bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Protein kinase C-β-dependent changes in the glucose metabolism of bone marrow stromal cells of chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Authors: von Heydebrand Franziska , Fuchs Maximilian , Kunz Meik , Voelkl Simon , Kremer Anita N. , Oostendorp Robert A. J. , Wilke Jochen , Leitges Michael , Egle Alexander , Mackensen Andreas , Lutzny-Geier Gloria
Published: November 2021

Survival of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells critically depends on the support of an adapted and therefore appropriate tumor microenvironment. Increasing evidence suggests that B-cell receptor-associated kinases such as protein kinase C-β (PKCβ) or Lyn kinase are essential for the formation of a microenvironment supporting leukemic growth. Here, we describe the impact of PKCβ on the glucose metabolism in bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) upon CLL contact. BMSC get activated by CLL contact expressing stromal PKCβ that diminishes mitochondrial stress and apoptosis in CLL cells by stimulating glucose uptake. In BMSC, the upregulation of PKCβ results in increased mitochondrial depolarization and leads to a metabolic switch toward oxidative phosphorylation. In addition, PKCβ-deficient BMSC regulates the expression of Hnf1 promoting stromal insulin signaling after CLL contact. Our data suggest that targeting PKCβ and the glucose metabolism of the leukemic niche could be a potential therapeutic strategy to overcome stroma-mediated drug resistance.
Human induced pluripotent stem cells and CRISPR/Cas-mediated targeted genome editing: Platforms to tackle sensorineural hearing loss
Authors: Stojkovic Miodrag , Han Dongjun , Jeong Minjin , Stojkovic Petra , Stankovic Konstantina M.
Published: November 2021

Hearing loss (HL) is a major global health problem of pandemic proportions. The most common type of HL is sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) which typically occurs when cells within the inner ear are damaged. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) can be generated from any individual including those who suffer from different types of HL. The development of new differentiation protocols to obtain cells of the inner ear including hair cells (HCs) and spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) promises to expedite cell-based therapy and screening of potential pharmacologic and genetic therapies using human models. Considering age-related, acoustic, ototoxic, and genetic insults which are the most frequent causes of irreversible damage of HCs and SGNs, new methods of genome editing (GE), especially the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, could bring additional opportunities to understand the pathogenesis of human SNHL and identify novel therapies. However, important challenges associated with both hiPSCs and GE need to be overcome before scientific discoveries are correctly translated to effective and patient-safe applications. The purpose of the present review is (a) to summarize the findings from published reports utilizing hiPSCs for studies of SNHL, hence complementing recent reviews focused on animal studies, and (b) to outline promising future directions for deciphering SNHL using disruptive molecular and genomic technologies.
Mesenchymal stem cell immunomodulation: In pursuit of controlling COVID-19 related cytokine storm
Authors: Song Na , Wakimoto Hiroaki , Rossignoli Filippo , Bhere Deepak , Ciccocioppo Rachele , Chen Kok-Siong , Khalsa Jasneet Kaur , Mastrolia Ilenia , Samarelli Anna Valeria , Dominici Massimo , Shah Khalid
Published: November 2021

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has grown to be a global public health crisis with no safe and effective treatments available yet. Recent findings suggest that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the coronavirus pathogen that causes COVID-19, could elicit a cytokine storm that drives edema, dysfunction of the airway exchange, and acute respiratory distress syndrome in the lung, followed by acute cardiac injury and thromboembolic events leading to multiorgan failure and death. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), owing to their powerful immunomodulatory abilities, have the potential to attenuate the cytokine storm and have therefore been proposed as a potential therapeutic approach for which several clinical trials are underway. Given that intravenous infusion of MSCs results in a significant trapping in the lung, MSC therapy could directly mitigate inflammation, protect alveolar epithelial cells, and reverse lung dysfunction by normalizing the pulmonary microenvironment and preventing pulmonary fibrosis. In this review, we present an overview and perspectives of the SARS-CoV-2 induced inflammatory dysfunction and the potential of MSC immunomodulation for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 related pulmonary disease.
Compressive behavior of precast concrete sandwich panels containing recycled tyre crumb rubber core
Authors: Awan Abdul Basir , Shaikh Faiz Uddin Ahmed
Published: November 2021

This paper presents the structural behavior of precast concrete sandwich panels (PCSPs) containing recycled tyre crumb rubber core under uni‐axial compression and compared with that containing commonly used expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam. A total of six panels were cast and tested. Two for each category of precast concrete panels that is, solid concrete panel, crumb rubber sandwich panel and foam sandwich panel. Results showed that the ultimate axial load of crumb rubber sandwich panel was found to be 91% of solid concrete panel and also exhibited higher structural response in comparison to foam sandwich panel. It was observed that all panels failed in a similar manner by crushing of concrete at ultimate load. Moreover, a finite element model was developed in ABAQUS using in‐built model of concrete plasticity damage to simulate the ultimate axial capacity of recycled tyre crumb rubber concrete sandwich panel and its failure in uniaxial compression. Analysis showed that the finite element modeling slightly overestimated the experimental results. Furthermore, the experimental test results showed that the recycled tyre crumb rubber can be utilized as an alternate core material in PCSPs without substantially compromising the ultimate strength or any change in structural response.
Investigation of the relationships among science teachers' epistemic orientations, epistemic understanding, and implementation of Next Generation Science Standards science practices
Authors: Park Soonhye , Kite Vance , Suh Jee Kyung , Jung Jinhong , Rachmatullah Arif
Published: November 2021

