bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Moving Businesses toward Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Evidence from an Italian “Benefit-For-Nature” Corporation
Authors: Battaglia Massimo , Gragnani Patrizia , Annesi Nora 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
Sustainable development goals (SDGs) are the most relevant and recent attempt to integrate sustainable development ambitions and environmental concerns in a policy framework. Recently, few studies have been conducted to investigate the gap between sustainability reporting and the SDGs, initiating a new stream of research (Lozano 2015; Rosati and Faria 2019). However, the role of accounting systems as a support for moving toward goals and targets outlined by the SDGs has been poorly deepened in not-traditional profit-oriented businesses. Among these, there are cooperatives: jointly owned benefit corporations. The peculiarity of cooperatives lays in the collective governance and the fact that profits are re-invested in the cooperative or in local projects and activities rather than being distributed to the shareholders. The present study intends to fill this gap by answering the following research question: can a cooperative, given its peculiar nature, contribute to sustainability? To do so, the annual sustainability reports of the largest Italian cooperative have been analyzed under the lens of SDGs. The results show that cooperatives can actively contribute to sustainability, especially on the local level. In fact, they have proved to be important players in transposing the SDGs from the national level to the local level, constituting an important link between the international community and the local one.
The Mondora Method: Quantum Leaders in Benefit Corporations
Authors: Nigri Giorgia , Del Baldo Mara , Agulini Armando 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
Sustainable development is now seen as the business paradigm for the 21st century and poses a significant dilemma for managers, which is to balance economic goals, environmental impact and social development. In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to sustainable entrepreneurship as a concept combining triple bottom line (TBL) aspects since introducing social and ecological values and goals, in addition to economic ones, is seen as a long-term strategy for survival and value creation. Italy’s socio-economic context where there are a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and social enterprises has proven to be a good field for new hybrid forms of for-purpose business. This paper is a single case in-depth study conducted over three years (2017–2019) analyzing Mondora, a certified and legally recognized Benefit Corporation that has introduced full-spectrum teal practices in its governance structure and is shifting the paradigm as a flourishing enterprise. The aim of this paper is to analyze the legal and governance framework of Mondora as a benefit corporation and delineate a best-case example that embraces new leadership practices as a pilot for future research on benefit corporations. The implications lie in the fact that the typology of the social entrepreneur present in benefit corporations has the characteristics of the quantum leader outlined by Tsao and Laszlo (2019).
Geoengineering
Authors: Unmüßig Barbara 
Published: July 2020

ZusammenfassungMit großmaßstäblichen Technologien das Klimasystem unserer Erde zu manipulieren, kurz Geoengineering (GE), ist längst nicht mehr die Idee einzelner Verfechter. Im klimapolitischen Diskurs erfährt GE eine Aufwertung – je weiter das 1,5-Grad-Ziel in die Ferne rückt, desto eher scheint GE eine Option zu werden. Der Beitrag skizziert die Debatte um und die Risiken von GE und bewertet die Diskursverschiebung in der klimapolitischen Debatte, zeichnet Regulierungsversuche, schildert die Alternativen zu GE und würdigt die zivilgesellschaftlichen Interventionen zum demokratischen Umgang mit Risikotechnologien.
Synthesis, characterization, and electrochemical properties of carbon nanotubes used as cathode materials for Al–air batteries from a renewable source of water hyacinth
Authors: Sasrimuang Suparat , Chuchuen Oranat , Artnaseaw Apichart 
Published: July 2020

