bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Synergistic Engineering of Se Vacancies and Heterointerfaces in Zinc‐Cobalt Selenide Anode for Highly Efficient Na‐Ion Batteries
Authors: Xiao Ying , Miao Yue , Wan Shuang , Sun Yang‐Kook , Chen Shimou 
Published: June 2022

AbstractThe exploitation of effective strategies to accelerate the Na+ diffusion kinetics and improve the structural stability in the electrode is extremely important for the development of high efficientcy sodium‐ion batteries. Herein, Se vacancies and heterostructure engineering are utilized to improve the Na+‐storage performance of transition metal selenides anode prepared through a facile two‐in‐one route. The experimental results coupled with theoretical calculations reveal that the successful construction of the Se vacancies and heterostructure interfaces can effectively lower the Na+ diffusion barrier, accelerate the charge transfer efficiency, improve Na+ adsorption ability, and provide an abundance of active sites. Consequently, the batteries based on the constructed ZnSe/CoSe2‐CN anode manifest a high initial Coulombic efficiency (97.7%), remarkable specific capacities (547.1 mAh g–1 at 0.5 A g–1), superb rate capability (362.1 mAh g–1 at 20 A g–1), as well as ultrastable long‐term stability (1000 cycles) with a satisfied specific capacity (535.6 mAh g–1) at 1 A g–1. This work facilitates an in‐depth understanding of the synergistic effect of vacancies and heterojunctions in improving the Na+ reaction kinetics, providing an effective strategy to the rational design of key materials for high efficiency rechargeable batteries.
Does aid cause changes in economic freedom?
Authors: Pavlik Jamie Bologna , Powell Benjamin , Young Andrew T. 
Published: June 2022

AbstractWe examine whether aid affects recipient countries' economic freedom. The existing empirical literature examining this relationship has found conflicting results. However, all of these existing studies have struggled to employ plausible identification strategies to find a causal relationship between aid and economic freedom. Our study employs matching methods to better estimate the causal relationship between aid and economic freedom. We find that there is no meaningful causal impact of overall aid on recipient countries' economic freedom. There is some evidence that, specifically, large and sustained increases in “governance‐specific” aid lead to increases in economic freedom, but even then the effects appear to be quantitatively modest.
The academic collaborative statistician: Research, training and evaluation
Authors: Griffith Emily H. , Sharp Julia L. , Bridges William C. , Craig Bruce A. , Hanford Kathryn J. , Stevens John R. 
Published: June 2022

AbstractStatisticians with a primary collaborative position at their academic institution have a unique role in combining domain science and statistical research and training and mentoring graduate students. As a result, it is important that their responsibilities be clearly understood by both the collaborative statisticians and their departments. In this paper, we discuss various steps that these statisticians can take to be successful and to be appropriately evaluated for their work. These steps are even more important now because a combination of new technologies, quantitative experts in other fields and the growth of data science in general seems to have put the field of Statistics at a crossroads. For the discipline to continue to flourish, we argue that it is critical that the role of the collaborative statistician be maintained and valued in statistics departments.
Recent Developments in Starch Modification by Organic Acids: A Review
Authors: Karma Vivek , Gupta Arijit Dutta , Yadav Dev Kumar , Singh Apurva Anand , Verma Manvi , Singh Harinder 
Published: June 2022

AbstractTreatment or processing of starch with organic acids (citric, stearic, succinic, and malic acids) can be used to obtain starch properties like low retrogradation, desirable viscosity, shear resistance, and high resistant starch. Esterification, cross linking, and hydrolysis of starch may occur after modification with organic acids (citric, succinic acid, malic acid) whereas a complex between starch and stearic acid may be formed on use of stearic acid. The conditions of reactions namely duration, starch acid concentration ratio, and temperature may influence physicochemical and structural properties of starch. Citric acid, succinic acid, stearic acid, and malic acid are regarded as "GRAS" and thus the starch citrate, starch succinate, starch stearate, and starch maleate are widely used in manufacturing of starch films, blends, nanoparticles, fat replacer, viscosity enhancer, and many other products. This review paper discusses the reaction conditions of organic acid modification of starches along with their influence on physicochemical and structural characteristics.
Materials‐based vaccines for infectious diseases
Authors: Bo Yang , Wang Hua 
Published: June 2022

