bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Relationship between FEV1/FVC and age in children with asthma
Authors: Ahmed Amal , Brown Amy , Pollack Yehudit , Vazhappilly Joshua , Perry Carrighan , Thomas Erica R. , Krishnan Sankaran , Dozor Allen J. 
Published: March 2024

AbstractIntroductionForced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) normally decreases through childhood, increases briefly during early adolescence, and then declines throughout life. The physiology behind this temporary increase during early adolescence is not well understood. The objective of this study was to determine if this pattern occurs in children with asthma.DesignSingle‐center, cross‐sectional, retrospective analysis of pulmonary function tests obtained over a 5‐year period in children 5–18 years of age with persistent asthma.ResultsA total of 1793 patients satisfied all inclusion and exclusion criteria. The mean age (±SD) was 10.4 ± 3.8 years. Forty‐eight percent were female. Mean FEV1/FVC was 0.83 ± 0.09. FEV1/FVC was lower at 5 years of age than in healthy children, declined from age 5 to 11 by 5.7% compared to 7.3% in healthy girls, and 5.8% compared to 9.4% in healthy boys. FEV1/FVC increased in early adolescence, but at age 16, was 5.6% lower in male children compared to healthy children, and 5.4% lower in females. The ratio was lower in obese children at all ages but demonstrated the same curvilinear shape as healthy children. In absolute terms, FEV1 grew proportionately more than FVC during early adolescence, so the ratio of FEV1/FVC increased during that period. The curvilinear shape of the curve remained in postbronchodilator testing, though significantly blunted.ConclusionsFEV1/FVC is lower in children with persistent asthma than healthy children, but the “Shepherd's Hook” pattern is preserved. This was true in obese patients with asthma, although their FEV1/FVC ratios were lower throughout all stages of childhood and adolescence.
Preparation and Characterization of Alkali Activated Carbon Based Theobroma Cocoa Pods: Application for Electrochemical Determination of Xanthine in Fresh Fish Sample
Authors: Somba Alex Vincent , Kamgaing Théophile , Fotsop Cyrille Ghislain , Deffo Gullit , Nkuigoua Bibiane Wandji , Tagne Rufis Fregue Tiegam , Tajeu Kevin Yemele , Temgoua Ranil Clément Tonleu , Njanja Evangeline , Tonlé Ignas Kenfack 
Published: March 2024

AbstractIn order to propose an alternative for the sensors made with complex materials, a cheap and facile electrode material based on the preparation of activated carbon from cocoa pods (Theobroma cacao) has been proposed for the electroanalysis of xanthine (Xa). Raw cocoa pods (RCP) and activated carbon cocoa pods (ACCP) were prepared and characterized by pH at the zero point of charge, FTIR, SEM/SEM‐mappings, EDX, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, BET/BJH analysis, 13C NMR, and TGA/DSC. RCP and ACCP were drop coated on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and characterized by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The electrodes GCE/RCP and GCE/ACCP were used through differential pulse voltammetry to optimize the different parameters that can affect the determination of Xa and a calibration curve has been plotted in the range from 1.0 to 12.0 μM, leading to a detection limit of 0.264 μM. The interference, reproducibility, and stability were evaluated and the sensor was successfully applied in fresh fish sample. Therefore, the simple way of preparation of ACCP and the significant role played by GCE/ACCP in resolving the oxidation of Xa is expected to impact significantly the future sensor research through substitution of the costly and hazardous materials.
Visible‐Light‐Active Electrospun Membranes Based on Cobalt‐Doped ZnO Nanohybrids: Applications for Food Packaging
Authors: Deshapriya Sachini D. , Munaweera Imalka 
Published: March 2024

