bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Addressing life expectancy and healthy life expectancy through environmental indicators: Novel dynamic autoregressive distributed lag estimation
Authors: Aziz Ghazala , Waheed Rida , Sarwar Suleman , Alsaggaf Majid Ibrahim , Khan Mohd Saeed 
Published: June 2024

AbstractThis study innovatively combines healthy life expectancy (LE) with traditional LE measures to shed light on environmental impacts on public health. Second, it utilizes the Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm to model data until 2025; this is a new method in environmental health research. This study investigates the impact of environmental indicators on LE and healthy LE, a landmark piece of research that incorporates the latter in such analyses. The major harmful outcomes of economic growth, carbon emissions, and particulate matter 2.5 on both life expectancies are verified. In the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, post‐Vision 2030 estimations show a low impact of these environmental factors, which implies that Vision successfully adjusted the environmental impacts. Notably, the ecological footprint's coefficient is insignificant in both models. These insights are crucial for shaping and refining environmental and health policies. The research addresses a gap in the literature, focusing on environmental health in Saudi Arabia. It considers CO2, particulate matter 2.5, and ecological footprints as key environmental indicators, acknowledging Saudi Arabia's role as a major fossil fuel producer and its consequent environmental challenges. The study also emphasizes the significant health risks posed by particulate matter. The inclusion of healthy LE as a dependent variable, alongside mortality, and the examination of Saudi Vision 2030's impact on environmental health further underline the study's comprehensive and innovative approach.
The complex world of kefir: Structural insights and symbiotic relationships
Authors: Cheng Tiantian , Zhang Tuo , Zhang Pengmin , He Xiaowei , Sadiq Faizan Ahmed , Li Jiale , Sang Yaxin , Gao Jie 
Published: June 2024

AbstractKefir milk, known for its high nutritional value and health benefits, is traditionally produced by fermenting milk with kefir grains. These grains are a complex symbiotic community of lactic acid bacteria, acetic acid bacteria, yeasts, and other microorganisms. However, the intricate coexistence mechanisms within these microbial colonies remain a mystery, posing challenges in predicting their biological and functional traits. This uncertainty often leads to variability in kefir milk's quality and safety. This review delves into the unique structural characteristics of kefir grains, particularly their distinctive hollow structure. We propose hypotheses on their formation, which appears to be influenced by the aggregation behaviors of the community members and their alliances. In kefir milk, a systematic colonization process is driven by metabolite release, orchestrating the spatiotemporal rearrangement of ecological niches. We place special emphasis on the dynamic spatiotemporal changes within the kefir microbial community. Spatially, we observe variations in species morphology and distribution across different locations within the grain structure. Temporally, the review highlights the succession patterns of the microbial community, shedding light on their evolving interactions.Furthermore, we explore the ecological mechanisms underpinning the formation of a stable community composition. The interplay of cooperative and competitive species within these microorganisms ensures a dynamic balance, contributing to the community's richness and stability. In kefir community, competitive species foster diversity and stability, whereas cooperative species bolster mutualistic symbiosis. By deepening our understanding of the behaviors of these complex microbial communities, we can pave the way for future advancements in the development and diversification of starter cultures for food fermentation processes.
Prediagnosis recognition of acute ischemic stroke by artificial intelligence from facial images
Authors: Wang Yiyang , Ye Yunyan , Shi Shengyi , Mao Kehang , Zheng Haonan , Chen Xuguang , Yan Hanting , Lu Yiming , Zhou Yong , Ye Weimin , Ye Jing , Han Jing‐Dong J. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractStroke is a major threat to life and health in modern society, especially in the aging population. Stroke may cause sudden death or severe sequela‐like hemiplegia. Although computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are standard diagnosis methods, and artificial intelligence models have been built based on these images, shortage in medical resources and the time and cost of CT/MRI imaging hamper fast detection, thus increasing the severity of stroke. Here, we developed a convolutional neural network model by integrating four networks, Xception, ResNet50, VGG19, and EfficientNetb1, to recognize stroke based on 2D facial images with a cross‐validation area under curve (AUC) of 0.91 within the training set of 185 acute ischemic stroke patients and 551 age‐ and sex‐matched controls, and AUC of 0.82 in an independent data set regardless of age and sex. The model computed stroke probability was quantitatively associated with facial features, various clinical parameters of blood clotting indicators and leukocyte counts, and, more importantly, stroke incidence in the near future. Our real‐time facial image artificial intelligence model can be used to rapidly screen and prediagnose stroke before CT scanning, thus meeting the urgent need in emergency clinics, potentially translatable to routine monitoring.
Being a First Nations baby is not independently associated with low birthweight in a large metropolitan health service
Authors: Pervin Sonia , Kearney Lauren , Giudice Sonita , Holzapfel Sherry , Denaro Tara , Dyer Jodi , Cole Phillipa E , Callaway Leonie 
Published: June 2024

