bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
National agroforestry program in Mexico faces trade-offs between reducing poverty, protecting biodiversity and targeting forest loss
Authors: Gonzalez-Moctezuma Pablo , Rhemtulla Jeanine M
Published: August 2024

National reforestation initiatives with ambitious targets and multiple objectives are becoming the norm across the Global South. The extent to which these large-scale initiatives are actually achieving their multiple and potentially conflicting objectives, however, is largely unknown. Sembrando Vida, a national initiative in Mexico implemented in 2019, pays smallholder farmers to plant agroforests in order to reduce poverty and forest loss, and protect biodiversity. We assessed to what degree program recruitment met its stated objectives via its selection of participating municipalities and households. Because program data are not publicly available, we consolidated and harmonized >14 million policy payments (totaling ∼$4 billion USD) to smallholder farmers, thus creating the first spatiotemporal dataset of program outcomes. We found that ∼450k rural households in ∼1000 municipalities across the country participated in the program consistently from 2019 to 2022. The program was reasonably well targeted to achieve its poverty reduction objectives. Significantly more households (ANOVA, p < 0.001) were enrolled in high-poverty (10.4%) than low-poverty (4.9%) municipalities, despite more money being transferred in absolute terms to low-poverty municipalities. The program did not reach some regions that best fit its three goals. Using a zero-inflated negative binomial model, we showed that the distribution of participating households was more likely to address poverty (coefficient = 0.51, p < 0.001 at household level) and forest cover loss (0.1, p = 0.01) than to restore areas important for biodiversity (−0.08, p = 0.02). Finally, we conducted a spatial analysis showing that there is technically sufficient rural land (4.29 Mha) and households (491k) to maximize the potential of all policy objectives simultaneously, but this would require that the program operate in only 83 municipalities across 10 states. Our results highlight the challenges in reaching high poverty regions while meeting multiple other objectives when scaling up forest landscape restoration.
Systematic study of polymer gas sampling bags for offline analysis of exhaled breath
Authors: Fido Mateusz , Hersberger Simone , Güntner Andreas T , Zenobi Renato , Giannoukos Stamatios
Published: August 2024

Polymeric bags are a widely applied, simple, and cost-effective method for the storage and offline analysis of gaseous samples. Various materials have been used as sampling bags, all known to contain impurities and differing in their cost, durability, and storage capabilities. Herein, we present a comparative study of several well-known bag materials, Tedlar (PVF), Kynar (PVDF), Teflon (PTFE), and Nalophan (PET), as well as a new material, ethylene vinyl copolymer (EVOH), commonly used for storing food. We investigated the influences of storage conditions, humidity, bag cleaning, and light exposure on volatile organic compound concentration (acetone, acetic acid, isoprene, benzene, limonene, among others) in samples of exhaled human breath stored in bags for up to 48 h. Specifically, we show high losses of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in bags of all materials (for most SCFAs, less than 50% after 8 h of storage). We found that samples in Tedlar, Nalophan, and EVOH bags undergo changes in composition when exposed to UV radiation over a period of 48 h. We report high initial impurity levels in all the bags and their doubling after a period of 48 h. We compare secondary electrospray ionization and proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry in the context of offline analysis after storage in sampling bags. We provide an analytical perspective on the temporal evolution of bag contents by presenting the intensity changes of all significant m/z features. We also present a simple, automated, and cost-effective offline sample introduction system, which enables controlled delivery of collected gaseous samples from polymeric bags into the mass spectrometer. Overall, our findings suggest that sampling bags exhibit high levels of impurities, are sensitive to several environmental factors (e.g. light exposure), and provide low recoveries for some classes of compounds, e.g. SCFAs.
Analysis of Vertical Greenery Systems (VGS) on Cooling Loads on Campus Buildings in Tropical Climates
Authors: Arminda Wenny , Shoful Ulum M. , Pratama Dika Satria , Hisyam
Published: August 2024

Natural symptoms due to climate change have begun to be felt in Bandar Lampung city over the last few years. One of the reasons for this situation is high energy consumption to obtain thermal comfort in buildings. Efforts to slow the rate of climate change need to be made by reducing building energy consumption. In this study, an experiment was carried out in the form of applying VGS (Vertical Greenery System) to building facades as a strategy to reduce building energy consumption. The purpose of this research is to understand how to reduce the cooling load on a classroom on a campus building in the tropics by applying VGS based on green architecture principles. The research was carried out using a software-based modelling method. After the VGS model is implemented, the EUI value required to meet the existing sample room comfort standards is 1067 MJ/m2/year or the equivalent of 11,206 kWh, if converted into cooling load units (BTU) it is as much as 38,236,459 BTU. The costs required to meet energy needs are $726 or the equivalent of IDR 11,237,463.60 (exchange rate 15,478.60). The application of VGS in the room has an effective value of 10.2%.
Characteristics of the Modern Mosque Facade in Banda Aceh City as a Passive Ventilation System
Authors: Aini Syahrul , Nursaniah Cut , Caisarina Irin
Published: August 2024

