bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The distribution of dietary choline intake and serum choline levels in Australian women during pregnancy and associated early life factors
Authors: Staskova Lada , Marx Wolfgang , Dawson Samantha L. , O’Hely Martin , Mansell Toby , Saffery Richard , Burgner David , Collier Fiona , Novakovic Boris , Vuillermin Peter , Field Catherine J. , Dewey Deborah , Ponsonby Anne-Louise ,   The BIS Investigator Group
Published: June 2023

Background

Maternal dietary choline has a central role in foetal brain development and may be associated with later cognitive function. However, many countries are reporting lower than recommended intake of choline during pregnancy.

Methods

Dietary choline was estimated using food frequency questionnaires in pregnant women participating in population-derived birth cohort, the Barwon Infant Study (BIS). Dietary choline is reported as the sum of all choline-containing moieties. Serum total choline-containing compounds (choline-c), phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin were measured using nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics in the third trimester. The main form of analysis was multivariable linear regression.

Results

The mean daily dietary choline during pregnancy was 372 (standard deviation (SD) 104) mg/day. A total of 236 women (23%) had adequate choline intake (440 mg/day) based on the Australian and New Zealand guidelines, and 27 women (2.6%) took supplemental choline ($$\ge$$
≥
50 mg/dose) daily during pregnancy. The mean serum choline-c in pregnant women was 3.27 (SD 0.44) mmol/l. Ingested choline and serum choline-c were not correlated (R2) = − 0.005, p = 0.880. Maternal age, maternal weight gain in pregnancy, and a pregnancy with more than one infant were associated with higher serum choline-c, whereas gestational diabetes and environmental tobacco smoke during preconception and pregnancy were associated with lower serum choline-c. Nutrients or dietary patterns were not associated with variation in serum choline-c.

Conclusion

In this cohort, approximately one-quarter of women met daily choline recommendations during pregnancy. Future studies are needed to understand the potential impact of low dietary choline intake during pregnancy on infant cognition and metabolic intermediaries.
Shared genetic etiology between ADHD, task-related behavioral measures and brain activation during response inhibition in a youth ADHD case–control study
Authors: Saraçaydın Gülhan , Ruisch I. Hyun , van Rooij Daan , Sprooten Emma , Franke Barbara , Buitelaar Jan K. , Dietrich Andrea , Hoekstra Pieter J.
Published: June 2023

Impaired response inhibition is commonly present in individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and their unaffected relatives, suggesting impaired response inhibition as a candidate endophenotype in ADHD. Therefore, we explored whether behavioral and neural correlates of response inhibition are related to polygenic risk scores for ADHD (PRS-ADHD). We obtained functional magnetic resonance imaging of neural activity and behavioral measures during a stop-signal task in the NeuroIMAGE cohort, where inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms were assessed with the Conners Parent Rating Scales. Our sample consisted of 178 ADHD cases, 103 unaffected siblings, and 173 controls (total N = 454; 8–29 years), for whom genome-wide genotyping was available. PRS-ADHD was constructed using the PRSice-2 software. We found PRS-ADHD to be associated with ADHD symptom severity, a slower and more variable response to Go-stimuli, and altered brain activation during response inhibition in several regions of the bilateral fronto-striatal network. Mean reaction time and intra-individual reaction time variability mediated the association of PRS-ADHD with ADHD symptoms (total, inattention, hyperactivity-impulsivity), and activity in the left temporal pole and anterior parahippocampal gyrus during failed inhibition mediated the relationship of PRS-ADHD with hyperactivity-impulsivity. Our findings indicate that PRS-ADHD are related to ADHD severity on a spectrum of clinical, sub-threshold, and normal levels; more importantly, we show a shared genetic etiology of ADHD and behavioral and neural correlates of response inhibition. Given the modest sample size of our study, future studies with higher power are warranted to explore mediation effects, suggesting that genetic liability to ADHD may adversely affect attention regulation on the behavioral level and point to a possible response inhibition-related mechanistic pathway from PRS-ADHD to hyperactivity-impulsivity.
TRPP2 is located in the primary cilia of human non-pigmented ciliary epithelial cells
Authors: Zheng Wenxu , Ziemssen Focke , Suesskind Daniela , Voykov Bogomil , Schnichels Sven
Published: June 2023

Purpose

Mechanosensitive channels (MSCs) and primary cilium possess a possible relevance for the sensation of intraocular pressure (IOP). However, there is only limited data on their expression and localization in the ciliary body epithelium (CBE). The purpose of this study was to characterize the expression and localization of TRPP2 in a human non-pigmented ciliary epithelial cell (HNPCE) line.

Methods

The expression of the TRPP2 was studied by quantitative (q)RT-PCR and in situ hybridization in rat and human tissue. Protein expression and distribution were studied by western blot analysis, immunohistochemistry, and immunoelectron microscopy. Cellular location of TRPP2 was determined in rat and human CBE by immunofluorescence and immunoblot analysis. Electron microscopy studies were conducted to evaluate where and with substructure TRPP2 is localized in the HNPCE cell line.

