bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comparing the Effects of Two Culture Methods to Determine the Total Heterotrophic Bacterial Colony Count in Hospital Purified Water
Authors: Cao Xiongjing , Xiong Huangguo , Fan Yunzhou , Xiong Lijuan 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Background
Accurately detecting the quantity of microorganisms in hospital purified water is of significant importance for early identification of microbial contamination and reducing the occurrence of water-borne hospital infections. The choice of detection method is a prerequisite for ensuring accurate results. Traditional Plate Count Agar (PCA) belongs to a high-nutrient medium, and there may be limitations in terms of accuracy or sensitivity in detecting microorganisms in hospital purified water. On the other hand, Reasoner’s 2A agar (R2A) has characteristics, such as low-nutrient levels, low cultivation temperature, and extended incubation time, providing advantages in promoting the growth of aquatic microorganisms. This study, through comparing the differences in total colony counts between two detection methods, aims to select the method more suitable for the growth of aquatic microorganisms, offering new practical insights for accurately detecting the total count of heterotrophic bacteria in hospital purified water.

Methods
The most commonly used plate count agar (PCA) method, and the R2A agar culture were adopted to detect microorganisms and determine the total number of bacterial colonies in the water for oral diagnosis and treatment water and terminal rinse water for endoscopes in medical institutions. The two water samples were inoculated by pour plate and membrane filtration methods, respectively. Using statistical methods including Spearman and Pearson correlation, Wilcoxon signed-rank sum test, paired-Chi-square test, and linear regression, we analyze the differences and associations in the bacterial counts cultivated through two different methods.

Results
In 142 specimens of the water, the median and interquartile range of the heterotrophic bacterial colony number under the R2A culture method and under the PCA culture method were 200 (Q1–Q3: 25–18,000) and 6 (Q1–Q3: 0–3700). The total number of heterotrophic bacteria colonies cultured in R2A medium for 7 days was more than that cultured in PCA medium for 2 days (P < 0.05). The linear regression results showed a relatively strong linear correlation between the number of colonies cultured by the R2A method and that cultured by the PCA method (R2 = 0.7264). The number of bacterial species detected on R2A agar medium is greater than that on PCA agar medium.

Conclusion
The R2A culture method can better reflect the actual number of heterotrophic bacterial colonies in hospital purified water. After logarithmic transformation, the number of colonies cultured by the two methods showed a linear correlation.
Nonlocal Symmetries, Consistent Riccati Expansion Solvability and Interaction Solutions of the Generalized Ito Equation
Authors: Wang Hui 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
In this paper, we investigate the generalized Ito equation. By using the truncated Painlevé analysis method, we successfully derive its nonlocal symmetry and Bäcklund transformation, respectively. By introducing new dependent variables for the nonlocal symmetry, we find the corresponding Lie point symmetry. Moreover, we construct the interaction solution between soliton and cnoidal periodic wave of the equation by considering the consistent tanh expansion method. The conservation laws of the equation are also obtained with a detailed derivation.
Integration of traditional and telematics data for efficient insurance claims prediction
Authors: Peiris Hashan , Jeong Himchan , Kim Jae-Kwang , Lee Hangsuck 
Published: February 2024

AbstractWhile driver telematics has gained attention for risk classification in auto insurance, scarcity of observations with telematics features has been problematic, which could be owing to either privacy concerns or favorable selection compared to the data points with traditional features.To handle this issue, we apply a data integration technique based on calibration weights for usage-based insurance with multiple sources of data. It is shown that the proposed framework can efficiently integrate traditional data and telematics data and can also deal with possible favorable selection issues related to telematics data availability. Our findings are supported by a simulation study and empirical analysis in a synthetic telematics dataset.
AI regulation in the European Union: examining non-state actor preferences
Authors: Tallberg Jonas , Lundgren Magnus , Geith Johannes 
Published: February 2024

