bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Strain-engineered N-polar InGaN nanowires: towards high-efficiency red LEDs on the micrometer scale
Authors: Pandey A. , Min J. , Malhotra Y. , Reddeppa M. , Xiao Y. , Wu Y. , Mi Z. 
Published: October 2022

The absence of efficient red-emitting micrometer-scale light emitting diodes (LEDs), i.e., LEDs with lateral dimensions of 1 μm or less is a major barrier to the adoption of microLEDs in virtual/augmented reality. The underlying challenges include the presence of extensive defects and dislocations for indium-rich InGaN quantum wells, strain-induced quantum-confined Stark effect, and etch-induced surface damage during the fabrication of quantum well microLEDs. Here, we demonstrate a new approach to achieve strong red emission (

>
620

nm

) from dislocation-free N-polar InGaN/GaN nanowires that included an InGaN/GaN short-period superlattice underneath the active region to relax strain and incorporate more indium within the InGaN dot active region. The resulting submicrometer-scale devices show red electroluminescence dominantly from an InGaN dot active region at low-to-moderate injection currents. A peak external quantum efficiency and a wall-plug efficiency of 2.2% and 1.7% were measured, respectively, which, to the best of our knowledge, are the highest values reported for a submicrometer-scale red LED. This study offers a new path to overcome the efficiency bottleneck of red-emitting microLEDs for a broad range of applications including mobile displays, wearable electronics, biomedical sensing, ultrahigh speed optical interconnect, and virtual/augmented reality.
Pharmacotherapy of infertility in Ghana: Why do infertile patients discontinue their fertility treatment?
Authors: Arhin Stephen Mensah , Mensah Kwesi Boadu , Agbeno Evans Kofi , Azize Diallo Abdoul , Henneh Isaac Tabiri , Agyemang Eric , Ansah Charles 
Published: October 2022

Background
Globally, millions of people of reproductive age experience infertility. With that notwithstanding, most infertile patients undergoing pharmacotherapy withdraw from treatment before achieving the desired outcome. The reasons for their withdrawal, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, have not been well examined, hence the need for this study.

Objectives
The aim of the study was to examine why infertile patients discontinue pharmacotherapy prior to achieving conception.

Methods
The study employed an exploratory qualitative design. Purposive sampling technique was used to recruit subjects into the study. Twenty infertile patients (fourteen females and six males) who discontinued their treatment, and eight attending health professionals who provided direct care to these patients were interviewed. Telephone and face-to-face interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide. The data collected were transcribed, coded, and generated into themes using thematic content analysis.

Results
The major reasons for discontinuation of infertility treatment included lack of support from male partners, seeking alternative treatment, unmet outcome, poor medical services, distance, stigmatization, and relocation.

Conclusions
Patients and healthcare personnel shared both similar and diverse views on reasons for discontinuation of infertility treatment that reflect situations in a typical African setting, most of which are not reported in existing studies. The outcome of this study will provide insight for fertility therapists and policy makers in designing appropriate measures to facilitate maximum compliance and improvement in treatment outcome.
Risk factors for mortality in COVID-19 patients in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Bepouka Ben , Mayasi Nadine , Mandina Madone , Longokolo Murielle , Odio Ossam , Mangala Donat , Mbula Marcel , Kayembe Jean Marie , Situakibanza Hippolyte 
Published: October 2022

