bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Value chain analysis for community livelihoods in peatlands: A case study in Southern Riau
Authors: Ilham Q P , Purnomo H , Rohadi D , Puspitaloka D , Herawati T , Brady M A , Dermawan A , Okarda B
Published: March 2024

Many of the Indonesian peatlands have been cleared of forest, then drained and burned for both large- and small-scale agricultural crop development. This has resulted in regular occurrences of haze from peatland fires during the dry season. Peatlands have long been a livelihood source providing up to 80% of earnings for nearby local communities. Nevertheless, many such communities apply unsustainable practices involving the use of fire for land preparation and drainage of wet healthy peatland ecosystems. For that reason, haze-free sustainable livelihoods need to be found immediately. This research analysed commodities traded in local markets as well as those with the potential for trade that could be grown in targeted villages. We collected data through market observations, focus group discussions and key informant interviews in nine targeted villages. Using Value Chain Analysis (VCA) methods, we analysed and assessed each commodity for their value chain distribution and governance, and power relations. The results of these assessments indicate that pineapple, areca nut, honey and fish are financially viable for generating income throughout the year and have fewer environmental impacts. These commodities have potential for consideration as alternatives in lieu of oil palm, which requires peatland drainage and often use of fire.
Productive Carbon Forest: Agroforestry with high economic forest commodities to increase carbon stocks and community welfare in Garut Indonesia
Authors: Nurrochmat N A , Purwawangsa H , Mutaqin F , Ridwan M , Qanitha M , Mustakiman  , Putra S A , Nurkholid Y , Perdhana R D
Published: March 2024

24.7 million hectares of Forest areas are not covered with forest, and the community limits its management because it is prohibited by law. However, the forestry sector only contributes 0.6% of Indonesia’s GDP. Therefore, IPB University collaborates with ASTRA International to develop a productive carbon forest in Garut Regency. Agroforestry uses highly economic forest commodities. This program was very well received by the community there. Around 52.86 hectares of tea gardens and other plantations became productive carbon forests and are expected to be fruitful and profitable three years later. It planted 13,082 avocado trees, 71,070 coffee trees, and 8,270 hardwood trees. Assistance was carried out from the beginning of the program about six months ago and will continue until the fruit harvesting. This program is expected to continue for 20 years and give a profit of around IDR 596,567,022 (USD 3,9846) /hectare/year. It is anticipated that this undertaking will serve as a pilot project for improving the social forest in Indonesia and could increase both the ecology and community welfare. Nevertheless, this productive carbon forest is expected to succeed in Indonesia’s FoLU (Forest and Other Land Use) Net Sink 2030 and Indonesia’s domestic carbon market, established at the end of September 2023.
Metagenomic analysis of soil forest microbiota on Mount Ungaran, Central Java, Indonesia
Authors: Susanti R , Widiatningrum T , Jaya A F , Nisa’ F F , Kenarni N R , Mukaromah R L
Published: March 2024

The ecological functions of forest soils are largely determined by the activities of soil microorganisms. This study aims to analyze the diversity and abundance of microbes in forest soil on Mount Ungaran, Ngesrepbalong Village, Kendal Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. This study used an exploratory observation method. Five hundred grams of forest soil was collected aseptically for chemical and metagenomic analysis. Metagenomic analysis was carried out based on 16S rRNA gene markers V3-V4 region. The result showing that the forest soil was dominated by bacteria of the order Rhizobiales (13.17%), Thermincolales (9.29%), and Vicinamibacterales (6.95%), as well as archaea of the order Nitrososphaerales (62.89%), Nitrosotaleales (4.61%), and Nitrosopumilales (1.67%). At the genera level, forest soil was dominated by Thermincola (8.42%) and Bacillus (7.39%), and one genera of archaea, namely Nitrososphaeraceae (23.17%). The bacteria that dominate forest soil are a group of Plant Growth Promoting Bacterial Agents (PGPB) in the nitrification process. Meanwhile, archaea that dominate forest soil act as ammonia oxidizing agents (AOA).
The potential of pulau dua nature reserve as a blue carbon reservoir in climate change mitigation using Sentinel-2 MSI imagery
Authors: Adni S F , Winata B , Rusdiana O , Bagaskara A , Daniswati N , Anastasya E , Fawaz J A , Zaki M , Ghaida S H , Nugroho A
Published: March 2024

Climate change is a long-term change in weather patterns that occurs on a global scale. Climate change has had impacts in various parts of the world. Mangrove ecosystems in Pulau Dua Nature Reserve contribute to the improvement of climate change through blue carbon reserves. The study aims to determine the blue carbon reservoir in the Pulau Dua Nature Reserve area using Sentinel-2 MSI imagery. The research was conducted from March to May 2023 using remote sensing methods. Data collection using open-source image Sentinel-2 image, then processing and analyzing data with composite images and finally calculating carbon stocks. The results showed that the blue carbon reservoir obtained was 537.89 tons, which means that the mangrove ecosystem in the Pulau Dua Nature Reserve is able to store more carbon than other forest types. This is because the mangrove ecosystem has great potential in reducing and dealing with disasters due to climate change in the era of global warming.
Soil disturbance caused by timber harvesting in a natural forest, West Sumatera Indonesia
Authors: Matangaran J R , Suwarna U , Santosa G , Trison S , Putra E I
Published: March 2024