AbstractA cellulose acetate electrospun membrane based on Cobalt doped ZnO (Co‐ZnO) was developed. The synthesis of pure zinc oxide nanoparticles (NPs) and cobalt‐zinc oxide nanorods with varying cobalt‐to‐zinc atomic ratios of 5 %, 10 %, 15 %, and 20 % was carried out, using the co‐precipitation method. The successful incorporation of cobalt into ZnO was confirmed by using the techniques of Powder X‐ray Diffraction (PXRD), X‐ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and Energy Dispersive X‐ray Spectroscopy (EDX). Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) studies denoted the change in shape from spherical to rod‐shaped upon doping Co. A red shift was observed in band gap energies from 3.26‐3.01 eV upon increasing the Co concentration. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated, using methylene blue under sunlight and a 50 W LED lamp. The most effective photocatalyst observed in this study was a composition consisting of 15 % Co‐ZnO. When exposed to sunshine, this photocatalyst demonstrated a degradation rate of 40 % over a one‐hour period. Similarly, when subjected to a lamp, the degradation rate was found to be 24 % over the same duration. A nanofiber membrane was produced by incorporating Co‐ZnO at a concentration of 15 % (w/w) into the cellulose acetate (CA) polymer matrix by the electrospinning technique. The created CA nanofiber mat with Co‐ZnO was employed to extend the shelf life of strawberries up to 18 days along with the reduced pH increase and lower reduction of weight, firmness, and titratable acidity.
Report of the Nomenclature Committee for Fungi: 24
Authors: May Tom W. 
Published: March 2024

SummaryAn addition to the list of names for protection under Art. F.2.1 from the Cordyceps Working Group, containing two names of genera, is approved. The following two family names are recommended for conservation: Physaraceae against Fuliginaceae; and Metschnikowiaceae against Nectaromycetaceae and Torulopsidaceae. The following six generic names are recommended for conservation: Blastomyces Gilchrist & W.R. Stokes against Blastomyces Costantin & Rolland; Cercospora with a conserved type; Didymium against Mucilago and Spumaria; Discula with a conserved type; Metschnikowia against Torulopsis; and Phyllopsora against Triclinum and Crocynia. The proposal concerning the gender of the genus Glomus is referred to the General Committee. The following 15 species names are recommended for conservation: Agaricus cingulatus (Tricholoma cingulatum) against A. ramentaceus; A. psammopus (Tricholoma psammopus) against A. concolor; Apioporthe corni (Aurantioporthe corni, Cryptodiaporthe corni) against Sphaeronaema aurantiacum and Myxosporium nitidum; Ditiola mucida (Holwaya mucida) against Acrospermum caliciiforme (Crinula caliciiformis); Entoloma sericeum against Agaricus pascuus (E. pascuum); Geoglossum uliginosum Hakelier against G. uliginosum (Pers.) P. Crouan & H. Crouan; Microsphaera alphitoides (Erysiphe alphitoides) with a conserved type; Peziza cinnamomea (Pezicula cinnamomea) against Naemaspora grisea; Phyllosticta yuccae against Leptodothiorella notabilis; Puccinia psidii (Austropuccinia psidii) against Caeoma eugeniarum and Uredo neurophila; Tolypocladium inflatum against Cordyceps subsessilis; Tricholoma sciodes against Agaricus hordus; Tuber aestivum Vittad. against T. aestivum (Wulfen) Spreng. and T. blotii; T. magnatum against T. griseum; and T. melanosporum against T. nigrum. The following two species names are recommended for rejection under Art. 56: Ramularia gibba and Tuber cibarium. Proposal 2307 (concerning Hypocrea lutea (Tode) Petch) is no longer relevant, following the removal in the Shenzhen Code (Turland & al. in Regnum Veg. 159. 2018) of Art. 57.2 of the Melbourne Code (McNeill & al. in Regnum Veg. 154. 2012). Proposal 2233 (to conserve Bipolaris against Cochliobolus) and four proposals concerning names in Trichoderma and Hypocrea (2305, 2306, 2308 and 2309) have been withdrawn because the names were included in a list for protection from an approved working group: for Bipolaris, the Dothideomycetes Working Group, and for Trichoderma, the International Subcommission on Trichoderma and Hypocrea. Three works by Paulet, the unpaginated “Index” of Traité des champignons and two editions of Tabula plantarum fungosarum, are recommended for suppression under Art. 34.
Digital storytelling for peacebuilding in a multilingual community
Authors: Vinogradova Polina , Linville Heather A. 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThis conceptual article discusses how a digital storytelling (DS) project encouraged inner, interpersonal, and intergroup peacebuilding between members of one Midwestern community in the United States. The article reports on a DS project where (1) multilingual participants explored themes of multilingualism and migration as they produced DS in a week‐long workshop and (2) community members viewed and responded to these DS in a series of public showings. The DS process helped create opportunities for connections across linguistic and cultural differences and provided a multimodal platform for multilingual community members to share their stories of migration and belonging. The process of DS production facilitated inner peacebuilding as multilingual speakers reflected upon internal conflicts related to multilingualism, migration, and their sense of belonging. Further, workshop participants were empowered to express their multilingual experiences, and their DS revealed continued searching for inner and interpersonal peace. During public showings, community members viewed the DS and then responded to prompts about migration, multilingualism, and belonging. Their answers revealed emotional responses, eagerness to understand multilingual experiences, and the desire to create harmonious relationships among community members. The authors believe that sharing the stories of multilingual speakers and hearing their experiences in their own words is a powerful tool for peacebuilding—rooting out conflict and striving to create a happy, healthy, and prosperous community.
Effective Governance for Sustainable Soil Management at National Level: Selected Recommendations Based on African and German Soil Law Studies
Authors: Ginzky Harald , Ruppel Oliver C. 
Published: March 2024

