bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Development and Validation of a Real-Time Happiness Index Using Google Trends™
Authors: Greyling Talita , Rossouw Stephanié
Published: February 2025

It is well-established that a positive relationship exists between happiness and the economic outcomes of a country. Traditionally, surveys have been the main method for measuring happiness, but they face challenges such as “survey fatigue”, high costs, time delays, and the fluctuating nature of happiness. Addressing these challenges of survey data, Big Data from sources like Google Trends™ and social media is now being used to complement surveys and provide policymakers with more timely insights into well-being. In recent years, Google Trends™ data has been leveraged to discern trends in mental health, including anxiety and loneliness, and construct robust predictors of subjective well-being composite categories. We aim to construct the first comprehensive, near real-time measure of population-level happiness using information-seeking query data extracted continuously using Google Trends™. We use a basket of English-language emotion words suggested to capture positive and negative affect and apply machine learning algorithms—XGBoost and ElasticNet—to identify the most important words and their weight in estimating happiness. We demonstrate our methodology using data from the United Kingdom and test its cross-country applicability in the Netherlands by translating the emotion words into Dutch. Lastly, we improve the fit for the Netherlands by incorporating country-specific emotion words. Evaluating the accuracy of our estimated happiness in countries against survey data, we find a very good fit with very low error metrics. Adding country-specific words improves the fit statistics. Our suggested innovative methodology demonstrates that emotion words extracted from Google Trends™ can accurately estimate a country’s level of happiness.
CO2 storage behavior of rice husk biochar–bitumen mixture at different pressures and temperatures: a detailed experimental investigation
Authors: Kumar Kondapaka Kishor , Omal N. M. , Sharma Vinod Kumar , Kandy Sharu Bhagavathi , Ağbulut Ümit
Published: February 2025

Overutilization of fossil fuels has led to elevated levels of atmospheric CO2, which presents substantial risks to global warming and climate change. The most effective way to address this issue is through the capture and use of carbon dioxide (CO2). In this regard, in the present study, an adsorption technique is chosen for CO2 capture whereas activated rice husk biochar (ARHBC) is synthesized as an adsorbent. In addition, two more samples, i.e., pure bitumen and its mixture with 6% ARHBC are prepared to study their CO2 adsorption behavior at near ambient conditions. The physical characterization, i.e., BET, FTIR, XRD, SEM, EDS, and TGA analyses, of these adsorbents are carried out which results in the favor of their suitability toward CO2 adsorption showing the BET surface area of 2492.9 m2 g−1, thermal stability, and high porosity. In addition, the strength (softening point, penetration, and ductility) of the bitumen–ARHBC mixture is tested to confirm its suitability for construction applications and found to be higher than the minimum permissible values. Later, all three adsorbents are tested for CO2 storage capabilities using a volumetric method-based apparatus at different temperatures and pressures. The CO2 adsorption test results in 0.33 gm gm−1 of ARHBC, 0.05 gm gm−1 of mixture, and 0.02 gm gm−1 of pure bitumen at 25 °C and 4.5 bar. The obtained CO2 adsorption capacity of ARHBC, i.e., 3.1 mmol/gm at 1 bar and 25 °C is observed to be similar to the results in the literature. It is suggested that the mixture’s adsorption capacity can be increased by increasing the ARHBC content till the permissible limit.
Accelerated Academia: Time Regimes of a University Merger
Authors: Poutanen Mikko
Published: February 2025

This article explores a Finnish university merger as a disruption of academic time regimes. Previous research has shown how academic time regimes are drawn ever tighter by increasing pressures for performance, efficiency and competitiveness both on the level of higher education institutions and individual academics. On a policy level, higher education is called upon to do more, to contribute more to economic growth and competitiveness. Public higher education institutions (HEIs) are also reformed to this effect. Accelerating policy initiatives change organizational time regimes in HEIs, encroaching upon individual academic time regimes. Academics experience this as less self-determined professional time available to them and increased imposed organizational time demands, with problematic consequences to meaningful academic self-governance. Our findings add to current discussions on accelerating academia by suggesting an analytical separation of time regimes that impact academia to describe experiences of acceleration. The article draws on survey and interview data from a Finnish university merger to show how organizational changes further disrupt academic time regimes. As a result, academics experience a sense of lost control and agency over their own work, or, following Hartmut Rosa, alienation.
XadA-like adhesin XADA2 regulates biofilm formation in X. fastidiosa subsp. fastidiosa putatively by engaging oleic-acid derived oxylipins
Authors: Scala Valeria , Salustri Manuel , Merfa Marcus Vinicius , Beccaccioli Marzia , Lascala Leonardo , De La Fuente Leonardo , Reverberi Massimo
Published: February 2025

Background

The oxylipins 10-HpOME and 7,10-DiHoME derive from oleic acid and have been extensively studied for their ability to regulate contractions, microcolony formation and biofilm formation in the model organism Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Methods and results

Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca strain de Donno has been reported to produce 10-HpOME and 7,10-DiHOME in vivo when inoculated in the model plant Nicotiana tabacum or in naturally occurring infected olive trees. In this study, we deciphered the relationship among cell adhesion and oxylipins in Xylella fastidiosa subsp. fastidiosa (Temecula1 strain) and subsp. multiplex (AlmaEM3 strain). The role of the PD0744 gene, encoding for XadA2, a non-fimbrial adhesin belonging to the trimeric autotransporter family, probably involved in the surface attachment required in the initial phase of biofilm formation was investigated. PD0744 deletion mutants in two X. fastidiosa strains were generated, through homologous recombination, and the impact of its deletion on bacterial lifestyle was assessed. In vitro assays were performed to characterize the mutant phenotype, particularly in twitching motility and its capability to grow and form biofilm. Mutants showed a reduced twitching motility and biofilm formation compared to wild type strains. HPLC–MS/MS analysis revealed a decrease in 7,10-DiHOME production together with an increase of its precursor 10-HpOME in the mutants.

Conclusions

7,10-DiHOME could be a crucial signaling molecule to promote biofilm formation and twitching motility, whose synthesis likely depends on a signal transduction requiring the presence of the adhesin XadA2 and thus not working if this protein is depleted. These results help understanding the complex regulation of biofilm formation in this devastating pathogen.
The association between postoperative photon radiotherapy dose and disease control and salvage treatment in pediatric and adolescent ependymoma: a multi-institutional investigation
Authors: Liu Kevin X. , Salans Mia , Easwaran Teresa P. , Phuong Christina , Yeo Kee Kiat , Elhalawani Hesham , Catalano Paul J. , Dusenbery Kathryn , Marcus Karen J. , Terezakis Stephanie A. , Haas-Kogan Daphne A. , Braunstein Steve E.
Published: February 2025

Purpose

We characterized the association between photon radiation dose (< 59.4 versus ≥ 59.4 Gy) and outcomes in intracranial ependymoma. We also examined factors associated with survival after relapse.

Methods

This multi-institutional retrospective study included patients age ≤ 21 years who received postoperative definitive-intent photon radiotherapy for posterior fossa ependymoma between 1997 and 2021. Clinical characteristics were obtained from medical records. Five-year overall (OS) and progression-free (PFS) survival were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Factors associated with progression after radiotherapy, including dose < 59.4 versus ≥ 59.4 Gy, were analyzed using Fine and Gray’s proportional subhazards model. Factors associated with post-relapse survival were explored using the Cox proportional-hazards model.

Results

We identified 45 patients meeting inclusion criteria; 48.9% received ≥ 59.4 Gy. There was no difference in 5-year OS or PFS between those who received < 59.4 Gy versus ≥ 59.4 (OS 49.0% vs. 82.9%, p = 0.11; PFS 36.4% vs. 63.9%, p = 0.08); however, there was a trend towards worse 5-year OS and PFS among patients with grade 2 ependymoma who received < 59.4 Gy (OS 48.8% vs. 88.9%, p = 0.06, PFS 40.0% vs. 83.1%, p = 0.08). Only age > 4 years at diagnosis (subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR]: 0.40, p = 0.03) was associated lower risk of progression. Following radiotherapy, 24 patients relapsed. Receipt of salvage systemic therapy was associated with worse post-relapse OS on multivariable analysis (HR = 2.84, p = 0.04).

Conclusion

Underlying biological factors such as age and molecular subtype may hold greater prognostic significance than radiation dose in pediatric ependymoma. Regardless, recurrences are common and outcomes remain poor. Further research into optimal management of relapsed disease is critical.
Random Pricing: Bertrand Competition with Uncontested Consumers
Authors: Lenhard Severin
Published: February 2025

Two firms offer a homogeneous product and compete in prices. Consumers are homogeneous yet differ in their access to the firms. Three groups exist: Consumers who have access to both firms and can compare prices; and consumers who can access only one of the two firms and are thus uncontested. The group sizes may differ: One firm’s uncontested consumer base may be zero. No pure strategy equilibrium exists. In the mixed equilibrium, firms randomize on the same continuum of prices; in expectation, the firm with the larger consumer base plays a higher price and has a higher expected demand. We study: the firms’ incentive to invest in demand; effects of price discrimination; and collusion. Moreover, we extend the model to more than two firms and discuss mergers.
A Relative Measure of Economic Insecurity and the Nexus with Job Change
Authors: Gallo Alessandro , Pacei Silvia , Ferrante Maria Rosaria
Published: February 2025

Economic insecurity is attracting growing attention in the social well-being literature. However, there is still debate about its definition and measurement which deserve further and in depth study. Assuming that economic insecurity relates to the forward-looking perception of future outcomes based on past experience, we suggest a class of relative indices measuring the individual feeling of economic insecurity by considering relative past resource fluctuations. The innovation we implement in this context consists in considering relative changes, supposing that individuals evaluate each fluctuation based on their previous resource level. We take advantage of the measures suggested to study how economic insecurity may affect job mobility. Obtained results show that economic insecurity has a significant impact on the probability of changing jobs, and that its effect differs by gender and working experience.
Randomized tensor decomposition using parallel reconfigurable systems
Authors: Misra Ajita , Abdelgawad Muhammad A. A. , Jing Peng , Cheung Ray C. C. , Yan Hong
Published: February 2025

