bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Synthesis and characterization of PANI-CZF nanocomposites for enhanced electromagnetic interference shielding
Authors: Harisha G. , Rangaswamy D. R. , Thejas R. , Devaraja C. , Revanasiddappa M. , Murugendrappa M. V. , Rajashekara K. M. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe Zn0.5Cu0.5Fe2O4 nano ferrites were prepared by the solution combustion method using aloe vera gel. The polyaniline-Zn0.5Cu0.5Fe2O4 nano ferrite composites were prepared by Ex-situ polymerization method with different weight percentage ratio. The prepared samples were examined by X-Ray diffraction, SEM, EDAX, BET, TEM, VSM and Impedance analyser to investigate their structural, morphological, elemental analysis, average pore size and the porosity, magnetic, and dielectric properties, respectively. The cubic spinel structure was confirmed by X-ray diffraction patterns. Addition of PANI to zinc-copper nano ferrite exhibits shift in crystalline peaks towards larger angle. The existence of spherical and clumped particles was revealed by SEM examination. The retentivity and coercivity are determined and the magnetic moment values were decreases with increase in PANI to the ferrite nanocomposites. The ac conductivity constant at lower frequency and there is a sudden increase and decrease in its value as a function of frequency shows resonance behaviour. The CZF-1 (CZF 30%) composite shows highest ac conductivity and dielectric constant. The electromagnetic shielding interference studies were conducted for S-band frequency. The CZF-1 (CZF 30%) nano composite shows highest shielding effectiveness as compared to other composite in the frequency range 2 to 3 GHz. The experimental result showed that these materials are used for applications in electromagnetic interference shielding.
Thymic Atrophy and Immune Dysregulation in Infants with Complex Congenital Heart Disease
Authors: Bremer Sarah-Jolan , Boxnick Annika , Glau Laura , Biermann Daniel , Joosse Simon A. , Thiele Friederike , Billeb Elena , May Jonathan , Kolster Manuela , Hackbusch Romy , Fortmann Mats Ingmar , Kozlik-Feldmann Rainer , Hübler Michael , Tolosa Eva , Sachweh Jörg Siegmar , Gieras Anna 
Published: February 2024

AbstractCongenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect, and up to 50% of infants with CHD require cardiovascular surgery early in life. Current clinical practice often involves thymus resection during cardiac surgery, detrimentally affecting T-cell immunity. However, epidemiological data indicate that CHD patients face an elevated risk for infections and immune-mediated diseases, independent of thymectomy. Hence, we examined whether the cardiac defect impacts thymus function in individuals with CHD. We investigated thymocyte development in 58 infants categorized by CHD complexity. To assess the relationship between CHD complexity and thymic function, we analyzed T-cell development, thymic output, and biomarkers linked to cardiac defects, stress, or inflammation. Patients with highly complex CHD exhibit thymic atrophy, resulting in low frequencies of recent thymic emigrants in peripheral blood, even prior to thymectomy. Elevated plasma cortisol levels were detected in all CHD patients, while high NT-proBNP and IL-6 levels were associated with thymic atrophy. Our findings reveal an association between complex CHD and thymic atrophy, resulting in reduced thymic output. Consequently, thymus preservation during cardiovascular surgery could significantly enhance immune function and the long-term health of CHD patients.
The Short Version of the Italian Maastricht Vital Exhaustion Questionnaire (MVEQ): Psychometric Properties and Relationships with Anxiety, Depression, and Stress in a Community Sample of Older Adults
Authors: Spinoni Marta , Zagaria Andrea , Violani Cristiano , Grano Caterina 
Published: February 2024

