bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Scalable, Flexible Implementation of MBSE and DevOps in VSEs: Design Considerations and a Case Study
Authors: Simpson Cailin , Simske Steven
Published: August 2023

Model‐based systems engineering (MBSE) and development operations (DevOps) both provide organizations with increased system development capabilities by defining development process controls and defining sequential development, testing, and other processes. As the use and complexity of MBSE and DevOps processes for software systems development continues to rise, very small entities (<25 employees) may struggle to implement full scale implementations of these engineering project management processes. This paper uses principles from MBSE and DevOps models to explore a reduced, simplified scope of both system development paradigms that VSEs can implement to obtain benefits of both processes.
Architecting Descriptive Models for MBSE
Authors: Noguchi Ryan A.
Published: August 2023

Model‐Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is becoming increasingly recognized as a critical enabler for significantly improving the effectiveness and efficiency of systems engineering. While MBSE is seeing significant growth in its application to complex system development programs, the growth of MBSE adoption and realized value is often stymied by the growth of technical debt in the descriptive models that serve as the foundation of knowledge capture and communication in an MBSE environment. Just as a good system architect or software architect makes key decisions early in the life of a system or software product to maximize the likelihood of stakeholder satisfaction throughout its life, a good model architect can provide that same invaluable function for descriptive models. The methods and practices of system and software architecting can be readily adapted to address the technical debt growth problem often seen in the development of descriptive models. This paper describes the emerging discipline of “model architecting,” comparing and contrasting it with system and software architecting practices. The paper describes a representative set of model architecting patterns that illustrate model architecting principles, then identifies some of the key roles, responsibilities, and competencies required of the model architect.
Seamless Transitions from Logical to Physical Avionics Architecture Models for Preliminary Aircraft Systems Design
Authors: Broehan Jasmin , Kuelper Nils , Thielecke Frank
Published: August 2023

The transition of federated aviation electronics (avionics) systems to Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) concepts leads to a higher integration of functions, which reduces the amount of equipment and therefore system mass. However, these benefits are accompanied by a strong increase in system complexity and more interdependencies. Moreover, further digitalization and automation of aircraft functions lead to a higher impact of avionics in terms of equipment number and energy consumption. One challenge arises from the fact that the IMA platform design starts in parallel to the design of other aircraft on‐board systems, for which the platform shall provide resources like computing power. This leads to a high uncertainty during early design phases on the one hand and to a complex design process including many data and tool interfaces on the other hand. In order to meet these challenges, seamless model‐based design approaches are being broadly investigated. For this purpose, standardized and automated interfaces between different design steps, tools, and stakeholders are needed. In this work, a formalized avionics architecture design process is proposed to support a seamless model‐based tool chain from systems architecting to detailed system design. Methods to handle uncertainties, to provide standardized model interfaces, and to automate transitions between model abstraction levels are included. Overall, this reduces manual effort and the introduction of errors that would lead to high costs during system implementation.
Evaluating 50,000 Aerial Drones Against Volatile Targets
Authors: Bordley Robert
Published: August 2023

After developing draft requirements, systems engineering generates and evaluates potential designs concepts against these requirements. After a concept is selected, multiple more detailed variations of that selected concept are generated. The best variation is selected for implementation. Thus the value of each design concept is only an estimate of the ultimate value of what is ultimately designed. This process is complicated by volatile and interdependent requirements. This paper derives a evaluation function for these kinds of problems and applies it to the setbased design of 50, 000 small unmanned aerial vehicles concepts generated by set‐based design.
NASA Technology Readiness Level Assessment Using a Model‐Based Systems Engineering Framework
Authors: Hawkins Victoria , Mulholland Rebecca , Aloisio Diane , Davis Neal , Drake Sarah
Published: August 2023

Assessing the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of a system in support of a NASA effort is an important exercise. This exercise helps engineers identify the least mature system components and subsystems they need to improve in support of reducing the overall risk of a system not performing in the harsh space environment. However, contractors often inconsistently apply the assessment process in support of this exercise. Contractors typically perform this exercise in a document‐based manner, so there is little to no propagation of change throughout the system design documents, little reuse of the data once it is developed, and no single source of truth for engineers to reference. Model‐Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is an approach that has helped address these problems for other Systems Engineering‐related deliverables (such as requirements specifications, system architecture, design documentation, and verification planning). In this paper, we use MBSE to create a TRL assessment methodology that a variety of different programs can tailor to streamline their process, make their processes reusable, and encourage a single source of truth for their data. We first describe our approach, then describe the methodology we have developed, and finally apply this methodology to an example.
How INCOSE's Certification Program has Evolved as a System of Systems
Authors: Wright Courtney , Joshi Mrunmayi
Published: August 2023

