bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Field test investigation of the performance of corrosion inhibitors: a case study
Authors: Gharbi Kheira , Chouicha Samira , Kelland Malcolm Andrew 
Published: September 2021

AbstractCorrosion is considered one of the major problems that affect flow assurance during hydrocarbon production. This irreversible phenomenon has the ability to cause serious material failure in the oil and gas industry. Consequently, heavy capital and operational costs are required to prevent corrosion processes. Sweet corrosion of raw gas production facilities in an Algerian gas field manifests inside surface installations, which leads to gas production interruption and high intervention costs. To mitigate this type of corrosion, many methods can be applied such as the selection of appropriate materials, the injection of inhibitors, and the use of protective coating. In this work, the main points of gas production system that have been affected by corrosion and the inspection techniques used in the studied field were reviewed. Moreover, the efficiency of two types of two corrosion inhibitors (film-forming/neutralizing and film-forming chemicals) was studied by measuring the corrosion rate in the field and conducting chemical analyses on the produced water samples in the laboratory. The results of laboratory analyses regarding pH and iron content measurement point out that the injection of film-forming/neutralizing chemical significantly shifted the pH of the medium from acid to more neutral value and decreased the iron content, while the injection of film-forming inhibitor affected only the iron content by decreasing its tenor in the water samples. These results confirm the functions of each inhibitor to protect metal against internal corrosion. The comparison between the single- and double-function inhibitors reveals that the film-forming inhibitor (CK981DZ) outperforms the film-forming/ neutralizing chemical with an efficiency that exceeds 99% at low injection rate. Moreover, it provides good compatibility and stability all through its injection path. Meanwhile, the application of double function inhibitor (film-forming/neutralizing) significantly reduced the corrosion rate of carbon steel structures, but it involved the formation of deposits in the gas processing plant. The findings from this study can help give a better understanding of the methodology of corrosion inhibitor performance evaluation in real condition of gas production, also the criteria of inhibitor screening based on laboratory and field tests.
The impact of mini-invasive right hepatectomy in the setting of living donation: a meta-analysis
Authors: Lai Quirino , Giovanardi Francesco , Mennini Gianluca , Berardi Giammauro , Rossi Massimo 
Published: September 2021

AbstractAdult-to-adult living-donor liver transplantation (A2ALDLT) represents a challenging procedure, mainly when the right hepatic lobe is donated. Therefore, especially in Western countries, the medical community still considers it a “risky procedure”. The present meta-analysis investigated the postoperative results reported in donors undergoing right hepatectomy for A2ALDLT through a minimally invasive liver resection (MILR) vs. open liver resection (OLR) approach, with the intent to clarify the hypothesis that the MILR approach should minimize the risks for the donor. A systematic literature search was performed using MEDLINE-PubMed, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE electronic databases. The primary outcome investigated was the complication rate after transplant. Fifteen studies were included (n = 2094; MILR = 553 vs. OLR = 1541). The MILR group only merged the statistical relevance in terms of advantage in terms of a lower number of complications (OR = 0.771, 95% CI 0.578–1.028; P value = 0.077). Investigating the complications ≥ IIIa according to the Dindo-Clavien classification, the estimated blood loss, and the length of hospital stay, no statistical difference was reported between the two groups. MILR represents a novel and promising approach for improving the results in A2ALDLT. However, no benefits have been reported regarding blood loss, length of stay, and postoperative complications. More extensive experiences are needed to re-evaluate the impact of MILR in right lobe live donation.
The network of international trade in services
Authors: Tajoli Lucia , Airoldi Federico , Piccardi Carlo 
Published: September 2021

