bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Italy and the Comprehensive Agreement on Investments: disappointment over the process
Authors: Ghiretti Francesca 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThe formal conclusion of the Comprehensive Agreement on Investments (CAI) has drawn much criticism. Criticisms for member states did not always recognise the same critical points. The case of Italy presents an instance in which the issue rather than laying in the content of the agreement was identified in the process. Not only had Italy been marginalised in the process of negotiation that led to the conclusion of the CAI, but also exponents from the government claim that leading negotiators, amongst which France and Germany, ignored Italy’s doubts about the deal when these were raised. Beyond politics, the paper shows that the Italian business community displays a response to the agreement in line with that of the rest of the EU in its positive assessment of the outcome.
Subpollen particle release from different species of the invasive allergenic genus Ambrosia: the effect of rainwater composition and wind speed
Authors: Caronni Sarah , Gentili Rodolfo , Montagnani Chiara , Citterio Sandra 
Published: July 2021

AbstractAllergen-containing subpollen particles (SPPs) are micrometric or sub-micrometric particles (0.12–5 µm) released from pollen. They are able to reach the lower airways, causing allergenic reactions. SPP release occurs through the pore of intact grains or by rupture of the whole grain. In this paper the results of two laboratory experiments investigating the dynamics of SPP release for three alien species of Ambrosia genus are shown. Rainwater composition and wind speed were considered, by simulating different conditions, in accordance with a fully orthogonal experimental design. The principle response variable was the total percentage of SPPs-releasing pollen grains; also the percentage of intact grains releasing SPPs through the pore and of broken SPPs-releasing grains were considered. Both osmotic and mechanical shock caused the discharge of SPPs but different results were observed. The highest number of releasing grains was recorded in case of acid solution and 20 knots wind speed. Moreover, wind and rainfalls caused SPPs release through different mechanisms. Wind mainly provoked a mechanical shock leading to grain rupture, whereas rainfall caused mainly SPPs release through the pore of intact grains. Comparing species, the effect of wind and at least in some cases also that of rainwater appeared to be less relevant for Ambrosia trifida than for Ambrosia psilostachya and Ambrosia artemisiifolia. The obtained results suggest a species-specific response of Ambrosia species to wind speed and rainwater that lead to a different release of SPPs and then to a species-specific impact on allergy according to the characteristics of their growth environment.
Community seed network in an era of climate change: dynamics of maize diversity in Yucatán, Mexico
Authors: Fenzi Marianna , Rogé Paul , Cruz-Estrada Angel , Tuxill John , Jarvis Devra 
Published: July 2021

AbstractLocal seed systems remain the fundamental source of seeds for many crops in developing countries. Climate resilience for small holder farmers continues to depend largely on locally available seeds of traditional crop varieties. High rainfall events can have as significant an impact on crop production as increased temperatures and drought. This article analyzes the dynamics of maize diversity over 3 years in a farming community of Yucatán state, Mexico, where elevated levels of precipitation forced farmers in 2012 to reduce maize diversity in their plots. We study how farmers maintained their agroecosystem resilience through seed networks, examining the drivers influencing maize diversity and seed provisioning in the year preceding and following the 2012 climatic disturbance (2011–2013). We found that, under these challenging circumstances, farmers focused their efforts on their most reliable landraces, disregarding hybrids. We show that farmers were able to recover and restore the diversity usually cultivated in the community in the year following the critical climate event. The maize dynamic assessed in this study demonstrates the importance of community level conservation of crop diversity. Understanding farmer management strategies of agrobiodiversity, especially during a challenging climatic period, is necessary to promote a more tailored response to climate change in traditional farming systems.
Origins and minimization of intermodulation distortion in a pseudo-differential CMOS beamforming receiver
Authors: Shabanzadeh Negar , Akbar Rehman , Pärssinen Aarno , Rahkonen Timo 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThis paper studies how nonlinear distortion is generated in the combination of an inverter-based low-noise amplifier and a passive mixer. The dominant nonlinearity appears to be the quadratic $$V_{gs}V_{ds}$$

