bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Exploring the potential of topsoil pellets to improve native seedling establishment on degraded agricultural land
Authors: Munro Thomas P. , Erickson Todd E. , Nimmo Dale G. , Dadzie Frederick A. , Muñoz-Rojas Miriam , Price Jodi N. 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Background and aims
Agricultural activities can degrade soils and promote weeds, posing challenges to native species restoration. In agricultural restoration, removing contaminated topsoil is a method designed to reduce elevated soil nutrients caused by fertilisation. This strategy targets weed control by eliminating both aboveground weeds and their soil seed bank before direct seeding. However, it also diminishes native soil seed banks and beneficial soil microbes. We investigated the potential of fresh topsoil pellets containing seeds to improve seedling performance in a degraded grassy woodland where topsoil had been removed.

Methods
We tested various pellet recipes, including one using commercial ingredients and three with different topsoil proportions (30%, 50%, and 70%). The study was conducted in a degraded grassy woodland in southeastern Australia, where topsoil was removed for restoration. We explored the effect of these pellet varieties on seedling emergence and growth of six native species common in this community, as well as microbial activity in the soil surrounding the seedlings.

Results
Pellets significantly improved the emergence of Chrysocephalum apiculatum, providing evidence of their effectiveness. However, pellets significantly reduced Arthropodium milleflorum and Glycine tabacina emergence. Linum marginale and Rytidosperma caespitosum emergence remained unaffected by pellets. One species, Bothriochloa macra, had insufficient emergence for analysis. The microbial activity of the soil surrounding Rytidosperma caespitosum seedlings was significantly improved by pellets, with no significant effects observed for other species.

Conclusion
Our results demonstrate that topsoil pellets improved the emergence of one native species, but reduced emergence for two others, indicating species-specific responses to pelleting.
Bolzano’s Tortoise and a loophole for Achilles
Authors: Kappes Yannic 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThis paper discusses a novel response to two closely related regress arguments from Bolzano’s Theory of Science and Carroll’s What the Tortoise Said to Achilles. Bolzano’s argument aims to refute the thesis that full grounds must include propositions involving notions such as entailment, grounding or lawhood which link the respective grounds to their groundee. This thesis is motivated, Bolzano’s argument is reconstructed, and a response based on self-referential linking propositions is developed and defended against objections concerning self-reference and Curry’s paradox. Finally, the idea is applied to a reading of Carroll’s dialogue and a corresponding solution to the so-called infinite regress problem of inference is proposed.
Roughness Evolution Induced by Third-Body Wear
Authors: Garcia-Suarez Joaquin , Brink Tobias , Molinari Jean-François 
Published: March 2024

AbstractSurface roughness is a key factor when it comes to friction and wear, as well as to other physical properties. These phenomena are controlled by mechanisms acting at small scales, in which the topography of apparently flat surfaces is revealed. Roughness in natural surfaces has been reported to conform to self-affine statistics in a wide variety of settings (ranging from earthquake physics to micro-electro-mechanical devices), meaning that the height profile can be described using a spectrum where the amplitude is proportional to its wavelength raised to a constant power, which is related to a statistical parameter named Hurst exponent. We analyze the roughness evolution in atomistic surfaces during molecular dynamics simulations of wear. Both pairs of initially flat and initially rough surfaces in contact are worn by a third body formed by particles trapped between them during relative sliding. During the first sliding stages, the particles trapped between the first bodies scratch the surfaces. Once the former becomes coated with atoms from the latter, the wear process slows down and becomes “adhesive like.” The initial particle sizes are consistent with the minimum size to be expected for the debris, but tend to grow by material removal from the surfaces and to agglomerate. We show that, for the particular configurations under consideration, the surface roughness seems to converge to a steady state characterized by Hurst exponent close to 0.8, independently of the initial conditions.
Unsupervised Point Cloud Representation Learning by Clustering and Neural Rendering
Authors: Mei Guofeng , Saltori Cristiano , Ricci Elisa , Sebe Nicu , Wu Qiang , Zhang Jian , Poiesi Fabio 
Published: March 2024

