bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Travel of pregnant women in emergency situations to hospital and maternal mortality in Lagos, Nigeria: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Banke-Thomas Aduragbemi , Avoka Cephas Ke-on , Gwacham-Anisiobi Uchenna , Omololu Olufemi , Balogun Mobolanle , Wright Kikelomo , Fasesin Tolulope Temitayo , Olusi Adedotun , Afolabi Bosede Bukola , Ameh Charles
Published: April 2022

Introduction

Prompt access to emergency obstetrical care (EmOC) reduces the risk of maternal mortality. We assessed institutional maternal mortality by distance and travel time for pregnant women with obstetrical emergencies in Lagos State, Nigeria.

Methods

We conducted a facility-based retrospective cohort study across 24 public hospitals in Lagos. Reviewing case notes of the pregnant women presenting between 1 November 2018 and 30 October 2019, we extracted socio-demographic, travel and obstetrical data. The extracted travel data were exported to Google Maps, where driving distance and travel time data were extracted. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted to determine the relative influence of distance and travel time on maternal death.

Findings

Of 4181 pregnant women with obstetrical emergencies, 182 (4.4%) resulted in maternal deaths. Among those who died, 60.3% travelled ≤10 km directly from home, and 61.9% arrived at the hospital ≤30 mins. The median distance and travel time to EmOC was 7.6 km (IQR 3.4–18.0) and 26 mins (IQR 12–50). For all women, travelling 10–15 km (2.53, 95% CI 1.27 to 5.03) was significantly associated with maternal death. Stratified by referral, odds remained statistically significant for those travelling 10–15 km in the non-referred group (2.48, 95% CI 1.18 to 5.23) and for travel ≥120 min (7.05, 95% CI 1.10 to 45.32). For those referred, odds became statistically significant at 25–35 km (21.40, 95% CI 1.24 to 36.72) and for journeys requiring travel time from as little as 10–29 min (184.23, 95% CI 5.14 to 608.51). Odds were also significantly higher for women travelling to hospitals in suburban (3.60, 95% CI 1.59 to 8.18) or rural (2.51, 95% CI 1.01 to 6.29) areas.

Conclusion

Our evidence shows that distance and travel time influence maternal mortality differently for referred women and those who are not. Larger scale research that uses closer-to-reality travel time and distance estimates as we have done, rethinking of global guidelines, and bold actions addressing access gaps, including within the suburbs, will be critical in reducing maternal mortality by 2030.
Reduced temporal activation during a verbal fluency test in clinical high risk of psychosis: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based study
Authors: Wei Yanyan , Tang Xiaochen , Zhang Tingyu , Su Wenjun , Xu Lihua , Cui Huiru , Qian Zhenying , Zhang Tianhong , Wang Jijun
Published: April 2022

Background

Clinical high risk (CHR) of psychosis is a state in which positive symptoms cause the subjects distress but do not approach a severity level that fulfils the criteria for a psychotic episode. CHR exhibits cognitive deficits; however, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether brain activation measured by the levels of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) in CHR subjects could be correlated with cognitive deficits.

Methods

Fifty-eight CHR individuals who fulfilled the criteria for attenuated positive syndrome as specified in the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndrome (SIPS) and the Scale of Prodromal Syndrome (SOPS) and 58 age- and sex-matched healthy participants were included in the study. All subjects completed the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) that includes tests measuring attention, verbal memory, verbal fluency, executive function, and general intelligence. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to measure the level of oxy-Hb in the dorsolateral prefrontal and frontotemporal cortices.

Results

We observed significantly decreased oxy-Hb levels in channel 32 (located in the right superior temporal gyrus, rSTG)) within the CHR individuals compared with that in the healthy controls (HCs) (t=−3.44, Bonferroni-corrected p=0.002), indicating lower brain activity. A significant positive correlation was observed between task-related β values and working memory in the CHR group (r=0.35, p=0.008).

Conclusions

The brain activation of rSTG is abnormal among subjects at clinicial high risk for psychosis. This abnormality is probably associated with the neural mechanisms of deficits in the working memory during the early stage of psychosis.
Changing trends in the incidence, management and outcomes of coronary artery perforation over an 11-year period: single-centre experience
Authors: Umar Hamza , Sharma Harish , Osheiba Mohammed , Roy Ashwin , Ludman Peter F , Townend Jonathan N , Nadir M Adnan , Doshi Sagar N , George Sudhakar , Zaphiriou Alex , Khan Sohail Q
Published: April 2022

Introduction

Coronary artery perforation (CP) is a rare but life-threatening complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study aimed to assess the incidence, management and outcomes of CP over time.

Methods

A single-centre retrospective cohort study of all PCIs performed between January 2010 and December 2020. Patients with CP were divided into two cohorts (A+B), representing the two halves of the 11-year study.

