bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Quality of bio‐based fertilizers is decisive for improving soil quality in Europe—A meta‐analysis
Authors: Steffens Markus , Bünemann Else K.
Published: January 2025

Organic matter is a vital component of soils and decisive for soil health and sustainable food production. Agricultural soil use often decreases soil organic matter stocks and climate change may aggravate the situation, putting food security and ecosystem functioning at risk. Bio‐based fertilizers (BBFs, most often waste or residue‐derived) are a vital part of future circular economies focussing on closed nutrient cycles in food production and agriculture. It is unclear if BBFs have positive effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) because studies on BBFs were so far mostly focussed on plant nutrition and ran mainly as short‐term pot experiments. We filtered, extended and reclassified the comprehensive meta‐analysis of Chen et al. (2018) to elucidate the effects of bio‐based fertilizers on SOC concentrations in European and North American long‐term experiments. The revised data set consisting of 260 observations from 60 field trials (now including a minimum duration of 5 years) showed significant effects of BBF quality on SOC concentration when compared with minerally fertilized plots and elucidated the role of soil and site properties on the efficiency of BBFs to increase SOC. The extended data set showed that solid and carbon‐rich BBFs were most efficient in increasing SOC concentrations. Less developed soils and loamy soils in dry climates showed the highest potential for carbon sequestration through BBF application. We stress the importance of carbon inputs for the maintenance of current SOC concentrations, thus demanding the cautious use of C‐depleting steps during BBF processing, only to be applied if elimination of organic pollutants and pathogens is needed.
The Novel HLA‐C*03:681 Allele, Identified by Sanger Dideoxy Nucleotide Sequencing in a Chinese Individual
Authors: Luo Xian‐sheng , Xie Zhi‐cong , Ma Li , Hu Xiao‐zhuang , Wang Juan
Published: January 2025

The HLA‐C*03:681 allele differs from HLA‐C*03:02:02:01 by a single non‐synonymous nucleotide change in exon 3.
Novel Allele HLA‐B*52:130, Identified by Next‐Generation Sequencing
Authors: Cheranev Valery , Jankevich Tatiana , Smirnova Darya , Loginova Maria , Korostin Dmitry
Published: January 2025

The new HLA‐B*52:130 allele showed one nonsynonymous nucleotide difference compared to the HLA‐B*52:01:01:01 allele in codon 170.
Bacteria in hypertrophic scars promote scar formation through HSBP1‐mediated autophagy
Authors: Yuan Bo , Yu Jiarong , Dong Jiaoyun , Mao Zhigang , Wang Xiqiao
Published: January 2025

Bacterial colonisation in hypertrophic scars (HSs) has been reported, yet the precise mechanism of their contribution to scar formation remains elusive. To address this, we examined HS and normal skin (NS) tissues through Gram staining and immunofluorescence. We co‐cultured fibroblasts with heat‐inactivated Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and evaluated their levels of apoptosis and proliferation by flow cytometry and Cell Counting Kit‐8 assay, respectively. Additionally, we performed proteomic analysis and western blotting to identify upregulated proteins. To assess autophagy levels, we examined light chain 3 (LC3) expression through western blotting and immunofluorescence, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was performed to detect autophagy‐associated vesicles. Our results demonstrated a notable increase in bacterial load, primarily S. aureus, in HS tissues. Furthermore, S. aureus promoted fibroblast proliferation and enhanced the expression of profibrotic markers such as transforming growth factor β1 (TGF‐β1), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), collagen I, collagen III and α smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA). Proteomic analysis highlighted heat shock factor‐binding protein 1 (HSBP1) as a key upregulated protein mediating the profibrotic effects induced by S. aureus. Knockdown of HSBP1 reversed these effects. Intriguingly, HSBP1 also upregulated LC3 and Beclin‐1 expression and increased the number of autophagosomes in fibroblasts. Finally, when fibroblasts stimulated by S. aureus were treated with HSBP1 siRNA, autophagy levels decreased significantly. Collectively, our findings suggest that S. aureus, via HSBP1, stimulates fibroblast proliferation and promotes their transition into myofibroblasts, triggering autophagy and fibrosis. These results underscore the potential of HSBP1 as a therapeutic target for the management of HSs.
Parents’ Support of the Educational and Language Development of Children with Hearing Impairment (HI) in Eswatini
Authors: Mavuso Seluleko S. , Silvane Charles B. , Dlamini Mfanasibili
Published: January 2025

Parental involvement in supporting the educational and language development of children with hearing impairment (HI) in most African countries remains unknown. This is despite the acknowledgement of the influence of families on children’s achievement. This study therefore, sought to explore the involvement of parents in supporting the educational and language development of children with HI. A multi-case study research design was used in order to compare and contrast findings from two special schools. Two interview guides which were generated by the authors based on literature review were used to collect data through semi-structured interviews from twelve purposively sampled parents and through Focus Group discussions (FGDs) with thirteen purposively sampled teachers. Braun and Clarke’s six steps of thematic analysis were used to analyse the data. The findings indicate that parents of children with HI in Eswatini outsource their responsibility to support the educational and language development of children with HI to teachers in special schools. This is partly because most parents are unable to use sign language to communicate with their children with HI. There are also perceptions of apparent parental disinterest in educational support for children with HI due to several barriers. In conclusion, the study recommends that schools for children with HI should arrange sign language workshops for parents in order to encourage support in the educational and language development of children with HI.
Targeting uPAR with an antibody-drug conjugate suppresses tumor growth and reshapes the immune landscape in pancreatic cancer models
Authors: Metrangolo Virginia , Blomquist Michaela Hansen , Dutta Ananya , Gårdsvoll Henrik , Krigslund Oliver , Nørregaard Kirstine Sandal , Jürgensen Henrik Jessen , Ploug Michael , Flick Matthew J. , Behrendt Niels , Engelholm Lars H.
Published: January 2025

