bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Direction-dependent bending resistance of 3D printed bio-inspired composites with asymmetric 3D articulated tiles
Authors: Nash Richard J , Li Yaning 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
Inspired by the protective armors in nature, composites with asymmetric 3D articulated tiles attached to a soft layer are designed and fabricated via a multi-material 3D printer. The bending resistance of the new designs are characterized via three-point bending experiments. Bending rigidity, strength, and final deflection of the designs are quantified and compared when loaded in two different in-plane and two different out-of-plane directions. It is found that in general, the designs with articulated tiles show direction-dependent bending behaviors with significantly increased bending rigidity, strength, and deflection to final failure in certain loading directions, as is attributed to the asymmetric tile articulation (asymmetric about the mid-plane of tiles) and an interesting sliding-induced auxetic effect. Analytical, numerical, and experimental analyses are conducted to unveil the underlying mechanisms.
Harnessing the potential: exploring development opportunities and charting strategic pathways for China’s enhanced engagement in international blue carbon cooperation
Authors: Zhang Zhijun , Mao Zhengkai , Wang Jinpeng 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
In light of the urgent need to combat climate change and attain carbon neutrality, the development of blue carbon has emerged as a pivotal strategy for the global community. This approach offers significant potential for both mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change. As a result, international collaboration on blue carbon initiatives has become a focal point in the worldwide response to the climate crisis. China, blessed with extensive blue carbon resources, recognizes the development of these ecosystems as a critical component in its efforts to make a substantial contribution to the global endeavor to curb climate change and achieve sustainable environmental goals. This article offers a comprehensive analysis of China’s opportunities and challenges in international blue carbon collaboration. Despite its vast potential, China faces significant hurdles, including the degradation of blue carbon ecosystems, a delayed start in implementing blue carbon practices, and inconsistencies in the blue carbon standard system. To enhance its participation in global blue carbon initiatives, China should pursue several key strategies, including preserving and restoring its blue carbon ecosystems, strengthening domestic protection and application mechanisms, promoting the construction of an international blue carbon system, establishing a scientific cooperation platform to facilitate capacity building and technology transfer and advocating for an international blue carbon market trading mechanism. By prioritizing these key areas, China can simultaneously foster domestic blue carbon conservation and development while solidifying its role as a pivotal contributor to global climate change mitigation efforts.
A quantitative explanation for the large impacts of El Niño during its decaying stage
Authors: Ji Xuanliang , Feng Juan , Li Jianping , Chen Xingrong , Wang Chunzai 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
This study examines the comparative atmospheric circulation and tropical sea surface temperature (SST) relationships during the developing and decaying stages of El Niño from a meridional structure standpoint. Results indicate a transition in the variability of the first two modes of the Hadley circulation (HC) during these stages, with the first mode exhibiting a larger explained variance in the decaying stage. The regime change in HC variability corresponds to underlying anomalous SST distributions, as confirmed by sensitive experiments. Quantitative assessment reveals the HC-SST response amplitudes are approximately two times stronger during the decaying stage compared to the developing stage. Employing the Kuo–Eliassen (KE) equation, diabatic heating anomalies during the decaying stage explain the difference in air-sea response intensity between the two stages. Diabatic heating variations are identified as the primary contributor to amplification or reduction of air-sea response intensity during the respective El Niño stages, providing insights into the different air-sea processes throughout the El Niño lifespan.
Towards revealing intrinsic vortex-core states in Fe-based superconductors through statistical discovery
Authors: Guo Yueming , Miao Hu , Zou Qiang , Fu Mingming , Sefat Athena S , Lupini Andrew R , Kalinin Sergei V , Gai Zheng 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
