bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Groundwater Depressurisation due to Mining Considering Flow Nonlinearity in Connected Fractures
Authors: Chen Mingwei , Zhang Chengguo , Canbulat Ismet , Saydam Serkan
Published: February 2025

Longwall mining is a productive method for underground coal resource recovery, but usually leads to extensive fracture networks that facilitate groundwater drainage into mined-out areas. Accurately assessing the coverage and magnitude of induced groundwater depressurisation is crucial for sustainable mining practices, but is often constrained by simplified representations of fracture flow. This paper investigates the nonlinear flow behaviour in connected fractures and develops a governing equation applicable to field-scale models for improved groundwater impact assessments. Laboratory tests on intersected pathways demonstrate that inflows interact and redirect along curved paths with localised turbulence. Numerical upscaling reveals a negative correlation between pressure drop and pathway geometry, identifying the laminar flow threshold as Reynolds numbers (

$$Re$$

Re

) ≤ 10. A modified cubic law (MCL) is derived from the best-fit linear relationship between hydraulic gradient and flow rate, defining a super-cubic correlation where the exponent increases asymptotically from 3.15 to 3.77 with apertures. Applying the MCL equation to a field-scale model reveals that the depressurised zone has a height of 0.86 times the panel width, aligning with the upper limit of horizontal stress relief and the significant outflow horizon measured by borehole acoustic scanning. The depressurisation remains confined below the claystone unit, which is interpreted as being associated with clay swelling upon water absorption. Comparisons with empirical equations suggest that integrating fluid flow analysis into numerical simulations allows more direct and comprehensive assessments for groundwater and sustainable purposes. The paper improves the understanding of flow nonlinearity in connected fractures and offers a practical numerical method for evaluating the hydrogeological impacts of mining activities.
Local and non-local chemical potential and hardness: a grand canonical ensemble approach
Authors: Zerón Paulino , Pantoja-Hernández Maurizio A. , Franco-Pérez Marco , Gázquez José L.
Published: February 2025

Context

The formulation of conceptual density functional theory in the grand canonical ensemble provides a theoretical framework that allows one to establish additional insights about the response functions that characterize this approach. In particular, through this procedure, one can establish the local counterpart of the chemical potential which, when integrated over all the space, leads to the global quantity and the local counterpart of the hardness that not only provides a function free of ambiguities, but also generates through its integration over all the space the well-defined value of the global quantity given by the difference of the vertical first ionization potential and electron affinity. In the present work, the non-local counterpart of these local reactivity descriptors is derived making use of the Fukui kernel descriptor previously developed by us. Then, the local and non-local chemical potential and hardness, thus obtained, are applied to study site and bond reactivities of several systems, to rationalize the behavior of kinetic and thermodynamic properties, through the chemical information that these indexes provide.

Methods

The electronic structure calculations required to evaluate the reactivity indexes analyzed in this work were done with the PBE0 exchange–correlation energy functional. The geometry optimization was done in all cases in a modified version of the NWChem program, while the Hirshfeld population analysis was done in a modified version of the demon2k program. For the electrophilic addition of hydrogen halides (HX) to several substituted ethenes and the hydration reaction of aldehydes and ketones, the 6-311G** basis set was used, while for the bond enthalpies of chemical reactions where there is a homolytic bond break and the trans influence in which the lability of the leaving ligand is modified by the ligand opposite to it, the Def2-TZVP was used.
WEFT: a consistent and tamper-proof methodology for acquisition of automatically verifiable forensic web evidence
Authors: Cantelli-Forti Alessandro , Longo Giacomo , Lupia Francesco , Russo Enrico
Published: February 2025

The pervasiveness of web-based services has further complicated forensic operations, as traditional acquisition techniques do not fit with the volatile nature of online evidence. The current best practice often suffer from procedural shortcomings and are prone to tampering, which can lead to the dismissal of evidence in legal contexts. This paper introduces an acquisition methodology aimed at improving the integrity and admissibility of digital evidence acquired from live web environments. Our proposed approach addresses these issues and adheres to the requirement of international standards by establishing a unified format as a single source of truth, secure timestamping, and enabling automatic verification of integrity and its content, thereby offering more transparency to the involved parties. An extensive evaluation with live acquisition of the top 100 most popular websites indicates that the methodology produces an artifact comparable to state-of-the-art tools with added benefits.
Do deep regional trade agreements facilitate regional production networks in Latin American and Caribbean countries?
Authors: Murakami Yoshimichi
Published: February 2025

