bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Toward Global Sediment Management: Lessons Learned From a Multidimensional Risk Assessment
Authors: Rađenović Dunja , Slijepčević Nataša , Tomić Tanja , Tenodi Slaven , Krčmar Dejan , Beljin Jelena , Tomašević Pilipović Dragana 
Published: December 2024

ABSTRACTSediment from the Serbian Great Bačka Canal (GBC), which has long been classified as toxic waste due to high pollutant concentrations, exemplifies the sediment management challenges in Europe, where regulations vary by country. Serbian legislation primarily focuses on total metal concentrations relative to prescribed limits. Our study addresses this limitation by using an integrated approach to assess sediment pollution's detrimental effects at the ecosystem level. This approach is particularly relevant for the GBC, an environmental hotspot historically impacted by severe pollution from untreated industrial wastewater and population growth. Although previous research on the GBC has predominantly focused on chemical analyses, often overlooking broader environmental and health impacts, our study aims to evaluate whether ecotoxicological tests provide a more comprehensive assessment of sediment quality compared to traditional methods. Although only copper concentrations surpassed national limits, multiple metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exceeded international sediment quality guidelines (SQGs). Sequential extraction revealed that 50% of copper was immobilized in the residual fraction, and ecotoxicological tests with Myriophyllum aquaticum indicated potential toxicity. Human health risk assessments showed a low risk of carcinogenic effects from PAHs, but a higher risk associated with zinc and copper. These findings highlight the urgent need for pollution reduction and ecological restoration in the GBC and similar river systems.
Chief Executive Officer Narcissism and Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance: The Moderating Role of Chief Executive Officer Gender
Authors: Effah Nana Adwoa Anokye , Wang Qinggang , Su Kun 
Published: December 2024

AbstractThis study explores the influence of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) narcissism on the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of listed firms on the Johannesburg stock market (JSE). Using hand‐collected data from annual reports and ESG rating data from the CSRHub dataset, we conducted empirical analyses for 81 firms from 2014 to 2022. As the first study to assess CEO narcissism using a validated unobtrusive measure in the South African market, the Driscoll and Kraay approach of panel corrected standard errors was employed in the main analysis, while the two‐stage least squares (2SLS) model was used for robustness. Results revealed that there is a negative and significant relationship between CEO narcissism and ESG performance. Moreover, CEO gender positively moderates the negative relationship between CEO narcissism and ESG performance. The results provide a meaningful empirical addition to the upper echelons literature by delineating the implications of the dark sides of narcissism for management, regulators, and policymakers.
Resource Allocation of Device‐To‐Device–Enabled Millimeter‐Wave Communication: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach
Authors: Md Bilal N. , Velmurugan T. 
Published: December 2024

ABSTRACTDevice‐to‐device (D2D) communication is a promising development in 5G networks, offering potential benefits such as increased data rates, reduced costs and latency, and improved energy efficiency (EE). This study analyzes the operation of millimeter‐wave (mmWave) in cellular networks. A client's device can establish a connection to either a base station or another client, facilitating D2D communication based on a distance threshold and accounting for interference. The research employs a deep reinforcement learning (DRL)–based resource allocation (RA) scheme for D2D‐enabled mmWave communications underlaying cellular networks. It evaluates the effectiveness of several metrics: coverage probability, area spectral efficiency, and network EE. Among networks limited by noise, the proposed strategy demonstrates the highest coverage probability performance. The paper also suggests an optimization approach based on the firefly algorithm for RA, taking into account the stochastic nature of wireless channels. An asynchronous advantage actor–critic (A3C) DRL algorithm is modeled for this purpose. The performance of the proposed scheme is compared with two existing algorithms: soft actor–critic and proximal policy optimization. Overall, the numerical results indicate that our proposed firefly algorithm–optimized A3C method outperforms the other analytical methods.
How Important Is Informed Natal Dispersal for Modelling the Demographic and Genetic Effects of Environmental Variability?
Authors: Banks Sam C. , Davies Ian D. , Cremona Teigan , Davies Hugh F. , Carey Alexander R. , Cary Geoffrey J. 
Published: December 2024

