bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Conservation genetics of the endangered California Freshwater Shrimp (Syncaris pacifica): watershed and stream networks define gene pool boundaries
Authors: Ada Abdul M. , Vandergast Amy G. , Fisher Robert N. , Fong Darren , Bohonak Andrew J.
Published: June 2024

Understanding genetic structure and diversity among remnant populations of rare species can inform conservation and recovery actions. We used a population genetic framework to spatially delineate gene pools and estimate gene flow and effective population sizes for the endangered California Freshwater Shrimp Syncaris pacifica. Tissues of 101 individuals were collected from 11 sites in 5 watersheds, using non-lethal tissue sampling. Single Nucleotide Polymorphism markers were developed de novo using ddRAD-seq methods, resulting in 433 unlinked loci scored with high confidence and low missing data. We found evidence for strong genetic structure across the species range. Two hierarchical levels of significant differentiation were observed: (i) five clusters (regional gene pools, FST = 0.38–0.75) isolated by low gene flow were associated with watershed limits and (ii) modest local structure among tributaries within a watershed that are not connected through direct downstream flow (local gene pools, FST = 0.06–0.10). Sampling sites connected with direct upstream-to-downstream water flow were not differentiated. Our analyses suggest that regional watersheds are isolated from one another, with very limited (possibly no) gene flow over recent generations. This isolation is paired with small effective population sizes across regional gene pools (Ne = 62.4–147.1). Genetic diversity was variable across sites and watersheds (He = 0.09–0.22). Those with the highest diversity may have been refugia and are now potential sources of genetic diversity for other populations. These findings highlight which portions of the species range may be most vulnerable to future habitat fragmentation and provide management consideration for maintaining local effective population sizes and genetic connectivity.
Familial confounding or measurement error? How to interpret findings from sibling and co-twin control studies
Authors: Gustavson Kristin , Torvik Fartein Ask , Davey Smith George , Røysamb Espen , Eilertsen Espen M.
Published: June 2024

Epidemiological researchers often examine associations between risk factors and health outcomes in non-experimental designs. Observed associations may be causal or confounded by unmeasured factors. Sibling and co-twin control studies account for familial confounding by comparing exposure levels among siblings (or twins). If the exposure-outcome association is causal, the siblings should also differ regarding the outcome. However, such studies may sometimes introduce more bias than they alleviate. Measurement error in the exposure may bias results and lead to erroneous conclusions that truly causal exposure-outcome associations are confounded by familial factors. The current study used Monte Carlo simulations to examine bias due to measurement error in sibling control models when the observed exposure-outcome association is truly causal. The results showed that decreasing exposure reliability and increasing sibling-correlations in the exposure led to deflated exposure-outcome associations and inflated associations between the family mean of the exposure and the outcome. The risk of falsely concluding that causal associations were confounded was high in many situations. For example, when exposure reliability was 0.7 and the observed sibling-correlation was r = 0.4, about 30–90% of the samples (n = 2,000) provided results supporting a false conclusion of confounding, depending on how p-values were interpreted as evidence for a family effect on the outcome. The current results have practical importance for epidemiological researchers conducting or reviewing sibling and co-twin control studies and may improve our understanding of observed associations between risk factors and health outcomes. We have developed an app (SibSim) providing simulations of many situations not presented in this paper.
Cognitive Profiles are Better Predictors of Literacy Attainment Than Diagnostic Outcomes in Children with High ADHD Symptoms
Authors: Rhodes Sinead , Booth Josephine N. , McDougal Emily , Oldridge Jessica , Rivera-Lares Karim , Revueltas Roux Alexia , Stewart Tracy M.
Published: June 2024

We examined whether cognitive profiles or diagnostic outcomes are better predictors of literacy performance for children being considered for an ADHD diagnosis. Fifty-five drug naïve children (Mage = 103.13 months, SD = 18.65; 29.09% girls) were recruited from an ADHD clinical referral waiting list. Children underwent assessment of IQ, Executive Functions (EF) and literacy attainment. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to generate subgroups of children using EF scores. Data were then grouped based on presence of a clinical ADHD diagnosis and the results compared. Grouping participants by profiles of cognitive test scores led to groups which also differed on literacy scores. However, categorising by whether children had received an ADHD diagnosis or not did not differentiate either cognitive tests scores or literacy scores. Cognitive performance, rather than children’s diagnostic outcomes, is more informative for identifying groups who differ in their literacy attainment which has important implications for remedial support.
Predictors of Subjective Health Among Spouses and Its Relations With Happiness: A Multilevel Analysis in a Nationwide Survey in Turkey
Authors: Tosyali Furkan , Coban-Tosyali Ezgi , Harma Mehmet
Published: June 2024

