bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Does exposure to weather variability deter the use of productivity‐enhancing agricultural technology? Evidence from Ethiopia
Authors: Berha Andu Nesrey 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThis study examines how farm households' decision to use modern agricultural inputs is influenced by the weather variability using a household panel survey merged with long‐term historical weather data from Ethiopia. As a part of an effort to fill methodological gaps that are observed and anticipated in previous similar literature, this study employs a more flexible modeling approach under a multiagricultural technologies framework. Findings suggest that weather uncertainty reduces the probability and intensity of adoption of productivity‐enhancing inputs, including chemical fertilizer and improved seed. The average partial effect for rainfall variability indicates that each additional percent of coefficient of variation of precipitation decreases the fertilizer use per hectare by, on average, 2.5%, other factors being constant. Similarly, a 1% increase in rainfall variability is associated with on average 0.6% and 4.5% decrease in probability and extent of improved seed use, respectively. We also observe that abundance rainfall during the previous production period increases the use of yield‐enhancing inputs in the current growing season. On the other hand, we observe that variability in rainfall increases the probability of the adoption of loss‐reducing agricultural technology, such as irrigation. Findings also indicate that by deterring their incentive to invest in productivity‐enhancing agricultural inputs, weather risk could confine uninsured farming households in a low productivity‐low income trap. Results also highlight the importance of policy interventions aiming to improve the risk‐bearing capacity of smallholder farmers in encouraging investment in productivity‐enhancing technologies.
Influence of surface chemistry and morphology of nanoparticles on protein corona formation
Authors: Bilardo Roberta , Traldi Federico , Vdovchenko Alena , Resmini Marina 
Published: March 2022

AbstractNanomaterials offer promising solutions as drug delivery systems and imaging agents in response to the demand for better therapeutics and diagnostics. However, the limited understanding of the interaction between nanoparticles and biological entities is currently hampering the development of new systems and their applications in clinical settings. Proteins and lipids in biological fluids are known to complex with nanoparticles to form a “biomolecular corona”. This has been shown to affect particles' morphology and behavior in biological systems and their interactions with cells. Hence, understanding how nanomaterials' physicochemical properties affect the formation and composition of this biocorona is a crucial step. This work evaluates existing literature on how morphology (size and shape), and surface chemistry (charge and hydrophobicity) of nanoparticles influence the formation of protein corona. The latest evidence suggest that although surface charge promotes the interaction with proteins and lipids, surface chemistry plays a leading role in determining the affinity of the nanoparticle for biomolecules and, ultimately, the composition of the corona. More recently the study of additional nanoparticles' properties like shape and surface chirality have demonstrated a significant effect on protein corona architecture, providing new tools to tailor biomolecular corona formation.This article is categorized under:
Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies
Toxicology and Regulatory Issues in Nanomedicine > Toxicology of Nanomaterials
4d S-duality wall and SL(2, ℤ) relations
Authors: Bottini Lea E. , Hwang Chiung , Pasquetti Sara , Sacchi Matteo 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
In this paper we present various 4d$$ \mathcal{N} $$
N
= 1 dualities involving theories obtained by gluing two E[USp(2N)] blocks via the gauging of a common USp(2N) symmetry with the addition of 2L fundamental matter chiral fields. For L = 0 in particular the theory has a quantum deformed moduli space with chiral symmetry breaking and its index takes the form of a delta-function. We interpret it as the Identity wall which identifies the two surviving USp(2N) of each E[USp(2N)] block. All the dualities are derived from iterative applications of the Intriligator-Pouliot duality. This plays for us the role of the fundamental duality, from which we derive all others. We then focus on the 3d version of our 4d dualities, which now involve the $$ \mathcal{N} $$
N
= 4 T[SU(N)] quiver theory that is known to correspond to the 3d S-wall. We show how these 3d dualities correspond to the relations S2 = −1, S−1S = 1 and STS = T−1S−1T−1 for the S and T generators of SL(2, ℤ). These observations lead us to conjecture that E[USp(2N)] can also be interpreted as a 4d S-wall.
Global time evolution of concentrated vortex rings
Authors: Buttà Paolo , Cavallaro Guido , Marchioro Carlo 
Published: March 2022

