bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Geographic drivers more important than landscape composition in predicting bee beta diversity and community structure
Authors: Landsman Andrew P. , Simanonok Michael P. , Savoy‐Burke Grace , Bowman Jacob L. , Delaney Deborah A. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractThe importance of microhabitat traits such as floral availability is well known; however, forest bee spatial dynamics have been variably studied across local to broad geographic scales. Past literature suggests that landscape factors from proximate to distal are important in determining forest bee community metrics, including richness, abundance, and taxonomic composition. Leveraging the interest and assistance of citizen science volunteers, we employed standard bee bowl trap transects across Maryland, Delaware, northern Virginia, and the District of Columbia and identified correlations between bee community composition, local and regional land cover, and broader geospatial patterns. We also identified the partial contributions of both specific species and sampling sites to total beta diversity. Various land cover metrics were significantly related to bee community structure, with bee abundance positively and negatively correlated with forest and wetland cover, respectively. In general, land cover metrics within 1000‐m buffer exhibited stronger correlations with bee communities; however, broader geographic variation, using Cartesian coordinates north and east as indices, was most significantly correlated with the bee community. Specifically, bee communities were less rich in the east and south of the study area. We also identified similar correlations with the bee community as categorized by both trophic and nesting behaviors, with both geographic northing and easting proving to be most strongly correlated with the forest bee community. Results of beta diversity and cluster analyses showed that the most species‐depauperate sites exhibited the highest contributions to beta diversity and that species‐poor sites consisted of a reduced subset of the greater community. Our results show that successful bee conservation must consider, beyond local‐scale resource availability, broad geospatial considerations and forest habitat connectivity across political and administrative boundaries.
Stand spatial structure and productivity based on random structural unit in Larix principis‐rupprechtii forests
Authors: Zhang Jing , Liu Chong , Ge Zhaoxuan , Zhang Zhidong 
Published: April 2024

AbstractStand spatial structure plays a key role in forest management, and in particular the random structural unit, comprising random tree and its neighbors, largely determines forest stability and its productivity. However, how the spatial structure of the random structural unit affects productivity remains unclear. The study focused on four larch forest types from Hebei and Shanxi provinces, China: 35‐year‐old larch (Larix principis‐rupprechtii) plantations (35LP), 39‐year‐old mixed larch–birch (Betula platyphylla) forests (39LB), 58‐year‐old natural larch forests (58LN), and 73‐year‐old mixed larch–birch–spruce (Picea asperata) forests (73LBS). The forest spatial structure index (FSSI) was employed to comprehensively evaluate the stand spatial structure. Additionally, the uniform angle index was used to discern whether the stand structure units were uniform, random, or clumped. A regression model was used to elucidate the effects of species mingling, diameter dominance, and crowding on the productivity of random trees. Results showed that the FSSI varied among the stand types, ranking as 35LP < 58LN < 39LB < 73LBS. The values of distribution frequency and the percentages of basal area increment (BAI) for random trees were above 0.5% and 40% in most stand types, respectively. The diameter dominance of random structural units in four stand types showed a significant negative correlation with the BAI of random trees, whereas the mingling and crowding of random structural units in the 73LBS displayed a significant positive correlation with BAI of random trees. Thus, increasing the size of random trees, as well as mingling and crowding in random structural units, can facilitate the formation of a rational stand spatial structure, thereby enhancing the productivity of larch forests.
Electronic Effect of the [Au(PPh3)]+ Fragment in the Stabilization of Imidazolium Salts and the Destabilization of NHCs
Authors: Rosero‐Mafla Miguel A. , Chaur Manuel N. , Mujica‐Martinez Cesar A. , Fernández‐Moreira Vanesa , Zapata‐Rivera Jhon , Gimeno M. Concepción , Visbal Renso 
Published: April 2024

