bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Improvement of the properties of nanocellulose suspensions and films by the presence of residual lignin
Authors: Almeida Ricardo O. , Ramos Ana , Kimiaei Erfan , Österberg Monika , Maloney Thaddeus C. , Gamelas José A. F. 
Published: November 2024

AbstractThe effect of lignin on several properties of nanocellulose suspensions and films, such as degree of mechanical fibrillation, optical transparency, and gas barrier properties is still a matter of study. In the present work, it was investigated the influence of residual lignin on the efficiency of cationization and enzymatic pretreatments to produce lignin-containing nanocelluloses (LCNFs) from unbleached kraft pulps, and, on the properties (mechanical, gas barrier, transparency, antioxidant activity and thermal stability) of the corresponding films. The overall efficiency of the pretreatments was not negatively affected by the presence of lignin (3–4 wt%) in the starting pulps, as measured by the degree of fibrillation, degree of polymerization of cellulose, optical transmittance, and cationic group content (cationization). On the contrary, lignin could even enhance the mechanical fibrillation and the optical transmittance (transparency) of the cationic and enzymatic LCNF suspensions compared to the reference lignin-free nanocelluloses (CNFs) prepared from bleached pulp. Lignin could also improve the optical transparency of the films, which is an important finding of the present work: 64.8% for LCNF-Cationic (-Cat) vs. 56.9% for CNF-Cat, and 74.5% for LCNF-Enzymatic (-Enz) vs. 64.5% for CNF-Enz. Moreover, films with lignin demonstrated higher antioxidant activity, UV-light absorption capacity, larger char residue, and even improved oxygen barrier compared to the analogous CNF films. A remarkable oxygen barrier performance was exhibited by the LCNF-Enz film (oxygen transmission rate below 2 cm3/m2.day). Overall, the presence of residual lignin in the cellulose micro/nanofibril production can improve some of the suspension and film properties, particularly the optical transparency.
Settling for a “good enough” school: contradictions of middle class reproduction in a small town in illiberal Hungary
Authors: Szőke Alexandra , Kovai Cecília , Geambașu Réka 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
The politics of the Orbán regime, in power in Hungary since 2010, are reshaping the possibilities for middle class reproduction and social mobility, as revealed through our analysis of parental dilemmas around school choice and future aspirations in a peripheral small town. As the main targets of re-industrialization and an important voter base for the regime, small towns are particularly relevant localities for studying the transformations of middle-class reproduction. Globally, anxieties over class reproduction pushes parents to invest more intensely in their children’s education, whereas increasingly worrying about the detrimental effects of related pressures on their child’s well-being. In small towns in the global semi-periphery, parental dilemmas around schooling appear in a particularly acute form due to the limited possibilities for social advancement, the high financial and emotional costs that mobility requires, and the racialised dimension of localised class relations. We contend that policies of the Orbán regime, such as the ‘churchification’ of education and the privileging of technical middle schools, have further reshaped local possibilities and routes of advancement. The tension between the pervasive promise of middle-class advancement through education and the locally rooted assessment of realistic employment possibilities exposes the contradictions of the current regime and helps to grasp the localised consequences of its socio-economic re-engineering. As in the studied context class is strongly racialised, we examine the strategies and dilemmas of middle class parents of the ethnic majority, and Roma parents who aspire to become middle class in a relational way, revealing how ethnicity further complicates middle class reproduction in Hungarian peripheral small towns.
Perceptions of Conditions that Characterize Projects as a Development Strategy: A Phenomenographical Study of Eleven Swedish Preschool Development Projects
Authors: Damber Ulla , Randevåg Lena 
Published: November 2024

AbstractThe present study focuses joint school and university development work in preschool-projects try to increase educational quality. The aim of this study was to explore perceived conditions and perceptions of projects among participants in development projects in eleven preschools. In addition, we were interested in the perceived outcomes of the projects. All projects were aimed at strengthening the preschool principal’s and staff’s competence regarding children’s language and emergent literacy development. The studied projects lasted up to three years. The results are based on phenomenographical analyses of thirteen focus group interviews with principals and staff, including eighty-eight participants, during the project period. Follow-up interviews were conducted with twenty-four representatives from the participating preschools one year after the closure of the projects. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Field notes from visits in the preschools contributed to the empirical material. Our findings indicate that the perceptions of a project, contributed to the understanding of a project as loaded with expectations that the development project is limited in time and that it will add extra-curricular work demanding extra resources, which led to the perception that when the project is over, development work is over. The word project, thus, per se functioned as a limiting factor, if on-going development work, was aimed for. Lack of anchoring the development work in the local context was perceived as problematic, with effects for the participants’ experience of agency. Furthermore, difficulties in managing large staff turnover during the project was perceived to cause the development work to come to a stand-still. Active leadership, and shared responsibility were perceived as favorable factors for the progress of the development work. Our conclusions encompass participants’ perceptions of adjustment to the local context, shared responsibility and seeing development work as exceeding time limits as vital components of successful development work.
How do ML practitioners perceive explainability? an interview study of practices and challenges
Authors: Habiba Umm-e- , Habib Mohammad Kasra , Bogner Justus , Fritzsch Jonas , Wagner Stefan 
Published: November 2024

