bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Estimation of population mean under probability proportional to size sampling with and without measurement errors
Authors: Sinha Raghaw Raman , Khanna Bharti 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThis research paper deals with the problem of estimating population mean of study variable using information of auxiliary variable under varying probability and measurement error. Motivated by Kadilar and Cingi, App Math Lett, 2006, 19, 75 and Zaman, Stat Trans‐New Ser, 2020, 21, 159, generalized ratio and product enhanced regressed exponential (ERE) estimators are proposed to estimate the population mean using different auxiliary parameters under the sampling of probability proportional to size (pps) and extended for the case of measurement error. Further, following the strategies of Naik and Gupta, J Ind Soc Agr Stat, 1996, 48, 151; Jhajj et al., Pak J Stat, 2006, 23, 1; Singh et al., Auxiliary Information and A Priori Values in Construction of Improved Estimators, Renaissance High Press, 2007; and Solanki and Singh, Chil J Stat, 2013, 4, 3, conventional ratio, product, regression, generalized and many other types of estimators have been adopted under pps sampling with and without measurement error. Up to the first order of large sample approximation, the bias and mean square error (MSE) of the suggested ERE and adopted estimators are derived and their properties have been studied. Comparisons have been made theoretically and empirically to comprehend the merits of recommended estimators over the conventional and adopted estimators.
Effect of Deposition Temperature on Morphological, Optical, and Photocatalytic Properties of ZnO Thin Films Synthesized by Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis Method
Authors: Ouhaibi Abdelhalim , Saoula Nadia , Ghamnia Mostefa , Dahamni Mohamed Amine , Guerbous Lakhdar 
Published: April 2022

AbstractZnO thin films are synthesized by an ultrasonic spray pyrolysis method, with the deposition temperature in a range between 250–450 °C. The obtained thin films are analyzed by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and photoluminescence (PL). The samples are used in a photocatalytic experiment to compare the degradation efficiency by methylene blue decomposition under UV irradiation. XRD patterns confirm a polycristalline wurtzite structure with preferred orientation along the (002) plane. AFM images reveal an important change in the shape and size of the grains constituting the surface. The roughness values are in the range of 17–93 nm. Thickness values of thin films deposited at 250, 350, and 450 °C are ≈0.9, 2.3, and 1.4 µ, respectively. From PL characterization, the spectra are found to be sensitive to the deposition temperature, where emission peaks with different forms and intensities are observed. One peak at 389 nm is attributed to the recombination of free excitons, and other peaks between 403–522 nm correspond to violet, blue, and green emissions indicating the presence of Zn vacancies, Zn interstitials, and oxygen vacancies, respectively, in the ZnO structure. The photocatlytic results show that the best photocatalytic efficiency of 88% is achieved by ZnO thin film deposited at 450 °C.
A game theory‐based clustering and multi‐hop routing scheme in wireless sensor networks for energy minimization
Authors: Gupta Mansi , Singh Aulakh Navneet , Kaur Aulakh Inderdeep 
Published: April 2022

SummaryEnergy consumption in wireless sensor network (WSN) is one of the important issues as tiny sensor nodes are equipped with a non‐replaceable batteries. Clustering is one of the effective means to prolong the network lifetime in WSN by reducing the number of packets to be sent from cluster heads (CHs) to base station (BS). Recently, game theory techniques have been applied in the clustering process for optimal CH election at each round. However, none of them have considered the energy parameter in their game strategy and multihop routing for data transmission. In this manuscript, an energy‐efficient game‐theoretic clustering and multi‐hop routing scheme (EGCR) has been proposed where the non‐cooperative approach of game theory is used to elect optimal CHs. In the proposed game theoretic framework, each node behaves in a selfish manner while considering the residual energy of nodes and focuses on increasing the overall lifetime of the network. Nash equilibrium is determined among a set of pure and mixed strategies, and then the expected payoff of a node is determined for Nash equilibria. Apart from the energy‐efficient clustering, the EGCR also proposes a multi‐hop routing solution for data transmission that further enhances the lifetime of whole network. In the multi‐hop routing approach, inter‐cluster and intra‐cluster routing techniques are proposed to identify optimal routes from nodes to CHs and from CHs to BS by using various factors such as node centrality, distance from the node to BS, and residual energy. The proposed algorithm is compared with traditional clustering schemes like low‐energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH) and efficient energy‐aware game theory‐based clustering (EEGC) and also with existing game theory‐based algorithms such as clustered routing for selfish sensors (CROSS), localized game theoretical clustering algorithm (LGCA), and energy‐efficient clustering algorithm based on game theory (ECAGT). Simulation experiments validate that the proposed algorithm enhances the network's lifetime up to 47.49% compared to existing clustering algorithms.
A cascaded algorithm based on GMM, GKF, and data fusion for mobile tracking in wireless sensor network
Authors: Cheng Long , Wei Dacheng , Zhao Peng , Wang Yan 
Published: April 2022