The modern mosque is synonymous with fabricated materials, has a function as a place of prayer and sunnah activities related to religion/social nature. The interesting thing that is becoming a trend in Banda Aceh is the construction of these modern mosques applying ventilated facades in the form of intricate ornaments, but then they are covered with glass material. In fact, glass material is actually the highest heat contributor to the building envelope, so to get thermal comfort inside the mosque, you have to use mechanical ventilation in the form of an air conditioner. This phenomenon results in non-functional design, wastage of electrical energy, and environmental pollution which has an impact on increasing global warming. This paper aims to evaluate the shape and facade design characteristics of modern mosques in Banda Aceh from thermal comfort based on the application of passive ventilation elements, in order to conclude whether the architectural design of the mosque is functional to achieve thermal comfort before being covered with glass. This mix method study was initiated by measuring the surface air temperature of each sample, then analysis and discussion were carried out on the sample with the lowest temperature and the sample with the highest temperature. The design of the building façade determines the movement of wind inside the mosque, and shading with vegetation and the use of environmentally friendly materials on the exterior will help achieve thermal comfort.
Cultural Landscape of Lombok Island, Indonesia: Spatial structure of terraced paddy fields in Desa Bayan
Authors: Shiraishi Hideo , Jianglong Xing , Akiyama Futo , Tada Ryosuke , Wakita Yoshihisa , Bruffaertse Amadej , Mujono Pramudito , Murtig Adrian Prasetyo , Setyonugroho Gregorius Agung
Published: August 2024

This study aimed to clarify spatial structure of terraced paddy fields in Desa Bayan located in Lombok Island, Indonesia as an example of cultural landscape of the island. The survey extent was defined by collecting up all waterways from a water source in a sacred forest (Hutan Adat) which supply water to traditional paddy fields called Sawah Adat. Location of other irrigation facilities such as intakes and water gates, as well as land ownership within a specific area including paddies owned by a traditional chief (Kepala Adat) were collected to understand its spatial characteristics. The findings were summarized as below: 1) Waterways were split into several channels to formulate clusters of paddy fields as a unit of water supply area, 2) size of paddy fields was not consistent but varies based on geographical condition, 3) a set of paddy fields were owned by individual residents not only from Desa Bayan but also from other villages, 4) each set of paddy fields contained a hut which was used not only for resting but also for periodical ceremonies, 5) there was a set of paddy fields owned by a village chief (Kepala Desa) from generation to generation which receives water from other paddy fields preferentially, 6) basic structure of the landscape is defined by waterways but the major factors of cultural landscape could be summarized as continuous paddy fields, spaced-out huts, trees along waterways and forests surrounding the entire area.
Image of the Baluwarti Old Town, Surakarta Sunanate Palace
Authors: Susilo Dian Ariffianto Budi , Marlina Avi , Hardiyati
Published: August 2024

Baluwarti is a Javanese heritage kampong located in the old town area of the Surakarta Sunanate Palace from 1975 to the present and has various unique forms of historical value. The Baluwarti area starts from the northern entrance of the Gladhag Gate, along with the space inside the Baluwarti fort, up to the southern gate of Gading Gate. People have various perceptions imageability of the old town of Baluwarti. Baluwarti has elements that form the image of the city based on Kevin Lynch’s theory. Namely “paths” in the form of streets and alleys within the area, Baluwarti forts as “edges,” kampong area with a unique toponym in the Baluwarti area as “district”; streets and alleys intersections as “nodes”; and the noblemen’s residences of the Surakarta Sunanate Palace and shape of the main gates as “landmarks.” This study aims to find out the public’s perception of the image of the old town of Baluwarti, according to members of the Indonesian Institute of Architects in the Surakarta region. This study uses quantitative methods by collecting data, field observations, reviewing the literature, then processing it into a questionnaire involving thirty four respondents who are members of the Indonesian Architects Association in the Surakarta region. The findings of this research indicate that the perception of the old town of Baluwarti for members of the Indonesian Architects Association in the Surakarta region is that the Kori Brojonolo Lor (north gate) is the most robust image in the Baluwarti region. Stakeholders can use the results of this research to develop the Baluwarti area to strengthen the image of the old town of Baluwarti.
The Attractiveness of Urban Tourism Destination: a Case Study of Surakarta Royal Palace Square-Pasar Gede Corridor
Authors: Ikhsan F.A. , Fatimah  , Maarif S.
Published: August 2024