AbstractAs the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow, policymakers are increasingly grappling with the question of how to regulate this technology. The most far-reaching international initiative is the European Union (EU) AI Act, which aims to establish the first comprehensive, binding framework for regulating AI. In this article, we offer the first systematic analysis of non-state actor preferences toward international regulation of AI, focusing on the case of the EU AI Act. Theoretically, we develop an argument about the regulatory preferences of business actors and other non-state actors under varying conditions of AI sector competitiveness. Empirically, we test these expectations using data from public consultations on European AI regulation. Our findings are threefold. First, all types of non-state actors express concerns about AI and support regulation in some form. Second, there are nonetheless significant differences across actor types, with business actors being less concerned about the downsides of AI and more in favor of lax regulation than other non-state actors. Third, these differences are more pronounced in countries with stronger commercial AI sectors. Our findings shed new light on non-state actor preferences toward AI regulation and point to challenges for policymakers balancing competing interests in society.
Sufficient conditions for non-zero entropy of closed relations
Authors: BANIČ IZTOK , GRIL ROGINA RENE , KENNEDY JUDY , NALL VAN 
Published: February 2024

AbstractWe introduce the notions of returns and well-aligned sets for closed relations on compact metric spaces and then use them to obtain non-trivial sufficient conditions for such a relation to have non-zero entropy. In addition, we give a characterization of finite relations with non-zero entropy in terms of Li–Yorke and DC2 chaos.
Analysing legal responses to coerced debt
Authors: Gordon-Bouvier Ellen 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThis paper analyses legal responses to the problem of debt taken out due to coercion within an intimate relationship. Coerced debt differs from other forms of domestic abuse, as it involves a contractual relationship between the victim and a third-party lender. Legal responses must consider whether the victim should be released from her contractual obligation. The paper employs a theoretical lens of vulnerability and relationality, examining lenders’ duties to combat coerced debt, as well as contractual doctrines of undue influence and duress, which allow victims to have transactions set aside under certain circumstances. The paper argues that victims are being failed by an inadequate legal response. The law views vulnerability as an exceptional state and relationality as a constraint, rather than inherent features of the human condition. Through the social construct of the ‘free market’, lenders are consistently favoured by the law, with little obligation to ensure that transactions are free from coercion. The paper concludes with a call for the state to take greater responsibility for coerced debt and to allocate the risk differently than it currently does. This will promote higher levels of resilience for victims and allow them to escape abusive relational contexts.
Extensions of Vittas’ Theorem
Authors: Dergiades Nikolaos , Tran Quang Hung 
Published: February 2024

The Greek architect Kostas Vittas published in 2006 a beautiful theorem ([1]) on the cyclic quadrilateral as follows:Theorem 1 (Kostas Vittas, 2006): If ABCD is a cyclic quadrilateral with P being the intersection of two diagonals AC and BD, then the four Euler lines of the triangles PAB, PBC, PCD and PDA are concurrent.
LIMIT SETS OF UNFOLDING PATHS IN OUTER SPACE
Authors: Bestvina Mladen , Gupta Radhika , Tao Jing 
Published: February 2024

AbstractWe construct an unfolding path in Outer space which does not converge in the boundary, and instead it accumulates on the entire 1-simplex of projectivized length measures on a nongeometric arational
${\mathbb R}$
-tree T. We also show that T admits exactly two dual ergodic projective currents. This is the first nongeometric example of an arational tree that is neither uniquely ergodic nor uniquely ergometric.
Who's near the local food? A regional proximity analysis of short food supply chain types in southern New England
Authors: Trivette Shawn , McCarragher Shannon 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
This paper examines three types of locally oriented Short Food Supply Chains in southern New England and their spatial alignment with a variety of demographic factors. We find that pay-as-you-go operations are particularly likely in predominantly White areas, and to some extent in higher income areas, but box share arrangements (i.e., community-supported agricultures) show stronger associations with educational attainment. Building on these empirical findings, we argue that local food availability is a systematically uneven phenomenon. Through the role of proximity we demonstrate how the dynamics of that availability vary with both outlet type and social characteristics.
Yoram Barzel: commemorating the life of an institutional economist
Authors: Allen Douglas W. 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Yoram Barzel was a Chicago trained price theorist who became a foundational contributor to the literature on property rights and transaction costs. In this commemoration I outline the academic path he took, but then concentrate on the set of transformative ideas he had that led to ‘the theory of economic property rights’. It was Yoram's belief that such a theory is the ground floor for the study of the organization of economic activity, and therefore, should be used to understand the structure and form of law, institutions, firms, and all other forms of organization.
The LILY Database: Linking Lithology to IODP Physical, Chemical, and Magnetic Properties Data
Authors: Childress Laurel B. , Acton Gary D. , Percuoco Vincent P. , Hastedt Margaret 
Published: February 2024

