bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Temporal and spatial patterns in the shifting of otter diet to invasive prey after river damming
Authors: Bedmar Sergio , Blanco‐Garrido Francisco , Delibes Miguel , Clavero Miguel 
Published: March 2022

AbstractRiver damming promotes profound changes in aquatic biodiversity, including the facilitation of biological invasions, with subsequent impacts on native communities. The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) is a generalist aquatic predator that often incorporates new prey types when they become available. We studied the short‐ and long‐term effects of river damming on the trophic ecology of the otter across a riverine landscape gradient, from the flooded area to upstream tributaries, focusing on the largest artificial lake of Western Europe. Through the analysis of otter feces (spraints), we describe otter diet composition in 14 sites at different distances from the impounded area in three periods: (i) the pre‐filling phase (i.e., lotic conditions); (ii) the immediate filling phase; and (iii) 16 years after the dam closure. The diet of the otter drastically shifted in the short term, from being dominated by native cyprinids to being mainly composed of invasive species of fish and crayfish. In the long term, the number of invasive species consumed by the otter continued to increase while native fish completely disappeared as prey near the reservoir. Presumably, the construction of the dam generated clear spatial gradients of abundances of native and invasive fish species. These patterns arose in the short term but became accentuated in the long term and were mirrored in otter diet composition. Our results demonstrate the potential of otter diet analyses as a surrogate for the impacts of human alterations on aquatic ecosystems, including those of river damming and the associated facilitation of biological invasions.
Electrochemistry and Electrocatalytic Activity of Cobaloxime Complexes
Authors: Sowmya Subramanian , Vijaikanth Vijendran 
Published: March 2022

AbstractDevelopment of clean and renewable energy sources has emerged as one of the major interests due to the environmental issues caused by the fossil fuels. Presently a huge amount of interest has been devoted in developing the cost effective alternative energy sources and hydrogen gas has been considered as one of the substitutes for fossil fuels. Initially noble metals like Platinum was employed as a catalyst for hydrogen generation but they are costly. So, recently first row transition metal based catalysts have been utilized for the production of hydrogen gas since these metals are cost effective and earth copious. Among the first row transition metal catalysts, cobalt complexes in particular cobaloximes have been given importance as capable catalysts for hydrogen production. This review discusses about the recent advances in the electrochemistry and the various approaches employed towards the attachment of the cobaloxime complexes on the electrode surface and their electrocatalytic behaviour.
A highly sensitive and selective molecularly imprinted sensor for direct determination of ultra‐trace Cr(III) in environmental samples
Authors: Ling Jun , Wei Ge , Li Jianping 
Published: March 2022

AbstractAiming at the insufficient sensitivity and selectivity of the existing detection methods for trivalent chromium in environmental samples, an efficient strategy is proposed. In this study, the complex Cr(III)‐Oxine was used as the target molecule of the molecularly imprinted sensor. The ligand Oxine was used for the primary recognition of Cr(III), and the molecular imprinted cavities was used for the secondary recognition of Cr(III)‐Oxine, which greatly improved the selectivity of the sensor to Cr(III). At the same time, the high‐efficiency catalytic effect of Cr(III)‐Oxine on the Luminol‐H2O2 system is used to promote the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) intensity, so as to achieve the improving the detection sensitivity of Cr(III). The established method based on the sensor can be used for the detection of Cr(III) in the concentration range of 5×10−10∼5×10−8 mol/L with a detection limit of 1.78×10−10 mol/L.
(N/S)‐TiO2@C‐Nanosphere Anode Materials with Prominent Electrochemistry Performance Synthesized by Pyrolysis of In Situ Coated Polypyrrole
Authors: Wang Yanfeng , Tie Yunfei , Gong Fuzhong , Yang Qifan , Yu Fengqiu 
Published: March 2022

