bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Frequency specific alterations of the degree centrality in patients with acute basal ganglia ischemic stroke: a resting-state fMRI study
Authors: Chen Hao , Zhan Linlin , Li Qianqian , Meng Chaoguo , Quan Xuemei , Chen Xiaoling , Hao Zeqi , Li Jing , Gao Yanyan , Li Huayun , Jia Xize , Li Mengting , Liang Zhijian 
Published: October 2023

AbstractThis study intended to investigate the frequency specific brain oscillation activity in patients with acute basal ganglia ischemic stroke (BGIS) by using the degree centrality (DC) method. A total of 34 acute BGIS patients and 44 healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scanning. The DC values in three frequency bands (conventional band: 0.01–0.08 Hz, slow‑4 band: 0.027–0.073 Hz, slow‑5 band: 0.01–0.027 Hz) were calculated. A two-sample t-test was used to explore the between-group differences in the conventional frequency band. A two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the DC differences between groups (BGIS patients, HCs) and bands (slow‑4, slow‑5). Moreover, correlations between DC values and clinical indicators were performed. In conventional band, the DC value in the right middle temporal gyrus was decreased in BGIS patients compared with HCs. Significant differences of DC were observed between the two bands mainly in the bilateral cortical brain regions. Compared with the HCs, the BGIS patients showed increased DC in the right superior temporal gyrus and the left precuneus, but decreased mainly in the right inferior temporal gyrus, right inferior occipital gyrus, right precentral, and right supplementary motor area. Furthermore, the decreased DC in the right rolandic operculum in slow-4 band and the right superior temporal gyrus in slow-5 band were found by post hoc two-sample t-test of main effect of group. There was no significant correlation between DC values and clinical scales after Bonferroni correction. Our findings showed that the DC changes in BGIS patients were frequency specific. Functional abnormalities in local brain regions may help us to understand the underlying pathogenesis mechanism of brain functional reorganization of BGIS patients.
Malaria & mRNA Vaccines: A Possible Salvation from One of the Most Relevant Infectious Diseases of the Global South
Authors: Borkens Yannick 
Published: October 2023

AbstractMalaria is one of the most dangerous infectious diseases in the world. It occurs in tropical and subtropical regions and affects about 40% of the world´s population. In endemic regions, an estimated 200 million people contract malaria each year. Three-quarters of all global deaths (about 600 per year) are children under 5 years of age. Thus, malaria is one of the most relevant tropical and also childhood diseases in the world. Thanks to various public health measures such as vector control through mosquito nets or the targeted use of insecticides as well as the use of antimalarial prophylaxis drugs, the incidence has already been successfully reduced in recent years. However, to reduce the risk of malaria and to protect children effectively, further measures are necessary. An important part of these measures is an effective vaccination against malaria. However, the history of research shows that the development of an effective malaria vaccine is not an easy undertaking and is associated with some complications. Research into possible vaccines began as early as the 1960s. However, the results achieved were rather sobering and the various vaccines fell short of their expectations. It was not until 2015 that the vaccine RTS,S/AS01 received a positive evaluation from the European Medicines Agency. Since then, the vaccine has been tested in Africa. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, there are new developments in vaccine research that could also benefit malaria research. These include, among others, the so-called mRNA vaccines. Already in the early 1990s, an immune response triggered by an mRNA vaccine was described for the first time. Since then, mRNA vaccines have been researched and discussed for possible prophylaxis. However, it was not until the COVID-19 pandemic that these vaccines experienced a veritable progress. mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 were rapidly developed and achieved high efficacy in studies. Based on this success, it is not surprising that companies are also focusing on other diseases and pathogens. Besides viral diseases, such as influenza or AIDS, malaria is high on this list. Many pharmaceutical companies (including the German companies BioNTech and CureVac) have already confirmed that they are researching mRNA vaccines against malaria. However, this is not an easy task. The aim of this article is to describe and discuss possible antigens that could be considered for mRNA vaccination. However, this topic is currently still very speculative.
Einfluss der Schlafumgebung auf die Schlafqualität bei Gesunden: Untersuchung eines neuartigen Zweimatratzensystems
Authors: Glos Martin , Ossadnik Sarah , Lederer Katharina , Linke Daniela , Salanitro Matthew , Herberger Sebastian , Penzel Thomas , Fietze Ingo 
Published: October 2023

