bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gaia's Web
Authors: Bakker Karen
Published: February 2024

A riveting exploration of one of the most important dilemmas of our time: will digital technology accelerate environmental degradation, or could it play a role in ecological regeneration?

At the uncanny edge of the scientific frontier, Gaia's Web explores the promise and pitfalls the Digital Age holds for the future of our planet. Instead of the Internet of Things, environmental scientist and tech entrepreneur Karen Bakker asks, why not consider the Internet of Living Things? At the surprising and inspiring confluence of our digital and ecological futures, Bakker explores how the tools of the Digital Age could be mobilized to address our most pressing environmental challenges, from climate change to biodiversity loss. Interspersed with ten elegiac, enigmatic parables, each of which is based on an existing technology, Gaia's Web evokes the conundrums we face as the World Wide Web intertwines with the Web of Life.

A new generation of innovators is deploying digital technology to come to the aid of the planet, using spy satellites to track down environmental criminals, inviting animals to the Metaverse, and biohacking Frankenstein-like biobots as environmental sentinels. But will they end up doing more harm than good? In an engaging take on conservation technology, Bakker looks at the digital tech applications to environmental issues from predatory harvesting of environmental data to human bycatch and eco-surveillance capitalism. If we address these issues and mobilize digitally mediated forms of citizen science, she argues, digital tech could help reverse environmental harms and advance environmental sustainability. And in the process, Big Tech might be transformed for the better.

With its uniquely broad scope—combining insights from computer science, ecology, engineering, environmental science, and environmental law—Gaia's Web introduces profoundly novel ways of addressing our most pressing environmental challenges—mitigating climate change, protecting endangered species—and creating new possibilities for ecological justice by empowering nonhumans to participate in environmental regulation.
Smart Management
Authors: Reb Jochen , Luan Shenghua , Gigerenzer Gerd
Published: February 2024

Why successful leaders must embrace simple strategies in an increasingly uncertain and complex world.

Making decisions is one of the key tasks of managers, leaders, and professionals. In Smart Management, Jochen Reb, Shenghua Luan, and Gerd Gigerenzer demonstrate how business leaders can utilize heuristics—simple decision-making strategies adapted to the task at hand. In a world that has become increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA), the authors make the case against complex analytical methods that quickly reach their limits. This against-the-grain approach leads to decisions that are not only faster but also more accurate, transparent, and easier to learn about, communicate, and teach. Smart Management offers an evidence-based yet practical discussion of how business leaders can use smart heuristics to make good decisions in a VUCA world.

Building on the fast-and-frugal heuristics program, Smart Management demonstrates the efficacy of heuristic decision making in a twofold approach. First, it introduces the concept of ecological rationality, which prescribes the environmental conditions under which specific heuristics work well. Second, the book describes a repertoire of heuristics, referred to as the adaptive toolbox, that leaders, managers, and professionals can develop and rely on to make a variety of decisions, such as on business strategy, negotiation, and personnel selection. The toolbox not only showcases the practical usefulness of these heuristics but also inspires readers to discover and develop their own smart heuristics.
The Heads of Cerberus and Other Stories
Authors: Stevens Francis
Published: February 2024

Exposed to a high-tech dust that can transport people from one dimension to another, three travelers must try to escape the totalitarian Philadelphia of 2118.

When three people in Philadelphia inhale dust developed by a scientist who has discovered parallel universes, they are transported into an interdimensional no-man's-land that is populated by supernatural beings. From there, they go on to an alternate-future version of Philadelphia—a frightening dystopian nation-state in which citizens are numbered, not named. How will they escape? In The Heads of Cerberus and Other Stories, introduced by Lisa Yaszek, you will find this world-bending story as well as five others written by Francis Stevens, the pseudonym of Gertrude Barrows Bennett, a pioneering science fiction and fantasy adventure writer from Minneapolis who made her literary debut at the precocious age of 17.

Often celebrated as “the woman who invented dark fantasy,” Bennett possessed incredible range; her groundbreaking stories—produced largely between 1904 and 1919—suggest that she is better understood as the mother of modern genre fiction writ large. Bennett's work has anticipated everything from the work of Philip K. Dick to Superman comics to The Hunger Games, making it as relevant now as it ever was.
Too Much Fun
Authors: Juul Jesper
Published: February 2024

The surprising history of the Commodore 64, the best-selling home computer of the 1980s—the machine that taught the world that computing should be fun.

The Commodore 64 (C64) is officially the best-selling desktop computer model of all time, according to The Guinness Book of World Records. It was also, from 1985 to 1993, the platform for which most video games were made. But although it sold at least twice as many units as other home computers of its time, such as the Apple II, ZX Spectrum, or Commodore Amiga, it is strangely forgotten in many computer histories. In Too Much Fun, Jesper Juul argues that the C64 was so popular because it was so versatile, a machine developers and users would reinvent again and again over the course of 40 years.

