bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Experimental and statistical investigation on the performance of asphalt overlays reinforced with geocomposite in controlling the reflective cracks under different loadings and temperatures
Authors: Asadi Saeid , Shafabakhsh Gholamali 
Published: July 2023

AbstractOne of the easiest method to repair the old pavement is to apply an overlay on them. However, the deteriorated pavement affects the overlay performance by propagating the existing cracks upwards to the overlay due to the stress and strain concentration from the loading and temperature variations. Today, using the asphalt overlays reinforced with geosynthetic interlayers is one of the most effective methods to prevent the reflective cracking. This paper investigates the effects of the temperature, bending fatigue loading frequency and geocomposite tensile strength on the asphalt overlays performance experimentally. The crack initiation and its propagation rate were analyzed by the help of image processing technique and statistically. The obtained results revealed that the temperature has the greatest effect on the reflective cracking rate, so that by increasing the temperature from 20 to 40 °C in addition to increasing the crack growth rate and changing the vertical deformation under the load, the direction of crack formation changes, and besides the reflective cracks, the top-down cracks also appear. Furthermore at the higher loading frequency more than 10 Hz, even in samples reinforced with geocomposite, increasing the temperature from 0 to 20 and 40 °C will increase the crack growth rate between 5 and 30 times. The obtained coefficients of determination (R2) and Adjusted R2are equal to 0.9936 and 0.9907, respectively, indicating the satisfactory prediction of the model compared to the real observations.
Pyrogenic carbon accelerates iron cycling and hydroxyl radical production during redox fluctuations of paddy soils
Authors: Huang Danyu , Chen Ning , Lin Yuan , Ge Chenghao , Wang Xiaolei , Wang Dixiang , Zhu Changyin , Fang Guodong , Zhou Dongmei 
Published: July 2023

AbstractCarbon materials (e.g., pyrogenic carbon (PyC)) are widely used in agricultural soils and can participate in various biogeochemical processes, including iron (Fe) cycling. In soils, Fe(II) species have been proposed as the main active contributor to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are involved in various biogeochemical processes. However, the effects of PyC on the transformation of different Fe species in soils and the associated production of ROS are rarely investigated. This study examined the influence of PyC (pyrolyzed at 300–700 °C) on Fe(II)/Fe(III) cycling and hydroxyl radical (·OH) production during redox fluctuations of paddy soils. Results showed that the reduction of Fe(III) in soils was facilitated by PyC during anoxic incubation, which was ascribed to the increased abundance of dissimilatory Fe(III)-reducing microorganisms (biotic reduction) and the electron exchange capacity of PyC (abiotic reduction). During oxygenation, PyC and higher soil pH promoted the oxidation of active Fe(II) species (e.g., exchangeable and low-crystalline Fe(II)), which consequently induced higher yield of ·OH and further led to degradation of imidacloprid and inactivation of soil microorganisms. Our results demonstrated that PyC accelerated Fe(II)/Fe(III) cycling and ·OH production during redox fluctuations of paddy soils (especially those with low content of soil organic carbon), providing a new insight for remediation strategies in agricultural fields contaminated with organic pollutants.
Graphical Abstract
Koopman Operators for Modeling and Control of Soft Robotics
Authors: Shi Lu , Liu Zhichao , Karydis Konstantinos 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Purpose of Review
We review recent advances in algorithmic development and validation for modeling and control of soft robots leveraging the Koopman operator theory.

Recent Findings
We identify the following trends in recent research efforts in this area. (1) The design of lifting functions used in the data-driven approximation of the Koopman operator is critical for soft robots. (2) Robustness considerations are emphasized. Works are proposed to reduce the effect of uncertainty and noise during the process of modeling and control. (3) The Koopman operator has been embedded into different model-based control structures to drive the soft robots.