Results

The incidence of CP was 68 of 9701 (0.7%), with an increasing trend over the two 5.5-year periods studied (24 of 4661 (0.5%) vs 44 of 5040 (0.9%); p=0.035). Factors associated with CP included chronic total occlusions (CTOs) (16 of 68 (24%) vs 993 of 9633 (10%); p<0.001), type C lesions (44 of 68 (65%) vs 4280 of 9633 (44%); p<0.001), use of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) (12 of 68 (18%) vs 541 of 9633 (6%); p<0.001), cutting balloon angioplasty (3 of 68 (4%) vs 98 of 9633 (1%); p<0.001) and hydrophilic wires (24 of 68 (35%) vs 1454 of 9633 (15%); p<0.001). Cohorts A and B were well matched with respect to age (69±11 vs 70±12 years; p=0.843), sex (males: 13 of 24 (54%) vs 31 of 44 (70%); p=0.179) and renal function (chronic kidney disease: 1 of 24 (4%) vs 4 of 44 (9%); p=0.457). In cohort A, CP was most frequently caused by post-dilatation with non-compliant balloons (10 of 24 (42%); p=0.009); whereas in cohort B, common causes included guidewire exits (23 of 44 (52%)), followed by stent implantation (10 of 44 (23%)). The most common treatment modality in cohorts A and B was balloon inflation, which accounted for 16 of 24 (67%) and 13 of 44 (30%), respectively. The use of covered stents (16%) and coronary coils (18%) during cohort B study period did not impact all-cause mortality, which occurred in 2 of 24 (8%) and 7 of 44 (16%) (p=0.378) in cohorts A and B, respectively.

Conclusion

The incidence of CP is increasing as more complex PCI is performed. Factors associated with perforation include CTO or type C lesions and use of IVUS, cutting balloon angioplasty or hydrophilic wires.
Evaluating the movement of dissolved porewater species through a marine sediment 51 years after establishment of a pulp and paper effluent stabilization basin
Authors: Lake Craig B. , Song Xiaofei , Spooner Ian S. , Tackley Hayden A. , Walker Tony R. , Jamieson Rob C.
Published: April 2022

Over 50 years ago, a marine estuary was converted to a wastewater stabilization basin for treatment of primarily pulp and paper effluent. As a result, the basin was immediately converted to a “freshwater” environment and subsequently accumulated a thin layer of black, organic-rich sediment containing varying amounts of dioxins and furans, metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and petroleum hydrocarbons. Previous studies on the site have shown that the majority of this contamination in the basin appears to have been contained within this black sediment layer and not migrated to any significant extent into the original underlying marine sediments. The purpose of this study is to examine sediment porewater chemistry changes that have occurred over 51 years of operation of the stabilization basin with the intent of better understanding why contamination has been minimal into the underlying natural marine sediments. Field and laboratory testing is presented to characterize the physical, chemical, and mineralogical sediments in the basin. Porewater chemistry profiles obtained from this work are then used in combination with a one-dimensional contaminant transport model to examine the role of diffusion, sorption, and upward groundwater flux in the porewater profiles found for the sediments.
Corn yield and nitrogen recovery following rye (Secale cereale L.) in monoculture and polyculture service crops
Authors: Ogilvie Cameron M. , Van Arkel Laurent , Van Eerd Laura L. , Lauzon John D. , Deen Bill , Martin Ralph C.
Published: April 2022

Planting service crops (SCs) with late summer manure applications has been promoted as an agronomic practice to capture manure nitrogen (N) and release it to the following season’s cash crop, thereby reducing fertilizer N requirements. The present study explored this hypothesis using a cereal rye ( Secale cereale L.) monoculture SC, along with two polyculture SCs (4 species and 12 species) both containing rye, planted after winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) harvest, in systems with and without liquid hog manure. The following spring, SC regrowth was chemically terminated 1 week prior to corn ( Zea mays L.) planting, and a sidedress N application was made at the 6–8 leaf stage to half of the plots. Corn N accumulation and final grain yield were reduced up to 20% following the rye monoculture in both years, even though SCs did not reduce soil mineral N nor partial plant-available N over the corn-growing season. Additionally, the sidedress N application could not overcome the yield loss associated with rye. Thus, this study did not observe N release by SCs to the following cash crop and demonstrates that yield loss can occur when corn follows rye SCs irrespective of changes in plant available N. This research reinforces the importance of selecting appropriate species and their proportions in polycultures, to mitigate negative impacts of SCs, especially those of rye on corn.
Particle physics and cosmology of the string derived no-scale flipped SU(5)
Authors: Antoniadis I. , Nanopoulos D. V. , Rizos J.
Published: April 2022

In a recent paper, we identified a cosmological sector of a flipped SU(5) model derived in the free fermionic formulation of the heterotic superstring, containing the inflaton and the goldstino superfields with a superpotential leading to Starobinsky type inflation, while $$SU(5){\times }U(1)$$

S
U
(
5
)
×
U
(
1
)

is still unbroken. Here, we study the properties and phenomenology of the vacuum after the end of inflation, where the gauge group is broken to the Standard Model. We identify a set of vacuum expectation values, triggered by the breaking of an anomalous $$U(1)_A$$

U

(
1
)

