bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Modelling of the adsorption of urea herbicides by tropical soils with an Adaptive‐Neural‐based Fuzzy Inference System
Authors: Agbaogun Babatunde K. , Alonso Jose M. , Buddenbaum Henning , Fischer Klaus 
Published: February 2021

AbstractSorption of pesticides by soils holds a major consequence for their fate in the environment. As such, sorption coefficient (Kd/Koc), which is derived from laboratory or field experiments is a fundamental parameter used in almost all screening tools to evaluate the fate or mobility of these compounds. The value of this coefficient is controlled by many soil and solute specific properties, as well as environmental variables. Soft computing techniques such as Adaptive Neuro‐Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) have been successfully used to predict the equilibrium partitioning of many compounds in various engineered systems. Application of these techniques to natural systems such as soils is however lacking. Here, we present the use of ANFIS in predicting the sorption per unit mass of soil, Qe, used in the calculation of Kd/Koc of compounds in soils. In a previous study, we collected data associated to the adsorption of five phenylurea herbicides in 18 tropical soils. Here, we analysed such data and based on established correlations, nine variables were selected as potential input vectors (i.e., six soil properties, two herbicides molecular descriptors and initial solute concentrations). A total of 255 ANFIS models of one to eight input vectors were elaborated under 10‐fold cross‐validation. Multiple linear regression (MLR) models were similarly developed, and compared with the ANFIS in terms of mean absolute error (MAE), root‐mean‐square error (RMSE) and coefficient of determination (R2). The best ANFIS model (M94) has an MAEtest, RMSEtest and R2test of 3.43 ± 0.43, 4.94 ± 0.80 and 0.95 ± 0.01, respectively, whereas the best MLR model (M13) returned an MAE, RMSE and R2 of 7.71 ± 0.13, 10.11 ± 1.21 and 0.81 ± 0.01, respectively. We observed that generally ANFIS performed better than MLR regarding both accuracy and interpretability. Accordingly, we recommend the use of ANFIS for predicting the sorption coefficients of phenylurea herbicides (PUHs) in soils.
Implementation of cascaded asymmetrical multilevel inverter for renewable energy integration
Authors: Anand Vishal , Singh Varsha 
Published: February 2021

SummaryThis paper aims to develop a new cascaded asymmetrical multilevel inverter with less number of switches for photovoltaic power generation. The structure contains three sources and 11 switches. A design of proposed structure is suggested for PV application. A few more algorithms for cascade extension are also proposed to obtained maximum voltage levels using least numbers of switching devices. PD LS‐PWM modulation is used to control gate pulses of the switches. The structure produce 15 levels using one inverter, whereas 85 levels using a cascaded inverter. The magnitude of sources in cascade inverter is governed by algorithms. A comparative assessment for optimal algorithm is developed considering, sources, switches, and other performance parameters. The simulation and hardware is performed for 15‐level and 85‐level asymmetrical inverter for variation in modulation index and frequency. The efficiency of multilevel inverter is evaluated using PSIM tool. The performance indices, power loss analysis, switching stresses, and blocking voltages across the switches are simulated and validated. The cascade structure, 85 levels produce high quality waveform, for which THD is less than 5%. Thus, this structure suits series combination of various PV panels and achieve power utilising renewable energy sources.
Analytical tuning of 2‐DOF smith predictor control scheme for DC‐DC boost converter: A process control perspective
Authors: Shruti P. , Praveen Y. G. , Vipin C. P. , Babu B. C. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractStringent voltage regulation in a DC‐DC boost converter is a classical engineering problems in theory of power conversion. Voltage Mode Control (VMC) of boost converter is difficult for two principal reasons. First and foremost, of these two reasons, is the converter's non‐minimum phase (NMP) behavior that arises due to the presence of the dynamic right half plane zero (RHPZ) in control to output (c2o) transfer function in VMC. Second reason is the presence of parametric uncertainties* in converter during its continuous conduction mode (CCM) operation. This paper combines theory of smith predictor with boost converter for (i) analytically computing gains of PID controller, (ii) design of a low pass filter to deal with challenges posed by dynamic RHPZ. This two degrees of freedom (2‐DOF) control scheme is analytically derived as a function of the converter's parameters. Gains of PID controller, deduced in terms of circuit's parameter, are used in sequel for extensive simulation analysis of the converter's control loop. Results in this paper establish that the proposed 2‐DOF‐SP outperforms certain well known control schemes used in regulating output voltage and disturbance attenuation in boost converter.
