bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Study on interspecific relationships, community stability, and environmental factors of lithophytic moss at different elevations in karst cities
Authors: Duan Lixin , Wang Xiurong , Jin Yalin 
Published: August 2024

AbstractEcosystem stability arises from the interplay of species diversity, environmental conditions, and external disturbances. Understanding the structure of plant communities, interspecific relationships, and community stability in urban ecosystems is fundamental to ecological restoration and community development. This study utilized the karst city of Guiyang as a case study and employed the α diversity index, variance ratio method (VR), χ2‐test, Pearson correlation test, Spearman rank correlation test, M. Godron stability, and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The research focused on analyzing the species diversity, interspecific associations, community stability, and environmental factors of lithophytic moss at various elevations (989–1398 m). The findings revealed the presence of 58 species belonging to 27 genera and 13 families of lithophytic moss in the study area. Notably, the Brachytheciaceae and Pottiaceae emerged as dominant, exhibiting a broad ecological range and adaptation mechanisms, thereby playing a crucial role in the ecological environment of rocky desertification. The study observed that the highest species richness and dominance values of lithophytic moss were recorded at the N4 (1296–1398 m) elevation gradient, while the highest species diversity and uniformity values were observed at the N3 (1194–1295 m) elevation gradient, indicating a significant impact of altitude on lithobryophyte species diversity, particularly at middle and high altitudes. The analysis of interspecific associations and stability indicated a predominantly negative overall association within the lithophytic moss community, suggesting an early stage of succession, with weak interspecific associations and correlations among dominant pairs, tending towards relative independence. Only the communities at N2 (1092–1193 m) elevation exhibited stability, while the other communities were in an unstable stage, showing no significant correlation with species diversity. Furthermore, light intensity (182–129300 lux) exerted the greatest influence on community stability. Additionally, air humidity (36.5–52.3%) and altitude (998–1327 m) emerged as the primary environmental factors influencing community distribution, with a close and positive correlation between the two. These results hold significant reference value for promoting the succession and steady development of vegetation in rocky desertification areas and enhancing the conservation and restoration of vegetation community diversity in karst urban ecosystems.
Characteristics and mechanisms of T‐cell senescence: A potential target for cancer immunotherapy
Authors: Wu Han , Li Junru , Zhang Zhen , Zhang Yi 
Published: August 2024

AbstractImmunosenescence, the aging of the immune system, leads to functional deficiencies, particularly in T cells, which undergo significant changes. While numerous studies have investigated age‐related T‐cell phenotypes in healthy aging, senescent T cells have also been observed in younger populations during pathological conditions like cancer. This review summarizes the recent advancements in age‐associated alterations and markers of T cells, mechanisms, and the relationship between senescent T cells and the tumor microenvironment. We also discuss potential strategies for targeting senescent T cells to prevent age‐related diseases and enhance tumor immunotherapy efficacy.
Incorporating futures thinking into the theory of change: Case and lessons learned from a social enterprise intermediary in Australia
Authors: Dart Jess , Gates Emily 
Published: August 2024

AbstractThe theory of change is an established, widely used approach to guide the design, implementation, and evaluation of change initiatives. Methodological literature primarily focuses on this approach as a way to model causal processes and, secondarily, as a participatory way for groups to explore a change process. We elevate a third use of a theory of change process: to (re)imagine future possibilities. Part 1 synthesizes prior literature to contrast three purposes (i.e., explanation, exploration, and (re)imagination) and emphasizes the opportunities for forward‐looking, imaginative uses by combining the theory of change with foresight approaches. Part 2 presents a case example of a year‐long process to reimagine how to support social enterprises and women entrepreneurs in Australia and the Pacific involving iterative co‐development of a theory of change complemented by futures thinking. We close with lessons and future directions at the intersection of the theory of change and futures studies.
Estimating and planning hospital costs of public hospitals in Brazil
Authors: Almeida João Flávio de Freitas , Conceição Samuel Vieira , Magalhães Virgínia Silva , Alemão Márcia Mascarenhas 
Published: August 2024

