bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Dominance of the Ruling Party and the Turmoil of the opposition in Mozambique
Authors: De Moçambique Universidade Católica 
Published: November 2024

Mozambique is one of the African countries which embraced democratisation in the 1990s. Following a civil war the two belligerent forces in the country embraced a multiparty system as part of the peace agreement signed in 1992. The political landscape has been dominated since 1994 by the two political parties (FRELIMO and RENAMO)which were enemies during 14 years of civil war. The current evaluation of democracy in Mozambique indicates that it fulfils the criteria of a hybrid regime (Diamond, 1999). The procedural rules of democracy exist and there is a relatively strong and free media. Within the theories of democracy some authors have expressed that in order to be a full democracy the country must have political rotation or at least for the fear of uncertainty to exist regarding the dominant party (Przeworski, 1991; Diamond, 1999), meaning that the rulers have fear of accountability to their electorate’ on the day of the polls. For now, it seems that this condition doesn’t exist. As long as democratisation is not successfully entrenched, party dominance alone is not culpable, the opposition holds a significant responsibility in this ongoing process. Division within the opposition and difficulty to adapt from a rebellion movement to a political party made the main opposition party increasingly fragile. In the last five years a new party was created and has been perceived as a promising opposition, but due to its novelty and within the context of dominance of the ruling party alongside hostility from the main opposition party, it would require time to build up as a credible threat to the ruling party. In the meantime, it therefore seems that the country will remain a multiparty regime with a dominant ruling party. Are the authors who defended the definition of democracy exist only once a country has been through a power transfer correct in their assertion or is this theory inadequate to some of the democratisation processes? A comprehensive reply to this question will require more comparative cases and to follow the evolution of the case itself. But for now it is important to recognise that if there is an incomplete democratisation then the ruling party is not solely liable - the opposition also needs to be held responsible for this dominance through its own counter-productive actions.
Request for information on the activities of the authorities: is there a need for separate regulation?
Authors: Rukoleev Vitalii Aleksandrovich , Savoskin Aleksandr Vladimirovich 
Published: November 2024

The article is devoted to the study of the information request, its relationship with the traditional types of appeals. In particular, on the pages of this work, a comprehensive comparison of the request for information with the application is carried out, the place of the request for information is determined, its role in the existing system of citizens' appeals. The authors have made an attempt to understand the reasons for the existence of special regulation of information requests. The topic is relevant due to the fact that currently law enforcement practice indicates the lack of demand among the general population for such a type of appeal as a request for information, unlike traditional types of appeals. The chosen research topic has received great relevance due to the presence in the vast legal literature of a dispute about the need to unify the legal regulation of public relations related to the realization of the right to appeal and the right to information. The article reflects the positions "for" and "against" the elimination of largely duplicative legal norms. The subject of the study is the provisions of normative legal acts in the field of regulating the types of appeals, their submission and consideration in the exercise by citizens of the constitutional right to both appeal and information. Methodological basis of the research: to solve all the tasks set, general scientific and special legal methods were used, among which general logical methods of cognition (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, generalization), a systematic method, as well as a formal legal method can be distinguished. The scientific novelty of the study is due to the fact that it shows the current state of the normative consolidation of the institute of information request. According to the results of the study, the authors proposed to abandon the irrational accumulation of the legal array and exclude the norms on information requests from the Federal Law "On Ensuring Access to Information on the Activities of State Bodies and Local Governments" and the Federal Law "On Ensuring Access to Information on the Activities of Courts in the Russian Federation". In their opinion, the specifics of dealing with such appeals can be reflected in the Federal Law "On the procedure for considering appeals from Citizens of the Russian Federation." However, it is important to maintain a balance between the interests of the authorities and the rights of citizens to appeal and information in order to prevent unjustified restrictions on these rights.
Spatiotemporal variations of atmospheric black carbon concentration and its correlation with meteorological and environmental factors in Xinjiang, China, from 2010 to 2022
Authors: Xie Xiang , Zhao Zhujun , Li Shuting , Lu Zhongqi , Chen Lijuan , Cai Jiangjiang 
Published: November 2024