AbstractDuring each expedition of the International Ocean Discovery Program and its precursor, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (jointly referred to as IODP), vast arrays of data are collected from drill cores. These data, which are accessible from the IODP LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) database, include physical, chemical, and magnetic properties collected semi‐continuously along cores using automated track systems, as well as a variety of analyses conducted on discrete subsamples taken from the cores. In addition, the lithology of all cores is described based on visual characteristics of the surface of split cores, visual examination of smear slides and thin sections, and compositional or mineralogical information derived from geochemical analyses. We extract basic lithologic information from this complex array of descriptive information and then tie that information to all other measurements. This new database is referred to as LIMS with Lithology (LILY). LILY currently contains over 34 million data from 89 km of core recovered on 42 expeditions conducted 2009–2019. Some uses of LILY include identifying the abundance of different lithologies, finding data from core intervals with a specific lithology, assessing the efficacy of coring systems in different lithologies, or characterizing and analyzing physical, chemical, and magnetic properties based on lithology. We illustrate the use of LILY by computing the grain density by lithology from over 24,000 moisture and density measurements and then use those grain densities, along with the large IODP bulk density dataset, to compute a new high‐resolution porosity dataset with over 3.7 million new porosity estimates.
First Full‐Vector Archeomagnetic Data From Central Asia (3 BCE to 15 CE Centuries): Evidence for a Large Non‐Dipole Field Contribution Around the First Century BCE
Authors: Bonilla‐Alba R. , Gómez‐Paccard M. , Pavón‐Carrasco F. J. , Campuzano S. A. , Beamud E. , Martínez‐Ferreras V. , Gurt‐Esparraguera J. M. , Ariño‐Gil E. , Martín‐Hernández F. , Osete M. L. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractUnraveling the short‐term behavior of the Earth's past geomagnetic field at regional scales is crucial for understanding its global behavior and, thus, the dynamics of the deep Earth. In this context, obtaining accurate full‐vector geomagnetic field records from regions where archeomagnetic data are absent becomes essential. Here, we present the first full‐vector archeomagnetic data from Central Asia, derived from the analysis of nine archeological kilns sampled in South Uzbekistan, dating back to the period between 200 BCE and 1429 CE. To obtain these new data, we conducted thermal and alternating field demagnetization procedures, along with Thellier‐Thellier paleointensity experiments, including partial thermoremanent magnetization checks, thermoremanent magnetization anisotropy and cooling rate corrections. The comparison between the new data, previous selected data from Central Asia, and available global models reveals important differences between approximately 400 BCE and 400 CE, especially concerning the geomagnetic field intensity element. In order to investigate this in detail, we have developed a regional update of the SHAWQ global models family by incorporating, for the first time, high‐quality data from Central Asia. The results suggest that this deviation is linked to non‐dipolar sources of the geomagnetic field in Central Asia reaching a maximum contribution around the first century BCE. According to the updated global paleoreconstruction, this non‐dipole feature, manifested at the Earth's surface as low intensities, is associated with the presence of a reversed flux patch at the core‐mantle boundary beneath this region.
Cystine deprivation triggers CD36-mediated ferroptosis and dysfunction of tumor infiltrating CD8+ T cells
Authors: Han Chenfeng , Ge Minmin , Xing Pengfei , Xia Tian , Zhang Cangang , Ma Kaili , Ma Yifu , Li Shicheng , Li Wenhui , Liu Xiaowei , Zhang Baojun , Zhang Liyuan , Zhang Lianjun 
Published: February 2024