First it was a serious computer, next a game computer, then a computer for showcasing technical brilliance (graphical demos using the machine in seemingly impossible ways), then a struggling competitor, and finally a retro device whose limitations are now charming. The C64, Juul shows, has been ignored by history because it was too much fun. Richly illustrated in full color, this book is the first in-depth examination of the C64's design and history, and the first to integrate US and European histories. Containing interviews with Commodore engineers as well as an insightful look at C64 games, music, and software,Too Much Fun will appeal to those who used a Commodore 64, those interested in the history of computing and video games and computational literacy, or just those who wish their technological devices would last longer.
It Goes without Saying
Authors: Boudoux Caroline
Published: February 2024

The definitive toolkit for doctoral students in engineering on thesis—and journal article—preparation, project (and stress) management, IP protection, collaborations, and other aspects of the PhD journey.

It shouldn't take a PhD to get a PhD, but sometimes the process can seem that confusing—even though, to the mentors and advisors, so obvious that it goes without saying. For doctoral students in engineering confronting this dilemma, Caroline Boudoux, an accomplished researcher and entrepreneur, provides a demystifying guide to the challenges—daunting, seemingly routine, and at times unexpected—of pursuing a PhD in this demanding field. In It Goes without Saying, Boudoux marshals her considerable experience mentoring graduate students, teaching doctoral workshops, and—not so long ago—earning her own PhD at MIT to give PhD candidates the know-how, and the confidence, to succeed.

Among the topics this book takes up are:

• What a PhD is: the journey, the milestones, and the endgame.

• Technical questions about what a doctoral project in engineering is and how to lead one.

• Practical matters including tips on writing, from proposal to dissertation; ethics; and intellectual property.

• Personal concerns, such as dealing with expectations, imposter syndrome, and stress.

From the mundane to the metaphysical, this user-friendly guide gives the doctoral student in engineering the tools to make it from Day 1 to the successful completion of the PhD in a timely, fully informed, and forward-looking manner.
Undeclared
Authors: Higgins Chris
Published: February 2024

An imaginative tour of the contemporary university as it could be: a place to discover self-knowledge, meaning, and purpose.

What if college were not just a means of acquiring credentials, but a place to pursue our formation as whole persons striving to lead lives of meaning and purpose? In Undeclared, Chris Higgins confronts the contemporary university in a bid to reclaim a formative mission for higher education. In a series of searching essays and pointed interludes, Higgins challenges us to acknowledge how far our practices have drifted from our ideals, asking: What would it look like to build a college from the ground up to support self-discovery and personal integration? What does it mean to be a public university, and are there any left? How can the humanities help the job-ified university begin to take vocation seriously?

Cutting through the underbrush of received ideas, Higgins follows the insight where it leads, clearing a path from the corporate multiversity to the renaissance in higher education that was Black Mountain College and back again. Along the way, we tour a campus bent on becoming a shopping mall, accompany John Dewey through a midlife crisis, and witness the first "happening.” Through diverse and grounded philosophical engagements, Undeclared assembles the resources to expand the contemporary educational imagination.
Leadership as Masterpiece Creation
Authors: Spinosa Charles , Hancocks Matthew , Tsoukas Haridimos
Published: February 2024

How leaders can take the moral risks necessary to create “masterpieces”—admirable, distinctive, and high-achieving businesses that create meaningful lives for customers, employees, and themselves.

In Leadership as Masterpiece Creation, Charles Spinosa, Matthew Hancocks, and Haridimos Tsoukas show how the humanities can help leaders create profitable, masterpiece organizations. Such organizations, they assert, are ones that possess the emotional and moral sensibilities of an artist, the wisdom of a statesperson, and the technical know-how of commerce. The authors draw on the works of Nietzsche, Heidegger, Bernard Williams, Shakespeare, and Machiavelli to conceptualize moral risk-taking, and then on the actions of Churchill, Madam C. J. Walker, Anita Roddick, Jeff Bezos, and others to show how the humanities can help create admirable businesses today.

As management consultants and educators steeped in the humanities themselves, the authors discuss their experiences helping business leaders achieve successful masterpieces that bring good lives to many. After describing our contemporary business environment and examples of leaders who have created masterpiece organizations, the book turns to the basic skills of masterpiece creation: managing moods, building trust, listening for difference, and speaking truth to power. Then come the senior skills: moral risk-taking and creating a masterpiece organizational culture, strategy, and leadership style. Last, the authors explain why their leaders build an economy of gratitude.