AbstractAnatase TiO2, as an anode material, has the advantages of good stability, high safety, and low cost; however, the low specific capacity limits its practical application. The strategy of polypyrrole in‐situ coating combined with pyrolysis was adopted in this work to improve its specific capacity. Besides, modified TiO2 composites [((N/S)‐TiO2@C‐shere] co‐doped with nitrogen/sulfur and coated by carbon nanospheres were synthesized. These composites were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, FTIR, XPS, BET, and TGA, and their electrochemical performance was studied by the Galvanostatic charge‐discharge test and EIS measurement. The results indicated that when the dosage of pyrrole used was 1 mL, the prepared (N/S)‐TiO2@C‐shere‐1 composite had the maximum discharge specific capacity of 698 mAh g−1 in the 1st cycle and then remained at ∼520 mAh g−1 from the 2nd cycle. It was more than about 3.1 times the actual specific capacity of anatase TiO2 (167.5 mAh g−1) and 1.4 times the theoretical specific capacity of graphite (372 mAh g−1), much higher than that of modified TiO2‐based anode materials reported in references. Moreover, the (N/S)‐TiO2@C‐shere‐1 showed excellent rate capability and ∼100 % coulomb efficiency, exhibiting an excellent application prospect as an anode material of lithium‐ion batteries.
An Electrochemical Biosensing Platform for the SARS‐CoV‐2 Spike Antibody Detection Based on the Functionalised SARS‐CoV‐2 Spike Antigen Modified Electrode
Authors: Liv Lokman , Kayabay Hilal 
Published: March 2022

AbstractWe developed an electrochemical biosensing platform using gold‐clusters, cysteamine, the spike protein of the severe acute respiratory syndrome‐coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) antigen and bovine serum albumin on a glassy carbon electrode able to determine the SARS‐CoV‐2 spike antibody. The developed biosensor could detect 9.3 ag/mL of the SARS‐CoV‐2 spike antibody in synthetic media in 20 min in a linear range from 0.1 fg/mL to 10.0 pg/mL. The developed method demonstrated good selectivity in the presence of spike antigens from other viruses. Clinical samples consisting of gargle and mouthwash liquids were analyzed with both RT‐PCR and the developed biosensor system to reveal the sensitivity and specificity of the proposed method. Moreover, the developed method was compared with the lateral flow immunoassay method in terms of sensitivity.
Penetrating Micelle for Reversing Immunosuppression and Drug Resistance in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
Authors: Chen Qinjun , Wang Qingbing , Wang Yu , Chu Yongchao , Luo Yifan , You Haoyu , Su Boyu , Li Chao , Guo Qin , Sun Tao , Jiang Chen 
Published: March 2022

AbstractPancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is on of the most lethal malignant tumors with relatively poor prognosis, characterized with insufficient drug penetration, low immune response and obvious drug resistances. The therapeutic inefficiency is multifactorially related to its specific tumor microenvironment (TME), which is representatively featured as rich stroma and immunosuppression. In this work, a versatile drug delivery system is developed that can coencapsulate two prodrugs modified from gemcitabine (GEM) and a signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) inhibitor (HJC0152), and the gradient pH variation is further sensed in the TME of PDAC to achieve a higher penetration by reversing its surficial charges. The escorted prodrugs can release GEM intracellularly, and respond to the hypoxic condition to yield the parental STAT3 inhibitor HJC0152, respectively. By inhibiting STAT3, the tumor immunosuppression microenvironment can be re‐educated through the reversion of M2‐like tumor associated macrophages (M2‐TAMs), recruitment of cytotoxic T lymphocytes and downregulation of regulatory T cells (Tregs). Furthermore, cytidine deaminase (CDA) and α‐smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA) expression can be downregulated, plus the lipid modification of GEM, the drug resistance of GEM can be greatly relieved. Based on the above design, a synergetic therapeutic efficacy in PDAC treatment can be achieved to provide more opportunity for clinical applications.
F3FLUID: A formal framework for developing safety‐critical interactive systems in FLUID
Authors: Singh Neeraj Kumar , Aït‐Ameur Yamine , Mendil Ismail , Méry Dominique , Navarre David , Palanque Philippe , Pantel Marc 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThis paper proposes a unified formal framework, Formal Framework For FLUID (F3FLUID), for the development of safety‐critical interactive systems. This framework is based on the Formal Language of User Interface Design (FLUID) pivot modeling language defined in the FORMEDICIS project, which enables high‐level system requirements for interactive systems to be specified in the FLUID language. This modeling language is specifically designed for handling concepts of safety‐critical interactive systems, including domain knowledge. A FLUID model is used as a source model for the generation of several target models in different modeling languages to support the formal verification methods, such as theorem proving and model checking. In this paper, we use the Event‐B modeling language for checking functional behaviors, user interactions, safety properties, and domain properties. A FLUID model is transformed into an Event‐B model, and then, the Rodin tool is used to check the internal consistency with respect to the given safety properties. We illustrate the operational semantics of the FLUID language, and the transformation strategy of FLUID models into Event‐B models, including the tool development. We use the ProB model checker to analyze the temporal properties and to animate the formalized specification. In addition, an interactive cooperative objects (ICOs) model is derived from the Event‐B model for animation, visualization and validation of dynamic behaviors, visual properties, and task analysis. Finally, an industrial case study, complying with the ARINC 661 standard, Multi‐Purpose Interactive Applications (MPIA), is used to illustrate the effectiveness of our F3FLUID framework for the development of safety‐critical interactive systems.
The mode of operation over time affects the capacitive properties of a packed anode biocapacitor
Authors: Canché‐Dzib Elías , Cercado Bibiana 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe relationship between bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) and capacitors has been demonstrated through studies of BESs during intermittent operation. This type of BES has been named a microbial biocapacitor. This new energy storage device has been evaluated for short operational periods lasting for hours in most studies, which leaves open the question of long‐term operational feasibility for the biocapacitor. Moreover, the mode of BES operation before operation as a biocapacitor may determine the capacitive properties of the biofilm since activity or inactivity during electrical current production may affect biofilm response. In the present research, the effects of previous operational mode (rest in open circuit vs. potentiostatic current production) and operation time (seven tests in 94 days) on the capacitive properties of a biocapacitor were evaluated with key parameters such as capacitance, cell voltage, and volumetric current density. Correlations among parameters were analyzed to provide predictive equations for the packed anode biocapacitor. The equations showed that the capacitance increased after periods of biocapacitor inactivity and decreased after periods of activity, which led to equivalent variations in current density.
Care transitions intervention reduces ED revisits in cognitively impaired patients
Authors: Shah Manish N. , Jacobsohn Gwen C. , Jones Courtney MC , Green Rebecca K. , Caprio Thomas V. , Cochran Amy L. , Cushman Jeremy T. , Lohmeier Michael , Kind Amy J.H. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractIntroductionAbout half of older adults with impaired cognition who are discharged home from the emergency department (ED) return for further care within 30 days. We tested the effect of an adapted Care Transitions Intervention (CTI) at reducing ED revisits in this vulnerable population.MethodsWe conducted a pre‐planned subgroup analysis of community‐dwelling, cognitively impaired older (age ≥60 years) participants from a randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of the CTI adapted for ED‐to‐home transitions. The parent study recruited ED patients from three university‐affiliated hospitals from 2016 to 2019. Subjects eligible for this sub‐analysis had to: (1) have a primary care provider within these health systems; (2) be discharged to a community residence; (3) not receive care management or hospice services; and (4) be cognitively impaired in the ED, as determined by a score >10 on the Blessed Orientation Memory Concentration Test. The primary outcome, ED revisits within 30 days of discharge, was abstracted from medical records and evaluated using logistic regression.ResultsOf our sub‐sample (N = 81, 36 control, 45 treatment), 57% were female and the mean age was 78 years. Multivariate analysis, adjusted for the presence of moderate to severe depression and inadequate health literacy, found that the CTI significantly reduced the odds of a repeat ED visit within 30 days (odds ratio [OR] 0.25, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.07 to 0.90) but not 14 days (OR 1.01, 95% CI 0.26 to 3.93). Multivariate analysis of outpatient follow‐up found no significant effects.DiscussionCommunity‐dwelling older adults with cognitive impairment receiving the CTI following ED discharge experienced fewer ED revisits within 30 days compared to usual care. Further studies must confirm and expand upon this finding, identifying features with greatest benefit to patients and caregivers.
Risk of conversion from mild cognitive impairment to dementia in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: McGrattan Andrea M. , Pakpahan Eduwin , Siervo Mario , Mohan Devi , Reidpath Daniel D. , Prina Matthew , Allotey Pascale , Zhu Yueping , Shulin Chen , Yates Jennifer , Paddick Stella‐Maria , Robinson Louise , Stephan Blossom C. M. ,   the DePEC team
Published: March 2022