AbstractVital Exhaustion (VE) refers to a physical and mental state of excessive fatigue, feelings of demoralization, hopelessness, and increased irritability. The short form of the Maastricht Vital Exhaustion Questionnaire (MVEQ) is a widely used measure to assess VE. Despite its utility is broadly recognized, the validity and reliability of the scale have yet to be examined in the Italian context. The present study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the shortened MVEQ in a community sample of Italian older adults. A total of 722 older adults (Mage = 72.97, SD = 7.71; 60.4% females) completed the MVEQ, as well as other self-report questionnaires assessing anxiety, depression and stress in order to evaluate the criterion-related validity of the scale. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to examine the original MVEQ latent structure. Internal consistency was assessed through model-based omega coefficient. Test-retest reliability was examined by re-administering the MVEQ after three months to a subsample of 568 participants. Factorial invariance tests across gender were conducted by means of multi-group CFAs. The one-factor model showed an acceptable fit to the data. The MVEQ yielded a reliable total score (ω = 0.822) and showed moderate-to-large correlations with measures of anxiety, depression, and stress (r range 0.30 to 0.75, ps < 0.001). Test-retest reliability was supported by an Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of 0.661. Lastly, the scale was factorially invariant across gender. Overall, the MVEQ provided evidence of reliability and criterion-related validity in a sample of Italian older adults and may be useful for both clinical and research practices.
Extending the boundaries of academic entrepreneurship: demonstrating the instrumentality of new logics for addressing social inclusion
Authors: Tunalioglu Melike N. , Karatas-Ozkan Mine , Costanzo Laura A. , Baruch Yehuda 
Published: February 2024

AbstractAcademic entrepreneurship (AE) has gained widespread acclaim globally for bridging the gap between academia and industry, as well as addressing the issue of socio-economic inclusion and the impact of research. In this paper, we both relate to, and extend scholarly work in the domains of AE and social inclusion by investigating the process of AE from an interplay of institutional logics perspective, with an emphasis on the diversity strands to which academic entrepreneurs belong. Drawing on extensive fieldwork of 55 academic researchers affiliated with 6 UK universities, our findings highlight the co-existence of profession, science logic and market logic, combined with the new logics that we introduce—diversity and impact logics—in capturing value through AE for addressing social inclusion. We make an empirical and theoretical contribution by demonstrating the instrumentality of these logics as enablers and constraints on the process of AE. We also advance the theory on logics and AE by demonstrating how the intersection of logics creates different kinds of salient points and pressures for academics and university policy makers. Closely linked to this, we make policy contributions by putting forward policy insights that are bottom-up and tailored based on a thorough understanding of the experiences and views of academic entrepreneurs.
Understanding habitat isolation in the context of construction land expansion using an ecological network approach
Authors: Ding Guanqiao , Guo Jie , Ou Minghao , Prishchepov Alexander V. 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Context
The impact of construction land expansion on regional landscape sustainability received significant attention, but the habitat isolation caused by such expansion across the urban-rural continuum calls for a closer examination.

Objective
This study aims to use the ecological network approach to assess the isolation effect imposed by urban areas and rural settlements on habitat patches in the Nanjing Metropolitan Area during 2000, 2010, and 2020.

Methods
We first extracted the habitat patches by applying morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), then identified the ecological networks based on the comprehensive resistance surface and circuit theory. Finally, we constructed two indices, the isolation effect index (IEI) and isolation degree (ID), and evaluated the differential contributions of urban areas and rural settlements to habitat isolation.

Results
Our results showed a total of 129 habitat patches within our study area. These patches were linked by 188, 186, and 183 ecological corridors in the years 2000, 2010, and 2020, respectively. Further analysis revealed that habitat patches were strongly isolated by the expansion of construction land and increasing human activities. Remarkably, both urban areas and rural settlements played pivotal roles in exacerbating this isolation, with urban areas showing a striking surge in their isolation impact, while rural settlements continued to be the predominant driver of habitat isolation.

