bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Perceptual capacities, discrimination, and the senses
Authors: Hornett William 
Published: September 2021

AbstractIn this paper, I defend a new theory of the nature and individuation of perceptual capacities. I argue that we need a theory of perceptual capacities to explain modal facts about what sorts of perceptual phenomenal states one can be in. I defend my view by arguing for three adequacy constraints on a theory of perceptual capacities: perceptual capacities must be individuated at least partly in terms of their place in a hierarchy of capacities, where these capacities include the senses themselves; an adequate account of perceptual capacities must be sensitive to empirical considerations; and an adequate account should accommodate the nature of the capacity to perceive. I arrive at these constraints by considering how Schellenberg’s view fails, before defending and developing my alternative in line with the constraints. I defend a view on which there are few, coarse-grained perceptual capacities which can fulfil complex explanatory roles because they are evaluatively gradable on many axes. Finally, on my view, perceptual capacities bear a particularly close relation to the sensory modalities themselves.
Influences of landscape structure on butterfly diversity in urban private gardens using a citizen science approach
Authors: Pendl Manfred , Hussain Raja Imran , Moser Dietmar , Frank Thomas , Drapela Thomas 
Published: September 2021

AbstractAlthough urbanization is increasing worldwide, private gardens may help mitigate the impact of urbanization on butterfly diversity. We investigated how local and landscape factors correspond with the observed butterfly species diversity and species composition in Viennese private gardens. The goal is to determine the importance of private gardens for butterfly conservation. Butterfly species were observed by skilled volunteers by applying a citizen science approach. We related butterfly species numbers in private gardens with local parameters and landscape composition in a radius of 1 km around each garden. Data were analyzed using a regression approach based on generalized linear models. The butterfly species richness in private gardens was positively correlated with butterfly species richness in the surrounding landscapes. Butterfly species richness in private gardens increased with higher proportions of area relevant for butterflies in the surrounding landscape and with increasing numbers of host and nectar plant species in the private gardens. A higher proportion of wooded areas in the surrounding landscape was related with a smaller proportion of the landscape butterfly species pool being observed in the private gardens. Overall, our results could be useful in land use planning, and for future studies of how to integrate citizen science and make urban gardens more beneficial for butterfly conservation.
Metabolomic signature of amino acids in plasma of patients with non-segmental Vitiligo
Authors: Marzabani Rezvan , Rezadoost Hassan , Choopanian Peyman , Kolahdooz Sima , Mozafari Nikoo , Mirzaie Mehdi , Karimi Mehrdad , Nieminen Anni I. , Jafari Mohieddin 
Published: September 2021

AbstractIntroductionVitiligo pathogenesis is complicated, and several possibilities were suggested. However, it is well-known that the metabolism of pigments plays a significant role in the pathogenicity of the disease.ObjectivesWe explored the role of amino acids in vitiligo using targeted metabolomics.MethodsThe amino acid profile was studied in plasma using liquid chromatography. First, 22 amino acids were derivatized and precisely determined. Next, the concentrations of the amino acids and the molar ratios were calculated in 31 patients and 34 healthy individuals.ResultsThe differential concentrations of amino acids were analyzed and eight amino acids, i.e., cysteine, arginine, lysine, ornithine, proline, glutamic acid, histidine, and glycine were observed differentially. The ratios of cysteine, glutamic acid, and proline increased significantly in Vitiligo patients, whereas arginine, lysine, ornithine, glycine, and histidine decreased significantly compared to healthy individuals. Considering the percentage of skin area, we also showed that glutamic acid significantly has a higher amount in patients with less than 25% involvement compared to others. Finally, cysteine and lysine are considered promising candidates for diagnosing and developing the disorder with high accuracy (0.96).ConclusionThe findings are consistent with the previously illustrated mechanism of Vitiligo, such as production deficiency in melanin and an increase in immune activity and oxidative stress. Furthermore, new evidence was provided by using amino acids profile toward the pathogenicity of the disorder.
Six weeks of high-intensity interval training enhances contractile activity induced vascular reactivity and skeletal muscle perfusion in older adults
Authors: Herrod Philip J. J. , Atherton Philip J. , Smith Kenneth , Williams John P. , Lund Jonathan N. , Phillips Bethan E. 
Published: September 2021

