bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
On component failure in coherent systems with applications to maintenance strategies
Authors: Hashemi M. , Asadi M. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractProviding optimal strategies for maintaining technical systems in good working condition is an important goal in reliability engineering. The main aim of this paper is to propose some optimal maintenance policies for coherent systems based on some partial information about the status of components in the system. For this purpose, in the first part of the paper, we propose two criteria under which we compute the probability of the number of failed components in a coherent system with independent and identically distributed components. The first proposed criterion utilizes partial information about the status of the components with a single inspection of the system, and the second one uses partial information about the status of component failure under double monitoring of the system. In the computation of both criteria, we use the notion of the signature vector associated with the system. Some stochastic comparisons between two coherent systems have been made based on the proposed concepts. Then, by imposing some cost functions, we introduce new approaches to the optimal corrective and preventive maintenance of coherent systems. To illustrate the results, some examples are examined numerically and graphically.
Exact simulation for multivariate Itô diffusions
Authors: Blanchet Jose , Zhang Fan 
Published: December 2020

AbstractWe provide the first generic exact simulation algorithm for multivariate diffusions. Current exact sampling algorithms for diffusions require the existence of a transformation which can be used to reduce the sampling problem to the case of a constant diffusion matrix and a drift which is the gradient of some function. Such a transformation, called the Lamperti transformation, can be applied in general only in one dimension. So, completely different ideas are required for the exact sampling of generic multivariate diffusions. The development of these ideas is the main contribution of this paper. Our strategy combines techniques borrowed from the theory of rough paths, on the one hand, and multilevel Monte Carlo on the other.
The business – government nexus: Impact of government actions and legislation on business responses to climate change
Authors: Sree Kumar Sheela , Banerjee Bobby , Duarte Fernanda de Paiva , Dadich Ann 
Published: December 2020

AbstractAustralia has committed to reducing emissions under the Paris Agreement by 2030, in alignment with the United Nations' (UN) Sustainability Development Goal (SDG) climate action. This articleinvestigates the responses of Australian high-emission businesses to Australian government action and legislation in relation to climate change, specifically the carbon tax, and how this knowledge can assist in delineating future carbon legislation.A qualitative study of the responses of 17 high-emission businesses and three industry associations to carbon legislation during the implementation of the carbon tax in Australia identified the use of resistive, reactive or cooperative strategies by the businesses. Issues related to carbon legislation identified by businesses included differences in time orientation, multiple regulations, political uncertainty, international positioning and the need for long-term and consolidated policies. Given these findings, this article argues that well-designed top-down legislative measures are necessary to steer businesses towards a carbon-neutral regime.
LONG-TERM CHANGES IN 14C AGE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HUMIC ACID AND PLANT FRAGMENTS AND THEIR LINKS TO PAST CLIMATE CHANGE
Authors: Kim Youngeun , Lim Jaesoo , Yu Jaehyung , Park Sujeong , Lee Jin-Young , Hong Sei-Sun , Park Gyujun 
Published: December 2020

ABSTRACTRadiocarbon (14C) dating has been widely used to determine the age of deposits, but there have been frequent reports of inconsistencies in age among different dating materials. In this study, we performed radiocarbon dating on a total of 33 samples from 8-m-long sediment cores recovered from the wetland of the Muljangori volcanic cone on Jeju Island, South Korea. Ten pairs of humic acid (HA) and plant fragments (PF) samples, and three pairs of HA and humin samples, from the same depths were compared in terms of age. The PF were consistently younger than the HA. Interestingly, the age difference between HA and PF samples showed a long-term change during the past 8000 years. To test whether there was an association between this long-term age difference and climate change, we compared with the carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratios and total organic carbon isotope (δ13CTOC) values of the sediments, as indicators of the relative abundance of terrestrial and aquatic plants; these parameters showed similar long-term trends. This suggests that the increasing (decreasing) trend in age difference was influenced by long-term dry (wet) climate change.
CONTAMINATION OF RADIOCARBON ANALYSES OF PLANT SAMPLES BY FUNGAL HYPHAE
Authors: Karig Daniel E , Mayers Chase G , Wattenburger Cassandra J , Southon John 
Published: December 2020