AbstractExplainable artificial intelligence (XAI) is a field of study that focuses on the development process of AI-based systems while making their decision-making processes understandable and transparent for users. Research already identified explainability as an emerging requirement for AI-based systems that use machine learning (ML) techniques. However, there is a notable absence of studies investigating how ML practitioners perceive the concept of explainability, the challenges they encounter, and the potential trade-offs with other quality attributes. In this study, we want to discover how practitioners define explainability for AI-based systems and what challenges they encounter in making them explainable. Furthermore, we explore how explainability interacts with other quality attributes. To this end, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 ML practitioners from 11 companies. Our study reveals diverse viewpoints on explainability and applied practices. Results suggest that the importance of explainability lies in enhancing transparency, refining models, and mitigating bias. Methods like SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) and Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanation (LIME) are frequently used by ML practitioners to understand how models work, while tailored approaches are typically adopted to meet the specific requirements of stakeholders. Moreover, we have discerned emerging challenges in eight categories. Issues such as effective communication with non-technical stakeholders and the absence of standardized approaches are frequently stated as recurring hurdles. We contextualize these findings in terms of requirements engineering and conclude that industry currently lacks a standardized framework to address arising explainability needs.
Exploring carbon neutrality scenarios through the life cycle assessment lens: a review of literature and methodological challenges
Authors: Caiardi Fanny , Azzaro-Pantel Catherine , Le-Boulch Denis 
Published: November 2024

AbstractNational carbon neutrality scenarios usually focus on territorial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Their implementation could thus possibly result in some impact transfers to life cycle steps outside the territory or to other environmental issues. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) could help to assess comprehensively these scenarios. In this perspective, this article provides a comprehensive review of the current state of the art regarding the combination of LCA and carbon neutrality. An analysis of the identified articles covers general characteristics and methods, including the definition of carbon neutrality, the functions and boundaries of LCA, the life cycle inventory, the impact assessment, and the choices of LCA modelling. The findings indicate an increasing interest in the environmental assessment of decarbonisation options, particularly in energy transition scenarios. However, carbon neutrality strategies extend beyond energy transformation alone. They require modifications in agriculture, industrial processes, and waste treatment, among other sectors. According to the evidence collected from this research, there are very few articles that incorporate LCA within a national carbon neutrality strategy, encompassing all GHG-emitting sectors. Valuable insights can be gleaned from the identified publications that evaluate complex systems with LCA, such as policies, scenarios, cities, and other macroscopic objects, relying on advanced LCA methodologies. Some challenges are still to be found, and future work will focus on the application of LCA to a specific national scenario aiming at reaching carbon neutrality on a territory for 2050.
Dynamic pricing with multiple consumers and alternating offers under retailer competition: theory and experiment
Authors: Rapoport Amnon , Gisches Eyran J. , Mak Vincent , Zwick Rami 
Published: November 2024

AbstractWe introduce and test a stylized model of dynamic pricing under duopolistic competition. In our model, a consumer receives alternating price offers between two retailers over an indefinite number of periods so that the game or “season” terminates with a fixed probability after each period. The two retailers do not know the valuation of the consumer for the good they are competing to sell to the consumer, but they have common knowledge about the probability distribution of the valuation. Our equilibrium analysis suggests that price offers decrease exponentially across periods over the season. Moreover, when there are multiple consumers in the game, as long as their valuations are ex ante independently and identically distributed, the equilibrium predictions are the same regardless of the number of consumers. An experiment on the model showed that subjects acting as retailers often overpriced relative to equilibrium predictions. In addition, the theoretical invariance with respect to the number of consumers did not hold: consumers seemed to be more prone to strategic waiting in the first period of the season when there were multiple consumers (compared with when there was only a single consumer), leading to a decrease in the per-consumer payoff of the retailer who made the price offer in the first period and a corresponding increase in per-consumer payoff of the other retailer. There is also evidence of within-session evolution that led to lower retailer prices that were closer to equilibrium predictions, and higher tendency for consumer strategic waiting, as the session progressed.
Weight Stigma in the Development, Maintenance, and Treatment of Eating Disorders: A Case Series Informing Implications for Research and Practice
Authors: Kramer Rachel , Drury Catherine R. , Forsberg Sarah , Bruett Lindsey D. , Reilly Erin E. , Gorrell Sasha , Singh Simar , Hail Lisa , Yu Kimberly , Radin Rachel M. , Keyser Jessica , Le Grange Daniel , Accurso Erin C. , Huryk Kathryn M. 
Published: November 2024