Tensor decomposition algorithms are essential for extracting meaningful latent variables and uncovering hidden structures in real-world data tensors. Unlike conventional deterministic tensor decomposition algorithms, randomized methods offer higher efficiency by reducing memory requirements and computational complexity. This paper proposes an efficient hardware architecture for a randomized tensor decomposition implemented on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) using high-level synthesis (HLS). The proposed architecture integrates random projection, power iteration, and subspace approximation via QR decomposition to achieve low-rank approximation of multidimensional datasets. The proposed architecture utilizes the capabilities of reconfigurable systems to accelerate tensor computation. It includes three central units: (1) tensor times matrix chain (TTMc), (2) tensor unfolding unit, and (3) QR decomposition unit to implement a three-stage algorithm. Experimental results demonstrate that our FPGA design achieves up to 14.56 times speedup compared to the well-implemented tensor decomposition using software library Tensor Toolbox on an Intel i7-9700 CPU. For a large input tensor of size

$$512 \times 512 \times 512$$

512
×
512
×
512

, the proposed design achieves a 5.55 times speedup compared to an Nvidia Tesla T4 GPU. Furthermore, we utilize our hardware-based high-order singular value decomposition (HOSVD) accelerator for two real applications: background subtraction of dynamic video datasets and data compression. In both applications, our proposed design shows high efficiency regarding accuracy and computational time.
Explaining objective probabilities by physical symmetries
Authors: Voggenauer Martin
Published: February 2025

In this paper, I discuss the relationship between the method of arbitrary functions and single-case probabilities, and offer an interpretation of these probabilities by reference to physical symmetries of chance experiments. The method of arbitrary functions attempts to explain outcome frequencies through the underlying deterministic dynamics of chance experiments and the constant proportions of these dynamics that lead to different outcomes in repeated chance experiments. However, the method of arbitrary functions alone appears to provide no comprehensive interpretation of deterministic chance since it relies on distributions of initial conditions that, in turn, require interpretation. Moreover, even without reference to distributions of initial conditions, the method of arbitrary functions may not be able to provide genuine single-case probabilities since the constant proportions appear to become relevant for outcomes only in repeated chance experiments. In this paper, I propose an explanation of the constant proportions of dynamics via the physical properties of single chance experiments. By doing so, I attempt to develop the method of arbitrary functions into a comprehensive interpretation of probability that does not rely on the distribution of initial conditions and covers genuine single-case probabilities. Specifically, I show how the constant proportions result from what I will call the relevant physical symmetries of chance experiments, i.e., from a regular constitution of chance devices with respect to the dynamically realized symmetry transformations in single chance experiments.
Comparative evaluation of lower respiratory tract microbiota in healthy and BRD-affected calves in Egypt
Authors: Sabry Ibrahim , Zeineldin Mohamed , Kamal Mohamed , Hefnawy Abdelghany , El-Attar Hussam , Abdelraof Yasein , Ghanem Mohamed
Published: February 2025

The advent of next-generation sequencing technologies has uncovered the importance of commensal microbial populations in the lower respiratory tract (LRT) for mucosal health and their role in the development of bovine respiratory disease (BRD). In this study, we aimed to characterize and compare the LRT microbiota in healthy and BRD-affected calves in Egypt. After assessing clinical respiratory scores in both groups, post-mortem lung samples from the cranial lobes of six clinically healthy calves and six calves affected by BRD were collected following slaughter. The most prevalent bacterial families in all samples were Moraxellaceae (11.06%), Enterobacteriaceae (8.23%), and Flavobacteriaceae (8.13%). The most common bacterial genera across all samples were Acinetobacter (13.1%), Gracilibacillus (7.9%), and Pseudomonas (5.0%). Notably, the overall microbial community structures differed significantly between healthy and BRD-affected calves. Alpha diversity analysis revealed significant differences in the Shannon (p = 0.0043) and Chao1 (p = 0.0001) indices between the two groups. This study highlights the substantial impact of BRD on the LRT microbiota of calves, highlighting the intricate relationship between host health and the LRT microbial ecosystem. Further investigations involving a larger sample size are necessary to establish the clinical significance of LRT microbiota in maintaining bovine respiratory health.
A Survey on Deep Stereo Matching in the Twenties
Authors: Tosi Fabio , Bartolomei Luca , Poggi Matteo
Published: February 2025

