bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Embodiment and regenerative implants: a proposal for entanglement
Authors: van Daal Manon , de Kanter Anne-Floor J. , Jongsma Karin R. , Bredenoord Annelien L. , de Graeff Nienke 
Published: March 2024

AbstractRegenerative Medicine promises to develop treatments to regrow healthy tissues and cure the physical body. One of the emerging developments within this field is regenerative implants, such as jawbone or heart valve implants, that can be broken down by the body and are gradually replaced with living tissue. Yet challenges for embodiment are to be expected, given that the implants are designed to integrate deeply into the tissue of the living body, so that implant and body become one. In this paper, we explore how regenerative implants may affect the embodied experience of implant recipients. To this end, we take a phenomenological approach. First, we explore what insights the existing phenomenological and empirical literature on embodiment offers regarding the experience of illness and of living with regular (non-regenerative) implants and organ transplants. Second, we apply these insights to better understand how future implant recipients might experience living with regenerative implants. Third, we conclude that concepts and considerations from the existing phenomenological literature do not sufficiently address what it might be like to live with an implantable technology that, over time, becomes one with the living body. We argue that the interwovenness and intimate relationship of people living with regenerative implants should be understood in terms of ‘entanglement’. Entanglement allows us to explore the complexities of human-technology relations, acknowledging the inseparability of humans and implantable technologies. Our theoretical foundations regarding the role of embodiment may be tested empirically once more people will be living with regenerative implants.
Mitigating water pollution in a Portuguese river basin under climate change through agricultural sustainable practices
Authors: Ramião José Pedro , Pascoal Cláudia , Pinto Rute , Carvalho-Santos Cláudia 
Published: March 2024

AbstractSustainable agricultural practices have been extensively used to reduce water pollution; however, the effectiveness of these practices may be significantly affected by climate change. In this study, we assess the effectiveness of sustainable agricultural practices in reducing sediment and nutrient export to rivers under future climate conditions, using the Soil & Water Assessment Tool in a Portuguese river basin exposed to high levels of agricultural pollution. In our study, filter strips demonstrated a significant mitigation effect on sediment and nutrient increases under simulated climate change conditions, with maximum sediment export depletion reaching 65% and the highest nutrient export depletion observed at 35%. The implementation of multiple sustainable practices resulted in the highest depletions, with a notable 71% depletion in sediment export and a 35% depletion in nutrient export. Additionally, our research underscores the crucial role of filter strips and multiple sustainable agricultural practices in mitigating the projected rise in nutrient concentrations during summer, given the effect of climate change on river discharge. Further studies exploring sustainable agricultural practices across different climates and watersheds can improve our understanding of their effectiveness for adaptation to climate change.
Plant colonizers of a mercury contaminated site: trace metals and associated rhizosphere bacteria
Authors: Tiodar Emanuela D. , Chiriac Cecilia M. , Pošćić Filip , Văcar Cristina L. , Balázs Zoltan R. , Coman Cristian , Weindorf David C. , Banciu Manuela , Krämer Ute , Podar Dorina 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Background and aims
Mercury (Hg) contamination poses severe human and environmental health risks. We aimed to evaluate the colonization of Hg-contaminated sites by native plants and the prokaryotic composition of rhizosphere soil communities of the dominant plant species.

Methods
A field study was conducted at a Hg-contaminated site in Romania. Metal concentrations in soil and plant samples were analyzed using portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The prokaryotic composition of rhizosphere soil communities was determined through 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and community functionality was predicted through PICRUSt2.

Results
Site-specific trace metal distribution across the site drove plant species distribution in the highly contaminated soil, with Lotus tenuis and Diplotaxis muralis associated with higher Hg concentrations. In addition, for the bacterial communities in the rhizosphere soil of D. muralis, there was no observable decrease in alpha diversity with increasing soil Hg levels. Notably, Actinomycetota had an average of 24% relative abundance in the rhizosphere communities that also tested positive for the presence of merA, whereas in the absence of merA the phylum’s relative abundance was approximately 2%. merA positive rhizosphere communities also displayed an inferred increase in ABC transporters.