Logging operations in natural forests generally use bulldozers. Bulldozers skid logs from the stump site to the landing site. The bulldozer maneuvers in the felling area cause skid trails and soil compaction. Soil compaction is one of the negative impacts of logging operations. The research aim is to analyze the level of soil compaction in various bulldozer skidding intensities after logging operations. The research occurred at a natural forest area in Siberut West Sumatera, Indonesia. The results of the study showed that there was a relationship between skidding intensity and the level of soil bulk density. The more a bulldozer moves at the same skid trail, the higher the soil bulk density. The range of soil bulk density is from 0.82 g cm−3 to 1.31 g cm−3. The bulk density increases markedly after the bulldozer’s first, second, and third passes. After the fourth pass, the bulk density is relatively constant. The porosity of the soil decreases with the increase of the bulk density. On skid trails where the soil is very compact, seeds that fall on skid trails will have difficulty growing well. Requires planting on primary skid trails. Soil damage in the form of soil compaction by bulldozers needs serious attention in the Reduce Impact Logging technique.
Community social capital in managing the simanuk-manuk village forest in forest management unit region iv balige, toba regency
Authors: Saraan M , Rahmawaty  , Harahap R H , Hilmi E
Published: March 2024

Social capital is a collection of resources owned by individuals and communities, which are used in social interaction and community building. This study aims to identify the social capital in Simanuk-Manuk Village Forest (VF) in Forest Management Unit (FMU) Region IV Balige, Toba Regency. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and literature study. Social capital was analyzed qualitatively which categorize into structural (roles and rules) and cognitive (norms, values, attitudes, beliefs). The results showed that community’s social capital contributes to VF management, encouraging them to preserve the forest. In structural social capital, the Village Forest Management Institution has statutes that regulate community’s roles and rules in managing forest. Communities are involved in preparation and implementation activities. In cognitive social capital, norms are still adherence including unwritten rules such as rituals when entering forest referred to as mamele (praying to ancestors). Customary traditions strengthened the value of social capital and maintain cultural sustainability. The community’s attitude in utilizing forest doesn’t cause social inequality. They believe that forest is a vital component of life, particularly as a provider of clean water and air. They also believe that forest has sacred and spiritual values that encourage them in preserving forest from degradation.
Population structure and distribution pattern of endangered species, Dillenia pentagyna, in Indonesian natural reserve forest
Authors: Qur’ani C G , Rahman A , Dessy U A , Aryanti N A , Wibowo F A C , Pramesti V I
Published: March 2024

Regeneration strategy of endangered species is crucial for maintaining ecosystem sustainability in its endemic habitat. Dillenia pentagyna is a deciduous tree species with many potential benefits for medical use, silkworms’ fodder, and furniture, and is considered as an endangered tree species in Indonesia due to over exploitation in 1980s. The species is an important asset for Gunung Abang Natural Reserve Forest (GANRF) due to essential historical functions for flora, fauna, and local communities. We conducted an initial research to observe the population structure and distribution pattern of D.pentagyna in its native habitat to understand the growth- and population behavior. Using a random sampling method, we built 157 plots to identify the number of seedlings, saplings, poles, and trees followed by measurement of height and diameter-breast-height. We only found fifteen poles, six saplings, five trees, and no seedlings in the plots with dominant distribution in the center of GANRF area. The distribution pattern was random according to Morisita index (Iδ= 0.011 equal to 0), which explains that D.pentagyna grows randomly in nature independent to canopy gaps and slopes. Findings suggested that low population needs to be recovered by seedling initiation growth in the nursery before sowing in the field to avoid high mortality.
The Impact of canal blocking to reduce fire risks and carbon emissions on tropical peatland, Siak District, Riau Province
Authors: Safitri R , Saharjo B H , Basuki I
Published: March 2024

Tropical peatlands are wetland ecosystems formed from the accumulation of organic matter over thousand of years period. Indonesia has an area of about 13.5 million ha and play important roles for society and the environment. The development of drainage canals has caused peatlands to become dry and degraded, rendering them highly susceptible to fires. Peatland restoration through rewetting activities with canal blockings can restore the hydrological function of peatlands. In addition, groundwater level (GWL) also affects carbon emissions from peatlands. This study aims to determine the distance of canal blocking effect on groundwater level so that it can be known which areas have a lower risk of fire and carbon emissions in peatlands. This study compared areas affected by canal blocking with those without canal blocking. The results of this study show the significant effect of canal blocking in increasing the groundwater level in areas with <100 m distance from the canals and with different types of land use. The average GWL of peat during one year of monitoring period was around - 26.67 ± 2.4 cm at the location of the monitoring well close to the canal with canal blocking, equivalent to carbon emissions of 26.5 tCO2eq ha−1 year−1. This is lower than the average GWL of those areas without canal blocking that was - 58.67 ± 3.1 cm, which is equivalent to carbon emissions of 57.8 tCO2eq ha−1 year−1.
Variation in seed morpho-physiological traits of Nauclea orientalis L. in a seedling seed orchard and the effect of seed sortation on their physiological parameters
Authors: Danu  , Rustam E , Cahyono D D N , Sudrajat D J
Published: March 2024

