Reproducible Research Articles

FLEXGRID – A novel smart grid architecture that facilitates high-RES penetration through innovative flexibility markets towards efficient stakeholder interaction

The FLEXGRID project develops a digital platform designed to offer Digital Energy Services (DESs) that facilitate energy sector stakeholders (i.e. Distribution System Operators - DSOs, Transmission System Operators - TSOs, market operators, Renewable Energy Sources - RES producers, retailers, flexibility aggregators) towards: i) automating and optimizing the planning and operation/management of their systems/assets, and ii) interacting in a dynamic and efficient way with their environment (electricity system) and the rest of the stakeholders. In this way, FLEXGRID envisages secure, sustainable, competitive, and affordable smart grids. A key objective is the incentivization of large-scale bottom-up investments in Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) through innovative smart grid management. Towards this goal, FLEXGRID develops innovative data models and energy market architectures (with high liquidity and efficiency) that effectively manage smart grids through an advanced TSO-DSO interaction as well as interactions between Transmission Network and Distribution Network level energy markets. Consequently, and through intelligence that exploits the innovation of the proposed market architecture, FLEXGRID develops investment tools able to examine in depth the emerging energy ecosystem and allow in this way: i) the financial sustainability of DER investors, and ii) the market liquidity/efficiency through advanced exploitation of DERs and intelligent network upgrades.

Determination of SK7324, a new class of hepatitis C virus inhibitor, in rat plasma by UPLC-MS/MS and its application to the pharmacokinetic study of SK7324.

In this study, a sensitive method for quantitation of the unique small-molecule inhibitor of hepatitis C virus SK7324 in rat plasma has been established using ultra performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI/MS/MS). SK7324 and internal standard (tramadol) in plasma sample was extracted using acetonitrile. A centrifuged upper layer was then evaporated and reconstituted with the mobile phase of 0.5% formic acid-acetonitrile (35:65, v/v). The reconstituted samples were injected into a C18 reversed-phase column. Using MS/MS in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode, SK7324 and tramadol were detected without severe interference from rat plasma matrix. Detection of SK7324 in rat plasma by the UPLC-ESI/MS/MS method was accurate and precise with a quantitation limit of 1.0 ng/mL. The validation, reproducibility, stability, and recovery of the method were evaluated. The method has been successfully applied to pharmacokinetic studies of SK7324 in rat plasma. Pharmacokinetic parameters of SK7324 were evaluated after intravenous (i.v.; at doses of 5 mg/kg) and oral (p.o.; at doses of 10 mg/kg) administration of SK7324 in rats. After p.o. administration (10 mg/kg) of SK7324, F (Fraction absorbed) value was approximately 87.1%.

VICTIM’S CONSENT IN SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE

La introducción normativa del acoso sexual en nuestro ordenamiento, produjo la necesidad de abarcar un análisis de sus elementos constitutivos. De esta forma, hasta ahora se entendía -por definición- que el acoso sexual se trata de una conducta indeseada por la víctima que vulnera sus derechos fundamentales. A través de este trabajo, empero, intentamos abordar la labor de determinar cuáles son los contornos de dicho consentimiento, evidenciando la existencia -en su origen- de elementos culturales que reproducen estereotipos que en definitiva oscurecen el correcto entendimiento de este fenómeno. De este modo, buscamos establecer criterios de interpretación respetuosos del derecho de género, que faciliten su aplicación, en el sentido de entender que la exigibilidad normativa relativa a la falta de consentimiento, no constituye una causal de exclusión del acoso sexual, sino el objeto mismo de protección de la norma.

Modified impression technique for extreme mouth-opening limitation caused by systemic scleroderma.

Systemic scleroderma is a relatively rare, autoimmune, chronic, and debilitating disease, and its etiology is unknown. The disease is characterized by vasomotor disturbances causing skin and mucosa hardening, hand stiffness, excess production of collagen fibers, and impairment of the internal organs associated with the immune system. Extreme mouth-opening limitation is one of the symptoms in the oral cavity, and compromises dental intervention. One of the fundamental steps when performing a dental procedure is dental arch impression. In the presented clinical case, limited mouth opening hindered the impression accuracy. The objective was to present an alternative impression technique for a patient affected by scleroderma, with limited mouth opening and the need for oral rehabilitation with a removable partial prosthesis in the maxillary arch. An individualized tray was developed with design characteristics that allowed access to the oral cavity and removal, after which it was possible to perform the oral impression, reproducing the areas of interest without causing injury to the oral tissues. The orientation plan was elaborated after obtaining the cast. The teeth were assembled, tested in the mouth, and sent to the laboratory for acrylization. The prosthesis was placed once ready. The alternative impression technique enabled oral rehabilitation of the patient despite the mouth-opening limitation, and provided an accurate impression and a good prosthetic result.