The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) Certification program began as a subsystem of INCOSE, with only a few external entities involved. The majority of the required capabilities were carried out internally, such testing based on the INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook. Many capabilities have since been outsourced to independent external agencies such as psychometricians and certificate providers to gain flexibility and simplify operations. As a result, the INCOSE certification program evolved from an INCOSE subsystem to a System of Systems (SoS) with component systems such as universities, exam providers, training providers, and local chapters. This paper discusses the characteristics and challenges of the INCOSE Certification program as a System of Systems, the type of a SoS that best suits the certification program, change management of the certification program, learnings from managing the certification program as a System of Systems, the System of Systems engineering application to the certification programs, and critical problems involved in the certification program's operation and management.
Autonomica: Ontological Modeling and Analysis of Autonomous Behavior
Authors: Elaasar Maged , Rouquette Nicolas , Havelund Klaus , Feather Martin , Bandyopadhyay Saptarshi , Candela Alberto
Published: August 2023

Model‐based system autonomy is a complex integration of planning from high‐level goals to low‐level command sequences whose execution controls a system. The need for autonomy has accelerated in recent years to enable complex missions in automotive, space, and defense. During system development, understanding the relationship between system autonomy and the physical environment (including hardware) is critical to supporting trade studies, developing concepts of operations, characterizing risk, and performing testing. This paper describes the initial results of developing Autonomica, an ontology‐based methodology and a framework for autonomous behavior modeling and analysis. This methodology formalizes an architectural pattern for specifying model‐based autonomy as a vocabulary with description logic semantics and provides authoring and analysis capabilities (reasoning, querying, and simulation) for the architectures. The framework implements the methodology in an integrated workbench. A running example of a hypothetical spacecraft mission to a small space body illustrates the ideas.
Image processing‐based Athletes' injury prevention mechanism
Authors: Wang Wei , Lv Liu , Huang Qiuchen , Liu Zun
Published: August 2023

This study proposes a compressed domain video action recognition to prevent athlete injuries. The main idea is to use the motion vector and residual of the compressed video to construct new spatiotemporal features while extracting compressed code stream information. The new spatiotemporal features have the spatiotemporal relationship between motion vectors and residuals and the characteristic of precise object edges. Through verification on mainstream action recognition datasets (HMDB‐51, UCF‐101), the proposed method has a more negligible computational overhead than action recognition based on the traditional pixel domain and higher recognition accuracy than action recognition based on the video compression domain. Experiments have shown that the new spatiotemporal features based on the compressed domain have advantages such as solid spatiotemporal relationships and high information density, which can make action recognition results with high accuracy, detect abnormalities or patterns associated with injuries, and analyze an athlete's movements and provide personalized training recommendations.
pH‐responsive gum tragacanth hydrogels for high methylene blue adsorption
Authors: Illanes Cristian O. , Takara Eduardo A. , Masuelli Martin A. , Ochoa Nelio A.
Published: August 2023

Background

Biobased hydrogels are used in many applications due to their easy availability, low cost, and versatility to acquire different structures. However, there is scarce information about the changes generated in the matrix's microstructure after crosslinking reactions. The effect of the crosslinking reaction using glutaraldehyde on the micro‐ and macrostructure of tragacanth gum hydrogels (TG GLU) was evaluated.

Results

New acetal groups, which increase with increasing glutaraldehyde (GLU), produced less packed biopolymeric structures with more thermal stability. Due to demethoxylation, a higher amount of free carboxylic groups after crosslinking reaction were determined in TG GLU. Crosslinked hydrogels presented a higher water uptake capacity with a pH‐responsive behavior with suitable thermal and mechanical properties. Besides this, the highest adsorptive capacity of methylene blue achieved was qm = 530 mg/g.

Conclusions

pH responsive gels from tragacanth were obtained after crosslinking with glutaraldehyde. Chemical and microstructural changes affected the methylene blue adsorption, resulting in hydrogels with improved adsorptive properties. These properties give the TG‐GLU hydrogels some features that make them suitable for practical applications in the pharmaceutical industry related to drug delivery and water remediation. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.
Food or medicine? A European regulatory perspective on nutritional therapy products to treat inborn errors of metabolism
Authors: Stolwijk N. N. , Bosch A. M. , Bouwhuis N. , Häberle J. , van Karnebeek C. , van Spronsen F. J. , Langeveld M. , Hollak C. E. M.
Published: August 2023

Dietary or nutritional management strategies are the cornerstone of treatment for many inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs). Though a vital part of standard of care, the products prescribed for this are often not formally registered as medication. Instead, they are regulated as food or as food supplements, impacting the level of oversight as well as reimbursed policies. This scoping literature review explores the European regulatory framework relevant to these products and its implications for current clinical practice. Searches of electronic databases (PubMed, InfoCuria) were carried out, supplemented by articles identified by experts, from reference lists, relevant guidelines and case‐law by the European Court of Justice. In the European Union (EU), nutritional therapy products are regulated as food supplements, food for special medical purposes (FSMPs) or medication. The requirements and level of oversight increase for each of these categories. Relying on lesser‐regulated food products to treat IEMs raises concerns regarding product quality, safety, reimbursement and patient access. In order to ascertain whether a nutritional therapy product functions as medication and thus could be classified as such, we developed a flowchart to assess treatment characteristics (benefit, pharmacological attributes, and safety) with a case‐based approach. Evaluating nutritional therapy products might reveal a justifiable need for a pharmaceutical product. A flowchart can facilitate systematically distinguishing products that function medication‐like in the management of IEMs. Subsequently, finding and implementing appropriate solutions for these products might help improve the quality, safety and accessibility including reimbursement of treatment for IEMs.
Arbidol increases the survival rate by mitigating inflammation in suckling mice infected with human coronavirus OC43 virus
Authors: Zhou Hongxia , Xie Peifang , Qiu Minshan , Dong Shuwei , Xia Xueshan , Yang Zifeng , Yuan Yaoqin , Shen Lihan
Published: August 2023