ZusammenfassungZu den bekannten Faktoren für eine gute Schlafqualität in der häuslichen Umgebung zählen die Vermeidung von Immissionen durch Umgebungslärm und Licht, eine optimierte Raumtemperaturgestaltung sowie die Entfernung von schlafstörenden Elementen. Bisher wenig wissenschaftlich untersucht ist dagegen, ob und in welchem Ausmaß die Gestaltung der Matratzen und des Bettsystems, also des Schlafkomforts, einen Einfluss auf den Schlaf haben.In einem randomisierten Cross-over-Design wurde bei n = 30 Schlafgesunde beiden Geschlechts (Alter 44,8 ± 7,7 Jahre) mittels Polysomnographie (PSG) und Fragebögen der Effekt eines ergonomisch neuartigen Zweimatratzensystems (ZMS) auf die Schlafstruktur und die Schlafqualität untersucht und die Ergebnisse mit denen einer Standard-Einzelmatratze (SEM) verglichen.Beim Schlaf auf der Testmatratze ZMS traten im Vergleich zur Referenzmatratze SEM eine höhere prozentuale Menge an REM-Schlaf (p < 0,05) sowie ein geringerer Index von Beinbewegungen pro Stunde Schlaf (LM‑I, p < 0,01) und Index periodischer Beinbewegungen pro Stunde Schlaf (PLM‑I, p < 0,02) auf. Andere PSG-Schlafparameter sowie die subjektive Bewertung der Schlafqualität und anderer Fragebögen-Items unterschieden sich nicht signifikant.In dieser Studie wurde eine selektive Verbesserung der Schlafstruktur durch die Verwendung eines ZMS nachgewiesen. Zur Untersuchung und Beurteilung der klinischen Relevanz von (Langzeit‑)Effekten auf die Schlafqualität gibt es einen Bedarf an weiteren Studien mit großen Fallzahlen in verschiedenen Populationen.
Arthrospira platensis nanoparticle-based approach for efficient removal of methyl orange dye from aqueous solutions: isotherm, kinetic, and thermodynamic analysis
Authors: Alprol Ahmed E. , Khedawy Mohamed , Ashour Mohamed , Thabet Walaa M. 
Published: October 2023

AbstractBlue-green algae Arthrospira platensis, strain NIOF 17/003, is an ecologically friendly were tested as adsorbents for the removal of methyl orange dye (MO) from aqueous solution. The surface deposition of A. platensis was investigated utilizing a variety of techniques, including Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FTIR analysis demonstrated the contribution of carbonyl and carboxylic groups to MO dye adsorption. Different initial concentrations of MO dye (5–30 mg L–1) at contact time (5–180 min.), adsorbent doses (0.05–0.4 g), temperature (20–60 °C), and pH (1–11) were conducted in batch conditions. The results revealed that MO sorption in aqueous solutions increased with contact time and concentration. Temperature also affects MO adsorption. The elimination of MO from the solution augmented as the mass of A. platensis increased. The maximum MO dye sorption onto A. platensis was achieved at 15 mg L−1, 20 °C, 0.4 g, pH 1, for 30 min. A significant quantity of dye can be removed with just 0.1 g of A. platensis, with a removal efficiency of 18.1% and 28.35% for seawater and real wastewater, respectively. Many isotherm equations were used to analyze the experimental results (including Freundlich, Langmuir, Dubinin-Radushkevich, and Temkin models). The maximum adsorption capacity of MO onto A. platensis was 156.25 mg g−1. The fractionary-order kinetic model provided the best fit to experimental data compared with other models. Moreover, the thermodynamic parameters of ΔH° and ΔG° factors showed exothermic as well as spontaneous sorption processes. Additionally, A. platensis can be used more than once for economic gain, and it was found that the percent removal decreased to 89.28% of regeneration after three cycles for synthetic wastewater. These investigations indicate the effectiveness of the blue-green algae A. platensis, which may have significant potential for methyl orange dye applications in wastewater treatment.
Dynamic layer-span connecting spiking neural networks with backpropagation training
Authors: Wang Zijjian , Huang Yuxuan , Zhu Yaqin , Xu Binxing , Chen Long 
Published: October 2023

