bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The case against COVID‐19 vaccine mandates in pediatric solid organ transplantation
Authors: Ross Lainie Friedman , Opel Douglas J.
Published: February 2022

Background

The American Society of Transplantation in conjunction with the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation released a joint statement on August 13, 2021 in which they strongly recommend that solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients and their eligible household members and close contacts be vaccinated against SARS‐CoV‐2 with an approved COVID‐19 vaccine. Some SOT programs have gone further and will refuse to list or transplant candidates unless the candidate and their household are vaccinated against SARS‐CoV‐2.

Methods

Two general pediatrician‐ethicists use current best evidence and moral theory to argue why it is unethical to mandate COVID‐19 vaccination for pediatric SOT candidates, their primary support person, and their households.

Results

Pediatric vaccine mandates are most justifiable when they prevent the harm of a serious vaccine preventable disease (VPD) in children in settings where transmission is highly likely and there are no alternatives that are effective in preventing transmission that intrude less on individual freedom. An additional justification for a vaccine mandate in the SOT context is stewardship of a scarce resource if there is significant risk of graft loss from the VPD to an unvaccinated SOT candidate or recipient. Current evidence does not support fulfillment of these criteria in pediatric solid organ transplantation.

Conclusions

Making SOT listing contingent on COVID‐19 vaccination is problematic. Though there is some risk of harm to a pediatric SOT candidate in remaining unvaccinated, the risk of harm of not being listed and transplanted is greater and overriding.
The concept of relation and the explanation of the phenomenon of Entanglement
Authors: Stella Aldo , Cantalupi Tiziano , Ianulardo Giancarlo
Published: February 2022

We investigate from a philosophical point of view the concept of relation that is used to explain the physical phenomenon of Entanglement. If the concept of relation is understood in the ordinary sense of the mono‐dyadic construct, which requires a middle term between the two extremes, it is aporetic and, thus, incapable of explaining the phenomenon. To the contrary, we propose to think the relation as the act of self‐referring of related terms, which is unique and identical for both terms. In the unity of this act, the duality of terms disappears, so that the authentic unity is obtained. Moving from this concept of unity, the phenomenon of Entanglement becomes intelligible, since the two particles emerge as the two abstract sections of a unique reality.
Governance, natural resources rent, and infrastructure development: Evidence from the Middle East and North Africa
Authors: Ali Hamid E. , Bhuiyan Shahjahan
Published: February 2022

This article identifies the role governance plays in developing physical infrastructure through the utilization of natural resource rent as public investment for infrastructure development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The empirical model employs panel data from 15 MENA countries and two governance indices (GOVI)—GOVI Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and GOVI (Additive). Using the Granger Causality test, a one‐time lag was applied to minimize endogeneity concerns. The article introduces the panel unit roots, and panel Granger noncausality is used for testing stationarity and causal relationships. Estimates of both specifications suggest that improving the quality of governance leads to a significant positive effect on physical infrastructure development in the MENA region. The study departs from the traditional natural resource rent curse arguments and moves toward natural resources rent and good governance indicators for infrastructure development. The findings show that natural resources rent and governance do matter for infrastructure development. This article offers new theoretical and empirical insight in the context of the MENA region.
An efficient learning framework for multiproduct inventory systems with customer choices
Authors: Gao Xiangyu , Zhang Huanan
Published: February 2022

We consider a periodic‐review multiproduct inventory system where customers' purchasing decisions are affected by the product availabilities. Demands need to be learned on the fly, through the partial and censored feedback of customers. For this learning problem, if one ignores the inventory dynamic and treats it as a multiarmed bandit problem and directly applies some existing algorithms, for example, the upper confidence bound (UCB) algorithm, the convergence can be extremely slow due to the high‐dimensionality of the policy space. We propose a UCB‐based learning framework that utilizes the sales information based on two improvement ideas. We illustrate how these two ideas can be incorporated by considering two specific systems: (1) multiproduct inventory system with stock‐out substitutions, (2) multiproduct inventory assortment problem for urban warehouses. We develop improved UCB algorithms for both systems, using the two improvements. For both systems, the algorithm can achieve a tight worst‐case convergence rate (up to a logarithmic term) on the planning horizon [Formula: see text]. Extensive numerical experiments are conducted to demonstrate the efficiency of the improved UCB algorithms for the two systems. In the experiments, when there are more than 1000 candidate policies to choose from, the algorithms can achieve around [Formula: see text] average expected regret within 50 periods and continue to steadily improve as time increases.
Alternative oxidase plays a role in minimizing ROS and RNS produced under salinity stress in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Manbir  , Singh Pooja , Kumari Aprajita , Gupta Kapuganti Jagadis
Published: February 2022

