bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the SsIR/NIE recombinant antigen ELISA for the follow up of patients infected by Strongyloides stercoralis: a diagnostic study
Authors: Prato Marco , Tamarozzi Francesca , Tais Stefano , Rizzi Eleonora , Mazzi Cristina , Buonfrate Dora 
Published: January 2024

AbstractSome serology assays demonstrated useful for post-treatment monitoring of Strongyloides stercoralis infection. Serology frequently has low specificity, which might be improved by the use of recombinant antigens. The Strongy Detect ELISA is based on 2 recombinant antigens (SsIR and NIE) and proved good accuracy. Aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of this test for the post-treatment monitoring of strongyloidiasis. We tested 38 paired sera, with matched fecal tests results, stored in our biobank and originating from a randomized controlled trial. At baseline, all patients tested positive for at least 1 fecal assay among PCR, direct stool microscopy and agar plate culture. Patients were re-tested with both serology and fecal assays 12 months after treatment. Primary outcome was the relative reduction in optical density (OD) between baseline and follow up. We observed that about 95% samples showed a reduction between pre and post-treatment OD, with a median relative reduction of 93.9% (IQR 77.3%–98.1%). In conclusion, the test proved reliable for post-treatment monitoring. However, some technical issues, including that the threshold for positivity has not be predefined, and that a substantial number of samples showed overflow signals, need to be fixed to permit use in routine practice.
Explaining compliance with COVID-19 regulation in China and the United States: cultural biases, political trust, and perceptions of risk and protective actions
Authors: Yuan Meng , Mayorga Marcus , Johnson Branden B. , Swedlow Brendon 
Published: January 2024

AbstractHow do cultural biases, trust in government, and perceptions of risk and protective actions influence compliance with regulation of COVID-19? Analyzing Chinese (n = 646) and American public opinion samples (n = 1,325) from spring 2020, we use Grid–Group Cultural Theory and the Protective Action Decision Model to specify, respectively, cultural influences on public risk perceptions and decision-making regarding protective actions. We find that cultural biases mostly affect protective actions indirectly through public perceptions. Regardless of country, hierarchical cultural biases increase protective behaviors via positive perceptions of protective actions. However, other indirect effects of cultural bias via public perceptions vary across both protective actions and countries. Moreover, trust in government only mediates the effect of cultural bias in China and risk perception only mediates the effect of cultural bias in the United States. Our findings suggest that regulators in both countries should craft regulations that are congenial to culturally diverse populations.
The distributional and embodied contexts of verbs in caregiver-infant interactions
Authors: ZHANG Vivian Hanwen , CHANG Lucas M. , DEÁK Gedeon O. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThe process by which infants learn verbs through daily social interactions is not well-understood. This study investigated caregivers’ use of verbs, which have highly abstract meanings, during unscripted toy-play. We examined how verbs co-occurred with distributional and embodied factors including pronouns, caregivers’ manual actions, and infants’ locomotion, gaze, and object-touching. Object-action verbs were used significantly more often during caregiver-infant joint attention interactions. Movement and cognition verbs showed distinct co-occurrences with different contexts. Cognition and volition verbs were differentiated by pronouns. These findings provide evidence for how verb acquisition may be supported by the distributional and embodied contexts in caregiver-infant interactions.
A one-step calibration method without redundant parameters for a laser stripe sensor
Authors: Mao Yang , He Yu , Yu Chengyi , Zhang Honghui , Zhang Ke , Sun Xiaojun 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
A laser stripe sensor has two kinds of calibration methods. One is based on the homography model between the laser stripe plane and the image plane, which is called the one-step calibration method. The other is based on the simple triangular method, which is named as the two-step calibration method. However, the geometrical meaning of each element in the one-step calibration method is not clear as that in the two-step calibration method. A novel mathematical derivation is presented to reveal the geometrical meaning of each parameter in the one-step calibration method, and then the comparative study of the one-step calibration method and the two-step calibration method is completed and the intrinsic relationship is derived. What is more, a one-step calibration method is proposed with 7 independent parameters rather than 11 independent parameters. Experiments are conducted to verify the accuracy and robust of the proposed calibration method.
Physical activity and sedentary time after lifestyle interventions at the Norwegian Healthy Life Centres
Authors: Gryte Odin H. , Meland Eivind , Samdal Gro B. , Fadnes Lars T. , Vold Jørn H. , Mildestvedt Thomas 
Published: January 2024