Summary
Because of their compliance and nonlinearities, modeling and control of soft robots face key challenges. To resolve these challenges, Koopman operator-based approaches have been proposed, in an effort to express the nonlinear system in a linear manner. The Koopman operator enables global linearization to reduce nonlinearities and/or serves as model constraints in model-based control algorithms for soft robots. Various implementations in soft robotic systems are illustrated and summarized in the review.
Enhancement of laser cut edge quality of ultra-thin titanium grade 2 sheets by applying an in-process approach using modulated Yb:YAG continuous wave fiber laser
Authors: Bartsch Alexander , Burger Moritz , Grad Marius , Esper Lukas , Schultheiß Ulrich , Noster Ulf , Schratzenstaller Thomas 
Published: July 2023

AbstractTitanium is used in many areas due to its excellent mechanical, biological and corrosion-resistant properties. Implants often have thin and filigree structures, providing an ideal application for fine cutting with laser. In the literature, the main focus is primarily on investigating and optimizing the parameters for titanium sheets with thicknesses greater than 1 mm. Hence, in this study, the basic manufacturing parameters of laser power, cutting speed and laser pulse of a 200 W modulated fiber laser are investigated for 0.15 mm thick grade 2 titanium sheets. A reproducible, continuous cut could be achieved using 90 W laser-power and 2 mm/s cutting-speed. Pulse pause variations between 85 and 335 μs in 50 μs steps and a fixed pulse width of 50 μs show that a minimum kerf width of 23.4 μm, as well as a minimum cut edge roughness Rz of 3.59 μm, is achieved at the lowest pulse pause duration. An increase in roughness towards the laser exit side, independent of the laser pulse pause duration, was found and discussed. The results provide initial process parameters for cutting thin titanium sheets and thus provide the basis for further investigations, such as the influence of cutting gas pressure and composition on the cut edge.
-Stable convergence of heavy-/light-tailed infinitely wide neural networks
Authors: Jung Paul , Lee Hoil , Lee Jiho , Yang Hongseok 
Published: July 2023

AbstractWe consider infinitely wide multi-layer perceptrons (MLPs) which are limits of standard deep feed-forward neural networks. We assume that, for each layer, the weights of an MLP are initialized with independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) samples from either a light-tailed (finite-variance) or a heavy-tailed distribution in the domain of attraction of a symmetric
$\alpha$
-stable distribution, where
$\alpha\in(0,2]$
may depend on the layer. For the bias terms of the layer, we assume i.i.d. initializations with a symmetric
$\alpha$
-stable distribution having the same
$\alpha$
parameter as that layer. Non-stable heavy-tailed weight distributions are important since they have been empirically seen to emerge in trained deep neural nets such as the ResNet and VGG series, and proven to naturally arise via stochastic gradient descent. The introduction of heavy-tailed weights broadens the class of priors in Bayesian neural networks. In this work we extend a recent result of Favaro, Fortini, and Peluchetti (2020) to show that the vector of pre-activation values at all nodes of a given hidden layer converges in the limit, under a suitable scaling, to a vector of i.i.d. random variables with symmetric
$\alpha$
-stable distributions,
$\alpha\in(0,2]$
.
Perceptions of the rabbit as a low investment ‘starter pet’ lead to negative impacts on its welfare: Results of two Danish surveys
Authors: Skovlund Cecilie Ravn , Forkman Björn , Lund Thomas Bøker , Mistry Belinda Glumsøe , Nielsen Søren Saxmose , Sandøe Peter 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Concerns over compromised companion rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus) welfare are widespread. The welfare problems have been linked to the perception of rabbits as low investment ‘children’s pets.’ To test this hypothesis and investigate the current conditions for rabbits, data were gathered from two surveys in 2021: a nationally representative survey of Danish companion animal owners (Survey I) and a detailed social media-based survey of Danish rabbit owners (Survey II). Using logistic regression, three owner-related variables (whether a child/adult was responsible for care of the rabbit, owner-opinion on rabbits’ suitability as ‘starter pets’ and willingness-to-pay [WTP] for veterinary treatment) were employed to investigate the effect of rabbit status on owner-provision of selected husbandry conditions. The 76 (Survey I) and 4,335 (Survey II) responses suggested that most rabbits are acquired for children and are solitarily housed, and that many are kept in cages of an unsuitable size and not checked daily. Owners who perceived rabbits as ‘starter pets’ and with lower WTP were more likely to house rabbits in restricted space and to not provide continuous gnawing opportunities, ad libitum hay or routine healthcare. A child fulfilling the role of the rabbit’s main caretaker was also associated with inadequate housing type and fewer gnawing opportunities. Thus, many rabbits live in unsuitable conditions, and owners who perceive rabbits as low investment ‘children’s pets’ are more likely to not provide recommended resources. Changing owners’ perceptions of rabbits and promoting suitable husbandry through official education programmes and minimum requirements is important if there are to be improvements made to rabbit welfare.
Identifying climate models based on their daily output using machine learning
Authors: Brunner Lukas , Sippel Sebastian 
Published: July 2023

