bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Nucleic acid nanostructure for delivery of CRISPR/Cas9‐based gene editing system
Authors: Tang Wantao , Liu Jianbing , Ding Baoquan 
Published: December 2022

AbstractCRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR‐associated protein 9)‐based gene editing system has aroused great interest in many research fields. However, the efficient and safe delivery of this gene editing system into the target tissues and cells remain a major challenge. During the past decades, nucleic acid nanostructures have been widely developed for drug delivery. In this perspective, we will introduce and discuss the recent progress in the design of multifunctional nucleic acid nanostructures, including RCA‐derived DNA, branched DNA, and hybrid DNA, for delivery of the CRISPR/Cas9‐based gene editing system. Furthermore, we prospect the challenges and future opportunities of nucleic acid nanotechnology in the delivery of gene editing systems.
The salivary and nasopharyngeal microbiomes are associated with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and disease severity
Authors: Kim Josh G. , Zhang Ai , Rauseo Adriana M. , Goss Charles W. , Mudd Philip A. , O'Halloran Jane A. , Wang Leyao 
Published: December 2022

AbstractEmerging evidence suggests the oral and upper respiratory microbiota may play important roles in modulating host immune responses to viral infection. As the host microbiome may be involved in the pathophysiology of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), we investigated associations between the oral and nasopharyngeal microbiome and COVID‐19 severity. We collected saliva (n = 78) and nasopharyngeal swab (n = 66) samples from a COVID‐19 cohort and characterized the microbiomes using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. We also examined associations between the salivary and nasopharyngeal microbiome and age, COVID‐19 symptoms, and blood cytokines. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection status, but not COVID‐19 severity, was associated with community‐level differences in the oral and nasopharyngeal microbiomes. Salivary and nasopharyngeal microbiome alpha diversity negatively correlated with age and were associated with fever and diarrhea. Oral Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Solobacterium were depleted in patients with severe COVID‐19. Nasopharyngeal Paracoccus was depleted while nasopharyngeal Proteus, Cupravidus, and Lactobacillus were increased in patients with severe COVID‐19. Further analysis revealed that the abundance of oral Bifidobacterium was negatively associated with plasma concentrations of known COVID‐19 biomarkers interleukin 17F and monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1. Our results suggest COVID‐19 disease severity is associated with the relative abundance of certain bacterial taxa.
West Africa's moist convective environment as observed by the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS)
Authors: Osei Marian Amoakowaah , Ferguson Craig R. , Quansah Emmanuel , Padi Michael , Amekudzi Leonard K. , Danuor Sylvester 
Published: December 2022

AbstractKnowledge of the seasonal positioning of the Intertropical Discontinuity (ITD) is critical to understanding seasonal moist convective processes and associated rainfall over West Africa. This study constitutes a new analysis of the seasonality of moist convection over West Africa, relative to the ITD, based on NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) measurements from 2003 to 2018. Results show that AIRS resolves the seasonal march of the ITD, including its inherent diurnal‐scale variations. AIRS captures the north–south daytime skin temperature dipole around the ITD, with greater relative temperatures to the north, especially during March–August. In the vicinity of the nighttime ITD, AIRS profiles indicate increased instability that is characteristic of nocturnal thunderstorm propagation. For seven Ghana weather stations, we show that AIRS positive moisture and equivalent potential temperature anomalies coincide with observed thunderstorm days. On these thunderstorm days, the mean latitude of the AIRS‐derived ITD is displaced 3°, 0.2°, and 2° north of its DJF, MAM, and SON climatological positions, respectively, and 1.2° south in JJA. Among four common thunderstorm initiation indices considered, the K‐index is determined to be most skillful. The findings of this study contribute to the Global Challenges Research Fund, African Science for Weather Information and Forecasting Techniques project's mission to build local tropical weather forecasting capacity and capabilities in West Africa.
Strong versus weak consumer‐brand relationships: Matching psychological sense of brand community and type of advertising appeal
Authors: Bauer Brittney C. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractConsumer‐brand relationships vary with regard to their degree of psychological connection to the brand. Some individuals may have a weak connection to the brand (e.g., general consumers), while others may possess a strong connection to the brand (e.g., brand community members). Marketers have yet to distinguish between the types of advertising appeals that are most effective for these different individuals. Hence, this research utilizes construal level theory to posit that consumers with a stronger [weaker] psychological sense of brand community will think about the brand more concretely [abstractly] and be more persuaded by utilitarian [symbolic] advertising appeals. Three original experiments reveal that a match between the degree of psychological sense of brand community and the type of advertising appeal directly influences favorable consumer attitudes, and subsequently consumer cognitions and behaviors. Furthermore, message elaboration is the process mechanism driving the effect of the match on favorable consumer attitudes, while relationship‐oriented cultural values attenuate this effect. This research contributes to both theory and practice by providing new knowledge regarding which advertising appeals are the most effective for consumers with strong versus weak consumer‐brand relationships.
Consolidation calculation of a foundation partially penetrated by concrete‐cored gravel (CCG) columns
Authors: Zhang Qingwen , Ye Guanbao , Zhang Zhen 
Published: December 2022

