bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Bio‐based polyethylene masterbatch preparation and investigation of the effect of process conditions on pigment dispersion
Authors: Yücetürk Mert , Seydibeyoğlu M. Özgür 
Published: September 2024

AbstractAlthough the importance of bio‐polyethylene is increasing, academic research on the subject is still limited. The dispersion level of pigments and functional additives plays a crucial role in achieving the desired effect from polymer composites. This study investigates the effects of additives and process conditions on pigment dispersion in bio‐polyethylene masterbatches using four different factors and three different parameters by the Taguchi method. To achieve this, the relative colour strengths of extruder‐produced masterbatches were measured using a spectrophotometer, blown film samples were visually observed and filter pressure values were examined in a filter tester. The results were subjected to Taguchi analysis to determine which factors and parameters are important to the process and which can be neglected. The study identified the physical properties of the wax, extruder screw speed, barrel temperature and mixer time as the most effective factors on pigment dispersion, respectively. Micronised wax was found to be the most critical parameter among wax types, while mixer mixing time was found to be the least important. It was observed in all the experiments that the colour strength obtained from a constant pigment content in the masterbatches was improved by increasing the dispersion and reducing the number of agglomerated particles.
Cost, risk, landscape context, and potential treatments vary with biological value for conservation of declining grassland birds
Authors: Niemuth Neal D. , Barnes Kevin W. , Runia Travis J. , Iovanna Rich 
Published: September 2024

AbstractSpatially explicit models are an important component of systematic conservation planning, enabling the depiction of biodiversity metrics across landscapes and objective evaluation of candidate sites for conservation delivery. However, sites considered “best” for conservation are typically viewed from the standpoint of biological value and may not be the most effective or efficient when risk of habitat loss, cost of conservation, intended conservation treatments, and overall conservation strategy are considered. We evaluated risk of habitat loss, land cost, and landscape context for geographic areas harboring most‐dense to least‐dense population quartiles for 16 species of grassland birds in the US northern Great Plains. Differences in land cost, risk of grassland conversion, and landscape context among quartiles and species indicated that a minimum‐area strategy may be inefficient and even ineffective. Priority zones for western species were generally associated with lower agricultural land cost, more protected land, and landscape characteristics associated with intact grasslands; eastern species were generally associated with higher agricultural land cost, tillage probability, grass loss, cropland, development, forest, Conservation Reserve Program grasslands, and distance to grass. Our results indicate that addressing areas outside of population cores increases conservation options and may provide substantial benefits to portions of populations that are most vulnerable to habitat loss or other stressors.
How Does Economic Policy Uncertainty Impact a Country's Position in Global Value Chains?
Authors: Zhang Jiaxuan , Zhang Hongsheng , Shen Xuhang , Meng Bo 
Published: September 2024

AbstractEconomic globalization in the 21st century has been characterized by the rise and spread of global value chains (GVCs). It faces significant challenges due to increasing domestic and international policy uncertainty in the context of emerging mega risks like geopolitical tensions and climate change. This paper begins by constructing a theoretical model for an open economy to study how risk‐averse firms make decisions regarding the sourcing of intermediate inputs in an uncertain environment. Our model solution proposes that firms will source fewer intermediate inputs from countries with more economic uncertainty. An increase in domestic and foreign uncertainty will have opposite impacts on a country's position in GVCs. In this sense, we argue that a country tends to move downstream along GVCs if its own economic policies become more uncertain, and it tends to move upstream with an increase in the uncertainty of its trading partner countries. Our regression analyses, based on data including the World Input–Output Database, World Development Indicators, the UN Comtrade database, and the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index, provide empirical support for this model‐based conclusion. Our findings highlight that a nation must consider foreign economic policy uncertainty and maintain domestic policy stability to participate in GVCs.
Diplomatic Relations and Investment Location of Chinese Multinationals: An International Political Economy Perspective
Authors: Quer Diego 
Published: September 2024