AbstractWe study the time evolution of an incompressible fluid with axial symmetry without swirl, assuming initial data such that the initial vorticity is very concentrated inside N small disjoint rings of thickness $$\varepsilon $$
ε
and vorticity mass of the order of $$|\log \varepsilon |^{ -1}$$

|
log
ε
|

-
1

. When $$\varepsilon \rightarrow 0$$

ε
→
0

, we show that the motion of each vortex ring converges to a simple translation with constant speed (depending on the single ring) along the symmetry axis. We obtain a sharp localization of the vorticity support at time t in the radial direction, whereas we state only a concentration property in the axial direction. This is obtained for arbitrary (but fixed) intervals of time. This study is the completion of a previous paper [5], where a sharp localization of the vorticity support was obtained both along the radial and axial directions, but the convergence for $$\varepsilon \rightarrow 0$$

ε
→
0

worked only for short times.
Pott-Puffy-Tumor: die Notwendigkeit einer interdisziplinären Diagnostik und Behandlung
Authors: Kühn Jan Philipp , Linsler Stefan , Nourkami-Tutdibi Nasenien , Meyer Sascha , Becker Sören L. , Yilmaz Umut , Schick Bernhard , Bozzato Alessandro , Kulas Philipp 
Published: March 2022

ZusammenfassungDer Pott-Puffy-Tumor (PPT) stellt als bakterielle Infektion des Sinus frontalis mit subperiostaler und intrakranieller Abszessbildung eine seltene Erkrankung in der Pädiatrie dar. Nachfolgend präsentieren wir vier Fälle eines PPT, die bei zwei Kindern (6 und 9 Jahre) und bei zwei jungen Erwachsenen (17 und 19 Jahre) auftraten. Alle Patienten wurden interdisziplinär von einem Team aus Neurochirurgie, Pädiatrie, HNO-Heilkunde, Neuroradiologie und Mikrobiologie betreut. Die Antibiotikabehandlung wurde in einem Fall mit einer endoskopischen Nasennebenhöhlenoperation (FESS) und in den anderen drei Fällen zusätzlich mit einem offenen transkraniellen Zugang zur Drainage der intrakraniellen Abszessbildung kombiniert. Da der PPT im Kindesalter mit dem Befund einer intrakraniellen Abszessbildung einhergehen kann, ist eine enge interdisziplinäre Zusammenarbeit für eine erfolgreiche Behandlung dieser seltenen Erkrankung erforderlich.
Systematische Identifizierung energieeffizienter Antriebskonfigurationen in Elektrofahrzeugen
Authors: Yuan Shaohui , Hofmann Wilfried 
Published: March 2022

ZusammenfassungIn der Projektierungsphase eines Elektrofahrzeugs entstehen optimale Antriebskonfigurationen erst durch die gezielte Kombination der einzelnen Antriebskomponenten. Um technisch vorteilhafte Auslegungszusammenhänge zu erkennen, ist eine systematische Untersuchung der Auslegungsfreiheitsgrade erforderlich. Diese Freiheitsgrade ergeben sich v. a. aus der Wahl der Auslegungsparameter, der Komponententypen und der Antriebstopologien. In diesem Artikel wird gezeigt, wie bereits in einer frühen Entwicklungsphase energieeffiziente Antriebskonfigurationen für Elektrofahrzeuge durch analytische Methoden identifiziert werden. Diese Methoden basieren grundsätzlich auf physikalischen Modellen und frei zugänglichen Datenblattangaben der Komponenten, die v. a. Energiespeicher, Wechselrichter, Elektromotor und Getriebe umfassen. Mithilfe dieser Methoden lässt sich der energetische Vergleich der zahlreichen Antriebskonfigurationen ohne großen Zeitaufwand durchführen. Die Ergebnisse führen schließlich zu einem informativen Auswahldiagramm, mit welchem aussagekräftige Prognosen zu den energieeffizienten Konfigurationen für beliebige Fahrprofile getroffen werden.
Stability of the H-cluster under whole-cell conditions—formation of an Htrans-like state and its reactivity towards oxygen
Authors: Lorenzi Marco , Ceccaldi Pierre , Rodríguez-Maciá Patricia , Redman Holly Jayne , Zamader Afridi , Birrell James A. , Mészáros Livia S. , Berggren Gustav 
Published: March 2022