Public spaces in cities play a significant part in tourism-related activities. One of the critical public space corridors for Surakarta City is the section between Surakarta Royal Palace Square to Pasar Gede. Since the Kasunanan Surakarta Hadiningrat Palace was built in 1745, this corridor has seen the growth of Surakarta as a city. The Surakarta municipal government has implemented several methods to create the public space corridor so that it can become one of the city’s famous tourist attractions. This study aims to see the extent to which the configuration and elements of public space in the corridor of Keraton Kasunanan Surakarta Square to Pasar Gede can become a superior urban tourism destination. The data collection method was carried out by conducting field observations along the corridors of the research area and documenting the visitors traveling there. Data analysis was performed using the Clare A. Gunn Model to identify the elements that makeup space along the corridor of the Kasunanan Surakarta-Pasar Gede palace square, which is an urban tourist destination. The study results show that the main urban elements that attract urban tourism are the Pasar Gede element, Surakarta City Town Hall element, Galabo Culinair element, and Souvenir Market element. The benefits of this research are expected to be an input for urban tourism area structuring policies.
Development of an Older Adult Community Centre Based on Biophilic Architecture Principle to Improve the Quality of Life
Authors: Tjia Vincent Alexis Sutjianto , Srinaga Felia , Thiodore Jacky
Published: August 2024

While living a retirement life, most older adults are facing obstacles from psychological and biological factors. Persons over 65 need to fight off stress and depression as it can weaken the immune system. One of the ways to reduce stress is providing a warm relationship that can be achieved through a place like older adult community center. A specific design of community center is needed to bring a significant impact for the older adult health and happiness. The purpose of this study is to define architectural design strategies that can improve older adult quality of life within a community center. This research was looking into principle of Biophilic Architecture, in which introduce some design elements to connect older adult with nature and provide healthy environment. The research method is using literature study to describe the design elements of Biophilic Architecture. This is deepened by a study of precedents in finding programs and activities that can calm or invite the older adult to be active in socializing to increase their quality of life. The research present strategies for designing an older adult community center with Biophilic Architecture principle. The results show some strategies to promote healing and increase collaboration in older adult environment. Those strategies include the strategy for site development, materiality, activities, and programme, building massing and accessibility in which can help in reducing their loneliness and stress, and achieve a better quality of life. Those strategies applied to make a prototype of Biophilic older adult community center project. The project implemented principles such as visual connection with nature, biomorphic form, material connection with nature, sensory stimuli, well-ventilated, daylight and water element for calming. The design in this project demonstrates how the green buffer, combination of indoor and outdoor activities, and space for social activities can improve the quality of older adult’s life.
Durability evaluation issues of reinforced concrete structures during operation: a review and perspectives
Authors: Tytarenko Roman , Khmil Roman , Selejdak Jacek , Blikharskyy Yaroslav
Published: August 2024

This article is devoted to analyzing several existing models and methods for the probabilistic durability assessment of reinforced concrete (RC) structures during operation. For this task, the authors reviewed and analyzed many existing studies by Ukrainian and foreign researchers in this field and highlighted the problems of a normative and calculation base. As determined, almost all design norms consider durability (or residual resource) regarding RC structures’ design and operation practice (without considering their life cycle), including the stochastic model’s construction in a specific environment. According to the author’s point of view, an initial random data package for all individual tasks is necessary due to the durability assessment issues’ complexity. In turn, that requires including parameters of the member’s bearing capacity reserve (materials’ strengths, dimensions of sections, etc.) and its service conditions (different types of actions) which are stochastic. Based on the studies reviewed, the authors also emphasize the main advantages and disadvantages of the models and methods described here. Also they formulated the recommendations for further studies in this field, namely expanding the use of numerical simulations (including Monte Carlo methods) to creating a fundamental base of a unified practical system for the reliability management (including durability) of RC structures during operation.
Investigation of the Behavior of Sand Under Repeated Dynamic Loads Using a Large-Scale Model of Soil Base
Authors: Havryliuk O , Aleksandrovych V , Kobzar Y
Published: August 2024

Results of vibration stamp tests in container with soil are considering. Appearance and progress with time of supplementary settlement of sandy foundation soils under dynamic loads is analyzing. Appearance and progress with time of supplementary settlement of sandy foundation soils under harmonic loads are depended on key parameters of the load. According to our experimental studies we had identified the behavior of settlement in time, with various combinations of frequency, amplitude of forced vibration and static load as follows. After reaching settlement stabilization from the static load applied and the inclusion of the vibrator, depending on the amplitude of the forced oscillations of the vibrator it can starts an additional to the settlement already occurred from static loading. It could be two different kinds if vibrocreep settlement: decaying and sustained settlements depends to the mathematical law most reasonably could be used to approximate the experimental data.
Probabilistic analysis of elevated steel silos for seismic resistance
Authors: Shimanovsky O , Makhinko A , Makhinko N , Vorontsov O , Kordun O
Published: August 2024