SummaryWireless sensor network (WSN) is formed with numerous communication nodes, which plays an important role in the Internet of Things (IoT). Location‐based service is critically important for WSN; however, the nonline of sight (NLOS) condition can deteriorate the positioning precision significantly. In this paper, a robust localization algorithm based on the range measurements to deal with the mixed line of sight (LOS)/NLOS environment is proposed. Firstly, a hypothesis testing based on the data deviation is used to detect the transmission condition. For the identified LOS propagation, the measured data are processed by Gaussian mixture model (GMM) to calculate the mean and standard deviation, which can update the likelihood probability and residual by data fusion. Moreover, for the identified NLOS propagation data, the mean of every Gaussian component is processed by gray Kalman filter (GKF) to discard large outliers. Finally, maximum likelihood (ML) is adopted to derive final coordinates. The simulation results have shown that the proposed algorithm has great advantages in dealing with severe NLOS interference and has higher accuracy compared with existing classic algorithms.
In vitro cytoxicity profile of e‐cigarette liquid samples on primary human bronchial epithelial cells
Authors: Caruso Massimo , Distefano Alfio , Emma Rosalia , Zuccarello Pietro , Copat Chiara , Ferrante Margherita , Carota Giuseppe , Pulvirenti Roberta , Polosa Riccardo , Missale Gesualdo Antonio , Rust Sonja , Raciti Giuseppina , Li Volti Giovanni 
Published: April 2022

AbstractCigarette smoke is associated to severe chronic diseases. The most harmful components of cigarette smoke derive from the combustion process, which are significantly reduced in the electronic cigarette aerosol, thus providing a valid option in harm reduction strategies. To develop safer products, it is therefore necessary to screen electronic cigarette liquids (e‐liquids) to meet high safety standards defined by government regulations. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the presence of metal‐ and plastic‐derived contaminants in four different commercial e‐liquids with high concentration of nicotine and their cytotoxic effect in normal human bronchial epithelial cells by a number of in vitro assays, in comparison with the 1R6F reference cigarette, using an air‐liquid interface (ALI) exposure system. Moreover, we evaluated the effect of aerosol exposure on oxidative stress by measuring the production of reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial potential. Our results showed no contaminants in all e‐liquids and a significantly reduced cytotoxic effect of e‐liquid aerosol compared to cigarette smoke as well as a maintained mitochondria integrity. Moreover, no production of reactive oxygen species was detected with e‐cigarette aerosol. In conclusion, these results support the reduced toxicity potential of e‐cigs compared to tobacco cigarettes in an in vitro model resembling real life smoke exposure.
An emerging class of new therapeutics targeting TGF, Activin, and BMP ligands in pulmonary arterial hypertension
Authors: Upton Paul D. , Dunmore Benjamin J. , Li Wei , Morrell Nicholas W. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractPulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is an often fatal condition, the primary pathology of which involves loss of pulmonary vascular perfusion due to progressive aberrant vessel remodeling. The reduced capacity of the pulmonary circulation places increasing strain on the right ventricle of the heart, leading to death by heart failure. Currently, licensed therapies are primarily vasodilators, which have increased the median post‐diagnosis life expectancy from 2.8 to 7 years. Although this represents a substantial improvement, the search continues for transformative therapeutics that reverse established disease. The genetics of human PAH heavily implicates reduced endothelial bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling as a causal role for the disease pathobiology. Recent approaches have focused on directly enhancing BMP signaling or removing the inhibitory influence of pathways that repress BMP signaling. In this critical commentary, we review the evidence underpinning the development of two approaches: BMP‐based agonists and inhibition of activin/GDF signaling. We also address the key considerations and questions that remain regarding these approaches.
The important choice of reference environment in microevolutionary climate response predictions
Authors: Ergon Rolf 
Published: April 2022

