bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Epistemic injustice and neo-racism: how Zhihu users portray ‘Chinese doctoral supervisors’ working in Western academia
Authors: Xu Cora Lingling 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThe image of Chinese doctoral supervisors working in Western academia is riddled with stereotypes in urban myths but little research to date has been conducted on these portrayals of Chinese supervisors. Drawing on postcolonial theories, including notions of epistemic injustice and neo-racism, this research conducts a thematic analysis on around 450 Zhihu comments. It proposes that the Zhihu community has portrayed three images of the Chinese supervisors as (1) ambitious and supportive, (2) sneaky and exploitative, and (3) colonised. While the second and third images are more negative, the first image is overwhelmingly positive. In portraying these images of the Chinese supervisors, the community confronted two main underlying structural forces. These include (1) a steep ethnic/racial hierarchy where White middle-class, native speakers of English dominate and (2) an unequal classed sphere within Western academia. This paper argues that this Zhihu community displayed profound yet only partial recognition of the steep ethnic/racial hierarchy due to their internalisation of their own linguistic inferiority. Moreover, this Zhihu community perpetuates neo-racism and epistemic injustice over Chinese supervisors and postgraduate research students from working-class and rural backgrounds. Among the first to examine how Chinese doctoral supervisors are portrayed in online communities, this article provides informative insights for prospective postgraduate research applicants as well as admission professionals in Western academia. The neo-racism and epistemic injustice identified can also feed into future work on Diversity and Equality as well as decolonising efforts. Conceptually, this article innovates by combining neo-racism and epistemic injustice to form a framework that furnishes a comprehensive examination of unjust practices and portrayals in the realms of racial and knowledge inequalities in doctoral supervision. This article thus makes empirical and conceptual contributions to critical studies in international and doctoral education.
The interactive effects of self- and parent-referenced career goal discrepancies on young adults’ career indecision
Authors: Widyowati Arini , Hood Michelle , Duffy Amanda , Creed Peter 
Published: July 2024

AbstractWe tested a model in which discrepancy with parents’ career goals moderated the indirect path from young adults’ self-perceived career goal discrepancy to career indecision via negative emotions (regret and distress) and self-regulatory capacity. We surveyed 236 young adults (MAge = 21.77 years; 71.2% female), finding that parent discrepancy strengthened the positive relationships between self-discrepancy and career regret and self-regulatory depletion, but not distress. However, career distress fully explained the self-discrepancy–career indecision relationship, not moderated by parent-discrepancy. Overall, our model explained 70% of the variance in indecision. This has implications for counsellors to assist young adults in managing discrepancy-related distress and indecision.
Career orientation of first-year students in STEM education: a Q methodology study
Authors: Markman Anna Overgaard , Du Xiangyun 
Published: July 2024

AbstractA shift has occurred in career attitudes and aspirations of university students within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, highlighting the importance of investigating students’ strategies for early career planning. This study explores the career orientation of 27 first-year STEM students by utilizing Q methodology, which integrates qualitative and quantitative approaches. The findings provide valuable insights into the career orientation of first-year students in STEM disciplines in the aftermath of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; their focus includes a goal-oriented mindset, work–life balance, workplace conditions, and physical surroundings. The findings of this study carry practical implications for enhancing career support programs.
P.A.V.I.A. Study: Pervasiveness and Associated Factors of Video Slot Machine Use in a Large Sample of Italian Adolescents
Authors: Mosconi Giansanto , Bertuccio Paola , Albertin Ilaria , Esposito Marcello , Polgatti Anna , Taverna Franco , Turcinovich Diego , Russo Sara , Gaggi Silvia , Barello Serena , Amerio Andrea , Molinaro Sabrina , Gallus Silvano , Cecconami Lorella , Feder Simone , Vecchi Tomaso , Odone Anna 
Published: July 2024

AbstractVideo slot machines (VSM) are considered a particularly harmful gambling format; however, scant data is available on their use among underage Italian individuals. Two surveys were conducted in 2018 and 2022 involving 7,959 underage high school students (57.8% female) in Pavia, Northern Italy. We estimated adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) for lifetime experience and current regular (at least monthly) use of VSM, according to family, educational and behavioral factors. Overall, participants reporting lifetime VSM experience were 13.2% (95% CI: 12.5 − 13.9), 15.2% (95% CI: 14.0–16.4%) in 2018, and 12.0% (95% CI: 11.1–13.0%) in 2022. Current regular VSM users were 1.4% (95% CI: 1.1–1.7) in total, 1.2% (95% CI: 0.8–1.6%) in 2018 and 1.5% (95% CI: 1.1–1.8%) in 2022. VSM lifetime experience and current regular use were significantly more frequent in males (aORs: 1.55 and 4.81, respectively), students who failed a year (aORs: 2.07 and 3.44), or with daily gambling parents/siblings (aORs: 2.83 and 4.86). Lifetime use of alcohol, tobacco, or illicit substances was significantly directly associated with lifetime VSM use (aORs between 2.64 and 4.75); monthly alcohol, tobacco, or illicit substances use was significantly directly associated with current regular VSM use (aORs between 4.47 and 18.21). Sexting and voluntary self-injury were significantly more frequent among VSM lifetime/current regular users. VSM use, which is directly associated with other risky behaviors, may be pervasive among Italian minors. Such public health concern calls for legislative enforcements and integrated multidisciplinary health promotion and prevention strategies.