Results

The expression of TRPP2 in rat and human non-pigmented ciliary epithelium was detected. TRPP2 was mainly located in nuclei, but also showed a punctate distribution pattern in the cytoplasm of HNPCE of the tissue and the cell line. In HNPCE cell culture, primary cilia did exhibit different length following serum starvation and hydrostatic pressure. TRPP2 was found to be colocalized with these cilia in HNPCE cells.

Conclusion

The expression of TRPP2 and the primary cilium in the CB may indicate a possible role, such as the sensing of hydrostatic pressure, for the regulation of IOP. Functional studies via patch clamp or pharmacological intervention have yet to clarify the relevance for the physiological situation or aqueous humor regulation.
A method to accurately define arbitrary algorithmic damping character as viscous damping
Authors: Serfőző Dániel , Pere Balázs
Published: June 2023

Undesired oscillations often emerge in numerical solutions, especially in the case of dynamic problems. These are mainly spurious oscillations which must be eliminated or reduced at least to provide accurate results. Numerical methods with damping effect are especially useful to achieve this goal. However, the concrete shape of the damping characteristics has a great impact on the effectiveness. Dissipative numerical methods mostly have a specific damping character with very limited alteration possibility. In this article, a novel numerical method has been introduced where the dissipative effect is exerted via viscous damping. Using the proposed method, a great variety of damping curves can be defined accurately, straight through the determination of the algorithmic damping ratio. The newly developed technique is mainly useful for applications where the shape of the damping characteristics significantly affects the accuracy.
A new 3D myeloarchitectonic map of the human neocortex based on data from the Vogt–Vogt school
Authors: Nieuwenhuys Rudolf , Broere Cees A. J.
Published: June 2023

During the period extending from 1900 to 1970, Oskar and Cécile Vogt and their numerous collaborators (‘the Vogt–Vogt school’) published a large number of studies on the myeloarchitecture of the human cerebral cortex. During the last decade, we have concerned ourselves with a detailed meta-analysis of these now almost totally forgotten studies, with the aim to bringing them into the modern era of science. This scrutiny yielded inter alia a myeloarchitectonic map of the human neocortex, showing a parcellation into 182 areas (Nieuwenhuys et al. in Brain Struct Funct 220:2551–2573, 2015; Erratum in Brain Struct Funct 220: 3753–3755, 2015). This map, termed 2D’15, which is based on data derived from all of the 20 publications constituting the myeloarchitectonic legacy of the Vogt–Vogt school, has the limitation that it is two-dimensional i.e. it shows only the parts of the cortex exposed at the free surface of the cerebral hemispheres and not the extensive stretches of cortex hidden in the cortical sulci. However, a limited set of data, derived from four of the 20 publications available, has enabled us to create a 3D map, showing the myeloarchitectonic parcellation of the entire human neocortex. This map, designated as 3D′23, contains 182 areas: 64 frontal, 30 parietal, 6 insular, 19 occipital and 63 temporal. We have also prepared a 2D version (2D′23), of this 3D′23 map to serve as a link between the latter and our original 2D′15 map. Detailed comparison of the parcellations visualized in our three maps (2D′15, 2D′23 and 3D′23) warrants the conclusion that our new 3D′23 map may be considered as representative for the entire myeloarchitectural legacy of the Vogt–Vogt School. Hence it is now possible to compare the rich amount of myeloarchitectonic data assembled by that school directly with the results of current 3D analyses of the architecture of the human cortex, such as the meticulous quantitative cyto- and receptor architectonic studies of Zilles, Amunts and their numerous associates (Amunts et al. in Science 369:988–992, 2020), and the multimodal parcellation of the human cortex based on magnetic resonance images from the Human Connectome Project, performed by Glasser et al. in Nature 536:171–178, 2016).
Effusive and evolved monogenetic volcanoes: two newly identified (~800 ka) cases near Manizales City, Colombia
Authors: Vargas-Arcila Laura , Murcia Hugo , Osorio-Ocampo Susana , Sánchez-Torres Laura , Botero-Gómez Luis Alvaro , Bolaños Gina
Published: June 2023

Two recently discovered volcanoes (Las Margaritas 1 and 2) located near the city of Manizales in central Colombia (northern Andes) show that monogenetic volcanoes can be both effusive and be fed by evolved compositions, unlike in most other monogenetic fields. This study presents the results of cartographic, petrographic, geochemical, and geochronological analyses. Mapping indicates that the volcanoes are purely effusive, where the first erupted a dome coulée and the second erupted a lava flow. K/Ar dating of the groundmass yielded emplacement ages of 0.77 ± 0.04 and 0.80 ± 0.05 Ma for each volcano. The rocks in both volcanoes contain plagioclase, amphibole, and Fe-Ti oxides as ubiquitous minerals, but only one volcano hosts biotite. The two volcanoes can also be differentiated by the presence of amphibole oxidation rims in one of them. Both volcanoes are andesitic in composition and have a calk-alkaline signature. Trace elements show light rare earth element (LREE) enrichment, and negative Th, Nb, Ta, and Ti anomalies. Overall, the results indicate equilibrium conditions that allowed not only phenocrysts and microphenocrysts to crystallize, but also convection and stagnation processes that allowed zonation and glomerocrysts to form. This, along with the chemical information, indicates subduction characteristics that can be explained by small magma batches breaking off from crustal reservoirs. These effusive monogenetic eruptions are thus associated with efficient degassing during ascent, while compositional evolution is related to relative long-term magma stagnation in the crust.
Structure of monkeypox virus poxin: implications for drug design
Authors: Duchoslav Vojtech , Boura Evzen
Published: June 2023

