bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Green Tax Revolution
Authors: László Csaba 
Published: October 2021

AbstractClimate crisis is becoming higher on the agenda of the decision makers of the world. A huge amount of resources have been dedicated to green projects, however far less emphasis has been put on tax policy opportunities. Carbon pricing can increase the burden of CO2 producers, but this does not appear to be enough. We need a Green Tax Reform which focuses on the Pigouvian approach and can correct the distortions of different climate hurting activities. Through tax policy tools, the price structure should be drastically changed and serious incentives should be provided to change the behaviours of the consumers and producers to achieve green policy goals.
Some Effects of EU Sugar Reforms on Development in Africa
Authors: Paha Johannes , Sautter Timon , Schumacher Reinhard 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe sugar industry is a major provider of jobs and income for sugar-exporting countries in Africa. The lower sugar prices that were caused by the recent liberalisation of the EU sugar market may not only jeopardise economic development in those countries, but the reforms also create difficulties for sugar-importing countries in Africa that seek to develop their sugar industries. The article analyses the effects of EU sugar market reforms on three African countries — Nigeria, South Africa and Mozambique — and provides insights into the balancing of the EU sugar policy’s intended effects against their adverse effects on European trade and development policy.
Evaluation of failure of slopes with shaking-induced cracks in response to rainfall
Authors: Xu Jiawei , Ueda Kyohei , Uzuoka Ryosuke 
Published: October 2021

AbstractCentrifuge model tests on slopes subject to shaking and rainfall have been performed to examine the response of slopes with shaking-induced cracks to subsequent rainfall and evaluate the corresponding landslide-triggering mechanisms. The failure pattern of the slope subject to shaking and then rainfall was found different from that of the slope subject to only rainfall. When shaking caused cracks on the slope shoulder and rupture line below, the mobilized soil slid along the slip surface that extended to the rupture line, the main crack became the crown of the undisturbed ground once the slope was subject to a subsequent rain event, and the progression of the landslide was related to the rainfall intensity. During the landslide caused by light rainfall, the main scarp kept exposing itself in the vertically downward direction while the ground behind the main crack in the crack-containing slope remained undisturbed. The detrimental effect of cracks on soil displacement was more evident when the slope was exposed to heavy post-shaking rainfall, resulting in a rapid and massive landslide. Additionally, the volume of displaced material of the landslide, the main scarp area on the upper edge, and the zone of accumulation were larger in the crack-containing slope subject to heavy rainfall, in comparison with those in the crack-free slope. The deformation pattern of slopes with shaking-induced cracks during rainfall was closely related to rainfall intensity and the factor of safety provided a preliminary estimation of slope stability during rainfall. Moreover, even when subjected to the same rainfall, the slopes with antecedent shaking-induced cracks displayed different levels of deformation. The slope that experienced larger shaking had greater deformation under the following rainfall, and the shaking-induced slope deformation also controlled the slip surface location. Finally, the velocity of rainfall-induced landslide could be greatly influenced by the prior shaking event alone. Despite being under light rainfall, the slope that has encountered intense previous shaking exhibited an instant landslide.
Topographical features of rainfall-triggered landslides in Mon State, Myanmar, August 2019: spatial distribution heterogeneity and uncommon large relative heights
Authors: Panday Suman , Dong Jia-Jyun 
Published: October 2021