Under stress conditions, the overproduction of different reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) causes imbalance in the redox homeostasis of the cell leading to nitro‐oxidative stress in plants. Alternative oxidase (AOX) is a conserving terminal oxidase of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, which can minimize the ROS. Still, the role of AOX in the regulation of RNS during nitro‐oxidative stress imposed by salinity stress is not known. Here, we investigated the role of AOX in minimizing ROS and RNS induced by 150 mM NaCl in Arabidopsis using transgenic plants overexpressing (AOX OE) and antisense lines (AOX AS) of AOX. Imposing NaCl treatment leads to a 4‐fold enhanced expression of AOX accompanied by enhanced AOX capacity in WT Col‐0. Further AOX‐OE seedlings displayed enhanced growth compared with the AOX‐AS line under stress. Examination of NO levels by DAF‐FM fluorescence and chemiluminescence revealed that AOX overexpression leads to reduced levels of NO. The total NR activity was elevated under NaCl, but no significant change was observed in wild‐type (WT), AOX OE, and AS lines. The total ROS, superoxide, H2O2 levels, and lipid peroxidation were higher in the AOX‐AS line than in WT and AOX‐OE lines. The peroxynitrite levels were also higher in the AOX‐AS line than in WT and AOX‐OE lines; further, the expression of antioxidant genes was elevated in AOX‐AS. Taken together, our results suggest that AOX plays an important role in the mitigation of ROS and RNS levels and enhances plant growth, thus providing tolerance against nitro‐oxidative stress exerted by NaCl.
Does learning different script systems affect configural visual processing? ERP evidence from early readers of Chinese and German
Authors: Ma Xiaoli , Kang Jing , Li Xinran , Maurer Urs , Cao Xiaohua , Sommer Werner
Published: February 2022

Reading is a complex cultural skill requiring considerable training, apparently affecting also the processing of non‐linguistic visual stimuli. We examined whether the different visual demands involved in reading different script systems—alphabetic German versus logographic Chinese script—would differentially influence configural visual processing. Our main dependent measure was the N170 component of the ERP, which is considered as a signature of configural processing. In the present study, German and Chinese children (N = 28 vs. 27) who had received about one year of formal instruction in their native script system, worked on a series of one‐back tasks with naturalistic faces, two‐tone Mooney faces and doodles, and on an adaptation task with pairs of faces were either identical or differed in their second‐order relations. Chinese children showed larger N170 amplitudes than German children for naturalistic and Mooney faces, specifically indicating superior holistic processing in Chinese children. In contrast, there was no superiority in Chinese children on the second‐order adaptation effect at the N170, providing no evidence for differences in second‐order relations processing of facial configurations between the groups. Given the sensitivity of the visual system to reading acquisition, these findings suggest that these group differences in holistic processing might be due to the extensive training with the highly complex logographic script system learned by Chinese children, imposing high demands on higher‐order visual perception.
Breathing affects self‐other voice discrimination in a bodily state associated with somatic passivity
Authors: Orepic Pavo , Park Hyeong‐Dong , Rognini Giulio , Faivre Nathan , Blanke Olaf
Published: February 2022

A growing number of studies have focused on identifying cognitive processes that are modulated by interoceptive signals, particularly in relation to the respiratory or cardiac cycle. Considering the fundamental role of interoception in bodily self‐consciousness, we here investigated whether interoceptive signals also impact self‐voice perception. We applied an interactive, robotic paradigm associated with somatic passivity (a bodily state characterized by illusory misattribution of self‐generated touches to someone else) to investigate whether somatic passivity impacts self‐voice perception as a function of concurrent interoceptive signals. Participants' breathing and heartbeat signals were recorded while they performed two self‐voice tasks (self‐other voice discrimination and loudness perception) and while simultaneously experiencing two robotic conditions (somatic passivity condition; control condition). Our data reveal that respiration, but not cardiac activity, affects self‐voice perception: participants were better at discriminating self‐voice from another person’s voice during the inspiration phase of the respiration cycle. Moreover, breathing effects were prominent in participants experiencing somatic passivity and a different task with the same stimuli (i.e., judging the loudness and not identity of the voices) was unaffected by breathing. Combining interoception and voice perception with self‐monitoring framework, these data extend findings on breathing‐dependent changes in perception and cognition to self‐related processing.
Protective factors for suicidal ideation among Black adolescents indirectly exposed to community violence
Authors: Lambert Sharon F. , Boyd Rhonda C. , Ialongo Nicholas S.
Published: February 2022

Objective

Community violence exposure has been identified as a risk factor for Black youth suicide ideation. However, little is known about factors that protect community violence exposed youth against suicide ideation. The current study examined associations between knowledge of family member and peers’ community violence exposure and Black youth's subsequent suicidal ideation, and investigated self‐worth and social support as protective factors.

Method

Participants were a community sample of Black youth (N = 447, 47.4% female; Mage = 11.77, SD = 0.35) who reported about community violence exposure, self‐worth, social support, and suicide ideation in grades 6 and 7.

Results

Regression analyses revealed that grade 6 knowledge of family member and peers’ community violence exposure was associated with increases in suicide ideation assessed in grade 7. Self‐worth attenuated the association between knowledge of others’ community violence exposure and suicide ideation for male adolescents. For female adolescents, social support attenuated the association between knowledge of others’ community violence and suicide ideation.