ABSTRACTFungal hyphae associated with tree roots extending into the surrounding substrate are suspected to have to contaminated buried plant material with recent carbon in two examples and to have resulted in erroneously young radiocarbon ages. This problem might be overcome by choosing sampling sites far from trees or by analyzing the lignin component of samples, although the latter is presently difficult.
The Other in Deleuze and Husserl
Authors: Movahedi Hamed 
Published: December 2020

ABSTRACTThere is no consensus regarding whether Gilles Deleuze offers a cogent theory of the Other. Deleuze develops the notion of the Other-structure, but given his scarce remarks on this concept, his treatment of this issue is debated. This article argues that to elucidate Deleuze's philosophy of the Other, his notion of the Other-structure must be analyzed in parallel to Edmund Husserl's intersubjective theory. This comparison, made possible by Natalie Depraz's reading of the Husserlian alterity, reveals nuanced phenomenological traces in Deleuze's Other-structure and its implicated structural moments while substantiating his affirmation of the Otherless world, as an impetus to surpass phenomenology.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anger and mental health of school students in Syria after nine years of conflict: a large-scale school-based study
Authors: Kakaje Ameer , Al Zohbi Ragheed , Alyousbashi Ayham , Abdelwahed Rawan N.K. , Hosam Aldeen Osama , Alhalabi Mohammad Marwan , Ghareeb Ayham , Latifeh Youssef 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBackgroundThe Syrian crisis has entered its ninth year with many being affected by the war. This is the largest-scale study that aims to evaluate the psychological profile of secondary school students in Syria.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study in schools in Damascus, Syria. The surveys assessed working habits, smoking, war exposure, grades, socioeconomic status (SES), social support, health-related quality of life (HRQL), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), problematic anger, and other parameters.ResultsThis study included 1369 students of which 53% suffered from PTSD and 62% from problematic anger. Around 46% declared a fair or worse general health and 61% had moderate or severe mental health. Only 9.3% did not report exposure to any war-related variable. War exposure had an impact on PTSD, anger, and HRQL, but not on students' grades. Smoking, having consanguineous parents, and working did not have a clear association with grades or anger. Social support weakly reduced PTSD and anger scores. Interestingly, working was associatedwith lowerPTSD scores but was associated with a worse physical component of HRQL.ConclusionThis is the largest study on school students in Syria that reports the psychological ramifications of war. Although the direct effects of war could not be precisely described, the high burden of PTSD and anger distress was a strong reflection of the chronic mental distress.
Eye tracking in usability of electronic chart display and information system
Authors: Arslan Omer , Atik Oguz , Kahraman Serkan 
Published: December 2020

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to test eye tracking in studying the usability of electronic chart display and information systems (ECDIS), one of the major components of ships’ bridge navigation systems. The carriage and adequate use of ECDIS on merchant ships is mandated by international regulations to improve maritime safety. The aim of this study is to test eye tracking as an assessment tool for usability of ECDIS. Eye movement data, collected from experienced port pilots operating on three different models of ECDIS, was analysed for the study. Significant differences were found between time to first fixation measurements among three different ECDIS models, as well as differences in heat map visualisations between the participant port pilots and expert users. The results indicate that eye tracking is an effective tool for assessment of the usability of ECDIS. The study, aiming potentially to improve the effectiveness of bridge navigation systems, proposes the integration of eye tracking in research and development of ECDIS, and contributes scientifically to research on eye tracking in marine transportation.
International investment law in support of the right to development?
Authors: Fauchald Ole Kristian 
Published: December 2020