A

gauge symmetry at roughly an order of magnitude below the string scale, that solve the F and D-flatness supersymmetric conditions up to 6th order in the superpotential which is explicitly computed, leading to a successful particle phenomenology. In particular, all extra colour triplets become superheavy guaranteeing observable proton stability, while the Higgs doublet mass matrix has a massless pair eigenstate with realistic hierarchical Yukawa couplings to quarks and leptons. The supersymmetry breaking scale is constrained to be high, consistent with the non observation of supersymmetry signals at the LHC.
The Koopman representation for self-similar groupoid actions
Authors: Deaconu Valentin
Published: April 2022

We introduce the [Formula: see text]-algebra [Formula: see text] generated by the Koopman representation [Formula: see text] of an étale groupoid [Formula: see text] acting on a measure space [Formula: see text]. We prove that for a level transitive self-similar action [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] finite and [Formula: see text] constant, there is an invariant measure [Formula: see text] on [Formula: see text] and that [Formula: see text] is residually finite dimensional with a normalized self-similar trace. We also discuss [Formula: see text]-fold similarities of Hilbert spaces in connection to representations of the graph algebra [Formula: see text] and self-similar representations of [Formula: see text] in connection to the Cuntz–Pimsner algebra [Formula: see text].
Norm inequalities for Heinz and Heron means via contractive maps
Authors: Ghazanfari A. G. , Sababheh M.
Published: April 2022

In this paper, using the contractive maps, we present some new interpolations between the Heinz and Heron operator means for unitarily invariant norms. Let [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] be two positive definite operators. and let [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]. If [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], or if [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], then [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] We also consider some Heinz-type inequalities that involve differences and sums of operators. We give new forms and reverse inequalities of the presented inequalities by Singh et al.
PIC-DSMC simulation of nonequilibrium capacitively coupled plasma in low pressure
Authors: Tavangar Mohammad Hassan , Kamali Reza
Published: April 2022

In recent years, the interaction of electrons with the electromagnetic field in plasma at low pressure has received significant attention because of its high application. In low-pressure plasma, electrons can move long distances without any collisions in physical dimensions of the problem. This causes nonlocal dynamics, which leads to strong time and space dependence on and anisotropy of the distribution function. In this paper, a hybrid Particle-in-Cell (PIC) method with Direct Monte Carlo Simulation (DSMC) was proposed to investigate electron interactions with the electrostatic field. A capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) reactor at low pressure (0.01–10Pa) was also investigated. The effect of electric field was studied on electrons and field distribution in the computational domain at different times. Also, the amplitude current was investigated in a complete radio frequency (RF) cycle. As a result, this work proposed tools to examine the discharge flow for accurate knowledge of CCP discharge for optimization of reactors and its related processes.
Regular quantum plasmons in segments of graphene nanoribbons
Authors: Wang Bao-Ji , Lin Jiazhou , Ke San-Huang
Published: April 2022

Graphene plasmons have advantages over noble metal plasmons such as high tunability and low loss. However, for graphene nanostructures smaller than 10 nm, little is known about their plasmons or whether regular plasmonic behavior exists, despite their potential applications. Here, we present first-principles calculations of plasmon excitations in zigzag graphene nanoribbon segments. Very regular plasmonic behavior is found: Only one plasmon mode exists in the low-energy regime ([Formula: see text] eV). The classical electrostatic scaling law still approximately holds when the width ([Formula: see text]) is larger than [Formula: see text] nm but totally fails when [Formula: see text] nm due to quantum effects. The scaling with different doping densities shows that the plasmon is nearly free-electron plasmon instead of Dirac plasmon.
Measuring the primordial gravitational waves from cosmic microwave background and stochastic gravitational wave background observations
Authors: Li Jun , Guo Guang-Hai
Published: April 2022

In this paper, we constrain the primordial gravitational waves from cosmic microwave background (CMB) and stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) observations. SGWB provides the latest way to explore the early universe and the cosmological evolution which can be reflected by primordial gravitational waves. We not only combine LIGO observations with CMB to measure primordial gravitational waves, but also forecast the potential abilities of the LISA detector and PTA projects. In the [Formula: see text] model, the standard six parameters change slightly from SGWB observations. While the constraints on tensor-to-scalar ratio and tensor spectral index are improved obviously from SGWB observations. FAST projects have a significant impact on tensor-to-scalar ratio and tensor spectral index, namely [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] at [Formula: see text] confidence level.
The scalar mode of gravity
Authors: Arık Metin , Tok Tarık
Published: April 2022

In this paper, we consider the scalar mode of gravity as expressed by a conformal factor of the metric and present a model motivated by the Jordan–Brans–Dicke action. The reduced action provides a Lagrangian density in Minkowski space which exhibits a massive particle and an expanding spacetime through a mechanism which is similar to the Higgs mechanism.
Riemann–Hilbert problems of a nonlocal reverse-time AKNS system of six-order and dynamical behaviors of N-soliton
Authors: Ahmed Ahmed M. G. , Adjiri Alle
Published: April 2022