The current study aims to examine predictors of subjective health, including its relation with happiness, at the individual and family levels. For this purpose, we analyzed data collected from spouses representing each family (9,634 families, N = 19,268). A multilevel analysis was conducted to examine both individual- and family-level variables associated with subjective health evaluations. Individual-level variables were gender, age, education, employment, presence of chronic illness, smoking, alcohol use, and individual happiness. Family-level variables were socioeconomic status, number of children, household size, length of the marriage (in a year), presence of an elderly person who needs care in the household, presence of a disabled person who needs care in the household, and family happiness. The results showed that subjective health is enhanced by being man, younger, employed, highly educated, free from chronic illness, and experiencing greater levels of happiness at the individual level. In addition, poorer subjective health is associated with caring for an elderly or disabled family member and having a higher number of children in the household at the family level. However, individuals had better subjective health at the family level when socioeconomic status was higher, greater family happiness, and greater household size existed. The current study is important since research that simultaneously considers individual- and family-level happiness has been scarce in the literature. Thus, the findings would enhance the current understanding of the link between happiness and health.
Angiopoietin-like protein 2 inhibits thrombus formation
Authors: Zhang Tiantian , Zhang Mingliang , Guo Lingyu , Liu Dongsheng , Zhang Kandi , Bi Changlong , Zhang Peng , Wang Jin , Fan Yuqi , He Qing , Chang Alex C. Y. , Zhang Junfeng
Published: June 2024

Acute myocardial infarction is mainly caused by a lack of blood flood in the coronary artery. Angiopoietin-like protein 2 (ANGPTL2) induces platelet activation and thrombus formation in vitro through binding with immunoglobulin-like receptor B, an immunoglobulin superfamily receptor. However, the mechanism by which it regulates platelet function in vivo remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of ANGPTL2 during thrombosis in relationship with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) with spontaneous recanalization (SR). In a cohort of 276 male and female patients, we measured plasma ANGPTL2 protein levels. Using male Angptl2-knockout and wild-type mice, we examined the inhibitory effect of Angptl2 on thrombosis and platelet activation both in vivo and ex vivo. We found that plasma and platelet ANGPTL2 levels were elevated in patients with STEMI with SR compared to those in non-SR (NSR) patients, and was an independent predictor of SR. Angptl2 deficiency accelerated mesenteric artery thrombosis induced by FeCl3 in Angptl2
–/– compared to WT animals, promoted platelet granule secretion and aggregation induced by thrombin and collogen while purified ANGPTL2 protein supplementation reversed collagen-induced platelet aggregation. Angptl2 deficiency also increased platelet spreading on immobilized fibrinogen and clot contraction. In collagen-stimulated Angptl2

–/–
platelets, Src homology region 2 domain–containing phosphatase (Shp)1-Y564 and Shp2-Y580 phosphorylation were attenuated while Src, Syk, and Phospholipase Cγ2 (PLCγ2) phosphorylation increased. Our results demonstrate that ANGPTL2 negatively regulated thrombus formation by activating ITIM which can suppress ITAM signaling pathway. This new knowledge provides a new perspective for designing future antiplatelet aggregation therapies.
A unified framework to catalogue and classify digital games based on interaction design and validation through clustering techniques
Authors: Cormio L. , Agostinelli T. , Mengoni M.
Published: June 2024

The digital games industry has grown exponentially due to the diversification of games and the increasing multiplicity of the user target base. The market explosion and the great variety make digital game cataloguing and classification challenging issues whose effectiveness can advance scientific research and address design, development and distribution. Firstly, the present study reviews previous cataloguing for video and serious games through systematic literature review and, joining together the findings from the literature review, develops a unified cataloguing model based on five definitions. This model can aid designers in tailoring their applications and contribute to disseminating game design knowledge in academic research. Then, a matrix that correlates design principles and the cataloguing model’s metadata is applied to the cataloguing model, obtaining a unified classification system. Together, they offer a comprehensive framework for understanding the multifaceted landscape of digital games, addressing the limitations of existing domain-specific approaches and providing a versatile tool for game designers. Research validation exploits a two-stage cluster analysis using agglomerative hierarchical and k-means clustering on the data extracted from a sample of digital games. The results show the framework's effectiveness in categorizing digital games without a clear-cut distinction between video and serious games. The system's application in real-world scenarios suggests its potential to guide game development. Future work will refine the proposal based on feedback from digital game designers, expanding the research scope to include a broader range of games.
Approaches to policy framing: deepening a conversation across perspectives
Authors: Dodge Jennifer , Metze Tamara
Published: June 2024

Since Rein and Schön developed their approach to policy framing analysis in the1990s, a range of approaches to policy framing have emerged to inform our understanding of policy processes. Prior attempts to illuminate the diversity of approaches to framing in public policy have largely “stayed in their lane,” making distinctions in approaches within shared epistemic communities. The aim in this paper is to map different approaches to framing used in policy sciences journals, to articulate what each contributes to the understanding of the policy process, and to provide a heuristic to aid in deciding how to use the diverse approaches in framing analysis and to further the dialogue across different approaches. To develop the heuristic, we manually coded and analyzed 68 articles published between 1997 and 2018 using “frame” or “framing” in their title or abstract from four policy journals: Critical Policy Studies, Journal of European Public Policy, Policy Sciences, and Policy Studies Journal. We identified five approaches, which we label: sensemaking, discourse, contestation, explanatory and institutional. We have found that these approaches do not align with a simple binary between interpretive and positivist but show variation, particularly along the lines of aims, methodology and methods. In the discussion, we suggest that these five approaches raise four key questions that animate framing studies in policy analysis: (1) Do frames influence policies or are policies manifestations of framing? (2) What is the role of frame contestation in policy conflict? (3) How can the study of frames or framing reveal unheard voices? And (4) how do certain frames/framings become dominant? By introducing these questions, we offer a fresh way scholars might discuss frames and framing in the policy sciences across approaches, to highlight the distinct yet complementary ways they illuminate policy processes.
What does nihilism tell us about modal logic?
Authors: Masterman Christopher James
Published: June 2024