AbstractHydrogenases are metalloenzymes that catalyze the reversible oxidation of molecular hydrogen into protons and electrons. For this purpose, [FeFe]-hydrogenases utilize a hexanuclear iron cofactor, the H-cluster. This biologically unique cofactor provides the enzyme with outstanding catalytic activities, but it is also highly oxygen sensitive. Under in vitro conditions, oxygen stable forms of the H-cluster denoted Htrans and Hinact can be generated via treatment with sulfide under oxidizing conditions. Herein, we show that an Htrans-like species forms spontaneously under intracellular conditions on a time scale of hours, concurrent with the cells ceasing H2 production. Addition of cysteine or sulfide during the maturation promotes the formation of this H-cluster state. Moreover, it is found that formation of the observed Htrans-like species is influenced by both steric factors and proton transfer, underscoring the importance of outer coordination sphere effects on H-cluster reactivity.
Graphical abstract
Salicylic Acid as a Tolerance Inducer of Drought Stress on Sunflower Grown in Sandy Soil
Authors: El–Bially Mohamed E. , Saudy Hani S. , Hashem Fadl A. , El–Gabry Yasser A. , Shahin Mostafa G. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractAgricultural water rationalization expressed in irrigating the plants below their requirements became a significant strategy in crop water management. However, reduction in crop productivity under low water supply is realized. Therefore, the current study aimed to diminish sunflower yield losses associated with deficit irrigation using salicylic acid (SA). During two seasons of 2019 and 2020 at El Nubaria region, El Behaira Governorate, Egypt, combinations of three irrigation regimes (100, 85 and 70% of crop evapotranspiration, denoted WR100%, WR85%, and WR70%, respectively), and three levels of SA (0.0, 0.5, and 1 mM. abbreviated as SA0.0, SA0.5, and SA1.0, respectively) on sunflower plants performance were evaluated. Treatments were arranged in a strip–plot design with three replicates. Findings revealed that treated sunflower plants with WR100% × SA1.0 contained the highest amounts of total chlorophyll and carotenoids as well as the lowest proline content. Seed yield of WR100% × SA1.0 treatment was higher than that of WR70% × SA0.0 by 109.7% in the first season and 125.9% in the second one. As averages of the two seasons, SA0.5 and SA1.0 lowered the reductions in seed yield from 21.0% to 15.8 and 14.4% as well as 46.2% to 40.8 and 40.1% under WR85% and WR70%, respectively, compared to the farmer common practice (WR100% × SA0.0). WR100% × SA1.0 for iodine value as well as WR100% × SA1.0 and WR100% × SA0.5 for seed oil % were recorded the highest. Application of WR100% × SA1.0 and WR100% × SA0.5 were the effective combinations for ameliorating water use efficiency. In conclusion, involving salicylic acid in irrigation programs of sunflower became a decisive action to save water and alleviate the yield losses resulting from drought stress.
Robotic Handle Prototypes for Endoscopic Endonasal Skull Base Surgery: Pre-clinical Randomised Controlled Trial of Performance and Ergonomics
Authors: Dimitrakakis Emmanouil , Aylmore Holly , Lindenroth Lukas , Dwyer George , Carmichael Joshua , Khan Danyal Z. , Dorward Neil L. , Marcus Hani J. , Stoyanov Danail 
Published: March 2022