Monkeypox, or mpox, is a disease that has recently resurfaced and spread across the globe. Despite the availability of an FDA-approved vaccine (JYNNEOS) and an effective drug (tecovirimat), concerns remain over the possible recurrence of a viral pandemic. Like any other virus, mpox virus must overcome the immune system to replicate. Viruses have evolved various strategies to overcome both innate and adaptive immunity. Poxviruses possess an unusual nuclease, poxin, which cleaves 2'-3'-cGAMP, a cyclic dinucleotide, which is an important second messenger in the cGAS-STING signaling pathway. Here, we present the crystal structure of mpox poxin. The structure reveals a conserved, predominantly β-sheet fold and highlights the high conservation of the cGAMP binding site and of the catalytic residues His17, Tyr138, and Lys142. This research suggests that poxin inhibitors could be effective against multiple poxviruses.
A diet rich in omega-3 fatty acid improves periodontitis and tissue destruction by MMP2- and MMP9-linked inflammation in a murine model
Authors: González-Alva Patricia , Solís-Suárez Diana Laura , Cifuentes-Mendiola Saúl Ernesto , García-Hernández Ana Lilia
Published: June 2023

Periodontitis is an oral-cavity inflammatory disease and is the principal cause associated with tooth loss. Matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9 (MMP-2 and MMP-9) are important proteases involved in periodontal tissue destruction. The omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFA) have been demonstrated to possess immunoregulatory properties in periodontitis. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of ω-3 PUFA on inflammation and on the expression of MMP-2 and -9 in a murine periodontitis model. Twenty-four male C57BL/6 mice were divided into control mice (Control), control mice treated with ω-3 PUFA (O3), mice with periodontitis (P), and mice with periodontitis treated with ω-3 PUFA (P + O3). ω-3 PUFA were administered orally once a day for 70 days. Periodontitis in mice was induced by Porphyromonas gingivalis-infected ligature placement around the second maxillary molar. The mice were sacrificed, and blood and maxillary samples were collected. Flow cytometry was used to quantify tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα), interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-5, and interferon-gamma. Histologic analysis and immunohistochemistry for MMP-2 and -9 were performed. The data were statistically evaluated using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Tukey post hoc test. Histological analysis showed that ω-3 PUFA supplementation prevented inflammation and tissue destruction and revealed that bone destruction was more extensive in the P group than in the P + O3 group (p < 0.05). Also, it decreased the serum expressions of TNFα and IL-2 and the tissue expression of MMP-2 and -9 in the periodontitis-induced model (p < 0.05). ω-3 PUFA supplementation prevented alveolar bone loss and periodontal destruction, probably by decreasing the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 and its immunoregulatory properties.
Health literacy across personality traits among older adults: cross-sectional evidence from Switzerland
Authors: Ryser Valérie-Anne , Meier Clément , Vilpert Sarah , Maurer Jürgen
Published: June 2023

This research aims to better understand the association of personality traits (PT)—Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism—with health literacy (HL) skills of adults aged 58 years and older in a nationally representative sample from Switzerland. Analyses were conducted on a subsample (n = 1546) of respondents living in Switzerland from wave 8 (2019/2020) of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). PT were assessed with the Big-Five inventory ten (BFI-10). HL was measured using the short version of the European Health Literacy Survey questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q16). We used multivariable regressions to explore how respondents' PT are independently associated with (1) the HLS-EU-Q16 and (2) seven sub-indices derived from this HL scale. Results demonstrated that even when controlling for social, regional, and health characteristics, PT were significantly associated with HL among older adults in Switzerland. More open individuals showed better HL competencies. By contrast, individuals who scored higher on neuroticism expressed more difficulties regarding concrete health-relevant tasks or situations. These findings call for public health policies targeting older adults with lower levels of openness who are less likely to engage in self-examination, and individuals with higher levels of neuroticism who tend to experience more negative emotions. Moreover, health information and communication strategies content development that accounts for different personality types and addresses the needs of individuals with low levels of openness and high neuroticism may help improve HL among older adults whose personalities may otherwise put them at a disadvantage in handling health information.
Sustainability and intermodality in humanitarian logistics: a two-stage multi-objective programming formulation
Authors: Rodríguez-Espíndola Oscar , Dey Prasanta , Albores Pavel , Chowdhury Soumyadeb
Published: June 2023

