bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Adsorption using chitosan and nano zerovalent iron composite material for sustainable water treatment
Authors: Sowmya S R , Madhu G M , Sankannavar Ravi , Yerragolla Shrikanth 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
The growing global population and rapid urbanization have led to a water crisis. Current environmental issues emphasize the exploration of advanced materials and economical methods for purification of wastewater. The present work focuses on using advanced composite material made up of chitosan, activated carbon, zerovalent iron nanoparticles for adsorption of Congo red dye. The adsorbent was characterized using SEM, XRD and FTIR. An investigation was conducted on the critical parameters such as pH, the effect of initial dye concentration, temperature and the adsorbent dosage. The optimum dye to adsorbent ratio was analyzed. The composite material proposed as adsorbent was found to be very effective in adsorption of the Congo red dye. 100% adsorption was noted in 70 min under room temperature for the dye concentration of 100 ppm using 1 g of the adsorbent at pH 7. The efficacy of adsorption increased with the increase in temperature and found to increase under acidic pH. The optimum dye to adsorbent dosage is found to be 1:10. 100% of degradation is achieved within 50 min at a temperature of 80 °C and pH 1. The optimization studies were incorporated to investigate the effects of the variables on the process of adsorption using Box-Behnken design of experiments. The inquest of the present study provides an economical and efficient method for water treatment which can be easily adapted for the wastewater purification.
The effect of Cu-doping on the corrosion behavior of NiTi alloy arch wires under simulated clinical conditions
Authors: Wang Jing , Wang Tairan , Dong Shaojie , Kang Xueping , Zhao Shuyang , Shi Haoyu , Gao Bei , Ma Shuyu , Liu Ming , Niu Lin , Zou Rui 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Allergy to nickel based alloy arch wires, which is largely induced by corrosion behavior, can cause severe problems during the orthodontic treatment. However, no consensus has been reached in the comparison of anti-corrosion behavior between Nickel-Titanium (NiTi) and Copper Nickel-Titanium (CuNiTi) alloy arch wires. Herein, the anti-corrosion behavior of NiTi and CuNiTi arch wires was simultaneously studied in artificial saliva under loading stress to simulate clinical conditions. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was utilized to detect the surface morphology and following x-ray diffraction (XRD), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) as well as x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to evaluate the potential anti-corrosion tendency of the arch wires, implying that CuNiTi arch wire had more defects on the surface yet intriguingly less release of Ni compared with NiTi arch wire after test. Both groups of arch wires were more corroded when loaded with clinic-simulating stress, nevertheless, the doping of Cu element can reduce the release of Ni to some extent, which is conducive to lowering the probability of metal allergy and supplying meaningful instructions for the manufactories and orthodontists.
The effect of grain size before cold rolling on the magnetic properties of thin-gauge non-oriented electrical steel
Authors: Zhang Yinghui , Yang Jingfu , Qin Jing , Zhao Haibin 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Thin-gauge non-oriented electrical steel was processed by one-stage cold rolling using different normalizing time, and the through-process texture evolution was studied. Strong {411}〈148〉 recrystallization textures were obtained in sheets subjected to longer normalization time. After cold rolling reduction, the initial {411}〈148〉 texture transformed to {114}〈110〉 and {311}〈136〉 textures. As the rolling reduction increased, the {311}〈136〉 texture transformed into a {112}〈110〉 texture, but not a {111}〈112〉 texture. In normalized sheets with large grains, more shear bands formed during cold rolling, which provided more nucleation sites for {100}〈013〉 oriented grains. The nucleation sites of {100}〈013〉 grains existed at {112}〈110〉 and {100}〈011〉 deformed grain boundaries and in the {112}〈110〉 and {111}〈112〉 orientation shear bands. Strong {100}〈013〉 textures formed due to the high mobility and large grain size. As the normalizing time increased, the magnetic properties were greatly improved in the final annealed sheets. The superior magnetic induction was due to the strong {100}〈013〉 and {210}〈001〉 textures and the weak {111}〈112〉 texture. A larger grain size and weaker γ texture reduced the hysteresis loss, which caused low core losses in the final annealed sheets.
Experimental study of ELM-induced filament structures using the VUV imaging system on EAST
Authors: LI Bang , MING Tingfeng , ZHUANG Qing , LONG Feifei , GAO Shanlu , SHI Qiqi , WANG Yumin , LIU Xiaoju , LIU Shaocheng , ZENG Long , GAO Xiang 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
A high-speed vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) imaging system has been developed on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), which selectively measures line emission with a central wavelength of 13.5 nm (CVI, n = 4–2). It has been employed to study edge/pedestal plasma behavior in EAST. Edge localized mode (ELM)-induced filament structures have been captured by the VUV imaging system during the ELMy high confinement mode discharge with both high temporal and spatial resolutions. The typical features (i.e. poloidal width and pitch angle) of the observed filaments are quantitatively characterized based on the VUV imaging data, and the dependence of these features on basic plasma parameters is analyzed. It is found that the poloidal width is proportional to the heating power, and the pitch angle is inversely proportional to the edge safety factor

