bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Can We Agree on What Robots Should be Allowed to Do? An Exercise in Rule Selection for Ethical Care Robots
Authors: Vanderelst Dieter , Willems Jurgen
Published: December 2019

Future Care Robots (CRs) should be able to balance a patient’s, often conflicting, rights without ongoing supervision. Many of the trade-offs faced by such a robot will require a degree of moral judgment. Some progress has been made on methods to guarantee robots comply with a predefined set of ethical rules. In contrast, methods for selecting these rules are lacking. Approaches departing from existing philosophical frameworks, often do not result in implementable robotic control rules. Machine learning approaches are sensitive to biases in the training data and suffer from opacity. Here, we propose an alternative, empirical, survey-based approach to rule selection. We suggest this approach has several advantages, including transparency and legitimacy. The major challenge for this approach, however, is that a workable solution, or social compromise, has to be found: it must be possible to obtain a consistent and agreed-upon set of rules to govern robotic behavior. In this article, we present an exercise in rule selection for a hypothetical CR to assess the feasibility of our approach. We assume the role of robot developers using a survey to evaluate which robot behavior potential users deem appropriate in a practically relevant setting, i.e., patient non-compliance. We evaluate whether it is possible to find such behaviors through a consensus. Assessing a set of potential robot behaviors, we surveyed the acceptability of robot actions that potentially violate a patient’s autonomy or privacy. Our data support the empirical approach as a promising and cost-effective way to query ethical intuitions, allowing us to select behavior for the hypothetical CR.
Impact of disability on the transitions to adulthood of men and women in Cameroon
Authors: Mouté Charles , Loû Annabel Desgrées du , Beninguisse Gervais , DeBeaudrap Pierre
Published: December 2019

The transition to adulthood is a critical stage in human development because it shapes the future lives of many young people. Little is known about how disability affects this transition. Most of the available evidence comes from high-resource settings, where the situation differs greatly from that of resource-limited countries. Using the data from the HandiVIH ANRS 12302 study, we aimed to examine the effect of disability on the social markers of the transition to adulthood in an African context with regard to gender and the nature and severity of the limitations. Our results show that men and women with disabilities experience significant delays in completing the different transitions to adulthood and, consequently, live in more precarious situations at the beginning of adulthood. We also found complex variations in the effects of disability with regard to disability characteristics and gender. These results call for gender- and disability-sensitive transitional programmes to achieve the goal of equal opportunity as envisioned in the sustainable development goals.
Professional Occupations and Organizations
Authors: Muzio Daniel , Aulakh Sundeep , Kirkpatrick Ian
Published: December 2019

This Element engages with fundamental questions concerning the future trajectory of professions as a distinct occupational category and of the formal organizations, which represent, employ or host professionals. It begins with a literature review that identifies a functionalist, power and institutionalist lens for the study of professional occupations and organizations. It then reviews a series of challenges which face the contemporary professions. Finally, the Element explores contemporary developments in the worlds of professions applying three units of analysis: macro (professional occupations and their associations), meso (professional organizations) and micro (professional workers).
Measuring outcomes and monitoring progress in the era of evidence-based clinical practice
Authors: Tate Robyn L.
Published: December 2019

Health outcome measurement is a growth industry. Thousands of behavioural assessment instruments, developed for neurological populations alone, are available for diagnosis, prediction and evaluation of interventions. The task of selecting the best instrument for the purpose at hand is thus a daunting one for the clinician and researcher. Fortunately, there are guides that make the task easier. This presidential address covers three interrelated themes that inform assessment in neurorehabilitation: First, it reviews current concepts and the status of behavioural assessment in neurorehabilitation. It then examines evidence-based clinical practice as applied to assessment of function, along with methods to benchmark the scientific quality of assessment instruments. Finally, the article considers the need to move beyond outcome measurement in the neurorehabilitation setting.
Using Word Order in Political Text Classification with Long Short-term Memory Models
Authors: Chang Charles , Masterson Michael
Published: December 2019

Political scientists often wish to classify documents based on their content to measure variables, such as the ideology of political speeches or whether documents describe a Militarized Interstate Dispute. Simple classifiers often serve well in these tasks. However, if words occurring early in a document alter the meaning of words occurring later in the document, using a more complicated model that can incorporate these time-dependent relationships can increase classification accuracy. Long short-term memory (LSTM) models are a type of neural network model designed to work with data that contains time dependencies. We investigate the conditions under which these models are useful for political science text classification tasks with applications to Chinese social media posts as well as US newspaper articles. We also provide guidance for the use of LSTM models.
Terror, Hate and the Demands of Counter-Speech
Authors: Howard Jeffrey W.
Published: December 2019