AbstractWater hyacinth (WH) is a noxious weed. Its rapid growth can clog waterways, causing widespread ecological and environmental threats as well as power generation and irrigation issues. In the present study, water hyacinth was utilized as a precursor to synthesize multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) using a simple chemical vapor deposition method. FESEM-EDS revealed that the synthesized MWCNTs had noodle-like, dense, and rough surfaces. TEM confirmed that MWCNTs had a bamboo-like structure with the diameter of 30–40 nm, and the wall thickness of approximately 7 nm. The interlayer distance was found to be approximately 0.34 by XRD. Raman spectra displayed three major bands of MWCNTS: D-band at 1,340 cm−1, G-band at 1,596 cm−1, and (D + G)-band between 2,783 and 2,953 cm−1. The ratio of the D-to-G band intensity was 0.94 ± 0.03, indicating that the synthesized MWCNTs had well degree of graphitization. Electrochemical measurement results of the prepared MWCNTs cathode for aluminum–air battery showed that MWCNTs exhibited higher energy capacity than commercial graphite. Collectively, this study shows that water hyacinth could be used effectively as a precursor for the production of MWCNTs, thus successfully converting the noxious weed into high value-added materials.
Fatigue behavior of beech and pine wood modified with low molecular weight phenol-formaldehyde resin
Authors: Pečnik Jaka Gašper , Kutnar Andreja , Militz Holger , Schwarzkopf Matthew , Schwager Hannes 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
Modification of wood improves certain properties of natural wood and presents competitive alternatives to synthetic materials that may have larger environmental impacts. One aspect of modified wood that is currently not fully understood is the dynamic performance and how it is affected by the modification process. In this study, low-molecular weight phenol formaldehyde (PF) resin was applied to Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) wood. The effect of this modification was evaluated using a three-point bending test undergoing cyclic loading. Compared to reference samples, modified wood showed higher static performance but revealed a reduction in cyclic fatigue strength (9% for pine and 14% for beech). Cyclic fatigue strength of unmodified wood was found to be 67% of the static modulus of rupture for both species. With PF resin modification, the fatigue strength dropped to 58% for pine and 53% for beech. While fatigue strength decreased, there was no reduction in cyclic modulus or change in the creep rate within the stationary creep phase. It is important to consider the reduction in fatigue strength when using PF modified wood for any construction purposes with expected cyclic loading conditions.
Fertility preservation in borderline ovarian tumor patients and survivors
Authors: Poulain Marine , Vandame Jessica , Tran Chloé , Koutchinsky Sonia , Pirtea Paul , Ayoubi Jean-Marc 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
Borderline ovarian tumors (BOTs) represent around 15% of all epithelial ovarian cancer. Around one third of those patients is under 40 and has not completed childbearing when the tumor is diagnosed. Cancer survivors are more and more concerned about their future fertility since a large proportion of those with BOTs are young. Whatever the tumor stage, information regarding future fertility after treatment and fertility preservation (FP) options must be delivered to all patients before treatment. A multidisciplinary team will discuss and propose personalized treatment and FP strategies. Nowadays, the FP options offered to patients with BOT are the followings: i) minimal invasive conservative surgery, ii) oocyte cryopreservation after controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) or in vitro maturation (IVM) and iii) ovarian tissue cryopreservation. Generally, the most common strategy to preserve future fertility is represented by minimal invasive conservative surgery. However, with the remarkable success and evolution of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) – notably progress and efficiency in COS and oocyte vitrification – have led to offer another potential approach for FP consisting in oocyte cryopreservation. Several COS protocols, such as random start or dual stimulation associating tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors with gonadotropins provide similar results when compared to standard protocols while providing safety by minimizing the risk of high estrogen exposure. When COS is contraindicated, oocyte cryopreservation can still be possible throw IVM. Even though, oocyte competence after IVM is lower than that obtained after COS. A less used approach is cryopreservation of ovarian tissue, consisting in freezing ovarian cortex fragments for a future thawing and graft. Some concerns and limitations regard the ovarian cortex graft and the risk of reintroducing malignant cells once performed. Nonetheless, the latter it is the only option in prepubertal patients.
Association ofnitric oxidesynthase3gene rs1799983 G/T polymorphism with idiopathic asthenozoospermia in Iranian Azeri males: a case-control study
Authors: Chavoshi Reza , Khalifeh Zadeh Kaleybar Seyed Babak 
Published: July 2020