Applying a generalized event study design to a structural gravity model, this study analyzes the dynamic effects of the depth of regional trade agreements (RTAs)—measured by the coverage and legal enforceability of World Trade Organization (WTO)-plus and WTO-extra policy areas—on production network trade in all 33 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries from 1986 to 2015. It constructs a unique dataset on the indexes of depth, breadth, and core depth of all RTAs in force involving at least two LAC countries, using a World Bank database on RTA content. The results indicate that the depth and breadth of RTAs positively affect intra-regional parts and components exports in the LAC region. Moreover, no differential trends exist prior to RTA signature, supporting the causal interpretation of the results. However, the effects are substantially heterogeneous by the type of agreements and characteristics of country pairs. The depth and breadth consistently show positive effects 2 years after the enforcement for the customs union among Latin American countries (the Southern Common Market, MERCOSUR), and plurilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) in the LAC countries. Conversely, the depth and breadth show immediate negative effects for plurilateral FTAs with developed countries outside the region (e.g., the United States or European countries). Furthermore, the depth of RTAs has particularly significant effects on parts and components exports compared to other trade categories, such as primary goods exports.
Asymmetric shock persistence in the OECD Stock Exchanges: New Insight from Quantile Exponential Smooth Transition Autoregression Approach
Authors: Özdemir Müge
Published: February 2025

This study offers novel empirical insights into the asymmetric persistence of shocks in OECD stock markets over the period 1994–2023, employing a nonlinear quantile autoregression framework built on the Quantile Exponential Smooth Transition Autoregression (QESTAR) method. By capturing the complexities of market responses to both the direction and magnitude of shocks, as well as asymmetric adjustment speeds under varying long-term conditions, our findings highlight significant dynamics. Shock persistence is most pronounced in the lower quantiles, reflecting non-stationarity in response to smaller shocks, while upper quantiles display faster mean reversion to larger shocks, indicating distinct market adjustments across quantiles. The nonparametric quantile autoregressive model outperforms its linear counterpart, proving more effective in capturing the asymmetric and nonlinear dynamics inherent in asset pricing. These findings hold critical implications for market efficiency and predictability, shedding light on the pivotal role of shock asymmetry in shaping international market behavior. Moreover, the study establishes a robust foundation for future research on momentum portfolio strategies, emphasizing the value of quantile-based models in refining asset management approaches under asymmetric market conditions.
An accumulation rate curve estimator for total species
Authors: Shestopaloff Konstantin
Published: February 2025

In this paper we present a total species estimator based on modelling the rate of change of a species accumulation curve (SAC). The proposed approach calculates an accumulation rate curve (ARC) for new species conditional on observed data and extrapolates it using parametric functions with varying rates of decay. The curve fits are integrated to obtain estimates for undetected species and a weighted estimate is calculated by optimizing a loss function subject to a set of restrictions. Confidence intervals are evaluated using a parametric bootstrap of aggregate counts, with the underlying count covariances estimated from a regularized mixture distribution fit to observed count data. A data smoothing technique and adjusting for bias are also discussed. The method is tested using a simulation study and applied to two example datasets. The results indicate that the proposed method is robust in a majority of cases and outperforms existing methods in bias and mean squared error. Performance is especially improved when the proportion of unobserved species is high. Confidence interval coverage is noticeably better compared to existing methods and conservative interval widths are maintained. The smoothing technique is also shown to be effective in reducing mean squared error under certain conditions.
Fast, Verified Computation for HOL ITPs
Authors: Abrahamsson Oskar , Myreen Magnus O. , Norrish Michael , Kanabar Hrutvik , Pohjola Johannes Åman
Published: February 2025

We add an efficient function for computation to the kernels of higher-order logic interactive theorem provers. First, we develop and prove sound our approach for Candle. Candle is a port of HOL Light which has been proved sound with respect to the inference rules of its higher-order logic; we extend its implementation and soundness proof. Second, we replicate our now-verified implementation for HOL4 with only minor changes, and build additional automation for ease of use. The automation exists outside of the HOL4 kernel, and requires no additional trust. We exercise our new computation function and associated automation on the evaluation of the CakeML compiler backend within HOL4’s logic, demonstrating an order of magnitude speedup. This is an extended version of our previous conference paper [2], which described implementation and soundness proofs for Candle. Our HOL4 implementation and automation are new, as are the CakeML benchmarks.
What Determines Cartel Duration? Global Evidence Using Quantile Regression Analysis
Authors: Polemis Michael L.
Published: February 2025

The longevity of cartels has been a highly contested topic among economists and policymakers, with numerous researchers arguing that cartels are inherently unstable, and their endurance is usually short-lived. Understanding the main factors that influence cartel duration is essential from a managerial point of view let alone the competition policy perspective. The present paper employs quantile regression techniques thus allowing for a more thorough and precise depiction of the data in terms of estimations compared to the traditional OLS analysis. The empirical findings support that the number of cartelists imposes an asymmetric effect, reducing (increasing) the lifespan of collusion only in the short (long)-lived cartels. Operating internationally and having a third-party facilitator both lengthen cartels, but the magnitudes of these effects decline monotonically over the range of the distribution. Relative to price-fixing, bid-rigging lengthens cartels in the bottom 20% of the distribution but has no significant effect elsewhere. Finally, the institutional effect such as the prevalence of leniency programs appears to have no significant effect on cartel duration, except at the very bottom of the distribution where the effect is small in magnitude. The results survive robustness checks addressing endogeneity and reverse causality.
Local inequality and crime: New evidence from South Africa
Authors: Büttner Nicolas
Published: February 2025

