bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Energetic Tagged Zirconium-Based Metal-Organic Framework: A Novel Catalyst and High Energy Dense Material for Solid Propellants
Authors: Sheashea Mohamed , Gobara Mohamed , Naeem Ibrahim , Zorainy Mahmoud Y. , Ismael Shukri , Elbasuney Sherif 
Published: August 2024

AbstractCatalyst for ammonium percholorate (AP) decomposition was limited to inert particles, with subsequent decrease in main decomposition temperature. Recently much attention has been directed to reactive catalyst particles with high decomposition enthalpy. Energetic metal-organic frameworks (EMOFs) could contribute to the decomposition enthalpy; with the exclusive evolution of catalyst nanoparticles. UiO-66-NH2 is a three-dimensional metal-organic framework (MOF) composed of tetravalent metal ions Zr(IV) and ditopic 2-Amino Terephthalic acid linker (H2ATPT). UiO-66-NH2 is multi-functional MOF with exceptional surface area and thermal stability. UiO-66-NH2 can expose superior combustion enthalpy of 18 KJ/g. This study reports on facile solvothermal synthesis of UiO-66-NH2; that was integrated into ammonium percholorate (AP) matrix via anti-solvent technique. UiO-66-NH2 boosted AP decomposition enthalpy by + 227.3%, with decrease in main decomposition temperature by 92.72 °C. Decomposition kinetics was investigated via isoconversional (model free) and model fitting. Kissinger, Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS), integral isoconversional method of Ozawa and Flyn and Wall (FWO). UiO-66-NH2/AP demonstrated apparent activation energy of 75 KJ mol− 1 compared with 176.1 KJ mol− 1 for virgin AP. While virgin AP experienced complex decomposition models beginning with F3 to A2; UiO-66-NH2/AP nanocomposite demonstrated A3 decomposition model. The developed UiO-66-NH2 exposed a dual function as high energy dense material with superior catalytic effect due to the exclusive evolution c-ZrO2 nanocatalyst on decomposition.
Heat of Dilution and Racemization of Chiral Amino Acid Solutions
Authors: Oliel Matan , Mastai Yitzhak 
Published: August 2024

AbstractChiral interactions play a crucial role in both chemistry and biology. Understanding the behavior of chiral molecules and their interactions with other molecules is essential, and chiral interactions in solutions are particularly important for studying chiral compounds. Chirality influences the physical and chemical properties of molecules, including solubility, reactivity, and biological activity. In this work, we used isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), a powerful technique for studying molecular interactions, including chiral interactions in solutions. We conducted a series of ITC measurements to investigate the heat of dilution and the heat of racemization of several amino acids (Asparagine, Histidine, Serine, Alanine, Methionine, and Phenylalanine). We also performed ITC measurements under different solute concentrations and temperatures to examine the effects of these parameters on chiral interactions, as well as the heat of dilution and racemization. The results of our measurements indicated that the heat of dilution, specifically the interactions between the solvent (water) and solute (chiral molecules), had a significant impact compared to the chiral interactions in the solution, which were found to be negligible. This suggests that the interactions between chiral molecules and the solvent play a more dominant role in determining the overall behavior and properties of the system. By studying chiral interactions in solutions, we can gain valuable insights into the behavior of chiral compounds, which can have implications in various fields, including drug design, chemical synthesis, and biological processes.
Production of no-carrier-added aqueous 198Au3+ ions in a Szilárd-Chalmers-like nuclear reaction
Authors: Boya Dominik , Nemetz Markus , Welch Jan M. , Rosecker Veronika , Sterba Johannes H. , Hainz Dieter , Feng Bin , Steinhauser Georg 
Published: August 2024

AbstractNeutron irradiation of gold foils in H2O causes the release of 198Au into the liquid in measurable quantities. Experiments prove that irradiation of the foils in water indeed yields 10 times more activity in the liquid than when the foil is removed from the liquid before irradiation. The activity of the gold foil shows no correlation with the yield of ejected 198Au ions, but the duration of neutron irradiation does. However, not all experiments are fully conclusive as no linearity between irradiation duration and emitted 198Au is apparent. A speciation experiment by crystallization reveals that the nuclear reaction produces 198Au3+ ions quantitatively.
A comparative study on the application of solar thermal collector and photovoltaic combinations to assist an air source heat pump
Authors: Buyukzeren Riza , Kahraman Ali 
Published: August 2024