Human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV‐OC43) often causes common cold and is able to neuroinvasive, but it can also induce lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) especially in children and the elderly adults with underlying diseases. HCoV‐OC43 infections currently have no approved antiviral treatment. Arbidol (ARB) is a broad‐spectrum antiviral and is an antiviral medication for the treatment of influenza used in Russia and China. Due to its multiple mechanisms of action, such as inhibition of viral fusion and entry, immunomodulation, and modulation of host cell signaling pathways, ARB has the potential to be an effective treatment option for viral infections. Therefore, the study aims to investigate the activities of ARB against HCoV‐OC43 infections. Suckling mice were infected with HCoV‐OC43 and treated with ARB (50, 25 and 12.5 mg/kg/d) by gavage once daily for 4 days. the survival rates and body weight were recorded, the viral titer was measured by real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, cytokine levels were measured by Bio‐Plex assays. Histopathological changes of the lungs and brain were analyzed. Our results show ARB increased the survival rate, reduced viral copy numbers in the lung, mitigated pro‐inflammatory cytokine production, and improved brain and lung histopathology significantly without any significant toxicity or side effects in vivo. Our results suggest ARB could be a promising approach for the prevention and treatment of HCoV‐OC43 while further studies are needed to address these possibilities and the underlying mechanism.
Selecting performance indicators for hospital pharmacy practice: A Canadian initiative
Authors: Boucher France , Lemire Benoît , Schryve Sylvie , Vaillant Linda
Published: August 2023

Activity‐based funding is a method of funding hospitals according to the type and volume of services provided and adjusted to their patient population. Currently, pharmacy practice is mainly evaluated with costs and volumes, which are insufficient to properly measure the contribution of pharmacists. Facing the province of Quebec statewide implementation of activity‐based funding, expert committees were set up to develop a set of indicators using a predefined framework to assess pharmacy performance throughout all hospital activities and patient care. Through consultations, partners and stakeholders showed strong support for the initiative, putting more emphasis on the assessment of appropriateness as well as quality and safety. Among the different roles of pharmacists, respondents favoured the assessment of the pharmaceutical care and education of trainees and colleagues. Of the 150 candidate indicators initially identified, 24 were selected, of which 13 were prioritised for experimentation.
Improvement in the quality of frozen dough for fried flour products by electrostatic field‐assisted freezing
Authors: Liu Yuqi , Zhang Min , Jiang Qiyong , Mujumdar Arun S. , Lin Jiacong
Published: August 2023

BACKGROUND

With the development of the food industry, frozen dough technology has gradually become an indispensable part of dough processing but its quality is often reduced due to freezing during the production process. Electrostatic field‐assisted freezing (EF) technology, a key research project in recent years, reduces the physical damage to food materials by reducing or changing the size of ice crystals in frozen products.

RESULTS

In this study, different intensities of electrostatic fields were used to assist in the repeated freezing and thawing of dough. The effects of electrostatic fields on the freezing nucleation process were evaluated by measuring dough freezing curves, low field nuclear magnetic resonance, and melting enthalpy. It was found that the freezing time of frozen dough added with electrostatic field‐assisted freezing processing was shortened, the rate at which hardness, viscosity, and elasticity decreased was reduced, and the indicators of water distribution and protein secondary structure components were closer to those of fresh dough.

CONCLUSION

This experiment used electrostatic field‐assisted freezing to reduce the damage to the dough structure during the freezing process, improve the quality of frozen dough and fried products, and improve the freezing efficiency of frozen dough. It provides a new idea for the study of frozen dough. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.
The role of natural killer cell activity as a milestone in oncologic outcome after curative resection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma
Authors: Kim Eun Young , Yoon Young Chul , Hong Tae Ho
Published: August 2023

Background

The objective of this study was to investigate differences in oncologic outcomes of patients with pancreas cancer according to natural killer cell activity (NKA).

Methods

A total of 118 patients who underwent curative resection for primary pancreas cancer in two hospitals were analyzed. NKA change pattern was analyzed. Difference in disease‐free survival or overall survival was investigated by dividing subjects into two groups based on a normal NKA value for each period.

Results

NKA value decreased after surgery compared to the value measured at admission. It recovered to normal levels at 5 weeks postoperatively. The low NKA (less than 250 pg/mL) group at admission, 5 weeks postoperatively, and before 1st chemotherapy had significantly poorer disease‐free survival than the normal NKA group. In multivariate analysis, NKA values less than 250 pg/mL at admission (odds ratio = 2.267, p = 0.023) and N 1 or N2 category (odds ratio = 2.478, p = 0.023) were significant factors associated with recurrence after curative resection.

