bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Extreme drought reduces climatic disequilibrium in dryland plant communities
Authors: Pérez‐Navarro María Á. , Serra‐Diaz Josep M. , Svenning Jens‐Christian , Esteve‐Selma Miguel Ángel , Hernández‐Bastida Joaquin , Lloret Francisco
Published: February 2021

High rates of climate change are currently exceeding many plant species' capacity to keep up with climate, leading to mismatches between climatic conditions and climatic preferences of the species present in a community. This disequilibrium between climate and community composition could diminish, however, when critical climate thresholds are exceeded, due to population declines or losses among the more mismatched species. Here, we assessed the effect of an extreme drought event on rich semiarid shrubland communities in the south‐eastern Iberian Peninsula. Using a community climate framework, we compared the community climatic disequilibrium before and after the drought episode on three study sites with different levels of precipitation. Disequilibrium was estimated as the difference between observed reference climate and community‐inferred climate, calculated as the mean climatic optimum for the species present, weighted by their abundances. We found that extreme drought embedded within a decadal trend of increasing aridity led to a significant reduction in community climatic disequilibrium, and that this reduction was positively related to water deficit (low P/PET values). In contrast, microhabitat variables such as vegetation cover or slope, did not emerge as significant predictors of changes in community climatic disequilibrium. Our study highlights that extreme drought events pushing communities in the same direction as climate trends may decrease community climatic mismatch, leading to communities more adapted to aridity through loss of drought‐sensitive species. These findings underscore that extreme events will play a crucial role in speeding up climate‐induced community transformations and biodiversity losses.
Modified forms of Tscherning ellipses
Authors: Atchison David A.
Published: February 2021

Third‐order equations are well known for determining sagittal and tangential powers of a thin lens, corresponding to an eye rotating behind a lens to view objects away from the optical axis of the lens. These equations are referenced to the back surface of the lens and do not take into account the peripheral thickness of the lens. They do not give the same results as finite raytracing at small angles in which powers are referenced to the vertex sphere, which is the same distance from the centre‐of‐rotation for all object angles. Modified forms of the third‐order sagittal and tangential image vergence error equations are developed to overcome the discrepancies. These are used to determine Tscherning ellipses for zero oblique astigmatism and zero mean oblique power error. While solutions to oblique astigmatism are not affected by the modifications, there are considerable changes to mean oblique error solutions.
Single‐dose oral challenges to validate eliciting doses in children with cow’s milk allergy
Authors: Turner Paul J. , d'Art Yvonne M. , Duca Bettina , Chastell Sophia A. , Marco‐Martin Guadalupe , Vera‐Berrios Rosialzira N. , Alvarez Olaya , Bazire Raphaëlle , Rodríguez del Río Pablo , Vazquez‐Ortiz Marta , Baumert Joseph L. , van Ree Ronald , Mills Clare E. N. , Fernandez‐Rivas Montserrat , Hourihane Jonathan O'B.
Published: February 2021

Background

There is increasing interest in the use of eliciting doses (EDs) to inform allergen risk management. The ED can be estimated from the distribution of threshold doses for allergic subjects undergoing food challenges within a specified population. Estimated ED05 values for cow's milk (the dose expected to cause objective allergic symptoms in 5% of the milk‐allergic population) range from 0.5 mg to 13.9 mg cow's milk protein. We undertook a single‐dose challenge study to validate a predicted ED05 for cow's milk of 0.5 mg protein.

Methods

Participants were recruited from 4 clinical centres. Predetermined criteria were used to identify patients reacting to 0.5 mg cow's milk protein (approximately 0.015 mL of fresh cow's milk). Children over 1 year underwent formal challenge to cow's milk to confirm clinical reactivity.

Results

172 children (median age 6.0 (IQR 0.7‐11) years, 57% male) were included in this analysis. Twelve (7.0%, 95% CI 3.7%‐11.9%) children experienced objective symptoms that met the predetermined criteria. One participant had mild anaphylaxis that responded to a single dose of adrenaline, the remainder experienced only mild symptoms with no treatment required. We did not identify any baseline predictors of sensitization that were associated with objective reactivity to the single‐dose challenge using 0.5 mg cow's milk protein.

Conclusions

These data support an estimated ED05 for cow's milk of 0.5 mg protein. Values for ED05 above 0.5 mg for cow's milk protein proposed for allergen risk management need to be reviewed.
Self‐Authorship and the Claim Against Interference
Authors: Davis Ryan W.
Published: February 2021

We can imagine agents who would have the moral status to demand contractualist justification but still lack an especially strong claim against interference. In contrast, agents who can conceive of their lives in a temporally unified way have a distinctive, strong interest in non‐interference. This contrast helps illuminate the moral importance of self‐authorship. The upshot is that ordinary persons have a more general and less variable right against interference than is often supposed. Self‐authorship can also help appreciate the sense in which the value of persons may be characterized as ‘self‐existent’.
Genome‐wide association study of soybean (Glycine Max) phosphorus deficiency tolerance during the seedling stage
Authors: Chao Shengqian , Du Wenkai , Lu Tian , Yang Yuming , Wang Kaiqiang , Du Haiping , Cheng Hao , Yu Deyue
Published: February 2021