Conclusions
Sustainable landscape planning should consider how land uses may cause habitat isolation. Our study utilizes the ecological network approach to evaluate habitat isolation and introduces applicable indicators for estimating the isolation effects attributed to construction land expansion. Our findings hold significant implications for informing landscape planning and shaping ecological conservation policies.
MYC-dependent MiR-7-5p regulated apoptosis and autophagy in diffuse large B cell lymphoma by targeting AMBRA1
Authors: Zhang Cuifen , Wang Ke , Tao Jiahao , Zheng Chuangjie , Zhai Linzhu 
Published: February 2024

AbstractDiffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the leading cause of mortality from invasive hematological malignancies worldwide. MicroRNA-7-5p (miR-7-5p) has been shown to be a tumor suppressor in several types of tumors. However, its role in DLBCL is not fully understood. This study explored the role of miR-7-5p in the progression of DLBCL and pursued the underlying mechanism. Quantitative real-time PCR and transfection of miRNA mimic and inhibitors were used to assess the effects of miR-7-5p on autophagy and apoptosis in SU-DHL-4 and SU-DHL-10 cells. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to identify target genes of miR-7-5p. Immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, and western blotting (WB) were performed to explore the underlying mechanism and downstream pathways of miR-7-5p and AMBRA1 in DLBCL cells. MiR-7-5p was upregulated in DLBCL cells. Luciferase reporter assays implicated AMBRA1 as a downstream target of miR-7-5p in DLBCL. WB and flow cytometry showed that an increase in miR-7-5p level and a decrease in AMBRA1 expression led to a decrease in autophagy and apoptosis-related protein expression. Furthermore, miR-7-5p prevented c-MYC dephosphorylation through AMBRA1 downregulation. On the contrary, c-MYC increased the expression of miR-7-5p, thereby establishing positive feedback on miR-7-5p transcription. The addition of hydroxychloroquine, an autophagy inhibitor, reduced autophagy and increased apoptosis in DLBCL cells. In vivo experiments further proved that the increase of miR-7-5p played a regulatory role in the expression of downstream AMBRA1 and c-MYC. These results demonstrate that c-MYC-dependent MiR-7-5p suppressed autophagy and apoptosis by targeting AMBRA1 in DLBCL cells. MiR-7-5p also suppressed autophagy and apoptosis by targeting AMBRA1 in DLBCL cells. Therefore, these data suggest that targeting miR-7-5p may be a promising strategy in DLBCL therapy.
Bacterial over-production of the functionally active human SLC38A2 (SNAT2) exploiting the mistic tag: a cheap and fast tool for testing ligands
Authors: Galluccio Michele , Tripicchio Martina , Console Lara , Indiveri Cesare 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Background
SLC38A2 is a ubiquitously expressed Na+-dependent transporter specific for small and medium neutral amino acids. It is involved in human pathologies, such as type II diabetes and cancer. Despite its relevance in human physio-pathology, structure/function relationship studies and identification of ligands with regulatory roles are still in infancy.

Methods and Results
The cDNA coding for SLC38A2 was cloned in the pET-28-Mistic vector, and the BL21 codon plus RIL strain was transformed with the recombinant construct. 0.5% glucose and oxygen availability were crucial for protein expression. The over-expressed hSNAT2-Mistic chimera was cleaved on column and purified by nickel-chelating affinity chromatography, with a yield of about 60 mg/Liter cell culture. The purified hSNAT2 was reconstituted in proteoliposomes in an active form with a right-side-out orientation with respect to the native membrane.

Conclusions
The addition of a Mistic tag at the N-terminus of the SNAT2 protein was crucial for its over-expression and purification. The purified protein was functionally active, representing a powerful tool for performing structure/function studies and testing ligands as inhibitors and/or activators.
Adaptive Evolutionary Reinforcement Learning with Policy Direction
Authors: Dong Caibo , Li Dazi 
Published: February 2024