Black carbon (BC) is a pollutant produced by the combustion of fossil fuels and biomass fuels, which has a huge impact on regional climate, atmospheric environment, and human health. In this study, based on MERRA-2 reanalysis data and ground-based observation data, the Mann-Kendall (MK) test and random forest (RF) model were used to explore the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of atmospheric BC concentration in Xinjiang, China and its correlation with meteorological and environmental covariates in 2010–2022. The results showed that the use of MERRA-2 reanalysis data to explore the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of BC concentration in Xinjiang had high reliability (relative average deviation (RAD) = 0.65). From 2010 to 2022, the annual average concentration of atmospheric BC in Xinjiang was 195.40 ± 15.55 ng/m3, and the multi-year average change rate was −0.05%. The winter season had the highest atmospheric BC concentration (145.52 ± 39.31 ng/m3), followed by autumn (124.95 ± 28.82 ng/m3), spring (74.05 ± 9.96 ng/m3), and summer (73.41 ± 5.69 ng/m3). The atmospheric BC concentration had a significant spatial variation, showing two high-BC-concentration areas on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains (centered on Urumqi-Changji-Shihezi region) and the urban agglomeration around the Tarim Basin (centered on Kashgar). The RF model analysis showed that meteorological factors including snow depth, surface temperature, and humidity as well as environmental factors including NO2, PM10, and SO2 were the main factors affecting the BC concentration. This work is of great significance for clarifying the accumulation and spatial distribution characteristics of atmospheric BC in northwest China and the factors influencing the atmospheric BC concentration, and helps to raise public attention to the increasingly serious climate change and public health problems caused by BC.
Self‐Healing Functional Surfaces
Authors: Esteves Catarina 
Published: July 2018

AbstractDuring the last decade extensive research has focused on designing functional surfaces, e.g., with self‐cleaning, antibacterial, or antifouling properties, driven by the industrial demand on innovation and sustainability, and the academic interest in new functional materials. Such functionalities are strongly related with surface characteristics, namely chemical composition, physical properties, and topography. Surfaces are, however, dynamic and easily damaged resulting in reduced performance or immediate loss of the functionality. Damage is ubiquitous, hence incorporating self‐healing mechanisms allows repairing the functionalities while maintaining a high performance with extended service lifetime. Polymeric surfaces are particularly relevant for functional materials, covering the large majority of devices that are currently used. However, due to their chemical nature, they are typically soft and vulnerable to damages. This report covers the most recent advances concerning self‐healing functional surfaces. Low adherence polymeric surfaces are addressed. Further then recovering chemical composition only, additional challenges raised by the recovery of other surface features, such as roughness, porosity, or heterogeneity, are considered. The impact of inherent surface dynamics on the recovery of surface functionalities is discussed, the limitations are highlighted and alternatives are suggested. The recent progress on self‐healing of reversible and responsive surfaces is addressed and future research directions for self‐healing functional surfaces are anticipated.
Morphology‐Tailored Halide Perovskite Platelets and Wires: From Synthesis, Properties to Optoelectronic Devices
Authors: Liu Zhixiong , Mi Yang , Guan Xinwei , Su Zhicheng , Liu Xinfeng , Wu Tom 
Published: July 2018

AbstractThe recent emergence of metal‐halide perovskites as light absorbers in solar cells has attracted lots of attention on their synthesis and properties. In particular, low‐dimensional metal‐halide perovskites like platelets and wires are expected to regulate their optical and electrical properties in reference to bulk counterparts as a result of quantum confinement and anisotropy. In this review, first, the recent solution‐ and vapor‐based approaches on synthesizing metal‐halide perovskite platelets and wires are highlighted. Then, their optical and electrical properties along with application in photonics and optoelectronics such as lasers, light emitting diodes, photodetectors, and phototransistors are discussed. At last, the importance of such perovskite platelets and wires on improving material stability and transport properties is emphasized, and potential integration of perovskites with other low‐dimensional materials in multifunctional systems is proposed.
Simple, Flexible, and Ultrastable Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering Substrate Based on Plasmonic Nanopaper Decorated with Graphene Oxide
Authors: Rodríguez‐Sevilla Erika , Vázquez Gloria Verónica , Morales‐Narváez Eden 
Published: July 2018

