bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ecological adaptability and population growth tolerance characteristics of Carex cinerascens in response to water level changes in Poyang Lake, China
Authors: Yao Xiaochen , Cao Yun , Zheng Guodi , Devlin Adam T. , Li Xiao , Li Menghan , Tang Siwen , Xu Lingming
Published: March 2021

Water level conditions are the key factors that affect the growth and distribution of wetland plants. UsingCarex cinerascens (C. cinerascens) as the study species, we employ indoor simulations and field surveys. Our results show thatC. cinerascenscan adapt to rhythmic changes in the water level through different adaptation strategies. Compared to that of the control group, plant growth was better with a 0–0.4 cm/d water level rate, and plant growth was in the 42–56 cm range to that a 1.0–1.4 cm/d water level rate. Furthermore, it was observed that 0–0.4 cm/d was the most suitable growth rate, with 0.6–1.0 cm/d and 0–32 cm being the ideal plant tolerance ranges, and increasing to 1.0–1.4 cm/d and 32–56 cm exceeds the plant tolerance threshold. In the middle and late period of the experiment (25–45 d), the ecological characteristics of the plants changed significantly. For example, the root-to-shoot ratio of the plant in the stable water level reached 26.1. In our field observations, plant biomass can be influenced by a variety of environmental factors. The frequency of the species was the largest at an elevation of 15 m, and the growth status of the dominant and companion species ofC. cinerascenswas weakened with an increase in soil moisture content. The suitable water content forC. cinerascensgrowth was 27.6–57.3%, the distribution elevation was 12.54–16.59 m, and the optimum elevation was 13.56–15.54 m. The study is expected to provide a reference for wetland ecology research and wetland protection and restoration, a theoretical reference for the coordination of water resource development and utilization of Poyang Lake and ecological protection of important lakes and wetlands, and an important scientific basis for wetland hydrologic regulation, ecological restoration and biodiversity conservation.
Energetic characterization and radiographic analysis of torrefied coated MDF residues
Authors: de Castro Paula Gabriella Surdi , de Castro Vinícius Resende , Zanuncio Antonio José Vinha , Zanuncio José Cola , Carneiro Angélica de Cássia Oliveira , Gominho Jorge , Araújo Solange de Oliveira
Published: March 2021

The use of wood panel residues as biomass for energy production is feasible. Heat treatments can improve energy properties while minimizing the emission of toxic gases due to thermoset polymers used in Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) panels. Torrefaction or pre-carbonization, a heat treatment between 200 and 300 °C with low oxygen availability accumulates carbon and lignin, decreases hygroscopicity, and increases energy efficiency. The objective of this work was to evaluate the energy parameters (immediate, structural, and elementary chemical composition, moisture content, and yield) and density in torrefied MDF panels. The torrefaction improved the energetic features of coated MDF, decreasing the moisture content, volatile matter, and consequently, concentrating the carbon with better results in the samples torrefied for 40 min. The densitometric profiles of the torrefied MDF, obtained by X-ray densitometry, showed a decrease in the apparent density as torrefaction time increased. The digital X-ray images in gray and rainbow scale enabled the most detailed study of the density variation of MDF residues.
An African tick flavivirus forming an independent clade exhibits unique exoribonuclease-resistant RNA structures in the genomic 3′-untranslated region
Authors: Harima Hayato , Orba Yasuko , Torii Shiho , Qiu Yongjin , Kajihara Masahiro , Eto Yoshiki , Matsuta Naoya , Hang’ombe Bernard M. , Eshita Yuki , Uemura Kentaro , Matsuno Keita , Sasaki Michihito , Yoshii Kentaro , Nakao Ryo , Hall William W. , Takada Ayato , Abe Takashi , Wolfinger Michael T. , Simuunza Martin , Sawa Hirofumi
Published: March 2021

Tick-borne flaviviruses (TBFVs) infect mammalian hosts through tick bites and can cause various serious illnesses, such as encephalitis and hemorrhagic fevers, both in humans and animals. Despite their importance to public health, there is limited epidemiological information on TBFV infection in Africa. Herein, we report that a novel flavivirus, Mpulungu flavivirus (MPFV), was discovered in a Rhipicephalus muhsamae tick in Zambia. MPFV was found to be genetically related to Ngoye virus detected in ticks in Senegal, and these viruses formed a unique lineage in the genus Flavivirus. Analyses of dinucleotide contents of flaviviruses indicated that MPFV was similar to those of other TBFVs with a typical vertebrate genome signature, suggesting that MPFV may infect vertebrate hosts. Bioinformatic analyses of the secondary structures in the 3′-untranslated regions (UTRs) revealed that MPFV exhibited unique exoribonuclease-resistant RNA (xrRNA) structures. Utilizing biochemical approaches, we clarified that two xrRNA structures of MPFV in the 3′-UTR could prevent exoribonuclease activity. In summary, our findings provide new information regarding the geographical distribution of TBFV and xrRNA structures in the 3′-UTR of flaviviruses.
Alternative splicing events implicated in carcinogenesis and prognosis of thyroid gland cancer
Authors: Wu Zeng-Hong , Tang Yun , Zhou Yue
Published: March 2021

