bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Perinatal and long‐term outcome of endoscopic laser surgery for twin–twin transfusion syndrome with and without selective fetal growth restriction: A retrospective cohort study
Authors: Gibbone Elena , Campos Rosa Vallenas , Calero Antonio Jérez , Lucena Pilar Carretero , Molina Garcia Francisca S.
Published: September 2022

Objective

Report survival rates, neonatal mortality and morbidity and long‐term outcomes of monochorionic (MC) twin pregnancies complicated by twin‐to‐twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) or TTTS plus selective fetal growth restriction (sFGR) treated by endoscopic laser surgery.

Methods

Retrospective cohort study including 149 MC twin pregnancies complicated by TTTS or TTTS plus sFGR.Medical records were reviewed for survival rates, neonatal mortality, neonatal morbidity and long‐term outcomes at 2 and 6 years of age.

Results

Survival of both babies was higher in the TTTS group than in the TTTS plus sFGR group (72.9%vs.54.8%); survival of at least one baby was similar in the two groups (90.7% and 88.1%). The incidence of severe neurological disability was not significantly different between TTTS and TTTS plus fetal growth restriction group at both stages, 1.9% versus 2.3% (p‐value = 1) and 3.4%vs6.1% (p‐value = 0.31). Multivariable analysis demonstrated that intact neurological outcome at 2 years of age was related with gestational age (GA) at birth and z score birthweight (Z BW), and at 6 years of age with GA at birth, Z BW and TTTS stage4. sFGR or abnormal brain findings at neonatal ultrasound were not related with impaired neurological outcome at two or 6 years of age.

Conclusions

In pregnancies with TTTS and TTTS plus sFGR survival of at least one baby and long‐term neurological outcome are comparable between both groups.
Asthma 17q21 polymorphism and risk of COVID‐19 in children: Correspondence
Authors: Mungmunpuntipantip Rujittika , Wiwanitkit Viroj
Published: September 2022

This correspondence discusses on published article on asthma 17q21 polymorphism and risk of COVID‐19 in children. The effect of other possible confounding factors are discussed.
Design and Development of Composite Propellant Using CuFe2O4 Spinel Decorated Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite as Novel Burn Rate Modifier
Authors: Ar Guruvayurappan , Dhas Akash M. , Pawar R. B. , Banerjee Shaibal
Published: September 2022

The burning rate of composite rocket propellant is a principal ballistic property that is considered while designing the rocket motor. Carbon bonded materials such as CNT(carbon nanotubes), fullerene, graphene, etc. due to their high surface area have exhibited promising results as burn rate modifiers in a propellant. Apart from enhancing the burn rate, unlike their inorganic counterparts, they are combustible and contribute towards energy output. Herein, we report a spinel structure CuFe2O4 decorated Graphene Oxide nanocomposite as novel burn rate modifier (BRM) in propellant composition. By incorporating 0.6 % of this burn rate modifier to the propellant remarkable improvement in burn rate by 61 % was observed.
Circuit Complexity in Topological Quantum Field Theory
Authors: Couch Josiah , Fan Yale , Shashi Sanjit
Published: September 2022

Quantum circuit complexity has played a central role in recent advances in holography and many‐body physics. Within quantum field theory, it has typically been studied in a Lorentzian (real‐time) framework. In a departure from standard treatments, we aim to quantify the complexity of the Euclidean path integral. In this setting, there is no clear separation between space and time, and the notion of unitary evolution on a fixed Hilbert space no longer applies. As a proof of concept, we argue that the pants decomposition provides a natural notion of circuit complexity within the category of 2‐dimensional bordisms and use it to formulate the circuit complexity of states and operators in 2‐dimensional topological quantum field theory. We comment on analogies between our formalism and others in quantum mechanics, such as tensor networks and second quantization.
Analysis of Multilayer Graphene Nanoribbon Interconnects Constrained by Structural Edge Roughness and Corrugated Surface Dielectric
Authors: Upadhyay Akanksha , Rai Mayank Kumar , Khanna Rajesh
Published: September 2022

The transient response, 3 dB bandwidth, and relative stability of undoped‐ and doped‐multilayer graphene nanoribbon (MLGNR) interconnects are investigated based on the mean free path (MFP) model incorporating scatterings induced by structural roughness of edges and corrugation of dielectric surface (viz., SiC, BN, and SiO2). The impact of scattering phenomenon on undoped‐MLGNRs (viz., horizontal top‐contact (HTC) and vertical top‐contact) and doped HTC‐MLGNR is analyzed, and the obtained results are compared with smooth and rough copper (Cu) interconnects at the 13 nm technology node. An ABCD parameter model for transmission lines considering the decoupling technique is employed to analyze three capacitively coupled interconnect lines. The results show that, while Cu interconnects outperform MLGNR variants in terms of step response and 3 dB bandwidth, MLGNR interconnects are more stable than Cu counterparts. Moreover, Li‐doped HTC‐MLGNR interconnects with edge roughness on SiO2 leads to slow and sluggish step response, particularly demonstrating a 1250.4% increase in rise time (tr) and 92.56% decrease in 3 dB bandwidth compared to smooth Cu. However, Li‐doped HTC‐MLGNR without edge roughness on SiC exhibits a 94.7% improvement in tr compared to smooth Cu. Hence, patterning GNRs with smooth edges and less degree of dielectric corrugation is necessary for MLGNR on SiO2 to outperform Cu counterparts.
Using a knowledge translation program to facilitate guideline‐ and evidence‐based patient management: the PAH‐QuERI Extension Program
Authors: McLaughlin Vallerie V. , Channick Richard N. , Lynum Karimah S. Bell , Oudiz Ronald J. , Selej Mona , Tapson Victor F. , Rubin Lewis J.
Published: September 2022

The Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension‐Quality Enhancement Research Initiative Extension Program was designed to support physicians’ adherence to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) guidelines. Guidelines were followed in >95% of patients with functional class (FC) II/III, but for only 28.6% of FC IV patients (Month 36). Low adherence was driven by FC IV patients’ preference to avoid parenteral treatment.
ANCAnegative eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) presenting with left ventricular thrombus: An appreciation of distinct phenotypes and eosinophilic driven pathogenesis
Authors: Chaivannacoopt Kai , Flanagan Eliza
Published: September 2022

Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) is a rare multisystem disorder, included in the spectrum of the antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) associated vasculitides. There are heterogeneous clinical features and a lack of consensus in standardized diagnostic criteria, with an underappreciation of eosinophilic manifestations. There are now reported phenotypical differences betweenANCA‐positive and negativeEGPA, with myocardial involvement, lung infiltrates and gastrointestinal symptoms predominating inANCA‐negative cases. We report a rare presentation ofANCA‐negativeEGPAin a woman with respiratory, neurological and cardiac involvement, manifesting as a large left ventricular thrombus without significant cardiac dysfunction.
Improving sustainability teaching by grouping and interrelating pedagogical approaches and sustainability competences: Evidence from 15 Worldwide Higher Education Institutions
Authors: Lozano Rodrigo , Barreiro‐Gen Maria , D'Amato Dalia , Gago‐Cortes Carmen , Favi Claudio , Martins Ricardo , Monus Ferenc , Caeiro Sandra , Benayas Javier , Caldera Savindi , Bostanci Sevket , Djekic Ilija , Moneva Jose Mariano , Sáenz Orlando , Awuzie Bankole , Gladysz Bartlomiej
Published: September 2022

There has been increasing research on pedagogical approaches, sustainability competences, and how to connect them in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). This paper's aim is to provide deeper insights into the system of pedagogical approaches and sustainability competences, as well as how these interrelate. A survey was developed to investigate sustainability teaching in 15 HEIs. The survey was sent to educators of each HEI from which 668 responses were obtained. The responses were analysed in a five‐step process: (1) descriptive statistics; (2) Pearson correlations; (3) principal component analyses (PCAs) to detect groups; (4) Pearson correlations between the groups; and (5) regressions. The first step provided the base to carry out the PCAs, from which three groups for the pedagogical approaches (Universal, Social, and Environmental) and three for the sustainability competences (Extrospective‐social, Introspective‐personal, and Cogitative‐processual) were obtained. The correlations between the groups showed that: (1) the competences are closely interrelated; (2) the pedagogical approaches are somehow interrelated; and (3) the pedagogical approaches are somehow interrelated to the competences. The regressions showed that the Universal and Social groups would be most suitable to develop all the competences' groups. The Environmental group develops only the cogitative‐processual competences' group. The results served as bases to propose the Sustainability Teaching System (STS), which provides deeper insights into the system of pedagogical approaches and sustainability competences by grouping them, as well as showing directionality and strength. To improve sustainability teaching, it is necessary to understand the pedagogical approaches' groups and how they can develop the competences' groups.
A Comprehensive Account of Synthesis and Biological Activities of α‐lidene‐ Benzocycloalkanones and Benzoheterocycles
Authors: Chowdhury Moumita Ghosh , Das Rudradip , Vyas Het , Sasane Tejal , Mori Omprakash , Kamble Sayali , Patel Sagarkumar , Shard Amit
Published: September 2022

α‐lidene‐benzocycloalkanones or benzene‐fused cycloalkanones are a significant moiety in medicinal chemistry. Drug development using these moieties can explore the pharmacophoric space owing to their sp2 and sp3 hybridization, highly flexible bicyclic structure, and varied ring diameters. In addition, it imparts a more significant contribution based on stereochemistry and pliability in the three‐dimensional space. The α‐lidene‐benzocycloalkanone series is a challenging target as it has multiple reactive sites, such as the bicyclic benzo‐annulated center, the reactive carbonyl fragment, and the partly hydrogenated ring of varying sizes. This domain lacks discussion and organized material, and this review can fill that gap, focusing on medicinally essential moieties like tetralone, indanone, and suberine. In addition, this review discusses α‐lidene‐benzoheterocycles that are promising in the field of drug development. Due to their stereogenecity and target selectivity, most research and applications focus on unstrained 5 and 6‐membered rings, such as α‐lidene‐benzocyclopentanones, α‐lidene‐benzocyclohexanones, α‐lidene‐benzofurano‐3‐ones, α‐lidene‐benzopyrano‐3‐ones, and α‐lidene‐indolin‐3‐ones. This review shall also aid medicinal chemists in determining the optimal technique for developing novel benzene fused heterocycles or carbocycles with various biological activities.
An Unexpended Stereocontrolled Rearrangement of Ethyl 4‐Hydroxy‐4‐(substituted phenyl)‐2‐butynoate to Tetrasubstituted Alkenes with MeSOCl2
Authors: Anil Derya Aktas
Published: September 2022