Engaging students in the essential practices of science has been forwarded as an effective means to achieve scientific literacy for all students by promoting the learning of content, procedures, and the epistemology of science concurrently. However, the emphasis on science practices requires teachers not only to develop skills and knowledge specific to the science practices, but also to adopt epistemic orientations congruent with student‐centered, knowledge generation science teaching approaches. This exploratory quantitative study examined the relationships between secondary science teachers' epistemic orientations and their understanding and self‐reported implementation of the science practices described in the US Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This study also identified teacher‐level variables that predict teachers' epistemic orientations, their understanding and implementation of the science practices. Data were collected from 128 secondary science teachers in a southeastern state of the US using three instruments: epistemic orientation survey with demographic questions, epistemic nature of science practice survey, and science practice implementation survey. One‐way analysis of variance, correlation analyses, multiple linear regression, and path analyses were used to examine the relationship among these three variables and the influence of teacher‐level variables on each of the three variables. Our results indicated that teachers' participation in NGSS PD programs significantly predicted their self‐reported implementation of science practices. In addition, teachers' lateral entry was the only significant predictor of teachers' epistemic understanding of science practices. Concerning the relationship among the three variables, the path analysis revealed that teachers' epistemic orientations significantly mediated the relationship between their epistemic understanding and implementation of science practices (χ2/df = 1.530,p = 0.216, comparative fit index = 0.980, Tucker–Lewis index = 0.940, root‐mean‐square error of approximation = 0.065). This study highlights a close relationship between teachers' epistemic orientations and enactment of science practices, which suggests prioritizing epistemic orientations in supporting teachers to implement the science‐as‐practice approach.
Robot Ego‐Noise Suppression with Labanotation‐Template Subtraction
Authors: Jaroslavceva Jekaterina , Wake Naoki , Sasabuchi Kazuhiro , Ikeuchi Katsushi
Published: November 2021

In this study, we aim to improve automatic‐speech‐recognition (ASR) accuracy in the presence of robot ego‐noise toward a better human‐robot interaction. Although several noise reduction methods have been proposed to increase ASR accuracy or signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) by predicting ego‐noises through a short‐time motion‐template subtraction or a neural network, these methods showed poor performance in some practical use cases, such as attenuating long‐term motion‐associated ego‐noise. Based on the motion‐template subtraction method, we address the problem of creating ego‐noise templates associated with a wide variety of robot motions. For representing robot motions, we employ a dance notation referred to as Labanotation. The rationales behind our approach are: (i) Labanotation allows quantizing infinite motion patterns using a finite number of Labanotation combinations; (ii) Labanotation‐based motion description is hardware‐independent; and (iii) long‐time noise templates facilitate the localization of noise templates in a speech‐with‐noise signal compared to short‐time templates. The effectiveness of the Labanotation‐template subtraction (LTS) method was tested for five commercial ASRs in terms of ASR accuracy, SNR, and source‐to‐distortion ratio. We show that LTS leads to a reasonable performance, comparable to the other methods. The contribution of this study is (i) to propose to use Labanotation to reasonably collect noise templates, (ii) to demonstrate the practical effectiveness of LTS as well as examples of Labanotations for household actions. © 2021 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
The mediating role of vocabulary size, working memory, attention and inhibition in early vocabulary learning under different TV genres: An exploratory study
Authors: Suárez Maria del Mar , Gilabert Roger , Moskvina Natalia
Published: November 2021

Few studies have explored the learning opportunities different audiovisual genres may create for vocabulary learning. Even fewer have looked at how learners’ viewing experience is affected by individual differences (IDs) in vocabulary size, attention, inhibition, or working memory. Such IDs have been shown to mediate early and long‐term vocabulary learning (Gass, Winke, Isbell, & Ahn, 2019; Kam, Liu, & Tseng, 2020; Peters & Webb, 2018). This exploratory study seeks to analyze how vocabulary is acquired under different genres and how this process may be influenced by the IDs mentioned above. Forty‐one students of English as a foreign language (EFL) participated in an experiment involving the viewing of four TV genres (sitcom, police procedural, animal documentary, and edutainment). Meaning recognition task was applied at the pretest and posttest, and form recognition at the posttest only. Prior to viewing, students took four cognitive tests related to vocabulary size, attention control, inhibition, and working memory. Results suggest vocabulary size had the largest impact on the participants’ performance at pretest and posttest, although its relative weight varied across genres. A nonsignificant or much lesser role was played by working memory, attention, and inhibition. Results are discussed regarding what genre might create the most beneficial conditions for vocabulary learning and how IDs influence such learning.
Using picture books to support cultural transitions among college international students: Pedagogical designs for ESL classrooms
Authors: Zhu Jingyi
Published: November 2021