Alternative splicing (AS), a critical post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism, expands gene expression patterns, thereby leading to increased protein diversity. Indeed, more than 95% of human genes undergo alternative splicing events (ASEs). In this study, we drew an all-around AS profile of thyroid cancer cells based on RNA-seq data. In total, there were 45,150 AS in 10,446 thyroid cancer cell genes derived from 506 patients, suggesting that ASEs is a common process in TC. Moreover, 1819 AS signatures were found to be significantly associated with the overall survival (OS) of TC patients. Kaplan–Meier survival analyses suggested that seven types of ASEs were associated with poor prognosis of TC (P < 0.05). Among them, exon skipping (ES) was the most common, with alternate promoter (AP) and alternate terminator (AT) coming second and third, respectively. Our results indicated that acceptor sites (AA) (AUC: 0.937), alternate donor sites (AD) (AUC: 0.965), AT (AUC: 0.964), ES (AUC: 0.999), mutually exclusive exons (ME) (AUC: 0.999), and retained intron (RI) (AUC: 0.837) exhibited an AUC greater than 0.6. In addition, age and risk score (All) were risk factors for TC patients. We also evaluated whether TC-ASEs are regulated by various splicing factors (SFs). We found that the expression of 90 SFs was associated with 469 ASEs and OS of TC patients. Our findings provide an insight into the role of spliceosomes in TC, which may offer novel perspectives in tumor research.
Relationships between disaccharidase deficiencies, duodenal inflammation and symptom profile in children with abdominal pain
Authors: Colombo Jennifer M. , Friesen Chance S. , Garg Uttam , Friesen Craig A. , Pablo William San
Published: March 2021

Abdominal pain has been associated with disaccharidase deficiencies. While relationships with individual symptoms have been assessed, relationships between disaccharidase deficiencies and symptom complexes or inflammation have not been evaluated in this group. The primary aims of the current study were to assess relationships between disaccharidase deficiency and symptoms or symptom complexes and duodenal inflammation, respectively. Patients with abdominal pain who underwent endoscopy with evaluation of disaccharidase activity levels were identified. After excluding all patients with inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, H. pylori, or gross endoscopic lesions, patients were evaluated for disaccharidase deficiency frequency. Disaccharidase were compared between patients with and without histologic duodenitis. Lastly, relationships between individual gastrointestinal symptoms or symptom complexes were evaluated. Lactase deficiency was found in 34.3% of patients and disaccharidase pan-deficiency in 7.6%. No individual symptoms or symptom complexes predicted disaccharidase deficiency. While duodenitis was not associated with disaccharidase deficiency, it was only present in 5.9% of patients. Disaccharidase deficiency, particularly lactase deficiency, is common in youth with abdominal pain and multiple deficiencies are not uncommon. Disaccharidase deficiency cannot be predicted by symptoms in this population. Further studies are needed to assess the clinical significance of disaccharidase deficiency.
Fish heating tolerance scales similarly across individual physiology and populations
Authors: Payne Nicholas L. , Morley Simon A. , Halsey Lewis G. , Smith James A. , Stuart-Smith Rick , Waldock Conor , Bates Amanda E.
Published: March 2021

Extrapolating patterns from individuals to populations informs climate vulnerability models, yet biological responses to warming are uncertain at both levels. Here we contrast data on the heating tolerances of fishes from laboratory experiments with abundance patterns of wild populations. We find that heating tolerances in terms of individual physiologies in the lab and abundance in the wild decline with increasing temperature at the same rate. However, at a given acclimation temperature or optimum temperature, tropical individuals and populations have broader heating tolerances than temperate ones. These congruent relationships implicate a tight coupling between physiological and demographic processes underpinning macroecological patterns, and identify vulnerability in both temperate and tropical species.
Isoginkgetin derivative IP2 enhances the adaptive immune response against tumor antigens
Authors: Darrigrand Romain , Pierson Alison , Rouillon Marine , Renko Dolor , Boulpicante Mathilde , Bouyssié David , Mouton-Barbosa Emmanuelle , Marcoux Julien , Garcia Camille , Ghosh Michael , Alami Mouad , Apcher Sébastien
Published: March 2021

The success of cancer immunotherapy relies on the induction of an immunoprotective response targeting tumor antigens (TAs) presented on MHC-I molecules. We demonstrated that the splicing inhibitor isoginkgetin and its water-soluble and non-toxic derivative IP2 act at the production stage of the pioneer translation products (PTPs). We showed that IP2 increases PTP-derived antigen presentation in cancer cells in vitro and impairs tumor growth in vivo. IP2 action is long-lasting and dependent on the CD8+T cell response against TAs. We observed that the antigen repertoire displayed on MHC-I molecules at the surface of MCA205 fibrosarcoma is modified upon treatment with IP2. In particular, IP2 enhances the presentation of an exon-derived epitope from the tumor suppressor nischarin. The combination of IP2 with a peptide vaccine targeting the nischarin-derived epitope showed a synergistic antitumor effect in vivo. These findings identify the spliceosome as a druggable target for the development of epitope-based immunotherapies.
Theoretical study on proton diffusivity in Y-doped BaZrO3 with realistic dopant configurations
Authors: Fujii Takeo , Toyoura Kazuaki , Uda Tetsuya , Kasamatsu Shusuke
Published: March 2021