AbstractSpiking Neural Network (SNN) is one of the mainstream frameworks for brain-like computing and neuromorphic computing, which has the potential to overcome current AI challenges, for example, low-power learning dynamic processes. However, there is still a huge gap in performance between SNN and artificial neural networks (ANN) in traditional supervised learning. One solution for this problem is to propose a better spiking neuron model to improve its memory ability for temporal data. This paper proposed a leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) neuron model with dynamic postsynaptic potential and a layer-span connecting method for SNN trained using backpropagation. The dynamic postsynaptic potential LIF model allows the neurons dynamically release neurotransmitters in an SNN model, which mimics the activity of biological neurons. The layer-span connecting method enhances the long-distance memory ability of SNN. We also first introduced a cosh-based surrogate gradient for the backpropagation training of SNNs. We compared the SNN with cosh-based surrogate gradient (CSNN), CSNN with dynamic postsynaptic potential (Dyn-CSNN), layer-span connecting CSNN (Las-CSNN), and SNN model with all the proposed methods (DlaCSNN-BP) in three image classification and one text classification datasets. The experimental results exhibited that proposed SNN methods could outperform most of the previously proposed SNNs and ANNs in the same network structure. Among them, the proposed DlaCSNN-BP got the best classification performance. This result indicates that our proposed method can effectively improve the effect of SNN in supervised learning and reduce the gap with deep learning. This work also provides more possibilities for putting SNN into practical application.
Religion, Women, and Girls’ Rights in Zimbabwe: the Case of Zimbabwe’s Johanne Marange Apostolic Church
Authors: Dudzai Cornelius , Zvokuomba Kwashirai , Mboko Tarisai Gracious 
Published: October 2023

AbstractThe study sought to understand the position of the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church on women and girls’ rights in Zimbabwe. Engaging in this study came out of the realization that women and girls’ rights are compromised in religious settings and the issue goes on unreported. Deploying a qualitative research methodology framework buttressed by the gendered human rights–based theoretical approach, the study collected empirical evidence through semi-structured in-depth interviews as well as participant observation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty participants — fifteen young women and five males. All the twenty participants were members of the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church. Snowball sampling was used in selecting the participants. It was established that the church doctrine within the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church provides a conducive environment for the abuse of women and the girl child under the guise of ‘sacredness’ of the religious sect. This has been and is still going on unchecked. The study concluded that abuse cases through forced and teen marriages to older men are facilitated by both adult men and women and is highly safeguarded within religious cultism. The study recommends that the government and non-state actors need to enhance child protection services and programmes in religious settings for the purpose of protecting and removing the vulnerabilities of girls within the church by prosecuting perpetrators.
Ethical Prescribing of Psychotropic Medications for People with Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Authors: Deb Shoumitro , Limbu Bharati , Bianco Annamaria , Bertelli Marco 
Published: October 2023

Abstract
Objectives
People with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and autism are subjected to restrictive practices like physical restraint and the overuse of psychotropic medications for challenging behaviour in the absence of a psychiatric disorder. This practice may lead to human rights violations. Rational and evidence-based shared decision-making for person-centred planning will help reduce this practice.

Methods
We have discussed in this paper the issue of the overmedication of people with NDD, explaining how this practice may violate the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Results
We have discussed how the following UN CRPD Articles may be affected by overmedication, including Article 15 (degrading treatment or punishment), 16 (abuse), 17 (the integrity of the person), and 25 (health). The other Articles that may be indirectly affected by this practice are 5 (equality and non-discrimination), 9 (accessibility), 19 (independent living and community inclusion), 21 (access to information), 24 (education), 26 (rehabilitation), 27 (work and employment), 28 (adequate living standard), and 30 (participation in recreation and leisure).