Brauer (Philos Stud 179:2751–2763, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-022-01793-7, 2022) has recently argued that if it is possible that there is nothing, then the correct modal logic for metaphysical modality cannot include . Here, I argue that Brauer’s argument is unsuccessful; or at the very least significantly weaker than presented. First, I outline a simple argument for why it is not possible that there is nothing. I note that this argument has a well-known solution involving the distinction between truth in and truth at a possible world. However, I then argue that once the semantics presupposed by Brauer’s argument is reformulated in terms of truth at a world, we have good reasons to think that a crucial semantic premise in Brauer’s argument should be rejected in favour of an alternative. Brauer’s argument is, however, no longer valid with this alternative premise. Thus, plausibly Brauer’s argument against is only valid, if it is not sound.
Relationship between reasons for intermittent missing patient-reported outcomes data and missing data mechanisms
Authors: Nielsen Lene Kongsgaard , Mercieca-Bebber Rebecca , Möller Sören , Redder Louise , Jarden Mary , Andersen Christen Lykkegaard , Frederiksen Henrik , Svirskaite Asta , Silkjær Trine , Steffensen Morten Saaby , Pedersen Per Trøllund , Hinge Maja , Frederiksen Mikael , Jensen Bo Amdi , Helleberg Carsten , Mylin Anne Kærsgaard , Abildgaard Niels , King Madeleine T.
Published: June 2024

Purpose

Non-response (NR) to patient-reported outcome (PRO) questionnaires may cause bias if not handled appropriately. Collecting reasons for NR is recommended, but how reasons for NR are related to missing data mechanisms remains unexplored. We aimed to explore this relationship for intermittent NRs.

Methods

Patients with multiple myeloma completed validated PRO questionnaires at enrolment and 12 follow-up time-points. NR was defined as non-completion of a follow-up assessment within seven days, which triggered contact with the patient, recording the reason for missingness and an invitation to complete the questionnaire (denoted “salvage response”). Mean differences between salvage and previous on-time scores were estimated for groups defined by reasons for NR using linear regression with clustered standard errors. Statistically significant mean differences larger than minimal important difference thresholds were interpreted as “missing not at random” (MNAR) mechanism (i.e. assumed to be related to declining health), and the remainder interpreted as aligned with “missing completely at random” (MCAR) mechanism (i.e. assumed unrelated to changes in health).

Results

Most (7228/7534 (96%)) follow-up questionnaires were completed; 11% (802/7534) were salvage responses. Mean salvage scores were compared to previous on-time scores by reason: those due to hospital admission, mental or physical reasons were worse in 10/22 PRO domains; those due to technical difficulties/procedural errors were no different in 21/22 PRO domains; and those due to overlooked/forgotten or other/unspecified reasons were no different in any domains.

Conclusion

Intermittent NRs due to hospital admission, mental or physical reasons were aligned with MNAR mechanism for nearly half of PRO domains, while intermittent NRs due to technical difficulties/procedural errors or other/unspecified reasons generally were aligned with MCAR mechanism.
Phytochemical characterization of callus cultures from the endangered plant Crocus scepusiensis (Rehm. & Woł.) Borbás ex Kulcz.
Authors: Khlifa Heba D. , Sweelam Heba-tollah M. , El-Desoky Ahmed H. , Raslan Mona A.
Published: June 2024

Crocus scepusiensis (Rehm. & Woł.) Borbás ex Kulcz., a critically endangered herbaceous plant which serves as a valuable source of bioactive compounds found across Europe and Asia. The aim of this study was to produce a calli from two different plant parts (leaf and shoot tip) for the critically endangered C. scepusiensis through tissue culture techniques, characterize the resulting calli through chemical profiling, with a focus on identifying key phytoconstituents, and lay the groundwork for future research on the biological activities of these calli extracts. Leaf disc and micro shoot tip explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with various concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) and α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) to induce organogenic calli. The resulting calli exhibited distinct biochemical profiles. Moreover, a phytochemical analysis was conducted to compare the metabolite composition of callus 1 (derived from leaf discs) and callus 2 (derived from shoot tips). Callus 1 displayed a higher total phenolic content (30.3558 ± 1.3564 mg (GAE)/g) compared to callus 2 (29.1543 ± 0.9754 mg (GAE)/g). Similarly, callus 1 exhibited a greater total flavonoid content (26.0089 ± 1.8029 mg (RE)/g) than callus 2 (18.4464 ± 1.4797 mg (RE)/g). Liquid chromatography-photodiode array-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-PDA-ESI-MS/MS) analysis revealed the presence of 26 and 25 constituents in callus 1 and 2, respectively. Fourteen and thirteen of these identified compounds have been previously reported in other Crocus species, with 22 constituents common to both calli. Twelve constituents were reported here in Crocus for the first time as far as we know.
Microplastic Pollution and Risk Assessment in Packaged Teas in Türkiye
Authors: Güzel İzmirli Şule , Gökkaya Ahmet
Published: June 2024