On Wor(l)ds and Pandemics
Authors: Locane Jorge J. 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThe spread of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has stimulated eschatological speculation. To the environmentalist and liberal diagnostician that had already been warning about the Anthropocene and the breakdown of post-Cold War global harmony, an alarm has now been added that in its worst prognosis estimates that, in 2020, we only started witnessing the beginning of a staggered health debacle. The idea of the world, as conceptual support for an imaginary community with global reach, has become a crisis. The world, an object often invoked by theoretical speculation over the last 30 years, has been now decreed finished. However, infectious diseases, in their epidemic and pandemic form, have devastated different societies at different times. This paper parallels two historical scenarios and a series of texts dealing with contagious diseases to shed light on the idea of (the end of) the world. The analysis centres on documents that bear witness to the importation of smallpox and other diseases into America and its spread during the European invasion and colonization. By recovering the concept of Pachakuti, a radical turnaround that can be understood as “end of one world”, this paper shows that the chronicles reporting on the outbreaks of smallpox in America document a material end of the world for subjects who were not protagonists of history. The current end of the world is, on the contrary, that which would correspond to the protagonist of our phase of globalization and, eventually, to his world—which makes it more resonant and absolute.
Production of polyclonal anti-human follicle stimulating hormone (hFSH) in Balb/C mice for standardizing an immunoradiometric assay for hFSH
Authors: Ebeid N. H. , Shafik H. M. , Mehany N. L. 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThis study aimed to produce polyclonal antibodies of human follicle-stimulating hormone (anti-hFSH) in order to establish an immunoradiometric assay (IRMA). The anti-hFSH was tested using the prepared 125I-hFSH tracer. The 125I-hFSH tracer was carried out using the lactoperoxidase method, resulting in a radiochemical yield of 87.6% and a specific activity of 136 μCi/μg. The anti-hFSH produced gave highest displacement percentages (80.3, 79.8 and 71.2%) and a successful immunoresponse. hFSH-IRMA system was developed using 125I-MoAb-hFSH tracer (DIA Source). The results show a precise, stable and accurate measurements of hFSH-IRMA with a sensitivity of 0.15 mIU/ml. The coefficient variation for intra-assay is less than ± 10% and for inter-assay, it is less than ± 15%. Additionally, the liner correlation coefficient r is equal to 0.999. This technique can be utilized as a helpful diagnostic tool to study fertility and diseases of the hypothalamus-pituitary–gonadal axis in humans.
Possibilities of producing lightweight aggregates from silica-clay raw material and cellulosic waste
Authors: Panna Wojciech , Prewendowski Sebastian , Juda Wiesław , Szumera Magdalena 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThe subject of the work is the characterization of lightweight aggregates intended for construction using the example of silica-clay raw material from south-eastern Poland (Dylągówka-Zapady deposit). The primary objective of the research is to assess the possibility of managing the accumulated organic waste, including cellulose pulp. This storage is problematic for processing plants and local government bodies and incurs high costs annually. Therefore, based on the patent (Kukułka et al. Method of producing raw meal, dried clay granules, and fired clay granules and the production line of raw meal, dried clay granules, and baked clay granules. Patent RP no P.429284.), an attempt was made to confirm the assumptions of the technology of fired clay granules, which can be used for zootechnical, agricultural, and construction purposes. The presented work assessed the physicochemical transformations in the clay-silica raw material after adding a significant amount of cellulose waste (10%, 20%, and 30%) in the temperature range of 25–1300 °C were assessed. Thermal methods such as thermodilatometry, Hot-Stage Microscopy with image analysis (IA-HSM) and thermal DSC/TG analysis with gas analysis were used for this purpose. Based on the first method, a temperature range was established in which sintering occurs without an apparent effect of densification. Therefore, the range of 850–950 °C was used to obtain fired granules, which were tested as a material for lightweight aggregates.
