressures have resulted in unique and important phenotypic and genetic differences among modern cattle breeds/populations. Ongoing efforts to sequence the genomes of local and commercial cattle breeds/populations, along with the growing availability of ancient bovid DNA data, have significantly advanced our understanding of the genomic architecture, recent evolution of complex traits, common diseases, and local adaptation in cattle. Here, we review the origin and spread of domestic cattle and illustrate the environmental adaptations of local cattle breeds/populations.
A Research Toward Chinese Named Entity Recognition Based on Transfer Learning
Authors: Kang Hui , Xiao Jingwu , Zhang Yunpeng , Zhang Lei , Zhao Xu , Feng Tie
Published: April 2023

To improve the performance of named entity recognition in the lack of well-annotated entity data, a transfer learning-based Chinese named entity recognition model is proposed in this paper. The specific tasks are as follows: (1) first/, a data transfer method based on entity features is proposed. By calculating the similarity of feature distribution between low resource data and high resource data, the most representative entity features are selected for feature transfer mapping, and the distance of entity distribution between the two domains is calculated to make up the gap between the data of the two domains then model is trained by high resource data. (2) Then, an entity boundary detection method is proposed. This method utilizes the BiLSTM+CRF as the main structure and integrates character boundary information to assist the attention network to improve the model’s ability to recognize entity boundaries. (3) Finally, multiple named entity recognition methods are selected as baseline methods for comparison, and experiments are conducted on several datasets. The results show that the model proposed in this paper improves the accuracy of named entity recognition by 1%, the recall rate by 2%, and theF1 value by 2% on average in the field with low-resource.
Surface structure and multigap superconductivity of V3Si (111) revealed by scanning tunneling microscopy
Authors: Ding Shuyue , Zhao Dongming , Jiang Tianxing , Wang Haitao , Feng Donglai , Zhang Tong
Published: April 2023

V3Si, a classical silicide superconductor with relatively high $T_{\mathrm{C}}$

T
C

(∼16 K), is promising for constructing silicon-based superconducting devices and hetero-structures. However, real space characterization on its surfaces and superconducting properties are still limited. Here we report the first low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) study on cleaned V3Si (111) single crystal surface. We observed a $\sqrt{3} \times \sqrt{3}$

3

×

3

superstructure which displays mirror symmetry between adjacent terraces, indicating the surface is V-terminated and reconstructed. The tunneling spectrum shows full superconducting gap with double pairs of coherence peaks, but has a relatively small gap size with comparing to bulk $T_{\mathrm{C}}$

T
C

. Impurity induced in-gap state is absent on surface defects but present on introduced magnetic adatoms. Upon applying magnetic field, a hexagonal vortex lattice is visualized. Interestingly, the vortex size is found to be field dependent, and the coherence length measured from single vortex at low field is significantly larger than estimated value from bulk $H_{c2}$

H

c
2

. These results reflect V3Si is a multi-band, s-wave superconductor.
Refractory Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma Rescued by the Combination of the Second-Generation ALK Inhibitor Brigatinib, High-dose Chemotherapy and Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation: A Case Report and Review of the Literature
Authors: Caddeo Giulia , Tecchio Cristina , Chinello Matteo , Balter Rita , Zaccaron Ada , Vitale Virginia , Pezzella Vincenza , Bonetti Elisa , Pillon Marta , Carraro Elisa , Mussolin Lara , Cesaro Simone
Published: April 2023

The treatment of pediatric patients with refractory or relapsed anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is still a major challenge. In addition to conventional chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation, new therapeutic options such as anti-CD30 drugs and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitors have been recently introduced in this setting. Among ALK inhibitors, only the first-generation molecule crizotinib is approved for pediatric use, while second-generation molecules, such as brigatinib, are still under investigation. Here we report the case of a 13-year-old boy diagnosed with stage IV ALCL, refractory to first-line conventional chemotherapy and second-line therapy with the anti CD30 antibody–drug conjugate brentuximab-vedotin, who finally achieved remission after a combination of conventional high-dose chemotherapy and the second-generation ALK inhibitor brigatinib. The latter was chosen for its ability to penetrate through the blood–brain barrier, due to the persistent involvement of the patient’s cerebral nervous system. The remission was then consolidated with an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from an unrelated donor using myeloablative conditioning with total body irradiation. At 24 months after HSCT, the patient is in complete remission, alive and well. An updated review regarding the use of ALK inhibitors in ALCL patients is provided.
The impact of perioperative acute kidney injury/failure on short and long surgical outcomes
Authors: Mok Valerie , Nixon Jonathan , Hu Jie , Ma Daqing
Published: April 2023

The development of acute kidney injury after surgery is associated with significant mortality and morbidity and with worse short and long-term outcomes. Patients who develop acute kidney injury are at an increased risk of developing long-term renal dysfunction, which leads to lower quality of life and greater financial burden on the healthcare system. Although there are various systems to classify the severity of acute kidney injury, most systems only measure components that deteriorate after significant renal damage, such as urine output and serum creatinine. Surgical trauma and stress trigger acute kidney injury development, in addition to multiple co-morbidities, cardiovascular disease, and postoperative factors. The pathophysiology of acute kidney injury is complex, and this is reflected in the heterogenous population that is affected. Treatment is largely supportive and focuses on ensuring adequate renal perfusion, correcting electrolyte abnormalities and avoiding further renal injury. Current research focuses on novel biomarkers that detect decreased renal function earlier and that the deteriorating renal function can be treated before long-lasting damage occurs. This review discusses the epidemiology, aetiology, risk factors, and short and long-term surgical outcomes of acute kidney injury. Treatment, prevention, and recent developments in future research are also discussed.

Graphical Abstract