Conclusions

NKA in patients with pancreatic cancer demonstrated noticeable changes after surgery. Immunologically predisposed patients with a low NKA value had a high risk of early recurrence and a poor prognosis, although pancreatic cancer was surgically removed.
Silver ion chromatography enables the separation of 2‐methylalkylresorcinols from alkylresorcinols
Authors: Hammerschick Tim , Vetter Walter
Published: August 2023

Alkylresorcinols (∑ARs) is the generic term for a highly varied class of lipids found mainly in cereals. These bioactive compounds consist mainly of 5‐alkylresorcinols (ARs), which differ in length, unsaturation, and substituents on the alkyl side chain on C‐5. In addition, 2‐methyl‐5‐alkylresorcinols (mARs) are scarcely studied minor compounds that are supposed to exist with the same structural diversity. In the first step, ∑ARs were enriched by solid‐phase extraction from wheat grain and quinoa seed extracts. The subsequent application of silver ion chromatography (SIC), silica gel, coated with 20% AgNO3, then deactivated with 1% water) enabled an unprecedented full separation of saturated mARs from conventional ARs. Specifically, saturated mARs were eluted with n‐hexane/ethyl acetate (92:8, v/v), and conventional ARs with n‐hexane/ethyl acetate (80:20, v/v). The unpreceded separation indicated that the SIC method could be useful not only for separations according to the degree of unsaturation, but also in the case of steric hindrance by additional (alkyl) substituents. Continued fractionation enabled the collection of unsaturated ARs in wheat and quinoa extracts. In this way, 35 ∑ARs (including five mARs) were detected by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis in wheat and 45 ∑ARs (including 21 mARs) in quinoa. These included several low abundant and partly unknown ∑ARs such as 1,3‐dihydroxy‐5‐tricosadienylbenzene.
End‐to‐end deep learning classification of vocal pathology using stacked vowels
Authors: Liu George S. , Hodges Jordan M. , Yu Jingzhi , Sung C. Kwang , Erickson‐DiRenzo Elizabeth , Doyle Philip C.
Published: August 2023

Objectives

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology have increased the feasibility of classifying voice disorders using voice recordings as a screening tool. This work develops upon previous models that take in single vowel recordings by analyzing multiple vowel recordings simultaneously to enhance prediction of vocal pathology.

Methods

Voice samples from the Saarbruecken Voice Database, including three sustained vowels (/a/, /i/, /u/) from 687 healthy human participants and 334 dysphonic patients, were used to train 1‐dimensional convolutional neural network models for multiclass classification of healthy, hyperfunctional dysphonia, and laryngitis voice recordings. Three models were trained: (1) a baseline model that analyzed individual vowels in isolation, (2) a stacked vowel model that analyzed three vowels (/a/, /i/, /u/) in the neutral pitch simultaneously, and (3) a stacked pitch model that analyzed the /a/ vowel in three pitches (low, neutral, and high) simultaneously.

Results

For multiclass classification of healthy, hyperfunctional dysphonia, and laryngitis voice recordings, the stacked vowel model demonstrated higher performance compared with the baseline and stacked pitch models (F1 score 0.81 vs. 0.77 and 0.78, respectively). Specifically, the stacked vowel model achieved higher performance for class‐specific classification of hyperfunctional dysphonia voice samples compared with the baseline and stacked pitch models (F1 score 0.56 vs. 0.49 and 0.50, respectively).

Conclusions

This study demonstrates the feasibility and potential of analyzing multiple sustained vowel recordings simultaneously to improve AI‐driven screening and classification of vocal pathology. The stacked vowel model architecture in particular offers promise to enhance such an approach.

Lay Summary

AI analysis of multiple vowel recordings can improve classification of voice pathologies compared with models using a single sustained vowel and offer a strategy to enhance AI‐driven screening of voice disorders.

Level of Evidence

3
Data mining analysis of professor Qiu Changlin's Chinese Medicinal therapy for Parkinson's disease
Authors: Wu Shuang , Wu Han , Jiang Xuhong , Li Hongchen , Luo Jie
Published: August 2023

Background

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a prevalent, progressive neurodegenerative disease that has been widely treated using dopamine replacement therapy. However, this therapy does not prevent the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Clinical experience has shown that Chinese medicines (CMs) can alleviate the side effects of Western medicines for PD and improve the quality of life of patients.

Objective

This paper describes the collection and analysis of Professor Qiu Changlin's decoctions for PD and proposes new ideas on the Law of CM Clinical Formula Administration and Syndrome Differentiation of PD.

Methods

A database of Professor Qiu's prescriptions for PD patients of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine over 5 years (January 2018 to May 2022) was established and analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2019 and SPSS Modeler 22.0.

