bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
‘Overtaking on the Curve’? Defense AI in China
Authors: Lee John 
Published: July 2024

AbstractChina has a clear focus on AI’s importance to the future military balance, and a well-developed and resourced system for developing relevant technologies. Yet by the judgment of seemingly most Chinese and many foreign analysts, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) remains far from implementing revolutionary uses of defense AI and is still grappling with institutional reforms and the demands of joint operations.But Chinese thinkers are working through the possibilities for AI to provide both symmetric and asymmetric tools for high-end conflict. China is already applying AI for military logistics optimization, training simulation and wargaming and weapons development. AI’s utility for data processing, decision support and enhanced command and control (C2) provides a path to the information dominance prized by Chinese military theory. Beyond current frameworks for kinetic and cyber operations, Chinese theorists are exploring new applications for AI such as intelligent systems and cognitive warfare.The Chinese Communist Party follows a materialist conception of human development and wields authority over all social institutions in China, including the PLA. Official judgments about AI’s structural importance, and of the need for China to be equipped for long-term strategic competition with the US, are thus unlikely to change. China is leveraging its dynamic civilian economy to boost defense AI development, within the larger context of a national drive for the commanding heights of AI and other emerging technologies.Whether methods that have worked as part of an integrated global economy can still deliver results under growing “decoupling” pressures from the US remains to be seen. The US in late 2022 introduced export controls targeting China’s access to advanced semiconductors, which were expressly justified by the imperative to constrain Chinese advances in defense AI.But China’s internal means for AI development are now sufficiently robust that analysts of military and strategic global affairs will find it imperative to watch this space, even as it becomes increasingly opaque.
Evolution Not Revolution: Defence AI in Australia
Authors: Layton Peter 
Published: July 2024

AbstractMiddle power Australia has an active defence Artificial Intelligence (AI) program underway with a well-defined innovation pathway and numerous experimentation projects. The Australian Defence Force sees AI mainly being used in human–machine teams to improve efficiency, increase combat power, achieve decision superiority, and lower risks to combat personnel. The major equipment acquisition plan for the next two decades sets out six AI-relevant projects: one navy, one army, three air force and one in the information and cyber domain. Associated with this investment is a high expectation that Australian AI companies will have considerable involvement in the projects. The Australian defence AI sector, though, consists mainly of small and medium-sized companies that may need to partner with large prime contractors to achieve the requisite industrial heft. There are also wider national concerns about whether Australia will have a large enough AI workforce over the next decade to handle both commercial and defence demands. Accordingly, Australia is involved with collaborative AI developments with the United States including the “loyal wingman” fast jet drone, autonomous submarines and surface vessels, and robot land vehicles. Current defence AI plans will most likely lead to evolutionary improvements not revolutionary changes. AI is envisaged as being used to either enhance, augment, or replace existing capability. This approach means the future ADF will do things better, but it won’t necessarily be able to do better things.
Bright Prospects, Big Challenges: Defence AI in the United Kingdom
Authors: Payne Kenneth 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThe UK is strategically positioned to capitalize on advancements in AI, especially in the realm of national security. It has taken significant steps in this direction by formulating an AI strategy for defence and national security, engaging in collaborative efforts across government, industry, and academia. The British military is actively experimenting with autonomous platforms and exploring new doctrines for their effective utilization, including aerial drone swarms, pilotless “loyal wingmen,” unmanned submersibles, and tactical ground robots. Partnerships with industry and academia are being strengthened, and autonomous systems are already being employed in data processing and intelligence analysis. However, several challenges lie ahead, including uncertainty regarding AI’s future development and concerns about its ethical implications and performance, particularly in the face of adversarial countermeasures and potential biases. Britain’s aspiration to maintain full spectrum military and intelligence capabilities on a global scale while undergoing significant technological transformation presents formidable challenges, especially given the need to balance these ambitions with a large and growing defence budget. Economic and political uncertainties, including those stemming from Brexit and low productivity, further complicate the situation. These challenges extend beyond immediate defence budgeting, impacting the country’s research base, attractiveness to investment, and ability to attract high-skilled migration. Despite these obstacles, the UK remains committed to advancing its defence capabilities and leveraging AI to address evolving security threats.
Cautious Data-Driven Evolution: Defence AI in Finland
Authors: Järvinen Sami O. 
Published: July 2024

