bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Improved reproduction of Chelonus inanitus on Ephestia kuehniella highlights this factitious host as an alternative to the natural host Spodoptera littoralis
Authors: Morel Ariel , Sánchez-Ramos Ismael , Medina Pilar , Dáder Beatriz 
Published: February 2024

AbstractChelonus inanitus L. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is an egg-larval parasitoid of Lepidoptera, with the potential for biological control of noctuids. The lack of information merits research on its reproductive and developmental biology. We studied the reproduction of mated parasitoid pairs during female lifetime and the development of the progeny on two hosts, the factitious Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and the natural Spodoptera littoralis Boisduval (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). The longevity of pairs subjected or not to parasitism was compared. Development of the progeny after parasitization and growth rates were studied. Reproduction decreased the longevity of both sexes in every host. The similar survival patterns proved that sex was not a factor influencing longevity. Females parasitized immediately after emergence and offspring production peaked at 2–2.5 days. Low parasitization rates (3–12%) were generally observed. Reproduction on S. littoralis was fourfold less efficient, probably due to failure of immature stages leading to poor progeny. Sex ratio of the progeny was mostly male-biased. Males developed faster in both hosts. Development was 20 days shorter in the natural host. Strikingly, the parasitoid performed successfully better on the factitious host. Inbreeding, poor understanding of host preference, and inadequate rearing and handling practices are discussed as possible causes of the worse parasitoid performance on S. littoralis.
Cause for coercion: cause for concern?
Authors: Smith Maxwell J. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractIn his 2000 book, From Chaos to Coercion: Detention and the Control of Tuberculosis, Richard Coker makes a number of important observations and arguments regarding the use of coercive public health measures in response to infectious disease threats. In particular, Coker argues that we have a tendency to neglect public health threats and then demand immediate action, which can leave policymakers with fewer effective options and may require (or may be perceived as requiring) more aggressive, coercive measures to achieve public health goals. While Coker makes a convincing case as to why we should find it ethically problematic when governments find themselves in this position and resort to coercion, left outstanding is the question of whether this should preclude governments and health authorities from using coercion if and when they do find themselves in this position. In this paper, I argue that, while we should consider it ethically objectionable when governments resort to coercion because they have neglected a public health threat, its causes, and other possible responses to that threat, this should not then necessarily rule out the use of coercion in such circumstances; that there are ethically objectionable antecedents for why coercion is being considered should not necessarily or automatically cause us to think coercion in such cases cannot be justified. I address an objection to this argument and draw several conclusions about how governments’ use of coercion in public health should be evaluated.
Generative Text-to-Image Diffusion for Automated Map Production Based on Geosocial Media Data
Authors: Dunkel Alexander , Burghardt Dirk , Gugulica Madalina 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe state of generative AI has taken a leap forward with the availability of open source diffusion models. Here, we demonstrate an integrated workflow that uses text-to-image stable diffusion at its core to automatically generate icon maps such as for the area of the Großer Garten, a tourist hotspot in Dresden, Germany. The workflow is based on the aggregation of geosocial media data from Twitter, Flickr, Instagram and iNaturalist. This data are used to create diffusion prompts to account for the collective attribution of meaning and importance by the population in map generation. Specifically, we contribute methods for simplifying the variety of contexts communicated on social media through spatial clustering and semantic filtering for use in prompts, and then demonstrate how this human-contributed baseline data can be used in prompt engineering to automatically generate icon maps. Replacing labels on maps with expressive graphics has the general advantage of reaching a broader audience, such as children and other illiterate groups. For example, the resulting maps can be used to inform tourists of all backgrounds about important activities, points of interest, and landmarks without the need for translation. Several challenges are identified and possible future optimizations are described for different steps of the process. The code and data are fully provided and shared in several Jupyter notebooks, allowing for transparent replication of the workflow and adoption to other domains or datasets.
Review of host use and host reproduction number for New World fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) to optimise surveillance, management and trade