AbstractWhile the share of services in international trade has been increasing very slowly over the years, oscillating around 20 per cent since the 1990s, their role has constantly gained importance. Trade in services certainly faces many more obstacles than trade in goods, but its impact on globalization and countries’ competitiveness is crucial, and it is therefore worth investigating its characteristics. The present work aims to analyse the networks of international trade in services and to unveil specific properties by exploiting a number of existing methodologies and algorithms. After describing the global properties of the networks of the various service classes, we investigate differences and similarities among them, and we highlight the most influential countries in the trade of specific services. We find that traded services display sharply different characteristics and they can be grouped in two different sets according to their network structures. Countries’ positions in these networks are diversified, with connections unevenly distributed, especially for some service categories. We discover that the structure of links, i.e. the topology of the networks, identifies the role of countries much more clearly than the sole amount of services traded. Overall, the results highlight important features, as well as changes over time, in the landscape of the international services.
AI Content Moderation, Racism and (de)Coloniality
Authors: Siapera Eugenia 
Published: September 2021

AbstractThe article develops a critical approach to AI in content moderation adopting a decolonial perspective. In particular, the article asks: to what extent does the current AI moderation system of platforms address racist hate speech and discrimination? Based on a critical reading of publicly available materials and publications on AI in content moderation, we argue that racialised people have no significant input in the definitions and decision making processes on racist hate speech and are also exploited as their unpaid labour is used to clean up platforms and to train AI systems. The disregard of the knowledge and experiences of racialised people and the expropriation of their labour with no compensation reproduce rather than eradicate racism. In theoretically making sense of this, we draw influences from Anibal Quijano’s theory of the coloniality of power and the centrality of race, concluding that in its current iteration, AI in content moderation is a technology in the service of coloniality. Finally, the article develops a sketch for a decolonial approach to AI in content moderation, which aims to centre the voices of racialised communities and to reorient content moderation towards repairing, educating and sustaining communities.
Features of modeling the system of turbine unit with a variable contact zone of its stator parts
Authors: Krasnikov S. V. 
Published: September 2021

AbstractModeling of stator parts of power units of thermal and nuclear power plants is carried out according to several standard schemes. Common methods of modeling systems with non-uniform and non-stationary contact of stator elements lead to significant errors in calculating the amplitudes of forced vibration displacement at a given external load. The object of this paper is to analyze errors in calculating the displacement amplitudes of forced oscillations in different modeling schemes according to the standard approach and developing a method for constructing a quasi-dynamic model taking into account the time-varying contact of the system’s stator parts as well as other factors. To do this, the author has developed a series of models with different degrees of sampling and considering different system factors. Particular attention is paid to the impact of factors arising from the long operation of the power plant (subsidence of foundation). The modeling was carried out taking into account the calculation method. The finite element method was used to perform calculations. The results of the calculation of forced oscillation displacement amplitudes are available to show the areas of application of different types of three-dimensional models of the steam power unit. The results of research conducted on the developed models show the impossibility of using standard simulation schemes for systems with a variable contact between its stator elements, as shown by the example of a power unit with steam turbine. The efficiency of using the models taking into account the variable contact between the stator parts and other factors to calculate the displacement amplitudes of the forced oscillations with high accuracy is likewise presented. Every specialist should be aware of the factors that influence the research results. This paper is concerned with assessment of the influence of a number of factors on the results of calculating the vibrations of a complex mechanical system.
Effect of Crianza Positiva e-messaging program on adult–child language interactions
Authors: Balsa Ana , López Boo Florencia , Bloomfield Juanita , Cristia Alejandrina , Cid Alejandro , Ferro María de la Paz , Valdés Rosario , González María del Luján 
Published: September 2021