AbstractPast research has suggested that diplomacy can play a significant role as a mechanism to pave the way for multinational enterprises (MNEs) in foreign countries. Drawing on the international political economy perspective, this article analyzes the influence of the diplomatic activities of the Chinese government on the location of Chinese MNEs. It develops several hypotheses regarding the influence of three essential tools in the Chinese government's current diplomatic agenda: high‐level visits by the Chinese President, the establishment of Confucius Institutes, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The empirical analysis is based on a sample of 972 country–year observations from 2013 to 2021. The results show that high‐level government visits and Confucius Institutes positively impacted the location of China's outward foreign direct investments, with the effect being lower in BRI countries. The impact of Confucius Institutes was higher for state‐owned enterprises.
E‐commerce, Pandemic Shock, and the Survival of Small and Medium Enterprises
Authors: Cao Zengdong , Tu Qin , Williams Nichola Latoya 
Published: September 2024

AbstractThis study examines the impact of e‐commerce on the survival rate of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) during the COVID‐19 pandemic using a combined dataset from the Enterprise Survey for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in China for the period from 2018 to 2020. We conducted a difference‐in‐differences analysis by exploiting the variation in the adoption of e‐commerce across SMEs before and after the outbreak of COVID‐19. The results show that e‐commerce had a significantly positive effect on the survival rate of SMEs during the crisis. Specifically, it improved the survival rate of SMEs by 3.0 to 3.4 percentage points by expanding the scale of the enterprises' markets, mitigating declines in orders, shortening the repayment periods of accounts receivable, and improving cash flow during a pandemic. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact of e‐commerce was more pronounced for SMEs with a larger share of online sales and for labor‐intensive SMEs, and third‐party e‐commerce platforms or Web sites played a bigger role than self‐built Web sites and social media. This study offers novel evidence highlighting the value of digitalization for firms during the crisis.
Collateral Monetary Policy, Regional Financial Development, and Nonfinancial Firms' Shadow Banking Activities
Authors: Yuan Chao , Jiang Hai , Ren Jiawen , Kapitsinis Nikos 
Published: September 2024

AbstractThe disparity in credit access between large firms and small and medium‐sized enterprises contributes to the prevalence of shadow banking activities, where large, nonfinancial firms with high credit ratings have become new financial intermediaries. These activities vary geographically and are affected significantly by collateral monetary policy. This paper examines the effect of collateral monetary policy, its reform, and regional financial development characteristics on large firms' shadow banking activities, with a focus on the medium‐term lending facility (MLF), the primary collateral monetary policy instrument in China. The results indicate that the MLF encouraged large firms' shadow banking activity. However, the MLF reform in 2018 mitigated this effect by broadening the range of acceptable collateral. Regional financial development, such as a higher number of bank branches around firms, facilitated large firms' shadow banking activities and amplified the MLF's stimulating effect. In contrast, regional advancements in digital finance and market development limited both shadow banking activities and MLF's impact.
Quantifying Inter‐regional Trade Inequality of China's Cities Based on Environmental‐economic Benefits in Virtual Built‐up Land Flow
Authors: Wang Pengfei , Li Hongbo , Huang Zhenbin 
Published: September 2024

AbstractThe development of spatial interactions of land resources enhances virtual built‐up land flow, which contributes to China's inter‐regional trade inequality. Little is known about the degree of inequality among regions. This work seeks to estimate the degree of interregional trade inequality through environmental‐economic benefits. We combined a multiregional input–output model at the city level with a new classification to calculate the virtual built‐up land flow among cities and analyzed its implications for the regional economy and carbon balance. The results indicate that developed regions were the main beneficiaries of inter‐regional trade, as reflected in land‐use efficiency. China's economic hub has been progressively shifting southward, and the inter‐regional trade inequality has continuously increased. The flow of virtual service industry land among developed regions rose, while underdeveloped regions remained suppliers of raw materials, further increasing inter‐regional trade inequality.
Can we leverage botanical gardens to study global plant functional diversity?
Authors: Puglielli Giacomo 
Published: September 2024

