bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Pulsed laser-induced dewetting and thermal dewetting of Ag thin films for the fabrication of Ag nanoparticles
Authors: Ly Linh Quy , Fulton Alison Joy , Bonvicini Stephanie Nicole , Shi Yujun 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Two different dewetting methods, namely pulsed laser-induced dewetting (PLiD)—a liquid-state dewetting process and thermal dewetting (TD)—a solid-state dewetting process, have been systematically explored for Ag thin films (1.9–19.8 nm) on Si substrates for the fabrication of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) and the understanding of dewetting mechanisms. The effect of laser fluence and irradiation time in PLiD and temperature and duration in TD were investigated. A comparison of the produced Ag NP size distributions using the two methods of PLiD and TD has shown that both produce Ag NPs of similar size with better size uniformity for thinner films (<6 nm), whereas TD produced bigger Ag NPs for thicker films (≥8–10 nm) as compared to PLiD. As the film thickness increases, the Ag NP size distributions from both PLiD and TD show a deviation from the unimodal distributions, leading to a bimodal distribution. The PLiD process is governed by the mechanism of nucleation and growth of holes due to the formation of many nano-islands from the Volmer−Weber growth of thin films during the sputtering process. The investigation of thickness-dependent NP size in TD leads to the understanding of void initiation due to pore nucleation at the film-substrate interface. Furthermore, the linear dependence of NP size on thickness in TD provides direct evidence of fingering instability, which leads to the branched growth of voids.
Design optimization of silicon-based 1.55 μm InAs/InGaAs quantum dot square microcavity lasers with output waveguides
Authors: Yang Yuanqing , Wang Jun , Zhu Lina , Chen Weirong , Wu Guofeng , Wang Haijing , Jia Yanxing , Huang Yongqing , Ren Xiaomin , Luo Shuai , Ji Haiming 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
We optimize the structure of a silicon-based InAs/InGaAs quantum dot square microcavity laser with an output waveguide structure. By designing a new laser structure, the emission wavelength is extended to 1550 nm. We investigate the structure parameters that affect the quality factor and optical mode of the square microcavity, including the side length of the microcavity, the width of the output waveguide, the cladding layer thickness and the etching depth. By connecting the output waveguide at the edge-midpoint of the square microcavity, both the unidirectional emission and mode selectivity can be obtained, which avoids mode competition. The 1550 nm wavelength single-mode laser is beneficial and has reat significance for the development of silicon-based optoelectronic integration.
EEG-based auditory attention decoding using speech-level-based segmented computational models
Authors: Wang Lei , Wu Ed X , Chen Fei 
Published: May 2021