Conclusions

Findings highlight the consequential impact of knowledge about community violence for Black youth's suicidal ideation. Enhancing protective factors for Black youth is an important target for intervening with exposure to violence and reducing suicide ideation.
Changes in the incidence of transfusion reactions in hematological patients over the past 30 years
Authors: Bojanić Ines , Lukić Marija , Plenković Fini , Raos Mirela , Medenjak Marta , Ćepulić Branka Golubic
Published: February 2022

Background

Patients with hematological diseases are polytransfused and often immunocompromised, therefore susceptible to transfusion reactions (TR). This study aims to document the incidence of TRs in adult hematological patients and assess the effect of changes in the production of blood components and transfusion practice on their occurrence.

Study design and methods

Retrospective observational analysis of TRs reported from 1993 to 2019 was performed. For the analysis of the effect of changes on the incidence of TRs, the evaluated time was divided into two periods: the 1st period before the introduction of changes in production, when leukoreduced blood components were used only selectively, and the 2nd period, when semi‐automated method of production and universal leukoreduction was introduced.

Results

The decrease in the incidence of TRs was observed for both red blood cell (RBC) and platelet concentrate (PC) transfusions in the 2nd period. Since platelet additive solution has been used, a further decrease in the incidence was reported. The decrease in incidence was also observed for delayed hemolytic/serological transfusion reactions and for transfusion‐transmitted bacterial infections. Four cases of incorrect blood transfusions were uniquely related to the hematological patients, caused by antigen loss and transfusion ordering after ABO‐incompatible hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Discussion

Our results provided evidence that the introduction of tools offered by modern transfusion medicine: universal leukodepletion, plasma replacement with additive solutions, sensitive laboratory techniques, prophylactic antigen matching policy, informatization, and automatization, decreased the incidence of TRs and improved transfusion safety.
Merchandise export diversification strategy for Tanzania: Promoting inclusive growth, economic complexity and structural change
Authors: Estmann Christian , Sørensen Bjørn Bo , Ndulu Benno , Rand John
Published: February 2022

This paper identifies industries in Tanzania that are critical for (i) upgrading and diversifying the economy, (ii) increasing export revenue and (iii) absorbing labour. First, a Product Space analysis identifies industrial niches, which Tanzania should promote to increase economic complexity and stimulate structural transformation. The identification of industries is based on a supply‐side network method following the literature on economic complexity. Second, we combine the complexity analysis with a gravity model, identifying industries with high, demand‐driven export potential. In combination, the supply‐and‐demand framework finds industries that are complex, feasible to target given Tanzania's existing know‐how and profitable to export given product‐specific trade resistance and geographically dispersed demand. Third, we construct an employment absorption index to identify industries with a high labour intensity. Our findings suggest a high export potential and scope for learning spillovers in complex sectors, such as machinery and chemicals. In contrast, less complex sectors, such as agro‐processing, metal and wood, are correlated with higher employment creation.
Numerical Investigation of Plasma Actuator Effects on Flow Control Over a Three-Dimensional Airfoil With a Sinusoidal Leading Edge
Authors: Pendar Mohammad-Reza , Páscoa José Carlos
Published: February 2022

The impetus of the present bio-inspired work is to investigate the impact of simultaneously using wavy leading-edge (WLE) airfoils in combination with curved multidielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators as hybrid passive and active flow control mechanisms, respectively. A precise distinction of the produced frequency and noise signals, altogether with the acoustic effect of using WLE and DBD plasma actuators, is herein analyzed with precision. Two specific DBD plasma actuators are designed to actuate at x/C = 3% and x/C = 30% on a NACA 634-021 airfoil with sinusoidal WLE that bears a wavelength of 25% and an amplitude of 5% of the mean chord length and straight-leading-edge (SLE). A large eddy simulation (LES) turbulence model was used. This includes the dynamic control of unsteady flow separation, the three-dimensional vortical structure and induced trains of vortices, the aerodynamic forces, the velocity variation, and also the spanwise flow. The momentum transfer between the main flow and boundary layer was improved by the DBDs-induced vortices train and formed streamwise counter-rotating pair-of-vortices over the tubercle. Also, both the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and fast Fourier transform (FFT) methods were used to investigate the induced plasma flow spectral content for the WLE and SLE geometries. We witnessed an optimized flow control, by using DBD plasma actuators with the WLE airfoil, that resulted in less massive flow separation, faster turbulent transition, and a robust earlier flow reattachment. This modification was beneficial in increasing the efficiency and decreasing the noise for low Reynolds number operational conditions.
New test of neutrino oscillation coherence with Leggett–Garg inequality
Authors: Wang Xing-Zhi , Ma Bo-Qiang
Published: February 2022