AimMortality rates of coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) disease continue to increase worldwide and in Africa. In this study, we aimed to summarize the available results on the association between sociodemographic, clinical, biological, and comorbidity factors and the risk of mortality due to COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa.MethodsWe followed the PRISMA checklist (S1 Checklist). We searched PubMed, Google Scholar, and European PMC between January 1, 2020, and September 23, 2021. We included observational studies with Subjects had to be laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients; had to report risk factors or predictors of mortality in COVID-19 patients, Studies had to be published in English, include multivariate analysis, and be conducted in the sub-Saharan region. Exclusion criteria included case reports, review articles, commentaries, errata, protocols, abstracts, reports, letters to the editor, and repeat studies. The methodological quality of the studies included in this meta-analysis was assessed using the methodological items for nonrandomized studies (MINORS). Pooled hazard ratios (HR) or odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated separately to identify mortality risk. In addition, publication bias and subgroup analysis were assessed.Results and discussionTwelve studies with a total of 43598 patients met the inclusion criteria. The outcomes of interest were mortality. The results of the analysis showed that the pooled prevalence of mortality in COVID-19 patients was 4.8%. Older people showed an increased risk of mortality from SARS-Cov-2. The pooled hazard ratio (pHR) and odds ratio (pOR) were 9.01 (95% CI; 6.30–11.71) and 1.04 (95% CI; 1.02–1.06), respectively. A significant association was found between COVID-19 mortality and men (pOR = 1.52; 95% CI 1.04–2). In addition, the risk of mortality in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infection was strongly influenced by chronic kidney disease (CKD), hypertension, severe or critical infection on admission, cough, and dyspnea. The major limitations of the present study are that the data in the meta-analysis came mainly from studies that were published, which may lead to publication bias, and that the causal relationship between risk factors and poor outcome in patients with COVID-19 cannot be confirmed because of the inherent limitations of the observational study.ConclusionsAdvanced age, male sex, CKD, hypertension, severe or critical condition on admission, cough, and dyspnea are clinical risk factors for fatal outcomes associated with coronavirus. These findings could be used for research, control, and prevention of the disease and could help providers take appropriate measures and improve clinical outcomes in these patients.
The Impact of Perturbation Mechanisms on the Operation of the Swap Heuristic
Authors: Misztal Wojciech 
Published: October 2022

In this study, an attempt was made to assess the impact of the most popular perturbation movements (i.e. Multiple-Swap(2-2), Multiple-Shift(2-2) and Multiple-K-Shift(1)), as well as the number of their calls on the quality of solutions and the time in which Swap(2-1) heuristics returns them. For this purpose, the iterative local search algorithm (ILS) was triggered, in which Swap(2-1) heuristics has cooperated with a single perturbation mechanism. The number of perturbations was changed in the range from 1 to 30. Each time the time and the difference between the percentage improvement of the objective function value of the solution obtained utilizing the Swap(2-1) algorithm cooperating with the perturbation mechanism and this algorithm working alone was checked. Based on the results obtained, it was found that the overall level of improvement in the quality of the returned solution is similar when using all of the considered perturbation mechanisms (is in the range of 2.49% to 4.02%). It has been observed that increasing the number of initiated perturbations does not guarantee an improvement in the quality of the returned solution. Perturbation movements similar to the motion initiated by the local search algorithm do not significantly improve the solution (they only entail extending the duration of action).
The structure of the study has the following form. The Introduction chapter provides information on the Vehicle Routing Problem. The chapter Research methods contain a description of ILS and Swap(2-1) approaches and perturbation mechanisms considered. The last two chapters include the results of tests and conclusions.
Revisiting Full Reduplication in Indonesian, Javanese, and Sundanese Verbs: a Distributed Reduplication Approach
Authors: Subiyanto Agus 
Published: October 2022

Indonesian, Javanese and Sundanese belong to the same language family, the Austronesian languages. The three languages have some similarities, one of which is the occurrence of reduplication. This paper aims to discuss full reduplication in the three languages, especially on the verbs. The objectives of this paper are to explain the semantic functions of full reduplication, and to present the process of deriving full reduplication in the three languages. In this case, the theory of distributed reduplication was applied in the analysis. The data used in the study were taken from books and research reports. In addition, I also employed a native speaker of Sundanese to check the data on Sundanese. In this case, I used the interview method with an elicitation technique. The result of the analysis shows that Indonesian and Javanese have full reduplication with the notion of repetition, reciprocal, uncertainty of goal, and intensifier. Meanwhile, Sundanese, has full reduplication with the notion of intensifier and reciprocal. The process of full reduplication in the three language is different. In Indonesian, reduplicated forms with a reciprocal notion are composed of three morphemes, while in Javanese and Sundanese this type of reduplication is composed of two morphemes.Keywords: full reduplication, Indonesian, Javanese, Sundanese, distributed reduplication
SPEECH ACTS AND THE COMMON PROBLEMS INVOLVED IN A HUMOR TEXT
Authors: Ari Astuti Deasy , Herry Chandra Oktiva 
Published: October 2022

