bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
AagingBase: a comprehensive database of anti-aging peptides
Authors: R Kunjulakshmi , Kumar Ambuj , Vinod Kumar Keerthana , Sengupta Avik , Kundal Kavita , Sharma Simran , Pawar Ankita , Krishna Pithani Sai , Alfatah Mohammad , Ray Sandipan , Tiwari Bhavana , Kumar Rahul 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
The process of aging is an intrinsic and inevitable aspect of life that impacts every living organism. As biotechnological advancements continue to shape our understanding of medicine, peptide therapeutics have emerged as a promising strategy for anti-aging interventions. This is primarily due to their favorable attributes, such as low immunogenicity and cost-effective production. Peptide-based treatments have garnered widespread acceptance and interest in aging research, particularly in the context of age-related therapies. To effectively develop anti-aging treatments, a comprehensive understanding of the physicochemical characteristics of anti-aging peptides is essential. Factors such as amino acid composition, instability index, hydrophobic areas and other relevant properties significantly determine their efficacy as potential therapeutic agents. Consequently, the creation of ‘AagingBase’, a comprehensive database for anti-aging peptides, aims to facilitate research on aging by leveraging the potential of peptide therapies. AagingBase houses experimentally validated 282 anti-aging peptides collected from 54 research articles and 236 patents. Employing state-of-the-art computational techniques, the acquired sequences have undergone rigorous physicochemical calculations. Furthermore, AagingBase presents users with various informative analyses highlighting atomic compositions, secondary structure fractions, tertiary structure, amino acid compositions and frequencies. The database also offers advanced search and filtering options and similarity search, thereby aiding researchers in understanding their biological functions. Hence, the database enables efficient identification and prioritization of potential peptide candidates in geriatric medicine and holds immense potential for advancing geriatric medicine research and innovations. AagingBase can be accessed without any restriction.
Database URL: https://project.iith.ac.in/cgntlab/aagingbase/
Telementoring and Homeschooling During School Closures: a Randomised Experiment in Rural Bangladesh
Authors: Hassan Hashibul , Islam Asad , Siddique Abu , Wang Liang Choon 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Using a randomised experiment in 200 Bangladeshi villages, we evaluate the impact of an over-the-phone learning support intervention (telementoring) among primary school children and their mothers during Covid-19 school closures. Post-intervention, treated children scored 35% higher on a standardised test, and the homeschooling involvement of treated mothers increased by 22 minutes per day (26%). We also found that the intervention forestalled treated children's learning losses. When we returned to the participants one year later, after schools briefly reopened, we found that the treatment effects had persisted. Academically weaker children benefited the most from the intervention that only cost USD20 per child.
Hypogonadism and neurocognitive outcomes among childhood cancer survivors
Authors: Yoshida Tomoko , Alexander Tyler , Xing Mengqi , Mirzaei Sedigheh , Williams AnnaLynn M , Lubas Margaret , Brinkman Tara M , Chemaitilly Wassim , Robison Leslie L , Hudson Melissa M , Krull Kevin R , Delaney Angela 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

Objective
Childhood cancer survivors are at risk for hypogonadism. The impact of hypogonadism on neurocognitive impairment and emotional distress in the non-cancer population has been shown; however, the relationship among the childhood cancer survivor population is unknown. We aimed to evaluate the contribution of hypogonadism to neurocognitive impairment and emotional distress among survivors.

Design
Cross-sectional study using retrospective cohort.

Methods
In total, 3628 survivors who completed standard neurocognitive tests (six domains: processing speed, memory, executive function, attention, academics, and global cognition) and self-reported emotional distress were included in our study. Participants were stratified by sex and gonadal status. Outcomes were compared between hypogonadal and eugonadal groups by multivariable analysis, adjusting for established predictors, and mediation analyses to determine the direct/indirect effects of hypogonadism on outcomes.