q

95

.

The scatterplot shows a positive trend between the poloidal width and the ELM amplitude defined by the relative change in stored energy. These results are based on the condition that the perturbation induced by ELMs is confined to a narrow layer in the plasma.
Practical source monitoring for continuous-variable quantum key distribution
Authors: Chu Binjie , Zhang Yichen , Huang Yundi , Yu Song , Chen Ziyang , Guo Hong 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Source monitoring is a matter of vital importance for continuous-variable quantum key distribution (QKD), since it is the first barrier to ensure the practical security. In a practical scenario, the difficulty arises with the existence of the laser intensity fluctuation, which not only contributes to the source noise but also causes the deviation of source monitoring result. We first illustrate the effect of the relative intensity noise (RIN) on the ultimate security by explicitly showing the parameter estimation procedure, and find that the secret key rate is overestimated in this situation. To defend the continuous-variable QKD system against potential attacks utilizing this impairment to conceal itself, a source monitoring scheme is devised by adopting the seminal one-time shot-noise unit calibration approach into the monitor module. It is shown that by using the practical source monitoring scheme the impact of the RIN can be modeled and monitored in real time to circumvent an overestimated secret key rate. This scheme also lowers the system complexity thus is suitable for widespread application.
The role of feature space in atomistic learning
Authors: Goscinski Alexander , Fraux Guillaume , Imbalzano Giulio , Ceriotti Michele 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Efficient, physically-inspired descriptors of the structure and composition of molecules and materials play a key role in the application of machine-learning techniques to atomistic simulations. The proliferation of approaches, as well as the fact that each choice of features can lead to very different behavior depending on how they are used, e.g. by introducing non-linear kernels and non-Euclidean metrics to manipulate them, makes it difficult to objectively compare different methods, and to address fundamental questions on how one feature space is related to another. In this work we introduce a framework to compare different sets of descriptors, and different ways of transforming them by means of metrics and kernels, in terms of the structure of the feature space that they induce. We define diagnostic tools to determine whether alternative feature spaces contain equivalent amounts of information, and whether the common information is substantially distorted when going from one feature space to another. We compare, in particular, representations that are built in terms of n-body correlations of the atom density, quantitatively assessing the information loss associated with the use of low-order features. We also investigate the impact of different choices of basis functions and hyperparameters of the widely used SOAP and Behler–Parrinello features, and investigate how the use of non-linear kernels, and of a Wasserstein-type metric, change the structure of the feature space in comparison to a simpler linear feature space.
Seed longevity of maize conserved under germplasm bank conditions for up to 60 years
Authors: Guzzon Filippo , Gianella Maraeva , Velazquez Juarez Jose Alejandro , Sanchez Cano Cesar , Costich Denise E 
Published: January 2021

Abstract

Background and Aims
The long-term conservation of seeds of plant genetic resources is of key importance for food security and preservation of agrobiodiversity. Nevertheless, there is scarce information available about seed longevity of many crops under germplasm bank conditions.

