bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The social and emotional effects of bullying on learners in learning institutions in South Africa
Authors: Sekgobela Tumelo , Malesa Kgashane Johannes 
Published: August 2024

Bullying is a significant concern for learners in South African educational institutions, and it requires immediate attention and intervention from interested parties, such as social workers. This form of violence is prevalent during the school years and involves aggressive behaviour towards victims. The phenomenon of bullying attracts local and global interest from social scientists, who use it as a term to describe its social and emotional effects. The concept is associated with mental health problems, a decline in school performance, school dropout, contemplation of suicide, suicide, and other complex social problems. Social workers are well-versed in the concept of bullying due to their involvement with the issue. The study utilized qualitative research, employing purposive sampling, and thematic analysis to analyze data from a sample of 21 social workers linked to schools. The research design employed was exploratory in nature. The study utilized face-to-face, semi-structured interviews as a means of data collection, with an interview guide serving as the instrument. Prior to collecting data, the researcher obtained permission from participants and sought their consent for audio-recording. Ethical considerations, such as informed consent, debriefing, beneficence, confidentiality, and avoiding harm, were closely followed. The study drew on two theoretical frameworks, namely the ecological and strength-based approaches.

Keywork: Bullying, effects, emotional, learning, social, social workers.
Leveraging on indigenous knowledge systems for leadership development in young men: Discernable lessons from Ulwaluko amongst Xhosa speakers.
Authors: Gqeba Nokuzola 
Published: August 2024

Ulwaluko or Traditional Male Circumcision is an old African practice that has survived years of criticism and attenuation of Western civilization through religion and education. With the growing Western influence on the continent, there is mounting questioning of the virtues of ulwaluko in some circles even amongst Africans themselves. Proponents of ulwaluko see the ritual as a potent tool for leadership development amongst young men. By adopting a qualitative research design, the authors collected data by interviewing young men who recently performed the ritual. Adopting a phenomenological approach helped the author understand the lived experiences of the target group. The researcher found that over time, there have been influences that sought to weaken and derail the intended objectives of ulwaluko. The researcher also found that leadership development has always been and continues to be integral to the ritual. The recommendations from the study are that the custodians of African cultural beliefs, customs, and values should reclaim their scope of influence and dominance on cultural practices. Greater awareness also needs to be created of the virtues of ulwaluko particularly amongst the younger generations. The author concludes that ulwaluko still plays a pivotal and prominent role in leadership development amongst young African males and that its benefits cannot be undermined.
Midwives’ descriptions of policies on access to maternity health services in North West Province, South Africa
Authors: Tukisi Kagiso Prince 
Published: August 2024

