bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Formability study and metallurgical properties analysis of FSWed AA 6061 blank by the SPIF process
Authors: Tayebi Payam , Fazli Ali , Asadi Parviz , Soltanpour Mahdi
Published: February 2021

In this study, in order to obtain the maximum possible formability in tailor-welded blank AA6061 sheets connected by the friction stir welding (FSW) procedure, the incremental sheet forming process has been utilized. The results are presented both numerically and experimentally. To obtain the forming limit angle, the base and FSWed sheets were formed in different angles with conical geometry, and ultimately, the forming limit angle for the base metal and FSWed sheet is estimated to be 60° and 57.5°, respectively. To explore the effects of welding and forming procedures on AA6061 sheets, experimental studies such as mechanical properties, microstructure and fracture analysis are carried out on the samples. Also, the thickness distribution of the samples is studied to investigate the effect of the welding process on the thickness distribution. Then, the numerical process was simulated by the ABAQUS commercial software to study the causes of the FSWed samples failure through analyzing the thickness distribution parameter, and major and minor strains and the strain distribution. Causes of failure in FSWed samples include increased minor strain, strain distribution and thickness distribution in welded areas, especially in the proximity of the base metal area.
Who's that knocking at the door? The problem of credential abuse
Authors: Mansfield-Devine Steve
Published: February 2021

At the heart of IT security is a simple concept – proving you are who you say you are. In this context, ‘you’ might be a human logging into a network or service, a device interacting with an application programming interface (API), one network talking to another or any number of other scenarios. And the proof could be a certificate, an SSH key, a token of some form or our old favourite – and inevitably the artefact we'll be talking most about here – the old, fragile and yet seemingly unkillable password.

At the heart of IT security is a simple concept – proving that you are who you say you are. But the ways we have of doing that, through credentials of some form, are flawed.

Credential abuse comes in many forms. The question we need to ask is, where does it sit in terms of an organisation's attack surface and security priorities? In the first of a two-part feature, Steve Mansfield-Devine surveys a number of industry experts to get their views on what forms of credential abuse are being encountered and the threat these pose to enterprises.
The rise of MSP & CSP vulnerabilities: storehouses for secure data
Authors: Sunshine Yehudah
Published: February 2021

Managed and cloud service providers (MSPs and CSPs) serve an invaluable role in operating and securing companies' digital assets. 1 As gatekeepers for a broad range of critical systems, MSPs and CSPs are tasked with laying the security groundwork essential to keeping businesses safe from hackers and malware.
“What cannot be helped must be indured”: Coping with Obstacles to Business During the Anglo-Dutch Wars, 1652–1674
Authors: TALBOTT SIOBHAN
Published: February 2021

By nature, wars appear hostile to commerce, bringing disruption to international relations and to everyday life. By focusing on the individuals involved in continuing commerce, however, an increasing body of scholarship has shown that merchants in a number of contexts continued to operate successfully during periods of war. This article builds on these recent methodological shifts in business history, applying them to the three Anglo-Dutch wars of the seventeenth century. Although these conflicts have been described as being harmful to commerce, there has been no focus hitherto on merchants’ experiences of or responses to these wars. This article addresses this problem and, in so doing, proposes a different way of analyzing and thus characterizing the relationship between the Anglo-Dutch Wars and business. Through examining the surviving correspondence of merchants operating during these wars, I investigate the various methods used—both successfully and unsuccessfully—to navigate obstacles to business during these conflicts. The value of considering this activity in broader British and European contexts is explored, and the range of concerns exhibited by merchants during these periods of conflict is analyzed, showing that war was not paramount among their concerns, despite the political context. Throughout, I show that although all three Anglo-Dutch Wars had an impact on commerce, this was not necessarily negative, and that the most enterprising and proactive merchants benefited from commercial opportunities created by the conflicts.
Tammany Hall and the Machine Style in Black Politics
Authors: Vaz Matthew
Published: February 2021

“I seen my opportunities and I took ’em,” explained George Washington Plunkitt speaking to the journalist William L. Riordan at the dawn of the twentieth century. For many college students, William Riordan's collection of musings and reminiscences from New York State Senator Plunkitt, delivered at a shoeshine stand on Manhattan's West Side, offers a definitive introduction to the history of urban machine politics. Plunkitt of Tammany Hall: A Series of Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics, first published in 1905, has become a ubiquitous text, frequently assigned in political science courses and excerpted in U.S. history source books. Plunkitt's reflections, while entertaining, present a transactional and opportunistic form of political practice. He famously differentiates between honest graft and dishonest graft; insists that showing up at fires to help victims is key to holding your district; declares the Irish to be natural born leaders; and derides reformers as “mornin’ glories.” He rages against the key urban reform project of the era, civil service examinations, as “the curse of the nation,” amounting to “a lot of fool questions about the number of cubic inches of water in the Atlantic and the quality of sand in the Sahara desert.” Civil service exams blocked machine politicians from distributing jobs to loyal followers, which in the case of the New York Democratic machine typically meant recently arrived Irish immigrants. As Plunkitt explains, “The Irishman is grateful. His one thought is to serve the city which gave him a home. He has this thought even before he lands in New York, for his friends here often have a good place in one of the city's departments picked out for him while he is still in the old country.” Plunkitt's characterization of the linkage between migrant arrival and municipal work points to the central role that access to city payrolls played in the economic and political history of the New York Irish. Arguably, the only other urban group that relied as heavily on city jobs for economic mobility has been African Americans.
The influence of invasive ascidian diets on the growth of the sea star Henricia sanguinolenta
Authors: Van Volkom Kaitlin S. , Harris Larry G. , Dijkstra Jennifer A.
Published: February 2021

