bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Status and occurrence of the non-indigenous dwarf surf clam Mulinia lateralis (Say, 1822) in the central Wadden Sea (southern North Sea)—a systematic survey
Authors: Gismann Lynn , Wenke Lennart-Kilian , Uhlir Carolin , Martínez Arbizu Pedro , Wehrmann Achim 
Published: December 2023

AbstractThe species Mulinia lateralis (Say, 1822) is native to the western North Atlantic Ocean and was first documented in European coastal waters in 2017. Since then, M. lateralis was reported several times in large abundances in the coastal waters of the Netherlands, Belgium, and more scattered in Germany. While the introduction vector is still unclear, we assume that dispersal in the southern North Sea is driven by larval drift related to anti-clockwise residual tidal currents. To test this hypothesis and to document its current status in the central Wadden Sea, individuals were sampled systematically from intertidal flats along 10 transects ranging from the outer Ems River estuary in the west to the outer Elbe River estuary in the east (German North Sea coast) between February and May 2022. In total, 897 specimens of M. lateralis were sampled from 392 stations (mean abundance 2.3 ± 5.0 ind./m2). The shell length ranged between 4.0 and 23.6 mm. Regarding the increasing number of records of M. lateralis at multiple sites in Europe since 2017 and based on the data of this study, the species can be considered as established in the western and central Wadden Sea.
Agglomeration: when folded proteins clump together
Authors: Romero-Romero M. L. , Garcia-Seisdedos H. 
Published: December 2023

AbstractProtein self-association is a widespread phenomenon that results in the formation of multimeric protein structures with critical roles in cellular processes. Protein self-association can lead to finite protein complexes or open-ended, and potentially, infinite structures. This review explores the concept of protein agglomeration, a process that results from the infinite self-assembly of folded proteins. We highlight its differences from other better-described processes with similar macroscopic features, such as aggregation and liquid-liquid phase separation. We review the sequence, structural, and biophysical factors influencing protein agglomeration. Lastly, we briefly discuss the implications of agglomeration in evolution, disease, and aging. Overall, this review highlights the need to study protein agglomeration for a better understanding of cellular processes.
Farm forests, seasonal hunger, and biomass poverty: Evidence of induced intensification from panel data in the Ethiopian Highlands
Authors: Morrow Nathan , Mock Nancy B. , Gatto Andrea , Colantoni Andrea , Salvati Luca 
Published: December 2023

AbstractSeasonal hunger is the most common food insecurity experience for millions of small dryland farmers. This study tests the relationships between food insecurity, farm forests, and biomass poverty using a longitudinal dataset from the Amhara region of Ethiopia. These data form part of the Ethiopia Socioeconomic Survey, which collected panel data over three survey rounds from 530 households between 2011 and 2016. This dataset represents a collection of unique socioeconomic, wellbeing, and micro-land use measures, including farm forests. Hierarchical mixed effect regression models assessed the relationship between food insecurity and farm forests as well as the conditional effects of biomass poverty among the poorest farmers and women-headed households. Over a six-year study period, farmers reported increased stress from smaller land holdings, higher prices, and climate-related shocks. A clear trend towards spontaneous dispersed afforestation is observed by both researchers and satellite remote sensing. Model results indicate, dedicating approximately 10% of farm area to forest reduces months of food insecurity by half. The greatest reductions in food insecurity from farm forests are reported by ultra-poor and crop residue-burning households, suggesting that biomass poverty may be a major constraint to resilient food security on these farms. This research provides novel quantitative evidence of induced intensification and food security impacts of farm management preserving and building stores of biomass value as green assets. The results reported here have important implications for nature-based solutions as a major strategy to achieve sustainable development in some contexts.
General stability for a Cohen–Grossberg neural network system
Authors: Kassim Mohammed D. , Tatar Nasser-Eddine 
Published: December 2023

AbstractOf concern is a Cohen–Grossberg neural network (CGNNs) system taking into account distributed and discrete delays. The class of delay kernels ensuring exponential stability existing in the previous papers is enlarged to an extended class of functions guaranteeing more general types of stability. The exponential and polynomial (or power type) type stabilities becomes particular cases of our result. This is achieved using appropriate Lyapunov-type functionals and the characteristics of the considered class.
Advances in Wireless, Batteryless, Implantable Electronics for Real-Time, Continuous Physiological Monitoring
Authors: Kim Hyeonseok , Rigo Bruno , Wong Gabriella , Lee Yoon Jae , Yeo Woon-Hong 
Published: December 2023

