bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
In Vitro Cytotoxicity Assessment of Abutilon pannosum Chloroform Fraction and Its Phytoconstituents Analysis
Authors: Al-zharani Mohammed , Nasr Fahd A. , Barnawi Ibrahim O. , Noman Omar M. , Herqash Rashed N. , Alsufyani Sami A. , Qurtam Ashraf Ahmed , Rudayni Hassan A. , Aleissa Mohammed S. , Alqahtani Ali S.
Published: April 2023

Plants continue to play a critical role in the discovery of effective compounds, especially anticancer drugs. Abutilon pannosum has been historically used as a therapeutic plant in the medicinal system. In this study, an ethanolic crude extract was prepared from the dried powder of A. pannosum and subsequently fractionated to produce chloroform, butanol, and water fractions. The crude extract and fractions were tested for their cytotoxic action against various cancer cells using the MTT assay. Additionally, the effect of the most promising fraction on the cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction was studied using flow cytometry and RT-PCR. Western blotting was employed to confirm the expression of apoptosis-related proteins. The chemical constituents of the most promising fraction were further analyzed by GC-MS. Among all the tested extracts, the A. pannosum chloroform fraction (APCF) exhibited the most potent activity against MCF-7 breast cancer cells, with an IC50 value of 50 µg/mL. The growth inhibition of the MCF-7 cells was found to be linked with cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase. Moreover, apoptosis was confirmed as a cell death mode using the FITC-annexin/PI assay, as well as the upregulation of proapoptotic genes, including Bax and caspase-7, and downregulation of the antiapoptotic Bcl-2 gene. The most abundant phytoconstituents revealed by the GC-MS analysis were palmitic acid (50.46%), quinic acid (11.84%), alpha-d-glucopyranoside (11.15%), parthenolide (9.65%), and phytol (6.65%). Our in vitro assessment indicates that A. pannosum could be a potential source of anticancer agents.
Control Mechanism and Support Technology of Deep Roadway Intersection with Large Cross-Section: Case Study
Authors: Jiang Zaisheng , Xie Shengrong , Chen Dongdong
Published: April 2023

Conventional bolt–shotcrete support technology is usually single-layered, which does not meet the requirements of strength and stiffness for roadway support. Therefore, in this paper, new combined support technology, including a multiple-layered staggered dense arrangement of bolts, multiple-layered laying of steel meshes, multiple-layered pouring of shotcrete, strengthening support of long cables, and full cross-section grouting, is proposed. Specifically, the following new combined support technology process is proposed: first layer of shotcrete (80 mm), first layer of mesh, first layer of bolt, second layer of shotcrete (50 mm), second layer of mesh, second layer of bolt, reinforced cable, third layer of shotcrete (50 mm), and grouting. The results show the following: (1) In the system of a superimposed coupling strengthening bearing arch, compared to a cable bearing arch, changing the support parameters of the bolt bearing arch can significantly vary the bearing capacity. A range of bolt spacing between 0.4 m and 0.7 m is more conducive for a high performance of the bearing capacity of the superimposed coupling strengthening bearing arch. (2) With the increase in the single-layer shotcrete thickness (from 50 mm to 100 mm), the bearing capacity of the shotcrete structure increased rapidly in the form of a power function. (3) After the multi-level bolt–shotcrete support structure was adopted, the ring peak zone of the deviatoric stress of the surrounding rock at the roadway intersection was largely transferred to the shallow part, and the plastic zone of the surrounding rock of the roadway was reduced by 43.3~52.3% compared to that of the conventional bolt–shotcrete support. The field practice model showed that the final roof-to-floor and rib-to-rib convergences of the roadway intersection were 114 mm and 91 mm after 26 days, respectively. The rock mass above the depth of 3 m of the roadway’s roof and sides was complete, the lithology was dense, and there was no obvious crack. The new technology achieves effective control of a deep roadway intersection with a large cross-section.
Flow Performance Analysis of Double-Chamber Gas–Liquid Transferring Device
Authors: Huang Si , Hu Yantao , Guan Tianri , Fu Hao , Pan Ziqiang
Published: April 2023

Gas–liquid transportation is an efficient and economical transportation technology developed in recent years. It mainly uses some transportation equipment to simultaneously transport crude oil, associated natural gas, produced water, and so on for the purpose of reducing costs and energy consumption. In this paper, a double-chamber gas–liquid transferring device was selected as the research object. The VOF multiphase flow model of FLUENT software was used to simulate the gas–liquid two-phase flow performance under the design condition. The relationships between the two-phase flows, pressure, temperature, liquid level in the tank, outlet flow rate of the device, and time were calculated and analyzed. The results show that the operating cycle of the device can be divided into three processes, namely ‘suction-compression-discharge’, in which the cycle period formula is proposed as well. The pressures of gas and liquid in the device are basically the same, but the temperatures of the two phases are quite different in the compression process. In the compression process, the outlet valve is closed so that the outlet flow rate of the device is zero, and the gas compression process can be approximately treated as isothermal compression in engineering design. The comparison between the measured performance data in the oil field and the calculation results indicates that the calculation method in this paper is feasible for the performance prediction and optimization of the double-chamber gas–liquid transferring device.
Assessment of Adhesively Bonded Joints of Similar and Dissimilar Materials: Industrial Case Study
Authors: Anaç Nergizhan
Published: April 2023