When managing crises and disasters, decision-makers face high uncertainty levels, disrupted supply chains, and damaged infrastructure. This complicates delivering resources that are essential for the survival of the victims. Flexible and adaptable supply networks are needed to ensure a consistent flow of relief to the areas affected by disasters. Intermodality is a valuable approach when infrastructure is damaged, as it allows the use of different delivery modes to reach demand areas. Nevertheless, involving different transportation modes has an impact on the environment. Looking at the importance of helping victims and considering the environmental impact of humanitarian operations for long-term sustainability, intermodality and carbon emission reduction measures can be an interesting combination. This area, however, is currently understudied. This article introduces a two-stage stochastic formulation to fill that gap. The model addresses facility location, resource allocation, and intermodal relief distribution considering carbon emission reduction in facilities, intermodal activities, and distribution. The formulation minimises costs and the level of shortage of relief. The model is tested using a case study in Sinaloa, Mexico, to investigate the impact of intermodality and carbon emission reduction measures on costs and shortage of relief for disaster victims. The findings confirm that the model proposed allows for the diversification of transportation modes and reduces carbon emissions whilst achieving a good level of performance in both metrics. The comparison with a benchmark model without intermodality and carbon reduction measures suggests that the formulation can increase flexibility and reduce the level of CO2 emissions whilst maintaining high satisfaction rates.
An empirical study of automated privacy requirements classification in issue reports
Authors: Sangaroonsilp Pattaraporn , Choetkiertikul Morakot , Dam Hoa Khanh , Ghose Aditya
Published: June 2023

The recent advent of data protection laws and regulations has emerged to protect privacy and personal information of individuals. As the cases of privacy breaches and vulnerabilities are rapidly increasing, people are aware and more concerned about their privacy. These bring a significant attention to software development teams to address privacy concerns in developing software applications. As today’s software development adopts an agile, issue-driven approach, issues in an issue tracking system become a centralised pool that gathers new requirements, requests for modification and all the tasks of the software project. Hence, establishing an alignment between those issues and privacy requirements is an important step in developing privacy-aware software systems. This alignment also facilitates privacy compliance checking which may be required as an underlying part of regulations for organisations. However, manually establishing those alignments is labour intensive and time consuming. In this paper, we explore a wide range of machine learning and natural language processing techniques which can automatically classify privacy requirements in issue reports. We employ six popular techniques namely Bag-of-Words (BoW), N-gram Inverse Document Frequency (N-gram IDF), Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF), Word2Vec, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) to perform the classification on privacy-related issue reports in Google Chrome and Moodle projects. The evaluation showed that BoW, N-gram IDF, TF-IDF and Word2Vec techniques are suitable for classifying privacy requirements in those issue reports. In addition, N-gram IDF is the best performer in both projects.
The Association Between Thymidylate Synthase Gene Polymorphisms and the Risk of Ischemic Stroke in Chinese Han Population
Authors: Yu Fuhua , Shi Lei , Wang Qianru , Xing Xiaohui , Li Zhongchen , Hou Lei , Zhou Zhengshan , Wang Zengguang , Xiao Yilei
Published: June 2023

Family history of hypertension, smoking, diabetes and alcohol consumption and atherosclerotic plaque were identified as common risk factors in IS. We aimed at investigating the relationship between Thymidylate Synthase (TS) gene polymorphisms and ischemic stroke (IS).This case–control research selected and genotyped three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)of TS( rs699517, rs2790, and rs151264360) with Sanger sequencing in Chinese Han population. We also adopted logistic regression analysis in genetic models for calculating odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Genotype-Tissue Expression(GTEx) database analyzed the tissue-specific expression and TS polymorphisms. The ischemic stroke patients showed higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and total homocysteine (tHcy). It was found that patients with the TT genotype of rs699517 and GG genotype of rs2790 had larger degrees of tHcy than those with CC + CT genotypes and AA + AG genotypes, respectively. The genotype distribution of the three SNPs did not deviate from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (HWE). Haplotype analysis showed that T-G-del was the major haplotype in IS, and C-A-ins was the major haplotype in controls. GTEx database indicated that the rs699517 and rs2790 increased the expression of TS in healthy human and associated with TS expression level in a single tissue. In conclusion: This study has shown that TS rs699517 and rs2790 were significantly related to ischemic stroke patients.
Expressing Dual Concern in Criticism for Wrongdoing: The Persuasive Power of Criticizing with Care
Authors: Howe Lauren C. , Shepherd Steven , Warren Nathan B. , Mercurio Kathryn R. , Campbell Troy H.
Published: June 2023