Leggett–Garg inequality (LGI) is a time analogue of Bell’s inequality that concerns measurements performed on a system at different times. Violation to LGI indicates quantum coherence. We present a Leggett–Garg-type inequality compatible with more general neutrino oscillation frameworks, allowing the effects of decoherence to be taken into consideration. The inequality is applied to test coherence for data from Daya Bay, MINOS, and KamLAND experiments, and their results are compared to theoretical predictions to investigate decoherence. Both Daya Bay and MINOS data exhibit clear violations of over$$10\sigma $$10σ, and of over 90$$\%$$%of theoretical predictions, while the KamLAND data exhibit violation of$$1.9\sigma $$1.9σ, being of 58$$\%$$%of the theoretical prediction. The present work is the first to have considered the energy uncertainties in neutrino coherence tests.
A template method to measure the $$t {\bar{t}}$$ polarisation
Authors: Aguilar-Saavedra J. A. , Fiolhais M. C. N. , Martín-Ramiro P. , Moreno J. M. , Onofre A.
Published: February 2022

We develop a template method for the measurement of the polarisation of $$t {\bar{t}}$$

t

t

¯

pairs produced in hadron collisions. The method would allow to extract the individual fractions of $$t_L \bar{t}_L$$

t
L

t

¯

L

, $$t_R {\bar{t}}_R$$

t
R

t

¯

R

, $$t_L {\bar{t}}_R$$

t
L

t

¯

R

and $$t_R {\bar{t}}_L$$

t
R

t

¯

L

pairs with a fit to data, where L, R refer to the polarisation along any axis. These polarisation fractions have not been independently measured at present. Secondarily, the method also provides the net polarisation of t and $${\bar{t}}$$

t

¯

, as well as their spin correlation for arbitrary axes.
Quantum pricing with a smile: implementation of local volatility model on quantum computer
Authors: Kaneko Kazuya , Miyamoto Koichi , Takeda Naoyuki , Yoshino Kazuyoshi
Published: February 2022

Quantum algorithms for the pricing of financial derivatives have been discussed in recent papers. However, the pricing model discussed in those papers is too simple for practical purposes. It motivates us to consider how to implement more complex models used in financial institutions. In this paper, we consider the local volatility (LV) model, in which the volatility of the underlying asset price depends on the price and time. As in previous studies, we use the quantum amplitude estimation (QAE) as the main source of quantum speedup and discuss the state preparation step of the QAE, or equivalently, the implementation of the asset price evolution. We compare two types of state preparation: One is the amplitude encoding (AE) type, where the probability distribution of the derivative’s payoff is encoded to the probabilistic amplitude. The other is the pseudo-random number (PRN) type, where sequences of PRNs are used to simulate the asset price evolution as in classical Monte Carlo simulation. We present detailed circuit diagrams for implementing these preparation methods in fault-tolerant quantum computation and roughly estimate required resources such as the number of qubits and T-count.
Applications of rogue wave, breathers, multiwave and interaction solutions to long water-wave equation
Authors: Rizvi S. T. R. , Seadawy Aly R. , Naqvi S. K. , Althobaiti Saad , Khaliq A.
Published: February 2022

In this paper, we study different analytical solutions for long water-wave equation (LWWE) like lump, breathers, rogue waves, periodic cross-kink, periodic wave, lump with one and two-kink, multiwave and periodic-cross lump. We compute the essential relationship between interaction between lump periodic and kink wave, periodic cross-kink and other types of exact solutions by studying the unknown nonlinear evolution equations (NLEEs) for long water wave. We show the graphical representation for our retrieve analytical solutions to observe the behavior of effective waves.
SOL–GEL SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF Sr-DOPED MgMn2O4 WITH PHOTOCATALYTIC PERFORMANCES
Authors: MERIEM HENNI , SAMIR KADI , HADJ BENHEBAL
Published: February 2022

Pure and strontium (Sr)-doped magnesium manganite MgMn2O4 nanopowders were synthesized via sol–gel method. The powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformer infrared (FT-IR), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). Photocatalytic activities were evaluated by methyl green degradation as the model molecule in aqueous media under visible radiation. The XRD results confirm the formation of the spinel phase for the MgMn2O4 nanoparticles, with crystallite sizes in the 14.10–13.20[Formula: see text]nm range. The formation of the spinel structure was also consolidated by infrared spectroscopy through the appearance of the characteristic bands of Mn–O and Mg–O located at 632 and 470[Formula: see text]cm[Formula: see text], respectively. The SEM analysis showed that compact agglomerates were observed in all the samples. The results of the photocatalytic activity of the nanophotocatalysts clearly show an improvement in this activity following the incorporation of strontium, particularly with the 7% doped sample, with [Formula: see text] 96% degradation efficiency.
EFFECT OF CRYSTALLINE WATER MOLECULES ON THE PREPARATION AND GROWTH OF SUPERHYDROPHOBIC FILMS VIA ELECTRODEPOSITION
Authors: LIU TAN , CUI YONGHUI , LI XUETIAN , SHAO ZHONGCAI , LIU ZHIJIANG
Published: February 2022

In order to get the state of particles and the reaction process in the electrolyte during electrodeposition clearly, the lotus leaf-like superhydrophobic film is prepared on the surface of aluminum alloy by electrodeposition, in which the contact angle reach 159.3∘. According to contact angle and scanning electron microscope results, the crystal water in the electrolyte system plays an important role in the deposition process. The existence of crystal water can promote the ionization of Ce[Formula: see text] and form the carrier system effectively. The composition of the film is cerium stearate, which shows multilayer growth. The electrochemical impedance spectra results show good corrosion resistance and application value.
Experimental and Analytical Study on the Penetration Depth of Mortar Targets Subjected to Projectile Impact in the Hypervelocity Regime
Authors: Gao Fei , Song Chunming , Li Gan , Zhang Guokai , Deng Shuxin , Wang Zhen , Liu Chenkang
Published: February 2022