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) hold promise to advance targeted therapy of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), where the desmoplastic tumor stroma challenges effective treatment. Here, we explored the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) as a candidate ADC target in PDAC, harnessing its massive tumoral and stromal expression in this stroma-dense tumor. We generated a site-specific ADC offering high-affinity, cross-species reactivity, and efficient internalization of the anti-uPAR monoclonal antibody, FL1, carrying a potent anthracycline derivative (PNU-158692). In vitro, FL1-PNU exhibited potent and specific cytotoxicity against uPAR-expressing PDAC cell lines, stromal and immune cells, and bystander killing of uPAR-negative cells. In vivo, the ADC induced remission or sustained tumor regression and extended survival in xenograft models. In syngeneic orthotopic models, the antitumor effect promoted immunomodulation by enhancing infiltrating immune effectors and decreasing immunosuppressive cells. This study lays grounds for further exploring FL1-PNU as a putative clinical ADC candidate, potentially providing a promising therapeutic avenue for PDAC as a monotherapy or in combinatorial regimens.
Activation of locus coeruleus noradrenergic neurons rapidly drives homeostatic sleep pressure
Authors: Silverman Daniel , Chen Changwan , Chang Shuang , Bui Lillie , Zhang Yufan , Raghavan Rishi , Jiang Anna , Le April , Darmohray Dana , Sima Jiao , Ding Xinlu , Li Bing , Ma Chenyan , Dan Yang
Published: January 2025

Homeostatic sleep regulation is essential for optimizing the amount and timing of sleep for its revitalizing function, but the mechanism underlying sleep homeostasis remains poorly understood. Here, we show that optogenetic activation of locus coeruleus (LC) noradrenergic neurons immediately increased sleep propensity following a transient wakefulness, contrasting with many other arousal-promoting neurons whose activation induces sustained wakefulness. Fiber photometry showed that repeated optogenetic or sensory stimulation caused a rapid reduction of calcium activity in LC neurons and steep declines in noradrenaline/norepinephrine (NE) release in both the LC and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Knockdown of α
2
A adrenergic receptors in LC neurons mitigated the decline of NE release induced by repetitive stimulation and extended wakefulness, demonstrating an important role of α
2
A receptor–mediated auto-suppression of NE release. Together, these results suggest that functional fatigue of LC noradrenergic neurons, which reduces their wake-promoting capacity, contributes to sleep pressure.
Inherent differential microbial assemblages and functions associated with corals exhibiting different thermal phenotypes
Authors: Santoro Erika P. , Cárdenas Anny , Villela Helena D. M. , Vilela Caren L. S. , Ghizelini Angela M. , Duarte Gustavo A. S. , Perna Gabriela , Saraiva João P. , Thomas Torsten , Voolstra Christian R. , Peixoto Raquel S.
Published: January 2025

Certain coral individuals exhibit enhanced resistance to thermal bleaching, yet the specific microbial assemblages and their roles in these phenotypes remain unclear. We compared the microbial communities of thermal bleaching–resistant (TBR) and thermal bleaching–sensitive (TBS) corals using metabarcoding and metagenomics. Our multidomain approach revealed stable distinct microbial compositions between thermal phenotypes. Notably, TBR corals were inherently enriched with microbial eukaryotes, particularly Symbiodiniaceae, linked to photosynthesis, and the biosynthesis of antibiotic and antitumor compounds and glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchor proteins, crucial for cell wall regulation and metabolite exchange. In contrast, TBS corals were dominated by bacterial metabolic genes related to nitrogen, amino acid, and lipid metabolism. The inherent microbiome differences between TBR and TBS corals, already observed before thermal stress, point to distinct holobiont phenotypes associated to thermal bleaching resistance, offering insights into mechanisms underlying coral response to climate-induced stress.
Morphogenesis of bacterial cables in polymeric environments
Authors: Gonzalez La Corte Sebastian , Stevens Corey A. , Cárcamo-Oyarce Gerardo , Ribbeck Katharina , Wingreen Ned S. , Datta Sujit S.
Published: January 2025