Joining similar or dissimilar materials has recently become a hot topic in industries. In this study, an adhesive technique was used to join plastic materials produced by additive manufacturing (3D printing) with metal materials. The effects of the type of material that forms the joint pairs on the joint strength were investigated. In addition, a case study was carried out on the “rubber-metal buffer” part, which is a rubber industry product. The “rubber-metal buffer” part, traditionally produced by vulcanization, was re-manufactured by changing the body material and production technique. Samples were produced from Tough PLA and TPU materials using a 3D printer at 80% and 100% fill rates. Adhesive joints were made by bonding dissimilar (Tough PLA/Galvanized steel, TPU/Galvanized steel, Tough PLA/TPU) and similar materials (Tough PLA/Tough PLA, TPU/TPU, Galvanized steel/Galvanized steel) using Loctite 9466 adhesive. The mechanical properties of the joints were determined using tensile and hardness tests, and then the damage mechanisms were examined. The highest strength value in similar material pairs (3D printed) was found in Tough PLA/Tough PLA joints (4 MPa). In dissimilar material pairs, the highest strength value was determined to be Tough PLA/Galvanized steel (4.17 MPa). As a result, it was found that TPU and Tough PLA materials produced by 3D printing can be used as an alternative to rubber.
The Artist as the Church’s Mouthpiece: The Cultural Witness of Church Art and Its Patronage
Authors: Schumacher Sara
Published: April 2023

This article explores how art installed within a church space contributes to the church’s cultural witness, drawing from the contemporary example of Alison Watt’s Still, installed in Old Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in Edinburgh, Scotland. While the object’s capacity to proclaim is present, this case study extends the exploration of art’s cultural witness to include imaginative participation in the Gospel narrative as well as its transformation of the space in which it is installed. Focus then turns to the Church’s patronage of the visual arts, arguing that this is another example of cultural witness. In this case, one finds a relationship between church and artist that is marked by trust, collaboration, and protection.
Religion and Democracy in Argentina Religious Opposition to the Legalization of Abortion
Authors: Carbonelli Marcos , García Bossio Maria Pilar
Published: April 2023

This article analyzes the ways in which religious actors opposing the legalization of abortion adjusted their arguments and public actions to the Argentine democratic culture between 2018 and 2020. Data were collected through a qualitative research approach by conducting in-depth interviews with activists, studying public position statements in secondary sources, and analyzing pronouncements and interactions on social media platforms. Religious agents conceived of democracy as the rule of the majority that they intended to promote by means of secular arguments, demonstrations in public spaces, and the construction of electoral alternatives. Marginally, the categorization of feminism through conspiracy theories and the use of dilatory legal maneuvers ran counter to the logic of the expansion of rights. According to the empirical evidence gathered, the religious agents showed increasing adjustments to the language and criteria inherent to democratic life.
Value Architecture and Salvation Technology—The Sacred in Nietzsche’s Zarathustra
Authors: Martín Navarro Alejandro
Published: April 2023

This article approaches the religious phenomenon from a perspective that combines the anthropology of the sacred and the science of religions and from which religion can be interpreted as an “architecture of value”, that is, as a technique for constructing values and, at the same time, as a “technology of salvation”, that is, as a mechanism for individual and group healing. On this theoretical basis, certain aspects of Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra are analysed not as mere rhetorical or polemical devices but as the backbone of a work of a religious nature. The result is a religious interpretation of Nietzsche’s great work and, at the same time, a reflection on religious life itself and the scope of post-metaphysical religiosity.
The Nursing Madonna in the Middle Ages: An Interdisciplinary Study
Authors: Mocholí Martínez María Elvira
Published: April 2023

Because of the transgression of the first woman Eve, all medieval women bore the punishment, including the biological consequences related to pregnancy and birth. This affected the entire female gender, according to Judeo-Christian tradition. Although Mary was able to avoid some biological consequences, this was not the case with breastfeeding. This work aims to study sacred images—and especially those of the Nursing Mary—from an interdisciplinary point of view, by delving into rather unconventional sources such as medical treatises, whose perception of the female body may have influenced the creation and reception of certain iconographic types of the Virgin.
Special Issue “Data Science in Insurance”
Authors: Clemente Gian Paolo , Della Corte Francesco , Savelli Nino , Zappa Diego
Published: April 2023

Within the insurance field, the digital revolution has enabled the collection and storage of large quantities of information [...]
Guidance Framework for Developing IoT-Enabled Systems’ Cybersecurity
Authors: Abdulghani Hezam Akram , Collen Anastasija , Nijdam Niels Alexander
Published: April 2023

