bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cluster consensus for inherently nonlinear cooperative networks
Authors: Develer Ümit , Cihan Onur , Akar Mehmet 
Published: October 2023

SummaryThis paper investigates the cluster consensus problem for inherently nonlinear cooperative networks with first and second‐order system dynamics. For a first order multi‐agent network evolving over a directed graph, not necessarily containing a spanning tree, a sufficient condition based on Lyapunov theory is derived on the single controller parameter so that the system achieves cluster consensus. These stability results are extended to second‐order nonlinear systems that utilize two parameters in the distributed control law. Furthermore, the total number of clusters and members of each cluster are explicitly computed from the primary and secondary layer subgraphs of the underlying directed graph. The results are the first in the literature to address the cluster consensus problem for inherently nonlinear cooperative networks evolving over directed graphs that do not contain a spanning tree.
Evaluation of two miniaturized FT‐NIR spectrometers for rapid soil property analysis
Authors: Sorenson Preston T. , Bulmer David , Peak Derek 
Published: October 2023

AbstractUtilizing reflectance spectroscopy to generate the necessary soil data to drive innovations in precision agriculture and soil management is an increasing focus of agronomic research. One of the key limitations for widespread practical adoption of reflectance spectroscopy is hardware cost, and lower cost hardware is actively being developed. This study evaluated two inexpensive nano Fourier‐transform near infrared spectrometers in the laboratory. One was a laboratory‐based analyzer (LabFlow) and the second was a field portable analyzer (Field Probe). Soil spectra were collected in the shortwave infrared range and processed using wavelet transforms and machine learning models. The optimal wavelet transforms and machine learning model were selected using cross validation on the training dataset, and performance of the optimal model was evaluated using an independent testing dataset. The Field Probe configuration total nitrogen model had the best performance when compared to the LabFlow laboratory analyzer with an R2 of 0.91, a concordance correlation coefficient of 0.95, and an root mean square error of 0.03. Soil inorganic carbon did not perform as well with an R2 of 0.65. However, performance was likely limited by a large number of low values and a limited range in the training dataset. Overall, these results highlight the potential for lower cost spectrometers to provide useful soil data for soil management applications.
The importance of digital evidence strategies
Authors: Horsman Graeme 
Published: October 2023

AbstractAs the complexity of digital forensic work continues to grow, and the demands and pressures placed on practitioners to complete their investigatory commitments remain, methods for conducting effective and efficient work are of paramount importance. To combat examination challenges any investigating team requires two fundamental and linked components; those conducting DF examinations should develop (1) a digital evidence strategy (DES) that outlines an effective investigative approach, and, (2) deploy it using appropriate tools and techniques. While these should be considered as a pair, arguably as tools have become more comprehensive and more akin to “suites,” there is a real risk that tools themselves are being considered an “examination strategy,” bypassing the need for investigative forethought. Given this concern, through the vehicle of an example deconstructed hypothetical forensic examination process, this work discusses the relationship between DESs and digital forensic tools, and the importance of both.This article is categorized under:
Digital and Multimedia Science > Cybercrime Investigation
The influence of surface effects on axisymmetric vibration of graded porous Mindlin circular nanoplate in a temperature field
Authors: Li Qinglu , Zhang Haikun , Wang Siyao , Zhang Jinghua 
Published: October 2023

AbstractThe surface effect significantly affects the mechanical response of nanoscale materials. In this work, we introduce Gurtin‐Murdoch surface elasticity theory into Mindlin plate theory to study the axisymmetric vibration characteristic of graded porous circular nanoplate in a temperature field. The main structure is a porous graded material with uniform or non‐uniform porosity distribution in its thickness. The numerical shooting technique was applied to solve the governing differential equations derived from Hamilton's principle. Responses for the vibration characteristic of the graded porous nanoplate for both clamped and simply supported boundary conditions were obtained. The numerical results show that when the surface effect is removed, the classical results of Mindlin circular plate will be obtained. Natural frequencies and mode shapes varying with thermal and porosity coefficients were present graphically. And then the effects of surface material properties on the axisymmetric vibration characteristic of the nanoplates were discussed in detail. The parametric study examined the influence of porosity coefficient, porosity distribution mode, surface elastic parameters, and residual surface stress on the vibration characteristics of porous circular nanoplates.
The Vascular Flora of the United Arab Emirates
Authors: Brown Gary , Feulner Gary R. 
Published: October 2023