Phosphorus (P) is essential for plant growth, especially for soybean. P deficiency results in a severe decline of soybean productivity worldwide. Biomass is an important index to measure the tolerance of plants to low P. In this study, SNPs significantly associated with four P deficiency tolerance‐related traits were identified by genome‐wide association study (GWAS) using a natural population comprised of 272 soybean accessions from a wide geographic range and a high‐density NJAU 355K SoySNP array. As a result, four SNPs associated with RPDW (ratio of root dry weight under normal P condition and low P condition) with similar positions on chromosome 18 were identified and explained 24.71% to 30.89% of the phenotypic variation. One of these SNPs was identified in two environments and with two traits. Two genes were chosen as candidate genes responding to low P stress, one of which was annotated as a copper transporter and the other was annotated as a lipid transfer protein. In brief, these findings will be helpful for improving P efficiency and the marker‐assisted selection breeding in soybean.
Job satisfaction among physicians providing health care to the elderly in Japan: a qualitative study
Authors: Saif‐Ur‐Rahman KM , Onishi Joji , Mamun Razib , Suenaga Haruki , Chiang Chifa , Hirakawa Yoshihisa
Published: February 2021

Background

Physicians' job satisfaction plays an important role in service delivery. Japan is a country with a higher number of elderly people and their medical care is a crucial issue. To date, no study has been conducted on the job satisfaction of geriatricians serving the elderly in Japan. This study aims to explore the job satisfaction and motivation of physicians providing health care to the elderly working at different hospitals in Japan.

Methods

In‐depth interview of 23 geriatric physicians was conducted and data were coded and analysed. Qualitative content analysis was conducted to identify the response themes.

Results

Three major themes emerged from the analysis and they are: satisfaction as a primary care provider, career development, and suitable communication with patients. Geriatric physicians enjoy their work with inter‐professional collaboration and are satisfied to provide primary health care to elderly people. Geriatrics is a very promising career to them and they enjoy the communication and empathetic doctor‐patient relationship in their service.

Conclusions

Japanese physicians providing health care to the elderly are enjoying their work due to a suitable environment, multi‐professional collaboration, work‐life balance, and patient‐doctor relationship.
Elucidating stratovolcano construction from volcaniclastic mass‐flow deposits: The medial ring‐plain of Taranaki Volcano, New Zealand
Authors: Zemeny Aliz , Procter Jonathan , Németh Károly , Zellmer Georg F. , Zernack Anke V. , Cronin Shane J.
Published: February 2021

Long‐lived stratovolcanoes display a thick volcanic apron surrounding the edifice. This sedimentary succession incorporates the majority of the deposits from both growth and destruction phases of a volcanic massif. The ring plain of Taranaki Volcano (>200 ka) is composed of volcaniclastic mass‐flow deposits that are exceptionally well‐exposed along its coastal‐cliff shoreline, at 20 to 30 km distance from the edifice. Overall, the volcaniclastic deposits in the southern and south‐western sector record three growth phases (65 to 34 ka) which can be investigated due to access and stratigraphic control of the ring‐plain section. Each cyclic growth phase is represented by a sequence of mass‐flow deposits. Lithostratigraphic units or repeated packages with similar properties were identified in order to understand the depositional sequences. The mass‐flow units within these growth phases can be described by three criteria subdivided into nine distinct sedimentological textural types (for example, massive, graded, etc.), five different lithological types (for example, lithic‐dominated, polylithological, etc.) and three main physiographic facies types (sheet, overbank and channel). The mass‐flow deposits can then be further categorized through a classification scheme by assigning these three criteria. Widely distributed lithic‐dominated hyperconcentrated‐flow deposits were recognized, which are thought to be directly or indirectly associated with eruption‐fed events (remobilized from 'block and ash' flows) providing evidence for eruptive activity occurring on a 4 to 10 kyr cycle. Therefore, this study proposes classification criteria for mass‐flow deposits in volcanic ring‐plains using a developed three‐part coding system. The study also aims to clarify the order of sedimentary and volcanic events by establishing a stratigraphic model for the investigated time‐period offering a better understanding for future research.
Toward a Viable Progressive Third Party (Revisited)
Authors: Martin Jonathan H.
Published: February 2021

This article reviews and updates observations made in an earlier piece entitled “Toward a Viable Progressive Third Party in 2020 and Beyond” (Martin 2020).
Live free and die: Expanding the terror management health model for pandemics to account for psychological reactance
Authors: Dimoff John D. , Dao Angela N. , Mitchell Jodie , Olson Alexandra
Published: February 2021