AbstractThis review summarizes recent progress in developing wireless, batteryless, fully implantable biomedical devices for real-time continuous physiological signal monitoring, focusing on advancing human health care. Design considerations, such as biological constraints, energy sourcing, and wireless communication, are discussed in achieving the desired performance of the devices and enhanced interface with human tissues. In addition, we review the recent achievements in materials used for developing implantable systems, emphasizing their importance in achieving multi-functionalities, biocompatibility, and hemocompatibility. The wireless, batteryless devices offer minimally invasive device insertion to the body, enabling portable health monitoring and advanced disease diagnosis. Lastly, we summarize the most recent practical applications of advanced implantable devices for human health care, highlighting their potential for immediate commercialization and clinical uses.
Two photons are better than one: continuous flow synthesis of ꞵ-lactones through a doubly photochemically-activated Paternò-Büchi reaction
Authors: Minuto Federica , Farinini Emanuele , De Negri Serena , Leardi Riccardo , Ravelli Davide , Solokha Pavlo , Basso Andrea 
Published: December 2023

AbstractIn this paper we report a [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction between ketenes and benzils, characterized by an unusual double photochemical activation triggered by visible light. Employment of a flow system and optimization of reaction conditions through Design of Experiments resulted in moderate to good yields of the corresponding β-lactones. A thorough computational analysis allowed to elucidate the mechanism of the reaction and justify the observed diastereoselectivity. The reaction was also successfully tested with mixed benzils, showing complete regioselectivity.
Graphical abstract
Exploring the effects of a short-term, nature-based preschool experience: a mixed-methods investigation
Authors: Scogin Stephen C. , D’Agostino Sophia R. , Dykstra Josie , Veine Cameryn , Schuen Abbey 
Published: December 2023

AbstractGaining access to early childhood education can be challenging for some families, but summer programs may provide more opportunities for children of all backgrounds. In the USA, some of these expanded opportunities have come by way of an increased number of nature-based preschool programs. This study investigated a short-term, nature-based summer preschool program. Using an ecological systems perspective, researchers determined how the program affected children’s social-emotional skills, if children from the program demonstrated appropriate academic growth, and if children showed stronger connections to nature after participation. Multiple data streams were analyzed using a mixed methods approach, including data from observation instruments, literacy skills tests, surveys, and caregiver interviews. Findings from 69 preschoolers and 15 caregivers indicated positive increases in children’s social-emotional skills, appropriate academic development, no significant changes in connections to nature, and caregivers who felt the program positively contributed to readiness. However, it is also clear from this study that additional research is needed on these kinds of preschool programs to determine the specific factors contributing to positive outcomes.
Educational Technology: A Postdigital Social Tradition
Authors: Offord Matt 
Published: December 2023

AbstractThe dissolution of the campus during the early stages of the current pandemic provides a compelling case study of how Higher Education responds to emergencies. Initially, digital education was perceived as a lifeline and educators spoke of a ‘pivot online’. What followed was an undignified stumble into remote teaching. Social theories of innovation suggest that rapid technological change is simply a matter of choice and organisations can make rapid and strategic changes when required. I argue that talk of pivots and innovation is misleading and deflects enquiries from an important reason for academic resilience: teaching as tradition. Drawing on early forays into the importance of imitation by Gabriel Tarde, I contribute to efforts to rediscover his microsociological approach and link this to modern evolutionary research. By using a sociocultural evolutionary lens to analyse 102 courses in a business school, I demonstrate the persistence and resilience of teaching traditions and the use of imitation, rather than top-down direction. Using a phylogenetic analysis, I show how flexible imitation of traditional practice created a resilient, but unplanned, response to crisis. I explain how these results can inform resilience-building in Higher Education, by supporting the flexible imitation of teaching traditions. The research also advocates the use of cultural evolution, drawing on the inspiration of Tarde, in postdigital educational research.
Rational design of iron single-atom catalysts for electrochemical nitrate reduction to produce ammonia
Authors: Chen Xi , Ji Xinlei , Kou Jia 
Published: December 2023

AbstractAmmonia (NH3) is the second-most produced chemical with broad applications and vital for the chemical industry. However, the current Haber–Bosch synthesis is problematic with high energy consumption and carbon footprints. Electrochemical nitrate reduction (NO3RR) to produce NH3 is a green, low-carbon and efficient alternative route to simultaneously benefit wastewater treatment, mild NH3 production and global warming mitigation. Compared to noble metal catalysts or the nanosized counterparts, iron single-atom catalysts (Fe SACs) boast unique advantages to promote the NO3RR because of the exceptional selectivity, inexpensiveness, high efficiency and good durability. Due to the rapid development of the emerging field, a timely Perspective with an emphasis on the recent advances in Fe SACs-catalyzed NO3RR is currently lacking. The Perspective aims to give an account of the up-to-date progresses on Fe SACs-promoted NO3RR for NH3 production. The catalyst design, characterizations, mechanism studies, etc. will be illustrated, and lastly the challenges and outlook will be discussed to provide insights for future studies.
Data on regional availability and accessibility of abortion providers in Germany
Authors: Torenz Rona , Vollmer Heike , Eckardt Sarah , Wyrobisch-Krüger Anke , Thonke Ines , Hahn Daphne 
Published: December 2023