AbstractAlthough soils provide social and ecological services which are of a clearly transnational dimension, the management of soils need to be addressed locally. Thus, an appropriate—or better—effective governance for sustainable soil management at national level is essential. This chapter provides some fundamental recommendations for an effective governance based on legal studies on soil governance in several African states and in Germany.
An African Legal, Cultural and Religious Perspective of Sustainable Soil Governance
Authors: Sambo Pamela Towela 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThis chapter adopts a desktop review of diverse literature to understand the legal, cultural and religious underpinning of sustainable soil governance in Africa. The role of traditional knowledge systems in achieving sustainable soil governance in Africa will also be evaluated. The African Union recognises five geographic regions on the continent namely, North, South, West, East and Central. A sixth region consisting of people of African descent living outside the continent is also categorized but it is not materially relevant for the present analysis. The countries highlighted in this chapter are only used representatively of the entire continent to the extent possible. Africa is a large continent with diverse traditions, cultures and religions upon which the legal systems responsible for natural resources and environmental protection are anchored. It is therefore impossible to discuss any issue pertinent to the continent with homogeneity. Africa is no doubt one of the most resource-abundant continents. Natural resources such as gold, diamond, oil, natural gas, copper, uranium, among others are mined in different parts of the continent. Almost every country in Africa has a deposit of natural resources because the continent is endowed with about 97% of the world’s chromium, 90% of the world’s cobalt, 85% of the word’s platinum, 70% of the world’s cocoa, and 60% of the world’s coffee. Despite this abundance of natural resources, Africa is also among the poorest continents. One of the factors that has led to the continent’s extreme poverty levels is that the extraction of land or soil based natural resources is minimally utilised to the benefit of the African countries themselves. The process of natural resources extraction causes immense damage primarily to land and soil as well as the general environment. Against this background, this chapter assesses how culture, traditional norms and religion have shaped sustainable soil governance in Africa.
Unsealing: Benefits, Potentials, Legal Provisions and Funding: The German Experience
Authors: Pannicke-Prochnow Nadine , Albrecht Juliane 
Published: March 2024

AbstractSoil ecosystem services are unavailable or very limited in urban areas with a high degree of soil sealing, thereby undermining the long-term quality of life of local residents at a time of climate change. To counter this, unsealing measures can contribute to soil protection and the provision of ecosystem services and thus to climate adaptation. In addition, unsealing measures are essential to compensate for new soil sealing and to ensure land degradation neutrality (SDG 15.3). However, the benefits of unsealing are undermined by the low availability of potential sites for unsealing and a number of obstacles to implementation.In Germany, various legal instruments are available to activate unsealing potentials. Relevant regulations may be found in the fields of building and soil law as well as in water, nature protection and planning law. In practice, however, such regulations are limited in their impact. The paper shows how to better exploit unsealing potentials by a more consistent application of regulatory and planning legislation by authorities and legal revisions on the part of the legislator.
UNFCCC CoP26: Key Outcomes for Soil Management
Authors: De Andrade Corrêa Fabiano , Vidar Margret , Rao Tejas 
Published: March 2024