V

gs

V

ds

mixing term in the passive mixer that first causes low-frequency IM2 and then upconverts it to IM3. Adding a common-mode feedback (CMFB) cancels the IM2 in a pseudo-differential structure, and hence also reduces the IM3 caused by the cascaded second order nonlinearities significantly. The effect of CMFB gain, bandwidth and linearity were analyzed, and it is concluded that from the linearity point of view, the feedback circuit does not have to be very wideband since the dominant distortion products originate from baseband. Finally, the paper takes a look at the spurious tones rising in the mixing, and how to extend the analysis to include the actual frequency translation effect.
Estimated pulse wave velocity (ePWV) as a potential gatekeeper for MRI-assessed PWV: a linear and deep neural network based approach in 2254 participants of the Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity study
Authors: van Hout Max J. , Dekkers Ilona A. , Lin Ling , Westenberg Jos J. , Schalij Martin J. , Jukema J. Wouter , Widya Ralph L. , Boone Sebastiaan C. , de Mutsert Renée , Rosendaal Frits R. , Scholte Arthur J. , Lamb Hildo J. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractPulse wave velocity (PWV) assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a prognostic marker for cardiovascular events. Prediction modelling could enable indirect PWV assessment based on clinical and anthropometric data. The aim was to calculate estimated-PWV (ePWV) based on clinical and anthropometric measures using linear ridge regression as well as a Deep Neural Network (DNN) and to determine the cut-off which provides optimal discriminative performance between lower and higher PWV values. In total 2254 participants from the Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity study were included (age 45–65 years, 51% male). Both a basic and expanded prediction model were developed. PWV was estimated using linear ridge regression and DNN. External validation was performed in 114 participants (age 30–70 years, 54% female). Performance was compared between models and estimation accuracy was evaluated by ROC-curves. A cut-off for optimal discriminative performance was determined using Youden’s index. The basic ridge regression model provided an adjusted R2 of 0.33 and bias of < 0.001, the expanded model did not add predictive performance. Basic and expanded DNN models showed similar model performance. Optimal discriminative performance was found for PWV < 6.7 m/s. In external validation expanded ridge regression provided the best performance of the four models (adjusted R2: 0.29). All models showed good discriminative performance for PWV < 6.7 m/s (AUC range 0.81–0.89). ePWV showed good discriminative performance with regard to differentiating individuals with lower PWV values (< 6.7 m/s) from those with higher values, and could function as gatekeeper in selecting patients who benefit from further MRI-based PWV assessment.
High-temperature decomposition of amorphous and crystalline cellulose: reactive molecular simulations
Authors: Paajanen Antti , Rinta-Paavola Aleksi , Vaari Jukka 
Published: July 2021