The effect of dopant configurations on the proton diffusivity in yttrium-doped barium zirconate (BZY).
Lattice dynamics in the conformational environment of multilayered hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) results in peculiar infrared optical responses
Authors: Cigarini Luigi , Novotný Michal , Karlický František
Published: March 2021

First-principles methods offer a possible way of quantifying stacking composition in hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) experimental samples using infrared spectroscopy.
Rational design of flower-like Co–Zn LDH@Co(H2PO4)2 heterojunctions as advanced electrode materials for supercapacitors
Authors: He Miao , He Yi , Zhou Xinyi , Hu Qiang , Ding Shixiang , Zheng Qiaoji , Lin Dunmin , Wei Xijun
Published: March 2021

The device exhibits 95.3% retention in specific capacitance after 5000 cycles and possesses superior energy-storage capacity.
Nanomaterials modulating stem cell behavior towards cardiovascular cell lineage
Authors: Arzaghi Hamidreza , Rahimi Bahareh , Adel Bashir , Rahimi Golbarg , Taherian Zahra , Sanati Afsaneh L. , Shiralizadeh Dezfuli Amin
Published: March 2021

The combination of nanomaterials and stem cell research offers new approaches for the treatment of various cardiovascular diseases since the regeneration ability of cardiovascular tissues is quite limited compared to other organs.
A new imidazole based phenanthridine probe for ratiometric fluorescence monitoring of methanol in biodiesel
Authors: Sawminathan Sathish , Iyer Sathiyanarayanan Kulathu
Published: March 2021

We prepared and characterized an array of polarity-sensitive fluorescent dyes (7and 9a, 9b and 9c). for detection of methanol
Materials with aggregation-induced emission characteristics for applications in diagnosis, theragnosis, disease mechanism study and personalized medicine
Authors: Zhao Engui , Chen Sijie
Published: March 2021

In this review, we introduce the recent progress on the employment of AIE-active materials for healthcare-related applications, such as clinical diagnosis, theragnosis, disease mechanism studies and personalized medicines.
Correction: Highly stable zinc metal anode enabled by oxygen functional groups for advanced Zn-ion supercapacitors
Authors: Zou Kangyu , Cai Peng , Deng Xinglan , Wang Baowei , Liu Cheng , Luo Zheng , Lou Xiaoming , Hou Hongshuai , Zou Guoqiang , Ji Xiaobo
Published: March 2021

Correction for ‘Highly stable zinc metal anode enabled by oxygen functional groups for advanced Zn-ion supercapacitors’ by Kangyu Zou et al., Chem. Commun., 2021, 57, 528–531, DOI: 10.1039/D0CC07526D.
Ab initio screening of Pt-based transition-metal nanoalloys using descriptors derived from the adsorption and activation of CO2
Authors: Mendes Paulo C. D. , Verga Lucas G. , Da Silva Juarez L. F.
Published: March 2021

We employ density functional theory calculations to discuss the roles of morphology, chemical ordering, and composition in the adsorption and activation of CO2 on unary and binary 55-atom transition-metal nanoclusters.
The Production of Complex Syntax in Spontaneous Language by 4-Year-Old Children With Hearing Loss
Authors: Werfel Krystal L. , Reynolds Gabriella , Hudgins Sarah , Castaldo Marissa , Lund Emily A.
Published: March 2021

Purpose

Proficiency with complex syntax is important for language and reading comprehension, and production of complex syntax begins to emerge shortly after a young child begins using two-word combinations. Complex syntax production in preschool children with hearing loss who use spoken language has been explored minimally. The purpose of this study was to compare complex syntax production of 4-year-old children with hearing loss to age-matched and language-matched peers with normal hearing.

Method

Seventy-two children completed a language assessment battery, including a structured language sample. Complex syntax density and number and accuracy of productions of particular types of complex syntax were compared across three groups: 4-year-old children with hearing loss, an age-matched group of children with normal hearing, and an mean length of utterance (MLU)–matched group of children with normal hearing.

Results

Children with hearing loss had lower complex syntax density and fewer correct productions of coordinated clauses, subordinate clauses, and simple infinitives than their age-matched, but not language-matched, peers. Furthermore, children with hearing loss had lower accuracy than the age-matched group on simple infinitives and lower accuracy than both the age- and MLU-matched groups on full propositional complements and subject relative clauses.

Conclusion

Children with hearing loss exhibit delays in complex syntax acquisition as compared to their same-age peers and disruptions in development on some complex structures as compared to MLU-matched, younger children.