AbstractWhile the estimate of hospital costs concerns the past, its planning focuses on the future. However, in many low and middle‐income countries, public hospitals do not have robust accounting health systems to evaluate and project their expenses. In Brazil, public hospitals are funded based on government estimates of available hospital infrastructure, historical expenditures and population needs. However, these pieces of information are not always readily available for all hospitals. To solve this challenge, we propose a flexible simulation‐based optimisation algorithm that integrates this dual task: estimating and planning hospital costs. The method was applied to a network of 17 public hospitals in Brazil to produce the estimates. Setting the model parameters for population needs and future hospital infrastructure can be used as a cost‐projection tool for divestment, maintenance, or investment. Results show that the method can aid health managers in hospitals' global budgeting and policymakers in improving fairness in hospitals' financing.
Short-term temporal variability of volatile contaminant concentrations in soil gas related to soil–atmosphere interface dynamics: Two case studies in the Veneto region (Italy)
Authors: Fuin Federico , Casabianca Davide 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
The study of the variability of soil gas concentrations is crucial for defining effective monitoring and remediation strategies and for the risk assessment related to the emission of vapors from the subsurface. The traditional soil gas monitoring strategy consists of seasonal surveys based on short-time-averaged sampling. Soil gas monitoring results are often used to assess the risk associated with the emission of volatile contaminants from the subsurface, using models mainly based on molecular diffusion and therefore assuming continuous emission from the soil. At two contaminated sites located in the Veneto region (Italy), continuous monitoring using a photoionization detector, pressure gauges, and an ultrasonic anemometer was used to relate soil gas variability to surface and subsurface physical parameters. At both sites a cyclic diurnal variation of volatile organic compounds concentration in soil gas was observed, correlated with the variation of several meteorological parameters and in particular with the variation of the differential pressure between soil and atmosphere and the buoyancy vertical flux. These findings question the reliability of the conventional methodology employed in the collection and assessment of soil gas data. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:2023–2032. © 2024 SETAC
Key Points
Continuous monitoring at the two study sites showed that the cyclic variation of VOC concentration in soil gas correlated with the variation of differential pressure and buoyancy vertical flux. As evidenced by the differential pressure measurements conducted in this study, there is an alternation of nonemission phases, and phases in which the soil gas emission from soil to atmosphere may be enhanced due to pressure-driven advective fluxes. The findings raise questions about the reliability of the conventional methodology employed in the collection and assessment of soil gas data.
Incorporating artificial intelligence in portable infrared thermal imaging for the diagnosis and staging of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
Authors: Davidov Yana , Brzezinski Rafael Y. , Kaufmann Monica‐Inda , Likhter Mariya , Hod Tammy , Pappo Orit , Zimmer Yair , Ovadia‐Blechman Zehava , Rabin Neta , Barlev Adi , Berman Orli , Ben Ari Ziv , Hoffer Oshrit 
Published: August 2024

AbstractMetabolic Dysfunction‐Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) is one of the most prevalent chronic liver diseases worldwide. Thermal imaging combined with advanced image‐processing and machine learning analysis accurately classified disease status in a study on mice; this study aimed to develop this tool for humans. This prospective study included 46 patients who underwent liver biopsy. Liver thermal imaging was performed on the same day as liver biopsy. We developed an image‐processing algorithm that measured the relative spatial thermal variation across the skin covering the liver. The texture parameters obtained from the thermal images were input into the machine learning algorithm. Patients were diagnosed with MASLD and stratified according to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease activity score (NAS) and fibrosis stage using the METAVIR score. Twenty‐one of 46 patients were diagnosed with MASLD. Using thermal imaging followed by processing, detection accuracy for patients with NAS >4 was 0.72.
H3K36 methyltransferase SMYD2 affects cell proliferation and migration in Hirschsprung's disease by regulating METTL3
Authors: Hou Xinwei , Yang Yang , Wang Chen , Huang Zhaorong , Zhang Mengzhen , Yang Jiaming , Li Nan , Yang Huirong , Yang Liucheng , Wu Kai 
Published: August 2024