In type-II superconductors, electronic states within magnetic vortices hold crucial information about the paring mechanism and can reveal non-trivial topology. While scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/S) is a powerful tool for imaging superconducting vortices, it is challenging to isolate the intrinsic electronic properties from extrinsic effects like subsurface defects and disorders. Here we combine STM/STS with basic machine learning to develop a method for screening out the vortices pinned by embedded disorder in iron-based superconductors. Through a principal component analysis of large STS data within vortices, we find that the vortex-core states in Ba(Fe0.96Ni0.04)2As2 start to split into two categories at certain magnetic field strengths, reflecting vortices with and without pinning by subsurface defects or disorders. Our machine-learning analysis provides an unbiased approach to reveal intrinsic vortex-core states in novel superconductors and shed light on ongoing puzzles in the possible emergence of a Majorana zero mode.
Green and chemical synthesis of CuO nanoparticles: comparative reproductive toxicity evaluation at various phases and in offsprings
Authors: Naz Sania , Ali Joham Sarfraz , Zia Muhammad , Mahmood Asif , Masry Waheed Al , Masud Haleema , Latif Muhammad 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
Metallic nanoparticles (NPs) are used in various biomedical applications due to their widespread utility. This study compares the reproductive toxicity of chemically synthesized CuO NPs (ChemSyn CuO NPs) and green synthesized CuO NPs (GrSyn CuO NPs) in rats and their offspring during mating, pregnancy, and lactation phases. CuO NPs were synthesized using Rhus punjabensis extract and their physio-morphological characteristics were illustrated. Both approaches showed pure and spherical NPs with an average size of 14.94 ± 0.6 and 19.02 ± 0.9 nm. Orally administered NPs at a dose of 100 mg kg−1 body weight of ChemSyn NPs reduced peroxidase activity by 38% and glutathione levels by 36%. In female rats treated with ChemSyn NPs, TBARS were increased by 11%, and total protein increased by 54%. The offspring did not show notable differences in their antioxidant status, but reactive substances in female offspring increased by 32%, and total protein content decreased by 57%. Genotoxicity of 2.72% and 1.9% tail DNA was observed in male and female pups, respectively. Testosterone levels were reduced in male parents, and progesterone concentration increased in female parents in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, GrSyn NPs were more biocompatible, and thyroid hormones in the parents showed less variation. No obvious alterations were observed in the histological patterns of the gonads. These findings indicate that GrSyn NPs can be explored as drug carriers and contrast agents in vivo.
Electrospun PAN/PANI/CNT scaffolds and electrical pulses: a pathway to stem cell-derived nerve regeneration
Authors: Fakhraei Khosravieh Zahra , Nekounam Houra , Asgari Fatemeh , Haghighipour Nooshin 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
Biocompatible polymer-based scaffolds hold great promise for neural repair, especially when they are coupled with electrostimulation to induce neural differentiation. In this study, a combination of polyacrylonitrile/polyaniline (PAN/PANI) and Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) were used to fabricate three different biomimetic electrospun scaffolds (samples 1, 2 and 3 containing 0.26 wt%, 1 wt% and 2 wt% of CNTs, respectively). These scaffolds underwent thorough characterization for assessing electroconductivity, tensile strength, wettability, degradability, swelling, XRD, and FTIR data. Notably, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images revealed a three-dimensional scaffold morphology with aligned fibers ranging from 60 nm to 292 nm in diameter. To comprehensively investigate the impact of electrical stimulation on the nervous differentiation of the stem cells seeded on these scaffolds, cell morphology and adhesion were assessed based on SEM images. Additionally, scaffold biocompatibility was studied through MTT assay. Importantly, Real-Time PCR results indicated the expression of neural markers—Nestin, β-tubulin III, and MAP2—by the cells cultured on these samples. In comparison with the control group, samples 1 and 2 exhibited significant increases in Nestin marker expression, indicating early stages of neuronal differentiation, while β-tubulin III expression was significantly reduced and MAP2 expression remained statistically unchanged. In contrast, sample 3 did not display a statistically significant upturn in Nestin maker expression, while showcasing remarkable increases in the expression of both MAP2 and β-tubulin III, as markers of the end stages of differentiation, leading to postmitotic neurons. These results could be attributed to the higher electroconductivity of S3 compared to other samples. Our findings highlight the biomimetic potential of the prepared scaffolds for neural repair, illustrating their effectiveness in guiding stem cell differentiation toward a neural lineage.
Deep probabilistic direction prediction in 3D with applications to directional dark matter detectors
Authors: Ghrear Majd , Sadowski Peter , Vahsen Sven E 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
We present the first method to probabilistically predict 3D direction in a deep neural network model. The probabilistic predictions are modeled as a heteroscedastic von Mises-Fisher distribution on the sphere