The study sought to explore and describe the various policies regarding access to Maternity health care services in the North West Province, South Africa, through the lens of midwives. Legal and ethical frameworks guide maternity healthcare services to ensure such a service's quality, safety, and standardization. A qualitative, descriptive, explorative research design was followed. Nine purposefully sampled midwives participated in a one-on-one in-depth interview. Data were analyzed using Collaizi's descriptive method based on the emerging themes and categories. One overarching theme with six categories emerged from the data. From the overarching perspective, it was evident that midwives were dissatisfied with the ambiguity of various policies guiding patients' access to Maternity healthcare services. To a certain extent, the admission policy was inconsistent with the patient's rights and constitution of the land on access to health. The ambiguity of admission position led to uncontrolled movements of self-referred patients to clinical facilities. The ambiguity of the transfer policy contributed to challenges during interfacility transfers of referred patients from lower levels of care facilities and vice versa. In addition, the policy on escorts of patients was unspecific about the healthcare personnel required to escort complicated patients in transit, which caused care interruptions. The study findings highlight the Midwives' concerns regarding various policies of access to maternity health services, and the marked ineffectiveness of controlling patients' movement into facilities could be the reason for overcrowding, inadvertently causing a decline in the quality of maternity healthcare services. The study findings may alert policymakers to be cautious and ensure that policies are succinct and consistent with other related laws.
EARLY JURASSIC BENTHIC FORAMINIFERAL ECOLOGY FROM THE CENTRAL HIGH ATLAS MOUNTAINS, MOROCCO
Authors: FONVILLE TANNER , MARTINDALE ROWAN C. , STONE TRAVIS N. , SEPTFONTAINE MICHEL , BODIN STÉPHANE , KRENCKER FRANÇOIS-NICOLAS , KABIRI LAHCEN 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
The Central High Atlas Mountains of Morocco have an extensive record of Lower Jurassic deposits from the Tethyan Ocean. In the Amellago region, Ziz Valley, and Dadès Valley several fossilized reef outcrops preserve benthic foraminifera spanning the Pliensbachian and Toarcian stages. This study analyzes benthic foraminiferal assemblage changes across the bi-phased extinctions at the Pliensbachian/Toarcian boundary and the Jenkyns Event (also referred to as the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event). In Pliensbachian samples, assemblages with abundant Glomospira sp., Glomospirella sp., Siphovalvulina sp., Haurania deserta, Placopsilina sp., Mesoendothyra sp., and Everticyclammina praevirguliana are observed. Following both the Pliensbachian/Toarcian boundary event and the Jenkyns Event, benthic foraminiferal density, evenness, and species richness decreased, indicating these communities underwent ecologic stress; however, loss of diversity was most substantial between samples that pre-date and post-date the Jenkyns Event. Whereas the Pliensbachian/Toarcian boundary event coincides with the demise of the large benthic foraminifera Mesoendothyra sp. and Everticyclammina praevirguliana, the Jenkyns Event was detrimental for most clades of benthic foraminifera, including many small, resilient taxa. Based on the evidence provided, we suggest that the Pliensbachian/Toarcian boundary and the Jenkyns Event were distinct events, potentially caused by distinct environmental perturbations.
WITHDRAWN: A Multi-Graph Neural Networks Based on Dynamic Spatio-temporal for Urban Traffic Flows Prediction
Authors: Ali Ahmad , Zakarya Muhammad , Qazani Mohammad Reza Chalak , Khan Ayaz Ali , Ahmed Aftab , Al-Bahri Mahmood 
Published: August 2024

Abstract

The full text of this preprint has been withdrawn by the authors due to author disagreement with the posting of the preprint. Therefore, the authors do not wish this work to be cited as a reference. Questions should be directed to the corresponding author.
Insight into the Rutin Biosynthesis in the Unique Flavonol Synthesis Pathway of Tartary Buckwheat Based on the Enzymatic Functions of FLSs
Authors: Li Chenglei , Sun Jiayi , Shi Guanlan , Zhao Xuerong , Gu Jun , Shi Jiaqi , Ma Qihan , Zeng Daoping , Wang Tao , Tang Zizhong , Bu Tongliang , Chen Hui , Wu Huala , Wu Qi , Zhao Haixia , Wang An’hu 
Published: August 2024