Results
The hypogonadal group exhibited a higher prevalence of neurocognitive impairment across domains, but no difference in emotional distress. Hypogonadal females exhibited higher relative risk (1.7, 95% CI, 1.2–2.5) for impaired visual processing speed, compared to eugonadal females after adjusting for cancer-related variables. In mediation models, hypogonadism had a significant direct (P &lt; .01) and indirect (from P &lt; .01) impact on impairment in visual processing speed among females. Males demonstrated direct (P = .03) and indirect (P = .04) impact of hypogonadism on motor processing speed.

Conclusion
Processing speed may be the most vulnerable neurocognitive domain associated with hypogonadism in survivors, while other domains were mainly impacted by cancer-related variables. Our findings support the need for further evaluation of the impact of sex hormone replacement therapy on neurocognitive function.
Does innovation help to explain the effect of export on productivity? Evidence from the French dairy industry
Authors: Chemo Dzukou Kevin Randy , Vancauteren Mark 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
While there is strong evidence that becoming an exporter increases a firm’s productivity, underlying mechanisms that explain such a relationship remain largely unexplored. This paper analyses the contribution of the complementarity between exporting and investment in technology as a potential driver of export-related productivity gains. We employ firm-level data on production and trade combined with information on new products in the French dairy industry to conduct a causal mediation analysis between exporting, innovation investment, innovation output and productivity. Our estimation result show that starting exports increase the productivity by eight percentage points. Our mediation analysis reveals that innovation (investment and output) explains 31 per cent of this productivity growth.
Thermomechanical and Morphological Properties of Loligo vulgaris Squid Sucker Ring Teeth
Authors: Helft Margot , Zhang Zenghao , Kinane Cecelia , Black Noah , Pena-Francesch Abdon 
Published: March 2024

Synopsis
Climate change is accelerating the increase of temperatures across the planet and resulting in the warming of oceans. Ocean warming threatens the survival of many aquatic species, including squids, and has introduced physiological, behavioral, and developmental changes, as well as physical changes in their biological materials composition, structure, and properties. Here, we characterize and analyze how the structure, morphology, and mechanical properties of European common squid Loligo vulgaris sucker ring teeth (SRT) are affected by temperature. SRT are predatory teethed structures located inside the suction cups of squids that are used to capture prey and are composed of semicrystalline structural proteins with a high modulus (GPa-range). We observed here that this biological material reversibly softens with temperature, undergoing a glass transition at ∼35°C, to a MPa-range modulus. We analyzed the SRT protein nanostructures as a function of temperature, as well as microscale and macroscale morphological changes, to understand their impact in the material properties. The results suggested that even small deviations from their habitat temperatures can result in significant softening of the material (up to 40% in modulus loss). Temperature changes following recent global climate trends and predictions might affect environmental adaptation in squid species and pose emerging survival challenges to adapt to increasing ocean temperatures.
Niche differentiation in microbial communities with stable genomic traits over time in engineered systems
Authors: Yu Jinjin , Lee Justin Y Y , Tang Siang Nee , Lee Patrick K H 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Microbial communities in full-scale engineered systems undergo dynamic compositional changes. However, mechanisms governing assembly of such microbes and succession of their functioning and genomic traits under various environmental conditions are unclear. In this study, we used the activated sludge and anaerobic treatment systems of four full-scale industrial wastewater treatment plants as models to investigate the niches of microbes in communities and the temporal succession patterns of community compositions. High-quality representative metagenome-assembled genomes revealed that taxonomic, functional, and trait-based compositions were strongly shaped by environmental selection, with replacement processes primarily driving variations in taxonomic and functional compositions. Plant-specific indicators were associated with system environmental conditions and exhibited strong determinism and trajectory directionality over time. The partitioning of microbes in a co-abundance network according to groups of plant-specific indicators, together with significant between-group differences in genomic traits, indicated the occurrence of niche differentiation. The indicators of the treatment plant with rich nutrient input and high substrate removal efficiency exhibited a faster predicted growth rate, lower guanine–cytosine content, smaller genome size, and higher codon usage bias than the indicators of the other plants. In individual plants, taxonomic composition displayed a more rapid temporal succession than functional and trait-based compositions. The succession of taxonomic, functional, and trait-based compositions was correlated with the kinetics of treatment processes in the activated sludge systems. This study provides insights into ecological niches of microbes in engineered systems and succession patterns of their functions and traits, which will aid microbial community management to improve treatment performance.
Journeys to and among the Margins: Transnational Religio-Racial Identity on American Christian Palestinian Solidarity Tours
Authors: Baumann Roger , Williams Sara A 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
This article examines the intersection of racial and religious identity among progressive US Christians in the context of transnational travel. We approach our analysis through a comparative ethnographic study of two majority-Black and two majority-white Christian Palestinian solidarity tours, representing mainline, evangelical, and historically Black Protestant progressive theological traditions. We conceptualize majority-white tours as “journeys to the margins” and majority-Black tours as “journeys among the margins,” considering how the racial makeup and theological orientation of trips offer a range of affordances for meaning-making, identity construction, and solidarity-building. Using Judith Weisenfeld’s religio-racial framework, we focus on how participants’ progressive Christian values are embedded in divergent racial schemas. Attending to how the logics of these schemas are reinforced or interrogated in transnational encounters, we extend Weisenfeld’s concept from the nation-state to the transnational as we examine how participants reproduce, revise, and re-envision religio-racial frameworks.
A span-based model for extracting overlapping PICO entities from randomized controlled trial publications
Authors: Zhang Gongbo , Zhou Yiliang , Hu Yan , Xu Hua , Weng Chunhua , Peng Yifan 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