AbstractData augmentation has contributed to the rapid advancement of unsupervised learning on 3D point clouds. However, we argue that data augmentation is not ideal, as it requires a careful application-dependent selection of the types of augmentations to be performed, thus potentially biasing the information learned by the network during self-training. Moreover, several unsupervised methods only focus on uni-modal information, thus potentially introducing challenges in the case of sparse and textureless point clouds. To address these issues, we propose an augmentation-free unsupervised approach for point clouds, named CluRender, to learn transferable point-level features by leveraging uni-modal information for soft clustering and cross-modal information for neural rendering. Soft clustering enables self-training through a pseudo-label prediction task, where the affiliation of points to their clusters is used as a proxy under the constraint that these pseudo-labels divide the point cloud into approximate equal partitions. This allows us to formulate a clustering loss to minimize the standard cross-entropy between pseudo and predicted labels. Neural rendering generates photorealistic renderings from various viewpoints to transfer photometric cues from 2D images to the features. The consistency between rendered and real images is then measured to form a fitting loss, combined with the cross-entropy loss to self-train networks. Experiments on downstream applications, including 3D object detection, semantic segmentation, classification, part segmentation, and few-shot learning, demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework in outperforming state-of-the-art techniques.
Role of Microplastics in Global Warming and Climate Change: A Review
Authors: Parvez Md. Sohel , Ullah Hadayet , Faruk Omar , Simon Edina , Czédli Herta 
Published: March 2024

AbstractMicroplastics (MPs) have become an important concern among scientists and policymakers all around the globe. Despite this, the contribution of MPs to global warming and climate change, a significant aspect of the issue, has been overlooked. Continuous greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting in climate change have long been a major issue with apparent consequences. Climate change and plastic crises are threatening our planet, and the co-occurrence of both would be catastrophic. This article addressed the links between microplastic pollution and climate change; how MPs contribute to climate change by interacting with water, air, and soil; and recommendations to address the issues together. Throughout their lives, plastics emit GHG. MPs in water impede the climate change mitigation potential of the ocean in different ways; they hamper photosynthesis and carbon sequestration by phytoplankton and the Blue Carbon Ecosystem. MPs induce GHG emissions from the soil. Airborne MPs have the potential to aid in cloud formation and interfere with atmospheric cooling. Climate change–induced extreme events redistribute MPs in the environment, causing the pollution to increase vertically and horizontally, which then aggravates the situation in a feedback loop. The evidence acquired in the study implies that MPs and climate change are inextricably linked and that MPs play a vital role in fueling climate change. This bridges the gap between MPs and climate change issues that were previously regarded separately. Due to the linkages between these intertwined challenges, integrated and holistic research and policy measures are required to address both crises concurrently.
Site selection optimization for 100% renewable energy sources
Authors: Derse Onur , Yilmaz Ebru 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThe increase in the use of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) provides many advantages such as reducing the environmental problems and sustainability. In this study, a long-term optimum RES settlement strategic plan is conducted for 81 provinces in Turkey by considering real data. Biomass energy, solar energy, hydroelectric energy, geothermal energy, and wind energy are considered RES sources. Energy consumption until the 2050 year is estimated with the regARIMA method, and then a weighted goal programming model was developed in which the outputs of the regARIMA method and risk analysis are integrated. The results of the regARIMA method are tested, and the test results indicate that an R2 value close to 1 indicates that the model is suitable, a low and negative MPE value is neutral, and a MAPE value below 4% indicates high accuracy of the model. Using GAMS 23.5 optimization software program, the developed weighted goal programming model is solved optimally. In this integrated model developed, the objectives of minimizing the installation time, minimizing the investment cost, minimizing the annual cost, maximizing the carbon emission reduction, maximizing the usage time, and minimizing the risk are considered. When the results obtained regarding the number of installations according to the model are examined, the decisions are made for 53% wind energy, 23% biomass energy, 13% hydroelectric energy, 9% solar energy, and 2% geothermal energy. Computational results show that the effective solutions are obtained by minimizing the sum of goals values, covering all provinces in Turkey, and considering real data.
ResDAC-Net: a novel pancreas segmentation model utilizing residual double asymmetric spatial kernels
Authors: Ji Zhanlin , Liu Jianuo , Mu Juncheng , Zhang Haiyang , Dai Chenxu , Yuan Na , Ganchev Ivan 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThe pancreas not only is situated in a complex abdominal background but is also surrounded by other abdominal organs and adipose tissue, resulting in blurred organ boundaries. Accurate segmentation of pancreatic tissue is crucial for computer-aided diagnosis systems, as it can be used for surgical planning, navigation, and assessment of organs. In the light of this, the current paper proposes a novel Residual Double Asymmetric Convolution Network (ResDAC-Net) model. Firstly, newly designed ResDAC blocks are used to highlight pancreatic features. Secondly, the feature fusion between adjacent encoding layers fully utilizes the low-level and deep-level features extracted by the ResDAC blocks. Finally, parallel dilated convolutions are employed to increase the receptive field to capture multiscale spatial information. ResDAC-Net is highly compatible to the existing state-of-the-art models, according to three (out of four) evaluation metrics, including the two main ones used for segmentation performance evaluation (i.e., DSC and Jaccard index).
Graphical abstract
Trends and Inequalities in Maternal and Newborn Health Services for Unplanned Settlements of Lusaka City, Zambia
Authors: Jacobs Choolwe , Musukuma Mwiche , Hamoonga Raymond , Sikapande Brivine , Chooye Ovost , Wehrmeister Fernando C. , Michelo Charles , Blanchard Andrea K. 
Published: March 2024