AbstractWeight-centric health practices are based on the principle that excess weight predicts chronic disease, informing a growing sociopolitical movement to address an “obesity epidemic.” This hyper-focus on preventing obesity may contribute to weight stigma (i.e., the devaluation and discrimination of individuals based on body size) and other iatrogenic outcomes for youth, including the development and maintenance of eating disorders (EDs). Current evidence-based treatments for EDs include language and practices that may reinforce fears of fatness, body shame, and unhealthy dietary restriction without guidance on addressing weight stigma. Here, we present case examples from three adolescent patients across ED presentations and body sizes to (1) elucidate the role of weight stigma in ED development, (2) highlight the ubiquity and harms of weight stigma within ED treatments, and (3) outline thoughtful protocol adaptations to avoid further harm and facilitate recovery. We conclude with a call for immediate action to advance research characterizing the harms of weight-centric approaches in existing ED interventions to reduce the risk of iatrogenic effects on youth with EDs and advance weight-inclusive approaches to ED treatment.
Micromechanical testing and microstructure analysis of as-welded and post-weld heat-treated Ti-6Al-4V alloy
Authors: Lu Yu , Turner Richard , Fang Chizhou , Wang Feng , Brooks Jeffery , Cai Biao , Basoalto Hector 
Published: November 2024

AbstractThe microstructural evolutions and variations in mechanical performance of electron beam welded (EBW) Ti-6Al-4V (Ti64) alloy have been investigated. The effects of heat treatment on the microstructure of welded samples have been studied after post-welding solution treatment and ageing. The martensitic phase $${\alpha }{\prime}$$

α
′

has been confirmed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) has been used to investigate the phase and grain morphology. Results showed that the martensitic α′ phase coarsened, the size of heat-affected zone (HAZ) changed and grains in the base materials (BMs) had grown after the post-weld heat treatments (PWHT). The tensile behaviour of electron beam welded Ti64 has been investigated using in situ tensile testing monitored by optical microscopy. The deformation and failure were directly revealed during the in situ tensile process. Results showed that the EBW Ti64 samples have different failure locations after receiving different post-weld heat treatments. The relationship between the post-weld heat treatments, microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of EBW Ti64 were investigated. Thermodynamic databases were used to predict mechanical properties—including the yield strengths—of the titanium alloy for different grain sizes, representing different post-weld heat treatment operations, and these were embedded into a finite element modelling framework to simulate the tensile testing specimens to understand the mechanical fields experienced such as stresses and strains, just prior to failure.
Influence of oxygen impurities in generating ferromagnetism in GaN doped with Mn, Fe, and Cr
Authors: Mendoza-Rodarte Jonathan A. , Maestre David , Camacho-López Santiago , Guimarães Marcos H. D. , Guerrero-Sánchez Jonathan , Herrera-Zaldivar Manuel 
Published: November 2024

AbstractWe report the influence of oxygen impurities in generating ferromagnetism in GaN doped with Mn, Fe, and Cr through superexchange involving Mn–O–Mn, Fe–O–Fe, and Cr–N–Cr atomic configurations. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations demonstrated that these configurations originate within $${V}_{\text{Ga}}-{O}_{\text{N}}$$

V
Ga

-

O
N

complex defects by incorporating Mn2+, Fe2+, and Cr3+ ions into gallium vacancies ($${V}_{\text{Ga}}$$

V
Ga

) sites promoted by the presence of oxygen as a substitutional impurity ($${O}_{\text{N}}$$

O
N

). These co-doped GaN microstructures were synthesized using the thermal evaporation method. Cathodoluminescence (CL) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements confirmed the presence of $${V}_{\text{Ga}}-{O}_{\text{N}}$$

V
Ga

-

O
N

complex defects in all GaN-grown samples. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements confirmed the successful incorporation of Mn2+, Fe2+, and Cr3+ ions in GaN samples. SQUID measurements demonstrated room-temperature ferromagnetism with respective saturation magnetization (Ms) and coercive field (Hc) values of ± 1.5 × 10−5 emu and 4 mT for GaN:O,Mn, ± 4.4 × 10−5 emu and 2.6 mT for GaN:O,Fe, and ± 1.7 × 10−5 emu and 2.6 mT for GaN:O,Cr.
Remediation of uranium with treated neem (Azadirachta indica) bark from environmental waters
Authors: Kumar G. Kiran , Sounderajan Suvarna , Kumar Sanjukta A. 
Published: November 2024