AbstractSurface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is becoming a paramount analytical mechanism in nanotechnology and biological/chemical detection. However, fabrication of highly sensitive SERS substrates often involves expensive and time‐consuming procedures and the resulting materials require careful handling. Herein, a simple‐to‐manufacture, highly sensitive, and easy‐to‐handle SERS substrate enabled by plasmonic nanopaper decorated with graphene oxide flakes is reported. Owing to the physicochemical properties gathered by this SERS substrate, the nanocomposite leads to a flexible platform facilitating: a) analysis of the model analyte (Rhodamine 6G) via a high energy laser (457 nm) with negligible fluorescent background, which is important to achieve the maximum excitation of the respective localized surface plasmon resonance; b) a charge transferring phenomenon associated to the graphene derivative that, operating in synergy with the previous phenomenon, enhances the SERS signal and allows an analytical limit of detection of 0.13 × 10−9
m, which is about 2900‐fold lower than that obtained with the counterpart substrate made of silver nanoparticle‐decorated nanopaper; c) an ultrastable signal which remains completely constant at least during 50 days. Furthermore, the resulting SERS substrate is amenable to a cost‐efficient and large‐scale production process, which furthers laboratory and real world applications of SERS.
Exploration of Advanced Electrode Materials for Rechargeable Sodium‐Ion Batteries
Authors: Sun Yang , Guo Shaohua , Zhou Haoshen 
Published: July 2018

AbstractAs the rapid growth of the lithium‐ion battery (LIB) market raises concerns about limited lithium resources, rechargeable sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) are attracting growing attention in the field of electrical energy storage due to the large abundance of sodium. Compared with the well‐developed commercial LIBs, all components of the SIB system, such as the electrode, electrolyte, binder, and separator, need further exploration before reaching a practical industrial application level. Drawing lessons from the LIB research, the SIB electrode materials are being extensively investigated, resulting in tremendous progress in recent years. In this article, the progress of the research on the development of electrode materials for SIBs is summarized. A variety of new electrode materials for SIBs, including transition‐metal oxides with a layered or tunnel structure, polyanionic compounds, and organic molecules, have been proposed and systematically investigated. Several promising materials with moderate energy density and ultra‐long cycling performance are demonstrated. Appropriate doping and/or surface treatment methodologies are developed to effectively promote the electrochemical properties. The challenges of and opportunities for exploiting satisfactory SIB electrode materials for practical applications are outlined.
Late‐Stage Peptide Diversification by Position‐Selective C−H Activation
Authors: Wang Wei , Lorion Mélanie M. , Shah Jagrut , Kapdi Anant R. , Ackermann Lutz 
Published: July 2018

AbstractThe late‐stage modification of structurally complex peptides bears great potential for drug discovery, crop protection, and the pharmaceutical industry, among others. Whereas traditional approaches largely rely on prefunctionalizations, C−H activation catalysis has in recent years emerged as an increasingly powerful tool for post‐translational peptide modifications in a step‐economic manner. Herein, we summarize recent progress in organometallic C−H activation on peptides until June 2018, including position‐ and chemoselective palladium‐, ruthenium‐, and manganese‐catalyzed processes.
Multimodality Imaging Agents with PET as the Fundamental Pillar
Authors: Ni Dalong , Ehlerding Emily B. , Cai Weibo 
Published: July 2018