Many bacteria live in polymeric fluids, such as mucus, environmental polysaccharides, and extracellular polymers in biofilms. However, laboratory studies typically focus on cells in polymer-free fluids. Here, we show that interactions with polymers shape a fundamental feature of bacterial life—how they proliferate in space in multicellular colonies. Using experiments, we find that when polymer is sufficiently concentrated, cells generically and reversibly form large serpentine “cables” as they proliferate. By combining experiments with biophysical theory and simulations, we demonstrate that this distinctive form of colony morphogenesis arises from an interplay between polymer-induced entropic attraction between neighboring cells and their hindered ability to diffusely separate from each other in a viscous polymer solution. Our work thus reveals a pivotal role of polymers in sculpting proliferating bacterial colonies, with implications for how they interact with hosts and with the natural environment, and uncovers quantitative principles governing colony morphogenesis in such complex environments.
Pellino 3 E3 ligase promotes starvation-induced autophagy to prevent hepatic steatosis
Authors: Kolapalli Srinivasa P. , Beese Carsten J. , Reid Steven E. , Brynjólfsdóttir Sólveig H. , Jørgensen Maria H. , Jain Ashish , Cuenco Joyceline , Lewinska Monika , Abdul-Al Ahmad , López Aida R. , Jäättelä Marja , Sakamoto Kei , Andersen Jesper B. , Maeda Kenji , Rusten Tor E. , Lund Anders H. , Frankel Lisa B.
Published: January 2025

Nutrient deprivation is a major trigger of autophagy, a conserved quality control and recycling process essential for cellular and tissue homeostasis. In a high-content image-based screen of the human ubiquitome, we here identify the E3 ligase Pellino 3 (PELI3) as a crucial regulator of starvation-induced autophagy. Mechanistically, PELI3 localizes to autophagic membranes, where it interacts with the ATG8 proteins through an LC3-interacting region (LIR). This facilitates PELI3-mediated ubiquitination of ULK1, driving ULK1’s subsequent proteasomal degradation. PELI3 depletion leads to an aberrant accumulation and mislocalization of ULK1 and disrupts the early steps of autophagosome formation. Genetic deletion of Peli3 in mice impairs fasting-induced autophagy in the liver and enhances starvation-induced hepatic steatosis by reducing autophagy-mediated clearance of lipid droplets. Notably, PELI3 expression is decreased in the livers of patients with metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), suggesting its role in hepatic steatosis development in humans. The findings suggest that PELI3-mediated control of autophagy plays a protective role in liver health.
Topology changes of
Hydra
define actin orientation defects as organizers of morphogenesis
Authors: Ravichandran Yamini , Vogg Matthias , Kruse Karsten , Pearce Daniel J. G. , Roux Aurélien
Published: January 2025

Hydra
regenerates one head when cut, but how forces shaping the head are coordinated remains unclear. Soft compression of
Hydra
’s head-regenerating tissues induces the formation of viable, two-headed animals. Compression creates new topological defects in the supracellular orientational order of muscular actin fibers, associated with additional heads. Theory supports that these defects organize muscle stresses required to shape the head. By compressing head-regenerating tissues along their body axis, we formed toroidal tissues, whose unique topology allows for the absence of defects. Toroids with no actin defects did not regenerate. Toroids with actin defects regenerated into viable toroidal animals with a bifurcated body. Topological defects in the actin orientational order are thus necessary for complete regeneration of
Hydra
, defining actin topological defects as mechanical organizers of morphogenesis.
Versatile adhesive skin enhances robotic interactions with the environment
Authors: Linghu Changhong , Liu Yangchengyi , Yang Xudong , Chen Zhou , Feng Jin , Zhang Yiyuan , Li Yan , Zhao Zhao , Seo Young-Jae , Li Junwei , Jiang Haoyu , Su Jiangtao , Fang Yin , Li Yuhang , Wang Xiufeng , Wang Yifan , Gao Huajian , Hsia K. Jimmy
Published: January 2025

Electronic skins endow robots with sensory functions but often lack the multifunctionality of natural skin, such as switchable adhesion. Current smart adhesives based on elastomers have limited adhesion tunability, which hinders their effective use for both carrying heavy loads and performing dexterous manipulations. Here, we report a versatile, one-size-fits-all robotic adhesive skin using shape memory polymers with tunable rubber-to-glass phase transitions. The adhesion strength of our adhesive skin can be changed from minimal (~1 kilopascal) for sensing and handling ultralightweight objects to ultrastrong (>1 megapascal) for picking up and lifting heavy objects. Our versatile adhesive skin is expected to greatly enhance the ability of intelligent robots to interact with their environment.
Structure of the Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus gB in post-fusion conformation
Authors: Ito Fumiaki , Zhen James , Xie Guodong , Huang Haigen , Silva Juan C. , Wu Ting-Ting , Zhou Z. Hong
Published: January 2025

Discovered in 1994 in lesions of an AIDS patient, Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is a member of the gammaherpesvirus subfamily of the
Herpesviridae
family, which contains a total of nine that infect humans. These viruses all contain a large envelope glycoprotein, glycoprotein B (gB), that is required for viral fusion with host cell membrane to initial infection. Although the atomic structures of five other human herpesviruses in their postfusion conformation and one in its prefusion conformation are known, the atomic structure of KSHV gB has not been reported. Here, we report the first structure of the KSHV gB ectodomain determined by single-particle cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM). Despite a similar global fold between herpesvirus gB, KSHV gB possesses local differences not shared by its relatives in other herpesviruses. The glycosylation sites of gB are arranged in belts down the symmetry axis with distinct localization compared to that of other herpesviruses, which occludes certain antibody binding sites. An extended glycan chain observed in domain I (DI), located proximal to the host membrane, may suggest its possible role in host cell attachment. Local flexibility of domain IV (DIV) governed by molecular hinges at its interdomain junctions identifies a means for enabling conformational change. A mutation in the domain III (DIII) central helix disrupts incorporation of gB into KSHV virions despite adoption of a canonical fold
in vitro
. Taken together, this study reveals mechanisms of structural variability of herpesvirus fusion protein gB and informs its folding and immunogenicity.