Authors: Dominiak Bernard Charles , Follett Peter A. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractHosts of tephritids are known to vary in their capacity to support the life cycle from egg lay to adult. The Host Reproduction Number (HRN) is a measure of this capability and is defined as the number of adults that emerge from one kg of fruit. We collected data from the literature covering 26 New World fruit fly species in the genera, Anastrepha, Bactrocera, Ceratitis and Rhagoletis, on > 350 plant hosts. We provide the HRN where possible but only about 13% of tephritid-host data had HRN figures. More research is required to better understand the risks posed by New World tephritid-host relationships. For the tephritids of the world, there is a need to develop an appendix to ISPM 37 or new ISPM for each tephritid covering different hosts in different countries because one HRN does not fit all situations. A more country-based HRN will help to better inform and triage hosts for targeted surveillance programs, pest management and incursion response. Also, HRN would inform disinfestation activities associated with market access protocols. Therefore, a more HRN informed world will be better able to feed a growing world population using optimised risk management and trade.
Blow-Spun Si3N4-Incorporated Nanofibrous Dressing with Antibacterial, Anti-Inflammatory, and Angiogenic Activities for Chronic Wound Treatment
Authors: Ma Pengchao , Yang Chun-Yi , Li Chengli , Hu Peilun , Yang Fang , Lu Jiaju , Huang Yin-Yuan , Wu Hui , Wu Qiong , Pan Yongwei , Wang Xiumei 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe effective and safe healing of chronic wounds, such as diabetic ulcers, presents a significant clinical challenge due to the adverse microenvironment in the wound that hinders essential processes of wound healing, including angiogenesis, inflammation resolution, and bacterial control. Therefore, there is an urgent demand for the development of safe and cost-effective multifunctional therapeutic dressings. Silicon nitride, with its distinctive antibacterial properties and bioactivities, shows great potential as a promising candidate for the treatment of chronic wounds. In this study, a silicon nitride-incorporated collagen/chitosan nanofibrous dressing (CCS) were successfully fabricated using the solution blow spinning technique (SBS). SBS offers compelling advantages in fabricating uniform nanofibers, resulting in a three-dimensional fluffy nanofibrous scaffold that creates an optimal wound healing environment. This blow-spun nanofibrous dressing exhibits excellent hygroscopicity and breathability, enabling effective absorption of wound exudate. Importantly, the incorporated silicon nitride within the fibers triggers surface chemical reactions in the aqueous environment, leading to the release of bioactive ions that modulate the wound microenvironment. Here, the CCS demonstrated exceptional capabilities in absorbing wound exudate, facilitating water vapor transmission, and displaying remarkable antibacterial properties in vitro and in a rat infected wound model (up to 99.7%, 4.5 × 107 CFU/cm2 for Staphylococcus aureus). Furthermore, the CCS exhibited an enhanced wound closure rate, angiogenesis, and anti-inflammatory effects in a rat diabetic wound model, compared to the control group without silicon nitride incorporation.
Graphical abstract
Effect of the incorporation of spent diatomaceous earths on the properties of alkaline activation cements based on sewage sludge ash
Authors: García-Díaz A. , Bueno-Rodríguez S. , Felipe-Sesé M. A. , Eliche-Quesada D. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe aim of this research is to evaluate the synergistic effect of the incorporation of spent diatomaceous earth (SDE) from beer filtration on the technological properties of alkaline-activated cements (AACs) based on sewage sludge ash (SSA). Pastes have been manufactured by mixing different amounts of precursor, SSA (30–70% by weight) and SDE (30–70% by weight). The cements were activated using a solution of sodium silicate (50% by weight) and sodium hydroxide (50% by weight NaOH with 8 M) as activator. A liquid/binder (l/b) ratio of 1.2 were used for cements with 30–40% by weight of SSA and 1.0 for binders with 50–70% by weight of SSA. The specimens were cured at room temperature for 7, 28 and 56 days. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used for the microstructural characterization of the AACs. The mix proportion of the precursors or the CaO/SiO ratio exerts a substantial impact on the physical, mechanical, and thermal characteristics of the examined AACs. Binders containing 40% by weight SSA and 60% by weight SDE show optimal technological properties, reaching compressive strengths of 32.8 and 36.8 MPa at 28 and 56 days of curing, respectively. This may be due to the formation of different gel types according to SEM analysis: a compact gel phase characterized by a fibrous structure corresponding to the N-(A)-S-H gel surrounding flatter and more uniform zones corresponding to the calcium aluminosilicate gel, C-A-S-H, and a mixed amorphous N,C-A-S-H gel. The results indicated that is possible to produce more sustainable alternative binding materials from the recovery of two types of waste: one from the wastewater treatment, and the other originating from the filtration process in the brewing industry.
Leadership turnover, winning coalition size and foreign policy realignment
Authors: Li Andrew X. , Zha Wen 
Published: February 2024