AbstractWe study the thermal decomposition of cellulose using molecular simulations based on the ReaxFF reactive force field. Our analysis focuses on the mechanism and kinetics of chain scission, and their sensitivity on the condensed phase environment. For this purpose, we simulate the thermal decomposition of amorphous and partially crystalline cellulose at various heating rates. We find that thermal degradation begins with depolymerization via glycosidic bond cleavage, and that the order of events corresponds to a randomly initiated chain reaction. Depolymerization is followed by ring fragmentation reactions that lead to the formation of a number of light oxygenates. Water is formed mainly in intermolecular dehydration reactions at a later stage. The reaction rate of glycosidic bond cleavage follows a sigmoidal reaction model, with an apparent activation energy of 166 ± 4 kJ/mol. Neither the condensed phase environment nor the heating programme have appreciable effects on the reactions. We make several observations that are compatible with mechanisms proposed for cellulose fast pyrolysis. However, due to the absence of anhydrosugar forming reactions, the simulations offer limited insight for conditions of industrial interest. It remains unclear whether this is a natural consequence of the reaction conditions, or a shortcoming of the force field or its parameter set.
Graphic abstract
Dementia risk in the general population: large-scale external validation of prediction models in the AGES-Reykjavik study
Authors: Vonk Jet M. J. , Greving Jacoba P. , Gudnason Vilmundur , Launer Lenore J. , Geerlings Mirjam I. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractWe aimed to evaluate the external performance of prediction models for all-cause dementia or AD in the general population, which can aid selection of high-risk individuals for clinical trials and prevention. We identified 17 out of 36 eligible published prognostic models for external validation in the population-based AGES-Reykjavik Study. Predictive performance was assessed with c statistics and calibration plots. All five models with a c statistic > .75 (.76–.81) contained cognitive testing as a predictor, while all models with lower c statistics (.67–.75) did not. Calibration ranged from good to poor across all models, including systematic risk overestimation or overestimation for particularly the highest risk group. Models that overestimate risk may be acceptable for exclusion purposes, but lack the ability to accurately identify individuals at higher dementia risk. Both updating existing models or developing new models aimed at identifying high-risk individuals, as well as more external validation studies of dementia prediction models are warranted.
Socioeconomic inequalities in dementia risk among a French population-based cohort: quantifying the role of cardiovascular health and vascular events
Authors: Letellier Noémie , Ilango Sindana D. , Mortamais Marion , Tzourio Christophe , Gabelle Audrey , Empana Jean-Philippe , Samieri Cécilia , Berr Claudine , Benmarhnia Tarik 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThis study aimed to investigate the role of cardiovascular health (CVH) and vascular events as potential contributors to socioeconomic inequalities in dementia using causal mediation analyses. We used data from the Three-City Cohort, a French population-based study with 12 years of follow-up, with active search of dementia cases and validated diagnosis. Individual socioeconomic status was assessed using education, occupation and income. A CVH score as defined by the American Heart Association and incident vascular events were considered separately as mediators. We performed multi-level Cox proportional and Aalen additive hazard regression models to estimate the total effects of socioeconomic status on dementia risk. To estimate natural direct and indirect effects through CVH and vascular events, we applied two distinct weighting methods to quantify the role of CVH and vascular events: Inverse Odds Ratio Weighting (IORW) and Marginal Structural Models (MSM) respectively. Among 5581 participants, the risk of dementia was higher among participants with primary education (HR 1.60, 95%CI 1.44–1.78), blue-collar workers (HR 1.62, 95%CI 1.43–1.84) and with lower income (HR 1.23, 95%CI 1.09–1.29). Using additive models, 571 (95% CI 288–782) and 634 (95% CI 246–1020) additional cases of dementia per 100 000 person and year were estimated for primary education and blue-collar occupation, respectively. Using IORW, the CVH score mediate the relationship between education or income, and dementia (proportion mediated 17% and 26%, respectively). Yet, considering vascular events as mediator, MSM generated indirect effects that were smaller and more imprecise. Socioeconomic inequalities in dementia risk were observed but marginally explained by CVH or vascular events mediators.
Place matters: geographical context, place belonging and the production of locality in Mediterranean Noirs
Authors: Gabellieri Nicola 
Published: July 2021

AbstractScholars have been investigating detective stories and crime fiction mostly as literary works reflecting the societies that produced them and the movement from modernism to postmodernism. However, these genres have generally been neglected by literary geographers. In the attempt to fill such an epistemological vacuum, this paper examines and compare the function and importance of geography in both classic and late 20th century detective stories. Arthur Conan Doyle’s and Agatha Christie’s detective stories are compared to Mediterranean noir books by Manuel Montalbán, Andrea Camilleri and Jean Claude Izzo. While space is shown to be at the center of the investigations in the former two authors, the latter rather focus on place, that is space invested by the authors with meaning and feelings of identity and belonging. From this perspective, the article argues that detective investigations have become a narrative medium allowing the readership to explore the writer’s representation/construction of his own territorial context, or place-setting, which functions as a co-protagonist of the novel. In conclusion, the paper suggests that the emerging role of place in some of the later popular crime fiction can be interpreted as the result of writer’s sentiment of belonging and, according to Appadurai’s theory, as a literary and geographical discourse aimed at the production of locality.
Evolution under domestication of correlated characters in populations of Stenocereus stellatus (Pfeiff.) Riccob., under different forms of management in central Mexico: genetic diversity, damage, and defense mechanisms
Authors: Patiño-López Verónica , Bravo-Avilez David , Vargas-Mendoza Carlos F. , Blancas José , Rendón-Aguilar Beatriz 
Published: July 2021