AbstractClimate models are primary tools for investigating processes in the climate system, projecting future changes, and informing decision makers. The latest generation of models provides increasingly complex and realistic representations of the real climate system, while there is also growing awareness that not all models produce equally plausible or independent simulations. Therefore, many recent studies have investigated how models differ from observed climate and how model dependence affects model output similarity, typically drawing on climatological averages over several decades. Here, we show that temperature maps of individual days drawn from datasets never used in training can be robustly identified as “model” or “observation” using the CMIP6 model archive and four observational products. An important exception is a prototype storm-resolving simulation from ICON-Sapphire which cannot be unambiguously assigned to either category. These results highlight that persistent differences between simulated and observed climate emerge at short timescales already, but very high-resolution modeling efforts may be able to overcome some of these shortcomings. Moreover, temporally out-of-sample test days can be assigned their dataset name with up to 83% accuracy. Misclassifications occur mostly between models developed at the same institution, suggesting that effects of shared code, previously documented only for climatological timescales, already emerge at the level of individual days. Our results thus demonstrate that the use of machine learning classifiers, once trained, can overcome the need for several decades of data to evaluate a given model. This opens up new avenues to test model performance and independence on much shorter timescales.
Efficacy of a continuously active disinfectant wipe on the environmental bioburden in the intensive care unit: A randomized controlled study
Authors: Nadimpalli Gita , Johnson J. Kristie , Magder Laurence S. , Haririan Abdolreza , Stevens Deborah , Harris Anthony D. , O’Hara Lyndsay M. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractObjective:To evaluate the efficacy of a new continuously active disinfectant (CAD) to decrease bioburden on high-touch environmental surfaces compared to a standard disinfectant in the intensive care unit.Design:A single-blind randomized controlled trial with 1:1 allocation.Setting:Medical intensive care unit (MICU) at an urban tertiary-care hospital.Participants:Adult patients admitted to the MICU and on contact precautions.Intervention:A new CAD wipe used for daily cleaning.Methods:Samples were collected from 5 high-touch environmental surfaces before cleaning and at 1, 4, and 24 hours after cleaning. The primary outcome was the mean bioburden 24 hours after cleaning. The secondary outcome was the detection of any epidemiologically important pathogen (EIP) 24 hours after cleaning.Results:In total, 843 environmental samples were collected from 43 unique patient rooms. At 24 hours, the mean bioburden recovered from the patient rooms cleaned with the new CAD wipe (intervention) was 52 CFU/mL, and the mean bioburden was 92 CFU/mL in the rooms cleaned the standard disinfectant (control). After log transformation for multivariable analysis, the mean difference in bioburden between the intervention and control arm was −0.59 (95% CI, −1.45 to 0.27). The odds of EIP detection were 14% lower in the rooms cleaned with the CAD wipe (OR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.31–2.32).Conclusions:The bacterial bioburden and odds of detection of EIPs were not statistically different in rooms cleaned with the CAD compared to the standard disinfectant after 24 hours. Although CAD technology appears promising in vitro, larger studies may be warranted to evaluate efficacy in clinical settings.
The importance of ‘acting yourself into new ways of thinking’: preliminary findings on the impact of embedding workplace experiences in law degrees to positively impact student skills growth, degree results and employment outcomes before and during a global pandemic
Authors: Perry Christina , Spencer Nigel 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThe paper reports the findings of over a decade of pioneering, award-winning fieldwork which has explored how workplace experience, if embedded successfully in different stages of legal education, can accelerate the ‘speed to capability’ and skills development of early career lawyers. The benefits from initial experiments of graduate-level work placements carried out by the authors since 2008 are presented. The paper then explores the findings from almost 10 years of creating year-long work placements for law undergraduates, assessing student skill growth, and the impact of the work placements on degree results and employment outcomes, before and during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Groups, conics and recurrence relations
Authors: Beardon A. F. 
Published: July 2023

