bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Dynamic probabilistic constraints under continuous random distributions
Authors: González Grandón T. , Henrion R. , Pérez-Aros P. 
Published: November 2020

AbstractThe paper investigates analytical properties of dynamic probabilistic constraints (chance constraints). The underlying random distribution is supposed to be continuous. In the first part, a general multistage model with decision rules depending on past observations of the random process is analyzed. Basic properties like (weak sequential) (semi-) continuity of the probability function or existence of solutions are studied. It turns out that the results differ significantly according to whether decision rules are embedded into Lebesgue or Sobolev spaces. In the second part, the simplest meaningful two-stage model with decision rules from $$L^2$$

L
2

is investigated. More specific properties like Lipschitz continuity and differentiability of the probability function are considered. Explicitly verifiable conditions for these properties are provided along with explicit gradient formulae in the Gaussian case. The application of such formulae in the context of necessary optimality conditions is discussed and a concrete identification of solutions presented.
A 500-year history of forest fires in Sala area, central Sweden, shows the earliest known onset of fire suppression in Scandinavia
Authors: Pinto Guilherme Alexandre Stecher Justini , Niklasson Mats , Ryzhkova Nina , Drobyshev Igor 
Published: November 2020

AbstractThe Sala fire in the Västmanland County of central Sweden that burned about 14,000 ha in 2014 has been the largest fire recorded in the modern history of Sweden. To understand the long-term fire history of this area, we dendrochronologically dated fire scars on Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) trees (live and deadwood) to reconstruct the fire cycle and fire occurrence in the area affected by the 2014 fire. We identified 64 fire years, using a total of 378 pine samples. The earliest reconstructed fire dated back to 1113 AD. The spatial reconstruction extended over the period of 1480–2018 AD. Lower levels of fire activity (fire cycle, FC = 43 years, with the central 90% of the distribution limited by 35 to 57 years) dominated in the earlier period (1480–1690 AD) that was followed by a strong decrease in fire activity since 1700 (FC = 403 years, with 90% of the distribution being within 149 to 7308 years), with a fire-free period between 1756 and 2014. Sala area, therefore, features the earliest known onset of fire suppression in Scandinavia. The high demand for timber during the peak in mining activities in the study area around the 1700–1800s, accompanied by passive fire suppression policies, were possibly the main drivers of the decline in fire activity. Superposed epoch analysis (SEA) did not show significant departures in the drought proxy during the ten years with the largest area burned between 1480 and1690. It is unclear whether the result is due to the relatively small area sampled or an indication that human controls of fires dominated during that period. However, significant departures during the following period with low fire activity (1700–1756), which just preceded the last fire-free period, suggested that the climate became an increasingly important driver of fire during the onset of the suppression period. We speculate that the lack of major firebreaks, the homogenization of forests, and the lack of burned areas with low fuel loads might contribute to the occurrence of the exceptionally large 2014 fire in Sala.
Environmental niche and functional role similarity between invasive and native palms in the Atlantic Forest
Authors: Bello Carolina , Cintra Ana Laura P. , Barreto Elisa , Vancine Maurício Humberto , Sobral-Souza Thadeu , Graham Catherine H. , Galetti Mauro 
Published: November 2020

AbstractInvasive species can significantly affect native species when their niches are similar. Ecological and morphological similarities between the invasive Australian palm,Archontophoenix cunninghamiana,and the native palm from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest,Euterpe edulis, suggest that they have similar environmental requirements and functional roles (i.e., the function a species performs in an ecosystem). This similarity raises concerns about how the invasive palm could impact the native species in the present and future. We used spatial (species occurrences) and ecological information (frugivory events) to characterize the environmental niche and functional role of the two palms and assess their overlap. In addition, we predicted the potential area of occurrence of each palm within the Brazilian Atlantic Forest under current and future climate conditions.We estimated the environmental conditions used by the invasive plant based on its native distribution only, and based on all areas where the species is able to establish across the globe. We found that the environmental niches of the two palm species overlap up to 39%, which corresponds to 50% of the current geographic distribution of E. edulis in the Atlantic Forest. In the areas where the two species potentially co-occur, the impact of the invasive species on the native should be influenced by the invasive species interactions with frugivores. We found that the frugivory functional role of the two palms was similar (84% overlap) which suggest thatA. cunninghamianamight disrupt the seed dispersal of the native palm. However, co-occurrence between the palms may decline with future climate change, as the potentially environmental suitable area for the invasive palm is predicted to decline by 10% to 55%. Evaluating the similarity in both the environmental niche, of the native and global extent, and the functional role of native and invasive plants provides a detailed understanding of the potential impact of invasive species on native species now and in the future.
Social equity in supplier–buyer relationships in smallholder agri-food supply chains
Authors: Hernandez-Martinez Nayeli , Mutlu Nevin , Fransoo Jan C. 
Published: November 2020