AbstractObjectivesRecently, oxidative stress (OS) has been described extensively as an important cause of men infertility. The nitric oxide synthase 3 (NOS3) gene expression involved in normal spermatogenesis regulation in testis. Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) onNOS3gene are reported in association with sperm function and spermatogenesis impairment in infertile men. In present study, we investigated association ofNOS3gene rs1799983 G/T polymorphism in Iranian Azeri male with idiopathic asthenozoospermia (AZS).MethodsIn this case-control study, we collected 50 males with idiopathic AZS as a case group and 50 age and ethnically matched male as healthy controls from East Azerbaijan area, Iran. The case and control groups genotyping was performed using tetra-primer amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (Tetra-ARMS PCR) method.ResultsGenotype frequency in AZS patients was 40% GG, 60% GT, and 0% TT, whereas in healthy controls were 60% GG, 30% GT, and 10% TT. Statistical analysis showed that the GT heterozygous genotype frequency ofNOS3gene rs1799983 G/T polymorphism in AZS patients was significantly more than healthy controls (p>0.05).ConclusionsWe demonstrated thatNOS3gene rs1799983 G/T polymorphism was associated with AZS in Iranian Azeri men. However, more studies on different geographic areas, races and ethnicities are required to determine exact role ofNOS3gene rs1799983 G/T polymorphism in idiopathic AZS.
Study on the structure activity relationship of the crystal MOF-5 synthesis, thermal stability and N2 adsorption property
Authors: Wang Sheng , Xie Xianfei , Xia Wenke , Cui Jiaming , Zhang Shengquan , Du Xueyan 
Published: July 2020

AbstractThe parallel flow drop solvothermal method was utilized to synthesize the crystal of MOF-5 by taking the molar ratio of the metal ions to the organic ligands of 2:1 at 140∘C, and the reaction time at 12 hours. Meanwhile, the structure and properties of MOF-5 were characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). SEM analysis shown that the crystal morphology of MOF-5 changed from sheet to cubic with increasing reaction temperature and molar ratio of the metal ions to the organic ligands, and its thermal stability was also gradually increased. TGA analysis shown that its thermal stability could live up to 489.36∘C. FTIR analysis shown that the terephthalic acid is completely protonated, and the Zn2+ and the carboxyl group are formed by the coordination of the multi-tooth bridge in the crystal of MOF-5. Then the structure activity relationship of the crystal MOF-5 synthesis, microstructural, thermal stability and N2 adsorption property were further studied.
Optimization of the preparation process of mung bean puffed infant rice cereal and evaluation of the structure and digestion characteristics of starch
Authors: Cao Jiabao , Lu Baoxin , Zhang Dongjie , Cao Longkui , Wang Xia , Fan Guangqi 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
The present study was carried out to produce a high quality puffed infant rice cereal from rice and mung bean through extrusion technology. Experiments were designed using 3 independent variables (i. e. 14–18% feed moisture, 400–550 r/min screw speed and 125–175 °C barrel temperature) and 3 response variables (i. e. bulk density, water solubility index and degree of gelatinisation) at five different levels of central composite rotatable design (CCRD). The results of optimization demonstrated that 14% feed moisture, 400 r/min screw speed and 175 °C barrel temperature could generate rice-mungbean extrudates with desirable functional properties. The selected extrudate samples were further examined using scanning electron microscope (SEM), rapid viscosity analyzer (RVA), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, in vitro digestibility and fundamental nutrient analysis. Notably, the initial oval-shaped particle structure of starch in the raw materials disappeared, the surface debris and roughness increased, and the density decreased. The time required for the gelatinization of puffed infant rice cereal was the shortest, which was in agreement with the positioning of ready-to-eat weaning food for infants. Moreover, the puffed infant rice cereal displayed higher peak viscosity and breakdown value, smaller retrogradation value and greater top taste value compared to the commercial infant rice cereal. Besides maintaining the initial characteristic peak of starch, the puffed infant rice cereal demonstrated characteristic absorption peaks of COO- in the vicinity of 1546 cm−1 and 1437 cm−1, indicating the formation of carboxylate during extrusion. In addition, the puffed infant rice cereal exhibited firm diffraction peaks at the diffraction angles of 7.4°, 12.5° and 20.5°, indicating that a certain amount of starch changed from type A to type V. Furthermore, the digestive rate of puffed infant rice cereal was higher than that of commercial infant cereal (90.21 versus 86.96%, respectively; p < 0.05). Altogether, our findings reveal that the developed puffed infant rice cereal meets the standards set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC; 74-1981).
A stable class of modified Newton-like methods for multiple roots and their dynamics
Authors: Kansal Munish , Cordero Alicia , Torregrosa Juan R. , Bhalla Sonia 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
There have appeared in the literature a lot of optimal eighth-order iterative methods for approximating simple zeros of nonlinear functions. Although, the similar ideas can be extended for the case of multiple zeros but the main drawback is that the order of convergence and computational efficiency reduce dramatically. Therefore, in order to retain the accuracy and convergence order, several optimal and non-optimal modifications have been proposed in the literature. But, as far as we know, there are limited number of optimal eighth-order methods that can handle the case of multiple zeros. With this aim, a wide general class of optimal eighth-order methods for multiple zeros with known multiplicity is brought forward, which is based on weight function technique involving function-to-function ratio. An extensive convergence analysis is demonstrated to establish the eighth-order of the developed methods. The numerical experiments considered the superiority of the new methods for solving concrete variety of real life problems coming from different disciplines such as trajectory of an electron in the air gap between two parallel plates, the fractional conversion in a chemical reactor, continuous stirred tank reactor problem, Planck’s radiation law problem, which calculates the energy density within an isothermal blackbody and the problem arising from global carbon dioxide model in ocean chemistry, in comparison with methods of similar characteristics appeared in the literature.
Aberrant pain modulation in trigeminal neuralgia patients
Authors: Joshi Ila , Mattoo Bhawna , Mohan Virender K. , Bhatia Renu 
Published: July 2020

