bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Discursive scaling of solidarity through difference: Experiences of African women in the African diaspora
Authors: Wawire Gorrety Nafula 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Drawing on data generated from a two-year ethnographic observation with a group of multiethnic Black women, this investigation delves into the ways they employ discursive and linguistic strategies, namely solidarity through difference and distinction, solidarity through denaturalizing difference, and solidarity through shared struggles and learning in deictically anchored interactions. The study presents a moment-by-moment analysis of culturally and socially situated conversations. These conversations allow us to see how the social actors enact different stance-taking and scaling practices to construct meanings about race that intersect with gender/transnational identities. Discursive practices show that when we closely attend to race, transnationalism, and gender, specifically considering the particularity of Black womanhood, new and more complex ways of understanding transnational identity formation emerge. Participants’ constructions indicate that women co-construct a unique brand of Black feminist solidarity that is not based on similarity but meaningfully created through differentiation and distinction. (Black immigrant women, solidarity, stance-taking, scaling and deixis difference, African diaspora, intersectionality)*
Exploring symptom clusters in mild cognitive impairment and dementia with the NIH Toolbox
Authors: Tyner Callie E. , Boulton Aaron J. , Slotkin Jerry , Cohen Matthew L. , Weintraub Sandra , Gershon Richard C. , Tulsky David S. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractObjective:Symptom clustering research provides a unique opportunity for understanding complex medical conditions. The objective of this study was to apply a variable-centered analytic approach to understand how symptoms may cluster together, within and across domains of functioning in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia, to better understand these conditions and potential etiological, prevention, and intervention considerations.Method:Cognitive, motor, sensory, emotional, and social measures from the NIH Toolbox were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) from a dataset of 165 individuals with a research diagnosis of either amnestic MCI or dementia of the Alzheimer’s type.Results:The six-factor EFA solution described here primarily replicated the intended structure of the NIH Toolbox with a few deviations, notably sensory and motor scores loading onto factors with measures of cognition, emotional, and social health. These findings suggest the presence of cross-domain symptom clusters in these populations. In particular, negative affect, stress, loneliness, and pain formed one unique symptom cluster that bridged the NIH Toolbox domains of physical, social, and emotional health. Olfaction and dexterity formed a second unique cluster with measures of executive functioning, working memory, episodic memory, and processing speed. A third novel cluster was detected for mobility, strength, and vision, which was considered to reflect a physical functioning factor. Somewhat unexpectedly, the hearing test included did not load strongly onto any factor.Conclusion:This research presents a preliminary effort to detect symptom clusters in amnestic MCI and dementia using an existing dataset of outcome measures from the NIH Toolbox.
Wideband millimeter-wave reflectarray antenna with reduced cross-polarization
Authors: Sathyanarayanan Vidhyashree , Alsath Mohammed Gulam Nabi , Savarimuthu Kirubaveni , Kanagasabai Malathi 
Published: February 2024

AbstractA novel wideband reflectarray antenna (RA) is designed for 5G millimeter (mm) wave communications in the frequency range of 26.5–36 GHz. The proposed unit cell is constructed using a grid periodicity of 0.52${{\lambda }_0}{ }$ that offers 636° phase change through phase delay lines (PDLs) (${{\theta }_{\text{s}}}$). These PDLs are attached to the outer end of the unit cell comprising semi-circular rings. Bandwidth enhancement is achieved by incorporating a corrugated slot technique and a suitable air gap beneath the substrate. The proposed center-fed reflectarray is composed of 513 elements distributed in a circular aperture (13.46${{\lambda }_0}$). Using mirror-symmetrical distribution of the unit cells, a cross-polarization reduction as low as −50 dB is realized. At 30 GHz, RA has a measured peak gain of 28.2 dBi, a sidelobe level of −14.3 dB, and an aperture efficiency of 31.4%. The prototype antenna is fabricated, and the simulation results are experimentally validated. The measured 1-dB and 3-dB gain bandwidths of the proposed reflectarray antenna are 31.3% and 41.6%, respectively. The proposed broadband reflectarray can be a potential choice for inter-satellite services like inter-satellite networking/satellite positioning and control; fixed satellite services such as GPS satellite synchronization and data direct to home TV; and satellite position fixing.