AbstractIt is well documented that individuals of wild populations can adjust to climate change by means of phenotypic plasticity, but few reports on adaptation by means of genetically based microevolution caused by selection. Disentanglement of these separate effects requires that the reference environment (the environmental zero point) is defined, and this should not be done arbitrarily. The problem is that an error in the reference environment may lead to large errors in predicted microevolution. Together with parameter values and initial mean trait values, the reference environment can be estimated from environmental, phenotypic and fitness data. A prediction error method for this purpose is described, with the feasibility shown by simulations. As shown in a toy example, an estimated reference environment may have large errors, especially for small populations. This may still be a better choice than use of an initial environmental value in a recorded time series, or the mean value, which is often used. Another alternative may be to use the mean value of a past and stationary stochastic environment, which the population is judged to have been fully adapted to, in the sense that the expected geometric mean fitness was at a global maximum. Exceptions are cases with constant phenotypic plasticity, where the microevolutionary changes per generation follow directly from phenotypic and environmental data, independent of the chosen reference environment.
Local ecological divergence of two closely related stag beetles based on genetic, morphological, and environmental analyses
Authors: Zhang Sheng‐Nan , Kubota Kôhei 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThe process of phenotypic adaptation to the environments is widely recognized. However, comprehensive studies integrating phylogenetic, phenotypic, and ecological approaches to assess this process are scarce. Our study aims to assess whether local adaptation may explain intraspecific differentiation by quantifying multidimensional differences among populations in closely related lucanid species, Platycerus delicatulus and Platycerus kawadai, which are endemic saproxylic beetles in Japan. First, we determined intraspecific analysis units based on nuclear and mitochondrial gene analyses of Platycerus delicatulus and Platycerus kawadai under sympatric and allopatric conditions. Then, we compared differences in morphology and environmental niche between populations (analysis units) within species. We examined the relationship between morphology and environmental niche via geographic distance. P. kawadai was subdivided into the “No introgression” and “Introgression” populations based on mitochondrial COI gene – nuclear ITS region discordance. P. delicatulus was subdivided into “Allopatric” and “Sympatric” populations. Body length differed significantly among the populations of each species. For P. delicatulus, character displacement was suggested. For P. kawadai, the morphological difference was likely caused by geographic distance or genetic divergence rather than environmental differences. The finding showed that the observed mitochondrial–nuclear discordance is likely due to historical mitochondrial introgression following a range of expansion. Our results show that morphological variation among populations of P. delicatulus and P. kawadai reflects an ecological adaptation process based on interspecific interactions, geographic distance, or genetic divergence. Our results will deepen understanding of ecological specialization processes across the distribution and adaptation of species in natural systems.
Hazard considerations in the vulnerability assessment of offshore wind farms in seismic zones
Authors: Bhattacharya Subhamoy , Amani Sadra , Prabhakaran Athul , Macabuag Joshua 
Published: April 2022