AbstractLiving conditions and other factors in urban unplanned settlements present unique challenges for improving maternal and newborn health (MNH), yet MNH inequalities associated with such challenges are not well understood. This study examined trends and inequalities in coverage of MNH services in the last 20 years in unplanned and planned settlements of Lusaka City, Zambia. Geospatial information was used to map Lusaka’s settlements and health facilities. Zambia Demographic Health Surveys (ZDHS 2001, 2007, 2013/2014, and 2018) were used to compare antenatal care (ANC), institutional delivery, and Cesarean section (C-section) coverage, and neonatal mortality rates between the poorer 60% and richer 40% households. Health Management Information System (HMIS) data from 2018 to 2021 were used to compute service volumes and coverage rates for ANC1 and ANC4, and institutional delivery and C-sections by facility level and type in planned and unplanned settlements. Although the correlation is not exact, our data analysis showed close alignment; and thus, we opted to use the 60% poorer and 40% richer groups as a proxy for households in unplanned versus planned settlements. Unplanned settlements were serviced by primary centers or first-level hospitals. ZDHS findings show that by 2018, at least one ANC visit and institutional delivery became nearly universal throughout Lusaka, but early and four or more ANC visits, C-sections, and neonatal mortality rates remained worse among poorer than richer women in ZDHS. In HMIS, ANC and institutional delivery volumes were highest in public facilities, especially in unplanned settlements. The volume of C-sections was much greater within facilities in planned than unplanned settlements. Our study exposed persistent gaps in timing and use of ANC and emergency obstetric care between unplanned and planned communities. Closing such gaps requires strengthening outreach early and consistently in pregnancy and increasing emergency obstetric care capacities and referrals to improve access to important MNH services for women and newborns in Lusaka’s unplanned settlements.
Wo kämen wir hin, wenn bei der Arbeit jeder alles sagt?
Authors: Knoll Michael 
Published: March 2024