Stereo matching is close to hitting a half-century of history, yet witnessed a rapid evolution in the last decade thanks to deep learning. While previous surveys in the late 2010s covered the first stage of this revolution, the last five years of research brought further ground-breaking advancements to the field. This paper aims to fill this gap in a two-fold manner: first, we offer an in-depth examination of the latest developments in deep stereo matching, focusing on the pioneering architectural designs and groundbreaking paradigms that have redefined the field in the 2020s; second, we present a thorough analysis of the critical challenges that have emerged alongside these advances, providing a comprehensive taxonomy of these issues and exploring the state-of-the-art techniques proposed to address them. By reviewing both the architectural innovations and the key challenges, we offer a holistic view of deep stereo matching and highlight the specific areas that require further investigation. To accompany this survey, we maintain a regularly updated project page that catalogs papers on deep stereo matching in our Awesome-Deep-Stereo-Matching repository.
THM-modelling benchmark initiative on the effects of temperature on the disposal of heat-generating radioactive waste in clay formations
Authors: Simo Eric , de Lesquen Christophe , Leon-Vargas Rocio Paola , Vu Minh-ngoc , Raude Simon , El Tabbal Ginger , Dizier Arnaud , Seetharam Suresh , Narkuniene Asta , Collin Frédéric , Song Hangbiao , Gens Antonio , Song Fei , Tatomir Alexandru-Bogdan , Nagel Thomas , Buchwald Jörg
Published: February 2025

Understanding the thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) behaviour of clay formations, which are being considered as potential hosts for the disposal of radioactive waste in Europe, is important for the feasibility and the safe disposal of heat-generating radioactive waste in deep geological clayey formations. To ensure the reliability of numerical models and tools used to predict the THM evolution of such systems over long periods of time, it is necessary to verify and validate these tools through benchmarking initiatives. As part of the joint European Programme on Radioactive Waste Management (EURAD), the Influence of Temperature on Clay-based Material Behaviour (HITEC) work package invited seven teams from across Europe to participate in a benchmark initiative to assess the expertise and capabilities of these teams and their numerical tools to predict THM evolution in different clay materials. The results of this benchmark showed that all teams involved were able to adequately model the THM behaviour of heat-generating repository systems in clay formations, and the tools they used can be considered verified for the solution of coupled THM equations under variable boundary conditions relevant for nuclear waste disposal.
The Toll of Protecting and Serving: Treating Concurrent Moral Injury and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Male Police Officers
Authors: Hanley Kayla R.
Published: February 2025

Police officers who experience a potentially morally injurious event (PMIE) may experience moral injury (MI) if the event is not processed with the officers’ support systems. MI causes a dichotomy between one’s actions, or inactions, and one’s morality. When left unaddressed, MI can occur concurrently with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there is no evidence-based intervention to address MI with police officers. Because of the clinical overlap between MI and PTSD and their often simultaneous occurrence, social workers can alter trauma-focused interventions to address MI more effectively. This paper presents a case study, a method that allows for descriptive exploration of the clinical experiences of clients. This case study explores how the modification and application of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) can treat both sets of MI and PTSD symptoms in Hispanic male police officers and support the need for social worker innovation.
Empirical analysis of the differences in the drivers of fertility between CEE countries and the rest of the EU
Authors: Németh András Olivér , Németh Petra , Tőkés László
Published: February 2025

Our research aims to reveal the key social, economic, and other factors behind the common fertility trends of the CEE countries compared to the rest of Europe over the past decades. A panel analysis was conducted to examine the main (social and economic) determinants of the total fertility rate using the fixed-effect method. The study employs macro-level data from the 27 countries of the European Union with special attention to the 11 CEE countries; the analysed period lasts from 1990 to 2021. The results demonstrate that fertility in the CEE countries is significantly more sensitive to changes in the economic situation, and demographic and social variables related to childbirth have a more pronounced effect on the TFR. In contrast, variables related to the ageing of society seem to be less decisive. Our main academic contribution is to extend the empirical literature on fertility rates in Central and Eastern Europe. There are indeed differences in the determinants of the TFR in Central and Eastern Europe compared to the rest of Europe over the past decades, which allows policymakers to respond more efficiently to changes in the fertility patterns of the region.
On the Divergence of Function and Service: Knowledge and Technology Transfer Understood as the Service Processes of the Science System
Authors: von Grünberg Hans-Hennig , Lange Lütje
Published: February 2025

The idea here is to derive properties and categories of knowledge and technology transfer from a theoretical model of the science system, for which we draw on the work of the German sociologists Niklas Luhmann and Rudolf Stichweh. The aim is to determine the characteristics of transfer that are already defined by the autopoiesis of the science system. We will explain why transfer can be understood as the collection of input–output processes across the boundaries of the academic system and can be associated with the science system’s exchange of services with other subsystems of society, but is independent of the fulfilment of the science system’s function. With this distinction between “function” and “service,” we can address two apparent contradictions: How is the paradigm of openness that determines transfer compatible with the closedness that underlies the autopoiesis of science, and how can transfer across system boundaries and multipolar innovation networks be brought together conceptually? This paper distinguishes between three process classes of transfer. While the first two process classes precede or follow a real research process (inside-out and outside-in), the third process class is of the form out → in → out and follows the scheme that a solution is sought for a specific problem that serves external purposes. Then, ten different categories of knowledge and technology transfer are compiled and discussed for the three process classes derived. They show how complex transfer structures can be constructed from elementary processes without having to sacrifice the idea of a system boundary, which is indispensable for the functioning of science, which casts doubt on the assertion often made in the literature that this boundary is dissolving (“blurring of boundaries”). In the end, we also address other important practical and theoretical implications of these considerations.
Semipositive line bundles on punctured Riemann surfaces: Bergman kernels and random zeros
Authors: Liu Bingxiao , Zielinski Dominik
Published: February 2025