Supplemental Material

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14080193
Cultural Adaptation and Validation of Speech Handicap Index: A Scoping Review
Authors: Chan Hiu Fung , Ng Manwa L. , Rosen Clark A. , Schneider Sarah L.
Published: March 2021

Objectives

The Speech Handicap Index (SHI) is a self-reported speech-related quality of life assessment originally developed for measuring the psychosocial speech impact in patients with oral or pharyngeal cancer. This review article provides a scoping review of the literature on the validated SHI, with the purpose of identifying and documenting available studies and procedures for the cultural adaption and validation of SHI.

Method

Prime databases including PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar were searched for journal publications reporting validation of the SHI. Reviews and reference cross-checking were performed using a priori selection criteria. A body of literature related to SHI was scoped and publication quality was categorized independently by two investigators. After applying all the screening criteria, articles that met the eligibility criteria were included in the review.

Results

The scoping review yielded 10 articles that met the inclusion criteria presenting the SHI in eight different languages, including Dutch, U.K. English, French, Korean, Simplified Chinese (Mandarin), Lithuanian, Italian, and European Portuguese. All of them reported validity, reliability, and translation method.

Discussion and Conclusions

High reliability and validity between various language versions of the SHI were identified. The current scoping review provides a useful summary and could be a helpful precursor to a systematic review on SHI in the future.

Supplemental Material

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14082704
Is Oral Bilingualism an Advantage for Word Learning in Children With Hearing Loss?
Authors: Diego-Lázaro Beatriz de , Pittman Andrea , Restrepo María Adelaida
Published: March 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine whether oral bilingualism could be an advantage for children with hearing loss when learning new words.

Method

Twenty monolingual and 13 bilingual children with hearing loss were compared with each other and with 20 monolingual and 20 bilingual children with normal hearing on receptive vocabulary and on three word-learning tasks containing nonsense words in familiar (English and Spanish) and unfamiliar (Arabic) languages. We measured word learning on the day of the training and retention the next day using an auditory recognition task. Analyses of covariance were used to compare performance on the word learning tasks by language group (monolingual vs. bilingual) and hearing status (normal hearing vs. hearing loss), controlling for age and maternal education.

Results

No significant differences were observed between monolingual and bilingual children with and without hearing loss in any of the word-learning task. Children with hearing loss performed more poorly than their hearing peers in Spanish word retention and Arabic word learning and retention.

Conclusions

Children with hearing loss who grew up being exposed to Spanish did not show higher or lower word-learning abilities than monolingual children with hearing loss exposed to English only. Therefore, oral bilingualism was neither an advantage nor a disadvantage for word learning. Hearing loss negatively affected performance in monolingual and bilingual children when learning words in languages other than English (the dominant language). Monolingual and bilingual children with hearing loss are equally at risk for word-learning difficulties and vocabulary size matters for word learning.
Performance analysis on a cooperative transmission scheme of multicast and NOMA in cache‐enabled cellular networks
Authors: Shan Yue , Zhu Qi , Wang Ying
Published: March 2021

Caching popular contents at base stations (BSs) can effectively avoid redundant data traffic and improve backhaul capacity. Techniques such as multicast (MC) and non‐orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) can significantly improve spectral efficiency by delivering popular contents to multiple users using a single channel. Therefore, we propose a cooperative transmission scheme of MC and NOMA in cache‐enabled wireless cellular networks. First, we derive the probability mass function (PMF) of the number of channels in the MC mode as well as the joint PMF of the number of channels and number of NOMA users in the NOMA mode. Second, we analyse the successful transmission probabilities of the two modes by utilising tools from stochastic geometry. Finally, with the derived probabilities using the two modes, we obtain the total successful transmission probability based on probability theory. The quasi‐closed form expression of the successful transmission probability is obtained in a special case, where the noise is neglected, and the path‐loss exponent is set to be four. Simulation results validate the accuracy of the analysis and demonstrate the performance gain due to the proposed cooperative transmission scheme of MC and NOMA.
Time switching based, outage‐constrained, energy harvesting and energy‐efficient cooperative radio communication policy
Authors: Sharma Rahul , Bitragunta Sainath , M Aparna
Published: March 2021

In this work, the authors consider a two‐hop cooperative radio communication system that consists of energy harvesting relays. The EH relays harvest energy from its received radio frequency signal. The EH relay nodes adopt the time‐switching protocol for simultaneous EH and information processing. For the system model, the authors propose an energy‐efficient, outage‐constrained relaying policy. In it, the EH relay that harvests maximum energy forwards the information to the destination. However, the selected EH relay transmissions are outage‐constrained. For the proposed outage‐constrained collaborative EH system model, the authors present insightful analysis. Specifically, the authors derive a single integral expression for the expectation of maximum energy harvested over frequency‐flat Rayleigh fading and shadowing channel. The authors also present an insightful link outage probability analysis and asymptotic analysis in a useful scaling regime. Besides outage analysis, the authors investigate the proposed policy's performance in terms of average spectral efficiency and average energy efficiency. To validate the analytical results, the authors conduct numerical simulations. Using the numerical plots, the authors quantify the proposed policy's link outage and energy efficiency performance gains compared with benchmark policies. The proposed outage‐constrained, green cooperative communication policy and its analysis are useful for green collaborative EH systems.
Track‐to‐track association algorithm for passive multisensor system based on trajectory parameter
Authors: Ma Mingyang , Wang Dejiang , Zhang Tao , Sun He
Published: March 2021