It is a familiar mantra of American politics that the best response to dangerous speech that incites violence and spreads hate is ‘more speech’. Yet the principle obscures at least three crucial questions. Who, in particular, is to undertake the counter-speech that the doctrine recommends? What, exactly, are they required to do? And why is it morally justified to demand that they do it? This article argues that if citizens are to rely on counter-speech to defuse the dangers of dangerous expression, it is not enough to cheerlead its abstract importance and then sit back and hope for the best. Someone needs to do the work, and do it well. The article defends the thesis that all citizens have a moral duty to engage in counter-speech against dangerous expression. Focusing on counter-speech against expression that implicitly or explicitly advocates wrongful criminal violence, it argues that these duties can be derived from a much more basic normative source: the samaritan obligation, held by all moral agents, to rescue others from risks of harm. The specification of these duties' content, however, depends upon interdisciplinary work that integrates normative theory with social scientific research on human communication.
Analyzing designed experiments: Should we report standard deviations or standard errors of the mean or standard errors of the difference or what?
Authors: Kozak Marcin , Piepho Hans-Peter
Published: December 2019

ANOVA, one of the most common statistical methods applied in agronomy, offers a variety of results we can report when analyzing designed experiments. The focus, of course, is on treatment means, but what should we report to characterize precision? Should we choose treatment standard deviations (SDs) or standard errors of the mean or standard errors of the difference (SEDs)? We discuss why treatment raw SDs should not be reported as the result of ANOVA, and point out that most of the time it is SEDs that should be provided.
Mating behaviour of the leucosiid crabPyrhila pisum(De Haan, 1841)
Authors: Kobayashi Satoshi , Vazquez Archdale Miguel
Published: December 2019

Mating behaviour of the leucosiid crabPyrhila pisumwas studied in the laboratory and tidal flats in Japan. Most males actively approached females. Males started guarding females without any courtship behaviour (pre-copulatory guarding). Males began copulation within several minutes. The copulation continued for about 1–2 h, following which males began post-copulatory guarding. This guarding lasted from almost 0 to over 3 days, but its duration was generally much longer than that prior to copulation. Release of guarding was not linked to ovulation by females. Long-term rearing experiments revealed that both sexes ofP. pisumcould copulate multiple times with various mates. Developmental stages of the embryos recorded from copulating ovigerous females widely varied; their timing of copulation may not be fixed. In the tidal flat, wandering males frequently contacted with other individuals, but without distinguishing single males, single females and pairs ofP. pisum, orHemigrapsus takanoi. MaleP. pisumcannot recognize female conspecifics, and they approach their mates relying only on vision, without using any attractive cues from females. In cases in which males encountered pairing crabs, they successfully stole the females when the guardians were smaller than the challengers, suggesting that effectiveness of guarding depends on male size. Among the mating pairs, males tended to be larger than females, and the tendency of size-assortative mating was weak or absent. Therefore, the mating behaviour ofP. pisumis not elaborate, although their guarding behaviour may contribute to improve success to some degree.
Mary Wollstonecraft's Political Political Theory
Authors: Frazer Elizabeth
Published: December 2019

This paper separates Wollstonecraft's critical concept of “machiavelian” power and the capacity for domination, from a neutral concept of politics as the complex processes surrounding the power to govern, from her normative account of popular sovereignty which emphasizes collective political power to ensure the discharge of natural duty by way of civil and political rights and duties. Wollstonecraft's voice as political judge—which is audible throughout her work, but particularly clearly in her book on the French Revolution—articulates the ways that political power can be abused and misused, and can also be effective. Her theory is political in several ways: she interrogates the nature of political power and its explanatory importance; she consistently articulates political judgment about matters both conventionally political and social; she offers a theoretical justification for the expansion of the scope of politics to cover relations that hitherto were thought to be outside its domain; and finally her work itself constitutes a political intervention.
Modelling beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours regarding the spread of English
Authors: Lee Seongyong , Choe Hohsung
Published: December 2019

Attitudes toward the global spread of English have been one of the major issues in research on the development of world Englishes. Because language attitudes construct an invisible language policy that influences the use of English in a local speech community (Curdt–Christiansen, 2009), many studies addressing the spread of English into non-English contexts have focused on the attitudes of diverse English users toward their local variety and other varieties of English (Ahn, 2014; He & Li, 2009; Wang & Gao, 2015). However, among the core components of language attitudes, that is, the cognitive component (i.e., belief system), affective component (i.e., attitudinal system), and behavioural component (i.e., behavioural intention), little research attention has been paid to the behavioural component other than by Ahn (2014), even though non-native speakers’ actual use of their local English is the process by which English spreads into non-English-speaking communities. Thus it is necessary to explore the factors influencing the speakers’ behaviours while using the local variety of English. In addition, previous research has not identified the mechanism by which the speakers’ beliefs and attitudes have influence their actual behavioural intentions in relation to their attitudes toward their own English. For example, Ahn (2014) reported that whereas Korean English teachers expressed positive attitudes toward Korean English, they were hesitant in their behavioural intentions to use it as a teaching model. However, this study did not deeply address associations among beliefs, attitudes, and actual behaviours in relation to the use of Korean English. In response to this gap, the present study provides an integrated framework for investigating the spread of English into local speech communities by modelling diverse factors of individual speakers’ decision-making processes in adopting the local variety of English.
The linguistic landscape of a Malaysian border town
Authors: McKiernan Thomas
Published: December 2019