IMPORTANCE

In 1994, a cancer-causing virus was discovered in lesions of AIDS patients, which was later named Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). As the latest discovered human herpesvirus, KSHV has been classified into the gammaherpesvirus subfamily of the
Herpesviridae
. In this study, we have expressed KSHV gB and employed cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM) to determine its first structure. Importantly, our structure resolves some glycans beyond the first sugar moiety. These glycans are arranged in a pattern unique to KSHV, which impacts the antigenicity of KSHV gB. Our structure also reveals conformational flexibility caused by molecular hinges between domains that provide clues into the mechanism behind the drastic change between prefusion and postfusion states.
The
Rickettsia
actin-based motility effectors RickA and Sca2 contribute differently to cell-to-cell spread and pathogenicity
Authors: Tran Cuong J. , Zubair-Nizami Zahra , Langohr Ingeborg M. , Welch Matthew D.
Published: January 2025

Rickettsia parkeri
is an obligate intracellular, tick-borne bacterial pathogen that can cause eschar-associated rickettsiosis in humans.
R. parkeri
invades host cells, escapes from vacuoles into the cytosol, and undergoes two independent modes of actin-based motility mediated by effectors RickA or Sca2. Actin-based motility of
R. parkeri
enables bacteria to enter protrusions of the host cell plasma membrane that are engulfed by neighboring host cells. However, whether and how RickA and Sca2 independently contribute to cell-to-cell spread
in vitro
or pathogenicity
in vivo
has been unclear. Using live cell imaging of
rickA
::Tn and
sca2
::Tn mutants, we discovered both RickA and Sca2 contribute to different modes of cell-to-cell spread. Compared with Sca2-spread, RickA-spread involves the formation of longer protrusions that exhibit larger fluctuations in length and take a longer time to be engulfed into neighboring cells. We further compared the roles of RickA and Sca2
in vivo
following intradermal (i.d.) infection of
Ifnar1
−/−
;
Ifngr1
−/−
mice carrying knockout mutations in the genes encoding the receptors for IFN-I (
Ifnar1
) and IFN-γ (
Ifngr1
), which exhibit eschars and succumb to infection with wild-type (WT)
R. parkeri
. We observed that RickA is important for severe eschar formation, whereas Sca2 contributes to larger foci of infection in the skin and dissemination from the skin to the internal organs. Our results suggest that actin-based motility effectors RickA and Sca2 drive two distinct forms of cell-to-cell spread and contribute differently to pathogenicity in the mammalian host.

IMPORTANCE

Rickettsia parkeri
, a bacterium in the spotted fever group of
Rickettsia
species, can be transmitted from ticks to humans, leading to symptoms including fever, rash, muscle aches, and a lesion at the site of the tick bite. During
Rickettsia parkeri
infection, bacteria invade cells within the animal host, proliferate in the host cell’s cytosol, move using a process called actin-based motility, and spread to neighboring host cells.
Rickettsia parkeri
is unusual in having two bacterial proteins that mediate actin-based motility. The significance of our research is to reveal that each of these bacterial actin-based motility proteins contributes differently to spread between cells and to the signs of infection in a mouse model of spotted fever disease. Our results are important for understanding the contribution of actin-based motility to mammalian infection by
Rickettsia parkeri
as well as to infection by other bacterial and viral pathogens that require this process to spread between cells and cause disease.
Supplemental Material: Pyrrhotite and Fe-P alloy formed in pseudotachylyte and their implications for seismic environments: Evidence from rock-heating experiments
Authors: Zhang Lei , al. et
Published: January 2025

Methods, Figure S1–S8, and Tables S1 and S2.
Psychometric validation of the Copenhagen Hip and Groin Outcome Score (HAGOS) and Oxford Hip Score (OHS) in patients with hip-abductor tendon pathology
Authors: Christensen Karl Bang , Thorborg Kristian , Kierkegaard-Brøchner Signe , Høgsholt Mathias , Lange Jeppe , Bohn Marie Bager
Published: January 2025

Objective

Validated patient-reported outcome measures for patients with hip-abductor tendon pathology are lacking. Recent studies indicate that the Copenhagen Hip and Groin Outcome Score (HAGOS), in the original or the revised scoring format, and the Oxford Hip Score (OHS) may be relevant for use in patients with hip-abductor tendon pathology. The objective of this study was to assess the validity of the Danish version of the HAGOS, the revised HAGOS, and the OHS psychometrically in patients with hip-abductor tendon pathology. This involved the six subscales in the original and the revised version of HAGOS, the standard one-factor scoring of the OHS and the two-factor scoring of the OHS.

Methods

We included individual responses to HAGOS and OHS from 210 patients with hip-abductor tendon pathology (17 men; 193 women; median age 56 years, range 18–91, IQR 48–65). Overall fit, model fit, individual item fit and measurement invariance were examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and item response theory.

Results

CFA rejected psychometric validity of three original HAGOS subscales (symptoms, pain, physical function in sport and recreation) (p<0.0001) and the OHS (p<0.0001), whereas the revised scoring format for HAGOS subscales fit adequately. Results indicate a notable discrepancy between observed and expected scores on OHS item 10 in the patient group.