Methods
Through germination experiments as well as the analysis of historical monitoring data, we studied the decline in viability manifested by 1000 maize (Zea mays subsp. mays) seed accessions conserved for an average of 48 years at the CIMMYT germplasm bank, the largest maize seedbank in the world, under two cold storage conditions: an active (–3 °C; intended for seed distribution) and a base conservation chamber (–15 °C; for long-term conservation).

Key Results
Seed lots stored in the active chamber had a significantly lower and more variable seed germination, averaging 81.4 %, as compared with the seed lots conserved in the base chamber, averaging 92.1 %. The average seed viability detected in this study was higher in comparison with that found in other seed longevity studies on maize conserved under similar conditions. A significant difference was detected in seed germination and longevity estimates (e.g. p85 and p50) among accessions. Correlating seed longevity with seed traits and passport data, grain type showed the strongest correlation, with flint varieties being longer lived than floury and dent types.

Conclusions
The more rapid loss of seed viability detected in the active chamber suggests that the seed conservation approach, based on the storage of the same seed accessions in two chambers with different temperatures, might be counterproductive for overall long-term conservation and that base conditions should be applied in both. The significant differences detected in seed longevity among accessions underscores that different viability monitoring and regeneration intervals should be applied to groups of accessions showing different longevity profiles.
Apportioning Fault for Performance Corruption in Investment Arbitration
Authors: Reisman Diana A A 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
International investment tribunals are frequently presented with the host state’s allegation that the foreign investor bribed a government official. In most of the disputes to date, the state portrays itself as victim and the corrupt act is alleged to have occurred during the making of the initial investment. If bribery is proved, the case is terminated without going into the merits. However, in a growing number of cases, corruption is alleged to have occurred during performance of the investment. If it is proved and whether or not an element of coercion on the part of the host state is proved, the tribunal is confronted with the question of whether the corruption automatically terminates the case, or whether the facts warrant the apportionment of fault and the determination of damages accordingly.
When presented with an act of performance corruption, this Article asks if and how a tribunal should apportion fault between the host state and the foreign investor. The Article proposes that the State and the investor share the fault. An equitable outcome—and one that deters and reduces the occurrence of corruption—must sanction and disincentivize both parties to the corrupt act. This Article advocates for the contributory fault approach to performance corruption and proposes a three-factor test by which a tribunal may assess fault and apportion damages.
Health informatics and EHR to support clinical research in the COVID-19 pandemic: an overview
Authors: Dagliati Arianna , Malovini Alberto , Tibollo Valentina , Bellazzi Riccardo 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has clearly shown that major challenges and threats for humankind need to be addressed with global answers and shared decisions. Data and their analytics are crucial components of such decision-making activities. Rather interestingly, one of the most difficult aspects is reusing and sharing of accurate and detailed clinical data collected by Electronic Health Records (EHR), even if these data have a paramount importance. EHR data, in fact, are not only essential for supporting day-by-day activities, but also they can leverage research and support critical decisions about effectiveness of drugs and therapeutic strategies. In this paper, we will concentrate our attention on collaborative data infrastructures to support COVID-19 research and on the open issues of data sharing and data governance that COVID-19 had made emerge. Data interoperability, healthcare processes modelling and representation, shared procedures to deal with different data privacy regulations, and data stewardship and governance are seen as the most important aspects to boost collaborative research. Lessons learned from COVID-19 pandemic can be a strong element to improve international research and our future capability of dealing with fast developing emergencies and needs, which are likely to be more frequent in the future in our connected and intertwined world.
VPF-Class: taxonomic assignment and host prediction of uncultivated viruses based on viral protein families
Authors: Pons Joan Carles , Paez-Espino David , Riera Gabriel , Ivanova Natalia , Kyrpides Nikos C , Llabrés Mercè 
Published: January 2021

Abstract

Motivation
Two key steps in the analysis of uncultured viruses recovered from metagenomes are the taxonomic classification of the viral sequences and the identification of putative host(s). Both steps rely mainly on the assignment of viral proteins to orthologs in cultivated viruses. Viral Protein Families (VPFs) can be used for the robust identification of new viral sequences in large metagenomics datasets. Despite the importance of VPF information for viral discovery, VPFs have not yet been explored for determining viral taxonomy and host targets.