S

2

, giving a simple way to quantify aleatoric uncertainty. This approach generalizes the cosine distance loss which is a special case of our loss function when the uncertainty is assumed to be uniform across samples. We develop approximations required to make the likelihood function and gradient calculations stable. The method is applied to the task of predicting the 3D directions of electrons, the most complex signal in a class of experimental particle physics detectors designed to demonstrate the particle nature of dark matter and study solar neutrinos. Using simulated Monte Carlo data, the initial direction of recoiling electrons is inferred from their tortuous trajectories, as captured by the 3D detectors. For

40

keV electrons in a 70% He 30% CO2 gas mixture at STP, the new approach achieves a mean cosine distance of 0.104 (26∘) compared to 0.556 (64∘) achieved by a non-machine learning algorithm. We show that the model is well-calibrated and accuracy can be increased further by removing samples with high predicted uncertainty. This advancement in probabilistic 3D directional learning could increase the sensitivity of directional dark matter detectors.
Introduction
Authors: Badano Gabriele , Nuti Alasia 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
This chapter introduces the main argument and the structure of the book. It explains how the normative account of liberal democratic self-defence developed in the book differs from existing approaches to liberal democratic erosion that can be found in civil society and in the scholarly literature. The chapter explains the appeal of John Rawls’s framework of political liberalism, which provides the ground of the arguments advanced in the book. It also introduces the reader to the key notions of that framework, and it outlines the many contributions that the book makes to debates over liberal democratic self-defence as well as discussions over political liberalism.
Why Exclude Unreasonable Persons? On Reasonable Ideas as the Core Truths of Political Liberalism
Authors: Badano Gabriele , Nuti Alasia 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
This chapter is the first of two that focus on the reasonable/unreasonable distinction, which is the ground on which any Rawlsian theory of containment rests. However, this distinction is heavily criticized as too exclusionary for its role in Rawls’s account of public reason, according to which justifications for fundamental political decisions should only be directed to reasonable persons. This chapter provides an original answer to these critiques. Some political liberals reply by trying to demonstrate that the exclusion of the unreasonable from the constituency of public reason can actually be justified to them. In line with the project of amending political liberalism in a more political direction, one crucial implication of our rejection of this reply is that we should accept that under any regime, there will always be groups that are coerced into obedience without any justification. Other political liberals offer what they take to be the correct justification for exclusion, e.g., that it is necessary to build relationships of civic friendship. In so doing, however, those theorists endorse deeper premises than the basic political ideas defining reasonableness, which should instead be treated as the bedrock of political liberal theory. In contrast, we explain that the exclusion of the unreasonable should simply be taken as an implication of an intrinsically appealing political ideal that represents the core truth of political liberalism—that of establishing together a cooperative system among free and equal persons that is justifiable to all who themselves care about acceptability to others and are open to disagreement.
Socratic Questionnaires
Authors: Hansen Nat , Francis Kathryn B , Greening Hamish 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
When experimental participants are given the chance to reflect and revise their initial judgments in a dynamic conversational context, do their responses to philosophical scenarios differ from responses to those same scenarios presented in a traditional static survey? In three experiments we find no consistent evidence that responses differ in these different formats. This aligns with recent findings that manipulations of reflectiveness have no effect on participants’ judgments about philosophical scenarios. Although we did not find a consistent quantitative effect of format (conversation vs. static survey), conversational experiments still provide qualitative insights into debates about how participants are understanding (or misunderstanding) the scenarios they read in experimental studies, and whether they are replacing difficult questions with questions that are more easily answered. We argue that conversational experiments—“Socratic questionnaires”—help show what is going on “under the hood” of traditional survey designs in the experimental investigation of philosophical questions.
Oleanane-type saponins from Lysimachia laxa Baudo and their antibacterial activities
Authors: Luyen Nguyen Thi , Dat Nguyen Tien , Giang Do Hoang , Thuy Nguyen Thi Kim , Tai Bui Huu , Huong Phan Thi Thanh , Quynh Le Thi Phuong , Thuy Duong Thi , Park SeonJu , Nhiem Nguyen Xuan 
Published: July 2024

ABSTRACT
Seven new oleanane-type triterpene saponins, lysimaponins A-G, were isolated from aerial parts of Lysimachia laxa Baudo. Their chemical structures have been elucidated by analysis of spectroscopic and chemical methods. All compounds were evaluated for their antibacterial effects against Microcystis aeruginosa, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, V. harveyi, V. vulinificus, V. cholerae, and V. alginolyticus. All compounds showed potent antibacterial activities against the cyanobacteria M. aeruginosa with IC50 values ranging from 14.4 ± 1.2 to 35.3 ± 2.2 µg/mL. Compounds 1, 2, 4-7 inhibited V. parahaemolyticus with MIC values ranging from 64 to 256 µg/mL. The results suggested that saponins from L. laxa could be potential anti-cyanobacteria agents.
Highly defended nudibranchs “escape” to visually distinct background habitats
Authors: van den Berg Cedric P , Santon Matteo , Endler John A , Cheney Karen L 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
The “escape and radiate” hypothesis predicts that once species have evolved aposematism, defended species can utilize more visually diverse visual backgrounds as they “escape” the need to be well camouflaged. This enables species to explore new ecological niches, resulting in increased diversification rates. To test this hypothesis “escape” component, we examined whether the background habitats of 12 nudibranch mollusk species differed among species depending on the presence and strength of chemical defenses. We obtained a rich array of color pattern statistics using quantitative color pattern analysis to analyze backgrounds viewed through the eyes of a potential predator (triggerfish, Rhinecanthus aculeatus). Color pattern analysis was done at viewing distances simulating an escalating predation sequence. We identified 4 latent factors comprising 17 noncorrelated color pattern parameters, which captured the among-species variability associated with differences in chemical defenses. We found that chemically defended species, indeed, were found on visually distinct backgrounds with increased color and luminance contrast, independent of viewing distance. However, we found no evidence for increased among-species background diversity coinciding with the presence and strength of chemical defenses. Our results agree with the “escape and radiate” hypothesis, suggesting that potent chemical defenses in Dorid nudibranchs coincide with spatiochromatic differences of visual background habitats perceived by potential predators.
524 Outcomes From Preoperative Risk Scoring for Emergency Laparotomy
Authors: Gangakhedkar S , Holmes M , Gani J , Pockney P 
Published: July 2024

Abstract

Aim
Risk scoring systems can be used to predict outcome, facilitate perioperative decision making and guide management in emergency laparotomy (EL). This study aims to evaluate the differences in outcome between EL patients who were prospectively risk assessed and those who were not.