The article is devoted to the calculation of elevated steel silos for seismic actions. The purpose of the study is developing methods for estimation of reliability function of the elevated steel silos under seismic action, on the basis of which the authors obtained an analytical expressions suitable for engineering analysis. The spectral technique for determining seismic actions is used, as well as methods of probability theory and mathematical statistics. The steps are formulated for determining the reliability function of structures of elevated silos, taking into account the probabilistic nature of geotectonic excitations and stochastic properties of the material of structures. The dynamic response of elevated silos is analyzed by varying the direction of the seismic action. The methods proposed in the article and the formulated results can be applied both for direct probabilistic analysis of elevated steel silos and for codification seismic actions within the framework of the spectral technique.
RC beams with an early phase of reinforcement damage
Authors: Blikharskyy Yaroslav , Khmil Roman , Katunský Dušan , Blikharskyy Zinoviy
Published: August 2024

This article presents the experimental results of reinforced concrete beams with thermally strengthened reinforcement. According to engineering experience, rein-forced concrete is the most commonly used construction material today. Rein-forced concrete structures are widely used in buildings and roof structures for both industrial and civil purposes. Reinforced concrete is optimally used as part of building structures and effectively performs its functions, perceiving various types of force and non-force influences, the nature of which depends on the conditions of operation in different environments. At the same time, for reinforced concrete structures, the durability and residual bearing capacity sometimes de-pends not only on force loads, but also on the effects of the surrounding environment. One of the most dangerous effects are corrosion processes, which cause the appearance of defects of various degrees and, accordingly, a decrease in the load-bearing capacity of structural elements. At the same time, the intensity of degradation of structures under the influence of an aggressive environment de-pends on the operating conditions, chemical composition and concentration of the aggressive environment. That is why, two beams with a diameter of 20 mm of reinforcement of class A500C were designed and experimentally tested, and the other two beams were tested with damage from 20 mm to 18 mm of the outer thermally strengthened layer. Damage from 20 mm to 18 mm corresponds to 19% of undamaged samples.
Determination of walking energy expenditure as an indicator of walking fatigue
Authors: Kopytkov Denys , Ponkratov Denys , Samchuk Ganna , Yaruta Anton , Kitchenko Nataliia
Published: August 2024

The paper addresses the identification of the walking fatigue in urban environment. Currently, there is no generic walking fatigue indicator to unambiguously describe its impact on walking performance. Resulting from the different moving populations, it was hypothesized that walking energy expenditure can be used as a general fatigue signifier. After reviewing approaches to have data on the pedestrian fatigue origin and the techniques of its study, a combination of instrumental methods and self-reporting forms was selected. The influence of movement and biological parameters on the walking energy demand was examined using correlation and regression analysis to find the linear regression model as the most appropriated tool in predicting the pedestrian fatigue level. The walking fatigue assessment based on the energy expenditure should be used to create a friendlier urban environment and, thus, to encourage the urban travelling without using mass transportation and private cars. In turn, it should also promote the reducing the number of road accidents and harmful environmental and noise load on residents of present cities.
A square-root speedup for finding the smallest eigenvalue
Authors: Kerzner Alex , Gheorghiu Vlad , Mosca Michele , Guilbaud Thomas , Carminati Federico , Fracas Fabio , Dellantonio Luca
Published: August 2024

We describe a quantum algorithm for finding the smallest eigenvalue of a Hermitian matrix. This algorithm combines quantum phase estimation and quantum amplitude estimation to achieve a quadratic speedup with respect to the best classical algorithm in terms of matrix dimensionality, i.e.

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(

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9

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In this work

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ignores terms that are polylogarithmic in N or

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black-box queries to an oracle encoding the matrix, where N is the matrix dimension and ɛ is the desired precision. In contrast, the best classical algorithm for the same task requires

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queries. In addition, this algorithm allows the user to select any constant success probability. We also provide a similar algorithm with the same runtime that allows us to prepare a quantum state lying mostly in the matrix’s low-energy subspace. We implement simulations of both algorithms and demonstrate their application to problems in quantum chemistry and materials science.
Entanglement-preserving measurement of the Bell parameter on a single entangled pair
Authors: Virzì Salvatore , Rebufello Enrico , Atzori Francesco , Avella Alessio , Piacentini Fabrizio , Lussana Rudi , Cusini Iris , Madonini Francesca , Villa Federica , Gramegna Marco , Cohen Eliahu , Pietro Degiovanni Ivo , Genovese Marco
Published: August 2024