This paper investigates the relationship between socio-economic inequalities of various dimensions and crime at the local level in South Africa. It uses a novel panel dataset of police precincts that combines crime records from the South African Police Service with socio-economic data from two population censuses and household surveys. The identification exploits variation of inequality and crime across time and space, controlling for socio-economic and demographic characteristics of police precincts, province-specific time trends, police cluster-fixed effects, and spatial correlations. I find robust evidence for a significant, positive, and linear relationship between income inequality within precincts and local rates of violent crime, and an inverted u-shaped relationship with property crime. Education and housing inequality and racial heterogeneity are also positively correlated with crime. While inter-racial inequality contributes more to property crime, intra-racial inequality contributes more to violent crime. Richer precincts display higher property crime rates as compared to their poorer neighbors.
Enriching the Existing Knowledge About Co-creation: Identifying Dimensions of Co-creation Using Explicit Theory in Various Research Fields
Authors: Messiha Katrina , Altenburg Teatske M. , Giné-Garriga Maria , Chastin Sebastien , Chinapaw Mai J. M.
Published: February 2025

Despite increasing popularity of co-creation approaches across various types of co-creation (e.g., value co-creation) and research fields, systematic and effective theory-building of co-creation research is generally lacking. We explored co-creation literature underpinned by explicit theory, taking a hybrid approach by combining a narrative literature review of studies in various research fields and a systematic literature review of studies in the field of public health. Subsequently, we identified common dimensions applied to the co-creation process across various types of co-creation and research fields, in performing an inductive thematic analysis. Across the total 27 articles included as part of the narrative and systematic review, we identified 5 dimensions related to the co-creation process applied across 9 research fields: (1) Multi-stakeholder collaborative action; (2) Process of co-learning towards innovation; (3) Contextual knowledge production; (4) Generating meaning; and, (5) Open, trustful and inclusive dialogue. The findings offer renewed insight into the common dimensions of the co-creation process, with underpinning explicit theories across various types of co-creation and research fields. A clear and consistent definition of co-creation was often lacking, especially in the field of public health. We strongly emphasise the need for research to adopt a multi-dimensional approach to the co-creation process—as well as to work towards developing a common language around co-creation, which involves operationalising these identified five dimensions.
The syntax of Philippine-type alignment: Insights from case-marking
Authors: Chen Victoria
Published: February 2025

Despite the apparent hallmarks of syntactic ergativity found in Philippine-type Austronesian languages, a closer look at the distribution of three basic case markers reveals that their ergative characteristics are only illusory. Support for an accusative view firstly comes from the presence of the putative oblique case on ECM subjects, derived objects, and objects inside restructuring infinitives—a distribution that undermines the antipassive view of Philippine-type Actor Voice, indicating instead that the alleged antipassive features accusative object and does not alternate transitivity based on voice. Further evidence comes from the locality-constrained distribution of the putative inherent ergative case, which shows hallmarks of structural nominative and suggests that the extraction restriction imposed on these languages is distinct from the ban on ergative extraction. Finally, the nonlocal distribution of the so-called absolutive case reveals that it is a marker independent of case, in line with recent Ā-topic approaches to this marker. These observations motivate the view that ‘Philippine-type alignment’ reflects a nominative-accusative case system obscured by prominent topic-marking that overrides morphological case. This conclusion lends new support to the accusative view of Philippine-type languages and yields two implications: (i) highly constrained Ā-extraction asymmetry may be independent of syntactic ergativity, and (ii) discourse-configurational languages such as Philippine-type Austronesian languages may exhibit superficial traits of syntactic ergativity where topic-marking is imprecisely treated as part of their case system.
In season estimation of economic optimum nitrogen rate with remote sensing multispectral indices and historical telematics field-operation data
Authors: Abdipourchenarestansofla Morteza , Piepho Hans-Peter
Published: February 2025

Accurate estimation and spatial allocation of economic optimum nitrogen (N) rates (EONR) can support sustainable crop production systems by reducing chemical compounds to be applied to the ground while preserving the optimum yield and profitability Smart Farming (SF) techniques such as historical precision agriculture (PA) machinery data, satellite multispectral imagery, and on-machine nitrogen adjustment sensors can bring together state-of-the-art precision in determining EONR. The novelty of this study is in introducing an efficient optimization framework using SF technology to enable real-time and prescription based EONR application execution. An optimization strategy called response surface modelling (RSM) was implemented to support decision making by fusing multiple sources of information while keeping the underlying computation simple and interpretable. Here, a field of winter wheat with an area of 7 ha was used to prove the proposed concept of determining EONR for each location in the field using auxiliary variables called multispectral indices (MSIs) derived from Sentinel 2. Three different image acquisition dates before the actual N application were considered to find the best time combination of MSIs along with the best MSIs to model yield. The best MSIs were filtered out through three phases of feature selection using analysis of variance (ANOVA), Lasso regression, and model reduction of RSM. For the date 2020.03.25, 14 out of 21 MSIs exhibited a significant interaction with the N applied as determined through an on-machine N sensor. For dates 2020.03.30 and 2020.04.04, the numbers of significant indices were identified as 6 and 10, respectively. Some of the MSIs were no longer significant after five days of the growth period (5-day interval between Sentinel 2 revisits). The best model demonstrated an average prediction error of 14.5%. Utilizing the model’s coefficients, the EONR was computed to be between 43 kg/ha and 75 kg/ha for the target field. By incorporating MSIs into the fitted model for a given N range, it was demonstrated that the shape of the yield-N relation (RSM) varied due to field heterogeneity. The proposed analytical approach integrates farmer engagement by participatory annual post-mortem analysis. Using the determined RSM approach, retrospective assessment compares economically optimal N input, based on observed MSIs values to each location, with the actual applied rates.
Secret Two-Part Tariffs and Retailer Risk Aversion
Authors: Lømo Teis Lunde
Published: February 2025