CCL4‐mediated targeting of spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) inhibitor using nanoparticles alleviates inflammatory bowel disease
Authors: Gong Wenbin , Yu Jiafei , Zheng Tao , Liu Peizhao , Zhao Fan , Liu Juanhan , Hong Zhiwu , Ren Huajian , Gu Guosheng , Wang Gefei , Wu Xiuwen , Zhao Yun , Ren Jianan 
Published: February 2021

AbstractInflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has emerged a global disease and the ascending incidence and prevalence is accompanied by elevated morbidity, mortality, and substantial healthcare system costs. However, the current typical one‐size‐fits‐all therapeutic approach is suboptimal for a substantial proportion of patients due to the variability in the course of IBD and a considerable number of patients do not have positive response to the clinically approved drugs, so there is still a great, unmet demand for novel alternative therapeutic approaches. Spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk), a cytoplasmic nonreceptor protein tyrosine kinase, plays crucial roles in signal transduction and there are emerging data implicating that Syk participates in pathogenesis of several gut disorders, such as IBD. In this study, we observed the Syk expression in IBD patients and explored the effects of therapeutic Syk inhibition using small‐molecule Syk inhibitor piceatannol in bone marrow–derived macrophages (BMDMs). In addition, due to the poor bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of small‐molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors and superiority of targeting nanoparticles‐based drug delivery system, we herein prepared piceatannol‐encapsulated poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) nanoparticles that conjugated with chemokine C–C motif ligand 4 (P‐NPs‐C) and studied its therapeutic effects in vitro in BMDMs and in vivo in experimental colitis model. Our results indicated that in addition to alleviating colitis, oral administration of P‐NPs‐C promoted the restoration of intestinal barrier function and improved intestinal microflora dysbiosis, which represents a promising treatment for IBD.
The role of food selectivity in the association between child autistic traits and constipation
Authors: Harris Holly A. , Micali Nadia , Moll Henriette A. , van Berckelaer‐Onnes Ina , Hillegers Manon , Jansen Pauline W. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractObjectiveThis study examines the association between child autistic traits and constipation symptoms, and explores whether this association is mediated by food selectivity.MethodThe sample included participants (N = 2,818) from the population‐based birth cohort, Generation R (Rotterdam, the Netherlands). Parents reported their child's autistic traits at 6 years (using the Social Responsiveness Scale), food selectivity at 10 years (using the Stanford Feeding Questionnaire) and the frequency and severity of constipation symptoms they experienced at 10 years (using the ROME III functional constipation diagnostic criteria). Mediation analyses tested mediation through food selectivity in the association of autistic traits and the number of constipation symptoms, adjusting for covariates.ResultsThere was a positive association between parent‐reported child autistic traits and constipation symptoms (r = 0.08, p < .001). We identified a significant indirect effect of autistic traits on constipation symptoms through food selectivity (β = 0.008, 95% Confidence Interval: 0.002, 0.014).DiscussionThis study provides empirical support for the mediating role of food selectivity in the association between autistic traits and constipation. Behavioral interventions aimed to target food selectivity and support families of children with autistic traits may bolster conventional medical and nutritional treatments to alleviate gastrointestinal symptoms like constipation.