Abstract

Aims:
This study evaluates long-term changes in physical activity and its associations with various predictors after a behavior change program at the Norwegian Healthy Life Centers.

Background:
Physical activity is recommended and is part of public health strategies to prevent noncommunicable diseases.

Methods:
This longitudinal cohort, based on a controlled randomized trial, studies a population of 116 Healthy Life Center participants in South-Western Norway who wore SenseWear Armbands to measure time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity and sedentary time based on metabolic equivalents. The measurements were obtained at baseline, immediately post-intervention, and 24 months after baseline. Linear mixed model analyses were performed to assess predictors for change in physical activity and sedentary time.

Findings:
High physical activity levels at baseline were maintained during the 24-month study period. Young, male participants with good self-rated health, utilizing local PA facilities were most active, and young participants utilizing local facilities were also less sedentary. The participants with higher levels of education were less active initially but caught up with the difference during follow-up. A high degree of controlled regulation, characterized by bad conscience and external pressure, predicted more sedentary behavior and a trend toward being less physically active. Autonomous motivation was associated with less time spent on sedentary behaviors. People with high self-efficacy for physical activity were more sedentary initially but showed a reduction in their sedentary behavior.
The study supports the importance of attending local training facilities and adopting motivation for behavioral change that is not based on guilt and external rewards. Interventions aimed at improving physical activity among people at risk for noncommunicable diseases benefit from habitual use of local training facilities, strengthening their self-perceived health and the development of internalized motivation. However, it has not been shown to mitigate social health disparities.
Genetic variation, genetic advance, heritability and correlation analysis of phenotypic traits in tetraploid wheat (Triticum turgidum spp.) landraces and some improved cultivars of Ethiopia
Authors: Fufa Miheretu , Gedebo Andargachew , Leta Tesfaye , Lule Dagnachew 
Published: January 2024