Abstract

The flavonol biosynthesis branch generates the main flavonoids in Tartary buckwheat (TB), with rutin serving as a representative flavonol compound. Flavonol synthase (FLS) is a vital enzyme involved in this metabolic pathway. Out of the five known FLS genes in the TB genome, FtFLS1 is the only gene identified, while information about the remaining four genes is limited. In this study, we cloned the five FtFLS genes from TB and performed molecular identification. The results showed that FtFLS1-3 exhibit high homology and similar molecular characteristics, categorizing them as FLS-like enzymes, while FtFLS4 and FtFLS5 show a certain degree of similarity to other 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases. Further investigation revealed a significant correlation between expression of FtFLS1 and the rutin content during the flowering stage of TB (p < 0.05). The promoter sequences of FtFLS1-3 (PFtFLS1-3) displayed distinctive cis-elements, transcriptional activities, and expression patterns, exhibiting different sensitivities to cold, UV-B, and drought stresses. The overexpression of FtFLS1-3 in Arabidopsis led to a significant elevation in total flavonoid and rutin levels, providing evidence for the FLS activity of FtFLS1-3 in plants. The enzymatic analysis showed that the recombinant FtFLS1-3 were capable of catalyzing the formation of their respective products from dihydroflavanols. FtFLS1 exhibited a superior specific activity, Vmax and affinity for dihydroquercetin (DQ) in terms of enzyme catalytic characteristics compared to FtFLS2 and FtFLS3. In summary, our study establishes the FLS activity of FtFLS1-3 and suggests that the metabolic flow of the flavonol biosynthesis branch in TB involves the conversion from dihydrokaempferol (DK) to DQ and subsequently to quercetin (Q), ultimately glycosylated to rutin. In this process, FtFLS1 plays a predominant role.
Strategic Method to Enhancing the Formability of Nitinol Foils via Micro- Incremental Sheet Forming Processes and Evaluation of Structure – Property
Authors: Yoganjaneyulu Gunda , Perumal Vigneshwaran Soundararaja , Sivasankaran Subbarayan , Annamalai Bhaskar , Niranjan Thiruchinapalli 
Published: August 2024

Abstract

The Nitinol alloy foils were deformed incrementally using the Single point micro incremental forming (SPMIF), in which the foils are deformed with the help of a hemispherical end tool, where no specific die is required and the forming limits are more due to the local deformation. Micro incremental forming is much needed process to develop the miniature components. The present study reveals the formability and fracture behaviour of Nitinol alloy foils under the SPMIF process. The formability studies are carried out with the spindle speeds. At higher forming speeds the formability is more as compared to the lower spindle speeds due to the presence of shear strains during the incremental forming. The XRD analysis is carried out for the phase fractions. EBSD and TEM analysis is carried out for texture analysis and dislocation density. The fracture behaviour is investigated through the void coalescence method and the parameters of void coalescence such as void (L/W) ratio, void size (µm), d-factor and thickness of ligament (LT) are measured through the ImageJ software. The relation between spindle speed and void coalescence parameters is studied.
Effect of nitrogen application rate on its fate in “wheat-soil” under different fertility soil conditions
Authors: Ma Ruiqi , Changxuhong Xuhong , Wang Demei , Tao Zhiqiang , Wang Yanjie , Yang Yushuang , Zhao Guangcai 
Published: August 2024

Abstract

In order to study the nitrogen application rate in farmland with different fertility levels and the main destination and wheat absorption of N-fertilizer, to improve nitrogen use efficiency, three soils with different fertility levels were selected: chernozems soils (CS)、fluvo-aquic soils (FS) and rougi-limestone soils (RS), were used to study the effects of soil and nitrogen application rate on nitrogen fate of “wheat-soil” under the same ecological environment by isotope tracer technique in this experiment. The results showed that grain yield and nitrogen absorption of wheat in CS which with high fertility and nutrient content were significantly higher than that in FS and RS. Nitrogen fertilizer has a greater impact on the nitrogen content of FS and RS than on black soil. The ability of wheat to utilize residual fertilizer nitrogen in soil is less affected by the amount of nitrogen applied in the last season and is more affected by soil conditions, as CS > FS > RS. After planting two-season wheat, the proportion of nitrogen recovered by the wheat-soil is 37–68%, of which the nitrogen fixed by the soil accounts for 13–32% of the applied nitrogen. The average nitrogen loss of CS is 77.4 kg N·ha− 1, that of FS is 102.9 kg N·ha− 1 and that of RS is 153.1 kg N·ha− 1, indicating that the CS condition is conducive to the absorption of N-fertilizer by wheat, with the least nitrogen loss and the least impact on the environment. When nitrogen application rate from 120 kg·ha− 1 increased to 360 kg·ha− 1, the nitrogen loss rate increased by 6.58 percentage points, but the nitrogen loss increased from 51.5 kg·ha− 1 to 178.2 kg·ha− 1, and the impact on the environment increased significantly. Therefore, we should pay attention to improve soil fertility and structure, and select the appropriate amount of nitrogen according to the actual situation of soil, so as to realize the synergistic improvement of wheat yield and nitrogen utilization, reduce resource consumption and the impact of nitrogen fertilizer on the environment in wheat production.
Privacy-Preserving Distributed Learning: Collaborative Training on Principal Components and Orthogonal Projections of Datapoints
Authors: Huang Lu , Zou Beijia , Shan Dongjing 
Published: August 2024