In this paper, we solve nonlinear nonlocal reverse-time six-component sixth-order AKNS system. We used reverse-time reduction to reduce the coupled system to an integrable sixth-order nonlinear Schrödinger-type equation. Starting from the spectral problem of the AKNS system, a Riemann–Hilbert problem will be formulated. This formulation allows us to generate soliton solutions by using the vectors lying in the kernel of the matrix Jost solutions. When reflection coefficients are zeros, the jump matrix is identity and the corresponding Riemann–Hilbert problem yields soliton solutions, leading to explore their dynamics.
A Gated Convolution and Self-Attention-Based Pyramid Image Inpainting Network
Authors: Li Hong-an , Wang Guanyi , Gao Kun , Li Haipeng
Published: April 2022

Aiming at the problems of imperfect inpainting edges, mismatching inpainting content and slow training caused by large network model parameters and high requirements for image inpainting edge consistency and semantic integrity, this paper designs a gated convolution and self-attention-based pyramid network (GAP-Net), the network is based on U-Net, and it integrates the gated convolution method and the pyramid loss and changes the feature extraction strategy. In addition, we design a self-attention mechanism module and an attention transfer module for the network, designing and adding content loss and perceptual loss for the network, generating a new data distribution between generated and real images. The comparative analysis of experiment with the PEN-Net method and the Gated method is conducted in the same experimental environment. The experimental results show that our method can increase the extraction of useful information from damaged image areas by gated convolution and pyramid loss. Self-attention mechanism module and the attention transfer module can guide the conversion process of high-level semantic features to image information more accurately, and the content and perceptual loss can accelerate and improve the learning ability of the network, this method improves the repair effect and accelerates the network learning speed.
Clustering-Based Semi-Supervised Cross-Modal Retrieval Using Scene Graph
Authors: Kong Yixue , Feng Yong , Zhou Mingliang , Xiong Xiancai , Wang Yongheng , Qiang Baohua
Published: April 2022

In this paper, we propose a clustering-based semi-supervised cross-modal retrieval method to relieve the problem of insufficient annotation in cross-modal datasets. First, we reconstruct cross-modal data as scene graph structure to filter meaningless information. Second, we extract embedding representation features of images and texts to put them into a common space. Finally, we propose a clustering-based classification method with modality-independent constraint to discriminate samples. According to our experimental results, significant improvement on performance shows the accuracy of our method in terms of three widely used cross-modal datasets compared with the state-of-the-art methods.
A Novel Real-Time Method for Structural Damage Detection Using Kalman Filter and Sensitivity Analysis
Authors: Beygzadeh Sahar , Torkzadeh Peyman , Salajegheh Eysa
Published: April 2022

Damage detection is a critical aspect of structural health monitoring. The Kalman filter (KF) has been used in various methods for detecting structural damage based on online measurement data. Due to noise in the sensor responses and errors in the damage detection process, the damage detection process’s accuracy is reduced. This study proposes a novel method for resolving this issue by integrating the Kalman filter and sensitivity analysis (KFSA). The damage detection problem has been considered as a state estimation problem in this method, with the system’s state estimated using the KF. In this problem, the damage is considered a random phenomenon in the state equation, and the damage detection equation is used as the observation equation via sensitivity analysis (SA). Due to the randomization of the state equation and the resulting increase in accuracy, damages are accurately detected among the suspected damaged elements obtained via modal strain energy. The numerical validation of structures is carried out under various damage scenarios. The comparative results demonstrate that the proposed method for detecting damage is exact and can be used for the structural health monitoring of in-service civil structures.
Electroelastic Static and Vibration Response Analysis of Sigmoid PZT-5A/ Pt-Based Smart Functionally Graded Plate
Authors: Kumar Pawan , Harsha S. P.
Published: April 2022

The current study is focused on the static and vibration analysis of a sigmoid smart functionally graded (SFG) plate resting on the two parameters elastic foundation exposed to electromechanical loading at different boundary conditions. The sigmoid law (S-Law) is used to evaluate the distribution of SFG properties along the thickness direction. The governing equation of the motion of the SFG plate is obtained using first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and Hamilton’s principle. The derived governing equation is then solved employing the higher-order finite element method (HFEM) using 9-noded Lagrange quadrilateral elements with 54 degrees of freedom (DOFs) per element. Convergence and comparative tests are carried out for the effectiveness and accuracy of the present approach. Non-dimensional frequency increases negative electric loading [Formula: see text] and reduces positive electric loading at a constant side-to-thickness ratio. The effect of the shear layer parameter on the stress and deflection of the SFG plate is more compared to the Winkler foundation. The obtained results are helpful for the accurate design of the SFG-based structures under electromechanical loading.
Statistical Analysis and its Validation of the Change in Structural Dynamic Properties Under Crowd Bouncing Excitation
Authors: Wang Haoqi , Zhang Zhuoran , Chen Jun
Published: April 2022

Bouncing is a common human activity that is frequently observed in large-span structures such as sports stadiums and concert halls; this activity can cause vibration serviceability problems that must be considered at the structural design stage. Current design codes suggest methods for predicting structural responses under rhythmic bouncing excitations. However, these methods typically do not consider the interaction effect between the crowd and structure, which is highly significant, particularly for large groups of people. Such an effect can quantitatively be evaluated from the structural dynamic property changes attributable to the crowd. Using the random distribution of human model parameters given in a previous study, we propose an empirical formula to predict the frequency and damping ratio of the coupled system via statistical analysis. The structural dynamic properties are updated. A response spectrum method framework that employs the updated structural dynamic properties is proposed and validated through a series of experiments on crowd bouncing. The results show that the response spectrum method provides a reasonable prediction of the structural responses. Hence, this study provides an effective method for quantitatively considering the interaction effect when calculating structural responses at the design stage.
Finite 0-dimensional multiprojective schemes and their ideals
Authors: Ballico Edoardo , Guardo Elena
Published: April 2022