People need humor for enjoying entertainment and amusement. Its function is getting wider not only to make people laugh but also to make social activity. This aricle aims to figure out kinds of speech act people generally used to show their intention in humor. The data were collected from Reader’s Digest magazine using no-participatory. The data are utterances that become the punch line of humor as units to analyze. The result shows that there are two speech acts of humor texts, that is, representative and commissive. They are uttered in form of indirect speech in which the function and the mood of utterances are not in line. The punch lines of humor are triggered by some topics, namely the characters or bad traits of someone, marriage issues which cover the anxiety of getting old, passing by the time of living together as husband and wife, job and position at workplace, public services which include mistake, satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and complaint people met when having the service in public places, and other problems related to various aspects of life.Keywords: humor text, indirect speech, representative, commissive, puch lines of humor
The Impact of GATS on the Insurance Sector: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan
Authors: Rahman Habib Ur , Khan Safdar Ullah 
Published: October 2022

Abstract
This study aims to analyse the effects of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) on the investment activities of the Pakistani insurance sector. First, we analyse the impact of GATS on the overall and company-wise return on investment of the insurance sector of Pakistan. In a panel data setting, the traditional fixed and random effect models are unsuitable for dealing with the possible issues, including endogeneity, unobserved heterogeneity, profit persistency, and the correlation between lagged dependent variables and independent variables. Therefore, we apply the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) system estimator to the panel data from 1984 to 2018. In the Arellano-Bond framework, the estimated results indicate that the overall investment returns of the Pakistani insurance sector have increased after the GATS membership. However, company-wise analysis reveals mixed evidence. The average returns of IGI Insurance Limited and EFU General Insurance Limited have increased significantly after the GATS membership. These results support one of our empirical conjectures that a rising tide lifts some boats more than it does others. Then, we apply Markowitz’s Portfolio Theory to estimate the portfolio returns and the associated risk using the financial statements data from 1984 to 2018. The estimates of portfolio analysis reveal that the portfolio returns of the Pakistani insurance sector improve by 6.70 percentage points after the membership. However, the associated portfolio risk also increases by 11.13 percentage points, 7.40 times higher than the Pre-GATS risk. Despite the better returns, there is an intensive increase in investment volatility after GATS membership. This study provides a valuable reference for insurance managers and the Ministry of Finance and Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan to control and improve the insurance sector’s performance in Pakistan.
News-Driven Housing Booms: Spain Versus Germany
Authors: Guinea Laurentiu , Puch Luis A. , Ruiz Jesús 
Published: October 2022

Abstract
We investigate how the economy responds to anticipated (news) shocks to future investment decisions. Using structural vector autoregressions (SVARs), we show that news about the future relative price of residential investment explains a high fraction of the variance of output, aggregate investment and residential investment for Spain. In contrast, for Germany it is the news shocks on business structures and equipment that explain a higher fraction of the variance of output, consumption and non-residential investment. We confront the identified shock with other shocks to provide evidence that our structural interpretation is valid. Then, to address our empirical findings, we propose a stylized two-sector model of the willingness to substitute current consumption for future investment in housing, structures or equipment. The model combines a wealth effect driven by the expectation of rising house prices, with a reduced-form friction in labor reallocation. We find that the model calibrated for Spain displays a response to anticipated house price shocks that stimulate residential investment, whereas for Germany those shocks enhance investment in equipment and structures. The results highlight the propagation mechanism of anticipated shocks to future investment, which is consistent with the housing booms in Spain and their absence in Germany. Such a mechanism complements a view relying on a combination of monetary, financial or housing supply and demand, surprise shocks.
The Chemist’s Oath
Authors: Keinan Ehud 
Published: October 2022