The aim of this study was to identify the morpho-physiological diversity of seeds in several mother trees of N. orientalis at 6-year-old in a seedling seed orchard in Parungpanjang, Bogor and to identify the effectiveness of seed sortation in improving the seed germination. A total of 17 mother trees were collected for their fruit, measured the morphology of the seeds and tested their germination. The results showed that fruit and seed dimensions and weight, germination capacity were strongly influenced by the mother tree. Germination capacity and the highest germination capacity was resulted by family no. 22-BT (90%) and 48-MJ (92%). The highest coefficient of variation was given by seed weight per fruit (83.03), followed by germination capacity (66.66) and fruit weight (65.95). Seed sortation had a significant effect on germination capacity, germination rate, and mean germination time, but had no significant effect on germination value. In general, a sieve size of 300-420 μm gave the best results for increasing germination capacity (59.5%), germination rate (1.67% day-1), and mean germination time (18 days). Other sieve sizes, i.e., 420-600 μm was also able to improve seed germination so that for seed sortation applications 300-600 μm sieve sizes can be used.
Seed vigour testing of Acacia mangium Willd. as a result of mutation
Authors: Keumala C F , Wulandari A S
Published: March 2024

Plant breeding techniques are applied to increase the genetic variation of a plant. Induction of plant mutation using gamma irradiation is one of the methods that can be applied to improve the genetic diversity of plants. This study aims to analyze the vigour of mangium seeds treated by mutation. Mutation treatment was administered to M0 of mangium seed. This study used M2 mangium seeds and control mangium seeds (without mutation treatment). Several assays, such as growth, stress, and biochemical tests, were conducted to determine the mangium seed’s vigour. The growth test showed that M2 mangium seeds had higher germination values, germination height, dry weight, and vigour index than control mangium seeds. The stress test consisting of the Hiltner test, accelerated ageing test, and saturation test of the germination value of M2 mangium seeds wass higher than control mangium seeds. In the biochemical test, the electrical conductivity value of control mangium seeds was more significant than M2 mangium seeds. In general, M2 mangium seeds had higher vigour than control mangium seeds.
Characterization of the chloroplast genome sequence of Calophyllum inophyllum, a bioenergy tree species, using Oxford Nanopore Technologies
Authors: Kristianti A A E , Dwiyanti F G , Pratama R , Siregar Iskandar Z
Published: March 2024

Calophyllum inophyllum is a forest tree species that offers significant renewable energy benefits. However, the genetic information of these bioenergy tree species for the study of tree improvement is still limited. This study aimed to assemble the draft chloroplast genome using MinION Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) and analyze the genetic relationship based on molecular markers for C. inophyllum. The study involved several steps: DNA extraction and isolation using the CTAB method, DNA library preparation, DNA sequencing using MinION Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT), and phylogenetic analysis based on selected DNA markers. The results showed that 115.1 Mb of high-quality DNA was successfully generated using ONT long-read sequencing, and 114.708 bp was annotated into partial genome chloroplast. The genetic relationship analysis using two selected DNA barcodes, namely rbcL and accD showed that the accD gene is more recommended for constructing a phylogenetic tree for the genus Calophyllum than the rbcL gene as it has a high bootstrap value (93%). Furthermore, the accD gene can also be considered a potential marker for further genetic analysis of C. inophyllum.
Optimization of the diesel photovoltaic isolated system installed in the Nazareth community using wind energy.
Authors: Perpiñán L M , Bastidas M J , Vergara S D , Iguarán V J
Published: March 2024

The objective of the work is the optimization of the isolated and hybridized electric power generation system with photovoltaic technology and genset, installed in the village of Nazareth belonging to the municipality of Uribia, Colombia. The optimization criteria established in this study consists of respecting what is already installed and from there propose various search spaces in HOMER Energy to find the optimal system configuration, the main idea is to minimize the consumption of diesel fuel through the inclusion of a wind system. two optimal scenarios are proposed, the first minimizes the participation of the genset to 10%, the second proposes a system of 100% renewable energy generation. Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that the system proposed in scenario C is the most pertinent alternative, It is concluded that the system proposed in scenario C is the most relevant alternative, because the system has 90% autonomy without the generator set.
Evaluation of the anaerobic digestion process for low and micro-scale biogas production: a review
Authors: Castillo-Leon N. Y. , Tarazona-Romero B. E. , Gamarra M. E. Carvajal , Acosta-Cardenas O. A. , Quizena-Fernandez Y. P. , Alarcon-Guerrero M. Y.
Published: March 2024