Bell inequalities represent one of the cornerstones of quantum foundations, and a fundamental tool for quantum technologies. Although a lot of effort was put in exploring and generalizing them, because of the wave function collapse it was deemed impossible to estimate the entire Bell parameter from one entangled pair, since this would involve measuring incompatible observables on the same quantum state. Conversely, here it is reported the first implementation of a new generation of Bell inequality tests, able to extract a Bell parameter value from each entangled pair and, at the same time, preserve the pair entanglement instead of destroying it. This is obtained by exploiting sequences of weak measurements, allowing incompatible observable measurements on a quantum state without collapsing its wave function. On the fundamental side, by removing the need to choose between different measurement bases our approach stretches the concept of counterfactual definiteness, since it allows measuring the entangled pair in all the bases needed for the Bell inequality test, intrinsically eliminating the issues connected with the otherwise not-chosen bases. On the practical side, after our Bell parameter measurement the entanglement within the pair remains (basically) unaltered, hence exploitable for other quantum-technology-related or foundational purposes.
Smart pixel sensors: towards on-sensor filtering of pixel clusters with deep learning
Authors: Yoo Jieun , Dickinson Jennet , Swartz Morris , Di Guglielmo Giuseppe , Bean Alice , Berry Douglas , Blanco Valentin Manuel , DiPetrillo Karri , Fahim Farah , Gray Lindsey , Hirschauer James , Kulkarni Shruti R , Lipton Ron , Maksimovic Petar , Mills Corrinne , Neubauer Mark S , Parpillon Benjamin , Pradhan Gauri , Syal Chinar , Tran Nhan , Wen Dahai , Young Aaron
Published: August 2024

Highly granular pixel detectors allow for increasingly precise measurements of charged particle tracks. Next-generation detectors require that pixel sizes will be further reduced, leading to unprecedented data rates exceeding those foreseen at the High- Luminosity Large Hadron Collider. Signal processing that handles data incoming at a rate of

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(40 MHz) and intelligently reduces the data within the pixelated region of the detector at rate will enhance physics performance at high luminosity and enable physics analyses that are not currently possible. Using the shape of charge clusters deposited in an array of small pixels, the physical properties of the traversing particle can be extracted with locally customized neural networks. In this first demonstration, we present a neural network that can be embedded into the on-sensor readout and filter out hits from low momentum tracks, reducing the detector’s data volume by 57.1%–75.7%. The network is designed and simulated as a custom readout integrated circuit with 28 nm CMOS technology and is expected to operate at less than 300 

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W

with an area of less than 0.2 mm2. The temporal development of charge clusters is investigated to demonstrate possible future performance gains, and there is also a discussion of future algorithmic and technological improvements that could enhance efficiency, data reduction, and power per area.
Projections of windstorms damages under changing climate and demography for Norway
Authors: Jaison Ashbin , Michel Clio , Sorteberg Asgeir , Breivik Øyvind
Published: August 2024

Windstorms cause severe damages and are the dominant natural hazard responsible for insurance payouts in Norway. Using future wind speeds from twenty bias corrected regional climate model simulations from EURO-CORDEX and four damage functions, fitted on municipality level to observed insurance losses, we estimate storm related losses to increase in all Norwegian counties due to climate change. At national level, there is an increase in storm losses in the far future, but some counties and municipalities can still exhibit a decrease in losses. Under a changing climate, despite a decrease in the 98th percentile of the wind speed, the most extreme winds increase, and this drives an increase in the windstorm damages. We also show that the wind load design values may need to be re-evaluated to take into account the changing wind speeds. In addition to climate change, the impact of future exposure changes in the form of population changes using municipality-level population projections is shown to be important for determining the level of future windstorm damage risk. Overall, the loss projections show a large spread, highlighting their sensitivity to the choice of the storm-damage function and to the choice of the simulation.
Disproportionate energy disruptions afflicted rural Hispanic households during winter storm Uri
Authors: Kumar Ashwin , Ruggles Tyler H , Virgüez Edgar
Published: August 2024

This perspective investigates the impacts of disparate energy disruptions during Winter Storm Uri, which in 2021 caused severe power outages across the state of Texas leading to numerous deaths and billions of dollars of damage to property and infrastructure. The paper focuses on the potential injustice along ethnic lines in the distribution of power outages across the state. By analyzing data from the hourly rate of power outages aggregated by counties in Texas we find that among rural populations, Hispanic households faced substantially higher outage rates throughout the storm compared to other racial and ethnic groups. This reveals an inequitable distribution of energy disruptions. We propose that further nuances may be uncovered if more granular data were made available, delving into intra-county disparities. Only through comprehensive examination and proactive measures can we mitigate the adverse effects of future energy disruptions and safeguard the well-being and lives of all citizens, irrespective of their race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.
Locally semialgebraic superspaces and Nash supermanifolds
Authors: Can Mahir
Published: August 2024

In this article, we present a novel theory of locally semialgebraic superspaces along with Nash supermanifolds. By adapting Batchelor’s theorem to our framework, we show that all locally semialgebraic superspaces and affine Nash supermanifolds can be derived from appropriate vector bundles. Our analysis of Nash supermanifolds involves an investigation of a topology, where closed sets are defined by Nash subsets. Within this context, we establish the softness of the structure sheaf for an affine Nash manifold. Moreover, we establish that under this topology, the higher cohomology of quasi-coherent sheaves on an affine Nash manifold vanishes completely. These results open up new directions for cohomological studies on Nash manifolds.
Antipoverty Interventions Across ‘Most Different’ Settings
Authors: Gubrium Erika
Published: August 2024