ZusammenfassungIn diesem Beitrag geht es um konstruktiven und destruktiven Umgang mit kritischen Themen in der Arbeitswelt. Der Autor beschreibt zunächst Wege, auf denen sich Mitarbeitende im Arbeitskontext ausdrücken können. Danach diskutiert er anhand von 6 Take-Away Messages den aktuellen Forschungsstand zum Phänomen des Schweigens in Organisationen, d. h., dass Mitarbeitende zuweilen ihre Meinung, Ideen, Fragen und Bedenken zurückhalten. Besprochen werden die hinter dem Schweigen stehenden Motive, die das Schweigen fördernden Rahmenbedingungen und dessen Konsequenzen. Das Schweigen wird zudem als sozialer Prozess dargestellt, der nicht immer bewusst herbeigeführt wird und der durch die „Taubheit“ von Entscheidungsträger:innen begünstigt wird.
Detachment of a Soluble Particle at the Slag-Argon Interface: CFD Study and Experimental Observations
Authors: Zhang Xiaomeng , Michelic Susanne , Pirker Stefan , Saeedipour Mahdi 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThe behavior of non-metallic inclusions at interfaces of high-temperature melt and molten slag affects the removal of inclusions and the consequent melt cleanness. This study presents real-time in situ observations on the behavior of an oxide particle in the vicinity of the slag-argon interface by means of high-temperature confocal scanning laser microscopy (HT-CSLM). On top of that, CFD simulations are conducted to investigate the underlying mechanisms of particle-interface interactions. In addition to revealing the particle motion process from the argon phase toward the slag, a significant particle morphology alteration associated with its dissolution in the slag is experimentally observed. Particularly, upon detachment from the slag-argon interface, the particle exhibits more dissolution at the near-interface area. By combining with numerical simulations, this study indicates that particle separation at the interface can be characterized as two stages. First, a short-term capillary force-driven motion stage happens until the particle initially settles at the interface. The settling position estimated by simulation shows good consistency with experimental measurement. Second, the particle takes a relatively long time to eventually detach from the interface, and this period is accompanied by particle dissolution. Investigations suggest that the concentration variation near the interface arising from particle dissolution triggers a Marangoni flow. This flow, in turn, enhances the local dissolution rate, consequently causing a significant particle morphology change that influences the detachment. This study provides new insight into the mechanism of inclusion removal through slag absorption in metallurgical processes. Both particle dynamics and dissolution kinetics, especially the effect of solutal Marangoni convection, are highlighted in detaching a small-scale particle from the fluid-fluid interface.
Arterial Stiffness May Predict Subsequent Cancer Therapy-Related Cardiac Dysfunction in Breast Cancer Patients
Authors: Şahin Mürsel , Kazaz Seher Nazlı , Kartaler Fatih , Kodal Burcu , Altuntaş Seda , Yüce Elif , Turan Oğuzhan Ekrem , Kutlu Merih 
Published: March 2024

AbstractCancer therapy-related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD) is still a serious problem. Existing risk scores are insufficient for risk classification, especially in low and medium-risk patients. This study aims to evaluate if arterial stiffness (AS) measurement, which is associated with most of the known risk factors, can be a useful parameter for predicting subsequent CTRCD in patients with breast cancer (BC). Patients with BC were included in the study. All patients’ AS parameters such as pulse wave velocity (PWV), augmentation index (AIx), augmentation pressure (AP), and echocardiographic parameters were obtained before treatment. During treatment, echocardiographic follow-up with routine parameters and left ventricle global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) were measured. Patients were evaluated on whether CTRCD occurred or not. A total of 67 patients were analyzed. The mean age of the study population was 54.9 ± 11 years. Baseline characteristics were similar except for age. No CTRCD diagnosis was obtained according to left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) reduction, but 18 patients (26.8%) developed CTRCD regarding the decline in LVGLS. Left ventricle hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction were more frequent in patients with CTRCD (p = 0.016 and p = 0.015, respectively). PWV, AIx, and AP as AS parameters were significantly higher in patients with CTRCD, but Alx@75 were not (p = 0.005, p = 0.034, p = 0.008, p = 0.077, respectively). A positive correlation between PWV and a decreased percent in LVGS (R = 0.607, p < 0.001) was observed. ROC curve analyses revealed an AUC of 0.747 (p = 0.02, 95% CI 0.632–0.832) for PWV. A PWV value of 9.2 m/s predicted CTRCD with 94% sensitivity and 73% specificity. AS measurement may be useful for predicting CTRCD in patients with low to medium-risk BC.
Graphical Abstract
Dental color measurement to estimate age in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Martín-Martín Jaime , Santos Ignacio , Gaitán-Arroyo María J. , Suarez Juan , Rubio Leticia , Martín-de-las-Heras Stella 
Published: March 2024

