bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Spatial planning constraints will mitigate the fragmentation trajectory of natural and semi-natural landscapes: a case of Lushan City, China
Authors: Zhang Zhiduo , He Geng , Cai Wenbo , Zhu Qing , Liu Xiao , Ding Fan , Cai Yongli 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Context
The biodiversity faces an underlying threat from landscape fragmentation resulting from rapid urbanization. Examining the future trajectory of landscape fragmentation is imperative to understanding the impact of current spatial planning constraints on natural and semi-natural habitat preservation, ecosystem services, and sustainability.

Methods
We employed a Patch-generating Land Use Simulation (PLUS) model to simulate and predict the land use and landscape pattern changes in Lushan City under two distinct scenarios: “Planning Constraints (PC)” and “Natural Development (ND)”. We then identified an appropriate landscape fragmentation index (LFI) that effectively captured the fragmentation essence. To determine the optimal scale, we adopted an experimental approach using both the moving window (MW) method and the semi-variance function. By constructing a LFI spatiotemporal sequence and conducting trend analysis, we identified the potential fragmentation areas (PFA) with significant fragmentation tendencies.

Results
The spatial planning constraints will (1) prevent the encroachment of construction land into 2.14 km2 of cropland, 0.21 km2 of forest, and 0.13 km2 of grassland; (2) shift the highly fragmented area from the northeastern portion of Lushan to the planned area defined by the development boundary; (3) mitigate and decelerate the trend of landscape fragmentation in natural and semi-natural landscapes, decrease PFA by 7.74 km2 and preserve 15.61 km2 of natural landscapes. (4) still leave 29.42% of forest and 22.82% of grassland at risk of fragmentation.

Conclusions
Spatial planning constraints will effectively control the potential fragmentation in natural and semi-natural landscapes by changing the spatial distribution of LFI and PFA. This control mechanism will greatly exclude the anthropogenic impact and ensure the conservation of habitats. The habitats remaining within PFA should be focused in future eco-management optimization.
Citation Elites in Polytheistic and Umbrella Disciplines: Patterns of Stratification and Concentration in Danish and British Science
Authors: Kladakis Alexander , Mongeon Philippe , Bloch Carter W. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe notion of science as a stratified system is clearly manifested in the markedly uneven distribution of productivity, rewards, resources, and recognition. Although previous studies have shown that institutional environments for conducting research differ significantly between national science systems, disciplines, and subfields, it remains to be shown whether any systematic variations and patterns in inequalities exist among researchers in different national and domain specific settings. This study investigates the positioning of citation elites as opposed to ‘ordinary’ researchers by way of examining three dimensions of concentration (accumulation of publications and citations, specialisation, and institutional concentration) in biology, economics and physics in Denmark and the UK. Across all three dimensions, we put Richard Whitley’s bipartite theory to the test, suggesting a nexus between the intellectual structure of a discipline and the configuration of its elite. The study draws on a dataset of researchers who published most of their publications in either physics, biology, or economics over the 1980–2018 period and with at least one publication in 2017–2018 while affiliated to either a British or a Danish university. We find higher degrees of concentration in the UK compared to Denmark, and that physics and biology respectively display the greatest and lowest degree of concentration. Similar patterns in disciplinary differences are observed in both countries, suggesting that concentration patterns are largely rooted in disciplinary cultures and merely amplified by the national context.
DPR-GAN: Dual-Stream Progressive Refinement for Adversarial 3D Point Cloud Generation
Authors: Wang Xiangyang , Chen Jiale , Wang Rui 
Published: February 2024

