bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Role of IL33 in chronic inflammation and microvascular damage as a reflection of organ damage on a cohort of patients with acromegaly
Authors: Costa D. , Pellicano C. , Mercuri V. , D’Ascanio E. , Buglione G. , Cicolani G. , Basile U. , Leodori G. , Gargiulo P. , Rosato E. 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Aim
Acromegaly is a rare chronic disease, caused by the over-secretion of growth hormone (GH), that creates a pro-inflammatory state, but the exact mechanisms by which GH or insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) act on inflammatory cells are not fully understood. Aim of the study was to evaluate Interleukin-33 (IL33) and the skin perfusion of hands in patients with acromegaly (AP) and healthy controls (HC).

Methods
IL33 have been assessed in 40 AP and 40 HC. IL 33 was determined and skin perfusion of hands was assessed by laser speckle contrast analysis (LASCA) in both populations.

Results
IL33 was significantly higher in AP compared to HC [45.72 pg/ml (IQR 28.74–60.86) vs 14 pg/ml (IQR 6.5535); p < 0.05]. At LASCA, peripheral blood perfusion (PBP) was significantly lower in AP compared to HC [53.39 pU (IQR 40.94–65.44) vs 87 pU (IQR 80–98) p < 0.001]. The median values of ROI1, ROI2 and ROI3 were significantly lower in AP compared to HC [97.32 pU (IQR 50.89–121.69) vs 131 pU (IQR 108–135); p < 0.001], [58.68 pU (IQR 37.72–84.92) vs 83 pU (IQR 70–89), p < 0.05] and HC [52.16 (34.47–73.78) vs 85 (78–98), p < 0.001], respectively. The proximal–distal gradient (PDG) was observed in 18 of 40 (45%) AP.

Conclusion
Serum IL33 is higher in AP compared to HC; conversely a reduction of PBP of hands was present in AP compared to HC, probably due to endothelial dysfunction, strictly dependent on acromegaly and are not influenced by the choice of treatment.
Retinal spike train decoder using vector quantization for visual scene reconstruction
Authors: Ma Kunwu , Raj Alex Noel Joseph , Rajangam Vijayarajan , Tjahjadi Tardi , Liu Minying , Zhuang Zhemin 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe retinal impulse signal is the basic carrier of visual information. It records the distribution of light on the retina. However, its direct conversion to a scene image is difficult due to the nonlinear characteristics of its distribution. Therefore, the use of artificial neural network to reconstruct the scene from retinal spikes has become an important research area. This paper proposes the architecture of a neural network based on vector quantization, where the feature vectors of spike trains are extracted, compressed, and stored using a feature extraction and compression network. During the decoding process, the nearest neighbour search method is used to find the nearest feature vector corresponding to each feature vector in the feature map. Finally, a reconstruction network is used to decode a new feature map composed of matching feature vectors to obtain a visual scene. This paper also verifies the impact of vector quantization on the characteristics of pulse signals by comparing experiments and visualizing the characteristics before and after vector quantization. The network delivers promising performance when evaluated on different datasets, demonstrating that this research is of great significance for improving relevant applications in the fields of retinal image processing and artificial intelligence.
Test Setup for Investigating the Impact Behavior of Biaxially Prestressed Composite Laminates
Authors: Pongratz C. , Tix J. , Wolfrum J. , Gerke S. , Ehrlich I. , Brünig M. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractInstrumented impact testing and compression-after-impact testing are important to adequately qualify material behavior and safely design composite structures. However, the stresses to which fiber-reinforced plastic components are typically subjected in practice are not considered in the impact test methods recommended in guidelines or standards. In this paper, a test setup for investigating the impact behavior of composite specimens under plane uniaxial and biaxial preloading is presented. For this purpose, a special test setup consisting of a biaxial testing machine and a specially designed drop-weight tower was developed. The design decisions were derived from existing guidelines and standards with the aim of inducing barely visible impact damage in laminated carbon fiber-reinforced plastic specimens. Several measurement systems have been integrated into the setup to allow comprehensive observation of the impact event and specimen behavior. A feasibility test was performed with biaxially prestressed carbon fiber-reinforced plastic specimens in comparison with unstressed reference tests. The compressive-tensile prestressing resulted in lower maximum contact forces, higher maximum deflections, higher residual deflections and a different damage pattern, which was investigated by light microscopic analysis. Finally, the functionality of the experimental setup is discussed, and the results seem to indicate that the test setup and parameters were properly chosen to investigate the effect of prestresses on the impacts behavior of composite structures, in particular for barely visible subsequent damages.
Effect of natural fractures on mechanical properties and fracture patterns of shale at microscopic scale: an example from the Lower Cambrian Niutitang formation in Qianbei region
Authors: Wu Zhong-Hu , Yang Chao , Zuo Yu-Jun , Lou Yi-Li , Song Huai-Lei , Cui Heng-Tao , Tang Mo-Tian 
Published: February 2024