AbstractThe pathogenesis of Hirschsprung's disease (HSCR) is complex. Recently, it has been found that histone modifications can alter genetic susceptibility and play important roles in the proliferation, differentiation and migration of neural crest cells. H3K36 methylation plays a significant role in gene transcriptional activation and expression, but its pathogenic mechanism in HSCR has not yet been studied. This study aimed to elucidate its role and molecular mechanism in HSCR. Western blot analysis, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and reverse transcription‐quantitative PCR (RT‒qPCR) were used to investigate H3K36 methylation and methyltransferase levels in dilated and stenotic colon tissue sections from children with. We confirm that SMYD2 is the primary cause of differential H3K36 methylation and influences cell proliferation and migration in HSCR. Subsequently, quantitative detection of m6A RNA methylation revealed that SMYD2 can alter m6A methylation levels. Western blot analysis, RT‐qPCR, co‐immunoprecipitation (co‐IP), and immunofluorescence colocalization were utilized to confirm that SMYD2 can regulate METTL3 expression and affect m6A methylation, affecting cell proliferation and migration. These results confirm that the H3K36 methyltransferase SMYD2 can affect cell proliferation and migration in Hirschsprung's disease by regulating METTL3. Our study suggested that H3K36 methylation plays an important role in HSCR, confirming that the methyltransferase SMYD2 can affect m6A methylation levels and intestinal nervous system development by regulating METTL3 expression.
Exploring digital economy influence towards tourism innovation: An empirical research based on Chinese tourism industry
Authors: Yang Yong , Yue Yiyang 
Published: August 2024

AbstractThis study qualitatively and quantitatively analyzes the effect of the digital economy on tourism innovation in China. It discusses the concept of tourism innovation and constructs a variable to measure it. Then, it empirically tests the impact of digital economy on tourism innovation. Econometric results demonstrate that the digital economy has a consistent and significant impact on tourism innovation, highlighting its role in shaping tourism dynamics. It conducts further tests across different stages and addresses endogeneity concerns. Finally, it presents several policy suggestions.
The Food Sources in Western Diets Modulate Obesity Development, Insulin Sensitivity, and the Plasma and Cecal Metabolome in Mice
Authors: Myrmel Lene Secher , Fjære Even , Han Mo , Jensen Benjamin Anderschou Hollbech , Rolle‐Kampczyk Ulrike , Danneskiold‐Samsøe Niels Banhos , Ho Quang Tri , Smette Anita , von Bergen Martin , Xiao Liang , Kristiansen Karsten , Madsen Lise 
Published: August 2024

ScopeDietary constituents modulate development of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The metabolic impact from different food sources in western diets (WD) on obesity development is not fully elucidated. This study aims to identify dietary sources that differentially affect obesity development and the metabolic processes involved.Methods and resultsMice were fed isocaloric WDs with protein and fat from different food groups, including egg and dairy, terrestrial meat, game meat, marine, vegetarian, and a mixture of all. This study evaluates development of obesity, glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and plasma and cecal metabolome. WD based on marine or vegetarian food sources protects male mice from obesity development and insulin resistance, whereas meat‐based diets promote obesity. The intake of different food sources induces marked differences in the lipid‐related plasma metabolome, particularly impacting phosphatidylcholines. Fifty‐nine lipid‐related plasma metabolites are positively associated with adiposity and a distinct cecal metabolome is found in mice fed a marine diet.ConclusionThis study demonstrates differences in obesity development between the food groups. Diet specific metabolomic signatures in plasma and cecum associated with adiposity, where a marine based diet modulates the level of plasma and cecal phosphatidylcholines in addition to preventing obesity development.
Shifting more‐than‐human relationships amidst social–ecological disturbance
Authors: Visnic Olivia , Maurer Megan , Yoon Liv , Cook Elizabeth M. 
Published: August 2024