A comparative, qualitative study in the Global North and South provided ground-breaking evidence concerning the psychosocial impact of antipoverty interventions. This chapter offers a new look at synthetic findings from a targeted policy analysis and an analysis of interview data from two country cases from the study—China and Norway. The concept of biographical circumstance is used to explore the mechanisms shaping varying emotional impacts of antipoverty interventions (social assistance) in the two sites. Specific focus is placed on how intersections between personal biography and changing socioeconomic, historical, and institutional contexts led to receipt of the intervention and how this variably shaped emotional impact. The findings, analysed through an analytical lens that incorporates a focus on change over time, add nuance to and complicate earlier findings. The findings are methodologically significant to the project of comparative analysis more broadly speaking. Attention to the participant’s changing experiences over time and the historical changes circumscribing the period in focus in such a comparison also has the potential to destabilize the essentialist tendencies that otherwise might prevail given a snapshot comparison.
Neurodevelopment in the Post-Pandemic World
Authors: Colvin Molly , Reesman Jennifer Linton , Glen Tannahill
Published: August 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic caused worldwide and sustained educational and psychosocial disruption for children and adolescents. Schools, when they were able to remain open, quickly shifted to adopt untested virtual instruction methods. Youth were exposed to increased stress at home, including adverse childhood experiences, and mental health conditions increased. Young children who needed support for developmental disabilities and learning delays missed critical interventions and/or entered school later. Older adolescents were lost entirely from the educational system. The significant developmental and psychosocial impact on this generation of young people will be felt for decades to come. The mental health system is presently unable to meet the demands of the population, prompting a declared state of emergency for youth mental health. There are significant implications of changes in academic achievement for the identification of disability using pre-pandemic methods, especially for the fields of forensic neuropsychology and special education law. Radical educational and psychosocial changes during the COVID-19 pandemic may impact neurodevelopment from birth through the transition to adulthood, with lasting impacts on psychological and social functioning, as well as academic achievement, especially for vulnerable youth. The lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic have the potential to be a catalyst for change. In a world that anticipates future sudden and calamitous disruption due to climate change or new pandemics, the information within this book is expected to be of use both in the immediate term and the future. This information has the potential to shape progress in the fields of psychology, developmental neuroscience, sociology, public policy, and the law.
Attenuated Learning Gains
Authors: Colvin Molly , Reesman Jennifer Linton , Glen Tannahill
Published: August 2024

Evidence for attenuation of learning gains has been clear and consistent, with statistically significant declines in achievement, erasing decades of progress in reading and math. A dose–response relationship has been established, with students in virtual education for longer periods demonstrating more significant declines in learning progress. Learning losses have been disproportionately greatest for at-risk groups, including students of color, emerging English speakers, those with disabilities, and students from economically disadvantaged households. Preexisting achievement gaps have increased. Measures of learning progress have not fully rebounded with school reopenings, and in some cases, there has been further widening of achievement gaps, especially for vulnerable students.
Delayed Evaluation, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Childhood Disorders
Authors: Colvin Molly , Reesman Jennifer Linton , Glen Tannahill
Published: August 2024

The early identification and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders is consistently associated with better long-term outcomes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, children were less likely to be screened for developmental delays by pediatricians, teachers, and school evaluation teams. Diagnosis of learning disorders, which uniquely requires evidence from standardized academic achievement assessments, has become especially complex, given the changes in academic instruction and the school environment. Changes in the psychosocial environment have complicated diagnosis of autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and language disorders. Children who have significant developmental delays are presenting later for clinical evaluation, and needed interventions have been deferred. When interventions were initiated, there were often changes in evidence-based service delivery, either by reduced provider availability or by changes in service delivery to adhere to public health guidelines. Delayed diagnosis and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders has significant implications for an individual child’s long-term functioning but also has broader sociological and economic consequences.
Psychosocial Stressors and Mental Health Concerns
Authors: Colvin Molly , Reesman Jennifer Linton , Glen Tannahill
Published: August 2024

The evidence is now clear that pandemic-era disruption of educational and psychosocial and health care environments negatively impacted mental health for children and adolescents, especially for those with neurologic or psychiatric vulnerabilities and those in at-risk groups. Simultaneously access to mental health treatment has been reduced, initially by closures and later by increased demand, economic factors, and a shortage of mental health providers. Risk factors for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) also increased during school closures, in part due to reduced access to typical systems for monitoring and reporting concerns. Neurocognitive performance is influenced by psychological factors as well as physical conditions, so the increase in psychiatric diagnoses and exposure to ACE risk factors will be a long-term salient issue for clinicians.
Altered Neurodevelopmental Trajectories
Authors: Colvin Molly , Reesman Jennifer Linton , Glen Tannahill
Published: August 2024

