bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Exploring Chinese Strong Base Plan Policy Development in Pilot Universities: a Policy Implementation Analysis
Authors: Zhang Xinyao , Li Jian 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
The strong base plan considers both college entrance examination results and comprehensive quality. It changes the practice of paying attention to subject knowledge in independent enrollment assessment. Based on the analysis of the training implementation of 36 colleges and universities in the pilot program, it is found that all colleges and universities have implemented the training programs and incentive mechanisms targeted by the Strong Base plan from various fields and have also made appropriate adjustments according to the disciplinary specialties and cultural traditions of different colleges and universities. Therefore, to further explore the implementation effect of the strong base plan, we should establish a long-term tracking mechanism and conduct more in-depth research on the participants of the strong base plan, so that we can get a glimpse of the overall implementation of the strong base plan.
Advocating Strong Base Plan for Creating World-Class Universities in Chinese Higher Education System: Problems and Strategies
Authors: Li Jian , Wei Yukai 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
Strong Base Plan is committed to exploring multiple admission mechanisms for creating world-class universities, promoting the common resonance of basic education and higher education, and bringing comprehensive quality into the evaluation system is a breakthrough. As an important recruitment institution under the Strong Base plan, the competency of colleges and universities is the key factor affecting the enrollment effect. Due to the unclear employment of basic subjects, students cannot change their major after entering the program, and the long training cycle and other practical factors, the countermeasures and suggestions should include to further strengthen the supervision of all dimensions and improve the social accountability mechanism, strengthen overall planning and coordination to provide guarantee for students’ export and implement follow-up evaluation to promote continuous improvement.
Shaping Strong Base Plan in Chinese Higher Education Reform: a Policy Forecasting Perspective
Authors: Li Jian , Li Kun 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
As a pilot program of enrollment reform, the strong Base plan is more of an exploration of the cultivation path of top innovative talents. It needs to achieve self-improvement and innovation during challenges, constantly standardize the rights and obligations of each subject in the process of policy implementation, constantly clarify the content and standards of college entrance examination and comprehensive evaluation, and constantly improve the connection between each link, to ensure that the purpose and effect of the strong base plan are basically the same. It is a long way to go for the “Strong Base Plan” to explore a way to cultivate top-notch innovative talents with Chinese characteristics. It is necessary to coordinate and cooperate with various departments of planning, finance, human resources and social security, science, and technology, increase policy preference and resource investment, effectively improve the treatment and status of talents in basic disciplines.
Scaling Greater Heights in Higher Education Through Boundary-Spanning-Based University-Industry Collaboration: the ‘Four New’ Project in China
Authors: Zhuang Tengteng 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
China’s ‘Four New Project’ initiative has been a major attempt to achieve quality revolution in higher education since 2017. Underpinning it are comprehensive strategies coordinating multiple stakeholders to span boundaries and develop a synergistic approach for collaborative education. This paper teases out China’s national policies and measures to develop a leadership-oriented innovation ecosystem for higher education, drawing upon boundary-spanning perspectives of various practices in engineering education, medical education, agriculture education, and liberal arts education. It unravels how stakeholders with different interest pursuits have been coordinated to jointly fuel the reform to China’s higher education talent cultivation patterns in response to the demands of Industry 4.0 and Biomedicine 3.0. The findings render visible the macro changes in higher education institutions across tiers, types and fields, and also unravel the project’s robust effects on teaching and learning at micro level. Challenges are also discussed to shed light upon space of improvement.
Integration or Re-mobility: Exploring the Typology of Academic Returnees’ Post-return Experiences in Chinese Universities from the Cultural Assimilation Perspective
Authors: Chen Jiaxin , Du Xiaoxin 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
In this century, Chinese overseas-educated academics have been attracted to return to their homeland to reverse the brain drain trend in China. However, many studies have found that these academic returnees may face difficulty reintegrating upon returning. This study examines the complexity of academic returnees’ post-return integration process in Chinese universities via the cultural assimilation theory perspective. Twenty-nine in-depth semi-structured interviews with academic returnees from eight top universities in Shanghai and Guangzhou were conducted. In our analysis, academic returnees perceived two obstacles to their cultural integration after returning: the mismatch in valuing research outputs and the barriers to forming a trustworthy local research community. According to their reactions to perceived challenges and given rationales, we categorized returnees’ post-return integration processes into three patterns: integration, enclavement, and self-separation. We suggest that institutionalized practices to cultivate mutual understandings between returnees and local academia regarding overseas-developed academic culture and its distinction with dominant values and norms in the local academic community are imperative to facilitate academic returnees’ post-return integration.