In this paper we explore some of the geometry that lies behind the real linear, second order, constant coefficient, recurrence relation
(1)
where a and b are real numbers. Readers will be familiar with the standard method of solving this relation, and, to avoid trivial cases, we shall assume that ab ≠ 0. The auxiliary equation of t2 = at + b of (1) has two (possibly complex) solutions

and the most general solution of (1) is given by
(i) when are real and distinct;(ii) when (iii).
Regression of binary network data with exchangeable latent errors
Authors: Marrs Frank W. , Fosdick Bailey K. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractUndirected, binary network data consist of indicators of symmetric relations between pairs of actors. Regression models of such data allow for the estimation of effects of exogenous covariates on the network and for prediction of unobserved data. Ideally, estimators of the regression parameters should account for the inherent dependencies among relations in the network that involve the same actor. To account for such dependencies, researchers have developed a host of latent variable network models; however, estimation of many latent variable network models is computationally onerous and which model is best to base inference upon may not be clear. We propose the probit exchangeable (PX) model for undirected binary network data that is based on an assumption of exchangeability, which is common to many of the latent variable network models in the literature. The PX model can represent the first two moments of any exchangeable network model. We leverage the EM algorithm to obtain an approximate maximum likelihood estimator of the PX model that is extremely computationally efficient. Using simulation studies, we demonstrate the improvement in estimation of regression coefficients of the proposed model over existing latent variable network models. In an analysis of purchases of politically aligned books, we demonstrate political polarization in purchase behavior and show that the proposed estimator significantly reduces runtime relative to estimators of latent variable network models, while maintaining predictive performance.
A Holocene pollen-inferred climate reconstruction for Vermont, USA
Authors: Grigg Laurie D. , Stefanescu Ioana C. , Shuman Bryan N. , Oswald W. Wyatt 
Published: July 2023