The developing brain grows quickly and is remarkably responsive to the environment. Because of neuroplasticity, children learn quickly and can show incredible recovery from deprivation or injury. During sensitive periods, the brain is particularly attuned to certain inputs, fueling the rapid acquisition of language and social skills. These mechanisms allow the child to become highly adapted to their environment and may confer resilience and protection in the face of change or stress. At the same time, plasticity increases the likelihood of maladaptive responses to challenges that become deeply embedded in a child’s behavioral foundation. Similarly, a lack of expected input during sensitive periods may permanently alter a child’s developmental trajectory. Differences may compound over time, leading to a widening gap between current and expected functioning. This chapter discusses how psychosocial and environmental changes during the COVID-19 pandemic, including educational disruption and stress, may have impacted brain development.
Quantile regressions as a tool to evaluate how an exposure shifts and reshapes the outcome distribution: a primer for epidemiologists
Authors: Khadka Aayush , Hebert Jillian L , Glymour M Maria , Jiang Fei , Irish Amanda , Duchowny Kate A , Vable Anusha M
Published: August 2024

Quantifying how an exposure affects the entire outcome distribution is often important (eg, for outcomes such as blood pressure that have nonlinear effects on long-term morbidity and mortality). Quantile regressions offer a powerful way of estimating an exposure’s relationship with the outcome distribution, but they remain underused in epidemiology. We introduce quantile regressions with a focus on distinguishing estimators for quantiles of the conditional and unconditional outcome distributions. We also present an empirical example in which we fit mean and quantile regressions to investigate educational attainment’s association with later-life systolic blood pressure (SBP). We use data on 8875 US-born respondents aged 50 years or older from the US Health and Retirement Study. Having more education was negatively associated with mean SBP. Conditional and unconditional quantile regressions both suggested a negative association between education and SBP at all levels of SBP, but the absolute magnitudes of these associations were higher at higher SBP quantiles relative to lower quantiles. In addition to showing that educational attainment shifted the SBP distribution leftward, quantile regression results revealed that education may have reshaped the SBP distribution through larger protective associations in the right tail, thus benefiting those at highest risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Effects of atmospheric CO2 concentration on transpiration and leaf elongation responses to drought in Triticum aestivum, Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea
Authors: Acker Victoria , Durand Jean-Louis , Perrot Cédric , Roy Eric , Frak Elzbieta , Barillot Romain
Published: August 2024

Background and Aims

Leaf elongation is vital for productivity of Poaceae species, influenced by atmospheric CO2 concentration ([CO2]) and climate-induced water availability changes. Although [CO2] mitigates the effects of drought on reducing transpiration per unit leaf area, it also increases total leaf area and water use. These complex interactions associated with leaf growth pose challenges in anticipating climate change effects. This study aims to assess [CO2] effects on leaf growth response to drought in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) and wheat (Triticum aestivum).

Methods

Plants were cultivated in growth chambers with [CO2] at 200 or 800 ppm. At leaf six to seven unfolding, half of the plants were subjected to severe drought treatment. Leaf elongation rate (LER) was measured daily, whereas plant transpiration was continuously recorded gravimetrically. Additionally, water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) content along with water and osmotic potentials in the leaf growing zone were measured at drought onset, mid-drought and leaf growth cessation.

Key Results

Elevated [CO2] mitigated drought impacts on LER and delayed growth cessation across species. A positive correlation between LER and soil relative water content (SRWC) was observed. At the same SRWC, perennial grasses exhibited a higher LER with elevated [CO2], probably due to enhanced stomatal regulation. Despite stomatal closure and WSC accumulation, CO2 did not influence nighttime water potential or osmotic potential. The marked increase in leaf area across species resulted in similar (wheat and tall fescue) or higher (ryegrass) total water use by the end of the experiment, under both watered and unwatered conditions.

Conclusions

Elevated [CO2] mitigates the adverse effects of drought on leaf elongation in three Poaceae species, due to its impact on plant transpiration. Overall, these findings provide valuable insights into CO2 and drought interactions that may help anticipate plant responses to climate change.
Peter Clegg
Authors: Emerson Jim
Published: August 2024

Remembering Peter Ellis Clegg pioneer of millimetre, submillimetre astronomy
Learning to be accessible
Authors: Jenkins Jenny , Baker Sophia , Curtis Andrew
Published: August 2024

The British Geophysical Association is working to make its meetings and conferences accessible to all through a new online guide
Adjusting the evolution of a telescope
Authors: van Breda Ian , Stapleton Roger , Worswick Susan
Published: August 2024

How do you improve the image quality of an irascible 60 year-old telescope that has eluded all previous attempts at improvement?
Belinda Wilkes
Authors: Wilkes Belinda
Published: August 2024

Sue Bowler talks to Belinda Wilkes, high-energy astrophysicist and former director of the Chandra X-ray Center, about the impact of this great observatory maybe shutting down for good in the next year
MetaPredictor: in silico prediction of drug metabolites based on deep language models with prompt engineering
Authors: Zhu Keyun , Huang Mengting , Wang Yimeng , Gu Yaxin , Li Weihua , Liu Guixia , Tang Yun
Published: August 2024