Abstract

Objective. Auditory attention in complex scenarios can be decoded by electroencephalography (EEG)-based cortical speech-envelope tracking. The relative root-mean-square (RMS) intensity is a valuable cue for the decomposition of speech into distinct characteristic segments. To improve auditory attention decoding (AAD) performance, this work proposed a novel segmented AAD approach to decode target speech envelopes from different RMS-level-based speech segments. Approach. Speech was decomposed into higher- and lower-RMS-level speech segments with a threshold of −10 dB relative RMS level. A support vector machine classifier was designed to identify higher- and lower-RMS-level speech segments, using clean target and mixed speech as reference signals based on corresponding EEG signals recorded when subjects listened to target auditory streams in competing two-speaker auditory scenes. Segmented computational models were developed with the classification results of higher- and lower-RMS-level speech segments. Speech envelopes were reconstructed based on segmented decoding models for either higher- or lower-RMS-level speech segments. AAD accuracies were calculated according to the correlations between actual and reconstructed speech envelopes. The performance of the proposed segmented AAD computational model was compared to those of traditional AAD methods with unified decoding functions. Main results. Higher- and lower-RMS-level speech segments in continuous sentences could be identified robustly with classification accuracies that approximated or exceeded 80% based on corresponding EEG signals at 6 dB, 3 dB, 0 dB, −3 dB and −6 dB signal-to-mask ratios (SMRs). Compared with unified AAD decoding methods, the proposed segmented AAD approach achieved more accurate results in the reconstruction of target speech envelopes and in the detection of attentional directions. Moreover, the proposed segmented decoding method had higher information transfer rates (ITRs) and shorter minimum expected switch times compared with the unified decoder. Significance. This study revealed that EEG signals may be used to classify higher- and lower-RMS-level-based speech segments across a wide range of SMR conditions (from 6 dB to −6 dB). A novel finding was that the specific information in different RMS-level-based speech segments facilitated EEG-based decoding of auditory attention. The significantly improved AAD accuracies and ITRs of the segmented decoding method suggests that this proposed computational model may be an effective method for the application of neuro-controlled brain–computer interfaces in complex auditory scenes.
Facile room-temperature synthesis of cobalt sulphide for efficient oxygen evolution reaction
Authors: Zhao Siyu , Yang Manni , Tan Yeshu , Brett Dan J L , He Guanjie , Parkin Ivan P 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
The electrolysis of water is one of the most promising strategies to produce renewable fuels and it is important to develop an energy-conserving, low-cost and easily prepared electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this work, Ni foam supported Co4S3 (Co4S3/NF) was fabricated by a facile one-step approach at room temperature and exhibited excellent OER performance in alkaline media. Specifically, the Co4S3/NF electrocatalysts showed a small overpotential of only 340 mV to reach a current density of 100 mA cm−2 and a Tafel slope of 71.6 mV dec−1 in alkaline media. More importantly, excellent stability was achieved under a constant current density of 100 mA cm−2 for 100 h and the OER performance of the catalyst was improved after 1400 cycles of linear sweep voltammetry tests in alkaline media. Furthermore, the underpinning mechanism of action was studied by measuring the change of valence states for different elements to elucidate the structural evolution and active species during the electrocatalytic process.
The Purpose of a State
Authors: Endicott Timothy 
Published: May 2021

Abstract:
In a contribution to a symposium on Nick Barber’s book, The Principles of Constitutionalism, I argue that Barber is right to explain the principles of constitutionalism by reference to the purpose of a state, but I defend a restatement of that purpose. Barber says that it is to advance the well-being of the citizens. I argue that the purpose is more open-ended: it is to make the political community a good one. The state has duties that are not grounded in the well-being of its citizens, and it may legitimately pursue good public purposes that do not advance its citizens’ well-being. The state is for its citizens, not primarily in the sense that it is there to make them better off, but in the sense that it is a way for citizens (and not for outsiders) to act as an organized community.
Efficient Multi-Signature Scheme Using Lattice
Authors: Kansal Meenakshi , Singh Amit Kumar , Dutta Ratna 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
With the help of a multi-signature scheme, we can reduce the cost of storage and bandwidth in case of many signers signing the same message. Therefore, multi-signature schemes can be used in bitcoin to reduce the size of a blockchain. In this paper, we propose a lattice-based multi-signature scheme with the following highlighted features. Our lattice-based multi-signature scheme supports signature compression and public key aggregation. The only existing lattice-based multi-signature scheme by Kansal and Dutta (Africacrypt, 2020) that supports both signature compression and public key aggregation has communication and storage cost $\widetilde{\mathcal{O}}(n^2)$, whereas our communication and storage cost is $\mathcal{O}(n)$. Our multi-signature scheme is in the plain public key model where the special registration of the public key is not necessary and it is secure under the rogue key attack. Our multi-signature scheme is secure under the hardness of ring short integer solution problem in the random oracle model.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa: a clinical and genomics update
Authors: Pelegrin Andreu Coello , Palmieri Mattia , Mirande Caroline , Oliver Antonio , Moons Pieter , Goossens Herman , van Belkum Alex 
Published: May 2021

ABSTRACTAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a global medical priority that needs urgent resolution. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a versatile, adaptable bacterial species with widespread environmental occurrence, strong medical relevance, a diverse set of virulence genes and a multitude of intrinsic and possibly acquired antibiotic resistance traits. Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes a wide variety of infections and has an epidemic-clonal population structure. Several of its dominant global clones have collected a wide variety of resistance genes rendering them multi-drug resistant (MDR) and particularly threatening groups of vulnerable individuals including surgical patients, immunocompromised patients, Caucasians suffering from cystic fibrosis (CF) and more. AMR and MDR especially are particularly problematic in P. aeruginosa significantly complicating successful antibiotic treatment. In addition, antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of P. aeruginosa can be cumbersome due to its slow growth or the massive production of exopolysaccharides and other extracellular compounds. For that reason, phenotypic AST is progressively challenged by genotypic methods using whole genome sequences (WGS) and large-scale phenotype databases as a framework of reference. We here summarize the state of affairs and the quality level of WGS-based AST for P. aeruginosa mostly from clinical origin.
The role of Mig1, Mig2, Tup1 and Hap4 transcription factors in regulation of xylose and glucose fermentation in the thermotolerant yeastOgataea polymorpha
Authors: Kurylenko Olena , Ruchala Justyna , Kruk Barbara , Vasylyshyn Roksolana , Szczepaniak Justyna , Dmytruk Kostyantyn , Sibirny Andriy 
Published: May 2021

ABSTRACTGlucose is a preferred carbon source for most living organisms. The metabolism and regulation of glucose utilization are well studied mostly for Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Xylose is the main pentose sugar released from the lignocellulosic biomass, which has a high potential as a renewable feedstock for bioethanol production. The thermotolerant yeast Ogataea (Hansenula) polymorpha, in contrast to S. cerevisiae, is able to metabolize and ferment not only glucose but also xylose. However, in non-conventional yeasts, the regulation of glucose and xylose metabolism remains poorly understood. In this study, we characterize the role of transcriptional factors Mig1, Mig2, Tup1 and Hap4 in the natural xylose-fermenting yeast O. polymorpha. The deletion of MIG1 had no significant influence on ethanol production either from xylose or glucose, however the deletion of both MIG1 and MIG2 reduced the amount of ethanol produced from these sugars. The deletion of HAP4-A and TUP1 genes resulted in increased ethanol production from xylose. Inversely, the overexpression of HAP4-A and TUP1 genes reduced ethanol production during xylose alcoholic fermentation. Thus, HAP4-A and TUP1 are involved in repression of xylose metabolism and fermentation in yeast O. polymorpha and their deletion could be a viable strategy to improve ethanol production from this pentose.
Aggregating large-scale databases for PubMed author name disambiguation
Authors: Zhang Li , Huang Yong , Yang Jinqing , Lu Wei 
Published: May 2021

Abstract

Objective
PubMed has suffered from the author ambiguity problem for many years. Existing studies on author name disambiguation (AND) for PubMed only used internal metadata for development. However, some of them are incomplete (eg, a large number of names are only abbreviated and their full names are not available) or less discriminative. To this end, we present a new disambiguation method, namely AggAND, by aggregating information from external databases.

Materials and Methods
We address this issue by exploring Microsoft Academic Graph, Semantic Scholar, and PubMed Knowledge Graph to enhance the built-in name metadata, and extend the internal metadata with some external and more discriminative metadata.

Results
Experimental results on enhanced name metadata demonstrate comparable performance to 3 author identifier systems, as well as show superiority over the original name metadata. More importantly, our method, AggAND, incorporating both enhanced name and extended metadata, yields F1 scores of 95.80% and 93.71% on 2 datasets and outperforms the state-of-the-art method by a large margin (3.61% and 6.55%, respectively).