AbstractThis study investigates the usage of photovoltaic (PV) and thermal collectors separately to assist a heat pump for supplying domestic hot water (DHW). Usage of PV and thermal collectors together to assist a heat pump and experimentally validated simulation of an air source heat pump can be considered as novelty of this study. Firstly, experimental tests were performed in a climatic room to validate the developed simulation model. Four experimental parameters, namely the coefficient of performance of the air source heat pump, average tank temperature, and heat pump inlet and outlet temperatures have been used for the validation and the highest obtained deviation was 4.5%. Simulations were carried out by adding thermal collectors and photovoltaic panels in different combinations, with a maximum of three collectors to assist the heat pump that provides DHW. For scenarios with one and two solar components (PV or thermal), applying only thermal collectors was more efficient and economical for both with a payback of 3.9 years and 4.3 years, respectively. For the scenario with three solar components, although the system supported by one thermal and two photovoltaic collectors was the most efficient option, the system supported by three photovoltaic collectors was the most economical scenario with a payback period of 4.6 years. The study found that combining thermal and photovoltaic collectors can significantly reduce energy consumption for DHW.
Principal agency 50 years after the Lau decision: Building and sustaining bilingual education programs for Asian languages
Authors: Tian Zhongfeng , Wong Kevin M. 
Published: August 2024

AbstractThis study examined how three champion principals of Asian language dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs—Cantonese, Korean, and Mandarin—in California have navigated the oscillating language-in-education policies after the Lau decision. We explored principals' various roles through a lens of agency in a social justice leadership framework, specifically considering the opportunities and challenges for agentive leadership from three different phases: foregrounding and engaging, planning and implementing, and evaluating and sustaining. Findings demonstrate that the success of DLBE programs goes beyond the overarching language policies that supposedly enable bilingual education; rather it hinges on the bottom-up commitment, collaboration and resilience of principals, teachers, and parent communities. The blanket policies at the state level often overlooked Asian languages and the unique needs of Asian teachers and communities in DLBE schools, limiting principal agency. Within these confines, principals consistently engaged in advocacy work, such as in teacher recruitment, hiring and work distribution, and curriculum design and assessment, contributing to the growth and sustainability of their programs. By elevating these champions and their experiences and perspectives, this study reflects upon the politicized path to bilingual education 50 years after the Lau case and contributes valuable insights to inform future implementational research, practice, and policy, ensuring the continued flourishing of Asian language bilingual education for the growing constituency of Asian-identifying students.
One pot multi-component synthesis of novel functionalized pyrazolo furan-2(5H)-one derivatives: in vitro, DFT, molecular docking, and pharmacophore studies, as coronavirus inhibitors
Authors: Elsisi Doaa M. , Mohamed Ashraf M. , Seadawy Mohamed G. , Ahmed Aya , Abou-Amra Eman S. 
Published: August 2024

AbstractNew and facile one-pot approach for the syntheses of 12 derivatives of 3,5-disubstituted furane-2(5H)-one (4a–l) from easily available starting materials. The suitable synthetic procedures for selective synthesis of diverse furane-2(5H)-one derivatives were achieved via multi-component condensation of 1,3-diphenyl-1H-pyrazole-4-carbaldehyde (1), pyruvic acid and different aromatic amines 3a–l in good to high yields and short reaction time by refluxing in acetic acid as well as obtained by another method (method B) when unsaturated arylidene pyruvic acid 6 was refluxed with different aromatic amines in acetic acid but in smaller yield than method A. Structures of the prepared compounds were elucidated by elemental analysis and spectral data as mass, IR, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR spectroscopy. The antiviral efficacy of compounds 4a–l against SARS-CoV-2 was evaluated using the MTT assay. It was demonstrated that synthetic compounds 4c–e and 4h–j have a potent and selective inhibitory effect on SARS-CoV-2, a strain obtained from Egyptian patients. We utilized density-functional theory (DFT) analyses to deduce the molecular structures and topologies of the more energetic molecules. Molecular docking studies were performed against the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (PDB ID: 6Y84) and the SARS-CoV-2 Nsp9 RNA binding protein (PDB ID: 6W4B) to study the binding mechanism, non-bonding interactions, and binding affinity. Lastly, a hypothetical pharmacophore model was constructed by applying the Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) tool and eleven pharmaceuticals with proven antiviral activity.
Design of an on-chip germanium cavity for room-temperature infrared lasing
Authors: Boztug Cicek 
Published: August 2024