We present an extensive study on the Bergman kernel expansions and the random zeros associated with the high tensor powers of a semipositive line bundle on a complete punctured Riemann surface. We prove several results for the zeros of Gaussian holomorphic sections in the semi-classical limit, including the equidistribution, large deviation estimates, central limit theorem, and number variances.
Health beliefs mediates the association between the number of non-communicable diseases and preventive behaviors in middle-aged and older adults in southern China
Authors: Huang Yali , Wang Tingjun , Wang Huajun , Zeng Yongjun , Xie Liangdi
Published: February 2025

Background

The triadic relationship among the number of NCDs, preventive behaviors and health beliefs has not been fully explored, especially the role of health beliefs.

Aims

To explore the association between the number of NCDs and preventive behaviors, as well as the mediating effect of health beliefs and its dimensions among middle-aged and older adults. Provide scientific evidence for developing targeted behavior intervention.

Methods

Data from 2095 middle-aged and older adults who completed demographic information, health beliefs and preventive behaviors questionnaire. Mediation analysis was used to explore the association of health beliefs and its dimensions between the number of NCDs and preventive behaviors.

Results

Health beliefs and self-efficacy positively impacted preventive behaviors, whereas perceived severity, while perceived barriers had negative effects. Health beliefs (β = − 0.1809, 95% CI − 0.2658 to − 0.0960) and its dimensions(Perceived barriers:β = − 0.0881, 95% CI − 0.1533 to − 0.0232, self-efficacy: β = − 0.2706, 95% CI − 0.3592 to − 0.1892) partially mediated the associations between the number of NCDs and preventive behaviors. The negative mediation effects indicates that as the number of NCDs increases, preventive behaviors decrease, partly due to a decline in health beliefs and self-efficacy, as well as an increase in perceived barriers (scored inversely, meaning higher barriers). These mediation pathways exhibited modest strength, highlighting the importance of health beliefs on behavior change.

Conclusions

An increasing number of NCDs is associated with reduced engagement in preventive behaviors. Health beliefs and its dimensions play a partial mediating role in this relationship. Effective intervention targeting health beliefs may help promote positive behavioral changes.
Konstruktionen von Normalität und Abweichungen in schulischer Policy zu pädagogischer Diagnostik in der Grundschule
Authors: Sturm Tanja
Published: February 2025

Der Beitrag untersucht, wie pädagogische Diagnostik in der schulischen Policy für Grundschulen in Bayern und Hamburg konzipiert wird. Er stellt den Unterschied zwischen personal und institutionell orientierter Diagnostik dar. Während pädagogische Diagnostik in Bayern eher als Grundlage für die Zuweisung in spezifische Lehr-Lernangebote verstanden wird, manifestiert sich in Hamburg eine Konkretisierung der adaptiven Unterrichtsgestaltung. Der Beitrag rekonstruiert die rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen, verstanden als gesellschaftliche Normen, die den Unterricht prägen, und hebt die Notwendigkeit hervor, diagnostische Programmatiken kontextualisiert zu betrachten.
Explaining quantum circuits with Shapley values: towards explainable quantum machine learning
Authors: Heese Raoul , Gerlach Thore , Mücke Sascha , Müller Sabine , Jakobs Matthias , Piatkowski Nico
Published: February 2025

Methods of artificial intelligence (AI) and especially machine learning (ML) have been growing ever more complex, and at the same time have more and more impact on people’s lives. This leads to explainable AI (XAI) manifesting itself as an important research field that helps humans to better comprehend ML systems. In parallel, quantum machine learning (QML) is emerging with the ongoing improvement of quantum computing hardware combined with its increasing availability via cloud services. QML enables quantum-enhanced ML in which quantum mechanics is exploited to facilitate ML tasks, typically in the form of quantum-classical hybrid algorithms that combine quantum and classical resources. Quantum gates constitute the building blocks of gate-based quantum hardware and form circuits that can be used for quantum computations. For QML applications, quantum circuits are typically parameterized and their parameters are optimized classically such that a suitably defined objective function is minimized. Inspired by XAI, we raise the question of the explainability of such circuits by quantifying the importance of (groups of) gates for specific goals. To this end, we apply the well-established concept of Shapley values. The resulting attributions can be interpreted as explanations for why a specific circuit works well for a given task, improving the understanding of how to construct parameterized (or variational) quantum circuits, and fostering their human interpretability in general. An experimental evaluation on simulators and two superconducting quantum hardware devices demonstrates the benefits of the proposed framework for classification, generative modeling, transpilation, and optimization. Furthermore, our results shed some light on the role of specific gates in popular QML approaches.
Exploring phytoconstituents through molecular dynamics simulation: uncovering potential inhibitors for multiple targeted pathways in breast cancer
Authors: Isa Mustafa Alhaji , Kappo Abidemi Paul
Published: February 2025