Abstract

Data privacy has become a popular trend in deep learning, and improving model performance through collaborative training without sharing data is a promising area of research. This paper introduces a novel privacy-preserving learning approach that utilizes Pseudo-siamese networks and mutual knowledge distillation. The two branches are trained collaboratively without sharing private data based on contrast loss with knowledge distillation, allowing them to learn from each other's knowledge and improve their overall performance. During training, back-propagated gradients are found to be heavily influenced by the principal components of input data. To address this issue, an alternating iterative method is proposed for parameter updates in stochastic gradient descent, where both principal components and orthogonal projections of datapoints are used for model training alternatively. This learning approach can be easily extended to incorporate multiple distributed models, and optimizations are performed on two of them in a circular manner. Experiments on convolutional and Pseudo-siamese networks demonstrate that gradients for updating are dominated by principal component data, and the proposed approach can improve model performance without compromising privacy or sharing private data or parameters.
UVR prediction over Lagos Ibadan and New Richmond for Public Health and Renewable Energy Applications
Authors: OYEDOKUN Sherifdeen M. , OLATONA Gbadebo I. , Adisa Shuaib A. 
Published: August 2024

Abstract

Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a significant environmental factor influencing various biological and chemical processes, including photosynthesis in plants, vitamin D synthesis in humans, and microbial sterilization. However, excessive UVR exposure can lead to adverse effects such as skin cancer and DNA damage. This study applies the ARIMA (AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average) model to predict UVR levels over Lagos and Ibadan in Nigeria, and New Richmond in the United States, utilizing a 21-year dataset spanning from 2000 to 2020. By analysing the autocorrelation function (ACF) and partial autocorrelation function (PACF) with a significance level of 0.25, the stationarity and appropriate parameters for the ARIMA model were identified. The model is then used to predict daily UVR values for the last day of each month from January 2021 to December 2022. Results indicate that the ARIMA model effectively captures the temporal patterns in UVR data, with validation metrics such as RMSE, MAE, and MAPE confirming its predictive accuracy. This predictive capability can inform public health advisories, agricultural practices, and environmental management, emphasizing the need for ongoing monitoring and prediction of UVR levels to mitigate potential health risks.
Time-resolved surface-sensitive waveguide scattering microscopy of single extracellular vesicles reveals content and biomarker heterogeneity
Authors: Höök Fredrik , Parkkila Petteri , Sjöberg Mattias , Olsén Erik , Agnarsson Björn , Härkönen Kai , Impola Ulla , Laitinen Saara 
Published: August 2024

Abstract

Deciphering the extracellular vesicle (EV) heterogeneity is essential for understanding their biological functions and enhancing their utility in drug development and medical diagnostics. Here, we demonstrate the efficacy of label-free surface-based waveguide scattering microscopy, coupled with multiplexed fluorescence readout, for quantifying size, inner cargo concentration, and surface protein markers at the individual EV level. By modulating the optical contrast between EVs and the surrounding medium using membrane-permeable and -impermeable solutes, we identify subpopulations of low-cargo EVs and cell-specific markers for EVs derived from platelets and red blood cells. Time-resolved label-free antibody binding to single blood-derived EVs reveals variations in binding rates and facilitates the quantification of surface protein marker density. Additionally, we observe that the presence of tetraspanins, well-known EV markers, correlates with biomolecular content but not size. These findings highlight the crucial role of time-resolved surface-based quantitative EV analysis in complementing current methodologies, offering unparalleled insights into EV characterization.
Detecting latent gene-environment interaction when analyzing binary traits
Authors: Zhang Ziang , Lawless Jerald , Paterson Andrew , Sun Lei 
Published: August 2024

