bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
ANCUT1, a novel thermoalkaline cutinase from Aspergillus nidulans and its application on hydroxycinnamic acids lipophilization
Authors: Peña-Montes Carolina , Bermúdez-García Eva , Castro-Ochoa Denise , Vega-Pérez Fernanda , Esqueda-Domínguez Katia , Castro-Rodríguez José Augusto , González-Canto Augusto , Segoviano-Reyes Laura , Navarro-Ocaña Arturo , Farrés Amelia 
Published: February 2024

AbstractOne of the four cutinases encoded in the Aspergillus nidulans genome, ANCUT1, is described here. Culture conditions were evaluated, and it was found that this enzyme is produced only when cutin is present in the culture medium, unlike the previously described ANCUT2, with which it shares 62% amino acid identity. The differences between them include the fact that ANCUT1 is a smaller enzyme, with experimental molecular weight and pI values of 22 kDa and 6, respectively. It shows maximum activity at pH 9 and 60 °C under assayed conditions and retains more than 60% of activity after incubation for 1 h at 60 °C in a wide range of pH values (6–10) after incubations of 1 or 3 h. It has a higher activity towards medium-chain esters and can modify long-chain length hydroxylated fatty acids constituting cutin. Its substrate specificity properties allow the lipophilization of alkyl coumarates, valuable antioxidants and its thermoalkaline behavior, which competes favorably with other fungal cutinases, suggests it may be useful in many more applications.
Cultivating Data Practices Across Boundaries: How Organizations Become Data-driven
Authors: Pedersen Asbjørn Malte , Bossen Claus 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
In this paper, we analyze the efforts of a public healthcare business intelligence unit to implement and disseminate their data products and thus make the healthcare organization more data-driven. The paper is based on ethnographic fieldwork in a healthcare business intelligence unit (the BIU) whose mission is to improve healthcare efficiency and quality by making data and data analyses available to healthcare managers and staff. Their primary products consist of a data warehouse and Data Reports, both providing curated and daily updated data for healthcare staff to analyze and visualize. We conceptualize these Data Reports and the data warehouse as boundary objects through which cooperation around data between various users is achieved. Our focus is on the BIU’s efforts to introduce and promote the use of boundary objects to healthcare staff while providing them with the competencies to use them in practice. Efforts that we conceptualize as collaborative boundary work through which a new joint field of working with data is created between the BIU and healthcare staff. Based on the analysis of the ethnographic fieldwork, we point to three important aspects in creating this new joint field: Mobilizing interest, building local capabilities, and propagating data locally. The paper makes three contributions: It adds to our understanding of how new joint fields can be cultivated through collaborative boundary work to make healthcare data-driven; it contributes to the emergent field of data work studies; and finally, it adds to the largely normative literature on business intelligence and self-service business intelligence through an ethnographic analysis of its efforts to make healthcare data-driven.
The Evolution of Race-Focused and Race-Reimaged Approaches in Educational Psychology: Future Directions for the Field
Authors: DeCuir-Gunby Jessica T. , Schutz Paul A. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractIn this article, we discuss using race-focusing and reimaging as a metatheoretical approach to be used during the process of theory building, expansion, and adaptation. To do so, we demonstrate how, over the last decade, the use of race-focusing and reimaging approaches has advanced our understanding of the racialized nature of research in education psychology (DeCuir-Gunby & Schutz, 2024). In addition, we provide a discussion of areas where educational psychologists have yet to theoretically explicate or should further explore in current educational psychology theories.
Porous invariants for linear systems
Authors: Lefaucheux Engel , Ouaknine Joël , Purser David , Worrell James 
Published: February 2024

AbstractWe introduce the notion of porous invariants for multipath affine loops over the integers. These are invariants definable in (fragments of) Presburger arithmetic and, as such, lack certain tame geometrical properties, such a convexity and connectedness. Nevertheless, we show that in many cases such invariants can be automatically synthesised, and moreover can be used to settle reachability questions for various non-trivial classes of affine loops and target sets. For the class of $$\mathbb {Z}$$
Z
-linear invariants (those defined as conjunctions of linear equations with integer coefficients), we show that a strongest such invariant can be computed in polynomial time. For the more general class of $$\mathbb {N}$$
N
-semi-linear invariants (those defined as Boolean combinations of linear inequalities with integer coefficients), such a strongest invariant need not exist. Here we show that for point targets the existence of a separating invariant is undecidable in general. However we show that such separating invariants can be computed either by restricting the number of program variables or by restricting from multipath to single-path loops. Additionally, we consider porous targets, represented as $$\mathbb {Z}$$
Z
-semi-linear sets (those defined as Boolean combinations of equations with integer coefficients). We show that an invariant can be computed providing the target spans the whole space. We present our tool porous, which computes porous invariants.
Connectivity of stormwater ponds impacts Odonata abundance and species richness
Authors: Richmond I. C. , Perron M. C. , Boyle S. P. , Pick F. R. 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Context
The successful dispersal of an animal depends, partly, on landscape connectivity. Urbanization poses risks to dispersal activities by increasing hostile land cover types.