According to the terror management health model (TMHM), life‐threatening health conditions have the potential to make people think about death, which triggers anxiety and motivates people to engage in defensive behaviors that may or may not facilitate health. This model has been used to explain health‐defeating reactions to the COVID‐19 pandemic (e.g., intentional nonadherence to mitigation guidelines) and to inform recommendations for current and future public health campaigns. Unfortunately, these recommendations do not account for psychological reactance, an aversive motivational state known to undermine persuasive messages. For this reason, we argue that the TMHM for pandemics is incomplete in its current form and should be expanded to account for reactance processes. We also highlight two reactance‐reducing strategies (inoculation messages and restoration postscripts) that could potentially increase the efficacy of the public health messages proposed by the TMHM for pandemics. We conclude with a discussion of how psychological reactance theory can augment the TMHM more broadly. Overall, we hope to illustrate both the utility and feasibility of considering more than one theoretical approach when designing empirically supported public health messages.
Organic fertilizer enhances rice growth in severe saline–alkali soil by increasing soil bacterial diversity
Authors: Zhang Zhengkun , Liu Hong , Liu Xiaoxiao , Chen Yong , Lu Yang , Shen Minchong , Dang Keke , Zhao Yu , Dong Yuanhua , Li Qiyun , Li Jiangang
Published: February 2021

The northeast region of China is an important grain‐growing area. However, severe soil salinization in the region impairs plant production. In the present study, organic fertilizer application (composted poultry manure) was evaluated as a potential strategy for remediating saline–alkali soil and promoting rice growth. Following continuous organic fertilizer application for 4 years, the contents of basic cations, including sodium (Na+) and chlorine cations (Cl−), decreased significantly (p < .05) (soil Na + decreased from 24.3 mg kg−1to 21.8 mg kg−1and soil Cl‐decreased from 570.4 mg kg−1to 38.5 mg kg−1), while soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), available nitrogen (AN) and available potassium (AK) were markedly increased (especially for soil AK, which increased from 85.8 mg kg−1to 141.7 mg kg−1) compared to the treatment without organic fertilizer application. In addition, the relative abundance of plant growth‐promoting bacteria such asThiobacillius, Methylobacter, Rhodoferax, LysobacterandFlavobacteriumincreased significantly, whereas halophilic genera (Nitriliruptor, Mongoliicoccus, Litoribacter, HalomonasandAliidiomarina) decreased markedly. Bacterial diversity also increased significantly, with data analysis suggesting that such shifts translated into more abundant plant‐growth‐related gene functions. According to structural equation modelling results, soil bacterial diversity was a key factor driving the maintenance of healthy plant growth in saline–alkali soil. These results suggested that organic fertilizers could improve the physicochemical properties of saline–alkali soil by altering interactions between rice plants and bacteria, for example, via the recruitment of specific beneficial microbial communities to increase their salinity–alkali stress tolerance, and, in turn, promote their growth.
Trajectory similarity measurement: An enhanced maximal travel match method
Authors: Karami Fahime , Malek Mohammad Reza
Published: February 2021

Trajectory similarity measurement is a vital and widely used step in many applications, including recommendation systems. In the discipline of similarity measurement, research has mostly been focused on raw trajectories, consisting of location and time‐stamp information. Due to the explosion in the use of the internet and location‐based social networks, raw trajectories can be easily enriched with semantic information. Nevertheless, few attempts have been made to apply semantic and location information during similarity measurement. In light of this, we present a new similarity measure called the enhanced maximal travel match (EMTM) in this article. The proposed EMTM improves on conventional maximal travel match (MTM) methods by simultaneously considering the location and place category as the most basic semantic information. EMTM first generates a new place category‐location hierarchical framework (CLHF) for each trajectory. Subsequently, it identifies MTMs at each layer of hierarchy to explore the similarity between each pair of CLHFs. Finally, the proposed method calculates similarity scores based on the identified MTMs. In experiments on a Foursquare data set, EMTM outperformed the conventional MTM methods by more than 50% in terms of mean average precision. Additionally, EMTM was the most accurate technique among four state‐of‐the‐art methods.
Breastfeeding and drugs
Authors: Mullin Sadie , Burden Christy , Standing Judith , Neuberger Francesca
Published: February 2021

Key content

Most commonly used medications such as paracetamol, most antibiotics and inhalers are considered safe for women to use during lactation.

Most drugs taken by a breastfeeding woman will be expressed in small volumes in the breast milk. The amount depends on several factors, including the drug dose, the size of the molecule, the protein binding and lipid solubility of the drug, the age of the infant and volume of milk consumed.

Data regarding short‐term and long‐term effects of maternal medication use on breastfed infants are limited.

There is no direct evidence of impaired lactation with most commonly used medications, but some medications, such as decongestants (pseudoephedrine/phenylephrine), high‐dose diuretics and the combined oral contraceptive pill, may inadvertently adversely affect maternal milk supply.

Women need accurate and balanced advice regarding safety of medication in breastfeeding to avoid early or inappropriate cessation of medications in the lactation period.

Learning objectives

Understand the pharmacokinetics of common medications used in the lactation period.

Understand the impact of drugs on the breastfed infant.