Objectives
Extracting PICO (Populations, Interventions, Comparison, and Outcomes) entities is fundamental to evidence retrieval. We present a novel method, PICOX, to extract overlapping PICO entities.

Materials and Methods
PICOX first identifies entities by assessing whether a word marks the beginning or conclusion of an entity. Then, it uses a multi-label classifier to assign one or more PICO labels to a span candidate. PICOX was evaluated using 1 of the best-performing baselines, EBM-NLP, and 3 more datasets, ie, PICO-Corpus and randomized controlled trial publications on Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) or COVID-19, using entity-level precision, recall, and F1 scores.

Results
PICOX achieved superior precision, recall, and F1 scores across the board, with the micro F1 score improving from 45.05 to 50.87 (P ≪.01). On the PICO-Corpus, PICOX obtained higher recall and F1 scores than the baseline and improved the micro recall score from 56.66 to 67.33. On the COVID-19 dataset, PICOX also outperformed the baseline and improved the micro F1 score from 77.10 to 80.32. On the AD dataset, PICOX demonstrated comparable F1 scores with higher precision when compared to the baseline.

Conclusion
PICOX excels in identifying overlapping entities and consistently surpasses a leading baseline across multiple datasets. Ablation studies reveal that its data augmentation strategy effectively minimizes false positives and improves precision.
Population structure and abundance of the amphidromous prawn Macrobrachium tenellum (Smith, 1871) (Decapoda: Caridea: Palaemonidae) in the lower basin of Ameca River, western Mexico, before anthropogenic modifications
Authors: Vargas-Ceballos Manuel A , Wehrtmann Ingo S , López-Uriarte Ernesto , Vega-Villasante Fernando , Peña-Almaraz Omar A , Espinosa-Magaña Alí F , García-Guerrero Marcelo U 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
The population of the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium tenellum (Smith, 1871) in four sites in the lower part of the coastal plain of the Ameca River, Mexico is analyzed before drastic anthropogenic modifications of the riverbed occurred. Of the 7,100 individuals of M. tenellum collected between February 2015 and January 2016, 45.7% of which were females (3,250), 4.3% ovigerous females (309), 39.3% males (2,79), and 10.6% undifferentiated (750). Males were significantly larger and heavier than females. In general, the largest individuals were collected at the most distant sites from the coastline (Colomo and San Juan), whereas the smallest ones were captured near the river mouth. The sex ratio (males:females 1:1.3) deviated from the expected 1:1. The length-weight relationship of females, males, and the population in general indicated a negative allometric growth for all three groups. The results of our research may serve as a reference point for future investigations assessing the impact of anthropogenic changes on M. tenellum populations.
‘Lying with numbers’ in international arbitration against states
Authors: Boué Juan Carlos 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Recent international arbitration cases, especially P&ID v Nigeria, have highlighted how easy it is for claimants—whether in treaty-based Investor–State Dispute Settlement or commercial arbitration—to advance immense claims grounded on essentially no evidence against state respondents. This largely reflects the readiness of many quantum experts to engage in the practice which Martin Wachs called ‘lying with numbers’ in order to misrepresent the execution risks of speculative unbuilt projects in a manner that is radically at odds with empirical data regarding such execution risks, which is exacerbated by the ignorance of many arbitrators about business economics and discounted cash flow valuation. This situation is unlikely to improve, and overall standards of candour in valuation in international arbitration will keep going down as the system will keep rewarding the act of cloaking advocacy in the guise of scientific or technical rationality in order to ‘lie with numbers’.