This study focuses on the residential neighbourhoods of Johor Bahru city, the administrative and business centre of the Johor Bahru region and the Malaysian state of Johor. Johor Bahru is a border town, located in the very south of peninsular Malaysia, less than one mile away from Singapore. According to City Population (2018), the Johor Bahru region has a multi-ethnic population of almost 1.4 million, comprised of native ‘Bumiputera’ (52%), Chinese (37.4%), Indian (9.9%) and ‘other’ (0.6%) citizens. Hutchinson and Bhattacharya (2019: 1) describe economic links with Singapore as ‘long standing, far-reaching, spanning trade in goods and services, as well as foreign direct investment (FDI) and movement of people’; both countries are one another's ‘second most important trading partner, in both cases surpassed only by China and outranking traditional commercial allies such as the United States and Japan’.
Online Heuristically Planning for Relative Optimal Paths Using a Stochastic Algorithm for USVs
Authors: Wen Naifeng , Zhang Rubo , Liu Guanqun , Wu Junwei
Published: December 2019

This paper attempts to solve a challenge in online relative optimal path planning of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) caused by current and wave disturbance in the practical marine environment. The asymptotically optimal rapidly extending random tree (RRT*) method for local path optimisation is improved. Based on that, an online path planning (OPP) scheme is proposed according to the USV's kinematic and dynamic model. The execution efficiency of RRT* is improved by reduction of the sampling space that is used for randomly learning environmental knowledge. A heuristic sampling scheme is proposed based on the proportional navigation guidance (PNG) method that is used to enable the OPP procedure to utilise the reference information of the global path. Meanwhile, PNG is used to guide RRT* in generating feasible paths with a small amount of gentle turns. The dynamic obstacle avoidance problem is also investigated based on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea. Case studies demonstrate that the proposed method efficiently plans paths that are relatively easier to execute and lower in fuel expenditure than traditional schemes. The dynamic obstacle avoidance ability of the proposed scheme is also attested.
Identification and frequency of consumption of wild edible plants over a year in central Tunisia: a mixed-methods approach
Authors: Dop Marie Claude , Kefi Fayçal , Karous Olfa , Verger Eric O , Bahrini Asma , Ghrabi Zeineb , El Ati Jalila , Kennedy Gina , Termote Céline ,   the MEDINA Study Group
Published: December 2019

Objective:

To identify wild plants used as food and assess their frequency of consumption over a year in a region of Tunisia where agriculture is undergoing a major transformation from smallholder farming to an intensive high-input agricultural system.

Design:

Qualitative ethnobotanical study followed by a survey of women’s frequency of consumption of wild plants conducted using FFQ at quarterly intervals.

Setting:

Sidi Bouzid governorate of central Tunisia.

Participants:

Mixed-gender group of key informants (n 14) and focus group participants (n 43). Survey sample of women aged 20–49 years, representative at governorate level (n 584).

Results:

Ethnobotanical study: thirty folk species of wild edible plants corresponding to thirty-five taxa were identified by key informants, while twenty folk species (twenty-five taxa) were described by focus groups as commonly eaten. Population-based survey: 98 % of women had consumed a wild plant over the year, with a median frequency of 2 d/month. Wild and semi-domesticated fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill. and Anethum graveolens) was the most frequently consumed folk species. Women in the upper tertile of wild plant consumption frequency were more likely to be in their 30s, to live in an urban area, to have non-monetary access to foods from their extended family and to belong to wealthier households.

Conclusions:

In this population, wild edible plants, predominantly leafy vegetables, are appreciated but consumed infrequently. Their favourable perception, however, offers an opportunity for promoting their consumption which could play a role in providing healthy diets and mitigating the obesity epidemic that is affecting the Tunisian population.
The religious origins of the rule of law
Authors: Hill Peter J.
Published: December 2019

The background conditions for the emergence of the rule of law are important but underdeveloped. This paper discusses current theories of the origin of the rule of law, arguing that they are useful but incomplete. In addition to those theories, the Jewish and Christian concept of all human beings as God's image bearers is an important contributor to the rule of law in Western civilization. The formulation of universal human equality is not, however, a sufficient condition for the emergence of the rule of law. The concept has taken centuries of articulation in different institutions and social settings. It only reached full fruition when it was joined with an understanding of appropriate legal and political systems as expressed by political theorists such as Locke, Montesquieu, and Madison.
Germination biology of dimorphic seeds of the annual halophyte common seepweed (Suaeda glauca)
Authors: Wang Hongfei , Kong Lin , Gao Rui , Abudureheman Buhailiqiemu , Li Xinyang , Li Qiuli
Published: December 2019