AbstractPositron emission tomography (PET) provides quantitative information in vivo with ultra‐high sensitivity but is limited by its relatively low spatial resolution. Therefore, PET has been combined with other imaging modalities, and commercial systems such as PET/computed tomography (CT) and PET/magnetic resonance (MR) have become available. Inspired by the emerging field of nanomedicine, many PET‐based multimodality nanoparticle imaging agents have been developed in recent years. This Minireview highlights recent progress in the design of PET‐based multimodality imaging nanoprobes with an aim to overview the major advances and key challenges in this field and substantially improve our knowledge of this fertile research area.
Enhanced photoluminescence properties of electrospun Dy3+‐doped ZnO nanofibres for white lighting devices
Authors: Pangul Chaitali Niranjan , Anwane Shyamkant Wasudeorao , Kondawar Subhash Baburao 
Published: July 2018

AbstractDy3+‐doped ZnO nanofibres with diameters from 200 to 500 nm were made using an electrospinning technique. The as‐fabricated amorphous nanofibres resulted in good crystalline continuous nanofibres through calcination. Dy3+‐doped ZnO nanofibres were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) light spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and photoluminescence (PL). XRD showed the well defined peaks of ZnO. UV–vis spectra showed a good absorption band at 360 nm. FTIR spectra showed a Zn–O stretching vibration confirming the presence of ZnO. Photoluminescence spectra of Dy3+‐doped ZnO nanofibres showed an emission peak in the visible region that was free from any ZnO defect emission. Emissions at 480 nm and 575 nm in the Dy3+‐doped ZnO nanofibres were the characteristic peaks of dopant Dy3+ and implied efficient energy transfer from host to dopant. Luminescence intensity was found to be increased with increasing doping concentration and reduction in nanofibre diameter. Colour coordinates were calculated from photometric characterizations, which resembled the properties for warm white lighting devices.
Digital assessment of individual engineering assignments in mass courses
Authors: Aleyaasin Majid 
Published: July 2018

AbstractIn this article a digitally assisted tool, that uses a master computer program for a particular assignment, and enables quick and semi‐automatic assessment is introduced. Since the data allocated to each student is different from the other classmates, acquiring the correct results depends on the sole effort of the student. The master program will produces the correct results in a tabular format. Then student is asked to provide his/her results with same format, and submit the work to the course web site. The marker assesses the work by running the master program and observing the correct results. In last step the student's result with the same format will be compared with the correct results and an appropriate feedback will be provided for that student. In the first experiment 300 undergraduate students with different mathematical knowledge, have been asked to find the acceptable ranges of a gear ratios for a particular electromechanical device and submit their results. In the 2nd experiment 40 postgraduate students have been, with different engineering and science degrees, asked to find the optimal passive fire protection system for the structural elements. It is concluded that for strengthening the innovation in students, apart from group projects, the individual assignments are also necessary. The digital method described in this paper, can reduce the assessment time substantially, also provides appropriate feedback for each student. Future applications, improvements are discussed, commented upon.
Stable 2D Bisthienoacenes: Synthesis, Crystal Packing, and Photophysical Properties
Authors: Wang Zunzhi , Li Jinfeng , Zhang Simeng , Wang Qi , Dai Gaole , Liu Bingqing , Zhu Xiaolin , Li Zhongguo , Kolodziej Charles , McCleese Christopher , Burda Clemens , Sun Wenfang , Chen Long 
Published: July 2018

AbstractTwo novel 2D bisthienoacenes with annulated thiophene units at different positions were developed. Both 1,2‐ and 1,4‐addition of the α,β‐unsaturated ketone moieties lead to the major formation of four‐fold alkylsilylethynyl substituted 2D heteroacenes (namely BTT‐4TIPS and BTP‐4TIPS). The photophysical, electrochemical properties, crystal packing structures, and charge carrier transport performances were investigated in detail.
Arginine/Tryptophan‐Rich Cyclic α/β‐Antimicrobial Peptides: The Roles of Hydrogen Bonding and Hydrophobic/Hydrophilic Solvent‐Accessible Surface Areas upon Activity and Membrane Selectivity
Authors: Bagheri Mojtaba , Amininasab Mehriar , Dathe Margitta 
Published: July 2018