Hunger games: Associations between core eating disorder symptoms and responses to rejection by peers during competition
Authors: Schell Sarah E. , Banica Iulia , Weinberg Anna , Racine Sarah E. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractObjectiveIndividuals with eating disorder (ED) symptoms are sensitive to social threat and report maladaptive interpersonal styles that may contribute to and exacerbate negative evaluation from others. Research in this area has relied primarily on self‐report. The current study examined associations between behavioral responses to social threat and core ED symptoms using a behavioral paradigm. Based on previous findings that individuals with binge‐eating report being more reactive and confrontational, whereas individuals with dietary restriction tend to be more submissive and avoidant of conflict, we hypothesized that binge eating would be associated with a greater tendency to retaliate against rejection perpetrators, whereas dietary restriction would be associated with a lower tendency to retaliate when rejected.MethodUndergraduate women (N = 132) completed a self‐report measure of ED symptoms and participated in an online “Survivor”‐type game in which they voted to either accept or reject computerized coplayers, while also receiving acceptance or rejection feedback from others.ResultsNeither ED symptom was associated with how often participants retaliated against coplayers who rejected them. However, dietary restriction was related to more rejection votes overall (i.e., the tendency to reject others regardless of how others voted).DiscussionFindings suggest that individuals with dietary restriction may rely on a maladaptive defensive strategy aimed at pre‐empting rejection, or alternatively, have difficulty shifting from habitual self‐isolating behavior that results from over‐involvement with restricting symptoms. Interventions targeting hypersensitivity to social threat or interpersonal flexibility may help reduce interpersonal stress and mitigate its impact on restricting symptoms.
Strong influence of climatic extremes on diversity of benthic algae and cyanobacteria in a lowland intermittent stream
Authors: Lukács Áron , Bácsi István , Nemes‐Kókai Zsuzsanna , Borics Gábor , Várbíró Gábor , T‐Krasznai Enikő , B‐Béres Viktória 
Published: February 2021

AbstractFreshwater ecosystems are threatened by the global change‐induced extreme climatic events worldwide. The unpredictable changes in water supply create strongly disturbed environments and ultimately result in diversity changes. Here, we studied the formation of benthic algal and cyanobacterial assemblages under intermediately disturbed (IDC) and highly disturbed conditions (HDC) in a small lowland intermittent stream. We addressed our hypotheses to the Intermediate Disturbance Theory supposing that intermediate frequencies or intensities of disturbances maximise diversity independently of its level. We expected a larger influence of extremes in water supply on functional than on taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity. Our results only partially proved our first hypothesis highlighting the (i) importance of short‐time but intense disturbing effect on biofilm formation and trait composition under IDC period and (ii) the instability within the assemblages caused by large and opposing influences during HDC. Although extreme weather events caused trait extremes (supporting second hypothesis), they did not result in a decrease in functional richness (rejecting the second hypothesis). These findings in accordance with the insurance hypothesis clearly stress that a system with high functional redundancy can keep its functionality even under drastic hydrological conditions and the accompanying loss of species.
Climate adaptation in practice: How mainstreaming strategies matter for policy integration
Authors: Braunschweiger Dominik , Pütz Marco 
Published: February 2021

AbstractWith some level of climate change now inevitable, climate policy around the world has evolved in recent decades to include adaptation to the impacts of climate change. Most industrialized countries have formulated national adaptation strategies to meet this challenge. However, the implementation of on‐the‐ground measures is lagging. To analyze the implementation process and possible reasons for the implementation gap, we take a closer look at how the integration of adaptation goals into various sectoral policies—often called mainstreaming—has been handled on different administrative levels in Switzerland. Going beyond traditional compilations of barriers to climate change adaptation, we analyze the use of six different mainstreaming strategies across cases and levels and the reasons for their success or lack thereof. We find that different actors at all administrative levels have successfully employed programmatic mainstreaming in combination with inter‐organizational mainstreaming to foster horizontal cooperation. We call this strategy cooperative mainstreaming. Some pioneers even managed to channel their successes into advances in regulatory mainstreaming. However, the lack of systematic regulatory and directed mainstreaming on the national and cantonal levels largely limits adaptation actions on lower levels to those cases where the major impetus derives from extreme events or proactive individuals on the ground. We conclude that the adaptation implementation gap in Switzerland largely stems from the lack of political commitment to promoting local adaptation at the national and cantonal levels.