AbstractWhy do states realign their foreign policies toward a major power? Conventional wisdom holds that change in political leadership tends to result in less drastic foreign policy realignment in countries with large winning coalitions. The current study capitalizes on this conventional wisdom by invoking a key insight of the selectorate theory, the non-linear welfare function. Since the welfare of coalition members falls before it rises as the size of winning coalition becomes larger, one should expect the stabilizing effects of winning coalitions to be the weakest for low-to-medium sized winning coalitions. Thus, leadership turnover in countries with middle-sized winning coalitions is expected to result in greater foreign policy realignment than in countries with very large or very small coalitions. We test this theoretical proposition by studying the foreign policies of 154 countries towards China from 1972 to 2015. With newly constructed measures of leadership turnover and winning coalitions size, the evidence supports a non-linear relationship between change in leadership and foreign policy realignment along the continuum of winning coalition size.
Genomic technologies for detecting structural variations in hematologic malignancies
Authors: Jang Mi-Ae 
Published: February 2024

AbstractGenomic structural variations in myeloid, lymphoid, and plasma cell neoplasms can provide key diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic information while elucidating the underlying disease biology. Several molecular diagnostic approaches play a central role in evaluating hematological malignancies. Traditional cytogenetic diagnostic assays, such as chromosome banding and fluorescence in situ hybridization, are essential components of the current diagnostic workup that guide clinical care for most hematologic malignancies. However, each assay has inherent limitations, including limited resolution for detecting small structural variations and low coverage, and can only detect alterations in the target regions. Recently, the rapid expansion and increasing availability of novel and comprehensive genomic technologies have led to their use in clinical laboratories for clinical management and translational research. This review aims to describe the clinical relevance of structural variations in hematologic malignancies and introduce genomic technologies that may facilitate personalized tumor characterization and treatment.
Politics of creep: Latent development, technology monitoring, and the evolution of the Schengen Information System
Authors: Leese Matthias , Ugolini Vanessa 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe Schengen Information System for law enforcement, border control, and judicial cooperation in the European Union has over the years seen a considerable expansion of the amount and types of data stored and its functionalities, as well as its user base. In light of this transformation from a simple information-sharing tool to a full-blown investigative database, there has, however, been surprisingly little public debate and pushback against the growing surveillance and control capacities that the system enables. This article proposes to understand the largely uncontested evolution of the SIS through the concept of ‘creep’, i.e. the incremental, unforeseen, and/or stealthy development of a technological system beyond what it was originally introduced for. More specifically, it retraces how creep has in the case of the SIS been enabled and facilitated through (1) latent development principles, i.e. the rationale of building dormant features into a system that can be activated at a later point in time once technology has sufficiently matured and/or legal foundations have been adopted; and (2) technology monitoring and steering mechanisms, i.e. the continuous assessment of the readiness of key technologies for anticipated updates to the system as well as interventions in publicly funded research programmes.
White matter tract alterations in schizophrenia identified by DTI-based probabilistic tractography: a multisite harmonisation study
Authors: Jo Young Tak , Joo Sung Woo , Choi Woohyeok , Joe Soohyun , Lee Jungsun 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Introduction:
It has been suggested that schizophrenia involves dysconnectivity between functional brain regions and also the white matter structural disorganisation. Thus, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has widely been used for studying schizophrenia. However, most previous studies have used the region of interest (ROI) based approach. We, therefore, performed the probabilistic tractography method in this study to reveal the alterations of white matter tracts in the schizophrenia brain.

Methods:
A total of four different datasets consisted of 189 patients with schizophrenia and 213 healthy controls were investigated. We performed retrospective harmonisation of raw diffusion MRI data by dMRIharmonisation and used the FMRIB Software Library (FSL) for probabilistic tractography. The connectivities between different ROIs were then compared between patients and controls. Furthermore, we evaluated the relationship between the connection probabilities and the symptoms and cognitive measures in patients with schizophrenia.

Results:
After applying Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons, 11 different tracts showed significant differences between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Many of these tracts were associated with the basal ganglia or cortico-striatal structures, which aligns with the current literature highlighting striatal dysfunction. Moreover, we found that these tracts demonstrated statistically significant relationships with few cognitive measures related to language, executive function, or processing speed.

Conclusion:
We performed probabilistic tractography using a large, harmonised dataset of diffusion MRI data, which enhanced the statistical power of our study. It is important to note that most of the tracts identified in this study, particularly callosal and cortico-striatal streamlines, have been previously implicated in schizophrenia within the current literature. Further research with harmonised data focusing specifically on these brain regions could be recommended.
SOIL CARBON STOCKS NOT LINKED TO ABOVEGROUND LITTER INPUT AND CHEMISTRY OF OLD-GROWTH FOREST AND ADJACENT PRAIRIE
Authors: McFarlane Karis J , Mambelli Stefania , Porras Rachel C , Wiedemeier Daniel B , Schmidt Michael W I , Dawson Todd E , Torn Margaret S 
Published: February 2024