Abstract
Impairments in muscle microvascular function are associated with the pathogenesis of sarcopenia and cardiovascular disease. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an intervention by which a myriad of beneficial skeletal muscle/cardiovascular adaptations have been reported across age, including capillarisation and improved endothelial function. Herein, we hypothesised that HIIT would enhance muscle microvascular blood flow and vascular reactivity to acute contractile activity in older adults, reflecting HIIT-induced vascular remodelling. In a randomised controlled-trial, twenty-five healthy older adults aged 65–85 years (mean BMI 27.0) were randomised to 6-week HIIT or a no-intervention control period of an equal duration. Measures of microvascular responses to a single bout of muscle contractions (i.e. knee extensions) were made in the m. vastus lateralis using contrast-enhanced ultrasound during a continuous intravenous infusion of Sonovue™ contrast agent, before and after the intervention period, with concomitant assessments of cardiorespiratory fitness and resting blood pressure. HIIT led to improvements in anaerobic threshold (13.2 ± 3.4 vs. 15.3 ± 3.8 ml/kg/min, P < 0.001), dynamic exercise capacity (145 ± 60 vs. 159 ± 59 W, P < 0.001) and resting (systolic) blood pressure (142 ± 15 vs. 133 ± 11 mmHg, P < 0.01). Notably, HIIT elicited significant increases in microvascular blood flow responses to acute contractile activity (1.8 ± 0.63 vs. 2.3 ± 0.8 (arbitrary contrast units (AU), P < 0.01)), with no change in any of these parameters observed in the control group. Six weeks HIIT improves skeletal muscle microvascular responsiveness to acute contractile activity in the form of active hyperaemia-induced by a single bout of resistance exercise. These findings likely reflect reports of enhanced large vessel distensibility, improved endothelial function, and muscle capillarisation following HIIT. Moreover, our findings illustrate that HIIT may be effective in mitigating deleterious alterations in muscle microvascular mediated aspects of sarcopenia.
The influence of individual characteristics on getting involved in an entrepreneurial team: The contingent role of individualism
Authors: Pinzón Nathaly , Montero Javier , González-Pernía José L. 
Published: September 2021

AbstractA traditional stereotype of the entrepreneur is that of a lone hero. However, many entrepreneurs engage in new businesses as members of entrepreneurial teams. These teams usually perform better in terms of employment generation, innovation, and profits. Thus, a relevant question is why some individuals get involved in entrepreneurship through a team rather than alone. Our explanation is focused on two variables related to the entrepreneur’s human capital: their educational level and their intrapreneurial experience. There are conflicting arguments on how these variables lead an entrepreneur to join a team, and we argue that the degree of individualism of the society helps us understand the discrepancies. We use a sample of 66,716 early-stage entrepreneurs from 66 countries surveyed by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor between 2014 and 2017. Our results show that entrepreneurs with higher levels of education and intrapreneurial experience are more likely to be involved in the entrepreneurship process as members of teams. However, the effect of educational level is less pronounced in individualist contexts. In addition, we find that the motivation to enter entrepreneurship partially mediates these relationships, as individuals endowed with higher human capital are likely to enter entrepreneurship driven by an opportunistic motivation, which in turns makes them likely to need or join teams to reach their goals.
Serviceability analysis of piled foundations supporting tall structures
Authors: Iovino Maria , Di Laora Raffaele , de Sanctis Luca 
Published: September 2021

AbstractPile foundations supporting tall structures, such as wind turbines, chimneys, silos, elevated water tanks or bridge piers, are subjected during their life span to remarkably eccentric loads. These may lead to significant rotations which, however, cannot exceed the limiting values corresponding to the safe operation of the structure. A physically motivated mathematical framework aimed at the prediction of the serviceability performance of such kind of structures is herein presented and discussed. Piles are idealized as uniaxial nonlinear elements characterized by two yielding loads, one in compression and one in uplift, while pile-to-pile interaction effects are modeled by means of superposition, through an approximate solution. The axial load–moment capacity of the pile group is preliminary determined from a recent closed form, exact solution based on upper and lower bound theorems, allowing the analysis to be performed under load control. The model is capable of accounting for the dependence of the moment–rotation response from the dead load of the structure and the ‘coupling effect’ between generalized loads and displacements. The prediction performance of the proposed calculation method is validated against both numerical and experimental benchmarks. Finally, a parametric study allowed to assess the importance of pile-to-pile interaction on the foundation response under eccentric loads.
Quantitative but not qualitative flavor recognition impairments in COVID-19 patients
Authors: Nettore Immacolata Cristina , Cantone Elena , Palatucci Giuseppe , Franchini Fabiana , Maturi Rufina , Nerilli Mariagiovanna , Manzillo Elio , Foggia Maria , Maione Luigi , Ungaro Paola , Colao Annamaria , Macchia Paolo Emidio 
Published: September 2021

Abstract
Background
Smell and taste dysfunctions (STDs) are symptoms associated with COVID-19 syndrome, even if their incidence is still uncertain and variable.

Aims
In this study, the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on chemosensory function have been investigated using both a self-reporting questionnaire on smell and flavor perception, and a simplified flavor test.