AbstractWe study supplier–buyer relationships in smallholder agri-food supply chains with equity concerns and under stakeholder engagement. We develop a game theoretic model to study the impact of these socially responsible practices in investment and pricing decisions. We model this as a Stackelberg game and study the impacts of the power structure in the outcomes. Our work was motivated by the business model of socially responsible Mexican company Fractal Café. We provide closed form expressions for the optimal wholesale and retail prices, and numerically study the effect of the model parameters. We show that equity concerns drive a redistribution of the profit towards an equitable outcome, but they do not have the same effect on the investment decisions. Additionally, we show that equity concerns may reverse the advantage of the game leader and transfer utility to the follower. We identify the settings under which the introduction of socially responsible practices increases the total supply chain profit by reducing the double marginalization effect. We find that capacity constraints result in a higher retail price, achieved by increasing the leader’s margin. Finally, we show that a two-part tariff contract with equity concerns is only convenient for the game follower when the leader has a high concern for advantageous inequity.
Comparing the luminosity distance for gravitational waves and electromagnetic signals in a simple model of quadratic gravity
Authors: Fanizza G. , Franchini G. , Gasperini M. , Tedesco L. 
Published: November 2020

AbstractWe compute the modified friction coefficient controlling the propagation of tensor metric perturbations in the context of a generalized cosmological scenario based on a theory of gravity with quadratic curvature corrections. In such a context we discuss the differences between gravitational and electromagnetic luminosity distance, as well as the differences with the standard results based on the Einstein equations. We present numerical estimates of the modified luminosity distance on the cosmic redshift scale typical of Supernovae and standard sirens.
Challenging practical features of Bitcoin by the main altcoins
Authors: Spurr Andrew , Ausloos Marcel 
Published: November 2020

AbstractWe study the fundamental differences that separate: Litecoin; Bitcoin Gold; Bitcoin Cash; Ethereum; and Zcash from Bitcoin, and draw some analysis to how these features are appreciated by the market, to ultimately make an inference as to how future successful cryptocurrencies may be invented and behave. We use Google Trend data, as well as price, volume and market capitalization data sourced from coinmarketcap.com to support this analysis. We find that Litecoin’s shorter block times offer benefits in commerce, but drawbacks in the mining process through orphaned blocks. Zcash holds a niche use for anonymous transactions, benefitting areas of the world lacking in economic freedom. Bitcoin Cash suffers from centralization in the mining process, while the greater decentralization of Bitcoin Gold has generally left it to stagnate. Ether’s greater functionality offers the greatest threat to Bitcoin’s dominance in the market. A coin that incorporates several of these features can be technically better than Bitcoin, but the first-to-market advantage of Bitcoin should keep its dominant position in the market.
Chip formation in machining hybrid components of SAE1020 and SAE5140
Authors: Denkena B. , Breidenstein B. , Krödel A. , Prasanthan V. 
Published: November 2020

AbstractThe requirements for massive high-performance components are constantly increasing. In addition to the reduction of component weight, requirements such as smaller design, more functionality and longer lifetime are increasing. By joining different materials in one component, these contradictory requirements can be met. In the process chain of manufacturing hybrid components, machining as the final step has a decisive influence on the application behavior and service life due to the surface and subsurface properties generated. Thereby thermomechanical loads during machining determine the final subsurface properties and the chip formation mechanisms determine the final surface properties of components. However, for the specific adjustment of required surface and subsurface properties, first of all an understanding of the generation of the addressed properties in the material transition zone is necessary. In the current work, the chip formation and the mechanical loads in the transition zone of hybrid components are presented. Within the scope of orthogonal cutting investigations, the influence of process parameters and tool microgeometry on mechanical loads and chip formation is analyzed. Chip forming has a significant influence on the surface properties of the hybrid component. The chip formation depends on the hardness of the machined material. During machining of hybrid components an abrupt change of the chip shape takes place in the material transition zone. The process variables influence the level in the surface topography of hybrid components.
Combining Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for Managing Collective Knowledge in Unpredictable Environment—Insights from the Chinese Case in Facing COVID-19
Authors: Iandolo Francesca , Loia Francesca , Fulco Irene , Nespoli Chiara , Caputo Francesco 
Published: November 2020