This article presents the first-ever findings on the release of MPs (microplastics) from tea bags containing tea leaves into tea infusions in Türkiye. The study aimed to investigate the possible distribution and abundance of MPs in cup of tea bags and teapot tea bags of fifteen packaged tea brands in Türkiye using ATF/FTIR analysis. The results showed that MPs were found in all the analyzed tea brands. Surprisingly, the highest particle number was observed in the dry tea samples (removed from tea bags) belonging to all brands. Brands A and O had the highest abundance of MPs. All MP particles identified were fiber in shape, and four colors were identified, with a predominance of navy blue. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was the most abundant polymer type. The size of MPs varied from 33.65 μm to 1680.20 μm. The daily MP exposure by tea intake was analyzed for male and female groups, and the dietary exposure for males was greater than that for females. According to the MP contamination factor values, a wide variety of MP contamination levels were determined, with a predominance of significant and very high levels of contamination. The mean polymer risk index was determined to be 10.80, indicating a low level of risk. Additionally, this study also provides information on the potential health effects of these harmful MPs. Considering that consuming tea is a significant way for individuals to come into contact with MPs, tea prepared with tea leaves packaged in tea bags could potentially have adverse effects on the health of consumers.

Graphical Abstract
Lipidomic signatures in patients with early-onset and late-onset Preeclampsia
Authors: Huang Yu , Sun Qiaoqiao , Zhou Beibei , Peng Yiqun , Li Jingyun , Li Chunyan , Xia Qing , Meng Li , Shan Chunjian , Long Wei
Published: June 2024

Background

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-specific clinical syndrome and can be subdivided into early-onset preeclampsia (EOPE) and late-onset preeclampsia (LOPE) according to the gestational age of delivery. Patients with preeclampsia have aberrant lipid metabolism. This study aims to compare serum lipid profiles of normal pregnant women with EOPE or LOPE and screening potential biomarkers to diagnose EOPE or LOPE.

Methods

Twenty normal pregnant controls (NC), 19 EOPE, and 19 LOPE were recruited in this study. Untargeted lipidomics based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was used to compare their serum lipid profiles.

Results

The lipid metabolism profiles significantly differ among the NC, EOPE, and LOPE. Compared to the NC, there were 256 and 275 distinct lipids in the EOPE and LOPE, respectively. Furthermore, there were 42 different lipids between the LOPE and EOPE, of which eight were significantly associated with fetal birth weight and maternal urine protein. The five lipids that both differed in the EOPE and LOPE were DGTS (16:3/16:3), LPC (20:3), LPC (22:6), LPE (22:6), PC (18:5e/4:0), and a combination of them were a potential biomarker for predicting EOPE or LOPE. The receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that the diagnostic power of the combination for distinguishing the EOPE from the NC and for distinguishing the LOPE from the NC can reach 1.000 and 0.992, respectively. The association between the lipid modules and clinical characteristics of EOPE and LOPE was investigated by the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). The results demonstrated that the main different metabolism pathway between the EOPE and LOPE was enriched in glycerophospholipid metabolism.

Conclusions

Lipid metabolism disorders may be a potential mechanism of the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Lipid metabolites have the potential to serve as biomarkers in patients with EOPE or LOPE. Furthermore, lipid metabolites correlate with clinical severity indicators for patients with EOPE and LOPE, including fetal birth weight and maternal urine protein levels.
Epigenetic age acceleration is a distinctive trait of epithelioid sarcoma with potential therapeutic implications
Authors: Haefliger Simon , Chervova Olga , Davies Christopher , Loh Chet , Tirabosco Roberto , Amary Fernanda , Pillay Nischalan , Horvath Steve , Beck Stephan , Flanagan Adrienne M. , Lyskjær Iben
Published: June 2024

Recently, DNA methylation clocks have been proven to be precise age predictors, and the application of these clocks in cancer tissue has revealed a global age acceleration in a majority of cancer subtypes when compared to normal tissue from the same individual. The polycomb repressor complex 2 plays a pivotal role in the aging process, and its targets have been shown to be enriched in CpG sites that gain methylation with age. This complex is further regulated by the chromatin remodeling complex SWItch/Sucrose Non-Fermentable and its core subunit, notably the tumor suppressor gene SMARCB1, which under physiological conditions inhibits the activity of the polycomb repressor complex 2. Hence, the loss of function of core members of the SWItch/sucrose non-fermentable complex, such as the tumor suppressor gene SMARCB1, results in increased activity of polycomb repressor complex 2 and interferes with the aging process. SMARCB1-deficient neoplasms represent a family of rare tumors, including amongst others malignant rhabdoid tumors, atypical teratoid and rhabdoid tumors, and epithelioid sarcomas. As aging pathways have recently been proposed as therapeutic targets for various cancer types, these tumors represent candidates for testing such treatments. Here, by deriving epigenetic age scores from more than 1000 tumor samples, we identified epigenetic age acceleration as a hallmark feature of epithelioid sarcoma. This observation highlights the potential of targeting aging pathways as an innovative treatment approach for patients with epithelioid sarcoma.
Pediatric metabolic (dysfunction)-associated fatty liver disease: current insights and future perspectives
Authors: Vimalesvaran Sunitha , Vajro Pietro , Dhawan Anil
Published: June 2024