In this paper, we study finite [Formula: see text]-dimensional schemes in product of multiprojective spaces and their ideals. In particular, we describe the set of generators of the ideal defining a [Formula: see text]-dimensional scheme in the case [Formula: see text] and in the case [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] for all [Formula: see text]. We also check very ampleness for zero-dimensional schemes of general points in the multiprojective spaces.
The continuous-time quantum walk on some graphs based on the view of quantum probability
Authors: Han Qi , Kou Yaxin , Bai Ning , Wang Huan
Published: April 2022

In this paper, continuous-time quantum walk is discussed based on the view of quantum probability, i.e. the quantum decomposition of the adjacency matrix A of graph. Regard adjacency matrix A as Hamiltonian which is a real symmetric matrix with elements 0 or 1, so we regard [Formula: see text] as an unbiased evolution operator, which is related to the calculation of probability amplitude. Combining the quantum decomposition and spectral distribution [Formula: see text] of adjacency matrix A, we calculate the probability amplitude reaching each stratum in continuous-time quantum walk on complete bipartite graphs, finite two-dimensional lattices, binary tree, [Formula: see text]-ary tree and [Formula: see text]-fold star power [Formula: see text]. Of course, this method is also suitable for studying some other graphs, such as growing graphs, hypercube graphs and so on, in addition, the applicability of this method is also explained.
Emotional Intelligence Impacts on Work Performance: The Case in Telecommunication Malaysia Research Company
Authors: Suhairy Mohd Shazni , Mohamed Norliza , Ahmad Norulhusna , Kaidi Hazilah Mad , Dziyauddin Rudzidatul Akmam , Sam Suriani Mohd
Published: April 2022

The study of the correlation between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and work performance is crucial for the organisation. Some of the organisations do not consider EI skills as the work performed. This study investigates the correlation between EI and the work performance of a telecommunication research company in Malaysia. There are 66 participants involved in this study: senior researchers and researchers. A set of questionnaires was distributed to assess their employees’ background, EI, and work performance. As a predictor of research employees’ work performance and EI, the results show that EI had a significant positive relationship with work performance. The findings also show that employees with high EI experience a greater level of task performance. Moreover, the authors also present the relationship of EI with work performance over employees’ background such as gender, marital status, age and work experience. It was found that married employees have a higher correlation than single employees. The study recommends that organisations introduce EI development programs for existing staff to improve their performance at work.
On algebraic integers which are 2-Salem elements in positive characteristic
Authors: Ben Nasr Mabrouk , Kthiri Hassen
Published: April 2022

Bateman and Duquette have initiated the study of Salem elements in positive characteristic. Later, Kerada introduced and studied j-Salem numbers ([Formula: see text]). To complete this circle of ideas we introduce 2-Salem elements over the field of formal Laurent series over a finite field [Formula: see text]. We extend the above-cited studies and we provide some analog results. The main result of this note is Theorem 1.2 which characterizes the set [Formula: see text] of 2-Salem series when [Formula: see text].
Ternary quadratic forms representing the same integers
Authors: Ju Jangwon
Published: April 2022

In 1997, Kaplansky conjectured that if two positive definite ternary quadratic forms with integer coefficients have perfectly identical integral representations, then they are isometric, both regular, or included either of two families of ternary quadratic forms. In this paper, we prove the existence of pairs of ternary quadratic forms representing the same integers which are not contained in Kaplansky’s list.
A bio-mathematical approach to control the Anopheles mosquito using sterile males technology
Authors: Al-Solami Habeeb M. , Alhebshi Alawiah M. S. , Abdo H. , Mahmuod S. R. , Alwabli Afaf S. , Alkenani Naser
Published: April 2022

Initiative for this study is taken to solve the mathematical model which is base-forming with population dynamics of the Anopheles mosquito using an advanced computational intelligence scheme named as genetic algorithm (GA), artificial neural network (ANN). This ANN is a famous global search method, active set (AS) scheme known as a quick local refinement, i.e. ANN-GA-AS. An error-based fitness function is optimized which is made by using the sense of the differential system and boundary conditions for solving the Anopheles mosquito control model. The ability of the stochastic ANN-GA-AS approach to solve the population dynamics of the Anopheles mosquito is examined to check the exactness, efficiency, precision, and consistency of the scheme. The numerical outcomes of the Anopheles mosquito control model through the ANN-GA-AS approach are compared with the reference Adams numerical results to show the significance of the designed scheme. Moreover, statistical considerations using the “semi-interquartile range”, “Theil’s inequality coefficient”, and “mean absolute deviation” have been applied to validate the precision and accuracy of the obtained results.
Secure equitability in graphs
Authors: Muthusubramanian L. , Sundareswaran R. , Swaminathan V.
Published: April 2022