AbstractEndoscopic endonasal skull base surgery is a promising alternative to transcranial approaches. However, standard instruments lack articulation, and thus, could benefit from robotic technologies. The aim of this study was to develop an ergonomic handle for a handheld robotic instrument intended to enhance this procedure. Two different prototypes were developed based on ergonomic guidelines within the literature. The first is a forearm-mounted handle that maps the surgeon’s wrist degrees-of-freedom to that of the robotic end-effector; the second is a joystick-and-trigger handle with a rotating body that places the joystick to the position most comfortable for the surgeon. These handles were incorporated into a custom-designed surgical virtual simulator and were assessed for their performance and ergonomics when compared with a standard neurosurgical grasper. The virtual task was performed by nine novices with all three devices as part of a randomised crossover user-study. Their performance and ergonomics were evaluated both subjectively by themselves and objectively by a validated observational checklist. Both handles outperformed the standard instrument with the rotating joystick-body handle offering the most substantial improvement in terms of balance between performance and ergonomics. Thus, it is deemed the more suitable device to drive instrumentation for endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery.
Emergence of the Fused Spacetime from a Continuum Computing Construct of Reality
Authors: Muir Heather A. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractSince the emergence of computing as a mode of investigation in the sciences, computational approaches have revolutionised many fields of inquiry. Recently in philosophy, the question has begun rendering bit by bit—could computation be considered a deeper fundamental building block toallof reality? This paper proposes a continuum computing construct, predicated on a set of core computational principles: computability, discretisation, stability and optimisation. The construct is applied to the set of most fundamental physical laws, in the form of non-relativistic conservation equations which underpin our governing physics. The discretisation approach divides all of space into a mesh of discrete computational cells, and evolution of data in those cells must obey pre-defined stability conditions from established continuum computing theory, namely, the Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy condition. Evolving cell-state data in a manner which logically optimises computational efficiency, combined with the defined stability condition, the construct derives a central coupling of space, time, and the fastest speed of information propagation. This coupling formed at the lowest level by the computing construct, naturally and inherently produces aspects of special relativity and general relativity at the macroscale. This paper therefore proposes a new explanation ofwhythe nature of space and time may be fused, and explores simple emergent congruities with relativity. The theory invites us to reverse the philosophical premise of the original Simulation Argument. This argument currently leads us to consider: how might all of the observed physics of our reality be reproduced computationally in a simulation of our existence? This work asks instead: could foundations of the physics of our universe—namely spacetime coupling—emerge inherently, and necessarily,fromfundamental principles of computation?
Eppur si muove: an evaluation of museum policy reform in Italy
Authors: Alfano Maria Rosaria , Baraldi Anna Laura , Cantabene Claudia 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThis study evaluates the effectiveness of a novel cultural policy to recover the valorization function of Italian state museums by increasing managerial autonomy. The policy is part of the Franceschini reform, introduced in 2014, that concerns the governance of cultural institutions and was justified by the severe budget constraints resulting from economic crisis and a spending review. Given the staggered implementation of the reform across 32 museums that obtained special autonomy, we apply a difference-in-differences strategy that allows to properly investigate the causal effect of the policy reform on museums’ outcome measures of exhibition function, as visitors and revenue from admissions. Our findings robustly support the effectiveness of the cultural policy reform in terms these outcomes. Although we provide some suggestive evidence of the efficacy of museums’ management (through a number of communication and supplementary services), this study suffers of the limitations due to the lack of more appropriate measures on how successful changes in management have been. However, results aim to offer policy recommendations in favor of greater managerial and financial autonomy of state museums that, while preserving their conservation function, can promote the widespread utilization of collections ensuring museums’ greater sustainability.
Simple Models in Complex Worlds: Occam’s Razor and Statistical Learning Theory
Authors: Bargagli Stoffi Falco J. , Cevolani Gustavo , Gnecco Giorgio 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe idea that “simplicity is a sign of truth”, and the related “Occam’s razor” principle, stating that, all other things being equal, simpler models should be preferred to more complex ones, have been long discussed in philosophy and science. We explore these ideas in the context of supervised machine learning, namely the branch of artificial intelligence that studies algorithms which balance simplicity and accuracy in order to effectively learn about the features of the underlying domain. Focusing on statistical learning theory, we show that situations exist for which a preference for simpler models (as modeled through the addition of a regularization term in the learning problem) provably slows down, instead of favoring, the supervised learning process. Our results shed new light on the relations between simplicity and truth approximation, which are briefly discussed in the context of both machine learning and the philosophy of science.