A projectile may be deformed and eroded due to the high pressure generated by hypervelocity penetration, which makes it difficult to describe the penetration mechanism for protection engineering by existing theories at such high velocities. To analyze the penetration depth of concrete-like targets subjected to hypervelocity impact by kinetic energy weapons, experiments with ogive-nosed steel projectiles penetrating mortar targets are conducted, where the average uniaxial compressive strength of the mortar targets is 41.8[Formula: see text]MPa and the impact velocities range from 1[Formula: see text]225[Formula: see text]m/s to 2[Formula: see text]392[Formula: see text]m/s. The experimental results show that the crater diameter and crater depth have a linear relationship with the striking velocity. The depth of penetration (DOP) increases linearly first and then decreases sharply and increases slowly again. Three penetration regimes are observed in turn with increasing velocity, i.e. rigid projectile penetration, abrasive projectile penetration and semifluid projectile penetration. Furthermore, based on a study of the dynamic compression behavior and penetration resistance function of concrete, a hydroelastoplastic-frictional penetration model is established. The velocity range is divided into solid penetration, semifluid penetration and fluid penetration, which correspond to [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], respectively. Then, the rigid and abrasive projectile penetration models, which consider the projectile mass loss, are verified by the present test data. Finally, the semifluid projectile penetration model is evaluated with the existing test data. These results can provide support for research on the damage effect of hypervelocity kinetic energy weapons and the design of underground strategic protection engineering.
Firefly Competitive Swarm Optimization Based Hierarchical Attention Network for Lung Cancer Detection
Authors: Spoorthi B. , Mahesh Shanthi
Published: February 2022

Lung cancer is a severe disease, which causes high deaths in the world. Earlier discovery of lung cancer is useful to enhance the rate of survival in patients. Computed Tomography (CT) is utilized for determining the tumor and identifying the cancer level in the body. However, the issues of CT images cause less tumor visibility areas and unconstructive rates in tumor regions. This paper devises an optimization-driven technique for classifying lung cancer. The CT image is utilized for determining the position of the tumor. Here, the CT image undergoes segmentation, which is performed using the DeepJoint model. Furthermore, the feature extraction is carried out, wherein features such as local ternary pattern-based features, Histogram of Gradients (HoG) features, and statistical features, like variance, mean, kurtosis, energy, entropy, and skewness. The categorization of lung cancer is performed using Hierarchical Attention Network (HAN). The training of HAN is carried out using proposed Firefly Competitive Swarm Optimization (FCSO), which is devised by combining firefly algorithm (FA), and Competitive Swarm Optimization (CSO). The proposed FCSO-based HAN provided effective performance with high accuracy of 91.3%, sensitivity of 88%, and specificity of 89.1%.
Thermal Stability Analysis of Single-Ended 9T-ST Robust SRAM Cell for Near-Threshold Operation
Authors: Ganesh Chokkakula , Murthy K. S. N.
Published: February 2022

This paper presents a single-ended Schmitt Trigger-based 9T SRAM cell, significantly improving thermal stability for real-time memory applications on a chip operated in a high radiation environment. The proposed single-ended 9T-ST SRAM cell has 73% and 13% improvement in read stability, 42% and 13% improvement in hold stability from 6T and 10T SRAM cells, respectively. The read stability of the proposed SRAM cell is compared with the conventional 6T SRAM cell, which is designed and tested for 23000 MC simulation samples to protect it from read failure. During read operation, the impact of temperature variation on the performance of memory cells is observed using Monte Carlo simulation for a temperature change from 20∘C to 60∘C, as 5%, 32%, and 48% variation in RSNM for 9T-ST, 10T-ST, and 6T SRAM cells, respectively. The proposed SRAM cell is designed and verified in the Synopsys Custom compiler.
Comparative Analysis of Grey Relational Analysis Integrated with the Principal Component Analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process for Multiobjective Optimization of Inclined Laser Percussion Drilling in Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composites
Authors: Mishra Yadvendra Kumar , Mishra Sanjay , Jayswal S. C.
Published: February 2022