This paper studies a manufacturer that offers secret two-part tariffs to multiple retailers that compete in prices. Prior work on this setting has shown that, in equilibrium, wholesale prices equal marginal cost and profits vanish as retailers become undifferentiated. I extend the prior work by introducing demand uncertainty and downstream risk aversion. I show that if merely a single retailer is risk averse, all wholesale prices will lie above marginal cost. Intuitively, the manufacturer provides insurance to the risk-averse retailer by reducing its fixed fee and increasing the wholesale price above cost. The positive upstream margin in turn induces the manufacturer to divert sales toward the risk-averse retailer, which it does by increasing wholesale prices for the risk-neutral retailers as well. Relatedly, downstream risk aversion can increase industry and upstream profits compared to risk neutrality if retailers are close substitutes.
A novel geo-independent and privacy-preserved traffic speed prediction framework based on deep learning for intelligent transportation systems
Authors: Akin Murat , Canbay Yavuz , Sagiroglu Seref
Published: February 2025

Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) involve collecting, storing, and delivering real-time traffic data to optimize efficiency, enhance transportation safety, and reduce energy consumption by integrating advanced electronics, information systems, and telecommunication technologies into roads, vehicles, and related infrastructure. These systems typically use some indicators such as speed, flow, and density to predict traffic information, which are measured by geographically fixed-position sensors located on the roads. Privacy leakage is a major problem since traffic information derived from users’ or vehicles’ mobility data contains sensitive information. Consequently, existing approaches are constrained by geographical dependencies, restrictions and privacy vulnerabilities. This study introduces a state-of-the-art, privacy-preserving, feature engineering-based, geo-independent traffic speed prediction framework to address these challenges for the first time. The framework, evaluated using performance metrics such as mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), mean square error (MSE), and root-mean-square error (RMSE) on a real-world dataset, was implemented using long short-term memory, bidirectional long short-term memory, gated recurrent unit (GRU), linear regression, support vector regression, multilayer perceptron and random forest regression, and differential privacy with varying epsilon values. According to the results, GRU yielded the most favorable outcome with MAE of 7.7, MAPE of 28.5%, MSE of 132.7, and RMSE of 11.5 for Istanbul, MAE of 9.7, MAPE of 17.2%, MSE of 177.4, and RMSE of 13.2 for Eskisehir, and MAE of 3.1, MAPE of 5.4%, MSE of 12.4, and RMSE of 3.4 for Konya Roads with the epsilon value of 200, respectively. These findings highlight the framework’s potential to advance privacy-aware traffic management and urban mobility solutions, offering a transformative approach for ITS applications.
Daytime sleepiness estimated using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale during mandibular advancement device therapy for snoring and sleep apnea: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Marklund Marie , Carlberg Bo , Forsgren Lars , Rietz Helene , Olsson Tommy , Franklin Karl A
Published: February 2025

Purpose

The effect of mandibular advancement device therapy on daytime sleepiness remains unclear. Here, we evaluate the effect of a mandibular advancement device on daytime sleepiness using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale.

Methods

We randomized 88 snoring patients with an apnea-hypopnea index < 30 and daytime sleepiness to a mandibular advancement device or a sham device for four months. The Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, which measures grades of sleepiness from 1 (very alert) to 9 (very sleepy), was used for seven consecutive days, four times each day. The results were analyzed with quantile regression at quartiles controlling for baseline, age, body mass index (kg/m2), sex, apnea-hypopnea index, and full-time work.

Results

The Karolinska Sleepiness Scale score was lower with the mandibular advancement device than with the sham device at specific time intervals. The positive effect of mandibular advancement device therapy occurred at wake up and before lunch during the whole week and before lunch on weekdays at the middle quartile. The adjusted differences between the interventions favored mandibular advancement device therapy by almost one unit and normalized the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale scores at wake up and before lunch. In addition, there were positive effects of mandibular advancement device therapy before dinner at the highest quartile during the whole week, on weekdays, and on the weekend.