AbstractThis work presents the synthesis and characterization of mono‐ (1) and di‐nuclear (2) imidazolium salts stabilized by [AuPPh3]+ fragments. The presence of the gold moiety induces a significant decrease in the carbenic proton‘s acidic character (high pKa). This high stability is consistent with the pronounced instability of the conjugate bases obtained through deprotonation using strong bases. The formation of carbene species is accompanied by the identification of a 1,2‐rearrangement process in which a preference for the C‐bound species over the N‐bound species is observed. Experimental techniques such as NMR, single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis, mass spectrometry, and computational calculations are employed to investigate the reactivity exhibited by the imidazolium salts. Additionally, the electrochemical properties of the two imidazolium salts were also investigated. This study reveals that both species 1 and 2 display two cathodic peaks which are related to two electro‐chemical irreversible reduction events. The results obtained from both experimental and theoretical studies of this system reveal a strong tendency of the [AuPPh3]+ fragment to stabilize imidazolium salts. Additionally, they demonstrate the preference of this fragment for C‐bound species over N‐bound ones, with the former proving to be highly unstable even under severe conditions of air and moisture exclusion.
Simple, fast, and simultaneous determination of orthophosphate, pyrophosphate, and tripolyphosphate by capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection
Authors: Barboza Larissa J. , Rocha Kionnys N. , de Jesus Dosil P. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractThis work describes a novel analytical method using capillary electrophoresis (CE) with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C4D) for simultaneous, simple, and rapid determination of three inorganic phosphates (orthophosphate, pyrophosphate, and tripolyphosphate) widely used as food additives and in pharmaceutical formulations. A background electrolyte composed of 0.5 mol L–1 acetic acid provided fast separation (around 3.0 min) and good separation efficiency and peak resolution. Linearity in the concentration range of 10–500 mg L–1 was confirmed by the coefficients of determination (R2) higher than 0.99. The limits of detection varied from 0.41 to 0.58 mg L–1. The accuracy of the proposed method was assessed by recovery tests conducted at three concentration levels in tap water samples, food, and personal hygiene products. Recovery values varying from 81% to 118% were achieved, indicating an acceptable accuracy. The proposed CE‐C4D successfully determined the three inorganic phosphates in the analyzed samples.
Lateral load response and collapse probability of reinforced concrete shear walls retrofitted for repairability
Authors: Okumus Pinar , Basereh Sina , Aaleti Sriram 
Published: April 2024

AbstractThis paper demonstrates the efficacy of a new reinforced concrete shear wall seismic retrofit method through a series of nonlinear static and incremental dynamic analyses. Unlike traditional retrofit methods, the method investigated aims to convert conventional walls into self‐centering walls whose behavior is governed by rocking and flexure. The retrofit involves creating a cold joint at the foundation–wall interface, cutting some reinforcing bars to allow rocking, adding external post‐tensioning to enable self‐centering, and externally confining wall toes to prevent concrete crushing. The retrofit was applied to two building archetypes, each with two different shear wall designs. The four walls were retrofitted by varying retrofit parameters (portion of the vertical reinforcement bars cut, and external post‐tensioning amount). Nonlinear static and nonlinear response history analyses were performed using experimentally validated, computationally efficient models that simulate walls with fiber‐based beam–column elements. Incremental dynamic analysis was used to create collapse fragility functions for pre‐ and post‐retrofit walls. The results show that the retrofit is effective when some vertical reinforcement bars are left uncut across the foundation–wall interface. The retrofit is more effective for walls with vertical reinforcement distributed across cross‐section as compared to walls with reinforcement concentrated near boundary elements and for walls with structurally efficient amounts of reinforcement as compared to walls with higher amounts of reinforcement. This is attributed to the larger amount of reinforcement bars cut in walls with concentrated reinforcement layouts or heavy reinforcement amounts, leading to a larger loss of strength, recovery of which requires larger amounts of post‐tensioning.
Oxide‐based ternary composite solid‐state electrolyte for next‐generation lithium batteries
Authors: Ahmad Haseeb , Haseeb Hafiz Muhammad , Shabbir Altamash , Khan Zuhair S. , Noor Tayyaba , Ali Ghulam 
Published: April 2024