Conclusions
Overmedication of people with NDD, particularly the off-licence use of psychotropics for challenging behaviour, the side effects of these medications impacting the person’s quality of life are likely to violet several UN Articles on Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Following the right guidelines may help reduce these human rights violations.
Static Archetypes and Mobile Mountains: Upland Landscapes in the Historical Mediterranean
Authors: Given Michael 
Published: October 2023

AbstractDeep-seated mythologies and powerful stereotypes have driven perceptions of mountain landscapes for millennia. Particularly damaging is the concept that mountains and mountain societies are static and stable, in both time and place. A critical approach replaces static and simplistic models of mountain practices with interaction among human and ecological communities within lively mountain landscapes. There are challenges to doing archaeological fieldwork in the mountains, but recent projects have shown how rich highland and rugged landscapes can be in archaeological material, particularly when systematic survey and historical analysis are combined with ethnological and ecological approaches. This is particularly productive when exploring the dynamic relationships among pastoralists, their animals, and their upland grazing grounds. Similarly, focusing on practices and socioecological relationships helps in understanding how human emotional connections with mountains can be expressed through everyday action and performance.
“Truth,” “lies,” and beyond: epistemological prerequisites for a constructive political discourse
Authors: Kempf Wilhelm 
Published: October 2023

AbstractBuilding on methodical constructivism, the paper examines the differences between trans-subjectively founded (objective) reality, merely intersubjectively agreed (social) reality, and subjective reality in the narrow sense, and refutes the social constructivist view according to which every representation of reality only offers a distorted image of reality, so that all representations of reality stand side by side on an equal footing. Admitting that socially constructed reality is necessarily selective and therefore an interpreted (meaningful) reality, the paper argues that truth vs. falsehood is not the only criterion by which a construction of reality can be measured. Although the discourse about meanings cannot be a discourse about whether they are true or false, constructions of reality can nonetheless be questioned for their appropriateness for constructive problem solving. Political discourse, however, is all too often not about problem solving, but about gaining power, maintaining power, and using power in order to enforce one’s own positions. Appropriateness then gets replaced by mere expediency, and populist politicians drive this to a perfection in which their careless handling of truth is only the tip of the iceberg. At the base of the iceberg, there is the refusal of coexistence and the destruction of reasonable common ground, and the primary question that arises for social research is that of social pathologies that help populists’ (subjective) reality to become shared by (at least) parts of society.
Partisan niche construction: Out-party affect, geographic sorting, and mate selection
Authors: Arreguin Chano 
Published: October 2023

AbstractPartisans in the American electorate are affectively polarized, which coincides with the tendency for partisan geographic sorting. Could mate selection pressures contribute to this geographic tendency, and how might they interact with out-party affect? I propose a model in which an individual’s perception of their mate success in a niche is key. I argue that perceived mate success is a function of a niche’s partisanship and one’s out-party affect, which in turn, incentivizes sorting. The model is partially tested with conjoint experiments on multiple U.S. samples. Results show that partisans perceive a lower probability of mate success in niches with greater shares of out-partisans and that mate success interacts with negative out-party affect. I also replicate findings on political mate choice preferences with a more appropriate method. Lastly, this project links instrumentality and affect, which is a departure from past work. In doing so, it contributes to research on the consequences of mate pressures for political behavior.
Secular trends in infant feeding practices during the first year of life in Norway: findings from 1998 to 2019 – the Spedkost surveys
Authors: Kristiansen Anne Lene , Myhre Jannicke Borch , Paulsen Mari Mohn , Totland Torunn Holm , Lande Britt , Andersen Lene Frost 
Published: October 2023