ABSTRACTDispersal is a fundamental ecological process that influences population dynamics and genetic diversity and is therefore an important component of the models used to simulate population responses to environmental change. We considered informed dispersal in relation to settlement location, where individuals could optimise selection of settlement location with regard to per capita resource availability and investigated the importance of this type of informed dispersal for simulated demography and genetic diversity under different biological and environmental scenarios. We used an individual‐based simulation model scaled with reference to the ecology of small mammals in fire prone savanna ecosystems. We simulated demographic and genetic processes under informed and uninformed dispersal across several scenarios of life history, environmental heterogeneity (patch size and patch dynamics) and dispersal distance. The effect of the dispersal method on population size far outweighed that of dispersal distance under all combinations of habitat quality, temporal dynamics, patch size and dispersal distance modelled. The effects of habitat patch size and habitat dynamics (representing temporal change in habitat quality such as that potentially generated by disturbance) were low under most of the scenarios modelled. Informed dispersal influenced genetic diversity and differentiation, but the effects were weaker than those of dispersal distance. The genetic effect of informed dispersal occurred through the effect on genetic diversity of the overall metapopulation, while the dispersal distance influenced gene flow and genetic diversity within subpopulations. Informed dispersal was less effective in increasing population size in models of a long‐lived species with overlapping generations. This was particularly true when habitat quality was dynamic and natal dispersal choices did not result in lifelong habitat quality outcomes. Our results suggest that including informed decision‐making in dispersal in simulation models leads to different projections of demography, genetic diversity and susceptibility to environmental change.
Ecosystem Size Mediates the Effects of Resource Flows on Species Diversity and Ecosystem Function at Different Scales
Authors: Giacomuzzo Emanuele , Peller Tianna , Gounand Isabelle , Altermatt Florian 
Published: December 2024

ABSTRACTEcosystem size and spatial resource flows are key factors driving species diversity and ecosystem function. However, the question of whether and how these drivers interact has been largely overlooked. Here, we investigated how ecosystem size asymmetry affects species diversity and function of two‐patch meta‐ecosystems connected through flows of nonliving resources. We conducted a microcosm experiment, mimicking resource flows between ecosystems of different sizes yet otherwise identical properties or between ecosystems of the same size. Meta‐ecosystems with asymmetric ecosystem sizes displayed higher α‐diversity but lower β‐diversity and ecosystem function (total biomass) than their unconnected counterparts. At the same time, such an effect was not found for meta‐ecosystems of identical patch sizes. Our work demonstrates how the size of ecosystems, interconnected via resource flows, can modulate cross‐ecosystem dynamics, having implications for species diversity and function across scales.
Positive Selection of TLR2 and MyD88 Genes Provides Insights Into the Molecular Basis of Immunological Adaptation in Amphibians
Authors: Zhang Jie , Zhao Ruinan , Bi Hongyan , He Jiaoying , Guo Yang , Liu Dian , Yang Ganggang , Chen Xiaohong , Chen Zhuo 
Published: December 2024

ABSTRACTThe transition from water to land of amphibians is evolutionarily significant in the history of vertebrates, and immunological adaptation is an important challenge for amphibians to respond to the dramatic changes of the environmental pathogens during their origin and diversification. Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) are important pattern recognition receptors for the innate immune response and TLRs signaling pathway play essential roles in the immune responses to pathogens and inflammatory reaction. However, the evolutionary patterns and molecular mechanisms underlying their adaptation in amphibians are poorly documented to date. Here, we determined the coding regions, expression patterns of TLR2 and Myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) in the large treefrog (Zhangixalus dennysi), and explored the evolutionary patterns of these two genes in amphibians. Quantitative Real‐time PCR analyses showed that the TLR2 and MyD88 mRNA were expressed in all the organs/tissues examined, both with the highest levels in the heart and the lowest levels in the body fat for TLR2 and lung for MyD88. The highly conservation and functional significance of these two genes in amphibians were supported based on the sequence characteristics and evolutionary analyses. Significantly positive selection was found to be acting on TLR2 and MyD88 in amphibians based on different site models. Strong signal of positive selection among different amphibian lineages for these two genes was also detected and a series of positively selected sites were identified based on the branch‐site analysis. Our results suggest that amphibians have adapted to different pathogenic microorganisms during their transition from the aquatic to terrestrial environment and diversification into various habitats. The present study will provide new insights into the evolutionary process and molecular basis underlying the immunological adaptation in vertebrates.
Breeding bird response to adaptive multi‐paddock and continuous grazing practices in Southeastern United States
Authors: McGraw Michael J. , Apfelbaum Steven I. , Thompson Ry , Wang Fugui , Szuter Michael A. , Teague Richard , Byck Peter , Conser Russ 
Published: December 2024