To call attention to and motivate action on ethical issues in business or society, messengers often criticize groups for wrongdoing and ask these groups to change their behavior. When criticizing target groups, messengers frequently identify and express concern about harm caused to a victim group, and in the process address a target group by criticizing them for causing this harm and imploring them to change. However, we find that when messengers criticize a target group for causing harm to a victim group in this way—expressing singular concern for the victim group—members of the target group infer, often incorrectly, that the messenger views the target group as less moral and unworthy of concern. This inferred lack of moral concern reduces criticism acceptance and prompts backlash from the target group. To address this problem, we introduce dual concern messaging—messages that simultaneously communicate that a target group causes harm to a victim group and express concern for the target group. A series of several experiments demonstrate that dual concern messages reduce inferences that a critical messenger lacks moral concern for the criticized target group, increase the persuasiveness of the criticism among members of the target group, and reduce backlash from consumers against a corporate messenger. When pursuing justice for victims of a target group, dual concern messages that communicate concern for the victim group as well as the target group are more effective in fostering openness toward criticism, rather than defensiveness, in a target group, thus setting the stage for change.
Cancer metastasis under the magnifying glass of epigenetics and epitranscriptomics
Authors: Janin Maxime , Davalos Veronica , Esteller Manel
Published: June 2023

Most of the cancer-associated mortality and morbidity can be attributed to metastasis. The role of epigenetic and epitranscriptomic alterations in cancer origin and progression has been extensively demonstrated during the last years. Both regulations share similar mechanisms driven by DNA or RNA modifiers, namely writers, readers, and erasers; enzymes responsible of respectively introducing, recognizing, or removing the epigenetic or epitranscriptomic modifications. Epigenetic regulation is achieved by DNA methylation, histone modifications, non-coding RNAs, chromatin accessibility, and enhancer reprogramming. In parallel, regulation at RNA level, named epitranscriptomic, is driven by a wide diversity of chemical modifications in mostly all RNA molecules. These two-layer regulatory mechanisms are finely controlled in normal tissue, and dysregulations are associated with every hallmark of human cancer. In this review, we provide an overview of the current state of knowledge regarding epigenetic and epitranscriptomic alterations governing tumor metastasis, and compare pathways regulated at DNA or RNA levels to shed light on a possible epi-crosstalk in cancer metastasis. A deeper understanding on these mechanisms could have important clinical implications for the prevention of advanced malignancies and the management of the disseminated diseases. Additionally, as these epi-alterations can potentially be reversed by small molecules or inhibitors against epi-modifiers, novel therapeutic alternatives could be envisioned.
Neuronal Responses to Ischemia: Scoping Review of Insights from Human-Derived In Vitro Models
Authors: Voogd Eva J. H. F. , Frega Monica , Hofmeijer Jeannette
Published: June 2023

Translation of neuroprotective treatment effects from experimental animal models to patients with cerebral ischemia has been challenging. Since pathophysiological processes may vary across species, an experimental model to clarify human-specific neuronal pathomechanisms may help. We conducted a scoping review of the literature on human neuronal in vitro models that have been used to study neuronal responses to ischemia or hypoxia, the parts of the pathophysiological cascade that have been investigated in those models, and evidence on effects of interventions. We included 147 studies on four different human neuronal models. The majority of the studies (132/147) was conducted in SH-SY5Y cells, which is a cancerous cell line derived from a single neuroblastoma patient. Of these, 119/132 used undifferentiated SH-SY5Y cells, that lack many neuronal characteristics. Two studies used healthy human induced pluripotent stem cell derived neuronal networks. Most studies used microscopic measures and established hypoxia induced cell death, oxidative stress, or inflammation. Only one study investigated the effect of hypoxia on neuronal network functionality using micro-electrode arrays. Treatment targets included oxidative stress, inflammation, cell death, and neuronal network stimulation. We discuss (dis)advantages of the various model systems and propose future perspectives for research into human neuronal responses to ischemia or hypoxia.

Graphical Abstract
Cloud benchmarking and performance analysis of an HPC application in Amazon EC2
Authors: Dancheva Tamara , Alonso Unai , Barton Michael
Published: June 2023

Cloud computing platforms have been continuously evolving. Features such as the Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA) in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform have brought yet another revolution in the High Performance Computing (HPC) world, further accelerating the convergence of HPC and cloud computing. Other public clouds also support similar features further fueling this change. In this paper, we show how and why the performance of a large-scale computational fluid dynamics (CFD) HPC application on AWS competes very closely with the one on Beskow—a Cray XC40 supercomputer at the PDC Center for High-Performance Computing - in terms of cost-efficiency with strong scaling up to 2304 processes. We perform an extensive set of micro and macro benchmarks in both environments and conduct a comparative analysis. Until as recently as 2020 these benchmarks have notoriously yielded unsatisfactory results for the cloud platforms compared with on-premise infrastructures. Our aim is to access the HPC capabilities of the cloud, and in general to demonstrate how researchers can scale and evaluate the performance of their application in the cloud.
Mapping Children’s Actions in the Scaffolding Process Using Interactive Whiteboard
Authors: Masoumi Davoud , Bourbour Maryam , Lindqvist Gunilla
Published: June 2023