AbstractBiodiversity is a multidimensional concept spanning the diversity of organismal form and function (functional diversity) together with taxonomic and genetic diversity. In the case of plants, botanical gardens have historically strived to preserve taxonomic diversity with a global scope. However, their success in preserving global functional diversity lacks testing. Given that living collections in botanical gardens span major global vegetation types and evolutionary histories, it is reasonable to expect that a species assemblage in a botanical garden is a representative random sample of global vegetation. In such a case, botanical gardens should contain global functional diversity. Testing for this could elect botanical gardens as laboratories for studying global plant functional diversity, providing a much‐needed alternative in the way we study global patterns of this diversity facet.
Gender and Active Citizenship in Tanzanian Teacher Education: Curriculum Analysis and Student Teachers' Reflections
Authors: Massao Prisca Bruno , Sheshe Bahiya Abdi , Mkenda Theresia Bonifasi 
Published: September 2024

ABSTRACTActive citizenship is core to social justice for both women and men. This paper explores how gender and active citizenship are addressed in teacher education training programmes in Tanzania. We applied qualitative methods in analysing two teacher education institutions' curricula documents and conducted thee focus group discussions with final year teacher student teachers. Our review of the curricula focused on (1) the course names, (2) course aims, (3) learning outcomes, (4) teaching/learning contents or (5) reading lists. This was supported by the findings from focus group discussions. The findings show that, although both gender and active citizenship were incorporated in the existing teacher's education curricula in Tanzania, the weight given to these topics were marginal. We argue that more content in combination with contextualised and gender‐responsive teaching and learning resources or materials could give student teachers better competence necessary for linking knowledge they get with everyday gender and citizenship challenges in Tanzanian schools and their communities.
Using Interdisciplinary Approach in Business English Courses for China's English Majors
Authors: Xie Qing 
Published: September 2024

ABSTRACTThis study reports an empirical case study about using interdisciplinary approach in business English courses with 41 English majors in the Chinese university context. The methodologies are two‐stage surveys, teacher reflection and participant observation. The results show that participants most preferred using specialist vocabulary and cross‐cultural business communication as learning activities in using interdisciplinary approach. The challenges and difficulties in interdisciplinary learning included lack of professional vocabulary, business or interdisciplinary knowledge, business thinking skills and inadequate language skills. A majority of the participants perceived the interdisciplinary approach as effective, as they had improvements in business language, knowledge, communication and English ability. For improving and refining the interdisciplinary approach, participants suggested more practical and detailed business knowledge, practice‐based activities, oral simulation and role‐play activities, more detailed guidance and feedback in the writing tasks, more business cases with interesting videos, increasing Chinese native language explanation and producing a business English language corpus.
Quantifying hubness to predict surgical outcomes in epilepsy: Assessing resection‐hub alignment in interictal intracranial EEG networks
Authors: Gong Ruxue , Roth Rebecca W. , Hull Kaitlyn , Rashid Haris , Vandergrift William A. , Parashos Alexandra , Sinha Nishant , Davis Kathryn A. , Bonilha Leonardo , Gleichgerrcht Ezequiel 
Published: September 2024