Anthocyanins act as a sugar-buffer and an alternative electron sink in response to starch depletion during leaf senescence: a case study on a typical anthocyanic tree species, Acer japonicum
Authors: Kitao Mitsutoshi , Yazaki Kenichi , Tobita Hiroyuki , Agathokleous Evgenios , Kishimoto Junko , Takabayashi Atsushi , Tanaka Ryouichi 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
We hypothesized that anthocyanins act as a sugar-buffer and an alternative electron sink during leaf senescence to prevent sugar-mediated early senescence and photoinhibition. To elucidate the role of anthocyanin, we monitored seasonal changes in photosynthetic traits, sugar, starch and N contents, pigment composition, and gene expression profiles in leaves exposed to substantially different light conditions within a canopy of an adult fullmoon maple (Acer japonicum) tree. Enhancement of starch amylolysis accompanied by cessation of starch synthesis occurred in the same manner independent of light conditions. Leaf sugar contents increased, but reached upper limits in the late stage of leaf senescence, even though leaf anthocyanins further increased after complete depletion of starch. Sun-exposed leaves maintained higher energy consumption via electron flow than shade-grown leaves during leaf N resorption. Thus, anthocyanins accumulated in sun-exposed leaves might have a regulative role as a sugar-buffer, retarding leaf senescence, and an indirect photoprotective role as an alternative sink for electron consumption to compensate declines in other metabolic processes such as starch and protein synthesis. In this context, anthocyanins may be key substrates protecting both outer-canopy leaves (against photoinhibition) and inner-canopy leaves (via shading by outer-canopy leaves) from high light stress during N resorption.
Moral considerability of brain organoids from the perspective of computational architecture
Authors: Boyd J Lomax 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Human brain organoids equipped with complex cytoarchitecture and closed-loop feedback from virtual environments could provide insights into neural mechanisms underlying cognition. Yet organoids with certain cognitive capacities might also merit moral consideration. A precautionary approach has been proposed to address these ethical concerns by focusing on the epistemological question of whether organoids possess neural structures for morally-relevant capacities that bear resemblance to those found in human brains. Critics challenge this similarity approach on philosophical, scientific, and practical grounds but do so without a suitable alternative. Here, I introduce an architectural approach that infers the potential for cognitive-like processing in brain organoids based on the pattern of information flow through the system. The kind of computational architecture acquired by an organoid then informs the kind of cognitive capacities that could, theoretically, be supported and empirically investigated. The implications of this approach for the moral considerability of brain organoids are discussed.
Pediatric inflammatory bowel disease: What’s new and what has changed?
Authors: Hudson Alexandra S , Huynh Hien Q 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
The incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is on the rise in North America and worldwide, with young children being the fastest growing patient population. It is therefore essential for pediatricians and pediatric sub-specialists to be able to recognize signs and symptoms suspicious for a new diagnosis of IBD, as well as potential complications associated with IBD or its treatment. This article reviews the most recent literature regarding clinical presentation, helpful diagnostic clues, newer monitoring tools being used by pediatric gastroenterologists, and emerging new biologic and small molecule treatments.
Redefining the scientific method: As the use of sophisticated scientific methods that extend our mind