This study addressed how picture books featuring international characters could potentially support international students in their transitions to a new Western cultural and social context. Drawing on culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris, 2012), community of practices (Lave, 1996), and reader‐response theory (Rosenblatt, 1982), this article identifies a collection of picture books, qualitatively analyzes picture books’ themes and affordance for preparing international students to join dominant social conversations through literacy practices, showcases potential pedagogical applications in college ESL classrooms, and discusses implications for ESL teacher education and professional development.
MicroRNA‐577 aggravates bone loss and bone remodeling by targeting thyroid stimulating hormone receptor in hyperthyroid‐associated osteoporosis
Authors: Xu Tongdao , Zhou Ping , Li Huihua , Ding Qun , Hua Fei
Published: November 2021

Traditionally, hyperthyroid‐associated osteoporosis has been considered to be the result of increased thyroid hormone levels. The pathogenesis of hyperthyroid‐associated osteoporosis remains unclear. Thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) is closely associated with osteoporosis. Our study aimed to explore the role of TSHR and its upstream microRNA (miRNA) in hyperthyroid‐associated osteoporosis. Bioinformatics analysis (starBase and Targetscan) and a wide range of experiments including reverse‐transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction, luciferase reporter, western blot analysis of osteogenic differentiation markers including OSX, OCN, ALP, OPN, and COL1, hematoxylin and eosin staining, Alizarin Red staining assays were used to explore the function and mechanism of TSHR in hyperthyroid‐associated osteoporosis. First, we observed that TSHR was downregulated in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) isolated from rats after culture in osteogenic medium for 7 days. Functionally, overexpression of TSHR accelerates BMSC osteogenic differentiation. Mechanistically, we predicted four potential miRNAs for TSHR. MiR‐577 was validated to bind with TSHR. Rescue assays showed that miR‐577 overexpression inhibited BMSC osteogenic differentiation via targeting TSHR. In vivo experiments showed that miR‐577 aggravated bone loss and bone remodeling and our data showed that it is achieved by targeting TSHR in hyperthyroid‐associated osteoporosis. This finding may deep our understanding of the pathogenesis of hyperthyroid‐associated osteoporosis.
Quantitative and population genomics suggest a broad role of stay‐green loci in the drought adaptation of sorghum
Authors: Faye Jacques M. , Akata Eyanawa A. , Sine Bassirou , Diatta Cyril , Cisse Ndiaga , Fonceka Daniel , Morris Geoffrey P.
Published: November 2021

Drought is a major constraint on plant productivity globally. Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] landraces have evolved in drought‐prone regions, but the genetics of their adaptation is poorly understood. Here we sought to identify novel drought‐tolerance loci and test hypotheses on the role of known loci including those underlying stay‐green (Stg) postflowering drought tolerance. We phenotyped 590 diverse sorghum accessions from West Africa in 10 environments, under field‐based managed drought stress [preflowering water stress (WS1), postflowering water stress (WS2), and well‐watered (WW)] and rainfed (RF) conditions over 4 yr. Days to 50% flowering (DFLo), aboveground dry biomass (DBM), plant height (PH), and plant grain yield components (including grain weight [GrW], panicle weight [PW] and grain number [GrN] per plant, and 1000‐grain weight [TGrW]) were measured, and genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) was conducted. Broad‐sense heritability for biomass and plant grain yield was high (33–92%) across environments. There was a significant correlation between stress tolerance index (STI) for GrW per plant across WS1 and WS2. Genome‐wide association studies revealed that SbZfl1 and SbCN12, orthologs of maize (Zea mays L.) flowering genes, likely underlie flowering time variation under these conditions. Genome‐wide association studies further identified associations (n = 134; common between two GWAS models) for STI and drought effects on plant yield components including 16 putative pleiotropic associations. Thirty of the associations colocalized with Stg1, Stg2, Stg3, and Stg4 loci and had large effects. Seven lead associations, including some within Stg1, overlapped with positive selection outliers. Our findings reveal previously undescribed natural genetic variation for drought‐tolerance‐related traits and suggest a broad role of Stg loci in drought adaptation of sorghum.
Treatment of metastatic hormone‐sensitive prostate cancer
Authors: Rane Jayant K , Chowdhury Amani , Kinnaird William , Marks Gillian , Davda Reena
Published: November 2021

Men with metastatic prostate cancer have a significantly reduced median five‐year survival compared with that associated with the cancer overall. Clinical trials are exploring the most effective treatment strategies for metastatic hormone‐sensitive prostate cancer to intervene before transformation to castration‐resistant prostate cancers when options are limited.
The role of penile reconstruction in gender affirmation surgery
Authors: Lee Wai Gin , Ralph David
Published: November 2021

Genital gender affirmation surgery is becoming increasingly sought after, not least because it improves the quality of life of transmasculine individuals. A number of procedures are involved, and they should be tailored to the needs of each individual after appropriate assessment and counselling.
Gambling disorder and NHS treatment: an overview
Authors: Cooper‐Samonini Emma , Delaney Zoe , Bowden‐Jones Henrietta
Published: November 2021

Gambling disorder affects mental health and wellbeing, and has a strong association with comorbid conditions that include mental health disorders. In the absence of any large‐scale prevalence survey in recent years and the popularity of online gambling, it is important that professionals are aware of the presentation and screening tools used to identify it.
Psychological consequences of erectile dysfunction
Authors: Sheng Ziyan
Published: November 2021