AbstractThere is a long-standing claim and ambition in international investment law that treaties and customary law contribute to economic development in countries hosting investment. However, this claim remains controversial and has been hotly debated among academics. The article explores how international investment law, understood as international investment agreements (IIAs) and their associated dispute settlement mechanisms, can support the right to development. It does so by analysing how rules regarding protection and flow of foreign direct investment have and can contribute to realizing the right to development and help achieve sustainable development goals. It finds that IIAs have had limited effects for promotion of investment into or restricting the policy space for least developed and low-income countries. It argues that potential effects of IIAs cannot be properly understood without taking into account other means of protecting and promoting foreign direct investment, i.e., national investment legislation and contracts. So far, national investment legislation is likely to have had more significant impact on flows of foreign direct investment and policy space of host countries than IIAs. Reforms of IIAs to increase synergies with the right to development will, therefore, have to be based on knowledge about and assessments of the dynamics between IIAs, domestic investment legislation, and investment contracts.
Modified Koch curve broadband fractal antenna for spectrum sensing in cognitive radio
Authors: Aggarwal Monika , Pharwaha Amar Partap Singh 
Published: December 2020

AbstractThis paper presents the design and development of broadband modified Koch curve microstrip patch antenna with multiband characteristics for spectrum sensing in cognitive radio applications. The proposed spectrum sensing antenna is designed specifically for its efficient operation in the spectrum (1.683–3.05, 4.246–9.714, and 11.25–18 GHz) specified for L, S, C, X, Ku with broadband characteristics and omnidirectional radiation pattern. The validity of the proposed shape is proved by having a comparison with other fractal shapes available in the literature.
Weeding performance of a spring-tine harrow as affected by timing and operational parameters
Authors: Zeng Zhiwei , Martin Amy , Chen Ying , Ma Xu 
Published: December 2020

AbstractThe spring-tine harrow is gaining popularity for mechanical weeding. However, its weeding performance and mechanism have not been well understood. A spring-tine harrow was first tested in a controlled indoor soil bin at four different travel speeds (4, 6, 8, and 10 km h−1) with three different spring-loading settings (low, medium, and high). Then the harrow was tested in a wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) field at the same spring-loading settings at three different weeding timings (early, middle, and late) in 2019 and 2020. Soil cutting forces (draft and vertical), soil displacements (forward and lateral), soil working depth, weed control efficacy, weed density, and crop damage were measured. The results showed that the spring-loading setting had a more dominant effect on working depth and soil cutting forces than the speed. The soil displacements were more dependent on the speed compared with the spring-loading setting. Treatment effects on weeding performance indicators in the field were similar across years. Adjusting the spring-loading setting from low to high improved the weeding efficacy from 44.9% to 73.9% in 2019 and from 51.6% to 78.1% in 2020. Consequently, the final weed density was minimized at the high loading setting, with the reduction in 2020 being significant. The middle weeding timing caused the least crop damage, while reducing the final weed density by approximately one-third compared with the control (without mechanical weeding), which was the most desired outcome among the three timings tested.
Influence of Kappa Distributions on the Whistler Mode Instability
Authors: Summers Danny , Tang Rongxin 
Published: December 2020

AbstractKappa distributions possess an enhanced high‐energy tail characterized by a spectral index κ. Here we consider how kappa distributions influence the whistler mode instability. In a relativistic regime, we analyze the effects of the bi‐kappa and kappa loss‐cone distributions on the linear and nonlinear growth of whistler mode waves. We find that for κ = 2, the linear growth rate corresponding to the bi‐kappa distribution exceeds that for a bi‐Maxwellian distribution (κ = ∞) for electron anisotropies less than a critical value. The threshold wave amplitude for nonlinear growth corresponding to a hot injected bi‐kappa distribution can be sensitively dependent on the value of κ, but also depends crucially on the electron anisotropy, parallel hot electron temperature, and wave frequency. We plot time profiles of the wave magnetic field, frequency, total nonlinear growth rate and local nonlinear growth rate, and examine how these depend on κ. The sweep (chirp) rates of the whistler mode chorus waves are found to be in the range of observed values, for the adopted plasma parameters. For a given value of the loss‐cone parameter σ, realistic whistler mode wave profiles may only exist for a restricted range of κ. For example, for σ ≥ 4, realistic wave profiles require κ ≥ 4 as well as a sufficiently large anisotropy. In summary, this new study finds that the influence of kappa distributions on the whistler mode instability is complex, not least because the instability depends on several system parameters as well as κ.
Postpartum questionnaire survey of women who tested negative in a non-invasive prenatal testing: examining negative emotions towards the test
Authors: Hirose Tatsuko , Shirato Nahoko , Izumi Mikiko , Miyagami Keiko , Sekizawa Akihiko 
Published: December 2020