AbstractContinuous 5-day (August 4–9, 2019) torrential rainfall in the monsoon season triggered more than 90 landslides on northwest-southeast extended mountain range of Mon State, Myanmar. In this study, remote sensing images, DEM, and limited fieldworks were used to create the landslide inventory. The topography features of these landslides are analyzed via ArcGIS. The largest one occurred on 9 August 2019 and caused 75 deaths and 27 buildings were damaged. This landslide occurred on gentle topography (slope angle, 23°) with long run-out, in which the angle of reach was relatively low (10°). The volume was 111,878 m3 was mainly composed of weathered granite and red soil and the sliding depth was approximately 7.5 m. Topographic characteristics including the relative slope height, angle of reach, and slope angle of source area of 35 landslides with areas > 4000 m2 were analyzed. The spatial distribution characteristics and topographic features of the 35 landslides below are distinguished: (1) the concentration of most of landslides on southwest-facing slopes showing the heterogeneous spatial distribution of landslide; (2) an uncommon landslide distribution in which more than half of landslide originates from upper slope; (3) the range of the angle of the source area (17°–38°) compatible with the internal friction angle of soils in tropical regions (17°–33°); and (4) the tangent of the angle of reach is generally smaller than 0.5 (angle of reach < 27°) shows a relative high mobility and the relation between landslide mobility and the slope angle of the landslide source area is similar to the one of earthquake-triggered landslides, even though the triggering mechanism, landslide type, and landslide volume are dramatically different.
Corporate Social Performance and the Likelihood of Bankruptcy: Evidence from a Period of Economic Upswing
Authors: Habermann Florian , Fischer Felix Bernhard 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe paper aims to investigate the effects of corporate social performance (CSP) on bankruptcy likelihood in times of economic upswing. This is important because prior related literature focused on data containing times of economic crises. We measure bankruptcy likelihood with the Altman Z score and CSP with Refinitiv ESG scores. By applying static panel data regressions and instrumental variable regressions on a sample of 6696 US-firm-year observations from 2010 to 2019 our main findings are: (i) In contrast to existing research, the level of firms’ CSP seems to have no (positive) effect on the likelihood of bankruptcy during times of economic upswing. (ii) Increasing a firm’s CSP in times of economic upswing leads to a rise in bankruptcy likelihood. We conclude that the positive effects of CSP on stakeholder relationships fail to materialize in flourishing business environments. The costs of increasing CSP, thus, exceed their immediate positive effects and raise bankruptcy likelihood. However, as they reduce financial default risk in subsequent crises, CSP investments can be seen as a balancing measure. Our findings bear implications for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.
On design sensitivities in the structural analysis and optimization of flexible multibody systems
Authors: Held Alexander 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe structural analysis and optimization of flexible multibody systems become more and more popular due to the ability to efficiently compute gradients using sophisticated approaches such as the adjoint variable method and the adoption of powerful methods from static structural optimization. To drive the improvement of the optimization process, this work addresses the computation of design sensitivities for multibody systems with arbitrarily parameterized rigid and flexible bodies that are modeled using the floating frame of reference formulation. It is shown that it is useful to augment the body describing standard input data files by their design derivatives. In this way, a clear separation can be achieved between the body modeling and parameterization and the system simulation and analysis.
Business models for the Anthropocene: accelerating sustainability transformations in the private sector
Authors: Burch Sarah , Di Bella Jose 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe rapid pace and escalating severity of climate change impacts have made clear that current incremental approaches to pressing global socio-ecological challenges are insufficient to address the root causes of unsustainable development. This has spurred increasing interest in the dynamics of transformation: the actors, capacities and resources needed to fundamentally shift development paths. The private sector is at the core of essential transformative processes necessary to build a future premised on environmental integrity, social inclusivity, and resilience. The activities of the private sector are structured and driven by their underlying business model, which is at its core a set of assumptions about how a business creates, extracts and delivers value. Dominant conceptualizations of the business model remain a narrow imagining of how business interacts with societal processes and shape development patterns. In this article we call for the conceptualization and design of business models anchored in societal purpose and operating within planetary boundaries, apt for the Anthropocene. We identify five building blocks for business models where transdisciplinary sustainability research can accelerate entrepreneurial activity that fosters desirable sustainable pathways by enabling the creation of new capabilities in support of broader transformational processes. This article seeks to inform (and potentially re-orient the efforts of) transdisciplinary scholars engaging the private sector in the co-production of community-based sustainability and resilience-building initiatives. Likewise, the building blocks provide a guide for businesses who aim to deepen their capacity to build new partnerships, identify, and incorporate new information on climate risk into their operations and develop practices, sequences and procedures oriented toward the sustainable development goals and disaster resilience.
Discourses for deep transformation: perceptions of economic growth in two rural communities in Lower Saxony, Germany
Authors: Lübker Hannah Marlen , Abson David J. , Riechers Maraja 
Published: October 2021

AbstractEcological degradation stemming from the paradigmatic pursuit of economic growth is well known. Transforming the current dominant economic discourse will be a great challenge of our time and one that can foster a transformation to a more sustainable state. Little research exists concerning perceptions of growth by individuals in rural areas. In this empirical study, we analysed 33 interviews from two rural communities in Northwest Germany through qualitative content analysis. Our results highlight four archetypical perceptions of economic growth: (1) growth as inherently positive, (2) growth as being self-evident and without alternatives, (3) growth as a systemic constraint, and (4) growth as critical and with negative consequences. Differing perceptions about five key themes within broader societal discourses shape the four archetypical perceptions. All four archetypes are characterized by a common perception of systemic constraints, a lack of concrete alternatives to the current economic system and a lack of individual and societal agency, showing a system that is locked into its current trajectory. The understanding of the consequences of growth, stemming from the knowledge of rural inhabitants, can lay the groundwork for future research on discourses of growth. We envision a strengthening of tangible alternatives to the dominant economic growth paradigm within and with the local communities as necessary for a sustainability transformation.
Robust optimal classification trees under noisy labels
Authors: Blanco Victor , Japón Alberto , Puerto Justo 
Published: October 2021