AbstractAge estimation is a major challenge in anthropology and forensic odontology laboratories, as well as in judicial settings, as one of the tools used in human identification. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of age estimation methods based on the accurate measurement of tooth color changes. A systematic review was carried out following the recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and in compliance with Cochrane criteria recommendations (PROSPERO registration number CRD 42022343371). An electronic search was performed in the following databases: Pubmed, Web of Science, Medline, Current Contents Connect, SciELO, KCI-Korean Journal Database, Derwent Innovations Index and Russian Citation Index. The search strategy yielded a total of 18 articles. A randomized meta-analysis model of the results for the CIE L*a*b* color variables stratified by age (less than 30 years, 30-60 years, 60 years and older) was performed with 9 of the 18 studies included in this systematic review. According to our results, sex and location of color measurement are the most influential factors in color estimation. All studies were carried out in healthy anterior teeth by spectrophotometry as the most commonly used method for color measurement, with CIE L*a*b* being the most commonly analyzed parameters. Studies based on age as a dependent variable showed R2 values between 0.28 and 0.56, being higher in ex vivo teeth. Studies based on age as an independent variable showed R2 values ranging from 0.10 to 0.48. The random model showed high heterogeneity for the L*, a* and b* parameters in all age groups, which is explained by discrepancies in age range and non-standardized conditions for color measurement. This systematic review highlights the need to protocolize age estimation studies that measure tooth color, in order to apply this method in different forensic settings.
O-sialoglycoprotein Endopeptidase (OSGEP) Suppresses Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury-Induced Ferroptosis Through Modulating the MEK/ERK Signaling Pathway
Authors: Tao Yuanyuan , Zhou Wanqing , Chen Cheng , Zhang Qian , Liu Zhuoyi , Xia Pingping , Ye Zhi , Li Chunling 
Published: March 2024

AbstractHepatic ischemia–reperfusion injury (HIRI) was widely accepted as a critical complication of liver resection and transplantation. A growing body of evidence suggested that O-sialoglycoprotein endopeptidase (OSGEP) was involved in cell proliferation and mitochondrial metabolism. However, whether OSGEP could mediate the pathogenesis of HIRI has still remained unclarified. This study investigated whether OSGEP could be protective against HIRI and elucidated the potential mechanisms. The OSGEP expression level was detected in cases undergoing ischemia-related hepatectomy and a stable oxygen–glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) condition in hepG2 cells. Additionally, it was attempted to establish a mouse model of HIRI, thus, the function and mechanism of OSGEP could be analyzed. At one day after hepatectomy, the negative association of OSGEP expression level with the elevated serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was noted. Moreover, it was attempted to carry out gain- and loss-of-function analyses of OSGEP in hepG2 cells to reveal its influences on OGD/R-induced injury and relevant signaling pathways. The findings suggested that OSGEP overexpression significantly protected hepG2 cells against ferroptotic cell death, while OSGEP consumption had opposite effects. Consistent with in vitro studies, OSGEP deficiency exacerbated liver functions and ferroptotic cell death in a mouse model of HIRI. The results also revealed that OSGEP mediated the progression of HIRI by regulating the MEK/ERK signaling pathway. Rescue experiments indicated that ERK1/2 knockdown or overexpression reversed the effects of OSGEP overexpression or knockdown on hepG2 cells under OGD/R condition. Taken together, the findings demonstrated that OSGEP could contribute to alleviate HIRI by mediating the MEK-ERK signaling pathway, which may serve as a potential prognostic marker and a therapeutic target for HIRI.