Seismic Anisotropy of Mafic Blueschists: EBSD‐Based Constraints From the Exhumed Rock Record
Authors: Ott Jason N. , Condit Cailey B. , Schulte‐Pelkum Vera , Bernard Rachel , Pec Matej 
Published: February 2024

AbstractSeismic anisotropy constitutes a useful tool for imaging the structure along the plate interface in subduction zones, but the seismic properties of mafic blueschists, a common rock type in subduction zones, remain poorly constrained. We applied the technique of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) based petrofabric analysis to calculate the seismic anisotropies of 14 naturally deformed mafic blueschists at dry, ambient conditions. The ductilely deformed blueschists were collected from terranes with inferred peak P‐T conditions applicable to subducting slabs at or near the plate interface in active subduction zones. Epidote blueschists display the greatest P wave anisotropy range (AVp ∼7%–20%), while lawsonite blueschist AVp ranges from ∼2% to 10%. S wave anisotropies generate shear wave splitting delay times up to ∼0.1 s over a thickness of 5 km. AVp magnitude increases with glaucophane abundance (from areal EBSD measurements), decreases with increasing epidote or lawsonite abundance, and is enhanced by glaucophane crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) strength. Two‐phase rock recipe models provide further evidence of the primary role of glaucophane, epidote, and lawsonite in generating blueschist seismic anisotropy. The symmetry of P wave velocity patterns reflects the deformation‐induced CPO type in glaucophane—an effect previously observed for hornblende on amphibolite P wave anisotropy. The distinctive seismic properties that distinguish blueschist from other subduction zone rock types and the strong correlation between anisotropy magnitude/symmetry and glaucophane CPO suggest that seismic anisotropy may be a useful tool in mapping the extent and deformation of blueschists along the interface, and the blueschist‐eclogite transition in active subduction zones.
Dynamical Importance of the Trade Wind Inversion in Suppressing the Southeast Pacific ITCZ
Authors: Gonzalez Alex O. , Ganguly Indrani , Osterloh Marissa , Cesana Gregory V. , DeMott Charlotte A. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractSea surface temperature (SST) gradients are a primary driver of low‐level wind convergence in the east Pacific Inter‐Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) through their hydrostatic relationship to the surface pressure gradient force (PGF). However, the surface PGF may not always align with SST gradients due to variations in boundary layer temperature gradients with height, that is, the boundary layer contribution to the surface PGF. In this study, we investigate the observed northern hemisphere position of the east Pacific ITCZ using a slab boundary layer model (SBLM) driven by different approximations of the boundary layer virtual temperature field. SBLM simulations using the entire boundary layer virtual temperature profile produce a realistic northern hemisphere ITCZ. However, SST‐only simulations produce excessive equatorial divergence and southern hemisphere convergence, resulting in a latitudinally confined double ITCZ‐like structure. Observed virtual temperature gradients highlight the importance of northward temperature gradients strengthening with height from the equator to 15°S below the trade wind inversion (TWI). Our interpretation is that the equatorial cold tongue induces relatively weak high surface pressure and double ITCZ‐like convergence because the resulting layer of cold air is shallow. Concurrently, relatively strong high surface pressure spreads out in the southern hemisphere due to interactions between stratocumulus clouds and the ocean surface. Together, the equatorial cold tongue and the TWI/stratocumulus clouds enable a more northern hemisphere dominant ITCZ. Thus, we provide evidence of a dynamical link between the equatorial cold tongue, low clouds, and double ITCZs, which continue to be problematic in Earth system models.