Be familiar with the current literature on drug safety and lactation to enable appropriate counselling.
Options for acquiring motherhood in absolute uterine factor infertility; adoption, surrogacy and uterine transplantation
Authors: Jones Benjamin P , Ranaei‐Zamani Niccole , Vali Saaliha , Williams Nicola , Saso Srdjan , Thum Meen‐Yau , Al‐Memar Maya , Dixon Nuala , Rose Gillian , Testa Giuliano , Johannesson Liza , Yazbek Joseph , Wilkinson Stephen , Richard Smith J
Published: February 2021

Key content

Following the diagnosis of absolute uterine factor infertility (AUFI), women may experience considerable psychological harm as a result of a loss of reproductive function and the realisation of permanent and irreversible infertility.

Adoption enables women with AUFI, and their partners, to experience social and legal parenthood, also often providing benefits for the adopted child.

Surrogacy offers the opportunity to have genetically related offspring. Outcomes are generally positive in both surrogates and the children born as a result.

Uterine transplantation is the only option to restore reproductive anatomy and functionality. While associated with considerable risk, it allows the experience of gestation and the achievement of biological, social and legal parenthood.

Learning objectives

To gain an understanding of the routes to parenthood available for women with AUFI experiencing involuntary childlessness, such as adoption, surrogacy and, most recently, uterine transplantation

To consider a suggested management plan to facilitate counselling in women with AUFI who experience involuntary childlessness.

Ethical issues

In the UK, while the number of children requiring adoption continues to increase, the number being adopted from care is decreasing.

Some cultures may hold ethical or religious beliefs that surrogacy is unacceptable, and its legal position in many jurisdictions is problematic.

Restrictive selection criteria and high costs may limit future availability of uterine transplantation
Magnetic resonance imaging findings and clinical management of suspected intracranial hypovolemia after transfrontal craniotomy in a dog
Authors: Cloquell Ana , Kaczmarska Adriana , Gutierrez‐Quintana Rodrigo , José‐López Roberto
Published: February 2021

Objective

To report the diagnosis and clinical management of a case of suspected intracranial hypovolemia (IH) in a dog after resection of a large fronto‐olfactory chordoid meningioma.

Study design

Clinical case report.

Animal

One 8‐year‐old border collie with forebrain neurological signs caused by a fronto‐olfactory extra‐axial mass diagnosed by using MRI.

Methods

The dog underwent bilateral transfrontal craniotomy for excision of the mass by using ultrasonic aspiration. Immediate postsurgical MRI revealed complete gross resection with no evidence of early‐onset complications such as edema, hemorrhage, mass effect, or pneumoencephalus. However, diffuse symmetric meningeal thickening and contrast enhancement were noted. No complications were noted during surgery or while under anesthesia.

Results

Neurological deterioration was observed postoperatively. No abnormalities were detected systemically. Thus, early MRI‐confirmed findings and neurological deterioration were suspected to be caused by IH. Conservative treatment consisting of bed rest, gabapentin, and intravenous theophylline was then initiated in addition to steroids, antiepileptic drugs, and antibiotics. A gradual neurological improvement was observed, and the dog was discharged completely ambulatory with moderate proprioceptive ataxia 15 days after surgery.

Conclusion

The clinical and MRI‐confirmed findings reported here are consistent with IH, a well‐described syndrome in man. This is the first report of a dog with MRI‐confirmed findings consistent with IH describing subsequent response to medical management.

Clinical significance

Intracranial hypovolemia after craniotomy should be considered when there is neurological deterioration and characteristic MRI‐confirmed findings.
Pulsed dye laser versus ablative fractional CO2 laser in treatment of old hypertrophic scars: Clinicopathological study
Authors: Elgarhy Lamia Hamouda , El‐Tatawy Rania Ahmed , Abdelaziz Dareen , Dogheim Noha Nabil
Published: February 2021

There is a continuous need to find out the best treatment for old hypertrophic scars (OHSs). Thirty patients with OHSs were included. Each scar was divided into right half treated with PDL (handpiece with a 7‐mm spot, pulse duration of 1.5 ms and fluence of 6 J/cm2) and left half treated with FrCo2 laser (15 W, spacing 800 μm, dwelling time 600 μs and stack 3) once every month for three sessions. Scars were assessed before and after treatment clinically by Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) and histologically using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), Masson trichrome and orcein stains. Both halves showed statistically significant improvement after treatment. However, there was no statistically significant difference in VSS between them (P = 0.176). FrCo2 laser showed more significant improvement in pliability and height (Pp = 0.017, Ph = 0,011), while, PDL showed more significant improvement in vascularity (P = 0.039) of OHSs. Both PDL and ablative FrCo2 laser were effective in the treatment of OHSs, however, FrCo2 laser was more effective in improving OHSs pliability, and height which are the main concern in OHSs.
Creating Complexity in the Elementary Mathematics Classroom
Authors: Throop Robinson Evan
Published: February 2021