AbstractGermanium (Ge) is one of the most promising material platforms to enable the realization of monolithically integrated laser on silicon because it is a group-IV material with a pseudo-direct-band structure that can be converted into direct-bandgap either through the application of tensile strain or via the tin (Sn) incorporation in Ge. The bandgap modification enhances the light emission efficiency of Ge, where lasing can also be observed if a suitable cavity preserving the strain can be realized. In fact, several different research groups have reported lasing from strained Ge and GeSn optical cavities, however they all report lasing at low temperatures and room-temperature lasing, which is the ultimate goal required for a fully integrated laser, has not been demonstrated yet. In this work, we design an on-chip germanium cavity that has all the ingredients combined to make the room-temperature lasing possible. The design includes a 4.6% uniaxially tensile strained Ge gain medium embedded in a Fabry-Perot like cavity composed of two distributed Bragg reflectors. 3-dimensional (3D) Finite Element Method (FEM) based strain simulations together with a proposed fabrication methodology provides a guideline for the realization of the structure. Furthermore, 3D Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulations demonstrate that the designed structure is suitable for the room-temperature lasing in a wavelength range of 2410–2570 nm. 3D FEM-based heat transfer simulations performed for the designed cavity verifies the eligibility of the room-temperature operation paving the way for a possible demonstration of on-chip laser that could take part in the fully integrated infrared systems for a variety of applications including biological and chemical sensing, as well as security such as alarm systems and free-space optical communications.
Evaluating the utility of combining high resolution thermal, multispectral and 3D imagery from unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor water stress in vineyards
Authors: Burchard-Levine V. , Guerra J. G. , Borra-Serrano I. , Nieto H. , Mesías-Ruiz G. , Dorado J. , de Castro A. I. , Herrezuelo M. , Mary B. , Aguirre E. P. , Peña J. M. 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
Purpose
High resolution imagery from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been established as an important source of information to perform precise irrigation practices, notably relevant for high value crops often present in semi-arid regions such as vineyards. Many studies have shown the utility of thermal infrared (TIR) sensors to estimate canopy temperature to inform on vine physiological status, while visible-near infrared (VNIR) imagery and 3D point clouds derived from red–green–blue (RGB) photogrammetry have also shown great promise to better monitor within-field canopy traits to support agronomic practices. Indeed, grapevines react to water stress through a series of physiological and growth responses, which may occur at different spatio-temporal scales. As such, this study aimed to evaluate the application of TIR, VNIR and RGB sensors onboard UAVs to track vine water stress over various phenological periods in an experimental vineyard imposed with three different irrigation regimes.

Methods
A total of twelve UAV overpasses were performed in 2022 and 2023 where in situ physiological proxies, such as stomatal conductance (gs), leaf (Ψleaf) and stem (Ψstem) water potential, and canopy traits, such as LAI, were collected during each UAV overpass. Linear and non-linear models were trained and evaluated against in-situ measurements.

Results
Results revealed the importance of TIR variables to estimate physiological proxies (gs, Ψleaf, Ψstem) while VNIR and 3D variables were critical to estimate LAI. Both VNIR and 3D variables were largely uncorrelated to water stress proxies and demonstrated less importance in the trained empirical models. However, models using all three variable types (TIR, VNIR, 3D) were consistently the most effective to track water stress, highlighting the advantage of combining vine characteristics related to physiology, structure and growth to monitor vegetation water status throughout the vine growth period.

Conclusion
This study highlights the utility of combining such UAV-based variables to establish empirical models that correlated well with field-level water stress proxies, demonstrating large potential to support agronomic practices or even to be ingested in physically-based models to estimate vine water demand and transpiration.
Reflections on inductive thematic saturation as a potential metric for measuring the validity of an inductive thematic analysis with LLMs
Authors: De Paoli Stefano , Mathis Walter S. 
Published: August 2024

AbstractThis paper presents a set of reflections on saturation and the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) for performing Thematic Analysis (TA). The paper suggests that initial thematic saturation (ITS) could be used as a metric to assess part of the transactional validity of TA with LLM, focusing on the initial coding. The paper presents the initial coding of two datasets of different sizes, and it reflects on how the LLM reaches some form of analytical saturation during the coding. The procedure proposed in this work leads to the creation of two codebooks, one comprising the total cumulative initial codes and the other the total unique codes. The paper proposes a metric to synthetically measure ITS using a simple mathematical calculation employing the ratio between slopes of the unique and total codes. The paper contributes to the initial body of work exploring how to perform qualitative analysis with LLMs.
Research topic displacement and the lack of interdisciplinarity: lessons from the scientific response to COVID-19
Authors: Seidlmayer Eva , Melnychuk Tetyana , Galke Lukas , Kühnel Lisa , Tochtermann Klaus , Schultz Carsten , Förstner Konrad U. 
Published: August 2024

AbstractBased on a large-scale computational analysis of scholarly articles, this study investigates the dynamics of interdisciplinary research in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thereby, the study also analyses the reorientation effects away from other topics that receive less attention due to the high focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. The study aims to examine what can be learned from the (failing) interdisciplinarity of coronavirus research and its displacing effects for managing potential similar crises at the scientific level. To explore our research questions, we run several analyses by using the COVID-19++ dataset, which contains scholarly publications, preprints from the field of life sciences, and their referenced literature including publications from a broad scientific spectrum. Our results show the high impact and topic-wise adoption of research related to the COVID-19 crisis. Based on the similarity analysis of scientific topics, which is grounded on the concept embedding learning in the graph-structured bibliographic data, we measured the degree of interdisciplinarity of COVID-19 research in 2020. Our findings reveal a low degree of research interdisciplinarity. The publications’ reference analysis indicates the major role of clinical medicine, but also the growing importance of psychiatry and social sciences in COVID-19 research. A social network analysis shows that the authors’ high degree of centrality significantly increases her or his degree of interdisciplinarity.
Disabled Body‐Minds in Hostile Environments: Disrupting an Ableist Cartesian Sociotechnical Imagination with Enactive Embodied Cognition and Critical Disability Studies
Authors: van Grunsven Janna 
Published: August 2024