The historical use of the term non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in obese/overweight children has been controversial as to the appropriateness of this terminology in children, and lately, in adults too. Newer game-changer terminology, metabolic (dysfunction)-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), for this condition signifies a positive step forward that addresses the limitations of the previous definition for both adults and children. The prevalence of MAFLD has surged in tandem with the global rise in obesity rates, establishing itself as a predominant cause of chronic liver disease in both adult and pediatric populations. The adoption of the recently proposed nomenclature reflects a more encompassing comprehension of the disease and its etiology compared to its predecessor, NAFLD. Notably, the revised terminology facilitates the recognition of MAFLD as an autonomous condition while acknowledging the potential coexistence of other systemic fatty liver disorders. Particularly in children, this includes various paediatric-onset genetic and inherited metabolic disorders, necessitating thorough exclusion, especially in cases where weight loss interventions yield no improvement or in the absence of obesity. MAFLD presents as a multifaceted disorder; evidence suggests its origins lie in a complex interplay of nutritional, genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors. Despite advancements, current non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers exhibit limitations in accuracy, often necessitating imaging and histological evaluations for definitive diagnosis. While dietary and lifestyle modifications stand as cornerstone measures for MAFLD prevention and management, ongoing evaluation of therapeutic agents continues. This article provides an overview of the latest developments and emerging therapies in the realm of paediatric MAFLD.
Investigating the Effects of CoMoCrSi Powder Composition and Particle Size, and Annealing Heat Treatment on Microstructure and Mechanical and Tribological Performance of HVOF Sprayed Coatings
Authors: Ertürk Murat Tolga , Tirkeş Süha , Gür Cemil Hakan
Published: June 2024

An investigation was conducted to analyze the mechanical properties, wear behavior, and microstructure of coatings formed by high-velocity oxygen fuel spraying of CoMoCrSi powders. The effects of varying Cr concentration and particle sizes before and after heat treatment at 900 °C for 4 h were studied comparatively. The increase in Cr and Mo elements in the expanse of Co increased the structure's hardness before and after the heat treatment. As this increase was 10% in as-sprayed conditions, annealing raised the increase to 30%. Splat boundaries were the most vulnerable constituents against forces, creating a significant disadvantage in terms of structural integrity and affecting the overall performance. After annealing, the boundary strengths experienced a remarkable four-fold increase and cracks and fractures reduced significantly. The susceptibility of splat boundaries had a detrimental effect on room temperature wear behavior, and increased boundary densities led to a marked reduction in wear performance. Heat treatment induced improvements significantly increased the room temperature wear performance. At elevated temperature, the formation of oxide layers composed of CoMoO4, Co3O4, MoO3, and Cr2O3 overcame the weaknesses of the as-sprayed coating, reducing both the friction coefficient and wear losses. A reduced Co ratio led to the formation of an oxide blend with a higher concentration of Mo and Cr oxides on the surface, further improving the coating's wear behavior.

Graphical Abstract
There is No Supporting Evidence for a Far Transfer of General Perceptual or Cognitive Training to Sports Performance
Authors: Fransen Job
Published: June 2024

In this opinion piece I reiterate the concepts of near and far transfer as previously described in the psychological literature. I show that despite very limited evidence, many technologies, tools and methods make questionable claims of eliciting far transfer from generic perceptual and/or cognitive training to sports performance. Specifically, this commentary illustrates with studies on stroboscopic vision, neurofeedback training and executive functions that the claims made for the beneficial effects of these training methods are currently unsubstantiated. I conclude that greater scrutiny by researchers is needed in order to assist practitioners to make better-informed decisions about tools, methods and technologies that may aid sports performance.
Transformer fusion-based scale-aware attention network for multispectral victim detection
Authors: Chen Yunfan , Li Yuting , Zheng Wenqi , Wan Xiangkui
Published: June 2024

The aftermath of a natural disaster leaves victims trapped in rubble which is challenging to detect by smart drones due to the victims in low visibility under the adverse disaster environments and victims in various sizes. To overcome the above challenges, a transformer fusion-based scale-aware attention network (TFSANet) is proposed to overcome adverse environmental impacts in disaster areas by robustly integrating the latent interactions between RGB and thermal images and to address the problem of various-sized victim detection. Firstly, a transformer fusion model is developed to incorporate a two-stream backbone network to effectively fuse the complementary characteristics between RGB and thermal images. This aims to solve the problem that the victims cannot be seen clearly due to the adverse disaster area, such as smog and heavy rain. In addition, a scale-aware attention mechanism is designed to be embedded into the head network to adaptively adjust the size of receptive fields aiming to capture victims with different scales. Extensive experiments on two challenging datasets indicate that our TFSANet achieves superior results. The proposed method achieves 86.56% average precision (AP) on the National Institute of Informatics—Chiba University (NII-CU) multispectral aerial person detection dataset, outperforming the state-of-the-art approach by 4.38%. On the drone-captured RGBT person detection (RGBTDronePerson) dataset, the proposed method significantly improves the AP of the state-of-the-art approach by 4.33%.
Joint entity and relation extraction combined with multi-module feature information enhancement
Authors: Li Yao , Yan He , Zhang Ye , Wang Xu
Published: June 2024