AbstractInfectious diseases that result from pathogen infection are among the leading causes of human death, with pathogens such as human immunodeficiency virus, malaria, influenza, and ongoing SARS‐COV‐2 viruses constantly threatening the global population. While the mechanisms behind various infectious diseases are not entirely clear and thus retard the development of effective therapeutics, vaccines have served as a universal approach to containing infectious diseases. However, conventional vaccines that solely consist of antigens or simply mix antigens and adjuvants have failed to control various highly infective or deadly pathogens. Biomaterials‐based vaccines have provided a promising solution due to their ability to synergize the function of antigens and adjuvants, troubleshoot delivery issues, home and manipulate immune cells in situ. In this review, we will summarize different types of materials‐based vaccines for generating cellular and humoral responses against pathogens and discuss the design criteria for amplifying the efficacy of materials‐based vaccines against infectious diseases.This article is categorized under:
Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Infectious Disease
The Page curve for reflected entropy
Authors: Akers Chris , Faulkner Thomas , Lin Simon , Rath Pratik 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
We study the reflected entropy SR in the West Coast Model, a toy model of black hole evaporation consisting of JT gravity coupled to end-of-the-world branes. We demonstrate the validity of the holographic duality relating it to the entanglement wedge cross section away from phase transitions. Further, we analyze the important non-perturbative effects that smooth out the discontinuity in the SR phase transition. By performing the gravitational path integral, we obtain the reflected entanglement spectrum analytically. The spectrum takes a simple form consisting of superselection sectors, which we interpret as a direct sum of geometries, a disconnected one and a connected one involving a closed universe. We find that area fluctuations of O ($$ \sqrt{G_N} $$

G
N

) spread out the SR phase transition in the canonical ensemble, analogous to the entanglement entropy phase transition. We also consider a Renyi generalization of the reflected entropy and show that the location of the phase transition varies as a function of the Renyi parameter.
Mouse precision-cut liver slices as an ex vivo model to study drug-induced cholestasis
Authors: Karsten R. E. H. , Krijnen N. J. W. , Maho W. , Permentier H. , Verpoorte E. , Olinga P. 
Published: June 2022

AbstractDrugs are often withdrawn from the market due to the manifestation of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) in patients. Drug-induced cholestasis (DIC), defined as obstruction of hepatic bile flow due to medication, is one form of DILI. Because DILI is idiosyncratic, and the resulting cholestasis complex, there is no suitable in vitro model for early DIC detection during drug development. Our goal was to develop a mouse precision-cut liver slice (mPCLS) model to study DIC and to assess cholestasis development using conventional molecular biology and analytical chemistry methods. Cholestasis was induced in mPCLS through a 48-h-incubation with three drugs known to induce cholestasis in humans, namely chlorpromazine (15, 20, and 30 µM), cyclosporin A (1, 3, and 6 µM) or glibenclamide (25, 50, and 65 µM). A bile-acid mixture (16 µM) that is physiologically representative of the human bile-acid pool was added to the incubation medium with drug, and results were compared to incubations with no added bile acids. Treatment of PCLS with cholestatic drugs increased the intracellular bile-acid concentration of deoxycholic acid and modulated bile-transporter genes. Chlorpromazine led to the most pronounced cholestasis in 48 h, observed as increased toxicity; decreased protein and gene expression of the bile salt export pump; increased gene expression of multidrug resistance-associated protein 4; and accumulation of intracellular bile acids. Moreover, chlorpromazine-induced cholestasis exhibited some transition into fibrosis, evidenced by increased gene expression of collagen 1A1 and heatshock protein 47. In conclusion, we demonstrate that mPCLS can be used to study human DIC onset and progression in a 48 h period. We thus propose this model is suited for other similar studies of human DIC.
Physiological factors facilitating the persistence of Pocillopora aliciae and Plesiastrea versipora in temperate reefs of south-eastern Australia under ocean warming
Authors: González-Pech Raúl A. , Hughes David J. , Strudwick Paige , Lewis Brett M. , Booth David J. , Figueira Will F. , Sommer Brigitte , Suggett David J. , Matthews Jennifer 
Published: June 2022