Microbiota–gut–brain axis and its therapeutic applications in neurodegenerative diseases
Authors: Loh Jian Sheng , Mak Wen Qi , Tan Li Kar Stella , Ng Chu Xin , Chan Hong Hao , Yeow Shiau Hueh , Foo Jhi Biau , Ong Yong Sze , How Chee Wun , Khaw Kooi Yeong 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe human gastrointestinal tract is populated with a diverse microbial community. The vast genetic and metabolic potential of the gut microbiome underpins its ubiquity in nearly every aspect of human biology, including health maintenance, development, aging, and disease. The advent of new sequencing technologies and culture-independent methods has allowed researchers to move beyond correlative studies toward mechanistic explorations to shed light on microbiome–host interactions. Evidence has unveiled the bidirectional communication between the gut microbiome and the central nervous system, referred to as the “microbiota–gut–brain axis”. The microbiota–gut–brain axis represents an important regulator of glial functions, making it an actionable target to ameliorate the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of the microbiota–gut–brain axis in neurodegenerative diseases. As the gut microbiome provides essential cues to microglia, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes, we examine the communications between gut microbiota and these glial cells during healthy states and neurodegenerative diseases. Subsequently, we discuss the mechanisms of the microbiota–gut–brain axis in neurodegenerative diseases using a metabolite-centric approach, while also examining the role of gut microbiota-related neurotransmitters and gut hormones. Next, we examine the potential of targeting the intestinal barrier, blood–brain barrier, meninges, and peripheral immune system to counteract glial dysfunction in neurodegeneration. Finally, we conclude by assessing the pre-clinical and clinical evidence of probiotics, prebiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation in neurodegenerative diseases. A thorough comprehension of the microbiota–gut–brain axis will foster the development of effective therapeutic interventions for the management of neurodegenerative diseases.
Reduced progranulin increases tau and α-synuclein inclusions and alters mouse tauopathy phenotypes via glucocerebrosidase
Authors: Takahashi Hideyuki , Bhagwagar Sanaea , Nies Sarah H. , Ye Hongping , Han Xianlin , Chiasseu Marius T. , Wang Guilin , Mackenzie Ian R. , Strittmatter Stephen M. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractComorbid proteinopathies are observed in many neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), increase with age, and influence clinical outcomes, yet the mechanisms remain ill-defined. Here, we show that reduction of progranulin (PGRN), a lysosomal protein associated with TDP-43 proteinopathy, also increases tau inclusions, causes concomitant accumulation of α-synuclein and worsens mortality and disinhibited behaviors in tauopathy mice. The increased inclusions paradoxically protect against spatial memory deficit and hippocampal neurodegeneration. PGRN reduction in male tauopathy attenuates activity of β-glucocerebrosidase (GCase), a protein previously associated with synucleinopathy, while increasing glucosylceramide (GlcCer)-positive tau inclusions. In neuronal culture, GCase inhibition enhances tau aggregation induced by AD-tau. Furthermore, purified GlcCer directly promotes tau aggregation in vitro. Neurofibrillary tangles in human tauopathies are also GlcCer-immunoreactive. Thus, in addition to TDP-43, PGRN regulates tau- and synucleinopathies via GCase and GlcCer. A lysosomal PGRN–GCase pathway may be a common therapeutic target for age-related comorbid proteinopathies.
Causal phase-dependent control of non-spatial attention in human prefrontal cortex
Authors: Brus Jeroen , Heng Joseph A. , Beliaeva Valeriia , Gonzalez Pinto Fabian , Cassarà Antonino Mario , Neufeld Esra , Grueschow Marcus , Imbach Lukas , Polanía Rafael 
Published: February 2024

AbstractNon-spatial attention is a fundamental cognitive mechanism that allows organisms to orient the focus of conscious awareness towards sensory information that is relevant to a behavioural goal while shifting it away from irrelevant stimuli. It has been suggested that attention is regulated by the ongoing phase of slow excitability fluctuations of neural activity in the prefrontal cortex, a hypothesis that has been challenged with no consensus. Here we developed a behavioural and non-invasive stimulation paradigm aiming at modulating slow excitability fluctuations of the inferior frontal junction. Using this approach, we show that non-spatial attention can be selectively modulated as a function of the ongoing phase of exogenously modulated excitability states of this brain structure. These results demonstrate that non-spatial attention relies on ongoing prefrontal excitability states, which are probably regulated by slow oscillatory dynamics, that orchestrate goal-oriented behaviour.