Conclusion

Mandibular advancement devices used for snoring and sleep apnea reduce daytime sleepiness, particularly at wake up and before lunch, but provide some benefit before dinner.
Electronic Melting of Silicon in Nanostructures using X-ray Forbidden Bragg Reflections
Authors: Robinson Ian , Yang David , Wu Longlong , Kim Hyunjung , Ha Sung Soo , Choi Sungwook , Song Changyong , Hwang Junha , Heo Seung-Phil , Park Jaeku , Eom Intae , Kim Sunam
Published: February 2025

We carried out a short beamtime at the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory x-ray Free Electron Laser to perform a pump-probe (PP) laser excitation diffraction experiment on the silicon (222) forbidden Bragg peak. To limit the x-ray penetration, we used a “device layer” silicon film wafer bonded to a silicon substrate. The sample, specially fabricated by MEMC Electronic Materials, had a Si(100) substrate bonded to a 170 nm Si(100) film rotated at 45° for crystallographic isolation. A second sample was reactive-ion-etched down to 52 nm thickness. In the silicon lattice, the covalent bonds are seen exclusively at the 222 reflection. Upon laser excitation, these electrons are expected to be excited to the valence band on femtosecond electronic time scales. The Si(222) reflection is therefore expected to be extinguished on this fast time scale, while the electron–phonon coupled acoustic response is determined by the lattice dynamics. The latter is determined by the speed of sound over the device thickness, which is in the mid-picosecond range.
The comparison of endotracheal intubation and laryngeal tube insertion with face-to-face method in in-vehicle traffic accidents
Authors: Arslan Merve , Ekşi Ali
Published: February 2025

Emergency airway management is a critical focus in prehospital emergency healthcare. The right technique and the right equipment may increase survival. The study aimed to compare endotracheal intubation and laryngeal tube insertion with the face-to-face method in difficult conditions such as in-vehicle traffic accidents in which the injured person is trapped inside the vehicle. The population of the study, which was carried out as experimental research, consisted of emergency health workers currently working in Bursa 112 Ambulance Services (n: 383). The study compared two different airway applications with face-to-face techniques using a simulator mannequin. Data were collected between February and May 2023 and the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows (SPSS 25) computer program was used for statistical data analysis. The suitability of the numerical variables for normal distribution was tested by the Shapiro–Wilk test. Since the variables did not conform to the normal distribution, they were given as median (Q1–Q3) values. Participants’ preparation, implementation, and total times for ETI and LT were compared using the Wilcoxon test. The duration of face-to-face ETI and LT times were compared regarding participants' personal characteristics, experience status, and the training they received with the Mann–Whitney U test and the Kruskal–Wallis test. Categorical variables are given as number and percentage values. p < 0.05 was considered significant. In face-to-face endotracheal intubation, 24.3% of the participants were successful in the first attempt, 30% in the second attempt, 27.1% in the third attempt, 18.6% failed in all three attempts, and 38.6% performed esophageal intubation. 87.1% of the participants were successful in face-to-face laryngeal tube insertion in the first and 12.9% in the second attempt. The duration of face-to-face laryngeal tube placement was found to be significantly shorter than the duration of endotracheal intubation (p < 0.05). In face-to-face airway conduct, the length of endotracheal intubation time and the high risk of esophageal intubation make the laryngeal tube more advantageous than endotracheal intubation. Furthermore, the high number of attempts required for successful face-to-face endotracheal intubation may pose additional risks by causing destabilization in trauma patients requiring cervical stabilization.
Blacksmith’s house, wooden knives: why do legacy firms succeed in promoting digital outcomes but struggle with the digital transformation of their existing business models?
Authors: Franco Matheus , Quadros Ruy , Clauß Thomas , Minatogawa Vinicius
Published: February 2025

Although research recognizes that legacy firms struggle with digital transformation, frequently abandoning initiatives, the underlying mechanisms remain a black box. To tackle this issue, we adopt an Attention-based view lens and follow a multiple case study design with five Brazilian legacy firms as a methodological approach. We draw evidence from longitudinal data spanning six years (2016–2021), triangulating archival data from the companies’ annual reports with their websites and formal and informal interviews. Our findings reveal the interplay between attention shortsightedness, resulting in temporal myopia, and the mechanisms that we call the ‘spinning the slots’ for DT and ‘trendy decision-making’ to explain the procedural inconsistency. Therefore, we contribute to DT literature in several ways. First, we expand the DT literature by uncovering strategy-making mechanisms underlying legacy firms’ struggle with DT. Second, we challenge the overall positive vision of DT as an enabler of more rational strategic decision-making. We discuss that ambiguity and attention conflicts can lead to silos of garbage can decision-making, where DT can be a result of chance rather than increased rational decisions.
Analysis of Machine Learning Algorithms for the Computer Simulation of Moisture Sorption Isotherms of Coffee Beans
Authors: Collazos-Escobar Gentil A. , Gutiérrez-Guzmán Nelson , Váquiro Henry A. , García-Pérez José V. , Cárcel Juan A.
Published: February 2025