The proposed method for joint entity and relation extraction integrates the tasks of entity extraction and relation classification by sharing the encoding layer. However, the method faces challenges due to incongruities in the contextual information captured by these subtasks, resulting in potential feature conflicts and adverse effects on model performance. To address this, we introduced a novel joint entity and relation extraction method that incorporates multi-module feature information enhancement (MFIE) (https://github.com/liyao345496280/Relation-extraction). We employ a relation awareness enhancement module for the entity extraction task, which directs the model’s focus towards extracting entities closely related to potential relations using a potential relation extraction module and an attention mechanism. For the relation extraction task, we implement an entity information enhancement module that uses entity extraction results to augment the original feature information through a gating mechanism, thereby enhancing relation classification performance. Experiments on the NYT and WebNLG datasets demonstrate that our method performs well. Compared to the state-of-the-art method, the F1 score on the NYT dataset improved by 0.7%.
Minimal resolutions of Iwasawa modules
Authors: Kataoka Takenori , Kurihara Masato
Published: June 2024

In this paper, we study the module-theoretic structure of classical Iwasawa modules. More precisely, for a finite abelianp-extensionK/kof totally real fields and the cyclotomic$$\mathbb {Z}_p$$Zp-extension$$K_{\infty }/K$$K∞/K, we consider$$X_{K_{\infty },S}={{\,\textrm{Gal}\,}}(M_{K_{\infty },S}/K_{\infty })$$XK∞,S=Gal(MK∞,S/K∞)whereSis a finite set of places ofkcontaining all ramifying places in$$K_{\infty }$$K∞and archimedean places, and$$M_{K_{\infty },S}$$MK∞,Sis the maximal abelian pro-p-extension of$$K_{\infty }$$K∞unramified outsideS. We give lower and upper bounds of the minimal numbers of generators and of relations of$$X_{K_{\infty },S}$$XK∞,Sas a$$\mathbb {Z}_p[[{{\,\textrm{Gal}\,}}(K_{\infty }/k)]]$$Zp[[Gal(K∞/k)]]-module, using thep-rank of$${{\,\textrm{Gal}\,}}(K/k)$$Gal(K/k). This result explains the complexity of$$X_{K_{\infty },S}$$XK∞,Sas a$$\mathbb {Z}_p[[{{\,\textrm{Gal}\,}}(K_{\infty }/k)]]$$Zp[[Gal(K∞/k)]]-module when thep-rank of$${{\,\textrm{Gal}\,}}(K/k)$$Gal(K/k)is large. Moreover, we prove an analogous theorem in the setting thatK/kis non-abelian. We also study the Iwasawa adjoint of$$X_{K_{\infty },S}$$XK∞,S, and the minus part of the unramified Iwasawa module for a CM-extension. In order to prove these theorems, we systematically study the minimal resolutions of$$X_{K_{\infty },S}$$XK∞,S.
RMSxAI: arginine methylation sites prediction from protein sequences using machine learning algorithms and explainable artificial intelligence
Authors: Dwivedi Gaurav , Khandelwal Monika , Rout Ranjeet Kumar , Umer Saiyed , Mallik Saurav , Qin Hong
Published: June 2024

Protein methylation is a vital regulator of many biological processes at the post-translational level, and accurate prediction of protein methylation sites is essential for research and drug discovery. In this paper, we present a new method, namely RMSxAI, to predict the arginine methylation sites from primary sequences using machine learning algorithms and describe the predictions using explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) techniques. Leveraging experimentally validated methylated and unmethylated protein sequences from diverse organisms, we deduced several sequence features, encompassing physicochemical properties, amino acid composition, and evolutionary insights. Our results show that the proposed RMSxAI can predict protein methylation sites with high accuracy, bringing the F1 score up to 0.88 and overall accuracy up to 88.4%. We use various XAI methods to explain the output results. These include key features, partial occupancy maps, and local variation models that provide insight into key features and interactions that lead to predictions. Overall, our approach is relevant to research and drug discovery, and our results demonstrate the potential of machine learning algorithms and XAI methods to provide accurate and meaningful prediction of arginine methylation sites.
Efficiency optimization methods for stochastic configuration networks
Authors: Yan Aijun , He Shixiao
Published: June 2024

To solve the problems of the low efficiency of parameter allocation and time-consuming computation of output weights in the hidden layers of stochastic configuration networks (SCNs), an optimization method is proposed to improve the SCNs construction efficiency. Firstly, with the increase in the number of hidden layer nodes, the key parameters that determine the strictness of the supervision mechanism are reconstructed to speed up the configuration efficiency of hidden layer input weights and biases. Then, the incremental mechanism of the SCNs are combined with the QR decomposition method, and the output weights are calculated by iteratively updating the transformation matrix, thus reducing the computational complexity of training the SCNs. Finally, the proposed method is validated on four standard datasets and historical data of a municipal solid waste incineration process. The experimental results show that the proposed method improves the efficiency of SCN construction while guaranteeing the prediction accuracy of SCNs model.
Secluding the vegetation of India in retaliation to tropospheric ozone: a mechanistic approach
Authors: Singh Harshita , Gupta Akanksha , Yadav Durgesh Singh , Singh Priyanka , Singh Pallavi , Agrawal Shashi Bhushan , Agrawal Madhoolika
Published: June 2024