AbstractGrassland bird populations are declining steeply, reflecting the degradation and loss of native grassland habitats. To assess how grazing management affects declining grassland bird populations, we compared breeding avifaunal communities in adaptive multi‐paddock (AMP) grazed and continuously grazed (CG) pastures in the Southeastern United States. AMP grazing involves alternating very short grazing periods at high animal densities with prolonged recovery periods across many small paddocks. Both the AMP and CG paddocks attracted obligate grassland birds during the breeding season; however, AMP‐grazed paddocks supported significantly higher detection of four obligate grassland breeding bird species. We used distance sampling techniques to account for differences in detectability for each species. The resulting densities for the grassland guild and Eastern Meadowlark as a species both revealed significantly higher densities within the AMP versus CG paddocks. Despite significantly more unadjusted detections of confirmed breeding ecotonal species, such as Blue Grosbeak, Eastern Bluebird, Brown Thrasher, Yellow‐breasted Chat, Eastern Towhee, Loggerhead Shrike, and Field Sparrow in AMP versus CG paddocks, no significant difference was found in the ecotonal guild after adjusting densities using effective detection radii. The CG paddocks supported fewer obligate grassland and ecotonal birds, with some exceptions (e.g., higher adjusted density of Eastern Bluebirds in CG) but supported comparable overall bird species richness. AMP grazing practices offer a viable strategy for increasing the diversity and abundance of obligate grassland and ecotonal breeding birds within existing cattle‐grazed landscapes in the Southeastern United States.
Historical dynamics of marginal populations at the leading edge of a temperate species in the boreal‐temperate ecotone
Authors: Mondou Laperrière Pierre‐Yves , Minchev Todor S. , Grondin Pierre , Lavoie Martin , de Lafontaine Guillaume 
Published: December 2024

AbstractMarginal populations of temperate species at the leading edge of their range will likely play a key role at the boreal‐temperate ecotone (BTE) in the face of climate changes. In eastern North America, red maple (Acer rubrum L.) is the most abundant temperate tree species encroaching into the boreal forest. In order to provide useful insights about possible responses to climate change and anticipate the formation of new assemblages, this study relies on long‐term Holocene data from forest soil wood macrofossils (charcoal and ligneous remains) and contemporary stand analyses to assess the postglacial origin and modern‐day dynamics of red maple at its leading edge within the BTE. We sampled the soils of eight marginal red maple stands. Macroscopic charcoal particles and ligneous remains were identified using microanatomical characteristics. Macrofossils of temperate tree species were radiocarbon dated to reconstruct their long‐term stand‐scale history. Contemporary dynamics (<200 years) were assessed by analyzing tree size structure of all stems within 400 m2 plots, minimal stand age from tree‐ring dating, as well as the recent occurrence of fire and logging from published ecoforest data. White pine (Pinus strobus L.), the only other temperate tree species that was identified, was present 6500–4000 years ago, during the mid‐Holocene thermal maximum but decreased during the cooler and fire‐prone late‐Holocene Neoglacial (4000 years ago to present). By contrast, red maple was found at its current northern limit since the last 4000 years. Modern‐day marginal red maple stands are self‐regenerating populations that established following a recent stand‐replacing disturbance (wildfire or clearcut). The present‐day increase of anthropogenic disturbances within the BTE could mirror the Neoglacial increase in fire activity that fostered red maple during the Holocene. We thus predict that red maple is poised to increase in abundance within the BTE, which should facilitate the northward establishment of other temperate deciduous species into the boreal forest prompted by the new conditions brought about by anthropogenic or climate change‐induced disturbances.
Same money, different impact? The curving effect of European Structural and Investment Funds on EU support in Spain (1990–2019)
Authors: Cantó Joel , Baraibar Javier , Arregui Javier 
Published: December 2024

AbstractEuropean Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) engender European Union (EU) support in generating economic growth, but their effect is conditional on individual European identity and educational background. This study investigates whether the positive impact of ESIF spending on EU attitudes also depends on the alignment of funding with the economic needs of recipient regions. We examine this issue with the Spanish case (1990–2019), employing a unique combined data set of Eurobarometer waves and regional NUTS‐2 economic indicators. Our findings indicate that EU funds manage to decrease Euroscepticism only in laggard regions, which receive the lion's share of funds and allocate them to public goods easily perceived and communicated to the local population. Conversely, the effect of ESIF on transforming attitudes is absent in middle and high‐income regions. The findings suggest a more complicated relationship between ESIF and EU support, which necessitates taking both individual and contextual factors into account.
New insights into the thermo‐tectonic development of the Suez rift within the framework of the northern Arabian–Nubian Shield
Authors: Mansour Sherif , Hasebe Noriko , Glasmacher Ulrich A. , Tamura Akihiro , El‐Shafei Mohamed K. 
Published: December 2024