Abstract
Although the COVID-19 pandemic will continue affecting every aspect of our life, it seems that we have crossed the worst phase and have gradually resumed all professional and personal activities of pre-COVID times. International travel is back, and academic activities and scientific meetings are back to in-person mode. I feel fortunate to serve IUPAC as Vice President during this biennium of revamping period. I wish to share my observations and potential opportunities for IUPAC, and I’ll appreciate your help and response.
Quercetin-grafted modification to improve wood decay resistance
Authors: Yan Li , Ji Xiaodi , Zeng Feiyang , Chen Zhangjing , Lei Yafang 
Published: October 2022

Abstract
As a renewable biomass material, wood is often deteriorated by decay fungi. Quercetin was here grafted onto poplar (Populus nigra) using oxalic acid as a linker through vacuum-pressure treatment and esterification with various molar ratios of quercetin to oxalic acid (Q/O) to enhance the wood decay resistance. Decay resistance, flexural strength, graft mechanism, and microscopic structure of the quercetin-grafted wood were analyzed. Results indicated that the decay resistance of quercetin-grafted wood to white-rot fungi (Trametes versicolor) and brown-rot fungi (Gloephyllum trabeum) was significantly improved. The modulus of rupture (MOR) of the quercetin-grafted wood was reduced while the modulus of elasticity (MOE) was improved. Quercetin was grafted onto wood through formation of ester groups among oxalic acid, wood, and quercetin. The highest amount of ester groups in the grafted wood was achieved when Q/O was 1:2 and Q/O lower than 1:2 would severely degrade the wood. The thickness of cell walls of the quercetin-grafted wood increased and reached a maximum of 2.2 μm with Q/O of 1:2. Quercetin can be grafted on wood cell wall by oxalic acid as an environment-friendly preservative to enhance the decay resistance of wood.
Individual role classification for players defending corners in football (soccer)
Authors: Bauer Pascal , Anzer Gabriel , Smith Joshua Wyatt 
Published: October 2022

Abstract
Choosing the right defensive corner-strategy is a crucial task for each coach in professional football (soccer). Although corners are repeatable and static situations, due to their low conversion rates, several studies in literature failed to find useable insights about the efficiency of various corner strategies. Our work aims to fill this gap. We hand-label the role of each defensive player from 213 corners in 33 matches, where we then employ an augmentation strategy to increase the number of data points. By combining a convolutional neural network with a long short-term memory neural network, we are able to detect the defensive strategy of each player based on positional data. We identify which of seven well-established roles a defensive player conducted (player-marking, zonal-marking, placed for counterattack, back-space, short defender, near-post, and far-post). The model achieves an overall weighted accuracy of 89.3%, and in the case of player-marking, we are able to accurately detect which offensive player the defender is marking 80.8% of the time. The performance of the model is evaluated against a rule-based baseline model, as well as by an inter-labeller accuracy. We demonstrate that rules can also be used to support the labelling process and serve as a baseline for weak supervision approaches. We show three concrete use-cases on how this approach can support a more informed and fact-based decision making process.
Parallel and deep reservoir computing using semiconductor lasers with optical feedback
Authors: Hasegawa Hiroshi , Kanno Kazutaka , Uchida Atsushi 
Published: October 2022