Tetrasubstituted alkene derivatives are synthetically important compounds and one of the important research areas in organic chemistry. Stereoselective synthesis of all‐carbon tetrasubstituted alkenes is a challenging problem in chemical synthesis because of the uncontrolled Z/E stereoselectivity. Here we described an unexpended stereocontrolled rearrangement for the synthesis of tetrasubstituted alkenes, each group different from the other. The reaction of ethyl 4‐hydroxy‐4‐(substituted phenyl)‐2‐butynoate derivatives with methanesulfonyl chloride and triethylamine gave in an interesting manner syn‐selective tetrasubstituted alkene, containing the sulfonate ester and the chlorine atom. The Z‐configuration of the chlorovinyl sulfonate esters was determined by X‐ray crystal analysis. The parameters (such as amount of equivalent, solvent, and temperature) that will affect product formation were examined and the optimum conditions for formation were determined.
Electrochemical Sensor for the Anti‐tuberculosis Drug Rifampicin on CuO@rGO‐Nanocomposite‐Modified GCE by Voltammetry Techniques
Authors: Sagar Pinky , Srivastava Monika , Srivastava Sanjay K.
Published: September 2022

Reduced‐graphene‐oxide layers (rGO) offer extremely subtle transducer thin‐films and can be unified in interdigital micro‐electrodes for various purposes. Understanding the functions and nature of rGO specially bio‐compatibility, we can use this as potent‐tool for the detection of antibiotic‐drug Rifampicin (RFP) in standard/pharmaceutical samples. Herein, we synthesize CuO@rGO nano‐composite and explored its potency for the preparation of electrochemically‐active‐electrodes. Catalytic‐activity of as‐synthesized CuO@rGO nano‐composite is checked in 1.0 mM of Fe2+/3+ solutions and found to be more than three times higher current as compared to bare, rGO or CuO modified GCE. Subsequently, modified electrodes are used to detect RFP via two‐techniques (differential‐pulse voltammetry viz. DPV and cyclic‐voltammetry viz. CV) in three‐ways simultaneously. The CuO@rGO‐modified‐GCE (CuO@rGO/GCE) exhibits remarkable sensitivity with very low‐detection‐limit of 5–11 nM and long term‐usage, which is far‐better than other reported works. Non‐interfering ability in existence of several body‐interferents exposes that CuO@rGO/GCE could be an effective/ beneficial contrivance for the detection of RFP.
Highiy Efficient Water Splitting with Polyoxometalate Coated on Deliberately Designed Porous Carbon as a Bifunctional Electrocatalyst
Authors: Liu Huimin , Liu Chang , Zong Xing , Chen Ketong , Yao Wangdong , Su Yunhao , Qian Huayun , Wang Yongfei , Chou Shulei , Hu Zhizhi , Zhang Zhiqiang
Published: September 2022

Rational design of efficient, sustainable and low‐cost hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) bifunctional catalysts within the scope of feasibility is of great significance for realizing rapid output water splitting. Here, we used a simple coprecipitation method to prepare Keggin‐type polyoxometalate (POM) nanoscale particles coated with core‐shell‐type metal‐organic framework (MOF) derived Co‐NC (Co‐NC‐POM). Thanks to synergy effect, abundant active sites, unique structure and defects, the as‐synthesized Co‐NC‐POM hybrids exhibit excellent eletrocatalytic performance both for HER and OER. Moreover, it can act as bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting, exhibiting a low voltage of 1.60 V and an excellently stability up to 24 h at a current density of 10 mA cm−2. It shows competitive performance against the same type of advanced bifunctional catalysts currently reported and thus is expected to among the most efficient non‐precious metal catalysts to drive the water splitting device.
Surfactant‐Enhanced Nano Spinel Oxide for Applications in Catalysis, Dye Degradation and Antibacterial Activity
Authors: Nivetha Ambikapathi , Prabha Inbaraj
Published: September 2022

Novel surfactant supported Mn−Co−Ni oxide was effectively synthesized by simple and economic co‐precipitation method to investigate the efficiency of catalytic reduction of 4‐nitrophenol, degradation of methylene blue and antibacterial properties. The optical, structural and chemical compositions were cautiously analyzed by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X‐ray photoelectron microscopy (XPS), ultraviolet‐visible (UV‐Vis), Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR), Brunauer‐Emmett‐Teller (BET) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analyses. XRD analysis showed cubic structure with average crystallite size of 19–21 nm. FESEM images confirmed the combination of spherical, needle, plate and rod like shapes. Accordingly, a high specific surface area of 55.66 m2 g−1 was achieved by urea/Mn−Co−Ni oxide. Band gap of ternary metal oxide was found in the range of 3.4‐3.6 eV. The XPS analysis confirmed the presence of manganese, cobalt and nickel as major parts with a 2p core level region. The M−O bond formation was confirmed by the peak appeared in the range of 500–600 cm−1. The negative charge of ternary metal oxide was confirmed by negative zeta potential value. The reduction of 4‐nitrophenol was carried out by Mn−Co−Ni oxide with the efficiency of >99 % and the degradation efficiency against methylene blue was studied. The synthesized catalyst was potent against S. aureus at higher concentration.
Color‐Tunable Single‐Phase Bi3+/Eu3+‐Activated LiCa3ZnV3O12 Luminescence Materials Based on Energy Transfer
Authors: Jiao Haiyan , Zhang Guoheng , Chen Wanjun , Chen Qiong , Wang Peiyu , Wang Yuhua
Published: September 2022