AbstractAcross the process of domestication, human selection produces changes in target attributes as well as changes that are not necessarily desired by humans due to pleiotropic or linked genes. In this paper we addressed, correlated changes between genetic diversity, damage level, defense mechanisms (resistance and tolerance), and fitness due to the domestication process ofStenocereus pruinosus(Otto ex Pfeiff.)Buxbaum and Stenocereus stellatus(Pfeiff.) Riccobono, an endemic columnar cactus of south-central Mexico. One hundred eighty individuals ofS. stellatusfrom wild, in situ managed, and cultivated populations of Valle de Tehuacán and Mixteca Baja, Puebla, were sampled, and attributes including damage level, defense mechanisms and fitness (number of fruits) were measured. The DNA of 176 individuals was extracted to amplify and analyze five microsatellites in order to estimate genetic diversity and structure. As expected, cultivated populations showed a significantly higher damage level, as well as lower resistance and genetic diversity. Depending on the form of management, correlations between genetic diversity and the rest of the attributes exhibited different patterns. In wild populations, genetic diversity was positively correlated with damage and negatively with resistance; in situ managed populations exhibited the opposite pattern, and in cultivated populations, no correlations were found between these attributes. We propose a hypothetic model of human selection to explain the variation in these correlations. No differences in genetic diversity and tolerance were detected between regions; however, the populations of Valle de Tehuacán exhibited more damage and more resistance. In both regions, populations showed a positive correlation between fitness and resistance and a negative correlation between damage and resistance, suggesting the existence of a defense mechanism to ensure fitness. Also, non-regional differentiation suggests an eventual gene flow due to pollinators, human movement of branches, or a common ancestry before the domestication process.
The adjuvant activity of two urea derivatives on cytokinins: an example of serendipitous dual effect
Authors: Brunoni Federica , Rolli Enrico , Polverini Eugenia , Spíchal Lukáš , Ricci Ada 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate the action spectrum of two urea derivatives, the 1,3-di(benzo[d]oxazol-5-yl)urea (5-BDPU) and the 1,3-di(benzo[d]oxazol-6-yl)urea (6-BDPU). In order to evaluate a possible adjuvant activity on cytokinins the compounds alone or in the simultaneous presence of different cytokinins were assayed either on in vitro﻿ typical cytokinin-related bioassays, or on in planta interaction with cytokinin signal transduction pathway. The compounds ability to activate the cytokinin receptor CRE1/AHK4 was studied either by a heterologous bacterial assay or by a competitive binding assay and docking simulations were performed with the crystal structure of the same receptor. Then, owing to their chemical structure which resembles that of urea-type cytokinins, the ability of 5- and 6-BDPU to inhibit the activity of cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase of Zea mays (ZmCKX1) was investigated and docking simulations were performed as well. Accordingly to the experimental results, we speculate that BDPUs could show a dual activity: the blocking of the conformational re-adaption of CRE1/AHK4 receptor maintaining the cytokinin inside its binding pocket, thus possibly enhancing its kinase action; the inhibition of cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase activity thus possibly preventing its cleavage of natural cytokinins with isoprenoid side chain.
Graphic abstract
The C-inefficiency of the EU-VAT and what can be done about it
Authors: Cnossen Sijbren 
Published: July 2021