AbstractNon-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is used worldwide to screen for fetal aneuploidy. Although previous studies on the psychosocial aspects of NIPT have focused on satisfaction regarding the test, we surveyed women who experienced negative emotions after receiving NIPT. From January 2018 to March 2019, we surveyed pregnant women whose NIPT results were negative, one year after the test. Of the 526 respondents, 35 (6.7%) regretted receiving NIPT and blamed themselves for taking it. We assigned this 6.7% of respondents to the negative emotion group. Although, 76.5% of the participants in the negative emotion group reported they would like to take NIPT for their next pregnancy, it was significantly lower as compared to the control group (92%). Furthermore, 31.9% of respondents in the control group reported that they would recommend similar tests to their relatives and friends. Conversely, in the negative emotion group, this proportion was lower at 17.1%. This suggests that guilt over testing may be meaningful. Thus, this study showed that some NIPT examinees regretted taking the test and blamed themselves. Respondents reported experiencing stress, anxiety, and depression even before NIPT affirming that it is important to address pregnant women’s psychosocial status during pre-test genetic counseling.
A droplet microfluidic platform for high-throughput photochemical reaction discovery
Authors: Sun Alexandra C. , Steyer Daniel J. , Allen Anthony R. , Payne Emory M. , Kennedy Robert T. , Stephenson Corey R. J. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractThe implementation of continuous flow technology is critical towards enhancing the application of photochemical reactions for industrial process development. However, there are significant time and resource constraints associated with translating discovery scale vial-based batch reactions to continuous flow scale-up conditions. Herein we report the development of a droplet microfluidic platform, which enables high-throughput reaction discovery in flow to generate pharmaceutically relevant compound libraries. This platform allows for enhanced material efficiency, as reactions can be performed on picomole scale. Furthermore, high-throughput data collection via on-line ESI mass spectrometry facilitates the rapid analysis of individual, nanoliter-sized reaction droplets at acquisition rates of 0.3 samples/s. We envision this high-throughput screening platform to expand upon the robust capabilities and impact of photochemical reactions in drug discovery and development.
Upconversion NIR-II fluorophores for mitochondria-targeted cancer imaging and photothermal therapy
Authors: Zhou Hui , Zeng Xiaodong , Li Anguo , Zhou Wenyi , Tang Lin , Hu Wenbo , Fan Quli , Meng Xianli , Deng Hai , Duan Lian , Li Yanqin , Deng Zixin , Hong Xuechuan , Xiao Yuling 
Published: December 2020