Conclusions
The results suggest a dependence of species-wise plant survival on local trace metal levels in soil, as well as an intricate interplay of the latter with rhizosphere bacterial diversity. Knowledge of these interdependencies could have implications for phytoremediation stakeholders, as it may allow for the selection of plant species and appropriate soil microbial inoculates with elevated Hg tolerance.
Effectiveness of vaccination, travel load, and facemask use control strategies for controlling COVID Delta variant: the case of Sydney Metropolitan Area
Authors: Tabasi Maliheh , Najmi Ali , Miller Eric J. , MacIntyre C. Raina , Rashidi Taha H. 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThe Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, specifically identified as B.1.617.2, is responsible for the severe outbreaks witnessed globally, including in various countries and cities, with Sydney Greater Metropolitan Area (Sydney GMA) being no exception. According to scientific studies, the Delta strain exhibits increased contagion and leads to a higher incidence of vaccine breakthrough cases, posing significant challenges to pandemic control efforts. In this study, we explore the efficacy of three fundamental control strategies—namely, vaccination rates, adherence to facemask usage, and the management of travel loads—in mitigating the spread of the disease and, consequently, eliminating the Delta variant pandemic in Sydney GMA. We employ an agent-based disease spread model to thoroughly investigate these strategies. Moreover, factorial MANOVA is utilised to assess the significance of variations in the impact of diverse compliance levels with the aforementioned control strategies on various attributes of the pandemic. As complete lockdowns and stringent travel regulations have the potential to induce physical and mental distress in individuals and economic crises for countries, our study examines the interactive effects of implementing control strategies to mitigate the necessity for a full lockdown. The simulation results suggest that suppressing a pandemic with similar characteristics to Delta variant of COVID is feasible with a vaccination rate of 80% or higher, as long as travel load and activity participation are maintained at pre-COVID levels. Alternatively, a more realistic and attainable combination of control measures—a vaccination rate of 60%, a facemask usage level of 60%, and a 50% compliance level for social distancing—demonstrates comparable efficacy, leading to effective pandemic control. Notably, the vaccination rate emerges as a more potent control strategy compared to others in the elimination of the disease within society.
Exploring the Interplay Between Equity Groups, Mental Health and Perceived Employability Amongst Students at a Public Australian University
Authors: Gill Chelsea , Todd James , Bennett Dawn , Gepp Adrian 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThis article explores the interplay between perceived employability (PE), mental health, and equity group membership amongst students at a large public urban university in Australia. The article reports from a study conducted between 2017 and 2022, during which students self-assessed their PE. Differences in PE by equity group membership were assessed using responses to structured fields in the questionnaire (n = 24,329). Custom measures were constructed using student responses to open-ended fields to proxy student wellbeing based on sentiment analysis and mention of mental health or synonymous terms (n = 12,819). Analyses included two-way tests of differences between groups and multivariate analyses considering the effect of equity group membership and mental health concerns on employability beliefs. Results indicate that students with a disability, with English as a second language, or with wellbeing concerns report lower perceived employability. Of all the PE dimensions, academic self-efficacy is most consistently affected by equity group membership and wellbeing concerns. Further, wellbeing concerns are more prevalent for students with disabilities. The findings strengthen support for policy and institutional initiatives focusing on student wellbeing in general but also specifically for equity groups that are already associated with poorer employability beliefs. In particular, students with disabilities appear to have poorer self-esteem and academic self-efficacy and are more likely to have mental health concerns.
Using Text Mining to Identify Teleological Explanations in Physics and Biology Textbooks: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Brock Richard , Tsourakis Nikos , Kampourakis Kostas 
Published: March 2024

AbstractCreating and critiquing explanations of phenomena is a significant goal of many scientific disciplines and therefore also a learning goal of science education. A significant source of explanations is science textbooks; however, the large corpus of text in textbooks means that manual review of explanations by individual researchers is extremely time consuming. In this paper, we introduce a text-mining approach for identifying legitimate and illegitimate forms of teleological explanations in school physics and biology textbooks. An ongoing debate exists about the legitimacy of teleological explanations, that is, explanations which account for a phenomenon by reference to a final end, purpose, or goal. Until recently, researchers tended to view teleology as an illegitimate form of scientific explanation. Recent theoretical cases in biology and physics have emphasized that legitimate teleological explanations exist in both domains. Eight science textbooks used in England and internationally were analyzed for instances of teleological explanations. The analysis reveals the efficiency of the text-mining approach for automating the analysis of textbooks and its potential as a research approach in science education. In considering text mining as a research approach, we report terms that are likely to be associated with legitimate teleological explanations. We found that legitimate teleological accounts are used by textbook authors, and we present novel categorizations of these forms of explanation. We argue that text mining can be a useful approach in science education research and our findings suggest guidance for both textbook writers and teachers related to their selection of legitimate explanatory forms.
Finite Hilbert Systems for Weak Kleene Logics
Authors: Greati Vitor , Marcelino Sérgio , Rivieccio Umberto 
Published: March 2024