AbstractEvolutionary Reinforcement Learning (ERL) has garnered widespread attention in recent years due to its inherent robustness and parallelism. However, the integration of Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) and Reinforcement Learning (RL) remains relatively rudimentary and lacks dynamism, which can impact the convergence performance of ERL algorithms. In this study, a dynamic adaptive module is introduced to balance the Evolution Strategies (ES) and RL training within ERL. By incorporating elite strategies, this module leverages advantageous individuals to elevate the overall population's performance. Additionally, RL strategy updates often lack guidance from the population. To address this, we incorporate the strategies of the best individuals from the population, providing valuable policy direction. This is achieved through the formulation of a loss function that employs either L1 or L2 regularization to facilitate RL training. The proposed framework is referred to as Adaptive Evolutionary Reinforcement Learning (AERL). The effectiveness of our framework is evaluated by adopting Soft Actor-Critic (SAC) as the RL algorithm and comparing it with other algorithms in the MuJoCo environment. The results underscore the outstanding convergence performance of our proposed Adaptive Evolutionary Soft Actor-Critic (AESAC) algorithm. Furthermore, ablation experiments are conducted to emphasize the necessity of these two improvements. It is worth noting that the enhancements in AESAC are realized at the population level, enabling broader exploration and effectively reducing the risk of falling into local optima.
Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM): A Systematic Review
Authors: Talbot Jessica , Convertino Gianmarco , De Marco Matteo , Venneri Annalena , Mazzoni Giuliana 
Published: February 2024

AbstractIndividuals possessing a Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM) demonstrate an exceptional ability to recall their own past, excelling most when dates from their lifetime are used as retrieval cues. Fully understanding how neurocognitive mechanisms support exceptional memory could lead to benefits in areas of healthcare in which memory plays a central role and in legal fields reliant on witnesses’ memories. Predominantly due to the rareness of the phenomenon, existing HSAM literature is highly heterogenous in its methodologies used. Therefore, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we performed the first systematic review on this topic, to collate the existing behavioural, neuroanatomical, and functional HSAM data. Results from the 20 experimental selected studies revealed that HSAM is categorised by rapidly retrieved, detailed and accurate autobiographical memories, and appears to avoid the normal aging process. Functional neuroimaging studies showed HSAM retrieval seems characterised by an intense overactivation of the usual autobiographical memory network, including posterior visual areas (e.g., the precuneus). Structural neuroanatomical differences do not appear to characterise HSAM, but altered hippocampal resting-state connectivity was commonly observed. We discuss theories of HSAM in relation to autobiographical encoding, consolidation, and retrieval, and suggest future directions for this research.
Real-time flood forecasting using an integrated hydrologic and hydraulic model for the Vamsadhara and Nagavali basins, Eastern India
Authors: Venkata Rao G. , Nagireddy Nageswara Reddy , Keesara Venkata Reddy , Sridhar Venkataramana , Srinivasan Raghavan , Umamahesh N. V. , Pratap Deva 
Published: February 2024