AimTo examine low birth weight (LBW) in First Nations babies born in a large metropolitan health service in Queensland, Australia.Materials and MethodsA retrospective population‐based study using routinely collected data from administrative data sources. All singleton births in metropolitan health services, Queensland, Australia of ≥20 weeks gestation or at least 400 g birthweight and had information on First Nations status and born between 2019 and 2021 were included. The study measured birthweight and birthweight z‐score, and also identified the predictors of LBW. Multivariate regression models were adjusted by demographic, socioeconomic and perinatal factors.ResultsFirst Nations babies had higher rates of LBW (11.4% vs 6.9%, P < 0.001), with higher rates of preterm birth (13.9% vs 8.8%, P < 0.001). In all babies, the most important factors contributing to LBW were: maternal smoking after 20 weeks of gestation; maternal pre‐pregnancy underweight (body mass index <18.5 kg/m2); nulliparity; socioeconomic disadvantage; geographical remoteness; less frequent antenatal care; history of cannabis use; pre‐existing cardiovascular disease; pre‐eclampsia; antepartum haemorrhage; and birth outcomes including prematurity and female baby. After adjusting for all contributing factors, no difference in odds of LBW was observed between First Nations and non‐First Nation babies.ConclusionsFirst Nations status was not an independent factor influencing LBW in this cohort, after adjustment for identifiable factors. The disparity in LBW relates to modifiable risk factors, socioeconomic disadvantage, and prematurity. Upscaling culturally safe maternity care, focusing on modifiable risk factors is required to address LBW in Australian women.
Effects of bisphenol A and tauroursodeoxycholic acid on maturation of porcine oocytes and parthenogenetic development of embryos
Authors: Yang Ling , Zhang Qiongao , Cui Maosheng , Zhang Leying , Ma Yong 
Published: June 2024