Abstract

Objectives
The present study attempts to understand the role of supraspinal nociceptive pain modulation in typical trigeminal neuralgia (TN) patients by using a conditioned pain modulation paradigm and estimation of plasma levels of two important neuromodulators; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide and β-endorphin.

Methods
Twenty TN patients and 20 healthy, age and gender-matched subjects participated in the study. The participants' hot pain thresholds (HPT) were measured over their affected side on the face. Testing sites were matched for healthy controls. For the conditioned pain modulation their contralateral foot was immersed in noxious cold (5 °C) water bath (conditioning stimuli) for 30 s and HPT (testing stimuli) was determined before, during and till 5 min after the immersion. Plasma Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide and β-endorphin levels were estimated to understand their role in disease pathogenesis and pain modulation.

Results
Change in HPT during foot immersion was significantly higher in healthy controls compared to TN patients (p<0.0001). The changes recorded in HPT in patients, were significant only in 2nd and 3rd minute post immersion. While in healthy controls, the effect lasted till the 4th minute. The concentration of beta-endorphin was significantly lower in TN patients (p=0.003) when compared to healthy controls.

Conclusions
The results suggest that there is an impairment in supraspinal pain modulation also known as Diffuse Noxious Inhibitory Controls in typical TN and that the reduced levels of β-endorphin may contribute to the chronic pain state experienced by patients.
Crowd counting via Multi-Scale Adversarial Convolutional Neural Networks
Authors: Zhu Liping , Zhang Hong , Ali Sikandar , Yang Baoli , Li Chengyang 
Published: July 2020