A hybrid GA and PSO optimized approach for heart-disease prediction based on random forest
Authors: El-Shafiey Mohamed G. , Hagag Ahmed , El-Dahshan El-Sayed A. , Ismail Manal A. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractNowadays, heart diseases are significantly contributing to deaths all over the world. Thus, heart-disease prediction has garnered considerable attention in the medical domain globally. Accordingly, machine-learning algorithms for the early prediction of heart diseases were developed in several studies to help physicians design medical procedures. In this study, a hybrid genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) optimized approach based on random forest (RF), called GAPSO-RF, is developed and used to select the optimal features that can increase the accuracy of heart-disease prediction. The proposed GAPSO-RF implements multivariate statistical analysis in the first step to select the most significant features used in the initial population. After that, a discriminate mutation strategy is implemented in GA. GAPSO-RF combines a modified GA for global search and a PSO for local search. Moreover, PSO achieved the concept of rehabbing individuals that had been refused in the selection process. The performance of the proposed GAPSO-RF approach is validated via evaluation metrics, namely, accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve by using two datasets from the University of California, namely, Cleveland and Statlog. The experimental results confirm that the GAPSO-RF approach attained the high heart-disease-prediction accuracies of 95.6% and 91.4% on the Cleveland and Statlog datasets, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed approach outperformed other state-of-the-art prediction methods.
The Effects of Pulse Shape on the Selectivity and Production Rate in Non-oxidative Coupling of Methane by a Micro-DBD Reactor
Authors: Pourali Nima , Hessel Volker , Rebrov Evgeny V. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe conversion of methane to ethylene has been investigated in a micro-DBD reactor with electrodes containing charge injector parts and excited with a negatively nano-second pulse voltage superimposed on a positive dc voltage. The effect of changing the characteristics of pulsed voltage such as pulse rise time (5–7 ns), total pulse width (12–14 ns), and pulse fall time (5–7 ns) on generation rate and products selectivity of the methane plasma has been studied. The kinetic model includes twenty species (electron, ions, radicals, and neutrals). The results showed that change in input pulse shape changes the generation rate and selectivity of neutral products. The rate of voltage change during pulse on-time significantly changed the instant C2H4 selectivity. With increasing the pulse rise and fall times the ethylene selectivity decreases, while the hydrogen selectivity increases. Results also showed that the electron reactions are dominant conversion channels during pulse on-time, while they had lower contributions in conversion progress during pulse off-time and the conversion process during this period is mainly governed by the radical reactions.
New complementary perspectives for inpatient physical function assessment: matched clinician-report and patient-report short form measures from the PROMIS adult physical function item bank
Authors: Kallen Michael A. , Brown Heather E. , Hatton Joeffrey R. , Doyle William A. , Murphy Ryan , Elliott Ryan , Gutierrez Mark A. , Catherwood Emma L. , Pitman Heather P. , Liu Vincent X. , Gershon Richard C. 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
Purpose
To develop two item content-matched, precise, score-level targeted inpatient physical function (PF) short form (SF) measures: one clinician-reported, one patient-reported. Items were derived from PROMIS PF bank content; scores are reported on the PROMIS PF T-score metric.

Methods
The PROMIS PF item bank was reviewed for content measuring lower-level PF status (T-scores 10–50) with high item set score-level reliability (≥ 0.90). Selected patient-reported (PR) items were also edited to function as clinician-reported (CR) items. Items were reviewed by clinicians and field tested; responses were assessed for meeting PROMIS measure development standards. New CR and PR items were calibrated using patient responses to the original PROMIS PF items as anchoring data. SFs were constructed, based on content and precision.

Results
Nine PROMIS PF items were candidates for CR and PR inpatient PF assessment; three new items were written to extend content coverage. An inpatient sample (N = 515; 55.1% female; mean age = 66.2 years) completed 12 PR items and was assessed by physical therapists (using 12 CR items). Analyses indicated item sets met expected measure development standards. Twelve new CR and three new PR items were linked to the PROMIS PF metric (raw score r = 0.73 and 0.90, respectively). A 5-item CR SF measure was constructed; score-level reliabilities were ≥ 0.90 for T-scores 13–45. A 5-item PR SF measure was assembled, mirroring CR SF content.

Conclusions
Two item content-matched SFs have been developed for clinician and patient reporting and are an effective, efficient means of assessing inpatient PF and offer complementary perspectives.