AbstractWe assess the effects of the Crianza Positiva text and audio e-messaging program on caregiver–child language interaction patterns. The program is a six-month-long intervention for families with children aged 0–2 aimed at strengthening parental competences. Its design exploits behavioral tools such as reminders, suggestions of action, and messages of encouragement to reinforce and sustain positive parenting practices. Families in 24 early childhood centers in Uruguay that completed an eight-week workshop were randomized into receiving or not receiving mobile messages. After the program, we videotaped 10-minute sessions of free play between the caregiver and the child, and decoded language patterns using automated techniques. The intervention was successful at improving the quality of parental vocalizations, as measured by the parent's pitch range. We also found suggestive evidence of increases in the duration of adult vocalizations. The results are consistent with more frequent parental self-reported involvement in reading, telling stories, and describing things to the child. Regarding the child, we find a nonrobust decrease in the duration of vocalizations, which we attribute to a crowding-out effect by the caregiver in the context of a fixed 10-minute suggested activity and a more proactive parental role.
Hilbert’s 17th problem in free skew fields
Authors: Volčič Jurij 
Published: September 2021

Abstract
This paper solves the rational noncommutative analogue of Hilbert’s 17th problem: if a noncommutative rational function is positive semidefinite on all tuples of Hermitian matrices in its domain, then it is a sum of Hermitian squares of noncommutative rational functions. This result is a generalisation and culmination of earlier positivity certificates for noncommutative polynomials or rational functions without Hermitian singularities. More generally, a rational Positivstellensatz for free spectrahedra is given: a noncommutative rational function is positive semidefinite or undefined at every matricial solution of a linear matrix inequality

$L\succeq 0$

if and only if it belongs to the rational quadratic module generated by L. The essential intermediate step toward this Positivstellensatz for functions with singularities is an extension theorem for invertible evaluations of linear matrix pencils.
Ecologies of ‘Dead’ and ‘Alive’ landmines in the borderlands of Myanmar
Authors: Buscemi Francesco 
Published: September 2021

AbstractThis article deals with a question foregrounded by historian Willem van Schendel in his seminal 2002 article ‘Geographies of Knowing, Geographies of Ignorance’: how do arms, arms flows, and associated regulatory practices reshape the geometries of authority and power in borderlands? The rich transdisciplinary literature on borderlands has fruitfully deployed van Schendel's insights to re-spatialise areas and states but has devoted scant attention to such question. Drawing from ‘new materialist’ scholarship in IR and the concept of scale in political geography, the paper argues that fluid and fractionally coherent combinations of weapons as technical objects that come from somewhere, rationalities, and techniques of arms control reproduce multiple scales of territorial authority and struggles over scaled modes of governing violence in borderlands. Such struggles of scales and about scale constantly reconfigure the territorial arenas of authority on violence at the edge of the state. Based on fieldwork in Ta'ang areas of northern Shan State, Myanmar, the article develops an empirical analysis of encounters between explosive devices/landmines and the subjects and spaces they target. Delving into the processes and practices of ‘making’ and controlling the ‘landmine’, I find that different socio-political orders confront themselves through rationalities, techniques, and practices of humanitarian arms control via which they navigate/jump across scales, forge new ones, or mobilise multi-scalar alliances. Different types of ‘dead’ and ‘alive’ landmines nonetheless defy these attempts at rescaling territorial authority over violence by acting in unforeseen manners at the scale of their own ecologies of violence.
Perceived corporate social responsibility and employee ethical behaviour: do employee commitment and co-worker ethicality matter?
Authors: Sarfo Christian Agyapong , Zhang Jing A. , O'Kane Paula , Podgorodnichenko Nataliya , Osei-Fosu Kizito Kwabena 
Published: September 2021

AbstractCorporate social responsibility (CSR) plays an important role in promoting workplace ethics. However, most research has focused on CSRs’ performance or favourable performance-related behaviour outcomes. Little is known about how individual employees perceive CSR and how this affects their ethical behaviour. This research examines how employees' perceived corporate social responsibility (PCSR) facilitates their ethical behaviour. Specifically, we hypothesise that PCSR influences employee ethical behaviour by enhancing employees' organisational commitment. The relationship between employees' commitment and ethical behaviour is contingent on their co-workers' ethical behaviour. The hypothesised relationships were assessed using partial least squares structural equation modelling with a sample of 300 employees from ‘The Ghana Club 100’ firms. Our findings suggest that employee commitment serves as an effective mechanism through which employees' perception enhances their ethical behaviour. The findings also show that the weaker the co-workers' ethical behaviour, the stronger the relationship between employee commitment and ethical behaviour. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Estimation of phosphorus requirements of sows based on 24-h urinary phosphorus excretion during gestation and lactation
Authors: Grez-Capdeville Mariola , Crenshaw Thomas D. 
Published: September 2021