AbstractCancer cells develop multiple strategies to evade T cell-mediated killing. On one hand, cancer cells may preferentially rely on certain amino acids for rapid growth and metastasis. On the other hand, sufficient nutrient availability and uptake are necessary for mounting an effective T cell anti-tumor response in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Here we demonstrate that tumor cells outcompete T cells for cystine uptake due to high Slc7a11 expression. This competition induces T-cell exhaustion and ferroptosis, characterized by diminished memory formation and cytokine secretion, increased PD-1 and TIM-3 expression, as well as intracellular oxidative stress and lipid-peroxide accumulation. Importantly, either Slc7a11 deletion in tumor cells or intratumoral cystine supplementation improves T cell anti-tumor immunity. Mechanistically, cystine deprivation in T cells disrupts glutathione synthesis, but promotes CD36 mediated lipid uptake due to dysregulated cystine/glutamate exchange. Moreover, enforced expression of glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (Gclc) promotes glutathione synthesis and prevents CD36 upregulation, thus boosting T cell anti-tumor immunity. Our findings reveal cystine as an intracellular metabolic checkpoint that orchestrates T-cell survival and differentiation, and highlight Gclc as a potential therapeutic target for enhancing T cell anti-tumor function.
Nonlinear topological symmetry protection in a dissipative system
Authors: Coen Stéphane , Garbin Bruno , Xu Gang , Quinn Liam , Goldman Nathan , Oppo Gian-Luca , Erkintalo Miro , Murdoch Stuart G. , Fatome Julien 
Published: February 2024

AbstractWe investigate experimentally and theoretically a system ruled by an intricate interplay between topology, nonlinearity, and spontaneous symmetry breaking. The experiment is based on a two-mode coherently-driven optical resonator where photons interact through the Kerr nonlinearity. In presence of a phase defect, the modal structure acquires a synthetic Möbius topology enabling the realization of spontaneous symmetry breaking in inherently bias-free conditions without fine tuning of parameters. Rigorous statistical tests confirm the robustness of the underlying symmetry protection, which manifests itself by a periodic alternation of the modes reminiscent of period-doubling. This dynamic also confers long term stability to various localized structures including domain walls, solitons, and breathers. Our findings are supported by an effective Hamiltonian model and have relevance to other systems of interacting bosons and to the Floquet engineering of quantum matter. They could also be beneficial to the implementation of coherent Ising machines.
Experimental study on chorus emission in an artificial magnetosphere
Authors: Saitoh Haruhiko , Nishiura Masaki , Kenmochi Naoki , Yoshida Zensho 
Published: February 2024

AbstractWave particle interaction plays an important role in geospace and space weather phenomena. Whistler mode chorus emissions, characterized by non-linear growth and frequency chirping, are common in planetary magnetospheres. They are regarded as the origin of relativistic acceleration of particles in the radiation belts and pulsating aurora. Intensive theoretical investigations and spacecraft observations have revealed several important features of chorus emissions. However, there is a need to conduct high-resolution and reproducible controlled laboratory experiments to deepen the understanding of space weather. Here, we present the spontaneous excitation of chirping whistler waves in hot-electron high-β plasma (β is the ratio of the plasma pressure to the magnetic pressure) in an “artificial magnetosphere”, a levitated dipole experiment. These experiments suggest that the generation and nonlinear growth of coherent chorus emissions are ubiquitous in dipole magnetic configuration. We anticipate that these experiments will accelerate the laboratory investigation of space weather phenomena.
Crystal-chemical origins of the ultrahigh conductivity of metallic delafossites
Authors: Zhang Yi , Tutt Fred , Evans Guy N. , Sharma Prachi , Haugstad Greg , Kaiser Ben , Ramberger Justin , Bayliff Samuel , Tao Yu , Manno Mike , Garcia-Barriocanal Javier , Chaturvedi Vipul , Fernandes Rafael M. , Birol Turan , Seyfried William E. , Leighton Chris 
Published: February 2024