Internet of Things (IoT) faces security concerns different from existing challenges in conventional information systems connected through the Internet because of their limited resources and heterogeneous network setups. This work proposes a novel framework for securing IoT objects, the key objective of which is to assign different Security Level Certificates (SLC) for IoT objects according to their hardware capabilities and protection measures implemented. Objects with SLCs, therefore, will be able to communicate with each other or with the Internet in a secure manner. The proposed framework is composed of five phases, namely: classification, mitigation guidelines, SLC assignment, communication plan, and legacy integration. The groundwork relies on the identification of a set of security attributes, termed security goals. By performing an analysis on common IoT attacks, we identify which of these security goals are violated for specific types of IoT. The feasibility and application of the proposed framework is illustrated at each phase using the smart home as a case study. We also provide qualitative arguments to demonstrate how the deployment of our framework solves IoT specific security challenges.
Neurophysiological Evaluation of Neural Transmission in Brachial Plexus Motor Fibers with the Use of Magnetic versus Electrical Stimuli
Authors: Wiertel-Krawczuk Agnieszka , Huber Juliusz , Szymankiewicz-Szukała Agnieszka , Wincek Agnieszka
Published: April 2023

The anatomical complexity of brachial plexus injury requires specialized in-depth diagnostics. The clinical examination should include clinical neurophysiology tests, especially with reference to the proximal part, with innovative devices used as sources of precise functional diagnostics. However, the principles and clinical usefulness of this technique are not fully described. The aim of this study was to reinvestigate the clinical usefulness of motor evoked potential (MEP) induced by a magnetic field applied over the vertebrae and at Erb’s point to assess the neural transmission of brachial plexus motor fibers. Seventy-five volunteer subjects were randomly chosen to participate in the research. The clinical studies included an evaluation of the upper extremity sensory perception in dermatomes C5–C8 based on von Frey’s tactile monofilament method, and proximal and distal muscle strength by Lovett’s scale. Finally, 42 healthy people met the inclusion criteria. Magnetic and electrical stimuli were applied to assess the motor function of the peripheral nerves of the upper extremity and magnetic stimulus was applied to study the neural transmission from the C5–C8 spinal roots. The parameters of compound muscle action potential (CMAP) recorded during electroneurography and MEP induced by magnetic stimulation were analyzed. Because the conduction parameters for the groups of women and men were comparable, the final statistical analysis covered 84 tests. The parameters of the potentials generated by electrical stimulus were comparable to those of the potentials induced by magnetic impulse at Erb’s point. The amplitude of the CMAP was significantly higher following electrical stimulation than that of the MEP following magnetic stimulation for all the examined nerves, in the range of 3–7%. The differences in the potential latency values evaluated in CMAP and MEP did not exceed 5%. The results show a significantly higher amplitude of potentials after stimulation of the cervical roots compared to potentials evoked at Erb’s point (C5, C6 level). At the C8 level, the amplitude was lower than the potentials evoked at Erb’s point, varying in the range of 9–16%. We conclude that magnetic field stimulation enables the recording of the supramaximal potential, similar to that evoked by an electric impulse, which is a novel result. Both types of excitation can be used interchangeably during an examination, which is essential for clinical application. Magnetic stimulation was painless in comparison with electrical stimulation according to the results of a pain visual analog scale (3 vs. 5.5 on average). MEP studies with advanced sensor technology allow evaluation of the proximal part of the peripheral motor pathway (between the cervical root level and Erb’s point, and via trunks of the brachial plexus to the target muscles) following the application of stimulus over the vertebrae.
Validation of Alogo Move Pro: A GPS-Based Inertial Measurement Unit for the Objective Examination of Gait and Jumping in Horses
Authors: Guyard Kévin Cédric , Montavon Stéphane , Bertolaccini Jonathan , Deriaz Michel
Published: April 2023

Quantitative information on how well a horse clears a jump has great potential to support the rider in improving the horse’s jumping performance. This study investigated the validation of a GPS-based inertial measurement unit, namely Alogo Move Pro, compared with a traditional optical motion capture system. Accuracy and precision of the three jumping characteristics of maximum height (Zmax), stride/jump length (lhorz), and mean horizontal speed (vhorz) were compared. Eleven horse–rider pairs repeated two identical jumps (an upright and an oxer fence) several times (n = 6 to 10) at different heights in a 20 × 60 m tent arena. The ground was a fiber sand surface. The 24 OMC (Oqus 7+, Qualisys) cameras were rigged on aluminum rails suspended 3 m above the ground. The Alogo sensor was placed in a pocket on the protective plate of the saddle girth. Reflective markers placed on and around the Alogo sensor were used to define a rigid body for kinematic analysis. The Alogo sensor data were collected and processed using the Alogo proprietary software; stride-matched OMC data were collected using Qualisys Track Manager and post-processed in Python. Residual analysis and Bland–Altman plots were performed in Python. The Alogo sensor provided measures with relative accuracy in the range of 10.5–20.7% for stride segments and 5.5–29.2% for jump segments. Regarding relative precision, we obtained values in the range of 6.3–14.5% for stride segments and 2.8–18.2% for jump segments. These accuracy differences were deemed good under field study conditions where GPS signal strength might have been suboptimal.
Differences in Trapezius Muscle H-Reflex between Asymptomatic Subjects and Symptomatic Shoulder Pain Subjects
Authors: Melo Ana S. C. , Taylor Janet L. , Ferreira Ricardo , Cunha Bruno , Ascenção Manuel , Fernandes Mathieu , Sousa Vítor , Cruz Eduardo B. , Vilas-Boas J. Paulo , Sousa Andreia S. P.
Published: April 2023