AbstractOffshore wind power is increasingly becoming a mainstream energy source, and efforts are underway toward their construction in seismic zones. An offshore wind farm consists of generation assets (turbines) and transmission assets (substations and cables). Wind turbines are dynamically sensitive systems due to the proximity of their resonant frequency to that of loads considered in their analyses. Such farms are considered lifeline systems and need to remain operational even after large earthquakes. This study aims to discuss hazard considerations involved in the resilience assessment of offshore wind farms in seismic regions. The complexity of design increases with larger turbines installed in deeper waters, resulting in different types of foundations. In addition, Tsunami inundation is shown to be an important consideration for nearshore turbines.
Time‐dependent seismic resilience of aging repairable structures considering multiple damage states
Authors: Wang Cao , Ayyub Bilal M. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractEarthquakes are among the natural hazards threatening the serviceafbility, functionality, and safety of engineering structures significantly. Posthazard structures may suffer from different damage states and correspondingly different functionality losses/recovery processes in the aftermath of hazardous events. This paper proposes a measure for structural time‐dependent seismic resilience considering multiple damage states. Its specific case (i.e., considering damage–no damage scenario) reduces to the existing resilience measure in the literature. The time‐variant fragility curves and the generalized seismic capacities are used to determine the damage states conditional on the peak ground motion (PGA). The proposed measure is applicable for both of the following two cases: (1) the earthquake occurrence rate and the magnitude of PGA conditional on earthquake occurrence are known; (2) the probability distribution of annual maximum PGA is known. In terms of the latter, the annual seismic hazard function can be used to describe the seismic load uncertainty. A numerical example is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed resilience measure. It is shown that the proposed measure can be used to quantitatively guide structural design to meet the target resilience level.
Prognostic impact of a history of cancer and atrial fibrillation in antithrombotic therapy for chronic heart failure
Authors: Nochioka Kotaro , Yasuda Satoshi , Sakata Yasuhiko , Shiroto Takashi , Hayashi Hideka , Takahashi Jun , Takahama Hiroyuki , Miyata Satoshi , Shimokawa Hiroaki 
Published: April 2022

AbstractAimsThis study aimed to examine the prognostic significance of a history of cancer and atrial fibrillation (AF) in antithrombotic therapy for patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).Methods and resultsWe enrolled consecutive 4876 CHF patients (69 ± 12 years; women, 31.9%) in our multicentre, hospital‐based cohort study, the Chronic Heart Failure Analysis and Registry in the Tohoku District‐2 (CHART‐2), with a median follow‐up of 8.7 years. Among them, 14% and 41% had a history of cancer and AF, respectively. AF patients with a history of cancer were older, more frequently men. History of cancer was not statistically associated with higher rate of composite of stroke, systemic thrombosis, and major bleeding defined by International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis [Fine–Gray sub‐distribution hazard ratio (sHR) accounting for the competing risk of all‐cause death, 0.91; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.56–1.48; P = 0.715]. The patients with history of cancer and AF had a heightened risk for the composite of stroke, systemic thrombosis, and major bleeding (sHR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.04–2.60; P = 0.033), especially in those aged >75 years (sHR, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.01–4.53; P = 0.046) and those with ischaemic heart disease (IHD; 2.48; 1.30–4.72; P = 0.006). Furthermore, 36% of AF patients with a history of cancer did not receive anticoagulant therapy.ConclusionsThe CHF patients with history of cancer and AF had higher risk for stroke, systemic thrombosis, and major bleeding, especially in the elderly and those with IHD, but considerable number of the patients did not receive anticoagulant therapy, indicating the need for better optimal anticoagulation strategy.
Complex regional pain syndrome what is the outcome? ‐ a systematic review of the course and impact of CRPS at 12 months from symptom onset and beyond
Authors: Johnson Selina , Cowell Fiona , Gillespie Sharon , Goebel Andreas 
Published: April 2022