Complexity thinking provides a unique perspective on classroom interactions, student engagement and classroom management as well as insight into innovative pedagogies for teachers in the elementary mathematics classroom. A novel meeting strategy for classroom organization offers teachers the opportunity to observe complexity in action and to promote student participation through mathematical conversations thereby building the learning community and fostering the discourse of mathematics. The intervention of mathematical conversations created conditions for complexity in an elementary classroom and provided qualitative data for analysis. Transcripts and classroom mapping showed increased student engagement with students afforded more freedom, mobility and choice to host or participate in small-group conversations. An analytic framework indicated three types of conversations emerging: sharing information, building knowledge and exploring possibilities as well as instances of blocking behavior. Findings suggest possibilities for building student capacity for conversation skills, disciplinary integration and differentiating learning significantly for students.
Synthesis of Narrowly Dispersed Block Copolymer of Butyl Acrylate and Acrylic Acid in a Solution Acquiring Colloidal Properties during Cooling
Authors: Shushunova N. Yu. , Troitskii B. B. , Chesnokov S. A. , Kovylina T. A. , Konev A. N.
Published: February 2021

The homophase polymerization of acrylic acid is carried out in a solution of poly(butyl acrylate) trithiocarbonate (PBATC) in a mixed solvent 2-propanol–water. The phase diagram of the three-component PBATC-2-propanol–water system at 22°C is obtained. The homophase region of the compositions of semidilute solutions is determined. The homophase polymerization of AA in the three-component system at 70°C, in which the mixed solvent with respect to PBATC is similar in thermodynamic quality to the θ-solvent at 22°, yields solutions of the narrowly dispersed block copolymer butyl acrylate–acrylic acid. The content of the block copolymer in solutions is 15–23%, the MW of the copolymer is 10–20 × 103, and the polydispersity coefficient is 1.12–1.16. As evidenced by dynamic light scattering, under normal conditions, the solutions contain nanoparticles with a diameter of up to 50 nm with a narrow size distribution.
Modeling paludification and fire impacts on the forest productivity of a managed landscape using valuable indicators: the example of the Clay Belt
Authors: Schab Alexis , Gauthier Sylvie , Pascual Jesus , Valeria Osvaldo , Bergeron Yves , Raulier Frédéric
Published: February 2021

In areas sensitive to forest management, paludification and successive disturbances in boreal forest can affect forest regeneration negatively, sometimes resulting in stand opening. As these negative effects on forest productivity are not fully considered in strategic management planning, a new landscape dynamics model integrating fire, paludification, forest harvesting, and regeneration failure was used to assess these impacts in a large forest management unit (10 828 km2) of northwestern Québec. Two reforestation scenarios, one based on the accessibility of the areas to be treated and the other aimed at restoring all burned and paludified areas to production were compared with one with no intervention. The success of the scenarios was evaluated using the predicted volume harvested, the proportion of closed or opened stands areas, which is an indicator of productivity, and the cost of reforestation and the royalties associated with harvesting. Harvesting the paludified areas without reforesting would lead to a sharp increase in open stands areas (+17.3%). The strategy of reforesting accessible areas is the most promising for achieving sustainable forest management targets. The monitoring of maximum potential volume and the closed forest area as indicators of landscape productivity provides the ability to anticipate problems earlier than with the conventional forest planning indicators.
On mathematical analysis of a discrete electrical lattice with nonlinear dispersion
Authors: Elhassanein A. , Owyed S. , Abdou M. A. , Inc Mustafa
Published: February 2021

In this paper, we consider the discrete electrical lattice with nonlinear dispersion described by Salerno equation, Fig. 1. Stability of equilibrium points, limit cycles and flip and Hopf bifurcations of the system are discussed. New exact solutions of a continuous approximation of the discrete system in the upper forbidden band gap are obtained by two methods, namely, [Formula: see text]-expansion function method and [Formula: see text] expansion method. Numerical simulation is used to follow the dynamics of the system and to investigate its physical properties.
Weighted average geodesic distance of Vicsek network in three-dimensional space
Authors: Liu Yan , Dai Meifeng , Guo Yuanyuan
Published: February 2021

Fractal generally has self-similarity. Using the self-similarity of fractal, we can obtain some important theories about complex networks. In this paper, we concern the Vicsek fractal in three-dimensional space, which provides a natural generalization of Vicsek fractal. Concretely, the Vicsek fractal in three-dimensional space is obtained by repeatedly removing equilateral cubes from an initial equilateral cube of unit side length, at each stage each remaining cube is divided into [Formula: see text] smaller cubes of which [Formula: see text] are kept and the rest discarded, where [Formula: see text] is odd. In addition, we obtain the skeleton network of the Vicsek fractal in three-dimensional space. Then we focus on weighted average geodesic distance of the Vicsek fractal in three-dimensional space. Take [Formula: see text] as an example, we define a similar measure on the Vicsek fractal in three-dimensional space by weight vector and calculate the weighted average geodesic distance. At the same time, asymptotic formula of weighted average geodesic distance on the skeleton network is also obtained. Finally, the general formula of weighted average geodesic distance should be applicable to the models when [Formula: see text], the base of a power, is odd.
Lump and optical dromions for paraxial nonlinear Schrödinger equation
Authors: Rizvi Syed Tahir Raza , Seadawy Aly R. , Younis Muhammad , Javed Irum , Iqbal Hadiqa
Published: February 2021