AbstractThe bacterial selectivity of an amphiphilic library of small cyclic α/β‐tetra‐, α/β‐penta‐, and α/β‐hexapeptides rich in arginine/tryptophan (Arg/Trp) residues, which contains asymmetric backbone configurations and differ in hydrophobicity and alternating d,l‐amino acids, was investigated against Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. The structural analyses showed that the peptides tend to form assemblies of different shapes. All‐l‐peptides, especially the most hydrophobic pentamers, were more strongly anti‐B. subtilis. With the exception to cyclo(Phe‐d‐Trp‐β3hArg‐Arg‐d‐Trp) (Phe=phenylalanine), the peptides had no effects on inner membrane of E. coli, but lyzed the lipopolysaccharide layer according to their activity pattern. The activities adversely changed with a decrease in the number of amide intramolecular hydrogen bonds in assemblies of diastereomeric peptides and the ratio of hydrophobic/hydrophilic solvent‐accessible surface areas. The remarkable enhanced entropic contribution for the partitioning of the least conformationally constrained cyclo(Trp‐d‐Phe‐β3hTrp‐Arg‐d‐Arg) sequence into the membranes supported the strong self‐assembly behavior, therefore making the peptide less penetrable through the E. coli outer layer.
Aktiv oder passiv? – Elektrochemische Unterrichtsbausteine zur Passivität der Metalle
Authors: Oetken Marco , Ducci Matthias 
Published: July 2018

AbstractDie Passivierbarkeit von Eisen und Aluminium führt zu einem erstaunlichen (elektro‐)chemischen Verhalten dieser Metalle. Im Folgenden werden konkrete Vorschläge gemacht, wie diese spannende Thematik in den Chemieunterricht integriert werden kann.
Estimation of the multivariate conditional tail expectation for extreme risk levels: Illustration on environmental data sets
Authors: Di Bernardino Elena , Prieur Clémentine 
Published: July 2018

AbstractThis paper deals with the problem of estimating the multivariate version of the conditional tail expectation introduced in the recent literature. We propose a new semiparametric estimator for this risk measure, essentially based on statistical extrapolation techniques, well designed for extreme risk lev els. We prove a central limit theorem for the obtained estimator. We illustrate the practical properties of our estimator on simulations. The performances of our new estimator are discussed and compared with the ones of the empirical Kendall's process‐based estimator, previously proposed by the authors. We conclude with two applications on real data sets: rainfall measurements recorded at three stations located in the south of Paris (France) and the analysis of strong wind gusts in the northwest of France.
Retracted: A simple algorithm for reducing the operation frequency of residential water pumps during peak hours of power consumption
Authors: Ahmad Hussein , Atikol Ugur 
Published: July 2018

AbstractIn developing countries where water supply pressure is low, or frequent water outages and electricity shortages happen, domestic end‐users are forced to install water pump‐storage systems, consisting of water pumps and ground‐level and rooftop tanks to satisfy their daily water demands. This contributes to increasing electrical energy consumption, particularly during peak electricity demand hours. This study presents a simple, practical, computational, and cost‐effective shifting water level control algorithm to manage water‐energy nexus, by reducing pump‐storage system electric energy consumption during peak hours. The proposed algorithm requires a simple modification to the existing water level control scheme, by installing an additional float switch in the rooftop water tank below the currently available float switch that is usually adjusted to trigger the pump when the level in the tank drops by 5‐10% from the maximum level. Based on the simulation results, the algorithm preserves the domestic end‐users’ comfortable daily water demand and reduces water pump energy consumption during peak hours by 90%. During off‐peak hours, the control algorithm triggers the pump to refill the rooftop tank based on the upper float switch when water level drops by 5%, while during peak hours, the pump is triggered only when the water drops by 30%. The performance of the algorithm is found to be comparable to the performance of the model predictive control (MPC) approach developed for the same purpose, but MPC needs a high computation capacity and a complex analog feedback level sensor. The algorithm succeeds in reducing and shifting pump energy consumption under various possible operation scenarios and water demand disturbances. A mathematical model is developed for the domestic water pump‐storage system using Matlab/Simscape to cope with the complexity of solving nonlinear fluid flow equations and measure the data required to develop the control algorithm. The performance of the algorithm is tested based on a real case study.