AbstractPoint cloud generation aims to transfer a latent code to realistic 3D shapes through generative models. However, most of progressive generative methods ignore the spatial relationship among different stages and suffer from the loss of contextual information. To address this issue, we propose dual-stream progressive refinement adversarial network (DPR-GAN), which utilizes a dual-stream structure to establish the relationship between two adjacent stages. Such a mechanism can learn the spatial context and preserve more spatial details of point clouds at different stages. In addition, DPR-GAN adopts 3D gridding transformation to guide the shape deformation. In this way, 3D gridding transformation can learn a reasonable correspondence between the local regions of 3D shapes and latent codes. Benefiting from the uniformity and adaptability of the 3D grids, our proposed DPR-GAN can improve the quality and consistency of generated point clouds. We conduct comprehensive experiments to demonstrate that the proposed DPR-GAN is capable of generating pluralistic point clouds, as compared with state-of-the-art generation methods in terms of both visual and quantitative evaluations.
Offshore application of landslide susceptibility mapping using gradient-boosted decision trees: a Gulf of Mexico case study
Authors: Dyer Alec S. , Mark-Moser MacKenzie , Duran Rodrigo , Bauer Jennifer R. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractAmong natural hazards occurring offshore, submarine landslides pose a significant risk to offshore infrastructure installations attached to the seafloor. With the offshore being important for current and future energy production, there is a need to anticipate where future landslide events are likely to occur to support planning and development projects. Using the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) as a case study, this paper performs Landslide Susceptibility Mapping (LSM) using a gradient-boosted decision tree (GBDT) model to characterize the spatial patterns of submarine landslide probability over the United States Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) where water depths are greater than 120 m. With known spatial extents of historic submarine landslides and a Geographic Information System (GIS) database of known topographical, geomorphological, geological, and geochemical factors, the resulting model was capable of accurately forecasting potential locations of sediment instability. Results of a permutation modelling approach indicated that LSM accuracy is sensitive to the number of unique training locations with model accuracy becoming more stable as the number of training regions was increased. The influence that each input feature had on predicting landslide susceptibility was evaluated using the SHapely Additive exPlanations (SHAP) feature attribution method. Areas of high and very high susceptibility were associated with steep terrain including salt basins and escarpments. This case study serves as an initial assessment of the machine learning (ML) capabilities for producing accurate submarine landslide susceptibility maps given the current state of available natural hazard-related datasets and conveys both successes and limitations.
Does artificial intelligence exhibit basic fundamental subjectivity? A neurophilosophical argument
Authors: Northoff Georg , Gouveia Steven S. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractDoes artificial intelligence (AI) exhibit consciousness or self? While this question is hotly debated, here we take a slightly different stance by focusing on those features that make possible both, namely a basic or fundamental subjectivity. Learning from humans and their brain, we first ask what we mean by subjectivity. Subjectivity is manifest in the perspectiveness and mineness of our experience which, ontologically, can be traced to a point of view. Adopting a non-reductive neurophilosophical strategy, we assume that the point of view exhibits two layers, a most basic neuroecological and higher order mental layer. The neuroecological layer of the point of view is mediated by the timescales of world and brain, as further evidenced by empirical data on our sense of self. Are there corresponding timescales shared with the world in AI and is there a point of view with perspectiveness and mineness? Discussing current neuroscientific evidence, we deny that current AI exhibits a point of view, let alone perspectiveness and mineness. We therefore conclude that, as per current state, AI does not exhibit a basic or fundamental subjectivity and henceforth no consciousness or self is possible in models such as ChatGPT and similar technologies.
ApcE plays an important role in light-induced excitation energy dissipation in the Synechocystis PCC6803 phycobilisomes
Authors: Assefa Gonfa Tesfaye , Botha Joshua L. , van Heerden Bertus , Kyeyune Farooq , Krüger Tjaart P. J. , Gwizdala Michal 
Published: February 2024

AbstractPhycobilisomes (PBs) play an important role in cyanobacterial photosynthesis. They capture light and transfer excitation energy to the photosynthetic reaction centres. PBs are also central to some photoprotective and photoregulatory mechanisms that help sustain photosynthesis under non-optimal conditions. Amongst the mechanisms involved in excitation energy dissipation that are activated in response to excessive illumination is a recently discovered light-induced mechanism that is intrinsic to PBs and has been the least studied. Here, we used single-molecule spectroscopy and developed robust data analysis methods to explore the role of a terminal emitter subunit, ApcE, in this intrinsic, light-induced mechanism. We isolated the PBs from WT Synechocystis PCC 6803 as well as from the ApcE-C190S mutant of this strain and compared the dynamics of their fluorescence emission. PBs isolated from the mutant (i.e., ApcE-C190S-PBs), despite not binding some of the red-shifted pigments in the complex, showed similar global emission dynamics to WT-PBs. However, a detailed analysis of dynamics in the core revealed that the ApcE-C190S-PBs are less likely than WT-PBs to enter quenched states under illumination but still fully capable of doing so. This result points to an important but not exclusive role of the ApcE pigments in the light-induced intrinsic excitation energy dissipation mechanism in PBs.
Asian American Women’s Racial Dating Preferences: An Investigation of Internalized Racism, Resistance and Empowerment against Racism, and Desire for Status
Authors: Le Thomas P. , Ahn Lydia HaRim 
Published: February 2024