Invasive species can disrupt food webs by altering the abundance of prey species or integrating into the food web themselves. In the Gulf of Maine, there have been a suite of invasions that have altered the composition of the benthic ecosystem. These novel prey species can potentially benefit native predators depending on their nutritional value and relative abundance. We measured feeding instances of the native blood star, Henricia sanguinolenta, and changes in the seasonal abundances of invasive ascidian prey species. Results indicate that H. sanguinolenta forages optimally, as the blood star will prey on invasive ascidians when in high abundance, but feed on other species during periods of scarcity. Further, our study shows that blood stars prey on a wider variety of species than was previously known, such as small bivalves and barnacles. Additionally, we compared growth and reproduction of sea stars fed different combinations of invasive ascidians (Diplosoma listerianum or Botrylloides violaceus) or a native sponge (Haliclona oculata). Sea stars grew more on the native diet when compared with the invasive ascidian species, and D. listerianum appeared to be a superior quality food source when compared with B. violaceus. By comparing our data with historical data, we determined that there was a dramatic increase in sea star populations between 1980 and 2011, but then populations decreased by almost half from 2011 to 2016–2017. These data suggest that while invasive ascidians may have helped sea star populations at one point, sea stars are declining without their native food source.
Is tax morale culturally driven?
Authors: Andriani Luca , Bruno Randolph , Douarin Elodie , Stepien-Baig Paulina
Published: February 2021

Citizens' tax compliance should not only respond to the quality of formal institutions, but might also be culturally driven. We contribute to this literature by investigating whether tax morale, an individual's intrinsic non-pecuniary motivation to comply with taxes, is associated with the cultural values (following Hofstede's typology) held by this individual. The analysis exploits four waves of the European Values Survey (1981–2010) across 48 countries. The cultural dimensions are constructed through a polychoric principal component analysis on a set of relevant survey items consistent with Hofstede's definitions. Ordered logit estimations suggest that although values of individualism and femininity are associated with higher individual's tax morale, power distance and uncertainty avoidance are associated with lower tax morale. These results remain consistent as we increase the level of granularity of our investigation through within-region analyses and, subsequently, within-cohort analyses. We argue that these results inevitably enrich the emerging debate about cultural values and citizens' compliance with formal institutions. They also indicate that societal culture as well as individual values should be considered when designing policies aiming to improve tax compliance.
Civic engagement in times of economic crisis: a cross-national comparative study of voluntary association membership
Authors: Cameron Sarah
Published: February 2021

Do economic crises mobilize or depress civic engagement? This paper examines this question by analysing cross-national trends in voluntary association membership in the context of the global financial crisis. A mobilization hypothesis suggests that an economic crisis would increase membership in voluntary associations, as these associations provide citizens a channel for interest articulation and aggregation facilitating their response to the crisis. A retreat hypothesis, on the other hand, suggests that an economic crisis would depress voluntary association membership, as people have fewer resources to be involved in these associations at a time of crisis. To test these hypotheses, this paper examines data on voluntary association memberships from the World Values Survey in 14 democratic countries, fielded before and after the global financial crisis hit in 2008. The results support the retreat hypothesis. Following the crisis, there was a decline in voluntary association memberships overall and countries harder hit by the crisis were more likely to experience declines. There was no evidence of mobilization among those more vulnerable to the crisis. Rather, the profile of those engaged in voluntary associations was similar before and after the crisis, skewed towards those better off in society, including those with higher education levels, higher incomes, and in paid employment.
Assessing the Quality of Suicide Reporting in Online Newspapers in Uttar Pradesh, India, According to World Health Organization Guidelines
Authors: Kar Sujita Kumar , Shukla Shreya , Rai Sagar , Sharma Nivedita , Roy Deblina , Menon Vikas , Arafat S. M. Yasir
Published: February 2021

Abstract. Background: Sensitive media reporting has an important role in suicide prevention. However, there is no research on the quality of media reporting of suicide in newspapers of Uttar Pradesh (UP), India. Aim: The present study aimed to assess the quality of newspaper reports of suicide against the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting guidelines. Method: Suicide news content of four purposively selected newspapers published between March 1, 2019 and February 29, 2020, were scrutinized. A total of 501 news reports from UP were included. Results: The most commonly reported attribute was the gender of the deceased and the method of suicide. Almost half of the newspapers reported the occupation of the deceased in the title. Mental illness was attributed as a cause of suicide among 23.75% of the news reports. Less than 2% of the news reports referred to expert opinion, research evidence, national or global statistics on suicide, suicide prevention measures, or information about suicide helpline. There was a significant difference in the quality of reporting between the vernacular newspapers and English dailies. Limitations: Only four online newspapers were analyzed retrospectively. Conclusion: The quality of media reporting of suicide in UP is found to be poor despite its negative effect on suicide.
“Look at Me” – Eye Movements During Autobiographical Retrieval in Face-to-Face Interactions
Authors: Lenoble Quentin , El Haj Mohamad
Published: February 2021