Digital twin–based machine learning (ML) techniques can improve the control of the storage conditions of dried products, strengthening the classical water sorption isotherm–based approach by including additional process variables. In this study, water sorption isotherms of dried parchment and green coffee beans were experimentally determined at 25, 35, and 45 °C using the dynamic dew point (DDI) method. Experimental data (both coffee bean types and temperatures) were simultaneously modeled by means of three ML techniques, support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), and artificial neural networks (ANN), with 75% of data used for model training and 25% for validation. The hyperparameters were identified by minimizing the mean square error (MSE). The ML model’s accuracy was addressed by a multiway ANOVA on the mean relative error (MRE), the coefficient of determination (R
2), and the computation time (CT). The sorption isotherms were significantly (p-value < 0.05) affected by the type of coffee and the temperature. The SVM model provided the best fit (MRE < 1% and R
2 > 99%) in a reasonable CT (< 13 s). These results revealed the potential of ML models as a robust tool for the fast prediction of the equilibrium moisture content, including additional variables such as the type of coffee stage (dried parchment or green) and temperature; this paves the way for their industrial-level implementation to assist storage management.
“It’s the democracy, stupid!” in defence of KlimaSeniorinnen
Authors: Eckes Christina
Published: February 2025

Small numbers of litigants asking a small number of unelected judges to impose limits on majoritarian decision-making stands at least prima facie in tension with majoritarianism as a central legitimizing principle of democracy in Europe. In KlimaSeniorinnen, the European Court of Human Rights required the Contracting Parties to quantify a fair share national carbon budget. Several aspects of the ruling demonstrate great deference to the national democratic process: how the Court emphasized climate exceptionalism, extended NGO standing, reduced the States’ margin of discretion in relation to their (international) climate commitments, and approached extraterritoriality.
Staatsräson vs. Weltordnung: Gaza als Feuerprobe wertebasierter Außenpolitik im Globalen Süden
Authors: Grimm Jannis Julien , Schneider Marcus
Published: February 2025

Die unverbrüchliche Parteinahme für Israel hat die Glaubwürdigkeit Deutschlands im Globalen Süden nachhaltig beschädigt. Längst sind Gaza-Krieg und die deutsche Staatsräson dort zu Symbolen für westliche Doppelmoral avanciert. Die offensichtliche Dissonanz zwischen dem deutschen Bekenntnis zu einer wertebasierten Außenpolitik und der Unterstützung Israels trotz schwerer Kriegsverbrechen trägt zur Erosion der regelbasierten Weltordnung bei. Um diesem Trend entgegenzuwirken, bedarf die deutsche Außenpolitik einer grundlegenden Neuausrichtung auf ein prinzipielles Bekenntnis zum Völkerrecht.
Reinforcing long lead time drought forecasting with a novel hybrid deep learning model: a case study in Iran
Authors: Moghaddasi Mahnoosh , Moradi Mansour , Ghaleni Mahdi Mohammadi , Yaseen Zaher Mundher
Published: February 2025

Drought assessment is inherently complex, particularly under the influences of climate change, which complicates long-term forecasting. This study introduces a novel hybrid deep learning model, Deep Feedforward Natural Networks (DFFNN), enhanced by War Strategy Optimization (WSO), aimed at forecasting the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) for lead times of one, three, six, nine, and twelve months. Key parameters of the DFFNN, including the number of neurons and layers, learning rate, training function, and weight initialization, were optimized using the WSO algorithm. The model’s performance was validated against two established optimizers: Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA). Evaluations were conducted at two synoptic stations with distinct climatic conditions in Iran. Results demonstrated that the WSO-DFFNN model achieved superior performance for SPEI 12 (t + 1) with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9961 and Normalized Root Mean Square Error (NRMSE) of 0.1028; for SPEI 12 (t + 3) with r = 0.8856 and NRMSE = 0.1833; for SPEI 12 (t + 6) with r = 0.8573 and NRMSE = 0.2203; for SPEI 12 (t + 9) with r = 0.7951 and NRMSE = 0.2479; and for SPEI 12 (t + 12) with r = 0.7840 and NRMSE = 0.3279 at the Chabahar station. Additionally, the WSO-DFFNN model outperformed for SPEI 12 (t + 1) with r = 0.9118 and NRMSE = 0.1704; for SPEI 12 (t + 3) with r = 0.8386 and NRMSE = 0.2048; for SPEI 12 (t + 6) with r = 0.7602 and NRMSE = 0.2919; for SPEI 12 (t + 9) with r = 0.6379 and NRMSE = 0.2843; and for SPEI 12 (t + 12) with r = 0.6044 and NRMSE = 0.3463 at the Anzali station. The results obtained from this study have the potential to improve drought management strategies.
Insuperable Strategies in Two-Player and Reducible Multi-Player Games
Authors: Chalub Fabio A. C. C. , Souza Max O.
Published: February 2025