AbstractOxide‐based solid electrolytes are gaining popularity among researchers owing to their great structural stability. In this work, a novel oxide‐based ternary composite (AlPO4‐SiO2‐Li4P2O7) electrolyte is synthesized via a conventional solid‐state process with excellent water stability and high ionic conductivity. The crystallographic structure of ternary composite is confirmed using x‐ray diffraction and has a significant effect on ionic conductivity. The thermogravimetric analysis result shows a 22.26 wt% loss in the region of 25°C to 900°C due to the evaporation of volatile constituents, including nitrates, carbonates, and moisture. Surface analysis results revealed compact morphology and low porosity with arbitrary grain sizes. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy has been used to evaluate ionic conductivities. The Mn‐ternary composite sintered at 900°C has shown ionic conductivity of 1.63 × 10−6 S/cm at ambient temperature. 8 wt%‐LiBr enhanced the ionic conductivity up to 1.68 × 10−4 S/cm by significantly reducing the grain boundaries without high‐temperature sintering. Results suggested the suitability of LiBr mixed ternary composites as a favorite candidate for lithium batteries in terms of safety, stability, and high ionic conductivity.
Enhanced H2 storage in silicene through lithium decoration and single vacancy and Stone‐Wales defects: A density functional theory investigation
Authors: Seth Aqshat , Gattu Sai Spoorti , Sai Srinivasan K. V. , Sujith Ravindran 
Published: April 2024

AbstractDefect engineering and metal decoration onto 2‐D materials have gained major attention as a means of creating viable hydrogen storage materials. This Density Functional Theory (DFT) based study presents lithium decorated single vacancy (SV) and Stone‐Wales (SW) defective silicene as a viable media for storing hydrogen via physisorption. Introducing defects increases the Li adatom's binding energy from −2.36 eV in pristine silicene to −3.44 and −2.73 eV in SV and SW silicene, respectively, preventing Li adatom clustering. The presence of defects and Li adatom further aid hydrogen adsorption onto the substrates with binding energies present between the US‐DOE set range of −0.2 to −0.7 eV/H2 with the highest binding energy measured to be −0.389 eV/H2. The enhanced H2 binding energies are a result of a combined contribution of the Li(p) and Li(s) orbitals with the H(s) orbital with an indirect electronic transfer from the silicene substrate to the Li adatom. Upon double side Li decoration, both the Li‐decorated defective systems were able to effectively store multiple H2 molecules up to 28 H2 with the highest gravimetric density being 5.97 wt%. Ab Initio molecular dynamic simulations conducted at 300 K and 310 K confirm the stability of the Li adatom as well as the adsorbed H2 molecules at room temperature and establish the viability of these systems as effective, high gravimetric density, physisorption‐based hydrogen storage media.
The alleviated symptoms in ovalbumin‐allergic mice treated with selenium‐enriched tea polysaccharide by modulation of intestinal flora and gut metabolites
Authors: Guo Peng , Lv Liuqing , Ma Jing , Luo Zining , Jia Yining , Ren Xiaojing , Sun Jiao , Long Fangyu 
Published: April 2024

AbstractOvalbumin (OVA) in egg is one of the predominant causes of food allergy around the world. In the present study, the alleviating effect of selenium‐enriched tea polysaccharide (Se‐TPS) on OVA allergy was evaluated, and the underlying mechanistic insights were investigated. Se‐TPS significantly alleviated the clinical manifestations and diarrhea of allergic mice, accelerated the recovery of jejunal injury, and decreased the immune organ index. Meanwhile, Se‐TPS decreased the levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE), histamine, and IL‐4 in serum, increased the levels of IFN‐γ, and promoted the balance of Th1/Th2 cells. Furthermore, the intervention of Se‐TPS reshaped the gut microbiota structure of OVA‐allergic mice. Se‐TPS increased the abundance of Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, unclassified_f_Lachnospiraceae, and Alistipes, whereas decreased the Faecalibaculum abundance. Analysis of intestinal metabolites showed that Se‐TPS treatment caused a significant increase in homocitrulline and 7a‐hydroxyandrost‐4‐ene‐3,17‐dione levels. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment results indicated that Se‐TPS treatment may alleviate allergic symptoms by enhancing the anti‐inflammatory ability of OVA‐allergic mice through neuroimmunity.
Do ESG funds engage in portfolio pumping to gain higher flows? An application of Benford's Law
Authors: Mallios Aineas , Mavruk Taylan 
Published: April 2024

