bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Synthesis and Therapeutic Potential of selected Schiff Bases: In vitro Antibacterial, Antioxidant, Antidiabetic, and Computational Studies
Authors: Adeleke Adesola A. , Oladipo Segun D. , Luckay Robert C. , Akintemi Eric O. , Olofinsan Kolawole A. , Babatunde Onajobi Ismail , Yussuf Sodiq T. , Ogundare Segun A. , Adeleke Olugbenga M. , Babalola Katherine I.
Published: February 2024

In this study, three Schiff base compounds, (E)‐N‐(4‐bromophenyl)‐1‐(2‐nitrophenyl)methanimine (L1), (E)‐2‐((mesitylimino)methyl)phenol (L2), and (E)‐N‐(4‐bromophenyl)‐1‐(pyridin‐2‐yl)methanimine (L3), were synthesized and characterized by various spectroscopic techniques. The antibacterial activity of the compounds was evaluated against Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria, with L3 demonstrating the most significant activity. The compounds were also evaluated for their antioxidant activity using DPPH, FRAP, and NO scavenging assays. While the compounds exhibited concentration‐dependent scavenging of free radicals, their activity was not as significant as that of the reference, Trolox. Furthermore, L1–L3 were tested for their α‐amylase and α‐glucosidase inhibitory activity, with L1 showing the highest inhibitory activity among the three compounds. The DFT study showed that L1 is the most chemically reactive among the three compounds, having the lowest energy band gap value of 3.82 eV in acetonitrile, the experimental solvent. Molecular docking predicted that L1 and L2 have very strong inhibition equivalents to the standard drugs against bacteria and diabetes. All the compounds showed stronger inhibition against α‐glucosidase than acarbose, while only L1 and L2 exhibited stronger inhibition against α‐amylase than acarbose. It can be deduced that the theoretical studies corroborate well with the experimental, and compounds with the electron‐withdrawing group displayed better medicinal properties than their electron‐donating counterparts.
Boosting Electrochemical Reduction of Nitrate to Ammonia by Constructing Nitrate‐Favored Active Cu–B Sites on SnS2
Authors: Li Heen , Wang Yuanzhe , Chen Shuheng , Peng Fei , Gao Faming
Published: February 2024

The electrochemical reduction of nitrate to ammonia is an effective method for mitigating nitrate pollution and generating ammonia. To design superior electrocatalysts, it is essential to construct a reaction site with high activity. Herein, a simple two‐step method is applied to in situ reduce amorphous copper over boron‐doped SnS2 nanosheets(denoted as aCu@B–SnS2‐x. DFT calculations reveal the combination of amorphous copper and B‐doping strategy can construct Cu–B active twins and introduce sulfur vacancies on the surface of the inert SnS2, the active twins can efficiently adsorb nitrate and forcibly separate oxygen atoms from nitrate under the assistance of the exposed Sn atom, leading to strong nitrate adsorption. Benefiting from this, aCu@B–SnS2‐x exhibited an ultrahigh NH3 FE of 94.6% at −0.67 V versus RHE and the highest NH3 yield rate of 0.55 mmol h−1 mg−1cat (9350 µg h−1 mg−1cat) at −0.77 V versus RHE under alkaline conditions. Besides, aCu@B–SnS2‐x is confirmed to remain active after various stability tests, suggesting the practicality of utilizing aCu@B–SnS2‐x in industrial applications. This work highlights the feasibility of enhanced nitrate‐to‐ammonia conversion efficiency by combining the doping method and amorphous metal.
Mimicking Tumor Metastasis Using a Transwell‐Integrated Organoids‐On‐a‐Chip Platform
Authors: Chen Maike , Shan Han , Tao Qian , Hu Rui , Sun Qi , Zheng Mingde , Chen Ziyan , Lin Qibo , Yin Mingzhu , Zhao Shuang , Chen Xiang , Chen Zeyu
Published: February 2024

The mortality rate among cancer patients is primarily attributed to tumor metastasis. The evaluation of metastasis potential provides a powerful framework for personalized therapies. However, little work has so far been undertaken to precisely model tumor metastasis in vitro, hindering the development of preventive and therapeutic interventions. In this work, a tumor‐metastasis‐mimicked Transwell‐integrated organoids‐on‐a‐chip platform (TOP) for precisely evaluating tumor metastatic potential is developed. Unlike the conventional Transwell device for detecting cell migration, the engineered device facilitates the assessment of metastasis in patient‐derived organoids (PDO). Furthermore, a novel Transwell chamber with a hexagon‐shaped structure is developed to mimic the migration of tumor cells into surrounding tissues, allowing for the evaluation of tumor metastasis in a horizontal direction. As a proof‐of‐concept demonstration, tumor organoids and metastatic clusters are further evaluated at the protein, genetic, and phenotypic levels. In addition, preliminary drug screening is undertaken to highlight the potential for using the device to combat cancers. In summary, the tumor‐metastasis‐mimicked TOP offers unique capabilities for evaluating the metastasis potential of tumor organoids and contributes to the development of personalized cancer therapies.
Nano‐Confined Effect and Heterojunction Promoted Exciton Separation for Light‐Boosted Osmotic Energy Conversion
Authors: Geng Yutong , Zhang Liangqian , Li Mengjie , He Youfeng , Lu Bingxin , He Jianwei , Li Xuejiang , Zhou Hangjian , Fan Xia , Xiao Tianliang , Zhai Jin
Published: February 2024