Results

Frequency analysis of 1162 prescriptions comprising 232 CMs revealed 17 high‐frequency CMs, including Shu Di Huang (Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata) and Chao Bai Shao (Paeoniae Radix Alba), and correlations among the CMs. The property (nature) of these CMs is warm, and the flavors are mainly bitter, sweet, and sour. Most enter the liver meridian. Based on cluster analysis, we obtained a core effective prescription that mainly comprises Tian Ma, Gou Teng Yin and Zuo Gui Wan.

Conclusion

The core effective prescription is expected to inspire new ideas for the administration of CM clinical formulas and syndrome differentiation in PD.
The PKA‐SREBP1c Pathway Plays a Key Role in the Protective Effects of Lactobacillus johnsonii JNU3402 Against Diet‐Induced Fatty Liver in Mice
Authors: Hong Eunjeong , Kang Hyuno , Yang Garam , Oh Sejong , Kim Eungseok
Published: August 2023

Scope

The present study aims to assess the protective effect of Lactobacillus johnsonii JNU3402 (LJ3402) against diet‐induced non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and determine the mechanism underlying its beneficial effect on the liver in mice.

Methods and results

Seven‐week‐old male mice are fed a high‐fat diet (HFD) with or without oral supplementation of LJ3402 for 14 weeks. In mice fed an HFD, LJ3402 administration alleviates liver steatosis, diet‐induced obesity, and insulin resistance with a decreased hepatic expression of sterol‐regulatory element‐binding protein‐1c (SREBP‐1c), fatty acid synthase (FAS) and acetyl‐CoA carboxylase (ACC), and an increased phosphorylation of SREBP‐1c. The mechanistic study shows that LJ3402 inhibits SREBP‐1c transcriptional activity by enhancing protein kinase A (PKA)‐mediated phosphorylation and reduces the expression of its lipogenic target genes in AML12 and HepG2 cells, thereby attenuating hepatic lipid accumulation. Moreover, silencing the PKA α catalytic subunit or the inhibition of PKA activity by H89 abolishes LJ3402 suppression of free fatty acid (FFA)‐induced SREBP‐1c activity in hepatocytes. In addition, LJ3402 administration elevates the plasma lactate levels in mice fed an HFD; this lactate increases PKA‐mediated SREBP‐1c phosphorylation in AML12 cells with a decreased expression of its target genes, reducing hepatic lipid accumulation.

Conclusion

LJ3402 attenuates HFD‐induced fatty liver in mice through the lactate‐PKA‐SREBP‐1c pathway.
Modified Korean MIND Diet: A Nutritional Intervention for Improved Cognitive Function in Elderly Women through Mitochondrial Respiration, Inflammation Suppression, and Amino Acid Metabolism Regulation
Authors: Kang Eun Young , Kim Do‐Young , Kim Hyun Kyung , Shin Weon‐Sun , Park Young‐Sook , Kim Tae Hoon , Kim Wooki , Cao Lei , Lee Sang‐gil , Gang Gyoungok , Shin Minhye , Kim Jun‐Mo , Go Gwang‐woong
Published: August 2023

Scope

Mild cognitive impairment is associated with a high prevalence of dementia. The study examines the benefits of a modified Korean MIND (K‐MIND) diet and explores biomarkers using multi‐omics analysis.

Methods and results

The K‐MIND diet, tailored to the elderly Korean population, includes perilla oil, milk, or fermented milk, and avoids alcohol consumption. As a result, the K‐MIND diet significantly improves subjects “orientation to place” in the Korean version of the Mini‐Mental State Examination, 2nd edition test. According to multi‐omics analysis, the K‐MIND diet upregulates genes associated with mitochondrial respiration, including ubiquinone oxidoreductase, cytochrome C oxidase, and ATP synthase, and immune system processes, and downregulates genes related to nuclear factor kappa B activity and inflammatory responses. In addition, K‐MIND affects the metabolic pathways of glycine, serine, threonine, tryptophan, and sphingolipids, which are closely linked to cognitive function through synthesis of neurotransmitters and structures of brain cell membranes.

Conclusion

The findings imply that the K‐MIND diet improves cognitive function by upregulating key genes involved in oxidative phosphorylation and downregulating pro‐inflammatory cytokines.
Design of experiments approach for systematic optimization of a single‐shot diaPASEF plasma proteomics workflow applicable for high‐throughput
Authors: Rice Shawn J. , Belani Chandra P.
Published: August 2023

Purpose

Plasma is an abundant source of protein biomarkers. Mass spectrometry (MS) is an effective means to measure a large number of proteins in a single run. The recent development of data‐independent acquisition with parallel accumulation and serial fragmentation (diaPASEF) on a trapped ion mobility spectrometer (TIMS) affords deep proteomic coverage with short liquid chromatography gradients. In this work, we utilized a process optimization approach, design of experiments (DoE), to maximize precursor identification for a plasma proteomic diaPASEF workflow.

Experimental Design

A partial factorial design was used to screen 11 sample preparation factors and six diaPASEF MS acquisition factors. Selected factors were optimized using the response surface method.