This study aims to examine children’s actions in relation to the preschool teacher’s scaffolding action in a context where an interactive whiteboard (IWB) is used. Over five months, 22 children aged between 4 and 6 years old, along with their five preschool teachers, were video observed. The study of these teaching moments has provided a rich seam of evidence that details the ways children act in relation to their teacher’s scaffolding. The results show that children manifest 12 distinct actions including: Giving short responses, Approaching the IWB to engage in the teaching activities; Explaining, Experimenting; Smiling and laughing; Pointing and showing; Working together; Challenging each other; Solving a problem; Using language in meaningful contexts; Expressing emotions; and Comparing the similarities and differences. By mapping children’s actions in the scaffolding process, which are often undermined or ignored in the existing research, the findings of this study have expanded and deepened our understanding of the scaffolding process and the notion of scaffolding itself. The findings, further, exemplify how just providing support can contribute to early childhood education, since early interventions, such as the ways preschool teachers scaffold children’s actions, are particularly crucial for children’s learning and development.
Potential use of nanoparticles produced from byproducts of drinking water industry in stabilizing arsenic in alkaline-contaminated soils
Authors: Moharem Mohamed L. , Hamadeen Hala M. , Mesalem Mohamed O. , Elkhatib Elsayed A.
Published: June 2023

The stabilization of heavy metals in soils is considered a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable remediation approach. In the current study, the applicability of water treatment residual nanoparticles (nWTRs) with the particle size ranged from 45 to 96 nm was evaluated for its efficacy in reducing arsenic mobility in clayey and sandy contaminated alkaline soils. Sorption isotherms, kinetics, speciation and fractionation studies were performed. Sorption equilibrium and kinetics studies revealed that As sorption by nWTRs-amended soils followed Langmuir and second-order/power function models. The maximum As sorption capacity (qmax) of Langmuir increased up to 21- and 15-folds in clayey and sandy soils, respectively, as a result of nWTRs application at 0.3% rate. A drastic reduction in non-residual (NORS) As fraction from 80.2 and 51.49% to 11.25 and 14.42% for clayey and sandy soils, respectively, at 0.3% nWTRs application rate was observed, whereas residual (RS) As fraction in both studied soils strongly increased following nWTRs application. The decline in percentage of As mobile form (arsenious acid) in both soils after nWTRs application indicated the strong effect of nWTRs on As immobilization in contaminated soils. Furthermore, Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy analysis suggested reaction mechanisms between As and the surfaces of amorphous Fe and Al oxides of nWTRs through OH groups. This study highlights the effective management approach of using nWTRs as soil amendment to stabilize As in contaminated alkaline soils.
An Analysis of Domestic Fire Smoke/Toxic Fumes Inhalation Injuries
Authors: Taylor Mark , Francis Hulya , Fielding John
Published: June 2023

Previous studies indicated that inhalation of smoke and toxic fumes is the most common form of domestic fire injury. In this article we examine the socio-demographic, contributory, and firefighting behaviour factors associated with accidental dwelling fire smoke / toxic fumes inhalation injuries. In particular, we examine age band, gender, occupancy level, deprivation, alcohol / drug consumption, and attempting to fight a domestic fire in the Merseyside area of North-West England covered by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service over the period 2011 to 2022. Smoke / toxic fumes inhalation injuries occurred more in single occupancy as opposed to multiple occupancy dwellings by a ratio of 2 to 1 over the period studied. The majority of the accidental dwelling fire smoke / toxic fumes inhalation injuries occurred in areas with the highest level of deprivation within the area studied. Alcohol / drug consumption was a contributory factor in roughly 14% of the smoke / toxic fumes inhalation injuries. Smoke / toxic fumes inhalation injuries sustained attempting to fight the fire constituted roughly 12% of the total number of smoke / toxic fumes inhalation injuries over the period studied.
Canola productivity and carbon footprint under different cropping systems in eastern Canada
Authors: Ma Bao-Luo , Liang Chang , Herath Aruna , Caldwell C. D. , Smith Donald L.
Published: June 2023

Diversified crop rotation with an appropriate sequence may be a promising strategy for increasing crop productivity while reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and lowering carbon (C) footprint for more sustainable agricultural systems. The objectives of this study were to (i) assess the agronomic performance and C footprint of canola (Brassica napus L.) production in different cropping systems, and (ii) better understand how canola could be adapted to existing cropping systems in eastern Canada. A four-year canola-based phase rotation study, including maize (Zea mays L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and soybean (Glycine max L.), started in 2011 and continued for two cycles in Ottawa, ON; Montreal, QC; and Canning, NS. It was found that, compared to continuous monoculture (canola, maize or wheat), diversified cropping systems increased crop yields by an average of 32% and reduced the C footprint of all rotations by 33%, except under severe heat and drought conditions. The effect of rotation on yield and C footprint of canola production varied significantly among site-years. At Ottawa, the canola following soybean (SC) had 12% higher canola yield than monoculture canola (CC), 5 and 8% higher canola yield than canola following wheat (WC) or maize (MC). At Montreal, canola yield ranked as MC > SC > WC > CC. At Canning, the highest canola yield was in WC (21%) and SC (13%). Overall, most SC rotations had the lowest C footprint, and CC cropping had the highest C footprint, with only a few exceptions. Regardless of the cropping system, canola required more N input and was high in oil and protein in the harvested product, and produced the highest C footprint, while soybean had the lowest C footprint at all three sites. Our findings indicate that a diversified cropping system with canola production following soybean significantly improved canola yield while lowering the C footprint. However, profitable and sustainable canola production in eastern Canada is threatened by climate change-induced drought and heat stress.
Costs of Daphnia diel vertical migrations under forecasted increase of lake temperature
Authors: Dawidowicz Piotr , Barzycka Karolina , Pijanowska Joanna
Published: June 2023