AbstractThe aims of the present study were to assess secular trends in breast-feeding and to explore associations between age at introduction of solid foods and breast-feeding duration. Data from three national dietary surveys in Norway were used, including infants born in 1998 (Spedkost 1, n 1537), 2006 (Spedkost 2, n 1490) and 2018 (Spedkost 3, n 1831). In all surveys, around 80 % of the infants were breastfed at 6 months of age. At 12 months of age, breast-feeding rate was 41 % in Spedkost 1, increasing to 48 % in Spedkost 2 and 51 % in Spedkost 3. Compared with earlier introduction, introduction of solid foods at ≥ 5 months of age was associated with a lower risk of breast-feeding cessation during the first year of life in the two most recent Spedkost surveys. In Spedkost 2, the adjusted hazard ratio for breast-feeding cessation during the first year of life for those introduced to solid foods at ≥ 5 months of age was 0·43 (95 % CI (0·31, 0·60)), P < 0·001, while the corresponding number in Spedkost 3 was 0·44 (95 % CI (0·29, 0·67)), P < 0·001. In conclusion, breast-feeding at infant age 12 months increased over time. Introduction of solid foods at ≥ 5 months of age was positively associated with breast-feeding duration in the two most recent Spedkost surveys. As breast-feeding contributes to numerous health benefits for infant and mother, and possibly improved dietary sustainability in infancy, findings point to the importance of continued protection, support and promotion of breast-feeding.
Mutating signed -exceptional sequences
Authors: Buan Aslak Bakke , Marsh Bethany Rose 
Published: October 2023

AbstractWe establish some properties of
$\tau$
-exceptional sequences for finite-dimensional algebras. In an earlier paper, we established a bijection between the set of ordered support
$\tau$
-tilting modules and the set of complete signed
$\tau$
-exceptional sequences. We describe the action of the symmetric group on the latter induced by its natural action on the former. Similarly, we describe the effect on a
$\tau$
-exceptional sequence obtained by mutating the corresponding ordered support
$\tau$
-tilting module via a construction of Adachi-Iyama-Reiten.
The Attempt to Capture the Courts in Israel
Authors: Lurie Guy 
Published: October 2023

AbstractA central element in the Israeli government's agenda to overhaul the judiciary, unveiled in January 2023, is its proposal to give it and its parliamentary coalition control over the selection and promotion of judges. This article shows that this proposal is an attempt to capture the courts. To illustrate this, the article looks at the government's proposal through three different perspectives: first, the perspective of the rationale of the current system of judicial selection, against the background of court governance in Israel and its constitutional system; second, the perspective of changes in Israel's judicial selection system over the past two decades; third, the comparative perspective of trends in judicial selection in other democracies.
Optimal forward guidance in monetary policy: Can central banks sway the public with projections?
Authors: Jensen Christian 
Published: October 2023

AbstractBecause economic outcomes depend on private-sector expectations, central banks might be tempted to guide these by publishing projections of key macroeconomic variables. We find that optimal projections require misleading the public. Optimal non-misleading projections are time-inconsistent. Non-misleading time-consistent projections can only improve policy outcomes if the public’s forecasts are noisier, or inconsistent with implemented policy. Since the public only has incentives to be guided by policymakers’ projections when most vulnerable to being mislead, these cannot be trusted blindly. Consistent with this, we find statistically significant systematic deviations between FOMC projections and professional forecasts for US inflation and GDP growth.
Compact three-way planar power divider with a simple structure
Authors: Tsitsos Stelios P. , Giannenas Ioannis C. 
Published: October 2023

AbstractA simple and compact three-way planar power divider, which avoids the floating common node of the isolation resistors, is presented. The proposed structure exhibits a wideband operation (measured frequency range of 1.6–3.3 GHz and bandwidth of 69.4%) with good return loss and isolation characteristics. Transmission line theory is used for the mathematical analysis and extraction of design equations, followed by simulations and experimental measurements that confirm the predicted results. The proposed divider achieves an equal power split (∼32%, −4.9 ± 0.4 dB insertion loss) between the input and each output port. The measured return loss is better than −10 dB at all ports, and the measured maximum isolation is close to −30 dB. The proposed design exhibits a fully planar structure, thus eliminating the need for a floating common node for the isolation resistors. Additionally, its structure is much simpler (i.e., no coupled lines, crossovers, or lumped capacitors are required) than other designs, achieves wideband operation, and provides design simplicity, flexibility, and easy implementation. Despite its simple noncomplicated structure, the proposed three-way planar divider achieves similar (or in some cases, better) performance and size than other more complicated structures. Furthermore, it can be expanded to an n-way structure.