bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Stable isotope analysis in soil prospection reveals the type of historic land-use under contemporary temperate forests in Europe
Authors: Janovský Martin P. , Ferenczi Laszlo , Trubač Jakub , Klír Tomáš 
Published: June 2024

AbstractThe determination of δ13C and δ15N values is a common method in archaeological isotope analysis—in studying botanical and human remains, dietary practices, and less typically soils (to understand methods of agricultural cultivation, including fertilization). Stable isotope measurements are also commonly used in ecological studies to distinguish different ecosystems and to trace diachronic processes and biogeochemical mechanisms, however, the application of this method in geochemical prospection, for determining historic land-use impact, remains unexplored. The study at hand focuses on a deserted site of a Cistercian manor, dating from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. Isotopic measurements of anthropogenically influenced soils have been compared to approximately 400 archaeobotanical, soil, and sediment samples collected globally. The results reveal the potential of isotope measurements in soil to study the impact of past land use as isotope measurements identify specific types of agricultural activities, distinguishing crop production or grazing. δ13C and δ15N ratios also likely reflect fertilization practices and—in this case—the results indicate the presence of cereal cultivation (C3 cycle plants) and fertilization and that the site of the medieval manor was primarily used for grain production rather than animal husbandry.
ECAPA-TDNN based online discussion activity-level evaluation
Authors: Kang Hongbo , He Botao , Song Ruoyang , Wang Wenqing 
Published: June 2024

AbstractWith the continuous development and application of online interactive activities and network transmission technology, online interactive behaviors such as online discussion meetings and online teaching have become indispensable in people’s studies and work. However, the effectiveness of working with online discussions and feedback from participants on their conference performance has been a major concern, and this is the issue examined in this post. Based on the above issues, this paper designs an online discussion activity-level evaluation system based on voiceprint recognition technology. The application system developed in this project is divided into two parts; the first part is to segment the online discussion audio into multiple independent audio segments by audio segmentation technology and train the voiceprint recognition model to predict the speaker’s identity in each separate audio component. In the second part, we propose a linear normalized online meeting activity-level calculation model based on the modified main indexes by traversing and counting each participant’s speaking frequency and total speaking time as the main indexes for activity-level evaluation. To make the evaluation results more objective, reasonable, and distinguishable, the activity score of each participant is calculated, and each participant’s activity-level in the discussion meeting is derived by combining the fuzzy membership function. To test the system’s performance, we designed an experiment with 25 participants in an online discussion meeting, with two assistants manually recording the discussion and a host moderating the meeting. The results of the experiment showed that the system’s evaluation results matched those recorded by the two assistants. The system can fulfill the task of distinguishing the level of activity of participants in online discussions.
Modeling Al-Qaraqoul canal before and after rehabilitation using HEC-RAS
Authors: Zahran Sara , Gooda Essam A. , AbdelMeged Nesma 
Published: June 2024

AbstractThe Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation launched in 2020 the national project to rehabilitate the canals network to rationalize the use of water resources to face the scarcity problems. The aim of study is to evaluate the impact of canal rehabilitation on the performance of irrigation water delivered laterally to Mesqa’s and longitudinally to the end of canal. Qaraqoul Canal et al.-Mallah Area, Alexandria, Egypt, was modeled using Hydrologic Engineering Center's-River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) to simulate water levels in the canal before and after rehabilitation using four discharge scenarios: 1.82, 3.7, 2.2, 7.87 m3/s. The calibration before rehabilitation shows that HEC-RAS simulated water levels corresponding to a discharge of 2.2 m3/s were in a good agreement with the actual field measured water levels. HEC-RAS results demonstrated that rehabilitation hydraulically improved the efficiency and performance of water conveyed by the canal. On the other hand, second scenario can be considered as suitable to keep water to reach the canal downstream with minimum suitable discharge, providing the need of two emergency pumps at last two branch canals called Mesqa’s. An ideal cross-section is also simulated using HEC-RAS which produced an efficient alternative with 40% less cost than the constructed alternative.
Exploring minimum dietary diversity among cambodian children using four rounds of demographic and health survey
Authors: Singh Anjali , Rahut Dil B. , Sonobe Tetsushi 
Published: June 2024