Breast cancer remains a significant global health challenge, affecting women across diverse regions. Despite the availability of various treatment modalities, including vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and small-molecule drugs, these interventions are often associated with severe side effects and high toxicity, stressing the critical need for safer and more effective therapeutic options. This study emphasizes a novel approach by integrating natural compounds from banana (Musa sapientum) extracts into the drug discovery pipeline, targeting key proteins implicated in breast cancer pathways. Specifically, we investigated interactions involving four pivotal proteins (estrogen receptor alpha (ERα), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and progesterone receptor (PR)). Potential inhibitory compounds from Musa sapientum extracts were identified using in silico docking and molecular dynamics (MD) Simulation analyses. Crystal structures of the proteins were retrieved from the Protein Data Bank (PDB) and optimized through structure optimization and energy minimization. From the extracts, we obtained twenty-three compounds, which underwent screening for various physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties, including the Lipinski rule of five, Veber rule, Ghose and Egan filter, to determine pharmaceutical active ingredients. Of these, only five compounds exhibited drug-like properties, demonstrating efficient oral bioavailability and lower toxicity. These five compounds were then subjected to molecular docking analysis to assess their binding energies with all selected proteins. The results indicated binding energies ranging between − 5.02 and − 9.93 kcal/mol. Two compounds, CID_616859 and CID_1742210, displayed the least binding energies against all four proteins, forming eight complexes. These complexes were further selected for MD Simulation to evaluate the stability of the protein–ligand complex. The analysis confirmed the higher stability of all eight complexes. Consequently, these compounds were identified as potential multiple target inhibitors after successful experimental validation.
Enhancing the Kubernetes Platform with a Load-Aware Orchestration Strategy
Authors: Marchese Angelo , Tomarchio Orazio
Published: February 2025

Microservice architecture is increasingly favored for building large-scale applications designed for deployment in distributed and resource-constrained cloud-to-edge computing environments. As a cloud-native approach, microservices are particularly powerful due to their loosely coupled, independently deployable, and scalable characteristics. These features enable distributed deployment and flexible integration across robust cloud data centers and heterogeneous, often resource-limited, edge nodes. To fully leverage these advantages, there is a need for advanced placement algorithms that can optimize application performance by utilizing the strengths of microservices. In response to these challenges, we propose to extend Kubernetes with a load-aware orchestration strategy, which enhances its capability to deploy microservice applications within shared clusters characterized by dynamic resource usage patterns. Our approach orchestrates applications dynamically, based on real-time resource usage, allowing for continuous adjustment of their placement to match evolving conditions. Evaluation of a prototype system in a testbed environment demonstrates that this approach offers substantial benefits compared to the standard Kubernetes scheduler.
Psychosocial Development and Student Engagement in School: A Study with Girls and Boys in Early and Late Adolescence
Authors: de Carvalho Nuno Archer , Veiga Feliciano Henriques , Martínez Isabel , Veiga Carlota Margarida
Published: February 2025

Research on psychosocial development and its relation with school is key for adolescent students’ well-being. This study aims to complement existing research by understanding how adolescents‘ psychosocial development and student engagement in school differ according to age and gender. Participants were 708 students in early and late adolescence, including girls and boys. The study used a short version of Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages Inventory and the Student Engagement in School Four-Dimensional Scale. Results showed a significant decline from early to late adolescence for psychosocial trust and identity and all dimensions of student engagement in school. They also stressed the differences between girls and boys, which persisted from early to late adolescence. The results underlined that schools’ difficulty in addressing gender stereotypes and student engagement decreased. These findings challenge schools to go beyond academics and offer specific directions for enhancing adolescents’ psychosocial development and engagement in school.
“The Problems that we have Today, are Yesterday’s Solutions”: Enabling Circular Non-toxic Supply Chains
Authors: Börjeson Natasja , Ågerstrand Marlene
Published: February 2025

Today’s production and consumption are increasingly overusing and polluting natural resources. In response, actors globally are developing circular economy strategies to use resources such as materials and products in a sustainable way. An important but often neglected part of the circular economy is hazardous chemicals. These are part of everyday products and when recycled they become part of the resource cycle. This paper discusses the management of circular non-toxic supply chains, focusing on goal conflicts and synergies in policy and regulation, issues of transparency and traceability in supply chains, and difficult trade-offs and knowledge gaps regarding circularity and end-of-life. The exploratory study builds on semi-structured interviews and reference group discussions with respondents from the chemicals management and circular economy sectors. The results show that the transition to a circular non-toxic economy is impeded by insufficient legislation, policy incoherence and low supply chain transparency and traceability. This leads to the circulation of hazardous chemicals in materials and products, including legacy chemicals, significantly increasing consumer and environmental exposure. The findings illustrate how designing products and materials to be non-toxic from the start creates synergies and opportunities for a sustainable use of resources and how a hazard-based approach to risk management promotes circularity and safer consumer products. It also identifies relevant management and policy steps to achieve a circular, non-toxic economy as part of the transition to a society that meets today’s environmental and resource challenges.
Heidegger on Technology's Danger and Promise in the Age of AI
Authors: Thomson Iain D.
Published: February 2025

