bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Reeves’ muntjac populations continue to grow and spread across Great Britain and are invading continental Europe
Authors: Ward Alastair I. , Richardson Suzanne , Mergeay Joachim 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe appropriate response for controlling an invasive non-native species depends on the extent to which its invasion has progressed, which can be revealed by information on its distribution and abundance. Reeves’ muntjac is a native deer to China and Taiwan, but has been introduced and become well-established in Great Britain. Moreover, in recent years, reports and verified records in the wild from other European countries have become more frequent. We reviewed the status of Reeves’ muntjac in Britain and evaluated its national range expansion from 2002 to 2016. While the British population appears to have tripled in size since 1995, the rate at which it has expanded its range seems to have peaked at approximately 12% per year between 2002 and 2005 and has since declined. We also consolidated observations on its international distribution, including a conservative evaluation of its presence in zoological collections. We predict that this species could expand its range to include every European country, although the availability of suitable landcover and climate is likely to vary substantially between countries. To prevent the significant impacts to conservation interests that have been observed in Great Britain from extending across Europe, national administrations should consider eradicating Reeves’ muntjac while that is still feasible.
Geographic Density and Uptake of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Among Young Gay, Bisexual and Other Sexual Minority Men: A Global Positioning System (GPS) Study
Authors: Kim Byoungjun , Chaix Basile , Chen Yen-Tyng , Callander Denton , Regan Seann D. , Duncan Dustin T. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe geographic availability of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) providers is one important factor that significantly affects PrEP uptake. While most previous studies have employed spatial accessibility in static residential neighborhood definitions or self-reported healthcare accessibility, we examined the associations of the objectively measured geographic density of PrEP services with current PrEP use, using global positioning system (GPS) among sexual minority men (SMM) in New York City. 250 HIV-negative SMM participated in a 2-week GPS monitoring (January 2017–January 2018). Geographic PrEP density was measured as total numbers of PrEP providers in (1) individual activity space defined as daily path area of GPS points, (2) residential street network buffers and (3) census tract and ZIP code of residential locations. Geographic PrEP density within GPS-based activity space was positively associated with current PrEP use (prevalence ratio for 50-m activity space = 1.10, 95% confidence interval: [1.02, 1.18]). PrEP provider counts in residential buffer areas and administrative neighborhoods were not associated with PrEP use. Although it is not generalizable beyond New York City, our finding suggests the importance of daily mobility pattern in HIV prevention and PrEP implementation strategies.
Exiting the COVID-19 pandemic: after-shock risks and avoidance of disruption tails in supply chains
Authors: Ivanov Dmitry 
Published: April 2021

AbstractEntering the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on supply chains. Reacting to the pandemic and adaptation in the “new normal” have been challenging tasks. Exiting the pandemic can lead to some after-shock effects such as “disruption tails.” While the research community has undertaken considerable efforts to predict the pandemic’s impacts and examine supply chain adaptive behaviors during the pandemic, little is known about supply chain management in the course of pandemic elimination and post-disruption recovery. If capacity and inventory management are unaware of the after-shock risks, this can result in highly destabilized production–inventory dynamics and decreased performance in the post-disruption period causing product deficits in the markets and high inventory costs in the supply chains. In this paper, we use a discrete-event simulation model to investigate some exit strategies for a supply chain in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our model can inform managers about the existence and risk of disruption tails in their supply chains and guide the selection of post-pandemic recovery strategies. Our results show that supply chains with postponed demand and shutdown capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic are particularly prone to disruption tails. We then developed and examined two strategies to avoid these disruption tails. First, we observed a conjunction of recovery and supply chain coordination which mitigates the impact of disruption tails by demand smoothing over time in the post-disruption period. Second, we found a gradual capacity ramp-up prior to expected peaks of postponed demand to be an effective strategy for disruption tail control.
Measuring Men’s Gender Norm Beliefs Related to Contraception: Development of the Masculine Norms and Family Planning Acceptance Scale
Authors: Newmann Sara J. , Zakaras Jennifer Monroe , Dworkin Shari L. , Withers Mellissa , Ndunyu Louisa , Gitome Serah , Gorrindo Phillip , Bukusi Elizabeth A. , Rocca Corinne H. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractMale partner resistance is identified as a key factor that influences women’s contraceptive use. Examination of the masculine norms that shape men’s resistance to contraception—and how to intervene on these norms—is needed. To assess a gender-transformative intervention in Kenya, we developed and evaluated a masculinity-informed instrument to measure men’s contraceptive acceptance—the Masculine Norms and Family Planning Acceptance (MNFPA) scale. We developed draft scale items based on qualitative research and administered them to partnered Kenyan men (n = 150). Item response theory-based methods were used to reduce and psychometrically evaluate final scale items. The MNFPA scale had a Cronbach’s α of 0.68 and loaded onto a single factor. MNFPA scores were associated with self-efficacy and intention to accept a female partner’s use of contraception; scores were not associated with current contraceptive use. The MNFPA scale is the first rigorously developed and psychometrically evaluated tool to assess men’s contraceptive acceptance as a function of male gender norms. Future work is needed to test the MNFPA measure in larger samples and across different contexts. The scale can be used to evaluate interventions that seek to shift gender norms to increase men’s positive engagement in pregnancy spacing and prevention.