Conclusions
The feasibility and good performance of our methods not only help better understand the importance of external databases for disambiguation, but also point to a promising direction for future AND studies in which information aggregated from multiple bibliographic databases can be effective in improving disambiguation performance. The methodology shown here can be generalized to broader bibliographic databases beyond PubMed. Our code and data are available online (https://github.com/carmanzhang/PubMed-AND-method).
Jurisdictional Conflicts between Investment Treaty and Commercial Arbitration—The Role of Lis Pendens
Authors: Pathak Harshad 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
The domain of international investment law is evolving. Today, an increasing number of treaty claims filed against states are based on allegations of a breach of contract. Investment treaty tribunals also tend to affirm jurisdiction over such claims, routinely ignoring that the underlying contract may contain an arbitration agreement in favour of commercial arbitration. This tendency creates a potential jurisdictional conflict between a commercial and investment treaty arbitration proceeding; ripe for investors to exploit. In this context, this article explores the different ways in which investment treaty tribunals have created this jurisdictional conflict. On such basis, it assesses the ameliorative potential of the principle of lis pendens in international arbitration, and whether this potential can be realized in a timely manner.
Forest Farming: Who Wants In?
Authors: Trozzo Katie E , Munsell John F , Chamberlain James L , Gold Michael A , Niewolny Kim L 
Published: May 2021

AbstractForest farming is an agroforestry practice defined as the intentional cultivation of nontimber forest products (NTFPs) underneath a forest canopy. Forest farming perspectives and preferences among family forest owners are generally understudied, particularly in Appalachia, where many marketable native NTFPs species are found. We surveyed Appalachian family forest owners in 14 Southwest Virginia counties about their interest in forest farming and likelihood of leasing land for this purpose. We also asked about the owner’s residency and historical connection to the region as well as contemporary land uses, and identified the following types of uses: absentee and vacationers, newcomers, longtime farming residents, and longtime nonfarming residents. We mailed 1,040 surveys and 293 were returned (28.9%). Forty-five percent were interested or extremely interested in forest farming and 36% were likely or extremely likely to lease land. Rates of interest in forest farming and leasing were similar across owner types, suggesting broad appeal among family forest owners.
The “Con” in Conspiracy: Racial Violence as Political Assassination in Suzan-Lori Parks’s Topdog/Underdog
Authors: Lem-Smith Timothy 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
This article argues that Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer-prize winning play Topdog/Underdog (1999) mobilizes a conspiracy theory concept of anti-black violence in America. The highly discursive play depicts a pair of black brothers named Lincoln and Booth as they banter, argue, and compete with each other over games of three-card monte. In the final scene of the play, the brothers fulfil the destiny inscribed in their names: Booth shoots and kills his brother Lincoln after a dispute over their meager inheritance. The play frames this final act of brutal fratricide as a form of political assassination in order to activate the rescaling that comes with a conspiracy theory lexicon: Topdog/Underdog formulates a generative and radically resistant conspiratorial conception of anti-black violence that ultimately enables a genuine confrontation with the origins and structures of racialized oppression. The play thus belongs to a lineage of works by black writers that have wielded a paranoid aesthetic in order to galvanize a revolutionary opposition to the structures of racial oppression. This tradition includes authors such as W. E. B. Du Bois, Richard Wright, and, most explicitly, John A. Williams, whose novel The Man Who Cried I Am (1967) emerges in the article as a precedent for the conspiratorial racial politics of Parks’s play. In its own interpretation of paranoid anti-racist critique, Topdog/Underdog elaborates a concept of conspiracy without intentionality whose hierarchies, despite being beyond the parameters of any single individual or collective entity’s agency, can nonetheless be undermined and, ultimately, toppled.
Quasi-periodic oscillations and long-term orbital period variation of the eclipsing dwarf nova EM Cyg
Authors: Liu Wei , Qian Sheng-Bang , Zhi Qi-Jun , Han Zhong-Tao , Wang Qi-Shan , Dong Ai-Jun 
Published: May 2021

