bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Highly stable and highly stretchable poly(vinyl chloride)‐based plastics prepared by adding novel green oligomeric lactate plasticizers
Authors: Zhang Zheming , Jiang Pingping , Wai Phyu Thin , Gao Xinxin , Feng Shan , Lu Minjia , Zhang Pingbo , Leng Yan , Song Qingkui , Zhao Yong 
Published: September 2022

AbstractPoly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is one of the most widely applied plastics in the world, with inherent mechanical brittleness and inflexibility in room temperature. With the growing concern for health and safety, especially in some fields (children's toys, food packaging, medical supplies) that require high‐safety plastics, there is an urgent need to develop phthalate‐free high‐performance green PVC products. Herein, by blending novel green oligomeric lactate plasticizers 1, 4‐cyclohexane dimethanol oligomeric lactate‐levulinate (CDOL‐L) and 1,4‐cyclohexane dimethanol oligomeric lactate‐levulinic acid ketal ester (CDOL‐LKE), highly stretchable and highly stable PVC‐based plastics were prepared successfully. CDOL‐L and CDOL‐LKE were synthesized by a green route of esterification and ketalization using biomass as the main raw material, and their structures were jointly confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,1H NMR and TOF‐MS. Through performance testing, CDOL‐L or CDOL‐LKE plasticized PVC material were determined to have triple high stability (thermal, mechanical and migration stability) superior to DOP, DOTP and ATBC plasticized PVC. The PVC plasticized by CDOL‐L exhibited break at elongation as high as 833.0% at 50 phr addition and 877.1% at 60 phr addition. Moreover, PVC plasticized by 50 phr CDOL‐LKE exhibited relatively better thermal stability (Ti,CDOL‐LKE = 271.4°C) for the special ketal structure on the plasticizer. In conclusion, CDOL‐L and CDOL‐LKE showed potential to substitute traditional plasticizers and pointed a new direction for the preparation of high‐performance PVC‐based plastics.
Experimental investigation on the properties of poly (L‐lactic acid) vascular stent after accelerated in vitro degradation
Authors: Cheng Jie , Su Junjie , Tian Yuan , Hu Xue , Zhao Gutian , Ni Zhonghua 
Published: September 2022

AbstractPoly (L‐lactic acid) (PLLA) vascular stents are promising to be used to treat vascular stenosis. However, the degradation of these implanted stents has a great influence on the mechanical properties. In this work, we studied the factors that can influence the mechanical properties by accelerating the degradation of PLLA stents with crimping and expansion in phosphate buffer solution (PBS) at 70°C. The typical influence factors such as the real‐time weight‐average molecular weight (Mw), crystallinity, surface morphologies, and mass loss of these samples were analyzed in detail. Results showed that radial strength of the stents increased from 877 to 1204 mmHg after accelerated degradation for 2 days and then decreased to almost 0 mmHg after 10 days. Meanwhile, radial stiffness showed an upward trend which is caused by the decrease in Mw, increase in crystallinity and local damage during the crimping and expansion process. Moreover, negligible mass loss of stents was observed in this period and the bulk degradation behavior predominated in the whole process.
An analysis on tensile and flexural loading response for unidirectionalCFRPlaminate with cutout/hole: Geometrical design effect on the material strength
Authors: Gupta Savita , Pal Snehanshu , Ray Bankim Chandra 
Published: September 2022

AbstractA comparative analysis has been done on CFRP laminate to understand the design aspect of cutouts under tensile and flexural loading. Detailed analysis of strength, modulus, and variance in failure mechanism has been done to assess the relationship between material strength and design under two different loading conditions. Longitudinal and cross ply stacking sequences are considered. Tensile loading is found to be more detrimental than flexural loading for composite laminate with hole. SEM and optical micrographs have been analyzed to perceive the failure mechanisms of laminates under two different loading conditions. Mode I dominated delamination and mode II dominated delamination are found to be prevalent in OHT (open hole tensile) and OHF (open hole flexural) failure, respectively.
Production of clove extract loaded pullulan and whey protein nanofibers as antioxidant and antibacterial agent
Authors: Zambak Özlem , Özkal Ayşe , Özkal Sami Gökhan 
Published: September 2022