A culturally ambitious and refreshing read, Leadership as Masterpiece Creation is an invaluable volume for leaders of every stripe who wish to act daily with moral imagination.
Mysteries of the Deep
Authors: Powell James Lawrence
Published: February 2024

A groundbreaking chronicle of scientific ocean drilling—a crowning achievement of the twentieth century—and how it shaped our knowledge of Earth's past.

Under the radar—or, rather, sonar—of most people and many scientists, for the last six decades ships have plied the world's oceans, mining the seafloor for its secrets—and quietly resolving confounding geological mysteries. Continental drift and plate tectonics. The origin of the Hawaiʻian Islands. The erstwhile disappearance of the Mediterranean. The mystery of the ice ages. All are part of the story told by deep-sea drilling—and chapters in the history that unfolds in Mysteries of the Deep. In a series of vignettes ranging from the voyage of the HMS Challenger in the 1870s to the adventures of research ship Chikyū in the 2020s, James Powell recounts the surprises the seafloor has yielded to the probing of scientists.

With a global, sometimes even extraterrestrial scope and a scientific reach that extends to every corner of geology and astrobiology, Powell's work recounts how cores extracted from the ocean floor have:

• produced insights into microbial life on Mars and the end of dinosaurs' tenure on Earth

• demonstrated that astronomical cycles control many geological events, and even human evolution

• used a past episode of global warming to reveal the peril of high temperatures today

• shown that global warming could melt enough Antarctic ice to drown the seacoasts

The mysteries uncovered by deep-sea drilling, and covered by Powell in this eye-opening book, are many and various, often surprising and sometimes alarming—consequential not just for the science of the seafloor, but for how we learn about our planet's past and what we can do about its future.
Thrive
Authors: Bapna Ravi , Ghose Anindya
Published: February 2024

How AI can positively impact so many aspects of our daily lives, from health and wellness to work, education, and home life.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a powerful general-purpose technology that is reshaping the modern economy, but misperceptions about AI stand in the way of harnessing it for the betterment of humanity. In Thrive, Ravi Bapna and Anindya Ghose counter the backlash by showcasing how AI is positively influencing the aspects of our daily lives that we care about most: our health and wellness, relationships, education, the workplace, and domestic life. In the process the authors help explain the underlying technology and give people the agency they need to shape the debate around how we should regulate AI to maximize its benefits and minimize its risks.

Bringing over two decades of experience with cutting-edge research, consulting, executive coaching, and advising to bear on the subject, Bapna and Ghose demystify the technology of AI itself. They offer a novel “House of AI” framework that encompasses traditional analytics, generative AI, and fair and ethical deployment of AI. Using examples from everyday life, they showcase how the modern AI-powered ecosystem fundamentally improves the emotional, physical, and material well-being of regular people across the globe. Thrive's mission is to educate the public about AI, shape realistic expectations, and foster informed discussions about a fast-emerging AI-shaped society.
When Arguments Merge
Authors: Newman Elise
Published: February 2024

A novel theory of argument structure based on the order in which verbs and their arguments combine across a variety of languages and language families.

Merge is the structure-building operation in Chomsky's Minimalist Program. In When Arguments Merge, Elise Newman develops a new Merge-based theory of the syntax of argument structure, taking inspiration from wh- questions. She uncovers new connections between disparate empirical phenomena and provides a unified analysis of patterns across many languages and language families, from Mayan to Bantu to Indo-European languages (among others). The result is a syntactic theory with a small inventory of features and categories that can combine in a limited number of ways, capturing the range of argument configurations that we find cross-linguistically in both declarative and interrogative contexts.

Newman's novel approach to argument structure is based on the time at which different kinds of arguments merge and move in the verbal domain. Assuming that all kinds of Merge are driven by features, she proposes that subset relationships between elements bearing different sets of features can constrain the distribution of arguments in unexpected ways and that different feature bundles can predict unusual interactions between arguments in many contexts. The positions of arguments in different contexts have consequences for agreement alignment and case assignment, which are reflected in the Voice of the clause. Examining the order in which verbs and their arguments are combined, she explores the consequences of different orders of combination for the kinds of utterances observed across languages.
The Demand Revolution
Authors: von der Gathen Andreas , Eckert Nicolai , Kastbjerg Caroline
Published: February 2024

How consumer desire for sustainability is powering the first demand-driven, transformative megatrend—and how business leaders can make the most of this important moment.

Sustainability is rocking the business world as profoundly as any global trend of the past, from electrification to digitalization. But unlike previous revolutions, this one is being driven by consumers, for whom environmentally sound practices matter as much as price, quality, and brand. In The Demand Revolution, Andreas von der Gathen, Nicolai Broby Eckert, and Caroline Kastbjerg offer a strategic framework for winning these consumers—and taking advantage of the vast commercial opportunity presented by sustainability as the first demand-driven, transformative megatrend.