Modulations of Madden–Julian Oscillation and Quasi-Biweekly Oscillation on Early Summer Tropical Cyclone Genesis over the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea
Authors: Chen Weizhen , Ho Chang-Hoi , Yang Song , Wu Zeming , Chen Hongjing 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
The Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) and the quasi-biweekly oscillation (QBWO) are prominent components of the intraseasonal oscillations over the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean. This study examines the tropical cyclone (TC) genesis over the Bay of Bengal (BOB) and the South China Sea (SCS) on an intraseasonal scale in May–June during 1979–2021. Results show that the convection associated with the two types of intraseasonal oscillations simultaneously modulates TC genesis in both ocean basins. As the MJO/QBWO convection propagated, TCs form alternately over the two basins, with a significant increase (decrease) in TC genesis frequency in the convective (nonconvective) MJO/QBWO phase. Based on the anomalous genesis potential index associated with the MJO/QBWO, an assessment of the influence of various factors on TC genesis is further assessed. Middle-level relative humidity and lower-level relative vorticity play key roles in the MJO/QBWO modulation on TC genesis. The MJO primarily enhances large-scale cross-equatorial moisture transport, resulting in significant moisture convergence, while the QBWO generally strengthens the monsoon trough and induces the retreat of the western North Pacific subtropical high, increasing the regional lower-level relative vorticity. The potential intensity and vertical wind shear make small or negative contributions. This study provides insights into the neighboring basin TC relationship at intraseasonal scales, which has a potential to improve the short-term prediction of regional TC activity.

Significance Statement
The Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) and the quasi-biweekly oscillation (QBWO) are two types of intraseasonal tropical atmospheric oscillations. The development of tropical cyclones (TCs) is often accompanied by intraseasonal convection. This study highlights the distinct roles of MJO and QBWO in TC genesis over the South Asian marginal seas (e.g., Bay of Bengal and South China Sea). The QBWO can co-regulate TC genesis along with the background of the MJO, where the large-scale MJO mainly provides moisture, while the small-scale QBWO mainly contributes to vorticity. These findings provide useful information for subseasonal TCs forecasting. There are many developing countries along the South Asian marginal seacoast; therefore, further research on regional TC climate would help effectively reduce casualties and property damage.
Climatology of the Elevated Mixed Layer over the Contiguous United States and Northern Mexico Using ERA5: 1979–2021
Authors: Andrews Margo S. , Gensini Vittorio A. , Haberlie Alex M. , Ashley Walker S. , Michaelis Allison C. , Taszarek Mateusz 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
Elevated mixed layers (EMLs) influence the severe convective storm climatology in the contiguous United States (CONUS), playing an important role in the initiation, sustenance, and suppression of storms. This study creates a high-resolution climatology of the EML to analyze variability and potential changes in EML frequency and characteristics for the first time. An objective algorithm is applied to ERA5 to detect EMLs, defined in part as layers of steep lapse rates (≥8.0°C km−1) at least 200 hPa thick, in the CONUS and northern Mexico from 1979 to 2021. EMLs are most frequent over the Great Plains in spring and summer, with a standard deviation of 4–10 EML days per year highlighting sizable interannual variability. Mean convective inhibition associated with the EML’s capping inversion suggests many EMLs prohibit convection, although—like nearly all EML characteristics—there is considerable spread and notable seasonal variability. In the High Plains, statistically significant increases in EML days (4–5 more days per decade) coincide with warmer EML bases and steeper EML lapse rates, driven by warming and drying in the low levels of the western CONUS during the study period. Additionally, increases in EML base temperatures result in significantly more EML-related convective inhibition over the Great Plains, which may continue to have implications for convective storm frequency, intensity, severe perils, and precipitation if this trend persists.

Significance Statement
Elevated mixed layers (EMLs) play a role in the spatiotemporal frequency of severe convective storms and precipitation across the contiguous United States and northern Mexico. This research creates a detailed EML climatology from a modern reanalysis dataset to uncover patterns and potential changes in EML frequency and associated meteorological characteristics. EMLs are most common over the Great Plains in spring and summer, but show significant variability year-to-year. Robust increases in the number of days with EMLs have occurred since 1979 across the High Plains. Lapse rates associated with EMLs have trended steeper, in part due to warmer EML base temperatures. This has resulted in increasing EML convective inhibition, which has important implications for regional climate.
