bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Magnetic Suspension Balance: 40 Years of Advancing Densimetry and Sorption Science
Authors: Yang Xiaoxian , Kleinrahm Reiner , McLinden Mark O. , Richter Markus 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThis paper reviews the 40-year evolution and application of the magnetic suspension balance (MSB) and discusses some challenging issues of the technique. An MSB, as defined herein, is a magnetic suspension coupling (MSC) connected to an analytical balance. With an MSC, an object can be weighed in a different environment than the balance itself, making it possible for contactless weighing. Over the past 40 years, the MSB has been commonly used in research areas requiring accurate object weighings, notably gas density measurements by MSB-based densimeters and gas adsorption measurements by MSB-based sorption analyzers. More than 15 MSB-based densimeters have been built to date; these are generally called two-sinker densimeter and single-sinker densimeter. They have produced highly accurate density data of many pure fluids and fluid mixtures. These data serve as the basis for the development of reference equations of state, which play an essential role in various industrial and scientific areas. Moreover, such systems are central to the metrology program of many countries. The MSB technique is also very successful in adsorption science: more than 85 MSB-based sorption analyzers have been set up in over 20 countries. The number of new MSB-based sorption analyzers, and peer-reviewed publications resulting from them, are both increasing exponentially since 2004. They have produced highly reliable gas adsorption data at high pressures for many applications, mainly in the energy and environmental sectors. Although further development of innovative instruments based on the MSB is threatened by the proprietary nature of MSB technology, the development will continue, e.g., toward cryogenic measurements and a more compact design.
Women legislators and economic performance
Authors: Baskaran Thushyanthan , Bhalotra Sonia , Min Brian , Uppal Yogesh 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThere has been a phenomenal global increase in the proportion of women in politics in the last two decades, but there is no evidence of how this has influenced economic performance. We investigate this using data on competitive elections to India’s state assemblies, leveraging close elections to isolate causal effects. We find significantly higher growth in economic activity in constituencies that elect women and no evidence of negative spillovers to neighbouring male-led constituencies, consistent with net growth. Probing mechanisms, we find evidence consistent with women legislators being more efficacious, less corrupt and less vulnerable to political opportunism.
Defining sustainable home renovators in Australia
Authors: Ruming Kristian , Williams Miriam , Lee Dong-Ju 
Published: November 2023