AbstractIn this paper we propose a novel methodology to construct Optimal Classification Trees that takes into account that noisy labels may occur in the training sample. The motivation of this new methodology is based on the superaditive effect of combining together margin based classifiers and outlier detection techniques. Our approach rests on two main elements: (1) the splitting rules for the classification trees are designed to maximize the separation margin between classes applying the paradigm of SVM; and (2) some of the labels of the training sample are allowed to be changed during the construction of the tree trying to detect the label noise. Both features are considered and integrated together to design the resulting Optimal Classification Tree. We present a Mixed Integer Non Linear Programming formulation for the problem, suitable to be solved using any of the available off-the-shelf solvers. The model is analyzed and tested on a battery of standard datasets taken from UCI Machine Learning repository, showing the effectiveness of our approach. Our computational results show that in most cases the new methodology outperforms both in accuracy and AUC the results of the benchmarks provided by OCT and OCT-H.
Management of patients with cervical spine trauma in the emergency department: a systematic critical appraisal of guidelines with a view to developing standardized strategies for clinical practice
Authors: Gesu Elisa , Bellone Pietro , Bonzi Mattia , Bertani Giulio Andrea , Brignolo Ottolini Barbara , Bosco Paola , Conte Giorgio , Ferrari Matteo , Fiorelli Elisa Maria , Kurihara Hayato , Solbiati Monica , Solimeno Luigi Piero , Costantino Giorgio 
Published: October 2021