AbstractIn this study, clove extract loaded nanofibers consisting of pullulan and whey protein were produced by electrospinning method in order to improve antibacterial and antioxidant activity. Diameters of the produced nanofibers varied between 215.7 and 536.8 nm. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) results showed that there was a close interaction between the obtained nanofibers and clove extract. Although the antioxidant activity of the nanofibers varied between 1535 and 4174 μmol TE/g dm, the antioxidant activity of the clove extract loaded nanofibers tended to increase when compared to their polymer solutions. The total phenolic content of the nanofiber samples varied between 4.93 and 45.05 mg GAE/g dm. It has been determined that clove extract loaded nanofibers showed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC29113) and Micrococcus luteus (NCIMB). As a result, it was seen that the addition of clove extract improved the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of the fibers and these fibers could be a potential coating and packaging material that could have a potential use in food preservation.
Regulating substrate preference of phosphatase by reshaping the “cap domain” for multi‐enzymatic biosynthesis of high‐purity monosaccharides
Authors: Tang Xiao‐Ling , Xu Ke‐Xin , Geng Yu‐Heng , Wang Wen‐Hao , Diao Hong‐Juan , Zheng Ren‐Chao , Zheng Yu‐Guo 
Published: September 2022

AbstractPhosphatases are a class of enzymes catalyzing the cleavage of monophosphate ester bonds from the phosphorylated substrates. They have important applications in construction of in vitro multi‐enzymatic system for monosaccharides. However, the enzymes generally show substrate ambiguity, which has become a bottleneck for efficient biosynthesis of target products with high purity. In this study, semirational design was performed on phosphatase from Thermosipho atlanticus (Ta‐PST). The hotspot amino acid residues forming a “cap domain” were identified and selected for saturation mutagenesis. The mutant F179T and F179M showed improved substrate preference toward fructose‐6‐phosphate and mannose‐6‐phosphate, respectively. Coupling with other enzymes involved in the multi‐enzymatic system under optimized conditions, the application of F179T led to fructose yield of 80% from 10 g/L maltodextrin and the ratio between the target product and by‐product glucose was increased from 2:1 to 19:1. On the other hand, the application of F179M led to mannose yield of 59% with ratio of mannose to the by‐products glucose and fructose increased from 1:1:1 to 14:2:1. Moreover, the molecular understanding of the beneficial substitution was gained by structural analysis and molecular dynamic simulations, giving important guidance to regulate the enzyme's substrate preference.
Corporate sustainability and performance: An efficiency perspective
Authors: Erbetta Fabrizio , Bruno Clementina , Pirovano Carolina 
Published: September 2022

AbstractThe growing attention to corporate sustainability has favoured the emergence of paradigms aimed at understanding the interaction between the economic and the environmental sustainability dimensions. While a win‐win paradigm initially arose basically aimed at emphasizing the potential synergies between these two objectives, an alternative vision based on a logic of trade‐off has subsequently emerged, foreseeing that improvement in one perspective can often be harmful to the other. Focusing on the EU energy production industry, this study adopts a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach with the aim to assess whether mutual impact there exists between the economic and the environmental sides reflecting a win‐win or a trade‐off relationship. Furthermore, as prioritizing sustainability indicators has been recognized in the ongoing debate as a useful way to build effective sustainability practices, our assessment of the mutual impact accommodates the possibility that the resulting evidence may change when priority is placed, alternatively, to the economic or the environmental sustainability concern. The results show how the environmental goal enters in a trade‐off relationship with the economic one when priority is placed on the environmental dimension. This casts doubts on the feasibility of a spontaneous path towards the strengthening of renewable sources.
Efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy on overall survival in patients with lymph node‐positive esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: Is oral chemotherapy promising?
Authors: Fang Shuogui , Zhong Jian , Mai Zihang , Li Tong , Xie Xiuying , Fu Jianhua 
Published: September 2022