Results

Three important sample preparation factors and the two important MS acquisition factors were identified in the screening experiments and were selected for separate optimization experiments. The optimal parameters were compared to our standard plasma proteomics workflows using either a 1‐h or overnight trypsin digestion. The optimized method outperformed the 1‐h digestion, and it was similar in performance to the overnight digestion, however, the optimized method could be completed in a day.

Conclusion and Clinical Relevance

We have used DoE to report an optimized plasma proteomics workflow for diaPASEF, however, established methods are already highly optimized, and resources may be better spent on running samples than comprehensive optimization.
Quantifying the Impact of Al Deposition Method on Underlying Al2O3/Si Interface Quality
Authors: Mack Iris , Rosta Kawa , Quliyeva Ulviyya , Ott Jennifer , Pasanen Toni P. , Vähänissi Ville , Jahanshah Rad Zahra Sadat , Lehtiö Juha-Pekka , Laukkanen Pekka , Soldano Caterina , Savin Hele
Published: August 2023

Oxide–semiconductor interface quality has often a direct impact on the electrical properties of devices and on their performance. Traditionally, the properties are characterized through metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) structures by depositing a metal layer and measuring the capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristics. However, metal deposition process itself may have an impact on the oxide and the oxide–semiconductor interface. The impact of magnetron sputtering, e‐beam evaporation, and thermal evaporation on an interface is studied, where atomic layer deposited (ALD) is used, by MOS C–V and corona oxide characterization of semiconductors (COCOS) measurements. The latter allows characterization of the interface also in its original state before metallization. The results show that sputtering induces significant damage at the underlying interface as the measured interface defect density increases from to  cm−2 eV. Interestingly, sputtering also generates a high density of positive charges at the interface as the charge changes from to  cm. Thermal evaporation is found to be a softer method, with modest impact on and . Finally, Alnealing heals the damage but has also a significant impact on the charge of the film recovering the characteristic negative charge of (∼−4 × 1012 cm).
Effects of job demands and resources on the subjective well‐being of teachers
Authors: Ostermeier Teuna Cornelia Jenny , Koops Willem , Peccei Riccardo
Published: August 2023

Although it is widely recognised that well‐being of teachers is important, not much is known about the effects of job characteristics in subjective well‐being. This paper is a report of a study that investigates the effects of job characteristics on subjective well‐being. Nationally representative employee data is used to investigate the effects of job characteristics and teachers' subjective well‐being among teachers in Britain (N = 954). The findings suggest that there is a prima facie case for schools to use the job demands‐resources model to maintain and raise levels of job satisfaction and negative affect among their teachers. Multiple regressions were performed to calculate the relative weight of job characteristics related to subjective well‐being. Results show, among other things, that job security, autonomy and employee voice increase, and work–life conflict decreases, the subjective well‐being of teachers. In addition, it is found that family policies, a supportive supervisor and employee voice can mitigate the detrimental effects of work–life conflict, workload and work hours on negative affect. Policy implications follow, which include, inter alia, that training and development programmes with an emphasis on communications skills and providing teachers more opportunities to participate in decisions could be used to achieve greater participation, better supportive supervision and more job security. In addition, workload can be reduced by giving teachers more non‐contact time and creating smaller classes.

Context and implications

Rationale for this study

It is widely recognised that lack of well‐being can potentially affect both workers and the organisation in negative ways. Within the teaching occupation well‐being is a serious and growing concern. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to generate insights into what job characteristics affect teacher well‐being.

Why the new findings matter

This study demonstrated that the JD‐R model can be used successfully to investigate job characteristics. Furthermore, this study highlights the relationship of subjective well‐being of teachers with job characteristics. In addition, it is found that various job resources can mitigate the detrimental effects of several demands on negative affect.

Implications for practice

The present study suggests that increases in subjective well‐being can be made by increasing resources and decreasing demands and that special attention needs to be drawn to: supportive management, employee voice, autonomy, job security, workload and work–life conflict. Policy implications include that training and development programmes with an emphasis on communication skills and providing teachers more opportunities to participate in decisions could be used to achieve greater participation, better supportive supervision and more job security. In addition, workload can be reduced by giving teachers more non‐contact time and creating smaller classes.
Bearing‐based formation control of second‐order multiagent systems with bounded disturbances
Authors: Xu Chuang , Zelazo Daniel , Wu Baolin
Published: August 2023

This article investigates the bearing‐based formation control problem for second‐order multiagent systems (SMS) in the presence of the bounded disturbances in their models. The main contributions of this article are listed as follows: (1) We extend the bearing formation control to SMS. (2) We propose two novel robust distributed bearing formation control laws. In the first control law, the bearing measurement in the global inertial frame is required. This control law guarantees that the inter‐agent bearings converge to the desired bearings. The second control law requires obtaining the local bearing measurements and relative orientation measurements. This control law guarantees that the inter‐agent bearings converge to the desired bearings and the orientation of each agent converges to a common orientation. Some simulations are conducted, and simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed control laws.
Electrospinning Photocatalysis Meet In Situ Irradiated XPS: Recent Mechanisms Advances and Challenges
Authors: Zhang Fei , Li Yukun , Ding Bin , Shao Guosheng , Li Neng , Zhang Peng
Published: August 2023