In chronic shoulder pain, adaptations in the nervous system such as in motoneuron excitability, could contribute to impairments in scapular muscles, perpetuation and recurrence of pain and reduced improvements during rehabilitation. The present cross-sectional study aims to compare trapezius neural excitability between symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects. In 12 participants with chronic shoulder pain (symptomatic group) and 12 without shoulder pain (asymptomatic group), the H reflex was evoked in all trapezius muscle parts, through C3/4 nerve stimulation, and the M-wave through accessory nerve stimulation. The current intensity to evoke the maximum H reflex, the latency and the maximum peak-to-peak amplitude of both the H reflex and M-wave, as well as the ratio between these two variables, were calculated. The percentage of responses was considered. Overall, M-waves were elicited in most participants, while the H reflex was elicited only in 58–75% or in 42–58% of the asymptomatic and symptomatic participants, respectively. A comparison between groups revealed that the symptomatic group presented a smaller maximum H reflex as a percentage of M-wave from upper trapezius and longer maximal H reflex latency from the lower trapezius (p < 0.05). Subjects with chronic shoulder pain present changes in trapezius H reflex parameters, highlighting the need to consider trapezius neuromuscular control in these individuals’ rehabilitation.
Self-Supervised Contrastive Learning for Medical Time Series: A Systematic Review
Authors: Liu Ziyu , Alavi Azadeh , Li Minyi , Zhang Xiang
Published: April 2023

Medical time series are sequential data collected over time that measures health-related signals, such as electroencephalography (EEG), electrocardiography (ECG), and intensive care unit (ICU) readings. Analyzing medical time series and identifying the latent patterns and trends that lead to uncovering highly valuable insights for enhancing diagnosis, treatment, risk assessment, and disease progression. However, data mining in medical time series is heavily limited by the sample annotation which is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and expert-depending. To mitigate this challenge, the emerging self-supervised contrastive learning, which has shown great success since 2020, is a promising solution. Contrastive learning aims to learn representative embeddings by contrasting positive and negative samples without the requirement for explicit labels. Here, we conducted a systematic review of how contrastive learning alleviates the label scarcity in medical time series based on PRISMA standards. We searched the studies in five scientific databases (IEEE, ACM, Scopus, Google Scholar, and PubMed) and retrieved 1908 papers based on the inclusion criteria. After applying excluding criteria, and screening at title, abstract, and full text levels, we carefully reviewed 43 papers in this area. Specifically, this paper outlines the pipeline of contrastive learning, including pre-training, fine-tuning, and testing. We provide a comprehensive summary of the various augmentations applied to medical time series data, the architectures of pre-training encoders, the types of fine-tuning classifiers and clusters, and the popular contrastive loss functions. Moreover, we present an overview of the different data types used in medical time series, highlight the medical applications of interest, and provide a comprehensive table of 51 public datasets that have been utilized in this field. In addition, this paper will provide a discussion on the promising future scopes such as providing guidance for effective augmentation design, developing a unified framework for analyzing hierarchical time series, and investigating methods for processing multimodal data. Despite being in its early stages, self-supervised contrastive learning has shown great potential in overcoming the need for expert-created annotations in the research of medical time series.
Application of “Galileo High Accuracy Service” on Single-Point Positioning
Authors: Angrisano Antonio , Ascione Silvia , Cappello Giovanni , Gioia Ciro , Gaglione Salvatore
Published: April 2023

Employment of precise positioning techniques will enable low-cost receivers for a variety of applications. The complexity of techniques such as Precise Point Positioning (PPP), or differential techniques that require the use of external sources of corrections, could be a disadvantage for users. On the other hand, a simple technique such as Single-Point Positioning (SPP) alone does not provide high-level accuracy. Nevertheless, the entry Galileo High-Accuracy Service (HAS), even if developed to be applied on PPP, could offer a positive impact on SPP. The objective of this study is the analysis of the effects of HAS on SPP, which are evaluated for Galileo and GPS, in single- and double-constellation mode. Results are encouraging, especially on the vertical channel, where some centimetric improvements are obtained.
Extended Application of Inertial Measurement Units in Biomechanics: From Activity Recognition to Force Estimation
Authors: Liang Wenqi , Wang Fanjie , Fan Ao , Zhao Wenrui , Yao Wei , Yang Pengfei
Published: April 2023