The first movers in the Demand Revolution will be able to create enduring competitive advantages and high entry barriers built around redesigned business model ecosystems and customer loyalty, the authors explain, but this will require a critical adjustment in thinking and approach. Companies, first of all, have to catch up with consumers, who see themselves on a demand curve far beyond what companies currently perceive. Business leaders must shift their focus from the cost of sustainability to its potential for generating growth and long-term profits. This, in turn, means recognizing that the classic adoption curves for innovations—and the strategic playbooks derived from those insights—no longer apply. The Demand Revolution shows business leaders how to look beyond easy fixes and incremental outcomes and instead pursue high-risk, high-reward moves geared toward the source of exponential growth: the world's consumers.
Religious Influences on Economic Thinking
Authors: Friedman Benjamin M.
Published: February 2024

How religious thinking was—and remains—a central influence shaping economics.

The conventional view of economics is that the field was a product of the Enlightenment and, therefore, bore no relation to religious ideas. But is this true? In Religious Influences on Economic Thinking, Benjamin Friedman shows that religious thinking was, in fact, a powerful force in shaping the initial development of modern Western economics and that it has remained an influence on economic thinking ever since. Friedman argues that an important influence enabling the insights of Adam Smith and his contemporaries was the new and highly controversial line of religious thinking at that time in the English-speaking Protestant world.

Friedman explains that the influence of religious thinking on modern economic thought at the field's inception established resonances that have persisted through the subsequent centuries, even as the economic context has evolved and the questions economists ask have shifted along with it. Because we are largely not conscious of these influences, neither in the past nor as they are at work today, we are sometimes puzzled when we stumble across evidence of them—for example, in the otherwise hard-to-explain attitudes that many of our fellow citizens express on issues like estate taxes, business regulation, and environmental restrictions. But they are still at work. Understanding them can only enhance the economics profession's capacity to contribute to our ongoing public discussion of the important questions on which the discipline so usefully bears.
The Aesthetics of Stealth
Authors: Pape Toni
Published: February 2024

How performances of tactical imperceptibility—or “stealth”—have become a key political practice in digital culture as a means of escaping surveillance and tracking technologies.

In The Aesthetics of Stealth, Toni Pape proposes the first aesthetic and cultural theory of stealth, a mode of political action. The primary goal of stealth is to act efficiently while remaining imperceptible. Pape begins with the observation that the desire for stealth is a sociocultural response to digital media culture, due to digital technologies' unprecedented ability to track individual behavior. He argues that stealth operates as a cross-media aesthetic that can be observed in video games, television, and video art alike, particularly in so-called stealth video games, a genre that requires players to accomplish missions without being detected by in-game enemies.

Drawing on theories of perception, digital aesthetics, and video game studies, Pape proposes an analytical map of different modes of stealth such as “sneaking stealth,” “social stealth,” or “magical stealth.” The author's findings are brought into dialogue with research in the fields of software studies, surveillance studies, and political theory to establish the political importance of stealth. While stealth is a resistance to pervasive sensing and tracking, Pape also shows that the principles of stealth politics are closely connected to urgent concerns like (cyber)warfare and other digital practices of targeting and surveillance that operate to entrench cultural values like heteronormativity and white supremacy.
Robot-Proof
Authors: Aoun Joseph E.
Published: February 2024

A fresh look at a “robot-proof” education in the new age of generative AI.

In 2017, Robot-Proof, the first edition, foresaw the advent of the AI economy and called for a new model of higher education designed to help human beings flourish alongside smart machines. That economy has arrived. Creative tasks that, seven years ago, seemed resistant to automation can now be performed with a simple prompt. As a result, we must now learn not only to be conversant with these technologies, but also to comprehend and deploy their outputs. In this revised and updated edition, Joseph Aoun rethinks the university's mission for a world transformed by AI, advocating for the lifelong endeavor of a “robot-proof” education.

Aoun puts forth a framework for a new curriculum, humanics, which integrates technological, data, and human literacies in an experiential setting, and he renews the call for universities to embrace lifelong learning through a social compact with government, employers, and learners themselves. Drawing on the latest developments and debates around generative AI, Robot-Proof is a blueprint for the university as a force for human reinvention in an era of technological change—an era in which we must constantly renegotiate the shifting boundaries between artificial intelligence and the capacities that remain uniquely human.
Design Rules, Volume 2
Authors: Baldwin Carliss Y.
Published: February 2024

How the innate physical properties of different technologies influence the strategy and structure of the organizations implementing the technologies, the sequel to Design Rules: The Power of Modularity.