AbstractA concrete‐cored gravel (CCG) column is composed of a precast concrete pile inserted at the center of sand or gravel materials. This technique has been experimentally adopted to support the soft soils in China. However, there has been limited investigation on the consolidation characteristics of a CCG column improved foundation under embankment loading. This study develops analytical solutions for the consolidation of a composite foundation partially penetrated by the CCG columns. The rigid pile's upward and downward piercing effects were considered to improve CCG column‐soil equal strain relationship. The partially penetrated consolidation problem was addressed by assuming the seepages in the unpenetrated layers to be vertical or horizontal and vertical combined. A simplified approximate method was also provided, enabling the users to quickly evaluate the consolidation process of a foundation partially penetrated by the CCG columns. The proposed solution was applied to a case history of an anti‐flood embankment on soft soil with partially‐penetrated CCG columns, and a good agreement was found between predictions and the field measurements.
Mechanical properties and damage failure of 3D‐printed continuous carbon fiber‐reinforced composite honeycomb sandwich structures with fiber‐interleaved core
Authors: Feng Jiafan , Yao Liaojun , Lyu Zhangming , Wu Zihao , Zhang Guobin , Zhao Hefei 
Published: December 2022

AbstractSandwich structures with good mechanical performance can be manufactured by continuous carbon‐fiber‐reinforced composites (CCFRC) via the fused filament fabrication (FFF) technology. Poor inter‐thread bonding is a major reason for the failure of these sandwich structures. In the present study, a novel fiber‐interleaved printing pattern has been proposed to improve the bonding property between printing threads. And panel/core integrated sandwich structures were fabricated via the FFF technology. The manufacturing quality was examined by microscopic examination and non‐destructive computed tomography (CT) scanning. The results indicated that manufacturing voids are mainly concentrated in the printed carbon fiber bundles, resulting from inadequate infiltration between the reinforcement and the matrix. Flatwise compression tests were conducted to compare the mechanical performance of sandwich structures with the fiber‐adjacent and fiber‐interleaved core. The results clearly demonstrated that the fiber‐interleaved design can significantly improve the mechanical performance of the sandwich structures (i.e., 44% higher in elastic modulus and 119% higher in strength). Furthermore, three‐point bending tests were conducted to investigate the flexural behavior. Fractographic analysis demonstrated that the main failure modes under these loading conditions include fiber pull‐out and breakage, delamination, local core crushing, fiber/matrix and panel/core debonding.
Mapping class learning outcomes of the core curriculum to university learning goals at Michigan State University's School of Packaging
Authors: Auras Rafael , Bix Laura , Xu Dian , Weir Cimberly , Daum Matthew , Almenar Eva , Brann Angela , Iwaszkiewicz Ronald , Kamdem Donatien Pascal , Mahmoudi Monirehalsadat , Marshall John , Mohiuddin Mohammad , Rabnawaz Muhammad , Joodaky Amin , Lee Euihark 
Published: December 2022

AbstractClass learning outcomes (CLOs) supporting the interdisciplinary curriculum of the School of Packaging (SoP) at Michigan State University (MSU) were mapped to competency‐based, programmatic learning outcomes (CPLOs) undergirded by broad learning goals of the University (MSU‐LGs). Six CPLOs related to the core curriculum, including the ability to design and evaluate packaging systems, as well as students' professionalism and teamwork skills, were developed using consensus building with all teaching faculty. Relationships, from specific to broad (i.e., CLOs to CPLOs to MSU‐LGs), were mapped with the SoP faculty. This mapping scheme (class‐specific CLOs supporting broader program CPLOs and, ultimately, MSU‐LGs) was developed to guarantee alignment of expectations for learning from the course to the packaging program to the MSU‐LGs. From Fall 2018 until Fall 2019, assessment tools, including rubrics and assignments intended to evaluate learning, were developed to assess core and elective courses offered by the SoP. Data collection of each student's performance was conducted utilizing Watermark's VIA software from Fall 2018 until Fall 2021 and continuous. Assessment of student performance provided evidence of learning across the SoP curriculum as well as how CLOs, delivered and assessed at the individual student level, translate into competence achieved at the programmatic and university levels.
Intimate partner violence in the shadow of COVID‐19 and its associations with stress, function and support among the Israeli general population
Authors: Shechory Bitton Mally 
Published: December 2022