Oceanic Frontal Turbulence
Authors: Sullivan Peter P. , McWilliams James C. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
Upper-ocean turbulence results from a complex set of interactions between submesoscale turbulence and local boundary layer processes. The interaction between larger-scale currents and turbulent fluctuations is two-way: large-scale shearing motions generate turbulence, and the resulting coherent turbulent fluxes of momentum and buoyancy feed back onto the larger flow. Here we examine the evolution and role of turbulence in the intensification, instability, arrest, and decay (i.e., the life cycle) of a dense filament undergoing frontogenesis in the upper-ocean boundary layer, i.e., cold filament frontogenesis (CFF). This phenomenon is examined in large-eddy simulations (LES) with resolved turbulent motions in large horizontal domains using 109 grid points. The boundary layer turbulence is generated by surface buoyancy loss (cooling flux) and is allowed to freely interact with an initially imposed cold filament, and the evolution is followed through the frontal life cycle. Two control parameters are explored: the initial frontal strength M2 = ∂xb and the surface flux . The former is more consequent: initially weaker fronts sharpen more slowly and become arrested at a later time with a larger width. This reflects a competition between the frontogenetic rate induced by the secondary circulation associated with vertical momentum mixing by the turbulence and the instability rate for the along-filament shear flow. The frontal turbulence is energized by the shear production of the latter, is nonlocally transported away from the primary production zone at the filament centerline, and cascades to dissipation in a broad region surrounding the filament. The turbulent momentum fluxes arresting the frontogenesis are supported across a wide range of horizontal scales.
Note on the Beam Structure in Step-Trapped Internal Tides
Authors: Sanders Paul A. , Dorrestijn Martijn D. , Gerkema Theo 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
The along-slope propagation of subinertial trapped internal tides is studied for the configuration of a simple step. It is revealed that they form a beam structure in the along-slope direction that is evanescent above the top of the step; these beams lack strict periodicity in the along-slope direction. As in classical internal Kelvin waves, they become less sharp away from the step, as higher modes decay more rapidly in the cross-slope direction. We discuss implications for abyssal mixing and outline the necessary ingredients for their generation.
A Weighted Adaptive Range-Averaging Technique to Improve the Precision Consistency of Polarimetric Variable Fields
Authors: Ivić Igor R. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
The two main metrics for the performance evaluation of radar-variable estimators are the bias and standard deviation (SD) of estimates. Depending on the estimator properties, the bias may increase as the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) decreases. The standard deviation, however, always rises as the SNR becomes smaller. For instance, if estimates are computed from 16 samples (typically used for WSR-88D surveillance scans) using a rectangular data window and the maximum unambiguous velocity is ∼9 m s−1, the standard deviation of reflectivity estimates increases 1.6 times as the SNR drops from 20 to 2 dB. But for estimates of differential reflectivity, differential phase, and copolar correlation coefficient, SDs increase ∼6.7, ∼6, and ∼54 times, respectively. Hence, this effect impacts the polarimetric variables substantially more than the spectral moments. Additionally, the polarimetric variable SD is also sensitive to the correlation between signals in horizontal and vertical channels leading to reduced data quality in the regions where the correlation coefficient is low. Such increases in the variability of estimates are observable in the fields of dual polarization variables as an increased spatial inhomogeneity (or noisiness) in the areas where radar echoes exhibit low-to-moderate SNRs and/or decreased correlation coefficient. These effects can obscure the visual identification of weather features as well as adversely impact algorithms. Herein, a novel method that applies variable smoothing in the range where the smoothing intensity depends on the SDs of estimates is presented. It applies little or no range averaging in the regions where data SDs are deemed adequate while using more aggressive smoothing in areas where data appear noisy.

Significance Statement
The noisiness in the fields of polarimetric variables is an issue that has plagued dual-polarization weather radars since their inception. This is because standard deviations of polarimetric variable estimates increase significantly more with the reduction in SNR than those of spectral moment estimates. A typical mitigation approach that indiscriminately averages a fixed number of estimates in the range may lead to unnecessary loss of range resolution in regions where data appearance is satisfactory. Further, such an approach can be inadequate in regions with a high variability of estimates leading to insufficient enhancement of weather feature visibility. In this study, a method that mitigates these issues is proposed.
An Airborne Multifrequency Microwave Analysis of Precipitation within Two Winter Cyclones
Authors: Richter Amanda , Lang Timothy J. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
NASA’s Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS) field campaign gathered data using “satellite-simulating” (albeit with higher-resolution data than satellites currently provide) and in situ aircraft to study snowstorms, with an emphasis on banding. This study used three IMPACTS microwave instruments—two passive and one active—chosen for their sensitivity to precipitation microphysics. The 10–37-GHz passive frequencies were well suited for detecting light precipitation and differentiating rain intensities over water. The 85–183-GHz frequencies were more sensitive to cloud ice, with higher cloud tops manifesting as lower brightness temperatures, but this did not necessarily correspond well to near-surface precipitation. Over land, retrieving precipitation information from radiometer data is more difficult, requiring increased reliance on radar to assess storm structure. A dual-frequency ratio (DFR) derived from the radar’s Ku- and Ka-band frequencies provided greater insight into storm microphysics than reflectivity alone. Areas likely to contain mixed-phase precipitation (often the melting layer/bright band) generally had the highest DFR, and high-altitude regions likely to contain ice usually had the lowest DFR. The DFR of rain columns increased toward the ground, and snowbands appeared as high-DFR anomalies.