AbstractIntroductionWith no treatment for dementia, there is a need to identify high risk cases to focus preventive strategies, particularly in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) where the burden of dementia is greatest. We evaluated the risk of conversion from mild cognitive ompairment (MCI) to dementia in LMICs.MethodsMedline, Embase, PsycINFO, and Scopus were searched from inception until June 30, 2020. The search was restricted to observational studies, conducted in population‐based samples, with at least 1 year follow‐up. There was no restriction on the definition of MCI used as long as it was clearly defined. PROSPERO registration: CRD42019130958.ResultsTen thousand six hundred forty‐seven articles were screened; n = 11 retained. Of the 11 studies, most were conducted in China (n = 7 studies), with only two studies from countries classified as low income. A qualitative analysis of n = 11 studies showed that similar to high‐income countries the conversion rate to dementia from MCI was variable (range 60%–448%; average follow‐up 37 years [standard deviation = 12]). A meta‐analysis of studies using Petersen criteria (n = 6 studies), found a pooled conversion rate to Alzheimer's disease (AD) of 238% (95% confidence interval = 154%–33.4%); approximately one in four people with MCI were at risk of AD in LMICs (over 30–58 years follow‐up). Risk factors for conversion from MCI to dementia included demographic (e.g., age) and health (e.g., cardio‐metabolic disease) variables.ConclusionsMCI is associated with high, but variable, conversion to dementia in LMICs and may be influenced by demographic and health factors. There is a notable absence of data from low‐income settings and countries outside of China. This highlights the urgent need for research investment into aging and dementia in LMIC settings. Being able to identify those individuals with cognitive impairment who are at highest risk of dementia in LMICs is necessary for the development of risk reduction strategies that are contextualized to these unique settings.
Activity measurement of arylsulfatase and β‐glucuronidase in activated sludge: HPLC‐based versus classical spectrophotometric method
Authors: Zhao Ke‐meng , Zhong Shu‐shu , Zhang Jun , Zhang Cun‐sheng , Dang Zhi , Liu Ze‐hua 
Published: March 2022

AbstractArylsulfatase and β‐glucuronidase are two important enzymes in wastewater and surface water, which play important roles on cleavage of sulfate/glucuronide estrogens. In this work, a high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)‐based new method was firstly established for arylsulfatase/β‐glucuronidase with determination of p‐nitrophenyl sulfate (pNPS)/p‐nitrophenyl‐β‐D‐glucuronide (pNPG). The limits of detections (LODs) of the developed method for pNPS and pNPG were 0.164 and 0.098 μM, respectively. Intraday and interday reproducibility expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD) values of retention times and peak areas was 0.39%–3.68% and 0.23%–4.74%, respectively. The respective recovery efficiencies of this HPLC‐based method spiking at three different concentrations for p‐nitrophenol (pNP), pNPS, and pNPG in activated sludge were 76.5%–88.1%, 79.2%–93.1%, and 84.2%–96.1%, with RSD below 3.9%. The HPLC‐based method was finally applied to estimate the enzyme activity of arylsulfatase/β‐glucuronidase in one activated sludge system and along which the classical spectrophotometric method was also evaluated. Compared with the classic spectrophotometric analytical method, the HPLC‐based new method could simultaneously measure arylsulfatase/β‐glucuronidase one time, which was convenient and time‐saving. Moreover, the developed method could effectively avoid possible underestimation that the spectrophotometric method might encounter.Practitioner points
A new HPLC‐based method for activity estimation of arylsulfatase and β‐glucuronidase was developed.
The HPLC‐based method can simultaneously estimate enzyme activity of both arylsulfatase and β‐glucuronidase.
The HPLC‐based method can avoid possible underestimation that spectrophotometric method may encounter.
The Algorithmic Future of Insurance Supervision in the EU: A Reality Check
Authors: Georgosouli Andromachi , Okonjo Jeremmy 
Published: March 2022