AbstractAsian American women’s racialized dating choices have drawn widespread attention both in academic and public spheres. However, little empirical research has examined racially relevant sociocultural factors that may affect this population’s dating and physical attraction preferences. To further understand racialized desire among this underrepresented population, the present study examined the extent to which three sociocultural factors (i.e., internalized racism, resistance and empowerment against racism, and desire for status) were associated with two attraction outcome variables (i.e., dating preferences, physical attraction) across four racial categories of men: Asian men, Black men, Latino men, and White men. Cross-sectional data were collected from a sample of 207 Asian American women who completed an online survey. Path analyses showed that internalized racism was associated with stronger dating preference toward White men and weaker dating preference and physical attraction to Asian men. Resistance and empowerment were associated with stronger dating preference for Black and Latino men as well as stronger physical attraction toward Asian, Black, and Latino men. Desire for status was negatively associated with a preference for dating Black men. The results of our study emphasize the importance of considering racially relevant factors that may be associated with Asian American women’s racialized dating and physical attraction preferences. Implications related to addressing internalized racism and emphasizing the strengths of Asian American women are discussed.
Hydrogel capsules as new delivery system for Trichoderma koningiopsis Th003 to control Rhizoctonia solani in rice (Oryza sativa)
Authors: Cruz-Barrera Mauricio , Izquierdo-García Luisa Fernanda , Gómez-Marroquín Magda , Santos-Díaz Adriana , Uribe-Gutiérrez Liz , Moreno-Velandia Carlos Andrés 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe incorporation of biological control agents (BCAs) such as Trichoderma spp. in agricultural systems favors the transition towards sustainable practices of plant nutrition and diseases control. Novel bioproducts for crop management are called to guarantee sustainable antagonism activity of BCAs and increase the acceptance of the farmers. The encapsulation in polymeric matrices play a prominent role for providing an effective carrier/protector and long-lasting bioproduct. This research aimed to study the influence of biopolymer in hydrogel capsules on survival and shelf-life of T. koningiopsis. Thus, two hydrogel capsules prototypes based on alginate (P1) and amidated pectin (P2), containing conidia of T. koningiopsis Th003 were formulated. Capsules were prepared by the ionic gelation method and calcium gluconate as crosslinker. Conidia releasing under different pH values of the medium, survival of conidia in drying capsules, storage stability, and biocontrol activity against rice sheath blight (Rhizoctonia solani) were studied. P2 prototype provided up to 98% survival to Th003 in fluid bed drying, faster conidia releasing at pH 5.8, storage stability greater than 6 months at 18 °C, and up to 67% of disease reduction. However, both biopolymers facilitate the antagonistic activity against R. solani, and therefore can be incorporated in novel hydrogel capsules-based biopreparations. This work incites to develop novel biopesticides-based formulations with potential to improve the delivery process in the target site and the protection of the active ingredient from the environmental factors.
Comparison of sediment biomarker signatures generated using time-integrated and discrete suspended sediment samples
Authors: Upadhayay Hari Ram , Granger Steven J. , Collins Adrian L. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractSediment source fingerprinting using biomarker properties has led to new insights in our understanding of land use contributions to time-integrated suspended sediment samples at catchment scale. A time-integrated mass-flux sampler (TIMS; also known as the ‘Phillips’ sampler), a cost-effective approach for suspended sediment collection in situ. Such samplers are widely being used to collect sediment samples for source fingerprinting purposes, including studies using biomarkers as opposed to more conventional tracer properties. Here, we assessed the performance of TIMS for collecting representative sediment samples for biomarkers during high discharge events in a small lowland grassland-dominated catchment. Concentrations of long odd-chain n-alkanes (> C23) and both saturated free and bound fatty acids (C14-C32), as well as compound-specific 13C were compared between sediment collected by both TIMS and autosamplers (ISCO). The results showed that concentrations of alkanes, free fatty acids, and bound fatty acids are consistently comparable between TIMS and ISCO suspended sediment samples. Similarly, compound-specific 13C signals were not found to be significantly different in the suspended sediment samples collected using the different samplers. However, different magnitudes of resemblance in biomarker concentrations and compositions between the samples collected using the two sediment collection methods were confirmed by overlapping index and symmetric coordinates-based correlation analysis. Here, the difference is attributed to the contrasting temporal basis of TIMS (time-integrated) vs. ISCO (discrete) samples, as well as potential differences in the particle sizes collected by these different sediment sampling methods. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that TIMS can be used to generate representative biomarker data for suspended sediment samples collected during high discharge events.
Is Violence Victimization Associated with the Consumption of Ultra-Processed Food? A Population-Based Study with 96 K Adolescent Students Exploring the Mediating Role of Psychoactive Substance Use
Authors: Mesas Arthur Eumann , de Andrade Selma Maffei , Melanda Francine Nesello , López-Gil José Francisco , Beneit Nuria , Martínez-Vizcaíno Vicente , Jiménez-López Estela 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThis study analyzed the association between different types of violence victimization and ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption and explored the mediating role of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use on these associations. Cross-sectional study with Brazilian students aged 13–17. Participants reported their UPF consumption, bullying and physical aggression victimization, and use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs in the last month. Generalized linear regression models and mediation analyses were adjusted for the main confounders. A total of 96,396 adolescent students (52.2% female) were analyzed. In adjusted analyses, the number of UPF consumed was higher in those experiencing bullying victimization (β = 0.18; 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.09, 0.27), aggression from parents or guardians (β = 0.27; 95% CI: 0.16, 0.38) and aggression from others (β = 0.31; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.49). The adjusted mediation models showed that these associations were partially mediated by alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use. Among adolescents, exposure to violence victimization might potentially drive a rise in the consumption of UPF. Such associations are partially influenced by an increased use of psychoactive substances.
Global competences and education for sustainable development. A bibliometric analysis to situate the OECD global competences in the scientific discourse
Authors: Costa Jana , Alscher Pascal , Thums Kathrin 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe Programme for International Study Assessment (PISA) regularly assesses a set of interdisciplinary competences in addition to the traditional core domains. With the 2018 assessment of ‘global competences’, the OECD (2019) aims to support evidence-based decisions on the improvement of the curricula and teaching in order to prepare young people to become active and global citizens who contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In assessing this domain, the OECD is entering a field of research characterised by dynamic debates and heterogeneous research strands. The aim of this paper is to visualise the theoretical foundations on which the analytical PISA 2018 Global Competence Framework (OECD 2019) is based, allowing a transparent discussion of the different theoretical reference points. The bibliometric analyses reveal that discourses related to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) are hardly taken into account in the analytical framework. The paper subsequently formulates impetus from the ESD research field with the aim of linking discourses in the future.
Effect of Travel Speed on the Properties of 5087 Aluminum Alloy Walls Produced by Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing
Authors: Sahul Miroslav , Pavlík Marián , Sahul Martin , Kovačócy Pavel , Martinkovič Maroš 
Published: February 2024