To achieve high‐quality WLED (White light emitting diodes) lighting, it is essential to accurately control the emission color of phosphor materials. The LiCa3ZnV3O12 : Bi3+/Eu3+ phosphors were synthesized by a traditional high‐temperature sintering reaction and characterized using XRD, SEM, Fluorescence Spectrophotometer. This paper firstly reported the luminescence properties of Bi3+ single‐doped garnet phosphors LiCa3ZnV3O12. Based on local lattice distortion and the energy transfer of VO43−→Bi3+, the  luminescence color of LiCa3ZnV3O12 : Bi3+ could be adjusted from blue‐green (490 nm) to yellow‐green (517 nm) under NUV excitation. In addition, Bi3+→Eu3+ energy transfer was designed by Bi3+ and Eu3+ double doping, and full color emission tuning from blue to blue‐green and then to pink and white was successfully realized. The energy transfer mechanism, luminescence chromaticity coordinates and thermal stability are studied in detail. More significantly, by constructing efficient energy transfer between Eu3+ and Bi3+, the thermal stability of as‐synthesized samples are gradually improved. This paper proposes a new direction for the color tuning of phosphors through multiple energy transfers and local lattice distortion.
Competitive Coordination‐Pairing between Ru Clusters and Single‐Atoms for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction in Alkaline Seawater
Authors: Qian Chunzhu , Shao Wenqian , Zhang Xingyue , Mu Xueqin , Gu Xiangyao , Yu Min , Ma Ligang , Liu Suli , Mu Shichun
Published: September 2022

The coordination environment of Ru centers determines their catalytic performance, however, much less attention is focused on cluster‐induced charge transfer in a Ru single‐atom system. Herein, by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, a competitive coordination‐pairing between Ru clusters (RuRu bond) and single‐atoms (RuO bond) is revealed leading to the charge redistribution between Ru and O atoms in ZnFe2O4 units which share more free electrons to participate in the hydrogen desorption process, optimizing the proton adsorption and hydrogen desorption. Thus, a clicking confinement strategy for building a competitive coordination‐pairing between Ru clusters and single‐atoms anchored on ZnFe2Ox nanosheets over carbon via RuO ligand (Ru1,n‐ZnFe2Ox‐C) is proposed. Benefiting from the optimized coordination effect and the electronic synergy between Ru clusters and single‐atoms, such a catalyst demonstrates the excellent activity and excellent stability in alkaline and seawater media, which has exceptional hydrogen evolution reaction activity with overpotentials as low as 10.1 and 15.9 mV to reach the current density of 10 mA cm−2 in alkaline and seawater media, respectively, higher than that of commercial Pt/C catalysts as a benchmark. Furthermore, it owns remarkably outstanding mass activity, approximately 2 and 8 times higher than that of Pt catalysts in alkaline and seawater media, respectively.
Improving the detection of community smells through socio‐technical and sentiment analysis
Authors: Almarimi Nuri , Ouni Ali , Chouchen Moataz , Mkaouer Mohamed Wiem
Published: September 2022

Open source software development is regarded as a collaborative activity in which developers interact to build a software product. Such a human collaboration is described as an organized effort of the “social” activity of organizations, individuals, and stakeholders, which can affect the development community and the open source project health. Negative effects of the development community manifest typically in the form of community smells, which represent symptoms of organizational and social issues within the open source software development community that often lead to additional project costs and reduced software quality. Recognizing the advantages of the early detection of potential community smells in a software project, we introduce a novel approach that learns from various community organizational, social, and emotional aspects to provide an automated support for detecting community smells. In particular, our approach learns from a set of interleaving organizational–social and emotional symptoms that characterize the existence of community smell instances in a software project. We build a multi‐label learning model to detect 10 common types of community smells. We use the ensemble classifier chain (ECC) model that transforms multi‐label problems into several single‐label problems, which are solved using genetic programming (GP) to find the optimal detection rules for each smell type. To evaluate the performance of our approach, we conducted an empirical study on a benchmark of 143 open source projects. The statistical tests of our results show that our approach can detect community smells with an average F‐measure of 93%, achieving a better performance compared to different state‐of‐the‐art techniques. Furthermore, we investigate the most influential community‐related metrics to identify each community smell type.
Molecular Engineering of Enamine‐Based Hole‐Transporting Materials for High‐Performing Perovskite Solar Cells: Influence of the Central Heteroatom
Authors: Vaitukaityte Deimante , Truong Minh Anh , Rakstys Kasparas , Murdey Richard , Funasaki Tsukasa , Yamada Takumi , Kanemitsu Yoshihiko , Jankauskas Vygintas , Getautis Vytautas , Wakamiya Atsushi
Published: September 2022