Common seepweed [Suaeda glauca (Bunge) Bunge] is a common salt-tolerant weed species distributed across the agricultural regions of northern China. It produces dimorphic seeds with different phenotypic characteristics and seed sizes. However, there is no information regarding the germination biology of these dimorphic seeds. Studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of ecological factors such as temperature, light, pH, osmotic stress, salt concentration, and planting depth on seed germination and seedling emergence. The results showed that brown seeds were nondormant, whereas black seeds had an intermediate physiological dormancy. The germination percentage of brown seeds was more than 80% at all temperature regimes and light conditions, but the optimum germination occurred at the cold thermoperiod of 20/10 C. In contrast, less than 6% of black seeds germinated at all temperature regimes and light conditions. Eight weeks of cold stratification did not break the dormancy of black seeds, whereas low concentrations of gibberellic acid (0.1 and 1.0 mM) significantly increased seed germination. Removal of the testa of black seeds also promoted germination and produced normal seedlings. Brown seeds showed moderate tolerance to salt stress, with 16% germination percentage at a salt concentration of 600 mM NaCl. The germination of brown seeds was 38% at an osmotic potential stress of −0.8 MPa; above that, no germination was obtained. Brown seeds germinated well in a wide pH range (4 to 10), with a germination percentage higher than 95%. Seedling emergence percentage was higher than 90% at burial depths of 0 to 2 cm, while germination percentage severely decreased for brown seeds with burial depths >2 cm, indicating that shallow tillage could be an effective measure to minimize seed germination. Information gathered from this study will help to develop an effective protocols for controlling S. glauca.
Long-Term Trends (1980–2017) in the N-Pact Factor of Journals in Personality Psychology and Individual Differences Research
Authors: Kossmeier Michael , Vilsmeier Johannes , Dittrich Rosalie , Fritz Tanja , Kolmanz Caroline , Plessen Constantin Y. , Slowik Agnieszka , Tran Ulrich S. , Voracek Martin
Published: December 2019

Abstract. Recent metascience investigations of the N-pact factor (NF; median sample size of studies published in a journal) have revealed NFs of merely about 100 in fields like social, sport, and exercise psychology. Journal NF has also been shown to correlate negatively with journal impact factors (JIF), implying that smaller studies appear in more prestigious journals. In this first long-term and largest NF analysis to date (3,699 articles coded), annual NFs of two personality psychology journals were tracked over 38 years since their inception in 1980. Overall NF was about 190, gradually increased over time, and within-journal NF-JIF correlations were positive. Online samples and articles featuring supplemental files presented larger NFs, whereas those involving student samples had smaller ones. Sample size distributions showed multimodality, and surplusses of even-numbered sample sizes and of those just beyond 100 were evident. An NF statement, accompanying authors’ submitted papers, is suggested.
Bottom Boundary Layer and Particle Dynamics in an Upwelling Affected Continental Margin (NW Iberia)
Authors: Villacieros‐Robineau Nicolás , Zúñiga Diana , Barreiro‐González Beatriz , Alonso‐Pérez Fernando , de la Granda Francisco , Froján María , Collins Curtis A. , Barton Eric Desmond , Castro Carmen González
Published: December 2019

The dynamics of the bottom boundary layer and their effects on the development of nepheloid layers (NLs) on a high‐energy and upwelling‐affected margin, the NW Iberian continental shelf, were studied by means of ADP currents, wave time series, and across‐shelf hydrographic surveys covering an entire annual cycle. The bottom boundary layer hydrodynamics showed that high levels of bottom shear stress over the inner shelf occurred mainly during downwelling seasons, when there was a coupling between storm waves and intense currents. This wave‐current coupling promotes strong resuspension events that favored the generation of bottom NLs (BNLs). BNLs were well developed on the inner continental shelf inshore of a thermohaline front generated by the interaction of the Iberian Poleward Current and the West Iberian Buoyant Plume. The existence of this front limited the extent of offshore export of resuspended particles during the downwelling season. In contrast, during the upwelling season, only thin BNLs were developed, and surface NLs, principally composed by biogenic particulate material, were advected offshore in the Ekman layer, often as part of the development of upwelling filaments. Our study confirmed that wave orbital velocity under stormy conditions, in combination with the hydrography, could explain the shoreward boundary of the Galician mud depocenter.
Air Quality in the Northern Colorado Front Range Metro Area: The Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Éxperiment (FRAPPÉ)
Authors: Flocke Frank , Pfister Gabriele , Crawford James H. , Pickering Kenneth E. , Pierce Gordon , Bon Daniel , Reddy Patrick
Published: December 2019

We describe the resources used, the deployment strategy, and the outcomes of the Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Éxperiment (FRAPPÉ) experiment, which took place in the summer of 2014 in the Front Range of Colorado. We provide a history of air quality of the region and the outcomes of previously conducted experiments, describe the atmospheric conditions encountered during the campaign, and summarize the scientific findings that the campaign produced, together with the Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER‐AQ) intensive, simultaneously carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The goal of FRAPPÉ was to measure emission tracers and photochemical tracers from the ground and by aircraft to be able to quantify the contributions of various emission sectors to the photochemical production of ozone in the Colorado Front Range. We found major contributions from the fossil fuel extraction sector as well as the transportation sector, with minor contributions from agriculture, energy generation, and industry. The meteorological conditions were also found to be critical in creating situations conducive to high ozone in the area.
Ensemble Sensitivity Analysis of Heavy Rainfall Associated With Three MCSs Coexisting Over Southern China
Authors: Shen Yian , Du Yu , Chen Guixing
Published: December 2019