Abnormal posture or movement is generally the indicator of musculoskeletal injuries or diseases. Mechanical forces dominate the injury and recovery processes of musculoskeletal tissue. Using kinematic data collected from wearable sensors (notably IMUs) as input, activity recognition and musculoskeletal force (typically represented by ground reaction force, joint force/torque, and muscle activity/force) estimation approaches based on machine learning models have demonstrated their superior accuracy. The purpose of the present study is to summarize recent achievements in the application of IMUs in biomechanics, with an emphasis on activity recognition and mechanical force estimation. The methodology adopted in such applications, including data pre-processing, noise suppression, classification models, force/torque estimation models, and the corresponding application effects, are reviewed. The extent of the applications of IMUs in daily activity assessment, posture assessment, disease diagnosis, rehabilitation, and exoskeleton control strategy development are illustrated and discussed. More importantly, the technical feasibility and application opportunities of musculoskeletal force prediction using IMU-based wearable devices are indicated and highlighted. With the development and application of novel adaptive networks and deep learning models, the accurate estimation of musculoskeletal forces can become a research field worthy of further attention.
Prevalence and Characteristics of Ambulance Collisions, a Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Delavary Milad , Ghayeninezhad Zahra , Lavallière Martin
Published: April 2023

The risk of dying or being injured as a result of traffic collisions is higher for medical emergency responders than for other professional drivers. This systematic review synthesizes the literature regarding the collisions of ambulances, focusing on the prevalence and characteristics surrounding such events. Keywords including paramedics and traffic collisions were searched in papers available in PubMed from January 1990 to July 2021. Two independent reviewers screened the abstracts of 2494 papers and ended up with 93 full-text articles to assess for eligibility, of which 26 papers were finally kept for this review. There was a total of 18 studies conducted in the United States, followed by 3 in Turkey, 2 in Taiwan, 1 in both the United States and Canada, 1 in France, and 1 in Poland. There is a high record of injury and fatal collisions for ambulances compared to other commercial or similarly sized vehicles. Drivers less than 35 years old with low experience and a history of citations are more likely to be involved in such collisions. Ambulance collisions are more likely to happen in urban areas and intersections are the riskiest locations. Most collisions occur when the ambulance is responding to an emergency call (i.e., going to the patient or the hospital) and using lights and sirens. Tailored preventive policies and programs for improving paramedics’ safety should be sought to reduce the burden of these occupational collisions.
Improved Flotation of Fine Flake Graphite Using a Modified Thickening Process
Authors: Peng Ziming , Li Dianshun , Fang Wenjie , Zhang Juan , Zhang Rongyan , Qiu Yangshuai , Sun Kangkang
Published: April 2023

Natural graphite ores are usually upgraded by froth flotation. However, complex processes with multistage grinding and flotation are required to achieve decent liberation and separation of graphite and gangue minerals. This study reports a short and improved flotation process for fine flake graphite ore by employing a thickening stage. The results indicated that increasing the regrinding concentration via thickening can improve the grinding efficiency and, thus, shorten the separation process. With thickening, a high-grade intermediate concentrate of 96.01% was obtained after three steps of cleaner flotation, which is close to the final concentrate after five steps. Particle size distribution analysis and FIB-SEM-EDS studies suggested that the main contribution of thickening–regrinding was to achieve better abrasion rather than attrition of the graphite flakes, thus liberating the interlayer impurities without reducing the size of the graphite flakes. This study offers a more cost-effective pathway for the simplified flotation of natural graphite ores.
Materiality of Precarious Housing and Its Relationship with Perception in Society: Case Study in Municipality of Pinal de Amoles
Authors: López Flores Luis Eduardo , Toledano-Ayala Manuel , Rodríguez-Reséndiz Juvenal , Rubio Toledo Miguel Ángel
Published: April 2023

This paper shows the importance of using interpretative, hermeneutic methods in research related to precarious housing, taking as a case study the municipality of Pinal de Amoles, Querétaro, Mexico. Firstly, the phenomenon is characterized through the use of natural semantic networks, where a degree of knowledge of society about the phenomenon is appreciated. Secondly, the perception of the population regarding the causes and those responsible for the problem is compiled to make sense of these independent variables deductively. Finally, through the theoretical analysis of precariousness and poverty measurement, it is revealed that the related studies approach the phenomenon from the perspective of materiality and not the person and his or her technical–cognitive capacities. In conclusion, there are gaps between the knowledge of the causes from which the conditions of precariousness originate and the perception of individuals to the conditions of habitability in precarious housing.
COVID-19 as a Collective Trauma in Global Politics: Disruption, Destruction and Resilience
Authors: Budrytė Dovilė , Resende Erica
Published: April 2023

There is expanding awareness in the IR (International Relations) literature that collective trauma is a common denominator in major events in global politics [...]
Conditions for Operating in Marginal Mountain Areas: The Local Farmer’s Perspective
Authors: Duglio Stefano , Salotti Giulia , Mascadri Giulia
Published: April 2023