AbstractThe current study aimed to explore the associations between intimate partner violence (IPV), psychological distress, health and financial concerns, function and support during the COVID‐19 outbreak in Israel. Data were collected from 333 Israeli adults (50.8% men and 49.2% women) via an online survey during the third lockdown in Israel. Existing scales were adapted to measure psychological distress, function, and support. Chi‐square tests, t‐tests, Chi‐square tests Z ratios, multiple regressions and a series of process models were employed to examine the research hypotheses. The main findings show that IPV, especially verbal violence, was directly associated with higher levels of distress and lower levels of functioning, a link that could be indirectly mitigated by health and financial concerns as well as lack of family and community support. In addition, low rates of physical violence, with no gender differences and with higher levels of verbal violence reported by women, were found. Finally, women reported higher levels of concerns and psychological distress and lower levels of functioning than men. The results might help identify the needs of families and couples in order to design counselling or training programs for stress and conflict reduction. In addition, the response to the pandemic cannot be a homogeneous response. Different assistive measures must be applied to various segments of the population and groups that are already at risk and, therefore, remain more vulnerable, with targeted assistance given to all of these different groups.
Biosynthesis of Melanin Nanoparticles for Photoacoustic Imaging Guided Photothermal Therapy
Authors: Fu Meijun , Yang Yuping , Zhang Zhaomeng , He Yaling , Wang Yuanyuan , Liu Chenxing , Xu Xiaohong , Lin Jing , Yan Fei 
Published: December 2022

AbstractPhotothermal therapy (PTT) has attracted considerable attention in recent years due to their unique advantages in minimal invasiveness and spatiotemporal selectivity. However, the fabrication procedures of PTT agents frequently require complex chemical and/or physical methods that involves harsh and environmentally hazardous conditions. Here, a genetically engineered bacterium is developed to synthesize melanin nanoparticles under mild and environmentally friendly conditions. The biosynthetic melanin nanoparticles exhibit excellent biocompatibility, good stability, and negligible toxicity. In addition, the biosynthetic melanin nanoparticles have strong absorption at near‐infrared (NIR) region and higher photothermal conversion efficiency (48.9%) than chemically synthesized melanin‐like polydopamine nanoparticles under an 808 nm laser irradiation. Moreover, the results show that the biosynthetic melanin nanoparticles have excellent photoacoustic imaging (PAI) performance and can be used for PAI guided PTT in vivo. In conclusion, the study provides an alternative approach to synthesize PTT agents with broad application potential in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
Novel analytical approach to modified fractal gas dynamics model with the variable coefficients
Authors: Wang Kang‐Le 
Published: December 2022

AbstractIn this study, the modified fractal gas dynamics model (GDM) with variable coefficients is successfully represented using the fractal derivative. We obtain the fractal variational principle of the modified fractal GDM by employing the fractal semi‐inverse method. Based on the established fractal variational principle, a new and fascinating algorithm is presented to solve the fractal model, which is called fractal two‐scale variational method (FTSVM). Finally, two numerical examples are given to indicate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed algorithm. The FTSVM sheds a new light on the fractal differential equations.
AI Policy as a Response to AI Ethics? Addressing Ethical Issues in the Development of AI Policies in North Africa
Authors: Stahl Bernd Carsten , Leach Tonii , Oyeniji Oluyinka , Ogoh George 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThe recent exponential rate of AI development has led to a proliferation of AI national policies and strategies as global power blocs have sought to consolidate positions of strategic dominance. These policies have sought to promote the benefits and mitigate the risks of AI—and address ever more serious ethical concerns about these technologies. This raises the question of how countries less influential in the sphere of AI might seek to address such ethical issues themselves, and whether lessons can be learned from existing policies in addressing issues of ethics and human rights. From a consideration of the current AI ethics discourse and existing AI policies, the chapter goes on to explore how ethical concerns are addressed in the North African AI strategies and which gaps and opportunities in terms of coverage of ethical issues arise from the current state of these policies. We suggest that ethical issues should be addressed clearly in policy at the earliest possible stage to ensure that ethical standards are internally produced in line with social and cultural values, rather than being de facto applied by external actors.
3D Print with Salt
Authors: Pungercar Vesna , Hutz Martino , Musso Florian 
Published: January 2023