A theoretical analysis of biogas production technologies classified in two subgroups; low and micro scale, was carried out using the methodology of formal concept analysis (FCA) together with the VOSviewer and Conception Explorer tools for information processing, a series of attributes that each subsystem must comply with in terms of the sustainability of each technology were analyzed. The information selected for the development of the analysis required a quality study, based on the percentile of the journals in which the manuscript was published. The search for information was carried out in web sites such as: Scopus, Web Of Science, Dimensions and Lens among others. In total, 105 sources of academic information were analyzed, selecting 56 articles and 18 book chapters for the development of the work. In conclusion, it can be affirmed that low-scale biogas plants present more favorable characteristics than micro-scale plants; however, both technologies have a high potential for application worldwide in isolated or rural areas, supplying electric or thermal energy to less favored communities. Finally, it is important to point out that the methodology developed has proven to be a relevant tool for the classification of information and serves as a first step to group and relate search concepts by means of a deterministic set of attributes.
Concentrating Solar Power Systems: a review of their applicability in Colombia
Authors: Tarazona-Romero B. E. , Jaimes-Quintero K. T. , Sarmiento-Duran M. D. , Ascanio-Villabona J. G. , Amaya-Arias E. F.
Published: March 2024

This paper evaluates the applicability of centralized concentrating solar power systems in Colombia. For this purpose, these systems have been classified into four subsystems: parabolic trough, linear Fresnel, parabolic dish and tower. Each is explored for its suitability by meeting a set of six attributes. A bibliometric analysis process was developed using the Scopus database and the VOSviewer software to present the potential of each subsystem evaluated through an evaluation matrix. The analysis of the subsystems and attributes was carried out through the formal concept analysis methodology 8FCA). To facilitate data processing, the open access software concept Explorer is implemented. The analysis shows that parabolic trough technology is more widely used worldwide than the other three technologies evaluated, and its maturity makes it possible to plan centralized and decentralized projects in developing countries. The bibliometric analysis integrated with the applied FCA methodology has proven to be useful for the evaluation of technological typologies and serves as an alternative to develop theoretical studies that group and link different options as a model to evaluate a deterministic set of attributes.
Comparative analysis of the current energy of Colombia and the countries of its meridian.
Authors: Ascanio-Villabona J G , Lengerke-Pérez O , Tarazona-Romero B E , Jaimes-Quintero K T , Sandoval-Rodríguez C L , Duran-Sarmiento M A
Published: March 2024

The research focuses on the evaluation of the progress of the renewable installed capacity of the meridian countries with Colombia. Junto a Colombia, there are 12 other countries that are crossed by an imaginary line that surrounds the planet and because of this, each of these countries that it crosses, have a similar climatology, which, compared to Colombia, is assimilated to have the same conditions for the implementation of renewable energies. A bibliographic compilation was carried out where the amount of published information that can show the moment that the energy sector of each country that belongs to the Equatorial Meridian is going through was taken into account, with the aim of analyzing and comparing the energy news of Colombia with respect to these. This study shows the current energy state of each country, where different points are observed in relation to renewable and conventional energies. This comparative analysis was carried out based on the information found and gives a good impression of Colombia in the current and future energy field, but with difficulties due to factors outside its projection.
Investigating dental structure response to air abrasion: a finite element analysis
Authors: Namlimhemnatee Thanachai , Padmaraj N H , Chethan K N , Shetty Sawan , Eram Afiya , Shetty Nisha , Bamrungwong Joompon , Keni Laxmikant G
Published: March 2024

Air abrasion particles, propelled by a compressed air stream, remove material from the tooth’s surface. The air abrasion parameter plays an important role in removing the strains or plaque from the teeth. The research outcomes shed light on the stress distribution within dental structures using the finite element approach. Enamel, as the hardest and outermost layer of the tooth, consistently bears the highest stress levels during air abrasion procedures, regardless of whether the impact pressure is set at 80 or 100 psi. While enamel takes the initial force, it gradually transfers these forces to the dentin layer beneath, a denser but slightly less hard tissue. For abrasive particles falling within the 40 μm to 100 μm size range, an impact pressure of 80 psi is found to strike an optimal balance between effective material removal and minimizing damage to dental structures. However, when working with larger particles exceeding 100 μm, increasing the impact pressure to 100 psi becomes preferable to maintain efficiency and precision. The results of this research provide valuable guidance for enhancing dental procedures with a strong focus on patient safety and the maintenance of dental health. It underscores the importance of thoughtfully adjusting parameters like particle size and impact pressure to attain favourable treatment results while prioritizing the health and comfort of patients.
Dissipative stability and dynamical phase transition in two driven interacting qubits
Authors: Shulga K V
Published: March 2024

We examine a two-qubit system influenced by a time-periodic external field while interacting with a Markovian bath. This scenario significantly impacts the temporal coherence characteristics of the system. By solving the evolution equation for the density matrix operator, we determine the characteristic equilibration time and analyze the concurrence parameter-a key metric for quantifying entanglement. Our findings reveal the system’s ability to navigate through a dynamic phase transition. These results pave the way to designing systems of interacting qubits demonstrating robust entanglement under realistic conditions of interaction with the environment.
A data-driven approach for PM2.5 estimation in a metropolis: random forest modeling based on ERA5 reanalysis data
Authors: Gündoğdu Serdar , Elbir Tolga
Published: March 2024