AbstractPortfolio pumping is identified as an ‘illegal’ trading practice that involves inflating quarter‐ and year‐end portfolio returns. Utilizing U.S. domestic equity mutual fund daily return data, we examine whether environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds engage in portfolio pumping to generate higher flows. Our findings reveal that, on average, ESG funds attract 0.4% higher flows than other funds. However, they engage in portfolio pumping and achieve returns that are 5.3 basis points (bps) higher at quarter ends compared to their returns during the rest of the year. This practice does not result in additional fund flows. Notably, compared to other funds, ESG funds exhibit a significant 4 bps reduction through portfolio pumping. This implies that, on the last day of the quarter, ESG funds earn approximately 4 bps lower returns compared to other funds. Portfolio pumping is costly for both investors and financial markets since it leads to trading activities that cause stock prices to deviate from their fundamental values. ESG funds engage less in portfolio pumping than other funds, which indicates that their primary focus is to maximize fund flows rather than enhance or create a positive social impact on the underlying firm portfolio. Investors seem to understand this goal, particularly when ESG funds engage in portfolio pumping and avoid investing in ESG funds.
Five Perspectives on Transdisciplinary Systems Engineering
Authors: Brook Peter , Madni Azad M. , Pennotti Michael , Rousseau David , Sillito Hillary 
Published: April 2024

ABSTRACTThis article offers insights from five INCOSE Fellows on the evolution and significance of transdisciplinarity in systems engineering. Michael Pennotti reviews the origins of systems engineering, emphasizing its inherent transdisciplinary nature and the need for continuous evolution. Azad Madni considers transdisciplinarity as systems engineering's true calling, crucial for the 21st century, and highlights his TRASEE™ education paradigm that underpins the Systems Architecting and Engineering program that he directs at the University of Southern California as pivotal for systems engineering's advancement. Hillary Sillitto sees the climate crisis as systems engineering's most critical and complex challenge, asserting transdisciplinarity's crucial role in addressing it. David Rousseau examines the cultural and scientific underpinnings of transdisciplinarity, presenting systems engineering as a prime example. Peter Brook envisions the joint evolution of systems sciences and systems engineering to confront future challenges, advocating for transdisciplinarity as an essential role in systems engineering leadership for addressing global challenges.
Optimization techniques for IDS‐Generated traffic congestion control in VANET
Authors: Kumar Yogendra , Kumar Vijay , Subba Basant 
Published: April 2024

AbstractVehicular Ad‐hoc Network (VANET) is an emerging field of wireless networks that enables a variety of vehicle safety and convenience applications. It employs Intrusion Detection System (IDS) frameworks in its different tiers to ensure reliable and secure communication among nodes. However, IDS requires a significant amount of data to process for monitoring intrusive activities in the network. As a result, the volume of traffic increases, resulting in the network congestion. Motivated by this fact, this study provides an overview of the optimization techniques for VANET traffic congestion control. It discusses a state‐of‐the‐art analysis along with the requirements for IDS‐generated traffic congestion control. It highlights the congestion control approaches for the traffic generated by an IDS and identifies the challenges in this domain. This study also proposes a novel IDS framework for reducing IDS‐generated network traffic by combining the Local Outlier Factor and Random Forest classifier. The proposed study achieved a high precision while yielding low false positive and false negative rates. The study outperformed the existing studies with an increase in accuracy of 1.16% and a reduction in attack detection time of 1.1869 seconds. Additionally, it discusses the possible future research directions that can be applied to address the issues of IDS‐generated traffic congestion. Overall, this study serves as a comprehensive guide to the current status of IDS‐generated traffic congestion control and diverse approaches to lessen it that can be employed by academicians and researchers.
SOX4 silencing alleviates renal injury in rats with acute renal failure by inhibiting the NF‐κB signaling pathway and reducing apoptosis and oxidative stress
Authors: Xie Fengyan , Xu Min 
Published: April 2024