AbstractIn order to explore the influence of natural fractures on the mechanical properties and failure modes of shale at the micro scale, uniaxial compression numerical experiments were conducted on the shale of the Niutang Formation in northern Guizhou with different natural fracture angles using a rock failure process system and digital image processing technology. It is shown that the compressive strength of shale increases with the increase of natural crack inclination, and the growth rate of shale compressive strength also increases. Shale's microscopic fractures can generally be classified into four categories. The first category is to sprout along the natural cracks to the outside of the shale, and eventually form a crack similar to the "X" type (0°); the second category is to sprout along the natural cracks to the middle and outside of the shale, and eventually form an inverted "Y" type crack (15°, 30°); the third category is to sprout along the natural cracks to the middle and outside of the shale, and eventually form an inverted "Y" type crack (15°, 30°); the second type sprouts along the natural fractures toward the middle and outside of the shale, forming inverted "Y"-type fractures (15°, 30°); the third type cracks along the sides of the natural fractures, forming "Y"-type fractures (45°); and the fourth type does not crack along the natural fractures, forming "S"-type fractures (60°, 75°, and 90°). In the low natural fracture dip shale model, tensile damage mainly occurs, accompanied by a small amount of compressive shear damage; in the high natural fracture dip shale model, tensile damage and compressive shear damage account for a larger proportion in the fracture process.This suggests that the presence of natural cracks in shale has a significant impact on stress distribution. There are two main types of acoustic emission signal distribution and evolutionary features, the evolutionary features of acoustic emission signal distribution are of two types, 0°-45° test and 60°-90° test, and the difference is mainly reflected in the damage stage, the damage of shale with high natural fracture inclination is more intense, which is manifested by the decrease in the number of acoustic emission events, but the level of acoustic emission events in the damage stage is higher, which can reach 61788, 46605 and 94315, the shale with high natural fracture inclination is more brittle.
Damage and hardening evolution characteristics of sandstone under multilevel creep–fatigue loading
Authors: Bichuan Zhang , Yunpei Liang , Quanle Zou , Yanhao Ning , Fanjie Kong 
Published: February 2024