AbstractDietary diversity among children is a crucial factor influencing their nutritional status; therefore, this paper uses data from four rounds of the Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS) to examine the minimum dietary diversity among children aged 6–23 months. Multilevel binary regression is used to evaluate the variation in minimum dietary diversity at the cluster and province levels. The results show that nearly half of Cambodian children consistently lacked access to vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables. Although the prevalence of inadequate minimum dietary diversity (MDD) among children significantly dropped from 76% in 2005 to 51% in 2021–2022, it is still high and needs attention. A decomposition analysis (Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition) was further used to understand the drivers of this temporal change in dietary diversity. The empirical results show that clusters represented the most significant source of geographic variation with respect to all eight food groups and MDD. Nutritional policy should improve education and awareness, reduce socio-economic disparities, leverage media, and promote full antenatal care to improve dietary diversity in Cambodia. Initiatives targeting the enhancement of insufficient minimum dietary diversity intake should encompass individual aspects and be customized to suit geographic and community settings.
Metagenomic and paleopathological analyses of a historic documented collection explore ancient dental calculus as a diagnostic tool
Authors: Austin Rita M. , Honap Tanvi P. , Mann Allison E. , Hübner Alexander , DeGaglia Cassandra M. S. , Warinner Christina , Zuckerman Molly K. , Hofman Courtney A. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractDental calculus is a microbial biofilm that contains biomolecules from oral commensals and pathogens, including those potentially related to cause of death (CoD). To assess the utility of calculus as a diagnostically informative substrate, in conjunction with paleopathological analysis, calculus samples from 39 individuals in the Smithsonian Institution’s Robert J. Terry Collection with CoDs of either syphilis or tuberculosis were assessed via shotgun metagenomic sequencing for the presence of Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) DNA. Paleopathological analysis revealed that frequencies of skeletal lesions associated with these diseases were partially inconsistent with diagnostic criteria. Although recovery of T. p. pallidum DNA from individuals with a syphilis CoD was elusive, MTBC DNA was identified in at least one individual with a tuberculosis CoD. The authenticity of MTBC DNA was confirmed using targeted quantitative PCR assays, MTBC genome enrichment, and in silico bioinformatic analyses; however, the lineage of the MTBC strain present could not be determined. Overall, our study highlights the utility of dental calculus for molecular detection of tuberculosis in the archaeological record and underscores the effect of museum preparation techniques and extensive handling on pathogen DNA preservation in skeletal collections.
Early environmental predictors for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their co-occurrence: The prospective ABIS-Study
Authors: Lebeña Andrea , Faresjö Åshild , Jones Michael P. , Bengtsson Felicia , Faresjö Tomas , Ludvigsson Johnny 
Published: June 2024

AbstractADHD and ASD are highly heritable and show a high co-occurrence and persistence into adulthood. This study aimed to identify pre and perinatal risk factors, and early psychosocial exposures related to later diagnosis of ADHD, ASD, and their co-occurrence. 16,365 children born 1997–1999 and their families, involved in the prospective population-based ABIS study (All Babies in Southeast Sweden), were included in this sub-study. Pre and perinatal factors and early environmental psychosocial exposures were collected from parental-questionnaires at birth and 1-year follow-up. Diagnoses from birth up to 23 years of age were obtained from the Swedish National Diagnosis Register in 2020. The cumulative incidence of ADHD, ASD, and their co-occurrence in the ABIS-cohort Study were 4.6%, 1.7%, and 1.1%, respectively. Being male was associated with an increased risk for ADHD, ASD, and their co-occurrence (aOR 1.30, 1.56, and 1.91, respectively), while higher household income reduced it (aOR 0.82, 0.73, and 0.64). Serious life events during pregnancy (aOR 1.40) and maternal smoking (aOR 1.51) increased the risk of ADHD, while older maternal age (aOR 0.96), higher parental education (aOR 0.72 maternal and aOR 0.74 paternal) and longer exclusive breastfeeding (aOR 0.72) reduced it. Non-Swedish paternal nationality (aOR 0.40) and higher maternal education (aOR 0.74) were associated with a lower risk of ASD, while a family history of autoimmune diseases increased the risk of the co-occurrence of both disorders (aOR 1.62). Obtained results suggest that the etiology of ADHD, ASD, and their co-occurrence is independently associated with environmental psychosocial predictors. The co-occurrence seems to overlap the etiology of ADHD, in which psychosocial determinants have a larger role, however, it is also independently influenced by a family history of autoimmune diseases.
Development of similar materials for fluid–solid coupling model testing and application in damage constitutive models
Authors: Ren Xu , Xu Guihong , Chen Ziwei , Ran Shixin , Zhang Jie 
Published: June 2024