AbstractBackgroundThe role of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with pathological lymph node‐positive (pN+) resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unclear. We aimed to explore whether adjuvant chemotherapy could improve the overall survival (OS) of patients with pN+ ESCC and whether oral chemotherapy could be used as an alternative to intravenous chemotherapy.MethodsThe patients were divided into two groups: a surgery plus chemotherapy group (S + CT group, 400 patients) and a surgery alone group (S group, 582 patients). Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to create patient groups that were balanced across several covariates (n = 331 in each group). The survival rates of patients receiving oral chemotherapy (69 patients with S‐1 and 68 patients with tegafur tablets) and intravenous chemotherapy (263 patients) were compared using the Kaplan–Meier method.ResultsIn the overall study cohort, the 3‐year OS was significantly higher in the S + CT group than in the S group (66.3% vs. 49.9%, p < 0.001). These data were confirmed in the matched groups (3‐year OS, 72.9% vs. 62.0%, p < 0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis in the matched samples showed that adjuvant chemotherapy was an independent prognostic factor for ESCC (HR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.50–0.76, p < 0.001). Patients who received oral chemotherapy had a similar OS as patients who received intravenous chemotherapy.ConclusionsAdjuvant chemotherapy could significantly improve the OS of patients with pN+ ESCC, and oral chemotherapy drugs might be a better option because of their similar efficacy but fewer side effects than intravenous chemotherapy. This conclusion warrants further study in prospective, randomized controlled trials.
Economic and sustainability benefits of the United States Golf Association's research investment in putting green construction, naturalized rough, and turfgrass breeding
Authors: Thompson Cole , Kridel Donald J. , Kenna Michael P. 
Published: September 2022

AbstractThe United States Golf Association (USGA) has invested more than US$45 million into turfgrass and environmental research since 1983. We recently projected a $1.03 billion annual benefit to the U.S. golf industry from the USGA's investment in the three areas of water, fertilizer, and pesticide management research. However, the effort also has improved putting green construction techniques (PGCT), encouraged the incorporation of naturalized roughs (NR), and improved turfgrass cultivars (ITC). Our objective was to estimate the golf industry's financial benefit from the USGA's investment in these additional three areas. Data were collected from an online survey focused on the benefits associated with golf facilities’ adoption of research‐based management practices. Multiple econometric models were developed for PGCT, NR, and ITC that used data from the survey. All three research areas have been widely adopted throughout the U.S. golf industry. Across the three areas studied, modeling indicated a total annual financial benefit of $886.9 million to the golf industry. Further, the total annual financial benefit from all six areas is $1.92 billion. Compared with an estimated yearly Green Section budget of roughly $10 million, this is a healthy return on the USGA's investment and demonstrates the importance of research investment to the sustainability of the golf industry.
Facile Synthesis of Liquid Crystal Dimers Bridged with a Phosphonic Group
Authors: Wang Dalin , Liu Jiang , Zhao Weiguang , Zeng Yongming , Huang Jianjia , Fang Jianglin , Chen Dongzhong 
Published: September 2022