Stabilizing the high‐performing perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with low‐cost and simply affordable hole‐transporting materials (HTMs) has been identified as an ongoing ambitious challenge. Herein, a series of enamine‐based HTMs having different central heteroatoms (C, N, O, and S) and a number of enamine branches is designed and synthesized. The impact of varied central heteroatom cores is investigated in‐depth including thermal, photophysical, and photovoltaic properties. Importantly, molecularly engineered HTMs are obtained by a single condensation reaction without the need for expensive catalysts, inert reaction conditions, or tedious product purification. PSCs with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of over 20% can be realized with the triphenylamine core HTM (V1435), a result comparable with spiro‐OMeTAD. HTMs based on tetraphenylmethane (V1431) and diphenyl sulfide (V1434) cores give a slightly lower performance under similar device fabrication conditions. This work demonstrates how rational molecular engineering of a simple condensation approach can produce HTMs for high‐performing PSCs without sacrificing the PCE.
Systemic evaluation of human resources risks in the public sector
Authors: Shoja Mina , Kharazmi Omid Ali , Ajza Shokouhi Mohamad
Published: September 2022

This study tries to design a model for assessing and prioritizing human resources risks, using systems thinking and relying on the experiences of Mashhad Municipality in Iran. Reviewing various sources, this study identifies risks in human resources and uncovers the cause and effect relationships between their dimensions and components. Then, using qualitative and quantitative methods, the proposed model is evaluated. Results show five main subsystems of human resources operational risks, personal risks, professional risks, human capital risks and contextual risks. The results also show that there is a dynamic relationship between the components of these subsystems. It is shown that human resources' operational risks have the highest probability of occurrence and intensity of impact and human capital risks have the lowest probability of occurrence and intensity of impact. The system diagrams of this study provide researchers and practitioners with a comprehensive perspective to consider human resources risks in public organizations.
Prediction of creep of recycled aggregate concrete using back‐propagation neural network and support vector machine
Authors: Rong Xian , Liu Yinbo , Chen Pang , Lv Xueyuan , Shen Chen , Yao Boqiang
Published: September 2022

The promotion of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) can effectively reduce carbon emissions from the construction industry and increase the recycling rate of waste concrete. Owing to the significantly higher creep of RAC than that of natural aggregate concrete (NAC), the accurate prediction of long‐term RAC creep deformation is vital. Therefore, a predictive model for RAC is investigated in this study. A creep database of RAC with 106 groups of 1309 experimental data points considering 15 influencing parameters is established. Furthermore, back‐propagation neural network (BPNN) and support vector machine (SVM) models are adopted to process and predict data. The accuracies of the prediction of the existing RAC creep, BPNN, and SVM models are comparatively analyzed. The results reveal that for the prediction of RAC creep, the BPNN and SVM models are more accurate than the existing RAC creep model. Finally, the extended parameters of the model are analyzed based on the BPNN model to further clarify the effects of the recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) replacement ratio, RCA residual mortar content, and RAC strength on the creep properties of RAC.
Teleoperating a Legged Manipulator Through Whole-Body Control
Authors: Humphreys Joseph , Peers Christopher , Li Jun , Wan Yuhui , Sun Jingcheng , Richardson Robert , Zhou Chengxu
Published: September 2022

In this work, we present a highly functional teleoperation system, that integrates a full-body inertia-based motion capture suit and three intuitive teleoperation strategies with a Whole-Body Control (WBC) framework, for quadrupedal legged manipulators. This enables the realisation of commands from the teleoperator that would otherwise not be possible, as the framework is able to utilise DoF redundancy to meet several objectives simultaneously, such as locking the gripper frame in position while the trunk completes a task. This is achieved through the WBC framework featuring a defined optimisation problem that solves a range of Cartesian and joint space tasks, while subject to a set of constraints (e.g. halt constraints). These tasks and constraints are highly modular and can be configured dynamically, allowing the teleoperator to switch between teleoperation strategies seamlessly. The overall system has been tested and validated through a physics-based simulation and a hardware test, demonstrating all functionality of the system, which in turn has been used to evaluate its effectiveness.
The Council of Europe’s CM/Rec(2017)5 on e-voting and Secret Suffrage: Time for yet Another Update?
Authors: Rodríguez-Pérez Adrià
Published: September 2022

The Council of Europe’s Recommendation CM/Rec(2017)5 on e-voting remains the main international legal standard in the field. According to the updated Recommendation, e-voting should respect all the principles for democratic elections. This includes, of course, the principle of secret suffrage. Provisions on secret suffrage are dispersed throughout Rec(2017)5 and its related documents. The main provisions can be found in Section IV of Appendix I, but the principle is also mentioned in several other sections, in the Explanatory Memorandum, and in the Guidelines. A detailed analysis of all these provisions reveals important flaws in the understanding of secret suffrage in (remote) e-voting. Some of the flaws are the result of an inaccurate understanding of secret suffrage, in which this principle is mixed with provisions on personal data protection. In other cases, the flaws are due to analogies being drawn with paper-based voting channels, which prevent the standards from taking stock of the specificities of (remote) e-voting. In this paper I provide a detailed account of these flaws. I also suggest some alternative approaches and wording for the provisions on secret suffrage. Lastly, I discuss the desirability and feasibility of different alternatives regarding the review of Rec(2017)5.
They May Look and Look, Yet Not See: BMDs Cannot be Tested Adequately
Authors: Stark Philip B. , Xie Ran
Published: September 2022