Metal Halide Perovskites for Energy Storage Applications
Authors: Narayanan Saranya , Parikh Nishi , Tavakoli Mohammad Mahdi , Pandey Manoj , Kumar Manoj , Kalam Abul , Trivedi Suverna , Prochowicz Daniel , Yadav Pankaj 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe increasing global energy demand requires the coordinated development of energy conversion and energy storage materials. Metal halide perovskites have emerged as strong semiconductor candidates for both applications. While metal halide perovskites have received much attention for a range of energy conversion devices, there is a limited use of these materials in energy storage devices. This review summarizes the current status of metal halide perovskites for Li‐ion battery and supercapacitor applications while mainly focusing on the device architecture, synthesis method, and material properties. Special attention is placed on the impact of the morphology, defect density and doping of the perovskite active layer on the performance of these devices. Finally, perspectives for the further development of this field are proposed.
Orange Peel Derived‐Nitrogen and Sulfur Co‐doped Carbon Dots: a Nano‐booster for Enhancing ORR Electrocatalytic Performance of 3D Graphene Networks
Authors: Karaman Ceren 
Published: February 2021

AbstractHerein, nitrogen, sulfur co‐doped carbon dots (N,S−CDs) have been synthesized by a cost‐natural fabrication method using waste orange‐peel as a natural‐carbon‐precursor. N,S−CDs have been hydrothermally anchored to the three‐dimensional‐graphene‐networks (3D−GNs) to boost the electrocatalytic activity by a defective surface effect. Due to the synergistic utilization of heteroatoms, and effective mass‐transfer and improved transport kinetics resulting from interconnected 3D‐architecture, N,S−CDs anchored 3D−GNs (N,S−CDs@3D−GNs) grant superior oxygen‐reduction‐reaction (ORR) activity. N,S−CDs@3D−GNs exhibit a dominant four‐electron pathway (n=3.89) for ORR in alkaline media besides superior methanol tolerance and robust stability. This work opens a door for converting low‐value agricultural wastes into value‐added materials for utilizing in energy application.
Smart integration of food and bioenergy production delivers on multiple ecosystem services
Authors: Koppelmäki Kari , Lamminen Marjukka , Helenius Juha , Schulte Rogier P. O. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractAgriculture is expected to feed an increasing global population while at the same time meeting demands for renewable energy and the supply of ecosystem services such as provision of nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration. However, the current structure of the agricultural system works against meeting these expectations. The spatial separation of crop and livestock farms has created negative environmental consequences, and bioenergy production has created a trade‐off between food and energy production. In this paper, we explore the opportunities for ecological intensification at a regional scale made possible by combining food and energy production. We built three scenarios representing farming systems including biogas production using grass biomass and manure. These scenarios included the following: (a) The current system with energy production (CSE) from non‐edible agricultural biomasses (CSE). (b) Agroecological symbiosis (AES) identical to CSE except with 20% of the arable cropping area converted to clover‐grasses for use in biogas production. (c) Agroecological symbiosis with livestock (AES‐LST) where the available grass biomass (20% as in the AES) is fed to livestock and manure then used as a feedstock in biogas production. In each scenario, nutrients were circulated back to crops in the form of digestate. The supply of soil functions (primary production for food and energy, provision of nutrient cycling, and climate mitigation) and impacts on water quality through nutrient losses in these three scenarios were then compared to the current system. Integrating biogas production into food production resulted in an increased supply of nutrient recycling, reduced nutrient losses, and increased carbon inputs to the soils indicating enhanced climate mitigation. Food production was either not affected (CSE), increased (AES‐LST), or decreased (AES), and biogas was produced in substantial quantities in each scenario. Our study demonstrated potential synergies in integrating food and energy production without compromising other ecosystem services in each scenario.