AbstractLiquid crystal (LC) dimers with well‐defined composition and structure arouse broad attentions for their exhibiting LC properties beyond conventional low molar mass mesogens and serving as fascinating model compounds for LC polymers. Here in this work, a series of LC dimers bridged with a phosphonic group have been synthesized through a facile free radical mediated addition reaction between hypophosphorous acid and vinyl terminated cyanobiphenyl mesogens with variant length alkyl spacers. In addition, two esterified derivatives and a group of mono‐addition homologues with a terminal phosphonic acid group have also been prepared for comparison study. All the newly synthesized compounds exhibit monotropic nematic (N) phase with typical schlieren textures except for the LC dimer with the longest eleven‐methylene spacer, which surprisingly shows twist‐bend nematic (NTB) phase directly from the isotropic state upon cooling. Moreover, the thermal transition properties such as the nematic‐isotropic transition temperatures and associated entropy changes of the series LC dimers display a modest odd‐even effect. Furthermore, both the LC dimers and the mono‐addition homologues in N phase are quite easy to achieve homeotropic alignment upon annealing thanks to the supramolecular interactions between the introduced phosphonic acid group and the hydroxylated glass surface. This work thus provides a novel synthesis strategy for a class of LC materials bridged with a phosphonic acid group prone to further functionalization, which may serve as promising vertical alignment agents and pave the way for developing a new kind of functionalized LC materials of NTB phase.
Fused Bis(hemi‐indigo): Broad‐Range Wavelength‐Independent Photoswitches
Authors: Berdnikova Daria V. , Kriesche Bernhard M. , Paululat Thomas , Hofer Thomas S. 
Published: September 2022

AbstractWavelength‐independent conversion of organic photoswitches in the photostationary state is a rare phenomenon that opens up a way for many practical applications. In this work, three fused bis(hemi‐indigo) derivatives with different substitution patterns were synthesized and their photoswitching was investigated by optical spectroscopy, real‐time NMR spectroscopy and TD‐DFT calculations. We disclosed that the Z‐E photoisomerization of the meta‐bis(hemi‐indigo) derivative was remarkably independent of the irradiation wavelength from UV up to yellow light. The wavelength‐independent forward photoswitching together with the inhibited backward photoisomerization, high thermal stability of the photoinduced isomers as well as significant overlap between the photoswitch absorption and the solar spectrum allows to suggest bis(hemi‐indigo) derivatives as promising candidates for molecular solar thermal energy storage (MOST) systems.
Sixteen logic functions in a single electronic circuit
Authors: Cerda Baltazar , Campos‐Canton Isaac , Delgado‐Aranda Finees , Soubervielle‐Montalvo Carlos , Tristán‐Hernández Edgar 
Published: September 2022

SummaryThis paper introduces an electronic circuit capable of generating a set of functions, some of them known in digital systems as the logical operators AND, OR, XOR, and so on. Using two inputs,
and
, the circuit provides 16 possible output combinations. The main idea of the electronic design is based on an RC network, operational amplifiers, and voltage comparators. On the other hand, mathematically, the stable system response is used as a surface where
and
are coordinate axes forming a plane, which intersects this surface, and the output
can be seen as a circle surrounding some fixed points over this plane. The mathematical approach on this paper is intended as a groundwork for a multiple input reconfigurable logic gate that could be embedded in more complex systems. The procedure to obtain an XOR gate, represented by the
function, is explained to illustrate the circuit behavior. Results of the 16 implemented functions are shown in Appendices B and C.
Brain reward response in adolescents and young adults with anorexia nervosa is moderated by changes in body weight and sweetness perception
Authors: Frank Guido K. W. , Shott Megan E. , Pryor Tamara , Swindle Skylar , Stoddard Joel 
Published: September 2022

AbstractObjectiveAnorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe psychiatric illness with complex etiology. Recently, we found elevated striatal brain response to sweet taste stimuli in adolescents and young adults with AN. Here, we tested the hypothesis that nutritional rehabilitation normalizes prediction error activation, a measure for dopamine‐related reward circuit response, to salient caloric taste stimuli in AN.MethodsA total of 28 individuals with AN (age = 16 ± 2 years; body mass index [BMI] = 16 ± 1) who previously underwent brain imaging while performing a taste prediction error task using sucrose as salient caloric stimulus, participated in a second brain imaging scan (BMI = 18 ± 1) after intensive specialized eating disorder treatment (41 ± 15 days). A total of 31 healthy controls (age = 16 ± 3 years; BMI = 21 ± 2) were also studied on two occasions.ResultsAt baseline, individuals with AN demonstrated an elevated salience response in bilateral caudate head and nucleus accumbens, and right ventral striatum. At the second scan, elevated response was only found in the right nucleus accumbens. A moderator analysis indicated that greater increase in BMI and greater decrease in sweetness perception predicted lesser prediction error response at the second scan in AN.ConclusionConsistent with the previously reported monetary stimulus–response, elevated taste prediction error response in AN was largely absent after weight restoration. This study indicates that changes in BMI and sweet taste perception are independent moderators of change of brain salience response in adolescents and young adults with AN. The study points toward dynamic changes in the brain reward circuitry in AN and highlights the importance of nutrition and weight restoration in that process.Public Significance StatementAN is a severe psychiatric illness. Biological factors that integrate neurobiology and behavior could become important targets to improve treatment outcome. This study highlights the importance of weight normalization and taste perception the normalization of brain function, and food type or taste‐specific interventions could help in the recovery process. Furthermore, the study suggests that food‐related and nonfood‐related reward processing adapts to illness state in AN.
Temporal refuges of a subordinate carnivore vary across rural–urban gradient
Authors: Malhotra Rumaan , Lima Samantha , Harris Nyeema C. 
Published: September 2022

AbstractAnimals exhibit variation in their space and time use across an urban–rural gradient. As the top‐down influences of apex predators wane due to human‐driven declines, landscape‐level anthropogenic pressures are rising. Human impacts can be analogous to apex predators in that humans can drive increased mortality in both prey species and carnivores, and impact communities through indirect fear effects and food subsidies. Here, we evaluate the time use of a common mesocarnivore across an urban–rural gradient and test whether it is influenced by the intensity of the use of a larger carnivore. Using multiple camera‐trap surveys, we compared the temporal response of a small carnivore, the raccoon (Procyon lotor), to the larger coyote (Canis latrans) in four study areas across Michigan that represented a gradient of pressure from humans. We found that raccoon time use varied by study area and was most unique at the rural extreme. Raccoons consistently did not shift their activity pattern in response to coyotes in the study area with the highest anthropogenic pressures despite the considerable interannual variation, and instead showed stronger responses to coyotes in more rural study areas. Temporal shifts were characterized by raccoons being more diurnal in areas of high coyote activity. We conclude that raccoons may shift time use in the presence of coyotes, dependent on the level of anthropogenic pressure. Our results highlight that the variation in raccoon time use across the entirety of the urban–rural gradient needed to be considered, as anthropogenic pressures may dominate and obscure the dynamics of this interaction.
Applying the structural causal model framework for observational causal inference in ecology
Authors: Arif Suchinta , MacNeil M. Aaron 
Published: September 2022

AbstractEcologists are often interested in answering causal questions from observational data but generally lack the training to appropriately infer causation. When applying statistical analysis (e.g., generalized linear model) on observational data, common statistical adjustments can often lead to biased estimates between variables of interest due to processes such as confounding, overcontrol, and collider bias. To overcome these limitations, we present an overview of structural causal modeling (SCM), an emerging causal inference framework that can be used to determine cause‐and‐effect relationships from observational data. The SCM framework uses directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to visualize researchers' assumptions about the causal structure of a system or process under study. Following this, a DAG‐based graphical rule known as the backdoor criterion can be applied to determine statistical adjustments (or lack thereof) required to determine causal relationships from observational data. In the presence of unobserved confounding variables, an additional rule called the frontdoor criterion can be employed to determine causal effects. Here, we use simulated ecological examples to review how the backdoor and frontdoor criteria can return accurate causal estimates between variables of interest, as well as how biases can arise when these criteria are not used. We further provide an overview of studies that have applied the SCM framework in ecology. SCM, along with its application of DAGs, has been widely used in other disciplines to make valid causal inferences from observational data. Their use in ecology holds tremendous potential for quantifying causal relationships and investigating a range of ecological questions without randomized experiments.