The osmotic energy conversion properties of biomimetic light‐stimulated nanochannels have aroused great interest. However, the power output performance is limited by the low light‐induced current and energy conversion efficiency. Here, nanochannel arrays with simultaneous modification of ZnO and di‐tetrabutylammonium cis‐bis(isothiocyanato)bis(2,20‐bipyridyl‐4,40‐dicarboxylato) ruthenium (II) (N719) onto anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) to combine the nano‐confined effect and heterojunction is designed, which demonstrate rectified ion transport behavior due to the asymmetric composition, structure and charge. High cation selectivity and ion flux contribute to the high power density of ≈7.33 W m−2 by mixing artificial seawater and river water. Under light irradiation, heterojunction promoted the production and separation of exciton, enhanced cation selectivity, and improved the utilization efficiency of osmotic energy, providing a remarkable power density of ≈18.49 W m−2 with an increase of 252% and total energy conversion efficiency of 30.43%. The work opens new insights into the biomimetic nanochannels for high‐performance energy conversion.
Heterostructured WOx/W2C Nanocatalyst for Li2S Oxidation in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries with High‐Areal‐Capacity
Authors: Wang Biying , Fang Ruopian , Chen Ke , Huang Shiyang , Niu Ranming , Yu Zhichun , O'Connell George E. P. , Jin Huanyu , Lin Qiaowei , Liang Jiaxing , Cairney Julie M. , Wang Da‐Wei
Published: February 2024

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries show extraordinary promise as a next‐generation battery technology due to their high theoretical energy density and the cost efficiency of sulfur. However, the sluggish reaction kinetics, uncontrolled growth of lithium sulfide (Li2S), and substantial Li2S oxidation barrier cause low sulfur utilization and limited cycle life. Moreover, these drawbacks get exacerbated at high current densities and high sulfur loadings. Here, a heterostructured WOx/W2C nanocatalyst synthesized via ultrafast Joule heating is reported, and the resulting heterointerfaces contribute to enhance electrocatalytic activity for Li2S oxidation, as well as controlled Li2S deposition. The densely distributed nanoparticles provide abundant binding sites for uniform deposition of Li2S. The continuous heterointerfaces favor efficient adsorption and promote charge transfer, thereby reducing the activation barrier for the delithiation of Li2S. These attributes enable Li–S cells to deliver high‐rate performance and high areal capacity. This study provides insights into efficient catalyst design for Li2S oxidation under practical cell conditions.
Pd Single‐Atom Loaded Ce‐Zr Solid Solution Catalysts Prepared by Flame Spray Pyrolysis for Efficient CO Catalytic Oxidation
Authors: Zheng Yaru , Zhang Ling , Jiang Hao , Li Chunzhong , Hu Yanjie
Published: February 2024

Single‐atom catalysts (SACs) exhibit remarkable catalytic activity at each metal site. However, conventionally synthesized single‐atom catalysts often possess low metal loading, thereby constraining their overall catalytic performance. Here, a flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) method for the synthesis of a single‐atom catalyst with a high loading capacity of up to 1.4 wt.% in practice is reported. CeZrO2 acts as a carrier and provides a large number of anchoring sites, which promotes the high‐density generation of Pd, and the strong interaction between the metal and the support avoids atom aggregation. Pd‐CeZrO2 series catalysts have excellent CO oxidation performance. When 0.97 wt.% Pd is added, the catalytic activity is the highest, and the temperature can be reduced to 120 °C. This work presented here demonstrates that FSP, as an inherently scalable technique, allows for elevating the single‐atom loading to achieve an increase in its catalytic performance. The method presented here more options for the preparation of SACs.
Dynamic Covalent Bonded Gradient Structured Actuators with Mechanical Robustness and Self‐Healing Ability
Authors: Yu Chuansong , Li Xinkai , Yang Xin , Qiu Xiaoyan , Zhang Xinxing , Chen Zhenming , Luo Yanglin
Published: February 2024

Flexible actuators with excellent adaptability and interaction safety have a wide range of application prospects in many fields. However, current flexible actuators have problems such as fragility and poor actuating ability. Here, inspired by the features of nacre structure, a gradient structured flexible actuator is proposed with mechanical robustness and self‐healing ability. By introducing dynamic boronic ester bonds at the interface between MXene nanosheets and epoxy natural rubber matrix, the resulting nanocomposites with ordered micro‐nano structures exhibit excellent tensile strength (25.03 MPa) and satisfactory repair efficiency (81.2%). In addition, the gradient distribution structure of MXene nanosheets endows the actuator with stable photothermal conversion capability, which can quickly respond to near‐infrared light stimulation. The interlayer dynamic covalent bond crosslinking enables good response speed after multiple bending and is capable of functional self‐healing after damage. This work introduces gradient structure and dynamic covalent bonding into flexible actuators, which provides a reference for the fabrication of self‐healing soft robots, wearable, and other healable functional materials.
Large‐Scale Room‐Temperature Synthesis of the First Sb3+‐Doped Organic Ge(IV)‐Based Metal Halides with Efficient Yellow Emission for Solid‐State Lighting and Latent Fingerprint Detection
Authors: He Xuefei , Wei Qilin , Peng Hui , Li Yuchen , Wang Xiao , Ke Bao , Zhao Jialong , Zou Bingsuo
Published: February 2024