AbstractProlonged exposure of bisphenol A (BPA) has adverse effects on in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes, but treatment with tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) can improve the IVM and development of embryos. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of BPA and both BPA and TUDCA on IVM and parthenogenetic development of embryos. The results showed that BPA treatment adverse effects on the cumulus expansion index, survival rate, polar body rate, mitochondrial distribution of the oocytes after maturation culture, and that it also decreased the cleavage rate and blastocyst rate of embryos after parthenogenetic develpoment. In addition, BPA treatment upregulated expression of genes related to endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis and increased the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, while it decreased expression of genes related to cumulus expansion. However, the supplementation of TUDCA relieved these adverse effects of BPA except polar body rate, blastocyst rate, and expression of BCL2 and PTGS1. In conclusion, the supplementation of TUDCA can partly attenuate the negative effects of BPA on IVM and parthenogenetic development of embryos, possibly by modification of the expression of genes related to endoplasmic reticulum stress, apoptosis and cumulus expansion, intracellular ROS level, and mitochondrial distribution.
Borders, labor, and beyond: Collective reflections on Harsha Walia's writing, activism, and influence on the anthropology of work
Authors: Campbell Stephen , Godboldt Adrian D. , Hjalmarson Elise , Holmes Seth M. , Hodžić Saida , Raheja Natasha , Rodriguez Solis Gerardo , Shankar Arjun , Shaw Jennifer E. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractHarsha Walia is the winner of the 2022 Conrad M. Arensberg Award given by the Society for the Anthropology of Work for outstanding contributions to the anthropology of work from inside the discipline and beyond. Walia is a scholar, activist, and organizer committed to migrant justice and border abolition. She is also author of Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism (Fernwood Press 2021), Undoing Border Imperialism (AK Press 2013), as well as numerous journal articles. Walia's analysis and her organizing with No One Is Illegal and other activist communities lay bare why border imperialism continues to feed into worker exploitation and why border abolition is imperative for migrant worker justice. This roundtable discussion is the culmination of collective thinking by anthropologists about how Walia's work has influenced their own, including their research, writing, and advocacy with their interlocutors who live and work across borders.
Vancomycin trough concentration in adult patients with periprosthetic joint infection: A machine learning‐based covariate model
Authors: Chen Yue‐Wen , Lin Xi‐Kai , Huang Chen , Wu Wei , Lin Wei‐Wei , Chen Si , Lu Zong‐Xing , You Ya‐Yi , Liu Zhou‐Jie 
Published: June 2024

AimsAlthough there are various model‐based approaches to individualized vancomycin (VCM) administration, few have been reported for adult patients with periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). This work attempted to develop a machine learning (ML)‐based model for predicting VCM trough concentration in adult PJI patients.MethodsThe dataset of 287 VCM trough concentrations from 130 adult PJI patients was split into a training set (229) and a testing set (58) at a ratio of 8:2, and an independent external 32 concentrations were collected as a validation set. A total of 13 covariates and the target variable (VCM trough concentration) were included in the dataset. A covariate model was respectively constructed by support vector regression, random forest regression and gradient boosted regression trees and interpreted by SHapley Additive exPlanation (SHAP).ResultsThe SHAP plots visualized the weight of the covariates in the models, with estimated glomerular filtration rate and VCM daily dose as the 2 most important factors, which were adopted for the model construction. Random forest regression was the optimal ML algorithm with a relative accuracy of 82.8% and absolute accuracy of 67.2% (R2 =.61, mean absolute error = 2.4, mean square error = 10.1), and its prediction performance was verified in the validation set.ConclusionThe proposed ML‐based model can satisfactorily predict the VCM trough concentration in adult PJI patients. Its construction can be facilitated with only 2 clinical parameters (estimated glomerular filtration rate and VCM daily dose), and prediction accuracy can be rationalized by SHAP values, which highlights a profound practical value for clinical dosing guidance and timely treatment.
Utilizing passage‐level relevance and kernel pooling for enhancing BERT‐based document reranking
Authors: Pan Min , Zhou Shuting , Li Teng , Liu Yu , Pei Quanli , Huang Angela J. , Huang Jimmy X. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractThe pre‐trained language model (PLM) based on the Transformer encoder, namely BERT, has achieved state‐of‐the‐art results in the field of Information Retrieval. Existing BERT‐based ranking models divide documents into passages and aggregate passage‐level relevance to rank the document list. However, these common score aggregation strategies cannot capture important semantic information such as document structure and have not been extensively studied. In this article, we propose a novel kernel‐based score pooling system to capture document‐level relevance by aggregating passage‐level relevance. In particular, we propose and study several representative kernel pooling functions and several different document ranking strategies based on passage‐level relevance. Our proposed framework KnBERT naturally incorporates kernel functions from the passage level into the BERT‐based re‐ranking method, which provides a promising avenue for building universal retrieval‐then‐rerank information retrieval systems. Experiments conducted on two widely used TREC Robust04 and GOV2 test datasets show that the KnBERT has made significant improvements over other BERT‐based ranking approaches in terms of MAP, P@20, and NDCG@20 indicators with no extra or even less computations.
Board Busyness and Firm Performance: An Emerging Market Perspective
Authors: Venkatesh G. , Kshatriya Saranya , Bansal Shashank 
Published: June 2024