Abstract. There has been a surge in social cognition and social neurosciences research comparing laboratory and real eye movements. Eye movements during the retrieval of autobiographical memories (i.e., personal memories) in laboratory situations are also receiving more attention. We compared eye movements during the retrieval of autobiographical memories using a strict laboratory design versus a design mimicking social interactions. In the first design, eye movements were recorded during autobiographical memory retrieval while participants were looking at a blank screen; in the second design, participants wore eye-tracking glasses and communicated autobiographical memories to the experimenter. Compared with the “screen” design, the “glasses” design yielded more fixations ( p < .05), shorter duration of fixations ( p < .001), more saccades ( p < .01), and longer duration of saccades ( p < .001). These findings demonstrate how eye movements during autobiographical memory retrieval differ between strict laboratory design and face-to-face interactions.
Seasonality, Intensity, and Duration of Rainfall Extremes Change in a Warmer Climate
Authors: Moustakis Yiannis , Papalexiou Simon Michael , Onof Christian J , Paschalis Athanasios
Published: February 2021

Precipitation extremes are expected to intensify under climate change with consequent impacts in flooding and ecosystem functioning. Here we use station data and high‐resolution simulations from the WRF convection permitting climate model (∼4 km, 1 h) over the US to assess future changes in hourly precipitation extremes. It is demonstrated that hourly precipitation extremes and storm depths are expected to intensify under climate change and what is now a 20‐year rainfall will become a 7‐year rainfall on average for ∼ 75% of gridpoints over the US. This intensification is mostly expressed as an increase in rainfall tail heaviness. Statistically significant changes in the seasonality and duration of rainfall extremes are also exhibited over ∼ 95% of the domain. Our results suggest more non‐linear future precipitation extremes with shorter spell duration that are distributed more uniformly throughout the year.
Exciting New Developments for AGU Books Program
Authors: Lunn Jenny
Published: February 2021

Alongside publication of new books on a broad range of Earth and space science topics, AGU published its first open access books in 2020 and appointed a new Editorial Board.
HIF-1α-induced expression of m6A reader YTHDF1 drives hypoxia-induced autophagy and malignancy of hepatocellular carcinoma by promoting ATG2A and ATG14 translation
Authors: Li Qing , Ni Yong , Zhang Liren , Jiang Runqiu , Xu Jing , Yang Hong , Hu Yuanchang , Qiu Jiannan , Pu Liyong , Tang Jinhai , Wang Xuehao
Published: February 2021

N6-methyladenosine (m6A), and its reader protein YTHDF1, play a pivotal role in human tumorigenesis by affecting nearly every stage of RNA metabolism. Autophagy activation is one of the ways by which cancer cells survive hypoxia. However, the possible involvement of m6A modification of mRNA in hypoxia-induced autophagy was unexplored in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, specific variations in YTHDF1 expression were detected in YTHDF1-overexpressing, -knockout, and -knockdown HCC cells, HCC organoids, and HCC patient-derived xenograft (PDX) murine models. YTHDF1 expression and hypoxia-induced autophagy were significantly correlated in vitro; significant overexpression of YTHDF1 in HCC tissues was associated with poor prognosis. Multivariate cox regression analysis identified YTHDF1 expression as an independent prognostic factor in patients with HCC. Multiple HCC models confirmed that YTHDF1 deficiency inhibited HCC autophagy, growth, and metastasis. Luciferase reporter assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation demonstrated that HIF-1α regulated YTHDF1 transcription by directly binding to its promoter region under hypoxia. The results of methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing, proteomics, and polysome profiling indicated that YTHDF1 contributed to the translation of autophagy-related genes ATG2A and ATG14 by binding to m6A-modified ATG2A and ATG14 mRNA, thus facilitating autophagy and autophagy-related malignancy of HCC. Taken together, HIF-1α-induced YTHDF1 expression was associated with hypoxia-induced autophagy and autophagy-related HCC progression via promoting translation of autophagy-related genes ATG2A and ATG14 in a m6A-dependent manner. Our findings suggest that YTHDF1 is a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for patients with HCC.
Biomolecular phenotyping and heterogeneity assessment of mesenchymal stromal cells using label-free Raman spectroscopy
Authors: Rocha R. A. , Fox J. M. , Genever P. G. , Hancock Y.
Published: February 2021

Easy, quantitative measures of biomolecular heterogeneity and high-stratified phenotyping are needed to identify and characterise complex disease processes at the single-cell level, as well as to predict cell fate. Here, we demonstrate how Raman spectroscopy can be used in the difficult-to-assess case of clonal, bone-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) to identify MSC lines and group these according to biological function (e.g., differentiation capacity). Biomolecular stratification is achieved using high-precision measures obtained from representative statistical sampling that also enable quantified heterogeneity assessment. Application to primary MSCs and human dermal fibroblasts shows use of these measures as a label-free assay to classify cell sub-types within complex heterogeneous cell populations, thus demonstrating the potential for therapeutic translation, and broad application to the phenotypic characterisation of other cells.
Soluble syndecan-1 and glycosaminoglycans in preeclamptic and normotensive pregnancies
Authors: Hassani Lahsinoui H. , Amraoui F. , Spijkers L. J. A. , Veenboer G. J. M. , Peters S. L. M. , van Vlies N. , Vogt L. , Ris-Stalpers C. , van den Born B. J. H. , Afink G. B.
Published: February 2021