AbstractHigh-latitude reefs are suboptimal coral habitats, but such habitats are increasingly considered to be potential refugia from climate change for range-shifting coral reef species. Notably, tropical reef fish have been observed along the south-east coast of Australia, but their establishment on temperate rocky reefs is currently limited by winter minimum temperatures and other resource needs, such as structurally complex habitats typical of tropical reefs. Recent expansion of the branching subtropical coral Pocillopora aliciae in rocky reefs near Sydney (34° S) could diversify the architectural structure of temperate marine environments, thereby providing potential shelter for tropical reef taxa in warming seas. Here, we investigated whether future environmental conditions (i.e. temperature increase) can influence the dominance of the subtropical branching coral P. aliciae over the resident encrusting coral Plesiastrea versipora in coastal Sydney by characterising physiological (e.g. metabolic stability) and behavioural (e.g. interspecific competitive hierarchy) traits that contribute to their competitive fitness. Our results suggest that a metabolic response, mediated by sterol and lipid metabolic pathways and provision of antioxidants, allows P. aliciae to reduce cellular stress and withstand exposure to short-term increased temperature. Conversely, P. versipora was more susceptible to heat exposure with no metabolic mediation observed. While P. versipora displayed greater aggressive behaviour when in direct contact with P. aliciae under all temperature conditions, the superior physiological and metabolic flexibility under increased temperatures of P. aliciae suggests that this species will likely outperform P. versipora under future increased temperatures. Such contrasting responses to environmental change would facilitate shifts in coral community and functional composition that could support further tropicalisation of coastal New South Wales.
Immune therapies against chronic hepatitis B
Authors: Akbar Sheikh Mohammad Fazle , Yoshida Osamu , Hiasa Yoichi 
Published: June 2022

AbstractPatients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) represent a living and permanent reservoir of hepatitis B virus (HBV). Millions of these CHB patients will eventually develop complications such as liver cirrhosis, hepatic failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma if they are not treated properly. Accordingly, several antiviral drugs have been developed for the treatment of CHB, but these drugs can neither eradicate all forms of HBV nor contain the progression of complications in most patients with CHB. Thus, the development of new and novel therapeutics for CHB remains a pressing need. The molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of CHB indicate that immune dysregulations may be responsible for HBV persistence and progressive liver damage in CHB. This provided the scientific and ethical basis for the immune therapy of CHB patients. Around 30 years have passed since the initiation of immune therapies for CHB in the early 1990s, and hundreds of clinical trials have been accomplished to substantiate this immune treatment. Despite these approaches, an acceptable regimen of immune therapy is yet to be realized. However, most immune therapeutic agents are safe for human usage, and many of these protocols have inspired considerable optimism. In this review, the pros and cons of different immune therapies, observed in patients with CHB during the last 30 years, will be discussed to derive insights into the development of an evidence-based, effective, and patient-friendly regimen of immune therapy for the treatment of CHB.
Accelerating decline of an important wintering population of the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea at Sonadia Island, Bangladesh
Authors: Chowdhury Sayam U. , Foysal Mohammod , Green Rhys E. 
Published: June 2022