Bugs, misconfiguration, and malware can cause ballot-marking devices (BMDs) to print incorrect votes. Several approaches to testing BMDs have been proposed. In logic and accuracy testing (LAT) and parallel or live testing, auditors input known test votes into the BMD and check whether the printout matches. Passive testing monitors the rate at which voters “spoil” BMD printout, on the theory that if BMDs malfunction, the rate will increase noticeably. We provide lower bounds that show that these approaches cannot reliably detect outcome-altering problems, because: (i) The number of possible voter interactions with BMDs is enormous, so testing interactions uniformly at random is hopeless. (ii) To probe the space of interactions intelligently requires an accurate model of voter behavior, but because the space of interactions is so large, building a sufficiently accurate model requires observing an enormous number of voters in every jurisdiction in every election—more voters than there are in most U.S. jurisdictions. (iii) Even with a perfect model of voter behavior, the required number of tests exceeds the number of voters in most U.S. jurisdictions. (iv) An attacker can target interactions that are intrinsically expensive to test, e.g., because they involve voting slowly; or interactions for which tampering is less likely to be noticed, e.g., because the voter uses the audio interface. (v) Whether BMDs misbehave or not, the distribution of spoiled ballots is unknown and varies by election and possibly by ballot style: historical data do not help much. Hence, there is no way to calibrate a threshold for passive testing, e.g., to guarantee at least a 95% chance of noticing that 5% of the votes were altered, with at most a 5% false alarm rate. (vi) Even if the distribution of spoiled ballots were known to be Poisson, the vast majority of jurisdictions do not have enough voters for passive testing to have a large chance of detecting problems but only a small chance of false alarms.
Collisions of localized shocks and quantum circuits
Authors: Haehl Felix M. , Zhao Ying
Published: September 2022

Abstract

We study collisions between localized shockwaves inside a black hole interior. We give a holographic boundary description of this process in terms of the overlap of two growing perturbations in a shared quantum circuit. The perturbations grow both exponentially as well as ballistically. Due to a competition between different physical effects, the circuit analysis shows dependence on the transverse locations and exhibits four regimes of qualitatively different behaviors. On the gravity side we study properties of the post-collision geometry, using exact calculations in simple setups and estimations in more general circumstances. We show that the circuit analysis offers intuitive and surprisingly accurate predictions about gravity computations involving non-linear features of general relativity.
Holographic bubbles with Jecco: expanding, collapsing and critical
Authors: Bea Yago , Casalderrey-Solana Jorge , Giannakopoulos Thanasis , Jansen Aron , Mateos David , Sanchez-Garitaonandia Mikel , Zilhão Miguel
Published: September 2022

Abstract

Cosmological phase transitions can proceed via the nucleation of bubbles that subsequently expand and collide. The resulting gravitational wave spectrum depends crucially on the properties of these bubbles. We extend our previous holographic work on planar bubbles to cylindrical bubbles in a strongly-coupled, non-Abelian, four-dimensional gauge theory. This extension brings about two new physical properties. First, the existence of a critical bubble, which we determine. Second, the bubble profile at late times exhibits a richer self-similar structure, which we verify. These results require a new 3+1 evolution code called Jecco that solves the Einstein equations in the characteristic formulation in asymptotically AdS spaces. Jecco is written in the Julia programming language and is freely available. We present an outline of the code and the tests performed to assess its robustness and performance.
Linking the singularities of cosmological correlators
Authors: Baumann Daniel , Chen Wei-Ming , Duaso Pueyo Carlos , Joyce Austin , Lee Hayden , Pimentel Guilherme L.
Published: September 2022

Abstract

Much of the structure of cosmological correlators is controlled by their singularities, which in turn are fixed in terms of flat-space scattering amplitudes. An important challenge is to interpolate between the singular limits to determine the full correlators at arbitrary kinematics. This is particularly relevant because the singularities of correlators are not directly observable, but can only be accessed by analytic continuation. In this paper, we study rational correlators — including those of gauge fields, gravitons, and the inflaton — whose only singularities at tree level are poles and whose behavior away from these poles is strongly constrained by unitarity and locality. We describe how unitarity translates into a set of cutting rules that consistent correlators must satisfy, and explain how this can be used to bootstrap correlators given information about their singularities. We also derive recursion relations that allow the iterative construction of more complicated correlators from simpler building blocks. In flat space, all energy singularities are simple poles, so that the combination of unitarity constraints and recursion relations provides an efficient way to bootstrap the full correlators. In many cases, these flat-space correlators can then be transformed into their more complex de Sitter counterparts. As an example of this procedure, we derive the correlator associated to graviton Compton scattering in de Sitter space, though the methods are much more widely applicable.
The association between substance use and subsequent employment among students: prospective findings from the CONSTANCES cohort
Authors: Haddad Rita El , Matta Joane , Lemogne Cédric , Melchior Maria , Zins Marie , Airagnes Guillaume
Published: September 2022

Purpose

To examine prospectively associations between substance use and subsequent employment among young students.

Methods

From the French population-based CONSTANCES cohort, 1427 students who never worked were included between 2012 and 2018 and followed up for 2.1 years on average. Generalized estimating equations computed the odds of being unemployed versus employed according to substance use at baseline controlling for sociodemographic factors and depressive state. Tobacco use (smoking status and number of cigarettes), cannabis use frequency, and at-risk alcohol use according to the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (total score > 7) were introduced separately in the models.