Abstract

In genome-wide association studies (GWAS), it is desirable to test for interactions (GxE) between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs,G's) and environmental variables (E's). However, directly accounting for interaction is often infeasible, because E is latent. For quantitative traits (Y) that are approximately normally distributed, it has been shown that indirect testing on GxE can be done by testing for heteroskedasticity of Y between genotypes. However, when traits are binary, the existing methodology based on testing the heteroskedasticity of the trait across genotypes cannot be generalized.
In this paper, we propose an approach to indirectly test GxE for binary traits based on the non-additive effect G, and subsequently propose a joint test that accounts for the main and interaction effects of each SNP during GWAS. We illustrate the statistical features including type-I-error control and power of the proposed method through extensive numerical studies. Applying our method to the UK Biobank dataset, we showcase the practical utility of the proposed method, revealing SNPs and genes with strong potential for latent interaction effects.
Analysis Of Selected Major Airlines’ Financial Performance And Sustainable Development Goals Investment Post COVID-19
Authors: Dube Kaitano 
Published: August 2024

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the airline sector, leading to loss of life and the closure of several airlines globally. Credit rating agencies downgraded most airlines due to a lack of business confidence. The pandemic also intensified the demand for sustainability in a struggling aviation tourism industry. As businesses recover from the pandemic, they face numerous challenges that further complicate the situation. This study examines the financial health and commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards, particularly from a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) perspective, of two major global airlines: Qatar Airways and Delta Air Lines. The focus of the study is on climate change action and pollution control. An in-depth analysis of financial, ESG, and Sustainability Reports for both airlines was carried out for this study. Data analysis employed content and thematic analysis. A thorough evaluation of critical financial metrics reveals that the airlines under study are recovering, with some metrics surpassing pre-pandemic levels from 2019. The study found that while there are concerns about airlines’ debt, the airlines are using the debt to acquire new-generation fuel-efficient aircraft. Moreover, the study found that the airlines are equally committed to addressing environmental challenges such as climate change and pollution. The airline industry is actively documenting its efforts in climate change mitigation and investing in socioeconomic SDGs, which indicates progress towards global welfare. The study recommends continuous efforts to address global challenges, strengthen the sector, and amplify its positive impact in addressing its negative aspects.
Cytotoxicity and antioxidant activities of bacteriocins extracted from novel marine lactic acid bacteria Lactococcus lactis NAN6399
Authors: Ameen Fatma A. , Soliman Mahmoud E. , Hammad Sherif F. , Hamadan Amira M. 
Published: August 2024

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxicity, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities of the bacteriocins produced by novel marine lactic acid bacteria, specifically Lactococcus lactis NAN6399, isolated from the Mediterranean Sea coast of Alexandria. Additionally, comprehensive sequencing, analyses, and protein identification of this bacteriocin was conducted. The results indicated that this isolate has a broad antimicrobial spectrum against the tested bacterial indicators. Bacteriocin purified from NAN6399 had a molecular weight of approximately 20 kDa and was designated as “lactococcin972”. Furthermore, cytotoxicity and antioxidant activities were conducted on bacteriocin by 3(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl),2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and Diphenyl picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method, respectively. The results showed that “lactococcin972” exhibited distinguished cytotoxic activity with inhibition rates of 80% against breast cancer (MCF-7) and 30% against lung cancer (A549). Additionally, “lactococcin972” exhibited reduction activity of 72% against DPPH. These findings suggest that lactococcin972 has significant potential as therapeutic agents due to their notable antimicrobial, cytotoxic, and antioxidant properties.