AbstractAn innovative Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing combines the well-studied process of arc welding with direct energy deposition. Effect of travel speed 5.0 and 7.5 mm/s on the microstructure and mechanical properties of 5087 aluminum alloy was investigated. Five thousand eighty-three aluminum alloy was used as a substrate material and 5087 aluminum alloy was utilized as a filler material for the walls fabrication. The presence of pores reducing the strength of the overlay weld metal was detected on both overlay welds. The lower welding speed (5 mm/s) resulted in the smaller amount of porosity in comparison to higher welding speed (7.5 mm/s). Average pore area of wall No. 1 was 0.66% and wall No. 2 was 1.13%. It was found that higher welding speed affected the wall width and overlay weld bead geometry. Increase in welding speed led to a narrowing of wall width from 10.23 to 8.44 mm. The microstructure of weld metal matrix consisted of a α-Al substitution solid solution. The tensile strength of parallel to welding direction removed samples exceeded the tensile strength of perpendicular removed samples. It is a result of the cohesion of the layers in the overlay welding direction compared to the non-uniformity of the layers in the perpendicular direction. Furthermore, the tensile strength was higher in the case of travel speed of 5 mm/s in comparison to that of 7.5 mm/s.
Carbon sequestration in a bamboo plantation: a case study in a Mediterranean area
Authors: Chiti Tommaso , Blasi Emanuele , Chiriacò Maria Vincenza 
Published: February 2024

AbstractIn the Mediterranean region, despite bamboo being an alien species that can seriously alter plant and animal biocoenosis, the area occupied by bamboo plantations continues to increase, especially for the purpose to sequester carbon (C). However, the C dynamics in the soil–plant system when bamboo is grown outside its native area are poorly understood. Here we investigated the C mitigation potential of the fast-growing Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) introduced in Italy for climate-change mitigation. We analyzed aboveground (AGB) and belowground (as root/shoot ratio) biomass, litter and soil organic C (SOC) at 0–15- and 15–30-cm depths in a 4-year-old bamboo plantation in comparison with the former annual cropland on which the bamboo was established. To have an idea of the maximum C stored at an ecosystem level, a natural forest adjacent the two sites was also considered. In the plantation, C accumulation as AGB was stimulated, with 14.8 ± 3.1 Mg C ha–1 stored in 3 years; because thinning was done to remove culms from the first year, the mean sequestration rate was 4.9 Mg C ha–1 a–1. The sequestration rates were high but comparable to other fast-growing tree species in Italy (e.g., Pinus nigra). SOC was significantly higher in the bamboo plantation than in the cropland only at the 0–15 cm depth, but SOC stock did not differ. Possibly 4 years were not enough time for a clear increase in SOC, or the high nutrient uptake by bamboos might have depleted the soil nutrients, thus inhibiting the soil organic matter formation by bacteria. In comparison, the natural forest had significantly higher C levels in all the pools. For C dynamics at an ecosystem level, the bamboo plantation on the former annual cropland led to substantial C removal from the atmosphere (about 12 Mg C ha–1 a–1). However, despite the promising C sequestration rates by bamboo, its introduction should be carefully considered due to potential ecological problems caused by this species in overexploited environments such as the Mediterranean area.