Organic–inorganic hybrid Ge(II)‐based metal halides have garnered significant interest due to their intriguing photophysical properties and environmentally friendly characteristics. However, challenges such as poor stability, low emission intensity, and a complex synthesis process have hindered their widespread application. In addressing these issues, a breakthrough in the large‐scale production of Sb3+‐doped Ge(IV)‐based metal halide (C13H14N3)2GeCl6 phosphors at room temperature through a straightforward solution method is presented. The synthesized compound exhibits a remarkable bright broad yellow emission band at 590 nm, boasting a photoluminescence quantum efficiency of 99.53 ± 0.06% the highest among Ge(IV)‐based metal halides. Notably, the introduction of Sb3+ induces the formation of Jahn–Teller‐like self‐trapped excitons in [SbCl6]3− species, attributable to lattice distortion and strong electron–phonon coupling. Consequently, Sb3+‐doped (C13H14N3)2GeCl6 demonstrates a large Stokes shift (221 nm) and a prolonged decay lifetime (3.06 μs). Furthermore, the Sb3+‐doped compound exhibits commendable chemical‐ and photostability, prompting exploration in applications such as white light‐emitting diodes and latent fingerprint detection. This work not only provides a practical approach for designing economically viable, environmentally friendly, and highly efficient emission phosphors but also paves the way for novel directions in their expanded application.
Next-to-leading-logarithmic PanScales showers for deep inelastic scattering and vector boson fusion
Authors: van Beekveld Melissa , Ravasio Silvia Ferrario
Published: February 2024

Abstract

We introduce the first family of parton showers that achieve next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL) accuracy for processes involving a t-channel exchange of a colour-singlet, and embed them in the PanScales framework. These showers are applicable to processes such as deep inelastic scattering (DIS), vector boson fusion (VBF), and vector boson scattering (VBS). We extensively test and verify the NLL accuracy of the new showers at both fixed order and all orders across a wide range of observables. We also introduce a generalisation of the Cambridge-Aachen jet algorithm and formulate new DIS observables that exhibit a simple resummation structure. The NLL showers are compared to a standard transverse-momentum ordered dipole shower, serving as a proxy for the current state-of-the-art leading-logarithmic showers available in public codes. Depending on the observable, we find discrepancies at NLL of the order of 15%. We also present some exploratory phenomenological results for Higgs production in VBF. This work enables, for the first time, to resum simultaneously global and non-global observables for the VBF process at NLL accuracy.
Bemarituzumab as first-line treatment for locally advanced or metastatic gastric/gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma: final analysis of the randomized phase 2 FIGHT trial
Authors: Wainberg Zev A. , Kang Yoon-Koo , Lee Keun-Wook , Qin Shukui , Yamaguchi Kensei , Kim In-Ho , Saeed Anwaar , Oh Sang Cheul , Li Jin , Turk Haci Mehmet , Teixeira Alexandra , Hitre Erika , Udrea Adrian A. , Cardellino Giovanni Gerardo , Sanchez Raquel Guardeño , Zahlten-Kümeli Anita , Taylor Kate , Enzinger Peter C.
Published: February 2024

Background

We report the final results of the randomized phase 2 FIGHT trial that evaluated bemarituzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody selective for fibroblast growth factor receptor 2b (FGFR2b), plus mFOLFOX6 in patients with FGFR2b-positive (2 + /3 + membranous staining by immunohistochemistry), HER-2–negative gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer (GC).

Methods

Patients received bemarituzumab (15 mg/kg) or placebo once every 2 weeks with an additional bemarituzumab (7.5 mg/kg) or placebo dose on cycle 1 day 8. All patients received mFOLFOX6. The primary endpoint was investigator-assessed progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS), objective response rate, and safety. Efficacy was evaluated after a minimum follow-up of 24 months.

Results

In the bemarituzumab-mFOLFOX6 (N = 77) and placebo-mFOLFOX6 (N = 78) arms, respectively, 59.7% and 66.7% of patients were FGFR2b-positive in ≥ 10% of tumor cells. The median PFS (95% confidence interval [CI]) was 9.5 months (7.3–13.7) with bemarituzumab-mFOLFOX6 and 7.4 months (5.7–8.4) with placebo-mFOLFOX6 (hazard ratio [HR], 0.72; 95% CI 0.49–1.08); median OS (95% CI) was 19.2 (13.6–24.2) and 13.5 (9.3–15.9) months, respectively (HR 0.77; 95% CI 0.52–1.14). Observed efficacy in FGFR2b-positive GC in ≥ 10% of tumor cells was: PFS: HR 0.43 (95% CI 0.26–0.73); OS: HR 0.52 (95% CI 0.31–0.85). No new safety findings were reported.

Conclusions

In FGFR2b-positive advanced GC, the combination of bemarituzumab-mFOLFOX6 led to numerically longer median PFS and OS compared with mFOLFOX6 alone. Efficacy was more pronounced with FGFR2b overexpression in ≥ 10% of tumor cells. Confirmatory phase 3 trials are ongoing (NCT05052801, NCT05111626).