Rapid urban development and population outbursts in India have led to a tremendous increase in pollutant emissions and their transboundary dispersion. Hence, the increase in tropospheric ozone (O3) formation is further amplified depending on the meteorology of the area. This review attempts to compile the studies reporting tropospheric O3-induced loss of yield and biomass in the vegetation of the Indian sub-continent from 2012 to 2023, with a mechanistic approach. The response of vegetation (agricultural, horticultural, perennial, medicinal and grassland) to O3 have been collated and their order of sensitivity has been established. The vegetation displayed two significant strategies to cope with the O3 induced stress- stomatal flux regulation and shifting the photoassimilates towards either defense or reproduction (trade-off), which decides the plant's ability to respond towards O3. Considering the varying responses of plants, it was observed that plants that adopted both stomatal regulation and trade-off strategies to endure the stress were least sensitive to O3 than those focusing on one of them.
Delineation and Fine‐Scale Structure of Fault Zones Activated During the 2014–2024 Unrest at the Campi Flegrei Caldera (Southern Italy) From High‐Precision Earthquake Locations
Authors: Scotto di Uccio Francesco , Lomax Anthony , Natale Jacopo , Muzellec Titouan , Festa Gaetano , Nazeri Sahar , Convertito Vincenzo , Bobbio Antonella , Strumia Claudio , Zollo Aldo
Published: June 2024

In the past two decades, the central portion of Campi Flegrei caldera has experienced ground uplift up to 15 mm/month, with an increase of rate, magnitude and extent of the seismicity. In this work, we perform multi‐scale precise earthquake relocation of the 2014–2024 seismicity, mapping in detail activated fault zones. We relate the geometry, extent, and depth of these zones with up‐to‐date structural reconstructions of the caldera. The current seismicity is mainly driven by ground‐uplift‐induced stress concentration on pre‐existing, weaker fault zones, some of which identified for the first time. These structures are not only related to the inner caldera and dome resurgence but also to volcano‐tectonic events of the last 10 ka. The extent of imaged fault segments suggests they can accommodate ruptures up to a moment magnitude 5.1, significantly increasing seismic hazard in the area.
Emission Characteristics of Greenhouse Gases and Air Pollutants in Northern Hemisphere Cities: Comprehensive Assessment Using Ground‐Based Fourier Transform Spectrometers
Authors: Lee Jonghyuk , Jeong Sujong , Park Hayoung , Hong Jaemin , Kim Jueun , Frey Matthias Max , Morino Isamu , Ohyama Hirofumi , Hase Frank , Mermigkas Marios , Zhou Minqiang , Té Yao , Roehl Coleen M.
Published: June 2024

Despite the importance of understanding the urban emission characteristics of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and air pollutants, few studies have conducted integrated assessments across diverse urban environments. Herein, we conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the emission characteristics of GHGs and air pollutants in seven cities in the Northern Hemisphere using ground‐based Fourier transform spectrometers. Our analysis primarily focused on emission ratios of excess column‐averaged dry‐air mole fractions of carbon monoxide (CO) to carbon dioxide (CO2) (∆XCO:∆XCO2) and those of methane (CH4) to CO2 (∆XCH4:∆XCO2). We found that the emission ratios varied significantly across cities. Xianghe (China) and Pasadena (USA), known for severe air pollution, showed the highest emission ratios. Notably, Seoul (South Korea) showed lower ∆XCO:∆XCO2 (3.32 ± 0.10 ppb/ppm) but relatively higher ∆XCH4:∆XCO2 (4.85 ± 0.04 ppb/ppm), which was comparable to the ∆XCH4:∆XCO2 value of Xianghe (5.15 ± 0.10 ppb/ppm), suggesting that targeted CH4 reduction strategies may be required for climate change mitigation in Seoul.
Explicit Consideration of Plant Xylem Hydraulic Transport Improves the Simulation of Crop Response to Atmospheric Dryness in the U.S. Corn Belt
Authors: Yang Yi , Guan Kaiyu , Peng Bin , Liu Yanlan , Pan Ming
Published: June 2024