AbstractSustainable materials and additive manufacturing have the potential to increase material efficiency and minimize waste in the building process. One of the most promising materials is salt (sodium chloride). It is highly available as a residue of desalination and potash production processes and attracts attention due to its material properties (storage of humidity and heat). This research presents an investigation and evaluation of using salt as an alternative material in additive manufacturing. Thus, the focus of the study was on small-scale 3D printing with paste extrusion. Experimental studies of different salt mixtures with different binders, printing properties and other parameters were analyzed in three stages. In the first phase (P1) the mixing ratio of salt and potential binders (clay, gypsum, cement and starch) was defined; in the phase two (P2) the most promising mixture was selected, modified by additives and investigated by 3D image scan measurements; and in the last third phase (P3) the potential applications of salt in additive manufacturing were presented. As the research shows, the salt in material extrusion processes can substitute the main material by up to 70%, is successfully manipulated with different additives (to improve the workability of the printing mortar) and is highly dependent on the printer`s settings. For future full-scale 3D printing with salt many steps still have to be taken. However, incorporating salt in additive manufacturing showed a potential of saving material resources, addressing environmental issues and initiating new construction processes.
Everyday Life and How It Changes: Studying ‘Sustainable Wellbeing’ with Students During a Pandemic
Authors: Sahakian Marlyne 
Published: January 2023

AbstractSemi-confinement measures around the COVID-19 pandemic led to disruptions in everyday lives, in particular when it comes to reconfiguring habitual and routinized ways of doing things—a central theme in a social practice approach to understanding consumption. This contribution considers the weekly journal entries of 95 students in an undergraduate class at the University of Geneva, documenting how their consumption-related practices were changing, and how such changes relate to ‘sustainable wellbeing’. Students describe thrift and frugality measures in relation to resource consumption, reconsider existing practices such as ‘being fashionable’, but also explore new practices, such as preparing elaborate meals. In terms of wellbeing, consuming resources was clearly less relevant to students than social relations, whether facilitated through information-communication technologies or at a physical distance, as well as experiencing some form of contact with nature. We found that it is possible to engage students in reflecting on the normative goal of need satisfaction, and for students to distinguish between needs and desires, and between needs and their means of satisfaction. The societal context of the pandemic also led to reflections around how wellbeing must be understood at both an individual and societal level, and how ‘sustainable wellbeing’ as a normative aim might be planned for in the future.
Crop Diversity, Its Conservation and Use for Better Food Systems
Authors: Schmitz Stefan , Barrios Rodrigo , Dempewolf Hannes , Guarino Luigi , Lusty Charlotte , Muir Janet 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThe genetic diversity contained in crops and their wild relatives is the foundation of tomorrow’s agriculture, allowing farmers and professional breeders to develop the new crop varieties that agriculture needs to adapt to changing conditions. The loss of this diversity poses a considerable risk to global food security. The conservation of agrobiodiversity in situ (in nature and in agricultural practice), as well as ex situ (in genebanks), is indispensable. However, many genebanks are unable to guarantee the safe conservation of the material in their care, let alone to create opportunities for its use in plant breeding and for more sustainable agriculture. Much remains to be done, first and foremost strengthening the global system of ex-situ conservation, making this system fit for the purpose of caring for hard-to-conserve materials, and innovative funding of this system.
Reduction of Food Loss and Waste: The Challenges and Conclusions for Actions
Authors: von Braun Joachim , Sorondo M. Sanchéz , Steiner Roy 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThe simultaneous coexistence of food loss and waste and prevalence of hunger, undernourishment and malnutrition represents a failure of contemporary food systems. While the reduction in food loss and waste is a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target, this reduction can also help in the achievement of other SDGs, including achieving zero hunger and reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This chapter documents scientific evidence on ways to reduce food loss and waste and provides recommendations for action at the global and national levels. Our recommendations encompass civil society actions, public and private investments and initiatives by citizens, corporations, governments, and international organizations. The chapter also highlights the gaps in action areas that require urgent attention from all stakeholders.
Trade and Sustainable Food Systems
Authors: Zimmermann Andrea , Rapsomanikis George 
Published: January 2023

AbstractTrade is an integral part of our food systems. It connects people at all stages of agricultural and food value chains, linking farmers with consumers across the world. It also links nations to each other, and thus scales up from the domestic to the global perspective. By moving food from surplus to deficit regions, trade promotes food security, the diversity of foods available, and can affect preferences and diets. Trade impacts food prices and the allocation of resources, and thus is inherent to economic growth and interacts with the environment. At the same time, trade can create both winners and losers, resulting in inequality, and can generate negative social and environmental outcomes. This chapter provides an overview of the current debate around trade in food and agriculture and illustrates the role that trade can play within food systems in balancing different dimensions of sustainability. While trade openness is generally conducive to food security and promotes economic growth, formulating trade policies to achieve multiple targets, including environmental, nutritional and social objectives, requires careful analysis. Trade policies may not be the best and most efficient instruments for achieving multiple objectives, and they should be framed by complementary policies targeting specific aspects of sustainability. For example, in addressing climate change, one of today’s most pressing challenges, a combination of food trade and domestic policy instruments can sharpen the adaptation and mitigation roles of trade and significantly contribute to promoting the adoption of climate-smart technologies. In order to effectively design such policies, a better understanding of both the complex linkages between trade and sustainability outcomes and the simultaneous impacts of policy approaches on all parts of the food system will be necessary.