Objectives
We investigated how connectivity of urban ponds impacted Odonata communities (dragonflies and damselflies), an order of semi-aquatic insects that actively disperse.

Methods
We sampled 41 constructed stormwater ponds and 8 natural ponds in a metropolitan area. The effect of connectivity and the quantity of available adjacent habitats was tested at different scales for dragonflies (900 m) and damselflies (300 m), determined by a literature analysis, to account for differences in suborder dispersal capabilities.

Results
Lower levels of connectivity and fewer nearest neighbours negatively impacted abundance, species richness, and composition of dragonflies (p values < 0.01, R2 = 0.18–0.70). Adult dragonfly abundance had a stronger positive relationship with connectivity than species richness. In particular, the abundance of adult dragonfly Leucorrhinia frigida, found almost exclusively at natural ponds, had a positive relationship with connectivity. Connectivity and the number of nearest neighbours had no significant impact on damselflies apart from a slight negative relationship between connectivity and species richness (p value = 0.02, R2 = 0.11). Natural ponds had significantly higher levels of connectivity when compared to stormwater ponds.

Conclusions
Our results suggest that dragonflies are positively affected by increased connectivity in an urban landscape, with no benefit of connectivity to damselflies at the scale measured. We recommend intentional planning of urban stormwater pond networks, where individual ponds can act as stepping stones, incorporated with strategic inclusion of beneficial land cover types.
The (un)making and (re)making of Guangzhou’s ‘Little Africa’: Xiaobei’s linguistic and semiotic landscape explored
Authors: Gu Chonglong 
Published: February 2024

AbstractPartly as a result of China’s reform and opening-up and the broader trend of globalisation, Guangzhou in Southern China has risen to global prominence as a commercial and business hub. Strategically positioned as a centre of ‘low-end globalisation’, Guangzhou has attracted investors, traders and businessmen from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. In particular, the city’s Xiaobei area established itself as ‘Little Africa’ featuring (once thriving) ethnic economies with many halal restaurants and businesses oriented towards Muslim traders from various ethnolinguistic and sociocultural backgrounds. This enclave represents a transnational space and a typical example of superdiversity rarely seen in the rest of China. The presence of (legal and often illegal) Africans in Guangzhou (where inter-marriage with local Chinese women was not uncommon) was viewed as a problem and threat to the ‘purity’ of Chinese-ness and Chinese civilisation. This led to strict enforcement of immigration law around 2014, where many foreigners left Guangzhou. Various social and top-down language policy changes and more directly the strict Covid pandemic restrictions dealt further blows to the area. Drawing on data in 2013/2014 and 2023, this sociolinguistic study traces the transformations in Xiaobei’s linguistic landscape from a contrastive/diachronic perspective over 10 years, thus shedding light on the (un)making, (re)making and the de-Arabization and Sinicization of Little Africa’s LL in a context of socio-political and language policy changes. Then synchronic LL analysis in 2023 shows how various linguistic and multimodal elements combine to still give the area a unique identity.
English medium instruction in Ethiopian university mission statements and language policies
Authors: Simie Tolera , McKinley Jim 
Published: February 2024