AbstractIn order to provide suitable material selection for such fluid–solid coupling model tests, orthogonal experimental studies were conducted using iron concentrate powder and barite powder as aggregates, cement as cementitious materials, and gypsum and clay as modifiers. This research showed: (1) The ATC plays a dominant role in controlling the strength indexes and water absorption of the material, and these indexes show a significant decrease with the increase of the bone adhesive ratio. For each level of ATC increase, the compressive strength decreases by 0.2 MPa, the elastic modulus decreases by 10–20 MPa, and the cohesion decreases by 25–45 kPa. (2) Mixing gypsum and cement cannot jointly promote strength growth. (3) With the increase of GTC, the water absorption rate of the material increases, while the softening coefficient and permeability coefficient decrease obviously. Gypsum, which accounts for 4–16% of cement content, can be suitable for studying the hydraulic properties of similar materials for most sedimentary rock. Based on Weibull statistical damage theory, a damage constitutive model for the entire process of rock triaxial compression under the combined action of rainwater infiltration and load was established. Due to the influence of internal pores, the experimental and theoretical results have a certain deviation, the higher the confining pressure, the more obvious the deviation. In addition, the higher the rock strength, the less obvious the deviation caused by pores. This damage model can better describe the progressive failure process of rocks after rainwater infiltration, and can provide theoretical reference for the study of slope stability caused by rainwater infiltration.
Assessment of neuro-pulmonary crosstalk in asthmatic mice: effects of DiNP exposure on cellular respiration, mitochondrial oxidative status and apoptotic signaling
Authors: Kehinde Samuel Abiodun , Olajide Abosede Temitope , Ore Ayokanmi , Praveena Sarva Mangala , Ataya Farid S. , El-Gazzar Ahmed M. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractHuman health is becoming concerned about exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) emanating from plastic, such as phthalates, which are industrially employed as plasticizers in the manufacturing of plastic products. Due to some toxicity concerns, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) was replaced by diisononyl phthalate (DiNP). Recent data, however, highlights the potential of DiNP to interfere with the endocrine system and influence allergic responses. Asthma affects brain function through hypoxia, systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, and sleep disturbances and its effective management is crucial for maintaining respiratory and brain health. Therefore, in DiNP-induced asthmatic mice, this study investigated possible crosstalk between the lungs and the brain inducing perturbations in neural mitochondrial antioxidant status, inflammation biomarkers, energy metabolizing enzymes, and apoptotic indicators. To achieve this, twelve (n = 12, 20–30 g) male BALB/c mice were divided into two (2) experimental groups, each with five (6) mice. Mice in group II were subjected to 50 mg/kg body weight (BW) DiNP (Intraperitoneal and intranasal), while group I served as the control group for 24 days. The effects of DiNP on neural energy metabolizing enzymes (Hexokinase, Aldolase, NADase, Lactate dehydrogenase, Complex I, II, II & IV), biomarkers of inflammation (Nitric oxide, Myeloperoxidase), oxidative stress (malondialdehyde), antioxidants (catalase, glutathione-S-transferase, and reduced glutathione), oncogenic and apoptotic factors (p53, K-ras, Bcl, etc.), and brain histopathology were investigated. DiNP-induced asthmatic mice have significantly (p < 0.05) altered neural energy metabolizing capacities due to disruption of activities of enzymes of glycolytic and oxidative phosphorylation. Other responses include significant inflammation, oxidative distress, decreased antioxidant status, altered oncogenic-apoptotic factors level and neural degeneration (as shown in hematoxylin and eosin-stained brain sections) relative to control. Current findings suggest that neural histoarchitecture, energy metabolizing potentials, inflammation, oncogenic and apoptotic factors, and mitochondrial antioxidant status may be impaired and altered in DiNP-induced asthmatic mice suggesting a pivotal crosstalk between the two intricate organs (lungs and brain).
A practical approach for finding anti-debugging routines in the Arm-Linux using hardware tracing
Authors: Park Yeongung , Choi Seokwoo , Choi Un Yeong , Jin Haimin , Nor Nurul Harzira Mohamad , Park Yongsu 
Published: June 2024