AbstractThis chapter discusses the flora of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), focusing on various aspects of the individual plant species. A brief overview of salient features of the flora is given in terms of species number and families, followed by a short discussion regarding some of the taxonomic problems surrounding the naming and identification of species. With respect to biogeographical aspects, it is emphasised that the current flora of the nation represents a distinct snapshot in time that has been shaped by a diversity of events in the past, all of which continue to operate on different spatio-temporal scales. After a brief discussion of keystone and foundation species in the UAE desert, autecological aspects are examined, as these are fundamental to understanding the response of plants to a changing environment. Following on from this topic, the concepts of life forms, plant functional groups and plant strategies are touched upon. In the final section, some remarkable features of the reproductive biology of desert plants are described. Chapter 5 examines the typical plant communities and also looks at the main threats to the flora and vegetation of the country.
Human–Environment Interactions in the United Arab Emirates: An Archaeological Perspective
Authors: Power Timothy 
Published: October 2023

AbstractThis paper provides an archaeological perspective on pre-modern human-environment interactions in the United Arab Emirates over the past 200,000 years. It first outlines the key topographic and ecological zones and highlights localised subsistence strategies, then provides a summary of the development of human societies and their growing economic needs. It then goes on to explore past climate change and human adaptions, the social and economic implications of early farming and herding, and the transition from subsistence strategies to local industries. Generally, it is argued that human interactions with the natural world were driven largely by economic factors, with foreign demand leading to the exploitation of natural resources on an industrial scale.
The Bell Curve, Then and Now
Authors: Tucker William H. 
Published: October 2023

AbstractIn the fall of 1994, the national obsession with the murder trial of a legendary football player was temporarily interrupted by a controversy over a book—not some sensationalized biography of a celebrity but a chart-filled 845-page tome, co-authored by a Harvard research psychologist and a policy wonk at the conservative think tank, the American Enterprise Institute. Despite its more than 100 pages of appendices on logistic regression and other technical, statistical issues, The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life became an instantaneous cause célèbre, providing its junior author, Charles Murray—Professor Richard J. Herrnstein having passed away only days before publication—with considerably more than his Warholian 15 minutes of fame and leading a reporter for the New York Times Magazine to designate him “the most dangerous” conservative in the country. Among the many “serious” periodicals to discuss the book at length, The New Republic devoted almost an entire issue to an essay by its authors along with a host of responses, and for some weeks Murray was a ubiquitous presence on television talk shows.
Meritocracy: Places, Everyone!
Authors: Tucker William H. 
Published: October 2023

AbstractAlthough The BellCurve represented Murray’s first published discussion of genes and intelligence—as tactical support for his preferred policies ending assistance to the poor—his co-author had been writing on the topic for more than two decades. Herrnstein’s initial interest in intelligence marked a radical departure from his previous work. As a Harvard graduate student in the early 1950s, he had studied with the famous behaviorist B.F. Skinner, specializing in operant conditioning with pigeons. Appointed to a junior faculty position at Harvard in 1958, he received promotion and tenure only three years later, after formulating the “matching law,” an important theoretical result predicting that, when an organism is offered two response alternatives, the ratio between them will match the ratio of reinforcements associated with each alternative. His reputation well established as one of the world’s experts on pigeon behavior, Herrnstein went on to occupy an endowed chair at Harvard.
The Virtual Currency Schemes
Authors: Mooij Annelieke 
Published: October 2023

AbstractThis chapter starts in Sect. 3.2 by discussing the different virtual currency schemes currently in existence in virtual environments. It will analyse the different currency schemes in relation to the physical economy. Based on this analysis this chapter continues in Sect. 3.3 by discussing the currency schemes in the Metaverse. This chapter will then conclude in Sect. 3.4 by analysing the virtual currency schemes of the Metaverse in relation to the real physical economy.
Bers’ simultaneous uniformization and the intersection of Poincaré holonomy varieties
Authors: Baba Shinpei 
Published: October 2023