Asynchronous sampling and the ghost point are significant issues in the track‐to‐track association (TTTA) for passive multisensor system. A TTTA algorithm is proposed based on a trajectory parameter to address these issues. According to advantages in which the trajectory information can represent the target motion state and will not change with the sampling time, we turn the TTTA problem into the trajectory parameter matching problem. First, a TTTA model is established by the heading angle and the target velocity. Then, an estimation of target velocity that is suitable for asynchronous sampling is modelled using trajectory parameters from different sensors. Furthermore, to avoid the ghost point in the data association, we use only the bearing measurement of a single sensor to derive the trajectory parameters. Finally, an assignment method is adopted to determine the correspondence between different tracks. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method compared with competing algorithms.
Extremals for a series of sub-Finsler problems with 2-dimensional control via convex trigonometry
Authors: Ardentov A.A. , Lokutsievskiy L.V. , Sachkov Yu.L.
Published: March 2021

We consider a series of optimal control problems with 2-dimensional control lying in an arbitrary convex compact set Ω. The considered problems are well studied for the case when Ω is a unit disc, but barely studied for arbitrary Ω. We derive extremals to these problems in general case by using machinery of convex trigonometry, which allows us to do this identically and independently on the shape of Ω. The paper describes geodesics in (i) the Finsler problem on the Lobachevsky hyperbolic plane; (ii) left-invariant sub-Finsler problems on all unimodular 3D Lie groups (SU(2), SL(2), SE(2), SH(2)); (iii) the problem of rolling ball on a plane with distance function given by Ω; (iv) a series of “yacht problems” generalizing Euler’s elastic problem, Markov-Dubins problem, Reeds-Shepp problem and a new sub-Riemannian problem on SE(2); and (v) the plane dynamic motion problem.
Concurrent Inverted Papilloma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma with Intradural Extension Presenting with Frontal Lobe Syndrome
Authors: Jaleel Abdul , Pavithran V. M. , Cholakkal Shanavas , Kuthampulli Vineeth Kadangot
Published: March 2021

Inverted papilloma is an uncommon tumor mostly arising from the lateral wall of the nasal cavity and displays a benign but locally aggressive behavior. Intracranial extension is an extremely rare presentation of inverted papilloma. Extension occurs either as a benign lesion or due to malignant transformation. We report a case of concurrent inverted papilloma and squamous cell carcinoma presenting with epistaxis and recent-onset altered behavior and memory impairment. After literature review of similar cases having inverted papilloma with intracranial extension, we could identify a total of 12 cases, most of which were recurrences of a primary inverted papilloma that were resected before extension into the cranial cavity. Most cases were of extradural extension, and intradural spread resulted in poor prognosis on follow-up. Concurrent inverted papilloma and squamous cell carcinoma extending into the anterior cranial fossa and frontal lobe is a very rare clinical entity and can present as frontal lobe syndrome.
Kreislaufwirtschaft: Projektbeispiel: Recycling von OP-Einweginstrumenten
Authors: Unger Daniel
Published: March 2021

Um die CO2-Emissionen zu senken, Ressourcen zu schonen und die Kosten für Kliniken zu reduzieren startete Medizinproduktehersteller ETHICON gemeinsam mit Partnern aus Hamburg ein Pilotprojekt zum Recycling von OP-Einweginstrumenten.
Admiration for Islamist groups encourages self-sacrifice through identity fusion
Authors: Gómez Á. , Bélanger J. J. , Chinchilla J. , Vázquez A. , Schumpe B. M. , Nisa C. F. , Chiclana S.
Published: March 2021

The psychological mechanisms that lead terrorists to make costly sacrifices for their ideological convictions are of great theoretical and practical importance. We investigate two key components of this process: (1) the feeling of admiration toward ingroup members making costly self-sacrifices for their ideological group, and (2) identity fusion with religion. Data collected in 27 Spanish prisons reveal that jihadists’ admiration toward members of radical Islamist groups amplifies their willingness to engage in costly sacrifices for religion in prison. This effect is produced because admiration toward radical Islamist groups has a binding effect, increasing identity fusion with religion. Five additional experiments provide causal and behavioural evidence for this model. By showing that admiration for ingroup members increases identity fusion, which in turn makes individuals prone to engage in costly pro-group behaviours, we provide insights into the emotional machineries of radicalization and open new avenues for prevention strategies to strengthen public safety.
Compensating for artifacts in scanning near-field optical microscopy due to electrostatics
Authors: Nörenberg Tobias , Wehmeier Lukas , Lang Denny , Kehr Susanne C. , Eng Lukas M.
Published: March 2021