AbstractObjectiveIntracranial EEG can identify epilepsy‐related networks in patients with focal epilepsy; however, the association between network organization and post‐surgical seizure outcomes remains unclear. Hubness serves as a critical metric to assess network organization by identifying brain regions that are highly influential to other regions. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that favorable post‐operative seizure outcomes are associated with the surgical removal of interictal network hubs, measured by the novel metric “Resection‐Hub Alignment Degree (RHAD).”MethodsWe analyzed Phase II interictal intracranial EEG from 69 patients with epilepsy who were seizure‐free (n = 45) and non–seizure‐free (n = 24) 1 year post‐operatively. Connectivity matrices were constructed from intracranial EEG recordings using imaginary coherence in various frequency bands, and centrality metrics were applied to identify network hubs. The RHAD metric quantified the congruence between hubs and resected/ablated areas. We used a logistic regression model, incorporating other clinical factors, and evaluated the association of this alignment regarding post‐surgical seizure outcomes.ResultsThere was a significant difference in RHAD in fast gamma (80–200 Hz) interictal network between patients with favorable and unfavorable surgical outcomes (p = .025). This finding remained similar across network definitions (i.e., channel‐based or region‐based network) and centrality measurements (Eigenvector, Closeness, and PageRank). The alignment between surgically removed areas and other commonly used clinical quantitative measures (seizure‐onset zone, irritative zone, high‐frequency oscillations zone) did not reveal significant differences in post‐operative outcomes. This finding suggests that the hubness measurement may offer better predictive performance and finer‐grained network analysis. In addition, the RHAD metric showed explanatory validity both alone (area under the curve [AUC] = .66) and in combination with surgical therapy type (resection vs ablation, AUC = .71).SignificanceOur findings underscore the role of network hub surgical removal, measured through the RHAD metric of interictal intracranial EEG high gamma networks, in enhancing our understanding of seizure outcomes in epilepsy surgery.
Noseband type and tightness level affect pressure on the horse's face at trot
Authors: MacKechnie‐Guire Russell , Murray Rachel , Williams Jane M. , Nixon Jane , Fisher Mark , Fisher Diane , Walker Vicki , Clayton Hilary M. 
Published: September 2024

AbstractBackgroundPoor noseband adjustment could create high pressures that may risk pain or tissue damage.ObjectivesTo quantify sub‐noseband pressures dorsally over the nasal bone and ventrally over the mandibular rami for a Cavesson, Swedish (crank), Drop and Flash noseband at five tightness levels (2.0 to 0.0 finger equivalents).Study designIn vivo experiments.MethodsEight high‐level dressage horses were ridden at the trot in a straight line by their usual riders. Two small pressure mats, attached to the noseband over the nasal bone and the mandibular rami, collected force (N) and pressure (kPa) data from four noseband types (Cavesson/Swedish/Flash/Drop) each adjusted to five tightness levels (2.0/1.5/1.0/0.5/0.0 finger equivalents) based on the use of a taper gauge. Noseband tightness and types were compared using Friedman's analyses with post hoc Wilcoxon tests (p ≤ 0.01).ResultsPressures (median and [25th and 75th percentiles]) and forces increased with tightness for all noseband types with higher mean pressures consistently recorded on the mandibles (Cavesson: 9.1 [5.0, 12.5] kPa, Swedish: 10.5 [6.3, 14.9] kPa, Flash: 8.0 [3.6, 15.2] kPa) than the nasal bones (Cavesson: 2.8 [1.1, 4.7] kPa, Swedish: 4.3 [3.1, 7.4] kPa, Flash: 4.9 [3.0, 7.3] kPa, p ≤ 0.002). None of the measured nasal pressures or forces differed significantly between tightness levels of 2.0 (1.6 [0.6, 3.6] kPa) and 1.5 fingers (2.9 [1.3, 4.1] kPa), but these values significantly increased from 1.0 (3.1 [1.5, 4.9] kPa), 0.5 (4.2 [2.3, 6.2] kPa), and 0.0 finger tightness (6.4 [3.8, 10.3] kPa) for most variables (p ≤ 0.004). No differences were found in mean/maximal nasal and mandibular pressures when fitted with a Cavesson or Swedish noseband.Main limitationsBehavioural and physiological parameters were not measured.ConclusionsNasal and mandibular pressures increased with noseband tightness, with 1.0 finger laxity or less associated with significantly and incrementally higher pressures than 1.5 or 2.0 finger tightness.
Identification of dietary factors that impact the gut microbiota associated with vitiligo: A Mendelian randomization study and meta‐analysis
Authors: Zhang Keyi , Jiang Ling , Fu Chuhan , Huang Jiangfeng , Wen Yaqing , Zhou Shu , Huang Jinhua , Chen Jing , Zeng Qinghai 
Published: September 2024