AbstractHome renovation is a global phenomenon, where households seek to remodel, reconfigure, and retrofit their home. While often a response to the material conditions of a dwelling, such as decay and damage, renovation also as emerges as a practice central to identity creation, sense of home, and leisure. Importantly, improving household sustainability is increasingly driving renovation activities, as governments and households seek to reduce the environmental impact of residential dwellings. Drawing on data collected from a national survey developed by the authors, this paper explores sustainable renovation practices in Australia. The paper provides a three-level analysis of home renovators. First, the paper profiles recent renovators. Second, the extent to which sustainability was considered by recent renovators during the renovation process is investigated. Third, the relationship between personal values placed on household sustainability and the sustainable renovation practices are explored. The analysis reveals that sustainability is an important renovation driver. However, sustainable renovation practices differ between groups of homeowners, with educated and wealthy homeowners most likely to undertake sustainable renovation. Further, those with a stronger commitment to household sustainability are the most likely to include expensive sustainability technologies as part of their renovations. However, it is younger households, who are less committed to the principles of household sustainability, that are most likely to access government subsidies to support the inclusion of these technologies as part of their renovation. The different profiles and actions of these renovator groups reveal a series of challenges and opportunities for governments seeking to promote household sustainability.
The impact of economic policy uncertainty and inflation risk on corporate cash holdings
Authors: Das Bijoy Chandra , Hasan Fakhrul , Sutradhar Soma Rani 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThis paper analyses the joint effects of Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) and inflation risk on the Corporate Cash Holdings (CCH) of US firms from 2011 to 2021. The baseline results suggest that EPU and inflation risk positively impact CCH. Moreover, we find the same results between inflation risk and CCH. However, EPU and CCH are negatively associated. Additionally, construction (finance) firms hold higher (lower) cash at the time of EPU and inflationary risk. We also find that firms hold higher (lower) cash during Democrat (Republican) presidential terms. The two-step system Generalized Method of Moments approach used to control the potential endogeneity issues indicates the same results and supports the baseline findings.
Study of Citizen Satisfaction in Rural Versus Urban Areas in Public Services: Perspective of a Multi-group Analysis
Authors: Ochoa-Rico María Salomé , Río Juan Antonio Jimber-del , Romero-Subia José Fernando , Vergara-Romero Arnaldo 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThis study proposes a comparative analysis between urban and rural areas concerning the magnitude or intensity with which the constructs are related to expected quality-perceived quality-perceived value as influencing aspects in the level of satisfaction and citizen loyalty in three dimensions: Territorial planning and roads; provision of municipal services and environmental management. This research used the PLS software applying the ACSI model in the 5-hypothesis approach. A questionnaire was delivered to a sample population of 428 citizens in the rural area of Tenguel and 521 citizens in the urban area of Tarqui in the city of Guayaquil. The statistical result shows significant differences in citizen perception between urban and rural populations about the quality of public services, which determines satisfaction and loyalty in choosing the place of residence. Through a multi-group analysis, the main differences in the perception of the quality of services between rural citizens and urban citizens have been identified. These findings are essential for public policy design to improve the territory’s satisfaction, well-being, and people’s sense of belonging.
Catalytic Oxidation of 1,2-Dichlorobenzene over Metal-Supported on ZrO2 Catalysts
Authors: Mkhize Nomthandazo , Vashistha Vinod Kumar , Pullabhotla Viswandha Srirama Rajasekhar 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThe catalytic oxidation of environmentally unfriendly chlorinated organics is a powerful tool that can be used to completely mineralize these organic compounds. In this study, metals (Mn, Ni, V, and Fe) supported on zirconia have been investigated as catalysts in the oxidation of 1,2-dichlorobenzene. Metal supported on zirconia catalysts were prepared using the wet impregnation method. The catalyst materials were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, SEM–EDX, TEM, BET, and ICP methods. Metals were loaded on ZrO2 support at varied wt%, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 which were confirmed by ICP-OES and EDX analysis. The XRD patterns of all the metals loaded on ZrO2 catalysts showed diffraction peaks that belong to the monoclinic phase of ZrO2 and few that are attributed to the oxides of the metals. The BET surface areas showed a significant decrease as the metal was loaded on ZrO2 support. The BET surface area of ZrO2 was 4.91 m2/g and when 2.5 and 7.5 wt% Fe was loaded on ZrO2 the BET surface areas were 4.48 and 3.09 m2/g, respectively. All the ozonation reactions of 1,2-dichlorobenzene were conducted in an impinger unit for 24 h. The aliquots were collected after 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 24 of ozonation and analyzed using FT-IR and GC–MS analyses. The 7.5% Fe/ZrO2 was found to have a relatively high catalytic effect toward the conversion of 1,2-dichlorobenzene into mucochloric acid and 3,4-dichloro-2,5-furandione.
Having a Cake and Eating It Too? Direct Realism and Objective Identity in Descartes
Authors: Sinokki Jani 
Published: November 2023

AbstractDescartes holds that ideas have or containobjective realityof their objects, so that the idea of the sun is the sun itself existing in the intellect. In this paper, I examine this obscure thesis which grounds the disagreement about Descartes’ commitment to direct or indirect realism. I suggest that, importantly, both readings are correct to a certain extent. I argue that the view of objective reality Descartes develops bears the earmarks of both direct and indirect realist views but must be classified as a third alternative combining some central features of both. I elaborate first on the direct realist interpretations of Descartes’ objective reality and explain their most significant shortcomings. My interpretation of objective identity comes in the form of attributing to Descartes a view about identity and persistence of objects known assortalism. I argue that Descartes’ objective identity turns out to be much like the Aristotelian view offormal identity, yet without the forms. By way of discussing the case of Theseus’ ship, I point out how Cartesian sortalism, contrary to other versions of sortalism, allows us to analyze the puzzle as a tension between two distinct yet independently legitimate criteria of identity. It is this sortalist insight that helps to render Descartes’ account of objective identity consistent. This point also grounds my argument that we need not consider direct and indirect realism as logical complements, contrary to the received wisdom.
Metatranscriptomic responses and microbial degradation of background polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the coastal Mediterranean and Antarctica
Authors: Martinez-Varela Alicia , Casas Gemma , Berrojalbiz Naiara , Lundin Daniel , Piña Benjamin , Dachs Jordi , Vila-Costa Maria 
Published: November 2023