AbstractTetraploid wheat species from Ethiopia hold ample genetic variation, which could provide a source for improvement of wheat. A total of 196 Ethiopian tetraploid wheat (Triticum turgidum spp.) accessions, including 174 landraces and 22 improved cultivars, were evaluated at Sinana and Debrezeit to assess morphological variation, genetic advance, heritability and correlation based on 11 phenotypic traits. Except for spike length, highly significant variation (P < 0.001) among genotypes for all traits was observed. The observed mean and range values of the phenotypic traits revealed high variability in the accessions. Phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) and genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) values were high for grain yield, biomass yield and harvest index. Seed yield showed highly significant (P < 0.001) negative correlation with days to booting and days to maturity and positive correlation with all traits. The estimates of heritability (H2) for grain yield and the number of spikelets per spike respectively ranged from 41.78 to 84.62%. The genetic advance as a percentage of mean was low for the number of seeds per spikelet, days to booting and days to maturity; intermediate for plant height, thousand kernel weight and spike length and high for the number of spikelets per spike, the number of effective tillers per plant, grain yield, biomass yield and harvest index, respectively. The number of spikelets per spike gave a high value of genetic advance and heritability implying high genetic gain from its selection.
The myth of the Others: Western representations of the Dan people and boat clusters in the island city of Guangzhou, China (1842–1900)
Authors: Lin Tingcong , Su Ping 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThis article studies Western (primarily Anglophone) representations of the Dan people (boat people) and the boat clusters on which they lived, relative to the mainland, in the island city of Guangzhou, focusing on 1842–1900. A change occurred over time, as the Dan went from being in close interaction with Westerners prior to the Opium Wars to being peripheral to Western interests and activities. This shift is evident in Western writings, and negative representations of the Dan came to dominate in the late nineteenth century. This mirrored changing sociospatial power relations between Westerners and the terrestrial Chinese, as Westerners increasingly gained access to the onshore city of Guangzhou itself, in part from the colonial island enclave of Shamian. Changing crosscultural interactions affected how the Chinese Others were perceived and ultimately how the Chinese whole was intertextually constructed in Western colonial discourse.
Design and realization of a compact substrate integrated coaxial line butler matrix for beamforming applications
Authors: Idury Satya Krishna , Delmonte Nicoló , Silvestri Lorenzo , Bozzi Maurizio , Mukherjee Soumava 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThis article presents the modeling and realization of a compact substrate integrated coaxial line (SICL) based butler matrix operating at 5 GHz for beam-forming applications. The proposed 4 × 4 butler matrix is developed using SICL-based hybrid coupler, crossover, and phase shifter. A compact 90∘ coupler comprising of center tapped unequal stubs is designed to enhance the size reduction as well as to extend the out of band rejection. Wideband SICL-based crossover operating from DC to 10 GHz is conceived for the proposed butler matrix using a plated through hole as transition. The SICL crossover features very high measured isolation of 65 dB owing to the reduction in coupling between the two signal paths within a lateral footprint of only 0.034 $\lambda_g^2$. A meandered SICL-based line is used in order to provide the necessary 45∘ and 0∘ phase shift to realize the butler matrix. The fully shielded and self-packaged compact 4 × 4 SICL-based butler matrix is fabricated and experimentally validated to operate at 5 GHz.
Substorm Driven Chorus Waves: Decay Timescales and Implications for Pulsating Aurora
Authors: Troyer Riley N. , Jaynes Allison N. , Hartley David P. , Meredith Nigel P. , Hua Man , Bortnik Jacob 
Published: January 2024