AbstractPhosphorus requirements of reproducing sows were estimated using 24-h urinary P excretion. Thirty-six multiparous sows were fed one of six maize–soybean meal-based diets with total P ranging from 0·40 to 0·80 % in 0·08 % increments with a constant Ca:total P ratio (1·25:1). Diets were fed from day 7·5 ± 1 after breeding until the end of lactation (day 26 ± 1). Urine samples were collected in mid and late gestation (days 77·1 ± 2 and 112·4 ± 1) and early and late lactation (days 4·5 ± 1 and 18·2 ± 1). Phosphorus requirements were estimated using linear and nonlinear regression models. Based on a single 24-h urinary P excretion, estimated daily dietary total P requirements in mid and late gestation were 10·3 g (6·0 g standardised total tract digestible P, STTD P), and estimates for early and late lactation were 31·1 g (16·6 g STTD P) and 40·3 g (22·1 g STTD P), respectively. Plasma P and Ca concentrations were maintained within normal ranges at the estimated levels of P requirements. No differences among treatments were observed for plasma parathyroid hormone (P ≥ 0·06) and bone formation marker (P ≥ 0·16). In lactation, bone resorption marker decreased (P ≤ 0·001) as sows consumed more P. Among the analysed variables, urinary P was the most sensitive response to changes in dietary P intake. Urinary P excretion offers a practical method to estimate P requirements in sows. Our recommended daily total P requirements are 10·3 g for gestation and 35·7 g for lactation.
The Elderly Nutritional Index for Geriatric Malnutrition Assessment (ENIGMA): concurrent, construct and predictive validity in an external evaluation cohort of community-dwelling older persons
Authors: Ng Tze-Pin , Hai Shan , Gao Qi , Gwee Xinyi , Chua Denise Qian Ling , Yap Philip , Yap Keng Bee , Wee Shiou Liang 
Published: September 2021

AbstractWe previously developed a malnutrition risk index, the Elderly Nutritional Index for Geriatric Malnutrition Assessment (ENIGMA) with good predictive accuracy for mortality risk in an original population cohort (SLAS1). Herein, we further evaluate the concurrent and predictive validity of the ENIGMA construct in an external validation cohort (SLAS-2) of 2824 community-dwelling older adults aged 55+ years. They were assessed on the ENIGMA index, Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF) and the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI), known correlates of malnutrition, and baseline and follow-up functional dependency and 10-year mortality risk. Higher ENIGMA risk categories were significantly associated (P < 0·001) with lower education, living alone, smoking, low physical activity, BMI < 18·5 kg/m2, poorer muscle strength and functional mobility, exhaustion, physical frailty, homocysteine, glomerular filtration rate, Hb, red and white blood cell counts, platelets, systemic inflammation indexes, metabolic syndrome, CVD, cognitive impairment and depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale ≥ 5). ENIGMA scores showed statistically significant (P < 0·001) correlations but low-to-moderate concordance with MNA-SF (r = 0·148, agreement = 45·9 %, kappa = 0·085) and GNRI scores (r = 0·156, agreement = 45·8 %, kappa = 0·096). Controlling for known correlates of malnutrition, only high-risk ENIGMA among the indexes significantly predicted baseline functional dependency (OR = 1·64, 95 % CI 1·01, 2·65) and mortality (hazard ratio = 1·65 (95 % CI 1·04, 2·62). ENIGMA marginally out-performed MNA-SF and GNRI in predicting baseline functional dependency (AUC: 0·625 v. 0·584 v. 0·526), follow-up functional dependency (AUC: 0·594 v. 0·525 v. 0·479) and 10-year mortality risk (AUC: 0·641 v. 0·596 v. 0·595). The concurrent and predictive validity of the ENIGMA construct is replicated in an external evaluation study of community-dwelling older persons.
Where Is Presidential Power? Measuring Presidential Discretion Using Experts
Authors: Lowande Kenneth , Shipan Charles R. 
Published: September 2021