Agriculture and local food products can have a significant impact on the economic development of rural areas. However, in environments as harsh as marginal mountain areas it may be difficult to find the right conditions to start a new production. This study aims to present the positive and negative circumstances for starting and operating agricultural activities in minor mountain contexts while assuming the mountain farmer’s viewpoint. With reference to the Soana Valley, in the Northwestern Italian Alps, four semi-structured interviews with mountain farmers have been carried out to assess strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Preliminary results include land availability, lack of marketing skills, high level of bureaucracy and financial overexposure as the main limitations in starting new economic activity. The adoption of quality/origin labels and multifunctionality in agriculture and tourism as the end market can be considered to be potential flywheels by operators. Therefore, local policy makers can support farmers by firstly reducing land fragmentation and secondly by providing technical assistance for achieving financial funding.
Rethinking the Factors Affecting the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture in China—A Qualitative Comparative Analysis
Authors: Hai Mingming
Published: April 2023

As China continues to intensify its judicial reform efforts, there are multiple factors that influence the prohibition and prevention of torture in China. This issue leads to the main research question of the article: what factors influence the protection of human rights in China to achieve the prohibition and prevention of torture? This paper uses fuzzy set (fs)/qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to explore how the configurations of multiple factors influence the establishment of a strong human rights protection system, to achieve effective torture prevention and prohibition in China. This article will focus on the cases of torture that have been made public (1998–2021). When considering how to build a strong human rights protection system to achieve the prohibition and prevention of torture, it is necessary to identify the most effective combination of cooperation with international monitoring bodies, transparency, legislation and judicial practice, attention allocation on torture cases and independent monitoring bodies for torture prevention. The analysis concludes that: (1) there are three ways of configuration to establish effective torture prevention and prohibition, (2) active engagement with international monitoring bodies is key to establishing a high level of human rights protection, particularly concerning China’s current mechanisms, and (3) the three types of configurations also provide solutions for future policy and decision-makers in China. This study contributes to demonstrates the benefits of fs/QCA in testing the complementarity of judicial practice and provides conceptual and empirical evidence for previously understudied factors.
Vietnam’s Franchising Law: Critical Assessment and Comparisons with the Legal Framework of Franchising in the Republic of Korea and Thailand
Authors: Nguyen Binh Ba , Wisuttisak Pornchai
Published: April 2023

Franchising occurred in Vietnam during the implementation of government policy for economic reform and openness in the mid-1990s. The Vietnam-specific franchise law was passed in January 2006 to create a stable growth in the franchise sector in Vietnam. The legal framework in Vietnam generally follows international legal frameworks. However, the legal framework of franchising businesses is still uncertain. This paper explores Vietnam’s franchising law and displays a comparison to the legal framework of Thai franchising law and the Republic of Korea franchising law. The paper concludes that while Vietnam’s franchising law generally conforms to international standards, some legal issues should be addressed for further development of the Vietnamese franchising sector.
Resilience Characteristics and Driving Mechanism of Urban Collaborative Innovation Network—A Case Study of China’s New Energy Vehicle Industry
Authors: Guan Yuyue , Li Longfei , Liu Chao
Published: April 2023

The innovation ecosystem of the new energy vehicle industry is highly complex and spans several sectors; it is important to increase the resistance of the new energy vehicle industry network. This paper explores regional resilience in the context of China’s new energy vehicle industry. Using patent cooperation data from 2011 to 2021, we construct a three-stage urban collaborative innovation network and analyze its structural characteristics. We also develop a resilience evaluation index system to measure the resilience of the network and its nodes. Furthermore, we propose a framework for resilience analysis that operates at the network, community, and node levels. Through our analysis of the network’s resilience characteristics and evolution, we investigate the driving mechanisms behind its formation using the exponential random graph model (ERGM). Empirical results demonstrate that the urban collaborative innovation network is expanding and strengthening, with increased resilience and the ability to withstand uncertainty. Notably, the distribution of node resilience exhibits spatial heterogeneity, with cities in the eastern and central regions demonstrating higher resilience than those in other areas. Furthermore, the study finds that economic development and investment in education and technology can enhance network connections and resilience. Additionally, this paper reveals a strong dependence of inter-city cooperation on geographical proximity.
Viewing the Role of Alternate Care Service Pathways in the Emergency Care System through a Causal Loop Diagram Lens
Authors: Kumar Ashish , Liu Zhenghong , Ansah John Pastor , Ng Yih Yng , Leong Benjamin Sieu-Hon , Matchar David Bruce , Ong Marcus Eng Hock , Siddiqui Fahad Javaid
Published: April 2023