In secure domination [A. P. Burger, M. A. Henning and J. H. Van Vuuren, Vertex covers and secure domination in graphs, Quaest Math. 31 (2008) 163–171; E. J. Cockayne, Irredundance, secure domination and maximum degree in trees, Discrete Math. 307(1) (2007) 12–17; E. J. Cockayne, O. Favaron and C. M. Mynhardt, Secure domination, weak Roman domination and forbidden subgraph, Bull. Inst. Combin. Appl. 39 (2003) 87–100; C. M. Mynhardt, H. C. Swart and E. Ungerer, Excellent trees and secure domination, Util. Math. 67 (2005) 255–267], a vertex outside has the chance of coming inside the dominating set by replacing an element of the set without affecting domination. This idea is combined with equitability. Secure equitable dominating set is introduced and studied. Other concepts like independence and rigid security are also studied in this paper.
Study on properties of ultra-low dielectric loss mPPO/MTCLT composites prepared by injection molding
Authors: Liu Yahan , Peng Haiyi , Yao Xiaogang , Mao Minmin , Song Kaixin , Lin Huixing
Published: April 2022

A novel category of polyphenylene oxide/high-impact polystyrene (PPO/HIPS) alloy was used as the polymer matrix (abbreviated as mPPO) and loaded with different volume fractions (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 vol.%) of MgTiO3–Ca[Formula: see text]La[Formula: see text]TiO3 (abbreviated as MTCLT) ceramics to prepare composites by injection molding. Its micromorphology, density, dielectric, thermal and mechanical properties were analyzed in detail. The experimental results show that the composites possess a compact microstructure because HIPS increases the fluidity of PPO. Due to the excellent dielectric properties of both mPPO and MTCLT, the composites have an extremely low dielectric loss. The realization of the high ceramic filler fraction greatly limits the thermal expansion of the polymer chain by introducing the interphase, so that the coefficient of thermal expansion of the composite material could be as low as 21.8 ppm/[Formula: see text]C. At the same time, the presence of ceramic particles could reinforce the mechanical property of the composites. When the ceramic filler fraction is higher than 20 vol.%, the bending strength of the composite material is around 110 MPa. When the ceramic filler fraction is 40 vol.%, the composite possesses the best comprehensive performance. The dielectric constant is 6.81, the dielectric loss is 0.00104, the thermal expansion coefficient is as low as 25.3 ppm/[Formula: see text]C, and the bending strength is 110.4 MPa. Due to its excellent properties, this material can be a good candidate in the field of microwave communication.
Hierarchical Modelling of Small-Scale Irrigation: Constraints and Opportunities for Adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Haile Beliyou , Mekonnen Dawit , Choufani Jowel , Ringler Claudia , Bryan Elizabeth
Published: April 2022

Irrigation has significant potential to enhance productivity, resilience to climatic risks and nutrition security in Sub-Saharan Africa. While the focus has historically been on large-scale dam-based schemes, farmer-managed small-scale irrigation (SSI) has gained increased attention in recent years. Using data from Ethiopia, Tanzania and Ghana, we first examine patterns of adoption of different SSI technologies. Next, we employ hierarchical modelling to examine which variables are associated with observed adoption patterns and cluster effects that explain variation in irrigation adoption. We document significant cross-country variation in adoption patterns and find a positive association between plot-level use of SSI and the intensity of agricultural labor and inorganic fertilizers applied on the plot. Community-level intra-cluster correlation (ICC) is the highest in Tanzania, where gravity-fed irrigation is most common while farm-level ICC is the highest in Ethiopia where motorized technologies are more common. These results suggest the need for localized investments to ease locale-specific potential constraints. For example, easing possible liquidity constraints to acquiring motorized technologies can be more effective in Ethiopia while the construction of dams and improved conveyance systems, as well as the strengthening of community-based irrigation management (e.g., through Water User Associations (WUAs)) can be more effective in Tanzania. Further research is needed to understand pathways for selected plot-level characteristics that affect use of SSI including status of plot ownership and the gender of the plot manager.
Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Privileged Biflavonoids as SARS-CoV2 3CLpro Targeting Agents
Authors: Vahabzadeh Taha , Miran Mansour , Razzaghi-Asl Nima
Published: April 2022