AbstractAs IoT devices are being widely used, malicious code is increasingly appearing in Linux environments. Sophisticated Linux malware employs various evasive techniques to deter analysis. The embedded trace microcell (ETM) supported by modern Arm CPUs is a suitable hardware tracer for analyzing evasive malware because it is almost artifact-free and has negligible overhead. In this paper, we present an efficient method to automatically find debugger-detection routines using the ETM hardware tracer. The proposed scheme reconstructs the execution flow of the compiled binary code from ETM trace data. In addition, it automatically identifies and patches the debugger-detection routine by comparing two traces (with and without the debugger). The proposed method was implemented using the Ghidra plug-in program, which is one of the most widely used disassemblers. To verify its effectiveness, 15 debugger-detection techniques were investigated in the Arm-Linux environment to determine whether they could be detected. We also confirmed that our implementation works successfully for the popular malicious Mirai malware in Linux. Experiments were further conducted on 423 malware samples collected from the Internet, demonstrating that our implementation works well for real malware samples.
Cognitive functioning associated with acute and subacute effects of classic psychedelics and MDMA - a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Basedow Lukas A. , Majić Tomislav , Hafiz Nicklas Jakob , Algharably Engi A. E. , Kreutz Reinhold , Riemer Thomas G. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractClassic psychedelics and MDMA have a colorful history of recreational use, and both have recently been re-evaluated as tools for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Several studies have been carried out to assess potential long-term effects of a regular use on cognition, delivering distinct results for psychedelics and MDMA. However, to date knowledge is scarce on cognitive performance during acute effects of those substances. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we investigate how cognitive functioning is affected by psychedelics and MDMA during the acute drug effects and the sub-acute (“afterglow”) window. Our quantitative analyses suggest that acute cognitive performance is differentially affected by psychedelics when compared to MDMA: psychedelics impair attention and executive function, whereas MDMA primarily affects memory, leaving executive functions and attention unaffected. Our qualitative analyses reveal that executive functioning and creativity may be increased during a window of at least 24 h after the acute effects of psychedelics have subsided, whereas no such results have been observed for MDMA. Our findings may contribute to inform recommendations on harm reduction for recreational settings and to help fostering differential approaches for the use of psychedelics and MDMA within a therapeutic framework.
Development of superhydrophobic and superoleophilic CNT and BNNT coated copper meshes for oil/water separation
Authors: Hassani Fatemeh , Aroujalian Abdolreza , Rashidi Alimorad 
Published: June 2024