Producing solar fuels over photocatalysts under light irradiation is a considerable way to alleviate energy crises and environmental pollution. To develop the yields of solar fuels, photocatalysts with broad light absorption, fast charge carrier migration, and abundant reaction sites need to be designed. Electrospun 1D nanofibers with large specific areas and high porosity have been widely used in the efficient production of solar fuels. Nevertheless, it is challenging to do in‐depth mechanism research on electrospun nanofiber‐based photocatalysts since there are multiple charge transfer routes and various reaction sites in these systems. Here, the basic principles of electrospinning and photocatalysis are systemically discussed. Then, the different roles of electrospun nanofibers played in recent research to boost photocatalytic efficiency are highlighted. It is noteworthy that the working principles and main advantages of in situ irradiated photoelectron spectroscopy (ISI‐XPS), a new technique to investigate migration routes of charge carriers and identify active sites in electrospun nanofibers based photocatalysts, are summarized for the first time. At last, a brief summary on the future orientation of photocatalysts based on electrospun nanofibers as well as the perspectives on the development of the ISI‐XPS technique are also provided.
Densification Induced Decoupling of Electrical and Thermal Properties in Free‐Standing MWCNT Films for Ultrahigh p‐ and n‐Type Power Factors and Enhanced ZT
Authors: Li Kuncai , Sun Xu , Wang Yizhuo , Wang Jing , Dai Xu , Yao Yanqiu , Chen Bin , Chong Daotong , Yan Junjie , Wang Hong
Published: August 2023

Generating sufficient power from waste heat is one of the most important things for thermoelectric (TE) techniques in numerous practical applications. The output power density of an organic thermoelectric generator (OTEG) is proportional to the power factors (PFs) and the electrical conductivities of organic materials. However, it is still challenging to have high PFs over 1 mW m−1 K−2 in free‐standing films together with high electrical conductivities over 1000 S cm−1. Herein, densifying multi‐walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) films would increase their electrical conductivity dramatically up to over 10 000 S cm−1 with maintained high Seebeck coefficients >60 µV K−1, thus leading to ultrahigh PFs of 7.25 and 4.34 mW m−1 K−2 for p‐ and n‐type MWCNT films, respectively. In addition, it is interesting to notice that the electrical properties increase faster than the thermal conductivities, resulting in enhanced ZT of 3.6 times in MWCNT films. An OTEG made of compressed MWCNT films is fabricated to demonstrate the heat‐to‐electricity conversion ability, which exhibits a high areal output power of ∼12 times higher than that made of pristine MWCNT films. This work demonstrates an effective way to high‐performance nanowire/nanoparticle‐based TE materials such as printable TE materials comprised of nanowires/nanoparticles.
Role of Charge‐Carrier Dynamics Toward the Fabrication of Efficient Air‐Processed Organic Solar Cells
Authors: Rasool Shafket , Yeop Jiwoo , An Na Gyeong , Kim Jae Won , Kim Jin Young
Published: August 2023

Over the past couple of decades, immense research has been carried out to understand the photo‐physics of an organic solar cell (OSC) that is important to enhance its efficiency and stability. Since OSCs undergoes complex photophysical phenomenon, studying these factors has led to designing new materials and implementing new strategies to improve efficiency in OSCs. In this regard, the invention of the non‐fullerene acceptorshas greatly revolutionized the understanding of the fundamental processes occurring in OSCs. However, such vital fundamental research from device physics perspectives is carried out on glovebox (GB) processed OSCs and there is a scarcity of research on air‐processed (AP) OSCs. This review will focus on charge carrier dynamics such as exciton diffusion, exciton dissociation, charge‐transfer states, significance of highest occupied molecular orbital‐offsets, and hole‐transfer efficiencies of GB‐OSCs and compare them with the available data from the AP‐OSCs. Finally, key requirements for the fabrication of efficient AP‐OSCs will be presented from a charge‐carrier dynamics perspective. The key aspects from the charge‐carrier dynamics view to fabricate efficient OSCs either from GB or air are provided.
Defect‐Engineering by Solvent Mediated Mild Oxidation as a Tool to Induce Exchange Bias in Metal Doped Ferrites
Authors: Muzzi Beatrice , Albino Martin , Petrecca Michele , Innocenti Claudia , de Julián Fernández César , Bertoni Giovanni , Ibarra M. Ricardo , Christensen Mogens , Avdeev Maxim , Marquina Clara , Sangregorio Claudio
Published: August 2023