Abstract

Social–ecological disruptions, such as changing climate, extreme weather‐related events and the COVID‐19 pandemic, can have cascading and long‐term consequences for people, ecosystems and multispecies relationships. As the early COVID‐19 pandemic disrupted people's lives through isolation and restricted human contact, more‐than‐human relationships played a heightened role in individuals' day‐to‐day lives with potential long‐term impacts on multispecies justice.

We analysed 72 interviews conducted during the early (May–June 2020) COVID‐19 lockdown in the United States to investigate how social–ecological disruptions and spatial re‐orderings, exemplified by the pandemic, reassemble more‐than‐human relationships. We consider new relational values through a transformative multispecies justice framing, which contends that times of uncertainty can inspire meaningful connections with the more‐than‐human world, facilitating care and reciprocal relationships during times of disruption.

Among interviewee accounts, we find that disorderings of daily life during the pandemic interweave with past and ongoing experiences of inequity to form mosaics of disruption. These mosaics of disruption created circumstances in which interviewees formed new connections with the more‐than‐human world.

The more‐than‐human connections of interviewees sat along a spectrum and did not universally represent the same strength of relational values. The more‐than‐human connections were defined by individual's positionality and restricted geographies of the circumstances. However, the newly formed relationships seemed to be ephemeral, indicating that they would not necessarily endure outside of an early‐pandemic context.

Thus, while individuals reported rearranged relationships out of pandemic precarity, their transitory qualities do not directly promise long‐term transformational multispecies connections. Our findings suggest that moments of disruption alone do not necessarily produce durable change and there is a need to go beyond merely recognizing relationality.

Policy implications: Transformative multispecies justice requires long‐term, routine commitment to deepening relationships with the more‐than‐human world. While future social–ecological and spatial disturbances can be a window of opportunity to initiate multispecies relationships, future initiatives and policies must actively support and foster these relationships and strong relational values beyond the disturbances—recognizing the long‐term, non‐linear processes of transformation needed to address our future challenges.

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Reliability in mass alert system for dam emergencies: Case study of Vale S/A
Authors: da Silva Flávio Thimotio , Faria Cilene , Morais Flávio , Ferraz Germano , Delamora Roberto , Guedes Priscila , de Miranda Souza Daniela 
Published: August 2024

AbstractIn its iron ore operations, Vale, the largest mining company in Brazil and the fourth largest mining company in the world by market value, has 77 dams considered with high potential damage in case of a failure in the stability controls. This classification follows the criteria of the sector regulatory agency in Brazil and determines that, for this class, a mass alert system is necessary for the resident population and workers immediately downstream of the dam within a region preset by legislation, considering a simulated flood area. For Vale, the mass alert system for dam emergencies is part of a critical mitigating control for a business risk analysis considering the hypothetical dam break as an unwanted material event. Therefore, both the probability of failure on demand, spurious failure, and availability of the assets of this protection barrier are important elements for this purpose, as well as the emergency response plan and the evacuation simulation of flood areas, which are part of a risk management system that require continuous verification and continuous improvement. Currently, Vale has 375 sirens, and it is planned to reach 420 sirens by the end of 2024. The purpose of this article is to present how the safety concepts applied to these systems were developed, the good practices applied from this study, and the lessons learned from the dam emergency management arising from the break of the Brumadinho dam in 2019. The reliability analyses of the systems involved and the main contributors to the Safety Critical Unavailability are presented, as well as the results of the reduction in the maintenance time and increase in system availability.
Antinomies of the gig economy: The annihilation of space by time or the annihilation of time by space?
Authors: Butler Olivia , Zampoukos Kristina , Mitchell Don 
Published: August 2024