Significance Statement
Winter precipitation was studied using three airborne microwave sensors. Two were passive radiometers covering a broad range of frequencies, while the other was a two-frequency radar. The radiometers did a good job of characterizing the horizontal structure of winter storms when they were over water, but struggled to provide detailed information about winter storms when they were over land. The radar was able to provide vertically resolved details of storm structure over land or water, but only provided information at nadir, so horizontal structure was less well described. The combined use of all three instruments compensated for individual deficiencies, and was very effective at characterizing overall winter storm structure.
Chikusetsusaponin IVa Protects against H9N2 Avian Influenza Virus Infection by Inhibiting Inflammation and TLR4/NF-κB Signaling Pathways in vitro and in vivo
Authors: Dai Qi , Zheng Xin , Wu Song-Tao , You Peng-Tao , Huang Xiao , Liu Yan-Wen , Wu Yun , Zhang Xiu-Qiao 
Published: January 2024

Background The prevalence of Hemagglutinin 9 Neuraminidase 2 (H9N2) avian influenza virus (AIV) in poultry in Asia has raised serious concerns about its zoonotic transmission and the potential for a pandemic, underscoring the need for effective therapeutics. Chikusetsusaponin IVa (CHS), a bioactive triterpenoid saponin from Radix saposhnikoviae, has exhibited anti-inflammatory activity in preclinical studies. We hypothesized that CHS could mitigate immunopathology during tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-infection by suppressing excessive inflammation. Objectives CHS is a natural saponin with anti-inflammatory activity. This research aimed to explore the in vitro and in vivo protective effects and mechanisms of CHS against H9N2 AIV infection. Materials and Methods We employed Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis and Gene Ontology (GO) analysis for the prediction of the underlying mechanisms, followed by a network analysis approach. In animal experiments, the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathways and associated proteins were assessed using immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis. Results In A549 cells, CHS treatment reduced H9N2 AIV-induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. CHS was found to have a suppressive effect on the mRNA expression of various inflammatory cytokines (including TNF-α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, and IL-8) as well as mediators such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2). It can be seen that CHS does have anti-inflammatory effects. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that CHS might exhibit anti-inflammatory effects by modulating cytokine–cytokine receptor interaction and the NF-κB signaling pathways. Building upon this, it was found that CHS blocked the activation of TLR4 and NF-κB signaling pathways in A549 cells infected with H9N2 AIV. In vivo, CHS prolonged the survival time and increased the survival rate of H9N2 AIV-infected mice. CHS was found to have a protective effect on the lungs of infected mice, resulting in reduced damage and lower levels of viral load and inflammation. CHS inhibited the production of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-8) and inhibited the activation of TLR4 and NF-κB signaling pathways in the pulmonary tissues of mice that were infected. Conclusion CHS exerts protective effects against H9N2 AIV infection in vitro and in vivo. The anti-inflammatory mechanisms may involve the inhibition of cytokine production and the blockade of TLR4 and NF-κB signaling pathways.
Assessment of Immunomodulatory Activity of AP-Bio® (KalmCold®), a Standardized Extract of Andrographis paniculata Using in vivo and ex vivo Models
Authors: Chalichem Nehru Sai Suresh , Nabhan Prathiksha , Bethapudi Bharathi , Agarwal Nikita , Murugan Sasi Kumar , Deepak Mundkinajeddu 
Published: January 2024

Background Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Nees is a well-recognized medicinal plant known for its benefits against a multitude of ailments. The intent of the present study was to evaluate the effect of a standardized extract of A. paniculata on innate immunity. Materials and Methods Phagocytic activity was measured in terms of phagocytic index using carbon clearance methodology in mice. In another experiment, NK cells (effector cells) were isolated from the mouse spleen after the dosing period, and NK cells-mediated lysis of target cells (YAC-1 cells) were determined using an MTT assay. Results The phagocytic index and NK cell activity were found to be significantly ( p < 0.05) different in the treated group compared to the control group in the tested animal models at a dose of 41 mg/kg. Conclusion The results suggest the potential of A. paniculata to enhance innate immunity.