Conclusion

The original HAGOS and OHS are not psychometrically valid, but the revised HAGOS scoring format is an appropriate PROM for patients with hip-abductor tendon pathology. The OHS would need slight adjustment before being used in patients with hip-abductor tendon pathology.
Development and Evaluation of a Food Choices Assessment Score (FCAS) Measuring the Healthfulness of Dietary Choices According to 2019 Canada’s Food Guide/Canada’s Dietary Guidelines, using the Canadian Health Measures Survey Food Frequency Questionnaire
Authors: Hamamji Samer , Ahmed Mavra , Zaltz Daniel , L'Abbé Mary R.
Published: January 2025

The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a Food Choices Assessment Score (FCAS) measuring alignment with 2019 Canada’s Food Guide (CFG) and Canada’s Dietary Guidelines (CDG) using a non-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) data. Cross-sectional data from the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) (2016 to 2019), including 6,459 participants (≥19 years) and a non-quantitative FFQ (~100 food items) were used. Content and construct validity and assessing reliability were used to evaluate the FCAS, including a comparison of mean FCAS among Canadian subgroups, calculating the FCAS for high quality diet menus, investigating the consistency of the FCAS with the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), as a healthy diet linked with lower cardiometabolic risks, and estimating Cronbach’s alpha for reliability. The FCAS consisted of nine components for a total of 80 points. The FCAS captured the key recommendations of the 2019 CFG/CDG. Mean (SE) FCAS of the adult Canadian population was 29.3 (0.4) (/80) and was higher in females 32.2 (0.4) and non-smokers 30.3 (0.3) compared to males 26.7 (0.4) and smokers 23.6 (0.9), respectively (p<0.0001). FCAS yielded high scores for healthy menu samples of CDG (80/80) and DASH (70/80) diets. FCAS was correlated with DASH diet score (r=0.83). Cronbach’s alpha was found to be moderate (0.5), as expected, which confirmed the multidimensionality of the FCAS components in reflecting different characteristics of diet quality. These analyses suggest adequate validity with multidimensional consistency of the 2019 CFG/CDG FCAS as a new tool for use with non-quantitative FFQ data.
Variation in energetic balance among free-ranging polar bears during the spring mating and foraging season
Authors: Pagano Anthony M. , Atkinson Stephen N. , Archer Louise C.
Published: January 2025

Large carnivores are capable of consuming substantial biomasses that can significantly alter their body mass and condition over short periods. Here we examine the intra-seasonal variation of polar bear ( Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774) body mass, energy intake, and condition in the spring from two subpopulations. We evaluate the biological and temporal factors that may have driven changes in body mass of 31 individuals captured and recaptured over 2–39 days and assess whether these changes influenced their estimated condition. Body mass changed by –61 to 33 kg ([Formula: see text] = –2 kg) with bears exhibiting increases in mass with increasing age and decreases with greater initial mass. On average, estimated intake was 57 MJ/day. Estimated daily mass-specific body mass changes exhibited greater variation relative to previous measures in polar bears or brown bears ( U. arctos Linnaeus, 1758). Yet, across all bears, measures of condition remained similar between captures. The marked variation in mass gains or losses highlights the varying behavioral and physiological limitations that influence foraging success within this apex carnivore during a season when two key life history events converge wherein feeding is often reduced during mating activities despite the importance of the spring hyperphagia period to long-term energy balance.
Protection of seabed sediments in Canada's marine conservation network for potential climate change mitigation co-benefit
Authors: Epstein Graham , Fuller Susanna D. , Johannessen Sophia C. , Rubidge Emily M. , Turner Melissa , Baum Julia K.
Published: January 2025

Marine conserved areas (MCAs) can provide a range of ecological and socio-economic benefits, including climate change mitigation from the protection and enhancement of natural carbon storage. Canada's MCA network is expanding to encompass 30% of its Exclusive Economic Zone by 2030. At present, the network aims to integrate climate change mitigation by protecting coastal vegetated blue carbon ecosystems (saltmarsh, seagrass, kelp). Here, we argue that incorporating unvegetated seabed sediments could bring similar benefits. Seabed sediments can store and/or accumulate high densities of organic carbon, and due to their large spatial extent, contain carbon stores orders of magnitude larger than coastal vegetated habitats. We estimate that currently designated MCAs encompass only 10.8% of Canada's seabed sediment organic carbon stocks on the continental margin, and only 13.4% of areas with high carbon densities. Proposed MCAs would cover an additional 8.8% and 6.1% of total stocks and high carbon areas, respectively. We identify an additional set of high-priority seabed areas for future research and potential protection, ranking their importance based on carbon stocks, proxies for lability, and ecological/biological significance. The incorporation of seabed sediments into MCA networks could support climate change mitigation by preventing future releases of stored carbon.
Research on Financial Risk Early Warning System Based on Data Mining Technology
Authors: Zhang Xiaolei
Published: January 2025