Real populations are seldom found at the Nash equilibrium strategy. The present work focuses on how population size can be a relevant evolutionary force diverting the population from its expected Nash equilibrium. We introduce the concept of insuperable strategy, a strategy that guarantees that no other player can have a larger payoff than the player that adopts it. We show that this concept is different from the rationality assumption frequently used in game theory and that for small populations the insuperable strategy is the most probable evolutionary outcome for any dynamics that equal game payoff and reproductive fitness. We support our ideas with several examples and numerical simulations. We finally discuss how to extend the concept to multiplayer games, introducing, in a limited way, the concept of game reduction.
Teachers who stay in hard-to-staff schools: School responses to the teacher shortage crisis
Authors: McPherson Amy , Lampert Jo , Baptista Alonso Casanueva
Published: February 2025

In this paper, we report on some early findings from a project that explores the experiences of teacher shortages in hard-to-staff schools in Australia. We provide an in-depth account of the experiences of teachers who remain at schools characterised by unfilled vacancies, high staff turnover and a limited casual relief workforce. These experiences are often overlooked because most studies concerning teacher shortages typically analyse such issues through a labour market lens, concentrating on supply and demand and the extent and causes of the shortages. We use a work-storied approach that includes data from purposeful conversations, walking interviews, work-shadowing and journals, to examine the impact of teacher shortages on schools with low scores on the index of community socio-educational advantage across rural and metropolitan. This research explores how school leaders and teachers who remain in their roles respond to the challenges of teacher shortages. It examines the strategies they respond to these issues, focusing on how they adapt and modify organisational structures and norms to manage the impacts. We demonstrate how teacher shortages cause ripple effects across schools that create challenges beyond filling vacancies: the hard-to-staff schools in our study must simultaneously manage high teacher turnover, attrition, induction, out-of-field teaching, teacher workload capacity, and student behaviour issues. Ultimately, the current workforce conditions force strategic responses to unfilled vacancies and high teacher turnover in ways that intensify the already high-pressure working conditions for teachers and school leaders.
Chinese EFL Middle School Learners’ Reading Skills: A Latent Profile Analysis
Authors: Shi Yujie , Lee Byungmin
Published: February 2025

This study classifies profiles of readers by combining good readers, poor comprehenders, dyslexia, and generally poor readers based on the Simple View of Reading (SVR) model that individual readers have different profiles of reading skills. A total of 501 ninth-grade Chinese middle school students participated in the study. They engaged in five tests pertaining to English reading-related skills (decoding, vocabulary knowledge, syntactic knowledge, morphological knowledge, and reading comprehension) and completed a survey questionnaire to provide information on their SES and English learning background. Results showed six profiles (top readers with highest decoding and language comprehension, good readers with good decoding and language comprehension, average readers with average decoding and language comprehension, poor comprehenders with average decoding but low language comprehension, poor decoders with specific decoding difficulties, poor readers with mixed reading difficulties) were drawn from latent profile analysis. Multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that each profile of reading skill was influenced by the education level of parents, number of English books, English private tutoring lessons, and English advanced prior learning.
The protein phosphatases of abscisic acid coreceptors mediate carbon metabolism in Arabidopsis
Authors: Yoshida Takuya , Fernie Alisdair R.
Published: February 2025

Abscisic acid (ABA) is involved in various processes in plant growth, development and stress responses. Clade A protein phosphatases of type 2C (PP2Cs) inhibit the core kinases of ABA signaling in the absence of ABA and serve as ABA coreceptors by forming a complex with the receptor in the presence of ABA. There are nine clade A PP2Cs in Arabidopsis, and previously, the triple mutants lacking three of the four selected PP2Cs exhibited impaired growth under well-watered conditions, partly because of the enhanced stress-related gene expression by ABA. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains largely obscure. To gain further insights into molecular events mediated by the PP2Cs, we performed metabolite profiling using gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry in ABA-insensitive and -hypersensitive mutants of the PP2Cs. A comparative analysis revealed that several metabolites, including organic and amino acids, exhibited opposite accumulation patterns in these PP2C mutants. Moreover, candidate enzyme and transporter genes downstream of the PP2Cs were identified by re-analyzing previously reported transcriptome data. Together with independent multi-omics studies, including metabolite profiling, on other ABA core signaling components, these results suggested that ABA signaling was associated with the tricarboxylic acid cycle for adequate production of energy and amino acids.
Nitinol Stent Placement in a Stenosed Artery: A Highly Nonlinear Application Scenario for Two Novel Finite-Element Models
Authors: Gierig Meike , Liu Fangrui , Junker Philipp
Published: February 2025