Preeclampsia, an important cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality, is associated with increased sFLT1 levels and with structural and functional damage to the glycocalyx contributing to endothelial dysfunction. We investigated glycocalyx components in relation to preeclampsia in human samples. While soluble syndecan-1 and heparan sulphate were similar in plasma of preeclamptic and normotensive pregnant women, dermatan sulphate was increased and keratan sulphate decreased in preeclamptic women. Dermatan sulphate was correlated with soluble syndecan-1, and inversely correlated with blood pressure and activated partial thromboplastin time. To determine if syndecan-1 was a prerequisite for the sFlt1 induced increase in blood pressure in mice we studied the effect of sFlt1 on blood pressure and vascular contractile responses in syndecan-1 deficient and wild type male mice. The classical sFlt1 induced rise in blood pressure was absent in syndecan-1 deficient mice indicating that syndecan-1 is a prerequisite for sFlt1 induced increase in blood pressure central to preeclampsia. The results show that an interplay between syndecan-1 and dermatan sulphate contributes to sFlt1 induced blood pressure elevation in pre-eclampsia.
To determine the effect of long-term antiepileptic drug on the serum folate and vitamin B12 among epileptic patients
Authors: Kathiravan M. , Kavitha S. , Shanthi R.
Published: February 2021

The purpose of this study was to prevent anaemia caused on long-term phenytoin treatment among Epileptic patients. Therefore, two groups were categorised based on the duration of phenytoin namely, cases and control. The duration of Phenytoin treatment for case was > 2 years while control had < 1 year. The estimation of serum Folate and Vitamin B12 was carried out and the association between the deficiency of Vitamins with the duration of treatment were evaluated using Linear Regression Analysis. The statistical results shown that the mean value of Folate (2.61 ± 1.81) and the mean value of Vitamin B12 (284.68 ± 110.12) were considered to be low as the duration of Phenytoin treatment increases (> 2 years) compare to control with the Folate concentration of (7.01 ± 4.40) which was statistically significant (p < 0.000). The experimental results have proved that a long-term phenytoin treatment significantly affects the concentration of Folate and Vitamin B12 among the Epileptic patients vigorously.
Metabolic labeling with an alkyne probe reveals similarities and differences in the prenylomes of several brain-derived cell lines and primary cells
Authors: Suazo Kiall F. , Jeong Angela , Ahmadi Mina , Brown Caroline , Qu Wenhui , Li Ling , Distefano Mark D.
Published: February 2021

Protein prenylation involves the attachment of one or two isoprenoid group(s) onto cysteine residues positioned near the C-terminus. This modification is essential for many signal transduction processes. In this work, the use of the probe C15AlkOPP for metabolic labeling and identification of prenylated proteins in a variety of cell lines and primary cells is explored. Using a single isoprenoid analogue, 78 prenylated protein groups from the three classes of prenylation substrates were identified including three novel prenylation substrates in a single experiment. Applying this method to three brain-related cell lines including neurons, microglia, and astrocytes showed substantial overlap (25%) in the prenylated proteins identified. In addition, some unique prenylated proteins were identified in each type. Eight proteins were observed exclusively in neurons, five were observed exclusively in astrocytes and three were observed exclusively in microglia, suggesting their unique roles in these cells. Furthermore, inhibition of farnesylation in primary astrocytes revealed the differential responses of farnesylated proteins to an FTI. Importantly, these results provide a list of 19 prenylated proteins common to all the cell lines studied here that can be monitored using the C15AlkOPP probe as well as a number of proteins that were observed in only certain cell lines. Taken together, these results suggest that this chemical proteomic approach should be useful in monitoring the levels and exploring the underlying role(s) of prenylated proteins in various diseases.
Bi-directional association between allergic rhinitis and diabetes mellitus from the national representative data of South Korea
Authors: Lee Tae Kyung , Jeon Ye Jin , Jung Sun Jae
Published: February 2021

Allergic rhinitis (AR) and diabetes mellitus (DM) share a common cause in inflammation; however, potential relationships between them are not clear. Therefore, we aimed to explore the associations between AR and DM. In this cross-sectional study, data were extracted from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2018 and weighted based on sociodemographic characters. AR and DM were defined by diagnoses thereof. Since self-reporting was not perfect, in order to complement the validity, we additionally performed sensitivity analysis by defining DM according to HbA1c and medication history. After excluding invalid data, the number of final participants was 29,246 (mean age, 54.95 ± 14.27 years). We calculated the odds ratio (OR) of newly self-reported DM among AR patients without DM history by multivariable logistic regression adjusted for potential confounders. A reverse association was also assessed. Patients with AR showed lower ORs for DM than those without AR (OR, 95% CI: men, 0.28, 0.19–0.42; women, 0.33, 0.24–0.46). Similarly, DM patients showed lower ORs for AR than patients without DM (men, 0.41, 0.31–0.56; women, 0.34, 0.25–0.46). The same results were obtained in sensitivity analysis defining DM according to HbA1c levels or DM treatment and in stratification analysis for age, residency, comorbidity, BMI, and menopause. In conclusion, we discovered that AR and DM show mutual inverse associations, regardless of sex, in individuals aged 30 years and older.
Cross-modal motion aftereffects transfer between vision and touch in early deaf adults
Authors: Xiao Kunchen , Gao Yi , Imran Syed Asif , Chowdhury Shahida , Commuri Sesh , Jiang Fang
Published: February 2021