ABSTRACTResearch Question/IssueThis paper primarily explores the relationship between busy boards and firm performance. Additionally, we have performed a quasi‐natural experiment to evaluate the impact of SEBI regulatory restrictions on multiple directorships on the firm performance.Research Findings/InsightsThe study sample includes all firms listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Our primary findings indicate a nonlinear relationship between busy boards and firm performance. These results are more pronounced for the non‐business group firms and firms with high promoter ownership. Our quasi‐natural experiment results indicates that the treatment firms had a significant improvement in firm performance. The results of event study analysis and difference‐in‐difference analysis are robust for both short‐ and long‐term measures of firm performance. Furthermore, we observe an increase in the board meeting attendance of independent directors in the post‐mandate period.Theoretical/Academic ImplicationsTwo competing views prevalent in busy board literature are reputational effect hypothesis and distraction effect hypothesis. Our findings support the limit on number of outside directorships; if this number exceeds a certain threshold, the directors become less effective monitors and exacerbate the firm performance.Practitioner/Policy ImplicationsThe results are in favor of restriction on multiple directorship positions of independent directors by the regulators in emerging markets. Further, the study demonstrates that firms that adhere to good governance practices protect the investors' interests and improve the firm's performance.
What's Wrong with Wishful Thinking? “Manifesting” as an Epistemic Vice
Authors: D'Olimpio Laura 
Published: June 2024

AbstractThe popular trend of manifesting involves supposedly making something happen by imagining it and consciously thinking it will happen in order to will it into existence. In this paper Laura D'Olimpio explains why manifesting is a form of wishful thinking and argues that it is an epistemic vice. She describes how such wishful thinking generally, and manifesting in particular, are epistemically problematic in the ways they obstruct the attainment of knowledge. She further adds that manifesting leaves the epistemic agent vulnerable to unrealistic expectations, being set up for failure, and being prone to self‐blame, and it also encourages a blurring of the distinction between thought and truth. D'Olimpio offers an example that demonstrates how manifesting as a particular instantiation of wishful thinking invites and encourages obsessive and compulsive habits and rituals that corrupt the epistemic agent's rational conclusions. Wishful thinking and manifesting negate the role for luck and privilege in achievement and downplay the role of effort and action. D'Olimpio concludes that as educators we may play a role in dispelling the myth that manifesting is a virtuous or beneficial practice and instead teach our students that, as a form of wishful thinking, it is an epistemic vice best avoided.
Short‐term exposure to HIV Tat induces glial activation and changes in perineuronal nets
Authors: Carey Sean D. , Conant Katherine , Maguire‐Zeiss Kathleen A. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractDespite widespread use of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), there remains a subset of individuals who display cognitive impairment broadly known as HIV‐associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND). Interestingly, HIV‐infected cells continuously release the HIV‐1 protein Tat even in the presence of cART. Persistent exposure to Tat is proposed to increase both neuroinflammation and neurotoxicity. In vitro evidence shows that matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are among the neuroinflammatory molecules induced by Tat, which are known to disrupt specialized neuronal extracellular matrix structures called perineuronal nets (PNNs). PNNs predominantly surround parvalbumin interneurons and help to buffer these cells from oxidant stress and to independently increase their excitability. In order to better understand the link between short‐term exposure to Tat, neuroinflammation, and PNNs, we explored the direct effects of Tat on glial cells and neurons. Herein, we report that in mixed glial cultures, Tat directly increases the expression of proinflammatory molecules, including MMP‐9. Moreover, direct injection of Tat protein into mouse hippocampus increases the expression of astrocyte and microglia markers as well as MMP‐9. The number of PNNs is decreased following Tat exposure, followed later by decreased numbers of hippocampal parvalbumin‐expressing neurons. In older mice, Tat induced significant increases in the gene expression of proinflammatory molecules including markers of gliosis, MMPs and complement system proteins. Taken together, these data support a direct effect of Tat on glial‐derived MMP expression subsequently affecting PNNs and neuronal health, with older mice more susceptible to Tat‐induced inflammation.
Host specificity of plant‐associated bacteria is negatively associated with genome size and host abundance along a latitudinal gradient
Authors: Wang Zihui , Lajoie Geneviève , Jiang Yuan , Zhang Minhua , Chu Chengjin , Chen Yongfa , Fang Shuai , Jin Guangze , Jiang Mingxi , Lian Juyu , Li Yanpeng , Liu Yu , Ma Keping , Mi Xiangcheng , Qiao Xiujuan , Wang Xihua , Wang Xugao , Xu Han , Ye Wanhui , Zhu Li , Zhu Yan , He Fangliang , Kembel Steven W. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractHost specialization plays a critical role in the ecology and evolution of plant–microbe symbiosis. Theory predicts that host specialization is associated with microbial genome streamlining and is influenced by the abundance of host species, both of which can vary across latitudes, leading to a latitudinal gradient in host specificity. Here, we quantified the host specificity and composition of plant–bacteria symbioses on leaves across 329 tree species spanning a latitudinal gradient. Our analysis revealed a predominance of host‐specialized leaf bacteria. The degree of host specificity was negatively correlated with bacterial genome size and the local abundance of host plants. Additionally, we found an increased host specificity at lower latitudes, aligning with the high prevalence of small bacterial genomes and rare host species in the tropics. These findings underscore the importance of genome streamlining and host abundance in the evolution of host specificity in plant‐associated bacteria along the latitudinal gradient.
Suffering makes you weaker: Limited evolutionary adaptation in competitively inferior populations
Authors: Chen Nan , Zhang Quan‐Guo 
Published: June 2024