DNA barcoding of selected alpine beetles with focus on Curculionoidea (Coleoptera)

Selected beetles, mainly weevils, from the Alpine Arc were barcoded. From 187 samples of 106 assigned species of the families Curculionidae (152 samples, mainly Entiminae, Cyclominae and Hyperinae), Carabidae (18), Apionidae (6), Chrysomelidae and Staphylinidae (each 1 sample), sequences from the COI (subunit 1 of the cytochrome oxydase gene) were obtained, with a success of more than 86% (162 samples). In the cases of Otiorhynchus pupillatus Gyllenhal, 1834, O. nodosus (O. F. Muller, 1764), O. meridionalis Gyllenhal, 1834, Dichotrachelus koziorowicziDesbrochers des Loges, 1873, D. augusti F. Solari, 1946 and D. maculosus Fairmaire, 1869 more diversity was hidden than foreseen in the beginning, suggesting partly cryptic (not yet described) species. One name is thus resurrected from junior synonymy (O. civisStierlin, 1861stat. rev. from synonymy with O. meridionalis). In another case with strictly parthenogenetically reproducing populations of O. pupillatus and O. nodosus in the Swiss Alps, several lineages from hypothetical postglacial immigration events, or alternatively complexes of species in statu nascendi might explain the results observed. Moreover, some morphologically debated species-pairs/triples confirmed to be problematic too, even with our COI sequence data [Hypera nigrirostris (Fabricius, 1775) – ononidis (Chevrolat, 1863) – melarynchus (Olivier, 1807)]. On the other hand, in some cases the lspecies' identity, based on the monophyly of the investigated populations, could be confirmed [Anthonomus rubi (Herbst, 1795), Polydrusus chaerodrysius Gredler, 1866, P. paradoxus Stierlin, 1859]. In the hyperdiverse genus Otiorhynchus Germar, 1822, some preliminary insights into the systematics at the subgenus-level could be made, suggesting that many changes of the present morphologically based systematic structure will be necessary.

The Saudi Vision 2030: Reproduction of Women’s Empowerment in the Saudi Press: A Corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has witnessed rapid and unprecedented reforms within the framework of the Saudi Vision 2030. These reforms have been the focus of the print, electronic and social media over the recent years. Despite the prolific news reports relating to the economic, social, and political reforms that have been associated with the emergence of the Saudi Vision 2030, there is a general lack of studies on the ideological construction of these reforms in the Saudi press. As thus, this study seeks to explore the news representation and ideological construction of the vision 2030 reforms in the Saudi press. It focuses on the reproduction of women’s empowerment in the Saudi press. For this purpose, a corpus of 1578 newspaper articles, reports, stories, and editorials published in Arab News and Saudi Gazette is designed. Analysis of the data is carried out through corpus-based critical discourse analysis. Results indicate that the Saudi press, in accordance with ideological orientation, reproduced the vision 2030 as matter of public interest. Both the selected newspapers exhibited a great inclination towards endorsing the women’s empowerment as stipulated in the vision. The Saudi Vision’s representation of women’s empowerment is reflected and reproduced in many ways in newspapers’ articles, reports, stories, and editorials. This study is limited to the articles, reports, stories, and editorials released after the emergence of the Saudi Vision in 2016. Further research is recommended on the influence of the Saudi press on the representation of the women’s rights discourse in the Saudi Vision 2030; it may also include the public opinion about transformational reforms. Keywords : corpus-based critical discourse analysis, discourse reproduction and ideological construction, newspaper representations, Saudi Vision 2030, women’s empowerment