AbstractThe purpose of crowd counting is to estimate the number of pedestrians in crowd images. Crowd counting or density estimation is an extremely challenging task in computer vision, due to large scale variations and dense scene. Current methods solve these issues by compounding multi-scale Convolutional Neural Network with different receptive fields. In this paper, a novel end-to-end architecture based on Multi-Scale Adversarial Convolutional Neural Network (MSA-CNN) is proposed to generate crowd density and estimate the amount of crowd. Firstly, a multi-scale network is used to extract the globally relevant features in the crowd image, and then fractionally-strided convolutional layers are designed for up-sampling the output to recover the loss of crucial details caused by the earlier max pooling layers. An adversarial loss is directly employed to shrink the estimated value into the realistic subspace to reduce the blurring effect of density estimation. Joint training is performed in an end-to-end fashion using a combination of Adversarial loss and Euclidean loss. The two losses are integrated via a joint training scheme to improve density estimation performance.We conduct some extensive experiments on available datasets to show the significant improvements and supremacy of the proposed approach over the available state-of-the-art approaches.
Variable Search Space Converging Genetic Algorithm for Solving System of Non-linear Equations
Authors: SS Venkatesh , Mishra Deepak 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
This paper introduce a new variant of the Genetic Algorithm whichis developed to handle multivariable, multi-objective and very high search space optimization problems like the solving system of non-linear equations. It is an integer coded Genetic Algorithm with conventional cross over and mutation but with Inverse algorithm is varying its search space by varying its digit length on every cycle and it does a fine search followed by a coarse search. And its solution to the optimization problem will converge to precise value over the cycles. Every equation of the system is considered as a single minimization objective function. Multiple objectives are converted to a single fitness function by summing their absolute values. Some difficult test functions for optimization and applications are used to evaluate this algorithm. The results prove that this algorithm is capable to produce promising and precise results.
Octreotide-related exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) in congenital hyperinsulinism
Authors: Ros-Pérez Purificación , Golmayo Luz , Cilleruelo María L. , Gutiérrez Carolina , Celaya Patricia , Lacámara Nerea , Martínez-Badás Itziar , Güemes María , Argente Jesús 
Published: July 2020

Abstract

Background
Congenital hyperinsulinism (CH) is the most frequent cause of persistent hypoglycemia in the newborn. Octreotide, a long-acting somatostatin receptor analog (SSRA), is a second line treatment for diazoxide unresponsive CH patients. Although it has been found to be a safe and effective treatment, long-term benefits and side effects, have not been thoroughly evaluated.

Case presentation
Some authors have indicated that exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) is a common but under-recognized adverse reaction in adults treated with octreotide. However, no pediatric patient with SSRA-induced EPI has been reported to date. Here we report a case of an infant with diazoxide unresponsive, diffuse CH, caused by a heterozygous pathogenic paternally inherited mutation in the ABCC8 gene (NM_000352.4:c.357del), that developed exocrine pancreatic insufficiency and secondary vitamin K deficiency associated to chronic octreotide therapy.

Conclusions
We point out the atypical clinical onset with a cutaneous hemorrhagic syndrome, emphasizing the clinical relevance of this potential side effect.
Prenatal screening diagnosis and management in the era of coronavirus: the Sardinian experience
Authors: Monni Giovanni , Corda Valentina , Iuculano Ambra 
Published: July 2020

AbstractSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a new coronavirus, was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and spread rapidly, affecting many other countries. The disease is now referred to as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).The Italian government declared a state of emergency on 31st January 2020 and on 11th March World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic. Although the COVID-19 incidence remained considerably lower in Sardinia than in the North Italy regions, which were the most affected, the field of prenatal screening and diagnosis was modified because of the emerging pandemic. Data on COVID-19 during pregnancy are so far limited. Since the beginning of the emergency, our Ob/Gyn Department at Microcitemico Hospital, Cagliari offered to pregnant patients all procedures considered essential by the Italian Ministry of Health. To evaluate the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the activities of our center, we compared the number of procedures performed from 10th March to 18th May 2020 with those of 2019. Despite the continuous local birth rate decline, during the 10-week pandemic period, we registered a 20% increment of 1st trimester combined screening and a slight rise of the number of invasive prenatal procedures with a further increase in chorionic villi sampling compared to amniocentesis. Noninvasive prenatal testing remained unvariated. The request for multifetal pregnancy reduction as a part of the growing tendency of voluntary termination of pregnancy in Sardinia increased. The COVID-19 pandemic provides many scientific opportunities for clinical research and study of psychological and ethical issues in pregnant women.