AbstractInterspecific competition can hinder populations from evolutionarily adapting to abiotic environments, particularly by reducing population size and niche space; and feedback may arise between competitive ability and evolutionary adaptation. Here we studied populations of two model bacterial species, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas fluorescens, that evolved in monocultures and cocultures for approximately 2400 generations at three temperatures. The two species showed a reversal in competitive dominance in cocultures along the temperature gradient. Populations from cocultures where they had been competitively dominant showed the same magnitude of fitness gain as those in monocultures. However, competitively inferior populations in cocultures showed limited abiotic adaptation compared with those in monocultures. The inferior populations in cocultures were also more likely to evolve weaker interspecific competitive ability, or go extinct. The possible competitive ability‐adaptation feedback may have crucial consequences for population persistence.
Impact of policy uncertainty on subsidiary reverse knowledge transfer
Authors: Yeh Chun‐Ping , Hsiao Yi‐Chi , Gebhardt Sebastian 
Published: June 2024

AbstractDespite the recognized importance of subsidiary reverse knowledge transfer (RKT) for multinational enterprises' (MNEs') competitive advantages, little is understood about how host country policy uncertainty may affect it. This study, based on absorptive capacity and resource dependence theories and utilizing the global economic policy uncertainty (GEPU) index, examines 1565 firm‐year observations of Taiwanese MNE parent–subsidiary activities. Findings suggest that GEPU indirectly undermines subsidiary RKT benefit by reducing MNEs' global R&D intensity and geographical R&D diversity. Notably, this effect is mitigated when MNEs choose joint venture entry modes. This study enriches international business literature by elucidating the intricate relationships between the host country policy uncertainty, MNE strategies, and subsidiary RKT outcomes, thus contributing to a deeper scholarly understanding in the RKT domain.