In this paper, we obtain lump soliton solutions for paraxial nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) with the aid of Hirota bilinear method (HBM). Lump soliton solutions are rational functions localized in all directions in the space. We also get optical dromions for paraxial NLSE by using the modified extended Tanh method. We get domain walls, singular dromions and combined dark-singular dromions. We also list the constraint conditions.
Merging and Prioritizing Optimization in Block I/O Scheduling of Disk Storage
Authors: Li Hui , Liao Jianwei , Liu Xiaoyan
Published: February 2021

I/O merging optimization at the block I/O layer of disk storage is widely adopted to reduce I/O response time. But it may result in certain overhead of merging judgment in the case of a large number of concurrent I/O requests accessing disk storage, and place negative effects on the response of small requests. This paper proposes a divide and conquer scheduling scheme at the block layer of I/O stack, to satisfy a large number of concurrent I/O requests with less I/O response time and ensure the fairness of each request response by decreasing the average I/O latency. First, we propose a horizontal visibility graph-based approach to cluster relevant block requests, according to their offsets (i.e., logic block numbers). Next, it carries out the optimization operation of merging consecutive block I/O requests within each cluster, as only these requests in the same cluster are most likely to be issued by a specific application. Then, we have introduced the functionality of merging judgment when performing merging optimization to effectively guarantee the average I/O response time. After that, the merged requests in the queue will be reordered on the basis of their priorities, to purposely cut down the average I/O response time. Finally, the prioritized requests are supposed to be delivered to the disk storage, for being serviced. Through a series of experiments, we show that compared to the benchmark, the newly proposed scheme can not only cut down the I/O response time by more than 18.2%, but also decrease the average I/O response time up to 71.7%.
Quandle coloring quivers of surface-links
Authors: Kim Jieon , Nelson Sam , Seo Minju
Published: February 2021

Quandle coloring quivers are directed graph-valued invariants of oriented knots and links, defined using a choice of finite quandle [Formula: see text] and set [Formula: see text] of endomorphisms. From a quandle coloring quiver, a polynomial knot invariant known as the in-degree quiver polynomial is defined. We consider quandle coloring quiver invariants for oriented surface-links, represented by marked graph diagrams. We provide example computations for all oriented surface-links with ch-index up to 10 for choices of quandles and endomorphisms.
Semiclassical and quantum shell-structure calculations of the moment of inertia
Authors: Gorpinchenko D. V. , Magner A. G. , Bartel J.
Published: February 2021

Shell corrections to the moment of inertia (MI) are calculated for a Woods–Saxon potential of spheroidal shape and at different deformations. This model potential is chosen to have a large depth and a small surface diffuseness which makes it resemble the analytically solved spheroidal cavity in the semiclassical approximation. For the consistent statistical-equilibrium collective rotations under consideration here, the MI is obtained within the cranking model in an approach which goes beyond the quantum perturbation approximation based on the nonperturbative energy spectrum, and is therefore applicable to much higher angular momenta. For the calculation of the MI shell corrections [Formula: see text], the Strutinsky smoothing procedure is used to obtain the average occupation numbers of the particle density generated by the resolution of the Woods–Saxon eigenvalue problem. One finds that the major-shell structure of [Formula: see text], as determined in the adiabatic approximation, is rooted, for large as well as for small surface deformations, in the same inhomogenuity of the distribution of single-particle states near the Fermi surface as the energy shell corrections [Formula: see text]. This fundamental property is in agreement with the semiclassical results [Formula: see text] obtained analytically within the non perturbative periodic orbit theory for any potential well, in particular for the spheroidal cavity, and for any deformation, even for large deformations where bifurcations of the equatorial orbits play a substantial role. Since the adiabatic approximation, [Formula: see text], with [Formula: see text] the distance between major nuclear shells, is easily obeyed even for large angular momenta typical for high-spin physics at large particle numbers, our model approach seems to represent a tool that could, indeed, be very useful for the description of such nuclear systems.
Phenomenological analysis of ΔI = 4 bifurcation and identical superdeformed bands
Authors: Dadwal Anshul
Published: February 2021

For the first time, a systematic study of identical superdeformed (SD) bands in [Formula: see text] mass region is made, where [Formula: see text] bifurcation is present. Four pairs of identical SD bands viz. [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] mass region and [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] mass region have been systematically studied. The present systematic study provides the universal description of the identical SD bands in various mass regions. We presented the empirical evidence of a similar structure of identical SD bands in various mass regions. For this purpose, we have used various rotational energy formulae. The free parameters are extracted from four identical SD bands. The [Formula: see text] bifurcation in identical SD bands is calculated from shape fluctuation formulae. For the first time, this shape fluctuation model is employed to calculate the [Formula: see text] bifurcation, making it an alternate powerful tool to study SD bands of various mass regions.
Integral trace form of extensions of degree pq
Authors: Moro Eliton M. , Andrade Antonio A. , Alves Carina
Published: February 2021