Globally, Emergency Care Systems (ECS) are a critical resource that needs to be used judiciously as demand can easily exceed supply capacity. Sub-optimal ECS use contributes to Emergency Department (ED) crowding; this adversely affects ECS as well as system-wide service performance. Alternate Care Service Pathways (ACSPs) are innovations intended to mitigate ED crowding by re-routing less-urgent cases to sites of care other than the ED. As in other countries, policymakers in Singapore need to respond to increasing ED utilization and are evaluating the introduction of ACSPs. However, developing ACSPs is costly, entails tinkering with established critical services, and runs the risk of unintended adverse consequences. Through a Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) developed in four stages, we present a view of the current Singapore ECS and the intended role of ACSPs in relieving its stress. This exercise suggests that to be successful ACSPs must change the prevailing mental model of the ED as a “one-stop shop” but should focus on integrating with primary care. The discussions stimulated by the development, critiquing, and revision of the CLD highlighted the importance of accounting for the reservations of stakeholders for changes. The CLD has enhanced shared understanding and will be used to guide quantitative simulation modeling to promote informed policy.
Undergraduate Teaching Audit and Evaluation Using an Extended ORESTE Method with Interval-Valued Hesitant Fuzzy Linguistic Sets
Authors: Mao Ling-Xiang , Lan Jing , Li Zifeng , Shi Hua
Published: April 2023

Undergraduate teaching audit and evaluation (UTAE) plays a substantial role in the teaching quality assurance and monitoring of universities. It achieves the goal of selecting the best university for promoting the quality of higher education in China. Generally, the UTAE is a complex decision-making problem by considering competing evaluation criteria. Moreover, the evaluation information on the teaching quality of universities is often ambiguous and hesitant because of the vagueness existing in human judgments. Previous studies on UTAE have paid subtle attention towards the managing of linguistic expressions and the performance priority of universities. The interval-valued hesitant fuzzy linguistic sets (IVHFLSs) can effectively describe uncertainty, hesitancy, and inconsistency inherent in decision-making process. The ORESTE (organísation, rangement et Synthèse de données relarionnelles, in French) is a new outranking decision-making method which can show detailed distinctions between alternatives. Therefore, in this study, we propose a new UTAE approach based on the VHFLSs and ORESTE method to resolve the prioritization of universities for selecting the optimal university to benchmark. Specifically, the presented method handles the hesitant and uncertain linguistic expressions of experts by adopting the IVHFLSs and determines the ranking of universities with an extended ORESTE approach. Finally, a practical UTAE example illustrates the feasibility the proposed approach and a comparison analysis provides grounding for the superiority of the integrated approach. When the obtained results are evaluated, U2 has been determined as the best university. The results indicate the good performance of the proposed UTAE approach in evaluating and improving the teaching quality of universities.
Miniaturized Compact Reconfigurable Half-Mode SIW Phase Shifter with PIN Diodes
Authors: Wappi Franky Dakam , Mnasri Bilel , Ghayekhloo Alireza , Talbi Larbi , Boutayeb Halim
Published: April 2023

In this work, a novel electrically reconfigurable phase shifter based on a half-mode substrate integrated waveguide (HM-SIW) is proposed. SIW is a guided transmission line topology, and by using half-mode excitation, a smaller size can be achieved. Phase shifters are electronic devices that change the phase of transmission for a wide range of applications, including inverse scattering and sensing. The tunability of PIN diodes is applied here to achieve a reconfigurable design. The proposed single-layer structure does not require extra wiring layers for the bias circuit on the suggested printed circuit board. Its principle consists in the integration, in the HM-SIW, of three parallel lines, each connecting the edge of the HM-SIW and linked to a PIN diode and a radial stub. Here we present the results of measurements for a frequency band from 4.5 to 7 GHz that demonstrate how the experiment agrees with simulations. Insertion loss was less than −10 dB, and port coupling was less than −2 dB for both simulation and measurement solutions. The proposed half-mode structure is around half the size of a typical SIW line. With the proposed design, the seven states of the PIN diodes can be validated (ON and OFF), with a wide band adaptation and a relatively constant phase difference across a broad frequency range (44%). A key benefit of the proposed design for a microwave component is the reduction of extra biasing layers for the PIN diodes. This is in addition to the reduced size of the transmission line compared to a commercial SIW. In the annexed section, simulation software is used for a more comprehensive analysis involving more phase shift values and parametric studies.
Distribution and Characterization of Typical Antibiotics in Water Bodies of the Yellow River Estuary and Their Ecological Risks
Authors: Wang Jindong , Yan Zhenfei , Qiao Yu , Liu Daqing , Feng Chenglian , Bai Yingchen
Published: April 2023