Whatever the cause of erectile dysfunction, the psychosocial impact it has on individuals, and those around them, can be significant. While medication can be a simple solution, a holistic approach to treatment can often have much better outcomes.
Consequences of cervical pessary for subsequent pregnancy: follow‐up of randomized clinical trial (ProTWIN)
Authors: van Limburg Stirum E. V. J. , Zegveld S. J. , Simons N. E. , de Boer M. A. , Pajkrt E. , Mol B. W. J. , Oudijk M. A. , van 't Hooft J.
Published: November 2021

Objective

To evaluate the effect of cervical pessary, as a strategy to prevent preterm birth (PTB), on the outcome of subsequent pregnancy and maternal quality of life 4 years after the index twin pregnancy.

Methods

Between 2009 and 2012, the ProTWIN trial randomized women with a multiple pregnancy to pessary use vs standard care for the prevention of PTB. The trial showed no benefit in unselected women with a twin pregnancy, but showed a 60% reduction in poor perinatal outcomes in favor of the pessary group in the subgroup of women with a mid‐trimester short cervix (cervical length < 38 mm). All women were invited to participate in a follow‐up study 4 years after their participation in the ProTWIN trial. In this follow‐up study, maternal quality of life was assessed using the EQ‐5D‐3L questionnaire and women were asked separate questions about subsequent pregnancies. Results were compared between women who were randomized to the pessary vs the control group in the ProTWIN trial by calculating relative risk (RR) and 95% CI. Subgroup analysis was performed for women with a mid‐trimester short cervix (cervical length < 38 mm).

Results

Of the 813 women included in the ProTWIN trial, 408 (50.2%) participated in this follow‐up study, comprising 228 randomized to the pessary group and 180 to the control group in the original trial. The median interval between participation in the ProTWIN trial and participation in this follow‐up study was 4.1 (interquartile range (IQR), 3.9–7.1) years. Ninety‐eight (24.0%) participants tried to conceive after their participation in the ProTWIN trial. Of those, 22 (22.4%) women did not have a subsequent pregnancy (no difference between pessary and control groups), seven (7.1%) women had at least one miscarriage but no live birth, and 67 (68.4%) women had at least one live birth (35 in the pessary vs 32 in the control group; RR, 0.93 (95% CI, 0.8–1.07)). In two women, the pregnancy outcome was unknown. Preterm delivery (< 37 weeks of gestation) of the first live birth occurred in three women in the pessary vs one woman in the control group (all singleton; RR, 2.57 (95% CI, 0.28–23.44)). No differences were found between the pessary and control groups in the subgroup of women with mid‐trimester short cervix, but the numbers analyzed were small. The median health state index score was 0.95 (IQR, 0.82–0.95), with no difference between the pessary and control groups.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that there are no long‐term effects of pessary use on the outcome of subsequent pregnancies and maternal quality of life. Data on obstetric outcome were limited due to the small numbers. © 2021 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Comparison of postmortem whole‐body contrast‐enhanced microfocus computed tomography and high‐field magnetic resonance imaging of human fetuses
Authors: Dawood Y. , Honhoff C. , van der Post A.‐S. , Roosendaal S. D. , Coolen B. F. , Strijkers G. J. , Pajkrt E. , de Bakker B. S.
Published: November 2021

Objective

Although fetal autopsy is generally recommended to confirm or refute the antemortem diagnosis, parental acceptance of the procedure has fallen over time, mainly due to its invasiveness. Contrast‐enhanced microfocus CT (micro‐CT) and high‐field magnetic resonance imaging (HF‐MRI, ≥ 3 Tesla) have both been suggested as non‐invasive alternatives to conventional fetal autopsy for fetuses < 20 weeks of gestation. The aim of this study was to compare these two modalities in postmortem whole‐body fetal imaging.

Methods

In this study, the imaging process and quality of micro‐CT and HF‐MRI were compared using both qualitative and quantitative assessments. For the qualitative evaluation, fetal anatomy experts scored 56 HF‐MRI and 56 micro‐CT images of four human fetuses aged 13–18 gestational weeks on two components: overall image quality and the ability to recognize and assess 21 anatomical structures. For the quantitative evaluation, participants segmented manually three organs with increasing complexity to assess interobserver variability. In addition, the signal‐to‐noise and contrast‐to‐noise ratios of five major organs were determined.

Results

Both imaging techniques were able to reach submillimeter voxel size. The highest resolution of micro‐CT was 22 µm (isotropic), while the highest resolution of HF‐MRI was 137 µm (isotropic). The qualitative image assessment form was sent to 45 fetal anatomy experts, of whom 36 (80%) responded. It was observed that micro‐CT scored higher on all components of the qualitative assessment compared with HF‐MRI. In addition, the quantitative assessment showed that micro‐CT had lower interobserver variability and higher signal‐to‐noise and contrast‐to‐noise ratios.