AbstractDeclining soil health does not often reach the frontpages of newspapers or dominate the news cycle. Yet the importance of soil health cannot be understated. The health of soil everywhere is threatened by climate change. Unsustainable soil policy and use can contribute to the advancing of climate change, whereas sustainable soil management can and should be part of the solution(s). Against this background, this brief paper aims to expand on the value of soil. After establishing this context for the purposes of the climate conversation, the paper expands on the international legal frameworks on soil and its place within the international climate change regime. From this, it discusses key advancements made at the UNFCCC CoP26 held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021, with a particular focus on the Korovia Joint Work in Agriculture, the Global Methane Targets, and the Glasgow Declaration on Forests and land use. We conclude by looking forward to what might happen at the upcoming UNFCCC CoP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt in 2022.
The Mainstreaming Agenda of the Convention on Biological Diversity and Its Value to Protecting and Enhancing Soil Ecosystem Services
Authors: Robb Cairo 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThis chapter highlights the importance of soil biodiversity in the provision of ecosystem services, and its relevance in the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity ‘mainstreaming’ agenda, and Convention architecture. It provides case studies relating to the mainstreaming of soil biodiversity, as well as a ‘Soil Biodiversity Perception Checklist’, to help integrate soil biodiversity, soil health and soil ecosystem services into decision making at all levels and across all sectors, including in policy, and land use and management strategy and practice.
When Private Speech Goes Public: Libertinage, Crypto-Judaic Conversations, and the Private Literary World of Jean Fontanier 1621
Authors: Horsley Adam 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThis chapter explores the exceptional role of private conversations in the trial of Jean Fontanier, who stood accused of having written and taught from a text seeking to convert its readers to Judaism. Unlike most authors of the libertine canon, Fontanier invited his would-be students across the public/private threshold into the privacy of his own home, where he was able not only to supervise their readership of his text, but also to invite them to join him as co-authors through dictation. In blending literary studies with legal history, Horsley highlights the role of private conversations in Fontanier’s case from the point of view of the author, his readers, and his judges.
Prescriptive unitarity from positive geometries
Authors: Ferro Livia , Glew Ross , Łukowski Tomasz , Stalknecht Jonah 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
In this paper, we define the momentum amplituhedron in the four-dimensional split-signature space of dual momenta. It encodes scattering amplitudes at tree level and loop integrands for $$ \mathcal{N} $$
N
= 4 super Yang-Mills in the planar sector. In this description, every point in the tree-level geometry is specified by a null polygon. Using the null structure of this kinematic space, we find a geometry whose canonical differential form produces loop-amplitude integrands. Remarkably, at one loop it is a curvy version of a simple polytope, whose vertices are specified by maximal cuts of the amplitude. This construction allows us to find novel formulae for the one-loop integrands for amplitudes with any multiplicity and helicity. The formulae obtained in this way agree with the ones derived via prescriptive unitarity. It makes prescriptive unitarity naturally emerge from this geometric description.
Color confinement and random matrices. A random walk down group manifold toward Casimir scaling
Authors: Bergner Georg , Gautam Vaibhav , Hanada Masanori 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
We explain the microscopic origin of linear confinement potential with the Casimir scaling in generic confining gauge theories. In the low-temperature regime of confining gauge theories such as QCD, Polyakov lines are slowly varying Haar random modulo exponentially small corrections with respect to the inverse temperature, as shown by one of the authors (M. H.) and Watanabe. With exact Haar randomness, computation of the two-point correlator of Polyakov loops reduces to the problem of random walk on group manifold. Linear confinement potential with approximate Casimir scaling except at short distances follows naturally from slowly varying Haar randomness. With exponentially small corrections to Haar randomness, string breaking and loss of Casimir scaling at long distance follow. Hence we obtain the Casimir scaling which is only approximate and holds only at intermediate distance, which is precisely needed to explain the results of lattice simulations. For (1 + 1)-dimensional theories, there is a simplification that admits the Casimir scaling at short distances as well.
Stability of the Faber-Krahn inequality for the short-time Fourier transform
Authors: Gómez Jaime , Guerra André , Ramos João P. G. , Tilli Paolo 
Published: March 2024