AbstractSince 2003, the number of facilities reporting abortions to the Federal Statistical Office has decreased by 46% from 2050 to 1092 in 2021. In the last 5 years, the decrease slowed down. The media report that there is a shortage of physicians willing to perform abortions in some regions of Germany. Reduced availability and accessibility of providers are barriers to access that can negatively impact the health and well-being of abortion seekers. To date, there is no scientific evidence on regional differences in access to abortion in Germany. The article answers the following questions: What data are available in Germany regarding the availability and accessibility of abortion providers? How informative is this data? To what extent do the data show regional differences in availability and accessibility? We conclude that the available data are not sufficient to adequately describe regional variations in the provision of abortion care services. Nevertheless, they give clear indications of differences regarding provider density, provider workload and spatial accessibility, especially between the northern and eastern states on the one hand and the southern and western states on the other. We describe needs and policy recommendations for adequate data collection.
Parametric analysis of chiller plant energy consumption in a tropical climate
Authors: Kyere Esther Benedicta , Tien-Chien Jen , Tartibu Lagouge 
Published: December 2023

AbstractThe approach that could reduce the energy consumption of water-cooled chillers in office buildings was investigated through experimental and simulation methods. The chiller was modelled in TRNSYS and validated using physical measurements from an operational water-cooled water chiller and fan coil system. The validated model was used to analyse the energy consumption of the water chiller-fan coil system under a high chilled water temperature setpoint (CWTS) in a representative commercial office building. Subsequently, indoor thermal comfort was evaluated using the PMV-PPD model. Finally, the design of experiment (DOE) was employed using a statistical two-level non-randomized factorial design in Minitab to study the effects of high CWTS, number of rows, and tube diameter on the heat and mass transfer performance of the fan coil unit. The results showed that the CWTS can be increased by various degrees from 10 up to 18 °C for energy efficiency for a commercial office building in the tropics. This increase in CWTS would result in a daily energy saving potential of about 5% of the chiller as compared to the existing operational settings without any extra cost. Conversely, the daily energy consumption by the fan coil would increase by about 5.5% by this increment in the CWTS. It was determined that the chiller system can provide comfort even when the CWTS is increased to 14 °C. The DOE analysis showed that under the condition of high CWTS (14 °C), energy consumption that is less than the current energy consumption may be expected from the fan coil system when the number of rows increased from 3 to 6 and the tube diameter increased from 7 to 9 mm.
Layer structure formation induced by in-situ deposit surface temperature under different scanning methods during thermal spraying
Authors: Lu Yan-Hong , Liu Mei-Jun , Yang Guan-Jun , Li Chang-Jiu 
Published: December 2023

AbstractPlasma spraying-physical vapor deposition (PS-PVD) and atmospheric plasma spraying (APS), as new thermal spraying process, could prepare advanced thermal barrier coatings by successive scanning deposition layer by layer. To investigate the layer structure of the coating, the transient in-situ deposit surface temperature was investigated by varying the scanning methods. Results show that, compared to unidirectional scanning method, alternating scanning method results in doubling heating duration, higher in-situ deposit temperature rising and thereby thicker well-bonded layer structure during each spray cycle for the coating deposited at the edge position of the scanning path. The erosion resistance of the coatings deposited by unidirectional scanning method is independent on deposition positions including edge position and center position. However, the erosion resistance of the coatings deposited at edge position by alternating scanning method is one time higher than those deposited by unidirectional scanning method. Finally, the erosion mechanism of layer spallation is revealed to explain the difference between different scanning methods.
High-temperature corrosion behavior of bare and NiCr-coated AISI 422 steel by varying the coating thickness in the Na2SO4 + 60%V2O5 environment
Authors: Khan Niyamat Ullah , Rajput S. K. , Yadav Maharshi 
Published: December 2023

AbstractIt is difficult to assess fatalities due to high temperature corrosion, such as plant closure time, production loss, decrease in productivity, contamination, etc. In this context, the AISI 422 martensitic steel is a popular choice for high temperature applications due to its unique properties. The durability of this material can be increased by coating technology. The Ni-20Cr composite powder is a highly recommended choice for high-temperature applications. In this research, Ni-20Cr coating was sprayed on AISI 422 steel, using a flame spray process with two different thicknesses of 250–350 µm and 350–450 µm. Corrosion studies have been carried out at temperatures of 600 °C and 900 °C for Na2SO4 + 60%V2O5 salt solution environment. The corrosion kinetics were studied with the help of the Wagner equation. Micrographics analysis has been performed by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. Coated material has been shown better corrosion resistance compared to bare. The low-thickness coating has better corrosion resistance corresponding to both bare and high-thickness.
RobustMQ: benchmarking robustness of quantized models
Authors: Xiao Yisong , Liu Aishan , Zhang Tianyuan , Qin Haotong , Guo Jinyang , Liu Xianglong 
Published: December 2023