ABSTRACTThe long-standing assumption that aboveground plant litter inputs have a substantial influence on soil organic carbon storage (SOC) and dynamics has been challenged by a new paradigm for SOC formation and persistence. We tested the importance of plant litter chemistry on SOC storage, distribution, composition, and age by comparing two highly contrasting ecosystems: an old-growth coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forest, with highly aromatic litter, and an adjacent coastal prairie, with more easily decomposed litter. We hypothesized that if plant litter chemistry was the primary driver, redwood would store more and older SOC that was less microbially processed than prairie. Total soil carbon stocks to 110 cm depth were higher in prairie (35 kg C m−2) than redwood (28 kg C m−2). Radiocarbon values indicated shorter SOC residence times in redwood than prairie throughout the profile. Higher amounts of pyrogenic carbon and a higher degree of microbial processing of SOC appear to be instrumental for soil carbon storage and persistence in prairie, while differences in fine-root carbon inputs likely contribute to younger SOC in redwood. We conclude that at these sites fire residues, root inputs, and soil properties influence soil carbon dynamics to a greater degree than the properties of aboveground litter.
Interplay of polygenic liability with birth-related, somatic, and psychosocial factors in anorexia nervosa risk: a nationwide study
Authors: Papini Natalie M. , Presseller Emily , Bulik Cynthia M. , Holde Katrine , Larsen Janne T. , Thornton Laura M. , Albiñana Clara , Vilhjálmsson Bjarni J. , Mortensen Preben B. , Yilmaz Zeynep , Petersen Liselotte V. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractBackgroundAlthough several types of risk factors for anorexia nervosa (AN) have been identified, including birth-related factors, somatic, and psychosocial risk factors, their interplay with genetic susceptibility remains unclear. Genetic and epidemiological interplay in AN risk were examined using data from Danish nationwide registers. AN polygenic risk score (PRS) and risk factor associations, confounding from AN PRS and/or parental psychiatric history on the association between the risk factors and AN risk, and interactions between AN PRS and each level of target risk factor on AN risk were estimated.MethodsParticipants were individuals born in Denmark between 1981 and 2008 including nationwide-representative data from the iPSYCH2015, and Danish AN cases from the Anorexia Nervosa Genetics Initiative and Eating Disorder Genetics Initiative cohorts. A total of 7003 individuals with AN and 45 229 individuals without a registered AN diagnosis were included. We included 22 AN risk factors from Danish registers.ResultsRisk factors showing association with PRS for AN included urbanicity, parental ages, genitourinary tract infection, and parental socioeconomic factors. Risk factors showed the expected association to AN risk, and this association was only slightly attenuated when adjusted for parental history of psychiatric disorders or/and for the AN PRS. The interaction analyses revealed a differential effect of AN PRS according to the level of the following risk factors: sex, maternal age, genitourinary tract infection, C-section, parental socioeconomic factors and psychiatric history.ConclusionsOur findings provide evidence for interactions between AN PRS and certain risk-factors, illustrating potential diverse risk pathways to AN diagnosis.
End-to-end deep learning-based framework for path planning and collision checking: bin-picking application
Authors: Ghafarian Tamizi Mehran , Honari Homayoun , Nozdryn-Plotnicki Aleksey , Najjaran Homayoun 
Published: February 2024

AbstractReal-time and efficient path planning is critical for all robotic systems. In particular, it is of greater importance for industrial robots since the overall planning and execution time directly impact the cycle time and automation economics in production lines. While the problem may not be complex in static environments, classical approaches are inefficient in high-dimensional environments in terms of planning time and optimality. Collision checking poses another challenge in obtaining a real-time solution for path planning in complex environments. To address these issues, we propose an end-to-end learning-based framework viz., Path Planning and Collision checking Network (PPCNet). The PPCNet generates the path by computing waypoints sequentially using two networks: the first network generates a waypoint, and the second one determines whether the waypoint is on a collision-free segment of the path. The end-to-end training process is based on imitation learning that uses data aggregation from the experience of an expert planner to train the two networks, simultaneously. We utilize two approaches for training a network that efficiently approximates the exact geometrical collision checking function. Finally, the PPCNet is evaluated in two different simulation environments and a practical implementation on a robotic arm for a bin-picking application. Compared to the state-of-the-art path-planning methods, our results show significant improvement in performance by greatly reducing the planning time with comparable success rates and path lengths.
From treaty to custom: Shifting paths in the recent development of international humanitarian law
Authors: Mantilla Giovanni 
Published: February 2024

AbstractFrom 1864 to the 1970s, international humanitarian law (IHL) changed through the path of formal treaty revision. Since 1977, however, purported changes to IHL have come not from treaty making but from interpretation, particularly through claims about the attainment of customary status by existing treaty rules. This article explains this shift as the result of the attitudes and choices of key IHL stakeholders under the changed conditions of post-Second World War multilateralism. It argues that the turn toward customary law claims-making was a reaction to the negotiation politics and contested outcomes of the 1977 Additional Protocols (APs) to the Geneva Conventions. After 1977, leading actors looked to custom as a means of arresting or encouraging legal change. The resulting, much-expanded IHL has proved influential and authoritative, even if its precise degree of acceptance by states remains unclear.