ABSTRACT
EM Cyg is an eclipsing dwarf nova with an orbital period above the period gap of cataclysmic variables. Based on the whole outburst of EM Cyg observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) from 2019 July 18–August 14, the evolution of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in EM Cyg was investigated. A QPO with a period of about 1000 s was found during both outburst and quiescence. In addition, we found another QPO with a period of about 500 s, which was present during the outburst but disappeared as the outburst ended. QPOs should be caused by the activity of the accretion disc. Using the data obtained during the outburst, we analysed the characteristics of the light curves and found that the eclipsing depth increased and the light-minimum moment earlier during the outburst. In addition, with the new eclipse times obtained by TESS and from our observations, an O − C diagram for this system was produced. According to the O − C analysis, the orbital period is increasing at a rate of $\dot{P} = 1.66(\pm 0.36) \times 10^{-8}\, \mathrm{d\,yr^{-1}}$. There is a cyclic variation in the O − C curve that might be caused by the light-traveltime effect. A third body may exist in the EM Cyg system with the mass $m_3\sin {i{^{\prime }}} = 0.097(\pm 0.000\,35) \, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$.
Proof of CMB-driven X-ray brightening of high-z radio galaxies
Authors: Hodges-Kluck Edmund , Gallo Elena , Ghisellini Gabriele , Haardt Francesco , Wu Jianfeng , Ciardi Benedetta 
Published: May 2021

ABSTRACT
We present a definitive assessment of the role of inverse Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background photons (IC/CMB) in the context of radio galaxies. Owing to the steep increase of the CMB radiation energy density, IC/CMB is supposed to become progressively more important with respect to radio synchrotron cooling as the redshift increases. For typical energies at play, this process will up-scatter the CMB photons into the X-ray band, and is thus expected to yield a redshift-dependent, concurrent X-ray brightening and radio dimming of the jet-powered structures. Here, we show how a conclusive proof of this effect hinges on high-resolution imaging data in which the extended lobes can be distinguished from the compact hotspots where synchrotron self-Compton dominates the X-ray emission regardless of redshift. We analyse Chandra and Very Large Array data of 11 radio galaxies between $1.3 \lesssim z \lesssim 4.3$, and demonstrate that the emission from their lobes is fully consistent with the expectations from IC/CMB in equipartition. Once the dependence on size and radio luminosity are properly accounted for, the measured lobe X-ray luminosities bear the characteristic ∝(1 + z)4 proportionality expected of a CMB seed radiation field. Whereas this effect can effectively quench the (rest-frame) GHz radio emission from $z \gtrsim 3$ radio galaxies below ${\lesssim}$1 mJy, IC/CMB alone cannot be responsible for a deficit in high-z, radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs) if – as we argue – such AGNs typically have bright, compact hotspots.
Cosmic rays and non-thermal emission in simulated galaxies − I. Electron and proton spectra compared to Voyager-1 data
Authors: Werhahn Maria , Pfrommer Christoph , Girichidis Philipp , Puchwein Ewald , Pakmor Rüdiger 
Published: May 2021

ABSTRACT
Current-day cosmic ray (CR) propagation studies use static Milky Way models and fit parametrized source distributions to data. Instead, we use three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of isolated galaxies with the moving-mesh code arepo that self-consistently accounts for hydrodynamic effects of CR protons. In post-processing, we calculate their steady-state spectra, taking into account all relevant loss processes. We show that this steady-state assumption is well justified in the disc and generally for regions that emit non-thermal radio and gamma rays. Additionally, we model the spectra of primary electrons, accelerated by supernova remnants, and secondary electrons and positrons produced in hadronic CR proton interactions with the gas. We find that proton spectra above 10 GeV only weakly depend on galactic radius, while they acquire a radial dependence at lower energies due to Coulomb interactions. Radiative losses steepen the spectra of primary CR electrons in the central galactic regions, while diffusive losses dominate in the outskirts. Secondary electrons exhibit a steeper spectrum than primaries because they originate from the transported steeper CR proton spectra. Consistent with Voyager-1 and AMS-02 data, our models (i) show a turnover of proton spectra below GeV energies due to Coulomb interactions so that electrons start to dominate the total particle spectra and (ii) match the shape of the positron fraction up to 10 GeV. We conclude that our steady-state CR modelling in MHD CR galaxy simulations is sufficiently realistic to capture the dominant transport effects shaping their spectra, arguing for a full MHD treatment to accurately model CR transport in the future.