How exactly is technology transforming us and our worlds, and what (if anything) can and should we do about it? Heidegger already felt this philosophical question concerning technology pressing in on him in 1951, and his thought-full and deliberately provocative response is still worth pondering today. What light does his thinking cast not just on the nuclear technology of the atomic age but also on more contemporary technologies such as genome engineering, synthetic biology, and the latest advances in information technology, so-called “generative AIs” like ChatGPT? These are some of the questions this book addresses, situating the latest controversial technologies in the light of Heidegger's influential understanding of technology as an historical mode of ontological disclosure. In this way, we seek to take the measure of Heidegger's ontological understanding of technology as a constellation of intelligibility with an important philosophical heritage and a dangerous but still promising future.
Observationally constrained estimates of the annual Arctic sea-ice volume budget 2010–2022
Authors: Heorton Harold , Tsamados Michel , Landy Jack , Holland Paul R.
Published: February 2025

Sea-ice floating in the Arctic ocean is a constantly moving, growing and melting layer. The seasonal cycle of sea-ice volume has an average amplitude of

$10\,000\,\mathrm{km}^3$

or 9 trillion tonnes of sea ice. The role of dynamic redistribution of sea ice is observable during winter growth by the incorporation of satellite remote sensing of ice thickness, concentration and drift. Recent advances in the processing of CryoSat-2 radar altimetry data have allowed for the retrieval of summer sea-ice thickness. This allows for a full year of a purely remote sensing-derived ice volume budget analysis.

Here, we present the closed volume budget of Arctic sea ice over the period October 2010–May 2022 revealing the key contributions to summer melt and minimum sea-ice volume and extent. We show the importance of ice drift to the inter-annual variability in Arctic sea-ice volume and the regional distribution of sea ice. The estimates of specific areas of sea-ice growth and melt provide key information on sea-ice over-production, the excess volume of ice growth compared to melt. The statistical accuracy of each key region of the Arctic is presented, revealing the current accuracy of knowledge of Arctic sea-ice volume from observational sources.
Do external threats increase bipartisanship in the United States? An experimental test in the shadow of China's rise
Authors: Yeung Eddy S. F. , Xu Weifang
Published: February 2025

Do external threats increase American bipartisanship? We subject this question to an experimental test. Leveraging the Biden and Trump administrations’ similar characterization of the China threat, we exposed American respondents to real-world primes about security threats from China, while randomizing the messenger of such primes. We find that the threat primes—regardless of the partisan identity of their messenger—boosted Democrats’ and Republicans’ support for assertive foreign policy in a largely parallel manner, thereby failing to reduce preference polarization. Importantly, there were no measurable changes across multiple indicators of affective polarization. These findings clarify the limits of external threats in uniting Americans, while also challenging recent perspectives that external threats—often colored by elite rhetoric—will further polarize the American public.
The epiphytic leprose Leprocaulon inexpectatum sp. nov. (Ascomycota, Leprocaulaceae) from Italy and its photosynthetic partner Symbiochloris
Authors: Gheza Gabriele , Malíček Jiří , Vančurová Lucie , Feiertag Doris , Nascimbene Juri , Mayrhofer Helmut
Published: February 2025

Leprocaulon inexpectatum is described here as a new lichen species and the fourth member of the genus known from Europe. It is characterized by the crustose-granulose, blue-grey to bluish green thallus composed of ±discrete, soredia-like granules c. 45–70 μm in diameter, and the production of usnic acid and zeorin. Based on ITS rDNA, the lichen is closely related to the saxicolous American species L. beechingii. The new species is reported here from numerous localities in north-western Italy. It occurs on the bark of oaks, chestnut, and black locust in open deciduous forests, often in floodplain ecosystems. Our investigation of its photobiont identity using ITS, 18S and rbcL demonstrated that its symbiotic partner represents an undescribed species within the genus Symbiochloris (Trebouxiophyceae). We provide an identification key to sterile crustose sorediate lichens containing usnic acid and zeorin found in Europe.
A heroism for the new times in the protest songs of Gerhard Gundermann
Authors: Robb David
Published: February 2025