In Design Rules, volume 2, Carliss Baldwin offers a comprehensive view of the digital economy by putting forth an original theory that explains how technology shapes organizations in a market economy. The theory claims that complementarities arising from the physical nature of technologies can be arrayed on a spectrum ranging from strong to very weak. Two basic types of technologies in turn exhibit different degrees of complementarity between their internal components. Flow production technologies, which are found in steel mills and auto factories, specify a series of steps, each of which is essential to the final product. In contrast, platform technologies, which are characteristic of computer hardware, software, and networks, are modular systems designed to provide options.

Baldwin then investigates the dynamics of strategy for firms in platform ecosystems. Such firms create value by solving technical bottlenecks—technical barriers to performance that arise in different parts of the system as it evolves. They capture value by controlling and defending strategic bottlenecks—components that are (1) essential to the functioning of some part of the system; (2) unique; and (3) controlled by a profit-seeking enterprise. Strategic bottlenecks can be acquired by solving technical bottlenecks. They can be destroyed via tactics such as substitution, reverse engineering, bypassing the bottleneck, and enveloping a smaller bottleneck within a larger one. Strategy in platform ecosystems can thus be viewed as the effective management of technical and strategic bottlenecks within a modular technical system.
SNAP25 disease mutations change the energy landscape for synaptic exocytosis due to aberrant SNARE interactions
Authors: Kádková Anna , Murach Jacqueline , Østergaard Maiken , Malsam Andrea , Malsam Jörg , Lolicato Fabio , Nickel Walter , Söllner Thomas H , Sørensen Jakob Balslev
Published: February 2024

SNAP25 is one of three neuronal SNAREs driving synaptic vesicle exocytosis. We studied three mutations in SNAP25 that cause epileptic encephalopathy: V48F, and D166Y in the synaptotagmin-1 (Syt1)-binding interface, and I67N, which destabilizes the SNARE complex. All three mutations reduced Syt1-dependent vesicle docking to SNARE-carrying liposomes and Ca2+-stimulated membrane fusion in vitro and when expressed in mouse hippocampal neurons. The V48F and D166Y mutants (with potency D166Y > V48F) led to reduced readily releasable pool (RRP) size, due to increased spontaneous (miniature Excitatory Postsynaptic Current, mEPSC) release and decreased priming rates. These mutations lowered the energy barrier for fusion and increased the release probability, which are gain-of-function features not found in Syt1 knockout (KO) neurons; normalized mEPSC release rates were higher (potency D166Y > V48F) than in the Syt1 KO. These mutations (potency D166Y > V48F) increased spontaneous association to partner SNAREs, resulting in unregulated membrane fusion. In contrast, the I67N mutant decreased mEPSC frequency and evoked EPSC amplitudes due to an increase in the height of the energy barrier for fusion, whereas the RRP size was unaffected. This could be partly compensated by positive charges lowering the energy barrier. Overall, pathogenic mutations in SNAP25 cause complex changes in the energy landscape for priming and fusion.
The structural repertoire of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici effectors revealed by experimental and computational studies
Authors: Yu Daniel S , Outram Megan A , Smith Ashley , McCombe Carl L , Khambalkar Pravin B , Rima Sharmin A , Sun Xizhe , Ma Lisong , Ericsson Daniel J , Jones David A , Williams Simon J
Published: February 2024

Plant pathogens secrete proteins, known as effectors, that function in the apoplast or inside plant cells to promote virulence. Effector recognition by cell-surface or cytosolic receptors results in the activation of defence pathways and plant immunity. Despite their importance, our general understanding of fungal effector function and recognition by immunity receptors remains poor. One complication often associated with effectors is their high sequence diversity and lack of identifiable sequence motifs precluding prediction of structure or function. In recent years, several studies have demonstrated that fungal effectors can be grouped into structural classes, despite significant sequence variation and existence across taxonomic groups. Using protein X-ray crystallography, we identify a new structural class of effectors hidden within the secreted in xylem (SIX) effectors from Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Fol). The recognised effectors Avr1 (SIX4) and Avr3 (SIX1) represent the founding members of the Fol dual-domain (FOLD) effector class, with members containing two distinct domains. Using AlphaFold2, we predicted the full SIX effector repertoire of Fol and show that SIX6 and SIX13 are also FOLD effectors, which we validated experimentally for SIX6. Based on structural prediction and comparisons, we show that FOLD effectors are present within three divisions of fungi and are expanded in pathogens and symbionts. Further structural comparisons demonstrate that Fol secretes effectors that adopt a limited number of structural folds during infection of tomato. This analysis also revealed a structural relationship between transcriptionally co-regulated effector pairs. We make use of the Avr1 structure to understand its recognition by the I receptor, which leads to disease resistance in tomato. This study represents an important advance in our understanding of Fol-tomato, and by extension plant–fungal interactions, which will assist in the development of novel control and engineering strategies to combat plant pathogens.
A stable microtubule bundle formed through an orchestrated multistep process controls quiescence exit
Authors: Laporte Damien , Massoni-Laporte Aurélie , Lefranc Charles , Dompierre Jim , Mauboules David , Nsamba Emmanuel. T. , Royou Anne , Gal Lihi , Schuldiner Maya , Gupta Mohan L. , Sagot Isabelle
Published: February 2024