Conclusions

Our findings show that micro‐CT outperforms HF‐MRI in postmortem whole‐body fetal imaging in terms of both quantitative and qualitative outcomes. Combined, these findings suggest that the ability to extract diagnostic information is greater when assessing micro‐CT compared with HF‐MRI images. We, therefore, believe that micro‐CT is the preferred imaging modality as an alternative to conventional fetal autopsy for early gestation and is an indispensable tool in postmortem imaging services. © 2021 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
What memory is—Not!
Authors: Fritzman J. M. , Rottschaefer William A.
Published: November 2021

Rejecting the received account, which includes procedural and semantic memory, Stanley B. Klein claims that only episodic memory is genuine memory. This is so, he asserts, because only episodic memory is partly constituted by a quale, a Nagelian “what it is like” feeling of the past. However, his actual position reveals a very different set of claims about memory, one that involves a distinctive feel, distinct from Nagelian qualia and other versions of what qualia are. We argue that Klein's actual position significantly differs from what he claims memory is. And we try to describe what Kleinian qualia should feel like. We suspect that they might not feel like anything at all.

This article is categorized under:

Psychology > Memory

Philosophy > Consciousness

Philosophy > Psychological Capacities
Designing nanoformulation for the nose‐to‐brain delivery in Parkinson's disease: Advancements and barrier
Authors: Kiran Pallavi , Debnath Sujit Kumar , Neekhra Suditi , Pawar Vaishali , Khan Amreen , Dias Faith , Pallod Shubham , Srivastava Rohit
Published: November 2021

Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons, which results in the loss of motor activity. In the management of PD, the primary aim is to increase the dopamine content in the brain either by delivering the precursors of dopamine or by inhibiting the molecules responsible for dopamine degradation. Due to the low bioavailability, a higher dosage of drugs needs to be administered repeatedly for achieving the desired therapeutic effect. This repeated high dose not only increases the severe side effects but also produces tolerance in the body. Often, direct administration of drugs fails to ameliorate the symptoms as the unmodified drugs cannot cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB). Nanotherapeutic is at the forefront of the alternative treatment against the central nervous system (CNS) disorders due to the ability to circumvents the BBB. Here, all the available treatments for PD have been discussed with their limitation. The current trends of nanotherapeutics for PD have been explored. Suitability and formulation prospects for nasal delivery have been analyzed in detail to explore new research scope. The most effective approach is the nose‐to‐brain delivery for targeting drugs directly to the brain. This delivery bypasses the BBB and concentrates more drugs at the target site. Thus, developments of nose‐to‐brain delivery of nanoformulations explicit the new scope to manage PD better.

This article is categorized under:

Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies

Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology
Hofmann‐type Metal‐Organic Framework Based Bimetal/Carbon Nanosheets for Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution
Authors: Wang Bo , Wang Xue , Yong Jiayi , Song Zhirong , Chen Jiazhen , Wang Xusheng , Gao Junkuo
Published: November 2021

The development of efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst is the key to solve the slow reaction kinetics and is of great significance for the conversion and storage of renewable energy. In this paper, bimetallic/carbon nanosheets electrocatalysts were prepared by high temperature carbonization using Hofmann‐type metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) as precursors. It is worth noting that in this study, the morphology and structure of the catalyst was successfully adjusted by surfactant, and the Co/Fe‐Dpyz@CNC (1000) catalyst obtained has a large specific surface area (316.3 m2/g) and rich exposed active centers. In addition, the coupling effect of Co and Fe bimetal optimizes the electronic structure of the graphite layer and enhances the conductivity of the catalyst. Co/Fe‐Dpyz@CNC (1000) shows excellent OER performance, the overpotential is 318 mV@10 mA cm−2, and the Tafel slope is very small in 1 M KOH, which is 62.8 mV dec−1. The results show that bimetal/carbon nanosheets are potential catalysts for OER.
A study on nanoliquid flow with irregular heat source and realistic boundary conditions: A modified Buongiorno model for biomedical applications
Authors: Areekara Sujesh , Mackolil Joby , Mahanthesh B. , Mathew Alphonsa , Rana Puneet
Published: November 2021

Titanium dioxide plays a vital role in cancer therapy methods (including photothermal therapy and photodynamic therapy), skincare products, heat exchangers, and car radiators. Therefore, the dynamics of the TiO2 nanomaterial with H2O as basefluid over a nonlinearly stretched surface is investigated. For realistic nanoliquid modeling, the conventional Buongiorno model has been improvised (called modified Buongiorno model [MBM]) by incorporating the effective thermophysical properties of the nanoliquid. Experimentally derived correlations of the thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity of the nanofluid are utilized. The significance of passive control of nanoparticles is also studied. The heat transfer analysis includes the mechanism of Rosseland heat flux and exponential heat source. Similarity theory is used to obtain nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) from the governing partial differential equations which are solved numerically using bvp5c, a finite difference‐based routine in MATLAB. Further, the heat transfer rate is statistically scrutinized for the consequence of magnetic field, thermal radiation and exponential heat source by employing Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and sensitivity analysis. The temperature of nanofluid ascends with the exponential heat source, thermal radiation, and thermophoresis aspects. Furthermore, when the MBM is utilised, the thermal field of the nanofluid is greater than when the classic Buongiorno model is used. The rate of heat transfer correlates positively with radiative heat flux. The exponential heat source exhibits a negative sensitivity towards the rate of heat transfer.
Introduction
Authors: Hettich Peter , Kachi Aya
Published: November 2021