AbstractA 13.0 cal ka BP pollen record from Twin Ponds, Vermont, provides new insights into the climate history of the northeastern United States. Modern analogs were used to produce qualitative and quantitative climate reconstructions for Twin Ponds. The Twin Ponds record was compared with nearby Knob Hill Pond to develop a Vermont reconstruction that was compared with reconstructions from two sites at a similar latitude. Postglacial warming at 11.5 cal ka BP followed a cool, wet Younger Dryas and was the largest temperature change of the record. The warmest, driest conditions occurred at ca. 9.0 cal ka BP, followed by an increase in moisture. Latitudinal and elevational shifts in the location of modern analogs from 5.7 to 4.0 cal ka BP were used to infer cooling and increased moisture during theTsuga canadensisdecline. Analysis of the timing of pollen events between the two Vermont sites suggests a more rapid decline inT. canadensisat the more northern Knob Hill Pond and further supports the possibility that colder temperatures contributed to this event. The other northern sites show similar trends until 2.5 cal ka BP, when precipitation in the easternmost site diverges, indicating the establishment of modern climatic gradients.
UNTARNISHED BOOKS AND VANISHED KINGS: NUMA, OVID AND ENNIUS
Authors: Pontiggia Ludovico 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThis article argues that the discovery of Pythagorean volumes in Numa's tomb in 181 b.c. may have played a significant role in the conception of the meeting between Numa and Pythagoras in the last book of Ovid's Metamorphoses, since several features of this event integrate very well into the discourse at the heart of Book 15 on the Greek origins of Roman culture and literature, on the immortality of poetry, and on the relationship between poetry and power. The article further argues that Ennius’ Annals Book 15 may have covered the events up to 179, if that really was the year of Nobilior's dedication of the Aedes Herculis Musarum, and included the discovery of Numa's books in 181; and hence that Ovid may have used the Ennian account of this discovery as a model for the Numa–Pythagoras episode, appropriating the poetic and political meaning that it already had in Annals Book 15.
Striking a Balance between Protecting the Matrimonial Home and the Mortgagee's Right of Sale in Nigeria: Lessons from England
Authors: Ehiemua Roseline Omoye 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThis article evaluates statutory provisions and case law regarding a mortgagee's rights to exercise its statutory power of sale over the matrimonial home in Nigeria. It reveals that no statute protects the rights of family members, particularly wives and children, in the mortgaged home. The mortgagee must grapple with the reality of ownership, as wives often resort to litigation to set aside sales, on the ground that they are joint owners with their husbands. Ironically, some Supreme Court decisions, while protecting the interests of other family members (contrary to the established principles of property law), have tended to ignore the mortgagee's power of sale over the mortgaged matrimonial home, thus making it unattractive to lending institutions as collateral. This article recommends that all parties’ interests should be set out in a legal framework, as in England, where a non-owning spouse's right of occupation must be registered with the land registry.
Description of Anaplectus deconincki n. sp. from South Africa
Authors: Shokoohi E. , Eisenback J. 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
During a survey of soil nematodes in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, a population of plectid nematodes belonging to the genus Anaplectus was recovered and proved to be a species new to science. Anaplectus deconincki n. sp. is characterized by female body length (612–932 μm), b = 4.6–5.2, c = 12.8–18.0, c’ = 2.6–3.1, V = 51–54, and tail length (43–63 μm). Males are characterized by body length (779–956 μm), b = 4.8–5.6, c = 13.9–16.7, c’ = 2.2–2.5, spicule length 33–39 μm, gubernaculum length 10–12 μm, and tail length (56–65 μm). Discriminant analysis clearly separated A. deconincki n. sp. from the other related species of Aanaplectus. The phylogenetic analysis placed Anaplectus deconincki n. sp. in a clade with 1.00 posterior probability values with other Anaplectus. Partial sequences of the 18S and 28S regions of the ribosomal DNA gene were amplified for Anaplectus deconincki n. sp., and 18S rDNA showed 99% similarity with an unidentified Anaplectus (AJ966473) and A. porosus (MF622934) from Belgium. In addition, 28S rDNA showed a 93% similarity with A. porosus from Belgium (MF622938) and a 98% similarity with A. granulosus from Germany (MF325171). Measurements, illustrations, and light microscopy pictures for Anaplectus deconincki n. sp. are given.
Beyond Cyril? Martin Luther's quest for christological agency
Authors: Małysz Piotr J. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThis article examines a long-standing association of Martin Luther's christology with that of Cyril of Alexandria. However, for all its heuristic promise, the designation ‘Cyrillian’, must in Luther's case be understood either as an overly generalised statement of a well-established grammar of christology – in which case it simply is Luther's foundation and, as such, explains nothing specific about Luther's christology and, moreover, fails to do justice to the reformer's crucial argumentative moves. Alternatively, when taken for a set of material similarities, the designation is simply inaccurate, for Luther is decidedly not a Cyrillian, despite some fundamental convergences with the thought of the Alexandrian patriarch. Luther's context, as we demonstrate, leads him not only to go beyond Cyril, but also to argue in a manner contrary to Cyril, in order to secure what for both theologians is a realist eucharistic backdrop of their commitment to the Word's incarnation.