Cells fine-tune microtubule assembly in both space and time, to give rise to distinct edifices with specific cellular functions. In proliferating cells, microtubules are highly dynamics, and proliferation cessation often leads to their stabilization. One of the most stable microtubule structures identified to date is the nuclear bundle assembled in quiescent yeast. In this report, we characterize the original multistep process driving the assembly of this structure. This AuroraB-dependent mechanism follows a precise temporality that relies on the sequential actions of kinesin-14, kinesins-5 and involves both microtubule-kinetochore and kinetochore-kinetochore interactions. Upon quiescence exit, the microtubule bundle is disassembled via a cooperative process involving kinesin-8 and its full disassembly is required prior to cells re-entry into proliferation. Overall, our study provides the first description, at the molecular scale, of the entire life cycle of a stable microtubule structure
in vivo
, and sheds light on its physiological function.
Habitat loss weakens the positive relationship between grassland plant richness and above-ground biomass
Authors: Yan Yongzhi , Jarvie Scott , Zhang Qing
Published: February 2024

Habitat loss and fragmentation per se have been shown to be a major threat to global biodiversity and ecosystem function. However, little is known about how habitat loss and fragmentation per se alters the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function (BEF relationship) in the natural landscape context. Based on 130 landscapes identified by a stratified random sampling in the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China, we investigated the effects of landscape context (habitat loss and fragmentation per se) on plant richness, above-ground biomass, and the relationship between them in grassland communities using a structural equation model. We found that habitat loss directly decreased plant richness and hence decreased above-ground biomass, while fragmentation per se directly increased plant richness and hence increased above-ground biomass. Fragmentation per se also directly decreased soil water content and hence decreased above-ground biomass. Meanwhile, habitat loss decreased the magnitude of the positive relationship between plant richness and above-ground biomass by reducing the percentage of grassland specialists in the community, while fragmentation per se had no significant modulating effect on this relationship. These results demonstrate that habitat loss and fragmentation per se have inconsistent effects on biodiversity and ecosystem function, with the BEF relationship being modulated by landscape context. Our findings emphasise that habitat loss rather than fragmentation per se can weaken the positive BEF relationship by decreasing the degree of habitat specialisation of the community.BEF relationship is moderated by landscape context in fragmented landscapes.Habitat loss and fragmentation per se have inconsistent effects.Habitat loss can weaken the positive BEF relationship via reducing the percentage of grassland specialists in the community.
Hippocampal-occipital connectivity reflects autobiographical memory deficits in aphantasia
Authors: Monzel Merlin , Leelaarporn Pitshaporn , Lutz Teresa , Schultz Johannes , Brunheim Sascha , Reuter Martin , McCormick Cornelia
Published: February 2024

Aphantasia prohibits people from experiencing visual imagery. While most of us can readily recall decade-old personal experiences (autobiographical memories, AM) with vivid mental images, there is a dearth of information about whether the loss of visual imagery in aphantasics affects their AM retrieval. The hippocampus is thought to be a crucial hub in a brain-wide network underlying AM. One important question is whether this network, especially the connectivity of the hippocampus, is altered in aphantasia. In the current study, we tested 14 congenital aphantasics and 16 demographically matched controls in an AM fMRI task to investigate how key brain regions (i.e., hippocampus and visual-perceptual cortices) interact with each other during AM re-experiencing. All participants were interviewed regarding their autobiographical memory to examine their episodic and semantic recall of specific events. Aphantasics reported more difficulties in recalling AM, were less confident about their memories, and described less internal and emotional details than controls. Neurally, aphantasics displayed decreased hippocampal and increased visual-perceptual cortex activation during AM retrieval compared to controls. In addition, controls showed strong negative functional connectivity between the hippocampus and the visual cortex during AM and resting-state functional connectivity between these two brain structures predicted better visualization skills. Our results indicate that visual mental imagery is essential for detail-rich, vivid AM, and that this type of cognitive function is supported by the functional connection between the hippocampus and the visual-perceptual cortex.
An efficient combined intelligent system for segmentation and classification of lung cancer computed tomography images
Authors: Sivakumar Maheswari , Chinnasamy Sundar , MS Thanabal
Published: February 2024

Background and Objective

One of the illnesses with most significant mortality and morbidity rates worldwide is lung cancer. From CT images, automatic lung tumor segmentation is significantly essential. However, segmentation has several difficulties, such as different sizes, variable shapes, and complex surrounding tissues. Therefore, a novel enhanced combined intelligent system is presented to predict lung cancer in this research.