In this work, we present the integral trace form [Formula: see text] of a cyclic extension [Formula: see text] with degree [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are distinct odd primes, the conductor of [Formula: see text] is a square free integer, and [Formula: see text] belongs to the ring of algebraic integers [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text]. The integral trace form of [Formula: see text] allows one to calculate the packing radius of lattices constructed via the canonical (or twisted) homomorphism of submodules of [Formula: see text].
IN VITRO STUDY AND MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DENTAL IMPLANTS MADE OF VARIOUS MATERIALS AND FABRICATION METHODS
Authors: MASHHADI MEHDI , HAMZELOO REZA , FALLAH MEGHDAD
Published: February 2021

Selecting materials and alloys, fabrication methods, surface characteristics and coatings, and topology design, all affect the mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and functionality of dental implants. The success in embedding implants in mouth and improving biocompatibility and consequently useful life of implants depends directly on proper adhesion of tissue to implant surface of a biocompatible alloy. In this research, experimental surface hardness and in vitro tests are carried out on samples with different alloys and different manufacturing methods. Various fabrication techniques, such as machining and 3D printing (Selective laser melting (SLM)), are considered for steel and titanium specimens. Results show that the hardness values of specimens made by the SLM method are higher than machined samples about 8% and also stainless steels samples have higher hardness than titanium specimens. A comparison of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) surface pictures indicates that applying modern fabrication methods for production which includes SLM improves the performance of implants in terms of mechanical and biocompatibility by increasing cell adhesion up to 21 times. In addition, results indicate that titanium alloys have almost 13% higher adhesion property than stainless steel and generally exhibit a higher balance of adhesion and cell growth.
COMPUTATIONAL STUDY ON THE PERFORMANCE OF A CENTRIFUGAL LVAD WITH THE IMPELLER DESIGNED BY INDUSTRIAL METHOD: PROPOSING SIMPLE-TO-MANUFACTURE LVAD’S IMPELLERS
Authors: YAZDANPANH-ARDAKANI KOHYAR , NIROOMAND-OSCUII HANIEH
Published: February 2021

Although the demand of donor hearts for patients with end-stage heart failure is growing, its supply has remained constant. Ventricular assist devices (VADs) provide a chance of finding donor heart by increasing waiting period. In this study, the main goal is to employ an industrial method (point-by-point method) for designing blades profile with a simplified geometry which can be produced by conventional manufacturing methods. In this study, a centrifugal continuous-flow rotary pump is designed and the effects of components’ different geometries on the left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) function are investigated. Moreover, both hydraulic performance and blood damages (hemolysis index (HI)) caused by the pump are considered as design criteria. ANSYS CFX 17 is used to analyze the performance of the designed LVAD. Additionally, the geometry of components are investigated based on fulfilling the required performance of the LVAD while reducing the blood damage level. Comparing the designed VAD with the commercial ones shows that the designed blade further improves the performance of the centrifugal LVAD. Therefore, designing the impeller’s blade profile with point-by-point method seems to be promising. Simplicity in manufacturing is considered to be a big advantage for a design which also leads to lower manufacturing costs. This study demonstrates how industrial design methods can be employed to design simple-to-manufacture impellers which are suitable for LVADs.
Learning to Respond with Your Favorite Stickers
Authors: Gao Shen , Chen Xiuying , Liu Li , Zhao Dongyan , Yan Rui
Published: February 2021

Stickers with vivid and engaging expressions are becoming increasingly popular in online messaging apps, and some works are dedicated to automatically select sticker response by matching the stickers image with previous utterances. However, existing methods usually focus on measuring the matching degree between the dialog context and sticker image, which ignores the user preference of using stickers. Hence, in this article, we propose to recommend an appropriate sticker to user based on multi-turn dialog context and sticker using history of user. Two main challenges are confronted in this task. One is to model the sticker preference of user based on the previous sticker selection history. Another challenge is to jointly fuse the user preference and the matching between dialog context and candidate sticker into final prediction making. To tackle these challenges, we propose a
Preference Enhanced Sticker Response Selector
(PESRS) model. Specifically, PESRS first employs a convolutional-based sticker image encoder and a self-attention-based multi-turn dialog encoder to obtain the representation of stickers and utterances. Next, deep interaction network is proposed to conduct deep matching between the sticker and each utterance. Then, we model the user preference by using the recently selected stickers as input and use a key-value memory network to store the preference representation. PESRS then learns the short-term and long-term dependency between all interaction results by a fusion network and dynamically fuses the user preference representation into the final sticker selection prediction. Extensive experiments conducted on a large-scale real-world dialog dataset show that our model achieves the state-of-the-art performance for all commonly used metrics. Experiments also verify the effectiveness of each component of PESRS.
The Complexity of Human Social Interactions Calls for Mixed Methods in HRI
Authors: Seibt Johanna , Vestergaard Christina , Damholdt Malene F.
Published: February 2021