AbstractThe Gulf of Suez is a young continental rift, the flanks of which make up the Arabian–Nubian Shield basement complex that formed during the East African Orogeny. The impact and significance of the consecutive tectono‐thermal activities on the Arabian–Nubian Shield and the rifting processes in the Gulf of Suez remain uncertain. Combining zircon and apatite fission‐track dating with time–temperature modelling has been effective in addressing these issues. We here present thermochronological data for 20 basement samples collected from the Samra Mountain region at the northern tip of the Gulf of Suez's eastern flank. Zircon fission‐track data revealed two age groups separated spatially and dating from ca. 652 ± 25 Ma and ca. 426 ± 31 Ma. In contrast, apatite fission‐track data revealed three spatially separated age groups dating from ca. 473 ± 10 Ma, ca. 269 ± 29 Ma and ca. 101 ± 12 Ma. Reconstructed time–temperature historical records revealed four distinct rapid cooling pulses (i.e. Neoproterozoic, Devonian–Carboniferous, Cretaceous and Oligocene–Miocene) consistent with the tectonic history and regional geology. By integrating our findings with the regional tectonic and sedimentation histories, the relationship between cooling events and exhumation events could be inferred. These cooling pulses were activated in response to four events: (1) the Precambrian–Cambrian post‐accretion erosional event, (2) the Devonian–Carboniferous Variscan tectonic event, (3) the Cretaceous Gondwana disintegration and (4) the Oligocene–Miocene Gulf of Suez rifting, respectively. In the studied region, no thermal overprint was seen in association with the rifting in the Gulf of Suez, suggesting that the region had been segmented into northern and southern segments. A southward thermal source, the Arabian margin plume, caused an increase in the rift flank elevation and heat flow in the southern Sinai.
Definitions matter: Multicenter investigation of incidence and outcome of poor graft function after hematopoietic cell transplantation
Authors: Müskens Konradin F. , Collot‐d'Escury Winny N. R. , Dandis Rana , Haitjema Saskia , Kuball Jürgen , de Witte Moniek A. , Bierings Marc , Lindemans Caroline A. , Nierkens Stefan , Belderbos Mirjam E. 
Published: December 2024

AbstractDespite advances in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), poor graft function (PGF) remains an important complication with substantial morbidity and mortality. The investigation of preventive and therapeutic PGF treatments is hindered by inconsistencies in reported incidence and outcomes across studies, which may be explained by heterogeneity in PGF definition. To assess the impact of definition heterogeneity, we conducted a multicenter study, analyzing over 35.000 longitudinal blood counts from 427 pediatric and 405 adult HCT recipients. We compared the incidence, risk factors, and outcome of PGF, based on the three most common definitions. We identified 97 pediatric and 75 adult HCT recipients fulfilling at least one PGF definition. The 2‐year cumulative incidence of PGF varied significantly depending on the definition used, ranging from 6.8% to 20% in children and 4.9% to 18% in adults. Two‐year mortality for PGF patients ranged from 33% to 40% in children and 46% to 65% in adults. Notably, PGF patients identified solely by lenient definitions had similar mortality to HCT recipients with good graft function. Risk factors for PGF also varied by definition in both cohorts, and included older recipient age and cord blood transplantation. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that differences in PGF definition significantly impact the reported incidence, risk factors, and outcome. This underscores the need to harmonize PGF definitions across scientific studies, clinical practice, and transplant registries. Future studies, using standardized, quantitative thresholds for PGF, are required to determine optimal treatment strategies for both mild and severe forms of PGF.
Proliferating CLL cells express high levels of CXCR4 and CD5
Authors: Friedman Daniel , Mehtani Drshika P. , Vidler Jennifer B. , Patten Piers E. M. , Hoogeboom Robbert 
Published: December 2024

AbstractChronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is an incurable progressive malignancy of CD5+ B cells with a birth rate between 0.1% and 1% of the entire clone per day. However, the phenotype and functional characteristics of proliferating CLL cells remain incompletely understood. Here, we stained peripheral blood CLL cells for ki67 and DNA content and found that CLL cells in G1‐phase have a CXCR4loCD5hi phenotype, while CLL cells in S/G2/M‐phase express high levels of both CXCR4 and CD5. Induction of proliferation in vitro using CD40L stimulation results in high ki67 levels in CXCR4loCD5hi cells with CXCR4 expression increasing as CLL cells progress through S and G2/M‐phases, while CXCR4hiCD5lo CLL cells remained quiescent. Dye dilution experiments revealed an accumulation of Ki67hi‐divided cells in the CXCR4hiCD5hi fraction. In Eµ‐TCL1 transgenic mice, the CXCR4hiCD5hi fraction expressed high levels of ki67 and was expanded in enlarged spleens of diseased animals. Human peripheral blood CXCR4hiCD5hi CLL cells express increased levels of IgM and the chemokine receptors CCR7 and CXCR5 and migrate efficiently toward CCL21. We found higher levels of CXCR4 in patients with progressive disease and the CXCR4hiCD5hi fraction was expanded upon clinical relapse. Thus, this study defines the phenotype and functional characteristics of dividing CLL cells identifying a novel subclonal population that underlies CLL pathogenesis and may drive clinical outcomes.