Methods
A total of 111 subjects (19 hospitalized [HOS] and 37 home-isolated [HI] COVID-19 patients, and 55 healthy controls [CTRL]) were enrolled in the study. They received a self-evaluation questionnaire and a self-administered flavor test kit. The flavor test used consists in the self-administration of four solutions with a pure olfactory stimulus (coffee), a mixed olfactory-trigeminal stimulus (peppermint), and a complex chemical mixture (banana).

Results
After SARS-CoV-2 infection, HOS and HI patients reported similar prevalence of STDs, with a significant reduction of both smell and flavor self-estimated perception. The aromas of the flavor test were recognized by HI and HOS COVID-19 patients similarly to CTRL; however, the intensity of the perceived aromas was significantly lower in patients compared to controls.

Conclusion
Data reported here suggests that a chemosensory impairment is present after SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the modified “flavor test” could be a novel self-administering objective screening test to assess STDs in COVID-19 patients.
Clinical trial registration no. NCT04840966; April 12, 2021, retrospectively registered
Spider Neurotoxins as Modulators of NMDA Receptor Signaling
Authors: Pałasz Artur , Krzystanek Marek 
Published: September 2021

AbstractMolecules that selectively act on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors may have a multidirectional effect by modulating the activity of NMDARs, affecting their active sites as well as by changing the composition of their subunits. The results of the clinical trials conducted so far in mood disorders and schizophrenia indicate that such agents may become new effective drugs for the treatment of these diseases. Number of spider neurotoxins e.g. ctenitoxins extracted from Phoneutria sp. venom act as potent and selective NMDAR blockers that do not disturb cortical and hippocampal glutamate signaling, LTP generation and synaptic neurochemistry. Possibly this intriguing kind of promising neuroregulatory peptides and polyamines can be clinically applicable in a wide spectrum of neuropsychiatric disorders, including epilepsy, neurotrauma and ischemic injuries. These novel medications can potentially be helpful in the future treatment of stroke and several neurodegenerative diseases.
The Semiotic Approach to Bacterial Chemotaxis
Authors: Kłóś Adam , Płonka Przemysław Mieszko 
Published: September 2021

AbstractBacterial chemotaxis is often considered to be a textbook example of the rudimentary semiotic process. As such, it gives an excellent opportunity to better understand both semiosis and biology. Our study reviews this phenomenon in the light of up-to-date scientific knowledge to answer the most basic semiotic questions: what is the sign? What types of signs are there? What is the meaning understood on the molecular level, and by what means can it grow with time? As a case study, the bacterial chemotaxis toward glucose in E. coli species is chosen, and the semiotic framework of Charles Sanders Peirce applied. The analyses provide us with the following results: the sign, in its ultimate nature, is a general process. Bacterial chemotaxis can be understood in terms of Peircean type, symbol, and argument. The meaning on the molecular level is entirely pragmatic and, in this case, reduced to a bacterial response to glucose. A sign can grow through sign generalization, the emergence of different sign categories, the integration of these categories in functional cycles, and the introduction of contextuality. The sign of bacterial chemotaxis extends from the cell signaling pathways up to the population level. The presented results advance our knowledge of sign processing in the context of semiotic evolution.
How Molecules Became Signs
Authors: Deacon Terrence W. 
Published: September 2021

AbstractTo explore how molecules became signs I will ask: “What sort of process is necessary and sufficient to treat a molecule as a sign?” This requires focusing on the interpreting system and its interpretive competence. To avoid assuming any properties that need to be explained I develop what I consider to be a simplest possible molecular model system which only assumes known physics and chemistry but nevertheless exemplifies the interpretive properties of interest. Three progressively more complex variants of this model of interpretive competence are developed that roughly parallel an icon-index-symbol hierarchic scaffolding logic. The implication of this analysis is a reversal of the current dogma of molecular and evolutionary biology which treats molecules like DNA and RNA as the original sources of biological information. Instead I argue that the structural characteristics of these molecules have provided semiotic affordances that the interpretive dynamics of viruses and cells have taken advantage of. These molecules are not the source of biological information but are instead semiotic artifacts onto which dynamical functional constraints have been progressively offloaded during the course of evolution.
Geostatistical modeling of porosity and evaluating the local and global distribution
Authors: GhojehBeyglou MohammadHossein 
Published: September 2021