In this research note, we offer a comment on the “A Primer for Conducting Experiments in Human-robot Interaction,” by G. Hoffman and X. Zhao, suggesting that due to the complexity of human social reality quantitative methods should be integrated into a mixed method approach.
Autobiography of Stanley I. Sandler
Authors: Sandler Stanley I.
Published: February 2021

I review my career from its academic beginning to my recent retirement. I grew up and studied chemical engineering in New York City. My initial failure to understand thermodynamics the way it had been taught, evidenced by the difficulty I had when starting graduate school, led me years later to write a textbook on the subject that is now in a fifth edition, in addition to other books I have written. My research areas have included molecular simulation, statistical- and quantum mechanical–based methods, and a variety of experimental thermodynamic measurements. In addition, I have been a consultant in traditional chemical engineering areas, as well in nontraditional areas, such as assisting in the design of a heat shield for interplanetary exploration, the destruction of armed chemical weapons, and the cleanup of nuclear weapons production facilities.
Experimental Models of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Possible Platforms to Study COVID-19 Pathogenesis and Potential Treatments
Authors: Pandamooz Sareh , Jurek Benjamin , Meinung Carl-Philipp , Baharvand Zahra , Sahebi Shahem-abadi Alireza , Haerteis Silke , Miyan Jaleel A. , Downing James , Dianatpour Mehdi , Borhani-Haghighi Afshin , Salehi Mohammad Saied
Published: February 2021

In December 2019, a novel coronavirus crossed species barriers to infect humans and was effectively transmitted from person to person, leading to a worldwide pandemic. Development of effective clinical interventions, including vaccines and antiviral drugs that could prevent or limit theburden or transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a global health priority. It is thus of utmost importance to assess possible therapeutic strategies against SARS-CoV-2 using experimental models that recapitulate aspects of the human disease. Here, we review available models currently being developed and used to study SARS-CoV-2 infection and highlight their application to screen potential therapeutic approaches, including repurposed antiviral drugs and vaccines. Each identified model provides a valuable insight into SARS-CoV-2 cellular tropism, replication kinetics, and cell damage that could ultimately enhance understanding of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis and protective immunity.
Droplet Interfacial Tensions and Phase Transitions Measured in Microfluidic Channels
Authors: Roy Priyatanu , Liu Shihao , Dutcher Cari S.
Published: February 2021

Measurements of droplet phase and interfacial tension (IFT) are important in the fields of atmospheric aerosols and emulsion science. Bulk macroscale property measurements with similar constituents cannot capture the effect of microscopic length scales and highly curved surfaces on the transport characteristics and heterogeneous chemistry typical in these applications. Instead, microscale droplet measurements ensure properties are measured at the relevant length scale. With recent advances in microfluidics, customized multiphase fluid flows can be created in channels for the manipulation and observation of microscale droplets in an enclosed setting without the need for large and expensive control systems. In this review, we discuss the applications of different physical principles at the microscale and corresponding microfluidic approaches for the measurement of droplet phase state, viscosity, and IFT.
Determination of Weak Knock Characteristics for Two-Stroke Spark Ignition UAV Engines Based on Mallat Decomposition Algorithm
Authors: Sheng Jing , Zeng Yuping , Liu Guoman , Liu Rui
Published: February 2021

Two-stroke spark ignition (SI) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) engines do not allow heavy knock and require a certain knock safety margin. However, weak knock can help the engine increase power output and reduce fuel consumption. To accurately extract the knock characteristics of engine vibration signals under the condition of weak knock, a signal feature extraction method based on the Mallat decomposition algorithm was proposed. Mallat decomposition algorithm can decompose the signal into two parts: a low-frequency signal and a high-frequency noise signal. The decomposed high-frequency noise is eliminated, and the low-frequency signal is retained as the characteristic domain signal. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The engine vibration signal of a two-stroke SI UAV engine was decomposed into the low-frequency signal and the high-frequency signal by the Mallat decomposition algorithm. The low-frequency signal is taken as the knock characteristic domain signal component, and the wavelet packet energy method is used to verify the correctness of the obtained signal component. The relative energy parameter is calculated by using the knock characteristic domain signal component, which can be used as the determination index of knock intensity. This method provides a reference for the weak knock control of two-stroke SI UAV engines.
Renal-Protective Effects and Potential Mechanisms of Traditional Chinese Medicine after Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury
Authors: Liu Demin , Tang Songling , Gan Lu , Cui Wei
Published: February 2021

Renal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury mainly causes acute kidney injury (AKI) after renal transplantation, trauma, sepsis, and hypovolemic shock. Patients with renal I/R injury are frequently associated with a poor prognosis. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used for the prevention and treatment of various diseases in China and other Asian countries for centuries. Many studies have shown the protective effect of TCM on renal I/R injury, due to its diverse bioactive components. The potential mechanisms of TCMs on renal I/R injury include anti-inflammation, antioxidative effect, anti-cell death, downregulation of adhesion molecule expression, regulation of energy metabolism by restoring Na+-K+-ATPase activity, and mitochondrial fission. This review summarizes the major developments in the effects and underlying mechanisms of TCMs on the renal I/R injury.