AbstractAlthough microbial degradation is a key sink of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in surface seawaters, there is a dearth of field-based evidences of regional divergences in biodegradation and the effects of PAHs on site-specific microbial communities. We compared the magnitude of PAH degradation and its impacts in short-term incubations of coastal Mediterranean and the Maritime Antarctica microbiomes with environmentally relevant concentrations of PAHs. Mediterranean bacteria readily degraded the less hydrophobic PAHs, with rates averaging 4.72 ± 0.5 ng L h−1. Metatranscriptomic responses showed significant enrichments of genes associated to horizontal gene transfer, stress response, and PAH degradation, mainly harbored by Alphaproteobacteria. Community composition changed and increased relative abundances of Bacteroidota and Flavobacteriales. In Antarctic waters, there was no degradation of PAH, and minimal metatranscriptome responses were observed. These results provide evidence for factors such as geographic region, community composition, and pre-exposure history to predict PAH biodegradation in seawater.
Bibliometric research analysis of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs): evidence and research activity dynamics
Authors: Mittas Nikolaos , Gkika Despina A. , Georgiou Konstantinos , Alodhayb Abdullah N. , AbdelAll Naglaa , Khouqeer Ghada A. , Kyzas George Z. 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThe escalating issue of water pollution has become a worldwide issue that has captured the attention of numerous scientists. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have emerged as adaptable materials with exceptional attributes, including easy synthesis, low cost, remarkable durability, long life, and accessibility. These attributes have motivated researchers to develop novel materials based on MIPs to tackle hazardous contaminants in environmental matrices. The purpose of this paper was to conduct a bibliometric analysis on MIPs’ publications, in order to shed light on the developments and focus points of the field. The selected publications were obtained from Scopus database and subjected to a filtering process, resulting in 11,131 relevant publications. The analysis revealed that the leading publication source (journal) is Biosensors and Bioelectronics; the mostly employed keywords are solid-phase extraction, electrochemical sensor, and molecular recognition; and the top contributing countries are China, Iran, and the USA. The Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) algorithm was used for extracting thematic axes from the textual content of the publications. The results of the LDA model showcase that the topic of synthesis and performance of MIPs for environmental applications can be considered as the most dominant topic with a share value of 72.71%. From the analysis, it can be concluded that MIPs are a cross-disciplinary research field.
Welche Bildung fördert die Kinder- und Jugendhilfe, und welche nicht?
Authors: Scherr Albert , Ziegler Holger 
Published: November 2023

ZusammenfassungSoziale Arbeit und Sozialpädagogik betonen die Eigenständigkeit ihres Bildungsverständnisses in Abgrenzung zu schulischer Qualifizierung für den Arbeitsmarkt. Der Beitrag gibt einen Einblick in die einschlägige Fachdiskussion und ihre gesellschaftspolitische Situierung. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird aufgezeigt, dass diese Abgrenzung theoretisch prekär ist und problematische Implikationen haben kann.
Facial Expression of TIPI Personality and CHMP-Tri Psychopathy Traits in Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
Authors: Murray Lindsay , Goddard Jade , Gordon David 
Published: November 2023

AbstractHonest signalling theory suggests that humans and chimpanzees can extract socially relevant information relating to personality from the faces of their conspecifics. Humans are also able to extract information from chimpanzees’ faces. Here, we examine whether personality characteristics of chimpanzees, including measures of psychopathy, can be discerned based purely on facial morphology in photographs. Twenty-one chimpanzees were given naïve and expert personality ratings on the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) and the Chimpanzee Triarchic Model of Psychopathy (CHMP-Tri) before and following behavioural observations. Characteristics relating to openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and disinhibition could be distinguished from the faces of chimpanzees. Individuals higher on disinhibition have lower scores on conscientiousness and emotional stability and higher scores on extraversion, while those higher on meanness have lower conscientiousness and agreeableness. Facial expressions are linked to personality traits present in the TIPI and CHMP-Tri models: the Relaxed Face and the Grooming Face were displayed more by chimpanzees higher on agreeableness, whereas the Compressed Lips Face was observed more in those individuals higher on boldness, and the Full Open Grin was displayed more by chimpanzees higher on extraversion but lower on emotional stability and conscientiousness. Facial expressions were also found to be associated with particular behavioural contexts, namely the Grooming Face in affiliative contexts and the Relaxed and Relaxed Open Mouth Faces in neutral contexts. Dominant chimpanzees display higher levels of boldness and more Compressed Lips Faces, Relaxed Open Mouth Faces, and Grooming Faces than subordinate individuals. These findings support and extend evidence for an honest signalling system and a personality structure shared between humans and chimpanzees. Future research could further explore how personality is conveyed through the face, perhaps through more than just singular aspects of character, and maybe reflecting what chimpanzees themselves are able to do.
A test of the 2 × 2 model of perfectionism with perceived distress, cognitive emotion regulation, and perfectionist cognitions
Authors: Guerreiro Mariana , Faísca Luís , Brás Marta , Carmo Cláudia 
Published: November 2023