AbstractIn this research, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method was used to synthesize boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) powder. This method involves heating multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and boric acid in the presence of ammonia gas up to 1000 °C. Then MWCNT and synthetic BNNT were coated on the copper mesh via dip-coating method separately to prepare nano-structured membranes for efficient oil/water separation. Various analyzes were performed to identify the synthetic BNNT properties (X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and prepared coated membranes (FESEM, atomic force microscopy (AFM), water contact angle (WCA), oil contact angle (OCA) and oil/water separation process). Water and oil contact angle analyzes showed the super-oleophilic properties of both membranes with the underwater OCA of about 128°. For the separation process, a dead-end filtration setup was used, and free oil water mixture and o/w emulsion were prepared. So, in the separation process water was retained and decalin passed through both prepared membranes. The flux of CNT coated membrane was about 458 L m2 h−1, while this amount was 1834 L m2 h−1 for BNNT coated membrane and 99% separation efficiency was achieved by both of them. This four-fold increase in flux is due to the fact that the inner diameter of boron nitride nanotubes synthesized is four times larger than the inner diameter of MWCNT.
Anatomy of superior olivary complex and lateral lemniscus in Etruscan shrew
Authors: Zacher Alina C. , Felmy Felix 
Published: June 2024

AbstractBased on the auditory periphery and the small head size, Etruscan shrews (Suncus etruscus) approximate ancestral mammalian conditions. The auditory brainstem in this insectivore has not been investigated. Using labelling techniques, we assessed the structures of their superior olivary complex (SOC) and the nuclei of the lateral lemniscus (NLL). There, we identified the position of the major nuclei, their input pattern, transmitter content, expression of calcium binding proteins (CaBPs) and two voltage-gated ion channels. The most prominent SOC structures were the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB), the lateral nucleus of the trapezoid body (LNTB), the lateral superior olive (LSO) and the superior paraolivary nucleus (SPN). In the NLL, the ventral (VNLL), a specific ventrolateral VNLL (VNLLvl) cell population, the intermediate (INLL) and dorsal (DNLL) nucleus, as well as the inferior colliculus’s central aspect were discerned. INLL and VNLL were clearly separated by the differential distribution of various marker proteins. Most labelled proteins showed expression patterns comparable to rodents. However, SPN neurons were glycinergic and not GABAergic and the overall CaBPs expression was low. Next to the characterisation of the Etruscan shrew’s auditory brainstem, our work identifies conserved nuclei and indicates variable structures in a species that approximates ancestral conditions.
Thrombospondin-4 deletion does not exacerbate muscular dystrophy in β-sarcoglycan-deficient and laminin α2 chain-deficient mice
Authors: Zarén Paula , Gawlik Kinga I. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractMuscular dystrophy is a group of genetic disorders that lead to muscle wasting and loss of muscle function. Identifying genetic modifiers that alleviate symptoms or enhance the severity of a primary disease helps to understand mechanisms behind disease pathology and facilitates discovery of molecular targets for therapy. Several muscular dystrophies are caused by genetic defects in the components of the dystrophin-glycoprotein adhesion complex (DGC). Thrombospondin-4 overexpression has been shown to mitigate dystrophic disease in mouse models for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (dystrophin deficiency) and limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2F (LGMD2F, δ-sarcoglycan deficiency), while deletion of the thrombospondin-4 gene exacerbated the diseases. Hence, thrombospondin-4 has been considered a candidate molecule for therapy of muscular dystrophies involving the DGC. We have investigated whether thrombospondin-4 could act as a genetic modifier for other DGC-associated diseases: limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2E (LGMD2E, β-sarcoglycan deficiency) and laminin α2 chain-deficient muscular dystrophy (LAMA2-RD). Deletion of the thrombospondin-4 gene in mouse models for LGMD2E and LAMA2-RD, respectively, did not result in worsening of the dystrophic phenotype. Loss of thrombospondin-4 did not enhance sarcolemma damage and did not impair trafficking of transmembrane receptors integrin α7β1 and dystroglycan in double knockout muscles. Our results suggest that thrombospondin-4 might not be a relevant therapeutic target for all muscular dystrophies involving the DGC. This data also demonstrates that molecular pathology between very similar diseases like LGMD2E and 2F can differ significantly.