AbstractWe consider the space of ordered pairs of distinct ${\mathbb{C}{\mathrm{P}}}^{1}$-structures on Riemann surfaces (of any orientations) which have identical holonomy, so that the quasi-Fuchsian space is identified with a connected component of this space. This space holomorphically maps to the product of the Teichmüller spaces minus its diagonal.In this paper, we prove that this mapping is a complete local branched covering map. As a corollary, we reprove Bers’ simultaneous uniformization theorem without any quasi-conformal deformation theory. Our main theorem is that the intersection of arbitrary two Poincaré holonomy varieties ($\operatorname{SL}_{2}\mathbb{C}$-opers) is a non-empty discrete set, which is closely related to the mapping.
Wheat bZIPC1 interacts with FT2 and contributes to the regulation of spikelet number per spike
Authors: Glenn Priscilla , Woods Daniel P. , Zhang Junli , Gabay Gilad , Odle Natalie , Dubcovsky Jorge 
Published: October 2023

Abstract
Key message
The wheat transcription factor bZIPC1 interacts with FT2 and affects spikelet and grain number per spike. We identified a natural allele with positive effects on these two economically important traits.

Abstract
Loss-of-function mutations and natural variation in the gene FLOWERING LOCUS T2 (FT2) in wheat have previously been shown to affect spikelet number per spike (SNS). However, while other FT-like wheat proteins interact with bZIP-containing transcription factors from the A-group, FT2 does not interact with any of them. In this study, we used a yeast-two-hybrid screen with FT2 as bait and identified a grass-specific bZIP-containing transcription factor from the C-group, designated here as bZIPC1. Within the C-group, we identified four clades including wheat proteins that show Y2H interactions with different sets of FT-like and CEN-like encoded proteins. bZIPC1 and FT2 expression partially overlap in the developing spike, including the inflorescence meristem. Combined loss-of-function mutations in bZIPC-A1 and bZIPC-B1 (bzipc1) in tetraploid wheat resulted in a drastic reduction in SNS with a limited effect on heading date. Analysis of natural variation in the bZIPC-B1 (TraesCS5B02G444100) region revealed three major haplotypes (H1–H3), with the H1 haplotype showing significantly higher SNS, grain number per spike and grain weight per spike than both the H2 and H3 haplotypes. The favorable effect of the H1 haplotype was also supported by its increased frequency from the ancestral cultivated tetraploids to the modern tetraploid and hexaploid wheat varieties. We developed markers for the two non-synonymous SNPs that differentiate the bZIPC-B1b allele in the H1 haplotype from the ancestral bZIPC-B1a allele present in all other haplotypes. These diagnostic markers are useful tools to accelerate the deployment of the favorable bZIPC-B1b allele in pasta and bread wheat breeding programs.
Mind who’s testing: Turing tests and the post-colonial imposition of their implicit conceptions of intelligence
Authors: Fischbach Fabian , Vandemeulebroucke Tijs , van Wynsberghe Aimee 
Published: October 2023

AbstractThis paper aims to show that dominant conceptions of intelligence used in artificial intelligence (AI) are biased by normative assumptions that originate from the Global North, making it questionable if AI can be uncritically applied elsewhere without risking serious harm to vulnerable people. After the introduction in Sect. 1 we shortly present the history of IQ testing in Sect. 2, focusing on its multiple discriminatory biases. To determine how these biases came into existence, we define intelligence ontologically and underline its constructed and culturally variable character. Turning to AI, specifically the Turing Test (TT), in Sect. 3, we critically examine its underlying intelligence conceptions. The test has been of central influence in AI research and remains an important point of orientation. We argue that both the test itself and how it is used in practice risk promoting a limited conception of intelligence which solely originated in the Global North. Hence, this conception should be critically assessed in relation to the different global contexts in which AI technologies are and will be used. In Sect. 4, we highlight how unequal power relations in AI research are a real threat, rather than just philosophical sophistry while considering the history of IQ testing and the TT’s practical biases. In the last section, we examine the limits of our account and identify fields for further investigation. Tracing colonial continuities in AI intelligence research, this paper points to a more diverse and historically aware approach to the design, development, and use of AI.
Critical assessment of the endocrine potential of Linalool and Linalyl acetate: proactive testing strategy assessing estrogenic and androgenic activity of Lavender oil main components
Authors: Hareng Lars , Kolle Susanne N. , Gomes Caroline , Schneider Steffen , Wahl Markus 
Published: October 2023