In 2014, the Swiss Confederation established the Swiss Competence Center for Research in Energy, Society and Transition to respond to important challenges posed by the Swiss energy transition, envisaged by the so-called “Energy Strategy 2050”. This chapter reflects on the research done by the 55 researchers within SCCER CREST that decided to conduct their work under the umbrella term “energy governance”. Given the plethora of findings and recommendations that can be derived from this research and that are compiled in this volume, the authors of this chapter have discussed extensively whether all these findings can be stitched together into an integrated narrative, thereby providing guidance on how to transform an energy industry. However, connecting the research results of this volume towards an integrated narrative would necessarily be a construct. Instead, we offer some thoughts on the urge of funding agencies to have such narratives at their disposal.
Referendum Campaigns in Swiss Energy Policy
Authors: Rinscheid Adrian , Udris Linards
Published: November 2021

What are the patterns in media coverage in Swiss energy policy-making, and to what extent do the media influence voters’ decisions at the ballot? In a first step, this chapter provides a comparative investigation of media coverage in the run-up to three recent energy-related referenda (2015 initiative “Energy tax instead of VAT”; 2016 nuclear phase-out initiative; 2017 referendum on the federal Energy Strategy 2050), with 31 other referenda between 2014 and 2018 as a benchmark. Based on a content analysis of articles published in 21 Swiss newspapers, our analysis demonstrates that the three energy-policy referenda are characterized by patterns similar to non-energy votes but also have distinct features. In a second step, we specifically focus on the 2016 nuclear phase-out initiative, which was characterized by balanced newspaper reporting, and explain voting behavior by linking data on media coverage and individual-level data from a panel survey (n = 1014). The analysis relies on “linkage analysis”, a method that takes media contents as quasi-experimental stimuli to explain individual-level outcomes. We find that the failure of the phase-out initiative can be partly explained by exposure to newspaper coverage: one in four left-wing voters who had initially been in favor of the popular initiative but were exposed to strongly negative coverage about it during the “hot” campaign phase changed their initial voting intention. The analysis also suggests that the media coverage may have helped center/right-wing voters to learn about their preferred party’s position so as to align their vote choice with their political predisposition.
Decentralisation of Energy Generation, Centralisation of Energy Lawmaking
Authors: Föhse Martin
Published: November 2021

The energy sector has been subject to regulation since ancient times. The mechanisms of regulatory activity in this sector run like a red thread through history. New regulations are often born out of necessity (for example because of limited energy resources or today because of climate objectives). Switzerland’s energy law was originally a cantonal matter. Over the course of time, more and more competences have been transferred to the federal level. This, together with the increasing complexity of the subject matter of regulation, has led to a conflicting legal framework that renders it nearly impossible, even for experts, to answer everyday questions of competence with the necessary clarity and without much effort.
Governing Decentral Energy Systems
Authors: Hettich Peter
Published: November 2021

Against the backdrop of an energy system moving from vertically integrated monopolies towards a decentral system with a multitude of actors in ever-changing roles, we observe a gradual strengthening of central governance mechanisms on the nation-state and on the European level. Such a top-down approach to the governance of the energy system might have been necessary to open up energy markets to competitive processes and innovation. With social goals shifting and security of supply and environmental concerns gaining importance, the governance of the energy system has to be reshaped anew, enabling, e.g., the optimization of regional energy systems by local actors. In particular, strict unbundling rules may hinder or preclude system-serving behavior, to the detriment of all market participants and consumers. Lawmakers and regulators should provide some leeway to cooperative approaches, such as the empowerment of local actors to devise their own energy regimes.
Introduction: Stories of Science and Empire
Authors: Taylor-Pirie Emilie
Published: November 2021

In this introduction, Taylor-Pirie appraises the intersections of the ‘imaginative architecture of science and empire’ by examining how, as a fledging medical discipline at the fin de siècle, parasitology entered into significant encounters and exchanges with the literary and historical imagination. Introducing readers to Nobel Prize–winning parasitologist Ronald Ross (1857–1932), Taylor-Pirie lays the foundations for the rest of the book by examining how forms such as poetry and biography, genres such as imperial romance and detective fiction, and modes such as adventure and the Gothic together informed how tropical diseases, their parasites, and their vectors were understood in relation to race, gender, and nation. In addition to considering the contemporaneous public understanding of science, she also explores how parasitologists were often engaged in writing their own histories of the discipline, a practice that led to a predominantly white, predominantly male understanding of science that finds a legacy in gender disparities in STEM and biases in popular histories of medicine in favour of a mode of ‘heroic biography’. She provides a brief critical overview of the field of literature and science and places her methodology and the field in the context of contemporary topics like the Covid-19 pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests, and the heritage culture wars.
Analysis of Single Bacterium Dynamics in a Stochastic Model of Toxin-Producing Bacteria
Authors: Paterson Jamie , López-García Martín , Gillard Joseph , Laws Thomas R. , Lythe Grant , Molina-París Carmen
Published: November 2021