AbstractThis paper concerns migrants in Sweden working in various types of on and offline gig work. It explores how the temporal and spatial flexibility afforded to gig customers is predicated on temporal and spatial inflexibility for workers. The argument moves discussions beyond relational space by promoting a more fully dialectical view of space that understands it as simultaneously relational, relative, and absolute. Without such a view of space—which understands that space is not always open and fluid but just as often closed and fixed—it is impossible to understand the specific relations of labour that structure gig work, particularly offline gig work in such ways as to provide maximal flexibility for customers. This paper shows that the Marxian adage concerning how, in capitalism, space is annihilated by time, does not always hold. For workers doing cleaning and delivery gig work, the converse is oftentimes truer: time is annihilated by space. Gig workers—and even more so migrant gig workers crowded in the above‐mentioned industries—experience the annihilation of time by space through the dual mandate that they must be available “just‐in‐time” and “just‐in‐place” to produce the spatiotemporal flexibility upon which the gig companies base their model and their success.
Design and multiobjective optimization of a two‐point contact ladder‐climbing robot using a genetic algorithm
Authors: Shah Darshita , Dave Jatin , Chauhan Mihir , Ukani Vijay , Patel Suhani 
Published: August 2024

AbstractThis paper presents the design and optimization of a climbing robot. The design of a ladder‐climbing robot is done with fundamental mathematical considerations. The designed robot is robust enough to manage all environmental calamities, and at the same time, it is optimized for lightweight to reduce the actuator's cost and ease of transportation. An analytical evaluation is carried out for both static and dynamic conditions to determine strength and motion characteristics. The multiobjective optimization of the design parameters of a ladder‐climbing robot is done to obtain optimized values of design parameters. The formulation of an optimization problem that considers the minimization of weight and natural frequency is performed. Using an evolutionary genetic algorithm (GA) for the multicriteria optimization problem is solved, and a Pareto front solution is obtained. The optimal values of the parameters are decided based on the knee selection technique. As both objective functions are contradictory, the optimum results significantly improve the robot's performance. Controlling the proportional–integral–derivative (PID) parameters is crucial as the robot climbs with a two‐point contact gait pattern. The controlling parameters impart stability to the robot. PID parameters like proportional, integral and derivative gain are tunned using the GA. Finally, the developed prototype is tested on the ladders of the tower, and satisfactory climbing motion is achieved.
Magnetic Properties of Self‐Assemble Naphthalene Diimide Radical Aggregates
Authors: He Xiandong , Zhao Duokai , Yao Yao , Zhang Jiang , Zhou Jiadong , Li Xingxing , Hu Dehua , Yang Jinlong , Ma Yuguang 
Published: August 2024

AbstractThe concept of creating room‐temperature ferromagnets from organic radicals proposed nearly sixty years ago, has recently experienced a resurgence due to advances in organic radical chemistry and materials. However, the lack of definitive design paradigms for achieving stable long‐range ferromagnetic coupling between organic radicals presents an uncertain future for this research. Here, an innovative strategy is presented to achieve room‐temperature ferromagnets by assembling π‐conjugated radicals into π‐π stacking aggregates. These aggregates, with ultra‐close π‐π distances and optimal π‐π overlap, provide a platform for strong ferromagnetic (FM) interaction. The planar aromatic naphthalene diimide (NDI) anion radicals form nanorod aggregates with a π‐π distance of just 3.26 Å, shorter than typical van der Waals distances. The suppressed electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signal and emergent near‐infrared (NIR) absorption of the aggregates confirm strong interactions between the radicals. Magnetic measurements of NDI anion radical aggregates demonstrate room‐temperature ferromagnetism with a saturated magnetization of 1.1 emu g−1, the highest among pure organic ferromagnets. Theoretical calculations reveal that π‐stacks of NDI anion radicals with specific interlayer translational slippage favor ferromagnetic coupling over antiferromagnetic coupling.