Air pollution in urban environments, particularly from fine particulate matter (PM2.5), poses significant health risks. Addressing this issue, the current study developed a Random Forest (RF) model to estimate hourly PM2.5 concentrations in Ankara, Türkiye. Utilizing ERA5 reanalysis data, the model incorporated various meteorological and environmental variables. Over the period 2020–2021, the model’s performance was validated against data from eleven air quality monitoring stations, demonstrating a robust coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.73, signifying its strong predictive capability. Low root mean squared error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) values further affirmed the model’s precision. Seasonal and temporal analysis revealed the model’s adaptability, with autumn showing the highest accuracy (R2 = 0.82) and summer the least (R2 = 0.51), suggesting seasonal variability in predictive performance. Hourly evaluations indicated the model’s highest accuracy at 23:00 (R2 = 0.93), reflecting a solid alignment with observed data during nocturnal hours. On a monthly scale, November’s predictions were the most precise (R2 = 0.82), while May presented challenges in accuracy (R2 = 0.49). These seasonal and monthly fluctuations underscore the complex interplay of atmospheric dynamics affecting PM2.5 dispersion. By integrating key determinants such as ambient air temperature, surface pressure, total column water vapor, boundary layer height, forecast albedo, and leaf area index, this study enhances the understanding of air pollution patterns in urban settings. The RF model’s comprehensive evaluation across time scales offers valuable insights for policymakers and environmental health practitioners, supporting evidence-based strategies for air quality management.
Higher-order connection Laplacians for directed simplicial complexes
Authors: Gong Xue , Higham Desmond J , Zygalakis Konstantinos , Bianconi Ginestra
Published: March 2024

Higher-order networks encode the many-body interactions existing in complex systems, such as the brain, protein complexes, and social interactions. Simplicial complexes are higher-order networks that allow a comprehensive investigation of the interplay between topology and dynamics. However, simplicial complexes have the limitation that they only capture undirected higher-order interactions while in real-world scenarios, often there is a need to introduce the direction of simplices, extending the popular notion of direction of edges. On graphs and networks the Magnetic Laplacian, a special case of connection Laplacian, is becoming a popular operator to address edge directionality. Here we tackle the challenge of handling directionality in simplicial complexes by formulating higher-order connection Laplacians taking into account the configurations induced by the simplices’ directions. Specifically, we define all the connection Laplacians of directed simplicial complexes of dimension two and we discuss the induced higher-order diffusion dynamics by considering instructive synthetic examples of simplicial complexes. The proposed higher-order diffusion processes can be adopted in real scenarios when we want to consider higher-order diffusion displaying non-trivial frustration effects due to conflicting directionalities of the incident simplices.
Two Species of Reactive Attitudes
Authors: Darwall Stephen
Published: March 2024

This chapter discusses the fundamental distinction between attitudes of the will and attitudes of the heart. Whereas the former mediate mutual accountability and presuppose that both parties share a fundamental dignity or second-personal authority that entitles both to respect, the latter aim at heartfelt connection and presuppose that both parties have an intrinsic value of a different kind, that both parties are worthy of love. Dignity, in the relevant sense, is that through which we are entitled to “exac[t] respect,” as Kant puts it. The structures of deontic and nondeontic reactive attitudes are identical. Both must assume that their objects are capable of the relevant attitudes, both toward the other and toward themselves. And both must assume that both parties have a kind of value that makes the attitude that recognizes the value fitting to its object.
Two ContrastsGuilt vs. Remorse and Moral Indignation vs. Personal Anger
Authors: Darwall Stephen
Published: March 2024

Chapter 4 begins to explore these differences with two contrasts between guilt and remorse and between indignation or impartial anger and personal anger (and rage). Guilt is a deontic second-personal attitude of the will; it implicitly acknowledges culpability for a wrong to those to whom one holds oneself accountable, takes responsibility, and sets the will not to do it again. Remorse, by contrast, is a second-personal attitude of the heart. It is a form of sorrow for the harm, hurt, and suffering that one has caused. It extends beyond guilt in opening one’s heart to the other and sharing their hurt empathically in a heartfelt way. Similarly, indignation, or impartial anger, is fundamentally different from personal anger. The former is a form of blame that aims to hold its object accountable. Personal anger also has a second-personal structure, but it insinuates a personal rather than an impersonal or impartial relationship.
Løgstrup on Natural Trust and Love (with Discussion of Murdoch and Kierkegaard)
Authors: Darwall Stephen
Published: March 2024