AbstractDespite their highly anisotropic complex-oxidic nature, certain delafossite compounds (e.g., PdCoO2, PtCoO2) are the most conductive oxides known, for reasons that remain poorly understood. Their room-temperature conductivity can exceed that of Au, while their low-temperature electronic mean-free-paths reach an astonishing 20 μm. It is widely accepted that these materials must be ultrapure to achieve this, although the methods for their growth (which produce only small crystals) are not typically capable of such. Here, we report a different approach to PdCoO2 crystal growth, using chemical vapor transport methods to achieve order-of-magnitude gains in size, the highest structural qualities yet reported, and record residual resistivity ratios ( > 440). Nevertheless, detailed mass spectrometry measurements on these materials reveal that they are not ultrapure in a general sense, typically harboring 100s-of-parts-per-million impurity levels. Through quantitative crystal-chemical analyses, we resolve this apparent dichotomy, showing that the vast majority of impurities are forced to reside in the Co-O octahedral layers, leaving the conductive Pd sheets highly pure (∼1 ppm impurity concentrations). These purities are shown to be in quantitative agreement with measured residual resistivities. We thus conclude that a sublattice purification mechanism is essential to the ultrahigh low-temperature conductivity and mean-free-path of metallic delafossites.
Proteomic characterization identifies clinically relevant subgroups of soft tissue sarcoma
Authors: Tang Shaoshuai , Wang Yunzhi , Luo Rongkui , Fang Rundong , Liu Yufeng , Xiang Hang , Ran Peng , Tong Yexin , Sun Mingjun , Tan Subei , Huang Wen , Huang Jie , Lv Jiacheng , Xu Ning , Yao Zhenmei , Zhang Qiao , Xu Ziyan , Yue Xuetong , Yu Zixiang , Akesu Sujie , Ding Yuqin , Xu Chen , Lu Weiqi , Zhou Yuhong , Hou Yingyong , Ding Chen 
Published: February 2024

AbstractSoft tissue sarcoma is a broad family of mesenchymal malignancies exhibiting remarkable histological diversity. We portray the proteomic landscape of 272 soft tissue sarcomas representing 12 major subtypes. Hierarchical classification finds the similarity of proteomic features between angiosarcoma and epithelial sarcoma, and elevated expression of SHC1 in AS and ES is correlated with poor prognosis. Moreover, proteomic clustering classifies patients of soft tissue sarcoma into 3 proteomic clusters with diverse driven pathways and clinical outcomes. In the proteomic cluster featured with the high cell proliferation rate, APEX1 and NPM1 are found to promote cell proliferation and drive the progression of cancer cells. The classification based on immune signatures defines three immune subtypes with distinctive tumor microenvironments. Further analysis illustrates the potential association between immune evasion markers (PD-L1 and CD80) and tumor metastasis in soft tissue sarcoma. Overall, this analysis uncovers sarcoma-type-specific changes in proteins, providing insights about relationships of soft tissue sarcoma.
Assessing emergence risk of double-resistant and triple-resistant genotypes of Plasmodium falciparum
Authors: Li Eric Zhewen , Nguyen Tran Dang , Tran Thu Nguyen-Anh , Zupko Robert J. , Boni Maciej F. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractDelaying and slowing antimalarial drug resistance evolution is a priority for malaria-endemic countries. Until novel therapies become available, the mainstay of antimalarial treatment will continue to be artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT). Deployment of different ACTs can be optimized to minimize evolutionary pressure for drug resistance by deploying them as a set of co-equal multiple first-line therapies (MFT) rather than rotating therapies in and out of use. Here, we consider one potential detriment of MFT policies, namely, that the simultaneous deployment of multiple ACTs could drive the evolution of different resistance alleles concurrently and that these resistance alleles could then be brought together by recombination into double-resistant or triple-resistant parasites. Using an individual-based model, we compare MFT and cycling policies in malaria transmission settings ranging from 0.1% to 50% prevalence. We define a total risk measure for multi-drug resistance (MDR) by summing the area under the genotype-frequency curves (AUC) of double- and triple-resistant genotypes. When prevalence ≥ 1%, total MDR risk ranges from statistically similar to 80% lower under MFT policies than under cycling policies, irrespective of whether resistance is imported or emerges de novo. At 0.1% prevalence, there is little statistical difference in MDR risk between MFT and cycling.