AbstractMultiple-conclusion Hilbert-style systems allow us to finitely axiomatize every logic defined by a finite matrix. Having obtained such axiomatizations for Paraconsistent Weak Kleene and Bochvar–Kleene logics, we modify them by replacing the multiple-conclusion rules with carefully selected single-conclusion ones. In this way we manage to introduce the first finite Hilbert-style single-conclusion axiomatizations for these logics.
Shared Attention as a Revelatory Practice
Authors: Fredriksson Antony 
Published: March 2024

AbstractIn order to understand what we are talking about when we talk about joint attention, I will scrutinize how the mainstream view that builds on representational and intentionalist theories of mind is constituted. My aim is to show that much of the theory of joint attention is quite narrowly constructed and comes with tacit disciplinary biases that exclude much of what is existentially important in our practices of sharing our perceptions and guiding others to attend to the world in novel ways. By using the frameworks of classical phenomenology and enactivist theories of mind, I aim to show how we, in our interactions, share our perceptions even with beings that are distinctly different from us. And, that this difference in our personal worldview, our cognitive capacities, and our sensory modalities should be seen as a constitutive aspect of our practices of shared attention. I will articulate attention as a revelatory practice that aids us in discovering a shared world through the plurality, rather than similarity, of our perceptual actions. Attention is, in this sense, not solely driven by subjective intentions; it is also formed and co-constituted by my being addressed by the other.
Plasma and serum metabolic analysis of healthy adults shows characteristic profiles by subjects’ sex and age
Authors: Xu Rui , Zhang Shiqi , Li Jieli , Zhu Jiangjiang 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Introduction
Pre-analytical factors like sex, age, and blood processing methods introduce variability and bias, compromising data integrity, and thus deserve close attention.

Objectives
This study aimed to explore the influence of participant characteristics (age and sex) and blood processing methods on the metabolic profile.

Method
A Thermo UPLC-TSQ-Quantiva-QQQ Mass Spectrometer was used to analyze 175 metabolites across 9 classes in 208 paired serum and lithium heparin plasma samples from 51 females and 53 males.

Results
Comparing paired serum and plasma samples from the same cohort, out of the 13 metabolites that showed significant changes, 4 compounds related to amino acids and derivatives had lower levels in plasma, and 5 other compounds had higher levels in plasma. Sex-based analysis revealed 12 significantly different metabolites, among which most amino acids and derivatives and nitrogen-containing compounds were higher in males, and other compounds were elevated in females. Interestingly, the volcano plot also confirms the similar patterns of amino acids and derivatives higher in males. The age-based analysis suggested that metabolites may undergo substantial alterations during the 25-35-year age range, indicating a potential metabolic turning point associated with the age group. Moreover, a more distinct difference between the 25–35 and above 35 age groups compared to the below 25 and 25–35 age groups was observed, with the most significant compound decreased in the above 35 age groups.

Conclusion
These findings may contribute to the development of comprehensive metabolomics analyses with confounding factor-based adjustment and enhance the reliability and interpretability of future large-scale investigations.
Computationally characterizing the diffusive boundary layer in lakes and reservoirs
Authors: Man Xiamei , Lei Chengwang , Bierlein Kevin A. , Bryant Lee D. , Lewis Abigail S. , Carey Cayelan C. , Little John C. 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Purpose
Hypolimnetic hypoxia has become increasingly prevalent in stratified water bodies in recent decades due to climate change. One primary sink of dissolved oxygen (DO) is sediment oxygen uptake ($${J}_{{O}_{2}}$$

J

O
2

). On the water side of the sediment–water interface (SWI), $${J}_{{O}_{2}}$$

J

O
2

is controlled by a diffusive boundary layer (DBL), a millimeter-scale layer where molecular diffusion is the primary transport mechanism. In previous studies, the DBL was determined by visual inspection, which is subjective and time-consuming.

Material and methods
In this study, a computational procedure is proposed to determine the SWI and DBL objectively and automatically. The procedure was evaluated for more than 300 DO profiles in the sediment of three eutrophic water bodies spanning gradients of depth and surface area. Synthetic DO profiles were modeled based on sediment characteristics estimated by laboratory experiments. The procedure was further verified adopting the synthetic profiles.