Using ensemble‐based sensitivity analysis, a heavy rainfall event over southern China was analyzed to investigate the key controlling factors of rainfall amount and relevant predictability. The heavy rainfall event was caused by three coexisting mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) over southwestern China (MCS‐A), the south coast of China (MCS‐B), and northern Taiwan (MCS‐C). The three MCSs exhibited differences and similarities with respect to their forecast accuracy and relevant key factors contributing to the rainfall centers, such as low‐level vortex/shear lines and low‐level jets. The strength and shape of the southwest vortex, a mesoscale vortex usually located over southwestern China with a horizontal scale of 200–600 km, exerted a significant effect on MCS‐A and MCS‐B, whereas the stronger shear line near the east coast of China was accompanied by increased precipitation in MCS‐C. In addition, the low‐level jets (LLJs) and their associated moisture transports had a strong influence on the three MCSs according to the LLJ location, strength, height, and direction. A synoptic LLJ located to the southeast of the southwest vortex with a stronger meridional (zonal) wind component and an axis more to the north (south) was related to increased precipitation in the corresponding region of MCS‐A (MCS‐B). In addition to the synoptic LLJ, the rainfall of MCS‐B was also influenced by a boundary layer jet over the ocean. Uncertainties in the aforementioned key factors might further influence the predictability of the three MCSs and thus lead to the differences in their forecast accuracy.
No evidence for increased prevalence of colorectal carcinoma in 399 Dutch patients with Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome
Authors: van de Beek Irma , Glykofridis Iris E. , Wolthuis Rob M. F. , Gille Hans J. J. P. , Johannesma Paul C. , Meijers-Heijboer Hanne E. J. , Moorselaar R. Jeroen A. van , Houweling Arjan C.
Published: December 2019

Background

Previously, it has been suggested that colorectal polyps and carcinomas might be associated with Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome. We aimed to compare the occurrence of colorectal neoplasms between Dutch patients with Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome and their relatives without Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome.

Methods

In all, 399 patients with a pathogenic FLCN mutation and 382 relatives without the familial FLCN mutation were included. Anonymous data on colon and rectum pathology was provided by PALGA: the Dutch Pathology Registry.

Results

No significant difference in the percentage of individuals with a history of colorectal carcinoma was found between the two groups (3.6% vs 2.6%, p = 0.54). There was also no significant difference between the age at diagnosis, diameter, differentiation and location of the colorectal carcinomas. Significantly more individuals with Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome underwent removal of colorectal polyps (12.2% vs 6.3%, p = 0.005). However, there was no significant difference between the number of polyps per person, the histology, grade of dysplasia and location of the polyps.

Conclusion

Our data do not provide evidence for an increased risk for colorectal carcinoma in Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome, arguing against the need for colorectal surveillance. The difference in polyps might be due to a bias caused by a higher number of colonoscopies in patients with Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome.
A neonatal case of HDR syndrome and a vascular ring with a novel GATA3 mutation
Authors: Kusakawa Moe , Sato Takeshi , Hosoda Ai , Araki Eriko , Matsuzaki Yohei , Yamashita Yukio , Ishihara Jun , Inagaki Yoshinori , Uchida Noboru , Ishii Tomohiro , Hasegawa Tomonobu
Published: December 2019

HDR syndrome (OMIM #146255) is caused by haploinsufficiency of the GATA3 gene. A vascular ring has not been reported in patients with GATA3-associated HDR syndrome. We report a neonatal case of HDR syndrome and a vascular ring that were possibly due to a novel frameshift mutation in the GATA3 gene.
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Causes Nociceptive Sensitization through Spinal Chemokine Upregulation
Authors: Sahbaie Peyman , Irvine Karen-Amanda , Liang De-Yong , Shi Xiaoyou , Clark J. David
Published: December 2019

High rates of acute and chronic pain are associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI), but mechanisms responsible for the association remain elusive. Recent data suggest dysregulated descending pain modulation circuitry could be involved. Based on these and other observations, we hypothesized that serotonin (5-HT)-dependent activation of spinal CXC Motif Chemokine Receptor 2 (CXCR2) may support TBI-related nociceptive sensitization in a mouse model of mild TBI (mTBI). We observed that systemic 5-HT depletion with p-chlorophenylalanine attenuated mechanical hypersensitivity seen after mTBI. Likewise, selective spinal 5-HT fiber depletion with 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT) reduced hypersensitivity after mTBI. Consistent with a role for spinal 5-HT3 serotonin receptors, intrathecal ondansetron administration after TBI dose-dependently attenuated nociceptive sensitization. Also, selective CXCR2 antagonist SCH527123 treatment attenuated mechanical hypersensitivity after mTBI. Furthermore, spinal CXCL1 and CXCL2 mRNA and protein levels were increased after mTBI as were GFAP and IBA-1 markers. Spinal 5,7-DHT application reduced both chemokine expression and glial activation. Our results suggest dual pathways for nociceptive sensitization after mTBI, direct 5-HT effect through 5-HT3 receptors and indirectly through upregulation of chemokine signaling. Designing novel clinical interventions against either the 5-HT3 mediated component or chemokine pathway may be beneficial in treating pain frequently seen in patients after mTBI.
Electric Field Assisted Self-Healing of Open Circuits with Conductive Particle-Insulating Fluid Dispersions: Optimizing Dispersion Concentration
Authors: Parab Virendra , Prasad Oppili , Pillai Sreelal , Sambandan Sanjiv
Published: December 2019