The story of East German singer-songwriter Gerhard Gundermann provides a vibrant illustration of a much-neglected area of protest song history. Gundermann, who died prematurely in 1998 at the age of 43, was an excavator driver in an open cast mine for most of his adult life. A stalwart of the singing club and Liedertheater (song theatre) movements in the GDR, he emerged after 1990 as a musical and poetic mouthpiece for the culturally and economically marginalised ‘losers’ of German unification. This article will examine Gundermann's utopian aesthetic: how he creatively transformed a socialist realist ideal of the heroic into a new narrative persona that addressed the democratic deficits of the GDR and later the growing environmental threat. It will also link his utopianism to his deep entanglement with the state, as reflected in his role as a Stasi informer in his early career. While Gundermann's case is symptomatic of the GDR's heavily state-monitored music scene, this article will also set his work within the wider context of international protest and environmental song.
Moral Mimesis: Confucian Education for the Lesser, Women, and Children
Authors: Kim Heisook
Published: February 2025

Core moral concepts in Confucianism, such as benevolence, righteousness, and faithfulness, are often so vague that in moral teachings one must rely on intuitive understanding aided by metaphor and etymology that illustrate them. In addition, case stories play a crucial role in clarifying these abstract moral concepts. Confucian ethics heavily depends on stories of wise men and exemplary figures who have been revered throughout Confucian history. In this paper, I will explore the role of examples in Confucian ethics, particularly within the context of moral education.
Recursive subtyping for all
Authors: ZHOU LITAO , ZHOU YAODA , WAN QIANYONG , OLIVEIRA BRUNO C. D. S.
Published: February 2025

Recursive types and bounded quantification are prominent features in many modern programming languages, such as Java, C#, Scala, or TypeScript. Unfortunately, the interaction between recursive types, bounded quantification, and subtyping has shown to be problematic in the past. Consequently, defining a simple foundational calculus that combines those features and has desirable properties, such as decidability, transitivity of subtyping, conservativity, and a sound and complete algorithmic formulation, has been a long-time challenge.

This paper shows how to extend

$F_{\le}$

with iso-recursive types in a new calculus called

$F_{\le}^{\mu}$

.

$F_{\le}$

is a well-known polymorphic calculus with bounded quantification. In

$F_{\le}^{\mu}$

, we add iso-recursive types and correspondingly extend the subtyping relation with iso-recursive subtyping using the recently proposed nominal unfolding rules. In addition, we use so-called structural folding/unfolding rules for typing iso-recursive expressions, inspired by the structural unfolding rule proposed by Abadi et al. (1996). The structural rules add expressive power to the more conventional folding/unfolding rules in the literature, and they enable additional applications. We present several results, including: type soundness; transitivity; the conservativity of

$F_{\le}^{\mu}$

over

$F_{\le}$

; and a sound and complete algorithmic formulation of

$F_{\le}^{\mu}$

. We study two variants of

$F_{\le}^{\mu}$

. The first one uses an extension of the

$\textrm{kernel}~F_{\le}$

(a well-known decidable variant of

$F_{\le}$

). This extension accepts equivalent rather than equal bounds and is shown to preserve decidable subtyping. The second variant employs the

$\textrm{full}~F_{\le}$

rule for bounded quantification and has undecidable subtyping. Moreover, we also study an extension of the kernel version of

$F_{\le}^{\mu}$

, called

$F_{\le\ge}^{\mu\wedge}$

, with a form of intersection types and lower bounded quantification. All the properties from the kernel version of

$F_{\le}^{\mu}$

are preserved in

$F_{\le\ge}^{\mu\wedge}$

. All the results in this paper have been formalized in the Coq theorem prover.
Spatial and temporal variation in farmland bird nesting ecology: implications for effective Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra conservation
Authors: Anthes Nils , Staggenborg Julia , Handschuh Markus
Published: February 2025

Incomplete knowledge of the drivers of local productivity may contribute to the on-going decline of farmland bird populations despite conservation efforts. We therefore investigated spatial and temporal variation in breeding phenology, nest habitat, and nest survival in the Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra, a species of conservation concern in central and western Europe. Among 225 nests from seven study areas in cropland-dominated, mixed, and grassland-dominated landscapes, nesting phenology spread between April and August, started earlier at lower altitudes, and progressed from grassland to arable crop and agri-environment scheme flower field habitats. Nest habitats varied substantially between years, but most nests were placed in cultivated land where they were prone to fail due to land-use operations. Nest survival differed markedly between habitats, being lowest in second-year flower fields and highest in fallow grassland. Since we protected known nests, raw survival estimates only account for “natural” nest losses, e.g. due to adverse weather or predation. To estimate additional “anthropogenic” nest losses, we calculated probabilities of nesting schedules to conflict with patch-specific land-use dates. After taking into account the estimated conflict probabilities of 0.56 for mowing, 0.64 for clover harvest, and 0.38 for grazing, habitat-specific “total Mayfield nest survival” estimates declined to 21%, 13%, and 20% for meadows, alfalfa/clover-grass leys, and pastures, respectively. These habitats held about two thirds of nests in mixed landscapes, highlighting the relevance of land use-driven nest losses. To enhance productivity beyond the thresholds required for local population persistence, we propose refined conservation schemes that improve nest survival within production farmland, best coupled with the development of prolific “Corn Bunting landscapes”.