AbstractDuring the operation of artificial underground structures, the surrounding rock experiences fatigue and creep damage caused by several types of disturbances under long-term constant loading. To quantify the mechanical response of sandstone under creep–fatigue loading, a damage–hardening evolution model based on the linear superposition concept is proposed. In the model, coupling is applied to represent the synergistic effect of creep and fatigue. Creep–fatigue tests of sandstone specimens are conducted under multilevel loading. The damage and hardening effects of sandstone under creep–fatigue loading are complex. Hardening is the dominant effect under low creep–fatigue loads, and damage is the dominant effect under high creep–fatigue loads. The strength of the rock specimens undergoes increasing and decreasing trends under this loading path, and the evolution of the Mohr–Coulomb envelope is discussed. The proposed model can be used to describe the test data and the evolution of the creep–fatigue process. With increasing creep–fatigue number, the acoustic emission amplitude, energy, and cumulative counts increase. However, the amplitude is more sensitive than the energy, indicating that it is more suitable for describing creep–fatigue loading. Furthermore, the peak frequencies of the AE signals are mostly distributed in the 0–15 kHz, 15–30 kHz, 30–45 kHz, and 45–55 kHz regions. The signal proportion in the 45–55 kHz zone decreases with the creep–fatigue number. However, other frequency zones increase with the creep–fatigue number. This phenomenon illustrates that the crack scale of the specimens increases with the creep–fatigue number.
Student perspectives on the use of generative artificial intelligence technologies in higher education
Authors: Johnston Heather , Wells Rebecca F. , Shanks Elizabeth M. , Boey Timothy , Parsons Bryony N. 
Published: February 2024

Abstract The aim of this project was to understand student perspectives on generative artificial intelligence (GAI) technologies such as Chat generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT), in order to inform changes to the University of Liverpool Academic Integrity code of practice. The survey for this study was created by a library student team and vetted through focus groups. A total of 2555 students participated in the survey. Results showed that only 7% of students who responded had not heard of any GAI technologies, whilst over half had used or considered using these for academic purposes. The majority of students (54.1%) were supportive or somewhat supportive of using tools such as Grammarly, but 70.4% were unsupportive or somewhat unsupportive towards students using tools such as ChatGPT to write their whole essay. Students who had higher levels of confidence in their academic writing were less likely to use or consider using them for academic purposes, and were also less likely to be supportive of other students using them. Most students (41.1%) also thought there should be a university wide policy on when these technologies are or are not appropriate to use. The results of this research suggest that students require clear policies on the use of GAI and that these technologies should not be banned from university, but consideration must be made to ensure different groups of students have equal access to the technologies.
Feedback-Memory: An approach to promoting the social acceptance of students rarely receiving positive teacher feedback
Authors: Spilles Markus , Huber Christian , Nicolay Philipp 
Published: February 2024

AbstractIn line with social referencing theory, recent studies have revealed that teacher feedback might be an important factor influencing how students are socially accepted by their peers. This study investigates the effects of an intervention aiming to enhance the social acceptance of students rarely receiving positive teacher feedback – the Feedback-Memory approach. Feedback-Memory was designed as a multi-component intervention with 4 elements: 1) Identifying students rarely receiving positive teacher feedback (target students), 2) giving positive teacher feedback to students (especially to the target students) at the end of every lesson, 3) asking classmates to remember positive teacher feedback at the end of the school day, and 4) rewarding students for remembering the teacher feedback content. Two main research questions are investigated within our study: 1) Does playing Feedback-Memory increase the frequency of classmates-perceived positive teacher feedback towards students rarely receiving positive teacher feedback? 2) Does playing Feedback-Memory increase the social acceptance of students rarely receiving positive teacher feedback? Twenty-five classes (fourth grade) and 531 students participated in this study in German elementary schools. Classes were randomly assigned to 10 intervention classes and 15 control classes. In every intervention and control class, the 5 students least likely to be receiving positive teacher feedback were identified. Results of multilevel analysis reveal that the Feedback-Memory intervention significantly enhanced the classmates-perceived positive teacher feedback and the social acceptance of the target students compared to students in the control group and their classmates.
Endophytic community in juvenile Acer pseudoplatanus and pathogenicity of Cryptostroma corticale and other associated fungi under controlled conditions
Authors: Bußkamp Johanna , Bien Steffen , Neumann Leonard , Blumenstein Kathrin , Terhonen Eeva , Langer Gitta Jutta 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe causative agent of sooty bark disease, Cryptostroma corticale, has, for some years, caused increased damage to maples (Acer spp.) in Germany and throughout Europe. It has been stated that this pathogen can occur latently in Acer. In this study, the composition of endophytic fungi of woody stem tissues of sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) saplings were analysed in order to investigate whether C. corticale is present in young, visually healthy maple trees from natural regeneration. The most abundant taxa of the 30 isolated endophytes were Diaporthe cf. rudis and Petrakia irregularis. An association of five fungal species (Biscogniauxia mediterranea, Coniochaeta velutina, Gibellulopsis catenata, Neocucurbitaria quercina, Tangerinosporium thalitricola) with A. pseudoplatanus was reported for the first time. Cryptostroma corticale was not present in the juvenile sycamore stems. Furthermore, its pathogenicity was studied in comparison to other pathogens associated with A. pseudoplatanus, namely Diplodia mutila, Dothiorella sp., Nectria cinnabarina, Neonectria coccinea, Neonectria punicea and Stegonsporium pyriforme. The longest necroses were induced by C. corticale followed by N. coccinea. In a trial with a C. corticale spore suspension sprayed directly on stem bark, the fungus could be re-isolated from woody tissue, however necroses were evoked only when the bark was wounded prior to infection. The results from the experiments presented here function as additional evidence for the ability of C. corticale to establish endophytically within the host and, in particular, for the ability of the fungus to establish a successful infection/entrance through intact bark.
Interactions between a circular city and other sustainable urban typologies: a review
Authors: Pegorin Maria Cristina , Caldeira-Pires Armando , Faria Emilia 
Published: February 2024