The role of trust and love in the ethical life is a central theme in the writings of Knud Ejler Løgstrup. Chapter 7 discusses Løgstrup on love and trust along with related ideas of Kierkegaard and Iris Murdoch. Løgstrup’s central claim is that loving and trusting openness is the default human condition. Through trust we naturally put ourselves “in one another’s hands.” An important theme in both Løgstrup and Murdoch is the contrast between the perspectives we occupy when we construct narratives involving ourselves and others to buoy our self-esteem and to defend ourselves against our natural emotional vulnerability. These are what Murdoch calls “self-consoling fantasy” and Løgstrup terms “self-enclos[ing]” “pictures.” Trust involves “a purely personal expectation,” though when it “is not fulfilled by the other, moral accusations flare up.” But this moralizing of trust is no part of trust’s natural openness, but self-enclosing self-defense. “One has laid oneself bare” and has been personally wounded as a consequence.
Gratitude
Authors: Darwall Stephen
Published: March 2024

Chapter 9 concerns the attitude of gratitude. Strawson follows Adam Smith in treating resentment and gratitude as structurally identical. “What gratitude chiefly desires,” Smith says, “is not only to make the benefactor feel pleasure in his turn, but to make him conscious that he meets with this reward on account of his past conduct.” This captures gratitude’s implicitly reciprocating character but makes it more like reciprocal moral esteem than anything heartfelt. Kant provides another point of comparison. Neither of these accounts rings true when we consider the significant role that gratitude plays in a happy life, as is affirmed by the popularity of “gratitude diaries.” This make perfect sense when we view gratitude as an attitude of the heart. Having a heartfelt appreciation of benevolence shown to us out of the goodness of someone’s heart is an occasion for the joy of shared emotional connection.
Respect and Love in Reparations and Repair for Chattel Slavery and Its Legacy
Authors: Darwall Stephen
Published: March 2024

Chapter 10 illustrates how the distinction between attitudes of the will and attitudes of the heart can inform debates about ethically appropriate responses to chattel slavery and its legacy that generally go under the heading of “reparations.” Although the focus is on chattel slavery in the United States, the general issues extend internationally throughout the history of racial capitalism, colonialism, and its aftermath. The aim is to illustrate the helpfulness of a distinction between “reparations,” on the one hand, and “repair,” the sense that is in play in the kind of heartfelt forgiveness that Baldwin speaks of, on the other. Only love can heal personal wounds. That is poignantly the case with the horrific harms created by chattel slavery and its legacy institutions and practices.
Short- and long-term safety of discontinuing chronic opioid therapy among older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia
Authors: Wei Yu-Jung Jenny , Winterstein Almut G , Schmidt Siegfried , Fillingim Roger B , Schmidt Stephan , Daniels Michael J , DeKosky Steven T
Published: March 2024

Background

Limited evidence exists on the short- and long-term safety of discontinuing versus continuing chronic opioid therapy (COT) among patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD).

Methods

This cohort study was conducted among 162,677 older residents with ADRD and receipt of COT using a 100% Medicare nursing home sample. Discontinuation of COT was defined as no opioid refills for ≥90 days. Primary outcomes were rates of pain-related hospitalisation, pain-related emergency department visit, injury, opioid use disorder (OUD) and opioid overdose (OD) measured by diagnosis codes at quarterly intervals during 1- and 2-year follow-ups. Poisson regression models were fit using generalised estimating equations with inverse probability of treatment weights to model quarterly outcome rates between residents who discontinued versus continued COT.

Results

The study sample consisted of 218,040 resident episodes with COT; of these episodes, 180,916 residents (83%) continued COT, whereas 37,124 residents (17%) subsequently discontinued COT. Discontinuing (vs. continuing) COT was associated with higher rates of all outcomes in the first quarter, but these associations attenuated over time. The adjusted rates of injury, OUD and OD were 0, 69 and 60% lower at the 1-year follow-up and 11, 81 and 79% lower at the 2-year follow-up, respectively, for residents who discontinued versus continued COT, with no difference in the adjusted rates of pain-related hospitalisations or emergency department visits.

Conclusions

The rates of adverse outcomes were higher in the first quarter but lower or non-differential at 1-year and 2-year follow-ups between COT discontinuers versus continuers among older residents with ADRD.
Avoidance of care: how health-care affordability influenced COVID-19 disease severity and outcomes
Authors: Okpara Chinyere J , Divers Jasmin , Winner Megan
Published: March 2024

In this study we examined the association between payor type, a proxy for health-care affordability, and presenting COVID-19 disease severity among 2108 polymerase chain reaction–positive nonelderly patients admitted to an acute-care hospital between March 1 and June 30, 2020. The adjacent-category logit model was used to fit pairwise odds of individuals’ having (1) an asymptomatic-to-mild modified sequential organ failure assessment (mSOFA) score (0-3) versus a moderate-to-severe mSOFA score (4-7) and (2) a moderate-to-severe mSOFA score (4-7) versus a critical mSOFA score (>7). Despite representing the smallest population, Medicare recipients experienced the highest in-hospital death rate (19%), a rate twice that of the privately insured. The uninsured had the highest rate of critical mSOFA score on admission and had twice the odds of presenting with a critical illness when compared with the privately insured (odds ratio = 2.08, P =.03). Because payor type was statistically related to the most severe presentations of COVID-19, we question whether policy changes affecting health-care affordability might have prevented deaths and rationing of scarce resources, such as intensive care unit beds and ventilators.
Associations between alcohol taxes and varied health outcomes among women of reproductive age and infants
Authors: Subbaraman Meenakshi S , Schulte Alex , Berglas Nancy F , Kerr William C , Thomas Sue , Treffers Ryan , Liu Guodong , Roberts Sarah C M
Published: March 2024

Objective

No studies have examined whether alcohol taxes may be relevant for reducing harms related to pregnant people’s drinking.