Results
In this work, we classified the set of VPFs from the IMG/VR database and developed VPF-Class. VPF-Class is a tool that automates the taxonomic classification and host prediction of viral contigs based on the assignment of their proteins to a set of classified VPFs. Applying VPF-Class on 731K uncultivated virus contigs from the IMG/VR database, we were able to classify 363K contigs at the genus level and predict the host of over 461K contigs. In the RefSeq database, VPF-class reported an accuracy of nearly 100% to classify dsDNA, ssDNA and retroviruses, at the genus level, considering a membership ratio and a confidence score of 0.2. The accuracy in host prediction was 86.4%, also at the genus level, considering a membership ratio of 0.3 and a confidence score of 0.5. And, in the prophages dataset, the accuracy in host prediction was 86% considering a membership ratio of 0.6 and a confidence score of 0.8. Moreover, from the Global Ocean Virome dataset, over 817K viral contigs out of 1 million were classified.

Availability and implementation
The implementation of VPF-Class can be downloaded from https://github.com/biocom-uib/vpf-tools.

Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Gene-expression profile and postpartum transition of bovine endometrial side population cells†
Authors: Tatebayashi Ryoki , Nakamura Sho , Minabe Shiori , Furusawa Tadashi , Abe Ryoya , Kajisa Miki , Morita Yasuhiro , Ohkura Satoshi , Kimura Koji , Matsuyama Shuichi 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
The mechanism of bovine endometrial regeneration after parturition remains unclear. Here, we hypothesized that bovine endometrial stem/progenitor cells participate in the postpartum regeneration of the endometrium. Flow cytometry analysis identified the presence of side population (SP) cells among endometrial stromal cells. Endometrial SP cells were shown to differentiate into osteoblasts and adipocytes. RNA-seq data showed that the gene expression pattern was different between bovine endometrial SP cells and main population cells. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis identified the enrichment of stemness genes in SP cells. Significantly (false discovery rate &lt; 0.01) upregulated genes in SP cells contained several stem cell marker genes. Gene ontology (GO) analysis of the upregulated genes in SP cells showed enrichment of terms related to RNA metabolic process and transcription. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis of upregulated genes in SP cells revealed enrichment of signaling pathways associated with maintenance and differentiation of stem/progenitor cells. The terms involved in TCA cycles were enriched in GO and KEGG pathway analysis of downregulated genes in SP cells. These results support the assumption that bovine endometrial SP cells exhibit characteristics of somatic stem/progenitor cells. The ratio of SP cells to endometrial cells was lowest on days 9–11 after parturition, which gradually increased thereafter. SP cells were shown to differentiate into epithelial cells. Collectively, these results suggest that bovine endometrial SP cells were temporarily reduced immediately after calving possibly due to their differentiation to provide new endometrial cells.
Faecal immunochemical testing and blood tests for prioritization of urgent colorectal cancer referrals in symptomatic patients: a 2-year evaluation
Authors: Bailey J A , Weller J , Chapman C J , Ford A , Hardy K , Oliver S , Morling J R , Simpson J A , Humes D J , Banerjea A 
Published: January 2021

Abstract

Background
A novel pathway incorporating faecal immunochemical testing (FIT) for rapid colorectal cancer diagnosis (RCCD) was introduced in 2017. This paper reports on the service evaluation after 2 years of pathway implementation.