Multiobjective optimization (MOO) helps to achieve simultaneous improvement of more than one output characteristic in machining processes where complex interaction between the input parameter exists. This study focuses on the comparative analysis of design of experiment (DoE)-based grey relational analysis (GRA) combined with principal component analysis (PCA) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Experiments were conducted with millisecond (ms) duration pulsed Nd: YAG laser using the Box–Behnken design (BBD) approach of the response surface methodology (RSM) at three different levels of input parameters. The output parameters, i.e., hole circularity at top (HCT), hole circularity at bottom (HCB), and hole taper (HT), were determined for various input parameters like pulse current (I), pulse width ([Formula: see text]), gas pressure ([Formula: see text]), workpiece thickness ([Formula: see text]), and incidence angle ([Formula: see text]) during laser percussion inclined hole drilling (LPIHD) in the carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) of three different thickness, i.e., 1[Formula: see text]mm, 3[Formula: see text]mm, and 5[Formula: see text]mm at incidence angles of 0, 10, and 20 degrees. Multiobjective function based on RSM has been developed for GRA-PCA and GRA-AHP and further optimizations were performed using the desirability approach of RSM. The analysis revealed that the angle of incidence is the most significant factor for controlling the output parameters. Interaction of pulse current and thickness ([Formula: see text]) has a major impact on output responses. The GRA-PCA approach gives the average improvement of 2%, 9%, and 37%, respectively, for HCT, HCB, and HT, whereas in the case of GRA-AHP, the corresponding improvements are only 1%, 6%, and 11%. Therefore, the GRA-PCA approach is a more effective tool for the MOO of LPIHD in CFRP.
Nonlinear Solution of a Piezoelectric PN Junction Under Temperature Gradient
Authors: Guo Ming Kai , Qin Guo Shuai , Lu Chunsheng , Zhao Ming Hao
Published: February 2022

By considering the nonlinear coupling of piezoelectricity, thermoelectricity and pyroelectricity, this paper investigated the polarization effect related to temperature gradient in a thermo-piezoelectric PN junction. The analysis is based on a perturbation method and the one-dimensional nonlinear theories of thermo-piezoelectric semiconductors. It is shown that as thermal load increases, the linear solution gradually separates from the nonlinear one, in which the third-order solution is basically coincident with the nonlinear numerical solution of COMSOL. It is found that the electromechanical fields, carrier transport characteristics and turn-on voltage have a fast response to temperature gradient. By using the perturbation method, the approximate nonlinear solution of a thermo-piezoelectric PN junction can be obtained. Furthermore, the possibility of thermal manipulation is evident in a piezoelectric PN junction. These findings will be instructive to a good understanding of the electromechanical coupling characteristics of a PN junction and beneficial to development of a new method for its property modulation.
Dynamic Response of Rectangular Sandwich Tubes with Metal Foam Core Under Blast Loading
Authors: Zhang Jianxun , Guo Haoyuan
Published: February 2022

In this paper, the dynamic response of clamped rectangular sandwich tubes with metal foam core under transverse blast loading is analytically and numerically studied. First, based on the theory of the solid beam subjected to transverse blast loading, a semi-empirical analytical solution for the dynamic response of rectangular hollow metal tube is given subjected to transverse blast loading considering local denting effect and combined axial force and bending moment. Then, based on the analytical solution for the dynamic response of the metal tube, a semi-empirical analytical solution for the dynamic response of clamped rectangular sandwich tubes with metal foam core under transverse blast loading is obtained. The numerical calculation for the dynamic response of clamped rectangular sandwich tubes is carried out. The numerical results locate between the upper and lower bounds of the analytical solution. Next, using the least square method, an analytical method to predict the maximum deflection of sandwich tubes is given under no experimental or numerical data conditions based on the existing data. The present analytical method can be used to predict the dynamic response of clamped rectangular sandwich tubes with metal foam core under transverse blast loading. Also, the comparison of energy absorption between rectangular sandwich tube with metal foam core and rectangular hollow tube for the same mass is conducted. It is shown that the sandwich tube is better than the hollow tube in terms of energy absorption in large deflection.
Nonlinear Stability Characteristics of Porous Graded Composite Microplates Including Various Microstructural-Dependent Strain Gradient Tensors
Authors: Wang Junjie , Ma Biao , Gao Jing , Liu Haitao , Safaei Babak , Sahmani Saeid
Published: February 2022

In this study, the nonlinear buckling and postbuckling characteristics of composite microplates made of a porous functionally graded (PFG) material are scrutinized in the presence of different size-dependent strain gradient tensors as microscale. Accordingly, for the first time, the effect of each microstructural tensor is analyzed separately on the nonlinear stability of PFG microplates with and without a central cutout. In order to fulfill this goal, the isogeometric computation approach is engaged to integrate the finite element approach into the nonuniform B-spline-based computer aided design tool. Accordingly, the geometry of the microplate with a central cutout is modeled smoothly to verify [Formula: see text] continuity based upon a refined higher-order plate formulations. In this regard, the microstructural-dependent load-deflection paths associated with the nonlinear stability of axially compressed microplates are traced.
Topological indices of the wreath product of graphs
Authors: Zhang Yongqin , Wang Jianfeng , Brunetti Maurizio
Published: February 2022

Topological indices, i.e., numerical invariants suitably associated to graphs and only depending upon their isomorphism type, have important applications in Chemistry. Their computation constitutes an important branch of Chemical Graph Theory. In this paper, we focus on some degree and distance-based invariants related to the Zagreb indices, the Szeged index and the Wiener index, namely, the F-index, the vertex PI index and the hyper-Wiener index. In particular, we find the formulæ to compute these topological invariants for wreath product of graphs.
The Tutte polynomial of a class of compound graphs and its applications
Authors: Chen Hanlin
Published: February 2022