AbstractThe critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea breeds in Russia and winters between Bangladesh and China. World population estimates during 2014–2019 suggested a decline at a mean rate of 8% per year. Several surveys of local populations also indicated declines. We report a rapid decline of another local population of the species based on a 9-year series of annual surveys during the boreal winter at Sonadia Island, Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. We made bounded-count estimates of local populations of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper and 25 other shorebird species based on monthly counts in each of nine winters (2012/2013 to 2020/2021). For three of these winters (2017/2018 to 2019/2020), we also made Lincoln–Petersen estimates of the local population of Spoon-billed Sandpipers using resightings and scan surveys of individually marked birds. Population and trend estimates for the two methods were similar during the 3-year period when results from both were available. Bounded-count estimates of Spoon-billed Sandpipers declined markedly over the 9-year period. Analysis of combined data from both methods indicated that an exponential decline at a mean rate of 9.5% per year during the period 2012/2013 to 2017/2018 was followed by a much more rapid decline at 49.1% per year during 2018/2019 to 2020/2021. Bounded-count estimates of the combined population of 25 other shorebird species in each winter showed no decline during the 9-year period, which suggests that the decline in the local population of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper was not part of a general decline in populations of wintering shorebirds due to local factors. Estimates of the mean trend of other Spoon-billed Sandpiper local populations and of the world population all indicate declines at broadly similar rates. We recommend immediate reassessment of threats faced by the Spoon-billed Sandpiper and improved conservation interventions.
Alcohol consumption, blood DNA methylation and breast cancer: a Mendelian randomisation study
Authors: Zhou Xuan , Yu Lili , Wang Lijuan , Xiao Jiarui , Sun Jing , Zhou Yajing , Xu Xiaolin , Xu Wanghong , Spiliopoulou Athina , Timofeeva Maria , Zhang Xiaomeng , He Yazhou , Yang Haomin , Campbell Harry , Zhang Ben , Zhu Yimin , Theodoratou Evropi , Li Xue 
Published: June 2022

AbstractAlcohol intake is thought to be a risk factor for breast cancer, but the causal relationship and carcinogenic mechanisms are not clear. We performed an up-to-date meta-analysis of prospective studies to assess observational association, and then conducted MR analysis to make causal inference based on the genetic predisposition to alcohol consumption (“drinks per week”) and pathological drinking behaviours (“alcohol use disorder” and “problematic alcohol use”), as well as genetically predicted DNA methylation at by alcohol-related CpG sites in blood. We found an observational dose–response association between alcohol intake and breast cancer incidence with an additional risk of 4% for per 10 g/day increase in alcohol consumption. Genetic predisposition to alcohol consumption (“drinks per week”) was not causally associated with breast cancer incidence at the OR of 1.01 (95% CI 0.84, 1.23), but problematic alcohol use (PAU) was linked to a higher breast cancer risk at the OR of 1.76 (95% CI 1.04, 2.99) when conditioning on alcohol consumption. Epigenetic MR analysis identified four CpG sites, cg03260624 near CDC7 gene, cg10816169 near ZNF318 gene, cg03345232 near RIN3 gene, and cg26312998 near RP11-867G23.13 gene, where genetically predicted epigenetic modifications were associated with an increased breast cancer incidence risk. Our findings re-affirmed that alcohol consumption is of high risk for breast cancer incidence even at a very low dose, and the pathogenic effect of alcohol on breast cancer could be due to pathological drinking behaviour and epigenetic modification at several CpG sites, which could be potential intervention targets for breast cancer prevention.
Karl Jaspers and artificial neural nets: on the relation of explaining and understanding artificial intelligence in medicine
Authors: Starke Georg , Poppe Christopher 
Published: June 2022

AbstractAssistive systems based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) are bound to reshape decision-making in all areas of society. One of the most intricate challenges arising from their implementation in high-stakes environments such as medicine concerns their frequently unsatisfying levels of explainability, especially in the guise of the so-called black-box problem: highly successful models based on deep learning seem to be inherently opaque, resisting comprehensive explanations. This may explain why some scholars claim that research should focus on rendering AI systems understandable, rather than explainable. Yet, there is a grave lack of agreement concerning these terms in much of the literature on AI. We argue that the seminal distinction made by the philosopher and physician Karl Jaspers between different types of explaining and understanding in psychopathology can be used to promote greater conceptual clarity in the context of Machine Learning (ML). Following Jaspers, we claim that explaining and understanding constitute multi-faceted epistemic approaches that should not be seen as mutually exclusive, but rather as complementary ones as in and of themselves they are necessarily limited. Drawing on the famous example of Watson for Oncology we highlight how Jaspers’ methodology translates to the case of medical AI. Classical considerations from the philosophy of psychiatry can therefore inform a debate at the centre of current AI ethics, which in turn may be crucial for a successful implementation of ethically and legally sound AI in medicine.
Should Philosophical Reflection on Ethics Do Without Moral Concepts?
Authors: Hooker Brad 
Published: June 2022