Nanotechnology and modern materials science demand reliable local probing techniques on the nanoscopic length scale. Most commonly, scanning probe microscopy methods are applied in numerous variants and shades, for probing the different sample properties. Scattering scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM), in particular, is sensitive to the local optical response of a sample, by scattering light off an atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip, yielding a wavelength-independent lateral resolution in the order of ∼10 nm. However, local electric potential variations on the sample surface may severely affect the probe–sample interaction, thereby introducing artifacts into both the optical near-field signal and the AFM topography. On the other hand, Kelvin-probe force microscopy (KPFM) is capable of both probing and compensating such local electric potentials by applying a combination of ac and dc-voltages to the AFM tip. Here, we propose to combine s-SNOM with KPFM in order to compensate for undesirable electrostatic interaction, enabling the in situ probing of local electric potentials along with pristine optical responses and topography of sample surfaces. We demonstrate the suitability of this method for different types of materials, namely, metals (Au), semiconductors (Si), dielectrics (SiO2), and ferroelectrics (BaTiO3), by exploring the influence of charges in the systems as well as the capability of KPFM to compensate for the resulting electric force interactions.
First-principles hydration free energies of oxygenated species at water–platinum interfaces
Authors: Jinnouchi Ryosuke , Karsai Ferenc , Verdi Carla , Kresse Georg
Published: March 2021

The hydration free energy of atoms and molecules adsorbed at liquid–solid interfaces strongly influences the stability and reactivity of solid surfaces. However, its evaluation is challenging in both experiments and theories. In this work, a machine learning aided molecular dynamics method is proposed and applied to oxygen atoms and hydroxyl groups adsorbed on Pt(111) and Pt(100) surfaces in water. The proposed method adopts thermodynamic integration with respect to a coupling parameter specifying a path from well-defined non-interacting species to the fully interacting ones. The atomistic interactions are described by a machine-learned inter-atomic potential trained on first-principles data. The free energy calculated by the machine-learned potential is further corrected by using thermodynamic perturbation theory to provide the first-principles free energy. The calculated hydration free energies indicate that only the hydroxyl group adsorbed on the Pt(111) surface attains a hydration stabilization. The observed trend is attributed to differences in the adsorption site and surface morphology.
Effects of body forces on vorticity and enstrophy evolutions in turbulent premixed flames
Authors: Varma Arun Ravi , Ahmed Umair , Chakraborty Nilanjan
Published: March 2021

The effects of body forces (alternatively, the Froude number) on both vorticity and enstrophy evolutions within the flame brush have been analyzed using direct numerical simulation data of freely propagating statistically planar turbulent premixed flames subjected to different turbulence intensities. The turbulence parameters are taken to represent the thin reaction zone regime of premixed turbulent combustion. The enstrophy has been found to decay significantly from the unburned to the burned gas side of the flame brush for high turbulence intensities, and this trend becomes particularly prominent with the strengthening of the body force promoting unstable stratification. However, local instances of enstrophy generation have been observed, and in some cases, the decay of enstrophy is arrested across the flame brush for small turbulence intensities. This trend strengthens with the increasing magnitude of the body force promoting stable stratification. The enstrophy generation due to the baroclinic torque is primarily responsible for this local enstrophy generation for small turbulence intensities especially under the body force promoting stable stratification. This baroclinic torque contribution is also found to be responsible for anisotropic behavior of vorticity components within the flame brush. The vortex stretching and viscous dissipation terms have been found to be the leading order source and sink terms, respectively, in the enstrophy transport for high turbulence intensities especially in the case of body force promoting unstable stratification. However, baroclinic torque and the sink term due to dilatation rate continue to play significant roles even for high turbulence intensity cases considered here, but their relative importance increases with a decreasing turbulence intensity especially under the body force that promotes stable stratification. The surface-weighted entrainment velocity has been found to be mostly unaffected by the body force in this analysis, and a minor influence can be discerned in the case of small turbulence intensities where an unstable stratification tends to promote high negative values of entrainment velocity only toward the unburned gas side of the flame brush.
Creep and drainage in the fast destabilization of emulsions
Authors: Dekker Riande I. , Deblais Antoine , Veltkamp Bastiaan , Veenstra Peter , Kegel Willem K. , Bonn Daniel
Published: March 2021

The destabilization of emulsions is important for many applications but remains incompletely understood. We perform squeeze flow measurements on oil-in-water emulsions, finding that the spontaneous destabilization of emulsions is generally very slow under normal conditions, with a characteristic time scale given by the drainage of the continuous phase and the coalescence of the dispersed phase. We show that if the emulsion is compressed between two plates, the destabilization can be sped up significantly; on the one hand, the drainage is faster due to the application of the squeezing force. On the other hand, creep processes lead to rearrangements that also contribute to the destabilization.
The undermining of science is Trump’s legacy
Authors: Kramer David
Published: March 2021

The past four years saw interference in the scientific process, inaction on climate change, and a weakened federal science workforce. Artificial intelligence and quantum information science benefited.
A quantum leap in security
Authors: Curty Marcos , Azuma Koji , Lo Hoi-Kwong
Published: March 2021

One-photon and two-photon interferences have recently led researchers to develop new classes of quantum cryptographic protocols.
Economic impacts of chickpea grain classification: how ‘seed quality is Queen’ must be considered alongside ‘yield is King’ to provide a princely income for farmers
Authors: Wood Jennifer A. , Scott J. Fiona
Published: March 2021

Chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.) are a high value crop for farmers, but price penalties will be imposed or grain rejected whenever the standards are not met by growers whose crops suffer grain defects in a particular season. Australian chickpeas are renowned for their high quality and are generally in high demand globally because of good farming practice and strict grain quality standards. However, small quantities of defective seed in grain loads can reduce the price paid to individual farmers, with significant financial impacts. Information is scarce on the types of defects causing price penalties and there is no information on the magnitude of those penalties. An online farmer survey was conducted to capture information on the types of grain defects, price penalties imposed and load rejections with respect to the delivery of their 2017 chickpea crop. Here we show that the cost to individual chickpea farmers affected by price penalties or load rejections ranged from AU$743 to $1293750. Furthermore, the total cost of seed defects was calculated to be $154.2 million in that season, equating to a revenue loss of 23.7% of gross value of production in Australia. Chickpea seed defects also contributed to additional costs including seed cleaning, further transport costs and harvest delays, with subsequent risk of yield losses and further quality defects. Too often, crop yields are the focus while seed quality is overlooked as an essential driver of farmer profitability. We demonstrate how important seed quality is to farmer profitability; if ‘yield is King’ then seed quality is certainly Queen. We suggest that farmers prioritise harvest of their chickpea crops ahead of harvest of cereal crops to minimise the risk of chickpea seed defects and seed loss, and to maximise profits from this higher value crop. Additional surveys over several seasons are warranted to refine information on the types of seed defects occurring in chickpea and their financial impacts on farmers, and they could be expanded to other crops and countries. We suggest that misclassification of seed defects needs further exploration, as does research into minimising the major causes of seed defects. Improvements to grain classification systems globally should be sought to provide better support for farmer profitability so that they can continue to feed the world.
Interdecadal modulation of the effect of ENSO on rainfall in the southwestern Pacific
Authors: Weir Tony , Kumar Ravind , Ngari Arona
Published: March 2021

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the dominant driver of interannual variability on rainfall in many Pacific Islands and in countries bordering the tropical Pacific Ocean. From 1916 through to 1975, the correlation coefficient between the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and interannual variability in rainfall in eastern Australia was strong in negative phases of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) but weak in positive phases. By examining records of rainfall over the past hundred years in central Vanuatu and on the ‘dry side’ of Fiji, which both lie near the southern edge of the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ), we find that such modulation by IPO has been much weaker there than in eastern Australia. This paper examines possible reasons for this difference. We also find that the correlation between rainfall and the SOI remained strong throughout each of the past three phases of the IPO, in all these places, including eastern Australia. However, at Rarotonga in the southern Cook Islands, whose position is also near the southern edge of the SPCZ, but at the southeastern end, the displacement of the SPCZ by ENSO events is greater there than further west. Consequently, the correlation between rainfall and SOI is so strong at Rarotonga in El Niño years with SOI < −5 that SOI alone becomes a good predictor of wet-season rainfall there. The difference in modulation of rainfall in eastern Australia between the two positive phases of IPO (1926–1941 and 1978–1998) may be due to the influence on Australia of other climatic oscillations, such as the Indian Ocean Dipole, though other factors may also have played a role.
Basque-Spanish bilingual children’s expressive and receptive grammatical abilities
Authors: Anderson Rhiannon M. , Giezen Marcel R. , Pourquié Marie
Published: March 2021

Expressive-receptive gaps in lexical abilities have been documented for bilingual children, but few studies have investigated
whether a similar gap is observed at the grammatical level. The current study assessed grammatical abilities through sentence
production and comprehension tasks in both languages in 17 Basque-Spanish simultaneous bilingual 6- through 9-year-olds (both
languages acquired before three years of age). The children scored lower in Basque than Spanish for sentence production, but
no significant differences were found for sentence comprehension. While an expressive-receptive gap was found for both
languages, this gap was larger in Basque than in Spanish. Object-verb agreement errors were especially prevalent in Basque
production, possibly because verbs in Spanish only agree with the subject. These results demonstrate that expressive-receptive
gaps are also observed in bilingual children’s grammatical abilities and may vary depending on the structural similarity
between the two languages.
Elliptical orbit constraint of a small ring under the influence of gravity and sliding friction
Authors: Wang Yuan-Sheng , Wang Jing
Published: March 2021

We investigate the constraint problem of a small ring on non-smooth elliptical orbits. The influence mechanism of the orbital shapes on the motion velocity and constraint force of the small ring are analyzed. Taking circular orbit as an example, the influence of gravity and sliding friction on the orbital motion is given, and the results are verified by kinetic energy theorem. Finally, the characteristics of the orbital motion of the small ring at different initial velocities are analyzed.
Noether’s theorem, the Rund–Trautman function, and adiabatic invariance
Authors: Gourieux Thierry , Leone Raphaël
Published: March 2021