Clinical trial registration

NCT03694522.
A nonadditive rough set model for long-term clinical efficacy evaluation of chronic diseases in real-world settings
Authors: Xiaoli Chu , Juan Xu , Xiaodong Chu , Bingzhen Sun , Yan Zhang , Kun Bao , Yanlin Li
Published: February 2024

The pursuit of clinical effectiveness in real-world settings is at the core of clinical practice progression. In this study, we address a long-term clinical efficacy evaluation decision-making problem with temporal correlation hybrid attribute characteristics. To address this problem, we propose a novel approach that combines a temporal correlation feature rough set model with machine learning techniques and nonadditive measures. Our proposed approach involves several steps. First, over the framework of granular computing, we construct a temporal correlation hybrid information system, the gradient method is employed to characterize the temporal attributes and the similarity between objects is measured using cosine similarity. Second, based on the similarity of gradient and cosine, we construct a composite binary relation of temporal correlation hybrid information, enabling effective classification of this information. Third, we develop a rough set decision model based on the Choquet integral, which describes temporal correlation decision process. We provide the ranking results of decision schemes with temporal correlation features. To demonstrate the practical applications of our approach, we conduct empirical research using an unlabeled dataset consisting of 3094 patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) and 80,139 EHRs from various clinical encounters. These findings offer valuable support for clinical decision-making. Two main innovations are obtained from this study. First, it establishes general theoretical principles and decision-making methods for temporal correlation and hybrid rough sets. Second, it integrates data-driven clinical decision paradigms with traditional medical research paradigms, laying the groundwork for exploring the feasibility of data-driven clinical decision-making in the field.
Transformers in health: a systematic review on architectures for longitudinal data analysis
Authors: Siebra Clauirton A. , Kurpicz-Briki Mascha , Wac Katarzyna
Published: February 2024

Transformers are state-of-the-art technology to support diverse Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks, such as language translation and word/sentence predictions. The main advantage of transformers is their ability to obtain high accuracies when processing long sequences since they avoid the vanishing gradient problem and use the attention mechanism to maintain the focus on the information that matters. These features are fostering the use of transformers in other domains beyond NLP. This paper employs a systematic protocol to identify and analyze studies that propose new transformers’ architectures for processing longitudinal health datasets, which are often dense, and specifically focused on physiological, symptoms, functioning, and other daily life data. Our analysis considered 21 of 456 initial papers, collecting evidence to characterize how recent studies modified or extended these architectures to handle longitudinal multifeatured health representations or provide better ways to generate outcomes. Our findings suggest, for example, that the main efforts are focused on methods to integrate multiple vocabularies, encode input data, and represent temporal notions among longitudinal dependencies. We comprehensively discuss these and other findings, addressing major issues that are still open to efficiently deploy transformers architectures for longitudinal multifeatured healthcare data analysis.
A comprehensive survey of artificial intelligence-based techniques for performance enhancement of solid oxide fuel cells: Test cases with debates
Authors: Ashraf Hossam , Draz Abdelmonem
Published: February 2024

Since installing solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs)-based systems suffers from high expenses, accurate and reliable modeling is heavily demanded to detect any design issue prior to the system establishment. However, such mathematical models comprise certain unknowns that should be properly estimated to effectively describe the actual operation of SOFCs. Accordingly, due to their recent promising achievements, a tremendous number of metaheuristic optimizers (MHOs) have been utilized to handle this task. Hence, this effort targets providing a novel thorough review of the most recent MHOs applied to define the ungiven parameters of SOFCs stacks. Specifically, among over 300 attempts, only 175 articles are reported, where thirty up-to-date MHOs from the last five years are comprehensively illustrated. Particularly, the discussed MHOs are classified according to their behavior into; evolutionary-based, physics-based, swarm-based, and nature-based algorithms. Each is touched with a brief of their inspiration, features, merits, and demerits, along with their results in SOFC parameters determination. Furthermore, an overall platform is constructed where the reader can easily investigate each algorithm individually in terms of its governing factors, besides, the simulation circumstances related to the studied SOFC test cases. Over and above, numerical simulations are also introduced for commercial SOFCs’ stacks to evaluate the proposed MHOs-based methodology. Moreover, the mathematical formulation of various assessment criteria is systematically presented. After all, some perspectives and observations are provided in the conclusion to pave the way for further analyses and innovations.
Against the tide: how changes in political alignment affect grant allocation to municipalities in Hungary
Authors: Vasvári Tamás , Longauer Dóra
Published: February 2024

The 2019 local election in Hungary accelerated the trend of centralization, marked by a simultaneous reduction in available local funds and an increase in discretionary transfers to local governments. This paper, utilizing a dataset encompassing all over 3000 municipalities from 2015 to 2020, employs fixed-effect estimations and a regression discontinuity design to explore how election outcomes influenced central decisions on intergovernmental transfers. Generally, larger municipalities are more susceptible to political influence, particularly in the allocation of discretionary grants, whereas smaller settlements appear less affected by political shifts. Changes in political alignment triggered a rewarding policy for municipalities that remained or converted to aligned status, resulting in an additional 86.4% and 65.2% of discretionary funds, respectively, relative to those converting to or remaining unaligned. Our research establishes that political influence in intergovernmental transfers has intensified since 2019, offering valuable insights for the upcoming 2024 election.
‘Trauma work’ as hindrance to political praxis during democratisation movements
Authors: Al Azmeh Zeina , Baert Patrick
Published: February 2024