Results

Tobacco use was not significantly associated with employment. Cannabis use at least weekly was associated with increased odds of being unemployed OR 1.73 (1.16–2.57). At-risk alcohol use was no longer significantly associated with employment after adjustment for depressive state, while analyses on sub-scores of alcohol use suggested that alcohol dependence was associated with increased odds of being unemployed OR 1.65 (1.16–2.34).

Conclusion

Public health campaigns targeting youth should include lower chances of getting employed among the detrimental roles of regular cannabis use and at-risk alcohol use.
Data-driven development of a soft sensor for the flow rate monitoring in polyvinyl chloride tube extrusion affected by wall slip
Authors: Bovo Enrico , Sorgato Marco , Lucchetta Giovanni
Published: September 2022

In the manufacturing process of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tubes, the required thickness and weight depend on the extruder flow rate. The extruder setup can be very time-consuming and inefficient since it requires adjusting the screw rotational speed by trial and error, as the relation between the flow rate and the rotational speed is not known a priori. Furthermore, it is also affected by the material properties, the melt temperature, and the pressure drop in the die. Direct measuring the flow rate or the tube thickness would require expensive gravimetric dosers or X-ray systems, respectively. Therefore, a soft sensor was developed to monitor tube thickness and its weight per unit length. Two alternative approaches are proposed to predict the extruder flow rate under wall slip conditions: one is based on a developed analytical model and one on data-driven algorithms. Results show that machine learning regression models can achieve high predictive performance (a relative error of 1.2% using a support vector regressor).
The Cassels heights of cyclotomic integers
Authors: McKee James , Oh Byeong-Kweon , Smyth Chris
Published: September 2022

We study the set $${\mathscr {C}}$$
C
of mean square values of the moduli of the conjugates of all nonzero cyclotomic integers $$\beta $$
β
. For its kth derived set $${\mathscr {C}}^{(k)}$$

C

(
k
)

, we show that $${\mathscr {C}}^{(k)}=(k+1){\mathscr {C}}\,\, (k\ge 0)$$

C

(
k
)

=

(
k
+
1
)

C

(
k
≥
0
)

, so that also $${\mathscr {C}}^{(k)}+{\mathscr {C}}^{(\ell )}={\mathscr {C}}^{(k+\ell +1)}\,\,(k,\ell \ge 0)$$

C

(
k
)

+

C

(
ℓ
)

=

C

(
k
+
ℓ
+
1
)

(
k
,
ℓ
≥
0
)

. Furthermore, we describe precisely the restricted set $${\mathscr {C}}_p$$

C
p

where the $$\beta $$
β
are confined to the ring $${\mathbb {Z}}[\omega _p]$$

Z
[

ω
p

]

, where p is an odd prime and $$\omega _p$$

ω
p

is a primitive pth root of unity. In order to do this, we prove that both of the quadratic polynomials $$a^2+ab+b^2+c^2+a+b+c$$

a
2

+
a
b
+

b
2

+

c
2

+
a
+
b
+
c

and $$a^2+b^2+c^2+ab+bc+ca+a+b+c$$

a
2

+

b
2

+

c
2

+
a
b
+
b
c
+
c
a
+
a
+
b
+
c

are universal.
Dimensional stabilization of wood by microporous silica aerogel using in-situ polymerization
Authors: Bak Miklós , Molnár Ferenc , Rákosa Rita , Németh Zsolt , Németh Róbert
Published: September 2022

In this paper, a method for dimensional stabilization of wood through bulk hydrophobization was investigated using a sol–gel process resulting in in-situ formation of microporous SiO2 aerogel. Two different wood species, beech (Fagus sylvatica) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) were investigated. The incorporation of microporous silica aerogel inside the cell wall and lumen was verified by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometry and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. A leaching test using paper as model material proved the bonding of the aerogel to the cellulose component of the cell wall, which indicates a long-lasting effect of the treatment. The modification of wood with silica aerogel significantly improved its hygroscopicity and dimensional stability, decreased the equilibrium moisture content and water uptake beside a low weight percent gain. Permeability was reduced as a result of the silica aerogel deposition in the macro- and micropores of the modified wood. The treatment resulted in an obvious colour change as well.
Beam buckling analysis in peridynamic framework
Authors: Yang Zhenghao , Naumenko Konstantin , Altenbach Holm , Ma Chien-Ching , Oterkus Erkan , Oterkus Selda
Published: September 2022

Peridynamics is a non-local continuum theory which accounts for long-range internal force/moment interactions. Peridynamic equations of motion are integro-differential equations, and only few analytical solutions to these equations are available. The aim of this paper is to formulate governing equations for buckling of beams and to derive analytical solutions for critical buckling loads based on the nonlinear peridynamic beam theory. For three types of boundary conditions, explicit expressions for the buckling loads are presented. The results are compared with the classical results for buckling loads. A very good agreement between the non-local and the classical theories is observed for the case of the small horizon sizes which shows the capability of the current approach. The results show that with an increase of the horizon size the critical buckling load slightly decreases for the fixed overall stiffness of the beam.
Impact of information framing and vaccination characteristics on parental COVID-19 vaccine acceptance for children: a discrete choice experiment
Authors: Wang Kailu , Wong Eliza Lai-Yi , Cheung Annie Wai-Ling , Chung Vincent Chi-Ho , Wong Charlene Hoi-Lam , Dong Dong , Wong Samuel Yeung-Shan , Yeoh Eng-Kiong
Published: September 2022