Shape memory alloys are complex materials with unique properties. Their appropriate modeling necessitates thermomechanically coupled approaches. A numerically robust and efficient material model that is based on energy principles has been presented in previous studies. The present work demonstrates its applicability to complex loading scenarios. To this end, the placement of a stent in a narrowed artery which damages is simulated. For the stent, a Nitinol material model is used and contact conditions between the stent and the artery wall are considered which introduce highly nonlinear kinematic constraints on the displacement field. Furthermore, the artery is modeled by Neo-Hookean hyperelasticity, including damage evolution. Gradient enhancement is included for regularization purposes. Hence, the presented numerical studies not only prove the applicability of both models to highly nonlinear simulation scenarios, they further allow for the investigation of stent-induced arterial injury. The latter, in turn, is known to initiate inflammatory responses in arteries which can lead to pathologic tissue responses. Concluding, both models can contribute to the investigation of new stent designs and stent–artery interactions to reduce arterial injury after cardiovascular interventions.
How does dishonesty diffuse? An experiment comparing spread and concentrated incentives
Authors: Braut Beatrice , Piovesan Marco
Published: February 2025

We experimentally test if the propensity to cheat changes when subjects face different distributions of the same monetary incentive. Such a manipulation represents a costless intervention in the many situations where multiple reports are required simultaneously, like timesheets or expense reimbursements. In our experiment, subjects have to roll a die in private five times and report the outcomes. In the LAST treatment, only the fifth reported roll determines the payoff, whereas in the SUM treatment, all five reports contribute proportionally to the payoff. The possible reward from reporting remains the same, but the two treatments differ in the effort required to obtain it: inflating one report or many. We find that subjects report significantly higher numbers in LAST compared to the average report in SUM. Looking at the total of reports, it does not differ by treatment since subjects do not inflate the reported rolls when there is no incentive. Dishonesty differs as there are more opportunities, having the positive effect of reducing the total profit obtained from cheating, but the negative effect of spreading the lies across all the opportunities. The total amount of cheating made remains stable across conditions, but it costs less when the incentive is spread on multiple reports.
Can RAP from Crumb Rubber-Modified Asphalt Mixtures be Recycled Seamlessly as Standard RAP? A Comprehensive Laboratory Study
Authors: Lu Dai Xuan , Balasubramaniam Gokul , Enfrin Marie , Giustozzi Filippo
Published: February 2025

The recycling of end-of-life tyres such as crumb rubber (CR) in asphalt mixtures for roads addresses landfill and environmental issues. However, if a reclaimed crumb rubber asphalt mixture (CR-RAP) cannot be recycled, it may defer waste issues rather than offering a true eco-friendly solution. In this work, the future recyclability of dense graded CR-modified asphalt mixtures is investigated. In particular, this work examined the performance of a dense-graded asphalt mixture prepared with CR-RAP added at 15% and 30%. CR-RAP was manufactured in the laboratory by artificially ageing a CR asphalt mixture at two different ageing levels, equivalent to approximately 10 and 20 years of field ageing. Construction aspects, as well as key performance indicators of moisture damage, cracking and rutting resistance, were evaluated. The study revealed that adding more CR-RAP tends to reduce compactability. However, the asphalt mixtures with 15% and 30% CR-RAP added in this study had sufficient compactability. The study revealed that the inclusion of CR-RAP in a mixture does not generate additional moisture resistance issues; instead, it enhances the moisture resistance of the asphalt mixture. Compared with standard RAP, the inclusion of 30% CR-RAP can reduce cracking while improving rutting resistance in the asphalt mixture. Overall, the study suggests that CR-modified asphalt mixtures can be effectively recycled as conventional RAP in dense-graded asphalt mixtures. However, a high content of CR-RAP in dense graded asphalt mixtures might lead to compaction issues during construction if a proper mix design method is not employed.
Social Vulnerability and Poverty: the Impact of Discriminatory Experiences on Positive and Negatives Affect Among Roma and Non-Roma Poorer Communities
Authors: Ledo Jóni , Silva Patricia , Cruz Madalena , Oliveira António , Pereira Henrique , Oliveira Catarina
Published: February 2025

Discriminatory experiences have an impact on the positive and negative affects of the people who suffer them. This study aimed to understand how the experiences of discrimination in the Roma and non-Roma communities living in poverty in Portugal impact on their positive and negative affects. A case–control study, with a sample of 114 participants (50% Roma community and 50% non-Roma), aged between 18 and 70 years (mean = 34.82; SD = 12.90) was performed. The instruments used were the Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS) and the Short Version of the Portuguese Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS-VRP). It appears that there areS significant differences between the Roma community and non-Roma in discrimination with a higher value of discrimination in the Roma community (Roma: 2.77; non-Roma:1.30; p < .001), contrary to what happens in negative affect (Roma: 1.73; non-Roma: 2.39; p < .001). Regarding the reasons for discrimination, all self-declared Roma participants pointed to ethnicity as the main reason. In contrast, in the Non-Roma community, the reasons were more diverse, with socioeconomic status standing out. The results of the logistic regression show that Roma community have 88% lower probability to have high negative affect (p < 0.01; CI [0.04–0.40]. Discrimination has a significant impact on the positive and negative affects of Roma and non-Roma communities in poverty in Portugal, with effects on their psychosocial health, with the effect of discrimination being more prevalent in the Roma community. It is, therefore, essential to carry out longitudinal investigations in this context to explore these relationships over time and identify possible underlying mechanisms.