한국 현대조형도자의 재현성과 표현성에 관한 연구

한국 현대조형도자의 재현성과 표현성에 관한 연구

草梁話集의 異本과 재생산- 朝鮮草梁話集과의 비교를 중심으로

이 글에서는 초량왜관에서 근무한 조선어 역관 小田幾五郞이 쓴 『草梁話集』의 異本들을 고찰하였다. 『초량화집』은 초량왜관 안팎의 조선인, 부산사람들, 부산의 마을 등이 묘사되어 있어, 조일교류사는 물론 18세기 후반의 부산 현황을 알 수 있다는 점에서 중요한 기록이다. 『초량화집』은 여러 개의 필사본이 남아 있는데, 가장 잘 알려져 있는 『초량화집』은 일본 東京都立中央圖書館에 소장되어 있는 것이다. 이 글에서는 「도립본」이라고 하였다. 특히, 이 글에서는 부산박물관에 『조선초량화집』이란 표제로 소장되어 있는 『초량화집』을 소개하였고, 이를 「부박본」이라고 하였다. 「부박본」은 1927년에 1월 小田省吾가 교정한 필사본으로, 알려져 있는 『초량화집』 중 필사 시기가 가장 늦은 것으로 생각된다. 「도립본」과 「부박본」의 가장 큰 차이는 도입부이다. 『초량화집』은 서문이 없는 것이 특징이다. 그러므로 「도립본」은 바로 본문이 시작되는데, 첫 목차는 「一 御送使船着之節古來者萬戶牧ノ嶋外迄爲出迎由」이다. 대마도 사절이 왜관이 도착하였을 때 조선측에서 영접하는 내용이다. 그러나 「부박본」은 첫 목차가 시작되기 전에 ‘초량 지명 유래와 왜관 이전’, ‘초량왜관의 크기’ 등 초량왜관의 개요가 서술되어 있다. 그리고 「부박본」은 전체 목차와 내용 구성면에서 「도립본」과 많이 다르며, 「도립본」보다 많은 내용을 가지고 있는 것이 특징이다. 그러므로 『초량화집』은 계속 필사되면서 수정 또는 증보가 되었다는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 특히 「부박본」은 1933년부터 편찬된 『釜山府史原稿』에 인용된 『초량화집』과 내용면에서 매우 유사한 것을 발견하였다. 당시 부산의 역사를 편찬하기 위해 많은 사료들이 수집되고, 참고문헌으로 인용되었다. 이런 과정에서 『초량화집』이 다시 필사된 것으로 보인다. 이 글에서는 몇 개의 異本들을 비교하면서 『초량화집』의 변화와 그 의미들을 고찰하였다.

Differential effects on neuromuscular physiology between Sod1 loss-of-function mutation and paraquat-induced oxidative stress in Drosophila.

Oxidative stress is thought to be a major contributor to aging processes. Here, we report differential effects on neurotransmission caused by loss-of-function mutations of Superoxide dismutase 1 (Sod1) and by paraquat (PQ) feeding in Drosophila. We demonstrated alterations in Sod1 mutants; the larval neuromuscular junction displayed supernumerary discharges and the adult giant-fiber escape pathway showed increased latency and poor response to repetitive high-frequency stimulation. Even though the concentrations used led to motor coordination defects and lethality, PQ feeding failed to reproduce such performance deficits in these larval and adult preparations, indicating mechanistic distinctions between these genetic and pharmacological manipulations of oxidative stress.

Flexible and reproducible figures using Inkscape, ImageJ [& R, and processing...

Flexible and reproducible figures using Inkscape, ImageJ [& R, and processing...

MiRNA-146b-5p inhibits the malignant progression of gastric cancer by targeting TRAF6.

The article "MiRNA-146b-5p inhibits the malignant progression of gastric cancer by targeting TRAF6, by J.-N. Ding, Y.-F. Zang, Y.-L. Ding, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2020; 24 (17): 8837-8844-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202009_22823-PMID: 32964972" has been withdrawn from the authors due to some technical reasons (some data are not reproducible). The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/22823#:~:text=TRAF6%20was%20the%20target%20of,of%20GC%20by%20targeting%20TRAF6.

Tratamiento quirúrgico de la gangrena de Fournier

OBJETIVO:Describir el manejo quirúrgico realizado para la reconstrucción génitoperineal (RGP) en pacientes con secuelas de Gangrena de Fournier (GF). MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS:Corresponde a una serie de casos retrospectiva de pacientes con secuelas de GF a los que se les realizó RGP entre el 2011 al 2019. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo con las variables de técnica quirúrgica, edad, sexo, comorbilidades, subunidades anatómicas afectadas, origen anatómico de la gangrena de fournier, número de procedimientos quirúrgicos, procedimiento de colostomía, terapia de presión negativa, Flexi-Seal®, bacterias aisladas, duración de estancia hospitalaria, tipo de procedimientos reconstructivos y complicaciones. RESULTADOS:Se realizó RGP a 43 pacientes (81,1% masculinos), con un promedio de edad de 59,1 (17–86 años). 72,7% eran diabéticos. El número de subunidades involucradas se asocia directamente y significativamente en relación al número de intervenciones quirúrgicas. Las técnicas utilizadas para la reconstrucción en orden de frecuencia fueron: colgajos (23%), cierre parcial más injerto dermoepidérmico de grosor parcial (IPP) (20%), cierre parcial (16%) e IPP (16%), cierre por segunda intención (10%), colgajo más IPP (7%) y cierre parcial para cierre por segunda intención de zona restante (5%).DISCUSIÓN:La elección de reconstrucción se basa en las características del defecto, es decir, el tamaño, la ubicación y profundidad, así como la disponibilidad de tejido local. De preferencia optar por cierres primarios sin tensión, seguido de colgajos y de IPP.CONCLUSIÓN: La RGP es un desafío para el cirujano plástico. Las técnicas descritas han demostrado ser seguras y reproducibles para el tratamiento quirúrgico de la Gangrena de Fournier.