We stochastically model two bacterial populations which can produce toxins. We propose to analyse this biological system by following the dynamics of a single bacterium during its lifetime, as well as its progeny. We study the lifespan of a single bacterium, the number of divisions that this bacterium undergoes, and the number of toxin molecules that it produces during its lifetime. We also compute the mean number of bacteria in the genealogy of the original bacterium and the number of toxin molecules produced by its genealogy. We illustrate the applicability of our methods by considering the bacteria Bacillus anthracis and antibiotic treatment, making use of in vitro experimental data. We quantify, for the first time, bacterial toxin production by exploiting an in vitro assay for the A16R strain, and make use of the resulting parameterised model to illustrate our techniques.
Zur Frage der Ersetzbarkeit des Menschen durch KI in der Forschung
Authors: Gethmann Carl Friedrich
Published: November 2021

Spricht man KI als Instrument wissenschaftlicher Arbeit an, wird zugleich unterstellt, dass ein menschlicher Akteur dieses Instrument (vermeintlich) zweckgerichtet einsetzt. Mit welchem Erfolg und unter welchen Erfolgskriterien der instrumentelle Einsatz auch immer erfolgt, grundsätzlich ist der menschliche Akteur im epistemischen Prozess als solcher nicht grundsätzlich gefährdet, wenn sich seine Rolle auch ändern kann. Die Metapher von digitalen Agenten verlegt dagegen die Akteursrolle in das Instrument selbst, das begrifflich genau in diesem Moment aufhört, eines zu sein. Aus diesem Grunde ist auch der Begriff der „Autonomie“ in Bezug auf technische Artefakte allenfalls metaphorisch zu verwenden. Nur ein Akteur kann genau genommen sich selbst die Regeln des Handelns auferlegen. Ein technisches Gerät dagegen, dem die Regeln seiner Operationen vom Konstrukteur, Software-Entwickler u. a. vorgegeben werden, ist grundsätzlich „heteronom“ bestimmt, auch wenn es im Rahmen der vorgegebenen Regeln weiter „lernt“, seinen zweckgerichteten Einsatz zu optimieren. Ein digitaler Agent wäre demgegenüber der Souverän, der dank seiner künstlichen Intelligenz die Mittel bestimmte. Dieses Bild nimmt die Vorstellung in Anspruch, dass der Prozess des Generierens von Wissen prinzipiell ein regelbestimmtes Verfahren ist, also einer Methodologie folgt, dass ein solches Verfahren somit auch von einem technischen Artefakt übernommen und ohne die menschlichen Schwächen (Müdigkeit, Lustlosigkeit, Ehrgeiz, Geldgier u. a.) sogar mit größerer Perfektion ausgeführt werden kann. Sollte dieses Bild von einem regelgeleiteten Verfahren wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisproduktion jedoch unzutreffend sein, wäre auch der Gedanke der Übernahme eines solchen Verfahrens durch einen „Erkenntnisroboter“ irreführend.
Wandel und Kontinuität von Wissenschaft durch KI. Zur aktuellen Veränderung des Wissenschafts- und Technikverständnisses
Authors: Schmidt Jan C.
Published: November 2021

Diagnosen und Beschreibungen von Veränderungsprozessen sind zentral für deren Gestaltung. Im Folgenden soll erörtert werden, ob und in welcher Hinsicht sich das Wissenschaftsverständnis durch KI- und Machine Learning-Verfahren verändert: Steht eine methodologische Revolution vor der Tür oder findet sich eine Kontinuität, freilich mit modifizierten Mitteln und Instrumenten?
Auswirkungen von Digitalisierung und KI auf die wissenschaftliche Arbeit
Authors: Nitsch Verena , Buxmann Peter
Published: November 2021

Seit Jahrzehnten untersucht die arbeitswissenschaftliche Forschung die Auswirkungen des Digitalisierungstrends auf Beschäftigte und Arbeitsprozesse (siehe auch Mütze-Niewöhner und Nitsch 2020). Empirische Untersuchungen existieren bereits zu zahlreichen Funktionsbereichen (z. B. Produktion und Service) und Berufsgruppen (z. B. Elektro- und Metallberufe). Bislang liegen jedoch kaum empirische Befunde zu den Effekten der Digitalisierung auf die Arbeit von Forschenden vor. Entsprechend schwierig gestaltet sich die Aufgabe, mögliche gegenwärtige und zukünftige Auswirkungen des Digitalisierungstrends und dem Einsatz von KI auf die wissenschaftliche Arbeit und damit Beschäftigte abzuschätzen. Jedoch existieren zahlreiche Befunde zur thematisch verwandten Wissensarbeit. Es lässt sich daher davon ausgehen, dass einige dieser Befunde auf die wissenschaftliche Arbeit übertragbar sind.
Die Regulierungsperspektive von KI/BigData in der Wissenschaft
Authors: Spiecker genannt Döhmann Indra
Published: November 2021