Authors: Krauss Alexander 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Scientific, medical, and technological knowledge has transformed our world, but we still poorly understand the nature of scientific methodology. Science textbooks, science dictionaries, and science institutions often state that scientists follow, and should follow, the universal scientific method of testing hypotheses using observation and experimentation. Yet, scientific methodology has not been systematically analyzed using large-scale data and scientific methods themselves as it is viewed as not easily amenable to scientific study. Using data on all major discoveries across science including all Nobel Prize and major non-Nobel Prize discoveries, we can address the question of the extent to which “the scientific method” is actually applied in making science's groundbreaking research and whether we need to expand this central concept of science. This study reveals that 25% of all discoveries since 1900 did not apply the common scientific method (all three features)—with 6% of discoveries using no observation, 23% using no experimentation, and 17% not testing a hypothesis. Empirical evidence thus challenges the common view of the scientific method. Adhering to it as a guiding principle would constrain us in developing many new scientific ideas and breakthroughs. Instead, assessing all major discoveries, we identify here a general, common feature that the method of science can be reduced to: making all major discoveries has required using sophisticated methods and instruments of science. These include statistical methods, particle accelerators, and X-ray methods. Such methods extend our mind and generally make observing, experimenting, and testing hypotheses in science possible, doing so in new ways and ensure their replicability. This provides a new perspective to the scientific method—embedded in our sophisticated methods and instruments—and suggests that we need to reform and extend the way we view the scientific method and discovery process.
Arginine with leucine drives reactive oxygen species-mediated integrin α5β1 expression and promotes implantation in mouse blastocysts
Authors: Nakazato Momoka , Matsuzaki Mumuka , Okai Daiki , Takeuchi Eisaku , Seki Misato , Takeuchi Miki , Fukui Emiko , Matsumoto Hiromichi 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
The implantation rate of in vitro fertilization (IVF)-derived blastocysts after embryo transfer remains low, suggesting that the inadequate expression of specific proteins in culture-induced IVF-derived blastocysts contributes to low implantation rates. Therefore, treatment with appropriate regulation may improve the blastocyst implantation ability. This study demonstrated that the combination of l-arginine (Arg) and l-leucine (Leu) exerts distinct effects on IVF-derived mouse blastocysts. Arg with Leu promotes blastocyst implantation, whereas Arg alone decreases the blastocyst ability. Integrin α5β1 expression was increased in blastocysts treated with Arg and Leu. Arg with Leu also increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and showed a positive correlation with integrin α5β1. Ascorbic acid, an antioxidant, decreased ROS and integrin α5β1 levels, which were elevated by Arg with Leu. Meanwhile, the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) in blastocysts did not differ between treatments. Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) is involved in ROS scavenging using glutathione (GSH) as a reductant. Arg with Leu decreased GPx4 and GSH levels in blastocysts, and blastocysts with higher ROS levels had lower GPx4 and GSH levels. In contrast, Arg alone increased the percentage of caspase-positive cells, indicating that Arg alone, which attenuated implantation ability, was associated with apoptosis. This study revealed that elevated ROS levels induced by Arg with Leu stimulated integrin α5β1 expression, thereby enhancing implantation capacity. Our results also suggest that ROS were not due to increased production by oxidative phosphorylation, but rather to a reduction in ROS degradation due to diminished GPx4 and GSH levels.