AbstractRecent developments in FinTech and RegTech marked the EU’s pivot towards a digitally driven Capital Markets Union and a concomitant algorithmic turn in EU financial supervision under the leadership of the three European Supervisory Authorities (ESMA, EBA, EIOPA). Starting from the premise that the EIOPA’s relevant initiatives are driven from the Authority’s normative and institutional environment as well as the perceived technological affordances of RegTech, this chapter provides a ‘reality check’ of the algorithmic future of EU financial supervision in the field of insurance as an aspect of EU financial markets’ governance. On the one hand, it finds that an important blind-spot in the EIOPA’s agenda is the absence of a concrete plan for a system of digital reporting. On the other hand, it examines what it takes to set up a system of digital reporting. To that end, it focuses on three interrelated issues: The technology that will be required to provide the infrastructure of digital reporting and its limitations, difficulties with the conversion of regulatory content into code, and issues of reporting architecture and governance. The ultimate objective of this chapter is to inform the agenda of the digital transformation of EU financial market oversight in anticipation of future challenges while relevant policy and legal debates are still on-going.
The Influence of Public and Corporate Insurance Law on the Application of Private International Law: Selected Issues
Authors: Fras Mariusz 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe regime of obligations arising under insurance relationships, as expressed in Art. 7 of the Rome I Regulation is, however, relatively complex. The criticism seems legitimate of academic authors who quite clearly express their negative attitude to the wording of that provision, calling it a “labyrinth” or even “pandemonium of international law.” As a result of the not particularly transparent nature of that regime, it can be doubted if in all situations the “weaker party” was afforded due protection. Negative answer to that question prompts a search for other solutions which allow to achieve the effect of conflict of laws designation of a law giving effect to the postulate of protecting the weaker party to the insurance relationship. The purpose of the study is to indicate, in the first place, the existing criteria of the division into public law and private law in the context of private international law. The second purpose is to analyze the phenomenon of mutual interpenetration of private and public law in the private international law of insurance contracts. The purpose of considerations was to indicate the mutual interpenetration between EU provisions of public and corporate law, as well as the impact of national provisions of the same type on private international law.
A unified approach to Schrödinger evolution of superoscillations and supershifts
Authors: Aharonov Yakir , Behrndt Jussi , Colombo Fabrizio , Schlosser Peter 
Published: March 2022

AbstractSuperoscillating functions and supershifts appear naturally in weak measurements in physics. Their evolution as initial conditions in the time-dependent Schrödinger equation is an important and challenging problem in quantum mechanics and mathematical analysis. The concept that encodes the persistence of superoscillations during the evolution is the (more general) supershift property of the solution. In this paper, we give a unified approach to determine the supershift property for the solution of the time-dependent one-dimensional Schrödinger equation. The main advantage and novelty of our results is that they only require suitable estimates and regularity assumptions on the Green’s function, but not its explicit form. With this efficient general technique, we are able to treat various potentials.
Tuning the structure, optical, and magnetic properties of nanostructured NiMoO4 by nitrogen plasma treatment
Authors: Abdel Maksoud M. I. A. , Abdel Reheem A. M. , Waly S. A. , Fahim Ramy Amer , Ahour A. H. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractHerein, the nitrogen plasma treatment with different time irradiation (0, 90, 120, and 150 min) is used to tune the structure, optical, and magnetic properties of nanostructured NiMoO4 NMO NPs. The XRD patterns revealed that the crystallinity of NMO samples increases with an increase in the N2 plasma exposure time. The notable reduce in this peak’ intensity for the sample at dose of 120 min may be attributed to the energy dissipated in the defect generation. Also, the crystallite size for NMO samples was found in the range (23.9–26.7) nm. Further, EPR is used to evaluate the impact of the treatment duration on the oxygen vacancy density. The total number of spins rises as plasma irradiation duration increases, revealing that the NMO NPs can be used as a dosimeter for plasma irradiation. The optical bandgap ranged from 2.92 eV to 3.24 eV as the N2 plasma treatment duration changed. The saturation magnetization was enhanced with the rise of plasma treatment time. Furthermore, the Hc increases from 16.67 G for untreated NMO NPs to 128.41 G for N2 plasma-treated NMO NPs for 150 min. The resulted optical and magnetic properties of N2 plasma-treated NMO NPs make it candidate material for photocatalysis applications.