AbstractUrban systems play a central role in the transition to the circular economy, and cities' role in consumption makes them essential for sustainable development. The transition to a circular city can help urban centers become consumers of waste and generators of the resources necessary for their maintenance through optimized and prolonged life cycles. In this sense, this article aims to identify the characteristics of a circular city and compare them to other sustainable urban typologies: sustainable city, green city, smart city, resilient city, eco-city, low-carbon city, and city with nature-based solutions. It follows a qualitative approach with a narrative review of the literature in articles from the Scopus database and reports from international organizations. This article demonstrates that a circular city adopts the 10R framework principles of a circular economy by implementing strategies to regenerate, share, optimize, cycle, and replace resources. It also highlights that the study of the methodologies and strategies for transition to a circular city interconnect with all sustainable urban typologies. Thus, the transition to a circular city contributes to urban sustainability in all dimensions.
Energy management strategy for a hybrid micro-grid system using renewable energy
Authors: Ndeke Christian Bipongo , Adonis Marco , Almaktoof Ali 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThis paper introduces an energy management strategy for a hybrid renewable micro-grid system. The efficient operation of a hybrid renewable micro-grid system requires an advanced energy management strategy able to coordinate the complex interactions between different energy sources and loads. This strategy must consider some factors such as weather fluctuations and demand variations. Its significance lies in achieving the overarching objectives of these systems, including optimizing renewable energy utilization, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promoting energy independence, and ensuring grid resilience. The intermittent nature of renewable sources necessitates a predictive approach that anticipates the energy availability and adjusts the system operation. The aim of this study was to develop an energy management system for a hybrid renewable micro-grid system to optimize the deployment of renewable energy resources and increase their integration in the power system. Therefore, the main objective of this work was to develop an energy management strategy that controls the flow of energy between the hybrid micro-grid system and the load connected directly as well as the load connected to the utility grid using MATLAB/Simulink software. The second objective was to control the charging and discharging of the battery. The results show that the developed algorithm was able to control the energy flow between the hybrid micro-grid system and the utility grid and also to ensure a proper relation between the charging /discharging rate of the battery based on their operating conditions. In this application, the battery was charged at higher power. It was seen that a higher charging power enables to fully recharge the battery in a shorter amount of time than usual. The results have shown that it is possible to maximize the charging time by using a greater power and this algorithm ensures the state of charge (SOC) of battery to remain in the admissible limits (between 20 and 100%).
Test of the gravitational redshift with single-photon-based atomic clock interferometers
Authors: Liu Ju , Xu Yaoyao , Luo Huaqing , Cao Lushuai , Zhou Minkang , Duan Xiaochun , Hu Zhongkun 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe gravitational redshift (GR), as predicted by Einstein’s general theory of relativity, posits that two identical clocks situated at different gravitational potentials will tick at different rates. In this study, we explore the impact of the GR on a single-photon-based atom interferometer and propose a corresponding testing scheme. Our approach conceptualizes the atom interferometer as two coherent atomic clocks positioned at distinct elevations, which is referred to as an atomic clock interferometer, allowing us to derive the GR-induced phase shift. This effect becomes significant due to the notable energy difference between the two atomic internal states, comparable to other relativistic effects in single-photon-based atomic clock interferometers. Furthermore, our proposed scheme incorporates the velocity of the laser device to effectively mitigate other relativistic effects. The ensuing analysis indicates an anticipated GR test precision at the 10−5 level for our proposed approach.
Quantum Poisson solver without arithmetic
Authors: Wang Shengbin , Wang Zhimin , Cui Guolong , Shi Shangshang , Shang Ruimin , Li Jiaxin , Li Wendong , Wei Zhiqiang , Gu Yongjian 
Published: February 2024