This paper examines the impact of a shift in focus from political praxis to trauma work in the context of a failed democratisation movement. It investigates the various phenomena which emerge when intellectuals, under the traumatic impact of violence and atrocities, place trauma narration at the core of their interventions. Drawing on document analysis, participant observation and semi-structured interviews with twenty nine exiled Syrian intellectuals in Paris and Berlin who had participated in the revolutionary movement of 2011, the paper suggests that an inversion of the normative power structures pertaining to how intellectuals relate to their publics occurs when they adopt, under conditions of extreme violence and trauma, what we call a radically embedded positionality vis-à-vis ‘the people’. This results in the dismantling of previous figurations of the ‘militant intellectual’ along with praxis-focused notions of the ‘responsibility of intellectuals’, ultimately undermining their ideational influence upon domestic publics and weakening their political impact and critical role within a revolutionary movement.
System Thinking for Sustainable Water Management: The Use of System Tools in Sustainability Transitions
Authors: Wan Rosely Wan Izar Haizan , Voulvoulis Nikolaos
Published: February 2024

Managing water resources to meet current social, economic, and environmental needs without compromising the ability to meet those needs in the future, requires water managers to look beyond jurisdictional boundaries and their immediate supply operations, protect shared water and marine environments, resources and ecosystems from pollution and over-abstraction and deliver structural changes and resilient solutions to make the provision of water services sustainable. With a plethora of system tools increasingly available to support the sustainability transformation of water systems, sorting through their breadth and diversity to determine what is useful and what is not can be challenging. From a selection of 40 popular system tools grouped in terms of how they function, we review those most commonly used in water management through 35 water-related studies from the literature. Findings demonstrate that system tools are not a substitute for systems thinking and applying them alone does not qualify the development of systemic solutions. Systems thinking offers a powerful approach to first improving collective understanding of sustainability challenges related to water and then, in collaboration with a diverse group of stakeholders and the public, defining desired goals for water management and working together to make them a reality. System tools in that context can play an important role in facilitating the process and here we propose an overarching framework of how to select and apply available tools to facilitate a holistic, integrated, and interdisciplinary systems approach for water management and wider urban sustainability transitions.
Anandamide and WIN 55212–2 Afford Protection in Rat Brain Mitochondria in a Toxic Model Induced by 3-Nitropropionic Acid: an In Vitro Study
Authors: Maya-López Marisol , Monsalvo-Maraver Luis Angel , Delgado-Arzate Ana Laura , Olivera-Pérez Carolina I. , El-Hafidi Mohammed , Silva-Palacios Alejandro , Medina-Campos Omar , Pedraza-Chaverri José , Aschner Michael , Tinkov Alexey A. , Túnez Isaac , Retana-Márquez Socorro , Zazueta Cecilia , Santamaría Abel
Published: February 2024

Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a key role in the development of neurodegenerative disorders. In contrast, the regulation of the endocannabinoid system has been shown to promote neuroprotection in different neurotoxic paradigms. The existence of an active form of the cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R) in mitochondrial membranes (mitCB1R), which might exert its effects through the same signaling mechanisms as the cell membrane CB1R, has been shown to regulate mitochondrial activity. Although there is evidence suggesting that some cannabinoids may induce protective effects on isolated mitochondria, substantial evidence on the role of cannabinoids in mitochondria remains to be explored. In this work, we developed a toxic model of mitochondrial dysfunction induced by exposure of brain mitochondria to the succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP). Mitochondria were also pre-incubated with the endogenous agonist anandamide (AEA) and the synthetic CB1R agonist WIN 55212–2 to evaluate their protective effects. Mitochondrial reduction capacity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, and mitochondrial swelling were assessed as toxic markers. While 3-NP decreased the mitochondrial reduction capacity and augmented mitochondrial ROS formation and swelling, both AEA and WIN 55212–2 ameliorated these toxic effects. To explore the possible involvement of mitCB1R activation on the protective effects of AEA and WIN 55212–2, mitochondria were also pre-incubated in the presence of the selective CB1R antagonist AM281, which completely reverted the protective effects of the cannabinoids to levels similar to those evoked by 3-NP. These results show partial protective effects of cannabinoids, suggesting that mitCB1R activation may be involved in the recovery of compromised mitochondrial activity, related to reduction of ROS formation and further prevention of mitochondrial swelling.
Florida’s fiery subtropical grasslands: Growth forms, belowground organs, and post-fire recovery strategies
Authors: Orzell Steve L. , Bitomský Martin , Bridges Edwin L. , Budach Brett , Klimešová Jitka , Martinková Jana , Reed Zachary E. , Raynor Seth J.
Published: February 2024