AbstractFinland has ambitious civilian AI goals and a highly ranked research and education system, but defence AI policies are somewhat less ambitious. Defence AI was first piloted for support functions, followed by applications in military capabilities now emerging in various R&D projects. The Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) lists AI as a priority research area with use cases identified in virtually all areas of defence. AI’s disruptive impact is already visible on the battlefield in autonomous systems, and a further revolution may emerge through dynamic electromagnetic spectrum management. Transceivers combining communications with electronic warfare capabilities could simultaneously provide situational awareness and achieve blue force communications inoffensively to civilian frequencies all the while intercepting enemy communications. Such AI applications could enable new concepts of fighting, but this would require the FDF’s organizational culture to become more conducive to experimentation. The FDF recognizes data availability and management as key for AI development, in particular machine learning. FDF’s new holistic Data Concept aims at more flexible data utilization, but legal and organizational barriers pose several challenges. Apart from a few innovative projects, Finland’s defence AI seems to be somewhat lagging behind the ambitious national AI policies of others, with a cautious and very gradual approach. Publicly available information paints a picture of AI being procured in military-off-the-shelf systems, even if FDF’s R&D portfolio hints at the possibility of various original applications. Finland’s NATO membership, its F-35 acquisition and corresponding industrial R&D cooperation with the U.S. may significantly boost AI development.
On the Social and Material Lives of Health Concepts in the Wild
Authors: Yaron Gili 
Published: July 2024

AbstractIn the last decade, Positive Health has taken the Netherlands by storm, having been widely adopted in Dutch healthcare and the public sector at large. But does this new concept deliver on its promises? In their chapter on Positive Health, Van der Linden and Schermer tackle this question by approaching it as a conceptual engineering project. Positive Health, they conclude, ultimately falls short in achieving its aims. But given this disappointing verdict, how can the new health concept’s success be explained? In this short reflection, I draw on my ethnographic fieldwork into Positive Health and key works in Science and Technology Studies to gain insight in the concept’s eager uptake. As I demonstrate, following Positive Health ‘in the wild’ affords a deeper understanding of its social and material life. This not only helps explain the concept’s widespread adoption, but also opens up new vistas for conceptual engineering as a scholarly approach.
Does gravitational wave assist vacuum steering and Bell nonlocality?
Authors: Wu Shu-Min , Wang Rui-Di , Huang Xiao-Li , Wang Zejun 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
We study quantum steering and Bell nonlocality harvested by the local interaction of two Unruh-DeWitt detectors with the vacuum massless scalar field, both in the presence of gravitational waves and in Minkowski spacetime. It is shown that quantum steerability under the influence of gravitational waves can be greater than or less than quantum steerability in Minkowski spacetime, which means that the gravitational waves can amplify or degrade the harvested steering. In particular, a resonance effect occurs when the energy gap of the detector is tuned to the frequency of the gravitational wave. We also find that the harvesting-achievable separation range of vacuum steering can be expanded or reduced by the presence of gravitational waves, which depends on the energy gap, the gravitational wave frequency, and the duration of the gravitational wave action. It is interesting to note that two detector systems that satisfy the Bell inequality in most parameter spaces, regardless of the existence of gravitational waves, indicating that steering harvesting cannot be considered to be nonlocal.
Cryopreservation of human kidney organoids
Authors: Mashouf Parham , Tabibzadeh Nahid , Kuraoka Shohei , Oishi Haruka , Morizane Ryuji 
Published: July 2024

AbstractRecent advances in stem cell research have led to the creation of organoids, miniature replicas of human organs, offering innovative avenues for studying diseases. Kidney organoids, with their ability to replicate complex renal structures, provide a novel platform for investigating kidney diseases and assessing drug efficacy, albeit hindered by labor-intensive generation and batch variations, highlighting the need for tailored cryopreservation methods to enable widespread utilization. Here, we evaluated cryopreservation strategies for kidney organoids by contrasting slow-freezing and vitrification methods. 118 kidney organoids were categorized into five conditions. Control organoids followed standard culture, while two slow-freezing groups used 10% DMSO (SF1) or commercial freezing media (SF2). Vitrification involved V1 (20% DMSO, 20% Ethylene Glycol with sucrose) and V2 (15% DMSO, 15% Ethylene Glycol). Assessment of viability, functionality, and structural integrity post-thawing revealed notable differences. Vitrification, particularly V1, exhibited superior viability (91% for V1, 26% for V2, 79% for SF1, and 83% for SF2 compared to 99.4% in controls). 3D imaging highlighted distinct nephron segments among groups, emphasizing V1’s efficacy in preserving both podocytes and tubules in kidney organoids. Cisplatin-induced injury revealed a significant reduction in regenerative capacities in organoids cryopreserved by flow-freezing methods, while the V1 method did not show statistical significance compared to the unfrozen controls. This study underscores vitrification, especially with high concentrations of cryoprotectants, as an effective approach for maintaining kidney organoid viability and structure during cryopreservation, offering practical approaches for kidney organoid research.
How to chew gum: the post-ingestion fate of foliar secondary compounds consumed by a eucalypt herbivore
Authors: De Souza Natalia M. , Hayes R. Andrew , Brooks Peter R. , Nahrung Helen F. 
Published: July 2024