Computational modeling of cell motility and clusters formation in enzyme-sensitive hydrogels
Authors: Gaziano Pierfrancesco , Marino Michele 
Published: July 2024

AbstractIn this paper, we propose an extension of a previous model of cell motility in tissue engineering applications recently developed by the authors. Achieving large-scale production of neo-tissue through biofabrication technologies remains challenging owing to the need of thoroughly optimizing all the relevant process variables, a task hardly attainable through solely trial and error approaches. Therefore, the present work is intended to provide a valid and effective computational-based support for neo-tissue formation, with a specific focus on the preliminary phase of such process, in which cells move through a polymeric scaffold (hydrogel) and then compact into clusters. Cell motility is modeled by resorting to the phase-field method, and by incorporating diffusion of nutrients from the external culture bath as well as the expression by cells of chemoattractant substances that bias the random path they otherwise would follow. The previous model has been enriched by additionally encompassing the secretion of enzymes by cells that cleave the crosslinks between the hydrogel polymer chains. As such, in the present model hydrogel degradation exhibits spatio-temporal variations in its chemo-physical properties related to the local amount of enzymes, which deeply affects cell motility. Numerical results showcase the pivotal importance of the cells micro-environment properties for their crawling in hydrogel scaffolds, opening towards the development of a predictive computational-aided optimization tool for neo-tissue growth in bioprinted scaffolds.
Simulation and parameterization of nonlinear elastic behavior of cables
Authors: Zhao Tian , Schneider-Jung Fabio , Linn Joachim , Müller Ralf 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThis work contributes to the simulation, modeling, and characterization of nonlinear elastic bending behavior within the framework of geometrically nonlinear rod models. These models often assume a linear constitutive bending behavior, which is not sufficient for some complex flexible slender structures. In general, nonlinear elastic behavior often coexists with inelastic behavior. In this work, we incorporate the inelastic deformation into the rod model using reference curvatures. We present an algorithmic approach for simulating the nonlinear elastic bending behavior, which is based on the theory of Cosserat rods, where the static equilibrium is calculated by minimizing the linear elastic energy. For this algorithmic approach, in each iteration the static equilibrium is obtained by minimizing the potential energy with locally constant algorithmic bending stiffness values. These constants are updated according to the given nonlinear elastic constitutive law until the state of the rod converges. To determine the nonlinear elastic constitutive bending behavior of the flexible slender structures (such as cables) from the measured values, we formulate an inverse problem. By solving it we aim to determine a curvature-dependent bending stiffness characteristic and the reference curvatures using the given measured values. We first provide examples using virtual bending measurements, followed by the application of bending measurements on real cables. Solving the inverse problem yields physically plausible results.
The implicit inversion method for calculating the forward dynamics input Jacobian
Authors: Krög Gabriel , Gattringer Hubert , Müller Andreas 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThis paper presents the implicit inversion method (IIM), a recursive method to evaluate the Jacobian of the forward dynamics w.r.t. the system inputs, using intermediate results obtained from an O(n) forward dynamics algorithm. The resulting coefficient matrix, called the inertia-weighted input matrix (IWIM), can be used to significantly improve the performance of solving optimal control problems that take into account system dynamics for only the current time step. As the relationship between inputs and accelerations appears fixed within a time step, this matrix can be evaluated in the initialization step of the optimization. This means that the forward dynamics only needs to be solved once at the initialization of the optimization, rather than having to solve the equations in every iteration of the optimization. The method presented in this paper especially targets a case where the forward dynamics are calculated using an O(n) method and takes advantage of variables that are already known through the evaluation of that method. These quantities allow us to obtain the inertia-weighted input matrix without having to convert the system to its generalized coordinate form. Exploiting the shape of the resulting equation, it is even possible to avoid an explicit inversion of any matrices in the process. Finally, runtime comparisons between three different methods to calculate the IWIM are made for several examples.
Was culture cumulative in the Palaeolithic?
Authors: Shipton Ceri 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThis paper assesses the evidence for cumulative culture in the Palaeolithic through the lens of the most widely available line of evidence: knapped stone. Two types of cumulative culture are defined: additive traits in an individual’s repertoire, versus a population wide stock of skills. Complexity may both cumulate within a single realm of expertise such as stone knapping, or may accumulate with multiple realms of expertise, such as the conjunction of stone knapping and bead technology. The Palaeolithic emergence of the social transmission and innovation traits that underpin cumulativity are described and assessed in relation to the evidence for cumulative culture. Examples of local population continuity are assessed for inter-generational increases in complexity as predicted by cumulative culture models. At an individual level, all cultures can be considered cumulative; at a population level cumulative culture may be entirely absent from the Palaeolithic.