Coupling levels of abstraction in understanding meaningful human control of autonomous weapons: a two-tiered approach
Authors: Umbrello Steven 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe international debate on the ethics and legality of autonomous weapon systems (AWS), along with the call for a ban, primarily focus on the nebulous concept of fully autonomous AWS. These are AWS capable of target selection and engagement absent human supervision or control. This paper argues that such a conception of autonomy is divorced from both military planning and decision-making operations; it also ignores the design requirements that govern AWS engineering and the subsequent tracking and tracing of moral responsibility. To show how military operations can be coupled with design ethics, this paper marries two different kinds of meaningful human control (MHC) termed levels of abstraction. Under this two-tiered understanding of MHC, the contentious notion of ‘full’ autonomy becomes unproblematic.
Environmental determinants of fish abundance in the littoral zone of gravel pit lakes
Authors: Matern S. , Klefoth T. , Wolter C. , Arlinghaus R. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe type and extent of habitats along the shoreline specify the distribution of fish in the littoral zone of lakes, but effects are likely species and size-specific and might be overwhelmed by lake-level environmental factors that drive fish abundance (e.g. trophic state). We applied a replicated transect-sampling design by electrofishing assessing fish abundance and distribution along the banks of 20 gravel pit lakes in Lower Saxony (Germany). Boosted regression trees were used to analyse the impact of different characteristic habitat types (e.g. vegetated, woody or open water zones), shoreline water depth and lake-level environmental variables on species-specific fish abundances. In contrast to earlier studies, lake-level environment and transect-level habitat type similarly influenced the abundances of differently sized fish species in the littoral zone of gravel pit lakes. The abundance of almost all fish species increased with lake productivity and extent of structured littoral habitats, mostly following non-linear relationships. Our work suggests that investments into the quality of littoral habitat, and not merely the control of nutrient inputs or other lake-level environmental factors, can promote abundance of most gravel pit lake fish species, in particular those who depend on the littoral zone for at least part of their life-cycle.
On forms, cohomology and BV Laplacians in odd symplectic geometry
Authors: Catenacci R. , Cremonini C. A. , Grassi P. A. , Noja S. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractWe study the cohomology of the complexes of differential, integral and a particular class of pseudo-forms on odd symplectic manifolds taking the wedge product with the symplectic form as a differential. We thus extend the result of Ševera and the related results of Khudaverdian–Voronov on interpreting the BV odd Laplacian acting on half-densities on an odd symplectic supermanifold. We show that the cohomology classes are in correspondence with inequivalent Lagrangian submanifolds and that they all define semidensities on them. Further, we introduce new operators that move from one Lagragian submanifold to another and we investigate their relation with the so-called picture changing operators for the de Rham differential. Finally, we prove the isomorphism between the cohomology of the de Rham differential and the cohomology of BV Laplacian in the extended framework of differential, integral and a particular class of pseudo-forms.
Nonlinear substructuring in the modal domain: numerical validation and experimental verification in presence of localized nonlinearities
Authors: Latini Francesco , Brunetti Jacopo , D’Ambrogio Walter , Allen Matthew S. , Fregolent Annalisa 
Published: April 2021

AbstractIn many systems of interest, most of the structure is well approximated as linear but some parts must be treated as nonlinear to get accurate response predictions: significant nonlinear effects are due to the connections between coupled subsystems, such as in automotive or aerospace structures. The present work aims at predicting the nonlinear behavior of coupled systems using a substructuring technique in the modal domain. This study focuses on the effects of nonlinear connections on the dynamics of an assembly in which the coupled subsystems can be considered as linear. Each connection is instead considered as a quasi-linear substructure with stiffness that is function of amplitude or energy. The iterative procedure used here is enhanced with respect to previous works by enforcing a better control of the total energy at each iteration allowing to obtain the solution for a prescribed set of energy levels. Also, the initial guess and the convergence criterion have been modified to speed up the procedure. This technique is applied to a system made of two continuous linear subsystems coupled by nonlinear connections. The numerical results of the coupling are first compared to the ones obtained by using the Harmonic Balance technique on the model of the complete assembly to evaluate its effectiveness and understand the effects of modal truncation. Besides, a nonlinear connecting element, specifically designed in order to have a nearly cubic hardening behavior, is used in an experimental setup. Substructuring results are compared to experimental results measured on the assembled system, in order to evaluate the correlation between mode shapes and the accuracy in the resonance frequency at several excitation levels.