The influence of climatic and environmental variables on sunflower planting season suitability in Tanzania
Authors: Beteri John , Lyimo James Godfrey , Msinde John Victor 
Published: February 2024

AbstractCrop survival and growth requires identification of correlations between appropriate suitable planting season and relevant climatic and environmental characteristics. Climatic and environmental conditions may cause water and heat stress at critical stages of crop development and thus affecting planting suitability. Consequently, this may affect crop yield and productivity. This study assesses the influence of climate and environmental variables on rain-fed sunflower planting season suitability in Tanzania. Data on rainfall, temperature, slope, elevation, soil and land use/or cover were accessed from publicly available sources using Google Earth Engine. This is a cloud-based geospatial computing platform for remote sensed datasets. Tanzania sunflower production calendar of 2022 was adopted to mark the start and end limits of planting across the country. The default climate and environmental parameters from FAO database were used. In addition, Pearson correlation was used to evaluate the relationship between rainfall, temperature over Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from 2000 to 2020 at five-year interval for January-April and June–September, for high and poor suitability season. The results showed that planting suitability of sunflower in Tanzania is driven more by rainfall than temperature. It was revealed that intra-annual planting suitability increases gradually from short to long- rain season and diminishes towards dry season of the year. January-April planting season window showing highest suitability (41.65%), whereas June–September indicating lowest suitability (0.05%). Though, not statistically significant, rainfall and NDVI were positively correlated with r = 0.65 and 0.75 whereas negative correlation existed between temperature and NDVI with r = -− 0.6 and − 0.77. We recommend sunflower subsector interventions that consider appropriate intra-regional and seasonal diversity as an important adaptive mechanism to ensure high sunflower yields.
Effective lung nodule detection using deep CNN with dual attention mechanisms
Authors: UrRehman Zia , Qiang Yan , Wang Long , Shi Yiwei , Yang Qianqian , Khattak Saeed Ullah , Aftab Rukhma , Zhao Juanjuan 
Published: February 2024

AbstractNovel methods are required to enhance lung cancer detection, which has overtaken other cancer-related causes of death as the major cause of cancer-related mortality. Radiologists have long-standing methods for locating lung nodules in patients with lung cancer, such as computed tomography (CT) scans. Radiologists must manually review a significant amount of CT scan pictures, which makes the process time-consuming and prone to human error. Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems have been created to help radiologists with their evaluations in order to overcome these difficulties. These systems make use of cutting-edge deep learning architectures. These CAD systems are designed to improve lung nodule diagnosis efficiency and accuracy. In this study, a bespoke convolutional neural network (CNN) with a dual attention mechanism was created, which was especially crafted to concentrate on the most important elements in images of lung nodules. The CNN model extracts informative features from the images, while the attention module incorporates both channel attention and spatial attention mechanisms to selectively highlight significant features. After the attention module, global average pooling is applied to summarize the spatial information. To evaluate the performance of the proposed model, extensive experiments were conducted using benchmark dataset of lung nodules. The results of these experiments demonstrated that our model surpasses recent models and achieves state-of-the-art accuracy in lung nodule detection and classification tasks.