Hip-hop and education: A literature review of experiences
Authors: Laforgue-Bullido Noemi , Abril-Hervás David , Malik-Liévano Beatriz 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to describe educational initiatives that use hip-hop culture as a means of socio-educational action. To this end, the authors carried out a systematic review of relevant articles published over the last 10 years in high-impact peer-reviewed journals and written in English, Spanish, Portuguese or Italian. After applying inclusion/exclusion criteria, 68 articles were analysed. This analysis revealed how most of the reported experiences refer to formal secondary education. Although a third of these experiences are linked to critical pedagogies, these were not derived from the critical use of hip-hop – which was largely instrumental. But by means of a thematic content analysis, the authors identify the main strengths and limitations of hip-hop culture as an educational medium. Among the strengths they highlight are its potential to build culturally relevant educational contexts for students traditionally excluded from the academic curriculum, its fostering of students’ political and social participation, and its facility to promote critical thinking. Among the challenges encountered in using hip-hop culture in educational spaces are some educators and families’ perceptions of hip-hop as anti-educational, the imposition by educators of a vision of hip-hop that is not shared by young people, and the lack of systematisation of experiences that can provide guidance on how to carry out this type of initiative.
Systematic map of recent evidence on reproductive performance of cattle in Africa
Authors: Allan Fiona K. , MacVicar Isla S. , Peters Andrew R. , Schnier Christian 
Published: July 2024

AbstractGood cattle reproductive performance is essential for livestock productivity. Farmers are highly dependent on the success of productive outputs to support their livelihoods. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), however, optimal reproduction of cows and bulls is comparatively less well defined, with information on key reproductive parameters and reproductive management often not available. The aim of this study was to collate and synthesise the recent published evidence on cattle reproductive performance in selected sub-Saharan countries.Systematic mapping methodology was used, with searches conducted for both cow and bull reproductive performance in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, for the period 2012–2022, in English language. Search returns were screened for relevance at title and abstract, and full-text levels, based on the research question criteria.A substantial number of studies were identified for cows (n = 133), but only very few for bulls (n = 11). A large proportion of reported studies have been conducted in Ethiopia, with relatively few from the other countries, and most studies published between 2014 and 2016, and in 2021. Certain reproductive parameters received more attention than others; calving interval was reported in 86 studies, while culling due to infertility was reported in eight studies.The study highlights where research is being conducted in this area, and importantly where there is a gap, in particular on bull reproductive performance. While there were a range of values reported for cow reproductive parameters, the values were reasonable, indicating that it is possible to have good reproductive performance in LMICs. The synthesis of studies in the map should help to inform farmers and their advisors, at farm and national levels.
Faecal microbial diversity in a cattle herd infected by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis: a possible effect of production status
Authors: Elmagzoub Wisal A. , Idris Sanaa M. , Elnaiem Marwa H. E. , Mukhtar Mohamed E. , Eltayeb ElSagad , Bakhiet Sahar M. , Okuni Julius B. , Ojok Lonzy , El Sanousi Sulieman M. , El Wahed Ahmed Abd , Gameel Ahmed A. , Eltom Kamal H. 
Published: July 2024

AbstractMycobacterium aviumsubsp.paratuberculosis(MAP) causes Johne’s disease, or paratuberculosis (PTB) in ruminants, besides having zoonotic potential. It possibly changes the gut microbiome, but no conclusive data are available yet. This study aimed at investigating the influence of MAP on the faecal microbiome of cattle naturally infected with PTB. In a follow up period of 10 months, PTB status was investigated in a herd of dairy cattle with history of clinical cases. Each animal was tested for MAP infection using serum and milk ELISA for MAP anti-bodies and IS900 real-time PCR and recombinase polymerase amplification assays for MAP DNA in the faeces and milk monthly for 4 successive months, then a last one after 6 months. The faecal samples were subjected to 16S rDNA metagenomic analysis using Oxford Nanopore Sequencing Technology. The microbial content was compared between animal groups based on MAP positivity rate and production status. All animals were MAP positive by one or more tests, but two animals were consistently negative for MAP DNA in the faeces. In all animals, the phyla firmicutes and bacteroidetes were highly enriched with a small contribution of proteobacteria, and increased abundance of the familiesOscillospiraceae,Planococcaceae, andStreptococcacaceaewas noted. Animals with high MAP positivity rate showed comparable faecal microbial content, although MAP faecal positivity had no significant effect (p > 0.05) on the microbiome. Generally, richness and evenness indices decreased with increasing positivity rate. A significantly different microbial content was found between dry cows and heifers (p < 0.05). Particularly,OscillospiraceaeandRikenellaceaewere enriched in heifers, whilePlanococcaceaeandStreptococcaceaewere overrepresented in dry cows. Furthermore, abundance of 72 genera was significantly different between these two groups (p < 0.05). Changes in faecal microbiome composition were notably associated with increasing MAP shedding in the faeces. The present findings suggest a combined influence of the production status and MAP on the cattle faecal microbiome. This possibly correlates with the fate of the infection, the concern in disease control, again remains for further investigations.