An indicator system for financial monitoring is known as a financial risk early warning system. This system makes use of statistical data to make predictions about the size of the possibility of shocks occurring at a certain point in time. Examples of shocks include a regional or national economic crisis or a collapse of the stock market. The early warning system for enterprise financial risk presents additional challenges, such as data spikes and uncertainty in the integration of risk information. It is the responsibility of the Financial Crisis early warning system to analyze and summarize significant data on the financial status of an organization, as well as to provide technical support for the purpose of making financial decisions via the use of Data Mining Technologies (DMT and other related technologies). It has been determined that the financial warning model that is based on Decision Tree (DT) integration is more accurate. This suggests that the model has the potential to increase the correct identification rate of companies that are experiencing a financial crisis, provided that the overall warning accuracy is enhanced. Hence, the proposed method, the DMT-DT, using early warning systems, includes automated solutions used to track borrowers’ credit condition to help monitor and appraise credit portfolios. Deloitte can assist in developing, implementing, improving, and maintaining various indicators for detecting early warning signals of potential financial situations. People in the community and individuals in danger can be better prepared to take timely and appropriate action with the help of people-centered early warning systems, that aim to lessen the likelihood of harm to people, property, and the environment.
Maturity Evaluation Model of Higher Education Quality Management Based on OBE Concept of Teaching Operation State Monitoring System
Authors: GuoFang Li
Published: January 2025

In order to realize the quantitative management of higher education quality, an evaluation method of higher education quality management maturity based on OBE concept is proposed. Construct a phase space distribution structure model of higher education quality management maturity, establish a parameter set of higher education quality management maturity distribution index, adopt OBE concept to construct a fuzzy association rule distribution set, extract association regularity features, classify multi-dimensional attribute features, conduct data partition scheduling in the fuzzy clustering center according to the differences of statistical features, construct a feature decomposition model, and reorganize the ontology structure of higher education quality management maturity. The binary structure characteristics are reconstructed in the virtual database, and fuzzy clustering is carried out under the OBE concept according to the reconstruction results, so as to realize the optimal evaluation of the maturity of higher education quality management. The experimental simulation results show that this method has good feature clustering and high reliability in evaluating the maturity of higher education quality management.
Color Design of Home Based on Computer Cloud Image Processing Technology
Authors: Liu Xia , Wang Yin
Published: January 2025

Different materials used in a home (such as wood, metal and glass.) will affect the presentation of color, which may cause color deviation or change. At the same time, the color of some household products will change or fade after a period of use, which may lead to the original design color effect no longer meeting the expectations. Therefore, in order to ensure the accuracy of color matching and meet the needs of color matching in home design, a color design method in home field based on computer cloud image processing technology is proposed. First, the method collects and preprocesses the images in the home field, and stores the collected images on the cloud platform. Then, the improved non-mean filtering algorithm is used to denoise the home domain image downloaded from the cloud platform. Then, white balance preprocessing is performed on the home image with color deviation by using the color deviation detection method of color distortion factor to ensure color accuracy. Finally, the contrast enhanced home image is converted to HSV color space, and saturation compensation is carried out in the channel to complete the color design in the home field. The experimental results show that this method has lower packet loss rate, better denoising effect and color balance in the cloud transmission of home image.
Multilinear Littlewood–Paley operators and commutators on weighted Hardy spaces
Authors: Han Yanyan , Wen Yongming , Wu Huoxiong , Xue Qingying
Published: January 2025

This paper is devoted to exploring the behaviors of the multilinear Littlewood–Paley operators and their commutators on weighted Hardy spaces. We consider the multilinear Littlewood–Paley [Formula: see text]-functions [Formula: see text] and the commutators [Formula: see text] generated by [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text]. Under assuming that the kernel [Formula: see text] satisfies certain size and smoothness conditions, the authors establish the boundedness of [Formula: see text] from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text] for some [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], with [Formula: see text], as well as the same weighted estimates for [Formula: see text], when [Formula: see text] belongs to [Formula: see text], a nontrivial subspaces of [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]. Meanwhile, we also obtain the corresponding results for multilinear Lusin area integrals, Littlewood–Paley [Formula: see text]-functions, Marcinkiewicz integrals with nonconvolution type kernels and their commutators on products weighted Hardy spaces. In addition, if the stronger smoothness conditions are imposed on the kernels, the corresponding weighted results with certain multiple Muckenhoupt class for the multilinear Littlewood–Paley operators above can also be established.
The Dark Side of Native Code on Android
Authors: Ruggia Antonio , Possemato Andrea , Dambra Savino , Merlo Alessio , Aonzo Simone , Balzarotti Davide
Published: January 2025

From a little research experiment to an essential component of military arsenals, malicious software has constantly been growing and evolving for more than three decades. On the other hand, from a negligible market share, the Android operating system is nowadays the most widely used mobile operating system, becoming a desirable target for large-scale malware distribution. While scientific literature has followed this trend, one aspect has been understudied: the role of native code in malicious Android apps. Android apps are written in high-level languages, but thanks to the Java Native Interface (JNI), Android also supports calling native (C/C++) library functions. While allowing native code in Android apps has a strong positive impact from a performance perspective, it dramatically complicates its analysis because bytecode and native code need different abstractions and analysis algorithms, and they thus pose different challenges and limitations. Consequently, these difficulties are often (ab)used to hide malicious payloads.