Methods

Non-small cell lung cancer should be recognized for detecting lung cancer. In the pre-processing stage, the noise in the CT images is eliminated by using an average filter and adaptive median filter, and histogram equalization is used to enhance the filtered images to enhance the lung image quality in the proposed model. The adapted deep belief network (ADBN) is used to segment the affected region with the help of network layers from the noise-removed lung CT image. Two cascaded RBMs are used for the segmentation process in the structure of ADBN, including Bernoulli–Bernoulli (BB) and Gaussian-Bernoulli (GB), and then relevant significant features are extracted. The hybrid spiral optimization intelligent-generalized rough set (SOI-GRS) approach is used to select compelling features of the CT image. Then, an optimized light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM) model using the Ensemble Harris hawk optimization (EHHO) algorithm is used for lung cancer classification.

Results

LUNA 16, the Kaggle Data Science Bowl (KDSB), the Cancer Imaging Archive (CIA), and local datasets are used to train and test the proposed approach. Python and several well-known modules, including TensorFlow and Scikit-Learn, are used for the extensive experiment analysis. The proposed research accurately spot people with lung cancer according to the results. The method produced the least classification error possible while maintaining 99.87% accuracy.

Conclusion

The integrated intelligent system (ADBN-Optimized LightGBM) gives the best results among all input prediction models, taking performance criteria into account and boosting the system’s effectiveness, hence enabling better lung cancer patient diagnosis by physicians and radiologists.
Does it pay to pay? A comparison of the benefits of open-access publishing across various sub-fields in biology
Authors: Clark Amanda D. , Myers Tanner C. , Steury Todd D. , Krzton Ali , Yanes Julio , Barber Angela , Barry Jacqueline , Barua Subarna , Eaton Katherine , Gosavi Devadatta , Nance Rebecca , Pervaiz Zahida , Ugochukwu Chidozie , Hartman Patricia , Stevison Laurie S.
Published: February 2024

Authors are often faced with the decision of whether to maximize traditional impact metrics or minimize costs when choosing where to publish the results of their research. Many subscription-based journals now offer the option of paying an article processing charge (APC) to make their work open. Though such “hybrid” journals make research more accessible to readers, their APCs often come with high price tags and can exclude authors who lack the capacity to pay to make their research accessible. Here, we tested if paying to publish open access in a subscription-based journal benefited authors by conferring more citations relative to closed access articles. We identified 146,415 articles published in 152 hybrid journals in the field of biology from 2013–2018 to compare the number of citations between various types of open access and closed access articles. In a simple generalized linear model analysis of our full dataset, we found that publishing open access in hybrid journals that offer the option confers an average citation advantage to authors of 17.8 citations compared to closed access articles in similar journals. After taking into account the number of authors, Journal Citation Reports 2020 Quartile, year of publication, and Web of Science category, we still found that open access generated significantly more citations than closed access (p < 0.0001). However, results were complex, with exact differences in citation rates among access types impacted by these other variables. This citation advantage based on access type was even similar when comparing open and closed access articles published in the same issue of a journal (p < 0.0001). However, by examining articles where the authors paid an article processing charge, we found that cost itself was not predictive of citation rates (p = 0.14). Based on our findings of access type and other model parameters, we suggest that, in the case of the 152 journals we analyzed, paying for open access does confer a citation advantage. For authors with limited budgets, we recommend pursuing open access alternatives that do not require paying a fee as they still yielded more citations than closed access. For authors who are considering where to submit their next article, we offer additional suggestions on how to balance exposure via citations with publishing costs.
Impact of Cluster Front Line Demonstrations on Yield and Economics of Toria in Tirap District of Arunachal Pradesh, India
Authors: Chaturvedi Abhimanyu , Bagra Geric , Mishra N. K. , Pandey V. K.
Published: February 2024

The Cluster Front Line Demonstration (CFLD) program, launched by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer's Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi nder the National Mission on Oilseed and Oil Palm (NMOOP). The KVK Tirap carried out CFLD on Toria on 80 ha between 2017 and 2018, benefiting 200 individuals spread over 18 villages in the district that was specifically chosen. Primary data served as the study's primary source. The purpose of the study is to examine how the Cluster Front Line Demonstration by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Tirap, has affected the district's socioeconomic situation, adoption and technology gap, and adoption patterns of both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. According to the study, cluster front-line demonstrations of tested technologies can significantly improve the yield potential and net income from oilseed farming while also raising the income levels of the participating farmers. In comparison to farmers' practices, the CFLDs reported higher average gross returns (Rs. 38560 and Rs 44812) and net returns (Rs. 18686 and Rs 19991) with a cost: benefit ratio (2.12 and 2.34); indicating the technology's economic viability.
Cultivating Household Food Security through Resource – Use Efficiency among Cash Crop Farmers: Evidence from Tobacco Producers in Uganda
Authors: Midamba Dick Chune , Ouko Kevin Okoth , Ouya Fredrick Ochieng , Jjengo Accram
Published: February 2024

Poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition cases have been reported among farmers who prioritize cash crops such as tobacco. This is as a result of inefficient allocation of farm resources to tobacco production, with little or no allocation to staple food crops. To increase food production among such farmers, researchers have recommended optimum allocation of farm resources between tobacco and staple food crops. This study therefore aimed at determining the resource use efficiency for tobacco – food crop production, the optimal farm plans and the factors affecting resource use efficiency for food crops production. Data Envelopment Analysis was used to assess the level of resource use efficiency and the optimal farm plans while Tobit model was used to determine the factors affecting resource use efficiency for the optimal farm plans. The results from data drawn from 200 tobacco farmers in Western Uganda depicted that farmers were 61% efficient in their resource allocation to tobacco and food crops. Results for the optimal allocation plans suggested that farmers should optimally allocate their resources to tobacco and food crops in order to achieve household food requirements. Household size, pesticides use, farm income and support from the tobacco contract companies had a positive association with resource use efficiency for food crop production while input prices, land size and gender had a negative relationship with resource use efficiency. In conclusion, farmers are inefficient in allocating their farm resources between tobacco and other food crops which has far-reaching implications for availability of household foods. The study therefore recommends that the governments of SSA should increase the training and extension services on the adoption of optimum resources for cash – food crop production as well as supporting the farmers through inputs subsidies so as to increase household food production.
Pertubation of Road Construction and Inorganic Sedimentation on the Macroinvetebrate Fauna in the Midstream Segment of Qua Iboe River, Nigeria
Authors: Akpabio J. U. , Okon A. O. , Ebong G. A. , Udoinyang E. P. , Essien E. A. , Josiah I. U. , Akpan A. W.
Published: February 2024

The massive road construction projects in the drainage basin of Qua Iboe River (Nigeria) seriously affect the environment with elevated levels of some physico-chemical variables in perturbed segments of the river. The road construction resulted in elevated levels of the three pollution parameters (turbidity, bed load and suspended load which also had significant effect on the macroinvertebrate species richness and diversity in the perturbed zone, Biotic scores and biomass of macroinvertebrates were lower at perturbed than unperturbed zones. The three zones of the midstream segment of the stream were heterotrophic (P/R < 1.0) due to high turbidity, high silt load and suspended organic matter occasioned by the massive road development and maintenance across the drainage basin in the study area.
A Survey of Academic Discourse Strategy Ability of Non-English Major Postgraduates in China
Authors: Yang Yilun , Chen Liping
Published: February 2024

Postgraduate students majoring in non-English disciplines require expert academic discourse ability for effective communication and career success. However, limited research exists on the current status of this ability. This survey aims to explore these postgraduates’ academic discourse strategy ability, including language use, argumentation, critical thinking, and discussion engagement. It also aims to identify challenges and areas for improvement among these students. The results will inform educational institutions and policymakers of the need for targeted interventions to support the development of this crucial skill. The findings will also provide practical guidance for teachers and students on improving their academic discourse strategy ability.
Academic Stress Measurement and Management of Radiologic Technology Students
Authors: Cruz Denise Audrey B. , Campomanes Eula Sara A. , Belleno Erlryn Ella L. , Alipio Mark M.
Published: February 2024

Academic stress among Radiologic Technology students in Iligan City, Philippines, significantly impacts their well-being and academic success. This research aims to measure and address this stress by developing tailored stress management activities. The study utilizes an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. Qualitative interviews with Radiologic Technology students identify the key stressors, including academic demands, interpersonal conflicts, and societal expectations. Based on the qualitative findings, a stress management program is developed, that incorporates self-awareness, self-care, and goal setting. Stress levels are measured using questionnaires before and after participating in stress management activities. Participants include second-, third-, and fourth-year Radiologic Technology students who have completed at least one semester in the Radiologic Technology program. Sampling methods include simple random and purposive sampling. Thematic analysis identifies coping mechanisms such as binge eating, exercise, and entertainment. Quantitative analysis shows a significant decrease in stress levels post-intervention, highlighting the effectiveness of stress management activities. Students express positive feedback, acknowledging the benefits of the stress management workshop. This study contributes to understanding academic stress among Radiologic Technology students and highlights the importance of tailored stress management strategies. It emphasizes the significance of self-awareness, self-care, and goal-setting, and emphasizes the need for targeted interventions.