The aim of our work was to experimentally test the hypothesis that changes in the thermal stratification in lakes of the temperate zone, expected as a result of progressive global warming, will cause an increase in fitness costs in a planktonic cladoceran Daphnia, associated with diel vertical migrations. In a programmable thermostatic chamber, Daphnia magna have been cultured from the first juvenile instar till the first reproduction, in thermal regimes corresponding to the conditions experienced by non-migratory (remaining in epilimnion day and night) and migrating (spending nights in epilimnion and days in hypolimnion) animals. We exposed Daphnia to thermal regimes: corresponding to the temperatures typically reigning stratified lakes nowadays (20 °C in epilimnion and 8 °C in hypolimnion), and expected at the end of this century (28 °C and 12 °C, respectively). The analysis of life-history parameters confirmed the assumption of an increase in metabolic costs resulting from vertical migration of Daphnia along with the expected increase in temperature differences between epilimnion and hypolimnion, which is a daily anti-predator refuge for migrating animals. This may consequently lead to significant changes in the composition of lake zooplankton communities, i.e., to an increase in the share of non-migrating species with small body sizes.
Political economy of redistribution between traditional and modern families
Authors: Meier Volker , Rablen Matthew D.
Published: June 2023

We analyse a model in which families may either be ‘traditional’ single-earner that care for the child at home or be ‘ modern’ double-earner households that use market child care. Family policies may favour one or the other group, like market care subsidies vs. cash-for-care. Policies are determined by probabilistic voting, where distributional impacts matter, both within and across groups. A higher share of modern households—which can be induced by changes in social norms or by changes in gender wage inequality—may have non-monotone effects, with lower net subsidies to traditional households when their share is very low or very high, and higher subsidies in some intermediate stage. This may explain the implementation of cash-for-care policies and their subsequent tightening in late stages of development, when most voters come from modern households, observed in Norway and Sweden.
Self-determined learning in a virtual makerspace: a pathway to improving spatial reasoning for upper primary students
Authors: Fowler S. , Kennedy JP. , Cutting C. , Gabriel F. , Leonard S. N.
Published: June 2023

This study examines the impact of a learning design focussed on providing guided autonomy within a virtual makerspace on the spatial thinking, anxiety and learning creativity of participating students. The learning design deployed within the virtual makerspace was consistent with the learning principles espoused by Self-Determination Theory in that it allowed students to develop autonomy and make many important decisions in their own learning, created diverse opportunities for the relatedness through authentic opportunities to work with others, and ensured a sense of competence through the provision of ‘just in time’ training and support. Through a within-subjects pre-/post-test design, the study showed a significant improvement in spatial reasoning across the cohort (n = 340). The most notable gains were for students with low but not very low pre-test scores before the intervention. Improvements in creativity and anxiety were also reported by students following the program. Given the research showing the importance of spatial reasoning to future success in STEM educational and career trajectories, these results suggest that well designed makerspace learning may be particularly useful in addressing an important learning gap for disadvantaged students.
Audio-based anomaly detection on edge devices via self-supervision and spectral analysis
Authors: Lo Scudo Fabrizio , Ritacco Ettore , Caroprese Luciano , Manco Giuseppe
Published: June 2023

In real-world applications, audio surveillance is often performed by large models that can detect many types of anomalies. However, typical approaches are based on centralized solutions characterized by significant issues related to privacy and data transport costs. In addition, the large size of these models prevented a shift to contexts with limited resources, such as edge devices computing. In this work we propose conv-SPAD, a method for convolutional SPectral audio-based Anomaly Detection that takes advantage of common tools for spectral analysis and a simple autoencoder to learn the underlying condition of normality of real scenarios. Using audio data collected from real scenarios and artificially corrupted with anomalous sound events, we test the ability of the proposed model to learn normal conditions and detect anomalous events. It shows performances in line with larger models, often outperforming them. Moreover, the model’s small size makes it usable in contexts with limited resources, such as edge devices hardware.
Effects of aging and nitridation on microstructure and mechanical properties of austenitic stainless steel
Authors: Young Alice M. , Kral Milo V. , Bishop Catherine M.
Published: June 2023