Forschung an und mit Daten und auf der Basis von weitergehenden Informationen zur Wissensgewinnung ist allgegenwärtig, nicht erst seit Künstliche Intelligenz und Big Data (siehe dazu Kap. 10.1007/978-3-662-63449-3_1 und 10.1007/978-3-662-63449-3_2 in diesem Band) mediale Aufmerksamkeit und Forschungsetats treiben. Wird mit Daten geforscht, stehen rechtlich vor allem Belange der Privatheit und des Datenschutzes im weiteren Sinne im Raum, rechtlich abgesichert etwa durch Datenschutzrecht, Urheberrecht, Betriebs- und Geschäftsgeheimnisrecht oder in jüngerer Zeit auch Wettbewerbsrecht. Zudem treten – rechtlich bisher kaum erfasst – weitere Problembereiche wie die Qualitätssicherung, Archivierung und Zugänglichkeit von Datenbeständen, die Zugehörigkeit von Daten zu Forscher/innen bzw. deren Forschungsinstitutionen oder die Teilbarkeit und Übertragbarkeit von Rohdaten in das Sichtfeld regulatorischer Überlegungen. Eingebettet ist die Suche nach Informationen zudem fast immer in die Problematik von privaten und staatlichen Entscheidungen unter Unsicherheit, ihrer Herstellung und ihrer Kontrolle. Regulatorische Eingriffe in die Gewinnung, Nutzung und Verbreitung von Daten und des Einsatzes von Künstlicher Intelligenz in der Wissenschaft und Forschung können also aus vielerlei Perspektiven geboten sein.
Carroll contractions of Lorentz-invariant theories
Authors: Henneaux Marc , Salgado-Rebolledo Patricio
Published: November 2021

Abstract

We consider Carroll-invariant limits of Lorentz-invariant field theories. We show that just as in the case of electromagnetism, there are two inequivalent limits, one “electric” and the other “magnetic”. Each can be obtained from the corresponding Lorentz-invariant theory written in Hamiltonian form through the same “contraction” procedure of taking the ultrarelativistic limit c → 0 where c is the speed of light, but with two different consistent rescalings of the canonical variables. This procedure can be applied to general Lorentz-invariant theories (p-form gauge fields, higher spin free theories etc) and has the advantage of providing explicitly an action principle from which the electrically-contracted or magnetically-contracted dynamics follow (and not just the equations of motion). Even though not manifestly so, this Hamiltonian action principle is shown to be Carroll invariant. In the case of p-forms, we construct explicitly an equivalent manifestly Carroll-invariant action principle for each Carroll contraction. While the manifestly covariant variational description of the electric contraction is rather direct, the one for the magnetic contraction is more subtle and involves an additional pure gauge field, whose elimination modifies the Carroll transformations of the fields. We also treat gravity, which constitutes one of the main motivations of our study, and for which we provide the two different contractions in Hamiltonian form.
Subleading corrections to the S3 free energy of necklace quiver theories dual to massive IIA
Authors: Hong Junho , Liu James T.
Published: November 2021

Abstract

We investigate the S3 free energy of $$ \mathcal{N} $$
N
= 3 Chern-Simons-matter quiver gauge theories with gauge group U(N)r (r ≥ 2) where the sum of Chern-Simons levels does not vanish, beyond the leading order in the large-N limit. We take two different approaches to explore the sub-leading structures of the free energy. First we evaluate the matrix integral for the partition function in the ’t Hooft limit using a saddle point approximation. Second we use an ideal Fermi-gas model to compute the same partition function, but in the limit of fixed Chern-Simons levels. The resulting expressions for the free energy F = − log Z are then compared in the overlapping parameter regime. The Fermi-gas approach also hints at a universal $$ \frac{1}{6} $$

1
6

log N correction to the free energy. Since the quiver gauge theories we consider are dual to massive Type IIA theory, we expect the sub-leading correction of the planar free energy in the large ’t Hooft parameter limit to match higher-derivative corrections to the tree-level holographic dual free energy, which have not yet been fully investigated.
String theory at order α′2 and the generalized Bergshoeff-de Roo identification
Authors: Hronek Stanislav , Wulff Linus
Published: November 2021

Abstract

It has been shown by Marques and Nunez that the first α′-correction to the bosonic and heterotic string can be captured in the O(D, D) covariant formalism of Double Field Theory via a certain two-parameter deformation of the double Lorentz transformations. This deformation in turn leads to an infinite tower of α′-corrections and it has been suggested that they can be captured by a generalization of the Bergshoeff-de Roo identification between Lorentz and gauge degrees of freedom in an extended DFT formalism. Here we provide strong evidence that this indeed gives the correct α′2-corrections to the bosonic and heterotic string by showing that it leads to a cubic Riemann term for the former but not for the latter, in agreement with the known structure of these corrections including the coefficient of Riemann cubed.
Instability of holographic superfluids in optical lattice
Authors: Yang Peng , Li Xin , Tian Yu
Published: November 2021

Abstract

The instability of superfluids in optical lattice has been investigated using the holographic model. The static and steady flow solutions are numerically obtained from the static equations of motion and the solutions are described as Bloch waves with different Bloch wave vector k. Based on these Bloch waves, the instability is investigated at two levels. At the linear perturbation level, we show that there is a critical kc above which the superflow is unstable. At the fully nonlinear level, the intermediate state and final state of unstable superflow are identified through numerical simulation of the full equations of motion. The results show that during the time evolution, the unstable superflow will undergo a chaotic state with soliton generation. The system will settle down to a stable state with k < kc eventually, with a smaller current and a larger condensate.