Fire-adaptive traits in plants of tropical and subtropical grassy ecosystems have been the subject of considerable global research, but only recently studied in pyrogenic Florida subtropical grasslands. Plant growth forms, belowground organs, and post-fire recovery strategies were studied for 198 grassland specialists in peninsular Florida. Community types (dry-mesic, mesic, wet-mesic, and wet) were sampled with 1m2 plots along the edaphic-hydrologic gradient and the association between these variables and fire-related plant traits was tested using fourth-corner analysis. Caulescent herbs (43), cespitose graminoids (27), and rosette herbs (31) are the most common growth forms among species sampled. Plants with epigeogenous and hypogeogenous rhizomes dominate the sample plots, including matrix graminoids, shrub geoxyles, and an acaulescent rhizomatous fire-resilient palm (Serenoa repens). Most species (163; 82%) exhibit resprouting, including 30 facultative resprouters and 133 obligate resprouters. All woody rhizomatous species are obligate resprouters, and 35 ephemeral herbaceous species are obligate reseeders. Community type was a better predictor of species abundances than hydrology, however, hydrology was significantly associated with species traits measured, particularly rhizome texture, with woody rhizomes prevalent in all but the wet sites. Belowground organs (xylopodia, geoxylic suffructices) and growth form were associated with frequent fire and phylogeny, suggesting fire regime as a driver of community phylogenetic diversity. Persistence, rapid resilience and co-occurrence of geoxyles align Florida subtropical grasslands with other global geoxyle grasslands. The old-growth, pyrogenic grassy ecosystems of peninsular Florida are the center of geoxyle diversification on the southeastern US coastal plain.
Population Fusion Transformer for Subnational Population Forecasting
Authors: Alghanmi Nusaybah , Alotaibi Reem , Alshammari Sultanah , Mahmood Arif
Published: February 2024

Forecasting the subnational population accurately is needed for sustainable development, including planning for the future, allocating resources, or providing health services. Two approaches are used for forecasting subnational populations: local forecasting where a model is trained for each area, and global forecasting, where one model is trained with all areas. Local forecasting (e.g., statistical models) is limited to capturing the population growth patterns in a single area. Machine learning models, such as the light gradient boosting model (LGBM), are considered a more suitable approach for global forecasting, but it is limited to one-step predictions, leading to error accumulation. Also, combining several models into one ensemble model are used which helped in reduce forecasting errors. However, the nature of population growth is nonlinear, and there is a need to reduce error accumulation. This study overcomes these issues and proposes a population fusion transformer (PFT) as a global forecasting model for population forecasting, which outputs multi-step predictions. The PFT is based on a temporal fusion transformer (TFT) proposing a novel deep gated residual network (DGRN) block to capture data nonlinearity. This study also incorporates the proposed PFT model into various ensemble models to reduce forecasting errors using different prediction and learning approaches. The proposed models are applied to four subnational population datasets from several countries. The PFT model outperforms the LGBM and TFT with lower forecasting errors in three and two datasets. More importantly, combining the PFT with other models in ensemble models reduced errors further.
Hidden curricula in academic medicine: Streamlining success for early career scholars from majority and diverse backgrounds
Authors: Enders Felicity T. , Golembiewski Elizabeth H. , DSouza Karen N. , Martin Ashley E. , Kennedy Cassie C.
Published: February 2024

The hidden curriculum (HC), or implicit norms and values within a field or institution, affects faculty at all career stages. This study surveyed affiliates of a junior faculty training program (n = 12) to assess the importance of HC topics for junior faculty, mentors, and institutional leaders. For non-diverse junior faculty and their mentors, work-life balance, research logistics, and resilience were key HC topics. Coping with bias and assertive communication were emphasized for diverse junior faculty and mentors. Institutional norms and vision were essential for leaders, while networking was important for all groups. Future research should explore HC needs and potential interventions.
Introduction
Authors: Popp Andrew
Published: February 2024

Welcome to Volume 25 of Enterprise and Society. In this first issue, we are delighted to present a new symposium on “A Brief History of the History of Capitalism, and a New American Variety,” built around a lead article of that name by Lindsay Schakenbach Regele. This challenging new essay is followed by three comments—“Concealing Martial Violence,” by Brittany Farr, “Capitalism Indivisible,” by Katie Moore, and “How to Define (or Not to Define) the New History of Capitalism,” by Sharon Murphy—with a final response from Lindsay. We want to thank Lindsay for initiating this challenging new symposium and the other three authors for their thought-provoking commentaries.
The Media Pluralism Principle, The Financing of Public Broadcasters, and EU Law
Authors: Kozak Małgorzata
Published: February 2024

In the rise of authoritarian trends in Hungary and in Poland, public broadcasters play a crucial role in supporting the political forces in power. There are many examples which show how public broadcasters influence public opinion by selective coverage and distorted remit. While the problem of media plurality is often commented upon from the perspective of fundamental rights or the rule of law, another relevant perspective is that of internal market and economic law. The article analyses how can one make sure that the use of public funds to support State media does not lead to the distortion of citizens’ rights to be informed. The article argues that the current EU State Aid framework allows the balance of Member States’ prerogatives in respect to media freedom and content with the risk of EU-imposed censure. The article analyses the place of media pluralism in EU law and demonstrates that media pluralism has been integrated within the internal market framework, including an analysis of recent amendments to the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. Then, it focuses on the relationship between media pluralism, public service broadcasting and EU State aid law.
Phasing out coal on Svalbard: From a conflict of interest to a contest over symbolic capital
Authors: Vold Hansen Tiril
Published: February 2024