This article focuses on the recognition of an important quantity that will be called the Rund–Trautman function. It already plays a central role in Noether’s theorem since its vanishing characterizes a symmetry and leads to a conservation law. The main aim of the paper will be to show how, in the realm of classical mechanics, an ‘almost’ vanishing Rund–Trautman function accompanying an ‘almost’ symmetry leads to an ‘almost’ constant of motion, especially within the adiabatic hypothesis for which the ‘almostness’ in question is in some sense measured by the slowness of time-dependent parameters. To this end, the Rund–Trautman function is first introduced and analyzed in detail, then it is implemented for the general one-dimensional problem. Finally, its relevance in the adiabatic context is examined through the example of the harmonic oscillator with a slowly varying frequency. Notably, for some frequency profiles, explicit expansions of adiabatic invariants are derived through it and an illustrative numerical test is realized.
Strain-dependent optical properties of the novel monolayer group-IV dichalcogenides SiS2 semiconductor: a first-principles study
Authors: Chen Qing-Yuan , Liu Ming-Yang , Cao Chao , He Yao
Published: March 2021

We studied the structural, electronic, and optical characters of SiS2, a new type of group IV–VI two-dimensional semiconductor, in this article. We focused on monolayer SiS2 and its characteristic changes when different strains are applied on it. Results reveal that the monolayer SiS2 is dynamically stable when no strain is applied. In terms of electronic properties, it remains a semiconductor under applied strain within the range from −10% to 10%. Besides, its indirect band-gap is altered regularly after applying a strain, whereas different strains lead to various changing trends. As for its optical properties, it exhibits remarkable transparency for infrared and most visible light. Its main absorption and reflection regions lie in the blue and ultraviolet areas. The applied uniaxial strain causes its different optical properties along the armchair direction and zigzag direction. Moreover, the tensile strain could tune its optical properties more effectively than the compressive strain. When different strains are applied, the major changes are in blue and ultraviolet regions, but only minor changes can be found in infrared and visible regions. So its optical properties reveal good stability in infrared and visible regions. Therefore, SiS2 has a promising prospect in nano-electronic and nano-photoelectric devices.
Hysteresis loss calculations of 2D and 3D large-scale HTS coil models: from multi-scale method to multi-dimension method
Authors: Wang Lei , Chen Yan
Published: March 2021

Here we propose a new approach capable of calculating the hysteresis loss of 3D HTS coil models based on the modeling framework of the multi-scale method. The study enhances the multi-scale method for 2D simulations by introducing the homogenization technique to simplify the topological features of coils’ cross sections. With the simplification, a 3D A-formulation magnetostatic model is built for magnetic field estimation, while a 2D H-formulation superconducting model is solved for the tape’s current density and hysteresis loss. Since different spatial dimensions are employed in the submodels, we refer to it as the multi-dimension method. We demonstrate the data transferring between the 2D or 3D homogenized coil submodel and the 2D single-tape submodel. The benchmark results show that hysteresis losses from the developed models and reference models are in good agreement, with errors of less than 1% and 6% in simulating the target 2D solenoid coil and 3D racetrack coil, respectively. The distributions of current density and magnetic field in both models are highly consistent. Meanwhile, the developed models speed up the calculations by one to five times compared with the reference models. Due to the easy calculation of 3D magnetostatic models and 2D superconducting models, the multi-dimension method may pave a new way to 3D electromagnetic simulations for larger-scale and more complex high temperature superconducting conductors and coils.
Local affection of weak gravitational field from supercondensates
Authors: Gallerati Antonio
Published: March 2021

We study the mutual interaction between a superconducting sample and the weak, static Earth’s gravitational field, exploiting the gravito-Maxwell formalism combined with the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau model. We will also determine the appropriate conditions to enhance the desired gravity/superfluid interplay, analysing the effects of thermal fluctuations and optimizing the superconductor parameters and sample geometry.
Investigation on the Effect of the Feature Extraction Backbone for Small Object Segmentation using Fully Convolutional Neural Network in Traffic Signs Application
Authors: Elhawary H M , Shapiaib M I , Elfakharany A
Published: March 2021

Small objects are widely found in different applications such as traffic signs and to segment those objects make it difficult to extract features due to the small number of pixels. Previous research has been done to show how error prone the semantic segmentation networks to small objects in variance of application such as medical images and remote sensing and how it leads to class imbalance. However, small object segmentation seems to be tricky and making the network struggle. Recently there are small amount of research has been done in the effect of the feature extraction backbone to the small object datasets. In this paper we investigate the effect of different backbone feature extraction such as AlexNet, VGGNet, GoogleNet on an imbalanced small objects dataset after grouping them by shape and colour in the Fully Convolutional Networks (FCN). We measure the performance on PASCAL VOC and Malaysian Traffic Sign Dataset (MTSD) showing the pixel accuracy, mean accuracy per class, mean IoU and frequency weighted IoU for each backbone and FCN. The results show that VGGNet as a backbone with Cross Entropy (CE) combined with Dice Loss (DL) achieves the highest score in mean IoU for imbalanced dataset but not for balanced dataset. However, in the imbalanced dataset major classes have a higher probability to confuse with minor classes due to the class imbalance. In conclusion we investigate different backbone networks with grouped labels dataset in shape and colour and we recommend using VGGNet FCN with CE combined with DL for imbalanced datasets.