Abstract
Photonic reservoir computing has been intensively investigated to solve machine learning tasks effectively. A simple learning procedure of output weights is used for reservoir computing. However, the lack of training of input-node and inter-node connection weights limits the performance of reservoir computing. The use of multiple reservoirs can be a solution to overcome this limitation of reservoir computing. In this study, we investigate parallel and deep configurations of delay-based all-optical reservoir computing using semiconductor lasers with optical feedback by combining multiple reservoirs to improve the performance of reservoir computing. Furthermore, we propose a hybrid configuration to maximize the benefits of parallel and deep reservoirs. We perform the chaotic time-series prediction task, nonlinear channel equalization task, and memory capacity measurement. Then, we compare the performance of single, parallel, deep, and hybrid reservoir configurations. We find that deep reservoirs are suitable for a chaotic time-series prediction task, whereas parallel reservoirs are suitable for a nonlinear channel equalization task. Hybrid reservoirs outperform other configurations for all three tasks. We further optimize the number of reservoirs for each reservoir configuration. Multiple reservoirs show great potential for the improvement of reservoir computing, which in turn can be applied for high-performance edge computing.
Prohibitin 1 regulates mtDNA release and downstream inflammatory responses
Authors: Liu Hao , Fan Hualin , He Pengcheng , Zhuang Haixia , Liu Xiao , Chen Meiting , Zhong Wenwei , Zhang Yi , Zhen Cien , Li Yanling , Jiang Huilin , Meng Tian , Xu Yiming , Zhao Guojun , Feng Du 
Published: October 2022

AbstractExposure of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to the cytosol activates innate immune responses. But the mechanisms by which mtDNA crosses the inner mitochondrial membrane are unknown. Here, we found that the inner mitochondrial membrane protein prohibitin 1 (PHB1) plays a critical role in mtDNA release by regulating permeability across the mitochondrial inner membrane. Loss of PHB1 results in alterations in mitochondrial integrity and function. PHB1‐deficient macrophages, serum from myeloid‐specific PHB1 KO (Phb1MyeKO) mice, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from neonatal sepsis patients show increased interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) levels. PHB1 KO mice are also intolerant of lipopolysaccharide shock. Phb1‐depleted macrophages show increased cytoplasmic release of mtDNA and inflammatory responses. This process is suppressed by cyclosporine A and VBIT‐4, which inhibit the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) and VDAC oligomerization. Inflammatory stresses downregulate PHB1 expression levels in macrophages. Under normal physiological conditions, the inner mitochondrial membrane proteins, AFG3L2 and SPG7, are tethered to PHB1 to inhibit mPTP opening. Downregulation of PHB1 results in enhanced interaction between AFG3L2 and SPG7, mPTP opening, mtDNA release, and downstream inflammatory responses.
Cryo‐EM structures of perforin‐2 in isolation and assembled on a membrane suggest a mechanism for pore formation
Authors: Yu Xiulian , Ni Tao , Munson George , Zhang Peijun , Gilbert Robert J C 
Published: October 2022

AbstractPerforin‐2 (PFN2, MPEG1) is a key pore‐forming protein in mammalian innate immunity restricting intracellular bacteria proliferation. It forms a membrane‐bound pre‐pore complex that converts to a pore‐forming structure upon acidification; but its mechanism of conformational transition has been debated. Here we used cryo‐electron microscopy, tomography and subtomogram averaging to determine structures of PFN2 in pre‐pore and pore conformations in isolation and bound to liposomes. In isolation and upon acidification, the pre‐assembled complete pre‐pore rings convert to pores in both flat ring and twisted conformations. On membranes, in situ assembled PFN2 pre‐pores display various degrees of completeness; whereas PFN2 pores are mainly incomplete arc structures that follow the same subunit packing arrangements as found in isolation. Both assemblies on membranes use their P2 β‐hairpin for binding to the lipid membrane surface. Overall, these structural snapshots suggest a molecular mechanism for PFN2 pre‐pore to pore transition on a targeted membrane, potentially using the twisted pore as an intermediate or alternative state to the flat conformation, with the capacity to cause bilayer distortion during membrane insertion.