A new model of Hopfield network with fractional-order neurons for parameter estimation
Authors: Fazzino Stefano , Caponetto Riccardo , Patanè Luca 
Published: April 2021

AbstractIn this work, we study an application of fractional-order Hopfield neural networks for optimization problem solving. The proposed network was simulated using a semi-analytical method based on Adomian decomposition,, and it was applied to the on-line estimation of time-varying parameters of nonlinear dynamical systems. Through simulations, it was demonstrated how fractional-order neurons influence the convergence of the Hopfield network, improving the performance of the parameter identification process if compared with integer-order implementations. Two different approaches for computing fractional derivatives were considered and compared as a function of the fractional-order of the derivatives: the Caputo and the Caputo–Fabrizio definitions. Simulation results related to different benchmarks commonly adopted in the literature are reported to demonstrate the suitability of the proposed architecture in the field of on-line parameter estimation.
Resonant modal interactions in micro/nano-mechanical structures
Authors: Shoshani Oriel , Shaw Steven W. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThis paper considers nonlinear interactions between vibration modes with a focus on recent studies relevant to micro- and nanoscale mechanical resonators. Due to their inherently small damping and high susceptibility to nonlinearity, these devices have brought to light new phenomena and offer the potential for novel applications. Nonlinear interactions between vibration modes are well known to have the potential for generating a “zoo” of complicated bifurcation patterns and a wide variety of dynamic behaviors, including chaos. Here, we focus on more regular, robust, and predictable aspects of their dynamics, since these are most relevant to applications. The investigation is based on relatively simple two-mode models that are able to capture and predict a wide range of transient and sustained dynamical behaviors. The paper emphasizes modeling and analysis that has been done in support of recent experimental investigations and describes in full detail the analysis and attendant insights obtained from the models that are briefly described in the experimental papers. Standard analytical tools are employed, but the questions posed and the conclusions drawn are novel, as motivated by observations from experiments. The paper considers transient dynamics, response to harmonic forcing, and self-excited systems and describes phenomena such as extended coherence time during transient decay, zero dispersion response, and nonlinear frequency veering. The paper closes with some suggested directions for future studies in this area.
The mediating role of values in the relationship between religion and entrepreneurship
Authors: Rietveld Cornelius A. , Hoogendoorn Brigitte 
Published: April 2021

AbstractAn emerging stream of literature argues that values entail a prime channel through which belonging to a religion and entrepreneurship are related. In this study, we introduce Schwartz’s theory of basic human values to theorize on the role of values in the reciprocal relationship between belonging to a religion and entrepreneurship. Based on the motivational goal of each value, we argue that the value priorities of people belonging to a religion are opposite to these of entrepreneurs. We also go beyond earlier studies highlighting values as a prominent channel through which religion and entrepreneurship are connected by providing empirical evidence about the extent to which values mediate this relationship. By drawing on data from eight biennial survey waves (2002–2016) of the European Social Survey (32 countries), we show that individuals who belong to a religion prioritize values related to conservation higher than values related to openness to change, whereas the opposite is true for entrepreneurs. This contrast in value priorities cushions the relationship between belonging to a religion and entrepreneurship. However, both those belonging to a religion and entrepreneurs prioritize values related to self-transcendence over those related to self-enhancement. These relationships are fairly constant across the major religions in Europe, but do depend on how actively people engage in a religion and the type of entrepreneurship.Plain English Summary New evidence about how values can explain the relationship between belonging to a religion and being an entrepreneur. For many people, religion provides the moral codes by which they live and herewith it shapes individual decision-making including the choice for certain occupations. However, religions do not prescribe occupational choices directly but shape these choices indirectly. A prominent role for values in the relationship between belonging to a religion and entrepreneurship is widely acknowledged theoretically, but hardly tested empirically. In this study, we use Schwartz’ theory of basic human values to test this relationship and show that the value priorities of individuals belonging to a religion are opposite to those of entrepreneurs. Individuals who belong to a religion prioritize values related to conserving the social order higher than values related to openness to change and novelty, whereas the opposite is true for entrepreneurs. This contrast in value priorities weakens the relationship between belonging to a religion and entrepreneurship. Our findings are fairly constant across the major religions in Europe, but do depend on how actively people engage in a religion and the type of entrepreneurship. With a rapidly changing number of individuals adhering to a religion and increasing religious diversity in many European countries, our study is of practical importance by showing how these trends may have an impact on a country’s entrepreneurship rate.