AbstractNIR-II fluorophores have shown great promise for biomedical applications with superior in vivo optical properties. To date, few small-molecule NIR-II fluorophores have been discovered with donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) or symmetrical structures, and upconversion-mitochondria-targeted NIR-II dyes have not been reported. Herein, we report development of D-A type thiopyrylium-based NIR-II fluorophores with frequency upconversion luminescence (FUCL) at ~580 nm upon excitation at ~850 nm. H4-PEG-PT can not only quickly and effectively image mitochondria in live or fixed osteosarcoma cells with subcellular resolution at 1 nM, but also efficiently convert optical energy into heat, achieving mitochondria-targeted photothermal cancer therapy without ROS effects. H4-PEG-PT has been further evaluated in vivo and exhibited strong tumor uptake, specific NIR-II signals with high spatial and temporal resolution, and remarkable NIR-II image-guided photothermal therapy. This report presents the first D-A type thiopyrylium NIR-II theranostics for synchronous upconversion-mitochondria-targeted cell imaging, in vivo NIR-II osteosarcoma imaging and excellent photothermal efficiency.
Common germline-somatic variant interactions in advanced urothelial cancer
Authors: Vosoughi Aram , Zhang Tuo , Shohdy Kyrillus S. , Vlachostergios Panagiotis J. , Wilkes David C. , Bhinder Bhavneet , Tagawa Scott T. , Nanus David M. , Molina Ana M. , Beltran Himisha , Sternberg Cora N. , Motanagh Samaneh , Robinson Brian D. , Xiang Jenny , Fan Xiao , Chung Wendy K. , Rubin Mark A. , Elemento Olivier , Sboner Andrea , Mosquera Juan Miguel , Faltas Bishoy M. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractThe prevalence and biological consequences of deleterious germline variants in urothelial cancer (UC) are not fully characterized. We performed whole-exome sequencing (WES) of germline DNA and 157 primary and metastatic tumors from 80 UC patients. We developed a computational framework for identifying putative deleterious germline variants (pDGVs) from WES data. Here, we show that UC patients harbor a high prevalence of pDGVs that truncate tumor suppressor proteins. Deepening somatic loss of heterozygosity in serial tumor samples is observed, suggesting a critical role for these pDGVs in tumor progression. Significant intra-patient heterogeneity in germline-somatic variant interactions results in divergent biological pathway alterations between primary and metastatic tumors. Our results characterize the spectrum of germline variants in UC and highlight their roles in shaping the natural history of the disease. These findings could have broad clinical implications for cancer patients.
Role of Raf-like kinases in SnRK2 activation and osmotic stress response in plants
Authors: Fàbregas Norma , Yoshida Takuya , Fernie Alisdair R. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractEnvironmental drought and high salinity impose osmotic stress, which inhibits plant growth and yield. Thus, understanding how plants respond to osmotic stress is critical to improve crop productivity. Plants have multiple signalling pathways in response to osmotic stress in which the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays important roles. However, since little is known concerning key early components, the global osmotic stress-signalling network remains to be elucidated. Here, we review recent advances in the identification of osmotic-stress activated Raf-like protein kinases as regulators of ABA-dependent and -independent signalling pathways and discuss the plant stress-responsive kinase network from an evolutionary perspective.
Laser photonic-reduction stamping for graphene-based micro-supercapacitors ultrafast fabrication
Authors: Yuan Yongjiu , Jiang Lan , Li Xin , Zuo Pei , Xu Chenyang , Tian Mengyao , Zhang Xueqiang , Wang Sumei , Lu Bing , Shao Changxiang , Zhao Bingquan , Zhang Jiatao , Qu Liangti , Cui Tianhong 
Published: December 2020

AbstractMicro-supercapacitors are promising miniaturized energy storage devices that have attracted considerable research interest. However, their widespread use is limited by inefficient microfabrication technologies and their low energy density. Here, a flexible, designable micro-supercapacitor can be fabricated by a single pulse laser photonic-reduction stamping. A thousand spatially shaped laser pulses can be generated in one second, and over 30,000 micro-supercapacitors are produced within 10 minutes. The micro-supercapacitor and narrow gaps were dozens of microns and 500 nm, respectively. With the unique three-dimensional structure of laser-induced graphene based electrode, a single micro-supercapacitor exhibits an ultra-high energy density (0.23 Wh cm−3), an ultra-small time constant (0.01 ms), outstanding specific capacitance (128 mF cm−2 and 426.7 F cm−3) and a long-term cyclability. The unique technique is desirable for a broad range of applications, which surmounts current limitations of high-throughput fabrication and low energy density of micro-supercapacitors.