Open circuit faults in electronic systems are a common failure mechanism, particularly in large area electronic systems such as display and image sensor arrays, flexible electronics and wearable electronics. To address this problem several methods to self heal open faults in real time have been investigated. One approach of interest to this work is the electric field assisted self-healing (eFASH) of open faults. eFASH uses a low concentration dispersion of conductive particles in an insulating fluid that is packaged over the interconnect. The electric field appearing in the open fault in a current carrying interconnect polarizes the conductive particles and chains them up to create a heal. This work studies the impact of dispersion concentration on the heal time, heal impedance and cross-talk when eFASH is used for self-healing. Theoretical predictions are supported by experimental evidence and an optimum dispersion concentration for effective self-healing is identified.
Bulks of Al-B-C obtained by reactively spark plasma sintering and impact properties by Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar
Authors: Vasylkiv O. , Borodianska H. , Demirskyi D. , Li P. , Suzuki T. S. , Grigoroscuta M. A. , Pasuk I. , Kuncser A. , Badica P.
Published: December 2019

Mixtures of B4C, α-AlB12 and B powders were reactively spark plasma sintered at 1800 °C. Crystalline and amorphous boron powders were used. Samples were tested for their impact behavior by the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar method. When the ratio R = B4C/α-AlB12 ≥ 1.3 for a constant B-amount, the major phase in the samples was the orthorhombic AlB24C4, and when R < 1 the amount of AlB24C4 significantly decreased. Predictions that AlB24C4 has the best mechanical impact properties since it is the most compact and close to the ideal cubic packing among the Al-B-C phases containing B12-type icosahedra were partially confirmed. Namely, the highest values of the Vickers hardness (32.4 GPa), dynamic strength (1323 MPa), strain and toughness were determined for the samples with R = 1.3, i.e., for the samples with a high amount of AlB24C4. However, the existence of a maximum, detectable especially in the dynamic strength vs. R, indicated the additional influence of the phases and the composite’s microstructure in the samples. The type of boron does not influence the dependencies of the indicated mechanical parameters with R, but the curves are shifted to slightly higher values for the samples in which amorphous boron was used.
Synthesis of Sulfur-Selenium Doped Carbon Quantum Dots for Biological Imaging and Scavenging Reactive Oxygen Species
Authors: Huang Guojie , Lin Yaqi , Zhang Linxiu , Yan Zhihong , Wang Yudong , Liu Yi
Published: December 2019

The sulfur-selenium doped carbon quantum dots (S,Se-CQDs) were synthesized by one-step through hydrothermal method in this study, which have high fluorescence quantum yield (43%) and advanced ability to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS). They were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results showed that the clearance rate of free radical reached to 40% with 200 μg/mL of S,Se-CQDs. The antioxidant activity of S,Se-CQDs is related to -SH and Se-SH on carbon quantum dots. S,Se-CQDs were able to access to cells which is beneficial to enhance the removal efficiency to ROS. In the biocompatibility experiment, the cell survival rate exceeded 95%, there was little effect on hatching rate, survival rate and heart rate of zebrafish which demonstrated that S,Se-CQDs have an excellent biocompatibility. It prompts that S,Se-CQDs will has proud application prospects in the field of biomedicine.
Reduced central and peripheral inflammatory responses and increased mitochondrial activity contribute to diet-induced obesity resistance in WSB/EiJ mice
Authors: Terrien Jérémy , Seugnet Isabelle , Seffou Bolaji , Herrero Maria J. , Bowers James , Chamas Lamis , Decherf Stéphanie , Duvernois-Berthet Evelyne , Djediat Chakib , Ducos Bertrand , Demeneix Barbara A. , Clerget-Froidevaux Marie-Stéphanie
Published: December 2019

Energy imbalance due to excess of calories is considered to be a major player in the current worldwide obesity pandemic and could be accompanied by systemic and central inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunctions. This hypothesis was tested by comparing the wild-derived diet-induced obesity- (DIO-) resistant mouse strain WSB/EiJ to the obesity-prone C57BL/6J strain. We analysed circulating and hypothalamic markers of inflammatory status and hypothalamic mitochondrial activity in both strains exposed to high-fat diet (HFD). We further analysed the regulations of hypothalamic genes involved in inflammation and mitochondrial pathways by high throughput microfluidic qPCR on RNA extracted from laser micro-dissected arcuate (ARC) and paraventricular (PVN) hypothalamic nuclei. HFD induced increased body weight gain, circulating levels of leptin, cholesterol, HDL and LDL in C57BL/6J whereas WSB/EiJ mice displayed a lower inflammatory status, both peripherally (lower levels of circulating cytokines) and centrally (less activated microglia in the hypothalamus) as well as more reactive mitochondria in the hypothalamus. The gene expression data analysis allowed identifying strain-specific hypothalamic metabolic pathways involved in the respective responses to HFD. Our results point to the involvement of hypothalamic inflammatory and mitochondrial pathways as key factors in the control of energy homeostasis and the resistance to DIO.
Molecular dynamics simulation of the nanosecond pulsed electric field effect on kinesin nanomotor
Authors: Průša Jiří , Cifra Michal
Published: December 2019