Reply to Letter to the Editor regarding “Temporal bone carcinoma: Novel prognostic score based on clinical and histological features”
Authors: Zanoletti Elisabetta , Frigo Anna Chiara , Franz Leonardo , Cazzador Diego , Franchella Sebastiano , Favaretto Niccolò , Calvanese Leonardo , Nicolai Piero , Mazzoni Antonio , Marioni Gino 
Published: February 2021

see page 1683–1686
The short‐run response of Saudi Arabia stock market to the outbreak of COVID‐19 pandemic: An event‐study methodology
Authors: Sayed Omer Ahmed , Eledum Hussein 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThis paper investigates the short‐term response of the Saudi stock market (Tadawul) to the COVID‐19 outbreak. Event study methodology applied to data derived from the 21 industry groups that constitute the Saudi stock market to calculate abnormal returns for the trading days after the announcement of the COVID‐19 in both China and Saudi Arabia. The results indicate that the estimated CARs for the industry groups and their sum on the event day were not statistically significant. Furthermore, the formal announcement of the first case of the COVID‐19 in China had a negative but not significant impact on the Saudi stock market. In contrast, in the first 9‐days event window, the announcement of the first confirmed case in Saudi Arabia had a negative and significant effect. Moreover, the most negatively affected industry groups were banks, consumer services, capital goods, transportation and commercial services, whereas telecommunication services and food and beverage were positively affected at the event window (+1, +9). In general, the Saudi stock market's response had become weaker in the event windows come after (+1, +9), and different industry groups were found to have different responses to the COVID‐19 outbreak.
Human resources turnover as an asset acquisition and divestiture process: Evidence from the U.K. football industry
Authors: Fotaki Maria , Kourtis Apostolos , Markellos Raphael 
Published: February 2021

AbstractWe shed light on the drivers and consequences of turnover in human resources for the U.K. football industry. We employ an event study using daily panel data of player transfers for a group of listed U.K. football clubs. Our results suggest asymmetric wealth effects: the acquisition of players is associated with negative abnormal club stock returns while player sales have an opposite effect. According to our findings, shareholders perceive that football managers overpay to acquire human resources. Our discussion draws possible links to the corporate finance literature which deals with the purchase and sale of firms and assets.
The relationship among employee mobility and corporate governance: Evidence from Taiwan's food industry and technology industry
Authors: Lee Joe‐Ming 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThis research investigates the relationships among operating environment, corporate governance, and employee mobility in Taiwan's food industry and technology industry. Findings show that both industry concentration and operating environment have a significant relationship with employee mobility, implying that when a firm has a market share advantage, then it should provide a better welfare mechanism. Corporate governance also has an impact on employee mobility. When the shareholding ratios of major shareholders and managers increase, more attention should be paid to the promotion and feedback mechanism of grassroots employees. Thus, corporate governance should be designed to take into account shareholder expectations and employee stability. From the empirical results, we see that the conditions of corporate governance are important factors affecting employee mobility. This study compares the food industry and the technology industry and finds that the relationship between corporate governance and employee mobility runs in opposite directions between the two industries, which means that corporate governance in the technology industry and the food industry exhibits different benefits.
The effect of financial sector development on economic growth of selectedsub‐SaharanAfrica countries
Authors: Taddese Bekele Dagim , Abebaw Degu Adisu 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe effect of financial sector development on economic growth is among the main debatable issue in economics and policymaking. Thus, by using different financial sector dimensions, this research tried to look at the effect of financial sector development on the economic growth of 25 sub‐Saharan Africa countries for the period 2010–2017. Precisely, three dynamic panel data models that look at the effect of financial sector depth, access, and efficiency on economic growth were estimated by two‐step system GMM estimation. In this research, credit extended to the private sector per GDP, commercial bank branch per 100,000 adult population, and Return to assets were used as a proxy and measures for financial sector depth, access, and efficiency respectively. Accordingly, the results revealed that financial sector depth, access, and efficiency have a positive and statistically significant effect on these countries' economic growth. Therefore, it is recommended that the concerned bodies that broadening the depth of financial institutions by giving more credit to the private sector is essential. Besides, the financial institutions will have to be expanded to increase their accessibility to the mass and take some measures to promote their efficiency.