AbstractHerbivorous insects require mechanisms to deal with defence compounds produced by their host plants. Despite an array of secondary compounds associated with defence, eucalypts are hosts to many insect species that readily obtain nutrients also produced by these plants. Gonipterus weevils are foliage-feeding eucalypt specialists as larvae and adults, with a notable characteristic of protecting their eggs with a hardened frass-like substance. The aim of this study was to assess plant, weevil frass and egg capsule chemistry to determine how the weevil eliminates plant secondary metabolites. We hypothesised that noxious compounds would be metabolised prior to elimination and that egg capsules would be composed of frass and additional substances. Weevils were fed on Eucalyptus globulus plants for seven days, with their frass and egg capsules collected daily, and the damaged, first, fully-expanded leaves of the host collected at the end of the assay. Compounds present in each sample were extracted in hexane and analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The most abundant compounds in each sample were waxes and terpenoids, and metabolism of 1,8-cineole was evident, with two metabolites that may have semiochemical activity. Comparative analysis revealed significant differences between all samples, with shared compounds varying in relative proportions and exclusive compounds in sample type. These findings contribute to the understanding of Gonipterus physiology and highlight the differences between frass and the cover of egg capsules.
Study on the surface layer properties of magnesium alloys after impulse shot peening
Authors: Agnieszka Skoczylas , Kazimierz Zaleski , Krzysztof Ciecieląg , Jakub Matuszak 
Published: July 2024

AbstractShot peening is a commonly used method of finishing machine elements in the manufacturing process. One variation of shot peening is the impulse shot peening. This paper presents the influence of impulse shot peening technological conditions on the surface roughness (parameters Ra and Rt), topography, and microhardness. The FEM was used to determine the S11 stresses. In the experiment and simulation tests, AZ31 and AZ91HP magnesium alloy samples were used. Variable parameters in the impulse shot peening process were impact energy E (15–185 mJ), ball diameter d (3–15 mm), and impact density j (3–44 mm−2). As a result of the tests carried out, it was found that after impulse shot peening, the surface topography is change, microirregularities are flattened, and numerous depressions are formed, which can be potential lubrication pockets. The 2D surface roughness parameters for most impulse shot peening conditions are lower than for the pre-machining. The roughness parameters for magnesium alloy AZ91HP are lower than for AZ31. This is most likely due to the lower elongation A. The microhardness after impulse shot peening increased by 20 to 87 HV. As a result of FEM of the impulse shot peening, compressive stresses S11 were created in the surface layer. The depth of occurrence of S11 stresses is from 1.5 to 3.5 mm, and their values for the AZ91HP magnesium alloy samples are 10 to 25% lower than for the AZ31 alloy samples. The most favorable results of the tested properties of the surface layer were obtained for E = 100 mJ, d = 10 mm, and j = 11 mm−2. The abstract serves both as a general introduction to the topic and as a brief, non-technical summary of the main results and their implications.
Fracture liaison service—a multidisciplinary approach to osteoporosis management
Authors: Le Hai V. , Van Benjamin W. , Shahzad Hania , Teng Polly , Punatar Nisha , Agrawal Garima , Wise Bart 
Published: July 2024