Method

We examined how beverage-specific ad valorem, volume-based, and sales taxes are associated with outcomes across three data sets. Drinking outcomes came from women of reproductive age in the 1990–2020 US National Alcohol Surveys (N = 11 659 women $\le$ 44 years); treatment admissions data came from the 1992–2019 Treatment Episode Data Set: Admissions (N = 1331 state-years; 582 436 pregnant women admitted to treatment); and infant and maternal outcomes came from the 2005–19 Merative Marketscan® database (1 432 979 birthing person–infant dyads). Adjusted analyses for all data sets included year fixed effects, state-year unemployment and poverty, and accounted for clustering by state.

Results

Models yield no robust significant associations between taxes and drinking. Increased spirits ad valorem taxes were robustly associated with lower rates of treatment admissions [adjusted IRR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.91, 0.99]. Increased wine and spirits volume-based taxes were both robustly associated with lower odds of infant morbidities [wine aOR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.96, 0.99; spirits aOR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.98, 1.00] and lower odds of severe maternal morbidities [wine aOR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.86, 0.97; spirits aOR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92, 0.97]. Having an off-premise spirits sales tax was also robustly related to lower odds of severe maternal morbidities [aOR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.64, 0.96].

Conclusions

Results show protective associations between increased wine and spirits volume-based and sales taxes with infant and maternal morbidities. Policies that index tax rates to inflation might yield more public health benefits, including for pregnant people and infants.
Apomixis and the paradox of sex in plants
Authors: Hörandl Elvira
Published: March 2024

Background

The predominance of sex in eukaryotes, despite the high costs of meiosis and mating, remains an evolutionary enigma. Many theories have been proposed, none of them being conclusive on its own, and they are, in part, not well applicable to land plants. Sexual reproduction is obligate in embryophytes for the great majority of species.

Scope

This review compares the main forms of sexual and asexual reproduction in ferns and angiosperms, based on the generation cycling of sporophyte and gametophyte (leaving vegetative propagation aside). The benefits of sexual reproduction for maintenance of genomic integrity in comparison to asexuality are discussed in the light of developmental, evolutionary, genetic and phylogenetic studies.

Conclusions

Asexual reproduction represents modifications of the sexual pathway, with various forms of facultative sexuality. For sexual land plants, meiosis provides direct DNA repair mechanisms for oxidative damage in reproductive tissues. The ploidy alternations of meiosis–syngamy cycles and prolonged multicellular stages in the haploid phase in the gametophytes provide a high efficiency of purifying selection against recessive deleterious mutations. Asexual lineages might buffer effects of such mutations via polyploidy and can purge the mutational load via facultative sexuality. The role of organelle–nuclear genome compatibility for maintenance of genome integrity is not well understood. In plants in general, the costs of mating are low because of predominant hermaphroditism. Phylogenetic patterns in the archaeplastid clade suggest that high frequencies of sexuality in land plants are concomitant with a stepwise increase of intrinsic and extrinsic stress factors. Furthermore, expansion of genome size in land plants would increase the potential mutational load. Sexual reproduction appears to be essential for keeping long-term genomic integrity, and only rare combinations of extrinsic and intrinsic factors allow for shifts to asexuality.
Does stomatal patterning in amphistomatous leaves minimize the CO2 diffusion path length within leaves?
Authors: Watts Jacob L , Dow Graham J , Buckley Thomas N , Muir Christopher D
Published: March 2024

Photosynthesis is co-limited by multiple factors depending on the plant and its environment. These include biochemical rate limitations, internal and external water potentials, temperature, irradiance and carbon dioxide ( CO2). Amphistomatous leaves have stomata on both abaxial and adaxial leaf surfaces. This feature is considered an adaptation to alleviate CO2 diffusion limitations in productive environments as the diffusion path length from stomate to chloroplast is effectively halved in amphistomatous leaves. Plants may also reduce CO2 limitations through other aspects of optimal stomatal anatomy: stomatal density, distribution, patterning and size. Some studies have demonstrated that stomata are overdispersed compared to a random distribution on a single leaf surface; however, despite their prevalence in nature and near ubiquity among crop species, much less is known about stomatal anatomy in amphistomatous leaves, especially the coordination between leaf surfaces. Here, we use novel spatial statistics based on simulations and photosynthesis modelling to test hypotheses about how amphistomatous plants may optimize CO2 diffusion in the model angiosperm Arabidopsis thaliana grown in different light environments. We find that (i) stomata are overdispersed, but not ideally dispersed, on both leaf surfaces across all light treatments; (ii) the patterning of stomata on abaxial and adaxial leaf surfaces is independent and (iii) the theoretical improvements to photosynthesis from abaxial–adaxial stomatal coordination are miniscule (≪1%) across the range of feasible parameter space. However, we also find that (iv) stomatal size is correlated with the mesophyll volume that it supplies with CO2, suggesting that plants may optimize CO2 diffusion limitations through alternative pathways other than ideal, uniform stomatal spacing. We discuss the developmental, physical and evolutionary constraints that may prohibit plants from reaching this theoretical adaptive peak of uniform stomatal spacing and inter-surface stomatal coordination. These findings contribute to our understanding of variation in the anatomy of amphistomatous leaves.
Complications and Risks Associated With the Different Types of Abdominoplasties: An Analysis of 55,956 Patients
Authors: Chaker Sara C , Hung Ya-Ching , Saad Mariam , Perdikis Galen , Grotting James C , Higdon K Kye
Published: March 2024