AbstractThe acyclic linear monoterpenes Linalool (Lin) and Linalyl acetate (LinAc) occur in nature as major constituents of various essential oils such as lavender oils. A potential endocrine activity of these compounds was discussed in literature including premature thelarche and prepubertal gynecomastia due to lavender product use. This study aims to follow-up on these critical findings reported by testing Lin and LinAc in several studies in line with current guidance and regulatory framework. No relevant anti-/ER and AR-mediated activity was observed in recombinant yeast cell-based screening tests and guideline reporter gene in vitro assays in mammalian cells. Findings in the screening test suggested an anti-androgenic activity, which could not be confirmed in the respective mammalian cell guideline assay. Mechanistic guideline in vivo studies (Uterotrophic and Hershberger assays) with Lin did not show significant dose related changes in estrogen or androgen sensitive organ weights and a guideline reproductive toxicity screening study did not reveal evident effects on sex steroid hormone sensitive organ weights, associated histopathological findings and altered sperm parameters. Estrous cycling and mating/fertility indices were not affected and no evident Lin-related steroid hormone dependent effects were found in the offspring. Overall, the initial concerns from literature were not confirmed. Findings in the yeast screening test were aberrant from follow-up guideline in vitro and in vivo studies, which underlines the need to apply careful interpretation of single in vitro test results to support a respective line of evidence and to establish a biologically plausible link to an adverse outcome.
BCLAF1-induced HIF-1α accumulation under normoxia enhances PD-L1 treatment resistances via BCLAF1-CUL3 complex
Authors: Yao Bowen , Lu Ye , Li Yazhao , Bai Yixue , Wei Xinyu , Yang Yuanyuan , Yao Demao 
Published: October 2023

AbstractBcl-2-associated transcription factor-1 (BCLAF1), an apoptosis-regulating protein of paramount significance, orchestrates the progression of various malignancies. This study reveals increased BCLAF1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, in whom elevated BCLAF1 levels are linked to escalated tumor grades and diminished survival rates. Moreover, novel BCLAF1 expression is particularly increased in HCC patients who were not sensitive to the combined treatment of atezolizumab and bevacizumab, but not in patients who had tumors that responded to the combined regimen. Notably, overexpression of BCLAF1 increases HCC cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo, while the conditioned medium derived from cells overexpressing BCLAF1 strikingly enhances the tube-formation capacity of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Furthermore, compelling evidence demonstrates that BCLAF1 attenuates the expression of prolyl hydroxylase domain protein 2 (PHD2) and governs the stability of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) under normoxic conditions without exerting any influence on transcription, as determined by Western blot and RT‒qPCR analyses. Subsequently, employing coimmunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence, we validated the reciprocal interaction between BCLAF1 and Cullin 3 (CUL3), through which BCLAF1 actively upregulates the ubiquitination and degradation of PHD2. The Western blot and RT‒qPCR results suggests that programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) is one of the downstream responders to HIF-1α in HCC. Thus, we reveal the pivotal role of BCLAF1 in promoting PD-L1 transcription and, through binding to CUL3, in promoting the accumulation of HIF-1α under normoxic conditions, thereby facilitating the ubiquitination and degradation of PHD2.
High-pressure melting in metapelites of a 2 Ga old subducted oceanic crust (Usagaran belt, Tanzania): implications from melt inclusions, fluid inclusions and thermodynamic modelling
Authors: Herms Petra , Raase Peter , Giehl Christopher , Aradi László E. , Fußwinkel Tobias , Rohrbach Arno , Möller Andreas 
Published: October 2023