Metabolic processes can transform a drug into metabolites with different properties that may affect its efficacy and safety. Therefore, investigation of the metabolic fate of a drug candidate is of great significance for drug discovery. Computational methods have been developed to predict drug metabolites, but most of them suffer from two main obstacles: the lack of model generalization due to restrictions on metabolic transformation rules or specific enzyme families, and high rate of false-positive predictions. Here, we presented MetaPredictor, a rule-free, end-to-end and prompt-based method to predict possible human metabolites of small molecules including drugs as a sequence translation problem. We innovatively introduced prompt engineering into deep language models to enrich domain knowledge and guide decision-making. The results showed that using prompts that specify the sites of metabolism (SoMs) can steer the model to propose more accurate metabolite predictions, achieving a 30.4% increase in recall and a 16.8% reduction in false positives over the baseline model. The transfer learning strategy was also utilized to tackle the limited availability of metabolic data. For the adaptation to automatic or non-expert prediction, MetaPredictor was designed as a two-stage schema consisting of automatic identification of SoMs followed by metabolite prediction. Compared to four available drug metabolite prediction tools, our method showed comparable performance on the major enzyme families and better generalization that could additionally identify metabolites catalyzed by less common enzymes. The results indicated that MetaPredictor could provide a more comprehensive and accurate prediction of drug metabolism through the effective combination of transfer learning and prompt-based learning strategies.
A pan-cancer interrogation of intronic polyadenylation and its association with cancer characteristics
Authors: Liu Liang , Sun Peiqing , Zhang Wei
Published: August 2024

3′UTR-APAs have been extensively studied, but intronic polyadenylations (IPAs) remain largely unexplored. We characterized the profiles of 22 260 IPAs in 9679 patient samples across 32 cancer types from the Cancer Genome Atlas cohort. By comparing tumor and paired normal tissues, we identified 180 ~ 4645 dysregulated IPAs in 132 ~ 2249 genes in each of 690 patient tumors from 22 cancer types that showed consistent patterns within individual cancer types. We selected 2741 genes that showed consistently patterns across cancer types, including 1834 pan-cancer tumor-enriched and 907 tumor-depleted IPA genes; the former were amply represented in the functional pathways such as deoxyribonucleic acid damage repair. Expression of IPA isoforms was associated with tumor mutation burden and patient characteristics (e.g. sex, race, cancer stages, and subtypes) in cancer-specific and feature-specific manners, and could be a more accurate prognostic marker than gene expression (summary of all isoforms). In summary, our study reveals the roles and the clinical relevance of tumor-associated IPAs.
New GO-based measures in multiple network alignment
Authors: Yazdani Kimia , Mousapour Reza , Hayes Wayne B
Published: August 2024

Motivation

Protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks provide valuable insights into the function of biological systems. Aligning multiple PPI networks may expose relationships beyond those observable by pairwise comparisons. However, assessing the biological quality of multiple network alignments is a challenging problem.

Results

We propose two new measures to evaluate the quality of multiple network alignments using functional information from Gene Ontology (GO) terms. When aligning multiple real PPI networks across species, we observe that both measures are highly correlated with objective quality indicators, such as common orthologs. Additionally, our measures strongly correlate with an alignment’s ability to predict novel GO annotations, which is a unique advantage over existing GO-based measures.

Availability and implementation

The scripts and the links to the raw and alignment data can be accessed at https://github.com/kimiayazdani/GO_Measures.git
Toward a set of essential biodiversity variables for assessing change in mountains globally
Authors: Schmeller Dirk S , Thornton James M , Urbach Davnah , Alexander Jake , Jetz Walter , Kulonen Aino , Mills Robert T E , Notornicola Claudia , Palazzi Elisa , Pauli Harald , Randin Christophe , Rosbakh Sergey , Sayre Roger , Tehrani Nasrin Amini , Verbiest William W M , Walker Tom W N , Wipf Sonja , Adler Carolina
Published: August 2024

Mountain regions harbor unique and rich biodiversity, forming an important part of our global life support system. This rich biodiversity underpins the ecological intactness and functioning of mountain ecosystems, which are imperative for the provision of key ecosystem services. A considerable amount of data are required to assess ecological intactness and ecosystem functioning and, given the profound anthropogenic pressures many mountain regions are being subjected to, are urgently needed. However, data on mountain biodiversity remain lacking. The essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) framework can help focus efforts related to detecting, investigating, predicting, and managing global biodiversity change, but has not yet been considered in the context of mountains. Here, we review key biological processes and physical phenomena that strongly influence mountain biodiversity and ecosystems and elucidate their associations with potential mountain EBVs. We identify seven EBVs of highest relevance for tracking and understanding the most critical drivers and responses of mountain biodiversity change. If they are implemented, the selected EBVs will contribute useful information to inform management and policy interventions seeking to halt mountain biodiversity loss and maintain functional mountain ecosystems.