Previous research on early deafness has primarily focused on the behavioral and neural changes in the intact visual and tactile modalities. However, how early deafness changes the interplay of these two modalities is not well understood. In the current study, we investigated the effect of auditory deprivation on visuo-tactile interaction by measuring the cross-modal motion aftereffect. Consistent with previous findings, motion aftereffect transferred between vision and touch in a bidirectional manner in hearing participants. However, for deaf participants, the cross-modal transfer occurred only in the tactile-to-visual direction but not in the visual-to-tactile direction. This unidirectional cross-modal motion aftereffect found in the deaf participants could not be explained by unisensory motion aftereffect or discrimination threshold. The results suggest a reduced visual influence on tactile motion perception in early deaf individuals.
Accelerated DNA tetrahedron-based molecular beacon for efficient microRNA imaging in living cells
Authors: Xing Chao , Chen Ziyi , Lin Yuhong , Wang Min , Xu Xin , Dai Junduan , Wang Jun , Lu Chunhua
Published: February 2021

Herein, we develop an accelerated DNA tetrahedron based molecular beacon for efficient detection and imaging of miRNA in living cells. Our study provides an improved strategy for fluorescence amplified RNA imaging in early clinical diagnosis.
Artificial neural network prediction of self-diffusion in pure compounds over multiple phase regimes
Authors: Allers Joshua P. , Garzon Fernando H. , Alam Todd M.
Published: February 2021

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were developed to accurately predict the self-diffusion constants for pure components in liquid, gas and super critical phases.
Production of renewable oleo-furan surfactants by cross-ketonization of biomass-derived furoic acid and fatty acids
Authors: Nguyen Hannah , Wang Yunzhu , Moglia David , Fu Jiayi , Zheng Weiqing , Orazov Marat , Vlachos Dionisios G.
Published: February 2021

Production of an oleo-furan surfactant precursor from biomass-derived furoic acid and fatty acid via cross-ketonization.
Anion and solvent controlled growth of crystalline and amorphous zinc(ii) coordination polymers and a molecular complex
Authors: Deville Claire , Jeppesen Henrik S. , McKee Vickie , Lock Nina
Published: February 2021

Selective synthesis of crystalline and amorphous 1D coordination polymers and a molecular compound with nearly identical zinc(ii) coordination.
Growth of bimodal NiCo2O4·MnO2 nanorods in situ on carbon fiber paper synergistically affects their electrochemical properties
Authors: Kumar Viresh , Panda Himanshu Sekhar
Published: February 2021

Bimodal NiCo2O4·MnO2 (NCM) nanorods were grown on carbon fiber paper (CFP) using a hydrothermal process.
Development of environmental education concepts concerning chemical waste management and treatment: the training experience of undergraduate students
Authors: de Oliveira D. B. , Becker R. W. , Sirtori C. , Passos C. G.
Published: February 2021

It is essential to develop a safety culture with the participation of university teachers and students in actions and studies that can contribute to safer and more sustainable practices in academic laboratories. The present work analyzes the potential of a training program to raise awareness and establish environmental education and green chemistry concepts concerning procedures for the management and treatment of chemical waste generated in experimental classes. This is a qualitative case study providing a critical perspective of environmental education. The training activity, lasting 45 minutes, was conducted with 66 students entering Chemistry courses at a Brazilian public university. Data collection was carried out using an initial questionnaire to identify the students’ prior knowledge, and a final one applied after the training period. The questionnaires contained open questions and closed questions with a Likert-type scale. The results showed that the training activity contributed to the students’ understanding of the concepts, procedures, and attitudes related to the management and treatment of chemical waste, including the interrelations among the environmental, social, and economic impacts of waste management, the importance of correct separation and storage of residues for disposal using different types of treatment, the civil liability of the academic community for the residues generated, and how the 3Rs principles can favor sustainable practices in the academic context.
Structure–property relationship in contrasting aggregation-induced enhancement/quenching of emission in rigid aromatic molecules
Authors: Tani Yosuke , Ogawa Takuji
Published: February 2021

A rigid, polycyclic, and fully-ring-fused π-system without any rotatable substituents shows aggregation-induced emission or aggregation-caused quenching, depending on the fused aromatic rings.
Copper-catalyzed borylative aminomethylation of C–C double and triple bonds with N,O-acetal
Authors: Qiu Xianfan , Xu Liugen , Wang Shuxia , Dai Ying , Feng Yunqiu , Gong Chang , Tao Chuanzhou
Published: February 2021

A copper-catalyzed borylaminomethylation of multiple carbon–carbon bonds with N,O-acetal and bis(pinacolato)diboron has been disclosed that offers efficient and expedient access to γ-amino boronates.
A dual-emission ratiometric fluorescent nanoprobe based on silicon nanoparticles and carbon dots for efficient detection of Cu(ii)
Authors: Kou Huiyuan , Pang Shujie , Yang Boyu , Wang Mao , Ding Juan , Zhang Zhuqing , Yang Xudong
Published: February 2021