AbstractSeveral guidelines on the evaluation of patients with suspected cervical spine trauma in the Emergency Department (ED) exist. High heterogeneity between different guidelines has been reported. Aim of this study was to find areas of agreement and disagreement between guidelines, to identify topics in which further research is needed and to provide an evidence-based cervical spine trauma algorithm for ED physicians. The three most relevant guidelines published on cervical spine trauma in the last 10 years were selected screening websites of the main scientific societies and through the comparison of a normalized Google Scholar and SCOPUS citation index. We compared the selected guidelines through seven a-priori defined questions. In case of disagreement between the guidelines or if the quality of evidence appeared low, evidence from published systematic reviews on the topic was added to build an evidence-based algorithm for approach to spinal trauma in the ED. The three selected guidelines were: NICE 2016, Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma 2009 and American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons 2013. We found complete agreement on one question, partial agreement for one questions, no agreement for two questions, while agreement was not assessable for 3 questions. The agreement between different guidelines and the evidence on which recommendations are based is low. An attempt to build an evidence-based algorithm has been made. More studies are needed on many topics.
The effects of green consumer empowerment in advertising on corporate evaluations and purchase intention: the case of organic food
Authors: Yang Xisi , Weber Anja , Grimm Anna-Katharina 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThis research aims to investigate the potential of consumer empowerment, the activation of consumers’ perceived power over companies, to achieve improved advertising effects for organic food compared to only communicating ecological benefits (classical green appeals). Two online experiments were conducted to analyze the ad effectiveness for consumers’ responses including their evaluations of the company and purchase intentions (nStudy1 = 294; nStudy2 = 457). Results indicate that green empowerment ads reach overall better performance to increase people’s perceived customer orientation and purchase intentions compared to green appeals, while similar effects are identified for perceived corporate environmental responsibility. Empowerment tactics are especially effective when consumers perceive the supplier to be a larger, high-resource company compared to a smaller, low-resource one. The significant effects of perceived corporate resources also indicates that smaller companies should use differentiated ad strategies depending on if they intend to enhance consumers’ purchase intentions or their environmental reputation.
α-Synuclein Induces the GSK-3-Mediated Phosphorylation and Degradation of NURR1 and Loss of Dopaminergic Hallmarks
Authors: García-Yagüe Ángel Juan , Lastres-Becker Isabel , Stefanis Leonidas , Vassilatis Demetrios K. , Cuadrado Antonio 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
In Parkinson’s disease, the dysfunction of the dopaminergic nigrostriatal tract involves the loss of function of dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta followed by death of these neurons. The functional recovery of these neurons requires a deep knowledge of the molecules that maintain the dopaminergic phenotype during adulthood and the mechanisms that subvert their activity. Previous studies have shown that transcription factor NURR1, involved in differentiation and maintenance of the dopaminergic phenotype, is downregulated by α-synuclein (α-SYN). In this study, we provide a mechanistic explanation to this finding by connecting α-SYN-induced activation of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) with NURR1 phosphorylation followed by proteasomal degradation. The use of sequential deletion mutants and single point mutants of NURR1 allowed the identification of a domain comprising amino acids 123-PSSPPTPSTPS-134 that is targeted by GSK-3 and leads to subsequent ubiquitination and proteasome degradation. This study provides a detailed analysis of the regulation of NURR1 stability by phosphorylation in synucleinopathies such as Parkinson’s disease.
Graphical abstract
Mechanism of Cellular Formation and In Vivo Seeding Effects of Hexameric β-Amyloid Assemblies
Authors: Vrancx Céline , Vadukul Devkee M. , Suelves Nuria , Contino Sabrina , D’Auria Ludovic , Perrin Florian , van Pesch Vincent , Hanseeuw Bernard , Quinton Loïc , Kienlen-Campard Pascal 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) is found as amyloid fibrils in senile plaques, a typical hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, intermediate soluble oligomers of Aβ are now recognized as initiators of the pathogenic cascade leading to AD. Studies using recombinant Aβ have shown that hexameric Aβ in particular acts as a critical nucleus for Aβ self-assembly. We recently isolated hexameric Aβ assemblies from a cellular model, and demonstrated their ability to enhance Aβ aggregation in vitro. Here, we report the presence of similar hexameric-like Aβ assemblies across several cellular models, including neuronal-like cell lines. In order to better understand how they are produced in a cellular context, we investigated the role of presenilin-1 (PS1) and presenilin-2 (PS2) in their formation. PS1 and PS2 are the catalytic subunits of the γ-secretase complex that generates Aβ. Using CRISPR-Cas9 to knockdown each of the two presenilins in neuronal-like cell lines, we observed a direct link between the PS2-dependent processing pathway and the release of hexameric-like Aβ assemblies in extracellular vesicles. Further, we assessed the contribution of hexameric Aβ to the development of amyloid pathology. We report the early presence of hexameric-like Aβ assemblies in both transgenic mice brains exhibiting human Aβ pathology and in the cerebrospinal fluid of AD patients, suggesting hexameric Aβ as a potential early AD biomarker. Finally, cell-derived hexameric Aβ was found to seed other human Aβ forms, resulting in the aggravation of amyloid deposition in vivo and neuronal toxicity in vitro.
An appeal to our government for nationwide policies in the prevention of cardiovascular disease
Authors: van Trier T. J. , Mohammadnia N. , Snaterse M. , Peters R. J. G. , Jørstad H. T. , Bax W. A. , Mackenbach J. D. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe high prevalence and burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is largely attributable to unhealthy lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity and unhealthy food habits. Prevention of CVD, through the promotion of healthy lifestyles, appears to be a Sisyphean task for healthcare professionals, as the root causes of an unhealthy lifestyle lie largely outside their scope. Since most lifestyle choices are habitual and a response to environmental cues, rather than rational and deliberate choices, nationwide policies targeting the context in which lifestyle behaviours occur may be highly effective in the prevention of CVD. In this point-of-view article, we emphasise the need for government policies beyond those mentioned in the National Prevention Agreement in the Netherlands to effectively reduce the CVD risk, and we address the commonly raised concerns regarding ‘paternalism’.
Endovascular renal sympathetic denervation to improve heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: the IMPROVE-HF-I study
Authors: Feyz L. , Nannan Panday R. , Henneman M. , Verzijlbergen F. , Constantinescu A. A. , van Dalen B. M. , Brugts J. J. , Caliskan K. , Geleijnse M. L. , Kardys I. , Van Mieghem N. M. , Manintveld O. , Daemen J. 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Introduction
The aim of the present study was to assess the safety and efficacy of renal sympathetic denervation (RDN) in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

Methods
We randomly assigned 50 patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤ 35% and NYHA class ≥ II, in a 1:1 ratio, to either RDN and optimal medical therapy (OMT) or OMT alone. The primary safety endpoint was the occurrence of a combined endpoint of cardiovascular death, rehospitalisation for heart failure, and acute kidney injury at 6 months. The primary efficacy endpoint was the change in iodine-123 meta-iodobenzylguanidine (123I‑MIBG) heart-to-mediastinum ratio (HMR) at 6 months.

Results
Mean age was 60 ± 9 years, 86% was male and mean LVEF was 33 ± 8%. At 6 months, the primary safety endpoint occurred in 8.3% vs 8.0% in the RDN and OMT groups, respectively (p = 0.97). At 6 months, the mean change in late HMR was −0.02 (95% CI: −0.08 to 0.12) in the RDN group, versus −0.02 (95% CI: −0.09 to 0.12) in the OMT group (p = 0.95) whereas the mean change in washout rate was 2.34 (95% CI: −6.35 to 1.67) in the RDN group versus −2.59 (95% CI: −1.61 to 6.79) in the OMT group (p-value 0.09).

Conclusion
RDN with the Vessix system in patients with HFrEF was safe, but did not result in significant changes in cardiac sympathetic nerve activity at 6 months as measured using 123I‑MIBG.