AbstractInvestigation of polymineralic melt inclusions preserved in garnet of eclogite-facies metapelites of the Usagaran belt, Tanzania, is of particular importance as these metapelites, intercalated in oceanic metabasites, document the rare case of partial melting at high temperatures in a subducted oceanic crust. With an age of 2 Ga the rocks represent one of the oldest oceanic crusts and confirm a subduction process already at Paleoproterozoic times. Partial melting probably was initiated by dehydration melting under the presence of a CO2-rich fluid phase. The melt is preserved in siliceous polymineralic inclusions, while CO2 locally reacted with the garnet host to form dolomite-quartz-kyanite inclusions. During this reaction, the REE spectrum of garnet is adopted by the dolomite. Furthermore, graphite inclusions in garnet must have precipitated from the CO2 fluid by reduction. The highly ordered graphite structure indicates a formation temperature of at least 700 °C. Rehomogenization experiments of the siliceous polymineralic inclusions yield a homogeneous melt of rhyolitic, peraluminous composition. Thermodynamic modelling enables to deduce a P–T path in accordance with high P–T conditions (minimum 2.0 GPa, 900 °C) where a partial melt formed due to phengite breakdown leading to the preserved peak mineral assemblage garnet, alkali feldspar, kyanite, quartz and rutile. A very fast uplift of the oceanic crustal rocks can be deduced from the occurrence of very finely exsolved metastable ternary feldspar and from the preserved prograde zoning in garnet.
Multipeaked breakthrough curves in karstic rivers: effects of a diffluence-confluence system
Authors: Deleu Romain , Poulain Amaël , Rochez Gaëtan , Soares-Frazao Sandra , Van Rentergem Guy , De Poorter Eli , Hallet Vincent 
Published: October 2023

AbstractIn karstic environments, it is not unusual for an underground river to split into two or more streams (diffluence) and merge back together downstream (confluence). This kind of behavior can generate multipeaked breakthrough curves (BTCs) in dye tracing at a sampling site located downstream of the confluence(s). It is also possible that such a phenomenon is difficult to highlight with dye tracing if the tracer clouds coming from the different streams reach the sampling locations at the same time. In this study, an attempt at quantifying the importance of different criteria in the occurrence of a multipeaked BTC is done by performing a dye tracing campaign in a two-tributaries diffluence-confluence (DC) system and using a one-dimensional solute transport model. The results from both field data and the solute transport model suggest that a double-peaked BTC occurs downstream of a DC system if the following conditions are met: (1) the injection is done close enough to the diffluence, (2) the sampling point is located not too far from the confluence, and (3) the two (or more) streams have sufficiently contrasted travel times from the diffluence to the confluence. The paper illustrates that, even if a diffluence occurs in a karstic river, multipeaked BTCs are not necessarily observed downstream of the confluence if these three conditions are not met. Therefore, characterizing a DC system using dye tracing is a real challenge. This could explain why publications that report studies involving multipeaked BTCs are quite rare.
The H9c2(2-1) cell-based sulforhodamine B assay is a non-animal alternative to evaluate municipal wastewater quality over time
Authors: Rodrigues Elsa T. , Pereira Eduarda , Oliveira Paulo J. , Pardal Miguel A. 
Published: October 2023

AbstractThe present study validates the potential of the in vitro H9c2(2-1) cell-based sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay to evaluate the temporal variability of wastewater quality. The impact of effluent disposal on water quality and the efficiency of the wastewater treatment process were also assessed. To correlate standard analytical method results with in vitro results, a total of 16 physicochemical parameters, such as nutrients, pH, chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids and metals, were determined in both raw and treated wastewater samples. Results revealed that the H9c2(2-1) cell-based SRB assay has an enormous potential to evaluate municipal wastewater quality over time and to discriminate influent and effluent toxic characteristics, as well as for water quality monitoring and surveillance of the efficacy of treatment processes. Finally, the gathered results alerted to the impact of phosphates in a biological system, leading us to recommend the selection of this parameter as a potential environmental health indicator.