Revisiting the Canadian Lynx Time Series Analysis Through TARMA Models

The class of threshold autoregressive models has been proven to be a powerful and appropriate tool to describe many dynamical phenomena in different fields. In this work, we deploy the threshold autoregressive moving-average framework to revisit the analysis of the benchmark Canadian lynx time series. This data set has attracted great attention among non-linear time series analysts due to its asymmetric cycle that makes the investigation very challenging. We compare some of the best threshold autoregressive models (TAR) proposed in literature with a selection of thresholdautoregressive moving-average models (TARMA). The models are compared under different prospectives: (i) goodness-of-fit through information criteria, (ii) their ability to reproduce characteristic cycles, (iv) their capability to capture multimodality and (iii) forecasting performance. We found TARMAmodels that perform better than TAR models with respect to all these aspects.

Experimental and numerical investigation of a surface-fixed horizontal porous wave barrier

Experimental and numerical investigations were conducted to study the performance of a surface-fixed horizontal porous wave barrier in regular waves. The characteristics of the reflection and transmission coefficients, energy dissipation, and vertical wave force were examined versus different porosities of the barrier. Numerical simulations based on 3D Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations with standard low-Re k-e turbulent closure and volume of fluid approach were accomplished and compared with the experimental results conducted in a 2D wave tank. Experimental measurements and numerical simulations were shown to be in satisfactory agreement. The qualitative wave behavior propagating over a horizontal porous barrier such as wave run-up, wave breaking, air entrapment, jet flow, and vortex generation was reproduced by CFD computation. Through the discrete harmonic decomposition of the vertical wave force on a wave barrier, the nonlinear characteristics were revealed quantitatively. It was concluded that the surface-fixed horizontal barrier is more effective in dissipating wave energy in the short wave period region and more energy conversion was observed from the first harmonic to higher harmonics with the increase of porosity. The present numerical approach will provide a predictive tool for an accurate and efficient design of the surface-fixed horizontal porous wave barrier.

Reproducing with Derrida

Reproducing with Derrida

Impacts of Amazon Fire Aerosols on the Subseasonal Circulations of the Mid-High Latitudes

The strong radiative effects of fire aerosols have been well accepted in the climate community. However, there have been few studies on the aerosol effects at a monthly to subseasonal range. We used the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis datasets and Community Atmosphere Model Version 5 (CAM5) to explore the impacts of Amazon fire aerosols on the subseasonal climate. With the reanalysis datasets, we found that most of the abnormal high emissions tended to happen more frequently/intensely under a dry and warm condition during the La Niña years. And the composite analysis of the abnormal high emissions showed that there is a La Niña-like pattern of sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA), precipitation, and circulation anomalies. To isolate the aerosol impacts from the SSTA, we removed the linear regressions of the Nino3.4 SST index, and found that significant anomalies in the pressure field still persisted in the midlatitude. Five wavetrains can be found in the mid-high latitudes of both hemispheres induced by Amazon fire aerosols. Through prescribing climatological mean SST and La Niña-like SSTA in CAM5 simulations respectively, we found that only the latter could reproduce the aerosol impact on circulation in the mid-high latitudes, i.e., five-wave anomalies, although with biased locations. This indicates that the Amazon wildfire aerosol impacts are highly coupled with the La Niña-like SSTA. This study emphasizes that Amazon fire aerosols indeed result in significant circulation anomalies in the mid-high latitudes and including fire aerosols may improve model forecasting skills at the monthly to subseasonal timescale.