AbstractUse of biomaterials is cost-effective and eco-friendly process with minimal waste generation, making it a sustainable alternative for metal remediation.The present study emphasizes the remediation of uranium using treated neem bark (TNB). TNB has been investigated for uranium sorption and parameters, such as pH, initial uranium concentration, equilibration time and temperature were optimized. The experimental results were evaluated for sorption kinetics and mechanism. It follows a pseudo second-order kinetics and Langmuir model of isotherm indicating monolayer sorption. The maximum sorption capacity at a pH 7.0 and temperature 27 °C for the remediation of uranium using TNB was 10.42 mg g−1.
What is “Dialogue” in Public Engagement with Science and Technology? Bridging STS and Deliberative Democracy
Authors: Goñi Julian Iñaki 
Published: November 2024

AbstractThis article provides a narrative review on the concept of dialogue within STS and Deliberative Democracy academic literature. Through this review I find that dialogue has been used in unsystematic, conflicting and sometimes even misleading ways that conflate dialogue and deliberation. Dialogue is used flexibly as an epistemological standpoint, an interactional format, a tradition and format of public engagement, an interactional phenomenon and an idealised moment. I provide a characterisation and theorisation of dialogue that seeks to integrate critical and historical accounts of dialogue, while introducing analytical dimensions that can be leveraged for further research. By bridging STS and Deliberative Democracy, I advance a definition of dialogue as a public technology.
Inhibitory Potential of the Truncated Isoforms on Glutamate Transporter Oligomerization Identified by Computational Analysis of Gene-Centric Isoform Maps
Authors: Karagöl Alper , Karagöl Taner , Li Mengke , Zhang Shuguang 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
Objective
Glutamate transporters play a key role in central nervous system physiology by maintaining excitatory neurotransmitter homeostasis. Biological assemblies of the transporters, consisting of cyclic homotrimers, emerge as a crucial aspect of glutamate transporter modulation. Hence targeting heteromerization promises an effective approach for modulator design. On the other hand, the dynamic nature of transcription allows for the generation of transporter isoforms in structurally distinct manners.

Methods
The potential isoforms were identified through the analysis of computationally generated gene-centric isoform maps. The conserved features of isoform sequences were revealed by computational chemistry methods and subsequent structural analysis of AlphaFold2 predictions. Truncated isoforms were further subjected to a wide range of docking analyses, 50ns molecular dynamics simulations, and evolutionary coupling analyses.

Results
Energetic landscapes of isoform-canonical transporter complexes suggested an inhibitory potential of truncated isoforms on glutamate transporter bio-assembly. Moreover, isoforms that mimic the trimerization domain (in particular, TM2 helices) exhibited stronger interactions with canonical transporters, underscoring the role of transmembrane helices in isoform interactions. Additionally, self-assembly dynamics observed in truncated isoforms mimicking canonical TM5 helices indicate a potential protective role against unwanted interactions with canonical transporters.

Conclusion
Our computational studies on glutamate transporters offer insights into the roles of alternative splicing on protein interactions and identifies potential drug targets for physiological or pathological processes.
Expression interplay of genes coding for calcium-binding proteins and transcription factors during the osmotic phase provides insights on salt stress response mechanisms in bread wheat
Authors: Duarte-Delgado Diana , Vogt Inci , Dadshani Said , Léon Jens , Ballvora Agim 
Published: November 2024

AbstractBread wheat is an important crop for the human diet, but the increasing soil salinization is reducing the yield. The Ca2+ signaling events at the early stages of the osmotic phase of salt stress are crucial for the acclimation response of the plants through the performance of calcium-sensing proteins, which activate or repress transcription factors (TFs) that affect the expression of downstream genes. Physiological, genetic mapping, and transcriptomics studies performed with the contrasting genotypes Syn86 (synthetic, salt-susceptible) and Zentos (elite cultivar, salt-tolerant) were integrated to gain a comprehensive understanding of the salt stress response. The MACE (Massive Analysis of cDNA 3ʹ-Ends) based transcriptome analysis until 4 h after stress exposure revealed among the salt-responsive genes, the over-representation of genes coding for calcium-binding proteins. The functional and structural diversity within this category was studied and linked with the expression levels during the osmotic phase in the contrasting genotypes. The non-EF-hand category from calcium-binding proteins was found to be enriched for the susceptibility response. On the other side, the tolerant genotype was characterized by a faster and higher up-regulation of genes coding for proteins with EF-hand domain, such as RBOHD orthologs, and TF members. This study suggests that the interplay of calcium-binding proteins, WRKY, and AP2/ERF TF families in signaling pathways at the start of the osmotic phase can affect the expression of downstream genes. The identification of SNPs in promoter sequences and 3ʹ -UTR regions provides insights into the molecular mechanisms controlling the differential expression of these genes through differential transcription factor binding affinity or altered mRNA stability.