AbstractEnergetic electron precipitation (EEP) associated with pulsating aurora can transfer greater than 30 keV electrons from the outer radiation belt region into the upper atmosphere and can deplete atmospheric ozone via collisions that produce NOx and HOx molecules. Our knowledge of exactly how EEP occurs is incomplete. Previous studies have shown that pitch angle scattering between electrons and lower‐band chorus waves can cause pulsating aurora associated with EEP and that substorms play an important role. In this work, we quantify the timescale of chorus wave decay following substorms and compare that to previously determined timescales. We find that the chorus decay e‐folding time varies based on magnetic local time (MLT), magnetic latitude, and wave frequency. The shortest timescales occur for lower‐band chorus in the 21 to 9 MLT region and compares, within uncertainty, to the energetic pulsating aurora timescale of Troyer et al. (2022, https://doi.org/10.3389/fspas.2022.1032552) for energetic pulsating aurora. We are able to further support this connection by modeling our findings in a quasi‐linear diffusion simulation. These results provide observations of how chorus waves behave after substorms and add additional statistical evidence linking energetic pulsating aurora to substorm driven lower‐band chorus waves.
Effects of Urbanization in China on the East Asian Summer Monsoon as Revealed by Two Global Climate Models
Authors: Liu Shu , Wang Yong , Zhang Guang J. , Gong Peng , Wei Linyi , He Yujun , Li Lijuan , Wang Bin 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThe East Asian summer monsoon (EASM), vulnerable to anthropogenic activities, exerts profound impacts on precipitation in East Asia. In recent decades, China has been experiencing rapid urbanization. It has not yet reached a consensus on its influences on EASM. Here, we introduce satellite‐derived urban impervious areas of China during 1985–2017 into two global climate models with contrasting biases of climatological EASM simulation. Both models consistently show that urbanization weakens EASM by increasing surface friction drag. The increased surface roughness reduces climatological southerly winds in the concentrated urbanization area. As a result, moisture convergence occurs south of the concentrated urbanization area with ascending motion, while moisture divergence with descending motion appears to the north, resulting in the precipitation anomalies of “southern flood and northern drought.” The dominant role of urban dynamic forcing in regulating EASM is confirmed by reducing urban roughness to the level of croplands in sensitivity experiments. As urban dynamic forcing is largely mitigated, the urbanization impact mainly driven by urban thermal forcing conversely strengthens EASM due to enhanced land‐sea thermal contrast via urbanization‐induced warming. Spatial patterns and magnitudes of the urbanization‐induced EASM weakening vary between the two models due to disparities in their simulations of urban thermodynamic forcing and atmospheric adjustments. These results underscore the robust weakening effect of urbanization on EASM by urban friction drag and document uncertainties in the related spatial pattern and magnitude resulting from model discrepancies.
Changes of Atlantic Multidecadal Variability During the Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age and Associated Causes
Authors: Miao Jiapeng , Ge Yucen , Jiang Dabang 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThis study investigates changes in the period, amplitude, and spatial pattern of Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV) during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA; 950–1250) and Little Ice Age (LIA; 1450–1850) by analyzing simulations from the Community Earth System Model‐Last Millennium Ensemble. During the MCA, the AMV indices from ensemble members display periods of 30–50 years and their amplitudes decrease by 16%–26% for the 25th–75th percentile range relative to last millennium. During the LIA, periods of 25 and 35–50 years and increase of amplitudes (5%–13%) are found in ensemble members. The AMV shows horseshoe patterns during both periods, with a stronger subtropical warming center during the MCA than during the LIA. Further analysis indicates that AMV changes are mainly derived from their externally forced components, especially the volcanic forcing induced ones. However, internally generated parts of AMVs change little during the two periods.
Subsurface Redox Interactions Regulate Ebullitive Methane Flux in Heterogeneous Mississippi River Deltaic Wetland
Authors: Wang Jiaze , O'Meara Theresa , LaFond‐Hudson Sophie , He Songjie , Maiti Kanchan , Ward Eric J. , Sulman Benjamin N. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractAs interfaces connecting terrestrial and ocean ecosystems, coastal wetlands develop temporally and spatially complex redox conditions, which drive uncertainties in greenhouse gas emission as well as the total carbon budget of the coastal ecosystem. To evaluate the role of complex redox reactions in methane emission from coastal wetlands, a coupled reactive‐transport model was configured to represent subsurface biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur, along with production and transport of multiple gas species through diffusion and ebullition. This model study was conducted at multiple sites along a salinity gradient in the Barataria Basin at the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain. Over a freshwater to saline gradient, simulated total flux of methane was primarily controlled by its subsurface production and consumption, which were determined by redox reactions directly (e.g., methanogenesis, methanotrophy) and indirectly (e.g., competition with sulfate reduction) under aerobic and/or anaerobic conditions. At fine spatiotemporal scales, surface methane fluxes were also strongly dependent on transport processes, with episodic ebullitive fluxes leading to higher spatial and temporal variability compared to the gradient‐driven diffusion flux. Ebullitive methane fluxes were determined by methane fraction in total ebullitive gas and the frequency of ebullitive events, both of which varied with subsurface methane concentrations and other gas species. Although ebullition thresholds are constrained by local physical factors, this study indicates that redox interactions not only determine gas composition in ebullitive fluxes but can also regulate ebullition frequency through gas production.
Toward a New Flood Assessment Paradigm: From Exceedance Probabilities to the Expected Maximum Floods and Damages
Authors: Todini E. , Reggiani P. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractTo assess flood risks, we seek to estimate the probability distribution of the worst possible single‐event over a contiguous period of N years rather than the cumulative losses expected over a planning horizon. For this we use the probability distribution FN of extreme flood events over a multi‐year period, which is different from using the conventional single‐valued exceedance probability of 1/N years. FN can be used to estimate the hazard and then proceed to the estimation of risk, which we define as the “largest expected damage” over the set period. It also allows for a more coherent determination of design values, which descend from fully acknowledging the aleatoric uncertainty of the underlying natural river flow process. The epistemic uncertainty is removed by marginalizing the aleatoric‐epistemic uncertainty joint distribution over the parameter space. The advantage of the proposed Bayesian approach, which can be summarized in 12 steps, is demonstrated for the 2021 River Ahr flood in Germany, which caused casualties and huge material damage. Adopting the multi‐year maxima extreme value distribution can potentially lead to the reclassification of vulnerability levels for flood‐prone areas and reconsideration of current policy‐making and flood risk communication.
Can a Sparse Network of Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensors Improve Soil Moisture and Evapotranspiration Estimation at the Larger Catchment Scale?
Authors: Li Fang , Bogena Heye Reemt , Bayat Bagher , Kurtz Wolfgang , Hendricks Franssen Harrie‐Jan 
Published: January 2024