Kinesin is a biological molecular nanomotor which converts chemical energy into mechanical work. To fulfill various nanotechnological tasks in engineered environments, the function of biological molecular motors can be altered by artificial chemical modifications. The drawback of this approach is the necessity of designing and creating a new motor construct for every new task. We propose that intense nanosecond-scale pulsed electric field could modify the function of nanomotors. To explore this hypothesis, we performed molecular dynamics simulation of a kinesin motor domain docked on a subunit of its microtubule track - a single tubulin heterodimer. In the simulation, we exposed the kinesin motor domain to intense (100 MV/m) electric field up to 30 ns. We found that both the magnitude and angle of the kinesin dipole moment are affected. Furthermore, we found that the electric field affects contact surface area between kinesin and tubulin, the structure and dynamics of the functionally important kinesin segments, including microtubule binding motifs as well as nucleotide hydrolysis site which power the nanomotor. These findings indicate that external intense nanosecond-scale electric field could alter kinesin behavior. Our results contribute to developing novel electromagnetic methods for modulating the function of biomolecular matter at the nanoscale.
[13C6,D8]2-deoxyglucose phosphorylation by hexokinase shows selectivity for the β-anomer
Authors: Sapir Gal , Harris Talia , Uppala Sivaranjan , Nardi-Schreiber Atara , Sosna Jacob , Gomori J. Moshe , Katz-Brull Rachel
Published: December 2019

A non-radioactive 2-deoxyglucose (2DG) analog has been developed here for hyperpolarized magnetic resonance investigations. The analog, [13C6,D8]2DG, showed 13% polarization in solution (27,000-fold signal enhancement at the C1 site), following a dissolution-DNP hyperpolarization process. The phosphorylation of this analog by yeast hexokinase (yHK) was monitored in real-time with a temporal resolution of 1 s. We show that yHK selectively utilizes the β anomer of the 2DG analog, thus revealing a surprising anomeric specificity of this reaction. Such anomeric selectivity was not observed for the reaction of yHK or bacterial glucokinase with a hyperpolarized glucose analog. yHK is highly similar to the human HK-2, which is overexpressed in malignancy. Thus, the current finding may shed a new light on a fundamental enzyme activity which is utilized in the most widespread molecular imaging technology for cancer detection – positron-emission tomography with 18F-2DG.
The JcWRKY tobacco transgenics showed improved photosynthetic efficiency and wax accumulation during salinity
Authors: More Prashant , Agarwal Parinita , Joshi Priyanka S. , Agarwal Pradeep K.
Published: December 2019

Salinity is one of the major factors negatively affecting crop productivity. WRKY transcription factors (TFs) are involved in salicylic acid (SA) mediated cellular reactive oxygen species homeostasis in response to different stresses, including salinity. Therefore, the effect of NaCl, NaCl + SA and SA treatments on different photosynthesis-related parameters and wax metabolites were studied in the Jatropha curcas WRKY (JcWRKY) overexpressing tobacco lines. JcWRKY transgenics showed improved photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO2 concentration/ambient CO2 concentration ratio (Ci/Ca ratio), electron transport rate (ETR), photosynthesis efficiency (Fv/Fm), photochemical quenching (qP), non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) and quantum yield of PSII electron transport (ΦPSII) in response to salinity stress, while exogenous SA application had subtle effect on these parameters. Alkane, the major constituent of wax showed maximum accumulation in transgenics exposed to NaCl. Other wax components like fatty alcohol, carboxylic acid and fatty acid were also higher in transgenics with NaCl + SA and SA treatments. Interestingly, the transgenics showed a higher number of open stomata in treated plants as compared to wild type (WT), indicating less perception of stress by the transgenics. Improved salinity tolerance in JcWRKY overexpressing tobacco transgenics is associated with photosynthetic efficiency and wax accumulation, mediated by efficient SA signalling. The transgenics showed differential regulation of genes related to photosynthesis (NtCab40, NtLhcb5 and NtRca1), wax accumulation (NtWIN1) and stomatal regulation (NtMUTE, NtMYB-like, NtNCED3-2 and NtPIF3). The present study indicates that JcWRKY is a potential TF facilitating improved photosynthesis with the wax metabolic co-ordination in transgenics during stress.
Paradoxical impact of sprawling intra-Urban Heat Islets: Reducing mean surface temperatures while enhancing local extremes
Authors: Shreevastava Anamika , Bhalachandran Saiprasanth , McGrath Gavan S. , Huber Matthew , Rao P. Suresh C.
Published: December 2019