The crystal site occupancy of different divalent ions and the induction of lattice defects represent an additional tool for modifying the intrinsic magnetic properties of spinel ferrites nanoparticles. Here, the relevance of the lattice defects is demonstrated in the appearance of exchange‐bias and in the improvement of the magnetic properties of doped ferrites of 20 nm, obtained from the mild oxidation of core@shell (wüstite@ferrite) nanoparticles. Three types of nanoparticles (Fe0.95O@Fe3O4, Co0.3Fe0.7O@Co0.8Fe2.2O4 and Ni0.17Co0.21Fe0.62O@Ni0.4Co0.3Fe2.3O4) are oxidized. As a result, the core@shell morphology is removed and transformed in a spinel‐like nanoparticle, through a topotactic transformation. This study shows that most of the induced defects in these nanoparticles and their magnetic properties are driven by the inability of the Co(II) ions at the octahedral sites to migrate to tetrahedral sites, at the chosen mild oxidation temperature. In addition, the appearance of crystal defects and antiphase boundaries improves the magnetic properties of the starting compounds and leads to the appearance of exchange bias at room temperature. These results highlight the validity of the proposed method to impose novel magnetic characteristics in the technologically relevant class of nanomaterials such as spinel ferrites, expanding their potential exploitation in several application fields.
Formation Mechanism and Control Technology of Transverse Corner Cracks During Slab Continuous Casting of Microalloyed Steels
Authors: Zhu Miaoyong , Cai Zhaozhen
Published: August 2023

Microalloyed steel with Nb, V, Ti, and other alloying elements is one of the important steel grades in the steel industry. During continuous casting process, high occurrence rate of transverse corner cracks in slabs restricts the quality and efficiency of the production of microalloyed steel grades, and it has not been effectively solved for a long time. Herein, the research progress on the formation mechanism, influential factors, and typical control technologies of transverse corner cracks during slab continuous casting are reviewed. Considering high‐temperature solidification process of microalloyed steel, the control of growth of microstructures and the precipitation behavior of carbonitrides in slab corners are supposed to be the key to avoid transverse corner cracks during slab continuous casting.
Packet Loss Compensation for VoIP through Bone‐Conducted Speech Using Modified Linear Prediction
Authors: Ohidujjaman  , Yasui Nozomiko , Sugiura Yosuke , Shimamura Tetsuya , Makinae Hisanori
Published: August 2023

In this paper, we compare air‐conducted (AC) speech with bone‐conducted (BC) speech for the purpose of utilizing them in packet loss concealment (PLC) for speech quality of voice over internet protocol (VoIP). Instead of the autocorrelation method of linear prediction (LP), which was utilized in the conventional PLC techniques, we employ the modified covariance (MC) method. The MC method provides accurate LP estimation from short input data samples and avoids the numerical problem the autocorrelation method suffers from. The lost frame is compensated from both forward and backward directions in which linear gain and weighting are applied. When BC speech is used as the input speech data for PLC in the case where the speech sender is in noisy environments, BC speech behaves more accurately than the corresponding AC speech, resulting in an excellent performance of the LP‐based PLC technique. This unveils a useful use of BC speech in speech information systems. Experiments show that in severe noise environments of AC speech‐to‐noise ratio being less than 10 dB, BC speech is superior to AC speech for PLC. It is also shown that the transmitted BC speech is more accurately reconstructed for PLC than transmitted AC speech is done. © 2023 The Authors. IEEJ Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Engineering published by Institute of Electrical Engineer of Japan and Wiley Periodicals LLC.
The fine‐scale movement pattern of Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) responds to winter habitat permeability
Authors: Wang Ying , Cheng Wannian , Guan Yanhui , Qi Jinzhe , Roberts Nathan J. , Wen Dusu , Cheng Zhigang , Shan Feng , Zhao Yan , Gu Jiayin
Published: August 2023

The number of Amur tigers living in protected regions is increasing, and China has achieved significant progress in this regard, especially at the Sino‐Russia border region around Hunchun where most of the Amur tigers are found in China. However, there is a need to increase the dispersal of Amur tigers further from the border as the region is not large enough to support the sustainable survival of the population. In the winter of 2012–2015 and January 2022, we tracked 38 Amur tiger snow traces and performed line transect and camera trap surveys in Hunchun to assess Amur tiger movements in response to the landscape and its permeability at fine scales. Our results showed that towns, shrubs, and forest roads are the main factors influencing Amur tiger movements. Furthermore, tiger paths were characterized by lower tortuosity in preferred habitats. This provides information for small‐scale habitat modification to increase landscape permeability and facilitate dispersal.
Transformative Effects of Remittances on Health Behavior, Community Resilience, and Gender Dynamics in Burkina Faso
Authors: Bayala Eric
Published: August 2023

For five decades, the village of Niaogho in the Centre-Est region of Burkina Faso has faced an outmigration to Italy. Together with its local partner “Association pour le Developpement de Niaogho” (ADN), the hometown association called “Association pour le Devéloppement Niaogho en Italie” (ARNI) initiated health infrastructure projects in Niaogho. By applying a cross-sectional study using household surveys and interviews, this chapter examines the effects of the diaspora’s individual (household level) and collective (community level) remittances on health behavior, community resilience, and gender dynamics in Niaogho.

The findings show that the ARNI projects and especially the activities of its women’s section contributed to better access to health infrastructure and enhanced prenatal and postnatal care through the transfer of bonding and bridging social capital. Overall, community resilience in Niaogho improved, but at the same time, the dependency on financial remittances increased, reducing self-determined initiatives and especially affecting the women left behind.