According to the limited medications for COVID-19, natural products gained increasing attention. Scientific indications revealed the effect of biflavonoids (BFs) against respiratory syndrome viruses. The functional importance of 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro) in forming viral RNA raises its potential to be targeted in SARS-CoV2. This study is devoted to the computational analysis of privileged BFs within the SARS-CoV2 3CLpro active site. Docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were collectively used to explore the most probable binding modes and stable ligand–enzyme chemical interactions. Despite the structural resemblance, a wide range of binding affinities was retrieved for BFs ([Formula: see text][Formula: see text]kcal/mol). Garciniaflavone C ([Formula: see text][Formula: see text]kcal/mol), 7,7[Formula: see text], 4[Formula: see text]-tri-O-methylagathisflavone ([Formula: see text][Formula: see text]kcal/mol) and 8,8[Formula: see text]-biapigenil ([Formula: see text][Formula: see text]kcal/mol) were top enzyme binders. The stability of acquired complexes was analyzed through 50-ns all-atom MD simulations. Garciniaflavone C, 7,7[Formula: see text], 4[Formula: see text]-tri-O-methylagathisflavone and 8,8[Formula: see text]-biapigenil showed 29%, 22% and 23% persevered binding residues, respectively. SARS-CoV2-garciniaflavone C complex was mediated by several nonpolar interactions. MD simulations assigned H-bond interaction between the catalytic dyad residue Cys145 and garciniaflavone C. 7,7[Formula: see text], 4[Formula: see text]-tri-O-methylagathisflavone participated in a [Formula: see text]-cation interaction to His41. Solvent accessible surface area distribution indicated the sufficiency of MD simulation time (50[Formula: see text]ns) to screen equilibrated complex systems. Although a detailed pharmacological mechanism is to be elucidated, our findings indicated superior binding stability of 7,7[Formula: see text], 4[Formula: see text]-tri-O-methylagathisflavone within SARS-CoV2 active site. While the biological function of the majority of BF derivatives remains to be elucidated, results of the current study revealed key structural features and potentials of privileged BFs for further structure-guided optimization toward potent SARS-CoV2 3CLpro inhibitors.
Design, Synthesis, Spectroscopic Characterization, Molecular Docking and Biological Evaluation of 9H-Carbazole Linked 4-Nitrophenol: A DFT Approach
Authors: Ragavan Joseph Iruthayaraj , Anbarasan Ponnusamy M. , Arunkumar Ammasi , Ibrahim A.
Published: April 2022

The FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra of 3-(4-nitrophenoxy)-9,9a-dihydro-4aH-carbazole (9HCNP) molecule were recorded. The theoretical wavenumbers are in proper agreement with the observed results. The electronic properties, such as natural bond orbital study of the molecule, were confirmed using the inter/intra molecular interactions, molecular electrostatic potential, and Mulliken population analyses on the atomic charge distribution, performed by the Becke-3–Lee–Yang–Parr (CAM-B3LYP) method utilizing Gaussian 09 software. The oscillator strength of electronic transitions and energies of HOMO and LUMO molecular orbitals were carried out to evaluate the global chemical reactivity descriptors of 9HCNP. The molecular docking evaluation was carried out to evaluate the structure–activity relationship and the binding affinity of the molecule, which shows that the molecule can perform as an inhibitor of breast cancer-causing human topoisomerase-I and II-DNA receptors. The result of the conjugation was found to play a significant role in bioactivity and drug-likeliness properties, which can be supported by the molecular docking analysis of those compounds. In addition, the morphological changes in control and in vitro cytotoxicity of 9HCNP confirm the anticancer activity of 9HCNP against human breast cancer cell lines was assessed in 24-h tetrazolium-dye (MTT) cytotoxicity assays and also analyzed in terms of the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cell life. Hence, the results show the in vitro anticancer activity of the molecule for the development of human breast cancer drugs.
In situ
thermal remediation application in South Africa: a case study incorporating sustainable remediation principles
Authors: Moller Nadine , Baldock James , McKeown Steve , Nel Marica
Published: April 2022

This paper presents a case study of the first instance in South Africa where
in situ
thermal remediation (ISTR) was undertaken. The project, completed during 2020 and 2021, is located in Cape Town. The ‘site’ is a former printing facility located in a multistorey building adjacent to an upgradient service station. Petroleum hydrocarbon impacts, identified in subsurface soil and groundwater, originated from leaking underground fuel storage tanks at this service station.

Following a sustainability-based options appraisal, ISTR with steam used as the heating source was selected as the most appropriate remedial technology. Based on Environmental Resources Management's (ERM's) international and local expertise, this solution was implemented after due consideration of the site's geological characteristics, the properties of the contaminants of concern and the client's goals of rapidly achieving a risk-based remediation solution.

This solution was enhanced by the identification and incorporation, where feasible, of sustainable management practices (SMPs) in the system design and operational phases. Particular focus was placed on resource consumption and the use of alternative power sources, such as reduction of water and energy and the use of biofuel. Other SMPs incorporated into the system's operational phase included temperature tracking to optimize steam usage, which has been successfully applied by ERM at previously completed ISTR sites in other countries.

Key lessons learnt from the ISTR application at this site were that the energy source and use, combined with the optimization of water consumption, could be more widely applied to improve the sustainability of ISTR, not only in South Africa but also in other sites worldwide.

Supplementary material:
Details of sustainable remediation assessments are available at
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5965339
.