This study aimed to test the influence of vaccination characteristics and gain/loss-framing of information, on parental acceptance of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination for their minor children. A discrete choice experiment was conducted among parents of children aged 0–17 years from September to October 2021 in Hong Kong. Respondents were randomly assigned to four groups with different framing of information and asked to choose hypothetical vaccination alternatives, described by seven attributes that were derived from prior qualitative interviews. A mixed logit model was adopted to analyze the effect of attributes and information framing on parental vaccination acceptance. The vaccine acceptance rates under different scenarios were also estimated. A total of 298 valid responses were obtained. It was found that the BioNTech brand, higher efficacy, less serious adverse events and more vaccination coverage in children significantly improved parental acceptance. Additionally, loss-framing increased parental acceptance compared with gain-framing, while the presentation of mortality information did not make a difference. Acceptance was also associated with parental uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine and the children’s age.

Conclusion: The findings imply that factors including gain/loss information framing, importance of vaccine characteristics, and peer influence have a significant effect on parents’ decisions to get their children vaccinated. Parents with younger children had greater vaccine hesitancy, and information framing techniques should be considered in vaccination promotion for combating such vaccine hesitancy. Future studies could be conducted to identify the moderators and mediators of information framing to facilitate its implementation.

What is Known:• Parental acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine was found to be associated with various socio-economic and psychosocial factors, while the evidence on impact of vaccination characteristics was limited.• Behavioral interventions, including information framing, have been used to promote various health behaviors.

What is New:• Loss-framing of information on vaccine effectiveness improves vaccine acceptance, while additional information on how the vaccine reduces death does not make a difference, which can be used to inform communication with the public in vaccination promotion.• The social norm (i.e., the vaccine uptake amongst other people) is important for increasing the parental vaccine acceptance rate.
Radiation modulates expression and related activities of c-Met protein in oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma cell lines
Authors: Al-Jamaei Aisha A. H. , de Visscher Jan G. A. M. , Forouzanfar Tymour , Brakenhoff Ruud H. , Leemans C. René , Stikvoort Arwen , Zandieh-Doulabi Behrouz , Helder Marco N.
Published: September 2022

Objectives

c-Met, a receptor tyrosine kinase, is involved in the growth, invasion and metastasis of a variety of cancers. In a set of cell lines from several solid tumors, a five-fold increase in c-Met expression after irradiation has been reported. This study aimed to assess if c-Met is likewise abundantly expressed in oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) upon exposure to irradiation, followed by a Met-induced biological response.

Materials and methods

Six OTSCC cell lines were exposed to gamma radiation doses of 2, 4, and 6 Gray. The changes in c-Met protein levels were assessed by western blot and flow cytometry. c-Met gene expression, cell migration, proliferation and cell cycle assays were performed as phenotypic readouts.

Results

Irradiation resulted in upregulation of c.Met in all cell lines with different time kinetics. On average the cells displayed minimal c-Met expression on their surface ranging from 5 to 30% of total protein. Abrupt downregulation of c-Met surface expression occurred one hour after radiation but recovered 48 h post-radiation. Intracellularly, the highest level of expression was found on day 5 after radiation exposure. Irradiation induced aggressive invasive potential of the cells as determined in cell migration assays, particularly in cell lines with the highest c-Met expression.

Conclusions

These results provide novel insights into both intracellular and extracellular dynamics of c-Met expression profiles upon irradiation of OTSCC cells in vitro. It might also suggest that radiation enhances cell migration, indicative of invasiveness, through c-Met up-regulation, at least for certain types of OTSCC cells.
Deep brain stimulation in the ALIC-BNST region targeting the bed nucleus of stria terminalis in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder: effects on cognition after 12 months
Authors: Philipson Johanna , Naesstrom Matilda , Johansson Johannes D. , Hariz Marwan , Blomstedt Patric , Jahanshahi Marjan
Published: September 2022

Purpose

The aim of this study was to evaluate cognitive effects 12 months after Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) of the Bed Nucleus of Stria Terminalis (BNST) in patients with refractory Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

Methods

Eight patients (5 female; mean ± SD age 36 ± 15) with OCD were included. A neuropsychological test battery covering verbal and spatial episodic memory, executive function, and attention was administered preoperatively and 12 months after surgery. Medical records were used as a source for descriptive data to probe for any changes not covered by standardized checklists and the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), the primary outcome measure.

Results

At 12 months, seven patients showed response to DBS: three were full responders (i.e., Y-BOCS ≥ 35% improvement), and four were partial responders (Y-BOCS 25–34% improvement). Relative to baseline, there was a slight decline on visuo-spatial learning (p = 0.027), and improved performance on the Color-Word Interference inhibition/switching subtest (p = 0.041), suggesting improvement in cognitive flexibility.

Conclusions

DBS in the BNST for treatment refractory OCD generates very few adverse cognitive effects and improves cognitive flexibility after 12 months of stimulation. The improvement in Y-BOCS and the absence of major cognitive side effects support the BNST as a potential target for DBS in severe OCD.