Atmospheric dryness (i.e., high vapor pressure deficit, VPD), together with soil moisture stress, limits plant photosynthesis and threatens ecosystem functioning. Regions where rainfall and soil moisture are relatively sufficient, such as the rainfed part of the U.S. Corn Belt, are especially prone to high VPD stress. With globally projected rising VPD under climate change, it is crucial to understand, simulate, and manage its negative impacts on agricultural ecosystems. However, most existing models simulating crop response to VPD are highly empirical and insufficient in capturing plant response to high VPD, and improved modeling approaches are urgently required. In this study, by leveraging recent advances in plant hydraulic theory, we demonstrate that the VPD constraints in the widely used coupled photosynthesis‐stomatal conductance models alone are inadequate to fully capture VPD stress effects. Incorporating plant xylem hydraulic transport significantly improves the simulation of transpiration under high VPD, even when soil moisture is sufficient. Our results indicate that the limited water transport capability from the plant root to the leaf stoma could be a major mechanism of plant response to high VPD stress. We then introduce a Demand‐side Hydraulic Limitation Factor (DHLF) that simplifies the xylem and the leaf segments of the plant hydraulic model to only one parameter yet captures the effect of plant hydraulic transport on transpiration response to high VPD with similar accuracy. We expect the improved understanding and modeling of crop response to high VPD to help contribute to better management and adaptation of agricultural systems in a changing climate.
Dominant Sources of Uncertainty for Downscaled Climate: A Military Installation Perspective
Authors: Kim Taereem , Villarini Gabriele , Done James M. , Johnson David R. , Prein Andreas F. , Wang Chao
Published: June 2024

While the Department of Defense (DoD) infrastructure is no stranger to extremes, recent events have been unprecedented, with climate change acting as a growing risk multiplier. To assess the level of exposure of DoD installations to extreme weather and climate events, site‐specific climate information is needed. One way to bridge the scale gap between outputs from existing global climate models (GCMs) and sites is climate downscaling. This makes the information more relevant for impact assessment at the DoD installation and facility scale. However, downscaling GCMs is beset by a myriad of challenges and sources of uncertainty, and downscaling methods were not designed with specific infrastructure planning and design needs in mind. Here, we evaluate state‐of‐the‐science dynamical downscaling and statistical downscaling and bias correction for climate variables (i.e., temperature and precipitation) at the daily scale. We also combine downscaling approaches in novel ways to optimize computational efficiency and reduce uncertainty. Furthermore, we examine the sensitivity of the downscaled outputs to the choice of reference data and quantify the relative uncertainty related to downscaling approach, reference data, and other factors across the climate variables and aggregation scales. Results show that empirical quantile mapping (EQM), a statistical downscaling, consistently performs well and has less sensitivity to the choice of reference data. Moreover, the hybrid downscaling that leverages EQM improves the performance of dynamical downscaling. Our findings highlight that the choice of reference data dominates uncertainties in temperature downscaling, while their role is more muted for precipitation but still non‐negligible.
Quantifying the Impacts of an Urban Area on Clouds and Precipitation Patterns: A Modeling Perspective
Authors: Moraglia G. , Pryor S. C. , Crippa P.
Published: June 2024

Over the past century, rapid urbanization has greatly altered landscapes and affected atmospheric conditions causing impacts across a wide range of sectors including human welfare, infrastructure, and ecosystems. As a result, there is a growing imperative to improve understanding of urbanization impacts on local and regional weather events and hydroclimates. This study investigates how urbanization affects precipitation and cloud fraction (CF) in the vicinity of Indianapolis. We employ multi‐month simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting model to: (a) assess the impact of an urban area on precipitation and CF, (b) quantify how this impact varies with urban growth, and (c) examine the main mechanisms through which the city alters the local hydroclimate. Specifically, two perturbed simulations, where the urban land cover is either replaced by croplands or is increased in size, are also performed for the two rainiest months. Comparisons of the control run with no city against the perturbed runs indicate statistically significant impacts of the urban area in enhancing precipitation amounts, frequency and low‐level CF, particularly within the first 100 km radius downwind of the city boarder. The urban environment is found to increase precipitation efficiency over the city and in downwind regions. Temperature at 2 m height, planetary boundary layer height, turbulent kinetic energy, and convective available potential energy, are also enhanced in the perturbed runs and drive changes in vertical mixing, downwind precipitation amounts, frequency and low‐level height CF. All these changes appear to be a non‐linear function of the city size.
Numerical Investigation of Observational Flux Partitioning Methods for Water Vapor and Carbon Dioxide
Authors: Zahn Einara , Ghannam Khaled , Chamecki Marcelo , Moene Arnold F. , Kustas William P. , Good Stephen , Bou‐Zeid Elie
Published: June 2024

While yearly budgets of CO2 flux (Fc) and evapotranspiration (ET) above vegetation can be readily obtained from eddy‐covariance measurements, the separate quantification of their soil (respiration and evaporation) and canopy (photosynthesis and transpiration) components remains an elusive yet critical research objective. In this work, we investigate four methods to partition observed total fluxes into soil and plant sources: two new and two existing approaches that are based solely on analysis of conventional high frequency eddy‐covariance (EC) data. The physical validity of the assumptions of all four methods, as well as their performance under different scenarios, are tested with the aid of large‐eddy simulations, which are used to replicate eddy‐covariance field experiments. Our results indicate that canopies with large, exposed soil patches increase the mixing and correlation of scalars; this negatively impacts the performance of the partitioning methods, all of which require some degree of uncorrelatedness between CO2 and water vapor. In addition, best performances for all partitioning methods were found when all four flux components are non‐negligible, and measurements are collected close to the canopy top. Methods relying on the water‐use efficiency (W) perform better when W is known a priori, but are shown to be very sensitive to uncertainties in this input variable especially when canopy fluxes dominate. We conclude by showing how the correlation coefficient between CO2 and water vapor can be used to infer the reliability of different W parameterizations.