AbstractThe increasing fluidity of social and business configurations made possible by the opportunities provided by the World Wide Web and the new technologies is questioning the validity of consolidated business models and managerial approaches. New rules are emerging and multiple changes are required to both individuals and organizations engaged in dynamic and unpredictable paths.In such a scenario, the paper aims at describing the potential role of big data and artificial intelligence in the path toward a collective approach to knowledge management. Thanks to the interpretative lens provided by systems thinking, a framework able to explain human-machine interaction is depicted and its contribution to the definition of a collective approach to knowledge management in unpredictable environment is traced.Reflections herein are briefly discussed with reference to the Chinese governmental approach for managing COVID-19 spread to emphasise the support that a technology-based collective approach to knowledge management can provide to decision-making processes in unpredictable environments.
Coverage and Acceptability of Mobile Phone Messages for Cancer Prevention: a Population-Based Study in a Latin American Country
Authors: Murillo Raúl , Ordóñez-Reyes Camila , Caicedo-Martínez María , Vargas Sandra Paola , Ariza Elsa , Schüz Joachim , Espina Carolina 
Published: November 2020

AbstractMobile health (m-health) has shown positive effects on disease prevention; however, several factors might influence its effectiveness, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Randomized trials provide data with high internal validity but no major information on population impact. We conducted a pilot population-based study to assess the feasibility of cancer prevention through m-health in a Latin American population. A sample of affiliates to a health insurance company in Colombia was randomly selected and assigned to receive a short message service (SMS) or voice messages (VMS) during 4 weeks; weekly frequencies 2 and 7. Baseline and post-intervention surveys were conducted. Overall, 797 affiliates were contacted (SMS 393, VMS 404) but only 15.3% and 24.8% enrolled, respectively. Over 80% acceptability was observed among participants for all items evaluated (usefulness, understandability, timing, and frequency); however, 2-VMS per week was the only frequency consistent with the declared number of messages received and listened. Other frequencies resulted in high reception recall but low willingness to read/listen the messages. The willingness to be part of future programs was 20.0%. The gap between declared acceptability and practice, low participation rates, and low willingness to read/listen messages indicate m-health should be part of multicomponent interventions and should not be conceived as the sole intervention.
COVID-19 and Ecosyndemic Vulnerability: Implications for El Niño-Sensitive Countries in Latin America
Authors: Ramírez Ivan J. , Lee Jieun 
Published: November 2020

AbstractLatin America has emerged as an epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador report some of the highest COVID-19 rates of incidence and deaths in the region. These countries also face synergistic threats from multiple infectious diseases (that is, ecosyndemic) and quasi-periodic El Niño-related hazards every few years. For example, Peru, which is highly sensitive to El Niño, already copes with an ecosyndemic health burden that heightens during and following weather and climate extreme events. Using an ecosyndemic lens, which draws on a multi-disease hazard context of place, this commentary highlights the importance of El Niño as a major factor that not only may aggravate COVID-19 incidence in the future, but also the broader health problem of ecosyndemic vulnerability in Latin America.
Recent advances in anthocyanin dyes extracted from plants for dye sensitized solar cell
Authors: Amogne Negese Yazie , Ayele Delele Worku , Tsigie Yeshitila Asteraye 
Published: November 2020

AbstractDye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are under extensive research works due to their appealing features such as low production costs. The production costs and energy conversion efficiency of DSSCs is strongly influenced by the types of dyes used to harvest photons. Natural dyes extracted from different sources are emerged as a potential candidates to synthetic photosensitizers due to their merit properties including low cost, complete biodegradability, availability and less environmental concern. In order to improve the energy conversion efficiency of natural photosensitizers, blending of different dyes, co-pigmentation of dyes, acidifying of dyes and other approaches have been conducted by researchers, resulting in appreciable performance. This paper reviews the factors affecting the stability of anthocyanin pigments and also the solvents needed for efficient extraction of anthocyanins. Moreover, the potential application of anthocyanin dyes as photosensitizers for DSSC along with the work done over the years is covered.
Effect of interaction between cementite and pearlite on two-body abrasive wear behaviors in white cast iron
Authors: Zheng Baochao , Li Wei , Tu Xiaohui , Xing Jiandong , Song Suocheng 
Published: November 2020

AbstractThe wear interaction of cementite and pearlite in the white cast iron (WCI) was investigated using the two-body abrasive wear test under contact loads of 20, 35, and 50 N. The wear behavior, wear surface morphology, sub-surface structure, and wear resistance were evaluated using X-ray diffraction, microhardness testing, and nano-indentation. The results indicated that when the Cr content was increased from 0 to 4 wt%, there was a significant increase in the microhardness (H) and elasticity modulus (E) of the cementite. This yielded a 15.91%- and 23.6%-reduction in the degree of wear resistance and surface roughness, respectively. Moreover, no spalling and breaking of cementite was observed with increasing Cr content during the wear process, indicating improved wear resistance of the bulk cementite. In addition, the hard phase (cementite) and tough matrix (pearlite) composite structure exhibited a good protective and supporting effect. Thus, it was concluded that the interaction mechanism of the wear phase contributed to the reduction of the wear weight loss of the composite during the wear process. The contribution of the interaction between the hard wear-resistant phase and the tough phase in WCI to the wear resistance decreased with increasing hardness of the pearlite matrix.
Generalized dice similarity measures for complex q-Rung Orthopair fuzzy sets and its application
Authors: Garg Harish , Ali Zeeshan , Mahmood Tahir 
Published: November 2020