AbstractAcute renal failure (ARF) is a huge threat to the lives of most patients in intensive care units, and there is currently no satisfactory treatment strategy. SRY‐box transcription factor 4 (SOX4) plays a key role in the development of various diseases, but its effect on ARF is unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the relationship between SOX4 and ARF. Blood samples were collected from 20 ARF patients and 20 healthy volunteers. We also established an ARF rat model by excising the right kidney and ligating the left renal artery, and SOX4 knockdown in ARF rats was achieved down by means of lentiviral infection. Subsequently, we used quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western bolt assays to detect the expression levels of SOX4 and nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB) signaling pathway‐related proteins in human blood or rat renal tissue and hematoxylin and eosin and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) 2'‐deoxyuridine 5'‐triphosphate (dUTP) nick‐end labeling staining to observe the pathological changes and apoptosis of renal tissue. Enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay and biochemical kits were used to measure the levels of renal function‐related indicators (blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and neutrophil gelatinase‐associated lipocalin) and inflammatory factors (interleukin [IL]−1β, IL‐6, and tumor necrosis factor‐alpha), as well as changes in oxidative stress‐related indicators (malondialdehyde [MDA], superoxide dismutase [SOD], and reactive oxygen species [ROS]) in rat serum. SOX4 expression levels in blood samples from ARF patients and renal tissue from ARF rats were significantly higher compared with those in healthy volunteers and control rats, respectively. ARF model rats displayed the typical ARF phenotype, while SOX4 silencing significantly improved pathological injury and apoptosis of renal tissue in ARF rats. Moreover, SOX4 silencing significantly inhibited increased levels of renal function‐related indicators and inflammatory factors and reduced the level of excessive oxidative stress (MDA and ROS were upregulated, and SOD was downregulated) in ARF rats. SOX4 also reduced the activity of the NF‐κB signaling pathway in ARF samples. Thus, SOX4 knockdown may reduce oxidative stress, the inflammatory response, and apoptosis by reducing the activity of the NF‐κB signaling pathway, thereby improving renal injury in ARF rats.
ALKBH5‐mediated m6A demethylation of pri‐miR‐199a‐5p exacerbates myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury by regulating TRAF3‐mediated pyroptosis
Authors: Li Jiarong , Wang Zhirong , Tan Huayi , Tang Mi 
Published: April 2024

AbstractMyocardial ischemia‒reperfusion injury (MI/RI) is closely related to pyroptosis. alkB homolog 5 (ALKBH5) is abnormally expressed in the MI/RI models. However, the detailed molecular mechanism of ALKBH5 in MI/RI has not been elucidated. In this study, rats and H9C2 cells served as experimental subjects and received MI/R induction and H/R induction, respectively. The abundance of the targeted molecules was evaluated using RT‐qPCR, Western blotting, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. The heart functions of the rats were evaluated using echocardiography, and heart injury was evaluated. Cell viability and pyroptosis were determined using cell counting Kit‐8 and flow cytometry, respectively. Total m6A modification was measured using a commercial kit, and pri‐miR‐199a‐5p m6A modification was detected by Me‐RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay. The interactions among the molecules were validated using RIP and luciferase experiments. ALKBH5 was abnormally highly expressed in H/R‐induced H9C2 cells and MI/RI rats. ALKBH5 silencing improved injury and inhibited pyroptosis. ALKBH5 reduced pri‐miR‐199a‐5p m6A methylation to block miR‐199a‐5p maturation and inhibit its expression. TNF receptor‐associated Factor 3 (TRAF3) is a downstream gene of miR‐199a‐5p. Furthermore, in H/R‐induced H9C2 cells, the miR‐199a‐5p inhibitor‐mediated promotion of pyroptosis was reversed by ALKBH5 silencing, and the TRAF3 overexpression‐mediated promotion of pyroptosis was offset by miR‐199a‐5p upregulation. ALKBH5 silencing inhibited pri‐miR‐199a‐5p expression and enhanced pri‐miR‐199a‐5p m6A modification to promote miR‐199a‐5p maturation and enhance its expression, thereby suppressing pyroptosis to alleviate MI/RI through decreasing TRAF3 expression.