The Tutte polynomial, a considerable generalization of the chromatic polynomial, associated with a graph is a classical bivariate polynomial, which gives various interesting information about the graph structure. In this paper, we first present a formula for the Tutte polynomial of a class of special compound graphs. Then as applications, we obtain the Tutte polynomials of some complex network models in the context of statistical physics and the Tutte polynomials of some chemical polycyclic graphs. Moreover, explicit expressions of the number of spanning trees for these considered graphs are determined, respectively.
AutoDSE: Enabling Software Programmers to Design Efficient FPGA Accelerators
Authors: Sohrabizadeh Atefeh , Yu Cody Hao , Gao Min , Cong Jason
Published: February 2022

Adopting FPGA as an accelerator in datacenters is becoming mainstream for customized computing, but the fact that FPGAs are hard to program creates a steep learning curve for software programmers. Even with the help of
high-level synthesis (HLS)
, accelerator designers still have to manually perform code reconstruction and cumbersome parameter tuning to achieve optimal performance. While many learning models have been leveraged by existing work to automate the design of efficient accelerators, the unpredictability of modern HLS tools becomes a major obstacle for them to maintain high accuracy. To address this problem, we propose an

automated DSE framework—
AutoDSE

—that leverages a bottleneck-guided coordinate optimizer to systematically find a better design point.
AutoDSE
detects the bottleneck of the design in each step and focuses on high-impact parameters to overcome it. The experimental results show that
AutoDSE
is able to identify the design point that achieves, on the geometric mean, 19.9× speedup over one CPU core for MachSuite and Rodinia benchmarks. Compared to the manually optimized HLS vision kernels in Xilinx Vitis libraries,
AutoDSE
can reduce their optimization pragmas by 26.38× while achieving similar performance. With less than one optimization pragma per design on average, we are making progress towards democratizing customizable computing by enabling software programmers to design efficient FPGA accelerators.
An Empirical View on Consolidation of the Web
Authors: Doan Trinh Viet , van Rijswijk-Deij Roland , Hohlfeld Oliver , Bajpai Vaibhav
Published: February 2022

The majority of Web content is delivered by only a few companies that provide Content Delivery Infrastructuress (CDIss) such as Content Delivery Networkss (CDNss) and cloud hosts. Due to increasing concerns about trends of centralization, empirical studies on the extent and implications of resulting Internet consolidation are necessary. Thus, we present an empirical view on consolidation of the Web by leveraging datasets from two different measurement platforms. We first analyze Web consolidation around CDIs at the level of landing webpages, before narrowing down the analysis to a level of embedded page resources. The datasets cover 1(a) longitudinal measurements of DNS records for 166.5 M Web domains over five years, 1(b) measurements of DNS records for Alexa Top 1 M over a month and (2) measurements of page loads and renders for 4.3 M webpages, which include data on 392.3 M requested resources. We then define
CDIs penetration
as the ratio of CDI-hosted objects to all measured objects, which we use to quantify consolidation around CDIs. We observe that CDI penetration has close to doubled since 2015, reaching a lower bound of 15% for all
.com
,
.net
, and
.org
Web domains as of January 2020. Overall, we find a set of six CDIss to deliver the majority of content across all datasets, with these six CDIss being responsible for more than 80% of all 221.9 M CDI-delivered resources (56.6% of all resources in total). We find high dependencies of Web content on a small group of CDIss, in particular, for fonts, ads, and trackers, as well as JavaScript resources such as jQuery. We further observe CDIss to play important roles in rolling out IPv6 and TLS 1.3 support. Overall, these observations indicate a potential oligopoly, which brings both benefits but also risks to the future of the Web.
S-BDS: An Effective Blockchain-based Data Storage Scheme in Zero-Trust IoT
Authors: Wang Jin , Chen Jiahao , Xiong Neal , Alfarraj Osama , Tolba Amr , Ren Yongjun
Published: February 2022

With the development of the
Internet of Things (IoT)
, a large-scale, heterogeneous, and dynamic distributed network has been formed among IoT devices. There is an extreme need to establish a trust mechanism between devices, and blockchain can provide a zero-trust security framework for IoT. However, the efficiency of the blockchain is far from meeting the application requirements of the IoT, which has become the biggest resistance to the application of the blockchain in the IoT. Therefore, this paper combines sharding to build an effective
Blockchain-based IoT data storage scheme (S-BDS)
. Sharding can solve the problem of blockchain capacity and scalability. While the blockchain provides data immutability and traceability for the IoT, it also brings huge demands for data credibility verification. The communication delay in the IoT system seriously affects the security of the system, while the Merkle proof of traditional blockchain occupies a lot of communication resources. This paper constructs
Insertable Vector Commitment (IVC)
in the bilinear group and replaces the Merkle tree with IVC to store IoT data in the blockchain. The construct has small-sized proof. It also has the ability to record the number of updates, which can prevent replay-attacks. Experiments show that each block processes 1,000 transactions, the proof size of a single data piece is 30% of the original scheme, and proofs from different shards can be aggregated. IVC can effectively reduce communication congestion and improve the stability and security of the IoT system.
Biosensors: Blockbuster or Bomb? Electrochemical Biosensors for Diabetes Monitoring
Authors: Kuhn Lance S.
Published: February 2022