In this work, we propose a novel methodology to reverse engineering Android apps focusing on
suspicious
patterns related to native components, i.e., surreptitious code that requires further inspection. We implemented a static analysis tool based on such methodology, which can bridge the “Java” and the native worlds and perform an in-depth analysis of
tag
code blocks responsible for suspicious behavior. These tags benefit the human facing the reverse engineering task: they clearly indicate which part of the code to focus on to find malicious code.

Then, we performed a longitudinal analysis of Android malware over the past 10 years and compared the recent malicious samples with actual top apps on the Google Play Store. Our work depicts typical behaviors of modern malware, its evolution, and how it abuses the native layer to complicate the analysis, especially with dynamic code loading and novel anti-analysis techniques. Finally, we show a use case for our suspicious tags: we trained and tested a machine learning algorithm for a binary classification task. Even if suspicious does not imply malicious, our classifier obtained a remarkable F1-score of 0.97, showing that our methodology can be helpful to both humans and machines.
A Thorough Performance Benchmarking on Lightweight Embedding-based Recommender Systems
Authors: Tran Hung Vinh , Chen Tong , Quoc Viet Hung Nguyen , Huang Zi , Cui Lizhen , Yin Hongzhi
Published: January 2025

Since the creation of the Web, recommender systems (RSs) have been an indispensable personalization mechanism in information filtering. Most state-of-the-art RSs primarily depend on categorical features such as user and item IDs, and use embedding vectors to encode their information for accurate recommendations, resulting in an excessively large embedding table owing to the immense feature corpus. To prevent the heavily parameterized embedding table from harming RSs’ scalability, both academia and industry have seen increasing efforts compressing RS embeddings, and this trend is further amplified by the recent uptake in edge computing for online services. However, despite the prosperity of existing lightweight embedding-based RSs (LERSs), a strong diversity is seen in the evaluation protocols adopted across publications, resulting in obstacles when relating the reported performance of those LERSs to their real-world usability. On the other hand, among the two fundamental recommendation tasks, namely traditional collaborative filtering and content-based recommendation, despite their common goal of achieving lightweight embeddings, the outgoing LERSs are designed and evaluated with a straightforward “either-or” choice between the two tasks. Consequently, the lack of discussions on a method’s cross-task transferability will likely hinder the development of unified, more scalable solutions for production environments. Motivated by these unresolved issues, this study aims to systematically investigate existing LERSs’ performance, efficiency, and cross-task transferability
via
a thorough benchmarking process. To create a generic, task-independent baseline, we propose an efficient embedding compression approach based on magnitude pruning, which is proven to be an easy-to-deploy yet highly competitive baseline that outperforms various complex LERSs. Our study reveals the distinct performance of different LERSs across the two recommendation tasks, shedding light on their effectiveness and generalizability under different settings. Furthermore, to account for edge-based recommendation—an increasingly popular use case of LERSs, we have also deployed and tested all LERSs on a Raspberry Pi 4, where their efficiency bottleneck is exposed compared with GPU-based deployment. Finally, we conclude this article with critical summaries on the performance comparison, suggestions on model selection based on task objectives, and underexplored challenges around the applicability of existing LERSs for future research. To encourage and support future LERS research, we publish all source codes and data, checkpoints, and documentation at
https://github.com/chenxing1999/recsys-benchmark
.
IRE1 is a promising therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer
Authors: Lucas Denise , Sarkar Tamal , Niemeyer Clara Y. , Harnoss Julian C. , Schneider Martin , Strowitzki Moritz J. , Harnoss Jonathan M.
Published: January 2025

[Figure: see text]
Associations of cardiorespiratory fitness with cerebral cortical thickness and gray matter volume across the adult lifespan
Authors: Won Junyeon , Tomoto Tsubasa , Tarumi Takashi , Rodrigue Karen M. , Kennedy Kristen M. , Park Denise C. , Zhang Rong
Published: January 2025

High cardiorespiratory fitness may mitigate regional gray matter shrinkage across the adult lifespan.
Figure S8 from RNA-encoded Interleukin 2 with Extended Bioavailability Amplifies RNA Vaccine–Induced Antitumor T-cell Immunity
Authors: Peters Daniel , Kranz Lena M. , Eisel David , Diken Mustafa , Kreiter Sebastian , Türeci Özlem , Sahin Ugur , Vormehr Mathias
Published: January 2025

Representative dot plots and histograms corresponding to flow cytometry data displayed in Figure 3.
Estratégias referenciais em uma narrativa sobre o convívio com a Doença de Alzheimer
Authors: Mira Caio , Piovesan Marta Helena
Published: January 2025

A Doença de Alzheimer é uma síndrome demencial que altera processos neurológicos, cognitivos e interacionais na população idosa. Desinformação, falta de preparo e apoio aos familiares são alguns fatores que complicam ainda mais as formas de comprensão e enfrentamento no convívio e na rotina de cuidados às pessoas acometidas por essa doença. Diante desse panorama, existem Grupos de Apoio que promovem a socialização de informações e oferecem um espaço onde os familiares cuidadores possam compartilhar as experiências de cuidado e convívio com pessoas portadoras da Doença de Alzheimer. É neste domínio empírico que o presente trabalho objetiva evidenciar as estratégias referenciais envolvidas na construção de objetos de discurso e no desenvolvimento do tópico em uma narrativa proveniente das interações do Grupo de Apoio. Para alcançarmos esse objetivo, a abordagem teórica deste trabalho está fundamentada na perspectiva textual-interativa, desenvolvida na interface entre a Linguística Textual e a Análise da Conversação. Nossas análises demonstram que os rótulos podem propiciar uma compreensão mais apurada da centração tópica e sua relação com os aspectos interacionais de contextos de uso de fala marcados por uma delimitação institucional.
Os processos referenciais à luz da teoria da acessibilidade na edição crítico-genética do conto ‘Os caminhos’ de Moreira Campos
Authors: Castelo Claudeirton Madeira , Alves Luis Eleildo Pereira
Published: January 2025