AbstractComplex q-rung orthopair fuzzy set (Cq-ROFS) is an extension of Complex fuzzy set, intuitionistic fuzzy set, Pythagorean fuzzy set, to cope with complicated and inconsistence information in the environment of fuzzy set theory with a wider domain. In Cq-ROFS, each attribute is characterized by the degree of membership and non-membership degree over the unit-disc of the complex plan. Keeping the advantages of Cq-ROFSs, in this manuscript, we present a concept of the dice similarity and generalized dice similarity measures between the pairs of the sets. The basic axioms and properties are also stated. Further, we extend the proposed measures to weighted dice similarity measures and investigated their properties. The certain properties and the special cases of the proposed work are also derived. The applicability of the proposed measures is demonstrated with some numerical examples related to medical diagnoses and pattern recognition. The superiority and advantages of the measures over the existing ones are also illustrated with certain numerical examples.
Estimation of Forest Canopy Cover and Forest Fragmentation Mapping Using Landsat Satellite Data of Silabati River Basin (India)
Authors: Bera Biswajit , Saha Soumik , Bhattacharjee Sumana 
Published: November 2020

AbstractForest is an imperative part of environment but in the recent years, forest areas are being transformed due to population expansion, unscientific urbanization and a rising trend of industrialization in some countries. Dense forests habitats have been fragmented into patch forest region. This paper attempts to find out the forest canopy or crown density and forest fragmentation areas as well as to identify the spatiotemporal changing paradigms of forest within the Silabati river basin. Forest Canopy Density and fragmentation models are an important craftsmanship to examine the health of the forest or vegetation in a given area. Various indices such as Normalize Difference Vegetation Index, Advanced Vegetation Index, Shadow Index, Bareness Index and ultimately weightage overlay analysis methods have been adopted to determine forest health or anthropogenic stress on forest habitats. Higher weight has been assigned to dense forest areas and open forest area has been given lower weight. The result shows that forest canopy or crown cover as well as forest density are radically reduced in between the time period 1998 and 2009. It is also stated that the total 116.549 km2 areas have been degraded during 11 years period (1998–2009) with a rate of 10.59 km2/year. Meanwhile, 180.02 km2 forest areas have been regained in between 2019 and 2009 with a rate of 18 km2/year that is possible only due to implementation of forest policies exclusively execution of participatory or joint forest management techniques.
Traumatic brain injury in mice induces changes in the expression of the XCL1/XCR1 and XCL1/ITGA9 axes
Authors: Ciechanowska Agata , Popiolek-Barczyk Katarzyna , Ciapała Katarzyna , Pawlik Katarzyna , Oggioni Marco , Mercurio Domenico , de Simoni Maria-Grazia , Mika Joanna 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
Background
Every year, millions of people suffer from various forms of traumatic brain injury (TBI), and new approaches with therapeutic potential are required. Although chemokines are known to be involved in brain injury, the importance of X-C motif chemokine ligand 1 (XCL1) and its receptors, X-C motif chemokine receptor 1 (XCR1) and alpha-9 integrin (ITGA9), in the progression of TBI remain unknown.

Methods
Using RT-qPCR/Western blot/ELISA techniques, changes in the mRNA/protein levels of XCL1 and its two receptors, in brain areas at different time points were measured in a mouse model of TBI. Moreover, their cellular origin and possible changes in expression were evaluated in primary glial cell cultures.

Results
Studies revealed the spatiotemporal upregulation of the mRNA expression of XCL1, XCR1 and ITGA9 in all the examined brain areas (cortex, thalamus, and hippocampus) and at most of the evaluated stages after brain injury (24 h; 4, 7 days; 2, 5 weeks), except for ITGA9 in the thalamus. Moreover, changes in XCL1 protein levels occurred in all the studied brain structures; the strongest upregulation was observed 24 h after trauma. Our in vitro experiments proved that primary murine microglial and astroglial cells expressed XCR1 and ITGA9, however they seemed not to be a main source of XCL1.

Conclusions
These findings indicate that the XCL1/XCR1 and XCL1/ITGA9 axes may participate in the development of TBI. The XCL1 can be considered as one of the triggers of secondary injury, therefore XCR1 and ITGA9 may be important targets for pharmacological intervention after traumatic brain injury.

Graphic abstract