Understanding the effects of in-service microstructural changes in metal alloys on the mechanical performance and remaining life of equipment is a critical part of integrity management in industrial plants. However, the effects of processes such as carburization or nitridation are not accounted for in industry-standard life assessment methodologies such as those provided in the API 579-1/ASME FFS-1: Fitness-For-Service standard. This is problematic for the austenitic stainless steel Alloy 800H, which typically operates in the creep regime and has been reported to suffer nitriding during high-temperature service in air. Despite this being one of the most common service environments for 800H, the impact of nitriding on in-service performance and implications for remaining life assessment have not been well-studied for this alloy. In this work, we characterize the microstructures of as-received, aged, and nitrided Alloy 800H tube material, and correlate observations with room-temperature tensile properties and high-temperature creep behavior. We show that while the creep properties of aged 800H material can be captured by the widely-used MPC Project Omega creep model and API 579-1 Omega properties for 800H, nitrided material properties fall outside of the expected bounds, and therefore remaining life cannot be reliably predicted using this method without experimental data.
Youth Misuse of Fire: Measuring the Risk of Firesetting Behaviour Using Explicit and Implicit Methods
Authors: Dadswell Kara , Sambol Stjepan , Zervos Maxim , Harris Matthew , Ball Michelle
Published: June 2023

Accelerated shifts in global climate have increased the threat from intentionally lit fires, especially within wildfire prone communities. A considerable proportion of intentionally lit fires are set by adolescents with high levels of fire interest. A persistent issue within the literature is difficulty with reliably assessing fire interest, as existing self-report measures are highly susceptible to censored responses. The current study investigated whether fire interest could be effectively measured using attentional bias tasks. The sample consisted of 86 participants (10–17 years; M = 13.65, SD = 1.81) allocated into three firesetter classifications: minor firesetter (n = 24), serious firesetter (n = 28), and non-firesetter (n = 34). All participants completed a series of questionnaires and two modified Stroop tasks aimed at measuring implicit fire interest. The findings showed no association between explicit and implicit measures of fire interest. However, serious firesetters scored significantly higher than other firesetter classifications on both explicit and implicit measures. Additionally, both explicit fire interest and performance on the Lexical Fire-Stroop emerged as significant predictors of firesetting behaviour. Collectively, these results illustrate the Stroop paradigm may be an effective tool to measure implicit fire interest within a community sample, and potential improvements are discussed. The current study detected a surprisingly high frequency of self-reported firesetters within a community sample and significant incongruency between parental and child reported firesetting behaviour, demonstrating the importance of continued research in this area.
Examining the Cross Cultural Validity and Measurement Invariance of the Emotion Beliefs Questionnaire (EBQ) in Iran and the USA
Authors: Ranjbar Seyran , Mazidi Mahdi , Gross James J. , Preece David , Zarei Majid , Azizi Alireza , Mirshafiei Maryam , Becerra Rodrigo
Published: June 2023

People’s beliefs about emotions contribute to their psychological wellbeing, and two important beliefs about emotions concern their controllability and usefulness. Recently, the Emotion Beliefs Questionnaire (EBQ) was developed to assess beliefs about the controllability and usefulness of positive and negative emotions. To date, most psychometric studies of the EBQ have been conducted with Western populations, and no studies have examined the EBQ’s psychometric properties among adolescents. We examined the psychometric properties of the EBQ among Iranian adolescents (n = 557), Iranian adults (n = 347), and American adults (n = 242). Participants also completed Implicit Theories of Emotions Scale (ITES), Perth Emotion Regulation Competency Inventory (PERCI), and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) for measuring the concurrent validity of the EBQ. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the intended four-factor model that distinguishes between controllability and usefulness facets of beliefs about emotions across positive and negative emotions within all three samples. Importantly, this four-factor model was found invariant in terms of gender, age, and culture groups. Furthermore, the EBQ demonstrated good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity. Our findings indicate that the EBQ has strong psychometric properties among both Asian and Western samples and can be utilised with adolescents too.
How Specific is Alcohol-Specific Self-Control? A Longitudinal Study of the Mediating Role of Alcohol-Specific Self-Control in the Relation Between General Self-Control and Adolescent Alcohol Use
Authors: Geurts Suzanne M. , Koning Ina M. , Finkenauer Catrin
Published: June 2023

Although accumulating studies indicate that alcohol-specific self-control can be useful in predicting adolescent alcohol use, little is known about its specificity. This longitudinal study aimed to advance our understanding of domain-specific self-control by examining whether alcohol-specific self-control mediates the effect of general self-control on adolescent alcohol use or has generalizing effects by also mediating the effect of general self-control on other behavior requiring self-control (adolescent digital media use and smoking). Data from 906 adolescents aged 11–14 years who were enrolled in the Dutch study Prevention of Alcohol Use in Students were used. Data were collected using online questionnaires at four annual measurements. Structural equation modelling revealed that higher alcohol-specific self-control fully mediated the effect of higher general self-control on alcohol use. Alcohol-specific self-control did not mediate the effect of higher general self-control on digital media use, but did partially mediate the effect of higher general self-control on smoking. These results suggest that alcohol-specific self-control is domain-specific, but not necessarily substance-specific. The domain-specificity of alcohol-specific self-control provides evidence for its theoretical relevance for the explanation of adolescent alcohol use. It also suggests leverage points for intervention programs focusing on improving alcohol-specific self-control to reduce adolescent alcohol use.