AbstractQuantization has emerged as an essential technique for deploying deep neural networks (DNNs) on devices with limited resources. However, quantized models exhibit vulnerabilities when exposed to various types of noise in real-world applications. Despite the importance of evaluating the impact of quantization on robustness, existing research on this topic is limited and often disregards established principles of robustness evaluation, resulting in incomplete and inconclusive findings. To address this gap, we thoroughly evaluated the robustness of quantized models against various types of noise (adversarial attacks, natural corruption, and systematic noise) on ImageNet. The comprehensive evaluation results empirically provide valuable insights into the robustness of quantized models in various scenarios. For example: 1) quantized models exhibit higher adversarial robustness than their floating-point counterparts, but are more vulnerable to natural corruption and systematic noise; 2) in general, increasing the quantization bit-width results in a decrease in adversarial robustness, an increase in natural robustness, and an increase in systematic robustness; 3) among corruption methods, impulse noise and glass blur are the most harmful to quantized models, while brightness has the least impact; 4) among different types of systematic noise, the nearest neighbor interpolation has the highest impact, while bilinear interpolation, cubic interpolation, and area interpolation are the three least harmful. Our research contributes to advancing the robust quantization of models and their deployment in real-world scenarios.
Restless nights when sick: ectoparasite infections alter rest–activity cycles of diurnal fish hosts
Authors: Arapi Elissavet A. , Reynolds Michael , Ellison Amy R. , Cable Jo 
Published: December 2023

AbstractCircadian rhythms are timekeeping mechanisms responsible for an array of biological processes. Disruption of such cycles can detrimentally affect animal health. Circadian rhythms are critical in the co-evolution of host–parasite systems, as synchronization of parasite rhythms to the host can influence infection dynamics and transmission potential. This study examines the circadian rhythms in behaviour and activity of a model fish species (Poecilia reticulata) in isolation and in shoals, both when uninfected and infected with an ectoparasite (Gyrodactylus turnbulli). Additionally, the rhythmical variance of parasite activity under different light conditions as well as rhythmical variance in parasite transmissibility was explored. Overall, infection alters the circadian rhythm of fish, causing nocturnal restlessness. Increased activity of gyrodactylids on the host's skin at night could potentially contribute to this elevated host activity. Whilst migration of gyrodactylids across the host's skin may have caused irritation to the host resulting in nocturnal restlessness, the disruption in guppy activity rhythm caused by the expression of host innate immunity cannot be excluded. We discuss the wider repercussions such behavioural responses to infection have for host health, the implications for animal behaviour studies of diurnal species as well as the application of chronotherapeutic approaches to aquaculture.
Teacher professional development and educational innovation through action research in conservatoire education in the Netherlands
Authors: Rumiantsev Tamara , van der Rijst Roeland , Kuiper Wobbe , Verhaar Arie , Admiraal Wilfried 
Published: December 2023

AbstractThis study aims to increase understanding of the values and outcomes of teacher action research in conservatoire education. Teacher action research has been found to stimulate both professional development and improvement of teaching practice. A multiple-case study design was employed to examine teachers’ activities and their perceptions of the value of action research. Findings from the cross-case analysis include teachers’ perceptions of action research as a way to stimulate the advancement of both their teaching practice and their professional development. Constructive collaborations and self-reflections related to teacher action research were found to reinforce their learning and teaching.
National Trends in Suicides and Male Twin Live Births in the US, 2003 to 2019: An Updated Test of Collective Optimism and Selection in Utero
Authors: Singh Parvati , Gailey Samantha , Das Abhery , Bruckner Tim A. 
Published: December 2023

AbstractPrior research based on Swedish data suggests that collective optimism, as measured by monthly incidence of suicides, correlates inversely with selection in utero against male twins in a population. We test this finding in the US, which reports the highest suicide rate of all high-income countries, and examine whether monthly changes in overall suicides precede changes in the ratio of male twin to male singleton live births. Consistent with prior work, we also examine as a key independent variable, suicides among women aged 15−49 years. We retrieved monthly data on suicides and the ratio of male twin to singleton live births from CDC WONDER, 2003 to 2019, and applied Box-Jenkins iterative time-series routines to detect and remove autocorrelation from both series. Results indicate that a 1% increase in monthly change in overall suicides precedes a 0.005 unit decline in male twin live births ratio 6 months later (coefficient = −.005, p value = .004). Results remain robust to use of suicides among reproductive-aged women as the independent variable (coefficient = −.0012, p value = .014). Our study lends external validity to prior research and supports the notion that a decline in collective optimism corresponds with greater selection in utero.