A total of 34 antibiotics from five major classes of antibiotics, including macrolides, sulfonamides, quinolones, tetracyclines and chloramphenicol, were considered as contaminants, considering the Yellow River Estuary as the study area. The distribution, sources and ecological risks of typical antibiotics in the Yellow River Estuary were investigated using an optimized solid-phase extraction pre-treatment and an Agilent 6410B tandem triple-quadrupole liquid chromatography–mass spectrometer for antibiotic detection. The results show that antibiotics were widely present in the water bodies of the Yellow River Estuary, with 14 antibiotics detected to varying degrees, including a high detection rate for lincomycin hydrochloride. Farming wastewater and domestic sewage were the primary sources of antibiotics in the Yellow River Estuary. The distribution characteristics of antibiotics in the study area were linked to the development of farming and social activities. The ecological risk evaluation of 14 antibiotics in the Yellow River Estuary watershed showed that clarithromycin and doxycycline hydrochloride were present at medium-risk levels, and lincomycin hydrochloride, sulfamethoxazole, methomyl, oxifloxacin, enrofloxacin, sulfadiazine, roxithromycin, sulfapyridine, sulfadiazine and ciprofloxacin were present at low-risk levels in the samples collected from water bodies of the Yellow River Estuary. This study provides novel, beneficial information for the assessment of the ecological risk presented by antibiotics in the Yellow River Estuary water bodies and provides a scientific basis for future antibiotic pollution control in the Yellow River Basin.
Characterization of External Female Genitalia in Five Triatoma Laporte Species of South America (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae)
Authors: Oliveira-Correia João Paulo Sales , Gil-Santana Hélcio Reinaldo , dos Santos-Mallet Jacenir Reis , Galvão Cleber
Published: April 2023

Currently, there are 158 valid species of triatomines, all of which are potential vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease. The correct taxonomic identification of triatomines is essential since each species hos a different epidemiological importance. The aim of the study is to compare five species of South American Triatoma. Here we present a comparative study of terminal abdominal segments in females by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the species Triatoma delpontei, T. jurbergi, T. infestans var. melanosoma, T. platensis, and T. vandae. The results showed diagnostic characters for the studied species. The dorsal view featured more valuable characters, with seven informative characters. Similarities were observed among T. delpontei, T. infestans var. melanosoma, and T. platensis, and between T. jurbergi and T. vandae, correlating with previous studies. Thus, female genital characters proved to be reliable and useful in the diagnosis of the Triatoma species studied here; additional studies, along with other sets of behavioral, morphological, and molecular data, helped to reinforce the hypotheses found here.
Cohort Profile: A European Multidisciplinary Network for the Fight against HIV Drug Resistance (EuResist Network)
Authors: Rossetti Barbara , Incardona Francesca , Di Teodoro Giulia , Mommo Chiara , Saladini Francesco , Kaiser Rolf , Sönnerborg Anders , Lengauer Thomas , Zazzi Maurizio
Published: April 2023

The EuResist cohort was established in 2006 with the purpose of developing a clinical decision-support tool predicting the most effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) for persons living with HIV (PLWH), based on their clinical and virological data. Further to continuous extensive data collection from several European countries, the EuResist cohort later widened its activity to the more general area of antiretroviral treatment resistance with a focus on virus evolution. The EuResist cohort has retrospectively enrolled PLWH, both treatment-naïve and treatment-experienced, under clinical follow-up from 1998, in nine national cohorts across Europe and beyond, and this article is an overview of its achievement. A clinically oriented treatment-response prediction system was released and made available online in 2008. Clinical and virological data have been collected from more than one hundred thousand PLWH, allowing for a number of studies on the response to treatment, selection and spread of resistance-associated mutations and the circulation of viral subtypes. Drawing from its interdisciplinary vocation, EuResist will continue to investigate clinical response to antiretroviral treatment against HIV and monitor the development and circulation of HIV drug resistance in clinical settings, along with the development of novel drugs and the introduction of new treatment strategies. The support of artificial intelligence in these activities is essential.
Anopheles funestus Populations across Africa Are Broadly Susceptible to Neonicotinoids but with Signals of Possible Cross-Resistance from the GSTe2 Gene
Authors: Assatse Tatiane , Tchouakui Magellan , Mugenzi Leon , Menze Benjamin , Nguiffo-Nguete Daniel , Tchapga Williams , Kekeunou Sevilor , Wondji Charles S.
Published: April 2023

Evaluating the susceptibility of malaria vectors to the new WHO-recommended products is a key step before large-scale deployment. We mapped the susceptibility profile of Anopheles funestus to neonicotinoids across Africa and established the diagnostic doses of acetamiprid and imidacloprid with acetone + MERO as solvent. Indoor resting An. funestus were collected in 2021 in Cameroon, Malawi, Ghana and Uganda. Susceptibility to clothianidin, imidacloprid and acetamiprid was evaluated using CDC bottle assays and offsprings of the field-caught adults. The L119F-GSTe2 marker was genotyped to assess the potential cross-resistance between clothianidin and this DDT/pyrethroid-resistant marker. Mosquitoes were susceptible to the three neonicotinoids diluted in acetone + MERO, whereas low mortality was noticed with ethanol or acetone alone. The doses of 6 µg/mL and 4 µg/mL were established as diagnostic concentrations of imidacloprid and acetamiprid, respectively, with acetone + MERO. Pre-exposure to synergists significantly restored the susceptibility to clothianidin. A positive correlation was observed between L119F-GSTe2 mutation and clothianidin resistance with the homozygote resistant mosquitoes being more able to survive than heterozygote or susceptible. This study revealed that An. funestus populations across Africa are susceptible to neonicotinoids, and as such, this insecticide class could be effectively implemented to control this species using IRS. However, potential cross-resistance conferred by GSTe2 calls for regular resistance monitoring in the field.