AbstractIt is widely agreed that in countries without major constraints on administrative capacity, a value-added tax (VAT) should tax all goods and services at a uniform rate. In these countries, VAT’s C-efficiency, that is, actual revenue over potential revenue, should be one if compliance is perfect. Under this approach, VAT’s C-inefficiency—the aggregate of the policy gap (exemptions, reduced rates, thresholds) and the compliance gap (revenue shortfalls due to laps in compliance and implementation)—is treated as a residual. This contribution shows that calculating VAT’s C-inefficiency independently of its C-efficiency produces a more telling benchmark, particularly of the policy gap. This is illustrated by an analysis of the revenues of the Dutch VAT, which, given the common VAT directive, should be representative of the VATs in other European Union Member States. The large policy gap, hovering around 0.50, forms the background for exploring three options to improve VAT’s performance: reforming the common directive, ceding VAT design to Member States, and introducing a common modern VAT which can be piggybacked by Member States.
Enhancing methane production from the invasive macroalga Rugulopteryx okamurae through anaerobic co-digestion with olive mill solid waste: process performance and kinetic analysis
Authors: de la Lama-Calvente D. , Fernández-Rodríguez M. J. , Llanos J. , Mancilla-Leytón J. M. , Borja R. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThe biomass valorisation of the invasive brown alga Rugulopteryx okamurae (Dictyotales, Phaeophyceae) is key to curbing the expansion of this invasive macroalga which is generating tonnes of biomass on southern Spain beaches. As a feasible alternative for the biomass management, anaerobic co-digestion is proposed in this study. Although the anaerobic digestion of macroalgae barely produced 177 mL of CH4 g−1 VS, the co-digestion with a C-rich substrate, such as the olive mill solid waste (OMSW, the main waste derived from the two-phase olive oil manufacturing process), improved the anaerobic digestion process. The mixture improved not only the methane yield, but also its biodegradability. The highest biodegradability was found in the mixture 1 R. okamurae—1 OMSW, which improved the biodegradability of the macroalgae by 12.9% and 38.1% for the OMSW. The highest methane yield was observed for the mixture 1 R. okamurae—3 OMSW, improving the methane production of macroalgae alone by 157% and the OMSW methane production by 8.6%. Two mathematical models were used to fit the experimental data of methane production time with the aim of assessing the processes and obtaining the kinetic constants of the anaerobic co-digestion of different combination of R. okamurae and OMSW and both substrates independently. First-order kinetic and the transference function models allowed for appropriately fitting the experimental results of methane production with digestion time. The specific rate constant, k (first-order model) for the mixture 1 R. okamurae- 1.5 OMSW, was 5.1 and 1.3 times higher than that obtained for the mono-digestion of single OMSW and the macroalga, respectively. In the same way, the transference function model revealed that the maximum methane production rate (Rmax) was also found for the mixture 1 R. okamurae—1.5 OMSW (30.4 mL CH4 g−1 VS day−1), which was 1.6 and 2.2 times higher than the corresponding to the mono-digestions of the single OMSW and sole R. okamurae (18.9 and 13.6 mL CH4 g−1 VS day−1), respectively.
Oxidation Behavior of Alx(CoCrFeNi)100-x High-Entropy Alloys Under Thermal-Cycling Conditions
Authors: Dąbrowa J. , Cieślak G. , Stygar M. , Zajusz M. , Jawańska M. , Gil A. , Jedliński J. , Mroczka K. , Matsuda K. , Kulik T. , Danielewski M. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThe oxidation behavior of five different high-entropy alloys from the Al–Co–Cr–Fe–Ni metallic system, namely Alx(CoCrFeNi)100-x (x = 0; 3; 6; 9; 12), was studied under thermal-cycling conditions, at 1273 K in air atmosphere. The choice of selected compositions allowed for covering the chromia-to-alumina former transition, as well as the transition from the FCC single-phase solid solution structure to multiphase alloys with Al-enriched B2-structured constituent. The measurements were taken for 500 cycles (1 cycle - 1 h of heating, 20 min of cooling). The results indicate a profound influence of the thermal-cycling conditions on the oxidation products, with extremely complex scale structures and extensive internal oxidation and nitridation zones, as well as severe spallation of the oxide scale in most cases, showing the limited usefulness of these alloys for high-temperature applications at the current stage of their development.