AbstractDue to recent rainfall extremes and tropical cyclones that form over the Bay of Bengal during the pre- and post-monsoon seasons, the Nagavali and Vamsadhara basins in India experience frequent floods, causing significant loss of human life and damage to agricultural lands and infrastructure. This study provides an integrated hydrologic and hydraulic modeling system that is based on the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model and the 2-Dimensional Hydrological Engineering Centre-River Analysis System, which simulates floods using Global Forecasting System rainfall forecasts with a 48-h lead time. The integrated model was used to simulate the streamflow, flood area extent, and depth for the historical flood events (i.e., 1991–2018) with peak discharges of 1200 m3/s in the Nagavali basin and 1360 m3/s in the Vamsadhara basin. The integrated model predicted flood inundation depths that were in good agreement with observed inundation depths provided by the Central Water Commission. The inundation maps generated by the integrated modeling system with a 48-h lead time for tropical cyclone Titli demonstrated an accuracy of more than 75%. The insights gained from this study will help the public and government agencies make better decisions and deal with floods.
Environmental effects following a seismic sequence: the 2019 Cotabato—Davao del Sur (Philippines) earthquakes
Authors: Ferrario M. F. , Perez J. S. , Dizon M. , Livio F. , Rimando J. , Michetti A. M. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractIn the period of October–December 2019, the Cotabato–Davao del Sur region (Philippines) was hit by a seismic sequence comprising four earthquakes with magnitude MW > 6.0 (EQ1-4; max magnitude MW 6.8). The earthquakes triggered widespread environmental effects, including landslides and liquefaction features. We documented such effects by means of field surveys, which we supplemented with landslide mapping from satellite images. Field surveys allowed us to gather information on 43 points after EQ1, 202 points after EQs2–3 and 87 points after EQ4. Additionally, we built a multi-temporal inventory of landslides from remote sensing, comprising 190 slope movements triggered by EQ1, 4737 after EQs2–3, and 5666 at the end of the sequence. We assigned an intensity value to each environmental effect using the environmental seismic intensity (ESI-07) scale. Our preferred estimates of ESI-07 epicentral intensity are VIII for the first earthquake and IX at the end of the sequence, which is in broad agreement with other events of similar magnitude globally. This study, which is the first case of the application of the ESI-07 scale to a seismic sequence in the Philippines, shows that repeated documentation of environmental damage and the evaluation of the progression through time may be useful for providing input data for derivative products, such as susceptibility assessment, evaluation of residual risk or investigation of the role played by ground shaking and by other mechanisms able to trigger environmental effects.
COVID-19 vaccine and risk-taking
Authors: Smart Shanike J. , Polachek Solomon W. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractWe assess whether the COVID-19 vaccine induces COVID-19 risky behavior (e.g., going to bars and restaurants) and thus reduces vaccine efficacy. A key empirical challenge is the endogeneity bias when comparing risk-taking by vaccination status since people choose whether to get vaccinated. To address this bias, we exploit rich survey panel data on individuals followed before and after vaccine availability over fourteen months in an event study fixed effects model with individual, time, sector, and county-by-time fixed effects and inverse propensity weights. We find evidence that vaccinated persons, regardless of the timing of vaccination, increase their risk-taking activities. The evidence is consistent with the “lulling effect”. While vaccine availability may reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19, it also contributes to further spread of the virus by incentivizing risk-taking in the short term.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) markets for startups: search frictions, intermediation, and the efficiency of the ICO market
Authors: Momtaz Paul P. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThis paper examines the efficiency of the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) market through a search-theoretical lens. Search intensity associated with the process of identifying valuable startups is increasing in market granularity. DLT increases market granularity because asset tokenization lowers entry barriers. Lower-end entrants, however, increase aggregate search intensity but may lack search skills. The resulting search-related inefficiency creates a niche for intermediaries or institutional investors that specialize on search. Consistent with the theory, specialized crypto funds increase ICO market efficiency by reducing search frictions, inter alia, by shortening the time-to-funding and increasing the funding amount. At the same time, crypto funds extract sizable economic rents for their intermediation services. Overall, the study relates to the general trade-off between centralization and decentralization in entrepreneurial finance. It suggests that market frictions specific to early-stage crowdfunding of entrepreneurship may prevent “perfectly” Decentralized Finance (DeFi) markets from functioning efficiently.
Maximum likelihood estimation of log-concave densities on tree space
Authors: Takazawa Yuki , Sei Tomonari 
Published: February 2024

AbstractPhylogenetic trees are key data objects in biology, and the method of phylogenetic reconstruction has been highly developed. The space of phylogenetic trees is a nonpositively curved metric space. Recently, statistical methods to analyze samples of trees on this space are being developed utilizing this property. Meanwhile, in Euclidean space, the log-concave maximum likelihood method has emerged as a new nonparametric method for probability density estimation. In this paper, we derive a sufficient condition for the existence and uniqueness of the log-concave maximum likelihood estimator on tree space. We also propose an estimation algorithm for one and two dimensions. Since various factors affect the inferred trees, it is difficult to specify the distribution of a sample of trees. The class of log-concave densities is nonparametric, and yet the estimation can be conducted by the maximum likelihood method without selecting hyperparameters. We compare the estimation performance with a previously developed kernel density estimator numerically. In our examples where the true density is log-concave, we demonstrate that our estimator has a smaller integrated squared error when the sample size is large. We also conduct numerical experiments of clustering using the Expectation-Maximization algorithm and compare the results with k-means++ clustering using Fréchet mean.