AbstractPresidents' unilateral sway over policy is of global concern to scholars, practitioners and the general public. While pending actions provoke media speculation about how much authority presidents have to change policy without legislatures, scholarship has yet to systematically measure presidential discretion across areas of public policy. This study surveys an interdisciplinary panel of scholars, using discrete choice experiments to estimate the latent level of discretion that US presidents have in fifty-four policy areas. Consistent with models of delegation and unilateralism, these measures confirm that presidents have more discretion in foreign affairs, and that discretion promotes executive action. This approach presents the opportunity to examine differences in presidential discretion and public perceptions of presidential power, and can be applied beyond the US case.
Identification and characterization of olfactory genes in the parasitoid wasp Diadegma semiclausum (Hellén) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)
Authors: Al-Jalely Basman H. , Wang Penghao , Liao Yalin , Xu Wei 
Published: September 2021

AbstractDiadegma semiclausum is an important parasitoid wasp and widely used in the biological control of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, one of the most destructive pests of cruciferous plants. Insect olfactory system is critical in guiding behaviors including feeding, mating, and oviposition, in which odorant binding proteins (OBPs) and odorant receptors (ORs) are two key components. However, limited attention has been paid to D. semiclausum olfactory genes. In this study, a transcriptome sequencing was performed on the RNA samples extracted from D. semiclausum male and female adult antennae. A total of 17 putative OBP and 67 OR genes were annotated and further compared to OBPs and ORs from P. xylostella, and other hemipteran parasitoid species. The expression patterns of D. semiclausum OBPs between male and female antennae were examined using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitative real-time PCR. Six OBPs (DsemOBP 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 14) demonstrated significantly higher expression levels in females than in males, which may assist in female D. semiclausum host-seeking and oviposition behaviors. This study advances our understanding of the olfactory system of D. semiclausum at the molecular level and paves the way for future functional studies aiming at increasing the efficacy to control P. xylostella by using D. semiclausum.
Biology, parasitoid complex and potential distribution of saxaul's dominant defoliators,Teia dubia(Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae)
Authors: Kang Ning , Guo Jie , Jiang Lingling , Zhang Dongkang , Zhao Qian , Hu Hongying 
Published: September 2021

AbstractNatural enemies that impact pest populations must be understood in order to build integrated pest control strategies and to understand the most important aspects affecting pest dynamics.Haloxylon ammodendron(C. A. Mey.) Bunge is an important perennial plant species extensively used in sand stabilization and wind prevention in arid areas. This study aimed to determine the main defoliators that damageH. ammodendronand the parasitoid complex associated with them. Twelve species of defoliators were found in Northern Xinjiang, andTeia dubia(Tauscher) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae),Scrobipalpasp. (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), andEucharia festivaHüfnagel (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) were the dominant pests.T. dubiais the predominant defoliator with three generations a year. Northwest China, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean region are potentially suitable habitats forT. dubiain the world, while Xinjiang is the primary distribution area in China. Parasitoids belonging to seven species and four families were reared from the larvae ofT. dubia, they were all endoparasitoids and koinobiont.Cotesiasp. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is the dominant parasitoid and prefer to parasitic in the 3rd–5thinstar larvae. The present study provides the basis for understanding the species composition and natural enemies of lepidopteran defoliators. It will be an effective tool for the integrated pest management programs ofH. ammodendronforest.