AbstractEthiopia, with no colonial language legacy, adopted English medium instruction (EMI) policy with the establishment of its first higher education institution, University College of Addis Ababa, over seven decades ago. Over the last two decades, the country has significantly expanded its higher education institutions (HEIs) to increase skilled human capital that contributes to economic growth and alleviating poverty. The expansion of HEIs has inevitably increased English taught programmes, which means universities must teach entirely through English presenting myriad issues as most students, especially in rural Ethiopia, have limited English proficiency. This study aims to explore higher education policy statements and how these policy statements were interpreted in public universities’ mission statements. The study further examines language support policy for effective implementation of EMI policy. Data gathered from publicly available Ministry of Education and universities’ official websites were analysed using qualitative content analysis. In our analysis we identified two language-relevant key concerns: English language support and internationalisation. The study uncovered a gap in the statements concerning provision of English language support, despite research evidence and government acknowledgement of students’ and teachers’ weaknesses in the language of instruction. The findings of this study call for Ethiopian universities to focus more on improving provision of targeted language support for students experiencing language-related challenges, and for policymakers to rethink monolingual EMI policy, to raise the quality of education in such contexts.
Co-optimizing the smart grid and electric public transit bus system
Authors: Yetkin Mertcan , Augustino Brandon , Lamadrid Alberto J. , Snyder Lawrence V. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractAs climate change provides impetus for investing in smart cities, with electrified public transit systems, we consider electric public transportation buses in an urban area, which play a role in the power system operations in addition to their typical function of serving public transit demand. Our model considers a social planner, such that the transit authority and the operator of the electricity system co-optimize the power system to minimize the total operational cost of the grid, while satisfying additional transportation constraints on buses. We provide deterministic and stochastic formulations to co-optimize the system. Each stochastic formulation provides a different set of recourse actions to manage the variable renewable energy uncertainty: ramping up/down of the conventional generators, or charging/discharging of the transit fleet. We demonstrate the capabilities of the model and the benefit obtained via a coordinated strategy. We compare the efficacies of these recourse actions to provide additional managerial insights. We analyze the effect of different pricing strategies on the co-optimization. Noting the stress growing electrified fleets with greater battery capacities will eventually impose on a power network, we provide theoretical insights on coupled investment strategies for expansion planning in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GH) emissions. Given the recent momentum towards building smarter cities and electrifying transit systems, our results provide policy directions towards a sustainable future. We test our models using modified MATPOWER case files and verify our results with different sized power networks. This study is motivated by a project with a large transit authority in California.
Metal uptake from iron ore mine tailings by perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is higher after wheat straw than wheat straw biochar amendment
Authors: Sarathchandra Sajeevee S. , Rengel Zed , Solaiman Zakaria M. 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Background and aims
Mine tailings often contain high concentrations of metals that may lead to serious environmental concerns. Phytoremediation by suitable plant species, coupled with organic amendments, represents an intriguing way of improving the quality of mine tailings.

Methodology
We conducted a glasshouse pot study to assess the impact of biochar derived from wheat straw (BC) and wheat straw (WS) at different application rates (w/w: 0%, 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%) in enhancing physicochemical and biological attributes of iron ore mine tailings. Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) growth and uptake of metals (Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cr, Ni, Pb) and As were assessed.

Results
The pH(H2O) of iron mine tailings (6.62 with 0% amendment) significantly increased to 8.01 in BC 10% but decreased to 5.33 in WS 10%. However, electrical conductivity, total carbon, total nitrogen and cation exchange capacity increased significantly with application of either amendment. Improvement in physicochemical parameters of tailings by amending with WS was associated with significantly greater plant growth compared with BC amendment. Shoot As and Pb accumulation by perennial ryegrass was low (below detection limit), whereas that of Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cr and Ni increased with an increase in both BC and WS application. Microbial biomass carbon and respiration were enhanced more in the WS than in BC treatments.

Conclusion
This study suggests wheat straw is a better amendment than biochar for the iron ore mine tailings.
A new hierarchical composite indicator model for ranking the top 20 European football teams
Authors: Cavicchia Carlo , Sarnacchiaro Pasquale 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe rankings of football teams are crucial to assess their sportive and non-sportive performances and allow fans and investors to have a measure of the health of the teams. The current literature lacks rankings that jointly consider the economic, sporting and popularity aspects, and our proposal aims to fill this gap. The paper proposes a new conceptual framework with the ultimate goal of building a global ranking for football teams by assessing their overall performance. Therefore, this article applies this new conceptual framework to the top 20 European teams by detecting both four specific composite indicators, corresponding to the main aspects of a football team performance, and the general composite indicator which combines the specific ones into a single index. A reflective model-based approach, based on a higher-order factor analysis, is used in order to build the composite indicators, whereas a multi-group analysis and an analysis of means are applied to test the presence of several models for the performance of football teams in the different leagues, and to test the existence of subgroups with different performances for both the scores of the general and the specific composite indicators.
Cultural diversity and innovative entrepreneurship
Authors: Prenzel Paula , Bosma Niels , Schutjens Veronique , Stam Erik 
Published: February 2024