AbstractPrevious observational studies have suggested that gut microbiota might be associated with vitiligo. However, owing to the limitations in observational studies of reverse causality and confounders, it remains unclear that whether and how the causal relationships exist. The results suggested that pylum.Bacteroidetes, family.BacteroidalesS24.7, genus.LachnospiraceaeND3007, genus.Marvinbryantia are protective factors for vitiligo. Conversely, family.Lachnospiraceae, order.Burkholderiales, genus.Adlercreutzia, genus.Catenibacterium and genus.Lachnospira are risk factors for vitiligo. In addition, the causative connection between dietary factors and the gut microbiota associated with vitiligo was also investigated. The results revealed that ‘alcohol intake versus 10 years pervious’ results in a reduction in the abundance of genus.Lachnospiraceae ND3007 and family.BacteroidalesS24.7, bread intake leads to a reduction of genus.Marvinbryantia, ‘average weekly red wine intake’ is linked to a decrease in the abundance of order.Burkholderiales, tea intake is associated with an augmentation in the abundance of genus.Catenibacterium, salad/raw vegetable intake elevates the abundance of order.Burkholderiales. In summary, this Mendelian randomization study substantiates potential causal effects of gut microbiota on vitiligo. Modulating the gut microbiota through regulating dietary composition may be a novel strategy for preventing vitiligo.
Biodistribution of iron oxide tattoo pigment: An experimental murine study
Authors: Alsing Kasper Køhler , Johannesen Helle Hjorth , Hansen Rasmus Hvass , Mårtensson Nina Løth , Persson Daniel Pergament , Qvortrup Klaus , Wulf Hans Christian , Lerche Catharina Margrethe 
Published: September 2024

AbstractTattoo pigment is expected to migrate beyond the skin to regional lymph nodes and the liver. Modern tattoo ink commonly contains metals that may pose a clinical problem during MRI examinations. This study aimed to investigate the biodistribution of iron oxide pigment to internal organs in mice. Moreover, when exposed to a static magnetic field, we studied whether any reactions followed in the tattooed skin. Twenty‐seven hairless C3.Cg‐Hrhr/TifBomTac mice were included; 20 were tattooed with iron oxide ink in a rectangular 3 cm2 pattern; seven were controls. Ten of the tattooed mice were exposed to a 3 T MRI scanner's static magnetic field. Following euthanasia, evaluations of dissected organs involved MRI T2*‐mapping, light microscopy (LM) and metal analysis. T2*‐mapping measures the relaxation times of hydrogen nuclei in water and fat, which may be affected by neighbouring ferrimagnetic particles, thus enabling the detection of iron oxide particles in organs. Elemental analysis detected a significant level of metals in the tattooed skin compared to controls, but no skin reactions occurred when exposed to a 3 T static magnetic field. No disparity was observed in the liver samples with metal analysis. T2* mapping found no significant difference between the two groups. Only minute clusters of pigment particles were observed in the liver by LM. Our results demonstrate a minimal systemic distribution of the iron oxide pigments to the liver, whereas the kidney and brain were unaffected. The static magnetic field did not trigger skin reactions in magnetic tattoos but may induce image artefacts during MRI.
What's in a name: the multifaceted function of DNA‐ and RNA‐binding proteins in T cell responses
Authors: Bresser Kaspar , Popović Branka , Wolkers Monika C. 
Published: September 2024

Cellular differentiation allows cells to transition between different functional states and adapt to various environmental cues. The diversity and plasticity of this process is beautifully exemplified by T cells responding to pathogens, which undergo highly specialized differentiation tailored to the ongoing infection. Such antigen‐induced T cell differentiation is regulated at the transcriptional level by DNA‐binding proteins and at the post‐transcriptional level by RNA‐binding proteins. Although traditionally defined as separate protein classes, a growing body of evidence indicates an overlap between these two groups of proteins, collectively coined DNA/RNA‐binding proteins (DRBPs). In this review, we describe how DRBPs might bind both DNA and RNA, discuss the putative functional relevance of this dual binding, and provide an exploratory analysis into characteristics that are associated with DRBPs. To exemplify the significance of DRBPs in T cell biology, we detail the activity of several established and putative DRBPs during the T cell response. Finally, we highlight several methodologies that allow untangling of the distinct functionalities of DRBPs at the DNA and RNA level, including key considerations to take into account when applying such methods.