A novel dual-emission ratiometric fluorescent nanoprobe of Si NP–CD nanocomposites for highly sensitive and selective detection of Cu2+.
On the population of triplet states of 2-seleno-thymine
Authors: Valverde Danillo , Mai Sebastian , Sanches de Araújo Adalberto Vasconcelos , Canuto Sylvio , González Leticia , Borin Antonio Carlos
Published: February 2021

The population and depopulation mechanisms leading to the lowest-lying triplet states of the 2-Se-Thymine were studied at the MS-CASPT2/cc-pVDZ level of theory.
A test of ab initio-generated, radial intermolecular potential energy functions for five axially-symmetric, hydrogen-bonded complexes B⋯HF, where B = N2, CO, PH3, HCN and NH3
Authors: Legon Anthony C.
Published: February 2021

Radial P.E. functions of hydrogen-bonded complexes B⋯HF (B = N2, CO, PH3, HCN and NH3) have been calculated ab initio at the CCSD(T)(F12C)/cc-pVTZ-F12 level as a function of the hydrogen-bond length r(Z⋯H), where Z is the H-bond acceptor atom of B.
Diastereoselective self-assembly of a triple-stranded europium helicate with light modulated chiroptical properties
Authors: Zhang Zhihui , Zhou Yanyan , Gao Ting , Yan Pengfei , Zou Xiaoyan , Li Hongfeng
Published: February 2021

The Eu3+ helicate that combines supramolecular chirality, luminescence and photochromic properties shows light-responsive chiroptical (ECD and CPL) switching properties upon alternating UV and visible light irradiation.
Catalyst-free synthesis of phenanthridines via electrochemical coupling of 2-isocyanobiphenyls and amines
Authors: Malviya Bhanwar Kumar , Singh Karandeep , Jaiswal Pradeep K. , Karnatak Manvika , Verma Ved Prakash , Badsara Satpal Singh , Sharma Siddharth
Published: February 2021

One pot metal-free synthesis of phenanthridines and amides under electrochemical conditions.
Rhodium(iii) catalyzed olefination and deuteration of tetrahydrocarbazole
Authors: Peng Wan , Liu Qiaohong , Yin Fucheng , Shi Cunjian , Ji Limei , Qu Lailiang , Wang Cheng , Luo Heng , Kong Lingyi , Wang Xiaobing
Published: February 2021

The rhodium-catalyzed olefination and deuteration of tetrahydrocarbazoles in water with the aid of an N,N-dimethylcarbamoyl-protected group is presented.
Strategies for boosting carbon electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in non-aqueous metal–air battery systems
Authors: Li Weijie , Han Chao , Zhang Kai , Chou Shulei , Dou Shixue
Published: February 2021

Carbon-based materials stand out from all possible non-precious metal-based oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts, owing to their low cost, high conductivity, and variety of allotropes with different bonding and structures.
Enhanced performance of all-organic sandwich structured dielectrics with linear dielectric and ferroelectric polymers
Authors: Wang Chao , He Guanghu , Chen Sheng , Zhai Di , Luo Hang , Zhang Dou
Published: February 2021

We develop advanced polymer capacitors for flexible electrostatic high temperature energy storage applications via designing all-organic sandwich structured films consisting of ferroelectric and linear dielectric polymers.
Opportunities and challenges in perovskite LED commercialization
Authors: Zhang Kai , Zhu Ningning , Zhang Mingming , Wang Lei , Xing Jun
Published: February 2021

Perovskite LEDs represent a promising avenue for high efficiency and low-cost devices with excellent properties. The perovskite material's impact on lighting and advanced applications needs to be recognized to allow its entry to next-generation display technology.
Lipid profiling of mouse intestinal organoids for studying APC mutations
Authors: Jukes Zoë , Freier Anne , Glymenaki Maria , Brown Richard , Parry Lee , Want Elizabeth , Vorkas Panagiotis A. , Li Jia V.
Published: February 2021

Inactivating mutations including both germline and somatic mutations in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene drives most familial and sporadic colorectal cancers. Understanding the metabolic implications of this mutation will aid to establish its wider impact on cellular behaviour and potentially inform clinical decisions. However, to date, alterations in lipid metabolism induced by APC mutations remain unclear. Intestinal organoids have gained widespread popularity in studying colorectal cancer and chemotherapies, because their 3D structure more accurately mimics an in vivo environment. Here, we aimed to investigate intra-cellular lipid disturbances induced by APC gene mutations in intestinal organoids using a reversed-phase ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (RP-UHPLC-MS)-based lipid profiling method. Lipids of the organoids grown from either wild-type (WT) or mice with APC mutations (Lgr5–EGFP-IRES-CreERT2Apcfl/fl) were extracted and analysed using RP-UHPLC-MS. Levels of phospholipids (e.g. PC(16:0/16:0), PC(18:1/20:0), PC(38:0), PC(18:1/22:1)), ceramides (e.g. Cer(d18:0/22:0), Cer(d42:0), Cer(d18:1/24:1)) and hexosylceramides (e.g. HexCer(d18:1/16:0), HexCer(d18:1/22:0)) were higher in Apcfl/fl organoids, whereas levels of sphingomyelins (e.g. SM(d18:1/14:0), SM(d18:1/16:0)) were lower compared with WT. These observations indicate that cellular metabolism of sphingomyelin was up-regulated, resulting in the cellular accumulation of ceramides and production of HexCer due to the absence of Apcfl/fl in the organoids. Our observations demonstrated lipid profiling of organoids and provided an enhanced insight into the effects of the APC mutations on lipid metabolism, making for a valuable addition to screening options of the organoid lipidome.
Low‐complexity demapping algorithm for two‐dimensional non‐uniform constellations in ATSC 3.0
Authors: Liu Yu‐Sun , Chien Chih‐Hao , You Shingchern D.
Published: February 2021