Extreme heat is one of the deadliest health hazards that is projected to increase in intensity and persistence in the near future. Here, we tackle the problem of spatially heterogeneous heat distribution within urban areas. We develop a novel multi-scale metric of identifying emerging heat clusters at various percentile-based thermal thresholds and refer to them collectively as intra-Urban Heat Islets. Using remotely sensed Land Surface Temperatures, we first quantify the spatial organization of heat islets in cities at various degrees of sprawl and densification. We then condense the size, spacing, and intensity information about heterogeneous clusters into probability distributions that can be described using single scaling exponents (denoted by β, $${{\boldsymbol{\Lambda }}}_{{\boldsymbol{s}}{\boldsymbol{c}}{\boldsymbol{o}}{\boldsymbol{r}}{\boldsymbol{e}}}$$

Λ

s
c
o
r
e

, and λ, respectively). This allows for a seamless comparison of the heat islet characteristics across cities at varying spatial scales and improves on the traditional Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) Intensity as a bulk metric. Analysis of Heat Islet Size distributions demonstrates the emergence of two classes where the dense cities follow a Pareto distribution, and the sprawling cities show an exponential tempering of Pareto tail. This indicates a significantly reduced probability of encountering large heat islets for sprawling cities. In contrast, analysis of Heat Islet Intensity distributions indicates that while a sprawling configuration is favorable for reducing the mean SUHI Intensity of a city, for the same mean, it also results in higher local thermal extremes. This poses a paradox for urban designers in adopting expansion or densification as a growth trajectory to mitigate the UHI.
Comparative physiology of glomerular filtration rate by plasma clearance of exogenous creatinine and exo-iohexol in six different avian species
Authors: Gasthuys Elke , Montesinos Andrés , Caekebeke Nele , Devreese Mathias , De Baere Siegrid , Ardiaca Maria , Paepe Dominique , Croubels Siska , Antonissen Gunther
Published: December 2019

Early diagnosis of kidney diseases in avian species is limited. Endogenous markers currently used in avian practice are not sensitive enough to identify early kidney failure. Consequently, alternative markers should be evaluated. To be able to evaluate these alternative markers, an accurate marker to estimate the GFR should be validated. This study determined the GFR, measured as clearance of exogenous creatinine and exo-iohexol, in six different bird species, i.e. broiler chickens, laying chickens, turkeys, Muscovy ducks, pigeons and African grey parrots (4♀/4♂). To be able to compare the six bird species, normalization to bodyweight (BW) of the GFR was performed, after a good correlation between BW and kidney weight was demonstrated (R² = 0.9836). Clearance of exo-iohexol normalized to BW (mL/min/kg) was determined in all bird species, i.e. 3.09 in broiler chickens; 2.57 in laying chickens; 1.94 in turkeys; 1.29 in pigeons; 2.60 in ducks and 1.11 in parrots. However, these results differed significantly with the clearance of exogenous creatinine: 8.41 in broiler chickens; 9.33 in laying chickens; 5.62 in turkeys; 14.97 in pigeons; 17.59 in ducks and 25.56 in parrots 25.56. Iohexol is preferred to measure the GFR, since it is not prone to tubular reabsorption nor secretion.
Degradation enhancement of rice straw by co-culture of Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Trichoderma viride
Authors: Chen Kai-Jian , Tang Ji-Chao , Xu Bao-Hong , Lan Shi-Le , Cao Yankun
Published: December 2019

Straw is one of the most abundant stock of renewable biomass from crop production. However, its utilization efficiency is still very low. Although co-cultivation of fungi increases the degrading rate, the co-cultivation condition needs to be optimized. To optimize the co-culture condition of Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Trichoderma viride degrading rice straw, we first tested the antagonistic characteristic between the fungi. The results showed that the best co-culture pattern was to first inoculate P. chrysosporium and culture for 4 days, then inoculate T. viride, and co-culture the two fungi for 4 days. The optimum fermentation condition was 14% (w/v) of inoculum concentration, the equivalent inoculation of the fungi, culture temperature at 30 °C, and 1:1.4 for solid-liquid ratio. Under the optimum condition, the degradation ratios of lignin and cellulose were 26.38% and 33.29%, respectively; the soluble carbon content in the culture product was 23.07% (w/v). The results would provide important reference information for the efficient utilization of rice straw to produce more accessible energy resources, such as ethanol and glucose.
Measurement Induced Synthesis of Coherent Quantum Batteries
Authors: Gumberidze Mariia , Kolář Michal , Filip Radim
Published: December 2019

Quantum coherence represented by a superposition of energy eigenstates is, together with energy, an important resource for quantum technology and thermodynamics. Energy and quantum coherence however, can be complementary. The increase of energy can reduce quantum coherence and vice versa. Recently, it was realized that steady-state quantum coherence could be autonomously harnessed from a cold environment. We propose a conditional synthesis of N independent two-level systems (TLS) with partial quantum coherence obtained from an environment to one coherent system using a measurement able to increase both energy and coherence simultaneously. The measurement process acts here as a Maxwell demon synthesizing the coherent energy of individual TLS to one large coherent quantum battery. The measurement process described by POVM elements is diagonal in energy representation and, therefore, it does not project on states with quantum coherence at all. We discuss various strategies and their efficiency to reach large coherent energy of the battery. After numerical optimization and proof-of-principle tests, it opens way to feasible repeat-until-success synthesis of coherent quantum batteries from steady-state autonomous coherence.