Methods
The RCCD protocol was based on FIT, blood results and symptoms to stratify adult patients in primary care. Two-week-wait (2WW) investigation was indicated for patients with rectal bleeding, rectal mass and faecal haemoglobin (fHb) level of 10 µg Hb/g faeces or above or 4 µg Hb/g faeces or more in the presence of anaemia, low ferritin or thrombocytosis, in all other symptom groups. Patients with 100 µg Hb/g faeces or above had expedited investigation . A retrospective audit of colorectal cancer detected between 2017 and 2019 was conducted, fHb thresholds were reviewed and critically assessed for cancer diagnoses.

Results
In 2 years, 14788 FIT tests were dispatched with 13361 (90.4 per cent) completed returns. Overall, fHb was less than 4 µg Hb/g faeces in 9208 results (68.9 per cent), 4–9.9 µg Hb/g in 1583 (11.8 per cent), 10–99.9 µg Hb/g in 1850 (13.8 per cent) and 100 µg Hb/g faeces or above in 720 (5.4 per cent). During follow-up (median 10.4 months), 227 colorectal cancers were diagnosed. The cancer detection rate was 0.1 per cent in patients with fHb below 4 µg Hb/g faeces, 0.6 per cent in those with fHb 4–9.9 µg Hb/g faeces, 3.3 per cent for fHb 10–99.9 µg Hb/g faeces and 20.7 per cent for fHb 100 µg Hb/g faeces or above. The detection rate in the cohort with 10–19.9 µg Hb/g faeces was 1.4 per cent, below the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence threshold for urgent referral. The colorectal cancer rate in patients with fHb below 20 µg Hb/g faeces was less than 0.3 per cent.

Conclusion
Use of FIT to "rule out" urgent referral from primary care misses a small number of cases. The threshold for referral may be adjusted with blood results to improve stratification .
Caught in the Cycle: Economic Conditions at Enrolment and Labour Market Outcomes of College Graduates
Authors: Bičáková Alena , Cortes Guido Matias , Mazza Jacopo 
Published: January 2021

AbstractWe show that cohorts of male graduates who start college during worse economic times earn higher average wages than those who start during better times. This is not explained by differences in selection into employment, economic conditions at graduation, or field of study choices. Graduates who enrol in bad times are not more positively selected based on their high-school outcomes, but they achieve higher college grades and earn higher wages conditional on their grades. Patterns for female graduates are similar, though less robust. Our results suggest that individuals who enrol during downturns exert more effort during their studies.
Effects of root–cortex relationship, root shape, and impaction side on treatment duration and root resorption of impacted canines
Authors: Amuk Mehmet , Gul Amuk Nisa , Ozturk Taner 
Published: January 2021

Summary

Objectives
This retrospective longitudinal study aimed to evaluate the factors that affect the orthodontic treatment duration (OTD) and external apical root resorption (EARR) of maxillary impacted canines (MIC) as root–cortex relationship, root shape, impaction side, and gender.

Material and method
Thirty-eight patients (mean age 15.28 ± 1.48 years) who had unilateral MIC and undergone orthodontic treatment were included in this study. Root–cortex relationship, root–cortex intersection amount, root shape, impaction side, height, alpha angle, impaction zone, and length of the MIC were evaluated on cone-beam computed tomography images at the beginning of the treatment. Final assessments were performed on ortopantograms at the end of the treatment as canine angulation and tooth length. The sample was characterized by descriptive statistics; t-tests, Mann–Whitney U-test, ANOVA, and Kruskal–Wallis tests were used for the comparison of EARR and OTD values between the categorical groups.

Results
Root shape affected OTD, and the longest value was detected in MIC with bent root (P &lt; 0.000). The presence of root–cortex relationship also prolonged OTD for approximately 3 months (P = 0.006). MIC with risk factors like positive root–cortex relationship and bent roots had higher EARR values than those with negative root–cortex relationship and normal roots (P = 0.042, P = 0.021, respectively). EARR of the palatal MIC was also higher than the buccal MIC (P = 0.009). OTD was significantly influenced by root–cortex intersection amount (P = 0.004).

Conclusion
The presence of root–cortex relationship and abnormal root shape were risk factors for greater EARR of MIC along OTD, which was also significantly influenced by root shape and root–cortex relationship.