Neste trabalho, propomos uma interface teórica entre linguística textual e filologia textual nos termos do que já preconizaram Alves (2016, 2020) e Queiroz (2020). Nosso objetivo é investigar os processos referenciais, à luz da Teoria da Acessibilidade (Ariel, 2001), nos manuscritos de uma edição crítico-genética de Moreira Campos e suas implicações na construção de sentido do texto. Estes testemunhos são frutos do Acervo do Escritor Cearense da Biblioteca de Ciências Humanas da Universidade Federal do Ceará, e chegaram a nós editados a partir da pesquisa desempenhada por Lima (2016). Analisamos as edições e realizamos recortes para demonstrar as ocorrências de saliência ou opacidade dos referentes no percurso criativo de Moreira Campos. Os resultados demonstraram que as supressões de expressões referenciais a cada reescrita, movimento próprio do processo criativo do autor, enriquece a dinâmica da textualização, uma vez que imprime ao texto um jogo de sentidos rico em possibilidades inferenciais. Essa análise fortalece o nosso argumento de que o texto é de fato um evento comunicativo multissemiótico, do qual o processo de materialização é apenas parte (Beaugrande, 1997).
A exclusão na escrita de si: o discurso jurídico em cartas de adolescentes privados de liberdade
Authors: Arraz Fernando Miranda , Rodrigues Daniella Lopes Dias Ignácio
Published: January 2025

Este artigo tem por objetivo compreender, por meio da escrita de si em cartas de adolescentes privados de liberdade endereçadas para seus familiares, como a exclusão se manifesta discursivamente no processo de subjetivação. Como pressupostos teóricos, buscamos contribuições nos fundamentos da Análise do Discurso de linha francesa, sobretudo nos trabalhos de Foucault (2012, 2013, 2014, 2017). Cabe destacar que, a análise leva em conta o discurso inscrito na história, a partir de uma “escrita de si”. Analisamos, por meio das Formações Discursivas (FD), como os sujeitos que se encontram acautelados se relacionam a partir do lugar onde estão — o acautelamento —, a fim de compreendermos como as representações que fazem desse lugar permeiam seu processo de subjetivação por meio do discurso jurídico. Os resultados apontam para o silenciamento desses adolescentes pelo fato de as cartas, ao serem violadas, passarem por um sistema de controle.
Sândi vocálico externo em português brasileiro: elisão, ditongação e coalescência
Authors: Madruga Magnun Rochel , Gonçalves Guilherme
Published: January 2025

O estudo apresenta resultados experimentais de uma análise fonético-acústica da elisão da vogal baixa /a/ por sândi vocálico externo no português brasileiro (PB) (BISOL, 1992). A pesquisa adotou o protocolo de leitura de sentenças-veículo, conforme descrito em Albano (2001) e Meneses (2016). Participaram do experimento oito falantes nativos do PB.  O encontro vocálico foi controlado para manter o contexto favorecedor da elisão: vogal baixa /a/ átona em final de palavra seguida de [i] ou [u] átonos. A estrutura de juntura favorável à elisão resultou em três padrões de produção: elisão, ditongo decrescente e coalescência. O padrão coalescente é inédito sobre o sândi em PB, no qual emerge uma vogal [e] ou [o] das sequências /a##i/ ou /a##u/. Definimos como coalescência casos em que a vogal resultante do sândi apresentava padrão formântico de monotongos  com características das vogais médias [e] ou [o]. Além de interpretar os resultados experimentais sobre o sândi vocálico, apresentamos uma análise fonológica que (i) incorpora a coalescência como subprocesso de elisão e  (ii) elimina a degeminação como processo de sândi vocálico externo. A proposta revela um sistema de operações fonológicas mais econômicas e mais ajustadas ao que se observa à realidade fonética.
Os impactos vocais da doença de Parkinson em idosos
Authors: Dal'Ava Lucas Manca , Barbosa Plínio Almeida
Published: January 2025

Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar as diferenças nos parâmetros acústicos de diferentes dimensões fonéticas em discursos espontâneos e leitura em voz alta entre idosos, com foco específico em avaliar o impacto da doença de Parkinson (DP) e do envelhecimento saudável nos biomarcadores de fala de idosos, incluindo parâmetros acústico-prosódicos. Analisamos gravações de 32 falantes idosos brasileiros nativos, considerando três parâmetros acústico-prosódicos: frequência fundamental, duração e intensidade. Nossos resultados sugerem que os fatores estilo de fala e estágios de gravidade da DP estão correlacionados com a taxa de articulação, inclinação de LTAS em frequências médias, shimmer, mediana de F0, mínimo de F0, desvio padrão da primeira derivada positiva de F0 e coeficiente de variação da intensidade.