AbstractWe prove a sharp quantitative version of the Faber–Krahn inequality for the short-time Fourier transform (STFT). To do so, we consider a deficit $\delta (f;\Omega )$
δ
(
f
;
Ω
)
which measures by how much the STFT of a function $f\in L^{2}(\mathbb{R})$
f
∈

L
2

(
R
)
fails to be optimally concentrated on an arbitrary set $\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^{2}$
Ω
⊂

R
2

of positive, finite measure. We then show that an optimal power of the deficit $\delta (f;\Omega )$
δ
(
f
;
Ω
)
controls both the $L^{2}$

L
2

-distance of $f$
f
to an appropriate class of Gaussians and the distance of $\Omega $
Ω
to a ball, through the Fraenkel asymmetry of $\Omega $
Ω
. Our proof is completely quantitative and hence all constants are explicit. We also establish suitable generalizations of this result in the higher-dimensional context.
The Feather Moss Hylocomium splendens Affects the Transcriptional Profile of a Symbiotic Cyanobacterium in Relation to Acquisition and Turnover of Key Nutrients
Authors: Alvarenga Danillo Oliveira , Priemé Anders , Rousk Kathrin 
Published: March 2024

AbstractMoss-cyanobacteria symbioses were proposed to be based on nutrient exchange, with hosts providing C and S while bacteria provide N, but we still lack understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms of their interactions. We investigated how contact between the ubiquitous moss Hylocomium splendens and its cyanobiont affects nutrient-related gene expression of both partners. We isolated a cyanobacterium from H. splendens and co-incubated it with washed H. splendens shoots. Cyanobacterium and moss were also incubated separately. After 1 week, we performed acetylene reduction assays to estimate N2 fixation and RNAseq to evaluate metatranscriptomes. Genes related to N2 fixation and the biosynthesis of several amino acids were up-regulated in the cyanobiont when hosted by the moss. However, S-uptake and the biosynthesis of the S-containing amino acids methionine and cysteine were down-regulated in the cyanobiont while the degradation of selenocysteine was up-regulated. In contrast, the number of differentially expressed genes in the moss was much lower, and almost no transcripts related to nutrient metabolism were affected. It is possible that, at least during the early stage of this symbiosis, the cyanobiont receives few if any nutrients from the host in return for N, suggesting that moss–cyanobacteria symbioses encompass relationships that are more plastic than a constant mutualist flow of nutrients.
‘Beware, I am large and dangerous’ – human listeners can be deceived by dynamic manipulation of the indexical content of agonistic dog growls
Authors: Pongrácz Péter , Dobos Petra , Zsilák Borbála , Faragó Tamás , Ferdinandy Bence 
Published: March 2024

AbstractDishonest vocal signals about body size are rarely encountered, however, dogs are capable of modifying indexical information in their growls. This apparent acoustic body-size manipulation could be affected by the level of threat experienced by the dog. We tested whether this natural size manipulation actually affects how listeners assess the size of the dog, thus whether it could be considered as a successful indexical information manipulation. We requested human participants to assess dog growls, originally recorded when dogs encountered various ‘threatening strangers’ (of different sex, stature). The participants heard several sets of growl pairs, where they had to guess, which growl belonged to the ‘larger dog’. In the Control condition, dog growls originated from two different dogs in a pair; in the Test condition, growls of the same dog were presented pair by pair, always recorded in the presence of different threatening humans. Human listeners reliably picked the larger dog from two differently sized animals based on their growls alone. In the Test condition, participants thought that the dog was ‘larger’ when it was threatened by a female experimenter, and when the dog was growling at a larger sized human. We found that while growl length modulation was the main factor behind size-choice decisions in the case of female strangers, formant dispersion difference contributed the most when listeners chose which dog was the larger in the case of male opponents. Our results provide firsthand evidence of dogs’ functionally deceptive vocalizations towards humans, a phenomenon which has not been shown before in any interspecific scenario.