In 2021, the decision to close the last Norwegian coal mine on Svalbard was made, and with that, the Norwegian coal adventure on the archipelago came to an end. This was a result of a political process, which is the focus of this article. Drawing on fieldwork conducted during the fall of 2022, I argue that the political process of phasing out coal changed from a conflict over interests to a contest over symbolic capital. The article contributes to the understanding of Norwegian Svalbard politics and the “balancing act” that this represents. I focus on how power, in the form of shaping people’s perceptions and as prestige, influenced what interests prevail and why. The article addresses (1) why the decision to phase out coal was not made earlier, (2) what ultimately made this decision possible and (3) why and over what the key actors were still competing after the decision to phase out coal was made.
Perfectionism, Psychological Distress, and Career Indecision Among Chinese College Students
Authors: Tian Lu , Hou Zhijin
Published: February 2024

Abstract: To aid in developing effective interventions on perfectionism, it is important to understand how different types of perfectionism may relate to psychological outcomes and identify possible mechanism explaining their relationships among Chinese college students. To address the problem, the present study examined (a) how adaptive perfectionism and maladaptive perfectionism were associated with psychological distress and career indecision among Chinese college students and (b) how coping mediated the relationships between two forms of perfectionism and psychological distress and career indecision. The results of path analysis models using a sample of Chinese college students (total n = 389) indicated that (a) maladaptive perfectionism was positively associated with psychological distress ( r = .48) and career indecision ( r = .31), while adaptive perfectionism was not associated with psychological distress ( r = .12) and career indecision ( r = −.05); (b) coping served as a suppressor and fully mediated the relationships between adaptive perfectionism and psychological distress ( Bid = −.07, p < .01, CI99.5 = −.17, −.04) and career indecision ( Bid = −.11, p < .001, CI99.5 = −.12, −.01); and (c) coping partially mediated the relationships between maladaptive perfectionism and psychological distress ( Bid = .08, p < .01, CI99.5 = .02, .15) and career indecision ( Bid = .14, p < .001, CI99.5 = .06, .21). The findings suggest that different forms of perfectionism relate to psychological outcomes differently and coping is critical in explaining how perfectionism relates to psychological outcomes. Therefore, perfectionism interventions should consider the characteristics of two forms of perfectionism and the role of coping.
Climate Models Often Miss How Plants Respond to Drought
Authors: Owen Rebecca
Published: February 2024

New research suggests that Earth system models are underestimating the effect of low moisture levels on plants’ abilities to exchange carbon, water, and energy with the atmosphere.
New Satellite Will Help NASA Keep PACE with Earth Systems
Authors: Shepherd Emily
Published: February 2024

Color and light measurements will help scientists better assess how our oceans and atmosphere interact.
We’ve Already Seen Category 6 Hurricanes—Now Scientists Want to Make It Official
Authors: van Deelen Grace
Published: February 2024

Intensifying storms may warrant a new category of hurricane wind speeds.
Development of decision rules for an adaptive aftercare intervention based on individual symptom courses for agoraphobia patients
Authors: Wilhelm Maximilian , Moessner Markus , Jost Silke , Okon Eberhard , Malinowski Volker , Schinke Katharina , Sommerfeld Sebastian , Bauer Stephanie
Published: February 2024

As other mental illnesses, agoraphobia is associated with a significant risk for relapse after the end of treatment. Personalized and adaptive approaches appear promising to improve maintenance treatment and aftercare as they acknowledge patients’ varying individual needs with respect to intensity of care over time. Currently, there is a deficit of knowledge about the detailed symptom course after discharge from acute treatment, which is a prerequisite for the empirical development of rules to decide if and when aftercare should be intensified. Therefore, this study aimed firstly at the investigation of the naturalistic symptom course of agoraphobia after discharge from initial treatment and secondly at the development and evaluation of a data-driven algorithm for a digital adaptive aftercare intervention. A total of 56 agoraphobia patients were recruited in 3 hospitals. Following discharge, participants completed a weekly online monitoring assessment for three months. While symptom severity remained stable at the group level, individual courses were highly heterogeneous. Approximately two-thirds of the patients (70%) reported considerable symptoms at some time, indicating a need for medium or high-intense therapeutic support. Simulating the application of the algorithm to the data set resulted in an early (86% before week six) and relatively even allocation of patients to three groups (need for no, medium, and high-intense support respectively). Overall, findings confirm the need for adaptive aftercare strategies in agoraphobia. Digital, adaptive approaches may provide immediate support to patients who experience symptom deterioration and thus promise to contribute to an optimized allocation of therapeutic resources and overall improvement of care.
Fast hybrid methods for modeling landslide susceptibility in Ardal County
Authors: Xu Shangshang
Published: February 2024

Recently, machine learning models have received huge attention for environmental risk modeling. One of these applications is landslide susceptibility mapping which is a necessary primary step for dealing with the landslide risk in prone areas. In this study, a conventional machine learning model called multi-layer perceptron (MLP) neural network is built upon advanced optimization algorithms to achieve a firm prediction of landslide susceptibility in Ardal County, West of Iran. The used geospatial dataset consists of fourteen conditioning factors and 170 landslide events. The used optimizers are electromagnetic field optimization (EFO), symbiotic organisms search (SOS), shuffled complex evolution (SCE), and electrostatic discharge algorithm (ESDA) that contribute to tuning MLP’s internal parameters. The competency of the models is evaluated using several statistical methods to provide a comparison among them. It was discovered that the EFO-MLP and SCE-MLP enjoy much quicker training than SOS-MLP and ESDA-MLP. Further, relying on both accuracy and time criteria, the EFO-MLP was found to be the most efficient model (time = 1161 s, AUC = 0.879, MSE = 0.153, and R = 0.657). Hence, the landslide susceptibility map of this model is recommended to be used by authorities to provide real-world protective measures within Ardal County. For helping this, a random forest-based model showed that Elevation, Lithology, and Land Use are the most important factors within the studied area. Lastly, the solution discovered in this study is converted into an equation for convenient landslide susceptibility prediction.
Exploring nanoarchitectonics and optical properties of PAA-ZnO@BCP wide-band-gap organic semiconductors
Authors: Mansour A. M. , Abou Hammad Ali B. , El Nahrawy Amany M.
Published: February 2024