AbstractCosmic‐ray neutron sensors (CRNS) fill the gap between locally measured in‐situ soil moisture (SM) and remotely sensed SM by providing accurate SM estimation at the field scale. This is promising for improving hydrologic model predictions, as CRNS can provide valuable information on SM in the root zone at the typical scale of a model grid cell. In this study, SM measurements from a network of 12 CRNS in the Rur catchment (Germany) were assimilated into the Terrestrial System Modeling Platform (TSMP) to investigate its potential for improving SM, evapotranspiration (ET) and river discharge characterization and estimating soil hydraulic parameters at the larger catchment scale. The data assimilation (DA) experiments (with and without parameter estimation) were conducted in both a wet year (2016) and a dry year (2018) with the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF), and later verified with an independent year (2017) without DA. The results show that SM characterization was significantly improved at measurement locations (with up to 60% root mean square error (RMSE) reduction), and that joint state‐parameter estimation improved SM simulation more than state estimation alone (more than 15% additional RMSE reduction). Jackknife experiments showed that SM at verification locations had lower and different improvements in the wet and dry years (an RMSE reduction of 40% in 2016 and 16% in 2018). In addition, SM assimilation was found to improve ET characterization to a much lesser extent, with a 15% RMSE reduction of monthly ET in the wet year and 9% in the dry year.
Caspase cleavage of RIPK3 after Asp333 is dispensable for mouse embryogenesis
Authors: Newton Kim , Wickliffe Katherine E. , Maltzman Allie , Dugger Debra L. , Webster Joshua D. , Guo Hongyan , Dixit Vishva M. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThe proteolytic activity of caspase-8 suppresses lethal RIPK1-, RIPK3- and MLKL-dependent necroptosis during mouse embryogenesis. Caspase-8 is reported to cleave RIPK3 in addition to the RIPK3-interacting kinase RIPK1, but whether cleavage of RIPK3 is crucial for necroptosis suppression is unclear. Here we show that caspase-8-driven cleavage of endogenous mouse RIPK3 after Asp333 is dependent on downstream caspase-3. Consistent with RIPK3 cleavage being a consequence of apoptosis rather than a critical brake on necroptosis, Ripk3D333A/D333A knock-in mice lacking the Asp333 cleavage site are viable and develop normally. Moreover, in contrast to mice lacking caspase-8 in their intestinal epithelial cells, Ripk3D333A/D333A mice do not exhibit increased sensitivity to high dose tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Ripk3D333A/D333A macrophages died at the same rate as wild-type (WT) macrophages in response to TNF plus cycloheximide, TNF plus emricasan, or infection with murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) lacking M36 and M45 to inhibit caspase-8 and RIPK3 activation, respectively. We conclude that caspase cleavage of RIPK3 is dispensable for mouse development, and that cleavage of caspase-8 substrates, including RIPK1, is sufficient to prevent necroptosis.