Convenience is an expectation of life these days, from bank machines to cellular phones to fast food. The medical world is not immune to this drive. There is a continual effort to push testing to the lowest level of professional skill possible, in order to allow patients easy access to the information they need to live their lives more fully. The ultimate in this battle is to make systems that patients can use by themselves, at home.
Research on Toy Design for Special Children Based on Sensory Integration Training, D-S Theory, and Extenics: Taking Physical Toys for ADHD Children as an Example
Authors: Wu Shilin
Published: February 2022

Based on sensory integration training, D-S theory and extenics, this paper discusses the innovation and development of ADHD children’s toys, so as to make the design scheme more real, scientific, and comprehensive and meet the internal needs of users. Considering the advantages of extenics and the D-S theory in dealing with uncertain and incompatible decision-making problems, an evaluation method of toy design scheme for special children based on extension analysis and the D-S theory is proposed. Through the combination of the D-S theory and extenics evaluation method and sensory integration training theory, the designed toy scheme has a certain auxiliary therapeutic effect on the rehabilitation of ADHD children. Through the design case of physical fitness for ADHD children, it is proved that the combination of the D-S theory and extenics based on the sensory integration training theory has a certain reference value for the generation of product scheme and makes the product design process more comprehensive and objective.
Implementation of the Barton–Bandis Nonlinear Strength Criterion into Mohr–Coulomb Sliding Failure Model
Authors: Dai Zhenwei , Wang Luqi , Zhang Kaiqiang , Wang Lin , Gao Xuecheng
Published: February 2022

The stability of rocky slope is determined mainly by discontinuities. The discrete element calculation method can be used to analyze the geometric features of rock structures and to deal with the nonlinear deformation and destruction of the rock mass that may be affected by the discontinuities. In this paper, the Barton–Bandis (B-B) nonlinear strength criterion was introduced to improve the Mohr–Coulomb (M-C) slip model of joint slope. The modified model could reflect the real-time shear strength in a changing stress state. Using the numerical calculation of the shear test of the structural plane, we found that the corrected slip curve fits well with the process before the failure of the shear test. Furthermore, the modified model can track the disintegration between blocks while sliding failure of joint slope. With an increase in the number of structural planes and the complexity of the relative location of blocks, the interaction force between blocks and the sliding failure mode of the joint slope would be more complex. Changing the nonlinear parameters with the stress state of the structure plane could effectively solve this problem.
Performance of Rigid and Soft Transfer Templates Using Viscous and Fluid Resin-Based Composites in the Attachment Bonding Process of Clear Aligners
Authors: Valeri Cristina , Aloisio Angelo , Mummolo Stefano , Quinzi Vincenzo
Published: February 2022

Objectives. The study aims at assessing the accuracy of the process of attachment bonding in aligner treatments. The analysis leads to the error estimation in the faithful reproduction of master model attachments using two types of transfer templates and two light-curing resin-based composites usually used in orthodontics. Methods. The authors have used two transfer templates made of two different materials. The first, named Leone-biocompatible thermoforming material hard/soft, has a lower Young’s modulus and is labelled as soft, while the other, named Leone-biocompatible thermoforming material, is marked as rigid. The resin-based composites possess different mechanical and rheological properties. Specifically, Transbond™ XT Light Cure Paste Adhesive, 3M has a higher viscosity than the TetricEvoflow, Ivoclar Vivadent, a flowable nanohybrid composite. The authors attempt to estimate the performance ranking between the four possible couples obtained by combining the two light-curing resin-based composites and transfer templates. Each combination was repeated in six models and compared with twelve master models, resulting in 36 total samples. A 3-D laser scanner is used to generate a digital model of each model. The comparison between digital models is the base for a comparative assessment in terms of relative and absolute error. The relative error is estimated using scalar performance indicators ranging from 0 to 1, where 1 indicates the optimum matching. The absolute error estimated from the mean square error between the coordinates of each digital model yields the reproduction accuracy in micrometer. Furthermore, the authors attempted to assess the error distribution by evaluating the point-by-point difference between the digital models. Results. This analysis aims at localizing the sources of error in the considered models. The use of Transbond™ XT Light Cure Paste Adhesive, 3M with a rigid transfer template is always associated with significant accuracy and minor dispersion. However, in a few instances, using the soft template or the flowable resin-based composite can lead to bad performances. Significance. The data processing bestowed the following performance ranking from the first with lower reproduction error to the last characterized by the worst performance: (1) attachments bonding with rigid template and Transbond™ XT Light Cure Paste Adhesive, 3M, (2) attachments bonding with soft template and Transbond™ XT Light Cure Paste Adhesive, 3M, (3) attachments bonding with rigid template and TetricEvoflow, Ivoclar Vivadent, and (4) attachments bonding with soft template and TetricEvoflow, Ivoclar Vivadent.