AbstractRoger Crisp, in his book Reasons and Goodness, argues in favour of de-moralizing our philosophical reflection on ethics. This paper begins by explaining what ‘de-moralizing’ means. Then the paper assesses Crisp’s argument for de-moralizing and puts forward arguments against de-moralizing.
Cellular automata rules solving the wireless sensor network coverage problem
Authors: Hoffmann Rolf , Désérable Dominique , Seredyński Franciszek 
Published: June 2022

AbstractThe problem of an optimal coverage of a wireless sensor network area is considered. To solve this problem, a Cellular Automata (CA) approach is proposed. More specifically, the objective is to find CA rules which are able to cover the 2D space by a minimum number of so–called “Sensor Tiles”. A sensor tile consists of a von Neumann neighborhood of range 2 centered at sensor “point” and surrounded by 12 sensing “pixels”. Two probabilistic CA rules were designed that can perform this task. Results of an experimental study show that the first rule evolves very fast stable sub-optimal coverings, starting from a random configuration. The second rule finds optimal coverings, however it needs much more time for their evolution. The results are supported by a theoretical study on von Neumann neighborhoods and borrowing either from heuristics or from the spectral theory of circulant graphs.
On Subdifferentials Via a Generalized Conjugation Scheme: An Application to DC Problems and Optimality Conditions
Authors: Fajardo M.D. , Vidal J. 
Published: June 2022

AbstractThis paper studies properties of a subdifferential defined using a generalized conjugation scheme. We relate this subdifferential together with the domain of an appropriate conjugate function and the ε-directional derivative. In addition, we also present necessary conditions for ε-optimality and global optimality in optimization problems involving the difference of two convex functions. These conditions will be written via this generalized notion of subdifferential studied in the first sections of the paper.
Using crushed waste bricks for urban greening with contrasting grassland mixtures: no negative effects of brick-augmented substrates varying in soil type, moisture and acid pre-treatment
Authors: Bauer Markus , Krause Martin , Heizinger Valentin , Kollmann Johannes 
Published: June 2022

AbstractEcological restoration aims at supporting biodiversity and ecosystem services, and urban greening is a great opportunity to achieve this goal. This is facilitated by species-rich seed mixtures based on local provenances, which are designed for certain nutrient and moisture regimes based on functional plant traits. Such grassland mixtures might be cultivated on crushed waste bricks, which would be a new component of water-holding urban substrates. Thus, we studied the effects of brick quantity and quality, acid pre-treatment of bricks, soil type and moisture on biomass of designed seed mixtures. Three greenhouse experiments were conducted, with substrates consisting of different brick ratios (5% vs. 30%), brick types (clean production waste vs. demolition material), and brick treatments (acid vs. control) tested on three trait-based mixtures and a non-regional commercial standard mixture. The trait-based mixtures included information on specific leaf area, seed mass and grass-to-legume ratio. There were no negative effects of demolition bricks, soil texture and moisture on grassland biomass. Acid-treated clean porous bricks improved biomass production of the standard and intermediate mixtures, while the effect was minimal with demolition bricks. Designed seed mixtures had a biomass similar to the standard mixture under dry conditions but did not benefit from high moisture like the standard mixture. In conclusion, waste bricks are a useful additive for urban restoration substrates to save raw material, and specifically designed regional mixtures can replace commercial grassland types on these substrates.