Perspectives of the Sustainability Assessment of Biorefineries

The joint analysis of economic, environmental, and social aspects of biorefineries has been boosted in recent years. The sustainability assessment of biorefineries is considered a fundamental approach to determine the possible implementation of processes due to the inclusion of different stakeholders in the analysis. Few studies related to the sustainability of biorefineries have been reported due to the difficulty of including social aspects. Most of the studies related to the sustainability assessment of biorefineries do not report a sustainability framework. This fact decreases the comparison and reproducibility of the reported results. This paper gives some perspectives related to the sustainability assessment of biorefineries based on a short literature review. A methodological approach to define the sustainability framework to assess the three dimensions of sustainability is given as a tool to evaluate biomass upgrading processes and biorefineries. This proposed approach was applied to a case of study to valorize rejected unripe plantains in the Montes de Maria region, Colombia. The results show the sustainability of the sequential production of plantain flour and bioethanol using the whole unripe plantain (pulp + peel). A payback period of 3.5 y and the possibility to create more than 50 employees boost this process as a potential entrepreneurship alternative to be studied in a detailed way. However, the only production of plantain flour is recommended to decrease the environmental impact caused by the ethanol production process.

Analysis of animal models of chronic atrophic gastritis based on characteristics of clinical symptoms of traditional Chinese and Western medicine

Based on the clinical characteristics of chronic atrophic gastritis in traditional Chinese and Western medicine, the domestic and foreign relevant literature reports and animal models of chronic atrophic as well as the clinical diagnostic indicators of traditional Chinese and western medicine, chronic atrophic gastritis evaluation standard was summarized to evaluate and analyze the coincidence degree of clinical symptoms of the existing chronic atrophic gastritis animal models. The statistical results found that modeling methods with a higher coincidence degree with the existing chronic atrophic gastritis animal models are disease and syndrome combination mode-ling, surgical modeling, multifactor comprehensive modeling and MNNG modeling. Although the animal models were reproduced by such methods as etiology, pathogenesis and disease and syndrome combination similar to those of human beings, there is still a big gap with the natural disease state. Further in-depth studies and improvement shall be made in clinical practice in the hope to provide refe-rence for clinical practice and experimental studies of chronic atrophic gastritis.

TinkerCad - A Web Based Application for Virtual Labs to help Learners Think, Create and Make

Amid COVID-19 shutdowns, in-person lectures and live lab classes have been suspended worldwide In this scenario, digital instruction and sources can be a feasible alternate In view of this, Virtual labs are a great approach to the web-based digital learning These labs are available round the clock and provide for realistic abilities of science to the learners Circuit simulators like LTSpice, PSpice, EasyEDA Simulator, Proteus by Lab center etc are advanced platforms for developers and planners hoping to become familiar with the nuts and bolts of circuit plan and schematics However, these simulation tools do not offer a platform for all the students under one roof and do not allow the instructor to monitor their work as they progress with circuit building and simulation This is made possible with a web-based software called Tinkercad which is free to use and can run directly in your web browser Educators can monitor what students plan and reproduce in a virtual classroom in Tinkercad It enables hands-on journey and sense of working inside the actual lab environment and allows the user to hook a wide array of electrical components together, program an Arduino and simulate analog and digital behaviour This paper describes a case study of use of this software for lab simulation and describe some of its limitations Details of survey responses from around 300 students demonstrate the efficacy of the Tinkercad platform compared to other simulation software available for engaging students in learning key hands-on lab skills © 2021, Rajarambapu Institute Of Technology All rights reserved

Activity budget of zoo-housed Dolichotis patagonum mates

Captive conditions differ widely from an animal’s natural environment and risk making them prone to reduced behavioural flexibility and sometimes impaired reproduction. The Patagonian mara Dolichotis patagonum, a near threatened species, is a large rodent endemic to Argentina with a singular social organisation that combines monogamy with communal breeding. The aim of this study was to learn more about the activity budget and behavioural synchrony between mates of zoo-housed D. patagonum and thus contribute to research and conservation programmes at modern zoos worldwide. The study implicated 28 animals housed at Cordoba Zoo (Argentina) under natural photoperiod and temperature conditions. Behaviour was recorded once a week every hour from 0800–1800 for a 28-day period and the total offspring at the end of the spring-summer season were counted. The recorded activity budget was: resting (43%), feeding (25%) and alert (13%), the remaining categories accounting for less than 10%. Resting, feeding and alert were the only categories associated with hourly changes. There was 48% behavioural synchrony between mates (both sexes engaging in the same behaviour at the same time) and a total of 23 offspring were counted, corresponding to one litter each reproducing female. The similarity between the behavioural response of these zoo-housed individuals and available data on the behaviour of D. patagonum in the wild indicates that zoo-housed D. patagonum behavioural activities can be considered positive responses, providing useful information for the future development of reintroduction programmes.