Method
A retrospective study was conducted on all 782 patients aged over 18 years who underwent EL at four Australian hospitals between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2019. Data recorded included demographics, preoperative risk assessment, case urgency, involvement of anaesthetic and intensive care consultants, critical care bed requirement, mortality, and discharge destination. NELA scores were retrospectively calculated for all patients.

Results
209 patients had been preoperatively risk assessed, with a mean NELA score of 16.45%, compared to 8.72% for those who were not preoperatively risk assessed. They tended towards a higher ASA score, were booked as a higher urgency operation, and were more likely to receive consultant led care by anaesthetics and intensivists. Postoperatively these patients had increased critical care bed utilisation, 30-day mortality was 14.4% compared to 5.8%, and by 365 days mortality rose to 24.9% compared to 13.8%.

Conclusions
Use of preoperative risk prediction scores does not in itself reduce risk of mortality. In a health system that does not mandate formal preoperative risk assessment, it appears that clinicians use preoperative risk assessment tools when they perceive risk to be higher, rather than as a routine part of emergency laparotomy care.
862 An Overview of Laparoscopic Surgical Training Modalities – How Does Augmented Reality Simulation Compare?
Authors: Swealem A , Ludick C , Rawaf D , Street E , Van Flute J 
Published: July 2024

Abstract

Aim
Compare different types of laparoscopic training modalities and assess how AR compares to the education system using the apprenticeship model on patients and alternative training modalities, including human cadavers, box trainers, and virtual reality (VR) simulators.
AR is a novel introduction to laparoscopic surgical training and can superimpose digital images and physical models with the unique advantage of combining visual realism with true-to-life haptic feedback.

Method
31 papers were systematically reviewed, and the findings were compiled. Results for the available products and the technology as an educational modality were evaluated.

Results
Studies reported increased speed of learning, improved ability to multitask, procedural accuracy, hand-eye coordination and bimanual operation in a reduced practice time and increased success rate with AR in healthcare education. One of the limitations of AR it doesn’t reflect the non-technical skills required in the operation.
Compared with other modalities AR provided faster skill acquisition and was widely preferred, except when compared to the cadaver model for straight laparoscopic colorectal skills acquisition.
AR tends to have a higher initial purchasing cost but does not require the costly specialist facilities or services that cadaver or animal models do, 150 trusts in the NHS preliminary data show an estimated annual saving of £117m.

Conclusions
AR simulation has the potential to become the new gold standard for laparoscopic surgical training, and beyond, pending further development of literature to increase knowledge of the technology and its capabilities, on top of technological evolution to increase clinical realism.
1231 Using Novel Technologies and Innovative Theatre Utilisation Procedures to More Than Triple Operating Theatre Output
Authors: Hatfield T , Nwodo C , Sahota B 
Published: July 2024

Abstract

Aim
In the current climate of extended waiting lists and increasing demands on theatre time and personnel, efficiency gains are vital in shaping the future of surgical practice. We have utilised novel surgical technology to drive massive increases in throughput for one of the most commonly performed procedures worldwide (tonsillectomies).

Method
Use of the BiZactTM device, a vessel sealing bipolar instrument, has been shown in our trust and worldwide to be safe and offer greater efficiency. We combined this with a conveyor-belt style theatre arrangement - with a second team preparing and anaesthetising the following patient simultaneously, and changes to anaesthetic and post-op procedures to maximise productivity.

Results
Contrasting the GIRFT recommended 3 adult half day tonsillectomy list, we were able to safely perform 10 adult tonsillectomies in one session, with no change in expected post-operative complication rates. Average time recorded on the theatre system was 10m:00s per patient, with the average time-on-tonsil just 2m:59s. There was 1 patient who presented post-operatively with secondary haemorrhage that was managed conservatively.

Conclusions
The implementation of efficient technology, combined with innovative theatre procedural technique, short lasting anaesthetics and reduced post operative observation time allowed the half day list capacity to be increased by 333%. Complication rates in this case, and in our wider use of this technique (n=103), have been within normal range, whilst allowing greatly increased efficiency and rapid reduction of local waiting lists. Lessons learned from this conveyor-belt style practice have wide ranging potential applications across specialties that will drive efficient future practice.