AbstractBackground and ObjectiveTo improve CRPS treatment, it is imperative to understand the nature, degree and relative importance of ongoing problems associated with CRPS. The objective of this systematic review was to summarize the published data concerning measures of function and impact including occupational parameters, of CRPS at 12 months from symptom onset and beyond.Databases and Data TreatmentMEDLINE, EmBase and PsychINFO were searched (inception to May 2021). Study cohorts were eligible if they included; adult patients with the primary complaint of CRPS ≥12 months duration, outcomes that reported change in CRPS signs and symptoms, and physical and social function. Prospero registration: CRD42021241785.ResultsTwenty‐two included studies suggest that pain and motor dysfunction are the most dominant long‐term features of CRPS, persisting for 51%–89% of patients at ≥12 months. On average for all patients who had CRPS at baseline, grip strength was found to be reduced by 25%–66%, and range of motion reduced by 20%–25% at ≥12 months. Such losses were associated with physical and social disability. Thirty to forty percent of all patients did not return to work and a further 27%–35% of persons returned to work but required some form of workplace adaptation, although the quality of this data was poor. Quality assessment highlighted limitations in the literature, such as high attrition bias and variations in diagnostic criteria.ConclusionsResults provide first‐time quantitative data including specific evidence about losses to motor function and long‐term compromises to work status. Results demonstrate that the ongoing impact of one episode of CRPS on limb function and work status is relatively high.SignificanceThis review provides first‐time clarity in relation to outcomes of limb function and work status associated with an episode of CRPS, beyond 12 months from onset. Results demonstrate that the long‐term impact of an episode of CRPS on these outcomes is much larger than previously described, and thus also illustrates how the wider health economic impact of CRPS is not yet fully understood. We additionally highlight the need for future research that identifies long‐term predictors, and treatments that can foster good functional and occupational recovery.
On stability and relaxation techniques for partitioned fluid‐structure interaction simulations
Authors: Lorentzon Johan , Revstedt Johan 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThe stability of relaxation techniques has been studied for strongly coupled fluid‐structure interaction (FSI) with application to a cantilever immersed in channel flow. The fluid is governed by Navier–Stokes equations for incompressible flow condition using turbulence modeling, and the solid is governed by the equation of motion with compressible material modeling. The applied kinematic description is Lagrangian for the solid and Eulerian for the fluid. The coupling of the state solvers is achieved by the Arbitrary Lagrange–Euler procedure, which involves a mesh motion solver, and the FSI procedure is stabilized by relaxation. It is shown that the stability can be related to the frequency shift caused by FSI, and they follow the same rate for the shape factor of the structure with an offset. The results correlate well to theoretical results and show that all relaxations fail for sufficient high‐frequency shift for given mesh resolution. We also propose a continuation technique to stabilize the solution near the instability region, which improves efficiency and can be integrated easily for the black‐box FSI solution procedure.
Status epilepticus and early development: Neuronal injury, neurodegeneration, and their consequences
Authors: Thompson Kerry 
Published: April 2022

AbstractEvidence showing that the immature brain is vulnerable to seizure‐induced damage has been accumulating for decades. Clinical data have always suggested that some early‐life seizures are associated with negative sequelae, but clinical observations are frequently obscured by multiple uncontrolled contributing factors and can rarely establish causality. Determining with certainty that seizures, per se, can cause neuronal death and can irreversibly disrupt critical developmental processes, required the development of suitable model systems. Several experimental seizure models clearly show that the immature brain can sustain neuronal injury as a result of uncontrolled seizure activity and that even in the absence of observable neuronal death, the developing brain is selectively vulnerable to interruptions of required growth programs. Severe early‐life seizures inhibit DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis, and they can reduce the accumulation of myelin and synaptic markers in the developing nervous system, leading to functional delays in development. Depending on the seizure pathway involved, and the developmental period under study, classic neurodegeneration, excitotoxicity, and apoptosis can result in permanent damage to critical neural networks in the temporal lobe and in many other brain regions. This conclusion is further supported by recent clinical studies showing that prolonged febrile status epilepticus can lead to hippocampal injury, which evolves into hippocampal atrophy and hippocampal sclerosis. A growing body of experimental data demonstrates that the metabolic compromise and cellular loss produced by seizures during critical phases of brain development negatively affect later hippocampal physiology including learning and memory functions in maturity.