Permeability and the Ergun Equation as a Basis for Permeability Measurements of Metallic Foams and Wire Meshes
Authors: Celebican C. , Tanefo S. , Durst F. , Reichel C. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThis paper concerns a method and a test set-up to measure the permeability of plates of metal foams and sets of wire meshes used to control flows in fluid filters and other flow systems designed to yield constant velocity distributions over large cross sections of flows. The method is based on permeability considerations using the Ergun equation to describe the pressure losses of packages of mono-dispersed spheres. One correlation is suggested for the permeabilitykover the entire range of mean velocitiesU0. A suitable measuring set-up was designed, built and used to measure the permeability of plates of metallic foams and sets of wire meshes. The specific objective of the present investigation was to provide permeability data for combined sets of wire meshes with flow properties that are mainly characterized by the wire meshes with the smallest mesh size. A method of data presentation is suggested that clearly illustrates the ranges of laminar and turbulent flows through the wire meshes. The results are compared with those for technical porous plates. The suggested presentation of the results indicates that the general features of the flows through porous plates of metal foams and wire meshes are the same.
Explaining the Varieties of Volunteering in Europe: A Capability Approach
Authors: Enjolras Bernard 
Published: April 2021

AbstractVolunteer rates vary greatly across Europe despite the voluntary sector’s common history and tradition. This contribution advances a theoretical explanation for the variation in volunteering across Europe—the capability approach—and tests this approach by adopting a two-step strategy for modeling contextual effects. This approach, referring to the concept of capability introduced by Sen (Choice, welfare and measurement, Oxford University Press, 1980/1982), is based on the claim that the demand and supply sides of the voluntary sector can be expected to vary according to collective and individual capabilities to engage in volunteering. To empirically test the approach, the study relied on two data sources—the 2015 European Union (EU) Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), including an ad hoc module on volunteering at the individual level, and the Quality of Government Institute and PEW Research Center macro-level data sets—to operationalize economic, human, political, social, and religious contextual factors and assess their effects on individuals’ capability to volunteer. The results support the capability hypothesis at both levels. At the individual level, indicators of human, economic, and social resources have a positive effect on the likelihood of volunteering. At the contextual level, macro-structural indicators of economic, political, social, and religious contexts affect individuals’ ability to transform resources into functioning—that is, volunteering.
Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Future Water Demand using Weather Data
Authors: Fiorillo Diana , Kapelan Zoran , Xenochristou Maria , De Paola Francesco , Giugni Maurizio 
Published: April 2021

AbstractAssessing the impact of climate change on water demand is a challenging task. This paper proposes a novel methodology that quantifies this impact by establishing a link between water demand and weather based on climate change scenarios, via Coupled General Circulation Models. These models simulate the response of the global climate system to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations by reproducing atmospheric and ocean processes. In order to establish the link between water demand and weather, Random Forest models based on weather variables were used. This methodology was applied to a district metered area in Naples (Italy). Results demonstrate that the total district water demand may increase by 9–10% during the weeks with the highest temperatures. Furthermore, results show that the increase in water demand changes depending on the social characteristics of the users. The water demand of employed users with high education may increase by 13–15% when the highest temperatures occur. These increases can seriously affect the capacity and operation of existing water systems.
Gold and oil prices: abnormal returns, momentum and contrarian effects
Authors: Caporale Guglielmo Maria , Plastun Alex 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThis paper explores price (momentum and contrarian) effects and their timing parameters on the days characterised by abnormal returns and the following ones in two commodity markets. Specifically, using daily gold and oil price data over the period 01.01.2009–31.03.2020 the following hypotheses are tested: (H1) there is a time gap between the detection of an abnormal return day and the end of that day, (H2) there are price effects on the day after abnormal returns occur; (H3) price effects after 1-day abnormal returns have identifiable timing parameters; (H4) the detected timing parameters can be used to “beat the market”. For these purposes average analysis,ttests, CAR and trading simulation approaches are used. The main results can be summarised as follows. Prices tend to move in the direction of abnormal returns till the end of the day when these occur. The presence of abnormal returns can usually be detected before the end of the day by estimating specific timing parameters, and a momentum effect can be detected. On the following day two different price patterns are detected: a momentum effect for oil prices and a contrarian effect for gold prices, respectively. These effects are limited in time, and the corresponding timing parameters are estimated. Trading simulations show that these effects can be exploited to generate abnormal profits with an appropriate calibration of the timing parameters.