AbstractA growing empirical literature has established a positive relationship between cultural diversity and entrepreneurship, often attributing this effect to innovation benefits of diversity. However, not all entrepreneurship is inherently innovative, raising the question of whether cultural diversity may increase the likelihood of an entrepreneur pursuing an innovative instead of a more replicative business strategy. This study investigates the relationship between regional cultural diversity and the innovation orientation of early-stage entrepreneurs and considers moderating factors by decomposing shares of foreign-born population by origin (within and outside of the EU) and by education level. Combining survey data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor with population-based indicators of cultural diversity, we carry out a multilevel analysis for 140 European regions. The results suggest that entrepreneurs in culturally more diverse regions are significantly more likely to exhibit innovation orientation.
Exploring the value of ecosystem services at health clinic gardens in a South African context
Authors: Gwedla N. , Muller M. , Cilliers S. S. , Niesing C. , Bester P. , Du Toit M.J. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractEcosystem services (ESs) valuation is important for advancing biodiversity objectives and investing in green infrastructure (GI) establishment. Little is known about the potential of health clinic gardens (HCGs) to provide ESs and their potential values. This study sought to determine the plant and bird species composition and potential value of ESs provided by 32 HCGs in two South African district municipalities. HCG sizes range from 513.0m2 to 13531.0m2 and each had at least one micro-garden. Among the 312 plant species observed across all HCGs, 60% were exotic. The small HCGs had 31 ± 3.6 different plant species per garden, compared to the medium-sized (32 ± 3.7) and large ones (49 ± 5.2). Provisioning ESs from the observed species were prominent with 17.4 ± 1.16 species potentially used for general well-being, 13.66 ± 1.08 as potential food plants, and 11.91 ± 0.93 potentially raw materials. Trees in HCGs were estimated to sequester up to 163481.87 kg of carbon from trees covering an area of up to 9620.80m2. Approximately 1390.70 ± 427.50m2 of HCG space had the potential to provide a habitat for plants and birds, and 11 bird species were observed across all HCGs. Sixty-three bird nests encountered in 18 HCGs are believed to belong to the Passer domesticus. HCGs resemble other types of gardens like home and domestic gardens, and their rich plant biodiversity positions them as ideal ecosystems to benefit even the most vulnerable members of society. They provide an opportune platform for knowledge upscaling in the cultivation and use of plant species as a supplement of primary healthcare and food security issues in the summer months to the rural, urban, and peri-urban poor in the Global South.
Convenient Site Selection of a Floating PV Power Plant in Türkiye by using GIS-Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process
Authors: Karipoğlu Fatih , Koca Kemal , İlbahar Esra 
Published: February 2024

AbstractFloating photovoltaics (FPVs) are appearing as a promising and an alternative renewable energy opinion in which PV panels are mounted on floating platforms in order to produce electricity from renewable energy on water such as seas, dams, rivers, oceans, canals, fish farms, and reservoirs. So far, such studies related to the body knowledge on financial, technical, and environmental aspects of installation of FPV have not been performed in Turkey while expanding steadily in other countries. In this study, suitable site selection for installation of FPV power plants on three lakes in Turkey was studied by performing geographic information system (GIS) and the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) as multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method. This detailed study revealed that the criterion of global horizontal irradiance (GHI) was determined as the most crucial criterion for the installation of FPV on Beysehir Lake, Lake of Tuz, and Van Lake. Additionally, it was clearly seen that the Beysehir Lake had the highest value approximately 52% among other lakes for installation, that is why Beysehir Lake is selected as the best option for installation of an FPV system with this multi-criteria approach.
Functional deterioration of vascular mitochondrial and glycolytic capacity in the aortic rings of aged mice
Authors: Karaś Agnieszka , Bar Anna , Pandian Kanchana , Jasztal Agnieszka , Kuryłowicz Zuzanna , Kutryb-Zając Barbara , Buczek Elżbieta , Rocchetti Stefano , Mohaissen Tasnim , Jędrzejewska Agata , Harms Amy C. , Kaczara Patrycja , Chłopicki Stefan 
Published: February 2024

AbstractVascular ageing is associated with increased arterial stiffness and cardiovascular mortality that might be linked to altered vascular energy metabolism. The aim of this study was to establish a Seahorse XFe96 Analyzer-based methodology for the reliable, functional assessment of mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis in single murine aortic rings and to validate this functional assay by characterising alterations in vascular energy metabolism in aged mice. Healthy young and old C57BL/6 mice were used for the analyses. An optimised setup consisting of the Seahorse XFe96 Analyzer and Seahorse Spheroid Microplates was applied for the mitochondrial stress test and the glycolysis stress test on the isolated murine aortic rings, supplemented with analysis of NAD content in the aorta. To confirm the age-dependent stiffness of the vasculature, pulse wave velocity was measured in vivo. In addition, the activity of vascular nitric oxide synthase and vascular wall morphology were analysed ex vivo. The vascular ageing phenotype in old mice was confirmed by increased aortic stiffness, vascular wall remodelling, and nitric oxide synthase activity impairment. The rings of the aorta taken from old mice showed changes in vascular energy metabolism, including impaired spare respiratory capacity, maximal respiration, glycolysis, and glycolytic capacity, as well as a fall in the NAD pool. In conclusion, optimised Seahorse XFe96-based analysis to study energy metabolism in single aortic rings of murine aorta revealed a robust impairment of functional vascular respiratory and glycolytic capacity in old mice linked to NAD deficiency that coincided with age-related aortic wall remodelling and stiffness.