Thematic collection:
This article is part of the Sustainability in Engineering Geology & Hydrogeology collection available at:
https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/sustainability-in-engineering-geology-and-hydrogeology
Exploiting Morpheme and Cross-lingual Knowledge to Enhance Mongolian Named Entity Recognition
Authors: Zhang Songming , Zhang Ying , Chen Yufeng , Wu Du , Xu Jinan , Liu Jian
Published: April 2022

Mongolian
named entity recognition (NER)
is not only one of the most crucial and fundamental tasks in Mongolian natural language processing, but also an important step to improve the performance of downstream tasks such as information retrieval, machine translation, and dialog system. However, traditional Mongolian NER models heavily rely on the feature engineering. Even worse, the complex morphological structure of Mongolian words makes the data sparser. To alleviate the feature engineering and data sparsity in Mongolian named entity recognition, we propose a novel NER framework with
Multi-Knowledge Enhancement (MKE-NER)
. Specifically, we introduce both linguistic knowledge through Mongolian morpheme representation and cross-lingual knowledge from Mongolian-Chinese parallel corpus. Furthermore, we design two methods to exploit cross-lingual knowledge sufficiently, i.e., cross-lingual representation and cross-lingual annotation projection. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our MKE-NER model, which outperforms strong baselines and achieves the best performance (94.04% F1 score) on the traditional Mongolian benchmark. Particularly, extensive experiments with different data scales highlight the superiority of our method in low-resource scenarios.
Proof transfer for fast certification of multiple approximate neural networks
Authors: Ugare Shubham , Singh Gagandeep , Misailovic Sasa
Published: April 2022

Developers of machine learning applications often apply post-training neural network optimizations, such as quantization and pruning, that approximate a neural network to speed up inference and reduce energy consumption, while maintaining high accuracy and robustness.

Despite a recent surge in techniques for the robustness verification of neural networks, a major limitation of almost all state-of-the-art approaches is that the verification needs to be run from scratch every time the network is even slightly modified. Running precise end-to-end verification from scratch for every new network is expensive and impractical in many scenarios that use or compare multiple approximate network versions, and the robustness of all the networks needs to be verified efficiently.

We present FANC, the first general technique for transferring proofs between a given network and its multiple approximate versions without compromising verifier precision. To reuse the proofs obtained when verifying the original network, FANC generates a set of templates – connected symbolic shapes at intermediate layers of the original network – that capture the proof of the property to be verified. We present novel algorithms for generating and transforming templates that generalize to a broad range of approximate networks and reduce the verification cost.

We present a comprehensive evaluation demonstrating the effectiveness of our approach. We consider a diverse set of networks obtained by applying popular approximation techniques such as quantization and pruning on fully-connected and convolutional architectures and verify their robustness against different adversarial attacks such as adversarial patches,
L
0
, rotation and brightening. Our results indicate that FANC can significantly speed up verification with state-of-the-art verifier, DeepZ by up to 4.1x.
Elipmoc: advanced decompilation of Ethereum smart contracts
Authors: Grech Neville , Lagouvardos Sifis , Tsatiris Ilias , Smaragdakis Yannis
Published: April 2022

Smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain greatly benefit from cutting-edge analysis techniques and pose significant challenges. A primary challenge is the extremely low-level representation of deployed contracts. We present Elipmoc, a decompiler for the next generation of smart contract analyses. Elipmoc is an evolution of Gigahorse, the top research decompiler, dramatically improving over it and over other state-of-the-art tools, by employing several high-precision techniques and making them scalable. Among these techniques are a new kind of context sensitivity (termed “transactional sensitivity”) that provides a more effective static abstraction of distinct dynamic executions; a path-sensitive (yet scalable, through path merging) algorithm for inference of function arguments and returns; and a fully context sensitive private function reconstruction process. As a result, smart contract security analyses and reverse-engineering tools built on top of Elipmoc achieve high scalability, precision and completeness.

Elipmoc improves over all notable past decompilers, including its predecessor, Gigahorse, and the state-of-the-art industrial tool, Panoramix, integrated into the primary Ethereum blockchain explorer, Etherscan. Elipmoc produces decompiled contracts with fully resolved operands at a rate of 99.5% (compared to 62.8% for Gigahorse), and achieves much higher completeness in code decompilation than Panoramix—e.g., up to 67% more coverage of external call statements—while being over 5x faster. Elipmoc has been the enabler for recent (independent) discoveries of several exploitable vulnerabilities on popular protocols, over funds in the many millions of dollars.
C to checked C by 3c
Authors: Machiry Aravind , Kastner John , McCutchen Matt , Eline Aaron , Headley Kyle , Hicks Michael
Published: April 2022

Owing to the continued use of C (and C++), spatial safety violations (e.g., buffer overflows) still constitute one of today's most dangerous and prevalent security vulnerabilities. To combat these violations, Checked C extends C with bounds-enforced checked pointer types. Checked C is essentially a gradually typed spatially safe C - checked pointers are backwards-binary compatible with legacy pointers, and the language allows them to be added piecemeal, rather than necessarily all at once, so that safety retrofitting can be incremental. This paper presents a semi-automated process for porting a legacy C program to Checked C. The process centers on 3C, a static analysis-based annotation tool. 3C employs two novel static analysis algorithms - typ3c and boun3c - to annotate legacy pointers as checked pointers, and to infer array bounds annotations for pointers that need them. 3C performs a root cause analysis to direct a human developer to code that should be refactored; once done, 3C can be re-run to infer further annotations (and updated root causes). Experiments on 11 programs totaling 319KLoC show 3C to be effective at inferring checked pointer types, and experience with previously and newly ported code finds 3C works well when combined with human-driven refactoring.