AbstractSolving differential equations is one of the most promising applications of quantum computing. The Poisson equation has applications in various domains of physics and engineering, including the simulation of ocean current dynamics. Here, we propose an efficient quantum algorithm for solving the one-dimensional Poisson equation based on the controlled Ry rotations. Our quantum Poisson solver (QPS) removes the need for expensive routines such as phase estimation, quantum arithmetic or Hamiltonian simulation. The computational cost of our QPS is 3n in qubits and 5/3n3 in one- and two-qubit gates, where n is the logarithmic of the number of discrete points. An overwhelming reduction of the constant factors of the big-O complexity is achieved, which is critical to evaluate the practicality of implementing the algorithm on a quantum computer. In terms of the error ε, the complexity is log(1/ε) in qubits and poly(log(1/ε)) in operations. The algorithms are demonstrated using a quantum virtual computing system, and the circuits are executed successfully on the IBM real quantum computers. The present QPS could exhibit a potential real-world application for solving differential equations on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices.
Using Data from Uniform Rate Applications for Site-Specific Nitrogen Recommendations
Authors: Park Eunchun , Brorsen B. Wade , Li Xiaofei 
Published: February 2024

AbstractMuch historical yield-monitor data is from fields where a uniform rate of nitrogen was applied. A new approach is proposed using this data to get site-specific nitrogen recommendations. Bayesian methods are used to estimate a linear plateau model where only the plateau is spatially varying. The model is then illustrated by using it to make site-specific nitrogen recommendations for corn production in Mississippi. The in-sample recommendations generated by this approach return an estimated $9/acre on the example field. The long-term goal is to combine this information with other information such as remote sensing measurements.
Excommunication in Postrevolutionary England, 1689–1714
Authors: Jain Pranav 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThis article asks why many divines pushed for reform of the Church of England's use of excommunication after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. In response, it argues that, worried by what they perceived as widespread moral decline and the threat posed by the floodgates of Protestant dissent opened up by the Toleration Act of 1689, clergy became concerned that sentences such as excommunication were ineffective and the church would soon cease to be the chief arbiter of certain offenses. In contrast to existing historiography, this article suggests that the urge for reform was not confined to any particular section of the church. Instead, the reform of excommunication was a shared cause, although there was sharp disagreement about how to pursue it. However, despite enthusiasm for change, efforts for reform floundered because of partisan conflict and the legacy of the Tudor Reformation that continued to shape religious life in England well into the later Stuart period. Examining the debate about excommunication allows us to revise of our understandings of religion and politics in the last decades of the Stuart dynasty and further develop important concepts such as the long Reformation.