Optimising peak energy reduction in networks of buildings
Authors: Poghosyan A. , McCullen N. , Natarajan S. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractBuildings are amongst the world’s largest energy consumers and simultaneous peaks in demand from networks of buildings can decrease electricity system stability. Current mitigation measures either entail wasteful supply-side over-specification or complex centralised demand-side control. Hence, a simple schema is developed for decentralised, self-organising building-to-building load coordination that requires very little information exchange and no top-down management—analogous to other complex systems with short range interactions, such as coordination between flocks of birds or synchronisation in fireflies. Numerical and experimental results reveal that a high degree of peak flattening can be achieved using surprisingly small load-coordination networks. The optimum reductions achieved by the simple schema can outperform existing techniques, giving substantial peak-reductions as well as being remarkably robust to changes in other system parameters such as the interaction network topology. This not only demonstrates that significant reductions in network peaks are achievable using remarkably simple control systems but also reveals interesting theoretical results and new insights which will be of great interest to the complexity and network science communities.
Impact of artisanal refining activities on bacterial diversity in a Niger Delta fallow land
Authors: Fenibo Emmanuel Oliver , Nkuna Rosina , Matambo Tonderayi 
Published: February 2024

AbstractHydrocarbon pollution is a major ecological problem facing oil-producing countries, especially in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In this study, a site that had been previously polluted by artisanal refining activity was investigated using 16S rRNA Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology and bioinformatics tools. These were used to investigate the bacterial diversity in soil with varying degrees of contamination, determined with a gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Soil samples were collected from a heavily polluted (HP), mildly polluted (MP), and unpolluted (control sample, CS) portion of the study site. DNA was extracted using the Zymo Research (ZR) Fungi/Bacteria DNA MiniPrep kit, followed by PCR amplification and agarose gel electrophoresis. The microbiome was characterized based on the V3 and V4 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene. QIIME (Quantitative Insights Into Microbial Ecology) 2 software was used to analyse the sequence data. The final data set covered 20,640 demultiplexed high-quality reads and a total of 160 filtered bacterial OTUs. Proteobacteria dominated samples HP and CS, while Actinobacteria dominated sample MP. Denitratisoma, Pseudorhodoplanes, and Spirilospora were the leading genera in samples HP, CS, and MP respectively. Diversity analysis indicated that CS [with 25.98 ppm of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH)] is more diverse than HP (with 490,630 ppm of TPH) and MP (with 5398 ppm of TPH). A functional prediction study revealed that six functional modules dominated the dataset, with metabolism covering up to 70%, and 11 metabolic pathways. This study demonstrates that a higher hydrocarbon concentration in soil adversely impacts microbial diversity, creating a narrow bacterial diversity dominated by hydrocarbon-degrading species, in addition to the obvious land and ecosystem degradation caused by artisanal refining activities. Overall, the artisanal refining business is significantly driving ecosystem services losses in the Niger Delta, which calls for urgent intervention, with focus on bioremediation.
Dynamic facial emotion recognition and affective prosody recognition are associated in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy
Authors: Metternich Birgitta , Gehrer Nina , Wagner Kathrin , Geiger Maximilian J. , Schütz Elisa , Seifer Britta , Schulze-Bonhage Andreas , Schönenberg Michael 
Published: February 2024

AbstractDeficits in facial emotion recognition have frequently been established in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). However, static, rather than dynamic emotion recognition paradigms have been applied. Affective prosody has been insufficiently studied in TLE, and there is a lack of studies investigating associations between auditory and visual emotion recognition. We wished to investigate potential deficits in a dynamic morph task of facial emotion recognition and in an affective prosody recognition task, as well as associations between both tasks. 25 patients with TLE and 24 healthy controls (CG) performed a morph task with faces continuously changing in their emotional intensity. They had to press a button, as soon as they were able to recognize the emotion expressed, and label it accordingly. In the auditory task, subjects listened to neutral sentences spoken in varying emotional tones, and labeled the emotions. Correlation analyses were conducted across both tasks. TLE patients showed significantly reduced prosody recognition compared to CG, and in the morph task, there was a statistical trend towards significantly reduced performance for TLE. Recognition rates in both tasks were significantly associated. TLE patients show deficits in affective prosody recognition, and they may also be impaired in a morph task with dynamically changing facial expressions. Impairments in basic social-cognitive tasks in TLE seem to be modality-independent.