The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) finalized its next‐generation digital terrestrial broadcast standard in 2016, known as ATSC 3.0. In order to enhance spectral efficiency, the standard employs two‐dimensional non‐uniform constellations (2D‐NUCs) for signal mapping. As a result, a 2D demapper, with computational complexity much higher than one‐dimensional (1D) demappers, has to be designed for the receiver. In this paper, a suboptimal low‐complexity 2D‐demapping method is proposed for ATSC 3.0. The proposed method takes advantage of the 2D‐NUC's feature that constellation points with same most significant bits tend to locate in the same subregion. Simulation results show that compared with the conventional Max‐Log‐MAP 2D demapping, the proposed method achieves at least complexity reduction with negligible performance loss. Moreover, compared with another 2D demapper specially designed for ATSC 3.0, the proposed method dispenses with high‐complexity exponential and logarithmic operations at a small performance cost of at most 0.14 dB.
Characterization of base station deployment distribution and coverage in heterogeneous networks
Authors: Zhang Hui , Feng Liang , Zheng Tianyu , Sung Dan Keun
Published: February 2021

Considering different types of base stations (BSs) in future cellular networks are overlapping deployment with the status of dense, multi‐tier and heterogeneous in general, how to optimize the real BS deployment becomes a complicated problem. Based on it, repulsive BS dataset and clustering BS dataset are statically characterized with various types of spatial point processes. It shows that the improvement of coverage probability between 1‐tier and 2‐tier network fluctuates as the signal‐to‐interference ratio (SIR) threshold increases for different datasets. The authors' proposed hybrid model fits well with repulsive BS dataset, while the log‐Gaussian Cox point process (LGCP) and Cauchy model are reasonable models for clustering BS dataset. Besides, in order to dynamically analyze the coverage problem affected by adding new BSs, a cell boundary constructed by an irregular circle is introduced under an equal SIR constraint, and a BS placement scheme is proposed to place new BSs at the points of minimum interference. Numerical results show that the coverage probability may increase after adding BSs in the target area of heterogeneous network by using the proposed scheme. However, as the density of femto BS reaches a certain value, its coverage may remain unchanged even after adding more femto BSs.
Entropy information‐based heterogeneous deep selective fused features using deep convolutional neural network for sketch recognition
Authors: Hayat Shaukat , Kun She , Shahzad Sara , Suwansrikham Parinya , Mateen Muhammad , Yu Yao
Published: February 2021

An effective feature representation can boost recognition tasks in the sketch domain. Due to an abstract and diverse structure of the sketch relatively with a natural image, it is complex to generate a discriminative features representation for sketch recognition. Accordingly, this article presents a novel scheme for sketch recognition. It generates a discriminative features representation as a result of integrating asymmetry essential information from deep features. This information is kept as an original feature‐vector space for making a final decision. Specifically, five different well‐known pre‐trained deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs), namely, AlexNet, VGGNet‐19, Inception V3, Xception, and InceptionResNetV2 are fine‐tuned and utilised for feature extraction. First, the high‐level deep layers of the networks were used to get multi‐features hierarchy from sketch images. Second, an entropy‐based neighbourhood component analysis was employed to optimise the fusion of features in order of rank from multiple different layers of various deep networks. Finally, the ranked features vector space was fed into the support vector machine (SVM) classifier for sketch classification outcomes. The performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated on two different sketch datasets such as TU‐Berlin and Sketchy for classification and retrieval tasks. Experimental outcomes demonstrate that the proposed scheme brings substantial improvement over human recognition accuracy and other state‐of‐the‐art algorithms.
A Schottky diode and FET‐paralleled analogue predistorter for 5G small‐cell base stations
Authors: Huang Li , Xu Gaoming , Huang Jifu , Liu Taijun
Published: February 2021

This letter presents an analogue predistorter (APD) named Schottky diode (SD) and field effect transistor (FET)‐paralleled APD (SDFP‐APD) for the fifth‐generation (5G) mobile system, which is composed of an FET paralleled with two SDs. The simulation results show that the SDFP‐APD has the best compression compensation for the radio frequency power amplifier (RFPA) among the SD‐APD, the FET‐APD and the SDFP‐APD. Furthermore, the measurement results illustrate that the SDFP‐APD can improve the adjacent channel leakage ratio of the RFPA with the best linearisation performance among the three APDs and reduce the error vector magnitude while applying a 100‐MHz bandwidth 5G new radio signal. The proposed SDPF‐APD can be a promising linearisation technique for 5G small‐cell base stations.
Efficient field‐programmable gate array‐based reconfigurable accelerator for deep convolution neural network
Authors: Hu Xianghong , Chen Taosheng , Huang Hongmin , Liu Zihao , Li Xueming , Xiong Xiaoming
Published: February 2021

Deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) have been widely applied in various modern artificial intelligence (AI) applications. DCNN's inference is a process with high calculation costs, which usually requires billions of multiply‐accumulate operations. On mobile platforms such as embedded systems or robotics, an efficient implementation of DCNNs is significant. However, most previous field‐programmable gate array‐based works on accelerators for DCNNs just support one DCNN or just support convolution layers. In order to address this limitation, this work proposes a reconfigurable accelerator. The accelerator is flexible and can support multiple DCNNs and different layer types, such as convolution, pooling, activation function, and full connection layers. It is equipped with a five‐level pipeline convolution engine whose main component is two processing element arrays. Furthermore, a design space exploration method is proposed to make full advantage of the proposed accelerator. This accelerator is implemented with the ZYNQ‐7 ZC706 evaluation board and achieves a high performance of 53.29 Giga operations per second (GOPS) on AlexNet and 45.09 GOPS on YOLOv2‐tiny at 100 MHz. Further performance of the accelerator is compared with the previous works, and it achieves multiple advantages: High performance, high configurability, and efficient resource utilisation.
Interference‐to‐noise ratio estimation in long‐term evolution passive radar based on cyclic auto‐correlation
Authors: Wang Haitao , Lyu Xiaoyong , Zhong Liping
Published: February 2021

This letter considers the interference‐to‐noise ratio (INR) estimation problem in long‐term evolution (LTE)‐based passive bistatic radar. The INR is of great importance in the evaluation of interference level, the prediction of the target detection capability and the target parameter estimation. Traditional passive radar uses the cross‐correlation function between the reference and surveillance signals to estimate the INR. This is not applicable to LTE‐based passive radar due to the uncorrelation between the interference and reference signals in LTE‐based passive radar. In this letter, we propose a cyclic auto‐correlation method to estimate the INR. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Numerical prediction and measurement of pressure drop and heat transfer in a water‐cooled hollow‐shaft rotor for a traction motor application
Authors: Gai Yaohui , Ma Chenwei , Xu Yongming , Chong Yew Chuang
Published: February 2021

This article addresses the rotating effect on the pressure loss and heat transfer coefficient (HTC) of a hollow‐shaft rotor cooling system for an automotive traction motor. Firstly, a numerical model based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was established to fully understand the mechanism of rotational flow patterns. Experiments were then performed to measure and compare heat exchange and pressure loss between rotating and stationary conditions with the assistance of an analytical thermal model. Finally, trends of pressure drop and HTC at various rotational rates were explained in detail. Based on CFD simulations and experimental prototype testing, two opposite effects: boosting or diminishing on pressure drop and heat transfer due to rotation have been identified. Moreover, the rotation can significantly improve the overall HTC and pressure loss of an axial turbulent flow. As a result, a significant drop in terms of rotor temperature is identified for an automotive traction motor when such a rotor cooling system is implemented.
Flexible controls to reduce DC voltage deviations in multi‐terminal DC grids
Authors: Wu Guihong , Du Zhengchun , Zhao Yangyang , Li Guiyuan
Published: February 2021

Various disturbances in voltage source converter based high‐voltage, multi‐terminal DC grids will significantly cause DC voltage deviations when the classical voltage droop control is adopted. The unsatisfactory voltage deviations weaken the voltage regulation ability and increase the risk of instability. Two flexible controls at the top of the classical voltage droop control to reduce voltage deviations are proposed, and the power–voltage (P–V) curves of the classical voltage droop control are translated co‐ordinately. Firstly, a global DC voltage oscillation damping control designed based on the Lyapunov theory is proposed for transient voltage deviations. Secondly, a constant weighted voltage control is designed for reducing steady weighted voltage deviations. The steady active power injections keep almost unchanged under proposed controls, consistent with those under only the classical voltage droop control. The stability influence and the power flow impact are carried out to evaluate the proposed controls theoretically. Tests are conducted on a multi‐terminal DC grid with five‐terminal voltage source converters. Simulation results show the proposed controls' effectiveness and superiority under various fault conditions, including both the outage of a constant power voltage source converter and a droop voltage source converter.
Robust event‐triggered distributed min–max model predictive control of continuous‐time non‐linear systems
Authors: Li Anni , Sun Jitao
Published: February 2021

Due to the features of event‐triggered control in exploiting and saving system resources, they have been widely applied in sensor networks, multi‐agent systems, networked control systems and so on. In this study, the authors focused on robust event‐triggered distributed model predictive control (RETDMPC). Subject to disturbances and parametric uncertainties, they first applied the min–max model to RETDMPC. The min–max RETDMPC methodology is used to guarantee the robustness of the system state by taking the worst possible case of unknown uncertainties into consideration. Furthermore, in this framework, a new cost function is developed in which unknown uncertainties are considered. Next, sufficient conditions are provided to ensure the feasibility and stability of their developed min–max RETDMPC. Finally, a practical example is given to illustrate the advantages of their algorithm by comparing to the conventional model predictive control.