AbstractPorosity is one of the main variables needed for reservoir characterization. For this volumetric variable, there are many methods to simulate the spatial distribution. In this article, porosity was analyzed and modeled in the local and global distribution. For simulation, Sequential Gaussian simulation (SGS) and Gaussian Random Function (GRFS) were applied. Also, kriging was used to estimate the porosity at specific locations. The main purpose of this work was to investigate the porosity to compare geostatistical simulation and estimation methods in a sandstone reservoir as a real case study. First, the data sets were normalized by the Normal Scores Transformation (NST) and stratigraphic coordinate. The model of experimental variograms was fitted in the vertical and horizontal directions. For the simulation methods, 10 realizations were generated by each method. The Q-Q plots were calculated, and both sets of quintiles (Target Porosity Distribution versus Porosity realization) came from normal distributions with the following correlation coefficients: 0.93, 0.94 and 0.97 related to GRFS, SGS and Kriging, respectively. The extracted variograms from realizations showed that the kriging couldn’t reproduce the variograms with global distribution. For local validation, the cross-validation was evaluated and three wells were omitted. The re-estimation of porosity was considered at located well logs through the well sections window where the kriging had a better performance with minimum error to estimate porosity locally. Finally, the cross-sectional models were generated by each algorithm which showed that the simple kriging tries to produce smoother distribution, whereas conditional simulations (SGS and GRFS) try to represent more global-detailed sections.
The innate aptitude’s effect on the surgical task performance: a systematic review
Authors: El Boghdady Michael , Ewalds-Kvist Beatrice Marianne 
Published: September 2021

AbstractSurgery is known to be a craft profession requiring individuals with specific innate aptitude for manipulative skills, and visuospatial and psychomotor abilities. The present-day selection process of surgical trainees does not include aptitude testing for the psychomotor and manual manipulative skills of candidates for required abilities. We aimed to scrutinize the significance of innate aptitudes in surgical practice and impact of training on skills by systematically reviewing their significance on the surgical task performance. A systematic review was performed in compliance with PRISMA guidelines. An initial search was carried out on PubMed/Medline for English language articles published over 20 years from January 2001 to January 2021. Search strategy and terms to be used included ‘aptitude for surgery’, ‘innate aptitude and surgical skills, ‘manipulative abilities and surgery’, and ‘psychomotor skills and surgery’. MERSQI score was applied to assess the quality of quantitatively researched citations. The results of the present searches provided a total of 1142 studies. Twenty-one studies met the inclusion criteria out of which six citations reached high quality and rejected our three null hypothesis. Consequently, the result specified that all medical students cannot reach proficiency in skills necessary for pursuing a career in surgery; moreover, playing video games and/or musical instruments does not promote skills for surgery, and finally, there may be a valid test with predictive value for novices aspiring for a surgical career. MERSQI mean score was 11.07 (SD = 0.98; range 9.25–12.75). The significant findings indicated that medical students with low innate aptitude cannot reach skills necessary for a competent career in surgery. Training does not compensate for pictorial-skill deficiency, and a skill is needed in laparoscopy. Video-gaming and musical instrument playing did not significantly promote aptitude for microsurgery. The space-relation test has predictive value for a good laparoscopic surgical virtual-reality performance. The selection process for candidates suitable for a career in surgery requests performance in a simulated surgical environment.
Spatio-temporal joint aberrance suppressed correlation filter for visual tracking
Authors: Xu Libin , Kim Pyoungwon , Wang Mengjie , Pan Jinfeng , Yang Xiaomin , Gao Mingliang 
Published: September 2021

AbstractThe discriminative correlation filter (DCF)-based tracking methods have achieved remarkable performance in visual tracking. However, the existing DCF paradigm still suffers from dilemmas such as boundary effect, filter degradation, and aberrance. To address these problems, we propose a spatio-temporal joint aberrance suppressed regularization (STAR) correlation filter tracker under a unified framework of response map. Specifically, a dynamic spatio-temporal regularizer is introduced into the DCF to alleviate the boundary effect and filter degradation, simultaneously. Meanwhile, an aberrance suppressed regularizer is exploited to reduce the interference of background clutter. The proposed STAR model is effectively optimized using the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). Finally, comprehensive experiments on TC128, OTB2013, OTB2015 and UAV123 benchmarks demonstrate that the STAR tracker achieves compelling performance compared with the state-of-the-art (SOTA) trackers.
Imperatives of recognising the complexities: gendered impacts and responses to COVID-19 in India
Authors: Agarwal Bina 
Published: September 2021

AbstractThis paper argues that the gendered impact of COVID-19 has both visible and hidden dimensions, and both immediate effects linked with lockdowns and longer-term effects that are likely to emerge sequentially in time and affect recovery. Much of the existing feminist literature on the impact of COVID-19 has neglected these complexities and focused mainly on care work and domestic violence. This has diverted attention away from other key concerns such as livelihood loss, food and nutritional insecurity, indebtedness, rising poverty, and the low resilience of most women in developing economies. Even care work and domestic violence have complex facets that tend to be missed. Using examples from India, the paper outlines the kinds of gendered effects we might expect, the extent to which these have been traced in existing surveys, and the data gaps. It also highlights the potential of group approaches in enhancing women’s economic recovery and providing social protection from the worst outcomes of the pandemic—approaches that could guide us towards effective policy pathways for ‘building back better.’