This work reports the formation of polyacrylic acid (PAA)—zinc oxide (ZnO)—bromocresol purple (BCP), (PAA-ZnO@ (0.00–0.01) BCP wide-bandgap organic semiconductors deposited onto glass substrates via a sol–gel polymerization process. These semiconductor films were deposited on glass substrates using a spin coating and then dried at 60 °C. The PAA-ZnO film appeared to be of amorphous phase, and films loaded with BCP revealed semicrystalline behavior. The surface of the films exhibited adherence and extended grains. The hydrogen bonds formed between PAA-ZnO and the BCP dye within the PAA-ZnO@BCP films was performed using FTIR-spectroscopy. The prepared nanocomposites demonstrate an indirect band transition which is affected slightly by adding ZnO and BCP dye. Optical parameters such as the absorption coefficient, the refractive index, the dielectric constant, optical conductivity, optical depth, and optical electronegativity of the prepared nanocomposites were studied as functions of incident light energy (wavelength). The PAA carbonyl group n-π* transition and BCP aromatic ring π-π* transitions were detected at about 285 (for all samples) and 432 nm (for BCP loaded samples), respectively. The superior photoluminescence characteristics observed in the BCP/PAA-Zn films excited with a wavelength of 250 nm indicated the successful loading of the BCP dye during the self-aggregation of the PAA-Zn film.
Impact of lifestyle and clinical factors on the prognosis of tennis elbow
Authors: Zhang Chan , Jia Zhongwei , Li Jiangbo , Wang Xu , Yang Shengping
Published: February 2024

Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) typically responds well to conservative treatment, and few patients require surgical intervention. This study aimed to investigate the influence of lifestyle and clinical factors on the prognosis of tennis elbow. This prospective, multicenter, nested case–control study included patients diagnosed with lateral epicondylitis after excluding other conditions. Patients who required surgery because of inadequate improvement after 6 months of conservative treatment were defined as the case group; the remaining patients constituted the control group. Propensity score matching was performed to eliminate baseline differences. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using logistic regression. This study included 265 patients (53 in the case group, 212 in the control group). Multivariate analysis revealed that smoking, alcohol consumption, and frequent physical exercise were independent risk factors for surgical intervention, whereas combined treatment with oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and local corticosteroid injections was a protective factor against surgery. Subgroup analysis showed that heavy drinkers had a 3.74-fold higher risk of requiring surgical treatment within 1 year than occasional drinkers. Smoking and alcohol consumption were associated with non-operative treatment failure in patients with lateral epicondylitis. Combining oral NSAIDs and corticosteroid injections is a favorable conservative treatment option.
Novel adaptation of the KCC-questionnaire for cardiomyopathy screening in a racially diverse obstetric population
Authors: Adedinsewo Demilade , Morales-Lara Andrea Carolina , Hardway Heather , Johnson Patrick W. , Young Kathleen A. , Douglass Erika J. , Florio Karen L. , Butler Tobah Yvonne S. , Rose Carl H. , Burnette David , Seccombe Kendra , Fussell Mia , Phillips Sabrina D. , Noseworthy Peter A. , Carter Rickey E. , Spertus John A.
Published: February 2024

Cardiomyopathy occurring during pregnancy or postpartum represents a leading cause of maternal mortality. An overlap between pregnancy-associated symptoms and symptoms of cardiomyopathy contributes to delays in diagnosis. To address the need for screening and improve the diagnosis of pregnancy-related cardiomyopathy, we sought to evaluate the association between cardiovascular symptoms, an adapted version of the 12-item Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire for pregnancy (KCCQ-P) and left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD). We conducted a single-arm prospective observational study of pregnant and postpartum participants enrolled between October 2021 and October 2022. A symptom questionnaire, KCCQ-P, and a resting echocardiogram were performed. The primary study outcome was LVSD, defined as left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 50%. We sub-divided those with LVEF (≥50%) into subclinical LVSD (left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS) > –18), and no LVSD (GLS ≤ −18). Ninety women were included in the final analysis. The median age was 31 years (Q1: 28, Q3: 35), 37% identified as Non-Hispanic White, 30% as Non-Hispanic Black, and 23% as Hispanic or Latino. KCCQ-P total scores were markedly lower with LVSD (median: 30.2; Q1: 22.9, Q3: 61.5) vs. subclinical LVSD (median: 60.7; Q1: 47.0, Q3: 76.2) vs. no LVSD (median: 86.5; Q1: 62.5, Q3: 95.8) p < 0.001. KCCQ-P score was able to detect LVSD with an AUC of 0.848. While individual cardiovascular symptoms were not associated with LVSD, KCCQ-P scores were significantly lower in those with apparent and subclinical LVSD and may be useful as a screening tool pending additional evaluation in larger cohorts.