Results and discussion
The procedure, which was evaluated for both measured and synthetic DO profiles, determined the SWI and DBL well for both steady and non-steady state DO profiles. A negative relationship between DBL thickness and aeration rates was observed, which agrees with existing literatures.

Conclusions
The procedure is recommended for future studies involving characterizing DBL to improve efficiency and consistency.
Empirical modeling of soil erosion using unit plot data at Sparacia experimental area (southern Italy)
Authors: Pampalone Vincenzo , Serio Maria Angela , Bagarello Vincenzo , Ferro Vito 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Purpose
Soil loss estimation by the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) – based approach is widely used to perform soil conservation interventions. The recently proposed USLE-MB model explicitly accounts for plot runoff coefficient in the erosivity factor. Both the USLE and the USLE-MB can be deduced using a reference condition given by the unit plot, which is characterized by fixed length, steepness and bare soil tilled along the steepest slope. There is little evidence about the existence of the unit plot among those used to develop the USLE model, and few investigations experimentally considered this condition later.

Methods
In the present investigation, the USLE and USLE-MB models were parameterized using measurements performed in the Sparacia unit plots, in Sicily.

Results
The USLE soil erodibility factor differed significantly from the nomograph value and also from the estimates previously obtained by two methods applied to measurements collected in plots having different length and steepness compared to the unit plot. The experimentally determined soil erodibility factor of the USLE-MB also differed from those determined with these two methods. The slope steepness factor determined according to its definition was not consistent with that estimated with known literature relationships. The slope length factor was nearly constant for the USLE and assumed to be constant for the USLE-MB, in contrast with the increasing relationship with the plot length suggested by the USLE.

Conclusion
This investigation elucidated the discrepancy between the single factors of the models obtained using measurements from the unit plot and those otherwise estimated.
Reliable electrocortical dynamics of target-directed pass-kicks
Authors: Piskin Daghan , Büchel Daniel , Lehmann Tim , Baumeister Jochen 
Published: March 2024

AbstractFootball is one of the most played sports in the world and kicking with adequate accuracy increases the likelihood of winning a competition. Although studies with different target-directed movements underline the role of distinctive cortical activity on superior accuracy, little is known about cortical dynamics associated with kicking. Mobile electroencephalography is a popular tool to investigate cortical modulations during movement, however, inherent and artefact-related pitfalls may obscure the reliability of functional sources and their activity. The purpose of this study was therefore to describe consistent cortical dynamics underlying target-directed pass-kicks based on test–retest reliability estimates. Eleven participants performed a target-directed kicking task at two different sessions within one week. Electroencephalography was recorded using a 65-channel mobile system and behavioural data were collected including motion range, acceleration and accuracy performance. Functional sources were identified using independent component analysis and clustered in two steps with the components of first and subsequently both sessions. Reliability estimates of event-related spectral perturbations were computed pixel-wise for participants contributing with components of both sessions. The parieto-occipital and frontal clusters were reproducible for the same majority of the sample at both sessions. Their activity showed consistent alpha desyhronization and theta sychnronisation patterns with substantial reliability estimates revealing visual and attentional demands in different phases of kicking. The findings of our study reveal prominent cortical demands during the execution of a target-directed kick which may be considered in practical implementations and provide promising academic prospects in the comprehension and investigation of cortical activity associated with target-directed movements.
Mixtures of regressions using matrix-variate heavy-tailed distributions
Authors: Tomarchio Salvatore D. , Gallaugher Michael P. B. 
Published: March 2024

AbstractFinite mixtures of regressions (FMRs) are powerful clustering devices used in many regression-type analyses. Unfortunately, real data often present atypical observations that make the commonly adopted normality assumption of the mixture components inadequate. Thus, to robustify the FMR approach in a matrix-variate framework, we introduce ten FMRs based on the matrix-variatetand contaminated normal distributions. Furthermore, once one of our models is estimated and the observations are assigned to the groups, different procedures can be used for the detection of the atypical points in the data. An ECM algorithm is outlined for maximum likelihood parameter estimation. By using simulated data, we show the negative consequences (in terms of parameter estimates and inferred classification) of the wrong normality assumption in the presence of heavy-tailed clusters or noisy matrices. Such issues are properly addressed by our models instead. Additionally, over the same data, the atypical points detection procedures are also investigated. A real-data analysis concerning the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and their determinants is conducted, and the behavior of our models in the presence of heterogeneity and atypical observations is discussed.