AbstractA fracture liaison service is a systems-level multidisciplinary approach designed to reduce subsequent fracture risk in patients who recently sustained fragility fractures. It is estimated that one in three women and one in five men over the age of 50 years old have osteoporosis. Nonetheless, only 9 to 20% of patients who sustain an initial fragility fracture eventually receive any osteoporosis treatment. With the aim of preventing subsequent fractures, a fracture liaison service (FLS) works through identifying patients presenting with fragility fractures to the hospital and providing them with easier access to osteoporosis care through referrals for bone health and fracture risk assessment and recommendation or initiation of osteoporosis treatment. Currently, there are four major types of FLS models ranging from services that only identify at-risk patients and inform and educate the patient but take no further part in communicating their findings to other stakeholders in patients’ care, to services that identify, investigate, and initiate treatment at the other end of the spectrum. In this article, we review the benefits, challenges, and outcomes of FLS in the American healthcare system with further exploration of the roles each member of the multidisciplinary team can play in improving patients’ bone health.
Antioxidant activity and phenolic content of bee breads from different regions of Türkiye by chemometric analysis (PCA and HCA)
Authors: Can Zehra , Gıdık Betül , Kara Yakup , Kolaylı Sevgi 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThe objective of this study was to assess the antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds of bee bread samples obtained from various regions in Türkiye The goal was to characterize and classify 15 of bee bread samples based on their geographical origins. This investigation employed chemometric techniques, specifically principal component analysis (PCA) and a hierarchical clustering algorithm (HCA), for the inaugural comprehensive analysis of all data encompassing antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds in bee bread. The primary objective was to unveil potential clustering patterns among of bee bread samples based on their geographical origins. According to the results, the Total Phenolic Content (TPC) of bee bread samples ranged from 4.393 to 14.917 mg GAE/g dw, while the Total Flavonoid Content (TFC) exhibited variation within the range of 0.681 to 3.504 mg QE/g dw. p-OH benzoic and p-coumaric acids were detected in all samples. Other phenolic compounds were identified in different proportions among the bee bread samples. This study demonstrated the successful application of the PCA chemometric method to assess the antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds of bee bread samples from various regions of Türkiye. The results revealed effective clustering of the bee bread samples based on their geographical origins.
Graphical Abstract
Association of aortic diameters and mortality in the general population—an MRI-based study
Authors: Mensel Birger , Mahnken Andreas H. , Kaiser Erhard , Völzke Henry , Dörr Marcus , Felix Stephan B. , Ittermann Till , Lieb Wolfgang , Lorbeer Roberto 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
Background
Increased diameters of the aorta are associated with increased mortality risk. In the present analyses, we assessed whether aortic diameters are associated with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in community-dwelling individuals free of known cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Methods
MRI-derived vascular parameters of the thoracic and abdominal aorta from 2668 participants (median age = 53 years; 51.1% women) of the population-based SHIP-START-2 and SHIP-TREND-0 cohorts without CVD were analyzed. Age- and sex-adjusted, as well as multivariable-adjusted Cox-proportional hazard models, were used to estimate associations of diameters of six different aortic segments to mortality.

Results
Over a median follow-up time of 10.6 years (IQR: 8.7; 12.4), a total of 188 participants (126 men and 62 women) died, of which 38 deaths were due to CVD. In unadjusted models, mortality rates were higher in participants with aortic diameters above the median compared to below the median for all investigated aortic sections (all log-rank p < 0.001). In multivariable-adjusted models, the diameters of the ascending thoracic aorta (HR = 1.34 95% CI: 1.04; 1.72, p = 0.022) and of the infrarenal aorta (HR = 3.75 95% CI: 1.06; 13.3, p = 0.040), modeled continuously, were associated with greater cardiovascular mortality. The diameter of the subphrenic aorta was associated with higher cardiovascular mortality only in the age and sex-adjusted model (HR = 3.65 95% CI: 1.01; 13.3, p = 0.049). None of the investigated aortic segments were associated with all-cause mortality.

Conclusion
Non-indexed diameters of the ascending thoracic and infrarenal aorta were associated with higher cardiovascular mortality but not with all-cause mortality in a population sample free of clinically overt CVD at baseline.

Clinical relevance statement
Increased aortic diameter is associated with cardiovascular mortality and can help to identify high-risk patients.

Key Points

Increased aortic diameter is associated with mortality.

Non-indexed diameters of the ascending and infrarenal aorta are associated with cardiovascular mortality but not all-cause mortality.

Aortic diameter measurements support the estimate of cardiovascular mortality.
Aerodynamic characteristics of the retro propulsion landing burn of vertically landing launchers
Authors: Marwege Ansgar , Gülhan Ali 
Published: July 2024

AbstractIn the frame of the European funded H2020 project RETALT (retro propulsion-assisted landing technologies), the unsteady aerodynamics of vertically descending and landing launchers have been investigated. In this paper, experimental data of the landing burn tested in the Vertical Free-Jet Facility Cologne at DLR in Cologne are presented. The landing burn was simulated with a cold gas jet of pressurized air opposing the wind tunnel free stream. Tests with several jet conditions were compared to results without active jet. Proper orthogonal decomposition of schlieren recordings and spectral analyses of their time histories are performed and are compared to frequencies in pressure measurements. Dominant frequencies were found, which are strongest at Mach 0.8. Especially, a Strouhal number of 0.2 was found to be most dominant. The intensity of the dominant frequencies can be lowered if the engine is active. The normalized root mean square pressure fluctuations are between 0.1 and 0.3 during the landing maneuver. Additionally, the steady flow features scale well with the ambient pressure ratio and the momentum flux ratio. The unsteady flow field dynamics of the subsonic retro propulsion flow field can likely be linked to large-scale turbulent structures in the supersonic jet, triggering large-scale pressure fluctuations and altering the overall flow field.