Background

Different types of abdominoplasties have been developed to address individual patient characteristics. However, an analysis of complication rates and risk factors for different types of abdominoplasties has yet to be reported.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to evaluate the complication rates and risks associated with each type of abdominoplasty.

Methods

Utilizing the CosmetAssure database, patients undergoing an abdominoplasty from 2015 to 2022 were identified. Demographic factors and major complications were recorded and analyzed with a chi-square test or analysis of variance. A logistic regression was performed to identify the risk for developing complications associated with each type of abdominoplasty.

Results

A total of 55,596 patients underwent an abdominoplasty procedure by any method. The overall complication rate was 2.1%. There was a significant difference in the overall complication rates of all 7 types of abdominoplasties (P < .05), with fleur-de-lis abdominoplasty having the highest complication rate. The year of surgery, being underweight or morbidly obese, having diabetes, and being male placed patients at a significantly higher risk for developing a postoperative complication. Over 15,000 patients (27.2%) had concurrent procedures related to breast surgery, other body contouring, liposuction, or facial surgery. When accounting for various risk factors in a regression model, there was no significant added risk for major complications after a combination procedure with an abdominoplasty compared to abdominoplasty alone.

Conclusions

Among the different types of abdominoplasties, a fleur-de-lis abdominoplasty has the highest complication rate. Concurrent cosmetic procedures with an abdominoplasty showed no added risk for major complications when compared to abdominoplasty alone.

Level of Evidence: 3
CLAUDIO: automated structural analysis of cross-linking data
Authors: Röhl Alexander , Netz Eugen , Kohlbacher Oliver , Elhabashy Hadeer
Published: March 2024

Motivation

Cross-linking mass spectrometry has made remarkable advancements in the high-throughput characterization of protein structures and interactions. The resulting pairs of cross-linked peptides typically require geometric assessment and validation, given the availability of their corresponding structures.

Results

CLAUDIO (Cross-linking Analysis Using Distances and Overlaps) is an open-source software tool designed for the automated analysis and validation of different varieties of large-scale cross-linking experiments. Many of the otherwise manual processes for structural validation (i.e. structure retrieval and mapping) are performed fully automatically to simplify and accelerate the data interpretation process. In addition, CLAUDIO has the ability to remap intra-protein links as inter-protein links and discover evidence for homo-multimers.

Availability and implementation

CLAUDIO is available as open-source software under the MIT license at https://github.com/KohlbacherLab/CLAUDIO.
Contrastive pre-training and 3D convolution neural network for RNA and small molecule binding affinity prediction
Authors: Sun Saisai , Gao Lin
Published: March 2024

Motivation

The diverse structures and functions inherent in RNAs present a wealth of potential drug targets. Some small molecules are anticipated to serve as leading compounds, providing guidance for the development of novel RNA-targeted therapeutics. Consequently, the determination of RNA–small molecule binding affinity is a critical undertaking in the landscape of RNA-targeted drug discovery and development. Nevertheless, to date, only one computational method for RNA–small molecule binding affinity prediction has been proposed. The prediction of RNA–small molecule binding affinity remains a significant challenge. The development of a computational model is deemed essential to effectively extract relevant features and predict RNA–small molecule binding affinity accurately.

Results

In this study, we introduced RLaffinity, a novel deep learning model designed for the prediction of RNA–small molecule binding affinity based on 3D structures. RLaffinity integrated information from RNA pockets and small molecules, utilizing a 3D convolutional neural network (3D-CNN) coupled with a contrastive learning-based self-supervised pre-training model. To the best of our knowledge, RLaffinity was the first deep learning based method for the prediction of RNA–small molecule binding affinity. Our experimental results exhibited RLaffinity’s superior performance compared to baseline methods, revealed by all metrics. The efficacy of RLaffinity underscores the capability of 3D-CNN to accurately extract both global pocket information and local neighbor nucleotide information within RNAs. Notably, the integration of a self-supervised pre-training model significantly enhanced predictive performance. Ultimately, RLaffinity was also proved as a potential tool for RNA-targeted drugs virtual screening.

Availability and implementation

https://github.com/SaisaiSun/RLaffinity