AbstractBased on within-person combinations of self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP), the 2 × 2 model asserts four personality subtypes: Non-Perfectionism, Pure SOP, Pure SPP, and Mixed Perfectionism. We tested whether these subtypes can be distinctively associated with perceived distress, cognitive emotion regulation (CER) strategies, and perfectionist cognitions. Results of multiple regressions with 213 adults (72.8% female, M = 34.07, SD = 12.04 years old) revealed that Pure SOP (compared with Non-Perfectionism) and Mixed Perfectionism (compared with Pure SPP) perceived similar levels of distress but reported more perfectionist cognitions and both adaptive and maladaptive CER strategies. The two subtypes associated with high SPP reported less adaptive CER strategies than the Pure SOP and Non-Perfectionism. The presence of the SOP facet did not mitigate the detrimental effects of the SPP facet on negative outcomes. On the contrary, the SOP facet seems to have a positive influence on the adoption of adaptive CER strategies and helps attenuate the detrimental effects of the SPP. Studies about the 2 × 2 model of perfectionism should focus on comparing the predicted values between each subtype of perfectionism.
Occurrence of D-amino acids in natural products
Authors: Armstrong Daniel W. , Berthod Alain 
Published: November 2023

AbstractSince the identified standard genetic code contains 61 triplet codons of three bases for the 20 L-proteinogenic amino acids (AAs), no D-AA should be found in natural products. This is not what is observed in the living world. D-AAs are found in numerous natural compounds produced by bacteria, algae, fungi, or marine animals, and even vertebrates. A review of the literature indicated the existence of at least 132 peptide natural compounds in which D-AAs are an essential part of their structure. All compounds are listed, numbered and described herein. The two biosynthetic routes leading to the presence of D-AA in natural products are: non-ribosomal peptide synthesis (NRPS), and ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide (RiPP) synthesis which are described. The methods used to identify the AA chirality within naturally occurring peptides are briefly discussed. The biological activity of an all-L synthetic peptide is most often completely different from that of the D-containing natural compounds. Analyzing the selected natural compounds showed that D-Ala, D-Val, D-Leu and D-Ser are the most commonly encountered D-AAs closely followed by the non-proteinogenic D-allo-Thr. D-Lys and D-Met were the least prevalent D-AAs in naturally occurring compounds.
Graphical Abstract
Assessment of the air quality in an industrial zone using active moss biomonitoring
Authors: Świsłowski P. , Rajfur M. 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThe study aimed to evaluate the level of air contamination in the area around the Kosogorsky industrial enterprise in Tula, Russia, in the winter of 2021/2022. For the study, Pleurozium schreberi, Sphagnum fallax, and Dicranum polysetum mosses were used for the first time in the 3-month active biomonitoring (moss-bag technique). Heavy metals elements (Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb) were determined using atomic absorption spectrometry. In addition, mercury concentrations were determined with an AMA254 apparatus. The study's results for Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb, and Hg confirm the statistical significance of the species' effect on the accumulation of these elements. Values of relative accumulation factor (RAF) > 1.00 at selected measurement points indicate that the site is contaminated as a result of industrial activities (mainly Mn and Fe). Wind direction influenced moss contamination at selected measurement points, which was confirmed by cluster analysis. In the future, long-term or different seasons biomonitoring studies should be conducted in this area.
Structural health monitoring of beam model based on swarm intelligence-based algorithms and neural networks employing FRF
Authors: Achouri Fatima , Khatir Abdelwahhab , Smahi Zakaria , Capozucca Roberto , Ouled Brahim Abdelmoumin 
Published: November 2023

AbstractIn recent decades, swarm optimization methods have been employed to address various optimization problems in structural health monitoring (SHM). One of the widely recognized swarm-based algorithms, particle swarm optimization (PSO), has gained significant popularity and found extensive applications across diverse fields. However, it presents some limitations, such as the low convergence rate in the iterative process. The butterfly optimization algorithm (BOA) is a recently developed algorithm that has demonstrated its performance in solving a variety of optimization problems. In this research, a novel hybrid swarm optimization algorithm is introduced, integrating PSO and BOA, with the aim of enhancing its effectiveness. To overcome the limitations of the traditional Artificial Neural Network (ANN) technique and enhance its training performance, this new hybrid algorithm is integrated with ANN. The study offers valuable insights into the creation of a predictive model, known as PSO-BOA-ANN, for detecting structural damage. Input parameters for the model include natural frequencies, while the output parameter is the severity of the damage. To test the efficiency of the proposed technique, data were collected from a finite element model using a simulation tool, and from frequency response function (FRF) after experimental modal analysis for single and double cracked aluminum beams considering different crack depths. A comparative analysis was conducted between the results obtained from PSO, BOA, GA, and their respective combinations with ANN. The findings indicate that the novel PSO-BOA-ANN approach outperforms the other approaches in terms of accuracy when it comes to damage prediction.