AbstractA growing body of literature in the field of embodied situated cognition is drawing attention to the hostile ways in which our environments can be constructed, with detrimental effects on people’s ability to flourish as environmentally situated beings. This paper contributes to this body of research, focusing on a specific area of concern. Specifically, I argue that a very particular problematic quasi-Cartesian picture of the human body, the human mind, what it means for these to function well, and the role of technology in promoting such functioning, animate our Western sociotechnical imagination. This picture, I show, shapes the sociotechnical niches we inhabit in an ableist manner, perniciously legislating which body-minds have access to a rich world of affordances and are seen as agential and valuable. Because the ableist quasi-Cartesian commitments animating our Western sociotechnical imagination are problematic and pervasive, I argue that exposing and reimagining these commitments should be a prime focal point of those working at the intersection of science, technology, and human values. I present insights from enactive 4E cognition and critical disability studies as fruitful resources for such much-needed reimagining. I also make the case, more provocatively but also more tentatively, that the ableist view of bodily and minded well- functioning animating our Cartesian Western sociotechnical imagination is not only damaging to embodied minds who deviate from the presumed norm, creating inaccessible worlds for some of us; it is in fact a threat to human and planetary flourishing at large.
Mosquito pollination of plants: an overview of their role and an assessment of the possible contribution of disease vectors
Authors: Foster Woodbridge A. 
Published: August 2024

AbstractMosquitoes visit flowers to obtain sugar or other nutrients and therefore possibly serve as major or minor pollinators of some plant species. They also often derive plant nutrients from other sources, such as extrafloral nectaries and honeydew. In a few cases, the plant-mosquito relationship is close, and mosquito pollination has been confirmed. Most plant species visited by mosquitoes, however, appear to depend on multiple means of pollination, particularly other flower-feeding insects. In addition, most mosquito species visit the flowers of many kinds of plants, possibly dispersing pollen in both biologically meaningful and irrelevant ways. This apparent lack of selectivity by both plants and mosquitoes liberates each of them from dependence on an unreliable pollen vehicle or nutrient source. A hypothetical pollinating role for the two top vectors of devastating human-disease pathogens, Anopheles gambiae or Aedes aegypti, relies on indirect evidence. So far, this evidence suggests that their participation in pollen transfer of native, introduced, or beneficial plants is negligible. The few plant species likely to be pollinated by these vectors are mostly invasive, harmful weeds associated with humans. That conclusion draws support from four characteristics of these vectors: (1) the numerous alternative potential pollinators of the flowers they visit; (2) their common use of diverse non-floral sources of nutrients; (3) the females’ infrequent sugar feeding and heavy reliance on human blood for energy; and (4) their relatively low population densities. From these traits it follows that focused suppression or elimination of these two vectors, by whatever means, is highly unlikely to have adverse effects on pollination in endemic biotic communities or on ornamental plants or food crops.
Developmental relations between mathematics self-concept, interest, and achievement: A comparison of solo- and co-taught classes
Authors: Lehikoinen Hans , Väisänen Pertti , Havu-Nuutinen Sari , Lappalainen Kristiina , Niemivirta Markku 
Published: August 2024

AbstractThis study investigated the role of co-teaching in the development of students’ mathematics motivation and achievement. More specifically, we examined how sixth-grade students’ (N = 146) mathematics self-concept and individual interest changed over one school year, how these changes were related to each other and to mathematics achievement, and, most importantly, whether they differed between co-teaching and solo-teaching conditions. The co-teaching condition included 70 students in three classes with mathematics taught by pairs of teachers, while the solo-teaching condition included 76 students in four classes with mathematics taught by individual class teachers. The design included three repeated measures of mathematics self-concept and interest as well as pre- and post-measures of mathematics test performance and teacher-rated mathematics grades. A series of latent growth curve analyses showed both self-concept and individual interest to decline over time, and these changes to be strongly correlated: as self-concept decreased, so did interest, and vice versa. The changes in self-concept and interest were independent of prior achievement and did not predict later achievement either. Students in the co-taught group received better grades at the end of the year, but no differences in the development of self-concept and individual interest were found between the teaching conditions. That is, co-teaching contributed to improvement in mathematics achievement, but this was not mediated by changes in mathematics motivation.